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A strange little lesbian road romp that isn’t quite rompy enough, but is definitely dykey to the core.
Enjoyable enough.
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Beginning brutally with not one, but two rapes in one evening – – one could almost assume this was the beginning of one of the blackest of comedies. But the film manages to keep its tone stark and on message as our lead character takes her revenge on men of all stripes
It’s good stuff and excellently played.
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This Lifetime-ization of De Palma’s Sisters takes the original 1972 film and tells the story from a different angle and puts the story in a different place by the finale.
An interesting reimagining, but the lack of suspense in the way the story was told and the lack of style in the storytelling does not improve on the original. Rather, it leaves the reporter character undefined— which, I guess, is how this version‘s finale comes out the way it does.
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It almost doesn’t work, or should I say it barely works? Or maybe it doesn’t really work, but I like it anyway…
In any case, Billy Crystal is a psychologist/psychiatrist (?) trying to discover the cause of the haunting symptoms a child is suffering, while dealing with the recent death of his wife.
It’s an interesting and confounding watch. Frustrating in that it could have wrapped up in six episodes. Odd because there are about four occasions in which Billy would have been barred from seeing this patient.
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Hell hath no fury like a teenage girl…
There are some faults here, but you gotta love it when a goth black magick horror picture goes there.
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“Welcome to Sunday School.”
Totally exceeded my expectations – – this homemade film featuring an apparent army of zombies is able to go places some big budget films never get to. It’s fun, makes twists one wouldn’t expect and has some ideas about the undead that aren’t fully explored even today.
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This wee-budgeted 70s spaghetti western throwback (probably should be Spaghetti-O’s Western) was a real hoot.
It’s fun and stylish, and has a lot of heart – – but it still feels quite stiff in the acting and about 15 minutes too long for its run time.
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This short is much more style than substance, but the style is pretty easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, that doesn’t give it the full ing grade of three stars – – script a better story and we’ll see about an upgrade.
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When your weed horror film has the viewer considering more how the bud in question might be a huge metaclorian source (see Star Wars lore) more than how it is ‘killer weed’ in the sense of The Ruins’ murderous plant, you might want to put down the bowl for a bit.
I don’t know dank weed from stank weed, but I recorded this one off of Encore more out of curiosity than anything else having noticed it was a horror flick.
And a strange story it is… as a group of women go to a marijuana farm to trim weed and from there crazy things happen. It starts out with a Cabin Fever vibe and moves on to something more Death Becomes Her (while not anywhere near reaching the quality of those two films).
Hard to describe, as I’m sure it was to pitch, the movie held my interest mostly in the sense of discovering just how off the rails it would get. It goes there, but it doesn’t get there without losing the plot.
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Not quite the wet and wild water horror I hoped for. Lots going on, not enough consistency.
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Another pseudo–slasher that had gotten away from me…
The acting by the main character is so flat as to be distractingly bad at times, but the thorough examination of the killers’ mentality is surprisingly adept.
An interesting watch for someone with the acquired taste for it. May I suggest medium well?
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A paint-by-numbers Marvel flick that incorporates arcs from the last Hulk movie, the Eternals movie, the Cap/ Bucky tv show, etc.
In short, the action gets in the way of the plot as the excitement drains from the story of the movie.
Besides, clearly this was originally supposed to be a Hulk movie.
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Hoo-boy what a waste of talent.
The cast is great, if you don’t count the lead actress. The gist of the plot is pretty solid. The script itself is God awful.
It wants to be Joe Eszterhas meets Tennessee Williams, but it’s more like Penthouse Forum meets Reader’s Digest.
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Quality compelling storytelling. Enough said.
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Another nifty performance by George C Scott in this slow waltz through the late 70s porn industry as a father looking for his daughter who has unexpectedly disappeared into this scene.
It is a bit episodic as the movie takes place over around five months as Scott immerses himself into the industry and that is a detriment. Regardless, the mystery and performances hold it together through the bitter end.
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The pre-Y2K part of this movie is not terrible. The post Y2K part of this movie is definitely not good.
