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Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
RESURRECTION
Buddhist-infused dream-horror from China
HOW TO SHOOT A GHOST
A 27 minute film directed by Charlie Kaufman that’s every bit as quirky and idiosyncratic as you might expect
BACKTRACK
A 1989 directorial effort by the late Dennis Hopper that isn’t bad
THE AUTHOR OF BELTRAFFIO
The directorial debut of the late Tony Scott, adapting a Henry James novella for 1970s TV.
VICE SQUAD
A 1982 film that remains a standout in the trashy thriller category
CHRONOLYSIS
Disorienting is the word for this very Phil Dickian excercise in reality displacement
HUMANIMALITY
A self-proclaimed “hybrid monster of a book that interrogates humanity’s troubled relationship with its animality, & so its relation to animals, the earth, and ultimately the cosmos”
SNAIL
I don’t know what kind of drugs Richard Miller was on when he wrote this novel, but I want some
NOCTURNAL APPARITIONS: ESSENTIAL STORIES
A newly translated assortment of “Essential Stories” by Poland’s Bruno Schulz
BURNT OFFERINGS
Potent but overrated haunted house scares from the 1970s
THE EXOTIC ONES: THAT FABULOUS FILMMAKING FAMILY FROM MUSIC CITY, USA–THE ORMONDS
It’s hard to believe this large format hardcover is the first book devoted to the Ormonds, but I’m glad it’s finally here, and that it delivers on its promise
AESTHETIC DEVIATIONS: A CRITICAL VIEW OF AMERICAN SHOT-ON-VIDEO HORROR, 1984-1994
The first in-depth critical study of SOV horror, written by an author who really appreciates this stuff
THE EXORCIST LEGACY: 50 YEARS OF FEAR
A 50 year overview of an enduring classic, written by an author who was ideally suited for the job
CORMAN/POE
This book, in which the veteran writer/editor Chris Alexander explores Corman’s 1960-64 cycle of Edgar Allan Poe inspired films, is long overdue
SOLDIER: FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN
I’ve admittedly never been too enthusiastic about the 1998 Kurt Russell science fiction vehicle SOLDIER, but thoroughly enjoyed this passionate account of its making
BEETLEJUICE vs. BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
All about BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE and why it exists
10 Notable Cinematic Depictions of the Inferno
My top 10 Hell-set films
Films Misplaced: 50 That Got Away
“Lost” films? Not quite.
Shelley Duvall: 1949-2024
Shelley Duvall: Hollywood’s prototypical Quirky Actress.
Robert Towne: 1934-2024
Another important showbiz death? I’m afraid so…