Year: 2022

31 Scary Movies that are 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon: ‘Prince of Darkness’

Jeff Mitchell

“Prince of Darkness” (1987) – John Carpenter’s  biggest films are “Halloween” (1978) and “The Thing” (1982), but he’s delivered many more frightening flicks than his grandest tentpole movies.  “Prince of Darkness” is one of them, as he combines religious themes with an apocalypse scenario reminiscent of Romero’s zombie movies.  Carpenter favorite Donald Pleasance plays a Los Angeles priest who invites a professor (Victor Wong) and his students to a monastery to examine a sizable can of bizarre, swirling green liquid.  Well, the green goo drips some clues that it has…

31 Scary Movies that are 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon: ‘Videodrome’

Jeff Mitchell

“Videodrome” (1983) – Who or what is Videodrome?  For starters, it’s a television show broadcast out of Malaysia that depicts torture, human being on human being.   Surely, the torment isn’t real.  Right?  Well, Max Renn’s (James Woods), the head of a TV station that specializes in eccentric programming, is curious about the said program. However, he stumbles onto a path of treachery and sleaze, and that’s just the beginning. Writer/director David Cronenberg’s body-horror-meets-technology flick traverses into mind-boggling spaces, as the events like a character inserting a videotape into another’s torso…

Movie of the Week: ‘Croupier’

Jeff Mitchell

“Croupier” (1998) – Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) is a writer, a struggling one.  Yes, that’s the seemingly eternal and cliché story for writers, but there’s a long thread of truth and history with such claims.  While Jack grapples with putting pen to paper or typing on his antiquated (by 2022 standards) word processor, his dad finds him a lead for a job.   Jack interviews for a card dealer and roulette position, a croupier, at London’s Golden Lion Casino.  It’s a hot spot that looks fancy on the surface, but Jack’s…