'Thriller' Wastes Its Opportunity to Tell a Different Slasher Story Directed by Dallas Jackson

Published Apr 12, 2019

Thriller's cool grindhouse-inspired poster and predominantly black cast could hint towards a sly sendup of a formulaic genre, a revisionist...

'The Amityville Murders' Has No New Tale to Tell Directed by Daniel Farrands

Published Feb 06, 2019

At this point, it may be safe to say that there are enough Amityville movies.   While it's possible to revive a long-dead franchise with a...

'Glass' Struggles to Connect to 'Unbreakable' and 'Split' Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Published Jan 17, 2019

Glass is one fractured movie.   Bad puns aside, Glass is often frustrating, in that all the pieces of a good film are here: decent pacing...

'Halloween' Mines Past Family Trauma for an Updated Slasher Homage Directed by David Gordon Green

Published Oct 18, 2018

Michael Myers is one of the all-time greats when it comes to slasher villains, precisely because he is the simplest — at least, if you disre...

'Tigers Are Not Afraid' Brilliantly Blends Horror and Magic Realism Directed by Issa López

Published Oct 12, 2018

Tigers Are Not Afraid seamlessly blends magical realism with the stark brutality of poverty-stricken slums. It's one of those films blessedl...

'The Hate U Give' Is on the Nose Because It Must Be Directed by George Tillman Jr.

Published Oct 04, 2018

The Hate U Give, a film adaptation of the YA bestseller by Angie Thomas, about the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white cop, is...

TIFF Review: 'Endzeit (Ever After)' Has an Interesting Eco-Friendly Take on Zombies Directed by Carolina Hellsgård

Published Sep 12, 2018

Despite some problems with pacing and clunky storytelling, Endzeit is a visually lush, philosophical zombie film with a unique aesthetic. Ra...

'The Predator' Has Plenty of Dude-Heavy Action but Lacks Self-Awareness Directed by Shane Black

Published Sep 11, 2018

At this point, it's going to be hard to talk about Shane Black's The Predator reboot without taking into consideration the recent scandal ov...

TIFF Review: 'Retrospekt' Muddles Its Domestic Abuse Narrative Directed by Esther Rots

Published Sep 10, 2018

Nonlinear narrative dramas have tricky goals to achieve. Aside from making sure all the puzzle pieces fit, it's also critical that the audie...

TIFF Review: 'Diamantino' Is a Surreal Political Soccer Satire Directed by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt

Published Sep 09, 2018

A weirder, queerer, more Europop Zoolander, Diamantino floats in on a cloud of campy 16mm film to tackle hot-button issues like the European...

'Ahockalypse' Review: 'Goon' Meets 'Walking Dead' Directed by Wayne Harry Johnson Jr.

Published Aug 16, 2018

It's pretty easy to see, from the first blow of the whistle, what Ahockalypse is trying to do. Part Goon, part Wolfcop (trading Canada for M...

Fantasia Fest: 'Blue My Mind' Review Directed by Lisa Brühlmann

Published Jul 25, 2018

A fascinating spiral downwards into a teenager's metamorphosis, Blue My Mind is a beautifully shot debut from Swedish newcomer Lisa Brühlman...

Fantasia Fest: 'Cam' Review Directed by Daniel Goldhaber

Published Jul 24, 2018

An engaging psychological thriller where the dangers are both paranormal and real, Cam takes a premise that could have been trite and exploi...

Fantasia Fest: 'The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot' Review Directed by Robert D. Krzykowski

Published Jul 23, 2018

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot, a film that definitely wins the award for best title at Fantasia Fest, isn't really about Bi...

Fantasia Fest: 'Laplace's Witch' Review Directed by Takashi Miike

Published Jul 23, 2018

Takashi Miike doesn't do anything by half-measures. When he wants to make a movie, he does it to the max, no matter how balls-to-the-wall it...

Fantasia Fest: 'Under the Silver Lake' Review Directed by David Robert Mitchell

Published Jul 20, 2018

Under the Silver Lake couldn't be more different than the critically acclaimed It Follows, director David Robert Mitchell's second feature t...

The Stranger Directed by Nicole N. Horanyi

Published Jun 11, 2018

The Toronto True Crime Festival has done an excellent job at programming films that, in various ways, break established conventions of what...

My Name is Myeisha Directed by Gus Krieger

Published Jun 11, 2018

My Name is Myeisha answers a question: what would happen if the story of a black teenager being gunned down by police was told from the pers...

Abducted in Plain Sight Directed by Skye Borgman

Published Jun 07, 2018

Abducted in Plain Sight is a total mindfuck of a true crime documentary. With brutal honesty, it tells the harrowing story of a deeply twist...

Foxy Directed by Trista Suke and Ellis Poleyko

Published Apr 26, 2018

Foxy, a bubbly, optimistic film by young filmmakers Trista Suke and Ellis Poleyko, uses a blend of documentary and fictionalized memoir to t...