A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) feels like where Freddy Krueger graduated to pop culture mascot status (I mean, he’s rapping with The Fat Boys over the closing credits). From what I gather, this was the highest grossing of the series at the box office, and it vibes with franchise confidence. […]

Lord Of lllusions (1995)

Occult neo-noir is a sub-sub genre that has few big screen entries and Clive Barker’s Lord Of Illusions (1995) has always intrigued me, even though it has a mixed reputation with some defenders. Much like the loopy people in the Mojave desert, where this film opens, who pledge their sanity to a man named Nix […]

Cemetery Of Splendour (2015)

What I most want from an art movie is to be taken to somewhere else. Another part of the world, yes, but also taken to another way of seeing. Cemetery Of Splendour (2015; Rak Ti Khon Kaen) is only my second film that I’ve watched from Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul (after Uncle Boonmee Who Can […]

Cast A Deadly Spell (1991)

I remember Cast A Deadly Spell (1991) being advertised in a comic book as a kid and getting it confused in my memories with CD-rom PC games with film noir/movie elements like Under A Killing Moon. Cast A Deadly Spell has been written about as a horror neo-noir, a post-war detective story in a parallel […]

One From The Heart (1981)

I used to love Tom Waits. When I was younger, I bought up most of his discography. At some point, I grew a bit tired of the barroom drifter persona and the sound; I still like him and his music, but I think I moved on from it at a certain point. Even with his […]