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
MoviesReviews
A broke-down, carnival haulin’ big rig, a sack full of monsters, and evil cultists… Besides sounding like a typical Tuesday ’round these putrid parts, these three things kick-off 1987’s Ghoulies II, the sequel in creatures only to 1984’s, Charles Band (Puppetmaster) produced, mini-monsters run-amok pic Ghoulies (bet you didn’t see that one coming) that finds our eponymous creatures livin’ that sweet carny life! When an escapee from an evil cult deposits a sack of pilfered Ghoulies at a rural gas station, our hero Larry (Damon Martin) and his booze-soaked uncle/ex-magician Ned (legendary character actor Royal Dano) inadvertently pick up the horrific hitchhikers seeking repair for their eighteen-wheeler. So, monsters secretly in tow, Larry and Ned return to the carnival… which is facing economic hard times… so much so that the new owner (thanks to his family founding the carnival) wants to make wide-spread changes in order to rake in more cold, hard cash… including eliminating Larry and Ned’s dark ride,
Continue reading →
GamingHistoryParanormalProductReviews
War is Hell, and so is the human mind, but when both collide, how can one tell one nightmare from another? This is what awaits players in Ad Infinitum. I’ve been keeping an eye on this game since I became the Gamer Guy here at Horror Fuel, and now that it’s finally here, you can bet I’m all over it! I want to give Hekate Studio and NACON a big thank you for sending over a copy! In Ad Infinitum, a young, troubled German soldier is living a nightmare that’s taking him back and forth between the trenches of WWI, and his family’s Berlin mansion. Along with reliving the horror of what he saw in combat and the war within his household, he is also facing otherworldly terrors. Now, on to the game itself! Ad Infinitum‘s controls remind me a lot of the Amnesia games with how you interact with the game’s environment, so it’s easy to learn and remember
Continue reading →
GamingReviews
Puppet Combo is back with their latest Nintendo Switch offering Night at the Gates of Hell; a title that once again brings the player PS1 era survival horror (graphical style and all) mixed with strong fright flick influences; in this case providing a pastiche of Lucio Fulci’s seminal Eibon trilogy (comprised of 1980’s City of the Living Dead, and 1981’s The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery which were connected by the theme of opening gates to hell in a very Lovecraftian (and a dash of Clark Ashton Smith) manner). Peppered with elements that truly provide plenty of tension (limited ammo, enemies that can only be dispatched by means of head shots) the adventure progresses nicely from gory, to scary, to downright (and suitably) fever-dream laden surrealism (thanks in part to the inclusion of an evil cult hellbent on opening more passageways to Lucifer’s Domain)… add in that palpable sense of sleaze so prevalent (and wonderfully so) in many
Continue reading →
HalloweenReviews
Spooky season has begun, and Halloween will soon be here. That means it’s time to get your costumes ordered. We do Halloween big where I come from (a small, no-name town in Georgia). I have started looking for ideas for my costume on HalloweenCostumes.com. And while I’m still narrowing it down, I did find some costumes for one family member, my dog Freyja. Yes, I’m one of those people. Freyja, who is a combination of seventeen different breeds, including Great Pyranese, Pit, Chihuahua, and Jack Russell, according to her DNA test, is a little hard to fit. She’s short, wide, and as round as a butterball turkey. The girl doesn’t miss a meal. So I assumed I’d run into a little trouble with costumes fitting right. Unfortunately, that was the case with the Jack Skellington costume. The hat with the face was not a problem. However, the large size costume was at least two sizes too small. I couldn’t get
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Writer/director Yong-Min Lee’s South Korean horror film A Bloodthirsty Killer is absolutely bonkers! First-time viewers will join protagonist Shi-Mok Lee (Ye-Chun Lee) in having no idea what is going on for many of the opening scenes, and after that it’s nigh on impossible to guess what is coming next, straight through to the rather sappy ending. Businessman Lee is first seen wandering through a deserted museum where he finds nothing but a melting painting of his first wife Ae-ja (Geum-Bong Do) and is then transported by a mysterious taxi driver to a secluded house where he witnesses a murder at the hands of the ghost of Ae-ja. I don’t want to give much more away because the ride with A Bloodthirsty Killer is a wild one, full of what-could-possibly-happen-next? surprises, so suffice it to say that the supernatural — in more forms than one — and familial drama are among the elements at play, with all-in performances ranging from the
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviews
Often, blockbuster movies don’t live up to the hype, leaving viewers disappointed, especially regarding adaptations. Is that the case with the new horror film The Boogeyman? I can answer that. Warning: Spoilers Ahead Based on Stephen King’s short story, The Boogeyman, the movie centers on two families linked together by tragedy and an ancient dark entity that is out to kill them, the same monster that lurks in the darkness of children’s closets and under their beds. The movie doesn’t waste any time, opening with a baby sleeping in her crib who suddenly wakes up screaming in terror as a monster emerges from her closet. We see blood splatter, and her crying stops. This sets the tone for the movie, which is brutal at times. Next, we are introduced to another family: a father (Chris Messina), a psychiatrist, and his two daughters, who are mourning, having just lost their mother. The youngest soon reveals that a monster is stalking her,
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Young Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis) has just inherited his late father Malcolm’s (Michael Des Barres) estate and moved the hell on in with his girlfriend Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan). While exploring the arcane abode, the duo find an absolute ass load of Pappy Dearest’s Satanic paraphernalia, which quickly becomes an obsession with our hero… so much so he decides to invite guests (who you absolutely have to see to believe, and who’s ranks include Law & Order: S.V.U.‘s Mariska Hargitay) at his swingin’ new wave housewarming shindig to partake in an occult ritual… you know, just for funsies… right after some spontaneous breakdancing. And if you just said “awesome” to that, you’re already sold on this baby! However, said ritual appears at first glance to be a dud… but unbeknownst to one and all, one of his father’s homunculus demons, a titular Ghoulie if you will, is summoned forth. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s mood and life decisions grow ever shittier as he quits
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsSci-Fi
Just outside of a small town, deep within a ravine, a gila monster has grown to enormous size (and magically became a bearded lizard which is in turn presented on miniature sets to simulate it’s large scale) where it promptly eats two folks sucking face out on Lover’s Lane. This causes the local teeny-bopper community to spring into action to assist the local sheriff (Fred Graham) in finding their chums, but even when their pal, ace mechanic/drag racer Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan, The Monster of Piedras Blancas) eventually locates the couple’s car and the mysterious damage it displays, no one expects a giant monster to be the cause… because they aren’t completely insane. The monster biz escalates however from attacks on cars and trucks, to trains… which finally gets people to start digging on the possibility of a dinosaur-sized lizard hissing it’s ass off all over town… Will Chase be able to save the town, and more importantly the sock
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesParanormalReviews
New York City medium Theresa (Adelaide Aste) is up to her usual shit… namely conducting a séance when something goes dreadfully wrong… one of the participants, Mary Woodhouse (Catriona MacColl, 1981’s The Beyond and The House By the Cemetery… all parts of Lucio Fulci’s “Gates of Hell” trilogy, of which City of the Living Dead is the first part… though none of the films are connected except by general themes) up and dies of fright after she has a vision of a priest, Father Thomas (Fabrizio Jovine) hanging himself in a New England cemetery (or the closest Savannah. Georgia can come to faking it) as the dead rise. Enter: Journalist Peter Bell (Christopher George, star of stage, screen, and Juan Piquer Simón’s 1982 batshit slasher flick Pieces) who snoops into Mary’s case, only to find she is still alive just as she’s being buried! Before you can say “H.P. Lovecraft”, our heroes consult with Theresa and are soon off to
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
During the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, two dudes get the shit-hot (minus the hot) idea of robbing a shipping container down South Korea way. Once said container is pried open a feral cat leaps out and attacks one of the would-be criminals, who then turns into a flesh-hungry zombie-like creature (of the fast moving variety) before falling in the drink and floating un-merrily down the stream to the posh Gangnam district. This spells impending disaster for former Taekwondo ass-kicker now office worker Hyeon-seok (Ji Il-joo) and his officemate/unrequited crush Min-jeong (Park Ji-yeon), because guess who shows up at work (after some wacky hijinks accompanied by cartoon music, naturally)? It’s the cat attack dude… c’mon, did any of you actually get that wrong? Anyhow, he’s now in the building biting mother fuckers willy-nilly and creating even more of a monster-based mess, and the impossibly bitchy owner of the building has ordered the doors sealed shut so no one will associate
