CategoryIndie
Independent horror: micro-budget features, short films and first-time filmmakers doing more with less — and often doing it better.
2,258 stories
IndieMoviesReviews
A gaggle of goofs exit stage left from a stale Halloween party and decide to try to conjure ghosts via reading passages from an ancient tome at ye olde abandoned doll factory (home to a battle with a host of rather surly killer baby dolls years previous). As you can guess that shit works gangbusters and soon our young heroes are getting ripped new assholes by the pint-sized, petulant puppets (okay they are dolls as previously stated, but fuck it)… and before long the entire town may fall into the creepy clutches of evil! After a strong cold open, Doll Factory almost lost me with an overlong party sequence that was on the boring as balls side; but man did it gain my attention back right quick! You see, this fright flick is a comedy at heart, and it is actually funny… go figure. The cast (my favorite of the bunch being Boo Gay as Darius; the dude that battled
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
During the Blitz of England circa 1944, Patricia Woodhouse (Kelly Goudie) has to contend with the potential of being blown to smithereens as well as settling the affairs of her recently departed estranged sister Susanna Baylock. Once arriving at that humble abode, our heroine is informed by her sister’s maid, Annabel Blair (Sarah Wynne Kordas) that she has inherited the whole kit n’ caboodle. Lucky day for you, eh Patty? Well, maybe not that lucky as she immediately begins having migraines and dreams of the “fucked up” variety… not to mention the dark figure that seems to permeate the entire structure… a structure that naturally… or is that preternaturally, played host to arcane rites and murder! The Baylock Residence is an effective lil’ slice of period piece horror biz. You got your classic Gothic tropes; the ol’ dark house, a woman secluded from the outside world, and of course, supernatural goings-on… and all are stirred in a petulant pot to
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Marcus Milton (Trevor Long) is a rich ass mother fucker that ends up killing a woman dressed as a moth during consensual, though substance enhanced, sex (doubtless more common than one would think among the jet-set). Anyway, after hiring someone to clean up that lil’ indiscretion, Double M hauls ass to family’s New England coastal estate currently occupied by his his brother Michael (Chris McGarry) and his kids, the teenage Lily (Andrea Chen) and her younger bro Spencer (Garr Long). Speaking of Mikey, that dude soon splits the scene to try and win back his wife, so it’s up to ol’ Uncle Marcus to watch the “children”, which of course is a pretty shitty plan, because Marc-dawg is no Uncle Buck; flippin’ giant pancakes and shit, rather it becomes obvious he has the horny’s for his niece… not that she seems to mind. Of course there’s some sort of preternatural beast involved as well, and that creepy bastard is unlocking
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Detective Samantha Woodhouse (Nicola Correia-Drakulic) goes a-sleuthing after her father spits out the name of a girl who has been missing for nigh-on nine years upon his death bed… a girl who went missing after some sort of prom thing or another. Complicating matters are the strange cult that inhabits Sammy’s hometown… not to mention the fact our heroine may have a connection to the disappearance! Will Samantha be able to crack the case and remain confident of who she is? Filmmakers Jay Drakulic and Alex Lee Williams deliver one hell of a stylish thriller with Hellmington… but the film has much more going for it than aesthetics and groovy camera-work. The suspense remains tight throughout (with plenty of well-constructed ramp-ups), the mystery is engaging, and the performances, especially that provided by Correia-Drakulic as Samantha are on-point… especially as the emotional turmoil of her investigation takes it’s toll on her character’s psyche. Another big check in the plus column for
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesParanormalReviews
A gaggle of science-type students have taken it upon themselves to prove that the things that go bump in the night are really real… and if they can convince the college board of their findings than they will be on easy street, ya dig? As you may surmise from that title up yonder, the final investigation to prove their point is ol’ unlucky number thirteen, which takes our protagonists deep within Black Grove Psychiatric Asylum where they set out to examine the legend of The Mole Man; a former patient of ye olde loony-bin who is thought to still haunt those unhallowed halls. Of course, this being a fright flick and all, members of the group pull a vanishing act and our remaining heroes must deal with the fact that ol’ Double M is a very real threat to their continued existence! Let’s get down to brass fuckin’ tacks; Investigation 13 doesn’t exactly break new and exciting ground in our
