Today’s reviews:
Nightmare Cinema & This Way to Egress

I’m heading out to catch a flight, preparing to face what everyone in Montreal is describing as nightmarish traffic – road closures and construction between downtown and the airport. So … while I’m experiencing nightmare traffic, I’ll leave you with some links to the latest reviews on Nightmare Cinema and “This Way to Egress.”

It’s gratifying to see my collaboration with David Slade receiving such positive notice.

I also have some thoughts to share regarding another anthology film that played here at Fantasia. Tales from the Hood 2 from filmmakers Rusty Cundieff and Darrin Scott is a topical mix of dark comedy and thought-provoking horror. I can’t recommend it enough, but I will try my damnedest in tomorrow’s post.

For now, I leave you in the hands of the following reviewers. As was the case with yesterday’s installment (where I included some links to earlier reviews) Links at the end of each pull quote will direct you to the full article. Enjoy.

• From the start, it’s obvious that Slade is working in a different mode, as he shoots in black and white and makes his threats dark and amorphous rather than flashing a lot of red. There’s overpowering corruption and filth in nearly every frame, and the mythology Slade adapts from Lawrence C. Connolly’s story is spelled out just enough to make the viewer wonder and worry. Reaser handles her end of it well, Slade’s team fits some Cronenberg-quality weird imagery into this, and as a result it reaches beyond the repeated plot devices of the other segments to the point where it makes one think about being overwhelmed and frightened by a world that suddenly seems worse. – Read full review at eFilmCritic.com
• A visual spectacle of mental illness, the fourth film is entitled This Way to Egress. Director David Slade introduces us to Helen (Elizabeth Reaser), a woman trapped in her mind. First, we rest in her black and white world with spotless people and symmetrical settings. However, as Helen interacts with these people and places, they start to become deformed and soiled with black netting. We suffer through her struggle to decipher the difference between false and reality, ultimately understanding that this puzzle can push anyone to insanity. – Read full review at Dread Central
• Slade’s “This Way to Egress” […] commands a feature of its own. Paying homage to films like Eraserhead and Jacob’s Ladder, Slade’s black-and-white cinematography and nightmare-inducing imagery result in a chilling conclusion […]. – Read full review at Rue Morgue
• The fourth segment in Nightmare Cinema is Slade’s “This Way to Egress,” an intense exploration of paranoia, as we watch the life of Elizabeth Reaser’s character, Helen, spiral out of control after her husband leaves her. Slade utilizes black and white cinematography for “Egress” and it beautifully complements the existential dread that drives his story. Read full review at Daily Dead
• Slade’s segment is so wholly unique and […] demonstrative of the freedom anthologies give directors without the weight of the entire film’s success riding solely on their shoulders. It breaks the playful tone of the preceding film, but it remains a highlight. Read full review at Bloody Disgusting
• “Egress” offers a surreal nightmare, as a woman hallucinates her world and its inhabitants devolving into a Silent Hill hellscape. Presented in black and white, “Egress” is uncomfortable, genuinely gross and totally serious[…]. It is also very assured and well done. Read full review at Birth. Movies. Death.
• The fourth is the most ambitious, coming from David Slade, who shoots it in black and white, very much like his “Black Mirror” episode, “Metalhead”, although this is more successful I wager. Elizabeth Reaser stars as a woman experiencing hallucinations that make the world and everyone in it look nightmarish, reminding me a bit of the old “Twilight Zone” episode, “Eye of the Beholder”, but don’t expect any uplifting life messages at the end of this grim, stylish tale. – Read full review at JoBlo