Tyler Dean

Tyler Dean

@tmdean.bsky.social

Literature professor and writer with a penchant for the Gothic, vampiric, and decadent. Guillermo del Toro but sadder and hornier. Check out my pop culture articles on reactormag.com/author/tyler-dean/

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Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

Mike Flanagan has given us yet another masterclass in horror that elicits the empathy of its viewers—the better to devastate us. Read my account of his brilliant and brutal remake of Carrie. Share the article and comment over at Reactor if you’re feeling inspired.

Reactor Magazine@reactorsff.bsky.social

"He makes sure that his audience empathizes with everyone in his shows. He rarely settles for the explanation that the villains are inhumanly irredeemable and that is his most striking and devastating gift." @tmdean.bsky.social on the "catharsis and catabasis" inherent in Mike Flanagan's Carrie:

reactormag.comMike Flanagan's Carrie Series Demands Your Empathy - ReactorFlanagan's horror hinges on our ability to dig deep and show compassion, even in the face of brutal unkindness
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

The new #Castlevania was great! Both a loving homage to as much of the original series as they could cram in while playing enough like #DeadCells that it felt modern and comfortable.

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

The accessibility settings are incredible. Every game that can should take this approach to making itself easier or more challenging. Also always awesome to hear Liam O’Brien give another tortured, Illidan adjacent performance.

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

BioWare was the studio that taught me that the whole idea of games with branching stories driven by player choice could be as affecting and powerfully told as those whose plots had been set on rails. They were expert world builders and careful stewards of character.

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

I’m heartbroken to see them dissolved, especially because it is clear that their parent company, EA, was the cause and did so in the name of their shareholders becoming the tiniest bit richer. Another sacrifice on capitalism’s altar.

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

We continue our spooky Fantasy coverage this month with a bonkers film so confidently misguided that you have to admire its incorrect faith in itself. Read my take on #theWitchesofEastwick. Like, share, comment over at @reactorsff.bsky.social reactormag.com/the-witches-...

reactormag.comThe Witches of Eastwick: A Deeply Weird Take on Women, Witchcraft, and the Battle of the Sexes - ReactorA charismatic cast give amazing performances in an absolutely terrible, baffling movie.
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

We begin our fantasy-horror crossover series with weekly entries for the 80s Fantasy Film Club in the month of October! First up is the dreamy, iconic, extremely homoerotic vampire film, The Lost Boys! Like and share and comment over at @reactorsff.bsky.social reactormag.com/the-lost-boy...

reactormag.comThe Lost Boys: Punk Vampires, Aging Hippies, and a Killer Soundtrack - ReactorThis movie left an indelible imprint on the vampire genre (and also on fans of sexy saxophone solos).
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

#ConantheDestroyer might just be the best sequel that does a complete 180 on the tone of the original. Read my loving paean to a big, dumb, goofy mess of a movie.

Reactor Magazine@reactorsff.bsky.social

Hot take: @tmdean.bsky.social grew up insisting that Conan the Destroyer was the better of the two Conan movies–it's definitely a sillier take (odd for a movie driven by Conan's grief), with fun performances by Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, and a very sexy statue!

reactormag.comConan the Destroyer: Gags, Grief, and Horny Statues - ReactorIs this sequel the superior Conan film?
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

I had three articles published this week. The vicissitudes of publishing meant they flipped from peans to the late #TimCurry to my rip-roaring defense of Conan the Barbarian. Read my hear-me-out on why it’s a feminist(?) masterpiece(?) in need of reexamination. Comment on the site, like, and share!

Reactor Magazine@reactorsff.bsky.social

1982's Conan the Barbarian is a movie about Arnold Schwarzenegger kicking ass and fighting snakes...but it also presents a far more thoughtful, sympathetic version of Conan than people realize. Let's talk beefy heroes, Thulsa Doom, and...feminism?

reactormag.comConan the Barbarian: An Unexpectedly Nuanced Depiction of Masculinity? - ReactorOkay, hear me out: this movie kicks ass, but it's also more thoughtful than you might expect...
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

Was mostly just excited to see it do well enough to be a fuck you to Zaslav. Was not expecting it to be a legitimately fantastic comedy. Up there with Who Framed Roger Rabbit (seriously).

