THE RULE OF JENNY PEN
After suffering a stroke, Stefan must convalesce in an assisted living facility that also houses a psychotic patient who tortures the residents with a creepy hand puppet. Based on Owen Marshall‘s short story, James Ashcroft brings THE RULE OF JENNY PEN to life in all its skin-crawling glory.
Stefan immediately recognizes Dave exerting control over the other residents, and his curmudgeonly, hard-nosed approach to those around him softens. His life dedicated to fairness emboldens him to level the playing field, even if that means drastically adjusting his moral compass.
John Lithgow as “Dave Crealy”, Geoffrey Rush as “Stefan Mortensen”, and Jenny Pen in James Ashcroft’s THE RULE OF JENNY PEN. Courtesy of Matt Henley. An IFC Films and Shudder Release.
Geoffrey Rush is Stefan Mortensen. As a man who built of career on doling out justice, the utter lack of control is physical and mental torture. Rush is spectacular. His stubborn, unrelenting sense of righting the wrong makes him easy to root for.
John Lithgow is Dave Crealy. His character is a cruel menace. Lithgow’s physical stature plays a key role. He is at least a head taller than the rest of the cast, easily dominating any space. Crealy is a ticking time bomb. Lithgow leans into his irrationality like a pro. It is terrifying. Rush and Lithgow go toe to toe in a fascinating tennis match of chaos and vitriol. It is a masterclass.
Geoffrey Rush as “Stefan Mortensen” in James Ashcroft’s THE RULE OF JENNY PEN. Courtesy of Matt Henley. An IFC Films and Shudder Release.
The augmented sound editing by John Mackay and Matthew Lambourn is particularly challenging if, like me, you are prone to overstimulation. Frankly, the entire film is similarly structured. Matt Henley’s camera work is intentional, with close-ups that feel invasive in the best way. Gretchen Peterson’s editing reminds us that while Stefan is undeniably brilliant, his mind and body are failing him. Ashcroft and co-writer Eli Kent weaponize lost time and immobility. The infantilization of patients is heartbreaking and uncomfortable.
THE RULE OF JENNY PEN is a bleak but captivating watch. It reminds us how we treat our elderly once deemed socially inconvenient. The script delves into power structure, unresolved trauma, and the consequences of unchecked evil. THE RULE OF JENNY PEN is something greater than sinister.
Jenny Pen in James Ashcroft’s THE RULE OF JENNY PEN. Courtesy of Matt Henley. An IFC Films and Shudder Release.
THE RULE OF JENNY PEN Trailer:
IN THEATERS THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 7TH
Synopsis
Arrogant Judge Stefan Mortensen (Rush) suffers a near-fatal stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed and confined to a retirement home. Resistant to the staff and distant from his friendly roommate, Mortensen soon clashes with seemingly gentle resident Dave Crealy (Lithgow) who secretly terrorizes the home with a sadistic game called “The Rule of Jenny Pen” while wielding his dementia doll as an instrument of cruelty. What begins as childish torment quickly escalates into far more sinister and disturbing incidents. When Mortensen’s pleas to the staff go unanswered, he takes it upon himself to put an end to Crealy’s reign of terror.
About The Director
James Ashcroft formed Light in the Dark Productions in 2014, specializing in contemporary screen adaptations from New Zealand’s literary canon. His feature film directing debut Coming Home in the Dark premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2021 to great acclaim, followed by a global festival tour. He is currently working on a slate of features in the US including Max Brooks’ Devolution and Grady Hendrix’ How To Sell A Haunted House, for Legendary Studios and Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures, The Whisper Man for the Russo Brother’s AGBO Productions/Netflix and an adaptation of the graphic novel Old Haunts for AWA Studios.
He attended the Venice Biennale Cinema College as one of 12 teams selected worldwide. He was also one of 15 director/producers selected for the Torino Film Festivals inaugural Up & Coming Programme, showcasing talent from around the world. From 2006-2013, Ashcroft served as Artistic Director and Chief Executive of national Maori theatre company Taki Rua Productions, developing and touring New Zealand works both nationally and internationally. Ashcroft is a graduate of Victoria University and Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School. He has served internships with acclaimed theatre company The Wooster Group in New York.
