The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for May 2022

It has been another month and I am back with another news round-up. My blog has been more quiet on the film front lately, that is a lot down to me getting through various books and videogames that have eaten up slots in my five posts a week schedule.

Now, Shadows isn't really a film I would typically cover here as it is a crime drama rather than horror. Distributed by Midnight Releasing, Shadows is an indie film coming from Michael Matteo Rossi. This stars Rahart Adams, Krista Allen, Vernon Wells, David Labrava and Eric Etebari and is about a young man, Cody (Adams) who has to resort to low-level crime in order to survive. This eventually leads to him inevitably getting in over his head. This has won several awards, including Best Feature at the Santa Monica Film Festival and Best Score at the Silicon Beach Film Festival, and can be seen on a variety of streaming platforms including VUDU, iTunes, YouTube, GooglePlay, Microsoft and Verizon Fios.

Realm of Divinos is a 3D adventure game with visual novel elements that is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds. It has currently raised £4,079 of its £17,422 goal with fourteen days to go. This is a single player game that takes place in a war torn fantasy world. Able to customise your character, you are also able to aid either the heroes or villains. If funded, this will be released initially on Windows in October 2024. Check out the Kickstarter page here, and a payable demo can be found on Steam, here.

Kill Shelter (UK based alternative artist and producer Pete Burns) has announced a new single with Agent Side Grinder, The Necklace. This is taken from their sophomore album Asylum and is about 'a darkly energetic exploration of the quest for personal sanctuary in the face of constant physical and mental abuse'. This is said to be reflective of the upcoming album that looks into themes such as human trafficking, domestic abuse and disillusionment.
Following on from debut album, Damage, Asylum is the second in a series of collaboration albums featuring artists from around the world. Interestingly, the album is going to be available in two versions, with a different track listing in each territory. Metropolis Records in North and South America, and Manic Depression Records in Europe and the rest of the world.

Let's have a look at the notable releases heading to the Arrow streaming service for June. There are two films from Gaspar Noé, apparently the 'the arch provocateur of New French Extremity' whatever that means. Those two films are Lux AEterna and Enter The Void. June 10th sees the release of the excellent black and white thriller The Righteous, while the first of the month sees the release of all six Trancers films, I've never heard of them but apparently they are cyberpunk, a great genre. The bloody fun Intruder 1989 cult classic drops on June 13th while June 17th has the arrival of Maniac Cop 2 (US/CA) and Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence (US/CA).

The sharktastic thriller Shark Bait is released on DVD, on altitude.film and other platforms from 6th June in the UK. This sees a group of friends being terrorised by the creature off the coast of Mexico. It includes among its cast Holly Earl (Humans TV show), Catherine Hannay (Doctors) and Malachi Pullar-Latchman (The Three Musketeers).

Coming from Synapse Films on June 7th is the Blu-ray release of the classic UK zombie film The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue. In this one, two travellers arrive in a small town where an experimental agricultural machine has had the unintended effect of bringing the dead back to life, meanwhile a detective thinks the travellers are Satanists who are the ones responsible for the dead's path of destruction! This comes from Spanish director Jorge Grau and is restored in 4K from the original camera negative. The Blu-ray of course includes a whole host of extras including two commentaries and a full length documentary.

Among the Sleep (2014-2019) - Horror Video Game Review (Playstation 4)

Among the Sleep is a game I have owned for years, yet I have never gotten around to playing it. The reason for the delay was that I recall there was a lot of interest when it first got announced, but upon its release it got a more muted reception than many people expected. It stands on its own for having the character you play as be a two year old child, but in a horror setting, seeing the darkness of their world through their eyes.

The game takes place on your second birthday, as one of your presents you are given an old teddy bear which you take an immediate liking to. Later that night, after you have been read a bedtime story and put to bed, you awaken in your crib to discover your bear has vanished. Managing to get out of your crib, you explore the house and discover the teddy inside the washing machine, which you manage to open. The teddy explains to you that something doesn't feel right, and that you should seek out your mother. This begins a journey through various different horror tinged locations as you seek out four items that relate to memories you have with your mother, in order to be reunited with her.

