Writer/director Larry Fessenden’s Depraved is a gory, thrilling modern adaptation of the Frankenstein mythos, replete with commentary on today’s society and many of its shortcomings. Like the majority of Fessenden’s directorial efforts, it’s a thinking person’s horror film, but one that pulls no punches in the visceral shocks department. Alex (Owen Campbell of Super Dark […]
Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow featured three films highlighted by powerful, mysterious female characters for its March 2nd screenings. These films ranged from subtle and understated to violent and gory. The Rusalka (AKA The Siren) Writer/director Perry Blackshear’s The Rusalka (retitled The Siren for its U.K. release), his follow-up to his terrific debut They Look Like […]
Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow offered up horror, comedy, and deadly serious dystopian drama with its Friday, March 1st screenings. Besides the world premiere of the terrific British indie shocker Here Comes Hell, this reviewer also had the opportunity to watch the American metalheads vs. giant ants movie Dead Ant (retitled Giant Killer Ants for its […]
Black-and-white independent U.K. feature Here Comes Hell starts off as a British comedy of manners mashed up with classic old dark house elements before suddenly rocketing into full-on horror territory. First-time director Jack McHenry and his cast and crew serve up a fun, frenetic helping of supernatural chaos. George Walker, Jr., (Tom Bailey), son of […]
Director Matt Wisniewski’s short film Pappy’s World (2018) is a surreal, jaw-dropping, pleasantly confounding blend of live action and animation. It’s bizarre yet wholly accessible in its telling of the carnage of an evil doll secretly unwrapped before Christmas. A girl (Jaz Frazier) uses her sleeping grandfather’s cane to reach a box at the top […]
Writer/director Hyun Lee’s Australian short Asian Girls is an enigmatic, wholly arresting look at two young neighbor women who live highly contrasting lives — and who haunt each other’s dreams. Striking visuals and a striking soundtrack drive this dialogue-free piece. Chan (Rainbow Chan) is a Chinese seamstress who subsists on instant noodles and boiled black […]
A young woman seeking to escape the doldrums of a dreary life often pretends to be something she is not in the engaging psychological thriller Nancy. When she sees a newscast about a long-missing kidnap victim, however, reality blurs even further for her. Andrea Riseborough, who played the haunting title character in last year’s gonzo […]
Bohemian Industries’ short film Kiss the Devil in the Dark is an eye-popping visual feast that blends a dark Faustian fantasy with shades of classic Hammer Film Productions and Eurohorror vibes. Fans of practical creature effects will find plenty to enjoy here, as well, with the legendary Doug Jones on hand in dual roles. The […]
Blind dates are perfect fodder for horror films, and the short Foxwood takes that notion to highly entertaining levels. Claire (Kalen Marie George) and Nick (cowriter/codirector Ian Hock) meet in person at a bar after some online introductions. After Claire reluctantly accepts a drink after Nick insists, they take a for-hire van to her rather […]
What a wonderful year 2018 was for cinematic scare fare! Fans of all manner of horror films had plenty in which to delight, and several horror-adjacent titles added to the fun and frights. Narrowing down my favorite film to 10 was no easy task, but following is my valiant attempt. 10. (tie) THE NIGHT SITTER, […]
Nothing can get in the way of two sisters who have dreams of becoming Johnny Depp’s personal chefs — not even a crime of passion — in the hilarious, glop-ridden horror comedy short Lunch Ladies. This colorful, energetic romp is a fun blast of feel-good horror comedy. Seretta (Donna Pieroni) and LouAnne (Mary Manofsky) are […]
With Dementia Part II, co-writers and co-directors Mike Testin and Matt Mercer have crafted a horror film with darkly comic moments, filled with imagery and situations that will make even seasoned scare fare veterans squeamish. Most viewers will likely be constantly alternating between grinning and grimacing. The facts that the often comic film is a […]
Sometimes working on overcoming an obsession can lead to possibilities beyond a person’s imagination. In the case of Parker (Charlotte Lindsay Marron), the young teenaged protagonist of the Canadian short film Lay Them Straight, those possibilities can even lead to a terrifying new path. Parker is diagnosed with arithmomania, a disorder in which people feel […]
Folklore-based horror meets babysitter-in-peril fright fare in the Canadian short film The Whistler. Writer/director Jennifer Nicole Stang offers up an intriguing spin on Pied Piper tales, introducing a creepy villain who deserves a full-length expansion of his story. Lindsey (Karis Cameron) is charged by her parents with a sudden evening of babysitting her younger sister […]
A dark journey into the mind of a man increasingly obsessed with the desire to be eaten by either animals or monsters, the Belgian horror short Maw (Muil) is a fascinating, unsettling psychological shocker that aims for an artistic approach rather than focusing on the lurid. Matthieu Sys stars as Richard, a lonely elderly-care assistant […]