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Talkhouse

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Film

The 2021 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors’ Top Films of the Year

The 2020 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors’ Top Films of the Year

Talkhouse Film Contributors Remember Stuart Gordon

Rodney Ascher is a filmmaker known for working in the spaces between documentaries, collage, and genre films. His feature debut, Room 237, managed a theatrical release despite the fact that it was made on a home computer in his living room. Other projects include The Nightmare, Primal Screen, Haunted, Horrifying Sounds From Beyond the Grave, and as editor, Andy Kaufman’s posthumous (?) comedy album, Andy and His Grandmother. A Glitch in the Matrix, his latest, explores Simulation Theory and, knock on wood, will premiere later this year. He lives in a fast-gentrifying corner of Los Angeles with his talented family and their beautiful cat. (Photo by Joseph Cultice.)

Rodney Ascher

Underrated/Overlooked: Rodney Ascher on Nicolas Winding Refn’s Too Old to Die Young

The 2019 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors’ Top Films of the Year

The 2018 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors’ Top Films of the Year

With a strange mix of underground horror shock and existential atmosphere, Calvin Lee Reeder made a name for himself with short films like Piledriver and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDFaLFA5VBY" target="_blank">Little Farm</a>. His features films <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWJiYebSQYM" target="_blank">The Rambler</a> (Anchor Bay Films) and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE7lxnhqYJ8" target="_blank">The Oregonian</a> (Factory 25) divided and excited Sundance audiences just as his shorts had before them. Reeder specializes in turning lo-fi splatter pics into art films by meshing high-concept thought and design with genre storylines. Follow him <a href="https://twitter.com/CalvinLeeReeder" target="_blank">here</a>.

Calvin Lee Reeder

Brian Trenchard-Smith has been burning to make genre films ever since seeing Hitchcock’s Vertigo at age 13. So far he has directed 42 Crimes Against Cinema, and counting. (He’s an enthusiastic recidivist.) His cult favorites include The Man from Hong Kong, Turkey Shoot, BMX Bandits, Stunt Rock, The Siege of Firebase Gloria. His memoir, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ADVENTURES-MOVIE-TRADE-MEDWIN-TRENCHARD-SMITH/dp/B08JVLC35P/ref=asc_df_B08JVLC35P/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=475866653660&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=15351232785781447577&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9004367&amp;hvtargid=pla-972105956148&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adventures in the B Movie Trade</a>, is now available as an e-book.

Brian Trenchard-Smith

Emily Hagins wrote and directed her first feature film when she was 12-years-old, and her experiences chronicled in the documentary Zombie Girl: The Movie. Now 22, Emily has written and directed four features (most recently Grow Up, Tony Phillips) and is living in Los Angeles.

Emily Hagins

Larry Fessenden&#8216;s latest indie horror film, Depraved, opens in select theaters through IFC Midnight on September 13. Fessenden is top dog of the indie production company Glass Eye Pix. He has directed such movies as The Last Winter, Habit and Beneath and he&#8217;s produced dozens of films including Stake Land, House of the Devil and Wendy and Lucy. He has acted in movies such as You&#8217;re Next, Broken Flowers and The Mountain and appeared on TV in Louie and The Strain. He thinks you should be worried about climate change.

Larry Fessenden

Jeffrey Reddick shot to horror fame with the creation of the horror classic Final Destination, which spawned four sequels and has earned over $650 million dollars at the worldwide box office. Reddick has sold, or optioned, more than 25 projects for film and television and has produced more than 12. Jeffrey’s most recent film, Dead Awake, was released in May 2017. Other produced credits include Lionsgate’s thriller Tamara and the remake of George Romero’s classic Day of the Dead. Jeffrey is making the move into directing and is currently developing The Horror Show and a feature version of his 2014 short film Good Samaritan.

