Audiences only see any genuine joy on the face of Maika Monroe’s Julia at the beginning of Chloe Okuno’s Watcher. She rides in a taxi, taking in the sights of Bucharest, Romania. Only in this one moment, this new city offers her possibilities and adventures. Then the driver talks in Romanian to her husband. They... Continue Reading →
Being Film #15 for Hooptober 2022 Winner winner, chicken dinner. Throw out the term "elevated horror" because usually it embodies theme over scares. I'm all for my horror having something important to talk about, but if you're using the genre as a platform for your theme, then make sure sure you're using the genre. In... Continue Reading →
Being Film #10 for Hooptober 2022 The world needs more variation in its Lovecraftian horror. So here is Glorious, a Shudder original that takes its tales of Elder Gods and puts it in a dirty rest stop restroom for almost the entirety of its runtime. But if you're going to do a bottle movie where... Continue Reading →
When I saw Zach Cregger’s Barbarian opening weekend, I immediately regretted it. Not because it’s a bad film, far from it. I’ll be honest, it’s my favorite horror movie of the year. What I regretted is that I didn’t wait to see it for Hooptober! The only solution was to see it again in theaters... Continue Reading →
As Florida residents and lovers of spooky things, going to Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights is an annual tradition for my spouse and I. For anyone who has never gone or is unaware, Halloween Horror Nights is an after hours event in September and October at Universal Studios. Generally, they’ll have multiple “haunted houses” based... Continue Reading →
Being Film #4 for Hooptober 2022 I've always given writer/director Ti West credit for trying with his films. Whether it was the 80s VHS clamshell horror of debut The House of the Devil or the found footage cult madness of The Sacrament, there's always solid filmmaking not content to merely emulate, but to live and... Continue Reading →
A brief confession; when I initially put together my Hooptober list, I put The Innkeepers as my choice for a Ti West film. I’d already seen X and felt no need for a revisit. I wanted to see if I was harsh in my initial viewing of that film. Then a theater near me offered... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Cinema Dual 