Year: 2025
Rating: 5.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Death/Murder, Blood/Gore Kidnapping
Summary: A serial killer runs a business taking people out to see sharks.
This is... An okay movie! It’s not so bad I’m cursing myself for wasting time, but I don’t think I’ll be remembering it like, “Oh, yeah, that was good”. There were 2 things that stood out to me on being really good:
1. The actor for the serial killer. He did a really great job with his role and brought a lot of life to it. Everything from his facial expressions to his movements really fit well.
2. Thank you whoever lighted this movie. Even in the dark scenes, I could still see it! I feel like this sounds like sarcasm, but at the time of the review, I’ve seen so many badly lit things recently. The night scenes were lit really well– I could actually see what was going on despite the large amount of shadows. Thank you, thank you, thank you whoever oversaw lighting choices.
The mediocre: The plot. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t standout. I think the actual stuff with the serial killer guy was fine. They didn’t really dig into his backstory a lot, but I don’t think you needed it in this case. Most of the actors were fine. They weren’t standouts like the guy who played the serial killer, but they did their roles well enough.
Now, here’s where it falls apart: 1. I really did not like the main girl’s acting. It wasn’t giving tough girl (they were going for that), it gave no emotion put into the role. Even when she yelled in “panic”, it just felt so flat. Her being the main girl really did not work; I didn’t care for her character much due to the flatness of the performance.
The other big thing: God, the romantic subplot. It was not needed and it wasn’t really good at all. The meet-cute presented is: in a big city, a guy had to walk 10 blocks and end up blackmailing the main girl in this alleyway to get his car jumped. Aside from that seeming creepy as hell... Literally, his car was at an apartment complex in a big city and you’re telling me that he couldn’t find anyone there, let alone in a 10-block radius, who could jump his car? Family members of mine have found random people in Walmart parking lots and parks to do that. I don’t understand why they had to write it like that– hell, if his car died in the parking lot of the convenience store he cornered her at, it’d make more sense! Wouldn't be any less creepy, but it wouldn’t be as stupid! Other than that, it was overall just very boring and predictable in terms of plot points between them after he was introduced.
I’m not gonna even touch the weird shark CGI heavily. It’s not good, but hey, I prefer bad shark CGI to using real animals, actually.
Year: 1967
Rating: 5.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Death, blood
Summary: A 4-story horror anthology framed by a carnival setting.
At this point, I think I’ve complained about anthologies, namely horror anthologies in the past. However, this was pretty decent! I wouldn’t call it great, but there was nothing that was painfully awful (well, some of the audio clipping but...). All 4 stories I’d say were pretty okay, cohesive enough.
I feel they really tried to do a breadth of stories: There was one about a man’s greed over his dying uncle's estate, one where people were being replaced by robots, one where a man’s piano was jealous of his new lover and a story about Edgar Allan Poe enthusiasts. I think the story that wrapped it– i.e, people’s futures being told via a fair ground attraction, was a cool concept and it worked well.
Year: 2022
Rating: 8.5 / 10
Content Warnings: Death, Natural disasters
Summary: A documentary about volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft.
I watched this with my girlfriend for her birthday!! I feel as though it has a special place for that reason alone. I will say: If you’re going in for a straight-up documentary experience, I don’t think this is what you should watch on the subject matter. However, I think the more artful way they told the story of the couple worked really well and added a lot of heartfelt emotion. I’d definitely say that’s what this film was: a very artful and humanizing telling of the lives of two researchers who loved each other and studying volcanoes.
Even if you’re someone like me who was not aware of these two before, it’s very worth the watch. It’s a very human and heartfelt story about passion and the footage obtained is breathtaking. It’s a really unique and interesting gem.
Year: 1972
Rating: 8.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Murder/blood/gore, Forced institutionalization
Summary: A reporter witnesses a murder committed by her neighbor and fights to get the story out
Sisters is a very strange and interesting movie– both in the way it’s shot and because of the themes it explores.
