CategoryReviews
Honest horror reviews of films, series, games and books — no hype, no spoilers, just whether it is worth your time and your nerves.
3,465 stories
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films
Mother Tongue (Australia, 2023) Jade (Amelia Foxton, who wrote the screenplay) and Alex (Chiara Gizzi) want to have a baby together, and Alex desperately wants to have it herself rather than adopting, but the couple has run out of almost all options. Almost all, because director Glen Fraser’s Mother Tongue being a horror comedy, the couple can always turn to the dark arts as a last resort. For their journey into the diabolical, they seek the assistance of Brian (Stephen Hunter), who seems to be on the flighty side but proves that he is indeed an occult practitioner. In another classic horror-comedy case of “Be careful what you wish for,” the trio finds itself in quite a gruesome mess. Foxton’s screenplay is rich with both dramatic and comedic looks at parenting and expectations surrounding pregnancy and its difficulties, and delivers the goods in the occult department, too. Foxton and Gizzi are terrific in their portrayals of the frustrated couple, and
Continue reading →
Amazon Prime VideoMoviesNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
Prime Video has now released the time-traveling slasher Totally Killer. I watched it, and I have some thoughts about the movie, directed by Nahnatchka Khan (Always Be My Maybe, “Young Rock”) and starring Kiernan Shipka (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” ). Totally Killer follows Jamie (Shipka), whose mom, Pam (Bowen), is terrorized by the resurgence of the Sweet Sixteen Killer—a masked maniac who slaughtered a group of teenage girls in the ‘80s. With the help of her friend Amelia (Kelcey Mawema), she travels back in time to 1987 and teams up with the teen version of her mom (Holt) to try and stop the killer. Equal parts horror and comedy, the movie sets out to capture the unique charm of the 1980s. And as someone who was there, I can definitely say they nailed it. It was a time when social sensitivity was lacking; there was no such thing as getting “triggered,” and nobody cared if you chained-smoked in the car
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsFrom the CryptMoviesReviews
Alan Scott Neal delivers an outstanding slice of genre cinema with his feature-length directorial debut Last Straw. Combining home invasion horror with siege thriller elements, the film takes viewers on a wild, blood-soaked ride reminiscent of now-classic 1970s and 1980s drive-in fare with a decidedly modern approach. Nancy (Jessica Belkin) is a fast-living, foul-mouthed young woman worried about turning 20 years old soon — and courtesy of a roadside pregnancy test, she has some new things weighing on her mind, as well. Living in a small town, she is the manager of a roadside diner, the employees of which point out is only because she is the owner’s (Jeremey Sisto) daughter. After Nancy stands up to four masked ruffians who threaten to come back later after she kicks them out of the place, she wields her managerial power and fires long-standing cook Jake (Taylor Kowalski, who also serves as a producer on the film). Jake takes the other three members
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsProductReviews
I’m a sucker for anything horror, so when I learned that Shoe Palace is releasing three new horror collections, I had to get my hands on some of the collections that feature shirts, hoodies, and joggers from the horror franchises, Chucky, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. . Some pieces, like the hoodies, feature embroidered logos, which is a nice touch. Most of the hoodies feature images and posters from the franchises and feature rich colors. They aren’t going to fade. I’m most fond of the red Friday the 13th hoodie with the original poster on the back. It’s a good-looking piece. It also may have something to do with the fact that the 1980 original was the first horror movie I saw. It’s the movie that began my love of the genre. Some of the joggers have the movie’s titles in a raised form down the legs, which I really like. The art on the front of
Continue reading →
Advertisement
ForeignMoviesReviews
Baatar Batsukh is a cinematographer making his directorial debut with the Mongolian horror film Aberrance, which he also lensed. The movie is rich in beautifully framed shots and loaded with visual style, bolstering a plot that tries at times to be a bit too surprising. Selenge (Selenge Chadraabal) and Erkhmee (Erkhembayar Ganbat) are a couple who take a break from city life to spend time at — where else but? — a remote cabin in the woods. Something is off between the pair, though, as Erkhmee seems dominant and possibly abusive, which doesn’t go unnoticed by their lone neighbor (Yalalt Namsrai). Meanwhile, Selenge is obviously suffering from trauma, and the claustrophobic environment is only making matters worse. Batsukh, working from a screenplay that he cowrote with Byambasuren Ganbat and Erdene Orosoo, has a keen visual eye, and incorporates everything from cameras attached to actors (with bobbing motion not unlike what you would get using selfie sticks) to unique angles to
