October Positivity: Sarah’s Choice (dir by Chad Kapper)

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

You can probably just look at the title and guess what is going on with this 2009 faith-based film.

Sarah Collins (Rebecca St. James) is pregnant and she’s thinking about getting an abortion. She doesn’t feel that she’s ready to become a mother. Her quasi-boyfriend works in the same office that she does and, at first, he seems more interested in just hanging out with the boys than actually doing anything that would indicate he would be a good father. Sarah is up for a promotion at work and, as her best friend (Andrea Logan White) is quick to point out, the bosses aren’t going to promote a woman who might put her family before her job.

On the other hand, Sarah keeps having visions of herself in the future, married and with a daughter who loves her. Sarah’s sister-in-law (Staci Keanan) talks about how much she loves being a mother. A local minister (Dick Van Patten) gently suggests that God might be trying to tell Sarah something. Sarah realizes that her best friend is hardly an unbiased observer when it comes to Sarah’s choice. Plus, the film takes place during the Christmas season. There’s happiness and joy everywhere!

As you probably guessed, this is an anti-abortion movie. That said, as far as faith-based anti-abortion movies go, it’s actually a bit more fair-minded than one might expect. Sarah struggles with her decision and the film is at least willing to take Sarah’s concerns seriously, as opposed to just portraying her as being either selfish or immature (which is the usual path that most anti-abortion films take). One character expresses regret for her own past abortion but, again, the film treats the character fairly. It may not seem like much but compared to something like Allison’s Choice, which featured Jesus Christ showing up and then breaking into tears while standing in an abortion clinic, Sarah’s Choice is downright moderate in its storytelling.

The truth of the matter is that there really aren’t that many subtle films made about abortion, on either side of the debate. Yes, pro-life films tend to be heavy-handed and too quick to villainize those who feel differently. But the same can be said of most pro-abortion films as well. Abortion is one of those issues that tends to bring out the extremists on both sides. When you see a film like Sarah’s Choice — a film in which no one is accused of committing murder and no one attempts to bomb anyone else — it’s almost a relief, even if you don’t agree with the film’s overall message.

Rebecca St. James gives a sympathetic performance as Sarah and Andrea Logan White brings so much-needed nuance to the role of her best friend. Dick Van Patten, with his friendly manner and nonjudgmental attitude, is the ideal counselor. Sarah’s Choice is not a film that is going to win any converts and I imagine that people who are far more politically-minded than me will find a lot to get annoyed about with this movie. I think that, overall, it’s well-acted and well-made. It’s a movie not a manifesto.

Horror on TV: The Night Strangler (dir by Dan Curtis)

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s horror on television, we have 1973’s The Night Strangler.

This is the sequel to The Night Stalker and it features journalist Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) in Seattle. (After all the stuff that happened during the previous movie, Kolchak was kicked out of Las Vegas.) When Kolchak investigates yet another series of murders, he discovers that paranormal murders don’t just occur in Las Vegas and aren’t just committed by vampires.

I actually prefer this movie to The Night Stalker. The Night Strangler features a truly creepy villain, as well as a trip down to an “underground city.” It’s full of ominous atmosphere and, as always, Darren McGavin is a lot of fun to watch in the role in Kolchak.

Enjoy!

Trepidation, AI Short Film Review by Case Wright

Posted on October 24, 2025 by casewright

Wow, only 6 days left! I can’t believe it, until I need to review another horrible AI short. Why am I reviewing these universally terrible films? It’s the new thing and someone needed to catalog the beginning. Of course, it had to be me; yes, I am martyring myself, but come on… you don’t want to have to watching this waste of a perfectly good two minutes of your life.

Here we go…there’s a lot of hotties with cleavage in a museum and a number of priests. I’m not sure what’s going on, but there is cleavage; so, you can ignore the terrible film that way. A strange cleavage-showing lady asks odd museum goers to look at a painting and imagine God. I would say, “Lady, I already paid to get in here can you just get out of the way of the exhibits?! Do you even work here?! Where did you get that desk/podium?! Security!!! Security!!!” Sadly, no one made this choice to call security and the film continued.

It turns out it’s a Spirit Halloween skull face that giggles, even though it does not have an obvious respiratory system. This was really dumb. I wonder if when AI gets smart, it will tell these “creators” – “you’re really bad at this….just stop and do something else.”

Horror Scene That I Love: The Opening of Michele Soavi’s Stagefright

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Stage Fright (1987, dir by Michele Soavi)

Today’s horror scene that I love is the opening production number of Michele Soavi’s 1987 masterpiece, Stagefright.

Not only does the opening scene wonderfully satirize both a certain type of stage production and a certain type of exploitation film, it also lets the audience know that they’re about to something that is more than just another Italian slasher film. With this opening sequence, Soavi announced his arrival as a major filmmaker.

Personally, I can’t help but laugh when the saxophone makes an appearance. Anyone who has ever been involved in a community theater will relate to the moment.

October True Crime: The Company We Keep (dir by Jeff Edelstein)

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Like Ed Kemper, the 2023’s The Company We Keep is based on the crimes of Edmund Kemper.

The Company We Keep does take a few liberties with the true story. For one thing, it’s set in the present instead of the 70s. As well, Carter Holcomb (Cary Mark), who is this film’s version of Kemper, works not for the Highway Department but instead at a grocery store. His boss is Pete Matthews (Eric Roberts). Pete is a terrible manager but he’s played by Eric Roberts so you can’t help but like him.

