Movie Reviews

I didn’t know much about the Momentum Pictures film, Mollywood, when I was asked to review it. I tend lean towards short films to review. You could say that shorts are my specialty. But I figured that I should broaden my review horizons, as I do enjoy feature films as …

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 …

I think it’s pretty clear nowadays that it’s never a good idea to play with a Ouija board. Film after film has taught us at least two things about the sinister game: Never play with a talking board by yourself, and never go to production with a weak script. Which …

I’ve seen this episode of MacGyver before. It’s the one where he’s minding his own business in the ambiguously Canadian woods until some ne’er-do-wells drag him into a scheme involving duffel bags of ransom money and broken home melodrama. That week’s character actor really made a meal out of playing …

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 …

Kôji Shiraishi, the provocative mind behind the films Grotesque, Carved, and The Ring vs. The Grudge finally found a loving and nurturing home at Unearthed Films for his 2014 feature, A Record of Sweet Murder. Delivering on their promise of one new release a month, the distribution company enthusiastically added this …

When I was a kid, I went to an exhibit at an art museum that celebrated Rube Goldberg machines. While my family wandered the museum and looked at everything else, I stayed in the basement to watch marbles knock over dominoes, light candles, and pour water for what felt like …

From Director Davide Melini (The Sweet Hand of the White Rose 2010) comes a new short film called Lion, and it explores a topic that is still controversial in today’s day and age: domestic abuse. Lion stars newcomer Pedro Sánchez as Leon, a young boy who begins the film cowering …

When it comes to horror films, we all have our subgenres and niche weaknesses. Anything that comes out that fits our little obsessions immediately becomes a must-watch, sight-unseen. My heart sings for two things: Deadly Games and Horror Westerns. Give me Saw (2004) or Union Furnace (2015 – read our review …

As a horror fanatic, probably the first thing that springs to mind when you hear the name Ruggero Deodato is Cannibal Holocaust. It’s perfectly natural, crafting one of the most controversial films in history does tend to define your reputation. Admittedly, it was primarily the only place I really knew him …