Tag: monster movies
Ostensibly a forgettable creature feature, Scared to Death is noteworthy as an egregious case of W.M.H.S. (White Male Hero Syndrome). That’s when an otherwise bland, unlikable, undeserving character is elevated to hero status just because he’s a White man -- sort of like how Rudy Giuliani became "America's Mayor"...
*OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING*
With the release of Jordan Peele’s eagerly anticipated third film, Nope, it’s fair to say that his filmmaking style has been established. A Peelian movie is horror-skewed genre fare that seeks to entertain but also convey underlying social commentary -- directly or indirectly racial in nature and...
Pooka! was the third entry in Hulu’s Into the Dark series of holiday-themed horror movies, and nearly 20 editions in, it remains the best IMO. It also features the most identifiable titular character in the franchise, so it’s not surprising that it would be the first to receive the...
2013’s Ghetto Goblin was a cheapie from South Africa whose name change from Blood Tokoloshe reflected a cheesiness inherent in the production, but The Tokoloshe is a much more polished, professional affair that thankfully avoided a name change for American consumption, so we don’t have to deal with watching...
It’s sad that in 2019, it’s still rare enough for a black woman to be the primary love interest in a “non-black” horror movie that when it happens, it’s noteworthy. Leading black male love interests aren’t particularly common either, but black guys at least seem to get more supporting...
*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD if you’re one of the few people who hasn’t seen Bird Box*
Amidst the ubiquitous memes, late-night show parodies and herd-thinning viral "challenges" inspired by the Netflix sensation Bird Box, the significance of it being a major mainstream motion picture featuring a black male romantic lead (Trevante...
One of the most unjustly overlooked movies of 2018, Brazil’s Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras) is a bewitching blend of horror, fantasy and musical that veers from humorous to heartbreaking, romantic to tragic, all while maintaining the sort of childlike sense of wonder and storybook lore that could draw...
Let's face it: 1990 was basically the after party for the '80s, as the cultural trends of the old decade carried over into the new one -- or don't you remember the shoulder pads that could impale a horse? As such, even though The Suckling came out in 1990,...
The promotional materials for Soft Matter call it a cross between The Shape of Water and Get Out, a description that is troublesome not only because it's wildly inaccurate, but also because the only discernible similarity between it and Get Out is the fact that the main protagonist is...
The Cloverfield Paradox had been on the radar for some time (known initially as God Particle) when, on Super Bowl Sunday 2018, amidst the ads for carbonated beverages and fashionably edible laundry detergent, the world was shocked by a commercial announcing that the movie was now available on Netflix....
