Crushed (2025) - Thriller Film Review

The Simon Rumley (The Living and the Dead) written and directed psychological thriller, Crushed sounded like it would be a better fit for this blog than it turned out to be. It had some dark moments for sure, but was more light on thrills than I had hoped, veering more into a drama of sorts.

Father Daniel (Steve Oram - The World's End) works and lives in Bangkok with his Thai wife and their ten year old daughter, Olivia. After her new kitten goes missing, Olivia becomes obsessed with finding it, with her search eventually leading her to the home of a South African man; Stanley (Christian Ferriera). She is convinced that is where her cat had ended up, as she recognises the location from an animal-snuff film that her best friend's teenage brother had made her watch, so she thinks her cat was captured to be killed in a similar video. It turns out that Stanley was indeed responsible for the animal torture videos, and discovering Olivia in his home, he sees dollar signs and decides to imprison her, in order to sell her to a paedophile contact he has - Mr. Jeffreys (Jonathan Samson - Daytime Nightmare). As the local police and Olivia's family desperately search for her, Stanley begins to struggle with his conscience at what his plans are for the girl.

This was a slow paced drama with some very dark moments, moments which were often alluded to, but kept off camera. There were just a handful of these, among them included a person having their fingernails pulled off, as one such example. For the most part, Crushed had an almost laid-back and chilled approach to its story. It took a good 30 minutes before the story really got going, and before hand there were several almost annoying false starts where it looked like Olivia would be kidnapped, but then wasn't. Father Daniel was quite a naïve character whose faith in God meant he never seemed too upset about the situation. With his daughter missing he still holds sermons at his church, and remains upbeat that it is all a test of his faith, not so much his wife who begins to feel the strain, nor his daughter, who was already questioning the existence of God before she was taken. I had wrongly assumed the priest would go on a path of bloody vengeance to rescue his daughter, this turned out not to be the case, instead the plot meanders along without too much really happening. The actress playing the child was ok, but didn't give a particularly amazing performance.

There were some bizarre editing choices here that at times felt a bit amateurish. Weirdly edited montage sequences made up of fast cuts, a city overview shot that played out in fast forward, and then the end credits that played out in complete silence and felt like music was missing. The setting of the film was interesting at least, set in Bangkok it looked suitably different to the norm, and the film also had a large cast of characters. This did feel more like a crime drama than a thriller, which isn't to deny the harrowing real life topics it covers. Not having children of my own, this part didn't resonate as much with me as it appears to have affected others. Crushed wasn't a boring film, but I couldn't help feeling there were better things I could be doing with my time.

This was a movie that suggested more than it showed. Of course, I didn't want to see everything alluded to play out on screen (certainly nothing to do with paedophilia), but there was at least one scene near the end that would have been fun to see. The relatively low peril and lack of too many decent characters meant this didn't really leave me feeling anything. Not terrible by any means, but not one I would recommend. Following an acclaimed festival run, Crushed came to UK digital on 5th October thanks to GrimmVision.

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Erie (2026) - Horror Film Review

Not a sub-genre of horror I want to be watching all the time, but I do confess to a fondness for a found footage film every now and again, especially when they happen to be good. The Alison-Eve Hammersley directed and co-written found footage Erie (in her feature length directorial debut) has a lot going for it. The footage looked authentic and the central two leads were not at all bad. The only wrinkle in this was a late film decision that almost derailed the whole thing.

Beginning in a familiar way, you are treated to white text on a black background explaining that there had been a mysterious rise in suicides in the area of Pennsylvania, and that the following footage was recovered from two camcorder tapes that were found on one of these suicide victims. It is the 90s and siblings Stella (Carly Stewart) and Oscar (Grant Carter - EverythingNowShow) have returned to their hometown to investigate the out of nowhere suicide of their sister, Iris (Aimee Paxton) a year previously. Unhappy with the police investigation into the death, Stella has taken it upon herself to do her own investigation, hoping to both gets answers for her sister's death, while at the same time making a documentary that she hopes will assist with her aspirations of becoming a journalist. Her ace in the hole is that unknown to the police, she has the last moments of Iris caught on camera (something the film opens on), and that has given her clues she otherwise might not have known about. Her search leads the two first to the home of an odd man named Red (Markiplier lookalike Ryan W. Garcia - Helldivers II voicework), and then to the woods where Iris took her life.

The two tapes making up the found footage is presented as if unedited and in a cohesive forward path. It is presented in a old style square format, with a grainy look  that felt authentically nineties, and all characters and locations also look of the time, giving a nostalgic feel. To add to the illusion, there are snippets of footage that the pair have recorded over, such as childhood moments of the two, which creepily appear at key moments, as if the tape was encountering errors. Stella is mostly front and centre with Oscar filming her and the footage is shown as raw, multiple takes of Stella talking to the camera, and her brother's humorous teasing of her (such as purposely shooting her out of focus or shooting with objects obscuring her view) added a spark between the two. Classic brother and sister things that I could easily identify with. Stewart was great in her role, and while Carter had a more melodramatic and occasionally cheesy performance at times, was still also decent. Garcia was fantastic in his supporting role as Red, coming across as both amusingly as well as uncomfortably weird, with it feeling possible there might be more to him than meets the eye. The small cast helped things feel more real and insular, and the effective look footage really added a lot to the atmosphere.

