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.
If you’re not watching Indonesian horror, you’re missing out. The region is producing some of the craziest genre movies around right now, thanks in no small part to the efforts of writer-director Joko Anwar. His latest, Ghost in the Cell, which celebrated its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest 2026, combines everything we love about the filmmaker’s work—supernatural scares, inventive kills, and gnarly gore—along with a strong vein of comedy and political satire.
What is Ghost in the Cell About?
Ghost in the Cell centers around Dimas (Endy Arfian), a journalist whose life falls apart after he tries to run a story on corporate corruption and mysterious worker deaths. Wrongfully convicted of the horrific murder of his boss, Dimas finds himself with a one-way ticket to Cell Block C, where he quickly meets a colorful cast of prisoners—the good, the bad, and the seriously nasty. Among the good guys, there’s Anggoro (Abimana Aryasatya), who is constantly getting into trouble for defending fellow inmates, and Six (Yoga Pratama), who claims he can see people’s auras.
As if Dimas’ situation couldn’t get any worse, his arrival seems to trigger a series of brutal killings in the prison. Bodies are showing up mangled beyond recognition and displayed in positions that wouldn’t look out of place in Hannibal. It soon becomes clear that Dimas isn’t behind the murders, which begs the question: what did he bring in with him?
Anwar Embraces Horror-Comedy Whole-Heartedly
Prison is a scary place, and Anwar makes great use of the setting, with the action moving from the dingy showers where predators lurk to the bleak cellblock where inmates are at the mercy of their captors and the cafeteria where rival gangs eye each other up with ill intent.
But for all the human misery contained within the film, Ghost in the Cell is ultimately a horror-comedy, one that isn’t afraid to lean into broad slapstick and quippy dialogue when it wants to raise a chuckle. The tonal shifts can take a little while to adjust to, especially if your previous experience with Anwar comes from his more serious horror outings like Impetigore. This might be a problem if the film wasn’t actually funny, but Ghost in the Cell has enough laugh-out-loud moments to make you forget about any whiplash.
Ghost in the Cell Is a Genre-Bender to the Max
Comedy isn’t the only new flavor that Anwar has tossed into the mix. In Ghost in the Cell, dance sequences and martial-arts fight choreo sit side-by-side with some of the most extreme gore scenes seen outside a Terrifier movie in recent years. Then there’s the eerie way the spirit presents before it kills (trypophobia sufferers, beware) and the extensive critique of political corruption, power, and inequality. It’s an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach that shouldn’t work on paper, but under Anwar’s assured hand, it does.
It helps that for all the slapstick, the film lands a surprisingly earnest message, amplified by its vast ensemble cast. Dimas and Anggoro at times feel like main characters, but everyone in Ghost in the Cell has a big part to play, and that’s the point: in seemingly impossible circumstances, there’s strength in unity.
Ghost in the Cell Is an Endlessly Entertaining Blend of Goofiness, Heart, and Gore
If you’re looking for nonstop scares, you won’t find them in Ghost in the Cell. What you will find is a delightful blend of horror, comedy, and action that is apt to leave you grinning from ear to ear.
The film doesn’t skimp on the gore, throwing flesh and fluids at every surface. But it’s also charmingly goofy, with a cast that doesn’t take itself too seriously and a script that’s all too happy to devolve into a comedic dance scene when it feels like the spirit might strike. In every sense, Anwar is doing the most, and the end result is a film where there’s nary a dull moment in sight.
One of the great pleasures of attending Fantastic Fest is the ability to occasionally see movies that won’t be out for many months. That’s especially true with the Secret Screenings, which this year included a work-in-progress print of In a Violent Nature 2, a film that doesn’t even have a release date yet and made for a wildly entertaining midnight movie surprise.
While a few things may change between now and release, the cut shown at Fantastic Fest felt near-final. Here’s what you can look forward to when this sequel eventually slashes its way onto our screens.
Johnny Returns in In a Violent Nature 2
In a Violent Nature 2 picks up right where the action of its predecessor left off, while also introducing new aspects of the lore that slightly contradict or complicate what has already been established, a nod to the way that slasher sequels throw in new plot elements willy-nilly to suit their needs.
The second film centers on Alex (Lucas Nguyen), a quiet 14-year-old kid who misses the bus home from camp because his bullies have stuffed him in a trunk. Since his older sister works at the camp, he gets to hang out for the night while the counselors celebrate the end of the season. Unfortunately, an old fireman’s whistle has drawn the mute, hulking Johnny (Ry Barrett) to the camp—and before long, their night of revelry has turned into one of unimaginable horror.
Less Walking, More Killing
Chris Nash, who wrote and directed the first film, handles scripting duties this time around, with Nate Wilson—who served as first assistant director on the original—stepping into the director role. It feels as though Nash may have listened to viewers’ complaints about how much walking was in the original, because In a Violent Nature 2 takes a break from following Johnny on his lumbering mission. Instead, the camera largely chases Alex through the woods as he runs, trips, and stumbles away from the carnage.
This change is a mixed bag. Alex may be more a dynamic figure to follow overall, but he also makes some frustratingly poor choices, and his teenage moodiness makes him a little unlikeable. The first film also succeeded, in part, because it consciously played into how audiences consume slasher movies, with their sympathies shifting from cheering on the killer to rooting for the final girl when she triumphantly emerges. In a Violent Nature 2 feels like less of a meta-commentary on the slasher genre, though it still has plenty to offer fans of the genre, especially when it comes to kills.
In a Violent Nature 2 Takes the Gore to a Whole New Level
Mention In a Violent Nature to a horror fan and they’ll probably bring up the yoga kill within 10 seconds. For the sequel, Nash and Wilson attempt to up the ante—no small feat considering just how violent the first film was. It’s hard to top that particular kill, but In a Violent Nature 2 certainly gives it the old college try.
Shifting the focus from a single group of friends to an entire summer camp, even one that’s emptying out, instantly ups the potential body count (and harkens back to the slasher films of yore). Counsellors are slaughtered in droves, in ways more brutal than anything seen in the original film, with a few kills in particular sure to get people talking. It’s a real treat for fans of practical effects, and it’s great to see that even horror films positioning themselves as more “elevated” than the typical fare can have fun and get their hands bloody.
A Possible Set up for Another Sequel?
Minor spoilers ahead.
In a Violent Nature 2 feels like something of a response to the reception of the first film, removing what people didn’t like and piling on more of what they did. The result is a movie that feels a little less focused and meditative than its predecessor, but still incredibly fun. And with a third film heavily teased in the final minutes, it seems like we’ll be seeing more of Johnny in the near future. Based on the trajectory of other slashers, can we expect to see him fighting a psychic child next? Or—dare we dream—is he preparing for a trip to space?
Only time will tell. Better lace up your walking shoes.
When Does In a Violent Nature 2 Come Out?
In a Violent Nature 2 is slated to hit theaters sometime in 2026. Keep an eye on IFC Films and Shudder’s socials for more release information as it becomes available.
