 In the trailer for A24’s Men, beyond the sinister, inescapable grin of Rory Kinnear, there is a much darker presence: trauma. Having seen her partner (Paapa Essiedu) fall to his death, the film’s protagonist, Harper (Jessie Buckley), is clearly not coping well as she tries to enjoy her countryside getaway. In this village, is every man actually Rory Kinnear? Of course not. So why does Harper see his face everywhere she turns? Something much stranger is going on here, and it’s pretty clear that the site of this supernatural occurrence is (at least partially) in Harper’s mind. Trauma will do that.
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There’s an AutoZone in my small Missouri town that I have passed all of my life. I’ve only been inside a few times, but every single time that I pass it, I am suddenly struck by a rather strong malaise. Imagine my surprise, when about halfway through Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Casey (Anna Cobb, in her feature film debut), focuses her small video camera on an AutoZone. What we can primarily hear is the rush of cars, and what we can primarily see is the blinding haze of the sun shine. What honesty.
X opens in the endearing fashion of showing the conclusion to the story and then prompting us to ask what had happened on the secluded farm property that serves as the main setting. There are signs of violence and bloodshed as buzzards fly overhead and a sheriff arrives on the scene. We’ve heard the same lines before. “What the hell happened here,” or “sheriff, you’ve got to see this.” Hardcore horror fans may be rolling their eyes at the devices at play because they are all well-known to those who’ve seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or similar country-based gore-fests. Set a few decades back with a van full of young adults, the story premise is playfully straight-forward. However, Ti West’s newest film doesn’t just jump into the known sandbox, but plants its own flag firmly and proudly, expanding on the subgenre with style.
 French director Julia Ducournau’s latest film, Titane (2021), is even more bizarre than her last, Raw (2016). The films cover quite different subject matter, but at their core both films function on the same level. Titane, and Raw are both concerned with becoming; becoming something monstrous, something socially unacceptable, but something we can’t help feeling is justified.
We’re living through some weird times right now, with weekly chaotic developments that can be easy to miss. You’d be forgiven for not hearing the news that Uwe Boll is making a directing comeback. During the 2000’s, Boll was the internet’s love to hate director for his involvement in various video game adaptations during the new millennium. About a third of IMDB users had a pot shot to take at him. But unlike many filmmakers who make flops and are rarely heard from, Boll has directed thirty films to this point, along with his name on others. He’s covered an impressive range of genres during that time: boxing dramas, war films, slashers, prison films, and slapstick comedies. But it’s the ten video game adaptations that put him on the map with critical revile, while he pressed on, proving he could make a film fast and cheap, almost rivaling Corman in his prime. Unlike other directors who want to fight their critics, Boll actually did, in the boxing ring. He has a unique personality to say the least, and the way he feeds into the hate attitude has earned him a fanbase, both passionate and ironic. After angrily announcing his retirement in 2016, some audiences moved on while others waited patiently. The wisest of us know, you can’t keep a good villain down. And his return is perfectly timed, as we are reaching the 20-year anniversary of House of the Dead, the film that started it all. With the remaster of the original game launching as well, this low hanging fruit is too ripe to pass up. Maybe this movie is better than we gave it credit for. Yeah, SPOILER ALERT, and APRIL FOOLS!
Let’s be real, everyone loves a good mystery. Thankfully, the world is in no shortage of them for people looking to fill that void. You know, the ones who once had a dream of becoming the next Sherlock Holmes. Many on the internet like to think that dream has become a reality, with how quickly a crime story or bizarre piece of media can spread online, flooding message boards and social media with discussion. We’re naturally drawn to try and peel back the layers of what we find frightening from the safety of our own home, searching for clues to debunk the creepy video or photo of the week. Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a film that uses that concept and takes it back to a simpler time, the “wild west” days of the internet where not everything was just a click away and the true crime community was in its chatroom infancy.
I recently was asked why we would need another Batman movie right now. The last live-action iteration wasn’t long ago and there are plenty of cartoons and comic versions that we could watch for years (Lego Batman may still be my favorite) but alas a new caped crusader has come to the big screen and despite scrutiny and months of belittling by those hung up for one reason or another, The Batman is a glorious theatrical experience that slaps aside the negative energy to give us what will undoubtedly be one of the best films of 2022. I suppose, like many plays and songs, a fresh take can make all the difference in the world.
It’s been three years since the documentary Horror Noire appeared on our screens. Directed by Xavier Burgin, written by Ashlee Blackwell and Danielle Burrows, produced by Blackwell and Burrows as well as Phil Nobile, Jr. and Kelly Ryan and Tananarive Due, the film was a translation of a monumental work of scholarship by Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman, the book Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from 1890's to Present.
Green Room, the third film by Jeremy Saulnier, finds the director in an exciting place as both a technical craftsman and an engaging storyteller. Yes, it is as intense, if not arguably more so, than his previous effort Blue Ruin (2014); and in places, it can be as darkly comical as his first feature Murder Party (2007), yet it remains unquestionably its own film. It is bleak, claustrophobic, uncomfortable, and bordering on nihilistic. Still, beneath the impressive technical chops that make up the movie’s most easy-to-appreciate points, it is flexing its thematic and intellectual muscle. Like Blue Ruin, Green Room is a film with a straightforward narrative that complements a more significant theme; Green Room critiques the rise of white nationalism in fringe art scenes and cautions against its rise in mainstream politics.
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