The juggernaut genre festival is back for its 26th anniversary and is celebrating by showcasing 3 week’s worth of international genre features, short films and special events in Montreal, Canada.
Archive for ‘Festivals’
Eric’s Review: Nati Morti (Born Dead) (Portland Horror Film Festival 2022)
★★★★ If you have a stomach for extreme violence
★★1/2 If you can’t handle it
Nati Morti will kick your ass, rip out your guts, and rub them all over your face. It is not, however, a non-stop gore festival. It has a big story to tell, and it has some moments of real poignancy. But, yes, you will need to be able to handle getting your guts ripped out.
Mike’s Review: Stag (Portland Horror Film Festival 2022)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — comedy is a difficult task that’s made all the more difficult when it gets mixed up with its gory cousin, HORROR. To see it done well is one of the more pleasant sites that a horror fan gets to ever see.
The new film, Stag, by quadruple threat (actress, writer, director, and producer) Alexandra Spieth marries these two ugly cousins together perfectly — ironically in the context of a weekend bridal party.
The Scariest Things Review: The Creeping (Portland Horror Film Festival and Panic Fest 2022)
Liz: ★★★ out of ★★★★★
Eric: ★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Cozy up with The Creeping on a dark and stormy night!
Mike’s Review: What is Buried Must Remain (Portland Horror Film Festival 2022)
★★★.5 out of ★★★★★
There’s a very real chance that this film may be the first of its kind. True story. One of one. The first ever. Well, that might be a little bit of a stretch, but it’s unlikely that there are any other found footage horror films made by Syrian teens who happen to be refugees living Lebanese settlement camps. If there are others out there we’d sure love to know about them.
The Scariest Things Podcast Extra: An Interview with Swallowed Director Carter Smith
Carter Smith joins the Scariest Things to talk about his new film, Swallowed, a thrilling body horror shocker with queer themes that took the Overlook Film Festival by storm. Get the behind-the-scenes input on this independently filmed labor of love.
Eric’s Review: Crimes of the Future (Overlook Film Festival 2022)
★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
The celebrated king of body horror, David Cronenberg, returns to the genre he helped define after a long absence with his new feature, Crimes of the Future. It is a film that is a vision distinctly and uniquely his own. It has a talented and attractive cast. It comes back to body horror in a big way, and yet the film narratively underwhelms.
The Scariest Things Interview: The Summoned Cast and Crew
Consider creating your first feature-length movie. With a first-time feature director. In a global pandemic. During the middle of the ice storm of the century. And then debuting it in one of the premiere horror festivals in the world! Happy to say, you nailed it! Listen in to our interview with the cast and crew of The Summoned for their take on the great adventure that is movie-making.
Portland Horror Film Festival 2022 Preview
Features, Shorts, Historic Theaters and more! Get ready for the Portland Horror Film festival 2022!
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode 147: The Overlook Film Festival Recap
After a two-year span in which we had to attend the Overlook Film Festival remotely, the standout New Orleans-based industry insider festival was back screening the festival live and in person. Twenty-Four feature films showed along with three short film blocks, which amounted to a whole lot of movies for four days of viewing! Eric, Liz, and Mike break down our impressions of the recently completed festival.
Liz’s Review: Welcome, Violeta! (Brooklyn Film Festival)
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
An author goes to the end of the world for her art in Welcome, Violeta!
Mike’s Review: Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (Overlook Film Festival 2022)
★★★★ out of ★★★★
According to director Ana Lily Amirpour, her latest outing, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon “…is New Orleans AF.” While we’re probably not the best judges of whether anything, let alone New Orleans, is AF, but for purposes of this discussion we’ll say it is.
Mike’s Review: Swallowed (Overlook Film Festival 2022)
★★★★.5 out of ★★★★★
Being a drug mule is the absolute worst. Mind you, this reviewer has never been a drug mule, but there’s a nagging feeling that muling drugs for miscreants, reprobates, and slackened dolts is an awful time. The only thing worse than being a drug mule? When the drug mules are forced in to servitude in the name of Cronenbergian insects and a web of gnarly body horror.
Eric’s Review: Who Invited Them? (Overlook Film Festival 2022)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A posh housewarming party fizzles out, due to a host who tries just a little too hard to impress. A couple of glamorous strangers stick around after everyone else clears out and the remainder of the evening becomes far more exciting than the hosts were ready for. Cringe-inducingly funny and immediately accessible, Who Invited Them had its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival.
