CategoryReviews
Honest horror reviews of films, series, games and books — no hype, no spoilers, just whether it is worth your time and your nerves.
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MoviesParanormalReviews
You know how you release one of the most successful and iconic horror films of all time, sit around four years and snort a mountain of blow and say “Shit, we really should make a sequel to this thing…but I’ve never been a fan of screenplays or logic…aaaand action!”? Yeah, me either, but I’d bet demons to doughnuts that is pretty damn close to how Exorcist II: The Heretic came to be. We pick up the narrative with a now teen-age Regan (Linda Blair) seeing a new-age shrink on the regular, and it is at one such appointment that she says she has almost zero recollection of the events of the first film (which also mirrors the filmmakers as well). Meanwhile priest Philip Lamont (Richard Burton) is assigned to investigate the death of Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow) after the events of Regan’s exorcism. Soon their path’s cross and Lamont sits in on Regan’s sesh with her shrink’s happy helmet
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
Nick (Sam Gittins) has the bright idea of bringing his Middle Eastern girlfriend Annji (Neerja Naik) to his parents’ pad for Chrimbo. This goes over like a fart in a submarine for some of his kooky klan, as his father (Grant Masters) is mega-pissed that Nick hasn’t been home in years, and his grandpa Alfred (David Bradley), is a full on racist prick. Things get even more tense once Nick’s pregnant sister and her boyfriend arrive…oh, and when the mega-dysfunctional family soon discovers the house is completely sealed up by a strange obsidian corrugated metal. Isolated from the outside world, they receive messages from their television…which first displays “STAY INDOORS AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS”…but before long the messages become increasingly ominous…which causes even more tension in the household. As time passes the family is lead to believe they are contaminated by some mystery disease, which of course increases their paranoia a thousand fold…but things get even worse as the black
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
A group of ol’ chums gather in Louisiana (more on that in a bit my creeps) for the holidays to honor their dead friend Sam (Cody Wise), who unbeknownst to them was murdered by a candy cane to the eyes courtesy of a sinister Santa. Once there we learn of their tortured past being raised in an orphanage where a priest (who often dressed as Santa) regularly rubbed their rosary beads if ya can dig on what I’m laying down. Before long that freaky Father Christmas arrives on the scene and begins killing our protagonists one by one On the plus side, Dead by Christmas shows off some decent cinematography here and there, as well as a few instances of practical gore which are always welcome. Additionally the back story was unique enough to add interest to the film, and I also enjoyed the setting; by taking place in December in Louisiana, the environs have an Autumnal quality to them
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
This October The First Purge, directed by Gerard McMurray, arrives on Blu-ray and DVD and I’m sure you are wondering what we thought of the film that takes us back to where it (the first experiment) all began. Set on Staton Island, we see the new Founding Fathers, backed by the NRA, begin the first experiment to see how the public will react to a day where citizens are able to commit any crime without fear of punishment. We see the residents of Staton Island line up and given not only contacts to record their participation, but $5,000 with more promised if they go out that night, which is quite an incentive for those in desperate need of money. But not all of the residents approve. Nya (Lex Scott Davis) leads part of the community in protest. Concerned about her brother Isaiah (Jovian Wade) after she finds out he’s been selling dope for Dmitri (Y’Ian Noel), she thinks he’s off
Continue reading →
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MoviesReviews
Holy hell creeps; here comes the monstrous mother-load…thirty classic Universal released fright flicks all in one handy-dandy Blu-ray collection! Let’s take a very, very deep dive into the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection as we feast our eerie eyeballs on every film and the eerie extras these devilish discs contain! (Fair warning: this is going to be one hell of an insanely long-ass review!!!) Kicking things of we have the Frankenstein Complete Legacy Collection Frankenstein (1931): Ol’ Doc Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his deformed assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) are up to the totally reasonable and completely sane task of digging up graves and disassembling corpses with the intent of putting the best bits together like a human jigsaw puzzle. Well, thanks to janky science and lightning they succeed, but the end result isn’t the human perfection for which they strove; rather he is a misshapen monstrosity (played to putrid perfection by Boris Karloff) possessed of great strength,a child
Continue reading →
Amazon Prime VideoBooksGamingProductReviews
One of the most enjoyable aspects of playing role-playing games (RPGs) is the ability to create an avatar of you to go on perilous adventures may they involve lifting curses, protecting villages from bandits, stealing relics from trolls, or befriending a dragon to fulfill a prophecy. Sometimes people have trouble coming up with a believable character or find it difficult to really “know” their character which may make their character not enjoyable to fellow RPG adventurers. James D’Amato’s book “The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide” will help you bring your character(s) to life! After reading this book I see it’s more than a “how to” book, it’s an interactive tome that makes creating your character fun and unique! If you’re new to the whole RPG world like me, don’t be afraid of this book! Each chapter is based off skill level, just like RPG games you start from level 1 and work your way up as you gain more experience!
