Looking for a kid-friendly Halloween flick this season? John Cherry’s Ernest Scared Stupid from 1991 is perfect for the occasion. There is certainly a slew of harmless and silly Ernest films, but I feel this one might be the best of the series.
Read MoreDashcam (2021)
In a time when trust and faith in government institutions are at an all-time low, it seems like now is a perfect atmosphere for paranoia-fueled conspiracy thrillers to make a comeback. Films revolving around wild-eyed protagonists on the run from shadowy government agents were all the rage in the post-Watergate 70s, but sadly, big-budget blockbusters rule the roost these days, with more adult-orientated fare often being overlooked or pushed to the side. Enter Dashcam by director Christian Nilsson, a tight little indie that throws back to films like Antonioni’s Blow Up or De Palma’s update of that story, Blow Out, where a regular joe may or may not have stumbled upon a secret that those in power will kill to keep.
Read MoreBehemoth (2020)
Why can't so many indie filmmakers get it right? It's not entirely a question of budget. Behemoth was made for just under $70,000, and I have seen far better moves made for less Behemoth, the directorial debut of VFX digital artist Peter Sefchik, proves that although you may be a true talent in your original field, it doesn't mean you should direct a feature film.
Read MoreSo Help Me God (2021)
Staring directly into the camera, a man delivers an unbroken, minutes-long monologue about the route that's led him to his present situation, living as part of an impromptu community of drifters, beggars, and the people society has left behind. This is the world of North Texas filmmaker Cody McClain's debut feature, So Help Me God, a raw, unflinching cinema verité exploration of homelessness that literally gives voice to its subjects by simply allowing them to tell their stories. Devoid of narration and composed of a series of heart-wrenching, raw, sometimes funny, and always vulnerable monologues, the film emerges as an elegiac meditation on a world that's been left behind, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated the country’s vulnerable homeless communities.
Read MoreDune: The Alan Smithee Cut (1984) #RetroReview
I’ll be the first to admit that David Lynch’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi masterpiece Dune from 1984 is deeply flawed. Deeply. That being said, I love the film.
Read MoreA Bullet for Breakfast (2020)
A Bullet for Breakfast is a short film now available to view on YouTube from writer and director Wade Hampton about... well I’m not quite sure, to be honest. There are several masked murderers, a woman named Miss Brickle that seems to have magical powers, and a vague plot revolving around various characters all trying to get to some mcguffin but we aren’t given much more than that. The whole time I was watching this I couldn’t help but feel like I had missed something like this is a piece of a larger story or the latest in a series.
Read MoreThe Amusement Park (2019)
In 1973, George Romero was commissioned by the Lutheran Society to make an educational film about ageism and elder abuse. The resulting film, The Amusement Park, is probably the most fucked up PSA ever made, and was considered so disturbing by the investors that they refused to release it. Once believed to be lost, a print of The Amusement Park was found in 2018, restored, and is now getting a wide release on the Shudder streaming platform.
Read MoreManiac Cop (1988) #RetroReview
William Lustig's Maniac Cop was released on May 13th in 1988 and features a trio of genre heavyweights in Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, and Richard Roundtree. A funky meld of action and horror, it manages to craft a sort of subversive response to the vigilante cop subgenre. In honor of its thirty-third anniversary, let’s take a look back.
Read More