io9's Germain Lussier spent the last week in Austin, Texas, feasting his eyeballs on Fantastic Fest’s rich, grisly bounty of genre movies. He didn’t love everything he saw, but he found quite a few winners. Read on for all of his reviews—and then add the best titles to your own “must-watch” list.
In Starfish, a woman wakes up after her friend’s funeral to find the world is ending. She may be able to save it if she can find the mix tapes the dead friend hid for her all across town. It’s a high-concept idea complete with monsters and animation, but really, it’s not about any of that.
Heed this advice: Don’t watch the new horror movie Terrified right before you have to be home alone at night (like I did). It’s one of those movies that makes every creek and pop in the cold silence a potential terror—which, of course, means I absolutely loved it.
Between Worlds is the latest indie genre film in Nicolas Cage’s mini-renaissance. Previously, films like Mom and Dad and Mandy have utilized Cage to full effect in weird, exciting stories. Unfortunately, Between Worlds doesn’t come close to either of those films, presenting an interesting premise in a flat,…
A women’s volleyball team gets hunted by a band of evil, woods-dwelling degenerates in Girls With Balls, a super-schlocky French ode to ‘80s horror that’s wildly uneven and a little offensive, but still has some scattered moments of awesome.
Popular Indonesian director Timo Tjahjanto has two films at the 2018 Fantastic Fest. One is a thrilling roller coaster ride of violence, action, and excitement. The other is May the Devil Take You. That’s not to say May the Devil Take You is bad, it’s just not as good as his cop action film The Night Comes For Us …
If you’ve seen one too many movies with Jason, Freddy, or Michael, may I suggest giving the Rain Ripper a shot? He’s the antagonist in the smart, tense film Open 24 Hours, which gives the classic stalker genre a personal touch.
The Innocent is the most realistic genre film you’ll ever see, mostly because it leaves it up to each viewer to determine if it’s a genre film or not. Depending on how you look at it, it’s either the story of a woman who’s possessed by a demon—or, she’s just having a super shitty week.
The first thing you notice about Shadow is how accurately descriptive its title is. Save for the skin tones, most of the film is drained of color, giving the whole thing a black-and-white, graphic-novel feel. That, in turn, sets a very specific dark tone—which works quite well, but also makes a slow-building movie…
Border is one of those weird films where the discovery of what it’s about is half the adventure. It starts as one thing, becomes another, and then continues to get stranger and more wonderful as it moves along. What you must know, though, is discovering this oddball yet lyrical Swedish mystery is absolutely worth it.
In Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Suspiria, one of the first things we see on screen is that the film is “six acts and an epilogue set in divided Berlin.” It’s an odd piece of information, but somehow perfectly sets the stage for what’s to come. You know there’s a specific structure. That knowledge helps you anticipate…
Have you ever watched The Handmaid’s Tale and wondered what happens to girls born in that society? Girls who never knew the “normal” world? Well, Level 16 may give you an idea. Written and directed by Danishka Esterhazy, Level 16 is an original film, but one that shares more than a little DNA with the hit Hulu show…
When you think of director Gareth Evans two words come to mind: The Raid. Film fans know and adore the filmmaker because of those two absolutely incredible Indonesian action films, but now, four years after The Raid 2, Evans is back with a film that’s about as far from those movies as possible.
There are good movies, there are great movies, and then there are movies that deliver joy to every bone in your body. One Cut of the Dead is all of those and more.
When authors Sam Sykes (The Mortal Tally, An Affinity for Steel) and Chuck Wendig (Star Wars: Aftermath, Blackbirds) had a detailed Twitter conversation deconstructing the horror genre last year, who could’ve guessed we’d see that conversation brought to the big screen?
“Unthinkable” is, conveniently, the perfect way to describe The Unthinkable, a brash, bold, film directed by a five-man Swedish film collective called Crazy Pictures. It’s a movie that’s wildly, comically unpredictable in ways that are both very good and very bad.
The latest entry in the Halloween franchise is both a dazzling tribute to the original film as well as a unique, standalone story. It’s filled with deviations from the familiar slasher formula, but it also carefully incorporates an adoration of its predecessor that feels respectful but not overpowering. By balancing…
One of the premiere genre film festivals in the world is the annual Fantastic Fest. It starts this Thursday, and io9 will be there. That means a week of non-stop sci-fi, fantasy, animation, horror, supernatural, and otherwise weird, wacky, and wonderful movies.
In Alexander Payne’s new movie, a dainty Easy Bake Oven bell-chime signals the completion of the cellular reduction process. People who were normal-sized adults are now only inches tall, gently lifted off their beds with implements that look like spatulas. The moment is both cute and terrifying at the same time, much…
78/52 is a 90-minute film about three minutes. The three minutes or so, comprised of 52 cuts shot with 78 set-ups, that make up the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror thriller Psycho. The film is solely about breaking down the scene’s genius and importance, and it takes the term “deep dive” to a whole…
