PODCAST · tv
Collective Nightmares
by Collective Nightmares
Marshall Smith and Laura Patterson delve into horror films of all kinds. We are passionate about horror films and all transgressive media. www.collectivenightmares.com
Episodes
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28 Years Later (Boyle 2025)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the horror film 28 Years Later. Well, 23 years later, not 28, but that’s not the problem. 28 Days Later was a groundbreaking film that introduced pop culture to fast, angry zombies. It established Cillian Murphy and...
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Sinners (Coogler 2025)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the horror film Sinners. An original film from Ryan Coogler who returns to working with Michael B. Jordan as the acting lead. Sinners is an original film that is a much appreciated entry into the horror genre...
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The Ugly Stepsister (Blichfeldt 2025)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2025 Norwegian film The Ugly Stepsister, written and directed by E. Blichfeldt. This film is fantastic! A dark inversion of a Cinderella story, The Ugly Stepsister creates a twisted fantasy world where the...
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The Brood (Cronenberg 1979)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the classic 1979 David Cronenberg film The Brood. This is another film in our mini-series related to pregnancy and women’s bodies. We thought it would be interesting to include a film from a different era that...
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Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2023 film Birth Rebirth. This is another film in our mini-series related to pregnancy and women’s bodies. We had some disagreement on this one especially with regard to dominant versus contested readings of the...
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Immaculate (Mohan 2024)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film Immaculate. We couldn’t help but make significant comparisons to The First Omen, both released during the spring of 2024. Both address conservative religious control of women’s bodies, though one does...
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Red Rooms (Plante 2023)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2023 film Red Rooms. Ostensibly this is a film about the dark web phenomemon of the titular red rooms. Oddly, the film did not actually offer any insight into red rooms. Nevertheless, we enjoyed watching it but...
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Nosferatu (Eggers 2024)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 rendition of the film Nosferatu, written and directed by Robert Eggers. Eggers has proven to be a master of aesthetic, encourage excellent performances from actors, and captivating dialogue. However, we…
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Cruising (Friedkin 1980)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 1980 film Cruising, written and directed by William Friedkin. This is such a fascinating film and well worth watching. The film focuses on the communities of young single gay men in NYC, and was made during the...
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Heretic (Beck and Woods 2024)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film Heretic. An intensely set, brilliantly acted, and well written intellectually fascinating beginning, devolves into a fetid pile of Mormon propaganda. Or does it? Some discussion of the film I Saw the…
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Woman of the Hour (Kendrick 2023)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the Hour. We are generally fans of Kendrick and appreciate the effort at an original take within the serial killer sub-genre. However this film plays it too safe and in…
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Strange Darling (Mollner 2023)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the film Strange Darling (Mollner 2023). Brilliantly constructed, acted, and executed! A fabulous film full of challenges to viewer expectations. The post Strange Darling (Mollner 2023) appeared first on Collective...
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The Substance (Fargeat 2024)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the breakout second film from Fargeat’s 2024 film The Substance. The film addresses topics of gender, aging, and the Hollywood expectations for appearance. The post The Substance (Fargeat 2024) appeared first on...
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A Quiet Place: Day One (Sarnoski 2024)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the third Quiet Place film. Laura and Marshall agreed that this is another film shoehorned into the Quiet Place universe. Laura was relieved it wasn’t another typical Quiet Place film, while Marshall was aggravated…
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Longlegs (Perkins 2024)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Oz Perkins’ 2024 film Longlegs. While we appreciate Perkins’ efforts to produce modern Brothers Grimm style fairy tales, we just don’t find this film successful. It is another in the disheartening trend of horror...
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Alien (Scott 1979) and Aliens (Cameron 1986)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the epics of sci-fi cinema Alien directed by Ridley Scott in 1979), and Aliens directed by James Cameron in 1986. For us, the films still hold up both in subtext, messaging, and representation especially given their...
