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Spies Like Us - Maddwolf
The Amateur by Hope Madden A lot had changed in black ops, terrorism and surveillance since 1981, when Robert Littell wrote the novel and film The Amateur. The Cold War gave way to a surveillance state where it’s even easier to believe that a guy from CIA’s encryption team could undermine their entire operation. Rami … Continue reading Spies Like Us →
Fact or Fiction - Maddwolf
Asog by Brandon Thomas Since its inception, filmmaking has given artists an outlet to explore and amplify identity. Whether it’s cultural, religious, or something more profound and oftentimes less investigated – like sexuality and gender – film has opened the door for people around the world to share who they are. Through a mix of … Continue reading Fact or Fiction →
I'll Make Sandwiches - Maddwolf
Relative Control by Rachel Willis Sara (Teri Polo) has her hands full. Her adult son is living on the other side of the country and is still dependent on her. Her aging parents are beginning to show signs of mental and physical decline. And she was just hired to handle the biggest case of her … Continue reading I’ll Make Sandwiches →
The Talented Monsieur Jérémie - Maddwolf
Misericordia by Matt Weiner It’s a familiar story in the sleepy French town of Saint-Martial. Traditional ways of life are being upended, like getting your fresh bread from the village baker instead of a large supermarket chain. Or spending the afternoon on the farm knocking back shots of milky pastis. Or seeking absolution from the … Continue reading The Talented Monsieur Jérémie →
Can You Hear Me Now? - Maddwolf
Drop by Hope Madden The thing about Drop, Christopher Landon’s new first date thriller, is that we’ve seen it before. Maybe not this exact scenario, but the idea. Go all the way back to 2002’s Phone Booth, when Joel Schumacher and a self-righteous sniper trapped Colin Farrell on a pay phone. Or back to 2014 … Continue reading Can You Hear Me Now? →
Boys to Men - Maddwolf
Sacramento by George Wolf “You would bail. I see it all over your face.” First their first meeting on opposite sides of a serene California lake, Tallie (Maya Erskine) sizes up Rickey (Michael Anganaro) pretty well. Anganaro’s instincts are just as sharp in Sacramento, only his second feature as writer/director after decades of acting gigs. … Continue reading Boys to Men →
All Hat and No Cattle - Maddwolf
Gunslingers by Hope Madden Nic Cage makes, what, 18 movies a year? And every tenth or so is really worth watching, maybe because it’s fun, often solely because he’s a lunatic, and once in a long while you get a Pig, a Dream Scenario, a Mandy. But more often than not you get a Gunslingers. … Continue reading All Hat and No Cattle →
Audacity to Burn - Maddwolf
Thank You Very Much by George Wolf Watching Thank You Very Much, you can’t help but wonder how this might land for someone who didn’t live through the Andy Kaufman phenomenon. He was such a pop culture anomaly that even the best explanation wouldn’t completely clue in the uninitiated. That’s a compliment to Kaufman’s fearless … Continue reading Audacity to Burn →
A Mother's Burden - Maddwolf
Eric LaRue by Hope Madden The film Eric LaRue pairs two of modern cinema’s most talented and least appreciated actors: Judy Greer and Michael Shannon. Intriguingly, Shannon doesn’t appear onscreen. Instead, he makes his feature directorial debut with this emotionally raw drama about a mother’s spiral after her son murders three of his classmates. As … Continue reading A Mother’s Burden →
Boys of Summer - Maddwolf
Hell of a Summer by Hope Madden Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk are not the first to send up the summer camp slasher. They may not even be the first this year. But that fact doesn’t make Hell of a Summer any less delightful. The co-directors and co-writers are also co-stars, playing two best friends … Continue reading Boys of Summer →
Neighborhood Watch - Maddwolf
825 Forest Road by Hope Madden I wonder whether Ashland Falls is a far drive from Abaddon, New York. Looks like a pretty area. Hell House LLC writer/director Stephen Cognetti launched a fun and mainly impressive horror franchise from the dusty soil of the mythical Abaddon, New York, reinvigorating the found footage genre and reminding … Continue reading Neighborhood Watch →
Freaks Off the Leash - Maddwolf
Freaky Tales by George Wolf Look, I’m not saying I didn’t expect someone to make a Sleepy-Floyd-as-a-ninja-assassin horror comedy. I am saying I didn’t expect it to be Boden and Fleck. Eric “Sleepy” Floyd played thirteen years in the NBA, making the All Star team in 1987 as a member of the Golden State Warriors. … Continue reading Freaks Off the Leash →
MOM 9000 - Maddwolf
Renner by Daniel Baldwin Artificial Intelligence has been a staple of science fiction cinema for decades. Particularly when it comes to depicting fear of A.I. gone rogue. From 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Terminator to The Matrix and Her, filmmakers have deeply explored numerous ways that A.I. can decide to make our lives miserable once it decides to have a life … Continue reading MOM 9000 →
Fish On - Maddwolf
