lightninli
JoinedMarch 18, 2018
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By day, Eric is a mild-mannered Architect, bringing great buildings to the good boys and girls of his hometown of Portland, Oregon. By night, he is a disreputable podcaster looking to promote the best and worst of horror movies!

40 Acres (2025) Review: Overlook FF

★★★★.5 out of ★★★★★

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The post-apocalyptic Canadian survival tale 40 Acres is a savage and emotional story that tests the boundaries of Darwinian society at the brink. In the end, when countries and governments fail, the family unit survives. This movie has increased prominence due to the current tensions between Canada and the US. The sense of dread only increases when the plausibility factor of this story has increased tenfold in recent months. The plot mirrors a thrilling opening scene with a devastating closing act, which stacks the deck heavily against our protagonists. Pulses will pound.

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Horror Looking Forward in 2025: Episode 196

Looking forward to the horror offerings of 2025, The Scariest Things anticipates what will be our favorite horror films this year. The festivals are rolling out the best indie films, and the sequel slates have been set. Let's get scary!
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The Overlook Film Festival First Wave Announcement

The Overlook Film Festival, the annual celebration of all things horror, announced today the first wave of the lineup for its 2025 edition. Taking place April 3 – April 6 in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Prytania Theatres, the horror festival will welcome audiences back to America’s most haunted city with a terrifying selection of new and classic films as well as the extensive offscreen offerings including interactive events, live performances, immersive programming and special guests that the annual horror staple has become known for.
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The Lunar Zodiac Horrorscope: Episode 195

Happy New Year! It's a little late, but the Lunar New Year celebrations go on for weeks, so we're still in celebration mode, even as the calendar turns from February to March. 2025 marks the year of the snake, and one of our fans, John Foley, suggested that we do a snake-themed horror movie podcast. We'll do that one better—we're going to find representatives for all the critters of the Lunar Zodiac Horrorscope!
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The Gorge (2025) Review

★★★★ out of ★★★★★

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The Gorge is the ultimate mash-up film. Science fiction, romance, war, and horror are all bottled into one package. What The Gorge does best is character building. Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller have real star power and great chemistry. The action sequences rock, with great choreography and impressive production values. The monsters, though, are a mixed bag and are window-dressing MacGuffins to the main event, romance.

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A Horror Romance Movie Chill Menu: A Dead List in Love

Valentine's Day is here, and for some weird reason, some people want to Netflix and chill with a... horror movie! It makes sense, as a horror movie gets the emotions stirring. And sometimes, you can get just the right alchemy of love and terror. Kissing turns to killing, and then maybe kissing again. It's all about the passion, right? No matter what, a Valentine's Day horror movie will need to deliver the love.
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Deep Cut Grindhouse! : Episode 194

Who needs your fancy schmancy elevated horror?!? Turn the page back to when real horror villains had no feelings or emotional depth other than deep blood lust. Join us, won't you, as we tour the sordid world of exploitation, lesbian vampires, biker gangs, and grimy savagery. It's Grindhouse time at The Scariest Things Podcast!
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Here For Blood (2022) Review

★★★★ out of ★★★★★

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Here for Blood mixes wrestling suplexes and a murderous KISS-like death cult with a babysitting plot. Surprisingly, the movie pulls it off. The movie's action pounds through the plot with splattery glee and aplomb. Moreover, the unlikely partnership between hulking Shawn Roberts and 10-year-old Maya Miseljevic is pure magic.

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Humane (2024) Review

★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★

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When the world begins to fall apart, civilizations do some pretty crazy shit. Caitlin Cronenberg's first feature film, Humane, explores the possibilities in this dark satire. The Canadian government offers compensation for voluntary euthanasia. A prominent and wealthy family patriarch intends to make a grand political, patriotic gesture, but it goes horribly, bloodily wrong.

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Don’t Move (2024) Review

★★★★ out of ★★★★★

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Don't Move is a surprisingly tight and tense thriller that knows the story it wants to tell and keeps its focus. The result is a highly stressful viewing that keeps you calculating the odds in anticipation of escape from our heroine who spends a large portion of the movie paralyzed.

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Never Let Go (2024) Review

★★1/2 out of ★★★★★

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Brimming with inventive promise, Never Let Go is a movie of half-moves that never resolves its post-apocalyptic and psychological horror concepts. Halle Berry tries her best, but it becomes a frustrating endeavor by its conclusion.

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Your Monster (2024) Review

★★★★ out of ★★★★★

Intensity: 🩸.5 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸

Your Monster is that rare Horror Rom-Com that succeeds on multiple levels. It takes the breakup film and mashes it up with the Beauty and the Beast and Imaginary Friend tropes. And then it pours madness sauce on top. The comedy hits. The romance is likable and endearing. And, though it saves the horror for quite a long stretch, Your Monster eventually delivers a great coup de grace of horror.

