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FrightFest · 2019

FrightFest 2019

Features

Programme

78 films · 38 reviews

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Are We Dead Yet

A robbery goes horrifyingly wrong when five have a go criminals are forced to take refuge from the police in an old castle.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Fredi Nwaka; Stars: Jessica Jane Stafford, Paul Danan, Hakan Hussan, Aurie Styla, Bradley Turner)

The Banana Splits

Bingo, Fleegle, Drooper and Snorky, the zany collective better known as The Banana Splits, are coming back with a vengeance - and with a body count.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Danishka Esterhazy; Stars: Dani Kind, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong, Romeo Carere, Steve Lund)

The Barge People

A barge holiday goes horribly wrong thanks to boorish behaviour and the arrival of a family of flesh-eating fish mutants.

(Country: UK; Year: 2018; Director: Charlie Steeds; Stars: Kate Davies-Speak, Mark McKirdy, Makenna Guyler, Natalie Martins)

The Black String

Lonely slacker Jonathan is stuck working night shifts at a convenience store. When he goes on a blind date with a strange woman, his world suddenly begins to unravel in horrifying fashion. Plagued by paranoia, illness and nightmarish visions, he desperately searches the suburbs for the mysterious seductress.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Brian Hanson; Stars: Frankie Muniz, Jackie Moore, Chelsea Edmundson, Ravi Patel)

Bliss

In need of creative inspiration, a professionally stagnant and hard-partying Los Angeles artist recklessly indulges in a series of drug binges. As the narcotics fly out of control, so does her newfound and inexplicable, yet unquenchable, craving for blood.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Joe Begos; Writer: Joe Begos; Stars: Dora Madison, Tru Collins, Rhys Wakefield, Jeremy Gardner, Graham Skipper, Chris McKenna, Rachel Avery, Mark Beltzman, George Wendt, Abraham Benrubi, Jesse Merlin, Matt Mercer, Josh Ethier, Jackson Birnbaum, Susan Slaughter)

Bloodline

Is it possible to be both a serial killer and a family man? School social worker Evan thinks so as he juggles viciously murdering those making his abused clients’ lives a misery with being a first time, caring father.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Henry Jacobson; Stars: Seann William Scott, Mariela Garriga, Dale Dickey, Kevin Carroll)

Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death Of Al Adamson (Sick! Savage! Sensual! The Reel Life And Ghastly Death Of Al Adamson)

Review preview for Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death Of Al Adamson

A touching story of commonplace horror wrapped up in the trappings on Tinseltown, this is a thoroughly researched and carefully assembled piece of work that will intrigues fans of the director and newcomers alike.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A documentary about the uncommon life and unthinkable murder of the legendary no-budget exploitation filmmaker and the communities he inhabited in Seventies California.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: David Gregory; Stars: Al Adamson, Stevee Ashlock, John Bloom)

Full review

Bullets Of Justice

Review preview for Bullets Of Justice

In a film that sees teabagging used as a combat move, pretty much anything goes.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
During World War III, the American government initiates a secret project codenamed ‘Army Bacon’ in order to create super soldiers by inbreeding humans with pigs. 25 years later the hybrid Muzzles have occupied the top of the food chain, eating and farming humanity.

(Country: Russia, Argentina; Year: 2019; Director: Valeri Milev; Writer: Valeri Milev, Timur Turisbekov; Stars: Timur Turisbekov, Danny Trejo, Doroteya Toleva, Yana Marinova)

Full review

Come To Daddy

Review preview for Come To Daddy

This is one film that's really going to test the mettle of Wood's mainstream fanbase.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
After receiving a cryptic letter from his estranged father, Norval travels to his dad’s oceanfront home for what he hopes will be a positive experience. If only he’d known the dark truth about his old man beforehand.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Ant Timpson; Writer: Toby Harvard; Stars: Elijah Wood, Madeleine Sami, Stephen McHattie, Ona Grauer, Michael Smiley, Martin Donovan, Raresh DiMofte, Garfield Wilson, Simon Chin, Alla Rouba)

Full review

Crawl

When a massive hurricane hits her Florida hometown, competitive swimmer Haley ignores evacuation orders to search for her missing father. After she finds him, they learn that the inhabitants of the local alligator farm are on the loose.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Alexandre Aja; Stars: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Ross Anderson, Anson Boon)

Criminal Audition

An ex-lawyer and his crack team run an underworld service; seeking the most desperate and greedy to become fake criminals to take the fall for the rich and powerful elite’s felonies - but they are about to be betrayed.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Samuel Gridley; Stars: Noeleen Comiskey, Rich Keeble, Angela Peters, Rebecca Calienda)

Critters Attack!