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Frankly, I hesitated for over a year to watch this one. Oh, I have heard and read the positive about it. However, I was never a big fan of The Omen or its sequels. Always felt too stodgy, too formal, too boring – – it felt like a Hammer-style horror at its most overly long and boring. All this, even considering that Richard Donner is one of my favorite directors.
So, recognizing its pedigree, I waited as long as I could to get around to it and Hulu finally forced my hand because they are kicking it out at the end of the month.
I thought it was a finally crafted, beautifully made piece of cinema that happens to hold up the flag of Gothic horror very well. It was able to keep its loyalty to the original while feeling like a film of that era and give itself it’s own vision of originality.
Unfortunately, it still felt overly long and predictable. The predictability part is fairly common in these movies, but the length could have been trimmed. Who knows, if I ever venture to watch it again, it may get a higher score from this viewer.
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AKA The Lamp – – this strange little 80s evil genie flick isn’t great, or consistent, or particularly well acted, but it is entertaining and unpredictable. Crazy characters and kooky kills highlight this movie that would otherwise be routine and by the numbers.
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Perhaps I’m a little generous with my rating, but in the end I think it is justified. This tiny budgeted little film pretty much takes place in one location and involves a young man who, throughout his life has been plagued by an evil presence. Or, as the film convinces you to wonder, is he a little mad?
Good performances, well shot – – unfortunately, the plot is a little hit and miss. But clever enough in the end for a viewing.
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This just isn’t very good at being what it is intended to be.
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For the most part of this movie, I was unsure what to make of it is it seemed to shape shift as the minutes came rushing by. It started out as a kid being afraid of the dark, morphed into a grandma is going to possess her grandson type deal and then he got shipped off to a very disturbing boarding school.
It was good, and they were able to keep the tone consistent regardless of the crazy shift in plot, so I will give it that. However, I am still not certain what exactly happened at the end.
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It’s a shame this water themed monster picture wasn’t really good at the underwater stuff, but otherwise it was beautifully shot and directed. The acting wasn’t bad either – – especially considering James Earl Jones ripping Shakespeare quotes and doing his best Captain Ahab.
HP Lovecraft meets Jaws— kinda sorta.
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Remind me not to go to Canada in the late 1970s – – it seems to be an insanely crime-riddled hell scape! An entertaining, if insane thriller, that takes the viewer down every possible path towards finding the killer… Crazy car chases, a blind witness, a suspect with a leg brace, a bald criminal little person, a triple transvestite brawl, a chase through a hospital that involves infant newborn hostages, a helicopter skyjacking, reckless shootouts, etc.
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I don’t recommend trying to out swim a Bigfoot, apparently they can hold their breath as long as a catfish! Also, I know a lot of people refer to the cutoff jean shorts in this movie as “jorts”, but what you Yankees have to understand is that we refer to them as “Daisy Duke’s” here in the post Dukes of Hazzard south.
Anyway, stay out of the swamp and leave those Bigfoot in peace.
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A dark folktale of devils and deal making. Visually beautiful and horrific at the same time.
It’s probably the language barrier that doesn’t get this one four stars from me, but only three and a half.
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Quite an enjoyable a foray into the swamp for some witchery! Hail Satan and the garlic!
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A psychedelic Psycho wannabe in which Gerald McCraney gets close to women and then has migraines and not long after those women die by violence.
Kind of fun, but repetitive and one note.
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Always enjoy a good girls boarding house murder mystery– unfortunately there aren’t quite enough kills in this one.
Otherwise, quite gloomy and Gothic as it should be.
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Unfortunately, it’s just such a low budget that there is not the quality you would like. I mean it’s almost local access cable budget.
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Excellent performances highlight this science fiction/supernatural swamp family drama. And how the hell did I not recognize Lauren Ambrose until 2/3 of the movie was over?
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An interesting and dark fantastic tale of trauma and coping mechanisms. This one where a daughter, traumatized by her childhood deals with it via knighthood and the slaying of monsters.
A concept not quite executed as well as it could’ve been by this first time director, but the acting and look of the film are good – – as is the cinematography.
