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While big studio sci-fi films seemingly struggle while trying to manage too many expectations, obligations and money, the indie sector of the same genre is definitely on the rise. The Becomers, the latest outing from Zach Clark, the director known for Modern Love Is Automatic (2009), White Reindeer (2013) and Little Sister (2016), which premiered at last year’s Fantasia Film Festival, is another example of a modest budget turned into creative fun. An alien from a distant dying planet lands in the middle of Illinois and body snatches their way through it in search of their lover who reached the Earth in a different pod. The first body, the one of an unlucky hunter, doesn’t last long before our protagonist bumps into a woman (Isabel Alamin)...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Ask every independent filmmaker you know to tell you how they got their latest project off the ground, and you’ll never hear the same story twice. The task of finding funding for passion projects often feels so sisyphean that there’s no “right” way to do it. It comes down to timing, hustle, and a decent amount of luck. Zach Clark was already a celebrated indie filmmaker in his own right for films like “White Reindeer” and “Little Sister.” But he’ll be the first to tell you that his latest work, the sci-fi romance “The Becomers” was the result of some pandemic-era serendipity.

“Let me take you back to a time in February 2021,” Clark said during a recent conversation with IndieWire. “I was sitting in my apartment doing truly nothing, and Joe Swanberg called me and asked if I had any ideas for $100,000 genre movies that we could shoot in 12 days in Chicago.

Since Jack Finney’s “The Body Snatchers” was first published 70 years ago, screen adaptations — official and unofficial alike — have taken place in small-town USA, Me Decade San Francisco, a military base, high school and so forth. All had a gist in common: humanity being infiltrated and co-opted by a shape-shifting invasive force from outer space. Loosely playing on that theme, Zach Clark’s “The Becomers” adds a new wrinkle, in that this time the body-hopping entities don’t necessarily intend conquest. They just want to co-exist, peacefully. But it turns out they may have chosen the wrong planet and/or species, because they discover today’s mankind is perhaps too messed up to be worth the trouble.

That’s a good premise for the kind of sly, deadpan absurdism Clark aims for here. But despite its fantastical hook, this episodic narrative lands short of the curiously winsome black comedy quirkiness...

First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes…a planetary apocalypse forcing you and your alien soulmate to invade the Earth and possess bodies you don’t understand? Sure, why not.

In Zach Clark’s wonderfully weird “The Becomers,” alien terror collides with a cascading case of mistaken identity. When two genderless extraterrestrials crash-land in different parts of Illinois, they must covertly assimilate through a revolving door of skin-suits before finding each other’s new forms. Clark’s latest is more candy-tart than saccharine-sweet — but for those unfamiliar with his out-there style, this electric portrait of doomsday-defying love serves as a ready-made soft spot for the indie filmmaker.

“The Becomers” writer/director/editor is already known for painting in seriocomic shades thanks to movies like “Little Sister” and “White Reindeer.” He’s exploring themes of complex grief again here, but this time it’s through the lens of a loss...

Have you ever seen something really horrific or even just bizarre on our planet and thought, 'ugh, what would an alien think if they were to visit Earth right now?'" That's the core question of The Becomers, an upcoming extraterrestrial body-snatch film from Little Sister and White Reindeer director,...

The Becomers: "Forced to flee their dying planet, two body-snatching alien lovers arrive separately on Earth. Determined to find each other, the aliens jump from body to body, but they quickly learn that it's not easy to inhabit their new, fleshy hosts, and that life in modern-day America is more complicated than they could have ever imagined."

"Writer/director Zach Clark’s acclaimed sci-fi genre-bender The Becomers kicks off its U.S. theatrical release on Friday, August, 23rd and arrives on VOD in North America on Tuesday, September 24th. The film will open in New York on August 23rd at Cinema Village, in Los Angeles on August 30th at Lumiere Music Hall, and in Chicago on September 13th at Music Box Theatre, with more cities listed below.

The latest film from the celebrated American indie filmmaker, the visually striking and outrageously plotted film reverberates with the pulse of politics...

As the summer movie season comes to a close, August brings a shockingly stacked slate of offerings, topped by a film that is sure to age like a fine classic in years to come. Elsewhere we have accomplished debuts, action spectacles, and a thriller from the man who has recently returned to perfecting the formula.

15. Blink Twice (Zoë Kravitz; Aug. 23)

While its new title doesn’t quite have the hook of its original, Pussy Island, we’re curious what’s in store for the directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz. Featuring some cast––including Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, and Geena Davis––the story follows a cocktail waitress who becomes infatuated with a tech mogul and travels with him to his private island, where things begin going wrong. Featuring cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra (The Last Black Man in San...

