WORLD PREMIERE
Broken Bird
dir Joanne Mitchell; with Rebecca Calder, Sacharissa Claxton 14/UK ***
Blackly comical attitudes add an offbeat kick to this terrific looking British thriller, which perhaps turns a bit too grim as its plot swirls around some very nasty behaviour in a mortuary. The film has a beautiful visual style that captures the moods of characters who are grappling with big personal issues. Igor Marovic's cinematography is particularly eye-catching, while director Joanne Mitchell keeps even the most outrageous moments grounded in human emotion... FULL REVIEW >
Things Will Be Different
dir-scr Michael Felker; with Adam David Thompson, Riley Dandy 24/US ****
Skilfully shot in fascinating locations, this intriguing dramatic thriller centres on two likeable siblings who are dealing with past strain in their relationship while embarking on a time-shifting crime. Writer-Director Michael Felker cleverly grounds the people and settings in earthy reality, while the wildly imaginative premise deliberately avoids a clear explanation. This effectively puts us right into the story, and makes each mysterious thing that happens darkly riveting... FULL REVIEW >
The Dæmon
dir-scr Matt Devino, Dave Yohe; with Adriana Isabel, Tyler Q Rosen 24/US ***
Moody and dark, this creepy dramatic horror is sharply well shot and edited, with cool-looking effects work and outrageous yuckiness. Much of this feels rather overstated, most notably in the characterisations and some dizzying camerawork. And because it's played at such a serious pitch, it sometimes tips over into nuttiness along the way. The title gives away what we're dealing with here, and the filmmakers show admirable determination to make this as unnerving as possible... FULL REVIEW >
Scarlet Blue
dir-scr Aurelia Mengin; with Amelie Daure, Anne-Sophie Charron 24/Fr ***
Vibrantly filmed with intensely soaked colours and offbeat settings, this French mystery thriller has a distinct visual style that keeps it from falling into the usual expectations for a genre movie. Actor-filmmaker Aurelia Mengin blends the lurid reality with outrageously eye-catching visions that add layers of intensity, often without the need for explanatory dialog. In fact, much of the film feels like a swirling fever dream as the characters travel into fascinating corners of their minds... FULL REVIEW >
For info, FRIGHTFEST >
It's been all about FrightFest for me this week, as the rest of my time has been taken up with a production job on an independent TV series. So for the next two months reviews will mostly be of films I'd seen earlier or that I can watch at home on a screening link. I may also catch things on days off. This week, every film I saw was a FrightFest movie, and these will be blurbed here on the blog (as above), with full reviews appearing on the site after the festival. Next week I'll be watching Dennis Quaid in Reagan, Mandoob: The Courier and The Exorcism of Saint Patrick, plus more FrightFest movies.
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C R I T I C A L W E E K
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