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Felt like somebody took an episode of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” and decided to make a full length movie. Only I’m not sure if this is as scary as said episode was.
There is one twist in this movie that I really did like, but the people in the movie other than the main character didn’t seem like it was such a big deal. It would have let me know full on that I was in a horror movie, but these people are too dense.
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This southern Gothic giallo has everything you want in a coming of age murder mystery, erotic thriller, lifetime movie, with a touch of supernatural horror mixed in. Unfortunately, the tone is a little uneven.
Came for the Jennifer Jason Leigh and stayed for the southern hospitality… and the WTF ending.
Gothic Manor – – check.
Sane sister taking care of mentally fragile sister – – check.
Suspicious burly groundskeeper– – check.
Mysterious past death – – check.
Handsome stranger – – check.
Ghost stories around a dining room table -– check.
I guess it’s folk horror, if the entirety of the movie is based on folk songs. Hard to say what I make of it beyond that it is a great concept that starts out stylishly and ends kind of sloppily.
Very enjoyable and yet something is not there that should be.
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Started very promisingly and kind of petered out at the end.
Love the energy of it, but for lack of plot and character development and you just can’t manifest an ending out of nothing.
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A visually interesting examination of guilt and temptation and self medication as a man in midlife crisis deals with his demons.
Not quite the kind of horror I expected, but horrific nonetheless.
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I’m really not sure what they were trying to go for with this one and it seems like they didn’t know either.
With Dave Foley and some of the other talent on board, you would expect much more from this one than what you get. And it’s a damn shame.
There is another vampire/office movie from a few years back and I believe it’s entitled Bloodsucking Bastards or something like that which is funnier and much more bloody.
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Interesting concept, but the plot was oddly constructed and didn’t flow smoothly. Cleverly cast for the most part and with a nifty soundtrack.
Entertaining, but at the end of the day it just didn’t quite make the cut.
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Really surprised by the praise slathered on this one like gravy. But maybe you folks who gave it a high grade were starving for the main course.
There were some highlights to this one, but I felt that the tone and the execution of the horror itself was lackluster. Still, I suppose with some stuffing in a casserole might be good for the leftovers. Or maybe in a sandwich.
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Once upon a time…
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I’ll be damned if this one didn’t hit the spot.
A nifty little bit of old school BBC folk horror. Easter before Christ and, perhaps, that rascally rabbit.
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In the world of this movie, the possessed are considered recovering victims who have therapy, groups to meet with and amends to make. It’s a kind of horror comedy with a very dry comedy and light on the horror.
Regardless, an entertaining watch that had some very solid performances. Worth a look if you’re in the mood for something less than scary and slightly humorous.
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Our protagonist returns to her stepfather and real mother in jolly old England to find that her mother has gone missing. Her half brothers are there and there is a beast on the loose attacking them in their estate.
It’s not good. It’s not fully terrible either. But about what I expected as the creature does its business and in a slasher-like fashion, they are taken out one by one.
The effects aren’t your typical werewolf designs, giving off a hairless & slimy look. The acting isn’t very winning, but that could be due to the script, which clearly isn’t ideal.
But you get what you stumble upon late at night on cable I guess.
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The opening of this movie had some promise with a setting in the 1950s involving a Nazi hiding in America with a wife and child, but that story ended much quicker than I anticipated and what followed was a strange haunting involving four coeds and a preteen little girl.
It ended up being very basic and uninspired, and so my rating.
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A plodding puddle of pulp that becomes an existential crisis of character. It tries to be haunting, but the mystery just isn’t that deep dark or depressing.
A hell of a cast casting about for more meaning than this story can produce.
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A dark and cynical take on the artificial intelligence/sex bot trope which starts out as a murder mystery of sorts and turns into more of an insane look at our world’s deranged sexual proclivities.
Eventually it gets darker… even thought-provoking and truly morally mucked up.
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No, it’s not a high quality weirdo haunting/cursed/satanic house movie, but it does have its moments.
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Neither great nor terrible, but rather kind of typical. Nonetheless, Nicolas Cage is pretty stoic in this old school Western about a gunslinger out for vengeance when his past comes back to haunt him.
