FrightFest Halloween 2025

FrightFest Halloween 2024

 

Primate

Director ~ Johannes Roberts

Writers ~ Ernest Riera, Johannes Roberts

2025, USA

Stars ~ Johnny Sequoyah, Troy Kotsur, Jessica Alexander

 

Rabid simian versus privileged/uninteresting/obnoxious pretty young things. Fearing the audience isn’t one for a build-up, it starts by skipping ahead to its first kill, which is admittedly a good one for grabbing the attention. From there, we’re in a super-deluxe picturesque house on a cliff edge (why do they call for help? Who do they think will hear?) where the family keep a chimpanzee as a pet: unfortunately, sweet Ben gets rabies (the film even notes that Hawaii isn’t an area that gets rabies?) and goes on the rampage. It’s as if someone saw the more disturbing chimp sections in ‘NOPE’ and went, “oh! I have an idea!” (although there is a history of killer chimps from ‘Phenomena’ to ‘Link’). Good kills, nicely filmed and staged but distinctly standard fare. Its most impressive aspect is the performance of Miguel Torres Umba as Ben.

 

 

Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon

Writer + Director ~ Jason Howden

2025, New Zealand

Stars ~ Milo Cawthorne, Kimberley Crossman, James Joshua Blake

 

Crowd-funded and shot in Canada, this is the sequel to the 2015 original, which I remembered liking as being a sort of ‘Bill & Ted’ metal-horror funny crowd pleaser full of affectionate fun-making of the scene. This sequel is rude crude gory silly, occasionally amusing in its excess (the glory hole episode will likely be your test) but overlong, sometimes simply crass and more hit-and-miss.

Every Heavy Thing

Writer + Director ~ Mickey Reece

2025, USA

Stars ~ Josh Fadem, James Urbaniak, Barbara Crampton

 

Although opening with its weakest scene – bare breasts and vocal fry – there’s increasing intrigue, jazzed up with video effects and dream sequences that are integral. There’s a pleasing retro-futurist tone to these interjections. Josh Faden impresses as the “almost cool” Joe, an underachiever finding himself embroiled with serial killers and tech bro obsessions. There are women disappearing without a trace (even if there’s blood spray left behind?) and Joe isn’t feeling too good. The vibe is everyday living, which works well with the hint of Philip K. Dick-like “Failing Reality” and being caught up with another’s sociopathy, but there’s also a closing scattering of “that’ll do” that undermines any conclusion. A fascinating and ambitious near miss.

 

Dolly

Director ~ Rod Blackhurst

Writers ~ Rod Blackhurst, Brandon Weavil

2015, USA

Stars ~ Fabianne Therese, Russ Tiller, Michalina Scorzelli

 

Hitting that 16mm ‘70s Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven vibe hard, Blackhurst’s Don’t Go Off the Trail public service announcement is ugly and derivative in all the right places, making this a solid homage to those bareknuckle disturbing trendsetters. It introduces a formidable porcelain baby-faced monster, lots of ikkiness to do with her obsession with making a kidnapped woman her baby and some shock-gore that delivers exactly what it sets out to do. Fabianne Therese also makes for a better-than-average victim that must kick in her brutal survivalist mode to get out, as well as confront fears of monstrous motherhood.

 

Affection

Writer + Director ~ BT Meza

2025, USA

Stars ~ Jessica Rothe, Joseph Cross, Julianna Layne

 

The emotional and physical range of Jessica Rothe truly elevates what could have been a fun enough Who Am I? sci-fi thriller. She is scary in her confused state as well as warm and maternal as things evolve. Julianna Layne’s child performance is also above par, and Joseph Cross never gives up on the emotional motivations of his character. As a chamber piece of unravelling identities and revelations, the themes of gaslighting, mistrust, insurmountable grief and choosing what to care about again show that science-fiction can get to those nooks and crannies of the human condition that other genres can’t quite reach. It not adverse to plot holes and the other weaknesses, but it is fun, ambitious and full-blooded.

