Abigail Haunting (2020) - Horror Film Review

Abigail Haunting is a no thrills low budget paranormal horror that was directed and co-written by Kelly Schwarze. It could easily be seen as a slow burn as not much of note happens from the very beginning to the end. With a decent enough protagonist I didn't mind my time here, though is not going to leave much of an impression.

After escaping from an abusive relationship, Katie (Chelsea Jurkiewicz - The Tormenting of Jones) returns to her childhood home. There she finds her foster mum, Marge (Brenda Daly) is now suffering severe dementia and lives as a shut-in. Katie decides to spend a few days there, but she can't shake an unsettling feel about the place. The longer she stays the more she begins to suspect that something is haunting the place, something that relates to a dark secret from Marge's past.

Barely anything happens during this eighty minute horror, and even when it does it is so slight as to be quite forgettable. Objects occasionally move around on their own, Katie experiences audio and visual hallucinations, and sometimes Marge does creepy things. Aside from that not much else occurs. Thankfully Katie has someone to talk to outside of the monosyllable speaking Marge, in the form of a childhood friend she rediscovers, Brian (Austin Collazo). The scenes with them together were the most interesting, only in that it makes a difference for her not to just be wandering around the house on her own. A lot of the horror revolves around a large garage area that Katie was always warned not to go into as a child. What could be an interesting revelation is told in a strange way that seemed to suck away any importance.

There isn't really much more to say about Abigail Haunting. On the one hand it is perfectly watchable, has decent performances from the small cast, and seems to be filmed competently. On the other hand though it doesn't succeed as a horror, those moments are few and far between and manage never to make much of an impact. There are elements to the story that I did find interesting, but the basic plot is roughly explained without giving the viewer a reason to really get invested with it. Abigail Haunting is due for release on 25th January 2021 thanks to High Fliers Films.

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3FORCE Releases New Track "The Watchers" (2020) - Music News

With October obviously being the most hallowed month of the year for lovers of horror I am filling up my blog schedule with smaller news posts. I get so many emails that often I have to pick and choose what gets covered in my monthly news post. Things, like 3FORCE's new track would often not make the cut just due to lack of time. Sure, this music isn't horror, but anything with synth is always associated to me with the sounds of the eighties, the era that arguably included some of the most fun horror films ever created. While absolutely nothing to do with the upcoming video game Cyberpunk 2077, this track still reminded me that that game is due to arrive in November (even if it is sadly at the cost of crunch). Onto the actual news...

EDM/synthwave group 3FORCE have released a new track titled The Watchers. This four minute journey into the world of cyberpunk follows previous release Pursuit, in paving the way towards their next full-length album. The track is available on all platforms from independent synthwave label FiXT Neon. For more details on how to stream or purchase the track head here.

Hall (2020) - Horror Film Review

Hall (directed and co-written by Francesco Giannini) had its world premiere at Frightfest this year, and has been selected at the Blood and the Snow Film Festival 2020. This is a film that grabbed me from the very start, the story is like a jigsaw, with additional pieces revealed to the viewer as it plays out. It also does that  thing that I like so much in movies, starting in the present and then switching back to the past to show how events unfolded.

Naomi (Ymiko Shaku - the voice of Aya Brea in the Parasite Eve II video game) is sat slumped against a wall in a hotel hallway, gasping for air, infected with some type of horrific disease, as are many others in the hallway. Rewind to four hours earlier in the day and Val (Carolina Bartczak - X-Men: Apocalypse), her husband, Branden (Mark Gibson - Exit Humanity), and their daughter, Kelly (Bailey Thain - Pet Sematary) arrive at the hotel as part of their road trip. Kelly plans to leave her abusive husband, but is just waiting for the right time to do so.

