We’ve all heard the expression, “Violence begets violence.” It’s true enough, but there’s a flip side to that coin. Ana Murugarren’s The Bastards’ Fig Tree (AKA La Higuera de los Bastardos), which was based on Ramiro Pinilla’s eponymous novel, looks at how political violence can drastically transform somebody from an …

Hexing is definitely a horror movie, but it likely won’t terrify hardcore horror fans. In fact, it may have worked better as a straight up drama. Let’s examine why. To begin with, jaded horror movie viewers abound, and B movies seem to be a dime a dozen (or, in the …

With the 30th anniversary of Pet Sematary arriving, it’s time to ask a very important question: which version of Zelda is the best – the one from 1989 or the one from 2019? Thirty years ago, Director Mary Lambert unleashed Stephen King’s Pet Sematary (read our retro review here) upon …

Also known as Los cronocrímenes, Nacho Vigalondo’s (Pooka 2018, Colossal 2016 – read our review here) Timecrimes is a unique, sci-fi horror offering, suggesting that some horrible, convoluted events are simply meant to be. What if you could rewind the tape on life to undo strange and horrible things? On the …

On the 40th anniversary of Phantasm, it makes sense to look at one of the film’s most memorable characters… The Tall Man. Played by Angus Scrimm, The Tall Man first graced us with his towering, frightening presence in 1979 in Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm. He was always a powerful, cryptic and …

Demián Rugna’s (Death Knows Your Name 2007) Terrified is a freaky ghost story that delivers. Let’s look at what makes it a good, potentially terrifying film! In order to appreciate this movie, you’ll want to analyze it. In the process, you’ll perhaps see layers of complexity that are hard to …

When watching Tom Graeff’s Teenagers From Outer Space, a cheesy 1950s sci-fi movie with light hints of horror, one must ask: Are the aliens really even teenagers? So many sci-fi movies involve aliens from another world, although many of them technically fail in significant ways. Still, about half of the …

Though it’s a bit understated, Crane Wilbur’s The Bat is an overall solid movie. Let’s look at why it works… even if it won’t necessarily knock your socks off and blow your mind. Many older movies offer hurdles for modern audiences. For one thing, plenty of them are filmed in black …

Truth or Die (AKA Truth or Dare), directed by Robert Heath (Cereal Killer 2000) and written Matthew McGuchan (Clutch 2016) by is largely a film about bullying, revenge and taking a code of honor too seriously. The basic story: Years after a bloke named Felix (Tom Kane: Doctors TV series) …

Nervous Breakdown is an interesting, confusing horror short by director Dan Robinette (Tethered 2017). It’s often strange seeing a movie like this, because I feel I missed something along the way. Maybe there was a sparse detail I didn’t catch, or some piece of unfamiliar mythology that slipped by me. Basically, …