Review preview for Critters Attack!

A cheery little romp with the right balance of cuteness, comedy and gore.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A babysitter takes her young charges on a hike, unaware that mysterious alien critters have crash landed and started devouring every living thing they encounter.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Bobby Miller; Writer: Scott Lobdell, Domonic Muir; Stars: Tashiana Washington, Dee Wallace, Jaeden Noel, Jack Fulton, Ava Preston)

Full review

Cut-Off (Abgeschnitten)

Review preview for Cut-Off

Cut-Off is perhaps the best adaptation to date of the work of Sebastian Fitzek.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Coroner Paul Herzfeld finds a capsule buried deep in the head of a heavily mutilated corpse, containing a phone number and single word: the name of his daughter.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Christian Alvart; Writer: Sebastian Fitzek, Michael Tsokos, Christian Alvart; Stars: Moritz Bleibtreu, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Lars Eidinger, Fahri Yardim)

Full review

Dachra

Review preview for Dachra

This is an unusually clever piece of genre cinema which also resonates emotionally.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A group of journalism students discover a hidden tribal society that has cultivated a way of life brimming with ancient practices and beliefs, rituals and blood.

(Country: Tunisia; Year: 2018; Director: Abdelhamid Bouchnak; Writer: Abdelhamid Bouchnak; Stars: Hela Ayed, Yassmine Dimassi, Aziz Jbali)

Full review

Daniel Isn't Real

Review preview for Daniel Isn't Real

Schwarzenegger handles his role with a restraint unusual in actors his age, so that even viewers with a strong sense of what's coming will warm to him or wonder how bad he can really be.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A troubled college freshman, Luke, suffers a violent family trauma and resurrects his childhood imaginary friend Daniel to help him cope.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer; Writer: Brian DeLeeuw, Adam Egypt Mortimer; Stars: Miles Robbins, Sasha Lane, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Mary Stuart Masterson, Hannah Marks)

Full review See: Interview with Sasha Lane about Daniel Isn't Real

Dark Encounter

Review preview for Dark Encounter

Strathie succeeds in capturing a bit of the Spielberg-style magic he's aiming for and in quieter scenes where we're allowed to experience wonder instead of being told what to feel, it's an enchanting experience.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
A year after the disappearance of their 8-year-old daughter, grieving parents return home with friends and family from her memorial service in their small town. Suddenly strange lights appear in the nearby forest and everyone is exposed to inexplicable phenomena - but things are about get much more disturbing.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Carl Strathie; Writer: Carl Strathie; Stars: Laura Fraser, Mel Raido, Vincent Regan, Alice Lowe)

Full review

Dark Light

Annie Knox returns to her remote family home after a divorce, the death of her mother and a nervous breakdown. But something lurks in the walls and bowels of the house and wants her daughter Emily in their clutches.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Padraig Reynolds; Stars: Jessica Madsen, Opal Littleton, Ed Brody, Kristina Clifford)

The Dark Red

Review preview for The Dark Red

The Dark Red manages impressive stylistic shifts between the calm environment of the therapy room and the giddy atmosphere of the flashbacks.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A young woman is committed to a psychiatric hospital and claims her newborn was stolen by a dark cult.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Dan Bush; Writer: Dan Bush, Conal Byrne; Stars: April Billingsley, Conal Byrne, Bernard Setaro Clark, Jill Jane Clements)

Full review

Dark Sense

Traumatised Simon can glimpse into the future because of particularly strong psychic powers. His terrifying mental connection with a crazed serial killer means he will do anything to stop him even if it actually means being the murderer’s final victim.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Magnus Wake; Stars: James Robinson, Siobhan Redmond, Gordon Kennedy, Jim Sturgeon)

Darlin'

Review preview for Darlin'

