September 15, 2020

...or the peculiar The Stylist, directed by Jill Gevargizian, who brings her own experience as a hairdresser to the big screen, based on her multi-award winning short film of the same name.

September 14, 2020

Friday night’s triple feature presentation will be rounded out by the Southeastern US Premiere of The Stylist, the debut feature from KHFF alum and collaborator Jill Gevargizian, who will be in attendance for the weekend. Heavy on both psychology and gore, The Stylistfollows a disturbed hairdresser (Najarra Townsend, reprising her role from the award-winning 2016 short) as a gruesome secret life threatens her budding friendship with a client played by After Midnight’s Brea Grant.

September 10, 2020

Fantastic Fest will continue to celebrate cinema this fall with a virtual edition that includes the world premiere of Jill Gevargizian's The Stylist(based on her renowned 2016 short film of the same name), the Texas premiere of Brandon Cronenberg's Possessor, an Evil Dead 2 remote escape room, and much more:

September 10, 2020

Fantastic Fest may be taking a year off due to the coronavirus lockdown, but that's just the in-person gathering. The local celebration of oddball, innovative, and international cinema has just announced a week-long streaming extravaganza, all for free, including multiple world premieres, running Sept. 24 to Oct. 1.

January 01, 2020

In some great news for horror hounds, Jill Gevargizian’s feature-length take on The Stylist will receive its international premiere at this year’s Sitges Film Festival.

August 31, 2020

Celebrated at many film festivals over the years was Jill Gevargizian‘s exceptional indie horror “The Stylist”, which featured the wonderful Najarra Townsend (Contracted) as a hairstylist-turned-slasher.

August 31, 2020

The Stylist, directed by Jill Gevargizian, introduces a very special hairdresser. Many people visit her chair and sometimes, her scissors cut something other than hair, allowing her to take home a unique souvenir to add to her exclusive collection.

August 12, 2020

The line-up of directors includes Jill Gevargizian, Gigi Saul Guerrero, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Amber Benson while the list of onscreen talent features Elizabeth Debicki, James Hong, and Samantha Bond. The series is produced by Etheria Film Festival founders Heidi Honeycutt and Stacy Pippi Hammon. 

August 01, 2020

Greg and Jenius close out their month of remakes as they welcome Adam Roberts and Eric Havens (cowriter of The Stylist) from the Nightmare Hour podcast to talk 2013's The Evil Dead!

July 22, 2020

Blowing a kiss back through time and space from Aaliyah to Jill Rae Zurborg, 1000 Women in Horror, 1895-2018 is a love letter to both the stars and the often-invisible women who have made the genre what it is today. From Classical Hollywood to alt-Nollywood, mumblegore to J-horror, this book offers a tiny global snapshot of the vast number of women who have worked in the creation of dark and spooky movies for well over a century, both behind and in front of the camera, and in films both widely known and comparatively obscure.

September 30, 2019

Throughout September the film community has been celebrating Woman Director Awareness Month, so it’s been the perfect time for me to rewatch some of my favourite horror films, catch up on some classics I’ve missed, and discover some new gems that also have the honour of being directed by women.

September 16, 2019

Jill “Sixx” Gevargizian (read our interview with her here) has been a long time favorite filmmaker of ours here at PopHorror. She has been turning heads and dropping jaws with her stellar work, ever since storming out of the gates with her incredible short film, Call Girl, back in 2014. Not many directors can claim to have worked with the likes of Tristan Risk (read our interview with her here) and Laurence Harvey on their debut project, a true testament to Jill’s extraordinary talent from day one. But she has proven time and time again that it was no fluke, creating magic every time she gets behind the camera.

September 13, 2019

Greg and Jenius welcome royalty back on the show as they talk the kickstarter campaign for Jill Gevargizian's The Stylist! Jill is joined by Robert Stern and Sarah Sharp who are all part of the film and of course, the episode was fueled by Rap Snacks!

September 12, 2019

Actress and producer Najarra Townsend is well-known and admired in the independent horror film community. She’s starred in films like Contracted (2013), Contracted: Phase II(2015), Wolf Mother (2016), and the short films The Stylistand 42 Counts, both from one of the most innovative and hardworking women filmmakers in horror, director Jill “Sixx” Gevargizian.

September 10, 2019

Jill “Sixx” Gevargizian made a big splash in the horror scene with her short film “Call Girl” in 2014, a two-hander that happened to star two very unique actors: Laurence R. Harvey (THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE II) and Tristan Risk (AMERICAN MARY, THE EDITOR). Since then she’s directed a number of shorts and music videos, but most horror fans who recognize her name probably associate her with her stylish, gruesome 2016 short “The Stylist” starring Najarra Townsend (CONTRACTED, MERCURY IN RETROGRADE). 

September 09, 2019

There has been a long-overdue focus on women in the genre in recent years, spurred on by events like February’s Women in Horror Month and projects like the anthologies XX (appearing in this lineup) or the more recent Shevenge.  With #ScaryMovieMonth just a few weeks away, it's a good time to put a spotlight on some horror movies directed by women in the hopes that we can all program a few this October. What better way to do that than with a 24 hour marathon? Thanks to Rosalie Lewis' "Ladies Behind the Lens" column and Amanda Stanke on our Facebook page for suggesting the idea.

