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Watched on Monday June 9, 2025.

Watched on Monday June 9, 2025.

„Killing time? Time does not die - Only people.“

Strange yet undeniably atmospheric. The Navigator tries to say something deep about fear, faith, and the plague, but often feels more like a dream you half- than a story you fully understand. May grow on a rewatch.

The fragile hope that art might save us from ourselves…

Watched on Thursday June 5, 2025.

Like a fever dream only Larry Cohen could’ve pulled off. Vampires hold town hall meetings, hire a biographer, and get stalked by a Nazi-hunting anthropologist. It’s unhinged, campy, and even manages to squeeze in the American flag - with a perfectly straight face.

It’s campy, weird, and absolutely not what fans of the original story expected - but that’s kind of the point. If you’re in the mood for something offbeat, low-budget, and bizarrely self-aware, this oddity is worth a late-night watch. Just don’t expect anything resembling the original Salem’s Lot, cause it‘s just completely bonkers.

As a longtime fan of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, I approached this remake with skepticism. I loved the book, liked Tobe Hooper’s original, and even enjoyed the 2004 version with Rob Lowe. They weren’t perfect, but they captured the spirit.

This new take? It’s a mess - not awful, just hollow and unnecessary. It tries to hit all key scenes in record time but lacks the slow, creeping tension that made the novel so effective. The atmosphere is thin, the pacing so rushed that the character development is nonexistent, and the effects surprisingly really weak.

Still, it wasn’t without charm and had some moments. The standout? Mark - the 11-and-three-quarters-year-old soon to be vampire slayer. He’s got more brain and bravery than most of the adults combined and ends up kind of leading the charge. If only the rest of the film had his spirit.

Watchable, but it misses the soul of King’s small-town horror by miles.

Watched on Wednesday June 4, 2025.

This felt in many ways like a parasite-prototype more than half a century before Bong Joon Ho’s masterpiece.

„Happy Birthday Dad“

Stephen Graham - 😯

Watched on Monday June 2, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 26, 2025.

“Break on through to the other side.”
“Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin.”
“You know that it would be untrue, you know that I would be a liar.”
“Come on, baby, light my fire.”
“People are strange when you’re a stranger.”
“I am the lizard king, I can do anything.”
“The days are bright and filled with pain.”
“When the music’s over, turn out the lights.”
“This is the end, my only friend, the end.”

Watched on Sunday May 25, 2025.

„Walkin' like a man
Hittin' like a hammer, she′s a juvenile scam
Never was a quitter
Tasty like a raindrop

She′s got the look

And she goes
Na-na-na-na na
Na-na-na-na na
Na-na-na-na na-na
Na-na-na na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na na-na“

The 80s had Indiana Jones, the 90s gave us The Mummy, and the 2000s brought National Treasure. But the 2010s to date felt oddly empty - this genre deserves a comeback. For me Fountain of Youth had this classic adventure feel and therefore does the trick. I would love to see a franchise here.

Watched on Thursday May 22, 2025.

This one landed better for me than the seventh - yes, it’s far too long and stumbles a lot, but it’s a worthy continuation of a franchise that still knows how to entertain as cinematic experience. Watching it feels like a messy first time with your special one: there’s nervous energy, so much attention to mood and setup, foreplay stretched to the edge. But when it finally takes off, it soars. And the best part? Most of the toys and stunts are real. Pure physical craft, just the raw thrill of risk. By the end, all that spectacle settles into a dignified and satisfying climax that ends in the blink of an eye.

EDIT: Best Letterboxed-Review-Reward ever. Gotta love that marketing stunt ❤️

The film drags, but Marlene Dietrich, kissing women in a tux and dripping with style, is so damn riveting she makes the whole thing unforgettable.

One of the best romantic comedies ever made -The Philadelphia Story fizzes with razor-sharp wit, champagne dialogue, and a love triangle so charming it practically tap dances. Hepburn, Grant, and Stewart deliver such effortlessly brilliant performances, it feels like watching the gods of old Hollywood flirt, feud, and fall in love.

This ending…

Watched on Saturday May 17, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 17, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

Always look out for new carpets

 A Working Man is like a direct-to-DVD Taken with surprisingly solid production values and Jason Statham in full, brooding form - not groundbreaking, but reliably action and thoroughly entertaining.

