Outbreak: The Mutation (2020) by Scott Shoyer - Zombie Horror Book Review

                                

After my review of the excellent animal based zombie horror novel Outbreak: The Hunger, I realised with some joy that I actually also had a copy of the sequel waiting to be reviewed. Outbreak: The Mutation is the book version of a blockbuster sequel to an indie darling, everything made bigger and more far reaching in scope. I would have been happy with more of the same, but this drastically changes things up. Obviously, spoilers for book one to follow.

It is two years since an outbreak of rabid undead animals spread across (assumedly) the globe. Initially confined to animals, this strange virus made the leap to humans. The survivors have been doing the best they can, able to best the low intelligence zombies, but recently that has began to change, with the undead seeming to be getting smarter, and seemingly able to communicate with each other over long distances. Walt; the manager of a drug rehabilitation centre, is forced to leave his compound with his group after increasing zombie attacks, deciding to head to a remote spring where there will be a continual source of natural water. Elsewhere, soldiers Wilder and Butsko are leading a mission to get to a secret underground laboratory where it is hoped a weapon with the power to defeat the zombies once and for all can be located. Unknown to the humans, the undead have began to evolve, these new more intelligent and more self-healing yellow eyed creatures find themselves drawn to a particular spot in America, following an urge. Little do these three groups realise that they are all heading to the exact same location...

I was well up for some more undead animal mayhem, so the time skip of two years was a little jarring. Zombie animals are still here, but they have been superseded by the more traditional human walking dead. Racking my brain, I really don't recall there being a reason given for the genesis of the outbreak; what actually caused it, in the first novel. Here, it is almost common knowledge that it was all down to malfunctioning nanobots, not some biological virus. These nanobots are able to heal their carriers, and also account for how they are able to transmit data across the country. Seemingly when one zombie learns something key, this spreads across the network. My fears that the uniqueness of the first novel would be diluted or lost were for nought, this might be a different beast, but it carries the supreme inventiveness of what came before. Nanobot infected humans made for something different, and I was not expecting the late stage audacious reveal of the origins of the nanobots.

The world of Outbreak is one of the lesser zombie apocalypses I would like to experience. It feels almost pointless trying to survive with the undead a constant and very dangerous threat from beginning to end. Everywhere they go, no matter how safe it appears, the survivors are in constant danger. Both groups lose a huge amount of the cast of characters, made all the more horrific by the very quick transition from victim to aggressor. The first novel was almost cruel in its violence, and here things carry on in a similar fashion. While not quite as mean spirited and gruesome, there is still room for moments such as characters stumbling across a neonatal intensive care unit full of zombie babies. A lot of the real body horror comes from the new yellow eyed undead who get joy out of torturing the normal zombies. Of course, this paled in comparison to the animal attacks of the first novel.

It was fun to see some returning characters. Fi, the almost survivor of book one is back as one of the first evolved undead. We get to see this side of the story from her perspective. Wilder and Butsko were side characters last time around, this time they are duel protagonists with Walt and his group. I really enjoyed these characters, very fun to be following legitimate bad-asses around. Walt was fun for a civilian, especially with his memorable nail studded bat which gets put to lots and lots of good use. Both sets of characters get into plenty of desperate last stands.

Outbreak: The Mutation might not have surprised me as much as The Hunger but it was still a damn exciting book. I would give my left leg to be able to craft such a darn entertaining zombie novel. This is full of horror and rotting corpses from start to finish, and I enjoyed how the disparate storylines ended up linking together. Well worth a read, a fine series of novels.

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Bury Me When I'm Dead (2025) - Horror Film Review

Reading the synopsis for the Seabold Krebs written and directed dramatic horror Bury Me When I'm Dead (in his feature length directorial debut), you could be forgiven for not seeing where the horror in this bleak and morose storyline would come from. In reality, I would say it is far more woolly whether there is anything supernatural happening or not. Thankfully, in the absence of much horror, there is a mostly decent film.

Catherine (Charlotte Hope - The Nun) has a seizure one day and learns from the doctors that she has inoperable brain cancer. While she is given the option for chemo, which could extend her life by several years, she instead chooses to go without treatment. Her and her husband, the unfaithful, yet dedicated Henry (Devon Terrell) decide to head away to New Hampshire to a holiday home of her rich parents. It is here she reveals to Henry that she wishes to be buried naturally in a clearing near the home, far away from the reach of her controlling parents, in particular, her lawyer father Gary (Richard Bekins - You're Not Alone, Daredevil TV show). Henry agrees to this, but unknown to Catherine, he has already been threatened by the man, with him stating he will take everything from Henry if he doesn't relinquish the body to her family come Catherine's death. It isn't long before she passes, and as agreed with Gary, Henry gives up her body, breaking his promise to Catherine's dying wish. A serious of bad events begins to lead the man to believe that he is being haunted from Catherine beyond the grave, for failing to give her the peace in death that she so desired.