September 07, 2019

Jill Gevargizian returned to talk about her new short "One Last Meal" which premiered at FrightFest last week and her campaign to get her first feature film "The Stylist" made!

September 06, 2019

Filmmaker Jill Gevargizian has recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to take her Monster Fest award-winning short THE STYLIST to feature and with twenty-one days remaining the project is nearing the halfway mark of its funding goal.

September 06, 2019

First up is The Stylist from Jill Gevargizian, who is currently crowdfunding her first feature film based on this short (you can find out more details about that HERE), and without a doubt, she’s a filmmaker who has continued to show great promise as a visual storyteller over the last several years.

September 03, 2019

A few years back a short horror film titled The Stylist was released. The short was directed by Jill Gevargizian, who is also known as Jill Sixx, and starred Najarra Townsend (Contracted, Me and You and Everyone We Know).

January 01, 2020

The Stylist is a shot horror film written, produced, and directed by Jill Gervagizian. It tells the story of a hair stylist named Claire (Najarra Townsend) who provides her clients with a special kind of hair cut.

September 03, 2019

If you were at the Connecticut Cult Classics double feature of Black Christmas and Silent Night, Deadly Night in December of 2017, you were lucky enough to catch our screening of Jill ‘Sixx’ Gevargizian’s beautiful short film The Stylist.

September 02, 2019

Ep. 345: We sit down with Jill Sixx & Najarra Townsend talking the 'The Stylist' Kickstarter at Frightfest.

August 29, 2019

As readers of Daily Dead may know, we've been longtime fans of filmmaker Jill Gevargizian, with Heather Wixson and Patrick Bromley discussing her work on a previous episode of Corpse Club, in addition to sharing her uniquely haunting short films over the years. We're thrilled that Gevargizian is now looking to adapt one of her most popular short films, The Stylist, into a feature-length movie, and she's launched a Kickstarter campaign to help bring this Leatherface-inspired tale to life in the feature-length format!

August 24, 2019

Listen to director Jill Gevargizian and actress Najarra Townsend talk about their upcoming feature film THE STYLIST. 

August 23, 2019

Greetings from Frightfest! Well, Mitch is there. Andy is home editing. Our guest is ALSO there. 

And she is a returning guest. You may remember her from Episode 39 of this show where she joined us to take a look at Anaconda and now, she's back to take a look at the first of the sequelsssss. 

She is the director of the short films Call Girl, The Stylist, 42 Counts and the Frightfest 2019 short selection One Last Meal... It's Jill Gevargizian!

August 23, 2019

I first saw The Stylist short film a couple of years ago and thought it would make a great feature film. Written and directed by the enormously talented Jill “Sixx” Gevargizian, The Stylist is a more glamorous take on Maniac or even The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film tells the story of a lonely hairstylist named Claire, played by Najarra Townsend (Contracted), in a chilling performance.

August 22, 2019

For this month’s Cut Short interview, I’m very excited to get to talk to Jill Gevargizian, whose short film One Last Meal is a nasty piece of work that also manages to sneak in some mean-spirited humor.  Read on for some bite-size information on where the story came from, ominous shooting locations, and maybe the best answer I’ve heard so far to the “What scares you most” question.akes it interesting? Write a catchy description to grab your audience's attention...

August 22, 2019

As a regular attendee of the annual Etheria Film Night sci-fi/horror shorts festival I get exposed to a lot of up-and-coming genre filmmakers that pique my interest. One such talent was writer-director Jill Gervagazian (also known under the moniker Jill Sixx), whose horror-thriller “The Stylist” nabbed both the Jury and Audience Awards at the 2016 showcase.

January 01, 2020

Director Jill Gevargizian is preparing to make her feature-film debut and she is going back to one of her earlier, award-winning short films The Stylist to do it. The Stylist had a very successful festival circuit run and recently completed a two year streaming residency over at Shudder. You can now watch The Stylist below. 

August 22, 2019

The team behind the outrageously successful short film The Stylist has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the feature-length adaptation. The campaign runs now through September 26th. This will be director Jill Gevargizian’s feature-film debut.

August 20, 2019

Short of the Week: The Stylist

August 15, 2019

Having won a whole host of plaudits for her work helming short films and music videos, Jill is soon to launch the Kickstarter campaign for a feature-length version of her 2016 short The Stylist.

August 09, 2019

SHORT FILM SHOWCASE 3

​

MONDAY 26 AUG – PRINCE CHARLES CINEMA DISCOVERY SCREEN 2 from 13:00

One Last Meal (European Premiere)
Director: Jill Gevargizian. Cast: Matt Mercer, Jake Martin, Tim Marks. USA 2019. 11 min.
A prison guard is forced to fulfil an unusual request from a violent criminal on death row.

