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3/5
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The Invitation
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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The Invitation deserves full credit for deftly juggling genres – and not just movie genres but their literary antecedents..... Think of it less as a marriage between rom-coms and horror movies and more as a marriage between Jane Austen and Bram Stoker.
Posted Sep 02, 2022
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4/5
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Beast
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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There are two things you need to know going into Beast: The lion...is the Michael Myers of the animal kingdom... [and he] has a relatable motivation that makes him the film's most compelling character (and that is no slight on the human cast).
Posted Aug 27, 2022
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3/5
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Squeal
(2021)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Not quite fairy tale or horror film, SQUEAL offers a fanciful allegory for fans of art house cinema.
Posted Aug 19, 2022
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3/5
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Bodies Bodies Bodies
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Sure, it's all fun and games until the bodies start piling up - and then it becomes even more fun!
Posted Aug 12, 2022
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2/5
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Tin Can
(2021)
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Steve Biodrowski
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TIN CAN is admirably ambitious, but it fails to realize its full potential. Nevertheless, it provides ample proof that director Seth A. Smith and cowriter Darcy Spidle are talent worth watching
Posted Aug 08, 2022
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3/5
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Gone in the Night
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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A solid mystery thriller with an unexpected twist of horror.
Posted Jul 29, 2022
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3/5
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Nope
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Jordan Peele's NOPE offers the writer-director's spectacular spin on crowd-pleasing entertainment, but the pace is marred by awkwardly embedded subtext.
Posted Jul 27, 2022
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4/5
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She Will
(2021)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Subtle and clever, She Will serves up horror elements but uses them in unexpected ways. Its a feminist take on the genre, but don’t let that scare you. It works.
Posted Jul 23, 2022
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4/5
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The Black Phone
(2021)
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Steve Biodrowski
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The Black Phone is not an old-school splatterfest, but it does aim for the grim intensity of a '70s drive-in movie. Fortunately for us, it is better than most of those ever were.
Posted Jul 02, 2022
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4/5
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The Witch 2: The Other One
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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...an awesome and totally unapologetic genre film that hits the bullseye over and over.
Posted Jul 01, 2022
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3/5
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Crimes of the Future
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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David Cronenberg’s return to body horror offers a nightmarish vision of the future. Or is it a pleasant dream?
Posted Jun 24, 2022
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2/5
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Firestarter
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Some solid performances and a few good scenes raise some expectations that this remake can exceed the original, but ultimately the film throws everything away in favor of a ridiculous ending added to set up a sequel no one wants.
Posted Jun 22, 2022
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3/5
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Jurassic World Dominion
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Sloppy screenplay reduces dinosaurs to costars in their own movie, delivers decent fan service and great fx if not a fully satisfying film.
Posted Jun 18, 2022
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2/5
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DASHCAM
(2021)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Creepy and scary entry in the found-footage genre seems poised to reinvent the genre until it loses track of its best ideas.
Posted Jun 10, 2022
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1/5
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Morbius
(2022)
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Steve Biodrowski
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...feels like a generic template that someone forgot to fill in with interesting details before presenting it to the public.
Posted Jun 10, 2022
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4/5
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The Ancestral
(2021)
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Steve Biodrowski
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...a solid horror film with stylish production that melds its genre elements to a dramatic story involving grief and family trauma.
Posted May 26, 2022
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2/5
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Army Of The Dead
(2021)
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Steve Biodrowski
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...bogged down with useless subplots, pretentious allegories, and failed attempts at character building. But the zombie tiger is great!
Posted May 29, 2021
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3/5
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Godzilla vs. Kong
(2021)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Godzilla vs. Kong transcends its flaws by embracing its own goofiness, which gives it carte blanche to toss in anything and everything the audience wants to see.
Posted Apr 02, 2021
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3/5
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Countdown
(2019)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Its influences are obvious, but that hardly matters, when the film deftly delivers the scares.
Posted Nov 13, 2019
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3/5
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47 Meters Down: Uncaged
(2019)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Summer movie junk food: it's not nutritious, but you will enjoy snacking on its empty calories as much as sharks enjoy snacking on empty-headed divers.
Posted Aug 28, 2019
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4.5/5
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Ready or Not
(2019)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Bloody, funny, scary, and hysterical, Ready or Not goes for the guts, figuratively and literally, unleashing gooey geysers that will leave you screaming with laughter.
Posted Aug 21, 2019
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2/5
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Child's Play
(2019)
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Steve Biodrowski
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It was too much to expect a satisfying...Child's Play reboot, but the film's most notable surprise is that it raises expectations just high enough to disappoint them.
Posted Jul 17, 2019
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4/5
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Toy Story 4
(2019)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Adding a dash of creepiness to the usual formula, Toy Story 4 exceeds expectations by - ahem - toying with them.
Posted Jun 29, 2019
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3/5
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The Dead Don't Die
(2019)
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Steve Biodrowski
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The Dead Don't Die is so deadpan it could be the first film suffering from negative affect.
Posted Jun 15, 2019
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1/5
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The Green Slime
(1969)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Although the steaming pile of electrified goo that is The Green Slime never coalesces into anything resembling a good movie, it nevertheless demands attention for reasons having little to do with the usual "so bad it's good" assessment.
Posted Jun 14, 2019
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4/5
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Godzilla: King of the Monsters
(2019)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Director and co-writer Michael Dougherty's roided-up sequel offers exuberant fan service at the expense of dramatic storytelling, but the multitude of monster battles delivers king-sized entertainment.
