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.
