TV Review: Elvira’s 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special, Special. Especially For You! (2021)

Original Run: September 25th, 2021
Created by: Scott D. Marcus
Directed by: Jim Kunz
Written by: Eric Kornfeld
Cast: Cassandra Peterson (as Elvira)

Shudder, 4 Episodes, 80-106 Minutes (per episode)

Review:

For Elvira’s 40th anniversary, she returned for a four episode special on Shudder.

Like the television series that first made her famous and all the other revivals of it, this features her hosting old school horror flicks.

I thought this was a perfect return to form for her and man, she hasn’t lost a step or missed a beat.

Elvira is as entertaining, hilarious and witty as ever and it’s just great seeing her in her element once again, as the woman is by far one of the greatest horror hosts of all-time and beyond that, she’s a national treasure. I mean, who the hell doesn’t love Elvira?

I also enjoyed the four films, even if some of them are far from great. But it’s these kind of movies that helped make her original show what it was and also added the right kind of fuel to her commentary.

My only negative with this special is that it should’ve been bigger. I would’ve loved a dozen or so episodes but I also know how much work goes into these things and honestly, Elvira can do whatever the hell she wants at this point. The fact that she is still game to do these things is a real treat.

Rating: 8/10

Ranking All the Movies Shown (Thus Far) on ‘The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs’ – UPDATED (After Season 3)

*Intro originally written after Season 1. Total movie count changed though.

Joe Bob Briggs is one of the most important Americans that ever walked God’s green Earth. In fact, he’s probably the greatest Texan that ever lived and that’s a huge state with a lot of history.

So when I heard that Joe Bob was coming back with a new show, I was ecstatic. But if you’re a loyal reader of Talking Pulp (and its original form: Cinespiria) then you already know this.

But it’s already been about a year and Joe Bob, thanks to the wonderful people at Shudder, has provided us with three marathons and a full season of The Last Drive-In.

Also, I have to give a special shout out to Darcy the Mail Girl, who is super fucking cool to the fans and because of this, breaks Twitter every Friday night.

With all that being said, I wanted to rank all 91 films that have been featured on The Last Drive-In (thus far).

These 91 motion pictures are ranked based off of what they were rated in their reviews here on Talking Pulp.

So without further ado, roll that beautiful scream footage!

