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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ForeignMoviesReviews
Remember way back to like last week (approx.) when I put a revoltin’ review upon Severin’s second collection of Italian Gothic fright flicks, Danza Macabra Volume 2? Well, it took so long for my arcane as to talk about that set, that a whole new third volume has been conjured forth… this time with a change of scenery as we’re going to Spain baby! First up, Disc One contains 1971’s Necrophagus… Aristocrat Michael Sherrington (Bill Curran) heads back to the town in which his wife Elizabeth has expired after an emergency cesarean to remove her dead fetus… seems wholesome enough so far… Once there he goes sleuthin’ around the place seeking answers about just how his wife died… but beyond the basics, the whole town seems rather tight-lipped (and downright sinister) about the whole, sordid affair… especially family physician Dr. Lexter (Frank Braña) and cemetery caretaker Mr. Fowles (Víctor Israel), as well as Michael’s in-laws and his mother, Lady Anne
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
I hesitate to call Pedro Kos’s feature In Our Blood a found footage film because although it does use some of the trappings of that subgenre, I feel his tale of a young woman’s search for her missing mother has more of a cinéma vérité feel to it, with a bit of “behind the scenes” sensibilities at play, too. Kos has made documentary films before helming In Our Blood, and he brings a sense of reality to the film. The story concerns Emily (Brittany O’Grady), who travels with cinematographer Danny (E.J. Bonilla) to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she plans to film her reunion with her estranged mother Sam (Alanna Ubach), who she hasn’t seen since she was 13 years old and taken out of Sam’s custody because of the mother’s drug addiction. The reunion is difficult for both women but offers some hope, with Sam inviting Emily to visit her at the shelter where she works the next day.
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviews
I’m going to be upfront. I have long been a fan of Bill Skarsgård. He’s a talented actor in terrifying roles like the IT franchise and more realistic roles like Barbarian and John Wick. The first time I saw the trailer for his new film Boy Kills World, I was already in. The movie is directed by Moritz Mohr, who co-wrote the film with Tyler Burton Smith and Arend Remmers. The film is brimming with talent. The cast includes Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) and Michelle Dockery (“Downton Abbey”). After being rescued when his mother and sister were brutally murdered, his savior trained him day and night. All for one purpose: to avenge his family’s murder, but not everything is what it seems. Transformed into a lethal weapon, the time has come for “Boy” (Skarsgård) to be unleashed. What follows is a breathtaking display of martial arts, gunfire, and mayhem as he carves a bloody path on his mission of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsSci-FiShort Films
Electrophilia (Los Impactados) Argentinian feature Electrophilia touches on body horror and eroticism involving electricity but never goes full-on with these themes, instead feeling more like a character study of its protagonist, veterinarian Amanda (Mariana Di Girólamo). The young woman is struck by lightning and after she recovers from a six-week coma, she begins to feel changes that have happened to her mind and now-scarred body. She falls in with a group of lightning-strike survivors under the care of Juan (Germán Palacios), a doctor who uses unorthodox methods to treat those under his care, and begins an affair with him. Amanda develops sexual kinks related to electrical charges and shocks, worrying her significant other Jano (Guillermo Pfening). Director Lucía Puenzo, who cowrote the screenplay with Lorean Ventimigila, leaves viewers hanging with plot points that seem to have no resolution, such as Jano secretly going into Juan’s office and finding the doctor’s file on Amanda but then that scene not being addressed
Continue reading →
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GamingNewsProductReviewsSci-Fi
It’s no secret that I like the gaming glasses by GUNNAR, the leading seller of glasses for the digital age where we spend more time looking at screens than at anything else, and as a result, some folks are affected negatively by the lights coming from those screens. GUNNAR is leading the way with eye protection from harmful lights coming from screens. GUNNAR now has teamed up with Blizzard to bring gamers and fans of the game series Overwatch two new limited edition gaming glasses! GUNNAR was awesome enough to send over the two new pairs that await fans. First is the Overwatch Ultimate, sporting the colors of the game (Black and Orange) with a comfortable wide range of view that will allow players to not miss a thing (or shot) while taking on the other team during a match. With a drawstring bag featuring Tracer and Echo, and a cleaning cloth with Reinhardt, Mei, Mercy, and Winston. The second