Continue reading →
GamingParanormalProductReviewsSci-Fi
Many FPS games have evolved to become either as realistic as possible or very technical. This removes a lot of the fun for old-school FPS gamers like myself. I’ve played and reviewed some FPS games on here, and though they’re fun, they miss some of that over-the-top charm. Trepang Studios and Team 17 have brought the classic FPS feel with their game, Trepang2. In Trepang2, players take on the role of a soldier who escaped from a secret facility and is now on a mission to fight back against his captors, a corrupt corporation. The soldier may not have his memories, but he has superhuman abilities that make him skilled in combat, where he can use these skills against his enemies, both human…and something else. You will have to allow some time to get used to Trepang2‘s controls as they’re somewhat similar to other FPS controls and yet somewhat different. The game’s sound design is awesome. I can’t stress this
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Director Stephen Alexander’s Suburban Tale (AKA Tamso; India, 2023) is a dark, brooding film that becomes increasingly disturbing as it continually reveals new puzzle pieces throughout its running time. Its original Indian title Tamso means “from darkness,” which is quite fitting. Radhika (Rashmi Somvanshi, who also produced the film) is the estranged daughter of a family. Other extended family members refer to her as “that woman” and make it clear that they do not want her anywhere near the wedding preparations that are happening, although her father calls her back home because he wants her to watch over the youngest member of the family, a boy who seems to be possessed by a demon. When the boy, who emits a poisonous gas and snarls and rages, attacks the bride-to-be, Radhika is left alone in charge of him — and matters grow increasingly eerie and deadly. Alexander paces the film nicely, slowly divulging information as to why Radhika is shunned by
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsThriller
A gaggle of friends make that classic fright flick mistake by stopping to pick up an attractive hitchhiker. The end result of that blunder finds our heroes drugged, dragged to some shady-ass building or another, and fitted with vials in the base of their skulls. They soon learn that their captor intends on harvesting their brain fluid in those vicious vials… fluid collected via episodes of extreme pain! Soon all captives within those wicked walls are giving and receiving the gift of torture porn in a bid to survive the ordeal, but in all honesty their chances are slim as fuck… Coming from Director Taylor Sheridan (who wrote 2015’s Sicario) and Screenwriters Eric Jay Beck and Rob Kowsaluk, Vile is an odd entry in the aforementioned torture porn sub-genre. Populated with intentionally rote characters, it’s hard to root for anyone in particular… which isn’t usually a problem, as torture porn flicks are often made on the strength of their effects
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Viking vampires and the foster care system… if nothing else, Beneath Us All combines two incredibly disparate elements and makes it all flow… The Gibbs, Todd (Sean Whalen, The People Under the Stairs, The FP) and Janelle (fantastic character actor Maria Olsen, Paranormal Activity 3, Starry Eyes, and many, many more) are foster parents who have a strained relationship when it comes to one of their wards, Julie (Angelina Danielle Cama) who is mortified by Todd putting an injured bird she found out of it’s misery. This causes Julie to flee to the woods, where surely nothing bad will happen to her… Well, nothing does happen to her at first, but she does make a rather unsettling discovery in the form of an ancient Viking vampire Frey (Yan Birch) who is more than ready to get back on his feet and rip the citizens of a nearby town a few new assholes! Frey wastes no time setting up shop in
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesParanormalReviews
Angela (Amelia Kinkade) and Suzanne (legendary Scream Queen Linnea Quigley) are the type of ladies that offer up shoplifting and ass showing (set to the sweet, sweet strains of Pac-Man for the Atari 2600) in equal measure… I’ll let you detectives figure out who is more responsible for what… they are also the type to throw a Halloween hootnanny at an allegedly cursed, definitely abandoned mortuary. Once the party commences drinks are consumed, dancing is attempted, and a séance is held… the latter of which ends up freeing a demon from it’s prison deep within the confines of the mortuary that possesses Suzanne… and eventually Angela after that ol’ crowd-pleaser; a girl on girl kiss goes down! After that we are one Bauhaus-set dance number and a lipstick eatin’ titty away from a full-on murderous monster mash that our heroes will be hard pressed to survive! Filled with oh-so-fucking much Grade-A wise-assery, hard-rocking tunes about computer dating, exclamations such as
