Being Film #13 for Hooptober 2025 I never thought I'd see a film like Hausu again. That movie, a psychedelic fever dream from Nobuhiko Obayashi, was off the walls and inventive in a way I never expected, and never expected to see again. I am so happy to be proved wrong by Devil Fetus, an... Continue Reading →
Being Film #12 for Hooptober 2025 It's getting harder and harder to reinvigorate the trope of "bunch of young adults headed to a remote cabin where horror ensues". You could even argue the attempts to subvert the trope is itself a trope. And yet, even though I don't really love Dead Snow, writer/director Tommy Wirkola's... Continue Reading →
Being Film #11 for Hooptober 2025 Straddling the line between folktale and vibrant Hammer-style gothic horror, I was shocked and surprised at how much I enjoyed the lean, vibrant Viy. My knowledge of Russian cinema, let alone Russian horror, is pretty limited, but I shouldn't be surprised considering the rich history Russia has from a... Continue Reading →
Being Film #10 for Hooptober 2025 I typically don't hold out a lot of hope for sequels, especially 80s sequels to 80s movies that were themselves comedic reboots of older films. But somehow despite the loss of Dan O'Bannon Return Of The Living Dead Part II not only works as a worthy successor, it leans... Continue Reading →
Being Film #9 for Hooptober 2025 There were a lot of things running through my mind watching La Morte Vivante, aka The Living Dead Girl. I wish I meant that in a good way, but the truth is despite the cult status of Jean Rollins and the notable similarities between his films of the fantastique... Continue Reading →
Being Film #8 for Hooptober 2025 23 years later from 28 Days Later we get 28 Years Later, and while I loved writing that sentence, I didn't love it as much as I loved the film itself. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland return to their 2002 "fast zombie / don't call it a zombie film"... Continue Reading →
Being Film #7 for Hooptober 2025 Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Not so much a dud as a "well, I was definitely expecting more from this" kind of letdown. Maybe I finally hit the age where I just can't relate to the kids of today, because despite coming from a guy who's... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Cinema Dual 