Tough Films For The Rough Crowd

      Similar to a good horror film, a well-made comedy will do more than its intended purpose. During a scary movie, people should be frightened, and during a funny one, they should be brought to tears from laughing so hard. Besides the base-level response, both genres of film…

  Marginalized groups yearn for more representation in film. Stories of people that aren’t seen by mainstream society are important.  The inclusion is powerful, being seen is powerful, showing life that exemplifies different aspects of society is powerful. These are the narratives that keep people alive. I don’t mean to…

When offered to review a biopic on legendary NHL goalie Terry Sawchuk, my knee-jerk reaction was to pass. But throwing away an opportunity to review a movie outside of my comfort zone seemed like a missed opportunity—I’m glad that I didn’t. Because while GOALIE is ostensibly a sports biopic, it’s more a film with which anybody that has struggled with grief, substance abuse, and primal determination can identify.

Gratuitous violence, hypersexuality, and other aspects of extreme cinema have been co-opted by the Hollywood studio system. I can see how this would be frustrating for an independent filmmaker. Glad to see that there are directors out there that are still making fucked up movies that will piss off your parents. Director Dustin Mills has created a raw ’80s throwback film with SLAUGHTERHOUSE SLUMBER PARTY.

Film noir and other varieties of crime movies aren’t my genre forte. What little bit of knowledge I do have about these styles let me recognize the tropes that are necessary to create the proper aesthetic. Brooding moody characters, dramatic tension, and an almost predictable story arc are all part…

Every generation needs an epic road movie that helps define who they are. The only thing more exhilarating and truthful than going on a driving journey is being able to vicariously live through and enjoy a road movie that has adventure, drama, and a life-affirming thread woven throughout it. A…

Whether it is the trope of POC characters getting killed off first, the cliché of women having to be saved be a man, or that all LGBTQIA+ characters are sleazy perverts, genre film has kept these ideas going longer than mainstream film, because it’s easy and cheap. It brings me joy to see WICKED WITCHES and films like it being made to progress past what’s expected and create art that is needed.

    A wild night out on the town is a movie premise that is as nearly old as films themselves. More often than not, these movies are comedies, or at least comedy-adjacent. The best way to keep a tired movie trope from feeling stale is to tweak it until…

        A sure way to win me over is to subvert typical movie tropes. I love when the expectations of what the audience expects in a film isn’t what we get. Better yet is when filmmakers give us what we expect, but in a completely different way….

  Why are revenge films so popular?I believe that these films are cathartic. The viewing public has a chance to see themselves in the avenging character’s role. Whether it’s high school bullies (CARRIE), rapists (I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE), or a person who’s getting even for a loved one’s death…

    It’s a rare occurrence when a mash-up horror sub-genre effort makes a decent movie. When it’s done well, you can get a true masterpiece of genre cinema. Unfortunately, that is not the case with BONEHILL ROAD. I hate saying anything negative about an indie movie, but the genre…

    The art world is filled with passion and conviction. This is part of what often makes artists great characters in horror movies. No matter what, there is something about a creative type in a genre film that is just more compelling. This is absolutely the case with THE…

        Drugsploitation movies aren’t as common as they used to be. I would have to think that this is because the opioid epidemic in this country is no longer something reserved for the inner city to deal with.   Now that hard drugs have made their way…

  I’ve always been a huge supporter of micro-budget indie horror. These types of films take a lot of heart to turn from a kernel of an idea to actually being made. FRANKENTHUG has more heart than it can handle, and you can tell that everyone involved was dedicated to…

  Generally speaking, zombie apocalypse movies don’t do much for me anymore these days. Especially American zombie films. Thank goodness DAWNING OF THE DEAD is at least a British zombie film. That alone makes it a bit more tolerable. Zombie apocalypse films are a dime a dozen these days. For me, there…

Cinema is a thriving art form. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that fact with big-budget Hollywood hits and everything so easily accessible. Films don’t always have to make 100% sense to be able to be appreciated for their beauty. ANTIHUMAN is marketed as a horror movie, but it is much…

    Indie horror movies are so full of heart. You can tell how much love and attention these underground filmmakers put into their craft. The outcome may not be as slick and polished as some Hollywood studio system blockbuster, but for the majority of the time, these movies are…

            I try to steer clear of independent horror movies that ape big budget Hollywood movies. When I saw the title BLOODY BALLET, I foolishly assumed it would be a low-budget take on SUSPIRIA (2018). I am happy to report that I was wrong. The…

      The term “hyper-stylized” is most times used in a negative connotation when it comes to cinema. Most movies that are associated with this phrase are seen as just trying to hard to be smart and more artistic than they actually are. It doesn’t make it any less…

        When creating a micro-budget film, it’s important to remember the constraints of the budget. All too often, I’ll review films that try to do too much with too little, and wind up falling flat. By working with the confines of a small budget, a filmmaker can…

    The independent horror movie scene has become so over-saturated with creepy clown movies, that lately when I see artwork for a film with such imagery, I immediately dismiss it. When this trend started, it was a lot of fun, but now more often than not, it’s just plain…

  Mental illness is a serious issue, and a very delicate one for films to tackle. More times than not, it’s used as a gimmick, or even worse, as comic relief. Film franchises such as PSYCHO have used mental illness as their entire plot. There have been a few horror…

    There is possibly no more tried-and-true horror trope than that of a backwoods hillbilly family who finds pleasure in torturing and killing  poor unfortunate victims who just happen to cross their paths. My earliest recollection of this is in Jack Hill’s 1967 classic SPIDER BABY. Throughout the years,…

      It pains me to say anything negative about an independent horror film when I can tell the cast and crew put a lot of hard work into it. Sometimes indie movies fail because their ideas are too big for the budget that they have to work with….