Marcus (Reshad Strik) is a director yearning for a chance to make a comeback in the film industry. He’s also prone to having visions of ghosts, which leads him to a haunted movie set in Romania. It seems that in the 1920s, a director (Eli Roth, really playing against type here) was trying to makeContinue reading “2009’s ‘Don’t Look Up’: A Classic Ghost Story in an Exotic Locale”
Tag Archives: review
1997’s ‘Campfire Tales’ is Fun and a Little Scary, but Kinda Predictable
Anthology-style movie. The wraparound story is of four teens (Christine Taylor, Christopher Masterson, Kim Murphy, and Jay R. Ferguson) who are stranded in the woods after a car crash, and they’re telling each other stories to pass the time, as one does. “The Hook” concerns a pair of young folks (Amy Smart and James Marsden)Continue reading “1997’s ‘Campfire Tales’ is Fun and a Little Scary, but Kinda Predictable”
‘Creepshow 2’: Dimestore Morality and Creative Gore
Inspired by the EC comics of the 1950s (and of course the original film), it’s an anthology of three segments. “Ol’ Chief Wood’nhead” concerns a kindly shopkeeper (George Kennedy) whose wooden Indian statue takes revenge after a robbery. “The Raft” is about four college students on a lake menaced by a hungry blob. “The Hitch-Hiker”Continue reading “‘Creepshow 2’: Dimestore Morality and Creative Gore”
‘The Taking of Deborah Logan’: Demon Possession as an Allegory for Alzheimer’s
Deborah (Jill Larson) is an older woman suffering from Alzheimer’s. Because they need the money, her daughter Sarah (Anne Ramsay) talks her into being the subject of a PhD candidate’s student film. The filmmakers Mia (Michelle Ang), Luis (Jeremy DeCarlos), and Gavin (Brett Gentile) stay in her house and watch her every move. Deb’s oddContinue reading “‘The Taking of Deborah Logan’: Demon Possession as an Allegory for Alzheimer’s”
‘The Ouija Experiment’ is Unintentionally Silly but Pleasantly Diverse
Documentary/found footage style movie about Brandon (Carson Underwood), a film student making a YouTube feature about four acquaintances using a Ouija board. They are his film school buddy Shay (Belmarie Huynh), her boyfriend Calvin (Eric Window), Calvin’s sister La’Nette (Swisyzinna), and the siblings’ friend Michael (Justin Armstrong). After the group has a few too manyContinue reading “‘The Ouija Experiment’ is Unintentionally Silly but Pleasantly Diverse”
‘Frailty’: I Sure Love This Movie!
Fenton (Matthew McConaughey) is telling his life story to Agent Doyle (Powers Boothe) in order to convince him that he knows who a hunted serial killer—his brother Adam—is. Through flashbacks, Fenton reveals that when he and his brother were young children, their father (Bill Paxton, who also directed) began killing people, claiming that God showedContinue reading “‘Frailty’: I Sure Love This Movie!”
‘Digging Up the Marrow’: Adam Green Delivers Again
Real-life filmmaker Adam Green is, in the reality of the movie, making a documentary about monsters. He’s contacted by William Dekker (Ray Wise), who tells him that he’s found a nest of real monsters. Adam is intrigued and later obsessed with getting to the bottom of Dekker’s story. He and his cameraman Will (Will Barratt)Continue reading “‘Digging Up the Marrow’: Adam Green Delivers Again”
1987’s ‘The Witches of Eastwick’: Eerie, Dark, and Raunchy
Sukie (Michelle Pfeiffer), Jane (Susan Sarandon), and Alex (Cher) are three lonely friends who can cause stuff to happen when they’re together, like make it rain on a boring school assembly. It seems like their mutual wish for a man is granted when a mysterious wealthy stranger breezes into town. All three fall for DarylContinue reading “1987’s ‘The Witches of Eastwick’: Eerie, Dark, and Raunchy”
‘Wishcraft’: Pizzle, I Say, Pizzle!
Brett (Michael Weston) is a nerdy high schooler with a crush on Sam (Alexandra Holden), a popular girl with a jock boyfriend. His life changes seemingly for the better when an unknown benefactor gives him a wishing totem (a “bull pizzle”). He wishes that Sam would be his girlfriend, which she does. But he wondersContinue reading “‘Wishcraft’: Pizzle, I Say, Pizzle!”
2006’s ‘The Wicker Man’: A Towering Garbage Fire or Just the Remake We Needed?
Police officer Edward (Nicolas Cage) has been contacted by his ex-girlfriend Willow (Kate Beahan), who tells him that (a) they have a daughter named Rowan and (b) she’s missing. He heads down to Summersisle, a small island in Puget Sound, to find her. He runs afoul of a strange matriarchy of wannabe pagans who areContinue reading “2006’s ‘The Wicker Man’: A Towering Garbage Fire or Just the Remake We Needed?”
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