"On est des insectes pour eux."

The Evolution of Phobia and the Politics of Infestation

The name Sébastien Vaniček had been flying under my radar for a while, but I recently stumbled upon the news that he has been tapped to direct a new Evil Dead installment. This late discovery was the final push I needed to finally check out his debut. I realized I had run out of excuses to keep Vermines (2023) on my watchlist. I needed to…

"It’s hard, isn't it? Traveling alone. Spending all that time trying to make it look like you’re having the time of your life, when really you’re just lonely."

When Kurtis David Harder broke into the scene with 2019’s Spiral, it was already abundantly clear that we were witnessing the rise of a vital, fascinating new voice in modern horror. With Influencer, he solidifies this reputation, delivering a remarkably assured and precise addition to a still-nascent nanogenre that I have grown…

"Respect my fucking privacy."

This wasn’t my first rodeo. I had already seen the film before but completely forgot to log it, so I decided a rewatch was mandatory before writing a deeper dive review.

Given that Talk to Me was easily one of the best horror films of recent years for me, my expectations for the Philippou brothers' follow-up under the A24 banner were rocket high 🚀

Going into the rewatch, I still had the general plot in mind…

​"This cherry is popped!"

​Wie macht man ein Remake eines Kultfilms, der eine ganze Generation geprägt hat? Man schmeißt den verstaubten Altherren-Blick des Originals über Bord und verpasst dem Ganzen ein längst überfälliges, erfrischend feministisches Update für die Gen Z.

​Wenn man sich das Ganze aber mal genauer anschaut, merkt man schnell, dass sich im Vergleich der Trios einiges verschoben hat. Inken fehlt heute leider diese wunderbar verpeilte Slapstick-Tollpatschigkeit des Originals, aber Real Talk: Kya-Celina Barucki macht ihre Sache trotzdem…