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Jason Golberg, the co-creator of prank series “Punk’d”, makes his directorial debut with Afraid, starring “The Walking Dead’s” Alanna Masterson and George Byrne. The film opens with a screen filled with twelve security channels. This where I should explain that the entire film is shown from security camera feeds inside and outside of a remote cabin, which often leaves the cast’s faces blurry. After the couple arrives we learn that Masterson’s character has chosen a college overseas and her boyfriend (Byrne) is trying everything in his power to stop her from leaving, which comes across in my opinion as pathetic, not romantic. He’s way too desperate. Throughout the movie we see computer screens of phone numbers be cloned and someone messaging Masterson’s character uncovering some bad deeds she has committed. When someone begins to leave messages on the walls of her room and stalk the couple the action begins (if that’s what you want to call it). We only get
Continue reading →
GamingIndieProductReviews
Recently I wrote an article about the bundling of the two horror narrative games, “Layers of Fear” and “>Observer_”. The games’ developer Bloober Team gave me access to play both of their groundbreaking games for one epic review! Since this is a double review, I’m splitting the games up to avoid confusion and the last couple of paragraphs will be my final thoughts on both games. “Layers of Fear” is about a painter in the midst of the mental breakdown and his obsession over his latest art piece that he hopes will put him back on top. After you start looking at your latest work, that’s when the terror starts. As you explore the house, hallucinations begin to take over of paint drenched hallways, malformed specters, and artifacts that reflect your troubled past as you try to explore for answers only have your senses toyed with by the other side. There are times you have to do some problem solving
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Two lovers parked in a wooded area find themselves stalked by a hooded figure. When the man gets out to check on a noise, he’s murdered and the woman taken. Skip forward nine months, the woman is laying in the dirt screaming, ready to give birth. Two hooded figures are there by her side as she delivers and the scene closes. Following a time jump, we meet a family, James (AJ Bowen) a father with cancer, Casey (Brea Grant) the mother, Jason (Joshua Hoffman) their son, their daughter Jessica (Sophie Dalah) and her friend (Elise Luthman) Becky on their way to a cabin. Not long after their arrival, they find a woman (Barbra Crampton) in the snow, after bringing her back to the cabin they learn they have made a fatal mistake. As the film plays out we see scenes from a crime series called “Inside Crime” where we learn that Casey killed her entire family, the family we are
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesParanormalReviews
On Christmas Eve, a girl fishes down a present from the top of an impossibly high pile of gifts with the help of her sleeping grandfather’s cane. upon opening the package she meets “Pappy” a talking doll that shows her strange visions. Soon the doll is out for blood (after a bit of a tickle sesh) and ol’ grandpa has to attempt to rescue his charge from that evil effigy; all while dealing with that doll’s devious deviltry and his own left-over trauma from the war. There’s also pie and doll fuckin’ involved… What can I say; Pappy’s World is one fever dream of a sinister short! With it’s absolutely balls-to-the-wall surreal aesthetic, nightmarish visions, PTSD trauma, doll hookers…and so much more, I can guarantee you have never, ever seen anything even remotely close to this one horror hounds! Director/Co-writer Matt Wisniewski (aided and abetted by Co-writer/Actor Fred Polone…who also plays Grandpa and Pappy) have created a rich bit of
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
MoviesParanormalReviews
You know how you release one of the most successful and iconic horror films of all time, sit around four years and snort a mountain of blow and say “Shit, we really should make a sequel to this thing…but I’ve never been a fan of screenplays or logic…aaaand action!”? Yeah, me either, but I’d bet demons to doughnuts that is pretty damn close to how Exorcist II: The Heretic came to be. We pick up the narrative with a now teen-age Regan (Linda Blair) seeing a new-age shrink on the regular, and it is at one such appointment that she says she has almost zero recollection of the events of the first film (which also mirrors the filmmakers as well). Meanwhile priest Philip Lamont (Richard Burton) is assigned to investigate the death of Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow) after the events of Regan’s exorcism. Soon their path’s cross and Lamont sits in on Regan’s sesh with her shrink’s happy helmet
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
