Trippy ‘COLOR OUT OF SPACE’ Makes Technicolor The Bad Guy

January 20, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Brendan Meyer, H.P. Lovecraft, Horror, Joely Richardson, Julian Hilliard, Madeleine Arthur, Nicholas Cage, Richard Stanley 1 Comment

H.P. Lovecraft has cast a long shadow over cinematic horror and the industry at large. With an entire subgenre dedicated to the unknown cosmic horrors that the late sci-fi author gained notoriety depicting, the fears of Lovecraftian horror are found in those things beyond human perception. Though Lovecraftian horror can be difficult to translate to film, since the phenomena described in his writing is often beyond human comprehension, that has not stopped filmmakers since the 1960s from borrowing from Lovecraft’s bread and butter: alien entities driving people crazy. Read More

Contemplative and Dour ‘DOCTOR SLEEP’ Deserves the Patience it Requires

November 6, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Ewan McGregor, Horror, Kyliegh Curran, Mike Flanagan, Out in Theaters, Rebecca Ferguson, Reviews, Stanley Kubrick Leave a comment

39 years ago, Stanley Kubrick played a game of chicken with Stephen King’s novel “The Shining”, redefining the term “loose adaptation” as he bent the source material to his will. In the process, Kubrick created not just one of the greatest horror films of all time but one of the very best films regardless of genre. Ever an industry maverick, Kubrick swung an axe at King’s IP (“Here’s Johnny” indeed), hacking the story into one more befitting the film medium and his own vision. This meant stripping away the more abject supernatural horrors (though there’s no shortage of rotting bathers and ghost furry lifestylers) and replacing them Jack Torrence’s descent into catacombs of his own inner madness. Read More

Roommates are Awful, Especially in Eggers’ Brilliant ‘THE LIGHTHOUSE’

October 8, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged A24, Horror, Robert Eggers, Robert Pattinson, The Lighthouse, Willem Dafoe 1 Comment

In the rundown of worst roommate habits, persistent flatulence has to rank pretty highly. But I can’t imagine even the gnarliest gas could possibly compete with the sour stench of stale pee stewing in a bedpan in a tight communal space. Which brings us to The Lighthouse, a film wherein, from the first moments, odors assert themselves. The celluloid reeks of old piss, beefy farts, caked-up spunk, “rotten foreskin”, man musk, and drinkable kerosene. This is a movie that would tear down the house in Smell-O-Vision. Fortunately, we do not have to endure its reek. Read More

Scuzzy ‘HARPOON’ a Stripped-Down Malevolent Dark Comedy At Sea

October 1, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Brett Gelman, Christopher Gray, Emily Tyra, Harpoon, Horror, Munro Chambers, Rob Grant Leave a comment

Aristotle posits that there are three types of friendships, those based in utility, pleasure or virtue, but Harpoon’s narrator (Stranger Thing’s Brett Gelman) would like to add a fourth: the friendship of history. These are friends by virtue of having been friends. Turns out that these friendships aren’t always the most healthy. Especially when you’re out to sea and uncover a love triangle of infidelity and have a harpoon (or speargun rather) at your immediate disposal. Read More

‘IT: CHAPTER TWO’: The Miniseries: The Movie

September 5, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Andy Muschietti, Bill Hader, Gary Dauberman, Horror, Isaiah Mustafa, It, It: Chapter Two, James McAvoy, James Ransone, Jay Ryan, Jessica Chastain Leave a comment

It: Chapter Two, the highly anticipated sequel to 2017’s mega breakout hit It, is that impossibly rare horror sequel that is quite simply too big to fail. And you can damn well bet that the suits at Warner Bros are doing a high-kneed happy dance considering that, taken as a stand-alone film, It: Chapter Two is a bit of a slop-fest. Its unwieldy size and lack of editorial prowess makes for a patience-testing but scare-pocked horror odyssey better suited to the long-form narrative afforded by the small screen. In feature film form, It is more bloat than float. Read More

Over-The-Top Horror-Comedy ‘READY OR NOT’ A Bloody Hoot

August 20, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Brody, Andie MacDowell, Guy Busick, Henry Czerny, Horror, Mark O’Brien, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Nicky Guadagni, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ryan Murphy, Samara Weaving, Tyler Gillett 1 Comment

