★★★★ Directed by: Lucy Luna Written by: #LucyLuna Starring: #ChristinMuuli, #OrlandoPineda, #EstebandelaIsla, #NunuRoca, #CaioFernandesAlfieri, #TessaScott Short Film Review by: Chris Olson A clever and genuinely chilling short horror film from filmmaker Lucy Luna, We're All Here is a modern ghost story that plays to its strengths and modern sensibilities. Christin Muuli plays Anika Mills, a podcaster originally from New York who moves to L.A. to escape the crowds. Lured by the cheap rent on a two-bed apartment (the previous tenant experienced some drama, shall we say), Anika wastes little time getting set up and recording a new episode on an old analogue machine she has acquired. However, strange things start to occur when her doorbell rings. Fortunately, the tape doesn't stop rolling and we hear everything. Whilst We're All Here is certainly a ghost story, it also plays on the home invasion genre well too. There is a little hint of The Strangers about this movie that makes it terrifying in places, and much like that film, Luna's piece doesn't overcommit to the audience. Few locations are used to ensure the atmosphere isn't lost, the dialogue is well paced to allow the terror to creep in, and the lighting is dimmed just right to create a sense of vulnerable isolation. Muuli is terrific on screen, coping well with the lack of physical actors to interact with. Luna gets a lot out of her by having the scenes feel intimately framed when she is recording her podcast, especially when something incredibly weird happens to Annika (which I won't spoil). Further development of the narrative would have been nice, perhaps giving the audience more of a backstory for Annika. However, there is something sumptuous about the neat and tidy approach to this story that makes it gripping, and even scarier for the viewer. There are light touches on some interesting themes, such as modern isolation and how this makes us vulnerable even though we feel we are surrounded by people all the time, or the way we might sacrifice our own safety to save a few bucks (Annika is thrilled at her low rent in an expensive city). Either one of these could have been developed further by adding only a couple of minutes to the svelte 7-minutes of We're All Here but I understand why the #filmmaker may have opted for a more compact piece to optimise the horror and reflect the audience's attention span. Excellent #filmmaking and scary storytelling, Lucy Luna delivers a chilling modern ghost story that taps into something genuinely terrifying about the way we live now. #ChrisOlson Watch the official short movie trailer below.

Runtime: 86 mins Directed by: #ChelseaStardust Starring: #RebeccaRomijn, #JerryOConnell, #JordanLadd Grimmfest Feature by: Darren Tilby Synopsis: When a pizza delivery girl’s final order of the night turns out to be for a blood-hungry group of Satanists thirsting for a sacrifice, all hell breaks loose… literally. Grimmfest say: Fast-paced and flamboyantly twisted, Chelsea Stardust’s debut feature, and the latest merciless release from the Fangoria stable, proves to be just as much nasty fun as last year’s PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH, though perhaps (a little) less confrontational in its relentless outrageousness. Taking as its jumping off point that most 80s of phenomena, the “Satanic Panic” of the title, the film spins a retro-styled shout-out to the surreal splatter-satire of SOCIETY,  doubling down on the notion that the upper classes are Not Like Us – a notion that seems to gather increasing currency with every passing year. Boasting a razor-sharp script from top horror scribes Grady Hendrix and Ted Geoghegan (writer-director of Grimmfest favourites WE ARE STILL HERE and MOHAWK), and featuring an all star cult cast, this is one high society gathering you’ll want to attend. Just be careful who you get talking to… What I'm Expecting: Let’s all begin by showing our appreciation for just how marvellous a title Satanic Panic is. For me, the title suggests the film may have a more tongue-in-cheek approach: bloody and nasty but with enough 1980’s camp to offset some of the more violent scenes. The film that immediately came to my mind was Netflix’s surprisingly entertaining The Babysitter. It’d be great to see a movie with that kind of sensibility, laden with horrific and over-the-top practical effects — a real 1980’s horror throwback.

