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Joseph Perry

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Shudder's Horror Comedy 'Deadstream' Is Out On Steelbook Today

Movie Review: Deadstream (SXSW)

I’m in no way a fan of watching YouTubers, TikTokers, and the like, nor am I very big on films that use the social influencer method of storytelling or that have influencers, would-be or otherwise, as their protagonists. So when I say that I was bowled over by Deadstream and had a fun-tastic time watching it, it is no small compliment. This horror comedy from codirectors/cowriters Joseph Winter and Vanessa Winter is an absolute blast, paying homage to The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and similar 1980s horror movies boasting wicked practical effects work and makeup. Joseph toplines as Shawn Ruddy, a disgraced and demonetized former internet star trying to make a comeback. He plans to livestream as he investigates a haunted house, with the caveat that if he doesn’t investigate mysterious noises or occurrences, he will lose his new potential sponsors. Joseph gives a hilarious performance as Ruddy, with his revved-up internet persona giving way to screaming and cowardice

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 30, 2022
Joe Bob Briggs and Mick Garris Help Panic Fest Celebrate Its 10th Edition

Joe Bob Briggs and Mick Garris Help Panic Fest Celebrate Its 10th Edition

Panic Fest, Kansas City’s superb film festival filled with fright fare and thrillers galore, is back on the big screens this year, and The Last Drive-In‘s Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl, as well as Sleepwalkers director Mick Garris, will be on hand to help celebrate 10 years of the renowned film festival. Panic Fest also has a jaw-dropping, drool-worthy lineup of fear-fare cinema, of course! Following is the official press announcement. The Last Drive-In‘s Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl are kicking off the 10th annual Panic Fest with a special 20th anniversary screening of Don Coscarelli’s Bubba Ho-Tep on Thursday, April 28 at 7pm CST at Screenland Armour Theatre. Panic Fest co-founder Tim KC Canton says, “We couldn’t be more thrilled to bring Panic Fest back to the masses for our 10th festival! Can’t wait to see everyone back at the theater and kick things off with Joe Bob while celebrating so many great

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 30, 2022
Brazil’s Fantaspoa Brings Fear Back to the Cinema for Its 2022 Edition

Brazil’s Fantaspoa Brings Fear Back to the Cinema for Its 2022 Edition

Brazil’s renowned genre film festival Fantaspoa makes its triumphant return to the big screen from April 15–May 1after two years of online editions. With plenty of fear fare on tap, ranging from F. W. Murnau’s 1922 classic silent vampire film NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR to the reimagining of Stephen King’s The Langoliers mini-series THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY, with an amazing bounty of science fiction, thrillers, and other movies offering the weird and the wild. Following is the official press announcement. After two years of successful online editions, the 18th edition of the beloved Brazilian genre festival Fantaspoa will return to the cinemas from April 15th through May 1st. This year, attendees will discover a very different Fantaspoa from its last on-site edition (a very distant 2019): instead of its usual two venues, the fest will take place simultaneously in five cinemas, with part of its program also being available online, geo-blocked for viewers within Brazil. The poster for this

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 23, 2022
Atlanta’s Buried Alive Film Festival Returns to the Cinema with Chills and Thrills Aplenty

Atlanta’s Buried Alive Film Festival Returns to the Cinema with Chills and Thrills Aplenty

Atlanta’s Buried Alive Film Festival returns to the big screen from March 31–April 3 this year for its 15th edition, and quite a lineup is in store for fear-fare aficionados! With four frightening features and a bevy of terror-ific shorts on tap, the 7 Stages Theatre will be home to a four days of incredible horror cinema. We here at Horror Fuel are excited about the full slate of films at Buried Alive Film Festival, but we can’t help but drool over the four features scheduled for this year. First up is the Friday night feature Duyster, a Belgian film in which three students film a documentary about Johannes Duyster, Antwerp’s 17th century executioner. Fans of found-footage horror know that things are bound to go horribly wrong for the trio. Saturday afternoon serves up the anthology film What Happens Next Will Scare You, from the imaginative creative team that brought the world the WNUF Halloween Special. The official description of

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 23, 2022
Movie Reviews: “Hypochondriac” (SXSW)

