Zombie Maelstrom (2014) by Bryan Cassiday - Horror Book Review

Bryan Cassiday's Zombie Apocalypse: The Chad Halverson Series is one of the most action packed zombie sagas I have read to date. I've so far approached the series in a strange order. Starting with book 7 - Cutthroat Express, before heading to book 6; Horde, and then late last year reading the latest novel, book 8 - Purge. Following on from that latest review, the author asked if I wanted to see where it all began, and sent me the first book, 2014's Zombie Maelstrom. After a two day speed run (for me anyway who is typically a very slow reader!), I have finished this first book, and it did not disappoint.

The world is in a bit of a state, there have been multiple reports of a strange new virus coming out of China which is able to reanimate the dead and has started to spread around the world. A lot of those details have been kept secret, though as a CIA agent, Chad Halverson has been briefed on those. The deadly virus has yet to reach the U.S.A and it is hoped that will long continue. After his brother, Dan, is involved in a serious car accident, Chad is enroute to L.A via plane to visit him. As the plane nears the L.A airport, the crew and passengers alike notice a strange yellow smog covering the whole area. The pilot informs the 200 passengers that he has been unable to raise the tower, and that he is going to have to perform an emergency landing without their help. Landing mostly intact, everyone evacuates the plane only to be surprised there is no help awaiting them on the runway, in fact, the entire area appears deserted, as much as can be made out in the thick smog. Taking charge, the captain, Roger, leads the group to the terminal, noticing that something bad seems to be going on in the air traffic control tower. Fearing a terrorist attack is responsible for the airport being deserted, Roger leads a group of armed volunteers to the tower. It is here the terrible discovery is made; the virus has reached America, and the airport, and at least L.A has become infested with the walking dead.

Cassiday's series is always insane with crazy event after crazy event forever tying to one-up themselves. It isn't much of a surprise then to see the novel pretty much open with the plane's emergency landing. It was cool to see that even from the very first pages, this series was firing on all cylinders. From the first page to the last, the action virtually never lets up. For me, it was neat to see Halverson (however briefly) operating in a world before the apocalypse had began. The smog obscuring everything made a great introduction to readers and characters alike to the dead new world. It is actually 40 pages before the first zombie is seen on page, and from this point their inclusion is relentless, barely a page going by without more of the rotting rotters trying to feast on the hapless protagonists flesh.

The story here is simple, with the events of the nearly 300 page novel taking place over just a day or two, as it charts the destruction of the 200 strong cast until it is just a handful of survivors. The novel is roughly split into three sections, the initial discovery at the airport, a doomed siege at a nearby restaurant, and then the road trip to try and escape the overrun city.
The undead are an insatiable constant threat, driven wild with blood-lust, traditional George Romero type ghouls who are slow moving and can only be stopped by destroying the brain. Chad is as awesome a protagonist as ever, even at this early stage he took to zombie killing like a fish to water, and a good portrayal of his internal struggles as he is made to deal with hard situations, such as not knowing for sure if someone bitten will definitely become a ghoul.
Roger, Tom, Rosie, and Mildred among others never had too much to them, Roger's gradual crumbling under pressure of being in charge was shown well, and detestable bank manager Lemens was fun to hate.
The plot is carried along by 51 short and snappy chapters, often ending on a mini cliffhanger designed to keep you reading on. Many of these chapters ended in the same way, often with the arrival of more zombies, or the sound of panic from off-page. The third act ramps up the action for a chaotic finale, even if it did seem a bit odd how quickly a self made militia rose up and claimed L.A for themselves!

It may just be constant undead battling from beginning to end, but I often struggled to be able to put Zombie Maelstrom down. I was hooked following Chad and the other survivors journey, and seeing what crazy event would happen next. A blistering start to Bryan Cassiday's Chad Halverson series - blood soaked popcorn for the brain.

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Garten of Banban VI (2023) - Horror Video Game Review

Surprise surprise, it is yet another review of one of the games in the prolific mascot horror video game series; Garten of Banban. If you have been following these, you may be wondering where my review for Garten of Banban V is, seeing as the last review I put up was for Garten of Banban IV. This has caused me no end of confusion. Initially I believed that for some bizarre reason the fifth game just hadn't been added to the Playstation store, but it turns out that as of now, that fifth game still hasn't been released, despite there being eight games released. What I do know about that missing game, is that it was for some reason planned to be missing, and that rumors suggest it was meant to be a prequel, taking place on the day that the event happened that caused all the staff and children of Banban's Kindergarten occurred. 
Anyway, onwards to my review of the fifth released game - Garten of Banban VI, and as always, spoilers for previous games are bound to follow.

Due to Bittergiggle's meddling, the 'naughty ones' that had been contained within Queen Bouncelia's pouch have been released once more. Arriving on the fifth floor down, Sheriff Toadster leads you to the locked room where the Queen's allegedly magical scepter is kept, with it assumed that the scepter has the power to return the mischievous monsters back to the pouch. He asks you to work your way around the floor, pressing the three switches that will open the door to the scepter room, and making sure to avoid the dark, for that is where the naughty ones like to reside.

This was another great entry in the series, and the final game to be released in 2023. To have five games released in the space of a year was really impressive. The games have come on leaps and bounds from the very rough and basic first game. This, like the game before, took me roughly two hours to complete. All of that time I was having a blast. It is more of the same to be fair, there are chase sequences, scripted story moments, an obligatory dream sequence, and plenty of vaguely challenging puzzles to solve. If any of those elements were not fun then it might be an issue; it might seem repetitive. That isn't the case though, some of the puzzles here were the most complex yet, even if they are still simple to do. There wasn't really much new in terms of the puzzles. You had one kind of similar in style to the operation puzzle from Garten of Banban III, there was a boss encounter that required mild puzzling to solve (thankfully far less frustrating than the last game's boss fight!), and there was a platforming section, which to its credit did ask for something more than just jumping around a bottomless chasm.

