Horror Analysis Archive
Black Swan: Duality of Woman- Natalie Portman’s Assimilation of Shadow
The Black Swan needs Nina to unlock her sexual maturity and merge with her Shadow. After an aggressive first kiss, she lets Lily take over. Kneeling over Nina on her bed, Lily wears garters that make her look like a sexy gunslinger. Her lingerie is fetish in a masculine, gay top way, as is her energy. Lily’s confidence in displaying her well-developed Animus makes it easy for Nina to relinquish control, but this dominance triggers a hallucination.
Misery: Kathy Bates- Serial Killer
Misery: Kathy Bates- Serial Killer by Kristin Grady The “Cliffhanger” scene in Misery gives Annie a long backstory of antisocial behavior and provides a turning point for Paul. Performing a...
Joker: Joaquin Phoenix Dancing with Himself
Joker: Joaquin Phoenix Dancing with Himself By Kristin Grady Arthur Fleck sheds his identity like a snake’s skin or the ashes of a phoenix… Get it? Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker emerges as he embraces the madness within him. The implicit meaning is eloquently...
Tusk: The Walrus and Kevin Smith
The transformation Wallace goes through is akin to obesity. Walruses are basically big bags of blubber with giant spikes on their faces. Losing his legs was like losing limbs to diabetes and general loss of mobility due to being overweight.
Tobe Hooper and TCM: A Low Budget Masterpiece
How Tobe Hooper Turned The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Into a Classic We uncover the special brilliance and low budget ingenuity of Tobe Hooper in our Anatomy of Horror series. Only one man, Hooper, could have created possibly the most influential horror film of any era,...
Mulholland Drive: The Consequences of Gay Silence
The singer’s performance was intensely emotional, beautiful, and heartbreaking, it seemed so real. Rita and Betty exchanged a tearful glance that spoke without words. Any romance between them was part of the show, just an illusion, no matter how real it seemed.
Jacob’s Ladder: A Proxy War
The Vietnam timeline continues throughout the entire film, the truth slowly revealed in bits and pieces as it comes back to Jake. In the modern timeline, we’re never sure if it’s really happening or the entire thing is a fabrication of Jake’s dying brain as he bleeds out from the stab wound. The Vietnam scenes are the only ones we know aren’t happening in his head.
Gangs of New York: The Fear of Bill the Butcher
Every villain needs a juicy origin story. Bill the Butcher has two, that of his real life basis, William Poole, and the fictional past of the character from “Gangs of New York”. Their timelines diverge in many different directions, but both Bills serve as epic...
Se7en: The Diner Scene
“David and I are going to have a baby…” Accompanied by an absolutely miserable expression. She says “going to” as if she’s positive about her decision to go through with the pregnancy, but her inflection flips the meaning of her words around. The subtext is: “…and I’m thinking of having an abortion.” No one says the word “abortion” in this scene or the rest of the movie, everything is heavily implied, conveyed by the superb performances of skilled actors.