I am a big fan of Jaws. It’s terrifying. It’s characters are relatable and / or memorable. It’s quotable. And it’s often cited as a ‘best practices’ way of teasing a monster before revealing it for greatest impact. It’s amazing. But it’s also scientifically questionable. Which is fine. But because I cut it slack, I … More The Shallows (2016) – REVIEW
Way back in twenty-fifteen, a film called February directed by Oz Perkins (Anthony’s son, FYI) showed at Fantastic Fest. That film was – for some reason – renamed. It is now known as, The Blackcoat’s Daughter. Twitter was abuzz with praise for this indie gem at the time, and so my interest was piqued. Almost … More I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) – REVIEW
As I’ve mentioned before, Rob Zombie’s films have mixed appeal for me. I enjoyed House of 1000 Corpses for the most part, I liked The Devil’s Rejects quite a bit, I loved The Lords of Salem, and I (mostly) hated his Halloween interpretations. His gritty 70s aesthetic is unique and his love of horror is … More 31 (2016) – REVIEW
The Autopsy of Jane Doe is certainly making a bit of a splash on the festival circuit this year. I’ve read some very positive things from some very reliable folks. And I thought director Andre Ovredal’s Trollhunter was a ton of fun. So, I was very interested in seeing it. Before we get too far into … More The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – REVIEW
This year, I was granted access to the Fantastic Fest online “screening room”. It was pretty sweet to be recognized as the heavyweight genre film blogger that I am. One of the available films was an Irish film called, A Dark Song. The description sounded pretty good so I watched a completely different Irish movie! … More The Hallow (2015) – REVIEW
I know I’ve said this before, but Netflix just cannot figure me out. I’ve been using the service for over a decade and it still consistently estimates my appreciation of films with a huge margin of error. The algorithm thought I’d like Dredd less than 3 stars for fuck’s sake! And for the first few … More He Never Died (2015) – REVIEW
I’d heard / read some decent things about the zombie-comedy, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse [sic], when it came out. (i won’t use the term zom-com no matter how much time I’m trying to save) I figured I’d check it out eventually, but I didn’t put it high on my priorities list. Sure, it looked … More Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) – REVIEW
Every October, I try to watch at least 31 horror films (as we all should). This is not a tradition that I made up. (just in case you thought i was claiming so) Some people challenge themselves to watch a film a day. I just try to average one a day. Some people challenge themselves … More Possession (1981) – REVIEW
The Greasy Strangler has garnered a lot of buzz on the festival circuit. A lot of that buzz boils down to, “whoa, Frodo produced a disgusting grindhouse gross-out!” That’s good, of course. But, considering that it seems to be dividing genre festival-goers – people who typically have iron stomachs and an affinity for weirdness – … More The Greasy Strangler – REVIEW – Fantastic Fest 2016
Do I know anything about Spanish psychological thrillers? Am I up on these things? Do I even know that ‘psychological thriller’ is usually a euphemism for highbrow horror? Let’s give me the benefit of the doubt here and assume that I can answer yes to ⅓ of those questions. (it’s the euphemism one) So, how … More Killing Words (Palabras Encadenadas) – (2003) – REVIEW
