As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, at 9 pm et, Deanna Dawn will be hosting #ScarySocial! The movie? 1976’s Grizzly!
If you want to join us this Saturday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Usually, we would celebrate the Ides of March tomorrow. But, this year, Oscar Sunday falls on March 15th. So, we’re going to pay honor to fall of the Roman Republic a day earlier than usual. From the soundtrack of 1963’s Cleopatra,, here is Cleopatra Enters Rome, composed by Alex North!
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 93rrd birthday to Sir Michael Caine.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 2010’s Inception, a film that featured Caine in a small but key role. Caine shares this scene with Leonardo DiCaprio and, as good an actor as DiCaprio may be, Caine dominates from the moment he first looks up.
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today, the Shattered Lens celebrates German director Wolfgang Petersen. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Wolfgang Petersen Films
Das Boot (1981, dir by Wolfgang Petersen, DP: Jost Vocano)
The NeverEnding Story (1984, dir by Wolfgang Petersen, DP: Jost Vocano)
In The LIne of Fire (1993, dir by Wolfgang Petersen, DP: John Bailey)
The Perfect Storm (2000, dir by Wolfgang Petersen, DP: John Seale)
Depending on where you live, Friday the 13th is either over or nearly over! And, if you’re reading this, you survived!!!!!
Obviously, you listened to Crazy Ralph and you did not have sex, smoke weed, skinny dip, go out at night, take a boat trip to Manhattan, go into space, go to sleep, go out for firewood, ask any strange people if they needed help, go looking for your friends, strip down to your underwear so you could go run around in the rain, or have any fun whatsoever!
In other words, today was a boring day for you! But you survived!
In honor of your survival, here’s the end theme from Friday the 13th. This was composed by Harry Manfredini and, believe it or not, it’s actually a rather beautiful piece of music. So, celebrate your survival by listening.
And be prepared to make up for lost time on Saturday the 14th! Be bad…be very bad….
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.
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.
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!
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.
“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.
Through the Shattered Lens 