Following the success of the first digital iterations of the Etheria Film Night, a genre festival focusing on horror, thriller, and sci-fi shorts directed by women, there has to be more sequels, right? Etheria Season II, a block of 10… Read More ›
horror
Pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside, there’s little to love in cruelly misguided Janelle Monáe horror vehicle “Antebellum.”
It’s no secret that I absolutely adore Janelle Monáe. I have since her first album, The Archandroid, all the way up the absolutely masterful Dirty Computer album of 2018. I genuinely believe that she is this generation’s Prince in her… Read More ›
WB Home Entertainment releases four adventurous catalogue titles in 4K UHD for the first time.
It’s showtime! Warner Brothers Home Entertainment is dropping not one, not two, but four new 4K UHD editions from their vast catalogue: Richard Donner’s The Goonies (1985), Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988), and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes:… Read More ›
Darkly humorous “The Columnist” takes on social media trolls. [Fantasia Film Festival]
Internet trolls have long been the bane of social media journalists and content creators, but rarely do the victims of such attacks get a chance to face their opponents eye-to-eye. In Ivo Van Art’s Dutch language film The Columnist, this… Read More ›
If you’re in the mood for something dark and gory, look no further than Bryan Bertino’s “The Dark & The Wicked.” [Fantasia Film Festival]
One of the first horror films I ever saw during its release time was Bryan Bertino’s 2008 home-invasion thriller, The Strangers. I will always have the distinct memory of watching it at my best friend’s house after a July 4th… Read More ›
Despite an engaging aesthetic and good performances, “The Block Island Sound” doesn’t totally manifest. [Fantasia Film Festival]
Everyone has their favorite urban legends, mine typically revolve around abandoned places and towns that have no explanation in their abandonments. Others like bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, or the Bermuda Triangle. It’s easy to see that the latter is… Read More ›
Charlie Kaufman’s “i’m thinking of ending things” pulls off the seemingly impossible task of adapting Ian Reid’s book with ease and grace.
When I read a book, I feel accomplished. When I read a book based on a film, I feel elitist. When I read a book based on a film before its release, I feel completely untouchable. I know I shouldn’t,… Read More ›
The discomfort within “Centigrade” is more than a matter of degrees.
I hate snow. Perhaps it’s because my exposure to snow has been the rare snowstorms that hit North Carolina once or twice a year, leaving a wake of dirty black ice in its wake, but I’ve genuinely never enjoyed the… Read More ›
“The Mortuary Collection” struggles to keep its stylistic balance, but it’s a fun, nostalgic ride. [Fantasia Film Festival]
The word “nightmarish” is one of those terms frequently thrown around when describing horror films. While the jump-scares, villains, and gore of the horror genre can certainly haunt us in our sleep, oftentimes, the plots of horror movies are quite… Read More ›
“Random Acts of Violence” exists in a strange gray area where you lose much of the fantastic elements present.
The rise of the comic book movie has mainly accrued its time and money within the industry using big-budget superhero movie universes. While gritty graphic novel adaptions had their day in the mid-2000s with the hits of Sin City, V… Read More ›
IFC Midnight’s “Sputnik” is the kind of slow-burn horror experience you long for theatrically.
I could name five French films that have released in the past year, the same with Korean, Chinese, German, Swedish, and Spanish films as well. However, despite being the largest country on Earth by landmass, I probably couldn’t name five… Read More ›
Teddy Grennan takes a stab at rape-revenge with “Ravage,” a well-intentioned but misguided horror flick.
Anyone familiar with rape-revenge films knows that the formula for this horror sub-genre can be particularly tricky. While the genre continually offers up new ways for audiences to process and discuss trauma, rape-revenge films can be quite problematic when not… Read More ›
“Monstrous” is a horror movie with no monster.
A horror movie about the legendary bigfoot should be a no brainer. When all things are considered, the tale of bigfoot has been a piece of American folklore for years and years. Books have been written about it, people talk… Read More ›
A Conversation with writer/producer Devin Peluso and director Travis Stewart. [Real to Reel Film Festival]
“Reel Conversations” highlights filmmakers behind official Real to Reel Film Festival Selections. On this episode of “Reel Conversations,” Thomas Manning speaks with Travis Stewart (director) and Devin Peluso (writer/producer), the filmmakers behind the post-apocalyptic thriller short film, Spread Among Us…. Read More ›
Horror thriller “1BR” offers pure, clever entertainment.
Apartment hunting is a living nightmare. There’s simply no way around the fact that every facet of moving to a new space is meant to test our mental and physical fortitude as humans, looking to see just how much stress… Read More ›
Romola Garai’s directing debut “Amulet” delivers on every twisted promise.
Actors turned directors are not rare occurrences in the film industry with many seasoned actors at least taking one crack behind the camera during the course of their career, from George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks, Warren Beatty, to Denzel… Read More ›
“Ghosts of War” is a solid haunted house movie set during World War II.
We all love a good World War II movie. Saving Private Ryan, Hacksaw Ridge, heck, you could even count Captain America: The First Avenger as a great World War II movie. World War II movies have a great way of striking so much emotion,… Read More ›
Unless you’re in the mood for incredible frustration, stay out of “The Room.”
In film criticism, there’s a guiding light that I try to stand by: review the film in front of you, not the film you wish you’d seen. That doesn’t mean that you can’t, don’t, or shouldn’t discuss a film’s failings…. Read More ›
The Breathtaking Melancholy of “Relic” (or How I Learned to Stop Panicking and Trust the Aging Process).
Both of my grandfathers died before my grandmothers (one of whom, my mother’s mother, is still with us), and what remained following their deaths was a peculiar phenomenon that I had never considered before. As women of the 1940s, they… Read More ›
New streaming horror film “Yummy” is anything but.
What’s so wonderful about horror is that there’s truly something for everyone. Do you find yourself compelled most by fear of the unknown? Try some supernatural horror. Scared of a violent apocalypse? There are tons of zombie films at your… Read More ›