 

Posthouse

Director ~ Nikolas Red

Writers ~ Nikolas Red, Jericho Aguado, Kenneth Dagatan

2025, Philippines

Stars ~ Sid Lucero, Bea Binene, Andrea Del Rosario

 

The search to complete the first Filipino silent horror film and – of course – inadvertently unearth an ancient monster in the setting of an abandoned editing suite are winners, setting up strongly for the supernatural. Sid Lucero gives a fully rounded performance, torn between completing and owning his father’s legacy or his own future with editing commercials.  The supporting cast is mostly rudimentary, which leaves this chamber piece somewhat floundering. Despite its fascinating historical grounding, moments of creepiness and themes of an unshakable past (can you guess what the true ancient emerging monster is?), there is the sense of lost momentum and confused focus that leaves this an underachiever.

 

 

The Turkish Coffee Table

Director ~ Can Evrenol

2025, Turkey

Stars ~ Alper Kul, Algi, EkeÖzgür, Emre Yildirim

 

Remake of Caye Cassas’ dark farce original – one that goes into the “steel yourself!” pile when thinking of a rewatch – hitting most of the key beats of the original and therefore retains its shock, providing the darkest twist on cringe comedy. It was Turkish comedian Alper Kul that was integral to this being made. It is a little more blatant and changes the emphasis of the conclusion but nevertheless stands as a solid tracing.

 

 

Coyotes

Director ~ Colin Minihan

Writers ~ Tad Daggerhart, Daniel Meers and Nick Simon

2025, US

Stars ~ Justin Long, Mila Harris, Brittany Allen

 

Obnoxious, privileged characters must battle to survive attacks from bad weather, CGI coyotes and obnoxious direction. Despite Justin Long and Kate Bosworth knowing what they’re doing, plus a couple of genuinely amusing gags, there’s a lot of insufferable affectations and annoyance to get through, not least the most aggravating of teen daughter characters. Although the film drops cartoon character name cards (e.g. obnoxious direction) signalling we shouldn’t take it seriously, there’s also very little here to care about. Except maybe how CG the coyotes look. And yeah, it’s all about family, as if that’s justification.

 

 

Mag Mag

Director ~ Yuriyan Retriever

Writer ~ Eisuke Naitô

2025, Japan

Stars ~ Mai Fukagawa, Ôshirô Ma, Sara Minami

 

The opening of the first victim being killed by the ghost whilst pissing all over his friends should have been a clue. Then what follows is the pleasant comfort of J-horror tropes, looking like it will be a series of ‘The Grudge’ style vignettes (there’s even a knowing cameo by ‘Grudge’ director Takeshi Shimizu), and perhaps you are wondering how it will fill out its runtime this way; but then it takes a somewhat leftfield turn into hysteria, perhaps parody (the exorcism), heads off in its merry whim, skipping ahead of the audience, but ends up knowing exactly what it is doing. A revenge curse ghost – Mag Mag herself is pleasingly creepy – turns into a deeper tale of weaponizing various iterations of “love”, from obsessive crushes, abusive, to an innocent child. The chapter narrative means you never quite know where it will be heading and just when you think you do, it ups the stakes. Quite the rollercoaster oddity that delivers the long-haired ghost goods whilst also shaking up the genre to see what else is possible: art love, musical numbers, surrealism, body horror, a note on the corrosive power of loneliness, etc.

 

FrightFest 2025 - Day 4

 

 

 

FrightFest 2025 - Day 4

 

 

 

213 BONES

Director: Jeffrey Primm

Cast: Colin Egglesfield, Dean Cameron, Toni Weiss, Liam Woodrum.

USA

 

At first, there’s the promise of a straightforward non-postmodern slasher providing horror comfort food, but it becomes quickly apparent that this has all the subgenre’s weaknesses too. Predominantly, it hinges on a thoroughly unconvincing bunch of college student victims, and its not clear how they managed to get this far in their studies as they don’t appear to have any critical thinking at all. It goes through the motions, the kills are humdrum and then the killer with the ridiculous motivation is unmasked and the audience goes “Wha?”

 

 

TOMB WATCHER

Director: Vathanyu Ingkawiwat

Cast: Woranuch Bhirombhakdi, Thanavate Siriwattanagul, Arachaporn Pokin Pakor.

Thailand

 

It has the chief elements to appeal to the Gothic sensibility: a big remote house, portraits of the dead wife and the corpse of the dead wife itself on the grounds. All the couple have to do is put up with the husband devoting to the dead body for one hundred days. The trouble is that the husband was cheating on the wife, and she wants the hundred days to exact her revenge from beyond the grave. Cue the long-haired Asian ghost and no one believing the haunted wife driven to near-insanity. It is a standard, traditional ghost story, but it looks good and carries out its tropes with elegance rather than excess, at least until its ending where it goes a little loopy. 

