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Blood of the Witch is a simple tale. An ordinary man named Peter (Nate Kutz) falls asleep, takes a walk in some make believe woods and purchases what appears to be a common pumpkin. Of course the masked pumpkin vendor (Mike Thompson) is far from typical, as is the pretty young witch (Liz Owens) in the long striped stockings. Malone’s silent tale of power and deception reconfigures the painted expressionism of Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr....

Twenty years later, and Jimmy (Daryl Dorge) is living alone with Walter, taking care of his father while everyone else his age has either moved on and out of town, or gotten on with their lives. Stuck in a state of almost perpetual childhood, Jimmy still pines for crossing the lake and, when he is reunited with his old childhood friends Pete (Leonard Waldner) and Jenny (Sarah Murphy-Dyson), Jimmy puts a new plan into action....

In 2012, in Newport Beach, California, Michael, an owner of a weed dispensary, is kidnapped along with his girlfriend. He’s beaten bloody because his kidnappers want him to give them one million dollars. Michael has nowhere near that amount of money. The two are dragged out into the middle of the desert, and he’s told that unless he gives them the million, they’ll cut his dick off. He can’t, and they do....

This year, Disney celebrates its 100th anniversary and has slated a string of different special events to commemorate the occasion. One such event is Disney 100: The Exhibition. This is a traveling exhibition with limited engagements in select cities across the United States and Internationally. I was invited to check out the exhibit this past week ahead of its opening in Chicago. Disney 100: The Exhibition acts as a traveling pop-up museum....

VFX Pick orchestrating the entire production journey, from pre-production intricacies to the final post-production touches, with VFX serving as their paramount storytelling tool. Based in Chennai, VFX Pick stands tall as a creative solutions company, boasting a talented team of 200+ individuals equipped with cutting-edge infrastructure and technology. VFX Pick employs a distinctive methodology, incorporating a progressive approach to pre- production by seamlessly integrating state-of-the-art AI-assisted tools into their existing VFX workflow....

Ivan chronicles a day in the life of young Juliette (Lily Gail Reid), a young girl who devotes her time to dancing. However, because Juliette’s workaholic mother (Kelly Hope Taylor) is barely home, their A.I. assistant Ivan (Nick Allan) watches over her. One day, when her mother decides to come home early, she finds Ivan’s protectiveness of Juliette has turned maniacal. Foremost, Lily Gail Reid gives an inspired performance. Her physical movements, wildly while dancing, are both mature and unsettling....

Keep Moving opens at what’s left of a house, somewhere in London. Stanley and an old man are the last of a group, the others having left and presumably dead. The old man asks Stanley to join him in search of the others, but Stanley chooses to remain at the house. It is then that the old man gives Stanley his gun and then departs. After a day or so, a crazed mystery man appears at the house and, while Stanley sleeps, he takes Stanley’s gun....

Was Bob an easy subject to deal with? Usually, but not always. One of the things that doesn’t come across in the film is that Bob, because he was in pain so much of the time, could be very nasty. He usually didn’t direct it at me, although when he did, I kind of enjoyed it (maybe I’m the masochist) because even when he was tearing you down he was very very funny....

One day El Hadj goes to renew his expired immigration papers and is subjected to a humiliating arrest and imprisonment. The shock sets into motion the fault line that runs between the African and French sides of his life, and the two halves of his world begin to slowly pull apart. He emerges from his short but nightmarish stay in jail beset by doubts and nagged by long-repressed questions about purpose and meaning....

Since “Lackwananna Blues” takes place in a boarding house, it only follows the laws of bad writing that every tenant therein must be a loquacious eccentric with some weird personality trait or endless story to tell. So within the rooms and hallways of this establishment we find a blind blues singer, a one-legged psychiatric patient, a one-armed wood chopper, a squeaky-voiced bimbo who chases her two-timing man with a razor blade, a lesbian who smokes pot and wears men’s suits, a creepy hermit recently released from prison for a double murder, a shell-shocked Vietnam veteran, a maladjusted World War II veteran, and several malaprop-slinging buffoons who seem to be doing their own “Amos ‘n Andy” show....

