The Black Phone (2021) - Horror Film Review

This won't make much sense as I am writing blog posts out of order, but the Scott Derrickson (Sinister, Hellraiser: Inferno) directed and co-written 2021 horror The Black Phone is the first film I have reviewed since kind of taking a week off the blog (due to being very hungover after a work night out). Despite Ethan Hawke (The Purge, Daybreakers) being one of my favourite actors, I never got around to watching this either when it first came out, or when it got added to Netflix. With 'The Grabber' (Hawke) being added to video game Fortnite as part of its 'Fortnitemares' event, I thought it was about time I finally checked out this neat horror.

Based on a Joe Hill story of the same name (Stephen King's son), this creepy horror takes place in a small American town in 1978. There has been a spate of kidnappings of local children in the area which the police have been powerless to stop. The press have came to call the perpetrator 'The Grabber' due to the method they have of abducting their victims off the street in broad daylight. Finney (Mason Thames - How to Train Your Dragon) is a shy young boy who has been hearing about the rumours of the abductor, but has just been getting on with life. One day while walking home he encounters a magician struggling to get supplies into his van. Really not showing much common sense, Finny goes to help the man, only to get abducted - for this is the notorious 'Grabber'! He awakes in a soundproofed basement, his abductor promising he won't hurt the boy. There is a black phone in the basement, and despite being disconnected, occasionally it rings. For reasons unknown, this phone has supernatural abilities, allowing Finney to converse with previous victims, and by talking to these shadows, he begins to use their combined knowledge to try and find a way to escape. 
Meanwhile, his younger sister - Gwen (Madeline McGraw - Toy Story 4 voicework, Ant-Man and the Wasp), begins to have disturbing dreams that seem to hint as to the location of her kidnapped brother.

Much like with Nicolas Cage in Longlegs, the antagonist here is someone who is rarely featured, and becomes a more powerful and intimidating villain as a result. Hawke is on fine form here, short on dialogue, but big on creeps with the expertly designed demon mask he wears. I loved how the mask had interchangeable parts to it, when he is in a bad mood for instance, the mask is reflected by the lower half having an angry scowl to it. The Grabber was an interesting character, seeming to have almost split personalities going on with the way he acts differently based on his look. Little is revealed about this movie maniac, not any kind of explanation for who he is, or why he is doing what he is. This just makes him more compelling. The wrench in the works to change this from being another movie about a deranged murderous kidnapper is the supernatural element. Rather than have this be something only Finney experiences, it is made clear that the killer also hears it's unexplainable rings, but in his derangement has convinced himself it is all a trick of his mind. A large part of Finney's story takes place in the basement, the phone calls he has to prior victims represented by them standing around near him in a ghost form, bloodied and beaten as they were when they were murdered.

Coming from the director of Sinister (one of the scariest films I have seen in my humble opinion), I had hoped this would be equally scary. It isn't, but that isn't to downplay the atmosphere and lovely seventies vibe of the film. Dream sequences are often shown with blurry footage, as if they were being recorded on a Super 8 camera, and there are some arthouse style moments of the killer standing around looking suitably disturbing. The story, split between Finney's imprisonment and his sister's journey of her own, kept things from getting dull. For Finney, it is a journey of learning to finally stick up for himself, for Gwen, it is about accepting the powers she seems to have acquired from her late mother.
Violence crops up throughout the movie, though the actual on-screen body count is surprisingly low. It culminates in a satisfying and apparently conclusive finale.

I like Hawke in pretty much anything, so seeing him play a bad guy here was a treat. Sure, I understand why he doesn't get too much screentime, but his scene stealing scenes were a little too much few and far between. A sequel has recently released that appears to double down on the supernatural element, turning the Grabber into more of a Freddy Kruger type dream-invader. I will have to check that out, but for The Black Phone, I felt the blend of crazed killer and ghosts made for a unique feeling blend.

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Dr. Fright's Halloween Nights Presents Horrorfest (2025) - Horror Scare Maze Review

It is the beautiful month of Halloween once again and I find myself returning once again to Dr. Fright's Halloween Nights, this time under the Horrorfest banner. I first went two years ago for Route 666 and loved it, but heading back last year for Route 666 Vol. 2 I felt a little disappointed as it really was quite similar. As in previous years, for 2025 it is split into seven different horror mazes, the only difference being the seven mazes were split between four differently named tents. Was this third time the charm, and was there any innovation in the format?

With a 19:00 slot on Saturday 25th October we seem to have picked a great time. There was the shortest queue yet to getting into the maze, and throughout the queues were minimal. By the time we were leaving, the entry line had really gotten quite deep, so lucky us! The flipside if you can call it that is that this was the quickest we have gotten through the mazes yet, my friend estimated it was roughly half an hour from starting to coming out the end into the glorious food area. Ticket prices had definitely gone up, under £20 on our first visit, this time I believe tickets were around £30 each, similar to last year.

I was prepared for a lot of ideas to be re-used, and so I wasn't disappointed to see returning ideas from previous years. Even with the general themes being used the mazes are completely different to traverse each time. For a change things didn't begin with a forest setting, instead the first two mazes take place in 'Demonic Tent', opening with 'Death Metal Manor'. This was very dark and full of the lighting flashing on and off in a way that hurt my eyes (not in a bad way), I appreciated the cultist décor, such as a table with a goat's skull on it, and there was one neat part where you have to walk down a corridor past robed demonic cultist figures. Next was 'Rave From the Grave' which had some great music to it. It promised UV lighting and it had it in droves, messages flashing up on the walls. The route took you through an old graveyard, and there was one corridor where zombie hands were sticking through the walls.

