Mystery

‘Lady in the Lake’ (1943) won’t leave reader high and dry

While it’s fair to say Raymond Chandler arrived as a groundbreaking hardboiled detective writer with his first novel, “The Big Sleep,” he’s still improving at

READ MORE

Argento makes horror operatic in ‘Opera’ (1987)

By the time of his ninth film in the horror-thriller genre, people knew what to expect from Dario Argento, but he has that knack –

READ MORE

With ‘The High Window’ (1942), Chandler sets a high bar

Raymond Chandler himself said his contribution to the hardboiled genre was style. That’s evident in “The Big Sleep,” which some say has an incomprehensible plot,

READ MORE

I kinda love how ‘Heart Eyes’ mixes rom-com with slasher

“Heart Eyes” may have finally arrived at the solution to the date-movie marketing problem wherein the gal wants to see a rom-com and the guy

READ MORE

Chandler makes Marlowe human in ‘Farewell, My Lovely’ (1940)

Having taken the baton from Dashiell Hammett for his first Philip Marlowe novel, “The Big Sleep” (1939), Raymond Chandler works on making his hardboiled private

READ MORE

‘Phenomena’ (1985) won’t bug Argento acolytes

“Phenomena” (1985) doesn’t stand out from the pack of Dario Argento’s catalog in a way we might hope, since it is sometimes called Argento’s “Carrie.”

READ MORE

Hitchcock mulls truth, POV, memory in hourlong episodes (1957-62)

In the middle of the last century, film was seen as the medium of discerning viewers and TV as the medium that had to account

READ MORE

‘The Big Sleep’ (1946) goes from elite novel to respectable film

“The Big Sleep” (1946) features Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe, five years after he played Sam Spade in “The Maltese Falcon.” Although in my review

READ MORE

‘Tenebrae’ (1982) a brainy exploration of human violence

If the differences between the elite and the merely interesting Dario Argento films are a surprising ending, next-level kill scenes and pop-psychological underpinnings, “Tenebrae” (1982)

READ MORE

Curtis and burgeoning tropes go to ‘Prom Night’ (1980)

Outside of Halloween and Friday the 13th, both of which were already considered spooky days, probably the next holiday/annual event that slasher films tried to

READ MORE