Being Film #13 for Hooptober 2021 We've had several vampire films where the theme of empowerment was front and center, so I'm surprised it took this long to get a film that grounds that in the framework of traditional gender and marriage roles. I'm doubly surprised that Jakob's Wife not only uses this framework well,... Continue Reading →
Being Film #12 for Hooptober 2021 Another day, another horror debut from someone who went on to bigger and better things. This time it's writer/director Christopher Smith, whose Triangle was a sweet little mindf--k of a film I need to revisit. Despite a game cast in Franka Potente Sean Harris, Creep (not to be confused... Continue Reading →
Being Film #11 for Hooptober 2021 It's a super low-budget reworking of a zombie idea by two film students that is about plague carrying rats that infect the city and turn people into ravenous were-rats that's also a commentary of gentrification. Sound good? What if I told you those two students were Jim Mickle and... Continue Reading →
Being Film #10 for Hooptober 2021 Horror proves time and again to be a great testing ground for talent. The debut from writer/director/editor Damien Mc Carthy, Caveat is a tense and frightening low-budget film that may feel a little like a short film concept stretched to feature length, but there is more than enough meat... Continue Reading →
Being Film #9 for Hooptober 2021 Like a lot of people I fell into the world of Asian horror with Hideo Nakata's Ringu. After being thrilled by the imagery and concept I read the trilogy of novels by Koji Suzuki: Ring, Spiral, and Loop. I knew there was a filmed adaptation of the sequel, but... Continue Reading →
Being Film #8 for Hooptober 2021 It can be a blessing or a curse to discover a "lost" work from a treasured artist. Often a work is lost for a reason: maybe it was never meant to see the light of day, or maybe it just didn't work the same way as time went on.... Continue Reading →
Being Film #7 for Hooptober 2021 "THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!" Even if you haven't seen When a Stranger Calls, chances are you're familiar with that phrase. You're probably even more familiar with Scream, whose entire beginning is an homage to the first 20 minutes of this film. But knowing all that... Continue Reading →
Being Film #6 for Hooptober 2021 Did director Joel Rubin settle the question of "what's the best video game adaptation of all time?" with Werewolves Within? Does it count as an adaptation when producers Ubisoft's only real direction was "make it a good movie?" I have zero familiarity with the video game, although my family... Continue Reading →
Being Film #5 for Hooptober 2021 It feels like after the success of Inside, the debut and arguable pinnacle of the French New Wave of Horror (though I prefer Martyrs) the writing/directing team of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo have struggled to find another story where their particular sensibilities really pay off. Their latest, Kandisha,... Continue Reading →
Being Film #4 for Hooptober 2021 I've gone on record a few times during Hooptober about my less than ardent love for Lucio Fulci. With the exception of The Beyond, his "Gates of Hell" films felt scattered and gratuitous and his riff on Romero with Zombi was anemic at best. So I'm as shocked as... Continue Reading →
Cinema Dual 