Reviews

Reviews, anecdotes, and the like related to Halloween, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, or the bizarre.

[Reviews]

Mad Love Review

Mad Love (1935) originally opened on a black screen with an audience warning very similar to Edward van Sloan’s Frankenstein (1931) opening (also written by John L. Balderston). But it was edited out prior to release. The released intro for the film is far better as the opening credits appear over a window before a

[Reviews]

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities Review

“Open your mind to fear,” states the tagline for Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. We should be grateful for a solid new anthology series that is worthy of attention as we patiently wait for the return of Netflix’s Black Mirror. This new collection of frightful tales shows a great deal of respect for the

[Reviews]

Halloween Ends Review

It’s been all pumpkin mush after the fairly competent 2018 reboot of Halloween that set up a new premise and narrative framework for the long-running horror franchise with “The Shape” standing at its center. The overstuffed Halloween Kills expanded to examine the rotting effects Michael Myers has inflicted on the citizens of Haddonfield, Illinois. Halloween

[Reviews]

The Quarry Review

If you played Until Dawn and enjoyed it, it’s a no-brainer that you’ve gotta play The Quarry too. Described as a “spiritual successor” to Until Dawn, it’s pretty much all there. Made by the same developer (Supermassive Games) and written and directed by the same guy (Will Byles). All the same kinds of twists and

[Something More]

The Tragedy of Westworld

I was a fan of Westworld years before it was ever even conceived as a TV show, that’s because, and some of you may not know this, it was first a movie (released in 1973). The movie itself was well-made, but the concept was what made it special. It’s such a fun concept, the kind

[Reviews]

X

Growing up, I loved movies so much, I wanted to make them. I was indeed that one kid in the group who carried a video camera around with them wherever our circle of friends went. I filmed everything, made short films, sketches, pranks, interviewed people, the whole shebang. Somewhere along the way, life beat me

[Reviews]

Review of Indie Game 35MM

I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again, I love walking simulators. You’ll never hear me use the phrase in a derogatory way. 35MM, developed by indie game developer Sergey Noskov and ported from PC to consoles (where I play games) by publisher Sometimes You, is almost entirely a walking simulator, with

[Reviews]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Franchise Has a Serious Identity Problem

The first four movies in the franchise are canon, then there’s the 2003 remake, a prequel to the remake, and finally things really go off the rails after this, where we now have three separate movies that pull the whole “none of the sequels exist except for the original movie” timeline trick, which has most

[Reviews]

Review of Matrix Resurrections

Disclaimer: I did not see the movie in theaters, and while I stopped going to the movies years ago, The Matrix is different. I think an argument could be made for a movie like this needing to be seen in theaters more than any other movie in existence because it really is more of an