Eric J - Review
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Wicker (2025)
Wicker IMDb TMDB Douban
亚历克斯·休斯顿·费希尔 / 埃莉诺·威尔逊 actor: 奥利维娅·科尔曼 / 戴夫·帕特尔
other title: The Wicker Husband / 柳枝 …
An outcast in a fishing village commissions a husband for herself made out of wicker from the local basketmaker, but her unexpected romance with the intricate creation sparks jealousy and threatens the village's social order.
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The Last Voyage of Demeter (2023)
The Last Voyage of Demeter
★ 5.2 24 ratings
André Øvredal actor: David Dastmalchian / Aisling Franciosi …
other title: 得墨忒耳号的最后航程 / 得墨忒耳号的最后航行 …
2023 film directed by André Øvredal
Watched
Oct. 25, 2026
It's a little boring, and I immediately thought of a thousand different and better ways that it could've ended, and it probably could've been about 10 or so minutes shorter, BUT I thought it was beautifully shot and that the actors did their best with what they had.

Cool looking Count helps, just what a blah ending, though, gah!
Alone Peacock
Oct. 25, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of The Last Voyage of Demeter
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Dracula (1992)
Dracula
★ 7.3 549 ratings
Francis Ford Coppola actor: Gary Oldman / Winona Ryder …
other title: 惊情四百年 / 吸血僵尸惊情四百年(港) …
In the 19th century, Dracula travels to London and meets Mina, a young woman who appears as the reincarnation of his lost love.
Watched
Oct. 24, 2026
There are various levels of acting on display in this lush and incredibly horny version of Dracula, it's hard not to be distracted by it.

I was hovering around a 3 for most of its runtime, but the last 20 minutes in the snowy Carpathian mountainside are so beautiful, I was moved to 3.5.
Oct. 24, 2026 Review A Review - a review of Dracula
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Dracula (1979)
Dracula
约翰·班德汉姆 actor: 弗兰克·兰格拉 / 劳伦斯·奥利弗 …
other title: 드라큐라 / Drácula …
Romanticized adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 classic. Count Dracula is a subject of fatal attraction to more than one English maiden lady, as he seeks an immortal bride.
Watched
Oct. 22, 2026
Still working my way through my list of 13 Dracula/Nosferatu movies that I made, and after watching this I discovered a minor misordering on my part: This movie starts with the ship that Count Dracula was on running aground; I should've watched The Last Voyage of the Demeter> (2023) first.

At any rate, it's been a fun experience watching so many of these in such a short time and really being able to pick up on the differences and seeing what each writer and director wanted to focus on, as well as how each actor (in every role, really) wanted to play it.

I didn't think I would like Frank Langella's portrayal of the Count going into this, and it did take me a while to get used to how fluffy his hair is, but he actually turned out to be a really great Dracula. I also found him and Kate Nelligan's Lucy to have pretty palpable chemistry. A later scene between them takes a bit of a psychedelic turn I wasn't expecting, but it was so well done that I'd recommend watching this for that alone.

I feel like Willem Dafoe may have taken some of what Laurence Olivier did with Van Helsing here and injected his von Franz in Nosferatu (2024) with it. Not a bad thing!

No one will remember me bringing up Donald Pleasence's choice to eat in every scene in Nosferatu in Venice (1988), but interestingly it seems that he's done it here first (different character, but still).

I could probably be talked up to a 4.5! This was better than I expected it to be, to the point of me wondering why it seems as though this isn't as popular as others.
Alone Netflix
Oct. 22, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Dracula
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The Devils (1971)
The Devils
★ 8.5 33 ratings
肯·罗素 actor: 瓦妮莎·雷德格雷夫 / 奥列佛·里德 …
other title: 卢丹的恶魔 / 鲁登的恶魔 …
In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the city when he is accused of witchcraft by the sexually repressed Sister Jeanne.
Watched
Oct. 19, 2026
Nothing really to add to my original review - the circus of politics and theatrics of religious fervor never go out of style - so I'll just say two things:

1. So glad I got to catch this on the big screen. It looked the best it probably ever has, and the added/extended scenes were a delight.

