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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MoviesReviews
Like most teens at the ass-end of the eerie ‘80’s, Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) is adjusting to life with a new stepmother… the obnoxious and self-obsessed Janet (a delightfully over-the-top Carla Gugino)… and stepsister, the cheery, popular Taffy (Liza Soberano)… a family she has been blended into lickety-fuckin’-split because her Dad got rather horny pretty much directly after mother was hacked to pieces by an axe-wielding psycho practically in front of her… As those of a certain age well and truly know, was often the way in those days… So yeah… new family, dead mom, fuckin’ sucks… and while Taffy does her level-headed best to invite Lisa into her world, our heroine would rather spend her time in the local cemetery… the same one she ends up in after a disastrous party experience makes her wish she could be with the dead-as-a-doornail Victorian gent who’s grave she plops down next to… and while she simply wished to be deceased, a
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Film FestivalsMoviesReviewsSci-FiThriller
A serial killer who murders on the beach is running amok in an otherwise quiet coastal town, but that’s not the strangest thing going on in writer/director Neal Dhand’s science fiction thriller Dark My Light (2023). Detective Mitchell Morse (Albert Jones) seems to be losing his grip on reality, and that could lead to even more mayhem. Morse is assigned to the case with new partner Dreyfus Trier (Tom Lipinski), who has returned to his home town from the big city after a controversial incident on the force there. Morse is also going through a separation with his wife Emily (Keesha Sharp). He has a lot on his mind, which seems to be overloading. To give away more of the plot than the above would be doing a disservice to Dark My Light because it deals in mystery. I found myself wondering exactly what was happening once Dhand laid out some of the first puzzle pieces, then I started trying
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Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
The Buildout (2024) Aficionados of enigmatic cinema and high strangeness should find plenty to like about writer/director Zeshaan Younus’ The Buildout. After the death of one of their sisters, friends Dylan (Hannah Alline) and Cameron (Jenna Kenall) go on a motorcycle and camping excursion in the desert before Dylan leaves her old life behind and joins a religious group there. Cameron is skeptical of what she believes is actually a cult but tries to support her friend. Viewers see hints of danger involving members of the religious group. Younus leaves much of the proceedings open to interpretation as Dylan and Cameron begin opening wounds about their relationship. Cinematographer Justin Moore captures both the beauty and eeriness of the desert setting wonderfully. Alline and Kenall give top-notch performances, and Younus does a fine job of providing enough information for viewers to become invested but only enough so that we are left with some tantalizing puzzle pieces for our imaginations to fill
Continue reading →
GamingIndieProductReviews
The Growing Stones and Valkyrie Initiative came together to tell a macabre story about a village inhabited only by children. Life in this village will soon turn to death if their local pariahs, the witches, fail at an upcoming ritual. This is The Mildew Children. The Mildew Children follows Kyrphel, a young witch plagued by omens relating to the fate of the village, her fears grow after one of her fellow witches dies, bringing the number of witches in the village down to three. This would not be a problem if not for the fact that there needed to be four witches to carry out a ritual on a certain night to prevent doom from coming to the village. Now Kyrphel must find the fourth witch. Now, onto the game itself! Depending on how you plan on going about playing The Mildew Children, controls are relatively simple. The game is side-scrolling so there’s not much to the controls. The art
Continue reading →
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Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films
Following is a capsule review roundup of six of the short-film shockers that screened at this year’s edition of New Orlean’s Overlook Film Festival. Bookworm Bookworm (Ratón de biblioteca; Spain, 2023) from director Javier Yañez envelops viewers in a phantasmagorical vibe before suddenly ramping up the visceral shocks. Irene (Aria Bedmar in a wonderful performance) is a young librarian in 1979 Spain who wants to become a writer, much to her mother’s dismay. Irene and her fellow librarian often see the ghost of a young man — though they can’t quite catch a glimpse of his face — browsing books. Determined to try to make contact with this potential soulmate, Irene sets out to find out what his visage looks like. With beautiful set design and cinematography, Bookworm both charms and chills. Hevel In writer/director David Grace’s Hevel, devout Jewish woman Edra (Mor Cohen) begins a Shabbat service. A dybbuk has other plans for her, however, in this demonic possession
