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Joseph Perry

648 stories

Spoiler-Free Review: Don’t Move

Official synopsis A church group’s annual retreat turns deadly when they wander into the wrong part of the Ozark wilderness, and something starts picking them off one by one. Suspicion falls on Ricky (Russell “Russ” Vitale), the troublemaker of the group. But the real threat is far worse. Deep in the forest, wrapped in a labyrinth of webs, the group is pursued by a terrifying prehistoric arachnid that hunts by vibration. When every step could be their last, they only have one choice: DON’T MOVE. It’s up to Megan (Lyndsy Fonseca) to hold what’s left of the group together and get them out alive. Review For the first several minutes of Don’t Move, I was wondering if I had started the wrong movie, as there is a lot of happy family fun at a carnival. Well, things took a turn, for sure.  Megan (Lyndsy Fonseca) waits outside while her husband and young son go on a haunted house ride, where

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 15, 2026

Spoiler Free Reviews: Insecta and Bonded (Screamfest 2026)

Insecta (Uruguay, 2026) Official synopsis A horror writer returns to an isolated estate to say goodbye to her dying father, only to suspect that the monstrous insect she imagined as a child may have been real all along.   Review With Insecta, director Martín Florio crafts a highly entertaining chiller that combines creature feature and gothic horror elements, with engaging family drama for good measure. Renowned horror writer Mercedes (Mayra Hermosillo) returns to her childhood home to visit her estranged elderly father Jaime (Luis Felipe Tovar), who is close to death. He has been taken care of as of late by Mercedes’ stepsister Belen (Rocío De La Mañana), who alternates between seeming pleased and unwelcoming about Mercedes’ presence. Mercedes has nightmares about a traumatic incident from her childhood about her brother’s death and about an oversized insect that haunted him, along with sexual fantasies about Belen. Much intrigue ensues, and Florio, working from a screenplay that he cowrote with Leonel D’Agostino

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 15, 2026

Spoiler-Free Reviews: Split Rock and Found Alive (Sitges Film Festival 2026)

Split Rock (Canada, 2026) Official synopsis While conducting survey work in the remote badlands, geologists and lovers Lauren (Clark Backo) and Ben (Drew Ray Tanner) uncover a mysterious block of magnetic stone embedded in the earth. As their team investigates, their equipment begins to fail and a violent unseen force emerges. Lauren becomes obsessed with the ancient block, convinced that an eternal consciousness is using her mind to reach the surface. When Ben attempts to stop it, the outcome leaves the duo and their team forever altered.  Review Bearing the enigmatic qualities of classic Nigel Kneale fare (The Stone Tape, Quatermass and the Pit), Picnic at Hanging Rock, and a dash of The Monolith Monsters, Split Rock is a slow-burn chiller that boasts an ever-increasing atmosphere of dread. Geology students Lauren (Clark Backo) and Ben (Drew Ray Tanner) uncover an out-of-place stone fragment that begins to affect their survey team and its equipment and vehicles. Lauren is especially impacted by

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 15, 2026

Spoiler-Free Review: The Caged (Screamfest 2026)

Official synopsis A family is terrorised by a dark presence after they move into a quaint cottage, and discover it lies on the site of a medieval prison which once housed women accused of witchcraft. Review Writer/director Jeffrey Scott Collins’ supernatural shocker The Caged (U.K., 2026) may follow some tropes with which seasoned fright-fare devotees will be familiar, but there are plenty of original spins on those expected elements to have it rise above the pack. Fine performances and impressive work at the helm are also on display.  In the late 1980s, recovering alcoholic fiction writer Robert (Edmund Kingsley), his wife Emily (Tamzin Merchant), teen stepdaughter Isabella (Raffiella Chapman), and young son Liam (Callen Carter) move into a remote mansion-sized abode in the English rural countryside. It had gone unsold and vacant for at least a decade so Robert and Emily got it dirt cheap, which we know means that there is a dark history behind it. As events ranging

