Fantasia International Film Festival (FIFF) - It's best to state this upfront. Megalomaniac is a tough watch, a dark tale about the children of the Butcher of Mons, a notorious and unidentified Belgian serial killer from the 1990s. This is very much a film about abuse, power, and generational trauma. Its scenes are graphic, [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival -All Jacked Up and Full of Worms is a head trip alright. Think Street Trash combined with Frank Henenlotter’s films. Oh, and throw in lots of worms that cause the characters to have hallucinogenic, terrifying visions. The film recently premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival, and Cinedigm just announced [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival (FIFF) - Something sinister's afoot in Lone Crow, after a canoe washes downstream, delivering a mangled body ashore. The Breach, based on Canadian author Nick Cutter's novel, is a slow-burn, featuring characters in a small town where everyone knows each other. While the film requires patience, it does contain some [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival (FIFF) - If there was an Oscar category specifically for best voice acting, J.K. Simmons would deserve a nomination for playing a Lovecraftian demi-god in director Rebekah McKendry's wildly inventive morality tale Glorious. Simmons, however, is only one highlight. This is a film that oozes creativity, humor, horror, and heart. [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival (FIFF) - Will AI ever evolve to feel emotion? Should AI  be given the freedom to choose its own objectives?  What ultimately will be the legacy of the human race? These are just some of the philosophical questions raised in writer/director Franklin Ritch's very weighty The Artifice Girl, a movie that [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival - Dark Nature has quite a fierce opening. The protagonist, Joy (Hannah Emily Anderson), makes one last attempt to salvage her relationship and please her abusive boyfriend, Derek (Daniel Arnold). When it goes wrong, he nearly chokes the life out of her. Joy carries this trauma, which manifests and worsens [...]

Fantasia International Film Festival - Though some of its influences are evident, Polaris is unlike any other post-apocalyptic film. Set in 2144 in a subarctic wasteland, the film follows a young girl, Sumi (Viva Lee), raised by a polar bear. While there are shades here of The Wizard of Oz, though a much, much [...]