Review: ‘Paulie Go!’ is a genre-bending, fish-out-of-water story.

After being rejected letter from the AI robotics program he’s worked his entire life towards, Paulie won’t take no for an answer. He steals his uncle’s van and drives to Minnesota in an attempt to track down one Professor Chuck Shikenjansk and change his mind. 

As Cheryl, Tracie Thoms is a joy, possessing aspects of Paulie and Avery’s personalities. Her character brings Paulie Go! to another level of storytelling. Madison Wolfe plays Avery with an effortless cool. She’s slick and savvy. Without even knowing it, she’s a role model. Ethan Dizon as Paulie is so much fun to watch. He’s a master of awkward social-emotional interaction and a victim of extreme overconfidence. Dizon’s energy is infectious. He and Wolfe have perfect chemistry. 

Director Andrew Nackman brings audiences a fish out of water road (or boat) movie that is relatable and family-friendly. In truth, it’s a genre-defying delight. That small-town Minnesota energy lends itself to genuine and funny dialogue. Paulie Go! is a film about two teens who have more in common than they realize. Jake Greene‘s script ( story also by Nackman and David J. Lee) subverts all expectations as it overflows with nuance. Paulie Go! deals with adolescence, loss, and self-discovery. Watch it with the entire family. 


Available to Rent or Own on Digital Platforms May 24, 2022


Directed by ANDREW NACKMAN

Written by JAKE GREENE

Produced by LAUREN TAIT HOGARTH, LAURA IVEY & JAKE GREENE

Starring ETHAN DIZON, MADISON WOLFE, DAVID THEUNE, BERNARD WHITE & TRACIE THOMS


Review: ‘Student Body’ is inconsistent genre fare saved by its performances.

STUDENT BODY

Synopsis:
A distressing incident compels childhood best friends Jane and Merritt to take action against their high school math teacher, driving their splintered relationship into further turmoil and provoking deadly consequences.


When a close-knit circle of private school friends attempts to request a makeup calculus test, things do not go as planned. Student Body flips the script, quite literally, on whatever genre you thought you were watching. In a film of consequences and crazies, surviving high school just became a lot harder.

Each member of the group has their role to play; manipulative leader, aggressive jock, comic relief, activist, and smart girl. Together, their chemistry makes Student Body worth your time.
Stand-out performances come from two players. Austin Zajur as French is the loveable goofball of the bunch. His charming energy gives us the most memorable moments of levity. Harley Quinn Smith is a star. She’s such a natural, your eye goes to her immediately as her confident voice echoes above the fray of group scenes.

Writer-director Lee Ann Kurr gives us two distinct genres by structuring the script as one half character development and the other half horror. The issue with the second half is pacing. The urgency is missing. There are 15 minutes between murders, a brief slump then the third. Then, it stops being cohesive at all. There’s an overall emphasis on safety. We know new locks and safety glass were installed as they make a point to highlight it over and over. Unfortunately, unless I missed it, there’s no president for the measure. As the generation who experienced Columbine, some of these details seem nonsensical. Bulletproof windows and roll-down gates, but no classroom locks from the inside?

While I suspect the filming was done in an empty high school, halls, and classrooms lacking almost all signs of life, in the end, this probably lent to efficiency. Overall, there’s a lot of solid material in Student Body. The editing is fantastic and the soundtrack (at least in the beginning) lends itself to teen movie cult status. I wish that had continued. The dialogue is never pretentious or tries too hard. That and the cinematography make it enjoyable.


Now On Digital!


Directed by Lee Ann Kurr
Written by Lee Ann Kurr

Starring:
Christian Camargo, Montse Hernandez, Cheyenne Haynes, Harley Quinn Smith, Austin Zajur, Anthony Keyvan

Run Time: 1:28:48
Rating: N/A

Grimmfest (2021) review: ‘Night at the Eagle Inn’ is written by genre fans, for genre fans.

NIGHT AT THE EAGLE INN

Fraternal twins spend a hellish night at the remote inn their father disappeared from the night they were born.


Coming to the place where your parents both died the night you were born seems like a normal and healthy thing to do, right? An aging hotel, clearly in need of some more inhabitants, but we’ll get to that later, as twins Sarah and Spencer yearn for answers. Greeted by an unusually overzealous Night Manager and later, meeting up with the only other staff member, the two fight boredom and an eventual holy terror in this fateful place.

The imagery is thoroughly eerie. Did you ever get that uncomfortable, icky feeling watching something? Well, Night At The Eagle In serves that up in spades. Get ready for mentions and/or homages to PoltergeistThe ShiningThe Twilight ZoneMisery, and more. It’s a film by genre fans, for genre fans. 