After a brief journey into the outside world, we came back in to continue our journey in 'Gore Tent'. The third maze was the ambitious 'El Sangriento'. It took the form of heading through a Mayan jungle to arrive at a mythic hidden dive bar. The first part of this used a hedge type display, with reptile people popping out of doors and walls to try and scare you. It culminated in the bar area itself that was full of dead bodies slumped over the various tables. I made a joke at one point of trying to order a drink from the bar, only for one of the reptile people to pop out from behind it. Fourth maze was once more a return to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre inspired 'Grindhouse', this year under the title 'The Grindhouse - Blood Country'. The actors appeared to have a lot of time on their hands to mess with me and my friend, a couple of them following us around parts of the maze, talking about how their family would be pleased to see us. For me it culminated around halfway through where a large man wearing a mask made out of human flesh pulled me aside and made me go and stand in a walk-in cooker. He then said I had to count to thirty out loud, that being the time it would take to cook me. Eventually, after an extra ten seconds he said I was crispy enough and let me out, with the promise he would be eating me later! Certainly a memorable part of the night, one that my friend found hilarious.

Another year and another intermission area, though The Evil Dead cardboard cut-out was not there this year, instead, I had a very bad photo taken of me next to a zombie. I of course had my eyes shut as I seem to do in the majority of photos taken of me, I also noticed how much of a 'big boi' I am turning into. I really need to make more effort to eat healthier and exercise more for darn sure. We zoomed through the intermission, not even stopping for a drink or a breather this year, maybe adding to our shorter runtime.
Yet again the second half begins with a maze themed around horror movie maniacs, in a tent area named 'Slasher Tent'. 'Summer Camp Massacre' had surprisingly a summer camp aesthetic. There were a few great parts of this one. In one room there was an old horror film playing on a large screen, as we walked past, a very cool looking Jason Vorhees leant out through a hole in the screen, swinging his machete at us. Later, the legendary Michael Myers appeared at several points, and I just about glimpsed Freddy Kruger attacking my friend. My favourite part had a room set up to seem as if we were wading through green water (due to smoke machines), looked so cool.
Penultimate maze was 'Play Me and Die!' which had a somewhat ambitious idea, even if it was pretty much another The Purge type experience of maniacs walking around with lit-up masks and armed with metal baseball bats. This had a lot of empty areas, but it was varied, with the route taking us through a classroom of madly grinning children, and a barbershop with madly grinning customers. The whole idea was that a radio station had played a record that had caused insanity, so of course there was a decent radio station area as well. My one real complaint with this one was the lack of many actors, though I did like that one of the mirrors in the barbershop wasn't actually a mirror and instead had an actor standing behind where the mirror would have been instead.

Final area as always featured killer clowns, taking place in the 'Clown Tent' and titled 'Killer Clowns - Greatest Hits'. As always some great music going on here, plenty of chain-link fences (at one point I got lost enough that I walked into one thinking it was the route), and plenty of crazed clowns taunting us. One, seeing Homer Simpson on my shirt commented that he looked just like me. This great hits was neat, taking us through a sci-fi spaceship area, a supermarket, and a dance area, with lovely music playing throughout and lasers spinning everywhere. Leaving this, we had our annual burger and doughnuts as we discussed the evening.

It was more of the same, but I enjoyed it a lot more this year. Some of the mazes were a little too dark at times, but I liked the heavy use of lights that were constantly going on and off as it created a dizzying feel. I also liked that the actors kept bursting out of the ceilings this year as well as walls, made for some unexpected moments. I don't know what was up with me, but I jumped out my skin on a few occasions with the jump scares, losing some of my 'cool' points, but it was funny. I know what to expect with these mazes now, so found Dr. Fright's Halloween Nights Presents Horrorfest to be a real fun time, the highlight of my weekend.

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Abattoir (2016) - Horror Film Review

It is one of those glorious weeks where I get to pick a film of my own choosing for review. For today's film I picked out the Darren Lynn Bousman (Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Saw II - IV) directed Abattoir, a film from my pile of horrors I own but have yet to watch. I enjoyed this, didn't quite live up to its potential but it had some interesting ideas.

After her sister and nephew are brutally murdered in their home, investigative reporter Julia Talben (Jessica Lowndes - 90210 TV series) becomes obsessed with trying to find an explanation for it. She discovers that quickly after the tragedy took place, someone purchased the house and removed the room of the crime from it. This leads her down a rabbit hole where she first discovers that a mysterious person named Jebediah Crane (Dayton Callie - Fear the Walking Dead TV series, Halloween II) has spent the past fifty years or so purchasing the buildings where murders took place and removing the room that was the crime scene. She then learns an even stranger fact; each of the victims had originally lived in a small town called New English. With the hat-trick of surprises culminating in Julia discovering her birth mother (who she never knew) also happened to come from New English, she decides to travel to the remote town, with her ex-boyfriend - detective Declan Grady (Joe Anderson - Horns, The Crazies) hot on her heels. There she discovers a town-wide conspiracy spreading back decades, the elusive Jebediah Crane, and a huge mansion made entirely out of murder rooms.

I didn't expect much from this horror, but it was actually a lot different to what I expected it to be. I had thought this would be a Seven clone, taking place in a city with a serial killer on the loose. Instead, it was something entirely different. While not Lovecraftian in nature, this does include a unique and strange town that holds a terrible secret, so there was some crossover.
Immediately apparent was the sometimes terrible script. Some characters fare better than others, and some manage to make their cheesy lines work and some struggle with them. The worst character for me was Grady, he comes across as the most stereotypical hard-boiled detective imaginable, all of his lines just sounded so artificial and corny, a feeling that Julia seems to mimic in every scene she is with the man. Some characters seemed to be given life by the script. A mid-movie highlight was the eccentric Allie (Lin Shaye - Ouija: Origin of Evil, Insidious), and for a time I thought she was going to be the stand-out actor in the movie. She effortlessly stole every scene she was in, but there was a second character who came to be the most interesting to me. I thought Callie was fantastic as the antagonist. There was a slight feeling of Needful Things to him, and the backstory that he had apparently been to Hell and managed to return was decent. He doesn't appear a huge amount, but when he does it always made for some enjoyable scenes.

