Review: Murder mystery romp ‘HELEN’S DEAD’ opens to Theaters and On Demand today!

HELEN’S DEAD

Helen’s Dead follows the story of Addie (Dylan Gelula). After a terrible breakup with her boyfriend, Addie goes to confront her best friend about cheating allegations and accidentally steps into a murder scene.


HELEN’S DEAD is an ensemble comedy filled with familiar faces. Several uninvited guests throw Leila’s curated entertainment plans out the window. HELEN’S DEAD turns a whirlwind of lies and a spoiled dinner party into a chaotic murder mystery. 

Tyrese Gibson plays Helen’s vengeful boyfriend on the hunt for his lady and some loot. Gibson is equal parts scary and charming. Beth Dover, whom I feel is simultaneously everywhere and not enough places, plays Girl Boss journalist and Leila’s supposed ticket back into the mainstream. Dover is as great as ever. Annabelle Dexter-Jones is our ambitious Leila, looking for the perfect dinner party to weave a small-town comeback tale for the masses. Her nightmarish perfection-driven micromanaging is everything you’d hope for. Brian Huskey plays Leila’s partner, but more importantly, her therapist. His turtleneck-wearing, effected speech character work is fantastic. 

Emile Hirsh is a manic misogynist and one catalyst in the chaos. Matilda Lutz plays the titular Helen. She is a star. Her presence is magnetic, and you cannot take your eyes off of her. Dylan Gelula, whom I adored in Cooper Raiff‘s Shithouse, gives us high millennial manicness for the gods. Gelula embodies Addie to a tea. Oliver Cooper steals the show with his portrayal of Cameron, a local theatre actor smitten with Helen and roped into an elaborate charade by Leila. Cooper is a joy to watch. If you aren’t smirking at his every syllable, check your pulse. 

While the film goes slightly off the rails an hour in, what remains of HELEN’S DEAD is a revenge plot gone awry and a twisted tale of reconciliation. 



In Theaters & On Demand November 3, 2023

Directed by K. Asher Levin
Written by Amy Brown Carver
Story by K. Asher Levin and Amy Brown Carver

Produced by Levin, Daniel Cummings, Robert Dean, Roy Scott MacFarland & Todd Lundbohm



Review: Streaming exclusively on Shudder, ‘SON’ is a mother’s worst nightmare.

SON

In SONafter a mysterious group breaks into Laura’s home and attempts to abduct her eight-year-old son, David, the two of them flee town in search of safety. But soon after the failed kidnapping, David becomes extremely ill, suffering from increasing psychosis and convulsions. Following her maternal instincts, Laura commits unspeakable acts to keep him alive, but soon she must decide how far she is willing to go to save her son.

The script does an incredible job of ramping up the tension, mystery, and danger. There are solid moments in which the audience experiences Laura’s unique brand of gaslighting. This device makes the viewer question everything being thrown their way. Emile Hirsch’s detective Paul also represents our rollercoaster of uncertainty. His sympathetic approach to Laura and David’s plight is necessary. Writer-director Ivan Kavanagh gives us more gore than I expected. The special effects makeup is outstanding. As a mother, I felt ill watching SON for more reasons than I can explain. It’s a film that Shudder subscribers (especially parents) will eat up.

Luke David Blumm gives one hell of a performance as David. He strikes the perfect balance of innocence and progressively sinister. Emile Hirsch is the grounded point man needed for a story like this to be successful. I enjoy him as a cop and as an indie horror staple. SON hinges entirely on the energy of Andi Matichak as Laura. Her vulnerability and determination drive everything. Matichak never overplays the PTSD card but uses it skillfully. 

SON is an unsettling watch, so to say the least. It is yet another notch in Shudder‘s belt.

“SON” TO PREMIERE EXCLUSIVELY ON SHUDDER 
ON JULY 8, 2021 
 
Written and directed by  Ivan Kavanagh (The Canal, Never Grow Old), SON stars Andi Matichak (Halloween franchise, Assimilate), Emile Hirsch (The Autopsy of Jane Doe), and Luke David Blumm (The King of Staten Island). 
 

 

Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller, and the supernatural, announced that SON will be available exclusively to stream on the platform starting on July 8, 2021. As a Shudder exclusive, the platform will be the only subscription service that will carry the film in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
 
 

Review: “10,000 Saints” will rock you gently.

10K Saints poster 10,000 Saints follows three screwed up young people and their equally screwed up parents in the age of CBGB’s, yuppies and the tinderbox of gentrification that exploded into the Tompkins Square Park Riots in New York’s East Village in the 1980s. This film is essentially the story of how small life connections become the ties that bind a group of estranged friends and family. It’s quite extraordinary and a brilliant translation of Eleanor Henderson‘s New York Times best-selling novel. After the loss of his best friend Teddy, Jude is sent to live his absentee father, Les. Reconnecting with Les’ girlfriend’s daughter, Eliza and straight edge punk singer and brother of Teddy, Johnny, the three embark on a path that was thrust upon them. 10K Saints Asa EthanEthan Hawke, who I am convinced is a Timelord at this point, gives a flawless performance. His loose lipped, nonchalance is the perfect foil to quietly angsty and gentle Asa Butterfield as Jude. Les’ storyline of fatherly redemption is pretty poetic. Jude’s search for his soul is much more pensive but just as stunning with Butterfield’s innate ability to live the screenplay’s emotional highs and lows. Hailee Steinfeld‘s natural performance as wild child turned guilt ridden and lost pregnant teen is one that should be noted. Emile Hirsh‘s Johnny is a beautifully zen enigma. With a truly talented cast rounded out by Juilanne Nicholson, Avan Jogia, and Emily Mortimer10,000 Saints is one hell of an ensemble film. 10K Saints Emile HaileeThis coming of age tale is deals with guilt, unrequited love, self realization, parenting and death, all in delicate yet fully  meaningful ways. The music is most defintiely its own character, with a soundtrack featuring The Replacements, The Cure, REM, Social Distortion, The Stone Roses, and Johnny’s band Army of One. Directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini are gifted storytellers and you bet I will be going out and grabbing Henderson’s novel soon. 10,000 Saints will not disappoint your eyes, ears or heart. 10,000 Saints comes to theaters, iTunes and other VOD platforms Friday, August 14th