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
IndieMoviesReviews
The Once and Future Smash transports us to a universe where a series of fright flicks, the End Zone series by name, was the trendsetter of all mother fuckin’ trendsetters when it comes to our beloved stalk n’ slay slasher genre… right down to the series villain, cannibal football player Smash-Mouth (more on that dude in a second), being the supposed inspiration for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface, and the film’s twist being lifted wholesale by the original Friday the 13th! Speaking of Smash-Mouth, two actors had the distinction of playing the sinister sportsman, The egotistical Mikey Smash (The greasy strangler himself, Michael St. Michaels) who portrayed Smash-Mouth for the first hour of End Zone 2 and William Mouth (Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.’s Bill Weeden) who took over the role once Mikey was fired for reasons of being an asshole, and created the character’s catch-phrase “Touchdown!”… not that anyone has ever heard it as the last thirty minutes of End Zone
Continue reading →
ForeignGamingIndieParanormalProductReviews
Today the first-person mystery horror Charon’s Staircase was released for all consoles and PC in time for Halloween to give you some chills over the weekend, does it deliver? Let’s find out, but first, I would like to thank SOEDESCO and Indigo Studios for the reviewing opportunity. Charon’s Staircase (pronounced Karen) takes place in an unidentified (presumably) Eastern European country in the 1970s that will be joining the European Union but wants the totalitarian skeleton in its closet to be erased. This is where agent “Desmond” comes in. Desmond is assigned to retrieve and destroy secret documents relating to human experiments conducted at the Oak Grove estate. Once there Desmond uncovers darker secrets he wishes to share with the world…if he survives. Now onto the game itself! Charon’s Staircase‘s controls are limited as the game focuses mainly on exploring and puzzle-solving. The game is fully voice acted as it’s narrated at points of the game as Desmond tells his story.
Continue reading →
ForeignGamingIndieParanormalProductReviews
Giallo is a genre in Italian cinema, think of Noir films but with horror elements thrown into the story and occasional eroticism… can’t be European (especially Italian) without that right? Now combine that with old folklore from Sardinia and what do you get? You get Saturnalia, a survival horror game where players must uncover the truth in order to survive their stay in an ancient Italian village. I want to give thanks to Santa Ragione for the reviewing opportunity! Saturnalia takes place in an old village on the island of Sardinia where they play as one of four playable characters trying to make sense of the events going on in the village surrounding a mysterious ritual where a horned creature stalks the streets at night. Now onto the game itself. The controls for Saturnalia are limited but surprisingly a tad difficult to grasp at first. At the start of the game, it would have been nice to have a tutorial
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Bridge of the Doomed starts things off right with some straight up, red-blooded mother fuckin’ action (which differs from regular “action” by one “mother fuckin’”s worth, which trust me is a considerable amount) with zombies rippin’ an army base a new one! After that frightful fracas, ol’ General Vasquez (the always great Robert LaSardo) gathers up Lt. Whitmore (Dane Bingenheimer) and Sgt. Hernandez (Kate Watson) and charges them and their troops with the task of defending a nearby bridge until reinforcements arrive. Soon our heroes are squaring off against hostile human survivors of the outbreak and the ever advancing shambling dead… but what lurks under that beastly bridge may be the biggest danger of them all! I’ll tell you one thing, director Michael Su (Death Count) and screenwriter Adrian Milnes (Night of the Tommyknockers) make double damn sure that Bridge of the Doomed is never, ever boring… this picture is filled to the brutal brim with all manner of action,
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
At the local library, a young tyke (Bryce Gormley) wants nothing more than to make a ruckus and get his hands on a secret book that the librarian (Lisa Rodriges) has no plans on lending him. One ludicrous disguise and a romance novel distraction later, our hero snags the tome and races home! That night, the beastly book is open which unleashes a nautical adventure upon the boy in wonderous fashion! Directed and edited by Troy Minkowsky (working from a script provided by his daughter Lavinia Minkowsky), The Forbidden Book of Sharks is nothing short of breathtaking. What begins as a very Little Rascals-esque youth-based comedy caper (or for this crowd perhaps Ray Dennis Steckler’s Lemon Grove Kids would be a more apt comparison) quickly explodes into a Winsor McCay inspired delight for the eyes (both his ground-breaking 1914 blend of live-action and animation Gertie the Dinosaur, but also his most famous work, the dream-tableau comic strip fantasy Little Nemo
