Foreign

International horror: J-horror, European extremity, Latin American shocks and the films Hollywood keeps remaking.

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Spoiler-Free Reviews: EVIL SUBLET and BAKEMONO (Another Hole in the Head Film Festival)

eVil Sublet (U.S., 2023) Like most things in life, if rent sounds too good to be true, there must be some sort of problem. In writer/director/cinematographer/editor/producer Allan Piper’s horror comedy eVil Sublet — eVil referring to New York City’s East Village — couple Alex (Jennifer Leigh Houston, Piper’s wife and also a producer on the film) and Ben (Charley Tucker) find that out first-hand when they rent a fully-furnished apartment for incredibly low rent that turns out to be not only haunted, but the site of multiple past murders. The film aims more for satire and silliness than scares, though plenty of creepiness is certainly on hand. eVil Sublet sends up the housing crisis, pharmaceutical companies, political and sexual politics, and more as Alex and Ben try to cope with their spooky situation with the help of a large cast of supporting characters, including Sally Struthers as a woman living in a storage facility, Stephen Mosher and Pat Dwyer as

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Joseph Perry

Nov 23, 2023

ForeignMoviesReviews

Movie Review: Crocodile Island (2020) – WellGo USA DVD

The Dragon’s Triangle is like an Asia-based Bermuda Triangle, but instead of the normal magnetic interference bringing down aircraft over the area (though that plays a part too), ol’ D.S. is lousy with pterodactyls which have a tendency to smash into planes en masse and causing them to crash on a remote island populated by the biggest fuckin’ crocodile in forever… like since prehistoric times “forever”! Enter: Lin Hao (Gallen Lo) and his daughter Yi (Liao Yinyue), who along with a handful of others have recently survived a passenger plane crash in the aforementioned location. Now as the few that remain try to survive both in-fighting and the harsh locale they’ll have to deal with not only crocodiles of varying size, as well as giant spiders that stalk the mist-covered forests of the island! Will Lin be able to keep his skin intact while also looking out for his daughter and the other passengers, or will they become just more

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DanXIII

Nov 20, 2023

Amazon Prime VideoForeignIndieMoviesNewsStreaming TV

Hidden Secrets Are Uncovered In The Trailer For South African Horror ‘Peacock’

A young woman raised in a strict institute discovers hidden horrors in the exotic South African gothic horror Peacock, coming to the US this December. Directed by Jaco Minnaar, who co-wrote the film with David Cornwell, the film, which is described as “erotic,” stars Tarryn Wyngaard, Johan Botha, Ruan Wessels, Alida Theron, Liza Van Deventer, Nicola Hanekom, and Andre Stolz. “After violating the strict moral standards of The Foundation, the puritanical institution for young women in which she was raised, Anna Pohl (Tarryn Wyngaard) is sent to care for one of its founding members. An Apartheid-era theologian living out his days in paranoia on his isolated farm, Sarel Cilliers (Johan Botha) suffers from frightening visions and demonic hallucinations. Haunted by her own feelings of guilt, Anna slowly gets pulled into Sarel’s terrifying world as she tries to unravel the mysteries behind this sinister place and its connection to the devastating secrets being hidden by The Foundation. An evocative and erotic

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Nov 16, 2023

ForeignIndieMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Film Review: Wickedly Evil (2023)

Director Garry Walsh’s genre-bending Irish feature Wickedly Evil (AKA Bad Things in the Middle of Nowhere, 2023) finds gangsters Frankie (Joseph McGucken), Dancer (James Farrelly), and Gaz (Darryl Carter) hiding out in rural Ireland after pulling off a heist. The robbery was not without its problems, though, as Gaz is bleeding out from a gunshot wound, he and Frankie have kidnapped Clare (Louise Bourke), the daughter of a local crime family, and a woman who lives next door to the hideout named Sadie (Cat L. Walsh) just might be on to the men. The worst of their problems is yet to come, though. Wickedly Evil is billed as a horror comedy and although there is plenty of tension on tap, viewers expecting horror throughout — like with the 2020 U.K. holed-up criminals vs. the supernatural feature The World We Knew, for example — will likely come away disappointed. Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shots of something unusual going on in the background are peppered

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Joseph Perry

Nov 16, 2023

ForeignNetflixNewsStreaming TVTrailers

Netflix’s Series “Sweet Home” Scores A New Trailer Ahead Of Season Two

News has now come out of “Geek Week” that fans will get a second season of one of the best Korean series ever to grace Netflix, the monster-filled, action-packed series “Sweet Home.” The announcement came with the release of the teaser trailer, which frankly looks good as hell. In season one, which premiered in 2020, Hyun, who lost his entire family in a terrible accident, is forced to face a new reality where monsters are trying to wipe out all of humanity. Season two sees “The main characters depart from the Green Home, the site of their previous monster battles, and are compelled to venture into the outside world. Survivors have gathered at what is left of the stadium and built a community, but they still cannot let their guard down. The evolving storyline promises heightened anticipation as the characters confront new dangers in different environments, where they must fight against external monsters and their monstrous desires.” Song Kang returns