At the same time, Kate’s demeanor turns tense when she slowly remembers what happened. Her repressed memories of a drug overdose and being rushed to the hospital appear fragmented. Simultaneously, she is denying the truth behind those moments. Finally, Kate shows her vulnerability. She remembers the moments leading up to her loved one’s unexpected death and feels guilty for not getting home on time. What did happen to Kate to make her go to the moon?...

However, a new boss, Jack Van Buren (Glenn Heath), at Keith’s studio enacts strange demands. Soon enough, Ember realizes that this Jack person is her former master, up to his old tricks and trying to control everyone, everywhere. Now Ember must use her magic to ensure her soulmate’s safety, save his co-workers, and stop the evil warlock from taking over the world. Her familiars, a talking dog and a talking goldfish, are by her side to assist in any way possible....

Key moments include: Introduction and festival experience [0:02-0:49]. Background and evolution of their filmmaking duo, Cliqua[1:03-4:57]. The inception and development of Shut Up & Fish [6:29-8:00]. The casting process, funding, and production challenges [8:02-10:59]. The decision to film in black and white and its impact [12:08-17:01]. The universal themes and cultural significance of the film [18:21-22:59]. Introduction and festival experience [0:02-0:49]. Background and evolution of their filmmaking duo, Cliqua[1:03-4:57]. The inception and development of Shut Up & Fish [6:29-8:00]....

The film stars Jennifer Lawrence as Maddie, a down-on-her-luck yet strong and determined woman with a checkered dating past. She needs a car so that she can make enough money to keep her cherished home. That’s when she notices a job listing with an offer she cannot refuse: a free car to whoever will date a couple’s (played wonderfully by Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) sheltered, loner son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman)....

Set in a working class New Jersey neighborhood, “Off Season” focuses on a couple whose respective obsessions threaten their barely-started relationship. Mara is a real estate agent who seems a little too eager to be in a relationship. She has already rushed her new boyfriend Donnie into bed without knowing him at any great length, and she has arranged for him to join her at an engagement party. For his part, Donnie has channeled his entire life into the pursuit of bodybuilding....

The Award This! nominees were selected from over 2,000 films reviewed by Film Threat in 2022 (this year we extended our deadline into the first half of 2023 to fairly represent all the films since the last Award This!). Award This! returns for its fifth year and will take place at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California on Sunday, December 10th and a limited number of tickets are available to the public now at AwardThis....

Frank (Gene Pope) lives in a small apartment in his old stomping grounds after divorcing Kathy (Mel Harris). Their daughter Kaitlin (Roxi Pope) is trying her darnedest to work through her issues via therapy. She’s just petrified that her new partner, Mattie (Carmen LoBue), will meet her parents and sister and be scared off. Frank and Kathy’s other daughter, Sadie (Emily Bennett), deals with her emotions by never invoking them....

On cue, three thugs in really cool masks (the short is worth watching for these masks alone) storm through the front door guns a blazing. Ana quickly moves upstairs to take on the shooters, when she is caught by surprise and a bullet is dispatched through her skull. We cut to Ana’s right arm with a tattoo of an infinity symbol on it. As it glows, the young girl touches the symbol with her similar tattoo and Ana is alive again....

Britt Vicars plays Jeanine. Her paint-splattered clothes and the unnerving pictures spaced throughout her apartment suggest she is an artist. She lives on her own and has a nasty habit of barely turning any lights on. As the film opens, we hear the familiar sounds of a text message being typed out. But Jeanine is having trouble getting a signal, walking around her scarily dark rooms with the phone held up at head height....

Elsie wants to play and distracts her mother with hide and seek. While Elsie watches her mother from under the bed trying to find her, she notices her mother’s shadow remains by the doorway. But then Ahtna finds her, and Elsie gets back to playing. While playing, Ahtna hurts Elsie by accident. Horrified, she locks Elsie in her room and runs to the cabinet with her key. Elsie hears all sorts of horrible sounds behind the locked door....