The lore is where it is really at for me. The biggest thing this has over Poppy Playtime is how much personality these mascot monsters have. I love that each floor of the mammoth facility leads to the introduction of new monsters, while never forgetting about ones that have came before. I love all the interactions between these monsters, and their interactions with you, each new game it feels like less and less of the creatures have it in for you, even when you forge new alliances and end old ones. Finding key cards and notes is still the order of the day, but this was the most open level yet, with chasms in short supply, and your upgraded magical drone (sure is clumsy how it operates still), now able to shine lights into dark places. Darkness is a key part of this game, and becomes a puzzle itself. The locations are as ridiculously huge and unbelievable as ever, but thinking of these places as liminal spaces has made them a lot more interesting to me. 

I'm completely engaged in the story by this point, I can't wait to play the next game in the series, though feel a twinge of sadness knowing that there are only three of these micro-games to play and I will be caught up...completely. Really enjoyed Garten of Banban VI, who have I become?

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Anacoreta (2022) - Horror Film Review

Anacoreta is a found footage horror with an intriguing meta twist to it. It was directed and co-written by Jeremy Schuetze, the other writer being Matt Visser. The meta part is that these two people play fictional versions of themselves within the film, with them carrying out the same roles there. Watching this, the question becomes - what is fabricated as part of the film within a film that is being made, and what is actually 'real' within the film world?

Jeremy (Schuetze), his actress girlfriend Antonia (Antonia Thomas - The Good Doctor), and lifelong friends, Matt (Visser) and Jesse (Jesse Stanley - Van Helsing) have gone to spend the weekend at the remote cabin that had belonged to Jeremy's grandpa. With the cabin due to be sold due to the recent death of the grandpa, Jeremy both wants to visit the place one last time, but also has plans to make an experimental found footage horror film while there. To do this, he has hired a camera man who has been instructed to film the group. As time goes on, Jeremy's increasingly heavy handed directorial style, and his insertion of fabricated scary events that the rest of the group hadn't been made aware of, soon leads to the group of friends starting to fracture.

I appreciate what films such as Anacoreta are trying to achieve, and here, trying to forever keep the viewer guessing as to what is fact and what is fiction, that part of the experience was effective. One issue with these types of films is that rather than the viewer wonder what is actually going on, they might just come to assume that nothing shown is to be taken as real, and so any moments of horror come heavily diluted. Straight away, I was wondering if the found footage being presented was the actual film the in-world characters had been planning to make, rather than it seeming like this was the unedited footage prior to that film being created (if that makes any sense). There wasn't any type of title text saying how the footage was discovered, perfectly fine, there doesn't always need to be, More glaring was the addition of a soundtrack, especially popping up during key scenes. It is hard to take the found footage seriously when there is music playing during the more dramatic moments. In a meta way this is likely all purposeful, if what the viewer is being shown is actually the finished product that the in-film characters were trying to make, then it works as it is certainly an experimental horror. To be honest, I might be set in my ways, but I would have been more happy with the story the characters came up with actually being the story. Their idea is to travel to a remote mausoleum with creepy grave stones styled as chairs, and there was a fun legend explaining what would happen if they did that, which would have been fun to see.
The horror moments when they come are often swiftly revealed to be red herrings. These include a mysterious truck following the group wherever they drive, a butchered cat, and one of the group getting strange visions. I did like how the viewer is never made aware of some of the twists within the film-making, At one point the group are meant to be deep on a hiking trail, the camera panning across at one point to reveal to the viewers for the first time that the group were actually right next to their cabin and the whole 'hike' was a fabricated part of the movie they were making.

The cast were pretty decent, I especially thought the character of Jeremy was good, mainly due to how detestable he became as the film went on. His manipulative nature means viewers and characters alike become to doubt anything he says or does, and Antonio is decent, with the gradual breakdown in trust for her boyfriend who she had thought she knew and loved.
The editing throughout this was good, occasional split second moments that hinted at horror not acknowledged, such as an early scene where a character jumps into a lake and red blood appears to spill out from her. I also liked a part near the film's conclusion where brief scenes from earlier in the movie appear, but digitally corrupted. The film was clever at creating moments where it seems like errors had been accidentally left in, such as a boom stick appearing in shots, and scenes being repeated several takes in a row.

Anacoreta was certainly an interesting idea. The central idea of not knowing what is real or not did take a huge amount of any potential horror out of this, but it was achieved well enough. Not at all a scary found footage, but well crafted and can be appreciated despite not being much of a horror. Anacoreta came to streaming and Digital HD services on February 24th, including Apple TV, Prime Video, and Fandango at Home.

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Demon Squad: Tooth and Claw (2026) - Horror Film Review

Directed and co-written by Thomas Smith (Backwoods), Demon Squad: Tooth and Claw is the crowd funded sequel to Demon Squad (2019); an indie horror-noir (love that moniker) that got a cult following after being featured on season 13 of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I can't say that I've even heard of that first film, but found with this one a charming and light hearted paranormal detective film that featured an endearing and charming protagonist.

Nick Moon (Khristian Fulmer - Demon Squad, Night of the Krampus) is a paranormal investigator who is called upon by the authorities to solve cases of an unnatural nature in the Southern city he lives in. Blessed with natural magical powers, and with an empath assistant - Daisy (Erin Lilley - Demon Squad, The Night Shift), the duo solve mysteries and defeat creatures who wish humans harm. The latest case sees Moon investigating a series of strange deaths, with the victims seeming to have been torn apart as if by a wild beast. This comes at a time when he learns that his magical powers are at risk of killing him should he continue to use them, while his gadget filled gauntlet he wears has become unreliable. Due to this, Moon must rely on his wits and charm alone to find and stop whoever or whatever is responsible.

This is an indie film that carries with it a lot of ambition. This felt grander in scope and in quality than you might expect of a crowd funded adventure horror. A high energy soundtrack and impressive production values make this seem like a indie version of a big budget epic such as Indiana Jones, albeit with much reduced spectacle to be seen. There are scenes of action, and these scenes are entertaining to watch, but mostly the film is about characters talking to other characters. Nowadays it is unfortunately rare to have a protagonist who is fun to follow around, thankfully, Nick Moon was the highlight of this movie. He fits the lovable rogue archetype, smooth talking, self confident and capable, though often coming across as a bit of an idiot, despite being obviously very respected in his field of work. The best part about him was his somewhat heart of gold, he isn't heavy handed, or too serious, and often seems to choose violence as a last resort. He had an iconic look with red leather jacket, Hawaiian shirt and trilby hat, making him the centre of attention in any scene he is in. I liked the rapport Daisy had with her mentor, while Moon's old partner; Hank (Rob Eubanks - The Passenger) was another likable character, again someone who it felt shared a history with the character.