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Darkest Miriam Canadian feature Darkest Miriam is a slow-burn thriller that follows thirtysomething librarian Miriam (Britt Lower), who is grieving over the loss of her father. She spends her days at work following routine— including dealing with an eccentric clientele — until an accident while she rides her bicycle jolts her out of the ordinary. She begins a relationship with foreign taxi driver Janko (Tom Mercier) but also starts receiving mysterious, ominous letters written in the voice of Italian opera character Rigoletto — who sheltered his daughter from the outside world until she was killed. Director Naomi Jaye has fashioned an intriguing character study that deals in genre elements while exploring themes of love and loss. A dreamlike feel pervades the film. Lower is fantastic as the complex title character, and Jank offers fine work in his costarring role. There’s an eccentricity to Darkest Miriam, but it is by no means an inaccessible one. Jaye ultimately aims to inspire, and
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
The Cursed Land Thai horror The Cursed Land is an ambitious work that perhaps takes on too much in its attempt to deliver a fear-fare tale involving djinn while addressing issues involving the largely Muslim Malay community in Thailand. Mit (Ananda Everingham) is wracked by guilt over not being able to save his wife, who died in an accident. He moves with his teen daughter (Jennis Oprasert) to a large house — in disrepair and with talismans placed around it — in a Muslim residential area near Bangkok. Mit removes the talismans and diabolical supernatural events ensue. In trying to find solutions to his newfound bedevilment, Mit learns about the tragic past of the region. Director Panu Aree, who cowrote the screenplay with Kong Rithdee, offers much in the way of eerie atmosphere and is assisted by strong performances from his cast members. The pacing is often slow, sometimes because of plentiful flashbacks, and the running time of 131 minutes
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsK-HorrorMoviesReviewsThriller
The Unrighteous Pseudoreligious cults are prevalent in some Asian countries. Shin’ichirô Ueda took a humorous approach at exposing the ways that such cults can sway people into their fold with his 2019 Japanese comedy Special Actors, and now Korean writer/director Kim Seon-kuk takes a more serious thriller/horror approach about such tactics with his engrossing The Unrighteous. Revolving around the residents of an aging apartment complex named Villa Wonjung and their desire to eventually profit from rising property values to move into fancier, more modern apartments, the story finds young head of household Joo-hyun (Lee Hyun-woo) pitted against neighbor Shin-hye (Moon Jeong-hee) whose sudden devoted involvement in a cult begins the recruitment of the other residents, including his mother. Aided by a young woman (Bang Min-ah) looking to expose the cult, Joo-hyun tries to use reason to stop the cult’s powerful influence while the residents’ fervor grows, and the cult’s underhanded ambitions grow increasingly dangerous. The committed performances by the three
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignK-HorrorMoviesReviews
Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary South Korea’s ultracompetitive education system is world-renowned. Students spend years studying for an exam so important that it has the potential to determine their entire future. Imagine being such a hopeless student that your parents and teachers urge you to guess the answers, believing you have a better chance of stumbling upon the correct choice than through any logical reasoning. This is the predicament faced by the protagonists of KIM Min-ha’s horror comedy Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary. We meet Jiyeon (played by Son Joo-yeon), an aspiring film director and avid cinephile; her devoted camerawoman Hyun-jung (Kim Do-yeon), and the budding actress Eun-byul (Jung Da-eun) — three high school seniors with big dreams but an even bigger problem: their abysmal grades and test scores. Success hinges on gaining admission to a prestigious university, which, in turn, requires stellar test scores. However, with the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) fast approaching, these
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Horror films that deserve to be called truly macabre and that evoke a real sense of supernatural eeriness are a rarity, so I’m thrilled to state that writer/director Damian McCarthy’s incredible Oddity more than lives up to those standards. The Irish shocker recalls the mesmerizing ambience of classic 1970s occult horror while maintaining a thoroughly modern flavor. Psychiatric hospital doctor Ted (Gwilym Lee) and his wife Dani (Carolyn Bracken) move into a remote country house not far from Ted’s place of work. A patient from the hospital named Olin (Tadhg Murphy) comes to the couple’s door one night when Ted is at work, claiming that Dani needs to let him in because he saw someone inside the house. Dani is then viciously murdered, and Olin is soon found dead. Fast forward one year. Dani’s blind, psychic twin sister Darcy (Bracken in a dual role), a purveyor of supposedly cursed curios, shows up unannounced to Ted’s home, which he now shares