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 14, 2026

Spoiler Free Reviews: Valley View Motel and Once Upon a Time in a Horror Movie (Screamfest 2026)

Valley View Motel Official synopsis After a 1977 diamond heist goes sideways, two small-time crooks take refuge at a remote Pennsylvania motel, where a pair of bizarre sibling owners, a ruthless hitman and a night full of bad decisions turn their getaway into a desperate fight to survive the night and make it to their rendezvous before it’s too late.  Review Cowriters/codirectors/stars Kevin Ignatius and Nick Psinakis serve up neo noir thrills and slaughter aplenty with Valley View Motel. Set in the 1970s and boasting an aesthetic that wonderfully fits crime cinema of that era without overdoing things, the film features Ignatius as Cliff, the more reluctant half of a diamond thieves duo with the more hotheaded and desperate Reg (Soulo Smith), and Psinakis as Hal, math teacher by day and hitman by night who is hot on the trail after the thieves abscond with the diamond they were meant to hand over to their employer. Sunny Kang (Laura Im)

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Joseph Perry
Oct 13, 2026

Spoiler Free Reviews: Processing Charlie and Wounds (Screamfest 2026)

Processing Charlie Official synopsis With his marriage about to fall apart, Charlie gets a surprise visit from his long-lost cousin. Charlie offers Cole a place to stay, but as his dark secrets bubble to the surface, Charlie realizes too late that no good deed goes unpunished.  Review Writer/director David Harari serves up a jaw-dropping indie chiller with his black-and-white feature Processing Charlie. As if Charlie (Michael Ursu) wasn’t having enough trouble between arguing with his wife Anika (Kelly Pantaleoni) about his desire to not have children with her and his fear of entering his deceased younger sister’s locked bedroom, along comes his cousin Cole (Asa Fris). Cole has left his parents’ home where he was homeschooled and Charlie reluctantly lets him stay at the house he shares with Anika. From here, Harari steadily builds up suspense as Cole’s odd behavior grows increasingly disturbing and invasive. The ensemble cast members, which also include Sophia Guillen as Anika’s flirtatious friend Carmen, give

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 12, 2026

Spoiler-Free Review: V/H/S Mixtape

V/H/S Mixtape is, alas, one of the weaker entries in the V/H/S horror anthology franchise. The idea of a compilation of short fear-fare tales built around music holds a lot of promise, but only the opening and closing entries are memorable. Let’s go segment by segment after discussing the wraparound. Synopses in italics are from official press material. Wrap Segment Gwar hosts skits and music videos in an MTV-style show from hell. It also features music videos directed by Tobias Forge and Flying Lotus. Let’s get this out of the way: The Gwar wraparound is, for me, the absolute worst V/H/S franchise wraparound. Certainly, mileage will vary with Gwar fans and those who enjoy the lowest forms of middle school gross-out humor. If you don’t fit into one of those two camps, you’d be well advised to skip through those segments. The music videos, though interesting, feel out of place in a V/H/S portmanteau, even this one that is music-themed.

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 12, 2026

Sydney’s Dark Nights Film Fest: Reviews and Previews Including The Turkish Coffee Table, Monkey, and Ol’ Silus

Sydney, Australia’s Dark Nights Film Fest takes place on Saturday, October 10, 2026. We reviewed some of the Australian shorts screening there, and now we’ll take a look at the feature The Turkish Coffee Table and some more of the short films featured there. Synopses are from the festival’s official website. For more information, visit https://www.darknightsfilmfest.com/. First, I reviewed The Turkish Coffee Table for a previous film festival, but I’ll present that review again here. It’s spoiler free, so no worries about reading it before watching. THE TURKISH COFFEE TABLE (Turkey, 2025) Official synopsis A couple’s argument over a coffee table spirals into chaos when a simple mistake turns into a desperate web of lies, panic, deception, and the terrifying consequences of trying to cover up the truth. Time to remind you of the darkness underlying everything, one that forces you to look into the void with elegance, wit and sympathy. Review Director Caye Casas gave cinephiles perhaps the strongest

