CategoryReviews
Honest horror reviews of films, series, games and books — no hype, no spoilers, just whether it is worth your time and your nerves.
3,430 stories
IndieMoviesReviews
A cathedral spaceship touches down on a ruined future Earth (in scenes lifted from the 1985 animated feature Angel’s Egg; a collaboration between director Mamoru Oshii and Yoshitaka Amano) as a young angel who has laid an egg is given a lecture from her bro… at least it all makes perfect, reasonable sense… Then we cut to some live-action antics as two gas-masked attired dudes wander a wasteland. They walk and talk (and talk), and occasionally get menaced… then a dude has visions of the animated fracas from the beginning (but there’s a live-action version of the lil’ angel)… The biggest hurdle with In the Aftermath is that the live-action stuff, while taking place in a suitably grim and industrial environment, can’t hold a candle to the beauty and weirdness of the jarringly out of place animated sequences (which the filmmaker’s try in vain to make fit into whatever narrative they have created). So the feature is somewhat interesting, if
Continue reading →
MusicReviews
Do you like the feeling of having a vivid nightmare poured into your eerie earholes? You bet your ass you do! And, there’s no better band out there to make that a reality than Icelandic darkwave geniuses Kælan Mikla. Comprised of eight tracks, Kælan Mikla’s eponymous U.S. debut (released through MVD Entertainment and Toronto-based Artoffact Records) is filled with haunting melodies, ethereal vocals (though they can posses downright punk rock power when it’s required), and ambient soundscapes a plenty; but their main bread and butter sounds as if Gary Numan composed a rock opera around Dracula… doesn’t get better than that cats n’ creeps, believe you me! All horrific hyperbole aside; this is some serious marvelously moody music, and the heady blend of Laufey Soffía Þórsdóttir on vocals, Sólveig Matthildur Kristjánsdóttir on synths and percussion, and Margrét Rósa Dóru-Harrysdóttir on bass is absolutely irresistible and essential autumnal listening (or for when you are trying to conjure autumn in your fevered
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Comic Books/Graphic NovelsReviews
Massachusetts based writer/artist Tony McMillen’s (Lumen) latest comic book offering Serious Creatures is a book that should be easily embraced by those that visit this site. Don’t believe me? Well, you’re an asshole… but an asshole that should read on to learn just why I’m so hyped on this beastly book! Serious Creatures concerns the adventures of teen Bobby Feckle, a young kid in the early 70’s with aspirations of being a special effects artist. A chance encounter during the filming of the biggest blockbuster of the mid-’70s (called Fin here, but you cats will dig what the book is laying down) sets Bobby on the first baby-steps of making his dreams a reality while at the same time his home-life begins to degrade. I’m willing to bet demons to doughnuts that many of you cats n’ creeps are a lot like Bobby; you live, eat, and breath movie monsters morning, noon, and night… and I’d wager a good many
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is a lowly busboy at a beatnik haven called The Yellow Door Cafe…the type of place that’s just lousy with sax solos, poetry, and artists (oh, and berets). Now our hero wants nothing more than to be just like the hep cats what populate that establishment mentioned up yonder, but his skill set is akin to that of an armless chimp rolling in Play-doh. But, as fate would have it after an incident involving a steak knife, a plaster wall, and a now ex-cat, ol’ Walter discovers he can create a celebrated work of art by simply slapping some clay over that dead feline. You can just guess what happens next; more accidents lead to more “sculptures” and even more accolades…but also rouses the suspicions of undercover detectives casing The Yellow Door (not to mention the Cafe’s owner who stumbles on Walter’s secret but balances his horror with the growing financial gain the morbid work generates).