Hall spends the first two acts cleverly jumping back and forth between the two time periods. The majority of the present is spent with an obviously extremely sick Naomi as she slowly crawls down the titular hallway. As she journeys you slowly get shown what has become of the other guests. The part of the movie that takes place four hours previously mainly focuses on Val and her family. You get a real sense of what the family is going through, thanks to Bartczak and Gibson who bring their characters to life by the subtle ways they act around each other. It is very obvious all is not right with their relationship, but the way they slip in and out of their personas, depending on if their daughter is around or not was something quite special. I'm not usually keen on precocious children in films, I find it offputting, yet the character of Kelly just works. Thain brings with her a mature performance that works when you consider that the character herself would have picked up on the tense signals that both parents are shown to be trying to hide from her.
It would have been nice to get more time spent with the character of Naomi, despite her big presence in the present sections she only gets a few scenes before that. It is enough to know that she has fled an abusive relationship, which makes her into somewhat of a mirror image for Val. Hall does not have a good view of men, the key male characters are all bad people (including Julian Richings (Blood Hunters, Septic Man), with the female characters shown to be victims, yet also shown to be survivors, whether literally or figuratively. It was interesting to see how the side characters exist outside of the main characters, while occasionally they interact there storylines are mainly completely separate.

In Darkness I Wait (2020) - Short Horror Film Review

It began with The Pale Faced Lady, a 10 minute short horror film that released towards the start of 2019. This introduced the titular ghostly woman, though the story wasn't so much about her as about a girl whose journey took her to the house it haunts. Towards the end of last year came She Will Return which focussed on the origins of the ghost, and now chapter 3, In Darkness I Wait has released which could possibly be the last in the series.

Ashton (Sam Love) and his girlfriend, Mara (Hannah Swayze) have headed to the dilapidated house of horrors which the pale faced lady (Rachel Taylor) haunts, with a singular goal in mind. The place holds bad memories for Ashton, as it was the home of his abusive uncle. He intends to burn it down to the ground, little realising the untold dangers he has put himself and Mara in. The pale faced lady is never keen on letting visitors leave...

Each film in the series has been better than the last and that is the case here. It helps that there is a bit more of a logically paced story this time around. It builds upon what has come before, and it plays to the strengths of the previous films. Paradoxically the pale faced lady is at her very best when she is doing nothing at all, merely appearing on camera in her fixed stance, just staring, this creates genuine chills. At many points during this there are moments that seem to be set-up to give jump scares, but thankfully that cheap way of making thrills is never utilised. It was strange to think, but I was mostly reminded of the opening prologue of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard while watching this, both with the modest size of the building, but also with elements such as the mannequins that move around off camera. 

This was again written, directed, and edited by Jeff Payne and as ever the editing in particular is very strong. I felt that there was one sequence with the character of Mara that felt a little fabricated to create scares rather than feel natural, but for the most part this flowed really well. I liked that the character of Ashton seemed to be a bit of a klutz, and I thought his particular journey was great. It leads to an ending that I adored, I re-watched the final shot of the film itself multiple times to just appreciate the amazing cinematography of that scene. The end credits repeat the idea of She Will Return by showing clips from the short to reveal the pale lady hiding in plain sight during several scenes, a nice touch.

This saga has improved with each entry, and there has been restraint in not bombarding the viewer with the ghost, but instead dripping it throughout, giving it a presence that feels far more Japanese in style than American. As fun as the story is, it is the set design, the lighting, and editing that has always been the star of these films, almost worth watching just for that alone. In Darkness I Wait made its world premiere on September 24th and can be seen on YouTube.

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The Dark Frontier (2020) - Horror Anthology Book Review

Back in August when I reviewed the animal horror anthology Animal Uprising! I was offered the chance to review another anthology, the western themed The Dark Frontier. I used to read so much as a teenager but nowadays barely get through more than four or five books a year. Maybe due to not reading as much as I should, with this anthology I discovered a new genre that I somehow didn't know even existed, which combines the feel of the Wild West with the post apocalypse.

