Included with every review is a list of common horror film elements. Those present in the film are marked with a Skull and sometimes two if the element occurs so much or so horribly that it is overwhelming. In order to clarify and and help justify what we mark and don't mark, here are the basic guidelines that we follow for each element.

Please understand that just because a film gets a Skull (or a lot of Skulls), that doesn't it make it automatically a bad movie. True, some categories are solely negative, but most horror film cliches would not have become cliches if they were not used effectively at least once.

Note: ALL horror movie conventions are not covered in these pages. There are a lot out there that we simply did not list (for example: Something Appears In Mirror, Killer is Under the Bed, Character Cries Wolf, Someone Says "Who's There?", Killer Calls on Phone, Body Mysteriously Vanishes, Good Sacrifices Itself To Stop Evil, etc.). Viewers may enjoy noting such cliches and patterns in their casual viewing, but in the interests of logistics, we have limited the entries on our site. Hey, less work for us that way.

SKULL DEFINITIONS

Sequel This one is relatively obvious. If the movie is a sequel to another movie then it gets a Skull. Randy said it best: "Sequels suck." This category now also applies to remakes, which are sort of like sequels . . . only worse. Sequel setup Movies get points for this one when the door is left open for the story to continue. Many times, a scene follows the basic narrative showing the threat has not gone away/been defeated. Sometimes the ending so blatantly sets up a sequel that you leave the theatre wondering how long the wait is going to be, months or weeks. A good example is the first Halloween which clearly left off unresolved.

Rips off earlier film

We have found that a lot of later horror films violently rip off earlier films. It follows the Hollywood axiom that if an idea can make a lot of money once, it can make a lot of money forever. But this is one of the hardest categories to rate since so many horror movies are like every other horror movie you've ever seen. True, there's no movie that isn't influenced by the films that came before it, but when they're blatantly stealing, that's Skull-worthy. Some of these rip-offs are so bad that they not only get two Skulls, and you start to wonder where the copyright infringement police are. We will try to name the film (or films) being ripped off.

Horror film showing on TV/in theatre in movie

Horror movie makers are usually horror movie fans, and like to add little tips o' the hat to the genre by inserting scenes from other films in theirs. John Landis, Wes Craven, John Carpenter, and Kevin Williamson love to do this (and we love noticing it), sometimes doing it multiple times in their movies. Occasionally there will be a fake horror movie in the real horror movie (Scream 2, He Knows You're Alone, Popcorn, Michael Jackson's Thriller, etc.) which also counts. Still, like any convention, it can be poorly done, and end up annoying instead of amusing. We usually cite the film(s) on display.

Future celebrity appears

One of the best bonuses about horror films is when you can spot a familiar face among the masses. Stars like Jack Nicholson, Johnny Depp, Rene Zellweger, Clint Eastwood, Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, and Kevin Bacon all got started in cheap Horror, and are sometimes the only redeeming factor found therein. Note: we DON'T count it when the star is made from the horror film (ie Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Lee, or Robert Englund), only if they became famous from something else (ie George Clooney in Return to Horror High, Jim Carrey in Once Bitten, Steve MacQueen in The Blob, or Jennifer Aniston in Leprechaun).

Former celebrity appears This new category came about as a play on Future Celebrity Appears. When has-been actors such as Erik Estrada, Danny Bonaduce, Pia Zadora, Henry Winkler, Tootie from "The Facts of Life," Frank Stallone, Sherman Hemsley, Kristy McNichol, Mark Hamill, Talia Shire, Corey Haim, or (my personal favourite) William Katt appear in horror movies, tyranist and I would often comment, "Hey, FORMER celebrity appears." So here it is.

Bad title

Usually, puns or wordplay are the major culprits here (Chopping Mall, Nighty Nightmare, Cutting Class, Slayride, etc.), but every once in a while, there's a title that's bad on its own merits (Leprechaun 4: In Space, Jeepers Creepers, Halloween: H20, or Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2). Certain titles are good while the movies are not (ie Spider Baby, C.H.U.D., Too Scared To Scream, or The Boogens), which doesn't merit a Skull. Still, this is a matter of opinion, as one man's Let's Scare Jessica To Death can be another man's I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

Bad premise

There has been a bit of argument about what constitutes a Bad Premise. In my opinion, when the whole plot/storyline/idea of the film is stupid, that's a bad premise. For example: "Killer yogurt turns people who eat it into hollowed-out monsters." Now, there's a stupid idea! (bonus points if you recognize this horrible film) Often horror film makers simply cobble together elements from other movies to make their own. Those qualify as well. Not to be confused with Bad Execution.

