THE STRANGERS - CHAPTER 2: A futile and stupid fucking gesture x2. It gives us everything we never needed to know about The Strangers, in addition to adding absolute nonsense that doesn’t fit. By rationalizing the irrational, all the horror has vanished. Cancel Chapter 3 right now. #FantasticFest

BUGONIA: A proper Yorgos headtrip until it's not? A sci-fi interrogation piece that's unafraid to battle against conspiracy theorists, yet that ending leaves a sour taste. Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons are fantastic, but the ride goes off the rails in a way I'm still iffy on. #FantasticFest

Really looking forward to #primate. Sounds like it's got a Cujo vibe which I'm very much down for! Here's my Alt poster. 🙉🩸🤘 #digitalart #HorrorMovies @paramountpictures.bsky.social

OMG, Disney's new Star Wars trailer is so, so good. I can't wait for THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU! www.picketywitch.com/star-wars-th...

Meanwhile, I suspect that it's going to be quite difficult to top BLACK PHONE 2 as my #FantasticFest fave. There's no way I won't be going long on this one, both in my review and elsewhere. I lambasted other fest films for their nihilism. I am equal parts delighted by BLACK PHONE 2's earnestness.

DEATHGASM 2: GOREMAGEDDON - Evil comes again (and again and again). It's a buddy comedy first that reunites the band (using necromancy), best suited for faithful Deathgasm fans. But the gore, THE GORE. Holy shit. Would make Raimi and Jackson blush. So many mutilated dongs. So. Many. #FantasticFest

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (2025): As a fan of the original and Steven C. Miller's Silent Night (2012), this one had decent-sized boots to fill. I still prefer Silent Night, but Mike P. Nelson's remake (again) takes some pretty big swings that I have to respect. BIG ol' swings. #FantasticFest

I unno Bluesky, I think we should be allowed to be rude to Nazis. But maybe that's just me.

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (2025): As a fan of the original and Steven C. Miller's Silent Night (2012), this one had decent-sized boots to fill. I still prefer Silent Night, but Mike P. Nelson's remake (again) takes some pretty big swings that I have to respect. BIG ol' swings. #FantasticFest

SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE — An action spectacle sequel that trades dead Nazi soldiers for dead Red Army soldiers. Who needs dialogue when violence does all the talking? As a big fan of SISU, I can't say which I like more at this point. A splendid problem to have. Give me ten more. #FantasticFest

When you’re at a film festival but also trying to will your favorite baseball team into the playoffs. #FantasticFest #GoAstros

Time to start my #FantasticFest review chain! First up is my PRIMATE review for @dailydead.bsky.social. It's giving Cujo, Halloween, and Jurassic Park ... but with a murderous chimpanzee. A sinfully simple concept, but the kills go HARD and the chimp looks fantastic. Hell yeah.

THE BLACK PHONE 2: A wintery horror sequel that brings us as close to Freddy Krueger as we’ll get until there’s another ANOES. It might take a beat to hit stride, but once in full swing, it’s an ambitious follow-up that evolves evils instead of recycles what previously worked. I dig! #FantasticFest

DEATHSTALKER: Fans of fantasy dungeon crawlers, glorious 80s schlock, and Astron-6’s brand of homemade horror goodness can rejoice! Steven Kostanski’s remake set to a metal soundtrack brings the gore and laughs you’d expect. Have a blast. #FantasticFest

Cranking out as much of a review as I can during the pre-show of my next Fantastic Fest screening. This is the way.

BEAST OF WAR: I'm 2-for-2 on animal attack movies at this year's Fantastic Fest! Australian soldiers try to survive a massive great white as it chomps them one by one. Simple formula, but the shark looks great, the gore is gnarly, and desperation is dreadfully thick. Solid Fin Flick. #FantasticFest

I dunno, I really liked HIM and have no problem defending this one on my own.

If organizing didn't matter they wouldn't be fighting so hard to stop us from doing it, and other missives from the world of entertainment while I head into the bulk of Fantastic Fest. This week's newsletter is live thanks to the martini and caesar salad that are saving my life right now.

V/H/S/HALLOWEEN: They say go out with a bang, and this sequel wraps with one of my favorite V/H/S segments. The rest is a mixed bag, falling victim to typical problems with horror anthologies. It’s a step backward from V/H/S/BEYOND, but still enjoyable for V/H/S fans. #FantasticFest

VICIOUS: There’s a marketable evil at the film’s core, but the story is a nihilistic mess. Life is cruel, vicious cycle, yadda yadda. It’s not doing anything interesting with its premise. Mean is mean over and over. Dakota’s stranded. Pass. #FantasticFest

SIRÂT: Cannes’ Jury Prize winner and Spain’s Oscar selection opened my second day with a harrowing, rhythm-driven watch. Rave culture meets a missing person thriller, then morphs into a gripping on-the-road drama. Fantastic sound design propels heaps of tension. Gasps abound. #FantasticFest

Starting Day 2 of Fantastic Fest with a raspy voice already (for bar closing reasons), and golly was that needed. Feels good to be back.