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films
Mother Tongue (Australia, 2023) Jade (Amelia Foxton, who wrote the screenplay) and Alex (Chiara Gizzi) want to have a baby together, and Alex desperately wants to have it herself rather than adopting, but the couple has run out of almost all options. Almost all, because director Glen Fraser’s Mother Tongue being a horror comedy, the couple can always turn to the dark arts as a last resort. For their journey into the diabolical, they seek the assistance of Brian (Stephen Hunter), who seems to be on the flighty side but proves that he is indeed an occult practitioner. In another classic horror-comedy case of “Be careful what you wish for,” the trio finds itself in quite a gruesome mess. Foxton’s screenplay is rich with both dramatic and comedic looks at parenting and expectations surrounding pregnancy and its difficulties, and delivers the goods in the occult department, too. Foxton and Gizzi are terrific in their portrayals of the frustrated couple, and
Continue reading →
Amazon Prime VideoMoviesNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
Prime Video has now released the time-traveling slasher Totally Killer. I watched it, and I have some thoughts about the movie, directed by Nahnatchka Khan (Always Be My Maybe, “Young Rock”) and starring Kiernan Shipka (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” ). Totally Killer follows Jamie (Shipka), whose mom, Pam (Bowen), is terrorized by the resurgence of the Sweet Sixteen Killer—a masked maniac who slaughtered a group of teenage girls in the ‘80s. With the help of her friend Amelia (Kelcey Mawema), she travels back in time to 1987 and teams up with the teen version of her mom (Holt) to try and stop the killer. Equal parts horror and comedy, the movie sets out to capture the unique charm of the 1980s. And as someone who was there, I can definitely say they nailed it. It was a time when social sensitivity was lacking; there was no such thing as getting “triggered,” and nobody cared if you chained-smoked in the car
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsFrom the CryptMoviesReviews
Alan Scott Neal delivers an outstanding slice of genre cinema with his feature-length directorial debut Last Straw. Combining home invasion horror with siege thriller elements, the film takes viewers on a wild, blood-soaked ride reminiscent of now-classic 1970s and 1980s drive-in fare with a decidedly modern approach. Nancy (Jessica Belkin) is a fast-living, foul-mouthed young woman worried about turning 20 years old soon — and courtesy of a roadside pregnancy test, she has some new things weighing on her mind, as well. Living in a small town, she is the manager of a roadside diner, the employees of which point out is only because she is the owner’s (Jeremey Sisto) daughter. After Nancy stands up to four masked ruffians who threaten to come back later after she kicks them out of the place, she wields her managerial power and fires long-standing cook Jake (Taylor Kowalski, who also serves as a producer on the film). Jake takes the other three members
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsProductReviews
I’m a sucker for anything horror, so when I learned that Shoe Palace is releasing three new horror collections, I had to get my hands on some of the collections that feature shirts, hoodies, and joggers from the horror franchises, Chucky, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. . Some pieces, like the hoodies, feature embroidered logos, which is a nice touch. Most of the hoodies feature images and posters from the franchises and feature rich colors. They aren’t going to fade. I’m most fond of the red Friday the 13th hoodie with the original poster on the back. It’s a good-looking piece. It also may have something to do with the fact that the 1980 original was the first horror movie I saw. It’s the movie that began my love of the genre. Some of the joggers have the movie’s titles in a raised form down the legs, which I really like. The art on the front of
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Baatar Batsukh is a cinematographer making his directorial debut with the Mongolian horror film Aberrance, which he also lensed. The movie is rich in beautifully framed shots and loaded with visual style, bolstering a plot that tries at times to be a bit too surprising. Selenge (Selenge Chadraabal) and Erkhmee (Erkhembayar Ganbat) are a couple who take a break from city life to spend time at — where else but? — a remote cabin in the woods. Something is off between the pair, though, as Erkhmee seems dominant and possibly abusive, which doesn’t go unnoticed by their lone neighbor (Yalalt Namsrai). Meanwhile, Selenge is obviously suffering from trauma, and the claustrophobic environment is only making matters worse. Batsukh, working from a screenplay that he cowrote with Byambasuren Ganbat and Erdene Orosoo, has a keen visual eye, and incorporates everything from cameras attached to actors (with bobbing motion not unlike what you would get using selfie sticks) to unique angles to
