Horror Homeroom

Posted on October 19, 2016

Without Name: Nature’s Power

Dawn Keetley

Irish folk horror film Without Name saw its US premiere on Saturday October 15, 2016, at the first Brooklyn Horror Film Festival—and it was without doubt one of the best films to play at the festival. Indeed, it just won awards for best feature, best director (Lorcan Finnegan), best cinematography (Piers McGrail), and best editing (Tony Cranstoun). I also want to single out Garret Shanley for a masterful screenplay and the three leads (Alan McKenna, Niamh Algar, and James Browne) for great performances.

Here’s the trailer:

Posted on October 17, 2016

Child Eater

Dawn Keetley

Icelandic-born director Erlingur Óttar Thoroddsen created something of a sensation with his 2012 horror short, Child Eater. He has now turned the short into a feature film, and it screened for the first time at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival on Sunday October 16.

The original short is pretty amazing, and you can watch it on Vimeo:

Posted on October 16, 2016

Mattie Do’s Dearest Sister: Seeing Things

Dawn Keetley

Dearest Sister (Nong Hak) is the second feature film directed by Mattie Do, and it has some similarities to her first film, Chanthaly (2013)—not least its pervasive sense that hauntings happen most often in our closest relationships. Do, who was born in Los Angeles to parents who immigrated from Laos, is making a name for herself as the first female director of a Lao feature film and the first director of a horror film (Chanthaly) written and directed entirely in Laos. Dearest Sister was also produced in Laos, filmed on location in the capital city of Vientiane, where Do was living. As important, though, as Do’s films unquestionably are for Lao film-making, Dearest Sister is an exceptional horror film by the standards of any national cinema. Read more

Posted on October 14, 2016

Babak Anvari’s Brilliant Under the Shadow

Dawn Keetley

Under the Shadow marks the directorial and writing debut of Iranian-born Babak Anvari. Having screened at film festivals in mid-2016 (the film notably won best film prize at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival), Under the Shadow opened in select theaters and on VOD on October 7. Netflix has acquired the rights to the film, so it will eventually be even more widely available. And that’s a very good thing because Under the Shadow is one of the best independent horror films released in the last few years—in the company of The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014), It Follows (David Robert Mitchell, 2014), and The Invitation (Karyn Kusama, 2015).

Posted on October 11, 2016

Haunt Review: Frightland

Gwen

Web address: http://frightland.com/

Location: Middletown, DE (New Castle County)

Frightland is a perfect blend of fun, fear, and fright.

The Nuts and Bolts:

2016 marks the twentieth year for this established haunt which is situated on about 350 acres of land in Middletown, DE. The location is easy to get to and conveniently located so that patrons from Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania can easily make the trip. This haunt is open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays (and some Thursdays) into early November. Frightland prices are EXTREMELY reasonable. They offer eight haunted attractions and a moderately sized carnival for $35. The full upgrade to VIP for all eight attractions (price includes carnival rides) is only $50 and is well worth it. Other noteworthy basics: there are a good number of well-maintained portable johns, there is extensive security onsite, a small gift shop, and there are tons of food options in the carnival section. Parking was a nominal fee of $5 and 100% of this money goes to The Leukemia Research Foundation of Delaware. Generally speaking, if you upgrade to the VIP pass, you will easily enjoy about two hours of heart pounding fun! Read more