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
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Writer/director Nicholas Tomnay’s What You Wish For caught me off guard several times, and for best results, I recommend going as cold as possible into this horror feature that also serves up social commentary. I certainly won’t spoil any of its intrigue here. Ryan (Nick Stahl), deep in debt to the wrong kind of people to whom to owe large amounts of money, flies to rural Latin America to meet his friend and roommate from their culinary school days, Jack (Brian Groh), after not seeing each other for 12 years. Jack is currently seemingly living the high life as a private chef, being flown from one country to another by his bosses and given lavish places to live as he prepares event dinners for high-end clients. Although Ryan envies Jack’s extravagant lifestyle — including his bank balance, at which Ryan gets a peek — Jack seems to be in a rather gloomy state of mind, and when events lead to
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Writer/director Adam Sigal’s Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose (U.K., 2023) is not a horror film, but for fellow fans of Fortean phenomena, it’s an entertaining watch based on the true-life story of Gef the Talking Mongoose, AKA the Dalby Spook. It wavers from the amusing to the comical to the philosophical throughout, never quite settling on any of these tones. Simon Pegg portrays Dr. Nandor Fodor, who was a real-life parapsychologist and psychoanalyst. Fodor learns about Gef from Dr. Harry Price (Christopher Lloyd playing another real-life person, a psychic researcher and author), who implores him to travel from London to a rural area of the United Kingdom to investigate the absurd-sounding mystery. Price claims to have heard Gef speak without ever seeing the animal, so Fodor is skeptical from the get-go. Fodor travels with his assistant Anne (Minnie Driver) to the farm of the Irvings (Tim Downie and Ruth Connell), who claim that Gef (voice of Neil Gaiman) is
Continue reading →
AdaptationGamingProductReviews
I’m still just getting into dungeon crawlers and tabletop RPGs, so when the opportunity arises for me to dip my feet into the blood-soaked earth of these worlds, I’ll take it. This brings us to Gloomhaven, a tactical RPG dungeon crawler based on the 2017 multi-award-winning board game of the same name. I want to thank Twin Sails and Saber Interactive for the reviewing opportunity. In Gloomhaven, players take control of and guide mercenaries through the world. You also have encounters before the scenario (quests) you’re going to. The choices you make will affect your mercenaries in the upcoming battle. In every dungeon, the combat is turn-based, and players use cards with two options on each. These cards usually have options for movement, attack, and abilities like healing, buffing teammates, etc. There are tutorials, but if you’re new to this gameplay, you should set time aside to learn. I enjoy the art of the world of Gloomhaven, including the character
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
A broke-down, carnival haulin’ big rig, a sack full of monsters, and evil cultists… Besides sounding like a typical Tuesday ’round these putrid parts, these three things kick-off 1987’s Ghoulies II, the sequel in creatures only to 1984’s, Charles Band (Puppetmaster) produced, mini-monsters run-amok pic Ghoulies (bet you didn’t see that one coming) that finds our eponymous creatures livin’ that sweet carny life! When an escapee from an evil cult deposits a sack of pilfered Ghoulies at a rural gas station, our hero Larry (Damon Martin) and his booze-soaked uncle/ex-magician Ned (legendary character actor Royal Dano) inadvertently pick up the horrific hitchhikers seeking repair for their eighteen-wheeler. So, monsters secretly in tow, Larry and Ned return to the carnival… which is facing economic hard times… so much so that the new owner (thanks to his family founding the carnival) wants to make wide-spread changes in order to rake in more cold, hard cash… including eliminating Larry and Ned’s dark ride,
Continue reading →
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GamingHistoryParanormalProductReviews
War is Hell, and so is the human mind, but when both collide, how can one tell one nightmare from another? This is what awaits players in Ad Infinitum. I’ve been keeping an eye on this game since I became the Gamer Guy here at Horror Fuel, and now that it’s finally here, you can bet I’m all over it! I want to give Hekate Studio and NACON a big thank you for sending over a copy! In Ad Infinitum, a young, troubled German soldier is living a nightmare that’s taking him back and forth between the trenches of WWI, and his family’s Berlin mansion. Along with reliving the horror of what he saw in combat and the war within his household, he is also facing otherworldly terrors. Now, on to the game itself! Ad Infinitum‘s controls remind me a lot of the Amnesia games with how you interact with the game’s environment, so it’s easy to learn and remember
