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Joseph Perry

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Spoiler-Free Review: “Dark My Light” (Fantaspoa 2024)

Spoiler-Free Review: “Dark My Light” (Fantaspoa 2024)

A serial killer who murders on the beach is running amok in an otherwise quiet coastal town, but that’s not the strangest thing going on in writer/director Neal Dhand’s science fiction thriller Dark My Light (2023). Detective Mitchell Morse (Albert Jones) seems to be losing his grip on reality, and that could lead to even more mayhem. Morse is assigned to the case with new partner Dreyfus Trier (Tom Lipinski), who has returned to his home town from the big city after a controversial incident on the force there. Morse is also going through a separation with his wife Emily (Keesha Sharp). He has a lot on his mind, which seems to be overloading. To give away more of the plot than the above would be doing a disservice to Dark My Light because it deals in mystery. I found myself wondering exactly what was happening once Dhand laid out some of the first puzzle pieces, then I started trying

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 19, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “The Buildout” and “Killington”

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “The Buildout” and “Killington”

The Buildout (2024) Aficionados of enigmatic cinema and high strangeness should find plenty to like about writer/director Zeshaan Younus’ The Buildout. After the death of one of their sisters, friends Dylan (Hannah Alline) and Cameron (Jenna Kenall) go on a motorcycle and camping excursion in the desert before Dylan leaves her old life behind and joins a religious group there. Cameron is skeptical of what she believes is actually a cult but tries to support her friend. Viewers see hints of danger involving members of the religious group. Younus leaves much of the proceedings open to interpretation as Dylan and Cameron begin opening wounds about their relationship. Cinematographer Justin Moore captures both the beauty and eeriness of the desert setting wonderfully. Alline and Kenall give top-notch performances, and Younus does a fine job of providing enough information for viewers to become invested but only enough so that we are left with some tantalizing puzzle pieces for our imaginations to fill

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 19, 2024
Pigeon Shrine FrightFest Reveals Poster and Change of Venue for Its 25th Anniversary

Pigeon Shrine FrightFest Reveals Poster and Change of Venue for Its 25th Anniversary

London’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest, the U.K.’s premiere horror and genre-film festival, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year from August 22-26, moving to the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square, and today revealing its fantastic poster for this year. Following is the official press announcement. Pigeon Shrine FrightFest is proud to unveil Graham Humphreys’ stand-out poster design for 2024 which marks the 25th anniversary of the UK’s most popular genre festival and the festival’s move to the ODEON Luxe Leicester Sq. Graham said today: “Although FrightFest marks its first quarter century, the significant change of venue is this year’s focus. The soaring black Art Deco tower of the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square (completed in 1937) is as iconic to London as the Art Deco Empire State Building in New York (completed six years earlier, in 1931). In the 1933 movie King Kong, the giant primate scaled the Empire State Building. It seems a fitting homage to have our own monster scale the Leicester

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Joseph Perry
Apr 17, 2024
Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Bookworm,” “Hevel,” “Souling,” “Dark Mommy,” “Spooky Crew,” “I Could Just Die, and That Would Be Alright” (Overlook Film Festival)

Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Bookworm,” “Hevel,” “Souling,” “Dark Mommy,” “Spooky Crew,” “I Could Just Die, and That Would Be Alright” (Overlook Film Festival)

Following is a capsule review roundup of six of the short-film shockers that screened at this year’s edition of New Orlean’s Overlook Film Festival. Bookworm Bookworm (Ratón de biblioteca; Spain, 2023) from director Javier Yañez envelops viewers in a phantasmagorical vibe before suddenly ramping up the visceral shocks. Irene (Aria Bedmar in a wonderful performance) is a young librarian in 1979 Spain who wants to become a writer, much to her mother’s dismay. Irene and her fellow librarian often see the ghost of a young man — though they can’t quite catch a glimpse of his face — browsing books. Determined to try to make contact with this potential soulmate, Irene sets out to find out what his visage looks like. With beautiful set design and cinematography, Bookworm both charms and chills. Hevel In writer/director David Grace’s Hevel, devout Jewish woman Edra (Mor Cohen) begins a Shabbat service. A dybbuk has other plans for her, however, in this demonic possession

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 16, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “Blind Cop 2” and “Keratyna”

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “Blind Cop 2” and “Keratyna”

