MASTERS OF HORROR: SEASON 1 - LOOKING BACK AT 20 YEARS OF MOH!!

MASTERS OF HORROR (2005-2007) was a horror anthology series like none before, making its small-screen bow on the cable channel Showtime in October 2005.

Created by Mick Garris, the show brought together some of the most renowned names in horror filmmaking to direct hour-long episodes that showcased their unique visions. Predating the wave of multi-voiced anthology films like V/H/S and ABCs of Death, each episode was a self-contained story, with genre icons such as John Carpenter, Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper, Stuart Gordon, John Landis, Joe Dante, and Don Coscarelli, alongside newer voices such as Lucky McKee and Takashi Miike, exploring different themes and scenarios ranging from supernatural terror to the murderer next door.

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The idea behind the series emerged from informal dinners hosted by Garris, with established horror directors sharing ideas and mutual admiration for one another, as well as discussing the genre’s rich history and diversity.

25 YEARS OF TAKASHI MIIKE'S AUDITION (1999)!!!

AUDITION (1999) d. Takashi Miike (Japan/S. Korea)

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After seven years of mourning and encouraged by his teenage son to find a new wife, widower Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) seeks the advice of a colleague within the film company for which they both work. Together, they hit upon the perfect plan: Staging an audition for actresses, ostensibly for a new feature project, but in reality hoping to find the new ideal woman to share Aoyama’s life. While interviewing a series of candidates, the lonely widower becomes enchanted by Asami (Eihi Shiina), a quiet, young woman, who is immediately responsive to his charms. The two seem to instantly fall for each other, but things take a very dark and twisted turn (or three) as we discover Asami isn't all she seems to be...

THE YOKAI MONSTERS COLLECTION Blu-ray Review

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Fanzine legend Dave Kosanke (Liquid Cheese) returns to the Doc’s office as they both explore the heretofore unfamiliar territory of THE YOKAI MONSTERS, now available in a new box set from Arrow Video.

TERRA FORMARS (2016) Blu-ray review

Terra Formars (2016) d. Takashi Miike (Japan) (98 min)

20 years after the 1999 triple-threat of Audition, Dead or Alive, and Ley Lines (the final installment in the Black Society Trilogy), Miike shows no sign of slowing down even if he seems less concerned with consistently shattering conventions and expectations. Case in point: this goofy, juvenile intergalactic epic scripted by Kazuki Nakashima (based on the popular Manga by Yu Sasuga and Kenichi Tachibana) in which a team of space explorers find themselves pitched against a horde of oversized anthropomorphic cockroaches who all seem to have spent a lot of time doing leg presses at Red Planet Fitness.

AUDITION (1999) Blu-ray Review

Audition (1999) d. Takashi Miike (Japan/S. Korea) (115 min)

After seven years of mourning and encouraged by his teenage son to find a new wife, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) seeks the advice of a business colleague (Jun Kunimura) within the film company they work for. Together, they hit upon the perfect plan: Staging an audition for actresses, ostensibly for a new feature project, but in reality hoping to find the new ideal woman to share Aoyama’s life. While interviewing a series of candidates, the lonely widower becomes enchanted by Asami (Eihi Shiina), a quiet, 24-year-old woman, who is immediately responsive to his charms. The two seem to instantly fall for each other, but things take a very dark and twisted turn (or three) as we discover Asami isn't all she seems to be...

THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS (2001) Blu-ray Review

The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) d. Takashi Miike (Japan)

Former shoe salesman Masao Katakuri (Kenji Sawada) purchases a bed & breakfast in a remote hiking area in the shadow of Mt. Fuji where a new road is planned to be built and moves his father (Tetsuro Tanba), wife Terue (Keiko Matsuzaka), son Masayuki (Shinji Takeda), daughter Shizue (Naomi Nishida), and granddaughter Yurie (Tamaki Miyazaki) to assist in the running of the vacation establishment. Guests rarely appear, and when they do, they tend to wind up expired in the morning. As they say, friends help you move, but real friends help you move bodies, and as the death toll rises, the dysfunctional family learns to put aside their petty differences and discover the true meaning of joy and unconditional love.

Fantasia Film Festival 2012 – Day 1 (Thursday, July 19)

Having survived my first film festival experience earlier this year in Brussels, I had come away with one singular truth resounding over and over in my head: I need to do more of these. Well, as fate would have it, my summer work obligations just happened to have a mid-July to mid-August hole in them. Guess what happens for three weeks up Montreal way? Yep, it’s the 16th annual Fantasia International Film Festival (which I will not be abbreviating to FIFF, so just stifle those hopes right now), a 22-day assault on the eyes, ears, brain and stamina of adventurous cinephiles everywhere, one of the largest and most significant horror, sci-fi, fantasy and wild-ass genre film festivals in the world. And I’m here, right in the thick of it. Be careful what you wish for, right?

BIFFF Day #7 (Thursday, 4/12)

Okay, time to get personal.

If I had a top 10 list of favorite movies (which I defiantly do not), The Exorcist would be on it. I’ve known and worshipped the film ever since I first encountered it – on television, no less – at the age of 13. I’ve seen it probably more times than any other movie, and have watched the final climactic 20 minutes exponentially more. In high school, against my coach’s well-intentioned protestations, I performed a 10-minute selection from William Peter Blatty’s source novel for our speech team and ended up attending the national finals in Dramatic Interpretation. Needless to say, I’ve been…wait for it…possessed by all things Exorcist for nearly three decades now, and even upon revisiting it last year, it still holds up. (The original cut, not the bloated and tricked up Version You’ve Never Seen, thank you very much.) As a result, I’ve known the name of director William Friedkin for a long time now, and while he hasn’t always hit the bull’s eye, he’ll go down in the history books thanks to the one-two punch of The French Connection and The Exorcist.