At Filmmaker we’ve long been a fan of Zach Clark, director of such witty and genre (and genre-adjacent) work as Little Sister, Vacation! and White Reindeer. He always brings real style and subversive smarts to his pictures, which often apply ingenious tonal twists to familiar situations and set-ups. For his latest, The Becomers, Clark fuses an Invasion of the Body Snatchers-type tale with a classic rom-com set up. Reviewing the film out of Fantasia, Erik Luers wrote: In depicting two shape-shifting entities who arrive separately on Earth searching for their misplaced mate, Clark’s film provides his Midwest cast the opportunity […]

The post Trailer Watch: Zach Clark’s The Becomers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

At Filmmaker we’ve long been a fan of Zach Clark, director of such witty and genre (and genre-adjacent) work as Little Sister, Vacation! and White Reindeer. He always brings real style and subversive smarts to his pictures, which often apply ingenious tonal twists to familiar situations and set-ups. For his latest, The Becomers, Clark fuses an Invasion of the Body Snatchers-type tale with a classic rom-com set up. Reviewing the film out of Fantasia, Erik Luers wrote: In depicting two shape-shifting entities who arrive separately on Earth searching for their misplaced mate, Clark’s film provides his Midwest cast the opportunity […]

The post Trailer Watch: Zach Clark’s The Becomers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Best. Christmas. Ever! is a polished holiday rom-com with likable characters and a charming side plot about two kids investigating Santa's existence. The film's A-list cast, including Heather Graham and Jason Biggs, elevates the weak material they are given, but they can't completely save the holidays here. While the movie is predictable and filled with clichés, it offers a sense of warmth for fans of cheesy Christmas films.

The annual dump of Netflix Christmas movies has begun. And one of its earlier titles, Best. Christmas. Ever! still struggles at delivering a festive rom-com with complexity, nuance, or originality. The casts are better, the production value is improved, and it's all polished, but at the end of the day, Netflix holiday flicks are structural copies of Lifetime and Hallmark movies. But maybe that's their point.

Best. Christmas Ever. is a substantial rom-com for the family that weaves through the confines of its genre,...

A new, exclusive first-look clip and poster has been released for Zach Clark’s upcoming genre-bending comedy The Becomers ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival later this week on July 22nd. The Becomers tells the story of a body-snatching alien who comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner, and tries to find their way in modern America. You can check out the exclusive clip and brand-new poster below.

Written and conceived in early 2021, The Becomers reflects the challenges of the real world at the time through its pointedly chaotic portrayal of society, with science fiction elements heavily inspired by the original Star Trek series. A true brew of surprising genres, the film is all at once comedic, horrific, grotesque, and romantic. The imminent premiere of The Becomers marks Clark’s second time screening at the Fantasia International Film Festival following the 2016 Canadian premiere of Little Sister,...

It’s time for some body-snatching mayhem.

Zach Clark’s “The Becomers,” about confused alien lovers trying to find their place on Earth, and each other, has debuted the first clip and poster ahead of its Fantasia Film Festival premiere.

“I was really inspired and influenced by 1950s B-movies. I have always liked the disreputable pockets of film history. My general approach to the entire movie was to embrace that and embrace kitsch as an access point,” said Clark.

“Older genre films really invite the audience in. Now, it’s all about visual effects and things looking as real as possible. But this more lo-fi effect asks you to play along in a way that modern stuff doesn’t.”

Also joining in on the fun is the film’s surprising narrator, Russell Mael, best known as the lead singer for Sparks: The cult American band celebrated by Edgar Wright...

Horror Feature “My (Best Friend’S) Head Exploded” to Premiere in June: "Writer/Director Scott Bryan’s puppet-filled existential horror feature, “My (Best Friend’S) Head Exploded,” will have its two-weekend world premiere this June.

“My (Best Friend’s) Head Exploded” is a rebellious, existential, terrifyingly messy puppet feature made out of material things by actual people. It tells the story of Lydia, a coming-of-ageless vampire forced to deal with the loss of her best friend, Sam, after the pair conjures a moment of complete clarity which causes Sam’s head to explode.

In the aftermath, Lydia must contend with old ghosts, generational trauma, oppressive authority figures, and the confusing fear of infinity to set reality right and save her own sanity.

“I love making weird stuff that a studio would be afraid of and a computer couldn’t replicate,” Bryan said.

