CategoryReviews
Honest horror reviews of films, series, games and books — no hype, no spoilers, just whether it is worth your time and your nerves.
3,463 stories
GamingNewsProductReviewsSci-Fi
Appeal Studios and THQ Nordic have teamed up to create a unique sci-fi open-world experience in Outcast – A New Beginning where players take on the role of Cutter Slade, a former Navy SEAL who finds himself leading an Alien rebellion against his fellow humans who are exploiting the planet Adelphea’s resources. Thank You to Appeal and THQ for the opportunity to check this game out! When it comes to the controls for Outcast – A New Beginning, you have to take your time as some of the buttons used for combat (melee mainly) are not where you would normally map them. Just give yourself some time to learn the buttons and it will become second nature. When it comes to the game’s art, it’s spellbinding! Brightly colorful and a dreamlike world filled with different plants and animals that fit the landscape, it’s pleasant on the eyes. I enjoyed how the faces of the characters are animated when they speak,
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HuluNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
“Shōgun” has now premiered, and I have to say I’m thrilled. Unfortunately, the series is being overlooked, which is sad because it’s absolutely brilliant. So, let’s talk about it. The Story Based on James Clavell’s 1975 novel of the same name, the series is set in the 1600s in Japan. The show follows a sailor, Blackthorne, who was taken prisoner and brought to Lord Yoshii Toranaga. Toranaga’s enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. He seeks the knowledge that Blackthorne holds that may turn the tides of war. The series sees the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds, both looking for a way to survive. Cosmo Jarvis leads as Jack Blackthrone, a sailor and pirate who finds himself at the mercy of Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada). The two men are very different. The Lord is an honorable man who relies on tradition and reason. Blackthorne is just trying to survive as he navigates the strange
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
Writer/director Annick Blank’s French-language Canadian thriller Hunting Daze blends harshly realistic scenarios with dizzying drug-trip sequences. The result is a fascinating, often disturbing look at toxic masculinity. Sex worker Nina (Nahéma Ricci), after performing for a bachelor party in very rural Quebec, finds herself abandoning the rest of her group in anger and frustration. She asks Kevin (Frédéric Millaire-Zouvi), one of the party members, if she can stay there until a ride can be arranged for her. The group votes that to do so, she must pass some rites and become part of their self-professed wolf pack. Rather than turning into the rape revenge thriller that some might expect, Nina finds herself in no such danger from the group, which parties hard before and after hunting. Another stranger — African man Doudos (Noubi Ndiaye) — shows up, adding another element of “The Other” to the group dynamics, as well as the suspense. When a dangerous accident occurs, paranoia and tension
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
Writer/director Helena Stefansdottir’s Icelandic thriller Natatorium is the type of film where you just know that something is off from the onset, and the mystery as to what exactly is happening keeps you wrapped up until the climactic reveal. The dark family drama at the heart of this feature is thoroughly gripping. With dreams of traveling the world in a performance troupe, 18-year-old Lilja (Ilmur María Arnarsdóttir) stays at the home of her grandmother Áróra (Elin Petersdottir) and grandfather Grimur (Valur Freyr Einarsson) for an audition being held in their town. She has arrived at their home without announcing it in advance to her father Magnús (Arnar Dan Kristjánsson). He calls his sister Vala (Stefanía Berndsen) and asks her to check in on Lilja, and viewers learn right away that the older siblings have problems with Lilja staying there. The titular swimming pool seems to be one of the big reasons for their concerns. Áróra’s other son Kalli (Jónas Alfreð
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MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
As a fan of “Stranger Things,” I was thrilled to hear last year that Millie Bobby Brown would be playing the lead in the fantasy film Damsel. It’s finally out on Netflix, so I had to check it out and of course, I want to talk about it. Brown is no longer the talented kid we became familiar with in “Stanger Things.” She is all grown up, and her talent continues to grow. She gives an excellent performance filled with emotion. The Story Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, best known for 28 Weeks Later, and penned by Dan Mazeau (Fast X), the film starts like most fairy tales do. A young woman promises to marry a prince to save her kingdom, encouraged by her father and stepmother to do her duty. Upon meeting the royal family in their stunning castle, Elodie quickly grows fond of the prince and him of her. Unfortunately, a happily ever is not in the cards
