There’s a particular type of nature horror movie that promises man vs. beast carnage but ends up feeling like man vs. boredom. Into the Grizzly Maze is one of those films — a lumbering, fur-covered fever dream that mistakes loud gunfire and growling for tension. Directed by David Hackl (who apparently wandered off the set … Read More “Into the Grizzly Maze: A Bearable Disaster” »
If Event Horizon, Pandorum, and Alien had a baby—but that baby was dropped on its head, raised on a diet of energy drinks and existential whining, and grew up thinking whispering equals tension—you’d have Infini (2015). Directed by Shane Abbess, this Australian sci-fi slog is proof that you can fill a spaceship with yelling soldiers, … Read More “Infini: A Long Trip to Nowhere at the Speed of Yawn” »
If you’ve ever complained about bad service at a hotel, consider yourself lucky you didn’t book a room at Hotel Infierno. In this 2015 Argentine drama-horror delight, the “continental breakfast” comes with a side of psychosis, the housekeeping never leaves, and the check-out policy is—shall we say—permanent. Directed by a team that clearly grew up … Read More “Hotel Infierno: Free Breakfast, Murder Included” »
If you ever wondered what would happen if The X-Files took a family trip through Silent Hill and stopped for gas in Twin Peaks, Nathan Hendrickson’s The Hollow One has your answer—though that answer may involve being possessed by an ancient entity that looks like it buys its wardrobe exclusively from the “Faceless Horror” section … Read More “The Hollow One: Where Existential Dread Comes Home for the Holidays” »
Some horror films make you jump. Some make you laugh nervously. Hell House LLC makes you deeply reconsider ever attending a Halloween haunted house again. Written and directed by Stephen Cognetti, this 2015 found-footage gem somehow manages to be both a mockumentary, a supernatural nightmare, and an existential commentary on how far people will go … Read More “Hell House LLC (2015): A Haunted Attraction So Real You’ll Actually Die There” »
Every Christmas, Filipino families gather for food, laughter, and—naturally—vengeful spirits with questionable moral compasses. Haunted Mansion (2015), Jun Lana’s deliciously gothic entry to the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival, is that rare yuletide movie where the “silent night” includes bloodcurdling screams and black magic. It’s part teen melodrama, part ghostly mystery, and part “don’t ever … Read More “Haunted Mansion (2015): A Filipino Ghost Story That’s Equal Parts Terror, Teen Drama, and Tongue-Tearing Telenovela” »
Sometimes a movie comes along that defies the laws of cinema, taste, and logic — and by “defies,” I mean body-slams them through a table made of frosting and witch guts. Hansel vs. Gretel (stylized, because of course it is, as Hansel V Gretel) is one of those rare, delicious catastrophes that loops back around … Read More “Hansel vs. Gretel (2015): The Gingerbread Apocalypse You Never Knew You Needed” »
If you’ve ever looked at a rotting log and thought, “You know what would make a great movie? This.” — congratulations, you may have inspired The Hallow. Directed by Corin Hardy, this 2015 supernatural horror film is a gloomy, spore-infested Irish fairy tale about the dangers of ignoring local folklore, basic lighting, and basic logic. … Read More “The Hallow (2015): The Fungus Among Us That Nobody Asked For” »
Every country has that one movie where the supernatural and the sentimental collide like two drunk jeepneys on a foggy night — and in the Philippines, Halik sa Hangin (“Kiss in the Wind”) proudly wears that title. Directed by Emmanuel Q. Palo and written by Enrico Santos, this 2015 romantic horror-thriller manages to be sexy, … Read More “Halik sa Hangin (2015): When Romance, Ghosts, and Guitars Collide in a Baguio Fever Dream” »
There’s something darkly poetic about The Girl in the Photographs being the last film produced by horror legend Wes Craven before his death — poetic in the sense that it feels like the horror genre itself briefly flatlined out of respect. Directed by Nick Simon and billed as a “thriller,” this film is less Scream … Read More “The Girl in the Photographs (2015): Say Cheese and Die of Boredom” »