The Final Girl on 6th Ave

SOURCES/INFORMATION

Lars von Trier has been called a visionary, a sadist, and a self‑mythologizing provocateur—sometimes all in the same breath. In this episode, we unpack how an anxious kid from Copenhagen became one of the most controversial figures in world cinema, and why his work looms so large over modern horror and “extreme” art‑film. Focusing on Antichrist, Melancholia, Nymphomaniac, and The House That Jack Built, we explore von Trier’s “Depression Trilogy,” his use of grief, sex, and violence, and the ongoing debates about misogyny, ethics, and audience complicity. Along the way, we bring in film scholarship, critical essays, and production histories to ask a simple but uncomfortable question: when von Trier pushes horror this far, is he revealing something profound about suffering—or just building a house out of pain?

SOURCES/INFORMATION

Biographical and career overviews

“Lars von Trier.” Wikipedia.wikipedia

“Lars von Trier – Simple English Wikipedia.” Simple Wikipedia.wikipedia

“Lars von Trier.” Encyclopaedia Britannica (biography, awards, filmography).britannica

“Lars von Trier filmography.” Wikipedia.wikipedia

“Lars von Trier – IMDb.” IMDb.imdb

“List of awards and nominations received by Lars von Trier.” Wikipedia.wikipedia

Context and Danish film culture

“Lars von Trier and Cultural Liberalism.” Danish Film Institute.dfi

Excerpt from Regional and Global Dimensions of Danish Film Culture and Film Policy (on Dogme 95 and Danish film branding).catalogimages.wiley

Critical profiles and interviews

“Lars von Trier: Behind the Curtain.” The New Yorker (profile on von Trier’s persona and controversies).mubi+1

“Lars von Trier: A Problematic Sort of Ladies’ Man?” NPR radio piece and transcript (Pat Dowell, with Caroline Bainbridge).npr+1

“The Many Faces of Lars von Trier.” BFI feature.bfi

“Lars von Trier: An Overview.” Film Festival Today (career overview).filmfestivaltoday

Horror‑specific and film‑specific sources

“The Immersive Examination of Depression and Grief in ‘Antichrist’ [Unveiling the Mind].” Bloody Disgusting.bloody-disgusting+1

“Antichrist (2009)” – film entry and production details. IMDb and Wikipedia.imdb+1

“The House That Jack Built (2018).” IMDb (plot, reception).imdb

“Manically Macabre: Lars von Trier as Horror Icon.” Horror Obsessive.horrorobsessive

“‘Terrifier 2’ and 9 Other Horror Movies Which Famously Made Audiences Sick.” Collider (section on Antichrist).collider

Scholarly / analytical work

“Lars von Trier – The ‘Sex’pression Ideology.” Academic essay (via Academia.edu PDF).academia

Caroline Bainbridge, The Cinema of Lars von Trier (discussed in NPR and academic contexts).npr+1

Career primers

“Notebook Primer: Lars von Trier.” MUBI Notebook.

In this episode, we explore why we willingly scare ourselves — unpacking the neuroscience of fear, the psychology of personality and anxiety, and the surprising ways horror can function as emotional regulation and rehearsal for real-life uncertainty. From classic films like Psycho to modern social horror like Get Out, we examine how fear reflects culture, mirrors identity, and reveals what our nervous systems may be practicing when the lights go down.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

LeDoux, J. (1996). The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Craske, M. G., Treanor, M., Conway, C. C., Zbozinek, T., & Vervliet, B. (2014). “Maximizing exposure therapy: An inhibitory learning approach.” Behaviour Research and Therapy, 58, 10–23.

Reiss, S., & McNally, R. J. (1985). “The expectancy model of fear.”

Nagoski, E., & Nagoski, A. (2019). Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.

Tamborini, R., & Prentice, D. A. (1990). “Emotion and moral judgment in response to horror.” Communication Research.

Zillmann, D. (1996). “The psychology of suspense in dramatic exposition.”

Zillmann, D. (1988). Mood Management Through Communication Choices.

