Shudder Day: The Ugly Stepsister (2025)

This one was recommended to me by a friend on Facebook.
It has been nominated for an Oscar.

Is this Norwegian Film a dark horse pick?

Are you a fan of Wicked?  
You like the idea of a famous Fairy Tale told from a different perspective?

Well, this one focuses on Elvira, who becomes the Stepsister to...

Agnes, the 'pretty' girl.

They are related when one's Mom marries the other's Dad...who immediately dies.

I'm also 2 for 3 on Shudder Films with old dudes dropping dead in the beginning.

As the Story goes, the Prince is going to hold a Ball to find a wife.

Elvira loves him and the dead Dad gave them massive debt, so the Mom risks it all on archaic plastic surgery.

This is considered to be a Comedy?

The poor Elvira is now going through physical and mental hell to reach the beauty standards of the day.

Joy.

She manages to get close to her goal of meeting the Prince and possibly marrying him.

That said, will she lose herself in the process?

Will she give up everything to achieve beauty and to marry a guy she doesn't actually know?

Will her Stepsister win him instead?

How bleak will this get?

To find out, stream it now.

A Film that really speaks to what some people will do for beauty.

This is obviously not a new Topic, but definitely one more talked about with The Substance's release.  This is not really the same Film, but touches upon the same ideas.

As noted, this is a twist on a Fairy Tale you should all know and told from a new perspective.  In this regard, it totally works.

The traditional Ugly Stepsister is just a cruel young lady who gets what she deserves.
This one is a 'real' person who is twisted by her Mother and turned into something spiritually ugly.

To warn you, this one is FULL of Body Horror.  It's not the Cronenbergian kind where humans become bugs or grow extra limbs.
It is just full of real, horrific things that people used to/sometimes still do to themselves to achieve a certain ideal.

If you have a strong stomach and can accept the slower pacing, this is a true delight.

A Film that is at times bleak, at times strange and quite usually dark.  If you're into twisted Fairy Tales and Body Horror, your ship has arrived!

Oscar Rewind: Poor Things (2023)

 Emma Stone is up for another Oscar this Year.

What was her last Oscar Film?
Well, it was...

A poor young lady named Bella is...not quite right.

Her intelligence and motor skills are far behind what they should be and she's being observed by...

Willem Dafoe.

He's something of a Scientist himself in this one and he managed to bring her back to life after a traumatic brain injury.

There's more to it, but, why SPOIL it here?

Willem Dafoe is Tommy Wiseau.

A young Doctor studying under Dafoe is brought in to help study her progress.

They want to see how fast she recovers and can be reintegrated into society.

Meanwhile, she dreams of the outside world, living all of the life she knows inside his Estate.

In comes Mark Ruffalo to sweep her off of her off-balance feet.

He takes her away to show her the World, woo her and take part in some 'furious jumping.'

If you know, you know.

However, she learns faster than anyone could have predicted.

Eventually, the journey is more about learning who she is and what she wants than his aspirations.

To find out how this goes, stream it now.

A Film that defies explanation and expectations in all of the right ways.

Right off the bat, this Film is just too damn weird for many, many people.
Even by Yorgos Lanthimos standards, mind you!

Emma Stone is amazing in this, so it is easy to see all of the hype and award wins related to this.  She fully commits to this Piano-like character that slowly grows and changes.

At one point, she's breaking dishes for fun.  Later, she's arguing about the futility of life.

She's not the only great part here, from Dafoe's calmly-insane Doctor to Ramy Yousef's understated Doctor.  There's no weak link here.

Just so you know- there's lots of implied sex and actual nudity in this one, so don't watch this in the wrong kind of mixed company.

While I don't pretend to understand every weird choice made by Lanthimos and company here, I applaud it.

It's so weird...and so good.

A Film that is probably too strange for many of you out there.  If not, enjoy this bizarre, fairy-tale like journey that feels like Wes Anderson on acid.

Tubi Thursday: The Crazies (2010)

 We're covering the Remake first this time, since Tubi is going to drop it by next week.

Will this one set a bar to be topped by the Romero original?

Let's find out...

A small town in Iowa seems nice.

Everyone is happy and having a baseball game when a strange man wanders onto the field.

The Sheriff is forced to shoot him down.

Another crazy person shows up the next day, this one having burned down his House with his family in it.