Lauryn Canny is stunning in the central role, easily adopting the same body language that Mcintosh has used continually to break away from conditioned patterns of movement and take up space.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A sequel to The Woman in which a feral teenage girl is taken into strict Catholic care and prepared for her First Holy Communion.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Pollyanna McIntosh; Writer: Pollyanna McIntosh, Jack Ketchum; Stars: Pollyanna McIntosh, Cooper Andrews, Nora-Jane Noone, Eugenie Bondurant, Brian Batt, Lauren Ashley Carter)

Full review See: Interview with Pollyanna McIntosh about Darlin

Deadcon

Ashley is a social media star attending View Con, an event where rabid fans can selfie their favourite YouTubers 24/7. But due to a hotel room mix-up, she’s put on a floor where a mysterious tragedy happened in 1984, the earliest days of the Internet revolution.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Cary Wachter; Stars: Claudia Sulewski, Lauren Elizabeth, Lukas Gage, Dominic Burgess)

Death Of A Vlogger

A mockumentary following YouTuber Graham as he investigates the darker supernatural side of the web, dealing with the effects of being famous on the internet

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Graham Hughes; Stars: Graham Hughes, Annabel Logan, Paddy Kondracki, Joma West)

The Deeper You Dig

Review preview for The Deeper You Dig

The tight-knit production unit brings natural chemistry to the film.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Driving home drunk one snowy Catskills night, Kurt Miller accidentally kills 14 year-old Echo Allen sledding in the dark. As Kurt desperately tries to cover up the crime and his tracks, Echo's mother is looking for her missing child - and her child is looking for her.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Toby Poser, John Adams; Stars: Toby Poser, John Adams, Zelda Adams, Shawn Wilson)

Full review

Depraved

Review preview for Depraved

At the centre of the film, Breaux is superb, not only capturing the pathos vital to the monster but carrying him through the long, slow process of cognitive development and emotional realisation without ever striking a false note.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A disillusioned field surgeon suffering from PTSD makes a man out of body parts and brings him to life in a Brooklyn loft.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Larry Fessenden; Writer: Larry Fessenden; Stars: David Call, Joshua Leonard, Alex Breaux, Ans Kayne)

Full review

Driven

A cab driver gets caught up in a race against time to defeat an ancient evil after after picking up manic Roger, a mysterious passenger out to break an curse.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Glenn Payne; Stars: Casey Dillard, Richard Speight Jr., Jessica Harthcock, Glenn Payne)

The Drone

Review preview for The Drone

Although the film is played straight, there's a soap opera style edge of camp to it which mitigates against anyone taking it too seriously.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
A newlywed couple is terrorized by a consumer drone that has become sentient with the consciousness of a deranged serial killer.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Jordan Rubin; Writer: Al Kaplan, Jon Kaplan; Stars: Alex Essoe, Anita Briem, John Brotherton, Simon Rex, Rex Linn, Gonzalo Menendez, Neil Sandilands)

Full review

Eat Brains Love

The good news: Jake's dream girl, Amanda, finally knows his name. The bad? It's because they both contracted a sexually transmitted mysterious zombie virus and devoured the brains of half their senior class. Now both are on the run

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Rodman Flender; Stars: Jake Cannavale, Angelique Rivera, Sarah Yarkin, Alex Stage)

Extracurricular

Review preview for Extracurricular

With the teenagers full of the ill-considered callousness of youth, it's Goss on whom the film depends for a moral compass. This is his best work to date.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Four high school seniors feel their day-to-day lives at school are getting a little dull, so they made a pact to plan and execute a series of perfect, elaborate murders and get some thrills behind them before heading off to college.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Ray Xue; Writer: Matthew Abrams, Padgett Arango; Stars: Luke Goss, Keenan Tracey, Brittany Raymond, Spencer Macpherson, Brittany Teo)

Full review

Feedback

Review preview for Feedback

The film feels adrift in time.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
Masked men take the celebrity host of true crime show The Grim Reality hostage but he has no idea how to give them what they want - and then people start getting killed.

