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Overlook Film Festival · 2024

Overlook Film Festival 2024

Features

Programme

21 films · 15 reviews

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Abigail

After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.

(Country: US, Ireland; Year: 2024; Director: Matt Bettinelli-OlpinTyler Gillett; Writer: Guy Busick, Stephen Shields; Stars: Alsha Weir, Kathryn Newton, Giancarlo Esposito, Dan Stevens)

All You Need Is Death

Review preview for All You Need Is Death

It’s solidly rooted in the ordinary and yet its habit of drawing out small absurdities means that ordinary things and places won’t seem so safe after you’ve seen it.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A young couple records and collects folk songs in rural Ireland, selling them to a mysterious, rich buyer. When rumours of a song never-before-heard reach the couple, they find themselves in an uneasy alliance with a music professor to discover an ancient song.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2023; Director: Paul Duane; Writer: Paul Duane; Stars: Simone Collins, Charlie Maher, Olwen Fouéré, Catherine Siggins, Barry McKiernan, Benedict Stewardson)

Full review See: Interview with Paul Duane about All You Need Is Death

Azrael

Review preview for Azrael

We get demonstrations of skill, from the weaving of a bracelet to the use of herbs to treat a wound, and these elements reinforce the idea that this is a real society which has developed organically over time.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
Many years following the apocalypse, a devout cult of mute zealots hunts down a young woman who has escaped her imprisonment.

(Country: Estonia, US; Year: 2024; Director: EL Katz; Writer: Simon Barrett; Stars: Samara Weaving, Vic Carmen Sonne, Katariina Unt, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett)

Full review

The Beyond (E Tu Vivrai Nel Terrore - L'Aldilà, Seven Doors of Death)

Review preview for The Beyond

The inventiveness of the crew and Lucio Fulci's singular vision raise it well above most genre work of the period and make it well worth checking out.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A woman inherits a New Orleans hotel with a sinister secret, and horror commences.

(Country: Italy; Year: 1981; Director: Lucio Fulci; Writer: Dardano Sacchetti; Stars: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John, Veronica Lazar) , Trailer

Full review See: Interview with Catriona MacColl about Lucio Fulci and her career in horror.

Birdeater

When a bride-to-be is invited to her own fiancé's bachelor party in the Australian outback, a night to remember takes a feral turn.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2023; Director: Jack Clark, Jim Weir; Stars: Shabana Azeez, Mackenzie Fearnley, Ben Hunter, Jack Bannister, Clementine Anderson, Alfie Gledhill, Harley Wilson, Caroline McQuade)

Blackout

Review preview for Blackout

What emerges is thoughtful and deeply humane, whilst retaining that sense of otherness essential to folkloric tales.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A fine arts painter becomes convinced that he is a werewolf, wreaking havoc on a small American town under the full moon.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Larry Fessenden; Writer: Larry Fessenden; Stars: Addison Timlin, Kevin Corrigan, James Le Gros, Barbara Crampton, Marshall Bell, Joe Swanberg, Ella Rae Peck)

Full review See: Interview with Larry Fessenden about Blackout

Creature From The Black Lagoon

An aquatic humanoid is captured and put on display, but trouble brews when he falls for a human woman.

(Country: US; Year: 1954; Director: Jack Arnold; Stars: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Morano, Nestor Paiva)

Cuckoo

Review preview for Cuckoo

It’s Schafer’s performance that anchors it.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
On a trip to the German Alps with her father and stepmother, Gretchen discovers that the resort town where they’re staying hides sinister secrets, as she’s plagued by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Tilman Singer; Writer: Tilman Singer; Stars: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Marton Csókás, Jan Bluthardt)

Full review

The Hands Of Orlac (Orlacs Hände)

Review preview for The Hands Of Orlac

One of the most impressive horror films of the silent era.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. He is given new ones - taken from a man executed for murder.

(Country: Austria; Year: 1924; Director: Robert Wiene; Writer: Louis Nerz, based on the book by Maurice Renard; Stars: Conrad Veidt, Alexandra Sorina, Fritz Strassny, Paul Askonas, Carmen Cartellieri)

Full review

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire Humaniste Cherche Suicidaire Consentant)

Review preview for Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

While Louis-Seize’s treatment of the night is atmospheric, the emphasis here is firmly on comedy rather on gore.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Sasha is a young vampire with a serious problem: she’s too sensitive to kill. When her exasperated parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha’s life is in jeopardy. Luckily, she a lonely teenager with suicidal tendencies. But their friendly agreement soon becomes a nocturnal quest.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Ariane Louis-Seize; Writer: Christine Doyon, Ariane Louis-Seize; Stars: Sara Montpetit, Félix-Antoine Bénard, Steve Laplante, Sophie Cadieux, Noémie O'Farrell, Lilas-Rose Cantin, Arnaud Vachon, Marie Brassard, Madeleine Péloquin, Gabriel-Antoine Roy, Isabella Villalba, Patrick Hivon, Marc Beaupré, Micheline Bernard, Sylvie Lemay)

Full review See: Ariane Louis-Seize on making a vampire film with comedic bite

Infested (Vermines)

