The Best Picture Race: The 1950s

Posted on March 15, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Continuing our look at the Best Picture races of the past, it’s now time to enter the 50s! World War II was over. Eisenhower was President. Everyone was worried about communist spies. And the Hollywood studios still reigned supreme, even while actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean challenged the establishment.

1950

All About Eve

Born Yesterday

Father of the Bride

King Solomon’s Mines

Sunset Boulevard

Won: All About Eve

Should Have Won: The Academy started out the decade by getting it right. While I love Sunset Boulevard and could definitely make a case for why it could have won, All About Eve was the best film nominated and one of the best films ever made.

1951

An American Paris

Decision Before Dawn

A Place In The Sun

Quo Vadis

A Streetcar Named Desire

Won: An American In Paris

Should Have Won: An American In Paris was a bit of an unexpected winner. A Streetcar Named Desire swept almost all of the acting prizes (only Marlon Brando failed to take home an Oscar) but the film itself is a bit too theatrical for me. As much as I Like An American In Paris, my personal vote would have gone to A Place In The Sun.

1952

The Greatest Show on Earth

High Noon

Ivanhoe

Moulin Rouge

The Quiet Man

Won: The Greatest Show on Earth

Should Have Won: Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show On Earth is often described as being the worst film to ever win best picture. I don’t know if I’d go that far but the Oscar still should have gone to either High Noon or The Quiet Man. With The Greatest Show on Earth, the Academy went for spectacle over …. well, everything else. It was not the first time the Academy did so, nor would it be the last.

1953

From Here To Eternity

Won: From Here To Eternity

Should Have Won: I love both Julius Caesar and Roman Holiday but, in this case, the Academy picked the right film.

1954

The Caine Mutiny

The Country Girl

On The Waterfront

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers

Three Coins In The Fountain

Won: On the Waterfront

Should Have Won: I want to say Rear Window but it wasn’t even nominated. On The Waterfront is the best made and the best acted of all the nominees but that the film’s support for “naming names” will never sit well with me. Like many of Elia Kazan’s films, it also gets a bit too heavy-handed towards the end. (One always got the feeling that Kazan didn’t trust his audience to figure out things on their own.) I’ll go with The Caine Mutiny, if just for Humphrey Bogart’s amazing performance as Queeg.

1955

Love is Many Splendored Thing

Marty

Mister Roberts

Picnic

The Rose Tattoo

Won: Marty

Should Have Won: This is a difficult one for me. All of the nominated films are fairly weak. The best remember films of 1955 — Rebel Without A Cause, Kiss Me Deadly, East of Eden — weren’t even nominated. Marty‘s likable but it still feels like a made-for-TV movie. I’ll go with Picnic, just for the scene where William Holden and Kim Novak dance on the dock.

1956

Around the World in 80 Days

Friendly Persuasion

Giant

The King and I

The Ten Commandments

Won: Around The World In 80 Days

Should Have Won: In a year in which all of the nominees were epic in scope, Around The World In 80 Days won because it featured a cameo from nearly everyone in Hollywood. It’s a bit of a drag to watch today, despite the charm of David Niven. Personally, of the nominated films, I would have gone with …. mock me if you will …. The Ten Commandments. As flawed as it may be, it’s still incredibly watchable and never dull. If I couldn’t vote for The Ten Commandments, I’d probably vote for Giant, just because it’s a movie about my home state.

1957

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Peyton Place

Sayonara

12 Angry Men

Witness for the Prosecution

Won: The Bridge on the River Kwai

Should Have Won: The Bridge on the River Kwai is a worthy winner but my favorite of the nominees is definitely 12 Angry Men. And I’ll admit that I’ve always enjoyed Peyton Place as well.

1958

Auntie Mame

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

The Defiant Ones

Gigi

Separate Tables

Won: Gigi

Should Have Won: Gigi’s good but I would have to vote for the overheated but always entertaining melodrama of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Of course, the best films of the year — Vertigo and Touch of Evil — were not nominated.