It was over an hour into this barely one hundred minute movie that I realised that not much artificial horror had actually happened. Sure, the story isn't a happy one, dealing with the death of a loved one and the grief that follows, but on screen horror had been at an extreme minimum. When it does arrive it is very brief, a few nightmare sequences and a trippy arthouse style sex scene with Henry's affair partner Rebecca (Makenzie Leigh - Salem's Lot 2024) is about the lot you get. These sequences can easily be seen as Henry applying anything bad that occurs as being a result of breaking his wife's promise, explaining them in his mind as a way to process what is happening. Gary renege's on his promise to Henry, vowing to ruin the man's life despite following his orders was hardly surprising seeing as how much the man obviously disliked him. To be fair, Henry doesn't really deserve the happiness he is seeking. He has chosen to be with Rebecca as she is pregnant with his child. Not the best situation, but at least he didn't deny the affair when Charlotte brings it up, and Rebecca was liked by her. Henry was a lost protagonist, and one who spends much of the film in sorrow, turning to drink, but not really taking his anger out on others. The small cast were rounded out by hunter Buck (Mike Houston - Jessica Jones TV series), a more common man role compared to the rest, but he also shares in the discussion about what it is to live and to get old in one key scene.

My main issue comes with the key events that happen within Bury Me I'm Dead to zoom the story on in the third act. This includes a big bugbear of mine, a tired trope of something that only ever happens in movies. Without going into spoilers, the second this character did what they did I was fully expecting what happened to them to happen, and so it wasn't the slightest surprise when events played out with nothing but a quick eye roll from me. This again occurred later on at the film's conclusion, perhaps slightly less surprising, but hardly something that hasn't happened in countless other movies. By the time the end credits rolled it was clear that the film was far more of a drama than any type of horror or thriller.

Bury Me When I'm Dead was a well cast drama with a good assortment of flawed characters. Its horror elements were extremely light, and I wouldn't in good conscience say it really includes much of that at all. Still, it told its story in a mostly intelligent way, outside of those clumsily implemented late film twists. Bury Me When I'm Dead came to Digital and VOD beginning July 18th.

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Soul to Squeeze (2025) - Horror Film Review

My first weekend of a more structured work output for my blog has gone very well. At the time of writing it is Sunday evening and I have just watched the W.M Weikart directed and co-written fantastical horror Soul to Squeeze, which is his feature length directorial debut. One of the more surreal films I have watched this year, this may have been frequently bizarre and odd to watch, but also had variety in spades as well as a core heartfelt message about the importance of loving yourself.

Jacob (Michael Thomas Santos in his feature length film debut) is a troubled young man who has decided to take part in an experimental psychological experiment that sees him confined to a small house. While in this house, for some unspecified reason his conscious body and subconscious mind have become connected. Basically, his innermost thoughts and feelings are able to become physical projections, and through these projections it is hoped Jacob will be able to confront his innermost demons and heal from what he discovers.

You know those one off TV episodes that take the form of a dream or nightmare sequence? It happens in plenty of shows, from House to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This film is basically that, Jacob, through mysterious means has arrived at a strange house, and by signing a waiver (which details possible alarming outcomes should he participate in the experiment, including disfigurement and death!) the experiment begins. Over the course of the eighty five minute runtime he experiences both dreams and nightmares, all seeming to take place within the small brightly decorated, yet also pretty filthy bungalow. There are horror elements to this, with plenty of extremely creepy side characters who appear for brief scenes before leaving and never coming back again. It is often difficult to work out what is real and what is from Jacob's mind, but it is easier just to see everything that happens as reflections from his thoughts.
The general pace of the story is shown to be about a girl he once knew, with it suggested by trippy flashback sequences that he somehow was responsible for a terrible thing that happened to her. Due to his guilt, Jacob has became an angry young man, and is shown to dislike himself, with many of the projections of his thoughts belittling him and threatening him. One such example being a large face playing across three TV sets.

Soul to Squeeze had shades of The Prisoner to it, and almost felt like what an episode of Black Mirror would have been like if it had been created in the 1960's. Of course, the obligatory reference to feeling a bit like an LSD trip also has to be mentioned. There are lots and lots of surreal, mystifying, and occasionally unsettling moments, even some trippy sequences when Jacob lays on the floor staring at the eyeball like ceiling light above him. Eyes play a key part in the movie, the film opens on old black and white footage with a posh voice explaining about the eye and how it functions, and this stark footage is revisited time and time again.
Lots happens throughout the movie, one early highlight being when Jacob takes a bath and is startled to see the bathtub rapidly begin to fill up with hair. Jumping out the bath to escape this, he looks in the mirror and is horrified to see he is now covered completely in hair, save for the top of his head. Quite surreal! The film is split into distinct acts, each seem to be triggered by Jacob putting on a differently coloured set of pyjamas. I especially liked the early phone call Jacob has with assumedly the man in charge of the experiment, and how this feeds into a memorable later scene.
The horror here was never the core desire to be experienced by the viewer. Rather than things getting worse and worse, it instead tells a heart-warming story, an acceptance of who you are as a person creating a feel of inner peace. Must also mention that the film begins with a 4:3 aspect ratio and slowly expands throughout the runtime, eventually getting to a full 2:35:1. The trivia section for this on IDMB alleges that this is the first film to ever do that, but who knows really. Still, its a cool part of the filmmaking, and is appropriate for the narrow minded and sullen Jacob discovering himself.

I didn't read the synopsis before watching Soul to Squeeze, and had expected more of a horror, but enjoyed this regardless. There are certainly some strong moments here, but it is more surreal and unsettling than scary. This also was thematically relevant to my personal life as after one more week of work (at the time of typing) I am going to exile myself from the world for ten days in self imposed confinement (editing this at the start of my exile). Hopefully my time being in my house on my own will be more restful and chill than what happens with Jacob here! Soul to Squeeze came to Amazon Prime on 10th July via BlueBeard Productions.

