Film Festivals

Horror film festivals worldwide — lineups, awards and the titles that break out of the festival circuit.

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Spoiler-Free Reviews: HERD and CHEAT (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

HERD (2023) I’m admittedly a hard sell on zombie fare, but am open to seeing if new releases have something different to offer. Although director Stephen Pierce’s Herd follows many of the subgenre’s familiar beats and tropes, it does serve up some novel takes along with surprises near the end that provide food for thought. Despite news reports of a pandemic outbreak, Jamie Miller (Ellen Adair) and her girlfriend Alex Kanai (Mitzi Akaha) set out on a canoe trip in an attempt to save their fractured relationship. During their travels, the outbreak results in the infected becoming covered in boils, suffering headaches, and becoming aggressive — the latter only when provoked, though. Scratches from the infected result in spreading the outbreak. Alex makes an unwise impulsive decision that results in a broken leg for her and that puts the couple in peril not only with the “heps,” as the infected are called here, but also with a cult-like community —

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Joseph Perry

Aug 29, 2023

Film FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers

Shudder Snags Creature Feature ‘Infested’ Ahead Of Venice Film Festival Premiere

Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thrillers, and the supernatural, announced today it has acquired the rights to Charades and WTF Films thriller Infested, previously titled Vermin, ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. From multi-international-awards shorts, writer-director Sébastien Vanicek’s Infested marks his first feature film, which he co-wrote with Florent Bernard. In Infested, Kaleb is about to turn 30 and has never been lonelier. He’s fighting with his sister over inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a bazaar and returns it to his flat. It only takes a moment for it to escape and reproduce, turning the whole place into a dreadful web trap. At the same time, the police lock down the building where the residents are ambushed. The only option for Kaleb and his mates is to find a way out to survive. “INFESTED terrifies on a multitude of

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Aug 26, 2023

Film FestivalsMoviesNewsShudderStreaming TV

Shudder’s H.P. Lovecraft Film ‘Suitable Flesh’ Makes Its Premiere At FrightFest

Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s twisted tale, Shudder and Lovecraft’s Suitable Flesh premieres at FrightFest. Suitable Flesh sees Psychiatrist Elizabeth Derby become obsessed with helping a young patient with an extreme personality disorder. But it leads her into dark occult danger as she tries to escape a horrific fate. Directed by Joe Lynch (Point Blank, Mayhem), the film features an incredible cast that includes Heather Graham (Lost in Space, Boogie Nights, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me), Judah Lewis (Demolition, The Babysitter), Bruce Davison (X-Men, Insidious: The Last Key), Johnathon Schaech (The Night Clerk), and Barbara Crampton (You’re Next, Beyond The Gates, Lords oYou’rem). FrightFest, the UK’s biggest, best, and most beloved horror and fantasy film festival, returns in a blaze of gory glory to the Cineworld Leicester Square, London, for its 24th edition this year with pioneering technology & entertainment company Pigeon Shrine as its headline sponsor. The company is the brainchild of Tom Paton, working alongside industry finance

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Aug 25, 2023

Film FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers

Ted Raimi Stars In Thriller ‘Failure!’ Premiering At FrightFest (Trailer)

Ted Raimi stars in the psychological thriller Failure!, set to make its World Premiere at FrightFest on August 28th. Along with the news comes the trailer. Failure! “follows business tycoon James (Raimi – The Quarry, Ash v Evil Dead, Creepshow), a loving family man with a crushing bank debt that he must resolve within an hour or lose his business. Greedy associates, back-stabbing friends, and even ghosts from his past all force him to choose between financial ruin… or murder.” The film also stars Merrick McCartha (Senior Year), Melissa Diaz (Ruthless), John Paul Medrano (Seven Days), Daniel Kuhlman (Voodoo Macbeth), and Noel Douglas Orput. Director Alex Kahuam’s psychological thriller Failure! is shot in a single 87-minute take, portrayed in three acts. The film makes Kahuam the first Mexican director to do so in the United States. Raimi, who is a writer, director, and producer, has starred in over 100 films and series and is known for his roles in films

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Aug 25, 2023

Film FestivalsMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Reviews: THE BANALITY and WATCHDOG (Popcorn Frights)

THE BANALITY (2023) The Banality (AKA Death Letter Blues) is a moving meditation on the mysteries of life peppered with supernatural elements, set in rural Mississippi and rich in southern gothic atmosphere. A young feral boy is found in the area and town priest Father Moss (Sherman Augustus) persuades a childless couple to adopt him. Eleven years later, the boy has adapted well to life in the small town but is harassed by some of his classmates. When he turns up dead after a nighttime outdoor party, Father Moss, the parents, and practically every other local in the small community is affected by his demise one way or another. Gorgeous looking and wonderfully acted, this unique offering from cowriters/codirectors Strack Azar and Michael Stevantoni is contemplative, existential horror on the quiet side that asks viewers to consider how dark choices can lead to consequences years later, and even how such actions may affect people after their passing, whether or not

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Joseph Perry

Aug 23, 2023

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller

Spoiler-Free Reviews: BIBI and WINTERTIDE (Cinequest)

