Moria - The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review

08/04/2025

Kurt Vonnegut was one of the greatest of SF writers, whose wryly funny work crossed over into rare mainstream appeal and even a cult following. This is documentary about his life where the director befriended Vonnegut in the 1980s and filmed Vonnegut over a 35 year period until his death in 2007

Kurt Vonnegut was one of the greatest SF writers, whose work crossed over into rare mainstream appeal. This is documentary about his life

07/04/2025

Here The Asylum attempt to copy the MCU and conduct a crossover between the menaces in all their films - the various Sharknados, Transmorphers, multi-headed sharks and snakes on a train, which are brought to life as part of an alien invasion plan

A crossover between all the menaces in The Asylum’s films, which are brought to life as part of an alien invasion plan

06/04/2025

At long last, you have been asking for it and here it is ... Moria's Best and Worst of 2024.

I always post it later into the following year to allow me time to catch up with the stragglers. I should also add that this is prone to being changed as time goes on and later entries from 2024 are seen past the original calendar year and are backdated.

https://www.moriareviews.com/best-and-worst-of-2024

05/04/2025

Osgood Perkins has been a rising genre director in the last few years, most recently responsible for Longlegs. Here he adapts a Stephen King story about a toy monkey that causes deaths whenever it is wound

Osgood Perkins adapts a Stephen King story about a toy monkey that causes deaths whenever it is wound

04/04/2025

This comes with a wonderfully satiric idea of a plague that kills the world’s wealthiest people. A film that seems never more than appropriate for the times we live in

This comes with a wonderfully satiric idea of a plague that kills the world’s wealthiest people

03/04/2025

Returning to today's double bill where we are conducting a look at treatments of haunted house (or at least dwelling) themes from around the world.

From Mexico we now go to Hong Kong with Coffin Homes (2021). From the improbably named director Fruit Chan, director of the sensational Dumplings, this a film that takes a satiric jab at Hong Kong’s rental shortage crisis and concerns haunted apartments

From director Fruit Chan, a film that takes a satiric jab at Hong Kong’s rental shortage crisis and concerns haunted apartments

03/04/2025

Today I am devoting a double feature to haunted houses (or haunted dwellings) and the way the genre is treated in different parts of the world.

Let's start things off with Darker Than Night (1975), a Mexican entry in the haunted house genre, featuring a group of girls who inherit a place haunted by an aunt and her black cat. Strikingly rich in terms of set design

Darker Than Night is a Mexican entry in the haunted house genre, featuring a group of girls who inherit a place haunted by an aunt and her cat

02/04/2025

This is a classic work of Film Noir with Edward G. Robinson starring as a stage mentalist who suddenly finds he can predict the future

A classic work of Film Noir with Edward G. Robinson as a stage mentalist who suddenly finds he can predict the future

01/04/2025

Essentially a classical music version of Phone Booth. Where Phone Booth has Colin Farrell trapped in a phone booth by a sniper, this has Elijah Wood trapped at a grand piano in front of a concert audience by a sniper, while being unable to move. The results prove quite gripping

Essentially a classical music version of Phone Booth with Elijah Wood trapped at a grand piano in front of a concert audience by a sniper

31/03/2025

Grady Hendrix has been gaining quite a name as a horror author of late. This adaptation of one of his books is a possession film that is quite a bit more than the light fluffy Young Adult film the title makes it seem. Boosted by a great performance from Amiah Miller as the titular best friend and fantastic use of a 1980s setting

Possession film that is quite a bit more than the light fluffy Young Adult film the title makes it seem, boosted by a great performance from Amiah Miller

30/03/2025

A reboot of the classic Japanese tv series Kamen Rider about a superhero who goes into action on a motorcycle while using a suit to transform into a grasshopper being. From Hideaki Anno who had previously conducted other big-screen franchise reboots with Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman

Japanese Superhero Reboot

29/03/2025

A very likeable Coming of Age film that imagines what might have happened if the Y2K Bug had occurred and resulted in a machine uprising

Film that imagines what might have happened if the Y2K Bug had occurred and resulted in a machine revolution

28/03/2025

Okay so yesterday's kerfuffle with the site having technical issues has been resolved at last and Moria is back.

So returning to yesterday's Worst of Killer Shark films double-bill. It is getting very close to Moria's Top 10 of 2024 list and this is one of the leading contenders for Worst film.

Another in the gonzo killer shark film fad viz Sharknado, a bottom of the barrel effort concerning lab sharks returned from a space mission mutated

27/03/2025

I am sorry people, I was planning on doing a double-bill today. But the site is experiencing technical problems and I am unable to do so. I am not sure when the problem is going to be able to be resolved. The site may have to go offline for awhile

UPDATE: Site problems seem to be fixed for now. Regular transmission will resume as usual.

27/03/2025

Today I am doing a double feature on the Worst of Killer Shark Movies. This is a genre that has given me considerable amusement in the last few years. There are some rather entertaining wilfully ridiculous efforts out there. There are also some that are pitifully made.

To start things off today:- Ouija Shark 2 (2022). A sequel to the Gonzo Killer Shark film Ouija Shark, this goes even crazier and takes place in Hell and feature a tarot alligator conjured for a Japanese monster movie type showdown



https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/ouija-shark-2-2022.htm

26/03/2025

An Indian horror film based on the folk tale of a witch spirit that comes to claim single men. This was a popular success that was then built out into an Indian version of The Conjuring Universe

An Indian horror film about a folk tale of a witch spirit, this was a popular success that was then built out into an Indian version of The Conjuring Universe

25/03/2025

A psycho film with a difference and well worth your interest. This conducts a raw and seedily grim depiction of the world of the prostitutes working at a truck stop as the same time as they try to deal with a killer amongst them

This conducts a seedily grim depiction of the world of the prostitutes working at a truck stop as they try to deal with a killer amongst them

24/03/2025

Bear with me on this one and I promise you will be rewarded. Don’t get put off by the romantic comedy label. I initially dismissed the film for these very reasons but was eventually surprised in a big way by this. Kaley Cuoco stars as a woman who repeatedly returns back to one day in time to replay her one perfect day, a date with Pete Davidson. This has a wonderfully witty, clever and quite unexpected script, while the casting of the two leads gives the film great life

An extremely clever romantic comedy where Kaley Cuoco repeatedly returns back through time to replay her one perfect day, a date with Pete Davidson