Unboxing (2025) - Horror Film Review

I'm starting off on a bit of a self absorbed tangent here, but screw the UK's pathetic Online Safety Act. That bit of Orwellian government control masking as the flimsy excuse to 'pRoTEct thE ChiLDrEn' has made it increasingly irritating to get to watch horror films online. Sure, I could just verify my age using any number of potentially dodgy verification programs that sites have been forced to use, but I am a bit of a belligerent swine and don't want to have my personal details potentially stolen. All that is to say, it took me slightly longer than usual to get to watch Australian horror Unboxing for review (written, directed by, and starring Mitchell Holland), but one VPN trip to Albania later and I was able to get on board the misery train of this nasty thriller. Off topic slightly for sure, but seeing as the protagonist's woes stem from his having revealed personal information online, it was a tiny bit relevant!

Holland stars as Thomas Faker; an amateur streamer who has dreams of being able to make a living from the streams he produces. The man has gotten into doing unboxing videos - receiving packages in the post and opening them live on camera. To add extra spice, Thomas has been using the dark web to buy mystery boxes, hoping the thrill of what could potentially be inside will lead to his streams exploding in popularity. His latest purchase turns out to be a foul smelling and blood soaked teddy bear, but before Thomas can even really begin to process this, he begins to receive a series of increasingly twisted packages left outside his apartment at regular intervals. Each of the packages pulling the increasingly alarmed man into darker and darker horrors.

After taking a week off of my blog (almost), Unboxing was the first feature length horror I watched upon my return, and what a miserable and soul burning return this was! Randomly, it was also the second box based film I watched for review this week, following on from my review of short film BOX. Sometimes it does feel we are all living in a simulation!
There was no rush for events to ramp up quickly with this film, the tension can almost be tasted with how insidiously Thomas is pulled into the worst night of his life. From a realistic feeling start of him talking to his stream viewers about video games, this devolves into his increasingly unravelling persona with items received both downright creepy and far too personal for comfort, almost taking place in real time. One of the early reveals is an SD card that features multiple photos of him with his young brother, at that point I would be 'noping' out and contacting the authorities, but torn between the horror of what he is facing and an ever increasing subscriber count to his channel, he chooses to remain on stream, until that choice is taken entirely out of his hands by an apparent hack of his PC that prevents him ending the stream. The story became increasingly unsettling and suspenseful; the lack of any type of soundtrack or musical score added to this uncomfortable feeling, with even the ever present glare of his ring-light creating the feel of a judgemental and cold gaze, while the 'dinging' of the stream messages somehow became more and more threatening in sound.

The props are perfect, and perfectly deranged. From a box that is packaged with a combination of cotton wool balls and razor blades, to ones packed with the unsettling combination of rice and hair, things soon are quite dark here. Plenty of blood and plenty of grime combine to give an authentic look to the horrors uncovered (unboxed). Everything looked gross and mean in the best way. I thought the split between the view from Thomas' computer screen to more traditional film work was perfect for this, and Holland being the sole on-screen character for vast lengths of the 70 minute film did a fantastic and believable job. Enough is given to fluffing out his character (such as phone calls with his parents, and the believable way he reacts); this all combined to make him feel like someone with a history to him.
There were elements of the supernatural here that had some great editing to them, especially with one of the stream commenters whose ghostly distorted visage kept appearing in the room with the protagonist. That part while very neat, was a bit confusing for me. I could never really tell if that was meant to be literally happening within the story of the film, or if it was a stylistic choice to add more weight to the events of the movie for the viewer's benefit. Around the third act, a more rational and grounded horror is added with the arrival of the Police who have some urgent questions they need Thomas to answer for them, leading to some very tense and bad feeling scenes as viewer and protagonist alike begin to piece together what is happening. I would say of that third part, the film pulled together some of the momentum it had began to lose in the middle, but I can't say I fully understood the intricacies of the overall story, leaving me with some questions by the time the end credits rolled around.

Unboxing was a horrid little Black Mirror-esque indie film, and I say that in the best way possible. I felt uncomfortable watching this, and that in itself speaks of the success of the filmmaking here. This became like a car crash, something that was nasty to look at, but hard to look away from. Good looking special effects and make-up effects, a sustained feel of ever increasing peril, and a captivating lead combined to make for something that is well worth a watch. Unboxing is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Tuesday 9th December 2025

After a week off doing posts on here (almost), I'm back and refreshed to once again pick up the mantle of the Rotting Zombie. In personal news, it looks like I am soon to be made redundant from my bill paying day job, so that's fun! Anyway, here are three terrifying news stories plucked from the depths of my bloody mail sack. Onwards to the news.

