The Spiritual Road Trip From Hell There are some films that meditate on life, death, and the cosmic consequences of human behavior. And then there’s Secret Sunday (9 Wat), a Thai horror movie that does all of those things — badly, and for two excruciating hours. This 2010 film, directed by Saranyu Jiralaksanakul, wants to … Read More “SECRET SUNDAY (2010) — WHEN KARMA RUNS OUT OF GAS” »
Welcome to Afterlife — Where Plot Goes to Die If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if The Matrix, a shampoo commercial, and a slow-motion explosion had a baby, Resident Evil: Afterlife is the answer — and it’s not a pretty one. Paul W.S. Anderson returns to the director’s chair for the fourth entry in … Read More “RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (2010) — WHEN A ZOMBIE MOVIE EATS ITS OWN BRAIN” »
Once Upon a Time, on the Syfy Channel… There’s a special place in cinematic purgatory reserved for movies that promise werewolf mayhem and deliver family drama in flannel shirts. Red: Werewolf Hunter (2010) is one of those movies — a Syfy Original that howls with ambition and then trips over its own CGI paw. Directed … Read More “RED: WEREWOLF HUNTER (2010) — WHEN FAIRY TALES DIE OF BOREDOM” »
When Death Wears Silk and Smells Like Perfume Red Nights (Les Nuits rouges du Bourreau de Jade, 2010) is not just a film — it’s an experience. A decadent, delirious, beautifully deranged fever dream drenched in crimson light, latex, and expensive perfume. Imagine Kill Bill took a gap year in Hong Kong, binge-watched 1970s Italian … Read More “RED NIGHTS (2010): A LUXURIOUS, BLOOD-SOAKED FEVER DREAM WHERE GIALLO MEETS HONG KONG NOIR” »
Welcome to the Woods, Where Nobody’s the Good Guy Israel’s Rabies (Kalevet, 2010) opens like a traditional horror movie: a young couple lost in the woods, a serial killer lurking somewhere nearby, and a forest full of booby traps. But it quickly abandons the rulebook — throws it in a pit, sets it on fire, … Read More “RABIES (2010): WHEN EVERYONE IN THE FOREST LOSES THEIR MIND — AND IT’S HILARIOUSLY TERRIFYING” »
Welcome to the Hospital That Time — and Logic — Forgot Every now and then, a horror movie comes along that reminds you not all ghosts are supernatural. Some haunt you simply because you wasted 98 minutes of your life watching them. Psych: 9 is one of those ghosts. Directed by Andrew Shortell and starring … Read More “PSYCH: 9 (2010) — A MOVIE THAT NEEDS MORE THERAPY THAN ITS CHARACTERS” »
Nature Calls — and Then It Bites Your Face Off Ah, the great Australian outback: red dirt, scorching sun, endless bushland, and the occasional flesh-eating parasite that turns your friends into prehistoric cannibals. Primal (2010) asks the age-old question: what if Jurassic Park had a lower budget, fewer dinosaurs, and way more leeches? The result … Read More “PRIMAL (2010): WHERE AUSTRALIAN CAMPING TRIPS AND EVOLUTION BOTH GO HORRIBLY WRONG” »
Welcome to Taranaki, Where Teen Angst Meets Amateur Blackmail Predicament is one of those oddball films that sneaks up on you like a drunk uncle at a wedding — strange, endearing, slightly menacing, and far funnier than it has any right to be. Based on Ronald Hugh Morrieson’s posthumously published 1975 novel, this 2010 adaptation … Read More “PREDICAMENT (2010): KIWI NOIR MEETS SMALL-TOWN MADNESS, WITH JEMAINE CLEMENT BEING WEIRD AGAIN” »
When Baby Monitors Become Weapons of Mass Anxiety There are two types of people in the world: those who think Paranormal Activity was terrifying, and those who think it was 90 minutes of watching furniture practice yoga. Paranormal Activity 2 somehow manages to please both camps. It’s scarier, funnier (sometimes unintentionally), and still features more … Read More “PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 (2010): THE AMERICAN DREAM—NOW WITH MORE DEMONS AND SECURITY FOOTAG” »
When Folk Horror Met Public Housing Outcast is one of those weird little horror gems that sneaks up on you like a feral druid in a council flat. It’s part supernatural thriller, part grim social realism, and part fever dream about ancient Celtic magic, dysfunctional families, and men with more emotional issues than facial hair. … Read More “OUTCAST (2010): CELTIC CURSES, HAIRY MONSTERS, AND JAMES NESBITT UNLEASHED” »