Some horror films entertain. Some horror films scare. Witchfinder General just fixes its gaze on you, mutters “you’re doomed,” and slaps you across the face with raw cruelty. Vincent Price, usually the maestro of gothic camp, here gives one of his coldest and most viciously restrained performances. No cobwebby castles or spooky theatrics; just a…
Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (1922) – Review
1922’s Robin Hood – released as Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood – is one of those silent-era spectacles that makes you wonder if early Hollywood briefly lost its collective mind and decided to build an entire medieval city just for fun. Released at the absolute height of the silent swashbuckler craze, the film exists largely…
The Living Skeleton (1968) – Review
Japanese horror in the 1960s was a weird, wonderful experiment in atmosphere and existential dread, and The Living Skeleton might be its most gloriously unhinged specimen. Directed by Hiroshi Matsuno for Shochiku Studios, this black-and-white maritime nightmare blends ghost story, revenge thriller, and Catholic guilt trip into a single eerie fever of fog and bones….
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968) – Review
There’s weird, and then there’s Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell, a movie so jaw-droppingly odd it makes you wonder if everyone involved was under the influence of either experimental sake or sheer despair. Directed by Hajime Sato, this 1968 “sci-fi horror” flick tries to combine political satire, vampire aliens, and airplane disaster melodrama, and ends…
From Fairy Tale to Film: The Many Faces of Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is one of those stories that refuses to fade quietly into the background. It lingers, reshapes itself, and reappears in new forms every few decades, as if daring each generation to try and improve on it. Cinema, naturally, has taken that challenge personally, producing a long line of adaptations that range…