ALONE **** USA 2020 Dir: John Hyams. 98 mins An American remake of the Swedish thriller GONE from the same screenwriter, Mattias Olsson, this stripped-down cat-and-mouse thriller treads on highly familiar ground but does so in a fashion that feels unusually authentic while sustaining the suspense from start to finish.…
Browsing: Grimmfest
THE UNHEALER ** USA 2020 Dir: Martin Guigui. 94 mins Save for the support of one wealthy, pretty long-term friend (the appealing Kayla Carson), high school life is miserable for Pica-suffering Elijah Nelson. Unflatteringly nicknamed “Trash Boy” for his compulsion to eat almost anything, he takes solace in the love…
UNEARTH **** USA 2020 Dir: John C Lyons, Dorota Swies. 94 mins “There’s no birds…there’s no bugs…” Here’s a 21st century eco-horror film that would serve as an impactful feature length promotional video for any environmental group’s anti-fracking campaigns. Punctuated by imposing aerial shots of the slowly poisoned countryside surrounding…
ROPES (a.k.a. Cordes / Prey) *** Spain 2019 Dir: Jose Luis Montesinos. 87 mins The feature debut for director Jose Luis Montesinos at first appears to be a hybrid of CUJO and the old fashioned thriller trope of a physically disabled, lone woman fighting for survival in her own home…
THE HORROR CROWD *** USA 2020 Dir: Ruben Pla. 92 mins Actor / director Ruben Pla is a jovial – if sometimes slightly intrusive – onscreen presence throughout this warm documentary, in which he interviews an assortment of friends and contacts within the Hollywood horror film community. The line of…