The Nursery (2018) - Horror Film Review

I will be the first to admit that when I started watching The Nursery my hopes were pretty low. This is an indie horror with a typical story, and by around the halfway mark I was plain frustrated with how this was going. So it was a shock some forty five minutes later and the end credits were rolling when I realised this had managed to achieve a complete 180 on my opinion of it.

Maddi Conway stars as Ranae - a cash strapped college student who has decided to take up babysitting as a means to earn money. All she has to do is look after a baby while the parents of the child go on a date, promising to be back around midnight. It isn't long until weird things start occurring and after confessing this to her friends they decide to join her for company. All four soon begin to realise that for whatever reason a vengeful ghost is haunting the property and that it means them harm...

Right from the start I thought the song choices here were really good and well chosen. This is one element that sticks as a constant throughout The Nursery. The hipster style songs that Ranae listens to work as a counterpoint to the unfolding terror, there is a great part early on when the music playing becomes quite distorted for instance. This type of music coming back for the fantastic end credits (black and white clips for each character are played with the image then pausing to bring up their name) was also a delight. It is also the score itself that adds so much. It might be typical horror fare but the music fits the atmosphere like a glove, they blend together very well.

The Thing on the Shelf (2018) - Short Horror Film Review

It's been an odd week for my blog in that I have had all the time in the world to be doing blog posts, yet for whatever reason I never got around to doing them. Not really good seeing as how I still have a Christmas backlog to clear. My last review was of Mikal's No Lives Matter, and now it is the turn of another short of his - The Thing on the Shelf which he also wrote and directed.

It is close to Christmas and a mum (Jill Kathryn Lemond) has given her daughter (Aila June Lemond) an elf doll to sit on a shelf in order to make sure she doesn't misbehave. In the middle of the night the girl wakes up to a sudden noise...

I don't really understand the whole elf on the shelf thing that seems to be popular nowadays but regardless of that bit of new child Christmas lore I found this short to be effective. This is just over a minute long but managed to be creepy. I have an unexplainable mild phobia of puppets and so I could feel my skin crawl towards the end of this. As such in my eyes it is a success! The child actor gives an understated performance, while the short length means the zinger is just enough to make you create the rest in your mind. Also I liked that the music goes off key once the horror starts to happen.

In terms of originality this wouldn't win any awards. However The Thing on the Shelf was well put together and was effective as a tiny Christmas horror. With such a short length it is worth a watch.

SCORE:

No Lives Matter (2018) - Short Horror Film Review

I have a couple of short horror films brought to my attention by Darkly Films, as they are both only a minute long each I bumped them up to the top of my list. No Lives Matter is a short zombie tale that was entered into the Filmstro & Film Riot One Minute Short Film Competition. Director/writer Mikal is no stranger to having to make use of limited time as in the past he has put entries into the even more constrained 15 Second Horror Film Challenge.

Undead apocalypse has swept the city and a band of survivors are fleeing the rotting dead. They end up seemingly trapped in an alleyway and with the ghouls approaching it looks like the end may be near...

I had to watch this short quite a few times to cotton onto just what is happening here, but finally I understand and as a result has made this better, The title is a play on the 'black lives matter' slogan which feeds into this to give better context. This is a comedy horror which only become apparent once I had deciphered this message shown.

The visuals are all really blurry, intentionally so as the camera is focussed on a particular part of the screen meaning all around is fuzzy. This coupled with the great eighties sounding synth soundtrack and editing that cuts moments out leads to something that felt well put together. If I had one complaint it would be that the make-up for the zombies is not consistent, and one of the much younger undead does look quite happy rather than menacing in a lot of the shots she appears in. Still, all in all not bad at all.  Check it out for yourself below.

SCORE:

Curse of the Witch's Doll (2018) - Horror Film Review

Curse of the Witch's Doll is a low budget horror that at first I was ready to pass off as not really worth a view at all. However the more I watched the more I found myself not minding what I was seeing. The plot goes to some unexpected places, while among the small cast there were a few actors who I really enjoyed watching. Of special note to me was that this was filmed in my hometown of Northampton!

