Hell’s Hinges is a fiery church sermon wrapped in the frock coat of a western. The condemnation of frontier hootin’ and hollerin’ feels strange for an early example of the genre but entirely fitting for a nation ramping up toward Prohibition. I suppose Hart is a precursor to Reagan in more than cowboy antics. All tell and little show (at least until the apocalyptic finale), the message of heartfelt belief over lip service is overexplained at every opportunity. Swickard seems…

God Told Me To captures the "anything can happen" energy of living in a city. The social contract is also an act of faith that your fellow man won't kill you without warning. Values may change on the surface as we build subways and telephone lines, but baser instincts persist in the heart. Humans today are not too far separated from Cain and Abel.

The preceding pontification is meant to say that this film shouldn't be mistaken for mere exploitation.…

Do not be deceived by the hackneyed patriotic opening scene. Rolling Thunder is a revenge story like Death Wish wrapped in a character study like Taxi Driver. The latter comparison is entirely apt since Schrader conceived Travis Bickle and Charles Rane as flipsides of how Vietnam vets adjusted (or not) to returning home. San Antonio may be Military City USA, but trauma doesn't care if you're in New York City or Ho Chi Minh City. 2,555 days as a POW…

Barbarian is not your typical zombie redneck torture family film. Setting the story in a decaying urban neighborhood is just the first shift. While not a horror-comedy per se, the film often takes a lighter tone to highlight the horror of its scenario. The genre inversions make sense considering Barbarian is by the same writer/director as Miss March. The comedy to horror pipeline is hardly rare, though always a pleasant surprise. Both genres use similar tricks (misdirection, timing, et cetera)…