“The Blair Witch Project” was a unique experiment in gonzo filmmaking. Directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick sent three unknown actors into the woods with video cameras, essentially having them improvise their own movie. The experience was a harrowing one, with the stars eventually capturing some real fear on camera, but many fans don’t realize just how […]
Continue readingOn-screen texts bookending “Dachra” claim this thriller is “inspired by true events,” and that “in North Africa hundreds of children are victims of acts of witchcraft.” Nonetheless, one might be forgiven for assuming this purported first-ever Tunisian foray into horror cinema is drawn less from local crimes or superstitions than from the familiar genre tropes […]
Continue readingA terrifying supernatural being haunts this disturbing tale of spooky shenanigans in the dark heart of the forestThis extremely low-budget horror film is a lot like a bunch movies you know – particularly The Blair Witch Project and The Witch as well as the experimental cinema of Kenneth Anger – but also not quite like […]
Continue readingIf you want to jack in to “The Matrix” trilogy, adventure with the denizens of “Shrek,” or set course for the first three “Jurassic Park” films, do it soon: Said films will be leaving Peacock at the end of the month.IndieWire has confirmed that those specific features, among others, will be taken off of the […]
Continue readingWhat would happen if a bunch of cosmic portals popped up all over the world? Well, check out the first trailer for the new sci-fi horror anthology Portals for the nightmarish answer. The film comes from the folks at Bloody Disgusting behind hit horror anthologies V/H/S and Southbound and brings four directors to tell the […]
Continue readingWelcome to The Unpopular Opinion, a series where a writer goes to the defense of a much-maligned film or sets their sights on a movie seemingly beloved by all. In this edition: the much-derided sequel to The Blair Witch Project actually rules, thank you very much.) A little over a year after The Blair Witch […]
Continue readingHorror pics are making a return across the board as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime update their streaming platforms for the spooky season.“The Shining” will kick off Netflix’s horror film slate, followed by “Truth or Dare” with Lucy Hale and Tyler Posey, “The Haunting of Molly Hartley,” and the Netflix original “The Haunting of Hill […]
Continue readingTunisian first-time director Abdelhamid Bouchnak is at the Venice Film Festival with “Dachra,” one of the first horror films to come out of the Arab world, which closed the independently-run Critics’ Week section on Friday. It combines elements of American chillers such as “The Blair Witch Project” with visuals and tropes that are instead specific […]
Continue readingTwo decades ago, Joshua Leonard was a 21-year-old wanderer, working in experimental film production in New York, in the final throes of drug addiction, and uncertain what he wanted to do in life. His father taught theater, but Leonard never considered acting as a career; on a whim, he pursued a role in a microbugeted […]
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