1959

Anatomy of a Murder

Ben-Hur

The Diary of Anne Frank

The Nun’s Story

Room At The Top

Won: Ben-Hur

Should Have Won: I actually like Ben-Hur but I absolutely love Anatomy of a Murder. It’s one of the best courtroom films ever made and it features James Stewart at his absolute best.

Up next, in about 30 minutes — the 60s!

The Best Picture Race: The 1940s

Posted on March 15, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ah, the 40s! For most of the decade, the world was at war and the Academy’s nominations reflected that fact. The best picture lineups alternated between patriotic films that encouraged the battle against evil and darker films that contemplated both the mistakes of the past and what threats might be waiting in the future.

1940

All This, and Heaven Too

Foreign Correspondent

The Grapes of Wrath

The Great Dictator

Kitty Foyle

The Letter

The Long Voyage Home

Our Town

The Philadelphia Story

Rebecca

Won: Rebecca

Should Have Won: Rebecca was the only Hitchcock film to win Best Picture and while I hate to take that honor away from him, it simply cannot compare to the power of John Ford’s adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath. Considering that people nowadays tend to assume that FDR just waved a magic wand and ended The Great Depression as soon as he was elected, The Grapes of Wrath is still an important historic document of just how bad things truly were in the 1930s. (World War II ended the Great Depression for more effectively than the New Deal ever did.)

1941

Blossoms in the Dust

Citizen Kane

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Hold Back the Down

How Green Way My Valley

Won: How Green Was My Valley

Should Have Won: Citizen Kane. Was there ever any doubt?

1942

49th Parallel

Kings Row

The Magnificent Ambersons

Mrs. Miniver

The Pied Piper

The Pride of the Yankees

Random Harvest

The Talk of the Town

Wake Island

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Won: Mrs. Miniver

Should Have Won: Mrs. Miniver was a heartfelt tribute to the strength of the British people and it’s certainly understandable why the Academy honored it. That said, today, the over-the-top melodrama of Kings Row is a lot more fun to watch.

1943

Casablanca

For Whom The Bell Tolls

The More The Merrier

The Ox-Bow Incident

The Song of Bernadette

Watch on the Rhine

Won: Casablanca

Should Have Won: Casablanca. The Academy got it right.

Casablanca (1943, dir by Michael Curtiz)

1944

Double Indemnity

Gaslight

Going My Way

Since You Went Away

Wilson

Won: Going My Way

Should have Won: The Academy went from nominating ten films to only nominating five this year. (Decades later, it would go back to nominating ten.) Darryl F. Zanuck launched an all-out blitz to convince the Academy to honor Wilson, a film about one of our worst presidents. The Academy instead went with Going My Way, a pleasant crowd-pleaser. I would have voted for Double Indemnity, a film that was perhaps too cynical to win at a time when America was at war.

1945

Anchors Aweigh

The Bells of St. Mary’s

The Lost Weekend

Mildred Pierce

Spellbound

Won: The Lost Weekend

Should Have Won: I agree with the Academy. The Lost Weekend is an underrated winner but it’s still undeniably effective.

1946

The Best Years of Our Lives

Henry V

It’s A Wonderful Life

The Razor’s Edge

The Yearling

Won: The Best Years Of Our Lives

Should Have Won: The Best Years Of Our Lives was one of the first films to deal with the struggle of returning veterans. It’s a great film. That said, I still have to vote for It’s A Wonderful Life, a film that is far darker than its reputation as a holiday favorite might suggest.

1947

The Bishop’s Wife

Crossfire

Gentleman’s Agreement

Great Expectations

Miracle on 34th Street

Won: Gentleman’s Agreement

Should Have Won: Crossfire. Like Gentleman’s Agreement, Crossfire deals with anti-Semitism. Crossfire, though, does so in a far more direct, angry, and effective manner.

1948

Hamlet

Johnny Belinda

The Red Shoes

The Snake Pit

Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Won: Hamlet

Should Have Won: Hamlet is an excellent film but The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is one of the best ever. John Huston’s look at the power of greed gets my vote.

