TL;DR: vaping, marijuana, Michael Burry, low as fuck IV, hugely under-valued company 🚀🚀🚀
\Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. This is not investment advice. All information stated in this post is my own opinion, and some information may be unknowingly inaccurate or outdated. Please do your own due diligence before investing your money. I currently hold a long position on various Altria LEAPs.**
Nicotine products have been in continuous use in North America for thousands of years [1]. Upon the arrival of the Spanish to the New World, tobacco use spread rapidly throughout the globe, becoming hugely popular not only across Europe, but also in far-flung Asia and the Ottoman Empire. The only comparable product to conquer the world so thoroughly is the ubiquitous, similarly addictive, mighty coffee bean.
By the 1900's, smoking had become a huge commercial enterprise. Glitz and glam surrounded the tobacco industry. All of your Grandmother's favorite actors smoked [2]. Many high schools had smoking lounges for the students (of course, your Nana still regularly snuck out behind the bleachers to have a private puff with the quarterback). Nicotine use was a normal and accepted part of life.
We are all, of course, familiar with the rest of the story. Studies came out showing just how damaging cigarette usage was on the human body. Campaigns were begun, laws were enacted, and Big Tobacco became Public Enemy #1 [3]
Fast forward to today. For the past few decades, despite decreasing cigarette volumes, the tobacco industry has remained immensely profitable. Big players in the cigarette industry have been able to compensate for declining cigarette volumes by raising prices. Cash flows from cigarette smoking have never been higher. Yet looking at the stock market performance of the tobacco industry over the past 5 years, you would think that the industry was on life support.
No company has lately fared worse than Altria ($MO). Despite growing income at a 5.9% CAGR since 2017 amid a backdrop of stabilizing declines in cigarette consumption [4], the company's stock remains 45% off its 2017 high. Much of the underperformance can be attributed to investors losing confidence in the company's management after a series of questionable investment decisions, including taking a 35% stake in JUUL, a 45% stake in Chronos (a Canadian marijuana company), and a 10% stake in Anheuser-Busch.
These investments have performed poorly over the past few years. High-profile teen deaths from illicit THC vaping products were widely linked to JUUL usage by our sensationalist media [5], causing Altria to write-down its initial $12B investment in JUUL to a value of only ~$2B today. The bubble in the marijuana stock market popped in 2018, causing a 30% reduction in the value of Altria's Chronos stake. And the rise of the craft beer industry has continued to weigh on the profitability of Anheuser-Busch.
Despite the short-term pitfalls, I will argue that it is reasonable to believe that Altria has positioned itself very well for the future. And with all of these factors weighing down the stock over the past few years, I believe $MO is ripe for a turnaround.
I have a 2023 price target for $MO of $90 which, given the low IV Altria enjoys, implies a 30x (3,000%) return on MO Jan 2023 65c LEAPs.
My thesis relies on four key beliefs:
​

1. The company's core business is under-valued
2. Vaping will see a resurgence as a less-harmful alternative to cigarettes
3. Altria is poised to win big if marijuana is federally legalized
4. Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management is heavily invested in $MO

1) The Company's core business is under-valued
Altria enjoys a stunningly low forward P/E of 8.7 and a stunningly high dividend yield of 8.1% [6]. Various online discounted cash flow analyses of Altria give it an intrinsic value between $62-$72 [7] [8]. These analyses are very conservative in that they only take into account Altria's current business, which is predominantly smokeable tobacco products.
There are also bright spots in Altria's miscellaneous businesses that these DCF models don't account for, such as the fast-growing "on!" line of nicotine pouches, or the likely reinstatement of Anheuser-Busch's dividend after it was paused last year due to Covid.
We'll ignore these bright spots for now and give Altria's core business a conservative price target of $65.
2) Vaping will see a resurgence as a less-harmful alternative to cigarettes
\Please note: I am not a doctor. All health claims made in this post reflect only my own opinions.**
Nicotine has gotten a bad rap in the past 50 years, but on its own there isn't much research I've seen to suggest it's any more dangerous than caffeine. The big problem with nicotine is simply the delivery mechanism. Smoking large amounts of anything is bad for your lungs. Vaping exposes your lungs to far fewer ancillary chemicals in much smaller doses than traditional smoking. For instance, Michael Blaha, M.D., M.P.H., director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, says about vaping “there’s almost no doubt that they expose you to fewer toxic chemicals than traditional cigarettes.” [9]
Altria surveyed the landscape in 2017 and determined that acquiring a stake in JUUL was its best way to position itself for the future. Since then, JUUL's name has been dragged through the mud and associated with many teen deaths. However, these deaths were later determined to be caused by unauthorized THC products unlinked to JUUL [10]. JUUL's case for harm reduction in the nicotine space is still intact.
The FTC filed an anti-trust case recently attempting to block Altria's stake in JUUL [11]. This case is due to be heard this spring. The uncertainty around JUUL's future has weighed on $MO, but in my opinion all outcomes of this case are positive:
1) Altria is forced to divest its stake in JUUL
This is not ideal, but as part of the JUUL acquisition, Altria agreed to not compete in the vaping space against JUUL. If Altria is forced to divest, it can capitalize on the recent decline in the quality and brand value of JUUL (just check out juul to see the declining sentiment around the brand) to bring its own high-quality product onto the market.
2) Altria is allowed to keep its stake in JUUL
In this case, Altria can capitalize on JUUL's troubles by acquiring a larger stake in the company at a discount. Altria can then flood JUUL with the cash it needs to help rebuild its quality and brand. This is the ideal case in my opinion, for both JUUL and Altria.
Setting aside JUUL for the moment, Altria has the exclusive rights to distribute in the USA Phillip Morris's FDA-approved IQoS product [12]. This is a "heat not burn" product that is more similar to existing cigarettes than vaping, but still reduces the number of harmful chemicals inhaled. This product is already popular in Europe and Japan, and is just beginning to be marketed in the USA. One major advantage of this product is that it produces no smoke, and so may potentially end up being allowed in restaurants, bars, and offices.
3) Altria is poised to win big if marijuana is federally legalized
Altria is the one company with the regulatory experience and distribution networks necessary to gain substantial market share in the nascent marijuana industry. Altria has been quietly filing patent after patent for THC and CBD vaping devices [13]. In fact, people in the fledgling marijuana industry are so worried about Altria's entry into the market that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, when speaking about his upcoming federal legalization bill, recently said "I don’t want to see these big tobacco companies coming in and shoving everyone out" [14]. (Note however that, while this position may play well with Senator Schumer's base for now, having a marijuana industry that is run by well-established and responsible companies is ultimately the best outcome for public health, and so it is unlikely that any steps will be taken to bar Altria from competing in the free market of marijuana products).
4) Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management is heavily invested in $MO
Would this really be WallStreetBets if I didn't mention Michael Burry? Burry's fund Scion Asset Management had 5% of its portfolio in $MO as of Q3 2020, making Altria its 13th largest holding [[15](https://dataroma.com/m/holdings.php?m=SAM). For context, this is about half the weight that Michael Burry's fund had in GameStop during the same quarter.
If nothing else, this is a good sanity check on the analysis here.
Summary
In summary, it's likely that the true value of Altria's core business is closer to $65 than the current price of $43. Add on top of that the potential for success in the vaping category, and the potential for growth into the marijuana market, and it is easy to see $MO adding an additional 20-30B in market cap to reach a price of $90 by 2023.
IV for 2023 LEAPs sits at ~20%. MO Jan 2023 65c's are currently priced at $0.77. If Altria reaches $90 by 2023, these options will be worth at least $25. This would represent a >3,100% return.
For this reason, I believe that Altria LEAPs represent a unique opportunity for asymmetric upside. Please let me know your thoughts below, I'd appreciate counter-arguments that highlight any flaws in the reasoning outlined above.

EDIT: Don't consider this to be objective analysis, it's not. If it was, it'd include far more screenshots and always fair comparisons. It's an opinion, I just don't feel like adding "in my opinion" at the start of every segment.
One of the things I've frequently seen as something people praise the current era for is that it looks beautiful and has never looked better. Whenever this happens, I feel a sharp dissonance because I don't really agree. On the surface level glance, sure, you get the impression that show looks good because it's fresh and in the newest era, right? But when I watch it, I lose that impression. I've thought about why, read some other opinions on it, and here's my offering on why the cinematography and visuals of this era just aren't that great. Essentially, this will be my tirade about that.

The video resolution now may be up to the high definition standards of today, but that pales in comparison to the importance of aesthetic framing and camerawork, which aren't up to par right now.
The CGI now is probably at its very best for Doctor Who, but that doesn't matter as much as you would think. We see CGI for a deceptively small amount of time onscreen during an episode of Doctor Who. What leaves bigger and more lasting impressions are the visual direction, the colors, the sets, and the observation of characters. I believe the overall visual value of those has noticeably lessened, especially in series 12, and I'll explain why. Basically, technical issues, bad sets, and visual direction.
It's new, high-res, with great effects. It often looks decent. But it's stifled by so many issues, most of which I'll try to cover now.