Blind Cop 2 (2024) A sequel to a film that doesn’t exist, director Alec Bonk’s Blind Cop 2 follows the tropes of movies depicting good cops kicked off the force for using excessive violence and seeking redemption without having a badge — and then there’s the trusty new sidekick, too. Imagine Marvel’s Daredevil as an alcoholic police officer wearing a bulletproof vest rather than a superhero costume and you’re only partially on your way to getting an inkling about how this irreverent title character (played with verve by George Fearing) goes about his business. You can’t forget Blind Cop’s name, either, as just about every person who addresses him calls him that. Using those aforementioned tropes, Bonk, who cowrote the screenplay with Augustin Huffman and Isaac McKinnon, directs with flare, deftly balancing the humor with plenty of dramatic elements and bloody action. Fearing is fantastic in the title role, and McKinnon makes for a fine sidekick-in-training as Schmidty. The humor

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 15, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Cereal,” “The Curse of the Velvet Vampire,” “We Joined a Cult,” “Up on the Housetop,” “Strange Creatures,” “Howl at the Dead” 

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Cereal,” “The Curse of the Velvet Vampire,” “We Joined a Cult,” “Up on the Housetop,” “Strange Creatures,” “Howl at the Dead” 

Following is a roundup of six of the short-film shockers that screened at this year’s edition of New Orlean’s Overlook Film Festival. Cereal Canadian short Cereal, from director Shane R. Preston, finds young girl Chelsea (Trinity Kaylani Seiling in a fun performance) receiving a disturbing message from her alphabet-shaped cereal: “Kill.” This evil kid short has a nice retro vibe and looks great, with a fine supporting performance from Shelby Handley as Chelsea’s mother. My only quibble is that the fourth wall gets broken twice, which reduces the effect for me. The Curse of the Velvet Vampire Director Christoffer Schurict’s collaboration with band 802 finds two Chinese horror fans watching a strange film in a video rental store. Soon enough, this slice of cinema intersects with real life. Featuring plenty of female undead and the resulting bloodletting, along with some music video, this short film has cult favorite written all over it. We Joined a Cult From Chris McInroy, director

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 12, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Review: “Ghost Game” (2024)

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Review: “Ghost Game” (2024)

Director Jill Gevargizian’s sophomore feature Ghost Game is an effective offering that uses home invasion in a unique way and serves up some intriguing surprises. Vinny (Zaen Haidar) discovers some disturbing footage on his girlfriend Laura’s (Kia Dorsey) laptop — without her permission — in which she and a man named Adrian (Sam Likowski) botch a home invasion and injure a woman. Laura explains that it is a sort of filmed challenge called Ghost Game, in which the participants live in houses without being detected by homeowners — phrogging, as it is called — and prank them, leading the residents to believe that the supernatural is involved. And it just might be, as Vinny insists that Laura get rid of Adrian and take him with her instead to her next assignment: a long-abandoned, reputedly haunted house in which a family has just moved in. The stage for real ghostly occurrences is soon set, as young daughter Samantha (Vienna Maas), who

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 12, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “The Ceremony Is About to Begin” and “The Hyperborean”

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “The Ceremony Is About to Begin” and “The Hyperborean”

The Ceremony Is About to Begin (2024) Director Sean Nichols Lynch follows up his vampire comedy Red Snow (2021) with faux documentary horror The Ceremony Is About to Begin, which he cowrote with stars Chad Westbrook Hinds and John Laird. The film starts with black-and-white interview footage with former members of the Osiris Collective, a commune/cult based on ancient Egyptian culture, including each member taking on a name from that culture. The leader was a man named Father Osiris (Raul Delarosa), who disappeared mysteriously during a mountain hike with a new member who took the name Anubis (Hinds). Documentarian Keith Evans (Laird) has a very personal reason for wanting to interview the members of the Osiris Collective, as his ex-girlfriend Maddy (Michelle Westbrook Hinds) left him for the cult. Anubis, who took over leadership of the group and whose negative behaviors drove members away, invites Evans to the Collective grounds to conduct interviews. With the film having earlier changed to

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 11, 2024
Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “Red Rooms” and “Dead Mail” (Overlook Film Festival)

Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “Red Rooms” and “Dead Mail” (Overlook Film Festival)

