SXSW Movie Review: Night Owls

By Brad Henderson

It seems that more and more independent filmmakers are grasping the concept that if you have a great script, good chemistry between actors, minimal locations, and a somewhat intriguing story you can still make a really great film without anything revolutionary. Night Owls is a prime example of a film that does so much with so very little by grabbing and holding the audience’s attention. It uses a basic idea but with such great execution.

(more…)

SXSW Movie Review: Pod

By Brad Henderson

Does every horror film need some originality in order for it to be good? I think half of people surveyed would say yes and the other half would say no. Personally, I’m a “no” because I feel if the film has the right elements, it can be just as good as something completely original. Do we constantly have to be surprised or shown something new each and every time we see a new film? I think as long as the film has a good script, solid acting, good characters, and a decent soundtrack it will be successful to me. This is how I feel about Pod.

(more…)

SXSW Movie Review: The Frontier

By Brad Henderson

The Frontier feels like David Lynch directed a made-for-TV ‘90s Noir western stage play with great actors. I’m unsure what to think of it because part of me really dug its Twin Peaks-esque feel and part of me was turned off by this style. At first The Frontier is beautifully crafted, but after some establishing shots, it quickly descends into this stage play gaze, almost like something from The Young & The Restless. The film seems connected to the rest of the world in the beginning but eventually it feels like no outside world exists. I found this confusing because I wasn’t expecting it all.

(more…)

DVD Review: Zombieworld

By Brad Henderson

Even talking about Zombieworld seems silly to me. Dread Central recently released a “movie” anthology of zombie shorts. That seems interesting at first, but when you notice that the shorts are have been around for a few years and are simply strung together with no wraparound, you realize this was just a sloppy and lazy way to make a quick buck.

(more…)

Blu-Ray Review: Don’t Go Into The Woods

By Brad Henderson

My mom and I watched horror films consistently all through the years of my youth. My mom wasn’t a horror buff, but was really into slashers, so naturally I was as well because I soaked up whatever she would show me. Almost every night we would go to my room and watch at least one film and I would stay up late to make it a double feature. (To this day she will come over to my place and we will either watch a classic or I will show her something new I’ve discovered.)

(more…)

SXSW Movie Review: Breaking A Monster

By Brad Henderson

A couple of years ago while perusing YouTube, I came across an amatuer video of three young black kids playing metal music near a subway station in New York City. Months after that I saw a couple more videos pop up here and there and then they showed up on national TV with even more exposure. They are called Unlocking The Truth and they are fucking amazing.

(more…)

SXSW Movie Review: Roar (1981)

By Brad Henderson

The idea that Roar was even made blows my mind because of the fact that there was a surplus of dangerous animals among the cast and crew while it was being filmed.

(more…)

SXSW Movie Review: Lamb

By Brad Henderson

I’m a sucker for awkward, low-key relationship dramas. Lamb is one of those films that is easy to fall in love with. It is beautiful, heart-breaking, and just brutally uncomfortable at times.

(more…)

SXSW Movie Review: We Are Still Here

By Brad Henderson

I’ve been obsessed with horror films all my life. Early on I had a fascination with 1970s and British horror films. This was mainly because our local video store stocked a lot of the Hammer titles and those caught my eye first before I discovered the nitty gritty SOV horror films from the ’80s.

That is one of the main reasons why I absolutely loved We Are Still Here. It feels like it was pulled right out of 1976 and thrown into our laps with modern gore and special effects. Virtually everything shown in the film uses practical effects and there is minimal CGI. This made it much more enjoyable and gave it that old school feel.

(more…)

SXSW Movie Review: The Invitation

By Brad Henderson

Dinner party movies are becoming a favorite of mine. I love the premise of a dinner party because most of time we are dealing with a group of friends and usually the characters are relatively close to one another. These past few years I’ve seen films like Would You Rather, The Perfect Host, Coherence, and now, The Invitation. Each time I’m surprised at the routes the films take and how different each film is in its own way.

(more…)