This had elements of a mystery, a thriller, and a horror to it, with each act feeling like a slightly different genre of movie. Things really got interesting in the short third act, in which the house of murder finally makes its appearance for the final twenty minutes of the roughly 100 minute horror. A feeling of Thir13en Ghosts to this part, and despite some CG that wasn't the best, I had also seen far far worse. I loved the set design for this. Truth be told, I did really enjoy this part of the movie. There is a decent amount of horror here, but it was often diluted by that aforementioned weak script. Some parts did stand-out, such as a videotape Julia receives of her sister's murder, and an old projector that shows Jebediah back in his glory days.

A film about a mansion made up of stolen rooms where people have been murdered was a really cool idea. It was a shame that the movie took so darn long to actually get to that part, I wish the third act had lasted longer than the scant twenty minutes we are given. I did enjoy the whole mystery aspect from before that bit, but I felt that the story was never really explained too well. I didn't look too closely, but I had the feeling I would be able to pick holes in things if I had done so. Abattoir was a better film than I had expected, and certainly had its moments, but the weak script and some odd story decisions meant this just missed out on being a classic.

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Fortnitemares 2025 - Thoughts on the Halloween event

It is that time of year again when my favourite game of all time; Fortnite (for better or for worse) becomes spooky. Last year's event was a return to form after a series of years in which the effort seemed to get less and less, and I am glad to report that this year's event once again makes an effort, as well as has the most amount of cool Halloween themed skins yet.

The story in recent years has really began to suffer in Fortnite, with it relegated to just an excuse for the new season to exist. It shouldn't be a surprise then that the introduction of 'Fortnitemares' was quite jarring. Elsewhere we had been in the middle of a season about battling a giant bug invasion, but that was swiftly punted out the window with zero fanfare in order to bring horror to the chapter 6 island. The changes much as last year, are vast, lots and lots of giant pumpkin decorations and Halloween decorations in general popping up over the map. There are also a variety of new P.O.I's that have appeared. The 'Fortnitemares' challenges result in you earning a cool original skin of a killer wearing a pig mask.

First with the main Battle Royale mode. What little story there is links the invasion of horror to Doja Cat of all people! For some reason, Epic have decided she is the face of 'Fortnitemares' 2025, with her appearing in the game as a boss character under the name 'Mother of Thorns'. She isn't the only new boss on the map however, she is joined by the returning original creation Ultima Carver (basically a pumpkin knight), as well as the iconic Jason Vorhees from Friday the 13th films! There is also a camp based location added that you might encounter the hockey-mask wearing maniac at. Classic Halloween items such as the pumpkin launcher and witches broomstick return, but these pale in comparison to the new Scream weapon added to the game. Head into a phone box and you emerge dressed as Ghost Face, complete with large knife and a phone with which you can use to highlight any enemies in the area.
Over in OG Battle Royale things are more muted, the map gets a Halloween makeover and some classic weapons, but that's about it. Horde Mode once again returns. In this mode you usually battle hordes of zombies, culminating in a large boss fight. There is a crossover this year with K-Pop Demon Hunters, with you able to hire them to fight alongside you, as well as use their unique powers. The zombies have been swapped out for surprisingly bland looking demons, but there is the addition of extra boss fights, including a neat one against a giant ghostly banana character.
Most interesting for me was with Reload. A brand new island has been released; Nitemare Island. As the name suggests, this is pure horror based, with locations such as 'Spooky Suburbs', 'Creepy Cabins', and 'Retail Ruin'. I really don't enjoy Reload as a game mode, but it was very cool to have a whole map dedicated to horror.

As always, the changes and new modes are just one half of the coin, with horror themed skins being the other. This year has been the most expensive yet if you wish to get all the crossovers and unique creations. There has been so many this year. Crossovers include Friday the 13th, Poppy Playtime, Wednesday, Terrifier, The Black Phone, Scream, and even the cast of Scooby-Doo have appeared, complete with the Mystery Mobile as a vehicle type you could buy. Original skins have also been strong - a magma version of Ultima Carver, werewolves, vampires, and my personal favourite original skin - a monstrous knight with a huge mouth in its stomach area.

I realise it is quite sad to spend money on digital skins in a video game, but I see 'Fortnitemares' as my version of Christmas. It really makes the month of October feel more special. I might not agree with many of the extortionate costs of the skins and accessories, but I have really enjoyed this year's 'Fortnitemares', would recommend.

Paranormal Investigations (2025) - Horror Film Review

There is nothing particularly original about found footage/mockumentary Paranormal Investigations. The set-up of a goofy cast of characters exploring a haunted house has been done many times before to varying degrees of success, with the 2021 films Infrared and Paranormal Prison coming to mind straight away. Having said that, this Raymond Wallace written and directed horror delighted due to a mix of darkly comedic goings on, and the presentation style chosen to show the events of the movie.

The whole film is presented as if it was a TV episode that someone unseen is watching. The synopsis is that the cast and crew of a popular paranormal investigation show visited a reputably haunted old plantation building; the Hennesy House, as it had been chosen as the location for the first episode of their new season of the show. Their plan was to spend the night there. The next morning they were found all dead, having been brutally torn apart. The footage taken that night had been confiscated by the police, but after a court battle, the TV network the show belonged to have managed to get a hold of it. Under the pretence of honouring their memory, the TV network have created a special episode of 'Paranormal Investigations', the crew's footage edited together as if it was a proper episode, with behind the scenes footage included, and additional commentary from the network boss.

