Hugo Pagan Soto

Weapons (2025): Horror That Hides a Social Critique

Horror has long been fertile ground for exploitation cinema, but it has also served as a playground for filmmakers to smuggle in sharp social commentary, tucked between jump scares and visceral set pieces. Weapons (2025), the latest from Zach Cregger, confidently walks both paths. It’s a taut, impeccably crafted genre film and, at the same time, an unsettling meditation on violence and its chilling presence within schools and in the lives of children.

Dead Ringer (1963): Bette Davis Eyes

Posted on August 7 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Hollywood’s love for remakes is an old story. Before Bette Davis, there was Dolores del Rio in La Otra (1946). Rian James wrote the original story, which was acquired by Warner Bros.. Paul Henreid was brought in to direct and Bette Davis to star in the American version, titled Dead Ringer. Karl Malden and Peter Lawford were added to the cast to make it even more American. The original manuscript is perfectly suited for a traditional Hollywood thriller, and that’s exactly what the film delivers.

Fantastic Four: First Steps – Marvel Back to Basics

Posted on August 6 by Hugo Pagan Soto

With the same unstoppable force as Galactus devouring worlds at will, that’s how powerful Marvel’s cinematic universe once felt. But after the Avengers saga ended, Marvel began to slow down—offering mostly bland, repetitive stories that lacked soul. Fantastic Four: First Steps felt like a risky bet. It was the first time these characters would be produced under the umbrella of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Previous attempts had never quite managed to establish a successful franchise, and bringing them back again sounded like a doomed idea.

Dangerous Animals (2025): A Classic Horror Flick

Posted on August 5 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Horror has defined the short but striking career of Australian director Sean Byrne. Dangerous Animals (2025) is his third feature film, and once again, he walks the path of scares. In this new project, Byrne blends the serial killer formula with the kind of horror found in monster movies—specifically the shark attack subgenre.

Tornado (2025): When East Meets West in a Slow-Burning Duel

Posted on July 31 by Hugo Pagan Soto

The longstanding romance between westerns and samurai films has yielded some of cinema’s most iconic hybrids from The Magnificent Seven to A Fistful of Dollars. Tornado (2025), the second feature from Scottish director John Maclean, joins this lineage with quiet confidence and striking visual precision. Known for Slow West (2015), Maclean once again proves his deep understanding of the western form, only this time, with the philosophical touch of the Japanese jidaigeki.

The Last Movie Guy

I Love The Smell of Movies in The Morning

Author: Hugo Pagan Soto