1949

All the King’s Men

Battleground

The Heiress

Letter To Three Wives

Twelve O’Clock High

Won: All The King’s Men

Should Have Won: In this case, I think that Academy got it right. All The King’s Men is a film that seems rather prophetic today. Willie Stark would have made out like a bandit during the COVID lockdowns.

Up next, get ready to like Ike and hate commies because we’re heading into the 50s!

The Best Picture Race: The 1930s

Posted on March 15, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ah, the 1930s. America was mired in the Great Depression. FDR was plotting to pack the courts. In Europe, leaders were trying to ignore what was happening in Italy, Spain, and Germany. As for the Academy, it was still growing and developing and finding itself. With people flocking to the movies and the promise of an escape from reality, the Academy Awards went from being an afterthought to a major cultural event.

1930–1931

Skippy

Won: Cimarron

Should Have Won: This is a tough year. None of the nominees are really that great. The two main contenders were Cimarron and Trader Horn but neither one has aged particularly well. Of the film that were nominated, The Front Page probably holds up the best. The best of the film eligible for these split-year Oscars — Little Caesar and The Public Enemy — were not nominated for Best Picture.

1931–1932

One Hour With You

The Smiling Lieutenant

Won: Grand Hotel

Should Have Won: Of the nominees, Grand Hotel deserved its victory. If only Frankenstein had been nominated!

1932 — 1933

Cavalcade

42nd Street

A Farewell to Arms

I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang

Lady For A Day

Little Women

The Private Life of Henry VIII

She Done Him Wrong

Smilin’ Through

State Fair

Won: Cavalcade

Should Have Won: Cavalcade is one of the more forgotten best picture winners and for good reason. It’s just not that interesting. Of the other nominees, I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang is the most powerful and 42nd Street is the most entertaining. In the end, my vote would have gone to 42nd Street. The original King Kong was eligible but not nominated.

1934

The Barretts of Wimpole Street

Cleopatra

Flirtation Walk

The Gay Divorcee

Here Comes The Navy

The House of Rothschild

Imitation of Life

It Happened One Night

One Night of Love

The Thin Man

Viva Villa!

The White Parade

Won: It Happened One Night

Should Have Won: Oh wow. I really love The Thin Man but seriously, nothing beats Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night. For the first time this decade, the Academy got it right.

1935

Alice Adams

Broadway Melody of 1936

Captain Blood

David Copperfield

The Informer

The Lives of Bengal Lancer

Midsummer Night’s Dream

Les Miserables

Mutiny on the Bounty

Naughty Marietta

Ruggles of Red Gap

Top Hat

Won: Mutiny on the Bounty

Should Have Won: Mutiny on the Bounty isn’t bad but my vote has to go to Top Hat, a film that is pure joy.

1936

Anthony Adverse

Dodsworth

The Great Ziegfeld

Libeled Lady

Mr. Deeds Go To Town

Romeo and Juliet

San Francisco

The Story of Louis Pasteur

A Tale of Two Cities

Three Smart Girls

Won: The Great Ziegfeld

Should Have Won: The Great Ziegfeld is a good example of a film that won because it was big. It was a spectacle. It overwhelmed audiences and voters with how overproduced it was. Seen today, it’s entertaining but overlong. My vote would have gone to the far more low-key (but also far more intelligent) Dodsworth.

1937

The Awful Truth

Captains Courageous

Dead End

The Good Earth

In Old Chicago

The Life of Emile Zola

Lost Horizon

One Hundred Men and a Girl

Stage Door

A Star is Born

Won: The Life of Emile Zola

Should Have Won: The Life of Emile Zola isn’t a bad film but it’s not the best of the nominees. Dead End features one of Humphrey Bogart’s best pre-Casablanca performances and The Awful Truth is a classic screwball comedy with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. In the end, my vote would have gone to The Awful Truth.