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Grant (Vernon Wells of Commando and The Road Warrior fame) and Abby (Devanny Pinn, Death Count) are a father/daughter combo that have grown apart over the years, but the impending birth of Abby’s child have spurned a re-connection between the two. After some of that good ol’ reminiscing, the pair head out for a fishing trip near Grant’s remote cabin, deep in the woods. One car crash en route to said trip makes everyone’s plans go completely tits up as Abby becomes trapped in the car, and as the weather gets worse and worse Grant has no choice but to leave Abby and head out for help. All of that aside, there’s also a surly wolf stalking about, because being pregnant and alone in the freezing cold didn’t suck hard enough for our heroine… Director Brandon Slagle (working from a script from writer Robert Thompson and a story by James Cullen Bressack) have presented a razor-sharp tale of desperation and
Continue reading →
![Movie Review: Army of Darkness - Limited Edition Steelbook [4K UHD]](https://horrorfuel.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/aOD.avif)
MoviesReviews
Pretend for a hot second that your arcane asses have never heard of Sam Raimi’s absolute masterpiece of a follow up to his two previous entries in the Evil Dead series… Army of Darkness (technically Evil Dead III: Medieval Dead) begins with our hero, the hilariously abrasive braggart Ash (the legendary Bruce Campbell in the role that made his ass such a legendary legend in the first place) trapped in the Middle ages and at the mercy of King Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) who has every intention of chucking our hero in his Deadite-infested pit and calling it a day. And he does, but Ash has one strong skill-set in his arsenal… he’s really good at fighting un-dead demons, and by effect saving his own ass… and luckily his chainsaw has made the cross-time journey as well! Before long, our hero finds himself caught between warring armies, both human and walking dead in a quest to obtain the Necronomicon and make
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
French comedy/thriller Stéphane from filmmakers Timothée Hochet and Lucas Pastor is a mockumentary about aspiring short-film director Timothée (Bastien Garcia) and Stéphane (Pastor), the unaware subject of Timothée’s documentary about “a loser.” The pair meet randomly while Timothée is shooting a short film, with Stéphane volunteering to provide some pyrotechnics. One red flag after another about Stéphane goes up and eventually Timothée finds himself staying the night on Stéphane’s private boat before sailing to the latter’s island home. Why Timothée would want to get further involved with the obviously strange Stéphane is a valid question, but this being both a comedy and a thriller, poor decisions make sense to advance this story, and to send things into weirder and more disturbing territory. Both characters are full of themselves in different ways, and lines are blurred about just who is in charge of the crazy wartime-themed short that Timothée wants to complete for a film festival. Hochet and Pastor deliver a
Continue reading →
HuluMoviesNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
While scrolling through Hulu’s “Huluween” section I stumbled across a movie titled Grimmcutty. The art caught my attention so I decided to give it a try. Here’s what I thought. Warning, there maybe a few spoilers. First, let me fill you in on what the movie is about. Written and directed by John Ross, Grimmcuttry centers on a teen and her little brother who must find a way to stop a monster brought to life by the hysteria of their parents. After the kids’ parents find out about Grimcutty, which they believe is a social media challenge, they go into overdrive and believe the answer is taking away the kids’ devices. The more concerned the parents get the angrier they become, which drives Grimcutty to attack. The movie speaks to two points. The first is the world’s obsession with social media challenges and how dangerous they can be, remember the Tide Pod Challenge? The second is the lack of trust
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Codirectors Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein have unleashed on the world Mad Heidi (Switzerland, 2002), the first Swissploitation film, and it is a bonkers blend of horror, action, and comedy, filled with blood, bare breasts, and cheese of both the comedic and edible kinds. Casper Van Dien chews up scenery like the ubiquitous cheese in the film as dictatorial President Meili, who has dreams of global domination and who owns the only legal cheese factory in Switzerland. His henchmen are developing a new type of cheese, which they discover turns men into mighty mutants — perfect for building an unstoppable army. Meanwhile, mountain girl Heidi (Alice Lucy in a super comic and physical performance) sees her boyfriend Goat Peter (Kel Matsena) — who got his nickname from his, ahem, special way with goats to produce superb cheese — and her grandfather slain by Kommandant Knorr (Max Rüdlinger), ruthless leader of Meili’s Nazi-like army. After some high-level training, Heidi is prepared
