The Ghost From Hovrino (2012) - Horror Film Review

I was recently contacted by Kirill Khrestinin; a Russian-American novelist and filmmaker based in Louisville, Kentucky, about checking out his horror film. The Ghost From Hovrino is a Russian found footage horror from 2012, and I believe only the second Russian horror I have ever reviewed on this blog (Meteletsa: Winter of the Dead being the other). It comes from a time where most found footage horror films seemed to follow a familiar path; typically set in woodlands and filmed on a shoe string budget. Most of these films were very generic, most of them heavily influenced by The Blair Witch Project, and most of them pretty awful. Would that be the case for this one?

The film's traditional white text on a black screen explains that Hovrino Forest is Russia's oldest forest and that ancient pagan sorcerers used to practice dark magic there. This then leads into the first act of the found footage itself. Kirill (Khrestinin) and his girlfriend have decided to make a documentary about the legends around the forest, and in particular looking at the large number of people who have vanished there over the years. The legends speak not only of the pagan sorcerers, but also of the dark entity that they reportedly worshipped. Their plan had been to interview some locals in Moscow, and then head to the nearby forest to film the core of their film. After Kirill's girlfriend has a nightmare about the place she decides not to go, so instead Kirill heads there with three friends. After this first act ends there is then a second screen of text that explains all four of them vanished while exploring the forest and that the found footage was recovered from their car that had been discovered abandoned in the area.

If I had seen this back in 2012 I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this as much as I did. As it was, I hadn't seen a found footage of this type for quite a while, and so was open to experiencing this throwback. The Ghost From Hovrino is by no means original. At times it felt like I was watching almost a Russian remake of Blair Witch. Here, the witch is swapped for ancient sorcerers but all the other ideas remain. Characters discover hanging stick designs, get almost supernaturally lost within the woods, and plenty of shots of missing characters discovered standing mutely with their backs to the camera. This wasn't as effective as that classic, but this was still for the most part well made, only really suffering with some odd sound design. This was mainly with the sound effect used the evil approaching the characters, I could never work out if it was intended that the recurring 'whooshing' sound was a noise the characters were actually hearing, as it sounded very artificial and out of place. The film often suggested rather than actually showed anything, but does include effective shots of characters being dragged off screen by something unseen. I found the camera quality to be good, and even when characters are panicked and running around, the camera motion never becomes overly blurry and shaky - a common complaint of these films. I liked the moments here when the forest seamlessly transitions from day to night, not explained within the film, adding to the mild supernatural feel. I also enjoyed the end credits that scroll over the final shot caught on the camera before all four characters have vanished (as per the second act preamble text).

This was roughly split into three acts. The first fifteen minutes take place in and around Moscow as mentioned in the synopsis. The next two acts follow an almost new set of characters, Kirill, Anton (Anton Demkin), Artem (Artem Polienko), and Roman (Roman Prussakov). A half hour of the friends getting to the forest and their initial exploration, and then a last roughly half hour section where the horror finally begins. Much like the style of the time, this did take a good while for anything to really start to happen of a horror nature. The first act in Moscow almost felt like it was from a separate film entirely and didn't really flow that well into the core part of the movie. I also never got a good idea for why Kirill had decided to make the documentary. After the second screen of text is when The Ghost From Hovrino began to come together. Act two is just four friends hanging out together, but I enjoyed the banter they had with each other, a fun bunch to follow. I liked Anton and the scenes with his gun, I liked the easily led Roman, but it was the character of Kirill who stole the film for me. Typically in a found footage, the protagonist would be terrified and crying by the film's conclusion. What I loved about this character was how angry he got. Sure he was scared, but he was also increasingly really annoyed at the situation he found himself in. One point his increasing frustration represented by him attacking and wrestling a random sapling he was near to. By the film's end he is shouting aggressively at whatever is targeting himself and his friends and bitterly demanding his friend keeps filming him, almost like he is determined to finish making his documentary through sheer spite! It was refreshing to have a character like this; resigned to his fate, but by no means intending to go peacefully.

The Ghost From Hovrino wasn't the most original film, but I enjoyed it, and thought the nihilistic friends bounced off each other in a believable way. This was better than expected, some interesting structures included within the film, and some thrilling moments. The Ghost of Hovrino can be found on Amazon Prime Video.

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What Lives in Room 214? (2026) - Horror Film Review

What Lives in Room 214? is a short surreal horror film, written and directed by Brandon Rice (Bluefin). Its 52 minute runtime may be short, but I believe it still counts as a feature film. I think I once read somewhere that 45 minutes is when a short becomes a feature, but I may well be mistaken!. The title of this film intrigued me, what indeed would turn out to live in room 214?

Cory King (Adam Joseph Turner) is an actor who has recently became a local celebrity in a small town where he was the star of a well-loved indie film. Enjoying his fame, Cory has decided to stay in the town, living in a corner room at a small motel. He had hoped that a close personal friend of his would come join him at the town, but she appears like she won't do that. One evening after going to an exclusive party, Cory returns to his motel room where bizarre things start happening. People inexplicably vanish, and a producer he met (Timothy J. Cox - Protanopia) is now the manager of the motel and refutes having ever known Cory. Most alarming, Cory discovers he is literally unable to leave the motel, a strange force preventing the man from taking the steps needed to exit. Months pass and Cory, trapped at the motel, passes the day by watching the same looping TV program on the only channel that works. Slowly, the man begins to go insane, seeing no way out of his situation.