1. Black Christmas (9.5 out of 10)
2. Phantasm (9 out of 10)
3. Hellraiser (9 out of 10)
4. The Changeling (9 out of 10)
5. Hellbound: Hellraiser II (8.75 out of 10)
6. The Exorcist III (8.75 out of 10)
7. The House of the Devil (8.75 out of 10)
8. Bride of Re-Animator (8.25 out of 10)
9. Heathers (8.25 out of 10)
10. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (8.25 out of 10)
11. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (8 out of 10)
12. Demons (8 out of 10)
13. Deep Red (8 out of 10)
14. Train to Busan (8 out of 10)
15. The Love Witch (8 out of 10)
16. Basket Case (8 out of 10)
17. Class of 1984 (7.75 out of 10)
18. Evilspeak (7.75 out of 10)
19. Brain Damage (7.75 out of 10)
20. Re-Animator (7.5 out of 10)
21. Next of Kin (7.5 out of 10)
22. Day of the Beast (7.5 out of 10)
23. Mandy (7.5 out of 10)
24. Haunt (7.5 out of 10)
25. Chopping Mall (7.5 out of 10)
26. Fried Barry (7.5 out of 10)
27. Halloween (7.25 out of 10)
28. Maniac (7.25 out of 10)
29. Dead & Buried (7.25 out of 10)
30. Society (7.25 out of 10)
31. Sleepaway Camp (7 out of 10)
32. The Stuff (7 out of 10)
33. Blood Rage (7 out of 10)
34. Pieces (7 out of 10)
35. Maniac Cop 2 (7 out of 10)
36. Rabid (7 out of 10)
37. Audition (6.75 out of 10)
38. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (6.75 out of 10)
39. Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (6.75 out of 10)
40. Silent Night, Deadly Night, Part 2 (6.75 out of 10)
41. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (6.5 out of 10)
42. Little Shop of Horrors (6.5 out of 10)
43. Tammy & the T-Rex (6.5 out of 10)
44. Dead Heat (6.5 out of 10)
45. The Prowler (6.5 out of 10)
46. Humanoids From the Deep (6.25 out of 10)
47. Wolf Guy (6.25 out of 10)
48. Q: The Winged Serpent (6.25 out of 10)
49. Maniac Cop (6 out of 10)
50. Victor Crowley (6 out of 10)
51. One Cut of the Dead (6 out of 10)
52. The House by the Cemetery (6 out of 10)
53. Bloodsucking Freaks (6 out of 10)
54. Deadly Games (6 out of 10)
55. Mother’s Day (6 out of 10)
56. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (6 out of 10)
57. WolfCop (6 out of 10)
58. Deathgasm (5.75 out of 10)
59. Christmas Evil (5.75 out of 10)
60. Sorority Babes In the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (5.75 out of 10)
61. Phantasm IV: Oblivion (5.5 out of 10)
62. Daughters of Darkness (5.5 out of 10)
63. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (5.5 out of 10)
64. Contamination (5.5 out of 10)
65. Slumber Party Massacre II (5.5 out of 10)
66. Troma’s War (5.5 out of 10)
67. Street Trash (5.25 out of 10)
68. The Hills Have Eyes (5.25 out of 10)
69. Phantasm: Ravager (5 out of 10)
70. C.H.U.D. (5 out of 10)
71. Blood Harvest (4.75 out of 10)
72. Ginger Snaps (4.5 out of 10)
73. Hell Comes to Frogtown (4.5 out of 10)
74. Spookies (4.5 out of 10)
75. The Legend of Boggy Creek (4.5 out of 10)
76. Dead or Alive (4.25 out of 10)
77. Castle Freak (4 out of 10)
78. Demon Wind (4 out of 10)
79. Mayhem (3.5 out of 10)
80. Hack-O-Lantern (3.5 out of 10)
81. Tourist Trap (3 out of 10)
82. Cannibal Holocaust (3 out of 10)
83. Scare Package (3 out of 10)
84. Blood Feast (3 out of 10)
85. Sledgehammer (2.75 out of 10)
86. Hogzilla (2.5 out of 10)
87. Deadbeat at Dawn (2.5 out of 10)
88. Jack Frost (2.25 out of 10)
89. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (2 out of 10)
90. Madman (2 out of 10)
91. Things (0 out of 10)

Film Review: PG: Psycho Goreman (2020)

Also known as: Psycho Goreman (original title)
Release Date: September 10th, 2020 (Stiges Film Festival)
Directed by: Steven Kostanski
Written by: Steven Kostanski
Music by: Blitz//Berlin
Cast: Nita-Josee Hanna, Owen Myre, Steven Vlahos, Adam Brooks, Alexis Hancey, Matthew Ninaber, Reece Presley

Dystopia Films, Raven Banner Entertainment, RLJE Films, Shudder, 95 Minutes

Review:

“The horrors you have just witnessed cannot be unseen. Your young minds will carry this until it consumes you in a miserable death.” – Psycho Goreman, “Cool.” – Mimi

With retro-styled horror and sci-fi films being all the rage lately and for having a pretty great trailer, I had to rent this as soon as I was made aware of it.

Although, it is distributed by Shudder and therefore, will probably stream on their service very soon. I wanted to give the people behind the movie my money though, as they earned it just through the trailer alone.

Anyway, I’m glad that I rented this, as it hit the right notes and was a fuck ton of fun with a good amount of ridiculous gore, slapstick-y humor and kid actors that were much better than most and carried this film.

The movie also homages a lot of great things in very subtle ways that the ’80s horror or sci-fi aficionado should pick up on while the basic normie will have no idea. Granted, this might be too much for the basic normie to handle, which kind of makes it more enjoyable.

The plot is about two siblings that awaken an alien badass in their backyard. The young girl controls the deadly alien by possessing his magic gem. With that, she prevents him from destroying the universe but also uses him as her pet and new BFF.

As the story rolls on, other aliens arrive to destroy the alien badass but eventually, he regains full power and unleashes hell. However, having discovered love through the young girl and her dysfunctional family, the alien spares them of harm. This also ends in a way where a sequel is possible, which I definitely wouldn’t mind.

I thought that the special effects were great for what they were. While there are some CGI flourishes throughout the film, the costumes and monsters are all done with practical effects and look superb. All the weird characters kind of give this movie the look of a Power Rangers episode that was produced in Hell and I certainly mean that very complimentary.

