They're undead. They're hungry. And they can only achieve locomotion via goofy little hopscotch jumps. They're called jiangshi, accursed demons feeding on qi the same way Dracula feeds on blood, and they made the Hong Kong film industry a weirder and wilder place as their popularity peaked during the '80s. In this lecture, film critic Charles Bramesco leads a tour through the compact yet colorful canon of jiangshi cinema, those gonzo pastiches of horror, slapstick comedy, and martial arts featuring the Chinese vampires of legend. From early rumblings in the '30s to a blockbusting heyday pre-Handover to the mashup featuring a cheap RoboCop knockoff, this mini-genre varied in quality, but was never boring. Ghoul-repelling paper talisman not included with ticket price.
Presented by Charles Bramesco
American Horror Story's brutality is at the forefront of its popularity, as the show constantly brings levels of gore and violence extreme enough to make it a miracle that the episodes get aired at all. However, its treatment of gender and sexual violence have been under scrutiny from viewers due...
Bryan Christopher is a contributor for Daily Dead, Rue Morgue, and Cinepunx. You can also find him as a regular member of the Corpse Club podcast.
The ways in which horror is defined as a genre are largely based on the centering of the white male perspective. Monstrosity and terrors are named according to the things that are deemed frightening by the societal majority. Maintaining this focus not only limits how the genre and definitions can...