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Black Rain (2025) by Black Rain - Music Album Review

This review of Black Rain's debut album, the self titled Black Rain has been a long time coming. I managed to miss the original press release, and its been an entire month since I saw the chase-up email. I had been struggling to find the band on Apple Music, mainly due to their band name also being the band name of seemingly an infinite number of other groups. Eventually I levelled up my intelligence and realised the press release actually had a link to the correct band on that app! So, Black Rain are a dark post-punk band from the North East of England, their debut album is made up of nine tracks; five studio tracks and four live performances.

It won't be surprising to state I liked the album. Frankly, I seem to like much of what is sent my way for review, but this in particular reminded me of a few bands that I quite like. It starts off with 'Inside', a fast paced opener that was a punk rock song that sounded like a blend between Alkaline Trio and Depeche Mode. The comparisons continue with 'Save Me' where it sounded like a mash-up between Interpol and Hot Snakes. This one had a great bass riff going on. Third track 'Satanists' (finally a link to horror!) was once again a great beat, in particular I loved the pounding drums. Talking of drums, I always love a song that starts with just a drum beat, and 'Shot Gun' was one of those, the drums sounding like a constant shotgun blast.

After the lovely 'Fear' with its great main riff it is time to move onto the live tracks. As a teenager I hated live songs on albums, they always felt like a bit of a cop-out. Not so much here though as these final four tracks barely sounded any less professionally done than the studio tracks. 'Shadows Cry' had the vocalist giving a bit of a Nick Cave vibe. If I hadn't known it was live I might have assumed it wasn't. 'Broken Words' and final track 'Dust Tubes' both had great beats to them, but it was penultimate track 'I Suffer Alone' that was surprisingly my favourite track from the whole album. This had a great repetitive droning sound to it, I could imagine it would have been fantastic to see this played live, I liked the almost spoken word segment during this also.

Sure, I am the first to admit I don't really have a clue what I am talking about when it comes to reviewing music, but I thought Black Rain was a great first album, with some really great tunes contained within. Black Rain is available on all major streaming platforms, with limited edition vinyl LP and cassettes also available. Black Rain also have a limited number of live dates, playing Sunderland at the Fire Station on 26th September, Carpe Noctum in Leeds on 4th October, and playing at the Shadow Factory for the Whitby Goth Festival on 1st November.

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Man in the Fields (2024) - Horror Film Review

Man in the Fields was the directorial and writing debut of Samuele Breschi. The IMDB page states this was an American production, though it is clear that this was likely filmed in Italy, and featured a majority of Italian actors. I really wish this had stuck to Italian with English subtitles, as the characters all speaking English in thick accents really got in the way of my enjoyment of this subpar horror.

Misery guts David (Isacco Salvi who also co-wrote this with Breschi) has finally been convinced to hang out with his best friend Rob (Marco Cevoli) and his girlfriend Angela (Arianna Panieri) after avoiding them for a long time. He decides to bring new girlfriend Stephanie along (Sofia Pieroni), perhaps as a means to hurt his former girlfriend Linda (Martina Capaccioli). They had split when she moved away, but has now returned for a visit to see old friends. The friends are looking for something to do, and this is when David reveals that he recently came upon a strange ritual, and that he thinks they should all perform the ritual. Despite it literally having no good parts to it, and the group taking it super seriously, they are all shocked when it actually works. David is dragged to a field where a strange man (an excellent role by Toni Pandolfo) bleeds blood into his mouth. Later that day David transforms into a terrifying were-skeleton and sets about murdering the rest of the people involved in the ritual.

The story was really dumb and was something I really struggled to get past. I have no idea why the friends decided to perform the ritual. You can't excuse it as them just messing around as they all take it incredibly seriously, so it was strange when they acted so shocked when it worked. It didn't help the ritual wasn't so much a ritual as a curse, the instructions making it clear that it would basically result in everyone dying.

In addition to the characters being as dense as a bag of rocks, they were all an unlikeable bunch. The synopsis states David being an introvert, but he came across more as just a really unhappy guy, I felt for his new girlfriend even before the horror started. Linda was meant to be one of the more relatable characters but I have to admit I really struggled to understand a single line she said over the course of the 102 minute run time due to how quiet she said her lines coupled with a heavy accent. Worst of the characters was unfortunately Rob. He looked the part, but the angrier he got over the course of the film, the worse his acting skills became. It got to a point where literally every line he said had me laughing due to how badly he said them. The script admittedly also wasn't great, especially with side character Jonathan (Marcello Castiglioni) who may have been the stand out actor, but also had some of the more cheesier lines. I did a literal eye roll when he first appears and shouts to the group "Come with me if you want to live!". Again, I really wish this had been in Italian with subtitles as the often hard to understand dialogue repeatedly took me out of the film.

The creature effects for the transformed David were not bad. Weirdly, this is the second skeleton based horror I have seen this week after Bone Face. It always seems the films I choose to watch have some bizarre and unexpected link to them. There are a couple of decent kill scenes, in particular the creatures first kill was fantastic, shown via shadows, this was an effective and neat death scene. I had a little bit of a Pumpkinhead vibe to this, the film is dark and gritty with no light moments to be found at all. The story did leave a lot to be desired, and I felt the solution given to end the ritual was a bit underwhelming.