1938

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Alexander’s Ragtime Band

Pygmalion

You Can’t Take It With You

Won: You Can’t Take It With You

Should Have Won: Damn. As much as I hate to vote against any movie starring Jimmy Stewart, there’s no way that I can take You Can’t Take It With You over either The Adventures of Robin Hood or Grand Illusion. Robin Hood is the most entertaining of the nominees but Grand Illusion is the most important. My vote goes to Grand Illusion.

1939

Dark Victory

Gone With The Wind

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Love Affair

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

The Wizard of Oz

Won: Gone With The Wind

Should Have Won: This is such a difficult year because I can make a case for all of the nominees, with the exception of the creaky Love Affair. In the end, my vote goes to …. argh! This is so hard. I’m juggling Gone With The Wind, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Wuthering Heights, Stagecoach, Ninotchka, and The Wizard of Oz in my head. Can I pick all of them? No? Okay, I’ll go with …. Hell, I have to go with Jimmy Stewart holding the Senate hostage. Sorry, Wizard of Oz. I vote for Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, which has Jimmy Stewart and no munchkins.

And that’s it for the 30s. Up next, in about 30 minutes, it’s time for the 40s!

The Best Picture Race: The 1920s

Posted on March 15, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Oscars started out as an afterthought.

When Louis B. Mayer first proposed setting up what would become the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927, he wasn’t really that interested in giving out awards. Instead, he saw the Academy as an organization that would mediate labor disputes between the studios and the unions. He also felt that the Academy could basically be used to improve the film industry’s image, which had taken a hit from the rape trial of Fatty Arbuckle, the overdose of Wallace Reid, and the murder of William Desmond Taylor. When he and the other 35 founders of the Academy met to draw up the organization’s charter, the idea of giving out awards was mentioned only in passing. A committee would be set up to give out yearly awards to honor the best that Hollywood had to offer.

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in a hotel ballroom in 1928. It occurred at the end of a private dinner and the awards were handed out in 15 minutes. The 2nd ceremony was the first to be broadcast on the radio. It was only when the Academy got around to the third ceremony that the Oscars started to transform into the spectacle that we know today. It was only then that people started to really pay attention to what was and was not nominated for Best Picture.

Today, for Oscar Sunday, we’re taking a a decade-by-decade look at the Best Picture races of the past. We start with those first three ceremonies.

1927–1928

Uniquely, the very first Academy Awards saw the presentation for two best picture trophies. Best Production went to the most entertaining film. Unique and Artistic Production went to the most artistic film.

Production

The Racket

Seventh Heaven

Wings

Unique and Artistic Production

Chang

The Crowd

Sunrise

Won: Wings and Sunrise

Should Have Won: The first time out, the Oscars got it right. People tend to be a bit dismissive of Wings but it has that one amazing tracking shot and it also features the wonderful Clara Bow. Sunrise, meanwhile, is a triumph in every way. Among the eligible films not nominated: Buster Keaton’s The General and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

Sunrise (1927, dir by F.W. Murnau) Won Best Unique and Artistic Picture

1928–1929

Uniquely, only the winners were announced for the 2nd awards ceremony. The “nominees” listed below are taken from a list of notes that were taken while the judges were discussing who and what to honor.

Alibi

The Broadway Melody

The Hollywood Revue of 1929

In Old Arizona

The Patriot

Won: The Broadway Melody

Should Have Won: The Broadway Melody was the first musical to win but it’s aged terribly. I actually prefer The Hollywood Revue of 1929, which has no plot but which does feature a bunch of MGM stars singing, dancing, and showing off that they were having no problem transitioning for silent cinema to sound films. Or, at least, that was the idea. Poor John Gilbert.

1929–1930

All Quiet On The Western Front

Won: All Quiet On The Western Front

Should Have Won: All Quiet On The Western Front. Third time out, the Academy got it right.

Up next, the Stock Market crashes and we enter a scary new decade in American history. In about 30 minutes, we’ll be taking a look at the 1930s!

One Of The Best Performances That Did Not Win An Oscar: Marlon Brando as Mark Antony in Julius Caesar

Posted on March 15, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Beware the Ides of March!

