Fantasia Film Festival 2024 (Curtain Raiser)

In centuries past, wealthy eccentrics would sometimes entertain, shock, and astound dinner-guests by showing them collections of intriguing, and frequently downright bizarre, items known as “Cabinet(s) of Curiosities”; these could contain anything from fragmentary relics of dead civilizations to some crude taxidermied chimera constructed by sewing the torso of a […]

Riddle of Fire (2023) One of the Most Authentic Modern Attempts at the 1980s-Style Kids Adventure Movie (Review)

Robyn Adams

When I think “Vinegar Syndrome”, I don’t necessarily think of a wholesome, feel-good, family-friendly adventure romp – for those not familiar with the iconic U.S.-based Blu-Ray label, you’d be more likely to see them announce a release of The Untold Story (1993) than The Neverending Story (1984), though I wouldn’t […]

Birdeater (SXSW 2024)(Review)

Robyn Adams

In spite of what its title and country of origin might suggest, not a single spider appears in Birdeater (2023), the feature debut of Australian directing duo Jack Clark and Jim Weir; the webs of predatory entrapment that its characters become tangled in are of the metaphorical variety, constructed using […]

Wake Up (Glasgow Frightfest 2024)(Review)

Robyn Adams

If the name “RKSS” sounds familiar to you, it’s likely because they were the French-Canadian trio responsible for 2015’s quirky post-apocalyptic gore-fest Turbo Kid – likely the stand-out title of the kids-on-bikes-sploitation wave that sprung up around the mid-2010s, when the world was caught in the grip of Stranger Things […]