Dark Encounter

Horror, SF

Available on VOD: 9 januari 2020

Director: Carl Strathie

Cast: Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad, I Am Not a Serial Killer), Mel Raido (Legend), Grant Masters (Silent Witness), Alice Lowe (Hot Fuzz, Sightseers)

A year after the mysterious disappearance of an 8 year-old girl, we meet her grieving family as they return home from her memorial service in their small town. Later that evening, strange lights appear in the nearby forest and the family is exposed to an inexplicably strange phenomenon that rattles them to the core. The origin of the lights appear to be visitors from another world that seemingly terrorize the family.

• 365flickspod.com: Massive recommend wether you catch the flick at FrightFest and I hope you all do or you pick it up on DVD or Digital.
• The-b-club.com: The acting from the ensemble cast is super believable too, which ensures that this is a film destined to become a classic of its genre. See it!
• Battleroyalewithcheese.com: The visual effects are fantastic, David Stone Hamilton’s score is luscious and stirring (if occasionally overcooked) and the use of light and colour within the fantastical parts is jaw dropping. Standout performances from Laura Fraser and Sid Phoenix.
• VODZilla.co: Even if it is presented with luminous visuals and awe-inspiring special effects, this is a harrowing story, exposing the cracks in a family's tight-knit structure.
• Thehollywoodnews.com: In elevating itself from its peers, Dark Encounter works on many levels. This is also the kind of film that gets into your head and lingers long after viewing.
• Themoviewaffler.com: The ensemble cast does a fine job of conveying the collective panic and terror.
• Nerdly.co.uk: Haunting, unpredictable and intense but with enough drama to give it heart, this is a riveting out-of-this-world sci-fi horror film.
• Horrordna.com: The film’s premise offers an unusual fusion of sci-fi, crime story and family drama. A noteworthy addition to [the] genre.
• Eyeforfilm.co.uk: Strathie succeeds in capturing a bit of the Spielberg-style magic he's aiming for and in quieter scenes where we're allowed to experience wonder instead of being told what to feel, it's an enchanting experience.
• Diaboliquemagazine.com: Highly recommended for its strong cast, suspenseful premise, and original take on why close encounters of the third kind might happen, Dark Encounter is fine genre film fare.   

I Am Not A Serial Killer

Horror

Available on VOD: 27 april 2017

Director: Billy O'Brien

Cast: Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are), Christopher Lloyd (Ghostbusters, Back to the Future), Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad, I Am Not a Serial Killer)

John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous and he knows it. He is 16 and helps his Mum and Aunt at the family Mortuary. John is obsessed with serial killers but really doesn't want to become one. So for his own sake and the safety of those around him he lives by rigid rules to keep himself "good" and "normal". When somebody starts murdering people in John's small MidWest town, he has to investigate and risk letting his own dark side out in order to stop the killer. But without his rules to keep him in check he might be more dangerous then the monster he is stalking. As the icy winter tightens its grip on the community a deadly supernatural game of cat and mouse ensues.

