Keanen's Film Blog

This movie reminds me of Wrong Turn. The first half is an exquisite psychological thriller drama, and the second half is a cancel-culture-satire-inbred-zombie (spoiler) mishmash. The juxtaposition of pseudo-philosophical social commentary and total B-movie horror schlock works very well as comedy. I feel like the comedy was piled into the second half to make the film more marketable or explain the plot.

The movie sends messages, but the messages get muddled by scenes like a zombie beating a guy with his own severed arm. My main reaction to this movie is “what the fuck?” But I liked it, so good job.

[Read more…]

Girl meets boy, boy fucks off to WWI and leaves girl with her shitty German immigrant parents in the middle of Kansas, chaos ensues.

I don’t love or hate this movie, but it’s interesting to study. The film makes a valiant effort to present character melodrama with the vibrancy of multi-strip color. It achieves all that and more, but my biggest complaint with this performance-oriented picture is how the performances are put to film. The directing and editing soured my experience somewhat, and the film feels like it runs at least 10 minutes too long.

I went out of my way to appreciate this movie. The least it could do is entertain me, which it did in the first half. Then it bored the fuck out of me, so I call it break-even.

[Read more…]

I don’t know what Jordan Peele’s personal standards are, but I will say this: This is a good movie, but maybe not by its director’s cinematic standards. Or rather, maybe he wanted to try something more on the sci-fi side with less horror, which I think is a good idea. However, I did not feel much dread or peril watching this film, and that lack of tension made for a pretty but ultimately mediocre experience.

[Read more…]

There are three categories of horror: Jason movies, Freddy movies, and Wil Wheaton movies. Jon Stevenson’s feature directorial debut falls into the “psychological thriller” category of horror movies, casting Star Trek’s most-hated child star opposite a very sad character who may be unstable. It’s less about media and more about interpersonal relationships, which is odd considering the premise of an “interactive” self-help VHS tape.

[Read more…]

The Heavy Metal/Métal hurlant franchise is awesome, if you are familiar with the material then you probably love it. That is a testament to the fantastic work of French comic artists and the animators who made this first American film. The anthology format of this and subsequent adaptations lends itself well to stories of raw passion and violence.

What is perhaps most interesting about Heavy Metal is that it crosses time and space to tell stories of human triumph over enemies, society, and life in general. It does not falter in its unflinching awareness of how the universe really is. It doesn’t lie as much as the Disney shit.

[Read more…]