Justina Walford – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

VAMPIRES OF THE VELVET LOUNGE – Review by Justina Walford

March 13, 2026March 16, 2026 Justina Walford Adam Sherman, Dichen Lachman, Elizabeth Báthory, Mena Suvari, Stephen Dorff, Vampires of the Velvet Lounge

Let’s start with the history lesson, because this film certainly does. Countess Elizabeth Báthory was the 16th-century noblewoman who allegedly bathed in the blood of young women to preserve her youth. She’s one of the most enduring figures in vampire mythology. She’s been reimagined in novels, films, and opera for centuries. Vampires of the Velvet Lounge plants her coven deep in the American South, running an absinthe bar and hunting lonely singles through dating apps. The opening twenty minutes read like a checklist. If you have seen even one vampire B-movie, you have been here before.

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NOSEEUMS – Review by Justina Walford

February 19, 2026February 26, 2026 Justina Walford Aleigha Burt, Hendreck Joseph, Jason-Michael Anthony, NoSeeUms, Raven Carter, Tabby Getsy

NoSeeUms is a ghost story about racism. It is not body horror as the trailer may imply. The bugs aren’t monsters. And what is terrifying are the ghosts of history. Raven Carter’s debut feature lives in that particular purgatory of crossing genres and movie mentality, and it’s worth naming before we go any further. The Babadook (2014) is an example from the past that clearly illustrates what I mean. You won’t get monsters as much as the terror of living as a woman in a man’s world, a person of color in a world of white supremacy.

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STONE COLD FOX – Review by Justina Walford

November 4, 2025November 9, 2025 Justina Walford action thriller, Julia Roth, Kiernan Shipka, Krysten Ritter, Sophie Tabet, Stone Cold Fox

Stone Cold Fox is an unapologetic 80’s throwback action thriller. Fox (Kiernan Shipka, Mad Men) breaks free from an abusive drug dealer and her collection of young women, only to dive back in when a series of bad decisions makes her go back. Krysten Ritter as the ruthless queenpin is dream casting. Her deadpan delivery turns what could be stock villainy into something watchable. Kiernan Shipka matches her beat for beat. The side characters? Perfectly quirky and fun.

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KRYPTIC – Review by Justina Walford

April 30, 2025May 4, 2025 Justina Walford Chloe Pirrie, horror, Kourtney Roy, Kryptic

Kourtney Roy’s debut feature Kryptic enters the horror space not with a blood-soaked machete but with something far more elusive and unsettling: a psychological labyrinth dressed as a cryptid hunt. While it might be tempting to lump it in with other paranormal investigator narratives, Kryptic is doing something more rewarding for our cerebral cortex while tickling the lizard brain, too. Kryptic is a feminist body-horror fable wrapped in a dreamy, disorienting fairy tale. It’s more concerned with identity and metamorphosis than with traditional scares. But for those who like their horror laced with metaphor, ambiguity, and a feminist edge, this is a debut worth watching.

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WAKE UP – Review by Justina Walford

March 26, 2025March 26, 2025 Justina Walford Anouk Whissell, blue fox entertainment, François Simard, horror, Turlough Convery, Wake Up, Yoann-Karl Whissell

Wake Up is a Gen Z vs The World kind of slasher film so it makes sense that we have angsty activist kids, carrying the weight of their parents’ economic trauma, trying to survive violent deaths in an IKEA. Yep. An IKEA. The film is a game of cat-and-mouse through a maze of prefab living rooms and industrial lighting. The meatballs even get an appearance. The obligatory attempt to put a piece of furniture together even happens. Every faux-bedroom and showroom kitchen becomes a stage for brutal violence or at least a weapon pick-up. Some kills are pretty inventive and fun. If you’ve ever looked at a coffee table and wondered if you could kill an intruder with it, you know, in a pinch —first, you’re my kind of people; second, this movie has you covered.

