CITY WIDE FEVER

(director/writer: Josh Heaps; cinematographer: Ethan Johnson; editors: Thomas Pistor Eisenman, Stephan Garrett, Ethan Johnson; music: ; cast: Larry Fessenden (Larry), Hugo Alexander Rose  (Raina), Michael M. Bilandic (Mike), Carolyn Farina (Carolyn), Douglas Buck  (Doug), Angelica Kim (Chloe), Rutanya Alda (Rutanya), Onur Tukel (Keith), Nancy Kimball (Sam), Stan Oh (Hong), Diletta Gugliemi (Sam); Runtime: 73; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Vincent ‘Chenzy’ Graziano, Josh Heaps; Factory 25; 2025)

“A respectable homage film to Gialli filmmakers.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Josh Heaps is the rookie filmmaker for this grizzly low-budget Giallo film that’s set in NYC.

The young horror film student Sam (Diletta Guglielmi) finds a USB stick on the city street that has material on it for an unknown Italian filmmaker named Saturnino Rezi, that claims he invented Giallo, not Mario Bava. Sam never heard of him, so she asks her professor Keith (Onur Tukel), who tells her to see Hong (Stan Oh), a former cinematographer who claims to have worked with Rezi. Meeting Hong puts Sam on a bloody trail, as those she consults with about Rezi end up being slaughtered by a lunatic in a pink ski mask.

Nancy Kimball plays Sam during the investigation, keeping things goofy. Rutanya Alda plays herself, horror film filmmakers Larry Fessenden and Tukel have cameos. It’s a respectable homage film to Gialli filmmakers that should appeal to its fan base, but its story is too limited to have a wider appeal.

REVIEWED ON 5/30/2026  GRADE: B
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