There’s a lot that goes into choosing the first movie in this marathon: do you get the requirements out of the way first? Look at runtimes? Or is it something more ephemeral? I wanted to start with the simple things that made me a fan of the genre as a kid, and that is monsters. Specifically monsters that are practical, man-in-suit creations. And so here we are with the aptly named Monster Island, a small period piece that makes the most of its limited budget, cast and location to craft a fun if slightly underwhelming creature feature.

ChrisSeptember 15, 2025September 20, 2025Leave a comment

Features, Posts

Hail Horror! It Returns for 2025!

Not gonna lie…time caught up with me. With the world in a seemingly irreversible nosedive, the time for horror seems both completely unnecessary, yet at the time time vital for my sanity. And so like a bloodied angel here comes the 12th annual Hooptober Horror Movie Marathon, ready to take me away into darker and phantasmagorical nightmares. I’m back for another round, keeping my unbroken … Continue reading Hail Horror! It Returns for 2025!

ChrisSeptember 13, 20252 Comments

Reviews

Hooptober 11.0 – Onibaba (1964)

Being Film #31 for Hooptober 2024

Just incase you thought the sixties were only happening in the United States from a film perspective, change and rebellion was happening everywhere, particularly in Japan. Onibaba shows a very different side from what artists like Kurosawa and Ozu were doing within the confines of a studio system they grew up in. Writer/director Kaneto Shindō may seem at first impression to be working in a more exploitive frame – and you’d be right. But there’s more beneath the surface of this sleazy horror gem that ties in nicely with some of the other films watched during this marathon. As as the “official” capper to the marathon (there’s still the bonus films I’ll cover over on Letterboxd), it’s a fine ending to the start of a new decade of expanding my personal parameters of horror.

ChrisOctober 20, 2024Leave a comment

Reviews

Hooptober 11.0 – Don’t Look Now (1973)

Being Film #30 for Hooptober 2024

Something a little different. I thought I had reviewed this film before, and I did…15 years ago. It’s been sitting on a dead blog forever, and so in the interest of preservation I present it to you here, in all its childish glory. I kid…it’s pretty good if I do say so myself.

—

Cut away the non-linear structure, the running visual cues and kinetic editing, and Don’t Look Now would probably still be a good, if fairly predictable movie. But fortunately for us we don’t have to do that, and the fact is that Nicolas Roeg in only his second feature as a director has crafted a masterpiece of mood and tone, and the film stands as an achievement of the presentation of pure dread, and a stunning example of how a director can directly engage the audience in his vision.

ChrisOctober 19, 2024Leave a comment

Reviews

Hooptober 11.0 – Peeping Tom (1960)

Being Film #29 for Hooptober 2024

It’s still difficult for me to reconcile the beautiful, captivating films made by Powell & Pressburger with the lurid, psychosexual menace of Powell’s 1960 solo outing Peeping Tom. On the one hand, I can see the use of color, the imaginative camera movement, the exquisite framing…even the emphasis on inner drama and turmoil and say “Yes, this is very much in keeping with Powell’s thematic output.” At the same time, this is also a progentitor for what would soon flourish in giallo, horror, and even slasher films. I think some of what I find so disturbing (and yet so good, lol) about the film is that conflict in my mind over Powell’s films. I’ll take it.

ChrisOctober 19, 2024Leave a comment

Reviews

Hooptober 11.0 – Stree (2018)

Being Film #28 for Hooptober 2024

What a delight. I wasn’t aware of just how much I needed a breath of air, some light after mainlining one dour note of horror after another over the course of the month. So thank you 1920 for being borderline unwatchable with no english subtitles on any services (both legal and otherwise) I tried to watch you on; if not for that I would never have come across the wonder that is Stree, a Hindi comedy/horror film that has so much charm and heart and actual things to say while also maintaining a semblance of fright. Oh, ands the musical numbers are straight up bangers.

ChrisOctober 16, 2024October 17, 2024Leave a comment

Cinema Dual (TEST SITE)

Examining a life through the media we consume. In other words, I’m reviewing all of my physical music media in alphabetical order, one day at at a time. Except when I don’t, as has been the case for the past few years. Still, we march onwards…Coffee essential, but not mandatory

Tag: marathon

Hooptober 12.0 – Monster Island (2025)

Hail Horror! It Returns for 2025!

Hooptober 11.0 – Onibaba (1964)

Hooptober 11.0 – Don’t Look Now (1973)

Hooptober 11.0 – Peeping Tom (1960)

Hooptober 11.0 – Stree (2018)