Blaise and Nessa are outcast methadone users in their small town. Each day they push a rusty lawnmower door-to-door begging to cut grass. Nessa plots an escape, while Blaise lingers closer ... See full summary »
Director:
Ashley McKenzie
Stars:
Andrew Gillis,
Kyle M. Hamilton,
Bhreagh MacNeil
On a snowy eve, Little Holly's sister and father are killed by her frantic mother. Years later, Holly is married, lonely, and her life is soon about take a turn for the ultra weird, when she visits "Umbrella of Love and Mind".
Director:
Can Evrenol
Stars:
Clémentine Poidatz,
David Sakurai,
Alicia Kapudag
A twist on the slasher genre, following two death-obsessed teenage girls who use their online show about real-life tragedies to send their small mid-western town into a frenzy, and cement their legacy as modern horror legends.
Director:
Tyler MacIntyre
Stars:
Brianna Hildebrand,
Alexandra Shipp,
Jack Quaid
When her best friend returns from Paris with a new lover, Kate's life is thrown off track. Encountering new personalities, old promises and sexual fluidity, Kate must decide to stay on her current path or burn it down to forge a new one.
Director:
Josh Helman
Stars:
Josh Helman,
Celeste Arias,
Jennifer Allcott
In a Medieval Estonian village, a group of peasants use magic and folk remedies to survive the winter, and a young woman tries to get a young man to love her.
A pulpy, action monster movie, inspired by Cinemaware's cult 1980s video game "It Came from the Desert". A nostalgic tribute to creature features from the 1950's, It Came From The Desert ... See full summary »
Director:
Marko Mäkilaakso
Stars:
Mark Arnold,
Vanessa Grasse,
Harry Lister Smith
A grizzled thug and his gang head to an island retreat with a haul of 250 kilograms of gold bullion to lay low; however, a bohemian writer, his muse, and a pair of gendarmes further complicate things, as allegiances are put to the test.
Directors:
Hélène Cattet,
Bruno Forzani
Stars:
Elina Löwensohn,
Stéphane Ferrara,
Bernie Bonvoisin
A woman (Amanda Fuller) who uses clothes as an emotional crutch discovers her life is not as ideal as she thought...
Director Simon Rumley has assembled a small stable of actors well-known for their recent horror contributions. We have both Alex Essoe ("Starry Eyes", "Tales of Halloween") and the perennial favorite Ethan Embry ("Late Phases", "Devil's Candy"). Leading the way is Amanda Fuller (Rumley's "Red, White and Blue", "Starry Eyes", "Cheap Thrills", and more recently "Last Man Standing"). If for no other reason, this cast makes the film worth a watch.
The counterbalance is Eric Balfour, a man with very wolflike features, which makes him perfect as the seductive third party to lure in Fuller's character. Balfour was in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but interestingly enough also appeared in "Can't Hardly Wait" with co-star Embry. Frankly, Balfour's list of horror credits being so short is a surprise, as he has exactly the right look for it.
The cinematography has a strange, unnatural color palette, which seems to be Rumley's trademark. He (or cinematographer Milton Kam) used a similar device in "P is for Pressure". Perhaps not coincidentally, "Pressure" also had a certain plot element revolving around fashion / modeling. So is this another trademark of Rumley's: the love of clothes? Like the characters in "Fashionista", does he have a "special connection to clothes"? Well, without the addiction or running naked through stores, of course.
The film in general is quite good, though it does take a bit to get going. If you watch only the first half, you get a story about a second-hand store and infidelity. But it shifts gears in the second half to addiction and even darker themes, clearly treading into horror territory. We even get some interesting visual nods – a "Tenebrae" poster, and a "stitch woman" in a dream, which is unlike anything seen in film (the closest that comes to mind is "May").
"Fashionista" screened July 29, 2017 at the Fantasia International Film Festival. It is not the most conventional of horror stories, but that may be its strength. Simon Rumley went quickly from being a new face to being on the front lines for the next generation of genre fans. This film clearly adds to his already notable resume.
4 of 10 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
A woman (Amanda Fuller) who uses clothes as an emotional crutch discovers her life is not as ideal as she thought...
Director Simon Rumley has assembled a small stable of actors well-known for their recent horror contributions. We have both Alex Essoe ("Starry Eyes", "Tales of Halloween") and the perennial favorite Ethan Embry ("Late Phases", "Devil's Candy"). Leading the way is Amanda Fuller (Rumley's "Red, White and Blue", "Starry Eyes", "Cheap Thrills", and more recently "Last Man Standing"). If for no other reason, this cast makes the film worth a watch.
The counterbalance is Eric Balfour, a man with very wolflike features, which makes him perfect as the seductive third party to lure in Fuller's character. Balfour was in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but interestingly enough also appeared in "Can't Hardly Wait" with co-star Embry. Frankly, Balfour's list of horror credits being so short is a surprise, as he has exactly the right look for it.
The cinematography has a strange, unnatural color palette, which seems to be Rumley's trademark. He (or cinematographer Milton Kam) used a similar device in "P is for Pressure". Perhaps not coincidentally, "Pressure" also had a certain plot element revolving around fashion / modeling. So is this another trademark of Rumley's: the love of clothes? Like the characters in "Fashionista", does he have a "special connection to clothes"? Well, without the addiction or running naked through stores, of course.
The film in general is quite good, though it does take a bit to get going. If you watch only the first half, you get a story about a second-hand store and infidelity. But it shifts gears in the second half to addiction and even darker themes, clearly treading into horror territory. We even get some interesting visual nods – a "Tenebrae" poster, and a "stitch woman" in a dream, which is unlike anything seen in film (the closest that comes to mind is "May").
"Fashionista" screened July 29, 2017 at the Fantasia International Film Festival. It is not the most conventional of horror stories, but that may be its strength. Simon Rumley went quickly from being a new face to being on the front lines for the next generation of genre fans. This film clearly adds to his already notable resume.