[Fantasia 2020] SLEEP Review: A Journey into the Nightmares of the Past

Dead RingersLeave a comment

By: Emily von Seele

My first film of the Fantasia International Film Festival was a fascinating and understated horror film from Germany. Sleep is a film fueled by nightmares that break into the waking space and fuse themselves to the horrors of the real world. The film centers on Marlene (Sandra Huller) and her daughter Mona (Gro Swantje Kohlhof). Marlene is plagued by nightmares, often finding herself trapped between sleep and consciousness, gasping for breath. Mona tries to help her as much as she can, but her condition keeps worsening and doesn’t have an apparent source.

Read More »

Dead Ringers Episode 35: AS ABOVE, SO BELOW + BLAIR WITCH (2016)

Dead RingersLeave a comment

Nolan is joined by Kat Adams, Emily von Seele, and Philip Yount to discuss John Erick Dowdle’s As Above, So Below (2014) and Adam Wingard’s Blair Witch (2016). The crew share their thoughts on new discoveries and rewatches, as well as recent horror releases — including a review of Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep (2019) (**Spoilers from 7:25 – 11:25**) — before the unresolved baggage from a lost family member spurs the group on a dangerous adventure into a forbidden zone (which is documented on video, of course).

Read More »

MAY and the Horror of Loneliness

Dead RingersLeave a comment

By: Emily von Seele

May 3

Lucky McKee’s May has become a Halloween-viewing staple among genre fans. The strange fairy tale of a lonely young woman trying to find a meaningful relationship in a world of imperfection is a beautiful and unique film experience. May’s journey is one of hope and heartbreak, as we watch her try to form a bond with several people in her life, only to be let down and forced to take a rather unorthodox approach to finding that connection.

Read More »

[Fantastic Fest] Review Round-Up: THE SHIP OF MONSTERS, PARASITE, KNIVES OUT

Dead RingersLeave a comment

By: Paul Farrell

Knives Out

As the final frames of the last movie flickered into blackness, I knew the end had come. No more screening slots to agonize over, no more seating assignments to lament, no more festival volunteers to high-five — Fantastic Fest 2019 was no more. But in those final hours, there was still celebration; movies to watch, love, and share with the world. That’s when an epiphany hit me. For if we keep talking about it, Fantastic Fest will never truly end, only live on in the hearts, minds, and souls of movie fans everywhere, for all time. And thanks to a particularly great lineup of films on the final day, I’ve still got plenty to say.

Read More »

[Fantastic Fest] Review Round-Up: THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF WOLF BOY, TRAMPA INFERNAL, SEA FEVER, AFTER MIDNIGHT

Dead RingersLeave a comment

By: Paul Farrell

Sea Fever 2

Life in the movie theater grows short, I know this now. For days people have been speaking of the coming end, the veritable theatrical apocalypse. I can scarcely believe that such a life ever could end, such has been the eternity with which it seems to have lasted. Still, I fear the rumors are true that, indeed, Fantastic Fest has nearly reached its final hours. And yet there is still more to talk about. Take Wednesday, for example.

Read More »