horror – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

DARK NATURE – Review by Rachel West

May 16, 2023May 16, 2023 Rachel West Berkley Brady, canadian films., Dark Nature, Hannah Emily Anderson, Helen Belay, horror, Jaryl Lim, Kyra Harper, Madison Walsh, Tim Cairo

Female trauma and horror tend to go hand-in-hand, easily setting up the idea of a survivor who is about to face their greatest challenge yet. Therefore, it is no surprise that director Berkley Brady makes her feature directorial debut with the blood-soaked Dark Nature which leans into the deep psychological wounds of a group of women to drive the film’s integral theme. The ironically named Joy is six months out of an abusive relationship with a man who is both physically and psychologically cruel and continues to struggle in her recovery. Her friend Carmen has the perfect solution to help her move forward – a healing nature retreat with a group of trauma survivors. Since this is a horror film, it can only be expected that instead of a healing nature quest, the women face a dark presence intent on inflicting some new trauma.

Guest Posts Reviews

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH (L’employée du mois) – Review by Justina Walford (Guest Post)

May 11, 2023May 11, 2023 Jennifer Merin Alex Vizorek, comedy, Employee Of The Month, Film Movement, french films, guest post, horror, Jasmina Douieb, justina walford, L’employée du mois, Laetitia Mampaka, the femle gaze, Véronique Jadin

Véronique Jadin’s Employee Of The Month (L’employée du mois) is an office comedy with a bloody twist seen through the eyes of long-suffering EcoClean office manager Ines and the new intern Melody. The film starts with a pan of the EcoClean office: a generic set up of old desks, shelves of product perfectly lined up, and all the clues of an organized office manager keeping it spotless and character-less except for a fish – a solitary, silent fish.

Reviews

SCREAM VI – Review by T.J. Callahan

March 6, 2023March 11, 2023 T. J. Callahan Courtney Cox, GhostFace, horror, Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, scream franchise, Scream VI

If you’re getting a ticket to ride to the theater to see yet another installment of this terror trap don’t expect any new found intelligent dialogue or character development, but there’s plenty of character assassination – in more ways than one. What Scream VI brings for horror fans is enough blood and gore to make you feel like you need a shower afterwards.

Reviews

M3GAN – Review by Susan Kamyab

January 7, 2023January 23, 2023 Susan Kamyab Akela Cooper, Allison Williams, Gerald Johnstone, horror, James Wan, Jason Blum, M3GAN

Chucky, you’ve met your match. It’s the model 3 generative android, aka M3GAN for short. She is a child’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. She’s a life-like doll that listens, teaches, and looks after the child she has bonded with. However, when it comes to protecting her owner, M3GAN may go off program and leave a bloody mess behind.

Reviews

M3GAN – Review by T.J. Callahan

January 5, 2023January 6, 2023 T. J. Callahan Akela Cooper, Allison Williams, Gerald Johnstone, horror, James Wan, Jason Blum, M3GAN

Horror heroes Jason Blum and James Wan are starting 2023 off by smacking that cheeky grin off our faces with just enough fear and blood to keep us gripping the armrests and yelling at the screen in their new psychological sci fi thriller, M3GAN, which stands for Model 3 Generative Android. The film is fun and funny as writer Akela Cooper and director Gerald Johnstone keep things just light enough, waiting a good while to building up the story before we even think about covering our eyes. while sending a futuristic message about where parenting is heading if we depend too much on motherboards to do our mothering.

Festivals

Fantasia Film Festival: Born of Woman 2022 – Liz Whittemore reports

August 4, 2022August 6, 2022 Liz Whittemore Born Of Woman, daughters of witches, don't go where I can't find you, everybody goes to the hospital, Fantasia Fest 2022, genre shorts, horror, kin, lily's mirror, punch drunk, Short films, stained skin, the anteroom, wild card

Nine unique films comprise one extraordinary viewing experience. Fantasia Film Fest’s annual Born Of Woman program features shorts created by an eclectic array of female filmmakers. Get ready to be astounded by 2022’s storytelling.

Reviews

MEDUSA – Review by Marina Antunes

July 21, 2022July 28, 2022 Marina Antunes Anita Rocha da Silveira, brazilian films, horror, João Atala, Mari Oliveira, Medusa, Thiago Fragoso

A group of young women wearing white masks, roam the streets of Rio tracking down other women they feel are “sinful,” and assaulting them until they renounce, on camera and live-streamed onto social media, their evil ways and embrace Jesus. In her second feature film Medusa, writer/director Anita Rocha da Silveira marries the rise of religious vigor with observations on obsession, the perils of social media, peer pressure and, perhaps most troubling (always) how young women interact in groups.

Festivals

WOMEN AT FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022 – Alexandra Heller-Nicholas reports

July 7, 2022July 8, 2022 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas amanda kramer, Avalon Fast, Canadian Trailblazer Award, Fantasia International Film Festival 2022, FIFF 2022, horror, House of Psychotic Women, KC Carthew, Kier-La Janisse, lena dunham, montreal, Rebekah McKendry

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival – one of the world’s biggest and most highly genre films festivals – returns in 2022 from 14 July to 3 August with its usual impressive line-up of world, national and regional premieres, as well as hosting a diverse array of international and local guests and signature special events. Of these latter, the unquestionable highlight of this year’s Fantasia is the awarding of the Canadian Trailblazer Award to pioneering filmmaker, author, critic, historian and curator, Kier-La Janisse.

Festivals Reviews

ATTACHMENT (Tribeca 2022) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

June 6, 2022June 13, 2022 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Attachment, danish films, Gabriel Bier Gislason, horror, Tribeca 2022

Steeped in Jewish folklore and strengthened even further by a superb supporting cast, Attachment is a perfect example of a film that is precisely aware of its own sense of scale; never too big, never too small, it is the right size film, the right size story, the right size characters and the right size emotional and visceral punch to carry the film from its first frames right through to its last. With no need for the whistles and bells of some of the horror genre’s more bombastic offerings, Attachment is a captivating, confident and deeply moving little miracle of a film.

Reviews

O UNILATERALIS – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

May 17, 2022May 17, 2022 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas found footage, horror, Michelle Nessk, O Unilateralis, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis

That so few films in the found footage horror genre are directed by women or genderfluid directors adds to the significance here; it’s unusual to find a found footage horror film directed by anyone but white dudes full stop, and that it takes this fascinating direction here marks it as even more unique. O Unilateralis is a solid, confident, super-low budget found footage horror film long overdue proper distribution (festivals, take note!). For fans of the subgenre it will come as a much needed breath of fresh air, director Michelle Nessk proving herself once more as a force to be reckoned with.

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