July 22, 2019

It takes some finesse to tackle a topic as touchy as the death penalty (and even more so to do it in the context of a black comedy) but Jill Gevargizian does just that in her short film about the lengths a warden will go to in order to uphold the traditions we put in place to make ourselves feel more humane.  Make no mistake, the guy due for his last meal is not a good fella and Gevargizian doesn’t try to make him sympathetic.  But she also doesn’t do any favors for the guy itching to pull the switch if he can just get by that pesky last meal request.  It’s a twisted tale told with an evil smile.

June 07, 2019

Greg and Jenius kick off two months worth of slasher movies as they start a Summer of Slasher series and kick things off by talking the 1992 classic Candyman with Jill Gevargizian! They talk her upcoming short One Last Meal which is premiering at Cinepocalypse on June 15th!

March 29, 2019

Greg and Jenius delve Into the Mouth of March Madness for the last time as they welcome Jill Gevargizian and Tyler Unsell to talk the surviving horror classics from the 2009 bracket! The following films will be discussed: The Loved Ones, House of the Devil, Friday the 13th remake, and Zombieland. Which film goes to the round of the Frightful Four? Tune in to find out!

​

Jill Gevargizian: 00:00-01:03:00

March 08, 2019

​

February 21, 2019

Jill Gevargizian’s gloriously distressing horror-drama follows as Ava (Andrea Dover) and Alicia (Najarra Townsend) attempt to uncover a dark secret during a girls’ night watching horror films and talking about their love lives. Based on a true story, this slickly simple yet effective indie short tackles the darker side of human nature while remaining firmly rooted in reality.

​

42 Counts demonstrates that true evil can be found in the most unexpected places and that it would surprise the best of us just how many of those we know have a twisted voyeuristic streak in them. The dramatic outcome is both shocking and terrifying, haunting viewers with a sickening sense of dread long after its 8-minute runtime.

February 20, 2019

42 Counts feature two friends who discover hidden cameras all over one of the friends’ apartment. They follow the clues that lead them to something they couldn’t imagine. I enjoyed 42 Counts while thoroughly being creeped the fuck out by it. It’s hard not to imagine this happening because it happens daily. After watching this, I immediately looked up at my smoke detector, unhooked it and looked inside.

​

42 Counts doesn’t have blood and guts but tells the story of something very real. Every step that these two friends make to discover who is doing this and the source feels like a bomb waiting to explode. The tension as well is felt throughout the film, especially as the girls hide and the peeping tom is in the same room. You’ll realize once the credits have rolled that you’ve held your breath the entire time. 42 CountsNEEDS to be seen. It’s an expertly crafted film that shouts even though it’s short.

February 15, 2019

Call Girl stars Laurence R. Harvey from Human Centipede 2 and Tristan Rick from American Mary. The short film tells the story of a man who turns on his camera for his many viewers and invites a woman into his home for some “fun.” Call Girl from jump gives the voyeurism aspect in such an unsettling way. The film has some interesting and cool camera lags which, if you’ve ever experienced the internet, is a bit of a hassle when it comes to video. With those lags, you feel like you’re about to watch something intimate and private between two people. As it jumps, you don’t know what you’re about to see, and when you do, you jump along with it as something instantly comes or jumps into the frame. This short also has TWO great twist-endings that are very clever AND justifiable.

February 08, 2019

Ophidiophobes beware! Episode 39 sees Andy and Mitch joined by the co-director of Slaughter Movie House, the director of short films Call Girl, The Stylist, 42 Counts and the upcoming One Last Meal (starring former guest Matt Mercer), it's Jill Gevargizian! 

​

Her chosen film? ANACONDA!

​

Emerging from a time when big monster movies were all the rage (see Lake Placid, Godzilla etc), Luis Llosa's 1997 jungle thriller is a scaly delight. With a cast that features Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson and a truly "has to be seen to be believed" performance from Jon Voight as Cajun priest turned poacher Paul Serone, Anaconda is a film well worth your time. Sssssss-eek it out! 

February 04, 2019

Directed by Jill “Sixx” Gevargizian, CALL GIRL stars a familiar face among horror fans. The premise is simple: a man is seemingly recording an encounter between himself and what we assume to be a call girl. She comes over, pleasantries are exchanged, but the audience knows better than to think this will just be any normal encounter. Although the film is short, I really enjoyed the twist and I’ll admit I didn’t really see it coming.

February 04, 2019

Director Jill Gevargizian’s short “Call Girl” watches like a short interlude you’d probably see in a digital horror anthology similar to “V/H/S/.” And I mean that as a compliment. As a short but sweet little horror tale writer Eric Havens’ script has all the classic tropes of the genre. There’s the vile enemy, the victim, the set up, the twist, and the juicy comeuppance.

Laurence Harvey of “Human Centipede” fame plays a nameless man who is preparing to meet up with a call girl in his house. There he’s set up a web camera for an unseen friend with who he’s made the spectator for the meeting. When the beautiful call girl shows up, the John greets her with some reluctance, and of course a crowbar to the head, viciously murdering her. Of course, nothing is ever as it seems, and events unfold in “Call Girl” with a nice bit of karmic justice.

