Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 16th, 2026
I know I’m late to the game on this one, and it’s not because I haven’t wanted to see this film. Health issues have kept me away from the theater, and I’ve only recently been able to watch this. First off, I’m a fan of Curry Barker. I’ve watched several of his shorts, and his film Milk & Serial I’ve seen a few times. I’m not surprised by Barker's breakout success, though what I am surprised by is how Obsession and Backrooms, films done by content creators, have dominated the box office this year. This very much reminds me of when The Blair Witch Project came out, when this small film made on a shoestring budget took Hollywood and the world by storm, and from there it kicked off the found-footage boom, something we’re still seeing today. Now the big issue I had was needing to push away all the hype surrounding this film and give this film a fair shot; after all, the film is campaigning for best picture and a slew of other nominations as we approach award season. Is the film good, and does its box office revenue warrant this kind of praise?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 5th, 2026
Aussie horror I feel is a bit underappreciated. There’s typically a charm with a bit of grime when it comes to their villains. Wolf Creek and its lead antagonist Mick is a perfect example. He’s an evil character, but he still manages to be likeable. Another example of this is in last year’s serial-killer-shark film, Dangerous Animals, the villain was once again despicable but still was fun to watch. Another thing I’ve noticed when it comes to Aussie horror: it tends to have a dirty look to it that reminds me of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where you can almost feel the heat and the dust coming through the screen, and the films also tend to have their characters very isolated from civilization. Penny Lane Is Dead checks off many of the boxes that I like in Aussie horror, and what I find frustrating with it is how close it comes to being great. It’s time to stroll down the dark and desolate road in the outback and do a post mortem on Penny Lane is Dead.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on September 25th, 2026
When talking about horror, one of the things that makes the genre so accessible to everyone is that the genre is so broad that even non-horror fans can find a film they can enjoy. Horror doesn’t have to be about crazed people killing off teenagers or about the supernatural. Sometimes it can simply delve into the fear of heights like Fall, or being buried alive like Buried. Lately a trend I’ve been seeing is about the fear of pregnancy or being a mother. Nightborn immediately comes to mind, and now we have the film Goody Goody that’s now playing on Shudder. The sub-genre is nothing new; after all, Rosemary’s Baby is a classic, and that came out in 1968. I understand why there will always be an audience for this kind of horror, and I can see how it can be effective when targeting the female demographic. I think all audiences really hope for out of a movie despite the genre is to be entertained, I don’t feel that’s much to ask for. I don’t need A-list actors or huge FX. All I want is a good story, and if the filmmakers can execute that, then great … Alas, Goody Goody breaks one of the cardinal sins of cinema. This film is a chore to sit through, and even at 80 minutes this film tested my patience.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on September 17th, 2026
What happens when you take two 90s cult classics, Clueless and The Craft, and put them together? Forbidden Fruits is the charming lovechild of these films, and it kind of surprises me that this film has gone under the radar for so long, especially when I’d consider it one of the better horror films to come out this year, and definitely the best film Shudder has released on streaming in 2026. I went into this one with low expectations, and by the time it hit the midway point, I have to admit I was enjoying the heck out of this film. Considering the new Practical Magic 2 just opened this past weekend to a lackluster box office haul, it makes me wonder if basically Hollywood, and more importantly audiences, just don’t want to see witches on screen anymore? Heck, online over the past few years it seems every woman has latched onto the notion that liking Halloween, buying pumpkin spice lattes, and having your own garden is all that’s needed to join a coven … Gone are the days when it was the outcasts, the goth kids that listened to The Cure and Marilyn Manson were the ones that embraced being weird and were into Wicca and other forms of witchcraft. This is a film that holds a mirror up to the new generation of those that practice witchcraft and exposes the absurdity of it all.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on September 11th, 2026
It’s not often that a horror movie comes along that reflects what is happening in pop culture or feels as though it was ripped from the headlines. I’m surprised there hasn’t been much buzz about Nightborn, considering it’s about the horrors of post-partum depression and media attention surrounding the Lindsay Clancy case. I know everyone has their opinions on the case, and because of the case I kind of let this film simmer for a while before deciding to write this. I’ll start by saying that if you're sensitive to the topic of the film, you may just want to skip it altogether, and don’t bother reading this review, I’m not here to spoil anything, and I don’t want to upset anyone, either. One other thing that may turn people off to this film is that it is a Finnish film with a mix of English and Finnish poken throughout, and I know some people just hate subtitles … With all that out of the way, how is the movie, what is it all about, and most importantly, is it any good? The film opens up with a young couple, Saga (Seidi Haarla) and Jon (Rupert Grint), who move into an old family home that rests on the outskirts of a Finnish forest. After engaging in some adult activities in the woods, surrounded by some disturbing looking trees, we definitely get the impression they are being watched by some unseen entity. It’s not long after that Saga discovers she’s pregnant and we see her have the baby, and, well, let's just say the birth scene is a bit gory and not what the young couple expects.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 24th, 2026