Red Rooms (Les chambres rouges; Canada, 2023) Pascal Plante’s French-language Canadian chiller Red Rooms deftly combines character study, psychological thriller, and courtroom drama. The film follows the obsession of two women with a serial killer suspect on trial for the gruesome murders of three teenage girls, which were broadcast for pay on the titular dark web outlet. Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy in a riveting performance) is a fashion model who sits in on the trial of accused murderer Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) at the Superior Court of Quebec. Sitting near her is Clementine (Laurie Babin), a young woman also obsessed with Chevalier, believing that he is innocent and being framed. The pair are accused of being groupies by the mother of a victim. Kelly-Anne is aloof and quiet, and she lets the talkative out-of-towner Clementine stay with her in her high-rise apartment. Kelly-Anne is also something of an expert on the internet, making large sums of money playing online poker and

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 9, 2024
Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Homebody,” “Extreme Gravity,” “Kelly,” “Beholder,” “Red Leather, Yellow Leather,” “Turtle?”, “What I Remember” (Unnamed Footage Festival)

Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Homebody,” “Extreme Gravity,” “Kelly,” “Beholder,” “Red Leather, Yellow Leather,” “Turtle?”, “What I Remember” (Unnamed Footage Festival)

Following is a roundup of seven of the short films that screened at San Francisco’s Unnamed Footage Festival 2024, shot mostly in found footage or verité styles. Homebody Home surveillance cameras provide the footage for writer/director Andrew J. Paulsen’s Homebody, in which Hannah (McKenzie Jo Frazer) lives in fear of a hooded man who stands outside her house. The proceedings are a bit predictable, but the execution of the plot is well done. Extreme Gravity (Extrema gravedad) Writer/director Lorenzo Ayuso’s darkly comic Spanish short Extreme Gravity focuses on a suicidal man whose recording of his farewell video is interrupted by a naked stranger who appears on his windowsill. Irreverent humor is the order of the day with this one, with Álvaro Márquez giving a fine performance as the suicidal individual and David Blanka providing fine voice acting support. Kelly Brazilian short Kelly finds a man (writer/director Luiz Lapin) building a new plastic-bag–headed companion. This short shocker is a true creepfest,

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 3, 2024

More from Joseph Perry

Spoiler-Free Review: “Dark My Light” (Fantaspoa 2024)

Spoiler-Free Review: “Dark My Light” (Fantaspoa 2024)

A serial killer who murders on the beach is running amok in an otherwise quiet coastal town, but that’s not the strangest thing going on in writer/director Neal Dhand’s science fiction thriller Dark My Light (2023). Detective Mitchell Morse (Albert Jones) seems to be losing his grip on reality, and that could lead to even more mayhem. Morse is assigned to the case with new partner Dreyfus Trier (Tom Lipinski), who has returned to his home town from the big city after a controversial incident on the force there. Morse is also going through a separation with his wife Emily (Keesha Sharp). He has a lot on his mind, which seems to be overloading. To give away more of the plot than the above would be doing a disservice to Dark My Light because it deals in mystery. I found myself wondering exactly what was happening once Dhand laid out some of the first puzzle pieces, then I started trying

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 19, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “The Buildout” and “Killington”

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “The Buildout” and “Killington”

The Buildout (2024) Aficionados of enigmatic cinema and high strangeness should find plenty to like about writer/director Zeshaan Younus’ The Buildout. After the death of one of their sisters, friends Dylan (Hannah Alline) and Cameron (Jenna Kenall) go on a motorcycle and camping excursion in the desert before Dylan leaves her old life behind and joins a religious group there. Cameron is skeptical of what she believes is actually a cult but tries to support her friend. Viewers see hints of danger involving members of the religious group. Younus leaves much of the proceedings open to interpretation as Dylan and Cameron begin opening wounds about their relationship. Cinematographer Justin Moore captures both the beauty and eeriness of the desert setting wonderfully. Alline and Kenall give top-notch performances, and Younus does a fine job of providing enough information for viewers to become invested but only enough so that we are left with some tantalizing puzzle pieces for our imaginations to fill

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 19, 2024
Pigeon Shrine FrightFest Reveals Poster and Change of Venue for Its 25th Anniversary

Pigeon Shrine FrightFest Reveals Poster and Change of Venue for Its 25th Anniversary

