The blurred film is Dracula Sucks (1978) 🧛♂️ #letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched
November 8, 2025 at 4:25 AM
The blurred film is Dracula Sucks (1978) 🧛♂️ #letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched
That's another #hauntalong in the grave for me. Time for me to crawl back into my crypt--until next year...
🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃
🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
That's another #hauntalong in the grave for me. Time for me to crawl back into my crypt--until next year...
🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃
🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃
This is all to say that if you're a creator and you're worried about making something that doesn't have substance or doesn't feel deeper, that's OK. Just make the thing that you like as authentically as you can. It may not take you anywhere, but it'll take you places doing nothing never would.
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
This is all to say that if you're a creator and you're worried about making something that doesn't have substance or doesn't feel deeper, that's OK. Just make the thing that you like as authentically as you can. It may not take you anywhere, but it'll take you places doing nothing never would.
Today we're faced with self-important TRAUMA allegory after TRAUMA allegory. It's refreshing to revisit a film that is earnest in how little it has ambitions to be something deeper and more meaningful. Like food, one can't live off Halloween candy alone, but life would be so dull without it.
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Today we're faced with self-important TRAUMA allegory after TRAUMA allegory. It's refreshing to revisit a film that is earnest in how little it has ambitions to be something deeper and more meaningful. Like food, one can't live off Halloween candy alone, but life would be so dull without it.
The result is a bit of an uneven acid trip pastiche, owing much to the obvious--The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Old Dark House, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and even Natural Born Killers--but in the landscape of early 00s horror it felt like a breath of fresh air. And frankly, it still does!
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The result is a bit of an uneven acid trip pastiche, owing much to the obvious--The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Old Dark House, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and even Natural Born Killers--but in the landscape of early 00s horror it felt like a breath of fresh air. And frankly, it still does!
I've talked a lot about taste this year, and House is very much a product by someone who knows what they like but is creating something in a space they are less confident in. It also didn't help that that space was populated by purse-string holders and the politics that come with dealing with them.
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
I've talked a lot about taste this year, and House is very much a product by someone who knows what they like but is creating something in a space they are less confident in. It also didn't help that that space was populated by purse-string holders and the politics that come with dealing with them.
The movie was initially filmed in 2000 but wasn't released until 2003 after being dropped by its original distributors. By 2003, we were beginning to see a shift in horror taste, but unfortunately filmmakers took the wrong notes from House and we were stuck with torture porn for the next few years.
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The movie was initially filmed in 2000 but wasn't released until 2003 after being dropped by its original distributors. By 2003, we were beginning to see a shift in horror taste, but unfortunately filmmakers took the wrong notes from House and we were stuck with torture porn for the next few years.
Though he cut his teeth directing music videos, this was Zombie's first feature and in many ways it shows. You never know if you'll ever get a studio to give you millions to make a feature, and he rides the line as hard as he can--something that came with its own set of consequences...
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Though he cut his teeth directing music videos, this was Zombie's first feature and in many ways it shows. You never know if you'll ever get a studio to give you millions to make a feature, and he rides the line as hard as he can--something that came with its own set of consequences...
And chaotic it is! When I talk about Halloween movies, it's not enough to be scary. There has to be a sense of theatricality that keeps things engaging--this is a movie that could be on mute at a Halloween party and still keep the vibe going. Director and musician Rob Zombie knows theatricality.
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
And chaotic it is! When I talk about Halloween movies, it's not enough to be scary. There has to be a sense of theatricality that keeps things engaging--this is a movie that could be on mute at a Halloween party and still keep the vibe going. Director and musician Rob Zombie knows theatricality.
For the unfamiliar: House follows four friends touring America's backroads while researching bizarre highway attractions--a niche industry in the 70s. A chance encounter with a hitchhiker and her colorful family descends into a spiral of candy-colored chaos for the foursome.
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
For the unfamiliar: House follows four friends touring America's backroads while researching bizarre highway attractions--a niche industry in the 70s. A chance encounter with a hitchhiker and her colorful family descends into a spiral of candy-colored chaos for the foursome.
Last year, I talked about what makes for a good Halloween movie (holiday, not the franchise, which incidentally the director of this film also directed entries for and that's the last I'll say about that) and House of 1000 Corpses has those qualities in spades.
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Last year, I talked about what makes for a good Halloween movie (holiday, not the franchise, which incidentally the director of this film also directed entries for and that's the last I'll say about that) and House of 1000 Corpses has those qualities in spades.
Attention boils and ghouls (is there a gender-neutral play on words?), it's my last #hauntalong entry this year and I'm capping it off with one of my favorite Halloweentime movies...
October 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Attention boils and ghouls (is there a gender-neutral play on words?), it's my last #hauntalong entry this year and I'm capping it off with one of my favorite Halloweentime movies...
History has proven that no matter how respectable you are, if you are the Other you can and will be made expendable, so why not indulge in a bit of sleaze?
To quote the young lady below: "The most beautiful thing in the world is smoking pot and fucking on a waterbed, at the same time." Poetry.
To quote the young lady below: "The most beautiful thing in the world is smoking pot and fucking on a waterbed, at the same time." Poetry.
October 19, 2025 at 6:34 AM
History has proven that no matter how respectable you are, if you are the Other you can and will be made expendable, so why not indulge in a bit of sleaze?