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Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
THE FUNERAL (CENAZE; Turkey, 2023) Hearse driver Cemal (Ahmed Rifat Sunger) takes a job of which he is leary from the start: driving away with the body of a murdered young woman named Zeynep (Cansu Türedi) and hiding away with the corpse for a month until her family is ready to claim it. Matters become instantly complicated when Cemal checks into a motel and hears breathing coming from Zeynep’s casket. I don’t want to give away too much more of the plot, so suffice it to say so that in the first act, viewers learn that Zeynep is indeed quite dead — sort of — and that she develops a particular hunger, and that Zeynep’s feelings toward her drive him to do whatever it takes to feed her. Director Orcun Behram delivers a highly unique take on the living dead subgenre that boasts terrific lead performances from Sunger and Türedi. Engin Özkaya’s cinematography splendidly portrays the bleak tone of Behram’s
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
You know how when you are a connoisseur of something, let’s say for instance; Italian fright flicks, there tends to be tiers of quality? I mean you got your Suspiria and your The Beyond, then you get a bit further out and you have your Buio Omega and other delightfully hardcore shit… then things get a bit cheaper with the likes of Bruno Mattei and titles like Hell of the Living Dead… and then you get right down there towards the bottom and you find things like the flick we are taking a look at today, Burial Ground, and well… that’s the type of unadulterated nonsense that yours cruelly can really sink his fangs into! After an opening where the European equivalent of Rick Rubin attempts to stave off a zombie attack with this bon mot; “Wait, stand back; I’m your friend!” we get into the story proper of ol’ Burial Ground… and by that I mean a bunch of
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
You may remember 1963’s Roger Corman fright flick The Terror from a shit-ton of bargain basement “horror collection” DVDs… hell you may even remember it’s presence in the discount VHS bins of decades past… but yeah, it’s been around the block a few million times, which brings us the newest release of the picture courtesy of Film Masters… The long and the short of The Terror goes as follows: in 1806, a French soldier named André Duvalier (Jack Nicholson, The Shining) encounters, and becomes enchanted by, a dark-haired, mysterious beauty named Helene (Sandra Knight) who bares a striking resemblance to a woman named Ilsa; the dead wife of a local known as Baron Victor Frederick von Leppe (Boris Karloff, 1931’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). Attempting to learn more about Helene, Duvalier encounters the town’s witch, Katrina (Dorothy Neumann) before arriving at the door of the Baron’s Gothic castle… and come to find out he’s haunted by Helene/Ilsa as well,
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ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
While vacationing, Virginia (María Elena Arpón), and her pal Roger (César Burner) bump into Virginia’s former boarding school chum/former lover Betty (Lone Fleming) decide to take a train ride. Whoopie-shit you may say, but wait… Virginia gets super jealous of Roger’s interest in Betty and decides to hop of that train and goes for a stroll where she ends up wandering in the wind-swept ruined town of Berzano. While that would be creepy enough on it’s own, this location was once home to a cadre of Knights Templar in the Middle Ages… but they were executed by hanging for crimes of cavortin’ with the Devil… oh, and performing ritual, cannibalistic sacrifice… but unfortunately for our good friend Virginia, they are more of the walking dead-style of deceased… and at night they rise as rotted, eyeless, hooded cloak wearing zombie mother fuckers… and their horses too! Being the supernatural menace that they are, the knights dispatch Virginia by biting the living
Continue reading →
GamingIndieParanormalProductReviews
A circus and traumatic experience should go hand in hand with horror, right? Well if done right yes. But then there’s Daedalic Entertainment and Pixlesplit’s first-person psychological horror REVEIL. REVEIL follows a circus handyman by the name of Walter as he’s constantly waking up in his house but finding himself still in a dreamlike world that keeps taking him back to the circus where he and his circus performer wife and daughter work. When it comes to the game’s controls, the layout is…wired, there’s no other way to say it. The controls don’t feel natural and I found myself most of the time messing up. The voice acting for the game is good but the soundtrack gets annoying with the droning sound effects used in songs that are reminiscent of another game (I’ll get to that shortly). The gameplay for REVEIL is what you would expect in a game like this, you walk around, solve a puzzle to advance, and
