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Horror Fuel

Short Film Review: Candle Cove (2018)

Candle Cove tells the story of two adults remembering a childhood fav; a silent televised puppet show called Candle Cove. As fate would have it, they find a box which contains recorded episodes of the show, including the finale…a finale that featured the puppets screaming in terror for the duration. As they examine the tapes, all they see is static…until they pop in the finale and the screaming starts! Based (loosely) on the creepypasta of the same name (which also served as the basis for the first season of SyFy’s Channel Zero), Candle Cove is a very brief distillation of what made the original tale so memorable. Short though it is, this version still manages to maintain the same eerie vibe, but I personally would have liked to see more of what made the story so effective (i.e. the original yarn features horrifying pirate based puppets, while this one features silent Punch N’ Judy like characters, and was presented a

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Sep 3, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: The Bad Nun (2018)

After a hella long ass cold open we meet Aesha (Becca Hirani), a party dude with ‘tude (yeah so she’s female, whatever), and her mom who is having none of her booze soaked ways. So what does she do to make sure her daughter can get on the straight and narrow before she ships out to college? Why sending her off to a remote bed and breakfast so she can chill the fuck out of course. Sounds all fine and dandy…except the B&B was formerly a nunnery and before you can say “This film was re-titled to cash in on the Conjuring spin-off The Nun” an evil nun starts causing static…eventually. First Aesha is charged with looking in on the caretakers ailing daughter, and meets the French occupant of another property nearby who uses the main house for piss purposes. Why am I mentioning all this? I’m not sure really…Anyway, a nun appears, begins murdering people then begins showing up

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 31, 2018
Horror Fuel

Old Man of the Rooks (2018)

After a cold open where a couple o’ vloggers get their asses handed to them by a murderous scarecrow, we dive right into the story proper of Old Man of the Rooks; namely a real black widow of a woman named Deb (Susan Willis) keeps murdering her spouses on her remote farmland along with the help of her brother Dan (David Barney). Well one of the dudes she done wrong was a Scottish warlock, and now roams the grounds as that aforementioned scarecrow who offers up blood sacrifices to a witch who dresses up like a crow (a very cool visual). Said scarecrow soon offs Dan and then begins playing mind games with ol’ Deadly Deb who is going to have one hell of a time stayin’ alive with so much supernatural shenanigans afoot on her property! As you may surmise by the description above, Old Man of the Rooks has one major thing going for it; and that’s originality.

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 11, 2018
Horror Fuel

‘Terrified’ Is Making Waves At Film Festivals

Making its way around film festival circuits is an Argentinean film that’s making a big impact, Aterrados (Terrified). The movie overall, is a mix of a cop drama and horror. Aterrados (Terrified) is about a cop who’s heading towards retirement and he’s also known for having a big interest in paranormal investigating and because of his interest, he’s called in to investigate a series of strange deaths. The deaths are occurring in houses doors down from one another. The cop meets a well known paranormal investigator who’s handling a missing person case in the same area. The pair, along with other paranormal investigators, team up as they soon learn that the cases are all linked.

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
May 2, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Prodigy (2018)

On the skids psychologist James Fonda (Richard Neil…who we recently interviewed right here) is called in to one of your garden variety top secret government facilities by an old classmate named Olivia (Jolene Andersen) to assist in examining Ellie (Savannah Liles) a whip smart telekinetic girl. Of course those that run the facility want to carve Ellie up like a Christmas goose to see what makes her so damn special. Making excellent use of a small cast and only a handful of locations (4 by my count, with interiors used to clinical and claustrophobic perfection), Prodigy is an impressive low budget sci-fi thriller. Neil and Liles deliver strong performances, their relationship grows believably, and the plight of young Ellie is an engaging one (if a bit derivative of King’s Firestarter here and there…minus the fire of course), and contains both strong emotional content, well-done visual effects to illustrate our young protagonists psychic powers,and a mounting tension as her fate looks

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 9, 2018
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: City of the Dead (1960)

