My Review of Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)

 

Written by Curt Siodmak 

Directed by Roy William Neill

Maleva (re the Wolf Man): "He is not insane. He simply wants to die."

For one of these characters, it's their first sequel and for the other, it's a fourth in this particular continuity. Yup, these two characters just to meet with one another.

However, there was the issue that the last time both characters appeared, they died. However in the Universal Monsters World, death doesn't really mean anything. Also despite the name order in the movie title, one had more screentime than the other.

The Wolf Man aka, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr) turned out not to be dead. He also didn't waste time in killing a local police officer or finding out that a lot of time has passed since being killed off in his own movie.

In a lot of ways, this movie felt more like a Wolf Man sequel with a side order of Frankenstein (Bela Lugosi). Larry wanted to die and found himself reunited with Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), who still couldn't give him the release he wanted.

Not that it matter because Larry managed to uncover Frankenstein's body and teamed up with Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Ilona Massey) and  Dr. Frank Mannering (Patric Knowles). However they were more interested in resurrecting Frankenstein than helping the Wolf Man himself.

Where this film somewhat doesn't stick the landing was the actual meeting of the two monsters themselves. It happened way too late into the movie and it ended on a frustrating cliffhanger where both of their respective fates were left unknown.

- Bela Lugosi really went from Dracula to Frankenstein monster in the manner of twelve years.

- Larry's father died of grief in between movies. There wee also plans to have Lon Chaney Jr play both roles before Bela Lugosi was cast as Frankenstein's monster.

- These two would clash again in House Of Frankenstein (1944) and House Of Dracula (1945) along with other monsters.

- Chronology: Four years since the events since The Wolf Man (1941) and The Ghost Of Frankenstein (1942). Set in Cardiff and the village of Vasaria.

I admire the fact that Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man got the ball rolling for these crossover events but it's a disappointing start with not enough interaction between both monsters. I'll catch up with the other ones soon.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Wolf Man (1941)

Written by Curt Siodmak

Directed by George Wagner

Larry Talbot: "It isn't a wolf... it's a werewolf!"

Earlier this year I reviewed and didn't much care for Wolf Man (2025). Of course I had to go and find the original version to watch. I'm also on an Universal Monsters binge.

Our titular character happened to be Larry Talbot (Lou Chaney Jr). He's of a generation of Talbot men who returned home to be with his father, Sir John (Claude Rains). However, Larry's attention was drawn to his telescope.

Larry's attention was also drawn to Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers) and he went about wooing her in the weirdest way possible. He also bought a cane with a silver wolf on top and both him, Gwen and the latter's friend, Jenny Williams (Fay Helm) took a visit to get their fortune told by gypsy Bela (Bela Lugosi). For all their sake, they should've stayed at home that night

It turned out that Bela was a werewolf and he attacked and killed Jenny. Larry's attempts to save Jenny resulted in Bela's death and a grim warning from gypsy elder Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya). One werewolf died and another was activated in his place.

The other werewolf was of course, Larry. Larry of course was in denial about what happened to him until he had to face up to his reality. There's a love triangle of sorts between Larry, Gwen and the latter's fiancé, Frank Andrews (Patric Knowles) but it's not as fleshed out as it could've been.

A lot of time was spent in the last act with the likes of Captain Paul Montford (Ralph Bellamy), Dr Lloyd (Warren William) and the villagers trying to catch the Wolf Man. By the end of the movie, things ended rather badly for poor Larry Talbot.

- Mythos that were discussed included wolfsbane and the pentagram symbol. There's a gorgeous trippy moment where Larry transformed into the Wolf Man.

- Bela Lugosi (Bela) previously played Dracula (1931) and Claude Rains was The Invisible Man (1933).

- There's a few sequels and remakes/reboots that I will get to watching and reviewing.

- Chronology: Set in Llanwelly, Wales. Larry returned home because his brother died.

The Wolf Man (1941) definitely hit the right spot for a horror classic. The practical effects for the titular character look great, the night scenes are beautifully shot. There's a tragic love triangle, even if it's not fully explored and that tragic ending.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Good Boy (2025)

 

Written by Alex Cannon And Ben Leonberg

Directed by Ben Leonberg

Todd (to Indy): "You're a good boy but you can't save me."

One of the most creative horror films of the year just came out and of course, I needed to see it. An entire movie based on the perspective of a dog. Did it work? Well, yeah actually.

The dog in question being the adorable Indy (also the dog's name in real life). Indy had an owner named Todd (Shane Jensen). Todd suffered from a chronic lung disease and throughout the movie was particularly tetchy towards his concerned sister, Vera (Arielle Friedman) who just wanted to help him.

It's revealed in the movie early enough that Todd and Vera's grandfather (Larry Fessenden) died and Todd inherited the grandfather's house. It's also largely hinted that the house was cursed. That was something Todd chose to ignore along with his ailing condition.

As the movie progressed, Indy could see a sinister presence stalking Todd but his attempts to warn his owner were constantly ignored. It even got to the point where Todd was outright mean to everyone he encountered, including Indy. It really should go without saying that Todd should've listened to Indy.

Having Indy as the protagonist made it impossible to dislike or be critical of Indy. Indy did everything he could do to try and help Todd but the latter realised far too late that there was a dark figure in the house. 

Seeing as it's a horror film, someone had to die and while it wasn't Indy, it was still really sad seeing the poor dog lose his owner to the dark figure. Add in Vera's grief over finding her brother and this movie ended on a genuinely sad note.

- Not only was Indy named after himself but he's the director's real life dog.

- The movie took over 400 days to film. I loved some of the old footage they used for Indy, including him as a puppy.

- There's another film with the same title but a far different premise that is also being released soon, so that'll make looking for it online fun.

- Chronology: Present day. Todd relocated from New York to the woods where everything happened.

At 72 minutes long, Good Boy was a movie that didn't overstay it's welcome or feel too gimmicky. A great performance from Indy and some genuinely unsettling and poignant moments certainly made this a delightful watch.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Peacemaker: "Full Nelson"

 

Written And Directed by James Gunn 

Peacemaker (to Flag Sr): "What the fuck is this?"

