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.

No Choice (2025) - Horror Film Review

When I was younger, I occasionally dreamed of going to America, the place where so many cultural references in modern society have came from. That all changed due to the dawning realisation that things really are not ok in that place, at least according to my eyes. The Nate Hilgartner written and directed No Choice (the first film he was written, directed and acted in) tackles the topic of the removal of women's reproductive rights, taking place in a state where abortion has become illegal. It might not have demons or zombies, there may be nothing supernatural or paranormal here, but No Choice may just be the most haunting and horrific horror film I have seen all year. Feel good this is not!

Hannah Deale stars as Amy, a young woman who through no fault of her own becomes accidentally pregnant. Already working two jobs just to support herself and her drug addict mum; Debra (Jennifer Herzog), and having dreams of attending college, she realises she is in no position to become a mother. With abortion illegal in her state, and with no one to turn to, Amy has to carry the burden of her situation, deciding whether it is better to put her own needs first, or bring a child into a cold and uncaring world.

From start to finish, No Choice was an anxiety inducing nightmarish descent into Hell. Obviously an indie production, this nonetheless told its story in a very impressive way, and with no bad actors to be found among the cast. In terms of horror, this is grounded, with all events appearing somewhat realistic, the only concession to the more fantastical elements of the genre coming from the many nightmare sequences that occur whenever the protagonist sleeps. There were lots and lots of these ultra surreal sequences and they were visually impressive and full of ideas. It is so easy to have dream sequences in horror films appear cheesy and generic, but these just added to the unrelenting tension of the movie. You could argue that this is where the supernatural element does appear, as the nightmares often hint at things yet to happen to the protagonist. Rather than taken at face value, these scenes are used as symbolism, such as when Amy dreams about a doll that happens to be dressed the same way as characters in The Handmaid's Tale. Some of the symbolism didn't quite work for me, in particular, fireworks used to symbolise something obvious early on couldn't help but make me think distractingly of a similar use in the Naked Gun series of comedy films! 

Outside of these, the film follows a realistic path, split into different sections that have an in-scene title card that states what week of the pregnancy Amy is on. These felt similar to the in-scene title cards that occurred in The Ring, giving the feeling of impending doom. Special mention goes to the score by Jonas Tarm, this perfectly accompanies the slow drip of horror and terror the main character faces throughout the ninety five minute runtime.

The film world is represented as a bleak and miserable place, full of indifferent, cold, and calculated characters. When Amy states at one point to her uber religious mother that she feels she is already in Hell, it is hard to argue. Characters she encounters are all emotionless and harsh, such as Dr, McAnnis, an E.R doctor (Maria Prudente) who Amy tries to get advice from, but who only grudgingly helps, more concerned with the law than helping out a fellow human. Then there is her boss, Randy (Adam Ratcliffe), another character whose humanity is reduced by his view that staff that work for him should be grateful for their jobs, and unable to really see outside this narrow viewpoint. Even her friendly colleague, Lucas (Robert Denzel Edwards), lets the protagonist down in her time of need, though that later one did have redeeming qualities to his character that made me feel sorry for him when events happen. All these were well cast, in particular with Deale who is the standout actor here, making her character of Amy someone easy to emphasise with, and to really feel for, despite the mistakes she makes along the way in her harrowing journey. A last shout out to Hayden Frank who plays the character of Seth. He might be barely in the film, but he left an impression, and was refreshing for the character to not be a generic stereotype.

Horror has often been used as a mirror to real world changes and situations. From an outsiders perspective (living in the UK), America seems like an ouroboros, consuming itself as it falls into self implosion. Whether that is actually happening or not is above my pay grade to say, but the loss of female reproductive rights, and the insanity of a health care system that is so expensive and stacked against the poorer members of society is certainly a real issue, one that is reflected here in an unsettling and harrowing story. I didn't enjoy No Choice, it left me feeling like I had been punched in the gut. If you are after a fun and entertaining movie then this is not going to scratch that itch. If rated on entertainment this would not get a high score. Rated on the original roots of the genre; horror to horrify, this low budget psychological horror was very effective, especially due to its mostly grounded realism. This is a film that should be seen, but as I said in my intro, this is no happy watch. No Choice had its world premiere on June 23rd, and is to be shown at the GASP! Horror Festival for its international premiere on June 29th in Manchester, UK.