Continue reading →
DocumentariesIndieMoviesReviews
Director Craig Anderson is like a lot of us… a middle-aged man who hasn’t given up the dream of making his own fright flick. So he leaves his television gig and actually makes a film; 2016’s Red Christmas (which I reviewed in another life right here); a lil’ ditty about an aborted fetus that lives, grows up and decides to get sweet revenge on mommy dearest come Yuletide. Now you may say; “Why in the unholy fuck would I give two generous shits about the making of a film I (probably) never saw?” The answer to that is simple; “Because you need to see the absolute hell filmmaking can be if you aren’t properly prepared.” The main area that unpreparedness shows is in the budgeting of the film… Anderson’s budget, meager to begin with, continues to grow, and he has to bust ass and make many a sacrifice (including totally sucking the teat of his life savings dry as a
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesNewsShudderStreaming TV
One of the most critically-acclaimed genre films of the past decade and a record-shattering blockbuster in its native Japan, One Cut of the Dead. Scoring a rare “100% Fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes, the film follows a movie crew “while shooting a low-budget zombie film in an abandoned warehouse, the crew find themselves caught between actual zombies and a mad director who won’t stop rolling. If you think you know what happens next, think again. Filmmaker Shinichiro Ueda turns the film on its head more than once for one of the wildest, funniest, and most surprising zombie movies of all time.” This hit film is written, directed, and edited by Shinichiro Ueda, and stars Takayuki Hamatsu, Mao, Harumi Shuhama, Yuzuki Akiyama, Kazuaki Nagaya, and Manabu Hosoi. During its lengthy festival run, One Cut of the Dead received numerous awards and accolades, including the Audience Award and Best Director at Fantastic Fest, Best Film at Fantasia, Best Film at Bifan Fantastic
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesNewsTrailers
An aspiring horror filmmaker has an insane, ingenious method for producing movies in Incredible Violence, which marks the directorial debut of G. Patrick Condon who penned the script with Ross Moore. M.J. Kehler, Stephen Oates, Michael Worthman, Kimberly Drake, and Erin Mark star in the quasi-biographical flick. ‘ In the film, “G. Patrick Condon is a shitty filmmaker who has taken a loan from a group he shouldn’t have gotten mixed up in. Now he’s drunk the money away and he owes them a horror movie. Grace, who has always dreamed of being a famous actress, is desperately trying to make it in the movie business. She gets her first big break in a horror flick, but there are a few things unusual about this shoot. She and the rest of the cast will have to live in the house for the duration of the shoot, they aren’t allowed to leave and will be recorded everywhere around the clock. Where
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesNewsShudderStreaming TV
Shudder recently announced their September line up and among the titles listed were two films from indie genre distributor Terror Films The two films included: the highly anticipated Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire, plus a fan and critic favorite that seemed to have all but disappeared from digital platforms – Adam Robitel’s award-winning feature debut, The Taking of Deborah Logan, which is one of the most disturbing films of 2014. The Taking of Deborah Logan was initially released theatrically overseas in 2014. Yet, the film had almost no exposure on U.S. digital and streaming platforms beyond Netflix. This title ended its run on this platform in 2016. Terror Films, however, intends to release the film wide across multiple digital platforms this fall. The Taking of Deborah Logan has a well-renowned cast and has won multiple awards. Winner of 2015’s iHorror Award for Best Direct Release, the film stars Screen Actors Guild Awards® Nominee Anne Ramsay, Primetime Emmy® Nominee
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Anthologies are a dime a demonic dozen in our beloved horror biz, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen on featuring hitmen telling terror tales before committing a kill… The set-up to An Hour To Kill is simple; Mr. Kinski (Game of Death‘s Mel Novak) orders our “heroes” Frankie (Frankie Pozos) and Gio (Aaron Guerrero) to bump off a poor, unfortunate sumbitch in an hours time. To pass that allotted limit, horror yarns are spun, and first up is: Valkyrie’s Bunker, which concerns a World War Two Nazi bunker located in sunny California, U. S. of fuckin’ A.! And wouldn’t ya know it, that building is lousy with bud… supposedly. Enter five femmes who take it upon themselves to sniff out that wicked weed, which of course leads to them entering into a fight for their lives against a gas-mask wearin’ sinister slasher! This segment is a fun homage to ’80s era stalk n’ slay affairs, and offers a
