Horror films

Todd Phillips has been nominated for an Oscar for his film, a Batman villain origin story (of sorts) that explores mental health and the lack of social services. Originally broadcast Jan. 6, 2020.

Peele says that his turn as the director of a horror/thriller film comes from a "deeper place in my soul" than his previous comic work. Originally broadcast March 15, 2017.

Hooper, who died Saturday, wrote and directed the 1974 cult classic film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which helped inspire a wave of slasher films that followed. Originally broadcast in 1988.

Horror film director George Romero talks about creating his horror classic "Night of the Living Dead."

The new film, Get Out, defies easy classification. Though it has funny moments, it's primarily a horror film, with racial anxiety at its center. Writer-director Jordan Peele tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that he thinks of Get Out as a "social thriller."

Christopher Lee died Sunday in London at the age of 93. He had more than 250 TV and film appearances, and was best known for his roles in Dracula and Star Wars. In 1990 he was working on Gremlins 2.

The film is about a teenage girl who sleeps with a boy and is suddenly under a curse. Critic David Edelstein says he didn't enjoy feeling "sick with dread," but the ending is unexpectedly moving.

In the Australian chiller, a bogeyman announces himself in a rhyming, pop-up book on a 7-year-old's shelf. But the real horror is that the boy's mom, a grieving widow, is battling psychic demons.

In an age of werewolves, hormonal vampires and endless sequels, horror movies have lost some edge. But Mama, starring Jessica Chastain, is an entertaining step in the right — which is to say backward — direction.