Single-setting horror films almost always make for a fascinating watch. Films like Buried, Cube and Frozen force their directors to make the most of their sparse surroundings, usually with a limited budget. In these films, the locales are practically their own characters. Executed poorly, and these films risk putting the audience to sleep. More and more of these […]
Fantastic Fest 2021
[Fantastic Fest Review] ‘Slumber Party Massacre’ Updates a Feminist Classic for the Modern Era
Amy Holden Jones’ 1982 film The Slumber Party Massacre was a bit of a rarity in the ’80s slasher boom: it was written by a feminist writer (Rita Mae Brown) and told from a female perspective (Jones’). While they were beholden to certain non-feminist genre tropes (half-naked pillow fights and fully naked breasts, just to name a […]
[Fantastic Fest Review] Tommy Wirkola’s Zany ‘The Trip’ Puts Its Protagonists Through Intensive Couples Therapy
Tommy Wirkola is no stranger to dark humor. The Norwegian filmmaker has already carved a place in the black hearts of horror fans everywhere with the dementedly wonderful humor in both Dead Snow films and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, the latter of which has seen a steadily growing cult following over the years. His […]
Saban Films Acquires ‘The Exorcism of God’ Out of Fantastic Fest
Saban Films is picking up rights to distribute The Exorcism of God, a horror drama from Alejandro Hidalgo (The House at the End of Time) that just had its premiere at the ongoing Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. Meagan Navarro wasn’t a fan, writing that it “muddles its possession subversion.” “The feature, set in an […]
[Fantastic Fest Review] ‘The Exorcism of God’ Muddles Its Possession Subversion
In 2013, director Alejandro Hidalgo gave the haunted house a sci-fi twist in his feature debut, The House at the End of Time. His long-awaited follow-up, The Exorcism of God, attempts to shake up the overly familiar exorcism horror subgenre. Hidalgo pays tribute to the granddaddy of them all, The Exorcist, then works to retool the formula through the past […]
[Fantastic Fest Review] ‘She Will’ Casts a Beguiling Spell of Retribution
The opening title card’s preceding text reads “Dario Argento presents” fits in a certain sense; She Will operates within the realm of dreams. It’s a story relayed through potent and mesmerizing imagery over a traditional narrative structure, and women drive it. The connections cease there. She Will offers an intoxicating visual feast, casting a beguiling spell of a slow […]
[Fantastic Fest Review] ‘Black Friday’ Gifts Audiences With Toothless Satire
If there was ever a day of the year that deserved the horror movie treatment, Black Friday is the one. We’ve all seen the news footage of angry, zombie-like shoppers storming retail stores, desperate to get their hands on the latest deals with absolutely no regard for the overworked staffers. While this has been less […]
[Fantastic Fest Review] ‘Bingo Hell’ Champions Unlikely Heroes in Splatstick Horror-Comedy With Heart
Lupita (Adriana Barraza) isn’t your average horror heroine. She’s a firecracker, for sure, but she’s also someone whose hot-tempered reputation precedes her. Lupita’s pissed off about encroaching gentrification, but beneath this abuelita’s abrasive exterior lies a passionate woman desperate to hold onto her dying community. Lupita is the precise type of heroine you want in […]
[Fantastic Fest Review] ‘There’s Someone Inside Your House’ Offers a Bland Intro to Teen Slashers
Scream shook the slasher foundation so hard upon release that it ushered in a new wave of teen slashers eager to follow suit. The ’90s are back in full swing lately, including another wave of ’90s inspired slashers. Enter There’s Someone Inside Your House. It’s a teen slasher, adapted from Stephanie Perkins’ YA novel, that leans too […]
First Look at Ethan Hawke as a Sadistic Killer in Scott Derrickson’s ‘The Black Phone’! [Photo]
Announced this afternoon, Scott Derrickson‘s (Sinister, Doctor Strange) new horror movie The Black Phone will World Premiere at Fantastic Fest, running from September 23rd – 30th. The Black Phone will release in theaters on January 28, 2022, and today’s press release for the Fantastic Fest lineup provides us with the first image from the Universal/Blumhouse movie. It […]
Shudder and Bloody Disgusting’s ‘V/H/S/94’ to World Premiere at Fantastic Fest!
While V/H/S/94, the fourth installment of the Bloody Disgusting-produced horror anthology franchise from Studio71, is set to premiere on Shudder this coming October 6th, the Shudder Original will have its World Premiere at the forthcoming Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas running from September 23rd – 30th! Along with the news comes a first-look image, which […]
Fantastic Fest’s Final Wave Includes ‘V/H/S/94’, ‘The Black Phone’, ‘Bloody Oranges’, and ‘Silent Night’!
Fantastic Fest has just announced the final wave of programming for the festival’s 16th edition, featuring the widest selection of weird and wonderful films gathered from across the globe to screen in Austin, TX, from September 23rd – 30th. As highlighted in two separate pieces, Bloody Disgusting and Studio71’s Shudder Original V/H/S/94 is going to […]
Fantastic Fest Returns With Killer Line-Up That Includes Neon’s ‘Titane’, A24’s ‘Lamb’, and Documentary ‘This Is Gwar’!
Fantastic Fest is back and with the “Post-Apocalyptic” edition they’re bringing the insanity, promising everything from mechanophilia to possessed nuns, possessed children, hallucinations, ghostly hauntings, time travel, exorcism, cerebral expansion, heavy metal, friendship, yakuza, canine trauma, multiple serial killers, coprophagia, cannibalism, tender embraces, vampires, copious bodily fluids, superheroes, warm laughs, and even disco-dancing firemen. The […]