Strangely, apart from the jokes and the film's stylistic aping of films-gone-by, a large part of the events of the film are played relatively straight. For a lot of the runtime I wondered when we'd get to some good solid slashing in this slasher parody. I found myself thinking of the teenagers from The League of Gentlemen and their disdain for films that don't have enough killings. 'This needs more killings,' I thought – shortly before they began in earnest, with a gruesome decapitation and a glorious head-squishing being the best bloody centrepieces. After spending a little too long setting up its central mystery, the film finally hit its stride and becomes the great video nasty romp it promised.

And then... look, I'm not going to spoil it for you, but there's a massive twist and a revelation at the climax that sends the film spinning from fun spoof to absolutely silly nonsense. It's a huge tonal shift, that would have worked a lot better if there'd been more of this kind of silliness throughout. If they'd underplayed the mystery aspect and ramped up the nonsense, then this would have felt like a natural progression. As it is, it just baffles and confuses and leaves the film ending on a bit of a sour note.

That said, it's still a fun watch, and extremely well-accomplished in the way it harkens back to the days of VHS and cruder, less polished films. Younger viewers will likely be entirely put off, but it's not a film for them; it's for folks who pushed those big black cassettes into the video-player's slot and cursed the last person to rent the film because they hadn't rewound it.

It looks like Churchyard and Holiday are making The Decorator, a film that's mentioned often and even shown within this film, so here's hoping that they bring the visual flair and work on polishing some of the rougher edges so they go from strength to strength.

Jessica is the leader of a group of lost boys with a violent past who now seek peace and harmony. She is the only one to have ever brought them love and understanding. They only wish to create a world where they can live in peace together, and forever.
 
Initial Reaction
 
K.  Where to start…Jessica Forever exists in a Terrence Malick-like ethereal realm where violent orphans band together for survival against an army of killer drones but that makes it sound way more exciting than it actually is.  The style of the film is reminiscent of a music video, beautiful images combined with poetic dialogue that sadly amounts to nothing.  The narrative is so thin it’s invisible.
 
Basically, Jessica (Aomi Muyock) mothers a flock of these violent orphans, shepherding them into a surrogate family quite successfully.  Her efforts are noble, as is the underlying message of the film but little is done to express that dramatically.  I could relay a detailed plot synopsis but suffice it to say the group faces off against a squad of drones and escapes to an idyllic island to lay low and what starts off as a post apocalyptic sci-fi action film devolves into a pretentious tone poem.
 
Aomi Muyock has an undeniable screen presence, unfortunately she is given very little to do.    Advertised as the lead, she falls into the background as the film focuses more on two orphans in the group: Michael (Sebastian Urzendowsky) and Lucas (Augustin Raguenet) as their friendship is tested when Michael falls in love and they clash with the locals on the island.  It becomes a kind of cosmic coming of age drama with lines like: “bad things don’t last forever.  We have to stop them from lasting.”  As poetry or in the right dramatic context I would perhaps applaud this but here it falls painfully flat.  It comes across as something you would read in a generic inspirational meme or instagram post.
 
I’m not even going to get into some of the effects that pop up later on with Lucas and his dead little sister, who we come to find out he killed.  They come way out of left field.  I will say there is a fantastic moment of self-immolation toward the end that reflected my feeling as a viewer at that point in the film.  I’m not into bashing films, or sitting here and Monday morning quarterbacking the story/plot but sadly this is an instance where the audience was left out of the process.  I found no character or story here that I could connect to and that’s what I was hoping to do, in any context, whether it leans hard into sci-fi action or hard into surrogate family drama, makes no difference to me.  I’m all in to go on an emotional journey in any genre but that was not an option.  This was an exercise in style that left me cold.
 
C. Once it started, Jessica Forever feels like an arthouse version of a SyFy channel series or a post-Matrix dystopian thriller.. Don’t get me wrong, that description sounds like something right up my alley and there are moments (more ideas) within it that I enjoyed. It’s beautifully shot, the acting is strong and what it’s trying to say is a powerful statement on masculinity. However, it’s a common case that we’ve dealt with lately of something that focuses on its look and overt themes but forgets to tell a story or at least build the world.
 
The film claims to set us in what is meant to be a dystopian future but the only indication of that are the attack drones that kind of are hunting them. Yet anyone they interact with outside their group seems like regular people living in our version of this world. This must be mentioned because a lot of focus relies heavily on the fact that these “orphans” (basically violent marauders) are said to control the cities but it’s not seen apart from a lot of vacant houses.
 
