Fearing he’s an anachronism, aging horror star Byron Orlok (the legendary Boris Karloff in one of his final roles) announces his retirement, effective immediately. He doesn’t even want to make the next night’s scheduled promo appearance at the local drive-in theater. After all, “no one’s afraid of a painted monster” when the headlines scream of […]
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The Lords of Salem
The story is pretty slight. One third of a popular radio team in Salem, Mass., Heidi Hawthorne (Sheri Moon Zombie) becomes affected by strange visions and mysterious ailments after listening to a song that is delivered anonymously to her radio station by a group called the Lords. As these things turn out, the song is […]
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The Fugitive: 20th Anniversary Edition
Even people who have never seen it — shame on you — tend to know what it’s about: Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford, never better) is accused of murdering his wife. The cops don’t believe his story of the real culprit being a one-armed man … and neither does the jury that sentences him to […]
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Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Make no mistake; Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is not as ambiguous as its title suggests. While it is indeed a work shrouded in murky atmosphere and high-minded poetry, at its core, David Lowery’s directorial breakthrough remains a classic tale of love, bondage and promises kept. Lowery tells his story with a lens so creatively visionary […]
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Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
This meteoric rise and fall is chronicled in Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie, a documentary that both celebrates and vilifies its subject, because it tells the truth. Mort would’ve loved it; Mort would’ve hated it. I love it. Predictably, directors Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger gain much mileage from the prodigious […]
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The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue
Co-directors/co-writers/co-producers Mike Bradecich and John LaFlamboy also co-star as the Mugg brothers, slackers who run the crappy abode where a mole man (Justin DiGiacomo) lurks the halls for dogs and cats to consume, before moving up the food chain to humans. Any ingenuity begins and ends with the title; Bradecich and LaFlamboy mug(g) their way […]
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The Haunting of Helena
Newly divorced, Sophia (Harriet MacMasters-Green) moves with her young daughter, Helena (bland first-timer Sabrina Jolie Perez), to one of those incredible old apartment buildings in south Italy. In the basement, Helena takes a fancy to an armoire with deep scratch marks on the doors’ insides, so they have it moved into the girl’s room. In […]
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Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
Fresh from a mental hospital, Jessica (Zohra Lampert, The Exorcist III) is taken by her husband, Duncan (Barton Heyman, The Super Cops) to a farmhouse with a cove nearby for a fresh start. If only Duncan had known that it’s reportedly haunted, which can’t be good for Jessica’s fragile psyche. Almost immediately upon their arrival […]
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Stories We Tell
In this intensely personal, potentially embarrassing work, actress-turned-director Sarah Polley (Take This Waltz) gathers her brothers, sisters, father and family friends in order to piece together a portrait of her late mother, Diane, who died of cancer when Sarah still a child. That alone is hardly remarkable enough to merit a feature-length look. Note, however, […]
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Star Trek Into Darkness
That man, Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch, TV’s Sherlock), goes into hiding in the one spot in the galaxy too dangerous for Kirk and company to follow him to: a Klingon planet. However, never underestimate the idealistic hothead that is Kirk, especially when he’s on a mission of vengeance. For him, rallying buy-in among his crew is a […]