By 
By Roger Costa
Here are some not-to-be-missed horror flicks at the 2019 Scary Movies Festival at Film at Lincoln Center, running August 16-21.
BLOODLINE
Provocative, extremely gore and surprisingly original, producer-turned-director Henry Jacobson’s first feature film is a top-notch revival on the killing-protector genre. Seann William Scott delivers his most compelling performance, completely taken by the psycho elements of his character. He plays a High School counselor and young father, whose sleepless nights and meditations on his students’ terrible experiences with abusive fathers, turn him into a serial killer targeting parental issues. Carrying a mysteriously ambiguous relationship to his mom, he puts down one by one, venturing the nights as an out-of-control defender. Intense and terrifying, it’s a masterly crafted debut. (Screens 8/20.)
VILLAINS
After robbing a bank, two outlaw lovebirds get stranded on the road without gas. As they break-in to an apparently abandoned house, they have no idea what expects them. First they discover a child chained in the basement, and then they meet the child’s creepy parents. Actors Maika Monroe and Bill Skarsgård develop an incredible chemistry, creating a direct connection to the audience. A sensation at SXSW, writers-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen’s third collaborative work is a darkly funny and bizarre modern take on the Gothic terrain with subtle commentary on societal clashes and prejudices. (Screens 8/16.)
FERAL
A haunting mockumentary about a mysterious fire that destroyed a psychoanalyst’s clinic, Mexican director Andrés Kaiser crafts an enigmatic and gripping faux tale evoking the elements of “Blair Witch Project”. Blending testimonies from residents and witnesses, TV footage and journalistic photos, as well as recorded videos from the doctor’s treatment process with possessed children, the film delivers amusing chills and stylish investigatory aesthetic capturing inner fears from deep observations on the wilderness, the people and the macabre. (Screens 8/16.)
FINALE
If you think the final scene in Tarantino’s latest is too-much, wait until you see what happens here, when a maniac abducts two gas station attendants and display them as merchandise for a live streaming horror show. Having to work on a historic day when Denmark enters the World Cup’s finals, the ladies try their best to avoid boredom. They end up being the prey of such a bizarre game where the viewers decide their destiny- including torching them, cutting their legs off, and piercing their nipples. An extremely gore, efficient, gruesome and smart take on the abduction genre, Søren Juul Petersen’s directorial debut is an impressive and bold display of human cruelty. (Screens 8/21.)
EXTRA ORDINARY
Utterly irreverent, and deliriously funny, this roller-coaster satire brings together witches, sacrificial virgins, restless ghosts, a mystical singer, and a gifted driving teacher, creating a fabulously sinister crowd. They all have different interests as the moon turns “bloody”, having a chance to satisfy their dark desires, or just get rid of abusive ghosts. Efficiently blending elements from “The Exorcist” and “Ghostbusters”, presenting accurate dark humor and sharp cynicism, directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman’s feature length debut delivers amazing comic performances from Maeve Higgins, as the gifted lonely lady, Barry Ward as a widowed father, and Will Forte as the singer. (Screens 8/18.)
ALL THE GODS IN THE SKY
Winner of the Best Film Award at Dead by Dawn Horror Film Festival, French writer-director Quarxx’s third project is a dramatic, bizarre and enigmatic look at family bond. A man cares for his disabled sister, waiting for the beyond forces to rescue them. He will do anything to keep her safe and away from human contact, sacrificing his sanity, while dealing with guilty and hopelessness. Dark, metaphorical and delivering convincingly haunting performances, it’s an efficient and stirring psychological thriller. (Screens 8/20.)
BLACK CIRCLE
Edgy, sexy and transcendental, Spanish award-winning horror director Adrián García Bogliano’s Swedish production is a mind bending experience, an utterly original and macabre look on the seeking for self improvement. Two sisters are trapped in a life changing and risky mystical cult after being hypnotized by a magnetic musical Record from the 70’s. As they experience success and go on alternative styles, also delving into traumas from the past, soon their ability will charge an irreversible price. Psychedelic, enigmatic and incredibly performed, it’s a haunting look at ambition, greed and the disturbances of modern days. (Screens 8/19.)
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