There are some new releases from Arrow Video US for January of next year. 13th January sees the limited edition 4K UHD release of Evil Dead Rise. I gave this film an 8/10 in my review back in 2023 where I stated '...I thought this was a solid and nasty horror film, one that doesn't shy away from allowing absolutely any character to become a victim'. The film is set in an apartment block where an earthquake leads to the discovery of a certain cursed book with the power to summon demons. The limited edition features a host of extras including a double-sided fold-out poster and a collector's booklet.

January 20th is when action/adventure thriller Snakes on a Plane gets its worldwide 4K UHD debut, featuring a brand new 4K restoration plus hours of special features. A Blu-ray release is also coming out the same day. The film does what it says in its title, with an FBI agent (Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction) getting caught in a trap from a major crime lord after a hundred poisonous snakes are released on a passenger plane where he is escorting an important eyewitness to the crime lord's crimes. I remember this film was ok, though I admit to never having had the urge to return to see it a second time.

Finally for today, anthology horror At Death's Door is now available on Tubi. Directed by Frank Palangi, this brings four stories based around the concept of how ordinary choices can lead to deadly situations. This stars Aaliyah Al.Fuhaid, Erica James, Frank Palangi, Jared Curtis, and Nicole Mecca. At Death's Door can be found here.

BOX (2025) - Short Comedy Action Film Review

I had a week off of my blog last week, partly due to having no urgent screeners to watch for review, and partly just because I felt like it. Anyway, I am back now, and the first review for this week is for Stephen Ready's short comedy martial-arts film - BOX. The email I received regarding this was just to announce it's existence, but I felt a review was warranted due to how darn good it was.

A man (Eric Jacobus - stunt coordinator on video game God of War: Ragnarok) is working one day when he has a cardboard box thrown at his head. Breaking the fourth wall, the man states that he bets the viewer thought the box was going to hit him, before out of nowhere he comes under vicious attack by a man wearing a black morph suit (Jason Chen-Leung - SOCAP_404), who taunts him by telling the startled man he will never know what is in the paper bag he is holding. This begins an intense martial-arts battle between the two (choreographed by Jacobus).

The fight sequence here makes up the meat of this nearly 7 minute movie so it is a good thing that it is excellent. Equal parts intense and surreal, there are plenty of laugh out loud moments. The mystery assailant uses all manner of weapons to fight the man, including a sheet of paper that acts as a razor sharp blade, and most amusingly; in one part he uses a small child as a weapon! The combat between the two leads was fantastic, plenty of exciting shots, including classic up-close shots of fists and feet connecting with flesh. The meta nature of this gave plenty of surreal moments, such as the on-screen editor of the short getting a pencil in his neck at one point; his flailing around causing him to keep hitting his laptop screen, instigating real-time edits. For all the violence, this was never designed to shock, a bloodless affair, and one where quick edits mean the fighters rarely actually connect with each other. Not a problem in the slightest as it didn't detract even remotely.

Story-wise, this was far more poignant than it would first appear. Somehow, a tribute to a real life stunt man who died is inserted without it feeling out of place, as the narrator (Josh Petersdorf - voice work on video games Overwatch 2, Street Fighter V) talks about the joys of being a stunt man, and how fun and rewarding it is. The mix of this being a fight happening, melded with it also being a film that is being made on-screen was wonderful. Of all things, I somehow got a vibe of video game The Stanley Parable from this.

I was dubious when starting BOX if it would be a good fit for a review on this site, due to not being a horror. The weird and cool surreal vibe really won me over, as did the fantastic fight sequences, and the silly humour. I thought this was a great short, and you can check it out for yourself as it is currently on YouTube.

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Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 'Fly in a Web' (2022-24) - Horror Video Game Review

In a rare break from watching mainly horror films for review, I decided to spend this weekend (at time of typing) exclusively playing horror video games. Having had an unexpectedly fun time with Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1, I decided to pick up the second chapter; Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 'Fly in a Web', due to it being in a sale for around £4. I wasn't sure if it would be value for money despite the low price, and it was that which put me off buying the more expensive Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 & 4. Would this second episode carry on the surprising fun the first offered? This was the Playstation 5 version of the game which released in 2024, and, obviously, spoilers for Chapter 1 to follow.

