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Over the past few years, influencers have become increasingly common as characters in film. With the notable exception of Kurtis David Harder’s 2022 hit, they have tended to be represented in a derogatory, even misogynistic manner. Christine Vrem-Ydstie does something very different here, showing us someone whom we may or may not like – someone who might possibly be dangerous, and is certainly capable of being inane – but who comes across as an ordinary person who is simply trying to build up a small business. Until, that is, she experiences a ‘vision’ and goes off the rails.

Largely a one-woman show, it’s a great acting showcase. Appearing in every scene, its star has to put across protagonist Joanna’s two different professional personalities and carry the real woman through the shift from small time grifter to...

Stars: Christine Vrem-Ydstie, Ryan Imhoff, Joette Waters | Written by Brian Wiebe, Christine Vrem-Ydstie | Directed by Brian Wiebe

In I Am A Channel we watch “an inspiring YouTube influencer becomes convinced she’s a channel to a high plane of existence when she receives an other worldly visitation.” That description actually makes the movie sound much more supernatural than it is because what it is, is much more grounded. That’s not to say that the movie isn’t scary. Perhaps, just not in the way some people will be expecting…

The movie has this air of uncertainty, or more bluntly put, just creepiness, almost from the get-go. I’m not sure if this says more about me than anything else because much of the first half of the movie is just a female influencer, filming her life, chatting to her ‘fans’, and smiling a lot. Perhaps it’s that constant...

GenreBlast Film Fest has announced its lineup for the seventh year of their international independent genre film festival, beginning this upcoming Thursday, September 1st.

The four day in-person event will feature fourteen feature films and roughly ninety short films from around the world as well as the results of their annual screenplay competition. Emanating from the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester, Virginia, GenreBlast continues to champion truly independent genre cinema and this year features one of its strongest lineups of cross-genre fare so far. With horror, science-fiction and fantasy, action, and even cult and midnight offerings, the fest prides itself on being an eclectic mixtape of genres and filmmakers.

Of the thirteen features selected this year, there are two world premieres, one North American premiere, one U.S. premieres, one east coast premiere, four regional premieres, and four Virginia premieres and a special advance screening.

Liam Regan’s satirical bloodbath...

Stars: Lanise Antoine Shelley, Rob Fagin), Crystal Kim, Tyler Owen Parsons, Randolph Thompson, Christine Vrem-Ydstie, Will Mobley, Christina Reis, Ryan Imhoff | Written by Ryan Imhoff | Directed by Matt Neal, Ryan Imhoff

When Ryan Imhoff emailed me asking if I’d be interested in reviewing Fresh Hell, the film he wrote and co-directed with Matt Neal was a bit hesitant. Having been dealing with videochat horror films going back to Unfriended in 2014 and 2018’s E-Demon I was sicker than most of the genre. But its trailer looked different so I decided to give it a look. As it turns out, different is an understatement.

Classmates Grace (Lanise Antoine Shelley; Stratford Festival: Macbeth), Todd (Rob Fagin), Cynthia (Crystal Kim), Brian (Tyler Owen Parsons), James, and Kara haven’t seen other since graduation. Since Covid is preventing them from having an actual reunion, they’re doing it virtually via Zoom.

After a few...

Good Madam: "Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thrillers and the supernatural, is thrilled to release the first trailer for the Shudder Original Good Madam ahead of the film’s debut on the platform on Thursday, July 14. The film is the fourth feature from celebrated South African writer/director Jenna Cato Bass and world premiered to high praise at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.

In Good Madam, Tsidi, a single mother, is forced to move in with her estranged mother Mavis, a live-in domestic worker caring obsessively for her catatonic white ‘Madam’ in an affluent Cape Town suburb. As Tsidi tries to heal her family however, a sinister specter begins to stir.

A genre film entrenched in the ordinary everyday horrors in our society, Good Madam explores the generational trauma inherent to South African culture, sprawling from the past to the present day, with chilling delivery and haunting results.