The young girl who plays his daughter does her best Hailee Steinfeld and Clint Howard does his best Dub Taylor.
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A solid Funny or Die riff on the evil little girl from The Ring era. Favorite part of the bit is where the girl tells us that she also is an aspiring pop singer.
I guess now we’re on to the scary giant hag era of horror.
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A solidly, humorous murder mystery that isn’t really a mystery at all. Enjoyable casual procedural with dumb guy criminals. Fargo meets the desert Southwest, but not as good.
]]>30 must see films featuring fateful journeys.
- The Wizard of Oz
- Midnight Run
- Planes, Trains and Automobiles
- Thelma & Louise
- Stand by Me
- Smokey and the Bandit
- The Darjeeling Limited
- Jeepers Creepers
- Little Miss Sunshine
- I'm Thinking of Ending Things
...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Movies made marking the urgency of the middle of the night.
- Midnight
- 10 to Midnight
- After Midnight
- London After Midnight
- Before Midnight
- Heart of Midnight
- Midnight Cowboy
- Midnight Express
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- Midnight Lace
...plus 12 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Sixteen films that feature consequential and not-so-consequential scenes with snakes.
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Conan the Barbarian
- Enter the Dragon
- The Jungle Book
- Kill Bill: Vol. 2
- Billy Jack
- Road Trip
- True Grit
- Them That Follow
- Natural Born Killers
...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>My own personal Top 10 Horror Films of the ‘30s. Honorable mentions include Freaks (1932) and The Ghoul (1933).
]]>My own personal Top 10 horror movies of the 1940’s.
Honorable Mentions: The Mummy’s Hand (1940), House of Frankenstein (1944) and The Body Snatcher (1945).
]]>My own personal top 10 horror movies between 2010 and 2020 kind of sorta.
Honorable mentions include: Black Swan, The Crazies, You’re Next, Sinister, The Invitation, Green Room, 10 Cloverfield Lane, It, Gerald’s Game and Us.
]]>My personal Top 10 horror films of the first ten years of the new millennium. A very tough list to narrow down to just ten. It leaves eight honorable mentions and they are: The Gift, Session 9, The Others, Cabin Fever, Shaun of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, Slither and The Mist.
]]>My personal favorite horror movies of the 1990’s. After the struggle of the ‘80s, this decade was a breeze to winnow down to ten.
Honorable mentions: Interview with the Vampire, The Devil’s Advocate and The Blair Witch Project.
]]>The challenge: Using only your first name, create a HorrorFest.
Decided to create a “playlist” that builds with the sharp suspense of Gerald’s Game into the dread of Angel Heart. And then I threw in the WTF bonkers element with Rabid only to give the tension a full release with You’re Next.
]]>My personal Top 10 horror films of the 80s. I could have easily made a Top 25 list of films from the videotape era (and you’ll see ten of them in my honorable mentions below), but I wanted to hold true to the previous decades.
Honorable Mentions: The Serpent and the Rainbow, Near Dark, Manhunter, Scanners, Altered States, The Changeling, Videodrome, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Phantasm II and Return of the Living Dead.
]]>My personal Top 10 horror movies of the 1950s.
Honorable mentions include: Diabolique, Revenge of the Creature, I Bury the Living, The Mummy and Them.
]]>My personal Top 10 favorite horror films of the 1960s—accept no substitutes!
Honorable mentions: Village of the Damned, Black Sabbath, Dementia 13, Repulsion and Spider Baby.
]]>My personal top 10 favorite horror movies of the 1970s. Your mileage may vary.
Honorable mentions include: Let’s Scare Jessica to Death, The Dunwich Horror, Don’t Look Now, The Night Stalker, Jaws and House.
]]>Ten movies where mad mamas make the movie!
]]>A fistful of films featuring murderous replacement hands.
- The Hands of Orlac
The granddaddy of the haunted hands genre!
- Mad Love
Peter Lore creeps throughout this one.
- Hands of a Stranger
- The Hand
- Body Parts