Indie

Independent horror: micro-budget features, short films and first-time filmmakers doing more with less — and often doing it better.

2,258 stories

IndieMoviesReviews

Movie Review: Holiday Hell (2019)

As is the way around these putrid parts, my arcane ass has yet another horror anthology to review… so let’s hang the monstrous mistletoe and get balls deep into Holiday Hell shall we? Waiting until the last possible moment; a woman enters a curio shop on Christmas Eve looking for a gift. Well, said shop is run by Re-Animator‘s Jeffrey Combs, who gives fuck-all how late our heroine is and proceeds to weave a quartet of terror tales involving objects in the shop… on of which she must choose to purchase before the clock strikes midnight. Lady, just leave and grab a gift card somewhere; sure it’s unoriginal and lazy, but you get to not be menaced by supernatural shenanigans, and who doesn’t like iTunes or Target? Since she defies logic and stays, let’s start examining these yarns… First up we get Dollface; the story of a gang o’ teens poppin’ a squat in a murder house. this dread domicile

Continue reading →

DanXIII

Oct 7, 2019

IndieMovies

‘Animal Among Us’ Unleashed This November

In November, Uncork’d Entertainment will release Animal Among Us on digital and on DVD. A frightening ’80s throwback from director John Woodruff, the film stars Christian Oliver, Larisa Oleynik and Erin Daniels. This November, Christian Oliver (“Sense8”, House of Good & Evil) and Larisa Oleynik (“Mad Men”, 10 Things I Hate About You) come face to face with terror in John Woodruff’s highly-anticipated horror throwback, Animal Among Us. Fifteen years ago, two teenage girls were murdered at Merrymaker Campgrounds. The case was filed as an animal attack, the camp was condemned, and the killer never found. But something horrific still waits in those woods, ready to kill again. Don Frye, Christine Donlon, Jonathan Murphy, Erin Daniels, Heather Tom, Jasmine Dustin, and Whitney Davis also star in a film written by Jonathan Murphy and produced by Murphy, Woodruff, and Cara Kidwell. Friday the 13th meets Dog Soldiers in Animal Among Us, available on VOD and DVD November 19th from Uncork’d Entertainment.

Continue reading →

Kelli Marchman McNeely

Oct 7, 2019

IndieMoviesReviews

Blu-ray Review: The Prey (1983)

Shot in 1979, set in 1980, released in 1983… and packed from asshole to earlobes with nature stock footage, what else could it be but The Prey? Well, honestly it’s possible it could be something else… but it isn’t; it’s The Prey. Anyway, the plot to this sinister slasher is simple; three good lookin’ couples (no surprise here as Edwin and Summer Brown were known for their porno flicks before they dipped their tingling toes in our beloved horror biz) traipse off into the woods for a lil’ rest and relaxation (read: sexy time), but it soon becomes apparent they are not alone in that freaky forest! As a lengthy, and oh-so-tacked on flashback sequence (that is confusingly presented at times in both sepia hue and color for no good reason) reveals; gypsies (like they have one of those olde timey carts and everything) once settled in those woods, and thanks to the horny antics of one of their clan,

Continue reading →

DanXIII

Oct 6, 2019

Film FestivalsIndieMoviesNewsTrailers

‘Sister Tempest’ Promises Surreal Chills, Alien Tribunals, and Cannibalistic Cravings

Writer/director Joe Badon unleashed his surreal mind-bender The God Inside My Ear in 2017, and it instantly became one of my top 10 films of that year, regardless of genre. The Louisiana filmmaker has just released the trailer for his sophomore feature Sister Tempest, and this outing looks to be equally as outré as his jaw-dropping debut. The film’s official synopsis states: “Anne Hutchinson’s troubled relationship with her missing sister is under alien tribunal. Meanwhile, her new roommate’s mysterious illness causes her to go on a cannibalistic killing spree.” The trailer promises intriguing new visions from Badon, and I’m also guessing some of the elements that made The God Inside My Ear so amazing will be in play for this film, too, including head-scratching (in the best way!) visuals, sequences that tread the fine line between nightmarish and dreamlike, a few nods to classic and obscure films from horror and other genres, and, naturally, the unexpected. Badon is also an

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Oct 6, 2019

IndieMoviesNewsTrailers

Haunted Horror ‘The Dwelling’ Debuts This November

A frightening tale revolving around an antique bed debuts this November with Black Fawn Films’ The Dwelling, from director Jeff Maher who co-wrote the film with Gwenlyn Cumyn. In the film, four people find themselves stuck on a haunted antique bed where leaving means suffering a gruesome death. Plagued with frightening hallucinations, they must figure out the bed’s secrets before they are ultimately picked off one by one. The Dwelling features a hot young cast including Slasher’s Alysa King and Gwenlyn Cumyn (“Barbelle”). The Dwelling arrives on Digital and DVD November 26th from Uncork’d Entertainment.