The film will show at the Salem Witch Board Museum in Salem,...

Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to “The Becomers,” a genre-bending comedy written and directed by Zach Clark. The company will launch the film at the Marche Du Film in Cannes this week. “The Becomer” tells the story of a body-snatching alien who comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner, and tries to find their way in modern America.

“During the pandemic, I binged the original ‘Star Trek’ series for the first time and then I made this movie” Clark said about his latest film. “It felt like life as we knew it was ending, but then again, it also felt like that might not be the worst thing either. ‘The Becomers’ is a story of love, longing, and alienation. A kitsch-soaked, pathos-laden melodrama about our sad, sad planet. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever made and I can’t think of anyone better than Yellow Veil...

Featured in Heather Wixson's holiday gift guide, the new book Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television could be the perfect stocking stuffer for the horror fan in your life this holiday season, but Spectacular Optical is giving you the chance to take your gift one step further with their interactive book tour this December that includes screenings, lectures, and other live celebrations tied to the book's seasonal themes:

Press Release: For many, Christmas is an annual celebration of goodwill and joy, but for others, it’s a time to curl up on the couch in the dead of winter for a good old-fashioned fright. The festive holiday season has always included a more somber side, and scary tales of child-stealing demons to ghost stories told ‘round the fireplace go back to pre-Christian celebrations. These long-standing traditions have found modern expression in the Christmas horror film, a unique...

For many, Christmas is an annual celebration of goodwill and joy, but for others, it’s a time to curl up on the couch in the dead of winter for a good old fashioned fright. The festive holiday season has always included a more somber side, and scary tales of child-stealing demons to ghost stories told ‘round the fireplace go back to pre-Christian celebrations. These long-standing traditions have found modern expression in Christmas horror film and television shows, a unique and sometimes controversial subgenre that cheerfully drives a stake of holly through the heart of cherished Christmas customs.

Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television, the latest book by Canadian micro-publisher Spectacular Optical, offers a definitive, in-depth exploration of the history of these subversive film and television presentations that allow viewers to engage in different ways with the complicated cultural history of the Christmas season.

From the press release:...

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more seminal year in movie-going history than 1977, which unspooled such game-changers and genre-benders as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Saturday Night Fever,” “Airport ’77,” “Sorcerer,” and many, many more.

In honor of the fortieth anniversary of one of the wildest years in recent cinema history, The Film Society of Lincoln Center has programmed their ambitious ’77, a 33-film series surveying the sweeping cinematic landscape of a prolific year in cinema, in the United States and around the world.

Read MoreHow ‘Jaws’ Forever Changed the Modern Day Blockbuster — And What Today’s Examples Could Learn From It

While the debut of George Lucas’ original “Star Wars” is likely the most notable name in a long list of ’77 titles, the year also played home to “Jubilee,” “Eraserhead,” “Hausu,” “Wizard,” and “Smokey and the Bandit.” That startling breadth of film options speaks to the changing times — both...

Valkoinen Peura (The White Reindeer)

Region B Blu-ray

Vlm Media (Finland)

1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat / 68 74 min. / Street Date November 25, 2016 / Available from Cdon.Com / €19.95

Starring: Mirjami Kuosmanen, Kalervo Nissilä, Åke Lindman, Jouni Tapiola, Arvo Lehesmaa.

Cinematography, Editing: Erik Blomberg

Costume, Wardrobe, Makeup: Mirjami Kuosmanen

Original Music: Einar Englund

Written by: Erik Blomberg, Mirjami Kuosmanen :

Produced by: Aame Tarkas

Directed by Erik Blomberg

A few years back the pioneering disc boutique Mondo Macabro imported a number of exotic Eastern horror films, such as Purana Mandir from India. The movies seemed a real cultural curiosity, an imitation of our genre filmmaking with local touches added. Phil Hardy’s Encyclopedia of Horror reference book whetted my appetite for scores of amazing-sounding foreign horror pictures, that I thought I’d never see. Many have been made available in the digital age, although not always in this Region. A friend loaned me this exotic picture,...

Blac Chyna may have ditched Rob Kardashian for Christmas, but it looks like the 29-year-old sock designer's family is ditching her right back.

Chyna has apparently not received an invite from the Kardashians' annual Christmas Eve bash, according to multiple reports.

Exclusive: Blac Chyna's Mom Reacts to Rob Kardashian's Social Media Meltdown: 'He Has an Issue'

"Rob's family is over Chyna," a source told People. "She is not invited to Kris' holiday party."

