The Heretic, directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, dives deeply into religious philosophy and psychological terror, starring Hugh Grant in an unsettling departure from his typical rom-com roles. Set primarily in a claustrophobic, dimly lit house, The Heretic weaves tension through intellectual debate and moments of […]
When Americans leave home in search of meaning somewhere on the European continent, it’s usually a recipe for disaster (at least in the world of horror cinema). Young, brash, naive Americans have to face ancient beasts (The Ritual), human traffickers (Hostel), and even covens of witches (Suspiria). Watching enough horror films might make you think […]
When you think of the 1970s, you probably think of free love, cults, psychedelic drugs, and maybe Jimmy Carter. Giulio Paradisi’s film, The Visitor (1979) has most of these things, but more than anything else, it embodies that whacky, hallucinatory vibe that only 70s films can capture. It seems to me that people back then […]
As a film critic, there’s nothing more satisfying than discovering a director with a truly distinctive and entertaining style. With so many films I come across, I feel as though I’m watching something I’ve seen before, simply pushed through a grinder to give it a unique texture. It may look a little different, but it’s […]
For my next film at the London Film Festival, I decided to go with The Balconettes, mainly because, looking at the creative team, I saw that it was co-written by Celine Sciamma, who is one of my favourite directors working today, reuniting with Noemie Merlant. The general premise of the film sounded intriguing to me […]
The scary part is the lack of control. When you’re asleep, anything can happen. Your mind can dream up things wonderful and terrible. You can talk out loud. You can get up and move and walk with zero conscious control over your limbs. Recently, I fell asleep at my desk while working on a job […]
Directed by Marielle Heller; Nightbitch is a new comedy/drama/horror film starring Amy Adams. With a supporting cast that includes Scoot McNairy and Zoë Chao, Adams plays a woman whose domesticity takes a surreal turn after pausing her career to become a full-time mother. Erm… So, this is very unexpected. I’m down for the humour and […]
The working title of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindnesses was And. In some ways, that was a more apposite title, since this anthology comedy is obsessed with one of the uncanniest spectacles in a hyper-connected world: the physical spaces and silences between things. The structure of the film itself reflects that interest in connective tissue […]
Behind You is a short black and white horror film that I shot in Limerick City, Ireland. A man is walking home one night when an eerie figure is seen lurking and stalking him.
Do you know what the term Twin Films means? According to Wikipedia, Twin Films are two films with the same or similar plots produced and released at the same time by two different studios. Examples of this would be: The Warriors and The Wanderers both released in 1979. The Howling and An American Werewolf in […]
Everyone’s so concerned about her baby, what about poor Rosemary herself?
In the Pacific Northwest, a punk rock band The Aint Rights are trying to make a name for themselves without the aid of social media, so they decides to play this venue in a secluded part of the area. Upon their arrival they notice that most of the people there are skinheads, so they play […]
In the world of filmmaking, the term “remake” usually comes up as a “double edge” sword within its undertaking and overall execution. For the good part, it allows filmmakers to revisit an old property and reinvent for a modern audiences offering up a new […]
A wildly entertaining, gory action-horror-comedy where Nicolas Cage as Dracula is everything you could have imagined. Renfield may seem like the the latest vampire offering from Hollywood, but it’s much more than that. Showcasing a new take on the character of Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and his devoted assistant/familiar R. M. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), this comedy-horror […]
Nick Frost plays a cabbie with an attitude. This film has an interesting aesthetic but fails to do much more with it than the bog standard. I like the idea of a horror film about a cabbie driving down northern country lanes in the dark worrying about ghosts, however, in […]
Longlegs is a film so obsessed with subtext that it often loses sight of delivering satisfying text. It is understandable why it might have lost some audiences – and critics – on that basis. But the best horror is often found when reading between the lines. The darkest, most impactful moments found in Osgood Perkins’ […]
Another year, another remake of a recent foreign movie. I managed to see the Danish/Dutch original, also titled Speak No Evil (2022), one night before watching this movie. That movie is a masterclass in tension while it touches on many societal themes (emasculation, politeness, power dynamics). Long story short, I enjoyed my time with it, […]
Speak No Evil (2024) Review – All About That Ending
It’s impossible to talk about “Lamb,” the Icelandic creature thriller, without revealing its central theme. Co-written by first-time-writer/director Valdimar Jóhannsson, who used to work as a special effects crew for Hollywood blockbusters like “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “Prometheus,” and Icelandic poet Sjón, “Lamb” might be the oddest film you will ever see […]
‘Lamb’ Review: Valdimar Jóhannsson’s Stunning Debut Is A Brutal, Haunting Icelandic Folklore
The Bitter Taste – FrightFest Halloween 2024 Movie Review Director: Guido Tölke Writer: Julia Dorsel, Alexandra Mauritz (Screenplay) Cast Plot: After being captured by an undead countess and her cursed followers, Marcia, a retired pentathlete, must rely on her outdated and rusty athletic abilities to endure a terrifying hunt for human prey. Reluctantly, she teams […]
The Bitter Taste (2024) FrightFest Halloween Movie Review
The buzz has been off the charts for “The Substance” following its May world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for Best Screenplay. Since then it has only gained momentum, recently showing at the Toronto Independent Film Festival where it took home one of the People’s Choice awards. Now […]
REVIEW: “The Substance” (2024)