I love it when my interests and needs can actually cross over. I watched The Call of Cthulhu as the last piece of my Lovecraft on the Silver Screen panel (this Saturday at ConnectiCon, come say hi) and knew it would also work for Horror Thursday. It’s the first (and probably only) time I’ve reviewed a short for the column. To be fair, at 45 minutes long, it is structured and feels like an actual feature film. It’s also surprisingly good.
Horror Thursday: The Call of Cthulhu
Next summer, I need to also consider what has been covered at Man, I Love Films for my Cinefessions viewing schedule. I had to go back in my notes a couple weeks for the new Horror Thursday subject. I was glad to cover it. Diabolique is one of my favorite noir films and just falls outside my top 10 horror films of all time. It’s just so smart, beautiful, and well-executed.
Horror Thursday: Diabolique
I had to break my trend of reviewing the weekly theme film for the Cinefessions Summer Screams Challenge this week. I just don’t see eXistenZ as a horror film.
Now Curse of the Cat People. That’s a great horror film. Such nuance. Such life. Such beauty. Such a terrifying recitation of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
Horror Thursday: Curse of the Cat People
One of my crutches in reviews is pointing out I’d rather watch something ambitious that fails than something safe that’s boring. Well, The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh is the epitome of that kind of film. I applaud its ambition. I love the style, the mood, and the refusal to follow the traditional standards of film. However, it doesn’t quite come together as the narrative film it’s trying to be. It’s art, is what it is.
Horror Thursday: The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh
What can I say? I knew I’d be on vacation and had far away adventures in mind. Creature from the Black Lagoon features one of my favorite movie monsters, even if the film is pretty underwhelming as a whole. Still, a lot of fun can be had gawking at the beauty of the visuals, the stunts, and that monster suit.
Horror Thursday: Creature from the Black Lagoon
Stephen King is notorious for changing his feelings about his film adaptations. One consistency, however, is his claim that Maximum Overdrive is the single worst adaptation of any of his stories. Funny, since he himself adapted and directed this schlocky howler of a technology gone bad horror picture himself.
Horror Thursday: Maximum Overdrive
Also known simply as Death. This week’s Horror Thursday column over at Man, I Love Films is the first mumblecore horror film I’ve ever seen. Technically it’s not mumblecore since it’s a British film and that’s an American movement, but it’s the clearest description I can think of for it.
Sorry for the lack of updates. I’m proctoring AP tests and in tech on the spring revue/cabaret show at the same time. I come home, go to sleep, and roll out of bed to start all over again the next day. Today’s the last day of testing and tomorrow is the show, so the posting schedule should be back to normal soon. AniMAY will go out with a bang, not a whimper, always fighting against the dying light.
So for now, enjoy Horror Thursday: After Death.
I reviewed one of my all time favorite films (any genre), Cat People, for Man, I Love Films today. If you haven’t watched Cat People before (not the remake, the original 1942 film), you need to. It is a brilliant exercise in suggestion, suspense, and art direction.
Horror Thursday: Cat People