The first chapter concluded with you defeating the monstrous Huggy Wuggy and making it to the area that had been highlighted in the VHS tape you had originally received in the mail. Instead of discovering your missing former colleagues of the Playtime Co. toy factory, you instead discover the titular Poppy Playtime; a small self-aware doll. Having freed her from the case she was trapped in, she promises to help you escape the factory, as it is something she also wants to do. With the way back out blocked, Poppy suggests you head deeper down into the underground complex to the toy test area where there is a train that you can use to leave the facility. Arriving there however, you encounter a new horror - Mommy Long Legs. This creation uses her impossibly long appendages to capture Poppy, and then reveals to you that in order to use the train, you must play three children's games with Mommy, with her giving you part of the train start-up code for each game you successfully complete.

I had hoped this chapter would be longer than the first, and thankfully it was. With the first one done in under an hour, this one took me roughly two hours to beat. By the time you get to the train station, the chapter goals are clear - playing each of the three games. These include a memory game called 'Musical Memory', 'Wack-a-Wuggy' that is similar to the classic 'wack-a-mole' game found at arcades, and a tense spin on musical statues, simply titled 'Statues'. These were all fun to do, and had a Portal type feeling of getting to head behind the scenes from the initial play rooms.
Gameplay is once again mainly made up of simple, yet enjoyable puzzles involving the grab handle accessory you are armed with. Previously, both hands were able to conduct electricity, this time around you get an upgrade - a green grab handle that is able to briefly store electricity. This creates opportunity for different types of puzzles, such as one section where you have to open a series of gates in order to push a minecart along some tracks.

Horror is again quite meek, though I would argue Mommy is just as creepy as the mute Huggy Wuggy. This antagonist is constantly talking to you, and seems to be angry that she had been trapped below ground on her own for so long. Her look is kind of like Stretch Armstrong crossed with Mr. Tickle, her arms, legs, and neck all able to stretch to ridiculous lengths. I thought maybe the long maze-like chase sequence the first chapter culminated with would again appear. More sensibly it is a lot more stripped back. There are a variety of short chase sequences, but more stream-lined, like the developers were well aware they couldn't get away with the exact same thing again. This was about as scary as chapter 1 (I.E: not very) but that did not get in the way of my enjoyment. 
I realised this time around that it is worth hunting down the secret VHS tapes. These tapes provide lore and backstory and were worth finding. Often they would include live-action footage of actors playing employees of the factory.

I had figured that a second round of Poppy Playtime might have shown a lack of variation. The toy testing area felt suitably different to the factory of chapter 1. Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 'Fly in a Web' remains a most happy surprise, and of course has left me very interested in continuing the journey into this hellish facility.

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Doom: The Dark Ages (2025) - Horror Video Game Review (X-Box Series X)

Oh modern day Doom, what a tangled web you weave. Of course, the original two Doom games are masterpieces; games that hold up as well now as they did at the time. For the longest time I was really enamoured with Doom 3, I loved the more serious approach and I loved the lived-in locations. My first impressions for Doom 2016 were not great. I loved the level design, but I felt it was more game-like in how it was created. Doom Eternal took things even further - adding in plenty of platforming, and annoying combat encounters where you had to use the right weapon for the right enemy. On paper, Doom: The Dark Ages sounded amazing, a prequel to Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal that had a focus on close-quarters combat. Now having completed the game, it does some things stunningly well, but other elements are sub-par. It might be an early indication to my thoughts on the game, but I played this on and off since it came out earlier this year, as such, parts of the story are a bit fuzzy to me - apologies if I get anything wrong!

The soft-reboot of Doom, had the Doom Slayer being freed from the magical coffin he had been imprisoned within in Hell. This prequel doesn't exactly show how he came to be trapped, but it does take place within a war between the forces of Hell on one side, and the people of Argent D'Nur and the angelic-like beings - the Maykrs on the other. By the time the game begins, Doom Slayer has been turned into a weapon of war. Controlled by the Maykrs', Doom Slayer is beamed down from their space station to whichever battle he is needed to assist in. While he isn't happy about being controlled in such a way, all know that Doom Slayer likes nothing more than to fight the legions of Hell. The leader of these legions is Prince Ahzrak, whose war is fought with the key objective of getting a magical McGuffin known as the Heart of Argent that the Argent D'Nur people have.