Then there is an odd third act decision. With no fanfare, Erie suddenly stops being a found footage horror and transitions to a traditionally shot horror for its final 25 minutes, all pretence of being real footage abandoned with a more familiar widescreen look, and characters being filmed a out of film cameraman. This abrupt change took me by surprise, and it was a good ten minutes before I had gotten over this and was able to get back into the story being told. It felt a shame as it had been working out well as a found footage. I understand why this decision was made, with an actual explanation for everything being disclosed somewhere that wouldn't be seen on the in-film found tapes, but I found (footage) myself thinking about how these details could have naturally fitted into the core film style. After I had recovered from this change in direction, I did get back into the story, and came to like this final part. Even if large amounts of it were a character slowly hobbling through dark woodland. The explanation did feel a little silly at first, but I came to appreciate it and it did make for some genuinely unsettling moments, and the red herrings were appreciated.

The choice to blend found footage with normally created footage just about worked, though personally I would have preferred things had stuck to just the one format. Nonetheless, this was a good horror that had some horror filled moments. Erie had its world premiere at Beyond Fest on October 1st.

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No More Room in Hell 2 (2024) - Horror Video Game Review (X-Box Series X)

It was a few years after the release of first person co-op survival horror game No More Room in Hell 2 before I even heard of the series. Inspired by the films of George Romero (Night of the Living Dead), the first game was based on a mod of the Valve Source Game Engine, releasing on PC in 2011. This sequel arrived a couple of years back, and had a bit of a frosty reception due to a multitude of bugs and a sparse amount of content. Since then, a lot of the issues have been resolved, with new maps releasing yearly. I brought myself and my best friend a copy, and along with another friend we played through the currently 6 objective based maps and 3 survival ones.

There isn't much story to be found here, other than the small titbits that play out over the radio during missions. The internet states the story involves a ancient frozen corpse found at a dig site, this corpse happened to have a lethal virus frozen with it, which when free swiftly spreads, causing a worldwide zombie apocalypse. It isn't entirely clear if this sequel is a reboot of the series, or if it takes place before or after the events of the first game. Playing as a randomly generated responder, you are taken to various areas along with 7 other responders, there you are tasked with completing tasks such as causing distractions so trapped survivors can escape, and finding intel to help understand the zombie hordes.

The first time me and my best friend played this we were blind drunk. Stumbling our way through the game's tutorial, we launched into a random map where it was utter chaos. We soon learned we had to play this one differently to others such as the fast zombie games Left4Dead. The undead here are slow moving and not as plentiful, but your ammo and healing items are much reduced. I only really appreciated that after unloading my gun into the first ghoul I saw and realising I was out of ammo! The slow moving zombies can smash down doors, barricades and break windows in their quest to get to you. Seemingly dead bodies might suddenly stand up to attack, while you might witness body bags unzipping from the inside as you pass them.
Each map takes place in a different location with a unique look to them. Along the way you explore a hospital complex, the centre of New York, an isolated community, a rural town, a remote power plant, a farmhouse, an industrial area and a lighthouse. Maps vary in size, with the survival maps being smaller contained areas, and the objective maps spanning from a solitary complex, to a massive open area out in the woods. Playing with people is more immersive than you might expect, proximity chat meaning that you can easily have a feeling of isolation if you don't stick together with your team, and a nice touch is that spawning into levels has you and your team mates all in different starting areas. You have access to 3 randomly generated characters at a time, needed as the game has permadeath. Unless you are playing on beginner difficulty, or take a specific item into the level with you, if you die that it is, you lose all that characters progress and have to start over.

Zombies are the only enemy type and unlike the first game, this time around there are no child undead. Occasionally you will encounter special zombie types, such as ones who leave a poisonous cloud upon death and running ones. These fit in with the more grounded vibe, so no giant mutants with crazy powers to be found here. Dotted around the levels are healing items such as bandages, med kits and revive syringes, but with a weight limit to what you can carry you can never have so much that you can relax. Also, take too much damage and your character can become infected. While infected there are audio hallucinations and screen obscuring effects such as flies and blood vessels, and if you don't constantly take a preventative serum, then you will eventually automatically die and become one of the walking dead. The slow moving enemies gives more of a chilled vibe to the game, at least on lower difficulties. You have time to group up and discuss tactics, while doors and windows can be barricaded to slow the progress of the enemies. Even on the survival maps there is a more laid back vibe. I had expected Call of Duty: Zombies levels of threat, but instead it is a horde mode where you must defend three different areas before then extracting. Extraction is a key part of the game, with your character having to get to and defend an extraction point at the climax of each mission. There are various melee weapons and guns in the levels to find. These range from baseball bats and hedge trimmers to pistols, shotguns, rifles and SMGs. There is a stamina that is used up when running and using melee weapons, and also drains when you either shove or kick the undead.
Even with all the bug fixes, I encountered a few on my beginner playthrough, nothing major, but was a tiny bit frustrating occasionally. Replay value is provided by not only a levelling system that grants your characters better abilities as they improve, but also randomised item locations, and even randomised objectives and extraction points.

So far (having only played through beginner mode and a few ill-fated attempts on nightmare difficulty), this has been a load of fun. The more methodical slow pace of the game feels refreshing, and with new maps and a solo mode coming next year, No More Room in Hell 2 is something I can see myself enjoying for a good while.