Continue reading →
GamingReviews
Puppet Combo is back with their latest Nintendo Switch offering Night at the Gates of Hell; a title that once again brings the player PS1 era survival horror (graphical style and all) mixed with strong fright flick influences; in this case providing a pastiche of Lucio Fulci’s seminal Eibon trilogy (comprised of 1980’s City of the Living Dead, and 1981’s The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery which were connected by the theme of opening gates to hell in a very Lovecraftian (and a dash of Clark Ashton Smith) manner). Peppered with elements that truly provide plenty of tension (limited ammo, enemies that can only be dispatched by means of head shots) the adventure progresses nicely from gory, to scary, to downright (and suitably) fever-dream laden surrealism (thanks in part to the inclusion of an evil cult hellbent on opening more passageways to Lucifer’s Domain)… add in that palpable sense of sleaze so prevalent (and wonderfully so) in many
Continue reading →
HalloweenReviews
Spooky season has begun, and Halloween will soon be here. That means it’s time to get your costumes ordered. We do Halloween big where I come from (a small, no-name town in Georgia). I have started looking for ideas for my costume on HalloweenCostumes.com. And while I’m still narrowing it down, I did find some costumes for one family member, my dog Freyja. Yes, I’m one of those people. Freyja, who is a combination of seventeen different breeds, including Great Pyranese, Pit, Chihuahua, and Jack Russell, according to her DNA test, is a little hard to fit. She’s short, wide, and as round as a butterball turkey. The girl doesn’t miss a meal. So I assumed I’d run into a little trouble with costumes fitting right. Unfortunately, that was the case with the Jack Skellington costume. The hat with the face was not a problem. However, the large size costume was at least two sizes too small. I couldn’t get
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Writer/director Yong-Min Lee’s South Korean horror film A Bloodthirsty Killer is absolutely bonkers! First-time viewers will join protagonist Shi-Mok Lee (Ye-Chun Lee) in having no idea what is going on for many of the opening scenes, and after that it’s nigh on impossible to guess what is coming next, straight through to the rather sappy ending. Businessman Lee is first seen wandering through a deserted museum where he finds nothing but a melting painting of his first wife Ae-ja (Geum-Bong Do) and is then transported by a mysterious taxi driver to a secluded house where he witnesses a murder at the hands of the ghost of Ae-ja. I don’t want to give much more away because the ride with A Bloodthirsty Killer is a wild one, full of what-could-possibly-happen-next? surprises, so suffice it to say that the supernatural — in more forms than one — and familial drama are among the elements at play, with all-in performances ranging from the
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviews
Often, blockbuster movies don’t live up to the hype, leaving viewers disappointed, especially regarding adaptations. Is that the case with the new horror film The Boogeyman? I can answer that. Warning: Spoilers Ahead Based on Stephen King’s short story, The Boogeyman, the movie centers on two families linked together by tragedy and an ancient dark entity that is out to kill them, the same monster that lurks in the darkness of children’s closets and under their beds. The movie doesn’t waste any time, opening with a baby sleeping in her crib who suddenly wakes up screaming in terror as a monster emerges from her closet. We see blood splatter, and her crying stops. This sets the tone for the movie, which is brutal at times. Next, we are introduced to another family: a father (Chris Messina), a psychiatrist, and his two daughters, who are mourning, having just lost their mother. The youngest soon reveals that a monster is stalking her,
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Young Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis) has just inherited his late father Malcolm’s (Michael Des Barres) estate and moved the hell on in with his girlfriend Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan). While exploring the arcane abode, the duo find an absolute ass load of Pappy Dearest’s Satanic paraphernalia, which quickly becomes an obsession with our hero… so much so he decides to invite guests (who you absolutely have to see to believe, and who’s ranks include Law & Order: S.V.U.‘s Mariska Hargitay) at his swingin’ new wave housewarming shindig to partake in an occult ritual… you know, just for funsies… right after some spontaneous breakdancing. And if you just said “awesome” to that, you’re already sold on this baby! However, said ritual appears at first glance to be a dud… but unbeknownst to one and all, one of his father’s homunculus demons, a titular Ghoulie if you will, is summoned forth. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s mood and life decisions grow ever shittier as he quits
