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Festival fans can prepare for an unforgettable four-day experience as the Romford Horror Festival returns with a bigger, bolder, and bloodier line-up than ever before. Running from February 27th to March 2nd, the festival will take over the soon-to-be-open Lumiere at the Mercury Shopping Centre, setting the stage for its highly anticipated official launch at the end of March. This year’s event marks a major expansion, with 240 feature films and shorts screening across seven screens, offering a deep dive into both mainstream and independent horror.

Festival Director Spencer Hawken sees this edition as a milestone, not only for the festival itself but also as a crucial test for the new cinema. “This is a fantastic opportunity to test the venue with a live audience, and horror fans are the perfect guinea pigs,” he said. “They’re passionate, knowledgeable, and incredibly understanding if there are any technical hiccups. While our...

In a pivotal scene from Dario Argento's thriller, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, Sam Dalmas is helpless as he stands behind a glass door, watching a victim writhing in agony from what appears to have been an attempted murder. The aspect of voyeurism is closely tied to the thriller, especially in classics such as Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Sliver, released in 1993 during the short-lived run of erotic thrillers that found varying levels of success following Basic Instinct, encompassed themes of voyeurism and obsession that have always been prominent in the genre.

Dismissed by many critics at the time of its release, Sliver is one of many erotic thrillers that deserves far more praise than ridicule. Some who had seen Sharon Stone's performance as femme fatale Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct were taken aback by what some described as a more "passive" role. While Stone's portrayal of...

1922, 1979, and now 2024. The movie that was a legally distinct, non-copyright infringing version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula has had an impact for over 100 years now. The 1922 version is the one that most people think of not only when the name Nosferatu is said, but when people discuss silent horror films in general. At the other end of the spectrum, we have one of the year’s most hotly anticipated horror films with Robert Eggers releasing only his 4th film on Christmas day that will be his own very unique take on the property. Lost in that shuffle is the 1979 version from famed German director Werner Herzog with his best friend/muse/psychopath actor Klaus Kinski. It isn’t talked about nearly as much and is unique and different enough from the first film that it deserves its own revisit.

The whole reason that 1922’s Nosferatu is the way that it is,...

Rosemarys Baby a true mainstay in the horror genre has a complicated legacy due to the crimes of its director, Roman Polanski. What many viewers might not know is that it was actually the second film in an unofficial trilogy. Polanskis Apartment Trilogy, as the name suggests, concerns three different horror movies that all take place in apartments. The trilogy begins in 1965 with Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby follows in 1968, and then The Tenant completes it in 1976. Repulsion sets a precedent for what Rosemarys Baby would soon perfect: the portrayal of fear-soaked madness against a backdrop of uncertainty and terror. Catherine Deneuves Carol shows viewers the frightening world of Repulsion through paranoid eyes, betraying little through her subtly brilliant performance. At its heart, Repulsion is a story of trauma, fear, and mounting madness that meanders in horror rather than driving headlong into it, tempting audiences to follow along to whatever end.

Vinegar Syndrome‘s October releases include The Tenant, Corpse Mania, and Shanks on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray along with The Ghost Dance, Mind Benders, Dial D for Demons, and Forgotten Gialli: Volume 7 on Blu-ray.

Here’s everything you need to know…

From maverick director Roman Polanski comes one of the most unusual and unsettling studio thrillers of the 1970s: The Tenant. Adapted from Roland Topor’s cult novel, Polanski casts himself in the lead, offering a uniquely demented and outrageously funny performance, and is supported by Melvyn Douglas (The Changeling), Shelly Winters, and Isabelle Adjani (Possession).

Featuring cinematography by two-time Oscar winner Sven Nykvist (Cries and Whispers) along with an original score by acclaimed composer Philippe Sarde (La Grande Bouffe), Vinegar Syndrome presents the 4K Uhd debut of The Tenant, newly and exclusively restored in 4K from its original camera negative and featuring a wide array of new and archival...

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Apartment 7A is a psychological horror thriller film directed by Natalie Erika James who also co-wrote the film with Christian White and Skylar James. Based on the 1967 novel titled Rosemary’s Baby by author Ira Levin, the Paramount+ film serves as a prequel to the iconic 1968 film by Roman Polanski. Apartment 7A is set in 1965 in New York City and it follows the story of a young dancer who rents a room from an elderly couple after suffering from a serious injury that ends her career. Apartment 7A stars Julia Garner, Dianne West, Kevin McNally, Jim Sturgess, Marli Siu, Rosy McEwen, Amy Leeson, Scott Hume, and Andrew Buchan. So, if you loved the psychological horror, edge-of-the-seat thrills, and compelling characters in Apartment 7A here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Rosemary’s Baby Credit – Paramount Pictures

Rosemary’s Baby...

The Batman Part II is still two years away from release. However, that hasn't stopped Zoe Kravitz, who played Selina Kyle in the first movie, from sharing her vision for the character in the sequel.

"The whole concept of Selina in [The Batman] was it's an origin story," Kravitz told Collider. "So obviously there's a lot more to explore. It was a woman coming into her power and wanting to explore what it feels like when she can be playful and sit into that power. Hopefully, it will be very fun one day," the actor added.

