Saturday, April 13

2019 PFF & IHSFF Festival Recap – Friday, April 12th

2019 PFF & IHSFF Festival Recap – Friday, April 12th

Coda’s ongoing coverage of the 2019 Phoenix Film Festival & International Horror Sci-Fi Film Festival. I'll be using these posts to recap the films I've experienced as part of these festivals.



MY SOUL TO KEEP – Directed by 
Ajmal Zaheer Ahmad


This film will challenge any preconceived notions you once had about displaying registered trademarks on screen. At least it did for me. Apparently the filmmakers were cleared to display Apple, OXI CLEAN, The Transformers & G.I. JOE throughout the entire film. But when Sam's character wants to support his favorite team, he wears a "DERTROIT BEISBOLCATS" shirt, complete with a picture of a tiger chewing on a baseball bat... Honestly, all of this kind of distracted my brain from following what was a fairly generic "Boogie-Man" film. 

That's not to say that this piece didn't have its own merits. There was a lot of good shadowplay dancing around the house that served for a better-than-expected final showdown. The whole thing was shot rather well actually. It was a very good use of the space that the filmmakers had. But all-in-all, a bit too much clumsy exposition that slowed down the beginning had me checking my clock. As good as the final act was, it was already a bridge too far.


IN FABRIC – Directed by 
Peter Strickland



This is just another one of your typical, run-of-the-mill horror comedies about a hyper-sexual Gypsy-cursed dress that murders those who dawn it. We've all seen it a thousand times. So what makes this one special? This film really comes together and shines in its second half. What you thought was just off-kilter and disturbing in the first half, turns into a romp of comedic characters repeatedly one-upping the weirdness factor. 

I don't think this needed to run a full two hours, it could have used a trim. And I think that its length is ultimately going to work against it upon release. But I was glad I stuck with it. I found it to exist somewhere in between Dario Argento and Nicolas Winding Refn in its look and pacing. If that perks your interest, keep your eye out for this.

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