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Scribblings

A collection of curated writing based on the movies we cover each week. Deep dives, director profiles, and double feature reccomendations (just to name a few), all from folks we love to read.

Head Canon: Lifeguard (1976)

For Jacob's first edition in his new column, Head Canon, he explores Sam Elliott's late stage coming of age minor masterpiece, LIFEGUARD.

Jacob Knight

3 days ago

It's Not Just Horror: Stephen King's Haunted Hamlets

Marten takes us on a guided tour though Stephen King's favorite towns, connecting his fiction to our nostalgic reality.

Marten Carlson

Jan 27, 2023

Hell Is For Heroes: Jean-Claude Van Damme in JCVD

Brandon looks back on that time Van Damme was allowed to truly express his own artistic pain (while still kicking a bunch of ass).

Brandon Streussnig

Dec 14, 2022

Super Anti-Hero: Accident Man II

Brandon explains how the small scale Scott Adkins superhero sequel delivers the brutal fisticuffs 2022 desperately needed.

Brandon Streussnig

Nov 3, 2022

Dirtbag Nihilism and Crime Scene Donuts: Christian Gudegast's DEN OF THIEVES

Brandon interrogates Big Nick and finds him to be even scummier than we originally thought.

Brandon Streussnig

Oct 4, 2022

Stallone In Chains: Lock Up (1989)

Brandon on the softer side of Stallone.

Brandon Streussnig

Sep 9, 2022

Crisis Actor: Rebecca Hall and RESURRECTION

Why Brandon thinks Rebecca Hall is the best working performer in horror (and cinema in general) these days.

Brandon Streussnig

Aug 1, 2022

The Act of Seeing: Nicolas Winding Refn's ONLY GOD FORGIVES

Brandon's back, talking about the sinful, seductive pleasures of Nicolas Winding Refn's gruesome, reviled follow up to DRIVE.

Brandon Streussnig

Jul 1, 2022

Ex-sentials: The Hired Hand (1971)

The final installment in this first volume of Ex-sentials, Jacob chronicles the languid beauty of Peter Fonda's stellar acid Western.

Jacob Knight

Jun 17, 2022

Ex-sentials: Rome, Armed to the Teeth (1976)

The third installment in this mini-series of exploitation essentials zeroes in on Umberto Lenzi's Italocrime masterwork of fascist violence.

Jacob Knight

Jun 15, 2022

Ex-sentials: Gator (1976)

The first volume of Ex-sentials continues with Burt Reynolds' directorial debut: the granddaddy of bloated action spectacle, GATOR.

Jacob Knight

Jun 14, 2022

Ex-sentials: I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

Jacob launches a new mini-series covering the trash cinema classics every sleaze aficionado cannot miss.

Jacob Knight

Jun 13, 2022

His Own Worst Nemesis: The Films of Albert Pyun

Brandon smashes some brains with this love letter to the lo-fi genre madman.

Brandon Streussnig

May 20, 2022

Dial Up The Future: Jason X (2001)

Brett Gallman recalls how Jason X signaled the rise of Internet access to the latest body count shenanigans of our favorite masked maniacs.

Brett Gallman

May 13, 2022

Let Blockbusters Be Disreputable Again

In which Jacob ponders the question: has our mainstream entertainment become to safe to be, well, entertaining?

Jacob Knight

Apr 11, 2022

Slow West: The Creeping Outsider Terror of Ti West

Jacob goes long on the career of modern horror's most excitingly idiosyncratic auteur.

Jacob Knight

Mar 25, 2022

Long Live Goddamn Fucked Up Horror Pictures

Brett's back at SH and sounding the alarm for folks to just embrace horror movies being out of their fucking minds again.

Brett Gallman

Mar 24, 2022

Wrapped In Plastic: JCVD's Street Fighter

Brandon's back and telling you why you should embrace the goofy sincerity of notorious video game action epic, STREET FIGHTER.

Brandon Streussnig

Feb 11, 2022

Mondo Stuntmen: The Death Defying Maniacs of Jackass

Anya Stanley returns to Secret Handshake and digs into why Death is a omnipresent player in the JACKASS universe.

Anya Stanley

Feb 4, 2022

A Gunshot Behind the Woodshed: Lee Marvin's Dog Day

Brandon reveals how a minor late period work tells us all we need to know about Lee Marvin's legacy as a grizzled action star.