The movie starts out with Danielle, a French-Canadian aspiring actress and model. We first meet her as the subject of a voyeuristic game show about peeping toms. After the show, she goes out with a man on it named Philip. The two are harassed by Danielle’s ex-husband, Emile, but eventually have a night to themselves. The next day is Danielle’s birthday and Philip aims to surprise her with a birthday cake. He hears Danielle fighting with someone, who she claims is her twin sister, Dominique. He goes out to get the cake, but ends up coming back and being killed by Dominique.
This murder is seen by Grace, the reporter who lives across the way.
The movie has a large pressured feeling that everything is against Grace. At best, people brush her aside, at worst, people actively dismiss her. People think they know what’s best for her– whether it’s her mother telling her to get married right away, or if it’s the police telling her she’s mistaken and to let go of what she knows she saw. Despite everything, she pushes back, seeking out the truth. She’s actually a very likeable main character to me, but I do have a bias for strong women from the metro region.
On the other hand is Danielle. I think her character is really interesting, especially juxtaposed against Grace. From the moment we meet her, she’s in a vulnerable position and is the subject of misogyny via how she’s only a means to an end on a perverted game show. She has a dialogue with Philip where she expressed negative opinions on the women’s liberation movement. She comes across as demure and innocent and doesn’t hesitate to listen to Emile telling her to put on makeup before the cops come.
Dominique is the glue that holds this story together as well. This next part is heavy spoilers for the end of the film: We end up finding out that Dominique was in fact a real person, but now she has passed. She was actually Danielle’s conjoined twin who died during their separation. She haunts the narrative, never really being on screen until a few quick scenes later on. Danielle switches up on her reaction to her: either denying her existence or refusing to believe she died. This whole story becomes more complicated as we find out Emile oversaw the twin’s care and was the one to perform the surgery to separate them. Before the surgery, Emile had made moves on Danielle while Dominique resented his presence. After Dominique’s death, Danielle ends up taking on her personality to almost regain her autonomy in an otherwise dazed existence.
Other than plot, I do want to include something else really of note: God that camera work was sublime. It helped carry the theme of voyeurism throughout. Hell, in a more direct way, the scenes of people staring through windows helped carry it too. There’s a scene towards the end, where we witness Grace processing Danielle’s memories as Emilie recounts them. It’s done in such a masterful and engaging way, at points the black spaces almost feeling like the peephole from the beginning scenes, condemning the viewer into a voyeur into this woman’s tragedy.
The only point of the movie that I didn’t like as much is the ending with Grace. I’m sure there’s something to be said about the framing of those last shots– Grace, in what I presume is her childhood bedroom, telling the police that there was no murder after getting brainwashed. I know there’s something there, but I can’t articulate it well. I did like how we continued to see the detective keep working in the most ridiculous of ways, however, leaving that as the last shot on the ending screen.
Year: 1959
Rating: 8.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Death, Hanging
Summary: 5 strangers are invited to the dinner party of a married couple, hosted at a house with a large number of strange deaths. They are each promised 10,000$ if they can last the night.
I see why this is such a classic movie. It’s a strange little gem full of interesting characters. It really keeps you guessing– both as to the validity of the claim it’s haunted and in the terms of it becoming a whodunnit murder mystery. Really enjoyed this one– the prop work is incredibly great as well!
Year: 1926
Rating: 5.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Violence, Institutionalization
Summary: A man gets a job at the asylum where his wife is held
This is one of those movies where honestly it’s kind of hard to know what’s going on most of the time. It’s a silent film and there are no cards, so it’s all just contextual. Maybe someone a lot more versed in 20s Japanese cinema could understand it all better, but I’ll be honest: I looked a lot at Wikipedia because I often felt lost.
My inability to know what was going on, while it does affect how I rate the film, doesn’t take away from the parts I think are good. I think the acting when it comes to facial expressions, especially the husband, are really well done. Also, the scoring that was done for this movie gives it a tense atmosphere throughout the whole film. The shooting is nice with a lot of good contrast for the shots. The dancing scenes in the film and the layered effects towards the end are particularly striking.