Bad acting

Horror films are not the most notorious genre for bad acting, but they do come in second. Many filmmakers would stress that thespian prowess is not essential for good Horror, but we disagree--anything that removes us from the film or makes us cease to care is bad. Right?

Bad dialogue

We only give this Skull if it's REALLY bad. And oftentimes, it sure is.

Bad execution

Not to be confused with Bad Premise, this is when the potential was there for something really good (or at least decent), and either fell victim to laziness, lack of creativity, or just plain old fashioned stupidity. I've said it before and will say it again, when something has the potential to be great and fails it is much worse than when it could only have been bad. For example, when there's great source material, such as a book, an earlier film, or a cool story, and it is ruined by the final product. Enough said?

MTV editing

A relatively recent (and wholly irritating) trend, used by less-talented filmmakers weaned on music videos. The length of shots, camera movement, and angles are spastically spliced at a headache-inducing rate, creating a lot more confusion than tension (though tension headaches can often result). For one of the worst examples, DON'T see Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers.

OTS

Taken from 1996's Scream, O.T.S. stands for the Obligatory Tit Shot. I think it's pretty self-explanatory.

Girl unnecessarily gets naked

The real question is: What is unnecessary?
That's a hard one, folks (no pun intended). The T & A aspect of horror movies has been around since Creature From the Black Lagoon, and continues to be exploited today (well, not so much today as in the 80's, but...). Many times, the nudity involves sex (Wanton or not) or a Shower Scene, and makes a certain amount of sense. Other times, the nudity is paired with Characters Forget About Threat, and is just thrown in as a visceral thrill. Tyranist and I usually give a Skull in this category whenever the nudity appears for nudity's sake, such as someone going skinny dipping, someone changing their clothes, someone who sleeps naked, and someone admiring their nude self in a mirror (my personal least favourite). Sadly, this is many times the best part about the film. Sigh.

Wanton sex

Actually, any scene where the characters have, or attempt to have, sex. You'll be surprised by the situations characters will dare have get it on in (ie "Wow, Wendy's brains are splattered all over the bedroom . . . let's have sex on them!"). Actually, we just wanted an excuse to use the word "Wanton."

Death associated with sex

As Randy pointed out, if you're in a scary movie, "You can never have sex." It only invites death, sometimes before you've even finished (which has to be doubly-distressing). Wow, killers LOVE to interrupt love-making, it's what they live for, it's what they look forward to upon getting out of bed in the morning. Apparently.

Unfulfilled promise of nudity

This isn't really a convention, it's just something that bugs the hell out of tyranist and me. When there are nubile, scantily-clad females running around, and none of them take off their clothes. Or there is an undressing, sex, or shower scene, designed only to titilate, and we are robbed of the payoff. Sometimes films will even advertise nudity on the cover, then cheat in the actual film. Sure, in Scream it's done for a conscious purpose, but the rest of the time, this is a bad thing.

Characters forget about threat

Many times, there is danger, death, a curse, or worse and people know about it, but they conveniently put it out of their mind. It is almost always a negative thing in a movie. "So, lots of campers have been disembowled here?" "Yeah, and they found Jimmy a few minutes ago. Someone had eaten his head." "Oh, that's too bad. Who wants to play Parcheesi?"

Secluded location There is occasional argument about this category. Generally, horror movies enjoy placing their characters in a locale where there's no one around to help them (i.e. the woods, a ghost town, a summer camp, a dormitory during the off season, an abandoned amusement park, a house out in the middle of nowhere), when the evil comes a callin'. You remember what they said about space (Alien 1979). Sometimes it's hard to definitively determine if a movie fits this convention, but when in doubt, we award the Skull.

Old man seen shitting Almost all horror films have at least one scene where an old man is taking a dump, either in the woods, on the side of the road, or in the middle of a church. These scenes are neither scary nor necessary to the story, and are frankly, pretty disgusting. I don't know why they're always there, but they are.

Power is cut

At the scariest moment possible, the lights suddenly go out!

