Welcome to Heathrow Hell: A Tale of Murder, Meat, and Motherly Love Let’s begin with the obvious: Mum & Dad is not a feel-good movie. It’s not even a feel-medium movie. It’s the cinematic equivalent of waking up in a stranger’s basement with a hangover, a missing shoe, and someone cheerfully telling you, “Welcome home, … Read More “Mum & Dad (2008): The Feel-Bad British Horror That Makes You Want to Call Social Services on the Film Itself” »
Popcorn, Panic, and Projection Booth Possession Ah, Midnight Movie — the cinematic equivalent of eating stale theater popcorn and realizing halfway through that you’re enjoying it way too much. Directed by Jack Messitt, this 2008 meta-slasher is a love letter to grindhouse horror, projection booths, and the good old days when killers wore masks instead … Read More “Midnight Movie (2008): A Slasher So Self-Aware It Might Actually Be Alive” »
South Korean Horror, Now With More Existential Panic Let’s start with the obvious: Loner (Oetori) is a horror film that manages to make both social commentary and a psychotic breakdown look chic. It’s about hikikomori — people who lock themselves away from the world — and yet, ironically, it’s one of those movies that makes … Read More “Loner (2008): The Agoraphobia Apocalypse Nobody Asked For (and Everyone Should Watch Anyway)” »
A Mockumentary So Real It Feels Like You’re Trespassing on Grief Every now and then, a horror film slithers out of nowhere, wearing no jump scares, carrying no CGI ghosts, and instead punches you squarely in your feelings. Lake Mungo is that movie — a deceptively quiet, documentary-style Australian horror film that manages to be … Read More “Lake Mungo (2008): The Ghost Story That Sneaks Up, Haunts You, and Then Unpacks Your Emotional Luggage” »
The Final Frontier of Poor Decision-Making Every once in a while, a movie comes along that’s so bizarrely earnest it transcends bad filmmaking and lands somewhere between what were they thinking? and is this a cry for help? That movie is InAlienable, a 2007 science fiction “drama” written and produced by Walter Koenig — yes, … Read More “InAlienable (2007): A Father, His Alien Baby, and an Unholy Courtroom Drama” »
Welcome to the House That Faith Built (and Logic Abandoned) Every so often, a movie comes along that makes you reconsider the value of your time, your faith, and your will to live. House (2008), directed by Robby Henson and based on the novel by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker, is one such cinematic act … Read More “House (2008): Satanic Marriage Counseling for the Terminally Bored” »
Hell Hath No Fury Like a PG-13 Rating There are bad horror movies, and then there’s The Haunting of Molly Hartley — a supernatural thriller so timid that it feels like Satan himself signed a non-disclosure agreement. Directed by Mickey Liddell and written by John Travis and Rebecca Sonnenshine, this 2008 stinker is what happens … Read More “The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008): Satan’s Least Enthusiastic Intern” »
All Aboard the S.S. Mediocrity There are bad TV movies, and then there’s Ghost Voyage — a 2008 made-for-SyFy disaster that somehow manages to make eternal damnation look boring. Directed by an anonymous collection of production decisions, this “horror” film stars Antonio Sabato Jr., Deanna Russo, P.J. Marino, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, all of whom look … Read More “Ghost Voyage (2008): A Shipwreck of a Movie” »
Welcome to the House That Subtlety Forgot There are bad horror movies, and then there’s Farm House — a psychological thriller so aggressively stupid that it might actually be proof of a vengeful god. Directed by George Bessudo and written by Daniel P. Coughlin, this 2008 low-budget morality play thinks it’s The Sixth Sense meets … Read More “Farm House (2008): A Hellish Movie Experience (and Not in the Good Way)” »
A Sight for Sore Eyes (And Sore Audiences) Every once in a while, Hollywood takes a beloved foreign horror film and remakes it for English-speaking audiences—usually with more money, less atmosphere, and Jessica Alba. The Eye (2008), a remake of the Pang Brothers’ haunting 2002 Hong Kong film, is one of those times when someone … Read More “The Eye (2008): A Remake That Should’ve Stayed Blind” »