By: Emily von Seele
Coming to Netflix on April 14, Thriller is an entertaining throwback to the classic slasher era of the 1980s. The directorial debut of writer/director Dallas Jackson (co-written by Ken Rance), the film follows a group of kids in Compton, California who decide to pull a nasty prank on a local boy.
By: Emily von Seele
The Boston Underground Film Festival hosted the New England premiere of Knife+Heart last weekend, and it is absolutely a film that horror aficionados will want to check out. With his second feature, director Yann Gonzalez has crafted a beautiful, bloody journey into the darker corners of love and obsession.
By: Emily von Seele
Like its titular character, The Book Of Birdie defies categorization. It is very much a film that doesn’t easily fit any label and floats freely around the minds of its viewers; it embodies no particular genre, instead choosing to be a little bit of everything and capturing the imagination along the way.
By: Emily von Seele
Lorena Villarreal’s Silencio is an interesting and emotional meditation on loss, grief, and a life lived.
By: Emily von Seele
One of my favorite films to come out of this year’s Fantastic Fest was the sci-fi tale of friendship and resilience, Level 16. Set in the Vestalis Academy for girls, the film focuses on Vivien (Katie Douglas) and Sophia (Celina Martin), two girls who have spent years living and being trained in the institution. The prison-like school adheres to a strict code of conduct, preparing girls for eventual adoption by wealthy families. The girls are being trained to be perfect daughters and young women — they obey a strict set of rules, striving to be obedient, sweet, and clean.
By: Nolan McBride
There are so many movies to see at this year’s Fantastic Fest and only so much time to write about them, so rather than trying to review them all, I am going to cover the movies about which I was most passionate or those I want to make sure everyone puts on their radar. In this edition, it’s the much-anticipated sequel to John Carpenter’s seminal slasher, an unexpected roller coaster of a thriller, and an emotional, fantastical tale about outsiders finding their place in the world.
By: Nolan McBride
The Witch In The Window cast its spell upon me almost immediately. Though it plays in familiar territory — (part of) a family is (temporarily) living in a new house rumored to be haunted by a former inhabitant — it distinguishes itself thanks in large part to the strength of its core relationship and emotional arc. Rather than diminishing returns, it provided a breath of fresh air, similar to that experienced by the characters as they venture away from the troubles of the fraught modern world.