I woke up this morning and found a lot of people were massively disappointed in this finale. For those hoping for cameo fest galore, this will disappoint. Supporting that you likely didn't care about from Superman (2025) like Happersen and Otis just ain't it.

Now, does the lack of fan pleasing faces make for a bad finale? Not really but James Gunn absolutely did himself no favours by making it sound like there were going to be big cameos in the weeks leading up to it. That was a bad move on his part.

Anyways, back to the episode itself, Flag wasted no time in using the Quantum Unfolding Chamber to scope out new worlds. It was a fun of seeing different places and killing off a few ARGUS members but of course, Flag's motives were rooted in something else.

All season long, Flag's wanted to get back at Christopher Smith and finally he got it. The discovery of Planet Salvation meant that that the government had a prison for metahumans away from Earth. It's also where Chris ended up at the very last moment because Flag Sr really was that vengeful. How will Chris ever get out of this one?

Going back a bit, this episode felt more full circle moment for the 11th Street Kids. They also went through getting some personal moments of closure with certain issues. By the near end of the episode, Checkmate had been formed and with it, probably one of the next DCU shows to boot.

I did like that the episode explored things like that boat incident between Chris and Emilia (they kissed at a Nelson concert), Leota ending her marriage to Keeya along with Adrian and John having some nice moments. Still though, this wasn't the way I expected Checkmate to be formed in the DCU.

- James Gunn did confirm that the Planet Salvation storyline will be continued in the DCU. The show won't be getting a third season.

- Kline got his whole face eaten by whatever those tiny creatures were. He also puked on a stripper, which no one needed to know about.

- Sasha, Fluery and Judomaster all signed up with Checkmate. Fluery was the only I feel they didn't build towards changing teams.

- For a moment, I did think the show was setting Sasha Bordeaux to go and work for Bruce Wayne. I mean they could still happen.

- Standout music: We got to see both Nelson and Foxy Shazam perform To Get Back To You and Oh Lord live on a boat.

- Chronology: The boat incident happened on May 22nd. I liked the way they spaced out the reveal over the course of the episode.

Full Nelson wasn't as horrible as many made it out to be. Yes, it failed on the big cameos but it did have some nice character moments and good shift in direction. Despite a third season not happening, it won't be too long before we catch up with this lot.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Him (2025)

 

Written by Skip Bronkie And Zack Akers And Justin Tipping

Directed by Justin Tipping

Isaiah: "This ain't a fucking game, man. This is everything! Do you want this? What are you willing to sacrifice?"

Cameron: "Everything."

I mostly stay away from football first one because I generally don't care about the sport or respective subgenre. Obviously I made an exception here because it's a horror film and I have mixed feelings on this one.

Despite the marketing playing up the fact that Jordan Peele was a producer on this movie, it's definitely Justin Tipping who has to bear the responsibility of it's failing. This movie's a great case of a good idea mired by outright horrible execution.

Out leading man here, Tyriq Withers I will admit might be one of the few saving graces altogether. Cast in the role as rising football star Cameron Wade, this might not have been the best use of his talents but he certainly knew how to hold attention. He picks betters projects and he'll be one to talk about.

Anyways Cam's gotten attention from nearly retired quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) and Cam ended up in a secluded compound where he's put through an almighty ringer. This included some extremely trippy dreams sequences, overzealous fangirls (Naomi Grossman) and of course, Isaiah's wife, Elsie (Julia Fox).

Yeah, it's a movie that could be seen the football version of Black Swan but the craziness doesn't entertain as much as it should do. The horror side of things did ramp by the time it was made clear that there was a contest between Cam and Isaiah to be the G.O.A.T.

It's manufactured and involved ritual sacrifices with Cam both emerging as the victor between him and Isaiah. Then Cam took control of his destiny and murdered the Saviors and honestly it was a good way of ending this overall messy movie.

- Originally, this movie was meant to be called GOAT before we got the title we did.

- The way Marlon Wayans handled criticism for this movie was one of the classiest responses I've read this year.

- Standout music: Denzel Curry's Him, Gucci Mane's Lemonade and Tierra Whack's Tip Toe.

- Chronology: Cameron played for the San Antonio Saviors. It was the current year, movie wise.

I really wanted to like Him as a movie. It had a good idea, a charismatic leading man in Tyriq Withers and a good antagonist role for Marlon Wayans. Sadly the whole thing just failed to come together at all.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Frankenstein (1931)

 

Written by Garrett Fort And Francis Edward Faragoh

Directed by James Whale

Henry Frankenstein: "Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!"

Victor Moritz: "Henry - In the name of God!"

Henry Frankenstein: "Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!"

I did things out of order. I watched and reviewed Bride Of Frankenstein last year but of course, I should've watched and reviewed this one first. The most important adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic.

First of all, the movie started with Edward Van Sloan (who also played Dr Waldman) introducing the movie to the audience, which was a nice but unusual bit. Then there was the movie itself. Creator versus creation. Who was worse or more tragic?

The actual Frankenstein himself was Dr Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive). The film really began with him and assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) are digging up the graveyard for body parts. It seems that Victor had a much bigger priority than his upcoming nuptials.

Yup, Victor had a beautiful would be bride in Elizabeth Lavenza (Mae Clarke) but his true desire was the need to play God. Collecting the body parts, he put them together and created The Monster (Boris Karloff). What should've been a scientific advancement immediately became an absolute disaster.

The Monster couldn't be controlled and had no problem even drowning a child named Maria (Marilyn Harris). Needless to say, that certainly put a target on The Monster's back and the last few minutes are dedicated to his downfall. Boris Karloff does a great in giving The Monster some sympathy.

Less sympathetic however would be Dr Frankenstein himself. He's a selfish, vain, arrogant man whose God complex nearly destroyed his village and even almost resulted in his own death. In some ways, he's a lot worse than The Monster he brought to life and doesn't really suffer any consequences for his actions.

