Category: Reviews

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) From Joe Lynch, the director of Knights of Badassdom and Wrong Turn 2: Dead End comes a wild, balls-to-the-wall, insane action movie which, at Fantastic Fest, was often described as Die Hard with a female hero.  Starring Salma Hayek as the title character, Everly is a… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review/Interview: EVERLY

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) This horror feature debut from writer/director Jennifer Kent went on to win several Fantastic Fest awards. In the Horror Feature category, the movie won Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Acting awards for stars Noah Wiseman and Essie Davis.  As for my take on the film,… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: THE BABADOOK

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) In 1996, the sixth adaptation of H.G. Well’s novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau, hit theaters.  This adaptation, directed by John Frankenheimer and starring David Thewlis, Marlon Brando, and Val Kilmer was actually not the version of the film originally intended for release.  New Line Cinema… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: LOST SOUL – THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From Canadian film company, Astron-6, comes an often hilarious and always over-the-top horror/giallo spoof that made for a fun midnight screening at Fantastic Fest.  Written and directed by and starring Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy, The Editor focuses on a string of murders taking place in… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: THE EDITOR

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From Mikkel Nørgaard,  the director of the acclaimed Danish comedy Klown, comes an engaging film involving a crime investigation.  Twenty years following the murder of twin teens, police detective Carl Morck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and his partner Assad (Fare Fares) come across the old case and come… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: THE ABSENT ONE

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) Two years later, producers Ant Timpson and Tim League have returned with another anthology of horrific ways to die.  Twenty-six directors have been assigned a letter of the alphabet and must come up with a title that defines a method of death.  The great thing about these… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: ABCs OF DEATH 2

By Mark Saldana Rating: 2.5 (Out of 4 Stars) After loving the first V/H/S and liking V/H/S 2 very much, I found this third installment mediocre overall.  With two great segments (Dante the Great and Parallel Monsters), one tiresome chapter about skateboarding teens (Bonestorm) and a terrible, non-sensical wrap around, V/H/S Viral isn’t a total waste of time.  However,… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: V/H/S VIRAL

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From executive producers Nicolas Lopez and Eli Roth, The Stranger marks the English language debut of writer/director Guillermo Ameodo.  The Uruguay native is better known for his Spanish language movies filmed in Chile. With The Stranger, Ameodo and company continue their tradition of working in Chile,… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: THE STRANGER

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) This mystery thriller features an exceptional international cast and definitely delivers intrigue, thrills and awe-inspiring twists.  Man From Reno stars Ayako Fujitani as Aki, a jaded mystery novelist who has grown tired of the promotional circuit and just wants to get away for a while. Ending… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: MAN FROM RENO

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) This was the third documentary I watched at the festival.  I truly am surprised at the amount and quality of the documentaries this genre festival has to offer.  This particular film by writer/director Matthew Salton takes its audience to The Kingdom of the Little People, a… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: DWARVES KINGDOM