FOUR STARS

THE SKIN I LIVE IN — SHOCKTOBER!

Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Horror, Literary Adaptation, Magical Realism, SHOCKTOBER!, Spanish Cinema, Women's Cinema

October 20, 2023

Pedro Almodóvar proves himself an apt technician at sustaining suspense in the thriller genre. Antonio Banderas returns to work with…

BLACK DEATH — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Horror, Medieval Drama, SHOCKTOBER!, Women's Cinema

October 17, 2023

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!

Capsules Blog, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Korean Cinema, SHOCKTOBER!, South Africa

October 17, 2023

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

October 17, 2023

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…

BUG — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, Political Satire, SHOCKTOBER!, , Transgressive Cinema, War, Women's Cinema

October 17, 2023

William Friedkin ratchets up suspense and terror to an almost unbearable level with his adaptation of Tracy Letts’ award-winning 2004…

PARANORMAN —SHOCKTOBER!

Animation, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Children's Cinema, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!

October 13, 2023

“ParaNorman” has its share of jaunty chase sequences to keep kids on the edge of their seats. No matter how…

SIGHTSEERS — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, British Cinema, Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Horror, Political Satire, SHOCKTOBER!,

October 12, 2023

Blacker than the La Brea Tar Pits, director Ben Wheatley’s dark comedy about a couple of serial killer lovebirds is…

NEKROMANTIK 2 — SHOCKTOBER!

BDSM, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Cult Film, Exploitation, FOUR STARS, German Cinema, Horror, Magical Realism, New German Cinema, Political Satire, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, , Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema

October 12, 2023

In the brainwash of modern ideologies it seems apropos that Jörg Buttgereit’s follow-up to his banned 1987 horror film “Nekromantik”…

I STAND ALONE — SHOCKTOBER!

Argentinean Cinema, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Exploitation, FOUR STARS, Horror, Political Satire, Psychological Thriller, SHOCKTOBER!

October 12, 2023

Desolation of the human soul is the provocation for Gaspar Noé’s dead-end French antihero, a nameless, broke 50-something butcher (played…

THE NEON DEMON — SHOCKTOBER!

Art Film, BDSM, Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, LGBTQ, SHOCKTOBER!

October 12, 2023

All high-contrast shiny surfaces and fetishized sensual fantasy, Nicholas Winding Refn’s ultra slick Neon Demon isn’t the redemption he was…

TRAIN TO BUSAN — SHOCKTOBER!

Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!

October 11, 2023

Sure the social commentary hits too much on the nose; it’s a forgivable condition considering how much fun this filmic…

A SERBIAN FILM — SHOCKTOBER!

Banned Films, BDSM, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, Porn, Serbian Cinema, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Transgressive Cinema, War

October 11, 2023

There are no degrees of separation from a communal psychosis that affects every citizen. By putting the narrative in a…

1408 — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Horror, Literary Adaptation, SHOCKTOBER!

October 11, 2023

Adapted from a short story by Stephen King, Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom (“Derailed”) skillfully helms this twisting one-man showcase in…

ROOM 237 — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Documentary, FOUR STARS, Horror, Political Satire, SHOCKTOBER!,

October 11, 2023

Rodney Ascher’s engrossing documentary exposé regarding a multitude of hidden messages and meanings in Stanley Kubrick’s legendary horror movie “The…

TAXIDERMIA — SHOCKTOBER!

Cannes Film Festival, Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Hungarian Cinema, Magic Realism, SHOCKTOBER!,

October 10, 2023

“Taxidermia” is as thematically challenging as it is visually disturbing — perhaps more so for Western audiences. However there are…

SHUTTER ISLAND — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, Psychological Thriller, SHOCKTOBER!

October 8, 2023

For his forty-fifth film Martin Scorsese crafts a gorgeously stylized psychological thriller full of darkly lush horror that torments its…

THE DESCENT — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, Women's Cinema

October 8, 2023

Traumatizing terror serves as the ultimate right to passage for surviving the horrors of the real world in British writer/director…

CROPSEY — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, True Crime

October 7, 2023

“Cropsey” bridges an essential chapter of American history with a nightmare legend that is still referred to in hushed tones.…

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Cult Film, Exploitation, FOUR STARS, Holocaust, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!,

October 6, 2023

Apart from being a truly disturbing film, “Cannibal Holocaust” serves up a cold plate of scathing social commentary. That it…

HIGH TENSION — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, FOUR STARS, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, Women's Cinema

October 5, 2023

Get out the popcorn, and get ready to squirm in your seat. Cole Smithey.

THE SKIN I LIVE IN — SHOCKTOBER!

BLACK DEATH — SHOCKTOBER!

BLACK SWAN — SHOCKTOBER!

I STAND ALONE — SHOCKTOBER!

THE NEON DEMON — SHOCKTOBER!

A SERBIAN FILM — SHOCKTOBER!

1408 — SHOCKTOBER!

SHUTTER ISLAND — SHOCKTOBER!

THE DESCENT — SHOCKTOBER!

CROPSEY — SHOCKTOBER!

HIGH TENSION — SHOCKTOBER!

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