- This movie would result in two sequels while James Whale would also direct The Invisible Man (1933).

- The Monster's look in this movie became iconic but it's not the same as the description in Shelley's book itself.

- In the book, Frankenstein is called Victor but was renamed Henry to sound friendly to American audiences.

- Chronology: Set in a village in the Bavarian Alps in the 1800s.

Frankenstein undeniably should be considered a classic in the horror genre and it's still a sight to behold nearly a century later. An excellent adaptation of the source with a brilliant performance from Boris Karloff as The Creature.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix Series, 2025)

 

Written by Ian Brennan

Directed by Max Winkler And Ian Brennan 

Ed Gein (to Anthony Perkins): "You're the one who can't look away."

It's that time of year again for Ryan Murphy to stoke the ire of social media with another true crime horror fest that takes too many creative liberties so to speak. After what we saw with Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez Brothers, what could he do with Ed Gein (Charlie Hunnam) to piss off the internet?

Well, quite a lot of actually. This was never going to be a sensitive portrayal of the real life killer/grave robber and once again, there's that danger of this anthology series drawing too much sympathy for the subject matter as well as sexualising them.

There's no getting away from the fact that leading man Charlie Hunnam doesn't look a thing like Ed Gein and there's only so much that hair, makeup and prosthetics can do and here, they do struggle to mostly hide their lead man's attractiveness under a sinister figure of terror.

Throughout these eight episodes, we're given insight into Ed's relationships with women and some with his victims. His most prominent relationships naturally involved women. His abusive mother, Augusta (Laurie Metcalf) did a number on Ed's views towards other women and his own sexuality and gender issues. Yes, there's an attempt to examine if Ed might have been trans but it's handled in a very messy way.

Then we've got a romance of sorts with local girl, Adeline Watkins (Suzanna Son). She's written as a toxic enabler with her own dark impulses who had no problem exploiting Gein's eventual downfall for her own gain. While this portrayal doesn't mirror the person's it's based, Suzanna Son did emerge as a break out talent here.

Now, what about Gein's actual victims? There's some focus on babysitter, Evelyn Hartley (Addison Rae) and hardware shop owner, Bernice Worden (Lesley Manville). The emphasis being more on the latter and how her death being the very thing to bring about Ed's exposure as a grotesque killer before he spent his remaining years institutionalised before his own demise.

Unlike the seasons that focused on Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez Brothers, this season might have less episodes but it often felt like it tried to do too much as well. For example, Ed's fixation on transwoman Christine Jorgensen (Alanna Darby) and Nazi war criminal, Ilse Koch (Vicky Krieps) took more screen time than it needed to, if I'm being honest.

On top of that, there's also some focus put into the three prominent movies it influenced - Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Silence Of The Lambs. The first movie made the subplots of two episodes with director Alfred Hitchcock (Tom Hollander) drawing wholly inappropriate similarities between Gein and his closeted leading man, Anthony Perkins (Joey Pollari). The likes of Tobe Hopper (Will Brill) and Buffalo Bill actor, Trent Levine (Golden Garnick) are less emphasised. Again, these are things that probably could've been mentioned in passing.

Circling back to Gein, the series doesn't skim on the gore or depravity of his hobbies and there's moments where it's in danger of humanising Gein too much before pulling it back. Gein's ending however was unwisely given a bit of a rockstar type of send off. I get what it's trying but it's definitely a misplaced choice here.

- Episode titles for the series were Mother!, Sick As Your Secrets, The Babysitter, Green, Ice, Buxom Bird, Ham Radio and The Godfather.

- Anthony's relationship with Tab Hunter (Jackie Kay) was explored briefly as well as his conversion therapy. Joey Pollari feels like a future American Horror Story regular to me.

- Both Charlie Hunnam and Vicky Krieps will appear in the next season, which will focus on Lizzie Borden and has now gone into production.

- Other serial killers that appeared included Ted Bundy, Richard Speck, Charles Manson, Jerry Brudos. It gets a bit Mindhunter in the last episode. Real life crime scene photographer Weegee (Elliot Gould) also factored into a subplot for Adeline.

- Standout music: The marketing had fun with the remastered version of the Pet Shop Boys It's A Sin.

- Chronology: 1944-1984, Wisconsin mainly. Also taking in post Nazi Germany, Washington, Los Angeles and so on. 

Arguably the weakest in this anthology series, I did struggle a bit with Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Saying that, I do think there's some very strong performances, notably with it's leading man. Charlie Hunnam might have given the most interesting performance in his whole acting career to date.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Invisible Man (1933)

 

Written by R.C. Sheriff

Directed by James Whale 

The Invisible Man: "An invisible man can rule the world. Nobody will see him come, nobody will see him go. He can hear every secret. He can rob, rape and kill!"

Late last year I watched and reviewed the 2020 version of this classic but I had to go and find the original. Oh my God, what a delight of a movie.

Our villainous protagonist, Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) started the film being invisible and holding up in a tavern to work on a cure for his condition. However his antics managed to piss off the proprietors - Herbert (Forrester Harvey) and Jenny Hall (Una O'Connor). Griffin didn't take being thrown out very well.

In fact he took the utmost delight in terrorising the couples as well as the villagers in the town. His antics spread but the police didn't believe in the idea of The Invisible Man until Griffin killed one out of spite. The movie made a point of telling that Griffin's invisibility has driven him to madness.

The very people who could help Griffin were also people that he had very different relationships with. He particularly loathed fellow doctor, Arthur Kemp (William Harrigan) and vowed to kill him. Despite the police's best efforts to protect Kemp, the latter still died brutally at the hands of a vengeful Griffin.

Griffin's relationships with father and daughter duo, Dr Cranley (Henry Travers) and Flora (Gloria Stuart) also was a contrast. He saw the former as intellectually inferior to him but the romance he had with the latter were the few moments in the movie where Griffin showed any humanity.