Movie Reviews: “Hypochondriac” (SXSW)

Writer/director Addison Heimann brings an unflinching look at a mental breakdown using body horror, psychological horror, and some truly dark comedy to his latest feature, Hypochondriac. The result is an intense effort that serves up some mind-boggling imagery. Will (Zach Villa) is a potter who has experienced enough trauma in his life to successfully help a coworker calm down from a panic attack. His mother (Marlene Forte) has mental health issues, including trying to kill Will when he was a child. The two have not spoken in 10 years but she is now trying to contact him at a rapid clip, causing his stress levels to rise and for him to experience physical pain including not being able to use his hands. His boyfriend Luke (Devon Graye) wants to help, but Will prefers to remain closed off and not discuss his past, including the situation with his mother. As Will’s conditions worsen, he becomes increasingly suspicious and paranoid, and begins

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 22, 2022
Movie Review: Alice

Movie Review: Alice

Writer/director Krystin Ver Linden tries to pack a lot of different ideas and cinematic styles in her debut feature Alice. The result is a compelling, if somewhat rushed at points, genre mash-up that delivers a good share of thrills along with plenty of social commentary. Alice (Keke Palmer) is a slave on a plantation in Georgia during the Antebellum period. She marries another slave named Joseph (Gaius Charles), which doesn’t sit well with plantation owner Paul Bennett (Johnny Lee Miller), who abuses her mentally and physically, and reserves Sundays for sexually abusing her. When Joseph’s plans for escape after discovering an artifact that doesn’t fit into the time period — part of a story handed down from a fellow slave — go awry and he is seemingly killed, Alice makes her own attempt at escape. Unfortunately the trailer and poster for the film give away a major twist of the film, but this happens early enough in the proceedings that

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 20, 2022
Movie Reviews: “Sissy” (SXSW)

Movie Reviews: “Sissy” (SXSW)

Australian horror comedy Sissy is a delight, addressing social media culture and bullying as it delivers large shares of laughter and gore. Cecilia (Aisha Dee) has 200,000 followers on her self-help “Sincerely Cecilia” channel, on which she leads meditation practices and plugs paid sponsors. When she randomly runs into childhood best friend Emma (Hannah Barlow) at a pharmacy, she is obviously uncomfortable, though Emma seems genuinely glad to see her, and invites Cecilia — formerly known as Sissy — to her hens party (bachelorette party). Cecilia arrives, only to find out that Alex (Emily De Margheriti), who bullied Cecilia as a child, is also in attendance. A violent occurrence between the two took place when they were youngsters, and Alex isn’t about to let “Sissy” forget it. Humor ranging from the uncomfortable to the jaw-dropping ensues, as old wounds are opened — quite literally, in one scene — and one deadly deed leads to another. Codirectors/cowriters Barlow and Kane Senes

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 17, 2022
Movie Reviews: “Some Like It Rare,” “The Ledge” (FrightFest Glasgow Film Festival)

Movie Reviews: “Some Like It Rare,” “The Ledge” (FrightFest Glasgow Film Festival)

Some Like It Rare French horror comedy Some Like It Rare (Barbaque; 2021) finds that bickering, sexless married couple true-crime-addict Sophie (Marina Foïs) and couch-potato Vincent (writer/director Fabrice Eboué) Pascal have fallen on hard times with their butcher shop, but an incident involving one of a group of vegans who trash their business turns into accidental success when some of the victim’s body parts are accidentally sold to customers. This new item — which Vincent dubs “Iranian pork” — becomes an instant hit. How can the Pascals capitalize on this financial rejuvenation? You can probably guess, but knowing where things are headed in that instance doesn’t hurt Some Like It Rare one bit. Loaded with great-looking gore gags and dark humor, this terrifically acted and directed effort keeps the laughs and shocks coming at a steady pace. Eboué serves up plenty of social satire, with all sorts receiving a good, often well-deserved skewering. The Ledge Climbing enthusiasts may find some

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 15, 2022
Movie Review: Hatching Is Impressive & Gruesome In So Many Ways

