Things take a turn in artistic horror

• Published date: 03 December 2022
• Publication title: Mix, The

Director: Travis Stevens

Cast: Josh Ruben, Sarah Lind, Malin Barr, Katie Kuang, Tanya Everett, Laksmi Hedemark, Marshall Taylor Thurman, Neal Mayer, Nikki James, Leandro Taub

Rating: (NR) ★★★

While it’s true that horror is currently enjoying a welcome renaissance, it’s also the case that there’s a plethora of great independent films being made which never see any kind of release beyond the festival circuit.

Streaming service Shudder is picking up the mantle, however. It’s the modern equivalent of the horror section at a VHS rental store, featuring a catalogue of hit-and-miss B-movies along with those of a more artistic pretension.

Case in point, A Wounded Fawn, which screened at Tribeca and FrightFest this year. It’s ostensibly a serial-killer pic that plays more like a hallucinogenic, feminist revenge fantasy, filled with references to Greek mythology and art theory, as if Dario Argento remade a grimy ’80s slasher.

It’s divided into two neatly...