Quiet Little Horrors

When you're up for a bad time, Kiyoshi Kurosawa always comes through. We discuss the "tortured detective pursues a serial killer and finds an existential crisis" tale that is Kurosawa's 1997 masterpiece Cure.

Strap in, there's a lot to cover in director Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride! We like its moxie, but are mixed on its results. Highlights include: the modern depiction of Frankie, Jessie Buckley's ferocity, and the unequivocal support for messy and mad women.

We haven't covered many 90s horror movies because they tended to be not subtle or ... good. But Stir of Echoes is something of an overlooked psychological horror gem, in a 90s, blue-collar, Kevin Bacon sort of way. Join us for a discussion about themes of social commentary ahead of their time, indie queen Illeana Douglas and how we definitely can't afford a house in that neighborhood of Chicago anymore (it's more relevant to the film than it sounds like, promise).

We tackle our first documentary with The Last Sacrifice, a sprawling look at the 1945 murder that inspired the story behind The Wicker Man and, by extension, the folk horror film genre and modern paganism. Like the doc, our discussion moves from the inciting incident and into why we think stories like these endure. Also, a moment of silence for never getting the opportunity to be 1970s witches.

We found the ideal "quiet little horror as giallo"—1976's The House with Laughing Windows. We discuss weird Italian towns, brightly-lit attics, and this film's overlap with folk horror. Also: what's in that bag?