Continue reading →
More from Reviews
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Writer/director Nicholas Tomnay’s What You Wish For caught me off guard several times, and for best results, I recommend going as cold as possible into this horror feature that also serves up social commentary. I certainly won’t spoil any of its intrigue here. Ryan (Nick Stahl), deep in debt to the wrong kind of people to whom to owe large amounts of money, flies to rural Latin America to meet his friend and roommate from their culinary school days, Jack (Brian Groh), after not seeing each other for 12 years. Jack is currently seemingly living the high life as a private chef, being flown from one country to another by his bosses and given lavish places to live as he prepares event dinners for high-end clients. Although Ryan envies Jack’s extravagant lifestyle — including his bank balance, at which Ryan gets a peek — Jack seems to be in a rather gloomy state of mind, and when events lead to
Continue reading →
ForeignMoviesReviews
Writer/director Adam Sigal’s Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose (U.K., 2023) is not a horror film, but for fellow fans of Fortean phenomena, it’s an entertaining watch based on the true-life story of Gef the Talking Mongoose, AKA the Dalby Spook. It wavers from the amusing to the comical to the philosophical throughout, never quite settling on any of these tones. Simon Pegg portrays Dr. Nandor Fodor, who was a real-life parapsychologist and psychoanalyst. Fodor learns about Gef from Dr. Harry Price (Christopher Lloyd playing another real-life person, a psychic researcher and author), who implores him to travel from London to a rural area of the United Kingdom to investigate the absurd-sounding mystery. Price claims to have heard Gef speak without ever seeing the animal, so Fodor is skeptical from the get-go. Fodor travels with his assistant Anne (Minnie Driver) to the farm of the Irvings (Tim Downie and Ruth Connell), who claim that Gef (voice of Neil Gaiman) is
Continue reading →
AdaptationGamingProductReviews
I’m still just getting into dungeon crawlers and tabletop RPGs, so when the opportunity arises for me to dip my feet into the blood-soaked earth of these worlds, I’ll take it. This brings us to Gloomhaven, a tactical RPG dungeon crawler based on the 2017 multi-award-winning board game of the same name. I want to thank Twin Sails and Saber Interactive for the reviewing opportunity. In Gloomhaven, players take control of and guide mercenaries through the world. You also have encounters before the scenario (quests) you’re going to. The choices you make will affect your mercenaries in the upcoming battle. In every dungeon, the combat is turn-based, and players use cards with two options on each. These cards usually have options for movement, attack, and abilities like healing, buffing teammates, etc. There are tutorials, but if you’re new to this gameplay, you should set time aside to learn. I enjoy the art of the world of Gloomhaven, including the character
Continue reading →
MoviesReviews
A broke-down, carnival haulin’ big rig, a sack full of monsters, and evil cultists… Besides sounding like a typical Tuesday ’round these putrid parts, these three things kick-off 1987’s Ghoulies II, the sequel in creatures only to 1984’s, Charles Band (Puppetmaster) produced, mini-monsters run-amok pic Ghoulies (bet you didn’t see that one coming) that finds our eponymous creatures livin’ that sweet carny life! When an escapee from an evil cult deposits a sack of pilfered Ghoulies at a rural gas station, our hero Larry (Damon Martin) and his booze-soaked uncle/ex-magician Ned (legendary character actor Royal Dano) inadvertently pick up the horrific hitchhikers seeking repair for their eighteen-wheeler. So, monsters secretly in tow, Larry and Ned return to the carnival… which is facing economic hard times… so much so that the new owner (thanks to his family founding the carnival) wants to make wide-spread changes in order to rake in more cold, hard cash… including eliminating Larry and Ned’s dark ride,
Continue reading →
GamingHistoryParanormalProductReviews
War is Hell, and so is the human mind, but when both collide, how can one tell one nightmare from another? This is what awaits players in Ad Infinitum. I’ve been keeping an eye on this game since I became the Gamer Guy here at Horror Fuel, and now that it’s finally here, you can bet I’m all over it! I want to give Hekate Studio and NACON a big thank you for sending over a copy! In Ad Infinitum, a young, troubled German soldier is living a nightmare that’s taking him back and forth between the trenches of WWI, and his family’s Berlin mansion. Along with reliving the horror of what he saw in combat and the war within his household, he is also facing otherworldly terrors. Now, on to the game itself! Ad Infinitum‘s controls remind me a lot of the Amnesia games with how you interact with the game’s environment, so it’s easy to learn and remember
