‘Sasquatch Sunset’ SXSW Review – Cryptid Comedy Overstays Its Welcome with Gross-Out Humor

There’s a lot to appreciate about co-directors David Zellner and Nathan Zellner‘s unique cryptid comedy, Sasquatch Sunset. A slice-of-life chronicling of a nomadic sasquatch family, possibly the very last of their kind, bridges the short gap between humans and cryptids in its showcasing of family drama to comedic effect. That the fiercely committed cast remains completely unrecognizable under head-to-toe prosthetics […]

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‘Civil War’ SXSW Review – Alex Garland’s Anti-War Movie Provides a Sensory Assault

“Every time I survived a war zone, I thought I was sending a warning home: don’t do this,” Kirsten Dunst’s veteran photojournalist Lee tells another in Civil War. “But here we are.” The sentiment sums up writer/director Alex Garland‘s anti-war messaging, told through a visceral assault on the senses as it plunges its characters on a road trip […]

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‘Cuckoo’ SXSW Review – High-Concept Horror Movie Gets Weird, Quirky, and Playful

Writer/Director Tilman Singer continues his streak of experimental high-concept horror with his sophomore effort, Cuckoo. The filmmaker boldly marches to the beat of his own drum, examining heady themes of grief, reproduction, and gendered expectations through inventive, playful horror. That Cuckoo plays it fast and loose with details and plotting means that this body horror entry will likely polarize, […]

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‘Immaculate’ SXSW Review – Sydney Sweeney Gets Fierce in Conventional Religious Horror Film

A horror movie set in an Italian convent with a title like Immaculate communicates all there is to know about the plot. A young American nun, Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney), travels to her new post in the remote countryside, only to discover she’s miraculously pregnant soon after taking her vows. Director Michael Mohan and screenwriter Andrew […]

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‘Monkey Man’ SXSW Review – Myth and Ultra-Violence Collide in Dev Patel’s Bloody Actioner

Dev Patel (The Green Knight, Slumdog Millionaire) has much more on his mind than straightforward action homage with his high-octane directorial feature debut, Monkey Man. At the SXSW world premiere, Patel told the enrapt audience that he poured his soul into his hyper-violent actioner, and broke two toes, a hand, tore a shoulder, and battled an eye infection […]

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‘Arcadian’ SXSW Review – Nicolas Cage Creature Feature Highlighted by Inventive Monster Designs

While Nicolas Cage gets a proper hero’s moment or two in director Benjamin Brewer and writer/producer Mike Nilon’s Arcadian, the post-apocalyptic creature feature belongs to its young stars. Playing like a cross between a poignant coming-of-age story and intense survival horror, Arcadian does just enough to set itself apart from similar fare. However, its ultimate appeal and magic lie in the inventive monster […]

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‘Things Will Be Different’ SXSW Review – Family Bonds Get Tested in Engaging Sci-Fi Thriller

Writer/Director/Editor Michael Felker knows his way around time-shifting, metaphysical labors of love, having edited Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Something in the Dirt, Synchronic, The Endless, and Spring. Felker’s feature directorial debut, Things Will Be Different, seamlessly fits into the Benson/Moorhead cinematic universe, introducing a fractured sibling relationship put through the physical and emotional wringer when they play with forces they don’t quite […]

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‘Kryptic’ SXSW Review – A Goopy, Esoteric Cryptozoology Psycho-Thriller

Bigfoot isn’t the only elusive cryptid in horror. Director Kourtney Roy‘s feature debut, Kryptic, centers around an amnesiac in pursuit of a missing cryptozoologist and the Canadian cryptid she was pursuing. Don’t expect a straightforward approach to this cryptid tale, though. Kryptic earns its title and then some, unfurling an esoteric psycho-thriller that uses its forest dwelling […]

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‘Family’ SXSW Review – Esoteric Arthouse Horror About Grief and Fear Induces Visceral Chills

The attention-grabbing opening scene in writer/director Benjamin Finkel’s Family effectively establishes the film’s peculiar, esoteric, yet bone-chilling tone. Evoking Relic or Ari Aster’s Hereditary, the cold open sees preteen protagonist Johanna (Cameron Dawson Gray) banging on the locked doors of a synagogue, pleading to be let in, only for her mother, Naomi (Ruth Wilson), to stalk across the lawn, […]

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‘Desert Road’ SXSW Review – A Roadtrip Thriller with an Affecting Sci-fi Twist

A woman finds herself trapped in a harrowing nightmare in writer/director Shannon Triplett’s feature debut, Desert Road, but not in the way you’d expect. While the road trip thriller traps its protagonist in place on a desolate stretch of highway, tossing harrowing encounters and obstacles her way against a ticking clock, a sci-fi twist and a […]

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‘Y2K’ SXSW Review – A24’s Teen Comedy-Horror is a Party Worth Rewinding the Clock For

Ah, Y2K. The millennium bug that induced widespread fear over the possibility of a worldwide infrastructure crash once 2000 arrived becomes infectious fodder for a teen comedy infused with horror and nostalgia. Armed with a pitch-perfect, game-for-anything ensemble and great practical effects behind the carnage and calamity, A24’s latest offers up the most entertaining, apocalyptic funny-bone-tickling […]

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‘Birdeater’ SXSW Review – A Nail-Biting Deconstruction of Identity and Abuse

A blurred image of a Wake in Fright poster in an early shot in Birdeater cuts right to the heart of directors Jack Clark and Jim Weir’s feature debut, a hat tip to the style and tone of madness ahead. Like Ted Kotcheff’s 1971 classic thriller, Birdeater utilizes horror and thriller mechanics and tropes to deconstruct Australia’s masculine identity, one at odds with today’s […]

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‘Oddity’ SXSW Review – A Creepy Tale of Mannequin Horror and Supernatural Karma

Writer/Director Damian Mc Carthy‘s sophomore effort, Oddity, serves as a welcome extension of his feature debut, Caveat, in many ways. Aside from the brief return of at least one familiar face and a nightmare bunny, Oddity continues the filmmaker’s exploration of supernatural karma and retribution with offbeat characters and a unique vision for scares. Armed with a tighter narrative, a […]

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‘Things Will Be Different’ – Director Michael Felker on the Surprising Family Origins for His Twisty Sci-Fi Thriller

Chances are high, if you’re here, that you’re familiar with the names Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the filmmakers behind Spring and The Endless. Prepare to add one more name to that list: Benson & Moorhead’s longtime editor Michael Felker, set to make his feature debut with upcoming sci-fi thriller Things Will Be Different. Things Will Be […]

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‘Dead Mail’ Teaser Introduces ’80s Analog Nightmare Ahead of SXSW Premiere

One of the genre films we’re looking forward to checking out at SXSW this year is Dead Mail, written and directed by Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy and premiering on March 9. A new teaser and key art has debuted ahead of the fest, giving a closer look at the ’80s analog aesthetic. In the SXSW 2024 horror film… “On a desolate, […]

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