The film business is a tough racket. Anyone who’s worked in the movies will tell you how tough and competitive it is just to get a crew job, let alone actually make a movie. While the production phase of a film can be tedious and exhausting in and of itself, there’s a whole slew of headaches that involve development and financing before a film can even get to that step, and then after that, there’s post-production and distribution to worry about.
Read MoreAgent Revelation (2021)
Going into writer/producer/director/star Derek Ting’s Agent Revelation, I had no idea it was a sequel. I saw the trailer and thought it looked like plucky low-budget sci-fi and that was enough for me. While it is that, to be sure, it also feels like a distillation of a sort of new-age-y philosophy.
Read MoreWonder Woman 1984 (2020)
It always felt like there would be a lot riding on Wonder Woman 1984. The first Wonder Woman felt like a big win for DC and WB when it hit in 2017, garnering rave reviews from critics and audiences after the mostly mixed or negative responses to Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad. A follow-up to Wonder Woman seemed inevitable after it performed well at the box office in addition to its positive reception.
Read MoreThe Dark and the Wicked (2020)
“Less is more” is always the old adage that you hear when it comes to storytelling, and it especially applies to telling a horror story. You can show all the ghosts, ghouls, and goblins you want, but at the end of the day, the best weapon you have to use against an audience is their own imagination. There’s always a dark presence lurking just around a corner, but no matter what kind of monster the filmmakers have cooked up, it will never stack up to whatever demonic vision the viewers have concocted in their own minds.
Read MoreNightmare City (1980) #RetroReview
Italian director Umberto Lenzi may not be a household name, but he certainly made an impact on cult cinema fans with his output. His Nightmare City was released in Italy exactly forty years ago today. It could be argued that this film was the first instance of fast zombies, certainly predating 28 Days Later by decades.
Read MoreBlood Rage (1987) #RetroReview
Overwrought and ridiculous, John Grissmer’s Blood Rage from 1983 is 82 minutes of gory goofy fun. Not released until 1987 with numerous cuts under the title Nightmare at Shadow Woods, the Thanksgiving-set film has since developed a cult following. With hilarious line readings, an earnest commitment to a low budget splatter aesthetic, and an enormously over the top performance from veteran actress Louise Lasser, its charms are hard to deny.
Read MoreThe Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)
A beautifully shot werewolf movie that’s not afraid to tread different ground than its genre predecessors, writer/director Jim Cummings’ quirky The Wolf of Snow Hollow (available now, on-demand) focuses on its flawed lead, ensuring anxiety is not just mined from the premise. Additionally, wry dark humor and traditional thrills mingle on a tonal tightrope that is mostly successful. These and other aspects make for a pleasingly unconventional creature feature.
Read MoreChop Chop (2020)
With the big studios postponing their major horror releases because of the Pandemic, there is a rare opportunity this year for a low budget, indie horror movie to dominate this Halloween. Kamikaze Dogfight and Gravitas Ventures, known for recognizing budding talent in genre filmmaking, are throwing their latest slasher flick Chop Chop into this mix, with the VOD release of Rony Patel's feature directorial debut on October 20th. Chop Chop tries to live up to the cool, suspenseful horror films of the early 2000s, but it quickly loses its edge.
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