In a word, Dolly is GRUESOME. As a revenge tale – a warped cat-and-mouse narrative – it is unrelenting and unforgiving. The film has a timeless setting but it has all the color and flavor of ’70s era horror (sounds, paranoia, shot selection, psychosis, wildly exploitative gore and then some which are perfectly replicated in this homage), and boy are they thrown at us with force. The uneasiness sets in and never lets off the gas. Director Rod Blackhurst pulls no punches, and each encounter with “Baby Girl” is more squirm-inducing than the last. One thing is for sure, if you’re up for it, you won’t be able to take your…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Bryan Bertino on Inner Demons and Dealing with Anguish in ‘Vicious’
Bryan Bertino is a filmmaker who is adept at giving us a dizzying array of frights on the big screen. His stories and visual style tend to stick with you, and some things you just can’t unsee. In 2008, he shocked the horror world with The Strangers. Now fast-forward to this year at Fantastic Fest where we find him returning, somewhat, to a self-contained, claustrophobic and hostile setting. Vicious is definitely in the same vein. But it’s more apt to say it’s under your skin. The force in the story is not external; it’s already here, it’s on the inside, and it knows everything about you. Bertino’s film focuses on the…
