I can't believe I forgot to review this when I saw it... so now a month later (give or take) I'm going to have to go mostly on memory.
This movie was like one of those completely sexist, racist problematic pulp magazine covers come to life. It was hyper-masculine to the point of misogyny. And I was just completely bedazzled and enthralled by the film's commitment. It was like a feature-length NC-17 Old Spice commercial set in the Indiana Jones-verse.…
Hooptober 9 #9
A failed sitdromedy pilot about the simple and colorful folk living in the last bastion 'Murican town in the cactus clusterfuck west that stitched on a braincell-scrunching side narrative made out of millstone about wolf people body jumping.
To call this psychotronic is to understate its case for being a singular work of cinema that can evoke emotions we've thankfully never had to come up with words for. Let me try one: Frustratiomazement. I was frustratiomazed with…
The number one thing I appreciated about this is that it contributed to a very small microgenre of rotoscoped adventure/fantasy films that should be larger in scope than it currently is. By virtue of just existing, it finds itself seated at a table with the likes of Bakshi's Wizards, Fire and Ice, and The Lord of the Rings, Heavy Metal, and... well, that's basically it.
I appreciate the film having an atypical fantasy setting. It wasn't just the typical high-fantasy…
Hooptober 9 #17
I had zero idea going in that this would be a documentary-style affair. I watched it on the tail end of a self-imposed double feature, and that wound up being a bit of a mistake for my ability to pay attention.
The film has some messy editing that mars really gorgeous pastoral shots. But overall the movie was very peaceful and the narration I found especially soothing. Picture one of those World of Disney documentaries from the…
I was really picking up what Tobe Hooper was putting down. Seriously, how is there not more buzz around this movie as an all-time classic?!
Now one of my favorite opening credits of all-time. And a PERFECT example, just like with Creepshow, of creating a pre-code horror comic on film. The shots and set pieces and colors were on-point. The characters were sufficiently caricatured to be ludicrous. And the plot mechanics are just terrific.
The set up is way bigger…
My first Hooptober movie of the season, and I'm glad to have started with it.
At multiple points I forgot that this movie came out in 2009. The dedication to not just the style of the era, but also to the cinematic style of the era, was admirable.
There was nothing revolutionary here in terms of plot or horror, really... it was just a very well-done horror flick. West's ability to generate suspense is among the best of working directors.…