It is 1942 and Adeline (Helen Crevel - KillerSaurus) and her daughter Chloe (Layla Watts) have gone to live in the countryside after their house in Kent was destroyed by a bomb, a place to live which has been arranged by the mild mannered Arthur (Philip Ridout - Dogged). Soon after moving in strange occurrences start happening, doors shut on their own, and Chloe befriends a sinister looking doll she finds. Then one day while out in the woods Chloe vanishes into thin air, Adeline starts to believe that she has been taken away by the spirit of a witch that she believes resides within the creepy doll found in the house...

This covers a lot of ground throughout its 95 minute run time even if a lot of that ground isn't that original at times, or that well linked together. This seemed like it was going to be a haunted doll film to begin with. Kudos to the team for coming up with a creepy thing that actually looks creepy, even if it has a slight look of a Garbage Pail Kid to it. Unlike the dullard that is Annabelle this one actually moves at times too. It is a shame then that this creation isn't actually put to much use and the whole idea felt clumsily handled.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993) - Horror Video Game Review (PS4)

The Castlevania series of video games are one of my all time favourites, nearly each and everyone I have played I have really enjoyed, especially the Metroidvania styled ones. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood originally released on the PC Engine CD exclusively in Japan, it found a Western release on the PSP in 2008 as a re-make. I own that version but I stopped playing about halfway through for whatever reason. Then in 2018 it got another re-release, this time on the PS4. Being a lifelong fan with unlikely hopes of a new Castlevania game getting made I again brought this, but this time I actually played it through to completion.

Rondo of Blood takes place in 1792 where vampire hunter Richter Belmont's love Annette has been kidnapped by the dark priest Shaft who has taken her to Castlevania: the home of legendary immortal vampire Dracula, who he and his followers have recently resurrected.

As always the story is quite brief and small, but that is what I love about these games. Having an immortal vampire as the antagonist is of course a lot of fun, but I also love how the lore affects your view of the game world. Castlevania itself is the physical manifestation of chaos which neatly explains away why it looks different each game. Rather than the latter games Metroidvania style (essentially one gigantic level) this features nine stages that are set in and around the titular castle. Starting off with an exciting cart ride into a nearby village your journey takes you through graveyards, chapels, even a ghostly ship makes an appearance. Each level is divided into various stages that are entered and exited by doors or stairwells.

The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for December 2018

Here we are, the final day and the final blog post for 2018. This has not been a good year, I would liken my travel as to that of Dante's journey into Hell. Things have certainly improved with outcomes that would not have occurred had that trip not happened. Still, sometimes I wake up in the night, memories of that fearsome sight of Satan encased in ice, forever trapped in Judecca. All that is to say...roll on the news!

Terror Films has joined forces with Jim Klock (Massacre on Aisle 12, 6.66 PM) and his Code 3 Films group for a three picture deal. The first of these three is to be Red Letters which is currently in post production. The films is about two private investigators who take on a dangerous assignment that leads them to true evil. The film stars Darrell Martinelli, Emily Adams, Kelsey Trainer, and Klock himself who also wrote and directed this. 

In time for the Christmas season (that is pretty much over, damn you Silent Singer!) came O' Bloody Night, released by Troma Now on Video-On-Demand. This horror is an anthology, one of my favourite types of film, and of course as the title may suggest, these shorts all take place around the Christmas period. To see this for yourself head here.

Horror reviewer/interviewer Spooky Astronauts and Andrew J.D Robinson (The Becky Carmichael Fan Club, founder of the annual 15 Second Horror Film Challenge) have teamed up to make an immersive how-to filmmaking video for aspiring filmmakers of short films. If that appeals to you then watch the video below.



