CategoryReviews
Honest horror reviews of films, series, games and books — no hype, no spoilers, just whether it is worth your time and your nerves.
3,465 stories
MoviesReviews
ivansxtc begins the only place it could; the end. You see star Hollywood agent Ivan Beckham (30 Days of Night‘s Danny Huston) has died of lung cancer, which shocks his co-workers who would have bet that his demise would have been from the absolutely bonkers amount of drugs n’ booze he quaffed on the regular. Speaking of that wild life, we see Ivan’s last days laid bare via flashback ya dig… and what days they were; full of high-stakes Peter Weller-focused wheelin’ and dealin’, static from his girlfriend Charlotte (Lisa Enos), family and client drama… and of course plenty of full on illicit substance fueled hanky-panky! A raw as hell blend of Hollywood excess and Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Illyich, ivansxtc posses an almost documentary feel, and that brings us closer to the titular character’s swirling insanity than we may be comfortable with. Shot on digital video by Bernard Rose (most famous for fright fans from his 1992 cinematic
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Ever want to watch the entire Jaws series of films in one go, but you just could never find the time? Well, fret not cats n’ creeps, because your kindly uncle Bruno (Mattei that is… he of Shocking Dark, Rats: Night of Terror, and a beastly billion more… even though he’s credited as William Snyder here for reasons most likely relating to permits and taxes) has managed to shove the entire series into a 94 minute gem titled Cruel Jaws! In the sleepy seaside town of Hampton Bay, Dag (Richard Dew… though it may actually be Hulk Hogan… Dagamania’s runnin’ wild brother!) operates an aquarium, though he’s down on his luck after an accident nearly ruined him, and left his poor waif of a daughter mighty pouty… and unable to walk I guess. To make matters worse, a greedy-ass businessman, the mafia, and the town’s mayor want his ass evicted pronto. Naturally, there’s also an annual festival (this time a
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
South African feature Parable is all over the place, in the best sense of the term. At times loopy, at other times bitingly satirical, and at still others creepy and unnerving as all get out, director Beer Adriaanse’s film is a blast. Teenager Esther (Jane de Wet) gets caught by her father in the act of kissing another girl, and he sends her off to a Christian camp where the controversial Reverend Day (Michael Richard) means to “cure” her of her sapphic desires. When Esther proves hard to “cure,” Day proclaims that she is possessed by a demon. The thing is, somewhere along the line, Esther does indeed find herself in the clutches of a diabolical force. Meanwhile, high schooler Kasper (Jay Hlatshwayo), his drug-dealing buddy Loyd (Danny Meaker), and their friend Lina (Carla Classen) are entering their gated community when Day drives in to hide Esther in one of the houses there. She scratches Kasper, forming a psychic bond
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
Awe, yeah, it’s time to schwifty! Season four of Adult Swim’s badass series “Rick and Morty” is out on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital! The Blu-ray is filled with gore, action, and hijinx. Witness the duo get themselves into stranger and stranger situations, like dealing with slut dragons (yes, you read that right) and chaos causing apps. Rick even learns a lesson about fatherhood. Hell, Ruth Bader Ginsberg even makes a cameo. The Blu-ray and DVD are jam-packed with goodies, including ten episodes and a ton of bonus features including behind-the-scenes videos, and a special short film titled “Samurai and Shogun.” Learn how snake Jazz is created, and what goes into designing characters. Season four of the Emmy winning-series (Outstanding Animated Program) is hilarious and badass in every way. Keeping its unique charm, the series does not disappoint. The characters we have come to love continue to evolve, especially Morty who seems to finally be coming into his own and learning
Continue reading →
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MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
I’ve long been a fan of writer-director Darren Lynn Bousman. He’s the brilliant filmmaker that brought us films like Saw II and Saw III, Tales of Halloween, and the fantastically twisted film Repo! The Genetic Opera, as well as the upcoming movie Spiral. What’s not to love? Well, he’s back with a new terror-filled film, Death of Me, which is set to be released this October. Maggie Q stars as Christine, a wife along on a trip with her travel writer husband Neil (Luke Hemsworth) who are traveling to a stunning island off of Thailand. After a night out at a local bar, the two wake up and themselves covered in dirt and bruises, with no memory of the night before. With their passports and ID missing, the two are stranded. After discovering a video on Neil’s camera, they are stunned at what they see and Christine is left confused and terrified of her husband and everyone around her. A