So, the idea wasn't anything original, but I loved the way this was presented. What I loved most was the way the film is edited together. The crew were joyfully fake, appearing in their filmed scenes as a tight unit of friends, and off camera the inevitable bickering and infighting that gave a comedic contrast. You have Matt (David J. Rivera); the smarmy host who in the background has discovered one of the fans he sent a dick pic to was a fifteen year old girl. This has caused a lot of the conflict as various members are concerned if this gets out the show will be cancelled, especially the sound technician; Fran (Tatiana Robledo). Kelsey (Jamie Bernadette - Ash and Bone, The Bone Box) is the writer and director of the show, also happening to be married to Matt and obviously angry at the man. Then there is cameraman Logan (Nick Oprea in his film debut), who is the most friendly with Matt, and the computer guy; the very nerdy Steve (Logan Stem) who is often bullied by the others. The on and off screen dialogue was wonderful between these, I never tired of the transitions between these moments, and how cheesy and fake they all acted when the camera was rolling. The over the top dramatic music, stylish scene transitions, and the over exaggerated way the characters spoke was mainly so great as it felt so authentic to the type of show they were creating within the film world. Without the behind the scenes stuff (and of course later horror), this could have almost passed for a legitimate cheesy American ghost investigation show. I found the characters interesting for who they were, the behind the scenes dynamics showing tensions between various members leading to amusing moments. I loved the recurring complaint from Kelsey of Logan not having covered up the logo on his baseball cap. Later, the love affair that Steve has with his brand new capture system comes to an almost laugh out loud moment when in the height of the chaos, he makes a pathetic attempt to rescue his heavy equipment before giving up and apologising to it that he has to leave it behind! Amusing stuff. The press release states this is a comedy horror, but it does verge far more on the horror side of things than humour, but it certainly plays a strong role in terms of the dialogue between the cast. As a final point, loved the trailer that plays after the film finishes proper, a great moment.

The icing on the cake was the wraparound for this show. I found it hilarious that the network had edited together their found footage to be in line with a typical 'Paranormal Investigations' show, and I adored how sensationalised the 'episode' was shown. When the horror is in full force, it was amusing to notice the dramatic music playing over the scenes of violence and terror. The schlocky in your face over the top presentation was just perfect. Funny the similarities between the exaggerated performance of the original show itself, and then being eulogised for viewers by an equally fake feeling and dumbed down presentation style for the memorial show.

Being an edited together show, there are various camera feeds around the house often all shown on screen at the same time, it was neat seeing things happen in rooms the characters were not in, though sometimes the smaller images made it a tiny bit hard to see things. The kill scenes were all tremendous, often happening just off screen, but with plenty of enthusiastic screaming, and a nice amount of blood spurts. A mix of practical effects and CG, these mostly looked great, especially one character whose head is crushed on camera! It wasn't all so good for the antagonistic force, the CG for the shadowy being just about looked good, but the thing itself when revealed looked a bit cheesy and fake, enough that I began to think it would all be revealed to be a hoax within the story. Not the most scary looking thing out there, but the panicked actions of the characters sold the scenes. The final twenty five minutes when the mud finally hits the fan made for a thrilling third act, characters running around the large house in total disarray.

From the start Paranormal Investigations felt very familiar, but it was a great example of one of these types of mockumentary found footage movies. At times it played things a little too on the nose. Obviously inspired by the classics, the scene that plays most homage to The Blair Witch Project (in which a character leaves a snivelling apology message to their parents) was such an obvious steal that it almost ripped me out the film entirely. Of course the scene was done that way purposely, but was the most derivative and over-used found footage moment.

This has turned out to be a lengthy review. I thought Paranormal Investigations was a great film despite some little missteps. It would have been nicer to have a little more variety during the third act, and it would have worked better with a more authentic looking antagonist, but I enjoyed the flawed characters and their internal bickering, and I really did adore the way the movie was presented and edited together, quietly amusing. Director Raymond Wallace said of his film:

"We wanted to capture the absurdity of reality television colliding with genuine horror."
I think it is safe to say he was successful in that endeavour.

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Jacker 3: Road to Hell (2025) - Thriller Film Review

Unsurprisingly, Jacker 3: Road to Hell is the third film in a series. What I found interesting was that the previous two films were both released in the 90s; Jacker in 1993, and sequel - Jacker 2: Road to Hell in 1996. This third entry makes use of the thirty year gap for one of its plot points, as well as brings back a host of the original actors to reprise their roles. Having never seen the first two films I did feel l was playing catch-up a bit, so my synopsis might not be entirely correct as there were parts of the movie that left me a little confused, my fault entirely for joining the series with the third film. This new entry is directed by James Panetta (Phil Herman's Unearthed, Doomsday Stories), and once again written by Phil Herman, the writer of the previous films, as well as the person who plays the titular villainous role.

Thirty years previously, a serial killer known as 'the Jacker' (Herman) went on a notorious killing spree, his modus operandi typically being to murder his victims during carjackings. Despite his large amount of victims, the police were never able to capture him due to the killer seemingly striking at random, before one day vanishing without a trace. Now, with no explanation other than possibly due to it being the anniversary of the original killings, the Jacker is back, once again creating a large kill-count. This causes Gloria (Debbie D - Phil Herman's Unearthed, Doomsday Stories) to reappear; a survivor of the original Jacker killing spree who went into hiding after he failed to kill her. Now she begins to have troubling nightmares about the man, seeming to have some type of psychic connection with the killer, and realising he is back she desperately tries to alert people.