Early word on this new game was pretty good. People raved about the medieval weapons. For me, I always had some slight misgivings, namely that I found the levels set in Argent D'Nur to be the very worst that Doom Eternal had to offer. I find the blend of medieval and sci-fi not to be my cup of tea, so was concerned a whole game taking place around this reality would not resonate. Sadly, I was right to be concerned, the 22 levels within The Dark Ages are split between Argent D'Nur and Hell. This was a problem for me who just wanted more levels set on Earth or Mars. The levels are huge to accommodate the larger amount of enemies in stages, several of them are even larger, taking the form of small open worlds where you are tasked with objectives that can be tackled in any order. I found the majority of the levels to be universally bland - large open arenas that were light on world-building details. The medieval sci-fi levels being made up of castles, the Hell levels coming across like 80's metal album covers brought to life.
The level design wasn't even the worst part, the emphasis on story here could have been good...if the story was at all engaging. To feature a humanoid looking antagonist as the leader of Hell was a bit lame. I thought Prince Ahzrak was an awful character, stereotypical bad-guy with a real empty story that does absolutely nothing interesting over its twenty or so hour runtime. I couldn't care less about the lengthy cutscenes, I didn't like the characters, or the plot, nor did it give me a desire to fight.

That is the bad stuff out the way, but what The Dark Ages does is to intermingle the bad so closely with the good that it makes the whole experience a bit 'meh'. Good things then; the soundtrack is as perfect as you would assume. If you liked all the heavy rock of the previous two games then you will be right at home here. The gameplay is even better, it is sublime, with Doom Slayer feeling like you are controlling a tank in human form. With the focus more on up close combat, your hero is armed with an amazing shield. You can zoom towards enemies to shield bash them from quite a distance, you can throw your shield like a Frisbee, and incidental details like the boom and rumble when Doom Slayer lands from a great height never got old. You have an assortment of weapons, but truth be told, now you can use any weapon for any enemy type, I pretty much just stuck to the plasma rifle for the whole game. Fighting hordes of demons was so much fun, their increased numbers balanced by a lot of the normal grunts being incredibly weak, able to be killed in a single shot.
To split up the action there are two different game types also included. In one, you ride on the back of a sci-fi dragon in stages that reminded me a bit of Sega's Panzer Dragoon. These were adequate, if a little simple and forgettable. The same can be said for the levels that see you pilot a giant mech-suit. These again are perfectly fine but nothing more, taking the form of a small scrolling beat em-up battle against equally huge demons.

As much as I genuinely loved the visceral meaty combat, the whole aesthetic of the game world and the boring story always brought things down. It is a shame that the two elements are so intertwined as it left me not really having any desire to ever return. I miss the days when it was just Earth vs Hell, not alternate dimensions and sci-fi aliens. Doom: The Dark Ages is currently playable on Game Pass.

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The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for November 2025

I've been off my day job sick with a bad cold for the past few days (at time of typing), so thought I would make an early start on next week's blog posts. This is the second news round-up I've put up this month, due to forgetting to do one at the end of last month. With that out the way, onwards to the news.

First up, Contrition is a dramatic thriller that is out now on Digital platforms from BayView Entertainment. This takes the form of a time-loop film, with the protagonist trapped reliving the day his wife was murdered, trying vainly to find a way to prevent her death. I do enjoy time-loop films, this one was directed by Aaron Boltz, and stars Aaron Bennett, James Bond III, and Ashton Leigh.

Untouchables Entertainment have shown the first look of their upcoming horror film The Dark Domain: Mickey-vs-Winnie. It seemed as soon as old children's licences became public domain, everyone jumped on board to make identical sounding horrors about the iconic characters. Touted as the first 'public domain crossover film', this has Steamboat Willy era Mickey Mouse (Daniel Wilkinson as Dark Mickey) and Wiinie-the-Pooh (Gotay as Dark Winnie) battling each other, with the mouse described as 'Pennywise meets Freddy Krueger', and Winnie 'Jason Voorhees levels up into the Predator'. The plot sees a group of childhood friends returning to the woodland based reform school they once suffered at. Dark Mickey and Dark Winnie are monstrous entities that stem from the group's combined damaged psyche.

