Comrade Courant Culture Critic

The Blair Witch Project (1999): A Found-Footage Landmark That Changed Horror Forever “What happened to them is real.” — And for a while, we all believed it. — 3/5 Stars In the summer of 1999, a marketing campaign unlike any before it began seeping into the cultural bloodstream. Posters appeared in record stores and video rental shops showing a grainy black-and-white photo of three missing students, their names printed beneath like a police bulletin. A cryptic trailer—aired without context on late-night TV—presented shaky footage of screams in the dark, sticks snapping in the trees, and a voice whispering, “I’m so scared.” And then there was the website: www.blairwitch.com . Now preserved only in the Internet Archive , the original site listed Heather, Mike, and Josh as missing persons, complete with police reports and “recovered” video tapes. There was no mention of actors. No studio...

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988): Not “So Bad It’s Good”—Just Brilliantly Good "A masterclass in practical effects, satirical worldbuilding, and committed absurdity—disguised as a B-movie." — 4/5 Stars Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) review: Let’s be clear—this is not “so bad it’s good.” It’s simply good . Brilliantly, joyfully, inventively good. Directed by Stephen Chiodo and brought to life by the Chiodo Brothers’ legendary practical effects team, this cult classic isn’t a joke. It’s a fully realized, satirical sci-fi horror that treats its absurd premise with total sincerity—and in doing so, achieves something rare: a film that’s both hilarious and genuinely unsettling. The premise is deceptively simple: evil extraterrestrials who look like circus clowns descend upon a sleepy American town, using cotton candy cocoons, balloon animals, and popcorn guns to harvest humans for foo...