Brandon Streussnig

Jan 24, 2022

Meat For the Death Machine: Wes Craven's SCREAM 2

Brett Gallman breaks down what some consider to be the greatest metatextual slasher sequel of all time.

Brett Gallman

Jan 14, 2022

Psychic Porno Giallo: Patrick Still Lives (1980)

Jacob attempts to describe why this Italian rip off of an Australian blockbuster deserves Facemelter canonization.

Jacob Knight

Jan 12, 2022

Fuck You, Spaceman: The Ecstatic Action Cinema of Craig R. Baxley

Secret Handshake welcomes Brandon Streussnig into the fold, who in turn indoctrinates us into the action cinema cult of Craig Baxley.

Brandon Streussnig

Dec 24, 2021

Slime Mansion: The Cult Classic That Is The Kindred

Brett Gallman on why you should be seeking out Synapse's restoration of this highly entertaining monster mash.

Brett Gallman

Dec 10, 2021

Italian-American: Abel Ferrara's Tommaso

Jacob dives into Abel Ferrara's less celebrated (yet no less essential) works of uncomfortable autobiography.

Jacob Knight

Nov 30, 2021

Ryder On the Rain: The Hitcher (And Robert Harmon's Other Road Horror)

Jacob goes long on the greatest road horror movie of all time.

Jacob Knight

Nov 2, 2021

A Pistol For My Partner: The Tall T (1957)

Greg Ferrara joins the SH gang to talk about Budd Boetticher's heralded Elmore Leonard adaptation.

Greg Ferrara

Oct 27, 2021

Dimension of the Damned: The DTV Children of the Corn Sequels

Brett Gallman is back and is walking behind the rows with these Dimension CHILDREN OF THE CORN sequels.

Brett Gallman

Oct 20, 2021

Kill Like a Man: Night Warning (1981)

Preston returns to SH with one of the most bonkers camp slasher films of all time.

Preston Fassel

Oct 6, 2021

The Westerner: An Interview With SUPERNORMAL Cinematographer Laurie Gilbert

Simon Abrams sits down with the cinematographer of the black magic Hong Kong Mondo doc.

Simon Abrams

Aug 25, 2021

Choice Cuts: Body Parts & The Unapologetic Entertainments of Eric Red

Brett Gallman returns to SH and delivers some words on Eric Red's deranged Frankenstein splatter picture.

Brett Gallman

Apr 8, 2021

Casual Fridays: Slasher Cinema's Brutal Basics

Body count guru Brian Collins stops by to comment on possibly the most important slasher element: the killer's mask!

Brian Collins

Mar 17, 2021

I Kill For Love: Kinji Fukasaku's Black Lizard (1968)

Simon Abrams returns to SH, dissecting the seminal queer smash that breathed new life to Fukasaku's career.

Simon Abrams

Mar 10, 2021

Rent-A-Pal: A Cult Film For Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Preston makes his case for why this tale of analog loneliness should already be in our modern cult canon.

Preston Fassel

Mar 3, 2021

Forgotten Gialli: Volume One

Jacob slips on his black gloves to prowl through Vinegar Syndrome's first volume of yellow murder mystery obscurities.

Jacob Knight

Feb 11, 2021

Time Is Luck: The Tragic Romanticism of Michael Mann

Marten examines the one inevitable truth in Michael Mann's sprawling filmography.

Marten Carlson

Feb 10, 2021

Shooting Blanks: Back In Action ('94) + Tough and Deadly ('95)

Jacob blows a bunch of shit up with two of the most underrated buddy actioners of all time.

Jacob Knight

Feb 4, 2021

The Last Dragon: Michael Schultz & The Glow of '70s Black Cinema

Mike O'Brien places Michael Schultz and THE LAST DRAGON in the timeline of Black pop history.

Mike W. O'Brien

Feb 3, 2021

Nothing Really Counts, Does It?: Cutter's Way (1981)

Travis Woods dives into the despair of Cutter's Way and wonders if anything we do really matters.

Travis Woods

Jan 28, 2021

The Busted Flush: Darker Than Amber (1970)

Jacob runs down the sordid details of Travis McGee's only big screen outing to date.

