The Equalizer (1987) – Hand and Glove, and Re-Entry

Scott (William Zabka) is back for the penultimate episode of The Equalizer season two, and after a brief interaction he and his father, Robert McCall (Edward Woodward) have with a con artist, the pair find themselves involved in a case that may be all in the mind of a young, wheelchair-bound woman, or perhaps she’s…

Mad God (2021) – Phil Tippett

I first learned Phil Tippet’s name in 1983 when I was reading a behind-the-scenes magazine about the making of The Return of the Jedi, and there was a discussion on the stop-motion and go-motion techniques used to create the movement of the Scout walkers in the Star Wars sequel. I was fascinated by what I…

Dagon (2001) – Stuart Gordon

So I figured I would take a look at another Lovecraft adaptation, and despite the title of the film, the story is more in line with The Shadow Over Innsmouth, with a slight lean towards Dagon. And while I appreciate what Gordon set out to do, he’s hampered by horrible lighting and photography, and terrible…

Freddy vs. Jason (2003) – Ronny Yu

After the mess that was Jason X, Freddy vs. Jason, the film that horror fans had been waiting for, ends up being pretty damned entertaining, despite some inconsistencies in tone, effects, and in-universe continuity. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) has been forgotten, so he seeks a way to bring fear back to the young people of…

The Croning (2012) – Laird Barron

This week’s book shelf brings a bit of cosmic horror as I delve into Laird Bannon’s novel, The Croning. The story spans the decades of one man, and the horrors that are around him, and the realization that these nightmare terrors are real. It’s unnverving, as we are introduced to geologist Don Miller, and his…

Toronto After Dark 2019: The Furies (2019) – Tony D’Aquino

Australia brings their horror game to the Toronto After Dark film festival tonight with their bloody and violent The Furies. A riff on the Final Girl trope as well as a mash-up of Battle Royale and Halloween the film is deliciously gory and excitingly paced. When Kayla (Airlie Dodds) is abducted and wakes up in…

Meddling Kids (2017) – Edgar Cantero

When I was a kid I loved reading the Hardy Boys (I could knock out a book in a day – which to me at the time was amazing, and I loved those little blue hardcover books). Between ages 11 and 12, I danced around the edges of things that could be interpreted as scary,…

Pet Sematary (2019) – Blu-Ray Review

The most recent Stephen King adaptation, and remake of the 1989 film, comes home on DVD and blu-ray today from Paramount Pictures. Featuring some pretty significant departures from the source material, but arguably faithful to it at the same time, this variation of the classic monkey’s paw tale is a fairly solid tale, while not…

Splice (2009) – Vincenzo Natali

The next title in DK Canada’s Minsters in the Movies book, as I continue my way through the chapter on mad scientists is Splice, starring Adrien Brody and the always exemplary Sarah Polley. This film is very much the mad scientist take on parenting with all the mistakes and the oedipal complexes taken to a…