An ancient staple, probably leading back to a time BEFORE there was electricity. Note to would-be serial killers: make sure you cut the power before you begin your killing spree. Chances are, no one will think it's out of the ordinary.

Phone lines are cut The killers always take out the phones, even in their own home (Misery(1990)), so that no one will attract the attention of any pesky policemen, concerned civic leaders, or vampire hunters. Almost all horror films where a phone can be seen will have the phone lines cut. It's the law. In the recent age of cellular phones, we have begun counting this Skull when a phone's battery runs out, the cellphone is damaged, or goes somewhere where there is no service. We even have been known to count walkie talkies, internet connections, and police band radios.

Someone investigates a strange noise

Also referenced in Scream, this is one of the most unbelievable, yet most overused horror movie conventions. Let's look at this for a minute: All of your friends have been brutally butchered and eaten by an unseen maniac. You hear something odd coming from the woods. Is that the sound of someone dragging a dead teenaged body across a bridge with exposed nails in it? Now would you, even on a dare, walk into the woods alone to investigate? I wouldn't either, but it seems every movie character would.

Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door

Taken word-for-word from Scream, this is when . . . wait, I think you get this one. The naming of this Skull has occasionally vexed me, since it seems to so rarely occur. But then, just the other day, we saw a movie where the would-be victims actually ran past doors to the outside world (glass doors, even, so they could've seen if the killer was there or not) and went to hide up in the attic.

Camera is the killer

This started with Halloween and was 'perfected' in Friday the 13th, then used in 90% of the slasher movies that followed. When it's done right, it's a creepy way of creating tension and establishing a nearby threat, but is also used when the identity of the killer is being concealed. Sometimes, in films like Wolfen, Evil Dead, and Predator, we get a nifty high-tech Monster Vision, which also counts.

Victim cower in front of a window/door An old, easy scare in Slashers is to have someone hiding from the killer against a door/wall/window only to have the killer's hand break through the door/wall/window and grab them. Or the victim looks out the window (car windows too), sees nothing, and when they turn away, the killer jumps through. There are hundreds of possibilities, and this particular scare can certainly be done effectively. But usually, it just isn't.

Victim locks self in with killer

This is a less common cliche, but it happens every once in a while. Many times the victim doesn't realize the killer is in the room, and is hiding from him, but sometimes, the victim locks the door, not realising the person she's with IS the killer. It all works out in the end, though, kids.

Victim running from killer inexplicably falls

Self-explanatory. Why do they do that?

Toilet stall scene

Oddly enough, almost as often as Shower Scenes, people in horror films go in toilet stalls (Copycat, Scream, Sleepaway Camp, Night of the Creeps, Silent Hill, Scream 2, Halloween:H20, for example) . Usually it is because they are hiding. Sometimes a character is using the restroom at the time. And occasionally people go in there to do drugs or make out (both no-no's in a Slasher film). After noticing how often it happened, we felt motivated to count it as a convention.

Shower/bath scene

Made famous by Psycho, this convention pops up all the time. Once awake, the shower is where we are most vulnerable, and it's an easy place to trap someone. Also, it's a cheap and easy way to have a nude scene.

Car stalls or won't start

Do you really need an explanation here? We have begun counting this Skull when it happens with any vehicle, from snowmobiles to motorcycles to spaceships.

Cat jumps out

The cheapest, lowest, and least creative of all the Fake Scares. Used in countless horror films, probably from before the advent of other Fake Scares, this is so unforgivably over-used that it deserved to be mentioned in its own category.

Fake scare

A Fake Scare is one of the oldest and most over-used conventions in horror films. They can take on any shape and size, but in general, any scare in a film that is not connected to the threat (a friend jumps out, a door slams, someone looks into a mirror, someone new enters the room unnoticed, the phone rings, someone bumps into a department store mannequin, something falls, someone is tapped on the shoulder or grabbed, a quick cut to a mask or screaming football fan or amusement park ride or Michael Jackson as he looks today, a policeman knocks on the car window, a balloon pops, a bird flies out of the trees, etc.) is a fake one. They are easy to do, and can be very effective or completely stupid. When a fake scare is accompanied by a blast of music, nine times out of ten, it was stupid. Usually, the person who fell victim to the fake scare will say, "Oh, you scared me!" but not always.

