Letterboxd — Your life in film

Despite having all the familiar touches & elements that are prevalent in his earlier films, Psycho still feels like something of a first from the great Alfred Hitchcock. A low-budget, black-n-white horror thriller that remains a genre touchstone for its inspired storytelling, clever cinematic tricks and the impact it had on the medium as a whole, the film is sound on almost every level, is gripping from the get-go, sustains momentum throughout its 109 mins runtime, and also features iconic scenes…

The follow-up chapter to John Carpenter's Halloween picks up exactly where the previous story left off and continues Michael Myers' murderous rampage as he pursuits the one who got away. Halloween II attempts to duplicate the unrelenting terror of the 1978 classic but it fails to deliver the desired results, for the story meanders a lot, is inconsistently paced, and is also predictable.

Directed by Rick Rosenthal in his directorial debut, the film employs several key elements of its predecessor…

The follow-up chapter to The Nun and the 9th instalment in The Conjuring Universe, The Nun II brings back the demonic figure for another outing and features all the elements that played an instrumental role in making its predecessor such an insipid, incompetent & ineffective example of its genre. Bland, predictable & unoriginal throughout, there is nothing about this latest entry that stands out.

Directed by Michael Chaves (The Curse of La Llorona & The Conjuring 3), the story takes place 4 years…

A direct sequel to Insidious: Chapter 2 & the fifth entry in the franchise, Insidious: The Red Door neither has the horror expertise of James Wan nor a chilling atmosphere that reeked of death & foreboding in the original, and is a dull, bland & predictable sequel that features all the tropes & trappings of the previous chapters to finish as another disappointing entry in the middling saga.

Directed by Patrick Wilson in his directorial debut, the story takes us back to the Lambert…

From the director of Trollhunter & The Autopsy of Jane Doe comes a supernatural horror that's derived from the selected pages of Bram Stoker's famous novel yet falters to make the most of its secluded setting & spooky atmosphere. The Last Voyage of the Demeter strikes terror every now n then but as a whole beast, the film is unable to fully harness its true strength & potential.

Directed by André Øvredal (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), the story follows the…

From the director of Host & Dashcam comes another supernatural horror, this time based on a Stephen King short story. The Boogeyman concerns a family still reeling from the tragic loss of their loved one and is the latest entry in the genre examples centred around grief & trauma but despite delivering consistent dose of chills & scares, the film is too derivative to set itself apart from the norm.

Directed by Rob Savage, the picture uses all the conventional tools & tricks in…

Blending television broadcast, government conspiracy & powerful witchcraft into an unnerving chiller, History of the Occult is a politically charged & patiently manifesting horror that steadily escalates into a full-fledged nightmare as it progresses, and also benefits from its foreboding atmosphere, surreal imagery, sustained tension & convincing performances.

Written & directed by Cristian Ponce, the story follows the final episode of a famous journalism show that's hosting its last guest who may expose a conspiracy that connects the government with an obscure secret society.…

From the director of Suspiria & Inferno comes the third & final instalment of the Three Mothers Trilogy that also happens to be the weakest of the three films. A lifeless, soulless & uninspiring entry that's devoid of everything that made its predecessors stand out, The Mother of Tears is disappointing in every way, shape & form and makes for a dull, bland & forgettable conclusion.

Co-written & directed by Dario Argento (Deep Red, Tenebre & Phenomena), the story follows an American art student in Rome who…

John Carpenter's second outing for Masters of Horror may not have the depth, atmosphere or commentary that his previous entry in the anthology TV series exhibited but it does work to an extent as a straightforward B-movie schlock. At times gripping yet mostly forgettable, Pro-Life creates intrigue & anticipation at first but then it doesn't take long for the interest to fizzle out.

The story aims for a wicked blend of Rosemary's Baby, Assault on Precinct 13 & The Thing but despite…

Guillermo del Toro's first stint with Hollywood studio finds the Mexican filmmaker bringing all his trademarks into play but it doesn't measure up to the level of craftsmanship evident in his best-known works. Mimic features an interesting premise and also exhibits an organic visual & sound design but the execution isn't up to the mark and it is also devoid of a soul.

Co-written & directed by del Toro (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone & Pan's Labyrinth), this sci-fi horror does manage to create…

Incorrectly thought by many to be the film that started James Cameron's directorial career, considering that much of the picture was shot by the executive producer at helm with the then-young artist fired only couple weeks into production, Piranha II: The Spawning is a B-movie schlock that's campy, ridiculous & terrible but it is surprisingly not the disaster that I went in expecting.

The sequel to Joe Dante's Piranha, the film is an obvious attempt to cash-in on the success of…

Heavily inspired by Steven Spielberg's Jaws and also produced in an attempt to cash-in on the enormous success of the 1975 watershed blockbuster, Piranha is a small-scale, low-budget B-movie romp that expertly handles its elements of horror, comedy, camp & sci-fi to deliver a fun, thrilling & entertaining fare that packs a strong flesh-tearing bite despite its lighthearted touch.

Directed by Joe Dante (The Howling), the story follows the panic & mayhem that ensues when the genetically altered piranhas are accidentally released into…