The easier to pronounce than it first appears to be Agalmatophilia has been released on DVD, VHS and Prime thanks to Frolic Pictures. This bizarre movie is about an office clerk who hires a new secretary that just so happens to be a living mannequin, soon he becomes to develop feeling for it. It sounds all very weird and arty, a guess backed up by the fact this was all shot in black and white. It certainly sounds like something different that's for sure!

The Man in Room Six is an art-house horror film that stars the legend Bill Oberst Jr. (Coyote, DIS) and Jackie Kelly. It is directed by Trevor Juenger who also did Coyote. There is a crowdfunding campaign going on  at Seed&Spark to help raise funds for this, more information can be found here. The Man in Room Six is about a troubled woman who meets an elderly man (Oberst Jr.) in a nursing home who claims to be immortal. When this man goes missing the woman is accused of his murder and committed to a girls' psychiatric ward.

Finally, in January 2019 comedy horror Hell's Kitty is going to be screened in the UK at the Horror-on-Sea Festival. This movie is about a writer and his possessed cat Angel that won't allow him to have a love life. Among it's claimed iconic cast is Doug Jones (Shape of Water). For more information about the festival go here, and for more information on the film itself check out their website.

Lasso (2018) - Horror Film Review

Lasso is a horror that feels like it stepped right out of the early noughts and along the way took a pit stop at the torture porn genre. It all felt very familiar, yet sometimes familiarity can be comforting. It may be a basic well trod story but it's a competent and entertaining ride.

Kit (Lindsey Morgan - The 100) and Simon (Andrew Jacobs - Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones) have brought a bus of senior citizens to a rodeo for a nice day out. Upon leaving at the days end one of the group realises they have left something of theirs behind and so Simon sets out to retrieve it. This delay in the groups departure however accidentally causes them to see the rodeo's dark side, with much of the staff, led by Pomroy Hacket (Thomas Cokenias - Birdemic: Shock and Terror) on a sadistic murder spree. Teaming up with some friendlies Simon meets, that include one armed cowboy Ennis (Sean Patrick Flanery - The Boondock Saints, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter) and buff bull rider Trish (Skyler Cooper) they must all find a way to escape the unfolding madness.

I have only seen a couple of Wild West style horrors and so I found the antagonists here to be a fun bunch. Their method of killing their victims is very appropriate to their day jobs with weapons used including pitchforks, spiked whips, branding irons, cattle prods, and of course the titular lasso. With a bunch of crazies on the loose there was no end of variation in the kills here which were always a lot of fun to see. This is all violent stuff with a lot of blood and gore to add to the thrill. Choice kills include a man being sawn in half with a rusty saw, a woman lassoed and then swung round and round until she connects brutally with a tree, and someone who is cattle prodded so much that his eyeballs explode! I would say these are by far the best parts of Lasso and thankfully they are plentiful with a high body count on both sides of the groups.

Mandao of the Dead (2018) - Comedy Horror Film Review

By this point in my life I am conditioned to expect a zombie film whenever I see a '...of the Dead' in the title of any film. Due to this I was slightly disappointed Scott Dunn's horror comedy Mandao of the Dead didn't have any rotting fiends. This indie film has a certain quirky charm to it however, while it may be a little bit bare bones there is some nice chemistry with some of the characters.

Jay Mandao (Dunn) discovers in the lead up to Halloween that he has gained the ability to astral project whenever he sleeps. While using this ability he accidentally meets the ghost of a man who has been recently murdered by the crazy ex girlfriend of his adult nephew Jackson (Sean McBride). Together they try and find a way to stop this death from ever occurring...

This is a comedy, but not in the traditional sense of having laugh out loud jokes and gags. Instead this is a comedy in the bright and breezy way dark subjects are covered, and the off-kilter world the character inhabit. Visually there are moments that made me smile, Jackson discovering a corpse and trying not to be sick was pretty amusing for instance. With the dialogue I liked that all the explanations for why characters know the weirdly specific knowledge they do is passed off with a convenient throwaway line that works due to this being a comedy.

