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Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
THE FIFTH ELEMENT
Arguably the purest distillation that exists of French director Luc Besson’s strengths and weaknesses, a 1997 science fiction fever dream with stunning visuals and a horrendously conceived narrative
DREAM LOVER
Another nineties erotic thriller, and not one of the better ones
13 GHOSTS
Another goofy production by the incomparable William Castle, the king of movie gimmicks
THE FANTASTIC FOUR (1994)
What is Roger Corman’s greatest folly? I’d say that designation goes to THE FANTASTIC FOUR
BLOODSTONE
In an occurrence that should surprise no one, this US-Bollywood RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK wannabe flopped spectacularly
LOVE KILLS
The wild and outrageous inverse of Shane Stevens’ seminal serial killer classic BY REASON OF INSANITY
FEMALE PSYCHO WARD!!!
Behold: emerging from the smut book underground of the 1960s, the “latest sellout” by the prolific trash-meister Con Sellers, a novel its publishers predicted was “going to make headlines from one end of the country to the other!”
VAMPIRE JUNKIES
A rare foray into vampire lore by science fiction legend Norman Spinrad
THE NANNY
Sexy, suspenseful, ominous and gripping: this is a nifty thriller with a well sustained tone of rising apprehension and a convincing depiction of parental angst
UGLY MUG 6
The latest edition of House of Harley Studio’s UGLY MUG, presenting adult oriented artwork from the world’s foremost underground cartoonists
THE WORLD IS EVER CHANGING
There’s simply no way to sugar-coat the fact that this book is a huge disappointment
THE BIG PICTURE
This collection of movie-related essays was one of two nonfiction books put out by the late William Goldman in 2000
WILLIAM GOLDMAN: THE RELUCTANT STORYTELLER
As of late 2018 this is the only book-length study that exists of the life and work of the late William Goldman
DEATH MAKES A HOLIDAY: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
The second of David J. Skal’s “Cultural Histories.” The first was 1993’s THE MONSTER SHOW, which took a rambling yet thoroughly enjoyable look at horror media
TRUE INDIE
TRUE INDIE is filmmaker Don Coscarelli’s long-in-coming autobiography, and it’s a good one
2020: A Look Back in Bedlam
Bedlam was indeed the word for 2020 and (as of January 10) 2021 as well
Horror Novels by Horror Moviemakers
The director-novelist: it’s a rare combination, but it does exist
Weird and Wonderful Christmas Cinema from Around the World
A much-needed addendum to a previous essay, with an overview of weird holiday-themed films emerging from around the world
1982: The Year in Bedlam
What follows are the type of little-known films that tend to comprise my “Look Back in Bedlam” listings, of which this is the 1982 entry
TV Flashback: MAX HEADROOM
If ever a show shouldn’t have worked it was this one, yet somehow MAX HEADROOM emerged as one of the great American TV programs of the decade