John’s top 10 movies of 2024
2024 movies: A remarkable number of filmmakers this year delved into metaphysical issues, appropriate for this weird time we live in.
Horror Movies
You’ll go ‘Cuckoo’ trying to connect with this movie
Movie review: This is not phoned-in horror trash; it’s trying to be something cuckoo-bananas different. But it failed to make this viewer care.
‘Heretic’ a revelation of theological-discussion horror
Movie review: Three masterful performances and a razor-sharp screenplay from the “Boogeyman” guys (!) make this one of the year’s best horror films.
‘Christmas Bloody Christmas’ (2022) is chilly in the wrong way
Frightening Friday (Movie review): The final act has “Terminator” and “Rambo” flavors, but the film lacks scares, tension or even gore.
‘The Rental’ (2020) plays up creepiness of being a stranger in a strange home
Frightening Friday (Movie review): Worth a rental? Well, it’s definitely worth a streaming viewing, as it gets in on the ground floor of Airbnb horror.
‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ (2023) lacks any spirit at all
Frightening Friday (Movie review): Add this Christmas horror movie to your annual list … of films to completely skip.
‘Smile 2’ is worth a smirk as it illustrates celebrity stress
Movie review: Writer-director Parker Finn’s sequel is a middling entry among 2024’s horror films set in the world of pop stardom.
If you like Gogol-inspired Soviet folk-horror, you’ll love ‘Viy’ (1967)
Frightening Friday (Movie review): This Russian-language classic concerns a brave student and a very beautiful, very dead girl in what’s been called the first Soviet horror film.
‘Creature with the Atom Brain’ (1955) a surprisingly brainy film
Frightening Friday (Movie review): This snappy camp classic delivers more than it promises – at least insofar as the quantity of creatures sporting atom brains.
‘The Fury’ (1978) is weirder than ‘Carrie,’ but also worse
Frightening Friday (Movie review): You’d think a re-team of De Palma and extra-sensory abilities would be a winner. You’d be wrong.