Nick Nolte gives a towering, tragic performance in Affliction, a bleak and powerful portrait of a man crushed beneath the weight of his past, unraveling in a world as cold and merciless as the snowbound town he can’t escape.

“Why the barbed wire? Do they climb in at night?”
- No. They climb out, sometimes…”

A perfect snapshot of Dellamorte Dellamore’s dark, deadpan humor. It‘s one of the weirdest, most fascinating horror films of the ’90s.

On this second viewing - decades after a baffled teenage first watch, I finally saw it for what it is:
 a gloriously strange cocktail of existential dread, grotesque horror, and absurd comedy.
This film isn’t just weird - it’s gloriously weird.
It feels like a fever dream where every taboo is not just touched but embraced - necrophilia, casual murder, impotence and a lot more. Oddly enough - somehow, it all comes off as strangely dark and entertaining comedy.

Rupert Everett’s stoic sco Dellamorte holds the chaos together with weary charisma, drifting through a decaying town where the dead don’t stay dead and nothing makes quite enough sense. The atmosphere is thick, the camera work often stunning, and the humor so dry it almost crumbles in your hands.

And then come the final 20 minutes - a surreal, poetic spiral into pure metaphysical madness. It doesn’t just end; it shifts, and you’re left wondering whether you’ve witnessed horror, satire, or some haunting meditation on death and identity.

A film that lingers in the mind like a half-ed dream - beautiful, bonkers, and maybe even brilliant.

“Death, death, death comes sweeping down, filthy death the leering clown, death on wings, death by surprise, failing evil from worldly eyes, death that spawns as life succumbs, while death and love, two kindred drums, beat the time till judgement day, an actor in a ion play, without beginning, without end, evermore, amen.”

One of the film’s saddest truths is that this tender, possibly unacknowledged love between two bros never gets the chance to become something more.

Watched on Sunday May 11, 2025.

A delightfully cheesy gem and one of Demi Moore’s first screen outings, Parasite is surprisingly well-made and a lot of fun in 3D. It’s a solid 2.5 out of 5 - but throw on the 3D glasses, squint just right, and you might just see a 3 out of 5.

„Das Leben schuldet uns nichts als das Leben, und alles andere haben wir zu tun.“

Watched on Saturday May 10, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 10, 2025.

„I fell into a burning ring of fire
Went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire
The ring of fire“
🔥 🔥🔥

After all these years, Final Destination 2 honestly holds up better than the first. It’s always been my favorite - tighter, meaner, and somehow more fun in its chaos. Even though I ed the highway scene being a bit bigger, it’s still rad as hell and definitely responsible for an entire generation’s fear of logging trucks. The death setups are more creative, the pacing sharper, and that ending…

Watched on Thursday May 8, 2025.

I knew right after the opening scene - when the soldiers were zoning to that Call on Me cover, just feeling the vibe, that Warfare was going to be a hardcore experience. And boy, it really hit hard.

From that moment until the first ambush, the atmosphere is thick and suffocating - almost more horror than war film. Furthermore the film impressively captures tactical details and shows a wide range of soldier behavior under pressure. It feels brutally realistic, and deeply uncomfortable, a raw reminder of how painful, chaotic, and ultimately senseless war is.

The stripped-down, real-time approach throughout the movie is really unique. No pathos, no glorification - just a cold portrayal of survival. What truly elevates it is the gripping visual work and a sound design that’s as relentless as it is terrifying.

The creators have achieved something rare here:
They stripped the scenes of all illusion and exposed the brutal core of war. This is as close as cinema gets to an honest, unforgettable anti-war statement.

Body Double is De Palma at his most indulgent, sleazy, stylish - and I loved every second of it.
 
Pino Donaggio’s score is the real hypnotist here: lush, moody, and dreamlike, pulling you under like a trance. The whole film feels like a fever dream staged on the backlot of old Hollywood - part Hitchcock, part lurid studio-era noir, all De Palma. The camera work is pure bravura, tracking obsession with such style it practically becomes the film’s main character. And, Frankie Goes to Hollywood turning a porn shoot into a surreal music video? Iconic. 

