Comrade Courant Culture Critic

  'The Monkey': A Delightfully Twisted Take on Stephen King’s Cursed Toy "Osgood Perkins delivers a darkly comic, surprisingly heartfelt horror that defies expectations—and makes a killer toy feel fresh again." — 4/5 Stars For fans of Stephen King’s stranger tales and those who appreciate horror with a wicked sense of humor, The Monkey is a rare adaptation that not only honors its source but elevates it. I went into The Monkey with cautious curiosity—after all, how do you turn a wind-up toy that claps cymbals into a credible engine of terror? Yet Osgood Perkins pulls off the near-impossible: a horror film that masterfully blends pitch-black comedy with genuinely gruesome set pieces, all anchored by emotional depth and razor-sharp direction. Far from a gimmick, this cursed monkey becomes the beating (and clapping) heart of one of the most inventive King adaptations in year...

  'Borgman': A Sinister Masterpiece That Deserves Wider Recognition "Dutch auteur Alex van Warmerdam crafts a haunting surrealist thriller that's been criminally overlooked" — 5/5 Stars "And they descended upon the Earth to strengthen their ranks." Borgman (2013) review: As it opens we are met with those eerie biblical words (in Dutch), and van Warmerdam pulls us into a world of equally eerie images. We see a hunting party, looking like they've stepped out of another century, moving through the woods. They're armed with spears, accompanied by a barking dog, and one of them—a priest, no less—carries a shotgun. It's immediately clear they're hunting something wicked, and that this thing lives underground. It's a fever dream beginning that immediately signals we're not in familiar territory—and it's only the tip of the iceberg in what stands as one ...