“Lewton’s insights into both childhood and adult inner personal conflicts are legacies which deserve recognition in the foundational history of horror, both for psychological thrillers and fantasy films.”
“In dramatizing themes of absence and presence so thoroughly, ‘Klute’ embodies a central feature of neo-noir; as a self-conscious revision of a classic film cycle, noir is always both absent and present in neo-noir films.”
“As a love letter to a cinematic wave of films that were (and are) often dismissed as style devoid of substance, ‘Knife+Heart’ triumphs in both story and genre evolution.”
“What allows Cattet and Forzani’s films to flourish is that they modify cinematic influences to accommodate today’s instant gratification culture.”
“Miraglia’s deliberate interweaving of castles and glimmering blades taps into the one element that both Gothic and giallo art share: the ability to taffy-pull delight from terror. Both Poe and Bava would tip their hats.”
“‘Motherless Brooklyn’ may not be a sterling example of traditional noir, but its subtext is gripping in its own way. The victim of this crime story isn’t a dead man or a damsel in distress, but the spirit of a city.”
“‘The Souvenir’ is essential viewing for devoted cinephiles.”
“‘Don’t Look Now’ stands as one of the best iterations of the giallo film. It takes the best elements of the commercialized Italian psycho-thriller and presents them with a Hitchcockian flair.”
“Lorre brought to his strangers the psychological wounds carried by the exile.”
“‘Ad Astra’ joins the likes of ‘Gravity’ and ‘Interstellar’ as one of Stanley Kubrick’s starchildren.”
“‘The Box’ elevates the daily minutiae of capitalist cruelty into the science fiction moral framework of a ‘Twilight Zone’ yarn.”
“Although ‘Come to Daddy’ slightly loses while accelerating to its conclusion, the splatter of dark comedy and dysfunctional father-son dynamics is always engaging and frequently smart.”
“‘Ham on Rye’ has an inescapably student film-y vibe, a bit like a wannabe Richard Linklater joint but without any of the ambition, grit or intelligence.”
“A sense of restlessness began to be addressed tentatively, and was confronted with increasing boldness as the decade progressed. Battles were being waged on multiple fronts of this unacknowledged war, claims were being sought from historically neglected constituents.”
“What ‘Tigers Are Not Afraid’ doesn’t contain in terms of deep characters and real-world specificity, it makes up for with its supernatural elements, allowing its allegory to resonate.”
“‘Luz’ may be a distancing film, but it’s ultimately a fascinating and genuinely creepy one, forging as it does a bold new vision for the tired old demon possession movie, taking a cue from the demons of the subgenre and putting new life into its subject.”
“When looking at Tarantino’s filmography, ‘The Hateful Eight’ doesn’t hold a candle to works like ‘Pulp Fiction’ or ‘Kill Bill,’ but it’s an entertaining film nonetheless — if you don’t mind the runtime.”
Julia Bozzone on Quad Cinema’s Fresh Meat: Giallo Restorations, Part Two
“Both Lucas and Lynch’s world views allow for the possibility of personal atonement, and for external peace emerging from inner peace.”
“If part of the horror genre’s mission is to elicit fear through the erosion of safety, then the endings of ‘Hereditary’ and ‘Midsommar’ are the ultimate expression of that mission.”