Greg Schweers plays The Night Manager of Eagle Inn with a quirky quaintness that evolves into something terrifying. He’s so cheerful in his menace he makes your skin crawl. Amelia Dudley and Taylor Turner have great chemistry together. Their banter feels familiar and familial. The twin act works. The audience is invested in these two.

Beau Minniear, as Dean, has a charm that grows exponentially as the story progresses. He’s the only guide Sara and Spencer have through the chaos. But, can he be trusted? Minnear’s energy is steady, and he owns each frame he appears in. The script allows him to play comedy and crazy. He’s a total star.

The emotional abuse and torture these two experience flows off the screen. Writers Carson Bloomquist and Erik Bloomquist, who also directs, give us a tight 70 minutes that could easily be a Creepshow episode. (Shudder, take notice.) The final reveal is fantastic. Stick around for the credits, why don’t you? The film might as well be titled Hotel California because *spoiler alert*

You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!



  • Director:
    Erik Bloomquist
  • Screenwriter:
    Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist
  • Producer:
    Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist
  • Cast:
    Amelia Dudley, Taylor Turner, Greg Schweers, Beau Minniear, Erik Bloomquist
  • Cinematographer:
    Thomson Nguyen
  • Editor:

    Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist


Review: In ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli Lives Up to His Reputation as “The Most Hated Man in America”

PHARMA BRO

Martin Shkreli, the 38-year-old financial entrepreneur and pharmaceutical tycoon from Brooklyn, New York, was dubbed “the most hated man in America” by the media after he rose to infamy in 2015 for price gouging the prescription drug Daraprim by 5500% overnight depriving patients of the life-saving medication. That same year, Shkreli purchased the Wu-Tang Clan’s single copy of “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” for 2 million dollars, and was arrested for securities fraud, eventually resulting in the subsequent forfeiture of the album and recent reselling of it by the U.S. government to an anonymous buyer to pay off Shkreli’s debt. He has gained notoriety for his unchecked online presence, which was ultimately his downfall and sent him to prison, where he continues to provoke the public with bombastic declarations about finding a cure for the virus which has upended the world, Covid-19.


This was hard to watch. The documentary PharmaBro: An In-Depth Look at “The Most Hated Man in America” is exactly what it sounds like– an approximately 90 minute deep dive into a man so profoundly unlikeable that despite filmmaker Brent Hodge’s best efforts to develop a nuanced character study, Martin Shkreli remains a nihilistic cartoon until the end. Shkreli is the rare kind of person that is who you think he is: a prolific online troll that thrives off of controversy, leans into his worst impulses, and utilizes notoriety as a springboard to fame. 

Martin Shkreli – AKA Pharma Bro
Credit: Nigel Parry

Martin Shkreli’s utter lack of redeeming qualities, unfortunately, makes the rest of the film fall flat. It is impossible to care that his Livestream fans think he’s the victim of a witch hunt, particularly because the same community aided and abetted such severe harassment of Teen Vogue journalist Lauren Duca that Shkreli became one of the first high profile accounts permanently banned from Twitter. Trump-era horror show Milo Yiannopoulos, a personal friend of Shkreli’s, has multiple confessionals in a bizarre and distasteful addition. Somehow, even the feud with the Wu-Tang clan misses the mark.

The most interesting parts of this film confront and analyze what Shkreli did. While renowned for his ethically vapid pharmaceutical drug pricing, ultimately, he was convicted of securities fraud stemming from multiple Ponzi schemes. I would love to know more about the actual crime that caught up to him at last, and I am fascinated by the concept of an “orphan drug” hedge fund market. What under-the-radar mad capitalist is leading that industry now? Has the government conducted subsequent investigations or drafted new regulations? Is there an activist movement? Alas, those questions are left unanswered.


Available On Digital Platforms For Rent or Purchase Tomorrow, October 5, 2021


Directed by Brent Hodge (A Brony Tale, I Am Chris Farley, Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary)
Produced by Blumhouse Television and Hodgee Films

Featuring:
Martin Shkreli

Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah
Musical artist and friend of Shkreli, Billy The Fridge 
Journalist Christie Smythe
Shkreli Defense Attorney Ben Brafman

Review: ‘SHELTER IN PLACE’ is a slow burn lockdown horror.

SHELTER IN PLACE

SYNOPSIS: A honeymooning couple gets stranded at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and learns that there is more to fear than just cabin fever.


