Aaron Dunbar, the co-director (with Jason Campbell) and writer of this film asked me to check this out but said, “It’s a faith-based film,” as if that would make me immediately look at it in a different light. If anything, it made me want to watch it more, as his A Wish for Giants somehow combined Christian faith and cryptozoology into one narrative and I was there for all of that.

Forgiving God grabbed me from the first moment, as two teens play with a spirit board and conjure up someone trapped in hell, a moment so upsetting that it causes Jon Moore (Matthew Utley) to slash his wrists and nearly die.

Is this where I confess and say that I have an entire Ouija-film-related Letterboxd list and page of this site?

Jon’s had a rough life. He’d begged his father to stop at a tourist stop when he was just nine years old and while in the bathroom, a gunman killed his entire family. Raised in an abusive foster system, he has no need for the church that his new foster parents want him to attend. He also does repeated hair flips when he’s angry, like all nascent goths should.

Yet Jon finds a friend in the woods — a Native American girl named Isaka (Alexandria Sertik, who was in A Wish for Giants) — who protects him not just from a bear — literally one of my favorite scenes in any movie in 2022 — but teaches him that faith extends beyond the church pew — Dean Cain plays the pastor — and can be part of your real life and authentic self. That said — she has a tragedy of her own to share with him before the movie ends.

There’s also a moment where a rock concert and a song that literally speaks about forgiving God inspires Jon to be saved. Isaka’s words are something he will remember long after he grows old: “Everything happens for a reason, even those things which are detestable. They shape us into who we’re meant to be.”

Made in Armstrong and Indiana Counties in PA — Pennsylvania filmmakers can encompass Romero’s zombies and a Suburban Sasquatch while Shane Black, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Rusty Cundieff and Rowdy Herrington are from Pittsburgh, Steven E. de Souza and M. Night Shyamalan are from Philly, the Farrelly brothers are from Phoenixville, Joseph L. Mankiewicz was from Wilkes-Barre — this is a low budget but high concept film that doesn’t shy at all away from its message. It never feels like it’s pushing you or screaming in your face about God, which makes it that much more effective.

Lord knows I struggle with whatever reality is, but that doesn’t mean that I should look down on this movie for being faith-based. Instead, I really enjoyed its earnestness and found that it’s a fine follow-up to A Wish for Giants.

To learn more, visit the official Facebook page for Forgiving God.

Walter Hochbrueckner directed, wrote and appears in this film which tells the story of Nikki Travis (Dawna Lee Heising), who has left her abusive husband Eric (Hochbrueckner) and while she doesn’t follow the lyrics of Tom Waits (“gonna drive all night / Take some speed”) as she goes out west, she sure finds plenty of weirdness.

She soon meets Misty (Llenelle Gibson) and Crystal (Angel Princess), two other women who are running from something too. Their three paths converge at a town called Paradise and Jackie’s (Vera R. Taylor) diner.

Paradise is a misnomer, as masked killers roam the streets, salarymen disappear regularly, Raymond Taylor (Mel Novak) seems to have the taxidermy skills and mommy issues of another hotel owner we know and fear and Nikki’s ex is still hunting for her, demanding the money she stole from him.

There are moments in this film that seem like they’re repeating, like you’re stuck in a dream where time moves like heavy mercury beneathe the waves, as you attempt to figure out why everyone has found this town, who left that knife just sitting out and why no one thinks it’s al that strange that Nikki wants to be known as Joan Crawford now. Also: a perfect amount of cheetah print.

The Paradise Motel is a quirky movie that succeeds because of its oddball nature. It’s not trying to be weird; it just is naturally. And isn’t that the best?

Betriek and her family live at the end of a peat bog — a near-swamp — in the north Netherlands, a quiet place broken up by an attack by a random stranger one dark night. Why? The answer to this will obsess her and take her to places darker than she may ever want to go.

After all, an ancient body has already been found in the bog and the non-stop digging of an archeological team is pushing Betriek’s sanity to the edge. But now the bog itself has begun to whisper, those sounds making the diggers lose their minds and attack people. 

