Review
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HOWLING IV: THE ORIGINAL NIGHTMARE (1988)
Back in October, I spoke at some length on how HOWLING III: THE MARSUPIALS served as a low point in the already-risible-by-the-first-sequel series, citing its cheekiness and utterly bizarre creative choices as indicative of its poor quality. Since that time, I’ve come to understand that unorthodox artistic decisions do not go hand-in-hand with badness. There…
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Thank You For Your Service: DEATHDREAM (1972)
“Andy. Andy. You can’t die, Andy… You promised you’d come back.” The power of the human wish is perhaps no stronger than when it is made in regards to the absence of another soul. Distance in the earthly and unearthly planes can make the heart skip a beat, grow fonder, break, and ache in…
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Father Knows: THE STEPFATHER (1987)
If there’s a film that’s crippled by its score more than THE STEPFATHER (1987) is, I have yet to see it, thank Christ. The opening credits carry the attribution “Music Composed and Performed by Patrick Moraz,” as if to assure us that there is only one person to carry the blame. And carry it…
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It Came from the Devil Box
I was hoping that “Bitter Harvest” (NIGHT VISIONS, S1x15) would stick to its brutal course until the end but, like a legless foal, it flails helplessly about in its closing moments. A conte cruel from the American heartland (filmed in Canada), Julie Siege’s tale deals with a troublemaking youth (Brendan Fletcher, looking like the…
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Death is Horrible: ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945)
Of the three films that Boris Karloff acted in for producer Val Lewton’s horror unit at RKO, ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945) tends to get the short shrift. This is a bit of an unfair match, especially when one of the other movies is THE BODY SNATCHER (1945), directed by Robert Wise and based…
Haunted Cruz 