CategoryReviews
Honest horror reviews of films, series, games and books — no hype, no spoilers, just whether it is worth your time and your nerves.
3,432 stories
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films
Two Sisters Italian short Two Sisters is a period piece horror with folk horror elements. Set in the late 15th century in the Lessini Mountains of Verona, writer/director Diego Carli’s film involves the titular siblings (Jenni Tatani and Marianna Caporalito in marvelous performances) being pursued by a group of men hunting for witches. The teen girls have good reason to hide, and they do so using magical powers. When they come under attack, a horrifically violent event occurs, and the two sisters find their close bond being challenged. Carli invests his short with incredible detail, from researching facts around that time period’s height of witch hunting to costumes and recreating authenticity of the sets and outdoor shots on display. Cinematographer Edoardo Olivieri beautifully captures the proceedings, with Luigi Maria Mennella’s score providing perfect musical accompaniment. The Mean Spirited Codirectors Jack Archer (who wrote the screenplay) and Joseph Archer deliver a very special work with their U.K. short The Mean Spirited.
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films
Family Night Writer/director Alan Dunne serves up an absolutely harrowing experience in the Irish horror short Family Night. Eoin Quinn gives a riveting, unnerving performance as a father whose unpredictable behavior has his wife (Denise McCormack), teen daughter (Molly McLoughlin), and preteen son (Flynn Gray) walking on eggshells, fearing angry outbursts that could happen at any moment. Dunne builds the suspense expertly, leading things to a jaw-dropping climax. This one is a true chiller that viewers need to go into as cold as possible. It’s virtually impossible not to be shaken up by Family Night. You can watch the trailer at https://vimeo.com/688022245 Sonar One of the most beautiful looking genre shorts I have seen in recent memory, director James Hughes’ U.K. film Sonar finds a young woman (Amy Marie Campbell) swimming in a pool at night when she hears a sonar sound. She submerges into the deep end of the swimming pool to investigate, and finds . . . well,
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
Do you dig on hard rockin’ tune-age playing over non-violent b-roll stock footage of the Vietnam War? It doesn’t matter, Bruno Mattei’s Cop Game kicks things off in exactly that way! Following that, we begin our tale in the final days of the war… which appear to have stretched on all the way to the late ’80s if the clothes, hairstyles, and vehicles present are to be believed. Into that anachronism steps macho mother fucker Morgan (Strike Commando 2‘s Brent Huff) and his equally match-oh pal Hawk (Max Laurel, whom you may remember as the creature Zuma from the 1985 film of the same name) who are called into service to investigate the assassination of a high rankin’ military man by a gang of heavily armed and masked soldiers. Said investigation sends our heroes into a world of slow-motion gunfire-based destruction (and a shit-ton of it too), overly-long nightclub dance routines, car chases involving no actual cars (more on that
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Dig this; ’round about a decade ago horror scholar/author Kier-La Janisse released her legendary tome; House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films, the title of which alone let’s you know that she is the perfect person to curate (and provide intros for) a box set full of lunatic ladies various and sundry! Severin’s House of Psychotic Women set contains four films spanning the years 1972 – 1985, and in a move bound to shock and excite I’m going to feast my putrid peepers on each in good ol’ chronological order! We begin with 1972’s The Other Side of the Underneath… A woman is pulled from a lake and takes up residence in a dilapidated asylum filled with an all-female roster of patients… some of which may or may not be a theater troupe that push our heroine trough one nightmare after another that gradually explores her life as a schizophrenic and the
Continue reading →
GamingProductReviews
Nothing is scarier than the concept of a home invasion when someone or more come into your home forcibly, disturbing your peace and taking your peace of mind. Now imagine that through the eyes of a 13-year-old. That’s what players are expected to live through in Intruders: Hide and Seek. I want to thank Daedalic Entertainment and Tessera Studios for the reviewing opportunity! Intruders: Hide and Seek is about Ben, a 13-year-old who while staying at his family’s holiday home with his parents and little sister. The peace is shattered when three individuals, a large brutish man, a smartmouth tech-geek woman, and a disturbed man wearing a deer skull mask, force their way into the mansion taking Ben’s parents hostage. Now onto the game itself! Intruders: Hide and Seek‘s controls are limited as there’s really not much Ben can do as he’s mainly trying to stay out of sight of the intruders and not raise too much attention to his