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Abigail Before Beatrice (2025) - Thriller Film Review

Abigail Before Beatrice was a film that really benefitted from me not having read the synopsis before hand. I wouldn't say that is something you would need to avoid, just that by skipping that I found knowledge out at the same speed as it is revealed within the story of the film. Written and directed by Cassie Keet (Scream Therapy), this is a psychological drama/thriller that looks at toxic relationships and needing to feel valued via the lens of cults, especially with relation to the after effects of having been in one. 

One day, loving father Will (Jordan Lane Shappell) is alerted to the presence of a strange woman in his farm based garden by his teenage daughter. Confronting the woman, he learns that she is called Beatrice (Olivia Taylor Dudley - Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension) and that she once lived at the property and has been secretly returning to work on the strawberry patch that she once planted there. Perhaps recognising the sadness within the woman, Will gives her permission to help him with the gardening as long as she always arranges with him beforehand that she is going to come. Beatrice had once been a member of a small cult that had lived on the farm (one of the cult members being a small role played by Keet), but had disbanded after cult leader; Grayson (Shayn Herndon - Scream Therapy) had been imprisoned for killing someone. The other members of the cult had moved on with their lives, but for the still brainwashed Beatrice she couldn't let go, haunting the area like a ghost. One day she is visited by Abigail (Riley Dandy - Christmas Bloody Christmas), another former cult member, who reveals to the woman that Grayson has recently been released from prison.

I loved this film, and in particular I loved the first act. It starts out as if the character Will is going to be the protagonist, and it is from his perspective that we are first introduced to the actual protagonist character. It was only after she leaves the scene and the film sticks with her that I realised this is very much a movie about her, with Will's role slowly fading into much more of a side character. Taylor Dudley was frankly amazing in her lead role. There is an undeniable feeling of her character really not being the most balanced, at first I couldn't tell if she was going to be some sort of psychotic thriller stereotype, or if she was intended to be a sympathetic person. Thankfully, it fell far more into that later aspect. Beatrice is damaged, she is unhappy, and not entirely completely sane, but her role is played to perfection. Sure it could be argued that acting 'crazy' isn't the hardest thing to do (not that I would know not being an actor!), but here this insanity is subdued and something to pity the character for. I am always a fan of the proverbial 'madness dancing in the eyes', and Taylor Dudley is amazing at doing that. Will was fine, but a bit of a red herring in terms of where the story was going to go. More integral was Abigail who is the character that is the first to really reveal to the viewer the backstory of the protagonist. I thought the lost love between these two was very well shown on camera, with some dramatic scenes, especially their meet-up in the coffee shop.

Cult leader Grayson was another well cast character. I felt Grayson had a slight magnetic feel to him, though due to the way the story is told, he often appeared in some of the weaker moments.

The film is roughly split into three acts, each shorter than the one preceding it, but all unravelling pieces of the puzzle. The first act follows Beatrice post cult-life, seen as an outsider in the local community, but mostly seen as harmless. The second act is then a giant flashback to various events that occurred when the small cult was still going. This is mostly set up to show viewers (and Beatrice) that Grayson wasn't as noble and wondrous as the protagonist believes. It jumps about in time but reveals key events, from the arrival of Abigail to the commune, to the dramatic event that saw the leader arrested. This second part suffered a bit due to only really showing the bad times. Just taking those scenes on their own, it is hard to understand why Beatrice had such a fondness for the man. Things really come back together strongly for the finale, both serving as an epilogue to the film, as well as featuring a prologue. This third act in particular featured some amazing acting, again, especially from Taylor Dudley.
This is more a drama than anything else, though the thriller part steadily gets more prevalent. There wasn't much call for special effects, but there are some bloody scenes that delighted, and the self harm scars Beatrice is revealed to have did strike home a bit, due to that being something I used to struggle with (before I died, came back as a zombie, and started this blog of course!).

The weakness of parts of the middle of this couldn't dampen my enthusiasm for the film. I thought the first act was wonderful (even if there was one super awkward scene that made me have to pause the movie and take a few minutes away from it), and the third act was even better, this third act was almost flawless I would argue, and had some surprising and powerful moments. At nearly two hours long, the time flew by, I think it benefitted by being so obviously split into different sections, meaning the changes in time and place gave the feeling of a breath of fresh air. A sympathetic look at a damaged person, and the effects of a toxic relationship, Abigail Before Beatrice was mesmerising and something I am very happy I got to experience. Abigail Before Beatrice had its world premiere at Bentonville Film Festival on June 19th.

