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Independent horror: micro-budget features, short films and first-time filmmakers doing more with less — and often doing it better.

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Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Dead Night (2017)

Dead Night opens in the year 1961 as strange hooded figures abduct a young woman and impregnate her with their demon seed…which goes about as well as one would expect (I mean really, has “raped by a monster to sire it’s love child” ever had a happy ending?) Flash forward to 2015, and a dysfunctional family (and one friend) heads out in the family truckster to visit a remote cabin, under which a large quantity of buried iron is said to exist…why is that important? Because said deposit can supposedly render a new age cure for the family’s ailing patriarch. Of course this location is still home to those creepy creatures mentioned above, and they’ve been rubbin’ up on some corkscrew cocoon thing gettin’ it’s tentacles all a-twitter. We soon learn…via a true crime television show replete with cheesy re-enactments and commercials for a local politician, Leslie Bison (the legendary Barbara Crampton) that the matriarch of the fam, Casey (Brea

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 24, 2018
Horror Fuel

An Epidemic Breaks Out In The Award-Winning Horror Face Of Evil – Now Out On DVD

Horror icon Jamie Bernadette (interview) stars in the award-winning outbreak film Face of Evil, now available on VOD and DVD from award-winning filmmaker Vito Dinatolo and Gravitas Ventures. Set “on July 4th, private Jay Williams returns home from the Middle East, but a mysterious epidemic breaks out and infects his friends at his party. On the road to salvation, Jay is joined by his ex-sergeant, who reveals chilling secrets leading to a conspiracy. The night has just begun, as they embark on a survival quest for the ultimate truth.” Scott Baxter, Chad Bishop, Jamie Bernadette, and Janet Roth star in Face of Evil, now out from Gravitas Ventures.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 23, 2018
Horror Fuel

Filmmaker P.J. Starks Talks Volumes Of Blood 3: Devil’s Knight And More

Back in 2015, I reported about the horror anthology titled Volumes of Blood from writer/director/producer P.J. Starks. Since that film, he’s been a busy man. He’s produced 18 films, made a sequel to Volumes and Blood, and directed 3 other films. Now P.J. is making the third Volumes of Blood film Volumes of Blood: Devil’s Knight. P.J. took the time out of his busy (and I mean busy) schedule to talk with us about it and a few other things. Check it out. Horror Fuel: “What made you want to become a filmmaker?” P.J.: “I’ve always been a storyteller in some form or fashion. I started with writing really early on. In the sixth grade, I wrote an alien invasion novella. I was also a huge lover of movies and as time went on it was just a natural transition from writing to filmmaking. Ultimately it was Clerks that made me say, “Hey, I could really do this.” Horror Fuel:

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 21, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: The Tooth Fairy (2018)

As family and friends gather on a failing rural farm, we learn that years previous they managed to capture an evil witch (the Tooth Fairy…I don’t even fucking know), and imprison her in the barn by way of sugar and dangling candy canes (sounds ridiculous, and it is…but you lot all know I dig on the absurd, so well played movie…well played). Well that seemingly fool proof prison is thwarted when a drifter simply opens the door and frees the wicked bitch of the west (after she chisels some of his teeth out of course). This results in her stalking and granting dark wishes (in exchange for teeth ‘natch) to the sad sack family…now, can they dispatch her once more and get on with their dreary lives? First the positives to be had with the Tooth Fairy. For starters, the dreary setting (always overcast and completely remote) is full atmosphere and a suitable aesthetic choice for the tale of a

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 21, 2018
Horror Fuel

Iconic Genre Magazine Film Threat Lives on With New Distribution Label

If you are like me, you studied the pages of Film Threat magazine in the ’90’s, dreaming of all of the exciting new indy projects that most likely would not be coming to a theater near me. Well, good news; Film Threat has returned (I mean they’ve had a website for years…but you get what I’m laying down) with a new distribution label announced at this year’s SDCC titled…better sit down for this shocker…Film Threat Presents! Their first release will be F’ed up sci-fi drug yarn The Theta Girl! Here’s the official rundown copy/pasted straight from the PR material just for you boils n’ ghouls: 33 years after its premiere as the rogue, iconoclastic fanzine championing indie film, Film Threat is back. First as a website, FilmThreat.com, relaunched last year, and now as a distribution label, catering to the same demographic that loved the disruptive magazine so much during its print run between 1985 and 1997. The first release, scheduled