2. What was I thinking only giving this a 4.5 the first time around? !

Go see it big and loud while you still can!
Movies Just Right Jesse
Oct. 19, 2026 Review Two Reviews - a review of The Devils
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Count Dracula (1970)
Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht
★ 6.0 5 ratings
赫苏斯·弗朗哥 actor: Christopher Lee / 赫伯特·罗姆 …
other title: 德拉库拉之夜 / Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht …
Jess Franco's version of the Bram Stoker classic has Count Dracula as an old man who grows younger whenever he dines on the blood of young maidens.
Watched
Oct. 19, 2026
I'm probably closer to a 3.75 really, but this has a great score that accompanies some decent visuals (almost-but-not-quite-as-good as (Horror of) Dracula's). Christopher Lee once again provides a decent Drac, but I found I didn't care so much for Van Helsing here (he's no Cushing, that's for sure) and Klaus Kinski felt wasted as Renfield.

Pretty good mostly faithful adaptation!
Alone Kanopy
Oct. 19, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Count Dracula
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The Housemaid (2025)
The Housemaid
★ 5.7 127 ratings
保罗·费格 actor: 西德尼·斯维尼 / 阿曼达·塞弗里德 …
other title: 家弑服务 / 女佣 …
Millie is a struggling woman who is relieved to get a fresh start as a housemaid to Nina and Andrew, an upscale, wealthy couple. She soon learns that the family’s secrets are far more dangerous than her own.
Watched
Oct. 18, 2026
Not feeling well after getting flu/COVID shots, my wife wanted to watch something she didn't have to think about, and boy did she get it.

It's not great, but at least there's a lot of it (this is like 20 minutes too long).

One of these stars is for Amanda Seyfried alone, but if I think about this as more like the origin story for a comic book hero, then it almost sort of makes it a little bit better, so two stars.
Home Box Office Wife
Oct. 18, 2026 Review A Review - a review of The Housemaid
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Horror of Dracula (1958)
Horror of Dracula
★ 6.9 17 ratings
Terence Fisher actor: 彼得·库欣 / Peter Cushing …
other title: 恐怖德古拉 / 古堡怪客 …
After Jonathan Harker attacks Dracula at his castle, the vampire travels to a nearby city, where he preys on the family of Harker's fiancée. The only one who may be able to protect them is Dr. van Helsing, Harker's friend and fellow-student of vampires, who is determined to destroy Dracula, whatever the cost.
Watched
Oct. 18, 2026
This one's great(!), though enough liberties were taken with the basic Dracula story that I prefer the title on the movie's title card, Horror of Dracula.

The colorful visuals don't detract from the gothic setting, but instead give this a bit more of a fairy tale look that I really enjoyed. Everyone is great in their roles (shout-outs to Christopher Lee's Count, John Van Eyssen's Harker, and Peter Cushing's Van Helsing), and the visual effects (neck bites, bloodshot eyes, burning up into ash in the sun) were quite effective.

Worth watching if you can!
Got It From The Library Digital Versatile Disc Alone
Oct. 18, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Horror of Dracula
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You Can See Everything (2026)
You Can See Everything
★ 9.0 43 ratings
Nathan Fielder / Lance Oppenheim actor: Nathan Fielder / Elizabeth Holmes
other title: 你能看到一切
Thirty-four days before she's sent to prison, notorious Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move. What begins as an intimate portrait becomes a mind-bending three-year journey.
Watched
Oct. 17, 2026
Regarding Elizabeth Holmes: I read the book, listened to the podcasts, and watched the Hulu show. It was, at the time, a story I found fascinating, just the amount of deception happening. Confounding.

Regarding Nathan Fielder: I'm familiar with him in that I've seen clips of things, but I've not watched any of his shows in full. No particular reason as to why or why not, as he seems like a guy whose output I'd enjoy, I just haven't is all.

Regarding Billy Evans: There are worse people in this world that have more power than he ever will, but he's a pretty great amalgam of all of them. What an absolute fuckhead.