Blood Brothers: Life Harvest was one news story I was going to skip over until I noticed it is a zombie film. The film features two brothers who fight to protect their loved ones after a deadly virus sweeps the globe. Conflict emerges when one of the brothers is bitten by a zombie. This was co-directed by Brit and Diana Sellers, and stars Tommy Kramer, Rudy Ledbetter and Bobby Batson. This is out on Digital Platforms worldwide via VIPCO & BayView Entertainment.

Currently in pre-production, Mangled: The Shelbyville Torture Tapes has had its first official look revealed by Horror-Fix Films. The docudrama is  slated for a first quarter 2026 wrap, and is to be directed by Ash Hamilton. It is set out as a true crime docudrama that is a look '...into a series of grisly mutilations that terrorized the Midwest, exploring not only the crimes themselves but also the lingering conspiracy surrounding the man believed to be responsible'. The feature is to be made up of a documentary blended with recreations of the crimes.

Massacre at Femur Creek is an award winning horror comedy that was directed by Kyle Hytonen and stars Adam Lemieux, Eric De Santis, Conall Pendergast and August Kyss. The story sees a groom heading away on a bachelor party with his friends. The partying is interrupted by the arrival of a psychotic killer. This is out on Digital Platforms now via BayView Entertainment.

Vertigo Releasing had a bunch of films releasing in November. These include time-loop comedy One More Shot that sees Minnie (Emily Browning) trapped in an endlessly repeating New Year's Eve party in 1999. Good Boy was a movie that I had intended to see at the cinema, but life sadly got in the way. This has the unique spin of being a supernatural horror film that is apparently shown from the perspective of a dog. Dead of Winter is a thriller that stars Emma Thompson as a woman who has headed to remote land to scatter her dead husband's ashes. It is while there that she stumbles across an isolated cabin where two desperate people have kidnapped a young woman.

Finally for today, on December 2nd, Italian Giallo film - The House with Laughing Windows gets its North American 4K debut. The film sees a man arriving at a remote Italian town to help repair the town's damaged church fresco, with local legend saying the fresco was originally painted by an artist who tortured his models to capture the right look for the dark picture.

Bitten (2008) - Short Zombie Film Review

With a schedule that is relatively clear at the moment, I am once again at liberty to watch one of the short zombie films from the bumper DVD collection I am working my way through. Bitten was written and directed by Duncan Laing (Nightshift), and features one central idea over its 6 minute runtime.

A woman (Claire Wilson - The Eschatrilogy: Book of the Dead) returns to her home in a panic, sporting a fresh and very bloody new neck wound. With it appearing obvious this is in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, things don't appear good for the lady.

Despite being just 6 minutes in length this managed to feel a lot longer. Sometimes in zombie fiction, the victims turn immediately, not so here. The short skips around in time, showing the woman's gradual transformation into a ghoul. This transformation seemed to take forever, each new scene showing her, I assumed she was now fully zombified, but each time it became clear she was still in the process of changing. I did like the initial panicked run through her house as she vainly attempts to sterilise her wound, but the later scenes kept leaving me expecting more interesting to happen. There is a recurring almost subliminal image of her children's bedroom that keeps popping up, but when that part makes an appearance in the short, it came across as unexpectedly amusing rather than harrowing. I don't think that was the intention.
Usually, make-up effects on the undead don't matter to me. Where the central idea is a woman's change into a walking corpse, the very thick layers of make-up on her became a bit distracting. There was plenty of blood however, I appreciated the incidental details around her home, such as a cracked and blood smeared mirror, and one bloody phone.

The central idea was neat, but I couldn't help but think that even at 6 minutes, Bitten managed to outstay its welcome a little bit. Not bad, and I liked the setting, but it felt like it was lacking a little something to really leave a deep impression. Sorry for the lack of images, I wasn't able to find any for the film online.

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The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge (2004) - Horror Video Game Impressions: 'Rotted Meat No.2'

With so many video games to play and so little time it was obvious that some would fall by the wayside and become abandoned by me. For the second in my 'Rotted Meat' series about games I have given up on, the game I have chosen this time around is 2004's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. I had heard at the time that while the game wasn't amazing, it was worth playing for the new musical numbers that appear within it. Would this be the case though?