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
IndieMoviesReviews
The Once and Future Smash transports us to a universe where a series of fright flicks, the End Zone series by name, was the trendsetter of all mother fuckin’ trendsetters when it comes to our beloved stalk n’ slay slasher genre… right down to the series villain, cannibal football player Smash-Mouth (more on that dude in a second), being the supposed inspiration for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface, and the film’s twist being lifted wholesale by the original Friday the 13th! Speaking of Smash-Mouth, two actors had the distinction of playing the sinister sportsman, The egotistical Mikey Smash (The greasy strangler himself, Michael St. Michaels) who portrayed Smash-Mouth for the first hour of End Zone 2 and William Mouth (Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.’s Bill Weeden) who took over the role once Mikey was fired for reasons of being an asshole, and created the character’s catch-phrase “Touchdown!”… not that anyone has ever heard it as the last thirty minutes of End Zone
Continue reading →
ForeignGamingIndieParanormalProductReviews
Today the first-person mystery horror Charon’s Staircase was released for all consoles and PC in time for Halloween to give you some chills over the weekend, does it deliver? Let’s find out, but first, I would like to thank SOEDESCO and Indigo Studios for the reviewing opportunity. Charon’s Staircase (pronounced Karen) takes place in an unidentified (presumably) Eastern European country in the 1970s that will be joining the European Union but wants the totalitarian skeleton in its closet to be erased. This is where agent “Desmond” comes in. Desmond is assigned to retrieve and destroy secret documents relating to human experiments conducted at the Oak Grove estate. Once there Desmond uncovers darker secrets he wishes to share with the world…if he survives. Now onto the game itself! Charon’s Staircase‘s controls are limited as the game focuses mainly on exploring and puzzle-solving. The game is fully voice acted as it’s narrated at points of the game as Desmond tells his story.
Continue reading →
ForeignGamingIndieParanormalProductReviews
Giallo is a genre in Italian cinema, think of Noir films but with horror elements thrown into the story and occasional eroticism… can’t be European (especially Italian) without that right? Now combine that with old folklore from Sardinia and what do you get? You get Saturnalia, a survival horror game where players must uncover the truth in order to survive their stay in an ancient Italian village. I want to give thanks to Santa Ragione for the reviewing opportunity! Saturnalia takes place in an old village on the island of Sardinia where they play as one of four playable characters trying to make sense of the events going on in the village surrounding a mysterious ritual where a horned creature stalks the streets at night. Now onto the game itself. The controls for Saturnalia are limited but surprisingly a tad difficult to grasp at first. At the start of the game, it would have been nice to have a tutorial
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Bridge of the Doomed starts things off right with some straight up, red-blooded mother fuckin’ action (which differs from regular “action” by one “mother fuckin’”s worth, which trust me is a considerable amount) with zombies rippin’ an army base a new one! After that frightful fracas, ol’ General Vasquez (the always great Robert LaSardo) gathers up Lt. Whitmore (Dane Bingenheimer) and Sgt. Hernandez (Kate Watson) and charges them and their troops with the task of defending a nearby bridge until reinforcements arrive. Soon our heroes are squaring off against hostile human survivors of the outbreak and the ever advancing shambling dead… but what lurks under that beastly bridge may be the biggest danger of them all! I’ll tell you one thing, director Michael Su (Death Count) and screenwriter Adrian Milnes (Night of the Tommyknockers) make double damn sure that Bridge of the Doomed is never, ever boring… this picture is filled to the brutal brim with all manner of action,
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
At the local library, a young tyke (Bryce Gormley) wants nothing more than to make a ruckus and get his hands on a secret book that the librarian (Lisa Rodriges) has no plans on lending him. One ludicrous disguise and a romance novel distraction later, our hero snags the tome and races home! That night, the beastly book is open which unleashes a nautical adventure upon the boy in wonderous fashion! Directed and edited by Troy Minkowsky (working from a script provided by his daughter Lavinia Minkowsky), The Forbidden Book of Sharks is nothing short of breathtaking. What begins as a very Little Rascals-esque youth-based comedy caper (or for this crowd perhaps Ray Dennis Steckler’s Lemon Grove Kids would be a more apt comparison) quickly explodes into a Winsor McCay inspired delight for the eyes (both his ground-breaking 1914 blend of live-action and animation Gertie the Dinosaur, but also his most famous work, the dream-tableau comic strip fantasy Little Nemo