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Black Mirror: Season 7 (2025) - Horror Anthology TV Series Review

When it comes to TV shows I am a very slow watcher. I blame myself of course, stemming mostly from far too strong a fondness for playing video games. Season seven is the latest for haunting tech-nightmare anthology Black Mirror; a show where each episode a different type of near future tech is examined and dragged kicking and screaming to its most horrific possible outcome. A technology based The Twilight Zone if you will. After a fun sixth season (which for the first time veered directly into pure horror in a few of its episodes), season seven brings things back to the tech again, including some amazing episodes among the six that make up this season. It did take me around a year to watch all of this, so my memory will be fuzzy on a chunk of it.

It begins with 'Common People' which is exactly the type of harrowing episode you would expect from the show. Amanda; a school teacher (Rashida Jones - Parks and Recreation) gets afflicted with a terminal and incurable disease, but seemingly fortunate help is at hand. She discovers a medical company who are able to prevent the illness from spreading, though only if their monthly subscription is continued to be paid for. Companies are going to company, and so over the time the subscription cost is increased, while the perks are reduced as more and more expensive packages are launched. Forced to go on lower tiers, the penalty is not only extreme tiredness for Amanda, but her body gets hijacked at random times to force her to act out adverts that have been beamed into her mind. These downsides begin to have a drastic effect on her life, and so, to try and help her, her husband Mike (Chris O'Dowd - The Cloverfield Paradox, The IT Crowd) resorts to increasingly desperate measures to make money. This is prime Black Mirror, feel bad entertainment that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Next up is 'Bête Noire', a strange and fantastical feeling episode. Confectionary expert Maria's (Siena Kelly) life is upended when Verity (Rosy McEwen - The Alienist) joins the company she works at. Maria had previously been in the same school as her, where Verity had been seen as a weird loner, so is immediately uncomfortable with her presence. Everything the new employee does is highly successful, while Maria's career begins to collapse when she is blamed for increasingly wild actions that despite her knowing she hasn't done, all the evidence appears otherwise. It appears the very nature of the world is being re-written, leading to Maria beginning to question her sanity. This was a crazy episode that dealt with an idea that hadn't been explored before in the show, a good thing as some of the previous seasons felt like they had really ran out of any new type of idea. This leads up to one of the more out-there Black Mirror endings.

The third episode, 'Hotel Reverie' takes the form of a love story. This one sees actress Brandy (Issa Rae - Barbie) accepting a film role that involves her being sent into a digitally constructed recreation of a classic black and white film. The idea is that she will replace the role of the protagonist, letting the film work for a modern audience. While in the simulation, the machine malfunctions, trapping her inside the film world. With time passing much more quickly inside it, Brandy finds herself trapped in a static world, where the only other person not frozen in time is the A.I construct of Dorothy (Emma Corrin - Deadpool & Wolverine), a recreated character from the original movie. As the weeks (for them) pass, the two begin to fall in love, leading to heartbreak when the machine is eventually fixed and everything resets, including the construct of Dorothy. This was a unique and more slow paced episode, but not one that left too much of an impression for me.
This slow pace certainly doesn't continue with 'Plaything', that charges along with a lean 45 minute runtime and was one of the best episodes I have yet seen of Black Mirror. In present day, an eccentric former video game reviewer; Cameron Walker (Peter Capaldi - Doctor Who, World War Z) is arrested for shoplifting. While being interviewed at the police station, the man admits to an unsolved murder decades previously in the 1990s. The majority of the episode then heads back in time to show how that murder happened, along the way telling the story of a younger Cameron (Lewis Gribben) who becomes obsessed with a prototype video game he is given, a game where the A.I creatures in it are able to evolve and learn, based on how they are treated. A wonderful episode with a goose-bump inducing ending, and a supreme performance from Capaldi.

The penultimate episode is 'Eulogy' that was another slow one and also the seasons most forgettable. Here, lonely old man Phillip (Paul Giamatti - Morgan) is contacted by a memorial company who have technology that allow people to enter a limited reconstructed world from the image of a photo and the persons forgotten memories of what they were doing when that photo was originally taken. A former lover of his has died, and her daughter had asked for Phillip's recollections to be included in her funeral service. The only problem being that it has been so long that the man frustratingly can't remember even what this former lover of his looked like, and the only photos he can find with her in it have her face obscured from view. In true Black Mirror fashion, things don't go smoothly for Phillip, with his recollections leading to harrowing revelations about the type of person he used to be, though it did finish on a somewhat positive finish.
Last but not least is the very exciting season finale, 'USS Callister: Into Infinity'. This is the first ever direct sequel to a previous episode, and takes place after the events of season four's 'USS Callister'. Spoilers for that one to follow, and if you are not familiar, a recap of that first one is given at the start. Having escaped the bubble VR world where uploaded A.I consciousness's of real people had been trapped by twisted VR creator Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons - Breaking Bad), the crew of the USS Callister now find themselves in the popular sci-fi VR game, 'Infinity'. The trouble being now that while normal players can be killed with no penalty other than being forced out the game, the crew themselves die for real if they are killed. With increasing monetisation of the game world, they are forced to piracy, robbing from players to get money to pay for fuel and basic supplies. It took me the longest time to get around to watching this, the 90 minute episode runtime really putting me off seeing it. This was very exciting that had me getting more and more on the edge of my seat as it played out. It was fantastic to see Plemons reprise his role, and though he had died in the original, a way for him to come back is found, him appearing in flashbacks and in other unique ways. He is such a fantastic actor and he nails his role here. Hardly the most serious of episodes, alongside some needless comedic scenes, there is even the inclusion of a comic relief character, which did seem to be a bridge too far, detracting rather than adding to the story.