(Country: Spain, US; Year: 2018; Director: Pedro C Alonso; Writer: Pedro C Alonso, Alberto Marini; Stars: Eddie Marsan, Paul Anderson, Ivana Baquero, Richard Brake)

Full review

Fingers

Amanda has a finger-phobia and an abject loathing of all human strangeness. So she decides to read and take pointers from a recommended self-help book. Meanwhile two hit men are hired by to cut a man's fingers off as an act of revenge.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Juan Ortiz; Stars: Sabina Friedman-Seitz, Jeremy Gardner, Michael St. Michaels. Michael Richardson)

For We Are Many

A legion of demons is brought to life in this anthology feature.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Lawrie Brewster, Andrew Ionides, Brad Watson, Mitch Wilson, Carlos Omar De Leon, Matthan Harris, Dane Keil, Mark Logan; Stars: Eileen Dietz, Laurence R. Harvey, Nicholas Vince, Jamie Scott Gordon, Paddy MurphyGavin Robertson, Thomas Staunton, Alex Harron, Keith Robson)

Freaks

Review preview for Freaks

On a whole different level from most films of its ilk.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Seven-year-old Chloe's father tells her to adopt an assumed identity if she’s ever separated from him, or to hide in a well-provisioned panic room if he should not return from one of his forays outside. But Chloe is determined to find out what exactly lies outside the door he's frightened of.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B Stein; Writer: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B Stein; Stars: Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern, Lexy Kolker)

Full review See: Interview with Zach Lipovsky and Adam B Stein about Freaks

The Furies

Review preview for The Furies

There's not a great deal of strategy involved in Tony D'Aquino's film, which mostly concerns itself with bloody violence, screaming and running about.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
Two women and one wakes to find herself playing a deadly game of cat and mouse.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2019; Director: Tony D'Aquino; Writer: Tony D'Aquino; Stars: Airlie Dodds, Linda Ngo, Taylor Ferguson, Ebony Vagulans, Danielle Horvat, Tom O'Sullivan, Jessica Baker, Kaitlyn Boyé, Harriet Davies, Steve Morris, Ben Toyer, Leon Stripp, Dean Gould, Brendan Kelly, Tim Stiles)

Full review

Ghost Killers Vs Bloody Mary

Four ambitious YouTubers receive a call to exorcise a demon haunting the toilets of a local high school but the spirit they encounter is none other than the urban legendary Bloody Mary.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2018; Director: Fabricio Bittar; Stars: Dani Calabresa, Léo Lins, Danilo Gentili. Murilo Couto)

Girl On The Third Floor

Don Koch tries to renovate a rundown mansion with a sordid history for his growing family, only to learn that the house has other plans.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Travis Stevens; Writer: Travis Stevens; Stars: CM Punk, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Sarah Brooks)

A Good Woman Is Hard To Find

Review preview for A Good Woman Is Hard To Find

Beautifully observed and with a terrific central performance from Bolger, this is a film that takes a simple story and gives it real power.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A recently widowed young mother will go to any lengths to protect her children as she seeks the truth behind her husband's murder.

(Country: UK, Belgium, Ireland; Year: 2019; Director: Abner Pastoll; Writer: Roland Blaney; Stars: Sarah Bolger, Edward Hogg, Andrew Simpson)

Full review

Halloween Party

They were known as the ‘Halloween Party’, a group of five badly disfigured children who made a pact to take revenge on a world that couldn’t look at them. Unwittingly released from their closet grave via a Halloween-themed computer meme, they now take malevolent joy in terrorising college students with their worst fears.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Jay Dahl; Stars: Amy Groening, T Thomason, Shelley Thompson, Bradley Bailey)

Happy Face

The story of a handsome teenager who deforms his face and attends a support group for disfigured people. and in turn, changes all their lives - for good and bad. Based on real events.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Alexandre Franchi; Stars: ER Ruiz, Cindy Nicholsen, David Roche, Dawn Shaw)

Harpoon

Review preview for Harpoon

Held together by three impressive performances, with Tyra the standout, Harpoon deftly plays with audience assumptions and sympathies, exploiting our prejudices as each character gradually reveals hitherto unseen depths.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual tension emerge when three best friends find themselves stranded on a yacht in the middle of the ocean under suspicious circumstances.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Rob Grant; Writer: Rob Grant, Mike Kovac; Stars: Munro Chambers, Emily Tyra, Christopher Gray)

Full review See: Interview with Rob Grant about Harpoon

Haunt

On Halloween night, a group of college friends travel to a remote country location to enter an extreme haunted house attraction - but some of its horrors are real.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods; Stars: Katie Stevens, Will Brittain, Lauryn Alisa McClain, Andrew Caldwell)

Here Comes Hell

Review preview for Here Comes Hell

Perhaps the most entertaining cinematic romp of the year so far.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A sophisticated Thirties soiree at an isolated country mansion descends into carnage, gore and demonic possession as rivalries and old friendships are put to the test when a gateway to Hell opens up.