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Nov 12, 2023

ForeignIndieMoviesNewsTrailers

The Cannes Winner ‘Omen’ Casts A Spell With New Trailer

The first look at the upcoming stunning supernatural horror-thriller Omen is here. It teases a twisted tale that explores culture, ancient superstition, and dark magic. The film marks the directorial debut of Baloji, an award-winning musician, filmmaker, polymath, art director, and costume designer, and won multiple awards at this year’s Cannes Festival and screened at Sitges and BeyondFest. In Omen, “After spending years in Belgium, Koffi (Marc Zinga), a young Congolese man, returns to his birthplace of Kinshasa to confront his family and homeland culture. Secrecy and sorcery erupt when a nosebleed is mistaken for a curse, and Koffi is shunned from his family. Using magical realism to paint a portrait of “undesirables” and “sorcerers,” OMEN delves into the intricacies of identity, culture, and belief systems through a vibrant and visually captivating lens.” Marc Zinga, Lucie Debay, Eliane Umuhire, Yves-Marina Gnahoua, and Marcel Otete Kabeya star in Omen, which Benoit Roiland produced. Let the first trailer for Omen cast a

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Nov 11, 2023

Part Psychological Horror, Part Creature Feature: 'Loop Track' Is Out This December

ForeignIndieMoviesNewsThrillerTrailers

A Deadly Creature Hunts Hikers In The New ‘Loop Track’ Trailer

This December, A man on the brink of insanity sets out on a hike, not knowing that it will turn into a fight for survival in Loop Track from writer-director Thomas Sainsbury. The trailer has just been unleashed by Dark Sky Films, teasing the horrors that await you this December in Loop Track, part psychological horror, part creature feature. In Loop Track, “Ian, a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown, disappears from the world and takes a hike in the New Zealand wilderness. His efforts to avoid other hikers are futile, and he is drawn into their worlds, but he can never shake the feeling that is stalking them someone or something sinister is stalking them. As Ian’s paranoia grows, the other hikers become wary of him. He’s cagey about his past, he never sleeps, and his anxiety leads him to make concerning claims. Far from society, Ian starts to question his own sanity before plunging into a

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Nov 9, 2023

AdaptationForeignMoviesNewsParamount+Streaming TVTrailers

Thrilling Korean Series “Bargain” Now Streaming On Paramount+

The thrilling, action-packed Korean series “Bargain” is now streaming on Paramount+, marking the second K-series on the streaming service that is part of a partnership between Paramount and the Seoul-based CJ ENM. The series is an adaption of Lee Chung-hyun’s award-winning short film of the same name, which premiered in 2015. The series stars Jun Jong-seo (Money Heist: Korea) and Jin Seon-kyu (Extreme Job) and is directed by Jun Woo-sung, who was part of the production team of the original short film. The six-part series centers on a group of strangers who gather at a remote motel with ulterior motives and seeking to bargain, only to find themselves trapped after an earthquake. With no one to trust, they must find a way to survive. Watch the action-packed series “Baragin” now, streaming exclusively on Paramount+. You can watch it free with a trial subscription.

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Nov 7, 2023

ForeignIndieMoviesNewsThrillerTrailers

Trailer Unleashed For ‘(Pri)sons,’ The Most Brutal Film To Ever Come Out Of Finland

(Pri)sons, reportedly the most brutal and bloody film ever made in Finland, is giving viewers a glimpse at the action with its first teaser. The film centers on a ragtag group of criminals who must band together to fight for survival when an army of bloodthirsty assassins besieges an underground marketplace of illegal activities. (Pri)sons marks the most ambitious film of director-cinematographer Esa Jussila, who has built a long-lasting career in genre and exploitation underground film. The film deals with organized crime, the degeneration of human beings, and the natural urge to survive. The film is unique because of the amount of violence, special effects, and demanding stunts that all the actors had to perform. “To me, this film is an amalgamation of two genres I hold very dear, those being old school action movies and extreme horror. And I think it’s a genre cocktail that will give the audience some unique thrills. I essentially aimed to produce a big

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Nov 2, 2023

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Reviews: THE WATERHOUSE and MARIA (FrightFest Halloween)

The Waterhouse (U.K., 2023) Writer/director Samuel Clemens’ The Waterhouse boasts mesmerizing sound design, captivating visuals, and a satisfyingly eerie, enigmatic tone. Thieves Eric (Alan Calton), Matt (Dominic Vulliamy), and Paul (Michelangelo Fortuzzi) have stolen a painting, the profits from which could make them rich. There’s a problem, though, as Matt’s mother Denice (Corrine Wicks), who helped with the heist, is missing, and when Eric finds blood and an object that could give rise to something going wrong, he keeps the information to himself. The trio is holed up in an isolated house on the beach and suspicion rises among them. Matters become more complicated when three women — Pixie (Lily Catalifo), Opal (Lara Lemon), and Noé (Sandrine Salyères) — turn up seeking help but wind up in a game of Two Truths and a Lie with the men, which leads to flirtation, strong sexual attraction, and eldritch proceedings. Painful sounds, missing time, and supernatural occurrences abound. Clemens — son of

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Joseph Perry

Nov 1, 2023

Foreign

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