Originally released on these shores as Horror Hotel (Misfits fiends, take note!), City of the Dead is the tale of Nan Barlow (Stevenson), a young co-ed who travels to New England to investigate witchcraft at the behest of her college professor (Lee). Upon arriving in the small town of Whitewood things are rather bizarre; but it goes from bad to worse when Nan is marked for sacrifice by a coven of witches. Now that sounds like my kind of vacation, my creeps! Dripping with atmosphere and rich Gothic overtones, The City of the Dead is a “can’t miss” fright flick classic! Fog enshrouded locales, dilapidated buildings, graveyards, sinister locals, arcane ceremonies — this one has got all you crave from the “old guard” style of horror storytelling. While the film is an undeniable monsterpiece, the extras on this release offer a few treats for fright fans! You get a commentary track (one with no less than Christopher Lee himself), an

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 7, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Veronica is a Fun Supernatural Yarn

Veronica has got it rough all over; since her father died her mother has to work mega long hours leaving V-dawg in charge of her young siblings…when she isn’t attending classes at the local Catholic school that is. Speaking of that school, Veronica and two of her friends get the absolutely dip-shit idea to head down into the building’s basement during a solar eclipse to use a Ouija board to contact their dead loved ones. This goes about as well as one would expected and Veronica suffers some sort of physical episode. This leads to an outre presence making itself known at her home that threatens to destroy Veronica and her entire family. Will our young heroine be able to force those ghost back into whatever nether hell they emerged from, or will she lose herself to the darkness? Veronica is an interesting film for a number of reasons, and this may come a surprise given how familiar the story

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Mar 13, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: The Flatwoods Monster: A Legacy of Fear is Creepy, Campfire Horror Story Cool!

Beginning as it does with an opening credits sequence that wouldn’t be out of place in any given ’50’s era alien invasion flick, The Flatwoods Monster: A Legacy of Fear spins a yarn jammed fat with flying saucers, putrid smelling monsters, and flesh melting fog…and the best part of it all is, this is believed by many to be a true story! The documentary begins by introducing us to the bucolic splendor of Braxton County West Virginia, and more supposedly the sleepy hamlet of Flatwoods…a town where you would likely find more tipped cows than space invaders (though West Virginia itself has been a hotbed of paranormal activity for ages, with the most prominent example being The Mothman), yet in 1952 the May family had an experience that blew that all to hell and back, as they witnessed a strange craft land and dispense an outre (perhaps mechanical) being that scared them shitless…as it would anyone. But the May family

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Mar 7, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Interchange is a Unique but Flawed Dark Thriller

Det. Azman (Shaheizy Sam) is charged with investigating a series of bizarre murders all marked by the same horrific details; veins torn from the bodies and drained of blood, beads placed under the victim’s eyelids, and strange puncture wounds on their jugulars. Adding to the mystery, heron feathers (a bird that is native to Borneo) and shards of glass are found at each crime scene. Azman enlists the help of ex-crime scene photographer Adam (a man that now spends his time taking pictures of his comely neighbor from his apartment window) who quickly identifies the shards as glass plates that were utilized in photography a century ago. Adam takes the plates to Uncle Heng (Chew Kin-wah) who develops them revealing they were taken by Norwegian explorer Carl Lumholtz, who recorded native customs in Borneo a century ago…customs that resemble the fates of the murder victims. The strangeness escalates as Belian (Nicholas Suprata) enters the film…because B-man is a sort of

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Feb 20, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Curse of the Witch’s Doll is an Old School Atmospheric Horror Show!

The longer time I spend in the horror biz, the more I see some truly ground breaking, heartfelt, monster masterpieces. Let’s see if Curse of The Witch’s Doll (or as it’s sometimes known The Witch’s Doll…or, and this one happens to be my favorite due to it’s sublime creativity, Conjuring the Witch’s Doll) is one of those… Curse of The Witch’s Doll in war torn 1940’s Europe, a Adeline and daughter seek shelter in a house deep in the woods. Everything would be fine and dandy for the duo except a seemingly living doll inhabits the dwelling as well, and after Adeline’s daughter goes missing after a rousing game of hide n’ seek, it’s up to our heroine to break a centuries old witch’s curse, find her daughter, and put that evil six feet under! Comprised of a more subtle and dramatic story line than you would expect, Curse of The Witch’s Doll is a bit of a pleasant surprise.

