Evil Dead Rise
When the Deadites Rose Again, So Did the People Behind the Camera Long before the first scream echoed through the dilapidated Los Angeles apartment block of Evil Dead Rise, there was a quieter, more human struggle unfolding backstage. A struggle of bodies pushed to limits, budgets stretched like overused prosthetics, and actors wrestling with roles […]
Pan’s Labyrinth
A Fairy Tale Told in Blood and Gold When Pan’s Labyrinth arrived in 2006, it slipped into theatres like a dark whisper — not a blockbuster, not a studio giant, but a story that clung to viewers’ minds long after they left the cinema. Guillermo del Toro crafted something that felt both ancient and shockingly […]
2.0 Lucy
When Lucy Became Larger Than Life While certain movies present characters, others showcase entire cultural moments. Lucy 2.0 fell into the latter category: a movie whose narrative center transcended the mere spectacle of (very) early 21st-century visual effects, and instead focused on the manuscript’s magnetic character, Lucy. Aurora Hale embodied this role with incredible composure. […]
The Book of Life
A Colorful and Spirited World When The Book of Life first began to garner attention, and the previews began to be made available, the previews resembled a moving mural of Mexico \u2014 colorful, whimsical, and deeply emotional. People began to appreciate and admire the fact that this film sought to do what had not been […]
The Boxtrolls
Prior to the Trolls Crawled Out: The Whispers of Curiosity When The Boxtrolls was announced, the excitement was nothing like the overwhelmingly packed, ear-splitting excitement of the event like modern superhero films get. Instead, it was a low buzz, the kind that only LAIKA films get, the kind that cinephiles, the animation community, and critics […]
Kubo and the Two Strings
When a Tale of Magic Mirrors the Lives Behind It Some films are a visual treat, while others are a visual treat and make you feel things, and Kubo and the Two Strings is one of those stories. Laika’s epic stop-motion animation is ostensibly a story for children, but the emotional weight of the story […]
Frankenstein
The Electric Promise: How Frankenstein Shook Life into Cinema and Its Makers In 1931, when Universal Pictures announced it would bring Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to the big screen, audiences were already primed for terror. The previous year had seen the studio’s Dracula with Bela Lugosi become a cultural phenomenon, and the promise of another “monster […]
The Last Exorcism
Faith, Fear, and False Salvation: The Possession Behind The Last Exorcism When The Last Exorcism entered theaters in 2010, it felt like a soft sermon that escalated into a scream. Eli Roth produced it, and Daniel Stamm directed it. The film “found footage” horror genre and replaced demons with doubt and priests with con men. […]
Before I Wake
When Dreams Turn Deadly: The Many Layers of Before I Wake There are horror films that haunt because of what they show, and then there are films like Before I Wake — the ones that disturb because of what they suggest. Directed by Mike Flanagan, the visionary behind The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor […]
Lust Stories 2
How Lust Stories 2 Became a Topic of Controversy From June 29, 2023, when Lust Stories 2 was released on Netflix, there was a lot of anticipation for it before its release. Just like the first Lust Stories, the sequel was expected to push further the boundaries of the first story, as the audience wanted […]