Beauty Grace Malice (2024)

Beauty Grace Malice, directed by Terry Spears and produced by Kris Young, is a gripping tale of betrayal and empowerment that delivers on both drama and emotional resonance. The film takes us on a journey through the tumultuous life of Grace Green, portrayed compellingly by TaJa Brittaney. A single mother framed for a crime by those closest to her, Grace’s struggle to clear her name and regain custody of her son, Logan, is a powerful narrative of resilience and maternal strength.

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Chainsaws Were Singing (2024) #FantasticFest

Chainsaws Were Singing is a wildly inventive and absurd blend of horror, comedy, and musical, brought to life by Estonian director Sander Maran. This film feels tailor-made for cult status, packed with outrageous humor, splatter-filled moments, and catchy musical numbers that will resonate with fans of midnight movies. The story centers on Maria, whose terrible day takes an unexpected turn when she meets Tom, a man attempting to take his own life.

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Apartment 7A (2024) #FantasticFest

Apartment 7A, directed by Natalie Erika James, offers a fresh yet familiar dive into the eerie world of Rosemary’s Baby. Marketed as a prequel to the iconic 1968 horror classic, the film stands tall on its own with a mesmerizing performance by Julia Garner and hauntingly beautiful visuals that keep viewers on edge. Garner plays Terry Gionoffrio, an ambitious young dancer whose dreams of fame in New York are dashed after a devastating injury.

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What Happened to Dorothy Bell? (2024) #FantasticFest

What Happened to Dorothy Bell? presents an intriguing concept that blends supernatural horror with deep, introspective themes surrounding generational trauma and mental health. Directed by Danny Villanueva Jr., the film follows Ozzie Gray as she unravels her family’s dark history, confronting a chilling urban legend connected to a haunted library in her hometown. This found footage horror cleverly intersperses VHS tapes, security footage, video diaries, and camcorder recordings to create an unnerving sense of disorientation and paranoia.

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The Draft! (2023) #FantasticFest

The Draft!, directed by Yusron Fuadi, is an energetic Indonesian horror-comedy that combines familiar genre tropes with a playful, meta-narrative twist. At its core, the film is a love letter to the horror genre and a cheeky exploration of the struggles a screenwriter faces when drafting a story—literally. The premise is deceptively familiar: five college archetypes—the jock, the nerd, the pretty one, the rich one, and the popular one—set off on a weekend trip to an isolated cabin.

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The Spirit of Halloweentown (2024) #FantasticFest

The Spirit of Halloweentown is an intriguing documentary that captures the essence of St. Helens, Oregon—a town forever tied to its starring role in Disney's Halloweentown. Directed by Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb, the film blends a nostalgic charm with quirky human drama, giving viewers a glimpse into the lives of residents who have embraced the legacy of Halloween and the magic it brings each year. The documentary excels in highlighting the devotion and enthusiasm the town's inhabitants pour into celebrating Halloween.

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Pater Noster and the Mission of Light (2024)

Underground auteur Christopher Bickel is back with Pater Noster and the Mission of Light! A psychedelic neo-grindhouse nightmare sprinkled with record store culture and delivered with punk rock panache, writer/director/producer/cinematographer/editor/composer Bickel once again demonstrates why he should be considered a king of the low-budget horror and exploitation scene. Amongst other things, this movie contains stabbings, burnings, copious drug use, geriatric nudity, gruesome practical effects, bizarre imagery, psychedelic freak-outs in cinematic form, and more creativity in its severed big toe than most blockbusters can muster on fifty times the budget.

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