Reviews

[Review] The Purge: Anarchy

I mostly enjoyed last year's suspense horror The Purge, despite high expectations for the premise actually going where it needed to prove more than another gene...

[Review] Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Like the 1968 original that started all this cinematic monkey business, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a film that surpasses the implications of its title. M...

[NYAFF Review] The Snow White Murder Case

Based on a 2012 novel written by Kanae Minato, The Snow White Murder Case is very much a product of our time. A satirical take on the Twitter age that also to a...

[NYAFF Review] Rigor Mortis

Hong Kong horror has produced few figures more memorable than that of the hopping vampire. While its origins are rooted in folklore, it attained novelty status ...

[Review] My America

Collaborating with Baltimore-based Center Stage in My America, director Hal Hartley directs a series of monologues and performances attempting to crack a specif...

[NYAFF Review] Firestorm

For fifty minutes—minus one crazy hand-to-hand combat fight on top of a fallen metal gate suspended over two adjacent buildings' fire escapes in midair—writer/d...

[NYAFF Review] Soul

Described in equal measure as a slasher horror and psychological meditation on the soul—whether from demonic possession, reincarnation, or both—Taiwan's entry f...

[Review] Heatstroke

Heatstroke, in large part, feels like a very long chase film during its opening. Set in South Africa, it has several bright spots including a first act that inv...

[Review] Premature

Enduring and funny, Premature, much like last year’s The To Do List, is a useful entry into that time test genre of the summer teen sex comedy. It’s a shame now...

[Review] Earth to Echo

In 1982 it took a whole movie for E.T. to place a call back to his home planet. He might have found more luck with the trio of kids in Earth to Echo, who always...