At the beginning we are introduced to Kevin who is the cliche character that comes in to act as the audience, giving the filmmakers an easy way to introduce other characters, which they go through multiple times. A lot of the beginning is spent on Kevin in his transition from violent criminal to regaining his humanity.  Then he’s killed and it sets in motion a series of events that leads to this makeshift family’s end. The issue with Kevin’s death is it doesn’t feel like it warrants the impact on the group that would unfold had it been another character (ex. Julien). What his death actually creates is a period of time where the story is floating around to find new protagonists. While I don’t mind ensemble pieces at all or even meandering story structure, we’re left to attach to something or someone to propel the story forward. You get that for moments within the relationship between Michael and Lucas but anytime they head in a promising direction, it cuts to one of the other orphans in some one step forward, two steps back scenario.
 
Now this is coming from someone that was craving to like this movie, because there are so many nuggets that the potential for something amazing is in sight. And while I’d never be one to promote traditional story structure, there are many points throughout where it would have benefitted the watch. I will credit it with being memorable. There’s a strong artistic vision that helps it rise above a lot of movies plagued with the same issues and are forgotten an hour after the viewing.
 
J.  So I guess… orphans are bad and are to be killed by violent, gun-wielding drones in the future?  Or a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future.  I’m not really sure but everyone who isn’t an orphan seems fine and can frolic on the beach and go grocery shopping with no consequences.  In the opening we are introduced to a character named Kevin who the group takes in as one of their own.  Twenty minutes later, Kevin is killed by the drones and all but one of the group seem to notice.  I can sort of relate.  I was never really sure of the “rules” of the world that was created other than the aforementioned “death to orphans.”  The surrogate mother, Jessica is heralded as this angel-like figure but as the story went on, she was relegated further and further into the background and then Lucas’ sister appears to him as a ghost.  Almost every story element seemed to come out of left field and when it was all over, we were left with a completely ambiguous resolution that I just didn’t really understand.  The group had already successfully fled the drone onslaught once before… why not do it again?  After one of them, Julien, commits suicide I was half-expecting all of them to do the same but even that wouldn’t have held any weight because we were only privy to Michael and Lucas as characters anyway.  This is a hard one to even comment on because I’m not really sure how the film wants me to feel or what kind of message it was sending. 

It is well known that demons, possessions and unholy incidents happen at this time of the night and the folks of Redwood Creek Films came out with the idea of making a French anthology movie structured around the topic of 3:15AM. It features 6 Found Footage segments by Freedom Films, Divine, Evelyne Phan, Nicolas Delage, and David Tillault. Paris based director Fabien Delage (Dead Crossroads, Fury of the Demon, Cold Ground) is behind the project and is also directing one segment entitled "The Grove".
 
Horror strikes at 3:15 AM in ways never before imagined. Truth is stranger than fiction in this Euro horror anthology that opens a new dimension in sheer terror. This cutting edge horror anthology from France will curl your toes and rattle your soul.
 
Initial Reaction
 
C. Over the last year I’ve really been trying to broaden my horizons with found footage. For close to a decade it felt like every horror movie coming out was found footage because it was cheap, had less technical requirements and you didn’t need named actors. After a while, many people, especially in the States, thought of it more as a gimmick (like 3D) or people trying to recapture the success of The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. It became the story structure for filmmakers who wanted to make something “easy” so they could get funding for a project they actually wanted to do. Despite my reservations in the past I’ve found some outstanding examples when people really utilize the format. Don’t worry, there is reasoning to my introduction.
 
3:15 is presented as the first French found footage anthology and any big horror fan will find an obvious connection to the anthology V/H/S, of someone finding a stack of tapes and then we (the audience) see what’s on these tapes. It was a great opportunity for up-and-coming horror directors and even the segment, Safe Haven in V/H/S/2 has entered many lists over the year for best found footage films. You can see that intention behind 3:15 and while I appreciate these opportunities for the next generation of filmmakers, it played into the issues that I mentioned prior. For a couple of them they feel like scripts that weren’t originally intended to be found footage but instead were altered to fit this project. It’s fine changing your idea for a different storytelling structure but these segments don’t feel like they were willing to take the time needed. An example can be found with the segment, The Woman in the Attic (#2), which doesn’t have any reason why the protagonist would document visiting her family to that extent. Also across the board is very clunky, on-the-nose, and exposition-heavy dialogue that may be attributed to the translation but most likely comes from the writing stage.
 
