Eighties slasher throwback Slashlorette Party is a valentine to direct-to-video horror fare of that decade. It’s chock full of gory kills and naked gals, and is an impressive independent effort that rises above being mere pastiche. Brie (Molly Souza) is engaged to controlling, full-on chauvinist jerk Dolph (Andrew Brown). After consulting with her therapist Dr. […]
Argentinian horror offering History of the Occult (Historia de lo Oculto; 2020) is a tantalizing puzzle that takes place just before and during the final broadcast of a television news show. Cristian Ponce makes an intriguing feature-film debut as a writer/director, combining elements of fear fare, film noir, and mystery. Sixty Minutes Before Midnight is […]
Writer/director Parish Malfitano’s Australian feature film debut Bloodshot Heart examines the themes of obsession, loss and the trauma it can cause, depression, visions of grandeur, and other psychological issues in its tale of the downward mental spiral of lonely Italian driving instructor Hans (Richard James Allen). The film uses multiple actors in one role à […]
Director McClain Lindquist takes Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” and gives it a modern updating that is true to the source material but adds a new approach in his short film The Tell Tale Heart. The result is a fascinating character study of a narrator who speaks in 19th-century fashion while […]
Hailing from York, Pennsylvania – the hard-rocking trio Small Town Titans recently released their debut album The Ride upon the world and I have to honestly tell you, it is the best collection of Midwestern, working man, rock and roll I’ve listened to in quite a few years. A little back story – Small Town […]
Australian short film The Moogai won this year’s SXSW Jury Prize in the Midnight Short section, and for good reason. Writer/director Jon Bell’s harrowing short film is rich in spine-tingling atmosphere, with a gripping, meaningful story and solid performances. Sarah (Shari Sebbens) and Fergus (Meyne Watt) have a newborn baby, and Sarah begins seeing haunting […]
Writer/director Nicholas Woods’ Echoes of Violence is a taut revenge thriller with occasional moments of dark humor. It is headier than the usual offerings in this subgenre, looks great, is well acted and directed, and offers some intriguing subplots. Job-hating real estate agent Alex (Heston Horwin) is trying to show a remote property in Sedona, […]
Winner of this year’s MidWest WeirdFest Best Horror Film award, writer/director George Adams’ Lady Usher is an outré, warped modern reimagining of the Edgar Allan Poe story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” It’s a delirious psychosexual trip featuring solid performances and an auteur vision. Roderick (John Tupy) takes a break from college to […]
No matter the number of extraterrestrial contact documentaries you have watched in the past, the chances are good that you have never seen one quite like the short film Alien Abduction (2021). It hovers somewhere in the planes of the experimental, pop art, and the outré. AV Super Sunshine and Philomena, members of the Wisconsin […]
The tension between Abel (Eoin Slattery) and his wife Grace (Rebecca Palmer) is palpable, but their strained relationship takes a back seat when the titular creature comes calling in the U.K. horror short The Thing That Ate the Birds. It’s obvious from their terse interactions that the couple has had problems for a long time, […]
Writer/director J.M. Logan’s horror short The Relic starts pretty much just before where the climax of a feature film would be kicking in, dropping viewers in on a highly tense, dizzying situation. The short builds from there into a grand, breathtaking climax. Mind-bending visuals, solid performances from its ensemble cast, and suspenseful direction highlight this […]
The dreaded remake. Mention the “R” word to any horror fan and instinctively they make that face – you know the face I’m talking about. Ya – that one. It seems that at least a few times a year news breaks that a fan favorite from the past is going to get a “re-imagining” and […]
We’ve explored the world of Thomas Harris’s novel The Silence of the Lambs for decades – normally most of the attention is focused on the main bad guy – Hannibal Lector – NBC based an entire series on the man – critically acclaimed I might add but very little attention has been cast in the […]
It dawned on me while watching Willy’s Wonderland that Nic Cage has become this generations William Shatner – he has become a parody of the very acting style that made him famous and in case you’re wondering – that’s not a particularly good thing. You can probably already guess where this review is heading but […]
In the following review for syndication, director Chris Bell talks about familial horror influences, his South London ‘hooligangster’ phase, and learning new lockdown skills, ahead of the U.K. Digital release of THE HEIRESS on March 15, 2021 courtesy of the Movie Partnership, in association with Old Way Film & Television, and its U.S. and Canadian […]