horror – Page 5 – PopCult Reviews

Movie Review – Vampyr

Vampyr (1932)
Written by Christen Jul and Carl Theodor Dreyer
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer

Vampyr is a strange, troubled movie. It was Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dryer’s follow-up to The Passion of Joan of Arc, one of the great silent masterpieces. Vampyr came about at a time of transition in films. Dreyer conceived of the film, based on a collection of ghost stories, as a silent picture. That DNA is still very present in the sparse spoken dialogue and the film’s emphasis on movement and camerawork. The end result is a mixed bag. There’s not enough story here to say it’s a compelling horror narrative. It feels more like an interesting mood piece that evokes the spooky tone of Halloween and creepy old houses.

Movie Review – The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man (1973)
Written by Anthony Shaffer
Directed by Robin Hardy

I had seen the Nicolas Cage-led sequel in all its wild, camp glory but had never watched the film that inspired it. With it being October – the spooky month – I decided to kick off my Horrorpalloza 2024 with The Wicker Man. Before I even watched the film, I knew of the ending decades ago thanks to a Bravo series about the scariest movie moments. I wondered what knowing the protagonist’s fate would do with my thoughts on the film, but thankfully, there was so much of this movie I didn’t know about that I never felt deprived of surprises. It’s a movie that clearly inspired so many more films in the folk horror genre and still holds up after fifty-one years.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Solo Liminal Horror Part Two

You can purchase Liminal Horror here
You can purchase Jeansen’s Machines here
You can download the Liminal Horror Solo Starter here

Read the previous chapter here

Scene #4 – (Confrontation 1/8)

Random: Deal with a difficulty – Something fails or breaks
Exploration scene: slippery, wet, flood
Skill test: setting-specific
Circumstance: Involves a puzzle, logic
The GM asks you to: Mention the weather or atmospheric conditions

When Cristian gets to the front door, the rain is coming down in heavy sheets. He slams it behind him, feeling water drip onto the floor mat. The only thing that makes sense is to strip the soaked clothes off and change into what he brought. Sopping wet clothes remain piled on the tiled bathroom floor. Waves of exhaustion spill over him, the day’s events catching up. Without looking at his phone, Cristian can’t tell if it’s still daytime or night as the sky is thick with black, rain-bloated clouds. He decides to sleep, hoping that some of this will make more sense when he wakes up. Maybe he’s having a nightmare right now.

PopCult Podcast – Beetlejuice/Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

With Tim Burton’s latest opening in theaters, we decided to take a look back. The first is a classic, his second feature which introduced us to the ghost with the most. The second is YA novel adaptation from 2016 that is heavy on the CG and exposition.

Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Solo Liminal Horror Part One

You can purchase Liminal Horror here
You can purchase Jeansen’s Machines here
You can download the Liminal Horror Solo Starter here

Liminal Horror is a game born out of a long series of deviations and hacks that started with the OSR game Into the Odd. Elements of that game were combined with rules-light fantasy RPG Knave which created Cairn. Cairn has become an all-purpose foundation for several other systems – Tunnel Goons, Eco Mofos, Into the Grasslands, and more. Liminal Horror is a modern horror system using these mechanics that lends itself to SCP-style stories, but it is not limited to that subset of horror.

PopCult Podcast – Kinds of Kindness/The Teachers’ Lounge

Two tense new releases are our focus in this episode. Yorgos Lanthimos delivers a triptych of tales about twisted versions of love. A teacher in Germany becomes caught in the drama of thefts in her school and decides to record who is doing it.

PopCult Podcast – The Crow/Opening Night

We go retro this episode to look at two old releases. The first is a 90s Goth cult classic that has recently been remade. The second is a premier performance from the late, great Gena Rowlands.

Movie Review – Godzilla Minus One

Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki

There is a scene just before the big third-act finale where Godzilla Minus One lays out its core thesis through the words of Kenji, a former Naval weapons officer trying to end the monster’s reign of terror on Japan. He states: “Come to think of it, this country has treated life far too cheaply. Poorly armored tanks. Poor supply chains resulting in half of all deaths from starvation and disease. Fighter planes built without ejection seats, and finally, kamikaze and suicide attacks. That’s why this time I’d take pride in a citizen led effort that sacrifices no lives at all! This next battle is not one waged to the death, but a battle to live for the future.” And that’s the theme of this film, to live in the face of what seems like hopeless obliteration.

PopCult Podcast – Longlegs/Maxxxine

It’s a new release horror double feature. First, we follow a troubled FBI agent as she uncovers the truth behind a series of murders that connect to her childhood. Then Ti West delivers the finale for his X trilogy that takes us to sleazy LA in the 1980s.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Kids on Bikes Solo Part Five

You can purchase Kids on Bikes here.

You can purchase the Plot Unfolding Machine here.

Read our previous session here

(For this session, I will use the Powered Character rules for Waldo to reflect the change. The Powered Character gets 7 Power Tokens that can be spent to roll 1d6 each to add to a check roll. They only replenish with rest.)

(Powers for Waldo are

Heals others with a touch
Controls the elements – fire)

Scene 16 – Falling 1 of 3 – The Old Sykes House

Modified proposal: increase the intensity and tension
Action: Looking for some answers

Waldo’s eyelids flicker. Something has changed as he takes a breath. He can hear noise in the room. The ground beneath him is damp and dirt. Rita Hyde’s voice. Then Sally Gilliam’s, but weaker. The Mayor is there, too.