We Are The Flesh
Like any transgressive film, We Are The Flesh is one you may or may not feel comfortable seeing in public. Still, I’d argue that it’s unquestionably worth seeing. Is it really, horror, though? Or does that classification say more about us than the film itself?
Broken
For almost all of its running time, Broken will probably strike you as a well-acted, well-directed “dark drama” with only the occasional hint of horror. But then there’s that ending. Yes, it goes there.
Psychotic!
A really pleasant surprise, Psychotic! is the kind of indie film that makes you wonder why its premise hasn’t been tackled already: a hipster giallo, complete with black gloves and cheap beer. Once in a while the comedy doesn’t quite work, but there’s lots of originality, some winning performances, and very clever sequences throughout.
Short Film Picks: Nightmare Fuel Program
In the “Nightmare Fuel” collection of shorts, Tilly and Playback are fun, creative, and creepy. The Stylist is an impeccably made genderswap take on Lustig’s Maniac. The Puppet Man is everything you’ve heard it is—the pure-horror equivalent of Stranger Things’ retro-aesthetic. And The Sticks (pictured above) is nothing less than an elegant masterpiece.
The Master Cleanse
Is The Master Cleanse a horror movie, a horror-comedy… or just a solid, humanist comedy that requires elements of horror to be honest and effective? I’ll let you decide.
Short Film Picks: Head Trips Program
The shorts in “Head Trips” combine to create possibly the most accomplished, most consciousness-expanding dose of horror you’ll encounter all year. Eveless is take-no-prisoners sci-fi/horror. Shorty is horror-mysticism with an unexpected soft side. The Push is Fincher-meets-Maya-Deren: psychologically devastating while aesthetically ascetic. Disco Inferno (pictured) is unique and simply beautiful to behold.
Therapy
Ambitious and slightly elliptical, Therapy doesn’t work 100% of the time, but I’m more than happy that I’ve seen it. The found-footage approach is creepier and more effective than the recent Blair Witch and many other entries in the subgenre, and its pairing with a police procedural framework is intriguingly original.