I had a feeling that I was going to leave What Lives in Room 214? very confused, and indeed I did. This was very surreal and relied on dream logic to blend together its scenes. Cory spends the first half of the movie relatively happy, even if his insistence that he is well loved doesn't feel reciprocated from the inhabitants. The second half of the film turns into more of a nightmare, a feeling that the man is trapped somewhere outside of time and space. Some really weird scenes, best of which was some strange poker game that Cory finds himself randomly playing. I loved the back and forth between two of the poker players here, so strange, but also a lot of fun with their snappy dialogue. As an aside, I was a fan of the scene transition effect that looked like the film's film was burning up

The horror begins in earnest with this second half, which sees the film arrive at the present (an unravelling Cory laying on his motel room floor). There wasn't much done to explain things to the viewer, but I eventually put together something in my mind that I was kind of satisfied with. Without really knowing what was meant to be happening, I still enjoyed this. Cory was an entertaining if clueless protagonist, and I liked the conversations he got into with other characters. Highlight of this was the interaction with a comically aggressive neighbour at the motel.

What Lives in Room 214? was a strange one, and I know this review doesn't do it justice. To be honest, I watched most the film while waiting at a train station, and the subsequent review was written while I was on the train travelling home. Not the most ideal way to experience a movie, and was all a bit of an accident. What Lives in Room 214? is a low budget indie bizarro nightmare. The film maintained my attention throughout, even if I can't truthfully say I understood it very well.

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Motion Waves (2026) by Machiner - Music Album Review

Motion Waves is the debut album from Machiner, a band coming from North East England. I've intended to do a review of this since June, but like everything else on this blog, music reviews have gotten into a bit of a back log. As usual, my two admissions. Firstly that Motion Waves isn't horror music, loosely, like most music, it could be imagined to show up in a horror movie if it were used in the right moment. My second admission is that I really suck at music reviews, I literally have no idea what I'm talking about, it isn't my ball court.

The album is 42 minutes long and made up of 8 distinct tracks. It all begins with 'Silent Running', a three minute opener track that gave me Puscifer vibes with its mellow build-up. Coming in at five minutes is then 'The Between'. This had an introspective sound to it, light and airy with an outdoorsy vibe. Lyrically different is 'Ivory Skies', a story of inner-city living told in a raconteur type way. The first half of the album ends with 'Dark Age' which at seven minutes was the longest track here. This track felt more powerful than the previous ones, with the singer talking as if to a past lover. This one never got as heavy as I wanted it to, but then that isn't the style of Machiner. Their songs feel more insular and personal than epic drum heavy outings.

The second half of Motion Waves begins with 'The Sound of Disappearing'. This modern track channelled the spirit of Jeff Wayne's 'Forever Autumn' to my inexperienced and slightly rotting ears. A mournful track about past heartbreak. Next is 'Iceburn' that does rock out a little bit before the four minute tune is over. Another sorrowful song sung to an ex-lover. Penultimate track is 'Cast Me In Amber' with its electronic beat, listening to this I thought of a 'sad man' montage in a movie. 'Ever Over' is the closing track here, it had a more optimistic sound looking to the future, with a life of possibilities.

Motion Waves wasn't entirely to my tastes, but repeated listens had it slowly growing on me. Lyrics that felt like they meant something, and a mellow sound made for a chilled time. Motion Waves was released on vinyl and digital through Butterfly Effect Records on 7th August 2026.

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Marrow (2026) - Horror Film Review

As with much of this blog lately, I've been meaning to get around to watching the Mitch McLeod (Silhouette) directed and co-written Marrow for a while now. Where this film begins is a very different place from where this ends up. For the most part I was fully on board for this unexpected journey.

Jamie Foster (Jessica Dawn Willis - Silhouette) is a true-crime podcaster whose viewing figures have started to dramatically drop ever since she attempted to move away from solely covering true crime. Her rich aunt; Camilla (Danielle Harris - Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers) is the one funding her show, and is the one threatening to axe it if the viewing figures don't recover soon. This threat coincides with a mysterious phone call Jamie gets one night. The distorted voiced caller (who comes to be referred to as 'J.P') introduces Jamie to an ongoing series of serial killings that they seem to be very familiar with. These killings the killer targeting true-crime podcasters in the same state that she lives in. Not thinking of the danger at first, Jamie is intrigued and decides to cover it on her show, her ratings raising, especially when J.P phones in live to her show. Ratings up and her aunt happy, Jaime's joy is short lived when she begins to experience strange goings on around her remote house the more she delves into the serial killings. Strange unexplained noises, half glimpsed shadowy figures, and the mystery caller who knows far more about Jaime than they should, all combine to make her start to question the path she has gone on. Her curiosity and reluctance to get the police involved, leads her down a path of mayhem and terror.

This started off feeling like a serial killer thriller. It seemed to be pointing towards the conclusion that Jamie would undoubtably become the killer's latest victim, due to her very much fitting the criteria of previous victims but not seeming to realise that. She begins the film having been forced to stop her podcasts due to the darkness that came from the deep research into various true crimes. The toll of that was exhausting so the pressure coming from her aunt is an obvious reason for her returning to true crime. In a way, this aunt plays the antagonist, manipulating and bullying the niece she claims to love. As the story progresses there is a hidden past hinted at for Jaime, she has an obvious dislike for law enforcement but no explanation for why she does. There comes to be feeling that Jaime isn't quite as sweet and innocent as she appears to be, but this in itself was more a subplot to the main more supernatural things going on. With increasing evidence that she herself is in danger, it seems this odd fact is used as an excuse for her not contacting the police.