Tarpon by George Wolf So this documentary is about fishing? And writing? It’s set in 1970s Key West? And features original music by a pre-superstardom Jimmy Buffett? Holy schnikes, Tarpon, where have you been hiding all my life? It’s been out there like the titular trophy fish, never officially released but gaining a cult following … Continue reading Fish On →
Shadow Dancing - Maddwolf
The Woman in the Yard by Hope Madden Exciting news! There’s a new scary movie starring Danielle Deadwyler—you know, who should have been Oscar nominated in 2024 for The Piano Lesson and in 2022 for Till? Well, the Academy may not appreciate her talent, but horror does. Deadwyler leads director Jaume Collet-Serra’s new Blumhouse PG-13 … Continue reading Shadow Dancing →
Diamond Life - Maddwolf
Eephus by George Wolf Any serious baseball fan knows what comes with that first chill of the fall. If you’re lucky, your favorite team may be playing for a few more weeks. But even so, it won’t be long before – as former MLB commissioner Bart Giamatti so eloquently put it – “the days are … Continue reading Diamond Life →
Dream Scenario - Maddwolf
Shudderbugs by Rachel Willis The ability to dream of things that happened or will happen is part of the family mythology that permeates writer/director (and star), Johanna Putnam’s film, Shudderbugs. As we learn from Sam (Putnam), shudderbugs was what her mother, Eliza, called the eerie premonitions and feelings that allowed her to know when something … Continue reading Dream Scenario →
Me So Horny - Maddwolf
Death of a Unicorn by George Wolf Man, what’s with all these “eat the rich” movies lately? Cough, cough..it’s a mystery. But Death of a Unicorn treats the idea more literally than most. And though it ultimately pulls up too safely, the film does have some fun unleashing mythical mayhem and the bloodiest of comeuppances. … Continue reading Me So Horny →
Unstable for Days - Maddwolf
Locked by George Wolf The first English language remake (third overall) of the 2019 Argentinian thriller 4×4, Locked streamlines the vigilante festivities for a fairly generic teaming of one veteran trope and one new favorite. Tech cautionary tales are all the rage, and thrillers have been car-centric back to at least Duel and Race With … Continue reading Unstable for Days →
Princess Problem Solver - Maddwolf
Snow White by George Wolf Death, taxes…Disney live action remakes? We may not be there quite yet, but the train keeps rolling with Snow White, an update that’s consistently appealing enough to rise above an unsteady opening and one unfortunate choice. Much of that winning appeal comes from a terrific Rachel Zegler, who commands the … Continue reading Princess Problem Solver →
Kids Are Great, Aren't They? - Maddwolf
The Assessment by Hope Madden Director Fleur Fortune’s feature debut delivers an effective gut punch of a sleight of hand. What feels for quite a while like a near-spoof on our collective unpreparedness for parenting morphs slowly into something entirely else. Something more sinister, more human, and alarmingly likely. In a post-dystopian future where scientists … Continue reading Kids Are Great, Aren’t They? →
Thirsty Americans, Crooked Cops & Politicians - Maddwolf
The Alto Knights by Hope Madden What Barry Levinson, working from a script by Goodfellas and Casino writer Nicholas Pileggi, has done is made a historical recap of a true American gangster tale enlivened by the gimmick of two De Niros. Because, obviously, one sure way to draw attention to your gangster picture is to … Continue reading Thirsty Americans, Crooked Cops & Politicians →
Princess Problem Solver - Maddwolf
Show White by George Wolf Death, taxes…Disney live action remakes? We may not be there quite yet, but the train keeps rolling with Snow White, an update that’s consistently appealing enough to rise above an unsteady opening and one unfortunate choice. Much of that winning appeal comes from a terrific Rachel Zegler, who commands the … Continue reading Princess Problem Solver →
Daddy's Little Girl - Maddwolf
Bloody Axe Wound by Hope Madden New to Shudder this week is Matthew John Lawrence’s (Peckerhead) charming dismantling of the slasher genre and insightful look at the impact of adolescence on the generations. Bloody Axe Wound stars a spunky Sari Arambulo as Abbie Bladecut. Her family video store lives and dies on the movies they … Continue reading Daddy’s Little Girl →
Moon in Her Eye - Maddwolf
Hood Witch by Hope Madden Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. It’s a popular sentence in the Old Testament, one used to excuse a lot of needless suffering, mainly women’s. It’s not the only spot in the Bible that condemns sorcery, divination and what not. Jesus never mentioned it, though. (He never said … Continue reading Moon in Her Eye →
Fright Club: Best Appalachian Horror - Maddwolf
How many great horror films are set in Appalachia? So many that we had to leave these off the top 5 list: Wrong Turn, Evil Dead, Jugface, The Mothman Prophesies, The Descent, even Silence of the Lambs! Because what were we looking for? Something that really dug into the landscape, the people of the area. … Continue reading Fright Club: Best Appalachian Horror →
Punk Enough? - Maddwolf
