Stars: Lily Franky, Tak Sakaguchi, Rino Katase, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Mitsu Dan, Masaya Katō, Hitoshi Ozawa, Hideto Katsuya, Masanori Mimoto, Akane Sakanoue | Directed by Kensuke Sonomura Wataru Gojō (Lily Franky; Yakuza Apocalypse, Laplace’s Witch) CEO of the Gojo Conglomerate is the most powerful man in Kaiko City, the Bad City of the title. He’s just […]
Stars: Megan Best, Kerri Medders, Tiera Skovbye, Missi Pyle, Samuel Braun, Gino Anania | Written by Dana Schwartz, Rebekah McKendry | Directed by Karen Lam No, you’re not imagining things, I’m reviewing a film from the Bring It On franchise. Bring It On: Cheer or Die takes the never-ending series into horror territory and revisits […]
Stars: Amiah Miller, Elsie Fisher, Rachel Ogechi Kanu, Cathy Ang, Clayton Royal Johnson | Written by Jenna Lamia | Directed by Damon Thomas Based on the bestseller by Grady Hendrix, My Best Friend’s Exorcism is the 1980s set tales of Gretchen (Amiah Miller; The Water Man, War for the Planet of the Apes) and Abby […]
Stars: Gina Carano, Donald Cerrone, Tyler Fischer, Gabriel Kane Day-Lewis, Heath Freeman, Nick Searcy, Rhys Becker, Matthias Hues | Written by Josiah Nelson | Directed by Michael Polish Terror on the Prairie opens with a gang of outlaws, Long Hair (Tyler Fischer; Jr Lab Ratz, Giving Up), The Kid (Gabriel Kane Day-Lewis; Adolphe), and Gold […]
Stars: Efren Ramirez, Demián Salomón, Hemky Madera, Ari Gallegos, Gabriela Ruíz, Jonah Ray, Danielle Chaves, Morgana Ignis | Written by Alejandro Mendez, Demian Rugna, Adam Cesare, Shadan Saul, Raynor Shima, Lino K. Villa | Directed by Mike Mendez, Demian Rugna, Eduardo Sanchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Alejandro Brugués Satanic Hispanics opens with a police raid that […]
Stars: Matthew Jeffers, Sarah Hay, Kerry Flanagan, Hamish Allan-Headley | Written by Juan Felipe Zuleta, Leland Frankel | Directed by Juan Felipe Zuleta By a strange twist of scheduling, the first couple of films from Fantastic Fest, Unidentified Objects and Everyone Will Burn, have something in common, they both have main characters who have dwarfism. […]
Stars: Nick Blood, Allan Corduner, Emily Wiseman, Paul Kaye, Daniel Ben Zenou | Written by Hank Hoffman | Directed by Oliver Park Originally shot as Abyzou, The Offering begins with the camera slowly moving through rooms filled with candles and symbols. A rooster jumps into view, only to have its throat cut as part of […]
Stars: Sian Altman, Mark Haldor, George Nettleton, Beatrice Fletcher, Stephen Staley, Chris Cordell | Written and Directed by Paul W. Franklin Croc! is the latest in a long line of films about crocodiles and alligators seeking revenge on mankind for turning their relatives into shoes and handbags. I’ve often wondered why there’s not more of […]
Stars: Macarena Gómez, Sofía García, Ana Milán, Germán Torres | Written by David Hebrero, Javier Kiran | Directed by David Hebrero Everyone Will Burn (Y todos arderán) begins with a text crawl that informs us that in 1980 the residents of Razas del Monte sacrificed a baby in the hopes it would prevent the apocalypse […]
Stars: Richard Brake, Jorge Garcia, Daniel Roebuck, Sylvester McCoy, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tomas Boykin, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Cassandra Peterson, Dee Wallace, Catherine Schell, Butch Patrick, Pat Priest | Written and Directed by Rob Zombie Rob Zombie’s reboot of The Munsters opens with Dr. Henry Augustus Wolfgang (Richard Brake; Offseason, Doom) and his assistant Floop (Jorge […]
