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There’s no such thing as “too much” in Montreal, but Fantasia Fest is long no matter how you slice it. Running from July 16 to August 3, the annual genre event in Québec celebrates its 29th edition this year — though it used to cover even more of the calendar.

The beloved summer film festival began in 1996 as a means of connecting Canadian cinephiles with cutting-edge films from the Asian market. Back then, audiences had several years of movies to catch up on, but now, Fantasia fuels almost three weeks of programming with stories curated from around the globe.

“Genre” filmmaking covers any highly stylized cinematic work that plays on specific tropes from sci-fi, horror, fantasy — you name it. Fantasia lures all kinds of artistic voices into its purple-hued embrace, presenting its own world premieres alongside top titles that previously played SXSW, Sundance, Tribeca, FrightFest, Sitges, and Overlook. What does well here...

The polarizing albeit somehow industry favorite "Emilia Pérez" has nabbed 13 Oscar nominations, setting the record for most nominations by an international film. The Spanish-language French musical crime film, written and directed by Jacques Audiard, is also tied with "Gone With the Wind," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Forrest Gump," and "Oppenheimer" for the second-most Oscars nominations, ever. /Film's Jeremy Mathai called the film "a swing and a miss," and with a 32% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, he's certainly not alone in thinking the movie was a huge whiff.

Suppose you are someone who loved the film. In that case, I'm not here to tell anyone how to feel about a piece of art. But considering the legitimate criticisms that have been lobbied against the film regarding both its trans representation and its depiction of Mexican culture, it's wildly disappointing to realize just how many Academy...

This December, Shudder is delivering a month of compelling horrors and thrilling content for fans across the UK and Ireland. From sinister series finales to hauntingly atmospheric films, there’s something for everyone who dares to indulge in the genre.

Kicking off the month on 1 December is The Haunted Season: To Fire You Come At Last. This atmospheric period piece takes viewers to rural 17th-century England, where a group of men braves a superstition-laden journey to bury a coffin after dark. The film’s eerie folklore and unsettling visuals promise to captivate fans of gothic horror.

Also debuting on 1 December is Primeval, an intense creature feature following a news team in Burundi as they track a legendary 25-foot crocodile while dodging threats from a local warlord. The month continues with Lizzie and The White Reindeer on 2 December. Lizzie offers a psychological look at the infamous 1892 Borden family murders, while The White Reindeer,...

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If you are a horror fan then there is a big chance that you might have heard about the horror streaming service Shudder, and if you have its subscription you might be wondering what’s in store for you in December 2024. Don’t worry there is a host of new and old horror movies coming to the service in the upcoming month and we have listed the 10 best movies coming to Shudder in December 2024.

Coming Home in the Dark (December 1) Credit – MPI Media Group

Coming Home in the Dark is a psychological horror thriller film directed by James Ashcroft who also co-wrote the screenplay with Eli Kent. Based on the 1995 short story of the same name by Owen Marshall, the 2021 film follows a high-school teacher and his family on a road trip but they are soon captured by...

Trailblazing trans director Alice Maio Mackay (So Vam, T Blockers) is back this week with holiday horror indie Carnage for Christmas, now available on VOD outlets at home.

Dark Star Pictures previews, “At only 20 years old and now with five features under her belt, Maio Mackay further establishes herself as a shrewd filmmaker with a knack for fusing horror with a healthy dose of camp.” Watch the exclusive Red Band Trailer for the film below.

In the film, “When true-crime podcaster and sleuth transwoman Lola visits her hometown at Christmas for the first time since running away and transitioning, the vengeful ghost of a historical murderer and urban legend seemingly arises to kill again.”

Alice Maio Mackay enlisted fellow genre artist Vera Drew, director and star of The People’s Joker (also now available on VOD outlets), as the film’s editor and visual effects artist.

Michelle Swope wrote in her...

