October really snuck up on us this year! With the approach of Halloween comes the 7th annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival—a collection of exciting genre flicks in intimate popcorn-ready settings. A wide variety of horror treats await viewers, giving just a taste of what to expect when these films release to the masses. Strap in and read on for our full coverage of Brooklyn Horror!
Films
CHRISTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS
Full review at the link.
INFLUENCER
Full review at the link.
MOTHER, MAY I?
Kyle Gallner (Scream, Roost) and Holland Roden (Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, Teen Wolf) star in confounding relationship horror/thriller, Mother, May I? Written and directed by Laurence Vannicelli (2019’s Porno), we find Emmett (Gallner) reeling from the sudden death of the mother who abandoned him. As he recovers her ashes and moves to scatter them with his girlfriend, Anya (Roden), it becomes obvious that Emmett is burying his true feelings about his mother under a sheen of coldness. When the duo arrive at the house left to Emmett in his mother’s will, that is when things take a turn for the weird. Anya begins acting like the mysterious woman—smoking, speaking differently, and burning pizzas. The question remains: is Anya just messing with Emmett, or is she really being possessed? The answers are far less intriguing than one would hope. While the acting from the two leads is great, Mother, May I? amounts to little more than therapy sessions and unnerving confrontations.
SICK OF MYSELF
On my radar thanks squarely to the starring presence of Ninjababy’s Kristine Kujath Thorp, Sick of Myself is a razor-sharp dramedy focusing on a most extreme form of narcissism. Signe (Thorp) is constantly competitive with her boyfriend as they try to outdo one another and steal precarious things together such as furniture and $2,300 bottles of wine. When Thomas (Eirik Saether) gets a cushy gig for a gallery that seems into his vibe, Signe grows jealous. After researching about a supposed Russian drug known as Lidexol that causes a bizarre form of skin cancer, Signe throws herself into consuming it. She goes to a dealer and requests Lidexol, and before you know it, Signe is facially deformed and impossibly changed by it. Her facial scars and deformity do little to distract Signe from craving attention, as she moves towards capitalizing on her newfound sympathy-heavy sense of fame. Her face swollen and disgusting as she rots from the inside out, Signe lies her way to getting what she desires. The daydreams Signe has are frequently more interesting that the somewhat predictable movements of the plot. Though Kristine Kujath Thorp gives her all, Sick of Myself lacks likable characters or reasonable stakes. In its attempts to lampoon the narcissistic elite, the film flounders under the weight of its own ambition.
TERROR TRAIN
Full review at the link.
V/H/S/99
Full review at the link.
THE WEIRD KIDZ
Animated horror flick The Weird Kidz, boasting an intriguing roster of talent, has a genuinely great premise that is difficult to ignore. A group of daft teens get together around a campfire to tell spooky stories and drink lots of beer. What’s not to love? While I definitely think the script for this is strong and creative as it channels 80s genre fare, the style of the animation doesn’t quite fit the content. Being a time capsule into a bygone era should be an easy home run, so why shoehorn immature fart jokes and the like into the narrative? The animation is not exactly up to standards beauty-wise, and will already feel very dated by the time this releases. I will say the deaths are very violent, the voice actors (including Ellar Coltrane and Angela Bettis) do an excellent job, and there is a really funny scene involving a campfire tent and fireworks! The Weird Kidz is absolutely weird as it says on the label, but it feels unique and fully formed in the long run.
THE YEAR OF THE SHARK
Primarily a French dark comedy, writer/director team Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma try their hand at creating a memorable aquatic horror surprise with The Year of the Shark. I actually loved the setup of the movie, which involves nearly-retired major of maritime police, Maja (Marina Fois), as she becomes convinced that a massive shark bumped her boat while she was shooing tourists away from a forbidden sandbank zone. No one will believe Maja at first, though she remains positive that they need to clear the beaches immediately before tragedy strikes. It was fun getting to know the police force, including annoyingly daft Blaise (Jean-Pascal Zadi) and sweet but seemingly unfaithful Eugenie (Christine Gautier)—the issue is that once the world of La Pointe is established, The Year of the Shark fails to do anything with its premise. The shark mayhem arrives too little too late, and a showdown in the last ten minutes feels predictable and underwhelming. Even the shark effects are an afterthought to the comedic sensibilities of the script.
Next year, we look forward to covering the fest a bit more extensively, including attending some of the parties and much more in-person screenings! I am definitely still riding off the high of catching Christmas Bloody Christmas with a sold-out crowd. Mark my words, that will be one a lot of people are going to enjoy. I highly recommend this festival overall, as it is simply a great vibe!