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MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
From the writing and directing duo of Alexys Paonessa and Matthew Festle comes the no-budget horror film Isleen Pines. The film centers on a group of friends gathering together for their annual Halloween get-together. The horrors of this indie flick kick off when one of the friends discovers a strange creature. It doesn’t take long for things to turn into a nightmare when a snake-like creature forces its way through his urethra, basically making his dick explode. Not a great way to go. Things go down quickly from there, with the friends being killed off one by one as they discover that another type of creature, bigger, badder, uglier, and it is killing everyone in its path. I did not see the dick alien coming. Needless to say, it got my attention. In all, there are three forms of alien creatures. You can tell that thought went into their design. It’s surprising what they created with the budget restrictions. The
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Blind Cop 2 (2024) A sequel to a film that doesn’t exist, director Alec Bonk’s Blind Cop 2 follows the tropes of movies depicting good cops kicked off the force for using excessive violence and seeking redemption without having a badge — and then there’s the trusty new sidekick, too. Imagine Marvel’s Daredevil as an alcoholic police officer wearing a bulletproof vest rather than a superhero costume and you’re only partially on your way to getting an inkling about how this irreverent title character (played with verve by George Fearing) goes about his business. You can’t forget Blind Cop’s name, either, as just about every person who addresses him calls him that. Using those aforementioned tropes, Bonk, who cowrote the screenplay with Augustin Huffman and Isaac McKinnon, directs with flare, deftly balancing the humor with plenty of dramatic elements and bloody action. Fearing is fantastic in the title role, and McKinnon makes for a fine sidekick-in-training as Schmidty. The humor
Continue reading →
AdaptationBooksMoviesReviews
Remember back in 2013 when there was a new cinematic version of Stephen King’s Carrie released to theaters? Well, I sure forgot it… hell, I’ve never even seen it! Anyway, those fine fiends at Scream Factory were kind enough to fling a copy of their new 4K/Blu-ray combo release of that very title my way, so let’s dig in! Poor Carrie White (Chloe Grace Moretz); she’s decidedly the most unpopular kid at her New England High School, and things go from bad to really fucking bad after she freaks out in school about her first period… not like a class, her menstrual cycle… because, and get this, teens can be mean as shit. Things aren’t much better at home, as her religious wing-nut of a mother, Margaret (Julianne Moore, routinely abuses the hell out of her in the name of Jesus feeling everything Carrie does is a sin. If she thought a period is a sin, wait until Mags gets
Continue reading →
GamingIndieNewsParanormalProductReviewsSci-Fi
Salt & Pixel and VoxPop Games have created a bullet hell that combines 80s and 90s comics with cosmic horror elements. This is Outer Terror, a bullet hell rogue-lite game that can be played solo or with a friend as you face hoards of otherworldly terror. When it comes to the game’s controls, they’re limited as the attacks by the characters are automatic and all you pretty much have to do is aim the crosshairs where you want to attack. It strikes me as a callback to old arcade games you played on PC (if you know you know). The sound is a bit annoying as it’s repetitive at times and depending on what weapons you are using you may end up wanting to either lower the sound volume or mute it completely. When it comes to the game’s art, it’s a bit rough. I really like the comic book look when it’s used in cinematic moments and dialogue, but
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviewsShort Films
Following is a roundup of six of the short-film shockers that screened at this year’s edition of New Orlean’s Overlook Film Festival. Cereal Canadian short Cereal, from director Shane R. Preston, finds young girl Chelsea (Trinity Kaylani Seiling in a fun performance) receiving a disturbing message from her alphabet-shaped cereal: “Kill.” This evil kid short has a nice retro vibe and looks great, with a fine supporting performance from Shelby Handley as Chelsea’s mother. My only quibble is that the fourth wall gets broken twice, which reduces the effect for me. The Curse of the Velvet Vampire Director Christoffer Schurict’s collaboration with band 802 finds two Chinese horror fans watching a strange film in a video rental store. Soon enough, this slice of cinema intersects with real life. Featuring plenty of female undead and the resulting bloodletting, along with some music video, this short film has cult favorite written all over it. We Joined a Cult From Chris McInroy, director
