Festival Coverage
The Entity – DVD
When Eduardo Schultz found footage horror film The Entity starts, you’ll be wondering if this spook-venture is worth even switching on. Can you really watch another hour and twenty minutes of screaming in the dark? Thankfully, the Peruvian feature (not to be confused with the superb 1982 Barbara Hershey film) does have enough interesting ideas […]
The Town That Dreaded Sundown – Blu-Ray Review
Alfonzo Gomez-Rejon’s 2014 remake of Charles B. Pierce’s cult classic The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a surprisingly entertaining revisit around a new set of murders sixty-five years after the original Texarkana Moonlight Murders.
Maggie – EIFF 2015
Henry Hobson’s Maggie is a welcome surprise for the zombie genre and Arnold Shwarzenegger fans alike. The debut feature from Hobson, and his scribe John Scott 3, is an intimate portrayal of living with terminal illness, centred around two great performances.
The Hallow – EIFF 2015
Corin Hardy’s debut feature The Hallow is a refreshing creature-feature feeding off the folklore of Ireland. The film follows a British conservationist (Joseph Mawle), his wife (Bojana Novakovik), and their infant child who find themselves caught up in a nightmare after moving dangerously close to an ancient forest.
Narcopolis – EIFF 2015
Decriminalisation of drugs and what that would lead to: Justin Trefgarne’s Narcopolis is a dystopian take on a hot topic. For a debut feature this sci-fi political thriller is ridiculously ballsy in its choice of subject matter but often favours the thrill of its twisting adventure over deeper consideration of its core questions. There’s still […]
Dead Rising – EIFF 2015
Considering how saturated the zombie genre is, its difficult to craft an exceptional or even noteworthy entry. Dead Rising: Watchtower, the screen adaptation of the popular Capcom game franchise, has even more pressure since its namesake is a hugely successful part of modern zombie culture, loved by fans worldwide.
The Lesson – EIFF 2015
The Lesson, written and directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchenov, has plenty of things to talk about but never seems to feel that way. The farce of desperation is never really milked to its full black comedy potential keeping the feature firmly grounded in the, sometimes dull, domain of drama.
Who Am I? – EIFF 2015
Title aside, there’s nothing long-winded about Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I – No System is Safe. From scene to scene Odar wants to entertain, to pull us in and drag us along under the wheels of an impressive and enjoyable cyber-thriller.
Ava’s Possessions – DbD 2015
The exorcism sub-genre has successfully stood its ground time and time again in every mode of the horror genre, so it’s a tough place to make your voice heard. Even then, Jordan Galland’s Ava’s Possessions is an absolute treat, not least because there seems to be a lack of post-exorcism films.
Musaranas – DbD 2015
Winning the audience award for best feature at Dead by Dawn is no small feat. The Edinburgh horror festival has a tight group of in-depth genre fanatics who know their stuff and get exposed to the newest and best once a year. Juanfer Andres and Esteban Roel’s Musaranas (AKA Shrew’s Nest) is a beautiful powerhouse […]
