Tom Deady's Blog

I remember not thinking this was a very solid sequel, but I wanted to give it another shot. Unfortunately, I stand by my original assessment. One thing I like about it is that it picks up immediately where the original left off. Everything after that is a disappointment. The biggest flaw is the lack of engagement in Laurie Strode's character. She spends half the movie in bed, sedated, her only line is "Don't put me to sleep." She never has the same impact she did in the first movie. A close...

It should come as no surprise that I end the marathon with this film. I consider it the best horror movie and one the blazed the trail for so many tropes and future movies. The blend of score and cinematography is perfect. The sense of dread builds throughout the film with no need for excessive gore or silly jump scares (at least until the "body reveal"). As much as I love catching little things I missed on my previous hundred viewings, it's a movie I wish I coud experience again for the...

A movie I watch every October and catch something new every time. This year, I was trying to figure out where I'd seen one of the actors before and noticed they credit Quinn Lord as Sam and Peeping Tommy. I never realized it was the same actor before. Not much else to say on this one, it's a classic. Prior to this, I rewatched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood . Even though it's not a horror movie, it contains one of the most chilling s scenes in a film. When Cliff Booth drives Pussycat back to...

Who doesn't love a bunch of inbred cannibals menacing hot women in white tank tops? No, I'm not talking about Jessica Beil in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (or am I?), I'm talking about Eliza Dushku. Wrong Turn does remind me in some ways of Texas Chainsaw Massacre , as well as Deliverance , and maybe a little Hills Have Eyes , but stands out as a pretty decent film. Dushku and Desmond Harrington (Joey Quinn from Dexter ) and the rest of the cast are believable in their roles and don't...

After a couple of misfires ( The Wretched which I realized a few minutes in I had already seen and The Shortcut which I realized a few minutes in might suck) I decided to go with an old standby. Every time I watch this, I expect it to be sort of cringey, but it's really a solid adaptation. The acting is pretty solid all around, and the special effects hold up. At times, it feels rushed, and I think Arnie's transformation is a little abrupt, but otherwise, it's great. My favorite scenes are...

Note to self: always check the Rotten Tomatoes score. This one had a whopping...wait for it...5%. I don't know where to begin breaking this movie down. The premise is that Gacy moves into a neighborhood and the boy across the street, Billy, becomes suspicious of him. The acting was abysmal with the exception of the guy who played Gacy. He had a great cackle. The actor who played Billy's father was terrible, he acted like an extra from a Viagra commercial trying to look virile, but not too ...

It's hard to believe this gem turns fifty next year. It was a staple at the drive-in when I was a teenager, and the reason I didn't read the novel for so long. That was before I realized the book is always better. This one holds up beautifully and remains one of the better adaptations of King's work. Sissy Spacek is Carrie , and Piper Laurie is Margaret White. Their Oscar nominations for the film were well deserved. The supporting cast is solid, particularly William Katt as Tommy, Betty...

Another excellent movie that deserves more attention. The Man in the White Van is loosely based on serial killer and rapist Billy Mansfield Jr. After watching the film I looked up the case and didn't find a lot of facts portrayed in the movie other than the Florida setting. Still, fact-based or not, the movie does a great job of building a sense of dread as the killer stalks fifteen-year-old Annie Williams (played perfectly by Madison Wolfe). Shown earlier as a girl with a wild imagination,...

I'm not sure the world needed a reboot of this movie—the original with Rebecca De Mornay and Annabella Sciorra is pretty good if I remember correctly. But if there had to be one, Maika Monroe is as good a reason as any to watch it, and she does not disappoint. She's been great in everything I've seen her in; Watchers, Longlegs, The Guest...and she is terrific in this one. The new version puts a different twist on the motive but it is no less effective. With the exception of Raúl Castillo, who...

How is it possible I'd never heard of this one? It is an excellent home invasion film, a genre I oersonally find terrifying. A bunch of friends are hanging out when three brothers show up, fresh off a botched bank robbery. One of the brothers had been shot and one of the friends is a doctor, so he is forced to save the wounded man at gunpoint. We learn early on that the homeowner had purchased the house in a foreclosure...from the mother of the three robbers. From there, things get crazy! The...