Catalogue

7 Minutes

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 14 september 2015
Director: Jay Martin
Cast: Jason Ritter (Parenthood), Kris Kristofferson (Blade, Blade II, Blade Trinity), Leven Rambin (The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters), Zane Holtz (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Vampires Suck), Luke Mitchell (Home and Away)

After becoming indebted to a psychopathic drug lord, three desperate young men are forced to commit a brazen robbery. What begins as a simple plan - "in and out in seven minutes" - quickly becomes a dangerous game of life and death. As each minute of the robbery unfolds, another twist is unveiled and the stakes are pushed higher and higher. In the final act, Sam's pregnant girlfriend Kate is kidnapped, escalating the situation even further and pressing our heroes to do whatever they can to make it out alive.

Reviews
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: Veteran music video director Jay Martin makes a highly impressive feature debut with his engrossing crime drama about a trio of desperate young men committing an ill-fated robbery. Featuring intricate, non-linear storytelling and an uncommon emotional pungency, 7 Minutes is a taut, tightly controlled exercise that should spell bigger and better things for its tyro director/screenwriter. 7 Minutes is gripping from start to finish.
  • Nytimes.com: 7 Minutes knows exactly what it is: a directorial calling card to the Quentin Tarantino school of blood-bath cinema. Colorful peripheral characters include Brandi (Mariel Neto), a promiscuous barfly who seduces Mike, and Jerome (Brandon Hardesty), a blubbery policeman who pines for her. In one of the movie's meanest touches, Jerome takes off his shirt, inspects his torso in a mirror, and screams in horrified despair. This film is a nasty piece of work.
  • Pastemagazine.com: Martin's attention to visuals comes from his years as a storyboarder and music video director (Death Cab for Cutie, Nas, Colbie Caillat). He knows his strengths, and his derivative debut is crafted with the methodical finesse and sophisticated composition of someone who prays at the style altars of Derek Cianfrance and Cary Fukunaga. 7 Minutes is a slick ride through a sexy cultural wasteland.
  • LATimes.com: Martin keeps the action, which includes bits of bone-crunching violence, moving apace with solid atmospherics and credible tough-guy dialogue and attitude.
    Flyckeringmyth.com: A strong début feature from writer/director Martin, 7 Minutes goes beyond the conventional bank heist drama to provide a provocative and memorable visual experience. 4*.
  • Thestar.com: Writer-director Jay Martin's 7 Minutes puts an entertaining spin on the heist movie with a fast-moving drama that flits from past to present during a bank job. A solid score and tight camerawork shows Martin's background as a music video director translates well to big-screen work.
  • Awardscircuit.com: A solid calling card for writer/director Jay Martin.
    Wearemoviegeeks.com: From the moment the three amateur crooks come busting through the door wearing blank, white Halloween masks (which may or may not be a nod to Eyes Without a Face) waving guns they have no intention of using to the final showdown, 7 MINUTES is a remarkable piece of work. I am impressed; I have to give 7 MINUTES at least 4 stars out of 5.
  • Forcesofgeek.com: A surprisingly tight, entertaining heist film.
  • Waytooindie.com: A fun romp for film fans who just can't get enough of watching bumbling criminals struggle to successfully commit a crime.
  • Moviebuzzers.com: Regardless of what your feelings on the ending might be, the road to get there is thrilling and makes 7 Minutes definitely worth a watch. You might think you've seen all that can be done with a heist film already, but you haven't seen something quite like this yet.
  • Shuffleonline.net: 7 Minutes is not so much a whodunnit as it is a "whydunnit." It is stylish, intelligent and entertaining.

8 Found Dead

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 12 oktober 2023
Director: Travis Greene
Cast: Nancy Linehan Charles (Minority Report), Jenny Tran, Tim Simek, Alisha Soper (Lethal Weapon)

Two couples drive to a secluded house in the desert for a weekend getaway, each with their own baggage, expectations, and secrets. Upon their arrival, they’re met by two strangers, claiming to have rented the house as well. What starts out as a simple misunderstanding ends in an all-night bloodbath.

Reviews
  • HorrorBuzz.com:  A savagely entertaining movie.
  • Baintrain08.wixsite.com: 8 Found Dead isn’t just one of the best films that I’ve seen this year, it’s one of the best horror films that I’ve seen ever.
  • Filmthreat.com: Absolutely, delectably insane, 8 Found Dead is a gripping and aberrant horror getaway.
  • Horrorfuel.com: Horror films about short-term rental properties are becoming a proper subgenre. 8 Found Dead is a solid, highly entertaining entry into that group.
Awards
  • Screamfest LA 2022: Winner Best Picture and Best Director

Affairs of State

Thriller
Available on VOD: 15 augustus 2019
Director: Eric Bross
Cast: David Corenswet (The Politician), Thora Birch (American Beauty, The Competition), Adrian Grenier (Entourage, The Devil Wears Prada, Marauders), Mimi Rogers (Austin Powers, Dumb and Dumberer)

Inspired by a conservative senator who quits the GOP to run for president as an independent, Michael Lawson - an idealistic Washington intern - signs up. But he gets out of his depth and caught in Washington intrigue when he sleeps with the candidate’s wife — only to end up bleeding out by the side of the road.

Reviews
  • LATimes.com: An engaging hybrid of "The Graduate" and "House of Cards", the political potboiler "Affairs of State" benefits greatly from being both timely and, for this day and age, uncommon. Refreshingly smart about how real feelings can get in the way of callous calculation.
  • Nycmovieguru.com:  a gripping political thriller that becomes increasingly dark and refreshingly unpredictable.
  • Doblu.com: Director Eric Bross has fashioned a campy, ripped-from-the-headlines thriller built around the supposed sexual exploits going on in D.C.
  • Filmintuition.com: An ambitious feature.

Aftermath

Drama, Thriller
Available on VOD: 11 januari 2018
Director: Elliott Lester
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Terminator, Expendables, Maggie), Scoot McNairy (12 Years A Slave, War Machine, Gone Girl), Maggie Grace (Taken, Lost, Twilight Saga), Judah Nelson (Anchorman 2)

Based on real-life events, Viktor's life is rocked when his wife and daughter are killed in a tragic mid-air collision. Heartbroken, Viktor's life take a complete new turn when he decides to take revenge on the person responsible for the death of his family.

Reviews
  • Empire.com: This is a film full of scenes that would be easy to overplay, but which Schwarzenegger tackles with understated perfection. Truly, this is quite unlike anything else he's ever done, and brilliantly so.
  • Blu-ray.com: Strong stuff, but it's meditative enough to welcome a viewing, inspiring interest in the characters and their ultimate destination. The picture also has valuable ideas to share on the cycle of violence and its futility, concluding intelligently, leaving the audience with a concept of revenge that's upsetting, not rousing. It's subversive work with Schwarzenegger and his legacy of brawn around, allowing "Aftermath" to pack quite an unexpected punch.
  • Heyuguys.com: Probably his best role as an actor to date.
  • Joblo.com: Deserves to be discovered. As long as they know what they're in for (and they should) Arnold fans will be delighted to see how good he can still be if given the chance, while everyone else will be amazed by the way he seems to have reinvented himself as a character actor. That he's done such a good job of it is a wonderful surprise, and here's hoping he gets more opportunities to explore this new flair for drama.
  • Wegotthiscovered.com: Arnold Schwarzenegger's reserved performance is a somber turn that keeps drama surprisingly in-tune.
  • TheIndependentCritic.com: A film that is truly one of Schwarzenegger's most thought-provoking and emotionally resonant to date. While Schwarzenegger has struggled to regain his Hollywood foothold since setting his political career aside, Aftermath is a sure sign that, at least critically, his best days may very well be ahead of him.

Alone

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 1 juli 2021
Director: Johnny Martin
Cast: Tyler Posey (The Last Summer, Teen Wolf), Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games, Pride & Prejudice, The Italian Job), Summer Spiro

A terrible pandemic outbreak suddenly grips the entire world throwing it into chaos and medical experts across the globe advise all citizens to self-isolate in order to survive. Aidan (Tyler Posey) wakes up to find himself trapped in his apartment, totally cut off the outside world and unable to reach his loved ones with infected people everywhere in his building.

His dire circumstances shift when he spots his beautiful neighbor Eva (Summer Spiro) in the apartment across the way. Communicating through written messages, their romance blooms amidst the madness. With no electricity and supplies running low, Aidan decides to take his life into his own hands and try to save them both.

Trying to maneuver unnoticed through his apartment complex, he discovers his elderly neighbor Edward (Donald Sutherland) surprisingly still alive and thrilled to have some company as he generously shares his food with Aidan. But danger lurks everywhere, even in the hands of this welcoming and seemingly harmless grandpa.

Reviews
  • Blu-ray.com: An appealing balance of human concern and monster attacks, Sutherland's seasoned abilities add oxygen to the picture.
  • Bulletproofaction.com: Alone is a Relevant Movie in Today's COVID-19 World.
  • Butwhythopodcast.com: A Horrifying and Relatable Experience. Fans of survival horror and zombie horror will enjoy Alone and possibly relate to surviving and coping through a pandemic.
  • Fmovie123.com: It was exciting, the fear was unobtrusive, but steadfastly penetrated to the bone.
  • Irishfilmcritic.com: Gripping.
  • Edgemedianetwork.com: this is Posey’s movie all the way, and he is pretty terrific. The action sequences are intense and nimble, and while #Alive made the action more extreme, here it's more realistic while also being nail-biting.

American Night

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 13 januari 2022
Director: Alessio Della Valle
Cast: Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Vikings, The 12th Man), Emile Hirsch (Lone Survivor, Killer Joe, Into the Wild), Paz Vega (Rambo Last Blood, Kill the Messenger), Jeremy Piven (Sin City A Dame to Kill For, Entourage), Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, The Hateful Eight)

Full synopsis soon.

A neo-noir set in the New York City's corrupt contemporary art world where the art dealer John Kaplan and the ruthless head of New York's mafia, Michael Rubino, fight for money, art, power and love.

Reviews
  • Silverscreenanalysis.com: The gun-play kicks in with a self-awareness that really makes it pop. It gets bloody and elegant all at the same time and I had fun with the sporadic tones, and noir atmosphere this one delivers. The hyper-reality was tuned-in just right to create a fun escape into a violent world of maniacal villains, art, sex, and gun-fights.
  • Shadowsonthewall.co.uk: Hirsch  [has] fun along the way, veering wildly from thoughtful to petulant to maniacal.
  • Markreviewsmovies.com: American Night portrays plenty of corruption, in the underworlds of both art and crime, and chaos, especially in its action-heavy climax.
  • Flickeringmyth.com: Style, gritty suspense, and colorful characters.

American Sicario

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 3 maart 2022
Director: RJ Collins
Cast: Philippe A. Haddad, Danny Trejo (Machete, In the Blood), Maya Stojan (Agents of SHIELD), Johnny Rey Diaz (Bosch)

An American gangster Erik Vasquez schemes to become the top dog in the Mexican underworld only to find himself making enemies out of both powerful cartels and his own allies even as his marriage to the pregnant Gloria deteriorates before his eyes. 

Based on the true story of America's most dangerous drug trafficker "La Barbie".

Reviews
  • Film is nog niet uitgebracht, nog geen reviews beschikbaar.

The Angel Maker

Thriller
Available on VOD: 2 november 2023
Director: Esben Tnnesen, Julie R. lgaard
Cast: Julie R. lgaard, Roland Mller (Land of Mine, Atomic Blonde), Stine Stengade, Christopher Lss (The Square)

Crime detective Laura who is specialized within cybercrime is on sick leave with a psychosis after a birth depression and by coincidence she stumbles upon a case with a beastly serial killer which piques her interest and she decides that it is time for her to return to her job as a crime detective.

Reviews
  • My Daily Space: Thrill, horror and horrific demons.
  • Dagbladenes Bureau: A well-executed and very unpleaant debut feature.
  • Information: A very solid take on a Scandinavian Genre Film.
  • Kulturkkapellet: Impressive.

Angel of Mine

Thriller
Available on VOD: 12 september 2019
Director: Kim Farrant
Cast: Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6-8, Ma, Midway), Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter, Killer Elite, The Handmaid's Tale), Noomi Rapace (Millennium 1-3, Prometheus, Bright)

Based on the French film, L'Empreinte D'Lange by Safy Nebbou, years after losing her daughter in a devastating fire, a mother, still struggling to cope with the loss, becomes convinced that a stranger's daughter is in fact her own. As her obsession grows, she becomes more and more entwined in this young girl's life, causing her to lose touch with reality.

Reviews
  • RogerEbert.com: Farrant's confidence as a storyteller — along with Rapace's full-bodied performance - enrich the story and guide it toward its delicately bonkers premise.
  • FilmThreat.com: Angel of Mine is a good movie for fans of the dysfunctional family melodrama. Primarily from the performances from its leads and a strong story that holds together to the end.
  • Observer.com: The understated direction by Kim Farrant lead you into elements of surprise you do not anticipate as the film detours into a shock ending that will leave you wide-eyed with awe.
  • Screen International: Its equally challenging and cathartic payoff is worth the journey.
  • Los Angeles Times: A terrific cast and a rich sense of atmosphere.

Armed Response

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 7 december 2017
Director: John Stockwell
Cast: Wesley Snipes (Expendables, Blade, Chi-raq, Brooklyn's Finest), Anne Heche (The Other Guys, John Q), Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters), Gene Simmons (Expecting Mary)

A team of special forces soldiers approach the designer of a high-tech military compound to investigate the disappearance of another team guarding the facility. The compound, known professionally as a Temple, is an artificial intelligence powered facility designed for interrogating high level prisoners. Upon entering the Temple, the soldiers quickly find the earlier team horrifically slaughtered but no evidence as to who is responsible.

Almost immediately, the crew begins to experience strange and horrific supernatural phenomena as they attempt to uncover who killed the previous team. Soon enough, they find a lone survivor, a dangerous terrorist who may hold the key to who killed the soldiers. But as the story goes on, we'll learn that there's more to it than we've been told and a dark secret the soldiers share may hold the key to surviving The Temple.

Asher

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 7 maart 2019
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Cast: Famke Janssen (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Taken Trilogy), Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Drive, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Richard Dreyfuss (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, Book Club), Peter Facinelli (The Twilight Sagas, Nurse Jackie, S.W.A.T.), Jacqueline Bisset (Miss You Already, Bullit)

Asher (Ron Perlman) is a former Mossad agent turned gun for hire, living an austere life in an ever-changing Brooklyn. Approaching the end of his career, he breaks the oath he took as a young man when he meets Sophie (Famke Janssen) on a hit gone wrong. In order to have love in his life before it's too late, he must kill the man he was, for a chance at becoming the man he wants to be.

Reviews
  • Chicago.suntimes.com: Thanks to the great performances by Perlman and the supporting cast; a knowing and literate script by Jay Zaretsky, and the slick direction of Michael Caton-Jones, this is a sparkling black diamond of film noir.
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: Terrific performance by Perlman, who infuses the title character with a compelling, world-weary gravitas. His Asher is so quietly sympathetic that, should the occasion arise, you might almost wish to be done in by him yourself. Janssen is equally good, lending subtle grace notes to what could have been a one-dimensional romantic interest.
  • Blu-ray.com: Asher is supported by Perlman’s lead performance, and he’s terrific here with his typical understated ways and intimidation factor. He also plays vulnerability with grace, giving the hardened man a few openings around Sophie, making the most of his unusual chemistry with Janssen.  A commendable performance or intriguing study of the human experience, with director Michael Caton-Jones maintaining impressive control over the tone of the movie.
  • Cinemasojourns.com: Perlman and Janssen have great on-screen chemistry.
  • Jbspins.blogspot.com: Caton-Jones has the right touch for this material, maintaining a vibe that is dark and serious, yet somehow also light. Despite all of Asher’s brooding and seething, the film moves along at a spritely tempo. This is not a monumental cinematic statement, but it is an entertaining (yet surprisingly honest) film that Perlman’s fans will particularly enjoy.
  • Prettyvacantone.com: Thoughtful dramedy Asher offers a killer time.
  • Eu.azcentral.com: You'll root for this aging hitman.
  • Latimes.com: Perlman has a physical presence that makes him look like he stepped off the cover of a paperback. He brings soul to this old hired gun.

At First Light

SF, Thriller
Available on VOD: 6 juni 2019
Director: Jason Stone
Cast: Stefanie Scott (Beautiful Boy, Insidious 3 & 4), Theodore Pellerin (Boy Erased), Sad Taghmaoui (Wonder Woman, The Infiltrator)

Alex is floating unconscious in a lake when light from a UFO of light saves her by enhancing her abilities such as telekinesis and healing power. Her friend Sean helps her. The authorities want her - not just for stealing a police car.

Reviews
  • Theglobeandmail.com: The rare example of an understated, effectively told young-adult yarn that places emphasis on grounded characters, nuanced performances and stunning visuals over convolution and clichés, Canadian filmmaker Jason Stone’s At First Light boasts unpretentious but exciting surface-level charms.
  • Latimes.com: Stone doesn’t explicitly ask the straightforward, big-picture questions you’ll find in a film like “Arrival.” But his attention to detail and character, and his ability to render those people in recognizable settings, is engrossing.
  • RogerEbert.com: A lean, fantastical narrative, as captured with a slick look that is commendably achieved.
  • Eyeforfilm.co.uk: A strong design, a sensitive script and good performances elevate it far above most of its peers. It has a strong emotional resonance that will appeal to teen viewers who have an appetite for something more thoughtful than most Hollywood offerings.
  • Movie-freak.be: For the diehard SF enthusiasts, this film is highly recommended.
  • Screen-Space: Feels gritty, human and real, despite its otherworldly premise. First Light builds to a soaring denouement (pumped by some demographic-appropriate musical accompaniment from M83’s Outro) that reassures the audience that, in this world or beyond, we are not alone.
  • Slashfilm.com: First Light nimbly condenses similar, more complicated stories for a greater storytelling accomplishment. Stone succeeds as others have previously faltered.

Avarice

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 8 december 2022
Director: John V. Soto
Cast: Gillian Alexy (The Americans, Outsiders), Luke Ford (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor), Ryan Panizza (Home and Away)

When Kate, her husband Ash, and their daughter Sara take a much-needed holiday, plans go awry when their vacation home is invaded by experienced criminals. With Kate and Sara held hostage Ash must transfer the funds from a recent investment deal or face the consequences. What these criminals don't know, is that Kate is an olympic level archer, and she never leaves home without her weapon. Our hero refuses to go down without a fight. And is prepared to protect her family....by any means necessary.

Reviews
  • Voicesfromthebalcony.com: Does deliver on the action as Kate has to use her fists as well as her bow to get the job done.
  • Filmink.com.au: Smartly put together and entertaining, Avarice is a rock-solid homegrown thriller.

Bad Match

Thriller
Available on VOD: 12 juli 2018
Director: David Chirchirill
Cast: Jack Cutmore-Scott (Dunkirk, Kingsman The Secret Service), Lili Simmons (True Detective, Ray Donovan, Bone Tomahawk), Brandon Scott (Blair Witch), Chase Williamson (John Dies at the End)

Harris (Jack Cutmore-Scott) has it all figured out: a cushy job, great friends, and, thanks to the magic of online dating, an active sex life. But when one of his matches, the alluring Riley (Lili Simmons) wants more than a one-night stand, Harris’s perfect life comes crashing down. From writer-director David Chirchirillo (Cheap Thrills) comes this gripping and fresh take on the date from hell that will make you think twice before swiping.

Reviews
  • TheHollywoodReporter.com: Swipe-swipe-swipe leads to slice-and-dice in David Chirchirillo's nightmare of modern dating. Blending contemporary concern about the dehumanizing effect of app-enabled sex with much older tropes, it should play well with younger viewers.
  • Variety.com:  The movie is "Fatal Attraction" for the age of the revolving-door hook-up, and in its fevered low-budget way it's just clever enough to do what it sets out to do. It gives toxic masculinity its just desserts.
  • Cinemarter.com: Thanks to the way it subverts expectations, Bad Match winds up being a smarter-than-average and pretty fun stalker thriller.
  • ThatMomentIn.com: Drawing from the likes of Hitchcock and De Palma, there's a lot visually about Bad Match that ripens this from a standard trope-laden girl gone crazy flick to something far deeper (a particularly good moment comes in a voyeuristic scene at a park). By the third act, you think you know what's going on but Chirchirillo constantly pulls the rug out from under us, forcing us to ask some challenging questions. Madness shapes everything about Bad Match and every step of the way seems blisteringly authentic. This is an online dating nightmare and one you've totally got to go on.
  • Eyeforfilm.co.uk: An impressive film and an impressive calling card.
  • Gamerheadquarters.com: In conclusion, Bad Match seems to start off as a typical guy having fun, and slowing evolves into a gruesome tale of revenge. It's the first film by new comer director David Chirchirillo, who did an excellent on the entire thing.
  • Thehollywoodnews.com: Fresh, clever, and ever so slightly twisted, Bad Match offers a modern take on the one-night-stand-gone-bad story, one that is sure to get everyone talking. We've had the rom-com, we've had the black comedy, Bad Batch is like throwing both into a blender, the results a dark and tasty fresh look at the world around us.
  • Lylesmoviefilms.com: David Chirchirillo imagines a Fatal Attraction scenario in a Tinder world with some clever alterations. Bad Match proves there's a market for updates on classic films with a modern twist. And it's a pretty great film in its own right.
  • Meetloverepeat.com: It's an extreme case of online dating gone wrong, but elements of the story will probably ring true to anyone who's entered the world wide web for the search of their significant other.