The scene below is from the 1953 film, Julius Caesar. This Oscar-nominated Shakespearean adaptation had a cast that was full of distinguished actors. James Mason played Brutus. The great John Gielgud played Cassius. Louis Calhern was Caesar while other roles were filled by Deborah Kerr, Greer Garson, Edmond O’Brien, George Macready, John Hoyt, Edmund Purdom. and a host of other distinguished thespians. And yet, the best performance in the film came from an actor who, at the time, no one considered to be a Shakespearean. Marlon Brando brought his method intensity to the role of Mark Antony and the result was a performance that is still electrifying today.

Here is Marlon Brando in Julius Caesar, giving one of the best performances to not win an Oscar. Remember this the next time someone defends a film or a performance by saying that it won an Oscar. Sometimes, the best does not win. Most of the time, the best cannot even be identified until several years have passed. It’s hard to argue with William Holden winning a long overdue Oscar for his work in 1953’s Stalag 17 but still, the power of Brando’s performance is impossible to deny.

13 for 13: Creature (dir by William Malone)

Posted on March 13, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

1985’s Creature takes place in the future!

A spaceship that has just recently visited one of Saturn’s moons has crashed into a space station that is orbiting Earth’s moon. An American corporation sends another crew up to investigate the wreck but, when they arrive, they discover that a German corporation has beat them to it. They also discover that all of the Germans are dead, with the exception of Hans Hofner (Klaus Kinski). Hofner claims that an alien creature killed all of the other Germans and now, the creature will be coming after the Americans as well.

Would you allow Klaus Kinski on your spaceship? That was one of the main things that I found myself wondering as I watched Creature. Kinski was a German actor who was widely acknowledged as being one of the best actors in the world. For instance, Doctor Zhivago is a beautiful but very slow film that suddenly comes to life during Klaus Kinski’s fifteen minutes of screentime. He was also widely acknowledged as being incredibly difficult to work with, prone to paranoia and wild rages. His frequent collaborator, director Werner Herzog, has frequently talked about being tempted to kill Kinski while working with him and Kinski reportedly threatened to kill Herzog as well but the two of them still worked together because Kinski’s talent made the pain worth it. (At least, for a while….) It’s probably open to debate just how much of Kinski’s bad behavior was performative and how much of it was actually due to Kinski being mentally unstable but it’s also true that any experienced filmgoer knows better than to trust any character played by Klaus Kinski.

Now, it should be noted that, while Kinski was a great actor, that doesn’t always mean that he gave performances that were appropriate for the film in which he was appearing. If Kinski got bored during shooting, he would pretty much just do whatever he wanted. That’s the feeling that one gets while watching him in Creature. Kinski alternates between being overly twitchy and being obviously disinterested. When he makes his first appearance, he randomly gropes an actress, a move that was apparently not scripted. Later, Kinski eats a sandwich and talks with his mouth full. From the disgusted looks of the other cast members, it’s hard not to suspect that this was another improvisation on Kinski’s part. Kinski is always watchable but his performance is still one of the weaker elements of Creature.

That’s a shame because the rest of the cast — Lyman Ward, Stan Ivar, Wendy Schaal, Robert Jaffe, Diane Salinger — all do a pretty good job of bringing their characters to life. That Creature is essentially a rip-off of Alien is no great secret. But the film itself still works, due to some memorably grotesque effects work, William Malone’s quickly paced direction, and the performances of the majority of the cast. It’s an enjoyable B-movie, obviously made by people with a deep appreciation for the science fiction genre. Usually, Kinski is the element the redeems a B-movie. In this case, he’s almost superfluous. The film would have worked just as well — perhaps even better — if he hadn’t shown up.

Would I let Klaus Kinski on my spaceship?

In this case, I’d tell him to wait for the next shuttle. He’s not needed.

