Colin Wessman

Shocktober Day 14: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

A few Shocktobers ago, I was particularly taken with the first Conjuring movie, enough that I eventually sought out the sequel, despite not being someone who seeks out horror sequels very frequently. So I was happy to catch up with the Warrens again, even if I’m still very behind on catching up with the larger Conjuring universe that has developed over the past decade. While The Devil Made Me Do It isn’t a complete revitalization of the series or anything (though it does pivot slightly away from ghost stories), it still leaves me curious to check out whatever Annabelle and that Nun are up to, perhaps against my better judgment. Continue reading →

Shocktober Day 11: Sinister

Sinister (2012)

Considering it was already reviewed on this blog when it came out in 2012 and was also featured on John’s favorite horror movies of the ’10s, the praises of Sinister have already been sung around these parts. One thing that stuck out to me about John’s original review is that he mentioned not seeing Ethan Hawke show up in things very often. That seems quite true of the period in which this film was made, as Hawke hadn’t quite rebounded with his Oscar-nominated role in Boyhood yet and was toiling in lower-budget obscurity. It perhaps speaks to Hawke’s current status that he doesn’t have nearly as much screentime in his more recent horror collab with Scott Derrickson, The Black Phone, but at least at this moment, we get a lot of Hawke doing a great job of grounding a movie with plenty of supernatural elements. Continue reading →

Shocktober Day 8: Idle Hands

Idle Hands (1999)

For me, Idle Hands is one of those movies that you vaguely remember coming out when you were a kid, but also left such a small cultural footprint that it almost feels like you dreamt it. Was this good? Was this bad? What’s the deal here? Well, for the most part, Idle Hands is pretty fun, even if it feels very much of that late ’90s period of mainstream high school comedies of varying quality that were flooding theaters. Still, combining this vibe with a horror movie aesthetic, filled with lots of blood and elaborate make-up work, makes for an enjoyable — if shamelessly silly — time. Continue reading →

Shocktober Day 5: Prince of Darkness

Prince of Darkness

I didn’t realize it until I watched Prince of Darkness, but viewing it completes me having seen every movie director John Carpenter made during the ’80s, the decade he’s probably most synonymous with. His work during the decade saw a run that’s fairly unparalleled in genre filmmaking, even if not every entry in this string of films was properly appreciated during its time. Carpenter was in such a self-contained groove during this period that even his films that aren’t successful in every aspect are extremely watchable, as is the case with 1987’s Prince of Darkness, a film somewhat overshadowed by the two cult classics in Carpenter’s filmography that it’s sandwiched between, Big Trouble In Little China and They Live. Continue reading →

The Pick: Cat People

As we make our way through Shocktober, this week we take a look at a horror movie of sorts (or perhaps an “erotic fantasy”) with the 1982 remake of Cat People. We discuss how effectively the film expands on its horror-noir inspiration and whether director Paul Schrader was the best person to bring this source material to the screen. But mostly we rag on John Heard and how ill-equipped is to be the leading man in a film that needed someone a little more sexy and charming (our apologies to the memory of Mr. Heard). Continue reading →

Shocktober Day 2: The Devil’s Rain

The Devil’s Rain (1975)

This marks my first foray into this year’s Shocktober, and as far as devil or possession-themed movies, this one has about as much as you could ask for. It’s got a creepy Satanic cult, people melting, ritual sacrifice, a shirtless William Shatner screaming, a future real-life cult member (in a young John Travolta), and a technical advisor credit for Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey. It’s absolutely the kind of batshit film you look for if you’re parsing through the weirder corners of ’70s cult films. However, if you were looking to worship at the altar of great story-telling or well-defined characters, well, you came to the wrong church. Continue reading →

The Pick: Blue Thunder

We’re rollin’ in with another episode of The Pick, this one aimed at the helicopter-fueled action flick Blue Thunder from 1983. We discuss pretty much every aspect of its modest cultural imprint, including its short-lived TV adaptation, as well as our fondness for its stars, Roy Scheider and John’s good friend Malcolm MacDowell. Weirdly enough, it’s a movie that wasn’t specifically chosen for it being its 40th anniversary this year, but more because it just seemed like the kind of weird semi-forgotten oddity that we were destined to review. Continue reading →