February 04, 2019

Grammy is a tiny little short – just over a minute – but it packs a real punch to the gut. Directed by 42 Counts’ Jill Gevargizian (read our interview with her here), this short follows a sweet little girl (Hala Finley: Man With A Plan TV series) who wakes up in the morning at her Grammy’s house and, naturally, begins to call for her. Grammy (Marilyn Hall: Wytch 2016) answers that she’ll be right down, as soon as she puts her face on. After watching this short, you’ll never think of that expression the same way again. The FX were amazing in this short! I think I might have seen a little robotics involved? A great play on words and bloody besides.

February 04, 2019

At just over a minute, this short from the very talented Jill Gevargizian is a bloody good time — an incredibly fun film that reflects a pure love of horror. In it, an adorable young girl wakes up at Grammy’s mouse. When she calls out for her, Grammy responds that she will be right down….just as soon as she puts on her face. But the girl is impatient and decides to barge in on Grammy before her face is ready. The result is a gory reveal, featuring some pretty impressive special effects and the introduction to a future scream queen in the making.

You can watch this short in full right here.

February 03, 2019

On the third day of the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival celebrating the diverse contributions of women working in the genre, attendees were treated to the ever popular Midnight Movies short horror block. Notoriously dark, bloody, and boundary-pushing, these shorts deliver the best and most gleefully gruesome content of the fest.

​

Call Girl is a clever and suspenseful film that proves that one can achieve a quality product with simple, limited material. The film is produced from an unmoving camera that continues rolling even as the actors leave the frame, as if one was watching on a live web cam. The villain’s seemingly innocent and pathetic personality is stripped away as he steps in front of the webcam, his appearance changing from ordinary to frightening and disturbing. Surprisingly, this is not done with make-up or special effects but by using only clever positioning and the blue glow of the screen.

​

The villain’s true intentions come with an additional shocking twist, the call girl in question taking back her strength and serving the consequences of her client’s actions. Both main characters, the call girl and the villain, represent a ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ message — surprising each other with hidden motives and capabilities. You can watch the full short here.

February 03, 2019

Obsession, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary is a persistent, disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling. Obsessions can be dangerous. They can cause us to act impulsively or irrationally, to do things completely against our nature or character. So naturally, such fixation can make for some powerfully compelling horror. Such is the premise of the Obsessions Shorts Block for the 2019 Final Girls Berlin Film Festival, an annual film festival devoted to showcasing horror cinema directed, written, or produced by women. The Obsessions Shorts Block screens the evening of Friday, February 1st at 7:30 local time. I had the esteemed pleasure of getting to review some of the films from this block ahead of the event. Are they worthy of your infatuation?

February 02, 2019

We continue our coverage of the incredible Final Girls Berlin Film Festival with another impressive block of short horror programming from female filmmakers around the world.

​

42 Counts relays the true story of a case of Voyeurism in Kanas City, 2014. The realism of the film and the main crime within it adds more to the characters’ violation and trauma, relaying the importance of validating Voyeurism and treating it as seriously as any other sex crime.

​

The film begins in a seemingly normal setting with two women lounging about their apartment until one of the friends discovers a connected system of hidden cameras that have been littered around their entire flat.

​

An impressive aspect of the film laid within its clever production as it eases the audience into the growing danger and darkness of the scenes. For example, the stylish and neat living room presented at the start of the film makes way for grungy bathrooms, tattered bedrooms and dark basements by the time the women discover the perpetrator – the climax of such leaves the audience with but a glimpse into the trauma that victims of sex offenses face.

February 01, 2019

Greg and Jenius kick off their month long celebration of Women in Horror month and they’re joined by Etheria Film Night festival director and co-founder Staci Pippi and filmmaker Jill Gevargizian. Much is discussed including Women in Horror month, Etheria Film Night, 42 Counts, and so much more! Brought to you unofficially by Rap Snacks!

January 23, 2019

Kansas City is one of the best places for a filmmaker, according to an analysis by Moviemaker.com.

​

“It feels so undiscovered,” actor and filmmaker David Dastmalchian, a Shawnee Mission South grad, told the industry magazine in its February issue.

​

It also doesn’t hurt that the city has a film development office that offers a financial incentive for films shot locally.

January 22, 2019

Panic Fest just keeps expanding.

​

Now in its seventh year, Kansas City’s premier genre film festival returns to Screenland Armour this Friday, January 25, and runs through next Thursday the 31st. In all, the fest includes 21 feature films, 18 shorts, three live podcast tapings, and one tongue-in-cheek live script reading. The rest of the country is starting to notice, too. MovieMaker recently named Panic Fest one of the 30 Bloody Best Genre Fests in 2019.

January 17, 2019

“Wild kindness” is what Kansas City moviemaker Jill Gevargizian says one can expect when shooting indie film in KC. “It’s become tradition for my crew and me to have meetings and wrap parties at a dive bar that serves the best pizza, and they know us well now and have offered to cater our next shoot for free,” she says. “I’ve directed over a dozen projects and I’ve only had to pay for a couple of locations; most owners are eager to help. I’m also a hairstylist and my clients constantly offer their homes, businesses, everything to be used in my films—KC people think moviemaking is rad and they want to help.” Gevargizian is to direct the feature film Permanent Address, starring Brea Grant, and hopes to shoot in Kansas City in 2019.