I also like that this movie breaks some of the modern tropes with showing families in entertainment. Sure, they go down the typical trope road but then subvert expectations in a good way and ultimately, the family comes together in the end, strengthening their bond and even turning the loser dad into a hero in his own way.

While this isn’t my favorite film in this style, it is one of the better ones and it’s something I would probably re-watch with some regularity.

Plus, Psycho Goreman is just an awesome character. I’m down to watch him fuck stuff up, again and again.

Rating: 7/10
Pairs well with: other films that Steven Kostanski was involved in.

Ranking All the Movies Shown (Thus Far) on ‘The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs’ – UPDATED (After Season 2)

*Intro originally written after season 1. Total movie count changed though.

Joe Bob Briggs is one of the most important Americans that ever walked God’s green Earth. In fact, he’s probably the greatest Texan that ever lived and that’s a huge state with a lot of history.

So when I heard that Joe Bob was coming back with a new show, I was ecstatic. But if you’re a loyal reader of Talking Pulp (and its original form: Cinespiria) then you already know this.

But it’s already been about a year and Joe Bob, thanks to the wonderful people at Shudder, has provided us with three marathons and a full season of The Last Drive-In.

Also, I have to give a special shout out to Darcy the Mail Girl, who is super fucking cool to the fans and because of this, breaks Twitter every Friday night.

With all that being said, I wanted to rank all 63 films that have been featured on The Last Drive-In (thus far).

These 63 motion pictures are ranked based off of what they were rated in their reviews here on Talking Pulp.

So without further ado, roll that beautiful scream footage!

*Updated on 10/26/2020 after the 2020 Halloween Special.

1. Black Christmas (9.5 out of 10)
2. Phantasm (9 out of 10)
3. Hellraiser (9 out of 10)
4. The Changeling (9 out of 10)
5. Hellbound: Hellraiser II (8.75 out of 10)
6. The Exorcist III (8.75 out of 10)
7. The House of the Devil (8.75 out of 10)
8. Heathers (8.25 out of 10)
9. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (8.25 out of 10)
10. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (8 out of 10)
11. Demons (8 out of 10)
12. Deep Red (8 out of 10)
13. Basket Case (8 out of 10)
14. Brain Damage (7.75 out of 10)
15. Re–Animator (7.5 out of 10)
16. Haunt (7.5 out of 10)
17. Chopping Mall (7.5 out of 10)
18. Halloween (7.25 out of 10)
19. Maniac (7.25 out of 10)
20. Society (7.25 out of 10)
21. Sleepaway Camp (7 out of 10)
22. The Stuff (7 out of 10)
23. Blood Rage (7 out of 10)
24. Pieces (7 out of 10)
25. Rabid (7 out of 10)
26. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (6.75 out of 10)
27. Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (6.75 out of 10)
28. Silent Night, Deadly Night, Part 2 (6.75 out of 10)
29. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (6.5 out of 10)
30. Dead Heat (6.5 out of 10)
31. The Prowler (6.5 out of 10)
32. Wolf Guy (6.25 out of 10)
33. Q: The Winged Serpent (6.25 out of 10)
34. Victor Crowley (6 out of 10)
35. One Cut of the Dead (6 out of 10)
36. Bloodsucking Freaks (6 out of 10)
37. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (6 out of 10)
38. WolfCop (6 out of 10)
39. Deathgasm (5.75 out of 10)
40. Sorority Babes In the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (5.75 out of 10)
41. Phantasm IV: Oblivion (5.5 out of 10)
42. Daughters of Darkness (5.5 out of 10)
43. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (5.5 out of 10)
44. Contamination (5.5 out of 10)
45. Slumber Party Massacre II (5.5 out of 10)
46. Troma’s War (5.5 out of 10)
47. Street Trash (5.25 out of 10)
48. The Hills Have Eyes (5.25 out of 10)
49. Phantasm: Ravager (5 out of 10)
50. C.H.U.D. (5 out of 10)
51. Blood Harvest (4.75 out of 10)
52. Hell Comes to Frogtown (4.5 out of 10)
53. The Legend of Boggy Creek (4.5 out of 10)
54. Dead or Alive (4.25 out of 10)
55. Castle Freak (4 out of 10)
56. Demon Wind (4 out of 10)
57. Mayhem (3.5 out of 10)
58. Hack-O-Lantern (3.5 out of 10)
59. Tourist Trap (3 out of 10)
60. Cannibal Holocaust (3 out of 10)
61. Scare Package (3 out of 10)
62. Blood Feast (3 out of 10)
63. Hogzilla (2.5 out of 10)
64. Deadbeat at Dawn (2.5 out of 10)
65. Jack Frost (2.25 out of 10)
66. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (2 out of 10)
67. Madman (2 out of 10)

Ranking All the Movies Shown (Thus Far) on ‘The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs’ – UPDATED (After Season 2 & Its Specials)

*Intro originally written after season 1. Total movie count changed though.

Joe Bob Briggs is one of the most important Americans that ever walked God’s green Earth. In fact, he’s probably the greatest Texan that ever lived and that’s a huge state with a lot of history.

So when I heard that Joe Bob was coming back with a new show, I was ecstatic. But if you’re a loyal reader of Talking Pulp (and its original form: Cinespiria) then you already know this.

But it’s already been about a year and Joe Bob, thanks to the wonderful people at Shudder, has provided us with three marathons and a full season of The Last Drive-In.

Also, I have to give a special shout out to Darcy the Mail Girl, who is super fucking cool to the fans and because of this, breaks Twitter every Friday night.

With all that being said, I wanted to rank all 63 films that have been featured on The Last Drive-In (thus far).

These 63 motion pictures are ranked based off of what they were rated in their reviews here on Talking Pulp.

So without further ado, roll that beautiful scream footage!

*Updated on 10/26/2020 after the 2020 Halloween Special.

*Updated again on 12/12/2020 after the 2020 Christmas Special.

*Updated a third time on 2/15/2021 after the 2021 Valentine’s Special.

1. Black Christmas (9.5 out of 10)
2. Phantasm (9 out of 10)
3. Hellraiser (9 out of 10)
4. The Changeling (9 out of 10)
5. Hellbound: Hellraiser II (8.75 out of 10)
6. The Exorcist III (8.75 out of 10)
7. The House of the Devil (8.75 out of 10)
8. Heathers (8.25 out of 10)
9. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (8.25 out of 10)
10. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (8 out of 10)
11. Demons (8 out of 10)
12. Deep Red (8 out of 10)
13. The Love Witch (8 out of 10)
14. Basket Case (8 out of 10)
15. Brain Damage (7.75 out of 10)
16. Re–Animator (7.5 out of 10)
17. Haunt (7.5 out of 10)
18. Chopping Mall (7.5 out of 10)
19. Halloween (7.25 out of 10)
20. Maniac (7.25 out of 10)
21. Society (7.25 out of 10)
22. Sleepaway Camp (7 out of 10)
23. The Stuff (7 out of 10)
24. Blood Rage (7 out of 10)
25. Pieces (7 out of 10)
26. Rabid (7 out of 10)
27. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (6.75 out of 10)
28. Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (6.75 out of 10)
29. Silent Night, Deadly Night, Part 2 (6.75 out of 10)
30. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (6.5 out of 10)
31. Tammy & the T-Rex (6.5 out of 10)
32. Dead Heat (6.5 out of 10)
33. The Prowler (6.5 out of 10)
34. Wolf Guy (6.25 out of 10)
35. Q: The Winged Serpent (6.25 out of 10)
36. Victor Crowley (6 out of 10)
37. One Cut of the Dead (6 out of 10)
38. Bloodsucking Freaks (6 out of 10)
39. Deadly Games (6 out of 10)
40. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (6 out of 10)
41. WolfCop (6 out of 10)
42. Deathgasm (5.75 out of 10)
43. Christmas Evil (5.75 out of 10)
44. Sorority Babes In the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (5.75 out of 10)
45. Phantasm IV: Oblivion (5.5 out of 10)
46. Daughters of Darkness (5.5 out of 10)
47. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (5.5 out of 10)
48. Contamination (5.5 out of 10)
49. Slumber Party Massacre II (5.5 out of 10)
50. Troma’s War (5.5 out of 10)
51. Street Trash (5.25 out of 10)
52. The Hills Have Eyes (5.25 out of 10)
53. Phantasm: Ravager (5 out of 10)
54. C.H.U.D. (5 out of 10)
55. Blood Harvest (4.75 out of 10)
56. Hell Comes to Frogtown (4.5 out of 10)
57. The Legend of Boggy Creek (4.5 out of 10)
58. Dead or Alive (4.25 out of 10)
59. Castle Freak (4 out of 10)
60. Demon Wind (4 out of 10)
61. Mayhem (3.5 out of 10)
62. Hack-O-Lantern (3.5 out of 10)
63. Tourist Trap (3 out of 10)
64. Cannibal Holocaust (3 out of 10)
65. Scare Package (3 out of 10)
66. Blood Feast (3 out of 10)
67. Hogzilla (2.5 out of 10)
68. Deadbeat at Dawn (2.5 out of 10)
69. Jack Frost (2.25 out of 10)
70. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (2 out of 10)
71. Madman (2 out of 10)

