Retro Reviews

20 years ago this month, one of the most influential horror films of all time opened: director Eli Roth’s Hostel. Drawing from urban legends of “dark tourism,” Roth created a film where the price of cheap sex tourism could be your very life. But it goes even farther than that: …

Thanks to Buffy the Vampire Slayer I had a HUGE crush on Eliza Dushku back in the day and had to see everything she was in (I even have the same tattoo that she had when she was Faith on my arm, and I am not sure if she would …

One reason I love eighties horror is that there were no rules; it was a “wild west” scenario. There were a lot of stories to be told. Sadly, most movies that attracted a great deal of attention often had to resort to making ten installments, driving us into boredom. We …

Alan Ormsby’s Popcorn takes you back to the golden age of horror. The film never made it, and in my opinion, that’s a tragic loss in horror. Popcorn is a movie that I watch at least once a month. Popcorn takes the crown of all those 80s horror films. Being …

“Everybody be cool….YOU…be cool” ~Seth Gecko. Welcome back to The Black Box Chronicles where we take a look at some of the best and most memorable movies from my childhood. As the calendar turned to 1996, a new vampire movie was coming out directed by Desperado’s Robert Rodriguez and written …

E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow Of The Vampire is iconic for many reasons. It’s sheer brilliance, going behind the scenes of one of the oldest monsters that terrified people. However, 1922 is far into the past. Some things keep the silent film era alive. The movie is based on fabricated events …

Wolf Creek is an Australian horror film best known not for flashy scares or clever twists, but for how bleak and unsettling it feels. Directed by Greg McLean, the film leans into realism, distance, and vulnerability. It’s a slow, uncomfortable experience that sticks with viewers long after it ends. This …

When King Kong arrived in theaters in 2005, it came with enormous expectations. Peter Jackson had just finished The Lord of the Rings, one of the most successful and celebrated film trilogies ever made. His next project was a remake of a movie many considered untouchable: the 1933 King Kong. …

Horror movies in the 60s and early 70s often took the “Satanic cult” approach, though really, it has been done since the first horror movie premiered. In that era, the Satanic Panic set in, going on well into the 80s. It was a crusade against all things that were deemed …

When It aired on ABC in November 1990, it arrived as a two-night miniseries adapted from Stephen King’s 1986 novel. No one expected it to become a generational touchstone, but it did. Ask almost anyone who grew up in the ’90s what scared them first and they’ll tell you about …