★★★★ 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.
Mike’s Review: Basket Case (1982)
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Everybody had to start somewhere. Alien ripped off The Green Slime. Child’s Play ripped off Magic. Piranha ripped off Jaws. And everyone ripped off Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It should come as no surprise that this year’s weirdo “it” film Malignant is a ripoff, but we’re here to tell you it is.
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.
Eric’s Review: Antlers (2021)
★★★★★ out of ★★★★★
It was worth the wait. Antlers is a somber and intense showcase of Northwest folklore horror, with layers of well-told subtexts of domestic abuse survivors, the plight of small-town opioid abuse, and the graphic power of the Native American cryptid legend of the Wendigo. Mix in great acting and some great creature and body-horror effects and you get an all-around winner this fall.
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.
Liz’s Review: Night Teeth
★★ out of ★★★★★
Buckle up for a very bumpy ride with Night Teeth.
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: Halloween Kills (2021)
★★ out of ★★★★★
Halloween Kills harkens back to the old traditions of the Halloween sequels. And that’s not a good thing. The movie delivers expert gore effects and the cruel hyperviolence is superbly done. Old-school slasher fans will likely be quite pleased. But, for those who have grown accustomed to smart protagonists and the nuanced scripts of modern horror, you will be disappointed. This movie is simply an exhausting bloody trudge, setting up the next and nominally final chapter to this trilogy.
Mike’s Review: Halloween Kills (2021)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
As demonic crooner Ronnie James Dio once famously opined “when you listen to fools, the mob rules.” Maybe this prescient piece of advice was being plied to the January 6 insurrection, maybe it was being plied to Halloween Kills, but just maybe Dio’s magical ways were sorting out many future truths.
Liz’s Review: Squid Game (2021)
★★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Being picked last on the playground may be an advantage when you’re playing the Squid Game.
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
The Scariest Things Podcast Episode CXXXI: Folklore Horror
Once upon a time… horror was something you learned from your grandmother or the tribal elder. It is ancient horror by way of magic and myth, bolstered by the shared beliefs of a culture. This sub-genre is open to a broad range of interpretations and can be somewhat hard to pin down for definition. Leave it to the Scariest Things who were not afraid to give our own takes on what Folkloric horror is all about.
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.
Robert’s Review: Chompy & The Girls (2021)
★★★ out of ★★★★★
An oddly touching movie about family, loneliness, depression, and a creepy man who can swallow people whole.
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.”
Joseph’s Review: The Secret of Sinchanee
★★★ out of ★★★★★
The Secret of Sinchanee boasts solid acting from its ensemble cast and an effectively eerie atmosphere, but tries to delve into what feels like too many ideas for one film.
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!
Mike’s Book Review: The Remaking (2020)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A determined novel that spans multiple time frames and plumb near covers every last aspect horror genre — except for UFOs and Bigfoot. That might sound like a stretch, but it ain’t. There’s witches. There’s ghouls. There’s 1970s grindhouse lore. There’s the conventions and their inevitable fan-boy hangers on. There’s even true crime podcasters. This book covers it all. Maybe that’s a good thing and maybe it’s not.
The Scariest Things Podcast Extra: An Interview with Tim Shechmeister, Director of “Hello?” : The Best Horror Shorts of the Portland Horror Film Festival
The Scariest Things loves its short horror films, and we had the privilege to talk with director Tim Shechmeister who gave us our favorite horror short from the extensive roster of great shorts that played at the Portland Horror Film Festival. Check out an exclusive release of Hello? right here in this post!
Robert’s Review: The Manson Brothers Midnight Zombie Massacre (2021)
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Small-time, trailer park professional wrestling meets zombie grindhouse mayhem in director Max Martini’s sophomore outing.
Joseph’s Arrow Video FrightFest 2021 Reviews: Post Mortem; As in Heaven, So on Earth; and Nocturna: Side A — The Great Old Man’s Night
Joseph reviews three films from Arrow Video FrightFest: “Post Mortem,” “As in Heaven, So on Earth,” and “Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night.”
Liz’s Book Report: The Last House on Needless Street
★★★★★ out of ★★★★★ By Catriona Ward Way back in April (it’s almost October!) I was given an advance reader […]
Joseph’s Fantastic Fest Reviews: The Execution and Homebound
Joseph reviews two excellent films from Fantastic Fest: The Russian serial killer feature “The Execution” and U.K. horror mystery “Homebound.”
Eric’s Review: Superdeep (2021)
★★ out of ★★★★★
The fungal body horror Russian showcase Superdeep has the trappings of a better movie, but completely undercuts its fabulous practical effects and makeup work with characters who seem to be willfully stupid in their actions.
Joseph’s Reviews: SLASH Film Festival Horror Shorts: “The Inheritance,” “Lucid,” and “The Last Queen on Earth”
Along with the terrific feature-film lineup from Vienna’s SLASH Film Festival, plenty of short-form fright fare is on tap, too. Here are capsule reviews of just a few of the short films on offer.