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 FestivalsMoviesReviews
Becky’s back, and that’s bad news for another bunch of neo-Nazis. In The Wrath of Becky, Lulu Wilson reprises the titular role in this sequel to 2020’s Becky, in which a preteen girl wastes a group of white supremacists who killed her father. This time around, a trio of them hassle her at the restaurant where she waitresses, and after she embarrasses one of them, they invade the home of the woman with whom she is staying and do some nasty business, including stealing her beloved dog Diego. Interestingly, the codirectors and writers of Becky didn’t repeat their roles for this sequel, which was helmed by Matt Angel (who also costars as one of the baddies) and Suzanne Coote, and written by Angel with Coote receiving a story credit. The pair give the sequel a decidedly more humorous tone than its predecessor, and I had a blast watching Becky deliver comeuppance to the villains and get herself out of trouble,
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Unlike most of our reviews, this SISU review contains some spoilers because, damn it, I need to talk about this movie! Let’s start at the beginning, with the film’s name. “Sisu is a Finnish concept described as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness, and is held by Finns to express their national character. There is no translation for the word.” Written and directed by Jalmari Helander (interview) and produced by Petri Jokiranta, SISU stars Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Onmi Tommila, and Mimosa Willamo. Set in during WWII, a gold prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with a squad of Nazis in northern Finland. Once they learn that the man is carrying gold, they set out to steal it. But it doesn’t take long for them to realize they’ve messed with the wrong man! In reality, they have tangled with a legendary ex-commando who you wouldn’t want to cross. I’ll start with the cinematography. Making a
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Director Colton Van Til takes a trippy deep dive into the dark heart of a 1950s American family in Meltdown: A Nuclear Family’s Ascension into Madness. This impressive fear-fare feature combines disorienting visuals — those with photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitive issues are hereby warned — with a chilling mystery and heated drama. Political candidate for city office Norman (William Elsman) and his wife Ruby (Hannah Beck), who served as a nurse in the armed forces, put on a brave front as Norman ramps up his campaign, with the unexplained disappearance of their youngest son a few years earlier still weighing heavily on them. Their teen daughter Joan (Maleah Goldberg), meanwhile, is secretly dating Galen (Finn Roberts), the son of Norman’s Bible-verse–spouting political rival George (Eric Hanson) and his heavily drinking wife Teresa (Celena Rae), and their preteen son Harry (Joshua Weatherby) is freely going against his parent’s wishes. If that all sounds volatile enough already, add a dinner party
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Back in ’85, an ass-load of that White Gold is hucked out of a plane down Appalachia way where it is partially consumed by a black bear. As fate would have it, the intended recipient of that shipment gone very fuckin’ astray, one Syd White (Ray Liotta), is none to happy about his drug’s current whereabouts, so he entrusts some of his best men; his constantly crying, recently widowed son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) and the put-upon, though decidedly more competent Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) to bring that coke back right quick! Of course that bear has been tearing anyone within paws reach a new asshole, so retrieving those bags o’ fun will be a bit dicey for our “heroes”… and when you add in a lovelorn Park Ranger (played by prolific character actress Margo Martindale to comedic perfection), a cache of stab-happy pop art punks, kids playing hooky, and an intrepid out-of-town flatfoot (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) that task goes from
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GamingParanormalProductReviews
I can think of no job I would not want than being the one who has to operate and care for a cemetery. People dying to meet you, working the graveyard shift, having a bunch of working stiffs as coworkers, putting the fun back in funerals, noisy nights with all the coffins, playing formaldehyde and seek with corpses, dealing with grave issues, getting buried in the work, OK I’ll stop with the puns. Lazy Bear Games and Tinybuild have taken these worries and put them together into the dark comedy simulation Graveyard Keeper: Last Journey Edition. The Last Journey Edition includes the main game Graveyard Keeper and all the DLCs, Breaking Dead, Stranger Sins, Game of Crone, and the new Better Save Souls). Graveyard Keeper follows the strange tale of a man who died while rushing to get home and is sent into