As our final cherry on top of the wonderful sundae of Fantasia 2017 coverage, I was lucky enough to catch up with director Ted Geoghegan, whose follow up to the impressive We are Still Here debuted at Fantasia this year. In addition to debuting Mohawk at the festival, Ted was a vital cog in the…
Film Festival
Fantasia 2017: TRAGEDY GIRLS is Good, but it Makes Blaine Feel Old
Ever since the beginning days of the internet, horror films have been trying to find an opportunity to utilize it in an interesting way. There results have been anywhere from terrible (Hellraiser: Hellworld, Feed) to the not great, but perfectly watchable range (Kairo, Unfriended). I was a little worried after seeing the trailer and started…
Fantasia 2017: KODOKU MEATBALL MACHINE Breaks Down, Leaving a Misshapen Meatwad
If you have ever seen a movie from Japanese filmmaker Yoshihiro Nishimura, then you know what to expect. Films like Tokyo Gore Police and Helldriver are over-the-top gore films that have little, to no concern about plot. This film is no exception and follows his “throw everything at the screen and see what sticks” attitude…
Fantasia 2017: FASHIONISTA is a Gorgeous Film, but Fails to Tell its Story
Revenge and jealousy are common in films about relationships and women being the main character. Fashionista holds no different substance. However, it has added vulnerability, rage, sexual favors, and cloth. You heard that right, cloth. Fashionista is about a woman named April, played with perfection by Amanda Fuller, who runs a vintage clothing store in…
Fantasia 2017: ASSHOLES Shits the Bed
On paper, this should be my favorite movie of the year. A gross out comedy full of shit, demons, and a strong cast of young actors. What could go wrong, right? Wrong! It has been a while since I was so disappointed in a release that seemed to be made specifically for someone like me.…
Fantasia 2017: Hori’s JUNK HEAD is a Beautiful Nightmare of Stop Motion Brilliance
When watching a huge summer blockbuster I can usually divorce myself from the hundreds of people who contributed to the making of the film. For instance, when I watch Transformers, I generally don’t think about the dozens of CG artists who tirelessly work to make Optimus Prime’s feet look just right. I simply take for…
FANTASIA 2017: SUPER DARK TIMES is a Super Great Debut
Film debuts can usually be uneven, but exciting films. I love watching a young filmmaker find their voice, while taking big risks that you might not see from a seasoned director. Kevin Philip’s Super Dark Times is one of those debuts that takes a lot of risks, but does it with so much confidence that…
Fantasia is Back… and it’s Stacked
The first announcement of titles at this year’s upcoming Fantasia Festival hit and it’s got some crazy good stuff… Without further ado, here are the ones that I am, personally, dying to see: and I’m particularly pumped for Mohawk, which doesn’t have a trailer yet, but sounds awesome and is from We Are Still Here…
Over at FGBFF, We’re DYING OF LAUGHTER: A Short Film Block Highlight Reel
A Tricky Treat (USA/Canada, 2015) Dir. Patricia Chica I first saw Patricia Chica’s delightfully macabre short A Tricky Treat back in 2015, when it was going by the title Ripe N’ Bloody in a slightly truncated version for the 2015 Women In Horror Blood Drive PSA. I say slightly truncated, because even in its full…
CFF 2017 Presented DAVID LYNCH: THE ART LIFE
[Editor’s Note: This film was presented as part of Chattanooga Film Fest last month. It’s currently making rounds all over. We apologize for the delay in covering it, but with Lynch helming the grand return of Twin Peaks later this month, we didn’t want to miss getting some coverage on this great film about an…
The BITCH of CFF 2017: Impressive, if Not Perfect
We have to deal with things that cause us to feel like we have a weight on our shoulders. Whether it be work, relationships, or general every day tasks, it never ends. Bitch illustrates the crushing feeling of being used up and underappreciated. In this case it’s of a wife who feels undermined by her…
CFF 2017 Best of the Fest… as Far as I’m Concerned: MAYHEM and FEEDING TIME
I had the pleasure of taking in a good chunk of this year’s Chattanooga Film Fest and have enjoyed virtually everything I saw (appreciated Ape Sodom, but I can’t say I “enjoyed” that one). However, one feature film and one short stood out above the pack as the ones I’d probably revisit most often and/or…
Heavy Metal Horror That Takes a More Psychological Approach: THE DEVIL’S CANDY at CFF
Heavy metal horror films are undoubtedly a favorite little subgenre of mine, even if metal isn’t a top genre of music. I’m a punk kid at heart, with a love of hip hop and an appreciation of a wide array of music. My harder side usually gravitates towards hardcore, rather than metal… but the point…
CFF 2017 Presents the Allure of THE LURE: Murdering Mermaids, the Musical
How many movies can you name that are about musically inclined, night club partying, murdering mermaids? Not many. If by some random chance you have a list, this better be at the top of it – you should also share that list, just saying. You cannot deny the originality. For something that seems so absurd…
BUFF 2017: Trent Haaga’s 68 KILL is a Ton of Fun… Until it Isn’t
It’s a fun time to be a fan of genre films. Thanks to the stellar output of niche labels like Scream! Factory, Vinegar Syndrome, and Arrow Video, there’s no end to the B-movies, cult-films and off-beat genre titles that are easily available to as large an audience as will have them. There films are getting…
CFF 2017 Presents Casey T. Malone’s Short Documentary DEAD MAN’S CARNIVAL
I’ll be honest. This short film is less entertaining to me than it is enticing. To me, it plays very much like a long form commercial, highlighting all of the best parts of what the actual carnival act in the film’s title is about. A long form documentary on Milwaukee’s Dead Man’s Carnival feels warranted…
CFF 2017 Presents APE SODOM: A Fable of Actual WTF
“A Post-Consumerist Fable”… I mean… I guess so… This short is 10-15 minutes of What-The-Fuckery that I can’t do a whole lot of justice in describing. Rather than attempt so, I decided to present to you some of my notes from watching… in no particular order: This is weird… and slow… Oh, maybe not slow,…
PREVENGE: A Deadly Debut That’s Sharp as a Knife
Alice Lowe isn’t a name many talk about, which is a shame. She has many smaller roles here and there, but her breakout (for me at least) was in Sightseers by Ben Wheatley. She is so calm and collective and puts on a hilarious performance. Lowe is the best part of that movie and rightfully…
DAVE MADE A MAZE and Tonight, the Fine Folks at BUFF 2017 Will Show it to You
Ummm… sooo… I just watched Dave Made a Maze… and… it was… different. In what is literally the most unique and weirdest film I’ve seen in a really long time… like a really long time… we begin the film with a guy named Dave who built a maze. His beautiful live in girlfriend finds their…
BUFF 2017: To VOID or Not to VOID, That is the Question!
