Filmmakers John Ainslie (director/co-writer) and Alyson Richards (co-writer) give the venerable Haunting of Hill House formula a vigorous workout in The Sublet. Joanna (Tianna Nori) and Geoff (Mark Matechuk) move with their toddler son into a sublet apartment whose eccentric and reclusive sublessor they never meet. Joanna takes an instant dislike to her new home, frustrated by […]
Category Archives: BITS
November
26
BITS 2016: The Unseen
posted by Courtney Small
Geoff Redknap’s The Unseen presents an interesting angle to the classic Invisible Man story. Unlike most films that revel in the spectacle of seeing a man disappear, Redkap offers a more somber approach. He treats the notion of the body wasting away like a disorder that is the source of shame and fear for those […]
November
25
BITS 2016: No Trespassing, What Do You See, The Jogger, Taking Possession
posted by Courtney Small
No Trespassing Sometimes the best films are the ones that let the audience do all the heavy lifting, such is the case with Charlie Lawton’s wonderful short film No Trespassing. Functioning without any dialogue, the film documents the harrowing plight of a girl (Sara Jackson) who becomes turned around in the woods when she and […]
November
24
BITS 2016: Streamer
posted by Courtney Small
Loneliness and the desire to be loved are two things that most of us can identify with at one point or another in our lives. Directors Jared Bratt and Vincent Pun’s Streamer takes these themes and explores the darkness that can spawn from them. By his own account Jared (played by Bratt) is a 28-year-old […]
November
23
BITS 2016: Holy Hell
posted by Daniel Lackey
Horror and humor have often formed an uneasy alliance, taking many forms from subdued stomach-churning satire to outrageous gross-out comedy. With Holy Hell, writer/director/star Ryan LePlante delivers a specimen of the latter. LaPlante takes on the role of Father Augustus Bane, a mild-mannered priest in a bad neighborhood who does his best to live his life […]
November
22
BITS 2016: Capture Kill Release
posted by Daniel Lackey
Oh look! Another found-footage movie. Directed by Nick McAnulty and Brian Allan Stewart, Capture Kill Release follows a young couple played by—and named after—Jennifer Fraser and Farhang Ghajar as they document their plan to abduct, torture, and murder a completely random stranger, which is apparently Jen’s lifelong dream. Capture Kill Release doesn’t bring much to the […]
November
21
BITS 2016: 24X36: A Movie About Movie Posters
posted by Courtney Small
When you go the movie theatre, how much time do you spend looking at the movie posters that adorn the walls just outside the cinema your film is playing in? According to Kevin Burke’s documentary 24X36: A Movie About Movie Posters, nowadays, we barely spend time looking at them at all. Considering that media consumption […]
November
29
BITS 2015: The Dark Stranger
posted by Daniel Lackey
Horror fiction often is at its best when we can associate its fantastic monsters with our own concerns, frustrations, and anxieties. But outright allegory requires something of a deft touch to keep its subtext from becoming a sermon. Case in point: The Dark Stranger, the début feature from writer/director Chris Trebilcock. Katie Findlay stars as Leah […]
November
28
BITS 2015: Night Cries
posted by rmpixie
A lone, stoic horseman leads us into a world of lost love, danger and otherworldly spectres in the fantastical pilgrimage Night Cries. A heartbroken Joseph (Andrew Cymek) is determined to find his wife Sarah (Brigitte Kingsley). Five years ago she died of cancer, and he has vowed to find a way back to her. After […]
November
27
BITS 2015: Farhope Tower
posted by Courtney Small
Standing tall just on the outskirts of the city, Farhope Tower looms over the community like an ominous beacon of terror in the night. Nicknamed the “suicide tower,” for the number of unexplained deaths that have occurred, Farhope has become a place of urban legend. The abandoned building has become so menacing that not even […]
November
26
BITS 2015: Secret Santa
posted by rmpixie
College life is often peppered with drama, drinking, and other hijinks, especially before the Christmas break. However, when a sadistic killer is added to the mix, a group of friends find that cheating on exams and each other are the least of their worries. In Mikey McMurran’s Secret Santa, two college lovebirds, Nicole (Annette Wozniak) […]
November
26
BITS 2015: O Christmas Tree, Grace, Marty
posted by Courtney Small
O Christmas Tree Spreading the Christmas cheer through the gift of song, four carolers find themselves in for the night of their lives when they stop at the home of sweet old Mabel (Bonnie McCrae). After being invited in for milk and cookies, Holly (Ashley Awde) soon realizes that Mabel may not be the wholesome […]
November
25
BITS 2015: Chiral
posted by Ashlee
When Canadian filmmaker Karen Lam has an idea, I always brace myself for the ascension that’s about to commence. With her body of work, there is nowhere to go but within, exploring minds that conjure other dimensions and expand reality. A horror filmmaker by brand, Lam additionally makes her imprint in dark fantasy, creating works […]
November
24
BITS 2015: Save Yourself
posted by Courtney Small
The road trip from hell has been a frequently used trope in the realm of horror. It not only plays to the audience’s primal fears of strangers, but also provides an excuse to subject characters to some thrilling isolated terror. Playing within such a familiar space, it is easy for a director to fall into […]
November
23
BITS 2015: She Who Must Burn
posted by Daniel Lackey
Legendary Canadian independent filmmaker Larry Kent takes on extreme Christian fanaticism in his latest effort. She Who Must Burn details the conflict between Angela (Sarah Smyth), a family-planning counselor single-handedly keeping her small-town clinic open after the state pulls its funding, and the zealous Baarker family, led by Jeremiah (Shane Twerdun, who also co-wrote), who blame the […]
November
22
BITS 2015: White Raven
posted by rmpixie
The native legend of the White Raven involves a mythical bird stealing light to brighten a dark world. Some say this act was for a better society, while others think it was a self-serving venture. Director Andrew Moxham uses this legend to explore the dark side of brotherhood. Opening with a sweeping bird’s eye view […]
November
21
BITS 2015: Bite
posted by rmpixie
This was it, the moment of truth. I was finally going to watch Bite, the film so gruesome that it made, rumor has it, people ill in previous screenings. Will this homage to great body horror films have the same effect on the seasoned Blood in the Snow (BITS) audience? Only time will tell. Regardless, […]
November
30
BITS 2014: Ejecta
posted by Daniel Lackey
The promo material for Ejecta intrigued me. It describes the film as “The story of one night on earth that changed everything we know about the universe”; a blurb from the directors goes on to call it “the story of two men who witness an unexplainable event in the atmosphere on the eve of a […]
November
29
BITS 2014: Queen of Blood
posted by Daniel Lackey
I could apply any number of adjectives to Queen of Blood, the latest effort from filmmaker (and Fangoria editor-in-chief) Chris Alexander. Among those adjectives are “haunting,” “visionary,” “singular” and “challenging.” Shauna Henry plays the titular Queen, a vampire who emerges from a river and proceeds to leave a trail of victims across the American Frontier. […]
November
28
BITS 2014: Short Film Showcase
posted by Courtney Small
Part of the pleasure that comes with taking in the Blood in the Snow Film Festival is the numerous short films that screen before the features. The festival also highlights the creativity of the medium in their Short Film Showcase programme. The showcase offers another venue for filmmakers to show off their talents. Here are […]
