HORROR

FrightFest 2020 Review: Don’t Look Back

Published

3 years ago

October 24, 2020

For the second time in 2020, the Arrow Video FrightFest has gone online after cancelling the physical event that was planned to take place in Leicester Square from October 21-25. Despite not being in person, FrightFest still has plenty of films and scares to be had.

Don’t Look Back is the directorial debut from Jeffrey Reddick who’s best known for creating the Final Destination film franchise. Reddick’s directorial debut has many similarities to Final Destination; in Final Destination, we see a group of people cheat death and so death comes for them. In Don’t Look Back, it’s karma that comes to kill them. Despite the similarities, Reddick manages to show that he’s got a lot to offer in the director’s chair.

Don’t Look Back follows a young woman called Caitlin, played by Kourtney Bell, who is still overcoming her traumatic past when she, and a few others, witness a man being attacked in the park and none of them do anything to stop the attack. The witnesses including Caitlin then start getting targeted by someone, or something out for revenge.

The film begins with phone-footage of witnesses watching people being attacked. Instantly the film starts to make you question what you would do in these situations and if you would just stand and watch or would you be the one to intervene and to help the victims?

Don’t Look Back gets straight into it as very early on we get a scene that gets straight into the action and sets up the trauma that Caitlin then experiences for the rest of the film. Whilst the films does get straight into it at the start, it does go a little quiet for some time. One slightly disappointing thing about the film, particularly when compared to Final Destination, is that there are very few scares in this film. There isn’t much blood or gore or actual horror to it which is a shame, but the film is still entertaining without any of that.

The film plays a lot on the idea of karma ad it’s an interesting concept to play about with although at times it can be a little too on the nose. Sometimes all of this, in particular the film’s opening, and the idea of karma is just waved in the audience’s face far too explicitly and perhaps a slightly more subtle approach would have been better.

Overall, whilst Don’t Look Back isn’t anything too exciting or different and it could do with a few more scares, it’s not bad and fans of Final Destination will definitely enjoy it and have a good time with the film.

2.5/5

Don’t Look Back is in cinemas and available on-demand in the US now

FILM RATING

Related Topics:FrightFest Horror REVIEWS

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HORROR

When Evil Lurks | Teaser Trailer — In Theaters October 6th, 2023

Published

4 days ago

September 18, 2023

Jacques van Zyl

When Evil Lurks Movie Poster (IFC Films)

The following piece was written during the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie material being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Genre: Horror

Release Date: 6 October 2023 in theaters / 27 October 2023 on Shudder

Director: Demián Rugna

Writer: Demián Rugna

Distributed by: IFC Films & Shudder

Production Companies: Shudder, Aramos Cine & Machaco Films

Cast: Ezequiel Rodriguez, Demián Salomon, Luis Ziembrowski, Silvia Sabater & Marcelo Michinaux

Plot

The residents of a small rural town discover that a demon is about to be born among them. They desperately try to escape – but it may be too late…

When Evil Lurks Official Teaser Trailer (IFC Films)

FILM RATING

HORROR

Thanksgiving | Official Trailer — In Theaters November 17, 2023

After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the infamous holiday.

Published

4 days ago

September 18, 2023

Staff

Genre:

Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Release Date:

November 17, 2023

Director:

Eli Roth

Cast:

Patrick dempsey, Rick Hoffman, Gina Gershon, Addison Rae

Plot Summary:

After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the infamous holiday.

FILM RATING

HORROR

Talk To Me Delivers A Real Scare, Hands Down!

Published

6 days ago

September 16, 2023

Jacques van Zyl

Talk to Me Movie Poster (A24)

Plot

When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

Movie Review

The movie starts off with quite a shocker, leaving you with a few questions. It doesn’t take too long to get into the action and soon you realize you are in for quite a scare. In a nutshell, the movie is about a group of friends playing a timed game where the communicate with the dead using an embalmed hand, and allow the dead to speak through them, with the emphasis on timed. However, as with all rules, some end up broken, and when the game goes on a little too long things go south, resulting in far reaching consequences. The main protagonist in the story Mia plays this game of talking with the dead, while at the same time working through the loss of a loved one as well. As a viewer I experienced her feelings of grief and it felt real because her performance was just next level.

Both Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird‘s performance as Mia and Riley really grips you, making the feelings of fear on-screen real for the audience. The make-up and effects throughout the movie was really done brilliantly. The ending delivers a unique twist making you hungry for more action and story. The cast really brought life in a horror story focusing around the dead.

There is no post-credits scene, so no need to wait to the end. Trailer is amazing and delivers an even greater scare and doesn’t spoil any important parts of the movie. My rating for Talk To Me is 5 out of 5. Talk To Me is a bone-chilling supernatural horror that delivers a real scare on-screen, hands down. I’m all for seeing a possible sequel of Talk To Me one day, or even a prequel where the origin of the embalmed hand is unpacked. But the movie is still brilliant as a stand-alone movie.

Make sure to catch it at a cinema near you or watch online.