The story has a gradual shift to a more supernatural horror, though this supernatural horror was never that scary, mainly revolving around her front door constantly knocking and then no one being there when she answers it. Aside from the very first view of the antagonist, the rest of the time it failed to leave much of an impression. The remote isolated location at the least adds to the peril you feel for her, but not much really happens with all the ghostly goings on. It all barrels along to a third act that truthfully I didn't see coming. Not a bad direction to go in, but the abrupt way it happens made it feel a more slow of a build-up would have prevented the jarring shift in focus.

Marrow had some genuinely creepy moments and it was easy to feel peril for the isolated young woman protagonist. The anticipation of the terror never really led to many effective supernatural moments, and I wish more had been done with the 'found footage' recordings of past victims that J.P frequently sends Jamie; that felt like a bit of a missed opportunity. Still, a decent horror and I appreciated the subverting of expectations. Scatena & Rosner Films are set to release Marrow on VOD and Digital on November 3rd..

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

Last week's blog output was a bit of a disaster. It's all well and good writing reviews in rough first, but when I don't actually get time to write them up and put them out, then its a bit of a pointless exercise. I currently have a lucky thirteen reviews waiting to be published, so I will need to pull my finger out and start doing more than just one post a day (if that). It is Halloween today, so happy Halloween and may all your dreams be nightmares! Onwards to the news...

Massacre Video TV have brought the complete and uncut version of controversial Murder-Set-Pieces to Roku. Coming from Nick Palumbo, this 2004 Las Vegas based horror is about a photographer who secretly has a 'murderous obsession'. Starring Sven Garrett, this also includes Tony Todd and Gunnar Hansen. This originally received a NC-17 rating in the USA, but was refused a home video classification by the British Board of Film Classification. According to the press release this was the least of the issues, with more than one film lab refusing to print the 35mm production, film festivals refusing to show it due to being too violent, and the police apparently being called over concerns the footage shown was real.

Found footage indie horror' Log 15 has arrived on Tubi, with it coming to BloodStream in the near future in  a vertical format intended for modern devices. The film follows a desperate woman who is attempting to save her mother from Alzheimer's disease. She documents her attempts to 'unlock the human mind', but finds that the footage she is recording is somehow rewriting and changing her own reality. Directed by Sebastian Dove and with a screenplay by Vincent J. DeVito, this stars Meg Moynahan, Jeanne Scurek, Stephen R. Miller, and Jeff Ronan. Log 15 can be seen on Tubi here, and comes to BloodStream on  November 1st.

Award-winning Groupchat premiered on October 2nd as a Found TV exclusive. The British found footage horror was written and directed by Dan Brownlie and follows a group of friends reuniting after a lengthy absence to play their role-playing game, 'Necromancer'. This new campaign starts to get more real than anyone expected. The press release describes this a 'screenlife'. I'm assuming that is a sub-genre of found footage that takes place entirely within screens? Groupchat was shot using five cameras simultaneously, with the characters isolated in separate locations, allowing the story to unfold in real time across their webcams.

Supernatural noir horror, Black Chariot is soon to come to cinemas across the UK. Filmed in black and white, the story for this one is about a botched crime that results in three men and a mysterious red case lost in woodland as they are pursued by both natural and supernatural elements. Confirmed screenings for this Lawrie Brewster directed and co-written (alongside Sarah Daly) horror sees it come to the Lumiére Cinema, Romford from 30th October to 5th November, the Peckhamplex in Peckham, London on 16th November, the Southport Bijou Cinema in Southport on 24th November, and a screening date to be announced for the Adam Smith Theatre in Fife, Scotland.

Folklore based horror, The Town That Takes comes to digital platforms on November 7th. Starring director Britt Bankhead (Insane Like Me), Miles Mussenden (Tulsa King), Grace Patterson (Slotherhouse), Mike Markoff (Hit Man), and Nico Tirozzi (The Penguin), this is about an army veteran who struggles to reconnect with his estranged son after his ex-wife dies. Their vacation intended to bring them closer together, sees them end up in a remote backwoods town that is suffering a series of violent murders.

Fright Tech Pictures have announced the world premiere of their new horror feature, It Awakens on Thursday, November 5th at 19:30 at Atlas Cinemas in Cleveland. Directed by Eddie Fright, It Awakens blends the underworld of organised crime with supernatural terror. A group of gangsters encounter ancient monsters, leading to surely a violent situation.

Horror film Undertone is now available to purchase on 4K UHD and Blu-ray at all major retailers. thanks to Visions Home Video. The film follows Evy (Nina Kiri), the host of a paranormal podcast. After she returns home to help care for her dying mother (Michelle Duquet) she falls into terror after receiving recordings from a married couple about unexplained noises they have heard in their home.

Cyberpunk action thriller, Cyber Protocol is due for a November 10th release from Studio Dome in North America. It takes place in a dystopian Los Angeles overrun by black marketeers, and follows a hacker (David Bianchi) who is plunged into danger after his neural-implant invention causes chaos. Hot on his trail is Detective Thompson (Mena Suvari). Cyber Protocol was directed by Yuri Alves, Christopher Folkens and Daniel J. Pico, from a screenplay by Bianchi and Pico.

Finally for today, Danny Trejo has joined the cast of indie horror comedy Stoned Inn as the voice of Meowchette. Coming from Different Day Pictures, this sees a stoner entering a contest that requires them to spend seven nights inside an alleged haunted house.