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LOVE ME – Review by Justina Walford

January 29, 2025January 28, 2025 Justina Walford AI, Kristen Stewart, LOVE ME, Sam Zuchero, scifi, Steven Yeun, Zazu Myers

Well, I guess this is me now. I’m a 54-year-old woman who knew a world before computers and is now writing a review about a romantic drama involving a buoy and a satellite, talking to a friend about AI being used to talk to dead people, and lovingly asking Alexa to remind me to take out the trash. If you told me I would see all the science fiction I read as a child become reality, I would be giddy with excitement for adulthood. I’m sometimes as giddy as younger me would be, but more often I’m baffled. How do I fit into this world where sentience is a gray area? So on that note, let’s review Love Me, Sam Zuchero’s directorial debut about a buoy looking at a satellite, asking him to love her. And please, let’s not get too existential here. It’s just chunks of metal falling in love…without the existence of humanity. I liked Love Me, I didn’t love it. But it’s exploring two very profound concepts we, as a society are urgently grappling with: the end of humanity and the realization that sentience is not exclusive to the human experience. And for that, it is an important watch.

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GRAFTED – Review by Justina Walford

January 18, 2025January 19, 2025 Justina Walford body horror, Grafted, Jess Hong, Joyena Sun, Sasha Rainbow

Yay, body horror! Sasha Rainbow kicks down the door to the body horror genre with her directorial debut, Grafted, earning her spot alongside The Substance in bringing us a subgenre of woman-created body horror that is as much about being a woman as it is jarring and gross. Rainbow doesn’t have the budget or Gen-X icon, but she does pack a campy gore-a-licious story with a compelling protagonist and a strong cast to pull it off (spoiler pun mildly intended). It’s campy, it’s gross, and it’s smart, offering a bloody satire on body image, internalized racism, and acceptance.

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BOTH EYES OPEN – Review by Justina Walford

January 10, 2025January 11, 2025 Justina Walford Ariel Julia Hairston, Both Eyes Open, Domestic abuse, Gail Bean, Taye Diggs, thriller

Both Eyes Open is a thriller that starts as a domestic violence survivor thriller (a trope I’m not a fan of and will go into detail later), but the story does develop into the terrifying task of making trusting friendships. As a fully grown woman, I think there’s some relatable tension in the task of making new friends. And it’s clear the plot is a tool to tell the story: finding new friends sucks. Writer and director, Ariel Julia Hairston, has a gift for exploring the nuances of friendship among women. As we follow Ally (Gail Bean) through the expected thriller maze of mysterious messages and doubting her own sanity, the film finds its rhythm when Ally is navigating her self-doubt in a very human tug-of-war between an old friend and a new acquaintance.

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YOU ARE NOT ME – Review by Justina Walford

November 29, 2024December 1, 2024 Justina Walford Christmas horror, Marisa Crespo, Moisés Romera, Pilar Almería, Spanish films, You Are Not Me

You Are Not Me is a Christmas horror film from Spain. I jokingly told a friend that it’s The Wicker Man meets Home for the Holidays. While not an entirely accurate description, it feels true in a horror holiday sense. The film has the eerie feel of The Wicker Man, with a supernatural unease that sets in the moment Aitana makes an unexpected visit to her parents with her wife and baby. And at its core, the film is a story about a woman who feels alienated in her own home among her own flesh and blood.

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OKIE – Review by Justina Walford

November 4, 2024November 4, 2024 Justina Walford Kate Cobb, Kevin Bigley, Okie, Scott Michael Foster, small town life

Okie is a gorgeously shot indie film set in rural Illinois. It is a Writer’s karmic struggle in a small town. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was watching a psychological thriller or a drama. The music was intense and the tension was high for a “writer comes back to his hometown” indie drama. I was half expecting Stephen King, and in a way, that’s exactly what I got. Not the supernatural King, but the “hero’s darkest moment” King. “Lucky” Louis is a writer battling with his past and his mental illness. There are no monsters, except our protagonist. But it’s scary and suspenseful watching him try to emotionally survive going back to his childhood home.

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