Coventry

Approximately 98% of my user-comments are for horror movies, grisly thrillers, or peculiar cult movies. There is one totally unrelated genre that I also can't resist viewing & reviewing, though, and that is the silly film-parody/slapstick genre! The dumber the better, and particularly the (partial) collaborations between subject matter experts like Jerry & David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, or Pat Proft are immensely entertaining. "High School High" is an obvious spoof of the extremely popular 1995 blockbuster success "Dangerous Minds", about a devoted teacher reaching through to allegedly "unteachable" kids from the lowest social classes.

Jon Lovitz is superbly cast as the idealistic but naïve teacher who breaks out of his White Anglo-Saxon Protestant surrounding and accepts a job on the complete other side of the spectrum at Marion Barry High. Here, deep in the inner city, the headmistress waves around a baseball bat, teachers go missing, and the curriculum mostly exists of massive gang war lessons between the Latino and Afro-American communities. "High School High" is a non-stop spitfire of jokes that depend on ethnic stereotypes and sexism. In other words, it's the type of movie that would be impossible to make for nowadays Gen Z audiences. If you're Gen X, though, and grew up with unconstrained humor, you'll often laugh until you nearly choke.

Unknown and long-forgotten movies from my home country intrigue me, and - luckily for me - there's also a Belgian TV-channel that specializes in broadcasting these titles. Why do clearly prestigious and seemingly well-financed (at their time of release) film-projects end up in total oblivion? Well, in the case of "Kruisbergstaat 6", it's not too difficult to see why... It's a painfully boring and thoroughly unremarkable effort.

The script is adapted from a novel, which - I reckon - must be even more boring, and follows the aristocratic Verbrugge siblings from Ghent, East Flanders, that live off the family fortune since their parents died in a road accident. Brother Octave is a successful public construction contractor and invited the talented French architect Hugo to their home to help with a prestigious project. Hugo falls in love with Octave's timid sister Françoise. Both Françoise and the chronically ill & embittered oldest sister Aurelie are deeply upset with Octave because he wants to marry a middle-class waitress, which is a disgrace for the family name. Hugo then discovers there's also a third sister, Charlotte, but everyone acts very strange when her name gets mentioned.

Sounds potentially interesting, but - believe me - for more than three quarters of the film nothing remotely interesting happens. There's endless footage of the lead characters sitting at the breakfast table, barely speaking a word, of pointless sequences in bars or night clubs. And then, suddenly out of nowhere, a few gruesome murders are committed, and the explanation is beyond imbecilic. In fact, the only reason why I still somewhat enjoyed watching "Kruiswegstraat 6" is for the Ghent filming locations, and particularly to see how drastically things have changed in 50 years. I didn't grow up in Ghent, but I live now near to it. The project Octave is building clearly will become the viaduct/overpass that I use almost every week. The narrow streets and historical buildings in the city center haven't changed, but nowadays everything is made traffic-free whereas here there still are cars everywhere. It's an odd sight.

In the wonderful year 1996, when yours truly was 15 years old, not one but TWO horror movies about naughty schoolgirls practicing dark witchcraft came out! There was "The Craft" and this "Little Witches". The question going round in my head is not about which of the two is the best film, or which one came first ... I'm wondering why I only watched "The Craft" back in the 1996 even though "Little Witches" features a lot more naked boobs! Horny and boob loving 15-year-old me absolutely would have loved the gratuitous nudity in "Little Witches", for sure! Everything else is worse than in "The Craft" but horny and boob loving 15-year-old me probably wouldn't have mind.

Easter is coming and most students in the all-girl Catholic boarding school are heading home for a well-deserved holiday. There's always a group of holdovers, though, and they are usually the biggest troublemakers. Like the lewd and rebellious Jamie, for instance, who enjoys strip-dancing in front of construction workers and persuades the rest of the group to descent into the mysterious cave that recently got discovered by coincidence. The plan is simply to drink communion wine, but the girls find ancient relics and books, and shortly after they dance naked around a well and try to summon a satanic figure known as "He Who Comes".

"Little Witches" is a weak and forgettable 90s B-movie, but certainly a fun one for as long as it lasts. The plot is straightforward and unpretentious, but sadly also devoid of good action/horror and surprising elements. There are familiar faces in the cast that avid horror fanatics will appreciate, like Jennifer Rubin ("The Crush", "Bad Dreams"), Jack Nance ("Twin Peaks", "Eraserhead") and even an extended cameo from Zelda Rubinstein ("Poltergeist", "Anguish"), but the real stars are the wicked schoolgirls; - Sheeri Rappaport in particular. What a beauty!

"Hemmet" (a.k.a. "The Home") won a modest prize at the 25th edition of the Brussels' International Festival of Fantastic Films, and I think it truly deserves this token of recognition! This (mostly) Swedish production will probably not be the most groundbreakingly original and ultimately shocking movie you'll ever see, but it's definitely a very solid thriller/supernatural horror tale with a well-written script, intriguing lead characters, and more than a few effectively unsettling fright-moments.