Did I have much of an idea what was going on? No. Did I have a fun time watching this very low budget thriller? Hell yes. It begins with a prologue sequence in which a man shoots his wife dead, before being killed in turn by a policeman. Before he goes however, he is able to transfer his essence into his young son. I wasn't sure of the importance of this scene, but it does set up the murky possibility that the Jacker is supernatural in nature. This supernatural element doesn't appear heavily, but it is referenced again later in the film, and you could argue the many nightmare sequences characters have are also a cause of this.
The story is split between a multitude of characters, some of which only appear in order to become more victims for the serial killer, some who have their own little subplots going on, such as journalist Chris (Christopher Kahler - Phil Herman's Unearthed, He Sees You When You're Sleeping), and of course Gloria; the main protagonist but whose story mainly takes place away from the new killings. Jacker's storyline has him back on a meandering murder-spree, he of course kills people whose cars he has stolen from them, but also his fair share of home invasions, and happenstance while out walking the streets of the city. He makes for an entertaining villain, seeming to get pleasure out of his motive-less killings, and he talks a fair bit. It was also amusing that many people seem to recognise who he is before they are dispatched by him; the event from the past having left a scar on the city.

There are a whole bunch of death scenes, the Jacker's weapon of choice usually being a gun which he uses to single shot his victims. There are some closer kills, even one severed penis to be found here! Scenes typically have these characters begging for mercy, and occasionally even getting that mercy. Favourite of these had to be Butch Patrick (Eddie from The Munsters) playing a fictional version of himself outside a fan convention. There are a few scenes with female nudity, often feeling like these were only there for titillation. There were also various scenes that were played for comedic effect, with the indie feel of the film world these moments fitted in seamlessly with the more dramatic scenes. Perhaps part of his supernatural powers, perhaps just to make the film flow more smoothly; Jacker appears able to be exactly where he wants to be at any given point. He flits around between scenes, so one moment he will be invading a home, next scene he will be out walking in woodland, the next scene he will be meeting someone to try and buy guns, with no rhyme or reason to why he is where he is. He made for an entertaining antagonist, but he didn't make for a cohesive feeling character, a force of nature rather than anything deeper.

Despite being a bit lost as to what had come before, I enjoyed Jacker 3. I liked how the killer wasn't needlessly cruel, living to kill, not living to torture, and I liked the cheerful way he goes about things. The plot involving Gloria did feel very disconnected to his storyline, at times this slightly felt like two separate movies playing out in the same film universe. Jacker 3: Road to Hell was an entertaining indie thrill ride. Don't always expect the strongest of acting (especially during the amusingly wooden news segments), and don't expect too much plot, but this was a solid indie film which never became dull.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 16th October 2025

This small news post is due to go up on the week I return to my day job after 10 days off. It has been pleasant not to work, though I didn't get as much blog as I had originally intended to! Onwards to the news.

Retro slasher Brute 1976 is now available on VOD and Digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Vimeo On Demand, and YouTube Movies via Cinephobia Releasing. This Marcel Walz (Pretty Boy) directed slasher earned a respectable 7/10 rotted zombie heads in my August review, where I stated 'Brute 1976 wears its inspirations on its sleeve, and it benefits from not trying to pretend it is something wholly original'.

Japanese practical FX monster movie Bakemono has won a slew of awards at various festivals. It won Best Feature at the Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival, it won Best Special Effects at both the Atlanta Horror Film Festival and Motor City Nightmares Film Festival, and won Best Practical Effects at A Night of Horror Film Festival. I stated in my enthusiastic 9/10 rotted heads review back in December of last year 'I hoped for a good horror, and with Bakemono you have that, wonderfully edited, fantastic special effects, and great creature design, this was something special'.

Finally for today, horror adventure-comedy Minore was released on North American VOD platforms and DVD on September 30th. It takes place at a Greek seaside taverna where strange creatures have risen from the sea. A sailor in search of his father teams up with the eccentric locals to try and find a way to repel this threat. Director Konstantinos Koutsoliotas says of his film 'Minore is my love letter to Greece - a delirious cocktail of Lovecraftian monsters, splatter, bouzouki, awkward dinners, and unexpected song and dance.' 

Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2024) - Comedy Horror Film Review

Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea comes from director Tony Olmos (Continuance) and writer Brian Patrick Butler (Friend of the World). Bizarrely, Butler himself plays the part of the antagonist old woman featured here, though it helps being a comedy that his strange appearance can be brushed off. She had by far the best lines and best deliveries of the film, so I would assume that's why Butler played the part, so he could bring his lines to life in the way he envisioned here.

An epidemic has swept America in which drug users have become addicted to a dangerous new type of bath salt. The side effects cause the addicts to wander around in a stupor, attacking anyone who gets within reach, as well giving the addicts a taste for human flesh. Liz Topham-Myrtle (Butler) is the landlady of a remote housing block, knowing her tenants have nowhere else to go, she rules over them with an iron-fist. She takes advantage of them, pitting them against each other, and changing their tenancy agreements on a whim. With the police wrapped around her little finger, and with martial law close to being called due to the nationwide bath salt epidemic, Liz is making her own little empire. The tenants, angry at their treatment by her, have began to rebel, leading to a series of events that have drastic consequences.

The general idea behind this film I liked. I appreciated the zombie sub-plot, and while not literal zombies, these addicts filled the role well. It was always suggested that out on the streets is carnage, with the addicted out in force, but this never came across that strongly on screen. With a muted zombie outbreak, there was also a muted response to it, which did make the threat of them seem over-exaggerated. Butler was scene stealing in his lead role. It is really obvious it isn't an actual old lady, but this gives the character a really surreal appearance that just added to her commanding role. The quick fire matter of fact way the character speaks was often mesmerising, even if she was a detestable character. That became my core issue with much of the movie, how unlikeable virtually the entire cast are. Even characters on the more good side of things still appeared to be horrid people. Rosie (Kimberley Weinberger) was set-up to be the protagonist, but was barely better than the rest of the horrid cast. When there are no characters to like, it becomes hard to care about any of them or their fates. This is reflected within the film itself, as the cast of characters are all back stabbing and out for themselves, even with a high body count, these characters don't appear to particularly care about all the death going on around them.

