The Cherry Hill Chainsaw Massacre

Prior to March 4th, 2018, when debuting writer-director Jordan Peele's socially conscious sci-fi horror groundbreaker, Get Out , took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (in addition to being nominated for three other awards: Picture, Actor (Daniel Kaluuya), and Director (Peele), the Academy had all but turned a blind eye to the art of the genre for every horror movie produced in the 21st century. The last entry to have received any recognition was M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense , which made it into the 21st century due to its release in 1999. While it didn't walk away with any golden statuettes, The Sixth Sense was righteously nominated in six prestigious categories: Best Picture, Best Director and Original Screenplay (Shyamalan), Best Supporting Actor (Haley Joel Osment), Best Supporting Actress (Toni Collette), and Best Editor (Andrew Mondshein). (Although, how they managed to miss Bruce Willis for Best Actor remains a baffling mystery.) It is also only one...

Early this morning, November 9th, 2024, an independent filmmaker named Prataya Saha reached out to me via email graciously asking if I'd watch and review his five-minute short film, a dramatic thriller/city noir titled 1924 - The Kakori Project. While a film of such miniscule duration and this genre are not exactly in my wheelhouse, I feel so humbled to have been granted the opportunity to uplift the voice of an emerging independent filmmaker. "I believe that your expertise and critical eye would greatly benefit my filmmaking journey," he wrote. Man, I feel so significant, like the fate of this ambitious, sobering, gorgeously crafted piece of work is in my hands. Mr. Saha may be overestimating my abilities, but as a young, aspiring film critic, I'll take the compliment any day. Mr. Saha's primary intention is to help his movie reach as wide an audience as possible before it makes its International Premiere on the closing night of Big Apple Film Festival in New Yor...