With introductions and setup out of the way, our favorite Good Guy doll can cut loose. Literally. Episode two of “Chucky”, “Give Me Something Good to Eat,” deepens character dynamics, unleashes Chucky’s personality in full force, sharpens its narrative, and gives the pint-sized murderer a loathsome target. More importantly, Chucky infectiously embraces the Halloween spirit. […]
Reviews
[Review] Netflix’s ‘Night Teeth’ Is High on Style But Anemic on Energy
The latest in Netflix’s crowded month of Halloween offerings, Night Teeth brings a stylized vampire tale that favors thrills over chills. An unwitting protagonist finds himself a fish out of water when dragged into the ultra-cool glitz and glamor of Los Angeles’s nightlife and thrust into the middle of a vampiric coup d’etat. But it keeps its […]
[Review] Restored Cult Film ‘Arrebato’ Offers Surreal Descent Into Vampiric Nature of Addiction
Late Spanish director Iván Zulueta’s lost cult horror film Arrebato, or Rapture, is currently in its first theatrical run stateside after opening abroad in 1980. Cited a favorite by filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (The Skin I Live In), the new 4K restoration of Arrebato delivers arthouse psychological horror to the masses; only the horror here is more on the phantasmagorical, meditative […]
[Review] Cradle of Filth Bring Spectacular Thrill and Despair on ‘Existence Is Futile’
Within black metal, Cradle of Filth has always been an (ahem), black sheep of sorts. Yet in taking parts of the genre’s conventional sound, they’ve carved out an exciting path for their material. In providing a symphonic edge to their blackened speed, the band’s exploration of the occult and fantastical is nothing short of theatrically […]
[Review] SYFY’s “Day of the Dead” Is One Zombie Series That’s Especially Rotten and Lifeless
SYFY’s revamp of Romero’s zombie classic adds little to the overcrowded corner of horror and loses itself in generic melodrama and scares. Do we need another zombie television show? That’s the question that’s inherently on everyone’s minds when they even hear about a new zombie television series that pulls from George A. Romero’s Day of […]
[Review] “Creepshow” Season 3 Tackles Mythological and Modern Horrors in This Week’s Episode
Remnants of Greek mythology and zombie-like demons occupy this week’s installment of Creepshow. Axelle Carolyn and Jordana Arkin get things started with “Stranger Sings”, a comical segment about a meet-cute gone terribly wrong. When Sara (Suehyla El-Attar) has her hands full at the store, a doctor named Barry (Chris Mayers) steps in to help. Barry […]
[Review] New Book ‘Puppet Master Complete: A Franchise History’ is an Exhaustive Must Own
In the introduction to his new book Puppet Master Complete: A Franchise History, author Nat Brehmer asks a question that will no doubt be on the minds of many: why Puppet Master? Even fans of the series have to admit that it’s a pretty good question. It is not one of the big franchises, has […]
[Review] “I Know What You Did Last Summer” Is a Polarizing But Fascinating Slasher Mystery
Note: This review is based on the first four episodes screened for critics. Lois Duncan’s 1973 suspense novel I Know What You Did Last Summer was loosely adapted into a slasher film in 1997. The adaptation took the core concept, which saw a group of high school seniors commit a fatal hit and run after a night […]
[Review] ‘Back 4 Blood’ is an Uneven Zombie Co-Op Shooter Experience, But it’s Still Dead Entertaining
Turtle Rock studios heads back to the co-op zombie shooter well with Back 4 Blood, and while it sometimes struggles to bottle that Left 4 Dead lightning, there’s enough here to enjoy now, and offers hope for its future. Back 4 Blood’s story follows a bunch of battling survivors (Cleaners) who have been living in […]
[Review] “The Simpsons” Parodies ‘The Ring’ and More in Ghoulish New “Treehouse of Horror” Episode
The Simpsons have graced our screens once again with a brand new, terrifying installment of the iconic “TREEHOUSE OF HORROR” Halloween special. Treehouse of Horror XXXII sports the usual set of twisted tales depicting Springfield’s greatest in a slew of non-canon, haunting storylines. Featuring twisted parodies of Disney’s “Bambi,” Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” the artwork […]
[Review] ‘Halloween Kills’ Carves Up a Gruesome Old School Slasher… for Better and Worse
Halloween Kills picks up where 2018’s Halloween ends, with three generations of Strode women leaving a hard-fought battle, battered and exhausted. Of course, the fight isn’t over; firefighters unwittingly let loose the boogeyman in their attempts to put out the blazing fire at the Strode household. Michael Myers resumes his rampage across Haddonfield, now angrier than ever before. Halloween […]
[Fantastic Fest Review] ‘Homebound’ Is a Slight But Tension-Filled Domestic Thriller
Meeting your significant other’s family for the first time is a social scenario ripe for mining anxiety and dread. Writer/Director Sebastian Godwin takes the familiar setup and packs it full of unsettling atmosphere and psychological tension. The small-scale domestic thriller may not forge new ground or offer a lot to chew on, but Homebound does keep you firmly in […]
[Review] ‘Detention’ is a Largely Successful Film Adaptation of Red Candle’s Taiwanese Horror Game
The bar for video game to film adaptations may be dreadfully low, but it’s still quite nice to be able to say John Hsu’s Detention is easily one of the better examples. Based on Red Candle’s excellent 2017 side-scrolling horror game of the same name, Detention delves into a bleak portion of Taiwan’s history to […]
[Review] “Creepshow” Season 3 Delivers a Double Dose of Creature Horror This Week
The contemporary art world does not make a whole lot of sense from an outsider’s perspective. Writers Paul Dini and Stephen Langford make light of this observation in “The Last Tsuburaya”, a story about art’s power over people. The opening tale in this installment of Creepshow sees two sides fighting over a piece of cultural […]
[Review] “Chucky” Premiere Brings the Killer Doll Home to Play in Multiple Sandboxes at Once
Seven movies deep, Don Mancini’s Chucky series remains arguably the most cohesive of the horror franchises. Now it continues in TV series form, with an eight-episode inaugural season. Between the new story and ideas introduced to an already rich history, a backstory, and franchise veterans teased to arrive in the wake of Cult of Chucky, the […]