Cursed Waters (2026) - Horror Film Review

I've come to know what to expect from Mahal Empire horror films. A low budget look, a fantastical story and a giant and enthusiastic cast. Earlier this year was Alien Storm set in present day, and here we have Cursed Waters; a swashbuckling story of pirates in the 18th century directed and co-written by Adam Werth (Alien Storm)

In the mid 1800s, pirate Tiberius Shaw (John Wells - Devil's Knight, Arena Wars) has been captured by the American navy and put on trial, accused of the destruction of a naval ship and the death of its crew. The core story then takes place as flashback sequences that comes from the testimonies of various characters at the trial to reveal what actually happened. There had been a battle between a pirate ship and a naval vessel that resulted in the pirates being beaten. Their captain's last order is for his crew to abandon ship, they do so and wash up on a nearby uncharted island. Close on their heels are the navy, led by Lt. Commander Jacob Bridger (Greg Tally - Alien Storm, Arena Wars). He aims to find and capture the pirates, planning to kill all but one so as to make an example of them. Both groups soon discover the deserted island isn't quite so deserted. It is home to a strange, yet peaceful appearing cult who promise the newcomers sanctuary and great power should they join the cult. Elsewhere on the island, people from both sides realise there is something unseen stalking them, and snatching away people each night.

Telling such a grandiose story on a small budget made it impossible not to see the constraints of the ambition. You could never forget it was an indie film that was being watched. This can best be seen with the early scenes set out at sea that looked to have been filmed on a sound stage. VFX is used for cannon fire and explosions, as well as an early decapitation effect. Throughout the adventure there were lots of kills, mostly occurring during the frequent, fun, if slow paced sword fight battles. Swords all seemed to be swung very slowly at each other, but fights were still cool to watch. Each battle seemed to up the stakes and amount of fighters, so that by the end there is essentially a small war full of characters going on. Lots of people getting slashed and stabbed, but sound more often than not is used to suggest the kills, rather than visual spectacle.

As is the way with Mahal Empire films, the cast is gigantic here, featuring so many characters that it was hard to keep up with them all. The initial scenes set on the pirate ship looked critically at the slave trade, but once the pirates make it to land, this sub-plot fizzles out somewhat as bad and good characters alike are forced into a team-up of sorts. With pirates, navy seamen, cultists, and the townsfolk of the 'present day' sections, there were a bewildering amount of people. It was fun to spot some old regulars in the cast, including among them - Kyosuke Mukai (Attack of the Unknown, Bridge of the Doomed), Denny Nolan (Death Count, Night of the Tommyknockers), Robert LaSardo (Bloodthirst, Arena Wars), and Dawna Lee Heising (Alien Storm, The Job). A lot of the vast cast served purely as cannon fodder, and at times it felt it might have been better to spend more time developing a few of these as it was hard to really care about many of the victims. It was always fun to see so many characters getting their going out in a blaze of glory moment, even if that trope was overused. The weakest part of Cursed Waters were the cultists. This meek group needed more of a backstory, and the supernatural element they brought to the film needed to be more 'in your face' rather than alluded to. The lack of threat from the cultists and the island's dangers hindered some of the atmosphere. I enjoyed the scene with the monstrous sirens, but wish there had been more random monsters like that encountered. The story didn't have too many twists and turns along the path of its generic story, but it was still entertaining to watch.

Cursed Waters was an exciting indie swashbuckler that was only held back by not being able to realise completely its lofty ambitions. With plenty of sword fights and action, this delivered on the spectacle, but the horror elements were more slight than I would have preferred. This was decent escapism from the horrors of the real world and despite its flaws was a movie I enjoyed watching. Cursed Waters is now available on Amazon Prime Video.

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Obsession (2025) - Horror Film Review

Earlier this year a friend of mine saw the Curry Barker (Milk & Serial) written and directed Obsession at the cinema and suggested that I really needed to try and check it out. I never got around to it, but since then the film appears to have blown up, with me hearing about how good it is constantly from apparently the whole world. Knowing I would likely eventually get around to seeing it, I managed to avoid hearing anything at all about what the film was about. Seeing it to rent for a cheap price on Amazon Prime Video recently, I jumped at the chance to finally check it out, but I hadn't much of an idea of what to expect.

Bear (Michael Johnston) is a hopeless romantic, but also a huge coward when it comes to revealing his feelings. He secretly yearns for popular girl, Nikki (Inde Navarrette - Superman & Lois), who he works in a shop alongside, but he never seems to find the right time to admit to her how he feels. One day while buying her a present at a magic store, he spots something called 'One Wish Willow', a small wooden object that the packaging states can make one wish to come true to the person who snaps it in half. Obviously not believing this, Bear still picks it up out of curiosity. Later that day after Bear once again chickens out of telling Nikki his feelings, Bear in frustration pulls out the One Wish Willow and snaps it in half, wishing that Nikki would fall madly in love with him. The results appear almost instantly, with Nikki suddenly appearing to have strong feelings for the man. Her abrupt change in attitude alarms Bear, who rather than think it was to do with his wish he made, instead thinks she is having some type of psychotic break that she will snap out of. As the days pass her behaviour becomes increasingly creepy and psychotic. Bear is scared of her, and knows she is under some type of love spell, but decides to try and take advantage of her new obsession of him, and make his dream relationship come true.

