Next up in my (unintentional) review series of French films showing at Fantasia Int’l Film Festival 2018 is “Crisis Jung”. Why is it in quotation marks instead of italics, you ask? Because it’s episodic. Perhaps it’s a show, though I have no idea what kind of programming block it would fit into. I guess I’d … More Crisis Jung (2018) – REVIEW – Fantasia 2018
First up in my Fantasia Int’l Film Festival 2018 review series is The Night Eats the World (aka: La Nuit a Devore le Monde). It’s a French language zombie film set in France. Paris or a near-Paris suburb maybe. At least I think it is. It’s mostly set in a single apartment building. Let’s get … More The Night Eats the World (2018) – REVIEW – Fantasia 2018
Next up in my Fantasia Int’l Film Festival review series is Le Manoir. It’s French! So, it’s gotta be good, right? A group of teen archetypes (played by 30-year-olds) rents the titular mansion for a New Year’s Eve celebration. The place is old and creepy and in a cellular dead zone and don’t go … More Le Manoir (2017) – REVIEW
If you look up Personal Shopper on Rotten Tomatoes, you’ll see some interest-piquing words thrown around. Words like, riveting, haunting, otherworldly, scary, terror, ghost story, transfixing, and on and on. It currently has a critics rating of 79% on the site. Which is “fresh” despite 79% being a less-than-impressive grade on a math test. It … More Personal Shopper (2017) – REVIEW
I caught Julia Ducournau’s Raw at the Chicago International Film Festival (I say “siff”, but apparently that’s not the preferred nomenclature) in October. I’d heard some great things about the film from reliable folks who saw previous (non-Chicago) festival screenings. The trailer was good too. So, I was pretty excited to see it. I know … More Raw (2016) – REVIEW
Fabrice Du Welz is a filmmaker that I keep tabs on because his film, Calvaire (aka: The Ordeal) made such an indelible impression on me. It wasn’t that the Belgian film was perfect, or particularly groundbreaking,. It was the raw grit and creativity that saturated the film. From the The Texas Chain Saw Massacre … More Alleluia (2014) – REVIEW
French. Found footage. Fantasia (International Film Fest 2016). That’s what I knew about Therapy going into it. Modern French horror can be pretty damn good. (see: Frontier(s), A L’interieur, Martyrs, Ils, Dans ma Peau, etc.) Granted, I either haven’t been attuned to the good stuff coming out of France in the last few years, or … More Therapy (2016) – REVIEW
Sticking with a body horror theme for this week, I got to thinking about some of the great (read: most disturbing) body horror films that may have slipped under the average (American) horror fan’s radar. Possibly because they didn’t get a wide release, didn’t get much buzz, featured subtitles (i know, i know, reading is … More In My Skin (2002) – REVIEW
AKA: House of Voices I love Martyrs. It’s such an intense, visceral just-believable-enough story (i am literally afraid of fanatics). It’s perfectly paced; well-acted; deeply disturbing; and utterly shocking even to this jaded old cynic. Not satisfied with director, Pascal Laugier’s, 99 minutes of genius (ok, maybe I’m delving into hyperbole here), I sought more from … More REVIEW – Saint Ange (2004)
I was in Montreal this past weekend. A weekend when, if I were in Chicago, I could have attended The Massacre, a 24-hour horror film marathon. Either Montreal was not having a 24-hour horror marathon, or I am inept at searching for such things among French language websites. I did find P=ωρ L’Energie Sombre (pronounced, P=omega•rho … More P=ωρ L’Energie Sombre (2015) – REVIEW
No Real Danger 