This series originally started out as three films, the two already featured, and The Shining to cap things off, but it’s a leap year, my dears, and along with an extra day, I decided to treat myself to an extra dollop of depression and cover one more ode to ugly love with Von Trier’s much-maligned, impossible to ignore Antichrist. The story is oh-so-simple, and it’s all the uglier for it. An unnamed man, credited only as He, and his wife, She, engage in passionate sex while their infant son plummets from an open window.
Read MoreCandyman (1992) #RetroReview
1992’s Candyman is a unique late period supernatural slasher based on a Clive Barker story and written and directed by Bernard Rose. This creepy gem discusses race, poverty, and the nature of urban legends while delivering the gory goods. Grad student Helen seeks to uncover the truth surrounding an urban legend centered on Chicago’s infamous Cabrini Green, a housing project where drugs and murder plague the abject poor.
Read MoreDead Sound (2018)
Scream all you want is the tagline for Tony Glazer's new release, Dead Sound. This genre staple claims to be inspired by true events. Writers Jon Adler and Ted Weihman serve up a unique take on the teen horror film, where the killer is not just another faceless monster.
Read MoreGuns Akimbo (2019)
I instantly became a fan of writer/director Jason Lei Howden upon seeing his feature-length debut, Deathgasm. The New Zealand native then spent most of the next three years working in the visual effects departments for various blockbuster productions. He finally returns to helming his own work with this month’s Guns Akimbo.
Read MoreThe Seventh Continent (1989) #AmourFoubruary
After the oppressive dreariness of last week’s Hour of the Wolf, I decided to lighten it up a bit with Michel Haneke’s little-seen gem, The Seventh Continent. Nah, I’m just joking--if Hour was an upsetting look at codependency, then Continent is a subterranean excavation of moral and spiritual decay culminating in infanticide and double suicide. Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all.
Read MoreMy Bloody Valentine (1981) #RetroReview
George Mihalka’s My Bloody Valentine from 1981 is often cited as one of the better entries from the original slasher boom of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. In order to receive an R rating for its initial release, it was drastically cut. I’m actually going to discuss the unrated special edition that was reconstructed to capitalize on the release of the 2009 3D remake, though.
Read MoreHour of the Wolf (1968) #AmourFoubruary
Citizens of CineDump, we stand at the brink of a new decade, and, darlings, things are grim. But instead of losing hair and sleepover Q-Anon, anti-vaxers, Coronavirus, and everything else threatening to make this the second dark(er) age, let’s focus on what brings us all together--and tears us apart. That’s right--I’m talking about love, sweet love, but also, and perhaps more importantly, love, sick love.
Read MoreHer Name Was Christa (2020)
I hate to say it, but this movie has been sitting on my desk for about a month. James L. Edwards, the writer and director, personally delivered it to me, and honestly, I think that was part of the reason why it got thrown to the bottom of the stack. You see, I get shit sent to me all the time, and when a director reaches out the way that James did, it isn’t always a good sign.
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