Knowing nothing about this, I assumed this was going to be a non-supernatural thriller about a crazed stalker. Instead, this uses the old idea of a love spell that in a monkey's paw kind of way goes horribly wrong for the person using the spell. I've never really liked the idea of a love spell, likely pointing back to an episode of a horror anthology show I caught as a child that freaked me out. Here, the idea is expanded upon, really looking into what this mindless devotion to one person causes for both the victim and the person who caused it. Nikki is essentially possessed by the wish, her behaviour not her own, and forced to watch powerless from within her body at the horror of what was happening to her. That idea gave strong Get Out vibes. There were some fun scenes where the real Nikki is implied to be fighting to regain control of herself, which brings to the forefront that everything that is happening to her, the real Nikki is well aware of. The wish version of Nikki is wildly possessive of Bear, intensely obsessed with him. Starting off with gaslighting, her behaviour leads to self-destructive moments, and guilt tripping. Her every action intended to play on the protagonists emotions and get it so that he cannot be without her. Bear is a coward of a protagonist, even after he realises things really are not right, he remains convinced her can work out how to make his selfish wish work for him. The real obsession in the film is Bear's perceived feelings for Nikki. If it was real love then he wouldn't continue to treat her as he does, knowing it isn't the real her that is acting so extreme. Of course the core messed up relationship is all an analogy for toxic relationships. The type where people stay together despite being a bad match, their independency leading to constant arguments and manipulative behaviour when the best thing would be to just end things. Nikki is a terrifying force, but she is a victim here, with Bear deserving everything that happens to him personally.

Most of the horror comes from Navarrette's unhinged performance where obsession leads to pure terror. Her freakish behaviour is constantly alarming, her actions unpredictable, and her constant gaslighting bewildering. The film goes to lengths to show she literally can't exist when Bear is not around. One memorable scene has her literally freezing in place when Bear walks out the apartment they are in, until hours later he returns to find her still stood where he left her, rictus grin on her face, and covered in her own bodily fluids. She often felt like a malfunctioning android, resetting herself when one line of coercing fails to work, mood changing on a dime. In one scene she literally starts walking backwards as she 'resets' herself to try a different avenue of attack. Special effects here could be quite brutal with scenes of self inflicted damage, and a couple of visually effective deaths, the camera not shying away from showing the full violence on screen.

At its core, this 'be careful what you wish for' type story doesn't really do much to differentiate from others of its type. It does go to more extreme lengths, and its core message about toxic relationships was easy to parse. Obsession was a well made horror and one that I think will resonate with a lot of people.

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Dr. Fright's Halloween Nights Presents Terror Trials (2026) - Horror Scare Maze Review

It is the fourth consecutive year of going to Dr. Fright's Halloween Nights scare maze, and as ever I was looking forward to it. With my best friend in tow we did the perilous ten minute drive to where it was located. As in usual fashion, the maze is split up into seven different sections with food areas at the halfway point and at the end. We had hoped by going midweek it wouldn't be so busy, but that turned out not to be the case. Even with a high volume of people the queue times were not excessive. By now it is all a known quantity, the usual anxiety of waiting in line for the start wasn't there, instead I was just tired from a long day at work. I really liked the presentation for this year, with the maze set out as if it was taking place in an institute that was testing different fears on its test subjects.

The first maze was 'Black Death' which was designed to feel like a medieval village, with disease as its fear focus. It didn't begin well for me, immediately struggling to work out where to go due to the maze beginning in a different direction to usual. I enjoyed the layout of this, with features such as the entrance to a barn and a giant bonfire prop that you walked around. There were the usual hatches in the walls and ceilings that performers would burst out of screaming, and as usual that didn't leave much of an impression due to expecting that to happen. An issue with this first maze was that we quickly caught up with the group in front of us, while the group after us were hot on our heels, which took away from the immersion. 
Next was 'Maid to Kill' with its fear type being A.I. This was something new, with the maze winding its way through a robotics factory. Rooms had robots (dummies) in various states of construction and it all looked neat. I loved the glowing red eyes on the finished versions of the robots, and the room where the robots were packaged in giant Chucky style boxes was a fun inclusion. I felt a bit bad for the performers in this part as no amount of make-up were going to have them resemble the look of the dummies, so they stood out like a sore thumb, incapable of appearing scary.

'Lights Out' followed this (revolving around the fear of the dark), and was set in an old hotel that used to be a nunnery. This of course meant the Dr. Fright old favourites the demonic nuns were out in full force. Lots of this maze were unsurprisingly dark, it would have terrified me as a child scared of the dark. I lost count of the amount of nuns bursting out of hatches screaming "sinner!" at me, it's like they know me!

Another returning favourite were the Texas Chainsaw inspired cannibals, this time within 'Blood Bayou' (fear of chainsaws). Last year I had an embarrassing time when I got stuffed in a walk-in slow cooker by a wall of a man, so I was anxious for reasons other than fear. This maze turned out to be one of my favourites, the performers were over the top with funny dialogue, and it was also the maze where I began to jump at the performers. People can burst out of hatches to their hearts content and it won't faze me, but rounding a corner and almost walking into a performer lurking there made me jump no end of times. There was use of lighting and smoke machines to simulate walking through waist-high water, which also led to more scares as performers could hide in the smoke and then suddenly stand up to cause fright. The chainsaws didn't disappoint here, with one performer who chased us around an outdoors  haybale section, and another who burst out a hatch and blocked the route with his chainsaw, which in the dark looked very effective. After a drink and some candy floss at the halfway chill zone, we headed into the second half of the mazes.

