Matt Donato
Expertise
2000s Horror Remakes, Schlocky Slashers, The Chucky Franchise
- Matt is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association and other film critic organizations, lending over a decade of film criticism experience to awards season events.
- He has been a serving jury member at horror film festivals, has appeared in documentaries speaking about horror films, and has been sought after by outlets for his horror-specific coverage.
- Matt has seen over 125 Christmas Horror Movies, continually tops watching 100 new-release horror movies a year, and has earned a brand tied to highlighting horror films that others are not talking about.
Experience
Matt Donato is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic who stays up too late typing words for such outlets as IGN, Bloody Disgusting, Fangoria, Paste, and countless other publications. He co-hosts a podcast called Certified Forgotten about rediscovering horror movies with 10-or-less Rotten Tomatoes critic reviews and co-hosts a weekly livestream with Perri Nemiroff called the Merri Hour. You can catch him traveling (when safe) to film festivals such as Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Brooklyn Horror, and whichever others fit his schedule that year.
Education
Matt graduated from Hofstra's business program and lives the day-job grind when not writing about movies by night. It's given him a perspective into the industry side of studios and filmmaking, which adds depth to understanding how movie culture works as a whole.
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Stories By Matt Donato
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In honor of the haunted/cursed pool in Night Swim, we're looking at other cursed/killer objects from horror films. Let's dive in!
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Scariest Scene Ever takes a look at one of the most shocking, memorable scenes from When Evil Lurks, which is now streaming on Shudder.
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Everyone is entitled to one good scare, so Scariest Scene Ever is looking back at the opening scene of John Carpenter's Halloween.
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Christmas horror fans have a reason to be excited this season as It's A Wonderful Knife delivers both heart and scares. Read our review right here.
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What You Wish For is one of those topsy-turvy horror flicks where everything's a spoiler, but you can read our spoiler-free review right here.
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Kill is a near-perfect action thriller that's stuck in overdrive, a special brand of action showstopper that will leave you begging for more. Here's our review.
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Totally Killer is like Back to the Future meets Scream, and boasts a strong lead performance from Kiernan Shipka. Read our review right here.
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Not even a bunch of very good dogs and a strong performance from Caleb Landry Jones are enough to save Luc Besson's Dogman.
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Filmmakers RKSS show their mean streak in Wake Up, a barbarically nasty hunt-and-stalk flick for the sake of viciousness. Read our review right here.
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The Last Video Store is a loving tribute to B-horror movies as well as the joys of sharing movies with other people. Read our Fantastic Fest review.
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Nicolas Cage is fantastic as a professor who starts appearing in everyone's dreams in the quirky, strange Dream Scenario. Read our review right here.
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The creative team behind Turbo Kid returns with zombie action comedy We Are Zombies, set in a world where zombies are peaceful underdogs.
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In honor of the alien invasion flick No One Will Save You hitting Hulu this weekend, Scariest Scene Ever is looking at the alien movie The Fourth Kind.
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We braved Chucky, Vecna, Deadites, Clickers, Universal Monsters and more to bring you this rundown of Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights 2023.
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In the latest edition of Scariest Scene Ever, we look at a jump scare from The Conjuring Universe film The Nun, in honor of The Nun II.
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What's your favorite scary movie? Scream changed the face of scary movies forever, and it's opening scene is a lot more brutal than you might remember.
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Kim Jae-Hoon's Devils is like a South Korean remix of Freaky Friday and Face/Off. Read our Fantasia Fest review right here.
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Perpetrator is painted in the chaotic shade of fever dream. This high school horror is awash in blood and has no intention to feign subtlety. Here's our review.
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Let the Right One In is one of the best modern vampire movies, so Scariest Scene Ever is taking a gander at the film's big, bloody, pool-based finale.
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Stay Online, the first Ukrainian feature film shot since the beginning of Russia's ongoing invasion, is an unmissable international thriller.
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#Manhole is an accomplished single-location horror tale that justifies its means through an evolution into preposterous madness. Read our review here.
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New Life is like Jason Bourne meets Cabin Fever on a budget. Read our Fantasia Fest review.
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The Sacrifice Game is a topsy-turvy subversion of the particular horror subgenres at play. Check out our Fantasia Fest review.
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The Fantasia Fest movie River is a sublime temporal comedy that audiences should not miss. Read our review.
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Baby Assassins 2 is the type of action movie that would kill at a sleepover. Read our Fantasia Fest review.
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What a lovely day for an exorcism.
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