13 for 13: DeathBed (dir by Danny Draven)

Posted on March 13, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2002’s DeathBed, Karen (Tanya Dempsey) and Jerry (Brave Matthews) move into a new apartment. Karen is an illustrator of children’s books. Jerry is a professional photographer who occasionally does “nudie stuff.” Their new landlord and building superintendent is Art (Joe Estevez).

At first, the new apartment seems ideal. But then, strange things start happening. Karen starts to have visions of a woman being strangled in the apartment. She struggles to finish her latest illustration project and instead finds that strange and disturbing pictures have been drawn while she was apparently asleep. Jerry gets weird at work, telling models to pose as if they’ve been tied down to a mattress. Jerry and Karen’s sex life gets a bit more adventurous but even that leaves Karen worried. She feels as if she’s losing control.

Could the apartment be haunted?

Or could it have something to do with the creepy bed that Karen and Art previously found in a hidden room and which Karen decided to make the centerpiece of the new apartment?

Karen starts to do research. At first, she can’t find any evidence that a murder was ever committed in the apartment but then she discovers that the name of the street was changed in the 40s and that her new apartment actually has a very long and rather macabre history. Meanwhile, Jerry worries about her sanity. Deadlines are blown. Murders are committed. And the viewer is left asking one question….

Would you rent an apartment from Joe Estevez?

Actually, I’m being way too snarky with that question. DeathBed is surprisingly effective horror film and Joe Estevez gives a likable performance as Art. Personally, I still think Karen was way too quick to explore a previously hidden room with him but, otherwise, Art comes across as being a genuinely nice guy.

DeathBed is actually one of the better films that I’ve seen from Full Moon Pictures. While I wasn’t a huge fan of Danny Draven’s direction of Hell Asylum, he does an excellent job with DeathBed, creating and maintaining an atmosphere of ominous doom and gradual decay. What makes the film so effective is that Karen and Jerry don’t fall apart immediately. Instead, it’s a gradual process. The viewer can see it happening but Karen and Jerry can’t. Brave Matthews and especially Tanya Dempsey are well-cast as the troubled couple. Dempsey gives an especially strong performance, playing a woman who has used her art to create the ideal life that she’s never had.

DeathBed has an interesting story and a few creative twists, even if the film’s actual ending what come as a huge surprise to experienced horror fans. I appreciated that Karen’s visions of the previous murder appeared to carry hints of the infamous Black Dahlia case. It served to remind the viewer that real life can sometimes be just as terrifying and mysterious as the movies.

Would I rent an apartment from Joe Estevez?

Well, probably not. Not after seeing what happened with Karen and Jerry. But I don’t blame Karen and Jerry for wanting the apartment. It’s a nice apartment. It’s just that there are times that hidden rooms should definitely remain hidden.

13 for 13: Hell Asylum (dir by Danny Draven)

Posted on March 13, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Would you watch a reality show produced by Joe Estevez?

Of course not! Reality TV …. hey, that’s the form of entertainment that is destroying our culture and leaving viewers unable to think for themselves! Reality TV is a pox on our house. Thanks to reality TV, the Kardashians are more famous than they have any right to be. Jennifer Welch has become a political pundit despite having all the charm of a sour lemon. People now feel like they have to live every moment as if there’s a million people watching and as a result, it’s become difficult to connect in any meaningful way…..

Eh. Actually, I like reality TV more than I should and I probably would watch a reality show produced by Joe Estevez.

I mean, why not? The best reality shows are always kind of sleazy and there are few actors who are as talented at playing sleazy characters as Joe Estevez. If Martin Sheen often seems as if he’s auditioning to be the Pope, his brother Joe comes across as if he’s auditioning to be the tabloid reporter who writes a slanderous story about the Pope. The fact that Joe Estevez looks like a drunk version of his brother only serves to make him all the more effective as someone who you wouldn’t necessarily want to be associated with. (Unless, of course, he could make you a lot of money….)

In Hell Asylum, Joe Estevez plays Stan, a network television executive. The movie opens with a show being pitched to him. The pitch, like many of the scenes in Hell Asylum, goes on way too long. Basically, a group of models have been recruited to spend the night in a supposedly haunted asylum while being filmed. The pitch is nothing special but Stan needs a hit.