When he wasn't playing pranks and murdering people, Griffin's luck eventually ran out when he was smoked out of a burning barn and shot to death. The deathbed scene at the hospital had Griffin reflect on the folly of his actions, ending the movie on a suitably tragic note.

- The 2020 reboot aside, there were sequel and spin-off movies that came out in 1940.

- It took Jack over a thousand experiments during five years to become invisible. Food is visible when he eats until it's digested. 

- Standout music: Claude Rains's versions of Here We Go Gathering Nuts In May and Pop Goes The Weasel are used to creepy effect.

- Chronology: It's set in Iping, Sussex during Winter.

The Invisible Man really is a sublime piece of science fiction and horror. A chilling but hammy performance from Claude Rains really cemented this for me, along with that rather tragic ending.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of It Chapter Two (2019)

 

Written by Gary Dauberman 

Directed by Andy Muschietti 

Pennywise: "For 27 years, I dreamt of you. I craved you... I've missed you!"

The other day I reviewed the first chapter of this duology adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. Now it's time for the less loved sequel.

It's been a good twenty seven years and the Losers Club mostly left Derry and pursued different lives and careers. There's Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy). He's become a mystery writer incapable of sticking the landing with his endings but he's still widely successful.

We've also got Beverley Marsh (Jessica Chastain), now a successful fashion designer with an abusive husband while Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransome) became a risk analyst with a wife not too dissimilar to his own mother. Oh and everyone's foul mouth favourite Richie Tozier (Bill Harder) chose a career in comedy.

As for the remaining Loser Club members, Ben Hanscom (Jay Ryan) became an architect and Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa) a historian who actually remained in Derry. Last but not least, there was Stan Uris (Andy Bean) whose suicide would be the very thing to reunite the remaining members back to Derry.

Yup, Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) returned and with it, many deaths soon followed. Despite being adults, Pennywise wanted revenge on the Losers Club and took an overeager delight in tormenting each and every single member. Once again, he went for the jugular.

As adults, the remaining Losers Club members weren't as prepared for Pennywise, in spite of their previous encounter with him. There's another death among the gang, unrequited love both never spoken for one but affirmed for others before Pennywise was defeated for a second time in twenty seven years.

- The opening scene saw Adrian Mellon (Xavier Dolan) and Don Hagerty (Taylor Fray) killed for being gay. The movie also revealed that Richie was in love with Eddie.

- There's several other reappearances included the Leper, the Witch, Henry Bowers, Patrick Hockstetter and Georgie Denbrough. The younger version of the Losers Club also appeared.

- Standout music: Cameo's Word Up and Juice Newton's Angel In The Morning.

- Chronology: 2016 in Derry, Maine but also scenes in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

It Chapter Two was mostly a good sequel but it's a good example as to why not every movie actually works with an extended run time. At nearly three hours, it really did lag in a lot of parts. I do wonder if this whole adaptation should've either been a trilogy or trimmed more of the material to have made for a pacier duology.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Hunger (1983)

 

Written by Ivan Davis And Michael Thomas

Directed by Tony Scott

Miriam Blaylock: "Humankind dies one way, we another. Their end is final. Ours is not. In the earth, in rotting wood, in the eternal darkness, we will see and hear and feel."

Bisexual erotic vampire movie, anyone? Well, for spooky season it was on my list of movies to watch. Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon and David Bowie? How could I resist?

Taking place in New York, you've got vampire couple Miriam (Deneuve) and John Blaylock (Bowie) living their best lives and dining on anyone who had the misfortune of getting in their way. However there's a snag to their relationship.

The snag being that John's body has started to age and he's on the verge of a living death. It's also made clear that John's in a long line of lovers suffering the same fate. It turns out that being a lover of Miriam's does have a horrible price to pay.

Then there's Doctor Sarah Roberts (Sarandon). She's working on a way to reverse rapid ageing among primates with her boyfriend Tom Haver (Cliff DeYoung) and colleague, Charlie Humphries (Rufus Collins). Sarah's research attracted the attention of John, who desperately wanted her help for his condition.

At first Sarah didn't believe John but when she did, it was practically too late. John killed a protege of Miriam's named Alice Cavender (Beth Ehlers) and his body began to break down. Then there was Sarah and Miriam. Honestly, their relationship is the most memorable part of this movie.

Particularly that erotically charge sex scene between the pair where Miriam also made Sarah into a vampire. For a woman who seemed selective with her lovers, Miriam's biggest mistake was choosing Sarah as her next one. It ended badly for her with Miriam suffering the same fate as her former lovers and Sarah becoming the new Miriam.

- Miriam, John and Sarah used an ankh knife in order to draw blood from their victims. It was harder for vampires to feed in this movie.

- Based on a book of the same name by Whitley Strieber, albeit a loose adaptation.

- Standout music: Maurice Ravel's Le Gibet and Iggy Pop's Funtime.

- Chronology: New York for the majority of the movie before Sarah moved to London and acquired new lovers. John was a vampire for 200 years and Miriam was alive in Ancient Egypt.

The Hunger certainly hit the right spots for 1980s horror. You've got three great lead performances, even if the relationships themselves needed a little more time to explore. I also liked seeing the more severe side of vamprism in this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Peacemaker: "Like A Keith In The Night"

 

Written by James Gunn 

Directed by Alethea Jones 

Peacemaker (to everyone, re Keith): "Stop!!!"

In terms of dramatic performances in a television show in 2025, I didn't have John Cena on my bingo card but here we are. That gutteral and pained screamed was the most I've ever felt sorry for Peacemaker.

This penultimate episode pretty much was the coldest reality check for Christopher Smith. His idyllic world turned out to be one where the Nazis won World War II and the evidence was more overt as Emilia pointed things out. How the hell do you miss a Hitler mural in ARGUS for crying out loud?

Anyways, both Peacemaker and Emilia managed to escape ARGUS and then witnessed several police officers taken out by Blue Dragon and Captain Triumph. Oh and you want to hear the most shocking thing about this episode? Guess who's not a freaking Nazi?

