Film Fests
[REVIEW] BHFF 2024: ‘Dead Mail’ Is DOA
Writer and directors Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy kill off Jasper and then jump to his killer’s backstory. We see the murderer, Trent (John Fleck), meet fellow synthesizer enthusiast Josh (Sterling Macer Jr.) and form a partnership. Trent decides to invest in Josh’s new idea, which will change the synthesizer game. As they get closer, and as the audience begins to wonder if they might be heading towards a romance, Trent discovers Josh has landed a job that will take him away from him. This is when Trent decides he cannot let Josh go and things get bloody and weirder. This is also where Dead Mail reveals the origins of the bloody note that led to Jasper’s death.
When a blood-stained note makes its way to the local post office, a “dead letter’ expert stumbles on to a deadly mystery. This fascinating thread and the beloved character of Jasper (Tomas Boykin), the mailroom clerk with a gift for finding the story behind any piece of suspicious mail is intriguing. However, Dead Mail reveals that it opened halfway through the story, so this is more of a long entryway into the world. This is a shame because this would have been a more promising movie and less problematic than what we get.
Killing Jasper Shifts the Film in the Wrong Direction
Writer and directors Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy kill off Jasper and then jump to his killer’s backstory. We see the murderer, Trent (John Fleck), meet fellow synthesizer enthusiast Josh (Sterling Macer Jr.) and form a partnership. Trent decides to invest in Josh’s new idea, which will change the synthesizer game. As they get closer, and as the audience begins to wonder if they might be heading towards a romance, Trent discovers Josh has landed a job that will take him away from him. This is when Trent decides he cannot let Josh go and things get bloody and weirder. This is also where Dead Mail reveals the origins of the bloody note that led to Jasper’s death.
Strong Performances and Retro Style Can’t Fill the Void
While Dead Mail is not my kind of humor, I appreciate the cast commitment to these bits. I also dug the retro 1980s vibes. The creative team handled the wigs, clothes, props, and locations beautifully with their budget. I knew exactly when this was taking place right from the opening frame. The aesthetic choices are one of the few things that worked in this movie’s favor. I also think Jasper was the most fascinating character, and I enjoyed what Boykin was doing in that role. So when he dies, the rest of the movie feels like it is missing a reason for existing. I loved having a Black male character with hints of a backstory who is the best dead letter expert in all the land. That sounds fun, and I would have gladly spent more time with him solving cases. Especially, because it would have helped us avoid what was to come with Trent and Josh.
Dead Mail’s Racial Optics Are Disturbing and Unexamined
It feels like the filmmakers did not think about the optics of having a white guy chain a Black guy up in a bathroom, leaving him to eat off of the floor. Nor did they think about the historical context of white people feeling ownership over Black people and our creations. So, all of this is sitting in the forefront but going unaddressed when Trent locks Josh up. This is probably why it was hard to chuckle at some of the stabs at humor. It also makes it extremely troubling that no real justice is served for these transgressions. Trent does not go to jail but instead drives off to end himself on his own time. He also gets another cute moment where he plays a tape Josh made before their partnership took a turn. Dead Mail really stumbled into Black trauma and then refused to deal with it while never treating the white criminal like a criminal. This is messy and a wildly confusing route to take. He is written as a kooky character we are supposed to like and I do not understand. If he had suffered a single consequence then maybe I would feel slightly differently.
A Late Attempt at Resolution Falls Flat
In what seems like an attempt at a bandaid, Ann (Micki Jackson) solves the case of the letter and Jasper’s murder. I love seeing Black women win on film, but because we had Josh chained up in a bathroom, I was worried about what would happen to her as I watched her put herself in so much danger. However, Dead Mail is not interested in a fight or punishing Trent. So, when he sees that she has figured it out, he just drives away, leaving us unsatisfied. Any hope that all these questionable choices were building to something deflates without giving the audience a moment of catharsis.
Dead Mail’s Influences Can’t Save It
What makes it even more uncomfortable is I don’t think the filmmakers are aware of these issues. They seemingly set out to create a dead letter investigator and maybe show that they are heavily influenced by the work of the Coen brothers. So, I am very curious how Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy will respond as Dead Mail exits festivals and becomes more accessible to the public. Hopefully, the incoming discourse will help them make different choices in their future projects. While I will not be revisiting this movie, I would be curious to see how they follow it up if they avoid some of these glaring issues.