Man in the Fields had some good parts to it, the prologue sequence was intriguing and some of the kills looked good. It also had a neat score and some lovely lighting. Despite the goodness, it suffered mainly due to both a stupid plot, and actors often struggling to say their lines due to not speaking in their mother tongue. This had protentional but wasn't one of the better horror films I have watched this year.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Tuesday 15th of July

It is hard not to feel excited this week as I am on the cusp of what I hope will be an awesome week off of work. Rather than going off to some exotic location, I am instead heading inwards, deep within the bowels of The Rotting Zombie HQ. Here I intend to see absolutely no one (with the exclusion of my best friend should they choose to visit), I won't be looking at any type of world news, I won't even draw the thick dusty curtains of my dilapidated mansion. A staycation done correctly where for a week my entire world will consist solely of myself. Of course, during that time I won't abandon this blog, indeed, I intend to create a surplus of blog posts to feed the future when I travel back from my pocket dimension. Onwards to the news!

Final Transmissions is an upcoming found footage anthology series that is currently on an Indiegogo campaign. Taking place in the small town of Eldritch, Illinois in 1999, it follows a local TV host who begins airing strange transmissions he has received, assumedly, these transmissions making up the found footage segments. This was created by husband and wife team Steven Hugh Nelson and Erica Nelson, and features segments from Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein (The Once and Future Smash), Evan Churchill and Thomas Pardo (Beholder), Nick Cotrufo (The McKinney Family Home Videos), Alex Hera (The History of Analog Horror), the Nelson's themselves (Old Wounds), and Lianne O'Shea and Aviv Rubinstien (Lizzie Lazarus). Check out the Indiegogo page here for more details.

Anima is a psychological thriller that is currently being filmed in Colombia, written and directed by Andrés Beltrán (Tarumama, MalaYerba). Included among the cast are Odette Annable (Cloverfield), Allegra Leguizamo (Tin Soldiers), Julio Cesar Cedillo (Sicario), Tony Revolori (Scream VI), and Andreas Londono (Fear the Walking Dead TV show). The story follows forensic medical investigator Helena (Annable), deep in mourning after the death of her husband Richard (Londono). She becomes obsessed with a strange new case, and starts to believe that hidden within the events of this case is the key to be able to somehow return her husband back to life. Beltrán says of the film "This is a deeply emotional and unsettling story-about grief, denial, and the terrifying cost of refusing to let go". Production runs through July in Bogotá, with post-production planned in both Colombia and the United States for a 2026 planned release.

Finally for today, theatrical metal group Raven Black have released a new single titled 'This Little Piggy'. Described as a 'razor-sharp anthem for the outcasts, the misfits, and the tormented', this promises to be the start of '...a darker, more intense evolution' of the group's sound. Produced by Ulrich Wild (Static-X, White Zombie, Deftones).

Bone Face (2025) - Horror Film Review

I'm trying to get more structured with watching films during the weekend and trying to watch horrors more in the evening, to try and give them a fair chance to scare. The test bed for this was the Michael Donovan Horn directed and written slasher Bone Face (in his directorial debut). Admittedly, 19:30 isn't exactly the dead of night, but for me it kind of is as I try and be in bed by 21:30 (rock and roll lifestyle I lead). The film wasn't the most effective horror out there, but it was darn entertaining, and I appreciated it tackled the slasher genre that little bit differently.

A group of camp counsellors are celebrating the end of another Summer, in a cabin on the edge of the camp ground when they come under attack from a masked assailant wielding an axe, who butchers them all. By the time the local police arrive; Sherriff Cronin (Jeremy London - Demigod) and Deputy McCully (Elena Sanchez - Texas Chainsaw uncredited), the killer is nowhere to be found. Cronin suspects the culprit could be the notorious mass murderer known as 'Bone Face' whose M.O is killing camp counsellors. With the state police on the way, the duo decide to search nearby woodland where they track the path of the killer to a nearby 24 hour diner. Cronin discovers the Bone Face mask, outfit and axe in a bin outside the diner. Figuring it is likely that one of the people in the diner is this notorious killer trying to blend in, Cronin decides to interrogate the various customers and staff at the diner while waiting for the state police to arrive. Doing so he discovers that pretty much everyone there had both a motive and an opportunity to have carried out the slaughter.

I expected a straight up slasher film, and the prologue made it seem like that was going to be the case. What I loved about Bone Face is that the meat of the film takes place after the camp murder. Typically this would be the moment when the end credits roll in a horror film, but here, it is the start. The budget is obviously not the greatest, with almost the entirety of the movie taking place in the single location of the diner, and the majority of the film being characters talking to each other. I really enjoyed this however, the cast of eccentric characters made for a mystery that get me glued to the screen. Everyone seemed suspicious, and increasingly it felt like anyone could secretly be the slasher. There is the autistic Roger who is a horror fan, and also has a strong knowledge of Bone Face's crimes. A gulf war veteran who had been fired from his job at the camp after being accused of attempted rape, two anti-authority bikers, a journalist who had captured a photo of the killer on camera after claiming to be in the area for a photo shoot for a wildlife magazine, a quiet father and daughter passing through the area who happened to have travelled past all the sites of Bone Face's previous massacres, the diner's new cook, and a variety of others. Most the film has Cronin angrily interrogating the group, though there is even suspicion thrown on him. I enjoyed the whole murder mystery aspect of the film even if it was a bit cheesy and melodramatic. The actors all play their roles in a silly and fun way, coming across as characters in a stage play more than actual living, breathing people, but with a good line in mistrust and paranoia.
The story looses itself a bit towards the end, with an eventual generic reveal that was a tad underwhelming and unexciting, and seemed to be forced as there was plenty of opportunity for the killer to have gotten away with their crimes had they just chosen to do so. Stick around through the end credits for a brief nonsensical post credit sequence if you are so inclined.