★ Directed by #BrentBonacorso Written by #BenEpstein Starring: #BellaThorne #HalstonSage #TaylorJohnSmith #AnnaAkana Netflix Film Review by: #ChrisBuick Tyler (Taylor John Smith) is having the best summer with his girlfriend Ally (Halston Sage), with the two growing more infatuated with each other by the day. But when someone from Ally’s past brags about the sexual affair they had before him, Tyler lashes out at Ally, upset that she would sleep with that guy but not with him, resulting in an ugly break-up. Distraught, Tyler encounters Holly (Bella Thorne), an attractive and mysterious young woman with whom he ends up having a one-night stand. The next day, after reconciling with Ally, Tyler tells Holly that they can’t see each other anymore. But Holly has other ideas. The main problem with You Get Me is very much a case of too much style over virtually no substance. Far too many of the same glossy visuals are used repeatedly, shot after shot of beautiful young people walking around absurdly enormous houses leaves you less interested in the film and more so in what their parents do to be able to afford them. The writing doesn’t seem to offer much either, with pretty bland dialogue throughout, not to mention the use of phrases like “You swallow, I swallow” which stand out for all the wrong reasons. The supporting characters are given almost nothing to contribute, except a small role for Lydia (Anna Akana), who is the only one to kind of notice that Holly is so clearly a psychopath that she might as well be wearing a sign. In fact, the entire cast are barebones in terms of character development, and any backstory for the main cast is vaguely hinted at but any detail that might be intriguing is unfortunately missing. It is unclear whether the filmmakers want us to like Tyler or not, but as the central character he comes across as a self-entitled, immature and ultimately an arse who gets upset simply because someone doesn’t want to sleep with him right now. Holly herself is incredibly over-sexualised which makes sense for Tyler’s initial attraction to take hold, but there is no need for her to be walking around in her underwear in the final act. Ally comes across as overly naïve to the point of irritation and neither are good bases for strong female characters. In fact, the film's attitude towards women in general is quite concerning where women seem to be either regarded as sexual objects to be cast aside at will, or simply insane, dumb or both. Perhaps an attempt to make Fatal Attraction contemporary for the current generation, but You Get Me just ends up being a fatal 90-minute cliché.

★★ Directed by: #DavidMRosenthal Written by: #BrooksMcLaren Starring: #TheoJames, #ForestWhitaker, #GraceDove, #KatGraham Netflix Film Review by: Charlotte Little How It Ends is a #Netflix disaster action film directed by David M. Rosenthal and stars Theo James and Forest Whitaker. Netflix released the thriller in July 2018. The film begins with Will (Theo James) and Samantha (Kat Graham), a young couple very much in love, finding out the sex of their unborn child. Will calms his nerves and flies to Chicago to ask Samantha's father (Forest Whitaker) for her hand in marriage. After a tense and confrontational dinner with Samantha's father, Tom, all sources of power and communication shut down without warning. There are suspicions of strange seismic events taking place, and no one can contact Samantha. Determined to ensure the safety of his daughter, Tom turns to Will with "only one question: are you coming with me?". Tom and Will hit the road, dodging any roadblock they come across using Tom's military experience. They soon encounter lawlessness as they go beyond the city's limits, combating violence that seeps from desperation and fear. Scuffles, shoot ups and showdowns follow the two men on their journey, testing their strength and survival instincts. After a nasty bust-up, Tom and Will rest at an Indian Reservation where they come across Ricki (Grace Dove), a fiercely independent and sharp mechanic. During their travels, Ricki goes on to address the United States Military appropriation of Native American names for their air vehicles, laying the foundation for audiences to build a conversation about the treatment of Native Americans and Native American culture. Ricki's thought-provoking social commentary makes for the film's most interesting dialogue, despite being utterly irrelevant to the plot development. This so-called thriller is an utter bore, recycling action sequences