Of course, it turns out that the asylum really is haunted. It takes a while but eventually, the models and the television crew end up being stalked by a bunch of mysterious hooded figures. (Brinke Stevens is credited as being the “Head Spectre.”) The murders are filmed with a blue tint, which is creepy at first but eventually just hurts your eyes. There’s some gore, but it’s mostly just some red gloop and rope meant to stand-in for spilled intestines. It’s not particularly scary but at least it’s only 72 minutes.

Of course, Joe Estevez thinks that he has his hands on America’s hottest new reality show. At first, I thought the movie was being a bit too cynical but then I thought about all of the real-life deaths that I’ve seen posted to twitter and YouTube and I realized that I was probably being naive. We actually did have a reality show in which each episode ended with someone pretending to “die.” Murder in Small Town X was set up like Survivor, except that no one was voted off the island. Instead, they were voted to meet the killer. Even though no one actually died, I would have to think it would be more infinitely more traumatic to know that a bunch of people voted for you to be pretend-killed instead of pretend-exiled. That said, Murder In Small Town X was actually a lot of fun!

I wonder if Joe Estevez produced it.

13 for 13: Parasite Lady (dir by Chris Alexander)

Posted on March 13, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2023’s Parasite Lady is a cinematic poem.

Miranda (Arrielle Edwards) awakens in her coffin. Tall with long red hair, she makes for a haunting figure as she strides across a snowy field and heads to a carnival where she finds her next victim. Though the film is shot on video, director Chris Alexander still manages to make our real world feel like some sort of otherworldly fantasy, a vision that balances on the line between being a dream and being a nightmare. Everything about the carnival feels off-center and off-balance. Even the familiar rides and the posters of 21st century pop cultural icons like Captain Jack Sparrow add to the overall otherworldliness of the location. Dracula and Sparrow, represented at the same carnival? The past is meeting the present.

Miranda takes her victims back to a cheap motel, the type of place where everyone has probably spent at least one night. It’s the type of motel that you see sitting off the side of the road while you’re driving and you think to yourself, “How does that place even stay open?” But, when it’s late at night and your eyelids are feeling heavy, you’re happy to see it. It reminded me a bit of the motel where 11 year-old me lived for a few months with my mom and my sisters. My mom and my two eldest sisters paid for our stay by working as maids. Me, I spent my days exploring the hallways and listening at the doors. Every night, I would look out the window of my room and watch a movie playing at a drive-in that sat on the other side of a nearby creek. I would make up my own stories and dialogue to go along with the images. Who needs sound when you’ve got imagination?

Much like those drive-in movies that I watched, Parasite Lady is a bit of an enigma. There’s very little dialogue. The majority of the 43-minute film features a soundtrack made up of muted music and sound effects. Instead, it’s all about the imagery. Much like the vampire films of Jean Rollin, the film plays out like a cinematic dream. It’s less important to understand why Miranda exists than to just accept that she does. Why do her victims seem to be instantly drawn to her? Well, why is anyone drawn to self-destruction? That’s the world in which we live. That’s also the world in which Miranda lives, though she doesn’t necessarily want to. Parasite Lady is drenched in an atmosphere of ennui.

Earlier, I compared the film to the works of Jean Rollin. I would also compare this film to Jess Franco’s wonderfully atmospheric Female Vampire. The scenes of Miranda walking through the snow and the carnival bring to mind the lengthy shots of Lina Romay walking through the wilderness in Franco’s film. Much like Female Vampire, Parasite Lady leaves one wondering if eternal life is really worth all of the angst and the suffering. Arielle Edwards has a strong physical presence that, much like Lina Romay in Female Vampire, allows her to dominate the screen without having to speak.

Executive produced by Charles Band and released by Full Moon Pictures, Parasite Lady is an unforgettable dream of dark and disturbing things.

