Introduction: From Masterpiece to Mess-terpiece If The Exorcist (1973) was a cinematic Hail Mary that split the uprights and baptized the horror genre in holy dread, then Exorcist II: The Heretic is the sequel that spiked the ball into its own face, tripped over the altar rail, and vomited exposition onto the congregation. Directed by … Read More “Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) – A Sequel Possessed by Bad Decisions” »
Introduction: Turbulence Ahead There’s a certain charm to 1970s disaster movies—the ensemble casts, the swelling orchestral scores, the melodrama served with a side of polyester. And then there’s Airport 1975, a film so confident in its mediocrity that it practically hands you a barf bag before the opening credits. Billed as a high-stakes aviation thriller, … Read More “Airport 1975 (1974) – A Disaster Film That Crashes Before Takeoff” »
Introduction: The Devil’s in the Details (and the Pea Soup) There are horror films, and then there’s The Exorcist—a movie that didn’t just scare audiences, it sent them vomiting into the aisles and sprinting to confession. Directed by William Friedkin and based on William Peter Blatty’s novel, this 1973 supernatural horror juggernaut remains the high-water … Read More “The Exorcist (1973) Review: A Pea Soup-Fueled Masterpiece That Still Haunts Our Catholic Guilt” »
There are films that grab you by the throat and demand your attention. Then there are films like Eddie Macon’s Run — which gently tap you on the shoulder, mumble something about injustice, and jog off into the Texas brush before you can ask for clarification. Starring John Schneider (yes, that John Schneider from The … Read More “Eddie Macon’s Run (1983): The Great Escape Meets a Made-for-TV Meltdown” »
Let’s call a sleaze ball a sleaze ball: Homework is less a movie and more a series of bad decisions edited together under the illusion of plot. Released in 1982 — right around the time when “teen sex comedy” became a cinematic goldmine — this one somehow manages to dig all the way to the … Read More “Homework (1982): The Sleaziest After-School Special That Should’ve Been Left Back a Grade” »
Stir Crazy (1980): A Prison Comedy That Breaks Out… Then Kinda Stalls in the Yard In the grand pantheon of buddy comedies, Stir Crazy feels like the inmate who got early release on good behavior — charming enough to get out, but maybe not memorable enough to hang a plaque for. Directed by Sidney Poitier … Read More “Stir Crazy (1980): A Prison Comedy That Breaks Out… Then Kinda Stalls in the Yard” »
Summer of Fear (1978): Witchy Women, Equestrian Jealousy, and Lee Purcell’s Hair Stealing the Spotlight Back in the days when made-for-TV movies came with more melodrama than logic and less budget than a used horse trailer, Summer of Fear emerged from the cauldron of 1978 like a lukewarm spell gone slightly sideways. Based on the … Read More “Summer of Fear (1978): Witchy Women, Equestrian Jealousy, and Lee Purcell’s Hair Stealing the Spotlight” »
There are surfing movies, and then there’s Big Wednesday — the one where the party dies, the keg is empty, Vietnam knocks on the beach shack door, and nobody’s tan ever quite looks the same again. Part elegy, part wave-chasing daydream, Big Wednesday is the kind of movie that starts with beer bongs and ends … Read More “Big Wednesday (1978): A Bromantic Eulogy for Surfboards, Sunburns, and America’s Lost Innocence” »
There’s a specific corner of late-‘70s cinema that exists in the foggy limbo between Grease and disco-era afterschool specials, and Almost Summer parks itself there like a bored lifeguard waiting for a shift change. It’s not quite a comedy, not quite a drama, and not quite interesting enough to be either. But bless its bellbottomed … Read More “Almost Summer (1978): The Student Council Election That No One Asked For” »
There’s something almost poetic about a movie where the average man, played by Charles Bronson, spends 95% of his time worrying about watermelon crops—and 5% battling Mafia hitmen. It’s like The Godfather by way of a seed-spitting contest. Middle America meets organized crime, and the result is Mr. Majestyk — a lean, mean, melon-growing machine with … Read More “Mr. Majestyk – When Melons Meet Mobsters, and Bronson Just Wants to Farm in Peace” »