Director: James Ashcroft
Screenwriters: Eli Kent, James Ashcroft
Cast: John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush
Producers: Catherine Fitzgerald, Orlando Stewart
Executive Producers: James Ashcroft, Eli Kent, John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Gotto, Nicholas Lazo, Samuel Zimmerman
Director of Photography: Matt Henley
Editor: Gretchen Peterson
Composer: John Gibson
Language: English
Country: New Zealand
Running Time: 103 minutes
Beautiful camera work has an immersive feel. Eccentric production design initially mirrors Anx’s graphic artist occupation, eventually morphing to match the ever-evolving circumstances of the disease. There is a Tim Burton/JimHenson-esque quality to the creature fx. A grotesque whimsy that makes it difficult to look away.
Matthieu Sampeur and Edith Proust give us magnificent performances. The script possesses a dark inevitably the longer they are together. Director Thibault Emin, alongside co-writers Alice Butaud and Emma Sandona, delivers a surprising link to childhood trauma in Anx. The existential aspect creeps up on you and burrows under your skin. The psychosexual element is bonkers. ELSE is a genre-obliterating love story.
TEACUP
Ep 1: Think About the Bubbles
FALLING STARS
There is a reminiscent feeling in FALLING STARS, some that reminds me of 80s classics like The Gate and The Lost Boys, with the glow of red dashboard hues, flashlights, and the moon being the dominant lighting sources. The cinematography by Bienczycki has an intimacy to it. Karpala’s screenplay is just downright cool. It is genuinely refreshing to witness masculinity based on regret and an apologetic undertone.
J. Aaron Boykin is the mainstay of this film. As radio DJ Barry, he opens the film and acts as a narrative conduit for Mike’s panic. Andrew Gabriel is Sal, the middle brother. His caring nature and fixer attitude beg your attention. Shaun Duke Jr. gives Mike a tentative bravery and a strong sense of responsibility. He is the protector, for better or for worse.
GIRL INTERNET SHOW: A KATI KELLI MIXTAPE
Kelli is a star. She has that sardonic wit you see in Aubrey Plaza. Frankly, if you told me they were blood relatives, I would accept that as fact. Also, it’s impossible to ignore how stunning she is.
The film ends with Kati’s short film, finished three days before her passing. The subject is both ironic and eerie. Going in with the understanding that Kati is no longer with us weighs heavy in the back of your mind. Knowing what a massive star she was and how much bigger she could have been leaves a sting, but GIRL INTERNET SHOW: A Kati Kelli Mixtape celebrates an artist in all her magnificence. It’s an unforgettable film. Kelli lives forever, an eternal celluloid angel. She flies.
Two surprising performances will blow you away, but I won’t spoil that with specifics. I will only say that Norma Flores and Horacio Lazo give us everything they’ve got. Our three young brothers are magnificent. Mateo Ortega Casillas gives Benny the right amount of innocence and rebellion. Leonardo Cervantes delivers vulnerability and compassion as Oliver. Farid Escalante Correa gives Salvador a perfect mix of resentment and raging hormones. Together, they warm and break your heart.
Masterfully absurd, Lenny and Harpo Guit’s latest film, HEADS OR FAILS, introduces Fantastic Fest 2024 to the ceaselessly irresponsible and eternal hustler, Armande. Down on her luck and owing money to everyone in her path in Belgium, risky wagers are her bread and butter. Whether they pan out is another thing entirely.
The notion of invisible labor rears its ugly head around 15 minutes in, but it’s what happens 4 minutes later that is so horrific you won’t believe what you’re eyes are telling your brain. THE COFFEE TABLE pulls no punches. Its first brutal images are so disturbing you won’t know what to do next. With Maria dutifully shopping for her idiot husband, the audience can only wait with bated breath for her reaction and what Jesús plans to do next. Admittedly, his behavior will break you.
David Pareja gives Jesús a shockingly calm demeanor when forced to speak with the other cast members. It will, no doubt, upset the viewer tenfold. The lies flow out, and poor Maria continues to berate him without knowing a damn thing. His subsequent management of trauma drives the entire film.
Twin brothers Tristan and Làzaro are aspiring astronauts. During a late-night swim, Tristan becomes infected with a mysterious physical and mental ailment when a bright green asteroid plummets into the water. Lazaro must understand his brother’s drastic changes as he tries to maintain an elite physical and psychological state.