'Trick or Treat Street' (fear of boogeymen) was the traditional post-halfway maze that was based around famous movie maniacs. Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees were joined by possible first appearances of Art the clown and the bad guy from The Black Phone. At least it was the first time I had seen those there. There was a neat room based on The Exorcist complete with green vomit speckled drapes, and a cool room based on Scream, plenty of dummies of Ghostface and plenty of glowing masks on the walls.
Penultimate maze was another new feeling one, and was very memorable due to its unique design. 'The Terror Below' was linked with claustrophobia and took place within a submarine. There was lots of black plastic piping everywhere, causing me to gently bang my head more than once. The route was narrow and also had low ceilings, causing me to be almost bent double at times. A good maze and my second favourite of them all this year. 
Last as always were the evil clowns, this time in a maze called 'Killer Clowns Super Happy Funworld' which was set around an abandoned amusement centre. In past years the clown maze has felt almost like a night club, with loud banging music and lasers shooting bright lights everywhere. The music was still here, but it had more of a dour feel to it, the club vibe replaced with plenty of different coloured streamers. Very dark, especially the strobe lighting section, and the clowns were not particularly creepy, in fact the opposite, with one helping me find my way when I got lost!

Out of the maze we then had our tradition of a cheeseburger and donuts, and I also brought my annual Dr Fright T-shirt. This end was only slightly affected by an irritating giant clown who was being very loud and distracting. Dr. Fright's Halloween Nights Presents Terror Trials was a fun, if unsurprising journey, but one I of course enjoyed, and as always, it being so close to my home is a real plus.

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Trick and Treats (2026) - Horror Film Review

All it took was for me to hear Malcolm McDowell (Halloween, A Clockwork Orange) was in the Eric Hector written and directed horror - Trick and Treats, for me to know I had to check it out. He is one of my favourite actors after all. I soon learned that he is here in voice only, but with a voice so fantastic to hear, this was still sweet music to my rotted ears.

In this take on the apparently classic nursery rhyme 'Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater', David (Emmanuel Carter - Noggin Knows), his girlfriend Kelly (Victorya Brandart - New Year's Absolution), and Laura (Carmen Moreno) have headed to the middle of nowhere in order to pick up their friend, Ashley (Loren Ledesma) from her rural home. The group are dressed in Halloween costumes, with the intention being to head to the city to head to a Halloween party. While driving down a long dusty country road, Ashley suddenly thinks she can see a little girl in the middle of the road, her sudden panic causing David to drive into a ditch where the car promptly gets completely stuck. With no phone signal, they decide to walk back to a remote bar they drove past, hoping to be able to get assistance. Unluckily for them, the bar is owned by a biker gang who are excited to see three girls in skimpy attire appearing. David's anger at their behaviour leads to one of the members losing patience and begin beating David, leading to his death. Realising they now can't allow the girls to leave, they are taken hostage, planning to first have some fun with them, and then killing them. It is around this point that Ashley begins to hear a malevolent voice in her head that appears to be originating from an old carved pumpkin bucket on the bar top. The voice promises that if Ashley follows its instructions exactly, then her and her friends might get to survive the ordeal they find themselves in. From the prologue, the viewer knows this voice belongs to a demonic entity that has fused with the pumpkin. Not sure if she can trust this voice that introduces itself as Trick (voiced by McDowell), she has no choice but to trust in it, hoping it will give her the opportunity to turn the tables on her attackers.

I initially thought McDowell would have a small role here, and while it's true that he is not literally in the movie, he got a Hell of a lot more dialogue than I expected. This horror has a playful side that is shown best with Trick. His evil tone, and his inappropriate jokes show the joy he is getting out the situation. He professes to want to help Ashley but plainly gets pleasure from all the bad stuff happening on both sides. He does help Ashley, but never entirely in the way it seems he would. With only its voice as its weapon, and that voice only able to be heard by Ashley, he makes for a strangely compelling villain, cerebral rather than the centre of the film's attention. The woman spends much of the movie wondering if she has gone crazy, this could have been fun to explore, but for the viewer, we already know from the prologue and the weird subplot of a pastor desperate to get his hands on the pumpkin (Gary Busey - Under Siege), that it is indeed a demonic pumpkin talking to her. On the side of the good guys, much of the travelling group only really existed to serve as victims. None of these characters, aside from Ashley, have much character development at all. She has some satisfying scenes and despite some missteps wasn't a terrible lead. On the bad side, the evil bikers were also hit and miss. Many of them looked the part rather than having much to them, but it was neat spotting Gregory Blair (Craving, Garden Party Massacre) among them. The highlight was the psychotic Mark (Jude Roche); a total crazy and intimidating force who brought menace and unpredictability to his scenes.

There was plenty of blood here, even if some scenes the blood appeared to be more purple than red. There were also a decent amount of deaths, all fairly similar in look, and never being special effects filled moments, but they worked. The bikers bark seemed worse than their bite, with them threatening more than ever doing much to the girls (for the most part anyway). Throughout the film there was plenty of VFX work that always looked out of place. Some of this can be excused away by it being used to show magic, but when these effects affected on screen characters it looked less good.
I enjoyed the fairy-tale type fantastical score going on, especially when used for the fun flashback sequences that showed Trick in earlier situations prior to the film. It all leads up to an ending that felt very appropriate for a trickster demon, I liked how this went.

McDowell made this film, I could listen to him talk all day long and not get bored. I did enjoy the story, even if events rarely got as extreme as they threatened to, and even though the kills were not the most visually detailed ones. Trick and Treats came to UK digital on 19th October thanks to Miracle Media.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Saturday 24th October

With many months this year being relatively quiet for me on my blog, Halloween as always has proven to be a time much more busy. This past week alone I have received 8 different requests for film reviews. It has caused me to take a look at my output, which admittedly has not been the best this year. With that in mind, my needlessly rigid output structure is being upheaved, and there shall be the occasional weekend post. The first of these is a small trilogy of news stories.