Thirty-something Joel, who has serious identity issues himself, has the unthankful task to move his mother Monika from her house to elderly home with special healthcare. Monika had a stroke, and was even clinically dead for a while, so she can't live alone anymore. But there's something else and sinister, too. Monika is haunted by her dead violent husband/abusive father Bengt, and his terror is inflicted on Joel and others as well. Could it be that Bengt's vile spirit attached itself to Monika in the short period she was clinically dead?

The plot is slightly similar to "Flatliners", perhaps, given the element of being haunted and suffering from visions after crossing the medical line between life and death, but "The Home" certainly isn't a rip-off of that - or other - supernatural films. It's a powerful stand-alone thriller with relevant themes that hold a good balance between subtle disturbance and sincere drama topics (like ageing, grief, sexuality, ...). The performances of the lead actors and actresses are terrific, with also a honorable mention to Peter Jankert who's incredibly menacing - without even speaking - as the husband from hell.

Normally I don't review short movies because, quite frankly, there isn't much to write about them. I must make an exception for "The Musical Spider", though, because this delicious short film project by Henry Moore Selders features so many creative ideas and versatile gimmicks that it really deserves a few lines of praising words. In barely 12 minutes, Selders implements a compelling narrative structure and introduces a handful of intriguing characters. The plot is absurd but fascinating, and deals with a middle-aged man who's going berserk because his wife gives daily piano recitals to a spider and his nearly adult son is just a bodiless head brooding on a macabre plan. The narrative framework makes the wholesome look like a genuine 1940's film-noir, complete with private detective on the phone, lots of liquor, dark alleys, and shadows behind glass doors. To make it even more perfect, there's a bit of gore and creature-feature effects. Yay.

Making a feature film is a tough job, and anyone involved in a film production has quite a difficult profession. Can we all agree on that? It's easy for reviewers - like myself - to claim that a film is bad, while dedication and hard work went into it. Many directors and their crews work with the best intensions to ultimately deliver a bad film. It's difficult to make a good movie. What is even more difficult, though, is to deliberately make a bad film! Can everyone still follow? It might be easier to give an example...

In the fifties of the previous century, a dedicated director named Edward D. Wood really did everything he could to make good and genuinely suspenseful films. He never succeeded, though, because he did not have the financial means and especially not the talent. His films, such as "Bride of the Monster" and "Plan 9 from Outer Space" are notoriously bad. More than 70 years later, the clearly talented Michael Stasko is doing his best to make a film that deliberately looks as bad as the work of Ed Wood.

And Stasko pulls it off, too! "Vampire Zombies... From Space" is very good at being bad! Stasko and his crew, unlike Mr. Wood, know darn well what they're doing, and their tongue-in-cheek parody/homage to zero-budgeted 1950s Sci-Fi horror is simply wonderful to watch. It's all there: measly black-and-white photography, bats on visible strings, buzzing flying saucers, a Bela Lugosi lookalike Dracula, tough rock 'n roll youngsters in convertibles and greasy hair, hopelessly incompetent Sheriffs and deputies, beautiful girls in distress, pubs full of impenetrable cigarette smoke, and - of course - the total annihiliation of the human race. And, just because it was possible, a cameo appearance of Lloyd Kaufman as the village perv who runs around town masturbating in public. Admittedly, not all characters and plot elements are equally funny and successful, but you happily accept the less good moments and the slightly overlong playing time. Hopefully, this will become a cult favorite!

Steven Kostanski is one of the biggest horror prodigies of the 21st Century thus far. All the films he directed, either solo or together with his Astron-6 pals, are greatly entertaining. The list is already quite impressive. "Father's Day", "Manborg", and "The Void" are my absolute favorites, but also "The Editor", "Psycho Goreman", and his belated sequel "Leprechaun Returns" are very adequate and ingenious horror flicks.

Because of all these aforementioned titles, I went blindly into "Frankie Freako" and fully trusted it was going to be another dementedly fun and gooey trash/horror comedy. What a massive disappointment! It is demented and trashy, alright, but sadly in the most infantile and unfunny way imaginable. The film is a sort of crossbreed between "Critters" and the "Puppet Master" series, but with the dumb humor of failed monster-comedies of that same era; - like "Munchies" and "Hobgoblins". I can't imagine there's any target audience for a dud like this. The story revolves around Conor who's the most boring and predictably structured guy in the world. To prove to himself and to his wife that he can be wild as well, he calls a party-hotline and end up with a trio of psychotic goblins in his apartment. I don't even want to bother summarizing the rest of the nonsense. If you're a fan of the previous work of Kostanski and his pals, skip it. If you're a fan of campy B-horror and 80s homages, skip it. In fact, just skip it altogether.

