Paranormal Phenomena

 Aaron Perez 11/02/2206 Image Credit: Disney Pixar      Coco (2017) is Pixar’s vibrant, emotionally precise celebration of family, memory, and Mexican culture through the lens of Día de los Muertos. Directed by Lee Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina, it follows 12-year-old Miguel Rivera, an aspiring musician in the town of Santa Cecilia whose family has banned music for generations after a great-great-grandfather abandoned them to chase fame.      When Miguel’s attempt to perform on the Day of the Dead goes wrong, he is transported to the Land of the Dead—a dazzling, hierarchical afterlife where the dead persist only as long as the living remember them. There he teams up with the charming, down-on-his-luck skeleton Héctor while chasing the blessing of his supposed idol, the legendary Ernesto de la Cruz. What begins as a quest to prove himself becomes a deeper reckoning with family secrets, the cost of ambition, and what it truly means to be reme...

 Aaron Perez 10/31/2026 Image credit: Warner Bros.      In 1973, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist arrived like a demonic force of nature and permanently changed horror cinema. Adapted by William Peter Blatty from his own 1971 novel (itself inspired by the real 1949 “Roland Doe” exorcism case), the film follows actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) as her 12-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair) undergoes a terrifying transformation after contact with a Ouija board. When medicine fails, two priests—Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), a man of wavering faith, and the veteran Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow)—confront the ancient demon Pazuzu in a battle of faith, science, and pure evil.      The result was a cultural phenomenon. It earned ten Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture), won two Oscars, and became one of the highest-grossing films of its era. Its practical effects, unrelenting atmosphere, and psychological depth still unsett...

Aaron Perez 10/30/2026 Image Credit: Gilberto Agustín Martínez Solares      In the late 1950s, Mexican cinema ignited a distinctive horror wave that blended Gothic atmosphere, local folklore, and pure B-movie energy. While Universal’s monsters and later Hammer’s blood-soaked Gothics dominated global screens, Mexico crafted its own macabre tradition—rooted in haciendas instead of castles, infused with Catholic imagery, and eventually fused with the spectacle of lucha libre. The spark was El Vampiro (1957). What followed was a fertile decade-plus of vampires, Aztec mummies, mad scientists, and masked wrestlers punching the undead into submission. Image Credit: https://thefridacinema.org/2022/09/26/el-vampiro-65th-anniversary-interview-with-film-historian-dr-david-wilt/ El Vampiro : The Film That Started It All      Directed by Fernando Méndez and produced by Abel Salazar (who also co-starred), El Vampiro arrived in 1957 and is widely regarded as...

 Aaron Perez 10/30/2026 Image Credit: DreamWorks Films      Japanese horror—often called J-horror—carved out a distinct place in global cinema in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Unlike much Western horror that leaned on gore, jump scares, or clear-cut battles of good versus evil, these films favored slow-building dread, psychological unease, vengeful spirits rooted in folklore, and a sense that the supernatural could never be fully defeated. Two titles in particular became international phenomena: Ringu (1998) and Ju-On: The Grudge (2002). Their American remakes helped popularize the style for Western audiences while also revealing cultural differences in how fear is told. Ringu (1998): The Cursed Tape That Started It All      Directed by Hideo Nakata and based on Kōji Suzuki’s novel, Ringu follows journalist Reiko Asakawa as she investigates the mysterious deaths of her niece and several teenagers. All of them watched a strange videotape and died ...

 Aaron Perez 10/29/2026 Image Credit: Alliance Films, FilmDistrict Distribution, and Momentum Pictures      The Insidious series remains one of modern horror’s most durable and quietly influential franchises. Created by James Wan and Leigh Whannell (the same team behind Saw ), it launched in 2010 with a lean, effective haunted-house story that quickly expanded into a mythology centered on “The Further”—an astral plane filled with restless spirits and malevolent entities. Six films in (as of late 2026), the series has grossed well over $900 million on modest budgets and consistently delivered inventive scares while evolving its lore. The Films: Release Order vs. Chronological Order      Release order is the strongest way for newcomers to experience the series, as the prequels were designed to deepen the mythology after the original mysteries landed: Insidious (2010, directed by James Wan) Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013, Wan) Insidious:...

 Aaron Perez 10/29/2026 Image Credit: Nordisk Film      The story follows Dani (Florence Pugh), a young woman reeling from an unimaginable family tragedy. Her emotionally distant boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) and his anthropology-student friends invite her on a trip to a remote Swedish commune for a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer celebration. What begins as an attempt at healing quickly becomes something far more ritualistic, communal, and irreversible.      Aster deliberately bathes nearly the entire film in perpetual daylight. There are almost no night scenes. The horror doesn’t hide in shadows — it smiles at you in the sun, offering flowers, communal meals, and ancient traditions that slowly reveal their true purpose. Why the Daylight Feels So Wrong      Most horror films rely on darkness, jump scares, and isolation. Midsommar does the opposite. The Hårga community is warm, welcoming, and aesthetically beautiful. White dresses, flo...