Special effects delighted at times, there are more than a couple of severed limbs, a load of corpses, and one quite entertaining scene involving a chainsaw! The 'zombies' for want of a better term, do get some classic moments such as tearing open people's stomachs, and there is a bit of decent looking gunfire effects as well.
With the movie taking place near entirely at the dusty desert compound, the look fitted the downtrodden story well. It doesn't take much to see this is partly a critique against the housing situation in America, while also speaking out about corruption and racism.

The set-up for Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea was good, I liked the addition of a dangerous epidemic sweeping the country. I do wish there had been more characters to root for, this had an almost Shakespearean quality of betrayal and arrogance behind the story, but with this cast of nasty people, it was hard to care about any of it too deeply.

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Sincerely Saul (2025) - Comedy Horror Film Review

Written, directed, and produced by Ian Tripp (Everybody Dies by the End), Sincerely Saul is an indie dark comedy psychological horror that is a slice of life for a man-child. Without much plot to worry about, this absurdist black and white injects life with its variety of weird and kooky characters.

Saul (Ryan Schafer - Everybody Dies by the End), is a 26 year old man who never really grew up. He lives with his terminally ill grandma (Mickey Faerch - Memory: The Origins of Alien), doesn't work, and is a member of a support group for involuntary male virgins. Him and his grandma have a love/hate relationship, he does care for her, but he is also adverse to 'borrowing' money off of her for his obsession with an online cam-girl and his desire to fulfil his perceived happiness needs.

Saul is a hard protagonist to like but even so he does have some redeeming qualities buried deep down. Being a comedy horror, I expected there would be a tipping point where the Napoleon Dynamite styled character would go on a bloody rampage. Much like a child however, Saul is all bark and no bite, ineffectually having tantrums rather than actually causing people physical harm. He is barely able to speak normally, acting like a sullen teenager when answering questions from the people he encounters in his life. These characters are an eccentric bunch of weirdos and odd-balls. From the 'friendly' Officer Porter (Karl Backus - Skin: The Movie) whose close relationship with his mother feels rather forced, to the long suffering comic book clerk (Ty Mabrey in his film debut), there is virtually no one here who comes across as normal. My favourite side character had to be the nerdy bow-tie vlogger that befriends Saul at one point. The interaction between Saul and his grandma was the strongest part of character development. From their strange relationship you get a sense that Saul is the way he is due to his family, the grandma at times seeming like an older mirror of the troubled man.

There isn't that much that happens, the film feeling like a snapshot of a few weeks of the protagonists life. He begins the movie trying to kill himself, and threatens to several times over the 95 minute runtime, but you get the sense it is all for show. I couldn't see how there could be a happy ending for such a dysfunctional man, the snapshot approach works in that there doesn't really need to be a resolution. The film ends with some characters in better positions, some characters in worse positions, but on the whole most characters have little to no growth to them; they are all too set in their ways. I liked how a potentially huge plot point of a vast forest fire that Saul inadvertently caused just bubbles away in a severe side plot, only occasionally referenced. This matches with the film's weird humour, it always felt funny in a round-about way. The horror mainly comes from the situation Saul has grown into, it was hard to see how this 'neckbeard' would be able to rise above his issues. A nightmare sequence towards the end features the most horror to be found here, the rest of the movie having a more drama focussed (though exaggerated) approach.

Sincerely Saul made for an interesting movie. The stripped back story combined with the stark black and white look made something that was different enough to keep my attention throughout despite not too much going on. Saul was a unique lead, definitely hard to like, but there was also something pathetically innocent about how he is in his miserable existence. Sincerely Saul was released on 29th September.

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Scurry (2024) - Horror Film Review

Last year I had a wonderful time at the cinema watching prequel horror; A Quiet Place: Day One, and now I have seen the Luke Sparke (Primitive War, Occupation: Rainfall) directed  Scurry - a film that tells a similar story but in an indie setting. That isn't me saying it had copied that one, just that with the under attack city setting, the duel protagonists, the sentimental feel, and a vaguely similar looking creature (though more crab-like in appearance); these all combined to make this a stand-alone story taking place the same day as that much bigger movie in my head canon. Sure that is not the case, especially with the monsters here not appearing to have very great hearing.
I haven't even mentioned it yet, but Scurry is designed to have the appearance of it being one long unbroken shot from beginning to end. How well does it achieve this?

Mark (Jamie Costa - The Activated Man) wakes up in a deep hole in the road he had been crossing in the middle of a bustling unnamed city that had been caught in an earthquake. With the area having suffered a series of quakes over the past few weeks, he assumes that is what has happened. He is surprised when his cries for help fall on deaf ears, as he figures he couldn't possibly be the only survivor of this quake in such a bustling city. Forced to head deeper underground, he encounters another survivor; a frightened and injured young woman (Emalia - Paper Dolls TV series), she reveals to him the truth; the city has came under attack by giant monstrous creatures that came from beneath the earth, the frequent quakes had actually been caused by their burrowing beneath the city. Mark and the woman don't have any other real option than to uneasily team up and attempt to find a way to escape the creature-made burrows they now find themselves trapped in.