Related The Batman Fan Art Imagines Paul Dano in a Retro Riddler Costume

Davi Alves takes a stab at Paul Dano's Riddler in a piece of The Batman fan art.

When asked to provide a filming update, Kravitz said she doesn't know when she'll be asked to suit up again. "Matt [Reeves] goes into his hole when he writes,...

In the era of celebrities getting "canceled," it can sometimes be seen as controversial to support the work of problematic Hollywood stars. However, others including The Batman star Zoe Kravitz are able to separate the art from the artist.

Per Esquire, Kravitz spoke about the movies she watches that she enjoys. That includes the work of several acclaimed filmmakers, like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Penny Marshall, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, and the Coen brothers. When it comes to her all-time favorites, two of her most loved films Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant both happened to be directed by Roman Polanski. Based on concerning allegations made against Polanski, the filmmaker has long been one of Hollywood's most polarizing figures, and while Kravitz admits he's "controversial," she doesn't see the issue in enjoying his films.

Related The Batman Fan Art Imagines Paul Dano in a Retro Riddler Costume

Davi Alves takes...

Ahead of her directorial debut premiere, Zo Kravitz has revealed her favorite filmmakers. And one of them is rather controversial. Like any devoted film lover, Kravitz has a list of favorite directors, including Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Penny Marshall, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, the Coen Brothers, and Roman Polanski. The latter, who was at the helm of Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant (two of Kravitz's favorite films), holds a legacy that is tainted by sexual misconduct and assault allegations that date back to the 1970s. Kravitz admits to Esquire that, while she knows it's "controversial" to hold Polanski's work in high regard, she explains that...

"It's okay that somebody bad was involved in something good. What are we supposed to do, get rid of America?"

Related Channing Tatum Went To 'Dark Places' For His Psychopathic Character In Zo Kravitzs Blink Twice

Channing Tatum opened up about leaving his comfort...

When it comes to separating art from the artist, you might find yourself between a rock and a hard place—or perhaps between a director’s chair and a moral conundrum. Zoë Kravitz is no stranger to the fact that admiring Roman Polanski’s films is a bit controversial, to say the least.

In a recent Esquire profile, the Blink Twice writer/director tackled the elephant in the room: Can we keep loving the art that controversial figures create while still condemning their actions? Well, in Kravitz’s world, it’s all about the art, even if it means accepting that sometimes “somebody bad was involved in something good”.

Zoë Kravitz in Kimi (2022) | Credit: HBO Max

Especially poignant was her defense of Roman Polanski’s work. After all, he directed cinematic treasures like Rosemary’s Baby and The Tenant, films Kravitz adores despite their creator’s not-so-favorable reputation.

Zoë Kravitz’s...

Zoë Kravitz is speaking out on the ongoing debate over whether someone can be a fan of a controversial artist’s work but not condone their actions.

Amid cancel culture and the #MeToo movement with allegations against actors and auteurs alike coming to light, “Blink Twice” writer/director Kravitz told Esquire that she does not shy away from still appreciating would-be canceled directors’ films. Kravitz specifically cited her admiration for Roman Polanski’s filmmaking. He directed two of her favorite films, “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Tenant.”

Polanski left the U.S. in 1978 after pleading guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl who has since defended the director. Polanski has denied the sexual misconduct claims from five other women. Polanski is still making films, with his feature “The Palace” debuting at Venice 2023.

“It’s Ok that somebody bad was involved in something good,” Kravitz told Esquire about separating the art from the artist.

Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón revealed his interest in making a horror film during a masterclass at the Locarno Film Festival.

The Mexican filmmaker, recipient of a lifetime achievement award at Locarno, is known for diverse works ranging from “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” to “Roma.”

“I love horror movies,” Cuarón said, distinguishing his tastes from those of his friend and collaborator Guillermo del Toro. While del Toro leans towards fantasy and metaphysical horror, Cuarón prefers more grounded fare. He’s “flirting” with the genre, he explained, citing Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Tenant” as influences. He also mentioned Jennifer Kent’s 2014 cult horror film “The Babadook.” “That’s so grounded in reality, and in character,” Cuarón said about the film.

The director’s potential shift to horror comes after a career marked by both commercial successes and artistic triumphs. Cuarón discussed his collaboration with J.K. Rowling...

Though his personal tragedies and demons have sometimes overshadowed his work, there’s no denying the impact Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski has had on cinema.

Born in 1933 in Paris and raised in Poland, Polanski’s childhood was marked by tragedy when he was separated from his parents during the Holocaust. As a child, he escaped the Krakow ghetto after his mother was killed in an Auschwitz gas chamber. When the war ended, he was reunited with his father and returned home.

He turned to filmmaking as a student, making his directorial debut with the international hit “Knife in the Water” (1962), which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. His followup, the psychological thriller “Repulsion” (1965), was an even bigger hit, and he was soon drafted by Hollywood to direct the occult horror film “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968), which earned him a Best Adapted Screenplay bid.

It was during this time that he married Sharon Tate,...

