While not traditionally associated with the genre in the strictest sense, Robert Zemeckis has always indulged in the tropes and affects of horror even outside…
Despite his reputation as a mainstream hit-maker, Zemeckis has always had a wildly idiosyncratic relationship to both genre and film history. Not as obsessed with…
In the 2010s, something strange happened to Robert Zemeckis: he almost became respectable again. After his trilogy of mo-cap extravaganzas, he suddenly returned to, if…
After nearly a decade of directing expensive mo-cap animated films to variable box-office returns, the 2010s found Robert Zemeckis at a crossroads. The massive critical…
In spite of his standing as a widely respected pop surrealist, David Lynch’s relationship with critics and audiences has always been complicated, if not downright…
I Came By is all superficial signaling, failing to build any actual substance, subtlety, or genre thrills into weightless construction. Babak Anvari is less a…
Saloum is an absolute blast, packed with pleasant genre surprises and announcing a major new filmmaker in Jean Luc Herbulot. Part of the joy of…
“Imagination is a force that can actually manifest a reality. Don’t put limitations on yourself. Others will do that for you.” — James Cameron When…
Who Invited Them visits well-worn territory, but its novel navigation of these familiar trappings makes for an effectively discomfiting viewing experience. The Covid pandemic and…
Outside Noise is an effortlessly accomplished work, unforced and moving toward an emotional spectrum out of the reach of most filmmakers. Ted Fendt’s body of…
ClayDream offers viewers a comprehensive account of a fascinating subsection of cinematic history. These days, animation is basically synonymous with the glossy phantasms churned out by…
The Immaculate Room is a poorly paced and thematically shallow film that bludgeons each and every one of its talking points to death. In premise alone,…
Wifelike is the type of science fiction with just enough thematic novelty to compel the viewer, but not enough to make for a satisfying experience. On…
Tin Can is the best kind of sci-fi, an equal mix of weirdo ideas and careful world-building that leads viewers to a genuinely unsettling conclusion.…
Maneater is confounding and viscerally dull take on the shark attack subgenre. The glut of shark-themed films airing on the SyFy Channel on a weekly basis…
An inconspicuous FedEx parcel starts its journey on a desolate Texas dirt road, goes “snowbound,” and ends up in post-USSR Russia a few thousand miles…
OK, so things don’t really vanish anymore: even the most limited film release will (most likely, eventually) find its way onto some streaming service or…
Robert Zemeckis filmed What Lies Beneath, a ghost story set in a modern world, while on a break from Castaway, waiting for Tom Hanks to…
The Invitation perhaps could have actually been surprising if marketing hadn’t spoiled its game, but there’s unfortunately not much else for viewers to have fun…
Untrapped flirts with greatness in its initial stretch, but soon frustratingly settles into lionization and depthless narrative. There’s a solid half-hour stretch where Untrapped briefly flirts…