The idea behind the game is a good one, I've played games before where I have been a young child, but never in a first person horror setting such as here. This is a adventure game that is combat free, instead there are slight puzzles that must be solved, and some vague stealth gameplay in that each new location you visit has its own adult sized monster walking around in it. Playing as a toddler I expected it would be impossible to die, that isn't the case though don't expect any sort of gratuitous scene of death, instead the screen just fades to black. Death can come from drowning, or by being caught by one of the black smokey antagonists stalking the levels. As a child you don't really have any powers. You can drag stools and open drawers to climb up on surfaces, you can run, but do that too much and you will fall over into a crawl (actually kind of irritating). Then, for moments when things get too dark (fear represented by the screen shaking), you can press a button to hug your teddy bear which will create light.
Obviously you are a silent protagonist, you don't even cry out when scared, the story telling falls to the teddy bear, he is the one who sets out your goal of exploring these different levels. Story is also revealed by environmental details (packing boxes for instance suggest you have only recently moved into the house the game takes place in), as well as blurred flashbacks that feature a bit of muffled dialogue, I assume as the child wouldn't be able to understand what was being said.

Ancient Voice (2021) - Short Horror Film Review

Ancient Voice is a short Turkish horror film that was directed by Can Sagir, who also co-wrote this along with Erdeniz Tunç (Serenity). By my reckoning it is only the second Turkish horror film I have seen, after 2017's Baskin. This indie low budget horror uses a monster from Turkish mythology as the basis for its story, in this case the Obur which is apparently a vampire-like monster.

In the present, a young journalist named Zeynep (Berna Toy) is writing a letter that details her account of visiting a supposedly haunted derelict building along with a young man named Efe (Samet Kiziltas). While she stayed outside the building, she communicated with Efe via phone who was inside exploring. It was his shocking discovery that led to Zeynep fleeing the scene.

At just over five minutes Ancient Voice manages to still tell a complete story. I have always been a fan of the concept of having a main story be presented as a flashback, and with Zeynep writing a letter that is the format gone for here. Being a low budget indie film means that there isn't too much actually revealed on screen, instead there is the smallest of close up images to suggest what the two encounter. An interesting looking shot that I assume may have been CG, and which leaves a lot up to the viewers imagination. There was good atmosphere, helped by a moody soundtrack, but the horror, at least in the present day moments were let down somewhat by a scream that sounded a bit placeholder, like it wouldn't have came from the main character. It also didn't feel like what occured in the flashback would have been enough to cause the character to flee the scene in the first place, rather than investigate themselves.

Ancient Voice isn't a perfect film, the beats used for the horror moments didn't really work for me, but the general idea of what it was going for worked well. This felt more polished than you might expect, and I liked that it took itself seriously, that made the overall feel work better than if it had been played for laughs. At such a short length this doesn't outstay its welcome so I feel it is worth a watch.

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The Thing That Ate the Birds (2021) - Short Horror Film Review

From the title alone I really wanted The Thing That Ate the Birds to be a good short horror. Thankfully, this eleven minute film from Dan Gitsham and Sophie Mair (who co-directed Bill) mostly hit the spot, fitting in some striking images, as well as a subplot into this mini movie.

Grace (Rebecca Palmer) has nearly reached the end of her tether with her gamekeeper husband, Abel's (Eoin Slattery) drinking problem. Meanwhile, he is out on the moors, trying to discover just what is killing all his grouse.

My plot summary makes this sound terrible, it really wasn't. Starting off with no end of headless birds discovered on his land, Abel along with a young farmhand, Jake (Lewis Mackinnon) encounter a creature really quite early. Usually showing less is more, but the tense way this scene plays out, with Abel slowly arming his shotgun as the creature stares on was lovely. This tenseness again is used to great effect later in the short when a character slowly walks towards a blood smeared door. The design of the creature was good enough that it didn't look out of place, and it was a brave move to have it appear in daylight, even if it was obscured.