It seems the Kardashians have had enough after Rob and Chyna aired their relationship drama out on social media last week.

"Rob's family is trying to distance themselves from Chyna. They can't stand the toxic relationship," the source continued, adding that the family naturally cares about the couple's new daughter, Dream. "It's just come to the point where they think Rob is better off without being in a relationship with Chyna."

According to E! News, Rob's...

Kris Jenner is giving us a glimpse into Christmas past with a gorgeous throwback snap of her and her daughter, Kylie.

The 61-year-old Keeping Up With the Kardashians star Instagrammed a photo on Tuesday from her annual Christmas Eve party last year that features the matriarch and Kylie in coordinating Balmain mini dresses.

Look: Kourtney Kardashian Has Christmas Trees for All Her Kids!

"Love this pic of me and @kyliejenner from last year!! Thank you for the dresses @olivier_rousteing @balmain!! Love the memories always…" Kris wrote.

The annual bash is a favorite among the family, especially Caitlyn Jenner. "It's a great time for our family and a great time for all our close friends," the I Am Cait star shared last year. "It just kicks off the holiday perfectly, and it certainly is a lot of fun."

Watch: Tom Brady and Daughter Vivian Decorating a Christmas Tree Will Melt Your Heart

Kylie, 19, also shared...

Kourtney Kardashian is taking her Christmas tree game to a whole other level.

The reality star dished on her holiday decorations in an interview with Vogue, revealing that her three children -- 7-year-old Mason, 4-year-old Penelope, and 2-year-old Reign -- all get their own trees to decorate however they want.

Watch: Go Inside Kris Jenner's Christmas Decor -- Candy Cane Trees, White Reindeer and a Giant Red Bear

"We all go to a lot together and have the kids pick out their own trees for their bedrooms; they can decorate them however they want," she told the publication. "It's a perfect spot for homemade decorations and allows them to be creative and have fun with it and do something all together as a family."

To be fair, the kids also get professional help from Jeff Leatham, who also designed Kris Jenner's elaborate Christmas decor. It may be going all out, but [link=nm...

Joe Swanberg has been cranking out movies for over decade, and his micro-budget character studies quickly became the paradigm for the current state of American independent film. While Swanberg’s profile has grown — he recently launched the Netflix series “Easy” — he remains tethered to his roots, and now he’s expanding them: With the Chicago-based production company Forager Films, Swanberg has quietly launched an effort to support the work of other filmmakers operating on the same scale he embraced early on.

Read More: ‘Easy’ Review: Grading Every Episode of Joe Swanberg’s Profound New Netflix Series

The company, which Swanberg co-founded with Eddie Linker and Peter Gilbert, has churned out a series of diverse projects over the past year and a half: “Unexpected,” the sleeper Sundance hit directed by Swanberg’s wife Kris, follows an inner-city high school teacher who bonds with one of her students when they both get...

Zach Clark has directed a sad comedy about a dysfunctional family for what he calls "the little goth girl in all of us." Thanks, we needed it. In Little Sister, a skillful blend of humor and heartbreak (minus sappy sentiment), Clark takes us to places and head spaces we don't see coming. The wonderful Addison Timlin shines as Colleen Lunsford, the little goth girl who is now a novitiate at a New York convent. She's just short of taking her final vows, though Mother Superior (Barbara Crampton) has her doubts.

After crafting one of our favorite (and most darkly uncomfortable) yuletide favorites over the last few years with White Reindeer, director Zach Clark is back with the new film Little Sister. Executive produced by Joe Swanberg, the film follows a family re-connecting, then things get a little strange. Ahead of a release in October, the first compelling trailer has now arrived.

We said in our review, “Saying Zach Clark‘s Little Sister being called a comedy does a disservice to the film seems like a slight on the genre. I know. But I don’t mean it that way. What this label does — even if it’s clarified with the word “dark” — is build an expectation that’s able to hurt the film’s true appeal. Clark and Melodie Sisk‘s script is definitely a drama first: a tough familial drama consisting of broken souls seeking an avenue to mend...

Nuns and goths: Are they really so different? That’s the question (kind of) asked by the trailer for the new indie dramedy Little Sister, which stars Addison Timlin as a nearly-nun who finds herself trading one set of monochromatic clothing and dogmatic beliefs for another. Timlin’s character is just on the cusp of going steady with God when her estranged mother (Ally Sheedy) summons her home to help her brother, a war veteran with burns over most of his face. Her urge to reconnect with him draws her back into her old goth lifestyle, even as all the standard indie beats—quirky outsiders, pot-smoking parents, disappointment—play out, and Christian Death (get it?!) wails on the soundtrack. Joe Swanberg produces, while White Reindeer’s Zack Clark writes and directs. The film’s set for distribution on Oct. 14.

