celluloid consommé

  Key art courtesy of XYZ Films. Waking Karma , Carlos Montaner & Liz Fania Werner’s first feature-length film starring Michael Madsen, Hannah Christine Shetler, and Kimberly Alexander saw a release on multiple VOD platforms Friday, January 27th. The film centers around Karma and her mother Sunny adjusting to a life without the presence of abusive husband, father, and tyrannical cult leader Paul. Karma celebrates her 17th birthday and all seems to be on the mend in spite of episodes of PTSD, further challenging her convictions that the horrors are in fact behind her. So when Sunny receives a note from Paul stating that he’s coming for them, they seek shelter with old friends who escaped the cult years ago. Press enter or click to view image in full size Paul (Michael Madsen, left) peers into a car driven by Karma (Hannah Christine Shetler, right). Still courtesy of XYZ Films. The film moves at a brisk pace but takes some extra time in its depictions of trauma early on, suggesti...

  The world is vastly deprived of original Jewish horror and director Gabriel Bier Gislason works to remedy that in his debut feature  Attachment . The film does well for its respectful depictions of Jewish mysticism, which is established rather firmly. By allowing the fantastical elements of the Kabbalah to flourish in the space horror provides, Gislason’s reverence to the filmic treatment of Judaism creates a natural separation between that which amplifies the story and a sense of what a devout follower can believe. Although it succeeds in bringing a different fundamental religious background to the heavy tilt of Catholic/Christian iconographies in horror, its only other marked success is just that of competent direction. Attachment  is about a Danish actor who still rides on the success of a now-ended show who meets a British woman visiting Denmark on a holiday. The two end up going out together and after a fateful date, decide to spend more time with each other. But a...