Review Category: Movie

Somewhere at the intersection of Don’t F**k With Cats and Megan Is Missing is Simon Rumley’s Crushed, which starts as an eye-opening introduction to the world of ‘crush’ fetish videos (don’t Google it) before descending into even darker territory. Yes, even darker than a woman in stockings and kinky boots smushing a kitten to death.

Traumatised after a friend’s brother shows her one of said crush videos, 10-year-old Olivia (Margaux Dietrich) is horrified when her own dear kitty disappears. Her vicar dad Daniel (Steve Oram) tries to placate his daughter with talk of God, but she won’t wait for divine intervention while some woman smushes little Missy under her bootheel. Olivia’s investigation takes her onto the streets of Bangkok (not as dramatic as it sounds – she does live there) and the doorstep of opportunistic Stanley (Christian Ferriera). Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse than a woman literally pulping kittens to death, here comes an American paedophile (Jonathan Samson), eager to inspect his purchase.

‘Crushed’ is certainly one way to describe the feeling which accompanies Rumley’s latest work of soul-stomping misery. A feature-length version of his ABCs of Death segment P is for Pressure, it’s a typically nihilistic, stress-inducing thriller from the Red, White & Blue director. Along the way, Rumley’s screenplay interrogates themes of faith, familial resilience and trauma, testing the convictions of Father Daniel under the worst of circumstances, while also serving as Olivia’s awakening as to the world’s innocence-pulverising cruelty. It’s ostensibly a black comedy, but whether it succeeds or not depends on how much amusement you derive from the plight of a vicar trying to keep the faith in the face of kitty-squishing and child abduction.

Crushed eventually reaches a plateau from where it can’t really get much darker, struggling beneath the weight of its more existential questions. While it can’t sustain that initial feeling of discomfort and dread for long, the quiet aftermath is almost as bad, as though Rumley has pulled back the curtain on a world of hurt and pain that no-one needed or wanted to see. Sure, it keeps its worst imagery obscured, but what isn’t seen is harrowing enough that the mental picture show will find a way in regardless.

The cat’s out of the bag and there’s no putting it back, no matter how hard you squash it down.

CRUSHED premiered at UK FrightFest on August 23, 2025.

If the 2004 song Dry Your Eyes Mate by The Streets was a horror film, then it’d be Healing Andy. Fresh from a devastating break-up, a heartbroken Bro (Matthew Kay) is cheered up by his fellow Bros when they take him on a Bro holiday to Italy.

The gang’s idyllic lads’ holiday takes a terrifying turn when they befriend local girl Ginger (Gemma Acosta), who leads them down a dark path where only extreme violence, humiliation and ball gags await. The film’s depiction of Bro friendship (the worst kind of friendship) is a grim but familiar sight; the terrifying vision of a boozed-up group of Lads On Tour careening towards you while on an otherwise peaceful European city break. At the same time, it’s updated the formula – a version of Hostel that’s clued into male mental heath and knows what MRAs and Incels are.

Another gesture to modernity is its takedown of influencer culture, in a plot which aims to explore the dissonance between reality and how this is carefully curated by whoever’s holding the camera. A noble sentiment, but one plagued with poor management of tone and overly grating performances.

A subplot about a fake beard and the surprisingly abundant references to Home Alone are amusing, but the screechy performances and its characters’ bizarre behaviour become more intolerable the longer we’re subjected to it. There’s no respite in the villains either, who prove just as incapable of shutting up as the film’s cache of Bros, and whose variety of evil also seems to involve screaming in people’s faces the entire time. In that respect, it is admittedly effective in building a discomforting atmosphere, even if it’s just by volume rather than content. Director Villablanca shoots the whole thing on iPhone, giving it an unsettling, all-too-real feel.

But, ultimately, like too-many a modern found footage film, it’d be better served as a shorter V/H/S segment than a feature film on its own. A shame, as Healing Andy does possess some solid imagery in the second half. It’s a bold play on found footage tropes, let down by headache-inducing performances and a lack of focus.

HEALING ANDY premiered at UK FrightFest on August 23, 2025.

Usually, when a film is written by, directed by, and starring the same person, alarm bells can go off, warning that you’re about to watch a vanity project. Cameron Francis takes on all those roles in Cover, but the assured, low-key presentation allows for a brooding, engaging watch.

Trevor (Francis) is a quiet, paranoid loner who deals in expensive stamps and has to drive across the country to complete a deal for some of the most precious items he has. Against his better judgment, he agrees to take Macy (Katherine Lozon) along with him. She tells him she’s running from an abusive relationship. It takes quite a while for Macy to break Trevor’s icy exterior and start a conversation, and some deep secrets are shared.

