Report by Ben Bussey By way of an opening disclaimer, I must profess to feeling a little disingenuous classing this as a report on the Fantastic Films Weekend given I was only there for one day of it, Saturday the 16th of June. But a jolly nice day it was, which I’ve no doubt vouches […]
Part 1 of Brutal As Hell’s coverage of the 11th Fantastic Films Weekend at Bradford’s National Media Museum, Fri 15th- Sun 17th June 2012: Report on Saturday’s Short Films Compendium by Keri O’Shea I’m a huge fan of the short film medium. Some of my favourite festival discoveries over the years have been short films, so I […]
Festival Report by Nia Edwards-Behi This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. The genre giant, as ever, provides a packed schedule of great films, notable guests and plenty of atmosphere. A cornerstone of genre festivals, it’s testament to the festival team that a crowd of die-hard fans can mingle […]
Review by Keri O’Shea I’m going to start this review with a confession: I’m not a huge fan of the giallo genre. Gialli are stylish to look at, but once I get over the visual good stuff I find their plots are often contrived to the point of predictability, even when the eventual outcomes are […]
Review by Keri O’Shea Robin Hardy is obviously a man who likes to take his time. It’s been the best part of forty years since The Wicker Man first graced screens and yet, this year, he has – finally – completed and released The Wicker Tree, based on his novel Cowboys for Christ. I saw […]
Review by Keri O’Shea It’s probably fair to say that, for those who form part of a prospective audience, not many of us know too much about the country of Serbia. So, when trying to estimate the efficacy of a movie which purports to be ‘an allegory about Serbia’, we’re already in dangerous territory. If […]
Review by Keri O’Shea It’s odd – sometimes when a film itself makes a claim about how ‘original’ it is or how it is somehow ‘redefining genre’, you wonder why you’re hearing it from them, not the fans. Sometimes it even comes across like a kid establishing their version of events first, before you discover […]
Review by Keri O’Shea If, like me, repeatedly seeing people GETTING FUCKING TIED TO CHAIRS in horror movies makes you weep soundlessly into your hands at such a singular lack of imagination, then Village of Shadows might well have something to offer. Atmospheric supernatural horror often gets overlooked (or botched) by low-budget filmmakers, but first-time […]
Keri O’Shea on Abertoir Horror Film Festival 2011, Aberystwyth, Wales UK Well, that’s it for another year: Abertoir has been and gone, there’s nothing left on my horror calendar and I’ve once more been spat out, kicking and screaming, into Real Life. Still, perhaps it’s all for the best. At the time of writing, I […]
Review By Stephanie Scaife. If like me you have a penchant for post-apocalyptic narratives that are unrelentingly bleak and mercilessly grim, then The Divide is definitely the film for you. Xavier Gens made his name as part of the new wave of French horror filmmakers with his flawed but endearingly bonkers Frontier(s) which soon led […]
Deadheads (2011) Directed by: Brett Pierce, Drew T. Pierce Starring: Michael McKiddy, Ross Kidder, Thomas Galasso, Benjamin Webster Review by: Ben Bussey When American twentysomething Mike (McKiddy) wakes up one day to find himself in some kind of strange incubation chamber, he doesn’t know what the hell’s going on. Stepping out into the world, he […]