The Dark Frontier is split into two different styles of story, those that literally take place in western times America, and those that certainly do not, but whose vibe makes it feel like they share common traits. What all stories also share in common is a feeling of taking place in a world whose outcome is already set in stone. Many of these worlds are doomed, so much so that the characters who populate the tales are too small cogs to have much effect, this in its own way creates a feeling of vast emptiness, and desperation, echoing the endless plains of the dark frontiers. I must add that after the final story there is an interesting afterword that explains exactly how the order of the stories were put together, it was neat to see the reasoning.

This all kicks off with Cargo Mountain by Charles R. Bernard. This was the story that introduced me to the concept of the future meeting the past as I was quite thrown when the protagonist here is shown to have a motorbike. I'm very on board with the idea thankfully! This one had a dreamy atmosphere which I loved, have to admit I had no idea how it ends, it just seemed to finish abruptly, but that seemed to go well with the feverish feel.
The fifth story, The Harvestmen by Aubrey Campbell returns to the post apocalypse with a story about a woman with a magical gun capable of destroying the gigantic demonic spider like creatures that have overrun the world. Almost a companion to this one is Take the Desert with You by Joanna Parypinski that features a protagonist who wasn't as innocent as at first appears. Both these stories are really quite bleak which is always a good thing.
I wasn't entirely sure about Douglas Smith's Memories of the Dead Man. It had some really neat ideas to it, but the titular 'Dead Man' character cemented in my mind Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator and so that was all I could think of when reading this, which was a bit distracting. It's a classic story of revenge and features a psychotic biker gang and plenty of violence so was still a decent read.
At the time I read it The Bride's Road by Hawk and Young was my favourite. This sci-fi yarn felt like A Clockwork Orange mixed with Logan's Run. I enjoyed the idea of a future regressed society shepherded by robotic drones who are seen by the people as religious beings, a lot of cool ideas.
The final story that felt post-apocalyptic was the Mad Max feeling One Way Out by Bryan Dyke, that tells the story of a ranger trying to make his escape from a twisted cult's compound in a dark future world. Like so many of the stories here I would love to read more from this world, it was fascinating, even if slightly cliche at times.

ARROW - New Horror Streaming Platform Launching in North America

Arrow Video have announced details of their new subscription based streaming service, ARROW. This became available in the US and Canada on 1st October. It promises to bring 'a selection of cult classics, hidden gems and iconic horror films, all curated by the Arrow Video team.'

Immediately on the service straight away are a whole host of films that includes The Deeper You Dig, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Crumbs, The Hatred, Cold Light of Day, Videoman, The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast (a collection containing over a dozen of his best films), Hellraiser 1 & 2, Elvira, Ringu, the complete Gamera series, as well as 'full collections from the ARROW archives packed with exclusive extras, rarely seen interviews and documentaries.'

The service will come to iOS, tvOS, Android, Fire TV, Roku and on the web here. There is a 30 day free trial, with subscriptions at $4.99 monthly or $49.99 annually. A UK rollout is planned in 2021.

Abominable (2020) - Horror Film Review

It is almost comforting to find that indie films such as Abominable are still being made. The style and the format of creature features like this has been the same for countless years. Directed by Jamaal Burden (Elves), this horror occasionally delights with its good looking practical effects, yet for the most part is one long slog to get through.

A group of armed researchers have headed to a mountain top in order to find a mythical plant that is said to grow there. This plant is rumoured to hold the cure to cancer among its many other benefits. The recon team vanish without a trace and so the rest of the group split up. Two groups are tasked with setting up relay beacons, so that Pete (Justin Prince Moy) can radio back to base the teams location. They soon discover they are not alone up on the mountain, a yeti is also there, and it has an innate instinct to protect the mythical flowers at all costs.

