★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
There have been a multitude of horror documentaries that chronicle the classic and most famous films of the genre, and there have been documentaries that celebrate certain favorite eras within horror. Director Ruben Pla focuses his efforts on the Independent films and shines a light on a number of the up-and-coming influencers within today’s horror.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A struggling horror novel author catches a fortuitous break, when a dashing young vampire crashes into her life. Red Snow is a cheeky and wicked little horror-romcom with great character chemistry that doesn’t always go where you would expect.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
It’s fair to say that we might not know the full impact of the global pandemic tragedy for years or even decades. Some have been tragically impacted by the pandemic, some have wandered in a face-covered fog, and others have irresponsibly stuck their heads in the sand. Everyone has had choices to make during the pandemic and those choices have manifested in the horrible, but they’ve also been used for creativity and good.
2021 has delivered a number of films that were held in reserve over the awkward year that was 2020. The studios held back some of their most proven titles, and when the theaters opened up a slew of them hit the theaters, and several of them were worth the wait.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Straight outta the Pacific Northwest comes another joint from the same team that brought you 2018’s Big Legend. A far more daring, if not a little less linear, than their first outing with Bigfoot, 2021’s The Stairs is a complex bit of business wrapped up in a cautionary camping tale.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Man Under Table is a surreal, darkly comic commentary on the trials and tribulations of independent filmmaking. It has an air of dread and bleakness of the horror-adjacent kind.
Every year, Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival serves up North America’s largest selection of genre-film goodness, and this year’s 25th edition running August 5–25 is no exception. Along with science fiction, thriller, dark comedy, action, animation, and other exciting genres, horror has always been a big part of Fantasia. Here are six of Fantasia’s exciting fear-fare feature offerings on tap this year.
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Throw the script overboard and set sail with Mareld!
Just off of a buzz generating debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, the trailer for Sean King O’Grady’s feature film […]
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
A group of paranormal investigators gains access to an abandoned amusement park in Malaysia called Miimaland, as part of a challenge by a shady hustler. What starts out as an amusing lark becomes a deadly curse trap that proves to be a haunted destiny for the crew.
★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
edges, particularly the dialogue, but it has a lot of heart. The introduction of indigenous Borneo Iban villagers is respectfully done and makes this quintessentially Malaysian. You do root for the film, even while wincing at its deficiencies.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
An insightful take on a classic ghost story. Director Alex Galvin manages to maintain the melancholy tragedy of the Henry James Gothic tale, while adding in an appropriate modern twist that adds an extra layer of meaning to the proceedings.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Horror takes to the skies once again with Netflix’s latest blood-soaked vampires-on-a-plane romp.
A24 heads to the farm with the Icelandic folk horror LAMB
Advance tickets are now on sale for both stream-at-home and in-person screenings of the Portland Horror Film Festival! All access passes are now available as well. The Scariest Things will be there, and we hope to see you there as well!
🔪🔪🔪🔪 out of 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
Just when you thought it was safe to go to the movies, or watch a horror film, or be a woman, along comes a nasty bit of business courtesy of Frodo Baggins.
Skittering. Scuttling. Swarming. And sometimes… crushing. For millions of people, their greatest fears come with six or eight legs. Yipes! Is something crawling up my leg? AAAAAIIIIEEEE!
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ Is there anyone more qualified to tell the emotional tale of a mother and son relationship beset by ghostly visuals and a murderous mystery? If there is please tell us because as far as we’re concerned Stephen King is still sitting a top horror hill and there’s not anyone out there that will ever reach this pinnacle.
You can also catch Popcorn Frights from the comfort of your own home! From August 12-19, you can catch the big second wave of films that can arrive straight to your living room. Twenty-one feature films and a plethora of live and animated horror shorts for your entertainment. And, if you fest at home, the popcorn will be so much cheaper!
If you follow the ol’ Scariest Things Podcast you know that we love our posters! No poster is too weird, too gory, too strange, too horrifying, or too vague.
Here are three reviews from South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, for a highly artistic Spanish historical chiller, a moody Vietnamese horror based on Asian urban legends, and a fine Hong Kong psychological horror thriller.
Things did not go according to plan at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The director of Raw is back in a big way with her literally auto-erotic thriller Titane. Extreme genre films don’t usually win awards, but this film broke the mold, including in how it won the big prize.
One of The Scariest Thing’s favorite genre film festivals is Popcorn Frights, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After a year where they couldn’t have a live festival, things have now opened up. It’s time to go back to the cinema in a big way!
If you’re as big a creature feature fan as some of us here at The Scariest Things are, you should […]
Our beloved local Portland Horror Film Festival has announced its feature film roster for 2021. And for ONE MORE DAY, you can get the Patron of Horror Pass that gets you all of the fantastic swag that PHFF is famous for! The festival is doing a hybrid streaming and theatrical event this year, and you can pick and choose how you want to see the movies.
★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
The ultimate road rage movie that collides with a nail-biting home invasion film. This Dutch film absolutely pours the intensity on in a way unseen in many a year. A rude and headstrong man picks the wrong enemy in a highway tailgating incident, subjecting his entire family to the revenge of a nuanced killer who uses rat poison as his weapon of choice.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Once more into the maze! It’s still full of tricks, traps, misdirection, and impossible challenges. As it was the last time, the killer escape rooms are hugely imaginative, even if the overriding plot isn’t. It’s an entertaining low-calorie thrill ride that is as entertaining and exciting as a roller coaster, but it has about as much nuance and character development as an carnie ride as well.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Great White delivers some effective shark-attack–movie thrills with solid acting but not many new elements.
★★★1/2 and ★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The Purge series has a way of reflecting the anxieties of the moment, and the latest installment, The Forever Purge, pours gasoline on the subject of immigration and the ugly political divide within the United States. It is a ferocious dystopian view that if you squint, is frightening as to how close we are to this dark reality. Your feelings about this film may get framed largely from your political point of view.
Buona sera! If you like your horror with a large slice of salacious, then look to the Italians and their bloody thriller tradition of Giallo. Where to start? Let the Scariest Things point you the way to a bloody good time.