Karina Longworth's marvelous podcast, You Must Remember This, returns from a summer break with a new series on Joan Crawford. The first episode (44'18") focuses on the young Lucille LeSueur and swerves off on an entertaining detour for background on Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. More listening: Werner Herzog is impressed by Kanye West's Famous; Joseph McBride discusses Charles Chaplin's City Lights; Sam Fragoso talks with Ira Sachs about Little Men and more; White Reindeer director Zach Clark talks with John Waters about Multiple Maniacs, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Justin Bieber and Terrence Malick; and the latest edition of Illusion Travels By Streetcar is about "The Madness of Busby Berkeley." » - David Hudson...

Karina Longworth's marvelous podcast, You Must Remember This, returns from a summer break with a new series on Joan Crawford. The first episode (44'18") focuses on the young Lucille LeSueur and swerves off on an entertaining detour for background on Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. More listening: Werner Herzog is impressed by Kanye West's Famous; Joseph McBride discusses Charles Chaplin's City Lights; Sam Fragoso talks with Ira Sachs about Little Men and more; White Reindeer director Zach Clark talks with John Waters about Multiple Maniacs, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Justin Bieber and Terrence Malick; and the latest edition of Illusion Travels By Streetcar is about "The Madness of Busby Berkeley." » - David Hudson...

So many low-budget American indies are about stunted twentysomethings who return to their childhood homes in order to achieve some great personal catharsis, but so few of them understand what home really means, or know how to find it. It’s been more than a decade since “Garden State” enshrined that template for a new generation of filmmakers, yet Zach Clark’s weird, winsome, and wonderful “Little Sister” is one of the few movies that has used it to tell a story that feels indivisibly true to itself.

“Fail to see the tragic, turn it into magic!” The Marilyn Manson lyric that flashes on screen before the first shot does a nice job of framing the film’s characters, but it could just as easily be describing how Clark takes a trite premise and mines it for something genuinely special.

You know how pat this usually plays out: A creatively...

“I needed structure!” says former goth Colleen Lunsford (Addison Timlin, star-to-be) in a revelatory moment in Little Sister, the latest feature by Brooklyn-based Zach Clark (White Reindeer, Vacation). It is one of two unaffected masterpieces (the other is Ira Sachs’s Little Men, which I’ll review when the increasingly daring Magnolia Pictures releases it) screening at BAMcinemafest (Jun 15-26) that I was fortunate enough to catch early — two for two! Colleen is exasperated trying to explain to her estranged, self-absorbed mom, Joani (Ally Sheedy, better than ever), why she left home to seek out spiritual redemption in a cloistered New […]...

With the excess of low-budget, retreat-in-the-woods dramas often finding characters hashing out their insecurities through a meta-narrative, a certain initial resistance can occur when presented with such a derivative scenario at virtually every film festival. While Sophia Takal‘s psychological drama Always Shine ultimately stumbles, the chemistry of its leads and a sense of foreboding dread in its formal execution ensures its heightened view of a fractured relationship is a mostly successful one.

Beth (Caitlin FitzGerald) is a rising actress, internally battling with the requested nudity for her various gigs, yet sheepishly enjoying the money and increased attention it brings as she makes her way into the spotlight. Meanwhile, her best friend, Anna (Mackenzie Davis), is struggling to break through in the same field, acting in anything that comes her way — even if it’s an avant-garde short that may or may not feature a paycheck. With the pair feeling disconnected over the past months,...

Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

Traditionally upbeat Christmas movies can be comforting, but there's something to be said for exploring the post-magic realm of holiday cinema. Characters with a melancholy streak and who are too cynical to be taken in by sparkly lights and tra-la-la-ing are pretty interesting to watch, and if you're in that kind of mood, too, then you should check out White Reindeer, which screened at SXSW in 2013.

Suzanne (Anna Margaret Hollyman) starts out as the opposite of a Scrooge; she's a realtor working in the Washington, D.C. area, excited for Christmas and for life in general. She has a meteorologist husband, they have important, exciting plans, and they are nice people who say "anyhoo" and buy each other the perfect Christmas gifts.

Very early in the movie,...