Typically films follow a three act structure, with Abominable though it just felt like one long act. After a nice little prologue showing the conclusion of the previous ill fated expedition to the area we are introduced to the cast. They are already up in the mountains, and they all speak so much techno-jargon that I was never really sure exactly what was going on. Sarah (Katrina Mattson), the main protagonist for instance is often shown doing something on some big blue tablet like device, no idea what though. Of the five or six main characters there was barely any development for them. You find out the leader has brain cancer, and that one of the group hopes to find the plant to help cure his sick wife, but aside from that these characters are blank slates. It was hard to really care about these people, going the other way I didn't find them unlikeable either, they were just people and nothing more or less.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020) - Zombies Reveal Trailer and News

I decided late last night that I should probably try and do a blog post for each day of October. With nothing planned I figured I would give some Call of Duty: Zombies news. Me and my best friend love that mode in the Call of Duty games. In fact, with last years entry not featuring the undead at all we decided to skip it. Thankfully, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will feature a Zombies mode, and last Wednesday a trailer and news for it dropped.

It appears there will be a single map at launch, Die Maschine which takes place in the same location as the very first Zombies map, Nacht der Untoten. Instead of a straight remake this map looks to be a whole lot bigger, featuring an eighties aesthetic, a large underground laboratory, and the ability to leave the ruined building itself and explore the surroundings. This starts off a whole new storyline that takes place in the same universe as the Black Ops Zombies world, but with a different set of characters.

For the first time your weapon class is the same across all three game modes, Multiplayer, Warzone and Zombies. This means that rather than start the wave based survival game with just a pistol you can instead bring your whole class load out with you. Baggsy the LMG! Also, previously the only way to end a game in this mode was by dying, but now you will be able to radio an evac chopper. This will instigate a few rounds of intense corpse battling before you are able to make your escape. Finally, while there only seems to be the one map at launch, all future maps will be free. On the one hand this is great, but going by Battlefield V there may not be the usual four additional maps, maybe just a couple. Time will tell. The Battlepass for the new Call of Duty will go across all three game modes, so if there is anything half decent that is zombie themed I may have to pick it up. Needless to say, after seeing this new trailer I immediately pre-ordered the game. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War releases on November 13th.

Fear the Walking Dead: Season 6 (2020) - Zombie Horror TV Show Preview

Of the many shameful decisions in my life, abandoning Fear the Walking Dead midway through its second season was one I regret more than most. The Walking Dead is my favourite TV show, I love the zombies, I love the characters, and I love the stories that show told. Fear the Walking Dead just didn't grip me in the same way. The idea of it being set during the outbreak of the apocalypse, rather than some time later was fascinating, yet the first seasons desire to focus on the survivors rather than the undead led to boredom setting in. I had heard that nowadays the show was the place where characters who left the main show, but didn't leave by dying ended up. I had heard Morgan (Lennie James) was one of the main characters now, and I love him so was excited to see what he was up to. It seems nowadays the show (possibly) takes place during the time jump period from the main show.

I jumped back in with season 6, and have had the pleasure of being able to watch the first three episodes of the new season. The End is the Beginning plays out like a zombie filled Western. I don't know if that is the vibe the show goes for nowadays but I have to say I loved it. I may have returned to the show too late as while Morgan is very much the star of this episode he also appears to be dying from a gunshot wound. Morgan is so close to death that zombies no longer even see him as human, and to make matters worse he is being hunted by a axe wielding bounty hunter and his dog. The episode featured plenty of zombie killing and quite a few beheadings. While I was mostly confused by what was going on I was at least clear that the big bad of Fear seems to be a woman named Virginia (Colby Minifie - The Boys, Jessica Jones), and her cowboy themed gang. I loved how stripped back and Western feeling this episode was, with just a handful of characters, and the vast desert like environment this felt different to The Walking Dead, more than I had expected it to.

The second episode Welcome to the Club is centered around Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and Strand (Colman Domingo). I remember both these characters from the first season, and Strand especially was a joy to see. I love how morally grey his character continues to be. Now, working for Virginia they are tasked with clearing out a zombie infested warehouse. There were so many zombies here, looked to have been hundreds of the things! Most appreciated, especially when my memory of the show tells me there used to be barely any. The near singular location used for this episode brought to mind the style of Z Nation, in fact, the Western feel does evoke memories of that show, but without the comedy.

