Yearly Archives: 2023

Hellraiser (1987) [LA&M Film Fetish Forum]

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“What is your pleasure, sir?”

Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser” is a purely body horror tale about hedonism in its purest and most raw essence. Even today it’s a very erotic, but gruesome tale about the pursuit of pleasures of the flesh and how it links to a breed of entities that may or may not be pure evil. “Demons to some, Angels to others” Pinhead (technically named “Hellpriest”) proclaims is a representation of the how the cenobites reach deep down in to the pits of sexuality and kink. And no human can ever really be prepared to see what the practices of this otherworld army has in store for them.

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The Mist (2007): 4-Disc Collector’s Edition [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]

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Almost twenty years later, Frank Darabont’s adaptation of the Stephen King novella is still one of the most relentless and hopeless horror films ever made. “The Mist” is a merciless breakdown of humanity that shows everything from tribalism, religious fanaticism, and the extremes we’re willing to go through to make it one more day. Like Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead,” it all happens smack dab in the middle of a massive grocery store, where every aisle feels like a division of society that has broken off in to their own principles and moral codes. The longer the denizens of the store are stuck in the mist in this confined setting, the more the social structure and all semblance of civilization begins to break down.

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Totally Killer (2023)

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A lot of modern directors are cultivating a formula of taking classic eighties and nineties movies and giving them a clever horror twist. While many have likened “Totally Killer” to “The Final Girls,” I’m more prone to consider “Totally Killer” a horror twist on “Back to the Future.” It’s very much a nod to Robert Zemeckis’ film right down to the similar finale. The way director Nahnatchka Khan stages her horror comedy is so much in the vein of the classic film, but that thankfully doesn’t hinder the experience.

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Shudder’s “Creepshow” Returns With a Chaotic Season Four

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Shudder’s “Creepshow” is back for yet another season piling on four whole seasons for Shudder and AMC. Not too shabby for a series that set a high bar with its original films. “Creepshow” season four is about as great as ever, opting for a lot of the classic EC Comics narratives. Many of the segments within season four involve tales of comeuppance, revenge tales, and sometimes morality plays. Often times show runner Gregory Nicotero and co. opts for primarily horror mixed with dark comedy a la the original “Creepshow” film.

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BAD MOVIE MONDAY: BODY MELT (1993)

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I’ve often mentioned that I don’t really like the horror comedy subgenre. My rationalization for this has always been that, since the horror cancels out the laughs and the jokes cancels out the scares, you end up with something that is both a lesser horror movie and a lesser comedy. However, I think I’ve started to change my mind about it, or at least I’ve started to change my mind about comedy’s place in a horror movie. Because, if I’m to be honest, a well-made horror comedy can be astoundingly great satire. Not to mention that I’ve also been a bit of a hypocrite about this opinion, because I’ve always loved Return of the Living Dead, Fright Night, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. All of which I feel are top notch films. So where does that leave me? Well… it leaves me reviewing today’s movie.

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The Haunted Pumpkin of Sleepy Hollow (2002)

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I always get a kick out of Washington Irving’s story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. And I always get a kick out of movies that put a little twist on the formula. “The Haunted Pumpkin” is a short but sweet Halloween tale that takes the whole Headless Horseman story and brings it in to the modern age; the animators and writers insert a little bit of hijinks, and some comedy in what is basically embracing the tale of the Headless Horseman to an effective degree.

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Mickey’s a Tale of Two Witches (2021)

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“A Tale of Two Witches” is a weird special in that it involves Mickey telling the story that becomes the center of the entire short. There’s no reason why we have to keep jumping back and forth from Mickey telling Pluto the story, and getting to the story. I don’t know why this couldn’t have been just a stand alone Halloween tale. In either case, “A Tale of Two Witches” is a fun and simple Halloween special that has a good time celebrating the holiday.

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