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 9, 2026

Spoiler-Free Reviews: Dark Nights Film Fest Australian Shorts

Sydney, Australia’s Dark Nights Film Fest presents fear fare from around the globe on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Among its many selections are some terrific homegrown shorts. Here are capsule reviews of some of the Australian short films screening at the festival, all of which come recommended. For more information, visit https://www.darknightsfilmfest.com/. They Kill By Night One  of the many things seasoned fright-fare fanatics have learned is to be leery of fellow motel guest. Cowriters/codirectors Grace Uther and Sam Uther deliver an excellent example of this in the shocker They Kill By Night. Jodie (Arnijka Larcombe-Weate) and Aiden (Christopher James Baker) check into a motel room, but will they check out safely? Jodie meets next-room neighbor Jack (Mitchell Bourke) in the parking lot, and They Kill By Night is off to the races with plenty of surprises, action, and the red stuff. This is a fantastic short with super performances, direction, and production values that deserves to get the feature-length

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 8, 2026

Spoiler-Free Review: Erie (Beyond Fest 2026) 

Official synopsis Fall, 1999. In the town of Erie, Pennsylvania, a string of bizarre suicides has quietly unsettled the community. Stella and her brother, Oscar, return to their childhood home armed with nothing but an old camcorder, a few leads, and a desperate need to understand what’s happened to their town . . . and to their sister. What begins as a personal investigation quickly spirals into something dark and unhinged, as they dig deeper into a pattern no one else seems willing to acknowledge. As the investigation twists through conspiracy theories, personal secrets, and local lore, what began as a search for answers becomes a descent into paranoia, grief, and something possibly far more sinister.    Review Director Alison-Eve Hammersley’s 1999-set Erie plays with found footage film expectations and boasts some unusual choices. Though a few elements are likely to have some viewers scratching their heads, overall it is an interesting fear-fare feature.  Stella (Carly Stewart) and her brother Oscar

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 6, 2026

More from Joseph Perry

Spoiler-Free Review: Don’t Move

Official synopsis A church group’s annual retreat turns deadly when they wander into the wrong part of the Ozark wilderness, and something starts picking them off one by one. Suspicion falls on Ricky (Russell “Russ” Vitale), the troublemaker of the group. But the real threat is far worse. Deep in the forest, wrapped in a labyrinth of webs, the group is pursued by a terrifying prehistoric arachnid that hunts by vibration. When every step could be their last, they only have one choice: DON’T MOVE. It’s up to Megan (Lyndsy Fonseca) to hold what’s left of the group together and get them out alive. Review For the first several minutes of Don’t Move, I was wondering if I had started the wrong movie, as there is a lot of happy family fun at a carnival. Well, things took a turn, for sure.  Megan (Lyndsy Fonseca) waits outside while her husband and young son go on a haunted house ride, where

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 15, 2026

Spoiler Free Reviews: Insecta and Bonded (Screamfest 2026)

Insecta (Uruguay, 2026) Official synopsis A horror writer returns to an isolated estate to say goodbye to her dying father, only to suspect that the monstrous insect she imagined as a child may have been real all along.   Review With Insecta, director Martín Florio crafts a highly entertaining chiller that combines creature feature and gothic horror elements, with engaging family drama for good measure. Renowned horror writer Mercedes (Mayra Hermosillo) returns to her childhood home to visit her estranged elderly father Jaime (Luis Felipe Tovar), who is close to death. He has been taken care of as of late by Mercedes’ stepsister Belen (Rocío De La Mañana), who alternates between seeming pleased and unwelcoming about Mercedes’ presence. Mercedes has nightmares about a traumatic incident from her childhood about her brother’s death and about an oversized insect that haunted him, along with sexual fantasies about Belen. Much intrigue ensues, and Florio, working from a screenplay that he cowrote with Leonel D’Agostino

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 15, 2026

Spoiler-Free Reviews: Split Rock and Found Alive (Sitges Film Festival 2026)