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The Death of Snow White (2025) - Horror Film Review

Co-written and directed by Jason Brooks (Revenge of the Boogeyman), The Death of Snow White is a dark fantasy indie epic that isn't afraid to show a lot of blood and guts over its one hundred and ten minute run time. This felt like a film that would have been made in the mid 2000's, a particular type of cruel edgelord/grim-dark to it that was nostalgic, but also a bit over the top.

Many years in the past, a wicked witch (Meredith Binder - Beloved Beast, The Anatomy of Monsters) attacked a castle, killing many in the process, including the Queen, though her new-born baby was saved. In modern day, the King is long dead, and his new wife (Chelsea Edmundson - Howlers) has taken over running of the kingdom. Unknown to all is the fact that she is actually that same wicked witch in disguise. This Queen is obsessed with eternal youth, having to perform all sorts of nasty blood magic to retain her looks. The new-born baby, now grown up is Princess Snow White (Sanae Loutsis - Beloved Beast), and she is someone loved by her people for her kind and gentle soul. After the evil Queen instructs her personal guard known as 'The Huntsmen' to kill Snow White's villager friends, Snow White flees into the nearby 'dark woods', let go by the head Huntsman taking pity on her. While the evil Queen seeks to get her back, and a prince in love with the girl (Tristan Nokes) sets out to rescue her, the girl befriends seven deadly dwarfs who reveal to her who is really in charge of the kingdom.

I'm sure the original fairy-tale was plenty dark, but my only point of reference was of course the Disney version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This may be the telling of an old story but this injects plenty of horror into things. The prologue sequence may actually be the best part of the film, it follows the wicked witch on an impressive rampage around the castle, this part really reminded me a lot of the Darth Vader part from the end of Rogue One! Sure there is a poisoned apple involved somewhere within this story, but this witch is as evil as they come. She is shown throughout to have plenty of evil spells she is able to cast, making her a formidable opponent. For much of the film she is in her glamour look, Edmundson is able to make her seem so utterly evil, and the subplot of the various things she gets up to in order to remain looking vibrant is where the film gets quite nasty. From bathing in a bath tub with the severed in half remains of a village girl, to having her maids rip the teeth out of an unwilling victim, and the Queen herself cutting her own toes off as part of her always nasty looking blood magic.
There are a lot of characters here, highlight probably would be the dwarfs. Here, they are played by real people of short stature, and were a likeable if barbaric lot. The first fight scene they appear in was insane, with the group violently murdering a whole bunch of soldiers. Throughout the movie there are lots of fight scenes, most of them featuring a whole load of blood and severed limbs and lost internal organs!

Blood is a constant, and there is at times a real B-movie feel to how over the top all the gore is. A man whose head is smashed against a tree with a giant wooden mallet in slow motion, and a character whose semi-skinned alive both made for memorable segments, but this also made the film often feel dark for dark's sake. It doesn't help that the humour that is there to diffuse these high stakes falls flat mostly. Either too darkly comedic, or in the case of the two young court poets; too unfunny and uninteresting. The Death of Snow White goes a weird way where it is at once far too self serious, but then also failing to remove this serious tension by the humour not working.
This movie did have some great set design, and the costume design in particular really stood out. The special effects were also often great looking, while the soundtrack while nothing too special, did evoke the feel of a fairy tale.

There is lots of horror here, even more blood, and it does a unique spin on the classic tale. There is a real nostalgic, yet severe edgelord vibe to the whole film. It was entertaining to watch, but it also suffered due to how straight and bleak many scenes were. With Edmundon in particular you had a fantastic antagonist, and with Loutsis you have a sympathetic and endearing lead, but there was something odd about the tone of the movie that meant it never completely ever sat well with me. The Death of Snow White becomes available on July 1st on all major streaming platforms from The Horror Collective.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 19th June 2025

Here in the UK it is quite a humid June we are having, with the constant threat of a rain shower that never seems to come. I'm determined to actually get five blog posts written this weekend (at time of typing), as I have been getting lazy and my screeners to watch pile has been increasing! Onwards to the news.