without an ounce of originality. Saying this, some of the transitional shots during their car ride to Seattle were very aesthetically pleasing, the film deserves praise for its picturesque #cinematography. The audience never learns of the cause of this environmental catastrophe or even the extent of these events. How It Ends leaves you feeling dissatisfied, wondering 'is that How It Ends?', questioning whether the film's conclusion and overall bleakness justified wasting two hours of your life. How It Ends is an apocalyptic road trip movie that consists of underwhelming performances, a slow slog across the country and fights with hillbillies in a truck. Towards the end, our protagonist concludes that "Well, in the end it doesn't really matter." I guess originality and story development doesn't really matter either. #CharlotteLittle

★★★★ Directed by: #BobbyChase Written by: Bobby Chase Starring: #DanielBMartin, #SarahWasserbach, #KenGoldfarb, #MorganDyer Short Film Review by: Chris Olson Finding humour in dementia is a tall order but #filmmaker Bobby Chase's short film about memory loss is certainly memorable. Daniel B. Martin plays Kevin, a man struggling to come to terms with the deterioration of his father's (Ken Goldfarb) memory. He is due to visit along with his sister Erin (Sarah Wasserbach) and the prospect of seeing his dad in such a vulnerable state is not something he is eagerly anticipating. Especially when his sister informs him that there is one method which seems to rouse their father which may cause untold embarrassment to Kevin. It's a short film that deals with Dementia appropriately and respectfully, whilst still injecting some dark comedy into the proceedings. Kevin's understandable reluctance to visit his dad and his anxiety when he does arrive feels convincing and emotionally grounded. His speech to his dad where he reveals the toll that life is taking on him right now was impressively delivered, as was the special scene when Erin shows up - which this film critic will not spoil. The performances are great, in particular Daniel B. Martin and Ken Goldfarb. The dynamic between their characters felt authentic and each performer seemed to be enlivened by the other. Wasserbach is also brilliant as the strong yet wounded sister. More development of the family unit would have been nice. We don't get fully invested with any other character than Kevin, really, and the short running time made the piece feel undercooked. What dementia can do to a family is more than enough of a catalyst to make a sad movie. However, finding the life and #comedy in that situation could easily land a film on shaky ground. Chase ensures enough pathos is layered before adding the funnies, so that the audience isn't robbed of their emotional connection to the story or central character. This also allows the theme of coping with the deteriorating mental health of a loved one to be explored with more variety than usual. Aesthetically, Dementia is a fairly plain short film. There is nothing really showy in the #cinematography, the editing doesn't try to give you whiplash, and the music is done to suit the needs of the story. The only flashy moment is when Erin and Kevin's text conversation appears on screen. This stripped down and simple approach to the filmmaking was important in an 8-minute film dealing with such a heavy topic. To have faffed around with gimmicks and unnecessary attempts at style would have fell flat and undermined the storytelling. A well balanced and intelligently crafted short film about dementia, Bobby Chase deals with the heartbreaking condition with skill and aplomb. #ChrisOlson

★★★★★ Directed by: #BaastianRook Written by: #MartijnDaamen Starring: #SytseFaber, #PoalCairo, #AnwarLachman, #PeterLusse and #MartinVis Short Film Review by: Rachel Pullen I can breathe a sigh of relief, cool calming oxygen fills my lungs as I remember, this feeling, that moment, the pleasure that comes from being truly engrossed, moved, affected by a movie...it’s been a while kids, and I goddamn missed it. Radio is dead right? Didn’t video kill it or some garbage like that? Well if that’s the case why do people keep making annoying covers on radio 1’s live lounge that I have to be aware of? And if that’s the case, how come the leading man of Baastian Rook’s short film, On Air is being harassed during his DJ slot? On Air follows Brian, a clearly troubled man, who skipped being a rock star cliché [the drugs, the drink, the leather jackets] and just became the DJ cliché, which involves all the same things just with a smaller paycheck. He skulks around the station being a total badass, he threatens his co workers in the corridor...what a badass, he gets on the air, being rude and cold to his audience...what a badass, and can nothing tame this beast? I hear you cry, it seems not until a certain caller takes centre stage. He has the upper hand on our super cool flannel wearing radio DJ [yup...flannel, he digs the grunge era clearly], phone caller dude is standing next to his sleeping mother [who knew the mother was badass Brian’s weakness...what is he, Norman Bates?]