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*before going into the review, let’s get the obvious out of the way: we at Age of the Nerd would like to take a moment to say we are fully aware of Victor Salva’s criminal history and the moral dilemma that is presented when discussing or financially supporting his movies.

The horror landscape has changed rather drastically in the sixteen years since controversy magnet Victor Salva first introduced slasher-starved audiences to “the Creeper” (Jonathan Breck) and his taste for body parts in the ‘Jeepers Creepers‘ franchise. Since then, there’s been the rise of the torture porn sub-genre and filmmakers like Eli Roth and Rob Zombie, the supernatural found footage genre, an obnoxious onslaught of inferior remakes (fingers shall be pointed specifically at The Wicker Man, When a Stranger Calls and Black Christmas) and a needed return to form thanks to filmmakers like James Wan, David Sandberg and Jennifer Kent.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” earned high marks from the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild, garnering three nominations for their annual awards honoring achievements in film, television, commercials, and theater. It’s not on the Oscar shortlist of seven , however.

Read More: ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’: A VFX Creature Guide

Eligible for Hair and Makeup Oscars are Guild nominees “Deadpool,” “Florence Foster Jenkins,” “Hail, Caesar!,” “Star Trek Beyond” and “Suicide Squad.” Not Oscar shortlisted, however, are Guild nominees “La La Land,” “Loving,” and “Nocturnal Animals,” which garnered two nominations apiece. Also ineligible for the Oscar are nominees “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Silence,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” and “Doctor Strange.”

On the television side, “Saturday Night Live” led with four nominations, followed by “Westworld,” “Game of Thrones,” and “Penny Dreadful” with three each. “Transparent,” “Stranger Things,” and “Empire” each received two.

The Guild will...

Tell Tale (playing this week at the Tribeca Film Festival) is a movie that serves as a metaphor for itself on a couple of levels. It’s about a physical heart that’s transplanted from one body to another; the script transplants Edgar Allan Poe’s 19th-century classic story “The Tell-Tale Heart” into a 21st-century chiller; and the direction by Michael Cuesta, in concert with the performances, transplants an unusual amount of figurative heart into what could have played as B-movie material.

After opening with a juicy operation sequence, the movie settles in with Terry Bernard (Josh Lucas), the recipient of the new ticker who has another medical situation occupying his attention: His young daughter Angela (Beatrice Miller) has a genetic disorder that requires frequent visits to the family doctor, Elizabeth Clemson (Lena Headey). Terry and Elizabeth’s professional interactions are starting to develop into a personal relationship, to Angela’s approval,...