Foreign

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

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LEGEND Reveals Slate of Horror, Sci-fi and Action Premieres for May 2023

Sociopathic drivers, haunted soldiers and a vengeful Nicholas Cage, spearhead an action-packed May line-up on LEGEND, highlighted by the UK TV premieres of Western psychological thriller WAR ON THE RANGE and compelling suspense actioner VENGEANCE, starring Nicholas Cage. Plus, there are Channel premieres for HIDDEN AGENDA, starring a gun-toting, high-kicking Dolph Lundgren, suicide mission drama LAST PASSENGER, starring Dougray Scott, high-octane crime thriller PAYDIRT, starring Val Kilmer and Luke Goss and John Frankenheimer’s gripping, highly-acclaimed YEAR OF THE GUN, starring Sharon Stone. THE VINTAGE VAULT continues to haunt Sunday nights with its popular classic genre double-bills, which, this month, include cult favourites WITCHFINDER GENERAL, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT and LUST FOR A VAMPIRE. The weekends are further enhanced by the continuation of the ever-popular original series of sci-fi anthology classics, THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Full film details in transmission order: Thurs 4 May @ 21:00 – WAR ON THE RANGE (2015) *UK TV Premiere In post-Civil War Texas, two neighbouring families

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Joseph Perry

Apr 25, 2023

DocumentariesFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Review: KING ON SCREEN (Panic Fest 2023)

French/Belgian coproduction King on Screen is a valentine to the film adaptations of prolific author Stephen King — who truly needs no introduction here — and to the writer himself. Featuring talking-head interviews with filmmakers who adapted King’s works to big and small screens alike, along with behind-the-scenes footage and film clips galore, the film shows the diverse range of genres in which King has worked, and examines why his stories work as well as they do. Director Daphné Baiwir begins her documentary with an Easter-egg–filled seven-minute sequence in which King’s short stories and novels get name checked or alluded to, and it’s a fun way to begin this film. Even the most casual of the author’s fans will get some of the references, while more seasoned aficionados will appreciate the deeper cuts. From there, the interview segments, archival footage that includes King on different sets, and clips from both classic and lesser known King films begin. Filmmakers such as

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Joseph Perry

Apr 17, 2023

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller

Spoiler-Free Reviews: THE BIGFOOT TRAP and MEDUSA DELUXE (Panic Fest 2023)

The Bigfoot Trap The Bigfoot Trap (U.S., 2023) is not another movie about Sasquatch running rampant on misbehaving city folk — far from it, although we do get a nice variation on that type of person here. Josh MacMahon (Tyler Weisenauer) has set aside his goal of becoming a reporter of depth for some quick cash being a content provider for a clickbait-style website hungry for views. After a video of him making fun of a flat-Earth believer goes viral, Josh gets an assignment of doing another such video about Red Wilson (Zach Lazar Hoffman), the head of the Southern Sasquatch Research Foundation — the membership of which seems to be two people. At first trying to get yucks at Red’s expense, Josh begins to buy into the earnestness with which Red seeks to prove that Bigfoot actually exists. When a possible visual sighting of the legendary cryptid goes tragically awry, The Bigfoot Trap ratchets up its drama and suspense.

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Joseph Perry

Apr 17, 2023

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsSci-FiThriller

Spoiler-Free Reviews: MONOLITH and ACCUSED (Overlook Film Festival)

Monolith Australian science fiction/mystery Monolith finds a young reporter (Lily Sullivan) trying to revive her career as a journalist after not checking her sources on a controversial article. She has an opportunity to start a podcast but suffers from creative block — until, that is, she receives an email from an anonymous source that hints at a particular woman and a brick. The podcaster follows up on the mysterious message and finds herself going further and further down a rabbit hole, and revealing any more of the plot would be doing director Matt Vesely’s film a great disservice. Vesely, working from a marvelous screenplay by Lucy Campbell, masterfully builds the intensity, with Sullivan giving a first-rate performance. Sullivan is, with soem small exception, the only actor viewers see — other performers provide solid voice acting — and she carries the film wonderfully. Go in to Monolith as cold as possible and be prepared for a slow-burn mystery designed to keep

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Joseph Perry

Apr 11, 2023

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Reviews: GODLESS: THE EASTFIELD EXORCISM and THE ARTIFICE GIRL (Overlook 2023)

Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism Australian feature Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism (2023) eschews the cliches of films dealing with vomit-spewing, head-spinning people possessed by demons in favor of dealing with the religious beliefs vs. mental health question behind alleged possessions. The result is a riveting film that is ultimately as heartbreaking as it is chilling. Lara (Georgia Eyers) and Ron (Dan Ewing) are a young married couple. She has been exhibiting unusual behavior including dancing naked outside their home, and while Ron simply wants psychologist Dr. Walsh (Eliza Matengu) to give them permission to seek a church-sanctioned exorcism, Lara does not share her husband’s religious beliefs and leans more toward therapeutic help. As her behavior grows more violent, possibly because of either dissociative identity disorder or demonic possession, a desperate Ron seeks the help of unsanctioned exorcist Daniel (Tim Pocock), and this is when director Nick Kozakis’s film heads into truly terrifying territory. Based on a true crime case in Australia,

