After a traumatic event, Alena is forced to change school and ends up under the watch of a therapist at an all-girl private school. Here she attempts to make friends, love, and move on with her life as her past clings to her. As she tries to live her life and be happy, ghosts of her past haunt her. The film is based on a graphic novel by Kim W. Andersson and is adapted for the screen by Kerstin Gezelius, Alexander Onofri, and Daniel di Grado with di Grado directing. The characters are strong, well developed people, mainly female given the all-girl school setting, and varied.
Author Archives: Emilie Black
Emilie Black’s FrightFest 2016 Wrap-Up
Normally I get to see a few films from FrightFest through contacts and much later on when they are finally released through VOD or on disk. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to manage to see a few in other places such as festivals and conventions. This year, I got to see 21 of the feature films and I did my best to give each a fair assessment.
Here’s a gathering of all of Cinema Crazed’s coverage for FrightFest 2016.
Dirty Lies (2016)
Like many others in Los Angeles, Josh is an unpaid intern desperately trying to make it. When his boss has him go pick up a highly valuable necklace, he figures he’ll save some time and picks it up early. While the necklace is in his possession, his housemates through a party that quickly turns to a home invasion. Co-written by Jamie Marshall and Matthew L. Schaffer with Marshall also directing, the film builds a home invasion/heist story with double crosses and not one clear cut innocent character.
An Interview with Jamie Marshall, Director of Dirty Lies
Dirty Lies is available on VOD currently, and with Cinema Crazed’s review coming soon, we had a few questions that director Jamie Marshall was kind enough to answer.
An Interview with Michael Borowiec and Sam Marine, directors of “Man Underground” [FrightFest 2016]
Michael Borowiec and Sam Marine co-wrote and co-directed the feature Man Underground (review here) about a conspiracy theorist who loses his job and his marriage after what he believes is an alien visit. Michael and Sam worked together beautifully on this film, here they are talking about it with Cinema Crazed.
White Coffin (2016) [FrightFest 2016]
Virginia and her daughter Rebeca have left behind husband and father respectively. When Rebeca is kidnapped, Virginia must play a disturbing and violent game to get her back. She must see how far she is ready to go to save her daughter. Written by Adrian Garcia Bogliano and Ramiro Garcia Bogliano, the film is directed by Daniel de la Vega. Together, they create more of a thriller with horror elements than a flat out horror film.
Night of the Something Strange (2016) [FrightFest 2016]
A group of friends hell-bent on going to the beach for spring break embark on a road trip during which they stop at a small town cheap motel. As they arrive, an STD-like disease is ripping through town. Directed by Jonathan Straiton who wrote the story it’s based on and co-wrote the script with Ron Bonk and Mean Gene. The story they create is completely dependent on gross out sex jokes and monster rape. The film still manages to keep things fairly lighthearted as things are approached in a way that works for its subject matter.