In a Jan 26 2006 New York Magazine article, David Edelstein coined a now familiar phrase – ‘Torture Porn‘. Though he was initially commenting on Eli Roth’s Hostel, Edelstein stepped back and identified what he saw as a new horror trend. Following Saw’s unexpected box office success in 2004, a handful of movies released in […]
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Though re-quels – or soft reboot sequels – have been the biggest horror trends over the last few years, a few others have lurked in the background. Yes, Cabin in the Woods hit theaters over a decade ago. Nonetheless, meta-slashers haven’t completely gone out of style. The occasional Giallo-inspired thriller still turns up. And the […]
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Along with The Last House on the Left and I Spit On Your Grave, I Drink Your Blood is one of the more controversial exploitation movies of the 1970s. Its story of a Satanic hippie cult on a rabies-fueled rampage clearly took cues from the Manson Family murders. At the time of its release, the […]
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Sometimes a title tells you everything you need to know about a movie. Though For the Sake of Vicious saw a limited theatrical release in 2021, most horror fans will just be getting a look at it now as it pops up on streaming platforms. Both its tile and promotional material promise some old-fashioned Grindhouse […]
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Silent Night, Deadly Night boasts a history shared by few ’80’s horror films. Arguably its infamy far outreaches its quality. At its best, Silent Night, Deadly Night is a sleazy B-movie that hits the ‘so bad, it’s good’ switch. Many horror fans may just consider it plain bad. But when this Christmas chiller was released […]
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Across Quentin Tarantino’s impressive filmography, most critics and fans consider Death Proof to be his most inconsequential work. Even Tarantino himself ranks it at the bottom of his directorial efforts. Originally, Dimension Films released Death Proof as part of a double-bill alongside Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror under the moniker, Grindhouse. As far as gimmicks go, […]
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Looking to cash in on the low-budget grindhouse aesthetic that Rob Zombie and Eli Roth perfected, Anthony Leone’s 2020 indie horror, Hacksaw, hits VOD platforms this week. To his credit, first-time director Leone is almost a one-man show, taking on writing, producing, and cinematography credits. Though Leone demonstrates ambition, Hacksaw follows a familiar blueprint. Based […]
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Over the course of his career, director Abel Ferrara amassed some impressive Grindhouse credentials. His wide-spanning filmography includes an early pornographic movie, the cult rape-revenge Ms 45, and neo-noir crime thrillers King of New York and Dangerous Game. Ferrara made the gonzo 1992 thriller, Bad Lieutenant, and the critically acclaimed The Funeral. Few filmmakers have […]
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