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 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 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.
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.
Gail Harvey’s latest movie Never Saw It Coming has a title so unintentionally fitting, it makes my head spin.
By: Graeme Howard Lou Simon’s 3: An Eye for an Eye is a revenge thriller with a healthy amount of twists to subvert viewer expectations. Unfortunately, the stiff and unconvincing performances lead to an experience that will be predictable, drab, and confusing for most.
By: Trevor Chartrand Helmed by Finnish filmmaker Teemu Nikki, Euthanizer is one moody, atmospheric and, frankly, zany thriller. Between overlapping tones and strategic musical cues, this movie blends genres in a way that just shouldn’t work, but somehow does – it’s like combining the sweetest strawberries with jalapenos and raw sewage. Euthanizer somehow creates a sweet, yet spicy, story that will leave a bad taste in your mouth (in a good way).
Face of Evil, the feature-length debut from writer/director Vito Dinatolo, is a poorly paced and unremarkable horror-thriller that is more frustrating than frightening.
Our House graduates from the “Paranormal Activity Institute of Small and Effectual Scares”. Actually, if we’re rating this supernatural horror against the Paranormal Activity series, it’s on par with the first two films, and ranks higher than the franchise’s final two chapters. For what it’s worth, that’s a decent sweet spot for Anthony Scott Burns and his feature-length debut.
For as rambunctious as Future World is, it’s awfully dull. This disappointing joint effort comes from directors Bruce Thierry Cheung and James Franco, although considering how successful Franco has been as a director, I wonder if he was hired to guide Cheung. Nonetheless, both filmmakers fail at establishing this tattered reality, which falls somewhere between a hellscape and a subsisting rebirth. The survivors also seem to be an uneven mix of copied characters from other movies.