Abertoir

Latest reviews

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  Detention

  Review preview for Detention

  Cinematographer Li Hsien-chou deserves praise for the immersive way that he has recreated the atmosphere of the game.

  A high school student falls in love with the teacher who organises a secret book club in contravention of the White Terror martial law.
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  The Reckoning

  Review preview for The Reckoning

  The various torture devices used here are all real but lose much of their horrific impact because the film is so over the top.

  A period thriller set in 1665 during the Great Plague and subsequent witch hunts.
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  Come True

  Review preview for Come True

  Has some smart observations to make.

  Plagued by disturbing dreams and unable to go home, a teenager is relieved to find help at a university sleep study, but unwittingly becomes the channel to a horrifying new discovery.
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  12 Hour Shift

  Review preview for 12 Hour Shift

  A splatter-happy romp through one night in the organ trade.

  Nurse Mandy is just trying to make it through her double shift alive, but her nasty drug addiction, annoying coworkers, needy patients, and devious cousin are making it pretty tough, not to mention organ-stealing criminals and an injured convict.
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  Anything For Jackson

  Review preview for Anything For Jackson

  Richings and McCarthy deliver two of the finest performances in genre works this year.

  A bereaved Satanist couple kidnap a pregnant woman so they can use an ancient spellbook to put their dead grandson's spirit into her unborn child, but end up summoning more than they bargained for.
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  The Returned

  Review preview for The Returned

  There are shadows everywhere, shapes moving on the fringes of one's vision, and it's easy to suspect that one is being watched.

  The indigenous people of the Guarani tribe has either been exterminated or reduced to servitude. Julia, the wife of a wealthy landowner, gives birth to her third dead child. In desperation, she begs Kerana, her indigenous housekeeper with ancient powers, to bring him back to life - but he doesn't return alone.
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  Kriya

  Review preview for Kriya

  Like most occult horror, Kriya will have its most profound effects on those raised within the minority traditions it addresses, or at least something close to them.

  A DJ encounters a beautiful woman at a club, goes back to her home, and finds himself thrust into a nightmare odyssey of ritual magic, patriarchal death customs and unusual family conflict.
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  Shakespeare's Sh*tstorm

  Review preview for Shakespeare's Sh*tstorm

  Kaufman remains one of the sharpest interpreters of Shakespeare out there..

  Troma takes on The Tempest, against the backdrop of the US opioid crisis.
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  Bleed With Me

  Review preview for Bleed With Me

  Whilst a less skilled filmmaker might have added a sexual connotation to this, Moses opts for something simpler and yet more intangible.

  During a winter getaway at an isolated cabin, a self-destructive young woman becomes convinced that her best friend is stealing her blood.
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  The Curse Of Audrey Earnshaw

  Review preview for The Curse Of Audrey Earnshaw

  Witchcraft is a difficult subject for today's filmmakers, not least because of the public's shifting sympathies, but Lee has found a story in which it is a perfect fit.

  A mother and daughter are suspected of witchcraft by their devout rural community.

A–Z of Abertoir 2020 reviews →