I can go on about a lot from the hammy presentation of sex workers in one segment that harkens back to campy movies of the 80s (it wasn’t a creative choice), or such poor lighting that you don’t know any of what you’re watching. However, based on the low budget and up-and-comers you have to accept some things for what they are. I understand I shouldn’t put this kind of weight on a film but once the credits rolled I was left a little disappointed as French-produced horror usually provides, if anything, an interesting approach. 3:15am feels like a gimmick to make a quick buck. Too bad they’re a few years too late for it to work in their favor.
 
J. 3:15 is a found footage anthology consisting of 6 shorts and 1 wrap-around segment.  I’m not even sure wrap-around is correct for the one as it just runs from the beginning to the end and is played in between the 6 shorts.  Found footage is a tricky thing and this works pretty well but there are always going to be problems for me, especially dealing with why characters are filming shit at the worst, most inopportune times which happens almost regularly in this.  In one segment, a woman is escaping from being tortured or maimed or something really awful but she has the wherewithal to not only pick up the camera but also to keep filming as she makes her escape.  Goddamn, that shit just doesn’t work.  The wrap-around segment starts off very Blair Witch-y and then gets really Lords of Salem-y.  As for the other shorts, none of them really make much sense other than the last one that deals with some YouTubers wanting to catch a sighting of Bigfoot but don’t actually get to before being killed and eaten by a bear.  That one is pretty straight-forward.  There’s another weirdo one involving prostitutes who are into some sort of occult group that is also sort of witch-y and contains a pretty nasty dick removal.  I squirmed at that one.  There is a variety to the shorts that keep things interesting and considering they run about 15-20 minutes, they keep things entertaining for the most part.  Budget is extremely low and the filmmakers did the best they could with that in mind.  If you were a fan of something like VHS or the sequel and don’t mind some of the cliches and found footage issues you’ll probably like this one okay too although this isn’t quite the same calibre in terms of quality. 
 
K.  Normally I am a fan of anthology horror.  It's an exciting opportunity for filmmakers to play with short form stories, take risks and have fun.  And while I’m sure risks were taken and fun was had while making 3:15 am, the same can not be said for watching it.  None of the segments have much of a story and everything is filmed with a handheld camera in POV, so everything tends to drag on and on as we wonder whether things are leading anywhere or not.  The highlight is a castration scene in the middle segment “Ladies of Night” which ends up being my pick for the best segment in the film.  The others tend to meander, trying to recycle every found footage trope imaginable and not injecting anything new.  As such there is little in the way of scares and surprises here.  I really found myself waiting for the clock to run out on this one.  Ultimately, it’s another case of filmmakers with the passion and resourcefulness to complete a film but unfortunately they have nothing to say.

The masked killer is an essential part of the slasher genre – the mysterious figure with murder on his mind, pursuing his helpless victim with relentless determination through dark corridors to a final dead end. But who among is truly appreciates the effort it takes to do it properly?

Deadly Scare is a short mockumentary film written, directed by and starring Radi Nikolov that offers us an insight into the mind of killer Mike Weirner. Weirner considers himself to be a professional 'scarer' rather than a villain, and he talks us through the rigorous preparation involved in his job. He doesn't have victims, he has 'customers', and he cares about giving them a truly horrific experience with all the proper horror movie trappings.

The short starts well, with the amiable killer expressing how important it is to get the little details right, like how your mask should look or what surroundings your victi- sorry, customer, should wake up in. There's a glib What We Do In The Shadows vibe to these to-camera segments, and it's pretty clear that Nikolov loves the horror genre. Little touches like framed Jason Vorhees pictures really set the tone well, and there's a great sense of affectionate silliness. It doesn't quite raise a laugh, but it definitely conjures a big smile or two.

Unfortunately the tone doesn't stay consistent throughout and the film takes a bit of a dip once we see Weirner in action. From that moment the film is played straight, and it sadly isn't interesting enough to keep us engaged without the humour. It feels strange to go from comedy to serious so abruptly without returning to comedy for a punchline. If it did this, or kept the tone consistently funny throughout, then the film would feel more satisfying as a whole. 