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Having escaped those crazed cannibals that terrorized his ass a few years previous, Bobby (Robert Houston) and Rachel (Janus Blythe), formerly the freaky family member named Ruby who decided to leave her past and rejoin the modern world, have formed a dirt bike racing team and developed a super fuel… as one does. Long story short, the team gets the chance to participate in a desert race taking place close to the same wasted hellscape the first film took place in. Bobby, who has common sense, declines, but the rest of the squad soldiers on. Along the way they take a short cut… then their bus breaks down… and guess what? Those hills still have goddamn eyes and motorcyclist mutton is on the menu! Hey cats n’ creeps, did ya forget the events of the first The Hills Have Eyes? Well, don’t worry; this sequel has your back! This thing is the Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 of the
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Young Donna (Elizabeth Kaitan) finds herself menaced by ghouls… but the whole scenario is in actuality a (as yet unsuccessful) sleep experiment involving the utilization of dreams to predict one’s death run by a college professor (a scene chewing yet still somehow low-key Jack Starrett, who some of you cats n’ creeps may recognize as the director of Cleopatra Jones and the ‘Peter Fonda against vengeful Satanists’ gem Race With the Devil) and four students, of which ol’ Donna is one. Anyhow, the Prof and his charges schlep (courtesy of the van belonging to a completely over-the-top, bongo solo lovin’, psychopathic Brian Thompson) out to a creepy farmhouse where seances were held years prior… and naturally is located in the middle of nowhere, to conduct experiments involving contacting the supernatural. Of course that idea is what one may say is “completely fucking horrible”, and soon our gang are up to their tits in terror trouble including cartoon snakes, a ghost
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
When Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi),the daughter of sculptor Franco (one-time Bond George Lazenby), ends up face down dead in a river down Venice way, our hero teams up with his estranged wife Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg) to solve the case. Of course whoever is responsible doesn’t want to be caught and the body count rises as the trail leads to some of the most respected figures in Venetian society. Starting off with a real showstopper in the revolting murder of young Roberta, Who Saw Her Die? trucks along in typical giallo freaky fashion with all of the accoutrements firmly in place. You get your black gloved killer, a barrel of red herring served up nice n’ hot, nonsensical explanations, and the ol’ money shots; plenty of acts of murderous mayhem! Adding to the experience are the cold, almost emotionless performances of the leads, with Lazenby and Strindberg carrying on as if in shock (which honestly they would be) which gives the entire
Continue reading →
DocumentariesIndieMoviesParanormalReviews
Blackburn’s Cryptid Casefiles, hosted by cryptid expert/author Lyle Blackburn, sets it’s sights on the events of the ol’ summer of ’72; when a hairy sumbitch bugged the shit outta the residents of Louisiana, Missouri. Locations are visited, the locals are chatted up… business as usual; but the real feather in the creepy cap is the presentation of clips from a rediscovered film on the subject from decades past. All of this blurs the line between fantasy and reality as Seth Breedlove and Small Town Monsters have changed up their basic straight-up documentary style format and have presented some elaborate re-enactments with the inclusion of the faux fright film footage (not to mention the addition of Blackburn rather than having Breedlove himself narrate the events) in the style of one of my fav flicks The Legend of Boggy Creek, and the end result is a ton of fearsome fun! As one would expect, the events presented in the “lost” film don’t
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Life goes from boring and lonely to maddening and terrifying for twentysomething Jonathan, the protagonist of director Brian Hanson’s The Black String, a terrific supernatural/body horror film with paranoia thriller and film noir elements. Jonathan, superbly portrayed by Frankie Muniz of Agent Cody Banks (2003) and the TV series Malcolm in the Middle (2000–2006), is a loner who lets life pass him by while working at what he calls a “lifestyle convenience boutique,” but what most of us refer to as a liquor store. His outgoing boss and friend Eric (Blake Webb of the American Horror Story [2011] TV series and Alienate [2016]) coaxes him into living life a bit more, which leads Jonathan to call a singles hotline number after seeing its seemingly personalized commercial on television. As a result, Jonathan winds up on a date with the fetching Dena (Chelsea Edmunson of 14 Cameras and Howlers, both 2018) and contracting a horrid looking rash from having unprotected sex