Scenes of action when they come are short lived but entertaining. It had a slight Buffy the Vampire Slayer feel with the look of some of the monsters, but with older characters, and characters who seemed more experienced and world worn. Action scenes were supplemented with CG effects for the magic which worked perfectly fine, and monsters were a mix of prosthetics, monster suits, and puppetry, all of which fitted the vibe of the film world.
The plot was relatively simple, I liked the detective angle to it, such as looking at crime scenes. The mix of the supernatural and detective genres was well done. I enjoyed the slowish pace and the relative lack of much peril, it made for a film that had a chilled out vibe to it, even with some moments of darkness. I did feel that the film's finale had some small pacing issues, but other than that I thought it was all decent.

Demon Squad: Tooth and Claw was a pleasant movie that had a good feel for its film universe. With all the horrid stuff going on in the world at the moment, I found this film to be the perfect tonic, a neat piece of escapism. It isn't too hard to see the limitations of the budget at times, but the production on this was impressive, and the likable characters carried this through.

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Garten of Banban IV (2023) - Horror Video Game Review

I think something has broken within me. I initially picked up Garten of Banban as a stop gap mascot horror game to play while I was waiting for later entries of Poppy Playtime to go on sale (being jobless at the moment, my limited budget doesn't stretch to buying full price games, even as relatively cheap as these all are). Since then Poppy Playtime: Chapter 4 has gone on sale and I have brought it. I also picked up a bunch of the Garten of Banban games at the same time, and despite the low quality...I am completely hooked on them! A part of me knows that this is a subpar series, but I just cannot stop playing the damn things! With a choice of the fourth Poppy Playtime or Garten of Banban IV, I somehow chose the later. As always, unavoidable spoilers to follow.

Having escaped finally from Stinger Flynn at the end of Garten of Banban III, you have descended down to the mysterious fourth floor of the seemingly infinite basement complex hidden under Banban's Kindergarten, with a chick creature in tow. It isn't long before you have once again been captured, this time by new creature - Sheriff Toadster. In a weird twist, Sheriff Toadster is a subject of a kangaroo themed creature called Queen Bouncelia, and both of these creatures are shockingly actually non-hostile to you. Sympathetic to your search for your missing child (children?), Queen Bouncelia instructs Sheriff Toadster to help you retrieve three parts of a damaged elevator from around her kingdom, which when repaired will take you back up to one of the higher levels where you can continue your search.

I played through this game in one single sitting, and I have to say it was by far the most polished and fun to play one yet. Your objective is clear from the start, and with this level split into four distinct sections, it is clear also where you need to go. There is a load of lore, notes mainly talk about Sheriff Toadster and Queen Bouncelia, later on you get audio diaries that talk about the rogues gallery of creatures you have previously encountered (who of course once again appear here). With each subsequent game, this distances itself more and more from Poppy Playtime. I loved that not all the creatures are hostile to you, and I liked how self contained this game felt. It both gives further beats to the main story, while also having its own little plot going on of a rebel jester creature that is on the level causing mischief.

There is the usual assortment of fun and easy puzzles, from spot the difference, to again more switch pressing with your magical teleporting drone. There were also a couple of chase sequences (one that starts immediately at game's beginning), and another kind of boss fight against a new giant creature occurs. That boss fight was a low point of IV though, involving you tricking it into running into giant switches, it took me many many goes before I finally worked out how to do that. According to my Playstation 5, this was the longest game yet, with me taking about two hours to finish it. Each subsequent game costs more than the previous one, but this was still well under £10. This is a brief experience, but it was also a fun one. There is something about the basic creature designs that just become more and more appealing with time.

It is crazy to me that four Garten of Banban games were released in the space of a year (actually five in the end). There has been a thankful gradual improvement with each game, this one being the most fun I've had yet. It wouldn't make much sense to pick up Garten of Banban IV if you haven't played the previous games, but from the growing quality (there are some actual attractive looking locations here, and the increase in background music is much appreciated), this one was by far the best one yet. Just don't expect anything remotely scary, the jump scares are once again ineffectual, and the content very horror slight.
With eight games in the series released, you would assume that the next game will be Garten of Banban V. That is not the case though. Tune in to the next review to find out more.

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Yes, I am a Vampire (2024) - by Stephen Kozeniewski - Horror Short Story Collection

In anticipation of getting a lot of reading done on a (so far) relaxing holiday to visit family in Australia I was sorting out my back log of shame. I have some books dating back to around 2014, including one from Stephen Kozeniewski (The Thing Under Your Bed) which to my embarrassment I noticed wasn't in a format that I'm able to use on my Kindle. It's a shame, as my favourite story in this short story collection (previously I would have called this an anthology but the author spells out the difference of that and collections here) is based in that book's world (that book being Braineater Jones) and it sounds like a grand world indeed. Anyway, Yes, I am a Vampire isn't quite as old as that book, receiving the eBook at the end of 2024. I guess that makes this quite a speedy turnaround!

Yes, I am a Vampire is a horror collection with a difference. From the title alone I imagined this to be an anthology collection of short vampire stories (doing my usual thing of barely skimming the synopsis of anything I am sent so as not to be spoiled on the contents). Not only is it the collected short works of Kozeniewski from 2013-2016, it is also half an autobiography. Each of the 12 short stories is followed by a lengthy afterword which not only talks about the inspiration for the story, but also goes into details of what was going on in the author's life at the time some of these were quite frank. For this review, I will follow a similar format, giving some unwanted and self indulgent background on where I was and what I was doing as I read these stories.