The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for September 2020

There are a few changes I have noticed during this pandemic of a year when it comes to my blog. First is that I am getting nowhere near the amount of screeners I would usually get. That isn't a bad thing at all as it has meant I can watch films of my own choosing. The second thing I've noticed this year is that I am getting a lot more news sent to my inbox, it has been so full these past few months that I am contemplating on splitting my usual monthly round-up blog post in half. If I could I would dedicate each item of news to its own post, but I just don't have the free time for that. If I ever win the lottery and can do my blog full time then that is the path I would take!

I didn't expect it, but it turns out a new Scream film is going to be made. Neve Campbell is going to be returning to the franchise to reprise her role as Sidney Prescott. The series has had a checkered past for me, I loved the first one, the second started good but fell apart, the third was ok, and the fourth completely forgettable. Also returning are David Arquette and Courtney Cox, new cast members include Jack Quaid (The Boys), Melissa Barrera (In The Heights), and Jenna Ortega (You). The film is due to release in January 2022. The film is to be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of the filmmaking group Radio Silence (Ready or Not, V/H/S) from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Amazing Spider-Man).

Tri Coast Worldwide have acquired Sweet Taste of Souls. This is about four struggling band members who find themselves imprisoned in a deranged cafe owners art collection. I have a screener of this one, and so closer to Halloween I shall be checking this out to see if the film lives up to its crazed synopsis. Meanwhile, check out the trailer.

HNN Presents horrors Master Pieces and Me and the Devil are now available on DVD from Bayview Entertainment. The very strange Master Pieces is a comedy slasher about a deranged artist, I said in my review it is a film you will either hate or love, and regardless is something different to the norm. Me and the Devil comes from Dario Almerighi (42-66: The Origin of Evil) and features 'a dark story of madness, pain and love'. Both can be purchased from Amazon.

Also from HNN Presents are Psycho Therapy and Keeping Rosy. The former is about a therapist who turns into a killer, the later is a British psycho-thriller about a business executive whose life spirals into violence. Both films are due out on DVD on October 20th.

Previously mentioned Last American Horror Show Vol II has released a new trailer. This anthology stars among others Mel Novak (Bruce Lee's Game of Death), Helene Udy (Mrs. Claus) and Maria Olsen (Paranormal Activity 3). The synopsis has a child murderer on death row who gets befriended by a man called Moses (Novak). The man decides to read the killer a few stories from his favourite book.

I believe I mentioned this also in a previous news post, Christmas Slasher currently has a Indiegogo campaign running to get funds for its creation. The film features an undead reindeer and a killer Mr. and Mrs. Claus on the hunt for a bunch of college kids. This is the creation of Destiny Soria, someone who in my personal experience seemed to be infectiously enthusiastic about horror. The film is going to include Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), Nicholas Brendon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Carlos Ramirez (The Human Centipede 3), and Shaw C. Phillips (a trillion different indie films) among its cast. The campaign at the time of writing has been a success but is still running for a further 32 days, so head here to find out more.

Ebola Rex is now available on VOD and DVD. This dinosaur horror stars Mel Novak as is about a T-Rex that escapes from a lab after being injected with the Ebola Virus at a 'Dino Lives Matter' protest. Check out the trailer.

FoxTrot Productions have announced a crowdfunder campaign for Casting Couch Slaughter. This is a feature length comedy horror from directors Emir Skalonja and Krystal Shenk. The synopsis is that two porn directors hoping to make the greatest porno ever get their plans ruined by a drill wielding maniac who invades the set. The film is hoped to be finished in time for Halloween, the Indiegogo campaign is to get funds to give the film a final edit, and production of DVDs and other stuff. There is 47 days left on the campaign but it is currently at 96% of the goal, so it seems this will be successful. Check out the campaign page here for more details.

