Fantasia Film Festival Review: The Righteous (2021)

Mark O’Brien’s The Righteous explores the interesting “hook” of a mysterious stranger coming upon a home. The mysterious stranger is O’Brien’s Aaron Smith (“Original, I know,” says Aaron), who comes upon the property of an elderly couple one night, leg injured. The home is owned by former priest Frederic Mason (Henry Czerny) and his wife Ethel Mason (Mimi Kuzyck), the reason Frederic left the priesthood. Playing with fascinating themes of sin, retribution and penance, Mark O’Brien creates quite the compelling storyline in his feature directorial debut, where he also writes the screenplay.

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Shudder Review: The Queen of Black Magic (2021)

Directed by: Kimo Stamboel. Starring: Ario Bayu, Hannah Al Rashid, Miller Khan. Runtime: 1h 39 min. A remake of the little seen Indonesian 1981 film of the same name, The Queen of Black Magic, director Kimo Stamboel updates the setting of the story to an orphanage. Three men – Hanif (Ario Bayu), Anton (Tanta Gintig) … Continue reading Shudder Review: The Queen of Black Magic (2021)

The Filmcraziest Show – Robert Benjamin and Ben O’Toole, “Bloody Hell”

On this episode of The Filmcraziest Show I chatted with writer Robert Benjamin and actor Ben O'Toole for their new film Bloody Hell, which premiered on demand on January 14 (here are some options for rent or purchase) and will be available on Blu-Ray and DVD on  January 19.  The plot: Rex Coen (Ben O’Toole) finds himself in a crazy situation during a bank robbery and decides to take the opportunity to play hero and save the hostages. Instead, he’s hailed by a hero by some and a lunatic by others and is sent to jail. Once he’s released, he leaves this mysterious past behind for better pastures in Finland. But in Bloody Hell, Finland is way worse. The film is directed by Alister Grierson, written by Robert Benjamin, and stars Ben O'Toole (pictured in the featured image), Meg Fraser, Caroline Craig, Matthew Sunderland and Travis Jefferey. 

Shudder Review: A Creepshow Holiday Special (TV Special 2020)

Directed by: Greg Nicotero. Starring: Anna Camp, Adam Pally, Pete Burris. Runtime: 46 min. A Creepshow Holiday Special follows Robert Weston (Adam Pally), a man trying to figure out the strange thing that has been happening to him every full moon. Believing himself to be a werewolf, he finds a support group called Shapeshifters Anonymous … Continue reading Shudder Review: A Creepshow Holiday Special (TV Special 2020)

Shudder Review: Lingering (2020)

Directed by: Yoon Een-Kyoung. Starring: Se-Yeong Lee, Ji-Young Park, So-yi Park. Runtime: 1h 41 min. After the death of her mother, Yoo-mi (Se-Yeong Lee) visits a hotel owned by her mother’s friend, Gyeong-seon (Ji-Young Park) in order to hopefully have her take care of her kid sister, Yoon Ji-Yoo (So-yi Park). There, they fall into … Continue reading Shudder Review: Lingering (2020)

Blood in the Snow Film Festival Review: Hall (2020)

Directed by: Francesco Giannini. Starring: Carolina Bartczak, Yumiko Shaku, Mark Gibson. Runtime: 1h 25 min. Minor spoilers follow. The most compelling aspect of the new pandemic film Hall, directed by Francesco Giannini, is the character development of its two core characters, Val (Carolina Bartczak) and Naomi (Yumiko Shaku), who are both victims of abusive relationships. … Continue reading Blood in the Snow Film Festival Review: Hall (2020)

Host (2020)

Directed by: Rob Savage. Starring: Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Emma Louise Webb. Runtime: 57 min. Released: July 30, 2020. At the start of this 2020 pandemic, it seemed like teleconferencing platform Zoom came out of nowhere, usurping Skype. Now, I only use Skype to chat before going onto Zoom. Skype walked so Zoom could run, … Continue reading Host (2020)

Filmcraziest Interviews – Rob Savage for his film Host (2020)

Welcome to another exciting episode of Filmcraziest Interviews, and on this episode I interview Rob Savage, the director and one of the co-writers of the new horror film, Host. The film is currently streaming on Shudder and is about six friends who hire a medium to hold a seance via Zoom during lockdown and get … Continue reading Filmcraziest Interviews – Rob Savage for his film Host (2020)

Dark Light (2019)

Directed by: Padraig Reynolds. Starring: Jessica Madsen, Opal Littleton, Ed Brody. Released: December 6, 2019. Runtime: 1h 30 min. This review contains mild spoilers. In Dark Light, Annie Knox (Jessica Madsen) and her daughter Emily (Opal Littleton) move into Annie’s childhood home and learn that it’s inhabited by monsters. The interesting thing about Padraig Reynolds’ … Continue reading Dark Light (2019)