Bent

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 17 mei 2018
Director: Bobby Moresco
Cast: Karl Urban (Star Trek, Thor Ragnarok), Sofia Vergara (Modern Family, Chef), Andy Garcia (The Godfather, The Untouchables, Geostorm)

BENT follows Danny Gallagher (Karl Urban), a discredited narcoticsdetective who, upon his release from prison, makes plans to seekrevenge on the accuser who framed him and killed his partner.Through his quest, Gallagher is forced to confront a ruthless,seductive government agent (Sofi a Vergara), who may or may not beon his side; and his mentor (Andy Garcia), a retired cop who’s fought corruption his entire career.

Reviews
  • Cinemarter.com: It has strong production values, some pretty decent acting, and good cinematography. It’s nice to see Karl Urban get a leading role!
  • ThatMomentIn.com: Karl Urban is fun to watch.  The film is loaded with some good performances and direction.
  • ThePragueReperter.com: Bent is a serviceable, slickly-produced 90s-style detective thriller.

Beyond The Sky

SF, Thriller
Available on VOD: 14 maart 2019
Director: Fulvio Sestito
Cast: Ryan Carnes (General Hospital), Jordan Hinson (A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas ), Claude Duhamel (Traffik), Martin Sensmeier (The Magnificent Seven, Wind River), Peter Stormare (Fargo, John Wick Chapter 2)

Despite his doubts, Chris decides to help a woman, who claims to be an alien abductee, discover the truth and prove that we are not alone.

Reviews
  • LATimes.com: Appealingly twisty and easy to watch. Well-constructed action sequences and impressive special effects.
  • Irishfilmcritic.com: Intriguing Science Fiction, combined with remarkable visuals and authentic performances. We are rewarded for our patience in the movie’s impressive finale.
  • Worldfilmgeek.com: Meshes some found footage and the narrative structure well.
  • Starburstmagazine.com: Efficient and well-made, 7/10.
  • Pophorror.com: A fun take on the alien abduction subgenre, and it’s refreshing with its humor and quirky cast of characters. After watching this movie, I want to believe.
  • Marcfusion.com: The finale is a spectacle with some terrific special effects, but the characters remained the real draw.
  • Lovehorror.co.uk: A noteworthy and classy addition. The production value here is imaginative and vibrant and gives us a third act that confidentially owns the notion of going into a spaceship.
  • Blu-ray.com: A satisfying evening's viewing and, accordingly, recommended.

The Boy Behind The Door

Thriller
Available on VOD: 10 maart 2022
Director: David Charbonier, Justin Powell
Cast: Lonnie Chavis (This Is Us), Ezra Dewey (The Djinn), Kristin Bauer van Straten (Nocturnal Animals), Scott Michael Foster (Californication)

A night of unimaginable terror awaits twelve-year-old, Bobby, and his best friend, Kevin, when they are abducted on their way home from school. Managing to escape his confines, Bobby navigates the dark halls, praying his presence goes unnoticed as he avoids his captor at every turn. Even worse is the arrival of another deranged stranger, whose mysterious arrangement with the kidnapper may spell certain doom for Kevin. With no means of calling for help and miles of dark country in every direction, Bobby embarks on a rescue mission, determined to get himself and Kevin out alive…or die trying.

Reviews
  • Cinemagazine.nl: Een behoorlijk strakke, goed gedoseerde en bij vlagen intense thriller met enkele stevige horrorelementen.
  • Parool.nl: Uiterst effectief ... Spanning nagelbijtend hoog.
  • Modernmyths.nl: Vergis je niet, dit is geen kinderfilm, maar een volwassen thriller vol twists en spanning.
  • Sealteam1138.com: Sterke aanrader. Naast dat de film voor een groot deel enorm origineel weet te werken, ziet het er ook nog eens enorm goed uit en is het vrij sterk geacteerd door zijn jonge cast.
  • Schokkendnieuws.nl: Nét wanneer je denkt dat de film alle varianten van het kat-en-muisspel wel zal hebben uitgeput, geeft een handjevol verrassingen de film weer een nieuwe wending en spanningsboog. Zo houden Powell en Charbonier je de volle anderhalve uur op het puntje van je stoel.
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: a gripping twist on the home-invasion thriller, first-time feature directors David Charbonier and Justin Powell plunge two tween boys into escalating peril, relentlessly intensifying a cascading series of lethal threats over the film’s excruciating runtime.
  • Allhorror.com: a heart-stopping, atmospheric indie that one must watch in order to understand how it makes you feel. Truly stellar performances from the kids and the captors bring this movie to life.
  • Behindthelensonline.net: The fear, tension, and terror are relentless and beyond palpable.
  • Butwhythopodcast.com: The Boy Behind the Door is phenomenal. Full stop. From the actors to the setting and the use of darkness both visually and thematically, this is a film to watch. 9/10.
  • Cgmagonline.com: A truly excellent slice of cinema that will leave your knuckles glowing white.
  • Combustiblecelluloid.com: A gripping, hypnotic feature.
  • Escapeintofilm.com: Difficult to watch, hard to stomach but impossible to turn away is the best warning that can be given. Pure concept executed with chilling efficiency, this thriller will have the audience holding its breath from start to finish.
  • Fathersonholygore.com: This film is one of the best I’ve seen. The Boy Behind the Door is a strong horror-thriller that’ll keep most people on the edge of their seats the entire 88 minutes.
  • Horrorfuel.com: Charbonier and Powell exhibit dazzling craftsmanship in their feature-length debut, from their stirring use of light and shadow to their realistic-sounding dialogue between the two young friends, to their breathtaking timing with suspense. A must-see.
  • Screenzealots.com: A tense, effective, and unrelenting thriller.
  • BloodyDisgusting.com: unrelentingly intense, shockingly dark thriller.
  • Rottentomatoes.com: A tense, terrifying, and all-around outstanding feature debut for its co-directing duo, The Boy Behind the Door should thrill discerning horror fans. 97% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes! See all reviews here.

Braven

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 8 maart 2018
Director: Lin Oeding
Cast: Jason Momoa (Justice League, Aquaman, Game of Thrones, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Stephen Lang (Avatar, Don't Breathe, In The Blood), Garret Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men, Looper, 12 Years a Slave)

When Joe Braven (Jason Momoa), a humble logger residing along the U.S./Canada border is confronted by a group of deadly drug runners who have stashed heroin in his secluded cabin in the mountains, he must do everything in his power to protect his family. Little do the elite drug runners know the unassuming man they've encountered has an impressive bite colliding two dynamic forces - one fighting for the lives of his family, the other for the love of the kill.

Reviews
  • Screendependent.be: De film is goed van het begin tot het einde en weet actie perfect te vermengen met het kleine dramatische verhaal. Regisseur Lin Oeding presenteert een stijlvolle, spannende en met momenten rakende film die echt de moeite waard is. En door het acteerwerk van Jason Momoa en Stephen Lang wordt het allemaal nog beter. Laat je dus niet misleiden door het feit dat de film niet in de bioscoop te zien was!
  • Variety.com: Braven remains exciting and suspenseful even after Joe vrooms out of the claustrophobic cabin setting on an ATV, triggering a manhunt in the snow that further illustrates Oeding's ability to choreograph action in clear, clean fashion. And that action is all the more involving because the freshman filmmaker gives his actors sufficient time to flesh out their characters before the bullets (and arrows) start flying. To put it simply and gratefully: Braven is the sort of unpretentious yet thoroughly professional popcorn entertainment that brings out the best in everybody involved.
  • Villagevoice.com: Any cheapjack action movie can get a crowd to cheer at its shock kills. It's the best ones that persuade us that there's a clear chain-of-events physical logic at play — that find suspense in one action leading inevitably to another.
  • Latimes.com: Action-thriller 'Braven's' Jason Momoa proves as skilled on land as he is at sea. It's Momoa's show and he brings strength, warmth and gravitas to a part that, thanks to an emotionally-grounded script. A solid, fast-paced action-thriller.
  • Slantmagazine.com: Lin Oeding's Braven thrives on both the beauty of its natural, snowbound surroundings and the brutal instincts of man. Braven is the sort of scaled-down, sure-footed, and efficient action film that the hyper-saturated video-on-demand market needs more of.
  • NYPost.com: For anyone looking for a shot of vengeance adrenaline while waiting for "John Wick 3" to come down the pike, "Braven" will probably fit the bill.
  • Cinemarter.com: Braven will satisfy action movie fans who want to see a chapter that relies more on the physicality of its actors than technology. It has a simple premise, a slow-burn setup, and then lets it all play out logically.
  • Flyckeringmyth.com: Lin Oeding's Braven is the kind of 90s punch-in-the-mouth action flick us genre fans fight tooth-and-nail to find nowadays. A deliciously junkfood Jason Momoa centerpiece that could be wedged right between Commando and Cobra watches. Hell, Oeding's opening lumberjack sequence is a straight callback to 1985's Arnold Schwarzenegger classic (missed opportunity not having Momoa carry a log, if you ask me). Reluctant heroes, stone-cold criminals, packages of dope – it's everything we love about cheesy survival flicks with zero hassle. Simplicity be damned. If there's one thing Braven knows how to do, it's show you a bloody good time. 

Bring Him To Me

Action, Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 28 maart 2024
Director: Luke Sparke
Cast: Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, Thor - Love and Thunder), Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under, Total Control), Barry Pepper (True Grit, Maze Runner 2 and 3)

Under orders from a ruthless crime boss, a getaway driver must battle his conscience and drive an unsuspecting crew member to an ambush execution. There is a long drive ahead.

Reviews
  • Filmink.com.au: Pepper and crew treat their characters with depth.
  • Glamadelaide.com.au: Sensational acting by all and the tense script as the drama unfolds in flashbacks where we come to know our main character’s lives, will have you championing for them. An engaging movie well worth the watch!
  • Walkdenentertainment.com: Barry Pepper is fantastic playing a skilled getaway driver and gives a solid performance. Naturally, actor Sam Neill carries an enjoyable presence on screen as a ruthless man keen for revenge.
  • Livingartscanberra.com.au: The moral imperative is at the forefront of this film – you do need to look behind the blood and gore for it – and Barry Pepper’s understated performance is perfect for the role. This is a film for action junkies.

Child of God

Drama, Thriller
Available on VOD: 15 juni 2015
Director: James Franco
Cast: Fallon Goodson (L!fe Happens), Scott Haze (As I Lay Dying), Tim Blake Nelson (Lincoln, The Incredible Hulk, The Astronaut Farmer, O Brother, Where Art Thou?), James Franco (127 Hours, This Is the End, Veronica Mars)

Based on a book by Cormac McCarthy. Set in mountainous Sevier County, Tennessee, Child of God tells the story of Lester Ballard, a dispossessed, violent man whom the narrator describes as "a child of God much like yourself perhaps." Ballard's life is a disastrous attempt to exist outside the social order. Successively deprived of parents and homes and with few other ties, Ballard descends literally and figuratively to the level of a cave dweller as he falls deeper into crime and degradation.

Reviews
  • Variety.com: A galvanizing portrait of social and sexual deviance.
  • FilmThreat.com: Profoundly intense .. [an] incredible and fierce performance.
  • TheGuardian.com: Multi-hyphenate renaissance man James Franco has finally delivered the goods with this great, grisly Cormac McCarthy adaptation. Child of God is a shocking tale of backwoods lunacy and one man's descent into hell.
  • HollywoodReporter.com: A pitch-dark hillbilly fever dream... A character study of a figure said to be partly inspired by Wisconsin murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein (also an influence on the killers in Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), the film succeeds on its own terms. That is in large part down to Haze's unstinting commitment to the role.
  • Film-forward.com: In a character actor/star making performance, Scott Haze leads a ferocious cast. Macabre but memorable.
  • Filmleaf.net: A well-made film, dominated by a once-in-a-lifetime, balls-out performance by Scott Haze as Lester Ballard, the crazed outcast, the titular, protagonist "child of God" (testing the range of that concept) who in the course of the story becomes a cave-dweller, murderer, and necrophiliac.
  • Cine-vue.com: Franco (through the excellent Haze) has created a dark portrait of an outcast, lacing it with his own bleak poetry and black humour. 4 out of 5 stars.
  • Rollingstone.com: The film's protagonist is Lester Ballard, played by Scott Haze in a performance that can be described for starters as phenomenal. This is ambitious, challenging filmmaking, elevated by Franco's compassion and Haze's revelatory acting. OK, the film trips up on its attempt to lace tragedy with gallows humor. But Franco is out there trying something, balancing literature and cinema in a tightrope act that is never less than exciting to watch.
Awards
  • Hamptons International Film Festival 2013: Breakthrough Performer - Scott Haze
  • Venice Film Festival 2013: Nominated for Golden Lion.

Cold Blooded

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 1 mei 2013
Director: Jason Lapeyre
Cast: Ryan Robbins (Apollo 18, Sanctuary), Zoie Palmer (Devil), William MacDonald (Slither, Hollow Man II)

A female police officer has what she thinks is an easy night shift guarding an unconscious diamond thief in an abandoned hospital wing. When his brutal gang members break in to the secured ward, the cop and the robber must form an unlikely alliance to survive the night.

Reviews
  • Fearnet.com: There's always something to be said for a quick and efficient crime thriller that introduces its characters and premise in an efficient manner, and then keeps throwing you bloody curve balls before jolting to a finish in less than 90 minutes. Cold Blooded is shot quite well, scored quite smoothly, and (especially) cut like a fast-paced dream. The cast is uniformly strong, the premise has a nice hook, and things actually get pretty dark and nasty before all is said and done. Fun stuff.
  • Reviewsbytom.blogspot.com.au: Driven by memorable characters and loaded with stomach churning tension, Cold Blooded is intense, harrowing and all kinds of brilliant – one of the year's best thrillers just waiting to be discovered.
  • Filmschoolrejects.com: Surprisingly brutal, strong performance from Ryan Robbins, short and sweet.
  • Soundonsight.org: One of the year's best thrillers, shot quite well with a chilly approach mirroring both the characters and the sterile setting. Cold Blooded is full of fun surprises, features tremendously entertaining characters and takes its violence very, very seriously. It can be just as funny at times as it can be visceral. In a sea of mediocre Canadian films, Cold Blooded emerges as reason to celebrate.
  • Moviedex.com: Lapeyre also directed my favourite, the tense, violent crime thriller Cold Blooded. Immensely talented and impressively prolific. Videovortex.wordpress.com: a really good thriller with great characters and an interesting story.
  • TheTFS.ca: a brutally bloody and occasionally darkly comic morality tale that's been making a name for itself on the Festival circuit, garnering praise from critics whenever it screens.
  • EFilmCritic.com': The filmmaking is remarkably clear-eyed and economical. The first images, almost still photos, suggest snapshots of what happened and why it went wrong. Every edit and line of dialogue have a purpose: not for nothing do I compare Cold Blooded to early Carpenter, who never let plot get in the way of the story.
  • Agentsofgeek.com: Lapeyre has done a remarkable job staying creative with his budget limitations and giving us interesting seedy characters that wouldn’t seem out of place in an Elmore Leonard novel. Cold Blooded cuts straight to the point and we’re in and out before we know what hit us. We are left with a fun tension filled action movie that’s not interested in being deep or philosophical but delivering some entertainment. In that retrospect, I can tell you that we get exactly what we were promised.
Awards
  • Bare Bones International Film Festival 2012: Best Actress in a Feature Film
  • Fant-Asia Film Festival 2012: Audience Award - Best Canadian Feature

Coming Home In The Dark

Thriller
Available on VOD: 12 mei 2022
Director: James Ashcroft
Cast: Erik Thomson, Miriama McDowell, Daniel Gillies (The Originals), Matthias Luafutu

A family’s idyllic outing descends into terror when high school teacher Alan ‘Hoaggie’ Hoaganraad, his wife Jill and stepsons Maika and Jordon go exploring an isolated coastline. But an unexpected meeting with a pair of murderous drifters thrusts the family into a nightmare road trip where they find themselves captured by the enigmatic psychopath Mandrake and his hulking man-child accomplice Tubs. At first the family’s terror seems to be born of a random encounter with two sociopaths who seem intent on god only knows what. But as the night drags on Hoaggie and Jill realize that this nightmare has been set in motion 20 years earlier; and as they approach their mysterious final destination Mandrake reveals the horrible secret driving his actions leaving Hoaggie to face a questionable past before the sun rises.

Reviews
  • Modernmyths.nl: Sommige films blijven je lang bij. Een knoop in je maag en een brok in je keel ... IJzersterk acteerwerk.
  • 411mania.com: A brutal and uncompromising horror-thriller that never feels mindless or pointlessly cruel. Anchored by a marvelously villainous turn by Daniel Gillies and an intensity that never lets you go, this is a gorgeous and well-crafted piece of abduction horror that is well worth seeing.
  • Bloody-disgusting.com: A grim, jaw-dropping morality thriller.
  • LAtimes.com: Ashcroft and his cast - and especially Gillies as the menacing and charismatic Mandrake - excel at drawing out the moment-to-moment tension of a crime in progress.
  • HollywoodReporter.com:  A nerve-rattling portrait of chance violence becomes a dark meditation on the long-term reverberations of childhood abuse in state institutions.
  • Nycmovieguru.com: A riveting, provocative and terrifying psychological horror film.
  • Bloodygoodhorror.com: Impactful, brutal, and unrelenting.
  • Horrorbuzz.com: Dark, violent, and in some moments strangely resonant, Coming Home in the Dark is a much smarter suspense thriller than we are used to.
  • Screenzealots.com: Filled with an unrelenting brutality that will give your nerves a jolt.
  • Slashfilm.com: A one and a half-hour gut-punch, Coming Home in the Dark is bleak, tense, and often unshakable. It sticks with you; haunts you. Leaves you feeling restless. Anxiety-inducing and frequently unpleasant, it travels down dark roads, and while you can likely guess the destination, getting there is no less unnerving.
  • Voicesfromthebalcony.com: Unrelenting and grim, from an early moment that echoes The Hitcher until its final scene, this is a tense thriller with its roots in real-world horrors.

The Corrupted

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 3 oktober 2019
Director: Ron Scalpello
Cast: Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games, Adrift), Timothy Spall (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Denial), Charlie Murphy (The Foreigner, Peaky Blinders), Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Paddington), Noel Clarke (Star Trek Into Darkness, Brotherhood)

 Liam (Claflin), an ex-con determined to win back the love and trust of his family after his future was stolen from him by a crime syndicate led by Clifford Cullen (Spall), a mogul whose empire has infiltrated the highest levels of politics, finance and law enforcement. Liam soon finds himself caught up in a web of conspiracy and corruption, centering around the bloody land grab that took place before the Olympic Games came to the City of London. Forced to confront the past in order to stand a chance at a future, Liam will do anything to save those he loves.

Reviews
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: A stellar cast headlined by Timothy Spall, former Hunger Games regular Sam Claflin and Downton Abbey veteran Hugh Bonneville. A timely and gripping crime thriller.
  • Radiotimes.com: oel Clarke stands out as a police detective on Spall's tail. A coherent conspiracy thriller, soaked in blood.
  • TheGuardian.com: Strong dramatic scenes and grabby performances, not least from Timothy Spall.
  • Emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com: A surprisingly gritty crime drama. 

Crime Story

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 7 oktober 2021
Director: Adam Lipsius
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, Book Club), Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite, Attack on Leningrad, The Replacement Killers), Cress Williams (Black Lightning, Fallen), Pruitt Taylor Vince (Bird Box, Gotti)

Ben Myers (Richard Dreyfuss) is an ailing ex-mobster who has lived a life filled with violence, crime, love, and loss. He is quickly taken out of retirement when one day, he comes home to discover that he’s been robbed of all his savings. instead of turning to his police detective daughter (Mira Sorvino), Ben tracks down the thieves in an increasingly brutal quest for answers that drives him to question what his life has been for.

Reviews
  • Blu-ray.com: Richard Dreyfuss finding his big mean again with an aggressive part ... compelling scenes of mental anguish.
  • Bulletproofaction.com: qualifies for Old Man Action.
  • Markreviewsmovies.com: a rather complex conflict within a family devastated by the sins of the father and the resentment of his children. 

