The ‘creepy child’ trope in horror most likely originates in Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw , one of the great classic ghost stories and works of psychological horror. But it is one thing to read about the eerie behaviour of two children, it is another thing to see it in practice -hence why the novel made for a popular adaptation on stage. However it didn’t make it to the silver screen until 1961, when playwright William Archibald adapted his own version, renamed The Innocents , with Truman Capote and director Jack Clayton produced a truly haunting work. And though movies like The Bad Seed and Village of the Damned had primed the pump, what we think of when we think of creepy children as a horror movie device perhaps found its first footing here. The spectre of Damien from The Omen , the kid from Insidious , Brightburn and so many other freaky manipulative movie children can be found in little Miles, however innocent he may or may not be. That is of course the other great sourc...
In 2019, Mahershala Ali was cast in the title role of a new Blade movie to be developed in the MCU. He was quite energized in his involvement for a time, but after several years of stalled development and creative clashes over how to approach the project in the M arvel mold, it completely fell apart. But Ali had already done a lot of the physical action training and had built up a good relationship with Bassam Tariq, who had been hired to direct the film. Rather than let all of that preparation go to waste, the two of them decided to pair up for a comparable project, one that would have personal significance to both of them. There has very probably never been an American movie like Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother , an action-thriller film rooted in the faith and cultural traditions of Islam. And indeed I doubt any studio would have greenlit it without the involvement of a name star like Ali. The title is taken from a particular Islamic proverb in which a man asks the Prophet Muh...