 

 

The DESCENT

Director: Neil Marshall.

Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, MyAnna Buring.

UK

 

Even after all this time, you’ll be likely to jump at least once again. Perhaps the attacks are edited to the incoherent side, but what mostly struck me once more this time is how much David Julyan's forewarns the tragedy from the very start. You are so invested into the girls foolishly going deeper and deeper underground that you almost forget that they’ll be monsters. Marshall has so far never captured this classic status again.

 

 

BONE LAKE

Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan

Cast: Marco Pigossi, Maddie Hasson, Alex Roe, Andra Nechita.

USA

 

Perhaps the opening promises something less graceful, just to get the attention, but what follows is a slick, silly and thoroughly entertaining romp. The great performances are essential to above-average characterisation, which is important when the fragility of couples is the whole discourse: Diego and Sage are thoroughly convincing as a decent couple struggling to get over themselves. Perhaps not quite as twisty and surprising as it thinks, but its thoroughly engaging, gorgeously shot and played and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy.

 

REDUX REDUX

Director: Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus

Cast: Jim Cummings, Derick Alexander, Raphael Chestang, Debra Christofferson

USA

 

Emotion-led lofi scifi is often a good place to find something fresh in the genre, and this excellent multiverse tale impresses with how packed with emotional grounding it is. From grief making our protagonist pursue a hellbent mission to visit all the dimensions to kill her daughter’s murderer to a streetwise brat finding her limitations, the measured pace allows the loneliness to surface even when foregrounded and tent-poled by action set-pieces. Although mostly a two-hander there’s uniformly great acting, lowkey and immersive atmosphere, pleasingly clunky dimension-hopping freezer unit, a script only interested in the characters with little need to linger on backstory, allowing the existential and relationship questions to dominate. Proof again that an indie film with single well written conceit and a solid agenda of investigating the human condition can generate full-blooded, unsettling and rewarding entertainment.

Film comments 2024: Lady parts

 

Film comments 2024: Lady parts

For films that talked about lady parts, there was none moreso than Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Poor Things’.  If at first it seemed dangerously close to a male fantasy of creating and maltreating a child-woman, riffing on ‘Frankenstein’ and classic picaresque, it soon became apparent that this is not a ‘Weird Science’ fantasy but more musing on nature and nurture. Ditching the unreliable narrator element of Alasdair Gray’s novel, among other aspects, it offered a romp through the picaresque – also overlong, which is a feature of the form – with a feminist slant. Although I had friends that thought Emma Stone was mostly just over-acting instead of good – which I didn’t wholly agree with – there was much to the aesthetic and execution that was undeniably great, a full feast.  

And from “Goth ‘Barbie’” to “Gore ‘Barbie’”, Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’ proved to be the essential winning shock to the year’s worthy cinema. It is true that I couldn’t help but have reservations as I had with Fargeat’s debut ‘Revenge’ – what I saw as a certain carelessness with detail that shortchanged all that was good – but there was no denying its triumph of being a crossover body-horror success with scrungy B-movie basis and A-movie gloss. 

Zelda Williams’ ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ also played with body horror and female perspective, but it was ultimately an airless warm-and-fuzzy Eighties homage rather than insightful (you’d have to go to ‘I saw the TV Glow’ for a homage with a real emotional charge).

 And body-horror was also a feature of female expression in Rose Glass’ ‘Love Lies Bleeding’, but that was just one Tokyo Drift that its erotic thriller basis took, having already integrated an ugly Ed Harris mullet, buff lesbian bodybuilding, drugs, modern American Noir and Gothic, obsession, and moments of superviolence. Its genre play and overcooked ingredients all held together successfully by pure vibe, with a finale akin to ‘The Substance’. But here, the feeling was that it got crazier and more surreal as things heated up and desperation sets in.

Certainly it was a more successful Coen-esque potboiler than Ethan Coen’s own ‘Drive-Away Dolls’, which was cartoonish to the point of diverting-without-substance. It shared a similar premise of two women in love on the wrong side of the law, and I enjoyed it more than most, sensing from the start that it wasn’t going to need much investment, but it melted away where ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ gathered more respect in retrospect.

