CategoryThriller
Psychological thrillers, dark crime and slow-burn suspense — films and series that get under your skin without a single monster.
1,913 stories
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Detective Samantha Woodhouse (Nicola Correia-Drakulic) goes a-sleuthing after her father spits out the name of a girl who has been missing for nigh-on nine years upon his death bed… a girl who went missing after some sort of prom thing or another. Complicating matters are the strange cult that inhabits Sammy’s hometown… not to mention the fact our heroine may have a connection to the disappearance! Will Samantha be able to crack the case and remain confident of who she is? Filmmakers Jay Drakulic and Alex Lee Williams deliver one hell of a stylish thriller with Hellmington… but the film has much more going for it than aesthetics and groovy camera-work. The suspense remains tight throughout (with plenty of well-constructed ramp-ups), the mystery is engaging, and the performances, especially that provided by Correia-Drakulic as Samantha are on-point… especially as the emotional turmoil of her investigation takes it’s toll on her character’s psyche. Another big check in the plus column for
Continue reading →
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Pure concerns the adventures of Shay (Jahkara Smith), who along with her half-sister Jo (McKaley Miller) and father Kyle (Jim Klock), head out to one hell of a fucked-up retreat where women are dressed in white, lectured repeatedly on purity, and promise to their fathers that they won’t give up that cherry cobbler to any ol’ walkin’ hard on that comes their way until after marriage. It’s all rather Draconian and Patriarchal, and the extreme methods employed by the smarmy, yet charismatic Pastor Seth (Scott Porter) (including an outre box which he uses to punish dissenters) don’t help matters. Soon Shay, Jo and their new friends Kellyann (Annalisa Cochrane) and Lacey (Ciara Bravo) discover that all of Seth’s talk of Lilith and sins of the flesh made real are nothing compared to the supernatural evil that enters their lives after they perform a half-assed arcane ritual on the grounds of the revoltin’ retreat! With it’s emphasis on father’s controlling the
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Comic book addicted mountain-man lookin’ mother fucker Artik (Jerry G. Angelo) spends his days hunting the bleak town in which he lives and it’s outskirts for fresh victims for his serial killer proclivities helped by his “son” Boy Adam (Gavin White)…a viscous feral lad, though one with an introspective side. Also on hand is Artik’s woman Flin Brays (indie horror darling Lauren Ashley Carter) and a cadre of farmhand children that live in their barn. Soon Boy befriends a troubled young man named Holton Shudcase (Chase Williamson) who learns that things are fucked up six ways to Sunday in that lil’ dude’s life, and when he tries to intervene it’s nearly certain that death will come a callin’ …you know, because Artik is a complete deranged lunatic with a hair-fucking-trigger for the ol’ murder biz and all! Artik on the surface seems like something the horror biz has brought us a bazillionty times…psycho hillbilly family lives on a farm where
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Darlin’ features the various and sundry adventures of the eponymous title character (played by Lauryn Canny); a feral child who is dropped off at a hospital located at the edge of a snow covered forest by her equally feral mother; The Woman (played by the film’s director and writer, Pollyanna McIntosh… who we interviewed here, as a character featured in Lucky McKee’s movie of the same name… yup, this flick is a sequel to that very film, which in turn is based on the writing of Jack Ketchum). Darlin’ proves to be one hell of a handful, and is kept sedated until the staff can figure out her fate… a fate that is ultimately decided by the Catholic church (who funds the hospital) that sends her packing to ye olde Catholic orphanage. This of course complicates things when The Woman comes lookin’ for her offspring at the hospital, bearing her fav delicacy; human flesh. The Woman intends to find her
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