Firstly, visual storytelling.
S5-10 in particular had a lot of this because Moffat, regardless of what you think of the quality of his writing, was blatantly a visual storyteller who nudged the writing room and the directors to cooperate with that. I'll provide screenshots for this in particular to show what I mean.
Think back to Deep Breath, the moment when 12 holds up a mirror in front of the clockwork android and accuses him of ignorance about the origins of his face. We observe the scene from 12's angle in the large room, and the shot is framed in such a way that we also see the back of the mirror that also reflects 12's face back to him. This aligns with his own private confusion about his new look, and visually adding to the obvious narrative parallels between 12 and the clockwork android. The visual decisions and the framing help tell the story.
The Eleventh Hour comes to mind as well. Amy stops 11 by pinning his tie to the car door and demands answers for the absurdity of his fairy tale like presence, because now she's an adult and doesn't buy it anymore. So he provides her with the same apple he took from her room and pleads with her to believe, and we observe Amy as she struggles to convince herself of the day's events. The sunlight comes to highlight the two of them, accompanied by a distinctly fairy tale like melody, to further the fairy tale effect and to depict Amy relenting, choosing to believe him and continue believing in the "fairy tale" man. The sunlight helps make the themes more obvious.
Dark Water. There's a very emotional moment between the main characters, the camera focuses on the two of them quietly talking while the TARDIS interior is in the background. 12 feels helpless at the sight of his companion's tears, does not know how to deal with them efficiently, so what does he do? He makes a decision to briefly turn around, the camera switches to a jarringly different angle that is meant to make him look intimidating, and he falls back into the prickly behavior he practices to motivate people into being alert and ready. The camerawork here is intentionally jarring during this "switch", to help make it clear that 12's stern and ruthless lecturing is an artificial facade he uses to whip people into shape when he has to ("Chin up, shoulders back. Let's see what we're made of. You and I."), but underneath that is obviously a very emotional and kind man as we've just witnessed. Camerawork here functions as a crucial part of 12's characterization, to show that his rudeness is a tool he employs to make people focused and alert.
Hell Bent is another example. Notice how ever since 12 removes Clara from her timeline and runs with her, the camera never really allows both of them to coexist peacefully and harmoniously within the same frame. The mood is frantic, accompanies the foreboding feeling that 12 has done something very questionable. Even during their moment of truth in the Cloisters there is a very deliberate decision to minimize physical contact because of the themes of separation, to not allow both of their faces to clearly be in focus at the same time because of what the episode is about. It often alternates between them instead, adds to the feeling of disconnection and finality, of something unnatural. Despite this deliberate choice to mix up the camerawork to make a narrative point, the episode still looks very aesthetic and professional, it's one of the best looking episodes of the show.
These scenes very distinctly try to convey some sort of meaning for the characters or the story's themes, and even the less visually meticulous non-Talalay episodes in S5-10 usually had a couple of shots that could be observed in this way without their context, and you'd still be able to understand what the shot is representing.
This should be the part where I list the Chibnall versions, but therein lies my issue: I struggle to find things like this happening in the last two series with the same depth or recognizability. There's a new and distinct lack of visual imagination, or using visuals as a tool to describe characters, develop a story or its themes. The visual part of the show just appears to be a channel for broadcasting the most basic information and ensuring we're not blind. That's not an egregious error of course, but that layer seems to have been lost, or appears so rarely that I have trouble locating it.
Maybe I'm just not seeing it and someone who does should counter this.

Secondly, the sets. Using the TARDIS as a comparison will work nicely.
Consider the 2014-2017 interior, its multiple levels, its abundance of room, its bookcases. The directors can instruct the actors on what to do on the sets because they're spacious and bright and interactive. This allows them to move around, to push parts of the console around, to sit on the staircases, to do things that keep the flow alive. In case there's a scene when characters are motionless for too long, just send them downstairs, or have the other character head towards the library or pull a lever in the same frame. The set allows the scenes to breathe and to be dynamic. Heaven Sent's moments in the TARDIS are a good example of how well you can use a good set to help demonstrate the emotional state of a character. When angry, 12 shoves the monitors around. When feeling alone, he ascends to a secluded staircase and sits, looking very small and isolated. When full of energy, he's allowed to run around and interact with the interior.
Now compare that to the current TARDIS interior, to that set. Directors CANNOT rely on it to help make scenes work better. It is dark, claustrophobic, flat. In fact, the directors have to actively cover up the set's deficiency by focusing on closeups which increases the claustrophobic feeling provided by the set, funnily enough. The huge pillars are obstructive for the characters, they drastically lessen the chamber, and they're probably very difficult to film around which would explain the weird angles. The companion actors aren't really able to do anything or move around without it seeming aimless, you can constantly see the fam loitering in the background not doing anything, because there's nothing they can do in the small set without crowding the already crowded frame. The 13 TARDIS set holds back the visual aspect of any scenes directed in it, which makes the scenes look flat and uneventful. For it to work better, it has to be bigger on the inside (yeah), more brightly lit, and the camera needs to stop zooming in on the character's noses. In its current form, I have not yet seen a TARDIS scene in which I thought "wow, this looks well filmed."
This is an issue that appears outside of the TARDIS as well.

The non-TARDIS environments. So many environments just look like the inside of a cramped factory now.
World Enough and Time / The Doctor Falls is set in a multi-level ship with time flowing at different speeds. There are entire decks essentially being different worlds, there's a frigid industrial urban environment at the bottom, then a bright countryside, a control room at the top, all dwarfed by a black hole. The variety contributes to the feeling of size for the ship. That's a dramatic example, though.
We can mention The Eleventh Hour too, over a decade old, where the characters navigate through many different locations in Leadworth. Observe the way the actors/characters behave in the frame, though, that matters. It's dynamic, there's a lot of room so they can move around without disrupting the lighting or overwhelming the screen with their presence, the closeups aren't as awkward because you can still see the foreground. The people move around, their physical actions tell their own story just like their words do.
In The Battle of Ranksoor av Kolos we have a ship and a quarry. The ship is apparently Ux technology, but looks suspiciously like the result of a day of filming in a factory. A lot of episodes look suspiciously like they got filmed in different areas of some dark industrial complex, and this is hidden by jarringly quick cuts and the abundance of close-ups in a shadowy background that don't really provide a good look into what is happening around the characters. (Reusing sets has been a thing since series 1, though, fair enough.)
I don't feel like I'm exploring the environment while watching episodes in this way, I feel like the director is trying to stop me from getting a good look at the environment at whatever cost. It's a confusing visual direction, one that I find outside this specific episode as well. Reminds me of Sleep No More, but that gimmick was wholly intentional there since it's a found footage experimental story.

Next up, camerawork, color, framing and lighting.
You might already know about the lens flares popping up so much, you already know how stupid it is. Once you start seeing it, you can't unsee it. This isn't a J. J. Abrams film, cut it out. This just feels like the filming crew flicked on all the switches that say "cool and cinematic" without balancing it or putting thought into it. I remember series 6 having a tendency do it sometimes, but it wasn't nearly as often as now.
There's this strange insistence on color correction to make the show look more... trailer-like. Like it's visually competing with the saturation of current Netflix shows. The show tries to deepen its colors, but what they've mostly done is make the show look darker. The lighting does not seem fit for the color correction they're using, it's just not bright enough. It's strangely muted, especially in the TARDIS, it often awkwardly shadows the faces of characters needlessly or paints them in a weird way. Observe the lighting in Jack's introduction to Graham (did you miss me?) and you'll see a perfect example, it looks muted and plastic, like they can't figure out how to light up the scene properly. What the hell is this? Some describe the current look of the show as "cinematic", I call it muted and gloomy.
Dutch angles (they're used to portray psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed) are often used during moments when they're not meant to be used at all, often to create ""iconic"" shots that are otherwise frankly boring. Like a band-aid.
The cameras often shake during motion, they don't allow you to get a clear look at the environment and just make the experience feel jarring. I just want to see what's going on and where's it happening, this isn't supposed to be The Blair Witch Project. Steady the camera.
There's often a strange obsession with the depth of field effect, with overdoing it. It adds to the impression that the filming crew seems to think more depth of field = objectively better, which isn't always the case. Sometimes less is more, and this "let's blur out everything in the background" insistence makes it seem like it's trying to hide the background from us even when it's clearly not supposed to be the case.
During conversations, there's sometimes this thing I call a "nostril shot", where the person's face is awkwardly zoomed into with an angled fisheye lens effect focusing on the lower middle of their face. It blurs everything else out and pushes it away, like it's trying to hug the nose or enter it. This is the fault of not knowing how to use the new anamorphic camera lenses that mostly shine for outdoor panorama shots, and misusing them in cramped interiors where they distort the faces of characters and makes the visual experience slightly unnatural. It's even worse when the camera just won't stop doing it, when a conversation amounts to just swapping between two closeups of two faces. To be fair, anamorphic lenses are a pain to work with, new to Who, and require too much time and effort to look really good, especially indoors.
The aesthetic framing of the characters in their shots is not as good as it can be. Characters just awkwardly stand around and deliver lines like they were told not to move at all costs during conversation. Body language is largely absent, there's no golden ratios, no flair or creativity to how things are placed, no visual rhyme. The composition of the shots isn't memorable. So many conversations between characters seem to be built on the question of "how can we keep swapping closeup of these two faces without making it seem repetitive?"
What I do recognize is the sometimes used "superhero shots" where characters pose in front of the camera. This is fine, I guess, but characters are almost always relegated to doing just that, standing around, not moving, being wooden and waiting for the Doctor to stop doing whatever she's doing. It isn't dynamic.
I could go on but you get the idea.