Nick (Sam Gittins) has the bright idea of bringing his Middle Eastern girlfriend Annji (Neerja Naik) to his parents’ pad for Chrimbo. This goes over like a fart in a submarine for some of his kooky klan, as his father (Grant Masters) is mega-pissed that Nick hasn’t been home in years, and his grandpa Alfred (David Bradley), is a full on racist prick. Things get even more tense once Nick’s pregnant sister and her boyfriend arrive…oh, and when the mega-dysfunctional family soon discovers the house is completely sealed up by a strange obsidian corrugated metal. Isolated from the outside world, they receive messages from their television…which first displays “STAY INDOORS AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS”…but before long the messages become increasingly ominous…which causes even more tension in the household. As time passes the family is lead to believe they are contaminated by some mystery disease, which of course increases their paranoia a thousand fold…but things get even worse as the black
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
A group of ol’ chums gather in Louisiana (more on that in a bit my creeps) for the holidays to honor their dead friend Sam (Cody Wise), who unbeknownst to them was murdered by a candy cane to the eyes courtesy of a sinister Santa. Once there we learn of their tortured past being raised in an orphanage where a priest (who often dressed as Santa) regularly rubbed their rosary beads if ya can dig on what I’m laying down. Before long that freaky Father Christmas arrives on the scene and begins killing our protagonists one by one On the plus side, Dead by Christmas shows off some decent cinematography here and there, as well as a few instances of practical gore which are always welcome. Additionally the back story was unique enough to add interest to the film, and I also enjoyed the setting; by taking place in December in Louisiana, the environs have an Autumnal quality to them
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
This October The First Purge, directed by Gerard McMurray, arrives on Blu-ray and DVD and I’m sure you are wondering what we thought of the film that takes us back to where it (the first experiment) all began. Set on Staton Island, we see the new Founding Fathers, backed by the NRA, begin the first experiment to see how the public will react to a day where citizens are able to commit any crime without fear of punishment. We see the residents of Staton Island line up and given not only contacts to record their participation, but $5,000 with more promised if they go out that night, which is quite an incentive for those in desperate need of money. But not all of the residents approve. Nya (Lex Scott Davis) leads part of the community in protest. Concerned about her brother Isaiah (Jovian Wade) after she finds out he’s been selling dope for Dmitri (Y’Ian Noel), she thinks he’s off
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Holy hell creeps; here comes the monstrous mother-load…thirty classic Universal released fright flicks all in one handy-dandy Blu-ray collection! Let’s take a very, very deep dive into the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection as we feast our eerie eyeballs on every film and the eerie extras these devilish discs contain! (Fair warning: this is going to be one hell of an insanely long-ass review!!!) Kicking things of we have the Frankenstein Complete Legacy Collection Frankenstein (1931): Ol’ Doc Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his deformed assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) are up to the totally reasonable and completely sane task of digging up graves and disassembling corpses with the intent of putting the best bits together like a human jigsaw puzzle. Well, thanks to janky science and lightning they succeed, but the end result isn’t the human perfection for which they strove; rather he is a misshapen monstrosity (played to putrid perfection by Boris Karloff) possessed of great strength,a child
Continue reading →
Amazon Prime VideoBooksGamingProductReviews
One of the most enjoyable aspects of playing role-playing games (RPGs) is the ability to create an avatar of you to go on perilous adventures may they involve lifting curses, protecting villages from bandits, stealing relics from trolls, or befriending a dragon to fulfill a prophecy. Sometimes people have trouble coming up with a believable character or find it difficult to really “know” their character which may make their character not enjoyable to fellow RPG adventurers. James D’Amato’s book “The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide” will help you bring your character(s) to life! After reading this book I see it’s more than a “how to” book, it’s an interactive tome that makes creating your character fun and unique! If you’re new to the whole RPG world like me, don’t be afraid of this book! Each chapter is based off skill level, just like RPG games you start from level 1 and work your way up as you gain more experience!
