Collective Nightmares

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film Heretic. An intensely set, brilliantly acted, and well written intellectually fascinating beginning, devolves into a fetid pile of Mormon propaganda. Or does it? Some discussion of the film I Saw the TV Glow is also included.

The post Heretic (Beck and Woods 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the Hour. We are generally fans of Kendrick and appreciate the effort at an original take within the serial killer sub-genre. However this film plays it too safe and in doing so rendered the film adequate rather than notable.

The post Woman of the Hour (Kendrick 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the film Strange Darling (Mollner 2023). Brilliantly constructed, acted, and executed! A fabulous film full of challenges to viewer expectations.

The post Strange Darling (Mollner 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the breakout second film from Fargeat’s 2024 film The Substance. The film addresses topics of gender, aging, and the Hollywood expectations for appearance.

The post The Substance (Fargeat 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the third Quiet Place film. Laura and Marshall agreed that this is another film shoehorned into the Quiet Place universe. Laura was relieved it wasn’t another typical Quiet Place film, while Marshall was aggravated by it. Laura also appreciated a number of the film choices, Marshall further found it just summarily unbelievable and lacking. We both agreed on the stellar acting from Lupita Nyong’o.

The post A Quiet Place: Day One (Sarnoski 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Oz Perkins’ 2024 film Longlegs. While we appreciate Perkins’ efforts to produce modern Brothers Grimm style fairy tales, we just don’t find this film successful. It is another in the disheartening trend of horror films that are just “vibes.” They lack any real scare power because of the superficial nature of the characters and story.

The post Longlegs (Perkins 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the epics of sci-fi cinema Alien directed by Ridley Scott in 1979), and Aliens directed by James Cameron in 1986. For us, the films still hold up both in subtext, messaging, and representation especially given their original production dates.

The post Alien (Scott 1979) and Aliens (Cameron 1986) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film Abigail. Directed by Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett who have made very solid Scream requels and the excellent Ready or Not, we had high hopes. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed.

The post Abigail (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Cairnes and Cairnes 2023 critically acclaimed, indie horror hit, Late Night with the Devil. While entertaining the film is a cess pool of sexist tropes and conspiracy theory validation.

The post Late Night with the Devil appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Lanthimos' 2023 highly regarded, and possibly horror adjacent film, Poor Things.

The post Poor Things (Lanthimos 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.