There’s a special place in horror movie heaven (or hell, depending on your taste in VHS boxes) for films like Warlock — a movie that opens with a witch trial in 1691 Boston and ends with Julian Sands getting shanked in the neck with a syringe full of salt water. Directed by Steve Miner (the … Read More “Warlock (1989): Julian Sands, Salt Water Syringes, and the Satanic Time Traveler We Deserve” »
There are bad vacations, and then there’s Vacaciones de Terror. Imagine booking a weekend getaway in a “rustic” house, only to discover it’s basically an Airbnb hosted by Satan’s doll collection. Directed by René Cardona III—Mexico’s reigning prince of “just good enough for VHS”—this 1989 supernatural horror flick is remembered less for its scares and … Read More “Vacaciones de Terror (1989): When Your Vacation Rental Includes a Murderous Doll and Zero Refunds” »
The Pitch That Should Have Stayed on a Cocktail Napkin Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction—which later rebranded itself as The McPherson Tape because even the aliens didn’t want their names on it—has the distinction of being one of the first “found footage” horror films. That’s right: before shaky cam was fashionable, Alioto decided to take a … Read More “The McPherson Tape (1989) – Review The Blair Witch Project’s Drunk, Unemployed Uncle” »
Sometimes sequels expand the world, deepen the story, and raise the stakes. Other times they’re just the cinematic equivalent of trying to microwave yesterday’s ramen in a cracked bowl—messy, confusing, and guaranteed to leave you questioning your life choices. Tokyo: The Last War falls firmly into the latter category. Billed as an epic tokusatsu historical … Read More “Tokyo: The Last War (1989)” »
There are bad movies. There are unwatchable movies. And then there’s Things—a 1989 Canadian VHS horror experiment that somehow managed to slither into existence like one of its own bug-eyed creatures, clutching a six-pack of beer and a complete lack of shame. Directed by Andrew Jordan, written by Jordan and Barry J. Gillis (who also … Read More “Things (1989) – When Cinema Forgot to be a Thing” »
Some movies make you think. Others make you feel. Tetsuo: The Iron Man makes you question whether tetanus shots should be a mandatory part of the ticket price. Shinya Tsukamoto’s cult classic has been hailed as visionary, experimental, and pulverizing. Which is a nice way of saying, “This looks like it was shot in a … Read More “Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989): Rust Never Sleeps, It Just Screams in Stop-Motion” »
A Monster Baby Nobody Ordered If you ever wondered what Alien would look like if it were shot in your uncle’s basement with the budget of a garage sale, Roger Corman has you covered. The Terror Within (1989) is proof that the words “science fiction horror” don’t always mean excitement—they can also mean 90 minutes … Read More “The Terror Within (1989)” »
There’s a saying that sequels are like reheated leftovers: sometimes edible, often soggy, and occasionally something you regret even putting in the microwave. Stepfather II falls into that last category. Imagine taking the chilling suburban nightmare of the original Stepfather, tossing it into a blender with soap opera melodrama, Lifetime Channel “woman in peril” clichés, … Read More “Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy (1989)” »
If you were alive in the late ’80s and spent more time watching MTV than doing anything productive, then Spellcaster is basically your cinematic mixtape. Directed by Rafal Zielinski and starring Adam Ant as the most flamboyant Satan this side of a Duran Duran concert, Spellcaster is the horror movie equivalent of finding a VHS … Read More “Spellcaster (1989) – Satan, Synths, and a Million Bucks” »
There are movies that scare you, movies that disgust you, and movies that make you look at your own family and wonder if maybe—just maybe—your mother is planning to liquefy your organs and absorb you into her upper thigh while your dad laughs and smokes a cigar. Brian Yuzna’s Society belongs squarely in that last … Read More “Society (1989): The Beverly Hills Meat Grinder” »