Cthulhu (dir. Daniel Gildark, 2007) H.P. Lovecraft is difficult to adapt. Most of his stories are essentially extremely eccentric guidebooks to New England with the occasional mind shattering cosmic horror making an appearance. They are light on character, memorable dialogue, and heavy on antiquated prose and racism. I enjoy them, but recognize they are as … Continue reading Cthulhu (2007)

Mausoleum (dir. Michael Dugan, 1983) There is a curse in the Nomed family. All the first born daughters become possessed by a demon that happens to dwell in the enormous family crypt that they remain surprisingly adamant about using in spite of the whole devil thing. Our story follows Susan Nomed, who at the age … Continue reading Mausoleum (1983)

Dolly Dearest (dir. Maria Lease, 1991) Why not? Here’s another killer doll movie. When an American businessman (Sam Bottoms) comes into possession of the Dolly Dearest factory, he, his wife (Tasha Yar herself, Denise Crosby) and their two children come to Mexico to refurbish the site and restart production at this maquiladora. The factory, of … Continue reading Dolly Dearest (1991)

Dolls (dir. Stuart Gordon, 1987) Stuart Gordon is best known for his adaptation so H. P. Lovecraft that reject cosmic horror for gore and comedy. This is probably for the best, because a straight, faithful adaptation of “Herbert West, Reanimator” is going to stop dead in its tracks as soon as you get to the … Continue reading Dolls (1987)

Identity (dir. James Mangold, 2003) I have held a grudge against Identity for fifteen years. You may think that’s unreasonable, but I disagree. That’s the only justified response you could have to watching it. Oh, sure, it received some decent reviews at the time of its release, but that didn’t matter to me then. I … Continue reading Identity (2003)

Rawhead Rex (dir. George Pavlou, 1986) Imagine, if you will, that the reason for mass sexual repression in a small town in rural Ireland is not because of institutionalized patriarchy as embodied by the Catholic Church, who in their efforts to control and subjugate women would unleash such horrors as Magdalene laundries and anti-abortion laws … Continue reading Rawhead Rex (1986)

The Midnight Meat Train (dir. Ryuhei Kitamura, 2008) Clive Barker, born on this date in 1952, is an English writer, visual artist, and filmmaker best known for Hellraiser and his 1985 short story collection The Books of Blood, a major work in the so-called splatterpunk movement of horror fiction and the source material of such … Continue reading The Midnight Meat Train (2008)

Carnival of Souls (dir. Herk Harvey, 1962) Carnival of Souls (dir. Adam Grossman and Ian Kessner, 1998) Robert Altman began his career writing and directing industrial films for the Calvin Company in Kansas City, Missouri. He broke into features shooting a B-movie called The Deliquinents on a tight budget. A modest success, The Delinquents allowed … Continue reading Carnival of Souls (1962 & 1998)

Death Spa (dir. Michael Fischa, 1989) If the avant-garde British filmmaker Peter Greenaway had suffered brain damage in the middle of shooting The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, fired all the cast for Angeleno nobodies and switched gears to make a supernatural slasher set at a high tech gym, then Death Spa … Continue reading Death Spa (1989)

The Werewolf of Washington (dir. Milton Moses Ginsberg, 1973) It is Nixon himself who represents that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character that almost every country in the world has learned to fear and despise. Our Barbie-doll president, with his Barbie-doll wife and his boxful of Barbie-doll children is also America's … Continue reading The Werewolf of Washington (1973)