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Here we have a real treat I’m lookin’ forward to slappin’ my putrid peepers upon; namely the Barry J. Gillis Triple Threat Collection! Let’s take the demonic dive, shall we cats n’ creeps? First up is 1989’s Things! After a dream sequence involving a fully nude woman in a devil mask and a mutant baby, we get down to brass tacks with the meat n’ potatoes of Things. Our hero Doug (Doug Bunston) is nowhere to be seen as his brother Don (Barry J. Gillis, who wrote and produced) and his pal and Fred (Bruce Roach) ransack his house for beer and play a weird ass demonic tape and rifle through his books. Doug returns and yells at them, but the goofs don’t scram; instead they drink more beer, look for cockroaches to eat, and try to tune into the beastality network on TV… also drink beer. You may think this makes little to no sense, and it doesn’t… but
Continue reading →
HalloweenParanormalReviews
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own. Scooby (Frank Welker) and the gang, Fred (also voiced by Welker), Daphne (Grey Griffin), Velma (Kate Micucci), and Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) are up to their arcane armpits in preternatural peril when ye olde friendly neighborhood pumpkin patch is covered in toxic waste (accompanied by a cue that definitely brings to mind 1985’s Return of the Living Dead) which results in the pumpkins coming to life and they have the horror biz foremost on their monstrous minds! Seems like a solid Scooby-Doo scenario… how about if I told you that Elvira (the legendary Cassandra Peterson herself, ‘natch) shows up, as does Bill Nye the Science Guy (himself, though amped-up to 11)… and the Scarecrow (The A-Team‘s world famous Howlin’ Mad Murdock, Dwight Shultz)… like from Batman… yeah, what the what now?!! With it’s faster pace
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
A trio of anthropology students; Robert, Rita, and Tommy (thanks for fuckin’ up a good thing Tom) get a wild hair up their collective asses that the primitive tribe their guide has led them to is too well known, and that the best course would be to be to travel further into the Indonesian jungle and really go native! Of course this goes over like a turd in a punchbowl, and after a rafting accident the gang makes like Journey and (unintentionally) go their separate ways… with Robert and Rita (Team R forevahhh) running afoul of the titular primitive tribe of (alleged) cannibals, and Tommy beating the bush looking high and low for his pals. Make no mistake; director Sisworo Gautama Putra and screenwriter Imam Tantowi are straight up swiping Italian cannibal fright flick maestro Ruggero Deodato like a mother fucker, but I’ll be damned if they don’t make an entertaining go if it. After inexplicably starting with a credit
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
2019: After the Fall of New York‘s Michael Sopkiw stars as Kevin Hall, a dude that loves playing with his bone… or more accurately, bones; and of the dinosaur variety at that! This mother fucker of a paleontologist hauls those shits around in a wood box he drags behind him like a “modern day” (well as of 35 years ago anyway) Django! So this Kev cat hitches a ride on a plane headed down to the Amazon (after a barfight so ridiculous it would be right at home in a Looney Tunes short… sound effects and all), along with a motley crew that includes, but is in no way limited to: an egghead professor (Leonidas Bayer) and his comely daughter (Suzane Carvalho), a couple of fashion models (the breathtaking Maria Reis and Susan Hahn), a crazed Vietnam Vet (Milton Rodríguez) and his high maintenance nag of a wife (Marta Anderson)… a real Gilligan’s Island type of sitch, but imagine the
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Netflix has a great track record with its originals these days (bar Cuties), so when I saw first saw the trailer for their thriller The Devil All the Time I was excited, however, neither the trailer nor the plot description prepared me for the true darkness of this film. First, the cast. With stars like Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Robert Pattinson, Haley Bennett, and Jason Clarke, the film could have been one of those obnoxious movies that simply rely on star power, but that’s not the case. These stars come together to create a truly fantastic story whose events and characters are all connected to Tom Holland’s character Arvin Russell’s life story. But don’t get me wrong, we don’t just see glimpses of the other characters, we are put into their lives, dreams, and the hardships they endure. Every actor puts their heart and soul into their roles and it shows, each was amazing. Bill Skarsgård exudes the trauma, heartbreak,