It's an annual tradition, one or two weeks prior to the start of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, the organizers announce their full film program, and I start researching and selecting the titles I absolutely want to see. Every year, there's always ONE title that immediately stands out as a must-see... "Dead by Dawn" seemed like a perfect match, although this was purely based on the delicious-looking film poster (prominently featuring someone wearing a mask made out of eyeballs), and the brief description stating it would be a Giallo from Poland with a plot inspired by Michèle Saovi ("Stagefright") and Dario Argento ("Opera").

Well, here's to another massive disillusion... Instead of a fun throwback Giallo/slasher gem, "Dead by Dawn" is a dull, senseless, and overly pretentious piece of chaotic fan-boy amateur film. Writer/director Dawid Torrone had the luxury of working with a decent budget and the perfect location of an abandoned theater in the middle of nowhere but failed to do something magical with it. Admittedly, there are a handful of extremely gore kills, but that's not enough. The plot remains vague throughout the entire running time, none of the characters are likeable, and the amount of irritating and purely useless in-between padding footage is intolerable.

Most of the characters are aspiring stage performers, lured to the infamous Heissenhoff Theater to shine - supposedly - in a prestigious new play, but there's a sinister figure dwelling around who has different plans. There is so much potential present here, but Torrone constantly interrupts the pacing himself, by implementing a pointless narrative structure (existing of six "chapters"), and hectically edited rehearsing sequences. The "homages" to Argento and other true masters of colorful Giallo-cinema are downright embarrassing. The plot reveals practically nothing about the killer and what his/her motivations might be, and the "grand finale" is hopelessly derivative. Terrible film, of which I hope it'll be forgotten very soon.

In the categories "disturbingly realistic" and "true nightmares you really don't want to go through yourself", Hallow Road is a film that scores very high. Director Babak Anvari ("I Came By") delivers a very intense and compelling thriller here, even though the story largely takes place in one enclosed location (a car) and has only two main characters (and also a few voices over the phone).

The concept is simple, but that makes it even more efficient. In the middle of the night, parents Maddie and Franck receive a panicky phone call from their teenage daughter Alice. She caused an accident with her father's car. The car is stuck and damaged, but - much worse - there is another girl lying motionless on the road. The parents jump in the car and stay in touch with Alice, but during the long journey the problems pile up. Is the girl who was hit by a car still alive? Where is the ambulance? Why did Alice drive to such a remote place? Was she sober? Will this incident devastate the rest of her life?

There are 2 main reasons why "Hallow Road" is the most haunting and unforgettable thriller you will see this year (and perhaps also in the coming years). First and foremost because it is - simply - a realistic scenario. The chance this horror will happen to yourself, or someone close to you, is much greater than, say, moving into a haunted house or having to fight werewolves and zombies. You read about hit-and-run accidents almost daily, and behind each of these incidents is a tragic story for both sides. Secondly, because Matthew Rhys and - especially - Rosamund Pike give away such incredibly strong performances. Director Anvari felt that the story couldn't just end like a random news fact, and so there are some weird twists in the script towards the end. Still very absorbing, though. The ending is completely open to interpretation, and that too is the best they could have done. Powerful film, recommended!

Occasionally seeing a movie that is bad, or does not match your personal taste or preferences, happens to all of us. It's no big deal. You sit through it, or stop watching early, and you go on with your life. But sometimes, and fortunately this is very exceptional, I come across a film I think is so bad - and hate so much - that it makes me furious! Movies that really annoy me to death on every possible level: the naivety of the main characters, the slow pacing, the endless dialogues, the fake pseudo-intelligence of the script, and the overall pointlessness of the story! All these things, and many more, annoyed me during "Don't Leave the Kids Alone".

Nobody knew anything about this film when it premiered at Brussels' International Festival of Fantastic Films. It had not yet been shown elsewhere, and there was little or no information in the press kit. Judging by the title, I was secretly hoping for an apocalyptic thriller/horror movie in the style of "Who Can Kill a Child?" (Spain, 1976), but alas...

It is a story about a single mother who leaves her two sons, aged 7 and 10, home alone one evening because she has to go to a party where she hopes to sign the deed of purchase of her house. The sons are both, each in their own way, suffering greatly from the recent loss of their father in a traffic accident in which all four were involved. The youngest, Emiliano, takes heavy medication and is afraid of everything. The eldest, Matias, is full of oppressed anger and aggression that he prefers to take out on his little brother. Not the best babysitter profile, in other words. Meanwhile, at the party, Catalina learns that the cheap house has several dark secrets.

Admittedly, the plot sounds quite ok, but it is not; - believe me. Why would anyone want to pay the price of a movie ticket to listen to the whining and complaining of two bickering children? Writer/director Emilio Portes often hints at supernatural situations, such as communication with the deceased father via a Ouija board and the presence of a murder victim's ghost in the house, but it's all nonsense. The bottom line is that you, as a viewer, can hardly restrain yourself from shouting at the mother to go home, and to punish the two little rascals.

"Xtinction: Predator X", "Jurassic Predator", "Alligator X", ... This flick has 3 juicy-sounding titles (and possibly even more) but none of them can conceal the fact it's a typically lousy and low-budgeted piece of trash from the Syfy stable! That's okay, though, because you at least know what to expect: a preposterous & incoherent nonsense-story, terribly CGI-effects, and a tremendous body count!

