Ghoulish Grin Films

 There's something to be said about a good vigilante film. Whether it's seeing a show like "Daredevil Reborn" or past classics like "Taken," and even newer fare like the fantastic "A Working Man," revenge films give you that satisfaction that you may not get when we live in a world where it feels like the bad guys are getting away with it, whether its small potatoes or up at the very top. At least you can get some contentment seeing it on the big screen.  So when I saw the trailer for "The Amateur," I was in immediately. Especially when you have top talent in it like Academy Award winner Rami Malek and other superb actors like Laurence Fishburne and Caitroina Balfe. I knew that if at the very least it didn't deliver that at least they honestly tried. The film is based on a CIA cryptographer Charlie Heller whose wife Sara is tragically killed in an overseas visit. With his exceptional skills as a cryptographer Charlie is able to quickl...

 One thing that I wanted to experience as a kind of bucket list item was to see a silent film accompanied by live music. I'm a fan of the silent film era and I knew there were productions that performed scores to silent films. It was something that if I had the opportunity to see, I would do my absolute best to try and catch it. And a pleasant surprise reared its head. I had decided with all of the streaming and slow theatrical film release season dragging along, I wanted something different. So I headed to my local performing arts center to watch a few classical concerts performed by the young college talent. And as I was enjoying the concert I had noticed the upcoming performances coming to the performing arts center. And one of those performances was "Right In The Eye: Live Movie-Concert of Georges Melies Films." What a pleasant discovery! And as I had declared previously...I would without fail make an effort to see this project.  So arriving to this show I was immedia...

 Having youngsters in my life, I was well aware of Minecraft. But it wasn't a property that I was very familiar with. I'm a few generations removed...I grew up with Star Wars, Masters Of The Universe, Transformers, G.I. Joe...you know the deal. I wasn't even that familiar with the Dragonball and Pokemon era, but I had tried to grasped the storylines and characters. Sometimes to the point of feeling like a boomer (we Gen Xers are ultimately going to take that title)! So when I saw the trailer for "A Minecraft Movie" last year, I was on the fence. It was definitely for Minecraft kids. And I may have been a bit too old for that IP. Even Minecraft fans didn't know how to take the trailer, as it wasn't an overwhelming great trailer like other big tent properties.  It wasn't until my nephew raved over the film and recommended that I go see it that I finally relented. I am, after all, a fan of unique and fantastical worlds...whether it's the Magical Land ...

 The new Paramount Pictures action comedy "Novocaine" tells the story of a man named Nathan Caine (played by Jack Quaid), who had multiple medical conditions which give him the ability to not feel pain. At least physically. Working as a bank employee, he feels the emptiness of years of bullying and self consciousness of his condition. In comes a new employee, Sherry (played by Amber Midthunder), and as they both seem to connect, he takes a chance with her. And to his surprise, the two hit it off.  He is over the moon, feeling a new sense of meaning to his life. Then, like clockwork, his bank is robbed by a vicious gang of robbers and proceed to take Sherry as a hostage. Feeling the one thing that's making his future seem bright being taken away from him, and knowing the cops will most likely not get to her in time, he decides to take matters into his own hands. And with his ability to not feel pain, the action that follows is bloody violent and hilarious at the same time....

1922 saw the release of the German expressionist masterpiece "Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror." Directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, the film is a timeless piece of terror, ushering in the start of horror as a genre.  1979 saw this film remade by Werner Herzog and played by the controversial yet brilliant performer Klaus Kinski as Count Orlok in the equally brilliant "Nosferatu the Vampyre." Both films give sumptuous visuals married with eerie atmosphere. And with both closely following the story of "Dracula" by Bram Stoker, the films cement the immortal legacy of this vampire story. So it's not an exaggeration to say that following these two masterworks is a daunting task. And what filmmaker would be so bold as to even attempt it? Why, non other than Robert Eggers of "The Witch" fame. Judging by that modern horror classic, he would be a perfect candidate for recreating the mystical visuals of the previous "N...

  The Cat And The Canary: Ghoulish Edition The 1927 silent horror film "The Cat And The Canary" has been released on Amazon Instant Video by Ghoulish Grin Films, complete with a new modern soundtrack! Enjoy this silent classic in a new way, and enjoy other classics featured on the Ghoulish Grin Films Amazon page, including the Lon Chaney Ghoulish Trilogy! Thank you as always for watching! Also available (free to stream) is the E.P. soundtrack. Composed by SOLIS and distributed by Ghoulish Grin Music, it's a sample of the dark and ambient music that accompanies this film. Cat And Canary E.P.   

"Conclave" is a mystery thriller based on the 2016 Robert Harris book of the same name. Starring Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini, the film focuses on the most powerful group of the Catholic Church cardinals as they mourn their recently deceased pope and prepare to vote for a new one. As they continue to vote and debate the merits of the nominees, many twists and turns present bumps in the road. And that last twist...well, it's a doozy. Being a registered independent, this film firmly leans in the progressive side of things, though corruption seeps into all sides. It is a fight for those in the middle to choose which way the church will continue into the future. Whether it should go back to reading Latin and become so conservative that they choose not to accept other religions or liberal points of view, or whether to continue to go in a more progressive way and deal with the world as it changes. As I watched this film I couldn't help...