What I Learned from HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS

Dimly lit B-movies from the early 1980s look way crappier now than I remember them looking in the early 1980s. This could be because I’ve been spoiled by things like Blu-ray, HD, and 4K or because I was a child in the early 1980s I wasn’t paying attention to things like lighting in films. Using […]

What I Learned from THE CITY OF THE DEAD

Movies should have one title. The City of the Dead is also known as Horror Hotel. Do we really need multiple titles for films? It just makes things confusing. However, I do like the tagline for the U.S. release, “Just ring for doom service!” The right music is important. Just like hands, music is important. […]

What I Learned from WITCHING AND BITCHING

Witching and Bitching is (sort of) a misleading title. There is plenty of witching and bitching in this film, however, that title did not prepare me for what was about to happen in the next 112 minutes of my life. All movies should be comedies. Comedy, when done right, breathes fresh air into otherwise stale […]

What I Learned from MOTEL HELL

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the film Motel Hell. Never trust a farmer who is known for the best meat around, especially if his pork doesn’t taste like any pork I’ve ever tried. As soon as I saw that Farmer Vincent had the best meat around, I knew where he was getting it. However, […]

The Legend of Hell House

“The house tried to kill me, it almost succeeded.” Movies come into my life in many ways: recommendations from friends, critic’s reviews, studio marketing, or just plain dumb luck. The Legend of Hell House (1973) came to my attention in the form of audio samples on Skinny Puppy’s 1985 album, Bites. Their music often deals […]

10 Influential Horror Films from the 1980s

The 1980s brought with it many things, but during the Halloween season we choose to remember the slew of horror films, both good and bad, that came to the big screen and into our lives. Growing up in the 80s was both great and terrifying; repressed fears and frustrations came out in the form of […]