. He is gonna hurt mommy dearest, unless Brian confesses...but to what? Only Brian knows and only he has the chance to spare his mother’s life. On Air makes character development look effortless; you hate Brian to start with, and then you feel every ounce of his pain and frustration, you get in the first carriage of the roller coaster and strap yourself in, we are opened to this not just through a quality script, but by his actions, his movements, his surroundings, great attention to detail has gone into creating a bleak and desperate looking environment for Brian to be miserable, it’s cold, it’s uninviting...basically it’s no trip to the Bahamas being Brian. Music plays an important role within this short, I mean they are working at a radio station, what did you expect? But it’s not the most important factor of the piece, music is used sparingly right until the very end, when the short is coming to its climatic ending, this employment of holding out to the very end, creates for quite an intense and powerful moment in the movie. Rook is giving us everything, but nothing all at the same time...for you see On Air leaves us on a cliffhanger. Well directed, well acted, amazing script, excellent visuals, it’s hard to find fault here, and guess what, I’m not going to, mainly because this is an enjoyable piece of cinema but also because it made me jump to the edge of my seat, get engaged, get excited and it’s been far too long since I remembered why I love films. #RachelPullen

Film Festivals > #PressReleases Article Edited by: Chris Olson Grimmfest, Manchester's festival of fantastic films, will take place at the Odeon Great Northern warehouse from the 3-6 Oct. Now in its eleventh year, the festival prides itself on bringing the best new genre movies to Manchester, focusing on horror and premiering films that contain shocks, suspense, terror, mystery... and a fair bit of black comedy. From the evening of Thursday 3rd October, thousands of Grimmfest fans will gather to catch the latest independent genre movies from around the world, on the biggest screen at the Odeon Great Northern. Throughout the 4-day festival Grimmfest will premiere six European premieres, 17 UK premieres 2 English premieres and 15 Northern premieres. Every movie will be new to Manchester. And that's not all. Many of the filmmakers and stars will be attending the festival to present their films, answer audience questions and sign autographs. Guest highlights this year include British comedian Johnny Vegas, who will be there on the opening night for new comedy horror TALES FROM THE LODGE, which also stars Mackenzie Crook and Dustin Demri-Burns. He'll be joined by the writer and director, Abigail Blackmore, who recently won Screen Magazine's “Rising Genre Star” award for her work on the film. On the evening of Friday, the 4th Oct, Pollyanna McIntosh, star of the hugely popular THE WALKING DEAD TV series will be presenting her visceral directorial debut, DARLIN', which confronts head-on the hypocrisy of religious fundamentalism in the USA. On the evening of Saturday the 5th Oct, US actress, Lauren Ashley Carter, star of indie horror hits such as IMITATION GIRL, MINDS EYE and POD, will be presenting her new movie ARTIK, a contemporary rural Gothic spin on classic fairy tale archetypes, alongside director Tom Botchii. On the evening of Sunday 6th Oct, Grimmfest will be hosting a special presentation of RABID, a contemporary reimagining of the David Cronenberg classic, directed by rising stars, The Soska Sisters. The Soskas will present the film, answer questions and sign autographs. The self-described “Twisted Twins” are fast becoming major players in the world of genre entertainment, having directed a number of high-profile horror movies, and are now writing THE BLACK WIDOW for the Marvel Universe. Grimmfest will also be joined by many other directors who will be travelling from all around the world to present their