I hadn't even realised it was out, but the Watts Brothers are working on a sequel to their unique found footage movie Black Daruma. This always stuck out to me, as the film was apparently shown from the perspective of a cursed Japanese Daruma doll! The sequel, titled Red Daruma, is due to hit screens later this year. Of this sequel, Toby Watts stated:
"The whole idea of there being other cursed Daruma dolls out there and some kind of link between them all really excites us. We've got an amazing location for this one and can't wait to bring it to the screen for the fans to enjoy."

Tonight She Comes is now available to stream on MoviVue. Two friends lost in woodland encounter a naked girl possessed by an evil spirit, as well as a backwoods Satan worshipping family of psychos. This comes from director Matt Stuertz and stars Nathan Eswine, Larissa White, and Jenna McDonald.

Finally for today, a trailer has been released for first-time filmmaker Mark A. Williams' feature length supernatural slasher Mary's Lake. This often repeated story sees a group of camp counsellors who find themselves being hunted by a recently escaped mental institution patient, one who also carries a supernatural force within him. The film promises to pay homage to classic camp slasher movies, done in a respectful way. Mary's Lake was an official selection at both the Crimson Screen Horror Film Festival and the Moonless International Film Festival in 2025.

The Invisible Swordsman (1970) - Fantasy Film Review

Described as an 'unseen gem', The Invisible Swordsman is a high energy fantasy film that is far more goofy and non-serious than its poster and synopsis might suggest. Directed by Yoshiyuki Kuroda (Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare), this tale of an invisible man may feel quaint and old fashioned, but it does have some charm, and a great looking set.

Taking place during the Edo-era, Sanshiro Yuzuki (Osamu Saka) is the son of a well renowned samurai master. He is a member of his father's dojo, but unfortunately for the boy, not only does he have no skill with weapons, but he is also a massive coward. After his father is murdered during a midnight raid on the village by a group of black clad ninjas known as the 'Phantom Thieves', Sanshiro pledges to get revenge, but laments his own lack of skills. An apparition from the underworld takes pity on the boy, telling him how to create a magical potion that will make him invisible. Using this potion, Sanshiro goes after those he suspects of being responsible, his lack of skill hidden by the fact that he cannot be seen by the people he attacks.

Not only was this family friendly, I would go even further and say this was designed as a children's fantasy film. There is some death over the near eighty minute run time, but these death scenes are without blood or gore. While there are plenty of action scenes, the protagonists methods are almost entirely non-lethal, such as fighting goons while armed with shoes as weapons, or scaring his enemies away by chasing them with objects that appear to the goons to be floating. Special effects are passable, but I did keep in mind throughout the age of the film, Floating objects are passable, as are the stop motion footprints that pop up when there snow is on the ground or water. The ghostly images of the apparitions felt quite creepy, but I don't believe that to have been purposeful. The cheerful and jolly soundtrack continues the feel of this really not intended to be a dark or serious movie. I did kind of come to respect Sanshiro's way of fighting. A highlight was a later scene where the goons are using floor mats and sheets to try and block the invisible man in.

The story was wafer thin, but at least that meant that the action stayed in the neat looking historical village setting. I had no complaints whatsoever with the lovely set design. Characters are many, but most fall into an extreme over the top way of acting. There are lots of people looking ultra shocked at the events transpiring around them, worst being the two comedy characters who work for the strongest warrior in the rival dojo. I enjoyed these very exaggerated acting styles, but that also stretched to the dialogue which has a grating habit of being shouted out by characters. Worst of these unfortunately was the lead, Sanshiro's cries for his father were so irritating to hear that I found myself reaching for the mute button on more than one occasion.

The Invisible Swordsman was an old fashioned and out of date family fantasy film that felt very much of its time. I appreciated this, but wouldn't go as far as to say I particularly enjoyed it outside of appreciating what it was going for. On June 23rd The Invisible Swordsman becomes available to stream on ARROW.

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Millionaires Day (2024) by Kit Power - Thriller Novella Review

My quest to make more of an effort to get through my vast backlog of book requests was helped by the next book I chose; Kit Power's Millionaires Day being a novella. The story here is based in Milton Keynes, UK, a surreal choice for me as that is pretty much the next town (while it has recently been made a city, it will always be a town to me) over from my own!

One day in 2019 (according to the synopsis), everyone in the UK woke up with a million pounds in cash under wherever they happen to have been sleeping. This novella charts the effects this has on the population by following a random selection of people from Milton Keynes. There is a neglected girl (Emma) with an imaginary friend who believes the money was a gift from Santa. A homeless man (Henry) with the desperate hope of re-starting his life somewhere else, a policeman struggling to deal with the unfolding chaos, and Pete; a lowlife criminal whose gang leader - Mental Mickey, enacts a plan to steal as much money as his gang are able to.