Overall I was impressed with Scurry. There were a few parts that didn't resonate as well, but it managed to tell its ambitious story effectively, the underground setting meaning a lot of the bigger picture stuff is assumed to be happening above ground. The 'one-shot' gimmick obviously doesn't mean one single uncut shot for the whole film, with the amount of times scenes are plunged into darkness, I am sure there are a lot  of scene cuts. What worked with this was the feeling of one long, single journey. From the camera swooping in from a chaotic city scene to centre on an unconscious Mark at film's start, to the amazing finish, this showed the entire torturous journey of the protagonists. This means the entire seventy minute movie plays out in real time, characters experiencing the events and getting to know each other at the exact same speed as the viewer.
Mark was a mostly great character. Sure, the man had his demons in his past, but he comes across as empathetic, caring, and an all-round good guy. I will admit he did begin to grate on me a bit in the momentum stalling scene deep in the third act, his dialogue there causing me to laugh out loud. He was also hardy, seeing as how he had a gaping hole the size of a small letterbox in his stomach from a film's start injury! The same can't be said for the woman (also hardy with a bad leg injury; I mean she can't said to be a nice character). From her first appearance she was selfish, mean spirited, bullying, and a little bit narcissistic. No matter what Mark said or did, she would treat him terribly, scoffing at the idea of him wanting to get back to his 'perfect family', and putting her needs ahead of his. Pretty much treated him like he was a side character in her own movie rather than a duel protagonist. Armed with a pistol, she holds the power, making Mark crawl behind her, and taking his items (such as his lighter) off of him. At one point she even forces him to head back down an occupied tunnel in order to collect mystery drugs she had dropped. She eventually gets more bearable, but for too much of the runtime I was wishing the character would just get over themselves and found them overly irritating.

The characters are in dark tunnels for much of the movie, sometimes the one shot uses this to cool advantage, such as panning back to reveal a monster is obliviously digging in a tunnel above them, or to sweep down a hole to show the viewer what is making the noise the characters can hear. It also pans away to flashback sequences in a clever fashion. Many of the effects seem to use CG, such as the panning shots, but they never looked bad, and added depth to the world of the film. There is more action than you might expect, the humans are surrounded by monsters, but those are not particularly aware of these survivors trying to find a way out. There are plenty of small exciting moments, the third act begins with a really entertaining scene that had me giggle out loud, and which saw the duo covered in blood! The creatures look like giant crabs ("giant enemy crabs; hit weak points for massive damage" to paraphrase a much memed Sony 2006 E3 press conference). The darkness of the film means they are often in shadow enough that the design and look-in film is effective.
The story had me engaged enough that I wanted to see Mark survive; to see if he could be reunited with his family. Both characters had their melodramatic cheesy moments where they lay their cards on the table, reveal to each other their darkest secrets. Those felt a little bit formulaic for this type of film, but were at least brief. Being biased towards him, Mark's one was much better than the woman's. There is some lore that is dropped towards the end about the threat they face that threatens to turn the film into a parody of itself, but it paves the way for the memorable Sam Raimi-esque ending zinger that was just perfect, even if the explanation was utterly ridiculous.

Apart from a dip in pacing in the middle of the third act, I really enjoyed Scurry. Mark was a great protagonist for the most part, and at least the woman eventually becomes more bearable. I might not have liked the character, but she was played well, as was Costa's Mark outside of one small stumble. It sold the illusion of being one unbroken shot beneath the streets and sewers of a city well, I enjoyed the CG effects to pad out the world, and the unique ways the film had of displaying key information to the viewer. The dank environments felt suitably claustrophobic. Scurry came to Digital HD on October 3rd in North America via Signature Entertainment.

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Retrofate (2025) by Assassun - Music Album Review

It's another year and another full length album from Assassun (the moniker for one of Alexander Donat's many music projects). Titled Retrofate, this album seems to leave behind much of its previous eighties synth sound, taking on a more retro nineties EDM inspired sound mixed alongside its post-punk/industrial beats. Not too much of a surprise is that this is another great album.

Things begin with the sneering and angry sounding 'Poisonalan', its assortment of repetitive beat carrying the track along. 'At the Kiwi Crates' is the weirdly titled and weird on the whole second song. The lyrics sung in a kind of rap beat are very odd, loved it, and I also loved the dirty back beat thudding away throughout.
'1995' is where the retro EDM rave sound begins to appear more frequently. This is the start of a downward descent deeper and deeper into awesome sounding EDM music. 'Past/I N B E T W E E N/Future' has even more of a rave-like feel, the music here is amazing, with what sounded like chiptune style music at times, and entertaining lyrics. Then 'D.E.A.T.H'. goes even further into the EDM wastelands with an evil sound to it, loved the backing beat. 

Following the sarcastic EDM roadtrip 'The Sons of the United Plagues' we get to 'Abysmalism', a track both dramatic and experimental with the lyrics almost becoming spoken word. 'Off the Globe' is the end of the really grimy sounding back beats, another good example of it, those backing beats are so great. Penultimate track 'GATEKEEPER' may just be my favourite on the whole album, I'm not a fan of the genre, but it was still a surprising delight to hear parts where a drum n' bass beat kicks in for some high energy sounding moments that were fun. Finally comes the more slow and introspective finisher 'The Concrete of Time'. A bit surreal, and a very slight opening feel of a The Streets song, this had some good parts scattered throughout its weird journey.

I seem to say this every time, but I once again loved Assassun's latest album; Retrofate, delighted with its abundance of grotty sounding EDM (in the best way). blended with the lovely post-punk industrial sound. There was a good stretch of the album where every song was better than the one that came before. Enjoyed this one more than I had initially expected to.

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Drive Back (2024) - Horror Film Review

Despite its generic 'thriller' sounding title, Drive Back is actually a time loop horror film - a sub-genre of horror that I really love. Directed by Cody Ashford (in his directorial debut), and written by Jon Sarro, this tells an all too familiar story that the sub-genre seems destined to repeatedly tell forever, in some type of... loop. I am sure it is purely coincidence, but this felt extremely similar to Dane Elcar's 2022 time loop horror; Brightwood, albeit, a more enjoyable version of that film.

