The Stepfather (1987)

The Stepfather is a 1987 horror film that spawned two fairly campy sequels and one remake; it was Stepfather II that first introduced me to the franchise. At the time, covertly watching late-night cable at a friend’s house, I was just a young sprog with little...
TV Time! “Tennison” (2017)

TV Time! “Tennison” (2017)

“Are you watching ‘Prime Suspect’?” my partner calls into the living room as he prepares dinner. “No.” I tell him. Then, “… but ‘Prime Suspect’ is the spiritual antecedent.” In this case, I was speaking...
The Big Clock (1948)

The Big Clock (1948)

In this underrated crime thriller Ray Milland plays George Stroud, a hardworking magazine editor who after seven hard years laboring under media mogul Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton) is starting to feel a bit resentful. The night before his vacation with his...
Manhunter (1986)

Manhunter (1986)

I can’t imagine how special Manhunter must have been to first-time filmgoers back when it came out. It is a creepy, tense, sparse crime drama that relies on our imaginations, rather than explicit gore scenes. I first saw the film about fifteen years later, and I...
Across 110th Street (1972)

Across 110th Street (1972)

I remember reading on the now-defunct website for the excellent action comedy Black Dynamite (2009) that there are something like six hundred films categorized as Blaxploitation. The genre – notable for its violence (particularly against and between black men),...