film

Film Review: Silence of the Lambs

Very few horror films, and I’d consider Silence of the Lambs in that category (in spite of the book it was based on being credited as having killed the horror genre of novels), have won Academy Awards for Best Picture, never mind the level of sweep that Silence of the Lambs took. So, when I was going for a horror film for Halloween, I decided that Silence of the Lambs was the one to go with, as the last time I’d watched it was on a fairly small TV, and on DVD. Since then it’s gotten a 4K release (which is what I watched), and I have a larger TV to watch it on (and also better speakers), so I felt this was a good time to give it a real re-appraisal.

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Books

Book Review: The Library at Mount Char

The Library at Mount Char was October’s pick for the Sword & Laser book club, as a “Sword” pick (meaning fantasy) and something meant to be mildly horror adjacent (as co-host Veronica Belmont doesn’t handle horror well – which is fine). The book itself is some okay splatter horror with a side of urban fantasy, but it didn’t quite land for me.

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For the first episode of our 2nd year, and for the spooky season, we take a look at the 1985 adaptation of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s first novel in the Vampire Hunter D series.

Episode 13: Vampire Hunter D (1985)

For the first episode of our 2nd year, and for the spooky season, we take a look at the 1985 adaptation of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s first novel in the Vampire Hunter D series.

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film

Film Review: House of the Long Shadows

In 1983, when House of the Long Shadows came out, it was heavily panned by critics of the time as being derivative of the old film “Seven Keys to Broadpate”, that the ending undermined the story, and it didn’t have much for scares. I would argue that the critics of the time were simply not picking up what this movie is putting down.

There will be spoilers below the cut.

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Anime

Anime Review: Spy Classroom Season 2

Spy Classroom Season 2 is one that is a lot more serious than the first season. It’s not to say that there isn’t a large quantity of slapstick, some comedy around the members of Team Lamplight’s personality foibles, and more development for some of the other members of the group – that’s definitely there. However, it does make an attempt to be more dramatic than last season, with varying degrees of success.

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