Dead Mail played at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival on October 17th, 2024.
Haunted house stories are a staple in the horror genre. But it’s not often that a haunted house film digs its way under your skin and stays there long after the credits roll. Enter Recluse, celebrating its world premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival.
A Disturbing Return Home Fuels Recluse’s Story
Joan Wyatt, a young and troubled audio engineer, is called back to her childhood home following a bizarre accident in which her father, the famous artist Lawrence Wyatt, was engulfed in flames and left in critical condition. Joan has been estranged from her father for quite some time, so when his longtime housekeeper Lydia leaves a voicemail telling her that he likely doesn’t have a lot of time left, she ignores it. But then Lawrence himself calls, telling Joan that he’s been seeing her mother—who disappeared when Joan was a child—around the house.
Joan arrives to find Lydia armed with a crossbow to ward off Lawrence’s obsessive fans. Her father is bed-bound with severe burns, and is being cared for by a hired nurse around Joan’s age named Emily. Lawrence, who notoriously experimented with psychedelics and occult practices during his career, is barely coherent and keeps his face concealed underneath a crude plaster mask. He keeps asking about his “little spider.” It’s disturbing and deeply upsetting, especially since Joan already has a lifetime of trauma associated with the house. Now that she’s back, she begins to suspect that these “ghosts” aren’t metaphorical. Lawrence was not a good man… but something even more sinister may be lurking in the house.
Henry Chaisson Reinvents the Haunted House Formula
Recluse, written and directed by Henry Chaisson, is a masterfully crafted debut feature that takes familiar elements of the haunted house genre—like a remote mansion as the setting, traumatic family secrets, and supernatural mischief—and twists them into something fresh and, well, twisted.
Sasha Frolova Leads an Exceptional Ensemble Cast
Sasha Frolova stars as Joan, delivering a performance that is both believable and compelling. She’s easy to root for throughout the film, especially as she contends with her father’s unwaveringly loyal housekeeper Lydia, brilliantly played by Toby Poser. Mia Vallet’s portrayal of Emily is also noteworthy, commanding attention from her first appearance all the way to the end. Kimball Farley plays Lydia’s son and Joan’s friend Todd with the perfect balance of levity and tension. Frankie Seratch is enjoyable to watch as the opportunistic nepo baby art dealer Tom. Rounding out the cast is Xander Berkeley as Lawrence; even from behind a mask, his performance is intense and chilling. Berkeley even provided some of his own art to be used in the film.
Sound Design and Cinematography Create Unrelenting Terror
The cast is far from the film’s only strength, though. Sound design by Matthew Rollins will have you death-gripping your seat in the best way, and serves as an integral part of the story itself. Production designer Yulanda Yo-Rong Shieh and art director Ana María Kalvo absolutely nailed the set and made the Wyatt family mansion simultaneously sprawling and claustrophobic.
Finally, we have the beautiful and (appropriately) haunting cinematography by Bryce Holden, supported by the editing prowess of Nik Voytas, Josh Lobo, and Henry Chaisson. Not only did they maintain an air of unrelenting suspense throughout the entire film, but they also executed some of the most disturbing and bone-chilling jump scares I’ve seen in recent years.
Seriously: One of those jump scares made me feel physically ill. You’ll know it when you see it for yourself.
Recluse had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2026.
“I promise, no one’s leaving here smarter tonight,” laughs Frank from the stage as he kicks off Cabane à Sang for its 9th annual trash horror film festival. The programming delivers an eclectic mix of gory, comedic, and bizarre short films from around the globe to a dedicated audience of enthusiastic fans.
What Is Cabane à Sang? A Quebec-Born Underground Horror Festival
Cabane à Sang (which translated to English means “Blood shack”, a play on the Quebecois termphrase cabane à sucre / sugar shack) is a homegrown festival based in Hochelaga, a densely populated working class neighborhood on the east side of Montreal, Québec. For $18 (CA$), you can enjoy hours of meticulously curated madness. A can of local microbrew is $6, a can of soda is $2, and you are guaranteed to see some shit you’ve never seen before in your life.
“We want everyone to be able to come to the fest. Shows for $18 don’t really exist anymore,” insisted organizer Marc-Antoine in a franglais conversation between him, myself and Frank before Saturday’s “Keep It Weird” show (note: some quotes have been translated to English). Frank tells me about the festival’s early days as a road show. “It was a total fucking flop!” he laughs, but the branding was strong, so after taking a year off to regroup, the 2nd edition had people lining up early to attend, surprising even the organizers.
