From Screamfest 2022: «Follow Her»

October is here, and with that, Screamfest is having its annual festival! We were lucky enough to be able to check an interesting Psychological thriller called “Follow Her”, which was screened on October 14th.

In order to go deep to the good stuff right away, let me copy paste the official synopsis:

“Struggling actress and live-streamer Jess Peters (Dani Barker), known to her online followers as J-PEEPS, has finally found her hook: Secretly filming creepy interactions she encounters via online job listings, and using the kinks of others to fuel her streaming success. For her next episode, she’s been hired to write the ending of a screenplay in a remote, lavish cabin. Once there, Tom (Luke Cook), the alluring self-proclaimed screenwriter, hands her a script in which the two of them are the main characters. This client isn’t what he seems, and even though the money’s great… the real payment here could cost her life.”

All right, let’s dig in!

“Follow her” brings a premise that you might believe you know what is going on, and you probably will be HALF right. However, the story never pretends to be too clever nor does it hide clues to rack your brains (on a second viewing you will note some hints that we might have understandably missed). The script has a message, but it does not beat your head with it, like unfortunately too many films do these days. It is not shaming you nor lecturing you, instead it lets you have your own analysis on several themes, but mainly poses the question about going too far just for the sake of fame and likes without being accountable for the damage you might be causing to others. The script does not shy away of pointing out double standards, while poking fun about thriller movies cliches and other troupes, it does a good job managing to integrate all those opinions without stopping the plot from being fun, coy, and yes, at moments, scary.

All of this is very enjoyable thanks to a good pacing, but also due the chemistry between the leads Dani Barker (Who also wrote the script) and Luke Cook.
Jess (Barker) at first looks at “Tom” as a new target for the web show, but later on, she seems to loose her focus and starts to be interested on her new employer/writing partner, but can it be that she is just THAT good at pretending?
And how about Tom (Cook)? Is he really interested on creating a written masterpiece, or he would rather go for something more on the vein of a “reality show”?
With the excuse of brainstorming the script with the use of an improvisation exercise, we see them flirt, dance and smile, but deep down we can see that inside of both of them, there might be an ulterior motive for them to be there. You can try to guess the ending and the twist and turns, but I really would suggest to just let yourself go and enjoy the ride.

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Anime Expo 2019: Cosplay Gallery 3

And here is our third and last (for now) gallery of some of the cosplays we had the chance to catch on our visit to Anime Expo 2019.

We hope you enjoy it and we are really looking forward to the next year… or our next convention…

Don’t forget to check our other two galleries that we posted on this blog!

 

 

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Anime Expo 2019: Cosplay Gallery 2

And we continue our gallery tour from some of the cosplays we had the chance to catch at Anime Expo 2019

As always we are truly grateful of all the cosplayers that we kind enough to let us include them in our yearly tradition

Bring on the cosplay!!

Stay tuned for the other TWO galleries that we are prepping for posting!

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Anime Expo 2019: Cosplay Galery 1

We are back!! And we had rhe chance to go again to Anime Epo 2019!!

And what better way to celebrate that our blog was finally revived (A MILLION THANK YOUs ARKEV!!!) that bringing one of our most beloved and awaited traditions?

Here are this year’s cosplays!!

Stay tuned for the other TWO galleries that we are prepping for posting!

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Going to Fantasia 2018? These are some films we are excited to see!

In less that TWO days, The Fantasia International Film Festival, one of the coolest places to be if you are a film lover (As we know you are) will begin its 2018 edition, and while we might not be there in person, there are several films that got us excited since they were announced.

Here a list of SOME of the films that either we would love to see or we have seen and recommend you to watch:

(please note that the main synopsis is taken from the official Fantasia International Film Festival)

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From Cinepocalypse 2017: «Charismata»

Following our remote coverage for the Cinepocalypse film festival, we got to see «Charismata» a disturbingly dark film from Tor Mian and Andy Collier.

In «Charismata» we meet a recently promoted police detective called Rebecca Faraday, that on top of dealing with a very bizarre murder on her first case (a possible satanistic serial killer, to boot) she has to battle with a hateful ex-husband, an addiction to pain killers, strange headaches and very tense working environment.