(Country: UK; Year: 2018; Director: Jack McHenry; Writer: Jack McHenry, Alice Sidgwick; Stars: Margaret Clunie, Jasper Britton, Timothy Renouf, Tom Bailey)

Full review See: Interview with Jack McHenry and Margaret Clunie about Here Comes Hell

I'll Take Your Dead

William has a simple job - making dead bodies disappear. Through unforeseen circumstances, his remote farmhouse has become a dumping ground for the victims of gang related murders. Then Jackie’s body turns up for William’s meticulous vanishing process, but she isn’t really dead.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Chad Archibald; Stars: Aidan Devine, Ava Preston, Jess Salgueiro, Ari Millen)

Impossible Crimes

A recently bereaved detective starts investigating a series of impossible crimes that a young nun claims responsibility for. Is she really the devil’s emissary ordered to carry out seemingly senseless slaughter? Or does she suffer from a mystical delirium?

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2019; Director: Hernan Findling; Stars: Federico Bal, Sofia del Tuffo, Marcelo Sein, Daniel Alvaredo)

I Am Toxic

In a pile of dead bodies, someone wakes up. Who is he? How did he end up there? Amnesia is the first stage of an infection that turns humans into dried husks of flesh. If he is to survive, he has to act fast.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2018; Director: Pablo Pares; Stars: Esteban Prol, Horacio Fontova, Sergio Podley, Gaston Cochiarale)

I Trapped The Devil

Review preview for I Trapped The Devil

The real difficulty with a story like this is that until the door is opened it's all just speculation and after it's opened then one way another there won't be much left to say.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A man descends into paranoia after trapping what he believes to be the devil in his basement, but things take a dark turn when his family unexpectedly arrive for Christmas.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Josh Lobo; Writer: Josh Lobo; Stars: Chris Sullivan, Jocelin Donahue, AJ Bowen, Scott Poythress, Susan Burke)

Full review

Kindred Spirits

A single mother in a clandestine relationship with her neighbour Alex that even her daughter knows nothing about. But when her sister Sadie comes back home after a long unexplained absence, a grim incident from the past rears its horrific head once more.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Lucky McKee; Stars: Thora Birch, Caitlin Stasey, Macon Blair, Sasha Frolova)

Knives And Skin

Review preview for Knives And Skin

This is a world of ballgowns, sequins and lace...but none of that diminishes the ability of its heroes to think clearly or take charge of their own fates.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Trouble brews in small town America after the disappearance of a teenager.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Jennifer Reeder; Writer: Jennifer Reeder; Stars: Kate Arrington, Tony Fitzpatrick, Tim Hopper, Marika Engelhardt, James Vincent Meredith, Robert T. Cunningham, Marilyn Dodds Frank, Ty Olwin, Raven Whitley, Audrey Francis, Grace Etzkorn, Genevieve Venjohnson, Ireon Roach, Kayla Carter, Haley Bolithon)

Full review See: Interview with Jennifer Reeder about Knives And Skin

The Legend Of The Stardust Brothers (Hoshikuzu Kyôdai No Densetsu)

Review preview for The Legend Of The Stardust Brothers

There's a lot of silliness here altogether but it works surprisingly well, Tezuka somehow managing to coordinate all the moving parts.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A cult musical charting the rise and fall of a manufactured pop duo and their struggle to navigate fame, fortune and jealousy.

(Country: Japan; Year: 1985; Director: Macoto Tezuka; Writer: Macoto Tezuka; Stars: Shingo Kubota, Kan Takagi, Kyoko Togawa, Kiyohiko Ozaki)

Full review

Madness In The Method

Playing an alternative version of his persona, and tired of Hollywood’s perception of him, Jason Mewes embarks on a quest to reinvent himself as a serious actor. Upon advice from his best friend Kevin Smith, he tracks down a secret book outlining all the mysteries of the Method Acting process, with disastrous consequences.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Jason Mewes; Stars: Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Teri Hatcher, Vinnie Jones, Danny Trejo, Stan Lee, Casper Van Dien, Zach Galligan)