January 12, 2019

BFF Girls - Live action anime insanity that had me snickering from beginning to end.  It’s no secret how much I adored this one.

January 10, 2019

The 4th edition of Final Girls Berlin Film Festival will take place in Berlin, Germany from January 31st to February 3rd 2019. FGBFF showcases horror films that were directed, written, and/or produced by women and non-binary filmmakers from across the globe.

December 25, 2018

It is that time again for end-of-year thoughts and reflections, brought to you by many but not all of Diabolique’s contributors. Some opinions from our core writers are missing in this list, but there are more than enough picks in this massive look back at what 2018 brought us. Of the over thirty titles here, we find blockbusters to indies, theatrical releases to streaming content, and even a few repertory re-releases from home video distribution companies. The three top titles of the year are Mandy, BlackKklansman, and Hereditary, with enough nods toward each too close to pick a “best” film of the year. And without further ado:

December 18, 2018

Najarra Townsend is an actress most known for her roles in Contracted, Contracted: Phase 2, and Wolf Mother but she's been acting since she was a child and has almost 100 IMDb acting credits under her belt making her the most experienced guest I've had on the podcast to date.

December 17, 2018

I've never felt more trepidation with writing a review than I have with BFF Girls, for two reasons. First, I just don’t think I'm well equipped—as a father of three sons—to adequately comment on the storytelling components of the short which deal with menstruation. Though I fully understand what's happening on a physiological level (I have sisters, I hear things), there's certainly some layered humor pertaining to the onset of the menstrual cycle that's likely flying over my head. And for that, I am deeply sorry. And double-deeply-sorry to anyone I offend reading on past this admission of inexcusable ignorance as well.

December 16, 2018

Look out! Fabuloso Doom is on the rampage again and only the BFF Girls can stop him!

​

Yes, filmmaker Brian Lonano (Gwilliam, Crow Hand) is back. This time he sets his sights on Super Sentai-style shows. Here a group of dorky white girls Lily (Jessica Shipp), Rose (Allison Maier) and Violet (Sydney Allison Thomas) sit chatting when one of them mentions she might be starting her period. GASP! Far away in a phallic tower, Fabuloso Doom (Lawrence Sykkmon) is spying on them and hatches a plan. The BFF Girlswill soon become BFF women. Doom wants, not kidding, their period blood in order to gain their power.

December 14, 2018

A gaggle of anime otaku femmes (played by Allison Maier, Jessica Shipp, and Syndey Thomas respectively) discuss periods and fend off the pervy advances of their talking cat, Neko Sensei (voiced by Laurence R. Harvey from The Human Centipede sequels). Meanwhile on a planet far away from our own, super pervert  Fabuloso Doom (Lawrence Sykkmon) consults with his evil magic mirror (voiced by Dana Snyder) about how he can conquer our comely, though decidedly off-limits legally, heroines and stay eternally young and beautiful…which of course he interprets as a need to consume period blood (as anyone would). To that need he unleashes his evil monster Anti-Flow (Lea Enslin) which triggers our heroines transformation into the BFF (Beautiful Fantasy Flower ) Girls (played by Marilyn Chung, Jessica Nam, Carolann Utley) and a bloody good battle ensues!

December 13, 2018

Magical transformations! A flamboyant warlock! And a tampon monster!?

​

All this and more are featured in BFF Girls; the new short from Brian Lonano, director of CROW HAND!!! and Gwilliam.

After screening at film festivals across eight countries, BFF Girls is available to rent and purchase through Vimeo on Demand!

​

BFF Girls (which stands for Beautiful Fantasy Flower Girls) focuses on three dorky American girls (Allison Maier, Jessica Shipp & Syndey Thomas) who magically transform into beautiful Japanese superheroes (Marilyn Chung, Jessica Nam & Carolann Utley) and battle a tampon monster called Anti-Flow (The Strangers: Prey at Night’s Lea Enslin) as they begin their journey into womanhood. The film also stars Lawrence Sykkmon as Fabuloso Doom, the BFF Girls’ dramatic and demented arch nemesis and featuring the voice talents of Dana Snyder (Aqua Teen Hunger Force), Laurence R. Harvey (Human Centipede 2) and Michael St. Michaels (The Greasy Strangler).

December 11, 2018

I feel like I have been talking about this movie for years now and I am happy to announce that you will be able to finally see Brian Lonano’s BFF Girls! My initial review stated that this would likely be my favorite short of 2018 and I still stand by that statement.

November 23, 2018

Live from the Knoxville Horror Film Festival Elric hosts a roundtable with filmmakers (and festival judges) Jill Gevargizian (Dir. The stylist, 42 Counts) Brian Lonano (Dir Crow Hand, Gwilliam, BFF Girls) , Jay Kay "Horror Happens Radio Show” as they delve into their “Handshake Horrors” picking 5 horror films each that made them the horror fans / filmmakers they are today. 

