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Abertoir · 2020

Abertoir 2020

Features

Programme

19 films · 11 reviews

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12 Hour Shift

Review preview for 12 Hour Shift

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

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
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.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Brea Grant; Writer: Brea Grant; Stars: Angela Bettis, David Arquette, Chloe Farnworth, Mick Foley, Kit Williamson, Nikea Gamby-Turner, Tara Perry, Brooke Seguin, Dusty Warren, Tom DeTrinis, Thomas Hobson, Julianne Dowler, Briana Lane, Taylor Alden, Scott Dean)

Full review

Anything For Jackson

Review preview for Anything For Jackson

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

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
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.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Justin G Dyck; Writer: Keith Cooper; Stars: Sheila McCarthy, Julian Richings, Konstantina Mantelos, Josh Crudass, Yannick Bisson)

Full review

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.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
During a winter getaway at an isolated cabin, a self-destructive young woman becomes convinced that her best friend is stealing her blood.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2021; Director: Amelia Moses; Writer: Amelia Moses; Stars: Lauren Beatty, Aris Tyros, Lee Marshall)

Full review See: Interview with Amelia Moses about Bloodthirsty

The Cemetery Of Lost Souls (O Cimeterio Das Almas Perdidas)

On a work trip, a group of artists and a man haunted by strange dreams are attacked by a group of religious radicals.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2020; Director: Rodrigo Aragao)

Come True

Review preview for Come True

Has some smart observations to make.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
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.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Anthony Scott Burns; Writer: Anthony Scott Burns, Daniel Weissenberger; Stars: Landon Liboiron, Skylar Radzion, Julia Sarah Stone)

Full review

The Curse Of Audrey Earnshaw (The Ballad 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.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A mother and daughter are suspected of witchcraft by their devout rural community.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Thomas Robert Lee; Writer: Thomas Robert Lee; Stars: Jared Abrahamson, Hannah Emily Anderson, Catherine Walker, Don McKellar)

Full review

Detention (Fanxiao)

Review preview for Detention

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

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A high school student falls in love with the teacher who organises a secret book club in contravention of the White Terror martial law.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2019; Director: John Hsu; Writer: Shih-Keng Chien, Lyra Fu; Stars: Gingle Wang, Meng-Po Fu, Jing-Hua Tseng, Cecilia Choi, Hung Chang Chu)

Full review

History Of The Occult

It's '60 minutes to Midnight's' last broadcast, the most famous journalism show on TV. Tonight's is Adrian Marcato, who might expose a conspiracy that links the government with an actual coven.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2020; Director: Cristian Ponce; Writer: Cristian Ponce; Stars: Germán Baudino, Nadia Lozano, Héctor Ostrofsky, Agustin Recondo)

In The Land Of Franco

A documentary exploring the Portuguese and Spanish locations used by Jesús Franco.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: David Gregory)

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.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
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.

(Country: India; Year: 2020; Director: Sidharth Srinivasan; Writer: Sidharth Srinivasan; Stars: Navjot Randhawa, Noble Luke, Avantika Akerkar)

Full review

Leap Of Faith

William Friedkin on the making of The Exorcist.

(Year: 2019; Director: Alexandre O Philippe)

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.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
A period thriller set in 1665 during the Great Plague and subsequent witch hunts.

(Country: UK; Year: 2020; Director: Neil Marshall; Writer: Edward Evers-Swindell, Charlotte Kirk; Stars: Sean Pertwee, Charlotte Kirk, Steven Waddington, Joe Anderson, Ian Whyte)

Full review See: Interview with Neil Marshall and Charlotte Kirk about The Reckoning

Relic

Review preview for Relic

Director Natalie Erika James, still only in her twenties, draws viewers into her astonishing debut feature by externalising the horrors of a disease that will be all too familiar to many.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
When Edna, the elderly and widowed matriarch of the family, goes missing, her daughter Kay and granddaughter Sam travel to their remote family home to find her. Soon after her return, they start to discover a sinister presence haunting the house and taking control of Edna.

(Country: Australia, US; Year: 2020; Director: Natalie Erika James; Writer: Natalie Erika James, Christian White; Stars: Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, Robyn Nevin)

Full review

The Returned (Los Que Vuelven)

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.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
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.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2020; Director: Laura Casabé; Writer: Laura Casabe, Lisandro Colaberardino, Paulo Soria; Stars: Alberto Ajaka, Edgardo Castro, Javier Drolas, Lali Gonzalez)

Full review

Shakespeare's Sh*tstorm (Shakespeare's Shitstorm)

Review preview for Shakespeare's Sh*tstorm

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

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Troma takes on The Tempest, against the backdrop of the US opioid crisis.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Lloyd Kaufman; Writer: Brandon Bassham, Lloyd Kaufman, Gabriel Friedman and Frazer Brown, based on the play by William Shakespeare; Stars: Lloyd Kaufman, Erin Patrick Miller, Abraham Sparrow, Kate McGarrigle, Amanda Flowers)

Full review

She Killed In Ecstasy (Sie Tötete In Ekstase)

After a doctor commits suicide when his research into human embryos is terminated, his wife seduces and then executes revenge upon those she holds responsible.

(Country: Germany, Spain; Year: 1971; Director: Jesús Franco; Writer: Jesús Franco; Stars: Soledad Miranda, Fred Williams, Paul Muller, Howard Vernon)

Tales Of The Uncanny

A history of the horror anthology film.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: David Gregory; Stars: Eli Roth, Mark Gatiss, Tom Savini, Roger Corman, Joe Dante, Larry Fessenden, Brian Yuzna)

Who Saw Her Die? (Chi l'ha Vista Morire?)

A young girl is brutally murdered somewhere in France. Sometime later, the same thing happens to the daughter of a well-known sculptor. This time the parents start investigating, but the killer is also stalking those who know too much.

(Country: Italy, Monaco, France; Year: 1972; Director: Aldo Lado; Writer: Francesco Barilli, Massimo D'Avak; Stars: George Lazenby, Anita Strindberg, Adolfo Celi, Dominique Boschero)

The Witch Of King's Cross

In 1950s Sydney, radical artist Rosaleen Norton hits the headlines with allegations of satanic rituals, unexplained murders and sex orgies. This documentary sets out to tell her story.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2020; Director: Sonia Bible; Stars: Rosaleen Norton)