As more murders are discovered and clues pointing to a real state company start to surface, Rebecca and his partner Eli (With whom she clearly has a PROFESSIONAL love/hate relationship) meet a charismatic developer and business man called Michael Sweet, a man that actually seems excited to be a suspect on the case. Could it be that he knows more about the murders that he lets on, or is this just his weird way to get closer to Rebecca?

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From Fantasia 2017: «Tragedy Girls»

Many seek fame through video blogs and social networks, but one of the best ways to succeed in the media is to talk about what you are passionate about and/or what you know best, in the case of Sadie and McKayla, that theme would be real-life serial killers. How much do they know about it? More than enough to capture a real serial killer, try to convince him to be their mentor and to help them to create a new bloody legend in their little sleepy town.

Why?
Because #Ratings

To the girls’ dismay, apparently getting lot likes and subscribers is not that easy when you are not releasing raunchy pictures, and after seeing that a couple of deaths that should gain more views for their blog are just dismissed by the community as freak accidents, the duo decides to step up their murders, specially when other people for one reason or another end up stealing the spotlight that Sadie and McKayla believe their project deserves. This starts to look suspicious to Jake, Sadie’s best friend (zoned) that also by an amazing coincidence is the sheriff’s son and the editor for the girls’ project.

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From Fantasia 2017: «68 KILL» (and available on VOD 08/04/17)

68 posterAll Liza wanted was the chance to start a new life and to get out of the dump she was living, and Chip just wanted to see his girlfriend happy. There is a reason why everybody says that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The plan was simple: Get into the house and take the 68 grand from Ken, Liza’s wealthy Sugar Daddy. The job was supposed to be quick, the good old «in and out» thing, and nobody was supposed to get hurt, but as we all know, The Devil is in the details, and Chip suddenly finds himself with not only two corpses on his conscience but also a hostage in the trunk.

Liza, who clearly has no problems with spilling blood, specially if is not hers, suggest that Chip should dispose of Violet, their hostage and the only witness of their crime, but Chip, who actually does not have a single criminal bone in his body, decides to save Violet and escape with her, accidentally taking the money in the process. This ignites the rage of she who Chip considered the woman of his dreams, and from there on, Chip will be running for his life, being threatened not only by Liza, but also by other more bizarre and violent characters that he will meet along the way…

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From Fantasia 2017: «Le Manoir» (The Mansion)

Poster miniScreened recently at the Fantasia International Film Festival and coming from France, we just saw “Le Manoir” (The Mansion), a comedy/slasher film where we meet a group of students reunited on a secluded mansion, with the goal of celebrating the arrival of the new year with alcohol, drugs and sex (or at least that is what some of them hope).

As the hours fly by, we see that this colorful group has its share of secrets, envy, resentment and unrequited love, but still, these friends promise to stay together no matter what. Little do they know, that as soon the first minutes of the new year start running, the numbers in their group will start to decrease in a fast and violent manner, courtesy of a mysterious masked visitor.

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From Fantasia 2017: «Sequence Break»

SB posterOz is a very skilled electronic technician that works repairing old arcade consoles, and that rather loose himself in the screens and circuitry at the repair shop where he works instead of interacting with other members of the human species. Learning that the shop will be shut down soon due “Times change and nobody wants arcades anymore” Oz decides to have a few drinks at a local bar and is approached by a very attractive girl named Tess that also is a nut for old vintage video games, starting a romantic relationship that not only could cause us a diabetic coma, but also defies the laws of logic and reality, nothing wrong there (I am old and bitter, please bear with me and keep reading).

That same night, Oz finds an old weird motherboard, and pinched by curiosity, decides to install it on a machine that he was repairing. The result is the appearance of a weird hypnotic old-style video game on the screen, that compels Oz to play, and start giving him strange hallucinations that might or might not be predicting his future and doom, while a strange apparently homeless man gets in and out of the shop like if he had the duty to ensure that the entity on the other side of the game’s images can find a way to pay us a visit.

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