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 ›
horror
“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 ›
“Fear Street Part 1: 1994” may be a YA adaptation at its core, but that doesn’t stop it from getting buckwild.
There are some things that just work better on Netflix. For as much as some films like The Old Guard and The Midnight Sky practically beg to be seen on a big screen, the streaming giant does offer films and… Read More ›
“The Unholy” is a painful, sacrilegious experience.
Saint Maud is one of my favorite films I’ve seen this year, and I think it’s a damn shame how A24 treated it by hocking it to EPIX, of all streamers, for its tiny release. It represents the best that… Read More ›
Tragically haunting, “My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To” forces the audience to consider difficult questions.
Quiet horror is not a particularly marketable asset to a major studio, and it’s because of that that we just don’t see much of it in the immediate landscape of the genre today. Audiences demand bigger thrills, louder jump-scares, and… Read More ›
Everyone’s a little suss when there are “Werewolves Within.”
When it comes to adapting games, especially video games, for cinema, the track record is low for success. While there’s some fun to be had in Doom (2005) or Mortal Kombat (1995), it’s best not to mention any appreciation for… Read More ›