Marta Nieto plays the twin’s mother, Mayra. Her performance is like a gut punch. Writers nail the invisible labor and isolation in motherhood and its inevitable breaking point. Nieto lives in the skin of Mayra and earns a standing ovation. Pablo Cobo and Loius Peres are magnificent. Cobo’s brooding anger equally matches his deep adoration for his twin. His performance as Làzaro is an emotional roller coaster, riddled with survivor’s guilt. Peres leans into palpable fear and trauma, giving audiences a complete 180 in physicality. TROPIC’s costume and makeup departments lend a hand here as they switch gears for Tristan from tailored clothes to ill-fitting outfits, as well as his elaborate facial fx. He is spectacular.
As a special needs parent, this is a brutal but honest watch. Feeling “othered” as an individual and a family is viscerally devastating. The cinematography, particularly the underwater footage, is mesmerizing. The sci-fi elements combined with a perfect synth score create a timeless feel. TROPIC defies a single genre category. The volatility of this unique story is riveting, but its gravity lies within its intimacy.
Family tension grows after the unexpected suicide of the family matriarch. Manuel begrudgingly moves in with his son, granddaughter, and bitter daughter-in-law. As the temperatures outside rise, so does the mind-boggling behavior of Manuel and the rest of the octogenarian population.
A shockingly violent moment halfway through jolts an audience now accustomed to the eerie din of quietly disturbing imagery. The Elderly shines in the power of visual suggestion, shadow play, reflections, and long lingering takes.
Folk horror goes hard in this tale of possession and superstition. Writer-director Demian Rugna‘s WHEN EVIL LURKS pits fear and skepticism against an unrelenting demonic force. That’s only the beginning. 
The script reveals itself in bits and pieces, with the plot having ties to some apocalyptic lore affecting entire towns. We learn of a set of rules that are cannon to this happening from generations preceding our main characters. Take David Robert Mitchell’s IT FOLLOWS, add a page out of Stephen King‘s IT, and you’ll begin to understand what you’re dealing with. Somehow, WHEN EVIL LURKS is nastier and even more shocking. The script also suggests that cities were targets first, but there is also an implication that class is somehow involved. There are also what amounts to slayers, a select group of people who confront the evil known as “Cleaners.” There is so much meat on the bone in this script that despite the urge to hide your eyes, it compels you to watch it unfold.
One standout performance comes from Emilio Vodanovich as Jari, Pedro’s autistic son. As a mother of a child on the spectrum, I genuinely believed they had cast an actor with autism. It is a startling performance. Demian Soloman gives Jimi an authentic heart. A lot is going on behind those eyes. Ezequiel Rodríguez has your heart in your throat from beginning to end. His portrayal of Pedro runs the emotional gambit. He nails it. Rugna gives Jimi and Pedro enough depth and trauma that Soloman and Rodríguez could pull off a sequel in a heartbeat. 
Pablo Fuu‘s music is brilliantly disturbing, particularly in the repeated hard rock guitar riff. Holy Special FX, Batman! WHEN EVIL LURKS pulls no punches with the visual ick. Marcos Berta‘s work is gag-inducing and diabolical. It makes you angry and nauseous. The dialogue is often vile and biting but entirely hypnotizing as you discover more. The brutality grows from one scene to the next. WHEN EVIL LURKS is easily one of the most deranged films of the year. Rugna has broken all the rules. There is no coming back from this one.
Beginning in Shakespearean fashion, the chaos and bait-and-switch screenplay of Claude Schmitz‘s THE OTHER LAURENS earns your attention. Private investigator, Gabriel gets contacted by his niece to look into the recent death of her father and Gabriel’s estranged twin brother, François. 
Loise Leroy wows in her feature debut as Jade. The emotional turmoil she endures puts Leroy through the wringer, and she handles it like a pro. She is a star. Olivier Rabourdin plays dual roles as Gabriel and François. His ability to shape-shift will captivate you. THE OTHER LAURENS is an epic film, brimming with twists and turns, and is a real stand-out from Fantastic Fest 2023.
Writer-director Nicholas Tomnay takes us on a journey of twisted morality. Down on his luck, chef Ryan steps into the life of his schoolmate and cooks for a small group of ultra-wealthy diners. The experience is nothing like he imagined.
