-
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
I’ve gotten out of order a bit in “The Year of Slashers”, and we now find ourselves in 2006 with Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Set in a world where all our fictional slashers are real, a documentary crew follows the next would-be legend as he prepares for his killing spree. Behind…
-
The Conjuring: Last Rites An Unearned End
I’ve finally gotten around to watching The Conjuring: Last Rites. I put it off because of how much I enjoyed the first two and how much I didn’t like the third. Also, due to my feelings about the real-life Warrens. Fortunately, The Conjuring: Last Rites is far better than The Devil Made Me Do It,…
-
The Running Man: Schwarzenegger, not Powell
The original movie adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Running Man” was released in 1987. It wasn’t a huge box office or critical success. However, going on 20 years later and with the remake now in theaters, it felt like the best time for a rewatch. The Plot The Running Man, the movie, tells the story…
-
Scream: The Slasher Is Back
The Year of Slashers has brought us to the era of metacommentary with Scream. After falling into a rut with repetitive formulas and overused cliches, the slasher had fallen out of favor with all but its most die-hard fans. Wes Craven changed all that with 1996’s Scream. Scream combined tense murder mystery with dark comedy…
-
Curse of the Clown Motel: Weirdly Clownless
I didn’t go into The Curse of the Clown Motel expecting it to be good. What was interesting to me was the location. The Clown Motel is a real place in Tonopah, Nevada. The idea of a horror movie set in this bizarre and fascinating location was honestly too interesting to ignore. The great thing for me is,…
-
Conan the Barbarian: Not Horror but Timeless Adventure
I didn’t mean to watch Conan this week. I was on a business trip to Indianapolis, and I couldn’t sleep. At 3am, I found the IFC channel playing Conan the Barbarian. Since it’s been a while since I’ve watched it and sleep wasn’t an option, I settled in. Pulp is hard to adapt authentically and a story as sprawling…
-
A Perfect Movie
Every October, Variety brings out their list of top 100 horror films. They update it from time to time with new releases, but it’s a pretty consistent list. They usually favor classics over new releases, which I’m a fan of. I’m not here to argue for or against the list. I don’t overall find much…