I could see people coming to the film expecting a slasher being disappointed with the relative lack of action, with this being so much more of a murder mystery. There is a heck of a lot of talking over the ninety five minute runtime, though there is a large body count also, even if a large chunk of those take the form of a quick flashback montage. There are some fight scenes, with many of the people in the diner having short tempers and taking umbrage at being detained there by the police pair. The kill scenes are fun to watch, but they are quite brief, and not much is really shown on camera aside from an axe embedded in various character's backs. The design of Bone Face was adequate, outside of the titular mask there wasn't much to them, and their on-screen time in their actual get-up equated to less than a few minutes.

Personally, I loved that the film began with the arrival of the police to the camp crime scene, and that the slasher part of this only occurred in the prologue sequence. That in itself was pretty fun as there was a bait and switch as to who the main cast would turn out to be. The indie nature of this is obvious to see, with a heck of a lot of characters sat around talking, but after a long week of work I found the cheesy murder mystery vibe of Bone Face dumb in a good way, it was nice to switch off my brain and get carried along for the ride.

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28 Years Later (2025) - Zombie Horror Film Review

It feels like a large portion of my life has been spent with the rumours of a new entry in the 28 Days Later series swirling around, but now, in 2025 a new film has finally been released in the form of 28 Years Later (directed by Danny Boyle - 28 Days Later, and written by Alex Garland - Annihilation, 28 Days Later), the first of a planned trilogy. I was concerned how a new entry could match the splendour of the previous two. The first movie is a straight up classic, and while the sequel, 28 Weeks Later has some faults, it also has one of the very best opening scenes of any movie ever. Upon watching this new movie I came to realise that this isn't so much a sequel, as a completely new story that just happens to be set in the 28 universe. Obviously, some spoilers for the other films to follow, and ignoring semantics, I will be referring to the rage virus infected as zombies.

After a brief prologue set at the start of the rage virus outbreak, the action moves to funnily enough, 28 years later. A single line of intro text explains away how the virus was beaten back from Europe and once again contained within the United Kingdom. The entire country has been quarantined, patrolled by boats, with no one allowed in or out of the place. A small community have survived, living on a small island off the coast, linked to the mainland by a single pathway which floods at high tide. Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson - Nosferatu, Kick-Ass) has decided to take his twelve year old son, Spike (Alfie Williams) on a rite of passage trip to the mainland, so that the boy can get his first taste of fighting the zombies that plague the land. While on the trip, Spike notices a large fire burning in the distance, but his father is hesitant to tell his son the significance of what can be found there. After a series of adventures, Spike returns to a heroes welcome, and learns from one of the islanders that the fire is where an apparently insane former doctor (Ralph Fiennes - the Harry Potter series of films) lives. With Spike's mother Isla (Jodie Comer - Killing Eve TV show) seriously ill,  and with his increasing disillusionment with his womanising father, Spike takes it upon himself to sneak off the island with his mother, to go on a foolish quest to travel to the doctor and try and get help for her.

It soon became clear that tonally this is a far different beast to the films that came before. This could be seen immediately in a traditional 28 style zombie attack sequence that takes the form of the prologue. Rather than that iconic tune playing over the horror, there was instead more of a jaunty jolly sound, contrasting roughly against the chaos. The music choices throughout were strange and eccentric. This, coupled with the surreal and pretty crazy post-apocalyptic Britain gave the feel of a zombie film via the lens of The Wicker Man, and a little bit of LSD thrown in for good measure. From start to finish there are so many bizarre flourishes that shouldn't work, yet they somehow do. From stock footage of archers spliced in with characters in film firing arrows (bow and arrow being the main form of weapon in this world), to weird kill scenes that see the action paused and then unpaused from a different camera angle, the film had a feel all of its own.
Spike is a flawed character due to the immature decisions he makes based on his age, but he also had the devil's luck, somehow muddling his way along his adventure. I thought for a child protagonist he was pretty decent, and Taylor-Johnson and Comer were also strong as their respective flawed and complex characters. The best of the supporting characters was Erik (Edvin Ryding), a Swedish soldier who accidentally ended up in Britain and who has some of the most funny lines in the film. I really enjoyed the scenes where he is trying and failing to find points of reference with Spike, the boy not knowing what a delivery driver, internet, or even a radio was. Fiennes was a good side character as well, and memorable with his dyed orange skin.

Set design was strong throughout, but I did find myself missing the more relatable environments, as there was a move to more natural settings and ruins. Some of the references were a bit too on the nose, such as a petrol station where the 'Shell' sign had lost its 'S', but still looked great.

There was a lot more zombies than I had expected, and it became hard to see them as purely virus afflicted humans. Years have not been kind to them, and now have evolved into different types. There are bloated pasty white ones who can only slither along the ground, running emaciated zombies, and hulking nightmares referred to as 'Alphas' who are very hard to kill and extremely powerful. These different types gave a bit of a The Last of Us feel to the film, and all combine to make for some thrilling scenes. Highlights include a small subplot following a group of panicked soldiers, and Spike and Jamie's early journey where they end up being pursued by running zombies through dense woodland. The zombie effects are fantastic as expected, bringing visually interesting creatures to the screen.
The story was relatively straight forward, but goes along at a fair pace. There was an intense slow-down in the film's second half, with a strange temple made out of bones where things get metaphysical and almost an essay on what it is to live and die. I could see this part being a bit of an acquired taste.
I had heard the ending of this film was very strange, but I wasn't prepared for just how weird things got. It's not hyperbole to say that 28 Years Later may just have the most bizarre ending to any film I have ever seen! The whole cinema seemed stunned into silence with such a left field finish, but I did kind of love it. 