Boston Underground Film Festival Returns to the Big Screen This Month

Aficionados of odd, eerie, and out-there cinema will be thrilled to learn that Boston Underground Film Festival is back for its first physical edition since 2019 later this month! Fine horror features from around the world are scheduled to screen along with science fiction, fantasy, and other genre-related films from March 23rd through the 27th. Following is the official press announcement. New England cinephiles, rejoice! Spring festival season kicks off in a few short weeks as the 22nd annual Boston Underground Film Festival returns to Harvard Square, bringing with it five days of sublime cinervana to the Brattle Theatre from March 23rd through the 27th. This year’s program marks BUFF’s first physical festival since 2019 and promises a cinematic feast full of fierce folk horror, nordic nightmares, killer cockroaches, terrifying girl cults, psychological thrillers, and telekinetic chillers: All killer, no filler for the Northeast’s genre cinephiles. Fresh off its world premiere at Sundance, BUFF is honoured to host the New

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 10, 2022
Short-Film Reviews: The Strange Monster at the Rivera House, Pare, Into the Silver Ether, and Crazy Mel’s Auto Emporium (Nitehawk Shorts Festival 2022)

Short-Film Reviews: The Strange Monster at the Rivera House, Pare, Into the Silver Ether, and Crazy Mel’s Auto Emporium (Nitehawk Shorts Festival 2022)

The Strange Monster at the Rivera House In this Puerto Rican horror short, neighbors of a woman (Aidita Encarnación) are desperate to communicate with — or through — a mysterious presence in her garage. Writer/director Estaban Bailey has crafted a chilling work that takes place during a hot summer day — not a usual setting for a horror tale, but this enigmatic short is no usual tale. Well acted and eerie, The Strange Monster at the Rivera House (El Extraño en La Casa Rivera) is a nifty slice of short-shock cinema Pare Writer/director Lauren Sick’s Pare is a terrific Christmas-set chiller in which a young woman (Dana Drori) comes across a blood-stained jacket that looks suspiciously like one that belongs to her husband. Matters only get stranger — and decidedly creepier — from there. Sick builds the mystery and tension masterfully, assisted by a superb performance from Dori, whose facial expressions are fantastic. This short is open to interpretation, and

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 6, 2022

More from Joseph Perry

Shudder's Horror Comedy 'Deadstream' Is Out On Steelbook Today

Movie Review: Deadstream (SXSW)

I’m in no way a fan of watching YouTubers, TikTokers, and the like, nor am I very big on films that use the social influencer method of storytelling or that have influencers, would-be or otherwise, as their protagonists. So when I say that I was bowled over by Deadstream and had a fun-tastic time watching it, it is no small compliment. This horror comedy from codirectors/cowriters Joseph Winter and Vanessa Winter is an absolute blast, paying homage to The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and similar 1980s horror movies boasting wicked practical effects work and makeup. Joseph toplines as Shawn Ruddy, a disgraced and demonetized former internet star trying to make a comeback. He plans to livestream as he investigates a haunted house, with the caveat that if he doesn’t investigate mysterious noises or occurrences, he will lose his new potential sponsors. Joseph gives a hilarious performance as Ruddy, with his revved-up internet persona giving way to screaming and cowardice

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 30, 2022
Joe Bob Briggs and Mick Garris Help Panic Fest Celebrate Its 10th Edition

Joe Bob Briggs and Mick Garris Help Panic Fest Celebrate Its 10th Edition

Panic Fest, Kansas City’s superb film festival filled with fright fare and thrillers galore, is back on the big screens this year, and The Last Drive-In‘s Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl, as well as Sleepwalkers director Mick Garris, will be on hand to help celebrate 10 years of the renowned film festival. Panic Fest also has a jaw-dropping, drool-worthy lineup of fear-fare cinema, of course! Following is the official press announcement. The Last Drive-In‘s Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl are kicking off the 10th annual Panic Fest with a special 20th anniversary screening of Don Coscarelli’s Bubba Ho-Tep on Thursday, April 28 at 7pm CST at Screenland Armour Theatre. Panic Fest co-founder Tim KC Canton says, “We couldn’t be more thrilled to bring Panic Fest back to the masses for our 10th festival! Can’t wait to see everyone back at the theater and kick things off with Joe Bob while celebrating so many great

