horror – Page 2 – Anomalous Cinema

The Last Circus (2010)

February 7, 2025May 16, 2025 vergeoflightLeave a comment

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

Natalia is a trapeze artist who is caught between two mentally disturbed clowns. Who better to handle this whacky premise than Spanish maniac director Álex de la Iglesia? Well, he’s actually a very level headed man, but damn if he doesn’t make some weirdly delightful movies. This is not as great as his debut feature Accione Mutante (which is available on a beautiful 4k / Blu-ray from Severin). Don’t let that discourage you. This is one hour and forty-seven minute ride on a crazy, funny, violent, and weird as fuck rollercoaster. If you enjoy this film, I also recommend The Day of the Beast (1995), Perdita Durango (1997), Dying of Laughter (1999), Common Wealth (2000), Eight Hundred Bullets (2002), Ferpect Crime (2004), The Baby’s Room (2006), The Oxford Murders (2008 – previously featured here), and As Luck Would Have It (2011). Álex de la Iglesia deals in many genres, but keep an open mind and there’s a lot to appreciate in his filmography.

Available on Blu-ray from Magnolia.

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Psycho II (1983)

November 28, 2024January 1, 2025 vergeoflightLeave a comment

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

I’m sure everyone thought it was crazy to make a sequel twenty two years after the iconic original film. By all measures they should have been right, except this movie is a blast. It does not feature the amazing cinematography or meticulous plotting of Hitchcock, but by early ‘80s horror standards Psycho II has it all. I recall being pleasantly surprised by this on VHS back in the early 2000s, and then had the privilege of seeing a 35 mm print a few years ago. Dan Halsted, who is the amazing programmer for Portland’s Hollywood Theater, introduced the film and had the extremely hot take that it is better than the original. I can’t quite bring myself to agree, but this is an excellent horror film. I would have paid to watch Anthony Perkins read a Denny’s menu out loud, so to see him give his all for a Psycho reboot is a no brainer in my book. Mr. Perkins went on to direct the third installment in 1986, and it’s honestly not bad. Give that one a watch later on, but keep your expectations a notch lower.

Available on Blu-ray from Shout Factory.

The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971)

November 15, 2024February 22, 2025 vergeoflightLeave a comment

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

Julie Wardh moves back to Austria and starts getting stalked by a razor ripper. Sounds like stereotypical slasher fare, but this is one of my tippity top favorite giallo films, and one of the very best by Sergio Martino. The Strange Vice… stars the dynamic duo of Edwige Fenech and George Hilton who were also paired up in All the Colors of the Dark (1972), and The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972). This fantastic movie has many twists and turns, plus one of my most beloved sneaky tricks ever in a thriller film (you will know it when it is revealed). I am pretty picky about giallo cinema, especially as I get older, but this one I still rank a 10 out of 10.

Available on Blu-ray from Severin.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

October 31, 2024October 31, 2024 vergeoflightLeave a comment

Streaming on YouTube | imdb | trailer

A mentally disabled young man is wrongly executed by four small-town vigilantes. Those men are later picked off one at a time. Simple as that. This was a CBS network TV movie (originally shot for a theatrical release) that scared the crap out of me as a child. Thankfully it has held up very well since then, and remains an effective horror film in spite of being PG. Our “hero” is played by Larry Drake, who went on to play another mentally disabled character in the series L.A. Law, and was also in Darkman, and Dr. Giggles (but I like this film much better than any of those). If you are not into horror with minimal graphic violence, skip this one. However I maintain this is a solid scare flick in spite of being on the mild side.

Available on Blu-ray from VCI.

It Comes at Night (2017)

October 18, 2024January 24, 2025 vergeoflightLeave a comment

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

I was hoping to recommend a horror movie, but this is more of a psychological thriller. Pretty damned creepy at times though. I saw It Comes at Night when it first came out and gave it a good rating, but I didn’t remember a thing about it. I figured why not rewatch it after a few drinks and give you a more off the cuff recommendation?

