Mandrake ★★★★ out of ★★★★★ Directed by Lynne Davison Blending folk horror with crime and family drama, Mandrake, Lynne Davison’s...
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★★.5 out of ★★★★★
Horror comedy is a tricky bit of business. Too far in either direction can produce blood curdling, or alternatively, cringe inducing results. While it’s pure joy to dabble in both, sometimes films need to pick a figurative lane.
Joseph reviews two films from MidWest WeirdFest: Crime caper/horror outing "Hair-Trigger" and creature feature "Reeds Point."
Joseph reviews two fine new chillers screening at Wisconsin's MidWest WeirdFest.
Wisconsin’s MidWest WeirdFest has announced the full lineup for its March 4-6 run this year, and it’s a doozy! Along...
South By Southwest is one of the biggest festivals in the country. It encompasses film, music, comedy, education and technology...
Visitors ★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★ Directed by Kenichi Ugana Japanese filmmaker Kenichi Ugana makes some seriously messed up films, and...
★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Speak No Evil is going to be the film everyone is talking about!
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A witch is not the only thing that haunts a college campus in Mariama Diallo's debut feature, Master.
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!
★★★ 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.
★★★★ 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.
★★★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.
★★.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 reviews two films from Another Hole in the Head Film Festival: "The Last Frankenstein" and "Night, Knight Teddy."
★★★ 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.
★★★★ 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.
★★★.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 reviews two fine films from Australia's Monster Fest film festival: sylvan horror short "Button Man" and Ozploitation feature "Scam."
San Francisco’s Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, which runs online and in the theater from December 1st–15th, 2021,...
Austria's prestigious SLASH Filmfestival is currently accepting submissions for its 13th edition next year.
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.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ With a wooded setting as bleak as the situations in which Woodland Grey’s two main characters...
★★★★ 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 reviews the excellent Spanish thriller "Cross the Line" and the offbeat Brazilian feature "Medusa" from Lund International Fantastic Film Festival.
★★★ out of ★★★★★ The Room co-star Greg Sestero makes his directorial debut with this 1970s-styled killer cult movie. Butter...
★★★★ 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.
Along with Sweden’s Lund International Fantastic Film Festival’s fine selection of genre feature films, the fest boasts a fine selection...
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.