I don't think the show looks outright bad now, not at all. Sometimes it looks good, and I'd say series 11 looks better than series 12. There ARE well-directed episodes that I haven't covered fairly... but is there enough of them to support this notion that the show has never looked better? I don't think so. It's more HD, the CGI is better, but in terms of camerawork, lighting, color grading, sets, editing, visual imagination and storytelling (AKA the most important parts of visuals in television)... it's just not consistently that great, and sometimes strays to the realm of confusingly poor.
The good visuals don't consistently carry the show because they're swarmed by issues and brought too far down by them to call the era great-looking. It often seems like the budget is secretly too low and the show is filmed in a way that has to hide it as well as possible using bells and whistles like cool lenses, drastic post-production filters, constant closeups, shiny flares of light, letterboxing... without restraint or thought, and the whole experience feels unnatural because of it, like a vast effort is being made to hide flimsy filming by adding a shiny layer over it.
The claustrophobic sets limit motion and dynamic expression, there's a monumental loss of visual narrative value, lighting is in direct clash with the color grading, lens flares are a plague, the expensive outdoor lenses are criminally misused, editing is flimsy, the list goes on. What I think we now get is this strange attempt to mimic the J. J. Abrams visual style but with none of the budget and know-how, so it turns into this muted and visually dull trailer-like footage that takes turns looking washed out and too dark, looks like it's trying to hide things from its audience with its claustrophobic treatment of space and its overly tight zoomed wide shots to try and feign a "cinematic" approach. It does look good for Doctor Who as a whole, I guess, but not as good as people say, there's a distinct lack of space, size, exploration and room to breathe. I think the visual direction now feels inauthentic, bland and corporate.
So yeah, this notion some fans have of series 11 and 12 being the show's visual peak is just weird to me. Jamie Magnus Stone and Lee Haven Jones in particular are directors whose episodes made me feel this way, and this era's absolute best directors are still not as good as directors such as Adam Smith, Rachel Talalay, Saul Metzstein, Douglas Mackinnon, and others (in my opinion).
Rewatch The Eleventh Hour which came out 10 years ago and compare it to, lets say, Fugitive Of The Judoon. The former is spacious, well lit and full of visual storytelling whilst the latter is blurry and murky. Particularly in Jack's scenes. Rewatch A Town Called Mercy. Rewatch Heaven Sent. Rewatch Vincent and the Doctor. Rewatch The God Complex, The Impossible Astronaut. Hell, if you think I'm just cherrypicking fan favorite episodes than do the same for The Curse of the Black Spot, or Closing Time. Observe how the cameras treat space, how they treat characters, how they avoid the messy closeup nostril shots, how the action is rarely as jarringly erratic as S11/12, how the sets allow characters to do things in them and express themselves through movement, how visible and well-lit everything is most of the time, how vibrant the colors are, how the show isn't afraid of showing you the background while still treating the primary subject with the most importance. Focus on the visual aspect, and you'll see this isn't about Moffat good Chibnall bad, this is purely the difference made by the directors and the filming crew, something that isn't all that related to writing quality.
I think this "new = good" train of thought stems from the notion that the passage of time equals the show's visuals improving, which I suppose has been true for 2005 - somewhere in the 2010s... but that's not always the case, not in the case of Doctor Who cinematography right now. I wouldn't use this era as an example of outright bad visuals, no, but I wouldn't use it as an example of great visuals either. I'm firmly in the camp that the visual value of the show has recently taken a step back, and that from a technical perspective the show's cinematography peaked during some episodes set in series 5 to 10, regardless what I think of the writing itself.
This era looks new, it often looks decent. But does it look good enough to consider its visuals a strength it has over other eras? I don't think so, I have too many misgivings about the above mentioned issues to agree. The current era's visuals have a long way to go to deserve the description of looking great.
Thoughts? Agreements? Disagreements? Something to add? Is this unfair cherrypicking or too biased? I wish I had the patience to screenshot more. All this might make it seem like I think the Chibnall era always has bad visuals because I didn't point out the parts when it looks great, but this post was more about it not looking consistently good as people like to say rather than saying it looks bad, it was about pointing out the visual negatives that I rarely see mentioned.

