Writer/director Sam Fox latest horror-comedy hybrid, Fck’n Nuts, certainly lives up to its name — and in more way than one. The short has had a phenomenal festival run and recently screened in Fantastic Fest’s Short Fuse section, a shorts block that delivers “cutting-edge horror that will make you ponder the uncanny.”
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The twin brothers behind the YouTube channel RackaRacka, Danny and Michael Philippou, make the leap to features with attitude and aplomb in their debut horror film, Talk To Me. With a fresh new slant on the “cursed object” sub-genre and a stellar breakout performance from Sophie Wilde, the Philippou brothers craft a near-perfect fright fest with one helluva grip. Viewer beware: this Aussie flick will take you down under in more ways than one.
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Infinity Pool is the third feature from Canadian filmmaker Brandon Cronenberg, and it takes audiences on another horrific and twisted sci-fi/horror trip. This go around, it’s a sunny, all-inclusive resort set in some surreal alternate reality, and it plays like a sadistic White Lotus for kinky weirdos. The film finds Cronenberg expanding in scope and solidifying his own singular style.
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Made for meager $15k, Kyle Edward Ball’s debut feature, Skinamarink, garnered a lot of attention during its festival run due to its unique approach to the genre (and because a pirated copy leaked online). With a viral word-of-mouth and a theater run that saw an exponential return, the film has generated buzz and reopened the conversation — like The Blair Witch Project did before it — about horror’s ability to cause big waves with very little.
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Travis Stevens is totally unhinged in his latest film, A Wounded Fawn, a psychedelic giallo-tinged arthouse horror that embraces the psychotic. The film is a gritty and grimy vibe that blends slasher and cabin-in-the-woods subgenres to interesting affect.
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Parker Finn’s feature film debut, Smile, kicked off this year’s Fantastic Fest, where the film received its world premiere. The film is the latest in the “transferrable curse” subgenre, which it uses to make a statement on trauma. It doesn’t do anything new, but everything it does, it does in an effective manner.
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Featuring a mesmerizingly unhinged performance from Mia Goth, Pearl tells the vibrant and violent origin story of X’s villain. Dressed up in technicolor and dripping with melodrama, the film takes viewers for a weird and wacky ride, but much like its predecessor, it’s a little light on X-factor.
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From Miss March co-writer and co-director Zach Cregger comes the horror thriller Barbarian. This delightfully unpredictable and twisted rollercoaster ride is one of the most exciting horror films of the year — and it’s all the more surprising considering it comes from one of The Whitest Kids U’ Know. Barbarian is better the less you know, so do yourself a favor and save this review until after you’ve seen the film.
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Dooley Does Murder marks the second short film by L.A.-based writer/director Dawn Storey. Following their debut, LiME, Dawn not only steps into a new genre entirely (that of campy horror), but they also step out from behind the camera as well, delivering a gleefully loony performance as the titular Dooley.
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With X., writer/director Ti West returns to his horror roots and seeks to bring a modern bend to the gritty, DIY filmmaking of the 1970s. Conjuring up an aesthetic that’s a part Debbie Does Dallas, part Texas Chain Saw Massacre, X captures that oldschool feel but doesn’t come backing much heat. It’s not altogether joyless, but for a film that lays emphasis on the hardcore, let’s just say the film has trouble getting it up.
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Everything is a family affair in the witchy coming-of-age indie horror flick Hellbender. The film is the second feature written and directed by an indie filmmaking family (specifically, husband & wife John Adams and Toby Poser, and their daughter, Zelda), who pretty much singlehandedly tackle all aspects of the production (including the score). Although it’s not a total home run, Hellbender manages to conjure up some seriously bewitching charisma, innovative genre thrills, and bitchin’ tuneage.
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The citizens of Haddonfield are flung into a crazed panic in David Gordon Green’s latest installment in the Halloween franchise. True to its name, Halloween Kills delivers some hardcore horror violence, but it also nearly shatters the excitement Green’s 2018 film ignited. It’s a fiery mess that manages to be mildly entertaining, despite its many odd decisions.
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Scott Cooper makes his first foray into horror with the slow-burning creature feature Antlers. It’s effectively atmospheric and delivers a few genre thrills, but it doesn’t quite connect all its pieces in a way that fully satiates.
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40 years after its initial release, Andrzej Żuławski’s bonkers breakup film, Possession, finally gets the TLC it rightfully deserves! With a new 4K facelift (courtesy of Metrograph Pictures), Possession’s singularly visceral insanity has never looked so damn good. Best of all: a theatrical and digital re-release is slated for October, which means this mesmerizing genre marvel can be seen the way it was always intended!
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Michael Myers is resurrected once again, this time by filmmaker David Gordon Green, with the aide of his screenwriting partners Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley. The result is an affectionate love letter to the original that explores the effects of deep-seated trauma and the toll it takes on the family, all while delivering suspenseful slasher thrills. It doesn’t always find its footing, but it’s a better suited sequel in a franchise full of tired and generally uninspired follow ups.
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Hereditary is the auspicious feature-film debut from writer/director Ari Aster, who cultivates a moody sense of foreboding that ebbs throughout the film like a seasoned veteran. The film is extremely well crafted and thoroughly unnerving, filled with great moments of tension and nightmarish imagery, and depending on your individual sensitivity, its persistent creep and unrelenting squeeze has the potential to leave you completely disturbed.
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Who would've thought that John Krasinski — Jim from The Office — had a horror film in him? Let alone one as tense and carefully crafted as A Quiet Place?! It's the blindside that we all need, and one that people will likely compare to Jordan Peele's magnificent Get Out in the sense that both are comedic actors turned writer/director who surprised everyone with one hell of a horror film experience. Krasinski's A Quiet Place, which he co-wrote with Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, doesn't offer the social commentary that makes Peele's Get Out so fantastic, but it does provide genuine moments of pure white-knuckle tension, similar to Don't Breathe, 10 Cloverfield Lane, or It Comes at Night, with a heavy dose of heart.
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Brian Taylor, who's best known as one half of the creative team that brought us the Crank films and Gamer, branches out on his own to serve up another fun and zany dark comedy thrill ride. Mom & Dad has enough adrenaline coursing through its veins to hang with the Crank films and boasts a wound up and rattled Nicolas Cage at his "Cagiest" since Bad Lieutenant. It may not reinvent the wheel, but it's a pretty rockin' good time as far as January fare goes.
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Yorgos Lanthimos first exploded on the scene with his film Dogtooth and has been flooring critics with his unique brand of dry-humored and awkward absurdism. Last year’s effort The Lobster (also featuring Colin Farrell) was a highly praised oddball rom-com with a premise that sounded like it couldn’t fail, but left many moviegoers divided. The same will be evident with his latest film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, an ominous and brooding, albeit bizarre, revenge thriller of horrific proportions.
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