Dangerous Waters

Thriller
Available on VOD: 11 januari 2024
Director: John Barr
Cast: Odeya Rush (Goosebumps, The Giver), Ray Liotta (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Goodfellas), Eric Dane (Grey's Anatomy, Euphoria)

19 year-old Rose lives a tough, small town life in Florida with her single mother Alma. Their luck seems to take a turn when Alma’s new businessman boyfriend, Derek, whisks them away on a sailing adventure to Bermuda.

While at sea, Derek’s “business” is revealed to be less than legitimate when their boat is attacked by savage villains, set on fire, and Alma is viciously killed. 

Left for dead, Rose must learn to sail the treacherous Atlantic, and navigate an uninhabited island filled with a host of horrors. 

Locked in a ruthless battle with man and nature, Rose unearths a primal instinct of survival and a terrifying need for vengeance. 

She will not yield until those responsible her mother’s murder are dead. 

Reviews
  • TheGuardian: Ray Liotta, who in his final performance (he died during production) still has an offbeat intensity, like a deranged William Shatner. Barr keeps things motoring with a baleful zip.
  • Anygoodfilms.com: Dangerous Waters is entertaining and deliriously daft and is firmly in the 'Saturday night pizza and a six pack' category but it’s a lot of fun and Odeya Rush at only 26 years of age is great in the role relishing every smack down.
  • Mybloodyreviews.com: Young Israeli American star Odeya Rush makes for a credible and engaging lead and both Eric Dane and the late Ray Liotta bring the required menace to proceedings with their usual aplomb.
  • Guyatthemovies.com: Odeya Rush Kicks Ass.
  • Moviesreview101.com: It keeps offering more leading us to the surprise direction everything ends up going. Odeya Rush is brilliant in the leading role.
  • Mailnewsgroup.com: It securely anchors within its genre, offering a tumultuous voyage that will undoubtedly be enjoyed by those who dare to navigate its stormy narrative seas of survival, revelation, and retribution.

Dark Crimes

Thriller
Available on VOD: 15 november 2018
Director: Alexandros Avranas
Cast: Jim Carrey (The Truman Show, Ace Venture, Bruce Almighty), Marton Csokas (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, The Equalizer, The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Nymphomaniac, Melancholia, Antichrist)

When a crime novelist shares intimate knowledge of an unsolved murder, disgraced detective Tadek (Jim Carrey: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Bruce Almighty) sees an opportunity to end his career with honour. The author, outspoken provocateur Kozlow (Marton Csokas: Noah), isn t as slippery as his prose implies however. Trapped in a battle of wits that will test his very moral fibre, the hardened investigator must confront the shadows lurking in every corner if he hopes to uncover what the truth is, or really means.

Jim Carrey commands the screen in this spellbinding thriller, brought to you by the executive producers of The Revenant and Black Mass. 

Reviews
  • San Francisco Chronicle: The cast is game, the production design is impressive and a few surprises await.
  • Backtothemovies.com: A fusion of Hostel and The Snowman but does an admirable job emulating the taut narrative and pristine aesthetic of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. As the transgressive and perverse story unfolds, the shadow of the ax grows larger as the impending doom looms larger. It is a film that is for a select group of cinephiles; those who champion the works of Lars von Trier and Abel Ferrara, those who fear not where their minds may trek while watching the film. Jim Carrey gives the performance of his career.
  • DVDFever.co.uk: Dark Crimes shows that as much as Jim Carrey can be a great comedian, he excels in drama. Dark Crimes contains fantastic and stunning cinematography.
  • Crypticrock.com: Dark Crimes was incredibly impressive on so many levels, and undeniably immersing. The plot was interesting enough, but it was actually the performances and cinematography that really tipped the scales in favor of this dark and gritty Film Noir.
  • Screendaily.com: Carrey throws himself into the role with a grim-faced dedication.
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: Spicy real-life ingredients and a terrific international cast.
  • Los Angeles Times: Carrey's quietly exacting, uncharacteristic performance hints at some promising new career directions in the same manner Robin Williams successfully tapped a darker side with "One Hour Photo."
  • Consequenceofsound.net: A bizarre, fascinating turn for Carrey.
  • Villagevoice.com: A startlingly poignant and genuinely surprising bit of cinematic artistry. 

DarkGame

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 22 februari 2024
Director: Howard J. Ford
Cast: Ed Westwick (Snatch TV Series, Gossip Girl), Andrew P. Stephen (Wool), Natalya Tsvetkova (Brief Encounters), Lola Wayne (Pandora)

Six innocent victims have been kidnapped and held captive, forced to play out a deadly reality game show on the dark web for the entertainment of the criminal underworld who gamble on the results. It’s not long before viewers worldwide find themselves hooked on this macabre game of life & death.  All of which delights the presenter of the game, a flamboyant psychopath hungry for the fame & attention. 

Portland PD Detective, Ben Jacobs (Ed Westwick), heads up the task force assigned to the case. Events escalate as more & more people tune in on social media, and the stakes are raised even higher.  Jacobs and his team find themselves in a race against time to save the captives.

A Dark Song

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 31 oktober 2017
Director: Liam Gavin
Cast: Catherine Walker , Steve Oram (Sightseers, The End of the F***ing World (Netflix hit))

Selected for the International Competition at the 35th BIFFF -- Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival 2017!

Sophia has a steely look in her eyes as she insists on renting an old house in the remote countryside. She gives the estate agent a little extra cash for no questions asked.

Sophia collects a man at the nearby train station. Joseph Solomon is a northern, coarse man. And an occultist. She needs him to perform an ancient invocation ritual, the Abramelin, to summon up Sophia's Guardian Angel so her wish can be granted. She wishes to talk to her murdered child; it's a desire that consumes her.

The ritual is an extremely arduous one. They seal themselves in the house, possibly having to stay there for months as it plays out. As they get deeper into the rite they run the risk of turning on each other and going mad. But when Solomon finds out that Sophia has not been truthful about her wish, a greater danger threatens them. In the dark, they find that they are no longer alone in the house. They are now in the world of real angels, and real demons.

The house is surrounded with a line of salt. It is the only protection they have. They must not cross it, no matter how bad it gets, no matter how much they want to run.

A Dark Song is the story of two people risking hell to journey through the darkness of their souls.

Reviews
  • SchokkendNieuws.nl: Een ijzersterke film die me voorlopig niet los zal laten. 5*. Lees hier de hele review.
  • Cinemagazine.nl: A Dark Song staat als een huis: een naargeestige, hypnotiserende film met een ontroerend einde dat nog lang nazingt. Lees hier de hele review.
  • Beneaththeunderground.com: The debut feature from writer/director Liam Gavin is a uniquely chilling piece of occult cinema. A two person film, held together with excellent performances and tons of atmosphere A DARK SONG isn't for everyone. It's a slow burn and those watching it will, like the leads, be in for a long trip but the payoff will be worth it.
  • Cutprintfilm.com: A pitch black and confronting two-hander, A Dark Song challenges and excites with its uncompromising and original approach. That it is more a character study than a genre piece is what is most intriguing, blurring the lines between a psychological and hallucinatory thriller and a straight up, angels and demons, Dennis Wheatley-style horror with a final brain-melting ten minutes that is one of the finest surprises of the year. 8/10.
  • Dmovies.org: A Dark Song is an intense horror movie and a trip into Irish occultism. In his debut, Liam Gavin uses the genre to bring to surface a subject that most people find difficult to deal with: the loss of a son. Far above the average spooky movie, this feature disturbs and provokes.
  • Efilmcritic.com: This is very much a movie that feels like it has put in the time and effort necessary for the supernatural to intrude into reality, a feat that is much rarer than horror filmmakers would have us assume. Pair that with a couple of good, intense performances, and "A Dark Song" is one of the most interesting and unusual tales of the supernatural to come around in some time. 4/5.
  • Goseetalk.com: A Dark Song is a gripping character study that succeeds because of the minimal effects and fanfare. It'll thoroughly creep you out, especially the things you don't see.
  • Heyuguys.com: A Dark Song is a ridiculously strong and beautifully acted piece of work.
  • Screenanarchy.com: Rather than give the usual frights, Gavin instead goes for the lonely heart of the occult: the attempt to contact the beyond, for the most heart-wrenching of reasons. A Dark Song takes a hard and serious look at the pain of loss and grief, and how that pain transforms into burden and enlightenment.
  • Wegotthiscovered.com: A Dark Song digs its claws in and never lets go, finding horror in rituals, personal reflection and burning black-magic sensations. It's dreadfully inviting from start to finish, with an almighty climax at just the right time. 4/5.
  • Quietearth.us: A smart and savvy example of horror's new breed.
  • Screeninvasion.com: The movie is a visceral experience that must be seen in a theater. For one, the cinematography is beautiful. Another reason to see it in the theater? It's killer score.
  • Slashfilm.com: It's an utterly unique film that uses its slow pace to lay the dread on thick and and build its characters so it can turn around and tear everything down in the homestretch. And the ending, which will surely prove divisive, is an audacious choice for a genre so often built on nihilism. A Dark Song may be a hard-edged and occasionally difficult movie, but it has soul.
  • Pastemagazine.com: A Dark Song is ostensibly a horror film but operates as a dread-laden procedural, mounting tension while translating the process of bereavement as patient, excruciating manual labor.
  • Scary Epidemic: A Dark Song is a excellent horror/drama about a young woman who is trying to contact her dead son with the help of a strange man who deals in the dark magic of the occult. [It] might be one of the best horror movie i have seen about the occult, because its literally only about the performing what you usually see getting rushed in lame horror movie that just want to shock people. 8.5/10.
  • Horrorchannel.co.uk: This film is fierce, containing many scenes that will make even the hardest hardcore horror fan squirm, but the violence is justified the movie contains moments of surreal beauty that gives it a far deeper meaning than you originally anticipate. One of the top 10 films of 2017!
Awards
  • Sitges 2016: New Visions Award - Best Motion Picture
  • Monster Fest 2016: Best Cinematography in a Feature Film
  • Monster Fest 2016: Best Score in a Feature Film
  • Fantasporto 2017: International Fantasy Film Award, Best Director
  • Fantasporto 2017: International Fantasy Film Award, Best Actress
  • Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival 2016: Audience Choice Award, Silver Award

Dark Was the Night

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 21 september 2015
Director: Jack Heller
Cast: Kevin Durand (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Real Steel, Noah, Resident Evil: Retribution), Lukas Haas (Witness, Inception, Transcendence, Contraband), Bianca Kajlich (Rules of Engagement, Undateable, Halloween: Resurrection)

A long slumbering evil is awoken in the trees outside the remote town of Maiden Woods. Isolated and threatened, it sets its sights on the townspeople, as Sheriff Paul Shields (Kevin Durand) attempts to overcome the demons of his past, so that he may protect those that he loves.

Reviews
  • NYTimes.com: he sets a gruesome, heartbreaking tableau.
  • CrypticRock.com: It is not often that viewers get all they hope for in a movie, but Dark Was the Night delivers what it promises. Seamless special effects and Hisel's extraordinary plot, complement the exceptional direction by Heller. The pair certainly make a force to be reckoned with in the movie genre. A must watch, with a surprise ending, CrypticRock gives Dark Was the Night 5 out of 5 stars.
  • Filmpulse.net: Dark Was the Night is a well made creature feature. It does have a decent story, characters you can care about, strong acting and a creature you'll want to see more of. Genre fans should check this one out for sure.
  • Culturecrypt.com: Dark Was the Night is a creature feature, but it is not about the creature. The focus is firmly on the human element, and thus, the restraint in the reveal is a boon instead of a hindrance. Suspense is achieved naturally with a steady-handed camera and sure-footed directing, both of which keep the film grounded in a sense of reality. Without gore and with no significant human body count to speak of, the film instead finds an organic approach to fostering fright with a slowly smoldering style. It doesn't break the monster movie mold, but does fill it to capacity with eerie atmosphere and creeping chills elevated by terrific acting. 8/10.
  • Best-horror-movies.com: See it. See it. See it! I'm afraid I must insist!
  • Bttm.co.uk: Another wonderful addition to Screamfest, great cinematography, fine performances from the leading man and lady and full credit to Jack and the team for pulling off a creature feature that has some deep emotion running through its veins. A strong piece of cinema and a joy to watch.
  • Craveonline.com: Dark Was the Night is a superb emotional drama about a family coping with a loss. It is an exquisite creature feature too, but I would have totally just watched the family drama. Durand is an absolutely compelling leading man, and what makes the Shieldses so riveting is that they talk intelligently about their psychological issues. Dark Was the Night absolutely deserves to be seen on the big screen, so I hope an ambitious distributor is listening.
  • Chud.com: Dark Was the Night is like a combination of John Carpenter's The Fog and the 1988 remake of The Blob, with a dose of American folklore thrown in for good measure. This movie is an enjoyable and entertaining watch. Kevin Durand gives his all in this one and absolutely earns every bit of credit for this being his first starring role. Check it out!
  • RogerEbert.com: Does, deliberately, build to a tense and sometimes jump-from-your-seat scary climax which finds most of the small town’s residents holed up in the local church, trying to nail down what has by this time been pretty firmly established as a bonafide monster stalking the local woods. And the quest is, it turns out, made more engaging by the guilt and self-doubt experienced by its main characters.
Awards
  • Screamfest 2014 - Best Special Effects
  • Screamfest 2014 - Best Visual Effects

The Devil Conspiracy

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 13 april 2023
Director: Nathan Frankowski
Cast: Alice Orr-Ewing (The Courier, Andor), Joe Doyle (Salem, A Call To Spy), Eveline Hall (Old People), Peter Mensah (Snake Eyes - G.I. Joe Origins)

A powerful biotech company has breakthrough technology allowing them to clone history’s most influential people with just a few fragments of DNA. Behind this company is a cabal of Satanists that steals the shroud of Christ putting them in possession of Jesus’ DNA. The clone will serve as the ultimate offering to the devil. Archangel Michael comes to earth and will stop at nothing to end the devil’s conspiracy.

Reviews
  • Aisleseat.com: Entertained me greatly with its unbridled lunacy.
  • Vocal.media: The film is filled with energetic action and lively interplay over big incidents involving kidnapped women, genetic manipulation, and the return of Satan to the living world via the womb of an unwilling mother.
  • Irishfilmcritic.com: The action is stellar, makes for a thrilling and entertaining distraction.
  • Jbspins.com: Conspiracy is often deranged but it looks surprisingly polished. Its logic is dubious, but there is consistency and method to its madness. 

The Devil has a Name

Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Available on VOD: 13 mei 2021
Director: Edward James Olmos
Cast: Kate Bosworth (Still Alice, Superman Returns), Edward James Olmos (Blade Runner 2049, 2 Guns, Battlestar Galactica), Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense, The Boys), David Strathairn (Lincoln, Godzilla, The Expanse), Alfred Molina (The Da Vinci Code, Prince of Persia), Pablo Schreiber (American Gods, First Man, Den of Thieves), Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now, The Departed, Anger Management)

Widowed, broke and adrift, farmer Fred Stern finds a new purpose in life when he learns that a multi-national oil company has been polluting his water. But as his crusade against the powers that be spills out of the courtroom and into his personal life, Fred must find a way to avoid the ruin of his farm, his family and his dreams. Inspired by bizarre, true events, The Devil Has a Name pulls back the curtain on the culture of greed that poisons Corporate America, from sea to polluted sea.

Reviews
  • Chicago.suntimes.com: What a crackling and often darkly funny script this is, "The Devil Has a Name" is a master class in casting.
  • RogerEbert.com: A scenery-chewing feast. And the familiarity of some of it - Martin Sheen as a righteous lawyer doing his righteous Martin Sheen thing, the easy chemistry of Strathairn and right-hand-man Olmos as they speak unsubtitled Spanish at each other - lends a Social-Justice-Movie Comfort Vibe to the proceedings.
  • Blu-ray.com: A noble endeavor with something to share about corruption.
  • Thefilmstage.com: Audiences have a good time while also learning about the lengths such corruption will go.
  • The Guardian.com: A fire-breathing thriller about a farmer taking on Big Oil. Kate Bosworth shines in a juicy role as a cigar-smoking oil matriarch in this drama directed by veteran actor Edward James Olmos.
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: The Devil Has a Name is a whistleblower drama a la Erin Brockovich that also wants to be a classic noir whodunit. Olmos balances a grim tale of corporate exploitation, environmental degradation and the plight of the American farmer with delightful buddy-comedy pairings.

Dig

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 13 oktober 2022
Director: K. Asher Levin
Cast: Thomas Jane (The Expanse, Before I Wake, The Thin Red Line), Emile Hirsch (Lone Survivor, Killer Joe, Into the Wild), Liana Liberato (Light as a Feather)

Contracted for home demolition, a widowed father and his daughter, suffering from major hearing loss, arrive at a construction site. They are soon taken hostage by a dangerous couple, who will stop at nothing to retrieve what lies beneath the property. The father and daughter must work together to outsmart their captors and survive the grueling night.

Reviews
  • Lifebetweenframes.blogspot.com: an entertaining thriller with a strong emotional core, the drama between Brennan and his daughter.
  • Markreviewsmovies.com: convincing performances.
  • Ohmr.themailnewspapers.com: Harlow Jane (daughter of Thomas Jane and Patricia Arquette) was the film's biggest surprise. She was an absolute presence every time she was on screen.
  • Punchdrunkcritics.com: Strong performances.Screenrant.com: Harlow Jane is the film's stand-out performance. She is acting with a capital A in scenes where she is a rebellious teen.

The Dinner

Drama, Thriller
Available on VOD: 16 augustus 2018
Director: Oren Moverman
Cast: Richard Gere (An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, Arbitrage, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ), Steve Coogan (The Trip to Spain, The Other Guys), Laura Linney (Nocturnal Animals, Sully), Rebecca Hall (The Town, Frost/Nixon), Chlo Sevigny (Antibirth, The Snowman)

When Stan Lohman (Richard Gere), a popular congressman running for governor, invites his troubled younger brother Paul (Steve Coogan) and his wife Claire (Laura Linney) to join him and his wife Katelyn (Rebecca Hall) for dinner at one of the town’s most fashionable restaurants, the stage is set for a tense night. While Stan and Paul have been estranged since childhood, their 16-year- old sons are friends, and the two of them have committed a horrible crime that has shocked the country. While their sons’ identities have not yet been discovered and may never be, their parents must now decide what action to take. As the night proceeds, beliefs about the true natures of the four people at the table are upended, relationships shatter, and each person reveals just how far they are willing to go to protect those they love.

Reviews
  • Variety.com: Moverman balances the potential for staginess with his flowing cinematic bravura; he keeps surprising you, and he gives the drama a dash of poison elegance.
  • The Playlist.net: This is a film that glories in juxtaposition, as exchanges of bestial ferocity hiss back and forth in an excruciatingly elegant destination restaurant, and as poisonously feral barbs are traded across a table laden with elaborately effete hors d'oeuvres.
  • TheWrap.com: At once a darkly comic social satire, a pitch-black moral thriller and an earnest plea to recognize mental illness, The Dinner is a seven-layer dip overflowing with compelling individual ingredients.
  • Urbancinefile.com.au: All the performances are astonishing. This is an outstanding piece of cinema, provocative and insightful, filled with metaphor and the recognisable flaws of humanity and the world today, yet far from bitter.
  • Blu-ray.com: The film delivers on both emotional and perhaps especially moral grounds, exposing the traumas experienced by a quartet who can't even decide what the right thing to do is, let alone doing it.
  • TheIndependentCritic.com: The Dinner is a riveting adult drama that will have you replaying the film over and over again in your mind as you search for the meaning of it all and come face-to-face with the uncomfortable truths.
  • WeGotThisCovered.com: An imperfect but fascinating film, The Dinner's stellar cast delivers a deeply troubling and psychologically complex treatment of class and family.

Drone

Thriller
Available on VOD: 17 augustus 2017
Director: Jason Bourque
Cast: Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Martian), Patrick Sabongui (Homeland, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, White House Down), Mary McCormack (The West Wing, K-Pax), Maxwell Haynes

Neil is a cog in the wheel of America's war on terror. A private drone operator, he spends his workdays flying covert missions for the CIA then returns to a family life of suburban mediocrity. But Neil's juggling act of husband, father and armchair warrior comes to a crashing halt when a whistle-blowing website reveals that he was at the controls of a number of deadly drone strikes. Believing Neil is responsible for the deaths of his wife and child, an enigmatic Pakistani businessman has tracked him down. A harrowing confrontation takes place in Neil's house and it proves to be far more complex than a simple act of revenge.

