The story of Cinderella is retold as a body-horror fable about unrealistic beauty standards in The Ugly Stepsister. Elvira (Lea Myren) joins her recently married mother Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) and younger sister Alma (Flo Fagerli) at their new home, with Elvira quickly striking up a rapport with her new stepsister Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch …
Body horror
A grief-stricken woman finds her aura infected by a supernatural creature that feeds on misery in The Killgrin. Miranda (Konstantina Mantelos) receives an immense shock when her boyfriend, Noah (Fuad Ahmed), inexplicably jumps out of their apartment window. This triggers her buried anxiety and depression, which results in her attending a support group led by …
A man undergoes horrifying changes after he and his family are attacked by a creature near their remote Oregon farm in Wolf Man. Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott) is a San Francisco man, who receives word that his long-missing father Grady (Sam Jaeger) has been declared dead. Blake convinces his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) to join …
A man with neurofibromatosis undergoes an experimental procedure to cure his disfigured appearance in A Different Man. Edward (Sebastian Stan) is an aspiring actor with neurofibromatosis, resulting in disfiguring tumours on his face. Edward lives a lonely life in an apartment complex, though he is treated with kindness by his new neighbour Ingrid (Renate Reinsve), …
This is an expanded rewrite of the review originally published as part of our coverage of TIFF 2024 A has-been actress uses an experimental drug to become a better version of herself in The Substance. Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a once-popular actress who has now been reduced to hosting the aerobics program Sparkle Your …
A grieving man develops a burial shroud that allows him to observe the decaying body of his deceased wife in The Shrouds. Karsh (Vincent Cassell) has been grieving the death of his wife Becca (Diane Kruger), who died four years prior from cancer. Through his company GraveTech, Karsh has developed burial shrouds that can allow …
A new mother begins to believe she is turning into a dog in Nightbitch. Mother (Amy Adams) has grown resentful of the fact that she gave up her art career to raise her 2-year-old son on her own, while her Husband (Scoot McNairy). Mother begins recieving heighted senses akin to that of a dog. After …
A has-been actress uses an experimental drug to become a better version of herself in The Substance. Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a once-popular actress now reduced to hosting the aerobics program Sparkle Your Life. However, Elisabeth ends up being fired, on her birthday, by her chauvinistic boss Harvey (Dennis Quaid), who begins looking for …
A woman explores her connection to a missing cryptozoologist in Kryptic. While on a hike through the British Columbia wilderness, Kay Hall (Chloe Pirrie) has an encounter with a mythical cryptid called a Sooka, emerging with no memories. Kay learns that she looks identical to Barb Valentine, a cryptozoologist who went missing on a search …
A woman desperately seeks a cure for her cancer from a quantum scientist in The A-Frame. Donna (Dana Namerode) has recently been diagnosed with bone cancer in her hand, joining a support group led by Linda (Laketa Caston) and befriending leukemia-diagnosed stand-up comedian Rishi (Nik Dodani). After her doctors tell her the only solution to …
After the death of her best friend, a woman obsesses over their missing cat in Booger. Anna (Grace Glowicki) is a young woman grieving the death of her best friend Izzy (Sofia Dobrushin). While cleaning, Anna is bitten by Izzy’s grumpy cat Booger, who proceeds to jump out the window. To the concern of her …
A small-town police officer’s last case has him investigating a gruesome murder in The Breach. John Hawkins (Allan Hawco) is the police chief of the tiny town of Lone Crow, who takes one last case before transferring to the big city when a canoe carrying the grisly remains of local scientist Cole Parsons (Adam Kenneth …
A corporate assassin begins to literally lose her mind in Possessor. Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is a woman who works for a company that uses mind implant technology to transfer Vos’ consciousness into a host body, which is then used to perform high profile assassinations, all under the watchful eye of her handler Girder (Jennifer …
A couple’s romantic getaway is disrupted the arrival of an older couple in The Beach House. Randal (Noah Le Gros) arrives with his girlfriend Emily (Liana Liberato) at his family’s beachfront property to reconnect with each other. However, it isn’t long until they discover that the house is also being occupied by Mitch (Jake Weber) …
A shapeshifter tries to reconnect with a past love in Lifechanger. For most of his life, Drew (Bill Oberst Jr.) has had the ability to take on the form of other people. The transformation only lasts for a brief period of time, before the body begins to rot and Drew must find a new host before …
A shapeshifter tries to reconnect with a past love in Lifechanger. For most of his life, Drew (Bill Oberst Jr.) has had the ability to take on the form of other people. The transformation only lasts for a brief period of time, before the body begins to rot and Drew must find a new host before …
This month I delve into the Canadian tax shelter era with the 1977 wilderness survival/horror film Rituals. Harry (Hal Holbrook), Mitzi (Lawrence Dane), Martin (Robin Gammell), Abel (Ken James), and D.J. (Gary Reineke) are five doctor friends, who go for a camping trip in an isolated stretch of wilderness. After the first night, the the men’s …
A closeted homosexual teenager struggles with his identity and relationship with his father in Closet Monster. Oscar Madly (Connor Jessup) is an aspiring make-up artist living alone with his overbearing father (Aaron Abrams). After witnessing a brutal hate crime as a kid, Oscar fears the repercussions of people finding out he is homosexual, even though he begins …
This review was originally published as part of my coverage of Fantasia Fest 2015 A young women undergoes a horrifying transformation in the body horror film Bite. Shortly before her wedding to her fiance Jared (Jordan Gray), Casey (Elma Begovic) goes on a bachelorette holiday to Costa Rica with her friends Jill (Annette Wozniak) and Kirsten (Denise Yuen). …
A young women undergoes a horrifying transformation in the body horror film Bite. Shortly before her wedding to her fiance Jared (Jordan Gray), Casey (Elma Begovic) goes on a bachelorette holiday to Costa Rica with her friends Jill (Annette Wozniak) and Kirsten (Denise Yuen). While swimming in an off-path spring, Casey gets bitten by something under …
The body horror film Thanatomorphose focuses on a girl (Kayden Rose), who lives on her own in an apartment. One day she notices that bruises have appeared over her body and that her hair is starting to fall out. As the days go by, more injuries appear and the girl’s boyfriend (David Tousignant) comments on …
From director Jesse T. Cook (Monster Brawl) and writer Tony Burgess (Ponypool) comes the utterly disgusting body horror film Septic Man. When a water contamination problem results in many deaths around the town of Collingwood, the mayor (Stephen McHattie) declares a state of emergency and evacuates the town. Meanwhile, a local septic worker named Jack …
After playing the awards game with the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and Oscar-nominated 127 Hours, director Danny Boyle returns to dishing out his unique take on genre films. In the case of Trance, what starts off as a fairly ordinary heist film, turns into psychological thriller in which the main protagonist begins to doubt the reality …
I am quite a big fan of David Cronenberg, so I was definitely interested when it was announced that his son Brandon was going to screen this year at TIFF. Based on what I’ve heard from the film’s debut at Cannes, the apple has not fallen far from the tree and the film hearkens back to David …