Author Archives
UNC Charlotte '18 graduate | Film Intern at CLTure | North Carolina Film Critics Association member | Lover of bad teen horror movies and 90s pop music
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Deeply unpleasant and horrifying, one visit to George A. Romero’s “The Amusement Park” is all you need.
When you have done great work in life, your work will speak for your legacy long after you are gone. If you’re George A. Romero, you know how to do that while also staying on-brand and releasing a new film… Read More ›
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Simon Barrett’s feature directorial debut “Séance” is a first class experience.
As someone who, like many, spent the entirety of their education in public schools, I’ve always had a sick fascination with the mystique of the private school experience, particularly that of the private boarding school experience. There’s something so strangely… Read More ›
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“Spiral: From The Book of Saw” is not a game you want to play.
As a child, I truly believed the pinnacle of horror was the Saw series. As someone who feared horror films up until age 13-ish, it was difficult for me to distinguish between something that was actually scary, and something that… Read More ›
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Though magnetic and fascinating, “Things Heard & Seen” is ultimately a harmless a slow-burn haunted house tale.
Horror films are like snowflakes. Some may look incredibly similar to each other, but at their heart, each one has something unique and new to bring to the table different than anything before (unless you’re Gus Van Sant remaking Psycho…that… Read More ›
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“The Banishing” ultimately leaves viewers with a bunch of delicious ingredients that just refuse to mix together properly.
Rarely does it ever occur, but every now and then, my very public love of horror and my more privately held love of period dramas overlap, and these slower, quieter works of eerie horror almost always speak to me in… Read More ›
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Trippy, manic, and violent only begins to describe Ben Wheatley’s “In The Earth.”
Off-the-bat: Major epilepsy/strobe warning in effect for In The Earth. Stay far away from this film if that concerns you in any way. Director Ben Wheatley is no stranger to putting on different filmmaking hats, from his takes on British… Read More ›
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If you can stomach it, “Violation” from writing/directing team Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer has something worth hearing.
**Trigger Warning: Discussion of topics surrounding sexual assault** There’s this strange sort of thought process that goes into the writing of the stereotypical rape-revenge film. Woman (always a woman, because that’s totally not something that ever happens to a man,… Read More ›
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Liberate tutemet ex inferis. “Event Horizon” Collector’s Edition coming from Shout! Factory.
Have you taken time to praise our lord and savior Paul W.S. Anderson today? For his truth and wisdom are great and mighty, and his camp polished and lively. For he…also made the Resident Evil movies, and that’s pretty cool,… Read More ›
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The unique benefits of “The Spine of Night” outweigh its sometimes impenetrable downsides. [SXSW Film Festival]
Of the nominations for Best Animated Film at this year’s Academy Awards, Onward, Over the Moon, Shaun The Sheep: Farmageddon, Soul, and Wolfwalkers, not a single one of them was made for anything but family audiences in mind. It’s a… Read More ›
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Riveting documentary “Introducing, Selma Blair” captures the spirit of a person unbroken. [SXSW Film Festival]
There’s a point about two-thirds of the way through Introducing, Selma Blair where the titular Selma Blair is recounting her career based on her magazine appearances, including an admittedly unfortunate Seventeen Magazine cover, a stunning Italian Vogue cover, and the… Read More ›
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Documentary “Alien on Stage” charms from lights down to the final curtain call. [SXSW Film Festival]
If you’re like me, you’ve been obsessed with the North Bergen High School’s production of Alien two years ago. The New Jersey high school, with the film and a dream as inspiration, crafted a unique and (by high school standards)… Read More ›
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Failing to live up to its promise, “Offseason” feels more like a pale imitation to other works. [SXSW Film Festival]
If you ever even mutter the words “silent” and “hill” within seven words of each other in a sentence within a 10-meter radius of me, buckle in because I’m going to tell you everything I know about the Silent Hill… Read More ›
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Megan Park’s “The Fallout” doesn’t sensationalize school violence, but explores the aftermath. [SXSW Film Festival]
Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland. These are words that have been burned into our collective minds as a nation as we struggle to deal with a society that puts gun rights over children’s lives. These are atrocities we’ve been forced to… Read More ›
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South African horror film “Gaia” is 100% risk, earning the audience’s respect. [SXSW Film Festival]
There really aren’t enough African films in the international film circuit. Nollywood (Nigerian Film Industry) is certainly getting its flowers, but rarely do those films ever make their way onto American shores. Even most films we see about South Africa… Read More ›
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Powered by Andrea Riseborough, “Here Before” will catch you completely off guard. [SXSW Film Festival]
Andrea Riseborough. That’s it; that’s the review. …okay fine, I’ll say more. If there’s anyone who has been a film festival genre darling in the past couple years, it’s been Andrea Riseborough. Her transformation from British prestige drama actress to… Read More ›
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Don’t confuse “Swan Song” for camp, it’s a loving tale with a heart of gold. [SXSW Film Festival]
Being gay is one of the biggest gifts life has granted me, and the fact I’m able to sit here and say that shows just how far we’ve come as a society to where I, and so many other people,… Read More ›
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Without a clear focus, this telling of “Disintegration Loops” falls on deaf ears. [SXSW Film Festival]
Ambient music is one of those things that pervades your life in the basest of forms, but when you learn the depths of the genre within the modern music scene, it kind of blows your mind. This was my experience… Read More ›
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By the time folk horror doc “Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror” ends, you’ll want even more. [SXSW Film Festival]
Folk horror is something that, for a while, I didn’t know was genuinely one of my favorite forms in the horror genre. It’s difficult to categorize it as its own separate sub-genre as its products can be widespread and incredibly… Read More ›
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Director Paul W.S. Anderson’s video game adaptation “Monster Hunter” possesses the potential to be the start of something grand.
I’m a recent convert, but I love me some Monster Hunter videogames. They’re simple on the surface, but nearly impossible to truly master without pouring countless hours grinding and studying the habits and weaknesses of each bit of prey assigned… Read More ›
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Celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Amanda Bynes/Channing Tatum Shakespeare adaptation “She’s The Man” with a brand-new Blu-ray release.
Everybody has a secret… Duke wants Olivia who likes Sebastian who is really Viola whose brother is dating Monique so she hates Olivia who’s with Duke to make Sebastian jealous who is really Viola who’s crushing on Duke who thinks… Read More ›