Residents of a run-down French apartment building battle against an army of deadly, rapidly reproducing spiders.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Sébastien Vanicek; Writer: Florent Bernard, Sébastien Vanicek; Stars: Théo Christine, Sofia Lesaffre, Jérôme Niel, Lisa Nyarko, Finnegan Oldfield, Marie-Philomène Nga, Mahamadou Sangaré, Abdellah Moundy)

In A Violent Nature

Review preview for In A Violent Nature

Not necessarily successful, but nonetheless compelling, even hypnotic

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
The enigmatic resurrection, rampage, and retribution of an undead monster in a remote wilderness.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2024; Director: Chris Nash; Writer: Chris Nash; Stars: Lauren-Marie Taylor, Andrea Pavlovic, Reece Presley, Ry Barrett, Charlotte Creaghan, Liam Leone, Sam Roulston, Timothy Paul McCarthy)

Full review

I Saw the TV Glow

Review preview for I Saw the TV Glow

It tells what could be a goofy story, about awkward teenagers obsessed with a TV series called The Pink Opaque, but portrays it as an ominous, nightmarish mindfuck.

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show - a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Jane Schoenbrun; Writer: Jane Schoenbrun; Stars: Justice Smith, Michael C. Maronna, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Amber Benson, Danny Tamberelli, Conner O'Malley, Danielle Deadwyler, Emma Portner, Helena Howard, Will Fitz, Ben Heineman, Ian Foreman, Timothy Griffin Allan, Michael Twaine, Michelle Santiago)

Full review

Kill Your Lover

When Dakota tries to break off her toxic relationship with Axel, it starts transforming him into a monstrous creature.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Alix Austin, Keir Siewert; Writer: Alix Austin, Keir Siewert; Stars: Paige Gilmour, Shane Quigley-Murphy, May Kelly, Joshua Whincup, Chloe Wigmore, Rachael James, Eva-Marie Kung, Joanna Lusua, Lauren McConville)

Look Into My Eyes

A group of New York City psychics conduct deeply intimate readings for their clients, revealing a kaleidoscope of loneliness, connection, and healing.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Lana Wilson; Writer: Lana Wilson)

New Life

Review preview for New Life

The use of sparse but spacious landscapes enhances both story and themes, with small farms and towns clinging to the earth in defiance of the elements, humble before distant mountains.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A fixer is sent out to find a mysterious woman on the run, and the stakes of the pursuit rise to apocalyptic proportions.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: John Rosman; Writer: John Rosman; Stars: Sonya Walger, Tony Amendola, Hayley Erin, Ayanna Berkshire, Nick George, Jeb Berrier, Blaine Palmer)

Full review See: Interview with John Rosman about New Life

Oculus

Review preview for Oculus

The supernatural is not super for nothing. Poltergeists are play things compared to this lot.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
A woman tries to prove her brother is taking the rap for a murder committed by a supernatural phenomenon.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Mike Flanagan; Writer: Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard; Stars: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso, Garrett Ryan, James Lafferty, Miguel Sandoval, Kate Siegel, Scott Graham, Michael J. Fourticq, Katie Parker, Justin Gordon, Bob Gebert, Brett Luciana Murray)

Full review

Oddity

Review preview for Oddity

It is a rare thing to come across a tale as carefully constructed as this one.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A blind medium uncovers the truth behind her sister's death with the help of a frightening wooden mannequin.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2024; Director: Damian Mc Carthy; Writer: Damian Mc Carthy; Stars: Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Steve Wall, Jonathan French, Joe Rooney)

Full review

Phantom Of The Paradise

Review preview for Phantom Of The Paradise

Again and again there are elements that will be echoed in later works, mirrors and masks and little friends, split screens and thrills and untimely ends.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A disfigured composer sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music - but an evil record tycoon betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise.

(Country: US; Year: 1974; Director: Brian De Palma; Writer: Brian De Palma; Stars: Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham, George Memmoli)

Full review

Sleep

Review preview for Sleep

Mixing horror elements with character study and a tender portrait of a relationship in crisis, Sleep easily slides between genres and, in the process, keeps viewers guessing.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A couple find their marriage deteriorating after a disturbing episode when the husband declares in his sleep, “Someone’s inside”.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2023; Director: Jason Yu; Writer: Jason Yu; Stars: Kim Gook Hee, Yoon Kyung-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Jung Yu-mi)

Full review See: Interview with Jason Yu about Sleep

Things Will Be Different

Review preview for Things Will Be Different

Where other such tales have become overly enmeshed in their own structural entanglements, Felker has the good sense to focus on character.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
In order to escape police after a robbery, two estranged siblings lay low in a metaphysical farmhouse that hides them away in a different time. There they reckon with a mysterious force that pushes their familial bonds to unnatural breaking points.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Michael Felker; Writer: Michael Felker; Stars: Adam David Thompson, Riley Dandy, Chloe Skoczen, Justin Benson, Sarah Bolger, Jori Lynn Felker)

Full review See: Interview with Michael Felker about Things Will Be Different