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 20, 2018
Horror Fuel

80’s Throwback Flick ‘The Barn’ Coming To Digital This July

Terror Films is kicking off the summer with the release of their highly-anticipated 80’s throwback flick The Barn. The Barn, written and directed by Justin M. Seaman, racked up awards across 38 film festivals winning Best Old School Horror (Fright Night Film Fest), Best Cinematography (Crimson Screen Horror Film), Best Special Make-Up FX (Hexploitation Film Fest), the Audience Choice Award at Nevermore Film Festival and many more! Set on Halloween night 1989, it follows best friends Sam (Mitchell Musolino) and Josh (Will Stout) who are trying to enjoy what’s left of their final ‘Devil’s Night’ before graduating from high school. However, trouble arises when the two pals and a group of friends take a detour on their way to a rock concert. They find an old abandoned barn and awaken the evil that lurks inside. Now it’s up to Sam and Josh to find a way to protect their friends and defeat the creatures that lurk within “The Barn.” The

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 20, 2018
Horror Fuel

The Lullaby Is Now Out On DVD

The Lullaby, from director Darrell Roodt, one of the best indie horror films of the year, is now out on VOD and DVD. Starring Reine Swart, The Lullaby is the twisted tale of Chloe Van Heerden, as a young woman who returns to her hometown to give birth. As she struggles to cope with motherhood and her overbearing mother, she finds herself with a growing sense of guilt, paranoia, and an overwhelming feeling that she and her baby are in danger from a dark entity. Brandon Auret, Thandi Puren, Dorthy Ann Gould, Samuel Frauenstein, and Deànré Reines co-star in this tale that shines a light on postpartum depression. Pick up your copy of The Lullaby (review) now, from Uncork’d Entertainment. Be sure to check our interview with the film’s star Reine Swart.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 19, 2018
Horror Fuel

New Poster Revealed For Psychotronic Fright Flick Mandy!

With every new tidbit we get regarding the upcoming Nic Cage fright flick Mandy, our arcane anticipation grows by leaps and bounds! Well today we got to slap our putrid peepers on the official poster for the picture and it’s a thing of beastly beauty! Take a gander for yourselves boils n’ ghouls: A thing of rad-ass beauty, ’tis it not! Mandy will be unleashed in theaters September 14th, and if you are curious here is the low down about the film straight from the PR Terror Teletype: Pacific Northwest. 1983 AD. Outsiders Red Miller and Mandy Bloom lead a loving and peaceful existence. When their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 18, 2018
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Doom Asylum (1987)

A lawyer gets into a car accident (after an over-the-top display of hysterics) that leaves him horribly disfigured and his girlfriend a corpse. As such individuals do, he now stalks the halls of an abandoned asylum, just waiting to put the murder biz on anyone foolish to enter the putrid place. As if on cue, a bunch of fools (including some teens and an all female noise rock band…the leader of which must have a diet that consists of nothing but scenery for the amount of it she chews through the film’s run time) do indeed decide to pay the asylum a visit resulting in gore, popped tops (well one top to be more accurate), and one liners! The first thing you have to realize about Doom Asylum is that it absolutely refuses to take itself seriously. Once you get past that lil’ tidbit you can just kick back and enjoy the intentionally over-the-top acting, wise crakin’ killer, scenarios, and

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 17, 2018
Horror Fuel

Short Film Review: Parlour Tricks (2018)

Family members gather in a Victorian parlour to attend a seance conducted to communicate with their deceased aunt…in order to determine how she wanted her possessions and money distributed as she left no will. As the seance occurs, these vultures…err, loving relatives encounter a spirit close to them, but not exactly the one they intended on… Written and Directed by legendary horror biz Scream Queen and Burlesque performer Tristan Risk (American Mary), Parlour Tricks is one hell of a campy, over-the-top, piece of creepy comedy! Starring a fantastically game cast including: Gidget Gravedigger (Caravan of Creeps, Dark Entries podcast, Abracadaver Cabaret), Emma Eldritch (Abracadaver Cabaret, Dark Entries podcast, Osculum Infame), Tyler Nichols (Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom, 28 Geeks Later), and Sean Covernton (Princess Blasteroid, TheBasketball Game, Trick or Treat:The Halloween Party), and featuring wonderfully moody black and white cinematography by Jordan Barnes-Crouse (which creates a nice contrast to the ridiculous action happening on screen) this is an impressive

