The Blu Spot

The Film: In the early 2000s, Asian horror was seemingly dominated by Japan, who gave us such popular works as "Ju-On: The Grudge," "Pulse," "Dark Water," and more, but that hardly stopped others from getting in on the horror craze, including South Korea and Hong Kong. In fact, it's from the latter of these that we received an intriguing entry in the genre also considered by many to be a classic called "The Eye," written and directed by The Pang Brothers (Danny Pang Phat and

The Film: Once again we return to the seemingly-never-ending collection of films based on the work of prolific writer Stephen King, this time for what is perhaps one of the most well-known adaptations of one of his books. "Salem's Lot," based on the 1975 novel, was turned into a two-part miniseries by director Tobe Hooper ("The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," "Poltergeist") that first aired on CBS in 1979, with later releases including a shortened theatrical version for audiences

The Film: When it came to action stars of the 1980s, one of the very biggest around was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who gave us multiple classics of the genre like "The Terminator," "Predator," "Commando," and "The Running Man." However, one of his '80s works that no one ever seems to bring up in discussions of his incredible career is a little "Sword & Sandals" actioner called "Red Sonja," a project that has a somewhat intriguing history, at least as far as its biggest star was c

The Film: There have been many films over the years that have delved into Arthurian legend, including the animated "The Sword in the Stone," the musical "Camelot," the dramatic romance "First Knight," and the greatest of them all, the wildly-goofy "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." However, one of the most well-known of these came in 1981, where director/co-writer John Boorman attempted to give us a gritty, realistic take on the classic material with "Excalibur." Reviews were

The Film: Beloved author Michael Crichton gave us many novels throughout his illustrious career that have become classics to readers around the world, including "Sphere," "Congo," and perhaps most famously, "Jurassic Park" and its sequel "The Lost World." However, well before he took us to his dinosaur park, he also began to dabble in screenwriting, with one of his earliest projects taking us to a rather different kind of park in "Westworld," where guests are able to live out

The Film: 20 years ago, an odd little film was released that was sold entirely based on its intriguing title alone. "Snakes on a Plane" is one of those projects that never tried to hide exactly what it was and how absurd it was going to be, leading to quite a lot of hype surrounding it right up to its theatrical release. Unsurprisingly, it was not received very well by critics, but what was a little surprising was that the major buzz circling the film didn't translate into bo

The Film: After the 2013 "Evil Dead" reboot failed to impress both critics & audiences alike with its pointless, gratuitous bloodbath, it was decided that it was time to put the idea of another film on the back burner for a little while, and instead attempt the series' first television iteration (with original star Bruce Campbell in the lead, no less). "Ash vs. Evil Dead" was well-received, but after three all-too-brief seasons, it was cancelled due to low viewership (basical

The Films: There are few things that cause a larger burst of nostalgia for my childhood than the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." It was the first phenomenon that I can remember becoming obsessed with as a kid, which had me hooked on the popular cartoon series & collecting action figures, comics, posters, and more. With the incredible success of the show, it was hardly a surprise that a feature film came to fruition within a few years, though it was a bit of a surprise to see

The Film: Back in the '90s, comedian Jim Carrey was at the height of his stardom, with a multitude of hits that included "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "Dumb and Dumber," "Batman Forever," "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls," and "The Truman Show." One of the absolute biggest of these hits was a little film called "The Mask," which paid homage to classic cartoons and put Carrey's remarkable comic talents to great use. While there were many critics who didn't quite understand what

The Film: In 1981, a little sci-fi thriller called "Outland" was released into theaters from writer/director Peter Hyams, who had previously given us similar genre films like "Capricorn One," and would go on to deliver other sci-fi & horror outings like "2010: The Year We Make Contact," "The Relic," and "End of Days." "Outland" wasn't exactly a hit with the critics, though it did receive positive notices from The New York Times & Variety, and performed respectably at the box