Jeffrey Reddick

Clay Liford is an independent filmmaker living in Austin, TX. He has written and directed several shorts (such as My Mom Smokes Weed and Earthling) and the features Earthling and Wuss, and shot/edited over 20 other features, including St. Nick and Gayby. His latest feature, Slash, world premiered at SXSW 2016 and is currently on the festival circuit. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/clayLiford" target="_blank">here</a>.

Clay Liford

Lloyd Kaufman, co-founder of Troma Entertainment, directed many of their feature films, including The Toxic Avenger, The Class of Nuke ‘Em High, Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD, Tromeo &amp; Juliet and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. Kaufman has written six books and presented his “Make Your Own Damn Movie” masterclasses globally. His latest film, Return to Nuke ‘Em High Vol. 1, produced in association with Starz, premiered in 2014 and screened in The Contenders series at MoMA. He is currently working on Return to Nuke &#8216;Em High Vol. 2 and The Toxic Avenger Part V.

Lloyd Kaufman

Writer-director Nicholas McCarthy made his feature debut in 2012 with The Pact, adapted from his short film of the same name. The horror film, which premiered at Sundance, was released by IFC Midnight in the U.S. and spawned a sequel. In the wake of the success of The Pact, McCarthy wrote and directed the At the Devil’s Door, starring Naya Rivera and Catalina Sandino Moreno, which was released in 2014, also by IFC Midnight. In 2016, McCarthy wrote and directed the “Easter” segment of the anthology horror film Holidays. He lives in Los Angeles.

Nicholas McCarthy

Director Darren Lynn Bousman is best known for directing Saw II, III and IV. His latest film, St. Agatha, is now in theaters and On Demand / Digital HD through Uncork&#8217;d Entertainment. The Kansas native also directed the horror rock operas Repo! The Genetic Opera, The Devil&#8217;s Carnival and Alleluia! The Devil&#8217;s Carnival, as well as the horror movies 11-11-11, The Barrens and Mother&#8217;s Day, a remake of the classic 1980 movie.

Darren Lynn Bousman

Talkhouse Film Contributors Remember George A. Romero

The 2016 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors’ Top Films of the Year

Jennifer Phang is a San Francisco-based filmmaker. Her award-winning debut feature, <a href="http://halflifemovie.com/" target="_blank">Half-Life</a>, premiered in 2008 at Sundance and was distributed by the Sundance Channel. Phang was commissioned by ITVS to create the short film Advantageous (2012), as part of the Futurestates series. She subsequently adapted it into a feature film, also called <a href="http://www.advantageous.me/" target="_blank">Advantageous</a>, which had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, winning a Special Jury Award.

Jennifer Phang

Independent Spirit Award-nominated writer/director/actor Jonathan Lisecki made his feature film debut with the romantic comedy <a href="http://www.gaybyfilm.com/" target="_blank">Gayby</a> (2012), adapted from the award-winning short film of the same title. He lives in New York and Los Angeles with his husband, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross. You can follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/jonnynyc" target="_blank">@jonnynyc</a>.

Jonathan Lisecki

Election 2016: Filmmakers Get Out the Vote!

Zach Clark is the writer-director of The Becomers, Little Sister, White Reindeer, Vacation! and Modern Love is Automatic. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Zach Clark

Expiring Soon: Eyes Wide Shut, Whatever Movie You Need It To Be

Brandon Colvin is a filmmaker, scholar and educator. He has written, directed and produced two features, Frames (2012) and Sabbatical (2014), and served as a producer on Tears of God (2015). He is currently a PhD candidate in Film Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Brandon Colvin

Caveh Zahedi is an autobiographical filmmaker whose body of work attempts to tell the story of his life as it unfolds. His latest film, <a href="https://www.roxycinemanewyork.com/screenings/tripping-with-caveh-getting-stoned-with-will-oldham/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Getting Stoned with Will Oldham</a>, a follow-up to his cult classic Tripping with Caveh, 20 years on, has its world premiere on October 19 at the Roxy Cinema in New York City. His feature-length films include The Sheik and I (2012), I Am A Sex Addict (2005), In The Bathtub of the World (2001), I Don’t Hate Las Vegas Anymore (1994), and A Little Stiff (1991). His short films and other series include Getting Stoned with Caveh, Bob Dylan Hates Me, Tripping with Caveh, and I Was Possessed by God. A box set of his films is available from <a href="http://www.factorytwentyfive.com/caveh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Factory 25</a>.

