★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A witch is not the only thing that haunts a college campus in Mariama Diallo’s debut feature, Master.
Archive for ‘Festivals’
MidWest WeirdFest Set to Blow Minds with the Supernatural, Slashers, and Science Fiction
MidWest WeirdFest has a stellar reputation for presenting edgy, provocative cinema fare, and the first wave announcement for this year’s edition of the Eau Claire, Wisconsin-based fest shows that the tradition continues. From paranormal strangeness to creepy creature features, MidWest WeirdFest has it all!
Eric’s Review: Bashira (2021): Another Hole in the Head Film Festival
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Bashira is an artistically ambitious and technically accomplished feature debut film from special effects auteur Nickson Fong. As much as it is a treat for your eyes and ears, though, the film’s plot is overly complex and the execution of the work sometimes over-shoots the target. The story often feels like two competing stories going at the same time.
Mike’s Review: The Brilliant Terror (2021) (Another Hole in the Head Film Festival)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
To be clear, horror is the human condition. Sure there’s ghosts, robots, cannibals, witches, and Jason Voorhees, but all these finely finessed sub-genres are really just an extension of the human condition. Much ink has been poured over this subject, but rarely does a horror documentary get at this hyper-simple truism.
Eric’s Review: Human Resources (2021): Another Hole in the Head Film Festival
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A remarkably nuanced slice of horror at work, from a 19-year-old writer/director that poses the question as to how far would you be willing to go to unearth and expose the dirty secrets at your place of employment. The movie is probably twenty minutes too long, but the plot has a solid mystery backbone to tell a good story, and it is graced with great characters and snappy dialogue.
Mike’s Review: My Cherry Pie (2021) (Another Hole in the Head Film Festival)
★★.5 out of ★★★★★
There’s no telling if 2021’s My Cherry Pie qualifies as Oz-spoitation, but it sure looks, sounds, and feels like something straight off of 42nd street. It’s not the pastoral Picnic at Hanging Rock, nor is it the ever-haunting Lake Mungo. Think Wolf Creek with little-to-no-budget, an extra bit of nastiness, and a pinch of grindhouse.
Joseph’s Reviews: “The Last Frankenstein” and “Night, Knight Teddy” (Another Hole in the Head Film Festival)
Joseph reviews two films from Another Hole in the Head Film Festival: “The Last Frankenstein” and “Night, Knight Teddy.”
Eric’s Review: Crabs! (2021): (Another Hole in the Head Film Festival)
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Do you miss goofy ’80s era R-rated monster movies? Crabs! is one of those cheesy nature-gone-wrong films that doesn’t take itself too seriously and manages to deliver some good gory entertainment. It’s inconsistent, but there’s enough here to have a good night with a bag of popcorn and a B-movie creature feature.
Eric’s Review: Apps (2021) : (Another Hole in the Head Film Festival)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
If V/H/S was done in Spanish, that would be Apps, an Argentinian horror anthology that is filled with plenty of shocks and bloody mayhem. Each chapter is really well executed and continues to prove that Argentina is a major player in the horror movie market.
Mike’s Review: The Whooper Returns (2021) (Another Hole in the Head Film Festival)
★★★.5 out of ★★★★★
It’s always fascinating to see how something of little-to-no-value can bring out the worst in people as soon as they realize that someone else is interested in the same valueless item. This dynamic is made all the worse when it’s families fighting over the same scrap of trash. Worse yet? When that scrap of trash is the site of a 1979 horror film, the Whooper.
Joseph’s Monster Fest Reviews: “Button Man” and “Scam”
Joseph reviews two fine films from Australia’s Monster Fest film festival: sylvan horror short “Button Man” and Ozploitation feature “Scam.”
Austria’s SLASH Filmfestival 2022 Is Now Accepting Submissions
Austria’s prestigious SLASH Filmfestival is currently accepting submissions for its 13th edition next year.
Joseph’s Reviews: Lund International Fantastic Film Festival Horror Shorts, Part 2
Along with Sweden’s Lund International Fantastic Film Festival’s fine selection of genre feature films, the fest boasted a fine selection of fright fare in short form. Here are more capsule reviews of some of those short-length shudder inducers.
Joseph’s Review: Woodland Grey (Blood in the Snow Film Festival)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ With a wooded setting as bleak as the situations in which Woodland Grey’s two main characters […]
Joseph’s FilmQuest Review: When the Screaming Starts
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
U.K. horror comedy When the Screaming Starts skewers the lengths to which some people will go to try to achieve fame. Whether you are in the mood to see such people receive their comeuppance or if you just want to have some belly laughs while you get creeped out, put this blood-soaked mockumentary on your need-to-see list.
