Zach Budgor

The Witch is an atavistic Puritan nightmare for the ages

We’re still rounding up Fantastic Fest, bringing you impressions of our favorite films shown at the event. For all of our hot, hot takes, head over here. /// To properly explain The Witch to you, I need to give you two pieces of context. One: I grew up in rural Vermont. My house was sat off a dirt r

Green Room is a merciless, punk-as-sh*t siege movie

We’re at Fantastic Fest this week and are bringing you impressions of our favorite films shown at the event. For all of our hot, hot takes, head over here. /// “I like murder,” Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier confessed in a post-screening Q&A. This comes as no surprise. You might know Saulnier’s

Darling is a stunning psychohorror chamber piece

We’re at Fantastic Fest this week and are bringing you impressions of our favorite films shown at the event. For all of our hot, hot takes, head over here. /// Mickey Keating’s Darling is a lovingly-crafted Polanski mixtape. If the idea of “Repulsion, but also The Tenant” gets your juices flowing, s

Kung fu epic The Assassin is impossibly, breathtakingly, stupidly gorgeous

We’re at Fantastic Fest this week and are bringing you impressions of our favorite films shown at the event. For all of our hot, hot takes, head over here. /// Hou Hsiao-Hsien has been working for a long time (he’s 68), but The Assassin has more verve than stuff from directors half his age. It’s an