Call of Duty: WWII - The Frozen Dawn (2018) - Thoughts on the Final Nazi Zombies Map

The downside to being sent so many films, books, and games to review on this blog is that it doesn't leave me much time to do blog posts about the things that interest me the most. That is not a criticism, more that the pressure of reviewing things in a timely manner leads to me neglecting things. The final Nazi Zombies map for Call of Duty: WWII is one such thing I have long neglected to cover. As well as the map itself I shall be talking about that years Zombies mode in summary.

The Frozen Dawn takes place in the lost city of Thule in Antarctica. Taking things back to normal after The Tortured Path experiment this is a traditional zombies map. Playing as Drostan, Olivia, Marie or Jefferson you open and explore the hidden city in order to find a way to stop the zombie epidemic sweeping the planet. To be honest I think I have played this map around four or five times in total. The final map for any Zombies game is usually the one that gets left out a bit, there are some stunning exceptions (Revelations being one such example, though if you are MrDalekJD it will be so forgettable you even miss it off a 'Ranked Maps' YouTube video, seriously, zero respect for that guy!). My issue with The Frozen Dawn is that it is very similar in look to Beneath the Ice from The Tortured Path. Both have you exploring ancient ruins beneath the ice and so it felt odd to have such a similar map.

Starting off on the surface you work your way down into the depths of the underground city. The map is moderately sized essentially being a long loop. There are narrow corridors and cavernous rooms that are set against of a backdrop of immense size. From my limited time playing this it is ok, but then that is the problem with Nazi Zombies as a whole. This was touted as being the most scary and serious Zombies mode yet, on paper this sounded good. By being so serious though the mode lost a lot of the charm and actually become a bit stale and dull. This map is a perfect example as it is bland personified.

I did not mind The Final Reich, I loved the horror elements and I really loved that finally the game gave you steps towards the elusive Easter egg mission. Due to 'hardcore' player complaints this really useful new addition of listing the steps were removed for the subsequent maps. With the steps gone so did me and my friends enjoyment and desire to play the maps. It is frustrating more than anything having no idea what you are meant to be doing. It didn't make us want to play the maps more, it did the opposite and made us just give up.

Changing up the formula so much for The Tortured Path also seemed a weird decision It felt like the developers were unsure what direction they wanted to take the game, though I am happy that this season there were eight maps, even if four of those were quite small (Grosten Haus has become my catchphrase of the year for describing any bad). As a game in its own right this isn't bad. As a Zombies mode though it is sadly the worst one, it just isn't that much fun to play often being frustrating more than anything. The maps are not bad, there is fun to be had here, but why play this when there are so many better examples already out there?

 

Red Venom Kills (2017) - Exploitation Film Review

Red Venom Kills is a movie that has been made as a loving homage to the exploitation and grindhouse flicks of the 70's. It features a host of scantily clad females, cheesy dialogue and bad acting, yet all with a purpose to them, to echo the inspirations this draws from. While it is stylish and fun to look at I also hate to say I found large chunks of this plain boring.

Alexa Rae stars as a former hooker who was left for dead after being ambushed by the henchmen of the evil Dark Widow (Deana Hernandez) after going onto her turf. With her last moments she discovers an elixir her mother had left for her that gives her super strength and stamina, and also a deadly Amazonian poison. With these tools she becomes reborn as the super heroine Red Venom, and six months later returns to the streets of Silk City to take her revenge...

This tried very hard to be authentic and I loved that it did. The film pops and crackles all the way through, occasionally the film footage burns out, and there are even missing scenes with placeholder text explaining this. The movie opens up with some trailers for the directors previous grindhouse style films, and there is even an seventies style intermission sign halfway through. Add to this scenes that play out in bright primary colours such as blue and red and you have a film that looks different to the modern day style of filmmaking.

