Black Comedy

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL — SHOCKTOBER!

B-Movie, BDSM, Black and White, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Children's Cinema, Classic Cinema, Criterion Channel, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!

October 2, 2024

William Castle’s 1959 B-Movie horror classic retains its goofy charm with a litany of gimmicky sight gags that, however tame…

MIDSOMMAR — SHOCKTOBER!

BDSM, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Dystopia, FOUR STARS, Magical Realism, Serial Killer, sex, SHOCKTOBER!, , Surrealism, Swedish Cinema, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema

September 28, 2024

All you need to know going into this transgressive (if surrealistic) film is that it covers: animal abuse, cannibalism, incest,…

HITMAN

Agitprop, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Comedy, Crime Procedural, Erotic, FIVE STARS, True Crime

July 28, 2024

While it may not be a perfect movie, “Hitman” is a perfectly nuanced satire. “Hitman” comes at right time. Cole…

SLATBURN

Black Comedy, British Cinema, Capsules Blog, Erotic, FIVE STARS, LGBTQ, sex, Sexploitation, , Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema

March 10, 2024

Writer/director Emerald Fennell helps usher in 2023 as the year that Cinema came back to life, with a transgressive black…

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FEET STREET — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, Musical, Play Adaptation, SHOCKTOBER!, Women's Cinema

October 28, 2023

Director Tim Burton’s screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 Grand Guignol musical is at once mesmerizing and disappointing. Outstanding singing…

STARSHIP TROOPERS — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Corporate Corruption, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Literary Adaptation, Political Satire, Sci-Fi, SHOCKTOBER!, , War, War Fantasy, Women's Cinema

October 27, 2023

“Starship Troopers” is a canny war satire that outshines even Kubrick’s great satire “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to…

BLACK SHEEP — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, New Zealand Cinema, SHOCKTOBER!

October 24, 2023

The lush hills of New Zealand provide an ironic backdrop for this witty little horror show about a farm where…

BASKETCASE — SHOCKTOBER!

American Independent Cinema, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Podcast, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Transgressive Cinema

October 24, 2023

In episode #25 Mike and I take an old school trip to bad old Manhattan of the ’80s with BASKET…

TROPIC THUNDER — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Buddy Movie, Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Filmmaking, FOUR STARS, Hollywood, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, , Spoof, War, War Fantasy

October 23, 2023

A heady blend of outrageous Grand Guignol comic set pieces and fast-twitch dialogue, “Tropic Thunder” walks a fine line of…

WITHNAIL AND I — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, British Cinema, Buddy Movie, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, LGBTQ, Podcast, SHOCKTOBER!, , Transgressive Cinema

October 23, 2023

A British cult film classic seems like just the thing to break Cole and Mike out of their hangover from…

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 — SHOCKTOBER!

BDSM, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Dutch Cinema, Horror, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, , THREE STARS, Transgressive Cinema

October 20, 2023

Will this movie give nightmares to more than a few of the audiences who manage to last through it? You…

THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER — SHOCKTOBER!

Agitprop, BDSM, Black Comedy, British Cinema, British Gangster, Capsules Blog, Corporate Corruption, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Political Satire, SHOCKTOBER!, , Video Essay, Women's Cinema

October 19, 2023

“The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover” is a masterpiece of British cinema built on several hundred years…

BURKE & HARE — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, British Gangster, Capsules Blog, Horror, sex, SHOCKTOBER!, , THREE STARS, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

October 19, 2023

John Landis’s loving homage to the Vaudeville and Grand Guignol-based humor of Britain’s Ealing Studios is a retrofitted black comedy…

FINAL DESTINATION 5 — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Franchise, Horror, sex, SHOCKTOBER!, , THREE STARS, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema

October 19, 2023

The “Final Destination” franchise settles into its comfortable shock horror rhythm in this latest outing. Notable is the film’s proficient…

TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Horror, Independent Cinema, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, THREE STARS, Women's Cinema

October 19, 2023

Co-writer/director Eli Craig deconstructs nearly every slasher horror movie cliché dating back to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” for a gross-out…

LITTLE OTIK — SHOCKTOBER!

Animation, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Czech New Wave, FIVE STARS, sex, SHOCKTOBER!, , Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema

October 17, 2023

Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer draws upon his long history of theatrical experience working with marionettes in this mysteriously comic retelling…

DRAG ME TO HELL — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, Women's Cinema

October 16, 2023

“Drag Me to Hell” is the most fun I’ve had at the movies in years. It’s destined to be a…

DARK SHADOWS — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Children's Cinema, Cult Film, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, THREE STARS, Women's Cinema

October 16, 2023

“Dark Shadows” is a lot more fun than any of the “Twilight” movies combined. The movie is about sustaining a…

KILLER JOE — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Neo-Noir, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Transgressive Cinema, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

October 15, 2023

William Friedkin has made the most triumphantly dark, funny, and sexy black comedy you could ever imagine. Cole Smithey.

THE FACULTY —SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Coming-of-Age, Cult Film, Dystopia, FIVE STARS, Horror, LGBTQ, SHOCKTOBER!, , Women's Cinema

October 14, 2023

Great energy, great story, great tone, “The Faculty” is a truly great movie. I already want to watch it again.…

COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA

Black Comedy

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL — SHOCKTOBER!

HITMAN

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FEET STREET — SHOCKTOBER!

BLACK SHEEP — SHOCKTOBER!

BASKETCASE — SHOCKTOBER!

TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL — SHOCKTOBER!

DRAG ME TO HELL — SHOCKTOBER!

DARK SHADOWS — SHOCKTOBER!

KILLER JOE — SHOCKTOBER!

FEATURED VIDEO

COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA

Navigation

Support Cole Smithey

Socials