I always try and avoid reading the synopsis for anything I am going to read/watch on this blog. For me, I didn't expect things here to go as south quickly as they do. From the novella, it was never obvious that this weird event had occurred countrywide, it didn't even really feel like it had happened to many of the people in MK. With the almost supernaturally thick fog coating the town, this created a feeling of this particular set of characters having inadvertently stumbled into The Twilight Zone. I couldn't shake my thoughts of this, but it added to my enjoyment. The book is split into (if my memory serves me correct) three distinct parts, each part taking place over a different hour. Each part is then split into chapters, with the chapters being titled with the specific timeframe they are happening in. While the many protagonists don't know each other, there are some wonderfully timed moments in the story where by pure chance, the paths of all the protagonists cross. I loved seeing the same event play out from different perspectives, each viewpoint having a narrow reaction, based only on the information the particular character would have had.

I have been to Milton Keynes many many times. Reading this made me realise that I had never really travelled anywhere in that (to my eyes) clean but soulless city, as I was never reminded of my experiences of that place. This version of the city is grimy and crooked, decrepit apartment blocks and dirty back alleys, of characters either corrupted or prey, and there isn't a lot of happy outcomes for many of these characters who appear. Of the three main plots going on, the homeless man story was almost a prologue, serving to introduce the character of a policeman whose journey would have him heading all over the city. The little girl's storyline is probably the most bleak, with her falling prey to a perverted security guard, and the one based around the gang was the most detailed, likely due to featuring the most characters. This gave the book a bit of a crime caper feel, I liked how it is shown to the reader the various subplots going on within the book. There are some very dark moments here, but this is balanced with the light in what became one of my favourite sections of the novella. There are lengthy paragraphs introduced later on that are first person perspectives of the story told from the viewpoint of a dog! Initially really confusing to read, I eventually settled into a decent pattern. These dog viewpoint sections really did create a fun feel for a simple character whose main drive is to be called a 'good dog'!

I loved this novella, especially with the story taking place so close to my doorstep. I enjoyed the more potentially supernatural elements here, and the wide variety of characters and events taking place. The stories occurred in an intelligent way that allowed things to ever move forward without becoming dull, though this isn't a feel good story at its heart, as it delves into the darker side of human greed, and just what lengths some people are prepared to go to, to achieve their desires. Millionaires Day is out now via French Press.

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Bleeding (2024) - Horror Film Review

Bleeding is a vampire film that does things a little differently, not so different that I couldn't find a film to compare it to. The tale of blood addiction of course reminded me of classic cult film The Addiction, though here the story is even more grounded, taking the action and drama to a backwater American town. Written and directed by Andrew Bell (Let Me Play) in his feature length directorial debut, this serious drama provided a stark portrayal of misery, addiction, and loss.

This takes place in a world where a highly addictive and dangerous drug known as 'blood' is doing the rounds. The drug is harvested from the blood of people infected with a disease that causes them an unnatural thirst for non-infected blood. The danger being, taking too much can pass on the infection, and with death being the only solution the authorities have came up to prevent the out of control infected from quenching their thirst for blood, this isn't a great thing. A year previously, teen Eric's (John R. Howley) older brother caught the infection and had to be put down. This caused his mother to fall into an intense depression, with Eric himself turning to drugs to deal with the pain of the loss. When Eric discovers his cousin and best friend; Sean (Jasper Jones) had his hands on some blood, with the intention to sell it, Eric is shocked. After the drug is destroyed by Sean's cop father upon discovering it, Sean reveals that this is a terrible thing, as now he owes small town psychotic drug dealer - Dustin (Bell) a lot of money, having been given the drug to sell off of him. Breaking into a rich person's summer home in order to find stuff to sell to help pay off the debt, the pair instead encounter missing girl Sara (Tori Wong), who herself has become infected by the blood disease, and who is seeking a way to escape the country and make it to Canada where it is hoped a cure can be discovered.

