Being Film #6 for Hooptober 2023 It's not fair to classify Amicus as the poor man's Hammer, but watching The House That Dripped Blood - a misleading title as there is nary a drop of blood to be found in this anthology film - but despite some game performances from Hammer regulars Christopher Lee and... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – Dracula 3000 (2004)
Being Film #5 for Hooptober 2023 Consider this a public service. I am going to waste as few words as possible on the dreck that is Dracula 3000, a quickie straight to cable cash grab that is exactly what you think it is: Dracula in space. The actual Dracula, he with the goth cape and... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – Satan’s Slaves (2017)
Being Film #4 for Hooptober 2023 Sometimes you sit down to watch a film and you just can't get into it. Maybe you've had a bad day, maybe the tone of the piece rubs raw against whatever it is you're looking for and you turn away. Sometimes you forget that film altogether. Sometimes, though, a... Continue Reading →
Hooptober X #2: The Mangler
The Mangler represents a rare meeting of three horror icons; director Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist), actor Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Stephen King (the most commercially successful horror writer of all time). It’s the not the first time any of these people connected with... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – Phenomena (1985)
Being Film #3 for Hooptober 2023 Man, there is just something about Dario Argento. Excepting The Five Days (only because I haven't seen it) his run of films from 1970's The Bird With the Crystal Plumage up to 1996's The Stendhal Syndrome (I'm giving a soft pass to 93's Trauma because I barely remember it)... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – Sea Fever (2019)
Being Film #2 for Hooptober 2023 Tone is everything. So even if Sea Fever, the debut film from Neasa Hardiman isn't particularly scary, it holds its tone throughout a solid tale that on the surface may be about a parasitic life form that wreaks havoc on a down and out fishing vessel off the coast... Continue Reading →
Hooptober X #1: Terrified (2017)
Demián Rugna’s Terrified begins with a woman, Clara, standing over the sink in her kitchen. She tries to make dinner. Every time she runs the faucet, she hears voices. Much later, her husband Juan comes home smiling. He tells a story about a dog that miraculously getting hit by a car. However, Clara seems hollow.... Continue Reading →
Hoopbound : Hooptober X, an introduction
Welcome to another year of Hooptober. Once again the criteria has been announced and the films assembled. Last year, I started my first full Hooptober wondering if I was going to complete 31 films. I ended it having seen 50 films from September 15th to October 31st. I started with a double feature of Pearl... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 10.0 – Night of the Comet (1984)
Being Film #1 for Hooptober 2023 Sometimes suspending your disbelief can be a chore, but sometimes - if the tone is just ridiculous enough - it can be a delight. There was a lot to suspend in Night of the Comet, a sci-fi horror comedy that's more "Valley Girl survives the Apocalypse" than anything else,... Continue Reading →
Hail Horror! It Returns for 2023!
I cannot believe a year has passed, and here we are again. It's the 10th year of the Hooptober Horror Movie Marathon, and for the third time we'll be covering it over here on Cinema Dual. That means for the next 45 days myself and Mr. Dan Morris will be exploding your eyeballs with copious... Continue Reading →