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 16, 2018

More from Indie

Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Dead Night (2017)

Dead Night opens in the year 1961 as strange hooded figures abduct a young woman and impregnate her with their demon seed…which goes about as well as one would expect (I mean really, has “raped by a monster to sire it’s love child” ever had a happy ending?) Flash forward to 2015, and a dysfunctional family (and one friend) heads out in the family truckster to visit a remote cabin, under which a large quantity of buried iron is said to exist…why is that important? Because said deposit can supposedly render a new age cure for the family’s ailing patriarch. Of course this location is still home to those creepy creatures mentioned above, and they’ve been rubbin’ up on some corkscrew cocoon thing gettin’ it’s tentacles all a-twitter. We soon learn…via a true crime television show replete with cheesy re-enactments and commercials for a local politician, Leslie Bison (the legendary Barbara Crampton) that the matriarch of the fam, Casey (Brea

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 24, 2018
Horror Fuel

An Epidemic Breaks Out In The Award-Winning Horror Face Of Evil – Now Out On DVD

Horror icon Jamie Bernadette (interview) stars in the award-winning outbreak film Face of Evil, now available on VOD and DVD from award-winning filmmaker Vito Dinatolo and Gravitas Ventures. Set “on July 4th, private Jay Williams returns home from the Middle East, but a mysterious epidemic breaks out and infects his friends at his party. On the road to salvation, Jay is joined by his ex-sergeant, who reveals chilling secrets leading to a conspiracy. The night has just begun, as they embark on a survival quest for the ultimate truth.” Scott Baxter, Chad Bishop, Jamie Bernadette, and Janet Roth star in Face of Evil, now out from Gravitas Ventures.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 23, 2018
Horror Fuel

Filmmaker P.J. Starks Talks Volumes Of Blood 3: Devil’s Knight And More

Back in 2015, I reported about the horror anthology titled Volumes of Blood from writer/director/producer P.J. Starks. Since that film, he’s been a busy man. He’s produced 18 films, made a sequel to Volumes and Blood, and directed 3 other films. Now P.J. is making the third Volumes of Blood film Volumes of Blood: Devil’s Knight. P.J. took the time out of his busy (and I mean busy) schedule to talk with us about it and a few other things. Check it out. Horror Fuel: “What made you want to become a filmmaker?” P.J.: “I’ve always been a storyteller in some form or fashion. I started with writing really early on. In the sixth grade, I wrote an alien invasion novella. I was also a huge lover of movies and as time went on it was just a natural transition from writing to filmmaking. Ultimately it was Clerks that made me say, “Hey, I could really do this.” Horror Fuel:

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 21, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: The Tooth Fairy (2018)

As family and friends gather on a failing rural farm, we learn that years previous they managed to capture an evil witch (the Tooth Fairy…I don’t even fucking know), and imprison her in the barn by way of sugar and dangling candy canes (sounds ridiculous, and it is…but you lot all know I dig on the absurd, so well played movie…well played). Well that seemingly fool proof prison is thwarted when a drifter simply opens the door and frees the wicked bitch of the west (after she chisels some of his teeth out of course). This results in her stalking and granting dark wishes (in exchange for teeth ‘natch) to the sad sack family…now, can they dispatch her once more and get on with their dreary lives? First the positives to be had with the Tooth Fairy. For starters, the dreary setting (always overcast and completely remote) is full atmosphere and a suitable aesthetic choice for the tale of a

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 21, 2018
Horror Fuel

Iconic Genre Magazine Film Threat Lives on With New Distribution Label

If you are like me, you studied the pages of Film Threat magazine in the ’90’s, dreaming of all of the exciting new indy projects that most likely would not be coming to a theater near me. Well, good news; Film Threat has returned (I mean they’ve had a website for years…but you get what I’m laying down) with a new distribution label announced at this year’s SDCC titled…better sit down for this shocker…Film Threat Presents! Their first release will be F’ed up sci-fi drug yarn The Theta Girl! Here’s the official rundown copy/pasted straight from the PR material just for you boils n’ ghouls: 33 years after its premiere as the rogue, iconoclastic fanzine championing indie film, Film Threat is back. First as a website, FilmThreat.com, relaunched last year, and now as a distribution label, catering to the same demographic that loved the disruptive magazine so much during its print run between 1985 and 1997. The first release, scheduled

