Author: Laurie Coker

Red Snow wastes no time showing what kind of Christmas movie it intends to be. This Finnish horror comedy sends a vampire dressed as Santa Claus into people’s homes, where holiday cheer quickly gives way to graphic deaths. Written and directed by Ilja Rautsi, the film is violent, gory, and deliberately disgusting at times. It… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2026: Red Snow – Plenty of Blood, but Its Vampire Left Me Cold

Into the Sky turned out to be one of the more purely enjoyable films I saw at Fantastic Fest. Co-written and directed by Evan Buxbaum and Drew Mylrea, it blends science fiction, comedy and a touch of romance into something strange, funny and surprisingly sweet. The premise is ridiculous in exactly the right way, and… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2026: Into the Sky – one of those purely enjoyable sci-fi comedies

Some films I admire more than I enjoy fall squarely into that category, and Ürei is one of them. Written and directed by Yerkezhan Baizhan, the Kazakh horror film is bleak, unsettling, and at times genuinely difficult to watch. It is also very well done. Baizhan expands the story from her 2024 short film of… Continue reading Fantastic Fest: Ürei – bleak, disturbing, but well done

Of all the films I saw at Fantastic Fest 2026, 5 More Minutes was among the easiest to enjoy. It is clever, darkly funny, violent without being overwhelming, and just strange enough to feel perfectly at home at this festival. Directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera, the Spanish film stars Berto Romero and Belen Cuesta as… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2026: 5 More Minutes – a nearly perfect fest film

Half is an absolute bloodbath. Directed by Samjad, the Indian action film follows Ethan and Ivy, half-human, half-vampire twins whose road trip turns horrific when a gang of armed bandits attacks them. They survive, but what follows is essentially an all-out revenge mission, and the film wastes little time getting there. The supernatural premise gives… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2026: Half – a Bloody, Relentless Revenge Film

When the person introducing Roma Elastica called it a “fever dream,” my instincts told me to walk away. I should have listened. Director Bertrand Mandico’s film is so strange, disjointed, and deliberately disturbing that any meaning beneath its excesses is hard to find. Set in 1982, the story follows Eddie (Marion Cotillard), a French actress… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2026: Roma Elastica – a fever dream easy to sleep through

Fantastic Fest 2026 opened with Resident Evil, and for me, it was a fun way to begin the festival. I’d never played the video game, so I went in with little knowledge of the franchise or any particular expectations. What I found was a fast-moving, bloody, highly visual action film that immediately set the tone… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2026: Resident Evil: a fun way to begin