CategoryReviews
Honest horror reviews of films, series, games and books — no hype, no spoilers, just whether it is worth your time and your nerves.
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BooksMoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Out of the big blockbuster films of 2018, one of the films I’ve most looked forward to seeing was The Meg. I’m a sucker for sharks and even have a few Megladon teeth in my collection. So, when The Meg arrived on Blu-ray this week I was psyched to finally get my hands on a copy. I had high hopes for the movie from the first time I learned that it was coming and I was not disappointed. The film opens with action star Jason Statham on a mission to rescue sailors from a sub. Unfortunately, he had to leave a few men behind t save the life of those already on the rescue vessel. Just as the rescue sub pulls away something big hits the wrecked sub and blows it up. Blamed by his co-workers for the lost lives of the men he left behind Statham’s character Jonas trades in his life for a life of intoxication. His permanent
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IndieMoviesReviews
Major league weird cat and heir to an award losing breakfast cereal “empire” Jay Mandao (Scott Dunn…who also wrote and directed the film) lives with his equally eccentric adult nephew Jackson (Sean McBride)…who sleeps in a tent within the apartment…yeah…Anyway, the night before Halloween, Jay has an out of body experience via astral projection which eventually leads our heroes to begin astral projecting slightly backwards through time to help a ghost avoid their murder. Absolute insanity ensues. Mandao of the Dead is one hell of a bizarre ride boils n’ ghouls. Everything from our off-kilter heroes…played with likable charm, even when Jay is being a tad on the gruff side and Jackson is being…Jackson, to the strange astral projection, time travel, and murder angles, and left-of-center humor all coalesce into a heady stew of engaging storytelling, solid world building, and just straight up fun. On the downside, the pacing of this film is equally as odd as the story itself.
Continue reading →
Amazon Prime VideoDocumentariesMoviesReviews
John Borowski is well known for his documentary films, which give an in-depth look at various serial killers. Not only has Borowski focused on the likes of Carl Panzram, Albert Fish and H.H. Holmes, but has also done a documentary and subsequent TV series that explore the cultural obsession and influence of serial killers on society, aptly named Serial Killer Culture. This most recent documentary, which marks a bit of a departure from Borowski’s usual subject matter, deals with abuse, pain and anguish, all painted in a very different light. His subject this time is Vincent Castiglia, a well-known and renowned artist, whose preferred medium is human blood…primarily his own. So to say this man puts his life force into his work would be absolutely true. What Borowski does in this film is give the viewer a glimpse into the life of this artist that is incredibly straight forward and raw. He not only details Vincent’s brilliant artwork, but also
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
A woman (Taylor Murphy-Sinclair) sits a computer and enters a website comprised of a single image of a skull. Seems mundane enough, until the creepy commands start issuing forth… Running a brisk four minutes and change; Soundbite is a nice lil’ bite sized nugget of video violence with a sprinkling of techo terror (or is it supernatural shenanigans to blame? You boils n’ ghouls will have to decide for yourselves when you slap your eerie eyeballs on he flick after these wicked words…). Co-writer (along with Brantley J. Brown)/Director Michael Coulombe delivers a simple, basically one sentence concept with a stylish flair that makes the whole affair satisfying even without anything in the way of character development, dialog (minus one key phrase), or even explanation as to what is going on. Another interesting visual choice is a reliance on warm earth tones, rather than the orange and blue/hot pink electric blue that many of today’s fright flicks seem to be
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
Nora and Alec (Nora Yessayan and Alec Gaylord) are a young couple travellin’ down the road to adventure on their way to stay at the ultimate AirBnB of fright flicks; the remote, isolated cabin. On their way there they stop at a local diner and realize the townies are a bit on the fucked up side, but honestly, what could go wrong? Nothing. They have a normal vacation. The end. Just fucking with you boils n’ ghouls! the pair are separated, and treated as cattle by the animal mask wearing local yokels. You see the folks inhabiting this region treat the men they capture (and yes, there are more victims on hand) as beef, and the women as dairy cows. Will our lovers be able to escape this charming scenario? Let’s start with the positives on hand with The Farm. First up, Writer/Director Hans Stjernswärd has created an interesting take on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre/The Hills Have Eyes formula in
