John Hansen

Night Theater

‘Night Theater’ (2020) mixes body horror, spiritual questions

Book club book report: Vikram Paralkar digs into the human body and dark ideas in an incongruously readable short novel.

Hellraiser Deader

Wuhrer wades into ‘Hellraiser’ weirdness in ‘Deader’ (2005)

Frightening Friday (Movie review): For its seventh entry, “Hellraiser” piles on the surrealness more than ever, and it’s mostly effective.

Amityville The Awakening

‘Amityville: The Awakening’ (2017) wastes its meta premise

Revisiting Amityville (Movie review): While this is better made than most films with “Amityville” in the name, the screenplay is a series of haunting cliches.

TMNT Season 2

‘TMNT’ Season 2 (1988) stumbles through opening Sarnath arc

‘TMNT’ flashback (TV review): The writers stop overtly cribbing from the comics and instead riff on Eighties films. The rushed nature of these five episodes is evident.

Agatha Christie An Autobiography

‘Agatha Christie: An Autobiography’ (1977) a thorough chronicle of a life, less so of a career

Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Still, Christie does share some thoughts on her novels amid recounting her life and travels.

Superpowered The DC Story

‘Superpowered: The DC Story’ makes a case for DC’s history, not its present

TV review: The documentary has built-in appeal by being about colorful superheroes, but it shies away from deep dives.

Hellraiser Hellseeker

Winters endures mysterious mayhem in ‘Hellraiser: Hellseeker’ (2002)

Frightening Friday (Movie review): Ashley Laurence returns and Dean Winters shines in the lead role in one of the stronger “Hellraiser” sequels.

American Graffiti

Where were you in ’73? ‘American Graffiti’ marks 50 years

Throwback Thursday (Movie review): George Lucas’ first hit is one of the best coming-of-age movies, and remarkably influential on the art of film.

The Amityville Horror 2005

In ‘Amityville Horror’ remake (2005), bigger isn’t better

Revisiting Amityville (Movie review): Although the remake improves on some aspects, it’s unable to match the scary vibe of the cheap original.

TMNT Season 1

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Season 1 (1987) bridges Mirage comics with movie

‘TMNT’ flashback (TV review): Eastman and Laird created the Turtles, but David Wise popularized them among kids with these five animated episodes.