TV Review: Creepshow (2019- )

Original Run: September 26th, 2019 – current
Created by: Greg Nicotero
Directed by: various
Written by: various
Based on: Creepshow by Stephen King, George A. Romero
Music by: various
Cast: various

Cartel Pictures, Monster Agency Productions, Striker Entertainment, Shudder, 6 Episodes (so far), 45 Minutes (per episode)

Review:

I’m a few months late to the party but I finally got around to watching the Creepshow television revival on Shudder. And now that I have, it’s just one more great reason to subscribe to Shudder, which has a much lower price than the average streaming service.

Schilling aside, I swear I’m not a Shudder employee, I’m just a happy customer, the show is pretty much what I expected in that most of it is pretty enjoyable but the quality varies from story to story.

I’ve stated before that I’m not a big anthology fan and the main reason for that is because of consistency. Horror anthologies, especially, seem to be like a pendulum swinging back and forth from good to bad within the same film.

While this show isn’t that different, most of what’s here is engaging and the few tales that I didn’t like weren’t terribly bad. Plus, each 45ish minute episode contains two different stories. So even if you aren’t feeling something, it’s not going to take up too much of your time.

I think the only one I really didn’t like was the fat loss leeches one, which was surprising to me as I’m a fan of Paul Dini’s writing, mainly because of Batman: The Animated Series and his run on Detective Comics, and I’ve always liked Dana Gould.

Other than that, there was something about each episode that lured me in. I think some of my favorites were the first tale, which was written by Stephen King, then the ghost head one, the suitcase one and Nessie one. Maybe I’ll do a list where I rank the segments soon.

Anyway, this was a good show that holds onto the spirit of the films. And in a similar vein as those movies, it also feels like it’s channeling the anthology horror comics of old. I felt like I was watching EC Comics come to life.

Rating: 7.5/10
Pairs well with: the Creepshow movies, as well as other horror anthology TV shows and movies.

Ranking All the Movies Shown (Thus Far) on ‘The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs’

Joe Bob Briggs is one of the most important Americans that ever walked God’s green Earth. In fact, he’s probably the greatest Texan that ever lived and that’s a huge state with a lot of history.

So when I heard that Joe Bob was coming back with a new show, I was ecstatic. But if you’re a loyal reader of Talking Pulp (and its original form: Cinespiria) then you already know this.

But it’s already been about a year and Joe Bob, thanks to the wonderful people at Shudder, has provided us with three marathons and a full season of The Last Drive-In.

Also, I have to give a special shout out to Darcy the Mail Girl, who is super fucking cool to the fans and because of this, breaks Twitter every Friday night.

With all that being said, I wanted to rank all 39 films that have been featured on The Last Drive-In (thus far).

These 39 motion pictures are ranked based off of what they were rated in their reviews here on Talking Pulp.

So without further ado, roll that beautiful scream footage!