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Grant (Vernon Wells of Commando and The Road Warrior fame) and Abby (Devanny Pinn, Death Count) are a father/daughter combo that have grown apart over the years, but the impending birth of Abby’s child have spurned a re-connection between the two. After some of that good ol’ reminiscing, the pair head out for a fishing trip near Grant’s remote cabin, deep in the woods. One car crash en route to said trip makes everyone’s plans go completely tits up as Abby becomes trapped in the car, and as the weather gets worse and worse Grant has no choice but to leave Abby and head out for help. All of that aside, there’s also a surly wolf stalking about, because being pregnant and alone in the freezing cold didn’t suck hard enough for our heroine… Director Brandon Slagle (working from a script from writer Robert Thompson and a story by James Cullen Bressack) have presented a razor-sharp tale of desperation and
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
Pretend for a hot second that your arcane asses have never heard of Sam Raimi’s absolute masterpiece of a follow up to his two previous entries in the Evil Dead series… Army of Darkness (technically Evil Dead III: Medieval Dead) begins with our hero, the hilariously abrasive braggart Ash (the legendary Bruce Campbell in the role that made his ass such a legendary legend in the first place) trapped in the Middle ages and at the mercy of King Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) who has every intention of chucking our hero in his Deadite-infested pit and calling it a day. And he does, but Ash has one strong skill-set in his arsenal… he’s really good at fighting un-dead demons, and by effect saving his own ass… and luckily his chainsaw has made the cross-time journey as well! Before long, our hero finds himself caught between warring armies, both human and walking dead in a quest to obtain the Necronomicon and make
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
French comedy/thriller Stéphane from filmmakers Timothée Hochet and Lucas Pastor is a mockumentary about aspiring short-film director Timothée (Bastien Garcia) and Stéphane (Pastor), the unaware subject of Timothée’s documentary about “a loser.” The pair meet randomly while Timothée is shooting a short film, with Stéphane volunteering to provide some pyrotechnics. One red flag after another about Stéphane goes up and eventually Timothée finds himself staying the night on Stéphane’s private boat before sailing to the latter’s island home. Why Timothée would want to get further involved with the obviously strange Stéphane is a valid question, but this being both a comedy and a thriller, poor decisions make sense to advance this story, and to send things into weirder and more disturbing territory. Both characters are full of themselves in different ways, and lines are blurred about just who is in charge of the crazy wartime-themed short that Timothée wants to complete for a film festival. Hochet and Pastor deliver a
Continue reading →
HuluMoviesNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
While scrolling through Hulu’s “Huluween” section I stumbled across a movie titled Grimmcutty. The art caught my attention so I decided to give it a try. Here’s what I thought. Warning, there maybe a few spoilers. First, let me fill you in on what the movie is about. Written and directed by John Ross, Grimmcuttry centers on a teen and her little brother who must find a way to stop a monster brought to life by the hysteria of their parents. After the kids’ parents find out about Grimcutty, which they believe is a social media challenge, they go into overdrive and believe the answer is taking away the kids’ devices. The more concerned the parents get the angrier they become, which drives Grimcutty to attack. The movie speaks to two points. The first is the world’s obsession with social media challenges and how dangerous they can be, remember the Tide Pod Challenge? The second is the lack of trust
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Codirectors Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein have unleashed on the world Mad Heidi (Switzerland, 2002), the first Swissploitation film, and it is a bonkers blend of horror, action, and comedy, filled with blood, bare breasts, and cheese of both the comedic and edible kinds. Casper Van Dien chews up scenery like the ubiquitous cheese in the film as dictatorial President Meili, who has dreams of global domination and who owns the only legal cheese factory in Switzerland. His henchmen are developing a new type of cheese, which they discover turns men into mighty mutants — perfect for building an unstoppable army. Meanwhile, mountain girl Heidi (Alice Lucy in a super comic and physical performance) sees her boyfriend Goat Peter (Kel Matsena) — who got his nickname from his, ahem, special way with goats to produce superb cheese — and her grandfather slain by Kommandant Knorr (Max Rüdlinger), ruthless leader of Meili’s Nazi-like army. After some high-level training, Heidi is prepared
Continue reading →