Christmas Blood (2017) - Horror Film Review

With Reinert Kiil's Norwegian horror Christmas Blood I was a little cheeky with regards to the list of films I have outstanding to review. Due to the obvious Xmas theme I it felt like it would be a good film to watch on Christmas eve and so I bumped it up the list. With the killer in this slasher being dressed up as Santa I thought this may be a comedy, much like what happened with Axemas, however this is far more serious than I expected, though there is black humour peppered throughout.

A serial killer who only kills his victims on Christmas eve is finally stopped after 13 years of terror in Norway and locked away in a mental asylum. Six years later however he escapes and sets out to complete his 'naughty' list he has made. Unknown to him the victim he has chosen is already dead, but the house she used to own is the location of a reunion party that a group of friends are having. Meanwhile a detective teams up with a former detective (Stig Henrik Hoff) who had been obsessed with capturing the killer, together they set out to stop him for good...

I really wanted to like this horror and to be fair I didn't think it was awful. It had a lot of good things going for it. Firstly like the snow itself the camera work and quality is crisp and clean adding an element of class to this. A big complaint I did have though is just how dark the movie as a whole seems. A lot of this takes place in poorly lit locations, from the outset to the end this was a problem for me, I constantly wished there was some sort of light source used to brighten up the surroundings as it could be hard to see what was going on. The group of partying girls are the usual assortment of character types, such as the loose one, the rebel, the good one etc. I liked the dynamic within the group as they really are not having a great time due to friction between some of them. None of these characters really appealed to me, I guess the mute girl was something different as it led to some good moments of her silently running without screaming as you would usually expect. The better storyline was that of the two detectives, I enjoyed the differences between them, the former one being an alcoholic slob, the other one being much more professional and highly strung.

Shellmont County Massacre (2018) - Horror Film Review

Having spent the last few weeks firmly concentrating on the Fright Meter Awards nominations it felt nice to step back into the shallower waters of the indie horror films I get sent for review. My expectations for Gus Trapani's Shellmont County Massacre were very low, initial impressions didn't do much to quell my concerns. However this actually really isn't that bad a film at all, this is something with twists a plenty and some likeable characters.

Billy (Roderick Klimek) is the local sheriff for the tiny rural Shellmont County, his partner is Donny who is seen as a younger brother by the man. One day they hear of a barbaric murder of a woman and her child. Before long more senseless murders occur with it discovered there is a sick killer on the loose, a clown mask wearing maniac who seems to kill just for the thrill of it.

The plot here is pretty bare bones and I would say that aspects of this are where the movie falls down a bit, especially with character development. Where this does excel though is the characters who get time devoted to them. I found the main characters of Billy and Donny to be great choices. Both are likable people who feel a burning duty to protect the people under their care, yet both are also conflicted in how they should respond to this killer. The film does a great job of showing this inner turmoil, especially with Billy. Klimek is great in this role and was a protagonist I really could get behind. The core characters are slim but all fit their roles well, even ones who don't get as much screen time have enough to them to make them interesting. There were two who felt both under developed and unrealistic though.

Fright Meter Awards 2018 - The Winners

Once again the annual Fright Meter Awards winners have been announced. I admit that this year I hadn't seen as many of the potential candidates as I would have liked to, my personal life went through some turbulent times for a few months that led to my blog taking a back seat. However when the final nominations were voted for and put forward I made an effort to watch each and every one I had not yet seen. That is except for the Suspiria that was gold dust in terms of locating and so I had to abstain from being able to count that in any of my personal final votes. So without further ado...

Best Horror Movie:

While I didn't vote for Hereditary to win I can't really complain too much as it was a great horror, even if it wasn't as scary as it had been made out to be. I had voted for The Ritual as out of the contenders that was the one that I really enjoyed the most. If it had been completely up to me Veronica would have not only been a contender, but also have been the winner.