The Magnificent Obsession Of Michael Reeves

A documentary about the brilliant horror director who helmed Witchfinder General and died from an accidental overdose at the age of just 25.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Dima Ballin; Stars: Ian Ogilvy, Tom Baker, Gavin Baddeley, Ingrid Cranfield)

Mary

A struggling family buys an old ship in the hope of starting a tourist charter business but after it sails into isolated waters, the ship’s terrifying secrets start surfacing.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Michael Goi; Stars: Gary Oldman, Emily Mortimer, Jennifer Esposito, Stefanie Scott)

Master Of Dark Shadows

A documentary about Dan Curtis, the ‘King of TV Horror’, creator of the 1966 daytime gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and Trilogy of Terror.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: David Gregory; Stars: Dan Curtis, Barbara Steele, Whoopi Goldberg, Jonathan Frid)

Mutant Blast

Fearless soldier Maria and superhuman strongman TS-347 are being pursued by a military cell responsible for scientific experiments resulting in a zombie apocalypse. When they meet Pedro, who has few ambitions and a great hangover, they try to escape to a safe place, but there are complications in the form of a nuclear bomb.

(Country: US, Portugal; Year: 2018; Director: Fernando Alle; Stars: Pedro Barão Dias, Maria Leite, Joaquim Guerreiro, João Vilas)

Nekrotronic

Review preview for Nekrotronic

The idea of casting a 55-year-old actress as a succubus feels like one whose time has come and Bellucci is more than up to the job.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
As the eternal fight between Nekromancers and their nemeses rages on, they’ve become locked in a new type of cyber warfare. An app is being designed to send the soul of any user to hell. The fate of all mankind now rests on the shoulders of a sanitation worker and his best friend.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2018; Director: Kiah Roache-Turner; Writer: Kiah Roache-Turner, Tristan Roache-Turner; Stars: Ben O'Toole, Epine Bob, Savea, Dave Beamish, Monica Bellucci)

Full review

The Perished

Review preview for The Perished

Not a great film, but more nuanced than it has been given credit for.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
Dealing with a pregnancy termination in Ireland has been hard for Sarah Dekker. Shunned by her religious zealot family and unforgiving boyfriend, she travels to a friend’s country house to recover. But unbeknownst to her, it sits atop a mass grave of unwanted babies and their lost, confused sprits want to be reborn.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2019; Director: Paddy Murphy; Writer: Paddy Murphy; Stars: Courtney McKeon, Fiach Kunz, Paul Fitzgerald, Noelle Clarke)

Full review

Porno

Review preview for Porno

Smart, deceptively sophisticated and beautifully crafted, this is artisan cheese.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When five teenage employees at the local cinema in a small Christian town discover a mysterious old film hidden in its basement, they unleash an alluring succubus who gives them a sex education written in blood.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Keola Racela; Writer: Matt Black, Laurence Vannicelli; Stars: Evan Daves, Larry Saperstein, Jillian Mueller, Glenn Stott, Katelyn Pearce, Robbie Tann, Bill Phillips)

Full review See: Interview with Keola Racela about Porno

Rabid (Rage)

Review preview for Rabid

The scene where a train full of commuters realise there are infected people among them is one of the most riveting depictions of mass panic ever recorded.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A young woman's strange mutation, triggered by experimental surgery, triggers an epidemic of aggression.

(Country: Canada; Year: 1977; Director: David Cronenberg; Writer: David Cronenberg; Stars: Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver, Howard Ryshpan, Patricia Gage, Susan Roman)

Full review

Rabid

Review preview for Rabid

Rose has the qualities of an archetypal, folkloric figure, enduring the same events over and over again in different places, in different forms.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A remake of David Cronenberg's original, in which experimental plastic surgery leads to a sudden outbreak of disease.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska; Writer: John Serge, Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska; Stars: Laura Vandervoort, Hanneke Talbot, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Stephen McHattie, Greg Bryk, MacKenzie Gray, Ted Atherton, Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska)

Full review See: Interview with the Soska sisters about Rabid, part 2 , Interview with the Soska sisters about Rabid

Ready Or Not

A bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett; Writer: Guy Busick, Ryan Murphy; Stars: Samara Weaving, Andie MacDowell, Mark O'Brien, Adam Brody)