Season seven of Black Mirror had some fantastic episodes, making for yet another great season. A good mix of episode types, and some great casting choices. Not all bangers, but mostly it was firing on all cylinders.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Round-up for September 2026

Another month, and thankfully I am still employed in my day job, even if it is a fixed term contract that doesn't give me too much long term job security. I'm thinking of taking a week off in November (should my contract be extended that far), in which I will do one of my fabled not leaving the house for a week stints, that is something to look forward to should I so decide to do that. On the show front I am nearing the end of Squid Game: Season 2, but to be truthful, I've been at that point for most of the year. On the book front, I am getting towards the end of Natural Thorn Killers; a book that charts the history of plants in horror films; surprisingly interesting. Over on the game front I am about halfway through Cult of the Lamb and nearing the end of Poppy Playtime: Chapter 5, and I have my eye on Silent Hill: Townfall that came out last Friday. Onwards to the news.

Mahal Empire's Cursed Waters is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video. This nautical horror is about a crew of shipwrecked pirates who wash up on an uncharted island populated by a bloodthirsty cult. Directed by Adam Werth, and features John Wells, BJ Mezek, and Vernon Wells.

Heresy had its UK digital debut yesterday (28th September) thanks to GrimmVision. Didier Konings brings a film about a woman acused of witchcraft after a dark entity latches onto her, in a horror that has been compared to The VVitch: A New-England Folktale, with the setting here a small Dutch village in the Dark Ages. The press release states Heresy is '...a haunting tale of misogyny, bodily autonomy and belief...'

Goth pop band, Metamorph have released the official music video for their track 'Witchfire' which is taken from their new Witchfire EP. The press release states the track is all about owning your desire, and the video was filmed by Brian Wimer in New York's East Village and in the forests of Vermont.

Found TV found footage original; A Possession in Lincoln County is getting its theatrical premiere on October 22nd at the Hamilton Film Festival, and its streaming debut on October 23rd. Directed by Louie La Vella and written by Monica La Vella, this follows Jake, a man documenting his wife's fight with cancer. When her diagnosis turns terminal, Jake decides to enact an ancient ritual said to allow the caster to make a deal with the devil.

Magick Mtn is an interconnected anthology of three stories; a squatter imprisoned by a sadistic psychiatrist, a pair of criminal plumbers in trouble on the Sunset Strip, and an architect whose design is devil inspired. Written, directed, and produced by Hana Mae Lee (The Babysitter: Killer Queen, The Babysitter), this was an official selection at Fantastic Fest (TX), the Susquehanna Film Festival (PA) and the Molins International Film Festival (Spain) among other festivals. Magick Mtn comes to digital on 13th October.

Synapse Films have announced the 4K UHD debut of the Frank Henenlotter directed cult comedy horror film Frankenhooker. The story sees a grieving medical student who goes to some extreme lengths to bring his deceased fiancée back to life, events of course quickly get out of hand. The 4K Ultra HD edition features a new 2025 Dolby Vision 4K restoration, and the Blu-ray edition marks the film's return to that format. Extras include an audio commentary with the director and make-up effects designer Gabe Bartalos, some featurettes, a photo scrapbook, and the original theatrical trailer.

Finally for today, British horror The Stranger arrived on UK digital on 14th September thanks to Trinity Content Partners. Described as a home invasion movie with a supernatural twist, this comes from Paul Gerrard and Mike Clarke (A Light Through Coloured Glass) and is about a mysterious stranger who arrives at a troubled family's remote B&B seeking a room, and who claims to be being hunted by a group of supernatural killers.

Resident Evil (2026) - Comedy Horror Film Review

After seeing it get rave reviews, I was excited to check out the Zach Cregger (Weapons, Barbarian) directed and co-written Resident Evil. In my head, I couldn't see how it could live up to the hype, but being a huge fan of the survival horror video game series, I just had to see it for myself. I didn't mind if this wasn't to rigidly stick to the game's lore, but I did expect it to be a serious survival horror film. What I instead discovered was not only a comedy horror, but one that had me constantly laughing out loud from start to finish. 

Bryan (Austin Abrams - Weapons, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) is a courier that one evening is delivering medical supplies to a hospital. While there, he is asked if he wanted to do another urgent delivery, this time to a hospital in Raccoon City. Out of his normal delivery zone, the offer of extra pay has him jumping at the chance. Up in the snowy mountains where the city is located, he is on his phone to his girlfriend when a woman steps out into the road right in front of him and without time to avoid her, he hits the woman. Stopping, he is relieved to see the woman appears very dazed and covered in blood, but otherwise apparently ok. Doing the right thing, he decides to take the woman along with him to the hospital. A series of small misadventures later he begins to suspect there is something really wrong with the woman, who is not only able to sustain injuries that would kill a normal person, but is also acting more and more violent around him. With his car broken down, and his mobile phone having no signal, he heads to a nearby farm house to seek assistance. Things are not much better there, and after dealing with a aggressive dog and a farmer (who both also seem to have something very wrong with them), he decides he has no other option than to head to Raccoon City on foot; both to find help for the insanity he is encountering, and also, as he really does want to deliver the urgent medical supply to the hospital. Bryan comes to learn that a virus has escaped from a lab in the city and has infected the citizens with a terrifying parasitic virus. He also discovers that the delivery he has on him may be the key to a cure for this virus.

