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Stars: Jessica Alexander, Anja Taljaard, Hilton Pelser, Adrienne Pearce, Kitty Harris, Brent Vermeulen | Written by Kelsey Egan, Emma Lungiswa de Wet | Directed by Kelsey Egan

A brand-new post-apocalyptic gothic sci-fi melodrama from South Africa, Glasshouse is one of a growing number of genre films to stem from the country, yet one that is not really known for its genre output but one whose culture and landscape are just rife with terrifying possibilities. The film stars British actress Jessica Alexander (the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid) and newcomer Anja Taljaard as the sisters, Bee and Evie, opposite Hilton Pelser as The Stranger.

Glasshouse is set after The Shred, an airborne dementia, has left humanity roaming like lost and dangerous animals, unable to remember who they are. Confined to their airtight glasshouse, a family does what they must to survive – until the sisters are seduced by a stranger who upsets the family’s rituals,...

A mother and her daughters hole up in a Victorian conservatory, hiding from a devastating pandemic that lays waste to human memory

Shot in a Victorian hothouse in South Africa with a mixed cast of local actors and the odd imported Brit – including Jessica Alexander, soon be seen in Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid – this tense dystopian horror-thriller feels geographically non-specific, almost as if it were taking place in some kind of dream world. That touch of hazy vagueness is just right for Sa director and co-writer Kelsey Egan’s cracking feature debut (co-written with Emma Lungiswa De Wet) which imagines a family of survivors hiding out in the title’s botanical conservatory after a pandemic has ravaged most of the world’s population.

The invisible threat here is an airborne virus called “the shred” which wipes out memories and leaves its victims in a bestial state, unable to remember even their own names.

In total isolation, as a pandemic turns the world upside down, a house of glass rises mysteriously out of the mist and forest. Inside, a small family lives in lonely confinement, tending the plants growing within the greenhouse that protect them from the toxic air. Outside the safety of their airtight glasshouse, an airborne neurochemical shreds the memories of its victims. Mother teaches her children the simple laws of their sanctuary and how to preserve precious memories through rituals. Daughters Evie and Bee are two girls on the cusp of womanhood in a strange and violent world—one is dedicated to memory and the other wishes to forget. Together with Mother, Evie and Bee are caring for innocents Gabe and Daisy when a seductive stranger disturbs the tranquility of their sanctuary.

Glasshouse hits a rich yet complex chord in its marriage of folk horror, Gothic storytelling, and vintage science with...

“Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe,” wrote Guy de Maupassant. “It gives back life to those who no longer exist.”

The world as we know it no longer exists in Kelsey Egan’s melancholy début feature. We drift down across a scorched white desert to find the glasshouse, adrift in a little island of green, set apart from the world and seemingly adrift in time. There, mother (a magnificently coiffured Adrienne Pearce) presides over her tight-knit family unit: older girls Bea (Jessica Alexander) and Evie (Anja Taljaard); young Daisy (Kitty Harris) and boy Gabe (Brent Vermeulen). The latter struggles with a significant cognitive disability caused by early childhood exposure to the airborne pathogen known as the Shred, which damages the memory. As we get to know this family, however, we will learn that Gabe’s difficulties do not mean he’s unintelligent – indeed, he sometimes understands what’s going on.

The Fantasia International Film Festival begins in less than two weeks and we have a look at it's incredible offering of features, panels, and special events:

The Fantasia International Film Festival announces a massive new assortment of feature films for its 25th edition, along with details on scheduled panels, talks, tributes, special events, and our esteemed juries. On top of our impressive virtual slate of films, all geo-locked to Canada, and in addition to our globally accessible streamed events, the upcoming festival will also feature a limited number of in-person screenings in Montreal.

Fantasia begins August 5th with the World Premiere of Quebec zombie feature Brain Freeze— following the August 4th special event screening of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad in celebration of the festival— and ends on August 25th with newly announced closing film, Takashi Miike’s hotly-anticipated The Great Yokai War - Guardians.

Takashi Miike Closes Out...

At the bitter end of a ten-year slide into ever-cheaper productions, The Cannon Group sends stars David Bradley (a nice guy), Steve James (everyone's favorite) and Marjoe Gortner (a stiff) to South Africa for an anemic entry in this series. Cannon is considered a 'fun' subject this year because of those funny documentaries that came out. Savant cut the trailer for this particular picture, so takes the opportunity to talk about the wild life and times in the Cannon trailer department. American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt Blu-ray Olive Films 19 / B&W / 2:35 1:85 widescreen / 1:37 flat Academy / 90 min. / Street Date August 16, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring David Bradley, Steve James, Marjoe Gortner, Michele Chan,Yehuda Efroni, Alan Swerdlow. Cinematography George Bartels Film Editor Michael J. Duthie Original Music George S. Clinton Written by Gary Conway from characters by Avi Kleinberger & Gideon Amir Produced by Harry Alan Towers Directed...