For her fifth feature, 20-year-old Australian filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay gifts us Carnage for Christmas. A renegade force in the no-budget genre realm, her previous work has explored demonic cults, ancient parasites, vigilante vampires and Stephen King filtered through a uniquely queer lens. Maio Mackay’s latest features a supernatural, bloodlusting Santa Claus that small town residents have adopted as part of their folklore. The return of young adults for the holiday season awakens this mythologized entity, though it seems particularly drawn to Lola (newcomer Jeremy Moineau), a true crime podcast host who hates making the annual trek to her hometown. […]

The post “A Throwback to Nancy Drew and Columbo”: Alice Maio Mackay on Carnage for Christmas first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

For her fifth feature, 20-year-old Australian filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay gifts us Carnage for Christmas. A renegade force in the no-budget genre realm, her previous work has explored demonic cults, ancient parasites, vigilante vampires and Stephen King filtered through a uniquely queer lens. Maio Mackay’s latest features a supernatural, bloodlusting Santa Claus that small town residents have adopted as part of their folklore. The return of young adults for the holiday season awakens this mythologized entity, though it seems particularly drawn to Lola (newcomer Jeremy Moineau), a true crime podcast host who hates making the annual trek to her hometown. […]

The post “A Throwback to Nancy Drew and Columbo”: Alice Maio Mackay on Carnage for Christmas first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Clay McLeod Chapman's New Horror Play, Feejee Mermaid: "Drops in the Vase will present the World Premiere of Feejee Mermaid by Clay McLeod Chapman. Directed by Pete Boisvert, previews begin October 16 at The Flea. Press opening is set for Saturday, October 19.

Feejee Mermaid is set on the eve of the 19th Annual International Taxidermy Championships. Four experts of the trade gather in a hotel room. Fueled by competitive tension and a whole lot of alcohol, they spend the night vying for supremacy. Who can master the act of creation, and achieve perfection? By the end of the night, one of them proves they are willing to push the boundaries of their craft further than anyone ever thought possible.

Feejee Mermaid features Niccolò Walsh, Adam Files, Morgan Zipf-Meister, Duane Ferguson, Connor McNelis, Lizzie Roberts, and Colin Godwin. The production team includes Sandy Yaklin (scenic design), Ben Philipp (costumes), Nina Agelvis...

ScreenAnarchy has the first word about two acquisitions from our friends at Dark Star Pictures. The outlet has once again picked up two films from Australian trans director Alice Maio Mackay.   Today they're announcing the acquisition of Satranic Panic and Carnage For Christmas, and are planning theatrical, digital and hard copy releases as early as this month and in October. They have the distribution rights for North America and the UK. Previously they distributed two of Alice's earlier films, Bad Girls Boogey and T-Blockers.   The prolific teenage filmmaker - no longer a teenager this Sunday when they turn just twenty years old - has been raising a proper ruckus for the trans community with other films like the aformentioned Bad Girls Boogey, T Blockers and So Vam. Our own...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Stars: Jeremy Moineau, Chris Asimos, Dominique Booth, Lewi Dawson, Olivia Deeble, Lisa Fanto, Molly Ferguson, Patty Glavieux, Betsey Brown | Written by Alice Maio Mackay, Benjamin Pahl Robinson | Directed by Alice Maio Mackay

As always, I made sure I got to see the Christmas movie from this year’s Fantasia festival. Carnage for Christmas sees true-crime podcaster Lola, return to her hometown for the first time since leaving and transitioning, only for an ‘urban myth’ to seemingly also return and start killing again. Lola must solve the case and save the town that didn’t want her.

I don’t mean this in a bad way at all, but Carnage for Christmas feels very familiar to anyone who has seen plenty of slasher films, and more specifically Christmas slasher movies. There are clearly influences here from such films as Silent Night, Deadly Night and Black Christmas. This is of course no bad thing,...

