Brian Holcomb

We lost our sweet colleague of 14+ years Brian Holcomb to COVID-19 in April 2020. Rest in Peace, good man. * Brian's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hofro
’70s Horror Film Let’s Scare Jessica to Death Fools Everyone

’70s Horror Film Let’s Scare Jessica to Death Fools Everyone

Writer-Director John Hancock and co-writer Lee Kalcheim take the gothic heroine from hundreds of penny dreadfuls and allow her to have her agency in the most unusual horror film, Let's Scare Jessica to Death.

John Badham’s ‘Dracula’, the Rock Star

John Badham’s ‘Dracula’, the Rock Star

On John Badham's Dracula. Because the director of Saturday Night Fever is the first person you would think of to direct Dracula, right?

‘Dead of Night’ Haunts Above and Beyond Its Imitators

‘Dead of Night’ Haunts Above and Beyond Its Imitators

Film anthology Dead of Night's influence went far beyond what its creators must have imagined.

Pink Bicycles and Folding Chairs: An Interview with Microbudget Movie Maker Joshua Kennedy

Pink Bicycles and Folding Chairs: An Interview with Microbudget Movie Maker Joshua Kennedy

Horror movie maker Joshua Kennedy knows how to make imaginative movies with little or no money. He made an homage to '70s airline disaster films without a plane -- but with plenty of folding chairs.

‘The Night Stalker’ Crept Through the 1970s Constraints of Made for TV Film

‘The Night Stalker’ Crept Through the 1970s Constraints of Made for TV Film

In the '70s there was something sinister sneaking into suburban homes between the sitcom and the 11 o'clock news where the real horrors played out. The made for TV horror film The Night Stalker would be among the best.

‘When a Stranger Calls Back’ Betters Its Spooky Predecessor

‘When a Stranger Calls Back’ Betters Its Spooky Predecessor

Although not as well known as John Carpenter or Brian DePalma, Fred Walton brilliantly complicates that old mystery -- is the killer in the house? -- with 1993's When a Stranger Calls Back.

Godard’s Sci-fi/Noir Alphaville’ Is Witty and Subversive

Godard’s Sci-fi/Noir Alphaville’ Is Witty and Subversive

Alphaville's pulpy sci-fi plot acts as a warm coat of familiarity as Godard slyly subverts one genre trope after another.

David Lynch’s ‘Lost Highway’ Loosens Our Grip on What and Whom We Think We Know

David Lynch’s ‘Lost Highway’ Loosens Our Grip on What and Whom We Think We Know

We move through life among strangers whom we try to make less strange by identifying repetitive behaviors as identity. At some point, we might even say we "know" a person. Lynch's Lost Highway shows that we don't know anything about each other.

The Storytelling Technique in Tourneur’s Horror Film, ‘The Leopard Man’, Was Way Ahead of Its Time

The Storytelling Technique in Tourneur’s Horror Film, ‘The Leopard Man’, Was Way Ahead of Its Time

Jacques Tourneur's Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie are considered classics today. But The Leopard Man, has always been considered something of a misstep, until now.

‘Quatermass and the Pit’ Peers into the Dark Nature of Human Evolution

‘Quatermass and the Pit’ Peers into the Dark Nature of Human Evolution

Nigel Kneale's book and screenplay, which Hammer Films made into Quatermass and the Pit, raises many provocative questions regarding the nature of human evolution and the conception of the devil itself.

Faster than Fassbinder! An Interview with Filmmaker Michael Fredianelli

Faster than Fassbinder! An Interview with Filmmaker Michael Fredianelli

Prolific independent filmmaker Michael Fredianelli doesn’t let the micro-budget scale of his productions limit his imagination or his creations.

Dirty Money (Un Flic)