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
MoviesReviews
ivansxtc begins the only place it could; the end. You see star Hollywood agent Ivan Beckham (30 Days of Night‘s Danny Huston) has died of lung cancer, which shocks his co-workers who would have bet that his demise would have been from the absolutely bonkers amount of drugs n’ booze he quaffed on the regular. Speaking of that wild life, we see Ivan’s last days laid bare via flashback ya dig… and what days they were; full of high-stakes Peter Weller-focused wheelin’ and dealin’, static from his girlfriend Charlotte (Lisa Enos), family and client drama… and of course plenty of full on illicit substance fueled hanky-panky! A raw as hell blend of Hollywood excess and Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Illyich, ivansxtc posses an almost documentary feel, and that brings us closer to the titular character’s swirling insanity than we may be comfortable with. Shot on digital video by Bernard Rose (most famous for fright fans from his 1992 cinematic
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Ever want to watch the entire Jaws series of films in one go, but you just could never find the time? Well, fret not cats n’ creeps, because your kindly uncle Bruno (Mattei that is… he of Shocking Dark, Rats: Night of Terror, and a beastly billion more… even though he’s credited as William Snyder here for reasons most likely relating to permits and taxes) has managed to shove the entire series into a 94 minute gem titled Cruel Jaws! In the sleepy seaside town of Hampton Bay, Dag (Richard Dew… though it may actually be Hulk Hogan… Dagamania’s runnin’ wild brother!) operates an aquarium, though he’s down on his luck after an accident nearly ruined him, and left his poor waif of a daughter mighty pouty… and unable to walk I guess. To make matters worse, a greedy-ass businessman, the mafia, and the town’s mayor want his ass evicted pronto. Naturally, there’s also an annual festival (this time a
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
South African feature Parable is all over the place, in the best sense of the term. At times loopy, at other times bitingly satirical, and at still others creepy and unnerving as all get out, director Beer Adriaanse’s film is a blast. Teenager Esther (Jane de Wet) gets caught by her father in the act of kissing another girl, and he sends her off to a Christian camp where the controversial Reverend Day (Michael Richard) means to “cure” her of her sapphic desires. When Esther proves hard to “cure,” Day proclaims that she is possessed by a demon. The thing is, somewhere along the line, Esther does indeed find herself in the clutches of a diabolical force. Meanwhile, high schooler Kasper (Jay Hlatshwayo), his drug-dealing buddy Loyd (Danny Meaker), and their friend Lina (Carla Classen) are entering their gated community when Day drives in to hide Esther in one of the houses there. She scratches Kasper, forming a psychic bond
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
Awe, yeah, it’s time to schwifty! Season four of Adult Swim’s badass series “Rick and Morty” is out on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital! The Blu-ray is filled with gore, action, and hijinx. Witness the duo get themselves into stranger and stranger situations, like dealing with slut dragons (yes, you read that right) and chaos causing apps. Rick even learns a lesson about fatherhood. Hell, Ruth Bader Ginsberg even makes a cameo. The Blu-ray and DVD are jam-packed with goodies, including ten episodes and a ton of bonus features including behind-the-scenes videos, and a special short film titled “Samurai and Shogun.” Learn how snake Jazz is created, and what goes into designing characters. Season four of the Emmy winning-series (Outstanding Animated Program) is hilarious and badass in every way. Keeping its unique charm, the series does not disappoint. The characters we have come to love continue to evolve, especially Morty who seems to finally be coming into his own and learning
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
I’ve long been a fan of writer-director Darren Lynn Bousman. He’s the brilliant filmmaker that brought us films like Saw II and Saw III, Tales of Halloween, and the fantastically twisted film Repo! The Genetic Opera, as well as the upcoming movie Spiral. What’s not to love? Well, he’s back with a new terror-filled film, Death of Me, which is set to be released this October. Maggie Q stars as Christine, a wife along on a trip with her travel writer husband Neil (Luke Hemsworth) who are traveling to a stunning island off of Thailand. After a night out at a local bar, the two wake up and themselves covered in dirt and bruises, with no memory of the night before. With their passports and ID missing, the two are stranded. After discovering a video on Neil’s camera, they are stunned at what they see and Christine is left confused and terrified of her husband and everyone around her. A