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 20, 2018
Horror Fuel

80’s Throwback Flick ‘The Barn’ Coming To Digital This July

Terror Films is kicking off the summer with the release of their highly-anticipated 80’s throwback flick The Barn. The Barn, written and directed by Justin M. Seaman, racked up awards across 38 film festivals winning Best Old School Horror (Fright Night Film Fest), Best Cinematography (Crimson Screen Horror Film), Best Special Make-Up FX (Hexploitation Film Fest), the Audience Choice Award at Nevermore Film Festival and many more! Set on Halloween night 1989, it follows best friends Sam (Mitchell Musolino) and Josh (Will Stout) who are trying to enjoy what’s left of their final ‘Devil’s Night’ before graduating from high school. However, trouble arises when the two pals and a group of friends take a detour on their way to a rock concert. They find an old abandoned barn and awaken the evil that lurks inside. Now it’s up to Sam and Josh to find a way to protect their friends and defeat the creatures that lurk within “The Barn.” The

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 20, 2018
Horror Fuel

The Lullaby Is Now Out On DVD

The Lullaby, from director Darrell Roodt, one of the best indie horror films of the year, is now out on VOD and DVD. Starring Reine Swart, The Lullaby is the twisted tale of Chloe Van Heerden, as a young woman who returns to her hometown to give birth. As she struggles to cope with motherhood and her overbearing mother, she finds herself with a growing sense of guilt, paranoia, and an overwhelming feeling that she and her baby are in danger from a dark entity. Brandon Auret, Thandi Puren, Dorthy Ann Gould, Samuel Frauenstein, and Deànré Reines co-star in this tale that shines a light on postpartum depression. Pick up your copy of The Lullaby (review) now, from Uncork’d Entertainment. Be sure to check our interview with the film’s star Reine Swart.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 19, 2018
Horror Fuel

New Poster Revealed For Psychotronic Fright Flick Mandy!

With every new tidbit we get regarding the upcoming Nic Cage fright flick Mandy, our arcane anticipation grows by leaps and bounds! Well today we got to slap our putrid peepers on the official poster for the picture and it’s a thing of beastly beauty! Take a gander for yourselves boils n’ ghouls: A thing of rad-ass beauty, ’tis it not! Mandy will be unleashed in theaters September 14th, and if you are curious here is the low down about the film straight from the PR Terror Teletype: Pacific Northwest. 1983 AD. Outsiders Red Miller and Mandy Bloom lead a loving and peaceful existence. When their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 18, 2018
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Doom Asylum (1987)

A lawyer gets into a car accident (after an over-the-top display of hysterics) that leaves him horribly disfigured and his girlfriend a corpse. As such individuals do, he now stalks the halls of an abandoned asylum, just waiting to put the murder biz on anyone foolish to enter the putrid place. As if on cue, a bunch of fools (including some teens and an all female noise rock band…the leader of which must have a diet that consists of nothing but scenery for the amount of it she chews through the film’s run time) do indeed decide to pay the asylum a visit resulting in gore, popped tops (well one top to be more accurate), and one liners! The first thing you have to realize about Doom Asylum is that it absolutely refuses to take itself seriously. Once you get past that lil’ tidbit you can just kick back and enjoy the intentionally over-the-top acting, wise crakin’ killer, scenarios, and

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 17, 2018
Horror Fuel

Short Film Review: Parlour Tricks (2018)

Family members gather in a Victorian parlour to attend a seance conducted to communicate with their deceased aunt…in order to determine how she wanted her possessions and money distributed as she left no will. As the seance occurs, these vultures…err, loving relatives encounter a spirit close to them, but not exactly the one they intended on… Written and Directed by legendary horror biz Scream Queen and Burlesque performer Tristan Risk (American Mary), Parlour Tricks is one hell of a campy, over-the-top, piece of creepy comedy! Starring a fantastically game cast including: Gidget Gravedigger (Caravan of Creeps, Dark Entries podcast, Abracadaver Cabaret), Emma Eldritch (Abracadaver Cabaret, Dark Entries podcast, Osculum Infame), Tyler Nichols (Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom, 28 Geeks Later), and Sean Covernton (Princess Blasteroid, TheBasketball Game, Trick or Treat:The Halloween Party), and featuring wonderfully moody black and white cinematography by Jordan Barnes-Crouse (which creates a nice contrast to the ridiculous action happening on screen) this is an impressive

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 16, 2018
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