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) on Monday added a David Lynch short and an episode of his iconic series Twin Peaks to its Franz Kafka retrospective and unveiled the program of its Out of the Past section, featuring classic, cult, rare and “unfairly overlooked” films, screened in their original or restored versions.

Among the highlights are restored versions of Wim Wenders’ 1984 neo-Western drama Paris, Texas and Two English Girls, François Truffaut’s 1971 period drama about a love triangle.

The Wenders film is part of a three-film program presented by Alexandre O. Philippe, the creator of documentary essays about the history of cinema, offering perspectives on the American landscape in cinema. He will also present his 2021 documentary The Taking (2021), which explores American mythology through the socio-philosophical dimensions of the American landscape.

Also part of the Out of the Past program is Let’s Get Lost, Bruce Weber’s documentary about...

This year’s edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is set to present a retrospective on Franz Kafka and his influence on cinema, dubbed The Wish To Be A Red Indian: Kafka and Cinema. It will examine how the influential Czech writer has impacted filmmakers from Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Ousmane Sembene, Jan Nemec and Steven Soderbergh.

This June will mark the centenary of the final moments of Kafka, who passed away at a sanatorium in the Austrian town of Kierling. Kviff, which kicks off on June 28, will launch this strand in honor of the writer featuring films such as Soderberg’s noir mystery Kafka, Welles’ The Trial, Scorsese’s After Hours as well as Roman Polanski’s The Tenant among others.

The festival will also be honoring casting director Francine Maisler, who has worked with directors such as Denis Villeneuve, Terrence Malick and Alejandro González Iñárritu and whose credits include The Revenant,...

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced its first wave of program details for its upcoming 58th edition, which is set to take place from June 28 through July 6, 2024. The Czech festival, widely considered to be the most prestigious film festival in Eastern Europe, is set to honor one of the nation’s most famous writers with a new retrospective titled “Franz Kafka and the Cinema.”

The series is set to feature screenings of a wide range of films inspired by the Czech novelist, who famously wove themes of alienation and existential angst into cryptic novels that often flirted with surrealism. Some films, like Orson Welles’ “The Trial” are direct adaptations of Kafka’s writings; but the series also includes movies about Kafka’s life, and films like Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” that were influenced by Kafka’s ideas.

“For decades, Kafka’s oeuvre has functioned as a continuing provocation to filmmakers,...

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival and Variety have teamed up to honor Francine Maisler, one of the world’s most respected casting directors, whose recent credits include “Dune: Part Two,” “The Bikeriders,” “Challengers,” “Civil War” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

Maisler has worked on more than 70 feature films and is a recipient of 15 Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America, including for “Marriage Story” in 2020 and “Don’t Look Up” in 2021. As well as working with director Denis Villeneuve on “Dune: Part Two,” “Dune,” “Arrival” and “Sicario,” her other films include Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” and “Knight of Cups,” and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” and “Birdman.” In 2022, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on HBO’s “Succession.”

As part of its homage, Karlovy Vary will hold a special screening of one of the films which Maisler worked on. Maisler will also give a public master class,...

Kristina Klebe is raising funds for her new movie Nyx on Indiegogo, which combines elements of a psychological thriller, relationship drama, and horror film. The plot follows Mia Nox, a renowned pianist who suffers a spinal injury and finds herself in a wheelchair, leading to a dark and complex story about love and art. Nyx aims to shed light on spinal shock syndrome, a little known condition resulting from high-impact trauma that can have physical, psychological, and emotional effects.

Kristina Klebe is currently raising funds for her new movie Nyx on Indiegogo. The movie is described as having "the visuals of a psychological thriller, the naturalistic acting of a relationship drama and the sound design of a horror film." Klebe will serve as writer, director, actor, and producer on the project, while the other members of the film's cast consist of Byron Clohessy, Robert Clohessy and Kim Director. As per Klebe's pitch:

"So,...

For an admirer of his work, writing about a new movie by Roman Polanski is like facing a minefield of unsolvable questions: Can this film be judged like the others given the director’s criminal record and tarnished reputation? Is it possible to praise a work of art if certain parts of an artist’s life are reprehensible, or should the two be separated? Should Polanski still be allowed to make movies? Should this movie even be written about?

Those questions would be harder to answer if Polanski, who’s now 90, made something on the level of say, Chinatown or Rosemary’s Baby. Or even something like The Tenant or Frantic or Repulsion or his debut feature, Knife in the Water, which came out over 60 years ago and earned him his first Oscar nomination.

But the director’s latest, The Palace, leaves little room for ambiguity. It’s the worst thing...

Chilean editor-turned-filmmaker Diego Figueroa (“Los Vecinos”) is set to unveil his debut feature “Patio de Chacales”(“A Yard Of Jackals”) at Sanfic Industria’s prestige Works In Progress strand, offering a suspense-addled mindbender that pivots and retreats through the depths of its protagonists’ minds as atrocities unfurl close-to-home.

Produced by Alejandro Ugarte at Santiago-based Infractor, which co-produced the Juan Cáceres Malaga-winning title “Perro Bomba” alongside Chile’s Pejeperro Films and France’s Promenades Films, “Patio de Chacales” toys with the medium to present a singular take on clandestine crime networks.