Melanie Griffith also steals the show. She is magnetic - sexy, sharp, and impossible to look away from.

As De Palma once said: “The camera lies all the time; lies 24 times / second.” - and in Body Double, every lie is seductive.

Watched on Monday May 5, 2025.

I stumbled across Freaks quite often - especially whenever I’d watch videos about Guillermo del Toro’s house and collection. It’s one of his favorite films, and now, cause I have finally seen it the first time, I completely understand why. I really appreciate his love for it, and you can clearly see its influence in his work: the comion for outsiders, the blend of the grotesque and the beautiful, the empathy at the heart of the horror.

I had always wondered why Tod Browning, the director of the original Dracula, seemed to disappear from the creative spotlight after this film - especially now that Freaks is so highly regarded. What I didn’t realize is that Freaks essentially killed his career. The backlash at the time was severe: test-audiences walked out, the studio panicked and kind of shelved it, the film was cut to pieces and finally banned in many regions and cities. I strongly recommend researching the story behind its troubled production - it adds another layer to what’s already a powerful viewing experience.

The film itself was lightyears ahead of its time. Even though the version we have today is heavily butchered, Freaks still stands as a bold and unforgettable piece of cinema. I was expecting a horror film, but aside from the horrifying final ten minutes, it plays much more like a deeply moving social drama. It’s about humanity, community, and how cruelty defines who the real “monsters” are.

What stood out to me was how respectfully Browning portrayed the sideshow performers - not as curiosities, but as people. Real people, with lives, feelings, humor, dignity and heartbreak. It’s breathtaking what he managed to do in 1932.

I won’t forget this empathetic landmark in cinematic history. Nearly a century later, it still hits - “Gooble gobble, one of us.” ❤️❤️❤️

This is a prime example of when writers had no idea how to justify a sequel, so they slapped on an absurd conclusion/plot - oddly enough, it works sometimes.

Maybe it’s not the most popular take, but I actually really enjoyed Havoc. I totally get why it’s getting a lot of criticism - it’s messy, overstuffed, and definitely tries too hard to weave a complex story with way too many characters. But still, there’s something oddly charming about it.

The whole movie feels like a dark comic ripped straight out of the early 2000s era, where everything was gritty and over-stylized. The visuals have a comic book flair, and the CGI (these car-movements!!!) looks like it’s from an PS3 video game intro. Honestly, it gave me strong Max Payne vibes, and I was there for it.

Yes, it feels like the movie is tripping over its own ambition. But the action sequences? Totally worth it. They’re intense, stylish, and fun in the most chaotic way. The last big set piece especially - absolute blast. It’s loud, violent, and ridiculous, but in the best way possible.

If you go in expecting a sleek, polished thriller, you’ll be disappointed. But if you’re into gritty action with a flawed-but-fun vibe, Havoc might surprise you like it did me. Think of it as the longest, most action-packed cutscene from an early 2000s video game and you will enjoy it.
Without bullet time but with the Gareth Evans-Style Punch.

PS: It actually stands out from typical Netflix fare by not using that desaturated, one-size-fits-all color grading. Finally.

Watched on Sunday May 4, 2025.

Think Bullet Train - but at 30,000 feet. Less Tarantino-Style, but more fun and snack carts.

Watched on Saturday May 3, 2025.

The definition of a a mixed movie, but effort was apparent…

„Oh no, Bob is trying to help.“

• The Brutalist
• Late Shift
• Sinners
• Final Destination Bloodlines
• A Complete Unknown
• Sing Sing
• Nosferatu
• The Monkey
• I Want It All
• Warfare

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Perfect Days
• Anora
• The Iron Claw
• Civil War
• Monster
• Longlegs
• The Holdovers
• Tatami
• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• MaXXXine

...plus 58 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Fog
• The Thing
• Escape from New York
• Halloween
• They Live
• Big Trouble in Little China
• Prince of Darkness
• In the Mouth of Madness
• Christine
• Assault on Precinct 13

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Afire
• Past Lives
• Oppenheimer
• Pearl
• Babylon
• The Fabelmans
• Evil Dead Rise
• The Teachers' Lounge
• Anatomy of a Fall
• Godzilla Minus One

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.