Rue Morgue Magazine

Rue Morgue Magazine is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Anton Bitel, Barrett Hooper, Carolyn Mauricette, Chris Alexander, Dave Alexander, Deirdre Crimmins, Jovanka Vuckovic, Michael Gingold, Rod Gudino, Shannon McGrew
Rating Title/Year Author
Fantasy Island (2020) Michael Gingold It's underheated for the first hour or so and absurdly overplotted in its final act. EDIT
Posted Feb 14, 2020
Leap of Faith (2019) Michael Gingold Friedkin alternates theory with production specifics to give a fully rounded and fleshed-out account of the singular achievement The Exorcist is. EDIT
Posted Feb 6, 2020
Gretel & Hansel (2020) Michael Gingold The anti-Maleficent...[the filmmakers have] aimed straight for the dark heart of the legend, and it's been brought off with impeccable, intoxicating craft. EDIT
Posted Jan 30, 2020
Color Out of Space (2019) Michael Gingold Stanley successfully takes on the challenge of translating Lovecraft's prose, with its unknowable, indescribable terrors, to the more concrete medium of film. EDIT
Posted Jan 24, 2020
The Turning (2020) Michael Gingold It gets some decent Gothic creep on before completely falling apart in an ending that tries to be way too tricky for its own good. EDIT
Posted Jan 24, 2020
The Sonata (2018) Michael Gingold A film that hits some of the right notes without coming together as a fully realized piece. EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2020
Underwater (2020) Michael Gingold While it's true that Underwater doesn't do much that's new, it must be said that it does it quite well. EDIT
Posted Jan 8, 2020
() Anton Bitel a juddery, disorienting trip into the psyche of the school shooter, as well as a catabasis into the mor(t)ality of crime, punishment, and maybe even redemption. EDIT
Posted Dec 13, 2019
Black Christmas (2019) Michael Gingold It wears its messaging on its sleeve to the point where it sometimes overwhelms the horror-and then loses the message when it goes full-bore genre at the end. EDIT
Posted Dec 12, 2019
() Anton Bitel a highly playful detective story, featuring a disappearing cat (and a character called Schroedinger), a series of parallel, paradoxical riddles, a critical killing (or several) and a villain straight out of the serial films of Louis Feiullade. EDIT
Posted Dec 6, 2019
In Search of Darkness (2019) Carolyn Mauricette You might find the volume of information overwhelming at first because they come at you with a rapid-fire pace, but once you settle in, this documentary is a great ride. EDIT
Posted Nov 5, 2019
() Carolyn Mauricette What seems like a fun horror film becomes a slog when it takes itself too seriously. EDIT
Posted Nov 5, 2019
Doctor Sleep (2019) Michael Gingold A worthy screen follow-up to Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING that also stands on its own as one of the very best King movies ever made. EDIT
Posted Oct 30, 2019
The Lighthouse (2019) Michael Gingold It sees its creator ably beating the sophomore jinx, sustaining a mood that's every bit as entrancingly eerie as The Witch's. EDIT
Posted Oct 18, 2019
Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street (2019) Deirdre Crimmins It is a tight, straightforward documentary about one corner of the horror world that has been under appreciated for so long, and it is a love letter to those who have always loved it. EDIT
Posted Sep 23, 2019
Koko-di Koko-da (2019) Deirdre Crimmins Like so many of the very best horror movies, this is not really a film about what it is superficially about. Sure, it is a little bit about the creepiness of camping, but beneath that surface it explores the primal reasons we are afraid of nature. EDIT
Posted Sep 23, 2019
Synchronic (2019) Michael Gingold Even if Synchronic falls short of some of its ambitions, it contains more than enough to engage the eye and the mind. EDIT
Posted Sep 17, 2019
Gags (2018) Michael Gingold Like too many found-footage films, Gags devotes too much of its running time to its characters arguing with and throwing insults at each other. EDIT
Posted Sep 14, 2019
Kamera o tomeru na! (2017) Michael Gingold An endlessly clever, gaspingly funny, beautifully constructed and executed mix of genre spoof and behind-the-scenes satire. EDIT
Posted Sep 12, 2019
Depraved (2019) Michael Gingold Moving and frightening and exciting in its intelligence, DEPRAVED is another standout in Fessenden's filmography. EDIT
Posted Sep 12, 2019
It: Chapter Two (2019) Michael Gingold Though ultimately satisfying, it doesn't get at the deep-seated creeps its predecessor did. EDIT
Posted Sep 5, 2019
() Deirdre Crimmins Feral uses its mockumentary format to its advantage, and keeps us guessing right up to the very end. EDIT
Posted Sep 5, 2019
Ready or Not (2019) Michael Gingold A wickedly entertaining mix of human-hunt thrills, bloody splatstick and socially conscious satire. EDIT
Posted Aug 20, 2019
47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019) Michael Gingold It's made for theaters but feels like something produced for airing during Shark Week. EDIT
Posted Aug 14, 2019
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) Michael Gingold The creators have found the right way to incorporate these little slices of death and terror into an overarching narrative, while...incorporating a few adult themes as well. EDIT
Posted Aug 8, 2019
