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I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
1997 | Horror
I Know What You Did Last Summer opens with the Type O Negative cover of Summer Breeze, which is always going to be a winner in my book.

This film is rightly considered a bit of a classic these days, and there's really not a whole bunch to complain about. It has well written characters, a decent cast, a visually creepy villain, an engaging whodunit plot, one of the best chase scenes in slasher movie history (that's right), and still manages to stand on its own two feet in a world where it's constantly compared to Scream.
I find this to be an unfair comparison. Beyond the 90s setting, teen characters, slasher tropes, and shared writer in Kevin Williamson, there's not much else that ties them together. Scream is of course a fantastic horror, but relishes in being satire, whereas IKWYDLS is a straight shooting horror. Its the exact kind of film that Scream takes aim at, but it still manages to be a decent slasher without feeling silly, and delivers some well earned jump scares for good measure. I also really enjoy it's fishing town setting and the hole movie is accompanied by a hilariously epic score courtesy of John Debney. It's great.

I will always have a lot of time for IKWYDLS, overshadowed by some of its contemporaries, but a hugely satisfying and entertaing horror in its own right.
  
Tremors (1990)
Tremors (1990)
1990 | Comedy, Horror
As far as practical effects driven monster movies go, you can't get much better than Tremors.

It has a wonderful cast for a start - lead by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, and featuring the likes of Finn Carter, Michael Gross, and Reba McEntire, every character is likable (apart from that little shit Melvin) and you want them all to survive their ordeal, usually a rarity in this genre!
The chemistry between all of the actors is great, and makes for a frequently funny adventure. It has its fair share of bloodier moments that push into horror territory, and in that regards, the mostly daylit Nevada desert setting is something different to enjoy. The practical effects are extremely B-Movie, but it works so well with the overall tone.

The narrative takes a little while to set everything up, but when things get moving, it doesn't stop, moving from set piece to set piece, that are all memorable as hell, from pole vaulting from boulder to boulder, to fishing with homemade bombs, to a over the top l, laughable amount of guns being fired when a Graboid breaches an underground bunker.

Tremors is fucking great and deserves so much praise for what it is - it's own little pocket of comedy horror, with its own rules. Long live Tremors.
  
    Moonrise

    Moonrise

    Weather and Utilities

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    AVIA Moonrise is an application that presents an accurate moon phase and the official sunrise,...

Bait (2019)
Bait (2019)
2019 | Drama
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Blow the man down
Bait is a beautiful disorientating gem of a movie about how we failure to understand and communicate with each other on a daily basis. Set in an old fishing village that's having to change with the times while leaving its locals struggling to make a living. bait is loaded with conflict and tension as tourists and locals cross paths and confront each other on a daily basis. Watching bait is a constant visual treat it's scratchy, jumpy, weathered and seemingly missing vital scenes giving it not only a sense of nostalgia but great authenticity too. Dialog is stiff, seemingly mismatched and layered in an almost hazy dream like way adding brilliantly to the overall atmosphere, harsh themes and knife point tension. Acting is tip top too with every single character seething with realistic portrayals of frustration, jealousy, anger and #hatred these along with close up shots of clenched fists and faces showing eyes of sheer boredom add superbly to a film that feels so relatable and incredibly British. Bait is by no means a happy watch with its intense close up imagery, pulsing scratchy film reel and defining silence that accompanies all the constant drama and conflict but theres something so pure, heart warming and nostalgic in all it's damn fine riveting hopelessness that rewards all that stay till it's haunting and mezmerising conclusion.
  
    Thumbsucker

    Thumbsucker

    Walter Kirn

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    Book

    This eighties-centric, Ritalin-fueled, pitch-perfect comic novel by a writer to watch brings energy...

The Witches of Vardø
The Witches of Vardø
Anya Bergman | 2023 | Fiction & Poetry, Religion, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What starts off as a story about the life of a child in a fishing community, soon turns into a seemingly hopeless struggle for their lives. It’s dangerous to be a woman in the 1600’s. Dancing, laughing, drinking - all of these simple, everyday things can result in an accusation of witchcraft. Funnily enough, if a man does them, that’s ok (I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the injustice of it all!).
The young girls are the ones that hold the story together. They are the link between the accused women (their mothers, aunt and another villager) and the King’s prisoner, Anna. Anna is trusted to ‘care’ for the witches whilst they’re held in the Witches hold - a thoroughly inhumane incarceration. She’s a woman with an education, so I expected for her to treated a lot worse than she was.
There’s a great mix of history and magic in this, although done in such a way as the magic didn’t seem out of place - and fitted in perfectly with the rest of the book. It was interesting to learn about the way the Sámi were regarded by the rest of Finn-mark (I’m unsure of the spelling!) - even though it wasn’t good (they weren’t Christians, and therefore dangerous).
It was a really engrossing read - I loved it.