Nico van den Brink’s short Sweet Tooth is currently being developed into a full-length feature by James Wan and Sam Raimi; this is his first full-length movie. This folk horror film starts with the murder of Betriek’s grandfather — his blood drips through the floorboards all over her — and somehow gets even darker as time passes. The bog is filled with dead bodies; her mother is dying from some unknown illness and her father waits, drunk, in the basement for the return of the man who killed his father. 

It takes its time to get where it needs to go, but once it gets there, the horror is palpable. The director and writer wants to open the Netherlands to more horror movies; here’s hoping he gets his way.

Moloch is now streaming on Shudder.

Loosely inspired by the murder of Travis Alexander by his on-and-off-again lover, Jodi Arias, Love Crime takes place as Jodi is interrogated and remebers her relationship with the dead man through her own point of view. So if you love true crime, well…

This plays fast and loose with reality, as we see what happened and what Jodi thinks happened. You may be put off with the ethics of making a movie within a few years of an actual murder, but if you grew up in the 70s, you know the world of made for TV movies and exploitation films that explore what was in the headlines. We didn’t have true cime TV just yet.

Director Nicole D’Angelo stars as Jodi with producer Shane Ryan-Reid as Travis. It was written by Jamie Grefe, who has also written two modern Emmanuelle movies. I was also excited to see Lisa London (Rocky from the Andy Sidars’ movies Savage Beach and Guns) in the cast.

This Cinema Epoch distributed movie can be watched on Tubi, Vimeo and Amazon.

David Baldwin (Harry Aspinwall, who also co-wrote this movie) may have the blood the world needs to solve the unknown disease that has wiped out most of its population over the last two years. Yet when he begins to fear for his wife Samantha’s (Anita Abdinezhad) safety, he breaks quarantine and attempts to save her.

To do so, he destroys the multiple egg timers that keep his days regimented and begins to explore the area around his quarantine cabin. That’s when he encounters the plague-ridden zombies that have taken over the world as well as a mysterious archer who saves his life.

A plague movie may not be what you’re into these days — or hopefully you are — but Eradication is well made despite its low budget. I’d dare say it’s one of the best Tubi originals that have come out so far.

Director Daniel Byers is the director of the environmental film studio Skyship Films, as well as the horror/fantasy genre production company Dark Tower Films which made this movie.

You can watch this on Tubi.

Developer Ray (Omar Tucci) and his mistress Brooke (Marlene Malcolm) run afoul of a cop named Gary (Greg Johnston) and his friends TJ (Terry McDonald) and Rick (Rick Amsbury), who go from bothering the couple to putting them through a most dangerous game before we discover than somehow Brooke is better with guns than anyone in this film.

There’s one surprising moment where Brooke is sure the men will assault her. And they reply, “No, we’re married.” I mean, they’ll still kill her. But they have morals.

Marlene Malcolm goes all out in this and if this were the 90s, I’d be looking for her to be in a whole series of direct to video action movies. Here’s hoping she gets to accomplish whatever is the same thing in 2022. She’s talented.

Death Hunt is available on VOD and DVD from Uncork’d Entertainment.

When traveling across the Scottish Highlands, one-time friends Jess (Michaela Longden) and Andrea (Emma O’Hara) reconnect before they get separated after a night at a pub and a meet-up with Nate (director Nathan Shepka) and Tommy (Craig McEwan). Feeling something is off, she decides to go on ahead, but then realizes that she needs to go back for her friend. When she finds the corpse of Tommy and another girl — and no Andrea — she may be in even bigger trouble herself in this film from director Nathan Shepka and screenwriter Tom Joliffe.

If you liked And Soon the Darkness, you have an idea of what to expect here. There are some interesting twists and turns; nobody should be trusted. This movie is another example why I never look up old high school friends and tend to stay hidden deep inside my movie cave.

This is a movie that uses its low budget effectively and knows when to switch gears and really grab you. I had some fun with it. Here’s hoping you do the same.