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IndieMoviesReviews
Scooter presents the tale (via a combo of mockumentary and found footage) of three internet celebs who get the wild hair to make a long distance trek via scooters for their lil’ web pro-grim. Along the way tensions begin to flare, and things only get worse when our heroes record a murder as it happens in the ass-end of nowhere! Of course escape becomes impossible, and soon the three amigos find themselves at the not-so-tender mercy of that murderous maniac… but what will their ultimate fate be? Scooter starts out promising; the cast is likable… and more importantly believable, as is the basic premise of the fright flick. There is a nice sense of world building, and things truck along at a reasonable pace while setting up a nice bit of tension; we know shit is going to go south, but when and how remains a mystery for a good chunk of the run-time (yeah, this is a slow burn
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
IndieMoviesReviews
A cathedral spaceship touches down on a ruined future Earth (in scenes lifted from the 1985 animated feature Angel’s Egg; a collaboration between director Mamoru Oshii and Yoshitaka Amano) as a young angel who has laid an egg is given a lecture from her bro… at least it all makes perfect, reasonable sense… Then we cut to some live-action antics as two gas-masked attired dudes wander a wasteland. They walk and talk (and talk), and occasionally get menaced… then a dude has visions of the animated fracas from the beginning (but there’s a live-action version of the lil’ angel)… The biggest hurdle with In the Aftermath is that the live-action stuff, while taking place in a suitably grim and industrial environment, can’t hold a candle to the beauty and weirdness of the jarringly out of place animated sequences (which the filmmaker’s try in vain to make fit into whatever narrative they have created). So the feature is somewhat interesting, if
Continue reading →
MusicReviews
Do you like the feeling of having a vivid nightmare poured into your eerie earholes? You bet your ass you do! And, there’s no better band out there to make that a reality than Icelandic darkwave geniuses Kælan Mikla. Comprised of eight tracks, Kælan Mikla’s eponymous U.S. debut (released through MVD Entertainment and Toronto-based Artoffact Records) is filled with haunting melodies, ethereal vocals (though they can posses downright punk rock power when it’s required), and ambient soundscapes a plenty; but their main bread and butter sounds as if Gary Numan composed a rock opera around Dracula… doesn’t get better than that cats n’ creeps, believe you me! All horrific hyperbole aside; this is some serious marvelously moody music, and the heady blend of Laufey Soffía Þórsdóttir on vocals, Sólveig Matthildur Kristjánsdóttir on synths and percussion, and Margrét Rósa Dóru-Harrysdóttir on bass is absolutely irresistible and essential autumnal listening (or for when you are trying to conjure autumn in your fevered
Continue reading →
Comic Books/Graphic NovelsReviews
Massachusetts based writer/artist Tony McMillen’s (Lumen) latest comic book offering Serious Creatures is a book that should be easily embraced by those that visit this site. Don’t believe me? Well, you’re an asshole… but an asshole that should read on to learn just why I’m so hyped on this beastly book! Serious Creatures concerns the adventures of teen Bobby Feckle, a young kid in the early 70’s with aspirations of being a special effects artist. A chance encounter during the filming of the biggest blockbuster of the mid-’70s (called Fin here, but you cats will dig what the book is laying down) sets Bobby on the first baby-steps of making his dreams a reality while at the same time his home-life begins to degrade. I’m willing to bet demons to doughnuts that many of you cats n’ creeps are a lot like Bobby; you live, eat, and breath movie monsters morning, noon, and night… and I’d wager a good many
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is a lowly busboy at a beatnik haven called The Yellow Door Cafe…the type of place that’s just lousy with sax solos, poetry, and artists (oh, and berets). Now our hero wants nothing more than to be just like the hep cats what populate that establishment mentioned up yonder, but his skill set is akin to that of an armless chimp rolling in Play-doh. But, as fate would have it after an incident involving a steak knife, a plaster wall, and a now ex-cat, ol’ Walter discovers he can create a celebrated work of art by simply slapping some clay over that dead feline. You can just guess what happens next; more accidents lead to more “sculptures” and even more accolades…but also rouses the suspicions of undercover detectives casing The Yellow Door (not to mention the Cafe’s owner who stumbles on Walter’s secret but balances his horror with the growing financial gain the morbid work generates).