Last year I watched the entertaining crazed family slasher Brute 1976 and stated at the end that a sequel was in the works. That sequel has now been made and has been acquired by Cinephobia Releasing. It is set to have its world premiere at Tubi FrightFest Halloween on October 31st. Titled Brute 1986, this sequel unsurprisingly picks up ten years after the events of the previous The Texas Chainsaw Massacre inspired horror. The film sees a glam metal band who have travelled to an abandoned Western town to film their latest music video. Unluckily for them, the blood thirsty Birdy family have set up a home nearby, and are looking for fresh kills. Dazelle Yvette, Sarah French, and Gigi Gustin reprise their roles from the first film, and they are joined by Bill Kaulitz, Pancho Moler (3 From Hell), Sarah Kaplan (Slasher.com), Heather Grace Hancock and Lew Temple (The Devil's Rejects).

The excellently titled Demon Queen Pinball Machine has its world premiere at Tampa Theatre's 31 Days of Horror on October 29th. In this supernatural comedy-horror, two video-store employees are tasked with delivering an antique pinball machine to a mysterious customer, unaware that the cabinet is possessed by a revenge fuelled spirit. Once the machine is plugged in chaos ensures. Shot entirely on location in Tampa, this comes from Joe Davison and stars Mike Ferguson, Davison, Elissa Dowling, Renee Daw, and Francesco S. Viola.

Finally for today, coming soon from The Movie Agency is Italian sci-fi thriller, Droid House. Directed by Leonardo Barone, this sees a crew of thieves who find themselves trapped by a sinister self-aware A.I security system when they attempt to burgle a house. The serial killer obsessed A.I has nothing but bad intentions planned for its unwelcome captives.

Remembrance (2026) - Thriller Film Review

Written and co-directed by James Denton (alongside Richard Oakes), Remembrance is a psychological thriller about a woman who has recently escaped from a kidnapping incident. At its core was a central twist that becomes integral to the path of the story.

Grace (Alyssa Haymor) has been kidnapped and is kept chained up in the basement of her assailant. One day she manages to pick the lock on her chains and escape her captivity, fleeing through woodland until she ends up at a nearby town and promptly falls into a week long coma. When she awakens she discovers she has amnesia and barely able to recall anything about her kidnapping, aside from that she was captive for about a week. Grace is then placed into witness protection in a remote rural house under the care of two detectives investigating her case, Amanda (Saffron Spearman) and Isaac (Denton). They hope that when her memory recovers she will be able to help them identify her kidnapper. As the two detectives investigate, Amanda begins to suspect Grace may be not telling the truth due to no evidence she had ever been kidnapped, while Isaac, ever empathetic, begins to get a little too close to the woman.

Split into four parts, this indie thriller does a lot with barely any characters. The disjointed and frantic editing during Grace's prologue escape, as well as her many confused recollections were wonderfully done. It was a neat choice to have her kidnapper literally be faceless in her flashbacks, representing her lost memory of what they looked like. It made those sections the most pure horror sections of the film. Over those four acts the story gets pieced together bit by bit and later sections focus more on Isaac. He was a fun character as he acted like the world's most unprofessional detective. His bad behaviour includes sleeping with his boss, smoking like a chimney at his work place, swearing and throwing things while around Grace, and taking far too much of a personal interest in the woman and her situation.

With the kidnapping confined to patchy flashbacks, the core story becomes much more restrained and peril-free, at least up until the genuinely thrilling finale. There are lots of scenes of characters sat around drinking coffee. I was indeed caught up in the mystery of what had happened, but the lack of many characters reduced the surprise when the culprit is finally discovered, as scene stealing a presence as they were. The twist was unexpected, but it didn't really excite me either, I did appreciate the way it played into the epilogue.
Make-up effects were good throughout, with Grace looking suitably bloody and beaten, and the few action scenes looked great on camera.

I did like Remembrance as simple as it was. Not a great film, but it was still solid, had a easy to like protagonist and most importantly, was a real distraction from the horrors of the real world for 90 minutes. Remembrance came to UK digital on 19th October from Reel2ReelFilms.

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The Lost Causers (2026) - Horror Film Review

I try and avoid the synopsis for any type of film I receive for review as I feel a film works better when you are going into it cold. Occasionally this leads to me accepting screeners that are a bad fit for this horror based site. Such seemed to be the case for the James Person and Gordon Price (Crawford Road) co-directed and co-written thriller; The Lost Causers. You could argue this was horror of a more realistic type, but much of this was a drama at its core. That is except for one completely bonkers subplot that felt like it was taken from a different movie entirely.

Carl Richmond (Price) is a proud member of 'The Brotherhood' - a far right organisation that as is the way, hates blacks and LGBTQ people. When he discovers his beloved daughter is dating a black man, Carl is less than happy. Then, after his daughter is purposely run over while protesting a white supremist march, Carl blames her boyfriend for her being there, hunting him down and strangling the young man to death. Serving only a two year prison sentence, he soon finds himself back out, though under the watchful gaze of his parole officer James Day (Person), a black man who has little sympathy for Carl and who warns him the second he steps out of line, that he will get him sent back to prison. Staying away from his group is something Carl cannot do, not only living with his brother who is also a member, but being surrounded by members of the group who believe Carl still owe them some favours. Keeping his bigoted views, prison and what happened to his daughter has at least made the man realise that he needs to put his violent past behind him. The Brotherhood still have use of him however, so he might not get a choice in the matter.