Continue reading →
GamingReviews
Puppet Combo is back with their latest Nintendo Switch offering Night at the Gates of Hell; a title that once again brings the player PS1 era survival horror (graphical style and all) mixed with strong fright flick influences; in this case providing a pastiche of Lucio Fulci’s seminal Eibon trilogy (comprised of 1980’s City of the Living Dead, and 1981’s The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery which were connected by the theme of opening gates to hell in a very Lovecraftian (and a dash of Clark Ashton Smith) manner). Peppered with elements that truly provide plenty of tension (limited ammo, enemies that can only be dispatched by means of head shots) the adventure progresses nicely from gory, to scary, to downright (and suitably) fever-dream laden surrealism (thanks in part to the inclusion of an evil cult hellbent on opening more passageways to Lucifer’s Domain)… add in that palpable sense of sleaze so prevalent (and wonderfully so) in many
Continue reading →
HalloweenReviews
Spooky season has begun, and Halloween will soon be here. That means it’s time to get your costumes ordered. We do Halloween big where I come from (a small, no-name town in Georgia). I have started looking for ideas for my costume on HalloweenCostumes.com. And while I’m still narrowing it down, I did find some costumes for one family member, my dog Freyja. Yes, I’m one of those people. Freyja, who is a combination of seventeen different breeds, including Great Pyranese, Pit, Chihuahua, and Jack Russell, according to her DNA test, is a little hard to fit. She’s short, wide, and as round as a butterball turkey. The girl doesn’t miss a meal. So I assumed I’d run into a little trouble with costumes fitting right. Unfortunately, that was the case with the Jack Skellington costume. The hat with the face was not a problem. However, the large size costume was at least two sizes too small. I couldn’t get
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Writer/director Yong-Min Lee’s South Korean horror film A Bloodthirsty Killer is absolutely bonkers! First-time viewers will join protagonist Shi-Mok Lee (Ye-Chun Lee) in having no idea what is going on for many of the opening scenes, and after that it’s nigh on impossible to guess what is coming next, straight through to the rather sappy ending. Businessman Lee is first seen wandering through a deserted museum where he finds nothing but a melting painting of his first wife Ae-ja (Geum-Bong Do) and is then transported by a mysterious taxi driver to a secluded house where he witnesses a murder at the hands of the ghost of Ae-ja. I don’t want to give much more away because the ride with A Bloodthirsty Killer is a wild one, full of what-could-possibly-happen-next? surprises, so suffice it to say that the supernatural — in more forms than one — and familial drama are among the elements at play, with all-in performances ranging from the
Continue reading →
MoviesNewsReviews
Often, blockbuster movies don’t live up to the hype, leaving viewers disappointed, especially regarding adaptations. Is that the case with the new horror film The Boogeyman? I can answer that. Warning: Spoilers Ahead Based on Stephen King’s short story, The Boogeyman, the movie centers on two families linked together by tragedy and an ancient dark entity that is out to kill them, the same monster that lurks in the darkness of children’s closets and under their beds. The movie doesn’t waste any time, opening with a baby sleeping in her crib who suddenly wakes up screaming in terror as a monster emerges from her closet. We see blood splatter, and her crying stops. This sets the tone for the movie, which is brutal at times. Next, we are introduced to another family: a father (Chris Messina), a psychiatrist, and his two daughters, who are mourning, having just lost their mother. The youngest soon reveals that a monster is stalking her,
Continue reading →
IndieMoviesReviews
Young Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis) has just inherited his late father Malcolm’s (Michael Des Barres) estate and moved the hell on in with his girlfriend Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan). While exploring the arcane abode, the duo find an absolute ass load of Pappy Dearest’s Satanic paraphernalia, which quickly becomes an obsession with our hero… so much so he decides to invite guests (who you absolutely have to see to believe, and who’s ranks include Law & Order: S.V.U.‘s Mariska Hargitay) at his swingin’ new wave housewarming shindig to partake in an occult ritual… you know, just for funsies… right after some spontaneous breakdancing. And if you just said “awesome” to that, you’re already sold on this baby! However, said ritual appears at first glance to be a dud… but unbeknownst to one and all, one of his father’s homunculus demons, a titular Ghoulie if you will, is summoned forth. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s mood and life decisions grow ever shittier as he quits
Continue reading →
