Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival 2024 - Irish director Damian Mc Carthy really made a name for himself with his 2020 debut Caveat. Who can forget that creepy bunny? His follow-up, Oddity, has all the makings of a classic Gothic story. It kicks off with a murder, before introducing several unsettling images and a major [...]

Call me a pessimist, but the global outlook for 2024 doesn't look too good. Between climate change and the rise of extreme populism in several countries, it's likely to be a turbulent year. A return to normal may never be likely. Considering these challenges, it's unsurprising there have been so many apocalyptic movies lately. First [...]

The beginning of The Bell Keeper plays like a straight slasher movie. Randy Couture stands tall and menacing as Hank, axe in hand. There's even a gruesome and bloody death. This opening leads to expectations that maybe, just maybe, we're witnessing the birth of a new slasher. However, the film, while it has such elements, [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival 2023 - There's something about French horror movies. They just seem to push the envelope about as far as it can go, especially features like Inside, Irreversible, Martyrs, or, more recently, Revenge, Raw, and Titane. Director Joséphine Darcy Hopkins' short Sweet Tooth, aka Les Dents du bonheur, follows the recent wave [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival 2023 - Writer/director Charlie Bellarose achieved a real feat with her short Jacques. She created a well-crafted horror comedy that's all kinds of funny. Oh, and the dog, Jacques (Jack Cockapoo), absolutely steals the show. Other than the adorable pooch, the short also stars Bellarose as herself. She encounters Jacques in [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival 2023 - Writer/director Shane Bannon's short The Perfect Place to Cry is one of those films that toys with expectations. You have a young woman, Lyla (Celina Bernstein) sobbing, while alone in her car at night near the woods. When a stranger emerges from the forest, every horror red flag goes off. [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival 2023 - Director Grame Arnfield wants you to think about all of that surveillance tech in your house, especially video doorbells like Ring, and whether or not it's doing more harm than good. Arnfield's video essay, Home Invasion, is a an oddly chilling and affecting history of the doorbell. However, he [...]