(2020) Invisible Man 9/10
This remake, simply put, is excellent. I’m a huge fan of Leigh Whannell and while I do think the story itself is fantastic, it’s his directing that blew me away. This movie is so fucking tense without showing anything for a huge majority of its runtime. When shit actually starts to go down, it’s the definition of thrilling. Elisabeth Moss killed her role.
(2020) The Rental 8/10
The meat and bones of this movie is a character driven drama story. It’s tense and having so much knowledge right away as the viewer that the characters don’t have is frankly anxiety inducing, in a good way. I thought all four main performances were fantastic, especially Sheila Vand. There’s a moment in the film where everything is abruptly subverted in a grand horror fashion and depending on your tastes, that may be off-putting. To me, it was absolutely genius. Dave Franco directed the fuck out of this movie and eliminated all the comfort of campiness that great slashers usually hold.
(2020) Relic 8/10
Robyn Nevin is fantastic here and all the supporting roles are great but not only does this woman make the movie, she is the movie. Her dialogue, her delivery and her body language, at least to me, are a huge chunk of the entire plot. I just found this movie to be gentle until it isn’t, which makes for the most tense moments. It’s a very claustrophobic film; I think it does justice to a very serious and frightening illness.
(2020) Palm Springs 8/10
It doesn’t take long to catch on that, while this is a romantic comedy, it’s also a sci-fi horror film and a specific subset of sci-fi that makes me anxious. So in some regards, at least to genre placement, there’s my bias. The movie is seriously a treat though. It’s a new spin on an old formula and it’s genuinely funny, suspenseful and endearing. Even if you disagree that it shouldn’t be discussed in the horror circles, you won’t regret watching it.
(2020) Shirley 7/10
It’s an incredibly interesting film for many reasons but mostly because it exists as a biopic, as well as a psychological horror film. Jackson is played Elisabeth Moss who is just wonderful. She really brought to life the internal struggle of Jackson. I’d suggest doing some research before diving into this because her profession during the time period was not glamorous or widely accepted, which gives context to, well, everything.
(2020) Becky 8/10
Kevin James was fantastic. He’s a sadistic fuck in this movie. But he doesn’t deserve all the credit and the writers don’t either. I’m going to highlight Greta Zozula here. The most powerful moments in this entire film were purely cinematography based. Melanie Garros and Jenn McGouran deserve a shoutout as well. This was a cookie-cutter home invasion film at its core and these people, among others, made it one of my favorite home invasion films of the decade. Alissa Gee deserves recognition too for creating the most disgusting moment I’ve seen in a minute.
(2019) Parasite 9/10
This film is most obviously on-the-nose but in the same breath, so incredibly impactful. I can’t even describe the seamless transition from black comedy to horror. It’s a heartbreaking view on classism and poverty while also just being a thrilling experience. Every single performance is remarkable and natural. I’m not even sure what else to say without spoiling it. This film isn’t just specific to Asian culture but very relevant to anyone feeling that they’re in a rut.
(2019) Villains 8/10
The premise is sort of simple but the horror is in the details. i loved how everything played out and I thought all four main actors did an incredible job. Everything was super convincing which had me invested and tense. There’s a scene at the end, despite the movies dark, comedic aspects, that was really sweet and very climactic.
(2019) Swallow 9/10
Haley Bennett delivers a heartbreaking performance with a powerful but melancholy ending. The narrative itself is twisted and sadistic. This film make me anxious, depressed and in the end, I’m not sure it offered much reprieve. I loved this film but I’d caution anyone going through mental trauma to venture cautiously into it. It doesn’t promote anything negative but the subject matter can be difficult.
(2019) Nimic 8/10
When I googled the name of this film it gave me the Romanian translation of “nothing” but also, “everything”. For a 10-minute short it offers so much. It felt like a powerfully dark statement about performance in general.
(2019) The Head Hunter 9/10
This was one of the most creative, restrained yet somehow absolutely insane movies I’ve seen all year. I’m absolutely blown away. The exposition is limited and told so refreshingly through almost entirely visuals. It’s caused many viewers frustrations but for me, it was absolutely the best aspect. That’s saying a lot because visually, stylistically, it’s fucking remarkable. I’ve heard people say this movie is boring and to me, there’s not a dull moment throughout the entire film, not a single wasted shot. It’s thrilling, dark, gritty, campy at times and embodies this identity that’s both somehow fluid and refined. It feels like an arthouse film in its minimalism but avoids any pretentiousness you may associate with that sub-genre. Jordan Downey has done some intentionally so-bad-it’s good movies in the past and he clearly wanted to still reference those aspects through some of his shlocky, 50’s horror inspirations in here; especially Fiend Without a Face. That’s a creative decision that will turn a lot of people off but I just really appreciated it and it made the actual watching experience so incredibly fun.
(2019) The Lighthouse 9.5/10
This film is among the few that I felt compelled to watch it again almost immediately. It’s so incredibly rich in every aspect that can make a movie successful. The visuals are jaw-dropping; almost every single frame of this film is photographic. The soundtrack is stripped down to just these haunting sounds of fog horns and piss buckets. The package everything is delivered in, from an artistic standpoint, is so memorable. The performances by Pattinson and Dafoe are both some of the best I’ve seen this entire year and really, the decade…possibly of all time. They deliver this brilliant script’s dialogue with such passion, humor and intensity. The story in this film is shrouded in mystery but the clues and tools needed to decipher it do exist and with a rewatch, finding them felt so rewarding. It’s the kind of movie that I want to make my friends watch, simply so I have someone to discuss it with. It’s one of the best horror films I’ve ever seen.
(2019) I Trapped the Devil 7/10
This one is a bit of a slow-burn but I felt the tension from beginning to end so none of it felt like a blind investment. It had the potential to be another, cookie-cutter, pretentious statement but what I found it to be was simply a well-crafted horror film.
(2019) Pet Sematary 7.5/10
The original film was entertaining to me but I felt it was also dated and a bit too unintentionally silly for my tastes. So going into this, I was hoping for a darker, more serious film and I’m happy to say, that’s what I got.
(2019) Guns Akimbo 7.5/10
This is non-stop gory action, an absurd story and an insane performance by Radcliffe, who I’m such a big fan of at this point. The best part? It’s genuinely, laugh-out-loud funny, both through physical comedy and clever dialogue.
(2019) Harpoon 7/10
I enjoyed this movie a lot and I mean “enjoyed” in every sense of the word. It was the kind of movie to stop making me think so critically about the acting and cinematography because I just find the stranded genre so fun. This movie really delivered in both dark humor and pure, unpredictability.
(2019) Annabelle Comes Home 7/10
I know that Gary Dauberman has worked closely with the series so he definitely understands Wan’s Conjuring universe’s vibe. I mean that from both a pacing and cinematography standpoint. I loved that all the possessed artifacts come into play.
(2019) Vivarium 8/10
This movie is fucking terrifying. The cast may even be too loaded because it’s the environment and Senan Jennings that makes everything so scary. The final 30 minutes of this film are a complete mindfuck and just left my jaw on the floor.
(2019) It Chapter 2 9/10
It embodies the heartfelt, character driven story of King’s novel so incredibly well. Every single performance by the adult actors is fantastic and as much as people didn’t like the overuse of humor, it felt like a natural evolution to me. Things were destined to be less scary with the adult characters coming into contact with an evil they’ve faced before. The last 30-min to me were just so touching, sad and it was the culmination I was hoping for.
(2019) Zombieland: Double Tap 7.5/10
It’s certainly a sequel as far as sequels go but I had a ton of fun with it and it was great to see this group back together. It’s a super cheesy film and I would expect some hate but the original is cheesy fun too, if even to a lesser extent.
(2019) The Color Out of Space 7/10
The entire suspense if the film is how each individual character reacts to this unknown force but Cage’s is of course the most volatile. I love the body horror and I think the entire movie is pretty goddamn exciting in that aspect. It goes so far beyond what you’d expect.
(2019) Joker 9.5/10
To have a Batman-universe film stand out this much among all the others is incredible. This film intentionally evokes almost every emotion until a raw, chilling finale. Gotham is unkempt, unstable and teetering.
(2019) Come to Daddy 7.5/10
This movie is definitely a dark comedy but it’s incredibly interesting in that, among the dark humor, is a real horror movie and a very graphic one at that.
(2019) The Lodge 9/10
The misdirects in this story are excellent and I was blown away about how well the cinematography was used to manipulate the viewer. It feels like it’s twist after twist but in reality, nothing changes and that’s the scariest aspect to the entire movie.
(2019) Home with a View of the Monster 7/10
They do a fantastic job of storytelling, switching timelines and perspectives throughout the film. It’s a technique that’s been around longer than we’ve all been alive but one that’s not easily mastered.
(2019) Ready or Not 7.5/10
It’s just a ton of fun and Samara Weaving is fantastic. There’s so much great meta-humor and the effects are top notch. I think this sub-genre of sadistic games being played has been done to death so it was a welcomed surprise to see a film do it in such a successful way.
(2019) The Platform 9.5/10
One of my favorite things about horror is that you can trace history itself through the decades, with films reflecting the current political, social and economic state around the globe. First we has Us and then another incredible film Parasite, all with similar desperate themes of class instability. Then you have The Platform, which in its pure brutalism combines horror, religion and politics to make an incredibly powerful statement.
(2019) I See You 9/10
This film consistently surprised, disappointed and impressed me throughout its runtime based purely on my own expectations. It frankly made a fool out of me.
(2019) The Vast of Night 7/10
This movie is pretty low-budget but they really worked with what they had to create this warm, throwback aesthetic that just tickled my tiny little nuts. It’s a dialogue driven, on-the-nose Twilight Zone homage and I really enjoyed it.
(2019) John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum 8/10
The choreography and production is mesmerizing. This might be a Hollywood mainstream action film but the kills are powerful and fucking brutal.
(2018) Bloodline 7.5/10
Sean William Scott is a forever type casted actor but has managed to break free of that throughout the years and this is another great example of him doing just that. His performance is reserved but effective.
(2018) Gwen 8.5/10
It’s an incredibly heartbreaking story that, while exists in the folk-horror genre, subverts any and all expectations. Eleanor Worthington-Cox and Maxine Peaks carry the entire film.
(2018) Freaks 8/10
Emile Hirsch, Amanda Crew and Lexy Kolker were all great but it was Bruce Dern who blew me away. He’s such a powerful on-screen presence; just his delivery alone establishes a lot of the more horrifying elements to this film.
(2018) Overlord 8/10
I thought it would be a traditional zombie movie and the circumstances would be the twist but it was its own thing. It’s kind of difficult to describe but I think action-war-horror would be the closest thing I could pin it too. Jovan Adepo was a great fucking lead.
(2018) Monster Party 7.5/10
It’s awesome to experiment but this is a film that will appeal to almost everyone without feeling unoriginal or sold out. This is dark humor at its most enjoyable and the practical effects and gore are fucking awesome.
(2018) Pledge 7.5/10
It’s a simple premise but so well executed. I loved the ending and pretty much 95% of the creative decisions. This isn’t a bloodbath of a horror film but it’s violent as hell.
(2018) High Life 7/10
This film is a really uncomfortable watch from beginning to end. It’s filled with violent, psychosexual imagery, a disjointed narrative and cum. It ends and if you don’t outright hate it, it’s hard to explain why you like it because it’s such a rough watch. I fall in the latter category.
(2018) Possum 8/10
I love the way the story unfolds in the end, just methodically bit-by-bit until a crushing reveal. I felt for this main character and his pain seemed so real.
(2018) Wildling 8/10
Bel Powley and Liv Tyler both play very complimentary fantastic roles. There’s an extended portion of the film that’s almost uplifting and pleasantly strange, following their relationship with each other. I’m happy to say things turn sinister quickly and the last 30-minutes are a wild ride, to say the least.
(2018) The Nightingale 9.5/10
Jennifer Kent decided to put in such a universally disgusting scene that had people walking out of screenings and almost justifiably so. It’s really difficult to watch in portions. It’s just fortunate she followed it up with a masterpiece.
(2017) John Wick: Chapter 2 8/10
These assassins dance so carefully around innocent civilians that it almost comes off as a black comedy, in a great way.
(2017) My Friend Dahmer 8/10
To me, especially with Ross Lynch’s performance, it was an equally endearing and chilling film. It humanized someone who I’ve always considered to be a literal monster, which is something I don’t know how to feel about.
(2017) One Cut of the Dead 7/10
This movie is super creative and pretty fucking hilarious. It feels like a modern day Bowfinger.
(2017) Marrowbone 7.5/10
The characters portrayed are vibrant and fully realized, whether it be through substance or lack-there-of. I obviously don’t actively try and predict movies like a gameshow but this film seemed to excel in misdirect.
(2016) White Girl 8/10
It reminded me a lot of Larry Clark’s Kids but actually intelligently modernized to make a statement on these neighborhoods on the fringe of gentrification.
(2016) The Lighthouse 7.5/10
Mark Lewis Jones and Michael Jibson play their respective roles as the lighthouse keepers really well. Towards the end of the film when the story demands even more of them both, they truly deliver.
(2015) Room 9/10
Brie Larson is an incredible actress and plays this profoundly realistic character. There's moments where emotions do bubble over but most of the time, she does so much by doing so little.
(2015) Jurassic World 7.5/10
Some people will be completely turned off by some of the more absurd and out-there plot elements but I have to say, despite it being cheesy on paper, a lot of the newer sci-fi concepts just happen to work. This is bound to forever be kind of divisive but I liked it.
(2015) Tag 8.5/10
It’s like Tokyo Gore Police meets The Matrix. Sono makes a powerful statement on film media, gender oppression and interestingly enough, he doesn’t leave himself out of the lens of criticism.
(2015) The Invitation 9/10
This movie’s horror aspect is incredibly telegraphed and manipulated with these creepy violin sounds. However, Karyn Kusama’s impeccably clean cinematography and direction use all of that to its benefit.
(2014) John Wick 8/10
I saw this movie in theaters and let me just say, as a beagle owner, this may be my favorite revenge movie. Keanu Reeves is badass as shit and it was the first film in a long time to make me interested in action.
(2014) Spring 8.5/10
It feels helpless and hopeful at the same time, Benson’s script is amazing. I’ve always said that films shot in idyllic landscapes are a blank canvas for horror. There’s so much beautiful contrast.
(2014) The Treatment 7.5/10
This film is so unnerving, dark and depressing. The bones of it are structured like any crime thriller but the meat of it is pure depravity.
(2014) Clown 8/10
This is body horror and one of the better ones out there; the slow, methodical transformation throughout this movie was so effective.
(2014) The Incident 9/10
Bleak doesn’t even begin to describe this film. It’s pure nihilism, screamed loudly into the universe.
(2014) The Guest 8.5/10
I fucking love the story, Dan Stevens is fantastic and the production was cleanly executed. It’s Adam Wingard’s best film so far.
(2013) Blue Ruin 9/10
It’s a standout to me among revenge films. Macon Blair’s character isn’t some bloodthirsty ex-navy seal bent on revenge. He’s a completely broken man that’s overcome by heartbreak.
(2013) Evil Dead 7.5/10
It’s one of the few examples where a remake of a classic, near perfect movie, actually works.
(2013) Redemption 8/10
The film is shot so well, the editing and portrayal of the visuals all correspond to the ebb and flow of his characters physical and mental health.
(2013) Under the Skin 9/10
The second death in this movie is one of the most remarkably unsettling scenes I’ve witnessed to date.
(2011) The Strange Thing About the Johnsons 7/10
Astor flips child molestation on its head in a tense, sickeningly well-made film and I absolute hate it. Do not watch this movie, this will only detract from your overall happiness.
(2011) Contagion 9/10
There’s some fantastic performances by Paltrow, Law, Fishburne and quite a few others. However, it’s the research and writing of this film, the frightening scientific accuracy, that makes it so effective.