movies. Justin Dix, special effects makeup guru turned director, whose effects credits include THE BABADOOK, RED HILL and several STAR WARS movies, will be coming all the way from Australia to present his new WWII monster movie, BLOOD VESSEL. From Ireland, the festival will be welcoming Mike Ahern one of the directing duo behind hilarious Irish Ghost hunting comedy, EXTRA ORDINARY. From the UK, Staten Cousins-Roe, whose new movie, A SERIAL KILLER'S GUIDE TO LIFE, offers a very British depiction of two killers on a road trip of self-discovery, and, if he can fit us into his busy schedule, Adam Randall, with his fiendishly deceptive suspense thriller, I SEE YOU, starring Oscar-winning Helen Hunt, Owen Teague from IT, and Judah Lewis from previous Grimmfest hit THE SUMMER OF '84. Guests from the USA will be Tom Botchii, with his debut feature, the brutal Southern Gothic fairy tale, ARTIK; David Marmor with the bone-chilling Hollywood horror 1BR; Frank Sabatella, with the sly Stephen King homage, THE SHED; and writing-directing duo the Pierce brothers, with their acclaimed supernatural thriller, THE WRETCHED, which has been championed by Sam Raimi (THE EVIL DEAD, SPIDERMAN), no less! From Canada, the festival will be joined by Chris Bavota and Lee Paula Springer, to present their crazy existential chamber piece DEAD DICKS, and Grimmfest film festival regular, Rob Grant, with his latest movie, HARPOON, which is already on many people's 'best horror films of 2019' lists. You may not have heard of some of these films yet, but you will. The Grimmfest team is in contact with film makers, and film distributors from all round the world to secure special preview and premiere screenings, weeks, months and sometimes even years before the films are actually released in the UK. Grimmfest closing night film, LITTLE MONSTERS, for example, is a riotous zombies vs schoolkids comedy, starring Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o (STAR WARS, US, BLACK PANTHER, 12 YEARS A SLAVE). Fresh from its success at the London Film festival, it plays Grimmfest a full month and a half before its official, cinema release. So, you could wait, read all the great reviews, and then hope to see the films cropping up in cinemas and on mainstream streaming platforms over the coming months. Or better yet, why not come along to Grimmfest and see them on the big screen before anyone else! The 11th edition of Grimmfest takes place from 3 – 6th October 2019 at Odeon Manchester Great Northern. More information and tickets can be found at grimmfest.com.

Runtime: 98 mins Directed by: #PavelSidorov Starring: #AlexandraDrozdova, #AlexanderMolochnikov, #AnnaSlyu, #OksanaAkinshina, #KuzmaKotrelev, #MiroslavPentsov, #AnastasiaKuimova, #OlegVasilkov, #ValeryKukhareshin Grimmfest Feature by: Darren Tilby Synopsis: Following the death of her brother under mysterious circumstances, and haunted by a series of disturbing dreams, a young woman is persuaded to take part in a lucid dreaming experiment by way of “therapy”. Grimmfest say: If there’s one thing that horror movies have taught us over the years, it’s that messing with your dreams is never a good idea. This stylish tale of a lucid dreaming experiment going wildly out of control only reinforces that notion. Playing at first like a Russian reimagining of Ramsey Campbell’s classic novel INCARNATE by way of Joel Schumacher’s FLATLINERS, it moves into ever more uncertain and surreal territory as the protagonists get sucked into a dream world and must confront their various demons if they are ever to escape. Slick, smart, and visually striking, it’s a very seductive little nightmare that you’ll be reluctant to wake from. What I'm Expecting: It’s really hard to gauge what one should expect from this film. Flatliners is an obvious choice (with it being a horror movie), but Quiet Comes the Dawn isn’t forced to follow that same path. Other points of reference might include Inception; if the film takes a more thrilleresque route or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; if the film decides to lean more towards science fiction and explore what it means to be human. There’s also the chance (albeit, I think, a small one) that this setup – the different characters in a state of lucid dreaming, ‘confronting their various demons’ – could be played out like an anthology horror movie. However Quiet Comes the Dawn’s narrative unfurls, it’s always great to see more Russian-made films, which are hugely underappreciated, and underrepresented in Britain.