Essentially a remix of various John Carpenter movies, including Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing, and Prince of Darkness, The Void is a bat-shit, wild ride that I mostly enjoyed. Some remarkable practical effects, memorable visuals, and more mysterious plot threads than the entirety of Twin Peaks, this has everything my little movie-loving heart desires.…
You’ve Been Warned: Doug’s Look at BUFF 2017’s TRIGGER WARNING Short Film Block
Fucking Freak (USA, 15 min.) Dir. Salamo Manetti-Lax A screaming migraine of a short designed to offend and confound in equal measure, Fucking Freak packs plenty of obnoxious action into its frenetic 15 minutes. It’s critique of mass media culture feels a bit half-baked, and a final surreal musical number falls flat, but the bad-taste…
Stranger With My Face International Film Fest’s Tasmanian Devil, Briony Kidd, Catches Up with The Farsighted
Let’s start from the beginning… who are you and what is Stranger With My Face International Film Festival? I’m a film-maker and theatre-maker based in Tasmania, Australia. I am also the director and co-founder of Stranger With My Face International Film Festival, which focuses on women’s perspectives and dark storytelling (in other words, horror films…
31 Days, Day 30: Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, Alright?
Officer: What’s the prognosis, John? John: He’s dead, for sure. From the onset, John (Max Records from Where the Wild Things Are) presents as a young man of little affect. He seems completely unfazed by the presence of death and has a very even temperament. We soon find out that despite being a good kid…
31 Days, Day 26: Johnny Galecki Pukes Out an Adorable Pet Creature in THE MASTER CLEANSE at BHFF
Winner of Brooklyn Horror Film Fest’s “Best Effects” award, The Master Cleanse, has a star studded cast that includes Johnny Galecki, Anjelica Huston, Oliver Platt, Anna Friel, and Kyle Gallner. On top of the incredible effects and amazing cast, the film also has a great script, a fantastic sense of humor, and legitimately great cinematography.…
31 Days, Day 24: BHFF Catches Themselves a Mermaid
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival was a few weeks ago, and I had the pleasure of reviewing this short film for the site. This is probably one of the best horror shorts that I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. The premise of The Man Who Caught a Mermaid surrounds a man with a…
31 Days, Day 11: Garrett Writes a PUFF Piece, a Festival Wrap Up
This past weekend marked the very first Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival and I had the privilege of getting to see every show for the site. The festival was organized and directed by Madeleine Koestner and Alex Gardner who clearly put a lot of care into curating the programming, as I walked away with a few…
31 Days, Day 10: PUFF 16’s Best of the Fest… Part Deux
The closing film of PUFF, and with good reason. “Your brother has a black belt in Cirque du Soleil too!?” I may have spoken too soon when dubbing We Go On the best of the fest a few hours ago. I was admittedly nodding in and out of Karate Kill as it screened last night,…
31 Days, Day 10: PUFF 16’s Best of the Fest… Part One
Screened at PUFF along with another very cool short film called Mindless, which as far as I can tell has no web presence other than a handful of reviews and this IMDb page, which is a shame because it’s quite good. We Go On is the highlight of the feature films at PUFF this year…
31 Days, Day 9: Werewolves Are Played Out… So PUFF 16’s Got Werefrogs
Screened at PUFF with this great short called MUTE, which you can watch the trailer for right here. It’s hard to be overly critical about Bad Blood, as it’s a pretty successful schlocky monster movie. Your mileage here will vary depending on how on board your are for such a thing. For me, the characters…
31 Days, Day 9: SOMETHING STRANGE is Going on at PUFF 16
Screened at PUFF alongside the animated short It’s Not About Horses on Mars, which is about horses on Mars, and can be watched right now, right here. I stopped counting somewhere after 7 rapes, at least 4 of which were meant to make me laugh. I get what this movie is trying to do and…