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

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Shorts Reviews: “The Cradle,” “Viewfinder,” and “Mindful Meditation” (Blood in the Snow Film Festival)

Shorts Reviews: “The Cradle,” “Viewfinder,” and “Mindful Meditation” (Blood in the Snow Film Festival)

Among its many offerings this year, Blood in the Snow Film Festival serves up some fine new horror short-shorts hailing from Canada. Here are reviews of three of them. The Cradle Rich in brooding atmosphere, writer/director Massimo Meo’s The Cradle sets the tone with creepy dolls, and noises outside a woman’s house getting closer before showing an eerie big reveal. Fans of supernatural cinema should find plenty to like with this short. Viewfinder Photographer Christian (Jakub Zieba) is shooting model Steph (Becca Clapperton) but spies something odd and eerie through his camera that isn’t seen by the naked eye. Director Tiffany Wice wrings Viewfinder for maximum suspense and delivers a satisfyingly creepy ending. Mindful Meditation Director Louie La Vella and screenwriter/star Monica La Vella explore the story of a woman whose guided meditation exercise in her bedroom takes her down a truly dark path. Mindful Meditation uses classic visual ghost story cinema elements in a different way, which leads to

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 24, 2022
Shorts Reviews: “AlieNation,” “Folk,” and “First Blood” (Blood in the Snow Film Festival)

Shorts Reviews: “AlieNation,” “Folk,” and “First Blood” (Blood in the Snow Film Festival)

AlieNation Director Ray Raghavan’s AlieNation (Canada, 2022) finds a young girl named Maria (Maria Frazer) and her mother (Margarita Iturriaga) being chased through the woods by border patrol agents who aren’t shy about using their guns. Maria makes an astounding discovery while hiding in a cave entrance, and soon enough everyone finds themselves pursued by a deadly entity. The double-meaning title gives away what joins the chase, but that gives me the opportunity to say without giving away a spoiler that the creature design is highly impressive. Chase scenes and social issues combine to make this well-acted and deftly directed science fiction/horror hybrid a winner. Folk Director Gabriel Maron crafts a goosebumps-inducing Halloween folk horror in Folk (Canada, 2022), in which a young woman (Sara-Sue Vallée) turns away some trick-or-treaters at her front door, only to find that these are not your average children simply looking for candy handouts. This supernatural chiller sports an ominous tone and unsettling color palette,

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 22, 2022
It’s All Systems Go for Another Hole in the Head Film Festival’s 19th Edition 

It’s All Systems Go for Another Hole in the Head Film Festival’s 19th Edition 

If you are a cinephile interested in the weird, the wild, the woolly, and the wonderful, San Francisco’s Another Hole in the Head Film has you covered. This year’s version, the 19th edition, takes place from December 1st–December 18th, 2022 with screenings and performances set to take place at the historic Roxie Cinema, 4 Star Theatre, and Stage Werx in San Francisco, California. It will also take place On Demand on Eventive and live on Zoom for those who can not attend the live screenings. Horror Fuel can already vouch for several of this year’s Another Hole in the Head Film features, with spoiler-free reviews of Satanic Hispanics, Swallowed, Extraneous Matter Complete Edition, HeBGB TV, and A Life on the Farm. Following is the official festival announcement. The 19th Another Hole in the Head Film Festival is an 18-day cinematic excursion through the realms of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and assorted other genre fare. Under the auspices of SF IndieFest,

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 18, 2022
Witness A Man's Hunt For A Serial Killer This December In 'Hinterland' (Trailer)

Witness A Man’s Hunt For A Serial Killer This December In ‘Hinterland’ (Trailer)

When an ex-prisoner of the Great War returns home to find his comrades brutally murdered, he decides to bring the serial killer to justice in the noir thriller Hinterland, from Oscar® winner Stefan Ruzowitzky. “The year is 1920. The Austro-Hungarian Empire has fallen and what remains has devolved into social unrest and political turmoil. Peter Perg, a soldier of the Great War, returns to Vienna only to realize the place he once called home is now unfamiliar to him. Having spent years as a prisoner of war, Perg is disillusioned by this strange, new city distorted by the nightmares of war. His world is further upended when a gruesome series of murders targeting veterans begin to unfold. Feeling connected to the victims, Perg decides to investigate the mysterious crimes. A stranger in his own city, the looming threat of a serial killer begins to take its toll on him.” The German film, which features English subtitles, stars Murathan Muslu, Liv