A true crime podcaster heading home for Christmas finds herself in the middle of a murder spree that she has to solve before she becomes the next victim in Alice Maio Mackay’s Carnage for Christmas. Mackay’s latest feature marks her first entry into the fertile ground that is holiday horror. Though the film veers more toward the classic detective story for much of its frenetic seventy-minute runtime, Carnage for Christmas never skimps on the gore when it’s time for the axe to fall. These competing tones make for a somewhat uneven film, but the film is still an undeniable leap forward for the filmmaker who already has numerous features under her belt at the tender age of nineteen. Twenty-something trans true-crime buff Lola (Jeremy Moineau)...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The 25th edition of Pigeon Shrine FrightFest is set to deliver an exhilarating blend of horror and fantasy films, with the festival moving to a new venue, the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square. Running from Thursday, 22 August to Monday, 26 August, the event will take over all seven screens at the venue, promising an unforgettable experience for horror enthusiasts.

As we can barely contain the excitement, we’re sharing the films on offer in each screen so you can quickly decide which films to add to your ‘must watch’ list.

Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024 – Discovery Screen 1 Thursday, 22 August 2024

8:15 Pm – Cinderella’s Curse (World Premiere) Directed by Louisa Warren and starring Kelly Ryan Sanson, Chrissie Wunna, Lauren Budd, and Natasha Tosini, this spine-chilling reimagining of the classic fairytale sees Cinderella summon her fairy godmother from an ancient book to exact bloody revenge on her tormentors.

10:35 Pm – Carnage for Christmas (International Premiere) Directed by Alice Maio Mackay,...

At only 19 years old, Australian Alice Maio Mackay is already an accomplished filmmaker. Known for low budget, indie genre films like So Vam (2021) and Bad Girl Boogey (2022), Mackay routinely tells exceptional stories about characters running from monsters and masked killers from the horrifying perspective of what it’s like to fight for your life while being Queer and transgender in a bigoted small town.

Mackay’s newest film, Carnage for Christmas, is a fast-paced, blood-soaked whodunit, which follows a true crime podcaster returning to her small hometown years after transitioning and has to solve a series of gruesome murders, which the local police seem to be ignoring.

Carnage for Christmas, written by Mackay and Benjamin Pahl Robinson, and directed by Mackay, introduces us to Lola (Jeremy Moineau) while she is recording the latest episode of her true crime podcast. Lola closes the episode with an urban legend from her hometown of Purdan,...

The Count Of Monte-Cristo Photo: Fantasia International Film Festival

Cannes hit The Count Of Monte-Cristo is to screen at Fantasia next month, it was announced today. Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte enjoyed a 12 minute ovation at the French festival, and the work of Alexandre Dumas is hot stuff in North America following the recent success of Martin Borboulon's Three Musketeers adaptations - but this is just one entry in an exciting second wave line-up.

Other films in the selection announced today include Carl Joseph Papa's powerful animated exploration of trauma The Missing, Alice Maio Mackay's freewheeling Carnage For Christmas (which is edited by The People's Joker's Vera Drew), and South By Southwest shocker Kryptic, whose director Kourtney Roy told us she was very much in it for the monsters.

Festival favourite Elijah Wood will return as the washed-up illusionist father of a small girl...

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled its second wave of titles, which includes the world premiere of Ant Timpson’s “Bookworm” as the opening night film. This year’s edition, the 28th for the festival, will run from July 18 to August 4. More titles will be announced July 3.

Other world premieres included in the line-up are “The Beast Within” starring Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones”), which follows a young girl as she starts to question her atypical life in her family’s compound in England, and makes a shocking discovering about her dad; and “Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain,” with director Kenji Nakamura reviving the thrills of the original anime.

“Bookworm” stars Elijah Wood (“Yellowjackets”) and Nell Fisher (“Evil Dead Rise”). The official logline reads, “Mildred (Fisher), a precocious eleven-year-old bookworm, escapes her humdrum existence by immersing herself in novels where literary adventures abound, with a...