Laughable scare

Related to, but different than Unscary Villain, this is when a shock, surprise, or act is SUPPOSED to be scary, but comes off as funny, usually because it's so stupid, poorly handled, or expected. For example, when the killer in Friday the 13th said "Kill her, Mommy!" there were a lot of chuckles in the crowd (though we may not have awarded the Skull). But remember in Species, when the baby alien saw the rat, then spiked it with his tongue? The audience I saw it with was crying with laughter.

This is NOT a good thing.

Stupid discovery of corpse

This is when someone stumbles across a dead body, but in a very predictable, non-scary way. For example, in Halloween 6, a character is talking to a man in a chair who doesn't move or answer back (Psycho ripoff, anyone?). When he turns the chair around, we are supposed to be shocked that the man is dead. It didn't work. Other times, bodies (or parts of them) are set up or hanging with the magical finesse to drop down just when our character walks past or under them. Basically, any time the audience groans instead of jumps at the revelation of death, it qualifies. Now, there can be GOOD discoveries of corpses, but when that happens, we don't count it.

Dream sequence

Used most famously in the "Elm Street" series, but employed all the time, horror films rely on Dream Sequences to add in more scares and death and plot details. Though they can be misused, overused, or are simply too obvious, sometimes they can really get you.

Hallucination/Vision

In the past, we've always had a hard time determining what is and isn't a dream. Lots of times, when someone sees something that no one else can see, or that jumps into their mind due to the alien-spider-children's influence, we've been tempted to give it a Skull for Dream Sequence. But no more: as of our 300th review, those pesky hallucinations and visions have a place to lay their heads.

Simply defined, a Hallucination is when someone sees something that isn't really there, such as Sidney seeing her dead mother in Scream 3, or Laurie seeing the Shape in Halloween: H20. And a Vision is when someone sees something through psychic or paranormal means, a ghostly manifestation, like Danny seeing the dead girls in The Shining, or Johnny glimpsing the future in The Dead Zone. Good enough?

No one believes only witness

If I had a dime for every time our hero has known about the killer or the curse or the leper (or the cursed leprous killer) and no one, be it the authorities, the camp counselors, or the would-be victims, believes our hero is telling the truth, I'd be able to afford a couple of nice OTSs.

Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth

This is a new category that simply had to be added. In one out of every three horror movies, it seems that an old man (either dismissed as crazy, drunk, perverted, or the actual threat) knows that something is wrong, be it a curse, a murderer, a ghost, or the impending death of the characters. This one generally goes hand-in-hand with the No One Believes Only Witness cliche, as nobody EVER listens to what the old man has to say.

Warning goes unheeded

It is human nature to go where one is told not to go, and do what one is advised against. This Skull can be achieved in many ways: someone has a dream that something nasty will befall all who go on that ski-trip (yet they go anyway), there is a rumoured curse regarding a discovered object (and they take it anyway), there is a sign which clearly states: "Portal to Hell nearby, NO SKINNY-DIPPING" (they do it anyway), etc. You get the point.

Music detracts from scene

Generally in horror movies, the music is the most important factor in creating the right mood. Sometimes, though, the music is completely WRONG--drawing attention away from the story or tension or threat. During the 80's, horror films tried to place talentless heavy metal or glam rock music in their films, hoping to kick-start careers at the expense of the film itself. Other times, the college drop-out with the synthesizer just falls asleep. We don't have all the answers here, folks, but you'll recognize it when you hear it.

Death in the first five minutes

You know, this isn't really a BAD thing, it's just something that happens in some horror movies, and almost all Slashers. When well done (ie Jaws, House, Halloween, or Scream), it's used to set the mood of the rest of the film and can be very effective. Of course, it can also be very stupid, so be warned.
In giving this Skull, we don't limit the film to a literal five minutes; anything in the vicinity will do.

x years before/later

This indicates either a prologue, setting up the events that happened before our story (such as the first couple minutes of Halloween, The Mummy 1999, or The Descent), or a film where we see the latter effects of an incident (like I Know What You Did Last Summer), or an extensive flashback used to explain things (why the boarding house is haunted, why Jimmy is in the mental institution, why Leslie can't remember her parents, what lurks in the crawlspace under the house, why Toby has to pee sitting down, etc.). Many times (but it is not required), words like "15 Years Later" will be superimposed on the screen.