It isn't usual for short films to have a subplot, and so I enjoyed the one shown here, even if it was the less developed of the two. While it seems all the horror that goes on does actually happen, it was easy to see it as an analogy for Abel's drinking problem, especially for one moment when the creature appears by the man's side, making me think of the saying 'a devil on your shoulder'. To say too much more would ruin the fun, needless to say it seemed obvious that the early action in the short wasn't the end of the horror, so there was anticipation for more to follow.

With a suspenseful soundtrack, lots of slow tension, and a chilling final shot, there wasn't much here that wasn't done right. It might have felt slightly obvious where this would end up but that's a small complaint with a film of this quality. The Thing That Ate the Birds can be seen on Alter's YouTube channel, and I would definitely recommend a watch.

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Adéla (2021) - Short Horror Film Review

The review today of the Philip Martin (The Road) written and directed Adéla is the first of three short films I have watched for review this week. This premiered on the Dark Matters' YouTube channel back in April and takes a familiar subject and tweaks it into something different in feel.

The six minute short begins and ends with narration in Polish from the titular character (Julia Rogers - Back From the Dead), she speaks of her brother Jacek (Ged Purvis - Teens Vs. Vampires) who she says is a bad man, but she views as her saviour. A talkative young man (Chris Iddon - The Shadow over Whitby)  meets Jacek with the aim of buying some drugs off of him, they end up going back to Jacek's house where he tells the man the drugs are kept.

I liked the framing of this short, it feels like it is wrapped neatly thanks to the opening and closing dialogue from Adéla. I liked also how the horror was presented here, a lot coming from a character's silent expression of horror as they come to realise the danger they are in. Using a chilled and calm soundtrack over what becomes a very bloody scene was also a choice I really liked.

Neatly framed, well edited and with some good vocal performances, Adéla was a solid little horror that took a familiar idea in a slightly different direction. Good stuff and well worth a watch.

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All About Evil (2010) - Horror Film Review

The Joshua Grannell (better known as his drag persona, Peaches Christ) written and directed comedy splatfest that is All About Evil is something that I can see not appealing to everyone. Apparently this film only had a limited theatrical run upon its release in 2010 and since then it has been very hard to find. That has all changed with a Blu-ray release coming on June 10th from Severin Films and a North American streaming release on Shudder arriving June 13th.

Deborah Tennis (Natasha Lyonne - Russian Doll) has taken over the ownership of her father's beloved but unsuccessful indie cinema after he passes away. With its closure threatened by her nasty stepmother, Deborah ends up killing her in cold blood, the incident recorded on the cinemas CCTV system. Due to a series of errors she ends up accidentally playing the CCTV footage of the murder to the patrons waiting for a film to start in the theatre, and unexpectedly they lap it up, figuring it to be an experimental short horror. Deborah relishes this new found fame and sets out to make more horror films featuring real victims rather than actors. As her fame increases, she hires several helpers, including the old projectionist Mr. Twigs (Jack Donner - Stigmata), a criminal psycho, as well as twin sisters recently released from a psychiatric home (Jade and Nikita Ramsey - A Haunting at Silver Falls). Together they set out to make bigger and more violent films, until a young teenage fan, Steven (Thomas Dekker - A Nightmare on Elm Street) begins to get concerned about the amount of missing people whose last known whereabouts was the old cinema.

This is comedic but not in the sense of telling lots of jokes. Instead it is comedic due to the larger than life personalities of many of the cast. The villains are comically evil and delight in the murders they cause. It can be quite fun when the antagonists are all together, each with their own things going on, from the silent twins doing the usual The Shining style trope of acting as one, to the creepy old man Mr. Twigs, and Deborah herself who sees herself as a serious actress and so dresses up in various costumes for her snuff films. Countering all this is the protagonist Steven who really was a bit of a bland character. Being a horror movie fan he is seen as weird by many of his peers, his teacher in particular thinks he is a high school killer in waiting. It is his love of the genre that is used as a weapon in the films later sections. My favourite performance went to Steven's mother, played by Cassandra Peterson (best known as Elvira).