I read after watching it that apparently I wasn’t alone with finding it hard to comprehend, as I saw someone even saying those who are born/raised in Japan have issues with comprehending it, which kind of made me feel better haha.
Year: 2024
Rating: 8.5 / 10
Content Warnings: Death/Murder, Neglect (Specifically in care home for the elderly), Abuse
Summary: After suffering a stroke, a judge is placed in an ill-attended nursing home. Issues with the staff end up being the least of his problems as he finds out the home is ruled over by a long-time sadistic resident.
This movie was really unexpected and I think one that’ll stick in my mind for a while. I think the concept was really unique and really made perfect use of its time in building the story. There was a real sense of dread throughout every aspect of the film, while not relying on jumpscares, just pure atmosphere and masterful storytelling.
I think this is not only a unique take on horror, but a very scarily realistic one. The way we watch the nurses ignore the patients and their complaints while also offering some preferential treatment was done in such an eerie fashion. The 3 main actors– The judge, Stefan; his roommate, ex-footballer, Tony; and long-time resident Dave– all do such a stupendous job. Their motivations for everything are laid out so clearly and make so much sense. It’s a fascinating character study of 3 types of elderly men– [mild spoilers] one who believes the system should work, one who due to his life shies away from the notion of help, and one who uses abuse as power over the life he feels he deserves.
This is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen in a long time. Everything about it feels masterfully done and so well crafted.
Year: 2019
Rating: 4.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Missing children
Summary: A teenage boy goes to see his father and starts noticing strange things happening next door.
It was just kind of boring to me. Like I don’t think it was the worst thing ever, but it felt just like one of those movies you’d watch, be like “eh” and not remember it in like a year. I didn’t really feel connected with the main character... Or anyone for that matter.
Year: 2004
Rating: 7.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Implied sex, Death, Car crashes, dead body dissection
Summary: After losing his memories in a car crash, a man in medical school slowly learns he’s dissecting his girlfriend who died in the crash.
Going into this film, I didn’t realize it was another Shinya Tsukamoto film. In fact, it’s interesting, he has a way of making his films not feel like each other (or at least going off of the ones I've seen), but they all feel kinda unique.
Just from the plot summary alone, it’s kind of a weird film. It’s hard to really understand where all these strange flashes are taking place and leading to in the first 30, but once you figure it out, the narrative moves on very smoothly. It’s an interesting film about grief and seeing how it affects everyone involved– Our man guy, Hiroshi, doesn’t remember it and only gets flashes of his girlfriend, and even then, he mentions they’re not even really memories, more feelings. His girlfriend, Ryoko, left behind her parents, who are still in the process of grieving, blaming Hiroshi and we find out that it’s really unclear if they understood her. We also have Ikumi, Hiroshi’s lab partner who wants to be his lover and despite her also dissecting the body, has no emotional attachment to who Ryoko was and feels jealous over her.
Despite her being essentially the focus of the film, we never really learn who Ryoko really was. On one hand I can defend the choice and say, “Well, maybe that’s the point, no one really knew who she was”, on the other, I feel a bit frustrated.
Either way! I don’t regret watching it, I found it interesting. And as an aside, it’s kind of insane that Tsukamoto can wear so many hats while film-making and have all 4 i’ve watched, while having some similar themes throughout (eroticism and horror) all feel like they’re by different people.
Year: 1974
Rating: 7.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Child death, Murder/Death
Summary: After accidentally killing a neighbor's kid, a boy named Ronald is hidden away by his mother in their mansion so he won't face charges.
You know, this is a really interesting movie. It was made for TV, so I wasn't expecting much, but I enjoyed it. I thought the premise was interesting and unique-- albeit, I had to hold some suspension of belief at times. It's a strange film, but especially in a month where I ended up watching so many movies, it's sheer weirdness keeps it in my mind. I was intrigued the whole time and thought it was a fun journey to go on.
