With the outstanding success of James Gunn’s blockbuster films “Guardians of the Galaxy,” it’s the right time to re-visit the roots upon which Gunn established his film career. Gunn is of course a student of Lloyd Kaufman who began his filmmaking career working at Troma, and eventually worked his way up to his first feature film debut in 2006, directing the schlocky and fun “Slither.” Gunn’s 2006 science fiction horror thriller is very much what you would expect from a Troma alumni, as Gunn conjures up cult stars, and builds a premise that’s ridiculous but oddly entertaining. Scream Factory takes it upon themselves to not only deliver a deluxe edition on Blu-Ray (after originally being ported to the now obsolete HD-DVD), but to celebrate everything weird and wild about James Gunn.
Tag Archives: Horror
Poor Agnes (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
A psychopathic female serial killer bonds with her newest victim in an odd way. This leads to her path changing and her life getting more complicated.
Sequence Break (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
A retro-tech fan working as an arcade game technician meets a beautiful girl as a game pulls him in deeper and deeper into a world where multiple possibilities collide.
Cold Hell (Die Hölle) (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
A female cab-driver in Vienna witnesses the aftermath of her neighbors brutal murder. As she tries to escape the killer and protect her loved ones, one unlikely person comes to her aid against his own reservations.
Born of Woman 2017 [Fantasia International Film Festival]
Last year saw the first time where the programmers at the fest felt a need to have a short film block dedicated entirely to women-made short genre films as they had received a big selection of very strong titles. This year continues this with its second edition or the 2017 edition. Here are short reviews for each film involved in it this year (in no particular order).
Dead Shack (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
For folks experiencing zombie fatigue, “Dead Shack” might be the small movie that cures your unrest for the sub-genre. Director-writer Peter Ricq and co-writers Philippe Ivanusic, Davila LeBlanc twist conventions rather well while also introducing a dashing but complex horror villain to boot. “Dead Shack” is a fun and very funny mix of genres that has a good time implementing the zombie sub-genre without bogging the entire movie down in typical cinematic tropes and heavy handed overtones. The zombies here are more devious plot devices that allow for a ton of gore and splatter, and director Ricq never shies away from the gooey and red stuff.
Replace (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
A young woman notices a patch of dry skin that is growing, growing rapidly even. As she tries to understand what is causing this skin issue, her world starts unraveling and she goes to extremes to try and get her life, and beauty, back.