London’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest, the U.K.’s premiere horror and genre-film festival, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year from August 22-26, moving to the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square, and today revealing its fantastic poster for this year. Following is the official press announcement. Pigeon Shrine FrightFest is proud to unveil Graham Humphreys’ stand-out poster design for 2024 which marks the 25th anniversary of the UK’s most popular genre festival and the festival’s move to the ODEON Luxe Leicester Sq. Graham said today: “Although FrightFest marks its first quarter century, the significant change of venue is this year’s focus. The soaring black Art Deco tower of the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square (completed in 1937) is as iconic to London as the Art Deco Empire State Building in New York (completed six years earlier, in 1931). In the 1933 movie King Kong, the giant primate scaled the Empire State Building. It seems a fitting homage to have our own monster scale the Leicester

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 17, 2024
Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Bookworm,” “Hevel,” “Souling,” “Dark Mommy,” “Spooky Crew,” “I Could Just Die, and That Would Be Alright” (Overlook Film Festival)

Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Bookworm,” “Hevel,” “Souling,” “Dark Mommy,” “Spooky Crew,” “I Could Just Die, and That Would Be Alright” (Overlook Film Festival)

Following is a capsule review roundup of six of the short-film shockers that screened at this year’s edition of New Orlean’s Overlook Film Festival. Bookworm Bookworm (Ratón de biblioteca; Spain, 2023) from director Javier Yañez envelops viewers in a phantasmagorical vibe before suddenly ramping up the visceral shocks. Irene (Aria Bedmar in a wonderful performance) is a young librarian in 1979 Spain who wants to become a writer, much to her mother’s dismay. Irene and her fellow librarian often see the ghost of a young man — though they can’t quite catch a glimpse of his face — browsing books. Determined to try to make contact with this potential soulmate, Irene sets out to find out what his visage looks like. With beautiful set design and cinematography, Bookworm both charms and chills. Hevel In writer/director David Grace’s Hevel, devout Jewish woman Edra (Mor Cohen) begins a Shabbat service. A dybbuk has other plans for her, however, in this demonic possession

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 16, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “Blind Cop 2” and “Keratyna”

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “Blind Cop 2” and “Keratyna”

Blind Cop 2 (2024) A sequel to a film that doesn’t exist, director Alec Bonk’s Blind Cop 2 follows the tropes of movies depicting good cops kicked off the force for using excessive violence and seeking redemption without having a badge — and then there’s the trusty new sidekick, too. Imagine Marvel’s Daredevil as an alcoholic police officer wearing a bulletproof vest rather than a superhero costume and you’re only partially on your way to getting an inkling about how this irreverent title character (played with verve by George Fearing) goes about his business. You can’t forget Blind Cop’s name, either, as just about every person who addresses him calls him that. Using those aforementioned tropes, Bonk, who cowrote the screenplay with Augustin Huffman and Isaac McKinnon, directs with flare, deftly balancing the humor with plenty of dramatic elements and bloody action. Fearing is fantastic in the title role, and McKinnon makes for a fine sidekick-in-training as Schmidty. The humor

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 15, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Cereal,” “The Curse of the Velvet Vampire,” “We Joined a Cult,” “Up on the Housetop,” “Strange Creatures,” “Howl at the Dead” 

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Cereal,” “The Curse of the Velvet Vampire,” “We Joined a Cult,” “Up on the Housetop,” “Strange Creatures,” “Howl at the Dead” 

Following is a roundup of six of the short-film shockers that screened at this year’s edition of New Orlean’s Overlook Film Festival. Cereal Canadian short Cereal, from director Shane R. Preston, finds young girl Chelsea (Trinity Kaylani Seiling in a fun performance) receiving a disturbing message from her alphabet-shaped cereal: “Kill.” This evil kid short has a nice retro vibe and looks great, with a fine supporting performance from Shelby Handley as Chelsea’s mother. My only quibble is that the fourth wall gets broken twice, which reduces the effect for me. The Curse of the Velvet Vampire Director Christoffer Schurict’s collaboration with band 802 finds two Chinese horror fans watching a strange film in a video rental store. Soon enough, this slice of cinema intersects with real life. Featuring plenty of female undead and the resulting bloodletting, along with some music video, this short film has cult favorite written all over it. We Joined a Cult From Chris McInroy, director

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 12, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Review: “Ghost Game” (2024)

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Review: “Ghost Game” (2024)