Jacob Knight

Jan 26, 2021

Death By 1000 Cuts: John Woo's Hard Target (1993)

Simon Abrams grew a greasy mullet to flex on John Woo and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Simon Abrams

Jan 21, 2021

My Friend, Dolph Lundgren

Marten reveals his ultimate Secret Handsake: just mention Dolph.

Marten Carlson

Jan 19, 2021

Radioactive Dreams: Six-String Samurai & Post Apocalyptic Cult Cinema

Jacob on Lance Mungia's hipster swordplay epic and the End of All Things.

Jacob Knight

Jan 14, 2021

Field Guides To Evil: Suspiria (1977) and My Cult Cinema Journey

Brett Gallman uses sacred cult cinema texts to navigate memory lane.

Brett Gallman

Jan 12, 2021

When I Was Alive: Rolling Thunder (1977)

In which Jacob teaches you to learn to love the rope.

Jacob Knight

Jan 7, 2021

"Life's a Pain and God's a Sadist": Alan Ormsby's DERANGED (1974)

Anya Stanley dives into American desolation.

Anya Stanley

Jan 5, 2021

An Invocation (Of Sorts)

Jacob welcomes you to the jungle. We've got punch and pie.

Jacob Knight

Jan 4, 2021

Scribblings

Head Canon: Lifeguard (1976)

It's Not Just Horror: Stephen King's Haunted Hamlets

Hell Is For Heroes: Jean-Claude Van Damme in JCVD

Super Anti-Hero: Accident Man II

Dirtbag Nihilism and Crime Scene Donuts: Christian Gudegast's DEN OF THIEVES

Stallone In Chains: Lock Up (1989)

Crisis Actor: Rebecca Hall and RESURRECTION

The Act of Seeing: Nicolas Winding Refn's ONLY GOD FORGIVES

Ex-sentials: The Hired Hand (1971)

Ex-sentials: Rome, Armed to the Teeth (1976)

Ex-sentials: Gator (1976)

Ex-sentials: I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

His Own Worst Nemesis: The Films of Albert Pyun

Dial Up The Future: Jason X (2001)

Let Blockbusters Be Disreputable Again

Slow West: The Creeping Outsider Terror of Ti West

Long Live Goddamn Fucked Up Horror Pictures

Wrapped In Plastic: JCVD's Street Fighter

Mondo Stuntmen: The Death Defying Maniacs of Jackass

A Gunshot Behind the Woodshed: Lee Marvin's Dog Day

Meat For the Death Machine: Wes Craven's SCREAM 2

Psychic Porno Giallo: Patrick Still Lives (1980)

Fuck You, Spaceman: The Ecstatic Action Cinema of Craig R. Baxley

Slime Mansion: The Cult Classic That Is The Kindred

Italian-American: Abel Ferrara's Tommaso

Ryder On the Rain: The Hitcher (And Robert Harmon's Other Road Horror)

A Pistol For My Partner: The Tall T (1957)

Dimension of the Damned: The DTV Children of the Corn Sequels

Kill Like a Man: Night Warning (1981)

The Westerner: An Interview With SUPERNORMAL Cinematographer Laurie Gilbert

Choice Cuts: Body Parts & The Unapologetic Entertainments of Eric Red

Casual Fridays: Slasher Cinema's Brutal Basics

I Kill For Love: Kinji Fukasaku's Black Lizard (1968)

Rent-A-Pal: A Cult Film For Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Forgotten Gialli: Volume One

Time Is Luck: The Tragic Romanticism of Michael Mann

Shooting Blanks: Back In Action ('94) + Tough and Deadly ('95)

The Last Dragon: Michael Schultz & The Glow of '70s Black Cinema

Nothing Really Counts, Does It?: Cutter's Way (1981)

The Busted Flush: Darker Than Amber (1970)

Death By 1000 Cuts: John Woo's Hard Target (1993)

My Friend, Dolph Lundgren

Radioactive Dreams: Six-String Samurai & Post Apocalyptic Cult Cinema

Field Guides To Evil: Suspiria (1977) and My Cult Cinema Journey

When I Was Alive: Rolling Thunder (1977)

"Life's a Pain and God's a Sadist": Alan Ormsby's DERANGED (1974)

An Invocation (Of Sorts)

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