In the Station, he stands oddly still and silent *the entire time*

A tip sends them out into the nearby Swamp (in Iowa?) and they find a plane crash.

Is this the source of what is going on?

That night, the Military show up and put everyone in a Camp.

Uh oh!

If they turn out to be Giant Rats again, I'm out!

They separate some people for testing, while locking the women up separately.

After chaos at the gate (where most of the people run away), they don't notice a Crazy wandering in to kill them all.

And yes, this guy is the one responsible for the branding of the pitchfork being dragged along the floor.

They eventually run across a Government stooge- played by famous 'That Guy' Actor Glenn Morshower- and find out the secret.

Can our Heroes survive?
To find out, stream it now (just hurry if you want to see it on Tubi).

A Film that is honestly pretty darn good, even if it never elaborates on much.

This one does a decent job of making a nice, normal-looking Town and then having it go into chaos.  I would have done maybe a bit more to establish it though.

Modern Film Producers surely insist on a big Scene like the Shooting to happen early, but maybe be a bit more patient.

The titular infected- again with that term! - aren't anything more than just slightly angrier people that want to kill you with whatever is nearby.

If you're expecting more, it isn't here.

There is also one Scene where 2 Crazies can speak and plan...which seems in contrast to all of the others.

The Crazies doesn't aim for much than a Character focused series of kills and jump scares & it does deliver.  
Is that enough of a ringing endorsement?

A Remake that has all of the modern touches you'd expect.  If you expect more than what the Title promises, you'll be disappointed.

Streaming Standard: Venom- Let There Be Carnage (2021)

 A Film that was locked behind the door of 'Only Streaming on Starz' until quite recently.

Well, let there be a review!

Cletus Kassady (last seen at the end of Venom) is a Serial Killer who agrees only to talk to Eddie Brock.

Our boy Eddie doesn't get much, but Venom spots a massive clue.

So, Eddie does the only natural thing...

He breaks the story and gets all of the glory.

This is all part of a larger Plot where Eddie wants Venom to not eat people, while the symbiote, well, does want to do that thing.

These boys need a Therapist!

Eventually, Kletus and Eddie end up in close proximity and the former bites the latter.

This leads to him getting his own mutated symbiote and breaking free right before he can be executed.

He has good, dramatic timing!

Cassidy is trying to get back to his lost love- a lady based on but not named Shriek.

Can love bloom between a lady who screams sonic blasts and a symbiote/man who can't stand sonic blasts?

Can Venom and Eddie come together (quite literally) to save the day?

Is the Non-Spider-Man Sony Spider-Man Universe in good hands?

To find out, stream it now (currently on Disney +).

A Film with big characters, big moments and a big issue with pacing.

The Film has some great visual effects, with Venom and Carnage both looking quite good.  Freaky, but good.

Tom Hardy really makes himself look vulnerable as both Eddie and Venom (the voice).  It is interesting to see in a Film like this.

The issue I have is the balance of setup to payoff here.

They spend so much time setting up Kassady, Shriek and then getting together that the Film suffers a bit.  

Carnage, despite being in the Title, takes too long to show up.  Shriek suffers as well.

The Plot is just way too convenient, with somehow Eddie, the Cop, Shriek and Carnage all being intertwined in the 17th Most Populated City in the United States!
Bonkers.

In spite of its flaws, the Film has some good moments, strong visuals and, well, I can finally stop looking for it.

A Film full of interesting ideas and execution.  It's just a shame that the Pacing is just so darn weird!

Shudder Day: Ash (2025)

 After a Film that seemed to change Genres as it reached its climax, why not a Film that is consistent.

It is still weird as hell, of course, and it is...

Riya wakes up on a Ship doing Deep Space Colonization.

She remembers her friends and fellow Astronauts...but where are they?!?

As she discovers bodies, she gets flashes of images...memories.

Can she be sure what is going on?

Things escalate when Brion (Aaron Paul) shows up.

He keeps trying to get information from her and she is barely able to remember anything.

They need to know why everyone else died!

She starts to remember more...and it's not great.

Her fellow crewmates being killed...after going crazy.

She learns how one of them died before and things got even worse.

Can she make sense of things?
Can she get the answers and survive?

Are you tired of the color red yet?

In the 3rd Act, the truth finally comes out.