a medieval world where he is now the Keeper of the local Graveyard with the guidance of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Black Mold Writer/director John Pata’s Black Mold fairly drips with dread as Brooke (Agnes Albright) and Tanner (Andrew Bailes) — a pair of photographer friends who shoot decrepit, abandoned buildings — find themselves trapped in one such structure by a homeless man (Jeremy Holm) who resembles Brooke’s deceased father. Is it the titular rot that begins to affect the pair’s thinking or supernatural reasons? This is one of the questions posed in the film, and one thing is for certain — there’s psychological horror aplenty on tap. Albright gives a grounded performance as a young woman harboring darkness from her childhood, and Holm gives a solid performance as an enigmatic, paranoid, threatening figure, while Bailes gives a performance that must be seen to be appreciated. It’s an intriguing one that borders at times on scenery chewing without quite crossing the line, and at others as a realistic portrayal of a supportive friend. Tiffany Jasinski’s set design is remarkable — you
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
French/Belgian coproduction King on Screen is a valentine to the film adaptations of prolific author Stephen King — who truly needs no introduction here — and to the writer himself. Featuring talking-head interviews with filmmakers who adapted King’s works to big and small screens alike, along with behind-the-scenes footage and film clips galore, the film shows the diverse range of genres in which King has worked, and examines why his stories work as well as they do. Director Daphné Baiwir begins her documentary with an Easter-egg–filled seven-minute sequence in which King’s short stories and novels get name checked or alluded to, and it’s a fun way to begin this film. Even the most casual of the author’s fans will get some of the references, while more seasoned aficionados will appreciate the deeper cuts. From there, the interview segments, archival footage that includes King on different sets, and clips from both classic and lesser known King films begin. Filmmakers such as
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
The Bigfoot Trap The Bigfoot Trap (U.S., 2023) is not another movie about Sasquatch running rampant on misbehaving city folk — far from it, although we do get a nice variation on that type of person here. Josh MacMahon (Tyler Weisenauer) has set aside his goal of becoming a reporter of depth for some quick cash being a content provider for a clickbait-style website hungry for views. After a video of him making fun of a flat-Earth believer goes viral, Josh gets an assignment of doing another such video about Red Wilson (Zach Lazar Hoffman), the head of the Southern Sasquatch Research Foundation — the membership of which seems to be two people. At first trying to get yucks at Red’s expense, Josh begins to buy into the earnestness with which Red seeks to prove that Bigfoot actually exists. When a possible visual sighting of the legendary cryptid goes tragically awry, The Bigfoot Trap ratchets up its drama and suspense.
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Three women named Cissie Colpitts (who the fuck knows, I men they are related so there’s that… anyway, they’re played by Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, and Joely Richardson… the last of whom you cats n’ creeps may remember from 2019’s Nick Cage starring Lovecraft adaptation, The Color Out of Space) become involved in the ol’ murder biz after Cissie (watch the movie to see which one!) catches her lout of a hubbie havin’ a skin-slappin’ case of the naked horneys with a younger lady! After a post-coital drowning via bathtub, said louse of a spouse is done for, Cissie and the other Cissies manage to cover it up thanks to a hot-to-trot coroner, Madgett (Bernard Hill) by name, who is promised sexual favors for his help but is left perpetually blue in the balls. Before long, the other Cissies’ get sick of the married life with similarly deadly results, and ol’ Madgett is called upon time and time again with
Continue reading →
HistoryHoliday HorrorMoviesParanormalProductReviewsSci-Fi
There are a lot of stores online where you can get your fix of cinema-themed items, but sometimes you want to go a bit outside the box where the limits are pushed with products that are not only eye-catching but works of art in their own rights. Welcome to The Original Underground! Described as a bad store for “Bad People”, I’m sure they mean bad as in my fellow morbid/dark humorous individuals, these items are must-haves for collectors and fans of Horror, Cult-Cinema, and nerdism with a touch of the punk-rock middle finger in your face. I want to give The Original Underground a huge thank you for sending over a care package for me to check out and God Damn did they not disappoint! Let us unpack what you see here. First off we have a print of a Japanese Friday The 13th poster, the poster is 11X17 and printed on sturdy heavyweight photo paper. Next, we have a