Reviews
  • NYTimes.com: The movie opens with a bravura sequence set in Pakistan, and the script, by Mr. Bourque and Paul A. Birkett, worthily strives to balance sympathies between American interests and humans written off as collateral damage.
  • TheEntertainmentSection.com: Two sides in a conflict of war have been visited in film before, but unlike the subtle tension presented in Drone. This film rips open a heated topic and allows the audience to view through a different landscape, bringing the conflict home. It's a discussion that is uncomfortable, but with the changing landscapes of the way the world conducts war, it's one that needs to be addressed. This film is still very much enjoyable without the nosedive into diplomacy, but it's harder to ignore than others. Even with the lean towards demonstration, the unique way these locations are represented on film, and the impeccable talent from the leading men, Drone deserves to be seen.
  • Thatmomentin.com: Drone is a character study disguised as a thriller with two men on opposite sides of the tragedy that stages the inevitable collision.
  • Filmjournal.com:Though Drone comes wrapped in the trappings of a home-invasion thriller, it's less interested in ratcheting up the tension than scoring debate points about the moral implications of scrubbing the sweat and dirt from the act of killing.
  • Patch.com: Bean, McCormack and Sabongui meshing it all together with emotional shock and awe and knowing our secrets can be used as a weapon.

End of a Gun

Action, Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 1 november 2016
Director: Keoni Waxman
Cast: Steven Seagal (Under Siege, A Dangerous Man, Executive Decision), Alexandre Nguyen (Exodus to Shanghai), Jade Ewen

Decker (Seagal), an ex-federal agent, comes across a woman, Lisa, being beaten by her boyfriend, Decker, and is forced to kill the enraged man to save her. Instead of congratulations and thanks, Decker faces possible criminal charges. Lisa, knowing his situation, asks him to help her steal $2 million hidden within her boyfriend's car at the police impound lot. They successfully recover the money, but it only puts them in greater danger, as the money was supposed to be delivered to a druglord. He catches wind of their theft and sends a hit squad to recover the money. Meanwhile, a determined cop, alarmed at the number of bodies piling up around Decker, is also hot on his trail. Decker must turn to an unlikely ally to keep the cash, save a now kidnapped Lisa, and survive an epic gun battle with the kingpin's henchmen.

First Kill

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 5 oktober 2017
Director: Steven C. Miller
Cast: Bruce Willis (Die Hard, Red, Sixth Sense, Split), Hayden Christensen (Star Wars: Episode II, III, Jumper), Gethin Anthony (Game of Thrones), Megan Leonard (The Life and Death of John Gotti)

In this gripping action thriller starring Bruce Willis, a man and his son witness a thug shooting a bank thief while on a hunting trip. When the bank robber takes the boy hostage in order to recover the money from the bank heist, the frantic father and a police chief (Bruce Willis) must join forces to solve the high-stakes kidnapping with a ticking clock.

Reviews
  • Chicago.suntimes.com: The blood-soaked potboiler First Kill is Generous Pour through and through, from Bruce Willis playing a cop for the umpteenth time in his career to the old switcheroo we can see coming a mile away to the pounding and overwrought score to some genuinely effective detours and subplots.
  • Variety.com: A reasonably entertaining series of off-road chases and backwoods shootouts en route to that final confrontation.
  • LATimes.com: First Kill features an efficient, lightning speed plot.
  • Maddwolf.com: Willis supplies his natural gravitas and Ohioan Shelton makes an impressive big screen debut. As young Danny, Shelton's easy rapport with Gethin Anthony (as kidnapper Levi) is a constant highlight.
  • Thatmomentin.com: A decent crime thriller.
  • Dallasfilmnow.com: First Kill is competent and involving. The action scenes — including one vehicle/RV chase that's constructed cleverly with an uninterrupted sense of place via gliding tracking shots — never feel unrealistic or exaggerated. And even though the film telegraphs a few of its third act character reversals, Miller and screenwriter Nick Gordon plumb the depths of innocence versus malignancy with a shrewd eye for satisfying entertainment.
  • TheIndependentCritic.com: fully devoted to telling a story and telling it well.

Galveston

Thriller
Available on VOD: 4 april 2019
Director: Mlanie Laurent
Cast: Ben Foster (Hell or High Water, The Messenger), Elle Fanning (Maleficent, Trumbo, The Neon Demon), Lili Reinhart (Riverdale), Beau Bridges (Max Payne, Fabulous Baker Boys)

Roy is a heavy-drinking criminal enforcer and mob hit man whose boss, Stan, a New Orleans mobster, sets up Roy in a double-cross scheme to have him killed on the very day that Roy receives news that he has lung cancer. Roy anticipates Stan’s plan, however, and ends up killing off the hit men before they can complete their job. In the bloody aftermath, Roy discovers Rocky, a teenage prostitute on the scene, who he takes with him, saving her from imminent peril at the hands of Stan and his goons.


Roy and Rocky look to escape pursuit by holing up in Galveston, Texas, a place that Roy knows from his mysterious past. On the way, Rocky convinces Roy to make a stop, and they end up with Rocky’s 3-year-old sister, Tiffany, who she retrieves from her stepfather at gunpoint.

Living for a time in a run-down motel occupied by guests of questionable motive, the trio form a bond unlike any Roy and Rocky have experienced before. Roy needs to find a way to close the book on Stan, while at the same time aiming to provide the seeds of a hopeful future for Rocky and Tiffany. But dangers from Roy and Rocky’s past are closer than Roy knows, threatening any glimpse of salvation.

Reviews
  • Moviemeter.nl: Hoe simpel het verhaal ook is en vervolgens verloopt, het duo blijft biologeren. Voeg daaraan een mooi gefilmd en spannend slotstuk toe, en een ontroerend einde maakt 't af. Lees de hele review hier.
  • Rogerebert.com: Some of the darker, more brutal edges of the film hinder it at times as Laurent’s poetic visual eye and the stark ugliness of what happens here can feel at odds. But even when the movie struggles with a lead character who is kind of reprehensible, Foster and Fanning hold it together.
  • TheHollywoodReporter.com: Actor/director Melanie Laurent makes her English-language directing debut with Galveston, a seedy but sincere and strikingly attractive picture.
  • Boomhowdy.com: For Fanning it’s yet another feather in her cap, adding to an already impressive body of work that’s sure to extend for decades to come. She slides into the sweet and naive part with minimal effort. One can easily understand why Laurent has made mention that Fanning was her first and only choice for the part. It’s Ben Foster though, who cements himself as a consummate actor of note, with his understated, but impactful role.
  • TheFilmstage.com: Foster and Fanning are predictably great together, cut from the same bayou cloth.
  • Moveablefest.com: Melanie Laurent’s “Galveston” Is So Good It Should Be Criminal. The French writer/director comes out with guns blazin' in her first American film.
  • Vanyaland.com: But coming in at a brisk 90 minutes, Galveston is a neo-noir model of narrative efficiency anchored by excellent work by two of our finest actors, and a film that will hopefully serve as Laurent’s introduction to the world of English-language cinema as something other than an actress.
  • Birthmoviesdeath.com: The details that make up a great lurid chronicle are here.
  • Movietalkwithjakesalinas.com: Galveston is a very, very well made crime thriller. It’s a simple idea and a simple tale, but it’s done so effectively thanks to a great writer-director, and an equally great cast.
  • Filmschoolrejects.com: Galveston proves the right performers can make any tune dance.
  • Movieweb.com: A Thrilling Powerhouse That Leaves Its Mark
  • Austinchronicle.com: Galveston is a deeply touching exploration of the harsh world that shapes its tragic main characters.
  • Bleedingcool.com: Galveston is tough to watch at times, but with the compelling performances, slow burn pacing, and gut punch ending, it really delivers in the end.
  • Behindthelensonline.net: oster’s Roy Cady is a man of little words and speaks with physicality, be it by physical strength or shoulder lowering humility or shame. Fanning finds the perfect balance of naivete and emotional growth for Rocky. Together it’s impossible to take your eyes off them.

Girl at the Window

Thriller
Available on VOD: 10 november 2022
Director: Mark Hartley
Cast: Ella Newton (Harrow), Radha Mitchell (Man On Fire, The Chronicles of Riddick, Olympus Has Fallen), Vince Colosimo (The Great Gatsby, Body of Lies)

A teenage girl who’s struggling to cope with the accidental death of her father suspects that the mysterious killer stalking her hometown is not only her neighbour but her mother’s new romantic interest.

Reviews

Film is nog niet uitgebracht, nog geen reviews beschikbaar.

Gutshot Straight

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 13 april 2015
Director: Justin Steele
Cast: George Eads (CSI), AnnaLynne McCord (90210, Officer Down, Scorned), Stephen Lang (Avatar, Don't Breathe, In The Blood), Ted Levine (Shutter Island, The Silence of the Lambs, American Gangster, The Bridge), Steven Seagal (Under Siege, A Dangerous Man, Executive Decision), Vinnie Jones (Snatch, Hijacked, X-Men: The Last Stand), Tia Carrere (True Lies), Fiona Dourif (The Messenger, The Master)

A professional poker player, Jack Daniel (George Eads), gets mixed up with the underworld when he takes a wager proposed by Duffy (Stephen Lang), a mysterious gambler. In order to protect his family and himself, Jack must outwit Duffy's cunning brother Lewis (Ted Levine) and scheming wife May (AnnaLynne McCord) as each attempts to force him into murdering the other. Seeking help anywhere he can find it, Jack turns to Paulie Trunks (Steven Seagal), a loan shark looking to collect on Jack's poker debts, who might want to protect his investment.

Reviews
  • Flickeringmyth.com: The film looks great with some slick and colourful visuals, the acting is pretty good and the story set-up is fantastic and really draws you in.
  • Goodefficientbutchery.blogspot.nl: Seagal gets a terrific monologue about why he's called "Paulie Trunks" and has a few genuinely funny, possibly ad-libbed lines and he makes every moment count. Gutshot Straight has a lot of positives in its favor.
  • Devon-cornwall-film.co.uk: A nifty little B-movie neo-noir. He may be one of the least showy CSI cast members, but blank canvas George Eads is a surprisingly effective noir antihero, and shoulders the double-crossing narrative convincingly. Admittedly, the pace does slacken in the second half of the film, but Gutshot has enough worthwhile moments to keep you interested. Inessential, but strangely appealing.

Hollow in the Land

Thriller
Available on VOD: 1 maart 2018
Director: Scooter Corkle
Cast: Dianna Agron (Glee, I Am Number Four), Rachelle Lefevre (Under The Dome, Twilight Saga, White House Down), Shawn Ashmore (X-Men films, The Following), Jared Abrahamson

While the notorious Keith Miller remains locked behind bars for murder, his family is paying the price of a tainted name. High in these mountains, bad blood runs deep.

A year after Keith's crime, a body is found in a nearby trailer park. Keith's son, Brandon, goes missing and becomes suspect number one. His headstrong sister Alison decides to take things into her own hands and track down her brother to clear his name before the cops get to him.

Can she prove her brother's innocence when all the evidence suggests otherwise? The harder she looks, the more people turn up dead. And soon Alison becomes a suspect herself.

In a town tucked away between a mountain range, secrets get buried deep. And if she's not careful, she'll get buried with them...

Reviews
  • Screendependent.be: Hollow in the Land is wellicht een titel waar je nog nooit van hoorde en dat is ongelooflijk jammer. Filmdistributeur Source 1 Media brengt met deze kleine maar verrassende thriller opnieuw een uitstekend staaltje cinema uit. Het verhaal is spannend, zit goed in elkaar en ook de personages zijn perfect uitgewerkt.
  • NYTimes.com: Alison closely resembles Jennifer Lawrence’s character in Winter’s Bone, another self-sufficient young woman whose family and community turn against her. This movie is not as tense, but it gets close thanks to Ms. Agron’s resolute performance and the movie’s hostile small town setting.
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: Hollow in the Land traffics in familiar rural thriller territory, but it features an excellent performance from its lead actress and a strong atmosphere of moody tension courtesy of its writer/director.
  • LATimes.com: Like Winter’s Bone, the film is at its best when it follows its heroine closely, letting the audience understand more about her life with each step closer to danger.
  • Andersonvision.com:  Hollow in the Land deserves to be seen by many people.
  • Cinemarter.com:  A good mystery movie with a solid leading performance.
  • J.B. Spins: Its grit and guts are compelling. Norm Li’s coldly severe cinematography dramatically accentuates Miller’s social alienation and the physical isolation of the surrounding landscape.

The Hollow Point

Action, Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 16 december 2016
Director: Gonzalo Lpez-Gallego
Cast: Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring, Insidious, Watchmen, Fargo II), Lynn Collins (X-Men Origins Wolverine, John Carter), Ian McShane (John Wick, Ray Donovan, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ), John Leguizamo (The Lincoln Lawyer, John Wick, Kick-Ass 2, Ride Along), James Belushi (According to Jim, K-9)

An aging retired sheriff (Ian McShane) with violent tendencies and his young replacement with a dark past (Patrick Wilson) must join forces to protect the residents of their town and investigate the source of a botched Mexican arms deal that leaves several dead and a bag of money missing. As the story twists and turns, a mysterious and vicious cartel hit man (John Leguizamo) arrives in search of the missing loot, systematically eliminating anyone who crosses his path. After discovering that the new sheriff's girlfriend is on the hit man's list, the lawmen must abandon their law enforcement ideals in order to even the playing field.

Reviews
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: An over-the-top, heavily stylized B-movie-ish mash-up of modern Western and bloody thriller, The Hollow Point sees U.S.-based Spanish director Gonzalo Lopez Gallego (The King of the Hill) seeking to bring a new angle to the bad men in the badlands genre. As homage, the film is visually striking, littered with moments of real cinematographic intelligence, and always watchable, in a nasty sort of way. Bloody fun in the badlands.
  • Variety.com: Wilson is persuasively resolute as the sheriff, and Belushi does sweaty desperation like a pro. But McShane effortlessly overshadows both of them with a flamboyantly mannered performance charged by alternating currents of contemptuous sarcasm and pessimistic gruffness.
  • Culturefix.co.uk: A brutally entertaining thriller that allows McShane and Wilson to deliver some badass cool.
  • We Got This Covered: a blazing contemporary western that finds pleasure in punishment.
  • Thepeoplesmovies.com: Patrick Wilson and Ian McSha take on the cartel in contemporary western meets Mexploitation flick. Director Gonzalo López-Gallego ensures this is a fun, action-packed trip even when navigating through Nils Lyew's overcomplicated narrative. The Hollow Point is nonetheless a brutally entertaining thriller that allows McShane and Wilson to deliver some badass cool. 4 out of 5 stars.
  • Kneelbeforeblog.co.uk: Wilson and McShane are the high points of this film. Their buddy chemistry is completely on point and there is lots of great dialogue between the two of them. Each of them can give as good as they get from the other and there are plenty of laughs too be found in their interactions. James Belushi has a memorable turn as a duplicitous used car salesman and John Leguizamo is excellent as a machete wielding Mexican hitman.
  • Flickfeast.co.uk: With a number of great lines scattered throughout the script, even if it's just a running joke regarding people uttering the word asshole after their first encounters with Wilsons character (who has just returned to the town after some time away), and a few moments of white-knuckle tension, this is everything you could want from a crime thriller/neo-Western. As well as Wilson and McShane, the film also boasts some excellent performances from Lynn Collins, John Leguizamo, and James Belushi. The last one may be the biggest surprise, but it's possible that this is the sort of role he's just been waiting for over the past few years. Is it worth mentioning that McShane almost steals the movie? Yes, I think it is, because he gets many of the best moments.

A House on Willow Street

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 24 maart 2017
Director: Alastair Orr
Cast: Carlyn Burchell (Bomb Girls), Sharni Vinson (Step Up, Bait), Gustav Gerdener, Zino Ventura, Steven John Ward

Roguish kidnappers devise a plan to abduct the daughter of a wealthy diamond distributor. When they have her locked up in their hideout, they realize she's been possessed by a sinister demon. The kidnappers are forced to bargain for their souls and deal with their personal demons as they appear in physical form inside the house.

Reviews
  • Britflicks.com: Fortunately, From A House On Willow Street does have great looking set pieces. They showcase beautifully the fantastic visual effects of George Webster and computer generated wizardry of Derik van den Berg. Equally, Director Alastair Orr delivers a few frights and confidently captures the mania and fear.
  • Eyeforfilm.co.uk: There's a lot more visceral horror here than in the average supposedly gruesome possession film, so it works well enough for a Friday night thrill.
  • Horrocultfilms.co.uk: It's visually impressive, has some strong set pieces and the pacing's fairly good.
  • Projectedfigures.com: There is much fun to be had with its po-faced silliness and macabre maximalism.
  • Wyliewrites.com: From a House on Willow Street has some amazing makeup work, one of the best posters of any film at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, and the film includes the most clever scare in a horror in recent years. The film also utilizes chiaroscuro effects to great value.
  • Dreadcentral.com: A good setup, a majority of solid characters (and cast) and some balls-out demon action in the final stretch manages to ensure From a House on Willow Street provides enough entertainment to see you through to the end.

Hunt Her, Kill Her

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 7 december 2023
Director: Greg Swinson, Ryan Thiessen
Cast: Natalie Terrazzino, JC Oakley III, Larry Bunton, Philip Zimny

On an otherwise peaceful evening during her first night on the job, a lone night shift janitor finds herself in an unexpected fight for survival when she becomes the target of sinister masked intruders. As their disturbing motives become clearer, she must use her crafty instincts and barbaric violence to make it through the night alive.

Reviews
  • BloodyDisgusting.com:  Cuts straight to the thrills, creating a sustained level of suspense and violence throughout. It makes for an effective and often breathless experience.
  • Horrornews.net: Brutal and intense.
  • Allhorror.com: A taut, efficient thriller that makes excellent use of space and time, delivering plenty of thrills and surprises along the way.
  • Fictionhorizon.com: Terrazzino does a great job as the lead; gore fans will love it.
  • Nightmarishconjurings.com:  Natalie Terrazzino as Karen plays it real and tough.
  • Slantmagazine.com: A Grim Slasher, goes out of its way to emphasize the messy, miserable nastiness of each kill.
  • Maxdoesmovies.com: Sweeping camerawork, tantalizing set pieces, and an easy protagonist to root for makes Night Shift one of the most engaging experiences of the year. 

The Infiltrator

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 5 januari 2017
Director: Brad Furman
Cast: Bryan Cranston (Argo, Trumbo, Breaking Bad), John Leguizamo (The Lincoln Lawyer, John Wick, Kick-Ass 2, Ride Along), Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds, Unknown, The Bridge), Benjamin Bratt (Miss Congeniality, Traffic, 24: Live Another Day)

Amidst the lavish excess of the 1980s, Robert Musella became a pivotal player for drug lords cleaning their dirty cash. He traded on mob connections, to become the confidant to scores of the international underworld and the bankers who enabled them.

However, Robert Musella was, in fact, the undercover persona of Special Agent Robert Mazur: a US customs official who went further than any before him. Laying his life on the line, he infiltrated the globe's largest cartels and discovered just how deep into society their influence extended. Welcomed into an inner-circle of violence and corruption, Mazur found himself in the tight embrace of those he had promised to take down.

Based on the true story of a fearless undercover agent, THE INFILTRATOR is a heart-stopping account of one of history's most elaborate stings. The operation reeled in key players in a chain stretching all the way to Escobar. Their arrests would lead to the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International and shake the black economy to its core.