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The Best Horror Movies of 2024: Episode 192

Well, that was fun! 2024, though it started slow, managed to pack in quite a few worthy films. The six critics of The Scariest Things debated who deserved a spot in the top 10, and there was a wide spread of picks. There were a few standouts most of us agreed to, but to find out, you'll have to listen to the podcast!
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The BEST Horror Movies of 2024: Eric’s List

With the New Year on us, it is time to rate the best horror movies of 2024. What initially appeared to be a tough year for the genre turned itself around late. This year won't be as impactful as last year, but it had some terrific films at the front of the pack that fans will remember and cherish.
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Nosferatu (2024) Review

★★★★★ out of ★★★★★

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Nosferatu is a staggering accomplishment. Visually stunning, with sublime acting, Nosferatu is everything you would hope for in a horror costume drama. It helps that the director is the master of the period-piece horror movie.

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Olivia Hussey In Memoriam (1951-2024) : The Original Final Girl

The horror world just lost an icon. Olivia Hussey has passed away at age 73. Known to most for her portrayal of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (1968), at the peak of her career, Hussey starred in one of the most pivotal movies in horror history, Black Christmas (1974). Before Laurie Strode and Sally Hardesty, there was Jess Bradford. Jess became the standard for the modern final girl in horror slasher films.
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The Scariest Things Singalong: Horror Musicals: Episode 191

Horror Musicals: When they work they are next-level works of art. It's some of the worst material ever created when they don't work. Eric cajoled/dragged Liz and Mike to participate in evaluating one of his favorite sub-genres, the Horror Musical. A spotify soundtrack list is included in this post for you to hear the songs from the films we discuss in Ep 191.
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Made-for-TV Horror Movies: Episode 190

Once upon a time, the major broadcast television networks used to produce feature films for their movies of the week. Many of the great made-for-tv horror movies have found new audiences with restored Blu-Ray issuances and streaming options, giving some long-lost classics a new lease on viewing life.
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Blackout (2024) Review

★★1/2 out of ★★★★★

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Blackout is a fair-to-middling werewolf movie. With much respect to horror Godfather Larry Fessenden, this movie struggles to get out of second gear. The werewolf makeup is effective, and there are some gory scares, but weak supporting characters and excessive exposition bogs down this effort.

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The Criterion Collection -The Horror Catalog: Episode 189

Cinephiles and physical media collectors, this episode is for you! The Criterion Collection has been the premiere distributor of cinematic excellence for decades. Did they find room for horror? Yes, they did! It is a very select group of films, but you might be surprised at some of the inclusions. Here are our picks from their horror library.
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The Letter (2024) Review: H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival

★★★.5 out of ★★★★★

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The Letter sumptuously recreates the era of H.P. Lovecraft's 1930's New England. This languidly paced mystery feels like a Call of Cthulhu adventure, set in an elaborate mansion, and stocked with scheming characters with old grudges. This little indie film has big aspirations and ambitions but could have used a little streamlining. Prepare yourselves for lots of exposition and dark musings in period dialogue, while appreciating the fine details and rich textures.

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Tony Todd (1954-2024): A Horror Retrospective

The Horror Community lost a Titan on Friday. Tony Todd, The Candyman, passed away at age 69 from complications of a lingering illness. He was the most iconic black character horror actor in history. The gravelly-voiced performer boasted over 256 IMdB acting credits to his name, but he will be remembered mostly for his horror roles that he was in from 1986 up to this day. The Scariest Things presents a review of his most iconic roles.

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Things Will Be Different (2024) Review: H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival

★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★

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Things Will Be Different mashes together three tropes that require finesse and careful mechanics. The film fuses a bank heist, a time paradox, and a "don't cheat fate" theme, creating an intricate and complex plot. The story strings together an array of plot threads that could throw time out of balance. It elegantly presents its plot, but inevitably it challenges the audience to keep pace with the story.

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The Aaron Moorhead Interview: A Cosmic Horror Thesis: At HPLFF

Aaron Moorhead is one half of the prolific writing/acting/directing duo of Moorhead and Benson. The acclaimed duo produced some of the past decade's most mind-bending cosmic horror movies. It was only appropriate that he would serve as the keynote speaker at this year's H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, and he took some time out of his busy festival schedule to talk with Eric Li about his Cosmic theories and theses.
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Strange Harvest (2024) Review: HPLFF

★★★★★out of ★★★★★

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Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire documents a string of unsolved grisly murders in California's Inland Empire. This faux documentary is at once both sensational and plausible, treated as a real account of a heinous cosmically influenced serial killing spree. This film is hugely disturbing and is coated with a thick layer of bloody possible sauce.

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Dream Eater (2024) Review: H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival

★★★★ out of ★★★★★

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Cosmic Horror meets found footage in the parasomnia-infused Dream Eater. Documentarian Mallory and her boyfriend Alex retreat to a snowy cabin, celebrating Alex's 30th birthday. There, they hope to relax and get relief from Alex's violent sleepwalking episodes. Unfortunately, fate would have it that something ancient and evil is behind his psychological traumas, and Mallory struggles to make sense of it before it destroys them both.

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The DAEMON (2024) Review: H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival

★★★★ out of ★★★★★

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The Daemon was a perfect vessel to be unleashed at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. The debut feature from Devino and Yohe taps into all of the key tropes of Cosmic Horror: coping with inner demons, battling psychoses and grief, dreams from the underworld, and elder gods rising from the deep. Add in some wonderfully grotesque body horror and you get a banger of a movie. Plus: we get Azathoth. If you know, you know.

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