Read more at http://podcast.blumhouse.com/episode-123#lGRasaJMSRpdU0YV.99

November 09, 2018

Last Sunday, The Ithaca Fantastik film festival wrapped up another successful edition of genre programming, documentaries, events and guests in gorgeous Upstate New York. The 7th edition of the festival opened on October 26th at our long time main festival venue, Cinemapolis with Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s critically acclaimed drug crime thriller BIRDS OF PASSAGE and closed on Sunday, November 4th with Victor Danell’s Crazy Pictures feature, the Swedish disaster action drama THE UNTHINKABLE.

October 31, 2018

Do you enjoy a good horror movie? Well, we found someone in town who makes them! Director Jill Gevargizian joins Better Kansas City.

October 29, 2018

Jill Sixx joins the Thorocast to talk about life and death, the film making process, and why evil is better. Prepare to be offended.

October 17, 2018

With the release of Blumhouse’s rebooted Halloween just a couple of days away, studio head Jason Blum has been doing his usual round of interviews touting the studio’s success. But rather than letting Blum rest on the laurels of Get Out and Halloween, Matt Patches of Polygon asked Blum about a less flattering aspect of Blumhouse’s famous production model: Why, in the past 11 years of its existence, has Blumhouse never released a horror film directed by a woman?

October 17, 2018

As a part of my ongoing series on Feminist Horror, I wanted to answer the question I get asked constantly around this time of year: “What are some great horror films made by women I should be watching?” So…here are 100+ features and shorts you can check out before Halloween — happy haunting, ghouls!

October 02, 2018

Repleto de trocadilhos apropriados para a situação, mas ao mesmo tempo sendo mais educativo que muitas séries de animação no ar, BFF Girls substitui as dores menstruais por risos e gelado.

September 27, 2018

Greg and Jenius take a road trip down to Texas and pick up Jill Gevargizian as they provide a commentary track for Tobe Hooper's classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre! Who survives and what will be left of them? Tune in for a true love fest for Mr. Hooper!

September 14, 2018

Founded in 2009 by horror enthusiasts William Mahaffey and Nick Huinker, Knoxville Horror Film Festbegan as a small one-night program. This epic festival has grown into a weekend long, multi-venue event, which has showcased hundreds of short films by up and coming filmmakers since its conception. Joining this year’s festival board is Filmmaker Jill Gevargizian (42 Counts) and Film Critic Elric Kane from the Shock Waves Podcast. In addition to this year’s expansion, horror fiends will also be given theatrical screenings of current and classic genre films as well as other countless surprises to feed their horror hunger.

September 07, 2018

Greg and Jenius welcome back everyone’s favorite Goth Gangsta Princess, Jill Gevargizian! They talk the recent Tobe Hooper memorial put on by Patrick Bromley, her recent experience at Frontiers, and of course talk their love of Rap Snacks! Did we mention the rap snacks?

September 05, 2018

Three weeks ago, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival revealed the first wave for their 2018 event. Including films such as Luz, Tower. A Bright Day, and The Cannibal Club, it was already one helluva lineup that would stand very easily with some of the best genre fests out there. But they weren’t content with what they’ve announced. Oh no, they’ve got far more up their wicked sleeves and their second wave announcement comes now!

September 05, 2018

The third annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is set to descend upon its namesake city next month, and today's second-wave announcement adds a host of impressive new titles to an already-strong lineup. Exploring multiple facets of the genre we know and love, it's packed with features, shorts, retrospectives, talks, and events that should make for a highly entertaining week. I'll be attending the festival, bringing reviews of the best things I see there; feel free to say hello!

September 05, 2018

Love the film festival experience but looking for something stranger? Look no further than the North Bend Film Festival, the newly launched genre fest that took over the small town of North Bend, Washington at the end of August for a weekend of bold film programming, immersive VR, and a celebration the Lynchian bizarre in the very spot where the Twin Peaks exteriors were filmed.

September 04, 2018

With the North Bend Film Festival kicking off last week, a slew of shorts were unleashed unto the world during their Something Strange block, showcasing different shorts from different directors. Having gotten to see them all, I can easily say I was impressed and enjoyed the chosen selections, with each one different (yet similar) than the last. It was great to experience current works by familiar and new directors alike, allowing each one to flex their filmmaking abilities and show the world what they’ve got. 

August 31, 2018

North Bend’s a sleepy little town off the highway. It has a mixed feeling of the being at the edge of the rural class: far enough outside Bellevue’s east-side that the picture of a country life begins to emerge, close enough that it is a strip mall stop-off. Commercialization cannot take its inherent beauty, pouring forth from the local Snoqualmie Falls. An artist does not have to look very far for inspiration. That is why it’s famously drawn as a shooting locale for Twin Peaks. Yes, that Northwest flavor of American town, steeped in counterculture values, lives on in North Bend.

