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Fright Club: That's Not Your Baby! - Maddwolf
The idea of a changeling—a baby that’s not really yours, and who knows where your dear sweet little one really is?!—is so primal a fear that it’s existed in folktales for centuries. Ireland really picks this scab well in their horror movies, but they are not alone. It’s an idea that can’t help but unsettle. … Continue reading Fright Club: That’s Not Your Baby! →
You'll Never Go in the Onsen Again - Maddwolf
Hotspring Sharkattack by Matt Weiner Japan’s beloved onsen (natural hot springs) are the site of grisly shark attacks in the town of Atsumi. A weary police chief butts heads with the town mayor hellbent on welcoming as many tourists as possible, even as the body count rises and outside shark experts and influencers alike converge … Continue reading You’ll Never Go in the Onsen Again →
Vampire Blues - Maddwolf
Abraham’s Boys by Hope Madden The problem with crafting a feature length film from a short story is that, often, the story’s too short. Filmmakers need to pad, and that can be tough because if the story needed more, likely the writer—certainly a writer as strong as Joe Hill—would have realized that. But it can … Continue reading Vampire Blues →
Killer Neighborhood - Maddwolf
Push by Hope Madden From the moment Push holds on the “for sale” sign in front of an isolated Michigan mansion, co-writers/co-directors David Charbonier and Justin Douglas Powell proclaim their inspirations. The Craven Road property, for sale by Hitch & Wan Real Estate, is probably not the house you want. Will the mansion be haunted … Continue reading Killer Neighborhood →
Be Loud - Maddwolf
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore by Rachel Willis In 1986, Marlee Matlin won the Academy Award for her performance in the film Children of a Lesser God. Nearly three decades later, she remained the only Deaf actor to win an Oscar. This, as well as Matlin’s trailblazing career, is the focus of director Shoshannah Stern’s … Continue reading Be Loud →
Undocumented Alien Thrashes Billionaire - Maddwolf
Superman by Hope Madden and George Wolf James Gunn’s brand of humor is so sincere—never snarky, never brooding and mysterious—that he seemed a good fit for Superman, the most sincere of all the superheroes. Still, we were skeptical. Can something as wholesome as Superman be relevant in a time more rife with corruption and swampy … Continue reading Undocumented Alien Thrashes Billionaire →
De”FIN”itive - Maddwolf
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story by George Wolf You may have heard Jaws celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last month. The celebrations and remembrances, the memes and mementos have been joyous fun, reminding us of a landmark film that changed the landscape of the movies. And now, like the fashionably late party guest everyone … Continue reading De”FIN”itive →
Fright Club: Best Horror Movies, First Half of 2025 - Maddwolf
It is not that time! It is! It most definitely is time to celebrate how great the first half of 2025 has been for horror. Indeed, easily the best film of the year so far (and a tough contender for the balance of the year) is a vampire movie! Here are our favorite horror films … Continue reading Fright Club: Best Horror Movies, First Half of 2025 →
More Teeth - Maddwolf
Jurassic World: Rebirth by Hope Madden Every great creature feature from King Kong to Godzilla to Jaws to Jurassic Park and on and on understands one basic principle. The monster is not the problem. Human greed is the problem. Some monster movies are just better than others at telling that story. It’s not a new … Continue reading More Teeth →
The Mushy Middle - Maddwolf
The Old Guard 2 by George Wolf Look, it’s just science. You get a glimpse of Uma Thurman and Charlize Theron in a sword fight, you get your hopes up. I did, hopeful that The Old Guard 2 on Netflix could match – or maybe even exceed the fun of the original. But while it … Continue reading The Mushy Middle →
Promised Land - Maddwolf
40 Acres by Hope Madden At one time, a lot of people were promised 40 acres and a mule. It was a lie. But Hailey Freeman’s ancestor had freed himself, left his family behind, and walked to Canada to make his own promises. Generations later, Hailey (Danielle Deadwyler, a force of nature) will be damned … Continue reading Promised Land →
Best Film, First Half of 2025 - Maddwolf
If the heat doesn’t get under your skin, maybe this will: 2025 is half over! What? I guess we should get those Christmas decorations down. But it has been quite a year already in terms of movies. From Ryan Coogler’s masterpiece to a grown up spy movie, incredible indie horror to revelatory documentary, awkward buddy … Continue reading Best Film, First Half of 2025 →
Wellness Center - Maddwolf
Pins & Needles by Hope Madden I love Max’s unapologetic nature. Writer/director James Villeneuve’s spare feature Pins & Needles shares an adventure with a biology major and insulin-dependent diabetic who has no Fs to give. The result is a nice change of pace from “likable female leads.” Max (Chelsea Clark) is leaving her biology field … Continue reading Wellness Center →
Doll Parts - Maddwolf