“When Diego contacted me and proposed this subject, I found it very interesting. It’s a common and recursive theme in Chilean cinematography, but his point of view was fresh, interesting, something different from what was being done,” Ugarte told Variety. “To deal with these themes from this genre with an auteur’s vision, it’s very engaging, I think...

From The Video Archives Podcast, writer/director Roger Avary and writer/producer Gala Avary discuss a few of their favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Taxi Driver (1976)

Star Wars (1977)

Matinee (1993)

Dune (1984)

Terror On A Train a.k.a. Time Bomb (1953)

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Batman (1989)

Yentl (1983)

Nuts (1987)

Spaceballs (1987)

Die Hard (1988)

Top Gun (1986)

Cocksucker Blues (1972)

Mijn nachten met Susan, Olga, Albert, Julie, Piet & Sandra (1975)

Straw Dogs (1971)

The Godfather (1972)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Day Of The Dolphin (1973)

Babylon (2022)

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (2022)

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)

Carrie (1976)

Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995)

Blow Out (1981)

The Matrix (1999)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Killing Zoe (1993)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Tenant (1976)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Bugsy Malone (1976)

Phantom Of The Paradise (1974)

The Muppet Movie (1979)

The Rules Of Attraction (2002)

The Sound Of Music (1965)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

Giant (1956)

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Babe (1995)

Time Bandits...

You didn’t think Willem Dafoe would star in a conventional escape room thriller, did you? Then again, “Inside” is barely an escape room thriller despite it being about an art thief trapped in the location of his latest heist. Greek filmmaker Vasilis Katsoupis’s elegant provocation may be closer to the kind of existential mood pieces that generations ago defined so much of European cinema, but it’s been given a modern gloss of design, tension, and star power more in keeping with the gripping tales of solitude that have found a mainstream audience.

Inevitably, because of its challenging nature, “Inside” and its methodical excavation of one man’s survival instincts in a place not assumed to require endurance –- a luxury penthouse in Manhattan — will likely only appeal to the arthouse crowd. Even among discerning moviegoers its more indulgent elements may occasionally grate.

But in Dafoe, an actor...

Highest honors go to this stylish, cinematically refined adaptation of a George Simenon thriller. Michel Blanc becomes a person of interest for a murder investigation mainly because he’s disliked and anti-social; Sandrine Bonnaire is the neighbor that he peeps at nightly, to stir his secret passion. Director Patrice Leconte directs with almost perfect control, turning the show into an emotional workout.

Monsieur Hire

Blu-ray

Cohen Film Collection

1989 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date October 25, 2022 / Available from / 29.95

Starring: Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, André Wilms, Eric Bérenger, Marielle Berthon, Philippe Dormoy, Marie Gaydu, Michel Morano, Nora Noël.

Cinematography: Denis Lenoir

Production Designer: Ivan Maussion

Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier

Film Editor: Joëlle Hache

Original Music: Michael Nyman

Scenario, adaptation and dialogue by Patrice Leconte, Patrick Dewolf from the book Les fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon

Produced by Philippe Carcassonne, René Cleitman

Directed by Patrice Leconte

We’re fond...

The September release slate from Severin Films has been announced and detailed today, this latest batch of new releases headlined by 1980 classic The Changeling on 4K Ultra HD.

Severin Films will be haunting disc players across the continent with a new 4K edition of Peter Medak’s beloved ghost story The Changeling, along with landmark Spanish television series Tales to Keep You Awake, My Grandpa Is a Vampire via the Severin Kids imprint, and the entire Plaga Zombie Trilogy through sublabel Intervision Picture Corp.

As if that isn’t enough, Severin will also be putting out a Blu-ray double feature of Al Adamson’s Dracula vs. Frankenstein and Brain of Blood as a standalone release.

Read on for everything you need to know about Severin’s September slate…

The Changeling: It has been called “remarkable” (Paste Magazine), “utterly terrifying” (Mondo Digital) and “a ghost story guaranteed to freeze the...

Chloe Okuno’s debut feature “Watcher,” a chilly tale of gaslighting that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, returns Maika Monroe to her rightful place as a horror-movie scream queen eight years after the premiere of “It Follows.” Genre stalwart IFC Midnight scooped the film out of this year’s (all-virtual) Sundance and will release it in theaters June 3, followed by VOD on June 21. Watch the trailer below.

Monroe stars as Julie, who joins her husband (Karl Glusman) when he has to relocate to his family’s native Romania for a new job. Julie only recently abandoned her acting career to follow him to Bucharest, and so she often finds herself alone, unoccupied and despondent amid the anonymous apartment complex that surrounds her. (The blank facades and crumbling interiors of the structures suggest corporate housing made after the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.) One night, while people-watching from her window,...