Split Rock (Canada, 2026) Official synopsis While conducting survey work in the remote badlands, geologists and lovers Lauren (Clark Backo) and Ben (Drew Ray Tanner) uncover a mysterious block of magnetic stone embedded in the earth. As their team investigates, their equipment begins to fail and a violent unseen force emerges. Lauren becomes obsessed with the ancient block, convinced that an eternal consciousness is using her mind to reach the surface. When Ben attempts to stop it, the outcome leaves the duo and their team forever altered.  Review Bearing the enigmatic qualities of classic Nigel Kneale fare (The Stone Tape, Quatermass and the Pit), Picnic at Hanging Rock, and a dash of The Monolith Monsters, Split Rock is a slow-burn chiller that boasts an ever-increasing atmosphere of dread. Geology students Lauren (Clark Backo) and Ben (Drew Ray Tanner) uncover an out-of-place stone fragment that begins to affect their survey team and its equipment and vehicles. Lauren is especially impacted by

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 15, 2026

Spoiler-Free Review: The Caged (Screamfest 2026)

Official synopsis A family is terrorised by a dark presence after they move into a quaint cottage, and discover it lies on the site of a medieval prison which once housed women accused of witchcraft. Review Writer/director Jeffrey Scott Collins’ supernatural shocker The Caged (U.K., 2026) may follow some tropes with which seasoned fright-fare devotees will be familiar, but there are plenty of original spins on those expected elements to have it rise above the pack. Fine performances and impressive work at the helm are also on display.  In the late 1980s, recovering alcoholic fiction writer Robert (Edmund Kingsley), his wife Emily (Tamzin Merchant), teen stepdaughter Isabella (Raffiella Chapman), and young son Liam (Callen Carter) move into a remote mansion-sized abode in the English rural countryside. It had gone unsold and vacant for at least a decade so Robert and Emily got it dirt cheap, which we know means that there is a dark history behind it. As events ranging

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 14, 2026

Spoiler Free Reviews: Valley View Motel and Once Upon a Time in a Horror Movie (Screamfest 2026)

Valley View Motel Official synopsis After a 1977 diamond heist goes sideways, two small-time crooks take refuge at a remote Pennsylvania motel, where a pair of bizarre sibling owners, a ruthless hitman and a night full of bad decisions turn their getaway into a desperate fight to survive the night and make it to their rendezvous before it’s too late.  Review Cowriters/codirectors/stars Kevin Ignatius and Nick Psinakis serve up neo noir thrills and slaughter aplenty with Valley View Motel. Set in the 1970s and boasting an aesthetic that wonderfully fits crime cinema of that era without overdoing things, the film features Ignatius as Cliff, the more reluctant half of a diamond thieves duo with the more hotheaded and desperate Reg (Soulo Smith), and Psinakis as Hal, math teacher by day and hitman by night who is hot on the trail after the thieves abscond with the diamond they were meant to hand over to their employer. Sunny Kang (Laura Im)

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 13, 2026

Spoiler Free Reviews: Processing Charlie and Wounds (Screamfest 2026)

Processing Charlie Official synopsis With his marriage about to fall apart, Charlie gets a surprise visit from his long-lost cousin. Charlie offers Cole a place to stay, but as his dark secrets bubble to the surface, Charlie realizes too late that no good deed goes unpunished.  Review Writer/director David Harari serves up a jaw-dropping indie chiller with his black-and-white feature Processing Charlie. As if Charlie (Michael Ursu) wasn’t having enough trouble between arguing with his wife Anika (Kelly Pantaleoni) about his desire to not have children with her and his fear of entering his deceased younger sister’s locked bedroom, along comes his cousin Cole (Asa Fris). Cole has left his parents’ home where he was homeschooled and Charlie reluctantly lets him stay at the house he shares with Anika. From here, Harari steadily builds up suspense as Cole’s odd behavior grows increasingly disturbing and invasive. The ensemble cast members, which also include Sophia Guillen as Anika’s flirtatious friend Carmen, give

