Mental illness is a subject that is often explored in movies, but rarely as raw and successfully done as in Writer/Director Dean Kapsalis’ (Jigsaw Venus 2000) The Swerve. The film stars a fragile, nearly stripped to the core Azura Skye (One Missed Call 2008) as Holly, a woman who slowly …

Directed by Matthew John Lawrence (Larry Gone Demon 2015), Uncle Peckerhead shines a very different light on the semi-glamorous life of a touring musician. The film opens as Judy (a brilliant Chet Siegel: The Last Two People On Earth TV series), the lead singer/bass player of the group DUH, quits …

Written and directed by Leonel Dietsche (3000 2015), The New End is a post-apocalyptic fairy tale, full of knights, kings, jesters, and magicians rotted beyond recognition in radioactive dust. But in this decaying kingdom, there’s only one fair maiden left. The moral of this story, eulogized in the simultaneously hopeful …

The reign of blue and orange color grading in movie-making is slowly fading away. As Hollywood leaves behind the tried-and-true contrasting color scheme, indie filmmakers have picked it up, rung it out, and pinned it up to dry. Director Brayden DeMorest-Purdy’s (Compulsion 2017) Beyond the Woods wears that rust and …

I had the opportunity to watch Anthony Ladesich’s (Forty-Five: The Search For Soul 2017) short film Safe States for Panic Fest 2020. The film clocks in at about 7 minutes and stars Chris Bylsma (The Kid 2019), Meagan Flynn (Up In The Air 2009) and newcomer Maggie Hutchison. Synopsis: In …

Every parent’s worst nightmare is the kidnapping of their child. The short film, Amber, directed by Andrew Wynkoop (To Pierce An Angel’s Wing 2017), addresses this issue with a nightmarish twist. I recently got to watch it for Panic Fest 2020. The film stars Sherill Quinn (Choice 2019), Johnny Gilligan …

The incredible thing about really great short films is their ability to tell an entire story in a short period of time without losing the sense of wonder and awe that comes from watching a longer film. A Noise That Carries (2019), directed by Giullermo de la Rosa (Clavel 2013), …

Every once in awhile, a movie comes along that completely changes the way you look at something. It makes you think, “Damn it, why the hell didn’t I think of that?” Allergic Overreation is that movie. Directed by Zachary Eglinton (The Poisoning 2013), the 14 minute film stars Ace Marrero …

“I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.” — Tom Waits. Clocking in at a speedy 15 minutes, Sky So Blue (2019), which screened recently at the 2019 Blood in the Snow Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, tells the story of a strange piece of music that has the power to …

Playing this weekend at the 2019 Blood in the Snow Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, is a stunning short film by Benjamin Noah (Frontier TV series) called New Woman. The film stars Rhiannon Morgan (Black Conflux 2019) and Stephen Oates (Riverhead 2016). Synopsis: New Woman is a Gothic romance surrounding …