Drew Goddard crafts tales that are multi-layered and philosophically challenging. From his days in the Whedon-verse to the deliciously exercise in meta-text, CABIN IN THE WOODS, there is always much more going on than the surface narrative. And so it is with BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE, which may not be the flawless wonder… Read More »
THE VOID
THE VOID is a beautifully executed horror film that pays homage to the genre’s roots while carving out its own enigmatically creepy mythos. Playing on such familiar tropes as the deserted farmhouse, the dark basement, and an axe swung with abandon, it takes place over the course of one night in a soon-to-be abandoned hospital… Read More »
FARE — Thomas Torrey Interview
The first thing I asked Thomas Torrey when I spoke with him by phone on February 23, 2017, was whether shooting his film, FARE, in three days, and entirely within a car, was necessity or personal challenge. Once that was out of the way, we went on to talk about the odd sort of intimacy… Read More »
THE ONES BELOW
There is definitely someone going crazy in THE ONES BELOW, and the wonderful thing about this astringent tale of mystery and suspense is that we have few doubts about who it is. The key word is few. Two couples who have layers, which may or may not be camouflage, experience tragedy, resentment, joy, and childbirth,… Read More »
Kent Jones on HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT
When Francois Truffaut sat down with Alfred Hitchcock in 1962, the former was in his early 30s with few films to his name, the latter was in his early 60s, and was the undisputed master of suspense. Hitchcock was not, however, given proper respect as an artist, at least not as far as Truffaut, and… Read More »
Dreary DARK PLACES
DARK PLACES is awash with dark moodiness as it tells a raggedy story that suffers from a failure of to find a narrative structure as strong or as compelling as the performance of his star, Charlize Theron. Based on the novel by Gillian Flynn, on whose novel of the same name GONE GIRL was based,… Read More »
How to Wield A CANDLESTICK
It takes a great deal of moxie to begin a film by referencing Hitchcock in both title sequence and score, but director/co-writer Christopher Presswell’s CANDLESTICK does just that, and then, with an impudent wink at the audience, does a more than credible job of making good on its promise. An intelligently crafted plot, driven by… Read More »
RUN ALL NIGHT with Liam Neeson
There is a reason that there is a rigid formula for Liam Neeson action films: it has a tendency to hit more than it misses. In RUN ALL NIGHT, the tropes are all present and accounted for with the variations that are permitted within the formula’s rules. Neeson is the everyman with, you will pardon… Read More »
Perry Blackshear, MacLeod Andrews & Evan Dumouchel Insist that THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE
THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE is a first-rate existential horror film, as well as a psychological thriller. I got the same vibe watching it that I had gotten watching PI and BRICK, the maiden efforts of Darren Aronofsky and Rian Johnson respectively. Writer/director Perry Blackshear understands more than just how to create evocative, even sumptuous, visuals, he knows… Read More »
SPIDER
David Cronenberg’s particular genius is getting inside our deepest, most primal fears, the ones that exist in the id and are impervious to any assuaging from the land of logic. Hence in RABID, Marilyn Chambers grows something suspiciously phallic in a most unexpected place, in VIDEODROME, our televisions turn on us, and in DEAD RINGERS,… Read More »