After Helen, a bike messenger, gets hit by a car, she awakens in the hospital and soon finds herself haunted and taunted by her twin who she absorbed during her development in utero. As Helen seems to lose her mind more and more, her evil twin makes more and more appearances and damage. Or does she? Written by Adam Seybold based on a story by himself and director Cody Calahan, the film explores the evil twin subject in an interesting manner as the viewer is almost never sure if it’s a twin, a ghost, a possession, or simply mental issues that are causing all the mayhem.
Author Archives: Emilie Black
Population Zero (2016) [FrightFest 2016]
Shot documentary-style, Population Zero follows director Julian T. Pinder as he investigates a triple murder in a national park, a place without population, hence the title, and where some laws apply differently or not at all. Director Julian T. Pinder and co-director Adam Levins build a film about an interesting case as these three murders were never fully investigated or prosecuted.
The Devil’s Dolls (2016)
A police detective investigating a serial killer takes a box of dolls with him. His daughter gets her hands on them, and then turns them into jewelry which gets spread around town by well-meaning buyers. Soon the wearers turn evil and things become bloody. Written by Danny Kolker and Christopher Wiehl and directed by Padraig Reynolds, The Devil’s Dolls takes the possessed item idea and multiplies it, sending multiple cursed/possessed items into a community to wreak havoc.
Beauties of the Night (2016) [Toronto International Film Festival 2016]
This film documents the rise to stardom, fall, and aging of some of Mexico’s most famous showgirls. These women did it all, they sang, danced, acted, modeled, etc. They were revered by armies of fans and had it all. Lyn May, Olga Breeskin, Princesa Yamal, Rossy Mendoza, and Wanda Seux discuss their rise to fame, their lives, and their dreams.
Knucklebones (2016) [FrightFest 2016]
Years after a group of people is murdered in a clothing factory, a group of students goes to the warehouse to hunt for ghosts, finding only a box full of knucklebones with which they summon the titular character who proceeds to dispatch them and other visitors to the factory in violently gruesome ways. Writer/director Mitch Wilson creates an interesting, low-budget supernatural slasher with Knucklebones.
The Killing of America (1981) [FrightFest 2016]
Originally released in 1981, The Killing of America is a “documentary of the decline of America.” The film is a collection of news footage and interviews about violent events that have happened in the United States up until the murder of John Lennon in Manhattan in 1980 and the violence at the gatherings following his death.
The Unraveling (2015) [FrightFest 2016]
As his fiancée is expecting his child, Michael struggles with his heroin addiction. As his habit threatens his growing family, he is kidnapped and taken to the woods. Written by Thomas Jakobsen and Justin S. Moore and directed by Jakobsen, the film takes the addiction head on then moves in surprising directions. The characters built are believable within the film’s established boundaries but also as humans. What happens to them is not something everyone will go through but their reactions make sense, their actions as well. One twist was a nit off feeling but once it’s passed, the film resumes being believable.