M3GAN 2.0 by Hope Madden Sometimes a fun horror movie needs to become a fun action movie if you really hope to have a franchise. At least, a PG13 franchise. That’s clearly Gerard Johnstone’s thinking with M3GAN 2.0 Co-writing this time with M3GAN scribes Akela Cooper and James Wan, Johnstone imagines a future where the … Continue reading Doll Parts →
At the Mountains of Madness - Maddwolf
The Sound by Adam Barney “Hey, what’s that?” is a phrase that has driven the majority of human exploration, from the first cave person to see a hill to your dad hearing a noise outside at night. This phrase also drives the plot in The Sound, as climbers ascend a forbidden mountain to check out … Continue reading At the Mountains of Madness →
Formula Won - Maddwolf
F1: The Movie by George Wolf With Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski understood the assignment better than any director in recent years. Talent, swagger, airborne thrills and pinpoint vibe control made that film better than we could have imagined. Now Kosinski brings a very similar blueprint to F1: The Movie, right down to that … Continue reading Formula Won →
Original Gangster - Maddwolf
The G by Hope Madden Get to know Dale Dickey. There is nobody else like her in film or TV, and what she brings to a role is grit and authenticity that can be heartbreaking or frightening. In the case of filmmaker Karl R. Hearne’s The G, it’s a bit of both. Dickey plays Ann, … Continue reading Original Gangster →
Pumpkin Spice Horror - Maddwolf
Eye for an Eye by Hope Madden Way back in 1988, legendary practical FX and make up genius Stan Winston directed his first feature film, Pumpkinhead. In it, a grieving father (Lance Henriksen) awakens an unstoppable evil to avenge his terrible tragedy. The film remains effective because it is so genuinely heartbreaking. Winston, who also … Continue reading Pumpkin Spice Horror →
Still Crazy After All These Years - Maddwolf
28 Years Later by Hope Madden Nearly a quarter century ago (!!), director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland unleashed the genre masterpiece 28 Days Later. Smart, prescient, with a broken human heart and 113 minutes of sheer terror, it changed the “zombie” genre forever with living, breathing, running, rampaging humans infected by a rage … Continue reading Still Crazy After All These Years →
Boldly Gone - Maddwolf
Elio by Hope Madden Few films, animated or otherwise, breathe the rarified air of Pixar’s best. The animation giant has turned out an alarming number of outright masterpieces: Toy Story, WALL-E, Up!, Toy Story 3, Inside Out. Their second tier is better than nearly every other animated film you’ll come across. The originality, humanity, and … Continue reading Boldly Gone →
Fright Club: Horrific Families - Maddwolf
The family that slays together stays together, isn’t that what they say? That was certainly a lot of the fun in Ready or Not, 5. The Hills Have Eyes (1977) Wes Craven’s original Hills – cheaply made and poorly acted – is a surprisingly memorable, and even more surprisingly alarming flick. Craven’s early career is marked by … Continue reading Fright Club: Horrific Families →
God Defend New Zealand - Maddwolf
Prime Minister by Rachel Willis New Zealand’s former prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is the subject of directors Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe’s documentary, Prime Minister. The film starts with Ardern’s election as leader for her country’s Labour Party, seeking to rescue it from gloomy poll numbers. That she actually wins the position of Prime Minister … Continue reading God Defend New Zealand →
Mommy Can You Hear Me? - Maddwolf
Echo Valley by George Wolf The barn roof at the Echo Valley horse ranch is bad. Like $9,000 bad. And when Kate (Julianne Moore) makes the trip to her ex-husband Richard’s (Kyle MacLachlan) office for some financial help, we get some nicely organic character development. In those few important minutes, director Michael Pearce and writer … Continue reading Mommy Can You Hear Me? →
Proper Credit - Maddwolf
Materialists by Hope Madden Just two years ago, filmmaker Celine Song produced a breathtakingly original romance movies in Past Lives. With that film, she delivered a love triangle of sorts where no character felt cliched, no choice felt obvious, and every moment felt achingly true. Now she sets her sights on something decidedly more mainstream, … Continue reading Proper Credit →
Fire in the Sky - Maddwolf
How to Train Your Dragon by Hope Madden If it weren’t for Toy Story, How to Train Your Dragon would be remembered as the finest animated trilogy ever made. The tale of outsider love, parental expectations, physical limitations and dragons was as emotionally satisfying as it was visually stunning. So, it was both disappointing and … Continue reading Fire in the Sky →
Thanks for the Memories - Maddwolf
The Life of Chuck by George Wolf Near the end of The Life of Chuck, a character enters a room and is careful to test the floor as he steps in. Organic dialog earlier in the film has let us know why he’s doing this, so no voiceover narration explaining the action is necessary. This … Continue reading Thanks for the Memories →
Good Night and Good Luck - Maddwolf
Best Wishes to All by Hope Madden Filmmaker Yûta Shimotsu has seen a few Takashi Miike films. Everyone should. He’s one of the world’s greatest and most prolific genre filmmakers, so that’s not a drag on the Best Wishes to All (also known as Best Regards to All) writer/director. His first feature follows a nursing … Continue reading Good Night and Good Luck →