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
ForeignMoviesReviews
Remember way back to like last week (approx.) when I put a revoltin’ review upon Severin’s second collection of Italian Gothic fright flicks, Danza Macabra Volume 2? Well, it took so long for my arcane as to talk about that set, that a whole new third volume has been conjured forth… this time with a change of scenery as we’re going to Spain baby! First up, Disc One contains 1971’s Necrophagus… Aristocrat Michael Sherrington (Bill Curran) heads back to the town in which his wife Elizabeth has expired after an emergency cesarean to remove her dead fetus… seems wholesome enough so far… Once there he goes sleuthin’ around the place seeking answers about just how his wife died… but beyond the basics, the whole town seems rather tight-lipped (and downright sinister) about the whole, sordid affair… especially family physician Dr. Lexter (Frank Braña) and cemetery caretaker Mr. Fowles (Víctor Israel), as well as Michael’s in-laws and his mother, Lady Anne
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
I hesitate to call Pedro Kos’s feature In Our Blood a found footage film because although it does use some of the trappings of that subgenre, I feel his tale of a young woman’s search for her missing mother has more of a cinéma vérité feel to it, with a bit of “behind the scenes” sensibilities at play, too. Kos has made documentary films before helming In Our Blood, and he brings a sense of reality to the film. The story concerns Emily (Brittany O’Grady), who travels with cinematographer Danny (E.J. Bonilla) to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she plans to film her reunion with her estranged mother Sam (Alanna Ubach), who she hasn’t seen since she was 13 years old and taken out of Sam’s custody because of the mother’s drug addiction. The reunion is difficult for both women but offers some hope, with Sam inviting Emily to visit her at the shelter where she works the next day.
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviews
I’m going to be upfront. I have long been a fan of Bill Skarsgård. He’s a talented actor in terrifying roles like the IT franchise and more realistic roles like Barbarian and John Wick. The first time I saw the trailer for his new film Boy Kills World, I was already in. The movie is directed by Moritz Mohr, who co-wrote the film with Tyler Burton Smith and Arend Remmers. The film is brimming with talent. The cast includes Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) and Michelle Dockery (“Downton Abbey”). After being rescued when his mother and sister were brutally murdered, his savior trained him day and night. All for one purpose: to avenge his family’s murder, but not everything is what it seems. Transformed into a lethal weapon, the time has come for “Boy” (Skarsgård) to be unleashed. What follows is a breathtaking display of martial arts, gunfire, and mayhem as he carves a bloody path on his mission of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsSci-FiShort Films
Electrophilia (Los Impactados) Argentinian feature Electrophilia touches on body horror and eroticism involving electricity but never goes full-on with these themes, instead feeling more like a character study of its protagonist, veterinarian Amanda (Mariana Di Girólamo). The young woman is struck by lightning and after she recovers from a six-week coma, she begins to feel changes that have happened to her mind and now-scarred body. She falls in with a group of lightning-strike survivors under the care of Juan (Germán Palacios), a doctor who uses unorthodox methods to treat those under his care, and begins an affair with him. Amanda develops sexual kinks related to electrical charges and shocks, worrying her significant other Jano (Guillermo Pfening). Director Lucía Puenzo, who cowrote the screenplay with Lorean Ventimigila, leaves viewers hanging with plot points that seem to have no resolution, such as Jano secretly going into Juan’s office and finding the doctor’s file on Amanda but then that scene not being addressed
Continue reading →
GamingNewsProductReviewsSci-Fi
It’s no secret that I like the gaming glasses by GUNNAR, the leading seller of glasses for the digital age where we spend more time looking at screens than at anything else, and as a result, some folks are affected negatively by the lights coming from those screens. GUNNAR is leading the way with eye protection from harmful lights coming from screens. GUNNAR now has teamed up with Blizzard to bring gamers and fans of the game series Overwatch two new limited edition gaming glasses! GUNNAR was awesome enough to send over the two new pairs that await fans. First is the Overwatch Ultimate, sporting the colors of the game (Black and Orange) with a comfortable wide range of view that will allow players to not miss a thing (or shot) while taking on the other team during a match. With a drawstring bag featuring Tracer and Echo, and a cleaning cloth with Reinhardt, Mei, Mercy, and Winston. The second