(2011) We Need to Talk About Kevin 9/10
This is probably one of the most sensitive subjects you can approach and I’m a huge fan of Lynne Ramsay. Ezra Miller has one of the most chillingly realistic performances of the decade.
(2010) Inception 9.5/10
It’s Nolan’s masterpiece in my mind and that statement isn’t to be taken lightly, as everything he’s done has felt powerful.
(2010) Buried 8/10
This is one of my favorite movies filmed all in one location. It’s tense, claustrophobic (obviously) and it feels genuinely helpless.
(2010) Skeletons 7/10
It’s a strange little film but it’s charming, smart and a refreshing take on the exorcism sub-genre.
(2009) The House of the Devil 8/10
My absolute favorite aspect of this film is the retro feel. It captured 70’s horror so incredibly well. Ti West is a talented filmmaker and this is one of my favorites by him.
(2009) Cropsey 7/10
If there was one thing I really took away from this film, it would be how society and children in particular adapt to unsolved murders.
(2009) The Loved Ones 7.5/10
It reminds of almost a modern day interpretation on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, if the dinner scene was the entire film.
(2008) Lake Mungo 9/10
This family is so incredibly natural, real and convincing. It’s not too over the top. The horror is hidden in every frame and simultaneously interwoven with heartbreak. Despite many previous and later films attempting to do what it does, I’ve never seen anything like it.
(2007) An American Crime 7.5/10
Elliot Page is wonderful as Sylvia Likens, she just has this innocent nature to her that amplified the violent aspects of the film. I loved the editing of courtroom footage throughout the runtime, it was a constant reminder that what you’re watching actually happened, despite the theatrical nature of the film at times.
(2007) Teeth 8/10
Teeth is actually such an incredibly hard movie to review critically. The film itself, as a whole, is so many things at once. It’s a comedy, an exploitation film, a revenge film and even sort of…a slasher? I have to give respect where respect is due.
(2007) Death Sentence 7/10
This movie is so goddamn intense during the action sequences that it actual reminds me more of a Max Payne video game film adaptation. It’s so over-the-top but in a really entertaining way.
(2007) Timecrimes 8.5/10
I loved this movie when I first saw it but upon re-watching it, I can’t help but stress its influence in the time-loop horror sub-genre. Sure films like Primer definitely helped pave the way but Timecrimes really manages to focus less on the science fiction and more on the horrifying consequences that come with time travel.
(2007) Zodiac 9/10
It’s not the most violent film, it’s much more story driven but the moments of violence feel fucking powerful. The horror in this film isn’t about the serial killer, it’s really about obsession and Gyllenhaal absolutely nails his performance to bring that aspect home.
(2006) Population 436 7/10
It didn’t aim to disgust or push boundaries; it’s just a fun, creepy story with a satisfying ending.
(2006) Children of Men 9.5/10
It’s a bleak film, as bleak as they come from some perspectives but through the violence and despair is a powerful message of hope. Clive Owen’s character is as a broken as the world around him and one of my favorite character arcs of all time.
(2005) Red Eye 7/10
The setup is sinister enough, being in the confines of a plane, to warrant it being discussed as a horror but it does devolve into an action thriller, not that I’m a genre-snob. Both Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams are fantastic and it’s a tight knit package.
(2005) The Descent 9.5/10
It’s absolutely terrifying and top-to-bottom, one of the most effective horror movies ever made. After seeing over a thousand horror projects, this still remains one of the most intense, period.
(2005) Constantine 8.5/10
Listen, I’ve obviously never even heard about this comic but let me just say, as a standalone movie, it’s fucking awesome. It’s basically Keanu Reeves battling his way through hell, murking demons and basically just being badass as shit.
(2004) Saw 8/10
It’s one of the most creative projects of the 00’s and a project that launched Wan’s and Whannell’s career. I can safely say, the two of them haven’t had any major misses since. This movie is raw, disturbing and has a strong mystery-driven backbone that makes it iconic and endlessly re-watchable. I absolutely love it.
(2004) Hellboy 7.5/10
Listen, I’m not a fucking nerd who is all-knowing about these comics and how well they translate to film but let me tell you, this movie fucking rocks. Ron Perlman kills this role and has so much personality.
(2000) The Gift 8.5/10
Everyone here is wonderful. If I had to pick a standout though, it would be Giovanni Ribisi. His performance is so raw and emotive. The unstable nature of his character actually held up as the backbone to the mystery portion of this film, making it very much unpredictable.
(1999) The Ninth Gate 9/10
It’s two hours of a giant satanic onion being peeled back layer by layer. It’s clear that when Polanski isn’t raping children, he’s creating filmmaking masterpieces.
(1999) Deep Blue Sea 7.5/10
The science-fiction aspects may be super contrived to someone smarter than I am but the entire movie is so goddamn entertaining. I love all the characters and LL Cool J is particularly hilarious.
(1998) Pi 7.5/10
Aronofsky is challenging religion with science and mathematics and it comes together in a really insane way.
(1997) The Lost World: Jurassic Park 7/10
One scene in particular that stuck with me was the raptors in the tall grass, so aesthetically gorgeous and well-shot. It’s not a perfect movie but Goldblum and Moore are charismatic, it’s fucking action packed and the set pieces are diverse as shit. This isn’t some dialed in bullshit for a quick buck.
(1997) Men in Black 9/10
Vincent D’Onofrio was fucking incredible. The entire villain that is Edgar is one of my favorites of all time. Everything from his speech, his loose-skin and awkwardly stiff gate just really sell it.
(1996) The Craft 7.5/10
I love all the acting and characters but Fairuza Balk is probably my favorite. She’s just so eclectic and over-the-top.
(1995) Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight 7/10
This is such a fun movie and very much in the Tales from the Crypt vein. It’s campy but super violent too; the practical effects are fucking dope. It’s kind of like Evil Dead meets From Dusk till Dawn. Billy Zane is great in it and just brings a ton of personally to the film. I even really dug the raunchy, meta-horror opening.
(1994) The Mask 7/10
Jim Carrey is his usual, hilarious, eclectic, over-the-goddamn-top self which softens the edges. There’s also a villain though and the same childish aspects don’t apply to him. As a kid, he was kind of scary actually.
(1993) Jurassic Park 9.5/10
Even just typing that title blows my mind, this movie was made in 1993 and 27 years later, it still looks better than most modern monster movies. Jurassic Park is everything. This movie is the perfect blend of horror, action, adventure and sci-fi.
(1991) Highway to Hell 7.5/10
This is an absolutely awesome 90’s horror movie. It has cameos from the entire Stiller family, even fucking Gilbert Gottfried. You also have Chad Lowe, who I truthfully didn’t even know existed. The story, set pieces and script are also all excellent. It’s darkly funny, well-paced and just a wild ride from start to finish.
(1990) The Exorcist 3 8.5/10
This movie, for a film following such an iconic movie, being a third film in a series, is just bafflingly good. The original writer of the first film is returning and his script as well as directorial product both deliver.
(1989) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 8/10
Indy is still Indy here, he’s fucking badass; his character and dialogue excel in this entry immensely. Not just dialogue but this film contains some of the best action choreography of the entire series, something that almost seems unfairly diminished through repetition. This movie is fucking awesome.
(1988) Akira 7.5/10
This story is one that would feel very difficult to pull off through traditional media. The level of violence and body horror would possibly be even too much for Cronenberg’s plate. The ending of this film is mind-melting.
(1988) Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 7.5/10
It’s violent, dark, disgusting and gory as fuck. It feels like a fever dream of hell. I loved the female character kind of forcing this disgusting erotic nature and it doubled down on the series soul which is the deadly allure of hell.
(1988) Vampire’s Kiss 7/10
I love American Psycho and watching this, I can see where a ton of the performance inspiration in that film came from. Cage’s body language here is so insanely expressive and probably my favorite part of the entire project. Even if you’ve seen this one before, I highly suggest a re-watch, there’s something special about it.
(1987) Fatal Attraction 7.5/10
Holy shit Glenn Close you goddamn crazy bitch, such a great performance. This movie is so incredibly and exponentially tense as it plays out. I loved Micheal Douglas and the entire film is just a reminder to never fucking cheat.
(1987) The Believers 7/10
It gets a bit absurd at certain points but the cult aspects are awesome. I also think it’s the first horror movie I’ve seen specifically about Santeria. It’s not perfect but it stuck with me.
(1987) The Lost Boys 8/10
Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys is so indicative of 80’s horror that it could very well be the face of the decade itself. The one-liners, the practical effects, aesthetics and story are all just wonderful. I’m not sure what else to say, this movie feels like a warm blanket to me.
(1986) Little Shop of Horrors 8/10
Rick Moranis is as goofy as ever and good god…the practical effects are mind-blowing. You’re watching this giant plant movie and it just melts your brain thinking about how it was accomplished.
(1986) Aliens 7/10
They exploited the action of the first film to capture a larger audience and lost what made Alien such an effective horror movie in the first place. I still like this movie because it contains my favorite heroin and monster but I’m sick of acting like the Alien series ever needed a director like Cameron. The ending is absolutely insane and bumps this up a few points for sure.
(1984) The Terminator 8/10
This movie, simply put, is badass as shit. I’m aware the series kind of progresses into more action focused territory with the sequels but the original will always be a horror movie to me. The pacing, the unstoppable force that is Arnold, it’s all thrilling as shit.
(1984) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 8/10
I think it’s a scary movie and a really dark turn in the trilogy. There are quirky aspects of it character wise that are kind of goofy but playful. Overall though, goddamn dude, these set pieces are amazing.
(1984) Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter 7/10
Jason is super fucking powerful here; he moves quickly, intelligently and is able to drive the suspense of the movie. The success is greatly attributed to a solid performance by Crispin Glover but more importantly, Corey Feldman. I know Corey gets a lot of shit these days but he was an eclectic child actor.
(1981) Raiders of the Lost Ark 9/10
Raiders of the Lost Arc is such an important movie to me. It helped open my eyes to darker content as a child, for better or worse. Everything that could ever be said about this film has been said, I’m just here to show my appreciation.
(1980) City of the Living Dead 8/10
This movie is batshit insane in the best way possible. It’s ultra-gory, tons of crazy impressive practical effects which are very much Fulci in style. The narrative is a bit confusing but I think, or hope at least, intentionally so.
(1980) The Ninth Configuration 7/10
The Ninth Configuration, while still representing William Peter Blatty’s struggle with religion, is tonally very different from The Exorcist. It’s a tedious, slow, detail oriented, character driven film that exceeds so well because of great writing.
(1979) Nosferatu the Vampire 8/10
This film not only embodies and celebrates the original in terms of structure as well as substance, but in its restrained filmmaking methods; its ability to let shots live without intervention. It’s atmospheric, well-trimmed and just an all-around, exceptional film. Klaus Kinsi as Nosferatu is perfect.
(1979) The Amityville Horror 7/10
I like James Brolin’s character, he’s odd and the axe sharpening is somewhat iconic. The film has both pacing issues as well as dialogue issues. With that being said though, the finale in sinister as fuck and really brings life, quite literally, to this evil house.
(1979) Alien 9.5/10
My love for this single film transcends my love for the genre itself. Ridley Scott pulled off an absolute masterpiece and despite having watched it 25 times, I still cannot comprehend how a film of this quality was pulled off in 1979. It’s as close as perfection can be.
(1978) Dawn of the Dead 8/10
Obviously at first glance you can tell this is a really lengthy film at over 2-hours long. However, the pacing is actually my favorite part. Romero really builds up to the climax slowly and lets you linger in his world for such a long time that it becomes fleshed out through pure exposure.
(1978) Slave to the Cannibal God 7/10
I love the visuals, the story and Ursula Andress’ great big dirty milkers. It’s a wonderful, sleazy little exploitation film. The audio is also fantastic; I just love the way this film is edited all around.
(1977) Shock Waves 7/10
Peter Cushing is awesome and I really liked Brooke Adams as well. Despite the cheesy premise though, this film is dark and moody. The tension and action really builds throughout the film and with the atmospheric nature, you kind of forget the ridiculousness of it all.
(1975) Satanico Pandemonium 7/10
This is a pretty great, atmospheric, old-school exploitation film. It dives right into the temptations of sex and the devil among this convent. It gets pretty fucking dark, especially for the time period, specifically for Mexican horror.
(1974) Vampyres 9/10
It’s dark, moody, sexy and offers one of the most unique vampire film experiences to date. It’s a film that makes Dennis’ idea from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia about a full-penetration, Dolph Lundgren crime fighting movie seem almost plausible.
(1973) Soylent Green 8/10
I loved all the concepts and details in this film. It took me a bit to get invested but once I was, real food was replaced with gold in my brain watching the plot play out. Charlton Heston did a great job of bringing life to this fictional universe as well through his dynamic and invested performance.
(1973) The Crazies 7/10
There’s this great scene with this old lady knitting that I just adore. The innocent and violent clash in such an effective way. Obviously the horror aspects in that scene, as well as the virus itself are very fictional. The government response though, seems almost plausible, considering how they’re currently handling Covid-19.
(1972) Horror Express 8/10
It’s genuinely creepy to this day and the storyline is ambitious as fuck. I’d be hard-pressed to say it’s not one of the better horror-sci-fis of the 70’s and that category includes some great fucking films.
(1968) Even the Wind is Afraid 8/10
Coming over a decade before Suspiria, I can’t but feel, despite how unknown this film is, how influential it was to the genre. The story is great; it’s not super violent or anything and when they do show anything, it’s so well built up. It’s either a reveal at either peak tension or the opposite, when it’s least expected.
(1967) Our Mother’s House 8/10
Jack Clayton, simply for directing The Innocents, is one of my favorite directors. He manages to capture super poignant emotional moments unlike no one else. We have some great modern directors working today that do the same but in terms of 1960's horror, it was harder to come by.
(1967) Violated Angels 7/10
It’s actually based on an American case, about a man Richard Speck who broke into a hospital in 1966, raped and murdered eight nurses. The cinematography is startling cold. The dialogue is profound and helpless. This has to be up there with the most cynically sexualized piece of exploitation cinema.
(1964) Lady in a Cage 7.5/10
It’s a really great little thriller with a solid performance by Olivia de Havilland and also James Caan. I think this movie captures such a helpless nature really well.
(1964) The Last Man on Earth 7.5/10
I loved this movie. It’s actually one of my favorite Price films, which at least for me, is a bold statement. His films tend to have this warm, campy feel to them but this one actually felt pretty dark and desolate. It still contains those less-serious scenes and bits of dialogue but the writing and ideas themselves feel like a huge leap forward for the horror genre.
(1960) The Virgin Spring 9/10
This is clearly the inspiration for The Last House on the Left and while I appreciate that film immensely, it didn’t evoke the same emotions this one did. The cinematography, per-Bergman, is impeccable.
(1958) The Fly 7.5/10
The plot is actually non-linear and the first half is my favorite. Patricia Owens plays up the paranoia of her character incredibly well and I was actually really happy to see Price in a supporting role.
(1956) Forbidden Planet 8/10
I personally think it’s one of the best sci-fi films of the decade. I know I’m going to get chirped for saying this but there’s even a scene towards the end that I believe could have inspired the tesseract in Interstellar.
(1935) The Black Room 7/10
This is another Universal horror film starring Karloff, directed by Roy Neill. It presents itself with the usual, tight-knit flair you may have come to expect but it somehow has seen much less recognition than any of the major monster movies. I really liked this movie.
(1932) The Old Dark House 8/10
This is also Karloff’s best look to date. I mean seriously, his performance is pretty muted and mostly expressed in body language but he has the same screen presence as Mickey Rourke.

