Director Zach Cregger’s horror dark comedy is one of the most unpredictable horror movies I’ve seen in years. After missing it in 2022 due to… circumstances, I’m glad I finally went in to it as blind as humanly possible. It’s a good thing to go in to “Barbarian” blind, because it takes the audience in to twists, turns, and spirals that they simply will not see coming. It begins as one kind of movie, turns in to another kind of movie, and then doesn’t stop shedding its skin to become a completely different kind of beast.
The Michoacan File (2023)
In this documentary, Mexican cuisine is front and center, from its history to its influence on other culture’s cuisine, the fight to get it recognized internationally, and how beloved it is.
Malicious (2023)
A family goes to a lakeside cabin for a weekend retreat and to reconnect with each other. Once there, a stranger finds his way in the house and things take a turn.
Five Movies to Look Out for at The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2023
For the eighth straight year the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival comes to New York City to debut and celebrate a slew of horror films, from the independents to the masters. The Festival runs from October 12th through October 19th with all screenings held at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations. This year, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is placing an emphasis on J Horror with tributes to Hideo Nakata and what became a sub-genre.
Here are five films on the schedule I’m looking forward to.
Dear David (2023)
In 2017, a weird ARG by the name of “Dear David” popped up online that became an instant viral sensation. It was the timeline of Buzzfeed cartoonist Adam Ellis who was documenting the supposed haunting of his apartment by a small disfigured boy. What began as a series of tweets and fuzzy pictures of unusual shapes hiding in the crevices of his one bedroom apartment slowly escalated in to horrifying taunts, and nightly visits as the apparent apparition became bolder and began to drive David to the brink of madness. “Dear David” is an okay adaptation of the original viral thread, and while it’s by no means a home run of a horror film, it works in rare instances as a tech based thriller.
Ranking the “Scary Movie” Series from Best to Worst
By the end of the 1990’s, the big slasher movie boom had all but run out of steam, allowing the sub-genre to be ripe for spoofing. In came the Wayans family, all of whom had had previous experience with spoofs in the eighties with their classic “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka!” Keenan Ivory Wayans took the lead directing “Scary Movie” for Dimension Films, which not only goofed on many of the films released during that period, but had a good time with it, too.
While “Scary Movie” promised “no sequels,” we did get them because—it’s Hollywood, after all. We received about four sequels to be exact, and they all arrived with very diminishing returns. Sadly, the more the movies went on, the worse they became, so it’s ironic that the series gets worse in order of the films’ release.
Here’s my ranking of the series from best to worst.
Bring it On: Cheer or Die (2022)
There’s a horror sequel to “Bring it On.” Repeat: There is a horror sequel (part seven!) to “Bring it On.” The cheerleading sports teen comedy that birthed a series of cheerleading sports teen comedies actually has a sequel that is a full on horror movie. That’s kind of like a sequel to “Mission Impossible” that’s a full on slasher film or something. It’s kind of amazing. It’s too bad “Cheer or Die” just isn’t.