Australia may not have an overabundance of horror films but they’ve managed to produce some quality genre pictures. The recent success of the acclaimed documentary Not Quite Hollywood has shed light on a much overlooked aspect of Aussie genre filmmaking, from lowbrow slashers to twisted thrillers and gross-out horror comedies. Back in the 70’s a …
Snowtown (The Snowtown Murders) Written by Shaun Grant Directed by Justin Kurzel Australia, 2011 When does using a trope devalue a film? That’s a question that far too often horror filmmakers aren’t willing to ask of themselves. Snowtown is yet another example of a film dragged down by its dogmatic adherence to a common horror …
25: The Dark Knight Rises Directed by Christopher Nolan Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan 2012, USA The Dark Knight Rises feels as if it was made up of two equal halves, with the most critical moment of the film breaking the movie in half, almost literally. While the second half may have …
2012 wasn’t a bad year for movies. It was actually a great year. The problem is, the movies we were most anticipating, specifically the Hollywood blockbusters like Prometheus and The Hobbit, didn’t live up to our expectations. With that said I still managed to make a list of 50 films I loved. Maybe I just …
Every thirty days, I like to post a list of my favorite films I’ve recently watched. Here are the best films I’ve seen throughout the month of September. This list is based on movies theatrically released here in Canada, and I do not include what I have seen at film festivals. **** 1: The Turin …
Filmmakers have continued to push boundaries and find new innovative ways to elicit the emotions of fear, disgust and horror from viewers. Since Alfred Hitchcock directors strived to provoke viewer’s nightmares, hidden fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Although a good deal of it is about the supernatural, others have focused more on a …
–Snowtown Directed by Justin Kurzel Screenplay by Shaun Grant 2011, Australia First-time director Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant, using pointers from the books The Snowtown Murders and Killing for Pleasure, tell the story of John Bunting, Australia’s most notorious serial killer, whose modus operandi led to his 1990s killing spree – dubbed the “bodies …
The best part about Fantastic Fest is that it offers a unique opportunity for discovery. I mean where else am I going to see a movie about a blind, formerly alcoholic MMA enthusiast or a film exploring the seedy underbelly of the Belgian beef industry? But with over 100 feature and short films there’s a …
The Fantasia Film Festival kicks off today with the Canadian premiere of Kevin Smith’s Red State, and now we’re already looking ahead at another major film fest. Fantastic Fest is one of the best film festivals in the states. Held in Austin Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse, the event screens nothing but the best in …