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
MoviesReviews
A broke-down, carnival haulin’ big rig, a sack full of monsters, and evil cultists… Besides sounding like a typical Tuesday ’round these putrid parts, these three things kick-off 1987’s Ghoulies II, the sequel in creatures only to 1984’s, Charles Band (Puppetmaster) produced, mini-monsters run-amok pic Ghoulies (bet you didn’t see that one coming) that finds our eponymous creatures livin’ that sweet carny life! When an escapee from an evil cult deposits a sack of pilfered Ghoulies at a rural gas station, our hero Larry (Damon Martin) and his booze-soaked uncle/ex-magician Ned (legendary character actor Royal Dano) inadvertently pick up the horrific hitchhikers seeking repair for their eighteen-wheeler. So, monsters secretly in tow, Larry and Ned return to the carnival… which is facing economic hard times… so much so that the new owner (thanks to his family founding the carnival) wants to make wide-spread changes in order to rake in more cold, hard cash… including eliminating Larry and Ned’s dark ride,
Continue reading →
GamingHistoryParanormalProductReviews
War is Hell, and so is the human mind, but when both collide, how can one tell one nightmare from another? This is what awaits players in Ad Infinitum. I’ve been keeping an eye on this game since I became the Gamer Guy here at Horror Fuel, and now that it’s finally here, you can bet I’m all over it! I want to give Hekate Studio and NACON a big thank you for sending over a copy! In Ad Infinitum, a young, troubled German soldier is living a nightmare that’s taking him back and forth between the trenches of WWI, and his family’s Berlin mansion. Along with reliving the horror of what he saw in combat and the war within his household, he is also facing otherworldly terrors. Now, on to the game itself! Ad Infinitum‘s controls remind me a lot of the Amnesia games with how you interact with the game’s environment, so it’s easy to learn and remember
Continue reading →
GamingReviews
Puppet Combo is back with their latest Nintendo Switch offering Night at the Gates of Hell; a title that once again brings the player PS1 era survival horror (graphical style and all) mixed with strong fright flick influences; in this case providing a pastiche of Lucio Fulci’s seminal Eibon trilogy (comprised of 1980’s City of the Living Dead, and 1981’s The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery which were connected by the theme of opening gates to hell in a very Lovecraftian (and a dash of Clark Ashton Smith) manner). Peppered with elements that truly provide plenty of tension (limited ammo, enemies that can only be dispatched by means of head shots) the adventure progresses nicely from gory, to scary, to downright (and suitably) fever-dream laden surrealism (thanks in part to the inclusion of an evil cult hellbent on opening more passageways to Lucifer’s Domain)… add in that palpable sense of sleaze so prevalent (and wonderfully so) in many
Continue reading →
HalloweenReviews
Spooky season has begun, and Halloween will soon be here. That means it’s time to get your costumes ordered. We do Halloween big where I come from (a small, no-name town in Georgia). I have started looking for ideas for my costume on HalloweenCostumes.com. And while I’m still narrowing it down, I did find some costumes for one family member, my dog Freyja. Yes, I’m one of those people. Freyja, who is a combination of seventeen different breeds, including Great Pyranese, Pit, Chihuahua, and Jack Russell, according to her DNA test, is a little hard to fit. She’s short, wide, and as round as a butterball turkey. The girl doesn’t miss a meal. So I assumed I’d run into a little trouble with costumes fitting right. Unfortunately, that was the case with the Jack Skellington costume. The hat with the face was not a problem. However, the large size costume was at least two sizes too small. I couldn’t get
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Writer/director Yong-Min Lee’s South Korean horror film A Bloodthirsty Killer is absolutely bonkers! First-time viewers will join protagonist Shi-Mok Lee (Ye-Chun Lee) in having no idea what is going on for many of the opening scenes, and after that it’s nigh on impossible to guess what is coming next, straight through to the rather sappy ending. Businessman Lee is first seen wandering through a deserted museum where he finds nothing but a melting painting of his first wife Ae-ja (Geum-Bong Do) and is then transported by a mysterious taxi driver to a secluded house where he witnesses a murder at the hands of the ghost of Ae-ja. I don’t want to give much more away because the ride with A Bloodthirsty Killer is a wild one, full of what-could-possibly-happen-next? surprises, so suffice it to say that the supernatural — in more forms than one — and familial drama are among the elements at play, with all-in performances ranging from the
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviews
Often, blockbuster movies don’t live up to the hype, leaving viewers disappointed, especially regarding adaptations. Is that the case with the new horror film The Boogeyman? I can answer that. Warning: Spoilers Ahead Based on Stephen King’s short story, The Boogeyman, the movie centers on two families linked together by tragedy and an ancient dark entity that is out to kill them, the same monster that lurks in the darkness of children’s closets and under their beds. The movie doesn’t waste any time, opening with a baby sleeping in her crib who suddenly wakes up screaming in terror as a monster emerges from her closet. We see blood splatter, and her crying stops. This sets the tone for the movie, which is brutal at times. Next, we are introduced to another family: a father (Chris Messina), a psychiatrist, and his two daughters, who are mourning, having just lost their mother. The youngest soon reveals that a monster is stalking her,
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Young Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis) has just inherited his late father Malcolm’s (Michael Des Barres) estate and moved the hell on in with his girlfriend Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan). While exploring the arcane abode, the duo find an absolute ass load of Pappy Dearest’s Satanic paraphernalia, which quickly becomes an obsession with our hero… so much so he decides to invite guests (who you absolutely have to see to believe, and who’s ranks include Law & Order: S.V.U.‘s Mariska Hargitay) at his swingin’ new wave housewarming shindig to partake in an occult ritual… you know, just for funsies… right after some spontaneous breakdancing. And if you just said “awesome” to that, you’re already sold on this baby! However, said ritual appears at first glance to be a dud… but unbeknownst to one and all, one of his father’s homunculus demons, a titular Ghoulie if you will, is summoned forth. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s mood and life decisions grow ever shittier as he quits
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsSci-Fi
Just outside of a small town, deep within a ravine, a gila monster has grown to enormous size (and magically became a bearded lizard which is in turn presented on miniature sets to simulate it’s large scale) where it promptly eats two folks sucking face out on Lover’s Lane. This causes the local teeny-bopper community to spring into action to assist the local sheriff (Fred Graham) in finding their chums, but even when their pal, ace mechanic/drag racer Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan, The Monster of Piedras Blancas) eventually locates the couple’s car and the mysterious damage it displays, no one expects a giant monster to be the cause… because they aren’t completely insane. The monster biz escalates however from attacks on cars and trucks, to trains… which finally gets people to start digging on the possibility of a dinosaur-sized lizard hissing it’s ass off all over town… Will Chase be able to save the town, and more importantly the sock
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesParanormalReviews
New York City medium Theresa (Adelaide Aste) is up to her usual shit… namely conducting a séance when something goes dreadfully wrong… one of the participants, Mary Woodhouse (Catriona MacColl, 1981’s The Beyond and The House By the Cemetery… all parts of Lucio Fulci’s “Gates of Hell” trilogy, of which City of the Living Dead is the first part… though none of the films are connected except by general themes) up and dies of fright after she has a vision of a priest, Father Thomas (Fabrizio Jovine) hanging himself in a New England cemetery (or the closest Savannah. Georgia can come to faking it) as the dead rise. Enter: Journalist Peter Bell (Christopher George, star of stage, screen, and Juan Piquer Simón’s 1982 batshit slasher flick Pieces) who snoops into Mary’s case, only to find she is still alive just as she’s being buried! Before you can say “H.P. Lovecraft”, our heroes consult with Theresa and are soon off to
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
During the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, two dudes get the shit-hot (minus the hot) idea of robbing a shipping container down South Korea way. Once said container is pried open a feral cat leaps out and attacks one of the would-be criminals, who then turns into a flesh-hungry zombie-like creature (of the fast moving variety) before falling in the drink and floating un-merrily down the stream to the posh Gangnam district. This spells impending disaster for former Taekwondo ass-kicker now office worker Hyeon-seok (Ji Il-joo) and his officemate/unrequited crush Min-jeong (Park Ji-yeon), because guess who shows up at work (after some wacky hijinks accompanied by cartoon music, naturally)? It’s the cat attack dude… c’mon, did any of you actually get that wrong? Anyhow, he’s now in the building biting mother fuckers willy-nilly and creating even more of a monster-based mess, and the impossibly bitchy owner of the building has ordered the doors sealed shut so no one will associate
Continue reading →
