Category: Horror Movies
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Panic Fest 2026: A Conversation with Matt Webb (The Recluse)
The great thing about horror is that it’s every genre fused into one. There’s horror/comedy, horror/action, horror/thriller, etc. As with Matt Webb’s The Recluse, it perfectly teeters around the edges of horror/thriller, borrowing elements from both to make an impactful, character-driven story. In a recent Zoom call, the writer/director discusses existential dread, his draw to…
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Panic Fest 2026: A Conversation with M-Alain Bertoni (Closing Shift)
Work in retail for any amount of time, and you’ll know what dealing with a Karen means. In his new short, Closing Shift, writer/director M-Alain Bertoni takes things to extremes when a family of Karens terrorizes a movie theater. Bertoni hopped on a recent Zoom call to discuss the impetus behind the film, the state…
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Fantaspoa 2026: ‘Armageddon Road’ spins new Biblical gravel
Horror has a very long history of exploring Biblical and other religious texts. The genre often positions faith as monstrous or the root cause of humanity’s downfall. The First Omen, Mother!, The Exorcist, and The Lodge are just a few examples, but these themes run deep. With Armageddon Road, playing this year’s Fantaspoa, writer/director Karen…
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Panic Fest 2026: Shorts Roundup, Volume 3
Panic Fest 2026 finally closes with my final set of shorts reviews. In Volume 3, you’ll find reviews for three standout films. Spanning the supernatural and thriller, this last batch goes for the jugular. Several moments across this volume’ll leave your jaw on the floor. And you might not want to pick it back up…
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Fantaspoa 2026: ‘Animals of the Land’ is folk horror at its finest
Folk Horror can elicit terrible tremors of pure fear, unlike most other genres. Luke Jaden’s Animals of the Land, playing this year’s Fantaspoa, claws at the eyeballs. The writer/director needles to the very root of humanity, where a sick hunger for power lies in all its perverted glory. There’s something to be said about that…
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Panic Fest 2026: A Conversation with Casey de Fremery (My Severed Arm)
In a post-Scream world, a slasher must completely upend expectations to break through the noise. There’s just no other way around it. Well, unless you’re Terrifier, which is more splatter flick than slasher. With his short film My Severed Arm, writer/director Casey de Fremery knows exactly how to toy with genre conventions and pull no…
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Review: ‘Oddities’ leaps between genres with ease
Tyler Savage’s Oddities makes great use of its title to evoke mystery and weirdness. It’s not to be confused with Irish horror film Oddity from 2024. The writer/director explores human beings as trinkets and gadgets in a thrift store. Through a carefully intricate story (things are never as they seem…), Savage dresses up a darker…
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Panic Fest 2026: A Coversation with Alexander Watson (Demonetize)
Reactions to Influencer Horror lie at opposite ends of the spectrum: you either love it or loathe it. There is no in between. Alexander Watson’s Demonetize aims for the former. During a rather chaotic Panic Fest, the writer/director hopped on Zoom to discuss his film, as well as paranormal TV influences and getting the horror…
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Panic Fest 2026: ‘Dead Bloom’ blossoms with rich social themes
Domonic and Damien Paris’ Dead Bloom lives within the same realm as R.T. Thorne’s sci-fi/thriller 40 Acres. Both films use genre as a vehicle to explore deeper themes of systemic oppression and generational trauma. The monsters simply add to the horror already raging on the outside, layering on a thick coating of inner anguish that…
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Panic Fest 2026: A Conversation with Benjamin & Sascha Montgomery-Pierson (Ekelbrode)
Ekelbrode emerges as among the more character-driven shorts out of Panic Fest 2026. Based in an apocalyptic world, two characters find themselves in a control room and discuss the morality of war. Filmmaking team Benjamin and Sascha Montgomery-Pierson dissect the long history of combat in the United States (and beyond!), crafting emotionally-rich characters, and their…
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Halloween Returns – Pitch Deck
We all know the Halloween franchise won’t stay dormant for long. In the aftermath of David Gordon Green’s trilogy, there have been plans to launch a TV series by Miramax (let’s hope for an anthology!). And I’m betting heated conversations are happening right now for what to do next with a theatrical release. It’s just…
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Horror in Frame: A Conversation with Harry Aspinwall (The House Was Not Hungry Then)
A house as a horror character is a long-standing tradition. From The Old Dark House (1932) to The Night House (2020), the genre has dabbled in the concept of a residence being the source of evil. With his new film, writer/director Harry Aspinwall tears down the walls and invites the audience into a house of…
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Panic Fest 2026: A Conversation with Bo Webb (UN-DEAD)
Zombie films are a dime a dozen these days. You really have to spin a deliciously unique yarn to make some noise. Writer/director Bo Webb lands with a cannonball splash with UN-DEAD, a short out of Panic Fest. It’s a bloody good time, and it features an actor you likely know, Brian Huskey, whose credits…
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Panic Fest 2026: ‘Frankie, Maniac Woman’ delivers the female rage we need
Toss Maniac (1980), Violation, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation into a blender, and you get Pierre Tsigaridis’ ferociously biting and bloody Frankie, Maniac Woman. Co-written with Dina Silva, who stars as the titular character, the film burns Hollywood’s obsession with body image (specifically, the grossly dated skinny white woman standard) to the goddamn…
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Review: ‘Mārama’ unpacks generational trauma of the Māori people
Taratoa Stappard’s Mārama gives voice to the voiceless. Born to an English father and an Indigenous Māori mother (Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Toa me Ngati Tuwharetoa), the writer/director excavates decades of brutality imposed against the Māori people. The film, which carries as much cultural and cinematic significance as 2019’s La Llorona, feels devastatingly raw and visceral…
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Comments
"Maybe the scary truth is that most of my sisters here aren’t failing because of male lead projects, it’s just…
Thanks for the review Bee!