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 12, 2026

Spoiler-Free Review: V/H/S Mixtape

V/H/S Mixtape is, alas, one of the weaker entries in the V/H/S horror anthology franchise. The idea of a compilation of short fear-fare tales built around music holds a lot of promise, but only the opening and closing entries are memorable. Let’s go segment by segment after discussing the wraparound. Synopses in italics are from official press material. Wrap Segment Gwar hosts skits and music videos in an MTV-style show from hell. It also features music videos directed by Tobias Forge and Flying Lotus. Let’s get this out of the way: The Gwar wraparound is, for me, the absolute worst V/H/S franchise wraparound. Certainly, mileage will vary with Gwar fans and those who enjoy the lowest forms of middle school gross-out humor. If you don’t fit into one of those two camps, you’d be well advised to skip through those segments. The music videos, though interesting, feel out of place in a V/H/S portmanteau, even this one that is music-themed.

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 12, 2026

Sydney’s Dark Nights Film Fest: Reviews and Previews Including The Turkish Coffee Table, Monkey, and Ol’ Silus

Sydney, Australia’s Dark Nights Film Fest takes place on Saturday, October 10, 2026. We reviewed some of the Australian shorts screening there, and now we’ll take a look at the feature The Turkish Coffee Table and some more of the short films featured there. Synopses are from the festival’s official website. For more information, visit https://www.darknightsfilmfest.com/. First, I reviewed The Turkish Coffee Table for a previous film festival, but I’ll present that review again here. It’s spoiler free, so no worries about reading it before watching. THE TURKISH COFFEE TABLE (Turkey, 2025) Official synopsis A couple’s argument over a coffee table spirals into chaos when a simple mistake turns into a desperate web of lies, panic, deception, and the terrifying consequences of trying to cover up the truth. Time to remind you of the darkness underlying everything, one that forces you to look into the void with elegance, wit and sympathy. Review Director Caye Casas gave cinephiles perhaps the strongest

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 9, 2026

Spoiler-Free Reviews: Dark Nights Film Fest Australian Shorts

Sydney, Australia’s Dark Nights Film Fest presents fear fare from around the globe on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Among its many selections are some terrific homegrown shorts. Here are capsule reviews of some of the Australian short films screening at the festival, all of which come recommended. For more information, visit https://www.darknightsfilmfest.com/. They Kill By Night One  of the many things seasoned fright-fare fanatics have learned is to be leery of fellow motel guest. Cowriters/codirectors Grace Uther and Sam Uther deliver an excellent example of this in the shocker They Kill By Night. Jodie (Arnijka Larcombe-Weate) and Aiden (Christopher James Baker) check into a motel room, but will they check out safely? Jodie meets next-room neighbor Jack (Mitchell Bourke) in the parking lot, and They Kill By Night is off to the races with plenty of surprises, action, and the red stuff. This is a fantastic short with super performances, direction, and production values that deserves to get the feature-length

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 8, 2026

Spoiler-Free Review: Erie (Beyond Fest 2026) 

Official synopsis Fall, 1999. In the town of Erie, Pennsylvania, a string of bizarre suicides has quietly unsettled the community. Stella and her brother, Oscar, return to their childhood home armed with nothing but an old camcorder, a few leads, and a desperate need to understand what’s happened to their town . . . and to their sister. What begins as a personal investigation quickly spirals into something dark and unhinged, as they dig deeper into a pattern no one else seems willing to acknowledge. As the investigation twists through conspiracy theories, personal secrets, and local lore, what began as a search for answers becomes a descent into paranoia, grief, and something possibly far more sinister.    Review Director Alison-Eve Hammersley’s 1999-set Erie plays with found footage film expectations and boasts some unusual choices. Though a few elements are likely to have some viewers scratching their heads, overall it is an interesting fear-fare feature.  Stella (Carly Stewart) and her brother Oscar

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Oct 6, 2026
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