Zuckerman, M. (1979). Sensation Seeking: Beyond the Optimal Level of Arousal.

Scrivner, C., Johnson, J. A., Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, J., & Clasen, M. (2021).
“Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Personality and Individual Differences, 168.

Hirsh, Jacob B., Mar, Raymond A., & Peterson, Jordan B. (2012/2016).
Research on intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety.

Goldstein, P. (2012). The Sounds of Fear: Music in Horror Films.

Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1993). Emotional Contagion.

Durkheim, E. (1912). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life.

Hills, M. (2002). Fan Cultures.

Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture.

van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score.

Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (1991).
“A terror management theory of social behavior.”

The Final Girl looks a little different for 2026... in the best way! Join in for the first episode of 2026 where we uncover what it really means to be in the horror genre, where the term "elevated horror" came from, and what I believe it means to have so many different types of fear depicted on screen.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

Laing, R.D. The Divided Self.

Kristeva, Julia. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection.

Freud, Sigmund. Beyond the Pleasure Principle.

Luckhurst, Roger. The Trauma Question.

Haneke, Michael. Interviews collected in Film Comment and Cahiers du Cinéma.

Carroll, Noël. The Philosophy of Horror.

Jancovich, Mark. Rational Fears: American Horror in the 1950s.

Jancovich, Mark et al. Defining Cult Movies.

Sobchack, Vivian. The Address of the Eye: A Phenomenology of Film Experience. 

Don't you find the paradox that loneliness is common but isolating interesting? Yeah, me too. Listen in as I discuss 5 of my favorite examples of the human condition, including Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), and Happiness (1998). 

Based on Andrew Neiderman's novel by the same name, Pin (1988) is a dark and emotional journey of a family as they navigate Leon's growing relationship with an anatomy dummy. 

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095871/ 

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_(film) 

Starburst Article: https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/dvd-review-pin-1988/#:~:text=Pin%2C%20however%2C%20is%20a%20different,Pin%20is%20talking%20to%20him. 

These films don't just challenge you, they change you. Join me in questioning reality and sanity. 

SOURCES/INFORMATION

Inland Empire: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460829/

Salo: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073650/

The Holy Mountain: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071615/ 

Dancer in the Dark: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168629/ 

Mirror: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072443/ 

Beneath the peeling wallpaper and flickering lights lurks something sinister—an evil force tied to their past and the choices they made to survive. Unpack Remi Weekes’s haunting directorial debut, His House—a psychological horror film that blends supernatural terror with the real-life trauma of displacement with me.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8508734/ 

The Anglo-Egpytian Conquest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Egyptian_conquest_of_Sudan#:~:text=The%20Anglo%2DEgyptian%20conquest%20of,Sudan%20became%20independent%20in%201956

Survivor Guilt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_guilt 

In this electrifying episode, we dissect Danny Boyle’s post-apocalyptic masterwork—from its hauntingly deserted London to its jarring moral dilemmas. Rage never rests.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/

Rage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_(emotion) 

Mad Cow Disease: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy#Spread_to_humans 

Mad Cow Disease Symptoms: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20371226 

Ebola: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola 

Rabies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies

Production Notes: https://cinema.com/articles/1465/28-days-later-production-notes.phtml#google_vignette 

Deep Focus Review: https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/28-days-later/ 

RIP to your comfort zones, people. Some stories are so harrowing, they blur the line between reality and nightmare. In this gripping episode, we dive into ten of the most unsettling documentaries ever made—films that shook audiences, sparked outrage, and left psychological scars that linger long after the credits roll.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

Voyeur: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7588790/

Who Took Johnny: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2704816/?ref_=tturv_ov_bk

Capturing The Friedmans: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342172/ 

Abducted in Plain Sight: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3444312/

Tell Them You Love Me: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29142525/ 

Caniba: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7225942/ 

Paradise Lost: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117293/

The Act of Killing: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2375605/ 

Tickled: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5278506/ 

The Contestant: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13940818/ 

Finders Keepers: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3462002/