Regarding the doc itself: I'm honestly probably more like a 4 or 4.5 on the content - I would've liked to have heard more from Liz's dad, for instance - but there are so many layers to try and unpack here (can anyone truly know anyone? what is truth/belief/deception?), and then it goes in directions one really can't expect, so in the execution of it all it's hard not to give it the full 5.
AAA24 Wife American Multi-Cinema List
Oct. 17, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of You Can See Everything
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Renfield (2023)
Renfield
★ 6.1 82 ratings
克里斯·麦凯 actor: 尼古拉斯·霍尔特 / 尼古拉斯·凯奇 …
other title: 雷恩菲尔德 / 吸血鬼特助：雷菲爾 …
Having grown sick and tired of his centuries as Dracula's lackey, Renfield finds a new lease on life — and maybe even redemption — when he falls for feisty, perennially angry traffic cop Rebecca Quincy.
Watched
Oct. 15, 2026
I'm not usually a "voice over narration is lazy writing" type of guy, but I am here.

Having just watched Tod Browning's Dracula (1931), where Bela Lugosi is the Drac we all know and love, and which is Renfield's jumping-off point, I really dug the beginning where Nic and Nick recreate a couple of the scenes, but this device is quickly abandoned and the movie becomes a sort of crime action self-help comedy mish-mash that is only okay at all of those things.

I'm not mad that I watched it, but it could've been better (especially when Cage starts off with a pretty good Lugosi that devolves over the course of the movie to just a Cage being Cage-a-thon; I'm fine with that in short bursts, but it became a bit played out by the time things wrap up).
Peacock Alone
Oct. 15, 2026 Review A Review - a review of Renfield
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The Vampire (1932)
Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey
★ 7.1 63 ratings
卡尔·西奥多·德莱叶 actor: 朱利安·维斯特 / 莫里斯·舒茨 …
other title: 吸血鬼 / Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey …
A student of the occult encounters supernatural haunts and local evildoers in a village outside of Paris.
Watched
Oct. 15, 2026
A vampire movie mostly comprised of beautiful imagery and gothic vibes, the story is sort of an afterthought. A bit slow and sleepy, but not necessarily dull.
Alone Criterion Channel
Oct. 15, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of The Vampire
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Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma
★ 7.0 283 ratings
Pier Paolo Pasolini actor: 保罗·博纳切利 / 乔治·卡塔尔迪 …
other title: 索多玛120天 / Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma …
Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.
Watched
Oct. 14, 2026
Nothing about this film is easy. Watching it. Talking about it. Thinking about it. Writing about it. It's uncompromising. It's a struggle and that's the point.

How brave were all involved to bring such an unflinchingly atrociously powerful piece of political work to life? How harrowing it must've been and yet how horrible to know that things much worse have happened, are (terrible to think) happening, will (worse to consider) happen again.

Gut-punch cinema that feels like a necessity, but such a challenging one to endure.
Blu-Ray Jesse
Oct. 14, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom
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Dracula (1931)
Dracula
★ 7.1 44 ratings
托德·布朗宁 actor: 贝拉·卢戈西 / 尼古拉斯·贝洛 …
other title: 德古拉 / 吸血鬼 …
1931 film directed by Tod Browning
Watched
Oct. 11, 2026
There's a part of me that feels like this would've worked better as a silent movie, but then I think "Well then we wouldn't get to hear Renfield's utterly insane laughter or what would become the standard for how a Count of such renown should sound," and so I'm left feeling mixed.

Pretty to look at, though, and props to Lucy for being kinda into Drac's whole thing.
Peacock Alone
Oct. 11, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Dracula
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Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Shadow of the Vampire
E. Elias Merhige actor: 约翰·马尔科维奇 / 威廉·达福 …
other title: 뱀파이어의 그림자 / シャドウ・オブ・ヴァンパイア …
Director F.W. Murnau makes a Faustian pact with a vampire to get him to star in his 1922 film "Nosferatu."
Watched
Oct. 10, 2026
Everyone knows that Max Schreck played Count Orlok in F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu. What this movie presupposes is: Maybe he actually was Count Orlok?

I made a list of 13 Dracula/Nosferatu movies and put them in an order I thought would be fun to go through this month. I don't think I'll be able to get through all of them in the order I've prescribed for myself (I shared my idea with my wife who was quick to nope out), so I'm just watching what I can as I can instead.

Since, in the past two years, I've seen the main Nosferatus (Murnau, Herzog, Eggers), and the first two movies on my list were a rewatch of Murnau's Nossy and then a first-time watch of Shadow of the Vampire, I decided to skip the rewatch and go straight to this. I kinda loved it!