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Having escaped those crazed cannibals that terrorized his ass a few years previous, Bobby (Robert Houston) and Rachel (Janus Blythe), formerly the freaky family member named Ruby who decided to leave her past and rejoin the modern world, have formed a dirt bike racing team and developed a super fuel… as one does. Long story short, the team gets the chance to participate in a desert race taking place close to the same wasted hellscape the first film took place in. Bobby, who has common sense, declines, but the rest of the squad soldiers on. Along the way they take a short cut… then their bus breaks down… and guess what? Those hills still have goddamn eyes and motorcyclist mutton is on the menu! Hey cats n’ creeps, did ya forget the events of the first The Hills Have Eyes? Well, don’t worry; this sequel has your back! This thing is the Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 of the
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Young Donna (Elizabeth Kaitan) finds herself menaced by ghouls… but the whole scenario is in actuality a (as yet unsuccessful) sleep experiment involving the utilization of dreams to predict one’s death run by a college professor (a scene chewing yet still somehow low-key Jack Starrett, who some of you cats n’ creeps may recognize as the director of Cleopatra Jones and the ‘Peter Fonda against vengeful Satanists’ gem Race With the Devil) and four students, of which ol’ Donna is one. Anyhow, the Prof and his charges schlep (courtesy of the van belonging to a completely over-the-top, bongo solo lovin’, psychopathic Brian Thompson) out to a creepy farmhouse where seances were held years prior… and naturally is located in the middle of nowhere, to conduct experiments involving contacting the supernatural. Of course that idea is what one may say is “completely fucking horrible”, and soon our gang are up to their tits in terror trouble including cartoon snakes, a ghost
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
When Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi),the daughter of sculptor Franco (one-time Bond George Lazenby), ends up face down dead in a river down Venice way, our hero teams up with his estranged wife Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg) to solve the case. Of course whoever is responsible doesn’t want to be caught and the body count rises as the trail leads to some of the most respected figures in Venetian society. Starting off with a real showstopper in the revolting murder of young Roberta, Who Saw Her Die? trucks along in typical giallo freaky fashion with all of the accoutrements firmly in place. You get your black gloved killer, a barrel of red herring served up nice n’ hot, nonsensical explanations, and the ol’ money shots; plenty of acts of murderous mayhem! Adding to the experience are the cold, almost emotionless performances of the leads, with Lazenby and Strindberg carrying on as if in shock (which honestly they would be) which gives the entire
Continue reading →
DocumentariesIndieMoviesParanormalReviews
Blackburn’s Cryptid Casefiles, hosted by cryptid expert/author Lyle Blackburn, sets it’s sights on the events of the ol’ summer of ’72; when a hairy sumbitch bugged the shit outta the residents of Louisiana, Missouri. Locations are visited, the locals are chatted up… business as usual; but the real feather in the creepy cap is the presentation of clips from a rediscovered film on the subject from decades past. All of this blurs the line between fantasy and reality as Seth Breedlove and Small Town Monsters have changed up their basic straight-up documentary style format and have presented some elaborate re-enactments with the inclusion of the faux fright film footage (not to mention the addition of Blackburn rather than having Breedlove himself narrate the events) in the style of one of my fav flicks The Legend of Boggy Creek, and the end result is a ton of fearsome fun! As one would expect, the events presented in the “lost” film don’t
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Life goes from boring and lonely to maddening and terrifying for twentysomething Jonathan, the protagonist of director Brian Hanson’s The Black String, a terrific supernatural/body horror film with paranoia thriller and film noir elements. Jonathan, superbly portrayed by Frankie Muniz of Agent Cody Banks (2003) and the TV series Malcolm in the Middle (2000–2006), is a loner who lets life pass him by while working at what he calls a “lifestyle convenience boutique,” but what most of us refer to as a liquor store. His outgoing boss and friend Eric (Blake Webb of the American Horror Story [2011] TV series and Alienate [2016]) coaxes him into living life a bit more, which leads Jonathan to call a singles hotline number after seeing its seemingly personalized commercial on television. As a result, Jonathan winds up on a date with the fetching Dena (Chelsea Edmunson of 14 Cameras and Howlers, both 2018) and contracting a horrid looking rash from having unprotected sex
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Scooter presents the tale (via a combo of mockumentary and found footage) of three internet celebs who get the wild hair to make a long distance trek via scooters for their lil’ web pro-grim. Along the way tensions begin to flare, and things only get worse when our heroes record a murder as it happens in the ass-end of nowhere! Of course escape becomes impossible, and soon the three amigos find themselves at the not-so-tender mercy of that murderous maniac… but what will their ultimate fate be? Scooter starts out promising; the cast is likable… and more importantly believable, as is the basic premise of the fright flick. There is a nice sense of world building, and things truck along at a reasonable pace while setting up a nice bit of tension; we know shit is going to go south, but when and how remains a mystery for a good chunk of the run-time (yeah, this is a slow burn
Continue reading →