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Feb 6, 2018

More from paranormal

Horror Fuel

Short Film Review: Candle Cove (2018)

Candle Cove tells the story of two adults remembering a childhood fav; a silent televised puppet show called Candle Cove. As fate would have it, they find a box which contains recorded episodes of the show, including the finale…a finale that featured the puppets screaming in terror for the duration. As they examine the tapes, all they see is static…until they pop in the finale and the screaming starts! Based (loosely) on the creepypasta of the same name (which also served as the basis for the first season of SyFy’s Channel Zero), Candle Cove is a very brief distillation of what made the original tale so memorable. Short though it is, this version still manages to maintain the same eerie vibe, but I personally would have liked to see more of what made the story so effective (i.e. the original yarn features horrifying pirate based puppets, while this one features silent Punch N’ Judy like characters, and was presented a

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Sep 3, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: The Bad Nun (2018)

After a hella long ass cold open we meet Aesha (Becca Hirani), a party dude with ‘tude (yeah so she’s female, whatever), and her mom who is having none of her booze soaked ways. So what does she do to make sure her daughter can get on the straight and narrow before she ships out to college? Why sending her off to a remote bed and breakfast so she can chill the fuck out of course. Sounds all fine and dandy…except the B&B was formerly a nunnery and before you can say “This film was re-titled to cash in on the Conjuring spin-off The Nun” an evil nun starts causing static…eventually. First Aesha is charged with looking in on the caretakers ailing daughter, and meets the French occupant of another property nearby who uses the main house for piss purposes. Why am I mentioning all this? I’m not sure really…Anyway, a nun appears, begins murdering people then begins showing up

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 31, 2018
Horror Fuel

Old Man of the Rooks (2018)

After a cold open where a couple o’ vloggers get their asses handed to them by a murderous scarecrow, we dive right into the story proper of Old Man of the Rooks; namely a real black widow of a woman named Deb (Susan Willis) keeps murdering her spouses on her remote farmland along with the help of her brother Dan (David Barney). Well one of the dudes she done wrong was a Scottish warlock, and now roams the grounds as that aforementioned scarecrow who offers up blood sacrifices to a witch who dresses up like a crow (a very cool visual). Said scarecrow soon offs Dan and then begins playing mind games with ol’ Deadly Deb who is going to have one hell of a time stayin’ alive with so much supernatural shenanigans afoot on her property! As you may surmise by the description above, Old Man of the Rooks has one major thing going for it; and that’s originality.

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 11, 2018
Horror Fuel

‘Terrified’ Is Making Waves At Film Festivals

Making its way around film festival circuits is an Argentinean film that’s making a big impact, Aterrados (Terrified). The movie overall, is a mix of a cop drama and horror. Aterrados (Terrified) is about a cop who’s heading towards retirement and he’s also known for having a big interest in paranormal investigating and because of his interest, he’s called in to investigate a series of strange deaths. The deaths are occurring in houses doors down from one another. The cop meets a well known paranormal investigator who’s handling a missing person case in the same area. The pair, along with other paranormal investigators, team up as they soon learn that the cases are all linked.

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
May 2, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Prodigy (2018)

On the skids psychologist James Fonda (Richard Neil…who we recently interviewed right here) is called in to one of your garden variety top secret government facilities by an old classmate named Olivia (Jolene Andersen) to assist in examining Ellie (Savannah Liles) a whip smart telekinetic girl. Of course those that run the facility want to carve Ellie up like a Christmas goose to see what makes her so damn special. Making excellent use of a small cast and only a handful of locations (4 by my count, with interiors used to clinical and claustrophobic perfection), Prodigy is an impressive low budget sci-fi thriller. Neil and Liles deliver strong performances, their relationship grows believably, and the plight of young Ellie is an engaging one (if a bit derivative of King’s Firestarter here and there…minus the fire of course), and contains both strong emotional content, well-done visual effects to illustrate our young protagonists psychic powers,and a mounting tension as her fate looks

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 9, 2018
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: City of the Dead (1960)