And you thought your in-laws were bad. Ready or Not, the splatter-tastic, tongue-in-cheek horror comedy from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Southbound) is a subversive little slice of late summer mayhem that doubles as a masterclass in how not to welcome a new addition to the family. Grace (Samara Weaving) is marrying into the Le Domas family, a wealth-stricken collection of gaming barons, but her vows come with the unexpected consequence of a mandatory midnight game. When she draws a card that demands a ritualistic, bloody bout of hide and seek, the Le Domas’ playful inner world reveals itself to be one as sinister as it is opulent. Read More

‘SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK’ Features Frightening Ghouls, Lame Teenage Acting

August 8, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alvin Schwartz, André Øvredal, Austin Abrams, Austin Zajur, Dan Hageman, Gabriel Rush, Guillermo del Toro, Horror, Kevin Hageman, Michael Garza, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Zoe Colletti Leave a comment

Growing up in the 90’s, scholastic horror was all the rage. A generation cut their teeth on R.L. Stine’s ‘Goosebumps’, devouring forbidden stories of devious child heroes and things that go bump in the night, before graduating to Steven King works. Few threaded the needle between Stein’s adolescent-aimed novellas and King’s more mature themes better than Alvin Schwartz with his 1981 shorts collection “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”. A dark mirror reflection of Shel Silverstein whimsy and optimism, Schwartz’s bleak poems were outlandish and spooky, often eliciting Cronenbergian body horror and a sense of cruel recompense to disturbing effect. Coupled with Stephen Gammell’s drawings, a splattering of acid-influenced black-and-white gothic art pocked with American splotches of red, white, and blue, “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” were OG nightmare fuel for a whole generation of kiddos looking to get their kicks with a good bedtime scare. Read More

Sporadically Gruesome ‘BRIGHTBURN’ Could Burn More Brightly

May 23, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Brian Gunn, Brightburn, David Denman, David Yarovesky, Elizabeth Banks, Horror, Jackson A. Dunn, James Gunn, Mark Gunn, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Tim Williams Leave a comment

Man of Steel meets We Need to Talk About Kevin in Brightburn, the James Gunn-produced “What if Superman bad?” movie that’s had folks buzzing since its mysterious announcement last year. Gunn, who cut his teeth in the Troma movie scene – a disruptive production company infamous for splatter and farce-fueled horror movies like Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead and The Toxic Avenger – before becoming a big shot with The Guardians of the Galaxy series, has his gore-tastic fingerprints scattered throughout Brightburn, though the superhero script-flipper’s signature touch is decisively missing, Brightburn lacking the mark of a seasoned filmmaker with keen editorial prowess, a knack for subjective horror, and Gunn’s dark, cruel wit. Read More

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid of ‘IT: CHAPTER 2’ Trailer

May 9, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Trailers Tagged Horror, It: Chapter 2, Trailers Leave a comment

]Yikes. What a spooker of a first look. The debut trailer for the much anticipated It: Chapter 2 has ceremoniously dropped, setting the tone for what appears to be a deliciously dark showdown between the evil clown Pennywise and the Loser’s Club. With Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, and more joining the lines of Bill Skarsgård as the malevolent nightmare clown, the sequel from director Andy Muschietti has its work cut out for it. 2017’s adaptation of It was an absolute box office powerhouse and quickly become not only the highest-grossing horror movie of all time but the highest-grossing R-rated movie as well. This first look should do more than enough of the heavy lifting to get potential audiences stoked for the second chapter of Steven King’s feared novel. Scare yourself and take a look down the sewer grate. Read More

Punishing ’THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA’ Will Make You Cry Tears of Boredom

April 17, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Horror, Jaynee-Lynee Kinchen, Linda Cardellini, Michael Chaves, Mikki Daughtry, Out in Theaters, Patricia Velasquez, Raymond Cruz, Reviews, Roman Christou, The Conjuring Universe, Tobias Iaconis Leave a comment

The Curse of La Llorona is why people say they don’t like horror movies. In an age of Us, Hereditary, The Babadook, The Witch, Get Out, Raw, It Follows and so so many more outstanding horror movies, it’s why some still think they don’t like the genre. Why they falsely assume it’s inferior cinema. Sure, this particular movie isn’t retroactively responsible for the distaste of scary movie avoidant moviegoers en masse but this brand of slick, soulless sludge is. With nothing more than an anorexic concept held loosely together with poorly-telegraphed jump scares, children constantly screaming and countless scenes of creeping through creaking casas in the dark, The Curse of La Llorona is the laziest pedigree of studio horror fare, coasting on brand familiarity and age-old genre tropes to pass the minutes by with nothing in the way of inspiration to lift it up or differentiate it from the pack. Read More