• Juryrapport MovieZone award Imagine Festival 2017: Deze film portretteert op een fenomenale manier een uniek hoofdpersonage, vertolkt door een uitstekende acteur. De film is gefilmd in een prachtige oude stijl en met een mooi kleurpallet, waardoor een afstandelijke sfeer ontstaat die past bij het plot. Deze sfeer wordt ook versterkt door de gekozen locatie. Het is een goed uitgevoerde film die echt de geest van Imagine belichaamt, maar tegelijk ook toegankelijk is en perfect voor jongeren om verliefd te worden op arthouse film.
• Imaginefilmfestival.nl: Gebaseerd op een Young Adult-roman zet de op gruizig 16mm gedraaide film de kijker lange tijd op het verkeerde been. Er zijn aanwijzingen dat de moordenaar niet zomaar een moordenaar is; zo worden op de plaats delict telkens oliesporen aangetroffen. Maar dit is toch vooral het verhaal van John die in acteur Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are) een uitstekende vertolker blijkt te zijn van afwijkend pubergedrag. Doordat zijn omgeving laconiek op zijn morbide fantasieën reageert, blijft de toon licht, zelfs als de lijken zich opstapelen. En die ontknoping? Bereid je maar vast voor op de krankzinnigste plotwending in jaren... Lees hier verder.
• Cinemagazine: Met ‘I Am Not a Serial Killer’ levert regisseur Billy O’Brien een geslaagde verfilming af van Dan Wells’ succesvolle young adultroman. De toon is donker, maar niet kil, met veel ruimte voor wrange humor. De cast is fenomenaal. Records krijgt geduchte concurrentie van Lloyd, die als de fragiele maar gevaarlijke Crowley een van de meest memorabele rollen van zijn carrière speelt. Toppertje! Lees de hele recensie hier.
• SchokkendNieuws.nl: AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER won vorige week op filmfestival Imagine de MovieZone Award, toegekend door een jury bestaande uit vijf jongeren tussen de zestien en negentien jaar oud. Geen enorme verrassing, want de film speelt knap in op de existentiële moeilijkheden die velen op die leeftijd ervaren.
• Lees hier een uitgebreid interview met regisseur Billy O'Brien.
• Kermode en Mayo vinden het een klapper, zie http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04kvhcv
• Empire: Breathing new life into the overfamiliar terrain of the serial killer, Irish director Billy O'Brien here both successfully reintroduces Max Records to the world, and elicits Christopher Lloyd's best performance in a long time. His film deserves cult classic status at the very least.
• Sight & Sound: a truly superior genre offering from a filmmaker of genuine class and ambition. Lees de raving review hier.
• Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival: I Am Not A Serial Killer is gebaseerd op het gelijknamige boek van Dan Wells uit 2009 dat meteen een hit werd in de VS. De film gaat niet uit van standaard horror en zogenaamde 'jump scares' maar is een mooie cross-over geworden; een intelligent thriller/drama dat geregeld flirt met bovennatuurlijke en sci-fi elementen.
• Variety.com: Max Records gives a sharp performance in this endearing first adaptation of Dan Wells' YA series. The tale of a likable teenager, raised by a mortician family, whose own nascent sociopathic tendencies make him a perfect amateur sleuth when a serial killer strikes his folksy Midwestern town, director Billy O'Brien's film adaptation strikes a tone that's far more unique and endearing than that premise might imply, helped in no small part by a sharp-witted performance from former child star Max Records.
• NYTimes.com: Mr. Records (the child actor in "Where the Wild Things Are") is nimble and unsentimental in playing a character who is playing at normal, supported by a solid cast in a well-filmed indie that doesn't let its low budget get in the way of some true chills.
• Bloody-disgusting.com: A Moody and Creative Thriller!
• Screenanarchy.com: I Am Not a Serial Killer morphs comfortably from teen fiction to a murder mystery to a cagey thriller, all with a wry sense of humor. It's modest and fully engaging, and smart enough not to overplay its hand.
• Thefilmstage.com: dark and dangerous, suspenseful and unique.
• AVClub.com: Psychopaths are people too in the nuanced I Am Not A Serial Killer! What sets Billy O'Brien's sharply observed indie horror-drama apart from other takes on this "killers hunting killers" concept (Dexter, anyone?) is its naturalistic, character-based approach.
• Undertheradarmag.com: I Am Not a Serial Killer shines in its exploration of what it is like to live with inclinations you wish you didn't have but find it increasingly hard to fight.
• LATimes.com: The surprisingly warm and fuzzy horror-dramedy wonders "can serial killers love?"
• Efilmcritic.com: Underneath it all, though, is the idea that being human and being a monster are fundamentally connected, and that the struggle is what makes people interesting and worth examining. That may not be an uncommon thought, but O'Brien and company handle it with unusual skill for a thriller aimed at young people, to the extent that giving someone like Lloyd what may be one of his best parts is something of a bonus.
• Influxmagazine.com: Am Not a Serial Killer is a very slow and deliberately paced film. I am telling you this up front so that you know that it's well worth sticking with this one...please resist your urge to try something else because of this! The payoff is well worth it and the film is well made and I honestly can say I've never seen anything like it in my life!
• Wegotthiscovered.com: At its best, this is a film that keeps tension tight and anticipation on edge. Maybe John's a serial killer, maybe he isn't – each decision pushes Records' performance closer to the brink, and we never doubt his capabilities. You think you know, but you don't. Or you might? That's the beauty of it all, never providing answers until the final, shocking turn.
• Culturecrypt.com: Max Records somehow makes magnetism out of teen angst. And though it may be clichéd to say, this is co-star Christopher Lloyd like you've never seen him before. Lloyd flips an expectation of his often-comedic presence on its ear by managing to make the warmth of an elderly neighbor sinisterly chilling. Ice the cake with a terrific monster design from Toby Froud and "I Am Not a Serial Killer" combines dark family drama, creature feature, and serial killer thriller into one uniquely entertaining package.

• IMAGINE Film Festival 2017: Movie Zone Award
• IFTA 2017: Best Editing
• Molins de Rei Horror Film Festival 2016: Best Film
• Molins de Rei Horror Film Festival 2016: Best Director
• Molins de Rei Horror Film Festival 2016: Best Actor - Max Records
• Sitges 2016: Panorama Audience Award
• Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival 2016: Melies D'Argent
• Trieste Science+Fiction Festival 2016: Nocturno Nuove Visioni Award