Ahem…

Killer cinematography. The whole cast is solid. Nice to see Christopher Abbot again in a role before I began recognizing his awesomeness. There are bits of this that remind me of how it felt at the beginning of Covid (oh boy doesn’t that make you want to watch this now?). Some people were turned off by this not being a straight forward horror movie. Some were turned off by not knowing exactly what is going on. I was not turned off. I am not calling this a fun movie, or even a great movie, but it sure as hell is Anomalous Cinema.

The themes reminded me of the OG Twilight Zone episodes The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (1960) and The Shelter (1961). I suggest if you’ve never seen those, watch them AFTER It Comes at Night.

Available on Blu-ray from Lion’s Gate.

Clearcut (1991)

October 11, 2024January 17, 2025 vergeoflightLeave a comment

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

Graham Greene stars as an Indigenous activist seeking to teach a lesson to the head of a logging company. I only saw this movie for the first time recently and what a pleasant surprise it was. Clearcut is an original mix of horror and thriller, and is satisfying throughout the run time. Going in knowing as little as little as possible will give you the best viewing experience. It would be best to not even watch the trailer.

Available on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

The Reflecting Skin (1990)

August 16, 2024November 14, 2024 vergeoflightLeave a comment

Just-Watch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

A boy lives in early 1950s rural Idaho where reality is very strange, and mysterious deaths are occurring. When I first heard the COIL song “Omlagus Garfungiloops” I was baffled by the sample “You’ve been exploding frogs again?” A friend informed me it was from the movie The Reflecting Skin. I knew I needed to see this. I finally was able to rent a copy a year or so later and was 100% not disappointed. I have watched this one multiple times over the years. I never get sick of it. This movie is darkly surreal, beautiful, horrific, funny at times, and features very good performances. That includes an early appearance of Viggo Mortensen, who I’ve been a big fan of ever since. There are moments where you see the limits of the budget, but they take little away from this unique indie masterpiece.

BONUS: You can watch director Philip Ridley’s bizarre short film The Universe of Dermott Finn (1988) here on YouTube. Check out an article about Ridley’s multi-faceted career here.

Not available on domestic Blu-ray.

Timecrimes (2007)

July 26, 2024November 1, 2024 vergeoflightLeave a comment

Streaming info on JustWatch | imdb | trailer

Here’s one of my favorite Spanish horror mysteries to come out in the ‘00s. A man inadvertently travels backwards in time. Then things get very weird and complicated. This is definitely more of a mystery, with a dab of sci-fi, than a straight up horror movie. Don’t let that deter you though. Timecrimes is dark, a little sleazy, sometimes funny, and kept me guessing throughout. It’s a pity that none of Nacho Vigalondo’s work since has interested me much. Hey, the man wrote and directed this awesome brain fuck of a movie, so it’s possible he’s got another great one left in him. I certainly hope that proves to be true.

Not available on domestic Blu-ray.

The Quiet Family (1998)

June 14, 2024September 19, 2024 vergeoflightLeave a comment

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer (sorry about the poor quality)

The first guest at a mountain inn commits suicide and wackiness ensues. This is a very good horror comedy by director Kim Jee-woon who also made the excellent A Bittersweet Life and I Saw the Devil, among other popular SK films. I just learned that The Quiet Family was also the inspiration for Miike’s The Happiness of the Katakuris that I recommended previously. This one is not a musical however. Do I really need to tell you more?

Not available on domestic Blu-ray.

From Beyond (1986)

February 9, 2024May 8, 2024 vergeoflightLeave a comment

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

This is director Stewart Gordon’s second H. P. Lovecraft adaptation starring Jeffrey Combs. If you’ve read the original story then you know that it’s an extremely loose adaptation, like Re-Animator. However unlike Richard Stanley’s Color Out of Space this is still a great horror movie. Some of the practical FX look dated, but if that deters you from watching, you are going to miss a surrealistic, morbid, pervy, sometimes funny, cult classic. The recent restored versions of From Beyond showcase the awesome saturated colors, which was a real pleasure to see compared to the old VHS tape. Keep an ear out for some classic Skinny Puppy samples too. If you enjoy this, make sure to see the Gordon/Combs collaborations Re-Animator (duh – essential ’80s horror) and The Black Cat episode of the Masters of Horror series.

Available on 4K UHD from Vinegar Syndrome.