PRIMATE: What if Cujo and Halloween but a chimpanzee? Hell yeah. It's absurdly simple, and the kills are ruthless. Johannes Roberts' no-frills creature feature is tense as hell, and the chimp SFX are A+. Not much to it—chimp stalks and slaughters characters—but I had a blast. #FantasticFest

I whipped up a little Fantastic Fest preview for @certifiedforgot.bsky.social that highlights some of my most anticipated films of the festival! It goes without saying that I’m super stoked for the big guns like THE BLACK PHONE 2 and SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE, so I kept to “smaller” flicks.

Looks like I’m in the small minority of critics who enjoyed HIM lol. It’s about as subtle as a shark attack, but I’d argue that works in the film’s favor. Also rakes in the style points. Move over THE GALLOWS, I’ve got a new critically savaged horror hill to die on!

Made it to the airport on under 2 hours of sleep. Fantastic Fest imminent. 🥳 When I say last night was a challenge, I mean literal hours ago I was dealing with meth-ed up trespassers, destruction of property and the LAPD. The past is the past, baby. Time to party.

The chaos is no longer beautiful. I need a beer, a fucking insane horror movie, and my Fantastic Fest badge.

I’m in that beautifully chaotic period the night before Fantastic Fest where I still have twenty things to do before a 7am flight, I’ve got a stress ball in the pit of my stomach, but every completed task brings me one step closer to Austin, and that feeling is better than any drug.

Hahaha yeah, I'm sold on ANACONDA. Also would be the perfect Fantastic Fest secret screening (especially since it's a Sony movie). This is me manifesting.

Post a movie you like with a terrible rotten tomatoes score

Time to find out if HIM is the GOAT. (Big excited right now. Every clip and trailer has pushed HIM to become one of my most anticipated horror flicks this year.)

Longshot, but are any editors out there looking for help out of Fantastic Fest? I'll be there the whole time, and I'm still looking to place a few higher-profile reviews like Bryan Bertino's VICIOUS or Curry Barker's OBSESSION.

Battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life: 1. The smell of a home-cooked Italian dinner. 2. The softest, fuzziest rug under your feet. 3. Live baseball and a stadium beer. 4. The shreddiest, thrashiest metal riffs. 5. Hugs.

This is an incredibly “niche LA critic” tweet, but holy shit, there is no better feeling than finding out the screening room you have to go to is only a 5 minute drive from your apartment.

I also made my @digitalspy.com debut exploring the changes to THE LONG WALK and why they make the contemporary version of the story so, so impactful. Adaptation isn't meant to simply copy, and Mollner's updates are heavy and hopeful in tandem. www.digitalspy.com/movies/a6604...

Bumping this today. There are a handful of these left. I'd like to sell them all before the move. I am so grateful to everyone who has already stepped up for helping me make this migration possible.

"Disappointingly, Night of the Reaper is an underwhelming autumnal treat that packages a few moments horror fans will especially enjoy, but it’s lacking an overall polish." NIGHT OF THE REAPER hits Shudder this weekend—you can read more about it in my review for @dailydead.bsky.social.

No one wants to win this Giants x Cowboys game in OT haha, what is happening??? Russ ain't cooking these last few drives, he's burning the kitchen down.

Fresh beer and a fresh draft, wild Saturday night plans.

Trying to make kimchi pancakes for the first time, and also trying Nectar’s new “Sojuice” hard beverages (canned soju cocktails). I like the “90 Calories Per Serving” label when a can is counted at 2.5 servings lol. Deceptive marketing if you’re not paying attention.

About to throw on Roger Corman's A BUCKET OF BLOOD (starring Dick Miller!) and its remake, neither of which I've seen. The remake sounds especially bonkers. Directed by Michael McDonald (MADtv), starring Anthony Michael Hall, with pop-ins from Will Ferrell, David Cross, Jennifer Coolidge and more.

To my fellow cishet dudes: when we are quiet about supporting the trans community, the only voices anyone hears are the Charlie Kirks of the world. Don't let accusations of being "performative" or "virtue signaling" shut you up - that's their whole point. Our voices are needed now more than ever.

"Taking a walk/touching grass/etc" is always good advice because what good did you get out of the last 36 hours of stress as the conservative narrative scrambles to connect the shooter to transness? You know it isn't true. Everyone does. Check back later. Stop doing this to yourself right now.

Was out at a goth night market last night, so we're doing a Saturday morning livestream! Come hang out with me and @pnemiroff.bsky.social until 12:15PST as we hit live chat questions and eventually get to our THE LONG WALK final covo.

It's between THE LONG WALK and THE UGLY STEPSISTER for my favorite horror movie of the year (as of today). THE LONG WALK is finally out this weekend—see it.

Bryn Chainey's RABBIT TRAP is an ambitious feature debut steeped in Wales' Fae lore, but a beguiling folkloric "mystery" (not much of one) becomes too esoteric for its own good. Full review is up on @dailydead.bsky.social:

Clearing up my one Midnighter “miss” of Sundance: RABBIT TRAP. Full review coming tomorrow on @dailydead.bsky.social.

I survived another Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood and wrote about it for @dailydead.bsky.social! Easily one of my favorite experiences of all the years I've attended. The roaming Arts, a strong house lineup, and overall excitement levels all put a big goofy smile on my face. #HHNHollywood

the people who mocked and made up shit about the attack on paul pelosi have thoughts about decorum and we should definitely take them very very seriously