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Nov 16, 2022
Movie Reviews: CONTORTED and GUIMOON: THE LIGHTLESS DOOR (London Korean Film Festival)

Movie Reviews: CONTORTED and GUIMOON: THE LIGHTLESS DOOR (London Korean Film Festival)

Contorted Writer/director Kang Dong Hun’s Contorted (South Korea, 2022) looks great and is well acted but its screenplay is weighed down with horror movie cliches. The film opens intriguingly with preteen girl HeeWoo (Kim BoMin) seeing a paranormal occurrence while at a funeral parlor with her father HyunMin (Kim MinJae). Meanwhile at their home, HeeWoo’s mother MyungHye (Seo YoungHee) contemplates suicide by jumping off of the balcony of their apartment. Her very young daughter JiWoo (Noh HaYeon) prevents her from doing so, but then a horrible act takes place. MyungHye suffers from mental health issues while HyunMin, unemployed and unsuccessful in finding new work because of a plagiarism scandal, takes a passive stance while trying to keep appearances as normal as possible. Young teen son DongWoo (Oh JaHun) is emotionally checked out of the family. As increasingly bizarre and upsetting occurrences take place in the new home into which they have just moved because of financial difficulties, and inside a

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 15, 2022
Film Reviews: GHOSTING GLORIA and WE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD (Lund Fantastic Film Festival)

Film Reviews: GHOSTING GLORIA and WE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD (Lund Fantastic Film Festival)

Ghosting Gloria Ghost movie, supernatural fantasy, romantic comedy, sex comedy, literary comedy — charming Uruguayan feature Ghosting Gloria (Muerto con Gloria, 2021) is all of this and more. Codirected by husband-and-wife filmmaking team Marcela Matta and Mauro Sarse from a screenplay written by Mauro, the film finds thirty-year-old bookseller Gloria (Stefania Tortorella) choosing to move apartments because her upstairs neighbors are so noisy with their middle-of-the-night sexcapades, complete with bawdy talk. Her new home is inhabited by the ghost of the man who suddenly died there recently, and having passed away has done nothing to lessen his libido. The first encounter between Gloria and the ghost is certain to make many viewers uneasy, but Gloria becomes enchanted by the spirit, who gives Gloria her first orgasm — with many to follow. Ghosting Gloria follows a few different paths as the titular character — portrayed in a winsome, vibrant performance by Tortorella that is reason alone to seek out the film

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 14, 2022
Film Review: Piggy (Lund Fantastic Film Festival)

Film Review: Piggy (Lund Fantastic Film Festival)

Spanish chiller Piggy (Cerdita, 2022) is a terrific serial killer/coming-of-age/bullying and revenge mash-up that digs in deep on questions concerning doing what’s right, scapegoating, the dangers of a collective mindset, and more. Writer/director Carlota Pereda balances all of these aspects winningly and delivers a blood-soaked feature that leaves plenty to consider throughout the viewing experience and long after. Laura Galán portrays Sara, a plus-size teenager who helps out at her family’s struggling butcher shop. She is harassed by mean girls Maca (Claudia Salas) and Roci (Camille Aguilar), with the somewhat kinder Claudia (Irene Ferreiro) not participating but not doing anything to stop it, either. When the girls make fun of her at the community swimming pool — also joking about a man (Richard Holmes) who is also at the pool — and steal her clothes after nearly drowning her, it comes as little surprise that she doesn’t report to her parents or authorities after she sees the three girls being

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 12, 2022
J-Horror Thriller 'Missing' Finds A Blu-ray Release Date

Japanese Serial Killer Thriller ‘Missing’ Is Coming Home (Trailer)

Director Shinzô Katayama’s Japanese horror film, Missing (Sagasu/さがす) is now playing in select theaters and is heading to VOD this month. The film centers on “depressed and in debt following the death of his wife, Santoshi (Jiro Sato) tells his young daughter he has found a way out. Pointing to a reward note, he vows to find the infamous serial killer “No Name” (Hiroya Shimizu) and cash in, claiming to have seen the man in the flesh a few days earlier. Kaeda (Aoi Ito) cannot take her aloof father seriously. But when he goes missing without a trace, she starts to fear the worst—and must begin looking for him.” Starring Aoi Ito, Hiroya Shimizu, Misato Morita, and Jirô Satô, Missing is out on VOD and cable on November 18, 2022, followed by its Blu-ray release on December 6th, from Dark Star Pictures.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Nov 9, 2022
Horror-on-Sea Film Festival Announces 10th Anniversary Lineup and Opens Ticket Sales

