I’ve been covering horror movies for a while now, and over the years I’ve noticed a lot of very interesting genre films about women — that are also written and directed by men. That’s meant as a compliment. Indie filmmakers like Paul Solet (Grace), Mitchell Lichtenstein (Teeth), and Lucky McKee (May, The Woman) are clearly and admirably fascinated by females who exist in an environment of dark fiction, but let’s be frank here: there should be more horror films about women — that are also written and directed by women. The dark and disturbing, yet oddly accessible American Mary looks like a firm step in the right direction. Written and directed by a pair of twin sisters from Vancouver, American Mary is easily one of the most fascinating female-themed horror stories of the past few years, and it should absolutely serve to open a few more doors for the audacious and plainly talented Jen and Sylvia Soska. More

It was only a few years ago that French filmmaker Xavier Gens hit the festival circuit with a colorfully bizarre horror flick called Fronteire(s), which in turn led to an ill-fated Hollywood gig  (the video game adaptation known as Hitman), which in turn led the filmmaker back to … smaller projects. His third feature is a patently bizarre sci-fi thriller called The Divide, and while it earns a few early points for creativity and odd audacity, the sad truth is that the flick hits its stride somewhere in Act II, and once that moment has passed, you’re stuck with one irritating slog toward a rather disappointing climax. More

Are we really at the fourth chapter of Paranormal Activity already? Seems like only yesterday that Paramount grabbed hold of a great little indie horror flick, released it during the Halloween season, and made a billion dollars on what turned out to be a really smart bet. Speaking of smart bets, Part 2 and Part 3 quickly followed, and that brings us up to speed with Paranormal Activity 4: the fourth chapter of a simply-crafted but cleverly-presented series of movies that somehow manage to combine the quaint comfort of old-fashioned ghost stories with the novelty of shot-on-video “found footage” intensity. More

At first it felt like a strange dark comedy pulled from inspirations from John Waters and Todd Solondz. And then it starts to feel a bit like an “alienated teen” psychological thriller not unlike a rough, indie version of Carrie. And then something clicked in my brain: something about the premise, the tone, and the admirable grossness of Richard Bates’ Excision felt oddly familiar to me. Aha! This flick, like many an indie production that plays Sundance, is an expansion on a short film — more specifically: a shocking 18-minute short that ran through the festival circuit back in 2008. I’d pretty much forgotten about that short until I was halfway through the full-length version of Excision, and then I had yet another perspective from which to approach this wholly bizarre little concoction. More

Seems we’re presently in the midst of a miniature renaissance for horror-themed animated features. A few months ago we got the truly impressive ParaNorman from Universal, and next month Disney has a treat in the form of Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, but while the former film is very clever and the latter one is very sweet, this weekend’s “horror cartoon” from Sony is content with being very funny, very silly, and very energetic. Directed by Clone Wars and Samurai Jack co-creator Genndy Tartakovksy, Hotel Transylvania is neither the smartest nor the sweetest monster-themed animated feature under the sun, but it earns a lot of points for plain old wit, humor, and outright silliness. More

There are documentaries that focus on history, science and important current events, and obviously those are important. We will always need honest and objective filmmakers to educate us beyond the junk we’re taught in high school. But there’s also a sub-genre among documentaries that might seem slight, but is still important in some small way. I choose to call these the “human interest” documentaries, and if you’ve ever seen the amusing Spellbound, the very entertaining The King of Kong, or the heart-wrenching Dear Zachary, then you know what I mean. Documentaries that don’t exactly cover “earth-shattering” stories, but manage to find a small nugget of universal truth in even the plainest of people.  More

Some horror flicks are designed for the young and communal experience, and that’s perfectly fine. There’s more than enough room under the genre umbrella for family films, “tween” films, young adult films, and hardcore horror junkie films. And while the new thriller House at the End of the Street earns a few points for trying to appeal to the teenage audience without resorting to remake or sequel stuff, the simple truth is that there’s very little here you haven’t seen before. As an excuse for 15-year-olds to get together on a Friday night, the film may work rather well, but as a cohesive or compelling tale for anyone over the age of 20? Pass. More

At first it sounds like typically unoriginal revisionism — or outright laziness: the news that Tim Burton and Disney would be expanding the director’s 1984 short, Frankenweenie, into a feature-length film. Mr. Burton’s 30-minute short is an absolute delight, so (as many movie geeks audibly wondered) why would you want to mess with a good thing? Surely there are other storybooks and fairy tales like Alice in Wonderland that Tim Burton could re-adapt and turn into a cash cow? Is there a particular need or demand to revisit Frankenweenie? More