Similarly, ‘Bottoms’ didn’t quite hit the nerve of Emma Seligman’s previously delicious ‘Shiva Baby’, however spiky it was, mostly because it ultimately turned to a more conventional mode, forsaking much of its edginess and satirisation of the high school genre to something predictable.

Like ‘The Substance’, Ozgood Perkins’ ‘Longlegs’ was another film that I felt out of step with the general consensus. It was all centred on the trauma of Agent Lee Harker (an appealingly offbeat Maika Monroe) … to a contrived degree. Brilliantly directed but upon reflection, I was unconvinced, excellent direction in my book requiring attention to details that I felt ‘Longlegs’ lacked. Even if it absorbed a full throttle Nicolas Cage performance without losing focus, there were too many non sequiturs and an underachieving finale.

As often happens, two similar genre pieces came out around the same time; this time there were a couple of nunsploitation horrors. ‘The First Omen’ proved surprisingly stylish and better than expected although it ended up petering out. Needed more convoluted death set-pieces. ‘

'Immaculate’ took the opposite approach, apparently just shrugging and deciding, “Fuck it! Let’s go bonkers for no reason for the last act.” And horror fans were sated at the outrageousness and bad taste.Looks good, swiftly jogs through its predictable beats (oh, “catacombs” you say?), has a series of knowing performances and Sydney Sweeney gives it her all, from piousness to mania. Gleefully goes through its tropes and archetypes until revealing itself to be an entertaining slice of schlock. Again, for religion, a woman’s body is the battleground and ornate ceremony is the curtain of respectability. Moving through nunsploitation, superficial jump-scare horror, a pretence of po-facedness, nightmare sequences, a little mad scientist and Final Girl action, it’s the final movement that delivers its true worth. Horror fans will be rewarded the wait and left smiling.

Ti West’s ‘MaXXXine’ ended the Pearl & Maxine trilogy with the least surprising, least satisfying instalment. ‘Pearl’ had promised something that would make this trilogy a modern horror classic, but it turned out all the dangerous stuff was already used up and the narcissism that made Maxine such a promising horror narcissist-sociopath was subsumed under an admittedly enjoyable Eighties-and-giallo recreation but an average conclusion.

Rather, it was JT Mollner’s ‘Strange Darling’ that offered up the danger. Told in six chapters but out of order, which means we get sensory and action overload up front before setting in for long two-hander flirting – “Are you a serial killer?” And then the revelations… Willa Fitzgerald is exceptional with Kyle Gallner more than her match. The 35mm thriller colour scheme, the abrasive then seductive sound design, the dialogue, the hints of something retro, all go to make this smart, fun, funny, upsetting but ultimately a hugely entertaining thrill ride with a little something to say about gender roles. Even makes room for making breakfast being a highlight.

While ‘Strange Darling’ was strictly rollercoaster genre fare and therefore one step removed from reality, a film like Elric Kane’s ‘The Dead Thing’ offered up a more a nuanced inquiry into modern feminine identity. It’s true that many didn’t think this gelled and just bored, but from the languid pace I found an interesting ghost story about the modern malaise of urban hook-up culture. Blu Hunt gives an assured turn as a woman who turns to fleeting sexual encounters to alleviate her dislocation and depression, leading to lust-motivated hauntings. Putting all-encompassing desire at the forefront of motivation gives this its quirk and the atmosphere is of a dreamy urban ambience.

Emma Benestan’s ‘Animale’ had another fascinating female character: she’s a bull runner that isn’t butch or competing with the machismo, but just trying to be a part of what she sees and wants. It's the slow burn that draws you in with Oulaya Amamra’s soft-and-tough performance riveting from the start. The measured world-building allows the etching of the community and character to soak in. If it ends up being more obvious than promised, not realising that it need not be, it is nevertheless fascinating, exhibiting a sure hand and sense of place and culture in the Carmague region bull running context. And what to do with a bull running woman, eh men?

Michael Sarnoski’s ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’, ‘Broken Bird’ and ‘Magpie’  all offered interesting female leads, if not quite wholly successful: the first replacing action with the maudlin; the second having tonal problems until reaching a decent Gothic finale; the last reaching only Get-‘em-girl! cliches. And there was plenty of Final Girl Kick Ass action from the likes of ‘Azrael’ and ‘The Bitter Taste’ , but even better were the historical revenge dramas ‘The Last Ashes’ and even Stone Age ‘Outof Darkness’ that delivered more tricksy and thoughtful contemplations on female violence.

