horror – Page 24 – PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – The Beta Test

The Beta Test (2021)
Written and Directed by Jim Cummings & PJ McCabe

It’s not a stretch to say the face of Hollywood has changed in the last few years. This is due to movements that push for transparency around those who wield power in the media industry, particularly around accusations of sexual assault and rape. The labor movement has also been calling the film industry to task for the lack of fair compensation and overworking as studios bank billions streaming content 24/7. The face of wide release theatrical movies has also changed, so smaller, character-focused films get ignored for big-budget blockbuster content, often attached to a cinematic universe. This chaotic shift is at the center of Jim Cummings & PJ McCabe’s The Beta Test, a dark horror-comedy that skillfully weaves these elements together.

Movie Review – The Spine of Night

The Spine of Night (2021)
Written & Directed by Philip Gelatt & Morgan Galen King

American animator Ralph Bakshi saw his star rise and fall across the 1970s and early 1980s. He’s fondly remembered as the director behind numerous fantasy films of that period, Lord of the Rings probably his most well-known work. Because hand-drawn animation had many limitations, Bakshi would often employ rotoscoping, a technique where film of live action actors is drawn over, adding textures and embellishments but keeping the fluid motion of real people. This technique would evolve into digital motion capture, and rotoscoping has become a niche technique used sparingly. However, Richard Linklater has used it to make his films Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly. Inspired by Bakshi, we have The Spine of Night, a dark horror fantasy that tells of another world where ancient dark magic prevails.

Movie Review – Last Night in Soho

Last Night in Soho (2021)
Written by Edgar Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Directed by Edgar Wright

Edgar Wright has consistently delivered good movies with broad appeal to audiences. From Shaun of the Dead to Baby Driver, I certainly respect Wright’s work while not my favorite films or my favorite filmmaker. Last Night in Soho is a different turn for Wright, his first female protagonist and an homage to giallo & Hitchcock. I wouldn’t say this is my favorite of his catalog of films, it’s certainly not bad, but I wasn’t drawn in that strongly by the story. This has been a common trend I’ve noticed with his last few movies, they are technically fantastic and visually inventive, but I feel cold to the characters.

Movie Review – The Wolf Man (1941)

The Wolf Man (1941)
Written by Curt Siodmak
Directed by George Waggner

Universal tried their hand at a werewolf movie in 1935 with Werewolf of London. The film was moderately critically successful but didn’t garner the acclaim Dracula, Frankenstein, and others had just a few years prior. The premise was seen as a little too similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while the box office returns were poor. Universal didn’t see an immediate sequel in the property, so they went on with Dracula and Frankenstein sequels and a surprising number of follow-ups to The Invisible Man. When the 1940s came, it seemed like a time to revisit the werewolf, so we got The Wolf Man.

Patron Pick – The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror I-III

This is a special reward available to Patreon patrons who pledge at the $10 or $20 a month levels. Each month those patrons will get to pick a film for me to review. They also get to include some of their own thoughts about the movie, if they choose. This Pick comes from Matt Harris.

Treehouse of Horror
(original airdate: October 25, 1990)
Written by John Swartzwelder, Jay Kogen, Wallace Wolodarksy, Sam Simon, and Edgar Allen Poe
Directed by Wes Archer, Rich Moore, and David Silverman

Treehouse of Horror II
(original airdate: October 21, 1991)
Written by Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jeff Martin, George Meyer, Sam Simon, and John Swartzwelder
Directed by Jim Reardon

Treehouse of Horror III
(original airdate: October 29, 1992)
Written by Al Jean & Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky, Sam Simon, and Jon Vitti
Directed by Carlos Baeza

I can vividly remember watching the first Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror on a Thursday evening in 1990. I was genuinely scared and entertained by it. I think that’s one of the great appeals of those early Treehouse episodes; the writers injected it with genuine horror but pulled back just enough so you wouldn’t get too frightened. The annual series was inspired by the anthology horror comics of E.C. (Tales from the Crypt, etc.), evidenced by the prevalence of gruesome puns in the opening credits. It wasn’t intended to become an annual tradition but rather an experiment with the show’s format.

Movie Review – Bride of Frankenstein

Bride of Frankenstein (1934)
Written by William Hurlbut & John L. Balderston
Directed by James Whale

The best Universal horror film, hands down. I will fight you on this. James Whale returns, but he was a hard sell at first, believing the story had been squeezed dry in the first picture. The success of The Invisible Man has Universal begging Whale to please do the sequel. Cleverly he used their desperation to get them to greenlight a more serious picture he wanted to make. When he sat down to figure out Bride, Whale decided to make it a “hoot,” as narratively there wasn’t much more to say. And then he completely blew all the competition out of the water with one of the wildest, most insane horror movies I have ever seen.

Movie Review – The Invisible Man (1933)

The Invisible Man (1932)
Written by R.C. Sherriff
Directed by James Whale

As early as 1931, Universal was developing The Invisible Man as a film. It was based on the novel by H.G. Wells and was seen as an excellent follow-up to Dracula. Other projects sidetracked this one, but by 1933 the film debuted. Wells was alive at the time and demanded script approval while Universal incorporated elements from another invisible man short story they had also purchased the rights to. After Frankenstein’s fantastic performance and critical reception, James Whale seemed like the perfect fit for this project. It became a film that showed even more of the director’s wry, macabre sense of humor.

Movie Review – The Mummy (1932)

The Mummy (1932)
Written by John L. Balderston
Directed by Karl Freund

Dracula and Frankenstein were massive hits for the former floundering Universal Pictures. Studio head Carl Laemelle Jr. decided to lean into horror as one of the film studio’s major products. That meant coming up with a film for the following year. This time it was three horror movies. Bela Lugosi starred in Murders at the Rue Morgue in February, adapted from the Edgar Allen Poe short story. In October, Boris Karloff played a creep in the horror-comedy The Old Dark House. The year came to a close just three days before Christmas with the release of The Mummy, who would become another iconic monster in the Universal tradition.

Movie Review – Titane

Titane (2021)
Written & Directed by Julia Ducournau

I am going to try to spoil as little of this movie as possible because I went into it having only seen the trailers. Said trailers do an excellent job of conveying the film’s mood without giving away one iota of plot or characters. Inevitably I will give some plot details, though I plan on being as vague as I can, and I will talk about the characters to a certain extent. My goal is to entice those of you who haven’t seen it yet to take the bait and sit down and give Titane a watch (it’s currently up for rent in the iTunes store). If you enjoyed Julia Ducournau’s Raw, then you are going to love this movie.

Movie Review – Frankenstein (1931)

Frankenstein (1931)
Written by Garrett Fort, Francis Edward Faragoh, Robert Florey, and John Russell
Directed by James Whale

Universal Pictures exists today because of the monster movies. In 1930, Universal lost $2.2 million in revenues (over $36 million adjusted for inflation). Then, in February 1931, Dracula was released and made $700,000 in sales. It was clear to Universal producer Carl Laemmle Jr. that horror movies were what the public wanted. By November of that same year, Frankenstein was released. Bela Lugosi, who had shot to stardom at the studio following Dracula, assumed he would be playing the Monster. However, makeup tests showed the actor didn’t have the right look. Instead, the studio went with English actor Boris Karloff, and the rest is history.