Vampires, this film deals with those blood sucking creatures of the night, but in a grounded way. The vampires here are those addicted to blood. Rather than grow fangs and seduce people, these blood junkies turn animalistic and out of control when needing to feed, as well as having a strong aversion to daylight, whose affect causes them to violently spasm. With a title screen of text explaining about the film's world, this begins its sombre and serious story. Much of the film centres on Eric and Sean, neither whom make for that likeable a pair. Both are swiftly shown to be addicts, though both are also given a somewhat sympathetic reason for why they are like they are. For Eric, it is the death of his brother and his broken mother. For Sean, it is his alcoholic father, with it implied the man may have turned to drink as a way to cope with having to murder the infected. The two protagonists had a good rapport with each other, though they spend much of the hundred and seven minute runtime bickering and pushing each other. Underneath all that, you can tell the bond they have. The film was light on characters, the remote woodland based town explains this, and with the story so focussed on characterisation rather than grand sweeping events, this worked out well. I really liked Dunn's Hank, the quiet way he spoke made me strangely like this antagonist. I also felt that Wong was great in her small role, especially the facial expressions she pulls when she is needing her fix of human blood.

Much of the film is dark and dingy, the characters morose and serious. Drug addiction is never presented as something 'cool', with characters under the influence near useless and odd behaving. There isn't much need for special effects, but these look decent on screen, lots of blood being spilt. Vampires here aren't really the focus, it is more centred on a world struggling under the community wide effects of substance abuse. Human antagonist dealers like Dustin are the real monsters here, seeing infected just as commodities to harvest from. There are scenes of action and gore, one early highlight being a found footage style scene of Sean's father's bodycam footage of dealing with an infected, shown from a first person perspective. The soundtrack was stripped down and often morose, the one inclusion of a heavy rock track worked in context of the scene where it was introduced, but was an off putting contrast to the depressive and bleak outlook of the movie when it began playing again over the subdued end credits.

There is nothing feel good to be found in Bleeding. It also wasn't a film that I was at any point bored with. This is one of those types of movies that fall into the peaceful types. Character are often quiet and talking with each other, meaning for someone like me who had taken a powerful sleeping pill the night before (for insomnia), and was still suffering the effects, I often struggled not to fall asleep, though this wasn't due to boredom on my part! The idea here has been done before, but the misery of the film world kept me glued, fully expecting a bleak outcome for all the unhappy characters involved. Bleeding came to SCREAMBOX exclusively on June 10th.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 12th July

It is nearly summer once again, not much has really changed here at The Rotting Zombie HQ. Recently got my hands on a Nintendo Switch 2, though I can't imagine there will be much horror adjacent stuff on it. Onwards to the news.

The Apex Predators Club is to be the last film from The Mahal Empire, due to the sad and unexpected passing of indie producer Michael Mahal. This high-concept horror-thriller had an Indiegogo campaign launched on June 6th, this was to raise the remaining funds to make the film as good as it possibly can be. Originally filming was due to start in July, but this has been rescheduled for September. I have seen many films from The Mahal Empire over the years, it was unhappy news hearing about Michael, hopefully the company will go out on a bang.

Reese Lightfoot's short horror film The Demon in the Motherboard has won Best Short Film at the Astoria Film Festival. The short follows Morrigan; a coder and cybersecurity expert by day, and who searches the dark web by night for evidence of a legendary relic that is said to either by a powerful A.I, or a mind-rewriting virus.

Finally for today, Yellow Brick Road has been added to the streaming service MoviVue. After an entire town's population walk up a mountain trail and disappear, a group of explorers decide to take the same route. It is there they discover an ancient evil within the New England woods. To find this and other horrors, head to the site and have a look.

The Protector (2025) - Post-Apocalyptic Film Review

It's been a while since I last viewed a post-apocalyptic film for review, so I was on board to give the Raul Gasteazoro written, directed, and co-produced thriller The Protector a fair chance. This may be cribbing from the homework of the Mad Max series of films, but offers a more hopeful spin on the end of civilised society.

This takes place in 2042, a time where a variety of factors have led to the fall of mankind. An incurable disease known as 'the rot' has killed much of the population, which has coincided with virtually everyone left being infertile. Added to the misery is a severe water shortage that is changing the world into a barren wasteland. Key (Marguerite Moreau - Queen of the Damned, The Mighty Ducks) is a prisoner of what is left of the corrupted government. Local government warlord Gael (Aryeh-Or - Charmed TV show, Siren TV show) knows that the last clean natural water source still remaining resides on a Native American reservation, but he is unable to get to it due to the land around the reservation being booby-trapped. With Key having been married to a Native American woman in the past, Gael frees her, on the condition that she show him a way past the many traps (due to her wife having revealed a way through to her before her death). Key's mission is made much more difficult when she discovers a young boy named Kellan (Mark Lane III) out in the wastelands and decides to become his protector. This immediately makes her a huge target due to the remaining government offering a substantial reward for the delivery of any child to their care for testing on.

