In the social media age, ironic Christmas movies are losing their jingle almost as quickly as we can meme them into existence. Die Hard is old hat. Batman Returns is a snore. Eyes Wide Shut remains too topical. […]
Category: Articles
SPOOKY STREAMING WRAP UP
Another Halloween came and rotted, and streaming services continued to be the home of the most horror movie premieres. Grumpire has been unscientifically tracking this trend for a few years, and 2024 was no different. […]
A Canadian Giallo? A Case for ‘EVIL JUDGMENT’
The Italians know how to kill people in imaginative ways. Of course, I’m referring to their rich horror film history that started with I Vampiri, Italy’s first horror film, in 1957, directed by Riccardo Freda; […]
LET JASON BUILD A HOUSE AGAIN
Looming slow as molasses, A24’s Friday The 13th prequel series Crystal Lake is as cursed as the entire franchise has been, with the most recent news being the loss of their showrunner. This is on […]
HIP-HOP DAY 2024
Our second annual celebration of Hip-Hop Day comes just as a building block of hip-hop culture is globally recognized in the 2024 Paris Olympics! Very cool to see breaking added as an Olympic sport this […]
The Dork Universe: On recent trends in non-sequitur horror
It is no revelation that the reputation of Horror has vastly improved in the past decade’s time. It wouldn’t even be a stretch to say it is fully redeemed and in a new golden era. […]
The Architect of the Post-Modern Haunted House Story: Richard Matheson and The Legend of Hell House
Another Halloween is upon us and I’m very happy to focus on ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and other supernatural phenomena that can only be found in works of fiction (I do not believe in such phenomena […]
BIMBO BRUTALE: WHY 2000-2009 IS THE GOLDEN AGE OF FEMALE-LED ACTION/HORROR MOVIES
“And it’s stupid when they say, ‘You only use your body. You are an object of men.’ No, I’m the subject. I’m not an object.” – Sabrina Salerno, Italian singer and showgirl, 1988 A hard-bodied […]
BECAUSE THE SOUL IS PROGRESSIVE, IT NEVER QUITE REPEATS ITSELF: ON THE SO-CALLED CLONES OF ‘SCREAM’
What if God fell into the darkness of Hell? Into the prison He had made for His own enemies, for those diametrically opposite of Him… into a realm so far from the beauty of Heaven, […]
If the Abyss Stares Into a Camera, the Camera Stares Back: On Found Footage Horror and Structural Film
An analog video camera is mounted to an oscillating standing fan and left unattended to capture whatever may come across its path. Rotating at its own steady rate between the voluminous kitchen and living room […]
HIP HOP DAY THE GRUMPY WAY
We heard August 11, 2023, is the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop as we know it, so what better time to celebrate some of our favorite hip-hop films? Read on, player. FROM SPENCER SEAMS: HOW HIGH […]
MAY 27, 1970: GODFREY CAMBRIDGE DROPS A NEW BLACK HOLLYWOOD LEGACY
Godfrey MacArthur Cambridge’s star shone very brightly in the 1960s and 1970s; in a short time, he did it all – comedy, theatre, film, civil rights activism, and more. On May 27, 1970, audiences packed […]
EVERYONE WHO LIVES HERE IS LOST: A CHAT WITH JAMES DUVAL ABOUT ‘NOWHERE’
Looking back at the Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy has been a real treat for me. While The Doom Generation is the only one of the three films I saw back around the time it was released, […]
CHRISTMAS IS GOING TO THE DOGS
Earlier this week we published a piece examining the celluloid representation of the Christmas Spirit in relation to Charles Dickens’ seminal novella A Christmas Carol. The author noted that dogs often epitomize the Spirit of […]
Mad Tidings of great despair
The Christmas tradition is one of hope and cheer, a time for us all to come together in the spirit of peace and love and forget about our troubles in the name of fellowship and […]