It all begins with microfiction piece 'Clockwork Offal', a one page story that at first went over my head, but each subsequent read it dawned on me more and more the horror being suggested. The afterword is where it became apparant that Kozeniewski really was dedicating half of this book on writing about his own trials and tribulations with getting his work published. He mentioned Braineater Jones here, and that sparked a memory that I thought I had a copy of this sitting in an email somewhere waiting to be read (as stated, I kind of did, but I hadn't bothered to check if it worked at the time). 

'The Thing Under The Bed' is next. I had previously reviewed the novella The Thing Under Your Bed, and almost skipped this one thinking it was just a repeat. Glad I did read this as it was a completely different and much shorter version of that neat story. Some of the awkwardly placed England references (this being set in London) are explained in the afterword, and it was there where Brian Keene's The Rising and City of the Dead is mentioned. I have fond memories of those two books, being some of the first zombie novels I ever read (the talking zombie lion at the zoo is forever burned into the undead appreciation part of my brain).

As may be apparent from this blog's name, zombies are by far my most favourite type of horror monster, so it was pleasing to see so many of the short stories here to feature the undead. The first of these was the crassly titled 'Exploding Sh*t Zombies' that as its title suggests, is one of the more grim zombie apocalypses. Many of the short stories in this collection are taken from the author's novels, this being one of those. I thought this story had a fun bait and switch at the start and was quite humourous. I was (very) indirectly mentioned in the notes for this one when Kozeniewski mentions sending his novel Braineater Jones off to a horde of various bloggers and reviewers back when it was first written.
This was the start of a bunch of undead tales, 'The New Dark Ages' was a bleak and grim one, starting off as a fantasy, before being revealed to actually be a Dungeons & Dragons game that a group of friends hiding out from an undead uprising were playing, before the rug pull of something far more twisted. The author in the notes mentions the cover for the anthology this one was originally published in was quite ugly. Having Googled the cover image; yup, it sure was a hideous cover!
'The Man With Four Scars' was a great story, a zombie story but one that takes place during caveman times. I have never read anything similar before, and having the story told from the perspective of a prehistoric human with his own way of talking and describing things was fascinating. I read this one in two parts, having crashed after drinking two strong cups of coffee in a row. The most exciting part of this somewhat haunting story picked up immediately from where I had paused reading, so I demolished this story upon getting back to it.

That brings me up to almost present day (at time of typing). The rest of the collection I read in the span of a day while out on holiday in Australia (where I will be until the end of March). I tried to read 'The Key to the Stars' back in the U.K while my best friend was staying at my house. I couldn't recall a word when I returned to it, so began again. I thought this was a charming story, and one of the most light hearted ones. A sci-fi story about a girl who encounters a holographic projection of an alien in the 1950's. It mixes this story with a real account of an alien encounter to wonderful effect. For me 'The Old Man and the Seesaw' was the highlight of this short story collection. Set in the Braineater Jones world, it is another that shows imagination, the titular 'old man' referring to a zombie fetus whose fortunate early immersion in an alcoholic based preserving formula led to it being one of the oldest surviving zombies in that alternate world where sentient undead have emerged who require alcohol to keep their faculties. The notes for this one particularly resonated to me, the authors hopes to one day be able to write full time and not need to have a bill paying day job echoing my desire to one day somehow be able to do the same, but with my blog.
The last zombie story follows with 'Cadaver Bite', showing an unusual form of execution used during a zombie outbreak. I was sat nearby a radio and got engrossed enough in this one that the words being spoken on the radio faded away to nothing for me.
This review is perhaps getting a bit self indulgent and lengthy so will zoom through the last four stories. 'The Quiet Life' is very similar to A Quiet Place, but as the notes afterwards say, this was actually written a few years before that film came out. The final three stories are all single page microfiction stories set around Christmas; 'Traditions', 'A Visit From...' and 'Brightly Shining' were all excellent and twisted in their own ways, a lovely finish to this collection.

I have always had a love of anthologies (well, in this case, collections), so with Yes, I am a Vampire I found yet another one that I enjoyed. Truthfully, there wasn't a short story I didn't like, but there were some that were in my mind much better written than others. I was of course also pleased that so many of these featured zombies, that is never going to be anything other than a positive thing in my mind. The autobiographical part was also very interesting. It challenged my baseless assumptions that all published authors are effortlessly able to get their stories out. 

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The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for February 2026

I'm writing this monthly post with a self inflicted time frame. In a couple of days I am heading over to the land of the Road Train; Australia for an entire month. I am planning to get a lot of blog done while over there, on the assumption I can get decent internet at my relative's home. If there are no blog posts next month then that is why! Well that, or I have become a head on a stick. Hopefully there will be lots of posts though. To prepare, I have added my large reading list of shame to my Kindle, and am trying to burn through a few video games that I'm near the end of, while resisting the urge to start any new ones. Onwards to the news.

Indie horror, Bone Hill has been released on Digital platforms worldwide, including Amazon Prime Video. This supernatural thriller is set in the back county of Michigan and revolves around the awakening of an ancient Native American curse from a haunted burial ground. The filmmakers collaborated with the local Indigenous community for this to ensure the history, language and lore in the film remained respectful - kudos to that. The cast include Jeremy Koch, Abby R. Mooring, James Whitecloud, and Roger Callard.

Last mentioned by me back in December, zombie outbreak/serial killer horror, Air Shift now has a director's cut available on Amazon Prime. This new cut of the story of a small-town DJ held captive by a deranged killer is said to tell the definitive version of the story, from director Chris Maes, who is a former DJ himself.

Carissa Pierson has been announced as the director of Witchcraft: The Lanterne of Light, which is the next entry in the long running horror series. This film is going to be a found footage occult horror film that the press release states will draw from early North Carolina folklore and religious paranoia. Coming from Deathstalker Productions, this has Andrew Pierson returning as William Spanner, and will feature Kristina Lafser's first portrayal of legacy character Keli Jordan.