Yup, Auggie Smith, I'm sorry I judged you. He's not a Nazi but while he might not be able to work against the system on Earth 2, he has been trying to work around it with his sons. He even handled the death of his own son a lot better than Keith did. Then both Vigilantes gate crashed and Auggie ended up dead.

This went back to a police raid led by Fitzgibbons (Lochlyn Munro), a lot of chaotic violence and the near death of Keith. Harcourt almost came close to killing him to protect Christopher but failed at the last minute. That's definitely coming back to get her in next week's finale.

As for the rest of the episode, there was a lot of stuff I liked. Both Vigilantes were entertaining to watch. I loved the team up between Leota and Judomaster after the latter rescued her while Eagly got to fuck up Keith and Peacemaker surrendered himself and the Quantum Unfolding Chamber to Rick Flag Sr.

- Sydney Happerson (Stephen Blackeheart) helped ARGUS to locate the 11th Street Kids. He also popped up in the post credit scenes.

- Economos should be thanking his lucky stars that Eagly didn't fuck him up after insulting him.

- Seriously, how did Chris not spot the Mein Kampf books everywhere? He might be pretty but he's not bright at times.

- Judomaster revealed he was both a Buddhist and gay to Leota after rescuing her. He gave her some good advice about Keeya as well.

- Standout music: First Signal's Still Pretending and Shining's Goretex Weather Report.

Like A Keith In The Night was short but what an episode. Done genuinely shocking moments. Some truly brilliant character moments and the usual amount of humour and ultra violence. I really hope next week's finale sticks the landing.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of It Chapter One (2017)

 

Written by Chase Palmer And Cary Fukunaga And Gary Dauberman

Directed by Andy Muschietti 

Pennywise: "This isn't real enough for you, Billy? I'm not real enough for you? It was real enough for Georgie."

Just in time for spooky season and with the imminent arrival of prequel show, Welcome To Derry, I thought it was time to review Andy Muschietti's generally liked duology. It's been a while since I've looked at both films.

Opening in Derry, Maine in 1988, the villainous entity Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) took a young boy named Georgie Denbrough (Jackson Robert Scott), causing guilt for his older brother, Bill (Jaeden Martell). Guilt that Pennywise would be happy to play on as the movie progressed.

Bill's a social outcast with aspirations for writing stories. He's also part of the Losers Club with his friends. His friends being shy overweight Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), foul mouthed Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), softly spoken Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), the sickly Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), pragmatic Stanley Uris (Wyatt Olef) and only girl of the group, Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis). That's our group of friends.

Throughout the first chapter, we see these kids dealing with high school crushes, abusive parents, means spirited bullies like Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) and encounters with some weirdos like The Leper (Javier Botet) to name but a few. All the while the group form a tight bond with each other and face off Pennywise himself.

Yup, the devious entity that looked like a clown but was far worse than any of them enjoyed tormenting every single one of the Losers Club. As a foe, he's delightfully vicious and Bill Skarsgard managed to imbue that ferocious menace into him in a different way to Tim Curry's performance in the 1990 miniseries.

Now if there's a flaw with this movie, it might be that it's too long for it's own good (a problem the second chapter also has). For the most part, it's an engaging version of the classic Stephen King but it also dragged in some parts. Saying that, the third act was pretty great and Pennywise got a satisfying enough comeuppance while setting up the second chapter in this saga.

- There's a creepy performance from Owen League as psychopath Patrick Hockstetter. 

- There's a lot of references to various WB/New Line movies such as Beetlejuice, Gremlins and Batman.

- Standout music: The Cult's Love Removal Machine and Maurice Starr's Please Don't Go Girl.

- Chronology: October 1988 before moving into summer 1989, Derry in Maine.

It Chapter One definitely deserves it's stellar reputation as it's a strong opener for this Pennywise adaptation. A lot of it was down to Bill Skarsgard and the young actors. It was also down to Andy Muschietti's directing as well and I do think some have forgotten his skill set as a director.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of House Of Guinness - Season 1 (2025, Netflix Series)

 

Written by Steven Knight

Directed by Tom Shankland And Mounia Akl

Worker: "You think there'll be trouble today?"

Rafferty: "The man's name is Guinness. Of course there'll be fucking trouble."

Okay, I didn't think I was going to do an individual post about this show but here we are. While the reviews have been mixed at best and scathing at worst, I found myself compelled with watching this show.

First of all, this was very much an Englishman's perspective on Irish history and an Irish dynasty and that did make for a mixed bag. Also add half the cast being English and the majority of the show being filmed in the UK and it's not hard to see why this might not have landed for everyone.

Steven Knight, best known for Peaky Blinders thought he could the infamous Guinness family and put them through a 19th century Succession filter. I'll admit it worked for the most part throughout the eight episodes first season.

Following the death of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, the running of his infamous brewery would befall his oldest sons Arthur (Anthony Boyle) and Edward (Louis Partridge) while youngest son, Benjamin (Fionn O'Shea) and only daughter, Anne Plunkett (Emily Fairn) had to journey their own course throughout the series. Anne being more successful in that regard as her empathy for the less fortunate came into play.

Throughout this series, the reputation of the Guinness family was threatened by outside forces. They weren't exactly beloved by the general public and the family found themselves blackmailed by Fenian siblings Patrick (Seamus O'Hara) and Ellen Cochrane (Niamh McCormack) as well as distant cousin, Byron Hedges (Jack Gleeson). It didn't help that Edward also had an affair with Ellen before marrying cousin Adelaide (Ann Skelly).

The highlight for me though was Arthur Guinness himself. Anthony Boyle gave the Standout performance of the series. We saw his political ambitions end on a cliffhanger. We saw his arranged marriage to Lady Olivia Hedges-White (Danielle Galligan) complicated by her affair with foreman Sean Rafferty (James Norton) as well as his own homosexuality and affair with Patrick (Cúán Hosty-Blaney) and his conservative views. 