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
GamingNewsProductReviewsSci-Fi
Appeal Studios and THQ Nordic have teamed up to create a unique sci-fi open-world experience in Outcast – A New Beginning where players take on the role of Cutter Slade, a former Navy SEAL who finds himself leading an Alien rebellion against his fellow humans who are exploiting the planet Adelphea’s resources. Thank You to Appeal and THQ for the opportunity to check this game out! When it comes to the controls for Outcast – A New Beginning, you have to take your time as some of the buttons used for combat (melee mainly) are not where you would normally map them. Just give yourself some time to learn the buttons and it will become second nature. When it comes to the game’s art, it’s spellbinding! Brightly colorful and a dreamlike world filled with different plants and animals that fit the landscape, it’s pleasant on the eyes. I enjoyed how the faces of the characters are animated when they speak,
Continue reading →
HuluNewsReviewsStreaming TVTrailers
“Shōgun” has now premiered, and I have to say I’m thrilled. Unfortunately, the series is being overlooked, which is sad because it’s absolutely brilliant. So, let’s talk about it. The Story Based on James Clavell’s 1975 novel of the same name, the series is set in the 1600s in Japan. The show follows a sailor, Blackthorne, who was taken prisoner and brought to Lord Yoshii Toranaga. Toranaga’s enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. He seeks the knowledge that Blackthorne holds that may turn the tides of war. The series sees the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds, both looking for a way to survive. Cosmo Jarvis leads as Jack Blackthrone, a sailor and pirate who finds himself at the mercy of Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada). The two men are very different. The Lord is an honorable man who relies on tradition and reason. Blackthorne is just trying to survive as he navigates the strange
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
Writer/director Annick Blank’s French-language Canadian thriller Hunting Daze blends harshly realistic scenarios with dizzying drug-trip sequences. The result is a fascinating, often disturbing look at toxic masculinity. Sex worker Nina (Nahéma Ricci), after performing for a bachelor party in very rural Quebec, finds herself abandoning the rest of her group in anger and frustration. She asks Kevin (Frédéric Millaire-Zouvi), one of the party members, if she can stay there until a ride can be arranged for her. The group votes that to do so, she must pass some rites and become part of their self-professed wolf pack. Rather than turning into the rape revenge thriller that some might expect, Nina finds herself in no such danger from the group, which parties hard before and after hunting. Another stranger — African man Doudos (Noubi Ndiaye) — shows up, adding another element of “The Other” to the group dynamics, as well as the suspense. When a dangerous accident occurs, paranoia and tension
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
Writer/director Helena Stefansdottir’s Icelandic thriller Natatorium is the type of film where you just know that something is off from the onset, and the mystery as to what exactly is happening keeps you wrapped up until the climactic reveal. The dark family drama at the heart of this feature is thoroughly gripping. With dreams of traveling the world in a performance troupe, 18-year-old Lilja (Ilmur María Arnarsdóttir) stays at the home of her grandmother Áróra (Elin Petersdottir) and grandfather Grimur (Valur Freyr Einarsson) for an audition being held in their town. She has arrived at their home without announcing it in advance to her father Magnús (Arnar Dan Kristjánsson). He calls his sister Vala (Stefanía Berndsen) and asks her to check in on Lilja, and viewers learn right away that the older siblings have problems with Lilja staying there. The titular swimming pool seems to be one of the big reasons for their concerns. Áróra’s other son Kalli (Jónas Alfreð
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviewsTrailers
As a fan of “Stranger Things,” I was thrilled to hear last year that Millie Bobby Brown would be playing the lead in the fantasy film Damsel. It’s finally out on Netflix, so I had to check it out and of course, I want to talk about it. Brown is no longer the talented kid we became familiar with in “Stanger Things.” She is all grown up, and her talent continues to grow. She gives an excellent performance filled with emotion. The Story Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, best known for 28 Weeks Later, and penned by Dan Mazeau (Fast X), the film starts like most fairy tales do. A young woman promises to marry a prince to save her kingdom, encouraged by her father and stepmother to do her duty. Upon meeting the royal family in their stunning castle, Elodie quickly grows fond of the prince and him of her. Unfortunately, a happily ever is not in the cards
