by Tori Potenza, Staff Writer

Hello MovieJawners, I am back with another round of FrightFest reviews for your consumption. In between delving into English culture by eating fish and chips and learning what a “butty” is, I still watched a whole bunch of movies. Halfway through the festival we are all a little tired and crazed but still loving all of the excitement. Between meeting online friends in person, networking with people I admire, and remembering to eat, there have been some seriously great films to watch and an endless supply of subjects to talk about with the other passionate horror fans around.

There are two films I would love to shout out that I do not have capsule reviews for. One is the documentary So Unreal, which looks at cyber cinema history and is narrated by THE Debbie Harry. You can find my capsule review from my  2023 Fantastic Fest Coverage. Also Generation Terror, I could not get into the sold out screening but have seen the first 20 minutes. If you’re interested in late 90s-2000s horror and want to hear from incredible diverse experts you’ll love this documentary. Now on the the other reviews!

Boutique: To Preserve and Collect
Directed by Ryan Bruce Levey
Runtime 1 hour and 15 minutes

As mentioned in my FrightFest Preview, I am in the documentary which makes me a little biased but considering how passionate I am about the subject material and the rave reaction at the premiere, I feel confident in saying how wonderful this is. If you love collecting physical media and preserving film then this is one you will certainly want to check out. Director Ry Levey explores why physical media is still so important even when streaming dominates our lives. It also looks into the rise of “boutique” distribution labels like Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, and Second Sight who are dedicated to restoring films and giving them beautiful collector worthy packaging. There are so many movies that would be lost or forgotten if not for this important work and it is worth remembering that relying on streaming alone means you are letting companies curate what you watch. If you are already a collector you will be sure to love it and if you are interested in the subject this might lend some insight into why some of us hold on so dearly to our movies. Watching this inspired my friends and I to go and grab a slew of Blu-rays the next day so clearly it is an effective and persuasive documentary! 

Strange Darling
Written and Directed by JT Mollner
Runtime 1 hour and 37 minutes

This was my second time watching Strange Darling. I loved it on the first watch but I knew I needed to see it with a crowd on the big screen. You will want to know as little as possible going into this one but either way you are sure to have a great time. Actor Giovanni Ribisi, makes his debut as a cinematographer and the movie looks so good it is shocking he hasn’t been doing this his whole life. It has grindhouse/Tarantino vibes in the best possible way. Genre lovers already adore Kyle Gallner, and once again he shows us why. He has such an amazing screen presence and is endlessly entertaining to watch. Even then Willa Fitzgerald still steals the show. She gives a powerhouse performance that makes me eager for whatever she does next. Then of course there are the memorable performances from Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey. Go in and enjoy the thrill ride that Strange Darling is. 

A Desert
Written by Bossi Baker and Joshua Erkman
Directed by Joshua Erkman
Runtime 1 hour and 43 minutes

This is my second time seeing A Desert as well and I am still just as perplexed by it as the first time. This is a movie that has so much going on that it is hard to pull it apart and see all the various themes. The best way to describe it is as a slow burn film noir that takes some unexpected twists and turns as it moves along. It is clearly a movie about film history, class division, and the ever changing world. When it started it gave me the vibe of films like Speak No Evil but I was pleasantly surprised to see how it takes its own path and makes something very unique. It is gorgeously shot and easy to let the film lull you into its story, even when you have no idea where it could go. Zachary Ray Sherman gives a chilling performance that makes him feel like some sort of supernatural necessary evil, even when the story feels more rooted in reality. It is hard to say much more than that but as this gets released and more folks see it I am eager to hear what ways they interpret this and what they take away. 

Cold Wallet
Written by John Hibey and Cutter Hodierne
Directed by Cutter Hodierne

Sometimes you should really trust your gut. The description of this movie did not sound very interesting; a home invasion/crypto bro heist film. And it does not have much more going on than that. The one saving grace is Tony Cavalero who’s proven himself as an actor with his strange performance in The Righteous Gemstones. He is very fun to watch and spend time with and that made this somewhat more appealing to sit through. Otherwise the characters are very unlikeable and the way the plot progresses feels so overdone and uninteresting. The other huge problem is that watching people try to “heist” cryptocurrency is not very compelling to watch and for those of us not in this world, it is hard to understand what is going on. There are elements of the ending that are fairly satisfying but in the end it left me wondering why someone felt the need to make this movie. 

The Substance
Written and Directed by Coralie Fargeat
Runtime 2 hours and 20 minutes

The festival culminated with its last film being the highly anticipated and controversial Cannes premiere The Substance. And from the immediate response following, it was just as divisive as expected. I was a fan of Coralie Fargeat’s film Revenge, so her follow-up has been something I was looking forward to. Although it was not what I expected, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Much of the buzz around it has focused on how there seems to be a gender divide in opinion between women and male critics. Men seemingly love it, and women not so much. I have my suspicions as to why that is but that is best left for another time.

This goes full body horror while maintaining its bubblegum aesthetic. Fargeat is a great visual storyteller and manages to drop you into the world without any verbal exposition. It explores the self-hatred women can often have towards their bodies in a patriarchal society set on upholding certain standards of what “beauty” is. It also shows some of the extreme lengths women might go to maintain their looks so they are not forgotten. Having the lead be Demi Moore, still looking incredible at 61 years old really drives this home. Horror is a genre that often gives more opportunities to women who may have “aged out” of Hollywood and its an honor to bring Moore into the fold. And of course Margaret Qualley can seemingly do no wrong with her career choices. Always entertaining, and always strange. I look forward to seeing the editorials and deep dives written about this movie from other women’s perspectives. 

FrightFest certainly had some show stopping films on the roster this year even though there were a large amount of mildling ones in between. Even so it was a joy to be there in the flesh and see how important this festival is to the English horror film scene. Stay tuned for my full review of Azrael which will be coming to Shudder and select theaters in September.

Additionally, make sure to check out the FrightFest website to see what this year's programming was as well as years past. Make sure to watch out for more events coming from the team throughout the year. It was a joy to be on location, see movies, and spend time with friends and fans of horror, and I hope to attend more FrightFests in the future.