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/ 

Lately, we cannot even watch the news or go to a work conference without talking about AI. AI is being utilized everywhere, all the time, whether you know it or not. Alex Garland's 2014 film Ex Machina warns us of the evolution of AI, what it is capable of, and being careful what you wish for.

** this podcast episode was generated using an AI cloned version of my voice using ElevenLabs **

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/ 

Mary in a Black and White Room: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_argument

The Turing Test: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test 

What Is It Like to Be a Bat?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_It_Like_to_Be_a_Bat%3F 

Hubris: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hubris

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg and shot in raw Dogme 95 style, The Celebration is a blistering critique of family, trauma, and denial—where truth is the most explosive guest. Raise your glasses, folks, and brace for impact, because this film changed what indie films look like forever.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154420/

Dogme 95: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogme_95

Incest: https://patient.info/doctor/incest

Child Sexual Abuse Attributions: Are They Different Depending on Mothers' vs Fathers' Reactions?: https://journals.copmadrid.org/apj/art/apj2025a5

Cinematic Depictions of Boyhood Sexual Victimization: https://www.richardgartner.com/fcinematicZ.html

Why Do People Sexually Abuse Children?: https://www.ceopeducation.co.uk/parents/articles/why-do-people-sexually-abuse-children/ 

Curtis is a hardworking family man haunted by apocalyptic visions—ominous clouds, deafening thunder, and a sense that something terrible is coming. Is it a supernatural warning or the onset of mental illness? As he builds a shelter in his backyard, tension mounts within his family and his community.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675192/

Paranoid Schizophrenia: https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-paranoia

Catatonic Schizophrenia: http://webmd.com/schizophrenia/mental-catatonic-schizophrenia-overview

Disorganized Schizophrenia: https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/hebephrenic-schizophrenia

Director Interview Quotes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Shelter