Giallo is known for many things. The flash of a killer’s knife blade. Black gloves. Gordian knot mysteries and plot twists. Sexy women in lurid, compromising, and let’s be fair- misogynistic situations. Salacious eye catching posters. Blood. So much blood. And, crazily evocative bordering on non-sensical titles. The Scariest Things dove deep into the Giallo well to find the best titles in the genre.
★ out of ★★★★★ It looks like a horror film. It acts like a horror film. It’s directed by cinema great and heir to the Hitchcock throne. Its promotional materials portend horror is just around the corner. But don’t be fooled, this super-star-packed 1970s telekinetic hype machine is nothing but a boring and unnecessarily long after-school special.
When the closing scene concluded in Don’t Breathe, it was clear that they intended to do a sequel. And now, Stephen Lang is back, and Sony Pictures has produced a trailer for the upcoming Don’t Breathe 2. It appears that this time, the blind man is going to be something of an antihero.
The United Kingdom’s superb Arrow Video FrightFest is one of the highlights each summer for scare-fare fans, and the fest has just presented its stunning poster this year, designed by Graham Humphreys. Following is the official press announcement.
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
This horror comedy about two ghosts trying to work their way out of purgatory features humor that ranges from the broad to the uncomfortable, and is brought to cinematic life by a game cast.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The new park ranger in town teams up with the local mail delivery person to try and calm down the unconventional locals when it seems a werewolf may be on the loose in this lighthearted creature-feature comedy.
The Fantasia International Film Festival has outdone itself with today’s mind-warping second-wave announcement. Featuring horror titles such as #BLUE_WHALE, Ghosting Gloria, and Hellbender (to name but a few) along with a plethora of science fiction, dark comedy, thriller, and other horror-adjacent genres, Montreal’s premiere genre-film fest promises to be a blast, as it is every year.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
In 1984, an ambitious epidemiologist with flexible ethics is called on by the government of the USSR to investigate — and collect samples from — a top secret research site built inside the deepest hole ever drilled into the Earth.
★★★ out of ★★★★★
Where does Annie Clark end and her St. Vincent rock star persona begin? Her friend Carrie Brownstein attempts to document that until the answer to that question winds up in an absurd, sometimes surreal blur in this ambitious mockumentary.
★★ out of ★★★★★
Some will say the epicenter of the Fulci universe lie in the greatness of the gory triptych: The New York Ripper, The House by the Cemetery, and The Beyond. Others will point to the earlier, less gory but equally frightening confines of The Psychic, Don’t Torture a Duckling, and A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin. No matter where you fall on the Lucio Fulci spectrum it’s awfully hard to argue about his immense and ever-lasting output. Stanley Kubrik only directed 13 films. But Fulci? He directed 61.
★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Killer pants. Designer jeans to die for. Corporate greed meets its match in a pair of pants thirsting for vengeance.
The best way for you to learn about Horror Films is to read and listen to The Scariest Things. The next best thing to do is to watch a Horror Documentary. You will find a documentary that aligns with your favorite horror tropes. Giallo? Check! Grindhouse? Check! Classic Universal Monsters? That too. In Episode 125, the Scariest Things team reveals nine movies that will increase your knowledge and love of the genre.
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ Once a film franchise crosses over in to four, five, or six sequels, or god forbid a complete reboot, it deserves lampooning and a heaping dose of criticism. That many sequels is often a reflection of the imagination tank run completely dry. Take your original story/villain and wash, rinse, and repeat.
Washington’s North Bend Film Festival is back, and it is serving up a hybrid in-person and virtual version this July. […]
★★★ out of ★★★★★ Umm what just happened? Was that a dream? Did I just have a stroke? Did my ego and id simultaneously implode? Unclear on all fronts. One thing is certain. This is a film like no other and it’s not something you can ever unsee.
What’s summer without a shark attack movie? If you share this sentiment, check out the trailer and poster reveal for Great White, an Australian entry in the shark survival horror thriller subgenre headed our way in July.
Destined to be one of the most talked-about and divisive fright-fare films of the year, auteur Mickey (Climate of the Hunter) Reece’s possession-horror feature brings “But is it horror?” to a whole new level.
★★★ out of ★★★★★ Directed by Prano Bailey-Bond Enid (Niamh Algar) is a film censor in London who’s job it is […]
★★★★ out of ★★★★★ Everyone gets old. It’s no more complicated than this little horrifying truism. The world of horror is filled with ghosts, homicidal nutcases, Pazzuzu, creepies, crawlies, and robot-monsters. But, nothing, repeat, nothing, is more frightening at the prospect of losing your mental and physical faculties and facing the sad and potential finite end of life.
Along with the terrific feature-film lineup from Twisted Dreams Film Festival’s 2021 virtual version, the festival serves up plenty of short-form fright fare, too. Here is a second set of capsule reviews of just a few of the short films on offer.
For a pantheon inhabiting monster, it is odd that a good Mummy movie a rarity. Unlike werewolves and vampires, Mummies got stuck in a same-story trope vortex of sameness. Fear not, though, The Scariest Things has found some buried treasures for you!
★★★ out of ★★★★★ Written and Directed by Ben Wheatley During the lockdown of 2020, while the rest of us […]
Along with the terrific feature-film lineup from Twisted Dreams Film Festival’s 2021 virtual version, the fest serves up plenty of superb short-form fright fare, too. Here are capsule reviews of just a few of the short films on offer.
★★★1/2 and ★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The highly anticipated return of the demonologist duo, The Warrens, has arrived on the big screen. It starts off with a ferocious roar of an opening scene, and largely holds its dramatic tension to the finish of this exorcism mystery meets courtroom drama.
Dolls are creepy. Ventriloquist dummies add on the extra creep factor. Finley takes advantage of all the established history of the evil dummy tropes that came before it and flips all expectations in the most amusing and satisfying way.
IFC Midnight has dropped the trailer for Neill Blomkamp’s newest offering, Demonic and it looks insane!
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
A worthy sequel to the science-fiction horror modern classic. A Quiet Place Part II is very much an extension of the first movie. It feels like one continuous story. Intense, expertly crafted, and wonderfully acted, this movie doesn’t break a lot of new ground but it builds upon what the original did so well. It’s a first-rate thrill ride!
★★ out of ★★★★★ Crack open the dusty dictionary parked over on your bookshelf and look up staid British horror film. We’ll wait. What’s it say? 1976’s Satan’s Slave? Yep, that’s what we thought.
The fine folks behind Milwaukee’s Twisted Dreams Film Festival have done it again, booking an incredible array of pulse-pounding cinema for the fest’s sixth edition, and its second virtual version. Following you will find what’s playing, how to see it, and more . . .
A man going through some difficult times discovers $3 million on his new property, but it comes with ever-heavier emotional baggage and a corpse that won’t stay buried in this well-crafted chiller.
