As a film, The Intruder wasn’t necessarily a favorite I’ve seen this year. In fact, it wasn’t even one I would rank anywhere close to my favorites. However, I am so thankful for it and for its release. Every moment I watched, I felt myself smiling, beaming with pride perhaps, for someone from my hometown…
Thriller
Terror TWOsdays: Gritty Horror on a Modest Budget
[Editor’s Note: Terror TWOsdays is my latest column, just an excuse to talk about more horror films. Notably, I’ll be hitting up two independent, lesser known, and/or underappreciated horror and horror adjacent movies. And with that, I bring you two films to fear. Stay tuned for the official intro graphic in the coming weeks… but…
MOHAWK, Publicity, and All That Jazz: Talking to Ted Geoghegan at Fantasia 2017
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…
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…
Terror TWOsdays: WTF and HANK BOYD IS DEAD
[Editor’s Note: Terror TWOsdays is my latest column, just an excuse to talk about more horror films. Notably, I’ll be hitting up two independent, lesser known, and/or underappreciated horror and horror adjacent movies. And with that, I bring you two films to fear. Stay tuned for the official intro graphic in the coming weeks… but…
Remembering Romero, Part 1: Friday Frights is Back with TWO EVIL EYES
The loss of George Romero was felt pretty deeply by us here at The Farsighted. He is one of the founding fathers of contemporary horror, and his influence is enormous. And not just in the “Walking-Dead-wouldn’t-exist-without-Romero” kind of way, either. He helped change the look and feel of horror films in very real, tangible ways.…
FANTASIA 2017: Our Very Own Lowlifes Review LOWLIFE, Part 2 – Doug’s Take
A colossal achievement in low-budget ingenuity and skill, Lowlife marks the arrival of a major new filmmaking talent in director Ryan Prows. Despite flashes of pop culture eccentricity and extreme violence, Prows breaks free of his Tarantino-esque trappings to deliver a beautifully structured, wonderfully acted and darkly comic thriller tinged with that most rare of…
FANTASIA 2017: Our Very Own Lowlifes Review LOWLIFE, Part 1 – Mondo’s Take
When I first saw the trailer for Lowlife, I was instantly hyped on the outlandish imagery. Seeing a hulking luchador cross cut with gun shots and brutality, it had me liking the flick before I ever saw it. I made sure not to read any press or dive too deep into the synopsis and wanted…
Come to the ALTAR: Found Footage was Lost but Now It’s Found
When I was a kid, my parents and I went camping at a place called Thomas Mountain in California. Eerie place – you always felt like someone was watching you. One time we found a bunch of camping equipment left behind: blankets, sleeping bags, thermos, etc. No one ever showed up to claim them. I…
FANTASIA 2017: A Brief Look at Glass Eye’s MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND
There’s no denying that female directors are making a name for themselves as of late, and quite frankly it’s absolutely beautiful to see. If there’s anyone that deserves major credit, it’s Ana Asensio. Not only is Most Beautiful Island a powerhouse of a directorial debut, but Ana also produced, wrote, and starred in this 80…
FANTASIA 2017: Graham Skipper Moves Behind the Camera for Retro Body Horror SEQUENCE BREAK
Following his starring role in Joe Begos’ splattery Scanners riff The Mind’s Eye, Graham Skipper takes the reigns with his own take on Cronenbergian body horror in the trippy retro-arcade tribute Sequence Break. Chase Williamson (John Dies At The End) stars as Oz, a disheveled arcade machine technician who finds his mind (and – eventually…
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…
PRISONER X: Hard and Smart Sci-Fi with Small Budget and Big Ideas
With a limited budget and talented – but unknown – cast, this film creates tension and genuine intrigue through a complex narrative with hard sci-fi concepts. Prisoner X is deeply contemplative, unique, and well made. Perhaps, it can feel a bit slow at times, but it ultimately achieves in being exactly the film it sets…
TILTing in the Wrong Direction at Tribeca 2017
Kasra Farahani’s Tilt recently played at the Tribeca Film Festival. It’s a tale about an aspiring filmmaker’s slow descent into madness after his wife has become pregnant with his child. And the key word here is slow. As in so slow that the film moves in slow-motion while being trapped in quicksand. This was a…
DVD GIVEAWAY: Interview with Obin Olson About THE SHADOW EFFECT
Before we dive into the interview I recently did with the filmmakers of The Shadow Effect, I have two brief announcements… first and foremost, I recommend you go watch it (here’s an Amazon link to make it easy). Second, YOU CAN WIN A COPY. You can follow The Farsighted on Instagram and/or Twitter and post…
Sunday Showdown: The Friday Fighters Go Toe to Toe on SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in Honor of the Great Jonathan Demme
Silence of the Lambs is one of those films I knew all about before I first saw it given how it penetrated the cultural landscape. I mean I think even Tiny Toons referenced it constantly. So when I first saw the whole film, there were no surprises. I mean it was so impactful it means…
THE ENDLESS at Tribeca 2017: A “Culty” Flick that Throws You Through a Loop
I remember watching Spring like it was yesterday. The way I always describe it to people is if you take Lovecraft and Linklater and mash it all together to form a story of a relationship. I knew when I finished watching that film, that whatever Benson and Moorhead did next that I’d be there for…
THE SHADOW EFFECT is Held Back by Tonal Issues and an Awkward Twist, But is Ultimately a Pretty Good Time
Assassinations, explosions, gene rejuvenation. These are just a few things you’re going to see in The Shadow Effect. These components are very exciting to think about in a movie, however; ultimately a neutral feeling was felt during the roll of the end credits. Gabriel (Cam Gigandet) is having vivid dreams triggered from a song that…
Yooo! ZODIAC KILLER, THE DISMEMBERED, VOODOO BLACK EXORCIST and More!
