A solid requel (Spoilers) After the attempt to turn the series into an anthology didn’t work out, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers does exactly what the subtitle says it does. It brings back the boogeyman, this time without John Carpenter. This entry is notable as the first film in the series without Carpenter’s …
Category Archives: review
The Hand That Rules The World
A good cult classic and fine remake (Spoilers) The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is a movie that came out as part of the yuppie nightmare cycle that was all the rage in the ’80s and ’90s. It was directed by Curtis Hansen and written by Amanda Silver, who would later pen several blockbusters with …
The Modern Prometheus
An umpteenth adaptation that’s fine (Spoilers) The plot of Frankenstein is something that you’re probably already familiar with, but let’s do this one more time. It’s about a mad scientist who brings to life a makeshift man, only for it to go horribly wrong. This new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s often-told tale was written and …
More phones, more problems
A familiar nightmare, but solid sequel Years after the events of the previous film, the Grabber (Ethan Hawke) returns from beyond the grave. One of the things I liked about the first Black Phone was that even though it was a ghost story, the threat was a mundane serial killer. Of course, I don’t know …
O Death
A lost in translation adaption (Spoilers) Until Dawn is a loose adaptation of the interactive video game of the same name. The way the game works is that if you do this thing in Level 1, then that thing will happen in Level 3, which will then kill you. How do you translate that into …
A Van Helsing Story
A little slow, but good (Spoilers) Abraham’s Boys is an adaptation of a short story of the same name by Joe Hill. Abraham Van Helsing (Titus Welliver) has relocated to California with his wife, Mina Van Helsing (née Murray, formerly Harker) (Jocelin Donahue), and their two sons, Max (Brady Hepner) and Rudy (Judah Mackey). The …
Blood and Pixie Dust
Good, but not quite what I was hoping for (Spoilers) In the latest installment of the Twisted Childhood Universe, Peter Pan (Martin Portlock) is now a cross between Pennywise and the Grabber (though the two are more similar than Joe Hill had intended). He abducts boys to send them to Neverland for a higher power …
The Jester Combo
A mixed Halloween bag (Spoilers) The Jester (2023) and The Jester 2 are both based on a trilogy of short films, all directed by Colin Krawchuk and starring Michael Sheffield. Each installment is about a sinister entity that’s traded the classic jester outfit for a snazzy orange suit and top hat. If I were the …
The Walking Man
Hard to watch, but not due to quality (Spoilers) In a dystopian world that may or may not be the ’70s, the United States has started a nationwide contest called the Long Walk. Two of this year’s participants are Ray Garraty (Copper Hoffman) and Pete McVries (David Jonsson). The winner of the contest gets rich …
Sonja, Not Sonya
Flawed, but enjoyable fun (Spoilers) Red Sonja (2025) stars a character who was originally created by Robert E. Howard, but was revamped by Roy Thomas for a Marvel, later Dynamite, comic book series. It’s also the second film adaptation of the material after a 1985 movie starring Brigitte Nielsen. I’ll tell you right off the …
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