Going in, I had zero idea that this was going to be such a funny film, so was more than surprised when it become clear it was. Even better for me, the humour was great, there was barely a visual gag or amusing line of dialogue that didn't land perfectly. In the video game series, several have you playing as a normal person; someone with no special skills, but who nonetheless thrives in a monster filled situation. Here, that idea is made more realistic, Bryan is as normal as they come, and that includes not really having a clue how guns work. With no special skills outside of being resourceful, he muddles his way through his adventure through a combination of luck and sheer determination. Along his journey he comes across increasingly powerful guns, but barely knows how to use them, struggling to load ammo, struggling to remove safety catches, frequently accidentally discharging them, and when he does shoot them, it turns out he is a terrible shot. Like in the video games, Bryan constantly finds his way forward blocked by locked doors, this becomes a running joke of him attempting to destroy the locks by shooting them and failing.

Much of the movie has Bryan alone, his constant mutterings, screaming and swearing meaning that despite that there is barely a quiet moment. Along the way he encounters a bunch of different characters, all of which are usually used for comedic effect, such as the film's sole badass character who almost immediately gets killed off. The film is focussed on Bryan for the entire runtime, there are no subplots, and the viewer only has as much limited knowledge of what has happened in the city that Bryan himself finds out. The man is slightly cowardly, but he is a good person who does want to do the right thing, even if he comes to have a stake in the game. Despite all the monsters, he really does want to deliver the medical item he has been tasked with delivering. There was only one genuinely sad moment in the film when Bryan is at rock bottom, but even this is humorously interjected, courtesy of a fun role from Zach Cherry (Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Severance).

I assumed this would be primarily a zombie film, while they do appear, that wasn't actually the case. Like the video games, the focus falls more on the various mutated monsters the virus has created. The virus can cause fleshy tentacles to reach out from the infected, with the tentacles able to stich together various infected to create a nightmarish mishmash abomination, one of which acts as a recurring antagonist force for Bryan to escape from. Alongside zombies and split-headed dogs, there were a bunch of one-off creatures, such as a grotesque zombie mutation that spits acid, and a large ghoul in the sewers that is fit to bursting with infected rats. There was even one monster that was very similar to William Birkin's monster form in Resident Evil 2, complete with a giant eyeball on its shoulder. While rated 15, this was very gory and bloody, with severed limbs, exploding heads, and people even ripped clean in half. This was more exciting than scary, though one early scene had a jump scare that had my best friend screaming out loud, which in turn made me jump. The story almost takes place in real time, with it happening over the course of one long night rather than a longer time frame. There are plenty of easter eggs from the games to discover lurking in the background, from first aid sprays and green herbs, to keys embossed with playing card hand symbols and ammo stored in the same box type as in the games.

Resident Evil was an amazing film from start to finish. At 90 minutes long it feels lean in modern day, with movies often feeling the need to be two hours in length. It was the rare type of film that when the end credits rolled I was ready to re-watch the journey all over again. A comedy horror set in the Resident Evil universe could have been a disaster, but it just works here, with jokes that are near always spot on, and ones that never get in the way of the unfolding horror on-screen - an admirable blend of humour and horror, essential viewing.

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Daphne (2026) - Short Horror Film Review

 

Daphne is a new short three minute found footage horror film from North Carolina based indie filmmaker Caulkdraggin (Ryan McGee), someone whose work has gotten over 75 million views on TikTok. I checked out some of his short form horror stories on there and was impressed with the quality of them.

Daphne Root stars as the titular Daphne, a young woman who has been given a unique opportunity by Professor Caulkdraggin (Caulkdraggin of course). Excited for this unexplained event, she has gotten her friend to film her thoughts on this as she walks through a busy park.

There is heavy use of digital effects here, it was relatively recently I was watching the dull Karen the Beauty Queen Butcher and lambasting the terrible digital effects. Here, while similar types of digital effect is used, it looks markedly better and much more impressive. These types of effects are coming on leaps and bounds, and the fact these still veer into a kind of uncanny valley really help this with the short film's surreal and quietly sinister vibe.
The first half takes place in a park, following the excitable Daphne as she talks to the camera. The dialogue was pretty forgettable and had an odd cadence to it, but that fed into the vaguely unsettling feel of the world, that while on the surface everything seemed normal, there was just something a little off about everything that was going on, and how characters interact with each other.

The horror begins at around the two minute mark, without going into too much detail, it came out of nowhere, and was very bloody, violent, and surprising, all in equal measure. I did enjoy how it transitioned from normal to crazy in the blink of an eye. The digital effects lead to some moments you don't typically get to see in such detail. My biggest complaint with this as a whole was how wafer thin the story was, it was all designed as a lead up to a surprising moment, but didn't really tell much of a tale, ending on shock rather than something that made you think. Caulkdraggin aims to make a feature length film of Daphne using these digital effects, with this specifically referred to as a proof of concept. His almost fourth wall breaking appearance at the end to do his trademark "Witness Me!" catchphrase was certainly fun, he was an undeniable presence on screen even if the 'Caulkdraggin' name itself is a bit hard to take seriously due to the way it is pronounced.