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
THE FUNERAL (CENAZE; Turkey, 2023) Hearse driver Cemal (Ahmed Rifat Sunger) takes a job of which he is leary from the start: driving away with the body of a murdered young woman named Zeynep (Cansu Türedi) and hiding away with the corpse for a month until her family is ready to claim it. Matters become instantly complicated when Cemal checks into a motel and hears breathing coming from Zeynep’s casket. I don’t want to give away too much more of the plot, so suffice it to say so that in the first act, viewers learn that Zeynep is indeed quite dead — sort of — and that she develops a particular hunger, and that Zeynep’s feelings toward her drive him to do whatever it takes to feed her. Director Orcun Behram delivers a highly unique take on the living dead subgenre that boasts terrific lead performances from Sunger and Türedi. Engin Özkaya’s cinematography splendidly portrays the bleak tone of Behram’s
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
You know how when you are a connoisseur of something, let’s say for instance; Italian fright flicks, there tends to be tiers of quality? I mean you got your Suspiria and your The Beyond, then you get a bit further out and you have your Buio Omega and other delightfully hardcore shit… then things get a bit cheaper with the likes of Bruno Mattei and titles like Hell of the Living Dead… and then you get right down there towards the bottom and you find things like the flick we are taking a look at today, Burial Ground, and well… that’s the type of unadulterated nonsense that yours cruelly can really sink his fangs into! After an opening where the European equivalent of Rick Rubin attempts to stave off a zombie attack with this bon mot; “Wait, stand back; I’m your friend!” we get into the story proper of ol’ Burial Ground… and by that I mean a bunch of
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
You may remember 1963’s Roger Corman fright flick The Terror from a shit-ton of bargain basement “horror collection” DVDs… hell you may even remember it’s presence in the discount VHS bins of decades past… but yeah, it’s been around the block a few million times, which brings us the newest release of the picture courtesy of Film Masters… The long and the short of The Terror goes as follows: in 1806, a French soldier named André Duvalier (Jack Nicholson, The Shining) encounters, and becomes enchanted by, a dark-haired, mysterious beauty named Helene (Sandra Knight) who bares a striking resemblance to a woman named Ilsa; the dead wife of a local known as Baron Victor Frederick von Leppe (Boris Karloff, 1931’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). Attempting to learn more about Helene, Duvalier encounters the town’s witch, Katrina (Dorothy Neumann) before arriving at the door of the Baron’s Gothic castle… and come to find out he’s haunted by Helene/Ilsa as well,
Continue reading →
ForeignIndieMoviesReviews
While vacationing, Virginia (María Elena Arpón), and her pal Roger (César Burner) bump into Virginia’s former boarding school chum/former lover Betty (Lone Fleming) decide to take a train ride. Whoopie-shit you may say, but wait… Virginia gets super jealous of Roger’s interest in Betty and decides to hop of that train and goes for a stroll where she ends up wandering in the wind-swept ruined town of Berzano. While that would be creepy enough on it’s own, this location was once home to a cadre of Knights Templar in the Middle Ages… but they were executed by hanging for crimes of cavortin’ with the Devil… oh, and performing ritual, cannibalistic sacrifice… but unfortunately for our good friend Virginia, they are more of the walking dead-style of deceased… and at night they rise as rotted, eyeless, hooded cloak wearing zombie mother fuckers… and their horses too! Being the supernatural menace that they are, the knights dispatch Virginia by biting the living
Continue reading →
GamingIndieParanormalProductReviews
A circus and traumatic experience should go hand in hand with horror, right? Well if done right yes. But then there’s Daedalic Entertainment and Pixlesplit’s first-person psychological horror REVEIL. REVEIL follows a circus handyman by the name of Walter as he’s constantly waking up in his house but finding himself still in a dreamlike world that keeps taking him back to the circus where he and his circus performer wife and daughter work. When it comes to the game’s controls, the layout is…wired, there’s no other way to say it. The controls don’t feel natural and I found myself most of the time messing up. The voice acting for the game is good but the soundtrack gets annoying with the droning sound effects used in songs that are reminiscent of another game (I’ll get to that shortly). The gameplay for REVEIL is what you would expect in a game like this, you walk around, solve a puzzle to advance, and
Continue reading →
