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Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
POLTERGEIST III
The Second sequel to POLTERGEIST, and about on par with the first, which is to say a mixed bag: bombastic, cynical and plain dumb, but with some affecting elements
POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE
A lousy movie, yes, but one that actually improves upon its predecessor in many respects.
DREAMWOOD
The 1972 magnum opus of the late underground film legend James Broughton
INFRA-MAN
This 1975 Hong Kong outrage is a classic of sorts, and a prime example of accidental surrealism
THE LAST SPARK OF HOPE
Apocalyptic sci-fi that looks good despite being a short film conflated to feature length
DEUS IRAE
In science fiction terms this book marked a true dream collaboration, it being the first and only novel by Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny
SPARES
From the UK’s Michael Marshall Smith, a diusturbing sci fi dystopia that was supposed to be adapted for film by Dreamworks, but wasn’t
LYCHEE LIGHT CLUB
A manga one-shot involving perversion and psychosis amid a group of middle schoolers. It’s much better than you might expect.
LOST SOULS
A happy birthday to the horror icon Poppy Z. Brite, whose debut novel this was
SEXUALIS ’95
A very accurate (not!) portrayal of the year 1995 was offered up in this novel, one of two available English translations by Belgium’s Jacques Sternberg
NIGHTMARE OF ECSTASY: THE LIFE AND ART OF EDWARD D. WOOD JR.
An oral history made up entirely of quotes from people who knew Mr. Wood
THE TRAVELING YEARS: A MEMOIR OF PUPPETS, PORNO AND PENURY
A household name Leo Eaton may not be, but he’s led an interesting life without question
CONFESSIONS OF A PUPPETMASTER
A memoir that’s more outrageous and exciting than most of Charles Band’s movies
FACES OF FEAR
This is perhaps the key nonfiction text of the Horror Boom of the 1970s and 80s
HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN
This “Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis” is one of the closest things that exists to a bestseller in the category of horror film texts
Ruggero Deodato: 1939-2022
My thoughts on the recently deceased director of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
On HOME ALONE
One of the more inexplicable cultural touchstones of our era is 1990’s HOME ALONE
TV Flashback: KINGDOM HOSPITAL
Stephen King adapts THE KINGDOM, and not very well
Albert Pyun: 1953-2022
There was simply no one else like the Hawaiian-bred Albert Pyun, one of the most irrepressible directors working in any genre
Reconsidering Nineties Flops
There’s something about the movie flops of the 1990s