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Here we have a real treat I’m lookin’ forward to slappin’ my putrid peepers upon; namely the Barry J. Gillis Triple Threat Collection! Let’s take the demonic dive, shall we cats n’ creeps? First up is 1989’s Things! After a dream sequence involving a fully nude woman in a devil mask and a mutant baby, we get down to brass tacks with the meat n’ potatoes of Things. Our hero Doug (Doug Bunston) is nowhere to be seen as his brother Don (Barry J. Gillis, who wrote and produced) and his pal and Fred (Bruce Roach) ransack his house for beer and play a weird ass demonic tape and rifle through his books. Doug returns and yells at them, but the goofs don’t scram; instead they drink more beer, look for cockroaches to eat, and try to tune into the beastality network on TV… also drink beer. You may think this makes little to no sense, and it doesn’t… but
Continue reading →
HalloweenParanormalReviews
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own. Scooby (Frank Welker) and the gang, Fred (also voiced by Welker), Daphne (Grey Griffin), Velma (Kate Micucci), and Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) are up to their arcane armpits in preternatural peril when ye olde friendly neighborhood pumpkin patch is covered in toxic waste (accompanied by a cue that definitely brings to mind 1985’s Return of the Living Dead) which results in the pumpkins coming to life and they have the horror biz foremost on their monstrous minds! Seems like a solid Scooby-Doo scenario… how about if I told you that Elvira (the legendary Cassandra Peterson herself, ‘natch) shows up, as does Bill Nye the Science Guy (himself, though amped-up to 11)… and the Scarecrow (The A-Team‘s world famous Howlin’ Mad Murdock, Dwight Shultz)… like from Batman… yeah, what the what now?!! With it’s faster pace
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
A trio of anthropology students; Robert, Rita, and Tommy (thanks for fuckin’ up a good thing Tom) get a wild hair up their collective asses that the primitive tribe their guide has led them to is too well known, and that the best course would be to be to travel further into the Indonesian jungle and really go native! Of course this goes over like a turd in a punchbowl, and after a rafting accident the gang makes like Journey and (unintentionally) go their separate ways… with Robert and Rita (Team R forevahhh) running afoul of the titular primitive tribe of (alleged) cannibals, and Tommy beating the bush looking high and low for his pals. Make no mistake; director Sisworo Gautama Putra and screenwriter Imam Tantowi are straight up swiping Italian cannibal fright flick maestro Ruggero Deodato like a mother fucker, but I’ll be damned if they don’t make an entertaining go if it. After inexplicably starting with a credit
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
2019: After the Fall of New York‘s Michael Sopkiw stars as Kevin Hall, a dude that loves playing with his bone… or more accurately, bones; and of the dinosaur variety at that! This mother fucker of a paleontologist hauls those shits around in a wood box he drags behind him like a “modern day” (well as of 35 years ago anyway) Django! So this Kev cat hitches a ride on a plane headed down to the Amazon (after a barfight so ridiculous it would be right at home in a Looney Tunes short… sound effects and all), along with a motley crew that includes, but is in no way limited to: an egghead professor (Leonidas Bayer) and his comely daughter (Suzane Carvalho), a couple of fashion models (the breathtaking Maria Reis and Susan Hahn), a crazed Vietnam Vet (Milton Rodríguez) and his high maintenance nag of a wife (Marta Anderson)… a real Gilligan’s Island type of sitch, but imagine the
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Netflix has a great track record with its originals these days (bar Cuties), so when I saw first saw the trailer for their thriller The Devil All the Time I was excited, however, neither the trailer nor the plot description prepared me for the true darkness of this film. First, the cast. With stars like Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Robert Pattinson, Haley Bennett, and Jason Clarke, the film could have been one of those obnoxious movies that simply rely on star power, but that’s not the case. These stars come together to create a truly fantastic story whose events and characters are all connected to Tom Holland’s character Arvin Russell’s life story. But don’t get me wrong, we don’t just see glimpses of the other characters, we are put into their lives, dreams, and the hardships they endure. Every actor puts their heart and soul into their roles and it shows, each was amazing. Bill Skarsgård exudes the trauma, heartbreak,
Continue reading →