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Joseph Perry

Apr 6, 2023

ForeignMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Film Review: “Enys Men” (2022)

Shot on 16mm film and invoking the aesthetics of a 1970s film, writer/director/cinematographer Mark Jenkin’s U.K. psychological horror feature Enys Men (the translation of the term from its original Cornish is stone island) is an intriguing watch. It’s certainly not for everyone, but aficionados of cerebral and experimental fear fare will find plenty over which to mull. Taking place on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast in 1973, Enys Men finds a character named The Volunteer (Mary Woodvine) tracking the growth of wildflowers. Her existence there is rather routine and silent — Woodvine’s riveting performance includes sparse dialogue — save for the occasional visit from a boatman (Edward Rowe) who delivers supplies, and some other presences which appear to be human, if perhaps no longer of this Earthly realm. The Volunteer was seeking solitude, but the past of this island is destined to lead her down a path of madness. Part character study and part look at a bygone

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Joseph Perry

Apr 4, 2023

EventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesNews

Brazil’s Fantaspoa Announces Is Full 2023 Edition Lineup

Brazilian genre fest Fantaspoa has announced the final wave for its 19th edition, and scare-fare fans will find plenty of intriguing selections ranging from the whimsical to the weird to the wild. Following is the official press announcement. After presenting its first wave of 2023 titles, Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival is proudly announcing the remaining selection of feature films from its upcoming nineteenth edition. The massive lineup, between shorts and features, comes to a whopping 160 films. The festival’s feature films are divided into four different competitive sections: International; Ibero-American; Brazilian; and a new section “Low Budget, Great Films”, dedicated to the appreciation of those who take risks and make incredible movies with meager resources. According to festival directors João Fleck and Nicolas Tonsho, “Low Budget, Great Films is a section that emerged from our 2023 entries. There were so many amazing films that applied and blew our minds, and we simply had to acknowledge their abilities to overcome a

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Joseph Perry

Apr 4, 2023

ForeignMoviesNewsTrailers

Ultra Violent Horror ‘Project Wolf Hunting’ Slashing Its Way Onto Blu-ray

South Korea’s ultra-violent, action-packed horror Project Wolf Hunting is coming to a TV near you this April! In the film, “During transport, a group of hardened criminals stages a jailbreak that quickly escalates into a bloody, all-out riot. As the fugitives exact their brutal terror campaign onboard the ship, something even more terrifying emerges from below. The wild film is from director Kim Hong-Sun (Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area) and stars Seo In-guk (The Master’s Sun, Hello Monster), Jang Dong-Yoon (Search, Mr. Sunshine), Choi Guy-hwa (Train to Busan, The Wailing), Sung Dong-il (The Cursed, The Great Battle), Park Ho-san (The Call, Prison Playbook) and Jung So-min (Alchemy of Souls). Project Wolf Hunting features an all-new English dub and bonus content, including “Behind the Scenes” and “Making the Alpha” featurettes. Get your copy of this balls-to-the-wall, blood-drenched film on Blu-ray, DVD, or Digital on April 10, 2023, from Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment. And check out the trailer for this insane

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Mar 30, 2023

DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesNews

Boston Underground Film Festival Serves Up the Supernatural and The Super Funny

The Boston Underground Film Festival is mere days away, and Horror Fuel has our collective eyes on many of the fest’s fine fear-fare offerings. Following are official press announcements, with thoughts from Film Festival Editor Joseph Perry in italics. 23nd annual Boston Underground Film Festival returns to Harvard Square’s arthouse hub The Brattle Theatre with five days of vanguard cinemania from March 22nd through the 26th. This year’s lineup is stacked with fearsome folk horror, mendacious miscreants, harrowing horrors and hero/es/ines, godless god-complexes, eco-thrillers and chillers, sensational sci-fi, and all manner of midnight madness. BUFF is beyond honored to host the World Premiere of Jeffrey A. Brown’s haunting, Massachusetts-based horror thriller The Unheard for a homecoming heroes’ welcome on Opening Night. Starring Lachlan Watson (Chucky, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), The Unheard follows a deaf young woman ensconced in a signal-to-noise mystery of dueling senses, realities, truths, identities, and possibly worlds. Brown (2019’s The Beach House) and local screenwriting legends Michael

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Joseph Perry

Mar 16, 2023

ForeignMoviesReviews

Movie Review: Project Wolf Hunting (2022)

After a contingent of Korean criminals extradited from the Philippines gets blown sky-high by a mad bomber, the decision is made to move the next load of no-good-niks via cargo ship to a private dock in Busan. While the overall plan is unconventional, the journey gets stranger by the second as the doctor on board is acting suspicious as all fuck, some of the ship’s crew have been replaced by gang members, and there’s a pseudo-zombie, code-named Alpha (Train to Busan‘s Gwi-hwa Choi) below decks… Before you can say “absolute shit-show” things become an absolute shit-show with (most of) the criminals engaging in a bloody (think gallons upon gallons) coup… but that previously mentioned “most of” leads to more tension as the more peaceful of the evil-doers find themselves at odds with their much, MUCH more psychotic brethren, and all are at odds with the remaining police force. Then Alpha, created decades ago by the eponymous Project who had hopes

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DanXIII

Mar 11, 2023

Foreign

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