The teen-horror sub-genre was once big money. In a post-Scream world, almost every horror released in its wake focussed on teenagers in some kind of horrific trouble. Eventually that grew tiresome and those films were replaced with the torture porn movement, which in turn was usurped by Blumhouse jump scares. Trends are circular though, and recent release Talk to Me has once … [Read more...] about ‘Departing Seniors’ review: Dir. Clare Cooney [FrightFest 2023]
FrightFest 2023
‘Farang’ review: Dir. Xavier Gens [FrightFest 2023]
To the horror world, Xavier Gens is known as one of the pioneers of New Wave French Extremity. HIs movie Frontier(s) proved that the French were not afraid of getting nasty in their films. Then the director took a step away from horror, moving into the action arena of cinema. His first foray into this genre, the 2007 film Hitman might not have taken the world by storm, but his … [Read more...] about ‘Farang’ review: Dir. Xavier Gens [FrightFest 2023]
‘Failure!’ review: Dir. Alex Kahuam [FrightFest 2023]
Once you are in the FrightFest machine, you are in for life. This statement is true for both attendees and filmmakers. Once you have had a film screened at the festival, the directors keep an eye on your career, and if you are really lucky, they invite you back. This year’s FrightFest event is a testament to this fact with several filmmakers being returning players. Both this … [Read more...] about ‘Failure!’ review: Dir. Alex Kahuam [FrightFest 2023]
‘Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives’ review: Dir. Thomas Sieben [FrightFest 2023]
Of all the movie formats out there, it is the one-take film that is perhaps the hardest to master. Whereas other films shoot a story scene by scene, often out of order, these films start at scene one and don’t stop shooting until it is time for the end credits to roll. This puts a lot of pressure onto both cast and crew to be perfect. The format is as close as film gets to the … [Read more...] about ‘Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives’ review: Dir. Thomas Sieben [FrightFest 2023]
‘Founders Day’ review: Dir. Erik Bloomquist [FrightFest 2023]
We have said it before, and we’ll say it again, Erik Bloomquist is one of the hardest working directors. In the last three years Bloomquist has directed five feature films with his sixth, Founders Day, having just made its international debut at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest. Of the six, four titles, including Founders Day, fit under the umbrella of horror, making it Bloomquist’s … [Read more...] about ‘Founders Day’ review: Dir. Erik Bloomquist [FrightFest 2023]