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Lucas (Harley Wallen, who also directed the flick) and his wife Sarah (Kaiti Wallen… who just so happens to be the aforementioned Harley’s real-life spouse in a page seemingly torn from the ol’ Robert Zombie playbook) have their hands full with their gothy gal Cassie (Angelina Danielle Cama); a wild-child that needs a lil’ course correction. To that end, the caring couple shove Cassie right the fuck out the door and off to a secluded retreat deep in the middle of the heart of ‘Nowhere U.S. of mutha-fuckin’ A.’… but she doesn’t stay put for long, and soon finds her ass at the local watering hole where she befriends Anna (Jamie Bernadette) and Tucker (Mason Heidger). So what does that gang of goofs get up to, you may or may not ask? Why, exploring the ye olde (un)friendly neighborhood haunted house, of course! Only problem is, the house is lacking in arcane apparitions…but it more than makes up for that
Continue reading →
ConventionsHalloweenHoliday HorrorProductReviews
It’s never too early to make plans for Halloween decorating or making a funhouse, but you want to add some flair to it to make it memorable. UV and glow-in-the-dark props always add a nice touch but sometimes it’s hard to find some good paint plus you don’t want to shovel out a lot of money. From my experience in building and painting sets and props for live theatre, we always said “Make your own!” and Techno Glow is where you should start! I want to thank Techno Glow for making this review possible as I feel their products are affordable with endless possibilities for uses. I was sent some chartreuse glow-in-the-dark powder along with aqua, along with a UV flashlight as I planned on using some UV resin for a part of this review. I ended up using a silicone ice cube tray that made the face of “The Scream” by Edvard Munch. I used a mix of UV
Continue reading →
GamingParanormalProductReviews
Inti Creates has been in the game of making games since 1996 making 2D games for old, current, and new gamers that give the look and feel of old-school action Metroidvania games. Inti Creates was awesome enough to give me the opportunity to give their latest entry in their game library a try, this is Grim Guardians: Demon Purge. Grim Guardians: Demon Purge follows sister demon hunters Shinobu and Maya Kamizono as they’re going to school only to find that their high school has been turned into a demonic castle, the sisters then go into demon-hunting mode and enter the school to save their fellow students as well as unraveling the mystery as to why the demon Kurona has attacked their school. Now onto the game itself! Grim Guardians: Demon Purge‘s controls will have to take some getting used to, especially if you’re not familiar with these kinds of 2d action games (which I’ll admit I’m VERY rusty at playing).
Continue reading →
Reviews
In Waking Karma, Sunny (Kim Alexander) has been hiding her teenaged daughter Karma (Hannah Christine Shetler) from Karma’s father, cult leader and murderer Paul (Michael Madsen). That Paul is her father is no secret, which has led to a life of being talked about and shunned by her classmates. Thought to be on the run and hiding in Mexico, Paul finds Sunny and Karma — who have gone into hiding themselves after receiving a note from him — and he means to have a relationship with his daughter . . . and not a healthy one. Codirectors Carlos Montaner and Liz Fania Werner — the latter also wrote the screenplay — have crafted an indie film that boasts an earnest performance from Shetler as a confused teen but that offers little in the way of originality. Also, Madsen basically walks through his performance of a cult leader portrayed as something of a cross between Charles Manson and The Night of
Continue reading →
GamingIndieProductReviewsSci-Fi
SOLEIL, the makers of Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker and Ninjala, along with publisher 110 Industries, has produced a game that promises to be Ninja Gaiden meets Cyberpunk, two games with two very different experiences. This is Wanted: Dead was hyped up to combine swordplay with the John Wick style of “Gun-Fu.” SOLEIL and 110 were awesome enough to let me try Wanted: Dead; I wish to thank them first before I disappoint them with my thoughts on this game… Wanted: Dead takes place in an alternate timeline where we follow the Zombie Unit, a branch of the Hong Kong Police made up of a rag-tag group of war criminals who were given their freedom in exchange for their services. Players take on the role of Hannah Stone, a half-augmented (former) war criminal who is a master swordswoman struggling with her new law-enforcing role who must play by the rules while trying to uncover a corporate conspiracy. Now, onto the
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films
Two Sisters Italian short Two Sisters is a period piece horror with folk horror elements. Set in the late 15th century in the Lessini Mountains of Verona, writer/director Diego Carli’s film involves the titular siblings (Jenni Tatani and Marianna Caporalito in marvelous performances) being pursued by a group of men hunting for witches. The teen girls have good reason to hide, and they do so using magical powers. When they come under attack, a horrifically violent event occurs, and the two sisters find their close bond being challenged. Carli invests his short with incredible detail, from researching facts around that time period’s height of witch hunting to costumes and recreating authenticity of the sets and outdoor shots on display. Cinematographer Edoardo Olivieri beautifully captures the proceedings, with Luigi Maria Mennella’s score providing perfect musical accompaniment. The Mean Spirited Codirectors Jack Archer (who wrote the screenplay) and Joseph Archer deliver a very special work with their U.K. short The Mean Spirited.
