-
The Sorcerers (1967)
The second of three films directed by Michael Reeves, a talented British filmmaker whose career was sadly cut short by an overdose when he was just 25, The Sorcerers stars the legendary Boris Karloff (who in 1969 would die the same year as Reeves) as “medical hypnotist” Dr Marcus Monserrat. Assisted by his wife Estelle…
-
The Wicker Man (1973)
I just saw a restored edition of 1973’s The Wicker Man in the cinema for its 50th anniversary and it was a heartwarming tale of faith against adversity. Well, maybe not. But it was a good detective story that develops into a tale of horror and madness as old superstitions come up against modernity. The…
-
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
Full disclosure time. These are the reasons why I went to see this film: I wanted to see how it stacked up in 3D. I couldn’t find Michael Bay’s name in the credits on Wikipedia. (Though he is a producer.) It’s of an acceptable length at 2 hours. (Still too long really. A film like…
-
Beau is Afraid (2023)
I just saw Beau is Afraid and it was overlong, intriguing, infuriating, and kind of unique. It’s possible to see it as a gigantic self-indulgence with little respect for the audience’s time and the same contempt for them that you see in a lot of contemporary art. And it is that. (There were walkouts in…
-
The Boogeyman (2023)
I just saw The Boogeyman and surprise surprise, it was crap. I kind of knew that it’d be mediocre going in just based on its trailers, and certain details as to its inspiration, but went anyway because it’s “from the mind of Stephen King”. I didn’t expect it, however, to be as godawful as it…
-
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
I just saw Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and it was really good. The art style and soundtrack are the best things about it, feeling integrated into the story at a level that’s rare for superhero films. For once one of these projects feels like an actual comic book film, which apart from Doctor Strange in…
-
Hypnotic (2023)
So I just saw Hypnotic, which I will henceforth refer to as “budget Inception”, and it was pretty dull. Director Robert Rodriguez always had a B-movie sensibility, of course, but how did the maker of El Mariachi (1992), Desperado (1995), and, erm, Spy Kids (2001) end up making something as generic and dull-witted as Hypnotic?…
-
Saw II (2005)
Here’s a question: what city do the Saw films take place in? According to Google, it’s New Jersey, but I ask because, more than how he makes the traps, I’m wondering how The Jigsaw Killer finds the real estate necessary to enact his schemes while police never seem to be in the right place at…
-
Saw (2004)
For a long time, the Saw franchise has been a large, bloody gap in my moviegoing experience. They started coming out when I was a teenager and although I was familiar with Roger Ebert’s review of the first, if only for his idea that a thriller could end with the killer getting crushed by a…
-
Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (1974)
The film I just saw at my local art centre’s Classic Horror Nights was Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, the only directorial work of Brian Clemens, a British screenwriter and television producer. He also wrote this swashbuckling tale of a swordsman roaming the countryside in search of bloodsuckers. Coming to a settlement, Captain Kronos (Horst…
I Just Saw
Telling you about movies I just saw
