At midnight of the centennial of sleepy coastal town Antonio Bay, a small but threatening series of paranormal disturbances trickle through the spring evening. A slow-moving, supernaturally-glowing fog rolls inland, and three men on a trawler are accosted by silent spirits. Meanwhile at the radio station in the lonely lighthouse DJ Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau) reports on wind speed, barometric pressure, and lends her sexy, smoky voice to a jazz record rotation. From her vantage point she can easily look out over the bay and she does, cigarette in hand, musing to herself and keeping an eye on the horizon. The same evening working class resident Nick (Tom Atkins) picks up a young hitchhiker and artist named Elizabeth (Jamie Lee Curtis) and the two start a casual romance. When Nick’s seafaring friends haven’t turned up the next day, he and Elizabeth go looking and making a grisly discovery. While Nick and Elizabeth try to get to the bottom of the missing sailors, councilwoman Kathy Williams (Janet Leigh) bustles about town with her assistant Sandy (Nancy Loomis), arranging for the evening festivities to celebrate the township’s 100 year anniversary. The two are called away by priest (and alcoholic) Father Malone (Hal Holbrook), who has discovered archival evidence of murderous treachery by Antonio Bay’s founding fathers. Morosely, Father Malone tells the women that the town is doomed, and the birthday celebration should be cancelled. Could the sailors’ disappearance and spooky disturbances be related to the town’s darkest secret? Interestingly, although The Fog...
Because no one should watch these films alone!
- All Posts
- article
- blog
- featured
Christine Daaé (Mary Philbin), an ingénue with the Paris Opera House, has recently advanced as understudy to prima donna Carlotta (Virginia Pearson). Her admirer Vicomte Raoul de Chagny (Norman Kerry) and his brother Comte Phillipe (John St. Polis) frequent the venue to watch her sing. Meanwhile, new management arrives and is warned off by old management, who have been scared off by a mysterious “Phantom” (Lon Chaney) who claims an opera box but refuses to mingle with the rabble. A stagehand is soon murdered, and Christine begins to hear a man’s voice promising her career advancement in exchange for her loyalty to her new “Master”. Meanwhile, a mysterious man in a fez (Arthur Edmund Carewe) skulks around the place. More murders occur, and Raoul begins to suspect that Christine’s mysterious patron has sinister plans. Lon Chaney’s infamous performance unfolds in a film that’s a bit tricky to talk about. Modern viewers may know nothing of this movie – the troubled production history, the stand-out special effects, the ambitious set design – while those more historically-inclined will have watched it several times, or maybe even viewed several different versions. Most horror buffs saw images of the Phantom’s visage before they even saw the film itself, in horror magazines or books (or in other pop culture references). And since the film is almost a hundred years ago, there are only a handful of people on the planet who can remember the shock of seeing the first monstrous reveal in the movie. But think on...
Four typical teen girls Hallie (Julia Goldani Telles), Wren (Joey King), Chloe (Jaz Sinclair), and Katie (Annalise Basso) find a website detailing the sketchy legend of Slender Man (Javier Botet) and instructions on how to summon him. Sounds like a good idea, right? After trying the ritual for a laugh, the young women are soon plagued by nightmares and disturbing visions. One of them goes missing, and the resultant fruitless manhunt casts a pall on the friendship of the remaining three. Soon, the girls come to believe they are being stalked by a creature that wants to torture them psychologically if not cause them physical harm. They argue over how to best fight the entity, but soon the supernatural virus threatens Hallie’s younger sister Katie (Taylor Richardson). Think Nightmare on Elm Street (the first, completely awesome one) meets The Ring (the remake). And then remove very bit of charisma and interest, and you’ve got Slender Man. This film, based on a contemporary urban legend (of sorts), would never have been a good one but was further plagued by marketing snafus and last-minute decisions. Since there have been a few cases of violence related to the legend, one of them infamous, and since the victims and perpetrators have been minors, the film’s handlers eventually got a little squeamish and made last-minute changes. So if you watch the trailer you will see several iconic, bloody scenes (involving blades, suicide, or references to stabbings), that are quite simply missing from the final product....
- All Posts
- article
- blog
- featured
At midnight of the centennial of sleepy coastal town Antonio Bay, a small but threatening series of paranormal disturbances trickle through the spring evening. A slow-moving, supernaturally-glowing fog rolls inland, and three men on a trawler are accosted by silent spirits. Meanwhile at the radio...
- All Posts
- article
- blog
- featured
Christine Daaé (Mary Philbin), an ingénue with the Paris Opera House, has recently advanced as understudy to prima donna Carlotta (Virginia Pearson). Her admirer Vicomte Raoul de Chagny (Norman Kerry) and his brother Comte Phillipe (John St. Polis) frequent the venue to watch her sing. Meanwhile, new...
- All Posts
- article
- blog
- featured
If you know me, you know I can’t resist any kind of barbarian adventure or sword-and-sorcery goofiness. I think I’ve regretted about nine out of ten viking films I’ve ever watched – but that doesn’t and will not stop me...
. This long-anticipated film of 2000 does the community no favors, having inspired sweeping condemnation from critics and audiences alike. Time has not improved the film in eighteen subsequent years.
This week I’ve let you down a bit, as I watched a couple good films for a change! Never fear: I will be back on my bullshite in full force, next week! – K. The Disaster Artist (2017) Equal parts buddy...
Everyone loves a good road trip movie, right? Whether the road is a metaphor for a troubled generational gap or you’re in for some good, hilarious family shenanigans, road trip movies have the ability to make us laugh, think, cry,...
Cora Tannetti (Jessica Biel) is a thirtysomething wife and mother to a young child. She works with her husband Mason (Christopher Abbott) in the family air conditioning business, in upstate New York. She obviously loves her husband and child; the...
The Jurassic Park series is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, and while at this point the series is not likely to grow creatively or offer up any terribly new material, the latest installment doesn’t quite phone...
I’m binge-watching the Netflix Indian Original “Sacred Games” and I have some damn opinions! But in the meantime, here’s a little musical theater gristle to tide thee over! – K. Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) I was stuck watching this overlong...
What kind of week is it when all I’ve managed to watch is a bottom-of-the-barrel Corey film? To be fair, I’ve been working pretty hard at binge-watching “Brooklyn 99” to prepare for the new season, and reading grim British detective...
While (finally) getting around to watching “Brooklynn 99”, and finishing up a few books, I did manage to squeeze in some movies. All three were about SURVIVAL; two of them were pretty good and the third – well. Remember, this...