Retro Reviews

This month Pophorror is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of a cult classic: The Entity. Based on a ‘true’ story, the film was released by 20th Century Fox on February 4th, 1983, following a U.K release the previous year, by bankrupted production company American Cinema Productions. Because the …

Twenty years ago I overheard a coworker talking about a film that was so shocking that he couldn’t sleep that night. That film was Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. My coworker begged me not to watch it. Challenge accepted! I went that very evening to my local art house theater and saw …

Simply put, character studies make some of the most intriguing films ever created. From Hitchcock’s genre-defining Psycho (1960) to the more recent masterclass Pearl (2022, read our review here), horror has allowed us to follow some of the most heartbroken and homicidal figures in history. May (2003) is no exception. It …

It’s difficult for a director to reboot a franchise almost 40 years after the original installment. It’s even harder to produce a direct sequel so many decades later. However, that’s exactly what John Luessenhop set out to do with 2013’s Texas Chainsaw. To read reviews on sites like Rotten Tomatoes, …

When it comes to modern-day ghost movies, Insidious films are among the top franchises to watch. The combination of great characters, great stories, and great acting make watching any film in the series a pleasure to view. For those who are asking, “What the hell is Insidious?” Let me enlighten …

I don’t think it’s out of line to characterize 1998’s Fallen as a bit of a hidden gem. Though it’s not a perfect film, I nevertheless find it to be effective and entertaining. Director Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear 1996) is able to craft a lightly creepy atmosphere melding the genres of …

That Death needed a sequel, so Final Destination 2 was released on January 31, 2003. The film stars Ali Larter (Final Destination 2000, House on Haunted Hill 1999), A.J. Cook (The Virgin Suicides 1999, Wishmaster 3 2001), Michael Landes (Lakeview Terrace 2008), and Tony Todd (Candyman 1992, The Crow 1994). …

Where was Jennifer Aniston before she became rich and famous on a generically-titled sitcom? Well, like a lot of us, she was being pursued by a demonic little Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) who was horny to get his gold back. The question is, should Aniston be embarrassed by this movie? Sure! …

It seems only yesterday that it was 2007, and I was dragging my friends with me to the movies to see the latest Tim Burton project starring Johnny Depp (Dark Shadows, 2012), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In my eyes, this dynamic duo could do no wrong. …

The original Scream (1996) crashed into the horror world when the genre needed it most. Wes Craven’s (A Nightmare On Elm Street, 1984) meta whodunit not only became an instant hit, but it also breathed new life into horror in a period when things were starting to feel stale and …