John Waters has always been great about featuring the anti-culture of America and showing how charming the anti-nuclear family can be. “Serial Mom” is one of the more mainstream cinematic efforts that feature one of the finest performances from Kathleen Turner. It’s just a shame that “Serial Mom” never knows what kind of movie it wants to be. At times it’s a satire on the phony façade of white bread suburban life, sometimes it’s a satire on the spectacle American can build out of murderers, and other times it’s reminiscent of a classic slasher movie. All we know is that Waters depicts main character Beverly Sutphin as a John Waters character stuck in “Leave it to Beaver.” Sutphin is a happy homemaker who takes pride in her family and preparing good meals and recycling.
Tag Archives: Horror
A Selection of the Shorts from Stranger With My Face 2017 [Stranger With My Face International Film Festival 2017]
Stanger With My Face International Film Festival is a festival that concentrates on female-make film, with a definite penchant to horror and life explorations. Each edition brings current films and issues as well as older films and a bunch of shorts to their audience while also pushing them to think about some of the issues women face in life as well as in moviemaking.
Dearest Sister (2016) [Stranger With My Face International Film Festival 2017]
A young woman leaves home to go work for her cousin the city as this one is gradually going blind. As the cousin’s sight leaves her, she get a gift of being able to see and communicate with the dead. Her newly arrived cousin has difficulty adapting and may not be going about things the best way.
Payback Time – Triple Feature [Blu-Ray]
Mill Creek Entertainment is looking to make your summer as action packed as possible with a three bill economy blu-ray of some pretty nifty action pictures. Allowing a bang for your bucks, “Payback Time Triple Feature” garners action movie essentials that should allow for a great afternoon with popcorn and some beer. First up there’s the very good (and my personal favorite) “Blind Fury,” a solid remake of a classic “Zatoichi” movie starring Rutger Hauer as a blind Vietnam Veteran Nick Parker, who is taught the art of the sword after being rendered disabled.
You Have to See This! Waxwork (1988)
Anthony Hickox’s “Waxwork” is a delightful mess. It’s a fun and awfully interesting distraction that gets you to the finish line thanks to its tongue in cheek humor, and in spite of its uneven tone. Sometimes it’s a dark comedy that celebrates horror tropes, and sometimes it’s a stern horror movie with Zach Galligan jumping from douche bag to protagonist over and over. Seriously, his establishing scenes in the movie literally made me think “Is this really the movie’s hero?”
VHS Massacre: Cult Films and the Decline of Physical Media (2016) [Blu-Ray]
It’s important that we look back on the history of physical media, since the beginning of physical media for movie collectors was never Hollywood’s biggest plan. Since the creation of the home reel projector, studios have been working hard to fight the appeal of physical media, and now with its decline, we’re reverting to digital copies of films that can be monitored. With its introduction, comes the potential decline of honest independent filmmaking, and filmmakers that have an even playing field with Hollywood. That becomes an uphill battle as the physical media that does exist is nothing but overstocked Hollywood dribble, with stores openly refusing to stock independent cinema.
Phantasm (1979): Remastered [Blu-Ray/DVD]
I first saw “Phantasm” thirteen years ago and it’s one of the more mind blowing horror films I’ve ever seen. It surely holds up better than the sequels, all of which I’d seen way before ever watching the original film. While “Phantasm” is still a bit of a goofy horror film in some instances, it’s also an entertaining one with some great moments of atmosphere and eeriness. Director Coscarelli is never afraid to stretch the limits of his premise, making “Phantasm” feel like some surreal nightmare that our characters are stuck in. There’s the demonic fly, the dwarf drones, and of course one of the best scenes involving character Mike watching the Tall Man stomp through his small town.