Whistle
| B | Fantastic Fest 2025 | Good horror film with a unique hook that allowed for some creatively visual deaths. Written by Austinite Owen Egerton (who unfortunately could not…
Theater Is Dead
| B | Fantastic Fest 2025 | Fun movie. The first 2/3 was interesting, but I really didn’t know what it was building to. Then suddenly the full set of…
Don’t Leave the Kids Alone
| B | Fantastic Fest 2025 | This is not an over-the-top horror movie—half of the “horror” is the two kids terrorizing each other the way young brothers do. But…
Marama
| C | Fantastic Fest 2025 | This was billed as a gothic horror film. The emphasis was on the gothic part (i.e., low key, slow build), and on history.…
Obsession
| A- | Fantastic Fest 2025 | This was a very affecting film… I’m sure some of my reaction was that innate male fear of a crazy girlfriend. Not that…
The Holy Boy
| A | Fantastic Fest 2025 | I am stunned by the vision of this director/co-writer. The script was fascinating. It kept “unfolding,” revealing layer after layer. It kept shifting…
Haunted Heist
| B | Fantastic Fest 2025 | Not a scary comedy, but a very funny horror movie. As you might expect from Lil Rel Howery. Even though he did not…
Appofeniacs
| B | Fantastic Fest 2025 | The first half of the movie almost ruined it for me. That’s mostly my fault. From the description, I expected a nuanced, maybe…
Night Patrol
| C+ | Fantastic Fest 2025 | I really wrestled with this movie. The first half was already a mixed bag. Some interesting characters and good humor. But also some…
Mother of Flies
| B+ | Fantastic Fest 2025 | These filmmakers are a family of four (and their friends) who decide they are going to make a movie and work hard and…