Initial Reaction
 
C. To get it out of the way, Dogs Don’t Wear Pants will face criticism because it’s not a horror movie like the marketing suggests. Though it IS a horrifying, erotic, heartbreaking, and beautiful meditation on loneliness. I could end my reaction here but that’s not fun.
 
At a technical level the film is amazing with a great use of contrast between the two worlds that Juha (our protagonist) is balancing. Its environment feels lived-in and not just a series of sets used to make a movie. The artistic vision is impeccable, avoiding the trap of becoming pretentious or self-indulgent. However, the major credit has to go to its cinematic wonder of storytelling. At no point do any of the characters have to verbally convey what they’re thinking so we (the audience) can “get it,” and yet it’s all perfectly clear. As the synopsis says the story is about connection and finding someplace you’d never expect, so to pull it off without some on-the-nose dialogue is an incredible feat for the actors and filmmakers. While I found myself wanting to get irritated with Juha’s spiral into pushing the limits of safety, not just for himself but those around him, you also understand him.
 
While the BDSM content might dissuade some from watching, the film takes the path less traveled in erotic dramas and provides little-to-no nudity and gratuitous sexual acts. Even the relationship between dom and sub doesn’t turn into a tacked on love story but rather a deeper understanding of each other’s loneliness. While there is a tooth-pulling that’ll be the standout scene for most people, it’s presented in such a way where this violent act becomes a piece of beautiful poetry.
 
I really don’t know what more to say about this film that doesn’t feel overdone. For someone who doesn’t go out of their way to watch erotic drama (except Cronenberg’s Crash or a couple others), this is something I immediately checked the US blu-ray release to preorder. It’s fantastic, and my only two complaints are not seeing it sooner and knowing Finnish so I could catch all the subtleties that get lost in translation.
 
J. First off, this film has a stupid title but it makes sense when you see why it’s called something so stupid.  Second, this would be a terrific date movie.  Especially, a first date movie.  There’s a dominatrix and a bunch of S&M shit going on, although there is no sex scenes.  See Juha, our main character realizes that if he gets choked out he has an experience of some sort of bizarre enlightenment that allows him to see his dead wife in the lake where she drowned.  Once he has this experience, he wants it all the time.  He becomes addicted to being strangled by a dominatrix.  And like any addiction it fucks his life all up.  Yes, all of this happens in this film.  Juha has a teenage daughter and after a while I was beginning to wonder why the character was in the story at all.  You may disagree but I felt the character could’ve been cut and wouldn’t have changed much of anything.  It clocks in at 104 minutes too and I did feel that was too long, especially at the ultra slow pace this moved at.  I will say that there were two instances that made me profoundly uncomfortable.  One dealt with a fingernail and the other with teeth and I’ll leave it at that.  This was an interesting film and dealt with a subject not really seen in cinema in general.  I found it really amusing to think of this as a kind of Hellraiser prequel.  Where the dominatrix and the people inhabiting the S&M club were all eventually turned into Cenobites.  Having a cameo from Doug Bradley would’ve been amazing. 
 
K. I heard a little buzz about this Finnish film going in but really knew nothing about it other than the basic synopsis.  Within a few minutes it was clear this was the work of a skilled storyteller.  This is an intense character study in the vein of 70s cinema.  Unflinching, bold and painful.
 
After losing his wife years ago, Juha (Pekka Strang) is still frozen in grief, functioning like some kind of automaton.  He works as a surgeon and keeps his co-workers at arms length.  His teenage daughter Elli (Ilona Huhta) lives with him but he is almost never present with her, never listening, never really there.   By chance he meets Mona (Krista Kosonen), a dominatrix, and finds himself drawn towards his pain.  Through their violent relationship he is forced to confront his own grief.  I don’t want to spoil anymore of the story as it’s better to go into this one cold.
 
The cinematography and lighting are impeccable, lots of neon light and grit in expertly composed static shots.  The writing by Juhana Lumme & J.-P. Valkeapää is immaculate, purely cinematic, the viewer knows exactly what’s going on without any character having to spout their feelings or motivations through dialogue.  I wish I could write this well.  It’s also cringe-inducing in the best possible way as we follow Juha on his descent into self-destruction, making one bad decision after the next.  I found myself begging Juha to stop whatever foolish act he was engaged in and get his shit together.
 
