So far, “Chucky” has toggled between Jake Wheeler’s life thrown in chaotic disarray, thanks to the murderous doll, and flashbacks that fill in the gaps of Charles Lee Ray’s ascension to serial killer. Episode five, “Little Little Lies,” pushes both elements forward in pivotal ways but finally brings the arrival of two legacy players. How […]
Reviews
[Review] ‘Shin Megami Tensei V’ is a Masterful Japanese RPG And One of the Best Games of the Year
It’s been a while since a new mainline Shin Megami Tensei game came out, and a 3D one at that. After Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne launched in 2003, the series transitioned to a more 2D style that fit the Nintendo 3DS handheld with Shin Megami Tensei IV and IV: Apocalypse in 2014 and 2016, […]
[Review] ‘The Deep House’ Is an Eerie and Technically Ambitious Aquatic Nightmare
The very concept behind Inside directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s latest is simultaneously ingenious and daunting. A haunted house that can only be accessed by diving to the bottom of a murky, deep lake exhilarates for its innovative new spin on the subgenre. Yet, the technique and precise, painstaking execution required to bring this ambitious aquatic nightmare to life […]
[Review] “Chucky” Episode Four Carves Out a Bloody Path Forward
“Previously on fucking Chucky,” the murderous doll went on a rampage at Lexy’s party, finally confronting the mean girl and setting her family’s historic home ablaze in the process. That’s where it ended, leaving a massive cliffhanger to one of the season’s most anticipated showdowns so far. “Just Let Go” centers on the very messy, […]
[Review] ‘Sunshine Manor’ Brings a Haunted House, Demons, and Psychic Abilities to Make a Creepy 8-Bit-Style RPG Action
Many variations of the ‘kids on Halloween decide to go check out a spooky thing’ as the spark for a horror story. When the thing is a house with a dark past, you know the shit is going to hit the fan the second those kids step over the threshold. In the case of Fossil […]
[Review] ‘Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin’ Is the Franchise’s Most Polished Film But Lacks Effective Scares
The long-running saga with the demon Toby finally reached a lackluster conclusion in its sixth entry, where we last left off with the Paranormal Activity franchise. Yet finality isn’t a word that horror understands, and the popular found footage franchise is back with a brand-new entry that promises to explore new terrain. On that, Paranormal Activity: […]
[Review] “Creepshow” Season 3 Ends With Two Strong Tales of Dark Secrets
This week’s Creepshow offering, which is also the last of the season, features one segment about a prevailing problem that affects millions of Americans today. The other turns the color all the way down and tells a novel story coinciding with events from a classic horror movie. The finale opens with Greg Nicotero’s “Drug Traffic”. […]
[Review] The Remaster of ‘Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water’ Gives a New Audience The Chance to Experience a Beloved Horror Game Series
The Camera Obscura returns with an upgrade thanks to a multi-platform remaster of Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water. Does this snapshot of the Fatal Frame series’ recent past look sharp or has it faded? After spending seven years confined to the Wii U, Maiden of Black Water remains the swansong entry in the underappreciated […]
[Review] ‘The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes’ Freshens the Formula With a Pleasing Slice of Action-Led Horror
“The enemy of my enemy is a friend” is a line of dialogue that gets tossed around quite a bit in The Dark Pictures Anthology’s House of Ashes, the latest release by Supermassive Games in their interactive survival horror series. This feels fitting, given how the past two years of a pandemic has pit one […]
[Review] Netflix’s ‘Hypnotic’ Skips Mind Games in Favor of Generic Thriller
Netflix’s “Netflix and Chills” Halloween lineup winds down with a new thriller by directors Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote (The Open House). Despite its name and suggestion, Hypnotic eschews any mind games and instead opts for a lean, straightforward thriller. It moves at a snappy pace, which is good considering this lean thriller is also slight on suspense or […]
[Review] “Chucky” Episode Three Continues Its Focus on Nurturing a Murderer
Last week’s episode of “Chucky” delivered some Halloween tricks and treats and pushed Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) further onto the path of following in his killer doll’s homicidal footsteps. This week’s episode, “I Like to Be Hugged,” focuses on Chucky’s drive to birth another murderer in his image while potentially laying the groundwork to humanize […]
[Review] ‘Antlers’ Sleepwalks Through Somber Folkloric Family Nightmare
Everything about Antlers, on paper, ticks off the boxes that mark it as one of the year’s most highly anticipated horror movies. Or rather, last year, where it was initially scheduled before the pandemic bounced it off the calendar and stretched out anticipation further. Based on the short story “The Quiet Boy” by Nick Antosca, produced […]
[Review] ‘Death Valley’ Condemns Humanity as “American Horror Story: Double Feature” Wraps Up
The pursuit for perfection in ‘AHS: Death Valley’ presents a scathing, honest look at the human race as it examines who deserves to inherit the Earth. “What a sad race we turned out to be.” It’s easy for each season of American Horror Story to get reduced to whatever sub-genre of horror that it’s put […]
[Review] “Creepshow” Season 3: Timeless Terror and Animated Horrors in This Week’s Episode
This week’s offering of Creepshow is the least conventional episode seen so far in the third season. It breaks the ice with “Time Out”, which is more pensive than usual for the series. Jeffrey F. January’s latest contribution, after directing “The Last Tsuburaya”, focuses on a pre-law student named Tim (Matthew Barnes) and the antique, […]
[Review] “Locke & Key” Raises the Stakes in Darker But Uneven & Rushed Second Season
The inaugural season of Netflix‘s adaptation of writer Joe Hill and illustrator Gabriel Rodriguez‘s bestselling comic series took a more whimsical approach to the material. The first ten episodes saw the Locke children discover the magic and secrets of the Lockhouse estate. At the same time, demonic Dodge (Layla De Oliveira) sought to obtain the magical keys for nefarious […]