When you consider how many Texas Chainsaw Massacre films there are and how many of them are just not good, can you really get mad when a knockoff comes along that’s kind of fun? No, Dolly isn’t about a family of cannibals, but the character of Dolly is mostly Leatherface in a dress, replacing a skin mask for a doll mask and instead of a chainsaw, Dolly’s weapon of choice is a shovel. The film is also a nice departure from the typical psycho killer hillbillies running around the woods. No victims are being forced to squeal like a pig but instead are coddled like a baby, still creepy but just not as traumatizing. This is a film that certainly knows where it’s inspiration came from, and the result is a film that is ripe for watching late at night, and even better if you have a camping trip or hike planned in the near future. Does this mean the film's any good? Well, grab onto your nearest and dearest dolly or plushy, and I’ll tell you all about it.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 18th, 2026
The “death whistle” is something I’ve seen gain some popularity with several of the paranormal YouTubers latching on to this artifact for content. The death whistle is basically an Aztec artifact that resembles a skull, and when you blow into it there’s a creepy screaming noise that comes out of it. Because it’s an artifact from so long ago, archaeologists basically have to guess about what it was used for. For the film they take some liberties and say it was used to conjure “death”, and basically death will track you down and kill you sooner than you were supposed to die. So is Whistle worth checking out, or is it a film that had me begging to blow into a death whistle because the film couldn’t end fast enough? The film has a fun opening sequence where we see a high school basketball player being stalked by death after scoring the winning basket for his team. This sequence follows many familiar tropes, setting up the rules of the film and showing us that death just can’t be reasoned with. We even see him destroy the whistle, but that does nothing, because he still ends up a victim.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 7th, 2026
Back in the 80s and 90s, when the mom and pop video stores were thriving and the internet was basically science-fiction, the Faces of Death films were these taboo films that teenagers and gore-hounds would seek out as a way to gross out and shock friends. These films were in a category on their own, and not for the faint of heart. It was considered a part of “Mondo Cinema”, a style of film that came out of Italy in the 60s that were pseudo-documentaries or “shockumentaries” that were a collection of bizarre and often violent acts pieced together to look like an educational video. The 1978 film and the films that followed had everything from animal cruelty to executions, and for the longest time there was a debate about whether the films were real or fake or somewhere in between. When I first saw these films, I viewed them as a bit of a challenge. I loved horror and gore, and thought I could handle it at the ripe old age of fifteen. Let’s just say I’ve seen the films and the knock-offs, and my pupils have been scarred ever since. There are images from those films that still haunt me.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 24th, 2025
“I am large; I contain multitudes.”
If The Life of Chuck doesn’t take home an armful of awards this year, it will be a criminal shame. I first read the Stephen King novella when it was released in his collection If It Bleeds (2020), It was a story that you can tell King wrote during the COVID-19 panic. I remember liking the story, but it wasn’t one of my favorites in the collection. What stood out the most was the unique way he wrote the story about the end of the world. It didn’t really surprise me that the story was being adapted into a film considering just how many Stephen King stories are brought to the big screen and streaming every year. It was the fact that Mike Flanagan signed on to write and direct that got me excited about this project. For those who may not know, Mike Flanagan has been making a name for himself in the horror genre. The Haunting on Hill House, Midnight Mass, Hush, Doctor Sleep, The Fall of the House of Usher and Gerald’s Game are all hits in his filmography
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on September 24th, 2025
Following the success of Only Murders in the Building, it was only a matter of time before we got more shows and films coming in to piggyback off the success. I’ll admit when I first saw an ad for The Thursday Murder Club on Netflix, I really didn’t think much of it, but I was glad to see the ensemble of actors continuing to get work as they age gracefully into their twilight years. With a film with a cast like Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, Jonathan Pryce and several more familiar faces I found myself compelled to give this film a chance. Oh, and how can I forget, though this came as a surprise to me as I watched the closing credits, to discover the film was directed by Chris Columbus? The man is a legend to me just for directing Adventures in Babysitting, a childhood favorite of mine, but he also directed Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, Stepmom (in my opinion an underrated classic), oh, and the first two Harry Potter films
