Category: Film


  • Sick Chick Flicks Film Festival Part 1

    The name alone—Sick Chick Flicks—creates a set of expectations, which the festival’s offerings met and confounded all at once. The day opened strong with Hannah Franklin’s The Sitters, a fun animated short with the vibe of an old-school Saturday morning cartoon from Hell about a hapless cat sitter getting unexpected help. There is a bit…

  • Children of the Pines Gives a New Meaning to Family Dysfunction

    Creepy kids have been a horror staple for decades, but what about creepy parents? There have been some, like Margaret White, but they’re relatively few and far between. However, when I watched the trailer for Children of the Pines, I thought this film had the potential to buck that trend. It seemed eerie and atmospheric…

  • The Spiral Contamination Grows in this Week’s Strangely Funny Episode (E2)

    This week’s episode keeps much of what made the series premiere series premiere so effective, though there is a noticeable drop in the quality of the animation. Still, the horrors of the spiral contamination in Kurouzu-cho are fascinating and disturbing to witness, even if this episode highlights some of Ito’s humor more than last week’s…

  • Spin the Bottle: A Supernatural Whirl that Only Leaves you Dizzy

    There are only so many adult party games that can be made into sinister horror films. Truth or Dare has been done multiple times in a variety of ways. Mafia, aka Werewolves Within, aka Among Us, is pretty much a formula for horror whodunit at this point, being used in Bodies Bodies Bodies, Cryo, and…

  • Puzzle Box Locks You Inside a Fantastical House of Horrors

    I’ve never been a huge fan of found footage. Sure, there are some exceptions, like Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity, but as I’ve said before, I think the format is usually more of a gimmick than anything else. However, my feelings towards it have started to change recently. After watching Hostile Dimensions, Invoking Yell, and V/H/S…

  • It’s What’s Inside Uncovers a Web of Lies and Duplicity

    I’ve had my eye on It’s What’s Inside for a while now. I first heard about this movie when it played at Sundance and SXSW earlier this year, as a couple of critics I follow ranted and raved about it. They couldn’t wait for more people to get the chance to see it, and that…

  • Dread Inducing Hold Your Breath Dusts Off the Trauma

    Sarah Paulson is one of those iconic actresses I will never stop showing up for. Throughout her career, Paulson has appeared in projects that have shaken the hell out of us, from her eighteen episodes as Merlyn on 1995s American Gothic to Serenity’s harrowing monologue and haunting scream, not to mention every amazing character Paulson morphed into over…

  • Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch: No Dyin’ Tryin’ Today (S2E1)

    My eyes are filled with wonder as we enter this new season of Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch. Many questions were raised in Season 1, while some were answered. Overall, Season 1 left me with the intense urge to continue into this series. Rather than just binging it all, I have stayed true to my…

  • The Veil Shows the Life-Altering Power of a Single Moment

    I’m a sucker for cosmic horror. Whether it’s the tales of H. P. Lovecraft, cinematic adaptations of his stories, or original films like The Endless and Event Horizon, I simply can’t get enough of this stuff. The idea that we’re not nearly as powerful as we like to think is utterly fascinating to me, so…

  • Uzumaki is Brisk, Horrifying, and Beautiful (E1)

    Fans have been waiting for upwards of five years for the Adult Swim Anime adaptation of Uzumaki, Junji Ito’s horror Manga masterpiece. After some delays, fans were skeptical that it would ever find a release, and when it was announced that it would only be 4 short episodes (the manga is about 650 pages), fans stayed…