Tribeca 2017: My Friend Dahmer

And here's Jason Adams reporting again from the Tribeca Film Festival.

"Even more, they were boys, with their cars, summer jobs... oh my god... are you one of them?"

Sufjan Stevens sings that to the victims of John Wayne Gacy Jr. in his song titled after that serial killer, an attempt at finding some sort of empathy or a modicum of understanding buried beneath the front porch of a gay man's home turned graveyard. And now, taking a similar path through darkness towards more darkness, comes My Friend Dahmer, an adaptation of Derf Backderf's graphic novel about the writer's experiences going to high school with Jeffrey Dahmer...

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Tribeca 2017: Hounds of Love

by Jason Adams

Even people who profess to like horror movies don’t always like it when horror movies make them really uncomfortable. It’s why you see F grade Cinema-scores for truly disturbing flicks like Wolf Creek  - we want to be scared in a fun way, but we don’t want to waltz with actual despair. There’s a scene in Wes Craven’s  Last House on the Left that made me feel so awful it still haunts me to this day.

Hounds of Love, the first film from Aussie director Ben Young, waltzes with such awfulness, and might just announce a real talent a la Craven too...

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Interview: Betty Buckley on 'Split', Working with James McAvoy and Why She's Not a Nostalgist

By Jose Solís

Nathaniel recently included Betty Buckley’s work in Split on a list of the best performances of the first quarter of 2017 and with reason, she’s compulsively watchable as the empathetic Dr. Karen Fletcher, who seems devoted to her patients. At least the one patient we see her with; the long suffering Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) whose dissociative identity disorder has left him with almost two dozen personalities which threaten his existence and might lead him to violent behavior. In her scenes with McAvoy, Buckley displays a warmth that’s unlike anything in most modern horror films, her Dr. Fletcher becoming the film’s heroine and a timely reminder of how important it is to care for the wellbeing of those around us.

Of course this isn’t Buckley’s first foray into horror films, the fate of her character in Carrie remains among the most iconic in modern film history, and while her film appearances have been sporadic, she makes an unforgettable impression whenever she’s onscreen. Split is being released on Blu-ray today, so I had the chance to speak with Buckley about playing Dr. Fletcher, working with James McAvoy, and why she’s not a nostalgist. [Read the interview after the jump...]

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YNMS: the IT remake

Chris here. We may not be the most horror movie focused here at The Film Experience, but some new films do get our curiosity whether it's because of strong reviews, exciting new filmmakers, or the revamp of known properties. This week we got a first look at long-developing remake of Stephen King's evil clown epic It. Apologies to any of our readers who fear clowns.

While It's early-90s miniseries lives in the infamy and closely-held sanctity of shared childhood nightmares, I'd wager that here is an example of story worth retelling. Tim Curry's original Pennywise may be one of our greatest and most terrifying horror performances, but if you rewatch now, everything around him doesn't really measure up. Perhaps it's time to do justice to the massive novel beyond its demonic villain while our fondness for King sees another pop culture resurgence.

Take a look at the trailer and we'll run down the Yes No Maybe So as we peek through our hands after the jump...

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When "Life" Goes Wrong...

by Nathaniel R

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a group of scientists are tasked with bringing samples of life back from outer space. Soon they are trapped in a nightmarish monster movie, as the alien life force picks them off one by one.

Life, the latest monster movie set in space, does a lot of things right despite its familiarity. Let's give credit where it's due. It hired capable involving actors in all the underwritten roles including Jake Gyllenhaal who we'll follow anywhere, even into deep space for a Alien ripoff. It's very handsomely lensed by prestigious cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. The direction by Daniel Espinosa (Child 44, Safe House) makes repeated smart use of the zero gravity setting, with well staged setpieces and even some unexpectedly beautiful compositions; the earliest casualty among the crew prompts the movie's eeriest morbidly pretty image. Apart from one confusing action sequence near the climax, the filmmakers seem to have a complete handle on the material.

So why then, is it unsatisfying? 

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