Being Film #25 for Hooptober 2023 Sometimes context is everything. On its own I've always liked and admired Candyman, Bernard Rose's adaptation of Clive Barker's short story "The Forbidden" but watching it right after The People Under the Stairs I'm even more impressed. Here is a film that looks at the disparity between the haves... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – The People Under the Stairs (1991)
Being Film #24 for Hooptober 2023 Nightmare on Elm Street may have the dream logic and evil supernatural beings; The Serpent and the Rainbow may have actual magic in the shape of its depiction of voodoo, and yet it's the very real (to a point) horror and journey of its lead that makes Wes Craven's... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – Gothic (1986)
Being Film #23 for Hooptober 2023 Having finally felt like I caught on to Ken Russell's particular and peculiar wavelength, I called an audible and went back to a film I saw as a teenager and never revisited. Gothic purports to dramatize the night that Lord Byron, Dr. John Polidori, Percy Bysshe Shelley and, of... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
Being Film #22 for Hooptober 2023 Man, Ken Russell is naughty, huh? I mean, yeah...I knew this in theory have seen The Devils, but maybe his predilection for the excesses of every appetite was maybe limited to the type of story being told? Uh, no, and that's a good thing. The Lair of the White... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – Talk to Me (2023)
Being Film #21 for Hooptober 2023 A couple quick ones while I'm away for an extended weekend. I'm not sure anyone was expecting the feature debut from Danny and Michael Philippou, also known as YouTube's RackRacka, to be bad - the team over the years have been great at executing high concept shorts with miniscule... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – My Soul to Take (2010)
Being Film #20 for Hooptober 2023 I guess he had one more return to the Scream bucket after this, but I feel like this was the real end for Wes Craven, a last stab at an original story and his assured direction. Alas, My Soul to Take has a really nifty concept, but the screenplay... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – Häxan (1922)
Being Film #19 for Hooptober 2023 How about a very short review for something that isn't necessarily horror, but utilizes horror imagery in a way that would be imitated for decades? Häxan is a silent essay film on the history of witchcraft and devil worship written and directed by Benjamin Christensen, who uses a variety... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – The Return of Doctor X (1939)
Being Film #18 for Hooptober 2023 The marathon called for a movie that had "X" in the title, and it was the perfect time to bring out a DVD I had for yers but never watched: my beloved Humphrey Bogart taking on horror in The Return of Doctor X. My heart knew this wasn't going... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – The Last Man on Earth (1964)
Being Film #17 for Hooptober 2023 It's seemingly impossible to get a solid, close adaptation of Richard Matheson's seminal novel I am Legend, but despite some of his problems with it he and I both seem to agree that The Last Man on Earth comes the closest, not least of all because he had a... Continue Reading →