Year: 2022
Rating: 6.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Blood/Gore/Torture/Murder, Sexual assault (no genital depiction, but it still is quite heavy), Kidnapping, Sex (no genital depiction), Incest, Pregnancy/Birthing scenes w/out full depiction
Summary: The children of a famous serial killer live in his shadow
This was an okay movie. I kind of weigh the themes it was playing with– cycle of abuse, a patriarchal weight– and how far it went with that versus just moments of violence. I think it had a unique concept, but I don’t think it fleshed it out enough for me to fully recommend it. I think there were some interesting shots and framing, alongside the acting being pretty solid. I read somewhere after watching it was kind of a shoestring production... I do wonder what it would be if it had a better budget and was more properly fleshed out.
Year: 1986
Rating: 4.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Sex, Incest mentions, Blood, Nudity, Animal death (fake), Sexual assault, Child death/still born, Pregnancy/Birthing, Insect horror (crawling out of mouth), Attempted suicide, Leeches
Summary: A retelling of the famous get-together of Percey Shelley, Mary Shelley and Lord Byron
I’ll be honest: The depth of my knowledge of this event was an episode of Time Warp Trio– a show about 3 time traveling kids who go to famous historical events that’s highly fantastical. So, that’s to say, I knew vaguely of it happening and being a catalyst of famous gothic fiction with not much else context.
That being said: Going into this movie was a confusing mess because I was like “who is this lady with Percy and Mary...?” Turns out it’s Mary’s half-sister, but I had to look up that info because the film doesn’t really delve into who she is much at all. I also barely know who the doctor guy is and his whole everything, they mention he’s doing something with Byron’s autobiography or whatever. I didn’t expect this to be a 1:1 retelling in a historical manner, but I did hope at least they’d try and give some context to some of these things.
Even aside from my gripes there– it’s still not really interesting. It feels like a mess of a movie that despite an interesting source, doesn’t land. I don’t think the acting is awful and the set is gorgeous. The music is another highlight, I’ll give it that! Also, I could be off but it feels they made Mary Shelley... Kind of bland? She seems to just be witnessing everything without much of her own self aside from having a dead child and being the wife of Percy. I feel they did too much with the dead baby thing. It was like “okay, we get it, we get it” at a point. However, the freezeframe of it in the lake was so stupid, I can excuse that part.
There are some films that have a few image sets or gifsets with lines that look really good, and then you watch the movie and it’s so overwhelming... This is that.
Year: 2023
Rating: 7.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Death (including child death), Homophobia/Misogyny, Blood, Sex
Summary: A French envoy gets lost in the Balkans, only to watch a family slowly get overtaken by a strange monster.
I’m personally not familiar with the story this is based off of (Tolstoy’s The Family of the Vourdalak). Either way, I liked this film!! I think it was gorgeously shot. The costuming was exquisite, the woods were gorgeous, and it used light/dark spaces really well. I also think the puppetry was a very interesting take on the creature– in particular, I found scenes where you could see it “walking” really cool.
I also like how the envoy was honestly kind of a dick and kept getting checked over his attitude by 2 of the siblings, Sdenka and Piotr (especially Sdenka, who he had fallen for). I never found myself bored during it– the pacing worked really well and it captured my attention. It felt like a strange fairytale... I liked it!
Year: 1972
Rating: 8.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Sex/Nudity/Exhibitionism, Murder/Blood/Violence, Weird comments about minors/predatory behavior towards minors, Incest
Summary: A runaway girl leaves her current living situation and ends up at a strange hotel run by her aunt Martha.
This feels like a hard movie to describe. It’s authentically a strange movie that I don’t even think a quick summary can do justice of. At its core: it’s a weird and campy exploration of sexual themes.
It kept really good suspense and I didn’t know exactly where it was going for the bulk of it. It has one of the twist endings I hate (spoiler: The killer turns out to be trans... Though I guess it’s surprising in the fact that he’s a trans man?). Honestly, this movie has a lot of flaws, but its camp and absurdity kind of keeps it afloat from any actual criticisms I may have about the handling of certain topics. It’d be like critiquing a John Water’s film in a way– I just don’t think it’s a movie that you can dissect like that and it’s better to view it as a strange, rebellious and outsider film of the time and enjoy it as such.
