Conceptual films are always a welcome change from the norm. It takes vision and courage to put together a complex film of this nature and form a whole world without necessarily having to explain it all. Phobias, although an anthology, falls in this category. It has a backdrop that serves as a through subplot that…
“Well, the doctor interrupted me just about then, Sayin, ‘Hey I’ve been havin’ the same old dreams, But mine was a little different you see. I dreamt that the only person left after the war was me. I didn’t see you around.’” — Bob Dylan, “Talking World War III Blues” Portals begins with a white…
Piggybacking on the commercial (if not critical) success of other overstuffed vignette-driven holiday-centric movies such as “Love, Actually,” “Valentine’s Day,” and “New Year’s Eve,” Berlin, I Love You is the fourth installment in the “Cities of Love” franchise. This iteration, like those lovingly set in Paris, New York and Rio previously, follows way too many…
German Angst is a movie for the “V/H/S,” “Zombieworld,” “The ABCs of Death” crowd in that it is technically a collection of three shorter films — “Final Girl,” “Make a Wish,” and “Alraune,” respectively — full of extreme violence and horrific fun. With “Final Girl” as a quiet, graphic, and personal revenge fantasy, “Make a…
A Taste of Phobia never threatens to touch greatness. But, like all horror anthologies, there are inspired moments and passable individual efforts. You just need to filter out the hairs in the soup. Thankfully, I’ve brought my sieve. This is a collection of 14 micro-movies, mostly pertaining to body horror. Each short is named for…
Indeed, Southbound is a collaborative effort in every sense of the word. Sure, all films that are made are collaborative productions. However, this horror anthology has a lot of moving parts with four co-directors overseeing five different stories carrying messages of mystique and moody overtones. The ambitious undertaking by the quartet of filmmakers in Roxanne Benjamin,…
Breaking the cardinal rule of Ouija boards, an unnamed woman lays her hands on the planchette and asks the spirits of Halloween why Robert hasn’t called her yet. Growing tired of the game, she wanders aimlessly around her apartment until she hears a knock at her door. At her feet lies an old VHS tape,…