Continue reading →

Kelli Marchman McNeely

Oct 5, 2019

IndieMoviesNewsTrailers

Jug Face Director Unveils Trailer For New Horror ‘Dementer’

Writer-director Chad Crawford Kinkle‘s 2013 horror Jug Face made waves in the indie genre. Now, he’s back with his arthouse horror Dementer. In the film, Katie (Katie Groshong, A Measure of the Sin, Jug Face), a young woman determined to do something positive with her life after fleeing from a backwoods cult, takes a job at a center for special needs adults. Desperately attempting to live a normal life, she is overwhelmed by signs that “the devils” are after Stephanie (newcomer Stephanie Kinkle), a woman with Down Syndrome that she now cares for. Using writings from a strange notebook, Katie creates rituals to ward away the evil while taking care of Stephanie at the center and in her home. But nothing seems to work, and Stephanie is becoming sicker with each passing day… Building this special project around his sister Stephanie, who has Down Syndrome and plays one of the film’s leads, Kinkle has gone to great lengths to create

Continue reading →

Kelli Marchman McNeely

Oct 5, 2019

IndieMoviesParanormalReviews

Blu-ray Review: Devil’s Revenge (2019)

Ancient curses and Star Trek actors… that’s what Devil’s Revenge has to offer us; so you know I’m all fuckin’ in… now let’s see if the rest of this freaky feature can deliver the ghoulish goods! I don’t know what’s goin’ down in the caves of Kentucky, but my man John (Jason Brooks) has caught a case of the worst of it. See his family are the recipients of one hell of an ancient Aztec curse, and after a doomed spelunking trip to set things right life goes from moderately okay to “holy fuck, I’m plagued by skull faced demons” in the blink of an eerie eye… and the fact that those demons start puttin’ the murder on those John has altercations with es no bueno. After a chat with is over-the-top lunatic father (the legend that is William fuckin’ Shatner), John knows what he must do; load the fam into the wicked Winnebago, chuck them directly into evil’s path,

Continue reading →

DanXIII

Oct 5, 2019

IndieMoviesParanormalReviews

Short Film Review: The Squatter (2019)

The Squatter begins with one of your poor, unfortunate soul types catching static from some hoodlums. What does our protagonist do to escape from that miscreant maelstrom? Why take shelter in ye olde shit shack of a pub. Problem is, this beastly bar holds one of those sinister Satanic secrets that always leads to good ol’ bad vibes. Since our homeless hero has nowhere else to be, he stays… even though the truths he reveals about the eerie establishment put him balls deep in the horror biz. A beating by those aforementioned punks is lookin’ better and better, ain’t it? The first thing that struck me about The Squatter is how much it had that Lovecraft aesthetic I adore like a mutant mother fucker! It’s the combo of the dreary coastal setting nestled under slate grey skies as well as that ancient evil mumbo jumbo that just reeks of ol’ H.P.; and that is one hell of a feat; this

Continue reading →

DanXIII

Oct 5, 2019

Holiday HorrorIndieMoviesNewsTrailers

Watch The Trailer For ‘Treat’, from The Direct Of “The Purge”

Just in time for Halloween, RLJE is giving horror fans a real treat, the trailer for TRICK. From the director of My Bloody Valentine 3D, The Eye, and USA’s “The Purge”, Patrick Lussier, comes a tale of a killer seemingly back from the dead and on a mission to kill. TRICK stars Omar Epps (“House,” “This Is Us” Season 4), Ellen Adair (“Homeland”, “The Sinner”), Kristina Reyes (“Blindspot”, “Shades of Blue”), Jamie Kennedy (Scream franchise), and Tom Atkins (Escape From New York, Halloween III: Season of the Witch). Todd Farmer (My Bloody Valentine, Jason X) co-wrote the film along with Patrick Lussier (Drive Angry). On Halloween night in 2015, Patrick “Trick” Weaver massacred his classmates at a costume party. After being arrested, he managed to escape police custody, but not before being shot five times by Detective Mike Denver (Epps). Everyone believes Trick must be dead, but when a masked killer reappears the following Halloween, and every Halloween after that,

Continue reading →

Kelli Marchman McNeely

Oct 3, 2019

IndieMoviesReviews

Movie Review: Replace (2017)

Kira Mabon (Rebecca Forsythe), has a lot on her mind; such as worrying about growing old, and wondering just where in the unholy fuck she is after waking up from a one night stand in some rando apartment that everyone tells her is her long-time residence. What the actual fuck gives? Adding to her static is a neighbor (Lucie Aron) who professes her love for our heroine while trying to help her make sense of her newfound existence, and a Dr. Crober (genre legend Barbara “Re-Animator” Crampton) who treats her skin condition (think excessive peeling)… not that Kira can remember jack and/or shit about it… but let me tell ya, that Doc may be unnecessary as K-baby discovers that utilizing someone else’s skin (or that of a fresh stiff) can cure her condition right quick; so the body count begins to rise as apparently lookin’ good is more important than a nasty murder or twelve… Co-writer (along with genius creator

Continue reading →

DanXIII

Sep 29, 2019

Indie

More from Indie