With these indie horror films set during the Autumn or Halloween, the filmmakers often tend to forget that Halloween should be a spice, not the main ingredient. Dwight Little who is mostly famed for delivering “Halloween 4” give us a movie that is in essence a Halloween movie. And it’s a Halloween movie with a pale faced villain. But it’s not a movie with a certain pale faced villain because, you know, copyright and all that. What could have been a great Halloween flavored horror movie is essentially just a chore to sit through.
Tag Archives: Crime
Hellraiser: Judgment (2018)
Allegedly Gary J. Tunnicliffe originally drew up a script for a “Hellraiser” movie which he then retooled in to an indie horror film after it was rejected. Later his concept was reworked in to a “Hellraiser” movie as a means of keeping the series in motion. Without the bits about the Cenobites, “Judgment” feels like a cheap “Seven” knock off about a serial killer that weaponizes the ten commandments instead of the seven deadly sins. It feels like a movie that was made in 2002 with choppy editing and murky directing that made it feel like a music video for Evanescence or System of a Down.
Headless Horseman (2022)
Take two cups of “Ghost Rider,” one cup of “Spawn,” a dash of “The Crow,” mix it up with only a fraction of the budget, and you have Jose Prendes’ “Headless Horseman.” The Asylum’s newest mockbuster watches like an off brand comic book movie from the late nineties. It feels like something from a studio that couldn’t afford Marvel’s “Ghost Rider,” so they opted for a character from an obscure indie label. If it seems like I’m just mocking “Headless Horseman,” I’m truly not. I was surprised at how much I didn’t hate it, as while the movie borrows from the aforementioned series’ wholesale, it amounts to some cheesy, charming fun.
Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy (2023)
When I was a kid, there were two shows I would watch that always scared the bejeesus out of me. There was “America’s Most Wanted,” and then “Unsolved Mysteries.” With the latter, CBS had created what is still considered one of the definitive series of the eighties and nineties. The precursor to the true crime documentary, “Unsolved Mysteries” was a series has often been imitated but never quite duplicated. While “Unsolved Mysteries” has been popularly known for dealing in true crime, “Unsolved Mysteries” reached for a lot more.
The CW’s “The Spencer Sisters” is a Promising Mystery
I’ve been looking forward to “The Spencer Sisters” for a long time. I’m a fan of Stacey Farber, and she’s been one of my celebrity crushes since “Degrassi.” Coming off of her fun stint on “Superman and Lois,” her new crime caper series is a breath of fresh air. In a TV space where a lot of series’ are so dark and grim, it’s fun to see a crime series a lot more lighter and less focused on death. A mix of “The Gilmore Girls” and “Nancy Drew,” “The Spencer Sisters” is an entertaining mystery drama series that teams an actual retired police officer with a mystery novelist. Both happen to be estranged mother and daughter.
Bad Movie Monday: The Gauntlet (1977)
I was debating which movie to review this week. Normally, I always have a few titles floating merrily in the back of my mind. However, more often than not, I don’t write anything about them because they just don’t speak to me. They don’t stand out. A movie really needs to go that extra mile, and either be a lot better or a lot worse than I expected, in order to elicit a passionate need to discuss it in me. So I was in a bit of a pickle. I just couldn’t think of anything really worthwhile to review. Then, last week, my friend brought Clint Eastwood’s 1977 Cop Thriller THE GAUNTLET to Bad Movie Monday and I knew as soon as the end credits started rolling that this was the movie I was going to write about. Good God Almighty.
Carlito’s Way (1993) [Arrow Video Limited Edition Re-Release]
As he comes out of prison a former criminal vows to live on the straight and narrow, but the pressures of his past life, society, his associates, and temptation all push him towards a return to his old ways.