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Jason Golberg, the co-creator of prank series “Punk’d”, makes his directorial debut with Afraid, starring “The Walking Dead’s” Alanna Masterson and George Byrne. The film opens with a screen filled with twelve security channels. This where I should explain that the entire film is shown from security camera feeds inside and outside of a remote cabin, which often leaves the cast’s faces blurry. After the couple arrives we learn that Masterson’s character has chosen a college overseas and her boyfriend (Byrne) is trying everything in his power to stop her from leaving, which comes across in my opinion as pathetic, not romantic. He’s way too desperate. Throughout the movie we see computer screens of phone numbers be cloned and someone messaging Masterson’s character uncovering some bad deeds she has committed. When someone begins to leave messages on the walls of her room and stalk the couple the action begins (if that’s what you want to call it). We only get
Continue reading →
GamingIndieProductReviews
Recently I wrote an article about the bundling of the two horror narrative games, “Layers of Fear” and “>Observer_”. The games’ developer Bloober Team gave me access to play both of their groundbreaking games for one epic review! Since this is a double review, I’m splitting the games up to avoid confusion and the last couple of paragraphs will be my final thoughts on both games. “Layers of Fear” is about a painter in the midst of the mental breakdown and his obsession over his latest art piece that he hopes will put him back on top. After you start looking at your latest work, that’s when the terror starts. As you explore the house, hallucinations begin to take over of paint drenched hallways, malformed specters, and artifacts that reflect your troubled past as you try to explore for answers only have your senses toyed with by the other side. There are times you have to do some problem solving
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Two lovers parked in a wooded area find themselves stalked by a hooded figure. When the man gets out to check on a noise, he’s murdered and the woman taken. Skip forward nine months, the woman is laying in the dirt screaming, ready to give birth. Two hooded figures are there by her side as she delivers and the scene closes. Following a time jump, we meet a family, James (AJ Bowen) a father with cancer, Casey (Brea Grant) the mother, Jason (Joshua Hoffman) their son, their daughter Jessica (Sophie Dalah) and her friend (Elise Luthman) Becky on their way to a cabin. Not long after their arrival, they find a woman (Barbra Crampton) in the snow, after bringing her back to the cabin they learn they have made a fatal mistake. As the film plays out we see scenes from a crime series called “Inside Crime” where we learn that Casey killed her entire family, the family we are
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesParanormalReviews
On Christmas Eve, a girl fishes down a present from the top of an impossibly high pile of gifts with the help of her sleeping grandfather’s cane. upon opening the package she meets “Pappy” a talking doll that shows her strange visions. Soon the doll is out for blood (after a bit of a tickle sesh) and ol’ grandpa has to attempt to rescue his charge from that evil effigy; all while dealing with that doll’s devious deviltry and his own left-over trauma from the war. There’s also pie and doll fuckin’ involved… What can I say; Pappy’s World is one fever dream of a sinister short! With it’s absolutely balls-to-the-wall surreal aesthetic, nightmarish visions, PTSD trauma, doll hookers…and so much more, I can guarantee you have never, ever seen anything even remotely close to this one horror hounds! Director/Co-writer Matt Wisniewski (aided and abetted by Co-writer/Actor Fred Polone…who also plays Grandpa and Pappy) have created a rich bit of
Continue reading →