Horror-on-Sea Film Festival Announces 10th Anniversary Lineup and Opens Ticket Sales

The U.K.’s Horror-on-Sea Film Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary in January 2023 with a mind-shattering, blood-spattering array of independent scare-fare cinema. From monsters to murderers to other assorted mayhem, the fest features something for sppoky-cinema lovers of all stripes. Following is the official press announcement. Halloween may be over, but the horror will continue as the website for Horror-on-Sea 2023 is now live and the terrifying full line up has now been revealed. Horror-on-Sea is recognised by many as the true home of independent horror and remains one of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals. Originally formed to promote independent horror films and will continue to uphold that tradition, giving the horror fans an opportunity to see independent titles which would not normally be played on the big screen. Hosted once again at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea) the festival will be running over two weekends from Friday 14th January to Sunday 16th January and Friday 21st January to

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 6, 2022
Movie Reviews: HeBGBTV and BABY BOOM (Nightmares Film Festival)

Movie Reviews: HeBGBTV and BABY BOOM (Nightmares Film Festival)

HeBGB TV Freaky, frenetic, and fun, HeBGB TV (2022) is a nostalgic blast for anyone who grew up watching horror hosts, Nickelodeon in the nineties, or pretty much television of any kind. If you spent any time at all in front of the electric babysitter, you’ll find plenty to enjoy in this outlandish effort from cowriters/codirectors Eric Griffin, Adam Lenhart, and Jake Mcclellan. A young brother and sister have their night — and lives — suddenly changed when a retro-horror cable TV box comes into their lives unexpectedly. A wacky horror host pops out and takes them on a tube-ular journey filled with mind-blowing wackiness and no small amount of camp. This is not your usual horror anthology, so don’t go in expecting longer-running stories with plots that make sense. HeBGB TV is all about assaulting the senses, twisting the mind, and shooting for laughs — or at least knowing nods with accompanying smiles — as often as possible. The

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 1, 2022

More from Foreign

Shorts Reviews: “The Cradle,” “Viewfinder,” and “Mindful Meditation” (Blood in the Snow Film Festival)

Shorts Reviews: “The Cradle,” “Viewfinder,” and “Mindful Meditation” (Blood in the Snow Film Festival)

Among its many offerings this year, Blood in the Snow Film Festival serves up some fine new horror short-shorts hailing from Canada. Here are reviews of three of them. The Cradle Rich in brooding atmosphere, writer/director Massimo Meo’s The Cradle sets the tone with creepy dolls, and noises outside a woman’s house getting closer before showing an eerie big reveal. Fans of supernatural cinema should find plenty to like with this short. Viewfinder Photographer Christian (Jakub Zieba) is shooting model Steph (Becca Clapperton) but spies something odd and eerie through his camera that isn’t seen by the naked eye. Director Tiffany Wice wrings Viewfinder for maximum suspense and delivers a satisfyingly creepy ending. Mindful Meditation Director Louie La Vella and screenwriter/star Monica La Vella explore the story of a woman whose guided meditation exercise in her bedroom takes her down a truly dark path. Mindful Meditation uses classic visual ghost story cinema elements in a different way, which leads to

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 24, 2022
Shorts Reviews: “AlieNation,” “Folk,” and “First Blood” (Blood in the Snow Film Festival)

Shorts Reviews: “AlieNation,” “Folk,” and “First Blood” (Blood in the Snow Film Festival)

AlieNation Director Ray Raghavan’s AlieNation (Canada, 2022) finds a young girl named Maria (Maria Frazer) and her mother (Margarita Iturriaga) being chased through the woods by border patrol agents who aren’t shy about using their guns. Maria makes an astounding discovery while hiding in a cave entrance, and soon enough everyone finds themselves pursued by a deadly entity. The double-meaning title gives away what joins the chase, but that gives me the opportunity to say without giving away a spoiler that the creature design is highly impressive. Chase scenes and social issues combine to make this well-acted and deftly directed science fiction/horror hybrid a winner. Folk Director Gabriel Maron crafts a goosebumps-inducing Halloween folk horror in Folk (Canada, 2022), in which a young woman (Sara-Sue Vallée) turns away some trick-or-treaters at her front door, only to find that these are not your average children simply looking for candy handouts. This supernatural chiller sports an ominous tone and unsettling color palette,