The answer to how to make a sequel to two such iconic films was to make a film that had a tone and vibe all of its own, rather than trying to ape what came before. The pacing suffers a little in the second half, but this kaleidoscopic 1970's feeling fever dream delighted time and time again. As a sequel it wasn't the best, but as a new film that just so happens to be set in the same universe this excelled. As I sit here writing this review, I can't wait to get to see 28 Years Later again, and I am very excited to see the next film, which is due out only next year.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 3rd of July

There won't be any blog posts on this site next week as I am off to Dunkirk with my father for the weekend, the weekend being the only chance I get to write posts. I figured I might as well pull my finger out and make this week's output a full five posts (I failed, plus I am moving one of the four posts I did write to next week). Onwards to a terrifying trilogy of horror news.

Found footage streaming service FOUND TV is branching out into video game territory, with first release Tag! You're Dead now available to wishlist on Steam. The game takes the form of a side scrolling horror, with it being a small reimagining of the cursed video game from the film /demo_n. You play as Gary, a man battling his way through a demon infested city. Co-founder and CEO of FOUND TV - Louie La Vella stated that this is only the beginning for their video game output 'FOUND has several other gaming projects in the works, including a VR experience in development...' Tag! You're Dead is due for release this summer.

A trailer for upcoming horror comedy The Massage Parlour Massacre has been released. The film sees a detective who has spent their whole life trying to find the person responsible for their mother's death at a massage parlour get caught up in another massacre at the same location some twenty years later. The star studded cast include Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), August Kyss (Murdercise), Sandy Johnson (Halloween), Mark Patton (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge), and Robert Allen Mukes (House of 1000 Corpses). This is to be written and directed by Nigel Hartwell (The Demented).

Finally for today, the official poster and trailer for indie horror Blood Red Beach has been released. Coming from Mad Angel Films (Graveyard Shark), this follows a group of friends who anger the vengeful ghost of pirate Captain Roderick Cross while on vacation at a remote island. Blood Red Beach is due for release on August 1st on Blu-ray, DVD, VHS, and a limited edition collectors box. Preorders are live here.

Hot Spring Shark Attack (2024) - Comedy Horror Film Review

A decade or so back there was an explosion of animal based comedy horror films that had ridiculous premises, off the top of my head I can think of Sharknado and Birdemic to name just two. The idea of outlandish creature features never appealed to me, so I didn't actually watch any to my knowledge. The Morihito Inoue written and directed Hot Spring Shark Attack (original title Onsen shaku) is a modern example from that genre, this Japanese comedy horror is ridiculous from start to finish, kind of what I expected, but more fun than I anticipated.

In the coastal town of Atsumi, the mayor has recently had a project for a giant new hot spring facility completed. This coincides with the disappearance of visitors to the centre, and it is feared that a shark is somehow responsible. A shark expert comes to the city and concludes that an ancient shark long believed extinct has been released from its undersea hibernation due to the building of the hot spring, and is now using the pipes to travel up from the sea and eat visitors. Not long after this theory is proved correct, sink holes appear all over Atsumi and people begin being swallowed up by sharks, for it is not just one, but a whole group of these creatures dubbed 'hot spring sharks'. The town is evacuated, and after a government attack submarine is destroyed it is feared that Atsumi will need to be totally destroyed to contain the threat. The mayor, along with the shark expert, and a mysterious strong silent man named Macchi, decide to do one last ditch effort to stop the sharks and save the town.

I'm about due to leave my house at the time of typing and so I will try and speed run through this review. Hot Spring Shark Attack is everything what I expected, but it benefits by not being dull. The effects are as expected ridiculous, but they serve the comedic nature well. There is a lot of CGI used for the sharks and their attacks, there isn't really much effort made to make these creatures look realistic. Occasionally puppets are used, but mainly it is CGI. This also applies to the sink holes that appear, in random bits of road these pools of water open up for the shark to attack, before sealing back up again with no logic for how that is happening. This also relates to the sharks being able to 'swim' along the paths and roads of the town, their fins somehow popping up through the concrete without doing any lasting damage. Shark attacks are plentiful, but with the conveniently fast evacuation of the town, this is more front loaded when it comes to shark carnage. Being a comedy horror, the second half may have less people being attacked, but the number and types of sharks explodes to farcical levels, and of course being a comedy horror, there may just be a king of the sharks that makes a very impressive and daunting appearance for the action packed finale.

Characters as a whole are larger than life and over the top, and their actions are just as crazy. From the police chief who prevents swimmers heading into the ocean by shooting the words (something along the lines of) 'Stay out the water' into the sand with his pistol, to the muscly and mostly silent Macchi who is somehow able to punch the ground powerfully enough to scare off sharks, and later has lots of anime style underwater fights against literal armies of sharks! The story was nothing too special, about what I expected for this type of movie, but it rarely got boring. I appreciated that within half an hour events had increased to ridiculous levels, and with the characters, I found the weaselly mayor becoming one of the main protagonists to be refreshing, and his character arc where he goes from a moron to a likeable and brave moron enjoyable.