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 30, 2022
Brazil’s Fantaspoa Brings Fear Back to the Cinema for Its 2022 Edition

Brazil’s Fantaspoa Brings Fear Back to the Cinema for Its 2022 Edition

Brazil’s renowned genre film festival Fantaspoa makes its triumphant return to the big screen from April 15–May 1after two years of online editions. With plenty of fear fare on tap, ranging from F. W. Murnau’s 1922 classic silent vampire film NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR to the reimagining of Stephen King’s The Langoliers mini-series THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY, with an amazing bounty of science fiction, thrillers, and other movies offering the weird and the wild. Following is the official press announcement. After two years of successful online editions, the 18th edition of the beloved Brazilian genre festival Fantaspoa will return to the cinemas from April 15th through May 1st. This year, attendees will discover a very different Fantaspoa from its last on-site edition (a very distant 2019): instead of its usual two venues, the fest will take place simultaneously in five cinemas, with part of its program also being available online, geo-blocked for viewers within Brazil. The poster for this

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 23, 2022
Atlanta’s Buried Alive Film Festival Returns to the Cinema with Chills and Thrills Aplenty

Atlanta’s Buried Alive Film Festival Returns to the Cinema with Chills and Thrills Aplenty

Atlanta’s Buried Alive Film Festival returns to the big screen from March 31–April 3 this year for its 15th edition, and quite a lineup is in store for fear-fare aficionados! With four frightening features and a bevy of terror-ific shorts on tap, the 7 Stages Theatre will be home to a four days of incredible horror cinema. We here at Horror Fuel are excited about the full slate of films at Buried Alive Film Festival, but we can’t help but drool over the four features scheduled for this year. First up is the Friday night feature Duyster, a Belgian film in which three students film a documentary about Johannes Duyster, Antwerp’s 17th century executioner. Fans of found-footage horror know that things are bound to go horribly wrong for the trio. Saturday afternoon serves up the anthology film What Happens Next Will Scare You, from the imaginative creative team that brought the world the WNUF Halloween Special. The official description of

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 23, 2022
Movie Reviews: “Hypochondriac” (SXSW)

Movie Reviews: “Hypochondriac” (SXSW)

Writer/director Addison Heimann brings an unflinching look at a mental breakdown using body horror, psychological horror, and some truly dark comedy to his latest feature, Hypochondriac. The result is an intense effort that serves up some mind-boggling imagery. Will (Zach Villa) is a potter who has experienced enough trauma in his life to successfully help a coworker calm down from a panic attack. His mother (Marlene Forte) has mental health issues, including trying to kill Will when he was a child. The two have not spoken in 10 years but she is now trying to contact him at a rapid clip, causing his stress levels to rise and for him to experience physical pain including not being able to use his hands. His boyfriend Luke (Devon Graye) wants to help, but Will prefers to remain closed off and not discuss his past, including the situation with his mother. As Will’s conditions worsen, he becomes increasingly suspicious and paranoid, and begins

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 22, 2022
Movie Review: Alice

Movie Review: Alice

Writer/director Krystin Ver Linden tries to pack a lot of different ideas and cinematic styles in her debut feature Alice. The result is a compelling, if somewhat rushed at points, genre mash-up that delivers a good share of thrills along with plenty of social commentary. Alice (Keke Palmer) is a slave on a plantation in Georgia during the Antebellum period. She marries another slave named Joseph (Gaius Charles), which doesn’t sit well with plantation owner Paul Bennett (Johnny Lee Miller), who abuses her mentally and physically, and reserves Sundays for sexually abusing her. When Joseph’s plans for escape after discovering an artifact that doesn’t fit into the time period — part of a story handed down from a fellow slave — go awry and he is seemingly killed, Alice makes her own attempt at escape. Unfortunately the trailer and poster for the film give away a major twist of the film, but this happens early enough in the proceedings that

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 20, 2022
Movie Reviews: “Sissy” (SXSW)

Movie Reviews: “Sissy” (SXSW)