Dystopian Films are launching an anthology made up of 50 different shorts, titled The United States of Horror. The ambitious remit is that each of the shorts will be made in a different American state. A Indiegogo campaign is currently running mainly to raise awareness rather than raise funds. The DVD can also be pre-ordered on the page (here).

Onto music news now and Chaoseum have released their new music video for their track 'Stick Under my Skin'. The Swiss band are made up of four friends. The band 'delivers an electric and energetic punch of metalcore, with powerful vocals, strong characterisation through theatrical performance, and an eye-catching band image'. On 25th September Chaoseum's second album, Second Life was released, and the band will be back touring in October 2021 in Europe.

Gothic singer Elle Noir has revealed the new video for her track 'The Day I Died'. The song is a metaphor for emotional death 'it tells of a world where nothing has value anymore, which is also an inner world given by mental states like depression'.

Finally some zombie book news. Seeds of the Dead is a zombie apocalypse novel that takes place in small-town America. After scientist Peter Malik discovers the company he works for is working on a new strain of genetically modified food with shady side effects he threatens to let the world know. In retaliation the company contaminates Peter's hometown, turning the populace into flesh hungry ghouls. It is up to Peter to try try to save his town, the people he loves, and to warn the rest of the world what has happened. Seeds of the Dead is written by Andy Kumpon and Gary Malick and can be purchased from Amazon. I shall be giving this a read soon, so a review will drop at some point this side of Christmas.

Just in time for  release comes some late news items. Firstly, there is a Kickstarter going for supernatural mockumentary Ghost Crew. This is going to be the feature debut of Tom Staunton (who previously directed two shorts for Hex Studio's portmanteau film For We Are Many). This film is to be set in the 1990's and is about two filmmakers who head to an abandoned children's hospital that is rumoured to curse anyone who dares enter. Staunton and Michael Brewster are going to be in the starring roles which makes things a bit meta. The press release states 'On the surface, the film is Nightcrawler meets Paranormal Activity...inspired by independent horrors that get under the skin, like Ring, Lake Mungo, Noroi: The Curse and Candyman.' For more details check out the Kickstarter page here.

Finally (for real this time) is news that Paramount's satirical comedy Spontaneous is due to be released on 12th October. This bizarre coming of age love story takes place at a high school where students begin inexplicably exploding! This stars Katherine Langford (Cursed, 13 Reasons Why) as Mara, and Charlie Plummer (Looking for Alaska) as Dylan, two students who 'struggle in a world where each moment may be their last'. This also features Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Hayley Law (Riverdale), Rob Huebel (Transparent) and Piper Perabo (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels). This will be available on a variety of digital platforms.

Eli Roth's History of Horror Season 2 (2020) - Horror TV Show Review

I had never heard of Eli Roth's History of Horror before getting an email detailing the release of a second series on AMC this November here in the UK. I have now had the chance to watch this second season and can happily report I am pleased with what I watched. History of Horror is a look back at iconic horror films from a variety of different sub-genres of horror. It is made up for the most part by talking heads; directors, actors, and notable horror icons, with Eli Roth providing the narration. At a glance I assumed this would be a watered down glance at the genre, and would look at the most obvious and mainstream movies. I also expected the clips used would be violence free. I was very happy to see that not only are some of the more gory moments from the many films looked at are used, but that some of these films covered are more deepcut than you might expect. Rather than be full of information I had heard so many times before I actually found that I learned from this.

Season 2 is made up of six episodes, each forty minutes in length, and each one focussing on a different subgenre of horror. Episode 1 is Houses of Hell. This episode explored how houses have been used throughout horror and look at both houses as the location for horror to occur in, such as Misery and Sinister, while also seeing houses as places for both evil people to live in (House of 1000 Corpses), and as a malevolent thing in their own right (The Amityville Horror). Sinister is one of my favourite horror films of modern times so I was very pleased to see that included here. This was a great introduction to the format of History of Horror, not only was it fun revisiting scenes from these movies, or even seeing scenes from them for the first time (I own Misery on VHS yet have never gotten around to watching it). I also liked that the talking heads used are actually people whose input is interesting. Season regular Stephen King gives his take on the movies that were influenced by his work, while Rob Zombie is there to talk about his reasoning behind his movie.

