Unlike a lot of horror movie franchises that start big then fizzle out over time, some to be rebooted for a new generation (Halloween) and some to forever haunt the “You May Also Like” pages of various streaming services (A Nightmare on Elms St.), the Child’s Play series has quietly chugged along, with varying degrees […]
What do you look for in a zombie movie? Is it sophomoric political satire, a script riddled with silly self-referential jokes? An all-star cast who sleepwalks through the film, most of them in glorified cameos that add up to little more than stunt casting? A story about the zombie apocalypse being caused by global warming […]
There is a long tradition of actors and actresses starting their career in genre films and going on to “better” things, like Kevin Bacon in Friday the 13th, Jennifer Aniston in Leprechaun or George Clooney in Return of the Killer Tomatoes! It’s much rarer for one at the height of their career to do the […]
“The eye.“ That won’t make a lot of sense to you until after you have seen Brightburn, but once you have…well, it’s all you are going to be thinking about for a long, long time: “The eye.” That thing in the restaurant…that thing with the woman’s eye. In fact, just reading this, and remembering “the […]
A successful young couple, tired of living in their gorgeous San Francisco apartment, decide to look for an estate in Napa Valley where they can relax, start a family and live their version of the American Dream. It’s just their bad luck that the owner of the $3.2 million property they decide to settle down […]
The Curse of La Llorona tells a story that will feel very familiar to all horror movie fans, the story of a curse created by a horrific family tragedy in the past that travels across time to terrorize an unsuspecting family. In this case, the curse starts back a few hundred years ago when a […]
It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since Mike Mignola’s comic book creation, Hellboy, first came to the big screen in a live action film, starring Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy) as the big red demonic superhero with Guillermo del Toro directing. It made enough money to spawn a sequel four years later, Hellboy […]
Burned out at working the graveyard shift at a Boston hospital, Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) decides to seek a quieter life by moving to rural Maine with his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and their two children, Ellie (Jeté Laurence) and Gage (Hugo and Lucas Lavoie). The quiet lasts about 24 hours. On his first day […]
“Oscar-winning horror movie” are four words genre fans don’t see strung together very often, but in 2017 they were deservedly wrapped around Get Out, the multi-layered masterpiece written, produced and directed by Jordan Peele. The film was nominated in four categories — Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Performance by […]
If you are up for some middling low budget, independent horror with an authentic Maine setting and local flavor, Island Zero might be just the ticket. The film is written by Tess Gerritsen, the bestselling author of medical and crime thrillers, including twelve novels featuring Detective Jane Rizzoli and Medical Examiner Maura Isles on which […]
Downsizing (2017) from writer/director Alexander Payne has everything going for it. It has a unique and intriguing premise: to save the planet from man, overpopulation, global warming (you name it), shrink man down to one-tenth their original size. It has a great lead cast featuring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Kristen Wiig, Udo Kier, and – […]
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Vanessa invites Doc Rotten to reveal his thoughts on the latest film in the DC cinematic universe, Justice League (2017). The film is directed by Zack Snyder (with some reshoot help from Joss Whedon) with a script by Chris Terrio and Whedon. The story has Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) forming a […]
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Marvel returns to Asgard with Thor: Ragnarok (2017), the third in the Thor series of films. However, this addition to the franchise brings far more spirit, color, life, and humor to the sometimes stiff characters. Director Taika Waititi along with writers Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost may have created the most accessible and […]
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John Kramer returns – as does the Saw series – with Jigsaw (2017) from the Spierig Brothers (Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig), the directors behind Undead, Daybreakers, Predestination, and the upcoming Winchester: The House That Ghosts Builts. Tobin Bell returns in the title role while his costars Matt Passmore, Callum Keith Rennie, Hannah Emily Anderson, […]
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The Snowman (2017) has all the right ingredients to make a riveting, mind-blowing thriller. It has a solid director with Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) and a popular source material from author Jo Nesbo. The film, produced by none other than Martin Scorsese, features a stellar cast including Michael Fassbender, Rebeccas Furguson, Charlotte […]
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