A common fantasy of teenagers is the death of their parents. It’s a kind of traumatic split they seem to yearn for. And it’s frequently mentioned in fiction – think of Harry Potter, or the origins of Bat-Man and Spider-Man. (Or frickin’ Bambi for that matter.) My belief is that evolution has programmed teens with…

This was a short story I discovered in one of the free book promotions I often take part in. It’s one of the best-written tales I’ve found via such a method. As a result, I went ahead and bought one of the author’s novels. (Review forthcoming.) For an example of the prose, I liked the…

When I watched “The Stepfather” recently, it was my third viewing of the film. As a teenager, I saw it when it came out, 1987, at the Kuhio theater in Honolulu, the same theater where I watched “Rawhead Rex” and “Nightmare on Elm Street Part III.” (Funny, the details that stick in the head. I…

I’ve read several of Wieland’s books, which tend to operate in the space in between drama and horror. In the Blackest Hour does as well, until into it falls into full on horror. The plot has Rosemary’s Baby and Dead Zone vibes. Graphic designer Rennedi finds that her erratic and troubled twin sister has fallen…

So, funny thing about this movie. I really wanted to watch the 1982 version of “Unhinged” but couldn’t track it down anywhere. This one popped up in the Amazon queue and I figured why not. (I guessed it was a remake, and research says I guessed correctly. I’m pretty smart.) The plot is built around…

This was a strange one. I wasn’t quite sure to expect when I dialed up “Nurse” on Amazon Prime. The preview made it look like a riff on the obsessive character motif seen in films like “Single White Female” and “Fatal Attraction”. But what I got was more like a cheese-ball update of sexy 70s…

In high school, I had a friend named Mark. I described him in the introduction to an interview I did years ago with the musical performer, the Great Kat. ___One of my more noteworthy friends in high school was a guy named Mark who had long hair, wore a denim jacket, carried around a briefcase…

At first, I wasn’t even going to review “Striking Distance”. I just found it to be ridiculous and retrograde. It then occurred to me, “If this was a Chuck Norris movie, I would love it.” Why? Well, you just kind of expect Norris’s work to be ridiculous and retrograde. So I thought, “What if I…

“The Banker” might be best thought of as “Rambo” meets “Wall Street.” I’ll try to explain. In this gritty cop thriller from 1989, we learn at the beginning who the villain is. A ultra-rich banker, Spalding Osbourne, is hiring prostitutes, having sex with them, and then killing them with his crossbow. (Interesting choice!) A cop,…

I read John Everson’s “Siren” a few years back and enjoyed it. When I discovered he has a few novels out in the style of classic Italian giallo (pulpy horror slasher) films I was intrigued. “The Bloodstained Doll” is one such book. The plot centers around a young woman who moves in with her relatives…

I was first drawn to “Eyes of a Stranger,” a slasher made in 1981, because there’s a song from the heavy metal band Queensrÿche of the same name (unrelated to the film). It worked out—it’s a decent movie. The plot is as follows. A serial rapist/killer is terrorizing Miami, and television reporter Jane (played by…

I had some trepidation about watching “Graduation Day.” I had it in my head that it was a super-cheeseball horror film with terrible acting and unconvincing gore. That it announced it was a Troma Entertainment release at the beginning didn’t assuage these concerns. (I like a lot of Troma material and once met the production…

In my twenties, I discovered the work of comic creator Dan Clowes and became a big fan. He specialized in quirky, esoteric slice of life stories that often exposed the hidden ironies of existence and the hypocrisies of humans. He often did so with flawed characters who were their own worst enemies. Perhaps Clowe’s biggest…

A while back, I went through a phase of reading a lot of contemporary British thrillers. They tended to share several qualities: there was usually a sympathetic young woman who found herself in a moral quandary—debating whether she should report the malfeasance of the boss she was in love with, for example. There was at…

There was a certain over-the-topness to horror films made in the 90s-2000s. They reveled in disgusting images, like fingernails being peeled back from fingers, verminous rats, or bodies completely shorn of skin.  This was the culture of the time. (Trust me, I was there). Grunge music embraced the idea that life was ugly and you…