Fantasia 2024 – All Things Ick

‘House of Sayuri’ Review – Kôji Shiraishi’s Comedic Reclamation of J-Horror’s Bleak Legacy

August 5, 2024 Meagan Navarro Fantasia 2024, House of Sayuri, Koji Shiraishi, Reviews

Japanese filmmaker Kôji Shiraishi knows his way around a haunt, having established a reputation for scare crafting with documentary-style horror movies Noroi: The Curse, Occult, and A Record of Sweet Murder. The director occasionally showcased his sense of humor, dialing up the camp factor in commercial films like Sadako vs. Kayako. Kôji Shiraishi’s latest, House […]

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‘The Soul Eater’ Review – Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo’s Investigative Thriller is Suitably Dark

July 31, 2024 Meagan Navarro Alexandre Bustillo, Fantasia 2024, Julien Maury, Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, Reviews, The Soul Eater

French filmmakers Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, the duo behind Inside, Leatherface, and The Deep House, step outside of horror ever so slightly for their latest, The Soul Eater. The adaptation of Alexis Laipsker‘s novel, penned by Annelyse Batrel and Ludovic Lefebvre, dabbles in the supernatural to lend atmosphere and intrigue to a standard investigative thriller. While its […]

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‘Hell Hole’ Review – A Scrappy Creature Feature with Humor and Heavy Metal Attitude

July 30, 2024 Meagan Navarro Fantasia 2024, Hell Hole, Reviews, Shudder, the adams family

The Adams Family, an actual family unit of filmmakers comprised of father John Adams, mother Tobey Poser, and their daughters, quickly established a punk rock DIY spirit, wearing multiple hats each on films The Deeper You Dig, Hellbender, and last year’s Where the Devil Roams. That continues in their latest, Hell Hole, an ambitious ode to the […]

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‘Párvulos’ Fantasia Review – Coming-of-Age Horror Fantasy Frames Apocalypse from Kids’ Perspective

July 30, 2024 Meagan Navarro Fantasia 2024, Isaac Ezban, Parvulos, Reviews

Director Isaac Ezban (Evil Eye, The Similars, The Incident) continues exploring themes of family through a fantasy horror lens with his latest, Párvulos. As its title indicates, roughly translating to pre-schoolers or toddlers, the coming-of-age dystopian fable follows three young brothers, practically newborn babes, discovering the perils and pleasures of life after a world-ending pandemic. Ezban reinvigorates […]

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‘Witchboard’ Is a Messy, Occasionally Fun Remake [Fantasia Review]

July 29, 2024 Joe Lipsett Aaron Dominguez, Antonia Desplat, Charlie Tahan, Chiara Fossati, Chuck Russell, David La Haye, Elisha Herbert, Fantasia 2024, Francesco Filice, Jamal Azémar, Jamie Campbell-Bower, Madison Iseman, Melanie Jarnsen, Renee Herbert, Reviews

After helming some of the most significant practical effect horror films of the ’80s, writer/director Chuck Russell (The Blob, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors) returns to the genre for the first time in twenty years with Witchboard (2024). Ostensibly a remake of Kevin Tenney’s 1986 film of the same name, the new […]

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‘The Dead Thing’ Is a Stylish Look at a Toxic LA Relationship [Fantasia Review]

July 28, 2024 Joe Lipsett Ben Smith-Petersen, Blu Hunt, Elric Kane, Fantasia 2024, John Karna, Reviews, Webb Wilcoxen

There’s horror to be found in LA’s dating scene, at least according to the first solo fiction feature film from director Elric Kane. Working from a script he co-wrote with Webb Wilcoxen, Kane’s The Dead Thing is a moody, atmospheric look at the toxicity of finding someone in the city of angels. Alex (Blu Hunt […]

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Musical Horror Comedy ‘Chainsaws Were Singing’ Is a Gory Delight [Fantasia Review]

July 25, 2024 Joe Lipsett Fantasia 2024, Horror Musical, Janno Puusepp, Karl Ilves, Laura Niils, Martin Ruus, Movies, Peeter Maran, Reviews, Sander Maran

