Being Film #25 for Hooptober 2021 For some people, there is nothing I can say that will keep them from watching Halloween Kills, the second in a planned trilogy that serves as a slate cleaning sequel to the immortal 1978 classic film. If you're simply looking for a dozen or so brutal, borderline creative kills... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 8.0 – Black as Night (2021)
Being Film #22 for Hooptober 2021 I called a last minute audible for my horror watch when I saw the trailer for Black as Night, the sixth film in the Blumhouse/Amazon partnership under the Welcome to the Blumhouse series. Although it's a bit reductive to look at this as a "what if Buffy The Vampire... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 8.0 – The Boy Behind the Door (2021)
Being Film #18 for Hooptober 2021 There's no such thing as an objective review, but I don't know another way to differentiate my thoughts on the new Shudder exclusive The Boy Behind the Door. I can watch this film and see how well executed it is. The performances are uniformly excellent, the direction is super... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 8.0 – Candyman (2021)
Being Film #15 for Hooptober 2021 The new Candyman is a lot of things. Reboot, sequel...sure. But it's also a clever, brutal investigation into the nature of narrative. So much of a story is shaped by who tells it, who owns it. Watching Nia Dacosta take the original story and twist it into not only... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 8.0 – Jakob’s Wife (2021)
Being Film #13 for Hooptober 2021 We've had several vampire films where the theme of empowerment was front and center, so I'm surprised it took this long to get a film that grounds that in the framework of traditional gender and marriage roles. I'm doubly surprised that Jakob's Wife not only uses this framework well,... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 8.0 – Werewolves Within (2021)
Being Film #6 for Hooptober 2021 Did director Joel Rubin settle the question of "what's the best video game adaptation of all time?" with Werewolves Within? Does it count as an adaptation when producers Ubisoft's only real direction was "make it a good movie?" I have zero familiarity with the video game, although my family... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 8.0 – Blood Red Sky (2021)
Being Film #3 for Hooptober 2021 Somewhere there's a version of Blood Red Sky where Samuel L. Jackson is screaming "GET THESE MUTHAF-CKIN' VAMPIRES OFF MY MUTHAF-CKIN' PLANE!" and that is a movie I want to see. Instead what we have here is a German action/horror hybrid with a great premise that becomes a slog... Continue Reading →
Hooptober 8.0 – Malignant (2021)
Being Film #2 for Hooptober 2021 Malignant is many things. It's proof that James Wan lost none of his horror chops having made the leap to massive big budget fare like Aquaman and the Fast and Furious franchise. It's a high camp tribute to giallo, filtered through the lens of a guy whose first movie... Continue Reading →