When Even Amanda Peterson Can’t Save You, You Know You’re in Trouble There’s a very specific kind of movie that feels like it was greenlit by accident, shot over a weekend, and edited by someone who learned the trade from VHS tracking tutorials. Fatal Charm is one of those movies. It’s like a Lifetime Original … Read More “Fatal Charm (1990): Jailhouse Crock Meets Teen Angst in a Dumpster Fire of a Thriller” »
A Cautionary Tale Wrapped in a Comedy Wrapped in Amanda Peterson’s Smile Back in 1987, America was swimming in teen comedies like it had no adult supervision. You couldn’t open a locker without knocking over a half-baked John Hughes clone. But Can’t Buy Me Love, somehow, pulled off the impossible: it dressed up in clichés, … Read More “Can’t Buy Me Love (1987): Geek Gets Girl, Loses Soul, Regains Dignity — All in Under 100 Minutes” »
The Curse and Crown of a Childhood Icon It is rare in Hollywood for an actor to have their career defined—and haunted—by a single role. Rarer still for that role to come at the age of 14. For Linda Blair, The Exorcist was both her coronation and her curse. Catapulted to global fame as the … Read More “Linda Blair: From Innocence to Infamy – A Cinematic Journey Through the Queen of Scream’s Filmography” »
Or: “A Whodunit Where the Real Crime is the Casting Director’s Choices” Let’s Not Pretend Either Sister Is “Better” The Better Sister, the latest prestige thriller trying to cash in on the Big Little Lies aesthetic of affluent people with messy secrets, lands somewhere between lukewarm and mildly irritating. Based on the novel by Alafair … Read More “The Better Sister: A Mediocre Mystery of Bad Vibes and Worse Haircuts” »
Or: “When You Mix Batman, The Phantom of the Opera, and a Blender Full of Nicotine” Who Is Darkman? And Why Is He So… Moist? Back in 1990, Darkman swooped into theaters wearing a trench coat, a fedora, and enough gauze to wrap a mummy convention. Directed by Sam Raimi before he became Spider-Man Sam … Read More “Darkman (1990): The Face-Changing, Rage-Fueled B-Movie That Couldn’t Quite Decide What It Was” »
Or: “The Only Film Where You’ll Laugh, Scream, and Question Your Body Hair” Beware the Moon—and Badass Filmmaking There are movies that define a genre. Then there are movies that defy genre altogether—laughing at the rules as they tear out your throat with a snarl and a punchline. An American Werewolf in London is the … Read More “An American Werewolf in London (1981): The Hairy, Hilarious, Horrific Masterpiece” »
Or: “When Therapy Involves Screaming at a Naked Teen in a Stable” The Horseplay Is Metaphorical… Unfortunately Equus is the kind of movie that makes you say, “Well, that was…something,” before quietly questioning every life choice that led you to it. Based on Peter Shaffer’s intense stage play—and directed with Shakespearean fervor by Sidney Lumet—Equus … Read More “Equus (1977): Horses, Psychosis, and Full-Frontal Psychiatry” »
Or: “In the Future, Everyone Is Hot, Stupid, and Dead by 30” Welcome to the Future—Hope You Like Leotards There’s something mesmerizing about Logan’s Run. It’s not that it’s a great movie—it’s not—but it’s the kind of sci-fi oddity that makes you wonder if someone laced Star Trek with disco powder and handed it to … Read More “Logan’s Run (1976): Plastic Futures and Polyester Death Cults” »
Or: “When the Budget’s Low, the Ghost is Angry, and the Brunette is Smoking” Not Quite Dead, But Not Exactly Alive Either Twice Dead is one of those movies that feels like it was made on a dare—probably involving a six-pack of Bartles & Jaymes and a late-night conversation that started with, “You know what’d … Read More “Twice Dead (1988): Haunted House, Killer Ghost, and One Gorgeous Whitlow” »
Or: “When Your Movie Has a Ghost, a Puppet, a Nazi Robot, and Still Manages to Be Boring” Haunted by Bad Ideas Ghost Chase is a movie that feels like it was conceived during a sugar crash in a Spencer’s Gifts. Directed by Roland Emmerich—yes, Independence Day Emmerich, back before he started blowing up the … Read More “Ghost Chase (1987): Who Ya Gonna Call? Literally Anyone Else.” »