Continue reading →
More from Indie
IndieMoviesReviews
A gaggle of goofs exit stage left from a stale Halloween party and decide to try to conjure ghosts via reading passages from an ancient tome at ye olde abandoned doll factory (home to a battle with a host of rather surly killer baby dolls years previous). As you can guess that shit works gangbusters and soon our young heroes are getting ripped new assholes by the pint-sized, petulant puppets (okay they are dolls as previously stated, but fuck it)… and before long the entire town may fall into the creepy clutches of evil! After a strong cold open, Doll Factory almost lost me with an overlong party sequence that was on the boring as balls side; but man did it gain my attention back right quick! You see, this fright flick is a comedy at heart, and it is actually funny… go figure. The cast (my favorite of the bunch being Boo Gay as Darius; the dude that battled
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
During the Blitz of England circa 1944, Patricia Woodhouse (Kelly Goudie) has to contend with the potential of being blown to smithereens as well as settling the affairs of her recently departed estranged sister Susanna Baylock. Once arriving at that humble abode, our heroine is informed by her sister’s maid, Annabel Blair (Sarah Wynne Kordas) that she has inherited the whole kit n’ caboodle. Lucky day for you, eh Patty? Well, maybe not that lucky as she immediately begins having migraines and dreams of the “fucked up” variety… not to mention the dark figure that seems to permeate the entire structure… a structure that naturally… or is that preternaturally, played host to arcane rites and murder! The Baylock Residence is an effective lil’ slice of period piece horror biz. You got your classic Gothic tropes; the ol’ dark house, a woman secluded from the outside world, and of course, supernatural goings-on… and all are stirred in a petulant pot to
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Marcus Milton (Trevor Long) is a rich ass mother fucker that ends up killing a woman dressed as a moth during consensual, though substance enhanced, sex (doubtless more common than one would think among the jet-set). Anyway, after hiring someone to clean up that lil’ indiscretion, Double M hauls ass to family’s New England coastal estate currently occupied by his his brother Michael (Chris McGarry) and his kids, the teenage Lily (Andrea Chen) and her younger bro Spencer (Garr Long). Speaking of Mikey, that dude soon splits the scene to try and win back his wife, so it’s up to ol’ Uncle Marcus to watch the “children”, which of course is a pretty shitty plan, because Marc-dawg is no Uncle Buck; flippin’ giant pancakes and shit, rather it becomes obvious he has the horny’s for his niece… not that she seems to mind. Of course there’s some sort of preternatural beast involved as well, and that creepy bastard is unlocking
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviewsThriller
Detective Samantha Woodhouse (Nicola Correia-Drakulic) goes a-sleuthing after her father spits out the name of a girl who has been missing for nigh-on nine years upon his death bed… a girl who went missing after some sort of prom thing or another. Complicating matters are the strange cult that inhabits Sammy’s hometown… not to mention the fact our heroine may have a connection to the disappearance! Will Samantha be able to crack the case and remain confident of who she is? Filmmakers Jay Drakulic and Alex Lee Williams deliver one hell of a stylish thriller with Hellmington… but the film has much more going for it than aesthetics and groovy camera-work. The suspense remains tight throughout (with plenty of well-constructed ramp-ups), the mystery is engaging, and the performances, especially that provided by Correia-Drakulic as Samantha are on-point… especially as the emotional turmoil of her investigation takes it’s toll on her character’s psyche. Another big check in the plus column for
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesParanormalReviews
A gaggle of science-type students have taken it upon themselves to prove that the things that go bump in the night are really real… and if they can convince the college board of their findings than they will be on easy street, ya dig? As you may surmise from that title up yonder, the final investigation to prove their point is ol’ unlucky number thirteen, which takes our protagonists deep within Black Grove Psychiatric Asylum where they set out to examine the legend of The Mole Man; a former patient of ye olde loony-bin who is thought to still haunt those unhallowed halls. Of course, this being a fright flick and all, members of the group pull a vanishing act and our remaining heroes must deal with the fact that ol’ Double M is a very real threat to their continued existence! Let’s get down to brass fuckin’ tacks; Investigation 13 doesn’t exactly break new and exciting ground in our
Continue reading →