To quote the young lady below: "The most beautiful thing in the world is smoking pot and fucking on a waterbed, at the same time." Poetry.
To quote the young lady below: "The most beautiful thing in the world is smoking pot and fucking on a waterbed, at the same time." Poetry.
I guess my point here is: dabble in everything you have at your disposal. Develop your own understanding of why something appeals/doesn't appeal to you. You don't develop a sense of taste by only consuming "good" media, just as you can't refine your palate by licking garbage cans all day.
October 19, 2025 at 6:34 AM
I guess my point here is: dabble in everything you have at your disposal. Develop your own understanding of why something appeals/doesn't appeal to you. You don't develop a sense of taste by only consuming "good" media, just as you can't refine your palate by licking garbage cans all day.
There's a certain amount of reclamation marginalized folks do when they watch horror, especially vintage horror where we are often made into monsters and freaks. Watching it now though, it feels quaint in light of real-life horrors we're bombarded with.
October 19, 2025 at 6:34 AM
There's a certain amount of reclamation marginalized folks do when they watch horror, especially vintage horror where we are often made into monsters and freaks. Watching it now though, it feels quaint in light of real-life horrors we're bombarded with.
Is much of it in bad taste? Probably. Have we evolved beyond the need for buxom co-ed splatterfests peppered with problematic stereotypes? Sure. As someone whose identities are often made a potshot by movies from this era, I get why some folks would prefer not to engage with it. But...
October 19, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Is much of it in bad taste? Probably. Have we evolved beyond the need for buxom co-ed splatterfests peppered with problematic stereotypes? Sure. As someone whose identities are often made a potshot by movies from this era, I get why some folks would prefer not to engage with it. But...
But, I think this movie is great. It delivers on its premise, it's a fantastic snapshot of the period and conditions in which it was made--a strange production that marries Italian giallo and American slashers via a Spanish director. The movie has no ambition to be anything beyond what it is.
October 19, 2025 at 6:34 AM
But, I think this movie is great. It delivers on its premise, it's a fantastic snapshot of the period and conditions in which it was made--a strange production that marries Italian giallo and American slashers via a Spanish director. The movie has no ambition to be anything beyond what it is.
Paraphrasing quite a bit, but something a mentor shared with me is that great art isn't timeless; rather it captures the time it was made in. That isn't to say that this movie is great--if gratuitous early 80s slashers aren't something you enjoy, then this will probably won't do anything for you.
October 19, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Paraphrasing quite a bit, but something a mentor shared with me is that great art isn't timeless; rather it captures the time it was made in. That isn't to say that this movie is great--if gratuitous early 80s slashers aren't something you enjoy, then this will probably won't do anything for you.
This movie opens as many do: a curious adolescent, a domineering mother, a naughty puzzle, and an axe. From there, we jump to the future to a college campus where the curious adolescent has matured into a full-fledged murderer dead-set on completing their masterwork.
October 19, 2025 at 6:34 AM
This movie opens as many do: a curious adolescent, a domineering mother, a naughty puzzle, and an axe. From there, we jump to the future to a college campus where the curious adolescent has matured into a full-fledged murderer dead-set on completing their masterwork.
I'm back with another #hauntalong, creepy crawlers. Last we left off we were talking about taste, and tonight's selection is rancid with it.
I present the 1982 cult-classic, PIECES.
I present the 1982 cult-classic, PIECES.
October 19, 2025 at 6:34 AM
I'm back with another #hauntalong, creepy crawlers. Last we left off we were talking about taste, and tonight's selection is rancid with it.
I present the 1982 cult-classic, PIECES.
I present the 1982 cult-classic, PIECES.
Tis the season for schlock #letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched
October 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Tis the season for schlock #letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched
Ended the week on a low note, but everything else before was fabulous. #letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched
October 10, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Ended the week on a low note, but everything else before was fabulous. #letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched
I think my next recommendation will really highlight how my impeccable my taste is, so stay tuned. Until then...happy #HauntAlong, everybody.
October 7, 2025 at 3:38 AM
I think my next recommendation will really highlight how my impeccable my taste is, so stay tuned. Until then...happy #HauntAlong, everybody.
And note how I didn't say good or bad taste. Just make sure it's *your* taste, not just the taste of your peers or the taste you know is palatable for the algorithm.
For anyone who disagrees with the above, well... get better taste 💅
For anyone who disagrees with the above, well... get better taste 💅
October 7, 2025 at 3:38 AM
And note how I didn't say good or bad taste. Just make sure it's *your* taste, not just the taste of your peers or the taste you know is palatable for the algorithm.
For anyone who disagrees with the above, well... get better taste 💅
For anyone who disagrees with the above, well... get better taste 💅
If I had to relate it to #ttrpgs or just art in general: trust your taste. But like really trust it, and stand up for it if you really believe in it. It's not always gonna be spot on--it's probably going to be very rocky to start--but you'll get there the more you're able to confidently defend it.
October 7, 2025 at 3:38 AM
If I had to relate it to #ttrpgs or just art in general: trust your taste. But like really trust it, and stand up for it if you really believe in it. It's not always gonna be spot on--it's probably going to be very rocky to start--but you'll get there the more you're able to confidently defend it.