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Abigail (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2024)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film Abigail. Directed by Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett who have made very solid Scream requels and the excellent Ready or Not, we had high hopes. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed. The post Abigail...
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Late Night with the Devil
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Cairnes and Cairnes 2023 critically acclaimed, indie horror hit, Late Night with the Devil. While entertaining the film is a cess pool of sexist tropes and conspiracy theory validation. The post Late Night with the...
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Poor Things (Lanthimos 2023)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Lanthimos' 2023 highly regarded, and possibly horror adjacent film, Poor Things. The post Poor Things (Lanthimos 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.
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Better Watch Out (Peckover 2016)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Peckover's 2016 psychological thriller film, Better Watch Out. The post Better Watch Out (Peckover 2016) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.
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The Babysitter (McG 2017)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of McG's 2017 film The Babysitter. The post The Babysitter (McG 2017) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.
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Evil Dead Rise (Cronin 2023)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the most recent installation in the Evil Dead franchise Evil Dead Rise. Well constructed and entertaining, and featuring some challenges to some of the tired tropes of possession films, ultimately the film is...
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Evil Dead (Alvarez 2013)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the reboot of Raimi's Evil Dead. Recorded live with the Sociology Club at CU Boulder, we discuss the pitfalls of gender and the pleasant surprise of a possession film centering siblings rather than a heterosexual...
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Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey (Frake Waterfield 2023)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey. The single most trite, banal, incompetent series of images we have watched since we started this podcast in 2017. Don't watch this film. It's not good bad, or bad good, it's just...
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The First Omen (Stevenson 2024)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the Omen prequel The First Omen (Stevenson 2024). The film prompted an intense discussion of the Catholic Church, social progress, pregnancy, and difficult decisions. An overall very impressive horror film. We look...
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Piggy (Perada 2022)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the European horror film Piggy. This film features a phenomenal performance by a new actress and contributes to the body of films that challenge and implicate us as viewers to consider what we are watching and why....
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X (West 2022)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of West's first film in his wildly ambitious horror trilogy, X. This film sparked a conversation about the state of the slasher sub-genre, cross gender identification in a post-gender world, and the elderly...
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MaXXXine (West 2024)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of West's third film, MaXXXine in his wildly ambitious horror trilogy. This film bring the trilogy to a very satisfying conclusion. Of the modern horror trilogies we've reviewed this is by far the most successful and…
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Pearl (West 2022)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of West's second film, Pearl in his wildly ambitious horror trilogy. This film sets up the third film to either be a notably progressive overarching motif across the films, or it may ulitimately prove conservative…
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Barbarian (Cregger 2022)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Cregger's breakout horror film, Barbarian. This film was well executed with a mix of progressive statements and baffling contradictions. The post Barbarian (Cregger 2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.
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Crimes of the Future (Cronenberg 2022)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Cronenberg's newest film, Crimes of the Future. Laura hated it, finding it overwrought, navel gazing, and abstruse. Marshall loved it, as an innovative exploration of bodies, pain, film, and the creative process.…
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Scream 5 5cream (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2022)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the fifth film in the Scream franchise, Scream. We are thrilled to return to the slasher genre with this latest installment. This is the first Scream without Wes Craven and we had concerns. We are relieved to report...
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Slumber Party Massacre (Esterhazy 2021)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Slumber Party Massacre from 2021. This is a companion episode to our discussion of the original 1982 film of the same name. This is a brilliantly subversive feminist response to slasher films ... for the first hour....
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The Slumber Party Massacre (Jones 1982)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of The Slumber Party Massacre from 1982. Written and directed by women in response to the sexism of the first wave slashers, this is quite a time capsule. It definitely only partially succeeds in being progressive but…
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Titane (Docournau 2021)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the French film Titane (Ducournau 2021). Only the second woman to win the Palm d'Or at Cannes (really Cannes Titane (Docournau 2021) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.