Dainsleif & The False World Theory

Today (which by the time I’m finished with that will have been days ago) I had to do a bunch of calculus for virtual school, fun I know? So I was helping my friend with their calculus and, I’m not sure what exactly tempted me, but I googled the meaning behind a cube. Y’know a cube?
Hopefully, that little story will make more sense as I get into these theories. So, anyway, let me preface: these are my takes (POV), since I know there’s been information and theories floating around on both Dainsleif and The False World. I’m not saying any of this is correct, because, after all, this is MY SUBJECTIVE theory but, y’know, it’s fun to theorize.
So. . . I hope you enjoy this theory crafting! ʕ ·ᴥ·ʔ
Let me note, I do not know every piece of lore in the game so I’m sorry for anything incorrect. I’m just some simp person, with too much time on their hands thanks to covid, so I’m not well-versed in all the subjects I will be covering. If I make mistakes, I feign my innocence as always. If there is something incorrect or I contradict myself, look to the comments (since there’s usually people more knowledgeable than me).
*TLDR* with Theories:

• Mona’s unnamed master, Rhinedottir, and Pedrelino all acknowledge that Tevyat’s sky is false. This false sky is home to all the constellations of vision holders which foretell their destinies, though this omits the Traveler’s and the Archon’s constellations.
• Genshin takes inspiration from the idea of Gnosticism. Asmoday, who is most likely the Demiurge, creates the universe and gathers the Archons to be their co-actors.
• The cubes seen atop Shrine of Depth Keys and wielded by Asmoday may be in reference to Metatron’s cube. This means that Asmoday is a reference to archangel Metatron, aside from the Demiurge.
• Genshin’s world is Asmoday’s mystical cube, in which she oversees the flow of elements. Asmoday is also the messenger of Celestia.
• Genshin’s lore is based on a mix of some Christianity but more so Judaism, specifically Kabbalah mysticism, plus Norse and Germanic mythology. It’s possible that Tevyat, most likely being a cube, is based on New Jerusalem.
• The Seed of Life, as seen in the Princess’s Fresco, gives additional validation that numbers which are important (1, 3, 7, 9, 12, etc.) retain their important meanings in Tevyat.
• The Tree of Life and the World Tree exist in Genshin’s universe. Genshin titles these trees as the Irminsul trees. They can be found in both Domains and the overworld. These trees are connected to the leylines, which allow elements to flow into Tevyat.
• Angels exist or have existed in Tevyat. Based on Kabbalah mysticism & Christianity Gabriel, Uriel, Michael and Raphael are representative of the four winds and cardinal directions. It’s very plausible that all four stags of Yggdrasil exist in Genshin, Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór, which can also be representative of four winds.
• Dainsleif’s right arm holds the power exclusive to leylines, separate from the elements.
• Dvalin most likely has a connection to the SilveGreat Tree.
• Asmoday has control over all the elements, hence why she oversees the flow of energy through the leylines. In the opening cutscene of the game the Traveler also, at the time, had control over all the elements.

Word Count: 5128
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Gnosticism and the False Sky

(Unreconciled Stars Event)
I don’t think anyone, at this point, will outright deny the allegations that Tevyat’s sky is false, even if Scaramouche's word is shady at best.
But, thank God, we do not only have Scaramouche’s claims to back up this theory.
Ex.

• “He seemed genuinely shaken, though. I don't think he was lying. I was always taught to talk about the ‘false sky’ during astrological readings. . . Could there be more to such phrases than I have been led to believe?” (Mona, Unreconciled Stars Event).
• "The universe is the dark essence of the true starry sky, and the earth is the accumulated memories of time and lives. . .” (Albedo’s 3rd Character Story).
• It’s also worth noting that Scaramouche asks, “What was the Jester (The 1st Harbinger, Pedrelino) thinking? He must have had some inkling of what we might discover on this mission. . .” (Unreconciled Stars Event) implying that, at least, Pedrelino also knows of the false sky.

It is most likely that Mona’s unnamed master taught her about the false sky. The two of them also came up with hydromancy, which is, as Mona says, the “one and only success story of that old lady's research endeavors”.
Mona’s master, as told from Astrolabos: Act I, was a rival to Alice and the two of them had a 50-year pact. It is most likely that Mona’s master was also good friends with Alice, aside from their rivalry. As everyone knows, a friend of a friend is a friend — it is very likely Mona’s master also talked to or at least known Albedo’s creator, Rhinedottir, who was old friends with Alice.
These three ladies, Mona’s master, Alice, and Rhinedottir, are all an enigma to Tevyat and seem to possess the vastest knowledge of the mechanisms of the world.
Tevyat is a world located in some “starry void”. Rhindottir states, in Albedo’s character story, this void holds the true stars.
What is in Tevyat’s sky if not the true stars?

• “Do you know about constellations? Astrologers believe that the patterns of the stars map out the destinies of Vision bearers — past, present, and future, everything is written in the stars” (Mona- Something to Share).
• “Wherever you go, whatever life throws at you. . . In Teyvat, the stars in the sky will always have a place for you” (Loading Screen Description- Constellations).

In the Unreconciled Stars Event, Mona further confirms that vision’s holders constellations are real celestial bodies. She says, “the stars that make up a constellation — the Stella Fortuna — are genuine celestial bodies in the depths of space. They are not simply notional”.
It’s worth noting that the Archons’ constellations and the Traveler’s constellation, both of whom are outliers from true Vision holders, do not seem to be present in Tevyat’s sky unlike other character’s constellations. As I’m sure you all know, when Mona goes to read Venti’s fate, he sends a gust of wind her way and she is, for a lack of a better term, strip-teased. But from her lines we also know she attempts to read Paimon’s destiny. If we assume every character named after one of the 72 demons from the Ars Goetia to be an Archon and/or God, then this line indicates that the Archons and/or God’s constellations do not exist in Tevyat’s sky.
Ex.

• “No matter what, I cannot seem to discern a single shred of information regarding this floating fairy's fate” (Mona- Interesting Things).

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Gnosticism, as defined by Wiki, is:

. . .A collection of religious ideas and systems which originated in the first century AD among early Christian and Jewish sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis) over the orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of the church. Viewing material existence as flawed or evil, Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent lesser divinity (sometimes associated with the Yahweh of the Old Testament) who is responsible for creating the material universe.

