The Dutch film, Moloch, delivers some solid folk horror in this atmospheric tale. Betriek (Sallie Harmsen) lives a quiet life, looking after her daughter, while trying to forget the trauma that scarred her as a child, when her grandmother was murdered. This has caused a bit of conflict between her and her own mother, Elske…
Tag: trauma
Star Trek: Picard (2020) – Nepenthe, and Broken Pieces
Nepenthe, written by Sam Humphrey and Micheal Chabon, is arguably the best episode of the inaugural season of Star Trek: Picard. It first debuted on 5 March, 2020. While Elnor (Evan Evagora) struggles to survive on the Borg Cube, hunted by Rizzo (Peyton List), and costing Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) his life and triggering a…
Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmicheal Manor (2023) – Stephen Cognetti
While I’m not always the biggest found footage fan, it’s a genre that has really been done to death because everyone thinks they can do it, I quickly became a fan of Stephen Cognetti’s Hell House LLC series. He’s written and directed all the films so far, which makes The Carmicheal Manor the fourth in…
The Marvels (2023) – Nia DaCosta
Superhero fatigue is real. We seem to be so inundated with comic book stories now, they’re everywhere, films, television series, video games and actual comic books. Disney has gone to town building and expanding their MCU and even as the series and movies keep coming it’s been hard to get excited about new entries because…
TAD 2023: Canadian Shorts After Dark
Saturday afternoon at Toronto After Dark gives Canadian filmmakers a chance to showcase their genre shorts, and this time around, there are nine shorts for your spine-tingling enjoyment. There is Bird Hostage written and directed by Lauren Andrews and features her and fan favourite Jay Baruchel in this eccentric little tale that sees Lauren (Andrews)…
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018) – Robin D. Krzykowski
With a title like The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot, you think you know what you’re getting. You think this is going to be schlocky b-movie fare, but what the film actually does is take the extreme ideas of assassinating Hitler, and killing Bigfoot and juxtapose them with a character study of…
Wonderfalls (2004) – Cocktail Bunny, Totem Mole, and Caged Bird
Jaye (Caroline Dhavernas) is beginning to feel her world beginning to unfurl in Cocktail Bunny. Written by Byran Fuller, this episode is packed with lots of things going on. Jaye returns to see Dr. Ron (Scotch Ellis Loring) at her parents’ urging, but troubling things ensue, as someone is stealing recordings of Jaye’s therapy sessions,…
The Equalizer (1989) – Starfire, and Time Present, Time Past
Michael Moriarty returns in a guest role in Starfire, though not as the same character as last time. This time, his character is called Seti, and he claims he’s an alien from another planet. He’s befriended a young girl, Amber (Angela Goethals), who he entrusts with a strange device and tells her if something happens…
The Equalizer (1986) – Shades of Darkness, and Nightscape
William Sadler goes toe-to-toe with Edward Woodward’s Robert McCall in Shades of Darkness. Written by Jack V. Fogarty this episode was first aired on 5 November, 1986. Sadler plays Rick Dillon, a murderer, rapist, sociopath and ex-soldier who has murdered a woman but Dan Turner (Lenny von Dohlen) is arrested for it when he’s found…
Smile (2022) – Parker Finn
Paramount Pictures’ latest theatrical release is an unnerving look parable for what happens with trauma when we just simply grin and bear it, instead of speaking of it openly, freely and dealing with it when it happens. Doctor Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) works as a psychologist in the emergency department of a major hospital. She’s…
The Mind Reels 