The cover star for this month's round-up is Sanguine Teeth on a Driftless Road, a cover star due to the very low budget looking poster (not a slight, love it). This is an R-rated indie comedy horror about four vampires on a road trip to a cabin in the woods. This horror stars Jason Horton, Charlie Mac, Jason Rouse, and DJ Fusion, and is available to watch now on FAWESOME TV here. Sanguine Teeth on a Driftless Road has won 6 awards across three film festivals, including 'Best Comedy', 'Best Director', 'Spirit Award', and 'Best International Feature'.

Despite over 90 emails sitting in my news inbox, that is it for this month as I really need to think about packing for my trip, and getting the Rotting Zombie HQ in order before I leave. Fingers crossed that March will be a bumper month for me, and not a barren wasteland on here!

Are You There? (2024) - Horror Film Review

Are You There? is a supernatural horror film that was directed by Kim Noonan, which felt like a relic from a decade or so back. It has some unexpected twists along its initially slow paced story, and I think I liked the actor who played the protagonist, but there wasn't much real substance here.

Rosa (Laura Sollet - Apocalypse Rising: A Zombie Saga) is a paranormal psychologist student who believes that experiences of the paranormal comes from the mind, rather than be an actual thing. With her housemate, Natalie (Eva Meyerson - Boneyard), she makes online videos where she explores different ways to contact the dead. After her beloved grandma dies (someone who had classed themselves as a white witch), she leaves Rosa a box of her belongings. Included in the box is a special candle and candle holder, with instructions that tell her niece how to use the candle to contact her from beyond the grave. Rosa is very surprised when she tries it and it actually works, the candle flame blowing left or right in answer to her yes or no questions. At first, Rosa is overjoyed that she has finally gotten proof of the supernatural, but as more and more sinister things happen around her, she comes to believe she hasn't contacted her grandma through the candle, but an evil spirit who wishes her harm.

For the first 40 minutes of this roughly 90 minute horror I was pretty bored. There was not much of note happening at all, outside of the candle flame blowing left or right. I thought Rosa was fine as a protagonist, if a little dull, but the story itself was almost mind numbingly dull. Then a change happens, and the rest of the movie plays out as one long nightmare sequence of Rosa trapped in her house, experiencing all sorts of unnatural terror. These take the form of sequences where she has travelled through time or space to earlier places and people in her life, encounters that she in unable to tell if they are real or not, and all sorts of paranormal activity, such as things moving on their own, and a stubborn candle whose flame refuses to go out even if submerged in water! The transition from slow burn snore fest to wild madness was sudden, it almost felt like they were two different films clumsily taped together. The second half is a lot better, and action packed. The midpoint scene where Rosa encounters an intruder in her home was the highlight of Are You There?, a stark and brutal excursion into real life horror, before it settles back into mad paranoid craziness. The eventual reveal of what has actually been going on was unexpected, but also not original, I have seen the same plot device used in countless horrors over the years, specifically earlier this century when that idea seemed to be all the rage. It also makes the first 40 minutes not really make a lot of sense in hindsight, hence it feeling like two films in one.

The horror, when it eventually arrives isn't bad, aside from one terrible looking CG effect of a flame blowing up into a perpetual fireball, it was fine. You have the familiar nightmare things, such as rooms opening onto impossible locations, or a character abruptly being yanked to a different location. It all looks good, especially with the previously mentioned mid-film break into home invasion terror. 
The story looks into sensitive topics, I had no problem with that. Everything revolving around the candle was a bit silly. I especially liked when Rosa looks on the internet for help with her situation and finds comically dark results. For a way to contact the dead that has such harsh consequences be so easy to do was humorous, I will admit, the crazed live streaming she does where she tries to warn her followers was excellently done, Sollet always did a fine job of appearing near insane with fear at some of the supernatural events she encounters, with the obligatory 'madness dancing in the eyes' look that never gets old.

Are You There? was an average horror that was let down by some strange editing techniques. I'm still not even sure if the wild prologue sequence was actually a part of the film or some sort of trailer before the screener I watched - wild disparate images that made little sense. Not the worst film out there, but there didn't seem like much originality with the story being told, and that first half was a real slog to get through. Are You There? releases second quarter this year via High Fliers Films.

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Garten of Banban III (2023) - Horror Video Game Review

Another week and another review of a Garten of Banban game. Picked up alongside Garten of Banban II and IV, I have (as of typing) just this moment completed the third game in the series; Garten of Banban III. As always, unavoidable spoilers to follow.

After taking yet another downward elevator, you end up on yet another testing floor. You learn pretty soon that this is the last floor that was still in use when the event happened (where the staff and children of a kindergarten mysteriously vanished). It is here that you encounter the goliath sized psychic jelly fish monster; Stinger Flynn, perhaps the creature that is responsible for the missing children and the outbreak of the creatures.

Like I said in my last review, this follows the Poppy Playtime formula by having each instalment be larger than the last. My final play time for this third chapter was about two hours, I'm sure that included the many times I died. This time around there are four main areas, each accessed via a horizontal lift that travels over a vast chasm. It follows the by now familiar format of searching out key cards to open further doors into the complex. Stinger Flynn was an interesting antagonist, I particularly liked the trippy dream sequences you fall into when he psychically connects with you. It was fun to see the non-sentient objects from the second game make a new appearance here. There are the usual drone based puzzles where you have to press switches, including one that takes place as a boss fight against a two headed turtle. The beach cannon puzzle from last time around returns, the only difference here is that you are playing as Stinger Flynn in a flashback sequence, of which there were two, neither of which was particularly exciting . The text on the wall is again written really badly from what appeared to be MS Paint, this led to some annoyances with later puzzles simply for not being able to make out what the primitive looking diagrams were meant to represent. Best puzzle came towards the end, an escape room one where you have to keep resetting the room's look, so that your attempts at escape are not noticed by a patrolling creature. Another memorable one had you performing an operation on a creature, while balancing spinning plates (so to speak) as you did so.

I enjoyed playing this chapter, but I wouldn't say it was as jump scare filled as last time. In fact, while there are jump scares, not a single one made me actually jump. The main antagonist is the mostly static jelly fish, but the teacher creature, Jumbo Josh, and Banban all make returning appearances, as do the birds. The obligatory chase sequence this time around involves you riding on the back of a bird, that was different, if a little messy with how it controlled. The lore comes more from what Stinger Flynn tells you than files found around the place, though they too feature. I actually managed to play a found videotape, but it wasn't very impressive at all.
The game leads up to a fun end, but again, not a very memorable actual exit to the game.

