BEST OUT THIS WEEK: Young Mothers • Big Boys Caught Stealing • Motel Destino ALL REVIEWS > |
Thursday, 28 August 2025
Critical Week: Nice kitty
Monday, 25 August 2025
FrightFest: We need heroes
The Toxic Avenger
dir-scr Macon Blair; with Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay 25/US ***.
hile this remake of the iconic B-movie is relentlessly cheesy and often chaotically ridiculous, it also has a surprising warmth that sneaks up on us. Even more surprisingly, the film tackles some big ideas in the most outrageous way possible, overstating the issues with unsubtle pastiche and on-the-nose people and place names. But it's actually refreshing that writer-director Macon Blair so carefully avoids anything resembling cinematic polish.
Odyssey
dir Gerard Johnson; with Polly Maberly, Jasmine Blackborow 25/UK ****
Opening with a tooth extraction in extreme closeup, we are immediately aware that this is not a warm, fuzzy kind of movie. Skilfully shot and edited, the film creates a vividly realistic atmosphere that squeezes in around the central character, turning increasingly colourful and harrowing. Director-cowriter Gerard Johnson stylishly assembles this narrative, continually catching the audience off guard with its provocative twists and kicks. The storytelling feels electrifying.
213 Bones
dir Jeff Primm; with Colin Egglesfield, Dean Cameron 25/US ****
Set in the Pacific Northwest, this movie opens like a vintage masked-slasher thriller, then dives into its grunge-infused story with gusto, skilfully shooting and editing in a witty 1990s style. Late director-cowriter Jeff Primm keeps the tone buoyant, with sparky characters who have just enough personality to make us care for them. And the way the story develops is unusually robust, pulling us in while generating genuine suspense.
Full reviews will be linked at Shadows' FRIGHTFEST PAGE >
Sunday, 24 August 2025
FrightFest: It's showtime
Your Host
dir DW Medoff; with Jackie Earle Haley, Ella-Rae Smith 25/It ***.
pening with gleeful grisliness, this horror thriller quickly sets up characters before launching them into a freak-out situation. Taking inspiration from the Saw movies, director DW Medoff and writer Joey Miller clearly enjoy devising the most sadistic nastiness they can think of while keeping everything both jaunty and sharply pointed. But the grubby production design is a bit tired and, even with comical asides, it's almost overwhelmingly hideous.
dir Kevin Lewis; with Rainey Qualley, Shane West 25/US **.
Punctuated with sudden violence and freak-out images of people wearing pig heads, this horror thriller is fairly relentless in its dark approach. Scenes play out with super-high intensity, as director Kevin Lewis ramps everything up exponentially, including camerawork, performances, music and gore. And as the narrative travels through oddly spurious sequences on its way to the horrible truth, it never seems to be daytime in this small town.Where Is Juan Moctezuma?
dir-scr Alaric S Rocha; with Alaric S Rocha, Erin Hughes 25/US ***
Diving into the mystery surrounding an iconic 1970s Mexican horror auteur, this lively movie embraces the cheesy sensibility of filmmaker Juan F Moctezuma II. Appearing on-screen to narrate the story, filmmaker Alaric S Rocha has fun with colourful period movies and comments from his extra-sparky interviewees. So there's plenty of ramshackle energy, mixing a wide range of hilariously outrageous material. But it could have been even funnier than this.Sane Inside Sanity
dir-scr Andreas Zerr; with Jim Sharman, Richard Hartley 25/Ger ***.
Celebrating 50 years of a camp classic, this documentary explores "the phenomenon of Rocky Horror", the offbeat play-turned-movie musical that went viral long before that was a thing. German filmmaker Andreas Zerr carefully traces the development of the show and film, then dives deeply into the fan experience that has evolved exponentially over the decades. It's a brisk, knowing trip into a quirky corner of film history.
Malpertuis
dir Harry Kumel; with Orson Welles, Susan Hampshire 73/Bel ***.
An eerie mix of horror, comedy and lustiness infuses this wonderfully offbeat 1971 Belgian thriller, which has been digitally restored to maximise the impact of Harry Kumel's visceral direction and Gerry Fisher's vibrant cinematography. This is a rich-hued, lavishly designed and very bawdy film with a cheeky sense of humour and insinuating moods stretching from burgeoning sexuality to existential angst. And astonishing freak-out moments punctuate the meandering plot.
Full reviews will be linked at Shadows' FRIGHTFEST PAGE >
Saturday, 23 August 2025
FrightFest: Be afraid
One of the top horror film festivals in the world, London's FrightFest runs each year over the August bank holiday weekend. This 26th festival kicked off on Thursday with the UK premiere of James DeMonaco's The Home, and the scary fun continues through Monday night at the grand Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square. Here are four highlights from the first two days...
The Home
dir James DeMonaco; with Pete Davidson, John Glover 25/US **
In a rare serious role for comic Pete Davidson, he plays an aimless slacker caught up in a mind-spinningly nasty situation. Director-cowriter James DeMonaco (The Purge) tightly maintains his perspective, which pulls the audience into the nutty story before things cut loose into Get Out-style horror. Indeed, the imagery, sound mix and narrative include so many elements from genre classics that nothing feels original. Or particularly scary.
dir Illya Konstantin; with Kit Lang, Russ Russo 25/US **
Mixing dark violence with a broad Big Pharma satire, this offbeat low-budget horror has some fun with its depiction of office workers before things turn nasty. Director Illya Konstantin creates a home-made vibe that plays up the awkwardness between colleagues before sending them into a blood-soaked nightmare. Tonal shifts are uneven, pacing is somewhat underpowered, and the plot closely follows the bare bones of the brutal invasion genre.
Don’t Let the Cat Out
dir Tim Cruz; with Anthony Del Negro, Cerina Vincent 25/US **.
Atmospheric and extremely tactile, this freak-out thriller traces a night that spirals into bizarre nastiness. Director Tim Cruz, who wrote the script with actor-producer Anthony Del Negro, cranks up the tension from the start, keeping the audience as disoriented as the lead character because everything feels so random and inexplicable. So while none of this makes much sense, there are enjoyably yucky moments scattered through the narrative.
The Degenerate:
The Life and Films of Andy Milligan
dir Josh Johnson, Grayson Tyler Johnson; with Gerald Jacuzzo, Jimmy McDonough 25/US ***.
Tracing the career of a notorious filmmaker who mixed experimental sensibilities with excessive schlock, this documentary tells the story of Andy Milligan, whose ethos was to just get out there and make a movie. As a scrappy artist, his work was inventive and influential, with distinctive themes and camera tricks, yet modern audiences have seen very little of it. So it's time for cinema scholars to rediscover him.
Thursday, 21 August 2025
Critical Week: Tea, biscuits and a spot of murder
BEST OUT THIS WEEK: Sorry, Baby • Battleship Potemkin Eddington • Dongji Rescue ALL REVIEWS > |
Thursday, 14 August 2025
Critical Week: Summer holiday vibes
BEST OUT THIS WEEK: Together • Materialists ALL REVIEWS > |
Thursday, 7 August 2025
Critical Week: Driving me crazy
BEST OUT THIS WEEK: Young Hearts • Weapons Stans • Freakier Friday ALL REVIEWS > |