Tough Films For The Rough Crowd

  This has been a long time coming. It seems as long as I’ve had easy access to the internet I’ve been reading about FantasticFest. A cinematic paradise where you can see days worth of crazy genre fare and then immediately walk into the lobby afterwards and talk to the…

I have problems with movies about witches. I have problems with horror movies. When it comes to “found footage” films, the trend has become mostly ridiculous. Sequels? Who likes them anyway? The unimaginatively titled BLAIR WITCH happens to be all four. With all the modern day gadgets (including a drone)…

If for nothing else, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT will go down as a classic in horror cinema for its genius marketing campaign. Taking advantage of the internet in ways that hadn’t been done before, the filmmakers and marketers of the film were able to create a mystique that could never…

    THE NEON DEAD makes its home video premiere on DVD and Digital HD platforms on Tuesday, September 13th, 2016.   Next to a Trump presidency, I think we can all agree that the last thing any of us need is another zombie film. Because of this fact, I…

Pat O’Sullivan appears courtesy of the DRINKS ON MONDAY Podcast. Kevin Smith is one of the most polarizing filmmakers today. You’d think a man that built his career preaching the gospel of STAR WARS and Marvel comics on celluloid some 20 odd years ago would be king apparent in today’s box…

  DON’T BREATHE ends 2016’s run of summer thrillers and Fede Alvarez’s DON’T BREATHE is a pretty damn good film. DON’T BREATHE  is tense and features sharp cinematography and the plot, moves steadily on a razor’s edge, escalates into an electrifying home invasion feature, one that surges with life even as some…

        I couldn’t have been more excited to finally get to watch the highly-anticipated, Eli-Roth-produced horror movie CLOWN. The hype machine surrounding CLOWN has been going since 2010, when director Jon Watts made a faux trailer for it with a credit at the end reading, “From the master…

You know him and love him from DAILY GRINDHOUSE (perhaps you read his dispatches from the BRUCE CAMPBELL HORROR FILM FESTIVAL, or maybe his interview with Herschell Gordon Lewis) and now the magnanimous Jason Coffman has an e-book available on Amazon! THE UNREPENTANT CINEPHILE collects over 400 of Coffman’s reviews…

“HELL TOWN” horror soap opera – trailer from Steve Balderson on Vimeo.     A clever premise or witty script can help a low-budget indie comedy over any number of rough spots. HELL TOWN has a fun idea at its core and occasionally inspired gags that buy it a lot…

  2016 marks the third year for Bruce Campbell’s Horror Film Festival, held at the Rosemont Muvico as a part of the Wizard World comic convention. Each year has hosted local premieres and brought guests with horror classics and new films alike, and this year is no different. The 2016…

      Here’s Jason Coffman’s fourth dispatch from the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. Catch up on the first one by clicking on this sentence.  And here’s the second! And the third! And the fourth! And the fifth! And with all that out of the way, let’s get down to the sixth and…

    Here’s Jason Coffman’s fourth dispatch from the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. Catch up on the first one by clicking on this sentence.  And here’s the second! And the third! And the fourth! Now, for door number five…     July 26: CREEPY (Japan, dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa) Police detective Takakura (Hidetoshi…

    Here’s Jason Coffman’s fourth dispatch from the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. Catch up on the first one by clicking on this sentence.  And here’s the second! And the third! Now, for door number four…     July 23: PSYCHONAUTS, THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN (Spain, dir. Alberto Vázquez and Pedro Rivero)…

    When I first saw PHANTASM, probably in 1988 around the home video release of the sequel, I thought I missed something. I loved the movie immediately, but even on subsequent viewings, I always felt like there was something I just wasn’t getting. It wasn’t until years down the…

      I honestly don’t think I’ve ever watched a “made for SyFy movie”. From the previews and from pop culture references, I always guessed that they were idiotic films with bad acting, and horrible effects. I was wrong. 2 LAVA 2 LANTULA! is hilarious, a lot of fun,…

        If there’s one thing that’s even more pathetic than the “Marvel Guy” vs. “DC Guy” debates that have been raging among comics fans for years, it’s seeing those same arguments steroid-pumped beyond comprehension now that four-color funnybooks have become the go-to “IP source” for multi-million-dollar Hollywood…

    SUN CHOKE (2015) kicks off by introducing us to Janie (Sarah Hagan) and her caretaker, Irma (Barbara Crampton). The two women live in isolation in a sprawling home tucked away in the hills of Los Angeles, carrying out a daily routine that reads like an US Weekly column…

        Every time I watch a found-footage/point-of-view style film I scream, (not literally… just in my head, because I’m crazy) that this will absolutely be the last of this kind of horror film I will ever watch! Then, of course, there is the exception to the rule. THEY’RE…

    When I first saw Joe Begos’ gore-splattered SCANNERS tribute THE MIND’S EYE at TIFF last year, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. I was certainly tickled by the combination of extreme violence, pounding synth soundtrack and snow-specked Rhode Island visuals, but it seemed hampered by its…

            Here’s Jason Coffman’s third dispatch from the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. Catch up on the first one by clicking on this sentence.  And here’s the second! Now, for door number three…   July 21: ALOYS (Switzerland, dir. Tobias Nölle) After the death of his…

        There’s definitely something to be said for a movie whose makers know what it is,and don’t have any qualms with it. THE GIRL IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS doesn’t break any molds, and wears its influences on its sleeve. I’m glad that some people understand you don’t need to…

    Here’s Jason Coffman’s second dispatch from the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. Catch up on the last one by clicking on this sentence. Now get to reading — a third installment is on the way!   July 18:   THE EYES OF MY MOTHER (USA, dir. Nicolas Pesce)…

    2016 marks the 20th anniversary of Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival, the largest genre film festival in North America and one of the most prestigious in the world. To celebrate, the festival is going all-out this year with not only its standard gargantuan roster of films from all over…

      I’m keeping this pretty short this year, because if Fantastic Fest 2015 taught me anything, it’s that the best of the year is very likely yet to come. However, there have been a number of great films already this year that should not be missed. Here are…