It’s Ponce de Leon 2099 as a genetic research company type-o-deal has ciphered a way of prolonging human life… if you got the dough that is, dig? Naturally said company is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg, and the way they go about their research is what the scientific community labels “fuckin’ wrong as balls”. Fortunately, the company’s CEO Bridget Pellegrini (Erika Hoveland) is kinda “hell naw” on the whole affair, and she wants that shit to cease, pee-ronto. Well, her board of directors reacts to that like one would a fart in a submarine, and tries to get her to cool ‘er jets, as does the the man with the slick-as-shit name, Dr. Magnus (Yan Birch)… hell, even her hubs Mark (Billy Wirth) puts the guilt trip upon our harried heroine. Long story short; Bridget gets locked away by the company (as part of their Executive Kidnap Community Outreach Program) while Magnus and his assistant Nikita (Vida Ghaffari)
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsThriller
*Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own. Harley (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) is b.d. into the Banana Splits… a wacky kids program starring a quartet of costumed critters (Bingo, Fleegle, Snorky, and Drooper by name). As fate would have it, Harley’s mother Beth (Dani Kind) gets our diminutive hero tickets to the live show for his birthday, and drags along his slacker half-brother Austin (Romeo Carere), douche of a dad, Mitch (Steve Lund), and classmate (notice I didn’t say “friend”, ‘cuz Harley has next to none of those) Zoe (Maria Nash). Seems prosaic enough, save for the fact that the series has been cancelled, effective right after filming, and the automatons that portray the cartoonish cast have gone completely berserk and begin murdering people six ways to Sunday! Will Harley and his family survive the ordeal, or become part of the eternal horror
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesNewsThriller
News has come that IFC Midnight has acquired North American rights to Jennifer Reeder’s visionary coming-of-age thriller Knives and Skin, which will screen next at Fantastic Fest. The film follows the “investigation of a young girl’s disappearance in a stylized version of a rural Midwest town that hovers just above reality, led by an inexperienced local sheriff. Unusual coping techniques develop among the traumatized small-town residents with each new secret revealed. The ripple of fear and suspicion destroys some relationships and strengthens others. The backdrop of trauma colors quintessential rituals—classrooms, dances, courtship, football games—in which the teenagers experience an accelerated loss of innocence while their parents are forced to confront adulthood failures. This mystical teen noir presents coming of age as a lifelong process and examines the profound impact of grief.” Starring Kate Arrington (The Irishman, Hello I Must Be Going), Tony Fitzpatrick (Married to the Mob, Philadelphia), Tim Hopper (School of Rock, Vanilla Sky), Raven Whitley (Red Line), and
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsThriller
Daphne (Ariana DeBose) has it tough as she works a right shit job and has to care for her hard-luck momma (Sharon Washington). But all isn’t dumpster fires and frowns for our heroine, as she is having a secret fling with Roger (Matt Shingledecker), a dude in kind of a similar sitch as he is charged with caring for his old (literally) man… until Pops buys the farm that is. We soon learn Rog has inherited a seaside beach house, and he drags ol’ Daphne out there where she meets Susanna (Steffanie Leigh); one of Roger’s exes. Now let me just say the film opens with a crime scene and we have to piece together who is the victim in that scenario… so put your weird-ass Sherlock Holmes hat on and try to cram those puzzle pieces together into some sort of clear picture! While that set-up may seem to have some spark to it, I have to say Seaside
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesNewsThrillerTrailers
Ahead of its world premiere this September, the trailer has arrived for Elizabeth Blake-Thomas‘ dark short film Unseen, which puts the horror of human trafficking in the spotlight. Thomas felt compelled to make a film about child trafficking and fake social media modeling contests with promises of fame and fortune to teenagers around the world with “fame lures,” after hearing the story of a girl from Utah who was abducted and trafficked for five years before she escaped and returned to her family. The film stars Rhyon Nicole Brown (Fox’s Empire) and Isabella Blake-Thomas (Disney’s Secret Society of Second Born Royals, role in ABCs Once Upon a Time) as best friends who come across what seems to be a modeling contest on social media. It is not. The film also stars Yolanda Wood (Extinct), Rebecca Da Costa (The Bag Man), and Hillary Barraford (The United States of Tara). “In Unseen, a teenage girl’s innocent social media mistake has dire consequences.