Director Jill Gevargizian’s sophomore feature Ghost Game is an effective offering that uses home invasion in a unique way and serves up some intriguing surprises. Vinny (Zaen Haidar) discovers some disturbing footage on his girlfriend Laura’s (Kia Dorsey) laptop — without her permission — in which she and a man named Adrian (Sam Likowski) botch a home invasion and injure a woman. Laura explains that it is a sort of filmed challenge called Ghost Game, in which the participants live in houses without being detected by homeowners — phrogging, as it is called — and prank them, leading the residents to believe that the supernatural is involved. And it just might be, as Vinny insists that Laura get rid of Adrian and take him with her instead to her next assignment: a long-abandoned, reputedly haunted house in which a family has just moved in. The stage for real ghostly occurrences is soon set, as young daughter Samantha (Vienna Maas), who

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 12, 2024
Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “The Ceremony Is About to Begin” and “The Hyperborean”

Panic Fest 2024 Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “The Ceremony Is About to Begin” and “The Hyperborean”

The Ceremony Is About to Begin (2024) Director Sean Nichols Lynch follows up his vampire comedy Red Snow (2021) with faux documentary horror The Ceremony Is About to Begin, which he cowrote with stars Chad Westbrook Hinds and John Laird. The film starts with black-and-white interview footage with former members of the Osiris Collective, a commune/cult based on ancient Egyptian culture, including each member taking on a name from that culture. The leader was a man named Father Osiris (Raul Delarosa), who disappeared mysteriously during a mountain hike with a new member who took the name Anubis (Hinds). Documentarian Keith Evans (Laird) has a very personal reason for wanting to interview the members of the Osiris Collective, as his ex-girlfriend Maddy (Michelle Westbrook Hinds) left him for the cult. Anubis, who took over leadership of the group and whose negative behaviors drove members away, invites Evans to the Collective grounds to conduct interviews. With the film having earlier changed to

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 11, 2024
Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “Red Rooms” and “Dead Mail” (Overlook Film Festival)

Spoiler-Free Film Reviews: “Red Rooms” and “Dead Mail” (Overlook Film Festival)

Red Rooms (Les chambres rouges; Canada, 2023) Pascal Plante’s French-language Canadian chiller Red Rooms deftly combines character study, psychological thriller, and courtroom drama. The film follows the obsession of two women with a serial killer suspect on trial for the gruesome murders of three teenage girls, which were broadcast for pay on the titular dark web outlet. Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy in a riveting performance) is a fashion model who sits in on the trial of accused murderer Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) at the Superior Court of Quebec. Sitting near her is Clementine (Laurie Babin), a young woman also obsessed with Chevalier, believing that he is innocent and being framed. The pair are accused of being groupies by the mother of a victim. Kelly-Anne is aloof and quiet, and she lets the talkative out-of-towner Clementine stay with her in her high-rise apartment. Kelly-Anne is also something of an expert on the internet, making large sums of money playing online poker and

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 9, 2024
Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Homebody,” “Extreme Gravity,” “Kelly,” “Beholder,” “Red Leather, Yellow Leather,” “Turtle?”, “What I Remember” (Unnamed Footage Festival)

Spoiler-Free Short Film Reviews: “Homebody,” “Extreme Gravity,” “Kelly,” “Beholder,” “Red Leather, Yellow Leather,” “Turtle?”, “What I Remember” (Unnamed Footage Festival)

Following is a roundup of seven of the short films that screened at San Francisco’s Unnamed Footage Festival 2024, shot mostly in found footage or verité styles. Homebody Home surveillance cameras provide the footage for writer/director Andrew J. Paulsen’s Homebody, in which Hannah (McKenzie Jo Frazer) lives in fear of a hooded man who stands outside her house. The proceedings are a bit predictable, but the execution of the plot is well done. Extreme Gravity (Extrema gravedad) Writer/director Lorenzo Ayuso’s darkly comic Spanish short Extreme Gravity focuses on a suicidal man whose recording of his farewell video is interrupted by a naked stranger who appears on his windowsill. Irreverent humor is the order of the day with this one, with Álvaro Márquez giving a fine performance as the suicidal individual and David Blanka providing fine voice acting support. Kelly Brazilian short Kelly finds a man (writer/director Luiz Lapin) building a new plastic-bag–headed companion. This short shocker is a true creepfest,

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Apr 3, 2024
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