Retro Reviews

As a kid, George A. Romero was instrumental in cultivating my love of horror. Dawn of the Dead (1978) was the first zombie film I ever watched. It was also among the first VHS tapes I ever owned: a double VHS at that! Zombies were niche back in the ’80s. …

Over the years, the name David Cronenberg has become synonymous with subversive and terrifying films, delivering visceral horror and violence to viewers and eventually becoming one of the filmmakers who helped shape the body horror sub-genre. June 6, 2020 marks the 45th anniversary of the United States release of Cronenberg’s …

Parody movies can go either way in the cinematic world. Sometimes, they become all time classics, such as The Naked Gun (1988) and Austin Powers (1997), and other times, they can be some of the biggest turds to ever hit screens such as The 41 Year Old Virgin Who Knocked …

The 2005 version of War Of The Worlds was met with mixed results. However, like fine wine, the film gets better with age. David Koepp wrote the screenplay for legendary director Steven Spielberg. Koepp is probably best known for the Kevin Bacon thriller, Stir of Echoes (1999 – read our …

The age of excess produced several films parodying the American consumer of the times: Chopping Mall (1986 – read our retro review here), The Night of the Comet (1984 – read our retro review here), and TerrorVision (1986) come to mind.  But none of them captured the true spirit of …

‘Where must we go… We who wander this Wasteland in search of our better selves?’ – The First History of Man It’s May 2015 and you’ve just walked out of the cinema. Your mouth is hanging ajar in awe and wonder. You expected a good action film. You expected something …

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) is all about isolation. It’s a theme I think a lot of us can relate to right now. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been mostly locked inside for 2 or more months now. It’s a little maddening, isn’t it? So is it fitting or …

William Malone’s Creature is bound to draw comparisons to Alien or even Aliens, although this 1985 film has enough to set it apart. While the alien itself (or the “Creature”) does have some similar characteristics to the Alien Queen, it also has some distinguishing features. In fact, this creature can literally …

Here there be spoilers… beware! I’m going to be honest. The first time I watched Friday the 13th (1980), I was disappointed that Jason wasn’t in it. I knew he was the franchise’s bad guy because I’d seen VHS boxes for the sequels at the video store, but it was …

It’s Vinegar Syndrome time again! For March/April 2020, we were a bit spoiled, getting 4 separate Blu-rays to review from the film restoration company. We started with a review of Vin Syn’s Deadline (1980) 2k restoration DVD/Blu-ray (you can read that review here), then we went with James Bryan’s scenery-chewing romp, Hell Riders (1984 – read …