Reviews
  • De Telegraaf (★★★1/2): Bryan Cranston maakt die voortdurende innerlijke tweestrijd op een sublieme manier voelbaar. Mazurs gevaarlijke werk The infiltrator bij vlagen angstwekkend spannend.
  • De Volkskrant (★★★★): The Infiltrator is op zijn best als die juist doodeng is. De lol van The Infiltrator is te zien hoe Mazur/Musella zich uit de gevaarlijkste situaties probeert te bluffen. Kameleon Cranston is en blijft een dubbelrollenspecialist, die van rol kan wisselen alsof hij een knop omzet.
  • Trouw (★★★★): Cranston is uitstekend als de man die in uiteenlopende jaren-tachtig-outfits en met altijd licht bezorgde blik een identiteit aanneemt waar ook ineens een verloofde (Diane Kruger) in moet passen.
  • AD(★★★): Bryan Cranston is het sterkste punt in deze thriller vol synthetische maatpakken, donkere pilotenbrillen en vette snorren. Hij speelt wederom overtuigend een man die op de grens van goed en kwaad balanceert.
  • Cinemagazine.nl: Cranston is in topvorm, maar ook Leguizamo, Kruger en de cynische Amy Ryan ('Birdman') weten in de bijrollen te overtuigen. Met een speciale, eervolle vermelding voor good old Olympia Dukakis, die opdraaft als een perfect gecaste tante Vicky. Twee uur en zeven minuten entertainment, kom daar nog maar eens om. Het advies? Gaat hem zien on the big screen.
  • Filmgeek.nl: Zeker een spannend kijkje in de wereld van 'geld, undercoverwerk en cocaïne'.
    Filmvandaag.nl: Niettemin levert Cranston puik acteerwerk dat alleen wordt overtroffen door John Leguizamo als zijn rechterhand Abreu. Met The Infiltrator levert de regisseur van onder meer The Lincoln Lawyer en Runner Runner zijn beste werk tot nu toe af.
  • Empire.com: Often gripping, and elevated by Cranston's superb central performance.
  • Variety.com: Bryan Cranston gets a film role worthy of his ability to break bad in a tensely exciting true-life drama of undercover drug agents. The Infiltrator" creates enthralling suspense and intrigue out of the drama of what undercover agents do, but there isn't a moment in it that makes danger looks falsely seductive. The power of Cranston's performance is that he captures the deep torment that deep cover can bring. [He] gives the most authentic and lived-in performance as an agent pretending to be a criminal that I have ever seen. Kruger matches him, beat for anguished beat, and John Leguizamo gives a pinpoint performance as Bob's low-life informer colleague, whose slovenly flakiness turns out to be, itself, a kind of cover.
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: Cinematographer Joshua Reis' experience on horror movies serves him well in his first major theatrical feature: from the garish palette of a bowling alley to set-piece interiors of the ostentatiously wealthy to the terrifying murk of a Santeria ritual that ends very badly, he finds the dread in each widescreen composition. Mostly it's in Cranston's eyes, ferociously undimmed. As a U.S. Customs agent leading an undercover sting of his own devising, Cranston turns every moment of duplicity, which is to say nearly every scene of The Infiltrator, into an emotionally textured high-wire act.
  • TheWrap.com: Director Brad Furman ("The Lincoln Lawyer") re-creates the mid-1980s with telling fashion and coiffure details, bolstered by a great funk soundtrack. Joshua Reis's terrific cinematography, aided by the authentic-looking production design of Crispian Sallis, intensifies the sense of place and time. Drug thrillers can be among the more predictable genres — plenty of sleaze, nasty threats and grisly whacking, and, of course, the obligatory scenes at strip clubs. "The Infiltrator" follows some of that played-out playbook, but also effectively dials up the nerve-wracking tension. What elevates it to a higher level is the quality of its key performances, by Cranston, Leguizamo, Kruger and Bratt. Amy Ryan is also top-notch in a smaller role as Bonni Tischler, the trio's brassy boss. One of the most memorable supporting performances comes from Yul Vazquez, as sociopathic money launderer Javier Ospina.
  • nospoilerreviewz.com: engrossing, well made, extremely well acted and very, very intelligent.

Influencer

Thriller
Available on VOD: 25 mei 2023
Director: Kurtis David Harder
Cast: Emily Tennant (Juno, Jennifer's Body, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), Cassandra Naud (Snowpiercer), Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries)

Popular social media influencer Madison, is having a lonely and uneventful trip in Thailand despite what she tells her followers on Instagram. While reflecting on her boyfriend canceling the trip, she meets CW, a fearless and enigmatic traveler who offers to take her to some of the most Instagram-worthy locations. Together they share authentic meals and drinks with locals, discussing the differences between Madison’s online presence and CW’s lack of one. After showing Madison all of the amazing sights, things take a different turn when CW brings her to a surprise location - a deserted island that is completely off the grid.

Reviews
  • Cinedump.com: What a ride! Influencer is special, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say Adrian Lyne was involved. Takes all of the beats from your favorite 90s thriller and executes them with ease!
  • Joshatthemovies.com: I was surprised by many of the film’s twists and turns.  Just when I thought I had it all figured out, there would be another titanic shift in the structure.
  • Wickedhorror.com: This is a brutal and incisive look at social media addiction but the scariest thing about Influencer might just be how it reflects our own online obsession back at us.
  • Nightmarishconjurings.com: Cassandra Naud gives a hypnotic performance and, combined with the rest of the cast and unexpected turns, makes Influencer an entertaining cautionary tale.
  • Thehollywoodnews.com: This is a zippy sun-soaked thriller that rewards the viewer with its spellbinding blend of glitz, glamour, and mystery.
  • Filmfreakcentral.net: The cast is exceptional. And there are plots galore: crosses and double-crosses; heists and murders most foul; and at the end of all that, one of those little movie smiles where an antagonist recognizes the brilliance of a mortal enemy and steels themselves for another round of chicanery. Influencers is strong stuff and a calling card.
  • Projectedfigures.com: a deft merger of George Sluizer’s The Vanishing and Danny Boyle’s The Beach, Influencer follows the anxiety, emptiness and increasing isolation of online celebrity.

In The Blood

Action, Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 18 november 2014
Director: John Stockwell
Cast: Gina Carano (Deadpool, Haywire, Furious 6), Cam Gigandet (Priest, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn II, Easy A), Stephen Lang (Avatar, Don't Breathe, In The Blood), Luis Guzmn (The Last Stand, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Anger Management ), Danny Trejo (Machete, In the Blood), Amaury Nolasco (A Good Day to Die Hard, Transformers, 2 Fast 2 Furious), Ismael Cruz Cordova (White Alligator)

Gina Carano stars as Ava, a trained fighter with a dark past. When her new husband (Cam Gigandet) vanishes during their Caribbean honeymoon, Ava uncovers a violent underworld of conspiracy in the middle of an island paradise. Armed with a deadly set of skills, Ava sets out to discover the truth – and to take down the men she thinks are responsible for his abduction, one by one.

Reviews
  • 1nfluxmagazine.com: A movie that kept me glued to the screen...and my adrenalin pumping! An exceptional film all around.
  • Cinema-crazed.com: The excellent Gina Carano takes her shot at her own version of "Breakdown," and "Frantic," with an action thriller that delivers on all fronts. "In the Blood" is a great vehicle for Gina Carano, it's a tense and exciting action thriller I was very much invested in until the very end, and I can't wait to see more from Ms. Carano.
  • CoolAwesomeMovies.com: The bottom line, that is, why "In the Blood" works is the following: Gina Carano is a good action hero(ine). Gina bring that old-school action vibe to the table.
  • KungFuCinema.com: Following her debut lead role in HAYWIRE, former mixed martial arts champion Gina Carano proves with this follow-up that she can not only fight, but proves herself to be a good actress.
  • TheFilmStage.com: This is her Cobra, her Commando, her Double Team — now she is truly an action star.
  • DigitalJournal.com: One of the great things about casting Carano in this role is she is believable. As a former mixed martial arts fighter turned actress, she doesn't need to pretend to know what she's doing in a fight because she actually does.
  • Cooltarget.blogspot.co.uk: It's Carano's relentless mission through the seedier side of the Caribbean that gives the film its momentum and the former fighter turn actress proves again she's got the talent to become a leading female action star.
  • Cinemadeviant.com: You completely get your money's worth with this one and if you are into action movies or (more importantly) Gina Carano then you WILL NOT be disappointed one bit and I can't wait to see her in more movies like this.
  • Variety.com: Ava goes full Death Wish. Not just a martial artist, Ava proves proficient in amateur surgery ("Oh, but you can live without your spleen, can't you?).
  • LATimes.com: Action and thrills are 'In the Blood'.
  • Examiner.com: [The] star is no shrinking violet unable to fend off her attackers. Instead it's MMA star-turned-movie bad ass Gina Carano, in her first solo lead role since Haywire. When she's doing her thing, namely cracking a few skulls, the film is a fun, gritty throwback. She's not only a physical force of nature, bending her screen foes into pretzels with ease, but she's also quite the beauty and someone who has a natural presence. When Carano is given free reign to break a few bones, you never want to look away. A solid old school action flick.
  • Theactionelite.com: Overall, In the Blood really showcases Gina Carano's action hero credentials and if you're looking for a movie with some twists and turns, engaging story and plenty of broken bones then you'll have a blast.
  • 7mpictures.com: Fortunately, "In the Blood" is more like the aforementioned "Taken" and less like "Hostel." Still, it's this ripped-from-the-headlines approach to the story that makes it hit home.
  • ShowBizJunkies.com: The film's well-paced and if you're into reality-driven action scenes, it's one of the better offerings in what's, thus far, been a disappointing year for the genre.
  • Filmschoolrejects.com: Ava breaks more than a few bones on her way to the truth, and that's where Carano shines.
  • DVDTalk.com: It's a stalwart reminder of traditional punch-and-kick action flicks standing firm for a tradition of non-CGI stunts.

I See You

Thriller
Available on VOD: 15 oktober 2020
Director: Adam Randall
Cast: Helen Hunt (Mad About You, What Women Want), Jon Tenney (True Detective, Legion), Judah Lewis (It, It Chapter Two), Owen Teague (It, It Chapter Two)

In a perfect town filled with perfect families, twelve-year-old Justin Whitter has gone missing. Greg Harper (Jon Tenney), lead investigator on the case, struggles to balance the pressures of the investigation which has brought to attention a similar case thought to be buried in the past, while finding a way to forgive his well-heeled wife, Jackie (Helen Hunt), for a recent infidelity. Great strain is put on the family as Jackie’s guilt slowly gnaws away at her grip on reality, and when a malicious presence manifests itself and puts their young son, Connor (Judah Lewis), in mortal danger, the cold, hard truth about evil in the Harper household is finally uncovered.

Reviews
  • NRC.nl: Na drie kwartier mysterie begint I See You namelijk antwoorden te geven: dit is zo’n film die om zijn eigen as draait in plaats van lineair door de tijd te bewegen. Alles begint opnieuw, nu vanuit een ander oogpunt en met gevorderd inzicht. Waarna we de finale ingaan met gekantelde sympathieën.
    Het is een mechaniek dat – mits vlekkeloos geschreven, uitgevoerd en gemonteerd – uitermate bevredigend is. Je bekijkt de puzzelstukjes van alle kanten tot ze op hun plek vallen. En na afloop wil je de film nog eens zien, om te kijken welke hints je onderweg hebt gemist. Lees de hele review hier.
  • Volkskrant.nl: Regisseur Adam Randall speelt vakkundig met de klassieke horrorfilmiconografie.
  • Parool.nl: Een geslaagde thriller waarin debuterend scenarioschrijver Devon Graye een spectaculaire haarspeldbocht neemt en de film als een inventieve kronkelplotthriller verder gaat.
  • Filmdomein.nl: I See You is een verrassende thriller met een ijzersterk, gelaagd en goed opgebouwd verhaal. Daarbij is de film misschien wel de beste en origineelste film die de bioscoop te bieden heeft bij de heropening na de Corona uitbraak.
  • DeNachtvlinders.nl: I See You maakt op interessant wijze gebruik van meerdere genres en tijdsprongen.
  • DeGroeneAmsterdammer.nl: Dit verhaal bevat twee of drie plotwendingen waar je nog dagenlang van wakker zal liggen. Pas wanneer het laatste masker wordt afgedaan, gaat er een licht aan. Dan pas blijkt hoe eng deze film werkelijk is.
  • Filmtotaal.nl: Het script zit bijzonder goed in elkaar. De camera draagt met zijn langzame sluipende bewegingen bij aan een fantastische enge sfeer. Het gebeurt namelijk niet vaak dat genreclichés op zo'n kundige wijze worden doorbroken.
  • Variety.com: An eerie suspense exercise that starts out looking like a supernatural tale — one of several viewer presumptions this cleverly engineered narrative eventually pulls the rug out from under.
  • TheHollywoodReporter.com: A twist-heavy crime thriller spiced with horror and noir elements, I See You is such a finely crafted exercise in slow-burn suspense.
  • Latimes.com: It's rare to see a horror film so devoted to intricate plot mechanics and so concerned with driving to a satisfying payoff.
  • Theverge.com: For people who specifically prize meticulous story-craft and the ability to dodge broad genre clichés, I See You is a rare gift. It's a tension experience that gives way to a long series of narrative surprises and payoffs, some of which viewers may not even realize they were primed to want until they arrive at the moment.
  • Slantmagazine.com: The film's tone is extremely eerie, with creeping camera movements, striking imagery, abrupt edits, and a delicately sinister score by William Arcane.
  • Rogersmovienation.com: Well-acted, cleverly-plotted and directed with extra attention being paid to tone, menace and hiding its secrets. Taut, smart and satisfying.
  • Culturecrypt.com: You may wish to prepare for a ‘creepy crawly’ movie that is utterly terrifying in its home invasion implications.

The Lockdown Hauntings

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 20 mei 2021
Director: Howard J. Ford
Cast: Tony Todd (The Man from Earth, The Rock), Angela Dixon (Never Let Go)

With the streets empty, free from activity of humans and machines, spirits are freer than ever before. The ghost of a notorious serial killer begins prowling for young women isolated and alone in Lockdown. With more potential victims than ever before, can the paranormal experts and detectives prevent more young women from becoming further victims of The Lockdown Hauntings?

Reviews

Film is nog niet uitgebracht, nog geen reviews beschikbaar.

The Lookalike

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 12 augustus 2014
Director: Richard Gray
Cast: Luis Guzmn (The Last Stand, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Anger Management ), Gillian Jacobs (Hot Tub Time Machine 2, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World), Scottie Thompson (Star Trek: The Future Begins, Skyline, NCIS), Jerry O'Connell (Veronica Mars, Scary Movie 5, Jerry Maguire), Gina Gershon (Killer Joe, P.S. I Love You, Showgirls, Inconceivable), Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard, Drag Me to Hell, He's Just Not That Into You), John Corbett (Northern Exposure, Sex and the City 2, United States of Tara)

Drug-lord William Spinks has a curious obsession with the beautiful Sadie Hill and uses gangster friends Bobby and Frank to get to her. But when Sadie's murder jeopardizes their profitable arrangement, the two gangsters risk their lives to find a lookalike replacement before Spinks discovers the truth.

Reviews
  • 1nfluxmagazine.com: Director Richard Gray has outdone himself with his latest effort, with no small thanks to scriptwriter Michele Davis-Gray. And backed by such a strong and experienced cast, it's no surprise The Lookalike turned out so entertaining. It was good seeing the prolific John Savage and Scarface co-star Steven Bauer back on form. Another reason I had such a fun time with this somewhat busy film, was down to the fact everyone knew not to take anything too seriously and simply enjoy the ride, as I suggest you also do. Highly entertaining!
  • Cinemadeviant.com: complex, full of suspense and had plenty of thrills with a great group of actors.

M.F.A.

Thriller
Available on VOD: 8 februari 2018
Director: Natalia Leite
Cast: Francesca Eastwood (Heroes Reborn, Final Girl. Old), Clifton Collins Jr. (Pacific Rim, Star Trek), Leah McKendrick (Bad Moms), Peter Vack (Mozart in the Jungle)

Noelle, an art student struggling to find her voice, is sexually assaulted by a fellow classmate. Attempting to cope with her trauma, she impulsively confronts her attacker, leading to a violent altercation that culminates in his accidental death. Noelle tries to return to normalcy, but when she discovers that she is only one of many silenced sexual assault survivors on campus, she takes justice into her own hands. A vigilante is born - retribution is the inspiration she’s been waiting for.

Reviews
  • Variety.com: Francesca Eastwood delivers a tough, eye-opening performance in the lead role, and her character’s vengeance packs a cathartic punch.
  • LaTimes.com: Eastwood is absolutely riveting, inhabiting a true violent vigilante worth rooting for.
  • ScreenAnarchy.com: A hard-hitting thriller. Nightmares are made of this.
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: Lethal vengeance is a potent muse in M.F.A.
  • ChicagoReader.com: In the lead role, Francesca Eastwood takes after her father, Clint: she's magnetic and convincing as a vigilante.
  • Thehollywoodnews.com: Eastwood shines like the star she is destined to be.
  • Nofilm.school.com: Natalie Leite's rape-revenge thriller stars a riveting Francesca Eastwood seeking vigilante justice. 
  • Culturecrypt.com: On its surface, “M.F.A.” satiates appetites for slasher suspense with gruesome visual gusto to match psychological intensity percolating underneath. Though suggestive insight into cause and effect regarding all radiating crimes is where the movie really makes it mark, haunting the head with provocative questions while hitting hard in the heart with righteous rage.
  • Bloody-disgusting.com: M.F.A. is intensely engaging, thought-provoking, and also mesmerizing. Aided by Eastwood’s dynamic performance (her emotional range is uncanny), M.F.A is an empowering film that’s just as enlightening. 
  • Assholeswqatchingmovies.com: Eastwood is INTENSE in M.F.A. Like, maybe more intense than her father has ever been.
  • Cinemaslaher.com: MFA is a heartbreaking gut-punch that takes the subgenre and elevates it to another level. This one promises to be polarizing due to its unique take on such a harsh subject matter, but it’s a damn fine film.
  • Dailydead.com: Anchored by a career-making performance by Eastwood, M.F.A. shook me to my core in a way that I wasn’t expecting.
  • TheHollywoodOutsider.com: Not since The Accused has a movie perfectly captured a topic as toxic as M.F.A. does here, and no film at SXSW this year moved me as passionately to push a conversation forward as much as this one. Anchored by a genre-defying performance from Francesca Eastwood, M.F.A. deserves to land at the top of your must-see list. 
  • Weliveentertainmant.com: Franchesca Eastwood’s performance is utterly spectacular. She carries the film on her shoulders and nails every scene she’s in, while also having this odd likeability to her that isn’t typical for modern day protagonists. Even when Noelle goes into full blown violent vigilante mode, Eastwood never loses sight of who the character of Noelle is. Her quietness, minor quips of humor and all around intentions are expertly balanced by Eastwood, making herself instantly the next big thing in the industry.

Malicious

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 6 september 2018
Director: Michael Winnick
Cast: Josh Stewart (Insidious: The Last Key, The Dark Knight Rises), Bojana Novakovic (Edge of Darkness,, Drag Me To Hell, I Tonya), Delroy Lindo (Gone in Sixty Seconds, Sahara), Melissa Bolona (The Hurricane Heist), Yvette Yates (Inherent Vice)

A young college professor Adam (Josh Stewart), and his pregnant wife Lisa (Bojana Novakovic) nd and open an antique box when moving into their new home. After an unexpected tragedy befalls them Lisa starts being plagued by visions and hauntings that convince her there'is something evil in the house. Adam, though sympathetic is convinced she must be having a nervous breakdown. It is only when Adam calls upon Dr Clark (Delroy Lindo) a professor of parapsychology at the university that the true horror of what they have let out becomes clear. The opening of the box has unleashed a malevolent entity that will stop at nothing until it satisfies its murderous intentions.

Reviews
  • Crypticrock.com: good camerawork and sound, fair twists, and fine pacing.
  • Heavenofhorror.com: A very pleasant surprise.
  • Fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com: This is the kind of horror that's going to hit you where you're most vulnerable, then dig in deeper just because.

Maneater

Thriller
Available on VOD: 26 september 2022
Director: Justin Lee
Cast: Nicky Whelan (Hall Pass, Neighbours), Shane West (Here Alone, Gotham), Jeff Fahey (Lost, Alita Battle Angel), Trace Adkins (The Lincoln Lawyer)

While on vacation in an island paradise, a group of friends are stalked by an unrelenting large shark after an accident leaves them stranded.

Reviews
  • Voicesfromthebalcony.com: keeps you amused.
  • Aisleseat.com: Shows the carnage in stomach-churning detail.
  • Austinchronicle.com: There are enough shark movie enthusiasts out there that Maneater should find its audience.
  • Nycmovieguru.com: Maneater does have some very gory scenes.
  • Moviefreak.com: a flesh-eating nightmare.

Manhattan Nocturne

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 25 augustus 2016
Director: Brian DeCubellis
Cast: Adrien Brody (Midnight in Paris, The Pianist, The Darjeeling Limited), Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter, Killer Elite, The Handmaid's Tale), Jennifer Beals (Flashdance, The Book of Eli, Runaway Jury), Campbell Scott (The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2, The Exorcism of Emily Rose)

Porter Wren is a Manhattan tabloid writer with an appetite for scandal. On the beat he sells murder, tragedy, and anything that passes for the truth. At home, he is a dedicated husband and father. But when Caroline, a seductive stranger asks him to dig into the unsolved murder of her filmmaker husband Simon, he is drawn into a very nasty case of sexual obsession and blackmail--one that threatens his job, his marriage, and his life.

Based on the New York Times Notable Book of the Year by Colin Harrison.