Garten of Banban III was more of the same, it was neither better or worse than the second game, perhaps, with the jump scares not landing, and a few noticeable glitches, this was slightly worse thinking about it. Still, I again finished my playtime wanting to see what was next. I'm sure it will be underwhelming in a design way, but the thought of getting to see an unused floor of the mammoth underground complex has me intrigued. 

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Bad Voodoo (2026) - Horror Film Review

I don't read reviews until after I have seen whatever they are reviewing; whether it be films, books, or video games. That preamble is just to say that the feature length directorial debut of Andrew Adler and Andre Hepburn; Bad Voodoo, is a dramatic horror that really works if you go in cold. With no idea of the story, this was a movie that had twist after glorious twist, with it never really clear where the plot was going to go. So if you want to get the most of this film, go in without knowing the synopsis, and then come back if you want to know why I enjoyed this so much.

Late one night, Abigail (Cristina Moody - November Lies) gets a knock on the door of her house, opening it she finds Officer Marcus (Scott Sederquist - Ghostbusters uncredited) there. He tells her that there has been a breakout from a nearby prison, and that four convicts have managed to escape and are suspected to be in the area, after their car was found abandoned nearby. Abigail doesn't appear too bothered, thinking that the likelihood of the convicts coming to her home were remote. This turns out to be a bit naïve of her, as not long after the officer leaves, she learns all too late that the convicts have already broken into her home. The four desperate men; wildcard Nonzo (Alex Pires - The Punisher), strong silent Nice (Justin Genna - Project Z: History of the Zombie Apocalypse), wounded Smooth (Justin Lombard), and the leader; foul mouthed Doc (Manny Perez - Luke Cage) quickly take the woman hostage. A series of unexpected events leads to the tables being turned, and soon the men find themselves at the mercy of a revenge fuelled voodoo practising woman, whose voodoo dolls work all too well...

I had to butcher the synopsis a little bit just to paste over some of the twists that while occurring early, are still worth keeping a bit secret. Having not read a synopsis myself beforehand, I went into this with only the film's title as a clue as to what this would be about. From the start, this appeared it would be a relatively low budget home invasion horror, and I expected it to follow the story beats of the protagonist somehow getting free and viciously murdering her captors one by one over the course of the 85 minute horror. Expectations are soon changed, the twists coming early and remaining consistent from beginning to end. I found Abigail to be an irritating lead, even with righteousness on her side, I found it hard to root for her. A lot of this come from her stubbornness to do what she wanted, rather than to stick to her agreement with the person she had made quite a serious deal with. I can't really keep that part quiet, the voodoo part of the title comes from the appearance of Houngans (Haitian born Jimmy C. Jules - The Purge: Election Year uncredited). This character is a voodoo priest and is everything you would expect him to be, from his sudden appearances out of nowhere, to his eccentric mannerisms and theatrical way of talking. Over the top, but also quietly creepy, he steals the scenes he appears in, without seeming like he doesn't fit into the film world. The convicts were a little bit more stereotypical, but I enjoyed the performances regardless, Doc was exactly as you would imagine a hardened criminal to be, and I liked how Nonzo related a story that gave a hint at was what to come to his fellow escapees. That related story might have been a bit convenient, but it set up the idea that in this film world, voodoo was a real thing. I like to err on the side of caution when it comes to things like voodoo in real life. Much like I don't believe in ghosts but wouldn't want to spend the night alone in a haunted house, I think voodoo has a more scientific explanation, but still wouldn't want to be anywhere near people who practised such things; just in case, you know?

What had appeared to be a low budget horror was actually more polished than I at first assumed. This is very much a horror drama, the entire film takes place in Abigail's home, and there isn't a lot of action in a sense. Mostly, it is characters standing around talking, arguing, or occasionally having little scuffles with each other. The horror here is effective due to how food the effects are. Voodoo dolls feature heavily, and they work as well as you would want them to. The special effects sell this very well, with details kept fully on screen at points. An early scene where a character has their fingers broken via the doll looked fantastic. Elsewhere, parts that aren't shown in as much detail work due to the imagination being called into play. A scene right near the end conjured in my mind that horrific ending shot in the 1932 film Freaks. The film barely features a soundtrack, it had some atmospheric sounds at times, but no real music at all. Sometimes I did miss  a film score, but mostly, I thought the drama of this horror worked much better by not being accompanied by music to try and impart to the viewers what they should be feeling. This is also presented in an old style screen format, not widescreen, this contains the horror to a claustrophobic feeling box in the centre.

Despite not liking the protagonist character, I thought Bad Voodoo was a great little horror. I loved the horror elements and how they didn't overshadow what is at its heart a film about dealing with and processing grief. I loved the drama of this as well, I always find it interesting when a film could work just as well on a stage than from behind a camera. Bad Voodoo released on VOD and DVD on February 10th.

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The Killgrin (2024) - Horror Film Review

The effects of the sleeping pill I took the night before last has nearly faded now. That is good as it means I can pay proper attention to the films I am watching for review, without being in a dozy trance. The Killgrin is a by the numbers supernatural horror that was directed by Joanna Tsanis (Mourn). Don't quote me on this, but I think this may be a feature length version of her short film, Smile. The central idea of this horror reminded me a lot of the similarly titled Smile, but not done as well thanks to an uninspiring antagonist force and some goofy effects.

Miranda (Konstantina Mantelos - Smile, and a co-writer of this film) is not having a good time of it. First, her ex-boyfriend was such a big stalker that she had to have a restraining order put out against him, but now, her current boyfriend has committed suicide by leaping out their apartment window. She begins to look for answers for her misery, joining a therapy group, as well as looking more outside the box, such as heading to a fortune teller. It is at the later that she is told that she might be afflicted with a 'killgrin'; a supernatural entity that feeds off of suffering. Miranda doesn't pay that much heed, but as those afflicted with sadness start to die in horrifically similar ways around her, she begins to suspect there might be some shocking truth in the fortune teller's words.

