The critics haven’t been kind to the movie Isabelle thus far, but I wouldn’t go as far as to hurl the vitriol they are spewing. It isn’t a bad movie, it is a mediocre movie, mainly because it is batting in a field that has horror films like “The Babadook” and “Hereditary” in it —…
“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress” — Frederick Douglass The war began peacefully. In 2012, university students and others launched peaceful protests against the regime of Bashar-al-Assad whose government had been in power since 1971 and had failed to institute promised reforms. When government soldiers fired on…
A group of students entering into the shady confines of the woods is a familiar horror premise that we all recognize, not least of all in what has become the very embodiment of the idea; “The Blair Witch Project.” However, Peter Callow’s The Circle manages to keep its own sense of originality whilst drawing from…
Feeling all horrored-out after your Halloween movie marathon? Don’t hang up your crucifix yet — The Shed is a bite of gory fun to keep the party bleeding. An arresting opening sequence sees a man named Bane (Frank Whaley, “Hustlers”) desperately running from a vampire. Spoiler alert: He’s caught, he’s bitten, and he stumbles —…
“For a long time after the war I was afraid of the sky, even of raising my head towards the sky. I was afraid of seeing plowed-up earth. But the rooks already walked calmly over it. The birds quickly forgot the war” — Svetlana Alexievich, “The Unwomanly Face of War” During World War II, the…
Like the more prominent “It: Chapter Two,” Spiral opens with a homophobic attack, one that is shown in all its distressing viciousness. From there, events spiral (sorry) into an eerie, menacing folk horror of cult, prejudice and scapegoating, in a manner that combines the best elements of “Get Out” and “Hereditary.” The film exposes prejudice…
Although it supports a cast full of people you’ve probably heard of, Badland has the look and feel of a basic-cable Western. The acting is generally dispassionate, even dull, and the writing is third rate, to say the least. If you’re looking for an exciting action movie, you might be better off finding a test…
