Frank's Movie Log

Jack Hill’s penultimate directorial effort gets a lot of love from Quentin Tarantino, who re-released it on his Rolling Thunder Pictures label, and Sam Ashurst raved about it on the Arrow podcast, but Switchblade Sisters underwhelmed me. Continue reading...

I can say this about Rawhead Rex: the plot wastes little time getting started. Slight spoilers follow. Continue reading...

Clive Barker’s screenwriting debut. Larry Lamb plays Roy Bain, a retired enforcer recruited by a mob boss, to find a missing high-class prostitute. His investigation uncovers a group of mutants living in the London Underground. Continue reading...

I wanted to like this more. In an English seaside town, Maud, a pious young nurse, arrives to care for a dying former dancer. Maud’s charge ridicules her religious sincerity, but Maude remains resolute, determined to save the woman’s soul. The film explores the psychological horrors of a slow death and dissociative obsession. Spoilers follow. Continue reading...

Every so often, a movie grabs you from the opening sequence with immersive atmosphere and a ripe premise. When these films go south—as they often do—it disappoints. But sometimes, only sometimes, these films save themselves by leaning into the bad. God Told Me To is such a film. Spoilers follow. Continue reading...

If you’ve never heard of Audition, please go watch it now. Don’t look at any posters, or read any synopsis. I envy folks going in cold. Continue reading...

At the guarded border between North and South Korea, gunshots shatter the nighttime silence. Two North Korean soldiers lay dead in their guardhouse, as a South Korean soldier, bloodied and wounded, limps toward the south. Both sides mobilize troops and exchange gunfire. The next morning, accusations fly. South Korea claims the North abducted the soldier. North Korea claims the South Korean guard crossed the border and committed a massacre. The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission calls in a Swiss investigator to discover the truth. Continue reading...

Sometimes a movie fails to live up to its potential. When a high-minded drama fails to resonate or an actioner fails to thrill, I feel burned. But when a slasher fails to exploit a forward-thinking social commentary, I’m more lenient. So it is with Valentine, the story of five grade-school friends, now young women, who find themselves stalked by an unknown assailant as Valentine’s Day approaches. Continue reading...

Twenty years ago, in a small Nova Scotian mining town, a cave-in trapped several miners. The men on watch were AWOL at a Valentine’s Day party, forcing the lone survivor to resort to cannibalism. After his rescue, the survivor donned his mining gear and murdered the negligent men. Since then, the town hasn’t celebrated Valentine’s Day.

Now a fresh group of young miners and their girlfriends want to have a Valentine’s Day party. Unbeknownst to them, someone wearing a miner’s outfit has begun offing locals. The mayor and sheriff keep the killings under wraps and cancel the party. But the frustrated miners move the party to the mine. Soon, the youngsters find themselves trapped underground with the killer. Continue reading...

After Kill List’s neo-noir horror, director Ben Wheatley pivots to black comedy with this story of Tina and Chris, a dysfunctional couple touring the English countryside in a camper. After an accident that sees them backing into a passing cyclist, the bodies pile up, testing the relationship. Continue reading...