[The Land] is visually dynamic, moves with electric urgency and treats all four of its young protagonists with intelligence and respect. More than that, Caple offers up a conclusion that satisfactorily strays extremely far from the status quo, giving things an aura of originality all other facets of the narrative and the scenario undeniably lack.

From the early, eerie, unquestionably haunting images of a young nun traipsing through a barren, snow-covered Polish countryside going who knows where, to a moment of communal redemption hidden under the shroud of unthinkable secrecy and unimaginable sacrifice, The Innocents is a consistent triumph, achieving an overwhelming aura of brilliance that it manages to sustain first second to last.

The themes lurking at the center [of The Fits], what it is talking about in regards to race, education, peer pressure, gender and just growing up in general, all of it comes through marvelously, the finished feature a stunning achievement all involved should be proud to have had a hand in creating.

Weiner shows, without embellishment, without cinematic sleight of hand, that a person’s worst enemy remains themselves, and no matter how good the ideas might be or how righteous the convictions to help those in need undeniably are all of that and more can be made instantaneously irrelevant just by the push of a cell phone button.

The film’s 92 minutes pass by so quickly it’s all over almost as soon as it begins, everything building to a smashing conclusion that had me wanting to leap from my seat and give Stillman, his production team and his entire cast one long, rousing, vigorous cheer. Love & Friendship is magnificent, and anyone saying otherwise is in my eyes one gouty attack away from objectionable ignominy.

[The Hallow] builds to a nicely nuanced conclusion, one that overflows with emotion and sacrifice, propelling things into the realm of a dark fairy tale the likes of which Brothers Grim would have been proud to have called their own.

Incredibly well made, freakishly evocative and unsettling, this terrifying psychological drama left me so shaken when it was over I was close to aghast as to what it was I had just witnessed. While [Goodnight Mommy] is remarkable, I found I didn’t want to talk about it with anyone let alone write down my thoughts on paper, writer/directors Severin Fialaa and Veronika Franz doing such a grand job scaring my psyche all I really wanted to do was go home, climb into bed in a fetal position and hope I didn’t have nightmares.

Giving a tour de force performance unlike just ab out any other in his career, Gere is the chief reason writer/director Oren Moverman’s (Rampart) latest Time Out of Mind is worthy of a look. A totally immersive descent into invisibility, George is the definition of a lost soul who refuses to admit he’s vanished off of society’s radar.

One cannot watch Deathgasm without thinking that writer/director Jason Lei Howden isn’t just a big time lover of old school, 1980s-style heavy metal, but also a passionate devotee of filmmakers like Tobe Hooper, Sam Raimi, Stuart Gordon, Peter Jackson and Edgar Wright. Not only is his debut a deft, dare I say joyous homage to the music he undoubtedly adores, but it’s a deliciously energetic and gory romp through monster, zombie and demon tropes so rambunctious it’s as if the whole thing was engineered from the start to be a rollicking love letter to the entire genre.