Todd Sullivan Presents: The Vampire Connoisseur (2020) - Horror Anthology Book Review

You would think it would be pretty obvious what the theme of an anthology book titled The Vampire Connoisseur would be. Maybe lacking some brain cells it took me a couple of stories for that startlingly obvious link to be made. All I can say is I blame reading this on my Kindle that I managed to not notice that title and put two and two together. Anyway, as I never seem to get tired of saying, I sure love me an anthology.

There are sixteen short stories here from sixteen different authors and as is to be expected there is variety. There are action heavy ones, comedic ones, dark ones, and ones that don't feature your typical vampire protagonist. Things start off on an emotional note with Lisa Hario's The Red Angel. This takes place in a children's hospice where a dying girl befriends a mysterious young girl who only appears at night. I thought that melancholic may be the vibe the anthology was going for, but that is soon put to bed with the very next tale, Gordon Linzner's A Visit from Saint Vic, this comedic story featuring two vampires who dress up as Santa and his helper in order to trick young children into allowing them entry to their homes on Christmas Eve, with things not going according to plan. The concept of having to be given permission to enter someone's home is again brought up with The Solution by Michael S. Collins, another humorous one, though this time it is a vampire trying to get access to a student dormitory. Finally, with overt comedy comes A Fiend Indeed. Written by Nicholas Stella, this concerns a very work shy salesman who is slow to notice that anyone called into the dark office of his new boss is never seen from again.
Going back to the more sombre variety of story there is one other, Poem of the Riverbank by Gary Robbe, the way this was written had a feel of poetry to it fittingly enough and features an unlikely friendship between a kind lonely man and someone he meets.

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology 20th May 2022

Howdy, I have a week off of work this week, not doing much other than chilling at home and playing lots of games. I'm currently torn on what my fifth blog post should be for the week, maybe a first impression post on Evil Dead: The Game as I've noticed a lot of the big sites have yet to even mention the thing (that is indeed what the fifth blog post became).

A new trailer has come out for Feeding on the Living which is the third chapter in the Dave Slade film series. The film is to feature Nicholas M. Garofolo reprising his role as Slade and will be joined by Arina Ozerova, Warren Chao and Dave Sweeney, the trailer makes it seem like it may have something to do with vampires. This has been written and produced by Garofolo with Sweeney directing. The trailer can be seen here.

Black Spot Books have announced a new women-in-horror anthology titled Into the Forest. The theme for this anthology (I love a good theme) is the stories will be inspired by the Baba Yaga (not John Wick, though that would be cool, this is about the witch in the woods from Slavic folklore). There will be twenty three original stories here from both bestselling female authors and new authors. Included are Gwendolyn Kiste, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Mercedes M. Yardley (Beautiful Sorrows), Monique Snyman, Donna Lynch, Lisa Quigley and R.J Joseph.

Blood Lust comes to DVD on 31st May from Bayview Entertainment. This stars C. Thomas Howell (The Hitcher, The Outsiders) and is about two friends, one of which seeks a relationship with a mysterious woman who partly owns a guest house.

Also out on 31st May, again from Bayview Entertainment, is Back From Hell. In this one, six former classmates go on holiday to a manor house in the countryside where they begin to experience paranormal events.

Finally, some music news. Eternal Frequency have released the second chapter in their cinematic sci-fi series, A.I. The Harrisburg, PA based heavy rock band say of this 'A.I. brings up the unavoidable challenge that every artist will eventually face and that is someone who is not part of your camp telling you what they think is best for you. It is about not conforming to anyone's preconceived notion about you and refusing to be controlled by the system. This is our message to be who you are in your image alone.'

The Nail That Sticks Out (2018) - Short Horror Film Review

The Nail That Sticks Out is an award winning short British horror film that was directed by Jordan Dean (The Inner Demon) and written by Rebekah Whelan in her writing debut. The perils of a struggling artist are often used for horror, everything from Legend of the Muse to The Spirit Gallery and Rust Belt Driller, the tortured artist trope works well in this context. This fifteen minute short adds to this idea with a tortured artist all of its own.

