Retro Reviews

Reviews of older horror films, shorts, or general creepiness.

From Short to Feature – Mike Flanagan’s ‘OCULUS’ (2014) Turns 10!

Oculus

Mike Flanagan has written, directed, and adapted some of the most prolific horror films and series to date. Dr. Sleep and The Haunting of Hill House are my more recent favorites. But I also dug some of his earlier works like Hush (2016) and, well, Oculus (2014). Oculus – Synopsis …

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Mary Lambert’s ‘PET SEMATARY’ (1989): Still Scary After 35 Years – Retro Review

Miko Hughes as the resurrected Gage Creed in Pet Sematary (1989)

The original film adaptation of Stephen King‘s Pet Sematary was released in 1989, when I was just four years old. It was a year or two later when I saw it for the first time, and that memory is indelibly seared into my brain. I was scarred. Traumatized. I was …

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‘FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 4: THE FINAL CHAPTER’ (1984) – Retro Review

Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter

The Friday the 13th franchise has spawned 11 original movies (counting the crossover), a remake, a non-canonical TV series, an upcoming TV series, three video games, and one of horror’s most iconic killers. But when faithful fans start to rank the movies, Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter …

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Familiar Faces, Familiar Places! ‘CUTTING CLASS’ (1988) 4K Ultra Review

Writer Rospo Pallenburg (Deliverance) only had one other directing credit (albeit, uncredited), the 1977 stinker Exorcist II: The Heretic when he went dove headlong into 1988’s Cutting Class. Largely formulaic, but with a solid cast, budget and some inventive kills, Cutting Class gets the 4K treatment  from MVD Visual’s “Rewind …

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Flashback: 15 Years Of ‘THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT’ (2009)

The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) just turned 15! Let’s revisit this ghostly film as well as looking at some movie trivia. Let’s start by checking out the trailer: Synopsis When their son Matt (Kyle Gallner) receives a diagnosis of cancer, Sara (Virginia Madsen) and Peter (Martin Donovan) Campbell move to …

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‘LEPRECHAUN 2’ (1994) at 30 – A Retro Review

Leprechaun 2 (also known as One Marriage Lots of Funerals in the United Kingdom) is one of those movies that I had to watch cartoons after it was over as a kid. That didn’t happen to me often, but let’s face it, that Leprechaun is one scary little dude. Join me …

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The Case for ‘HELLRAISER: INFERNO’ (2000) – Movie Review

Hellraiser: Inferno

The Hellraiser franchise has been rife with some of the worst, most unwatchable films that have ever been made. The Weinsteins drug it out in the hopes for a reboot that never came, at least not under their supervision. This continued until there were more straight-to-video Hellraiser films than there …

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