The Synopsis:

Taking place a year after the events of The Nightmare Before Christmas; Jack Skellington has once again become disillusioned with Halloween. He decides to once again leave in order to find new inspiration, leaving Dr. Finkelstein in charge. This turns out to be a bad move; with Jack gone, Lock, Shock, and Barrell resurrect Oogie Boogie, who is very much in the mood for revenge. Contacted by Sally, Jack returns on Christmas Eve to find the town not only full of aggressive monsters, but also that it has been booby trapped by the inhabitants.

How the Game Felt:

The core feeling I have when thinking back to this game was how extremely dull it was. The game is a 3D action-adventure game that has you as Jack armed with a magical green whip. It takes place within a small series of open areas, with missions taking you back and forth from these locations. You eventually get the ability to change your costume, with the Pumpkin King and Santa Claus ones giving you different abilities. Boss fights usually take the form of musical numbers, with you required to input simple quick time actions to match whichever song is being played.

Reason for Abandoning the Game:

The lure of new music is what led me to this in the first place, but this proved to not be so amazing. From my memory, the music is repurposed from the film, albeit with different lyrics relevant to the situation being added. The new songs were ok but really nothing special, none of them remotely as good as the original songs. That isn't to say the music sounds bad, it sounds excellent, and includes at least one completely new song The main sin of Oogie's Revenge is just how tedious it is to play The back and forth across bland lifeless locations began to grate on me, while the simple gameplay was functional but again, nothing special at all. Even the thought of what I could be missing out on wasn't enough for me to be able to force my way through.

The Job (2025) - Short Sci-fi Film Review

It may not be a horror, but short sci-fi film The Job (directed and co-written by Craig Railsback (Down and Out in Vampire Hills) was still something I wanted to check out due to its intriguing premise and subject matter of A.I.

Arriving for a job interview, Todd (LeJon - Down and Out in Vampire Hills, Garden Party Massacre) finds the place deserted. Hearing a noise coming from behind a closed door, Todd's curiosity gets the better of him, he investigates and finds a strange large wire laying on the ground. He decides to plug it in to see what it was connected to and unknowingly awakens an A.I construct (Dawna Lee Heising - Ballet of Blood, Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance). This construct begins to interview Todd, with the man getting increasingly antagonistic with how much the A.I seems to know about him.

Over the course of around fifteen minutes, The Job takes the viewer on a journey that became more moving than its beginning might attest to. The interview process is really an excuse for Todd and the A.I to interact, with the job offer itself falling to the wayside. There is a darkness to Todd's past that he is forced to confront via the actions of the seemingly all knowing A.I. This is represented on screen via brief and scattershot flashback images. His reflections and revelations are married with music that makes things seem more poignant than otherwise may be felt. I did feel the flashbacks were a little too abstract, I got the gist, but wasn't sure of the time frame, especially with the appearance of a later prop. The set was devoid of much detail, but this worked in the short's favour. The A.I was represented as a figure on an apparent screen, I felt Heising was perfect for this role, looked and acted the part. I liked LeJon's character also, though the recurring cheesy music he keeps listening to didn't really do anything for me.

The Job was an interesting idea for a short, but the core plot kind of fell by the wayside a bit for something a bit more metaphysical. Obviously not a horror, but as always, I did wish for a little more darkness here.

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Plague (2009) - Short Zombie Horror Film Review

The Joseph Avery (who also stars in this) and Matt Simpson (writer of this) co-directed Plague is an example of a low budget short zombie film done right. It tells a simple story, but manages to keep interest over its 17 minute runtime thanks to unique editing decisions, and plenty of classic slow walking undead.

Latvian refugee Vilhelm (Avery) has been smuggled into England where he hopes to begin a new life, free of all the burdens that he faced working for criminals. Upon arriving in London he gets to unfortunately witness first hand a zombie outbreak, but by hiding away in his apartment, he is able to weather the storm and survive the initial chaos. He heads out to the countryside where he hopes things will be easier than the ghoul infested city, but finds that the undead are everywhere in this bleak new world.

The short is narrated from the start by the protagonist, with the narration provided by Costa Ronin (Homeland TV show, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood). This created a cohesive feel, and I admit I am a fan of stories that begin later on, to then show the lead-up as the film's core. In this case, we have the thick accented Vilhelm giving his story of how he came to be in the U.K, and how he came to survive. With the character in present day with a bloody bandage wrapped around his hand, it seems that things might not end well for the character. From the initial prologue set in Latvia, this follows his journey in a scattershot approach, moving the character around in time to show his various battles. You get plenty of undead, with lovely scenes of him fighting and escaping from them. I particularly liked one scene in which he is cycling down a street as zombies try to grab at him from various sides.

