Horror

Predator: Badlands

  • Title: Predator: Badlands
  • IMDb: link

Choosing to make the franchise monster the protagonist of the film rather than the antagonist, Predator: Badlands introduces us to the runt of the litter in Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) who, in order to prove himself, goes to the the most dangerous world known to the Yautja seeking to kill the unkillable Kalisk. Gifting Dek with more personality than any Predator before him, the young warrior unlearns a bit of Yautja culture accepting assistance in his quest from a damaged synthetic named Thia (Elle Fanning) along with various creatures including one Thia names Bud.

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Frankenstein

  • Title: Frankenstein
  • IMDb: link

At twice the length of 1931’s Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro‘s new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s tale of a mad scientist the fruit of his labors is an elaborate look into the life of Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) and the madness which spawned his creation (Jacob Elordi). I have a limited tolerance for melodrama, especially one without the wit or snark to undercut the tedium that all-too-often is the byproduct of the genre. Rarely have I seen a film that so earnestly, and so seriously, leaned into its melodramatic overtones.

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Frankenstein

  • Title: Frankenstein (1931)
  • IMDb: link

Mary Shelley’s novel has been adapted several times over the years on both stage and screen, but no version is more notable nor done more to bring the story to a wider audience than the 1931 Frankenstein. The Universal Studios’ film set the look of the classic Frankenstein Monster (Boris Karloff) which, despite being diffent than described in Shelley’s work, is still immediately recognizable today and synonymous with the name.

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Frankenhooker

  • Title: Frankenhooker
  • IMDb: link

Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, writer/director Frank Henenlotter‘s bizarre horror-comedy stars James Lorinz as a would-be scientist who attempts to bring back his girlfriend (Penthouse Pet Patty Mullen) after she’s dismembered in a ridiculous lawnmower accident. Needing body parts to fill out his Frankenstein-ish creation, Jeff targets Crack-addicted New York hookers who he kills off through the use of his new drug which make the group of half-naked women each explode in one of the film’s most memorable moments.

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An American Werewolf in London

  • Title: An American Werewolf in London
  • IMDb: link

There are early examples of films that mixed comedy and horror, but those were more slapstick in style such as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Shelved for more than a decade as investors were leary on the project that seemed too scary for a comedy and too silly for a horror flick, the success of 1981’s An American Werewolf in London would prove doubters wrong and open up a new subgenre for films such as Evil Dead 2 and Shaun of the Dead mixing comedic elements with more serious horror elements and gore.

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