Daniel Kurland – All Things Ick

‘Treehouse of Horror XXXV’ Spoofs ‘Venom’ and ‘Pacific Rim’ in Mixed Bag Halloween Special [Review]

October 31, 2024 Daniel Kurland Fall Of The House Of Usher, halloween special, Pacific Rim, Reviews, The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror, Treehouse of Horror XXXV, TV, Venom

The Simpsons’ annual “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween specials were a seasonal highlight and a strong opportunity for the animated series to truly let loose and explore radical riffs on celebrated horror touchstones like The Shining, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and even classic genre archetypes like King Kong and The Twilight Zone. It’s appreciated that […]

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‘Grotesquerie’ Finale Proves That the Last Piece Is Never as Fun as the First [Review]

October 31, 2024 Daniel Kurland American Horror Story, FX, Grotesquerie, Joe Baken, Jon Robin Baitz, Niecy Nash-Betts, Reviews, Ryan Murphy, TV

Ryan Murphy, Jon Robin Baitz, and Joe Baken’s Grotesquerie started in a rather unassuming fashion, but it was clear that a palpable darkness was brewing under the surface of its characters and setting, like a gaping chasm to Hell that could swallow the world at any moment. There’s been an emphasis on order ruling over […]

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‘Psychonaut’ Journeys to the Darkest Recesses of the Mind But Gets Lost On the Way Out [Review]

October 28, 2024 Daniel Kurland BHFF, BHFF 24, Brooklyn Horror, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Fiona Dourif, Julia Batelaan, Movies, Psychonaut, Reviews, Thijs Meuwese

Psychonaut begins with a concise definition of its titular concept — a person who explores altered states of consciousness within the human mindscape — only to infinitely double-down on the idea’s most terrifying consequences. Yes, a psychonaut explores altered consciousness, but they’re also subjected to the many dangerous and destructive impulses that flood the human […]

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‘Gazer’ Is Nihilistic Neo-Noir That Runs Cold [Review]

October 25, 2024 Daniel Kurland Ariella Mastroianni, BHFF, BHFF 24, Brooklyn Horror, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Gazer, Movies, neo-noir, Reviews, Ryan J. Sloan

Gazer, at its core, is a film about voyeurism and humanity’s innate compulsion to not just want to be voyeurs, but to understand and make sense of the people who are being spied on. People, by nature, have an urge to act as a storyteller and connect disparate ideas, even if they don’t naturally go […]

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‘Grafted’ Feels Like ‘The Substance’ Meets Takashi Miike [Review]

October 23, 2024 Daniel Kurland BHFF, BHFF 24, body horror, Brooklyn Horror, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Grafted, Joyena Sun, Movies, New Zealand, Reviews, Sasha Rainbow

It’s incredibly human to want to be seen and accepted, warts and all. It’s a deeply vulnerable experience and territory that can be ripe for horror as characters reach troubling breaking points in order to become popular and stop feeling like an outcast. People will do whatever it takes to fit in, even if that […]

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‘Jimmy and Stiggs’ Is a Neon-Soaked, Cocaine-Fueled Alien Assault [Review]

October 22, 2024 Daniel Kurland Alien, BHFF, BHFF 24, Brooklyn Horror, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Jimmy & Stiggs, Joe Begos, Matt Mercer, Movies, Reviews

2020’s COVID-19 pandemic was a weird, isolating time, particularly for filmmakers and natural storytellers. Joe Begos’ Jimmy and Stiggs isn’t about the pandemic or even set during that period, but it’s a movie that was born out of this event and is very much in conversation with this challenging, reflective, isolating time. And it’s DIY […]

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‘Sayara’ Is Harrowing Revenge Horror That’s Ruthless & Relentless [Review]

October 21, 2024 Daniel Kurland BHFF, BHFF 24, Brooklyn Horror, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Can Evrenol, Duygu Kocabiyik, Movies, Reviews, Sayara

Revenge stories are one of horror’s most popular sub-genres that range from arthouse endeavors, to gritty grindhouse fare, to pulpy “torture porn” and everything in between. Turkish filmmaker Can Evrenol, who previously struck gold with the surreal and suffocating Baskin and Housewife, tries his hand in this territory and strikes a rich vein that bleeds […]

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‘Animale’ Is Bold, Gender-Driven Body Horror That Takes the Bull by the Horns [Review]