Caveh Zahedi

Frankie Latina is an Italian-American independent writer-director born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who began using his uncle Dave&#8217;s Super 8mm camera to make movies when he was a teenager. He studied film at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he learned how to make 16mm movies, and made his feature debut in 2009 with Modus Operandi. It was released theatrically by Kino Lorber in 2010 and is now available on VOD. <a href="http://www.frankielatina.com/" target="_blank">Latina</a> is currently making his second feature, Snapshot.

Frankie Latina

Jeff Reichert is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and critic based in Brooklyn.

Jeff Reichert

Joel Potrykus resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he works with a filmmaking band, Sob Noisse, including long-time collaborator Joshua Burge. His latest feature, <a href="https://tribecafilm.com/films/vulcanizadora-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vulcanizadora</a>, makes its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024. His films Ape, Buzzard, The Alchemist Cookbook and Relaxer have premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, and have screened at the Lincoln Center and the MoMa. He teaches filmmaking at Grand Valley State University.

Joel Potrykus

Writer and director Nick Simon grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He moved to Los Angeles in 2006 to attend the American Film Institute Conservatory. Upon graduation, Simon co-wrote and directed his first thriller, Removal. During the next several years Simon continued to write and direct for TV and film. Sticking within the horror and thriller genre. With films like The Girl in the Photographs, The Pyramid, and Cold Comes the Night”. Working alongside film legends like Wes Craven and Dean Cundey.  Simon is also pizza connoisseur, rescue dog enthusiast and lover of team-of-expert-movies.

Nick Simon

Penny Lane has been making award-winning, innovative nonfiction films for more than a decade. Her latest documentary,&nbsp;Hail Satan?, about the The Satanic Temple, premiered at Sundance and is being released in select theaters by Magnolia from April 19.&nbsp;Her previous documentary features include&nbsp;The Pain of Others (2018),&nbsp;Nuts! (2016) and&nbsp;Our Nixon (2013). She&nbsp;was named one of Filmmaker magazine&#8217;s &#8220;25 New Faces of Independent Film&#8221; in 2012.&nbsp;Lane is currently an associate professor in the Department of Art and Art History at Colgate University, where she lives in a very old house and shows movies in her barn. And yes, Penny Lane is her real name.

Penny Lane

Riley Stearns is the writer-director of Faults (2014), The Art of Self-Defense (2019) and his new film Dual, starring Karen Gillan and Aaron Paul, which is available on digital, on demand and AMC+ on May 20. He lives in Los Angeles. You can visit his website <a href="http://www.rileystearns.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Riley Stearns

Terence Nance is an Artist, Musician, and Filmmaker born in Dallas, Texas in what was then referred to as the State-Thomas community. Nance wrote, directed, scored, and starred in his first feature film, <a href="http://ofherbeauty.com">An Oversimplification of Her Beauty,</a> which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in 2013. In 2014, he was named a Guggenheim Fellow. In the summer of 2018, Terence’s Peabody award-winning television series Random Acts of Flyness debuted on HBO to great critical acclaim, and was renewed for a second season by the network. His latest release as a musician, Vortex+, came out in early 2025.

Terence Nance

Zack Parker is a Midwest-based independent filmmaker. His features include the horror/thrillers Inexchange, Quench and Scalene. <a href="http://twitter.com/PROXY_Movie" target="_blank">Proxy</a>, his latest, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013, and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD by IFC Midnight August 12th.

Zack Parker

“It Got One Star, for the Cat”: Filmmakers Choose More of Their Favorite Negative User Reviews

Stuart Gordon was a writer-director-producer of film, television and theater. He is best known for the cult classic Re-Animator and for having murdered his wife Carolyn in his films whenever possible.