★★★ Snagged by horror streaming service Shudder ahead of its South by Southwest Film Festival debut, The Cellar is a cerebral and haunting film from director Brendan Muldowney. According to the kids at school, the new home of the Woods family was once owned by a witch who made a pact with the devil. Sounds … Continue reading SXSW 2022: The Cellar
FrightFest Glasgow 2022: Night’s End
★★★ Heading to horror streaming service Shudder, Night’s End is a creepy exorcism-gone-wrong horror flick that manages to break free of the monotonous mold of similar movies. Like 2020’s The Cleansing Hour (which also came to Shudder), Night’s End at least tries something new to mix up the formula. To call the film “hellish” would … Continue reading FrightFest Glasgow 2022: Night’s End
Film Review: They Live in the Grey
★★★ Shudder’s newest film, They Live in the Grey, is an exercise in audience patience. Running an often excruciating two hours in length, the premise feels stretched thin well before approaching the rather predictable conclusion. Most frustrating of all, in both its quieter moments and the brutality of the horror that peeks out, They Live … Continue reading Film Review: They Live in the Grey
Our Favorite Films of 2021
As another year comes to a close, we shut the book on a year of surprising and often excellent movies. We reveal our choices for our favorite movies of year, along with some yearbook-style superlatives! Be sure to let us know which movies in 2021 connected with you! Movie Yearbook Superlatives! Best musical sequence JOSH: … Continue reading Our Favorite Films of 2021
Film Review: Horror Noire
★★★ An anthology horror film expressly from six separate black voices would have drawn my attention even if it was not hailing from one of my favorite streaming services, Shudder. The compiled talent for Horror Noire is the biggest draw here; unfortunately, the stories themselves are quite a mixed bag. I did not find a … Continue reading Film Review: Horror Noire
Fantastic Fest 2021: V/H/S/94
★★★ The fourth film in a series carries with it an automatic pre-established set of expectations. The first two V/H/S films represent an epically creepy high for found footage horror, while the third (2014’s V/H/S Viral) I personally hated. This new entry, titled V/H/S/94, takes a page out of the nostalgia textbook by setting everything … Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2021: V/H/S/94
Film Review: The Scary of Sixty-First
★★ After hearing comparisons to Eyes Wide Shut shortly after the debut of The Scary of Sixty-First at the Berlinale Film Festival, my excitement level for this psychosexual horror thriller shot up immensely. That it did not live up to my lofty dreams speaks less about the quality than the actual style, which feels jammed … Continue reading Film Review: The Scary of Sixty-First
FrightFest 2021: Slapface
★★★ Slapface, a feature-length adaptation of writer/director Jeremiah Kipp’s same-titled short film, provides ample metaphorical subtext about grieving, loss, and bullying. It is part horror monster movie, part grief drama; think Amblin charm meets the monster emotionality of 2016’s A Monster Calls. August Maturo, who I had previously seen as the lead in this year’s … Continue reading FrightFest 2021: Slapface
FrightFest 2021: The Advent Calendar
★★★★ As the holiday season begins its approach, an early contender for this year’s best holiday horror film makes waves. I have always wanted one of those cute holiday advent calendars, but new horror The Advent Calendar has put me off of them, permanently. Despite having very few elements of typical Christmas horror features, Patrick … Continue reading FrightFest 2021: The Advent Calendar
Interview: Actresses Isabelle Fuhrman & Stefanie Scott
Allison and I got together this week for a trip to the winter of 1843, as we dissect the new Fantasia International Film Festival horror thriller, The Last Thing Mary Saw! Our special guests, genre vets Isabelle Fuhrman and Stefanie Scott, join us to talk about filming behind blindfolds, staying in character, LGBT representation, and … Continue reading Interview: Actresses Isabelle Fuhrman & Stefanie Scott