Liz’s Review: She Will (Overlook Film Festival 2022)
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Charlotte Colbert’s debut feature She Will is a bewitching feast for the senses.
Eric’s Overlook Film Festival Review: The Summoned (2022)
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A ritzy couples therapy retreat becomes a trap for one of the guests who becomes a pawn in a larger Faustian deal of sin, temptation, and betrayal in The Summoned, which had its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival. The Scariest Things also got the opportunity to interview the cast and crew of this twisty morality play.
Eric’s Review: Zero Budget Heroes: (2022) – Warped Dimension Film Festival
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
What comes to mind when you think of raunchy lowest-common-denominator B-Movies? Full Moon? Not even close. The Asylum (Sharknado)? Nope. Keep going. Troma? Think lower. Have you ever heard of Low-Budget Pictures? No? Well, they may be the most productive, if not the most recognizable film companies peddling schlock. Zero Budget Heroes: The Legend of Chris Seaver and Low-Budget Pictures is a loving retrospective of making DIY fun sleazy and cheap films. Given the tawdry source material, this is a thought-provoking and sentimental documentary worth watching, particularly for those with an interest in the film making process.
Joseph’s Review: The Passenger (Panic Fest)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Can a misogynistic rideshare driver and a trio of strong-willed women work together to survive a monstrous attack? Spanish horror outing The Passenger attempts to answer that question in a gruesome, fast-paced romp.
Liz’s Review: The Best Horror Shorts of Panic Fest 2022
Ranging from the horrific to the hilarious, the short films showcased at Panic Fest have something for everyone.
Joseph’s Review: “Revealer” (Panic Fest)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A peepshow dancer and a religious zealot must try to work together during the apocalypse or suffer abominable fates in this wild eighties-set chiller.
Joseph’s Review: “Legions” (Fantaspoa)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
This Argentinian tale of a sorcerer trying to save his daughter from a diabolical creature is bound to put a lump in your throat as it sends shivers down your spine.
Liz’s Review: The Innocents (Panic Fest 2022)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The bright Nordic summer masks something sinister in The Innocents.
The Scariest Things Podcast Extra: An Interview with Dashcam Director Rob Savage (Panic Fest 2022)
The Pandemic fueled dread of Dashcam is showing at Panic Fest in Kansas City on May 1 and May 4. TST had the great opportunity to interview the director Rob Savage to discuss his latest creation.
Liz’s Review: Dashcam (Panic Fest 2022)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Strap in for the most uncomfortable ride of your life with Rob Savage’s Dashcam.
Monsters, Murderers, and Martial Arts Mayhem: The Chattanooga Film Festival’s Virtual Lineup First Wave Is Here!
The Chattanooga Film Festival (CFF) brings another fine assortment of chillers, thrillers, the funny, and the fantastic, to this year’s virtual edition. The fest has announced its first wave of films, and from the frightening (such as The Ones You Didn’t Burn) to the freaky (the found footage mind-bender The Outwaters), CFF has something for genre film aficionados of all kinds.
Trailer Alert! Watcher (2022)
IFC Midnight has dropped the official trailer and a brand new poster for Chloe Okuno’s debut feature film, Watcher. Watcher […]
Joseph’s Calgary Underground Film Festival Reviews: “Luzifer” and “Gatlopp”
Luzifer ★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Gatlopp★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Joseph reviews two films from Calgary Underground Film Festival.
Liz’s Review: When the Screaming Starts (Panic Fest 2022)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The family that slays together…will have you laughing right until the screaming starts.
The Scariest Things Podcast Extra: An Interview With the Cast and Crew of When the Screaming Starts (Panic Fest 2022)
At Panic Fest in Kansas City, a wicked slice of horror-comedy has been ordered up in the form of an indie UK feature, When the Screaming Starts. The Scariest Things podcast crew immediately fell for this mockumentary about a Manson Family-style murder cult setting its roots in London. We were joined by the Director and Actor/Producers of the film to discuss the story of the “family” that slays together and doesn’t stay together (ahem!).
Joseph’s Fantaspoa Reviews: “Follow Her,” “Ox-Head Village,” and “Yellow Dragon’s Village”
Follow Her ★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Ox-Head Village ★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Yellow Dragon’s Village ★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Joseph reviews three films from Brazil’s Fantaspoa film festival, all of which are well worth seeking out!