Out in Theaters: ‘THE FIRST PURGE’
Sassy, brutal and imbued with some relevant political bite, ‘The First Purge’ has a number of problems - it's also over-the-top, cheap-looking and tonally inconsistent - but a strong story,…
REVIEW
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘HEREDITARY’
Ranking up their with the great contemporary horror movies of our time, 'Hereditary' delivers the scares of 'The Conjuring' with the atmospherics of 'The Shining' all matched to a jaw-droppingly…
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’18 Capsule Review: ‘TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID’
Not even children are spared in this gritty Mexican fantasy-thriller from writer/director Issa López. Both grounded in dark realities and anchored by larger-than-life fantastical elements, Tigers Are Not Afraid shares DNA with Guillermo del Toro’s Spanish-language horrors movies (think Devil’s Backbone), which smuggle pervasive social commentary in with spooky, mythic thrills. A 10-year old girl...
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SIFF ’18 Capsule Review: ‘RUIN ME’
This concept horror from Preston DeFrancis tries to combine the shlocky guesswork of a whodunnit in with the craze of Escape Rooms to middling effect. When ex-addict Alexandra (Marcienne Dwyer) accompanies boyfriend Nathan on Slasher Sleepout, the orchestrated haunt becomes menacingly real and the pair must fight for survival. Some of the narrative twists work...
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’18 Capsule Review: ‘BLUE MY MIND’
A maybe-mermaid metamorphosis, MDMA, and mean girls combine to make Blue My Mind an unforgettably queasy coming-of-age body horror fantasy. Lisa Brühlmann’s Kafkaesque sexual awakening exists somewhere between Raw, Girlhood and The Fly – a Cronenbergian exploration of feminine maturation that deals in earnest themes of friendship and acceptance, tackling the challenges of life’s transitions...
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’18 Capsule Review: ‘REVENGE’
Vengeance is a dish served gory in this stylish, brutish bloodbath that updates 70s rape-revenge fantasy exploitation films to the #MeToo era. The bare bones plot leaves Jen (a hypnotic Matilda Lutz) pitted against three male assailants/trophy hunters, stranded in the middle of nowhere with an axe to grind. Hallucinatory camerawork and a throbbing soundscape...
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘THE ENDLESS’
Moorhead and Benson’s ‘The Endless’ is a riveting trip down the rabbit hole, fastened with a smarter-than-average and genuinely thrilling script and impossible to predict plotting. Suffers in the acting…
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘A QUIET PLACE’
You don’t have to be a full-fledged horror buff to appreciate the unadulterated excellence of ‘A Quiet Place’ - but horror buffs will rightfully love every moment of it. Excellent…
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘HAPPY DEATH DAY’
A disappointing realization of a clever concept, ‘Happy Death Day’ has elements to celebrate - a strong lead in Jessica Rothe, a plethora of pithy put downs, decent character arcs…
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘IT’
Pants-shitting scares though this may lack, 'It' thrives on Bill Skarsgård's monstrously unsettling portrayal of Pennywise, a perpetually unnerving tone and strong sense of setting, an awesome cast of young performers…