I feel films like this can be an acquired taste. Personally, this one had enough going for it that I was rarely clock watching. It might be some dumb entertainment, but it was fun as the piece of obvious silly escapism it had been set out to be. With adequate special effects, a likeable cast, and plenty of stupid moments, Hot Spring Shark Attack made for a nice, if partially forgettable madcap creature feature. Hot Spring Shark Attack debuts with special previews at various Alamo Drafthouse locations on Wednesday 9th July, and will open theatrically for extended runs and special engagements on Friday 11th July.

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Bring on the Damned! (2024) - Horror Anthology Film Review

Bring on the Damned! is a horror anthology made up of five short stories, each one written and directed by Brandon Bassham (Slashening: The Final Beginning, Fear Town, USA). I've seen some of the directors previous works and so was unsurprised to find often tongue was firmly in cheek during these tales of madness. Each of the shorts is based around a different theme which simply becomes the chapter's title.

It starts with 'Diagnosis: Satan', this twenty minute film features a psychiatrist named Sarah who has been hired by the Catholic church to see if a violently ill girl is suffering from mental health issues, or if she is actually possessed by a demon. Sarah of course believes it to be the former, but slowly begins to suspect the later may actually be the case.
The indie budget is obvious to see, but that works well for this as it is a neat blend of horror and humour. It plays out like a mockumentary, with a film crew following Sarah around. The story is a traditional demonic possession one, lots and lots of screaming. The highlight was a scene where a priest skins his own face, some cool looking effects despite the lack of much budget. I found the humour to actually work pretty well. References to the darker side of Catholicism are made, and I particularly liked the line where after Sarah asking the exorcist if she can attend the exorcism as well, he says something along the lines of "It's far too dangerous for anyone but an exorcist to be there...and a camera crew". It gets ridiculous later on, in a funny and unexpected way. This was a good start to the anthology.
Second short was the fifteen minute 'Johnnie Lee & Sam' which was a different type of film entirely. Shot in black and white, this was set at an undetermined point in the past, looked to be around the 1920s. Two serial killers; Johnnie-Lee (Conor McCarthy) and Sam (Patrick Foy - The Slashening) accidentally meet one day while burying their respective victims in woodland. They strike up a friendship, but that friendship is tested later in the year when they both target the same woman. A much lighter short despite the dark subject matter, this had a feel of French cinema to it, featuring narration in French, and a neat bit near the end where instead of footage, still images are used (which were expertly chosen I might add). I thought the two leads were both great in their own ways, and it was fun that the two killers had different motives. Again, humour was used to great effect, my favourite part was a chase sequence where both killers are repeatedly putting their hands on their hats to stop them falling off during the chase.

At the halfway point of the stories with the third film - 'Disco Inferno', which at around half an hour long was the longest of the shorts so far. This was set during the disco scene of the 1970's and followed a numb woman who one evening discovers that the only way she is able to achieve orgasm is to kill. Her crimes make national headlines, but one day she meets the self proclaimed 'Disco King' and may have met her match. Stylishly this was the best of the shorts, though not too much really happens. This is made up mainly of various montages, the best being one that shows four differently tinted scenes playing out in each quarter of the screen. Humour again was used, with the club getting less and less people in it over the course of the short due to the killer taking them all out. I loved the music choices here, really hummable, but this was a bit style over substance with the one trick getting a bit stale towards the end. It was wonderfully edited and shot though, visually this was stunning.
The penultimate short was 'Bad Day in Mars Town', another black and white effort, this time with a film noir feel. This takes place in a Robert Rankin style alternate Earth (some point mid-last century) in which humans had gone to war with the cloud like Martians. Johnny Ferri (Terrifier 2) stars as Brack, a hard boiled PTSD afflicted detective who is hired to investigate a sting operation against a wealthy client who was photographed sleeping with a Martian. This was well made, plenty of film noir elements in abundance such as a femme fatale and narration by the protagonist, and I did think the effects for the Martian creatures were great. My complaint was that by sticking so closely to the genre it was mimicking, it all became a little slow and dull. This was the first of the shorts where I was glad to see it finish.

Finally was 'Tara & The Tiger Babes: VSCU' which amusingly styled itself on old Hanna Barbera cartoons. Unable to catch a serial killing rapist known as the 'bottom butcher' (Zac Amico), the police call in Tara & the Tiger Babes, a special band who catch criminals in their spare time. The highlight of this was Billy Bob Thompson as Greggie; an obvious stand-in for Fred from Scooby-Doo. Again there was a lot of music here, with several songs being sung by the band. This included similar language to that used in the old cartoons, and a 'zany' chase sequence that saw everyone chasing each other around a church. I appreciated the joke with this one, but by this point my attention was fading.

Bring on the Damned! was a surprisingly well made and enjoyable anthology, there is no doubt as to the quality of these five films. At an hour fifty, this felt a bit overlong, some of these could have had large chunks cut out of them and not lose their message. It was a shame as there wasn't a bad short to be found here, even the ones that were less interesting still shone due to the sheer amount of variation on show. The linking theme was sins, with each of the shorts preceded by a chapter title stating the sin, but the theme could also be seen as parodies of various genres, from Saturday morning cartoons to Saturday Night Fever, this had a lot of ideas up its sleeve. The humour was often effective, special effects often fun to see on screen, and some good ideas, I just wish it had been a little more tightly edited together, as you can have too much of a good thing. Bring on the Damned! is now available for streaming on Troma NOW.

