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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Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism Australian feature Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism (2023) eschews the cliches of films dealing with vomit-spewing, head-spinning people possessed by demons in favor of dealing with the religious beliefs vs. mental health question behind alleged possessions. The result is a riveting film that is ultimately as heartbreaking as it is chilling. Lara (Georgia Eyers) and Ron (Dan Ewing) are a young married couple. She has been exhibiting unusual behavior including dancing naked outside their home, and while Ron simply wants psychologist Dr. Walsh (Eliza Matengu) to give them permission to seek a church-sanctioned exorcism, Lara does not share her husband’s religious beliefs and leans more toward therapeutic help. As her behavior grows more violent, possibly because of either dissociative identity disorder or demonic possession, a desperate Ron seeks the help of unsanctioned exorcist Daniel (Tim Pocock), and this is when director Nick Kozakis’s film heads into truly terrifying territory. Based on a true crime case in Australia,
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsShort Films
Rock musician Devin (Lanae Hyneman) has fallen on some hard ass times… mentally anyway. After a disastrous European tour, Devin has retreated to a lw-rent apartment to seclude herself from the world ostensibly to work on material for a follow up to her bands successful debut album, but really she wallows in sadness and does her best to look like a burnt out shell of a woman. She’s pretty successful at that as well. While developing that skill-set she is interrupted by pushy journalist Juliya (Alice Shen) who demands Devin give her the scoop on what really went on across the pond. Her pain-in-the-assness pays off, and she gets her wish… and you can bet the freaky farm that the answer is much more than just truck loads of beastly booze and fistfuls of drugs. Supernatural shenanigans ensue! Writer/director Matthew Packman (who also helmed 2020’s vampire revenge flick Morbid Colors which I reviewed right here) returns to the gritty city
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Director Anthony DiBiasi’s Malum is a remake of his own 2015 film The Last Shift, which I considered one of my 10 favorite horror films of that year and which did something that few horror films from recent years before that had done: watching it at home alone with the lights off, it made me consider turning them back on several times. Could DiBiasi capture that same unrelenting eeriness again here? Several filmmakers have reimagined their own works. For example, my favorite Korean film, The Housemaid (1960) was revamped not once but twice by its director Kim KiYoung. The main question at play for these efforts is usually “But why?”, and that is certainly a valid consideration here. DiBiasi seemingly received a larger budget for Malum than The Last Shift, and perhaps there were elements that he felt could have been better served with a bigger budget. But more money does not necessarily mean a better film, as has been
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Shot on 16mm film and invoking the aesthetics of a 1970s film, writer/director/cinematographer Mark Jenkin’s U.K. psychological horror feature Enys Men (the translation of the term from its original Cornish is stone island) is an intriguing watch. It’s certainly not for everyone, but aficionados of cerebral and experimental fear fare will find plenty over which to mull. Taking place on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast in 1973, Enys Men finds a character named The Volunteer (Mary Woodvine) tracking the growth of wildflowers. Her existence there is rather routine and silent — Woodvine’s riveting performance includes sparse dialogue — save for the occasional visit from a boatman (Edward Rowe) who delivers supplies, and some other presences which appear to be human, if perhaps no longer of this Earthly realm. The Volunteer was seeking solitude, but the past of this island is destined to lead her down a path of madness. Part character study and part look at a bygone
Continue reading →
GamingProductReviews
