“Sure, ‘Saint Maud’ can be called a horror film, but it is equally a psychological drama that gets a lot of mileage from a tried and true trope: the shifting power dynamics in a superior/subordinate relationship.”
“‘Fried Barry’ is busy and overstuffed, but it’s also an incredibly promising and deeply weird reinvention of the body invasion thriller; a strange, disorienting and ultimately rewarding experience.”
“Oxygen’s relevance strikes like lightning in a year when time is measured less by Earth’s tilt and more by first wave, second wave, red phase, yellow phase; not by time passing daily, but by how much danger remains in the room.”
“Taking its cues from the later Chucky movies, ‘Benny Loves You’ embraces the inherent insanity of the premise, setting it free in a similar manner to how the titular toy runs riot.”
“‘Boys from County Hell’ isn’t really about vampires so much as it’s about being proud of where you come from, and of the bonds forged there.”
“‘Clapboard Jungle’ could not only benefit up-and-coming filmmakers, but also young writers who are serious about pursuing a career in film criticism. Passion isn’t enough. You need to understand the business side of it all…”
Joey Keogh Interviews ‘The Mortuary Collection’ Writer-Director Ryan Spindell
Joey Keogh Interviews ‘The Mortuary Collection’ Actor Clancy Brown
Joey Keogh Interviews ‘Jakob’s Wife’ Director Travis Stevens
Joey Keogh Interviews ‘Jakob’s Wife’ Actress Bonnie Aarons
“Aside from being a furiously feminist film, ‘Jakob’s Wife’ is mordantly funny, gruesomely gory and gloriously unpredictable.”
“Roger Ebert once wrote ‘it’s not what a film is about, it’s how it is about it,’ and it’s this phrase that I usually return to when thinking about cinema that deals with humanity’s worst impulses.”
“‘Nina Wu’ isn’t just a ‘#MeToo thriller’ or ‘slow burn cinema,’ it’s a progressive spin on psychological horror and a master class in visceral visual design.”
Mannhunting #1 by Bill Bria: “The protagonists and antagonists in Mann’s films tend to be mirror images of each other, all of them caught within masculinity’s shackles.”
“Sound of Violence’s nonchalant depictions of violence, which occur with such obfuscation due to uncoordinated quick-cut editing and color filters, render it a fangless drama with un-engaging sequences of killing and torture.”
“There are many ways that Gaia’s concepts can be expounded into more interesting discussions, yet Bouwer is fine with maintaining a simplistic if metaphorically informed tale about Mother Nature’s revenge.”
“‘Psycho Goreman’ is delightfully dark, whimsical, charming and frequently laugh-out-loud funny.”
“Stone has the look of a teenager with the earned maturity of someone who’s been through some heavy shit, which lends itself well to her teenage prostitute in ‘Honey Bee’ and works just as brilliantly in ‘Come True.'”
“‘Saint Maud’ proves, once again, that horror, and particularly indie horror, provides the opportunity for first timers to take real risks.”
“‘Sator’ is a slow burn, and the payoff for waiting around will not suit everybody. Like ‘Blair Witch,’ it requires your full attention to really make an impact — half-watching while scrolling through Twitter won’t cut it.”