Olivia (Whit Kunschik - Caged) and her partner Reid (Zack Gold) have gotten lost out in the wooded backroads of America while driving back from their engagement party at Reid's parents house. Finding a remote gas station, the couple ask the eccentric old woman they discover there how to get back to where they need to be. She then reveals to them a secret short cut via a road passing through the middle of a thick wood that only the locals know about, and directs them on how to find it. Things begin to go odd as soon as they arrive on the short cut - time appears to be passing strangely, each of them begin to have memory lapses about things that have only just happened, and they encounter a very hostile hitchhiker. Then they begin to notice familiar landmarks they are certain they have passed before, and it is discovered they they appear trapped in some time of loop, no matter which way they drive, they come across the same stretch of road.

As I said in my prologue, there were many parts of Drive Back that felt very similar to ideas used in similar films. A bickering couple, a dangerous cloaked stranger, seeing past and future versions of yourselves; all are cool ideas, but none of them are original. There were some parts here that felt a little more fresh. It wasn't implemented well into the film, but I liked the concept of heading further into the future going one way down the road, and heading back into the past if heading the opposite direction. So, Reid and Olivia don't have the greatest chemistry together, something that is a key part of the drama going on between them. In addition to Olivia being pregnant, Reid is also still trying to come to terms with her having cheated on him in the past. More interesting was Reid's relationship with his survivalist father. This was important enough that the bleak prologue sequence shows an event that happened when Reid was a young boy on a hunting trip. Both protagonists were decent characters, the actors able to convey all the confusing story changes. Some of the highlight dialogue scenes were when the two were almost going insane due to the rapid fire memory alterations they were getting, the scene a dizzying quick edit to heighten the disorientation.

There is a decent effort to inject horror into this, characters frequently have really violent and gory nightmare sequences, and I have to say how much I liked the look of the blood here. When there is a call for blood, there is a heck of a lot of it. The location for the story was perfectly suited, designed to just be a part of the background. There are more characters to be found than just themselves, but the supporting cast are a mixed bunch of mostly mute antagonists who all look the same. Also, if you are after any sort of explanation for the loop-based terror going on, then you may be disappointed, but its typical of the sub-genre not to explain things.

After a promising start, Drive Back soon fell prey to the pitfalls of the genre. Focussed on just the two characters, it did feel a little samey at times, but it is when the two realise they are trapped in a loop that the film becomes more derivative. The hour and a half (or so) runtime felt exactly its length, with the middle part of the movie dragging somewhat. As for the end, not the worst way to finish a story, but also not the best way either. This is a decent example of this type of film, and I would recommend it over others I have seen in recent memory.

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The Creep Tapes (2024) - Horror Series Review

Creep and Creep 2 are two fantastic found footage horror films that shine mainly due to the hypnotically awkward performance of the antagonist (played by Mark Duplass). I have always felt a bit bad about giving that first film a six out of ten, but have to assume that was what my thoughts were at the time. With the last film released in 2017, I had assumed this series was done and dead. Last year I was delighted to see a TV series based on the character was released. The Creep Tapes is a found footage horror series, each episode taking the form of a snuff film that the titular creep has made. 

Season 1 is made up of six roughly twenty five minute long episodes, each one featuring a different victim that the killer has tricked into meeting with him. I wasn't sure how the episodes would feel varied seeing as I assumed the central concept would be the same. The fun comes from the different personas and situations that Duplass' character gets to act out in. It begins with 'Mike' in which a man hoping to make a video to help him get into film school has came to the killer's remote house. This was a bit Creep by numbers but it had some shining moments. In this one, the killer is pretending to be a killer for the film being shot, a lovely blend of you not knowing if he is just pretending or is actually attempting to kill Mike. Lovely stuff and it makes sense they would want to start the season with something more familiar. Next up is 'Elliott' which takes place entirely out in a remote location where the killer has joined a man for a spot of bird watching, enjoyed the way killing is described in bird watching terms, though this was one of the weaker episodes due to the location. Halfway through the first season brings 'Jeremy' that was probably my favourite here. Duplass' character is in full cringe mode, playing the part of a priest in order to trick someone who makes a living out of ridiculing religion online. The tables are of course turned in the most delightful ways, with Jeremy failing to out-creep the sinister odd-ball.

The second half of the season begins with 'Brad' in which the killer offers a true crime documentary maker the opportunity to film a real crime in progress, with penultimate episode 'Brandt' mainly just being Duplass' character on his own after the titular man fails to show up. Season finale 'Mom (and Albert)' is the biggest lore dump, with the killer visiting his equally insane mother and her new boyfriend. It is all as you would expect and there were no real revelations, and was also the least horror filled episode. Throughout the season, things were always entertaining but I was never blown away. I enjoyed the variation in these episodes but they remained relatively samey. Of course the iconic wolf costume 'Peachfuzz' makes plenty of appearances, even appearing to be sentient during 'Brandt'. The scenes where the victims come to understand the danger they are really in was always the highlight, Duplass plays his role to perfection, plenty of sudden jump scares by screaming at characters, and the chase sequences were always a lot of fun. The short length of the episodes prevents a feeling of slow pacing that can be the case in found footage feature lengths, with the story picking up at the most interesting point typically.

If you liked the Creep films then I am sure you would also enjoy the series. There is nothing that fresh and exciting here, but it works as a greatest hits of the best that the films had to offer. This was certainly a fun watch, but it didn't blow me away, Duplass of course is perfection in his twisted role. The Creep Tapes is currently streaming on Shudder.

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