CHAIN REACTIONS (2024) Scary Movies 13

This is the review I wrote for Scary Movies but was told at the last minute not to post and to hold off until the theatrical release. That happens Friday so here is the review.

Directors Takashi Miike and Karyn Kusama, writers Stephen King and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, and comedian Patton Oswalt talk about the place of the film THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in their lives and within the context of the culture and cinema.

This is one of the best film on film documentaries I've ever run across. This gem of a film does everything that a documentary should do and then some. Not only do the subjects make their relationship with the film personal but they put it into the wider context of society. For example, Takashi Miike talks about how the film influenced how he made films, but at the same time he also explains how it shaped how people in Japan saw Texas. This film shows us how key the film is in the arc of civilization, not just cinema.

I was blown away. There is so much to take in that I wasn't even done with Patton Oswalt's opening segment when I realized that I would need two or three more times through in order to get everything out of this that I can. There simply is too much to take in and consider that it demands multiple viewings.

Be warned this is not a making of film. This is something greater. Its the story of how a small little film literally changed the world by changing everyone who has seen it.

I loved this film. 

One of the best films I've seen in 2025

ROW (2025) just played Scary Movies XIII and opens in UK cinemas August 29

A young woman is rescued off the coart of Scotland from a small boat designed for ocean rowing. She was part of a crew who were trying to break a record by rowing from Newfoundland to Ireland in under 28 days. Someething went horribly wrong, but what.

Beginning toward the end of the tale and then flashing backward through found footage and the woman's fragmented memories, this is a tale that we have to piece together. It is a tale where we don't have all the bits until the end and we have to stay present and engaged so that we pick up everything we need to.

It's a spectacular film that has some of the most visually over powering images you'll see all year. We are there, on the ocean in fair weather and foul. The images go a long way to keeping us interested and if the year end awards and the Oscars noticed small films like this it would be on near the top of the list.

The spectacular images help distract the audience from noticing that the rest of the film is a mess. 

Beginning with a cast, none of whom look like long distance rowers, the film quickly loses credibility. Seriously, the cast looks good but none of them look like they could row for 28 days. Their bodies look like regular people and not like the the cut musicular people who normally do this ort of thing. Their hands, other than some bandages don't  have the calases that they would have from holding oars for hours.

The script also doesn't make a great deal of sense. From the crew of a World record attempt just heading out alone with no fan fare and no sense of them having a support team (they should have something as the recent ocean rowing doc ROW FOR LIFE shows), to characters throwing needed equipment overboard to make the boat lighter, to questions about why no one touches the rescue beacon, to the final denouncement which mght explain a few things, but also comes across as a huge WTF on a couple of levels (it potentially throws out most of what we've seen with one sentence because of the implication), all of this is just nonsense if yout think about it. I suspect the fragmentary telling is to hide the flaws. .

I completely understand why this film has played numerous festivals (Raindance and Scary Movies), it looks so good that if you get lost in what is happening as it happens and you don't think about anything it is great, but the problem is the pacing  allows doubts to appear and that final turn just made my jaw drop. Perhaps if this wasn't two hours and moved faster this would have played better and I wouldn't have cought the "errors".

While not bad, it just isn't as great as the visuals.

Welcome Home Baby (2025) Scary Movies

A young woman receives word that her father has died and that his house is ow hers. She goes back home in the hope of selling the house and making a quick buck only to find her relatives and others overly welcoming and not wanting to let her leave too soon.

A good set up kind of goes into a familiar track as the ominous uncertainty of the opening gives way to the feeling we've been here before. This film plays like any number of films from the 70's or 80's where the prodigal child finds out there is weirdness in the family tree. There was a point where I realized I may not have known the details but I sure as hell knew where the film was going.

While the film isn't bad, and I like the way it feels retro in style and music, I was disappointed that the great early part of the film became rather predictable.

While the film is definitely worth a look, your best bet in falling in love with this film is to see it at a drive-in movie.

Noise (2024) Scary Movies 13 Fantasia 2025

A deaf woman returns to her sisters apartment after her sister disappears. The sister had been having issues with loud noises coming from the apartment above hers.

This is an interesting film where sound is used to mess with the audience. Its a film with one realy great scare, and a lot of creepy moments. For the better part of an hour this is an intriguing, and then it goes off the rails.

Even before the one hour mark this was a batshit crazy film. The longer this film goes on the less sense it makes. Whe it hits the one hour mark the film throws the script goes into the shreader. Nothing in that final half hour makes one lick of sense. I dare you to explain to me what exactly was going on when the end credits roll. You explain to me how the demon like monster, angry ghost, serial killer, crazed tenant, and one or two other things fit together. I also dare you how some one standing on a floor can pull someone out a window eight feet up in the air. And what about the jagged glass in that window? And...there is more, but I won't go into it. This film just throws everything, and I mean everything, at the screen to see what sticks. Unfortunately nothing does.

I went with it for a while but there was a moment as the film was winding down when I just threw my hands up. 

After an intriguing start the film crashed and burned

Yard of Jackals (2025) Scary Movies 13

In 1975 a man who quietly works for the military in Chile, finds his nights interupted when the house next door begins having unpleasant noises come from it.

