Yep, I finally saw it. The horror film of 2024. The gore-laden smash everyone is talking about. Here’s the thing with a movie like “The Substance.” You can’t just review it. While discussing the film, you need to opine about weighty topics like the nihilism of modern society, feminism, objectivity versus subjectivity and more. Every…

There’s a frequent story setup that goes like this: A group of young hoodlums break into the home of affluent or in some way “soft” members of society, only to have the tables turned on them. It was used to great effect in 2016’s “Don’t Breathe”, featuring the under-acclaimed Stephen Lang as the blind antagonist. …

This was a weird one. I watched it, and didn’t really understand it, so I looked it up on one of those “explainer” web sites. That gave me the gist, it didn’t generate enough of a reaction in me to warrant reviewing it. But, I dunno… “Abandoned” kind of stuck with me. Days after I…

I’ve done a lot of these mini-reviews at this point, but I think Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 thriller “Marnie” is the one I’ve had the hardest time judging. To be clear, I’ve been a huge fan of Hitch’s work since I was a kid. He’s probably the reason I write horror stories (though his oeuvre would…

It should be obvious I’m a sucker for shlocko-horror, particularly from the 70s and 80s. As such, when I stumbled across “Killer Workout” (also called “Aerobicide”), a 1987 slasher set in a fitness studio, it looked like an easy win. I hoped for cheeseball synth-wave dance tunes, wooden acting, gratuitous T&A, and a threadbare plot. And…

There’s one thing you gotta understand about me: I’m willing to overlook a lot of plot holes and weak execution in a film if I like its overall premise. Or its use of snark. Or just the plain cut of its jib. As such, I disagree with the critics who panned the recently released to…

A few nights ago, I fired up Brian De Palma’s 1976 thriller “Obsession” on the old Amazon Prime. At the opening shot, I was struck by a thought. “I’ve seen this before.” And I had. Or at least I think so. At various points, an ethereal sense of déjà vu percolated, as did suspicions as…

A fertile concept for dramatic tension is a group of women locked together in some in environment. “Girl, Interrupted” (about a female psyche ward) is perhaps the most famous recent success with this premise, but I also think of director Lucky McKee’s “The Woods” (about a secluded girls school) or even the recent reviewed “The…