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‘Starry Eyes’: The feel disturbed movie of the year

Starry Eyes Written and directed by Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer USA, 2014 This film is at its very core a success story. A very demented, gory, horrifying and darkly comical success story – one with tinges of satanic cult horror wrapped in psychological terror. The plot follows a young aspiring actress, Sarah, as she …

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Fantasia 2014: ‘Starry Eyes’ is a smartly directed, grisly tale about chasing one’s dreams

Just this year has seen the relatively wider releases of dreck the likes of Almost Human and All Cheerleaders Die, both films that can easily discourage horror movie junkies from continuing the exploration of what the American independent scene has to offer. Enter Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer who collectively bring forth a surprisingly effective, unnerving, fantastically gory and thematically intelligent movie about the soul-sucking motion pictures industry in the City of Angels.

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‘Cheap Thrills’ a suitably nasty piece of work

The new film Cheap Thrills is the kind of horror film that’s so effective, you may only want to see it once. Consider that a compliment of the highest order, as this low-budget indie film, playing at Fantastic Fest this weekend, aspires to be a wholly nasty piece of work and reaches that plateau early and often. Anchored by an appropriately sweaty and desperate Pat Healy, Cheap Thrills is gruesome and visceral, while always being slightly tethered to matters of the real world.

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TADFF 2013 Days 7 and 8 Reviews: ‘Willow Creek’, ‘Cheap Thrills’, and ‘Big Bad Wolves’

Willow Creek Written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait USA, 2013 While trying to document and find evidence of the mythical Bigfoot, believer Jim (Bryce Johnson) and his skeptical girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) arrive at Willow Creek, near where the famous Patterson-Gimlin film was originally shot. Despite the many warnings from locals to stay away, the …

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‘Cheap Thrills’ fails to capitalize on its gruesome social commentary

How much credit does rudimentary social commentary buy a film? You may find yourself pondering that question if you can distract yourself from the barrage of indignities that not only frequent but actually make up the constituent parts of the latter half of Cheap Thrills, a social satire by-way-of cruel lark that takes the makes a case against the way capitalism ferrets out and rewards our worst impulses, and does so in the crudest, most straightforward fashion imaginable.

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