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Darkest Miriam Canadian feature Darkest Miriam is a slow-burn thriller that follows thirtysomething librarian Miriam (Britt Lower), who is grieving over the loss of her father. She spends her days at work following routine— including dealing with an eccentric clientele — until an accident while she rides her bicycle jolts her out of the ordinary. She begins a relationship with foreign taxi driver Janko (Tom Mercier) but also starts receiving mysterious, ominous letters written in the voice of Italian opera character Rigoletto — who sheltered his daughter from the outside world until she was killed. Director Naomi Jaye has fashioned an intriguing character study that deals in genre elements while exploring themes of love and loss. A dreamlike feel pervades the film. Lower is fantastic as the complex title character, and Jank offers fine work in his costarring role. There’s an eccentricity to Darkest Miriam, but it is by no means an inaccessible one. Jaye ultimately aims to inspire, and
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
The Cursed Land Thai horror The Cursed Land is an ambitious work that perhaps takes on too much in its attempt to deliver a fear-fare tale involving djinn while addressing issues involving the largely Muslim Malay community in Thailand. Mit (Ananda Everingham) is wracked by guilt over not being able to save his wife, who died in an accident. He moves with his teen daughter (Jennis Oprasert) to a large house — in disrepair and with talismans placed around it — in a Muslim residential area near Bangkok. Mit removes the talismans and diabolical supernatural events ensue. In trying to find solutions to his newfound bedevilment, Mit learns about the tragic past of the region. Director Panu Aree, who cowrote the screenplay with Kong Rithdee, offers much in the way of eerie atmosphere and is assisted by strong performances from his cast members. The pacing is often slow, sometimes because of plentiful flashbacks, and the running time of 131 minutes
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsK-HorrorMoviesReviewsThriller
The Unrighteous Pseudoreligious cults are prevalent in some Asian countries. Shin’ichirô Ueda took a humorous approach at exposing the ways that such cults can sway people into their fold with his 2019 Japanese comedy Special Actors, and now Korean writer/director Kim Seon-kuk takes a more serious thriller/horror approach about such tactics with his engrossing The Unrighteous. Revolving around the residents of an aging apartment complex named Villa Wonjung and their desire to eventually profit from rising property values to move into fancier, more modern apartments, the story finds young head of household Joo-hyun (Lee Hyun-woo) pitted against neighbor Shin-hye (Moon Jeong-hee) whose sudden devoted involvement in a cult begins the recruitment of the other residents, including his mother. Aided by a young woman (Bang Min-ah) looking to expose the cult, Joo-hyun tries to use reason to stop the cult’s powerful influence while the residents’ fervor grows, and the cult’s underhanded ambitions grow increasingly dangerous. The committed performances by the three
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignK-HorrorMoviesReviews
Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary South Korea’s ultracompetitive education system is world-renowned. Students spend years studying for an exam so important that it has the potential to determine their entire future. Imagine being such a hopeless student that your parents and teachers urge you to guess the answers, believing you have a better chance of stumbling upon the correct choice than through any logical reasoning. This is the predicament faced by the protagonists of KIM Min-ha’s horror comedy Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary. We meet Jiyeon (played by Son Joo-yeon), an aspiring film director and avid cinephile; her devoted camerawoman Hyun-jung (Kim Do-yeon), and the budding actress Eun-byul (Jung Da-eun) — three high school seniors with big dreams but an even bigger problem: their abysmal grades and test scores. Success hinges on gaining admission to a prestigious university, which, in turn, requires stellar test scores. However, with the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) fast approaching, these
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Horror films that deserve to be called truly macabre and that evoke a real sense of supernatural eeriness are a rarity, so I’m thrilled to state that writer/director Damian McCarthy’s incredible Oddity more than lives up to those standards. The Irish shocker recalls the mesmerizing ambience of classic 1970s occult horror while maintaining a thoroughly modern flavor. Psychiatric hospital doctor Ted (Gwilym Lee) and his wife Dani (Carolyn Bracken) move into a remote country house not far from Ted’s place of work. A patient from the hospital named Olin (Tadhg Murphy) comes to the couple’s door one night when Ted is at work, claiming that Dani needs to let him in because he saw someone inside the house. Dani is then viciously murdered, and Olin is soon found dead. Fast forward one year. Dani’s blind, psychic twin sister Darcy (Bracken in a dual role), a purveyor of supposedly cursed curios, shows up unannounced to Ted’s home, which he now shares
Continue reading →
