Behind the Couch

Happy 20th Birthday, Scream ! I can't believe you've grown up so fast. I know it’s now 2017 and you turned 20 last year, but you weren’t released in the UK until 1997 so technically it was twenty years ago this year that I saw you. Technicalities aside, I couldn’t let the occasion go by without writing a little something about you on here. I remember my dad taking me to see you at the cinema because you were rated 18 and I was only 16. I wanted so badly to see you though. I was shocked and intrigued by your teaser campaign on TV, and you starred some people who were in things I loved as a 16-year-old ( Friends ! Party of Five ! Boys on the Side !). You were my first experience of watching a horror film in a cinema with a real live cinema audience (they were quite annoying) and I can still remember the excitement and anticipation. I was equal parts irked and enthralled when the audience reacted to you in such a vocal way. They screamed a lot . I thought you were the greates...

2014 Dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon A post-modern sequel to the 1976 film of the same name , The Town that Dreaded Sundown utilises an ingenious approach to tackling its story and providing a fresh perspective for horror fans fed up with sequels, reboots and remakes. Much like Wes Craven’s New Nightmare and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 , it acknowledges its predecessor as a film based on 'actual events' which plagued the sleepy town setting years prior. The characters are all familiar with the back-story and indeed the original The Town that Dreaded Sundown film, clips of which appear throughout. While it opts for this ‘meta’ approach it avoids smug eye-winkery and unfolds as an engrossing, creepy and extremely violent tale of a small town facing up to its dark past. The immensely taut yet stylish direction comes courtesy of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, whose tenure on TVs American Horror Story is apparent in the tilted angles and fluid, often gravity-defying camerawork. While ...

1994 Dir. Wes Craven An unspeakably evil entity, first given form by the character of Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street films, has chosen that particular character as its avatar and portal into the real world. All that stands in its way is Heather Langenkamp, the actress who played Nancy Thompson; the first person to ever defeat Freddy Krueger. Can she play the part of Nancy one last time to stop the evil from entering our world? After they killed off Freddy Krueger, thus bringing an end to one of their most lucrative cash-cows, New Line began thinking maybe, just maybe , they’d done it prematurely. They requested a meeting with Wes Craven to reconcile their differences and ensure the aggrieved director was satisfied with the business side of the Elm Street franchise. Once all was fine and dandy, head of New Line, Bob Shaye, asked Craven if he would ever consider helming one more Elm Street film, dangling the carrot of free reign and creative control under his ...