I... obviously won't SPOIL that for you right now.

To find out the crazy, stream it now.

A weird Film that does require a bit of patience.

There's always an Audience for a certain kind of Film.  Finding it is the key aspect here.

In this case, you need to be a fan of Slow Burn Horror and Crazy Sci-Fi.  If you qualify, this is for you!

The Film builds and builds to a strange finale involving multiple fights, fire and elective surgery.  No context for you!

Ash has a nice, synth score and lots of moody lighting.  It always feels *off* and the whole package really works.

Once I just embraced the weirdness- remember that its Director did a strange segment in VHS 99-, I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

The Movie has a weird, Indy sort of feel, which is amplified by having- no offense- a less famous Cast than originally planned.

Ash is definitely for many of you.  Just don't judge it by the, you guessed, Fake AI Trailer Image.

Not even close, Skynet!

A Film that builds in tension, atmosphere and mood lighting.  Once it is all laid out, you get some crazy fun!

Almost Heroes: Doyle (28 Weeks Later)

 As a farewell (at least until The Bone Temple gets covered) to the 28 Series, let me honor a man who almost made it.

In 28 Weeks Later, the small British Colony is watched by a series of US Snipers.
Notably, we meet Doyle...

His name is 'D' for Danny and 'oyle' for Boyle.

Renner's Soldier turns out to be nicer than the rest, refusing to shoot at the crowd when ordered to.

Instead, he breaks ranks to help the survivors.

He manages to get the shrinking group out of the military compound and into the nearby City.

He gets them inside a car when the military releases dangerous gas (apparently trying everything).

However, they still have to escape.

As such, he helps push the car into gear, knowing that the military and their flamethrowers are nearby.
He gets the car to make an exit...but doesn't get out himself.

We salute you, Doyle.
You *almost* saved the day.

In his defense, the kids do make it out thanks to him...only to be ignored entirely in 28 Years Later.
Not your fault, buddy.

Tubi Thursday: Fear Chamber (1968/1971)

 Another look at one of the final Boris Karloff Films.

This is another one of the quartet he filmed his parts for in 1968, but the Film was finally released in 1971.

The Film opens oddly with two people walking around in what's supposed to be a deep, underground cave.  They're looking for...something.

Meanwhile, the Father- Karloff- of the lady down there is on the phone with her the whole time...somehow.

After this, we get a prolonged bit where a woman goes to bed- making sure we see her in her underwear- before strangers turn her room into, well, a Dungeon.

She's scared, chased around and scared some more before coming face to face with Karloff in robes.

What's going on?

Well, here's the silly truth- they found a strange rock and the only thing it feeds on his pineal gland juices from people who are very scared.

How they found that out is anyone's guess.
Why they agree to elaborate rituals to scare, take juices from and then release women is also a good question to ask.

While this is going on, one lady is scheming and willing to do anything to get the creature's secrets.

She mentions once that the property of it is 'like diamonds.'

Now he's obsessed with 'getting diamonds' and becoming 'king of the world.'

This Film will go on.

After a lady dies- in a shorter ceremony- Karloff nearly also dies.

In the aftermath, he gets his Daughter and her boyfriend to stop working on the stuff.

The other two keep it up.

We then randomly get a lecture an hour in from Karloff to camera about how they found the creature.

...um, thanks?

Things go poorly for the scheming duo as the dumb guy 'bonds' with the creature and tries to kill her.
She's fed to the creature, while our...Heroes, I guess, try to stop it.

They manage to freeze the creature- who we still barely see- as the lab nearly burns down.

The happy couple survives with grandpa.

The End.

A Film that is confusing, salacious and just kind of bizarre.

To summarize, Scientists find a living rock and start terrifying random ladies to feed it.
Sure- why not?!?

This is the good kind of ridiculous at times, with the prolonged scare sequence being notable.  Too bad there's only one Scene like it.

The creatures is never fully in frame and just kind of exists in random, scattered closeups.
We only see a limb in the last 10 minutes.

This is the kind of crazy that had potential, but just kind of disappoints.
I wanted to love it- if only for Karloff- but I can't.  
Just like I can't love this terrible AI created image used on Tubi.

I nearly didn't watch it because of this.

A Film that starts out crazy and then just kind of peters out.  Oh well, Karloff didn't have to ever see it!