Plague has an interesting editing technique, quick edits of various shots shot-gunned together with very slight occasional freeze-frames on key moments. It gave a chaotic feel to the battles the character gets in, as well as being a great way to show important information to the viewer. Avery was great in the lead role, the narration meaning the character on screen himself never speaks. The impression of a zombie infested world is displayed well, dilapidated buildings, corpses, and the undead themselves, resplendent in basic but lovely make-up and blood effects. From a vaguely slow start, this barrelled into things, taken on a variety of locations, and ending on a pretty cool open finish that could be interpreted in different ways.

Films such as Plague might not do much to innovate, but low budget indie films such as this are the comfort food of the zombie sub-genre of horror, bitesize and immersive, leaving me nostalgic for the time when films like this were commonplace.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 20th November 2025

My second post of the evening (at the time of typing) sees me pick a trio of horrifying, terrifying, and possibly informative news stories from my bloody news sack. Onwards to the news.

The brilliantly titled Girl in the Refrigerator has been released by BayView Entertainment on Digital platforms worldwide, including on FlixFling. This dark comedy fits neatly into the sub-genre of horror about normal people trying to hide the body of a person they have killed (two such examples that spring to mind are the excellent A Young Man with High Potential and Cold Blows the Wind). In this one, a man accidentally kills his girlfriend and makes the fateful decision to try and hide the crime rather than report it. You can probably guess where he decides to store the body to begin with. The dark comedy aspect comes in due to the man then deciding to spend the day drinking with his best friend, before falling for a next door neighbour, who he then invites to his home before remembering about the body. Girl in the Refrigerator was directed by J.Francis Juelkuvsky and stars Jimmy Bevetti, Jaclyn Francine and Maria Brenda.

Music news next with UK South London dark electro duo Palindrones who have released a new video for their song 'Abraxas'. This is taken from their third album; Chapter Two: The Slender Blade and will be featured on December's upcoming double A-side single 'Abraxas & The Brightling Star'. The press release describes this track as '...a paradoxical dance of creation and destruction'. The trippy and fragmented video was pretty neat, and I appreciated the chill vibe of the music at this late time of night where my bed chamber is calling to me.

Finally for today, horror documentary Beware The Demonic has been released on Digital platforms worldwide via VIPCO and BayView Entertainment. The doc explores true evil, with first-hand accounts and revelations about the '...roots and hidden truths of demonic spirits...' This was directed by Albert Edgar Wilson.

Jim Haggerty's Unnatural Causes (2025) - Horror Anthology Film Review

It feels like it has been a while since I last watched an anthology horror film for review, and here at The Rotting Zombie, I sure like anthology films. Jim Haggerty's Unnatural Causes unsurprisingly comes from Jim Haggerty (Housewitch), with him directing, writing, and producing this. The anthology is made up of three short films and a wraparound segment.

With an opening wraparound segment that lasted ten minutes, I expected this part would get a lot of attention. After that opening however, there is barely any more of this. Famous actor; Vlad Eterno (Baron Misuraca - Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire) has passed away, and so two of his fans have managed to sneak into the funeral parlour to pay their last respects. They are surprised then when the man (whose mythos states he is an actual vampire) gets out of his open coffin. He hands the two girls a reel that contains the first three episodes of the horror TV show he had been working on before he apparently passed, before getting into an old car that then vanishes into thin air. Vlad acts as a Rod Serling type figure, introducing each of the three shorts, as well as providing closing comments on the stories that had played out. These parts served their purpose though were a little bland after the initial interesting set-up.

First proper short is Episode 1 'The Other' that feature just the two actors, but intriguingly, far more characters. Gail (Tina Krause - Phil Herman's Unearthed, Coven of the Black Cube) lives a seemingly idyllic life with her loving husband - Dr. Jack Perkins (Ray Taliercio in his film debut), until one day she receives an unexpected phone call. An angry woman with a familiar voice threatens Gail, telling her she should expect consequences if she doesn't leave what she perceives to be 'her' house and husband. Gail informs Jack who tells her there is nothing to worry about, but his actions to the viewer prove different, with this knowledge causing him to head out to remote woodland. From the familiar opening, this goes to unexpected places with a very neat idea. It perhaps got a bit wordy at times, with exposition dumps coming from long conversations, but I enjoyed how silly this became. A recurring small issue here was the blood, I don't know if it was due to colour grading, but the blood looked almost pinkish on screen, something that also happened in one of the later shorts.