The horrors of Chile's past come back to haunt the people of a quiet neighborhood. This tale of life under a military regime is not really a horror film but is more a political allegory.  This is a film about the things that happened on the other side of the wall.  Or not, a late in the game time jump kind of resets the board and alters what we thought we knew.

I'm not sure what I really think about this film. Honestly the film's insistance that it is about something kind of works against it. I kept waiting for a big twist or something truly horrible, but I don't think the uexpected horror is there. Yes the film is well made, but the thrills weren't there for me since the film seemed to want to say something important.

Johatsu (2025) Scary Movies 13

 

A woman who works in a morgue becomes suspicious when a woman comes in to identify her husband. She thinks he may have faked his death.

The title of the film is reference to the Japanese practice of leaving your life and going off to start over under a new identity. As the film goes on the morgue worker becomes obesessed with this notion.

Despite being in a scary movies series, this film isn't scary. Heck, it isn't really compelling. It's kind of obvious where this film is going to go from the start.  The problem here is that despite all of the twists and turns in the plotting the film never swerves from the preset course. You know what the ending is  about ten minutes in and it never changes.  It does't help that the twists either amout to much nor make much sense. Too much is ot explained simply because its happening to distract us, ot because the plot is going that way.

While it isn't a bad film, it just isn't a great one.

THE HOME (2025) Scary Movies 13

One the true horror films playing at this year's Scary Movies concerns a man who puts his mother in a rest home for people with memory problems. She can no longer care for herself. However, once she gets situated thing begin to take a turn for the worse, as she becomes unexpectedly violent...worse she might be possessed by the spirit of her dead husband who was an abusive bastard.  This is a solid thriller horror film that raises a lot of issues as well as goose bumps.\

Recommended. 

(Sorry thats all I can say, I have a length limit)

Rabbit Trap (2025) Scary Movies 13

The studio asked for an abbreviated review to run for Scary Movies. A longer one will run for its release in September 

In the 1970's a couple move into the Welsh countryside. As she records her new album and he records ambient sound they are visited by an odd teen boy  looking to become friends.

One of the great opening halves of any film this year, takes some unexpected turns in the second half in a film that reveals itself to be something other than a (folk) horror film. I was not expecting for where this film went or to have it reveal itself to be something more. If you want to see why horror is used to do more than scare, Rabbit Trap will clue you in.

This is a super film for those who want chills and feelings beyond jump scares.

Go see it.

Highlights | Scary Movies XIII (15 Aug – 21 Aug)

Scary Movies is back, and as one would expect, it boasts the kind of smart and often overlooked genre fare that make it a welcome addition to the New York film scene. The emphasis on filmmakers at, or near, the start of their careers is an extra bonus: here’s your chance to be transported by talents you probably haven't even heard of until now, which is kind of exciting. That said, the programming choices occasionally take chances, which is why the series title fits better than some alternatives—these films may not fall strictly under the “horror” umbrella, and in fact some may not evoke scares per se, but rather feelings of unease or awe (or a combination of both). So, what’s worth checking out? In addition to the must-see classic DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971), which screens on the final evening, here are some recommendations from the other nine films I’ve seen. 

It Ends

“There’s not a bird on earth that could survive a human uppercut.”

After just a few minutes of experiencing IT ENDS on the big screen, it becomes clear why this is the opening night film. Assured, beguiling, and using sound in a way that can be described only as gorgeous, Alexander Ullom’s first feature promises to take you places even before it really gets on the road. Aided by the fine work of its talented young cast, Ullom’s script effortlessly succeeds where most horror flicks (cf. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER 2025) fail miserably: making us care about its friend group before anything remotely menacing takes place. There are no contrived character snapshots or forced interactions to convey likability—the film just lets us spend time with these engaging roadtrippers. Then, when the dread and terror kick in, we’re not only fully on board, but also enjoyed the time we spent getting there.

It's tempting to call the premise of IT ENDS “simple,” but “elegant” would be more accurate. Unabashedly wearing allegory both on its sleeve and in your face, the film manages that rare feat of working on a purely dramatic level as well. The script never sells out either dimension for the sake of the other. And the ending, which somehow manages to avoid predictability, feels utterly satisfying as it hits hard both thematically and emotionally. 

The story also works because it nudges you to consider what you’d do in the characters’ situation, but does so in a way that feels fresh and invisible. In short, you’re never bored. Except, that is, during those moments when you’re supposed to brush up against boredom, and then Ullom pulls off the always tricky goal of conveying tedium without actually putting the audience to sleep. The friends’ small, creative acts of rebellion against boredom are, in fact, central to the horror—there’s a kind of psychological “gore” that, while it can’t be seen, can definitely be felt. Think of this film as high-stakes survival horror, but in breathtaking slow-mo. Or, if it helps, you can view IT ENDS as an ingenious mix of THE SOPRANOS “Pine Barrens” episode and Sartre’s No Exit... except that wouldn’t begin to describe how heartfelt and original it is.