Flashback sequence

Too often, we considered flashbacks to be Dream Sequences, since we had no Flashback category. We didn't know what else to do. Then one day, there was suddenly a Flashback Skull on our list.

I can't explain it, I'm just glad it's there.

Dark and stormy night

Since the days of Victorian Horror, and even before, this has been one of the genre's most overused cliches. It may stem from the fact that we have a childhood fear of thunder, or that lightning and rain create atmosphere, or that a lot of these films are actually shot in rainforests and they don't tell us.

Killer doesn't stay dead

"This is the moment where the supposedly-dead killer comes back to life for one last scare," warned Randy Meeks in Scream. He should know, the only thing more unkillable than a movie murderer is a Las Vegas cockroach. Oooh, now THERE'S an idea for a horror movie: the DNA of a Nevada cucaracha is fused with that of a serial killer's, and . . .

Killer wears a mask A cliche, yes, but a sensible one. Masks are scary, folks, and when you want to conceal your identity, wearing one is a good idea. Lots of times, however, masks are used just because it's a convention, and expected.

Killer is in closet

I think the reason this happens so much is because of every boy's childhood fear of some . . . thing lurking in the closet. Actually, growing up, I was much more afraid of something being under the bed, but we neglected to count that one. In rare instances where the killer is obviously gay, yet does not disclose this fact, it also gets a Skull.

Killer is in car with victim

How many movies have you seen where someone gets in their car, and the killer is in the back seat? THAT'S why it's a convention! Actually, anytime the killer is in the same car as the victim, we count it.

Villain is more sympathetic than heroes

You can pretty much thank Freddy Krueger for this one (although the old Universal monsters WERE pretty likeable fifty years before). In the 80's, especially in film franchises, the killers suddenly became the reason people saw these movies. The audiences were rooting for Jason and the rest, and were rewarded for it by more sequels and bad puns ("What's the matter, Joey, feeling tongue-tied?"). We usually award this Skull when there is more attention paid to the villain than the heroes, when he gets all the good lines, and when the bad guy is the protagonist. For example, in Psycho, Norman Bates was very sympathetic, even though he never dispatched his victims with a campy line.

Unscary villain/monster This is a very bad thing. These are supposed to be HORROR movies, right? Unscary Villain can go hand-in-hand with Laughable Scare, but doesn't have to. Examples include the entire "Puppet Master" saga, the "Leprechaun" series ("Look, it's Willow! Hi, Willow, tee hee! Oh look, honey, he has a knife...!"), Jack Frost (both versions), and He Knows You're Alone.

Beheading

Was the human head designed to be easily removed? You don't see a lot of headless cats running around.

Note: this is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be poorly done (see Poor Death Effect), or amazing (remember Friday the 13th or The Omen?"), but we just love to see how often it happens. Current record-holder would probably have to be 1999's Sleepy Hollow.

Blood fountain

When an inordinate amount of blood sprays in a huge gush, that's a Blood Fountain. Usually, when someone's throat is cut, a blood fountain is used, sometimes spraying blood across a room. In other instances (A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Shining, Evil Dead 2, or Dracula: Dead and Loving It, for instance), literally GALLONS of blood are used. There's not much need for this much blood, but it can be fun.

Blood spatters/hits camera, wall, etc. Well, this can be well-done (look at Braveheart or Saving Private Ryan for good examples), but in slasher movies, it's usually a cheap, sick gag. Usually, it's a hokey and silly effect since it reminds the viewer that there's a camera being used. It actually doesn't happen very often, as it's probably really hard to clean up. As of our 500th review, we are now tracking this Skull as "Blood spatters" instead of "Blood hits camera." The change has been made specifically because the original case happened pretty rarely and the latter happens so often that we felt the difference would be valuable to you, our readers.

Poor death effect

Well, not everybody can be Rick Baker or Tom Savini. REALLY poor death effects can be funny, though.

Excessive gore

I guess the real question here is that word ‘excessive.' What turns your stomach might not make me blink. But when the violence goes overboard, such as someone's brains splattering all over a first grade class, that's usually a hint that the movie will get a Skull.