Red Letter Day

A recently divorced mother receives mysterious letters instructing her and her teenage children to slaughter the people pictured in their correspondence before those people can kill them.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Cameron Macgowan; Stars: Dawn Van de Schoot, Hailey Foss, Kaeleb Zain Gartner, Roger LeBlanc)

Rock, Paper And Scissors

Review preview for Rock, Paper And Scissors

Most interesting for its nicely balanced performances.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
Jesus and Maria José live together in the grand house that belonged to their recently deceased father. Their playful routine is disrupted when Magdalena, their half-sister on their dad’s side, returns from Spain asking for her part of the inheritance which they have no intention of sharing.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2019; Director: Macarena García Lenzi, Martín Blousson; Writer: Macarena García Lenzi; Stars: Pablo Sigal, Valeria Giorcelli, Agustina Cerviño)

Full review

Sadistic Intentions

Desperate for success and quickly losing their mental grip, a pair of metal musicians lure a young woman to a remote mansion in hopes of inspiring their next album, but one accidentally falls in love with their intended victim.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Eric Pennycoff; Stars: Larry Fessenden, Jeremy Gardner, Michael Patrick Nicholson, Taylor Zaudtke)

Satanic Panic

Review preview for Satanic Panic

Satanic Panic is one of those films that's a lot smarter underneath than it looks on the surface.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A pizza delivery girl at the end of her financial rope has to fight for her life - and her tips - when her last order of the night turns out to be high society Satanists in need of a virgin sacrifice.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Chelsea Stardust; Writer: Ted Geoghegan, Grady Hendrix; Stars: Rebecca Romijn, Jerry O'Connell, Ruby Modine, Jordan Ladd, Arden Myrin)

Full review

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

America, 1968, and in the small town of Mill Valley, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large for generations. It was in their mansion on the edge of town that the tormented Sarah turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, locked away safely in a book - until teenagers chose to read from it...

(Country: US, Canada; Director: André Øvredal; Stars: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Zajur, Dean Norris)

A Serial Killer's Guide To Life

Review preview for A Serial Killer's Guide To Life

There's a good supply of bloody violence which will entertain horror fans and any number of people who have limited patience for those selling dubious remedies or telling them to smile more.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A frustrated thirtysomething woman stuck in a small seaside town meets a charismatic life coach who promises to transform her world with alternative therapy - and who is also a serial killer.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Staten Cousins-Roe; Stars: Katie Brayben, Poppy Roe, Sinead Matthews, Ben Lloyd-Hughes)

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The Sonata

Review preview for The Sonata

Janis Eglitis' exquisite cinematography is beguiling in the proper sense.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
After the death of her estranged but famous composer father Richard Marlow, young virtuoso violinist Rose inherits his old French mansion. There, she discovers her father’s final work: a mysterious score marked with arcane symbols. He may be dead but his plans for her are still very much alive.

(Country: UK, France; Year: 2018; Director: Andrew Desmond; Writer: Andrew Desmond, Arthur Morin; Stars: Freya Tingley, Simon Abkarian, Rutger Hauer, James Faulkner, Matt Barber)

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Spiral

Review preview for Spiral

Bowyer-Chapman is superb.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A same-sex couple move to a small town so they can enjoy a better quality of life and raise their 16-year-old daughter with the best social values. But nothing is as it seems in their picturesque neighbourhood, and when Malik sees the folks next door throwing a very strange party, something has got to give.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Kurtis David Harder; Writer: Colin Minihan, John Poliquin; Stars: Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, Lochlyn Munro, Ari Cohen, Chandra West)

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Stairs

A special operations squad known in secret elite circles as Hell's Bastards is sent to infiltrate a civil war in order to retrieve vital intelligence. But the crack unit soon finds themselves trapped on a never-ending, twisting and turning stairwell, which they are forced to climb - or they will die.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Tom Paton; Stars: Shayne Ward, Toby Osmond, Simon Meacock, Rachel Warren)

Stalked

Former Royal Marine Commando and single mother Sam is brutally kidnapped and wakes up disorientated in what seems to be a deserted military factory. Worried about her baby at home, she finds all the exits sealed, and soon learns she is not alone.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Justin Edgar; Stars: Rebecca Rogers, Nathalie Buscombe, Laurence Saunders)

Tales From The Lodge

Review preview for Tales From The Lodge

A solid little film which delivers well within the scope of its simple ambition.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
When a group of old friends spend the night telling stories of murders, ghosts, zombies and possessions they soon become aware of another tale unfolding around them. And this one is real.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Abigail Blackmore; Writer: Abigail Blackmore; Stars: Mackenzie Crook, Dustin Demri-Burns, Laura Fraser, Sophie Thompson, Johnny Vegas, Kelly Wenham)

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Tenebrae (Tenebre)

Review preview for Tenebrae

Unfolding as a cunningly reflexive critique of the Italian giallo, as well as Dario Argento’s own distinct body of work, Tenebrae directly addresses the accusations of misogyny often hurled at the director.

