Film What the Constitution Means to Me Review (Film, 2020) What the Constitution Means to Me is a proshot of the Broadway play What the Constitution Means to Me. Heidi Schreck is the writer and star of the play. She recounts her experience competing in public speaking competitions about the United States Constitution. She steps back in time to recreate one
Announcements Announcing Tick: A Short Musical Introducing Tick: A Short Musical. This is an original short horror musical inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” It’s actually part of a longer anthology horror musical called The Sublime Method that I am trying to make available as soon as I can.
Film Phantasm: Ravager Review (Film, 2016) #31DaysofHorror Phantasm: Ravager is the fifth and final entry in the horror/sci-fi/slasher/action series that started in 1979. The story jumps between two timelines. It starts with Reggie’s quest to find Mike and defeat the Tall Man after the events of Phantasm IV: Oblivion. Then it jumps to one of the saddest tur
Film Kakurenbo (Hide & Seek) Review (Short Film, 2005) The Archives #31DaysofHorror “Kakurenbo (Hide & Seek)” is an animated short horror film from Japan. It is 30 minutes of a game of hide and seek with deadly consequences. Once seven children follow the clues in old street signs (O-to-ko-yo), they wind up at the gates of the city of the dead. They must wear fox masks to conceal t
Film The Shed Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror Stanley is a 17 year old living under strict parole conditions after being sent to juvenile hall multiple times. He has to live with his grandfather, who is extremely abusive, in a town that despises him because both of his parents are dead and he is poor. One day, he discovers a vampire living in h
Reviews NOS4A2 Season 1 Review (TV Series, 2020) #31DaysofHorror NOS4A2 is a fascinating property to explore. The novel by Joe Hill is one of the strangest horror novels I’ve ever encountered. Joe Hill writes brutal weird fiction and this novel is among his strangest. It’s a cross-country and cross-dimension horror story about a monstrous man known as the Charlie
Film Fear Itself: S1E01 "The Sacrifice" #31DaysofHorror We’re starting our new recap series at The Avocado today with the unoffical third season of Masters of Horror. Fear Itself aired for one season, and actually, the second half of the show was pushed to the NBC website rather than be aired on TV. Here’s our review of S1E01 “The Sacrifice” from directo
Film The Strangers Prey At Night Review (Film, 2018) #31DaysofHorror A family travels to a trailer park owned by their relatives. They’re preparing to settle their teenage daughter into boarding school to help her improve her behavior. Too bad the Strangers are prowling the grounds and they choose to open the door.
Film Spiral Review (Film, 2020) #31DaysofHorror Spiral is a concept horror film. The year is 1995. Malik and Aaron, a gay couple, move into a quiet suburban town with their teenage daughter Kayla. Malik is worried about leaving the safety of the city after surviving a vicious homophobic attack in his earlier years. Aaron thinks he’s worried for n
Film Blanketyy Review (Short Film, 2020) #31DaysofHorror A team of researchers and coders are working around the clock on a project that could change the course of literary history. Their goal is to teach a computer AI to write fictional stories. The problem is what the computer produces is not sensible. It goes into a tailspin of possibility, turning the
Film Spookier Times Episode 3: Halloween 2020: Roger Corman's Poe Films, Murder (The Look in Your Eyes), and Decoding the Beauty of Terror with Edgar Allan Poe In the Halloween special of Spookier Times, we take a look at the father of American horror Edgar Allan Poe. His work is captured to near perfection in Roger Corman's collaborations with Vincent Price and screenwriter Richard Matheson. From there, we get a sample of the upcoming short musical "Tick,
Film Primal Screen Review (Short Film, 2017) #31DaysofHorror “Primal Screen” explores this with the uncanny valley and the fear of dolls and puppets. The shared inciting incident for the interview subjects is one of my favorite films, 1978’s Magic. This is the evil ventriloquist dummy film starring Anthony Hopkins and it is terrifying. I never saw the trailer
Film Phantasm IV: Oblivion Review (Film, 1998) #31DaysofHorror Phantasm IV: Oblivion is the fourth entry in the long-running Phantasm series. The actual history of production makes the passage of time a significant part of the story with each new entry. The original debuted in 1979. Nine years later, Phantasm II. Six years later, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead.
Film Unfriended Review (Film, 2015) The Archives #31DaysofHorror The plot of Unfriended is simple and effective. Six friends chat in Skype with a mysterious seventh person on the call. That person claims to be the ghost of Laura who wants them to confess to their roles in her death by suicide. One by one, the friends are forced to play various games all connected
Film The Lighthouse Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror The Lighthouse is a psychological horror film about two men tending to a lighthouse in the 1890s. The younger man wants to do everything by the rules. The older man is an experienced keeper who knows and understands the true dangers of the job.
Reviews A Discovery of Witches Review (TV Series, 2019) #31DaysofHorror A Discovery of Witches is an urban fantasy/romance/horror series about witches, vampires, and demons in academia. Dr. Diana Bishop is a historian specializing in the history of alchemy. She is also a non-practicing witch who doesn’t always have control over her powers. She takes a position at Oxford
Games Dead by Daylight: Eternal Blight Event Review (Game, 2020) #31DaysofHorror Every time I think Behaviour Interactive is actually working to improve Dead by Daylight and move it in a positive direction, I get disappointed. This is especially true for events, which are getting worse as time goes on.
Film Masters of Horror S2E13: "Dream Cruise" #31DaysofHorror We’ve finally reached the series finale of Masters of Horror in our review/recap series at The Avocado. Norio Tsuruta’s Dream Cruise is one of the most unique episodes of the second season, which is largely filled with far more adventurous titles than the first season. For one thing, he filmed it as
Film Climax Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror Climax is a horror film that pulls inspiration from queer ball culture. A group of dancers are interviewed as part of an audition for an international touring company. Think A Chorus Line, but far more invasive. The dancers are asked about their sexuality, their history of drug use, and why they dan
Film Possum Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror A man walks around with an older leather bag. He is horrified by its contents and can’t seem to get rid of it no matter how hard he tries. Inside is a puppet, one that cost him his career and forced him to move back to his childhood home until he can find a way to redeem himself.
Reviews The Boulet Brothers' Dragula: Resurrection Review (TV, 2020) #31DaysofHorror The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Resurrection is a Halloween special. Seven previous contestants who did not take the crown compete in a pageant to win $20000 and a guaranteed spot to compete on season four. Due to pandemic and quarantine, the contestants competed near their homes with the help of the
Film The Last Showing Review (Film, 2014) #31DaysofHorror A disgruntled former projectionist sets up an elaborate to plan for revenge after being pushed out of his job by the advent of digital projection. He will make his own “realistic” horror film that matches the demands of the modern audience. The stars are an unwilling couple on a midnight movie date
Film Scary Stories Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror Scary Stories is a documentary about the legacy of Alvin Schwartz’ Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. These beloved collections of horror stories became a sensation for a number of reasons, including controversy over their content, the perfect timing in the publishing industry, and the visual
Film Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead Review (Film, 1994) #31DaysofHorror Phantasm III is camp. It’s self-aware. It has interesting things to say about the series but we’ve now added in the afterlife (after being told there is no afterlife in the series), people being trapped in the floating orbs if they’re not turned into the minions, and just shapeshifting everywhere. I
Film Pulse Review (Film, 2005) The Archives #31DaysofHorror Pulse is one of the better known J-Horror films from the late 90s/early 00’s. It is a technology/chain letter hybrid horror occupying an odd space between The Ring and Suicide Club. Essentially a metaphor for the increasing distance between people as the Internet gains prominence in the world, Pulse
