The Fear Review

The Swallow takes one of the great irrational fears of anyone who grew up watching movies in the ’80s and turns it into a creature feature: what if the quicksand actually fought back? We caught Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer’s latest horror film after its Fantastic Fest world premiere and ahead of its Beyond Fest screening. William finds a nasty throwback to movies like The Blob, Creepshow and The Ruins, while Amy has a much harder time getting past the characters, dialogue and some questionable decisions. We talk about the surprisingly effective killer-mud concept, the practical effects, a sound design disgusting enough to make Amy cover her ears, whether this group of friends actually feels like a group of friends, and how much logic we are each willing to forgive when a movie fits a genre we already love. This episode stays spoiler-light. Read our full review: https://thefearreview.com/reviews/the-swallow-review/ Watch the video episode: https://youtu.be/hQXA6lFjAtI  Around here, The Fear is Family.

Bloody Tennis star Sandra Guldberg Kampp joins The Fear Review to talk about playing Sophie as the movie gets increasingly strange, brutal and downright disgusting. Sandra takes us through Sophie's gradual transformation, how she kept the character grounded while everything around her went completely off the rails, and the physical preparation that went into the role. We also talk about her two months of tennis training, accidentally hitting the first AD in the head, and the American accent that had William completely fooled. Then we get to the leeches. Sandra tells us what it was actually like filming one of Bloody Tennis' grossest scenes, including putting a fake leech in her mouth and dealing with real leeches on set. Read the full interview and more Bloody Tennis coverage at The Fear Review: https://thefearreview.com/interviews/sandra-guldberg-kampp-interview/  Watch the full interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng4c8E9inWc  Around here, The Fear is Family.

Bloody Tennis director Nikias Chryssos joins The Fear Review to talk about building the film's escalating brutality, unnerving body horror and the ambition that drives its players past any reasonable limit. We get into why some of the movie's smallest injuries can be more uncomfortable than its biggest acts of violence, how heightened body sounds and medical examinations were used to keep us constantly aware of the characters' physical vulnerability, and why the isolated tennis academy needed to feel hot, dirty and unforgiving. Chryssos also talks about the power dynamic between Stapko and Maria, the line between ambition and destructive competition, the practical effects behind some of the film's nastiest moments and, yes, that cat scene. He assures us the cat is fine. Read the full written interview on The Fear Review: https://thefearreview.com/interviews/nikias-chryssos-interview  Read our Bloody Tennis review: The Fear Review Bloody Tennis review Watch the full video interview: https://youtu.be/llK-kIv0sr0  Around here, The Fear is Family.

Kung Fu Deadly mixes martial arts, Jiangshi, slapstick comedy and a surprising amount of heart and somehow all of it works. We caught the film as part of our Fantastic Fest 2026 coverage, and this ended up being way more fun than either of us expected. Amy got serious The Goonies and Little Monsters vibes, while William loved how the movie works physical comedy directly into its kung-fu action. We talk about the cast chemistry, some ridiculously funny fight sequences, the Jiangshi horror elements, why Danny and Frank's friendship gives the story so much heart, and whether this might actually be a horror-action comedy you can watch with the family. At the time of this episode, Kung Fu Deadly does not have an announced U.S. commercial release date. We'll update our coverage when that changes. Read our full review on The Fear Review: Kung Fu Deadly review Watch the full video episode: Kung Fu Deadly on YouTube Around here, The Fear is Family.

No Rest for the Wicked director Kasper Kalle joins The Fear Review to talk about bringing Karl Heinrich Ulrichs’ 1884 short story Manor to the screen, filming in the Faroe Islands, and adapting a very different kind of vampire story that predates Dracula. Kalle discusses why the Faroe Islands needed to feel like more than a beautiful backdrop, casting first-time film actor Egor Venned as Baldur opposite Pilou Asbæk, and why the villagers couldn’t simply become villains. We also get into Baldur’s mother and why Kalle considers her one of the film’s most important characters. Then we dig into the film’s unusual vampire mythology, including the imagery carried directly from Manor, and how the filmmakers balanced the supernatural and body horror elements against the love story at the center of the film. Read the full interview: https://thefearreview.com/interviews/kasper-kalle-interview/ Watch the interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BD3fALIAuvY Read our No Rest for the Wicked review: https://thefearreview.com/reviews/no-rest-for-the-wicked-review/ Around here, The Fear is Family.