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
MoviesReviews
Like most teens at the ass-end of the eerie ‘80’s, Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) is adjusting to life with a new stepmother… the obnoxious and self-obsessed Janet (a delightfully over-the-top Carla Gugino)… and stepsister, the cheery, popular Taffy (Liza Soberano)… a family she has been blended into lickety-fuckin’-split because her Dad got rather horny pretty much directly after mother was hacked to pieces by an axe-wielding psycho practically in front of her… As those of a certain age well and truly know, was often the way in those days… So yeah… new family, dead mom, fuckin’ sucks… and while Taffy does her level-headed best to invite Lisa into her world, our heroine would rather spend her time in the local cemetery… the same one she ends up in after a disastrous party experience makes her wish she could be with the dead-as-a-doornail Victorian gent who’s grave she plops down next to… and while she simply wished to be deceased, a
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviewsSci-FiThriller
A serial killer who murders on the beach is running amok in an otherwise quiet coastal town, but that’s not the strangest thing going on in writer/director Neal Dhand’s science fiction thriller Dark My Light (2023). Detective Mitchell Morse (Albert Jones) seems to be losing his grip on reality, and that could lead to even more mayhem. Morse is assigned to the case with new partner Dreyfus Trier (Tom Lipinski), who has returned to his home town from the big city after a controversial incident on the force there. Morse is also going through a separation with his wife Emily (Keesha Sharp). He has a lot on his mind, which seems to be overloading. To give away more of the plot than the above would be doing a disservice to Dark My Light because it deals in mystery. I found myself wondering exactly what was happening once Dhand laid out some of the first puzzle pieces, then I started trying
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
The Buildout (2024) Aficionados of enigmatic cinema and high strangeness should find plenty to like about writer/director Zeshaan Younus’ The Buildout. After the death of one of their sisters, friends Dylan (Hannah Alline) and Cameron (Jenna Kenall) go on a motorcycle and camping excursion in the desert before Dylan leaves her old life behind and joins a religious group there. Cameron is skeptical of what she believes is actually a cult but tries to support her friend. Viewers see hints of danger involving members of the religious group. Younus leaves much of the proceedings open to interpretation as Dylan and Cameron begin opening wounds about their relationship. Cinematographer Justin Moore captures both the beauty and eeriness of the desert setting wonderfully. Alline and Kenall give top-notch performances, and Younus does a fine job of providing enough information for viewers to become invested but only enough so that we are left with some tantalizing puzzle pieces for our imaginations to fill
Continue reading →
GamingIndieProductReviews
The Growing Stones and Valkyrie Initiative came together to tell a macabre story about a village inhabited only by children. Life in this village will soon turn to death if their local pariahs, the witches, fail at an upcoming ritual. This is The Mildew Children. The Mildew Children follows Kyrphel, a young witch plagued by omens relating to the fate of the village, her fears grow after one of her fellow witches dies, bringing the number of witches in the village down to three. This would not be a problem if not for the fact that there needed to be four witches to carry out a ritual on a certain night to prevent doom from coming to the village. Now Kyrphel must find the fourth witch. Now, onto the game itself! Depending on how you plan on going about playing The Mildew Children, controls are relatively simple. The game is side-scrolling so there’s not much to the controls. The art
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films
Following is a capsule review roundup of six of the short-film shockers that screened at this year’s edition of New Orlean’s Overlook Film Festival. Bookworm Bookworm (Ratón de biblioteca; Spain, 2023) from director Javier Yañez envelops viewers in a phantasmagorical vibe before suddenly ramping up the visceral shocks. Irene (Aria Bedmar in a wonderful performance) is a young librarian in 1979 Spain who wants to become a writer, much to her mother’s dismay. Irene and her fellow librarian often see the ghost of a young man — though they can’t quite catch a glimpse of his face — browsing books. Determined to try to make contact with this potential soulmate, Irene sets out to find out what his visage looks like. With beautiful set design and cinematography, Bookworm both charms and chills. Hevel In writer/director David Grace’s Hevel, devout Jewish woman Edra (Mor Cohen) begins a Shabbat service. A dybbuk has other plans for her, however, in this demonic possession