A common setting in many a genre outing over the years is the apartment complex due to its familiarity yet isolation. Living in close proximity to other people yet not knowing what’s going on behind their doors offers limitless potential for thrills and chills, which is best exemplified by outings like Roman Polanski’s so-called ‘Apartment’ trilogy including “Repulsion”, “Rosemary’s Baby”, and “The Tenant” but also spreading outward to titles including “The Sentinel”, “Poltergeist 3”, “Dark Waters” and “Rec”, to name just a few. Now, filmmaker Vikram K. Kumar attempts to provide his own take on the setting with this Tamil-lensed chiller that has quite a lot to like about it.

on Amazon

Moving into a new apartment, Manohar (Madhavan) and his family, mother (Saranya), wife Priya (Neetu Chandra), and children are ecstatic to enjoy life in their spacious new home. Almost immediately, though, they begin...

Stars: Oded Fehr, Corey Johnson, Aislinn De’Ath, Alana Wallace, Anya Newall, Lara Mount | Written by Adam Ethan Crow, Stuart Wright | Directed by Adam Ethan Crow

The makers of Lair, a new London set supernatural thriller are very confident that it will be a success. So confident that they’ve already started development on a follow up, The Bone Harvest. Is that wishful thinking, or does Lair have what it takes to launch a franchise?

Ben Dollarhyde is in jail, accused of killing his wife and son. There’s no question of whether or not he did it, we saw it in the prologue. He claims that he was possessed when the killing occurred, something that’s ironic since he and his partner Steve Caramore made a living debunking the supernatural.

Seeing a chance to help his partner out, and more importantly make some money, he decorates his late father’s apartment with allegedly cursed items,...

The 25th edition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival is about to kick off, and between 12-28 of November the audience will have the oportunity to watch a great number of films from Asia, strewn across festival’s various program sections, including all competition segments. We went through the complete program and counted no more or less than 69 films from the broader Asian region.

Quite surprising is the amount of competition titles in the main selection, with three world premieres, four international. Lu ZHang’s “Yanagawa” will have its European premiere at PÖFF.

Yerzhanov returns to Tallinn a year after he presented two films at the festival, the main competition title “Ulbolsyn” about a woman who comes to a Kazhak village to “steer trouble”, and the oddball comedy “Yellow Cat” screened in the Current Waves program. Kirill Sokolov is also back two years after the premiere of his critically acclaimed...

Occasionally a critic will write something that gets readers seriously riled. God knows I’ve done it. If I had to list my three greatest hits of outrage, they would probably be my pans of “Pretty Woman,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “Let the Right One In.” It’s no accident that the last of those is a horror film. Over the years, I’ve ticked off more horror fans than I can count, and it’s all because of something that we totally share: a passion for the genre that’s nothing short of consuming. A great horror movie hits you on every level — heart, mind, eye, squirm-in-your-seat body shudder. Maybe that’s why when we disagree about them, it can feel like war.

Last month, in my review of “Halloween Kills” (which was premiering at the Venice Film Festival), I wrote something that ticked off a whole lot of readers,...

With it being seven years since his last live-action film, 2014’s The Grand Budapast Hotel, Wes Anderson is hard at work. Following a Cannes premiere, The French Dispatch finally arrives in limited theaters on October 22 followed by a wide release the following week, and he’s already shooting his next film (recently revealed to have the title Asteroid City) outside of Madrid with Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Rupert Friend, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Liev Schreiber, Tony Revolori, and Matt Dillon.

As is the case with all of his work, Wes Anderson synthesizes cinema history in his own specific language and for The French Dispatch he has provided a list of influences. As revealed in a promotional book sent to The Flim Stage and styled after the film’s magazine, 32 films are listed that “provided inspiration to the filmmakers,...

September usually means the beginning of the traditional fall TV season. As such, Hulu’s list of new releases for September 2021 contains some impressive TV swings.

For starters, all of ABC and Fox’s (both now united under the Disney banner alongside Hulu) fall season offerings will be made available to stream on Hulu the next day. More impressively, however, two FX on Hulu originals make their way to the streaming world this month.

The first is the long-awaited adaptation of the classic comic Y: The Last Man. The story of a virus that destroys every mammal with a Y-chromosome (save for one escape artist and his monkey) is set to premiere on September 13. Shortly after that, the B.J. Novak-produced anthology series The Premise arrives on September 16. Even those who are fatigued from timely anthology concepts will want to check this one out.

Read more TV How Y: The...

Yoo Ah-in (Voice Of Silence), Zelda Adams (Hellbender) win acting prizes.

EuiJeong Hong’s South Korean thriller Voice Of Silence has won the 25th anniversary edition Fantasia International Film Festival’s Cheval Noir award for best film.

Hong’s film follows a mute low-level gangster tasked with taking charge of an 11-year-old kidnapped girl from a wealthy family. The jury described Voice Of Silence as “impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic. Put simply, it’s unlike anything we’d seen before”.

Juried awards

In other Cheval Noir awards Yoo Ah-in who plays the mute man won best actor while...

Giusepe Tornatore’s “Malena” was a rather influential film, whose impact still sends ripples across movie industries all over the world. Sushrut Jain, twenty years later, presents the same two concepts, of a young kid growing up and the place of (particularly single) women in society in the modern, but still rather conservative, setting of a Mumbai suburb.

