Rich Mallery’s Felines is a bold, if uneven, dive into a world of desire, danger, and dysfunction. The film follows a troubled young woman who becomes enamored with a femme fatale, pulling her into a whirlwind of drugs, deceit, and murder. On paper, it promises a taut crime drama with thriller elements and a darkly erotic undertone, but in execution, it teeters between provocative and problematic.
Read MoreDarling Nikki (2020)
Gregory Hatanaka’s Darling Nikki is a dreamy, drug-laced descent into one woman’s fractured psyche—a neon noir that tries to merge erotic fantasy with psychological drama, often teetering between the two without ever finding full footing. It’s the kind of film that feels like it should be sexy, but ends up more curious and melancholy than titillating. At the center of this trippy swirl is Nikki, a married woman leading a double life as a high-priced escort.
Read MoreThe Empty Acre (2007)
The Empty Acre, directed by Patrick Rea, is a quietly unsettling horror that uses its low budget to surprising effect. Set in a remote Kansas farming town, the film follows Beth and Jacob Nance, a couple whose lives spiral into fear and uncertainty when a mysterious, invisible force abducts their infant son. On the surface, it’s a familiar horror premise—but Rea’s approach lends the story a distinctive, almost Lynchian tone that lingers long after the credits roll.
Read MoreSlaughterhouse on the Hill (2024)
There’s something charming about a horror film that knows exactly what it is — and Slaughterhouse on the Hill falls squarely into that category. Tom Devlin’s low-budget slasher leans hard into nostalgia, evoking the grime and goofiness of 1980s exploitation flicks like Slaughterhouse and Motel Hell. It’s rough around the edges, yes, but it delivers exactly what many slasher fans came for: creative kills, thick atmosphere, and buckets of blood.
Read MoreHeartbeat (2020)
Gregory Hatanaka’s Heartbeat wants to be a sleek, seductive throwback to the neon-soaked thrillers of the late ’80s and early ’90s — the kind where lust, greed, and danger pulse just beneath the surface. What it ends up being, however, is something stranger and harder to pin down: a glossy, low-budget experiment in style and tone that occasionally flirts with the Giallo aesthetic but never quite commits to its own madness. Nicole D’Angelo stars as Jennifer Bailey, a once-promising investigative journalist who’s been pushed onto the business beat — a creative demotion that eats at her sense of purpose.
Read MoreKilling American Style (1988) #RetroReview
There’s a certain electricity that comes with pressing play on an Amir Shervan film. You know you’re in for something that doesn’t quite play by cinematic rules, a fever dream stitched together from half-remembered ’80s action movies and wild ambition. Killing American Style is no exception.
Read MoreYoung Rebels (1989) #RetroReview
There’s something comforting about an Amir Shervan film. The Iranian-born director’s brand of chaotic, sun-drenched Los Angeles action cinema—brimming with mullets, machine guns, and misplaced machismo—has become a cult subgenre of its own. Young Rebels, often overshadowed by Samurai Cop and Killing American Style, may not be Shervan’s crown jewel, but it’s a fascinating entry in his filmography that perfectly captures both his strengths and his many, many weaknesses.
Read MoreA Knife in the Dark (2024)
Joe Sherlock’s A Knife in the Dark aims to be a classy gothic murder mystery wrapped in a low-budget slasher, but what we end up with feels more like two mismatched movies fighting for dominance. Set in a supposedly “luxurious mansion”, the film opens with promise — eerie lighting, a killer in a skeleton mask, and a family hiding a dark secret — before devolving into a jumble of confusing subplots and stilted performances. A wealthy family mourns their recently deceased patriarch as a mysterious killer picks them off one by one.
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