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films
Family Night Writer/director Alan Dunne serves up an absolutely harrowing experience in the Irish horror short Family Night. Eoin Quinn gives a riveting, unnerving performance as a father whose unpredictable behavior has his wife (Denise McCormack), teen daughter (Molly McLoughlin), and preteen son (Flynn Gray) walking on eggshells, fearing angry outbursts that could happen at any moment. Dunne builds the suspense expertly, leading things to a jaw-dropping climax. This one is a true chiller that viewers need to go into as cold as possible. It’s virtually impossible not to be shaken up by Family Night. You can watch the trailer at https://vimeo.com/688022245 Sonar One of the most beautiful looking genre shorts I have seen in recent memory, director James Hughes’ U.K. film Sonar finds a young woman (Amy Marie Campbell) swimming in a pool at night when she hears a sonar sound. She submerges into the deep end of the swimming pool to investigate, and finds . . . well,
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
Do you dig on hard rockin’ tune-age playing over non-violent b-roll stock footage of the Vietnam War? It doesn’t matter, Bruno Mattei’s Cop Game kicks things off in exactly that way! Following that, we begin our tale in the final days of the war… which appear to have stretched on all the way to the late ’80s if the clothes, hairstyles, and vehicles present are to be believed. Into that anachronism steps macho mother fucker Morgan (Strike Commando 2‘s Brent Huff) and his equally match-oh pal Hawk (Max Laurel, whom you may remember as the creature Zuma from the 1985 film of the same name) who are called into service to investigate the assassination of a high rankin’ military man by a gang of heavily armed and masked soldiers. Said investigation sends our heroes into a world of slow-motion gunfire-based destruction (and a shit-ton of it too), overly-long nightclub dance routines, car chases involving no actual cars (more on that
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Dig this; ’round about a decade ago horror scholar/author Kier-La Janisse released her legendary tome; House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films, the title of which alone let’s you know that she is the perfect person to curate (and provide intros for) a box set full of lunatic ladies various and sundry! Severin’s House of Psychotic Women set contains four films spanning the years 1972 – 1985, and in a move bound to shock and excite I’m going to feast my putrid peepers on each in good ol’ chronological order! We begin with 1972’s The Other Side of the Underneath… A woman is pulled from a lake and takes up residence in a dilapidated asylum filled with an all-female roster of patients… some of which may or may not be a theater troupe that push our heroine trough one nightmare after another that gradually explores her life as a schizophrenic and the
Continue reading →
GamingProductReviews
Nothing is scarier than the concept of a home invasion when someone or more come into your home forcibly, disturbing your peace and taking your peace of mind. Now imagine that through the eyes of a 13-year-old. That’s what players are expected to live through in Intruders: Hide and Seek. I want to thank Daedalic Entertainment and Tessera Studios for the reviewing opportunity! Intruders: Hide and Seek is about Ben, a 13-year-old who while staying at his family’s holiday home with his parents and little sister. The peace is shattered when three individuals, a large brutish man, a smartmouth tech-geek woman, and a disturbed man wearing a deer skull mask, force their way into the mansion taking Ben’s parents hostage. Now onto the game itself! Intruders: Hide and Seek‘s controls are limited as there’s really not much Ben can do as he’s mainly trying to stay out of sight of the intruders and not raise too much attention to his
