In his lifetime, Lau Kar-leung’s worked as an actor (How Wong Fei-Hung Defeated Three Bullies with a Rod (1953); Golden Swallow (1968)), a stuntman (The Black Musketeer ‘F’ (1968); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)), a writer (Legendary Weapons of… Read More ›
horror
“Apartment 7A” has all the elements of a great horror movie befallen by forcing the connection to Rosemary. [Fantastic Fest]
Over my recent vacation to Mexico (my first one in over half a decade), I spent most of my days with my Kindle reading in the pool as I baked in the Gulf sun. The first work I devoured in… Read More ›
Yusron Fuadi’s meta-horror comedy “The Draft! (Setan Alas!)” flips the bird at The Powers That Be while delighting audiences from start to finish. [Fantastic Fest]
With the quickness strike out for the less of us doubt Mercy of the man who put the pen in our mouth Word write us well signed, “Forgiveness for sale” I’m through being full, of all the might you want… Read More ›
Don’t sign on the dotted line with “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” until you’ve read all the fine print.
Every family has demons, every house has spirits, but some are a bit more literal than others. That’s what audiences discovered in director Tim Burton’s 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice, starring Alec Baldwin (The Departed), Geena Davis (The Fly), Winona Ryder… Read More ›
“Speak No Evil” and the curse of the spineless American yuppies.
“It’s hard to say no, isn’t it?” – Paddy, played by James McAvoy in Speak No Evil (2024) Back in the early days of 2022, I sat down for my first (and only to-date) viewing of some Sundance Film Festival… Read More ›
Fargeat, Moore, Quaid, and Qualley congeal to deliver the chaotic horror that is “The Substance.” [TIFF]
If you’re a horror fan and exist on planet Earth, get ready to bow down to Coralie Fargeat (Revenge) and consume every fk’d up thing she ever dares to make. Her newest film, The Substance, blows away the audience by… Read More ›
“The Strangers” remastered in 4K via Shout! Studios delivers visuals worthy of a repeat purchase.
It’s been quite a year for the franchise of horror films known as The Strangers as not only do we get this new home media release, we are also being treated to three new films in the franchise courtesy of… Read More ›
“Presence” unsettles with its unique on-screen perspective and haunts long after. [TIFF]
While some audiences may think that Steven Soderbergh (Kimi; Ocean’s Eleven) may have lost the spark he once had, one thing is for certain — the choices of what he decides to partake in creatively in some capacity are all… Read More ›
Sophomore project “The Seductress from Hell” frustrates in the muddled delivery of good ideas for the sake of bloodletting.
In any career, it’s often about who you know as much as it is what you know. Sure, you can find an entry position somewhere and work your way up, but that method isn’t as secure as it was a… Read More ›
Actor Kaniehtiio Horn establishes herself as a fierce writer and director in her debut feature “Seeds.” [TIFF]
Directing and writing your first feature is certainly a daunting task, but to also star in the vehicle, making yourself a triple threat, is certainly a large task. However, Kaniehtiio Horn (Possessor; Alice, Darling) not only decides to grab that… Read More ›
Book-to-film adaptation “The Watchers” stumbles on pacing and dialog in Ishana Night Shyamalan’s feature debut.
Back in April, at the beginning of a particularly sleepy 12-hour shift manning the box office of the downtown Durham theatre in which I work, I opened A.M. Shine’s The Watchers on my Kindle, having impulsively downloaded it via the… Read More ›
“Sting” Blu-ray Giveaway
Wyrmwood series director Kiah Roache-Turner brought a different kind of horror show to theaters in April 2024 with the creature feature Sting, an arachnophobic’s absolute nightmare. At the end of July, Well Go USA released Roache-Turner’s mystery thriller on physical formats… Read More ›
“A Quiet Place: Day One” Digital Code Giveaway
In 2018, actor/writer/director John Krasinski introduced audiences to a world gone quiet as it continues to try to survive against alien invaders who hunt by sound in A Quiet Place. This year, writer/director Michael Sarnoski (Pig) took audiences to when… Read More ›
Crime anthology “The Killers” exudes undeniable collective charm. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
Anthology stories come in all shapes and sizes. They can be horror-based, like Satanic Hispanics (2022) or Tiny Cinema (2022); offer a western twang, like The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018); or they can be mission-oriented, like Give Me an… Read More ›
“Oddity” firmly establishes its terrifying place in a horror-rich year. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
I do not consider myself someone who scares easily. Sure, a jump scare may get to me and make me uneasy, but it takes a lot to shake me to my utter core and have me wincing and nearly looking… Read More ›
“The Dead Thing” is pitch-perfect horror set in the world of online dating. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
The dating scene has always been rather bleak. This is not news. With the creation of “dating” apps, the odds of meeting someone this way and it working were always slim and bleak. I haven’t had to be out there… Read More ›
“Cuckoo” loudly calls its shot and still hooks its audience with mystery and plagues them with horror. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
In 2019, writer/director Tilman Singer made an enormous splash with his possession thriller Luz. It’s as much an homage to the horror films of the ‘60s and ‘70s, evoking the look via cinematography and art direction, while telling a unique… Read More ›
Director Tatsuya Oishi composites the “Monogatari” prequel trilogy into “Kizumonogatari -Koyomi Vamp-” an interesting curio of a cinematic experience. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
Shtriga, vrykolakas, strigoi, vampire — they are mythical creatures of the night who feed on human blood, exist in a perpetual outward appearance of the moment of their transformation, and can live forever under specific conditions. Stories of their existence… Read More ›
“Chainsaws Were Singing” falls short on its promise but is well worth the price of admission. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
When a movie is pitched as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) meets Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) meets Les Misérables (2012),” there is something that immediately grabs my attention because a musical that is zany and over-the-top… Read More ›
“The Strangers – Chapter 1” cuts … and pastes too much from the previous films to be its own entry.
When I was just a wee lad, 11 years old to be precise, I had two fears: frogs (still do to this day) and home invasion. For some reason, I figured that I was a special enough little boy to… Read More ›