Chain Reactions

Every once in a while, a doc on film comes along that not only expertly explores its topic, but also makes you fall in love with the medium all over again. A few years ago, we had a great example of this with Giuseppe Tornatore’s ENNIO, and now we’re graced with another in the form of Alexandre O. Philippe’s CHAIN REACTIONS. The director’s approach is straightforward yet highly effective. There’s no bouncing between the typical talking heads (i.e., academics and journalists/fans) as the production and reception of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE are recounted in chronological order; instead, five creatives each provide an extended stand-alone segment that covers how they encountered Tobe Hooper’s masterwork and why it has meant so much to them. The result is that the audience is treated to a range of intriguing and self-contained lenses on the film as well as some nice insight into the subject’s own career and artistic credo, as is the case with Takashi Miike. To say that CHAIN REACTIONS is a must-see for genre fans would be putting it mildly. 

Noise

Like the more highbrow RABBIT TRAP (see below), NOISE takes sound as its central motif. Here, though, we’re not talking sonic seduction as much as sonic assault, and this actually contributes to the strength of Kim Soo-jin’s exercise in urban paranoia. The constant barrage of mechanical, digital, and human squawks isn’t exactly pleasant, but that’s the point—it keeps us, like the characters, always a bit off-balance and disoriented. This in turn, when complemented by the twisty narrative, makes it difficult to pinpoint the true threat source for NOISE’s protagonist. Is it the most obvious possibility—the knife-wielding dude who regularly comes a-visiting? Or is it a paranormal entity... or a killer from the past we learn about in flashbacks... or the odd neighbor with the even odder daughter... or the self-righteous neighbor who’s blatantly antagonistic?

After a while we pick up on the overarching messaging: it’s the environment, stupid. More specifically, it’s all the living (and dying) on top of each other, the anomie of modern city life, and the artifice of “community.” In terms of such themes being played out in a residential apartment block in South Korea, well, we’ve seen that going back at least as far as BARKING DOGS DON’T BITE. So, is NOISE groundbreaking in its ideas or scares? Not really, but you probably won’t care. It’s an extremely well-executed piece of popcorn-y pulp—and sometimes that just hits the spot. 

Rabbit Trap 

This is a very guarded recommendation. While the sheer quality of the filmmaking is hard to match, either in this series or the genre overall, the place where writer-director Bryn Chainey ultimately takes us in not somewhere many of us would care to go. The mysterious stranger trope has been done countless times, not only in dramas and comedies, but in unsettling ways in examples of fantastic cinema ranging from BORGMAN to THE GODSEND. Chainey breathes new life into the premise by emphasizing natural sounds that are so uncanny that they may as well be unnatural. Yet after carefully and skillfully establishing the dynamic between the central couple and their respective attitudes toward the stranger, the script abandons all this psychological grounding and narrative tension in favor of a magical realism-meets-folk horror ending. While this may sound like a promising combo in theory, in practice things don’t quite come together. An apt comparison might be made to the conclusion of Alex Garland’s MEN, although the results here feel neither as cohesive nor as impactful. Still, if you have any interest at all in RABBIT TRAP, this is the way to see it—on a big screen accompanied by big speakers. Let it fully cast its spell on you before the film itself finally breaks it.

Jōhatsu

JŌHATSU is an engaging thriller of subtle power that provokes disquiet more than terror. For many, it will provide a more thoughtful experience than NOISE and a more rewarding one than RABBIT TRAP. In both style and substance, though, it is far more elusive if not downright elliptical—the title, meaning “evaporation,” provides a hint of this flavor. Yes, see it if you can; directors Lina Lužytė and Nerijus Milerius will participate in a Q&A at the screening, and perhaps they can help guide the audience through the mysteries of their artful film. 

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GRAND MOCKERY (2025) Fantasia 2025 Scary Movies 2025

 I honestly don’t know what to make of A GRAND MOCKERY.  My confusion is intensified by the fact that the film is playing at both Fantasia currently and next month at Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies. Clearly, they see the film as a horror film and I don’t think it really is. It’s definitely a trip inside the main character’s head and unpleasant things happen but it’s more character study of a disturbed man than anything.

The film was shot in 8mm  using various cinematic techniques and featuring an almost constant voice over. The film feels like a very inde art house film from the 1970’s. Its something that probably should be projected at a drive in at 2am.

The problem for me is I never found a way in. Yes, we are watching a young man spiral and descend into a kind of madness but at the same time I never found a way to care. Yes I love the techniques used and the look of the film but to me the central figure always remained a cypher. I am not going to lie, the desire to walk out on the film was strong, but the people presenting and the supporting the film kept me seated hoping that I would find something meaningful here.

I never did.

Is the film bad? No. But it’s very much for a particular audience. You are either going to get it or not. This plays like a fever dream and a half remembered nightmare, I have a feeling that had I seen this after missing the first couple of minutes (after waking up at 2am) I probably would have liked it more since I could have assumed I missed something at the start but going from first frame to the last I was kind of baffled what this was all about and what I was being asked to wrestle with it.

If you want an off Hollywood, off the beaten path film give it a try. If want something else stay away.