Film

A collection of 523 posts

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

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.

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.

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

Film

Guns Akimbo Review (Film, 2020) #31DaysofHorror

Guns Akimbo is a killer game film. Skizm is an international online sensation. Contestants from all around the world are chosen to fight to the death. Win, you see another day. Lose, you lose your life. Fail to play, lose your life. Run away, lose your life. Miles decides to troll the livestream cha

Film

Masters of Horror: S2E12 "The Washingtonians"

This week in our Masters of Horror review series at The Avocado, we take a look at Peter Medak’s The Washingtonians. This adventure/horror story adapted from a story by Bentley Little is a very different kind of episode. You can read the full review here [https://the-avocado.org/2020/10/14/masters-o

Film

The Quiet Room Review (Short Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror

Michael, a writer, is put on a 72 hour hold at a mental hospital after attempting death by suicide. He’s warned about the screams from the quiet room and the resident demon Haunted Hattie. Hattie’s pushes men to death by suicide so she can be with them forever.

Film

Come to Daddy Review (Film, 2020) #31DaysofHorror

Norval is invited to visit his father who abandoned the family 30 years ago when he was five. His father is an alcoholic with no sense of empathy or appreciation for his son filling his request. After a brief struggle, his father dies of a heart attack, leaving Norval to deal with the physical remai

Film

Crawl Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror

A competitive swimmer gets trapped in her father’s house during a Category 5 hurricane. The structure becomes compromised and the house begins to flood. Things go from bad to worse when alligators claim the home as their own.

Film

Spookier Times Episode 2: The Ginger Snaps Trilogy, Boys will be, and the Role of Sisters in Horror

In this episode of Spookier Times, we take a look at the role of sisters in horror narratives. Different combinations of siblings have different tropes and sisters are the one group prevented from ever really having a happily ever after. We explore this through the beloved indie werewolf trilogy Gin

Film

Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street Review (Film, 2020) #31DaysofHorror

Scream, Queen! My Nighmare on Elm Street is a documentary about Mark Patton’s experience starring in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. It goes much deeper than that, exploring the impact of homophobia and the AIDS epidemic on Hollywood, media, and criticism for decades.