Serial Killer

LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT — SHOCKTOBER!

B-Movie, BDSM, Capsules Blog, Crime Thriller, Cult Film, Grindhouse, Horror, Independent Cinema, Re-boot, Serial Killer, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, , Transgressive Cinema, War, ZERO STARS

October 20, 2024

Wes Craven’s debut film is everything wrong with exploitation cinema. Mean spirited to its core, this film’s overriding theme seems…

MALEVOLENT — SHOCKTOBER!

B-Movie, BDSM, Capsules Blog, Con Men, Horror, Magic Realism, Psychological Thriller, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!

October 5, 2024

“Malevolent” is based on the novel “Hush” by Konstantopoulos, although you’d never guess that this lightweight story was based on…

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,…

EYES OF LAURA MARS — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Giallo, Hollywood, Horror, LGBTQ, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, THREE STARS, Women's Cinema

August 4, 2024

“Eyes of Laura Mars” is a classic Hollywood movie, and a great guilty pleasure. This movie could just be your…

THE HONEYMOON KILLERS — SHOCKTOBER!

Black and White, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Serial Killer, sex, SHOCKTOBER!, , Suspense, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema

October 29, 2023

The naturalistic black-and-white noir compositions that writer/director Leonard Kastle captures in the only film of his career, are augmented by…

CURE — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Japanese Cinema, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!

October 21, 2023

Writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s bold police procedural breaks every cliche in the book. Cole Smithey.

ZODIAC — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, FIVE STARS, Horror, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, True Crime, Women's Cinema

October 17, 2023

Towering performances from Jake Gyllenhaal (as staff newspaper political cartoonist Robert Graysmith), and Mark Ruffalo (as famed homicide Inspector David…

PEEPING TOM — SHOCKTOBER!

British Cinema, Capsules Blog, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Serial Killer, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Women's Cinema

October 16, 2023

Screenwriter Leo Marks includes satirical grace notes about things like psychology and parental abuse that enables the audience to empathize…

SE7EN — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Neo-Noir, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!

October 12, 2023

Although he previously directed “Alien³,” “Se7en” is the movie that put David Fincher on the map. The film’s iconic look…

MONSIEUR VERDOUX — SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, Women's Cinema

October 11, 2023

Charlie Chaplin bought and adapted the story idea for his 1947 black comedy from Orson Welles, who wanted to cast…

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, FIVE STARS, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Drama, Romantic Fantasy, Serial Killer, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema

March 23, 2022

People ain’t no good. Writer/director Emerald Fennell makes quite a splash with this steely black comedy. Cole Smithey.

MEMORIES OF MURDER — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Capsules Blog, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, Korean Cinema, Serial Killer

February 8, 2022

Suspense, slapstick, and irony blend into a heady filmic concoction. “Memories of Murder” is the film that put Bong Joon-ho…

MAN BITES DOG — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Belgic Cinema, Black and White, Capsules Blog, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, Horror, Mockumentary, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, , Transgressive Cinema, Video Essay

November 2, 2015

Self-reflexive social satire rarely comes with such a hilarious fury of black humor as it does in this ingenious mockumentary…

VENGEANCE IS MINE — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, Japanese Cinema, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, Video Essay

January 8, 2015

Shôhei Imamura had graduated from working as an assistant under Japan’s celebrated director ‪Yasujirō Ozu in the early ‘50s to…

SE7EN — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, FIVE STARS, Horror, Neo-Noir, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, Video Essay

December 11, 2014

The influence of William Friedkin’s groundbreaking serial killer procedural “Cruising” is evident in David Fincher’s masterpiece of the subgenre. The…

THE VANISHING — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, Dutch Cinema, FIVE STARS, Literary Adaptation, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, Suspense, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

June 4, 2014

George Sluizer’s spellbinding adaptation of Tim Krabbé’s horror novella “The Golden Egg” is such an expertly layered suspense thriller than…

BADLANDS — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, Road Movie, Serial Killer, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

April 1, 2014

Terrence Malick’s self-penned feature debut is a haunting road movie pitched in ‘50s Americana. The film’s razor-sharp tone of poetic…

MS. 45 — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Crime Drama, FIVE STARS, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

January 6, 2014

Abel Ferrara’s funky and nasty 1981 cult über thriller is a feminist take on the good-old-bad-old days of ’70s and…

MANIAC

Capsules Blog, Horror, Serial Killer, Sexploitation, TWO STARS

April 11, 2013

An irredeemable exploitation horror movie that overplays its subjective point-of-view conceit, “Maniac” will leave viewers cold. A by-committee screenplay, contributed…

MONSIEUR VERDOUX — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Black and White, Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, Political Satire, Serial Killer, SHOCKTOBER!, , Video Essay

March 31, 2013