Posted May 31, 2019
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3/5
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Replicas
(2018)
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Steve Biodrowski
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This modestly budgeted science fiction film never fully answers the questions it raises, but that almost seems to be the point.
Posted Feb 12, 2019
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2/5
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Anna and the Apocalypse
(2017)
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Steve Biodrowski
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It's a gory zom-com - with songs. Lots of songs. More songs than zombies. Too many songs, really.
Posted Dec 21, 2018
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1/5
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Patient Zero
(2018)
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Steve Biodrowski
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...has enough good moments for a short subject or a trailer, but the movie itself feels like an overlong rough cut of filmed rehearsals.
Posted Sep 19, 2018
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2/5
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The Nun
(2018)
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Steve Biodrowski
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...not much of a prequel, but it does provide more mindless fun than expected, especially when the scares are enhanced by the new immersive ScreenX format.
Posted Sep 12, 2018
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2/5
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Down a Dark Hall
(2018)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Moody and creepy, this Gothic thriller is admirable in its effort to achieve subtle scares but ultimately too tame to truly thrill - though it does feature a reasonably satisfying finale.
Posted Aug 18, 2018
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0/5
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Attack of the Killer Donuts
(2016)
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Steve Biodrowski
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The killer donuts take second stage to the unfunny comedy routines of the human characters, which run on so long it's as if the film is daring its audience to get fed up and walk out.
Posted Nov 19, 2017
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Synecdoche, New York
(2008)
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Peg Aloi
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Even amid the complexity of his vision, there are moments of searing simplicity and emotional speechlessness that even the most hardened loner among us cannot fail to take to heart.
Posted Aug 08, 2017
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The Last House on the Left
(2009)
|
Peg Aloi
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The Last House on the Left is perhaps best seen as a reminder of why remakes of classic horror films almost always fail.
Posted Aug 08, 2017
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The Road
(2009)
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Peg Aloi
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The Road is a murky harbinger of our future, but perhaps more urgently, a cautionary tale clearly reflecting our present.
Posted Aug 08, 2017
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Never Let Me Go
(2010)
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Peg Aloi
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What makes this film so haunting is not simply its frightening take on our near future (treating as if it's the recent past): it's also in the film's gorgeous photography and dreamy music.
Posted Aug 08, 2017
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6 Dead Souls
(2013)
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Peg Aloi
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Even given a misplaced sense of genre at times, when Circle decides to be a horror film, its intense visuals and creepy mood are more than up to the task.
Posted Aug 08, 2017
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3/5
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The Eyes of My Mother
(2016)
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Steve Biodrowski
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This emphatically grim art house horror film offers hypnotic visuals but lacks a clear vision of its central character.
Posted Nov 09, 2016
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3/5
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Shin Godzilla
(2016)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Godzilla roars back to life in this new Toho Production, but the filmmakers' attempts to teach the old monster some new tricks only partially succeed.
Posted Oct 12, 2016
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2/5
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The Valdemar Legacy 2: The Forbidden Shadow
(2011)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Viewers eager to enjoy terrors dressed in the accoutrements of Gothic horror may have a good time, though slow pacing and a misguided ending undermine the effectiveness.
Posted Mar 17, 2016
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1/5
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Tomie: Unlimited
(2011)
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Steve Biodrowski
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If you enjoy cinematic outrageousness for its own sake, you may have a good time with Tomie: Unlimited; unfortunately, the film's real strength is buried beneath the special effects.
Posted Mar 15, 2016
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2/5
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Muoi: The Legend of the Portrait
(2007)
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Steve Biodrowski
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More technically proficient than inspired, this elegantly crafted Korean horror film is a beautiful pastiche that exploits the power of familiar genre elements but does not equal the masterworks it emulates.
Posted Mar 08, 2016
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3/5
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Borei kaibyo yashiki, (Black Cat Mansion)
(2006)
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Steve Biodrowski
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...a fine example of well-executed genre material, handled with serious intent and dedicated craftsmanship.
Posted Mar 04, 2016
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3/5
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Shaun the Sheep Movie
(2015)
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Steve Biodrowski
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...after a wobbly first act, the narrative hits its stride and runs smoothly to a successful finish, delivering delightful entertainment on the way.
Posted Mar 03, 2016
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3/5
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Tetsuo: The Bullet Man
(2009)
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Steve Biodrowski
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The results should please fans eager for another helping of science-fiction body horror, but despite the addition of an American lead and English dialogue, there is little to draw in first-time viewers...
Posted Mar 03, 2016
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2/5
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Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead
(2014)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead is a film that wants to make you like it, but succeeds only in making you wish you liked it more.
Posted Dec 30, 2015
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0/5
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Zombies Lake
(1980)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Zombie Lake holds a distinctive position in the annals of execrable movie trash ... Is this enough to transform Zombie Lake from merely bad to so-bad-it's-good? No, but it is so bad that it must be seen to be believed.
Posted Dec 29, 2015
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1/5
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Night of the Blood Monster
(1969)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Franco's usual cinematic shortcoming are elevated to the level of garden-variety incompetence.
Posted Dec 10, 2015
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2/5
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Circus of Fear
(1966)
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Steve Biodrowski
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Taken on its own terms, the film is a passable time-waster, though just barely.
Posted Dec 09, 2015
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1/5
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Lisa and the Devil
(1975)
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Steve Biodrowski
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This rating is for the alternate version of the film, THE HOUSE OR EXORCISM - an abomination that ruins the wonderful original by adding irrelevant exorcism scenes.
Posted Dec 07, 2015
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