Ahhhh, the horror anthology series. From to Tales of the Unexpected and American Horror Stories to The Twilight Zone, they’re as ubiquitous now as the horror movies they imitate. Creepshow arguably predates most of them, citing it’s origins in the 1950s comic-books Tales From the Crypt and The Vault of […]
Pop Culture
Faceless After Dark (Grimmfest 2023)(Review)
At Grimmfest 2023, this critic asked director Raymond Wood if he considered Faceless after Dark to be a ‘woke’ film. He replied that he didn’t like the term, it was too vague and reductive, but described it as a feminist film from a man who considers himself a feminist ally. […]
Give Me An A (Grimmfest 2023)(Review)
Few things could be more horrific than the loss of bodily autonomy, but in June 2022 millions of women across the USA lost theirs when the landmark case Roe V Wade was overturned, removing the right to abortion. Since then, many cases and protests have arisen, as well as various […]
Grimmfest 2023 Line-Up
‘The horror we are showcasing this year is interior, intelligent, engaged and explosive. It delights in the genre as much as it bends and redefines it. We are so proud of our 2023 lineup and so excited to share it with you all.’ (Acting co-director Leonie Rowland) Manchester’s International Festival […]
Transmission (Frightfest 2023) (Review)
The “lost media” trope, a centrally important one in online horror fiction, seems to have had its old-media coming-out party this year, with lost episodes and unfinished films turning up in everything from Boots Riley’s Amazon Prime series I’m a Virgo to Graham Hughes’s new film Hostile Dimensions (also showing at FrightFest 2023). Now […]
The Moor (Frightfest 2023)(Review)
The landscapes of Britain can suggest a rustic charm and beauty, but they’re also ripe for folk horrors like The Wicker Man and Enys Men. Some of the most evocative locations are the various moors scattered across the land, which can be everything from the setting of Sir Arthur Conan […]
Trim Season (Frightfest 2023)(Review)
Cannabis and horror have a complicated relationship that should be no surprise considering that the drug has been the focus of conservative moral panic from the reefer madness of the ‘30s to the D.A.R.E. campaigns of Reagan’s America. The genre has a history of playing on and exploiting the cultural […]
Werewolf Santa & Cold Meat (Frightfest 2023)(Review)
In Werewolf Santa we follow Lucy, the host of a YouTube channel called Monster Hunters that’s not doing too well. Returning to her hometown for Christmas only emphasises all the ways her life is going off the rails, and after a tense Christmas Eve with her mum (Carol), Lucy and […]
Sympathy for the Devil (Frightfest 2023) Nicolas Cage finds a new vehicle for his insanity (Review)
Every fresh Nicolas Cage film comes with a rare weight of expectation, and 2022 saw that come to a head with a film whose title and content seemed to embody that thought. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent – where the image of Nicolas Cage embraced its own meme – […]
T Blockers (Frightfest 2023)(Review)
Alice Maio Mackay is a horror phenomenon. At 18 years old she has already directed three genre features in the span of three years, with another two pictures in post-production at the time of writing. More importantly, she’s an out-and-proud transgender woman who isn’t afraid to let the world know […]