As a micro film, I did appreciate that this didn't end on a lame jump scare, something that short horror films are usually all too keen to finish with. While I was yearning for more of a story, this really did go to an unexpected place. Caulkdraggin wrote, directed, edited and produced Daphne, and it is an undeniably impressive feat; an unsettling facsimile of reality. It has piqued my interest in how a feature length film in this style would be like to watch. Could this type of digital effect heavy work be the vanguard for a new sub-genre of horror? Daphne is due to head to the film festival circuit in the near future, be sure to check it out for yourself if you get the chance.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 24th September 2026

To my shame, I have barely watched any of The Walking Dead spin-off shows, despite that mainline show being one of my favourites. I was then surprised to see that The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 is due to come to Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 16th November, as I never even knew it existed! Starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, and Lauren Cohen as Maggie once again, this third season sees the two putting aside their differences to try and establish the first thriving community in New York since the zombie apocalypse began. Will their troubled shared past lead to disaster for the pair when threats appear in the city and their uneasy alliance is put to the test? In addition to the release of season 3, The Complete Series 1-3 Box Set is also to release.

Shudder Original film, V.H.S Mixtape is set to premiere on October 9th, the theme for this latest entry in the long running found footage anthology series is based around music and sound being the source of horror. One of the segments in the film, directed by Ernest Dickerson (tying into the previous news, he directed a bunch of episodes of The Walking Dead) is set to feature prolific horror actor Mike Ferguson. Other segments are by RZA, David Moreau, and an interesting sounding segment by Renee Zhan that uses creations carried out by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

Finally for today, is news of Bag Lady, which the press release describes as '...They Live meets The Terminator'. Written and directed by Eric Jacobus, this short dystopian sci-fi creature feature is about two homeless men who discover a pair of special sunglasses that allow them to see that the local homeless population are being covertly replaced by androids. Joined by a corporate security guard, the three set out on a journey to stop this hidden takeover. One of the big draws here is that every main character is played by a stuntman, so expect some thrilling scenes. Bag Lady is planned to be made into a feature film.

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Tuesday 21st September 2026

In a bit of a depressive funk lately, I have been neglecting various things in my life, this blog being one of them. After an output of zero last week, I'm attempting to get back into the swing of things, even if I have just two reviews going up this week. I do have a full news sack however, so I will try and do at least a few smaller news posts. Onwards to the news.

Retro horror sequel - Say Cheese 2 has launched exclusively on streaming platform; Fawesome. I can't say I've seen the first film, but in this sequel, a cursed 80s camera returns to cause terror once again, when it captures a photo of its victim their end is all but inevitable. Written, directed and edited by Frank Palangi, this supernatural horror brings together a cast that includes Jolie Wells, Aaron Michael Lambert, and Palangi reprising his role as 'Jeff'. Say Cheese 2 can be viewed on Fawesome by following this link.

Slasher film, Cinefiend is to get its premiere on streaming platform The Monster Channel on October 2nd at 20:00 ET. This one time event will be free to anyone who downloads the platform before that time. The film follows Dora; a late night horror hostess whose studio crew begin getting killed off one by one, in a similar fashion to the movie Dora is hosting. The cast here includes Sparkle Soojian, Lisa London, Megan Laro, Felissa Rose, and Sally Kirkland in one of her final roles.

Finally for today, Amicus Productions returns to British cinema for the first time in over four decades with upcoming horror; In the Grip of Terror. Beginning with screenings at Lumiére Cinema in Romford, this will role out to other selected screens over the coming months. The film stars Golden Globe nominee Jane Merrow (Hands of the Ripper), Laurence  R. Harvey (The Human Centipede II) and Megan Tremethick (The Vance Institute). While the press release didn't give many details on what the film is actually about, its theatrical release marks the launch of British Horror Studio Picture House, a new cinema distribution arm of British Horror Studio.

Return to Silent Hill (2026) - Horror Film Review

The Silent Hill video game series is one of my all time favourites, and was instrumental as one of the catalysts that truly cemented my love for horror when I was growing up. I fondly remember playing the original Silent Hill game back in 1999. I was living with my parents at the time, and in a rare occurrence they had gone away for the night, allowing my 17 years old self to put the Playstation on the 'big' CRT TV in the front room. I distinctly remember staying up until 01:00 in the morning, with the transition from mist world to the nightmarish otherworld at the hospital in that first game causing me to 'nope out' and head to bed scared. All that is to say, the series is special to me, I typically love anything set in that universe.

I was never that impressed with the original Christophe Gans directed Silent Hill that came out in 2006. I've watched it multiple times over the years, but it just never clicked for me. The same weirdly couldn't be said for the M.J Bassett directed and co-written sequel, Silent Hill: Revelation. Most people hate it, but on my admittedly sole watch of it, I enjoyed it, stating in my 8/10 review that while it wasn't a great film, I loved it, and it felt like a movie made for me. So, Return to Silent Hill released at the start of the year and is based on one of more beloved games; Silent Hill 2, whose successful remake came out a few years earlier. Being unemployed at the time I just couldn't afford to go see it at the cinema, and then hearing it was a disappointment my enthusiasm for it kind of dried up and it was forgotten. Having recently gotten Amazon Prime Video again, I spotted it on the service and just had to check it out for myself.

