Behind the Couch

Set in the mid-nineties, Spiral tells of same-sex couple Aaron and Malik, who, along with Aaron’s teenaged daughter Kayla, move to a small town for a new life and a much-needed change of pace. Not long after they arrive, however, Malik begins to suspect that their neighbours are members of a strange cult with sinister intentions… The plot of Spiral is very familiar – city-folk outsiders relocate to small rural town only to be ostracised, gaslighted, disbelieved and victimised by diabolical forces. However, with its gay protagonists and powerful social commentary, Spiral sets itself apart from similar films and unfolds as a moving, character-driven chiller. Director Kurtis David Harder builds tension and an uneasy atmosphere as Aaron (Ari Cohen) and Malik (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) meet their new neighbours and Malik gradually begins to suspect that something in town is not-quite-right. The neighbours appear welcoming enough, but subtle microaggressions and way too much smiling sets him...

Directed by Michael Felsher and written by Adam Marcus, this documentary commemorates the 30th anniversary of the most controversial entry in the Friday the 13th film series, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday . It unfolds as an irreverent and gushing love letter to not only the film’s avid fanbase, but its characters, cast and crew, and charts its ascent from maligned ‘dreck’  and ‘confusing mess’  to cult classic slasher. Several years in the making, Hearts of Darkness was funded entirely by a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo and has been an obvious labour of love for all involved in its production.  Jason Goes to Hell was the ninth film in the Friday the 13th series and the first to be produced by New Line, who had purchased the rights to the character of Jason Voorhees from Paramount in the early Nineties. Co-written by Dean Lorey and Jay Huguely, and based on a story by Huguely and Adam Marcus, it is infamous for its daringly eschewed approach to the classic...