Now in its 12th year, the Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival gives you a consistent program of bloody genre offerings from around the world. We previewed many of this year’s films and found a fairly consistent program with a few standouts. The festival runs from October 5—8; all screenings are at the AFI Silver. See the complete schedule here.
Olivia DeJonge and Levi Miller (WellGO USA)
In this Christmas tale that blends Home Alone with Funny Games, 12-year old Luke (Levi Miller) has a crush on his teenaged babysitter Ashley (Olivia DeJonge). While his parents (Virginia Madsen and Patrick Warburton) are out at a party, Ashley will spend one more night babysitting before she leaves town, and Luke tells his nerdy friend Garrett (Ed Oxenbould) that this will be the night when, we presume, he confesses his feelings to the older woman. But a home invasion throws a wrinkle in his plans. Or does it? This well-structured, seemingly benign movie turns into a vicious satire of sinister adolescence. —Pat Padua
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Thursday, October 5 at 7:40 p.m.
(Snowfort Pictures)
Fans of Resolution, a past Spooky Fest selection and the debut from writer-directors Aaron Moorehead and Justin Benson, will be over the triple moon for this unsettling yet hilarious new feature about two brothers, played by the filmmakers, who return to the commune (*cough* UFO death cult *cough*) where they were raised. This new film synthesizes influences like Lovecraft and Lost to tell an eerie, spiritual tale that masks its ambitious themes with relatable character work and a ton of smart humor. For those unfamiliar with their first film, The Endless plays just fine on a cold viewing, but it’s clear the filmmakers are building upon ideas birthed from their inaugural outing. The result is one of the most fascinating films of the year.—Dominic Griffin
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Saturday, October 7 at 5:30 p.m.
(Blackpills and Rockzeline Wild Studio)
For those who prefer their horror films more bloody than legitimately frightening, this is a godsend. A bunch of pretty, young white people hanging out on what for them is a regular day (for the viewer, it may resemble a music video or a commercial for a new hookup app) and decide to play a board game, which turns out to be more than just a game. 24 people must be killed for the game to “end” and every few minutes that a death doesn’t occur, the game forces one of its players’ heads to explode, Scanners-style. One of the kids turns out to be just the right kind of sociopath for this plot development while the rest wrestle with the debate between casual murder and resigned suicide. It’s a lean flick, with some solid photography and a few inspired kills, but mostly feels like an overlong short film that doesn’t take its central conceit far enough. Entertaining, but uninspired.—Dominic Griffin
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Saturday, October 7 at 8:00 p.m.
(Primal Pictures)
Though it bears minor similarities to its producer Ben Wheatley’s film Kill List, thi is an assured and singular debut from newcomer Gareth Tunley. The film follows a homicide detective in London who goes undercover as a therapy patient to get to the bottom of a strange double murder, but begins to lose himself along the way. Featuring a standout performance from Tom Meeten as the lead, The Ghoul calls to mind Christopher Nolan’s debut thriller Following, focusing on tight screenwriting and efficient storytelling to wring the most from its modest budget. It’s an impressive exercise in genre, but its mobius strip storytelling also says some powerful things about the cyclical nature of depression. —Dominic Griffin
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Saturday, October 7 at 1:20 p.m.
(IFC Films)
In this tense Australian camping thriller, A young couple (Harriet Dyer and Ian Meadows) on their way to a romantic camping trip encounter local thugs (Aaron Glenane and Aaron Pederson) that set into motion a brutal chain of events. Writer-director Damien Power weaves together three plot lines, and when you realize that the seemingly unrelated thread of another family’s camping trip tells the story of a vicious crime, the viewer becomes viscerally involved in the fate of a young couple in great danger. Raw and at times sadistic, Killing Ground doesn’t break any new ground, but it comes off like a well-worn hiking path that, even if you know where it’s going, can still provide a thrill.—Pat Padua
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Sunday, October 8 at 9:30 p.m.
(Donfilms)
This Finnish slasher is built around the legend of the 1960 Lake Bodom murders, but it’s got far more up its sleeve than your standard summer camp horror flick. Two mismatched friends, one charming and the other a weirdo, convince a couple of girls to go into the woods with them. At first it seems like its a simple bid for some coupling, then it’s clear one of the boys is a little too obsessed with true crime reenactment. But that’s just the beginning. Lake Bodom takes some narrative risks and goes fascinating places, but every twist and turn is supported by a solid bedrock of characterization. It’s a testament to the sharp script and fantastic performances that the movie is able to go where it does so seamlessly.—Dominic Griffin
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Saturday, October 7 at 3:30 p.m.
(Artsploitation Films)
Writer-director Craig Anderson’s film is billed as as a horror-comedy, but there’s little worth laughing at in this audacious slasher flick an ambition that exceeds its stomach for gristle and shock. Horror legend Dee Wallace stars as the mother of a dysfunctional family spending its Christmas together in Australia when their festivities are interrupted by the murderous Cletus, a cloaked, deformed monster in the Jason Voorhies vein who turns out to be the fully grown fetus she tried to abort years ago. It’s difficult to tell whether or not the anti-choice bent of the film’s politics is purposeful or the unintentional byproduct of tossing a hot button topic into this genre stew. But what’s clear is that the film’s budget, or perhaps Anderson’s gifts as a director, can’t match the intensity of the kills called for by the script. Much of the carnage takes place out of frame, but not in a way that allows your mind to fill in the blanks with even more gruesome details. It just feels like a truly out there premise marred by hesitant execution. —Dominic Griffin
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Thursday, October 5 at 9:30 p.m.
(Horrorpedia)
Body horror isn’t for everyone, but that’s because it’s one of the subgenres that unsettles on such a visceral level. Penned by cult filmmaker Richard Stanley, Replace traces a vampire myth narrative over a blunt observation about women, aging, and the nature of beauty. When Kira (Rebecca Forsythe), a seemingly young woman, suffers a rare disease that causes her skin to age rapidly, she finds she can keep herself smooth by stealing flesh from other women. Director Norbert Keil lenses the tale with style and verve, but under its striking surface, this is a potentially potent exploration of thorny material undone by male gaze and telegraphed twists. If you ever wanted to see David Cronenberg do The Neon Demon, this might be for you. —Dominic Griffin
Watch the trailer.
Friday, October 6 at 7:20 p.m.
This post has been updated.
