The Hollow Child
The Hollow Child is a feature film debut for screenwriter Ben Rollo and director Jeremy Lutter, and it’s an efficient entry-level vehicle for both of them even if this horror feels like a retread.
Thriller
Toronto After Dark 2018: ‘Prospect’ and ‘The Ranger’
Prospect (DIR. Chris Caldwell, Zeek Earl) First, we lived through “mumblecore”. Then, we were subjected to “mumblegore”. Now, it seems like the next logical step is to “mumblego” where no man has gone before. Case in point: Chris Caldwell and Zeek Earl’s exercise in furious navel-gazing, Prospect, a film so enamored by its own cleverness that it manages to make its modest runtime seem endless. A film whose total lack of direction in favour of world-building…
Toronto After Dark 2018: ‘I’ll Take Your Dead’ and ‘Mega Time Squad’
I’ll Take Your Dead (DIR. Chad Archibald) The multi-hyphen horror film is just a concept that is here to stay. Despite everything being a hyphenated genre lately, very few films actually know how to do it well. The issue is that these films are often so lost in their own muddled genres, that they forget to specialize in one. Very rarely can someone pull off an actually balanced hyphenated genre film, leading to practical magic when…
Toronto After Dark 2018: ‘The Inhabitant’ and ‘Tigers Are Not Afraid’
The Inhabitant (DIR. Guillermo Amoedo) Latin American cinema is in the middle of a great resurgence, creating some of the best works since the cinemas of poverty of the 1960s. On another hand, there has been an influx of supernatural home invasion films: thieves having to deal with demons who won’t let them leave, a torrent which deemed any new arrivals in the genre mundane. Using this dichotomy, one is left to wonder what the…
Strange Nature
Some will compare Strange Nature to Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever based on a glance at the film’s premise about a deadly outbreak. Others, including myself, will find the flick to be a fitting throwback to a brand of vintage cinema that gave audiences thrills and chills yet remained ambiguous about its genre. Is it a horror? A thriller? And, does the plot act as a parable for a real-life disaster? In the same way Godzilla…
Let the Corpses Tan
While Let the Corpses Tan tells a thin tale about thieves on the run, it’s nothing short of complex in terms of visual storytelling. Using – quite possibly – the best edits I’ve seen in a movie this year, Belgian directors/screenwriters Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (The ABC’s of Death) offer audiences pure entertainment that works as both a western and a crime-thriller.
The First Purge
The Purge wasn’t a typical horror film. It was an intense bottle film that found ways to give movie goers the heebie-jeebies by poking holes in assumably safe conditions. It also showcased nimble newcomer James DeMonaco, a skillful director who could use paranoia and predictability to deliver an engrossing movie. DeMonaco directed the next two Purge movies – films I never saw but I’ve been eager to catch up with. Hopefully, those films are better…
Lizzie
Lizzie is a decent psychological slow burn, but its problematic pacing leaves me wondering if the film could’ve been stronger had it been workshopped more. With his second feature film, director Craig William Macneill demonstrates his ability to build tension through taut silences and piercing instrumentals. However, Bryce Kass’ script doesn’t match the filmmaker’s patience.
TIFF 2018: ‘Fausto’
Featured in the festival’s Wavelengths selection, Andrea Bussmann’s Fausto shows audiences why this particular programme is so important for a well-rounded TIFF experience.
Never Saw It Coming
Gail Harvey’s latest movie Never Saw It Coming has a title so unintentionally fitting, it makes my head spin.