Every few weeks, when a few upcoming releases really jump out at me, I will be putting out one of these posts. I get far too many press releases not to share them with you, my loyal readers. So here are a few that jumped out at me recently, in order of release date: April…
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…
DEADLY VIRTUES is no DROP DEAD FRED
Growing up, Drop Dead Fred, was one of my favorite movies. I can still quote many of the lines today. The words “Hello Snotface” will always make me giggle. The fascination of imaginary friends coming to life was undeniable, even if it still meant only one person could see them. Was I too young to…
Wanna Be Liike Miike: Jacob Gushes Over Takashi’s BLACK SOCIETY TRILOGY
There are two types of film aficionados: those whose heart skips a beat at the mention of Japanese director Takashi Miike, and those who are sane. Among the former are two other broad subsets: those who know Miike for his edgy crossover hits (Audition and Ichi the Killer) and those who have realized that the…
GBS: 3 Degrees of Horror “Awesomeness”
There are 3 films to discuss in this edition… all of varying degrees of awesomeness… ranging from not all that awesome to not awesome for me to legitimately pretty damn awesome. We’ll start with the film I liked the least and end with the one I recommend quite a bit to any and all of…
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…
Oral Fixation: Top 5 Incidents of Cinematic Tongue Violence
If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then certainly the tongue is a window to the… mouth? Something like that. Anyway, injuring your tongue is the worst, because you’re always using it. Burn it on a piping hot slice of pizza and you’re in for a bad day. Filmmakers have taken advantage of…
Viewer Discretion is Advised: Top 5 Pre-Film Disclaimers
If you’re old as dirt (like me), you may recall a time when the fine folks at the MPAA (or BBFC, or whatever) used to go out of their way to purge films of any potentially harmful material. Nowadays you can watch A Serbian Film on the Disney Network, so it might be hard to…
A French Take on Leopold and Loeb: A Review of FEVER
An adaptation of Leslie Kaplan’s novel of the same name, Fever draws from a well of inspiration… most notably the famed American murderers, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. Nathan and Richard kidnapped and murdered 14 year old Bobby Franks on May 21, 1924. The subsequent trial for Bobby Franks murder was deemed the “Trial of…
HAVENHURST Shows Directorial Promise and Interesting Vision
Writer/director of the new horror mystery Havenhurst, Andrew Erin, has been at it since 2002. His list of IMDB credits doesn’t include any titles that really jump out to most film fans, but there is always a reason that a filmmaker keeps getting work year after year, film after film. In the case of Erin,…
DOOBIOUS SOURCES is a Different Take on the Stoner Comedy
This is Zorn Tappadapo (Jason Weissbrod), the producer and cameraman of Instant Karma news team. This is Reginald “The Reg” Block-Hunsleigh (Jeff Lorch), the face of the Instant Karma team. Doobious Sources features the duo freelancin’ and freewheelin’ to score some big scoops to sell to local TV stations. Their methods aren’t always on the…
Our First Guest Joins Us to Fight About THE GUEST
The Guest is a simple story being told in an incredibly stylish, yet unpretentious way. From the opening to the closing credits, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett let you know that this is going to be all about “mood”. The synth heavy score is omnipresent and only adds to the dread that this “guest” may…