By Stephen Palmer In 1991, something rather amazing happened. A horror film swept the board at the Oscars. Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director.. and something that no other horror film has done.. it won Best Picture. At the time of writing, no horror film before or since has achieved Best Picture (“The Exorcist”, “Jaws”, “Get Out”, “Black Swan”, and “The Sixth … Continue reading The Silence of The Lambs – 30 Years Later
Year: 2020 Runtime: 97 Minutes Director: Jesse Blanchard Writers: Jesse Blanchard Stars: Frank, Zed, Jerry Bell Jr., Aaron Booth, Randolph F. Christen By Tom Moore Although horror comes in all different forms, there’re none like writer/director Jesse Blanchard’s sophomore feature “Frank & Zed” – a puppet horror film that’s a labour of love for the genre. The film is a simple gothic tale about a … Continue reading NIGHTSTREAM Review: Frank & Zed
Emma Draper stars as Ellie, a university lecturer who has returned home to reunite with her estranged mother Ivy (Julia Ormond), who has been take care of her invalid husband Jack (John Bach). Despite being heavily pregnant, her state inspires little sympathy from Ivy and the two begin to pick up where they left off in their fractured relationship. Continue reading NightStream Film Festival Review: Reunion
Just within its premise and opening moments, it’s easy to see that “Darkness” touches on some claustrophobic and paranoia filled fears that are mostly perfect for the current pandemic. The plastic all over the house, the daunting fear of what the harmful effects could be of walking into the outside world, and the way that Stella and her sisters are forced to find ways to entertain themselves while stuck inside is incredibly reminiscent to what’s happening now. It’s surely what people imagine as a “worst case scenario” in this time and it makes the dark and drab atmosphere so effective in making viewers uneasy. The only detractor of it is within it’s twist as the idea of the condition that the father describes not being accurate is what keeps me from saying that “Darkness” is the perfect film for the time. With the effects of coronavirus still being felt and thousands still being infected, it’s hard to recommend something like “Darkness” as it doesn’t fully fit the narrative of coronavirus being something that we should take seriously. Continue reading NightStream Film Festival Review: Darkness
2020 has a dumpster fire of a year so far; especially for those who love to attend film festivals. Thankfully, one of the silver linings of 2020 is that filmgoers are still able to attend film festivals virtually and this is where Nightstream comes in. Continue reading What we cannot wait to see at NIGHTSTREAM 2020!
Bertino goes into uncharted waters with his latest horror effort, “The Dark and the Wicked”. Bertino had made the film in his own farm and it promises something more psychological; exploring other levels of fear he has not worked on in his prior work.
The film stars Marin Ireland and Michael Abbott Jr. as Louise and Michael; siblings whom have just heard that their father is fatally ill. The two put their lives on hold and visit his farm to be with their father for his final hours as well as their mother for emotional support. While the time spent together brings up closeted skeletons in their past; the two begin to realize that their estrangement towards their parents seem to be the least of their problems as the farm shows signs of something sinister. Continue reading Fantasia Festival Review: The Dark and the Wicked
The last scenes of Ari Aster’s premier horror masterpiece “Hereditary” (2018) take viewers through a winding middle-American manor, with dysfunctional family dynamics incarnated as demons in the eerie night-time environment. Aster abandons this classic horror imagery for a more subversive setting in “Midsommar” (2019), where his familiar formula of manifesting the characters’ resentments towards one another as violent retribution instead takes place in the long-lasting daylight of a secluded, Scandinavian commune. Continue reading The Terror of TERFs Revealed in “Midsommar’s” Summertime Setting
Being one of the first slasher films to break into the mainstream media, the “Friday the 13th” franchise has not only become one of the most iconic film franchises, but provided one of the most iconic slashers in all of pop-culture – Jason Vorhees. Yes, that hockey mask wearing, machete wielding slasher has been providing plenty of blood and entertainment for decade and has always been my personal favorite of the genre – with Freddy always being a close second. From rooting for him as an odd underdog in Freddy vs. Jason to even playing as the iconic slasher in IllFonic’s incredible gaming adaptation of the franchise, Jason has and will always have a special place in my heart. However, with the 1980 original’s 40th anniversary coming this May, it’s actually not fitting at all to talk about him. Continue reading Friday the 13th: 40th Anniversary Piece
Jennifer Kent’s 2014 debut feature film “The Babadook” is a hauntingly beautiful tale of a depressed mother and her young son. In a lot of ways, it’s a classic ghost story, but the deeper meaning Kent infuses takes the film to the next level. Essie Davis gives a stellar performance as Amelia, a widowed single mother facing a deep depression. Her son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), is a point of grief for Amelia since her husband died on the way to the hospital while she was in labor. Not only is Amelia left without her partner, she is left with Samuel, a constant reminder of her husband that also looks like him. Continue reading ITOL Top 50 Films of the Decade, Entry No. 5: The Babadook
Christmas time is always one of the most emotional times of the year. It brings joy, happiness, and jolly good cheer. But it can also bring other emotions too: pain, sorrow, fear. In Bob Clark’s 1974 slasher masterpiece “Black Christmas”, these emotions are all brought to the forefront in very realistic and sometimes unnerving depictions. At the core of this film is women fighting for acceptance, the right to their bodies and ultimately their lives. Continue reading Black Christmas: The constant cycle of Misogyny and Violence toward Women
In Their Own League 