Set in the Southern Louisianan swamps, in the horribly aftermath-years of hurricane Katrina, the brilliant but totally deranged scientist Dr. LeBlanc found some bones of a deadly marine dinosaur species - more specifically the Pliosaurus - and promptly managed to clone and resurrect it! How? Who knows. Why? Who cares! The thing does need to be fed, and the local Sheriff quickly finds himself investigating 5-6 missing person cases. Luckily, for him, his former crush (and ex-wife of Dr. LeBlanc) also returned home, because her father is one of the missing people.

The IMDb rating of 3.0/10 (at the time I'm submitting this review, at least) is exactly right. Low enough to warn people with good taste not to bother, and high enough to indicate to B-movie trash fanatics there's some fun to have with it.

I have deep respect for ideas and concepts like the ones featuring in "The Ugly Stepsister". The totally bonkers reimagining of a classic fairytale like "Cinderella", told mainly from the perspective of the hateful stepsister, is pure genius and utmost creative. In fact, I'm even slightly frustrated that I can never come up with simple but brilliant ideas like that! Who thought it up, then? Well, the Norwegian writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt did, and she created a lot more than just an entertaining slice of trash cinema... Blichfeldt made a harsh but socially relevant statement, a brutal upgrade of body-horror, and a hilarious black comedy. All in one.

It may not seem obvious, but "The Ugly Stepsister" has quite a lot in common with Coralie Fargeat's "The Substance"; which is hands down THE best horror movie of the 2020s. Both films were made by strong and professional women, and they both star anti-heroines doing everything - literally everything - to answer to the highest possible beauty standards. Both of the heroines also desire to look young/beautiful not for themselves, but to still matter in the society they are part of. And, of course, their desperate obsession with beauty has terrible consequences for both of them.

Let's not over-analyze, though, as "the Ugly Stepsister" is first and foremost a tremendously entertaining combo of genres. Blichfeld fluently blends period costume piece, comedy, horror, and even a little bit of drama. The carefree life of Rebekka and her daughters Elvira and Alma rudely comes to an end when her rich second husband literally drops dead on the diner table. Their only hope for wealth and luxury would be that Prince Charming chooses the oldest daughter Elvira as his bride, but there's one little problem. With her giant braces, crooked nose, excessively natural curves, and ring-curling hair, Elvira does not immediately meet the beauty standards. Will Rebekka succeed to make her own daughter prettier in time for the Royal Ball, AND to keep the amazingly beautiful daughter Agnes - a.k.a. Cinderella - locked away in the stables?

I truly loved how old-fashioned narratives and outdated clichés from the old Disney story have faded, and even disappeared. The stepsister is no longer an arrogant and evil wench but a very insecure and introverted girl. Cinderella, on the other hand, is not such an innocent angel anymore. She is quite rude to Elvira, and she likes premarital sex with the stable boy while she introduces herself as a virgin to the Prince a little while later. Fortunately, some fixed values from the (original) story are also retained. You won't see it in the Disney version, but here as well the stepdaughter cuts off her toes to fit the shoe. The film is of course far from perfect. Many parts of the script seem underdeveloped, which creates loose ends as well as a very large number of illogical situations and inexplicable plot twists. However, these are only details, because Blichfeldt has created a refreshing and solid long-feature debut film, and I hope to see more of her soon.

The name of director Tobe Hooper will forever remain associated with the horror classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". This is somewhat unjustified and disadvantageous, because he also made many other memorable films in the genre, such as "Eaten Alive", "LifeForce", "The Funhouse", and "The Mangler". On the other hand, it may also be a blessing, because everyone forgot that his last films - and more specifically his very last one, "Djinn" - were incredibly bad.

"Djinn" is unbelievably boring. There may be a few good ideas and potentially controversial elements in the script, but they never come to the surface because Hooper doesn't have the courage to genuinely shock his audience. The story is about a New York couple who return to the United Arab Emirates - where their roots are - after losing their newborn baby. This is especially against the will of the wife, Salama, because she has no job there, and then she is also becomes haunted with the myth of the djinn; a monstrous creature hiding in the body of a baby looking for its "mother".

"Djinn" dethrones "Morturary" as the worst Tobe Hooper movie I've seen so far. As far as I'm concerned, the "The Toolbox Murders" remake from 2004 remains his last glorious piece of work. There's zero action, suspense or horror-worthy special effects/make-up in "Djinn". You don't feel any empathy for the characters, and there is endless talking in English and Arabic.

Doesn't it look amazing? A raw and brutally violent slasher with a trendy story that picks up on the latest digital hypes, and with a cast-list that is literally chock-full of names of actors and actresses who mean something in the world of trashy B-horror cinema! "Stream" seems like the biggest must-see horror flick of the past 10-15 years, but... is it?