Next up is Episode 2: 'The Drag', another half hour short that again deals with infidelity, something which is the unifying theme of all three of the short films here. Wanda (Debbie D - I Slay on Christmas, Jacker) has been cheating on her husband; Tom (Tom Ciociari - Amityville Thanksgiving) with Jerry (Andrew Murano also in his film debut). Tom is well aware of this fact and has a plan that will resolve the issue without causing him any trouble with the law. Later, Jerry gets the assistance of his lawyer friend; George (Justin Levine), who gives him a similar solution that Tom used for how Jerry can get out of his loveless marriage to Polly (Stacey Brook Schwart - From the Inside). An unexpected supernatural element made this one stand out, leading to a predictable yet enjoyable Tales From the Unexpected type finish. The attempt to show a 'Hell' type place didn't really work out, the budget limitations gave this less of a powerful feeling than it deserved.
Levine's George was the stand-out character and so it was a pleasure to see him reprise his role for the third and final short - Episode 3 'Exhumed Innocent'. In this one, with her husband having apparently take his own life, Carrie (Bec Fordyce - Killer Shoes) is free to be with the man she had been cheating on him with. With her dead husband's witch daughter suspecting foul play, she intends to use a spell to return her father to life, so that he can get revenge on those who wronged him. First though, she needs to have the body exhumed. After a bizarre dancing sequence at the start, this goes along in a familiar route with some fun death scenes. It seemed an odd decision to have the returned man look normal and not ghoulish, but it didn't detract. While it was obvious where the story would end up going, it had a near laugh out loud unexpected scene towards the end that I don't think anyone could have seen coming.

The anthology was very indie in its look, background interference was abound, especially in outside scenes, and some of the acting was occasionally not the most amazing. Despite that, I enjoyed this, I thought each of the stories had some unexpected moments to them, with the first two in particular having interesting ideas. There is nudity here in each of the three shorts, with the second featuring some full frontal nudity, not really needed, but I guess that is a plus if that is your thing. Special effects were basic, but they were fun to see regardless, and fitted the indie vibe of the anthology well. Overall, Jim Haggerty's Unnatural Causes wasn't perfect, but it maintained an entertaining feel throughout.

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Stranger Things Burger and Wings - Food Review

Split between getting a succulent Chinese meal and a KFC this evening (at the time of typing, in the middle of Storm Claudia), me and my best friend decided on the later, primarily to try the new Stranger Things Burger and Stranger Things Wings. She suggested I could review it as a blog post and I let her know that I don't do such low-brow content on my site anymore. A few hours later and that seemed like a better idea for a lazy blogger, so here is the review.

Released in time for the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, I had my misgivings about the Stranger Things Burger prior to tasting it. I often find KFC's limited time meals disappoint more often than not, though thankfully that wasn't the case here. The packaging was pretty neat, having vines from the upside down over the box, the show's logo on the side, and on one side it has 'Hawkins Fried Chicken' rather than the correct restaurant name.
The biggest visual change for the burger is its red colour. No idea why red was chosen, but the black sesame seeds on top went well with that colour change. The burger consists of a Spicy Zinger fillet with cheese, pickled slaw, burger dressing, and a special extra ingredient; 'Secret Sauce' (it's literally called that). I was expecting the sauce to be spicy, and it was, but not to as high a degree as I had anticipated. It also manages to have a sweet taste to it at the same time as spicy. For a limited time food item from KFC it wasn't bad at all, we both quite enjoyed it.

The Stranger Things Wings were less exciting, just hot wings covered in the 'Secret Sauce'. That isn't to say they were not also tasty, though I admit to hating getting my fingers covered in sauce while eating anything, so that was a slight issue I had. I think they missed a trick by not calling these simply Stranger Wings.

Likely having milked as much content as I could out of these two items, I would say I enjoyed them both. Neither were something I would rush out to try again, but they sated my post-work hunger, as well as got me and my bestie discussing the show as we ate.

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