Happy Place — It Turns Out the Naming Rights! Membership Option Was For Real and Someone Is Now Five Hundred Bucks Poorer Presents Nat

The 2001 Satanic Panic-themed TV Movie Just Ask My Children Now Feels Oddly Timely, Even Prescient

In 2001 Virginia Madsen starred in a movie about innocent parents accused of all manner of gothic sexual molestation that’s a period piece based on a true story but also weirdly prescient given the current mania about child sex cults and Satanic conspiracies.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinJune 14, 2023Virginia Madsen, TV movie, child abuse, child molestation

The 2001 Erotic Thriller Lying in Wait is Wonderfully, Unexpectedly Bonkers

The 2001 erotic thriller Lying in Wait may look generic but it’s wonderfully, distinctively insane.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinJune 13, 2023Rutger Hauer, Virginia Madsen

With 1994's Hail Caesar, Anthony Michael Hall Struck out as a Leading Man, First-Time Director AND, God Help Us, Rock and Roller

Anthony Michael Hall only directed one movie, 1994’s Hail Caesar. It is quite poor.

Stuart Gordon's Adaptation of "Dreams in the Witch House" for Masters of Horror Confirmed His Status as Our Greatest Adapter of the Works of H.P. Lovecraft

Stuart Gordon’s winning streak continues with a nifty adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “Dreams in the Witch-House” for Masters of Horror.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinJune 6, 2023Stuart Gordon, H.P Lovecraft

1994's Clean Slate Was a Cross Between Memento and Groundhog Day But Boring and Mediocre and a Woeful Vehicle For Dana Carvey

One of y’all generous weirdoes paid me one hundred dollars to see one of several films that failed to elevate Dana Carvey to cinematic superstardom as a romantic leading man.

Stuart Gordon's King of the Ants is a Nifty, Nasty Neo-Noir Rooted in the Inexorable Horror of the Human Condition

Frightmaster Stuart Gordon ended his career as a director of feature films with a trilogy of nasty Neo-Noirs, beginning with the meat and potatoes 2003 thriller King of the Ants.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinMay 25, 2023

The 2001 James Dean Meditation Almost Salinas Is a Colossal Waste for Everyone Except People Writing Up Every Virginia Madsen Movie And Film About the Movie Industry

The sleepy 2001 drama Almost Salinas is a goddamn waste for everyone except people writing books about movies and covering Virginia Madsen’s complete filmography for an ambitious, years-long project. Thankfully I’m that guy!

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinMay 18, 2023John Mahoney, James Dean, Virginia Madsen, Ian Gomez, diner, bad

The Graphic Novel Collection Southland Tales: The Prequel Saga is the Perfect Literary Companion to Richard Kelly's Cult Satire

Richard Kelly was right. The future HAS proven more futuristic than scientists predicted.

Manos: The Hands of Fate Proved Conclusively That NOT Everyone Can Make a Movie, But Everyone Sure Can Try!

One of you generous weirdoes paid me one hundred dollars to finally get around to experiencing the exquisite madness of Manos: The Hands of Fate, a Mystery Science Theater 3000-roasted camp classic and popular contender for worst film of all time that was everything I hoped it would be and more.

In Its Own Weird, Wonderful Way, Plan 9 From Outer Space Is a Miracle

In honor of Ed Wood’s birthday I am rerunning a piece collected in The Joy of Trash on Plan 9 from Outer Space, his masterpiece.

Control Nathan Rabin 4.0Nathan RabinMay 11, 2023Ed Wood, Bela Lugosi, bad movie culture