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 22, 2022
It’s All Systems Go for Another Hole in the Head Film Festival’s 19th Edition 

It’s All Systems Go for Another Hole in the Head Film Festival’s 19th Edition 

If you are a cinephile interested in the weird, the wild, the woolly, and the wonderful, San Francisco’s Another Hole in the Head Film has you covered. This year’s version, the 19th edition, takes place from December 1st–December 18th, 2022 with screenings and performances set to take place at the historic Roxie Cinema, 4 Star Theatre, and Stage Werx in San Francisco, California. It will also take place On Demand on Eventive and live on Zoom for those who can not attend the live screenings. Horror Fuel can already vouch for several of this year’s Another Hole in the Head Film features, with spoiler-free reviews of Satanic Hispanics, Swallowed, Extraneous Matter Complete Edition, HeBGB TV, and A Life on the Farm. Following is the official festival announcement. The 19th Another Hole in the Head Film Festival is an 18-day cinematic excursion through the realms of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and assorted other genre fare. Under the auspices of SF IndieFest,

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 18, 2022
Witness A Man's Hunt For A Serial Killer This December In 'Hinterland' (Trailer)

Witness A Man’s Hunt For A Serial Killer This December In ‘Hinterland’ (Trailer)

When an ex-prisoner of the Great War returns home to find his comrades brutally murdered, he decides to bring the serial killer to justice in the noir thriller Hinterland, from Oscar® winner Stefan Ruzowitzky. “The year is 1920. The Austro-Hungarian Empire has fallen and what remains has devolved into social unrest and political turmoil. Peter Perg, a soldier of the Great War, returns to Vienna only to realize the place he once called home is now unfamiliar to him. Having spent years as a prisoner of war, Perg is disillusioned by this strange, new city distorted by the nightmares of war. His world is further upended when a gruesome series of murders targeting veterans begin to unfold. Feeling connected to the victims, Perg decides to investigate the mysterious crimes. A stranger in his own city, the looming threat of a serial killer begins to take its toll on him.” The German film, which features English subtitles, stars Murathan Muslu, Liv

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Nov 16, 2022
Movie Reviews: CONTORTED and GUIMOON: THE LIGHTLESS DOOR (London Korean Film Festival)

Movie Reviews: CONTORTED and GUIMOON: THE LIGHTLESS DOOR (London Korean Film Festival)

Contorted Writer/director Kang Dong Hun’s Contorted (South Korea, 2022) looks great and is well acted but its screenplay is weighed down with horror movie cliches. The film opens intriguingly with preteen girl HeeWoo (Kim BoMin) seeing a paranormal occurrence while at a funeral parlor with her father HyunMin (Kim MinJae). Meanwhile at their home, HeeWoo’s mother MyungHye (Seo YoungHee) contemplates suicide by jumping off of the balcony of their apartment. Her very young daughter JiWoo (Noh HaYeon) prevents her from doing so, but then a horrible act takes place. MyungHye suffers from mental health issues while HyunMin, unemployed and unsuccessful in finding new work because of a plagiarism scandal, takes a passive stance while trying to keep appearances as normal as possible. Young teen son DongWoo (Oh JaHun) is emotionally checked out of the family. As increasingly bizarre and upsetting occurrences take place in the new home into which they have just moved because of financial difficulties, and inside a

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 15, 2022
Film Reviews: GHOSTING GLORIA and WE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD (Lund Fantastic Film Festival)

Film Reviews: GHOSTING GLORIA and WE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD (Lund Fantastic Film Festival)

Ghosting Gloria Ghost movie, supernatural fantasy, romantic comedy, sex comedy, literary comedy — charming Uruguayan feature Ghosting Gloria (Muerto con Gloria, 2021) is all of this and more. Codirected by husband-and-wife filmmaking team Marcela Matta and Mauro Sarse from a screenplay written by Mauro, the film finds thirty-year-old bookseller Gloria (Stefania Tortorella) choosing to move apartments because her upstairs neighbors are so noisy with their middle-of-the-night sexcapades, complete with bawdy talk. Her new home is inhabited by the ghost of the man who suddenly died there recently, and having passed away has done nothing to lessen his libido. The first encounter between Gloria and the ghost is certain to make many viewers uneasy, but Gloria becomes enchanted by the spirit, who gives Gloria her first orgasm — with many to follow. Ghosting Gloria follows a few different paths as the titular character — portrayed in a winsome, vibrant performance by Tortorella that is reason alone to seek out the film

