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ashleyrsmith.bsky.social
PhD in Screen Cultures from Northwestern | Writing on horror, culture & race | Academic Consultant at Cut-Throat Women Digital Humanities Database | True crime & media trash lover | Opinions are mine | Formerly @thehorrorfemme on Twitter
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No. 34: Bridget Jones’ Diary (Sharon Maguire, 2001).

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No. 33: I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun, 2024).

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No. 32: Return to Me (Bonnie Hunt, 2000).

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No. 31: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974).

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No. 30: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939).

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No. 29: Cuckoo (Tilman Singer, 2024).

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No. 28: The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973). This week in my horror class we screened Friedkin’s head turning classic of post-Code Hollywood. I was surprised to see some students gasp or clasp their hands over their mouths in shock; it’s good to know this horror gem still packs a punch!

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

No. 27: Victims of Sin (Emilio Fernández, 1951).

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Tried my hand at linocut for the first time and (perhaps over-ambitiously) decided to try to do a silhouette of the late great David Lynch— have to say I am beyond pleased with this first pass!

submitted 17 days ago • 3 comments

No. 26: Il Demonio (Brunello Rondi, 1963).

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No. 25: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2000).

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Discussed the flagging influence of the Code and the move from gothic to psychological horror in this week’s installment of my horror class. No. 24: Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960).

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No. 23: Ladies of Leisure (Frank Capra, 1930).

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No. 22: Gattaca (Andrew Niccol, 1997).

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Such a pleasure to be able to introduce my horror class to two James Whale classics while discussing queer coding and artistic subversion under the Hays Code this week! No. 20 & 21: The Old Dark House (1932) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

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No. 19: Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993).

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No. 18: Shock Corridor (Samuel Fuller, 1963).

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No. 17: Force Majeure (Rueben Östlund, 2014).

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No. 16: Tampopo (Juzo Itami, 1987). For a film I’ve always heard lauded as a food movie (which it very much is), I was surprised and intrigued by how much it also draws on sensory elements linked to disgust. A fascinating entwinement of hunger, desire, and revulsion tied to body and food.

submitted 33 days ago • 0 comments

Started teaching my spring horror course at the Art Institute yesterday which is bookended by Jane Schoenbrun’s films. We kicked off with this inaugural screening, entering my 2025 film log at number 15. No. 15: We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021).

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No. 14: Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (Mike Judge, 1996).

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No. 13: Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012). Ladies’ night viewing.

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No. 12: A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg, 2024). The first really great film I’ve seen this year!

submitted 39 days ago • 1 comment

No. 11: The Man with the Golden Arm (Otto Preminger, 1955).

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No. 10 of 2025: Six Men Getting Sick (David Lynch, 1967).

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No. 9 of 2025: David Lynch: The Art Life (2016).

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No. 8 of 2025: Nightbitch (Marielle Heller, 2024).

submitted 48 days ago • 1 comment

I cannot enthusiastically second this recommendation enough! ❤️‍🩹

submitted 50 days ago • 1 comment

🗣️ I’m guest editing a special issue of @femmediahist.bsky.social on “Reproductive Politics & Media Histories.” CFP is below. Please get in touch if you’d like to propose something.

submitted 75 days ago • 2 comments

Are you a film & media scholar who wants to learn how to make video essays? Applications for the two-week June 2025 workshop Scholarship in Sound & Image at Middlebury College in Vermont are now open. Come be a videocamper and spread the word!

submitted 104 days ago • 1 comment

No. 7 of 2025: Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995).

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No. 6 of 2025: Babette’s Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987).

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No. 5 of 2025: Polyester (John Waters, 1981).

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No. 4 of 2025: The Front Room (Max and Sam Eggers, 2024).

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Like hack: Listening to Nicholas Britell’s beautiful orchestral “Succession” soundtrack while working can make even the most mundane tasks (i.e. updating Blackboard course modules) feel of the most monumental earthly importance.

submitted 56 days ago • 2 comments

No. 3 of 2025: Sicario: Day of the Soldado (Stefano Sollima, 2018).

submitted 56 days ago • 1 comment