BIBI (2023) A gorgeous looking meditation on grief and loss, writer/director Christopher Beatty’s atmospheric thriller Bibi uses gothic elements in its story of a woman named Vivan (Elizabeth Paige in a riveting lead performance) and the troubled relationship she has with her teen daughter Bibi (Judith Ann DiMinni). Vivian has suffered psychological issues since childhood, when her father caused her sister’s death. Now plagued further by Bibi’s troubling behavior and the threat of danger from a constant intruder, Vivian is spiraling further downward. Seasoned viewers of psychological shockers may sometimes find themselves a step or so ahead of some of the proceedings, but the journey to the end of the film is one well worth taking thanks to gorgeous set design by Melissa Edmond and art direction by Alec Addalia, sumptuous cinematography by John W. Rutland, a compelling story and assured direction from Beatty, and a terrific performance from Paige with fine support from DiMinni. WINTERTIDE (2023) Director John Barnard’s

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Joseph Perry

Aug 23, 2023

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Reviews: SUBJECT and PSYCHOSIS (Popcorn Frights)

Subject (2023) Australian shocker Subject centers on Willem (Stephen Phillips), who we meet when he is under arrest and in a police van, only to be taken away by mysterious agent Dalesky (director Tristan Barr), who offers him an alternative to prison. Willem, who proclaims innocence of any crime, accepts the offer, which involves observing a monster in the room next to his while being denied contact with any other human other than Dalesky, who conducts occasional question-and-answer sessions involving electrical shocks. Memories reminiscent of home movies cloud Willem’s mind, bringing back thoughts of his late wife Carrie (Cecilia Low) and their two daughters, most of which are unpleasant. Barr, working from a screenplay by Vincent Befi, builds the mystery and suspense terrifically, leaving open to viewer interpretation exactly what is happening to the highly troubled Willem. Phillips is on screen for the majority of the film, and he gives a fine performance depicting his complex character. Challenging, intriguing, and

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Joseph Perry

Aug 17, 2023

Film FestivalsMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Reviews: WHERE THE DEVIL ROAMS and BLACKOUT (Fantasia)

Where the Devil Roams (2023) In arguably their darkest and certainly their goriest offering yet, filmmakers The Adams Family — John Adams, Toby Poser, and their daughter Zelda Adams — invest Where the Devil Roams with an inescapable air of dread. The family members play members of a traveling carnival troupe trying to eke out a meager existence during America’s Great Depression. Father Seven (John Adams) is an emotionally scarred war veteran who must be blindfolded when violence occurs around him, mother Maggie (Poser) possesses a vicious killing streak, and daughter Eve (Zelda Adams) — who is mute except for singing — photographs the gruesome aftermaths of Maggie’s murders. The motives for the murders vary but depend on Maggie, from feeling slighted or looked down upon by those in better financial positions than the family or by mistaking a man for a German, who Seven fought in the war. Where the Devil Roams blends killers-on-the-road and “bizarre carnival” elements, and

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Joseph Perry

Aug 11, 2023

Film FestivalsMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Reviews: PERPETRATOR and IT LIVES INSIDE (Fantasia)

Perpetrator (2023) Combining slasher, supernatural, and even superhero elements, writer/director Jennifer Reeder’s Perpetrator is a thrilling, chilling feature that is a deliciously twisted display of teen girls taking on the patriarchy. Jonquil “Jonny” Baptiste (Kiah McKirnan) is too much of a handful for her father, who ships her off just before her 18th birthday to her Aunt Hildie (Alicia Silverstone having a blast in an “Is she or isn’t she evil?” role). Hildie sends Jonny to a private girls’ school from which students go missing, and viewers see that their disappearances lead to gory proceedings. Jonny and her new girlfriend Aviva (Casimere Jollette) are on the case, though, and determined to solve the mystery. Reeder’s coming-of-age horror looks great, boasts a solid cast, is directed with verve, and provides a great deal of suspense, mystery, and no shortage of gore. Plenty of dark humor is on display, as well. Reeder follows up her 2019 feature Knives and Skin with a

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Joseph Perry

Aug 8, 2023

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Review: CONVENIENCE STORY (Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film)

Convenience Story (2022) is a surreal odyssey with film noir elements. If that sounds like a reference to David Lynch’s work or to the many Lynchian knock-offs, sure, there are shared concepts here, but writer/director Satoshi Miki’s Japanese feature leans more to the whimsical and weird than the dark. The 24/7 convenience store (konbini) is a major part of Japanese culture, and Miki places his deadpan, struggling screenwriter protagonist Kato (Ryo Narita) in a decidedly bizarre remote one after he abandons his actress girlfriend Zigzag’s (Yuki Katayama) dog nearby. With the rented truck that he drove there suddenly not running, he takes up the somewhat eager offer of married-couple convenience store owners Keiko (Atsuko Maeda) and Nagumo (Seiji Rokkaku) to stay the night. While Nagumo spends time in the forest air-conducting classical music, Keiko and Kato find themselves in an offbeat relationship reminiscent of The Postman Always Rings Twice. Giving away any more of the plot would be a disservice

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Joseph Perry

Aug 7, 2023

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