“What’s out there, is scarier than what’s in here,” sound like famous last words. Shelter in Place has a relatable setup, especially considering the past 18 months. There’s an empty hotel, a newlywed couple, two hotel staff, and a whole lot of questions. Jonathan and Sara have an enormous chip on their shoulders as they are in quarantine in the beautiful Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Sara is an influencer and David moves money around. They fill their time wandering the halls of the hotel, taking advantage of the two staff members, and snooping in places they should not be. Consumed with the boredom and getting on one another’s nerves, Sara finally realizes something is amiss in this luxurious and lifeless hotel.

Ty is the general manager of the hotel, with the patience of a saint. Kevin Daniels plays him immaculately. I think he’s the most nuanced character. Daniels is a star. I’d watch him in anything. Adela is the overly attentive maid from Poland. There’s big Season 1 of American Horror Story energy coming from her. Actress Ola Kaminska gives it her all. She’s eerie as hell. Jonathan is played by Brendan Hines. He’s pretty punchable, super douche, and I do mean that as a compliment. Tatjana Marjanovic is Sara. She’s strong in her emotional journey and has all the makings of a scream queen.

The editing and cinematography are noticeably effective in allowing you to feel trapped and isolated. The use of red lighting is ominous and consuming. Directed and written by Chris Beyrooty and Connor Martin, the screenplay has Sara run out of the medication she’s taking, leading to panic attacks. The realism factor of a couple in lockdown allows Shelter in Place to push genre boundaries. It is anything but your typical genre film. There is some powerfully mean dialogue that will sound familiar to anyone in a relationship crisis. Just when you think the narrative hits a lull, you are reminded that something is very wrong here. While the final 15 minutes is heart-pounding, ultimately I haven’t a damn clue what Shelter In Place‘s ending really means. It’s a lot of successful, slow-burn build-up for a payoff that could have gone a million different directions. I’m not sure this was the right turn.


WATCH THE TRAILER: 

1091 Pictures will release the horror film SHELTER IN PLACE on VOD and Digital on September 14, 2021.

Directed and Written by Chris Beyrooty and Connor MartinSHELTER IN PLACE stars Brendan Hines (The Tick, Lie to Me), Tatjana Marjanovic (Great White, Purgatory), Kevin Daniels (Atypical, Modern Family, The Big Leap), Ola Kaminska (The Madness Within), and Jey Reynolds.


REVIEW: ‘An Unknown Compelling Force’ Takes You Deeper Into the Mystery

An Unknown Compelling Force

An Unknown Compelling Force is the True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, known as Russia’s greatest unsolved mystery. In 1959 a group of student hikers were attempting a difficult winter expedition in the remote Ural Mountains of Russia when an unknown event lead to the mysterious deaths of all nine. When the team failed to report back, search parties lead by the Soviet Government and fellow students uncovered the grizzly remains of the hikers. Found a mile from their shredded tent, they seemingly fled into the freezing temperatures without their winter clothes or boots. Adding to the mystery, many of the bodies had suffered brutal and inexplicable injuries, and some even showed traces of radiation.
                                                            
The case was closed by investigators at the time, stating that the hikers died from “An Unknown Compelling Force.” For more than 60 years the story has been shrouded in mystery and conspiracy theories, suggesting everything from UFOs, murder to a Soviet Government cover-up. British adventure filmmaker Liam Le Guillou travels under the radar to Russia in search of answers. Braving the dangerous conditions and hundreds of kilometers in sub-polar conditions, the documentary team attempts to reach the very location of the incident, a place the locals call “The Dead Mountain.”

About two minutes into watching this documentary, it occurs to me that I may be its exact target audience. As a lifelong fan of Unsolved Mysteries (the old school 90s version with Robert Stack, naturally), the opening montage with talking heads spouting their pet theories had me instantly hooked. For the next two hours, I was engrossed in Director Liam Le Guillou’s exploration into the unknown events that caused the mysterious deaths of nine student hikers in Russia’s remote Ural Mountains.

The Dyatlov Pass incident is a topic that regularly pops up in true crime and history podcasts because of the many bizarre and cinematic elements at play. A group of experienced young hikers goes on an adventure, something terrifying and inexplicable happens, and no one makes it back alive. More than a week later, the search and rescue team discovers a tragic tableau– the hikers had fled their tent only partially clothed and their bodies were discovered a mile away from the campsite riddled with violent, inconsistent injuries. After an initial investigation, the Soviet government quickly buried its findings and the records were sealed for sixty years.