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Becky’s back, and that’s bad news for another bunch of neo-Nazis. In The Wrath of Becky, Lulu Wilson reprises the titular role in this sequel to 2020’s Becky, in which a preteen girl wastes a group of white supremacists who killed her father. This time around, a trio of them hassle her at the restaurant where she waitresses, and after she embarrasses one of them, they invade the home of the woman with whom she is staying and do some nasty business, including stealing her beloved dog Diego. Interestingly, the codirectors and writers of Becky didn’t repeat their roles for this sequel, which was helmed by Matt Angel (who also costars as one of the baddies) and Suzanne Coote, and written by Angel with Coote receiving a story credit. The pair give the sequel a decidedly more humorous tone than its predecessor, and I had a blast watching Becky deliver comeuppance to the villains and get herself out of trouble,
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Unlike most of our reviews, this SISU review contains some spoilers because, damn it, I need to talk about this movie! Let’s start at the beginning, with the film’s name. “Sisu is a Finnish concept described as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness, and is held by Finns to express their national character. There is no translation for the word.” Written and directed by Jalmari Helander (interview) and produced by Petri Jokiranta, SISU stars Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Onmi Tommila, and Mimosa Willamo. Set in during WWII, a gold prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with a squad of Nazis in northern Finland. Once they learn that the man is carrying gold, they set out to steal it. But it doesn’t take long for them to realize they’ve messed with the wrong man! In reality, they have tangled with a legendary ex-commando who you wouldn’t want to cross. I’ll start with the cinematography. Making a
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Director Colton Van Til takes a trippy deep dive into the dark heart of a 1950s American family in Meltdown: A Nuclear Family’s Ascension into Madness. This impressive fear-fare feature combines disorienting visuals — those with photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitive issues are hereby warned — with a chilling mystery and heated drama. Political candidate for city office Norman (William Elsman) and his wife Ruby (Hannah Beck), who served as a nurse in the armed forces, put on a brave front as Norman ramps up his campaign, with the unexplained disappearance of their youngest son a few years earlier still weighing heavily on them. Their teen daughter Joan (Maleah Goldberg), meanwhile, is secretly dating Galen (Finn Roberts), the son of Norman’s Bible-verse–spouting political rival George (Eric Hanson) and his heavily drinking wife Teresa (Celena Rae), and their preteen son Harry (Joshua Weatherby) is freely going against his parent’s wishes. If that all sounds volatile enough already, add a dinner party
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Back in ’85, an ass-load of that White Gold is hucked out of a plane down Appalachia way where it is partially consumed by a black bear. As fate would have it, the intended recipient of that shipment gone very fuckin’ astray, one Syd White (Ray Liotta), is none to happy about his drug’s current whereabouts, so he entrusts some of his best men; his constantly crying, recently widowed son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) and the put-upon, though decidedly more competent Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) to bring that coke back right quick! Of course that bear has been tearing anyone within paws reach a new asshole, so retrieving those bags o’ fun will be a bit dicey for our “heroes”… and when you add in a lovelorn Park Ranger (played by prolific character actress Margo Martindale to comedic perfection), a cache of stab-happy pop art punks, kids playing hooky, and an intrepid out-of-town flatfoot (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) that task goes from
Continue reading →
GamingParanormalProductReviews
I can think of no job I would not want than being the one who has to operate and care for a cemetery. People dying to meet you, working the graveyard shift, having a bunch of working stiffs as coworkers, putting the fun back in funerals, noisy nights with all the coffins, playing formaldehyde and seek with corpses, dealing with grave issues, getting buried in the work, OK I’ll stop with the puns. Lazy Bear Games and Tinybuild have taken these worries and put them together into the dark comedy simulation Graveyard Keeper: Last Journey Edition. The Last Journey Edition includes the main game Graveyard Keeper and all the DLCs, Breaking Dead, Stranger Sins, Game of Crone, and the new Better Save Souls). Graveyard Keeper follows the strange tale of a man who died while rushing to get home and is sent into a medieval world where he is now the Keeper of the local Graveyard with the guidance of
