The Core S1 E2: Butchery of the blenders

Episode 2 of Shudder's talkshow The Core focused on gore and violence.

First up Simon Barrett - who wrote You're Next, V/H/S, Contracted and Blair Witch - talked to host Mickey Keating about how to build tension. To illustrate the point, they stuck their hands in blenders and played Russian Roulette with the plugs. Barrett showed great acting chops as the pressure mounted.

Blair Witch, a sequel to 1999's Blair Witch Project, is Simon Barrett's latest film.

Then came a brief but trenchant interview with criminologist Dr Bill Sanders. He dropped the bomb that horror films make murder too neat and tidy - in real life it's much messier. There was a lot more to explore here - I'd have liked to see a panel discussion with a few more guests.

The whole concept of The Core opens up new worlds of possibility for pastiche. In this episode the humour was occasionally less than sophisticated, but maybe that's unavoidable with gore. And who am I kidding? I was laughing.

An actual failing of the episode was that it featured not a single woman. I look forwards to seeing the Soska Sisters in a later episode but I hope they're not the final word on women in horror.