One day while speeding down mountain roads in his open-top car, artist James Sunderland (Jeremy Irvine - The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death) accidentally crashes through the luggage of Mary (Hannah Emily Anderson - Jigsaw), a woman who had been waiting at a coach stop outside the town of Silent Hill, having intended to leave the place for good. There is an immediate attraction between the two, and Mary sees their encounter as a sign that maybe she shouldn't leave the area. In present day some unknown amount of years later, James for unspecified reasons is a complete mess, regularly drowning his sorrows in alcohol, and with a psychiatrist on speed dial. Getting back from a drunken night one evening, he spots a note on his apartment floor, and upon reading it he is surprised to find it is from Mary. The letter asks him to return to Silent Hill, and being so desperate to see this woman once again (his present day trauma seemingly related to her), he immediately gets in his car and drives there. With the route to town blocked off, he heads the remainder of the way on foot and is shocked to see the once bustling town has been reduced to an ash filled ghost town. Things go from bad to worse when he discovers there are grotesque monsters roaming the streets, but being so desperate to meet with Mary, even this isn't enough to get him to turn back.

I started watching this last Friday night, and roughly made it halfway through the 100 minute film before tiredness claimed me and I retreated to my bed chambers. I left that night feeling optimistic, I had liked what I had seen, so was eager to return to the movie the next day. There were some big changes with regards to the story, but it did feel to me like a video game once again brought to life. It turns out the second half of Return to Silent Hill wasn't anywhere near as good, making this a film of two halves. I felt Irvine was a good choice for protagonist, maybe not so much in the flashback scenes, but I loved his performance as the messed up present day James. Most of the film takes place in the present, but when James (who seems to have short term memory loss) revisits key locations in the town, he recalls past events that happened with Mary there. It seems a bit silly to avoid spoilers for a 25 year old video game, but the film gives a different approach, things that are revealed early on in the game are instead revealed as late revelations in this adaption. One change I really enjoyed was with Mary, here she is given a back story that directly links her to the demon worshipping cult that had existed in the town in the previous films, making the slow reveals in the flashback sequences fun to watch. In the games, the conflict that occurred with James and Mary was her getting very sick, here, it is her involvement in this cult that begins to tear the two characters apart. All the other key characters from the game get film versions, though their individual side stories are diluted down to always link everything back to James. Angela (also played here by Anderson) was more akin to walking exposition, rather than a character who felt like she had her own journey going on. Laura (Evie Templeton - Wednesday, Silent Hill 2) acted similar to the games, but she is given a more supernatural feel, operating within the terror filled otherworld version of the town, rather than an innocent who only sees a deserted town. Maria (again Anderson) appears as the strangely familiar looking woman James encounters, but her role is reduced somewhat. Not as much as poor Eddie (Pearse Egan), who only appears in a couple of scenes for about a five minute period of time.

The second half wasn't as good in my eyes as it felt like this part was really rushed through. The apartment block and hospital scenes had time dedicated to them, but after this it becomes dizzying, with James moving from key location to key location via supernatural means, designed to share James' confusion with reality with the viewer. For a game whose story wasn't too large, it seemed weird to cut out so much of it, and some of the changes were plain odd. I appreciated it focused the story squarely on James, but the supporting cast lost a bit to them as a result.
Like in the original film, the monsters here are a lovely blend of live action with CG effects placed over them. A highlight of the film in terms of design, there were some exciting scenes here, such as James being chased across the town by a legion of giant bugs, acid spewing humanoids, and a great (if expected) scene where he is being chased by monstrous looking nurses in a hospital basement. Of course the iconic Pyramid Head also features, and again, like the side characters, he is more linked to James than in the games.
I loved the set design, and the fact that some scenes almost looked like you were watching a video game rather than reality (such as overhead CG shots of James running through the deserted streets) felt strangely fitting for a video game adaption. I get what the director was going for with the dizzying location changes of the second half, but it did lead to a feeling that everything was being rushed through far too quickly.

Return to Silent Hill started off promising, with the first half really feeling like the game brought to life. Many of the changes story wise here seemed to be to the detriment of the story, and these changes began to bother me more and more. It leads to a complicated finish, and an ending that was merely adequate rather than memorable. While not amazing, I could see myself watching this again in the future, and it has made me really want to replay the 2024 remake, so it did something for me. Return to Silent Hill can currently be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

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The Flesh People (2026) - Comedy Horror Film Review

The final film watched for review this weekend was a real curveball. The Flesh People is an indie horror that featured some jet black humour. Written and directed by Keshav Srinivasan, it was a twisted modern day New York based version of the type of story that sees two oddballs existing together.

Ricky (Jorge Carrión Álvarez in his film debut) is an American immigrant who is in the country to get a medical degree. However, not long before film's start, he has been kicked out of medical school after three years due to getting caught stealing drugs. Needing a place to stay in New York, he has become the roommate of Geraldine (Louise Heller); a lady in the second half of her life, a former stage actress who lives in a rundown apartment in a poor part of the city. The disparate pair discover they have a similarity with the nihilistic outlook of life they share. Both are frauds in their professions, and both are prepared to go to extreme lengths in anything they attempt. Their friendship becomes very co-dependent the longer they spend together. This leads to increasingly deranged situations.

The film goes to some grim places, but never looses the black humour at any point. I liked this began with a present day section before the film then moves back in time to show how that (bloody) present came to be. The situations increasingly got more dark, following a natural path with its incremental nature. The odd friendship between the two leads is the core of the story, with the majority of the 105 minute film being based inside their lived-in apartment. Over wild drug trips, the pair come up with various plans to improve their finances. From performing back-street medical procedures, to selling meat from a questionable and gruesome source, there soon comes a police presence due to their illegal activities. By the end things have gotten all too crazy, leading to a suitably zany ending. The escalation was fun and the infrequent outdoor scenes were always lovely to see.