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsThriller
A serial killer has marked gay men frequenting New York’s meat packing district; home to the S/M and leather scene, and he’s been dismembering them like a beastly butcher! Thankfully police officer Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is placed deep undercover onto the streets to try and draw the killer out. Soon our hero becomes almost completely isolated from his previous life as his new fabricated existence consumes him. Will Steve be able to catch the killer and remain who he is? Comprised of a stellar cast (besides the aforementioned Pacino; Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, James Remar, Ed O’ Neill and the Maniac himself Joe Spinell round out the roster), a brutal mystery to solve, a deep-dive into a subculture not often examined, and the unbeatable grit and grime of late ’70s/early ’80s Manhattan; Cruising is a rock-solid horror film dressed in thriller clothing. Among all of that goodness, there is of course the ol’ elephant in the room that should
Continue reading →
More from Thriller
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Detective Samantha Woodhouse (Nicola Correia-Drakulic) goes a-sleuthing after her father spits out the name of a girl who has been missing for nigh-on nine years upon his death bed… a girl who went missing after some sort of prom thing or another. Complicating matters are the strange cult that inhabits Sammy’s hometown… not to mention the fact our heroine may have a connection to the disappearance! Will Samantha be able to crack the case and remain confident of who she is? Filmmakers Jay Drakulic and Alex Lee Williams deliver one hell of a stylish thriller with Hellmington… but the film has much more going for it than aesthetics and groovy camera-work. The suspense remains tight throughout (with plenty of well-constructed ramp-ups), the mystery is engaging, and the performances, especially that provided by Correia-Drakulic as Samantha are on-point… especially as the emotional turmoil of her investigation takes it’s toll on her character’s psyche. Another big check in the plus column for
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsStreaming TVThriller
Pure concerns the adventures of Shay (Jahkara Smith), who along with her half-sister Jo (McKaley Miller) and father Kyle (Jim Klock), head out to one hell of a fucked-up retreat where women are dressed in white, lectured repeatedly on purity, and promise to their fathers that they won’t give up that cherry cobbler to any ol’ walkin’ hard on that comes their way until after marriage. It’s all rather Draconian and Patriarchal, and the extreme methods employed by the smarmy, yet charismatic Pastor Seth (Scott Porter) (including an outre box which he uses to punish dissenters) don’t help matters. Soon Shay, Jo and their new friends Kellyann (Annalisa Cochrane) and Lacey (Ciara Bravo) discover that all of Seth’s talk of Lilith and sins of the flesh made real are nothing compared to the supernatural evil that enters their lives after they perform a half-assed arcane ritual on the grounds of the revoltin’ retreat! With it’s emphasis on father’s controlling the
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Comic book addicted mountain-man lookin’ mother fucker Artik (Jerry G. Angelo) spends his days hunting the bleak town in which he lives and it’s outskirts for fresh victims for his serial killer proclivities helped by his “son” Boy Adam (Gavin White)…a viscous feral lad, though one with an introspective side. Also on hand is Artik’s woman Flin Brays (indie horror darling Lauren Ashley Carter) and a cadre of farmhand children that live in their barn. Soon Boy befriends a troubled young man named Holton Shudcase (Chase Williamson) who learns that things are fucked up six ways to Sunday in that lil’ dude’s life, and when he tries to intervene it’s nearly certain that death will come a callin’ …you know, because Artik is a complete deranged lunatic with a hair-fucking-trigger for the ol’ murder biz and all! Artik on the surface seems like something the horror biz has brought us a bazillionty times…psycho hillbilly family lives on a farm where
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Darlin’ features the various and sundry adventures of the eponymous title character (played by Lauryn Canny); a feral child who is dropped off at a hospital located at the edge of a snow covered forest by her equally feral mother; The Woman (played by the film’s director and writer, Pollyanna McIntosh… who we interviewed here, as a character featured in Lucky McKee’s movie of the same name… yup, this flick is a sequel to that very film, which in turn is based on the writing of Jack Ketchum). Darlin’ proves to be one hell of a handful, and is kept sedated until the staff can figure out her fate… a fate that is ultimately decided by the Catholic church (who funds the hospital) that sends her packing to ye olde Catholic orphanage. This of course complicates things when The Woman comes lookin’ for her offspring at the hospital, bearing her fav delicacy; human flesh. The Woman intends to find her
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
