The latest edition of The Atlantic showed up in my mailbox, and in it there’s a rather fascinating article by James Parker, who considers the popularity of the slasher movie (of which there have been several recent examples: The Last House on the Left, Friday the13th, My Bloody Valentine 3-D, etc.) in light of what it says about our culture, what it might tells us about our own attitudes toward violence and death, and more. Christian moviegoers might want to note that Parker draws even makes a connection to a certain Mel Gibson movie. (It should also be noted that Parker quotes a bit of movie dialogue that contains some harsh language, and that his discussion includes a couple of brief descriptions of some rather gory scenes). The whole article is available online.