Recent reviews

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  Halloween II 1981

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 31 Oct 2024

  I’m not going to sit here and say that this proto-slasher sequel is superior to the movie that came before it. But of the two, it more accurately captures the holiday of the title. Or maybe a better way to put it is that the original film feels like getting ready for Halloween, where the second feels like going out for Halloween. We see more trick-or-treaters, more urban legends made real (I’ve never been able to shake the pirate kid who…

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  Mary Shelley's Frankenstein 1994

  ★★★ Rewatched 30 Oct 2024

  I used to Stan a lot harder for this one, mainly for its vibe, gruesomeness, and how it’s still the adaptation that’s closest to Shelley’s novel, at least in terms of story beats (though it does still take some pretty significant liberties). But faithfulness in plot doesn’t always equate faithfulness in tone or theme, and upon rewatching Frankenstein immediately after rereading the book (a first for me), it’s clear how much Kenneth Branagh missed the mark. 

  Despite what critics say,…

Popular reviews

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  Halloween Ends 2022

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 31 Oct 2023 3

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

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  When Evil Lurks 2023

  ★★★★★ Watched 28 Oct 2023 2

  I’ve never been all that interested in nihilism as an aesthetic choice or even a tonal one, and I’d be tempted to write off When Evil Lurks as needlessly bleak it its thesis wasn’t so clear: the complicated human emotions that cloud our everyday decision-making only become amplified in a life-or-death situation. The two deeply flawed brothers at the center of this, the best horror film of 2023, aren’t characterized by a lack of hope, but perhaps having too much…

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