Its exceedingly easy to dismiss the Friday the 13th series. From Sean S Cunningham's 1980 original through to the trash-humping 2009 Marcus Nispel remake, the slasher series is about as disposable as franchise cinema gets, even in horror circles. There's no single outright masterpiece in the set, and even the hardcore fans of the series will … Continue reading Minutiae: Love in Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter
Year: 1997 Director: Jim Gillespie Stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe There are movies that I've included in this series based on their artistic prowess, on their merit, on their phenomenal influence on the medium of film and my experience of it. And then there are other movies. I'm not a fan … Continue reading Why I Love… #117: I Know What You Did Last Summer
Director: Sophia Takal Stars: Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon, Cary Elwes In an early scene of Sophia Takal's unfairly derided Black Christmas, Imogen Poots' Riley is selected in her classic literature class to suppose a writer's intention. She responds that the context-free quote speaks of how men think and women feel; that because of this it is a man's … Continue reading Review: Black Christmas (2019)
Director: Yann Gonzalez Stars: Vanessa Paradis, Nicolas Maury, Kate Moran It was only a week ago that I was advising that Peter Strickland's In Fabric is not the giallo love letter it might appear to be. Now, set to a dreamy score by M83, Yann Gonzalez' Knife+Heart is the film that fulfils that promise; an … Continue reading Review: Knife+Heart
Director: David Gordon Green Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Will Patton, Andi Matichak One of the creepiest things about Halloween (2018), right out of the gate, is the appearance of the Miramax logo, which hasn't been seen in many a year, and certainly not since the expulsion of the Weinsteins. Ballsy/deluded of someone to hold on to … Continue reading Review: Halloween (2018)
Director: Johannes Roberts Stars: Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Lewis Pullman Ten years ago, Brian Bertino's home invasion horror movie The Strangers caught justified attention for its sleek minimalism and its abrupt and nihilistic conclusion. Now seems like a suspicious time to mount a sequel. The first film has long cooled off and everyone's pretty much moved … Continue reading Review: The Strangers: Prey At Night
***originally written 19 April 2011*** "...after the imaginative contraption-killings of the Saw septology, watching multiple knife murders, however ironically intended, is about as thrilling as standing in line at the butcher’s". So says the Empire review of Scre4m, the latest, kind-of-surprising-that-it's-actually-here edition to Wes Craven's franchise. What Empire conveniently forgot to mention, but Scre4m takes … Continue reading Review: Scre4m
