The Mangler represents a rare meeting of three horror icons; director Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist), actor Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Stephen King (the most commercially successful horror writer of all time). It’s the not the first time any of these people connected with each other. Hooper directed the tv mini-series adaptation King’s classic … Continue reading Hooptober X #2: The Mangler
Being Film #3 for Hooptober 2023 Man, there is just something about Dario Argento. Excepting The Five Days (only because I haven’t seen it) his run of films from 1970’s The Bird With the Crystal Plumage up to 1996’s The Stendhal Syndrome (I’m giving a soft pass to 93’s Trauma because I barely remember it) is remarkable, full of style and crazy ideas, with running … Continue reading Hooptober 10.0 – Phenomena (1985)
Being Film #2 for Hooptober 2023 Tone is everything. So even if Sea Fever, the debut film from Neasa Hardiman isn’t particularly scary, it holds its tone throughout a solid tale that on the surface may be about a parasitic life form that wreaks havoc on a down and out fishing vessel off the coast of Ireland, but it’s also about a young standoffish woman, … Continue reading Hooptober 10.0 – Sea Fever (2019)
Demián Rugna’s Terrified begins with a woman, Clara, standing over the sink in her kitchen. She tries to make dinner. Every time she runs the faucet, she hears voices. Much later, her husband Juan comes home smiling. He tells a story about a dog that miraculously getting hit by a car. However, Clara seems hollow. Juan asks her what’s wrong and she tells him about … Continue reading Hooptober X #1: Terrified (2017)
Welcome to another year of Hooptober. Once again the criteria has been announced and the films assembled. Last year, I started my first full Hooptober wondering if I was going to complete 31 films. I ended it having seen 50 films from September 15th to October 31st. I started with a double feature of Pearl and X, and ended with Dario Argento’s latest Dark Glasses. … Continue reading Hoopbound : Hooptober X, an introduction
Being Film #1 for Hooptober 2023 Sometimes suspending your disbelief can be a chore, but sometimes – if the tone is just ridiculous enough – it can be a delight. There was a lot to suspend in Night of the Comet, a sci-fi horror comedy that’s more “Valley Girl survives the Apocalypse” than anything else, but when you have the charm of Kelli Maroney it’s … Continue reading Hooptober 10.0 – Night of the Comet (1984)
Cinema Dual (TEST SITE) 