A Good Woman Is Hard to Find (2019) Michael Gingold The strength of Bolger's performance...is the key element carrying A Good Woman Is Hard to Find, but not the only one. EDIT
Posted Aug 2, 2019
() Michael Gingold It's an uncommonly smart, engrossing and dramatically ambitious independent horror/drama. EDIT
Posted Jul 29, 2019
Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson (2019) Michael Gingold Investigates both sides of Adamson's story...letting us get to know him as a person and a filmmaker in a way that makes his murder seem even more of a tragedy. EDIT
Posted Jul 23, 2019
Blood on Her Name (2019) Deirdre Crimmins Blood on Her Name is tight, tense, and buoyed by a phenomenal lead performance. Such solid filmmaking is a rare delicacy nowadays. EDIT
Posted Jul 22, 2019
The Master Cleanse (2016) Michael Gingold The filmmaker takes his characters and their anxieties seriously, and has something much more interesting in mind than a straightforward genre piece. EDIT
Posted Jul 17, 2019
Vivarium (2020) Michael Gingold It casts a creepy spell and further establishes Finnegan and Shanley as a team with imagination and command of their craft to spare. EDIT
Posted Jul 15, 2019
Crawl (2019) Michael Gingold Like The Shallows a few years back, it plays a simple scenario for all it's worth, and knows that what it's worth is a little under 90 minutes. EDIT
Posted Jul 12, 2019
Midsommar (2019) Michael Gingold Midsommar succeeds, through the quiet force of Aster and his cohorts' craft, in sustaining an off-kilter mood that keeps you intrigued and engrossed. EDIT
Posted Jul 3, 2019
Child's Play (2019) Michael Gingold Low expectations are met with a surprising amount of ghoulishly amusing entertainment in Child's Play '19, which manages a fresh take on the deadly doll. EDIT
Posted Jun 20, 2019
Verotika (2019) Deirdre Crimmins Perhaps the worst crime of VEROTIKA is that it presents itself as a horror film but never makes an earnest effort to create any horror. EDIT
Posted Jun 18, 2019
Villains (2019) Deirdre Crimmins Villains gives us not one, but a pair of bumbling thieves, along with a touch of bloody mayhem, and the result is a largely charming but slightly forced dark comedy. EDIT
Posted Jun 17, 2019
True Fiction (2019) Michael Gingold It's a refreshingly complex and ambitious, sometimes genuinely unnerving power game. EDIT
Posted Jun 14, 2019
Daniel Isn't Real (2019) Deirdre Crimmins Daniel Isn't Real takes a look at mental illness and its relationship to crafting reality, with a surprising dose of empathy, a healthy dose of world creation, and a little slice of sexiness. EDIT
Posted Jun 12, 2019
The Lodge (2019) Deirdre Crimmins It is difficult to watch, and offers little satisfaction, and is wholly unconcerned with dispensing comfort. However, horror fans know that this is all intended as a glowing compliment. EDIT
Posted Jun 12, 2019
Ma (2019) Michael Gingold The movie is as much a black comedy as it is a horror film, and the fun comes from the fact that Taylor has as few compunctions about being rude as Ma herself. EDIT
Posted May 30, 2019
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) Michael Gingold Every time the film critic in me wants to point out its flaws, my inner 10-year-old keeps telling him to shut up. EDIT
Posted May 30, 2019
Brightburn (2019) Michael Gingold A disappointment as both an alternate take on superheroics and an evil-child thriller-and part of the disappointment is that it's much more the second than the first. EDIT
Posted May 23, 2019
The Nightingale (2018) Deirdre Crimmins Kent's attention to historical detail is astounding. Each word, accent, gesture, and smirk sinks the audience deeper into time and place. EDIT
Posted May 22, 2019
Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018) Michael Gingold The movie seriously could have used Pegg and his Cornetto partner Edgar Wright on scripting duties, and perhaps Wright at the helm as well. EDIT
Posted May 17, 2019
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) Carolyn Mauricette With a beautiful colour palette and the comfort of cluttered sets, Jarmusch wraps you in a cocoon of an introverted, isolated world that only the characters and the viewers understand. EDIT
Posted May 16, 2019
Slender Man (2018) Carolyn Mauricette While I'm sure there's a fan or two to sustain this film somewhere out there (find me one, please!), seasoned horror devotees and creepypasts buffs won't be suckered by this lackluster attempt. EDIT
Posted May 16, 2019
Brown Girl Begins (2017) Carolyn Mauricette You might think the film speaks only to a specific audience and is a cultural signifier for those of Caribbean descent in Toronto, but this story is accessible to everyone for its lesson in courage and sacrifice. EDIT
Posted May 16, 2019
Body at Brighton Rock (2019) Deirdre Crimmins The score, cinematography, and general premise are all good reasons to seek this out and enjoy it when you can. However, couch your expectations with the understanding that this is not a spear-sharp thriller. EDIT
Posted May 6, 2019
After Midnight (2019) Michael Gingold You'll laugh, you'll cry...and you'll jump right out of your seat at least once. EDIT
Posted May 3, 2019
Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made (2018) Deirdre Crimmins Tense and unnerving, unpredictable and mean spirited, Antrum... adds layers to the terrifying power of cinema. EDIT
Posted May 2, 2019