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Black Mold Writer/director John Pata’s Black Mold fairly drips with dread as Brooke (Agnes Albright) and Tanner (Andrew Bailes) — a pair of photographer friends who shoot decrepit, abandoned buildings — find themselves trapped in one such structure by a homeless man (Jeremy Holm) who resembles Brooke’s deceased father. Is it the titular rot that begins to affect the pair’s thinking or supernatural reasons? This is one of the questions posed in the film, and one thing is for certain — there’s psychological horror aplenty on tap. Albright gives a grounded performance as a young woman harboring darkness from her childhood, and Holm gives a solid performance as an enigmatic, paranoid, threatening figure, while Bailes gives a performance that must be seen to be appreciated. It’s an intriguing one that borders at times on scenery chewing without quite crossing the line, and at others as a realistic portrayal of a supportive friend. Tiffany Jasinski’s set design is remarkable — you
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
French/Belgian coproduction King on Screen is a valentine to the film adaptations of prolific author Stephen King — who truly needs no introduction here — and to the writer himself. Featuring talking-head interviews with filmmakers who adapted King’s works to big and small screens alike, along with behind-the-scenes footage and film clips galore, the film shows the diverse range of genres in which King has worked, and examines why his stories work as well as they do. Director Daphné Baiwir begins her documentary with an Easter-egg–filled seven-minute sequence in which King’s short stories and novels get name checked or alluded to, and it’s a fun way to begin this film. Even the most casual of the author’s fans will get some of the references, while more seasoned aficionados will appreciate the deeper cuts. From there, the interview segments, archival footage that includes King on different sets, and clips from both classic and lesser known King films begin. Filmmakers such as
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
The Bigfoot Trap The Bigfoot Trap (U.S., 2023) is not another movie about Sasquatch running rampant on misbehaving city folk — far from it, although we do get a nice variation on that type of person here. Josh MacMahon (Tyler Weisenauer) has set aside his goal of becoming a reporter of depth for some quick cash being a content provider for a clickbait-style website hungry for views. After a video of him making fun of a flat-Earth believer goes viral, Josh gets an assignment of doing another such video about Red Wilson (Zach Lazar Hoffman), the head of the Southern Sasquatch Research Foundation — the membership of which seems to be two people. At first trying to get yucks at Red’s expense, Josh begins to buy into the earnestness with which Red seeks to prove that Bigfoot actually exists. When a possible visual sighting of the legendary cryptid goes tragically awry, The Bigfoot Trap ratchets up its drama and suspense.
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Three women named Cissie Colpitts (who the fuck knows, I men they are related so there’s that… anyway, they’re played by Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, and Joely Richardson… the last of whom you cats n’ creeps may remember from 2019’s Nick Cage starring Lovecraft adaptation, The Color Out of Space) become involved in the ol’ murder biz after Cissie (watch the movie to see which one!) catches her lout of a hubbie havin’ a skin-slappin’ case of the naked horneys with a younger lady! After a post-coital drowning via bathtub, said louse of a spouse is done for, Cissie and the other Cissies manage to cover it up thanks to a hot-to-trot coroner, Madgett (Bernard Hill) by name, who is promised sexual favors for his help but is left perpetually blue in the balls. Before long, the other Cissies’ get sick of the married life with similarly deadly results, and ol’ Madgett is called upon time and time again with
Continue reading →
HistoryHoliday HorrorMoviesParanormalProductReviewsSci-Fi
There are a lot of stores online where you can get your fix of cinema-themed items, but sometimes you want to go a bit outside the box where the limits are pushed with products that are not only eye-catching but works of art in their own rights. Welcome to The Original Underground! Described as a bad store for “Bad People”, I’m sure they mean bad as in my fellow morbid/dark humorous individuals, these items are must-haves for collectors and fans of Horror, Cult-Cinema, and nerdism with a touch of the punk-rock middle finger in your face. I want to give The Original Underground a huge thank you for sending over a care package for me to check out and God Damn did they not disappoint! Let us unpack what you see here. First off we have a print of a Japanese Friday The 13th poster, the poster is 11X17 and printed on sturdy heavyweight photo paper. Next, we have a
Continue reading →