1. Phantasm (9 out of 10)
2. Hellraiser (9 out of 10)
3. The Changeling (9 out of 10)
4. The House of the Devil (8.75 out of 10)
5. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (8.25 out of 10)
6. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (8 out of 10)
7. Demons (8 out of 10)
8. Basket Case (8 out of 10)
9. Re–Animator (7.5 out of 10)
10. Society (7.25 out of 10)
11. Sleepaway Camp (7 out of 10)
12. The Stuff (7 out of 10)
13. Blood Rage (7 out of 10)
14. Pieces (7 out of 10)
15. Rabid (7 out of 10)
16. Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (6.75 out of 10)
17. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (6.5 out of 10)
18. The Prowler (6.5 out of 10)
19. Wolf Guy (6.25 out of 10)
20. Q: The Winged Serpent (6.25 out of 10)
21. WolfCop (6 out of 10)
22. Deathgasm (5.75 out of 10)
23. Sorority Babes In the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (5.75 out of 10)
24. Phantasm IV: Oblivion (5.5 out of 10)
25. Daughters of Darkness (5.5 out of 10)
26. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (5.5 out of 10)
27. Contamination (5.5 out of 10)
28. Street Trash (5.25 out of 10)
29. The Hills Have Eyes (5.25 out of 10)
30. Phantasm: Ravager (5 out of 10)
31. C.H.U.D. (5 out of 10)
32. Blood Harvest (4.75 out of 10)
33. The Legend of Boggy Creek (4.5 out of 10)
34. Dead or Alive (4.25 out of 10)
35. Castle Freak (4 out of 10)
36. Demon Wind (4 out of 10)
37. Tourist Trap (3 out of 10)
38. Blood Feast (3 out of 10)
39. Madman (2 out of 10)

Vids I Dig 025: Cinemassacre: Joe Bob Briggs Answers Twitter Questions

James Rolfe of Cinemassacre and Angry Video Game Nerd fame interviews the greatest Texan of all-time: Joe Bob Briggs.

Vids I Dig 021: Cinemassacre: Joe Bob Briggs Interview

James Rolfe of Cinemassacre and Angry Video Game Nerd fame interviews the greatest Texan of all-time: Joe Bob Briggs.

TV Review: Critters: A New Binge (2019)

Original Run: March 21st, 2019 – current
Created by: Al Kaplan, Jon Kaplan, Jordan Rubin
Directed by: Jordan Rubin
Written by: Al Kaplan, Jon Kaplan, Jordan Rubin
Based on: Critters by Stephen Herek, Domonic Muir, Don Keith Opper
Music by: Al Kaplan, Jon Kaplan
Cast: Joey Morgan, Stephi Chin-Salvo, Bzhaun Rhoden, Kirsten Robek, Christian Sloan, Gilbert Gottfried, Stephen Merchant (voice)

Abominable Pictures, Blue Ribbon Content, Shudder, 8 Episodes (so far), 8-11 Minutes (per episode)

Review:

I owned all of the Critters movies on VHS. Even though the third and fourth installments to the series were pretty terrible, the films have always amused me. So obviously, I was pretty excited to check this out, even though I didn’t know of its existence until about a month ago.

Sadly, this also isn’t great. It’s not too terrible but it misses the mark quite a bit and I don’t think that Critters has a mark that should be that hard to hit. Just have carnivorous aliens tear through human meat, toss in a bit of humor and let it roll.

The real problem is that this was so low budget that it felt like a fan film and if I’m being honest, I’ve seen fan films do much more with even less money. Also, the Crites looked too big and the animatronics weren’t as good as the films made 20-30 years ago.

Also, why was this a TV show and not just a movie? I was excited, thinking that we’d get 10-13 half hour episodes but what we got were 8 episodes that clock in between 8 to 11 minutes with 2 of those minutes being credits at the end. If you add up the running time of this show, it has less minutes than any of the four previous films. Even though I already subscribe to Shudder, I felt cheated.

This show is batshit crazy and while I like that the Crites get to say more thanks to the magic of subtitles, the humor is absurdist to the point of being almost unsalvageable. Some of the gags were a bit funny but a lot of it came off as cringe. The big plot twist involving the fat kid’s insatiable appetite was so far out of left field that it pulled me out of the show, made me audibly moan and then I just felt like I had to power through the last few episodes just to wrap it up and move on.

I was surprised to see Gilbert Gottfried in this and he was probably the most enjoyable thing in the series but they kill him off rather quickly and if Gilbert Gottfried is your secret weapon, you need to go back to Bass Pro and buy a better one.

I don’t hate this but I didn’t really enjoy it and about halfway through, it felt like a chore to finish, despite how short it was.

Will I watch a second season? I don’t know. Ask me in a year if one actually gets made.

Rating: 4.5/10
Pairs well with: the Critters movies, as well as anything featuring Gremlins, Ghoulies or Munchies.