The Fantasia International Film Festival’s first wave announcement was loaded with mouth-watering cinematic fare, but today’s second wave announcement somehow tops even that! Horror titles such as #BLUE_WHALE, Hellbender, and Martyr’s Lane (to name but a few) in the mix along with science fiction, dark comedy, thriller, and other genres, Montreal’s premiere genre-film fest promises […]
Alcohol, insults, and dredging up the past rarely mix well together, and they certainly don’t in the Canadian short film Big Wheels, director Andrew Simpson’s take on a Stephen King short story. This taut thriller is a nail-biter throughout thanks to nerve-wracking atmosphere and acting-clinic–level performances. Bob (Andrew Bee) is a mechanic who is about […]
Peruvian horror film Face of the Devil (La Cara del Diablo; 2014) combines the beats of a slasher film with supernatural goings-on. The result is a fun, eerie watch bolstered by solid characterization. In a familiar set-up, seven college-age friends, including two couples, go on a weekend vacation to a remote area. After some topless […]
After joining other film festivals in presenting Nightstream online last year, The North Bend Film Festival has announced that this year’s edition will be a hybrid version, taking place in person in cinemas with a virtual version, as well. Highlights for horror fans include the much-buzzed-about We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, the animated […]
Writer/director Rebekah Fieschi’s latest short film The Unvisited is a playful fantasy exploration of growing older and being separated from immediate family. Though the short has supernatural and horror overtones, the emphasis is on the messages the film delivers rather than shudders and shocks. An aging couple (Cathy Washburn and Kathi Bairnes) live with their […]
Director Aaron Morgan wrings the maximum creepy atmosphere possible in five minutes in his short film Seek. This tale of a rest stop break gone terrifyingly wrong is also bolstered by convincing performances, terrific set design, and super creature effects. Argumentative sisters Heidi (Allisyn Snider) and Jordan (Clare Grant) are obviously on a road trip […]
Milwaukee’s Twisted Dreams Film Festival is going virtual for the second year in a row for its sixth edition, and the lineup includes human monsters, weird creatures, supernatural terror, and horror of all kinds! Following you will find film descriptions, ticket information, and other important info, gathered from the fest’s official announcement and website. Twisted […]
Austrian film festival Slash ½, presented by the minds behind Slash Filmfestival, returns to cinemas after an absence in 2020, and its slate of 11 incredible films is nothing less than mouth-watering. The fest, which runs June 17–20, 2021 at Filmcasino in Vienna, Austria, features the paranoid trappings of Knocking, the topical shocker Bad Hair, […]
The cries of a baby and the slow but caring response of the child’s weary mother kick off a sense of dread in Scottish writer/director Faye Jackson’s U.K. short horror film Changeling. That sense builds ever more relentlessly during the film’s 10-minute running time, leading to a gut-wrenching climax featuring a novel approach to the […]
My highlight of Korea’s hot, humid summers is attending South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), which I have done every year that I have lived in Korea since arriving in 2008. As a matter of fact, I got my start with Gruesome Magazine’s Grue-Crew by covering BIFAN for Horror News Radio. This year, […]
Brazilian genre-film festival Fantaspoa served up an amazing array of horror, science fiction, thriller, and other exciting movies for its second online edition, as the fest’s 2021 awards attest. Following is the official press announcement for Fantaspoa’s wrap-up of this year’s edition. The seventeenth edition of Fantaspoa was again a landmark for the long-running Brazilian […]
In only about 4 minutes not counting credits, writer/director Ryan Cauchi’s Australian short horror film Golem spins an action-packed tale about the titular anthropomorphic clay creature from Jewish folklore while also setting the stage for a much larger story. The result is a gripping short creature feature boasting some fun monster effects. The set-up is […]
Ahead of the U.K. digital release of his latest film The Lockdown Hauntings, director and writer Howard J Ford talks about being a one-man crew, casting Tony Todd, his do-it-yourself SFX kit, and losing his uncle to the pandemic. The following is a review for syndication. You shot THE LOCKDOWN HAUNTINGS during the UK’s first lockdown. […]
Warped Dimension, a Zoom-based online film festival from the fine folks behind San Francisco’s Another Hole in the Head film fest, returns for its second edition May 7th through 9th this year, and horror, science fiction, and genre-film fans of all stripes will want to dive into the offbeat, quirky, and unusual features and shorts […]
Director Christoper Bickel blew minds with his 2017 feature film debut The Theta Girl, but his new follow-up Bad Girls is even more wild, warped, and wacky. Imagine classic bad-girl movies such as Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! on steroids and amphetamines, and in lurid color, and you are on your way to getting […]