Reviews
  • Nytimes.com: Adrien Brody is an actor who knows what he's good at. And in "Manhattan Night," a classic film noir set in contemporary New York, his character, Porter Wren, is a scuttling tabloid columnist ensnared in an elaborate story of deception, blackmail, murder and sexual duplicity. In its complexity and zest for evil, the plot rivals that of "Chinatown."
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: A largely enjoyable neo-noir.
  • Theguardian.com: Adrien Brody plays a crime columnist mixed up with a femme fatale in a steamy drama that manages to entertain.
  • AVClub.com: The most compelling character is an eccentric, extravagantly acclaimed film director, Simon Crowley (Campbell Scott), who is seen only in flashbacks tied to his habit of videotaping, sometimes surreptitiously, his encounters with strangers and loved ones alike. There's something disturbing and recognizably contemporary about Simon's DV fetish, and Scott, always a fascinating actor, has the stare of a true voyeur. In its best scenes, the film plays with the tension between its antagonist's insatiable need to transform real life into melodrama and its own relentless narrative gamesmanship. The script plays keep-away with the audience, and the mystery being withheld is so truly, luridly tantalizing that it's almost disappointing that the filmmakers give it up at all.
  • Screenspotlight.com: Brody has teamed with director/screenwriter Brian DeCubellis to make a movie that is spellbinding from the first frame and well-beyond its last. Manhattan Night may be labeled as film noire but to assign only one descriptive characterization to this movie is a misstep. Only a flourishing crowd of adjectives and adverbs will draw out the near perfection that is Manhattan Night. Movie lovers, feast your eyes on the macabre dance that is Manhattan Night and quench your appetites for a movie whose nose is always to the grindstone. Let Adrien Brody take you on a journey into the unknown.
  • Cutprint.film: Brody is one of the more interesting actors working today, and he gives the part his all, bringing an appropriate weariness and foolishness to his part as we watch him get suckered into one problem after another.
  • Azcentral.com: Modern-day film noir is an engrossing showcase for Brody and newbie writer-director Brian DeCubellis. it pulls you in its web, which gets increasingly dense and tangled. Brody's journo is an engaging presence, and the actor knows how to make the wisecracking dialogue snap.

Masquerade

Thriller
Available on VOD: 10 februari 2022
Director: Shane Dax Taylor
Cast: Bella Thorne (Scream, The Duff), Austin Nichols (The Day After Tomorrow, The Walking Dead), Alyvia Alyn Lind (Overboard, The Young and the Restless), Mircea Monroe (The Change-Up)

AVAILABLE IN 4K.
Eleven-year-old Casey is home alone -- until a group of intruders, led by Rose, breaks in. They plan to steal her family's priceless collection of artworks, but their reckless ambition is outmatched only by Rose's opportunism. As the stakes grow even higher, Casey now finds herself in a fight for her life as the invaders prove they'll stop at nothing to get what they want.

Reviews
  • Action-flix.com: an exceptionally good film populated by solid performances, tight and suspenseful direction, and a clever finale.
  • Bulletproofaction.com: Masquerade is a lot of fun, and it brings a lot of thrills and chills with its pace and mood music.
  • Moviefreak.com: some will come away suitably shocked and impressed!
  • Nightmarishconjurings.com: exciting storyline.

MethGator

Action, Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 18 april 2024
Director: Christopher Ray
Cast: LaRonn Marzett, Vanesa Tamayo, Bruce Peoples

In a news bulletin, police warned residents to refrain from flushing methamphetamine down the toilet to prevent “meth-gators.” Down in Sweet Water Point, Florida, they didn’t listen...

Night Hunter

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 2 januari 2020
Director: David Raymond
Cast: Henry Cavill (Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Man of Steel), Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Shutter Island, Operation Finale), Alexandra Daddario (San Andreas, Percy Jackson, Baywatch), Brendan Fletcher (RV, Arrow), Stanley Tucci (Big Night, Spotlight, A Private War), Minka Kelly (Titans, (500) Days of Summer)

When police trap online predator Simon Stulls, they soon realize that the extent of his crimes go far beyond that of his own psychological trauma. Nothing quite makes sense, that is until people involved in the case, on both sides of the law, start getting murdered...

Reviews
  • Filmliefhebber.com: Night Hunter is dan ook zeker een kijkbeurt waard.
  • NWTV.nl: Een sterke politiethriller met uitstekend acteerwerk en een verrassend plot.
  • Moviemeter.nl: Het speelfilmdebuut van David Raymond mag er wezen. Op een paar schoonheidsfoutjes na weet hij een degelijke thriller neer te zetten, die af en toe zelfs doet denken aan genregenoot Se7en en aanverwanten. Ondanks dat veel enigszins bekend aandoet, wordt je als kijker toch een paar keer op het verkeerde been gezet.
  • Backseatmafia.com: Night Hunter is an entertaining ride into dark heart of evil.
  • Empire.com: promising ideas and an impressive cast.
  • Nytimes.com: Fletcher’s slobbering performance has to be seen to be believed.
  • Hollywoodreporter.com:  Fletcher provides an intensely focused performance as the mentally and emotionally debilitated suspect.
  • Radiotimes.com: Kingsley provides gravitas and even a few chills as the vigilante, particularly when he's meting out his own excruciating brand of justice.
  • JBSpins.blogspot.com: Succeeds quite nicely as a work of dark suspense. Recommended for fans of psycho-killer thrillers.

No Way Up

Thriller
Available on VOD: 14 maart 2024
Director: Claudio Fh
Cast: Sophie McIntosh, Will Attenborough (Dunkirk), Colm Meaney (Law Abiding Citizen, Seberg), Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey)

Ava is hoping for a peaceful getaway with friends in the resort town of Cabo, Mexico. But when the plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean and comes to rest on the edge of an underwater ravine, Ava and a handful of survivors are trapped in the airlocked cabin. Against the odds, Ava must fend for herself, contend with bloodthirsty sharks, and find the courage to step up and lead the crash survivors to safety.

Reviews
  • Filmschoolrejects.com: You’re likely to be pleasantly surprised by its personality, thrills, and resourcefulness.
  • Fangirlish.com: This is peak cinema that didn’t take itself too seriously and opened the doorway for sequels.
  • Culturess.com: What appealed to me in the movie was the strong dynamic between three compelling female characters. Another highlight is the plane accident itself.
  • Aisleseat.com: You’ll be entertained by all the unapologetic mayhem in No Way Up. It is what it is – a cheerfully implausible thrill ride.
  • Times-herald.com: A silly night out at the movies, it will be unnerving and even frightening in places.
  • Blu-ray.com: Capable of raising hell, especially in such a claustrophobic setting.

De Openbaring

Drama, Thriller
Available on VOD: 5 mei 2022
Director: Chris W. Mitchell
Cast: Victor Lw (Prooi, Michiel de Ruyter, Flikken Rotterdam), Monic Hendrickx (Penoza, Ferry), Leny Breederveld (De Luizenmoeder, Vliegende Hollanders)
(only available in Dutch)

ANGST EN LIEFDE IN TIJDEN VAN COVID-19

Nadat hij zijn baan is kwijtgeraakt trekt Jacob tijdens de eerste corona-lockdown in bij zijn moeder, waarna hij onder invloed raakt van een complottheoreticus en langzaam maar zeker doordraait.

Reviews
  • Horrorfuel.com: Terrific performance by star Victor Löw. [His] gripping lead performance is reason enough to seek out this character study of a psychologically and emotionally troubled man on his descent into full-blown madness, but viewers will find plenty of other reasons to be fascinated with it, as well.  
  • De Volkskrant: "Een smakelijk vervormde uitvergroting van de huiselijke lockdownhel. Victor Löw is indrukwekkend krankjorum als de man die met de beste intenties tot doodenge mondkapjesmaniak transformeert." ****. Lees de hele review hier.
  • De Filmkrant: Löw, die de film met verve draagt, ziet er op een gegeven moment uit als een soort kolonel Kurtz die de jungle probeert te bedwingen die de buitenwereld in coronatijd is geworden. Jacob oogt ook als een pakkende metafoor voor al die mensen die aan het begin van de pandemie in fake news tuinden. Opnieuw blijkt dat de genrefilm zich uitstekend leent voor wonderlijke en kritische blikken op de samenleving. Lees de hele review hier.
  • Film Vandaag: De openbaring is een thriller die in staat is je de hele tijd ongemakkelijk te laten voelen. Maar De openbaring is bovenal een masterclass filmmaken. ****. Lees de hele review hier.
  • Nachtvlinders: Een Nederlandse productie die zó sterk is heb ik niet vaak gezien en we mogen hier als Nederlanders trots op zijn. Hulde aan de makers en ga deze film zeker kijken. Vif sterren! Lees de hele review hier.

Piercing

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 7 februari 2019
Director: Nicolas Pesce
Cast: Christopher Abbott (It Comes at Night, James White), Mia Wasikowska (Alice Through the Looking Glass, Only Lovers Left Alive), Laia Costa

Reed (Christopher Abbott) is going on a business trip. He kisses his wife and infant son goodbye, but in lieu of a suitcase filled with clothes, he's packed a toothbrush and a murder kit. Everything is meticulously planned: check into a hotel and kill an unsuspecting victim. Only then will he rid himself of his devious impulses and continue to be a good husband and father. But Reed gets more than he bargained for with Jackie (Mia Wasikowska), an alluring call girl who arrives at his room. First, they relax and get in the mood, but when there’s an unexpected disruption, the balance of control begins to sway back and forth between the two. Is he seeing things? Who's playing whom? Before the night is over, a feverish nightmare will unfold, and Reed and Jackie will seal their bond in blood.


Based on the critically acclaimed cult novel by Ryu Murakami, Director Nicolas Pesce (The Eyes of My Mother, Sundance 2016) blends psychological horror with comedy and stylish neo-noir, resulting in a sly take on the fantasy of escape and the hazards of modern romance.
Reviews
  • IFFR.com: Zelfs Freud doet zijn intrede in dit onvoorspelbare, seksueel geladen duel, dat zowel een dodelijke krachtmeting als een bevrijdende loutering zou kunnen zijn. Is dit wat zich afspeelt achter die anonieme vensters van de gestileerde stadsgezichten die het decor vormen?
  • Schokkendnieuws.nl: Wasikowska in het bijzonder is fantastisch: grillig, onvoorspelbaar, kwetsbaar en angstaanjagend tegelijkertijd.
  • Moviemeter.nl: Al vanaf de miniatuur-flatgebouwen tijdens de opening weet je dat je met iets bijzonders te maken hebt. De film omvat een ijzingwekkend kat- en muisspel tussen de twee goed acterende hoofdrolspelers Christopher Abbott en Mia Wasikowska. De genres vliegen je om de oren, maar het houdt ergens midden tussen een prachtig vormgegeven psychologische thriller en een gitzwarte komedie. Hele review hier.
  • TheHollywoodReporter.com: A nail-biter whose sick premise conceals a stranger agenda. Stars Christopher Abbott and Mia Wasikowska go a long way toward keeping this tricky pic balanced, though Pesce's knowing use of sleazy-Seventies vibe (following the distinctive b&w spareness of The Eyes of My Mother, his only previous feature) creates the perfect world for them to do it in.
  • Variety.com: An orderly murder takes a twist in Nicolas Pesce's stunning black comedy.The film is expertly crafted with jewel-toned cinematography, terrifically sleazy saxophone music, and performances by Abbott and Wasikowska that take turns seizing command.
  • JoBlo.com: Both main actors are perfectly suited to their roles. Waskikowska continues to make a career out of playing seemingly vulnerable yet potentially very dangerous women, so she and Jackie are an ideal match. Abbott has the unenviable task of making Reed someone we end up caring about. 8/10.
  • Culturefix.co.uk: Piercing is a cinematic assault that firmly establishes Pesce as one of the genre's most exciting filmmakers. This twisted psycho-sexual body horror amuses with its obscene black comedy, repels with its gruesome brutality, and entrances with its aesthetic bravado. 
Awards
  • Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival 2018: Winner International Critic's Award
  • Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival 2018: Winner Imaging the Future Award (Production Design)
  • Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival 2018: Nominee Best Feature Film
  • Rotterdam International Film Festival 2018: Nominee Tiger Award
  • Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival 2018: Nominee Best Film

Plastic

Action, Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 4 mei 2015
Director: Julian Gilbey
Cast: Ed Speleers (Downton Abbey, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Eragon), Will Poulter (The Revenant, We're the Millers, The Maze Runner), Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones, Atonement, John Wick), Emma Rigby (The Counselor, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland), Sebastian De Souza (The Borgias), Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, Stalingrad, Der Untergang, Eichmann)

High octane from start to finish, PLASTIC is based on the incredible true story of a heist of one of Beverly Hills' top jewelry merchants. Brilliant college student Sam has the perfect credit card scam...until his crew robs the wrong man. Now they have two weeks to repay ruthless gangster Marcel US$2 million or they will be dead. Sam and his team devise a scheme to clear their debt by heading to Miami to poach enough cash and merchandise. But they come up short. So Sam and his gang set their sights on a daring jewelry heist that could make them hugely wealthy for life. Their plan turns sour, however, when the team members start turning on each other. Now it's up to Sam to finish the brazen heist and turn the tables on Marcel before they all go down.

Reviews
  • Critics.associated.com: A great action film with some genuine comedy to it, and yet another opportunity to see Alfie Allen playing a heartless backstabber, Plastic exceeds the expectations.
  • Entertainment.ie: Gibley, who impressed with the dark A Lonely Place To Die, does rally the troops for the final half hour.
  • Britflicks.com: High octane thriller PLASTIC tells the story of intelligent and brazen Sam (Ed Speleers), who leads a ring of university students to become credit card thieves in order to augment their income. When 'Plastic' ends you'll most likely scratch your head as to how such a super, fantastical crime flew below you news radar. With stick on moustaches, beards and wigs, it's like 'Catch Me If You Can' flung into the internet and mobile phone age.
  • Dailystar.co.uk: GREAT performances and a witty script combine to make this one of the better British crime capers of recent years. Director Julian Gilbey (A Lonely Place To Die, Rise Of The Foot Soldier) has a lot of fun with way it's set up and he has a ball with it when it's being executed.The plot, which is supposedly based on a true story but plays out like an episode of Hustle, is deliciously twisty. But it's the clever dialogue and a dastardly turn from Allen that really makes it tick.

Pledge

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 21 april 2019
Director: Daniel Robbins
Cast: Zachery Byrd, Phillip Andre Botello, Aaron Dalla Villa, Cameron Cowperthwaite

Three nerdy college freshmen, Ethan, David, and Justin, are having a tough time adjusting to college life. Rejected and ridiculed by just about every fraternity on campus, they are prepared to give up all hope. That is, until a beautiful girl invites them off campus to a party at a secluded mansion.

They are not only invited in, but are treated like princes by the resident brothers. The party is everything they dreamed college would be—beautiful women, drinking, and most importantly, a cool group of guys willing to accept them as one of their own.

When the freshmen are presented with an opportunity to pledge the elite social club, they accept without hesitation. However, as the gruesome, dehumanizing hazing progresses, a more sinister picture of the club emerges.

Reviews
  • Moviemeter.nl:  Er wordt degelijk gefilmd, goed geregisseerd en de schare gore weet prima te werken. Hele review hier.
  • De Nachtvlinders: Mijn mening over ontgroeningen en studentenverenigingen zal ik hier niet poneren, maar misschien zegt het genoeg dat ik de tweede helft van de film met een grote grijns op mijn gezicht heb zitten kijken. Pledge is een bescheiden, maar zeer vermakelijke thriller. Hele review hier.
  • Imagine Film Festival: Alles werkt binnen de eenvoudige opzet van deze film. De opbouw, de personages, de horror en de ontknoping – het is allemaal heel goed gedaan. Meer info hier.
  • Bloody-disgusting.com: For those that like their thrillers fast and warped, Pledge is an entertaining take on a familiar story. Partying, torture, death, and dark humor makes for a fun and sometimes gruesome watch.
  • Ukfilmreview.co.uk: Phenomenally well balanced and containing outstanding performances across the board, this is incredible horror/thriller filmmaking.
  • Thehollywoodnews.com: Pledge offers a fresh spin on the horrors of pledge life through this new genre angle. This film is a bloody and brutal burst of masculinity that packs a punch.
  • Cinemaslasher.com: Pledge is paced perfectly, with many of the sequences unfolding in real time, which adds a suspenseful urgency to the film.
  • Culturecrypt.com:  a clear-cut slash of traditional thrills biting off only what it can chew with entertainingly sharp teeth.
  • Nightmarishconjurings.com: A brilliantly crafted thriller.
  • Haddonfieldhorror.com: Equal parts intoxicating and nauseating.
  • Pophorror.com: Utterly insane and one hell of a ride.
  • Thatmomentin.com: A grueling and brutal rollercoaster ride.
  • Adamthemoviegod.com: A masterclass of gritty independent cinema, sure to go down as one of the best independent films of 2018.
  • Dailygrindhouse.com:  The film is gorgeously shot, a nasty piece of work to show off to your friends so that you can watch them cringe, and with the tight runtime, you just go in, get your hands and soul messy, and get out. A cutthroat, grueling experience.
  • Dreadcentral.com: With the insane incidents that happen to the guys in this film, I feared if the overall concept of this movie had ever been done for an actual pledge.
  • Filmthreat.com: Watching Pledge, I almost felt like I had found the loophole in the system and discovered that it doesn't take a big budget or a recognizable IP to sell a ticket. I was wholly entertained from the start to the finish.
  • Eyeforfilm.co.uk: a solid little horror movie with plentiful unpleasantness.Filmpulse.net: A solidly crafted thriller.
  • Modernhorrors.com: A Mean and Disgusting Home Run of a Horror Film. Don’t miss this one.
  • Nightmarishconjurings.com: A fantastic thriller that kept me entertained and on edge throughout its entire duration, and even surprised me at the end.
  • Slashfilm.com: Pledge stakes its genre claim on fruitless anger, merciless abuse and satirical wit concerning what we're willing to do for popularity.

Radius

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 4 januari 2018
Director: Caroline Labrche, Steeve Lonard
Cast: Diego Klattenhoff (The Blacklist, Pacific Rim), Charlotte Sullivan (Chicago Fire, Defendor)

Liam wakes from a car crash with no memory of who he is. As he makes his way into town to look for help, he finds only dead bodies, all with strange pale eyes. Liam's first assessment is that a virus is present in the air, but he soon discovers the horrible truth: anyone who comes within a 50-foot radius of him dies instantly.

Reviews
  • SciFiNow.co.uk: Radius is a slow-burn moral parable, driving its high-concept premise towards a final reveal that is not only genuinely satisfying, but might well have viewers heading back several times.
  • Britflicks.com: an original and haunting sci-fi nightmare that riffs on storytelling techniques used by Christopher Nolan in Memento (2000). It cleverly subverts all expectations of traditional murder mysteries through a slow burning psychological drama that succeeds because the filmmakers are able to deliver the seemingly complicated, and competing story strands together into in to a satisfying resolution.
  • Eyeforfilm.co.uk: Initially stilted acting (entirely appropriate given the characters' situation) gives way to powerful work in the final scenes. For those possessed of a healthy respect for mystery in its own right. it's a treat.
  • HeYuGuys.com: Horror hounds, sci-fi fans and even just those chasing a good old-fashioned mystery will find a lot to love in Radius. There’s no denying that Radius fully delivers on what is easily one of the most unique core concepts of the year.
  • Liveforfilm.com: A Best of FrightFest, Radius is a smart emotional laid back flashback sci-fi mystery drama with an awesome payoff that you will not see coming and that will break your heart. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
  • Nerdly.co.uk: Radius manages to leave its audience asking deep, meaningful, philosophical questions about life, humanity, whether we can ever escape our past, and if our past can, and should, dictate our future… Oh, and did I mention that ending. That ending! Let’s just say it’s not often a genre films conclusion can bring you to tears. Another superb slice of Canadian genre cinema, Radius should be on the radar of horror fans everywhere. One of the true surprises of this years Frightfest.
  • Thefilmgrump.blogspot.nl: An interesting, clever Sci-Fi film, one that I hope finds its audience as it is a very good film indeed. A favourite from FrightFest, this is highly recommended.
  • Whenitwascool.com: With Radius, Lábrèche and Léonard serve up a genre film that offers intelligent psychological drama and disquieting twists that hold up until the impact of the finale.  It’s an intelligent effort that will intrigue, excite, and disturb viewers.

Righteous Thieves

Thriller
Available on VOD: 6 april 2023
Director: Anthony Nardolillo
Cast: Cam Gigandet (Priest, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn II, Easy A), Jaina Lee Ortiz (Shooter, Station 19), Lisa Vidal (Shameless, Star Trek - The Future Begins)

Annabel Gomez is the CEO of an organization simply known as the Syndicate. Its objective, to return stolen artwork, plundered by Nazis during the Holocaust and World War II. When Annabel learns the whereabouts of four paintings that once belonged to her mentor and Holocaust survivor, Josef, she assembles a team of thieves to steal the paintings back.

With the help of her right-hand-man, grifter Eddie, hacker Lucille, safe-cracking locksmith Nadia, and the wildcard streetfighter Bruno, the team must break into a heavily guarded and protected, downtown L.A. high-rise owned by Neo-Nazi, billionaire oligarch Otto. Unable to afford another botched heist, Annabel must risk everything, including her own team, in order to keep her deathbed promise to Josef to give back to the world what has been stolen.