August 28, 2018

The second socially aware short, 42 Counts derives most of its trepidation from fears of the real world. In this case, the invasion of privacy is effortlessly made as frightening as any monster. Using only a minimum of budget and locations to great effect, director Jill Gevargizian shows us just how terrifying it is to have our faith violated by those we thought we could trust.

August 22, 2018

On August 26th, join host Patrick Bromley (Bloody Disgusting, Daily Dead, F This Movie!) for an all-day LIVE tribute to Tobe Hooper to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his passing. With a lineup of guests that includes horror icon Caroline Williams (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2), and director Mick Garris (Post Mortem, the upcoming Nightmare Cinema), this very special live broadcast will celebrate Hooper’s life and work through the eyes of his friends, his fans, his collaborators, and those he continues to inspire every day. Other featured guests include screenwriter Jared Rivet (Jackals), filmmaker Jill Gevargizian (42 Counts, The Stylist), horror journalist Heather Wixson (Daily Dead), Pure Cinema Podcast hosts Brian Saur and Elric Kane, and many more.

August 16, 2018

Over the last few years, Jill Gevargizian — aka Jill Sixx — has become the go-to director for short-form horror films in Kansas City. Beginning withCall Girl in 2014, continuing with 2016's The Stylist, and with her latest, 42 Counts, Gevargizian has shown an ability to maximize frights and freak-outs in less time than your standard sitcom episode.

August 03, 2018

Happy Friday, readers! Welcome back for another installment of Daily Dead Salutes Your Shorts, our bi-monthly column that turns the spotlight on several horror and sci-fi themed short films in an effort to show this storytelling format a little more love.

​

For this installment, we have an assortment of excellent shorts, including Jill Gevargizian's early effort CALL GiRL, the horror comedy Teddy Bears Are For Lovers (which looks to be on its way to becoming a feature film very soon), It Began Without Warning from Santiago C. Tapia and Jessica Curtwright, and the family-oriented fright fest Home Education by filmmaker Andrea Niada.

August 02, 2018

The short film line-up for Arrow Video FrightFest has been announced, which includes a fantastic mix of well-known faces and unknown talent and weird and wonderful films from around the world.

​

Of particular interest to us at STARBURST are European Premieres for Jill Gevargizian’s 42 Counts, Izzy Lee’s My Monsters, and Brian Lonano’s BFF Girls. Filmmakers and shorts we’ve championed from their inception.

August 02, 2018

Arrow Video FrightFest 2018 showcases the best in short film from the UK and around the world, with ten countries representing five continents. From otherworldly ghosts to terrifying monsters, from the creepy to the baffling, from this dimension to those still unknown, this year’s selection unleashes the latest from upcoming and established filmmakers.

​

42 COUNTS (European Premiere)

Director: Jill Gevargizian. Cast: Andrea Dover, Najarrra Townsend. USA 2018. 8 min.

Two friends spend their night off watching scary movies until they uncover something much more sinister than what they're watching on screen.

August 02, 2018

It is just three short weeks until Arrow Video FrightFest 2018 kicks-off, and they are still unveiling their incredible line-up. Today proves no exception, with the announcement of this year's Short Film Programme - a veritable smorgasbord of enticing talent from upcoming filmmakers and established talent from around the world.

​

42 COUNTS (European Premiere)

Director: Jill Gevargizian. Cast: Andrea Dover, Najarrra Townsend. USA 2018. 8 min.

Two friends spend their night off watching scary movies until they uncover something much more sinister than what they're watching on screen.

July 30, 2018

Genre film fans are being encouraged to break the rules again with the new Mondo Cult Variety Film Showcase. With the monthly screening series set to launch on Friday, August 17 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, the California-based programs will feature best new underground, surreal, experimental, obscene, absurd and outlaw movies from around the world. With the first edition of the showcase set to debut next month, Shockya is exclusively announcing the lineup of films that will be shown.

July 26, 2018

The fifth selection for our own spotlight comes from filmmaker Jill Gevargizian (Jill Sixx) who is looking to make her first feature after several shorts that have been quite successful on the festival circuit.

​

The new project, Permanent Address, is the story of a woman attempting to rebound from failed ventures in both business and romance by moving out on her own to a new town. She finds an apartment in Kansas City, but quickly discovers that even though she lives by herself now, she's not really alone. Angry spirits a sharing a space with her and intent on making her life a living hell.

July 10, 2018

The the inaugural edition of the North Bend Film Festival is just around the corner and today brings the second wave of titles for the full festival lineup. The event will set up shop in North Bend, Washington from August 23rd to the 26th — best known as the original shooting location for David Lynch‘s Twin Peaks —  where the fest will spotlight unique storytelling through feature films, shorts, immersive VR experiences and more!

July 08, 2018

Canadian summer may be haunted by the horrors of the extreme humidex, but it also ushers in the wonder, terror, and fancy of the Fantasia International Film Festival, North America’s largest genre showcase. Nestled in beautiful Montreal, the festival attracts swarms of fans and industry professionals alike. This year’s festival, the 22nd installment, runs from July 12th until August 2nd. While the enormous program may be daunting, there are always a number of gems to be found within it. Here are five female-directed films that I’m especially eager to check out at this year’s Fantasia Festival!

