Category Archives: Reviews: Movies

Movie Review: Jackalope

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(2026)
Directed by Bryce Hirschberg
Starring Alex Mandel, Bryce Hirschberg, Catherine Corcoran, Dallas Hart, Howie Mandel

Bryce Hirschberg directs, co-wrote, produced, edited, and stars in this picture, so you could say he’s put a lot of work into it. While I’m not sure it’s the best title for the film, only from a marketing aspect, it does play into the film and is an interesting story with some depth to it. The picture stars Hirschberg as Aidan, who is taking his younger brother Connor (Alex Mandel) on a little brothers getaway. From a flashback sequence and a call to their father (played by Alex’s real father, comedian Howie Mandel), we know there is something going on with Connor. There was some sort of a bad breakup with a wife or girlfriend, but Connor does not want to talk about it. We can tell that there is something deeper going on though. What seems to be an attempt to do the “relax and get away from it all” at their father’s vacation home, doesn’t seem to be going the way Aidan had expected.

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Movie Review: Broken Beak

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(2026)
Written & Directed by Christian Carroll
Starring Briar Rose, Lydia Peckham, Katlyn Wong, Joel Tobeck, Jonny Brugh, Bruce Hopkins

I love when films bring something new to the table when it comes to the “monster”. And by that, I mean, when we delve into the rich, untapped folklore, or even creating a new creature that sounds like it could come from a hundred-year-old tale, it is so refreshing compared to just another vampire, zombie, or other monster that we’ve seen over and over again. Don’t get me wrong, I love those monsters too, but it’s always nice to see something different. And we get that with Broken Beak.

The story, originally called The Burning of Broken Beak, was written and directed by Christian Carroll, who also provided the score too! Busy guy. This is Carroll’s first horror feature, and I like what I’ve seen. The film stars off with a brutal murder of a man who just made a huge deal to sell some land in New Zealand that is going to be turned into a huge tourist area. After the deal, he wanders a deserted beach area, not sure if he’s celebrating or regretting what he’s done, but then he is brutally stabbed to death by what looks like a person in a bird costume?

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Movie Review: The Devil Whispered My Name

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aka Un susurro invocó mi nombre (2025)
Directed by Emilia Cotella & John Mathis
Starring Clara Kovacic, Valeria Beltramo, Cristian Cavo, Andrés Malakkian

It seems that Argentinian horror films are becoming a thing. After what we’ve seen lately, especially from Demián Rugna, it seems that country has been making some impressive entries in the horror genre. And we love it!

This story takes a little folklore, a little mysticism, and of course, some religion thrown into the mix. A group of five young adolescents who go off on a little camping trip, as well as another trip. They concoct some sort of brew to drink that will expand their minds. Carla promises her best friend Maria that she’s got her back and that everything will be fine. But when Carla finally wakes up after having some frightening visions, she finds Maria laying in a pool of blood on the riverbank, with what looks like some sort of a ritualistic design carved into her chest.

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Movie Review: Audition

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(1999)
Directed by Takashi Miike
Starring Ryô Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura, Renji Ishibashi, Miyuki Matsuda

I can vividly remember the first time I watched this film when it first came out, thinking it was moving kind of slow in the beginning. I mean, this was a horror film, right? All we’re seeing is this guy going through a lot of trouble to meet a future wife, which seemed kind of creepy when you think about it. But then we start to see some cracks in the story, meaning it isn’t going the way it seemed like. And then comes the infamous third act. Holy shit.

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Movie Review: The Navy vs the Night Monsters

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The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966)
Directed by Michael A. Hoey, with Jon Hall & Arthur C. Pierce (both uncredited)
Starring Mamie Van Doren, Anthony Eisley, Billy Gray, Bobby Van, Pamela Mason, Walter Sande, Edward Faulkner, Phillip Terry

What a title, huh? That would surely draw the attention of any young monster fan. And I’m sure it did, especially if you were cruising through the TV guide and saw this listed some Saturday afternoon. Which is exactly where most younger fans saw it. Now I’m not saying this is a terrible film by any means, but it is definitely a Turkey. Recently released on Blu-ray from Leomark Studios, in about as bare-bones edition as you can get. I had a copy of this movie on DVD from Cheezy Flicks or some other low budget place, and this Blu-ray is just slightly a step up from that. Barely. The movie just starts when you start the disc. No menus and definitely no extras. In fact, the cover art shows a guy with a beard staring at some sort of alien creature, face to face. Neither of these characters are in this movie, which is about killer plants. In fact, I’m trying to remember if there was even a guy with a beard!?!? But nonetheless, since it looks like they spent about $1 on the packaging, let’s get to the actual movie.