Japanese Aiko (Natsumi Kuroda) is a UK based artist who is feeling the pressure to produce work that betters what she has already put out. Meanwhile, her girlfriend and muse, Elisabeth (Laura Peterson - Coven of Evil) has aspirations of becoming a successful actress. One fateful day sets Aiko on the path to her artistic salvation, though at a great cost.

I always enjoy these types of ideas, I enviously look upon all manner of creators and only on occasion feel even the slightest aspect of what drives them. With Aiko you have a protagonist whose erratic behaviour seemed to come somewhat out of nowhere. An initial spark of creativity, one troubled almost arthouse style nightmare and there is a descent into nightmare. The core of the film, outside of her art, is the relationship between the two characters and the opposite paths their lives are trying to head.
In terms of set decoration and effects, the art is decent enough to seem authentic for the character, and the special effects while sparsely used sell what they are trying to sell.

The Nail That Sticks Out was a decent short horror, one that might have benefited from more time to chart the downward spiral of Aiko, or at least present more of her internal thoughts to the viewer. Despite that, another Dark Matters short horror that was well worth sticking around to the twisted end of. This can currently be seen on the Dark Matters' YouTube channel.

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Evil Dead: The Game (2022) - Horror Video Game First Impressions (Playstation 5)

Evil Dead: The Game released last Friday, and I wasn't intending on buying it as it is an asymmetrical multiplayer game. However, seeing it was not as expensive as I thought it would be (£35 here in the UK) I decided on impulse to get it. I haven't played nearly enough of it to be able to write a review, but I have played enough that I feel confident in at least giving my first impressions.

There isn't a story to speak of, instead each game features the same objectives that take place within a small handful of maps. You play as either a survivor or as a demon and these take in monsters and characters from not only the three Evil Dead films (The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness) but also the Ash vs Evil Dead TV show. Having all these different bits of media together was a delight to see. On the survivor side you have four different versions of Ash, Kelly and Pablo from the show, as well as plenty of other characters from the films, even having two knights from Army of Darkness making an appearance. These survivors fall into one of four categories, Leaders who are immune to fear, Warriors who are good with melee weapons, Hunters whose strong point are ranged weapons, and Support who are able to heal other players.
On the demon side you have a choice of three, The Warlord (Henrietta from the first two films), The Puppeteer (Eligos from the TV show), and The Necromancer (Evil Ash from Army of Darkness). These different demons have different abilities which you can probably guess from their names, but they also have different deadites under their control. Henrietta can boost deadites strength when she is around them, these enemies are the traditional type. The Puppeteer can more easily possess characters, his deadites are ones that explode upon death. The Necromancer controls a skeleton army and can resurrect them when they have been defeated.

Playing as the survivors in third person, you must work together to first collect pieces of a map. Once this is done then the location of the Necronomicon and the Kandarian Dagger are revealed, and once these are collected the players must race to a gateway and banish the Dark Ones, thus winning the game. Players have a fear metre and this fills up both by being in the dark, being attacked by enemies, triggering traps, and being away from the group. Should your metre get too full then the demon player will be able to briefly possess you, able to both attack other players and move you out of the group. While the demon player is the main foe there are plenty of random deadites spawned around the level. Playing this felt like a mix between Left 4 Dead, World War Z and Dead by Daylight. There are nowhere near as many enemies as you would get in those first two, but being able to use weapons (both melee and guns) means that there is a lot of time spent battling deadites. The pitfalls of being a multiplayer experience means unless you are playing with friends you can never predict how things will turn out. Sometimes I played and had a wonderful time, the four of us working together and really helping each other out as a team. Then there are other times when the game starts and the other survivors all run off in random directions. Needless to say, that is not a good idea and each and every time that happened we were all dead within five minutes of starting.

Graphic Designs (2022) - Thriller Film Review

I have to say before starting this review that the Andy Edwards directed and written Graphic Designs is an erotic thriller, something that I didn't know before I sat down to watch this. The thriller part I was all on board with, and to be fair it went in some interesting directions, the erotic part however wasn't really for me.