Reviews
  • Acinetvreview.com: a worthy story of revenge and redemption.
  • Cupofteacritiques.com: An entertaining story about a team of mostly longtime friends coming together to recover valuable paintings. It would not be surprising if Righteous Thieves morphed into a sequel or two.
  • Lylesmoviefiles.com: From the pulse pounding hip hop soundtrack, the diverse group of experts, wild action and a pompous scumbag villain itching to get taken down several pegs, it’s obvious that Righteous Thieves studied at the prestigious Academy of Fast and Furious School of Action Filmmaking.
  • Nycmovieguru.com: Slick editing and maintains a fast pace.

The Ritual Killer

Thriller
Available on VOD: 10 maart 2023
Director: George Gallo
Cast: Morgan Freeman (The Dark Knight Rises, Se7en), Cole Hauser (Olympus Has Fallen, Yellowstone), Peter Stormare (Fargo, John Wick Chapter 2)

Detective Boyd, unable to process the death of his daughter, embarks on a hunt for a serial killer who murders according to a brutal tribal ritual: Muti. The only person who can help Boyd is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist who hides an unspeakable secret. The line between sanity and madness thins as Boyd goes deeper into the killer’s world.

Reviews
  • Aarcflick.blogspot.com: One of the most striking aspects of the film is its cinematography. The film is shot in a dark and atmospheric style that perfectly captures the tension and terror of the story.
  • Bibles.n7nz.org: Edge of your seat action-filled.
  • Jbspins.com: Gives viewers something to remember.
  • Moviesr.net: If you think you can handle the details and you got the stomach for it, you should curl up on your sofa and give this movie a go!

Run Hide Fight

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 8 april 2021
Director: Kyle Rankin
Cast: Thomas Jane (The Expanse, Before I Wake, The Thin Red Line), Isabel May (Young Sheldon), Radha Mitchell (Man On Fire, The Chronicles of Riddick, Olympus Has Fallen), Barbara Crampton (You're Next, Re-Animator), Treat Williams (Drunk Parents)

Zoe is a high school girl facing graduation while still reeling from her mother’s death. In her spare time, she goes hunting with her ex-special forces father, Todd (Thomas Jane), and hangs out with her friend, Lewis. Unfortunately for Zoe, on a regular school day, four armed assailants lay siege to her high school, crashing into the cafeteria with a van, killing several students and taking even more hostage. Now, Zoe needs to use her wits and survival skills to fight for her life, and those of her classmates, against a group of live-streaming school shooters.

Reviews
  • TheHollywoodReporter.com: slick and compulsively watchable.
  • ScreenDaily.com: Going full on for thrills and suspense, it’s undeniably polished and energetic, and features a couple of strong performances from young stars Isabel May and Eli Brown.
  • Variety.com:  an immersive, sensation-based work.

Savage Salvation

Thriller
Available on VOD: 14 september 2023
Director: Randall Emmett
Cast: Robert De Niro (The War with Grandpa, The Irishman, Joker), John Malkovich (Ava, Deepwater Horizon, Bird Box), Jack Huston (The Irishman, Fargo (series), Ben-hur), Dale Dickey (Hell or High Water, Winter's Bone)

Sheriff Church (Robert de Niro) and Detective Zeppelin strive to keep the peace in their rough town, where residents' only two interests are the church or oxycodone.

Newly engaged Shelby John (Jack Huston) and Ruby Red want a fresh start. They decide to have a family together and get clean, with the support of Peter, Ruby's brother-in-law (John Malkovich). However Shelby discovers his beloved Ruby dead on their porch before she could fulfill her final wish: to be baptized in the river and washed away from her past sins.

Filled with fiery rage, Shelby embarks on a vengeful killing spree to right all the wrong done to Ruby by every link in the drug dealing chain. Armed with nothing but adrenaline and a nail gun, Shelby picks off dealers and junkies one by one until he gets to the top.

Sheriff Church and Detective Zeppelin must race against the clock to put an end to Shelby's vigilante justice before his fight with the crime lord Coyote (Quavo) turns the entire town into a bloodbath.

Reviews
  • Filmhype.com: Very respectable: the two protagonists in love are played by Willa Fitzgerald and by a feral and effective Jack Huston, while the two think about the tragic love story with final revenge. heavyweights of American cinema: the Oscar winner Robert De Niro (here in the role of the rough sheriff Church) and an unprecedented John Malkovich.
  • TheGuardian.com: Deliciously camp from De Niro and Malkovich.

Smiley Face Killers

Thriller
Available on VOD: 8 juli 2021
Director: Tim Hunter
Cast: Crispin Glover (American Gods, Alice In Wonderland), Ronen Rubinstein (Follow Me), Mia Serafino (Zeroville)

Based on horrific true events, Bret Easton Ellis (brilliant creator of AMERICAN PSYCHO) untwists this frightening tale in his unique style.

The story of handsome young soccer player Jake Graham (Ronan Rubinstein) who believes he is going insane, unable to shake the feeling of being stalked by something, by someone. His friends and everyone around him believe he’s just anxious and prone to paranoia but Jake is actually being followed by a small group of serial killers led by a deformed and terrifying “guru” (Crispin Glover). They abduct, torture and kill attractive male students and then float the corpses in water, leaving a smiley face as their signature. The perverse mind games advance and they force their newest prey into isolation as the Smiley Face Killers prepare for the ultimate sacrifice.

Reviews
  • Anygoodfilms.com: Smiley Face Killers is typically Bret Easton Ellis territory with his interest in LA lowlife, casual drugs use and extreme violence.
  • Bloodbrothersfilms.com: Ellis' words and plot make Smiley Face Killers definitely feel like a film based on his works.
  • Crypt-teaze.com: A collection of striking violence and shocking death scenes, with some nasty gore and effects to boot.
  • Culturecrypt.com: Puts the pedal to the floor for some hectic horror.
  • Horrorcultfilms.co.uk: Brutal images of animal violence.
  • Moviebabble.com: Genuinely has some gory thrills.
  • Screenrant.com: Well-put-together violence and gore scenes.

Spree

Thriller
Available on VOD: 4 maart 2021
Director: Eugene Kotlyarenko
Cast: Joe Keery (Stranger Things), Sasheer Zamata (I Feel Pretty), David Arquette (Never Been Kissed, Scream 4-5, Bone Tomahawk), Mischa Barton (The Sixth Sense, The O.C, Notting Hill)

Thirsty for a following, Kurt Kunkle is a rideshare driver who has figured out a deadly plan to go viral. As hisdisturbing live stream is absurdly embraced by the social media hellscape, a comedienne becomes ouronly hope to stop the rampage.

Reviews
  • RogerEbert.com: "Spree" brilliantly shows influencer culture for the totally demented lifestyle that it is.
  • Crookedmarquee.com: Darkly entertaining.
  • JoBlo.com: A charged-up thriller that will no doubt find an audience among genre fans, as well as Keery’s many fans off of "Stranger Things" who will get a kick out of him playing a role that’s both similar to Steve Harrington and starkly different. It’s a fun little film that’s well worth a look.
  • Rendyreviews.com: You can’t help but to watch and Keery’s performance has you at the edge of your seat. An immersive experience.
  • Austinchronicle.com: Keery has natural charisma, and is turning that to increasingly interesting ends.
  • Battleroyalewithcheese.com: Spree's abrasive style offers a darkly alluring condemnation of influencer culture driven by a career-best performance from Joe Keery.
  • Horrorbuzz.com: Spree is a worthwhile ride along with solid momentum and murderous mirth.
  • Collider.com: American Psycho update for the digital age.
  • HollywoodReporter.com: A serial-killer flick that couldn't possibly be more of its moment, Eugene Kotlyarenko's Spree sets the world's thirstiest wannabe influencer off on one final, lethal quest for followers. Stranger Things' sneakily charming Joe Keery gets the spotlight here, balancing the character's contradictory aspects (dork, fumbling people pleaser, psychopath) with ease.
  • Thrillist.com: a Bloody, Funny Ride Through Online Hell.

Stoker Hills

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 7 juli 2022
Director: Benjamin Louis
Cast: Tony Todd (The Man from Earth, The Rock), Steffani Brass (Six Feet Under), David Gridley (The Duff), Vince Hill-Bedford, William Lee Scott (The Magnificent Seven)

Three college students set out to film a horror movie for their final class project, but during filming something goes terribly wrong. They suddenly find themselves in a nightmare worse than they could have written. Luckily, some of the footage of their abduction is captured on a camera that is later found by two detectives. It’s now a race against time as the detectives must use clues in the video to rescue the students and uncover the identity of their kidnapper. As the detectives get closer to their location, they find themselves in the middle of a dense forest on the outskirts of Stoker Hills, and what they uncover is far worse than anything the town has ever seen.

Reviews
  • Voicesfromthebalcony.com: An offbeat and enjoyable mix of found footage and conventional footage as well as a mix of horror, thriller and police procedural. A great job.
  • Carlosdev.wordpress.com: Enjoyable horror-thriller with a fair amount of gore and enough interest in the plot to keep one watching until the very end.
  • Taliesinttlg.blogspot.com: Definitely worth a watch.
  • Mybloodyreviews.com: Something different within the found-footage genre by actually having cops look into the footage that has been found and trace the missing youngsters.
  • Scaredsheepless.wordpress.com: If you are looking for something trying something new and not outstaying its welcome, you may well find something worthwhile within Stoker Hills.
  • Leisurebyte.com: The gratuitous amount of body horror and the blood and gore does push us to really be invested and be scared for the missing students. Twisty Story Keeps It Engaging.

Stowaway

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 8 juni 2023
Director: Declan Whitebloom
Cast: Ruby Rose (Orange is the New Black, John Wick 2), Frank Grillo (Avengers Endgame, Boss Level), Patrick Schwarzenegger (Zijn vader)

A troubled young woman inherits a yacht from her estranged father but it turns out to be a ruse for his ex-business partners to kidnap her and steal her new yacht in search of a hidden fortune.

Reviews
  • Thereviewgeek.com: Enjoyably if you’re looking for a movie to watch with your mates on a Friday night.
  • DVD-Fever.co.uk: Fun to watch.
  • Jbspins.com: Frank Grillo always elevates everything he appears in.Screenrant.com: Ruby Rose is convincing as a young woman trying to escape her confinement on the yacht. Just like the majority of her life, many hurdles have been stacked against her, but she finds a way to use her street smarts to escape a dangerous situation.
  • Viewsonfilm.com: Stowaway bleeds atmospherics as it fashions itself as a nippy, compact thriller.

Strange But True

Thriller
Available on VOD: 7 mei 2020
Director: Rowan Athale
Cast: Margaret Qualley (Seberg, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Nick Robinson (Love Simon, Jurassic World), Brian Cox (Churchill, Succession), Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone, Beautiful Boy), Greg Kinnear (House of Cards, Anchorman 2 - The Legend Continues)

Ronnie Chase dies tragically on the night of the school prom while his girlfriend Melissa survives. Five years later, Melissa turns up at the Chase household to tell the surviving members of his family that she is pregnant with his child. Though sceptical, they find themselves trying to prove her right, compelled by the resurfacing of their grief, only to discover that the truth is much more terrifying than they could have ever imagined.

Reviews
  • HollywoodReporter.com: An atmospheric thriller with a noir-ish undertow and strong visual style, Strange But True puts a classy spin on familiar ingredients. The twist-heavy, logic-bending plot will test audience patience in places, but the whole package is handsomely crafted and rich in strong performances from a seasoned ensemble cast led by Amy Ryan, Brian Cox, Blythe Danner and Greg Kinnear.
  • NYTimes.com: The tale is a jolting one, and the superb players do justice to the emotional distress of its characters. But a surer directorial hand might have yielded a more resonant experience.
  • RogerEbert.com: It's a pleasure to watch a movie that's told in complete, self-contained scenes with beginnings, middles and ends, and that doesn't lean on constant editorializing music and exposition dumps to create the illusion of excitement. Athale and Garcia are going for a lean-and-mean approach, and it works well.
  • Bloody-flicks.co.uk: The starry cast is all excellent, as you would expect from such a lineup, but special mention should go to Amy Ryan who conveys Charlene’s anger and grief with absolute conviction. This is first-rate stuff, and well worth 90 minutes of anyone’s time.
  • Doblu.com: Strange But True provides a provocative examination of coping with grief and loss, only to evolve into a surprisingly taut psychological thriller. Rowan Athale's movie is cleverly sad and haunting with a capable cast.
  • Eyeforfilm.co.uk: As the film digs into psychological stress, Athale crafts the sharp, unspoken parts of grief into shards that cut at his characters.
  • Filmintuition.com: Serving its phenomenal cast well as a strong dramatic showcase for the actors involved, Strange But True is anchored by that fiery trio and provides proof once again (and after the recent Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) that Andie MacDowell's daughter Margaret Qualley is the real deal.
  • Screendaily.com: Athale flirts with the visual language of horror even before the story takes a swerve into darker territory. A creepily photographed basement, the location of Blythe Danner’s laundry facilities, suggests that something malevolent is about to emerge into the story. And so it does – a truth so repulsive that it rapidly accrues a body count is launched into the action.
  • Nycmovieguru.com: a taut, provocative and moving psychological thriller.

Suddenly

Thriller
Available on VOD: 1 december 2013
Director: Uwe Boll
Cast: Dominic Purcell (Killer Elite, Prison Break), Ray Liotta (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Goodfellas), Erin Karpluk (Assault on Wall Street, Being Erica, Reasonable Doubt), Cole Coker, Michael Par (The Philadelphia Experiment, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Virgin Suicides)

The quaint mountain town of Suddenly is about to play host for a surprise visit from the President of the United States, who's passing through while on a fishing vacation in the area. As the local police force scrambles to prepare for the arrival of the leader of the free world, a team of Secret Service Agents ensures no stone is left unturned to ensure the President's safety. To make sure the President's visit goes without a hitch, the Secret Service enlists the town Sheriff and his deputies to assist them. Unknown to them, one of the Deputies is a grizzled vet who suffers from post-traumatic stress and doesn't take well to confrontation. It soon becomes clear the residents of this picturesque mountain town have a number of secrets they're rather keep hidden. Working against the clock to secure the area and keep the locals placated, a small house that overlooks the valley becomes a point of interest for the Secret Service. Its vantage point necessitates a quick inspection and a small team of Agents is sent calling. The owner of the house, a single mother, lives with her elderly father and young, rebellious son. The team of Agents invite themselves in and it soon becomes clear they have an ulterior agenda for the arrival of the President. Taking the family hostage at gunpoint, the Agents attempt to keep the family subdued and the Sheriff's men at bay until the arrival of the President – whom they intend to assassinate.

Reviews
  • 1nfluxmagazine.com: Another unexpectedly decent movie from Mr Uwe Boll. This is getting to become a habit! I would say this is the best I've seen from Uwe Boll.
  • MediaMikes.com: I have always had a sweet spot for Uwe Boll's film but this is definitely one of his best. It is well shot and packs some solid suspense.

Sugar Mountain

Thriller
Available on VOD: 6 juli 2017
Director: Richard Gray
Cast: Jason Momoa (Justice League, Aquaman, Game of Thrones, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Saw), Shane Coffey (Pretty Little Liars), Haley Webb (The Final Destination, Teen Wolf), Drew Roy (Falling Skies), Anna Hutchison (The Cabin in the Woods)

In a small town near the foot of the rugged Sugar Mountain, debt-ridden Miles Parnell hatches a simple plan to make money. Miles persuades girlfriend, Lauren, and brother, Liam, to help fake a disappearance in the wilderness. They'll make it look like
Liam murdered Miles because he was in love with Lauren, then when Miles returns they'll each have a story to sell; one about the brother who survived against all odds, and one about a loyal brother falsely accused of murder.

Miles goes into hiding on the icy mountain and the locals unite to rescue him. The weather turns bad and, the mountain, already home to bears and cougars, becomes even more treacherous. Soon the good people of Sugar Mountain are risking their lives for the sake of a hoax. However, Jim Huxley, the local cop, has always held Miles in disdain and is determined to prove the disappearance is fake. As he closes in on the truth, Liam scrambles to conceal the fraud. But in the process of keeping one secret, another is exposed that rocks him to the core.

And further complications threaten to derail the plan.

Liam really is in love with Lauren.

And Miles really does disappear.

Reviews
  • Filminquiry.com: Sugar Mountain is a penetrating look at how too many lies in a small town snowball into chaos, how even family can't always be trusted, and just as it is in real life, the numerous twists are surprisingly unpredictable.
  • Flickhunter.blogspot.nlL: The small ensemble cast hit the right beat for the piece as the plot unfurls right up to the climactic moment. The viewer will think that they're on top of the storyline early only to be faced with performances that challenge type. It's a physical, emotional, earnest tale that's well worth a watch.
  • Filmjournal.com: Richard Gray has crafted an engrossing, visually stunning crime thriller that looks like it cost many times that. Making full use of widescreen and of natural locations, Gray in his fifth feature conjures breathtaking images that never overwhelm an intimate story of two brothers in suffocating straits, and a simple plan that goes disastrously away.
  • Undertheradarmag.com: an unexpectedly entertaining, gratifying 106-minute adventure.

T.I.M.

Thriller
Available on VOD: 14 maart 2024
Director: Spencer Brown
Cast: Georgina Campbell ( Barbarian, Bird Box Barcelona), Mark Rowley (The Witcher - Blood Origin), Eamon Farren (The Witcher)

Abi and Paul find themselves sharing their state-of-the-art smart home with a Technologically Integrated Manservant.  Not only can T.I.M. cook and clean, he runs a perfect bath, administers heavenly foot massages, and offers impeccable compliments or immaculate words of comfort. Paul begins to suspect that T.I.M. is perhaps focused on attending to Abi’s every need. Just how far is T.I.M. willing to go?

Reviews
  • Backtothemovies.com: A scary glimpse into the future painting a very fast approaching and real reality with frightening consequences.
  • Cailloupettismoviereviews.com: The intriguing premise of T.I.M. explores the nuanced relationships between people and AI.
  • Filmcarnage.com: A solid, understated thriller, it’s engaging and uses a classic premise.
  • Moviesreview101.com: Uses the unsettling atmosphere created to keep us on edge, giving us another striking warning about A.I. introduced into the world.
  • Starburstmagazine.com: it does so well and is a worthy entry into the android-run-amok subgenre.
  • TheGuardian.com: a film about the perils of AI couldn’t be more timely.

Terminal

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 2 mei 2019
Director: Vaughn Stein
Cast: Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad, I Tonya), Simon Pegg (Star Wars Saga, Star Trek, Ready Player One, Hot Fuzz), Dexter Fletcher (Kick-Ass), Mike Myers (Bohemian Rhapsody, Austin Powers), Max Irons (The Wife, Condor)

In the dark heart of a sprawling, anonymous city, TERMINAL follows the twisting tales of two assassins carrying out a sinister mission, a teacher battling a fatal illness, an enigmatic janitor, and a curious waitress leading a dangerous double life. Murderous consequences unravel in the dead of night as their lives all intertwine at the hands of a mysterious criminal mastermind hell-bent on revenge.

Reviews
  • In.ign.com:  Margot Robbie’s found her niche in intelligent, yet manic characters who delight in their homicidal tendencies. Cold and calculating, this role trumps her comic book criminal thanks to a grounded performance and justifiable reasoning for the madness.
  • Theplaylist.net: It’s beautiful, if not brilliant, and fun to watch.
  • LAtimes.com: Robbie is fascinating to watch.
  • Eyeforfilm.co.uk: There's also Margot Robbie, whose film this is. Not just because she's got a producer credit, but because top and tail, ear to toe, she makes it. She's all the best things in the film, her ability to pivot (both figuratively and literally) made good use of in hauteur and heels, in pose and proposal, in all the ways so tragically underused by Suicide Squad.
  • Doblu.com: A dazzling swirl of color and light play, saturating this noir with superior abstract visuals.
  • Flickeringmyth.com: You can *never* go wrong with an unhinged Margot Robbie. Fitfully entertaining thanks largely to a scene-stealing, against-type performance from Simon Pegg.
  • Joblo.com: Quite fun to watch Robbie and Myers mug around in this type of movie.
  • UKFilmReview.co.uk: Their chemistry is odd and welcome, and Pegg's delivery is particularly impeccable.

There Are No Saints

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 9 juni 2022
Director: Alfonso Pineda Ulloa
Cast: Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Drive, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Brian Cox (Churchill, Succession), Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, The Hateful Eight), Paz Vega (Rambo Last Blood, Kill the Messenger), Neal McDonough (Minority Report, The 100), Jose Maria Yazpik

A man nicknamed "The Jesuit", is imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. When his wife is murdered and his son kidnapped and taken to Mexico, he devices an elaborate and dangerous plan to rescue his son and avenge the murder.