October 21, 2024 Daniel Kurland Animale, BHFF, BHFF 24, body horror, Brooklyn Horror, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Emma Benestan, Movies, Oulaya Amamra, Reviews

There’s been an exciting influx of female transformation horror films in recent years, such as The First Omen, Smile 2, The Substance, and Titane. All these movies depict harrowing rebirths, but there are also often transferences of power that allow these characters to penetrate worlds that would otherwise be impossible for them. Animale gets to […]

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‘American Horror Stories’ Season 3 Ups Its Game & Becomes the Perfect Halloween Treat [Review]

October 16, 2024 Daniel Kurland American Horror Stories, American Horror Story, anthology horror, Hulu, Huluween, Joe Baken, Reviews, Ryan Murphy, TV

‘American Horror Stories’ delivers five uniquely alarming tales of terror that tackle liminal spaces, clones, Leprechauns, and more. “You know, we invented hell.” There was a lot of promise in American Horror Stories — an episodic anthology horror series — when it was first announced as a companion piece to American Horror Story proper. American […]

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‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Goes Out On a Hilarious High Note With the Final Season [Review]

October 15, 2024 Daniel Kurland FX, Harvey Guillen, Mark Proksch, Matt Berry, Reviews, TV, Vampires, What We Do in the Shadows

“What is our current dark purpose?” Each What We Do in the Shadows season has been interested in the unique growing pains experienced by Staten Island’s favorite misanthropic vampires, but there’s a sense of catharsis and closure in the series’ sixth and final season. It’d be very easy for What We Do in the Shadows […]

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‘Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft’ Blasts Through Mysticism, Monsters & Mayhem [Review]

October 10, 2024 Daniel Kurland Animation, lara croft, Netflix, Powerhouse Animation, Reviews, tomb raider, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, TV, Video Games

Netflix’s animated Tomb Raider series captures the essence of the popular gaming franchise and delivers an action-packed adventure that’s ripe with mysticism and monsters. Netflix has made a big splash as a streaming service that caused major waves in the television and film industry. One area in which Netflix particularly excels is that they’ve become […]

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‘Hellboy: The Crooked Man’ Is a Cursed Hex That Further Damns the Franchise [Review]

October 8, 2024 Daniel Kurland Brian Taylor, Hellboy, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, Mike Mignola, Movies, Reviews

Despite an evocative atmosphere and a rewarding embrace of folk horror, Brian Taylor’s take on the big, red paranormal detective feels creatively lost in limbo. Hellboy is a promising property that’s periodically stumbled with its live-action adaptations. There’s such a rich world to pull from here that brilliantly mashes together Lovecraftian horror, pulp detective fiction, […]

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‘Shock Induction’ – Meta Mind Control Manifesto Is Chuck Palahniuk’s Strongest Work in Years [Review]

October 7, 2024 Daniel Kurland Books, Chuck Palahniuk, Novels, Palahniuk, Reviews, Shock Induction

Chuck Palahniuk’s latest novel is an experimental and subversive coming of age satire that skewers an increasingly commodified society through hallucinogenic hubris. “Clarity is paramount. Even when the goal is to create confusion.” Chuck Palahniuk is one of this generation’s most explosive and subversive storytellers, but there have been increasingly diminishing returns for his more […]

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‘Solar Opposites: The Hunt for Brown October’ Creatively Combines Two Holiday Classics [Review]

October 7, 2024 Daniel Kurland Great Pumpkin, Halloween, halloween special, Hulu, Reviews, Solar Opposites, TV

‘Solar Opposites’ returns for a transformative Halloween special that gets to the crux of the spooky season by riffing on a Christmas classic. “Stop celebrating Halloween? Oh no, my pretty. I think you’ll find that you ARE Halloween.” Halloween specials have become a long and storied tradition in television and they’re a great opportunity for […]

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‘Reality+’ – ‘The Substance’ Director Already Made the Perfect Body Horror Companion Piece

September 26, 2024 Daniel Kurland body horror, Coralie Fargeat, Editorials, Movies, reality, Revenge, Tales From the Crypt, The Substance

Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’ is a body horror masterpiece that’s as smart as it is gross, but the film’s exploration of vanity, desperation, and the male gaze have coursed through her entire filmography. “Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect.” This article contains spoilers for The Substance. […]

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