Photo Courtesy of Cabane à Sang
How Cabane à Sang Adapted During COVID and Found a Permanent Home
The pandemic forced the team to adapt again (Quebecers faced some of the harshest COVID restrictions in North America), and they ended up live streaming a jerry-rigged MTV-style projection screen to show the films while audiences participated in the chat. After moving around to a few locations and struggling with a host of technical difficulties, they landed at Productions Jeun’Est, an old church that’s since been turned into an event space. “This year is really next level,” says Marc-Antoine. “We need to highlight the tech crew here, who are just hallucinant (incredible),” as well as the venue, he continued, who’ve “really welcomed us and helped us out.”
This year’s edition features 5 evenings of madness spread out over two weekends. The first weekend hosted the events SCIF’HIGH (promising the “best and worst” of science fiction), RE-Animation (exploring a “wide range of animation styles”), and their signature event, Keep It Weird (a mix of “proudly off-putting short films”). The second weekend will feature Mixed Meats (an “unhinged mix of every corner of horror”) and their infamous 200$ or less film competition – the Party Pooper Spectacular (this year, the theme is Pizza Horror). A $20 virtual pass to the whole fest is available online for those with the misfortune of missing the in person experience.
Why Filmmakers and Fans Take This “Trash” Horror Festival Seriously
Despite the goofy themes, the team of ten-ish organizers take their roles seriously, and are thrilled to have landed in a venue that can give the films the respect they deserve. “Our setup is a bit punk, but I just think about the filmmakers,” insists Marc Antoine. “They put in so much work, it’s normal that we do them justice with a good screening.” Frank echoes this sentiment. “Some stuff [we get] is not necessarily gory or cheap or whatever. They’re just, like, oddities, and they deserve to be seen, you know? And tonight we’re going to see some of them!”
People are already showing up when I arrive an hour early to Saturday’s show (unheard of in a city like Montreal, where showing up 45 min after doors open is the norm). The vibes stay immaculate, thanks to the team’s guiding motto: Don’t be an asshole. “Like legit, this is our only fucking rule here,” laughs Frank, and it applies to everyone, including the filmmakers. “I think we all love this project because it allows us to showcase stuff that we personally like and that we don’t see anywhere else,” says Marc-Antoine.
‘Dom’s Spaghetti’ Courtesy of Cabane à Sang
Weird, Gross, and Brilliant: Inside Cabane à Sang’s Most Bizarre Short Films
True to their words, the evening’s programming features some truly mind bending films, grouped together under ‘themes’ like ‘films that feature bread’ or ‘films that start with the letter D’. For every serious film about war or depression, there are five that are totally absurd. (Frank assures me that they’ve got “plenty of movies with dicks and poop and stuff like that!”) There’s the lesbian eldritch love story inspired by The Thing (The Fling), and there’s a meat-witch orgy movie (Plant Mom). One film is simply about a haunted bidet (Bidet), another features every cinematic iteration of Vin Diesel (Dom’s Spaghetti). Then there’s the mixed media movie Dog Shit, described perfectly as “parfum de caca, marteau dans les couilles” (I’ll leave you all to translate that one yourselves).
As the evening wraps up, Frank reminds the audience to return the following week, before yelling “Shout out bébé Jésus!” to enthusiastic applause, given that we are all sitting in a church. “Over the years, people have come from all over, from Abitibi, from the US,” Marc-Antoine tells me. “Ya, they fly in!!” adds Frank, “we don’t have the money to fucking pay for their flights!” Marc-Antoine continues, saying, “that shows that this really connects with people, locally, yes, but people all over are moved by what we’re doing. We’re going up against some big machines, some big productions, but we’re able to connect with people all the same.”
Cabane à Sang Proves That Micro-Budget Horror is More Important Than Ever
“People are fed up also, and I don’t want to get into the whole fucking AI thing,” Frank adds, “but I think a lot of people are irritated about it. We’re sitting in a great position right now.” When talking about the upcoming film competition on May 9th, I learned that they’ve got 22 unique micro budget works lined up, with an additional slate of films that will soon be on their streaming site, Caban à Sang TV. “AI cannot fucking make this shit up,” Frank says. “This is honest, this is real.”
