PSYCHO II — SHOCKTOBER!
SHOCKTOBER! rolls on with PSYCHO II. Anthony Perkins reprises his role as Norman Bates “22 years later.” Cole Smithey.
Capsules Blog
MELANCHOLIA — SHOCKTOBER!
Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, Danish Cinema, Dystopia, FIVE STARS, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, Women's Cinema
2011 is the year of apocalypse in cinema. “The Tree of Life,” “Take Shelter” and “Melancholia” each offer differing visions…
CURE — SHOCKTOBER!
Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Japanese Cinema, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!
Writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s bold police procedural breaks every cliche in the book. Cole Smithey.
THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 — SHOCKTOBER!
BDSM, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Dutch Cinema, Horror, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, THREE STARS, Transgressive Cinema
Will this movie give nightmares to more than a few of the audiences who manage to last through it? You…
DRIVE — SHOCKTOBER!
Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Car Racing, Cult Film, Danish Cinema, FOUR STARS, Horror, Neo-Noir, Romantic Drama, SHOCKTOBER!
Playing with a William Friedkin-like level of patient intensity, atmospheric style, and shocks of violence Dutch director Nicolas Winding Refn…
THE SKIN I LIVE IN — SHOCKTOBER!
Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Horror, Literary Adaptation, Magical Realism, SHOCKTOBER!, Spanish Cinema, Women's Cinema
Pedro Almodóvar proves himself an apt technician at sustaining suspense in the thriller genre. Antonio Banderas returns to work with…
DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK — SHOCKTOBER!
“Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is a nuanced horror movie modulated to incur just the right quality of nightmare.…
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!, Social Satire, Video Essay, Women's Cinema
“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!, Social Satire, THREE STARS, Video Essay, Women's Cinema
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!, Social Satire, THREE STARS, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema
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
Co-writer/director Eli Craig deconstructs nearly every slasher horror movie cliché dating back to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” for a gross-out…
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH — SHOCKTOBER!
Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, Dystopia, FIVE STARS, Horror, LGBTQ, Literary Adaptation, Music, Political Satire, Rock 'n' Roll, Sci-Fi, sex, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Women's Cinema
“The Man Who Fell to Earth” is brilliantly stylized science fiction satire about an alien who comes to our big…
LITTLE OTIK — SHOCKTOBER!
Animation, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Czech New Wave, FIVE STARS, sex, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema
Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer draws upon his long history of theatrical experience working with marionettes in this mysteriously comic retelling…
PERFORMANCE — SHOCKTOBER!
British Cinema, Capsules Blog, FIVE STARS, LGBTQ, Music, Rock 'n' Roll, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema
A collaboration between British directors Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, “Performance” is a stunning experimental film. It pioneered a slew…
BLACK DEATH — SHOCKTOBER!
Here is a medieval adventure movie bathed in blood and mud. Most satisfying is the film’s refusal to patronize the…
I SAW THE DEVIL — SHOCKTOBER!
Following in the tracks of celebrated Korean filmmaker Chan-wook Park, director Ji-woon Kim affects a similar tone of grotesque violence…
BLACK SWAN — SHOCKTOBER!
BDSM, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, Dance, Erotic, FOUR STARS, Horror, LGBTQ, SHOCKTOBER!, Women's Cinema
Darren Aronofsky’s voyeuristic psychological thriller about a prima ballerina’s descent into madness employs the same subjective dancer’s-point-of-view that gave “The…
SALO, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM — SHOCKTOBER!
Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Italian Cinema, LGBTQ, Literary Adaptation, Political Satire, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Transgressive Cinema
Welcome! Groupthink doesn’t live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.…
BUG — SHOCKTOBER!
Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, Political Satire, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema, War, Women's Cinema
William Friedkin ratchets up suspense and terror to an almost unbearable level with his adaptation of Tracy Letts’ award-winning 2004…
THE TENANT — SHOCKTOBER!
Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, French Cinema, Horror, LGBTQ, Polish Cinema, Psychological Thriller, SHOCKTOBER!, Social Satire, Transgressive Cinema
Roman Polanski’s intense psychological thriller stars the director himself as Trelkovsky, a troubled file clerk who takes over the former…
COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA
