film Archives -

CLAYFACE MOVIE REVIEW The comic books to movie train keeps chuggin’ along and the results have been of late, hugely varied. But if you fall on the ‘not into those’ camp, you might reconsider your stance for Clayface. Telling the origin story of the DC comics supervillain, writer Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, […]

WICKER MOVIE REVIEW Wedding bells are ringing and shackles are shined, and a bottle maker is forever bound to his beloved. Bring out the feast and let the band play, love has won the day. Amongst the party goers is a very skilled fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) who carries the weight of her parents craft as […]

HALLOWARRIOR MOVIE REVIEW Ellen Ripley. Laurie Strode. Nancy Thompson. In the world of horror movies, there is a certain type of woman who is powerful enough, smart enough, and cunning enough to navigate a world of apocalyptic threats and savage killers. You don’t expect them to offer you candy. Milly Shapiro plays Pumpkin, an innocent […]

SACRIFICE MOVIE REVIEW A year after its premiere at TIFF, and a brief theatrical release in Italy, co-writer/director Romain Gavras’ film Sacrifice has found a home on Netflix. It tells the story of Mike Tyler (Chris Evans) a washed up movie star who had a nervous breakdown and (literally) torched his own career. A year […]

MASTERPLAN MOVIE REVIEW Masterplan stars Stanley Tucci as Roger Cavendish, a legendary thief of international renown with one last scheme before he retires. Roger plans to steal the Mona Lisa, but to pull off the crime of the century, he’ll need the help of his children, master hacker Chiara (Simona Tabasco) and explosives expert Jay […]

WHALEFALL MOVIE REVIEW Let’s get it out of the way right now: Whalefall is a movie about a guy who gets swallowed by a whale and has to figure out how to escape before his air runs out. Sounds like a Tubi original, right? But no, this is a wide theatrical release with big name […]

FINAL FANTASTIC FIVESOME FORUM I know we have been pretty exhaustive this year (and most years) with our coverage of our favorite movie festival Fantastic Fest. Promise, this is the last thing we’re putting up for it this year. But it’s a big one. We get five of our attending critics, Chris, Wright, Martin, Mike, […]

ADULT SUPERVISION MOVIE REVIEW In this Swedish entry this year for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars, we get to explore trauma in a different way then we’re used to seeing it of late (in horror movie after horror movie, natch). In Adult Supervision, three dads are roped into being chaperones for their daughters […]

THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS MOVIE REVIEW Throughout the years, several students of the pen have been inspired to share their deepest longings with an audience who also longed for a carefree sexy time romance. Some of those ideas may have gained inspiration from works that have already been published. Thus the fanfic was born. Today’s “will […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN? – WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO KENNETH HYMAN? On the second episode of this bonus season, we look at the career of Kenneth Hyman, the influential movie producer who spearheaded the production of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, as well as many other classic titles. First up, the […]

GHOST IN THE CELL MOVIE REVIEW Let’s just get out of the way from the get-go that this is in no way beholden to the film that you almost certainly thought of when you saw the title was Ghost in the Cell. There’s no anime referencing here. Instead you get the modern master of Indonesian […]

5 MORE MINUTES MOVIE REVIEW The time-loop time travel conceit in film and tv has been well explored, certainly since 1993’s Groundhog’s Day (although explorations of the idea in fiction go back to the early 20th century). The Spanish film 5 More Minutes which played at this year’s Fantastic Fest sets very specific boundaries to […]

DONKEY PRINCESS MOVIE REVIEW From the directors of the politically charged, surreal, animated fairytale film The Wolf House comes the politically charged, surreal, partially animated fairytale film Donkey Princess which was featured at Fantastic Fest this year. The story follows Princess Diana who lives in a magical kingdom with her father the king. When the […]

PHREAKER MOVIE REVIEW If you’ve ever listened to us talk about Fantastic Fest, you’ve heard us say that often it’s the films that weren’t on your radar at all that end up on your ‘best of the fest’ lists. It’s rare for one of those films to be one of the minority of entries in […]

THE SPIRAL MOVIE REVIEW Coming off a run at some other major festivals and the announcement that it will be the Italian entry for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming Academy Awards, The Spiral is getting a lot of discussion right now. From a young Italian director Paolo Strippoli who has already gotten lots […]

DIGGER MOVIE REVIEW Director/Co-writer of Digger Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman) has made a film that is structured in such a way that it is completely impossible to discuss without giving away the game it plays with the audience. Thus, this Highly Suspect Review of the film spends only a little time upfront in non-spoiler territory […]

NECROMANCER EP 149 – THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD There’s no way the necromancers would leave Norway without having a cigarette or two with Renate Reinsve, the actress that makes heartbreak feel good in a fjord like this. Horror fans like Bret know Reinsve from her scramble through the Backrooms. Will rom-com obsessed Shira […]

KICK ON MOVIE REVIEW After being kicked out of a club for fighting, a group of young party folks make a decision to go up the drug food chain and head to the 9th floor apartment of the son of a Russian gangster to acquire more ‘party favors’. Eden is in a relationship with Drew […]

FUTURE TENSE MOVIE REVIEW The past is filled with many key points that if one small thing changed, history would be completely different. This comes as a bit of a complication to a corporation in the Fantastic Fest film Future Tense. They offer time travel to places in the past far enough away from these […]

THE DEPUTY MOVIE REVIEW When good men refuse to do nothing, the long arm of the law has the power to deputize the men who just need a chance but don’t test so well on exams and probably couldn’t pass the physical. In The Deputy, local town screw up Toby (Duke Nicholson) is awoken from […]

THE HERETIKS MOVIE REVIEW Horror website Dread Central has gotten into the filmmaking game with their first ever production, The Heretiks, which premiered at this year’s Fantastic Fest. The story follows a coven of witches who have aims to awaken their goddess who dreams the world which will bring about the end of all things. […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN? – BONUS SEASON 2 EPISODE 1: BETTE ON THE TUBE For the first episode of this second bonus season, we look at Bette on the tube and the collection of characters she took on for shows such as General Electric Theater and Schlitz Playhouse. All filmed between March […]

JANUR IRENG – SEWU DINO THE PREQUEL MOVIE REVIEW If you have yet to dive into the world of Indonesian horror films, the time is now. With their industry regularly releasing some of the most original and graphic films out there, it’s no surprise that any given genre festival, like Fantastic Fest, is going to […]

RIVER MOVIE REVIEW Nothing like a lazy day floating down a river on your boat, hanging out with your family, drinking beer, scattering your father’s ashes, and being set upon by masked serial killers. Man, these summer days really are the memories we cherish. In the horror film River, three estranged siblings (Jane Levy, Jessica […]

PRIMETIME MOVIE REVIEW Perhaps you remember the NBC early 2000s show To Catch a Predator. Host Chris Hansen had a team of folks catfishing child predators online and eventually getting them to show up to a meet where a younger looking actor would pretend to be the child until Hansen himself and his cameras walked […]