Continue reading →
Holiday HorrorIndieMoviesReviews
What can be better than a slasher flick that starts with a sorority pledge forced to lap up toilet water and humiliate herself with a pitch black marital aide before she finally snaps and chokes the head of the sorority with said dildo before slicing her up like a prize-winning ham then hanging herself? Honestly, not a hell of a lot I reckon… So after all of that craziness, Mrs. Claus starts in earnest when the sister of the now defunct sorority head, Amber by name, joins the same sorority as some sort of half-assed grief therapy. Well, before you can say ‘blood covered yule log’…wait, why would you ever even say that? Anyway…sorority bros and hoes start gettin’ offed right quick by a sinister slasher dressed as a nightmare version of Mrs. Clause and the body count climbs ever upward. Can ol’ Amber and her pals survive the slashin’s going on six ways to Sunday and figure out who
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Anthony Peterson (Ron Thompson) is in a bit of a fuckin’ pickle. See, ol’ Tony-baloney has got his ass kidnapped and locked inside a cargo container located in parts unknown, with only his cellphone to keep him company. Good thing he has that device, as soon he is contacted by his captors and ordered to come up with ten million dollars in twenty-four hours or those vile bastards will rape and murder his wife, live on the ol’ wicked web, as restitution for atrocities that Anthony allegedly committed in the name of business. Along with the stress of getting the cash, our hero’s oxygen is running low, and the entire container can be set to deliver electric shocks. Of course things grow ever more dire, and we get to see just what length’s Anthony will go to in order to secure his freedom and his wife’s safety. Writer/Director James Dylan has come up with one hell of an effective and
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesParanormalReviews
In the 18th century, ol’ Joshua Winthrop is having some troubles with his teenage daughter Alyda…who just so happens to be a blood crazed demonic monster afraid of thunder and lightning. (Fuckin’ kids, amirite?) Anyway, she performs the murder biz on the geezer. Flash forward to the eerie eighties and our boy Randolph Carter (Mark Kinsey Stephenson) and his chums are chit-chatting in a graveyard (as one does) and their pal Joel gets the brilliant idea to spend the night in the Winthrop house to see if any supernatural shenanigans ensue. Well Joel does just that, and he gets his ass eaten (not literally…I mean the monster gets him) unbeknownst to his pals. Soon it’s up to remaining members of the group to investigate the arcane abode, but not before some frat boys and their gal pals visit the house to increase the body count…or make out…whatever. Will any of our heroes survive the centuries long rage of Alyda and
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
What is this? A parody of Friday the 13th Part III coming a scant 36 years after if it’s theatrical run? I think we both know I have to check this out…I mean it’s my job, so I kinda have to regardless, but you know what I mean…unless you don’t…fuck you, here’s a review of Camp Death III in 2D! Three years after the demise of masked madman Johann Van Damme (which involves a puppet to hilarious effect), Camp Crystal Meph is back in business as a rehabilitation center for psychos. Of course Johann doesn’t stay dead for long, and soon he’s stalking the camp grounds, murdering our card board cut-out characters with wild abandon (and the occasional candy bar). Writer/Director Matt Frame should be applauded for the glorious madness he has wrought with Camp Death III in 2D. This flick is wrong headed, intentionally cheap and oh-so very, very stupid, full of groans and guffaws in equal measure…yet still
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Pals Jody (Hunter Johnson) and Cliff (Charles Chudabala) are wicked excited to attend a Christmas party at a secluded cabin thrown by some hot n’ horny twins. Finding out at the 11th hour that the affair is one of those ugly sweater get-togethers, our dashing duo buy a sweater from a homeless man…but there’ s a catch; a decade previous murderer and Satanist Declan Rains (Sean Whalen) was beaten to death by John Q. Law while wearing the garment and he has vowed to return from the grave one day. Making matters worse, the camp that the event is being held at turns out to be a Bible camp and those aforementioned twins are now devout holy rollers. To add to all of that, ol’ Cliff becomes possessed by that sinister sweater and goes on a murder spree! With a premise like the one described above you probably think Ugly Sweater Party is going to be one hell of an