This supernatural movie fitted all too comfortably into the horror sub-genre it was a part of. I had a constant feeling of déjá vu watching this, which wouldn't have been so bad if parts of this had been done better. My biggest bugbear was the design of the evil, and how it affected those it tormented. The design of the monster wasn't the best, it kind of looked like a guy in a monster suit, and brought to mind the deadite from the well at the start of Army of Darkness. I liked that it was constantly dripping teeth off its malformed body, but it didn't look great, nor did the CG heavy effects of it turning into black smoke. It didn't help that it is barely seen until the third act, the first two thirds all the viewer is treated to is the black smoke, perhaps a blessing when the reveal doesn't land very well. There was also an issue with the method of death. It forces its victims mouth into an inverted grin, eventually causing the jaw to dislocate and rip open. This leads to moments where the protagonist is in the clutches of this evil and has the most ridiculous silly effects to simulate this happening to her. It didn't look great it has to be said.

That was actually a shame, as the rest of the movie, while predictable and familiar, was not bad. I thought Mantelos was great in the lead role, special mention goes to alcoholic side character - Brian (Adam Tsekhman - One in Two People). I admit to thinking he might have been more evil than his innocent character appeared, but he brought light and sunshine to each scene he was in, and I personally loved the set design for his apartment. The less said about the sub plot of the two detectives investigating the strange deaths the better, I liked them, but it didn't make the horror seem any less stupid. An early death was awkwardly moved past by just not being mentioned, despite the outlandish way the victim died. Apparently a character randomly dying in their flat by their jaw being ripped off was just a 'tragic event' with no further insight than that! There were not really any bad characters to be found, no complaints with the casting choices, it was the story decisions that were at fault.

The best thing I can really say about The Killgrin is that at least it wasn't quite as bad as The Bye Bye Man. Similar in format, but with a better cast, this one had potential, it was at least neat for looking at the topic of depression and how that (literally here) can bring a dark cloud over you, but it didn't stick the landing, with an antagonist that looked more stupid than scary. When your main draw is such an ineffective creation, the movie just isn't able to function as an effective horror. The Killgrin releases in the second quarter this year thanks to High Fliers Films.

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Stranger Things: Season 5 (2025) - Horror TV Show Review

I will start as always with my obligatory statement about having been made redundant from my bill paying job just in time for Christmas. That is relevant as it coincided with the release of the fifth and final season of amazing horror TV show - Stranger Things. Due to the turmoil in my actual life, it was only on Christmas that I got around to watching this final season (binged watched the first 7 episodes over two days with my family), and with the way the show is being released, at the time of typing, the final episode has yet to be released. I believe it is coming out on New Years Eve. As much as I enjoyed season 4, I would be lying if I said there were not large parts of it I did have issue with. It sometimes felt in a bid to stuff as many characters in it as possible, some of those characters were given pretty abysmal storylines. On the flip side; it did have Eddie - one of the show's best overall characters.
Part of my hesitation for watching this final season was whether the ball would be dropped, whether all the characters growth and stories would come together for a blissful whole. Not having seen the final episode (at the time of typing this section), I can't yet answer that. What I can say is; there will be unavoidable spoilers for previous seasons.

The fourth season ended on a heck of a cliff-hanger; with Vecna's (Jamie Campbell Bower - Twilight) plan successful, the hellish Up-Side down tore open gateways into the sleepy town of Hawkins. The fifth picks up roughly two years later, with a lot of the damage covered up by the military. Hawkins has become quarantined, with no one allowed out of the town, and only certain people allowed in. The cover-up is that the 'natural phenomenon' that flooded the area with ash, could have infected the inhabitants with a new type of a possibly contagious disease. In actuality, the military have used the quarantine as an excuse to send in lots and lots of soldiers. They sealed up the majority of the dimensional tears with vast steel plates, leaving one entrance left which they guard with heavy security. Going even further, the army have set up a compound inside the Upside-Down where experiments have been going on, the soldiers all answering to ruthless military scientist Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton - Terminator 2: Judgement Day).
The heroes of the show have spent the past two years searching the Up-Side Down for signs of Vecna, with Hopper (David Harbour) sneaking in whenever the army open up their guarded gateway, but they have began to get disillusioned with their lack of progress as there has been no sign of the monster. That is until their latest expedition, when it becomes clear Vecna has resurfaced from his hibernation. He is back, and with a new plan that involves kidnapping certain children who are all of an age that Will (Noah Schnapp) was when he was first taken.

It felt a little dialled back how everything is in Hawkins compared to the season 4 finale, but viewers are soon brought up to speed on what is happening, mostly via a radio broadcast that Robin (Maya Hawke) is doing in her new role as the town D.J. With the age of the child actors ever increasing, this time skip was needed, and it works. With the trouncing that Vecna had, it made sense he needed time to recuperate from his wounds. One of my complaints from season 4 was how the huge cast of characters only came together right in the final episode. This time around it gets things right, with the characters reuniting at several points during the season, as well as going off in their often humorous or exciting groups. The story obviously begins in 'Chapter One: The Crawl', then never lets up. Each episode follows on directly from the preceding one, so it feels like one uninterrupted highly action packed story going on, rather than skips in time. Before, some of the characters were dealt dirty, appearing in pathetic side stories that had little bearing on the main plot. Here, the characters are handled much more sensibly, every side story here is relevant to the overall plot, with no filler to be found.
Despite a large cast of characters, even more new ones are added here, with two in particular really standing out. Early on in 'Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Weaver', the titular Holly (Nell Fisher - Evil Dead Rise) is captured by Vecna's monsters and ends up in a fantastical dreamworld creation. She was a great new character, and she gets a substantial role as she explores the dreamworld, giving revelations to Vecna's origin that was last seen hinted at in the stage play - Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Another great new character was 'Dipsh*t' Derek (Jake Connelly), a big boned child bully who in the best Stranger Things fashion (see Steve - Joe Keery), was made very likeable, despite his many personality flaws. Returning characters are on the whole as enjoyable as they ever where, for better or for worse. Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) are still my least favourite of the core cast, but at least this time around they are more relevant to the story (and the later finally redeemed himself in my eyes in the final episode). I thought the dynamics between Steve and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) was perfect here, and has some of the biggest feels, with Dustin still deep in mourning after the death of his idol Eddie last season. It felt like all characters here were treated well. Ones who had only ever had secondary roles are thrust right into the forefront of the plot, while new ones were given enough screen time to shine and make an impression.