Not really, no. In fact, it's one of those movies that uses (admittedly very good) gore and popular names as a distraction to hide that the script is derivative and fairly standard. Innocent and unsuspecting people in a remote hotel fall prey to sick killers, while the whole thing gets live streamed on the Dark Web and viewers place online bets on who will last the longest. It's a mix of "Squid Game" and several "Escape Room" thrillers, with killers wearing masks that we've seen before in movies like "The Purge," "You're Next," and "The Strangers."

As long as you don't expect an exceptionally good or innovative slasher, "Stream" is reasonably worth watching. It was nice to see Jeffrey Combs and Danielle Harris shine again in roles that are a bigger than their usual supporting roles or cameos. However, all the other appealing names (such as Tony Todd, Dee Wallace, Bill Moseley, Felissa Rose, Tim Curry ...) do only appear in meaningless cameo-roles, so you should definitely not bother to watch "Stream" for them. Two hours of running time is far too long for this type of plot, there aren't any suspenseful moments or surprising twists whatsoever, and it's definitely not all that shocking anymore (although the script itself likes to think so). Damien Leone - the creator of "Terrifier" - worked on the special effects and make-up, and these are the highlights of the film, for sure, together with Isla Cervelli's jacuzzi sequence.

Since a few years we are bombarded with rancid, extremely gory, and pretty idiotic trash-horror movies revolving around the legendary cartoon characters we all grew up with, like Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, and Popeye. Why is that? Well, because those nostalgic figures are now so old that all copyrights are expired, and they ended up in the public domain. One might hope that there is still more than enough respect left not to touch these iconic figures - let alone ridicule them - but that is of course not taking into account a lot of untalented horror directors nowadays.

"Screamboat" is not the first horror movie about Mickey Mouse (there are also "Mickey's Mouse Trap" and "Mouseboat Massacre") but I honestly think this is the best of the three. Of course, though, you have to take "best" with a serious grain of salt in this case. There were competent people working on this production - more specifically the producers of "Terrifier" - and there are certainly a handful of inventive & deliciously raunchy kills in it, but all in all it remains an indescribably silly experience to watch in the cinema.

On the nightly ferry back and forth to Staten Island, New York, a monstrous rodent wakes up and promptly begins a massacre. The crew of the ferry and all the other weird characters who take the nightly journey are horrendously slaughtered. "Screamboat" starts off energetically, and especially the first half of the film is shamelessly entertaining thanks to the over-the-top gore, the tongue-in-cheek humor, and the surprisingly subtle references to a whole lot of other Disney classics (Cinderella, Tarzan, Frozen, ...). But then, for some inexplicable reason, things go wrong entirely. The psychotic mouse turns into a melancholic lover in search of his lost Minnie, the kills become bland and repetitive, and the final act seems to last forever. Perhaps the funny effect of a murderous Mickey Mouse wore off quickly, and the energy and good atmosphere on the set was short-lived. One thing is for sure, I'm glad Walt Disney isn't around anymore since many years, so he never had to see this.

I know what you're thinking! This review's subject line doesn't make a lick of sense! True, but then again, neither does this movie! The Devil, Bermuda Triangle, and outer space ... These are plot keywords that will undoubtedly appeal to every horror fanatic, but they seem so randomly put together. And yet, the writers of "The Dark Side of the Moon" - Carey and Chad Hayes - processed them into one absurd and preposterous plot. In short: the crew of a satellite repair spaceship is dangerously orbiting towards the dark side of the moon following a power failure. They nearly bump into a NASA Space Shuttle that supposedly crashed and vanished in the Bermuda Triangle 30 years earlier. They go and investigate, but rapidly learn there's another - and purely evil - parasitic lifeform aboard.

Fun and cheesy as it may sound, especially to B-horror fanatics, "The Dark Side of the Moon" remains just another umpteenth "Alien" rip-off, shamelessly copying ideas like eerily floating spacecrafts, android crew members, and monsters hiding inside human hosts. There are notable moments of intense creepiness and some scale models & set designs that are quite impressive for a low-budget Sci Fi flick, but overall, it's nevertheless a failure. The script is an implausible mess, and there are far too many dialogues that are downright boring to sit through. What do you expect? The film's release year is 1990... 11 years after Ridley Scott's landmark classic already! All the fun and knockoffs came out in the 80s: "Inseminoid", "Mutant", "Galaxy of Terror", "Creature", "Xtro", "Dead Space", ...

On February 18th of 2025, the mighty actor Gene Hackman passed away. I have a tradition to pay tribute to a deceased cinema deity by watching/reviewing one or two of their lesser known (but hopefully worthwhile) movies. For Gene Hackman, however, I want to expand the tribute. He was such an indescribably brilliant and versatile actor. Since he's listed in my top 5 of greatest performers of ALL times, he deserves a full month of homage. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman, and thanks for the many great movies.

