Totally blows my mind witnessing how much control Ferrara has over any one of his films, in every single aspect, most of which follow the tone of this one: infernal, crumbling in on itself and inching toward self-destruction as the only solution. Dangerous Game being so upfront about how personal it is makes it just as volatile and bleak, if not more so, than his other works. Themes of Italian-American Catholic guilt, addiction, and hedonistic struggles are nothing new in…

A moving B/W Caravaggio painting. The film's metaphorical implications aren't at all buried, but Ferrara understands the power of what he has shot - every single sequence is like visual Stygian poetry, filled to the brim with imagery that could be linked to any number of the ideas he and St. John have thrown into the cauldron. From a formal POV, basically this entire film is up my alley - sporadically employed but terrifying sound design, a clash between guerilla-style…

Grows with you as time passes. It really does feel like stepping into another world where kissing your best friend's fiancée doesn't end in a heated altercation, a world where the women aren't just NPCs standing in houses waiting to be claimed (and in 40s Hollywood for that matter, come on!). The towns are bustling with liveliness, their inhabitants so complex and lived in with their own desires and dreams. At the same time, in an attempt to build a…