Stars: Anna Margaret Hollyman, Laura Lemar-Goldsborough, Chris Doubeck, Nathan Williams | Written and Directed by Zach Clark

Christmas is meant to be about family and happiness, to some it’s even about religion. When tragedy strikes though and Christmas is looming it can be a strange and ominous date where you want to be happy, but your emotions just don’t want to comply with the festive mood. White Reindeer is a movie that takes the subject and looks at one woman’s struggle to fight loss and find a way to bring a place for herself and the changes in her life during the festive season.

Just as Suzanne Barrington (Anna Margaret Hollyman) appears to have everything she ever wanted it all gets ripped away with the murder of her husband Jeff (Nathan Williams). When she discovers he was having an affair with an exotic dancer she tracks the woman down and befriends her.

★☆☆☆☆Even as far back as 1843, when Charles Dickens penned his illustrious novella A Christmas Carol, the materialism of Christmas was already apparent. Dickens wrote “Christmas is a poor excuse every 25 December to pick a man’s pocket” and it’s a cynical, yet astute statement that resonates even to this day. Fast-forward 171 years and we have Zach Clark’s pitch-black Christmas comedy White Reindeer (2014) – a film that appropriates the distilled essence of contemporary consumerism and the gauche spectacle of the holiday season and examines it through an excruciatingly pretentious and emotionally detached tale of grief and forced self-discovery.

Thou Wast Mild and Lovely

Written and directed by Josephine Decker

USA, 2014

If Terrence Malick had a twisted little sister, it would be Josephine Decker; the resemblance is clearly discernible in her sophomore feature, Thou Wast Mild & Lovely, utilizing Malick’s uninhibited and experimental handheld style but with her own dash of psychosexual drama. Decker’s story is framed against the backdrop of a quiet country farm, and shells out the kind of chills that not even Malick could muster.

In the vein of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, the film follows Akin (Joe Swanberg), a man who’s taken a summer job on a farm only to develop an attraction to its owner’s daughter, Sarah (Sophie Traub). In what’s seemingly an inevitable romance, the pair’s physical attraction is amplified by their isolated setting, leading this quaint farm story to pack a ferocious intensity.

To drive the plot,...

Hemogobble: Turkel’s Latest Assay into Misanthropy

Indie filmmaker Onor Turkel seems determined to remain hilariously unlikeable as his self-effacing, self-directed on-screen alter ego with his latest feature, Summer of Blood, a title which just so happens to formulate the acronym Sob. A pathetic, socially defunct scion of selfishness that recalls the comedic weirdness of performers such as Eric Wareheim or Tim Heidecker, Turkel’s protagonist is often impossible to like (even if we’re supposed to find him entertaining). Of course, the irony Turkel plays with here as he tinges his film with genre, is that he only becomes humane when he transforms into something inhuman.

Lumpy, unkempt and emotionally distant, we meet Eric Sparrow (Turkel) having dinner with longtime girlfriend Jody (Anna Margaret Hollyman). She hands him a ring, which is meant to be a proposal, though she doesn’t quite receive the answer she’d been expecting,...

The Brisbane Underground Film Festival is one of the newest underground fests on the block, celebrating its 5th anniversary in 2015. It also exists almost entirely as a passion project by festival director Nina Riddel, who founded, programs and runs the fest entirely by herself. A daunting task indeed!

This is the first year that Riddel has taken to crowdfunding to help defray some of Buff’s costs next year. Contributions via Indiegogo will go towards “screening fees for the films, shipping, equipment, projection staff, printing and distributing the program, and a small amount of promotion.”

Riddel programs great films every year, bringing wonderfully weird, exotic and fun cinematic experience to a part of the world where these types of fantastic movies would otherwise would not be shown. In the past, she has programmed films such as Jeffrey Schwarz‘s awesome documentary I Am Divine, Usama Alshaibi‘s spiritual drama Profane...

We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes release details and the trailer for Chemical Peel, premiere details for Refuge, Day for Night, and Perfidy, a new Summer of Blood trailer and much more:

Chemical Peel Release Details and Exclusive Comments from Actress Natalie Victoria: Actress Natalie Victoria stars in “Chemical Peel,” a Lionsgate Home Entertainment Release that will be available on October 14th. Here are some comments from Natalie on us why she enjoyed working on this movie:

“I think the best thing about this film is it’s a unique, fun, realistic concept that will scare people, you know? I love films that are set in a real and really raw reality that frighten you to the core. Chemical Peel is a real ‘what would You do?’ kind of film that gets you thinking,...