Continue reading →
GamingParanormalProductReviewsSci-Fi
Many FPS games have evolved to become either as realistic as possible or very technical. This removes a lot of the fun for old-school FPS gamers like myself. I’ve played and reviewed some FPS games on here, and though they’re fun, they miss some of that over-the-top charm. Trepang Studios and Team 17 have brought the classic FPS feel with their game, Trepang2. In Trepang2, players take on the role of a soldier who escaped from a secret facility and is now on a mission to fight back against his captors, a corrupt corporation. The soldier may not have his memories, but he has superhuman abilities that make him skilled in combat, where he can use these skills against his enemies, both human…and something else. You will have to allow some time to get used to Trepang2‘s controls as they’re somewhat similar to other FPS controls and yet somewhat different. The game’s sound design is awesome. I can’t stress this
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Director Stephen Alexander’s Suburban Tale (AKA Tamso; India, 2023) is a dark, brooding film that becomes increasingly disturbing as it continually reveals new puzzle pieces throughout its running time. Its original Indian title Tamso means “from darkness,” which is quite fitting. Radhika (Rashmi Somvanshi, who also produced the film) is the estranged daughter of a family. Other extended family members refer to her as “that woman” and make it clear that they do not want her anywhere near the wedding preparations that are happening, although her father calls her back home because he wants her to watch over the youngest member of the family, a boy who seems to be possessed by a demon. When the boy, who emits a poisonous gas and snarls and rages, attacks the bride-to-be, Radhika is left alone in charge of him — and matters grow increasingly eerie and deadly. Alexander paces the film nicely, slowly divulging information as to why Radhika is shunned by
Continue reading →
MoviesReviewsThriller
A gaggle of friends make that classic fright flick mistake by stopping to pick up an attractive hitchhiker. The end result of that blunder finds our heroes drugged, dragged to some shady-ass building or another, and fitted with vials in the base of their skulls. They soon learn that their captor intends on harvesting their brain fluid in those vicious vials… fluid collected via episodes of extreme pain! Soon all captives within those wicked walls are giving and receiving the gift of torture porn in a bid to survive the ordeal, but in all honesty their chances are slim as fuck… Coming from Director Taylor Sheridan (who wrote 2015’s Sicario) and Screenwriters Eric Jay Beck and Rob Kowsaluk, Vile is an odd entry in the aforementioned torture porn sub-genre. Populated with intentionally rote characters, it’s hard to root for anyone in particular… which isn’t usually a problem, as torture porn flicks are often made on the strength of their effects
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Viking vampires and the foster care system… if nothing else, Beneath Us All combines two incredibly disparate elements and makes it all flow… The Gibbs, Todd (Sean Whalen, The People Under the Stairs, The FP) and Janelle (fantastic character actor Maria Olsen, Paranormal Activity 3, Starry Eyes, and many, many more) are foster parents who have a strained relationship when it comes to one of their wards, Julie (Angelina Danielle Cama) who is mortified by Todd putting an injured bird she found out of it’s misery. This causes Julie to flee to the woods, where surely nothing bad will happen to her… Well, nothing does happen to her at first, but she does make a rather unsettling discovery in the form of an ancient Viking vampire Frey (Yan Birch) who is more than ready to get back on his feet and rip the citizens of a nearby town a few new assholes! Frey wastes no time setting up shop in
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesParanormalReviews
Angela (Amelia Kinkade) and Suzanne (legendary Scream Queen Linnea Quigley) are the type of ladies that offer up shoplifting and ass showing (set to the sweet, sweet strains of Pac-Man for the Atari 2600) in equal measure… I’ll let you detectives figure out who is more responsible for what… they are also the type to throw a Halloween hootnanny at an allegedly cursed, definitely abandoned mortuary. Once the party commences drinks are consumed, dancing is attempted, and a séance is held… the latter of which ends up freeing a demon from it’s prison deep within the confines of the mortuary that possesses Suzanne… and eventually Angela after that ol’ crowd-pleaser; a girl on girl kiss goes down! After that we are one Bauhaus-set dance number and a lipstick eatin’ titty away from a full-on murderous monster mash that our heroes will be hard pressed to survive! Filled with oh-so-fucking much Grade-A wise-assery, hard-rocking tunes about computer dating, exclamations such as
Continue reading →