By contrast, I'd say the writing for Anne and Benjamin might be more of a mixed bag. As the latter battled alcoholism, an arranged marriage and a mistress, the former wanted a leadership role that she managed to get towards the end of the season. Anne's best moment however involved her trip to Cloonboo in the third episode and interactions with a village still suffering the fallout of the Great Irish Famine and her scenes with Sultan (Hilda Fay).

- Other noteworthy characters included Aunt Agnes (Dervla Kirwan), butler John Potter (Michael McElhatton) and the scheming Reverend Henry Gratton (Michael Colgan).

- Rafferty was implied to have had sex with Arthur before the latter married Olivia. Rafferty also had sex with Anne. All the Guinness siblings ended up in an arranged marriages.

- I had to laugh that every time money was mentioned on the show, the titles would show the amount it was worth today.

- The scenes in Cloonboo and New York had some Irish in them. Netflix also have Irish subtitles for the show.

- Standout music: The music choices varied but Fontaine DC's Starbuster was used during two significant moments in the show.

- Chronology: 1868-1974, Dublin, Galway and New York.

Some mixed accents and maybe a need for more Irish voices to one side, I actually enjoyed House Of Guinness. The eight episodes managed to hit the right spot and the focus on family and politics certainly was the strength of the show. Much better than expected.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

DCU Blog - September 2025 Edition: Superman Sequel Confirmed, Penguin Bags Emmys And More

As the third quarter of 2025 draws to a conclusion, there's some wins, sequel announcements and an upcoming animated series.

If Superman (2025) wasn't already a success, the sequel has been confirmed by James Gunn. Expect Man Of Tomorrow to be released from July 9th 2027. Filming will begin April 2026.

As for Superman (2025) itself, it's managed to clock in over 13 million viewers upon it's HBO Max debut over a week ago.

Filmimg for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) will commence in the UK from May 2026. It'll feature a never done before villain.

James Gunn has clarified that aspects of The Brave And The Bold are in flux but also that the movie will be released before 2030.

We've been getting plenty of outdoor filming pics for Clayface (September 11th 2026), including a nod to Nosferatu and references to other DC characters.

Matthew Lilliard has expressed an interest in working with James Gunn in the DCU.

Matt Reeves has also admitted that he'd be open to directing a DCU movie in the future. The Batman remains Elseworlds (boo).

Michael Rosenbaum also revealed that there's a moment in Supergirl (2026) (June 26th 2026) that wowed him.

The Penguin came up good at the Emmys, including a win for Cristin Milioti. A second season is being considered. 

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber have done rewrites for the upcoming Dynamic Duo (June 30th 2028) movie.

Isabel Merced has confirmed she'll be back for Man Of Tomorrow. I expect a lot of characters will be.

Lanterns will be an early 2026 release on HBO. It'll likely debut after A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms. 

While Peacemaker might not get a third season, James Gunn has confirmed that characters from the show will appear in other DCU projects. David Corenswet will not appear in the remaining episodes.

The Bat Family show will premiere on Amazon Prime in November.

There's rumours of Pom Klementieff being cast as Huntress for the DCU. 

DC have sadly cancelled both their Birds Of Prey and Green Arrow books. Meanwhile Absolute Wonder Woman is selling out. A Zatanna themed Halloween book is coming out on October 1st.

A good amount of rumours and confirmations this month. Expect the next few months to be crazier as two certain movies enter production.

My Review of The Golden Girls (1985-1992, NBC Series)

Earlier this year, I did mention that I would do a blog about The Golden Girls and while I missed the date of the 40th anniversary, here's my blog post nonetheless.

Back in 1985 (September 14th to be exact), NBC premiered a brand new sitcom, created by Susan Harris. The premise focused on a house share in Miami with four older women. There was Sicilian/New York mother and daughter duo Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) and Dorothy Zbornak (Beatrice Arthur), Southern nymphomaniac and the house owner, Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan) and ditzy St. Olaf native, Rose Nylund (Betty White). Together, they made for quite a foursome.

Over the course of seven seasons (and one spin off), these ladies went through so many comedy shenanigans, often fought with each other as well as laughed with and at each other. However when the chips were down (various health issues and financial problems), they also had each others backs. That was in between copious amounts of late night snacking (usually involving cheesecake) and both Sophia and Rose often recalling stories that weren't relevant to the situation. 

Then there were the men in their lives. While Sophia, Rose and Blanche would often lament their deceased husbands, Dorothy's ex husband, the ever feckless Stan (Herb Edelman) was the closest to a male regular the show. Usually he'd pop up with some hairbrained scheme or try to win Dorothy back. Dorothy would a series of suitors on the show but would end up with Blanche's uncle, Lucas (Leslie Nielson). The only other ongoing romance was Rose's relationship with university professor Miles Webber (Harold Gould) in the last few seasons.

I wouldn't be amiss doing a blog post about this show if I didn't mention the original fourth member of the gang. Had the producers not decided to make Sophia a regular (originally she was intended as a guest star), then gay housekeeper Coco (Charles Levin) would've completed the group. He's actually a decent character but replacing him with Sophia was the right call. Saying that, it's kind of a shame that he disappeared after the pilot episode and was never seen or mentioned again. 

Of course while the show ended with seven seasons, there was an attempt to continue it in a way. Minus Dorothy, the rest of the ladies traded their Miami home for running a hotel with manager Roland Wilson (Don Cheadle), chef Chuy Castillos (Cheech Marin) and a random kid named Oliver Webb (Billy L. Sullivan). Thus, the premise of The Golden Palace. The show only lasted one season, managed to bring Dorothy, Stan and Miles in for guest appearances but some of the characters would also pop up in others shows such Empty Nest and Nurses.

Now, I watched repeats of this show when I was younger and I always found it entertaining but it was also a show that knew how to take topical issues such as LGBT issues, HIV, homelessness, depression, loneliness, death, etc with such flair and the theme tune - Cynthia Fee's Thank You For Being A Friend is an iconic number. Plus, there's no doubt that certain female led shows were heavily influenced by this show since it's ending.

