Skip to main content

Grimmfest · 2023

Grimmfest 2023

Features

Programme

15 films · 7 reviews

Jump to a film

8 Found Dead

Review preview for 8 Found Dead

It’s a cute idea but a tricky one to pull off.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Two couples go on a weekend getaway in the middle of the desert, only to discover that their Airbnb is already occupied. It's a long and bloody night told from four points-of-view.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Travis Greene; Writer: Jonathan Buchanan; Stars: Alisha Soper, Nancy Linehan Charles, Jenny Tran, Laura Buckles, Tim Simek)

Full review

Abruptio

Review preview for Abruptio

Abruptio...stands out because of its format but has a strong narrative and smart ideas behind it.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A man who is down on his luck wakes up one day to find that an explosive device has been implanted in his neck.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Evan Marlowe; Writer: Evan Marlowe; Stars: James Marsters, Christopher McDonald, Hana Mae Lee, Jordan Peele, Robert Englund, Sid Haig)

Full review See: Interview with Evan Marlowe about Abruptio

Auxilio

The story of Emilia, who is sent to a convent where paranormal forces start to mount among the holy and the tortured.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2023; Director: Tamae Garateguy; Stars: Cumelen Sanz, Gerardo Romano, Germán Baudino, Martina Garelo)

The Coffee Table (La mesita del comedor)

Review preview for The Coffee Table

It’s cleverly written, beautifully performed and quite unforgettable, and yet I hesitate to recommend that anybody watch it.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Black comedy about a couple facing a tricky moment in their relationship.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2022; Director: Caye Casas; Writer: Cristina Borobia, Caye Casas; Stars: Eduardo Antuña, Paco Benjumea, Itziar Castro, Estefanía de los Santos, Cristina Dilla, Clàudia Font, Emilio Gavira, David Pareja, Claudia Riera, Josep Riera, Josep Maria Riera)

Full review

Deleter

An online content moderator deletes a suicide video made by her co-worker, but the otherwise desensitised woman cannot escape from either her own troubled past or from a mysterious vengeful presence.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2023; Director: Mikhail Red; Writer: Nikolas Red, Mikhail Red; Stars: Nadine Lustre, Louise Delos Reyes, McCoy De Leon, Jeffrey Hidalgo, Billy Viletta, Elia Ilano)

Door

After several strangely threatening calls from a local salesman, a homemaker becomes increasingly afraid to answer her apartment door.

(Country: Japan; Year: 1988; Director: Banmei Takahashi; Writer: Ataru Oikawa, Banmei Takahashi; Stars: Keiko Takahashi, Daijirô Tsutsumi, Shirô Shimomoto, Takuto Yanezo, Masao Ishida)

Evil Eye

Luna is sick and no treatment seems to work. Her desperate parents take her to the Mexican countryside to seek an alternative treatment, where they leave Luna and her older sister Nala in the care of Josefa, their grandmother. Nala becomes convinced that something is after them.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2022; Director: Isaac Ezban)

Faceless After Dark

Following her breakout success in a killer clown horror flick, a young actor finds herself held hostage by an unhinged fan determined to recreate the film's fatal plot.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Raymond Wood; Writer: Todd Jacobs, Jenna Kanell; Stars: Jenna Kanell, Danny Kang, Danielle Lynn, Michael Aaron Milligan)

Give Me An A

Review preview for Give Me An A

Give Me An A is a vital piece of filmmaking.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
16 women filmmakers make their voices heard with this anthology of genre-themed short films, all made in direct response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Natasha Halevi, Meg Swertlow, Bonnie Discepolo, Danin Jacquay, Erica Mary Wright, Monica Moore-Suriyage, Sarah Kopkin, Caitlin Hargraves, Megan Rosati, Hannah Alline, Avital Ash, Mary C. Russell, Valerie Finkel, Kelly Nygaard, Loren Escandón, Francesca Maldonado; Writer: Each segment is written by the corresponding director; Stars: Alyssa Milano, Virginia Madsen, Gina Torres, Milana Vayntrub, Jennifer Holland, Sean Gunn, Molly C. Quinn, Jason George, Jackie Tohn)

Full review

Keratyna

An accidental witness gets drawn into conspiratorial beliefs.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2023; Director: Miguel Azurmendi; Writer: Miguel Azurmendi; Stars: Jordi Aguilar, Maiken Beitia, Ramón Langa, Pablo Lapastora Martín, Mireira Oriol, Fernando Ramallo)

Love Will Tear Us Apart

Suspicion attaches to a young woman who has an odd habit of surviving extremely violent situations, whilst people around her keep getting killed.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2023; Director: Kenichi Ugana; Writer: Kenichi Ugana, Hirobumi Watanabe; Stars: Saya Kubota, Yuzu Aoki, Riko, Mitsuru Fukikoshi)

Mother Superior

Review preview for Mother Superior

Mother Superior often puts style over substance, but that style is a real treat for fans of the Gothic.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
1975, Rosenkreuz Manor. Sigrun Fink, desperate for information about her biological family, starts a new position as nurse to the aging, ill and eccentric Baroness Heidenreich. For a shared longing binds them together: the old lady’s memory contains the secret to Sigrun's true identity; the nurse’s lifeforce holds the key to the future for the Baroness.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2022; Director: Marie Alice Wolfszahn; Writer: Marie Alice Wolfszahn; Stars: Isabella Händler, Inge Maux, Jochen Nickel)

Full review See: Interview with Marie Alice Wolfszahn about Mother Superior

Pandemonium

A confused traveller refuses to abandon all hope as he enters the gates of Hell.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Quarxx; Writer: Quarxx; Stars: Arben Bajraktaraj, Ophélia Kolb, Manon Maindivide, Hugo Dillon, Sidwell Weber, Carl Laforêt, Jérôme Paquatte)

The Sacrifice Game

Review preview for The Sacrifice Game

Wexler makes a number of interesting directorial choices.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
The story of Samantha and Clara, two students who are staying behind for the holidays at their boarding school, who must survive the night against uninvited visitors.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Jenn Wexler; Writer: Sean Redlitz, Jenn Wexler; Stars: Olivia Scott Welch, Mena Massoud, Chloë Levine, Gus Kenworthy, Madison Baines)

Full review See: Interview with Jenn Wexler about The Ranger, The Sacrifice Game and her career , Interview with Jenn Wexler about The Sacrifice Game

What You Wish For

Review preview for What You Wish For

Elegantly styled and smoothly delivered, the film takes a hard look at corporate culture.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A chef with gambling problems flees to a Latin American villa where he assumes another man's identity.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Nicholas Tomnay; Writer: Nicholas Tomnay; Stars: Nick Stahl, Tamsin Topolski, Randy Vasquez, Penelope Mitchell, Juan Carlos Messier, Brian Groh, Ariel Sierra)

Full review See: Interview with Nicholas Tomnay about What You Wish For