The Final Girl looks a little different for 2026... in the best way! Join in for the first episode of 2026 where we uncover what it really means to be in the horror genre, where the term "elevated horror" came from, and what I believe it means to have so many different types of fear depicted on screen.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

Laing, R.D. The Divided Self.

Kristeva, Julia. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection.

Freud, Sigmund. Beyond the Pleasure Principle.

Luckhurst, Roger. The Trauma Question.

Haneke, Michael. Interviews collected in Film Comment and Cahiers du Cinéma.

Carroll, Noël. The Philosophy of Horror.

Jancovich, Mark. Rational Fears: American Horror in the 1950s.

Jancovich, Mark et al. Defining Cult Movies.

Sobchack, Vivian. The Address of the Eye: A Phenomenology of Film Experience.

• (00:00:00) - Final Girl on 6th Avenue: Reviewing Films
• (00:01:34) - What Is Elevated Horror?
• (00:05:02) - What Is Elevated Horror?
• (00:10:19) - Funny Games
• (00:13:45) - Ethical Horror
• (00:17:08) - The Piano Teacher: A Horror Film Without Violence
• (00:26:36) - The Piano Teacher: Rape Scene
• (00:31:18) - Hereditary: The Trauma of Repetition
• (00:39:53) - Hereditary: The Trauma Narrative
• (00:44:50) - Possession in the Elevator
• (00:55:25) - Under The Skin
• (01:04:55) - Under the Skin: Slow Cinema Explained
• (01:08:26) - Is Elevated Horror Bad For Audiences?
• (01:13:02) - The Importance of Elevated Horror
• (01:20:03) - Final Girl on 6th Avenue

Don't you find the paradox that loneliness is common but isolating interesting? Yeah, me too. Listen in as I discuss 5 of my favorite examples of the human condition, including Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), and Happiness (1998).

Based on Andrew Neiderman's novel by the same name, Pin (1988) is a dark and emotional journey of a family as they navigate Leon's growing relationship with an anatomy dummy.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095871/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_(film)

Starburst Article: https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/dvd-review-pin-1988/#:~:text=Pin%2C%20however%2C%20is%20a%20different,Pin%20is%20talking%20to%20him.

These films don't just challenge you, they change you. Join me in questioning reality and sanity.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

Inland Empire: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460829/

Salo: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073650/

The Holy Mountain: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071615/

Dancer in the Dark: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168629/

Mirror: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072443/

Beneath the peeling wallpaper and flickering lights lurks something sinister—an evil force tied to their past and the choices they made to survive. Unpack Remi Weekes’s haunting directorial debut, His House—a psychological horror film that blends supernatural terror with the real-life trauma of displacement with me.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8508734/

The Anglo-Egpytian Conquest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Egyptian_conquest_of_Sudan#:~:text=The%20Anglo%2DEgyptian%20conquest%20of,Sudan%20became%20independent%20in%201956

Survivor Guilt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_guilt

In this electrifying episode, we dissect Danny Boyle’s post-apocalyptic masterwork—from its hauntingly deserted London to its jarring moral dilemmas. Rage never rests.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/

Rage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_(emotion)

Mad Cow Disease: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy#Spread_to_humans

Mad Cow Disease Symptoms: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20371226

Ebola: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola

Rabies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies

Production Notes: https://cinema.com/articles/1465/28-days-later-production-notes.phtml#google_vignette

Deep Focus Review: https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/28-days-later/

RIP to your comfort zones, people. Some stories are so harrowing, they blur the line between reality and nightmare. In this gripping episode, we dive into ten of the most unsettling documentaries ever made—films that shook audiences, sparked outrage, and left psychological scars that linger long after the credits roll.

SOURCES/INFORMATION

Voyeur: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7588790/

Who Took Johnny: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2704816/?ref_=tturv_ov_bk

Capturing The Friedmans: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342172/

Abducted in Plain Sight: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3444312/

Tell Them You Love Me: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29142525/

Caniba: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7225942/

Paradise Lost: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117293/

The Act of Killing: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2375605/

Tickled: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5278506/

The Contestant: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13940818/

Finders Keepers: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3462002/

Lately, we cannot even watch the news or go to a work conference without talking about AI. AI is being utilized everywhere, all the time, whether you know it or not. Alex Garland's 2014 film Ex Machina warns us of the evolution of AI, what it is capable of, and being careful what you wish for.

** this podcast episode was generated using an AI cloned version of my voice using ElevenLabs **

SOURCES/INFORMATION

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/

Mary in a Black and White Room: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_argument

The Turing Test: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test

What Is It Like to Be a Bat?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_It_Like_to_Be_a_Bat%3F

Hubris: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hubris