★★ Directed by: #StevenSoderbergh Written by: #ScottZBurns Starring: #MerylStreep, #GaryOldman, #AntonioBanderas Review by: Benjamin Schofield When I first heard about this film I heard that it was a Soderbergh film that was being produced by Netflix; when I looked it up, the main stories surrounding the film was that it was a festival film that was being produced by Netflix; when I arrived at the screening, a fellow critic asked me “this is by Netflix isn’t it?”. The fact that the primary discourse surrounding the picture is it being a Netflix production says a lot about the film. That being, there’s not a lot to talk about here regarding the film itself. It’s Soderbergh’s second feature since his so-called retirement six years ago, and it’s about as surprising as Boris Johnson announcing he would be running for prime minister. It’s one of those films that’s based on real events, where sleazy yet charming “money men” narrate a story that describes their wicked deeds, and how they intelligently manipulated the system and made millions. One can’t help but compare it to The Wolf of Wall Street. The main difference between the two is that The Laundromat is three times as long, despite being only 95 minutes. The story meanders so far from the central narrative that it creates full-on oxbow lakes and you’re left asking why we’re watching this and why we should care about any of these characters. Another difference between this and Scorsese’s film is how it deals with the details of the financial bits. Whereas DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort tells you that you don’t care about the details and instead gives you a basic overview, Oldman and Banderas as Mossack and Fonseca really try to explain what’s going on. I have to commend the film for this, but it will no doubt alienate a lot of viewers, and whilst I was genuinely interested, I still found myself simultaneously bored and out of my depth. Soderbergh has a great cast at his disposal, but he seems to take this word disposal rather literally, throwing away the acting talent he has in front of him. Meryl Streep is brilliant, and she plays a likeable protagonist, but the film is more interested in just about everything else, and her story, which really ought to be the central focus of the film, is all but completely abandoned. Antonio Banderas has a captivating screen presence, and works great as the film’s narrator, if not just for his lovely voice. Sharon Stone is in it. David Schwimmer is there for a bit. Gary Oldman is doing an awful “German” accent. The story too is a really interesting one, but the film struggles to see what’s interesting about it. There’s little more frustrating in a film than a great opportunity that’s been thrown away; we have a good director working with a great cast on an interesting story. How did it go so wrong?

★★ Directed by: #NicoleJonesDion Written by: #JeffLocker Starring: #FrancesBrennandRoper, #JeffLocker, #GregoryShelby, #AleckxBohdi Short Film Review by: JJ Donoghue Scars, the latest short film to be directed by Nicole Jones-Dion, focuses on the mental health troubles of Lucy (Frances Brennand Roper), a young woman assigned to a psychiatric hospital. With a running time of only 9 minutes and 27 seconds including credits, the film chooses to play out the action in a single room, centred mostly on Lucy’s interaction with a mysterious, unnamed man, played by the writer of the film, Jeff Locker. Portraying mental health issues on screen is a task which comes with a certain amount of responsibility for those involved. Even if a writer or director draws directly from their own experience when making a film about such a topic, they will invariably be touching on personal issues for audience members, too. With this being said, Scars completely fails to offer up a considered, sensitive, thought provoking presentation of mental health issues. Rather than trying to delve introspectively into the human complexity of mental illness, Scars instead simply offers up a lot of screaming and crying as if this constitutes emotional depth. The film never really offers any psychological insight or asks any intelligent questions, nor does it build emotion slowly in an attempt to get its audience to empathise with the characters of Lucy and The Man. Instead, it chooses to serve up a surface level approach to the topic of mental health, verging almost on tasteless stereotypes. In particular, the character of Lucy seems to have been built purely on a general impression of what a ‘crazy’ person might look like, her appearance all ragged hair and sunken eyes, rather than a thoughtful presentation of how a mentally unwell person might act and feel. While it is true that the purpose of the film is to present Lucy’s “nightmare” situation, the film simply comes across as lacking true compassion and thorough contemplation. One particular assertion by the character of Dr. Graves (Gregory Shelby) that Lucy is ‘hopeless’ is particularly jarring. What’s more, Scars is particularly disappointing because of Jones-Dion’s obvious talent as a director. From the very first slow, suspenseful zoom shot of the doors to Lucy’s room, Jones-Dion builds an eerie atmosphere. The scenes between the two principal characters are well directed, the camera keeping close to their faces and movements so as to create a genuinely intimate feel which heightens the emotion. Furthermore, the camera work in scenes between Lucy and The Man is often intentionally disorientating, shot from strange angles or with an unsteady focus so as to unnerve the audience. Meanwhile, the work of cinematographer Rachel Wyn Dunn is also highly praiseworthy, as Scars’ grey, gloomy aesthetic compliments it’s unsettling mood. Nevertheless, even though the film is well constructed, it’s overall concept causes it to flounder. Jones-Dion clearly knew her intention with this film and executed it efficiently, but the ultimate problem is that this intention was misguided. #JJDonoghue