Australian horror comedy Sissy is a delight, addressing social media culture and bullying as it delivers large shares of laughter and gore. Cecilia (Aisha Dee) has 200,000 followers on her self-help “Sincerely Cecilia” channel, on which she leads meditation practices and plugs paid sponsors. When she randomly runs into childhood best friend Emma (Hannah Barlow) at a pharmacy, she is obviously uncomfortable, though Emma seems genuinely glad to see her, and invites Cecilia — formerly known as Sissy — to her hens party (bachelorette party). Cecilia arrives, only to find out that Alex (Emily De Margheriti), who bullied Cecilia as a child, is also in attendance. A violent occurrence between the two took place when they were youngsters, and Alex isn’t about to let “Sissy” forget it. Humor ranging from the uncomfortable to the jaw-dropping ensues, as old wounds are opened — quite literally, in one scene — and one deadly deed leads to another. Codirectors/cowriters Barlow and Kane Senes

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 17, 2022
Movie Reviews: “Some Like It Rare,” “The Ledge” (FrightFest Glasgow Film Festival)

Movie Reviews: “Some Like It Rare,” “The Ledge” (FrightFest Glasgow Film Festival)

Some Like It Rare French horror comedy Some Like It Rare (Barbaque; 2021) finds that bickering, sexless married couple true-crime-addict Sophie (Marina Foïs) and couch-potato Vincent (writer/director Fabrice Eboué) Pascal have fallen on hard times with their butcher shop, but an incident involving one of a group of vegans who trash their business turns into accidental success when some of the victim’s body parts are accidentally sold to customers. This new item — which Vincent dubs “Iranian pork” — becomes an instant hit. How can the Pascals capitalize on this financial rejuvenation? You can probably guess, but knowing where things are headed in that instance doesn’t hurt Some Like It Rare one bit. Loaded with great-looking gore gags and dark humor, this terrifically acted and directed effort keeps the laughs and shocks coming at a steady pace. Eboué serves up plenty of social satire, with all sorts receiving a good, often well-deserved skewering. The Ledge Climbing enthusiasts may find some

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 15, 2022
Movie Review: Hatching Is Impressive & Gruesome In So Many Ways

Boston Underground Film Festival Returns to the Big Screen This Month

Aficionados of odd, eerie, and out-there cinema will be thrilled to learn that Boston Underground Film Festival is back for its first physical edition since 2019 later this month! Fine horror features from around the world are scheduled to screen along with science fiction, fantasy, and other genre-related films from March 23rd through the 27th. Following is the official press announcement. New England cinephiles, rejoice! Spring festival season kicks off in a few short weeks as the 22nd annual Boston Underground Film Festival returns to Harvard Square, bringing with it five days of sublime cinervana to the Brattle Theatre from March 23rd through the 27th. This year’s program marks BUFF’s first physical festival since 2019 and promises a cinematic feast full of fierce folk horror, nordic nightmares, killer cockroaches, terrifying girl cults, psychological thrillers, and telekinetic chillers: All killer, no filler for the Northeast’s genre cinephiles. Fresh off its world premiere at Sundance, BUFF is honoured to host the New

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 10, 2022
Short-Film Reviews: The Strange Monster at the Rivera House, Pare, Into the Silver Ether, and Crazy Mel’s Auto Emporium (Nitehawk Shorts Festival 2022)

Short-Film Reviews: The Strange Monster at the Rivera House, Pare, Into the Silver Ether, and Crazy Mel’s Auto Emporium (Nitehawk Shorts Festival 2022)

The Strange Monster at the Rivera House In this Puerto Rican horror short, neighbors of a woman (Aidita Encarnación) are desperate to communicate with — or through — a mysterious presence in her garage. Writer/director Estaban Bailey has crafted a chilling work that takes place during a hot summer day — not a usual setting for a horror tale, but this enigmatic short is no usual tale. Well acted and eerie, The Strange Monster at the Rivera House (El Extraño en La Casa Rivera) is a nifty slice of short-shock cinema Pare Writer/director Lauren Sick’s Pare is a terrific Christmas-set chiller in which a young woman (Dana Drori) comes across a blood-stained jacket that looks suspiciously like one that belongs to her husband. Matters only get stranger — and decidedly creepier — from there. Sick builds the mystery and tension masterfully, assisted by a superb performance from Dori, whose facial expressions are fantastic. This short is open to interpretation, and

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Mar 6, 2022
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