I Fought the Law - Maddwolf
The Prosecutor by Brandon Thomas Age isn’t much of a factor for action stars these days. Liam Neeson, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, and Tom Cruise (c’mon, dude is 63) are still throwing punches, shooting guns, and hanging off planes when most actors are looking for cushy dramas. However, guys like Donnie Yen take it to … Continue reading I Fought the Law →
A Mission Not Worth Taking - Maddwolf
Resurrection Road by Daniel Baldwin Genre mash-ups are a tricky thing. A consistent tone is hard enough to maintain when one is working in one genre, but once you add any additional genres into the mix, the odds of things going off of the rails increase exponentially. More often than not, they tend to fall … Continue reading A Mission Not Worth Taking →
Inconvenient Arrangement - Maddwolf
Sister Midnight by Rachel Willis Watching the trailer for writer/director Karan Kandhari’s film Sister Midnight did not prepare me for the wild ride I was about to take. It is best to go into this movie knowing as little as possible, so each change in direction allows for surprise. For that reason, I will give … Continue reading Inconvenient Arrangement →
Hunting Season - Maddwolf
Predator: Killer of Killers by Hope Madden In 2022, director Dan Trachtenberg reinvigorated the Predator franchise by taking the story back in time and investing in character. Prey (especially the Comanche language dub) unveiled thrilling new directions for the hunt to take—directions Trachtenberg picks up with three short, animated installments in Hulu’s Predator: Killer of … Continue reading Hunting Season →
Fun With Hand Grenades - Maddwolf
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina by Hope Madden Who are the greatest female action heroes? Ellen Ripley, obviously. Beatrix Kiddo makes a good case for herself. Viola Davis cut one badass figure in G20 last year. Let’s not forget Atomic Blonde. Ana de Armas is the latest to throw her hat in the … Continue reading Fun With Hand Grenades →
Fins to the Left, Fins to the Right - Maddwolf
Dangerous Animals by George Wolf When are they going to run out of ideas for new shark movies? Well, not today. Dangerous Animals – director Sean Byrne’s first film in a decade – rises above the glut of silly sharksploitation yarns by aggressively hunting an adventure thriller of abduction and survival. Jai Courtney stuffs his … Continue reading Fins to the Left, Fins to the Right →
Crane, Meet Dragon - Maddwolf
Karate Kid: Legends by George Wolf The success of cable’s Cobra Kai probably made a new Karate Kid movie pretty inevitable. So here we are, in the Kai universe, bringing Ralph Macchio, Jackie Chan and the ghost of Pat Morita all together for Karate Kid: Legends. Don’t expect “The Crane,” the new move is “Dragon … Continue reading Crane, Meet Dragon →
Jane Says - Maddwolf
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life by George Wolf The Cult of Jane is strong, for good reason. On film, Austen’s groundbreaking work has inspired faithful adaptations, inspired re-imaginings and even romance fantasy. Jane Austen Wrecked My Life (Jane Austen a gâché ma vie) gets filed behind door number three, a fanciful rom-com that finds its … Continue reading Jane Says →
Mother's Little Helper - Maddwolf
Bring Her Back by Hope Madden Damn, son. The Philippou brothers know how to unsettle you. Filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou drew attention in 2022 for their wildly popular feature debut, Talk to Me. Before releasing the sequel, due out this August, the pair changes the game up with a different, but at least equally … Continue reading Mother’s Little Helper →
Samurai West - Maddwolf
Tornado by George Wolf Less than ten minutes into Tornado, you’ll be wondering about the cinematographer behind the expansive beauty on the screen. That would be the Oscar-nominated Robbie Ryan (The Favourite, Poor Things), who elevates writer/director John Maclean’s Samurai survival thriller with consistently sumptuous framing of Scotland’s savage beauty. In the late 1790’s, young … Continue reading Samurai West →
Running Man - Maddwolf
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning by George Wolf Remember that eye-popping train stunt in Dead Reckoning? How is this latest Mission: Impossible chapter possibly going to up that ante? Well, it takes two of the film’s nearly three hours to get there, but once Tom Cruise and director/co-writer Christopher McQuarrie break out the dual … Continue reading Running Man →
Get Your Drink On - Maddwolf
Fountain of Youth by George Wolf Knock, knock. Who’s there? Bab’s uvula. Bab’s uvula who? I don’t know, Babs, but I do know this: if you’re going to decipher the map to the fountain of youth, you’ve got to raise the wreck of the Lusitania and grab the long-lost Rembrandt painting that’s still in the … Continue reading Get Your Drink On →
Black & Blue Hawaii - Maddwolf
Lilo & Stitch by Hope Madden As a general rule, I’m no fan of Disney’s live action remakes. Loved Jon Favreau’s 2016 reimagining of The Jungle Book, but not a single reboot since has lived up to the impressive fun of that one, and most just feel like a soulless cash grab. Can Lilo & … Continue reading Black & Blue Hawaii →