Deirdre Crimmins

1 week ago | rue-morgue.com | Deirdre Crimmins

By DEIRDRE CRIMMINSStarring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger and Guy PearceWritten and directed by David CronenbergJanus FilmsYou know the old saying that sex is like pizza? Meaning, even bad pizza is still pizza, and bad sex is still sex. Comparing THE SHROUDS to both sex and pizza is not to say that it is a bad film. Far from it. Rather, it is to say that even the most midline film by the Canadian auteur (and I never use that word lightly) is still a really good film.

2 weeks ago | rue-morgue.com | Deirdre Crimmins

By DEIRDRE CRIMMINSStarring Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar and Violett BeaneWritten by Jillian Jacobs and Chris RoachDirected by Christopher LandonUniversal PicturesTelephones can be creepy. Rather, phones allow the person on the other end of the line to bring terror by threatening from afar, which is a whole new layer of potential cinematic fear. When a Stranger Calls and Phone Booth both use landlines, which require a specific location to tether their victims to a specific place.

2 weeks ago | rue-morgue.com | Deirdre Crimmins

By DEIRDRE CRIMMINSStarring Kotone Furukawa, Kôya Matsudai and Yoshiko InuyamaDirected by Yûta ShimotsuWritten by Rumi KakutaKadokawaHorror loves to uphold an adage. “Better safe than sorry” and “Curiosity killed the cat” are two that can be found in dozens of horror films across our beloved genre’s long, dark history.

3 weeks ago | rue-morgue.com | Deirdre Crimmins

By DEIRDRE CRIMMINSStarring Radhika Apte, Ashok Pathak and Chhaya KadamWritten and directed by Karan KandhariMagnet ReleasingAs satisfying as good-for-her films can be, they are necessarily born out of the heroine having a crappy time directly leading up to her triumphant moment. Dani doesn’t smile at the end of MIDSOMMAR without living through the death of her family and a terrible boyfriend. Carrie does not get revenge without an abusive mother and unrelenting bullying.

1 month ago | thatshelf.com | Deirdre Crimmins

Darkest Miriam is not trying to create any major, dramatic waves. It is a quiet film about a quiet woman, having a quiet life. Miriam (Britt Lower, Severance) works at a small Toronto library branch, has a lunch routine, a cardigan at her desk, and although she is alone she does not seem particularly lonely. Director Naomi Jaye brought the character to screen after staging an immersive art experience based on the novel The Incident Report by Martha Baillie.