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 FestivalsMoviesReviewsShort Films
Tooth A woman (Janine Peck) takes impeccable care of her teeth, brushing, flossing, and whitening on a regular basis. Now her teeth are going to take care of her, in the much more violent sense of the term. Director Jillian Corsie’s horror comedy doesn’t spare the blood as it brings on the humor. Using puppets made from her actual teeth(!) along with CG effects, 2D animation, and live action, Corsie crafts a short that comments on the quest for perfection in a lighthearted vein. Sherri Chung’s whimsical score fits the proceedings wonderfully. You can watch the trailer at https://vimeo.com/778596583 Millstone This intriguing thriller finds a couple (Bellamie Bachleda and Daniel Durant) grieving over the loss of their five-year-old son, who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident, seeking out a highly unusual cure from a therapist (Eddie Buck). Shot exclusively in American Sign Language with an all-deaf cast, Millstone opens with an air of mystery and then takes a wholly
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GamingNewsReviews
Back in 2009, a game launched a series of “Gothic RPGs” and developed a cult following, that game is Risen, and today it’s been brought to 2023 by being ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Did the port work Or should have Risen stayed in 2009? I would like to thank THQ Nordic for the reviewing opportunity! Risen is about an unnamed character who ends up washed ashore on an island that’s under the control of Inquisitors and inadvertently frees titans. Now onto the game itself! The control layout for Risen is quite… overly complex. Pretty much every button does something and not what you think it should do. I’ve also noticed a lack of proper tutorial resulting in me having to wing it for a good majority at the start. This makes combat a bit difficult as the game throws you into scenarios where you have to fight. As I’ve played I also noticed that Risen
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
One of the finest fright-fare features in recent memory that involves teenagers making contact with spirits of the deceased is Talk to Me (Australia, 2023) from codirectors Danny Philippou and Michael Philppou. I finished this film about 24 hours ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it since — that’s how much impact it has had on me. Not content with mere ouija boards and seances, a group of teens has begun communicating with the dead using a ceramic-covered embalmed hand of a medium and sharing the wicked results on social media. Mia (Sophie Wilde) is working through the emotions of having lost her mother to an accidental overdose of pills two years earlier when she, her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen), Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird) and some of their friends, acquaintances, and frenemies attend and start participating in sessions in which teens are tied to chairs, inviting spirits to inhabit their bodies for 90 seconds or less —
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EventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
New Religion Writer/director Keishi Kondo’s haunting debut feature New Religion (Japan, 2022) offers a unique take on ghost stories. Focusing on existential horror and a dread-filled atmosphere rather than easy jump scares and CGI effects, Kondo unveils the tale of Miyabi (Kaho Seto), a divorced woman whose daughter died when the youngster was watering plants on the balcony and fell off while Miyabi was reading a book indoors. On a decidedly downward spiral, Miyabi begins work as a call girl, taking over a mysterious client when one of her coworkers begins a murderous spree. The client, shut-in Oka (Satoshi Oka), speaks using a mechanical voice box and only wants to photograph Miyabi one body part at a time, with the woman requesting he not take pictures of her eyes. The more photos he takes over time, the stronger the sensation Miyabi feels that she is making contact with the ghost of her daughter. Besides being visually hypnotic, New Religion also
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
After making 67x its $15,000 budget in its first week in theaters and receiving an expanded release, Skinamarink has become a viral sensation. I sat down to watch it, not knowing exactly what I was getting myself into, only knowing that it was being described as an “experimental horror.” The movie’s synopsis goes like this: “Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished. To cope with the strange situation, the two bring pillows and blankets to the living room and settle into a quiet slumber party. They play well-worn videotapes of cartoons to fill the house’s silence and distract from the frightening and inexplicable situation. All the while in the hopes that, eventually, some grown-ups will come to rescue them. However, it becomes clear that something is watching over them after a while.” The movie plays out with strange shots of
