Folks, let me start this review with the statement I am a Halloween franchise apologist. I admit after Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, it’s the less glamorous 80s slasher franchise. Those other two series have the more iconic monsters and kills. If you were a kid in the 80s, you liked... Continue Reading →
Spoilers galore In a post Saw world, it’s hard to describe how transgressive watching either Hellraiser or Hellbound: Hellraiser II on cable felt as a teen. If you grew up in a religious family like I did, of course the title feels taboo. There’s also the aesthetics of those first two movies. The torture and... Continue Reading →
Being Film #19 for Hooptober 2022 Called an audible last night since I needed something fun and fast to watch between school pickups, dinners, and other Dad-related duties, so I pulled The Hidden out from the Criterion Channel's recent spotlight on 80s horror. Man, if ever a movie felt like all of the 80s rolled... Continue Reading →
After watching The Brood, I knew I had to watch David Cronenberg’s Shivers. It’s the only one of his horror films I hadn’t seen. Part of the fun with Hooptober is in watching films you haven’t seen. So why not knock off a Cronenberg on my to watch list? Shivers occupies a unique space in... Continue Reading →
A question a couple of months ago on Twitter asked “Who is our greatest living horror director?” This is always a fun question to ask but also gauge where a person might stand with you. People have their reasons for their favorites. They directed a favorite from when they first got into horror, there’s a... Continue Reading →
Being Film #18 for Hooptober 2022 Although it's impossible to separate Achoura, the second full length from Franco-Moroccan filmmaker Talal Selhami (and reportedly the first ever monster movie shot in Morocco) from another very popular horror movie about a bunch of kids who face a nightmarish demon only to have to come together again 25... Continue Reading →
Audiences only see any genuine joy on the face of Maika Monroe’s Julia at the beginning of Chloe Okuno’s Watcher. She rides in a taxi, taking in the sights of Bucharest, Romania. Only in this one moment, this new city offers her possibilities and adventures. Then the driver talks in Romanian to her husband. They... Continue Reading →
Being Film #17 for Hooptober 2022 I'm not going to lie to you: The Beast Must Die is not a great movie. In fact, it's a pretty bad movie, despite featuring all-around badass Peter Cushing as Guy Who Explains Everything About Werewolves and Michael Gambon as Young Swinging Dumbledore. But I'd argue it's a fun... Continue Reading →
Being Film #16 for Hooptober 2022 Sometimes true horror doesn't have to come from the situation; it's just as able to cast its baleful eye on you purely from the execution. David Lynch knows this, which is why he's able to evoke so much dread in a diner scene in Mulholland Drive. Rose Glass seems... Continue Reading →
Being Film #15 for Hooptober 2022 Winner winner, chicken dinner. Throw out the term "elevated horror" because usually it embodies theme over scares. I'm all for my horror having something important to talk about, but if you're using the genre as a platform for your theme, then make sure sure you're using the genre. In... Continue Reading →
Cinema Dual 