But it was ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max saga’ that delivered the full-throttle raw and thoughtful female-led drama, despite stretching across Furiosa’s coming-of-age. In fact, that this and ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ both rage against toxic masculinity whilst delivering the very petrolhead action you came for are their exemplary achievements. 

But it was ‘Smile2’ that proved the surprise in its slippery structure, devotion to failing reality and empathic examination of celebrity. Its smarts and nuance meant it convinced me on the subject far more than ‘The Substance’: not as delirious or delightful, but there was proper meat on the bone.

But it was Pascal Plante’s ‘Red Rooms’ that felt truly dangerous. There are films where you feel you’ve gone deep in the hole, where you feel you might have been where you shouldn’t, and this is one of them. Juliette Gariépy’s performance became increasingly brilliant as the plot unfolded. Compelling, morally murky/challenging, a brilliantly structured thriller where what? and why? slides into WTF?! without ever fully answering any of that, never being quite what you think.

FILM 2024 ROUND-UP - Favourites

FILM 2024 ROUND-UP: Favourites 

I started this year as I ended last year: I saw ‘Godzilla Minus One’ at the cinema so solidify my opinion of its greatness. I even found it more and profoundly moving this time, not having to be on my guard (typically, you must make a lot of allowances for a kaiju film).

The following are the releases I have found myself being surprised by, talking about and recommending the most. (And I'll be writing more on what I watched soon, of course.)

FAVOURITES OF 2024

Zone of Interest

Dune: part 2

Red Rooms

Anora

I Saw the TV Glow

In a Violent Nature

Strange Darling

Smile 2

Heretic

Kill

&

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

 

‘Zone of Interest’ – there have been arguments that any narrative form is insufficient if not insulting to such a topic; I can’t say I necessarily agree, but Jonathan Glazer mounts a mighty argument with this collage/museum installation that proves as devastating as it is superficially abstract. 

‘Dune: part 2’ – which I watched in a perpetual state of awe.

‘Red Rooms’ – which felt like burrowing deep into the wrong side of modern possibilities.

‘Anora’ – we spend time with the slightly annoying Anora and the appealing goofiness of Ivan – and then it kicks in.

‘I Saw the TV Glow’ – for the vibe and the unexpected emotional punch.

‘In a Violent Nature’ – what a difference just placing the camera and pacing alternatively makes to a slasher; amusingly both deconstructing and delivering the goods.

‘Strange Darling’ – a rollercoaster genre fun ride that justifies its non-chronological conceit with its revelations and great dialogue sequences.

‘Smile 2’ – a total surprise at how good it was at playing with genre – both the mainstream jumpscares and the reality failing horror – and delivering something unexpectedly heartfelt. Horror, don’t forget, is also tragedy, and the worst is the inevitable and inescapable.

‘Heretic’ – a surprising talky funride where the journey is probably more satisfying than the destination, but excelled at the horror of mansplaining. 

‘Kill’ – sometimes the stripped-down aesthetic appeals to me (‘Invader’ was another) and this very Hindi train-bound actioner delivered all its brutality whilst humanising its bad guys and dehumanising its hero, all with Bollywood sentiment distracting. 

 

‘Furiosa: A Mad MaxSaga’ – breathless despite being the opposite of its predecessor; expansive, pretty, excellently plotted and yet pulpy. 

 

Moments of 2024

The main moments I remember hitting me on all cylinders

 

‘The Iron Fist’ – Zac Efron

‘Heretic’ – Hugh Grant

‘Red Rooms’ - Juliette Gariépy

‘Smile 2’ – Naomi Scott

‘Dune: part two’ – worm riding

‘Poor Things’ – Bella and Duncan dance

‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ – the War Rig assault

‘I Saw the TV Glow’ – Sloppy Jane performs “Claw Machine”

‘The Demon Disorder’ – out the armpit

‘Mads’ – credits

‘Smile 2’ – nightmare dance troupe

‘Red Rooms’ – courtroom cosplay

‘Anora’ – the Armenians come to get Ivan

‘The Substance’ – The Hollywood star

‘In a Violent Nature’ – clifftop kill

'The Beast' - flood in the toy shop