Continue reading →
EventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
From its blood-soaked, batty beginning to its harrowing third act, writer/director Kenneth Dagatan’s dark fairy tale horror feature In My Mother’s Skin (Philippines/Singapore/Taiwan, 2023) is a masterful tale of terror. Tala (Felicity Kyle Napuli) is a young girl living in The Philippines at the end of World War II, when Japanese forces are still occupying the county. Her father has been accused of stealing gold from the Japanese and leaves to meet with American contacts. With barely any food to eat, Tala, her younger brother Bayani (James Mavie Estrella), and her mother Ligaya (Beauty Gonzalez) must fend for themselves, and as Ligaya grows ever sicker, times get desperate. Tala meets a fairy (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) in the nearby woods who offers to help with a cure for Ligaya’s ailment, but she says that Tala must make the decision as to whether to use it or not. As fright-fare fans might surmise, the fairy has a dark side and Tala’s decision to
Continue reading →
Amazon Prime VideoFrom the CryptNewsParanormalReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
A new series, “The Rig,” has quietly made its premiere on Prime Video, and for the life of me, I don’t understand why it’s not getting more buzz. In the series, a group of workers on a remote Scottish oil rig is set to return to the mainland; however, when a mysterious fog enshrouds them and a supernatural force takes hold, they find themselves in a struggle for survival. First off, the cast is fantastic and boasts names such as Iain Glen (“Game of Thrones”) and Emily Hampshire (“Schitt’s Creek”), with supporting actors such as Owen Teale (“Game of Thrones”), to name a few. The entire cast leaves their mark thanks to their “all-in” emotional performances, with Glen’s character leading the way. The supernatural force at the heart of the series is unlike anything you’ve seen before and is depicted with fantastic special effects. The thing is, the reason for the thing’s attack is kind of noble in a way.
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
Heavy-set teen Sara (Laura Galán) spends her days toiling away in her parents butcher shop when she isn’t being bullied by the beautiful (on the outside) popular kids (one of whom was a former friend) who give her the nickname “Piggy”. So things basically suck, and after another round of harassment, this time poolside, Sara begins the long walk home with only the swim-suit on her back. Of course she’s hounded once again by the town idiots, but things are going to change quite quickly in that department… You see, our heroine has caught the attention of the local serial killer (Richard Holmes), who has kidnapped the girls that have been hassling our heroine… and Sara bears witness to the crime, and proceeds to clam right the fuck up about the whole affair, even as the town is sent into a frenzy that a madman is on the loose. Speaking of that madman, after some amateur sleuthing, Sara catches up
Continue reading →
AdaptationComic Books/Graphic NovelsMoviesReviewsSci-Fi
Something bizarre is going down in the bayou; there seems to be strange creatures stalking the swamps…and by strange I mean even weirder than our moss encrusted walking vegetable of a leading man; namely Swamp Thing his own damn self (once again played with heart and conviction by the late great Dick Durock)! Naturally the monsters are the result of the machinations of Swampy’s old nemesis, the mad doctor Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan…reprising his role from the first film even thought he turned into a hedgehog beast and was destroyed at the end of the previous picture…1982’s Wes Craven helmed opus Swamp Thing), who is none to pleased our evergreen hero is still walking around handing out ass beatings to whatever mutant he comes across. Adding to the dynamics is the arrival of Anton’s beautiful step-daughter Abigail (Heather Locklear); a new age type that is really into plants (and by the end of the picture you can guarantee she wants
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsSci-Fi
Young Illinois native Pat Johnson (John Francis Daley) has one thing on his mind; sex. Well two things actually, because after seeing the work of special effects maestro Douglas Trumbull’s work for Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, effects laden movies become Johnson’s primary passion! To that end he drags his friends into participating in all manner of ambitious backyard Super-8 sequels to some of his fav flicks including the likes of Jaws and Planet of the Apes… but his head definitely lies in the Hollywood hills… and thanks to a call from his well-meaning, and thankfully pushy mom he gets a chance to visit the studio where Trumball is working on the effects for Spielberg’s follow up to Jaws; 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind! As fate would have it, Trumbull is not “in the office” that day… but our hero does get to talk to Spielberg himself, and eventually gets to see a work-print