Nick Stahl has been on my radar my entire life. We are the same age, and as a cinephile from the womb, I’ve followed his career from The Man Without a Face to Disturbing Behavior and, more recently, 
1991, in the middle of a Massachusetts cornfield, open every day in October, Dave Bertolino‘s Spooky World was a horror con and a theme park. It was the first dedicated haunted attraction, paving the way for every modern-day, big-name fright night across the country. Built on a dollar and a dream, Spooky World grew more popular and went through numerous iterations. As one of the first featured guests, Tom Savini’s direct influence on Spookyworld shifted from a homegrown haunted hayride to a proper frightening experience within a year, with Tom building his own branded Haunted House. The busier the park, the more elaborate and inventive Bertolino had to become.
The townspeople of Berlin had a fantastic relationship with Bertolino. Bringing jobs, money, and recognition to a sleepy farming town. But, not everyone was thrilled with the boundary-pushing additions, playing politics and making Bertilino’s job harder. That’s not to say that his antics and ideas came without skepticism from within.
Growing up in northern Connecticut, I cannot believe I never ventured up the Spooky World as a self-proclaimed Halloween addict and horror fanatic. I’m thankful the park ever existed, and its humble and exciting existence spread like wildfire so that global genre fans could care and scare together.
Opportunity, loyalty, guilt, and greed drive THE WAIT (La Espera) headlong into tragedy. F. Javier Gutierrez‘s 2023 Fantastic Fest film takes our protagonist on a torturous journey into madness. To save his flailing marriage, Eladio agrees to take cash under the table to break the rules. The consequences are deadly. When the drink takes over his existence, visions and strange occurrences send him on a wild goose chase for redemption and salvation.
Striking sun-baked cinematography juxtaposed with nightmare scenarios makes for a visually splendid treat for genre fans. The first third of the film lies firmly in the classic Western genre. The sudden flip into supernatural horror is jarring, but our leading man, Victor Clavijo, has you tied in knots on his emotional journey and the mystery at hand. One nightmarish torment scene boasts fantastic practical and Special FX makeup. The mystery grows steadily. The motive is a slow burn, though it does pay off. THE WAIT (La Espera) is a solid folk horror entry and an even more niche win for the Western horror subgenre.
The number of King’s books that jumped from page to screen is astounding. As a kid in the 80s, like many of the filmmakers in the doc, I grew up seeing King’s books on my family’s shelf but immersed myself in the films first. The kids in Stand By Me and IT became my peers. I rented The Shining, Creepshow, and Pet Sementary ad nauseum. By the time 1996 rolled around, I remembered the glee I experienced when I discovered The Green Mile in the grocery store checkout aisle. 
While we don’t hear from King directly, we see stills and videos of Stephen on the sets of his adaptations. Filmmakers like Greg Nicotero, Mike Flanagan, David Carson, Taylor Hackford, Tom Holland, John Harrison, Mick Garris, and Frank Darabont share how King’s books inspired their work. They speak to the overwhelming readability of small-town horror. King singlehandedly made Maine an unlikely horror destination. I love that everyone addresses The Shining controversy. Behind-the-scenes footage and anecdotes explain the breakdown between the book and the film. Kubrick obliterates Jack Torrance’s humanity that fans of the book (King, most of all) hate. 
King’s deep dive into the political landscape has always existed. The film explores his ability to explore universal truths, whether religion, race, or greed, and make characters lovable or loathsome based on their moral compass. In the same way, we joke about The Simpsons‘ writers predicting the future, Stephen King uses the global landscape to create villains and heroes that shake us to our core. Translating that from page to screen sometimes takes a slight adjustment. The best filmmakers always ask Steve first. 
For horror fans, KING ON SCREEN is like a kid coming home with a Halloween candy haul that would put you in a coma. For fans of his books, it’s like changing costumes and going out for round two. It’s delicious fun, no matter how cliche you might find the Easter egg-filled bookend scenes. They play like a Where’s Waldo for readers and genre fans alike. (I loved it.) So, turn the lights down and make popcorn. KING ON SCREEN scares up our nostalgia and celebrates a storytelling master.
Director Oscar Harding happened upon the tape as a child but had only had the pleasure of watching until his father hit stop on the VCR. It isn’t until the VHS reemerges in his adulthood that he feels compelled to dig deeper into the man beyond the vast amount of background provided by Charles along the way.
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