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Originally published on Elements of Madness.   Riann Steele as Anna in THE CREEPING. “Dad, can you tell me a scary story?”
This is not how most children ask to be put to bed, but brave young Anna (Taliyah Blair) isn’t afraid of a few ghosts and goblins. Plus, her dad, Harry (Jonathan Nyati), is a great storyteller. Thus begins Jamie Hooper’s The Creeping, a delightful horror flick that will bring back memories of swapping ghost stories over a bucket of Halloween candy. While The Creeping is undeniably a ghost movie, it’s more likely to make you feel nostalgic than scared. Hooper takes a straightforward scary story and embellishes it with an R. L. Stine-esque style that will make you want to mix in some candy corn with your popcorn.
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 NOPE. Written, produced and directed by Jordan Peele. If the first trailer for Jordan Peele’s Nope piqued your curiosity with its foreboding tone and vague details, then you were probably bummed out by the final trailer, which seemed to give everything away. You’ll be pleased to know that despite its revealing final trailer, Nope still has a handful of surprises to offer. While it's not quite as intense or chilling as Peele’s first two feature films, Get Out (2017) and Us (2019), Nope is a well-developed, well-rounded, and well-crafted flick that is sure to delight crowds at the theater. It’s filled with all the thrills and chills of a summer box-office hit, bringing together the best of comedy, sci-fi, and horror. And, of course, every shot is accented by Peele’s penchant for the disturbing. As the talented writer and director proved with his first two films, Peele has more than a few tricks up his sleeves when it comes to plot twists, uncanny visuals, and bizarre narratives. Peele has not only joined the ranks of 21st century auteurs - he’s also leading the charge.
  Shannon LeGro in ON THE TRAIL OF UFOS: NIGHT VISITORS. Documentarians and paranormal researchers Seth Breedlove and Shannon LeGro continue their investigation of strange encounters and unidentified aerial phenomena in their latest film, On the Trail of UFOs: Night Visitors. In their previous documentary, On the Trail of UFOs: Dark Sky (2021), Breedlove and LeGro took their investigative efforts to West Virginia, where they explored the potential connection between UFO sightings and coal mines. In Night Visitors, they investigate similar UFO sightings and unusual experiences in Colorado — specifically, in the San Luis Valley. This time, Breedlove and LeGro are on the hunt for information about livestock mutilation, a frightening and unexplained phenomenon that some have linked to theories about alien life. Much like Dark Sky, Night Visitors is more of an appetizer than a full meal. The personal interviews that make up the documentary are interesting, but the movie lacks the strong hook and compelling narrative needed to hold our attention. Unlike Dark Sky, however, Night Visitors has a clear framework and a solid structure, making Breedlove and LeGro’s investigations and theories much easier to follow.
  (L-R) Autumn Reeser as Carly and Nicolas Madrazo as Danny in THE LEGEND OF LA LLORONA. In the trailer for The Legend of La Llorona, a distraught mother (Autumn Reeser) asks, “What is ‘a llorona’ and what does it want with my son?” Clearly, this mother isn’t a fan of low-budget horror. If she was, she’d probably recognize the Mexican folktale of La Llorona, or “the weeping woman,” which has served as the inspiration for a number of forgettable spooky flicks over the years. In 2019, the legend was brought to life in two film adaptations that proved to be somewhat more popular than their predecessors — Michael Chaves’ The Curse of La Llorona (the sixth feature installment in The Conjuring Universe) and Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona.
 A still from WHEN I CONSUME YOU. Do your worst childhood fears ever come back to haunt you? Does it feel like the monsters in your closet never left? Most of us outgrow our fear of shadows, monsters, and the dark, and we can now keep the closest door open at night and venture down the dark basement staircase with ease. But for Daphne and Wilson Shaw (Libby Ewing and Evan Dumouchel), the lead characters in Perry Blackshear’s When I Consume You, the haunting presence that plagued their childhood never left them alone. As the brother and sister grapple with the struggles of adulthood, a slew of mental health issues, and the lasting effects of a bad home life, they’re also haunted by a relentless stalker who has been watching them with malevolent yellow eyes since they were kids. After years of living in fear, Daphne and Wilson decide it’s high time to seek revenge.
