Author: Oki Covarrubias
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The adage above—from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet—has stood the test of time, having been referenced in countless other books, television shows, and films. The assertion that the names of things do not affect what they really are is perhaps more relevant now than
The curse of endless sequels has plagued horror films for years with multifarious results. The Ringu series kicked off back in the late 90s and is no exception to this curse. With the previous effort in the series, Sadako (2019), seemingly failing to meet fan expectations—high expectations that were set by the involvement of Hideo
If someone from ten years ago told me that I would one day be able to find Junji Ito merchandise at even some of the biggest chain stores, I might not have believed them. Even now, I’m astounded each time I enter my car and see the Tomie air freshener that my niece got me.
Hellraiser fans rejoiced when the news broke out that Clive Barker would be regaining the U.S. rights to his novella The Hellbound Heart and the film it spawned in December of 2021. This meant that any upcoming Hellraiser projects would need his stamp of approval before going forward after the specified date. After a series
Coming-of-age stories with horror backdrops typically have the upper hand when it comes to bringing a unique vision due to the genre’s ability to tackle topics in ways that other films might not. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but there are quite a number of titles that fall into this category and are
Veteran fans of Japanese horror are familiar with the name Takashi Shimizu, there’s no doubt about it. Having gained attention from horror fans all around the world with his Ju-On franchise, Shimizu-san has been a continuous contributor to the genre with varying reception from his audience. Admittedly, I haven’t been a good audience for some
Even though the Asian horror movie craze is not as potent as it was back in the early 2000s, new titles have managed to make their way overseas and have often been met with impressive reception. Netflix, which has become a household staple at this point, even found recent success with Squid Game, a Korean
Have you ever had a heart-to-heart with a bartender? I’ve often heard peers joke about how bartenders are basically therapists with a license to sell alcohol, and although I haven’t expressed my inner turmoil to any drink-serving strangers, the phenomenon is pretty widespread across the globe. What is it about bartenders that make people want
The sixth-generation era of video games is often regarded as the pinnacle of survival horror, having granted us titles such as Silent Hill 2, Fatal Frame, Forbidden Siren, and the more obscure but sometimes equally adored Ku-On. These games were perhaps just as seminal in bringing a newfound fan base to Japanese horror as the
Over the past few years, nostalgia has been a key element behind the drive and continuous success of the horror genre. The surge of remakes, sequels, and the newly coined term “requels” is par for the course at this rate, and even most original projects can’t help but openly reference the works that inspired it.