DocumentariesIndieMoviesReviews
Director Craig Anderson is like a lot of us… a middle-aged man who hasn’t given up the dream of making his own fright flick. So he leaves his television gig and actually makes a film; 2016’s Red Christmas (which I reviewed in another life right here); a lil’ ditty about an aborted fetus that lives, grows up and decides to get sweet revenge on mommy dearest come Yuletide. Now you may say; “Why in the unholy fuck would I give two generous shits about the making of a film I (probably) never saw?” The answer to that is simple; “Because you need to see the absolute hell filmmaking can be if you aren’t properly prepared.” The main area that unpreparedness shows is in the budgeting of the film… Anderson’s budget, meager to begin with, continues to grow, and he has to bust ass and make many a sacrifice (including totally sucking the teat of his life savings dry as a
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesNewsShudderStreaming TV
One of the most critically-acclaimed genre films of the past decade and a record-shattering blockbuster in its native Japan, One Cut of the Dead. Scoring a rare “100% Fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes, the film follows a movie crew “while shooting a low-budget zombie film in an abandoned warehouse, the crew find themselves caught between actual zombies and a mad director who won’t stop rolling. If you think you know what happens next, think again. Filmmaker Shinichiro Ueda turns the film on its head more than once for one of the wildest, funniest, and most surprising zombie movies of all time.” This hit film is written, directed, and edited by Shinichiro Ueda, and stars Takayuki Hamatsu, Mao, Harumi Shuhama, Yuzuki Akiyama, Kazuaki Nagaya, and Manabu Hosoi. During its lengthy festival run, One Cut of the Dead received numerous awards and accolades, including the Audience Award and Best Director at Fantastic Fest, Best Film at Fantasia, Best Film at Bifan Fantastic
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesNewsTrailers
An aspiring horror filmmaker has an insane, ingenious method for producing movies in Incredible Violence, which marks the directorial debut of G. Patrick Condon who penned the script with Ross Moore. M.J. Kehler, Stephen Oates, Michael Worthman, Kimberly Drake, and Erin Mark star in the quasi-biographical flick. ‘ In the film, “G. Patrick Condon is a shitty filmmaker who has taken a loan from a group he shouldn’t have gotten mixed up in. Now he’s drunk the money away and he owes them a horror movie. Grace, who has always dreamed of being a famous actress, is desperately trying to make it in the movie business. She gets her first big break in a horror flick, but there are a few things unusual about this shoot. She and the rest of the cast will have to live in the house for the duration of the shoot, they aren’t allowed to leave and will be recorded everywhere around the clock. Where
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesNewsShudderStreaming TV
Shudder recently announced their September line up and among the titles listed were two films from indie genre distributor Terror Films The two films included: the highly anticipated Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire, plus a fan and critic favorite that seemed to have all but disappeared from digital platforms – Adam Robitel’s award-winning feature debut, The Taking of Deborah Logan, which is one of the most disturbing films of 2014. The Taking of Deborah Logan was initially released theatrically overseas in 2014. Yet, the film had almost no exposure on U.S. digital and streaming platforms beyond Netflix. This title ended its run on this platform in 2016. Terror Films, however, intends to release the film wide across multiple digital platforms this fall. The Taking of Deborah Logan has a well-renowned cast and has won multiple awards. Winner of 2015’s iHorror Award for Best Direct Release, the film stars Screen Actors Guild Awards® Nominee Anne Ramsay, Primetime Emmy® Nominee
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Anthologies are a dime a demonic dozen in our beloved horror biz, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen on featuring hitmen telling terror tales before committing a kill… The set-up to An Hour To Kill is simple; Mr. Kinski (Game of Death‘s Mel Novak) orders our “heroes” Frankie (Frankie Pozos) and Gio (Aaron Guerrero) to bump off a poor, unfortunate sumbitch in an hours time. To pass that allotted limit, horror yarns are spun, and first up is: Valkyrie’s Bunker, which concerns a World War Two Nazi bunker located in sunny California, U. S. of fuckin’ A.! And wouldn’t ya know it, that building is lousy with bud… supposedly. Enter five femmes who take it upon themselves to sniff out that wicked weed, which of course leads to them entering into a fight for their lives against a gas-mask wearin’ sinister slasher! This segment is a fun homage to ’80s era stalk n’ slay affairs, and offers a
Continue reading →