Originally released on these shores as Horror Hotel (Misfits fiends, take note!), City of the Dead is the tale of Nan Barlow (Stevenson), a young co-ed who travels to New England to investigate witchcraft at the behest of her college professor (Lee). Upon arriving in the small town of Whitewood things are rather bizarre; but it goes from bad to worse when Nan is marked for sacrifice by a coven of witches. Now that sounds like my kind of vacation, my creeps! Dripping with atmosphere and rich Gothic overtones, The City of the Dead is a “can’t miss” fright flick classic! Fog enshrouded locales, dilapidated buildings, graveyards, sinister locals, arcane ceremonies — this one has got all you crave from the “old guard” style of horror storytelling. While the film is an undeniable monsterpiece, the extras on this release offer a few treats for fright fans! You get a commentary track (one with no less than Christopher Lee himself), an

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 7, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Veronica is a Fun Supernatural Yarn

Veronica has got it rough all over; since her father died her mother has to work mega long hours leaving V-dawg in charge of her young siblings…when she isn’t attending classes at the local Catholic school that is. Speaking of that school, Veronica and two of her friends get the absolutely dip-shit idea to head down into the building’s basement during a solar eclipse to use a Ouija board to contact their dead loved ones. This goes about as well as one would expected and Veronica suffers some sort of physical episode. This leads to an outre presence making itself known at her home that threatens to destroy Veronica and her entire family. Will our young heroine be able to force those ghost back into whatever nether hell they emerged from, or will she lose herself to the darkness? Veronica is an interesting film for a number of reasons, and this may come a surprise given how familiar the story

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Mar 13, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: The Flatwoods Monster: A Legacy of Fear is Creepy, Campfire Horror Story Cool!

Beginning as it does with an opening credits sequence that wouldn’t be out of place in any given ’50’s era alien invasion flick, The Flatwoods Monster: A Legacy of Fear spins a yarn jammed fat with flying saucers, putrid smelling monsters, and flesh melting fog…and the best part of it all is, this is believed by many to be a true story! The documentary begins by introducing us to the bucolic splendor of Braxton County West Virginia, and more supposedly the sleepy hamlet of Flatwoods…a town where you would likely find more tipped cows than space invaders (though West Virginia itself has been a hotbed of paranormal activity for ages, with the most prominent example being The Mothman), yet in 1952 the May family had an experience that blew that all to hell and back, as they witnessed a strange craft land and dispense an outre (perhaps mechanical) being that scared them shitless…as it would anyone. But the May family

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Mar 7, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Interchange is a Unique but Flawed Dark Thriller

Det. Azman (Shaheizy Sam) is charged with investigating a series of bizarre murders all marked by the same horrific details; veins torn from the bodies and drained of blood, beads placed under the victim’s eyelids, and strange puncture wounds on their jugulars. Adding to the mystery, heron feathers (a bird that is native to Borneo) and shards of glass are found at each crime scene. Azman enlists the help of ex-crime scene photographer Adam (a man that now spends his time taking pictures of his comely neighbor from his apartment window) who quickly identifies the shards as glass plates that were utilized in photography a century ago. Adam takes the plates to Uncle Heng (Chew Kin-wah) who develops them revealing they were taken by Norwegian explorer Carl Lumholtz, who recorded native customs in Borneo a century ago…customs that resemble the fates of the murder victims. The strangeness escalates as Belian (Nicholas Suprata) enters the film…because B-man is a sort of

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Feb 20, 2018
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Curse of the Witch’s Doll is an Old School Atmospheric Horror Show!

The longer time I spend in the horror biz, the more I see some truly ground breaking, heartfelt, monster masterpieces. Let’s see if Curse of The Witch’s Doll (or as it’s sometimes known The Witch’s Doll…or, and this one happens to be my favorite due to it’s sublime creativity, Conjuring the Witch’s Doll) is one of those… Curse of The Witch’s Doll in war torn 1940’s Europe, a Adeline and daughter seek shelter in a house deep in the woods. Everything would be fine and dandy for the duo except a seemingly living doll inhabits the dwelling as well, and after Adeline’s daughter goes missing after a rousing game of hide n’ seek, it’s up to our heroine to break a centuries old witch’s curse, find her daughter, and put that evil six feet under! Comprised of a more subtle and dramatic story line than you would expect, Curse of The Witch’s Doll is a bit of a pleasant surprise.

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Feb 6, 2018
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