There’s very little in the way of flashy action; instead, Francis allows for a moody development of the story. By the time we get to the reason for Trevor’s insular persona, we’re fully on board with the characters. They succeed in making us not actually like them, and we certainly don’t trust them. As an actor, Francis is restrained in his delivery, which works perfectly for the character, and Lozon (in her first feature role) holds her own as Macy.

While the destination the plot takes may not be new, it’s confidently directed (impressive since it’s Francis’ first feature) and is always engaging. It covers several serious themes such as loss, guilt, and revenge in an often unflashy fashion, which explodes with violence towards the climax.

COVER screened at FrightFest on August 23rd. 

 

A struggling novelist’s writer’s block takes the personification of a menacing painter and decorator in this dark psychological thriller by writer and director Matt Harlock. Floundering with his second book, nervy writer Will (Danny Horn) is drowning in anxiety, self-doubt and imposter syndrome.

A pep talk from aggressive handyman Mikey (Joe Sims) does the job, encouraging Will to… well, not write exactly, but take procrastination to violent new levels. Spurred on by his deeply unpleasant muse, troubled Will uses his newfound confidence to confront those he perceives as having done him wrong, from publishers to other, more successful novelists. It’s Secret Window meets Fight Club, if either John Turturro or Brad Pitt had been a threatening handyman with a regional accent.

Deep dark down, it’s a more compelling portrayal of imposter syndrome and writer’s block (Blockhead, geddit) than it is a story about a troubled man on a killing spree, lacking much in the way of creativity or tension where its kill sequences are concerned. However, Horn is fantastic as the fraying-around-the-edges author, turning on a dime between scary and sympathetic. His chemistry with Mikey is electric, and the film’s workman antagonist is sparingly utilised enough to not outstay his welcome.

A solid enough independent thriller, but a really good depiction of the profound discomfort artsy types have around those who work a more hands-on profession.

BLOCKHEAD premiered at UK FrightFest on August 23rd, 2025.

Grappling with severe agoraphobia, architect Abel (Javier Pereira) resorts to extreme measures to cure his fear of leaving his home. When conventional therapy doesn’t work, Abel hires prestigious dog trainer José (Fernando Cayo) to help him overcome his fears. While their work is initially helpful, it’s not long before José’s more unconventional methods start to rankle, and Abel tries to get rid. Aggressive José won’t be so easily dissuaded from his purpose though, and Abel soon faces a desperate fight for his own freedom and dignity.

The debut feature film of writer and director Juan Albarracín, El Instinto is a particularly gritty take on the home invasion thriller. It’s also the third of this year’s FrightFest films in which a human is chained up and forced into the role of domestic pet (see also: Don’t Let the Cat Out and Sick Puppy). Where this is all headed is grimly predictable, and the canine training videos which accompany each of the film’s chapters only heighten the sense of unease. It’s only a matter of time before someone ends up drinking out of a dog bowl, and El Instinto plays out like a cross between Whiplash and the 2022 horror film Good Boy.

Others come and go, but this is primarily a battle of wits between Abel and José, and both men prove up to task. Pereira manages to sell Abel’s sense of helplessness without coming across as a complete pushover, while Cayo emanates a quiet sense of menace in the time leading up to his going all-out mask off barking mad.

It’s a familiar story, but Albarracín manages to keep the usual song-and-dance of thwarted escape attempts and prolonged bouts of torture feel fresh.

EL INSTINTO/INSTINCT premiered at UK FrightFest on August 23, 2025.

Writer and director Dani Barker has had quite the career trajectory, going from YouTube star to polymath horror filmmaker. If you hadn’t been paying attention already, Barker marked herself as a talent to watch with Sylvia Carminer’s Follow Her, which she wrote and starred in, and was partly based on one of her YouTube misadventures. The writer and actor steps all the way behind the camera for this debut feature, which aims to do for the demonic possession subgenre what Follow Her did for erotic thrillers.

Actress on the decline Melody Palmer (Teagan Vincze) hopes to resurrect her ailing career by starring in the romantic comedy film Renovated Romance. However, lurking on location is a demonic presence (or five), which threatens to derail not only Melody’s acting career, but also what remains of her sanity. But will anyone even notice? Actors are weird people, after all, and much of Melody’s madness is initially dismissed as the eccentric behaviour of a past-their-prime movie star.

Five is a very different kind of horror film from Barker’s previous work, going broader with the comedy and harder on the supernatural element. Co-written by Barker, Erin Boyes and Mike Hassan, it’s a genuinely funny take on two crowded subgenres (demonic possessions and movie shoot horror films), with a nicely observed takedown of the Hallmark Channel romcom to boot.

