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.