“The Tenant” is screening at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

13-year-old Bharat is struggling with adolescence in a patriarchal Mumbai suburb. His parents’ marriage is in crisis; the building bully constantly torments him for being too girly and for attending a high-class, English-speaking school; and his only friend is a childish 11-year-old, who gets even more bullied than he does. Meera, a beautiful cosmopolitan woman from the big city, moves in next door and immediately causes a stir. Bharat is drawn to her and they pursue an unlikely friendship. When Meera introduces him to soul music,...

Writer, director and actress Rebecca Miller discusses a few of her favorite films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002)

The Ballad Of Jack And Rose (2005)

The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee (2009)

Maggie’s Plan (2015)

Explorers (1985)

The Way We Were (1973)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)

Annie Hall (1977)

Repulsion (1965)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Knife In The Water (1962)

The Tenant (1976)

Cries and Whispers (1972)

Persona (1966)

The Magician (1958)

Hour Of The Wolf (1968)

The Virgin Spring (1960)

The Seventh Seal (1957)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

The Exorcist (1973)

The Shining (1980)

La Dolce Vita (1960)

Regarding Henry (1991)

Angela (1995)

Badlands (1973)

Casino (1995)

On The Waterfront (1954)

My Dinner with Andre (1981)

Jules and Jim (1962)

The Bitter Tears Of Petra von Kant (1972)

Wings Of Desire (1987)

The Killer Inside Me (1976)

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

Married To The Mob (1988)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Dune (1984)

Imitation Of Life (1934)

Imitation Of Life (1959)

Written On The Wind (1956)

Magnificent Obsession (1954)

All That Heaven Allows...

For the very first time, Iffla is making a section of its 2021 lineup available to audiences in India, with the India Pass. For the price of Rs. 150 ($2), the India Pass will offer access to 24 films from this year’s lineup, including 6 features and 18 shorts. Most expenses associated with this pass are being underwritten by an anonymous donor.

Highlights from the India Pass selection include the Malayalam feature “Biriyaani“, with a powerhouse performance by Kani Kusruti; the poignant Rotterdam selected documentary “A Rifle and a Bag“; and the impressive debut feature “Aise Hee” (Just Like That).

Of note this year is a special program curated by the legendary Uma da Cunha, “Childhood on Edge”, with characters on the verge of the momentous transformation from childhood to adulthood. This program includes three diverse features and one short, “Kanya“.

From the shorts in the India Pass, highlights include the riveting National Award winning...

Writer, director, producer, editor, cinematographer, and actor Larry Fessenden chats with hosts Joe Dante & Josh Olson about some of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Habit (1995)

Jakob’s Wife (2021)

Phantom Thread (2017)

The Last Winter (2006)

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

The Crawling Eye (1958)

The Reptile (1966)

Peeping Tom (1960)

Casablanca (1942)

Jaws (1975)

Man Of A Thousand Faces (1957)

Scarlet Street (1945)

Suspicion (1941)

Rope (1948)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

Frankenstein (1931)

The Wolf Man (1941)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

Dracula (1931)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Mean Streets (1973)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Playtime (1973)

The Thing (1982)

The Howling (1981)

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

An American Werewolf In Paris (1997)

I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957)

Ginger Snaps (2001)

The Terminator (1984)

The Wolfman (2010)

Van Helsing (2004)

The Mummy (2017)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)

The Invisible Man (1933)

The Invisible Man (2020)

Amazon Women On The Moon (1987)

Wendigo (2001)

Fargo (1996)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Seven (1995)

Man Bites Dog...

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) announced today its full lineup of narrative and documentary features, and shorts for the festival’s 19th edition, which will be held virtually and geo-blocked to California, on May 20-27.

“This is a very special year for Iffla. Taking the festival online has given us the freedom to curate programs we would not have been able to present in a physical setting. We have expanded our reach to all California residents, doubled the shorts program with a strong representation of films from the diaspora, added special programs like “Childhood on Edge”, and curated discussions on timely and pressing topics, celebrating the independent film community from India and the Indian diaspora,” said Christina Marouda, Executive Director.

Iffla will open with the Los Angeles premiere of the powerful female-centric film, Fire in the Mountains, the 2021 Sundance-selected debut feature by Ajitpal Singh that immerses audiences...

Did Jeffrey Epstein kill himself, or was he murdered before the wealthy sex offender could point a finger and potentially implicate any of the high-profile, well-heeled predators in his orbit?

That’s the premise of Dasha Nekrasova’s provocative directorial debut “The Scare of Sixty-First.”

It’s a subject of intense interest to Nekrasova, an actor and host of the podcast “Red Scare,” who recalls living near the Metropolitan Correctional Center where Epstein was found dead in August of 2019. His presence, however unwelcome, loomed large over the city, and she found herself deep in an internet rabbit hole about conspiracy theories relating to Epstein’s demise. She became deeply suspicious of the true nature of his death, which was ruled a suicide with investigators saying the businessman strangled himself with his bed sheet.

Though Epstein doesn’t appear in “The Scary of Sixty-First,” which premieres Tuesday at the Berlin Film Festival,...