The Mad Max vibe starts strong, initially in my head I was thinking of Key as 'Mad Maxine', though as the movie goes along she is shown to have more compassion and hope than that other wastelander. Her backstory is revealed via a series of black and white flashbacks, tragic, but also a little silly as it all revolves around a post-apocalyptic sport named 'dust jousting' that is as stupid as it sounds. Still, what sort of post-apocalyptic film would it be without its version of a fall of society sport. The present day stuff is your typical dust filled wasteland vibe. People going around wearing surely vision restricting goggles and face coverings. The good people often finding themselves at the mercy of Gael's violent and brutish henchmen, who travel around in a motorbike convoy. The impression of a wasteland is carried out well, but at times it did feel like a set of sperate locations rather than a sprawling world. I found the more hopeful feel of the storyline at times a little soppy, such as on two separate occasions when bad guys decide to become good guys purely from receiving a little hope. Protagonists were mostly decent, and while I did think Gael made for an intimidating antagonist figure, he got far too little screen time to really make too much of an impression.

Some of the special effects left a little to be desired. Chief of these was an early van explosion that had fire that really didn't look the most realistic. On the flipside, there are plenty of beautifully choreographed fight sequences that show Key almost effortlessly being able to take out scores of bad guys in close quarters combat as if she was some sort of apocalyptic Batman. These fight scenes packed a punch thanks to some crunchy sound effects, and never failed to look great. The best of these had Key and the people she was fighting all shown on screen as black silhouettes, lovely to watch! 

The Protector was a decent post-apocalyptic movie, though its story of hope didn't feel all that novel within the genre. It mostly worked well to the limitations of its budget, able to tell this slightly generic story in a well realised way. It might not be the most original film, but I had fun watching this regardless. The Protector came to theatres and On Demand on May 23rd, distributed by Vertical Entertainment in partnership with JD Beaufils of Blacktop International.

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Halloween Girl - Book Three: Gods & Monsters (2025) - Horror Graphic Novel Review

Richard T. Wilson's Halloween Girl series was a comic that I initially had low expectations for, but was something that quickly grew on me the more I read it. Halloween Girl - Book One: Promises to Keep brought together the first seven issues and was a great introduction. Halloween Girl - Book Two: Dead Reckoning was another great entry, especially when it came to the artwork. Due to the second book serving as a prequel though, Halloween Girl - Book Three: Gods & Monsters is a sequel to the story told in book one, and was another darn good read. Unavoidable spoilers for the other book to follow.

Halloween Girl is a series about a ghost called Charlotte and her supernaturally powerful friend Poe. With The Hollow no longer operating (a demonic group who were able to infiltrate the dreams of their victims), things have settled down a bit. Unknown to the pair though, some of The Hollow have found a new leader, bizarrely in the form of a young child named Kevin. Inhabiting the forms of toy figurines in the boy's playset, these beings not only worship Kevin, but are very prepared to go to lethal lengths to make sure his life is a good one. Realising that the boy is not to blame for this, Charlotte and Poe seek a way to convince him that these creatures are not good people, part of this help being to find a way to stop Kevin's abusive father from hurting him anymore.

Spread over four lengthy chapters, this tells a great story, better than I had expected. Despite being a bit murky on the details of book one, I pieced together what had happened there, something that continues to have an effect on Poe. The highlight of the whole graphic novel was again the art of Shahed R. The black and white illustrations are so wonderfully drawn and full of life, very expressive faces on characters which never look over the top, and some amazing shading going on.

I loved the story, and genuinely found the idea of toy figurines possessed by demons to be fantastic. I loved that these toys worshipped Kevin, and there are some strong moments of horror. This story again has a lot of heart to it, being sentimental without being overly so. It deals with death and grief in a mature way, making sure to always have a balance between the darkness and the light.

A great story coupled with great art and shading left me more than happy at what I had read here. It might not satisfy those wanting something more darker and mean spirited, but I always think there is something really uplifting about the stories told in Halloween Girl. Halloween Girl - Book Three: Gods & Monsters released June 3rd from Mad Shelley Comics.

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