Stained Glass comes to life in Just For Games and Bonus Level Entertainment’s arcade game Saga of Sins where players take on the role of Cecil, a man who has returned to his home kingdom from the Crusades, only to find it plagued not only by the Black Death but by the seven deadly sins. I would like to thank Just For Games and Bonus Level Entertainment for allowing me to review this! The controls for Saga of Sins are OK and could use a better tutorial system, especially the option to look up the instructions in your options in the event you missed something. Another thing I did not like is that there’s no option to turn the vibration off for your controller, might not sound like much to some of you but if you’re someone who wants to prolong battery life in your controller, vibrations are notorious for draining batteries. The sound is pretty decent in Saga of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Jeffrey A. Brown, who made a strong impression as director of 2019’s The Beach House, turns in more fine work at the helm with The Unheard. This supernatural feature rewards close watching, as several hints about what is happening around the town in which the film is set and what comes to a head in the third act are subtly laid out throughout the film. Twenty-year-old Chloe (Lachlan Watson) undergoes a clinical trial treatment to try to regain her hearing, which she lost as a young child when she was stricken with meningitis. Dr. Lynch (Shunori Ranamathan) is Chloe’s lead physician on the case, and she instructs Chloe to contact her whenever needed. Chloe takes up residence in her childhood beach home, and as she slowly begins regaining her hearing, she also starts hearing static and other noises, and surfacing amongst them are the voice of her deceased mother, who disappeared when Chloe was eight years old. To give away
Continue reading →
ProductReviews
If you’re like me, a true horror, then you probably love wearing items that promote your favorite movies. Dumbgood.com’s got everything you want and more. Recently I did a write-up about their Scream merch and decided to try it out myself. I have to say I’m impressed. I got the complete Ghostface “repeat mask” lounge set, a hat, and a bag. The shirt ($42) is cropped and has long sleeves. It runs a bit small, so I advise ordering up at least one size. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing it while you are sitting around watching horror movies or if you pair it with jeans, it’s cute. The shorts, which run $52, are almost knee-length on me, but I’m short, five-foot even to be exact. I will say that they are super comfy! The material is soft after one wash, and the image on the fabric doesn’t fade. The hat is perfect, not too big and not too small.
Continue reading →
Reviews
Do you remember when suspense and terror used to be the mainstays of moviegoing? The seminal film, Fear (1996), managed to take those two ideas and craft a thrilling masterpiece that still stands out today. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, William Pettersen, Amy Brenneman, and Alyssa Milano; this psychological horror flick will draw you in from the very first scene. With tension being dialed up second-by-second throughout its runtime, it’s no surprise that Roger Ebert described Fear as “the most effective thriller of 1996.” Jump on board now as we explore why so many fans are still talking about this classic over 20 years later! Overview of the movie Plot – Introducing the characters and setting This film pits a teenage girl and her family against a charming yet psychotic guy who wants to become her boyfriend. The tension builds up as the story progresses, leading to a nail-biting climax. But what makes Fear special is the fantastic performances of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviewsShort Films
Every House Is Haunted Maya (Kate Cobb) and her husband Danny (Kevin Bigley) move into a new house that their real estate agent said was haunted by friendly ghosts in writer/director Bryce McGuire’s short film Every House Is Haunted. Danny doesn’t think it’s a problem, but Maya is somewhat concerned. When he goes away on a business trip, she encounters the ghost of a boy (Emmanuel Wood) who died at age seven of carbon monoxide poisoning. After bonding with the ghost, he introduces her to others who inhabit the home. McGuire goes for something far deeper than mere shocks and starts in this thoughtful, sensitive exploration of a woman who has suffered a tragic loss. We Forgot About the Zombies Writer/director Chris McInroy’s frenetic horror comedy short We Forgot About the Zombies finds two friends, one of whom was bitten by a member of the living dead, taking temporary shelter in a place with bottles marked with “c–e,” with the
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva Writer/director Dutch Marich follows up his 2021 feature Horror in the High Desert — which I haven’t seen yet —with Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva. This sequel finds police and first responders in Cyprus, Nevada, dealing with the murder of a woman named Minerva (Solveig Helene), who had lived in a trailer in a remote area while studying geology and mining. Reporter Gal Roberts (Suziey Block) tries to uncover the facts behind this mysterious case, including following a series of communications between Minerva and her friend Cathy (Sami Sallaway) in New York. The faux documentary then turns to the nighttime roadside disappearance of a woman named Ameliana (Brooke Bradshaw) and the eerie bodycam footage of EMT Luke Wells’ (David Nichols Jr.) search in the desert and through an abandoned building for her. Marich does a superb job of recreating the authentic feel of a missing persons documentary and of giving the
