Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival
When a demonic alien takeover is imminent and you’re the only one who knows about it, how do you broach the subject with your best friend? That’s the dilemma for Wyatt (MacLeod Andrews), a wayward soul burdened with the knowledge of a vaguely extraterrestrial infestation à la “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” in the superb psychological […]
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“Bite” will undoubtedly draw the attention of gore-hounds who are curious why it caused such a stir at Fantasia Film Festival, where paramedics reportedly had to come to the assistance of several intestinally-distressed audience members. My prognosis is food poisoning. Chad Archibald’s monster movie, which sinks its teeth in early but cuts itself off at […]
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Four burglars get the surprise of a lifetime when a poorly orchestrated robbery lands them inside a serial killer’s hermetically sealed murder den. The inventive horror/comedy “Crush the Skull” comes from “iZombie” contributor Viet Nguyen based on his own 2010 short, and finds thieving couple Ollie and Blair (Nguyen’s co-writer Chris Dinh and Katie Savoy) in […]
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THE 2015 SPOOKY MOVIE INTERNATIONAL HORROR FILM FESTIVAL October 8-17, 2015 Since 2006, October has belonged to the Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival. The festival that brought the DC area such films as THE BABADOOK, EXISTS, TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL, A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, HOUSEBOUND, and EXCISION–-holds its 10th annual […]
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“Chastity Bites” is essentially an unfiltered pilot for a CW television series, which could be an entertaining diversion or a terrible annoyance, depending on your threshold for pop culture references and irreverent teen humor. Either way, this coming-of-age horror/comedy thing definitely needs some sort of a makeover.
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Director Jay Stern took a few minutes to talk to us about his second feature film, which premiered last night at The Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival at the AFI Silver Theater. An old-school ghost story infused with plenty of subtle humor by comedian-turned-screenwriter M. Sweeney Lawless, “Spirit Cabinet” centers on eight people who meet for a […]
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We sat down with director Bobcat Goldthwait on opening night of the 2013 Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival to talk about his foray into horror, “Willow Creek”. Goldthwait is known for his work as an actor/comedian in the ‘80s, starring in films like “Scrooged” and several “Police Academy” installments, but is more recently recognized for writing […]
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Before you grimace at the thought of another found-footage horror flick, know this: Bobcat Goldthwait, the actor/comedian who cut his directing chops on 1991’s hilariously twisted “Shakes the Clown” and condemned our society’s obsession with reality television in 2011’s ultra-violent “God Bless America”, fully appreciates the fact that the super-efficient style of filmmaking made popular by 1999’s […]
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(This review was originally published on November 14, 2012 at Reel Film News) If my friend became obsessed with a mysterious DVD that showed up in his mailbox, a potentially authentic depiction of a woman being eviscerated, I might be inclined to part ways with him, at the very least. I’m just saying.
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German Angst
Given the excessively gruesome track record of its contributors, it’s unexpected that horror anthology “German Angst” turns out to be about as thought-provoking as it is stomach churning. Make no mistake: you’re in for a few major shocks, courtesy of three of Germany’s most twisted genre authorities. But, with an exception or two among its […]
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