Lulu and the Electric Dreamboat by Brandon Thomas Mark McDonagh (co-director and writer Michael Casey) deals with all of the same issues most teenagers do: strange parents, bullies, and an utter lack of confidence. Mark’s one outlet for his angst – punk rock – singles him out even more amongst his family and community. When … Continue reading Punk Enough? →
Made from Scratch - Maddwolf
Control Freak by Hope Madden When writer/director Shal Ngo’s Control Freak opens, we watch Val (Kelly Marie Tran)—in front of a backdrop of clouds, all Tony Robbins like—tell a rapt audience that they alone control their destiny. Tran is compelling, but it’s an obvious way to open a horror film (or a comedy). Pride goeth … Continue reading Made from Scratch →
A Gamble Not Worth Taking - Maddwolf
High Rollers by Daniel Baldwin Word-class thief Mason (John Travolta) is in a bit of a pickle. His girlfriend Amelia (Gina Gershon) has been kidnapped by his archrival, Salazar (Danny Pardo), as a means to force Mason into robbing a casino. Of course, Salazar has no interest in making good on a trade once the … Continue reading A Gamble Not Worth Taking →
Stinking, Thinking and Saving Lives - Maddwolf
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie by Hope Madden I am not what you would call a Looney Tunes fan. Writer/director Peter Browngardt and co-writers Kevin Costello and Alex Kirwan (along with a writing team of at least a dozen) clearly are. Their animated feature The Day the Earth Blew Up: … Continue reading Stinking, Thinking and Saving Lives →
Wrestling with the Past - Maddwolf
Raging Midlife by Adam Barney If you were the right age in the late 80s, professional wrestling was an unavoidable cultural monolith with larger-than-life stars like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Macho Man, and many more. In Raging Midlife, Alex (co-writer Nic Costa) and Mark (Matt Zak) were the biggest fans of “Raging Abraham Lincoln” … Continue reading Wrestling with the Past →
Spy vs. Spy - Maddwolf
Black Bag by George Wolf What is more diabolical: enacting a global plan for widespread destruction, or pursuing a selfish agenda in your relationship, ready to twist the knife precisely where it hurts your partner the most? Black Bag has a satchel full of fun weighing the two options, as director Steven Soderbergh and a … Continue reading Spy vs. Spy →
Feeling No Pain - Maddwolf
Novocaine by Hope Madden So, this mild-mannered bank manager (Jack Quaid) has a rare medical condition, and he can’t feel pain. He spends his entire life extremely cautious because with even a minor injury, he could bleed to death without knowing he’s even injured. But then the girl of his dreams is kidnapped by bank … Continue reading Feeling No Pain →
It's Guys Like You - Maddwolf
Mickey 17 by Hope Madden People mainly familiar with filmmaker Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-sweeping masterpiece Parasite may not know of his remarkable skill with a SciFi creature feature. Mickey 17, then, will be an excellent primer. Robert Pattinson is the titular Mickey. Well, he’s a bunch of Mickeys, all 17 of them. Hoping to get … Continue reading It’s Guys Like You →
We Infected a Zoo - Maddwolf
Night of the Zoopocalypse by Rachel Willis Young wolf Gracie (Gabbi Kosmidis) is put to the test in directors Ricardo Curtis and Rodrigo Perez-Castro’s Night of the Zoopocalypse. Gracie’s elder pack leader is insistent that something bad is coming, making the pack run drills and practice maneuvers in preparation. But Gracie is skeptical that anything … Continue reading We Infected a Zoo →
Art Imitating Life Imitating Opera - Maddwolf
Seven Veils by George Wolf Real-life creative roadblocks pushed filmmaker Atom Egoyan to channel his frustrations into a new project. Seven Veils is the result, an impressively crafted and consistently compelling psychological drama of life imitating art imitating opera. A few years back, Egoyan was set to re-mount his vision of Richard Strauss’s Salome with … Continue reading Art Imitating Life Imitating Opera →
Grow Old Along With Me - Maddwolf
The Rule of Jenny Pen by Hope Madden In 2021, Kiwi filmmaker James Ashcroft made his feature debut with the lean and unforgiving thriller Coming Home in the Dark. While his follow up discards the taut terror of a road picture in favor of lunacy and a hand puppet, The Rule of Jenny Pen mines … Continue reading Grow Old Along With Me →
Eerie Desert Vibes - Maddwolf
The Buildout by Daniel Baldwin When The Buildout opens, a religious group known as “The Clergy” is set on establishing a home in a remote part of a desert. Vague references are made to the fact that they’ve moved around a few times in search of a place where they can find a deep spiritual connection. Is … Continue reading Eerie Desert Vibes →
Rolling Along - Maddwolf
My Dead Friend Zoe by Hope Madden Filmmaker Kyle Hausmann-Stokes impresses with his feature debut, My Dead Friend Zoe. Based on his 2022 short Merit x Zoe, the film follows Army veteran Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green, Star Trek: Discovery) as she tries to overcome some post-Afghanistan trauma. Merit’s best friend Zoe (Natalie Morales)—who is, as you … Continue reading Rolling Along →