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism Australian feature Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism (2023) eschews the cliches of films dealing with vomit-spewing, head-spinning people possessed by demons in favor of dealing with the religious beliefs vs. mental health question behind alleged possessions. The result is a riveting film that is ultimately as heartbreaking as it is chilling. Lara (Georgia Eyers) and Ron (Dan Ewing) are a young married couple. She has been exhibiting unusual behavior including dancing naked outside their home, and while Ron simply wants psychologist Dr. Walsh (Eliza Matengu) to give them permission to seek a church-sanctioned exorcism, Lara does not share her husband’s religious beliefs and leans more toward therapeutic help. As her behavior grows more violent, possibly because of either dissociative identity disorder or demonic possession, a desperate Ron seeks the help of unsanctioned exorcist Daniel (Tim Pocock), and this is when director Nick Kozakis’s film heads into truly terrifying territory. Based on a true crime case in Australia,
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsShort Films
Rock musician Devin (Lanae Hyneman) has fallen on some hard ass times… mentally anyway. After a disastrous European tour, Devin has retreated to a lw-rent apartment to seclude herself from the world ostensibly to work on material for a follow up to her bands successful debut album, but really she wallows in sadness and does her best to look like a burnt out shell of a woman. She’s pretty successful at that as well. While developing that skill-set she is interrupted by pushy journalist Juliya (Alice Shen) who demands Devin give her the scoop on what really went on across the pond. Her pain-in-the-assness pays off, and she gets her wish… and you can bet the freaky farm that the answer is much more than just truck loads of beastly booze and fistfuls of drugs. Supernatural shenanigans ensue! Writer/director Matthew Packman (who also helmed 2020’s vampire revenge flick Morbid Colors which I reviewed right here) returns to the gritty city
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Director Anthony DiBiasi’s Malum is a remake of his own 2015 film The Last Shift, which I considered one of my 10 favorite horror films of that year and which did something that few horror films from recent years before that had done: watching it at home alone with the lights off, it made me consider turning them back on several times. Could DiBiasi capture that same unrelenting eeriness again here? Several filmmakers have reimagined their own works. For example, my favorite Korean film, The Housemaid (1960) was revamped not once but twice by its director Kim KiYoung. The main question at play for these efforts is usually “But why?”, and that is certainly a valid consideration here. DiBiasi seemingly received a larger budget for Malum than The Last Shift, and perhaps there were elements that he felt could have been better served with a bigger budget. But more money does not necessarily mean a better film, as has been
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Shot on 16mm film and invoking the aesthetics of a 1970s film, writer/director/cinematographer Mark Jenkin’s U.K. psychological horror feature Enys Men (the translation of the term from its original Cornish is stone island) is an intriguing watch. It’s certainly not for everyone, but aficionados of cerebral and experimental fear fare will find plenty over which to mull. Taking place on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast in 1973, Enys Men finds a character named The Volunteer (Mary Woodvine) tracking the growth of wildflowers. Her existence there is rather routine and silent — Woodvine’s riveting performance includes sparse dialogue — save for the occasional visit from a boatman (Edward Rowe) who delivers supplies, and some other presences which appear to be human, if perhaps no longer of this Earthly realm. The Volunteer was seeking solitude, but the past of this island is destined to lead her down a path of madness. Part character study and part look at a bygone
Continue reading →
GamingProductReviews
Stained Glass comes to life in Just For Games and Bonus Level Entertainment’s arcade game Saga of Sins where players take on the role of Cecil, a man who has returned to his home kingdom from the Crusades, only to find it plagued not only by the Black Death but by the seven deadly sins. I would like to thank Just For Games and Bonus Level Entertainment for allowing me to review this! The controls for Saga of Sins are OK and could use a better tutorial system, especially the option to look up the instructions in your options in the event you missed something. Another thing I did not like is that there’s no option to turn the vibration off for your controller, might not sound like much to some of you but if you’re someone who wants to prolong battery life in your