While this was essentially a drama, I will mention one noteworthy scene that was as horrifying to watch as anything I’ve seen in a horror film and that is the tooth pulling scene.  And I will leave it at that because you will know exactly what I’m talking about after you’ve seen the film.  There’s also a sly nod to Goodfellas in a certain sequence set to “Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals.  The ending was a pleasant surprise too.  I really thought it was going one way, but they outfoxed me in a satisfying way.
 
I have to admit J.-P. Valkeapää was not on my radar prior to this, nor were Pekka Strang and Krista Kosonen, but they sure as hell are now.  I was floored by this film and I’ll be first in line for whatever comes next from him.  I can’t recommend this more highly!
 

Response
 
C. I’d actually disagree with Josh about the daughter’s importance. I think she provided stakes for us to hope he gets control of himself and she represents his connection to the “normal” world. Without her, why would we care if he totally lost himself in what becomes his addiction? 
 
As to not repeat my praises, my biggest concern comes from its marketing. While I’m grateful Shudder is giving this film a much-deserved international release, despite the world it’s set in, it’s an erotic drama, NOT horror. So I’ll plead with anyone reading this to take it for what it is and you won’t be sorry.
 
J.  I’m going to get put in my place for my stance on both the daughter character and the title and that’s fine… I can take it.  This movie played out like an absurdist comedy to me where, even though Juha was in some kind of pain, be it physical or emotional and was largely cold and withdrawn, it was always a bit humorous in some way or another.  In an absurd fashion.  I haven’t really seen anything like this before, at least nothing from the past forty years or maybe Dressed To Kill but even that is only marginally comparable at best.  Worth a watch for sure especially if you’re on a first date! 
 
K.  I, for one, liked the title.  It’s not uncommon in literature to take a snatch of dialogue from the text and make it the title, and I think it fits quite well here.  I would also agree with Craig on his point about the daughter.  She really injects Juha’s downward spiral with stakes.  Their last scene together was heart-breaking.
 
I’m thrilled that Shudder is releasing films like this, alongside the best that the horror genre has to offer.  No, it’s not horror, but it’s dark and risky, and emotionally daring.  If you give yourself over to it, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
 
Bloodhound’s average score: 4 1/2 out of 5
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Feedback is a UK-Spanish co-production directed by Pedro C. Alonso and written by Alonso & Alberto Marini. In the tradition of Phone Booth, Buried and Locke, it tells a tightly-focused tale in strictly limited environment, in this case the confines of a radio show recording studio.

Eddie Marsan plays Jarvis Dolan, late night radio DJ and left-wing pundit, who reluctantly agrees to reunite with his former co-host Andrew Wilde (Paul Anderson) for one more night of his controversial show Grim Reality. Jarvis isn't afraid to tell it how it is, or at least how he sees it, launching into a politically-charged monologue about Brexit, fascism, Russian interference and The State of The World Today. It's all business as usual... until masked invaders take him and his producers hostage. Trapped and abused, he's forced to comply with their demands, say what they want him to say, and reveal a terrible secret they're certain he and Wilde are hiding. They're broadcasting on a delay so he can't even ask the listeners for help. He's truly trapped.

Right from the off, it's clear that this is Eddie Marsan's best performance to date. Usually relegated to bit part roles, he's no stranger to sleazy and morally dubious characters (most recently in The Gentlemen as nasty newspaper editor Big Dave) but Jarvis Dolan is certainly a piece of work. He's full of a sense of his own importance, and when he threatens his daughter's boyfriend it's clear that there's a dangerous edge to him that means he just might be able to give these attackers as good as he gets. Marsan has us rooting for him throughout, at times reluctantly after some nasty truths have been revealed. If there was ever any doubt that he can carry a film as the lead then Feedback should put paid to that.

Most of the other actors fare about as well, with Anderson's showboating rockstar DJ stealing his all-too-few scenes. When the shit hits the fan and things start getting dark, he delivers a chillingly quiet monologue about the events of an awards show afterparty that's just so counter to his previously energetic antics that it really drives home the horror of it all. In fact, everyone gets a good solid monologue, and while this ought to feel a bit unnatural it actually really helps sell the situation and solidify all the characters' motives. This is when Ivana Baquero shines as new producer Claire. While some aspects of her performance don't really convince, and suggest that she's been miscast, her teary heartfelt speech to Jarvis that really hits home. Also she was Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth so I can forgive her for anything.