While Five is lighter in tone and touch than Follow Her, its chills still get the job done, especially in earlier scenes where Melody’s affliction first begins to make itself known. Vincze is tremendous as the troubled actress, while Donna Benedicto gets big laughs as ditzy Lala, and Sean Depner is a plausible Hollywood hunk.

An inspired version of one of horror’s more overdone genres, Five is another feather in the cap of its writer and director (and, yes, there is a cameo too). It’s an inventive and original comedy horror that should tickle the fancy of fans of demonic possession horror movies and cheesy Hallmark romcoms.

FIVE premiered at UK FrightFest on August 23, 2025.

 

Grégory Morin’s gross-out horror film starts with a man getting his foot stuck down a toilet and somehow only gets worse from there. Arriving at a seedy inner city nightclub in search of his ex, middle-aged cokehead Luc (Jonathan Lambert) nips into the gents’ for a quick line. When he gets his foot stuck in the khazi (an argument against European squatty potties, if ever there was one), a terrible chain of events begins to unfold. Just when you think his situation couldn’t get any worse, it does. Every single time.

A particularly grim entry in the people-stuck-in-stupid-places-or-things subgenre, Flush manages to make a 70-minute film about a man with his head stuck down a toilet (we told you it would get worse) somehow not feel as though it’s padded out or stalling for time. Turns out, a shitty nightclub toilet is an eventful place to spend the best part of an hour, between aggressive coke dealers, drug-hungry rats and Chekhov’s glory hole.

Morin and screenwriter David Neiss approach Luc’s plight with a relatively straight face, trusting in the absurdity of the situation. The pair do impressive work in continually raising the stakes, creating a sense of progression even when it seems like there’s quite literally nowhere else to go. That said, there’s a surprising sense of restraint for a film about a man with his head stuck down a toilet, and those fearing the second coming of Salò might have an easier time than expected.

Playing either a disembodied head or a headless body most of the time, Lambert puts in an incredible performance, while the film’s supporting cast (which includes a very talented rat) do a good job of making an already stressful situation even worse for the poor guy at every opportunity.

You’ll never look at a nightclub toilet or European squatty potty in quite the same way again. Maybe forego the cinema snacks for this one.

FLUSH premiered at UK FrightFest on August 22, 2025.

Stephen Biro (director of the American Guinea Pig series) is no stranger to controversy when it comes to cinema. Here, he focuses on a film that caused more debate and outrage than any other in recent years.

When A Serbian Film was released in 2010, it quickly became a cause célèbre, being banned and cut all over the world. Biro’s documentary covers all the outrage (including the infamous pulled screening at FrightFest), but it also gives good insight into the making and meaning of the movie.

We get to see behind the scenes of creating the impressive (and disturbing) special makeup effects (including the trauma the actors had to deal with during body casting). More importantly, we hear from the director, producers, and actors to find out what they thought of working on the movie and the outcry that followed it.

Everyone involved is incredibly honest, detailing the problems the movie had getting made and even getting the film elements developed. The documentary might not make you want to sit through A Serbian Film again, but you might gain a deeper understanding.

A SERBIAN DOCUMENTARY screened at FrightFest on August 22nd.

Finally, a horror film for people who are inexplicably grossed out by the idea of kombucha. Saddled with a mind-numbing day job, musician Luke (Terrence Carey) buys into the company’s free kombucha scheme in an attempt to meet his quotas. The gunk has the desired effect of enhancing Luke’s productivity, but leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

Adapted from Jake Myers’ short film of the same name (he must really hate kombucha and office work), Kombucha expands on the ideas and subtext, going bigger, harder and gooier than before. A cross between Office Space and David Cronenberg before he became A History of Violence and Crimes of the Future‘s David Cronenberg, Kombucha is a snarky comedy-horror satire for those frustrated artists out there who have been saddled with a sucky day job. It’s a slow burn, but Myers is successful in adapting a short film to feature length without it feeling padded out or as though anyone is stalling for time.

Kombucha is playing with a lower budget than, say, The Substance, but both kombucha and having a day job are yucky enough that what it does deign to show works. As tortured artist Luke, Carey is phenomenal, demonstrating a big enough talent during the opening scenes that we can buy into his frustration at being turned into a dead-eyed, kombucha-swilling office drone. The effects, while on the cheaper end of the spectrum, still get the job done, veering between the otherworldly purple of Color out of Space and the oily slime of Society.

An office horror satire which will resonate with anyone who’s ever had to work a soul-crushing day job… or just really hates the idea of kombucha.

KOMBUCHA premiered at UK FrightFest on August 22nd, 2025.