If you've never seen this show, you're seriously missing out. Go check it on Disney+ right now.

My Review of The Curse Of La Llorona (2019)

 

Written by Mikki Daughtry And Tobias Iaconis

Directed by Michael Chaves 

Patricia: "It's your fault! I tried to stop her!"

Anna: "Who did you try to stop?"

Patricia: "La Llorona!"

To complete my review of The Conjuring universe, I review the one movie that may or may not be a part of said universe. I do get it as this one definitely did feel like the most standalone entry of the bunch.

The movie opened in 17th century Mexico, resulting in a young boy drowning after witnessing his mother kill his own brother. Then we cut to 1973 Los Angeles where single mother and caseworker, Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini) would be the main focus of the movie.

Anna's job as a caseworker brought her into contact with the struggling Patricia Alvarez (Patricia Velázquez). Patricia's kids ended up being taken into care, despite them telling Anna to keep them in a room for their protection. Of course this was a warning that went ignored and consequences ensued as a result.

I'm vaguely familiar with the La Llorona or Weeping Woman myth and this movie had Anna and her own children, Chris (Roman Christou) and Samantha (Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen) soon became targeted by La Llorona (Marisol Ramirez) with Anna's parenting coming into question by her own employers.

Throwing in some connective tissue with the main universe, I did like the use of Father Perez (Tony Amendola) from the first Annabelle movie. He's paired well with Anna along with former priest Rafael (Raymond Cruz) to help Anna save her children from La Llorona herself.

It's a tense enough movie with the grief stricken Patricia adding a complication while Anna's own daughter was able to get through to La Llorona with a necklace. Throw in a fire tree cross and the titular villain was defeated, with a hint of another encounter at a later date.

- The film was also known as The Curse Of The Weeping Woman in some markets.

- For me, there's enough references for this to be a part of The Conjuring universe, despite Michael Chaves stance on the matter.

- Standout music: Liliana de Faria's Arrorró Mi Niño.

- Chronology: 1673 Mexico and 1973 Los Angeles.

The Curse Of La Llorona made for a solid, mostly standalone movie but the amount of references made, it's clearly meant to be in that universe. I liked this one for the most part.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Prince Of Darkness (1987)

 

Written And Directed by John Carpenter 

Professor Edward Birack: "The outside world doesn't want to hear this kind of bullshit. Just keep it locked away. You've already managed that for two thousand years."

Father Loomis: "No prison can hold him now."

We're entering spooky season and it's time for me to dust off some other horror movies from certain directors. This movie wasn't a first see for me but it's also been a while since I've watched this one.

What's this movie about? Well, it started with a secret order of the Catholic Church. They're called the Brotherhood of Sleep and they were tasked with looking after a large cylinder of green swirling liquid. The liquid's Satan's spirit by the way.

Cut to present day (at the time of release) and the cylinder's in the possession of a priest (Donald Pleasence) who invited a quantum physicist named Professor Howard Birack (Victor Wong) to analyze the cylinder. Birack also brought in his own experts for this task.

Well, when I say experts, I actually mean students and doctors. The students in question being Walter Fong (Dennis Dun), Kelly (Susan Blanchard), Susan Cabot (Anne Howard), Mullins (Dirk Blocker), couple Brian Marsh (Jameson Parker) and Catherine Danfort (Lisa Blount) along with scientists Calder (Jessie Lawrence Ferguson), Lisa (Ann Yen), Etchinson (Thom Bray), Lomax (Ken Wright), Frank Wyndham (Robert Grasmere), and Dr. Paul Leahy (Peter Jason).

It's a lot of characters to keep up with and it's also a lot of characters that also have to work together in order to realise the severity of the green liquid. Throughout the movie, these characters are possessed and killed by the liquid and each other. There's also talk of an anti God, before the movie ended on an unsettling note.

Now in terms of performances, there's a few standouts. Donald Pleasence in particular while not doing anything different to his most famous role was a highlight for me. Another was Dennis Dun as the possibly gay Walter Fong. Those two actors stood out the most in a very crowded movie.

- I did find the reveal of Jesus Christ being an extraterrestrial rather interesting.

- Alice Cooper also had a role in the movie as well as providing the title song for the soundtrack.

- Standout music: John Carpenter and Alan Howarth's score in general.

- Chronology: 1980s Los Angeles along with centuries ago scene in the Middle East.

Prince Of Darkness opted for the horror sci-fi approach to dealing with Satan and while it suffered from too many characters, it's a pretty solid movie nonetheless. Not Carpenter's best but certainly worth watching.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Hush .... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

 

Written by Henry Farrel And Lukas Heller

Directed by Robert Aldrich

Harry: "You're my favorite living mystery."

Charlotte: "Have you ever solved me?"

Following the success of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? of course the studio at the time would be eager to see if lightning could strike twice. They brought back the director and the three actors from that movie for this one. Then one of the actors was fired from the production.

Anyways, let's move things along. It's 1927 and there's a lovely party held by the Hollis family. Big Sam Hollis (Victor Buono) disapproved of his daughter, Charlotte (Bette Davis) having an affair with the married John Mayhem (Bruce Dern). By the end of the night, an illicit affair would be the least of everyone's concerns.

Yup, poor John Mayhem would end up dead and Charlotte's dress would be covered in blood, thus convincing everyone of her guilt. Cut to thirty seven years later and Charlotte would be a maligned spinster who was about to lose her home to make way for a new interstate.

Charlotte was desperate enough to seek out help that she enlisted the assistance of her cousin Miriam Deering (Olivia de Havilland) and Doctor Drew Bayliss (John Cotten) in order to save her home. Unfortunately for Charlotte, their intentions were anything but good for her.

Throughout the movie, both Miriam and Drew delight in driving Charlotte absolutely mad. Thy make her believe that she's been terrorised by her dead lover, mess with her medication and at one point, Charlotte was convinced that Drew was shot and had to dispose of him.

