Harpoon
Written by Rob Grant and Mike Kovac
Directed by Rob Grant
Cast: Christopher Gray, Emily Tyra, Munro Chambers, Brett Gelman
Epic Pictures
83 minutes
Release date: October 3-11 U.S. theater tour
October 8, 2019 (Blu-ray & VOD, Amazon Prime Video)

At last year’s NYC Horror Film Festival I saw a really good modern take on the Frankenstein story with Rob Grant‘s Alive. So it’s no surprise to me that a year later I am again intrigued by one of the Canadian filmmaker’s projects, in this case it’s minimalist thriller Harpoon. Shot almost entirely on a small yacht during a fishing trip and featuring a cast of literally three on-screen actors with a voiceover narration from Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman on Stranger Things), Harpoon somehow evokes tension, terror, and laughs. With the small setting and smaller cast, Grant’s film plays out like a stage play: imagine Open Water, only you’re on the boat with the sharks.

Abominable
Director: Jill Culton
Writer: Jill Culton
Cast: Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, Tsai Chin, Michelle Wong
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Rated PG | Minutes: 97 Minutes
Release Date: September 27, 2019

The DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studios’ animated feature Abominable may play it too safe and not take any kind of risk as it treads some familiar ground, but it still has as much heart and emotional weight as some of the other releases from its rivals.

Still, there is no denying that it is beautifully animated as it makes great use of a wide range of colors and light tones. Blend that with soaring music, and Abominable is something anyone of any age can fully enjoy from start to finish. My review below.

Bliss
Written, directed, produced by Joe Begos
Cast: Starring Dora Madison, Tru Collins, Jeremy Gardner, George Wendt, and Rhys Wakefield
Dark Sky Films
Runtime: 79 minutes
Release date: September 27, 2019

The story of struggling artists turning to drugs for breakthroughs is not exactly a new idea both in reality and in fiction. But I can guarantee no one has ever seen anything like Bliss, a grisly new horror film from Joe Begos (The Mind’s Eye). Coming to theaters and VOD on Friday, September 27th, Bliss is a brutal and gory film, featuring what will surely be a career-making performance from Dora Madison and providing a much-needed twist in a classic horror subgenre.

Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire
Written & Directed by Stephen Cognetti
Cast: Gabriel Chytry, Elizabeth Vermilyea, Sam Kazzi, Brian David Tracy, Bridgid Abrams
Shudder Exclusive
Release date: September 19, 2019

In recent years, few word pairings have excited genre fans more than “Shudder Exclusive.” AMC’s streaming service Shudder has become a force in bringing new horror films and series to the small screen and this Thursday, they’ll be premiering the ending of Stephen Cognetti’s Hell House LLC trilogy with Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire. Quite simply, if you enjoyed the found footage/haunted attraction scares of the first two movies, you’ll be all in for the finale.

One Cut of the Dead
Written, directed, and edited by Shinichiro Ueda
Cast: Takayuki Hamatsu, Mao, Harumi Shuhama, Yuzuki Akiyama, Kazuaki Nagaya, Manabu Hosoi
Shudder | Variance Films
96 minutes | Not Rated
U.S. Release: September 13, 2019 (NY/LA)

Dan O’Bannon’s The Return of the Living Dead from 1985 is the first major case of the “Zom-Com,” the blending of zombie horror and comedy. A seminal classic about punks battling the undead in a cemetery, it’s not hard to find influence for Edgar Wright’s genre redefining Shaun of the Dead from 2004. While the zom-com has become prevalent in recent years with films like Zombieland (2009) and this year’s The Dead Don’t Die from Jim Jarmusch, the best of the lot by a mile is Shinichiro Ueda‘s One Cut of the Dead. The Japanese zom-com first premiered last year, but is making its American theatrical release later this month. The word of mouth has been off the charts and I’m happy to say that all the hype was real and One Cut of the Dead can take its place on the Mount Rushmore of zombie comedies.