Review: Whistle (dir. by Corin Hardy)

Posted on March 13, 2026 by Arleigh

“Blow the whistle, hear the sound, meet your death.” — Ivy Raymore

Whistle is a supernatural horror flick that dropped earlier this year, blending ancient curses with high school drama in a way that’s equal parts thrilling and eye-rolling. Directed by Corin Hardy, known for his gritty work on The Nun, and penned by Owen Egerton, it stars a young cast including Dafne Keen, Sophie Nélisse, and a scene-stealing Michelle Fairley as the quirky occult expert Ivy. The premise hooks you right away: detention-bound teens uncover an Aztec death whistle in a locker, and blowing it unleashes personalized visions of doom that stalk them.

The setup grabs you fast during a basketball game gone wrong, then shifts to transfer student Chrys (Dafne Keen) inheriting the cursed locker, sparking tension with jock Dean and his crew. A fight lands them in detention with Chrys’s cousin Rel, Dean’s girlfriend Grace, and shy Ellie. The teacher blows the skull-shaped whistle first, triggering chaos as each teen hears its shriek and glimpses their fate. From there, the group scrambles to understand the Olmec artifact’s power via eccentric Ivy (Michelle Fairley), who explains it summons “your death” literally through blood transfers and ritual rules.

Creature designs and practical effects shine brightest, with Hardy’s blend of gore and CGI crafting uniquely horrifying apparitions. The sound of the whistle—recreated from real Aztec artifacts—pierces like a skull-rattling wail, amping dread in dim lockers and foggy mirrors. Fairley steals scenes with comic relief, delivering lore on fake deaths and curse-breaking without killing the vibe; her folksy energy balances the teen angst perfectly.

The young cast delivers solidly. Keen grounds Chrys as the tough-yet-vulnerable leader, facing shadows tied to family trauma. Nélisse’s Ellie builds from quiet panic to fierce resolve, providing emotional punch. Sky Yang and Jhaleil Swaby nail the bully dynamics as Rel and Dean, while Percy White adds unhinged flair as a youth pastor caught in the curse. The script flirts with clichés like the heart-of-gold jock and final girl trope, but the over-the-top energy keeps it fun and unpretentious.

That said, Whistle stumbles into familiar horror traps. The high school backdrop feels like a slasher remix—detention squabbles, locker gimmick, mean-girl vibes—echoing Final Destination or The Craft without bold twists. Mid-film research drags pacing; Ivy’s info-dump, though entertaining, stalls momentum, and the “briefly die to escape” mechanic comes off contrived, like a gamey cheat code. Some kills hit hard, others rush by, diluting impact, and the finale piles on twists that strain credulity—survivors shrug it off months later like it was just a bad weekend.

Visually, Hardy crafts a moody aesthetic: shadows twist ordinary halls into labyrinths, with cinematography leaning on clever lighting and claustrophobic spaces. Lorne Balfe’s score mixes tribal drums and synth stabs to boost jump scares effectively. Sound design stands out, weaving shrieks with breaths and splatters for immersion. A few CGI bits look video-game flat up close, yanking you out occasionally.

Thematically, it teases fate vs. free will—deaths as inevitable yet choice-shaped—but skims the surface. Chrys’s guilt hints at deeper regrets, and the blood-transfer idea mirrors passing trauma in teen circles, but gore overshadows substance. Compared to Hardy’s The Hallow, which wove folklore into intimate family chills, Whistle chases spectacle over depth. It’s not sloppy, just popcorn-first.

At 98 minutes, it’s taut without bloating, fully earning its R with bloody language and viscera. As casual viewing, it’s prime B-tier horror—gory, goofy, guilty-pleasure material that delivers scares and chuckles without apology.

If you dig supernatural slashers like Freaky or Totally Killer, Whistle slots in neatly with its cursed-artifact hook and teen chaos. It skips reinvention for reliable thrills, held back by thin arcs and tropes, but elevated by committed kills and charm. Fire it up late-night for blood-soaked fun—no brains required, though a whistle might help muffle the screams. Just skip anything skull-shaped in your locker.