Deirdre Crimmins

1 week ago | thatshelf.com | Deirdre Crimmins

Horror films have always been about more than the plot. Crushing grief, fear of globalism, and anxiety over female empowerment are just a small smattering of what lies beneath films like Hereditary, Dracula, and Ginger Snaps. Not only have text and sub-text been hanging out together in the horror genre since its inception, so has the awareness of these secondary forces in media. Reading a film for what it is hiding behind its surface is as old as cinema itself.

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

By DEIRDRE CRIMMINSStarring Katie Douglas, Carson MacCormac and Aaron AbramsWritten by Carter Blanchard and Eli CraigDirected by Eli CraigRLJE Films and ShudderIf there were a slasher film bingo card, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD could fill up nearly the entire card. A generational killer with a flashback before the opening credits. Small town far past its heyday. Buncha teens up to no good. And one teen who just moved to the town with her newly single father.

1 month ago | thatshelf.com | Deirdre Crimmins

While some film sequels seem completely superfluous, like Weekend at Bernie’s and The NeverEnding Story, a second stab at the world of 2018’s A Simple Favor makes a certain degree of sense. The intriguing world of martinis, moms, and murder lends itself to new mysteries and even more high heels. While Another Simple Favor deserves snaps for the clever title, it does not fully live up to the charm of the original. This one begins much the same as the previous film.

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

By DEIRDRE CRIMMINSStarring Olivia Taylor Dudley, Jordan Gavaris and Lou Taylor PucciWritten and directed by Addison HeimannWTFilmsModern living can be awfully strange. This is not to take an overly simplistic, nostalgic look at the past through rose-colored glasses, but it is to say there are many more ways to derail a life these days. TOUCH ME takes a silly and satirical look at addiction, body horror and lust while maintaining its core of empathy and humanity.

1 month ago | thatshelf.com | Deirdre Crimmins

As Forrest Gump would say, vampires and nightclubs go together like peas and carrots. Mostly because of the whole daylight constraints of the vampire lifestyle, but it is more than that. It is the sexiness and seduction. It is the revelry and indulgence. Losing yourself in the music, sweat, and booze at a nightclub might be humanity’s closest feeling to being immortal, and the vamps themselves do not seem to mind that these revellers do not have their sharpest wits about them.