Make-up effects such as injuries sustained looked great on camera, with some scenes that had me feeling a little queasy. It was great to see the hallucinations of the characters during the drug trip scenes, the most pure horror part of the movie. There was a gradual body count as the film progresses, with some fun kill scenes that included parts where the camera follows the path of the murder weapon, these were pretty neat looking. The plot wasn't designed to be deep and involved or full of twists and turns. Instead it felt more like a claustrophobic gaze at these two lost characters who have just happened by unlucky fortune to come into each others lives. The characters go from situation to situation at a regular pace, which does lead to some of these situations sometimes feeling like a bunch of disconnected skits rather than a continually running story.

The Flesh People featured very well cast duel protagonists. I found some scenes a bit too gross for my liking, though this was an entertainingly depraved jet-black comedic odd-ball movie.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 10th September 2026

This year continues ever onwards, before I knew it I can see the end of the year in sight. Least we are out of the heatwaves, and it has been glorious to get lots of rain this past week. Onwards to the news.

Trinity Content Partners announced at the end of July, three UK digital premieres that arrived last month. The first of these is The Demon Detective. Starring Doug Jones, Adrienne Barbeau, Vivica A. Fox and Tom Virtue, this, as the title hints at, has a supernatural detective discovering a link between demonic possession and his past. That arrived on 17th August thanks to Miracle Media. Deadly Games arrived on 10th August. This sees a group of influencers lured to a deserted island; a survival thriller. Last is Soul Snatchers, a supernatural thriller that I reviewed yesterday. A family return to the island they used to live on, to use the power of God to help the poor, but face hostility from the power hungry mayor.

Psychological thriller; A Mind in Chaos has come to Amazon Prime and Plex. Directed by Chris Rakotomamonjy, this follows a corporate executive who survives a mass shooting incident at her office. To recover, she heads to a remote elite therapy retreat, but there she encounters a series of inexplicable events that make her question her sanity.

Finally for today, in August, Blood Magick had its North American VOD digital debut, August 11th. Featuring a guest appearance from scream queen Victoria De Mare, this sees a witch named Aisling who awakens in a costume warehouse with five strangers. With the place under assault from demonic creatures, and the costumes magically being brought to life to hunt the survivors, Aisling must use her magic powers to protect the group, as well as try and work out which of them is the secret mastermind behind the attack.

Soul Snatchers (2026) - Horror Film Review

Religious thriller, Soul Snatchers keeps the supernatural element very close to its chest. So much so that at times I began to suspect that there wasn't even one actually there. This Julio Roman (Fuera de tinieblas) directed and co-written movie often felt more like a Biblical parable unfolding in present day, rather than a realistic story.

As children, Daniel and older brother, Saul witnessed their mother being kidnapped in broad daylight as she evangelised on a remote Puerto Rico based island. Now grown up, the two - Daniel (William Oliver) and Saul (Luis Sebastián Borges - Toxic Shark) have returned to this island alongside their evangelist father, Emmanuel (Cameron Arnett - Nefarious), to try and help the poor there with the power of Christianity and music. In their way however is the island's almost warlord like Mayor. The mayor rules the island with an iron fist, keeping law and order with his small army of enforcers. When their musical instruments are stolen, Daniel against his father's wishes, decides to ask the mayor for help. The help is given, but comes at a cost, with Daniel getting seduced by the power the mayor wields. As Daniel falls to temptation and leaves his family, Emmanuelle believes that love will bring him back home one day.

There was lots here to make this feel more like a fable than a real story. Daniel is the walking embodiment of gullible, all too quick to believe the outlandish lies of the comically evil mayor and his goons. Hot tempered and impatient, his fall to the 'dark side' was entertaining, even if it seemed to happen far too quickly. Along the way, he is asked to beat a defenceless man, gets spiked with a hallucinogenic drug, and too abuses the power he has been given. The mayor was fantastic, sadly, I didn't catch the actor's name, so can't credit him. He put on a wonderful performance, over the top, flamboyant and unpredictable, effortlessly stealing all his scenes. The mayor's spiritual opposite; Emmanuel was also a fun character, albeit in a different way. Full of the love of God, he was extremely peaceful and devout. He also is able to perform literal miracles with his belief in the Lord, early on the film he returns the sight to a blind boy purely from prayer! In a world where it appears God does exist, then too shall the demonic. A slight part of the movie, mostly insinuated than shown, but this part does culminate in a fun horror scene that I really wished more of Soul Snatchers had included.

This is a thriller rather than a horror, the focus on the division between the good and the bad guys. There were a few fight scenes and a couple of on-screen deaths, but these were few and far between. The fact the story had a fable type feel actually made me enjoy it more. Sometimes good and evil really can be plain black and white without any grey areas. Most impressive for the film were the gigantic cast, it felt like nearly every scene was populated with huge groups of background characters. Perhaps a little heavy handed with its message of love and forgiveness, but I was still rooting for the protagonists to win, even if the bad guys were so entertaining.

I liked Soul Snatchers more than I expected to. The mayor actor, Arnett, and Oliver were great in their roles, and the film world felt like a living place due to the abundance of people in the movie. Personally, I wish the horror element had been featured more, but I did enjoy a feel good ending for a change. Soul Snatchers had its digital UK premiere on 31st August thanks to Seven Tales.

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