BY CATEGORY
BY DECADE
BY AUTHOR
TUMBLR
RSS
Category Archives: Slashers/Serial Killers
Hellbent (2004)
Hellbent (2004)
Review by: Erin Page
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: A masked killer stalks a group of gay friends at the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival.
REVIEW: This film has been dubbed “the first gay slasher film” ever, and while I’m not entirely convinced that this is the case, I will say that it’s the first one I’ve seen that is outrageously great. If you have watched any amount of gay cable programming in the last few years — particularly the American here! channel — you’ve no doubt seen the trailer for Hellbent at some point. If you are a fan of both the horror and gay film genres, constantly in search of the perfect, tasty combination of both — Hellbent is your Reese’s peanut butter cup!
Deeeelicious!
Candyman (1992)
Candyman (1992)
Review by: Erin Page
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: A woman’s investigation into an urban legend leads her down a dark path. Has a centuries-old horror returned to reek its vengeance, or is she merely going insane?
REVIEW: Chicago grad-student Helen Lyle begins a casual, cigarette-fueled investigation into local urban legends. Though fiercely intellectual and open-minded, Helen comes at the subject as somewhat of a bemused and privileged outsider. She’s a fair college princess with glowing ideals, yet lacking in practical street-smarts — the primary reason why her professor/husband Trevor finds the idea of hunting down fairy tales in back-alleys to be a dangerous waste of time. Still, Helen is spurred on by a growing sense of immediacy, and Trevor’s misgivings only serve to empower her more.
White people.
Speck (2002)
Speck (2002)
Review by: Erin Page
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Set in Chicago during the late 60s, this is the gruesome true story of murderer Richard Speck who killed eight student nurses in one night.
REVIEW: I was still high off the success of the last true crime serial killer movie I reviewed (Dahmer), so this seemed like a natural progression. Both were filmed in 2002. Both have short one-note titles named after their respective psychos. Both feature seedy, uncomfortable close-ups on the DVD cover. And of course, I have passed over both of these movies repeatedly in the video store for eight years. But whereas Dahmer is a chilling and surprisingly quality film — by comparison, Speck is a shameless turd.
Fittingly, the movie starts on the toilet.