The majority of The Lost Causers is a drama, taking a look at America back in 2017, and the division that was growing then that has led to the modern day where it seems from an outsiders perspective the country is circling the drain. Real footage is used here, with news clips from protests and rallies in 2017 effortlessly edited into the story. This even includes a clip of alleged paedophile, rapist and Russian asset; Donald Trump (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York). The inclusions of things like that felt quite refreshing when many films, especially horrors, tend to try and avoid real world goings on. Carl is the protagonist here, as unlikeable as he is. His views are certainly extreme and hard to identify with, but he was never portrayed as a complete monster. The true antagonist felt like The Brotherhood itself, who have deep ties into the judiciary system. I thought this low budget drama was definitely interesting but not fitting the type of movie I usually review. That is when that out-there subplot appears, one that includes a ghost skeleton!

It was slightly hinted at within the first half of the movie, mainly with murders of crows with glowing red eyes. These moments were so few and far between that I didn't really pay them any attention. Then roughly halfway through the film, a man is using his metal detector when he uncovers the skeletal remains of a civil war soldier. This thing then comes to life, walking over to the man, then turning into smoke and possessing him! Seemingly he takes on the person's memories as he is able to drive a car and operate modern weapons, this movie monster goes on a path of vengeance, going up against Carl's enemies he had made since leaving jail. The possessed man really hams it up, permanently manically grinning, and acting very over the top. His subplot only takes up around 10 minutes of the rest of the film, and his scenes have no bearing on the rest of the story going on. It was a guilty pleasure to watch, even if the scenes felt completely unrelated to the more grounded story, almost felt like it was a different film entirely. Whether the character was actually possessed by the spirit of the 'Old South' or not, it made for a memorable bit of the film.

The Lost Causers was different to the types of film I usually watch. I did think its story was relevant, and the melding of reality and fiction something fresh, but that wild subplot did stand out like a sore thumb.

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Incomplete Chairs (2025) - Horror Film Review

"I will then take your bones, still alive and in great pain, and make them into a chair. I will call it 'my screaming chair'. Every day I will sit in it and listen to you scream." So says the zombie ghost pirate Le Chuck in the classic point and click video game; Le Chuck's Revenge: Monkey Island 2. I couldn't help but think of that quote watching the Kenichi Ugana directed and co-written twisted Japanese horror, Incomplete Chairs. This blends elements of torture porn, body horror and psycho thrillers into one demented and not structurally sound whole.

Shinsuke Kujo (Ryu Ichinose) is a much sought after master chair craftsman, someone who receives no end of job applicants from those hoping to study under him at his apartment based workshop, and no end of potential customers hoping to gain one of his exclusive chairs. At least on the surface that is what Kujo is, but unknown to all, the man hides a dark secret. His life's work is to create a special chair, created exclusively from human body parts. Thanks to his fame, he has a seemingly endless supply of unknowing donators...

Incomplete Chairs was both a very odd and gory horror. Kujo plays the part of the film's anti-hero protagonist. He has most of the screen time, though there are other characters with their own sub-plots going on, notably Natsuko (Ryôka Ôshima) - a scout for a chair company who has an intense fascination with craftsman, willing to look past their eccentricities and obsessions, and admire their complete devotion to their work. Kujo is a sloppy worker, body parts strewn carelessly about his small plastic sheeting covered apartment. He seems uncaring enough that he barely wipes blood away from previous victims, with at least one bloody handprint out on full display for any visitors. That element is where some of the dark humour comes into play. Visitors are so thankful to be with him that they fail to notice any of these alarming details hidden in plain sight. The insanity of Kujo is often mistaken for obsession with his work, but the man is obviously crazy, and barely does anything to hide this, making for one of the recurring black comedy beats. The humour also comes from the man's obvious lack of any real skills. Throughout Incomplete Chairs he is shown playing around with body chairs as he tries to plan his dream chair, but obviously has no idea what he is doing.
Much of the movie felt like one long slow paced montage sequence. There are countless scenes of him receiving people into his apartment and inevitably killing them. Often by suddenly grabbing a mallet and bashing their skulls in!

There is a high body count and some gruesome death scenes. Body parts are everywhere, from severed heads and feet, to torso skin and flesh from hands on hangers to dry. Kujo is often covered head to toe in blood, while his victims have such pleasantries inflicted on them such as being nailed to chairs, and a power drill to the eye. Grim scenes, but they never outstay their welcome, taking place in a relatively short span of time before moving on to the next victim.
The film wasn't without its faults, especially with regards to the plot that is only able to unfold as it does thanks to some very unrealistic actions of the supporting cast that had me stupefied at their bad choices. The film doesn't take itself completely seriously, but it still felt strange that not one person comes to his apartment investigating missing persons. It led to an American Psycho type feel of his crimes being mainly in his own mind, but unlike that film, there wasn't any evidence to support that here. Kujo seems like an invisible presence, even when walking through crowded streets while covered in blood no one seems to notice.

Incomplete Chairs was a twisted horror that benefitted  by its black humour. The increasingly high level of suspension of disbelief did get in the way of my enjoyment and broke the immersion somewhat. Regardless, this was a good horror and something that stuck around in my mind for a bit afterwards. Incomplete Chairs premiered exclusively on BloodStream on October 15th and is available in both original Japanese and English-dubbed versions.

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