2025's Fantastic Fest shot in with a variety of genre trick and treats! Though covering the festival virtually meant missing some of the most notable titles—secret screening Silent Night, Deadly Night, I'm looking at you!—there was still plenty to love from back in the comfort of my own home. Don't miss my full coverage of … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2025 Wrap-Up
Fantastic Fest 2025: V/H/S Halloween
★★★★ Eight movies deep, and still the unexpectedly brilliant found footage V/H/S franchise shows no signs of stopping. The latest, aptly titled V/H/S Halloween, presents a new frontier for a series that constantly reinvents itself with new blood thanks to its anthology format. This time around, the Halloween theme seeps into each separate segment. As … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2025: V/H/S Halloween
Fantastic Fest 2025: Meat Kills
★★★★ Dutch horror earns its place in the annals of horror history with satisfyingly brutal import, Meat Kills. Neither director Martijn Smits nor screenwriter Paul de Vrijer hold back when it comes to the metaphorical symbolism of the title. In a cruel twist of irony, a radical activist group known as the Animal Army meet … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2025: Meat Kills
Fantastic Fest 2025: Dolly
★★★★ Evoking the spirit of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has been attempted by many a horror film over the years. Writer/director Rod Blackhurst gets perhaps the closest we have seen in awhile—his Dolly makes for a modern Leatherface equivalent, donning a sadistic ceramic doll mask. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this grimy indie … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2025: Dolly
Fantastic Fest 2025: Coyotes
★★★★ A campy creature feature starring scream king Justin Long sounded to good to be true, but Coyotes was determined to prove itself worthy of an instant cult-classic status anyway. Set in the Hollywood Hills amongst a ferocious storm, courtesy of the Santa Anna winds, a wild pack of feral coyotes lets loose on the … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2025: Coyotes
Fantastic Fest 2025: Body Blow
★★★ Genre-bending queer movies are my bread and butter, so seeing Body Blow amongst the Fantastic Fest lineup was just a no-brainer. To call it bizarre would be an understatement—this oddball flick has it all, from cock cages to promiscuous sex, from drag queens to hidden breastplate drugs. Every character has one form or another … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2025: Body Blow
Fantastic Fest 2025: Bad Haircut
★★★★ A preposterously funny, wickedly entertaining horror/comedy feels like the perfect match to debut at genre-heavy Fantastic Fest. Enter: Bad Haircut, a campy title that evolves past horny teen comedy into a bonafide horror mashup with heart. At its zany center, the off-kilter Mick (Frankie Ray)—who should affectionately be described as an overly enthusiastic barber … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2025: Bad Haircut
Fantastic Fest 2025: The Curse
★★★ Taiwanese import The Curse comes to Fantastic Fest with some lofty expectations, arriving well after the height of the J-horror craze. Admittedly, there is a lot of fun to be had from that subgenre of horror, spooky ghost girls and all. From The Ring to The Grudge to Suicide Club and everything in between, … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2025: The Curse
Fantastic Fest 2024: Mr. Crocket
★★★★ Finally, a modern day spiritual successor to Freddy Kreuger has arrived in the form of Mr. Crocket, a disturbing and surreal horror film that blends dark fantasy with a deeply unsettling premise. The titular character, Mr. Crocket, is a Mr. Rogers-esque figurehead that sings and bring children together in his colorful program, Mr. Crocket's … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2024: Mr. Crocket
Fantastic Fest 2024: V/H/S Beyond
★★★★ Did anyone know in 2012 that the horror anthology V/H/S was destined to become a long-running franchise? Certainly, all the pieces were there, along with an easily palatable premise rife for exploration. That first film contained all the trademarks of series potential, including a wraparound segment and many not-so-connected scary stories strung together. The seventh … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2024: V/H/S Beyond