Franklin (David Wayman - Little Devil) is a work-at-home graphic designer who appears to really resent his relationship with long term girlfriend Candida (Sian Altman - T H E M) and also happens to be really into watching cam-girls on his laptop. One evening his best friend, Brandon (Ocean M Harris) tells him about a new dating app he was designing, which is the place to go for casual flings. With Candida away on business, Brandon decides to give it a go, hooks up with a girl he meets (May Kelly) and ends up sleeping with her, filming their hook-up. Becoming obsessed with this girl, and with her dating profile deleted from the app, Brandon starts to try and search out her location, convinced that something terrible has happened to the girl. Meanwhile, having been asked to assist in tracking her down by using his knowledge of the dating app, Brandon reveals all of this to Candida, who is upset, but unable to confront Franklin as her and Brandon are having an affair of their own! On her own, Candida sets out to find the girl and confront her over her boyfriend's cheating.

Pursuit Of A Jigsaw (2020) - Short Horror Film Review

Pursuit Of A Jigsaw is a short horror/satire film that was written and directed by Sam Mizrahi-Powell. They state they think of this as 'a horror experience for people with commitment issues'. Now, this isn't a traditional horror film, instead it blends the superemly normal with the supremely subnormal, making for a short that I admit I struggled to follow, yet also appreciated its craft, especially with some of the effects used. 

Jamie Roy (Your Boyfriend is Mine) stars as Ben, an office worker who is soon to be married to his fianceé Donna (Caitlin Thorburn - Good Omens). The problem is however that it seems he really doesn't want to be, and as it gets closer to the date his sense of self begins to evaporate as he begins a physical transformation into those around him.

This twelve minute short covers a lot of ground, held in place by the pivotal character of Ben. A lot of the imagery relates to his impending marriage which has him concerned he will no longer be able to enjoy being the individual he wants to be. The ocean is repeatedly shown as Ben's safe space, during a work meeting for instance he is able to zone out by looking at a photo of the sea. Even this solitary aspect of his becomes threatened with his wife wanting to go to the beach with him. Within he is a man under assault, without he puts on a forced smile and false pleasantries. This comes to a head in the films most striking moment in which Ben is swimming in the ocean when a mirror ocean descends from on high, eventually leading to him drowning in the middle of the vast water (the standout shot of the film).

The Righteous (2021) - Horror Film Review

The Righteous is a character drama that carries with it a definite vibe of horror. Written, directed and co-starring Mark O'Brien (actor in Ready or Not), this is a film whose story is fixated on religion and was very much a slow burn. However, this falls very much on the right side of slow burn with a tense character focussed story that explores the issue of sin and penance in an intense and interesting way.

Henry Czerny (Ready or Not, Mission: Impossible) plays Frederic,  a former priest who left the priesthood some decades back in order to marry widower Ethel (Mimi Kuzyk - Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments TV show). The film begins with the grieving couple at the funeral of their young adopted daughter, then days later, with the couple deep in mourning, a strange young man (O'Brien) arrives injured at their remote home. The man remains enigmatic about where he has come from and how he came to be injured, but gives his name as Aaron Smith. At first Ethel and Frederic are suspicious of the man, but they come to find themselves enjoying his company. It is then that Aaron reveals his true intentions to Frederic, and gives him a dark proposal that has the former priest forced to confront his relationship with God and reflect on his past mistakes.

This works so well as a slow burn due to the laser focus on mainly just the two characters. The character of Ethel, while ever present, does become almost a side character, it is the many conversations that Frederic and Aaron share that make up the meat of this drama. There are a handful of actors and all of them were well chosen for their roles, in particular these main two whose long conversations became so captivating. Aaron was the more fascinating due to the mystery that comes from his sudden appearance. Over the course of the film his half truths and made up stories reveal themself to me something more personal. There is the hint of the supernatural here with Aaron saying things that he couldn't possibly know, and a few incidences of impossible things occuring on screen. With it stated that Frederic is prone to blackouts and possibly hallucinations, it was never clear exactly what was real and what wasn't. Many of the heated passionate conversations between the two men for instance take place in the middle of the night, they often end with Frederic suddenly opening his eyes to discover he is in bed.