Musicals are something of a unicorn in the horror genre: a rare beast that can be extremely hit (Phantom of the Paradise, The Lure) or miss (Stage Fright). So when a film from Estonia called Chainsaws Were Singing comes along, it feels like a reason to pay attention. Director Sander Maran and co-writer Karl Ilves […]

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‘Frankie Freako’ Is a Fun Ode to ’90s Puppet Mayhem Movies [Fantasia Review]

July 24, 2024 Joe Lipsett Adam Brooks, Conor Sweeney, Fantasia 2024, Kristy Wordsworth, Matthew Kennedy, Meredith Sweeney, Reviews, Steven Kostanski

In Steven Kostanski’s latest film, the worst thing that someone can call Conor (Conor Sweeney) is square. The ’90s-set comedy horror movie revolves around an uptight married businessman whose idea of intimacy is holding *a* hand in bed and using a different color font in a work presentation. He’s married to Kristina (Kristy Wordsworth), a […]

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‘The Chapel’ Offers Great Performances and Muddled Supernatural Thrills [Fantasia Review]

July 24, 2024 Joe Lipsett Albert Bertran Bas, Belen Rueda, Carlota Pereda, Carmelo Viera, Fantasia 2024, Loreto Mauleón, Maia Zaitegi, Reviews

Seeing isn’t always believing in The Chapel, the latest film from Piggy writer/director Carlota Pereda. Written by Pereda, as well as Albert Bertran Bas and Carmelo Viera, The Chapel is a supernatural drama about intergenerational trauma between mothers and their daughters. The film opens in 1631 in a small Spanish town that is besieged by […]

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‘Shelby Oaks’ Review – Chris Stuckmann’s Debut Wears Its Horror Influences On Its Sleeve

July 22, 2024 Joe Lipsett Andrew Scott Baird, Brendan Sexton III, Camille Sullivan, Charlie Talbert, Chris Stuckmann, Emily Bennett, Fantasia 2024, James Burkholder, Movies, Reviews, Sarah Durn, the newton brothers

The feature film debut of writer/director Chris Stuckmann has a solid, albeit slightly familiar, premise. In 2008, four YouTubers known for a ghost hunting show called ‘Paranormal Paranoids’ go missing near the deserted town of Shelby Oaks, sparking conspiracy theories and suspicions it’s a hoax to increase the channel’s notoriety. When the bodies of Laura […]

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Five Horror Movies to Watch at This Year’s Fantasia International Film Festival

July 15, 2024 Meagan Navarro Cuckoo, Fantasia, Fantasia 2024, House of Sayuri, In Our Blood, Movies, The Beast Within, Wake Up

The Fantasia International Film Festival kicks off its 28th edition this week, running from July 18 through August 4, 2024, at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montreal’s Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. That means multiple weeks of dense genre programming, buzzy premieres, and more. The festival is […]

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Fantasia 2024 Adds Steven Kostanski’s ‘Frankie Freako!’ and More to Final Wave of Programming

July 3, 2024 Meagan Navarro Fantasia 2024, Frankie Freako, Movies

The Fantasia International Film Festival returns very soon with its 28th edition from July 18 through August 4, 2024, returning to the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montreal’s Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. The final wave of programming has been unveiled, adding even more genre premieres to […]

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Fantasia 2024 Second Wave of Programming Includes Opening Film ‘Bookworm’ Starring Elijah Wood

June 6, 2024 Meagan Navarro Book Worm, Fantasia, Fantasia 2024, Movies, The Beast Within, The Count of Monte-Cristo, The Soul Eater

The Fantasia International Film Festival returns with its 28th edition from July 18 through August 4, 2024, returning to the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montreal’s Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. The second wave of programming has been unveiled, adding even more genre premieres to an already […]

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Fantasia 2024 First Wave of Programming Includes Found Footage ‘Shelby Oaks,’ ‘Witchboard’ Remake, and More

May 9, 2024 Meagan Navarro Dark Match, Fantasia, Fantasia 2024, Hell Hole, Movies, Rita, Shelby Oaks, The Dead Thing, witchboard

The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 28th edition with another densely packed slate of events and programming running from July 18 through August 4, 2024, returning yet again at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montreal’s Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. The festival’s full […]

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