As you read this review, my recommendation would be to go to Youtube and search for the song “Smile” (there are several versions, I would recommend Nat King Cole’s) – and listen to it in the background. Playing a part in both the trailer and film Joker (2019), the poignant lyrics (by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons) tells you that, “If you smile through your fear and sorrow Smile and maybe tomorrow You’ll see the sun come shining through For You.”, even while the beautifully melancholic melody (written by Charlie Chaplin) tells you a wholly different story. . . one of a smiling clown truly hiding a frown. Also look for a special screening of Chaplin’s Modern Times that plays a part in the film – The Tramp playing the clown despite the crippling burden people and society have put on him.

I’ve always been a fan of horror films that leave the monstrous villain lingering hidden in the darkness. . . viewers’ minds bringing forth much scarier visions than what would usually come by way of CGI or makeup. A film that faithfully follows this rule (both literally and figuratively) is the 2016 horror flick Lights Out, directed by David F. Sandberg. Based off of the director’s own 2013 short film of the same name

Only David Cronenberg’s second feature film (which he both writes and directs), 1977's Rabid continues his precedence for a very unique form of horror, often referred to as ‘body horror’. . . a study in human beings, their fears, apprehensions, an awkwardness revolving around their own (and others’) bodies. Set in and around one of the most unique cities in North America – Montreal, the genesis event finds a couple, Rose (pornstar Marilyn Chambers) and Hart (Frank Moore), getting in a horrific motorcycle accident in the country. Though Hart is beat up, it is Rose that is truly in rough shape. Stranded in a most unpopulated place, they are fortunate that the exclusive Dr. Keloid Clinic for Plastic Surgery (a sort of touch up resort) is nearby. . . taking the severely injured woman in for immediate surgery.

Like bathing in the seductively sweet smells of incense and peppermint (and we mustn’t forget to add a tinge of hallucinogenic drugs), writer/director/producer Anna Biller’s 2016 fantastical multi-genre film The Love Witch is an amorous hand penned letter to the classic Hollywood era, as well as both the sexploitation and horror pictures of the 1960s and 70s. Shot in glorious 35mm film (a rare thing these days), the narrative follows Elaine (Samantha Robinson), a stunning young woman getting away from San Francisco to start a new life in Arcata. The first time we see her she is entirely in red. . . a classic vermilion tinged convertible, ruby dress, and even luggage to match – a stop light with mixed messages that is somehow prompting you to go. Yet it is her perfectly done eye makeup that must be watched. . . for it draws you into her piercing gaze, a look that will force you into those chestnut orbs – turning you into a reverse narcissist, only obsessed with a women you’ve never even met.

Opening with a quotation from Dr. David Eagleman, “When your death is near, time will seem to slow to a crawl”, writer/director/producer Matt Bloom takes these words to heart, his horror short film Endless (2011) an eight minute hors d’oeuvre shot entirely in slow motion (you don’t see that everyday). Showing every minute detail, what would in reality be a thirty second action scene slows to a crawl, an intense roller coaster ride full of intricate twists as well as dramatic ebbs and flows of mixed emotions. You wouldn’t think that thirty seconds of anything could lead to more ups and downs, but Bloom takes what looks to be a thrilling possible murder scene (like something you would see in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho), and tweaks it in a unique way where things are not what they seem.