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

Reactor was kind enough to publish a (far from capacious) deep dive into the late great Tim Curry’s filmography. Read it and comment and share as you see fit. RIP Tim.

Reactor Magazine@reactorsff.bsky.social

Last week was tough; today, we're celebrating the life and work of an actor who brought us so much joy through his wit, humor, sense of fearlessness. @tmdean.bsky.social pays tribute to Tim Curry by ranking some of his most iconic performances:

reactormag.comCelebrating the Great Tim Curry's Ten Greatest Roles - ReactorPaying tribute to a brilliant life and career through some of our all-time favorite characters.
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

Before I understood my own queerness and my own gender fluidity, #TimCurry was my earliest model for a masculinity that didn’t terrify and disgust me.

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

He epitomized a subversive playfulness that undermined fragile machismo but never lacked an edge. There was no man I more wanted to be. I hope he rests well and had any inkling of the difference his mere existence made for so many.

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

End of Oak Street feels like the very best of dumbass Shyamalan glory. Insane dialog. Inscrutable family dynamics. Still pretty fun. Big Trap energy

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

Supergirl was fine? Milly Alcock great. Questionable final act. Lots of tonal inconsistency. But like, didn’t deserve the hate (including the hate that didn’t come from a deeply misogynistic place). But like fine! Also Bradley Cooper and David Krumholz should always play brothers.

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

Wanna read about Naathi butterflies, a quasi-encomium for Criston Cole, and a thorough accounting of all the minute differences between book and show at this point? You are in absolute luck! Share it, comment on the article itself, and follow along for more HotD goodness at @reactorsff.bsky.social

reactormag.comRushing Headlong Toward a Terrible Fate: House of the Dragon, Season 3 Episode 5 - ReactorWhite Worms, deadly butterflies, and some significant departures from the source material...
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

An enthno-nationalist autocratic religious zealot subverting recognized succession laws to seize power? Sounds a little far fetched for the usually grounded and gritty fantasies of Westeros. Read my new article up at @reactorsff.bsky.social ! #hotd #ormund reactormag.com/tv-review-ho...

reactormag.comA New Villain Shimmies Into the Dance: House of the Dragon, Season 3 Episode 4 - ReactorNotes on Hightower ethno-supremacy, surprise pregnancies, and a focus on the smallfolk in Tumbleton...
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

RIP Bonnie Tyler, you sang the very best version of the very best pop song about vampires ever written and for that I am eternally grateful.

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

It’s a double whammy this week for @reactorsff.bsky.social articles authored by yours truly. The next entry in #80sFantasyFilmClub column is on #TheBlackCauldron: Disney’s disastrous take on The Chronicles of Prydain. Comment and share; help us remember this thing perhaps better left forgotten!

reactormag.comThe Black Cauldron: The Dark Fantasy Disney Tried to Bury - ReactorIntrepid young adventurers, a bard, some witches, and a bit of necromancy — how did this adaptation go so wrong?
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

It’s #hotd season! Follow me for weekly, Monday explainers and coverage as we go, episode by episode at Reactor Magazine! #houseofthedragon #teamgreen #teamblack #emmadarcystanaccount

Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

My article on Terry Gilliam and John Neville’s The Adventures of #BaronMunchausen is up at @reactorsff.bsky.social It’s a wild and mostly not too racist ride. Share this article, comment on it over at Reactor itself or interact in whatever way you see fit. reactormag.com/the-adventur...

reactormag.comThe Adventures of Baron Munchausen: The Life and Times of a Master Storyteller - ReactorRevisiting Terry Gilliam's wildly ambitious, extravagant celebration of the power of imagination.
Tyler Dean
@tmdean.bsky.social

The Bride had so much to say. And it’s a surreal riotous romp. It’s a shame it had no way of marrying those two impulses. Frustratingly close to being sublime.