No one dies at all

Every once in a while, this works in a horror film (no examples come to mind, however). The rest of the time, it is annoying, boring, and completely out of place for Horror. The whole point of horror is that there is a threat, something bad that is out to HARM people, right? Sometimes this goes along with the second-worst horror movie convention, the "It Was All A Dream" Ending, and that makes it even worse. I imagine there could be a fate WORSE than death, that would still make for a good horror film, but usually, death does nicely. I do remember the ending of April Fools Day being getting a "N.O.D.A.A.", but was it satisfying? We also award this Skull if everybody ends up okay when it is over (even if somebody did technically die halfway through).

Virgin survives

Again, our old pal Randy Meeks taught us that "Only virgins can outsmart the killer in the big chase scene in the end." I hadn't known that, so we paid attention, and sure enough, especially in the 80's, there's always one girl who doesn't fool around, and she's almost always the one who gets away. Sometimes it isn't specifically stated that the girl's a virgin, but judging by her behaviour (take Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street, for example) and the way she looks or dresses (Jill Schoelen's character in Popcorn), we'll give it a Skull anyway. Children don't count.

Geek/Nerd survives

Now, we're not talking about carnival geeks here. Sometimes, the backward, unloved, unpopular guy is able to defeat the menace, or at least escape it. And it can totally work (look at the Scream films, Jaws, or anything with Corey Haim in it) or be another awful convention. It does not count if the geek/nerd turns out to be the killer (as in 976-EVIL or Prom Night).

Little kid lamely survives

An odd trend in Horror is to 'play it safe' in the killings by not offing any innocents. In really bad Horror, the 'filmmakers' so underestimate the viewers that they will go out of their way to make sure the bad guy doesn't hurt anyone that we like, or might disturb an audience member. So, sometimes inexplicably, a defenseless child will escape the threat, while the tough football player is easy prey. There are examples where the child survives in a non-lame way (ie Poltergeist, or Halloween 4, where a child was Michael Myer's target), but generally, in good Horror, ANYONE is a possible victim, and that makes it scary.

Dog/Pet miraculously survives

An extension of the above, where the killer carves up any number of human beings, but wouldn't dare touch an animal (as if the Humane Society is more of a threat than the police). How many awful horror films (Jaws 3 for example) have you seen where the whole universe has been completely wiped out, but the family pet jumps out at the end, safe and sound, generating 'awwww's from the characters and retching sounds from the audience?

Unresolved subplots

This is never good, folks. Many times, poor writing or poor editing can leave many unanswered questions. Characters may disappear and never reappear. Plotholes may open up, swallowing a story's natural conclusion. Illogical action may occur, and satisfaction may flee.

"It was all a dream" ending

One of the worst of horror movie conventions. I HATE this! It's uncreative, it's cowardly, and it insults your audience (yes, even horror film fans deserve respect)(well, a little). Bad bad bad.

Unbelievably happy ending

Horror is probably the only genre that can please a crowd with an unhappy ending. And yet, the creators of most horror films try to always tack on a happy one, even if they are setting it up for a sequel. Why? I don't know, probably underestimating the audience again. Now, I'm not saying that horror films HAVE to end in a negative way, only that sometimes, the happy, gay, joyful finales are completely unbelievable. If you were covered with blood and the remains of your family and best friends, would YOU laugh and go home, or make out with the only other survivor?

Well, when I put it THAT way. . .

Unbelievably crappy ending

This was a play on Unbelievably Happy Ending that tyranist and I became fond of shouting at the end of really bad movies. I am hesitant to list it, since it was a joke, but it's definitely true of some films. This is when the ending is so terrible we couldn't stand it. Movies like Halloween 6, Huntress: Spirit of the Night, Cutting Class, and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer all have such endings.

What the hell?

This represents the intangible factor that made us say, "What the hell?" at some point while we were watching the film. Usually this indicate some plot point or motivation or special effect was either totally confusing, completely opposite of what had been happening, or just plain bad. Sometimes, What the Hell? is our only revenge on a movie that sucked in a hard-to-define manner. Throw us a bone every once in a while, okay?

Note 2: The definitions marked in yellow are new as of the 101st review done on this site. Knowing we were reaching a milestone of sorts, we thought that it would be nice to go back and pick up some of the conventions that we left out the first time around. As a result, any review done after that will have the new categories, whereas previous reviews won't. There are some films that we watch often enough that we will go back and redo the original review to include the new conventions.