James Gracey · 5 out of 5
A thriller writer goes on the hunt for a killer who claims to be taking inspiration from his latest book.

(Country: Italy; Year: 1982; Director: Dario Argento; Writer: Dario Argento; Stars: Anthony Franciosa, Christian Borromeo, Mirella D'Angelo, Veronica Lario, Ania Pieroni, Eva Robin's, Carola Stagnaro, John Steiner, Lara Wendel, John Saxon, Daria Nicolodi, Giuliano Gemma, Isabella Amadeo, Mirella Banti, Ennio Girolami)

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To Your Last Death

After emerging as the sole survivor in a deadly revenge game set up by her dying father to punish his four children, Miriam receives an offer from the Game master, an otherworldly supernatural entity, to go back in time and try again.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Jason Axinn; Stars: Morena Baccarin, Ray Wise, Bill Moseley, William Shatner)

True Fiction

A librarian who dreams of being a writer is persuaded to travel to a remote country estate to participate in a controlled psychological experiment in fear that will serve as the basis for her literary hero's next thriller novel.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Braden Croft; Stars: Sara Garcia, John Cassini, Julian Black Antelope, Julian Richings)

Volition

James is a grifter afflicted with clairvoyant visions, a gift he uses to pull cheap sports bet cons. Hired by a shady businessman to escort stolen diamonds to a buyer because the crook knows James can see problems before they happen, all he ultimately sees over and over is his death.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Tony Dean Smith; Stars: Adrian Glynn McMorran, Magda Apanowicz, John Cassini, Aleks Paunovic)

Why Don't You Just Die (Papa, sdokhni)

Review preview for Why Don't You Just Die

The characters are beautifully drawn and the performances finely balanced in a film with a lot more going on upstairs than its preoccupation with violence might suggest.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A dark action comedy about a group of people brought together in the apartment of police detective Andrei: his resentful daughter, an angry thug and a cheated cop. Each one of them have a reason to want revenge.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2018; Director: Kirill Sokolov; Writer: Kirill Sokolov; Stars: Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Vitaliy Khaev, Evgeniya Kregzhde, Michael Gor, Elena Shevchenko, Igor Grabuzov, Aleksandr Domogarov, Ilya Gavrilenkov, Vasiliy Kopeikin, Ilya Kostyukov, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Vitaliy Khaev, Evgeniya Kregzhde, Michael Gor, Elena Shevchenko)

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The Wind

Review preview for The Wind

Teresa Sutherland's script finds Gothic tensions in a landscape where the imaginary has as much power to harm as the real.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
On the Western frontier of the United States of America in the late 1800s, a plains-woman is driven mad by the harshness and isolation of the untamed land.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Emma Tammi; Writer: Teresa Sutherland; Stars: Caitlin Gerard, Julia Goldani Telles)

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Witches In The Woods

A group of students head off for a snowboarding adventure on an untouched piece of land. When their SUV mysteriously stalls in a brutal snowstorm they are not only faced with the reality of freezing to death but a fate even more horrifying.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Jordan Barker; Stars: Hannah Kasulka, Alexander De Jordy, Sasha Clements, Corbin Bleu)

The Wretched

Review preview for The Wretched

The tropes it uses are old ones but simplicity works in their favour, adding to the sense that there are uncanny powers at work and that nothing is quite what it seems.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A defiant teenage boy, struggling with his parent's imminent divorce, faces off with a thousand year-old witch, who is living beneath the skin of and posing as the woman next door.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Brett Pierce, Drew T Pierce; Writer: Brett Pierce, Drew T Pierce; Stars: Azie Tesfai, Piper Curda, Kevin Bigley, Tug Coker, John-Paul Howard, Gabriela Quezada Bloomgarden)

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