Unwelcome Caller

A supernatural tinged horror thriller, 2021's The Black Telephone (based upon Joe Hill’s short story of the same name), co-written and directed by Scott Derrickson, might never have you seeing those long corded, wall mounted phones in the same way ever again. Set in 1978, we follow Finney (Mason Thames), and, to a lesser extent, his younger sister Gwen (Madeline McGraw), in what should seemingly be an idyllic childhood in Denver. But, just below the surface, all is not right.

Adding horror to sex and drugs and rock `n roll, 1985's Hard Rock Zombies, co-written and directed by Krishna Shah, was never supposed to happen – as it was only meant to be a twenty minute faux feature that would play in the background at the titular American Drive-In (a comedy released the same year)... instead, the film maker scraped together a bit more money, and a true (and truly bad) cult classic was born. A throw everything at it but the kitchen sink style production, the narrative is a bit of a mess, but in the best possible way. Following the burgeoning rock band Holy Moses (E.J. Curse – member of Silent Rage, Geno Andrews, Sam Mann, Mick McMains)

After three ultra successful films, the Frankenstein franchise was met with the task of replacing its key piece in Boris Karloff... who had a scheduling conflict and chose Arsenic and Old Lace (the play that would turn into the iconic movie just two years later) over another sequel – of which he was tiring of doing. Deciding upon another one of their monster masters as a replacement, Lon Chaney Jr. took up the mantle and became the Monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein (celebrating its 80th anniversary this 2022). Though this is where a dip in creativity, nuance, and horror is noticed, it doesn’t mean that this isn’t a lot of fun. Taking place almost immediately after 1939's Son of Frankenstein, director Erle C. Kenton reintroduces us to poor Ygor (Bela Lugosi), who was riddled with bullets and suffered a broken neck... but he simply won’t die. Now, he just sits patiently by the sulfur pits that have swallowed up his only friend, the Frankenstein Monster (Chaney Jr.).

Sometimes, a movie title can be misleading. Imagine heading to the theatre in 1960, excited to see Terence Fisher’s Hammer horror film The Brides of Dracula, only for the opening voice-over to exclaim, just a couple of seconds in, that Dracula is dead – that might be a bit of a letdown. But don’t worry, a new vampire will rise to start his own harem. I know what you must be thinking... did he immigrate to Europe from Utah? No, he’s one of those unusual, ultra kinky Europeans, but more on that later.

2022's Barbarian, which is written and directed by Zach Cregger, is a gonzo, go for broke horror thriller that needs to be seen to believe... preferably with as little known as possible, so this will be a pared-down, to the basics, as close to spoiler free review as possible. Following a guarded gal, Tess (Georgina Campbell), she has Airbnb’d a cute place in a sketchy neighbourhood in Detroit (the city takes another movie blow after others like Don’t Breathe). Arriving late at night (not truly realizing just how ramshackle the surrounding area is), she finds the lockbox holding key empty. A perfect side note for history lovers, the address of the place is 476 Barbary St. – the year the barbarians invaded ancient Rome.

The first Missed the Bloody Cut horror selection of this 2022, here are some horror movies that did not meet my strict criteria (a rating of 7.0 or higher). . . but are still entertaining films (horror fanatics may enjoy) that do not deserve to be ignored like the drunken, scantily clad college girl wandering off into the woods after a bush party – and that they are definitely worth a watch (just maybe not several re-watches).