Imiagine, if you will, a hipster vampire comedy as directed by Woody Allen. What you're imagining right now is likely not particularly unlike what writer-director Onur Tukel has created with his Tribeca hit Summer Of Blood.Writer/director Onur Tukel turns in a hilarious performance as the monumentally lazy, socially oblivious and commitment-shy Erik Sparrow, who is dumped by his career-woman girlfriend (Anna Margaret Hollyman, White Reindeer) when he rejects her rather charitable marriage proposal. Feeling lost, he turns to a disastrous string of online dates that successively eat away at his already-deteriorating confidence until a lanky vampire turns him into an undead ladykiller. Soon, Eric is prowling the streets of Brooklyn in search of anything to satisfy both his maniacal sex drive and his hunger for...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Dark Sky Films released the trailer for Onur Tukul's Summer of Blood, the horror-comedy hitting VOD on October 17th. Tukul plays the monumentally lazy, socially oblivious and commitment-shy Erik Sparrow, who is dumped by his career-woman girlfriend (Anna Margaret Hollyman, White Reindeer) when he rejects her rather charitable marriage proposal.

Feeling lost, he turns to a disastrous string of online dates that successively eat away at his already-deteriorating confidence until a lanky vampire turns him into an undead ladykiller.

The post Summer of Blood Trailer Makes Its Debut appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Dark Sky Films announced today that Summer of Blood is making its way to VOD on October 17th. Onur Tukul writes, directs and stars in the film which also features Alex Karpovsky, Anna Margaret Hollywman, Dakota Goldhor, Dustin Guy Defa and Keith Poulson.

Tukul plays the monumentally lazy, socially oblivious and commitment-shy Erik Sparrow, who is dumped by his career-woman girlfriend (Anna Margaret Hollyman, White Reindeer) when he rejects her rather charitable marriage proposal.

The post Dark Sky Films Adds Summer of Blood to Busy Fall Horror Release Schedule appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Whoever designed the new poster for the upcoming film The Ladies of the House should be given the job of designing every movie poster... ever. We've got it right here for you to soak in as well as info on upcoming screenings.

The Ladies of the House will be making its world premiere at the Dallas International Film Festival on April 4-5 and then screen immediately afterward at the Sarasota Film Festival on April 7-8.

The film was directed by John Stuart Wildman, who co-wrote the picture with Justina Walford. It stars Farah White (Ex-Terminators, Daylight's End), Melodie Sisk (White Reindeer, Summer of Blood), Brina Palencia ("The Walking Dead," "Star-Crossed"), adult film star Michelle "Belladonna" Sinclair, Samrat Chakrabarti (The Waiting City, "Damages"), Gabriel Horn ("Ghostbreakers", Carried Away) and Rj Hanson.

And in spite of the bit of playfulness in the opening paragraph, we do actually know who created the lovely poster below.

Opening this year's Viewpoints section at the Tribeca Film Festival is Onur Tukel's sure to be oddball dark comedy "Summer of Blood." Indiewire has the exclusive trailer. Starring "Girls" actor Alex Karpovsky and "White Reindeer" breakout Anna Maragret Hollyman, "Summer of Blood" centers on a man (director Onur Tukel) who's unlucky in love and whose confidence is reinvigorated after getting bitten by a vampire. The Tribeca Film Festival runs April 16-27. Go here for the full lineup. Watch the trailer for "Summer of Blood" below:...

In an independent landscape of shaky, handheld cinematography, loose improvisation and bare-bones sets, the precise and punchy dark comedies of Zach Clark stand out. Recalling the days in which low budgets meant inventive art direction, heightened emotions and a rebellion against a default naturalism, Clark’s third movie, White Reindeer modulates the director’s deadpan, quasi-Sirkian camp into something more delicately bittersweet. Anna Margaret Hollyman plays a suburban real estate agent who returns home one holiday season to find her husband murdered. Learning he had a mistress, an African-American stripper, she journeys into a world where kinky fantasy is really just another […]...

In an independent landscape of shaky, handheld cinematography, loose improvisation and bare-bones sets, the precise and punchy dark comedies of Zach Clark stand out. Recalling the days in which low budgets meant inventive art direction, heightened emotions and a rebellion against a default naturalism, Clark’s third movie, White Reindeer modulates the director’s deadpan, quasi-Sirkian camp into something more delicately bittersweet. Anna Margaret Hollyman plays a suburban real estate agent who returns home one holiday season to find her husband murdered. Learning he had a mistress, an African-American stripper, she journeys into a world where kinky fantasy is really just another […]...

