Movies
LAFF ’10 Review: Another Taste of ‘Bitter Feast’
Yesterday I posted my review of Joe Maggio’s Bitter Feast where I said the film was “more of a potluck than a delicious stew.” Bloody Disgusting’s BC attended the LAFF premiere and has chimed in with his thoughts; see what he had to say below and watch for a release date soon from Dark Sky Films. It stars James LeGros as a New York Chef and TV cooking personality, who takes culinary revenge on the food critic (Josh Leonard), who recently savaged his restaurant in a review.
The new movie from Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix horror offshoot Scareflix, Bitter Feast, tackles something I sometimes fear: a critic being tortured by someone he panned. But in this case, it’s food instead of movies, which allows for more interesting scenarios. After chaining the critic (a terrific Josh Leonard) up, the scorned chef (James LeGros) presents him with a few “tests” – he makes Leonard – hands bound together and chained to a wall – prepare a specific dish that he had panned (not necessarily one of LeGros’). If it’s satisfactory, he can eat. If not, he goes without food another day. Thus you have the first movie in which we have a nail-biting sequence revolving around whether or not someone can prepare an over easy egg.
And for a while, it’s a really great, unique take on the “chain someone up” sub-genre, but sadly it goes off the rails in the third act. The film’s power stemmed from seeing two fairly unlikable men engage in a battle where you weren’t sure which one to root for. Leonard is technically the victim – he’s the one that was kidnapped and is getting tortured, but he’s also a cold, angry man who tears down others for his own enjoyment, whereas LeGros, prior to snapping, is simply an arrogant ass, not unlike a lot of folks. And over the course of the film you find out about individual tragedies that shaped who they are and caused them to be this way. So you’re thinking that writer/director Joe Maggio is leading toward the two men sort of seeing eye to eye (but with a tragic ending), but then suddenly a third character enters the fray, and it becomes a generic chase film, with LeGros stalking Leonard and the other character (I won’t spoil, though it’s not hard to guess if you’re watching the movie), with no irony or even much dialogue accompanying it. It’d be like if with 25 minutes left in Misery, Paul’s buddy showed up and became the main character of the film. It’s a really awkward shift, and the movie loses its edge.
In the post film Q&A we learned that the original script was far less horror-centric, so perhaps that is why it changed (they didn’t get too specific and being after midnight, I didn’t feel like asking a potentially long-winded question). Perhaps it was always supposed to focus on the battle between the two men, but in making it more of a horror film they sort of lost that angle. It’s not a total failure – there is no feeling anyone is “safe”, and Maggio has a knack for fake-fake scares (i.e. someone opens a bathroom mirror and then shuts it, but the killer is NOT suddenly behind them as expected), but perhaps a more thorough threading of the “outright horror” elements into the script would have been preferable to just sort of shoehorning them into the 3rd act.
These changes apparently came at the request of executive producer/co-star Fessenden, but silver lining – he also brought in his frequent composer Jeff Grace. As always, his score is amazing, and I’m pretty sure a CD with all of his themes would never leave my player. Perhaps he should have employed I Sell The Dead director/editor Glenn McQuaid to edit the film however, instead of Maggio’s usual guy. It’s a bit long, and certain scenes could have been tightened (or even excised, since certain plot elements never really pay off, such as LeGros taking the time to write the number on each of his padlocks and its corresponding key – the keys are never even really shown again).
So we have a horror film that’s biggest problem is that it’s a horror film. Had they toned down some of the typical stuff and kept the focus on character right up to the end, I think that Bitter Feast could have easily been one of the year’s best thrillers. Instead it’s an uneven, but still good movie. And I’m not just saying that as a scared critic.
Score 3.5/5
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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