Content Warning: They're Outside includes a brief scene about self-harm that may be triggering to some viewers. This scene is briefly discussed in the following review.  Tom Clayton-Wheatley as Max in THEY’RE OUTSIDE. If you developed a short-term fear of going outside in March 2020, you’re probably not the only one. During the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S., once-simple errands turned into elaborate and complex rituals involving masks, Clorox wipes, and hand sanitizer. But after only a few months of quarantine, most of us were so ready to get back to our normal routines that we overcame our fears and started to venture outside with ease once again. But for those who suffer from agoraphobia, the fear of public spaces and social interactions can be a life-long struggle. These fears might sound irrational to those who don’t experience a lot of anxiety. But truth be told, you never know what horrors are waiting just outside your door — especially if you’re a character in a horror movie. In They’re Outside, a found-footage-style horror flick from directors Airell Anthony Hayles and Sam Casserly, a YouTube psychologist investigates the case of a woman who developed agoraphobia after the disappearance of her young daughter. However, the arrogant influencer has no idea that this grieving mother’s seemingly irrational fears have nothing to do with psychology and everything to do with the paranormal.
Originally published on Elements of Madness.  L-R: Mark O’Brien as Aaron and Henry Czerny as Frederic in THE RIGHTEOUS. If you’re into Southern Gothic literature, you’ll go nuts over Mark O’Brien’s feature directorial debut, The Righteous, which screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival earlier this month. Granted, it was filmed in Canada and not the American South, but it sure does capture the dread, madness, religious anxiety, supernatural freakishness, and overall darkness of the genre. The Righteous tells the tale of ex-priest Frederic (Henry Czerny) and his wife, Ethel (Mimi Kuzyk), who are trying to make sense of their lives after they lose their only daughter. The couple’s mourning process comes to a halt one night when a stranger, Aaron (Mark O’Brien), shows up outside their home with a sprained ankle. Aside from his irreverent vocabulary and general secretiveness, Aaron is a harmless, mild-mannered kid. However, his presence casts a haunting shadow over Frederic and Ethel’s household, a shadow that will change their lives forever.
 [L-R] Madisen Beaty as Bethany, Inanna Sarkis as Alice, Ella-Rae Smith as Helina, Djouliet Amara as Rosalind, Suki Waterhouse as Camille, and Stephanie Sy as Yvonne in the horror SEANCE, an RLJE Films and Shudder release. Photo courtesy of RLJE Films and Shudder. On Wednesday, September 29, 2021, horror streaming service Shudder will introduce a new serial murder movie to its library, Seance. The movie was written and directed by Simon Barrett, an experienced horror writer whose previous credits include You’re Next (2011) and Blair Witch (2016). Seance, however, is his feature directorial debut. The cast includes a few somewhat recognizable faces including Suki Waterhouse (The Divergent Series: Insurgent) and Madisen Beaty (Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood). If you’re wondering what a filmmaker can do with the serial murder genre that hasn’t already been done, you’ll be disappointed to hear that Seance does absolutely nothing to answer that question. The movie briefly gestures to some intriguing and unique horror themes, but in the end, it turns out something like Scream Queens (2015-2016) stripped of any and all creativity. Seance could have been a cringey disaster – but thankfully, the cast gives solid, natural performances that hold the movie together.  (T-B / L-R) Ella-Rae Smith as Helina, Suki Waterhouse as Camille, Djouliet Amara as Rosalind, Madisen Beaty as Bethany, Inanna Sarkis as Alice, and Stephanie Sy as Yvonne in the horror film, SEANCE, an RLJE Films and Shudder release. Photo courtesy of RLJE Films and Shudder. Originally published on Elements of Madness.  L-R: Tsubasa Nakagawa as Akira and Itsuki Nagasawa as Maki in FOLLOW THE LIGHT. Photo Credit: SOUL BOAT INC. For most people, the teen years come with a myriad of confusing emotions, drastic life changes, and embarrassing incidents. For Akira and Maki, the young protagonists of Yoichi Narita’s Follow The Light, those formative years also bring a number of upsetting changes to their small farming community, including a UFO and crop circle. These bizarre occurrences not only set them on intersecting paths, but symbolically carry the weight of their strange and explosive teenage emotions. Follow the Light, an official selection at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, is a wistful romance that ponders the many conflicts and emotions of adolescence.
Originally published on Elements of Madness.  L-R: Stefanie Scott as Mary and Isabelle Fuhrman as Eleanor in THE LAST THING MARY SAW. You don’t necessarily need complex characters or ingenious plot twists to write an engaging story. With strong imagery and a clear, palpable tone that physically affects your audience, you can transform the most overdone plot into a memorable tale. Writer/director Edoardo Vitaletti demonstrates that kind of storytelling craftsmanship in his feature debut, The Last Thing Mary Saw, which premiered at the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival. Every aspect of this suffocatingly dark period drama, including its characters and plot, takes a backseat to its tone and mood. As a result, The Last Thing Mary Saw is bursting with palpable dread that will chill you to the bone.
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