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Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Peter Lepeniotis

October 29, 2024Addison Wylie0 Comments

Ten years ago, I gained new respect for Peter Lepeniotis.  The Canadian animator was coming off the success of his first independently directed feature, The Nut Job, and he was very candid about the film industry with the audience at TIFF Kids.  He was a great storyteller and a fountain of knowledge.  But despite being a seasoned pro, Lepeniotis is still finding ways to challenge himself;  such as with R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town, the filmmaker’s live-action directorial…

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Reviews

Handling the Undead

June 9, 2024Addison Wylie0 Comments

The iconic “crossing the streams” scenario, originally pitched by Ghostbusters, has served to be an effective comparison when describing debacles.  Such is the case for another supernatural film, Handling the Undead.  Norwegian filmmaker Thea Hvistendahl essentially”crosses the streams” by running a metaphorical subtext with more literal examples.  Hvistendahl aims for nuance, but misses and creates heavy-handed deliveries and drawn out results.

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Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie

April 19, 2021Addison Wylie0 Comments

In the spirit of American Movie and Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made, Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie is a fun movie about the indie filmmaking process.  This time, audiences watch aspiring filmmakers Sam Suchmann and Mattie Zufelt, best friends since hitting it off at the Special Olympics as youngsters, as they attempt to cut their teeth making the most outrageous party-horror ever made.  Their dream project is titled…

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Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula

January 1, 2021Addison Wylie0 Comments

Filmmaker Yeon Sang-Ho established an extremely dangerous threat with Train to Busan, his crowd-pleasing zombie movie which has since been claimed as a contemporary horror classic.  His follow-up, Peninsula, continues the story of the deadly virus that continues to sweep South Korea through a team of characters who are all desperate for a new beginning.  They believe their new future awaits them if they help retrieve $20,000,000 left in Incheon – a sum that will…

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Reviews

Ravers

November 3, 2020Addison Wylie0 Comments

In Ravers, a bad batch of energy drinks are cracked into during a night-long party at an abandoned factory.  Once consumed, the partiers begin twitching, “bugging out”, and eventually  become violently belligerent with superhuman strength.  Given that everyone is already shoulder-to-shoulder, with some who are already high on street drugs to begin with, the danger escalates quickly as our main heroes (including Becky, a germaphobic journalist) fight for survival.

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Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2019: ‘The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale’ and ‘Witches in the Woods’

October 16, 2019Shahbaz Khayambashi0 Comments

The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale (DIR. Lee Min-jae) The zombie genre has always managed to survive because zombies, as a monster, are wholly dependent on the zeitgeist of the time.  Since they are brainless creatures, their existence can generally be justified by the anxieties of the time (military industrial complex, consumerism, conformity, racism, etc.).  While that is an advantage to sub-genre, most zombie films follow the same template.  The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale is no…

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The Dead Don’t Die

June 13, 2019Shahbaz Khayambashi0 Comments

Jim Jarmusch has been making films for almost forty years.  Despite such a prolific career, his bad works can be counted on one hand.  This is a direct result of knowing his audience and knowing exactly what it is that they want.  This streak continues with his latest feature, The Dead Don’t Die, a zombie horror-comedy which takes on American consumption without ever taking itself too seriously;  after all, that film was made about forty…

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It Stains the Sands Red

September 16, 2017Addison Wylie0 Comments

Las Vegas entertainer Molly (Brittany Allen) encounters a stray member of the undead in Nevada’s desert (aka. the Valley of Fire) while a zombie apocalypse breaks out.  The blood-thirsty brute terrorizes Molly by stalking her through the desolate outskirts, which is an incredible challenge since Molly has seen how ravenous and relentless her enemy is.  Knowing safety is 36 miles away is added distress for Molly since maintaining energy and will is a personal struggle for…

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Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2016: ‘The Master Cleanse’ and ‘The Rezort’

October 23, 2016Wylie Writes Staff2 Comments

The Master Cleanse (DIR. Bobby Miller) The Master Cleanse is such a small film, it’s easy to see why it would slip under someone’s radar.  It’s 79 minutes long, contains a seemingly underdeveloped plot, and the film doesn’t seem to provide much in way of cultural presence.  This is why Bobby Miller’s movie was such a pleasant surprise – it was so endearing.

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Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2016: ‘Train to Busan’ and ‘Trash Fire’

October 16, 2016Shahbaz Khayambashi0 Comments

Train to Busan (DIR. Yeon Sang-ho) Sometimes, a film fails at everything – an abject failure.  Sometimes, a film fails at the majority of its goals while succeeding in some, earning a designation of mediocrity.  Then, there are the rare cases of films failing in a majority of ways with a few successes, wherein those successes manage to outshine the failure.  Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan fits into that final example, a film that comes…

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