Retro Reviews

When Chad Crawford Kinkle’s sleeper hit, Jug Face, was released in 2013, it was met by the indie horror community with quiet appreciation. The tale of a pregnant teen, her pagan village, and the entity that keeps them all alive is full of rage, desperation, and mud. And it’s 10 …

The 1990s were a roller coaster of a time for the horror genre. From the lackluster franchise sequels in the early 90s to the reinvigoration of the craft through Wes Craven’s Scream in 1996, the decade went out with a bevy of underrated entries. One of the greatest forgotten gems of …

Amok, amok, amok, amok! Let’s take a ‘amok’ at the Halloween cult classic, Hocus Pocus (1993). Hocus Pocus was released in theatres on July 16, 1993. It was directed by Kenny Ortega and was written by Mick Garris and David Kischner. The film stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, Kathy …

Ah, the “women in prison” film. An exploitation staple. Was there ever a sleazier ‘70’s/80’s sub-genre than this? And who better to release a shining example of this dirty little genre gem, Lust For Freedom, in high definition no less, than the purveyors of all things cheap, nasty, and goofy: …

When it comes to action franchises, you can’t get much more well-known than The Terminator. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator – 1987) took a role back in 1984 and helped it become one of the most iconic characters in cinema history. This month marks the 20th Anniversary of TERMINATOR 3: …

To some, Pacific Rim may be a long, silly, robots vs monsters movie, meant to be disposable popcorn fun. Even if you only came to watch the movie for that, there’s more to it than meets the eye. Director Guillermo del Toro (read our recent retrospective on another film of …

One of writer/director Kevin Tenney’s (Witchboard, read our retro review here) overlooked films, Witchtrap, is an entertaining supernatural yarn that features virtually all of the 80’s tropes we’ve all grown to love: stirrup pants, big sweaters, Member’s Only jackets, girls jogging, big hair, gratuitous nudity, and latent racism! All kidding …

Guillermo del Toro loves mythology. It’s evident. Very few viewers could protest it. But more than any, he loves the melancholic ones most. The ones that show our world is or could be fantastical still, but we have to be aware of ourselves, our actions, and how we move those …

In the Apocalypse, Your Best Friend Could Be a Roach Disney is no stranger to having dark elements in their stories. Hell, Bambi traumatized several generations of children. Not me though, I was already effed up from A Nightmare on Elm Street and Aliens. So for WALL-E to be a …

Twilight Zone: The Movie is a science fiction/horror anthology film released in 1983. Based on the popular television series The Twilight Zone, created by Rod Serling in the 1950s, this 1980s version begins in a classic way. In a great prologue directed by John Landis, two men (played by Dan …