With a team of journalists, eyewitnesses, and researchers, the documentary sorts through many common theories about what may have happened to the hikers ranging from the scientific and rational (avalanche) to the more whimsical and outrageous (alien abduction/ Russian yeti), and intriguing geopolitical angles (Cold War military experiment gone wrong). The documentary adds color to the historical narrative by bringing a crew into the Ural Mountains to complete the same trek as the doomed hikers, which adds striking visuals into the bleak and unforgiving landscape. 

However, what sets this film apart from other retellings is that the Director has a favorite pet theory that he builds a case for throughout. In the final minutes, there is a bold closing argument to explain the fate of the hikers that I had never heard and seems to not have been fully explored. Although I am not convinced, the argument is compelling and as good as any other put forth to explain this mystifying series of events. 

If the title or synopsis of this project makes you want to spend the next half hour on Wikipedia doing a deep dive, then this film is for you.

 Available Digitally on June 15, 2021

 Order Now: https://geni.us/Watch_UCF

Directed by Liam Le Guillou

‘Super Dark Times’ now available on Shudder!

Super Dark Times will stun Shudder audiences. Here is a flashback to our review from The Fantasia International Film Festival 2017…

SUPER DARK TIMES

Teenagers Zach and Josh have been best friends their whole lives, but when a gruesome accident leads to a cover-up, the secret drives a wedge between them and propels them down a rabbit hole of escalating paranoia and violence.

Set in the early ’90s, before Columbine was an event ingrained in history, a child’s innocence was not as easily spoiled as the kids in Super Dark Times. As someone who grew up at the same time as the main characters, I can attest to the typical dangers that surrounded our childhood. We were affected by the national news when a child was kidnapped, but that was about it. On the first evening of this year’s Fantasia Film Festival, audiences will see a film so brilliantly composed from the colors and textures of the costumes and cinematography to the incredibly disturbing storyline from screenwriters Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski. The power of an act of violence changes a person. Born from that awkward time in our lives comes the idea that fear can control the room, where the older/stronger kids ruled the proverbial schoolyards. Drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes made you popular and badass and oftentimes, intimidating. Super Dark Times taps into those ideals in that very specific time in history, and yet it has a creepy timeless factor once you understand the full plot. With elements of the surreal, you will find yourself asking who is showing us the truth at any given moment. Director Kevin Phillips takes us on a sickening journey, one that’s become all too familiar as the years have rolled by.

  • Directed by: Kevin Phillips
  • Written by: Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski
  • Cast: Sawyer Barth, Owen Campbell, Elizabeth Cappuccino, Amy Hargreaves, Charlie Tahan, Max Talisman
  • Company: 1091

Review: ‘Star Light’ star bright? Not quite.

A supernatural thriller, STAR LIGHT involves a kind-hearted teenager, Dylan (Cameron Johnson), who crashes into a beautiful young woman (Scout Taylor-Compton) while skateboarding. She turns out to be a world-famous popstar, who is on the run from her handlers. While he and his group of friends try to help this mysterious woman, unexplained events begin to occur within the home. When Bebe’s threatening handler, Anton, shows up demanding her return, the teenagers’ refusal makes him unleash a barrage of dire and otherworldly consequences that turns a fun graduation party into a night of living hell.

Star Light feels like a copycat attempt of Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight, with the hopes that a younger audience has no idea what that is. If you haven’t seen that yet, do yourself a favor and do so now. The acting is…  not great overall. The dinner scene in the opening of the film is so overly hostile, you may pause, make popcorn, and want to referee Real Housewives style. I give credit to the commitment of the actors. No one can say they gave a half-assed performance. Unfortunately, the dialogue is as cliche as having actors that are closer to 30 play high school students. I probably would have respected the film more had these actually been kids. The early skateboarding shots are by far my favorite bit of editing. Establishing a smalltown America was a nice choice even if it doesn’t ever pan out as purposeful in the end. 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre homage opening, which comes back around later deserves applause for the bait and switch. I know teens and sex and horror are a give-in for the genre, but there is one moment that seems so utterly misplaced it’s a full-on facepalm. The CGI is fair at best. I can change the color of my eyes with a Snapchat app. That does not mean I should be making a feature film. The climax of the film is hands down the most interesting but there is no payoff. If you’re going to insinuate that a Taylor Swift-like character has power over people, why not exploit that to its fullest extent. That’s the story! That’s an entire series or franchise. As someone who specializes in genre films, and as a genuine fan of all things scary and magical, Star Light felt less like it was made by experienced filmmakers and more like a local college kid’s project for a class. 

Mitchell Altieri and Lee Cummings’ STAR LIGHT hits Digital and On Demand August 4.