Chloe's Not Scared

I’m breaking from my usual format to plug two articles that I wrote this year that did not originally appear on this blog. Both of them are about young girls exploring the woods, and ultimately about the power of family. Two of my favorite tropes, I guess!

The first is a review of the awesome movie Hellbender (available now on Shudder). As you know, I’ve been fascinated with pandemic horror; how the genre has changed (or not changed) due to limitations of the pandemic. Hellbender falls squarely into this category. Created by a family of filmmakers, using both practical and special effects, Hellbender follows the story of a girl and her mom who live in the woods and unlock a secret inside of them. 

I wrote this article for Flip Screen, an independently-run movie site created for people to get their toes wet writing professionally. Hayley (EIC of Flip Screen) was great to work with, and I highly recommend checking them out if you want to read essays from the next generation of film critics.

The second is an article near and dear to my heart. The Watcher in the Woods was one of the first horror movies I saw. My dad grew up loving Universal Monsters, so once he discovered I was also a baby horror fan, we really leaned on each other for recommendations. Soon, my mom was also watching these movies. We were a trio of weirdos compared to the rest of our family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

The Watcher in the Woods is a Hammer-lite, live action Disney horror movie. Sisters Jan and Ellie move into an old house in the haunted woods, with Bette Davis as their unfriendly landlord. In the article, I make the case for needing more gateway horror films that are legit scary, like Watcher! None of this Hotel Transylvania crap. Give a PG-rated gothic assignment to James Wan, already! 

I wrote this article for Certified Forgotten, another amazing indie site for burgeoning horror film writers. Matt and Matt from CF were so understanding and kind when I said I wanted to break from their format of “DVD-era films” and travel back to 1981 to write this piece. Thank you so much for this opportunity to gush about one of my favorite horror movies.

Have you seen Hellbender or The Watcher in the Woods?