July 02, 2018

With their full feature-length programming announced (including Mandy as a closing night movie), Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival has revealed their short film lineup that's packed with a wide range of genres, intriguing characters, and memorable visuals:

June 29, 2018

Hot on the heels of the announcement of the final wave of feature length films at this year's Fantasia International Film Festival came the lineup of this year's short film lineup.

Hardly ever ones to let short films just pass us by, a few of the Screen Anarchy family have made their own short films over the years, you can never just gloss over a short film program at Fantasia. There are many jewels to the genre crown to be found in these programs. 

June 21, 2018

I've long been a fan of short films, and have had the pleasure of watching and reviewing some absolute beauties in my time reviewing at Film Gutter. Like short fiction, there's often a great deal you can say within a very limited scope of time and the truncated form can often pack quite an emotional punch. Which leads us to today's short entry, The Stylist.

June 19, 2018

Greetings Dan's Movie Report readers haha, ok this film literally came out of left field, far of left field! To be quite honest, had it not been for my friend Jessica Nam who plays Superhero Lilly, I never would have heard of it! From writer/director Brian Lonano and writer Victoria Cook comes a tale of menstruation, and yeah it is what it sounds like dirty, silly and downright gross, yet beautiful. 

June 14, 2018

42 COUNTS is the latest short film from director Jill Gevargizian, which screened this past weekend at the Toronto True Crime Film Festival. The film reunites Gevargizian with actress Najarra Townsend, who starred in Gevargizian's award-winning short The Stylist. 42 COUNTS also stars Sam Williamson (American Honey) and Andrea Dover (AIR: The Musical). 

June 12, 2018

The inhumanity of people toward each other was on full display at the first Toronto True Crime Film Festival, but so was the power of surviving unthinkable ordeals. The festival was held June 8–9, 2018 at The Royal Cinema and Monarch Tavern in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the inaugural lineup included five film screenings and three symposium events. Following are reviews of three of the features and one of the shorts screened at the fest.

June 11, 2018

In the visually strongest short film of this ground, writer/director Jill Gevargizian teams back up with her The Stylist star Najarra Townsend to create another film that is chilling in a whole different way. In this true story inspired short, two friends played by Townsend and Andrea Dover discover hidden cameras in the latter’s apartment, leading them to finding out a peeping tom who has been watching them. This case is but one of the 42 counts this peeping tom has been charged with following his arrest, something that is both crazy because of sheer number and spine tingling in the worst way possible in how easily he was able to pull these, so many of these, off.

June 11, 2018

We dig into Toronto’s first film festival that’s dedicated entirely to true crime and highlight many of the triumphs from the encouraging fest.

​

True crime is an area that has always maintained some sort of fascination within the public consciousness. The topic is inherently interesting because these stories aren’t the murderers and boogeyman that are invented for fiction, but rather these are the monsters that lurk about in real life. This stuff actually happened and there’s obviously appeal in attempting to understand why. Even though true crime has always resonated with the public on some level, the area has exploded over the past few years. True crime has turned into one of the most popular categories for podcasts.

June 10, 2018

Two girls discover a shocking secret about the apartment they are renting from their boss. 42 Counts a short thriller inspired by a 2014 case in Kansas City. The film is quite well produced and is quite successful at building suspense. However, the film doesn’t really feel complete, with the plot just ending at one point and the conclusion to the story being given through postscript.

June 08, 2018

Screening this weekend at the TORONTO TRUE CRIME FILM FESTIVAL is the short film 42 COUNTS. Written, edited and directed by Jill Gevargizian, the film is based on real events with the title of the film referring to the number of charges laid against the perpetrator in one arrest.

June 07, 2018

Jill Gervargizian’s thriller 42 Counts plays like a horror movie, with the scariest thing being that it is based on a true story. The story unfolds rather quickly as two women, Alicia (Najarra Townsend) and Ava (Andrea Dover), are sitting in an apartment talking about the men in their lives when one notices something is not quite right about the smoke detector. 

June 05, 2018

Home invasion thrillers have become such a popular formula for movies, it’s hard to imagine a real-life scenario. This first fictionalised short is based on true events, showing that some monsters from the screen exist in reality too. 

June 01, 2018

The original soundtrack to the award-winning short film The Stylist is now available for streaming and download at composer Nicholas Elert’s bandcamp page.

​

The Stylist, directed by Jill Gevargizian and written by Eric Havens and Gevargizian, originally premiered in 2016 and has garnered numerous awards including Best Original Score at HorrorHaus Film Festival, Best Actress at Fantastic Fest, and the Jury Award and Audience Choice at Etheria Film Night. The film was produced by Sixx Tape and The Line Film Co. and is available to watch on Shudder and on Blu-ray at SixxTape.com.

May 22, 2018

Two of my favorite Women in Horror have new short films making the festival rounds, and you should seek them out. I've written a number of times on this site about Izzy Lee and Jill Gevargizian, two filmmakers whose work is consistently exciting and who I want to be directing features as soon as possible.

May 18, 2018