The quote from the review's subject line isn't the best quote of the film. Not by far, in fact, but - since it's referring to Hackman's character - I figured it would be an apt final homage to start the last review of my tribute month. "Heist" is a typical David Mamet film, and admittedly also the kind of story I do not particularly like. It's the derivative tale of a mastermind thief who gets forced to accept that one job too many, with schemes and backup plans that are always way ahead of the viewer, and in which you can't trust a word anyone says. But, oh well, Hackman is great and many of the little bizarre things that he and his crew do in preparation for a perfectly detailed heist (like disguising as coffee baristas, FAA agents, or road constructors) are intriguing to watch. In the end, though, "Heist" is too talkative and suffering from the lack of action. Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell, Ricky Jay, and - especially - Danny DeVito are excellent in the supportive roles. Only Rebecca Pidgeon feels somewhat miscast in her role as Femme Fatale, and you can't help thinking she got the job because she's Mrs. David Mamet.

Ah, a world premiere! It's been a while since I attended one of those. It is somewhat important (or, at least, more than welcome) for the first user-comment here on IMDb to be positive and encouraging others to go and see the title. Now, I know the title of my comment doesn't sound too enthusiastic, but -rest assured - "It Feeds" is a more than adequate, entertaining, and professionally made piece of monster/demonic horror from Canada!

Beautiful Ashley Green stars as Cynthia Winstone; - a psychiatrist with an authentic psychic gift/talent. You know how they say psychiatrists are trying to get inside your head? Well, Cythia does this literally! By putting her finger on the patient's forehead, she joins him/her on a mind and memories' trip to uncover repressed traumas. She protects herself, and her 17-year-old daughter Jordan, by not accepting cases that are too involving and mentally exhausting, because that's how she lost her husband. When a teenage girl with horrible scars on her body comes begging for help, claiming an evil entity is literally feeding on her from the inside out, Cythia simply knows the case will be pure hell. And she's right, of course!

The term "suspension of disbelief" seems to be invented for horror movies like these. It's an absurd plot, there aren't any explanations or backgrounds given, people make the dumbest decisions, police officers are beyond incompetent, etc. Etc. And yet, I can't be too harsh on "It Feeds" because writer/director Chad Archibald clearly didn't have the pretention of making an intelligent & psychological supernatural thriller, but merely a fast-paced and feisty B-horror with a nasty demon in it. And from that angle, Archibald succeeded, as his film is chock-full of jump scares (some of which are quite effective) and extremely loud and eerie sound effects. I watched "It Feeds" at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, and at several times I saw people jump in their seats and hurl with fright. That's a mission accomplished then, I'd say.

Additional score of half a point because the animated end-credits are really cool.

Remember those loathsome and insufferable bullies from high school? The ones that locked up the weaker kids in toilet cabins, or embarrassed them in gym class by pulling down their trousers in front of everyone... What happens to bullies after high school, in fact? Well, they usually get lousy jobs and produce a bunch of no-good kids themselves. But they get old, too, and with age also grow the repressed frustrations regarding their miserable and failed lives. And they, as well, eventually end up in retirement homes and here the rule is: once a bully, always a bully.

This unconventional but intriguing concept form the basic idea of the New Zealand thriller/horror film "The Rule of Jenny Penn", written/directed by James Ashcroft and starring veteran actors Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow. One particularly nasty senior citizen bullying - and downright terrorizing - all the other senior citizens inside the walls of (what should be a safe) retirement home. It's sounds absurd and far-fetched, but is it really? I remember, when visiting my old grandmother in her nursing home years ago, she often complained about a hateful fella who always stole the desserts from other residents' plates, and who deliberately stepped on people's toes or grabbed women's bottoms during the exercise activities. Those two situations feature almost identically in "The Rule of Jenny Penn", so it's not that uncommon. And the fact that the nurses or orderlies are never around to witness the bullying, I believe as well.

Rush and Lithgow both give away stupendous performances. The former as a respectable judge who, following a brain seizure in court, ends up in an understaffed and outdated retirement home, and sadly sees his mental and physical health deteriorate further. The latter as a long-time resident and a simply natural born mean and rotten person. Wearing his inseparable ugly hand-puppet Jenny Penn, Dave Crealy terrorizes all the other old folks but gets away with everything. Stefan Mortensen becomes Crealy's new main target, but the headstrong judge fights back with all the remaining mental sanity he has left. "The Rule of Jenny Penn" is admittedly a bit overlong and occasionally quite repetitive, but it's nonetheless one of the most intense thrillers in a long while. Especially viewers who can't stand injustice (and, quite frankly, who can?) will find "The Rule of Jenny Penn" haunting, disturbing, and often difficult to watch.

On February 18th of 2025, the mighty actor Gene Hackman passed away. I have a tradition to pay tribute to a deceased cinema deity by watching/reviewing one or two of their lesser known (but hopefully worthwhile) movies. For Gene Hackman, however, I want to expand the tribute. He was such an indescribably brilliant and versatile actor. Since he's listed in my top 5 of greatest performers of ALL times, he deserves a full month of homage. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman, and thanks for the many great movies.