Here’s what is most relevant to Genshin Impact:

The demiurge creates the physical universe and the physical aspect of humanity. The demiurge typically creates a group of co-actors named archons who preside over the material realm and, in some cases, present obstacles to the soul seeking ascent from it. . . Moral judgements of the demiurge vary from group to group within the broad category of Gnosticism, viewing materiality as being inherently evil, or as merely flawed and as good as its passive constituent matter allows (Wiki).

​

In late antiquity some variants of Gnosticism used the term archon to refer to several servants of the demiurge. According to Origen's Contra Celsum, a sect called the Ophites posited the existence of seven archons. . .(Wiki).

Okay, that was a lot of text (ㆆ﹏ㆆ). The main takeaway is that demiurge, in the case of Genshin Impact that most likely being Asmoday (Sustainer of Heavenly Principles), creates the universe and gathers the group of Archons.
(Opening Cutscene)
As we all know, Asmoday wields some wonderful cubes that trap both Lumine and Aether.
These cubes or this cube power, I suspect, is a reference to Metatron’s Cube. For a moment, let’s switch things up — let’s talk about Sacred Geometry.
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Sacred Geometry in Genshin

For all the math I know, and all the years I’ve attended school, I’ve never heard of such a thing as Sacred Geometry — then again, at first glance, it seems like a joke.
Sacred Geometry is the idea that geometric patterns exist in everything around us. It’s teachings describe it as, “the blueprint of creation and the genesis, the origin of all form. Sacred geometry is considered an ancient science that explores and explains the energy patterns that create and unify all things and reveals the precise way that the energy of creation organizes itself” (Link).
Now how does such a concept apply to Genshin?
(Example Image)

1. Metatron’s Cube as seen atop the Key of Depths
2. Seed of Life that appears in the Princess’s Fresco
3. The SilveGreat Tree (Tree of Life and/or World Tree outside Genshin)

*NOTE: Before going any further I just want to say, if I’m incorrect on any of this stuff, you can correct me. As I said at the beginning of this write-up, I’m not well-versed in all these topics, but I do want to bring these ideas up to get the cogs in other peoples’ brains turning.
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Bullet Point I, Metatron’s Cube:
“These Shrines of Depths sealed themselves off when the civilization that built them was lost. Keys lost deep within domains are able to break the seals. Or perhaps that, for a moment, these keys help the seals to forget all that they have lost” (Shrine of Depth Key).
Metatron’s Cube is important for two reasons:

1. References Archangel Metatron
2. References Star Tetrahedron (Star of David & Judaism)

Let’s assume Asmoday to also be a reference to Metatron, aside from the Demiurge. Metatron’s duty was to oversee the flow of energy in a mystical cube, which contained and represented all the geometric patterns in God’s creation. It was also Metatron’s duty to oversee the Tree of Life and send energy from the top of the Tree towards all other parts of the trees (Link). It’s also worth noting that Metatron was considered one of, if not, the highest of angels, and, in the Merkabah and Kabbalist mysticism, he served as a scribe.
One of leyline loading screen descriptions states it as: “A mysterious network that links the whole world together, within which flow the elements”.
(It is very likely Asmoday plays some part in handling the leylines, Great Tree, and elements in Genshin’s world. In this image you can see the blossoms from Leylines & Bosses emanate black particles with red outlines, similar to Asmoday’s cubes as seen from the opening cutscene. This is also, most likely, not the color they are supposed to emanate — blue rather than red — almost as if they’ve been, in a way, corrupted.)
The entire world of Tevyat, in the case of Genshin, is Asmoday’s mystical cube which she oversees and allows the elements to flow into — she also plays the role as a messenger for the entity that is Celestia.
What is also interesting about Metatron is that he was not originally an angel, but was once a man, Enoch, and ascended to Heaven. Aside from Sandalphon, Metatron was the only other angel to ascend to his angelic status.
This is, then, where things must be left to individual interpretation. If we assume Asmoday is both a reference to Metatron and Demiurge then we cannot be sure of how Asmoday came into being. . . but I do have an idea!
*NOTE: I’m very sorry to shamelessly plug, but to understand my line of thinking you’re going to need to read part of my other theory post, The 8th Archon Theory. Just read the section on why I think Princess Fischl (NOT AMY, NOT THE CHARACTER IN-GAME) is Asmoday, or at least a reference to her.
I’m sure we’ve all played Fabulae Textile: Act 1 by now, but how many of you actually read the book you get for completing the quest?
Ex.

• “‘Oh my daughter, the one in whom all my hopes are placed! Did I not bring you into existence that you might one day pierce me with a halberd?’ Awakened at last, the God King floated in the heavens to the claps of thunder and the dancing of the wind, rejoicing at his return. . . Fearing the madness that would ensue following his death, the God King made one final Divine Halberd, and named it the Prinzessin der Verurteilung. In this moment, it — nay, she — could finally unleash her true self” (Legend of the Shattered Halberd Vol. 6).
• "I was once the daughter of the Celestial Emperor. But I have long forgotten my name. I was in charge of conducting trials and sentencing at the end — a judge, to use your parlance” (Legend of the Shattered Halberd Vol. 2).
• "’That is a power bestowed upon me by my father. Only I have this power. It is solely for use in sentencing the guilty. I mustn't. . .’ Weiyang's voice changed in tone. ‘I mustn't use it lightly’ (Legend of the Shattered Halberd Vol. 3).

You can read the whole story for yourself, but the general gist is that the Princess der Verurteilung, who was first made from the God King’s will, uses a mortal for her catalyst and, in her anger, she “wants to prove herself”. Her goal is to retrieve the 9 pieces of the Divine Halberd or else, as she says, “this world and everything in it is going to burn in hellfire”. Along her journey she meets a man named Mir and he gives her the name Weiyang.
What’s interesting about Mir is that, to appease the Princess der Verurteilung, he lets her have one of his eyes — a clear reference to the Norse God, Odin.

The tales about the Norse god Odin tell how he gave one of his eyes in return for wisdom (Wiki).

Asmoday came into being much like Demiurge, but eventually ‘died’ and, as told from the Legend of the Shattered Halberd, ascended after realizing the purpose of her existence.
*Demiurge NOTE: Sophia (Greek: Σοφία, lit. 'wisdom'), Demiurge's mother. . . desired to create something apart from the divine totality, without the receipt of divine ascent. In this act of separate creation, she gave birth to the monstrous Demiurge and, being ashamed of her deed, wrapped him in a cloud and created a throne for him within it. . . The Demiurge, having received a portion of power from his mother, sets about a work of creation in unconscious imitation of the superior Pleromatic realm: He frames the seven heavens, as well as all material and animal things. . . He is blind to all that is spiritual, but he is king over the other two provinces. The word dēmiurgos properly describes his relation to the material; he is the father of that which is animal like himself (Wiki).
(The cube Asmoday traps one of the Twins in)
If we step back from the idea of the cube being specifically Metatron’s cube, we can look at it from the angle of Judaism — Tevyat is a parallel of New Jerusalem.
Okay, so this gets a bit messy, but, based on descriptions from the book of Revelations, New Jerusalem was a kingdom, theorized to be a cube, that allegorically descended.

In Jewish mysticism, there are two Gardens of Eden and two Promised Lands: the heavenly invisible one and the earthly visible one that is a copy of the heavenly invisible one. Heaven in Jewish mysticism includes a heavenly Promised land — including Jerusalem, the temple, and the ark of the covenant — and a heavenly Garden of Eden — including the tree of life, a storehouse for the manna that angels eat, and multiple rivers that water the garden. When the Bible mentions a New Jerusalem, heavenly sanctuary, bread of life, or God's throne, it is referring to the Jewish mystical understanding of heaven. (Wiki)

I’m going to say it now (ó﹏ò｡) — I don’t believe much of Genshin is exactly a reference to Christianity but rather Judaism, specifically Kabbalah mysticism.
Now clearly, I’m no master of religion, seeing that it’s been years since I stepped into a church, but from what I understand, though the two are different, both Christianity and Judaism have some similarities — namely the Old Testament.
If Genshin, truly, was referencing Judaism then the use of Gnostic theory makes sense.
Ex.

• “Gnostic ideas found a Jewish variation in the mystical study of Kabbalah. Many core Gnostic ideas reappear in Kabbalah, where they are used for dramatically reinterpreting earlier Jewish sources according to this new system” (Wiki).

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Before moving onto the next bullet point, I want to bring up this line from the Prologue of the Webcomic: “In other distant worlds. . . Pangu gave his blood to form the river and seas. . . the Gods sacrificed Purusha and cut his body into pieces. . . and then fashioned all living beings with those parts. The brain of the giant Ymir became the clouds. Their sacrifices seeded life in the unliving cosmos”.
It’s unlikely that Genshin’s world was made in a similar way to how the world(s) was/were created from the creation myths referenced above.
Ex.

• “It embodies a state of intertwining order and chaos, and is said to mirror how the world was when it was first created. Of course, a certain someone knows that this was not the case” (Mist Veiled Promo Elixir).

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Bullet Point II, Seed of Life:
The seed of life is the basis of all creation, and represents the creator’s, God’s, conscious.
The symbol begins with 1 circle and over the course of 7 days, a new identical circle for each day, this circle will form the Seed of Life. This symbol can then be overlaid to create the Flower of Life.
This webpage shows, and explains, how these sacred symbols build upon one another (つ﹏⊂)
What I think is important, and what I’m going to take away from this, is that, in Genshin, sacred/important numbers, as per Religious context, retain their sacredness.
This would be numbers such as:

• 1
• 3
• 7
• 9
• 12
• 40
• 49

Seven, nine, and twelve are all important for, pretty much, one of the same reasons. These three numbers are all symbolic of completeness (but, of course, they all are symbolic of multiple things).
Seven:

As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has been associated with a great deal of symbolism in religion, mythology, superstition and philosophy. (Wiki)

Nine:

The number 9 is revered in Hinduism and considered a complete, perfected and divine number because it represents the end of a cycle in the decimal system, which originated from the Indian subcontinent as early as 3000 BC.
Nine is a significant number in Norse Mythology. Odin hung himself on an ash tree for nine days to learn the runes. (Wiki)

Twelve:

It is approximately the number of full lunations of the moon in a year, and the number of years for a full cycle of Jupiter, historically considered to be the brightest ‘wandering star’. It is central to many systems of timekeeping, including the Western calendar and units of time of day, and frequently appears in the world's major religions. (Wiki#Judaism_and_Christianity))

*NOTE: The Wiki links take you to the section on the WIki page which specifically talks about the numbers Religious context.
Regardless of whether or not the Seed of Life, in Genshin, should be the deciding factor on if these numbers retain their meaning, there’s other examples in-game which demonstrate this number idea.
Ex.