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 14, 2022
Film Review: Piggy (Lund Fantastic Film Festival)

Film Review: Piggy (Lund Fantastic Film Festival)

Spanish chiller Piggy (Cerdita, 2022) is a terrific serial killer/coming-of-age/bullying and revenge mash-up that digs in deep on questions concerning doing what’s right, scapegoating, the dangers of a collective mindset, and more. Writer/director Carlota Pereda balances all of these aspects winningly and delivers a blood-soaked feature that leaves plenty to consider throughout the viewing experience and long after. Laura Galán portrays Sara, a plus-size teenager who helps out at her family’s struggling butcher shop. She is harassed by mean girls Maca (Claudia Salas) and Roci (Camille Aguilar), with the somewhat kinder Claudia (Irene Ferreiro) not participating but not doing anything to stop it, either. When the girls make fun of her at the community swimming pool — also joking about a man (Richard Holmes) who is also at the pool — and steal her clothes after nearly drowning her, it comes as little surprise that she doesn’t report to her parents or authorities after she sees the three girls being

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 12, 2022
J-Horror Thriller 'Missing' Finds A Blu-ray Release Date

Japanese Serial Killer Thriller ‘Missing’ Is Coming Home (Trailer)

Director Shinzô Katayama’s Japanese horror film, Missing (Sagasu/さがす) is now playing in select theaters and is heading to VOD this month. The film centers on “depressed and in debt following the death of his wife, Santoshi (Jiro Sato) tells his young daughter he has found a way out. Pointing to a reward note, he vows to find the infamous serial killer “No Name” (Hiroya Shimizu) and cash in, claiming to have seen the man in the flesh a few days earlier. Kaeda (Aoi Ito) cannot take her aloof father seriously. But when he goes missing without a trace, she starts to fear the worst—and must begin looking for him.” Starring Aoi Ito, Hiroya Shimizu, Misato Morita, and Jirô Satô, Missing is out on VOD and cable on November 18, 2022, followed by its Blu-ray release on December 6th, from Dark Star Pictures.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Nov 9, 2022
Horror-on-Sea Film Festival Announces 10th Anniversary Lineup and Opens Ticket Sales

Horror-on-Sea Film Festival Announces 10th Anniversary Lineup and Opens Ticket Sales

The U.K.’s Horror-on-Sea Film Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary in January 2023 with a mind-shattering, blood-spattering array of independent scare-fare cinema. From monsters to murderers to other assorted mayhem, the fest features something for sppoky-cinema lovers of all stripes. Following is the official press announcement. Halloween may be over, but the horror will continue as the website for Horror-on-Sea 2023 is now live and the terrifying full line up has now been revealed. Horror-on-Sea is recognised by many as the true home of independent horror and remains one of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals. Originally formed to promote independent horror films and will continue to uphold that tradition, giving the horror fans an opportunity to see independent titles which would not normally be played on the big screen. Hosted once again at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea) the festival will be running over two weekends from Friday 14th January to Sunday 16th January and Friday 21st January to

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 6, 2022
Movie Reviews: HeBGBTV and BABY BOOM (Nightmares Film Festival)

Movie Reviews: HeBGBTV and BABY BOOM (Nightmares Film Festival)

HeBGB TV Freaky, frenetic, and fun, HeBGB TV (2022) is a nostalgic blast for anyone who grew up watching horror hosts, Nickelodeon in the nineties, or pretty much television of any kind. If you spent any time at all in front of the electric babysitter, you’ll find plenty to enjoy in this outlandish effort from cowriters/codirectors Eric Griffin, Adam Lenhart, and Jake Mcclellan. A young brother and sister have their night — and lives — suddenly changed when a retro-horror cable TV box comes into their lives unexpectedly. A wacky horror host pops out and takes them on a tube-ular journey filled with mind-blowing wackiness and no small amount of camp. This is not your usual horror anthology, so don’t go in expecting longer-running stories with plots that make sense. HeBGB TV is all about assaulting the senses, twisting the mind, and shooting for laughs — or at least knowing nods with accompanying smiles — as often as possible. The

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Nov 1, 2022
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