Lost: Akira Kurosawa Noir
“In Kurosawa’s noir films, characters struggle to move beyond loss — personal, financial and national — only to find that more loss awaits them.”
Review: Vincent Paronnaud’s ‘Hunted’
“An exceedingly dark and violent survival horror film, ‘Hunted’ will make sure you never again go out alone at night.”
Review: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s ‘Synchronic’
“Benson and Moorhead’s typically dark, cynical tone is well-suited to the material until a too-neat ending tries to retcon ‘Synchronic’ into something else in the most jarring way possible.”
Review: Emerald Fennell’s ‘Promising Young Woman’
“Fennell’s uproariously funny film showcases a powerhouse Carey Mulligan in what could very well be her career-best performance.”
Review: Patrick Picard’s ‘The Bloodhound’
“There’s a timelessness to ‘The Bloodhound’ that puts it on a par with recent and similarly quietly-horrific offerings like ‘It Follows’ and ‘Piercing’…”
Review: Christopher Landon’s ‘Freaky’
“‘Freaky’ is uneven, but it has moments of magic.”
The Erosion of Family in the ‘Poltergeist’ Films
“The ‘Poltergeist’ films will remain eternally relevant as long as America and other countries keep making the same tragic mistakes over and over again, building their own haunted houses for spirits to eventually consume from within.”
The Modern Netherworld of Akira Kurosawa’s ‘The Bad Sleep Well’
“Kurosawa was rarely more bitter and dejected than he is here, crafting a sprawling noir tragedy from Shakespeare’s text, grappling desperately with identity in the nightmare of faceless modernity.”
‘Santa Sangre’: A Graveyard for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Memories
“Santa Sangre’s themes of empathy and hope are uniquely personal for Jodorowsky, and they help bring the film’s horrors and bloodshed into perspective…”
London Film Festival Review: Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo’s ‘Bad Tales’
“Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo’s second feature, ‘Bad Tales,’ is morbidly curious and content to simmer in its own pessimism.”
Shudder Slashics: Joe Giannone’s ‘Madman’ Squanders Its Potential
“‘Madman’ frequently flirts with boundary-pushing concepts but ultimately settles for clichés or, worse, just weasels out completely and falls flat on its face.”
London Film Festival Review: Natalia Meta’s ‘The Intruder’
“‘The Intruder’ interpolates the parts of Giallo without the scares, keeping true to the genre’s more strictly crime-oriented titles like ‘The Cat o’ Nine Tails.'”
In Praise of 90s Gwyneth Paltrow
“It’s easy to feel a sense of loss for the great actress and movie star that Paltrow could have become, had she not lost interest in the profession and shifted her attention to her questionable business empire.”
Shudder Slashics: Buddy Cooper’s ‘The Mutilator’ Still Boasts a Killer Hook
“Having the killer unmasked and identified is a fresh take on a well-worn trope, while the accidental matricide angle offers a unique, strong premise to kick-start the eventual mini-massacre.”
Review: Luis Iga’s ‘Murder in the Woods’
“‘Murder in the Woods’ is a slight but entertaining offering, sold completely and committedly by a talented cast of fresh, new faces and with a bonus appearance by the always-welcome Danny Trejo to boot.”
‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’: Charlie Kaufman Knows You Can’t Always Get What You Want
“Point of view and selfhood have assumed for Kaufman a place of great consequence from ‘Being John Malkovich’ to ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ to ‘Anomalisa,’ and ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ is a remarkable extension.”
Fantasia 2020 Review: Brea Grant’s ’12 Hour Shift’
“As the debate rages on about whether strong female characters in movies should evoke admiration through heroism or just be flawed, human and sometimes downright unlikeable, it’s nice to see that Brea Grant created a film that’s full of different women.”
Review: Claire Oakley’s ‘Make Up’
“When ‘Make Up’ reaches the light at the end of its twisted tunnel, its culmination is gratifying and sumptuously-realised.”
Review: Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’ (Black and White Edition)
“The black and white edition of ‘Parasite’ is a gift, and the real beacon shining brightly in the dark.”
Review: Joko Anwar’s ‘Impetigore’
“Indonesian horror has been gradually finding its feet over the past few years, and ‘Impetigore’ shows that we’ve barely even scratched the surface.”