• “Just as the elements of the world count seven, so do the days of the week” (Loading Screen- Time).
• “Cor Purum is produced by firing Cor Lapis in an urn for seven days squared and then steeping it in fresh water drawn from a mountain spring for a further seven days squared. The dual purification of fire and water renders Cor Purum unbreakable, and the thaumaturges also believe it allows the stone to act as a vessel for primordial cosmic energy. A catalyst with Cor Purum at its core can channel cosmic energy with the turning of the disc. Twelve full turns works the energy into its purest form” (Prototype Amber).

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Bullet Point III, Tree of Life:
Across many religions & mythologies the Tree of Life, is used to connect every creation of the world. The World tree, which the Tree of Life is closely related to, connects every land of the world (Heavens, Earthly world, Underworld) and this remains true in Genshin. So, in a way, this Tree is like a world hub.
The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil also exists, but, aside from general use of Gnostic ideas, I don’t believe there’s anything indicating this tree is also present in Genshin (ノ﹏ヽ)
“The Tree of Life is one of the most familiar of the Sacred Geometry Symbols. The structure of the Tree of Life is connected to the sacred teachings of the Jewish Kabbalah but can be seen 3,000 years earlier in Egypt. It is possible to see the Tree of Life structure in many places around the conscious universe. The structure is represented in nature and relates to the Flower of Life and Seed of Life” (Link).
(Petrified Trees found in Domains)
Genshin’s Tree of Life, specifically named Irminsul trees, can be found in all domains and, most likely, the tree at Nantianmen and the one to the Northeast of Dragonspine are both, also, Irminsul trees.
The Frostbearing tree was also, most likely, at one point an uncorrupted Irminsul tree.
Ex.

• “It is said that the root of all the Irminsul trees and blossoms in the world are intertwined at the deepest, most hidden place in the earth, and that the pattern the root system makes defines the Ley Lines of the world” (Original Resin).
• “Crystal filled with immense energy. The silver-white Irminsul trees and blossoms are connected to ley lines that have become blocked over time. The energy contained in tree resin can purify the obstructing substance” (Condensed Resin).

The name Irminsul, from old Saxon, means great pillar.

The first element, Irmin- ('great') is cognate with terms with some significance elsewhere in Germanic mythology. Among the North Germanic peoples, the Old Norse form of Irmin is Jörmunr, which just like Yggr is one of the names of Odin. Yggdrasil (Old Norse 'Yggr's horse') is a cosmic tree from which Odin sacrificed himself, and which connects the Nine worlds. . . It has been suggested that Irmin was more probably an aspect or epithet of some other deity – most likely Wodan (Odin). Irmin might also have been an epithet of the god Ziu (Tyr) in early Germanic times, only later transferred to Odin, as certain scholars subscribe to the idea that Odin replaced Tyr as the chief Germanic deity at the onset of the Migration Period. (Wiki)

In Kabbalah, the Tree of Life is made from the 10 Sefirot powers of the Divine Realm. In Judaism the Tree of Life is a symbol of wisdom.
*NOTE: For my understanding, I’m going to say the Tree of Life and the World Tree are inherently close to, or are, the same thing in Genshin specifically. I hope, whoever reads this, doesn’t mind that because, as I said, I’m not very well-versed on these topics (plus this idea, of a Tree of Life & World Tree, is not inherently from only one religion/mythology).
Going back to the book, Legend of the Shattered Halberd, it is said that there are nine realms — a reference to, specifically, Yggdrasil. This is, of course, assuming Legend of the Shattered Halberd is, unknowingly, a story about Tevyat.
Yggdrasil, in Norse mythology, was a very holy tree where the Gods would gather. This tree connected every part of the world through it’s three roots.
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Congratz! You made it to the last section of this analysis ( ͡° ͜ ͡°)

Dainsleif, Dvalin, and Genshin’s Tree

Since I’ve spent some time in this analysis talking about Genshin’s amazing trees and the wonderful leylines (that gives tons of rewards as we all know) it’s only natural we talk about Dainsleif. . . but first!
Going back to the idea of Tevyat being a parallel to New Jerusalem, the quote I used above states: “Heaven in Jewish mysticism includes. . . a heavenly Garden of Eden — including. . . a storehouse for the manna that angels eat. . .”
Angels exist (have existed) in Tevyat.
An image of angels, as the beings of Celestia, is depicted in the Prologue of the Webcomic and, credits to the user phantam, if aligned correctly Mona’s Astrolabe reads: GBL, URL, MKL, and RPL.

• GBL: Gabriel
• URL: Uriel
• MKL: Michael
• RPL: Raphael

These four angels are the winds and cardinal directions in Kabbalah. What’s interesting about this is that, the four stags which eat from Yggdrasil in Norse mythology, Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór, have been suggested in Finnur Magnússon 1824 work, The Eddic Lore and its Origin, to be representative of winds too (Wiki).
Of course the angels are based on Kabbalah mysticism & Christianity while the stags are based on Norse mythology, but I find it weird that both these entities, which can both be interpreted as winds, live or have lived in Genshin’s world.
Point I: Dainsleif
“Dain, what is that strand of blonde hair to you? Someone you must kill? Or the object of your penitence?” (Bough Keeper - Dainsleif)
Dainsleif is both a reference to King Högni's sword, inscribed with Dáinn's legacy, and Dain, the dwarf himself. Dainsleif is even titled by the self-proclaimed prophet as “Dain” in his character description. As mentioned above, Dain was one of the four stags which ate from Yggdrasil.
(Dainsleif Annoucement Artwork)
It is most likely within Dain’s right arm is the power of the Irminsul trees and leylines. You can compare the similar blue color with the trees seen in domains.
Now, I want to make it clear — the power of the leylines, themselves, is not Asmoday’s power over the elements. I mentioned above how Asmoday most likely uses the leylines to allow the elements to flow into Tevyat, so think of the leylines as a catalyst for that function but also, at the same time, they have their own, separate powers.
Ex.

• “Then, once the beast has quenched its great thirst for that energy which only the leylines can provide. . . I imagine any significance we presume to have in this world will vanish for good” (Jiu).

Point II: Dvalin
I’m sure I don’t need to talk about who Dvalin is and what role he played in the story, but I believe there’s more to him than just STORMTERROR.
If you look at his design you can see stars engraved on his body and the same galaxy effect as seen on Paimon’s and Tartaglia’s capes. The star motif is associated with Khaenri’ah, as seen on Kaeya’s clothes.
(Chapter 1: Act 1)
Could it be possible that Dvalin, while in Gaotian, was birthed with the help of the Leylines?

• “Typically, when life arises from the elements, it either descends and becomes a slime, or ascends and becomes a crystalfly. Rarely does this process give rise to dangerous elemental monsters. Elemental dragons are rarely seen and have the powers to match the bygone demons” (Breeze Amidst the Forest).
• “It is said there are even crystalflies attracted to elemental energy” (Exploration and Adventure).

It’s no coincidence that you can find cyrstalflies at both the great tree in Mondstadt and the one to the Northeast of Dragonspine. We know that the tree at Nantianmen’s power has diminished, as said by Jiu, which would explain the lack of crystalflies.
If Dvalin is connected to the Great/Silver tree, then his design makes more sense.
It’s also worth noting that, of all things shown from Genshin in the Honkai Webcomic, the writers chose Dvalin on a black backdrop. Hell, if they really wanted to make sure we knew it was Genshin then they could’ve slapped a slime in that monitor (I’m just saying ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯).
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(Sorry if this seems tacked on at the end)
Before ending this write-up, let’s talk about Asmoday and her power a little, but, let me note, I will not be talking about her black-cube power but instead her control over the elements.
As said at the beginning of this write-up, Asmodays references the gnostic idea of the Demiurge who, thinking themselves to be alone and isolated, created the Archons and the material universe. Because Asmoday, Genshin’s Demiurge, gathered the elemental Archons, then Asmoday should be able to wield all elements.
Just like how Venti’s hair glows a light turquoise and Zhongli’s an orange, Asmoday’s hair also glows — it glows a creamy white.

White is what we see when all wavelengths of light are reflected off an object. (Link)

*NOTE: I don’t know the nitty gritty about the visible spectrums, but I’m just going to use the simple principle that white is created by a combination of all the colors. Yes, I know white can also, technically, be classified as shade rather than a color.
Okay, so maybe, just maybe, Asmoday’s wields all the elements (ㆆ﹏ㆆ)
There’s two other people who use a white power. . . Lumine and Aether.
(Opening Cutscene)
Since we are all playing Genshin here, we know that the Traveler's ultimate goal, aside from saving their twin, is to regain their lost power. And how are going to regain that power?
By meeting each of the 7 Archons and ‘claiming’ each of the 7 elements.
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In Conclusion

*TLDR IS AT THE BEGINNING\*
I want everyone to know, despite all the writing I personally did, to take this with a MASSIVE GRAIN OF SALT. Genshin is only loosely based on other pieces of literature so what occurs or what is said in these ancient pieces of literature does not necessarily mean it will be translated into Genshin. I’m just using those pieces of literature (religion and mythology) as a point of reference for what may occur in Genshin.
Once again, I want to thank everyone who writes about the lore. If it wasn’t for other people writing and talking about the lore, then I don’t think I would be writing about all this. Like I said many times throughout this write-up, I don’t personally know about these topics (it’s why you see a bunch of wiki links), and, like I said, if I missed anything or was incorrect on anything feel free, please do, correct me. For anyone reading, I highly advise looking at other lore posts or videos. Lastly, I briefly got started on my Diluc analysis since I was at a loss on where to go with this, so that is going to be next but I swear, this time, I’m stepping away from the keyboard.
So, after all is said and done, I hope you enjoyed this long Theory write-up!