Runner-up: A Quiet Place

Other Contenders:

Halloween
Mandy
The Ritual


Best Director:

Ari Asher (Hereditary)

I voted for Asher to win so not much to add on this one, it had some really good directing throughout.

Runner-up: John Krasinski (A Quiet Place)

Other Contenders:

Halloween (David Gordon Green)
Mandy (Panos Cosmatos)
Suspiria (Luca Guadagino)


Best Actor In A Leading Role:

David Howard Thornton (Terrifier)

Another one that I voted for. David Gordon Green made Terrifier, he was stunningly creepy throughout, a well deserved win in my humble opinion.

Runner-up: Nicholas Cage (Mandy)

Other Contenders:

John Krasinski (A Quiet Place)
Rafe Spall (The Ritual)
Dan Stevens (Apostle)


Best Actress In A Leading Role:

Toni Collette (Hereditary)

Yet another one that I voted for, however this was a painful category for me. Revenge was a fantastic film, Matilda Lutz was awesome in it, but Collette was just in another league to everyone else I have seen this year.

Runner-up: Jaime Lee Curtis (Halloween)

Other Contenders:

Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place)
Claire Foy (Unsane)
Matilda Lutz (Revenge)


Best Actor In A Supporting Role:

Alex Wolff (Hereditary)

While I didn't vote for Wolff I can see why he did win this one, he was great. My choice was Alex Lawther who was creepy as hell in the disappointing Ghost Stories. Ever since he traumatised me in Black Mirror I have followed his career closely. Least he was the runner-up.

Runner-up: Alex Lawther (Ghost Stories)

Other Contenders:

Linus Roache (Mandy)
Michael Sheen (Apostle)
Anton Yelchin (Thoroughbreds)


Best Actress In A Supporting Role:

Tilda Swinton (Suspiria)

Can't really comment much on this one seeing as how I never was able to watch this. My choice was Milly Shapiro who for me made Hereditary the oddity it was with her captivating and weird performance.

Runner-up:  Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place)

Other Contenders:

Ann Dowd (Hereditary)
Judy Greer (Halloween)
Milly Shapiro (Hereditary)


Best Screenplay:

Yet again Hereditary gets a win, I thought it was a good story, but not too different to many others with how it all goes along. For me I voted for Annihilation which I just found very interesting all the way through.

Runner-up: A Quiet Place

Other Contenders:

Annihilation (Alex Garland)
Halloween (Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride & David Gordon Green)
Suspiria (David Kajganich)


Best Makeup:

Again I cannot comment...I really did try to find a way to watch that one, honest! Least my choice was the runner-up.

Runner-up: Terrifier

Other Contenders:

Mandy
The Predator
Victor Crowley


Best Score:

What can I say? Halloween is my favourite horror franchise of all time and the music has always been really good. I was so happy a new film got made, that iconic tune, and the reworkings and additions just gave me so much joy.

Runner-up: Annihilation

Other Contenders:

Hereditary
Mandy
A Quiet Place


Best Editing:

While I did have my issues with this arty trippy movie it did have some good things going for it, the editing being just one of those, so I can happily say I voted for this to win this category.

Runner-up: A Quiet Place

Other Contenders:

Ghost Stories
Halloween
Hereditary


Best Cinematography:

Annihilation was my choice for this one, it had some really beautiful framed shots, again not having seen the runner-up I can't really complain too much.

Runner-up: Suspiria

Other Contenders:

Annihilation
Halloween
Mandy


Best Special Effects:

For me The Ritual was my choice, the monster itself was so cool looking let alone everything else here.

Runner-up: Terrifier

Other Contenders:

Mandy
A Quiet Place
The Ritual


Best Costume Design:

I chose Apostle for this one, truth be told this was the category I had least interest in as it seemed pretty even with the choices. Still least my choice came second.

Runner-up: Apostle

Other Contenders:

Mandy
The Nun
Winchester

Another year and another round of deserved winners. All being well next year I should be able to concentrate more on finding the years best in choices!