The camera gives us, the audience, a view of the Atlantic Ocean. This scene is not particularly peaceful. The waters here don’t look beautiful. The ocean roils into muddy bubbles. An African-American father and son though play unconcerned in these not particularly calm waters. The camera then turns to a white woman named France, watching... Continue Reading →
One of the great joys of loving art is discovering an artist for your self. One that changes your perspective or fits into your already established aesthetic. It doesn’t matter if they’re new or established. The joy is in discovering those films for yourself. Great work remains great work no matter when you find it. ... Continue Reading →
It's been a cool 10 months since I last did a Criterion Catch-up. It's not that I haven't been watching my collection, it's just that...well, I was doing other things, like May's Vinyl Challenge over at Consuming the Tangible and of course the recent Hooptober marathon right here at Cinema Dual. And in that time... Continue Reading →
Watching a film like Amanda Kramer’s Please Baby Please feels like looking into a window of the past. Not so much because it’s a period piece though that is a window into the past. No, it seems like a film that would fit alongside independent films made in the 1980s like Blue Velvet or Stranger... Continue Reading →
Right now, there's a bit of slasher revival happening. There's been enough time since the end of the last slasher cycle that folks can come back to the genre with new eyes. It also allows for new perspectives. The feature debut of screenwriter John Logan (Skyfall, Alien: Covenant), They/Them brings a queer perspective to a... Continue Reading →
Right now, a modern storytelling tool is tools of the past. What might have been an older technique, or a formerly technical limitation is now an aesthetic. Musical genres like chiptune which utilize 8-bit video game sound processing or video games that seek to emulate the heyday of Nintendo have carved a niche for themselves.... Continue Reading →
In my review for Saint Maud, I noted that most religious horror isn't actually about religion it portrays. Most religious horror films tend to be about fights with monsters rather than faith. Instead of a test of faith, these films end being battles between good priests and evil demons. Monsters with rules that can be... Continue Reading →
Ladies and gentlemen, to close out Hooptober (well, I still have a few movies to write about), my wife and I participated in a movie marathon at our local drive-in. Every year, Silver Moon Drive-In in Lakeland, Florida uses its two screens to host Halloween movie marathons. One screen usually shows older Universal monster movies... Continue Reading →
One of the questions all horror fans and studios ask is “What’s the scariest movie ever made?” A question like that kind of serves no purpose. Fear is such a subjective thing. What terrifies or chills one person might be blasé to another. Rarely do films touted as “the scariest film in years” last past... Continue Reading →
Midway through watching F.W. Murnau’s silent classic Faust, I asked myself “Is this really a horror movie?” It feels like a stretch to do so. The film is undoubtedly a masterpiece of German Expressionism. Murnau, clearly in command of his craft, fills every frame of the film with astonishing images. There is horror and horror... Continue Reading →
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