Katie Rife

Katie Rife is a writer and critic specializing in genre cinema. She was on staff at The A.V. Club from 2014 to 2022, and currently covers film and TV for Inverse as well as outlets like Indiewire, Vulture, Rolling Stone, Letterboxd Journal, and RogerEbert.com.

Review

'Onslaught' Is an Action Movie for Today’s America

Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s bullet-riddled John Carpenter homage gets its kicks from gun fetishism and conspiracy theories.

By Katie Rife
Review

'Idiots' Is Kind of Dumb (Not That There’s Anything Wrong with That)

Likable leads and silly stoner humor make for agreeable comedy, if you don’t think about it that hard.

By Katie Rife
Review

Robert De Niro Hunts the Same Killer Twice in the Netflix Crime Thriller 'The Whisper Man'

“Daddy issues” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

By Katie Rife
Review

'Colony' Resurrects Some of Zombie Cinema’s Greatest Hits

Zombies? In a shopping mall? Groundbreaking.

By Katie Rife
Hail to the King

Bruce Campbell Announces Ash Williams’ Retirement

It’s time to lay down the boomstick.

By Katie Rife
Inverse Recommends

RIP Screaming Mad George. If You Don’t Know That Name, Watch 'Society' Immediately.

Pure goopy genius.

By Katie Rife
Review

'Insidious: Out of the Further' Digs Up a Few Good Scares

Six movies in, the Insidious series digs into its lore for a sequel marked by fresh scares and stale characterizations.

By Katie Rife
Rewind

10 Years Ago, Two Indie Juggernauts Got Off To A Flatulent Start

Swiss Army Man has way more fart and boner jokes than you might expect from two future Oscar-winning directors.

By Katie Rife
Under the Radar

I Spent 10 Days at the Fantasia Film Festival. Here Are 10 Films To Watch Out For.

North America’s largest genre film festival screens hundreds of movies every year. Here are 10 to look out for.

By Katie Rife
The Inverse Interview

Chris Carter Wants To Believe

With the director’s cut of I Want to Believe now on streaming, the creator of The X-Files talks faith, Frankenstein, and whether he misses 24-episode seasons of TV.

By Katie Rife
Rewind

40 Years Ago, 'Manhunter' Changed The Face Of Serial-Killer Movies

Enter the mind of a killer with Michael Mann.

By Katie Rife
Review

'The End of Oak Street' Is a Spielberg Homage with Bite

Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor defend their kids from dinosaurs in this surprisingly vicious Spielberg homage.

By Katie Rife
Fantasia 2026

'Thrilling Bloody Sword' Is Utterly Ridiculous. That’s What Makes It So Great.

Evil wizards! Magical swords! Paper-mâché monsters! Dwarves trained in martial arts! This gonzo Taiwanese fantasy film has it all.

By Katie Rife
Blu-rays

'In The Mouth of Madness' Is Here to Drive You To The Brink In 4K UHD

You can read Sutter Cane more clearly than ever on Arrow Video’s new 4K UHD disc.

By Katie Rife
Cheatsheet

Here’s Everything You Need to Know About 'They Follow'

It’s taken 12 years for a sequel to It Follows to get off the ground. Here’s everything we know so far.

By Katie Rife
Hail to the King

'Godzilla Minus Zero' Announces a Kaiju-Sized Premiere at New York Film Festival

Toho is following up Godzilla Minus One’s Oscar win with a splashy gala premiere at the New York Film Festival.

By Katie Rife
Review

'The Samurai and the Prisoner' Blends Agatha Christie And Akira Kurosawa — And It Really Works

Fans of cozy mysteries and samurai dramas will both find much to appreciate in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s cleverly executed period whodunnit.

By Katie Rife
Fantasia 2026 Review

'Hot Spot’s Vision of an AI-Controlled Future is Frustratingly Unclear

Despite a premise that combines Blade Runner and Dune, this Noomi Rapace sci-fi movie starts wacky and ends incoherent.

By Katie Rife
They're All Going to Laugh at You

Mike Flanagan’s 'Carrie' Trailer Teases a Radical Reimagining of the Horror Classic

Revealed at San Diego Comic-Con, the trailer updates Stephen King’s 1974 tale of vicious bullying and fiery revenge for the smarthpone era.

By Katie Rife
Fantasia 2026

'Strange: Junji Ito's Tales for Sleepless Nights' Is a Promising New Adaptation

Capturing Junji Ito’s uncanny style is a difficult task, but “The Rib Woman” comes close.

By Katie Rife