Shadow is a brisk and often funny 90 minutes that I absolutely think is worth someone's time if they think they'd be into such a thing. Seeing Murnau's Nosferatu first isn't necessarily a pre-requisite, but I think one's appreciation for Shadow would be greatly enhanced by going in that order.

Sure, Dafoe is incredible and Malkovich is good, but to me Suzy Eddie Izzard stole every scene they were in - what a joy! Udo Kier was also great.

I don't know, man...I just really clicked with it.
Alone Tubi
Oct. 10, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Shadow of the Vampire
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A Sigh from the Depths: 40 Years of Suspiria (2017)
A Sigh from the Depths: 40 Years of Suspiria IMDb
Daniel Griffith actor: Robert V. Galluzzo / Rebekah McKendry …
This documentary brings together a small assortment of genre fans and scholars to discuss the lasting legacy of "Suspiria," which everyone seems to recognize as the pinnacle of Dario Argento's career. The gang discusses story origins and influences, cinematographic achievements, the film's thematic reach and dream logic, casting issues, murder sequences, Goblin's scoring accomplishments, the oddball marketing push in America, and the picture's continued hold on viewers 40 years after its release. (Blu-ray.com)
Watched
Oct. 9, 2026
I'm made to understand that the hour-long doc on the 25th anniversary release is a more significant source of information than this half-as-long retrospective comprised of a few well-informed/educated talking heads, but having never seen that and without access to it currently, I'd say this was still relatively informative.
Alone Blu-Ray Owned
Oct. 9, 2026 Review A Review - a review of A Sigh from the Depths: 40 Years of Suspiria
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Primetime (2026)
Primetime
★ 6.6 20 ratings
Lance Oppenheim actor: Robert Pattinson / Merritt Wever …
other title: 프라임타임 / 實境誘捕 …
In 2006, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen sets out to make television history.
Watched
Oct. 5, 2026
So many seriously great (over-the-top?) performances are on display in this fantastical, fictionalized story of mostly real events, and it's also a sorta meta-commentary about the predatory nature of, perhaps, everyone and everything in "the industry" (not just the predators they were-a catching).

It won't be for everyone, especially if you're someone who's looking for something more grounded, but it was certainly for me.
American Multi-Cinema List Wife
Oct. 5, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Primetime
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Nine to Five (1980)
Nine to Five
★ 7.4 23 ratings
科林·希金斯 actor: Jane Fonda / Lily Tomlin …
other title: 朝九晚五 / 九点到五点 …
Frank Hart is a pig. He takes advantage of the women who work with him in the grossest manner. When his three assistants manage to trap him in his own house, they assume control of his department, and productivity leaps, but just how long can they keep Hart tied up?
Watched
Oct. 5, 2026
I'm pretty sure I've never seen this all the way through in one sitting and that I'd only seen parts of it randomly here and there. This movie is much sillier than I thought it was, but not always in the best of ways.

Anyway, a decent time was still had and I'm glad those gals were able to bond and, together, mostly overcome all the horrors and setbacks of their workplace.

Also, that Dolly song is undeniable.

Lastly, in this movie, someone says of someone else that they are "a wart on the nose of humanity." In Steel Magnolias (1989), someone says of someone else that they are "a boil on the butt of humanity." Odd that that sort of phrase should be in two of Dolly's films.
Wife Netflix
Oct. 5, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of Nine to Five
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November (2017)
November WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
★ 7.1 12 ratings
雷纳·萨尔奈特 actor: 蕾雅·莱斯特 / 乔根·里克 …
other title: 魔鬼时光 / 十一月 …
2017 film directed by Rainer Sarnet
Watched
Oct. 3, 2026
A stunning, folkloric fairytale of a film from Estonia that is equal parts heart-filling and heart-breaking. There's a fair amount of humor sprinkled throughout this sad tale of loves unrequited and lost, and who doesn't love a witch and a werewolf, plagues and the devil, ghosts and anthropomorphic farm tools?

I loved this movie and can't wait to watch it again, and soon.
All The Haunts Be Ours 2 Owned Alone Blu-Ray
Oct. 3, 2026 Review Initial Review - a review of November