Harry Moseby is a forty-something private detective who mainly muses a lot about his finished career as a professional football player. Harry's wife cheats on him, but he doesn't really care, and he works on dubious cases such as adulterous partners and runaway teenagers. His most recent case, however, he tackles doggedly. He's hired to find a free-spirited teenage girl who ran away from her home in California to the Florida Keys. Harry also brings the girl home quite easily, but only then the real mystery begins.

Well, the one Gene Hackman title that has been standing on my must-see list for the longest time, and which I looked forward to the most, is luckily also the (personal) highlight of my little tribute month. What a terrific film, and I'm not just writing this because of my devotion towards Mr. Hackman. I'm writing this because Alan Sharp's script is incredibly intelligent, because Arthur Penn creates the moodiest & most melancholic film-noir atmosphere since the classics from the 1930s/40s, and because every single cast member - even the minor & supportive ones - depicts his/her character as an enigmatic but fascinating figure. "Night Moves" is, without a doubt, one of the most undeservedly underrated gems of the 1970s, and the perfect film to demonstrate Hackman's wide range of genius.

On February 18th of 2025, the mighty actor Gene Hackman passed away. I have a tradition to pay tribute to a deceased cinema deity by watching/reviewing one or two of their lesser known (but hopefully worthwhile) movies. For Gene Hackman, however, I want to expand the tribute. He was such an indescribably brilliant and versatile actor. Since he's listed in my top 5 of greatest performers of ALL times, he deserves a full month of homage. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman, and thanks for the many great movies.

Of all the movies I watched during this tribute month, "Superman" is undoubtedly the one that is the furthest away from my comfort zone! I'm allergic to movies that last two and a half hour, and I strongly dislike comic book/superhero movies. If I really have to watch a comic book franchise, I'd choose Batman, Iron Man, Ant Man, and Whatever Man over Superman. This movie as well, despite being made in my favorite film decade and featuring many of my favorite film people, is a bunch of childish and preposterous nonsense to me.

But hey, it stars Gene Hackman in one of his most iconic villainous roles, as Superman/Clark Kent's nemesis Lex Luthor. Even though Hackman only appears after 45 minutes or so, and even though his role (and especially that of his henchman Otis) feels like a feeble comic relief, he remains the absolute highlight of the film. Luther lives in a private empire underneath the subway of Metropolis - complete with library and swimming pool - and plots an evil scheme to inflict a massive earthquake and destroy the whole West Coast of California, so that he can expensively parcel out the cheaply purchased desert to the East. Awesome plan, Lex! The brilliant actor that he is - or was, alas - Hackman depicts the megalomaniac villain effectively tongue-in-cheek and exaggeratedly flamboyant. I'm probably very biased, but it feels as if Hackman was the only one who didn't take the tale of an extraterrestrial orphan sent to earth for a mission (and not just to score football touchdowns) too serious.

An unbelievably gifted horror prodigy emerged out of nowhere since a few years, and he's not American, South-Korean, French, Japanese, or Spanish! Demián Rugna hails from Argentina and, to put it rather bluntly, doesn't give a damn about the polite and conventional horror norms that acclaimed directors from all the aforementioned countries follow oh-so obediently! Rugna's undeniable talent to color outside the lines and to mercilessly shock the viewer was already abundantly clear in "Terrified" from 2017. That film barely has a story to tell but does contain some of the most gruesome and authentically nightmarish scenes ever filmed. Plot is also still the biggest weakness in "When Evil Lurks", but there is clearly more structure and depth already, and the pure horror elements only became even more shocking and indescribably scary!

Something is rotten in the remote Argentinian countryside, ... and you may take that quite literally! The body of farmer's son Uriel is literally rotting away because it is possessed by an evil demon. The demon waits patiently for its rebirth, but this process gets rudely accelerated when three men take away Uriel's rotting body and dump it somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The evil escapes and spreads incredibly fast via animals and children, and no one is safe anymore. Ironically, the female characters always try to warn against further spreading, but the panicking and instinctively acting men ignore the advice and always make things worse.

I don't want to sound arrogant (or maybe I do..., just a little), but as far as I'm concerned, it's impossible to hate "When Evil Lurks" if you consider yourself to be a true fan of the horror genre. This film, with its hellish atmosphere and repulsive gore, simply slaps you in the face from the start, and you don't recover from the shock (and the palpable pain) until the end credits roll over the screen. Nothing is taboo or sacred in the sick brain of Demián Rugna! No one gets spared, including innocent children, pregnant women, lead characters, or cute animals. No false jump scares, no mercy, no hope for humanity, and certainly no comic reliefs. Only agony, despair, and pure unadulterated horror! See it, if you dare.

On February 18th of 2025, the mighty actor Gene Hackman passed away. I have a tradition to pay tribute to a deceased cinema deity by watching/reviewing one or two of their lesser known (but hopefully worthwhile) movies. For Gene Hackman, however, I want to expand the tribute. He was such an indescribably brilliant and versatile actor. Since he's listed in my top 5 of greatest performers of ALL times, he deserves a full month of homage. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman, and thanks for the many great movies.