Hey, remember when they released that picture of the CGI movie Sonic the Hedgehog and it was so freakish and unnerving that animators had to work overtime to fix it? Anywho, Sonic the Hedgehog is coming to Hulu this month.

The heroic blue hedgehog who just wants to go fast is far from the only exciting new film or TV show coming to Hulu in February 2021. The library titles are unusually packed this month. In addition to Sonic, the sublimely goofy Mars Attacks!, 2020 horror film Possessor, and the first six Star Trek films all arrive on Feb. 1. Later on in the month are Antebellum (Feb. 5) and Nomadland (Feb. 19).

It’s a good thing that the library titles are strong because Hulu isn’t brining many originals of note to the table in February 2021. Into the Dark continues on its spooky mission with the Valentine-centric Tentacles dropping on Feb. 12. That will...

For cinematographer Hillary Spera, shooting Hulu’s thriller “Run,” about a controlling mother and her disabled daughter, was about capturing tension, isolation — and monotony.

Sarah Paulson stars as Diane Sherman, mom to teenager Chloe, played by Kiera Allen, who has spent her life in a wheelchair. Chronically ill, Kiera sticks close to her mother until she discovers her parent’s twisted and sinister side.

Spera (“The Craft: Legacy”) spent time discussing director Aneesh Chaganty’s vision with him to ensure the film, which bows Nov. 20, had an opening sequence that captured the repetition of Chloe’s everyday life: She gets out of bed, takes her medication, eats breakfast, has her blood sugar tested, uses her asthma inhaler and receives physiotherapy from her mother before her day of homeschooling begins.

“The idea was to show what she is capable of. She has a disability, but she’s incredibly capable, especially when...

The November 2020 lineup for The Criterion Channel has been unveiled, toplined by a Claire Denis retrospective, including the brand-new restoration of Beau travail, along with Chocolat, No Fear, No Die, Nenette and Boni, Towards Mathilde, 35 Shots of Rum, and White Material.

There will also be a series celebrating 30 years of The Film Foundation, featuring a new interview with Martin Scorsese by Ari Aster, as well as a number of their most essential restorations, including films by Jia Zhangke, Ritwik Ghatak, Luchino Visconti, Shirley Clarke, Med Hondo, and more.

There’s also David Lynch’s new restoration of The Elephant Man, retrospectives dedicated to Ngozi Onwurah, Nadav Lapid, and Terence Nance, a new edition of the series Queersighted titled Queer Fear, featuring a new conversation between series programmer Michael Koresky and filmmaker and critic Farihah Zaman, and much more.

See the lineup below and learn more on the official site.

Horror fans, specifically those interested in classic horror, have just been handed a gift by The Criterion Channel. The streaming service has announced a massive collection of 70s horror classics will be arriving on the service just in time for the Halloween season. This includes a wide range of selections from some of the most iconic filmmakers to ever tackle the genre, including Tobe Hooper, George A. Romero, Wes Craven and David Cronenberg, just to name a few.

The Criterion Channel recently released a trailer detailing what the collection contains. Per Criterion, "This tour through the 1970s nightmare realm is a veritable blood feast of perverse pleasures from a time when gore, grime, and sleaze found a permanent home in horror." The trailer offers but a small taste of the tour, which includes a total of 29 classics, rarities and oddities from the decade.

Some bonafide horror classics are included in the collection,...

We told you. Remember the rules. You didn’t listen. Now we’re Back with an all new batch of guest recommendations featuring Blake Masters, Julien Nitzberg, Floyd Norman, Tuppence Middleton and Blaire Bercy.

Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Wild Angels (1966)

Spirits of the Dead (1966)

The Trip (1967)

Mooch Goes To Hollywood (1971)

Stalker (1979)

The Candidate (1972)

The Parallax View (1974)

Network (1976)

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Ace In The Hole (1951)

Margin Call (2011)

Death Wish (1974)

Death Wish (2018)

Seconds (1966)

Soylent Green (1973)

Rage (1972)

Assault on Wall Street (2013)

Repo Man (1984)

Elmer Gantry (1960)

The Train (1965)

Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)

Strange Brew (1983)

To Have And Have Not (1944)

Singin’ In The Rain (1952)

Easter Parade (1948)

The Band Wagon (1953)

Guys And Dolls (1955)

On The Town (1949)

Casablanca (1942)

The Dirt Gang (1972)

Back To The Future (1985)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

The Big Sleep (1946)

Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949)

My Man Godfrey...

What better way to kick off a new month than a look at the many movies coming to Hulu? Ok, if you don’t have a Hulu subscription you might need an alternative. Maybe this list will convince you to take one out, though (not that I’m there salesperson). But enough patter, let’s crack on with it.

Here’s every new film that arrived on July 1st:

12 and Holding (2006)

2001 Maniacs (2005)

52 Pick-Up (1986)

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (2009)

A Kid Like Jake (2018)

A Mighty Wind (2003)

A Storks Journey (2017)

An Eye for a Eye (1966)

The Axe Murders of Villisca (2017)

The Bellboy (1960)

Beloved (2012)

Best In Show (2000)

Between Us (2017)

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

Birdwatchers (2010)

Boogie Woogie (2010)

The Bounty (1984)

Brokedown Palace (1998)

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (1992)

Bug (1975)

Buried (2010)

Cadaver (2009)

California Dreamin’ (2009)

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)

Catcher Was A Spy (2018)

The Catechism Cataclysm (2011)

Change of Plans (2010)

Cheech & Chong...

