No one knows the name BT Meza, but after his feature debut, which he wrote and directed, everyone is going to have some Affection for him. The film is an unsettling nightmare that no one ever wants to experience. Whenever… Read More ›
The Overlook Film Festival
“Flush” is an entertaining comedy thriller for those who can stomach it. [The Overlook Film Festival]
There is something about potty humor and potty horror that, if done right, works, and if it misses it by the slightest of margins, it becomes something irredeemable. Somehow, director Grégory Morin (Ultimate Zombie Feast) and screenwriter David Neiss (Noir… Read More ›
Yûta Shimotsu’s sophomore film, cosmic horror “New Group,” challenges the meaning of “one of us.” [The Overlook Film Festival]
Muno (Yo, right), he’s tall and friendly Foofa (Oh, hehehehehe), she’s pink and happy Brobee (Woah), the little green one Toodee (Yeah, woo), she likes to have fun Plex (Woah), a magic robot Let’s all come and play with DJ… Read More ›
Just a “Normal” nefariously good time. [The Overlook Film Festival]
“Yea, and if some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep, even so I will endure… For already have I suffered full much, and much have I toiled in perils of waves and war. Let this be added to… Read More ›
Hot Contents: dark-tinged crime comedy “Chili Finger” may scald parents young and old. [The Overlook Film Festival]
There are many weird things regarding the rules of storytelling and one of them is tied to the concept of reality. Unless one is dealing with space wizards and laser swords, orcs and elves, a certain adherence to what is… Read More ›
Taratoa Stappard’s Māori gothic horror “Mārama” offers retribution and reclamation without making space for false righteousness. [The Overlook Film Festival]
“Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua (I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on the past).” – A Māori proverb. There’s this strange belief coursing through some in the United States that European culture is being threatened by… Read More ›
The blood will flow in New Orleans! 22 Overlook Film Festival 2026 films to add to your fest schedule.
For the fourth year in a row, Elements of Madness will officially be covering The Overlook Film Festival and, this year, am joined by EoM Contributor Justin Waldman. This year’s slate of titles includes several we’ve seen, so our recommendation… Read More ›
The horror of R.T. Thorne’s alt-universe “40 Acres” is planted firmly in our past and present. [The Overlook Film Festival]
The longer one is alive, the more one learns about history, the more timeline events feel like traveling in a circle, rather than in a flat line. Communities build up, empires rise, blights come, and, eventually, the empires fall. The… Read More ›
A look at the larger and personal legacy of “Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight” on its 30th Anniversary. [The Overlook Film Festival]
Trigger Warning: Though there is no rain, there’s a great deal of lightning in the film which may impact photosensitive viewers. If you’re a person of a certain age, one only needs to hear a few notes of Danny Elfman’s… Read More ›
Documentary “The Spirit of Halloweentown” seeks to investigate the relationship between the real St. Helens and its inhabitants separate from its cinematic connection. [The Overlook Film Festival]
Since debuting in 1998, Disney’s Halloweentown has spawned a total of four films and at least one marriage (co-stars Kimberly J. Brown and Daniel Kountz of Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge). It’s developed quite the fanbase since the original Halloweentown, turning… Read More ›
“Best Wishes to All” leaves many thematic dark corners for audiences to stare into. [The Overlook Film Festival]
“Only the pursuit of happiness is guaranteed. The rest is up to you.” – David Fagan While there are things that are specific to culture, community, or time, other things are universal, like the overwhelming dread experienced by the young… Read More ›
Capsule Review: R.T. Thorne’s “40 Acres.” [The Overlook Film Festival]
R.T. Thorne’s feature-film directorial debut, 40 Acres anchors its tale of familial strife and global terror as the world teeters on the brink. Screening during The Overlook Film Festival 2025, audiences may presume 40 Acres to be a straight-forward horror-thriller… Read More ›
18 Overlook Film Festival 2025 films to get your fright on.
For the third year in a row, Elements of Madness will officially be covering The Overlook Film Festival and, as the sole member of the team “attending,” I thought I’d offer up a few recommendations of what to check out… Read More ›
Creature feature “Arcadian” has a fever and the only prescription is more Cage. [The Overlook Film Festival]
In the most Abed Nadir voice possible — “Nicolas Cage maaaaaaaaan” — and that alone should either have an audience immediately ready to dive into what absolute madness whether good, bad, or Cage, they’re about to get into. While the… Read More ›
Everything you thought you knew about the “Realm of Satan” is on display, making you question whether the film is fact or farce. [The Overlook Film Festival]
“For the uninvited, there is much to fear.” – Sign posted above the entrance to a home in Realm of Satan. For all of human existence, where there wasn’t an explanation before them, one was created. Myths become legends which… Read More ›
“Red Rooms” takes audiences on a frightfully intense rollercoaster of court proceedings. [The Overlook Film Festival]
There are movies that focus on courtroom procedurals and the drama that comes from the hearing itself that either are so effective they’re traumatizing or so dull they entirely lose the audience. Pascal Plante’s Red Rooms (Les chambres rouges) thankfully… Read More ›
“Infested” grants audiences a parting gift of a life-long phobia. [The Overlook Film Festival]
Horror movies usually tend to fixate on fears to engage their audience or do something truly horrifying and disturbing. The latter are typically easier to digest since they’re easier to shake off as they’re not exploiting something the audience may… Read More ›
Filmmakers Clark and Weir show potential in their debut film “Birdeater.” [The Overlook Film Festival]
There are so many ways that a film can get under an audience’s skin, whether that be intentional or not, but beating the proverbial dead horse with a children’s bat is certainly not the way to get things going in… Read More ›
Ariane Louis-Seize’s “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person” blends melancholic drama and teenage angst in an exploration of the human condition through a vampiric lens. [The Overlook Film Festival]
Photosensitivity Warning: In several key sequences, flickering lights are used to convey enhanced emotions which may prove problematic for sensitive viewers. In undergrad at UNC at Asheville, during a lower-level English course, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was read and discussed as… Read More ›
17 films to check out during The Overlook Film Festival 2024.
For the second time, Elements of Madness will be covering The Overlook Film Festival and we thought we’d offer up our recommendations of what to check out during the fest or what to keep an eye out for in wider… Read More ›