I can remember it like it was yesterday. My mother was in the basement ironing. And I was down on my knees, begging shamelessly. This had gone for nearly an hour. She wasn’t even acknowledging me by then. Periodically she…
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With Halloween looming many Blu-ray companies trot out horror-themed fare and we’re lucky this month to see Freaks out from Criterion, plus the great Spanish shocker Tombs of the Blind Dead, Mario Bava’s gothic classic Black Sabbath, not to mention…
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I always thought author Thomas Hardy was one gloomy Gus, but I do agree with a quote attributed to him: “Fear is the mother of foresight.” Because there are some movies I have never had the guts to see. Sometimes…
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It’s ironic that the talk this weekend is the opening of The Exorcist: Believer, when the really brilliant, nightmarish film about demonic possession is also premiering- When Evil Lurks by the Argentine director Demian Rugna. Demian Rugna’s previous film- Terrified–…
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When people get stressed or anxious or depressed they reach for anything to alleviate the pain. Some grab a handful of pills. Others surrender to the pipe or a bottle. Some stretch for a loaded syringe. Or use an entire…
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With the death of Generalissimo Francisco Franco in Spain in 1975, the lifting of the stranglehold of censorship suddenly offered filmmakers the ability to push boundaries. Director Eloy de la Iglesia (Cannibal Man, Murder in a Blue World) turned out two…
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Necrophilia is not a subject I’m very familiar with. When I played doctor as a child I never wanted my patients to be that still. But recently I heard a wild rumor about a secret group called the Matterhorn Society, founded in…
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Fall never felt so refreshingly sweet, with these restored crackpot classics on Blu-ray this month. From the sleaze classic Nightmare, to Frank Henenlotter’s inspired and deranged Bad Biology; Nicolas Roeg’s creepy Don’t Look Now; a crackling paranoid thriller 3 Days…
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I guess I’m happy for the success of Barbie at the box office. At least it got audiences back in theaters. And it’s a win for Greta Gerwig, who I’ve been rooting for ever since I saw her in Frances…
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Talk about going down the rabbit hole. I just finished this terrific book about Italian exploitation director Umberto Lenzi (Seven Blood-Stained Orchids/Orgasmo/The Tough Ones/Cannibal Ferox) by Troy Howarth called “Make Them Die Slowly” and I was catching up with other…
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