Joseph’s Lund International Fantastic Film Festival Reviews: “Medusa” and “Cross the Line”
Joseph reviews the excellent Spanish thriller “Cross the Line” and the offbeat Brazilian feature “Medusa” from Lund International Fantastic Film Festival.
Joseph’s Arrow Video FrightFest Halloween Edition Review: Miracle Valley
★★★ out of ★★★★★ The Room co-star Greg Sestero makes his directorial debut with this 1970s-styled killer cult movie. Butter […]
Joseph’s Arrow Video FrightFest Halloween Edition Review: Barbarians
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
It’s a dark night of several souls as a dinner party with four supposed friends goes sour and then turns deadly in this take-no-prisoners examination of ego clashes and deceit.
Joseph’s Reviews: Lund International Fantastic Film Festival Horror Shorts
Along with Sweden’s Lund International Fantastic Film Festival’s fine selection of genre feature films, the fest boasts a fine selection […]
Joseph’s Lund International Fantastic Film Festival Reviews: See for Me and Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It
Joseph reviews the taut thriller “See for Me” and the horror comedy “Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It,” both part of Lund International Fantastic Film Festival.
Joseph’s Review: It Hatched (Austin Film Festival)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
This Icelandic horror comedy is guaranteed to be one of the most off-the wall films you’ll see this year. I found it an absolute blast!
Joseph’s Review: Cram (Austin Film Festival)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
You think you had it rough in college? Chances are that you never had an experience like the one the protagonist in Cram has. Talk about a hell of a night in the library!
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode CXXXII: A Summer Festival Recap
For the second year in a row, our favorite film festivals were presented to us in a streaming format (though some festivals had theatrical releases). This has allowed the Scariest Things to watch lots of horror from the comfort of our own homes, with some (mostly) pretty awesome content. We recap the best and the worst of the Summer Festivals from 2021.
Joseph’s A Night of Horror Reviews: “Struwwellerror” and “The Unlit”
Joseph reviews two features from Australia’s A Night of Horror International Film Festival: German horror satire “Struwwelerror” and Australian folk horror “The Unlit” (AKA “Witches of Blackwood”).
Joseph’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Reviews: After Blue and Ego
Joseph reviews two Brooklyn Horror Film Festival features: French science fiction fantasy/weirdo western mashup “After Blue” and Spanish doppelganger thriller “Ego.”
Eric’s Review: Cosmic Dawn (2021) – Nightstream
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
UFO abductees and true believers gather together in a secretive communal cult, hoping to reconnect with their alien encounter. Cosmic Dawn is more about the cult and its actions than the actual alien encounters, and threads enough menace and strangeness to keep you conflicted about whether
Mike’s Review: Boarding House (Nightstream Festival, 1982)
★ out of ★★★★★
or
★★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A five star film that’s also simultaneously a one star film? A film that occupies an incredibly rare space. It’s loved. It’s hated. It’s revered. It’s reviled. A film that’s poorly shot, conceived, and acted, but its legendarily awful veneer gives way to a blood soaked interior that’s impossible not to LOVE.
Eric’s Review: Black Goat Episode 1 – The 6000 Steps (2021) (HPLFF)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Destroy all Media has once again teamed up with The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, and are in the process of developing a television series, Black Goat, for which they debuted the pilot at the H.P Lovecraft Film Festival. The Pilot episode drips with cultish dread and portends apocalyptic omens. The cosmic horror universe is ripe for development, and it will be fascinating to see who picks up the series.
Joseph’s Fantastic Fest Reviews: Zalava and The Timekeepers of Eternity
Joseph reviews two excellent films from Fantastic Fest: Iranian supernatural chiller “Zalava” and the artistic “paper film” remix of Stephen King’s “The Langoliers” enitiled “The Timekeepers of Eternity.”
Eric’s Review: The Whisperer in Darkness (2011) (H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
It is wholly appropriate that The Whisperer in the Darkness is an adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story. As in Love + Craft. It is a lovingly and well-crafted period piece creation of Cosmic horror. Not only does the film take the look of the era when the story was written, but it also captures the film noir aesthetic in glorious shadowy black and white. If you like Cthulhu and cold walks in the rain, this is a movie for you!