Otherwise, The Company We Keep sticks closer to the facts of the case than some of the other films that I’ve seen about Kemper. Carter Holcomb has just been released from prison. His juvenile record has been expunged. He’s living with his harsh mother (Sharon Jordan). And he’s murdering hithchhikers, keeping their remains in his closet, and imagining having conversations with them.

It’s a creepy movie, largely because Ed Kemper is a very creepy killer. It’s also rather oddly paced and it doesn’t really have much a plot, beyond Carter getting annoyed with his mother and killing people. Like the real Kemper, Carter is friends with the cops who are investigating the murders and that certainly adds an interesting wrinkle. There’s a clever scene where Carter gets arrested just to discover that it’s his friends playing a trick on him.

Though the film has some pretty serious pacing issues, It’s still a well-acted film. Cary Mark is appropriately awkward as Carter Holcomb and Sharon Jordan wisely doesn’t play his mother as being an over-the-top tyrant but instead as someone who has suddenly found herself living with a son who she really doesn’t know. And, of course, the film features Eric Roberts, giving an amusing performance as the incompetent boss from Hell. As I’ve always said, any film is improved by the casting of Eric Roberts.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

Horror Song Of The Day: New York One More Day by Francesco De Masi

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror song of the day is perhaps not as well-known as some of the other songs that I’ve shared. It appeared in Lucio Fulci’s controversial (to put it mildly) giallo, The New York Ripper. That film is so infamous for its violence, nihilism, and killer who quacks like a duck that it is something overlooked that it features a great score from Francesco De Masi.

This is the main theme from The New York Ripper and it captures the movie’s mix of horror and police procedural. It’s the 70s cop show theme from Hell.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films: The 1990s Part One

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 Shots From 4 Films. I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.

Today, we start the 90s!

4 Shots From 4 Films

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990, dir by John McNaughton)

Candyman (1992, dir by Bernard Rose)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992, dir by Fran Rubel Kuzui)

Cronos (1993, dir by Guillermo del Toro)

Horror On The Lens: Satan’s School For Girls (dir by David Lowell Rich)

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For today’s horror on the lens, we have a 1973 made-for-TV movie called Satan’s School For Girls.

After her sister turns up dead, Elizabeth (Pamela Franklin) refuses to accept that official conclusion that it was a suicide. Instead, Elizabeth is convinced that it was murder and that it has something to do with the exclusive school that her sister attended, the Salem Academy for Women.

Well, honestly, the Salem part is a dead giveaway. I think we can all agree on that.

Anyway, this movie features a Satanic cult, an old school clique, and plenty of early of 70s fashion choices. It may be silly but it’s also definitely entertaining.

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix for Tremors!

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly watch parties. On Twitter, I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday and I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday. On Mastodon, 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 10 pm et, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix! The movie? 1990’s Tremors!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, find Tremors on Prime, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! I’ll be there happily tweeting. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

See you there!

October Positivity: Me Again (dir by David A.R. White)

Posted on October 23, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2011’s Me Again, David A.R. White stars as Rich.

Rich is a typical David A.R. White character. He’s a preacher with a young family and he has lost his ability to excite his congregation. His sermons are dry and boring and show little connection with the concerns or lives of those listening. Rich is burned out and his wife, April (Ali Landry), is tired of listening to him complain. When they were children, April promised Rich that they were meant to be together. Now that they are adults and married, April and Rich are separated and April wants to make the divorce final.

Poor Rich! No one respects him and he’s about to lose his family. His one friend, Tony (Tommy Blaze), tries to offer some good advice but Rich doesn’t want to hear it. Rich just wants to feel sorry for himself and watch an odd infomercial hosted by Big Earl (Bruce McGill). Big Earl says that if you call his number, he can change your life. Rich doesn’t call the number but his life gets changed anyways.

Rich finds himself being transported from one body to another. When he wakes up, he’s a wealthy man who has no friends and who has a heart condition. Just as quickly, he finds himself in the body of Chloe (Andrea White Logan), an insecure super model with an eating disorder. Then, suddenly, he’s in the body of a fish floating in a fish tank in Tony’s restaurant. Then he’s his daughter’s teen boyfriend, who is pressuring her to start taking birth control. (AGCK!) Then he’s in his wife’s body. Briefly, he takes control of Della Reese. He even spends some time in jail, talking to Big Earl.

And I guess the idea is that, from going to body to body, Rich learns why he needs to stop feeling sorry for himself and actually make the effort to make his marriage work. He also comes to understand the problems of a few other people. The rich man needs to go to church. The model needs to do something about all the disparaging post-it notes that she has hanging around her house. Her daughter’s boyfriend needs to be handcuffed with a sock in his mouth. The fish need as new home. You get the idea.

This movie …. well, let’s give credit where credit is due. David A.R. White is not a bad actor and his comedic timing is adequate. There were a few moments when he did make me smile. I laughed out loud when he suddenly became a fish. As a director, though, White goes a bit overboard. The whole thing with Rich becoming a model starts out as relatively humorous but then it just goes on and on. As well, I appreciated the message of taking care of other people but I’m not sure that the best way to communicate that message was for the very white Rich to briefly inhabit the body of a black housekeeper. The intentions may have been good but the execution often left me cringing.

Me Again is like a lot of faith-based comedies. There are a few humorous moments but, in the end, it’s just too uneven to really work.