Horror review: Devil

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 20, 2010In the recent supernatural thriller, The Last Exorcism, a character states, “If you believe in god, you have to believe in the devil.” In the new supernatural thriller, Devil, a character states, “If you believe in the devil, you have to believe in god.”Either way, somebody’s going to hell.After a … Continue reading Horror review: Devil

Horror review: 1408

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 20, 2007 By Steve Newton Unforgettable haunted-house flicks are extremely hard to come by; the only two I can think of are 1963's The Haunting and The Shining. The subgenre of haunted-hotel-room flicks is promising in that the number of hotel patrons passing through maximizes the potential for untimely death and … Continue reading Horror review: 1408

Horror review: The Invisible

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 2, 2007 By Steve Newton Director David S. Goyer turned the familiar sights of our fair city into a seething battleground for vampires in 2004's Blade: Trinity, but his latest Vancouver-shot supernatural flick, The Invisible, doesn't have nearly as much bite. It's a remake of the 2002 Swedish thriller Den Osynlige, … Continue reading Horror review: The Invisible

Hilary Swank commits career hara-kiri in The Reaping

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 11, 2007 By Steve Newton What's with the recent spate of Oscar-winning actors starring in shockingly bad supernatural horror flicks? Two weeks ago you had Forest Whitaker embarrassing himself in The Marsh, and now you've got two-time Academy Award champ Hilary Swank committing career hara-kiri in The Reaping. Have their Hollywood … Continue reading Hilary Swank commits career hara-kiri in The Reaping

Horror review: The Messengers

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, FEB. 7, 2007 Kristen Stewart is only 16, yet she’s already getting typecast as the sullen teen who moves with her big-city parents to spooky, dilapidated old homes in the country. She did it in 2003’s clunky Cold Creek Manor, and she’s doin’ it again as The Messengers’ Jess, a Chicagoan … Continue reading Horror review: The Messengers

Carlos Santana still stunning the masses

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 8, 2008 The last time Carlos Santana played here, a few years back at GM Place, one reader used my rave review of the show as an excuse to slag the guitarist for selling out with his multiplatinum album of 1999, Supernatural. This Payback Timer didn’t like the fact that … Continue reading Carlos Santana still stunning the masses