Cult Gestalt: Marmor Explores Urban Horrors in Efficient Debut

There’s apparently more than one way to define rent control, at least as suggested by David Marmor’s effective and efficient debut, a likeable low-budget horror film 1Br. A notch above the usual American indie horror offerings, Marmor’s narrative is certainly predictable but efficient use of limited locations and calculated performances recalls a variety of arthouse horror icons, particularly Polanski’s celebrated Apartment trilogy (Repulsion; Rosemary’s Baby; The Tenant), at least in its basic themes. A likeable Nicole Brydon Bloom presents a likeable lead performance, which is perhaps assisted by some of the staged ambiguities about her commitment to a new ‘community.’…...

What at first seems like an idyllic Los Angeles apartment becomes a hellish prison for a young woman in the new horror film 1Br. The feature-length debut of writer/director David Marmor, 1Br is out now on digital platforms from Dark Sky Films, and we caught up with Marmor in our latest Q&a feature to discuss the film's timely themes of isolation and longing for community, working with Nicole Brydon Bloom and Naomi Grossman, and what he learned from directing his first feature.

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with us, and congratulations on 1Br! How and when did you come up with the idea for this film?

David Marmor: The idea really started when I moved to Los Angeles in my early 20s and lived in a building a lot like the one in the movie. I would wave to the same neighbors on the breezeways...

Looking to stay in and watch horror this summer? Scream Factory has you covered with five new Blu-ray announcements for July: Graveyard Shift (based on Stephen King's short story of the same name), the Bruce Dern-starring Tattoo, 1976's The Tenant, the massive monster movie War of the Colossal Beast, and a Collector's Edition of the Hammer horror film Kiss of the Vampire.

Special features for all five releases will be announced in the future, but in the meantime you can check out the announcements and cover art (via Scream Factory's Facebook page) for the upcoming Blu-rays below. Which ones are you planning on adding to your collection?

Graveyard Shift Blu-ray: "A creepy combination of Stephen King and underground terror comes to life in 1990’s horror show Graveyard Shift, clocking in on Blu-ray for the first time in North America.

When an abandoned textile mill is reopened, several employees meet mysterious deaths.

Movies to watch when you’re staying in for a while, featuring recommendations from Dana Gould, Daniel Waters, Scott Alexander, and Allison Anders.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Destroy All Monsters (1969)

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

Beneath The Planet of the Apes (1970)

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (1971)

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (1972)

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes (1973)

Suparpie

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

Hello Down There (1969)

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Thirteen Days (2000)

Stalker (1979)

Last Year At Marienbad (1961)

No Exit (1962)

The Exterminating Angel (1962)

Sleeper (1973)

The Tenant (1976)

Final Cut: Ladies And Gentlemen (2012)

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)

La classe américaine (1993)

The Sex Adventures of a Single Man a.k.a. The 24 Hour Lover (1968)

The Omega Man (1971)

Soylent Green (1973)

Knives Out (2019)

The Hunt (2020)

Banana Split (2020)

The Cocoanuts (1929)

Animal Crackers (1930)

Monkey Business (1931)

Horse Feathers (1932)

Duck Soup (1933)

A Night At The Opera (1935)

The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant (1971)

Susan Slade (1961)

My Blood Runs Cold...

While the horror genre is always on the verge of losing its touch with many entries being too mainstream and too polished, there are always a few movies within a year that manage to hit a certain nerve. Movies such as Jennifer Kent’s “The Babadook”, David Robert Mitchell’s “It Follows” or Robert Eggers “The VVitch” are not only cleverly made genre movies, but the horror in them goes far beyond a few scary moments for the terror is within us all, in our worlds and in our lives, making it sometimes quite difficult to watch these films. In the midst of these movies, it is therefore a shame Babak Anvari’s feature “Under The Shadow” debut has been ignored by so many audiences, even though it delivers not only a powerful allegory about Iran’s history and its view on the family, but also one of the most...

Amazon Prime Video is out with its list of everything new coming to the streaming service in January 2020.

New Prime Original, “Troop Zero,” is out Jan. 17. It stars Viola Davis and Allison Janney and “tells the story of a misfit girl dreaming of life in outer space but living in rural 1977 Georgia. When a national competition offers her a chance at her dream, to be recorded on Nasa’s Golden Record, she recruits a makeshift troop of Birdie Scouts, forging friendships that last a lifetime and beyond,” according to Amazon.

Other Prime Originals include the five-part docuseries “Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer,” out Jan. 31, and new standup special “Ilana Glazer: The Planet is Burning,” out Jan. 3.

Also Read: 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Renewed For Season 4 at Amazon

Here is the full list of titles coming to Amazon Prime Video in January.

January 1

Amores Perros (2000)

Arbitrage (2012)

Captivity (2007)

Cinderfella (1960)

The Conspirator...