Events

While we did see all the Midnighter and genre entries for SXSW 2021 and are working to catch up on coverage for that, we did also explore several other films in the fest. I thought I would give my thoughts on each of the non-Midnighter/horror screenings I attended at SXSW …

Being a long-time fan of Ralph Bakshi, a subversive and controversial animation director known for using the technique of rotoscoping, I had high hopes for the SXSW 2021 screening of The Spine of Night, his new animated film. When I heard it had a similar dark science fantasy tone to …

It’s always exciting to see what the next generation of filmmakers has in store for us. At this year’s SXSW Film Festival, we were graced with the Texas High School shorts block, an entire film block made by a group of enterprising Lone Star high school students. Beyond the Model …

Kicking off my auspicious start to the 2021 SXSW Film Festival screenings is a film I immensely anticipated. Sound of Violence, the feature film debut from writer and director Alex Noyer, shook me in ways I could’ve never imagined.  Conjured from his short, Conductor, Noyer molds a maniacal narrative with …

I recently had the privilege of watching Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break, which premiered at SXSW 2021. This is a phenomenal dark comedy directed by Nick Gillespie (read our interview with him HERE) and was co-written by himself, Brook Driver, and Matt White. The film stars Tom Meeten (read our …

Will Jewell’s newest film, Concrete Plans, may not be the first time horror has branched out into eat-the-rich narratives, but does it connect on the level of some more modern favorites of the genre? Synopsis for Concrete Plans: High in the remote Welsh mountains, five builders are brought together to …

Guilt is always a complex emotion with a lot of nuance. Survivors guilt, deep guilt over a life changing mistake, guilt over neglecting a partner… guilt can manifest (and be handled) in a lot of ways. At its core, Jurgis Matulevicius’ directorial debut, Isaac (also known as Izaokas) uses it …

When I heard that Ivan Kavanagh (read our interview with the director here), the filmmaker behind Tin Can Man (2007 – read our review here), The Canal (2014 – read our review here), and Never Grow Old (2019 – read our review here) had a new project coming out called …

Synopsis for A Black Rift Begins to Yawn: Through a mysterious circumstance, two former classmates come into possession of their deceased professor’s set of cassette tapes, which possibly contain recordings of strange signals from beyond the stars. As the women dig into the recordings, they begin to feel memories, the …

The Vigil (2021) is an inherently Jewish film. The reviewer is not, but will do his best to respectfully commentate from outside that perspective in this latest movie review. Synopsis for The Vigil: A young man agrees to fulfil the duties of a “shomer,” the ritualistic practice of looking after …