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Squid Game (Dong-hyuk 2021) – Season 1
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of season one of the breakout TV series Squid Game (Dong-hyuk 2021). At the time the most popular media that had ever been on Netflix and a global sensation. Even better it holds up to our intense ideological scrutiny....
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Violation (Mancinelli and Sims-Fewer 2020)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2020 film Violation (Mancinelli & Sims-Fewer). Who would have thought that the entire interpretation of a film would hinge on sleep and ice cream. This film is really extraordinary in many ways. It is at times…
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There’s Someone Inside Your House (Brice 2021)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2021 film There's Someone Inside Your House (Brice). Just when we thought we were done with Wan's films, they pulled us back in! Somewhat less conservative than the film's that Wan helms, it seems his impact is...
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Malignant (Wan 2021)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2021 film Malignant. Part of our mini-series on the films of James Wan. Wan's films are typically masterfully constructed while this feels sloppy and disjointed. His conservative ideology still shines through in...
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The Blackening (Story 2022)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2022 film The Blackening. This is as outstanding film that both deconstructs racist tropes of horror and moves the genre forward with new ideas. All of this is beautifully executed in terms of direction…
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Candyman (DaCosta 2021)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2021 film Candyman. DaCosta updates the urban folk legend of the 1992 Rose film Candyman. A phenomenal film that continues to confront the issues of race, class, gender, and geography head on. The post Candyman...
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The Forever Purge (Gout 2021)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2021 film The Forever Purge. The Forever Purge returns triumphantly continuing to expand the scope and allegory of the purge concept. Rather than a cheap cash in, the purge films continue to take on current and...
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Smile (Finn 2022)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2022 breakout film Smile. Smile offers an incremental advancement within the manifestation of psychological issues sub-genre reinvigorated for a new wave of films by The Babadook. It matches form to narrative in...
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The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It (Chaves 2021)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, return again to the Conjuring-verse for a sociological discussion of The Conjuring 3 for the podcast Collective Nightmares. This film devolves from passive conservative to outright proselytizing a hateful fire and brimstone version of Christianity....
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The Conjuring 2 (Wan 2016)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, return to the James Wan-iverse for a sociological discussion of The Conjuring 2 for the podcast Collective Nightmares. Entertaining but ideologically conservative is an interesting mix. The post The Conjuring 2 (Wan 2016) appeared first on Collective...
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A Quiet Place Part 2 (Krasinski 2020)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, creep back to A Quiet Place for a sociological discussion of of the film for the podcast Collective Nightmares. This discussion focuses on horror that avoids controversy. The post A Quiet Place Part 2 (Krasinski 2020) appeared first on Collective...
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Spiral (2021)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, return to the Saw universe to discuss Spiral from a sociological perspective for the podcast Collective Nightmares. This discussion focuses on what Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, and Darren Lynn Bousman bring to the franchise. The post Spiral (2021)...
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Fresh (2022)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, discuss Fresh (Cave 2022) from a sociological perspective for the podcast Collective Nightmares. This discussion focuses on patriarchal control of women and survival strategies in response. The post Fresh (2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.
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Jakob’s Wife (2021)
Jakob’s Wife (Stevens 2021) What a fascinating film! Technically well made, story and characters that are well crafted, ideologically supremely toxic. This film was reminiscent of Summer of ’84 in how it was entertaining and at first glance, not particularly problematic. However, once we dove…
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Freaky (2020)
Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, discuss Freaky (Landon 2020) from a sociological perspective for the podcast Collective Nightmares. This discussion focuses on representations of gender and bodies in the film. The post Freaky (2020) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Collective Nightmares have?
Collective Nightmares currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Collective Nightmares about?
Marshall Smith and Laura Patterson delve into horror films of all kinds. We are passionate about horror films and all transgressive media. www.collectivenightmares.com
How often does Collective Nightmares release new episodes?
Collective Nightmares has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Collective Nightmares?
You can listen to Collective Nightmares on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Collective Nightmares?
Collective Nightmares is created and hosted by Collective Nightmares.
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