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In 2017, I saw a horror movie called Slaughter Drive. While it wasn't perfect, it reminded me about why I loved movies-and moviemaking. It was a group of friends working hard to bring their vision to life and it was a firm reminder of why filmmaking is so special. Fast forward 4-years and the maniacs from BPO Films are back with Bergeron Brothers: Wedding Videographers, a comedy that focuses on two ne'er-do-well brothers trying to break into the wedding videography business-at any cost. The film is framed as a documentary with a film crew filming the brothers going about their day-to-day business, training for weddings (complete with obstacle courses), and trying to secure their first gig as videographers. There's a fun This Is Spinal Tap-meets-The Office thing going on here, but the filmmakers also mix in a real 1980s sensibility where the brothers become the Delta Tau Chi house as they battle the Omega Theta Pi house (using Animal House as a reference point)-in the form of a rival videographer. All of this is balanced by a 90s slacker vibe that we also saw in Slaughter Drive. The film is damn funny with absurdist humor found in pretty much every scene (and a few gross-out moments for good measure), but it's all sold wonderfully by the cast. Ben Dietels, Blake O'Donnell (who both write and direct here), and Ryan Lintner are all funny as hell and are obviously having a great time here. The film balances comedy with character nicely with fun arcs for both brothers that are relatable for anyone who's ever felt down on their luck. Credit is also due to both Matt Schultz (who steals every scene he's in) and the endlessly frustrated Lance Parkin (also a filmmaker, who works with Schultz). This movie is a clear labor of love and a true example of independent filmmaking. You can see the heart and the hard work that went into this and it's all endearing as hell. These guys have upped their skillset from 2017 as well, with a stronger overall production. Fans of weird comedy should check this out. This team deserves our love, for sure!

The team behind The Witching Season (a web series compiled into an anthology film) is back with an expansion of one of the shorts from that film, They Live Inside Us. The feature length version is much expanded on (at 103-minutes) and takes the promise seen in the short version way above and beyond! Yes, the film plays with conventions of a classic "haunted house" story, but the filmmakers spin this yarn into something fresh, scary, and fascinating. Writer/Director/Editor/DP Michael Ballif puts together an incredibly professional production here and sinks his teeth into the story with glee. The movie follows a writer-suffering from writer's block-who inexplicably takes his daughter to a purportedly haunted house for inspiration. As things move on, we start to see that what he writes takes on a life of its own-in some really novel ways. The film starts with a deliberate pace but picks up a considerable amount of steam once our protagonist starts writing. Ballif envisions the author's thoughts as brief vignettes (some paying tribute to other Witching Season shorts) which break up the main action in creepy, fun, and sometimes funny ways. The real point starts to rear its head when we realize that Ballif seems to be talking about horror creators and audience goers with regards to why do we either create/connect with characters in horror films, only to have them subjected to the most awful things? There's a lot of great meta stuff going on here that left me damn impressed-especially by the film's end. Performances are strong with great work from James Morris (pulling multi-duty here, as well), Hailey Nebeker, Stevie Dust and Emily Broschinsky (who are all super-invested). Ballif isn't afraid to dig into these characters and gives them a lot of emotional space to do their thing. They Live Inside Us has to be one of the most striking horror films I've seen in a long while. It reeks of Halloween throughout, tells a twisty tale that kept me interested, features wonderful production values across the board, and gives horror fans a little bit of everything. Could we ask for more this time of year?