Being Film #6 for Hooptober 2025 We continue a run of beautifully shot films that pack in a load of subtext under a veneer of horror. Although in the case of The Untamed, that horror comes from the action of its primary characters as they wrestle with their sexual appetites and the violence the repression... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 12.0 – Demon (2015)
Being Film #5 for Hooptober 2025 The full weight of history lies just under the surface of Demon, the stunning final film from Marcin Wrona, who tragically took his own life during the film's run at the festival circuit. With no jump scares and little in the way of violence or gore, the film manages... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 12.0 – The Possessed (1965)
Being Film #4 for Hooptober 2025 Films like The Possessed, or La Donna del Lago in its original Italian, are the reason I constantly try to seek out new films whenever Hooptober comes around. A proto-giallo that also functions as an Italian noir evoking the dream-like narratives David Lynch would forge just over a decade... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 12.0 – Dead Of Night (1945)
Being Film #3 for Hooptober 2025 Anthology films are hard to nail down. You not only have to have a strong selection of stories that work, but the framing device often can make or break the film. So there was already a stacked deck against Ealing Studios, the English film studio known more for comedies... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 12.0 – The Black Phone (2021)
Being Film #2 for Hooptober 2025 I had the bar set low for The Black Phone, the latest horror collaboration between the writing/directing team of Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill. On one hand, I wasn't the biggest fan of either the Sinister films or Deliver Us From Evil, save for the gnarly exorcism. On... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 12.0 – Monster Island (2025)
Being Film #1 for Hooptober 2025 There's a lot that goes into choosing the first movie in this marathon: do you get the requirements out of the way first? Look at runtimes? Or is it something more ephemeral? I wanted to start with the simple things that made me a fan of the genre as... Continue Reading →
Episode 69 – Screen Drafts
On this episode of Cinema Dual, Jon and Chris talk about a couple of movies inspired by their love of the Screen Drafts podcast.
Hail Horror! It Returns for 2025!
Not gonna lie...time caught up with me. With the world in a seemingly irreversible nosedive, the time for horror seems both completely unnecessary, yet at the time time vital for my sanity. And so like a bloodied angel here comes the 12th annual Hooptober Horror Movie Marathon, ready to take me away into darker and... Continue Reading →