Title: White Reindeer Director: Zach Clark Starring: Anna Margaret Hollyman, Laura Lemar-Goldsborough, Lydia Johnson, Joe Swanberg, Nathan Williams, Chris Doubek Writer-director Zach Clark’s “White Reindeer” is a curious and frustrating film. Anchored by a compelling lead performance from Anna Margaret Hollyman, and tossing off little riffs of dry wit and allegory here and there, it’s a very particular and peculiar indie offering. Unfortunately, its originality is undone by false-note narrative beats and a muddled if not outright phony moral theme or purpose, resulting in a work that is definitely distinctive yet far from singular. Set in present-day suburban Virginia, the film centers around Suzanne Barrington (Hollyman), a real estate agent who enjoys a nice [ Read More ]

The post White Reindeer Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Not every Christmas can be a merry one, but the punishment Zach Clark puts his protagonist Suzanne (Anna Margaret Hollyman) through in his third feature outing, White Reindeer, gives a whole new meaning to bah humbug. Luckily, Clark infuses a genuine tenderness in his black comedy that allows us to fall in love with Suzanne, without suffering the pains of her particular misfortune. White Reindeer is a wonderfully crafted film that's both full of laughs and full of heart. The film begins with Suzanne in full Christmas cheer. Working as a real estate agent, it becomes quickly obvious that White Reindeer isn't a typical holiday film when Suzanne shows a home to a nice couple, George and Patti (Joe Swanberg and Lydia Hyslop), who whisper...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Black Christmas: Clark’s Nostalgia Tinged Nightmare of Christmas Tradition

Even those unfamiliar with previous films directed by Zach Clark (Modern Love is Automatic; Vacation!) will be on high alert in the opening credits of his latest slice of indie fresh, White Reindeer, as we languidly witness our protagonist embark on a zany shopping spree of unnecessary Christmas items in an unremarkable mall amidst all the earmarks of the season. And soon after the tattered opening credits, a running self-destruct mechanism begins with the announcement that it’s currently 24 days before Christmas. Deliberately dark in its examination of the reinforcing power of traditions such as nationally observed holidays and other socially sanctioned existences (i.e. marriage), Clark’s biggest surprise is how warmly humanistic it is despite its framing as a sometimes grotesque parody of Midwestern milquetoast ideals.

Suzanne Barrington (Anna Margaret Hollyman) is a real estate agent in...

We know it.s pretty ridiculous to try and predict a future cult classic, but just go with us on this one. Of the numerous traditions that accompany Christmas, from neighborhood caroling to gingerbread construction projects, one of the most treasured is the tried-and-true holiday film selection. It doesn.t matter if the mini-marathons start just after Thanksgiving or on Christmas Eve; most people have a specific set of movies that they.ll only watch during the season, and they won.t make it to the new year without seeing them at least once. I.m here to tell you Zach Clark.s depressingly amusing White Reindeer will be the next cult classic entry on that list, and you need to watch it as soon as possible. This is assuming your youngest and oldest family members aren.t partaking in the viewing, as there are quite a few scenes where...

 

It's a relatively light weekend for new releases, with most area theaters stacking up screens for the multiple formats of the new Hobbit adventure. In the weeks ahead, things should pick up considerably as we sail full-steam ahead into year-end prestige titles for awards season. 

If you're looking for holiday classics, the Paramount has 35mm screenings of White Christmas and Meet Me In St. Louis playing on Sunday and Monday. The Austin Film Society has a much darker holiday offering at the Marchesa with Zach Clark's White Reindeer on Saturday night. This new release from IFC Films won raves at SXSW earlier this year and lead actress Anna Margaret Hollyman will be in attendance for a Q&A.

Speaking of dark, Afs also is bringing the new film from Claire Denis to town this weekend. Bastards (pictured above) is an unsettling story of betrayal and sexual intrigue with a...

Awards season reduces a lot of people to smiling objects, but actresses experience this dilemma worse than most. No other field places greater pressure on the potential winners with veiled misogyny disguised as expectations of politically correct behavior: If they don't dress nice and talk pretty, they don't get a prize. Not for nothing are all the major candidates for the best actress Oscar this year previous winners. Read More: Indiewire 2013 Awards Season Spotlight But there were a lot of movies released in 2013 with outstanding female leads whose work either exists outside of these conversations or defies them. I've assembled the following ranked list with an eye for the range of movies featuring great women performances -- which are perhaps best described as just great performances, period.  10. Anna Margaret Hollyman, "White Reindeer" Zach Clark's sad, subversive Christmas tale about a woman whose husband is abruptly murdered before the holidays manages to transform into.