As with previously reviewed films Giants and Toys (1958) and Irezumi (1966), Arrow Video is restoring and offering up to audiences outside of Japan another Yasuzô Masumura film: Blind Beast. Arrow Video provides an opportunity to expand what viewers may… Read More ›
horror
“The Last Matinee” satisfies with thrills and kills.
The great debate of the importance of the “theatrical experience” has been run into the ground as streaming services continue to expand and movie theater attendance becomes increasingly inconsistent. The industry was headed in this direction even before March 2020,… Read More ›
Russian comedy “Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It” is a road trip horror comedy you’ve just gotta see. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
Everyone has a thing that they look for before deciding if they want to engage with a piece of art. It could be the cover of an album that lures them in, the style of brush strokes crafting a painting,… Read More ›
Director Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman” recontextualizes the mythos in a way that’ll excite some and frustrate others.
The stories we tell matter. They carry weight with every word. They are derived from their individual meanings as well as the histories accompanying them. Stories keep people and events alive long after their physical forms are gone, enabling those… Read More ›
Undeniable cast chemistry shines bright against the dark forces at play in “When I Consume You.” [Fantasia International Film Festival]
Do your worst childhood fears ever come back to haunt you? Does it feel like the monsters in your closet never left? Most of us outgrow our fear of shadows, monsters, and the dark, and we can now keep the… Read More ›
“Be careful what you wish for, be certain what you pray for:” Religious intentions are put on trial in “The Righteous.” [Fantasia International Film Festival]
If you’re into Southern Gothic literature, you’ll go nuts over Mark O’Brien’s feature directorial debut, The Righteous, which screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival earlier this month. Granted, it was filmed in Canada and not the American South, but… Read More ›
Horror drama “Agnes” may not be for you, but you damn well better respect it. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
There’s a demented fascination with nuns in modern society that I feel is worth examining. It’s an alien world of pious faith that most cannot even begin to understand, but we have taken many steps in trying to. From Black… Read More ›
“Hellbender” shows off one family’s filmmaking talents but falls flat under the weight of its poorly developed plot and dialogue. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
From Rosemary’s Baby to False Positive, Psycho to Mommie Dearest, motherhood and the horror genre are a match made in heaven. The labyrinth of psycho-socio-political issues surrounding motherhood, pregnancy, and the mother-child relationship has truly found its home in horror… Read More ›
Beautiful, strange, and bonkers, welcome to “Wonderful Paradise (脳天パラダイス).” [Fantasia International Film Festival]
Japan is gonna Japan whether or not you want Japan to Japan, and when it Japans, it Japans hard. That in and of itself could be the singular tagline for Masashi Yamamoto’s Wonderful Paradise (脳天パラダイス), celebrating its North American premiere… Read More ›
“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” Blu-ray Giveaway
Did you get the chance to check out the third Conjuring film when it hit theaters and HBO Max at the start of June 2021? Want to own it forever? Thanks to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment you can win a… Read More ›
You may want to leave a few lights on to watch “The Last Thing Mary Saw,” a visually petrifying feature debut from writer/director Edoardo Vitaletti. [Fantasia International Film Festival]
You don’t necessarily need complex characters or ingenious plot twists to write an engaging story. With strong imagery and a clear, palpable tone that physically affects your audience, you can transform the most overdone plot into a memorable tale. Writer/director… Read More ›
Join Fistful of Features as it returns to the “House of Wax” via Shout! Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray.
Welcome to Fistful of Features, a celebration of film preservation through physical media and the discussion of cinematic treasures to maintain their relevance in the cultural lexicon. Today we’ll be discussing the fifth film from Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis’s Dark… Read More ›
Lackluster special features can’t reduce the shine of Simon Barrett’s “Seance.”
Seance low-key took my world by storm during its initial release in May, and while I never was lucky enough to live anywhere near a theatre that was playing it, even in its SVOD release, it still remains my #1… Read More ›
Fistful of Features investigates horror thriller “The Night” on home video from Shout! Factory.
Welcome to Fistful of Features, a celebration of film preservation through physical media and the discussion of cinematic treasures to maintain their relevance in the cultural lexicon. Today we’ll be discussing an independent horror film from the festival circuit that… Read More ›
Shssssh! “A Quiet Place Part II” continues the Abbott family story on home video.
2018’s horror thriller A Quiet Place is one of the bigger surprises of 2018 not because it was actor John Krasinski’s second time in the director’s chair, but because it used the conventions of horror to tell a compelling and… Read More ›
M. Night Shyamalan’s graphic novel adaptation explores evocatively dark themes, yet falls prey to the same pitfalls of “Old.”
According to the myth, before Oedipus could enter the city of Thebes, he had to answer a question from the mythical creature known as the Sphinx. Answer properly and he could continue on his journey. Answer wrong and he would… Read More ›
“Hail to the Deadites” is the imperfectly perfect documentary for the imperfectly perfect “Evil Dead” series fan.
Inspiration can strike just about anywhere. Maybe it’s in the silence of doing nothing; the mind unobstructed by screens, music, or other noise becomes able to roam freely through the possibilities. Other times, inspiration comes from a question you ask… Read More ›
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Dead & Buried” with Blue Underground’s 4K UHD restoration.
Welcome to Fistful of Features, a celebration of film preservation through physical media and the discussion of cinematic treasures to maintain their relevance in the cultural lexicon. Today we’ll be discussing Gary Sherman’s cult chiller Dead & Buried now available… Read More ›
“Fear Street Part 3: 1666” sticks the landing as it ends the trilogy where the core narrative began.
“I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never gonna keep me down” – Chumbawumba The first installment in the Fear Street trilogy of Netflix films was a loving, if not sometimes heavy-handed homage to the resurgence… Read More ›
Coming off the heat of “Part 1,” “Fear Street Part 2: 1978” cools the intensity as the middle of the trilogy.
After a strong, but not mind-blowing first installment with Fear Street Part 1: 1994 last week, Leigh Janiak and Netflix’s unique approach to a horror trilogy based on R.L. Stine’s young adult novels adapted as hard-R slashers had decent-sized shoes… Read More ›