There was nothing quite like walking into a Blockbuster on a Friday night, the smell of popcorn lingering in the air, fluorescent lights buzzing overhead, and endless shelves of VHS tapes promising thrills, chills, and nightmares. As a kid, I wasn’t looking for the latest action flick or family comedy. I was on the hunt for something darker, something bloodier.

A review of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods 2024 movie Heretic, starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East. A really thought provoking movie that questions the very nature and motivations behind organised faith. A movie could be accused of getting under your skin, but that’s a good thing..... isn’t it?

Are all vampires inherently gender-fluid? With their ability to shapeshift, transcend human norms, and engage in fluid relationships, vampires challenge traditional gender roles, existing beyond binary constraints of identity and desire.

The term Gothic is often associated with eerie castles, supernatural horrors, and psychological terror, but beneath its dark aesthetic lies a deeper engagement with socioeconomic anxieties and philosophical dilemmas. The Gothic is not just about ghosts and monsters and frilly shirts; it is a genre that reflects the fears and crises of its time, often exposing societal fractures, class struggles, and existential uncertainties.

The zombie is horrifying not because it is mindless, but because it holds a mirror to human existence. Are we thinking individuals, or just creatures of habit, doomed to repeat actions without meaning? Do we build societies out of reason, or are we simply driven by primal survival masked as civilization? The existential terror of the zombie is not its hunger, it is the possibility that we, too, are already lost.

Tonight, we’re diving into a topic that is no longer just the stuff of science fiction: artificial intelligence assigned to robotic devices, making human-like choices and responses. To explore these questions, we’re looking at two films that, despite being over four decades apart, 1982’s Blade Runner and 2024’s Subservience.