Marginalia (2025): Director: Mark BealScreenwriter: Mark BealStarring: Jessica Bell, Seraluna Sanchez, Savannah Davi Barrera, Jessica Lemmons, Cory W. Ahre The Plot: Sister Trista (Jessica Bell), who has taken a vow of silence, is summoned to Karnstein Abbey to serve as a mourner for the suddenly deceased abbess. The outsider soon realizes that all is not…
T Blockers (2023): Director: Alice Maio MackayScreenwriters: Alica Maio Mackay & Benjamin Pahl RobinsonStarring: Lauren Last, Lewi Dawson, Toshiro Glenn, Lisa Fanto The Plot: In small town Australia, an ancient parasite is turning local men into violent, raving bigots. Transgender filmmaker Sophie (Lauren Last) discovers that she has the psychic ability to sense the possessed.…
Obsession (2025): Director: Curry BarkerScreenwriter: Curry BarkerStarring: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless The Plot: Cringing loser Bear (Michael Johnston) just can’t quite bring himself to ask out his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette ). On a whim, he uses a “One Wish Willow” purchased from a magic shop and discovers that it actually…
Nothing makes you feel old like your childhood becoming the new setting for nostalgic horror. Backrooms (2026): Director: Kane ParsonsScreenwriter: Will SoodikStarring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell The Plot: In 1990, freshly divorced and secretly living in his struggling furniture store, failed architect Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discovers a hidden dimension in the…
We’re kicking off this year’s Octoberween festivities with a recent South Korean monster movie that is absolutely bonkers. Hope (2026): Director: Na Hong-jinScreenwriter: Na Hong-jinStarring: Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander The Plot: Rural police chief Beom Seok (Hwang Jung-min) starts off his day investigating a mutilated cow. Local hunters, led by…
Ah, Octoberween. I know what you’re all thinking: “It really isn’t fall until Rooster Illusion starts writing about horror and horror-adjacent cinema.” We don’t know how it happened, but our humble blog became a lode-bearing component of the Western autumnal festival season. Without us, it would probably be Christmas already (if store displays are anything…
September 20th: A strong finish to a solid festival. By the nature of their genre, the films in the Fantasy Shorts block did not dwell on AI. It was a nice break, though I appreciated the way that Metropolis brought everything thematically full circle. Fantasy Short Film Block Stuck 2gether (2026)Las Hadas de la Sombra…
September 19th: AI remained the topic du jour in discussions and sci-fi shorts, a stark contrast to the wit and warmth of The Princess Bride. But hey, if true love can conquer the Fire Swamp, perhaps so too can the spirit of human creativity endure these tech-addled times. This post ended up being longer than…
September 18th: This pre-apocalyptic action oddity was a canny choice to open a festival so concerned with the dangers and temptations of artificial intelligence. The topic surfaced in short films and feature-length films, in moderated Q&A sessions, and in cocktail reception chatter. And why wouldn’t it? Read the news, catch a commercial, check your work…
I caught festival fever this summer at MIFF (read all about it here). Now I’m back at it with the SciFi Schenectady Film Festival, held from 9/18-9/20 in Schenectady’s historic Proctors Theater. This year’s lineup includes a promisingly eclectic mix of new and old, science fiction and fantasy, and features and short films. Keep an…
Practical Magic 2 (2026): Director: Susanne BierScreenwriter: Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett, and Kelly MarcelStarring: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Joey King, Maisie Williams, Lee Pace, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing The Plot: The Owens women come from a long line of witches, all cursed so that the men they love are doomed to die. After suffering another…
Onslaught (2026): Director: Adam WingardScreenwriter: Simon Barrett & Adam WingardStarring: Adria Arjona, Blake Kennedy, Reginald VelJohnson, Drew Starkey, Dan Stevens The Plot: Three genetically engineered super soldiers escape from a secret government facility in the desert. Their programming tells them to kill anything in their path, which in this case includes the residents of Windy…