The movie starts with the typical narration, letting us know about how the U.S. is exploring Antarctic, to discover all its secrets! And after finding some strange plant life in an apparently warm spot down there, they load it on a plane to take it to the states. But on their way to Gow Island to refuel, they run into issues as they try to land. Low budget icon Anthony Eisley stars as Lt. Charles Brown (I kid you not) who is now in command of a Navy base located there, since his commanding officer left the night before, and now he must step up and take charge.

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Movie Review: Dust Bunny

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(2025)
Written & Directed by Bryan Fuller
Starring Sophie Sloan, Mads Mikkelsen, Sigourney Weaver, David Dastmalchian, Sheila Atim, Rebecca Henderson, Line Kruse, Caspar Phillipson

There aren’t too many movies I feel that can perfectly blend in fantasy and reality together, with a heavy touch of surrealism, and maybe a little life lesson in there, and do it well. Tim Burton is one that comes to mind, and only after a few minutes of watching Dust Bunny, I wondered if he had anything to do with this picture! It really is like a child’s dream/nightmare come to life and seeing it through the eyes of a little 8-year-old girl.

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Movie Review: White Zombie

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(1932)
Directed by Victor Halperin
Starring Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorn, Robert Frazer, John Harron

This film starring Bela Lugosi tends to get overshadowed by the one he made the previous year, Universal’s Dracula (1931) since that was the film that made him a star. It is unfortunate because I feel that he gives a much more memorable performance here in White Zombie, as the voodoo priest Murder Legendre, than he did as the famous Count. And while it might not be an all-around classic title in the annals of horror history, it does have more than enough to give it more credit than it gets, besides being the namesake of Rob Zombie’s first band.

This does have the honor of being the very first feature zombie film, taking ideas from William S. Seabrook’s novel The Magic Island, which was where American audiences first heard of tales of voodoo and zombies. These were somnambulist or automatons, humans moving without will, or at least without their own will. These were not the flesh-eating, living dead kind, which we wouldn’t see until 1968. Based mainly on voodoo rites, these were not actual dead that have come back to life, but more likely just under a spell, as well as possibly caused by drugs of some sort. No matter what the belief is, it is the first film dealing with them. This kind of zombie would remain in horror films for the next 3 decades until George Romero changed the game with Night of the Living Dead.

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Movie Review: Crawling Hand & Slime People

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While Mystery Science Theatre 3000 brought a lot of films to a whole new audience, which is a good thing, the problem is that they told that same audience that these were bad movies and should be made fun of. And that is not a good thing. Sure, the movies didn’t have a huge budget, probably not the best script, and maybe even a cheesy monster, but the people involved making it gave it their all. And for that, you have to give some credit. Plus, as I’ve stated many, many times, if you were entertained once it’s over, then it is not a bad movie!

The two titles recently released by VCI Entertainment, The Crawling Hand and The Slime People, both from 1963, are two perfect examples of that. Both were produced by Joseph F. Robertson, who got his foot in the door in Hollywood by these two films. A short time later, he started producing and directing adult features, under the name Adele Robbins. He came back to the horror genre to produce Dr. Caligari (1989) and directing Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies (1992). But we’re here to discuss those first two titles!

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Monster Mayhem Collection

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When I saw this Monster Mayhem Collection announced, I was pretty excited. Then when I saw it was coming from Film Masters, it made it even better. Releasing 4 great titles from the 1950s, one of my favorite eras, means it’s always going to be a fun time. In this set, you get Kenneth G. Crane’s Monster from Green Hell and Nathan Juran’s The Brain from Planet Arous, both from 1957, and then two features from director Richard E. Cunha, Frankenstein’s Daughter and Giant from the Unknown, both from 1958. Each of the titles have 4K scans from archival prints in their original theatrical aspect ratios. While Brain looks a little bright, it still looks good, while the other ones all look crisp and clean, the usual high-quality standard we’ve seen from previous Film Masters’ releases.

But let’s dig a little into the films in this collection.

For years, Kenneth G. Crane’s Monster from Green Hell was one of those long-thought lost titles, though some may argue that it should have stayed that way. But if that was true, we’d never get to see these amazing giant wasps created by legendary Wah Chang. Now, there is a lot of walking during the films 71-minute running time. And then some more walking. And then some more.

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Movie Review: The Eye

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(2002)
Directed by Pang Brothers
Starring Angelica Lee, Lawrence Chou, Candy Lo, Yin Ping Ko

Let me say this right off the bat to avoid confusion. Granted, this is my opinion, so take it for that. This is not a horror film. It is though, a ghost story, and while creepy and having a few jumps in there, I don’t feel the intention of these filmmakers is meant to scare you. Sometimes, depending on your belief, dying is just part of life. Then there are those that get lost in between, that are around us all the time. That could be frightening in itself!

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