Throughout the film, no one except for housekeeper Velma Cruther (Agnes Moorehead), who actually had Charlotte's back and a remorseful journalist named Harry Willis (Cecil Kellaway). The revelation that John's wife, Jewel (Mary Astor) killed him and Miriam was blackmailing her certainly added a nasty twist. On the plus side, both Miriam and Drew got their just desserts and Charlotte got some vindication in spite of losing her home.

- Originally Joan Crawford had been cast as Miriam but was fired from the production and replaced by Olivia de Havilland.

- Victor Buono is thirty years younger than Bette Davis but played her father. The movie kept Davis in the dark at the start instead of casting a younger actress.

- Standout music: Al Martino's Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

- Chronology: 1927 and 1964, Ascension Parish in Louisiana.

Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte doesn't quite hit the same way that Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? did but it's certainly a noteworthy entry in the psycho buddy/hagsploitation subgenre. Bette Davis did fine but she's overshadowed by the more scheming antics of Olivia de Havilland in this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Peacemaker: "Ignorance Is Chris"

 

Written And Directed by James Gunn 

Peacemaker (upon realising): "Fuck me."

Emilia: "This is your perfect world, huh?"

And just like that, we're on Earth X or Earth 2, according to James Gunn. It's not like the previous five episodes weren't hinting at the end but the reveal of a Nazi America flag and poor Leota being chased down the street made sure there was no more ambiguity on the subject.

Of all the ideal worlds for Christopher Smith to escape into, he had to go with this one. It's unfortunate that he didn't click once that there were no people of colour but Emilia managed to figure it out only a few minutes into the episode. I gotta say, this was certainly an episode for her.

It was also an episode for Jennifer Holland as an actor too because that scene with John Cena were Emilia broke down her history with Rick Flag Jr, her changing feelings for Peacemaker, trying to make the latter see sense and talking about her feelings. That was easily the best acting she's done on the show so far. 

I guess after this episode, I'm on board with both Peacemaker and Emilia Harcourt as a couple. That's if they manage to get out of this racist world alive. Oh and Economos might have made things that much harder for Christopher given what he just told Auggie by the end of this one too.

Going back to the rest of the characters, I really liked Keith but seeing how readily he summoned a mob against Leota, he's dead to me. Yup, he can rot after this one. I was rooting for you, Keith. Not anymore though. 

As for Vigilante, things were going so well with meeting the other version of himself. I was kind of disappointed that the show didn't use the opportunity to present a more serious version of the character but then we had the revelations of Earth 2 Vigilante hating Peacemaker and being a member of the Sons of Liberty. That was definitely enough to snap our Vigilante out of his eagerness to know his other self.

- Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) was the big cameo here as he agreed to work with Flag Sr in order to go to a better prison and redeem himself.

- The post credit scene revealed that Earth 2's Mrs Smith died when Christopher was two. Emilia's ghost joke was actually funny in response.

- If Leota's being chased by an angry mob, what's happened to Judomaster? He didn't appear at all in the episode.

- We finally met Adrian's mother, who thought Harcourt was his girlfriend at one point. On Earth 2, his father isn't gay.

- Standout music: Pretty Maids Little Drops Of Heaven and Helloween's Forever & One (Neverland).

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Ignorance Is Chris easily the best episode so far. The Lex cameo was funny (did we get a Killer Croc hint?) but felt relevant to future events. The Peacemaker and Emilia Harcourt scenes were excellent and that reveal was done extremely well. Looking forward to these last two episodes.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)

Written by Robert Blees And James Sangster And Gavin Lambert And David D. Osborn

Directed by Curtis Harrington 

Christopher: "Hansel and Gretel knew that the wicked witch couldn't hurt anyone anymore, and they also knew with the wicked witch's treasure, they would never be hungry again."

It's exactly three months until Christmas Day and I'm doing something that I'd scold others for doing. I watched a Christmas movie way too early but it's a horror one that I'd never seen before. I'm giving myself a free pass here.

Anyways, fitting into the hagsploitation subgenre of horror, this movie might not be seen with the same fondness as others in the genre but it's got a certain undeniable charm about it. That's largely down to a very intriguing performance from Shelley Winters.

In this film, Winters played the titular Auntie Roo aka Rosie Forrest. She's a woman who lost her young daughter, Katharine several years and hasn't gotten over the loss. From keeping the daughter's skeletal corpse into a cot to hosting séances where she's deceived into believing she's talking to her dead daughter, it's hard not to sympathise with Auntie Roo.

Then there's Christmas itself. It's a triggering time of year for Auntie Roo and she tried to make the best of it by hosting a sleepover with orphaned kids and the rather strict Miss Henley (Rosalie Crutchley). Add into the mix two very troublesome children that would impact Roo's life for the worst.

The kids in question being brother and sister duo, Christopher (Mark Lester) and Katy Coombs (Chloe Franks). Quite frankly, they're a pair of evil brats who spent most of the movie letting their imagination run wild while also convinced that the grief stricken Auntie Roo was a witch.

While Roo did herself no favours by keeping them in the house, there was no indication that she intended to harm the children. However that didn't stop them from stealing her jewels and burning her to death by the end of the movie. If you wanted a version of Hansel And Gretel where the kids were more villainous, this movie certainly did that. No way were those kids were anything other than badly behaved.

- There's some good supporting roles for Ralph Richardson, Lionel Jeffries and Judy Cornwall.

- This was the second time both Shelley Winters and Curtis Harrington worked on a film in this subgenre. Before this one, there was What's The Matter With Helen?

- Standout music: Shelley Winters Let No Man Steal Your Thyme.

- Chronology: Both Christmas and New Year's were incorporated into this English set movie.

I'm not gonna pretend that Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? was some secret classic but it's one of those movies that while average at best, you could sit back and mostly enjoy it. I had a reasonable amount of fun with it.

Rating: 6 out of 10