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
BooksMoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
Out of the big blockbuster films of 2018, one of the films I’ve most looked forward to seeing was The Meg. I’m a sucker for sharks and even have a few Megladon teeth in my collection. So, when The Meg arrived on Blu-ray this week I was psyched to finally get my hands on a copy. I had high hopes for the movie from the first time I learned that it was coming and I was not disappointed. The film opens with action star Jason Statham on a mission to rescue sailors from a sub. Unfortunately, he had to leave a few men behind t save the life of those already on the rescue vessel. Just as the rescue sub pulls away something big hits the wrecked sub and blows it up. Blamed by his co-workers for the lost lives of the men he left behind Statham’s character Jonas trades in his life for a life of intoxication. His permanent
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Major league weird cat and heir to an award losing breakfast cereal “empire” Jay Mandao (Scott Dunn…who also wrote and directed the film) lives with his equally eccentric adult nephew Jackson (Sean McBride)…who sleeps in a tent within the apartment…yeah…Anyway, the night before Halloween, Jay has an out of body experience via astral projection which eventually leads our heroes to begin astral projecting slightly backwards through time to help a ghost avoid their murder. Absolute insanity ensues. Mandao of the Dead is one hell of a bizarre ride boils n’ ghouls. Everything from our off-kilter heroes…played with likable charm, even when Jay is being a tad on the gruff side and Jackson is being…Jackson, to the strange astral projection, time travel, and murder angles, and left-of-center humor all coalesce into a heady stew of engaging storytelling, solid world building, and just straight up fun. On the downside, the pacing of this film is equally as odd as the story itself.
Continue reading →
Amazon Prime VideoDocumentariesMoviesReviews
John Borowski is well known for his documentary films, which give an in-depth look at various serial killers. Not only has Borowski focused on the likes of Carl Panzram, Albert Fish and H.H. Holmes, but has also done a documentary and subsequent TV series that explore the cultural obsession and influence of serial killers on society, aptly named Serial Killer Culture. This most recent documentary, which marks a bit of a departure from Borowski’s usual subject matter, deals with abuse, pain and anguish, all painted in a very different light. His subject this time is Vincent Castiglia, a well-known and renowned artist, whose preferred medium is human blood…primarily his own. So to say this man puts his life force into his work would be absolutely true. What Borowski does in this film is give the viewer a glimpse into the life of this artist that is incredibly straight forward and raw. He not only details Vincent’s brilliant artwork, but also
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
A woman (Taylor Murphy-Sinclair) sits a computer and enters a website comprised of a single image of a skull. Seems mundane enough, until the creepy commands start issuing forth… Running a brisk four minutes and change; Soundbite is a nice lil’ bite sized nugget of video violence with a sprinkling of techo terror (or is it supernatural shenanigans to blame? You boils n’ ghouls will have to decide for yourselves when you slap your eerie eyeballs on he flick after these wicked words…). Co-writer (along with Brantley J. Brown)/Director Michael Coulombe delivers a simple, basically one sentence concept with a stylish flair that makes the whole affair satisfying even without anything in the way of character development, dialog (minus one key phrase), or even explanation as to what is going on. Another interesting visual choice is a reliance on warm earth tones, rather than the orange and blue/hot pink electric blue that many of today’s fright flicks seem to be
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
Nora and Alec (Nora Yessayan and Alec Gaylord) are a young couple travellin’ down the road to adventure on their way to stay at the ultimate AirBnB of fright flicks; the remote, isolated cabin. On their way there they stop at a local diner and realize the townies are a bit on the fucked up side, but honestly, what could go wrong? Nothing. They have a normal vacation. The end. Just fucking with you boils n’ ghouls! the pair are separated, and treated as cattle by the animal mask wearing local yokels. You see the folks inhabiting this region treat the men they capture (and yes, there are more victims on hand) as beef, and the women as dairy cows. Will our lovers be able to escape this charming scenario? Let’s start with the positives on hand with The Farm. First up, Writer/Director Hans Stjernswärd has created an interesting take on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre/The Hills Have Eyes formula in