Reviews
  • Blu-ray.com: There Are No Saints is fixated on ugliness, which is a Schrader specialty, and he creates a particularly hostile world.
  • Eyeforfilm.co.uk: Not for the faint-heated.
  • Battleroyalewithcheese.com: A vintage cast of hard men, such as Tim Roth, Ron Perlman and Neal McDonough. Overall worth a watch if you want to see men, being MEN.
  • Highonfilms.com: It is the action that truly excels. The brutality of its execution and the resultant gore enhances the gritty vibe of the movie.
  • Jbspins.com: Recommended for fans of payback.
  • Nightsandweekends.com: With its heavy themes and sometimes gruesome violence, There Are No Saints isn’t the typical brainless action movie. But this story of a man fighting to save his son will definitely give you a lot to think about long after it’s over.
  • Slantmagazine.com: A Messy, Intoxicating Shot of B-Movie Adrenaline.

The Toll

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 20 mei 2021
Director: Michael Nader
Cast: Jordan Hayes, Max Topplin (Carrie), James McGowan (Total Recall, Suicide Squad), Rosemary Dunsmore (Orphan Black), Paul Kaye (After Life)

A socially awkward driver and a weary passenger they try to make it to their destination while being haunted by a supernatural threat.

Reviews
  • RogerEbert.com: The two leads, the great set-up, and the overall love for the genre embedded in every scene leads to an overall success.
  • Rue-morgue.com: Nader puts well-earned trust in his two leads, as Hayes and Topplin ably engage our sympathy and occasional suspicion as their characters’ situation keeps shifting. As they become more deeply ensnared in the Toll Man’s web, Nader unveils a series of revelations, some of which work and surprise us better than others. Cami and Spencer’s personal histories inevitably come into play, and what we learn about Cami has a low-hanging-fruit feeling when it comes to motivating backstory. While these past circumstances add a bit of depth to the duo, THE TOLL is at its best when it’s observing them in the moment, faced with uncertain and frightening circumstances and just trying to figure out a way to survive the night.

Trigger Point

Action, Thriller
Available on VOD: 9 december 2021
Director: Brad Turner
Cast: Barry Pepper (True Grit, Maze Runner 2 and 3), Laura Vandervoort (Jigsaw, The Handmaid's Tale), Colm Feore (Astronaut, House of Cards), Eve Harlow (The 100)

Nicolas Shaw, a disgraced former U.S. secret agent who suffered memory loss at the hand of captors, is dragged back into the darkest shadows of the spy world when he is enlisted by his former partner to help find a missing colleague. Nicolas' skills will be put to the ultimate test as the two men try to unravel the mystery behind her disappearance before it's too late. But to uncover the truth, Nicolas will need to remember the past. Doing so might also be the key to clearing his own name.

Reviews
  • Bulletproofaction.com: I had a fantastic time watching Trigger Point.
  • Entertainingmovie.com: An efficient assassin “gone to ground” thriller.
  • Jbspins.com: Surprisingly stylish.
  • Lylesmoviefiles.com: a solid action thriller.
  • Punchdrunkcritics.com: Enjoy watching Nicolas Shaw deliver that sweet, sweet justice down the barrel of his silenced hand cannon. Brad Turner and Barry Pepper Prove a Familiar Story Can Still Be Exhilarating.
  • Reelfilm.com: compelling action sequences.
  • Socialnews.xyz: Tough and surprisingly to some degree trendy.

The Trust

Thriller
Available on VOD: 16 mei 2016
Director: Alex Brewer, Ben Brewer
Cast: Nicolas Cage (The Bad Lieutenant, Drive Angry, Leaving Las Vegas, Kick-Ass), Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Sin City), Sky Ferreira (Larry Crown, Vampire Academy, The Green Inferno), Jerry Lewis (The King of Comedy)

Waters and Stone are two nobody police officers working dull administrative jobs and making extra money selling stolen Civil Service Exams to other officers. When Stone hears a story about a heroin dealer quickly beating his extremely high bail, the two friends set into motion a plan to find the origin of such a large amount of cash.

Through diligent police work they follow a trail that leads directly to a custom bank-style vault built into the back room freezer of a small grocery store. They put a plan into motion to rob the vault and split whatever they find inside. But by the time they figure out what the vault contains, it's already too late to turn back.

The Trust is a film about the philosophy behind a crime. It's a taxonomic approach to the heist movie that gives the audience a chance to examine closely each dark development, as the two cops slip quietly into a rabbit hole from which they cannot return.

Reviews
  • Cinemagazine.nl: The Trust is een Nicolas Cage-comeback op meerdere fronten. Niet alleen keert hij voor deze zwartkomische politiethriller terug naar de locatie waar hij eerder successen boekte als Wild at Heart, Con Air en natuurlijk Leaving Las Vegas, ook is hij qua acteerwerk weer bijna ouderwets op het niveau waarom we zo van hem houden. Er zit redelijk wat humor in dit speelfilmdebuut van de gebroeders Brewer, die vooral op het conto geschreven mag worden van Nicolas Cage. Zijn personage is onvoorspelbaar en daardoor altijd interessant. Maar ook Elijah Wood laat zien wat hij in huis heeft, hij deelt een prettige chemie met Cage en maakt zijn karakterontwikkeling geloofwaardig.
  • Empireonline.com: Academy Award winner turned direct-to-video staple Nicolas Cage gives one of his loosest, goofiest and most enjoyable performances in years as Stone, a modestly corrupt Las Vegas cop stuck in a crappy administrative job, living with his doddering dad (Jerry Lewis) and lumbered with a partner (Elijah Wood) who'd rather be smoking dope than logging evidence. Cage and Wood make a hugely enjoyable double act (has True Detective season three been cast yet?) in this deceptively dark thriller with comic undertones.
  • Variety.com: Cage supplies a stream of tension-defusing laughs while the script steadily applies the screws .. in The Trust, a juicily played heist thriller. Of course, even the most carefully calculated scheme can be counted on to go haywire, and so it does here, with unexpectedly human consequences, in a heist sequence that, while not exactly "Rififi," becomes steadily absorbing as it consumes much of the film's second half.
  • TheGuardian.com: Nicolas Cage could very well become the next celebrity target of US police unions for his involvement in The Trust, a slickly executed dark comedy that sees the Oscar-winner play one of the most corrupt cops to grace the screen in recent memory. As the film grows increasingly dark following violent hiccups in their attempted robbery, so does Cage: Stone's odd tics suddenly turn sinister. Simply put, he's a blast to watch. Cage is the rare actor who has the ability to make you laugh one moment, and recoil the next. Not to be outdone, Wood holds his own opposite Cage, grounding the proceedings as an increasingly embittered everyman way in over his head.
  • Collider.com: It's engaging from start to finish, Nicolas Cage is a blast to watch, The Trust has strong performances, Jim is as quirky as they come and David doesn't take his job as seriously as he should, but it's clear that they're both smart guys so even though their scheme is incredibly risky, there is a sense that they could pull it off, which keeps the film engaging all the way through. If you take the sit back and relax approach to The Trust, there's a good deal of fun to be had with Cage's wacky performance and it's also easy to get swept up in the heist itself thanks to the need to know whether they pull it off.
  • Blogcritics.org: a crime drama which combines the world of CSI: Las Vegas with the violence and dark humor of a Quentin Tarantino film. 4 out of 5 stars.
  • Idigitaltimes.com: The Trust takes a bit to rev into gear, but once the heist begins, it's non-stop drama. Cage's Jekyll and Hyde performance is definitely worth watching. It's a solid debut from Alex and Ben Brewer, and I'm excited to see what they come up with next.
  • Little White Lies (lwlies.com): Elijah Wood and Nicolas Cage play a pair of crooked Las Vegas cops in this breezy heist caper. For most of the first act, it feels Cage-lite, but the Brewers slacken his leash just enough to drive up the tension as the heist proper begins. The Trust may not break new ground in the genre, but it's a handsomely made example of a tried and tested formula. Cinematographer Sean Porter eschews the garish neon hues of the Vegas Strip for a cooler colour palate, and Reza Safinia's up-tempo score helps to keep up the pace. Cage is on fine form in this slick little thriller.

The Vanished

Thriller
Available on VOD: 8 oktober 2020
Director: Peter Facinelli
Cast: Thomas Jane (The Expanse, Before I Wake, The Thin Red Line), Anne Heche (The Other Guys, John Q), Jason Patric (In the Valley of Elah, Narc, The Prince), Peter Facinelli (The Twilight Sagas, Nurse Jackie, S.W.A.T.)

Paul Michaelson (Thomas Jane) and Wendy Michaelson( Anne Heche) arrive at a small RV Park for a fun family vacation when they are met with every parents worse nightmare as their daughter Taylor suddenly vanishes and goes missing.

Sheriff Baker (Jason Patric) leads  the case and is determined to find their missing daughter, for what we find out to be personal reasons of his own. But when Paul and Wendy suspect foul play, they take matters into their own hands to find Taylor, which takes them on a downward spiral journey that uncovers the truth. Imagine your child went missing? How far would you go to get them back? 

Reviews
  • Hollywoodreporter.com: Wildly implausible and improbably entertaining.
  • RogerEbert.com: The wrap up got me good, enough to make me admire Facinelli’s ambition and handling of mechanics. 
  • ActionReloaded.com: The Vanished is a clever edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller that will have you guessing until the very end.

Vincent-N-Roxxy

Crime, Thriller
Available on VOD: 11 mei 2017
Director: Gary Michael Schultz
Cast: Emile Hirsch (Lone Survivor, Killer Joe, Into the Wild), Zo Kravitz (Mad Max Fury Road, Divergent, Allegiant, X First Class), Zoey Deutch (Dirty Grandpa, Why Him, Beautiful Creatures), Emory Cohen (Brooklyn, The Gambler), Scott Mescudi (Entourage, Need for Speed)

If Hip-Hop and Rock -N- Roll had a love child she would be Roxxy, an inner city girl in trouble. Vincent is a consummate loner from small town America searching for meaning in his life that has become intertwined with dangerous people. One morning, these two lost souls meet when a vicious killer attacks Roxxy on the street in broad daylight before a crowd of witnesses. Vincent tries to save her, forcing Vincent and Roxxy to go on the run for their lives. They soon learn violence will follow them everywhere, even as they unexpectedly fall in love.

Reviews
  • Cinemagazine: In de Amerikaanse pers werd ‘Vincent N Roxxy’ vergeleken met Winding Refn’s wraakthriller ‘Drive’. Qua toon, opbouw en bloederigheid is daar een zaak voor te maken, al is ‘Drive’ beduidend slimmer en met meer finesse gemaakt. Op het platteland wordt nou eenmaal meer met de botte bijl gehakt, zullen we maar zeggen. Toch is ‘Vincent N Roxxy’ niet alleen bruut. De film toont hoe een stelletje ten onder gaat aan keuzes die ze maakten voordat ze elkaar echt kenden. En dat ontroert, want Vincent en Roxxy zijn schattig samen. Lees de hele review hier.
  • HollywoodReporter.com: A slow-build love story that takes a hard left turn at the end. Emile Hirsch and Zoe Kravitz, as strangers thrown together by a violent incident, enjoy an easy chemistry here, encouraging viewers to forget the menace that starts the story and, with startling violence, will end it.
  • Indiewire.com: When things take a hard left turn and the powder keg of violence finally explodes, the fallout is shocking to a degree that's almost never seen in new American cinema.
  • Letterboxd.com: A stiff-lipped, fist-clenched, tragic romance with a gruesome hunger for violence. The final shot echoes Drive in a way that will inevitably draw some comparisons.

What Keeps You Alive

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 20 december 2018
Director: Colin Minihan
Cast: Brittany Allen (Jigsaw, Bomb Girls, Dead Before Dawn), Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw), Martha MacIsaac (Superbad, The Last House on the Left), Joey Klein (Painless)

On the eve of their one year wedding anniversary, Jules and Jackie become embroiled in a merciless fight for their lives when they find themselves pitted against the most unexpected of adversaries: each other. As violence rains down upon their idyllic forest getaway, the women engage in a frenzied psychological and vicious battle that will test the very limits of their instinct to survive.

WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE is a knife to the throat of 21st century genre cinema, featuring the stars of 2017’s reinvigorated franchise juggernaut, JIGSAW. From the mind of Colin Minihan, director of GRAVE ENCOUNTERSand IT STAINS THE SANDS RED.

Reviews
  • Screendependent.be: Regisseur Colin Minihan slaagt er wel in de kijker van de eerste seconde tot het allerlaatste beeld op het puntje van diens stoel te doen zitten. What Keeps You Alive is trouwens ook een ‘menselijke’ horrorfilm en dat maakt het allemaal nog beter. Hele review hier.
  • Variety.com: an entertaining and well-crafted effort from a resourceful indie team who’ve scored enough respectable base hits to date.NYTimes.com: Ms. Allen and Ms. Anderson deliver ferocious physical performances, explicating fear and dread in their movements with such precision that this movie would be coherent even without sound. Then it takes a left turn that accelerates the shocks, transforming a mood piece into an action-filled, cat-and-mouse stalker film.
  • LATimes.com: Allen and Anderson are outstanding in roles that require a lot of levels and moods, as the central relationship goes from loving to shaky to … well, something else.
  • Blu-ray.com: it’s terrific. It’s a wicked, somewhat surprising chiller from writer/director Colin Minihan, who impressed mightily with "It Stains the Sands Red".  An impressive feature, and one that will likely delight those in the mood for something merciless and feral.
  • Efilmcritic.com:  Julie gets put through the wringer and the audience is with her every step of the way, even during the bad decisions. Anderson attacks the physical parts of the role with an enjoyable efficiency, drops darkly funny observations in perfectly dry fashion, and lets out a sort of glee when she finally gets the upper hand.
  • Indiewire.com: A chilling look at the unraveling of a relationship, and what happens when inner demons come bubbling to the surface to turn betrayal into bloodshed, bolstered by superb performances and some truly shocking twists.
  • RogerEbert.com (1): The best of the four is Colin Minihan's What Keeps You Alive, a film with a truly clever turn in that it starts feeling like it's taking the audience in one direction and then takes a sharp right angle into something else entirely.
  • RogerEbert.com (2): As a thriller, “What Keeps You Alive” is effectively eerie and unnerving. There are tense moments hinting at something wrong with Jackie, but nothing as bad as her unforgivable act of violence and the psychological torture that ensues. Allen is so convincing and empathetic as Jules. Her bewilderment at the situation is pitiable, and her determination to survive her killer has us cheering for her next counterattack. The movie is on the side of its survivor, even if it puts her through hell first.
  • GlideMagazine.com: A psychologically harrowing, intense film that grabs on tight and never lets go. Alternately heartbreaking and terrifying, Minihan has emerged as a potential master of horror and suspense. Then tension builds to a relentless, gut wrenching level as more and more twisted secrets are revealed and the film rockets towards its conclusion.
  • Theverge.com: The film makes a strong argument for the value of artistry in horror. Stark colors and an active camera, chasing or leading the characters, give the whole film a sense of intensity and dynamism. Terrific leads and a dedication to memorable imagery keeps What Keeps You Alive fresh.
  • Theplaylist.net: Colin Minihan's absolutely gorgeous thriller is best seen with as little knowledge of its plot as possible, but it drops hints about what's coming in both dialogue and mood well before the ax falls - and the blood splatters. An incredibly beautiful and brutal horror film.
  • Culturecrypt.com: The "Black Rock" meets "Single White Female" vibe of "What Keeps You Alive" makes it one of the best in show for its category, as consistently appears to be the case when Colin Minihan's team is involved.
  • Bloody-Disgusting.com: What Keeps You Alive is a solid thriller that works more often than it doesn't thanks to the performances of Anderson and Allen. Those, combined with Minihan's skilled direction, make for one of the better survival horror films to come out recently. A tense and Darkly Humorous Tale of Betrayal.
  • Dreadcentral.com: Undeniably tense with electrifying performances from both Allen and Anderson. What Keeps You Alive is a captivating and unsettling reminder that true love may not always be a two-way street.
  • Filmjournal.com: Writer-director Colin Minihan’s thriller is tightly plotted and delivers a couple of terrific shocks, shocks that are firmly rooted in character. Anderson and Allen deserve particular credit: Jackie and Jules are well-written characters—particularly in a genre where women tend to be final girls or mangled corpses-in-waiting—but the actresses' performances have a specificity that makes them memorable.
  • Pastemagazine.com: What Keeps You Alive’s forthright quality feels refreshing, and Minihan’s craft is a major plus, too. A mortal struggle between Jules and Jackie is heard, not seen, as Minihan aims his camera up at the ceiling on the cabin’s ground floor. He tracks across the beams, capturing the bumps and thuds of protagonist and antagonist scrapping with each other. Gestures like that make What Keeps You Alive worth watching on their own merit. Nothing elevates genre better than sharp filmmaking.
  • FlickeringMyth.com: An excellent film. It’s a far more cerebral and heartfelt thriller than most, and there are some nice, gory horror moments thrown in there for good measure.

What Lies Below

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 22 april 2021
Director: Braden R. Duemmler
Cast: Mena Suvari (American Beauty), Ema Horvath, Trey Tucker (The Outpost)

Liberty, a socially awkward sixteen-year-old, returns from two months at camp to a blindsided introduction of her mother’s hunky young fiance, John Smith, whose charm, intelligence, and beauty paint the picture of a man too perfect to be human. Is he something else…?

Reviews
  • RogerEbert.com: Memorably creepy, has some swing-for-the-fences chutzpah.
  • Cinemarvellous.com: Surprisingly good for a B-movie, and it has some interesting ideas up its sleeve.
  • Culturecrypt.com: I definitely dig the grim ending.
  • Heavenofhorror.com: If you like indie movies that mix genres in all the best ways, then do check out What Lies Below.
  • Horrorfuel.com: What Lies Below serves up enough head-scratching moments (in the good way) and unexpected reveals to make it a recommended watch.
  • Horrorbuzz.com: What mainly makes What Lies Below succeed is the masterful building of suspense.
  • Ukfilmreview.co.uk: The creep factor in What Lies Below holds steady.
  • Rabbit-reviews.com: A fun movie.
  • Screenrant.com: effectively delivers slow, creepy, atmospheric dread and some sleek thrills.
  • Voicesfromthebalcony.com: An enjoyable creature feature.
  • Worldfilmgeek.com: Some great performances by Ema Horvath, Trey Tucker, and Mena Suvari help drive the film and that ending is unforgettable.

You Are Not My Mother

Horror, Thriller
Available on VOD: 9 februari 2023
Director: Kate Dolan
Cast: Hazel Doupe (Calm with Horses), Carolyn Bracken (The Lodgers), Paul Reid (Never Grow Old, Vikings)

It’s the week before Halloween and Char’s mother, Angela, has inexplicably disappeared. All that remains is her abandoned car. When she returns home without explanation the following evening, it becomes clear to Char and her grandmother, Rita, that something is amiss. She might look and sound the same but Angela’s behaviour has become increasingly frightening, as if she has been replaced by a malevolent force. When Halloween arrives, a night steeped in ancient myth and legend, Char realises that she is the only one who can save her, even if it means potentially losing her forever.

Reviews
  • Cinemagazine: Een lekker broeierig sfeertje van onbehagen dat diep onder je huid kruipt. Je voelt doorlopend dat er iets gruwelijk mis is, maar blijft als kijker lange tijd in het ongewisse over het precieze hoe en wat.. Lees de hele review hier.
  • TheGuardian.com: Intense performances by Doupe and Bracken give it a real emotional pulse.
  • Variety.com: A coolly unsettling but also deep-feeling horror film, one that keeps the ordinary and the extraordinary in tense, tetchy balance throughout.
  • TheNewYorkTimes.com: Imaginative and spooky, You Are Not My Mother shows just how frightening - and stigmatizing - a parent's mental illness can be to a child.
  • RogerEbert.com: So effective and emotional, a dedicated portrait of trauma passed down through generations.
  • TheWrap.com: With striking scares, moody atmosphere, and impressive performances, You Are Not My Mother gradually reveals itself to be a wicked, wicked work of horror.
  • LosAngelesTimes.com: At once deeply creepy and strangely moving.
  • DailyGrindhouse.com: an eerie new entry in the folk horror subgenre that mixes magic and family trauma to chilling effect.
  • Wegotthiscovered.com: Thisa thought-provoking, hard-hitting debut from Kate Dolan, balancing family drama with supernatural horror steeped in local legend.
  • Eyeforfilm.co.uk: Heartbreaking in places, spine-shudderingly creepy in others, You Are Not My Mother finds both terror and inspiration in the awareness that the world might be bigger and stranger than expected.
  • Ukfilmreview.co.uk: Dolan and a game cast explore the specific pain and yearning that goes along with wanting so badly to save a person you love from themselves. At the same time, they dig into the horror of looking into familiar eyes and finding no one you recognize, but maybe someone who means you harm.
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