controller, vibrations are notorious for draining batteries. The sound is pretty decent in Saga of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Jeffrey A. Brown, who made a strong impression as director of 2019’s The Beach House, turns in more fine work at the helm with The Unheard. This supernatural feature rewards close watching, as several hints about what is happening around the town in which the film is set and what comes to a head in the third act are subtly laid out throughout the film. Twenty-year-old Chloe (Lachlan Watson) undergoes a clinical trial treatment to try to regain her hearing, which she lost as a young child when she was stricken with meningitis. Dr. Lynch (Shunori Ranamathan) is Chloe’s lead physician on the case, and she instructs Chloe to contact her whenever needed. Chloe takes up residence in her childhood beach home, and as she slowly begins regaining her hearing, she also starts hearing static and other noises, and surfacing amongst them are the voice of her deceased mother, who disappeared when Chloe was eight years old. To give away
Continue reading →
ProductReviews
If you’re like me, a true horror, then you probably love wearing items that promote your favorite movies. Dumbgood.com’s got everything you want and more. Recently I did a write-up about their Scream merch and decided to try it out myself. I have to say I’m impressed. I got the complete Ghostface “repeat mask” lounge set, a hat, and a bag. The shirt ($42) is cropped and has long sleeves. It runs a bit small, so I advise ordering up at least one size. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing it while you are sitting around watching horror movies or if you pair it with jeans, it’s cute. The shorts, which run $52, are almost knee-length on me, but I’m short, five-foot even to be exact. I will say that they are super comfy! The material is soft after one wash, and the image on the fabric doesn’t fade. The hat is perfect, not too big and not too small.
Continue reading →
Reviews
Do you remember when suspense and terror used to be the mainstays of moviegoing? The seminal film, Fear (1996), managed to take those two ideas and craft a thrilling masterpiece that still stands out today. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, William Pettersen, Amy Brenneman, and Alyssa Milano; this psychological horror flick will draw you in from the very first scene. With tension being dialed up second-by-second throughout its runtime, it’s no surprise that Roger Ebert described Fear as “the most effective thriller of 1996.” Jump on board now as we explore why so many fans are still talking about this classic over 20 years later! Overview of the movie Plot – Introducing the characters and setting This film pits a teenage girl and her family against a charming yet psychotic guy who wants to become her boyfriend. The tension builds up as the story progresses, leading to a nail-biting climax. But what makes Fear special is the fantastic performances of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviewsShort Films
Every House Is Haunted Maya (Kate Cobb) and her husband Danny (Kevin Bigley) move into a new house that their real estate agent said was haunted by friendly ghosts in writer/director Bryce McGuire’s short film Every House Is Haunted. Danny doesn’t think it’s a problem, but Maya is somewhat concerned. When he goes away on a business trip, she encounters the ghost of a boy (Emmanuel Wood) who died at age seven of carbon monoxide poisoning. After bonding with the ghost, he introduces her to others who inhabit the home. McGuire goes for something far deeper than mere shocks and starts in this thoughtful, sensitive exploration of a woman who has suffered a tragic loss. We Forgot About the Zombies Writer/director Chris McInroy’s frenetic horror comedy short We Forgot About the Zombies finds two friends, one of whom was bitten by a member of the living dead, taking temporary shelter in a place with bottles marked with “c–e,” with the
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva Writer/director Dutch Marich follows up his 2021 feature Horror in the High Desert — which I haven’t seen yet —with Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva. This sequel finds police and first responders in Cyprus, Nevada, dealing with the murder of a woman named Minerva (Solveig Helene), who had lived in a trailer in a remote area while studying geology and mining. Reporter Gal Roberts (Suziey Block) tries to uncover the facts behind this mysterious case, including following a series of communications between Minerva and her friend Cathy (Sami Sallaway) in New York. The faux documentary then turns to the nighttime roadside disappearance of a woman named Ameliana (Brooke Bradshaw) and the eerie bodycam footage of EMT Luke Wells’ (David Nichols Jr.) search in the desert and through an abandoned building for her. Marich does a superb job of recreating the authentic feel of a missing persons documentary and of giving the
Continue reading →