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
Film FestivalsMoviesReviewsShort Films
Tooth A woman (Janine Peck) takes impeccable care of her teeth, brushing, flossing, and whitening on a regular basis. Now her teeth are going to take care of her, in the much more violent sense of the term. Director Jillian Corsie’s horror comedy doesn’t spare the blood as it brings on the humor. Using puppets made from her actual teeth(!) along with CG effects, 2D animation, and live action, Corsie crafts a short that comments on the quest for perfection in a lighthearted vein. Sherri Chung’s whimsical score fits the proceedings wonderfully. You can watch the trailer at https://vimeo.com/778596583 Millstone This intriguing thriller finds a couple (Bellamie Bachleda and Daniel Durant) grieving over the loss of their five-year-old son, who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident, seeking out a highly unusual cure from a therapist (Eddie Buck). Shot exclusively in American Sign Language with an all-deaf cast, Millstone opens with an air of mystery and then takes a wholly
Continue reading →
GamingNewsReviews
Back in 2009, a game launched a series of “Gothic RPGs” and developed a cult following, that game is Risen, and today it’s been brought to 2023 by being ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Did the port work Or should have Risen stayed in 2009? I would like to thank THQ Nordic for the reviewing opportunity! Risen is about an unnamed character who ends up washed ashore on an island that’s under the control of Inquisitors and inadvertently frees titans. Now onto the game itself! The control layout for Risen is quite… overly complex. Pretty much every button does something and not what you think it should do. I’ve also noticed a lack of proper tutorial resulting in me having to wing it for a good majority at the start. This makes combat a bit difficult as the game throws you into scenarios where you have to fight. As I’ve played I also noticed that Risen
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
One of the finest fright-fare features in recent memory that involves teenagers making contact with spirits of the deceased is Talk to Me (Australia, 2023) from codirectors Danny Philippou and Michael Philppou. I finished this film about 24 hours ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it since — that’s how much impact it has had on me. Not content with mere ouija boards and seances, a group of teens has begun communicating with the dead using a ceramic-covered embalmed hand of a medium and sharing the wicked results on social media. Mia (Sophie Wilde) is working through the emotions of having lost her mother to an accidental overdose of pills two years earlier when she, her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen), Jade’s younger brother Riley (Joe Bird) and some of their friends, acquaintances, and frenemies attend and start participating in sessions in which teens are tied to chairs, inviting spirits to inhabit their bodies for 90 seconds or less —
Continue reading →
EventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
New Religion Writer/director Keishi Kondo’s haunting debut feature New Religion (Japan, 2022) offers a unique take on ghost stories. Focusing on existential horror and a dread-filled atmosphere rather than easy jump scares and CGI effects, Kondo unveils the tale of Miyabi (Kaho Seto), a divorced woman whose daughter died when the youngster was watering plants on the balcony and fell off while Miyabi was reading a book indoors. On a decidedly downward spiral, Miyabi begins work as a call girl, taking over a mysterious client when one of her coworkers begins a murderous spree. The client, shut-in Oka (Satoshi Oka), speaks using a mechanical voice box and only wants to photograph Miyabi one body part at a time, with the woman requesting he not take pictures of her eyes. The more photos he takes over time, the stronger the sensation Miyabi feels that she is making contact with the ghost of her daughter. Besides being visually hypnotic, New Religion also
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
After making 67x its $15,000 budget in its first week in theaters and receiving an expanded release, Skinamarink has become a viral sensation. I sat down to watch it, not knowing exactly what I was getting myself into, only knowing that it was being described as an “experimental horror.” The movie’s synopsis goes like this: “Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished. To cope with the strange situation, the two bring pillows and blankets to the living room and settle into a quiet slumber party. They play well-worn videotapes of cartoons to fill the house’s silence and distract from the frightening and inexplicable situation. All the while in the hopes that, eventually, some grown-ups will come to rescue them. However, it becomes clear that something is watching over them after a while.” The movie plays out with strange shots of
Continue reading →
EventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
From its blood-soaked, batty beginning to its harrowing third act, writer/director Kenneth Dagatan’s dark fairy tale horror feature In My Mother’s Skin (Philippines/Singapore/Taiwan, 2023) is a masterful tale of terror. Tala (Felicity Kyle Napuli) is a young girl living in The Philippines at the end of World War II, when Japanese forces are still occupying the county. Her father has been accused of stealing gold from the Japanese and leaves to meet with American contacts. With barely any food to eat, Tala, her younger brother Bayani (James Mavie Estrella), and her mother Ligaya (Beauty Gonzalez) must fend for themselves, and as Ligaya grows ever sicker, times get desperate. Tala meets a fairy (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) in the nearby woods who offers to help with a cure for Ligaya’s ailment, but she says that Tala must make the decision as to whether to use it or not. As fright-fare fans might surmise, the fairy has a dark side and Tala’s decision to
Continue reading →
Amazon Prime VideoFrom the CryptNewsParanormalReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
A new series, “The Rig,” has quietly made its premiere on Prime Video, and for the life of me, I don’t understand why it’s not getting more buzz. In the series, a group of workers on a remote Scottish oil rig is set to return to the mainland; however, when a mysterious fog enshrouds them and a supernatural force takes hold, they find themselves in a struggle for survival. First off, the cast is fantastic and boasts names such as Iain Glen (“Game of Thrones”) and Emily Hampshire (“Schitt’s Creek”), with supporting actors such as Owen Teale (“Game of Thrones”), to name a few. The entire cast leaves their mark thanks to their “all-in” emotional performances, with Glen’s character leading the way. The supernatural force at the heart of the series is unlike anything you’ve seen before and is depicted with fantastic special effects. The thing is, the reason for the thing’s attack is kind of noble in a way.
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
Heavy-set teen Sara (Laura Galán) spends her days toiling away in her parents butcher shop when she isn’t being bullied by the beautiful (on the outside) popular kids (one of whom was a former friend) who give her the nickname “Piggy”. So things basically suck, and after another round of harassment, this time poolside, Sara begins the long walk home with only the swim-suit on her back. Of course she’s hounded once again by the town idiots, but things are going to change quite quickly in that department… You see, our heroine has caught the attention of the local serial killer (Richard Holmes), who has kidnapped the girls that have been hassling our heroine… and Sara bears witness to the crime, and proceeds to clam right the fuck up about the whole affair, even as the town is sent into a frenzy that a madman is on the loose. Speaking of that madman, after some amateur sleuthing, Sara catches up
Continue reading →
AdaptationComic Books/Graphic NovelsMoviesReviewsSci-Fi
Something bizarre is going down in the bayou; there seems to be strange creatures stalking the swamps…and by strange I mean even weirder than our moss encrusted walking vegetable of a leading man; namely Swamp Thing his own damn self (once again played with heart and conviction by the late great Dick Durock)! Naturally the monsters are the result of the machinations of Swampy’s old nemesis, the mad doctor Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan…reprising his role from the first film even thought he turned into a hedgehog beast and was destroyed at the end of the previous picture…1982’s Wes Craven helmed opus Swamp Thing), who is none to pleased our evergreen hero is still walking around handing out ass beatings to whatever mutant he comes across. Adding to the dynamics is the arrival of Anton’s beautiful step-daughter Abigail (Heather Locklear); a new age type that is really into plants (and by the end of the picture you can guarantee she wants
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsSci-Fi
Young Illinois native Pat Johnson (John Francis Daley) has one thing on his mind; sex. Well two things actually, because after seeing the work of special effects maestro Douglas Trumbull’s work for Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, effects laden movies become Johnson’s primary passion! To that end he drags his friends into participating in all manner of ambitious backyard Super-8 sequels to some of his fav flicks including the likes of Jaws and Planet of the Apes… but his head definitely lies in the Hollywood hills… and thanks to a call from his well-meaning, and thankfully pushy mom he gets a chance to visit the studio where Trumball is working on the effects for Spielberg’s follow up to Jaws; 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind! As fate would have it, Trumbull is not “in the office” that day… but our hero does get to talk to Spielberg himself, and eventually gets to see a work-print
Continue reading →