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
From the writing and directing duo of Alexys Paonessa and Matthew Festle comes the no-budget horror film Isleen Pines. The film centers on a group of friends gathering together for their annual Halloween get-together. The horrors of this indie flick kick off when one of the friends discovers a strange creature. It doesn’t take long for things to turn into a nightmare when a snake-like creature forces its way through his urethra, basically making his dick explode. Not a great way to go. Things go down quickly from there, with the friends being killed off one by one as they discover that another type of creature, bigger, badder, uglier, and it is killing everyone in its path. I did not see the dick alien coming. Needless to say, it got my attention. In all, there are three forms of alien creatures. You can tell that thought went into their design. It’s surprising what they created with the budget restrictions. The
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Blind Cop 2 (2024) A sequel to a film that doesn’t exist, director Alec Bonk’s Blind Cop 2 follows the tropes of movies depicting good cops kicked off the force for using excessive violence and seeking redemption without having a badge — and then there’s the trusty new sidekick, too. Imagine Marvel’s Daredevil as an alcoholic police officer wearing a bulletproof vest rather than a superhero costume and you’re only partially on your way to getting an inkling about how this irreverent title character (played with verve by George Fearing) goes about his business. You can’t forget Blind Cop’s name, either, as just about every person who addresses him calls him that. Using those aforementioned tropes, Bonk, who cowrote the screenplay with Augustin Huffman and Isaac McKinnon, directs with flare, deftly balancing the humor with plenty of dramatic elements and bloody action. Fearing is fantastic in the title role, and McKinnon makes for a fine sidekick-in-training as Schmidty. The humor
Continue reading →
AdaptationBooksMoviesReviews
Remember back in 2013 when there was a new cinematic version of Stephen King’s Carrie released to theaters? Well, I sure forgot it… hell, I’ve never even seen it! Anyway, those fine fiends at Scream Factory were kind enough to fling a copy of their new 4K/Blu-ray combo release of that very title my way, so let’s dig in! Poor Carrie White (Chloe Grace Moretz); she’s decidedly the most unpopular kid at her New England High School, and things go from bad to really fucking bad after she freaks out in school about her first period… not like a class, her menstrual cycle… because, and get this, teens can be mean as shit. Things aren’t much better at home, as her religious wing-nut of a mother, Margaret (Julianne Moore, routinely abuses the hell out of her in the name of Jesus feeling everything Carrie does is a sin. If she thought a period is a sin, wait until Mags gets
Continue reading →
GamingIndieNewsParanormalProductReviewsSci-Fi
Salt & Pixel and VoxPop Games have created a bullet hell that combines 80s and 90s comics with cosmic horror elements. This is Outer Terror, a bullet hell rogue-lite game that can be played solo or with a friend as you face hoards of otherworldly terror. When it comes to the game’s controls, they’re limited as the attacks by the characters are automatic and all you pretty much have to do is aim the crosshairs where you want to attack. It strikes me as a callback to old arcade games you played on PC (if you know you know). The sound is a bit annoying as it’s repetitive at times and depending on what weapons you are using you may end up wanting to either lower the sound volume or mute it completely. When it comes to the game’s art, it’s a bit rough. I really like the comic book look when it’s used in cinematic moments and dialogue, but
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviewsShort Films
Following is a roundup of six of the short-film shockers that screened at this year’s edition of New Orlean’s Overlook Film Festival. Cereal Canadian short Cereal, from director Shane R. Preston, finds young girl Chelsea (Trinity Kaylani Seiling in a fun performance) receiving a disturbing message from her alphabet-shaped cereal: “Kill.” This evil kid short has a nice retro vibe and looks great, with a fine supporting performance from Shelby Handley as Chelsea’s mother. My only quibble is that the fourth wall gets broken twice, which reduces the effect for me. The Curse of the Velvet Vampire Director Christoffer Schurict’s collaboration with band 802 finds two Chinese horror fans watching a strange film in a video rental store. Soon enough, this slice of cinema intersects with real life. Featuring plenty of female undead and the resulting bloodletting, along with some music video, this short film has cult favorite written all over it. We Joined a Cult From Chris McInroy, director
Continue reading →