"Enemy of the State" is the type of mainstream blockbuster that I watch but don't review. Too popular, too large, and too over-plotted for my liking. I'm making the exception for the Hackman tribute month, and - even more so - because it's the first time (in three viewings) that I'm looking at it as if it were a belated (and unofficial) sequel to "The Conversation". This 1974 classic, which is arguably director Francis Ford Coppola's and Gene Hackman's most underrated film, warned the world about the increasing threat of electronical surveillance and starred Hackman as the best bugger in the business. Tony Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer give the concept a typical 90s upgrade, meaning a big budget, a perplexing all-star cast, chases & explosions, and witty one-liners. And yes, the script does hint several times that Hackman's characters Harry Caul and Brill are one and the same person.

When amateur CCTV-evidence of a political assassination ends up in the innocent shopping bags of lawyer Robert Dean, his perfect life and everything he worked hard for are taken away from him in less than 24 hours. Dean doesn't even know why numerous of expertly trained NSA-agents are ruining his life, but he nevertheless fights back and seeks contact with the pioneer - but reluctant - NSA wizard Brill.

Undeniably one of the elite action-blockbusters of the 1990s. There is never one dull moment. From the brute elimination of Jason Robards at the beginning until the outrageous Mexican standoff during the climax, Tony Scott and his talented cast & crew serve one exhilarating and nail-bitingly tense sequence after another. It's mainstream, but definitely a must-see.

On February 18th of 2025, the mighty actor Gene Hackman passed away. I have a tradition to pay tribute to a deceased cinema deity by watching/reviewing one or two of their lesser known (but hopefully worthwhile) movies. For Gene Hackman, however, I want to expand the tribute. He was such an indescribably brilliant and versatile actor. Since he's listed in my top 5 of greatest performers of ALL times, he deserves a full month of homage. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman, and thanks for the many great movies.

In "Bite the Bullet", Gene Hackman plays a type of character that you don't often encounter in his overall repertoire, namely a good person! Not just the hero or a normal character, but a genuinely good person. Walter Clayton has a big heart for animals, defends women against aggressors, joins his outnumbered buddy in fistfights, listens to the last words of a dying cowboy, and is the only person who isn't racist against the only Mexican participant. In most of his movies, his persona is the exact opposite. Of course, this also isn't your typical western...

I must admit I enjoyed Gene Hackman's role a lot more than I did everything else about Richard Brooks' film. The basic plot is enticing and fun, for sure, as it handles about a 700-mile endurance horse race in which the participants can win the phenomenal - for 1908, at least - amount of $2,000. Cool idea, but so sensitive for clichés and stereotypes. And indeed, rivalry quickly turns into camaraderie, greed turns into solidarity, machoism turns into collaboration, and overall fun action turns into moral values. More annoying, even, is that there are several long and tedious sequences in which pretty much nothing happens. The landscapes are stunning, the music is good, and the cast is impressive (with, next to Hackman, also James Coburn, Jan-Michael Vincent, Candice Bergen, and Ben Johnson) but "Bite the Bullet" nevertheless could - and should - have been half an hour shorter.

"Terrified", from Argentina and written/directed by Demián Rugna, features - hands down and without a doubt - some of the most genuinely frightening and shocking images ever witnessed in horror cinema! The bloodied body of a woman that gets smashed back and forth between bathroom walls, the corpse of a tragically deceased young boy that emerged from its muddy grave to return and sit silently at the breakfast table, a giant claw that comes out of a hole in the wall and grabs the head of an elderly lady, ... You name it, "Terrified" has it! And much more. And even when the imagery is not shocking or grueling, the atmosphere throughout is still one of the most ominous and, well, terrifying ones you'll have ever seen. Creepy noises come from the sinks, monstrous beings lean over people who are sleeping, and furniture/kitchenware is moving around in a way it's truly unsettling.

This alone makes "Terrified" - original title "Aterrados" - mandatory viewing for every true horror fanatic, and also for all those people who claim that nothing scares them. Unfortunately, but also inevitably - I guess, isn't it enough to be a 100% perfect horror masterpiece. Demián Rugna knows exactly how to scare the bejesus out of people, but he hardly has a story to tell. The film takes place in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, where several houses and families in the same street fall victim to evil supernatural forces. A trio of vastly experienced paranormal investigators move into the impacted houses to investigate, together with a resident who's a police officer, but even they form no match for the dark forces that are at work here.

Of course, coming up with a powerful finale and suitable explanation to something that has been built up towards to so intensely is very difficult. Practically impossible, in fact, even for an obviously multi-talented horror buff like Demián Rugna. There isn't a real plot, and there certainly isn't any conclusion. Still, "Terrified" remains an impressive and unforgettably horrific low-budget experience, and I can not wait to see Rugna's next (and even more acclaimed) film "When Evil Lurks".