★★★★ Directed by: Jennifer Reeder Written by: #JenniferReeder Starring: #MarikaEnglehardt #IreonRoach #GraceSmith Film Review by: #HopeMadden Falling somewhere between David Lynch and Anna Biller in the under-charted area where the boldly surreal meets the colorfully feminist, writer/director Jennifer Reeder’s Knives and Skin offers a hypnotic look at Midwestern high school life. When Carolyn Harper (Raven Whitley) goes missing, carefully erected false fronts start crumbling all over town. Cheerleaders take a harder look at football players. Football players cry in their Mustangs. Goth girls fondle pink dresses. Pregnant waitresses bleed at the kitchen sink. And everyone sings impossibly appropriate Eighties alt hits acapella. Even the dead. Knives and Skin’s pulpy noir package lets Reeder explore what it means to navigate the world as a female. As tempting as it is to pigeonhole the film as Lynchian, Reeder’s metaphors, while fluid and eccentric, are far more pointed than anything you’ll find in Twin Peaks. She looks at relationships between mothers and daughters, as daughters toe the line between acceptable and unacceptable levels of conformity and mothers bear the toll exacted by years of fitting in. Reeder blurs that line between popularity and ostracism, characters finding common ground as they address the question: Are you a whore or a tease? The ire is not one-dimensional. Though toxic masculinity requires a price, the males in Middle River, even the worst among them, are as sympathetic and as damaged by expectations as anybody. Reeder’s peculiar dialogue finds its ideal voice with Grace Smith as Joanna Kitzmiller, a jaded feminist and budding entrepreneur. Likewise, Marika Englehardt and Tim Hopper bring extraordinary nuance and sympathy to what could have been campy characters. This cockeyed lens for the middle American pressure cooker that is high school suggests exhilarating possibilities, but does so with a melancholy absurdity that recognizes the impossibility of it all. And in the end, all the Middle River Beavers stare longingly at the highway that leads out of town.

★★★ Directed by: Larry Fessenden Written by: #LarryFessenden Starring: #AlexBreaux #DavidCall #JoshuaLeonard Film Review by: #HopeMadden It is tough to find a fresh direction to take fiction published 201 years ago, let alone a tale already made into countless films. Is there a new way—or reason—to look at the Frankenstein fable? Writer/director/horror favorite Larry Fessenden thinks so. He tackles the myth, as well as a culture of greed and toxic masculinity, with his latest, Depraved. Adam (a deeply sympathetic Alex Breaux) is kind of an act of catharsis for Henry (David Call). A PTSD-suffering combat medic, Henry is so interested in finding a way to bring battlefield fatalities back to life that he doesn’t even question where his Big Pharma partner Polidori (Joshua Leonard, in another excellent genre turn) gets his pieces and parts. Here’s a question that’s plagued me since I read Shelley’s text in 8th grade. Why take parts of cadavers? Why not bring one whole dude back and save all that time and stitching effort? Frank  Henenlotter (Frankenhooker) and Lucky McKee (May) found answers to that question. Fessenden isn’t worried about it. He’s more interested in illuminating the way a culture is represented in its offspring. Pour all your own ugly tendencies, insecurities and selfish behaviors into your creation and see what that gets you. Fessenden isn’t subtle about the problems he sees in society, nor vague about their causes. Depraved is the latest in a host of genre films pointing fingers at the specific folks who have had the power to cause all the problems that are now coming back to bite us in the ass. It’s the white guys with money because, well, because it is. Along with Leonard’s oily approach and Breaux’s tenderness, the film boasts solid supporting work from Chloe Levine (The Transfiguration, Ranger) and especially Addison Timlin, who is great in a very small role. There is a sloppy subtext here, charming in its refusal to be tidy, about the man Adam used to be (or one of them), the girl he didn’t really appreciate, and the way, deep down, a mildly douchy guy can learn a lesson about self-sacrifice. In its own cynical way, Depraved does offer a glimmer of hope for mankind. Fessenden doesn’t revolutionize the genre or say anything new, though, but you won’t leave the film wishing Shelley’s beast would just stay dead.