There is plenty of action here right from the start. The iconic Demogorgons feature heavily in many of the these scenes, and the army act as a second enemy for the heroes to face, sometimes leading to thrilling three way battles where the different groups all end up in combat with one another. The soldiers are mostly presented as an enemy force, but I did feel a bit bad for the grunts who often act as cannon-fodder for the advancement of the story, with monsters and heroes alike blasting them away without a care in the world, when to me, the grunts just seemed like normal people trying to do the jobs they had been assigned. The special effects are on the whole amazing, with only certain scenes with large scale action scenes looking occasionally a little bit CG heavy.
Up to the final episode, you get psychic powers, gun battles, car chases, deep revelations as to the nature of the Up-Side Down, and surprising new insights into known characters, Will in particular really comes into his own, even if his core side-plot is dealing with his homosexuality, that to my (poor) memory had already been dealt with last season. The new friendship between him and equally gay Robin, was one pair-up that I didn't see coming, but which works fantastically well. Each episode manages to end on a big cliff-hanger that always brought me right back to find out what happens next. But what about that final episode, did it stick the landing, or did it Game of Thrones it smack bang into a wall? At the time of typing I do not know, it is just under a week until that final episode airs. This review will be continued in 2026, where I will write the last few paragraphs, to follow...here.

Having now seen that final two hour episode, I can say that for me it did stick the landing. Literally my only complaint was how long the epilogue section was; did we really need a 40 minute epilogue? I thought Bower's performance was astoundingly good in this finale. The show maintained its amazing pacing, making for me one of my favourite seasons, and ending on a loving note. I don't get the hate for this season, enough hate that the myth of a secret ninth episode that wraps up the story more satisfactory soon came to be believed. A near perfect end to a wonderful show, Stranger Things is a modern classic.

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Chicken Dinner Restaurant (2023) - Comedy Film Review

After recently reviewing surreal horror comedy Bluetooth Speaker, the director of that; Dallas Ryan, asked me if I wanted to check out another film of his. That film was the 2023 indie comedy Chicken Dinner Restaurant. He pre-warned me that it wasn't a horror, but figuring it would have the same surreal comedy his horror films do, I decided to check it out. I feel surreal comedy is a distant cousin of horror, both share a somewhat unsettling quality.

Chloe (Chloe Brewer - Bluetooth Speaker, Live One), Dallas (Dallas Ryan - Bluetooth Speaker, Live One) and Ryan (Ryan Vania - Bluetooth Speaker, Live One) are three employees at CDR (chicken dinner restaurant obviously). One day, on their lunch break, Dallas informs them that he found an old treasure map at his home, and that if they follow the clues on the map that they will discover the legendary lost gold of Fester Hopperfoot.

This indie comedy was easily identifiable as being one of the director's films. He has a unique style that has his comedy being played straight, yet being very weird at the same time. This was co-written by the three stars, and was apparently based on their TV show The Chloe, Dallas, and Ryan Show. From the clear story at the start, this descends into something more akin to a sketch show, with the three leads playing a variety of characters, many of these characters looking identical aside from wearing different clothing. Most the time, the characters even share the exact same names as one another. The story about the search for the hidden gold is a minor one within the film. The other subplots make up the rest of the film and include such bizarre moments as a news reporter trying to uncover what has happened to L.A's Tupperware, and three candidates for the position of mayor, who are all endorsing the use of drugs as part of their campaign pledge. That last one had the most screen time, with the three characters constantly giving speeches to the camera. Nearly the entire film is shot outside, mostly in and around parking lots, and much of this has characters directly talking to the camera, rather than to each other, with it inferred they are being filmed by a camera crew. The same actors playing identical looking characters means that title cards for each new scene are given, to give some background on who the characters were. I actually thought those moments, along with the chill music, were some of the more pleasant moments to be found here.

These scenes, and dialogues are all interspersed with the popcorn munching 'movie watcher' (Steve Bilecz - Bluetooth Speaker, Live One), a character outside the movie proper who represents the viewer, and who points out the inconsistencies and flaws of the filmmaking. From complaining about the loud background interference that plagues the outdoor scenes, to pointing out that the locations used and characters that appear all look very similar to each other, he speaks for the viewer. Usually, I find the films of Ryan to outstay their welcome, I was surprised then to see that Chicken Dinner Restaurant runs for a nice and lean 68 minutes. Even at this length, it felt almost a bit overlong, not helped by a chaotic edited finale that was a mishmash of images edited together with discordant music playing for around six of the final eight minutes.

The comedy isn't given via jokes and visual humour, instead it is via the random dialogue characters speak. Like the other films, it sometimes felt like the lines were being made up on the spot, with frequent repetition, and over empathising different words. This is compounded by editing techniques that include lines of dialogue being repeated over and over again (in one instance for literal minutes!), and characters motions being repeated. Sometimes with the view zooming in with each subsequent repetition, sometimes with the film speed slowed down. These were all odd but entertaining, if occasionally a bit indulgent. Elsewhere, where dialogue is edited it becomes really noticeable, with dead silence replacing the near constant background hum of traffic and people going about their days, rather than words beeped out.

This was a weird indie comedy that had all the hallmarks that I have come to expect from the director. This is a film that recognises its budget constraints, and even uses these as a way to further its comedy. More an extended sketch show than a film proper, it might have started to feel a bit samey by the time the end credits rolled, but this was a chilled affair, and one that remains consistent throughout. Chicken Dinner Restaurant isn't going to appeal to everyone, but it really wasn't bad. Chicken Dinner Restaurant can be viewed on Tubi.

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