Diablo Mesa (2022) – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Grand Central Publishing was kind enough to send me the latest Preston & Child thriller, Diablo Mesa, which came out in February. It had been a long time since I dug into a Preston & Child book, but back in 2014, I was plowing through their Pendergast series until my pile of To Be Read…

Millennium (1999) – Via Dolorosa, and Goodbye To All That

This week, it’s the series finale of Millennium, though Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) would make one more appearance, showing up in the seventh season of The X-Files, for his swan song. Marjorie David and Patrick Harbinson pen the first part of what was simply meant to be a season finale, but when the series wasn’t…

The X-Files (1999) – Agua Mala, and Monday

There’s something in the water! Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) head to Florida in the middle of a hurricane at the behest of the man who discovered the x-files, Arthur Dales (Darren McGavin) because he’s had reports of a monster in the water that is attacking people. Written by David Amann, the episode…

Horror Express (1973)- Eugenio Martin

DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies brings me another alien menace, and this time seems to transplant it into a horror version of Murder on the Orient Express. But who better to confront the terror than two British horror legends and experts, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (with an appearance by Telly Savalas? Christopher Lee…

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (2018) – Michelle McNamara

Halfway through the HBO docu-series, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, I knew I had to read the source material, and learn more. Written by Michelle McNamara, a brilliant true crime writer, who passed before the book could be published, or the book’s subject caught, sentenced and jailed. As captivating as the series was, the…

Lust for a Vampire (1971) – Jimmy Sangster

John Landis’ Monsters in the Movies from DK Canada keeps the fangs a gnashing with the next vampire title to be exhumed, Hammer Films Lust for a Vampire. The second in the Karnstein trilogy, this story picks up some forty years after the previous incarnation of Mircalla stalked the land. This version is played by…

TAD 2018: I’ll Take Your Dead (2018) – Chad Archibald

The second feature of Toronto After Dark’s opening night is the Toronto premiere of the Canadian film, I’ll Take Your Dead. The film stars Ava Preston, Aidan Devine, Jess Salgueiro, Brandon McKnight and Ari Millen. A crime thriller with supernatural overtones, the film has some gorgeous production, and features a fantastic turn by the film’s…

The Vampire and the Ballerina (1960) – Renato Polselli

The next title I exhume from the grave for DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book by director John Landis is an Italian film that got chopped up by North American censors to remove any untoward imagery (like nudity) to make it suitable for what they saw as the viewing audience… the matinee crowd. A…

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) – Ed Wood Jr.

While not necessarily a vampire movie, Plan 9 From Outer Space, undeniably one of the worst films ever made (which in turn made it a cult classic), is the next title in the vampire section of John Landis’ Monsters in the Movies from DK Canada. The film does feature a plan to resurrect the dead,…

Toronto After Dark 2017: Poor Agnes – Navin Ramaswaran

The second feature screening tonight at Scotiabank Theatre as part of the Toronto After Dark film festival is another new favourite. Poor Agnes, having its Toronto premiere this eve, is a disturbing drama that haunts and troubles even as its story captivates. Agnes (Lora Burke) is a serial killer, and she is a master at…