Souls of the Damned, written and directed by Frank Palangi—who also appears in the movie—offers a dive into dark, supernatural themes, but delivers a mixed experience. The premise is intriguing: a group of witches harness the suffering of one man through horrific nightmares. There’s clear ambition in Palangi’s vision, with the story flirting with elements of time loops, witchcraft-induced hallucinations, and surreal horror sequences.
Read MoreSleaze Please: The World of Bill Margold (2024)
Sleaze Please: The World of Bill Margold is a surprisingly engaging and intimate look into the life and legacy of one of adult film’s most complex figures. Clocking in at a brisk 54 minutes, Gregory Hatanaka manages to deliver a compact yet surprisingly thorough documentary that explores not only the career of Bill Margold but also the broader 1970s and ’80s porn industry, with all its glitz, grime, and human drama. The documentary’s real strength lies in Margold himself.
Read MoreChoke (2020)
Choke, directed and written by Gregory Hatanaka, is a puzzling experiment in indie filmmaking that struggles to find its footing. The film attempts to blur the lines between reality and fantasy, following a nihilistic detective and a serial killer whose lives intersect through a mysterious young woman. At just 73 minutes, it’s brief, yet crams in an overwhelming number of montages, monologues, and seemingly symbolic scenes—many of which fail to resonate or clarify the story.
Read MoreYakuza Girl (2024)
Yakuza Girl, directed, written, and starring Louis DeStefano, attempts to merge crime thriller elements with ninja action, but ultimately collapses under its own ambitions. The premise—detectives investigating bizarre murders connected to the Yakuza and a covert ninja assassin—could have offered tension and excitement, yet the execution is painfully lacking. The acting is uniformly stiff, with performances so wooden that even the simplest dialogue feels awkward.
Read MoreParanormal Body Stream (2025)
Jamie Grefe’s Paranormal Body Stream is a tense and thought-provoking sci-fi horror thriller that plunges viewers into the claustrophobic corridors of a top-secret space vessel. From the outset, the film establishes an unsettling atmosphere as the crew begins to suspect they are not alone—and that their identities may be manipulated as part of a terrifying alien experiment. The movie thrives on its atmosphere.
Read MoreAmityville Emanuelle (2023)
Amityville Emanuelle starts with a premise that could have held promise: a young man, Gordon DeFeo, experiences terrifying visions related to his father, the infamous mass murderer, and a woman, Laura Lutz, receives his ashes and begins experiencing similar supernatural disturbances. The setup ties into the notorious Amityville legacy and hints at psychological horror intertwined with supernatural elements. For a brief moment, it seems the film could explore haunting family legacies and the effects of past atrocities on the present.
Read MoreDance the Kung Fu (2025)
Dance the Kung Fu is a wild, genre-bending ride that throws the audience headfirst into a world of chaotic energy, danger, and absurd creativity. Directed and written by Jamie Grefe, the film begins with a familiar survival trope—strangers abducted and forced to navigate a series of increasingly elaborate, game-like challenges conceived by a mysterious tech billionaire—but quickly evolves into something far more surreal, darkly comedic, and experimental. The story balances multiple threads: a budding romance between an actress and a spiraling director, the ever-present threat of a possible serial killer lurking in the building, and the larger-than-life confrontation between forces of good and evil, truth and lies, love and hate.
Read MoreThe Lost Chronicles (2023)
Frank Palangi’s The Lost Chronicles is a wild, fever-dream of a horror anthology that leans fully into the surreal and unsettling. The film follows several individuals whose nightmares—ranging from stalkers to murders to monstrous apparitions—begin bleeding into reality. It’s an ambitious premise, one that promises tension, terror, and a glimpse into the darker corners of the human psyche. Where the film shines is in its raw, experimental energy. Palangi, who not only directed but also wrote and produced the project, isn’t afraid to take risks with editing and atmosphere.
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