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DoN't cOME HeRE (2025) - Horror Film Review

The annoying to type DoN't cOMe HeRE was a by the numbers indie horror movie that nonetheless had some interesting ideas to it. Directed by Douglas Thomson and written by Brook Judge, the limited woodland setting almost caused boredom at times, but the mystery of who was responsible for the horror kept me mostly invested.

Jill (Joan Iyiola) and Vivian (Arazou - Ready Player One uncredited) are two American students who have gone to Spain on a summer working holiday. Stopping in a rural town, they encounter a group of rich English friends in a local pub, and with Jill taking a shine to one of them; Peter (Nikolas Salmon), they decide to join them. Together they decide to spend the next day together before going their separate ways, with Jill suggesting they go on a drive together for a hike and picnic. Ignoring the warnings of a local woman (Lina Mira - Pan's Labyrinth) about staying away from the area they are heading to, the group drive on, and initially everything goes according to plan. At the spot they pick for their picnic, Vivian goes off on her own to relieve herself, but doesn't come back. A panicked Jill begins to suspect something has happened to her friend, the group search for her, eventually heading back to their truck where they find the grisly discovery of Vivian's skinned corpse! With their truck sabotaged, the group head off into the woods to try and find a way back to the main road. Whoever killed Vivian isn't done with the scared group however, and one by one, they begin to get picked off by the unseen killer.

While a slasher, this had the feel of a whodunnit due to the variety of characters introduced early on who could be the ones responsible. There was a disgruntled hitchhiker that Jill and Vivian had refused to pick up, an angry local couple (one of whom was the woman warning the group to stay away), and then there is the infighting of the group. With Jill not knowing the others, she begins to suspect that one of them may be responsible. To be honest, that part was a little stupid, not only did it seem strange the friends would have turned on each other, but there would have been evidence of them having committed the crime, rather than still being kitted out in their pristine brightly coloured clothing. Jill was set up as the protagonist, but she was a bit annoying, when late in the movie, Michael (Onur Cocen) states to her that she has been wrong about absolutely everything she has suggested, I couldn't help but agree. That isn't to say the other characters are much better, all rich English young adults, they might have been a bit stuck up, but I liked the obvious camaraderie they had.

The killer forever remains off camera for the most part. This did lead to a little bit of boredom not really seeing kills happen on screen, but it also kept the mystery going of who exactly was responsible. There are a whole bunch of kills, though to my knowledge there are only actually two that are shown, usually characters are either discovered dead, or they are being attacked by someone just out of shot. Thankfully, one of the rare on-screen kills was also the most surprising and fun.
The woodland setting was very samey, with the group walking down various small pathways, at least there was a small change in location for the final act, which saw the survivors holding out in a remote cottage they find. The eventual reveal was almost surprising, I did think some of the potential suspects were set-up as obvious red herrings.

A simple story, and an unexciting location, as well as the lack of many on-screen kills did cause a slight bit of fatigue before the end credits rolled after ninety minutes. I did end up mainly enjoying DoN't cOME HeRE, was a nice bit of escapism after the more serious movies I watched for review this week.

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

My blog went through a bit of a dry spell recently when it came to films sent to me for review, something that allowed me to become a bit lazier and do some shorter working weekends. That has all changed now though, a quick glance shows I still have half a dozen horrors on my radar. Onwards to the news, being written on yet another humid day here in England.

Beginning with some music news, goth pop-rock act Metamorph released a six track EP - Harlot in time for the Summer Solstice. The EP includes the title track, alongside a dance mix, an instrumental, and remixes from Spankthenun, IIOIOIOII, and Allie Frost. Metamorph's next full album; Haunted Hearts, is due for release this Autumn.

Deathgaze duo Vazum have released a new single titled 'Arise', which was inspired by the legend of the Phoenix. This is the second single from Vazum's upcoming full length album; Pretty Brutal.

Independent horror streaming platform Screamify has announced the addition of three new feature films to its library, which will be streaming exclusively on the platform. These three films are The Black-Eyed Children (a found footage about a counsellor's search for missing campers), Dreamland Awaits (Hungarian arthouse horror about a detective trying to save his family), and Lechuza; a supernatural thriller about a witch stalking a family on their camping trip. Screamify is available on major mobile and streaming devices.

Production on Zombie Plane has been wrapped up. This horror comedy that stars Vanilla Ice, Sophie Monk, Brian Austin, Ice-T and Chuck Norris playing exaggerated versions of themselves, does what it says in the title, by having a zombie outbreak during the middle of a flight.

The first trailer has been released for Dick Reno: Monster Slayer, a comedy horror adventure movie. Starring Eric Roberts, Jimmy Drain, Dawna Lee Heising, Ron Chaney and Jon Mack, this sees the titular man (Drain) battling a vampire king and his army.

CHO: A Tale of Voodoo is a new horror film said to be based on true events. In this, businessman David Cho and his family come into danger after he is cursed by a vengeful woman. This was written and produced by Frank Aguilar, with August Aguilar directing.

Finally for today (for I must do some tidying), Geno McGahee's first feature film, 2000's micro-budget Evil Awakening has resurfaced, and is now on YouTube where it can be viewed for free. The director states "It was my first film and it's chaos, but I'm very happy that it's been released into the wild again". The film is a horror about a crazed farmer who returns from the dead to get his revenge on campers and partiers.