Continue reading →
Holiday HorrorIndieMoviesReviews
What can be better than a slasher flick that starts with a sorority pledge forced to lap up toilet water and humiliate herself with a pitch black marital aide before she finally snaps and chokes the head of the sorority with said dildo before slicing her up like a prize-winning ham then hanging herself? Honestly, not a hell of a lot I reckon… So after all of that craziness, Mrs. Claus starts in earnest when the sister of the now defunct sorority head, Amber by name, joins the same sorority as some sort of half-assed grief therapy. Well, before you can say ‘blood covered yule log’…wait, why would you ever even say that? Anyway…sorority bros and hoes start gettin’ offed right quick by a sinister slasher dressed as a nightmare version of Mrs. Clause and the body count climbs ever upward. Can ol’ Amber and her pals survive the slashin’s going on six ways to Sunday and figure out who
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Anthony Peterson (Ron Thompson) is in a bit of a fuckin’ pickle. See, ol’ Tony-baloney has got his ass kidnapped and locked inside a cargo container located in parts unknown, with only his cellphone to keep him company. Good thing he has that device, as soon he is contacted by his captors and ordered to come up with ten million dollars in twenty-four hours or those vile bastards will rape and murder his wife, live on the ol’ wicked web, as restitution for atrocities that Anthony allegedly committed in the name of business. Along with the stress of getting the cash, our hero’s oxygen is running low, and the entire container can be set to deliver electric shocks. Of course things grow ever more dire, and we get to see just what length’s Anthony will go to in order to secure his freedom and his wife’s safety. Writer/Director James Dylan has come up with one hell of an effective and
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesParanormalReviews
In the 18th century, ol’ Joshua Winthrop is having some troubles with his teenage daughter Alyda…who just so happens to be a blood crazed demonic monster afraid of thunder and lightning. (Fuckin’ kids, amirite?) Anyway, she performs the murder biz on the geezer. Flash forward to the eerie eighties and our boy Randolph Carter (Mark Kinsey Stephenson) and his chums are chit-chatting in a graveyard (as one does) and their pal Joel gets the brilliant idea to spend the night in the Winthrop house to see if any supernatural shenanigans ensue. Well Joel does just that, and he gets his ass eaten (not literally…I mean the monster gets him) unbeknownst to his pals. Soon it’s up to remaining members of the group to investigate the arcane abode, but not before some frat boys and their gal pals visit the house to increase the body count…or make out…whatever. Will any of our heroes survive the centuries long rage of Alyda and
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
What is this? A parody of Friday the 13th Part III coming a scant 36 years after if it’s theatrical run? I think we both know I have to check this out…I mean it’s my job, so I kinda have to regardless, but you know what I mean…unless you don’t…fuck you, here’s a review of Camp Death III in 2D! Three years after the demise of masked madman Johann Van Damme (which involves a puppet to hilarious effect), Camp Crystal Meph is back in business as a rehabilitation center for psychos. Of course Johann doesn’t stay dead for long, and soon he’s stalking the camp grounds, murdering our card board cut-out characters with wild abandon (and the occasional candy bar). Writer/Director Matt Frame should be applauded for the glorious madness he has wrought with Camp Death III in 2D. This flick is wrong headed, intentionally cheap and oh-so very, very stupid, full of groans and guffaws in equal measure…yet still
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Pals Jody (Hunter Johnson) and Cliff (Charles Chudabala) are wicked excited to attend a Christmas party at a secluded cabin thrown by some hot n’ horny twins. Finding out at the 11th hour that the affair is one of those ugly sweater get-togethers, our dashing duo buy a sweater from a homeless man…but there’ s a catch; a decade previous murderer and Satanist Declan Rains (Sean Whalen) was beaten to death by John Q. Law while wearing the garment and he has vowed to return from the grave one day. Making matters worse, the camp that the event is being held at turns out to be a Bible camp and those aforementioned twins are now devout holy rollers. To add to all of that, ol’ Cliff becomes possessed by that sinister sweater and goes on a murder spree! With a premise like the one described above you probably think Ugly Sweater Party is going to be one hell of an
Continue reading →
