Booger

Dir: Mary Dauterman.

Starring: Grace Glowicki, Garrick Bernard, Heather Matarazzo.

USA (2023) 75mins

There’s a lot of great grief horror, and Booger has landed itself in the somber pile. After the sudden death of her best friend Izzy (Sofia Dobrushin), Anna (Grace Glowicki) takes solace in the company of the stray cat they shared, a fluffy black cat named Booger. When Booger bites her after a reprimand, Anna’s behavior and body take a serious turn for the worst.

Booger is a fun, brutal, disgusting (honestly, don’t eat during this film) look at unprocessed grief, trauma, and survivor’s guilt. Garrick Bernard is lovable as Anna’s supportive boyfriend Max and Heather Matarazzo is incredibly wacky as the pet store manager, Ellen. The film circles heavily around loss and how one is “supposed” to act after losing someone close -- an excellent watch!

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Hippo

Dir: Mark H Rapaport.

Starring: Kimball Farley, Lilla Kizlinger, Eliza Roberts.

USA (2023) 99mins

In this Pre-Columbine, cusp of the world-wide web family horror, Hippo is a polarizing look at the creation of an incel and the bodily autonomy and expected subservience of women. Hippo’s depiction of the inflated ego of the sheltered '90s young man is spot on and an anchor in this film.

Hippo (Kimball Farley) has assumed the role of man of the house at a very young age. Sheltered by his mother, Ethel (Eliza Roberts), and in the company of adopted sister Buttercup (Lilla Kizlinger), Hippo’s allegiance lies only to himself. He is the smartest, strongest, most important person in the room, or so he’s been led to believe by his uber-subservient mother, who is deeply apologetic when there is something Hippo doesn’t like, no matter how unreasonable his reactions are. Buttercup, deeply alone culturally, spiritually, and socially, sees only one want -- a baby -- and as the madness of the house revolves around Hippo, she’ll stop at nothing to achieve it.

As strange events plague Hippo and Buttercup, the situation of ruler and ruled only deepens. A glaring look at the horrors of the lack of the parental “no."

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Saint Drogo

Dir: Michael J Ahern, Ryan Miller, Brandon Perras.

Starring: Michael J Ahern, Brandon Perras, Wayne Gonsalves.

USA (2023) 78mins

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The team behind Death Drop Gorgeous brings a folklore tale that chills the heart.

Deep within a fledgling relationship with his boyfriend, Adrian (Michael J. Ahern), Caleb (Brandon Perras) is plagued with horrific nightmares of his ex, Isaac, whom he hasn’t received any contact from in weeks. When a mysterious package arrives including a candid photo of Isaac from his stay in Provincetown, Caleb gets tunnel vision in his quest to find him and coerces Adrian into an off-season jaunt to Provincetown as a “getaway”.

Entering the now-winter-laden town goes from bad to weird as they encounter Eric, a local they rope into helping them find Isaac, a quest that will take them to the boundaries of their will, their bodies, and their very souls. There is solid folklore simmering within this slow burn!

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Fixation

Dir: Mercedes Bryce Morgan.

Starring: Maddie Hassen, Genesis Rodriguez, Stephen McHattie.

USA (2022)

Medical gaslighting and igniting the flames of the Hysterical Woman trope are on the menu with this film.

As the accused in an unusual murder trial, Dora (Maddie Hasson) is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. But as the testing, the doctors, and the hospital prove to be more unnerving at each encounter, Dora spirals. Stern and unforgiving Dr. Melanie (Genesis Rodriguez) and her trusted psychiatrist, played by Stephen McHattie, push Dora to her limits.

It’s a beautifully shot film with an earworm of a soundtrack, but it’s constant twists and turns make you wonder if you’re on the right track in guessing the real story, even though it guides you along a bit with it’s “Steps” theory. If it’s a quest to make the audience just as disoriented as the lead, then it succeeds. Be aware of the trigger warning of abuse and torture.

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Cannibal Mukbang

Dir: Aimee Kuge.

Starring: April Consalo, Nate Wise, Clay Von Carlowitz.

USA (2023) 100mins

“What would you do for the one you love?” asks Cannibal Mukbang. A lifestyle change? A diet?

Bumbling and unassuming customer service rep Mark (Nate Wise) and beautiful Mukbang web girl Ash (April Consalo) have a run-in at a late-night convenience store, sparking a romance until she ghosts him. But a text from her weeks later settles him. First dates out are always hard, but a graceless Ash shoos Mark from the table in lieu of sitting with another suitor. Heartsick and struck with a physical illness he can’t explain, Mark follows Ash from the restaurant and sees what she’s really about.

Cannibal Mukbang is a fun romp through toxic relationships and the hold they can have on us. One lag is any dialogue outside of Ash and Mark together seems a bit rushed and rife with misogyny, which may be driving the point home a bit too much (see Mark’s Patrick Bateman-coded brother Maverick). This rape/torture revenge story is rife with more cannibal than Mukbang, but it's an incredibly bloody trip!