Stars: William Moseley, Kyle Rowe, Callum Woodhouse, Michael Guest, Mathis Landwehr, Oberon K.A. Adjepong, David Hayman, Kate Dickie, Callum McGowan, Melanie Zanetti | Written by Christopher Hatton, Chuck Reeves | Directed by Christopher Hatton 1830, just outside the town of Raven’s Hollow, five West Point cadets, Edgar Allan Poe (William Moseley; The Chronicles of Narnia, […]
Stars: Taysha Farrugia, Kestie Morassi, Darcy Kent, Jennifer Vuletic, Jane Badler, Brett Cousins, Matthew Crosby, Ellie Stewart | Written by David Willing, Beth King | Directed by David Willing Surrogate begins with Rose (Taysha Farrugia) celebrating her ninth birthday before going to bed. She asks her mother Natalie (Kestie Morassi; Wolf Creek, Home and Away) […]
Stars: Vinne Jones, James Clayton, Lina Lecompte, Danny Mac | Written by Cooper Bibaud, Danny Mac | Directed by James Clayton I’m not quite sure which is the least imaginative, calling an action film Death Pursuit or casting Vinne Jones (I Am Vengeance: Retaliation, Escape Plan) as a psychotically violent criminal. James Clayton went with […]
Stars: Jason Skeen, Augustine Frizzell, JD Brown, Katharine Franco, Carl Bailey, Roger Schwermer Jr., Joshua Ian Steinberg | Written and Directed by Jason Rader, Jason Von Godi With a title like The Hoot Owl, I was expecting a film with the Texan cousin of The Owlman from Lord of Tears and The Black Gloves, or […]
Stars: Lochlyn Munro, Brittany Mitchell, Madison Pettis, Vanessa Morgan, Jedidiah Goodacre, Phoebe Miu, Jordan Buhat, Richard Harmon, Susan Bennett | Written by Chris Beyrooty, Chris Sivertson, Nick Waters | Directed by Steven C. Miller Margaux takes its title from the name of the sophisticated AI that runs the smart home serving as the film’s main location, […]
Stars: Clint Gordon, Mark Haldor, Antonia Whillans, Chelsea Greenwood | Written and Directed by Scott Jeffrey Jurassic Valley is set in 2030. We’re told that nations have been pushed increasingly apart and the world is on the brink of disaster. And that government investment in the war effort has produced a breakthrough “of Jurassic proportions”. […]
Stars: Nicky Whelan, Porscha Coleman, Shane West, Kelly Lynn Reiter, Ed Morrone, Kim DeLonghi, Trace Adkins, Jeff Fahey | Written and Directed by Justin Lee Maneater is the twelfth feature film from writer/director Justin Lee (The Most Dangerous Game, Apache Junction) since he came on the scene in 2018 with Big Legend. And it comes […]
Stars: Yann Gael Loro, Roger Sallah, Mentor Ba, Renaud Farah, Bruno Henry, Evelyne Ily Juhen, Ndiaga Mbow | Written and Directed by Jean Luc Herbulot I almost managed to see the Senegalese export Saloum on the big screen last year, before some schedule shuffling got in the way. Watching it now I wish I had […]
Stars: Grant Vlahovic, Alexander J. Baxter, Josefin Jönsson Tysén, Tracey Roath, Jay Martens, Roy Campsall | Written by Alexander J. Baxter, Jay Martens | Directed by Alexander J. Baxter, Leigah Keewatin, Jessica Moutra Jikirag opens with text telling us that we are in the year 1263AD and a band of refugees from a plague has […]
Stars: Bill Oberst Jr., Vinny Curran, Ian Tripp, Brendan Cahalan, Ryan Schafer, Seton Edgerton, Iliyana Apostolova| Written by Ian Tripp | Directed by Ian Tripp, Ryan Schafer Everybody Dies by the End opens as talk show host Willy Wilson (Bill Oberst Jr.; I Hear the Trees Whispering, Hunting Grounds) goading cult director Alfred Costella (Vinny […]
Stars: Anwen Bull, James Knapp | Written and Directed by Theo Kai Marlow Making its debut at this year’s FrightFest writer/director Theo Kai Marlow’s (The Most Savage Wedding Ever) eighteen-minute short Everyone Forgot has its roots in one of those nightmares that lurk in the back of everyone’s mind, nobody remembering that it’s your birthday. […]