LX 2048 (2020) - Sci-fi Film Review

LX 2048 (written and directed by Guy Moshe)  has got to be one of the strangest films I have seen this year. It's a sci-fi that combines elements of thriller, drama, comedy and more. It also manages to not have a central story to it, each side plot seemingly just as important as the last, which means the film is constantly going off into new directions and leaving old storylines behind as it looks to the next topic. Starting off at almost Black Mirror levels of technology created dystopia this becomes more and more surreal with a key theme seeming to be just what is it to be a human.

This takes place in a dystopian future in which the rays of the sun have become so harmful that most people choose not to leave their houses in daytime, instead conducting their business inside a virtual realm accessed by wearing VR goggles. Adam Bird (James D'Arcy - Avengers: Endgame, Exorcist: The Beginning), a broker, is one of the few who still does go outside, he despairs at what has become of humanity who choose to spend nearly every waking moment in the virtual realm. After learning he is dying he becomes concerned with what will become of his family who he is separated from, and so sets out to find a way for his soul to live on once his body has passed.

My synopsis is at least what LX 2048 initially seems to be about, but I'm not even sure that was actually what was going on. Of all the future dystopias I always though living in a VR world would be the coolest, but here with barely anyone actually 'living' it is shown to be a bit of a nightmare. Many films would have taken this idea and been content to create a story around it, but here that is just one aspect. This is also a world in which clones exist and where technically death is no longer a barrier. People have clones set up so that if they die they will come back in an altered form. These clones have all the memories of they people they are of, yet have been augmented to be the ideal form of that person,an unrealistic version. That isn't even all of it though, there is also an exploration into A.I and what constitutes a free will. In particular this is brought up with Adam whose marriage dissolved due to him having an 'affair' with an A.I construct he created, with some of the one hour forty run time dedicated to his attempts to somehow bring this A.I into the real world. The film is all over the place, but it was always fascinating, whichever aspect it happened to be exploring.

Extra Ordinary (2019) - Comedy Horror Film Review

Extra Ordinary is an Irish horror comedy that for the most part is sweet and innocent, yet has the occasional moment of high violence and gore. Directed by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, this films humour is never overtly funny, but at the same time doesn't do anything to offend. The simple story told in a mostly family friendly way, again, aside from the moments of high violence.

Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins) is a kind and lonely driving instructor in a small Irish town, who also has the gift of being able to contact the dead. Initially Martin Martin (Barry Ward) contacts her in order to help him exorcise the spirit of his dead wife, who is causing him no end of trouble at home. However, after his teenage daughter, Sarah (Emma Coleman) is found comatose and floating above her bed, Martin instead begs Rose to help return her to normal. The girl has been chosen as part of a demonic sacrifice, that washed up one-hit wonder rock star, Christian Winter (Will Forte - Gravity Falls) is intending to perform in order to make a comeback. To counter this Rose and Martin team up in order to collect ectoplasm from seven different ghosts, which is said to be the only way to return the girl to normal.

While there are a whole host of side characters it felt like a lot of the film rested on the shoulders of Higgins, Ward, and Forte. It's a good job that all were perfectly cast, especially Forte's wonderfully over the top Christian Winter who was dramatic, flamboyant and cheesy in every scene he appeared in. All three characters get flashbacks at one point or another, Winter's was the best, his one-hit wonder song shown as part of this. With Rose, her father was a local exorcist who made plenty of instructional videos, such as how to deal with 'Gloating' (floating goats), these are intercut throughout the movie and are made to look like eighties VHS tapes, complete with low quality footage, and slightly distorted audio. All of those moments were wonderful.