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Lucas (Harley Wallen, who also directed the flick) and his wife Sarah (Kaiti Wallen… who just so happens to be the aforementioned Harley’s real-life spouse in a page seemingly torn from the ol’ Robert Zombie playbook) have their hands full with their gothy gal Cassie (Angelina Danielle Cama); a wild-child that needs a lil’ course correction. To that end, the caring couple shove Cassie right the fuck out the door and off to a secluded retreat deep in the middle of the heart of ‘Nowhere U.S. of mutha-fuckin’ A.’… but she doesn’t stay put for long, and soon finds her ass at the local watering hole where she befriends Anna (Jamie Bernadette) and Tucker (Mason Heidger). So what does that gang of goofs get up to, you may or may not ask? Why, exploring the ye olde (un)friendly neighborhood haunted house, of course! Only problem is, the house is lacking in arcane apparitions…but it more than makes up for that
Continue reading →
ConventionsHalloweenHoliday HorrorProductReviews
It’s never too early to make plans for Halloween decorating or making a funhouse, but you want to add some flair to it to make it memorable. UV and glow-in-the-dark props always add a nice touch but sometimes it’s hard to find some good paint plus you don’t want to shovel out a lot of money. From my experience in building and painting sets and props for live theatre, we always said “Make your own!” and Techno Glow is where you should start! I want to thank Techno Glow for making this review possible as I feel their products are affordable with endless possibilities for uses. I was sent some chartreuse glow-in-the-dark powder along with aqua, along with a UV flashlight as I planned on using some UV resin for a part of this review. I ended up using a silicone ice cube tray that made the face of “The Scream” by Edvard Munch. I used a mix of UV
Continue reading →
GamingParanormalProductReviews
Inti Creates has been in the game of making games since 1996 making 2D games for old, current, and new gamers that give the look and feel of old-school action Metroidvania games. Inti Creates was awesome enough to give me the opportunity to give their latest entry in their game library a try, this is Grim Guardians: Demon Purge. Grim Guardians: Demon Purge follows sister demon hunters Shinobu and Maya Kamizono as they’re going to school only to find that their high school has been turned into a demonic castle, the sisters then go into demon-hunting mode and enter the school to save their fellow students as well as unraveling the mystery as to why the demon Kurona has attacked their school. Now onto the game itself! Grim Guardians: Demon Purge‘s controls will have to take some getting used to, especially if you’re not familiar with these kinds of 2d action games (which I’ll admit I’m VERY rusty at playing).
Continue reading →
Reviews
In Waking Karma, Sunny (Kim Alexander) has been hiding her teenaged daughter Karma (Hannah Christine Shetler) from Karma’s father, cult leader and murderer Paul (Michael Madsen). That Paul is her father is no secret, which has led to a life of being talked about and shunned by her classmates. Thought to be on the run and hiding in Mexico, Paul finds Sunny and Karma — who have gone into hiding themselves after receiving a note from him — and he means to have a relationship with his daughter . . . and not a healthy one. Codirectors Carlos Montaner and Liz Fania Werner — the latter also wrote the screenplay — have crafted an indie film that boasts an earnest performance from Shetler as a confused teen but that offers little in the way of originality. Also, Madsen basically walks through his performance of a cult leader portrayed as something of a cross between Charles Manson and The Night of
Continue reading →
GamingIndieProductReviewsSci-Fi
SOLEIL, the makers of Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker and Ninjala, along with publisher 110 Industries, has produced a game that promises to be Ninja Gaiden meets Cyberpunk, two games with two very different experiences. This is Wanted: Dead was hyped up to combine swordplay with the John Wick style of “Gun-Fu.” SOLEIL and 110 were awesome enough to let me try Wanted: Dead; I wish to thank them first before I disappoint them with my thoughts on this game… Wanted: Dead takes place in an alternate timeline where we follow the Zombie Unit, a branch of the Hong Kong Police made up of a rag-tag group of war criminals who were given their freedom in exchange for their services. Players take on the role of Hannah Stone, a half-augmented (former) war criminal who is a master swordswoman struggling with her new law-enforcing role who must play by the rules while trying to uncover a corporate conspiracy. Now, onto the
Continue reading →