Year: 2015
Rating: 7.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Blood/Gore/Murder/Torture, Insects (crawling out of mouth), Eye trauma, Mentions of beastiality, Homophobia/Transphobia, Drowning
Summary: A group of policemen get a call out to a strange location.
This is a strange movie. It was engrossing (and grossing-). I really thought it had really interesting and unique shots. The things that stand out the most is the shots while the policemen explore the building– it reminded me a lot of certain videos of Arabic internet horror (particularly surrounding Djinns). Even beyond those comparisons, I think the creepiness was done really, really well and it felt like a horror movie and eventually felt like a really good depiction of hell. It created such a tense and unnerving atmosphere that helped carry the film along.
The gore in it is pretty heavy– I’m not the biggest fan of gore stuff in general, but I can’t knock it being well done. I feel as though I missed a lot of the symbolism while watching it, but I’m sure part of it is a difference in exposure to certain themes.
What I can say is it makes for an interesting watching experience. Plus... It is always nice to see stories that show the police as being bad people and getting theirs in the end.
Year: 2024
Rating: 4.5 / 10
Content Warnings: Blood/Death/Violence, Drugging, Sexual assault
Summary: A small wrestling promotion gets an offer to play at a rural town
I really wanted to like this more than I did. I think the set up was interesting but it just... Fell apart pretty quickly. My main praise is I think it was a fun premise and interesting, and I don’t think the acting was bad at all.
My gripe falls on the story. I think it really quickly falls apart when the cult leader’s daughter, who was one of the wrestlers, gets killed. Like... You set up this “one person must die” type of situation and DON’T expect on a one-on-one match your daughter can get killed? It just seemed really stupid to me and made no sense. I also don’t really get why they had the scene of the one male wrestler being sexually assaulted... Like I don’t think it furthered or added to the plot personally.
The rest wasn’t really engaging and a lot of it felt like gore and violence for the sake of it. Again, if that’s your thing, this would cater to that... But it’s not really mine. I will say I really did like the plot twist of the Lucha chara kayfabe’ing his death– that was a really fun twist. Sad because he ends up dying in the end and he’s the one chara I did really like.
Perhaps the one thing that saves this from general obscurity is the fact the ending has a really stupid twist that by the end I was like, “you know what? Sure. Fuck it.” Otherwise... Eh, not my thing, even though I do like wrestling and horror.
Year: 1982
Rating: 6.5 / 10
Content Warnings: Blood/Murder/Death, Mentions of CSA, Home invasion
Summary: When the power cuts in a town, 4 insane murderers break out and seek to kill their new psychiatrist who they wrongly believe killed the old one.
I think as a movie this is fine. I see why it has a bit of a cult status in a way, but I wouldn’t say it personally did much for me. I will say it captured a feeling of discomfort really well, but I also can’t say anything much beyond it was okay.
Year: 2025
Rating: 7.0 / 10
Content Warnings: Death/Murder/Blood, Vehicular accidents, Dead animals (Dogs; Very fake looking but happens a few times)
Summary: A girl comes back from college and takes over a babysitting job for her best friend. However, this isn’t so long after another girl was killed in similar circumstances...
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie! I didn’t expect much, but it really created an interesting narrative where I didn’t exactly know what was going to happen next. I really enjoy the subversion of a lot of expectations and it really did keep me guessing. I was a bit annoyed watching because I thought the killer was like... An absolute nobody in terms of you couldn’t really predict it. However, that aside, I really enjoyed the subversion in their motives (I was annoyed thinking it’d be some love-related thing because they love doing something like that for female killers, but I appreciate how they let it be just for a sick enjoyment and not because of some big tie).
The part it lost me at was the very end– literally, it didn’t need to go down like that, especially since one of the main guys and survivors/people effected was a sheriff and it took place in his home. It would’ve been so easy to claim it was someone coming in with the intent to kill. You cannot convince me they had to go through 39485490 hoops and claim the murderer was a missing person.
All that aside, I think it was a good thriller and I enjoyed it!
5:25pm .. .. // 11.06.2025