It’s Ponce de Leon 2099 as a genetic research company type-o-deal has ciphered a way of prolonging human life… if you got the dough that is, dig? Naturally said company is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg, and the way they go about their research is what the scientific community labels “fuckin’ wrong as balls”. Fortunately, the company’s CEO Bridget Pellegrini (Erika Hoveland) is kinda “hell naw” on the whole affair, and she wants that shit to cease, pee-ronto. Well, her board of directors reacts to that like one would a fart in a submarine, and tries to get her to cool ‘er jets, as does the the man with the slick-as-shit name, Dr. Magnus (Yan Birch)… hell, even her hubs Mark (Billy Wirth) puts the guilt trip upon our harried heroine. Long story short; Bridget gets locked away by the company (as part of their Executive Kidnap Community Outreach Program) while Magnus and his assistant Nikita (Vida Ghaffari)
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsThriller
*Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own. Harley (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) is b.d. into the Banana Splits… a wacky kids program starring a quartet of costumed critters (Bingo, Fleegle, Snorky, and Drooper by name). As fate would have it, Harley’s mother Beth (Dani Kind) gets our diminutive hero tickets to the live show for his birthday, and drags along his slacker half-brother Austin (Romeo Carere), douche of a dad, Mitch (Steve Lund), and classmate (notice I didn’t say “friend”, ‘cuz Harley has next to none of those) Zoe (Maria Nash). Seems prosaic enough, save for the fact that the series has been cancelled, effective right after filming, and the automatons that portray the cartoonish cast have gone completely berserk and begin murdering people six ways to Sunday! Will Harley and his family survive the ordeal, or become part of the eternal horror
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesNewsThriller
News has come that IFC Midnight has acquired North American rights to Jennifer Reeder’s visionary coming-of-age thriller Knives and Skin, which will screen next at Fantastic Fest. The film follows the “investigation of a young girl’s disappearance in a stylized version of a rural Midwest town that hovers just above reality, led by an inexperienced local sheriff. Unusual coping techniques develop among the traumatized small-town residents with each new secret revealed. The ripple of fear and suspicion destroys some relationships and strengthens others. The backdrop of trauma colors quintessential rituals—classrooms, dances, courtship, football games—in which the teenagers experience an accelerated loss of innocence while their parents are forced to confront adulthood failures. This mystical teen noir presents coming of age as a lifelong process and examines the profound impact of grief.” Starring Kate Arrington (The Irishman, Hello I Must Be Going), Tony Fitzpatrick (Married to the Mob, Philadelphia), Tim Hopper (School of Rock, Vanilla Sky), Raven Whitley (Red Line), and
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsThriller
Daphne (Ariana DeBose) has it tough as she works a right shit job and has to care for her hard-luck momma (Sharon Washington). But all isn’t dumpster fires and frowns for our heroine, as she is having a secret fling with Roger (Matt Shingledecker), a dude in kind of a similar sitch as he is charged with caring for his old (literally) man… until Pops buys the farm that is. We soon learn Rog has inherited a seaside beach house, and he drags ol’ Daphne out there where she meets Susanna (Steffanie Leigh); one of Roger’s exes. Now let me just say the film opens with a crime scene and we have to piece together who is the victim in that scenario… so put your weird-ass Sherlock Holmes hat on and try to cram those puzzle pieces together into some sort of clear picture! While that set-up may seem to have some spark to it, I have to say Seaside
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesNewsThrillerTrailers
Ahead of its world premiere this September, the trailer has arrived for Elizabeth Blake-Thomas‘ dark short film Unseen, which puts the horror of human trafficking in the spotlight. Thomas felt compelled to make a film about child trafficking and fake social media modeling contests with promises of fame and fortune to teenagers around the world with “fame lures,” after hearing the story of a girl from Utah who was abducted and trafficked for five years before she escaped and returned to her family. The film stars Rhyon Nicole Brown (Fox’s Empire) and Isabella Blake-Thomas (Disney’s Secret Society of Second Born Royals, role in ABCs Once Upon a Time) as best friends who come across what seems to be a modeling contest on social media. It is not. The film also stars Yolanda Wood (Extinct), Rebecca Da Costa (The Bag Man), and Hillary Barraford (The United States of Tara). “In Unseen, a teenage girl’s innocent social media mistake has dire consequences.
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsThriller
A serial killer has marked gay men frequenting New York’s meat packing district; home to the S/M and leather scene, and he’s been dismembering them like a beastly butcher! Thankfully police officer Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is placed deep undercover onto the streets to try and draw the killer out. Soon our hero becomes almost completely isolated from his previous life as his new fabricated existence consumes him. Will Steve be able to catch the killer and remain who he is? Comprised of a stellar cast (besides the aforementioned Pacino; Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, James Remar, Ed O’ Neill and the Maniac himself Joe Spinell round out the roster), a brutal mystery to solve, a deep-dive into a subculture not often examined, and the unbeatable grit and grime of late ’70s/early ’80s Manhattan; Cruising is a rock-solid horror film dressed in thriller clothing. Among all of that goodness, there is of course the ol’ elephant in the room that should
Continue reading →
