“This is no dream! This is really happening!”: Rosemary’s Baby’s Horrific Reflections of Female Subjectivity in 1968 and Present-Day America

Rosemary, a light-skinned young woman with short blonde hair, cradles her knees bending forward while sitting on a stool in front of a television that shows a burlesque dance sequence. The TV glows blue, and the room she is in is draped in beige-patterned curtains, framing tall windows that show heavy rain outside.

|Jillian Nelson| When Rosemary’s Baby released in 1968, conflicts over women’s rights raged on as second-wave feminists battled governmental restrictions that seeped into interpersonal relations. Birth control pills had only just been made legal. New York had recently… Continue reading

Rosemary’s Baby: The Anatomy of a Satanic Impregnation Scene

A close up of Rosemary lying on her back, looking at the ceiling, unclothed in the chamber.

|Sophie Durbin| take so much pleasure in every rewatch of Rosemary’s Baby that it often feels more like I’m visiting old friends, not watching one of the scariest films of the twentieth century. I love the pink font used in the title sequence, the New York Christmas scenes, the way… Continue reading

Spirits of Light, or: Theatrical Lighting in Movies Makes Me Happy

Center, a woman stands, arms outstretched to her sides, in a translucent kimono. Right, a man’s hand lurks in silhouette.

|Zach Staads| I’ve used this quote at the top with almost no context for where it comes from or what it means. I’m not even checking to see if the person who quoted this is correct, and that this is something Kurt Vonnegut said or wrote. I quote it to illustrate how… Continue reading

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Hippie Road Trip Masterpiece (Film as a Self-Care Text About How It’s Totally Fine to Go No Contact With Your Family)

An utterly gruesome pair of fetid dead bodies lashed together and perched on a tombstone, in the arid Texas sky

|Phil Kolas| Pulled pork tacos were a poor choice. That was my first thought when I started this movie. After the opening flash photography montage depicting half-decomposed human bodies, leading into the zoom-out reveal of… Continue reading

Massacre for Sale: Houses on the Market Right Now That Look Like the House from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Under a bright summer sky, a young woman approaches an intimidating, two-story house with white siding

|Ben Jarman| Last week I learned about the fate of the original house from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It appears the house was cut into several pieces in the ‘90s and transported to a town 60 miles away. The house is now a restaurant in Kingsland, TX. This revelation is… Continue reading

God Bless This Mess: Vietnam, The Monkey’s Paw, and Dead of Night

Andy, a white male in a military uniform, grins in the dark, next to a diamond shaped window against a green wall. There are two plates with paintings on them on a side wall

| Wil McMillen | Dead of Night aka. Deathdream plays at the Trylon Cinema Wednesday, September 24th. For tickets, showtimes, and other series information, visit trylon.org. “My brother came home yesterday From somewhere far away He doesn’t look like I remember As he stares off into space He must’ve seen… Continue reading