Luna Abyss (2026) - Sci-fi Horror Video Game Review (Xbox Series X)

I almost decided I wasn't going to review action game, Luna Abyss. A weird meld of sci-fi and horror taking place in an even weirder location. I haven't actually heard anyone talking about the game though, myself, I just stumbled across it on Xbox Game Pass. This meant I felt compelled to write a review in appreciation for the hours spent there. While flawed, this was still something that had something to it. My synopsis is based on what I believe was going on, shall try and keep spoilers to a minimum.

A couple of hundred years ago, a second moon suddenly appeared in the space around Earth. This moon was red, and upon being explored, was discovered to have a seemingly endless abyss going all the way down through it. The arrival of a second moon led to problems on Earth, with the red moon's gravity affecting the planet. With this disruption, some people decided to travel to the new moon and form a colony there; mining the abyss for the valuable resources contained within. Others were practitioners of a new religion who believed God was at the bottom of the abyss, and so travelled to the moon to be closer. Eventually, enough people went there that a city was formed. All was fine until one day a strange rot began to emerge from the depths of the abyss, anyone caught by this rot transformed into a mindless monster. After all had fled or been taken by this rot, the city was abandoned, and in present day, the moon is used purely as a penal colony. People born with red eyes on Earth are rounded up and sent away, as they are seen as being evil. It turns out these red eyes allow the humans to remotely pilot artificial constructs using their mind. This is put to effect in the abyss, were constructs are sent to scavenge for resources.
You play as Fawkes; a teenage girl imprisoned on the moon, she is told by an A.I construct; Aylin, that she has been chosen by an all powerful being named the 'All-Father' to use her red eye power to search the abyss for essential items.

The chaotic and sprawling world reminded me of Blame! The structures, while artificial looking, seem to spread on for infinity. Stone staircases, pipes, vents, and vast rooms make up the endless structure, so gargantuan that it doesn't seem possible that it was ever man-made. The signs of human settlements within the abyss gave some nice Bioshock vibes, that is reinforced with the many audio diaries scattered around the levels, buoyed up by lots of environmental storytelling. Outside of a handful of locations though, the meat of the game is abstract constructs devoid of life. With you travelling around the abyss, you never really get a good feel for the layout of it. Due to this, it never felt like too much of a 'lived-in' location, more like a collection of levels connected by pipe networks.

Luna Abyss is a first person adventure game that is a mix of shooting and platforming. There are also friendly characters you can interact with, though outside of hidden rooms, there are no side quests to be found. Over the course of the roughly 12 hour game, you get access to four sci-fi guns. These are essentially an assault rifle, shotgun, sniper, and rocket launcher disguised as something far fancier. Rather than ammo, the guns work on a cooldown timer and can overheat. In addition to using these to kill enemies (using a lovely Metroid Prime style lock-on ability), the guns can be used to assist with the platforming. The shotgun can be used to destroy blue forcefields, the sniper for purple ones, the rocket launcher can fire multiple rockets at the same time to hit switches. Enemies for the most part are made up of floating orbs of various types, and demonic humanoid creatures. There are a bunch of epic feeling boss battles against huge constructs, which is when a more 'bullet Hell' type of gameplay begins. As fun as the bosses were, they all take place in a formulaic way, with circular battle arenas for each one.

The meat of the game is platforming, the abyss is very vast in size, with Fawkes traversing this world with a combination of double jumps, boosts and the handy ability to take zero fall damage (you fall from some dizzying heights here). There was a steady stream of new abilities to help with the platforming, such as forming platforms out of ice, a grapple beam, and most fun - unlocking the ability to possess specific constructs to move around the levels. One of these has you on a train track, another allows you to magnetically stick to floating platforms, and one puts you inside of a heavily armed killbot. 

The look and feel of the game world is chunky, with environments feeling thick with substance. This allowed for a cohesive stitching together.
Voice work was a highlight, with many of the accents coming out of the weird constructs being regional British ones. Never was not strange to see a grotesque construct speaking with a soft northern accent! As a whole, I thought the voice acting was great.
There was a decent story here, with plenty of flashback cutscenes to try and explain vaguely what has been going on. Much of the story is revealed via audio diaries and notes however.

Excellent controls, quality voice acting, and a unique setting with an occasional U.K feel to it. I wish there had been more of a lean into Bioshock style human locations, as many of the levels here are more alien and remote in feel, while I found the lived-in areas to be a lot more interesting. Split between platforming and shooting, there wasn't too much variation throughout this, but it was good for what it was. Maybe missing something to really feel essential, Luna Abyss still worked at creating a compelling game world.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for 7th July 2026

We are deep in summer, and here in the U.K, my rotted corpse has somehow survived the first heat-wave. Enjoying a week of respite but I have heard rumour a second heat-wave is approaching. At the time this post goes up, well, it may already be here! The Rotting Zombie HQ relies on blu-tac a lot, it is in a sorry state with so many posters having came down due to the heat drying out the tac! Even had glue melt off the shelving in my front room, causing the shelf to fall off the wall! Onwards to a trilogy of terror plucked from the very bottom of my bloody news sack.

Back in May, indie horror film Susurrus was released by Ten-Headed Skeleton, who also wrote, directed and produced it. The subject matter for this movie was the 'Backrooms', something that I have only recently become aware of, and have found it all a fascinating place for horror. The synopsis has a group of woman who all find themselves trapped in the endless backrooms, all having been transported there when walking through doorways. The press release mentions both Cube and The Twilight Zone episode 'Five Characters in Search of an Exit', so of course that sounded appealing. Susurrus is available to watch online now.

The final chapter in the Corn Zombies saga; Revenge of the Corn Zombies, currently has a crowd funding campaign running. This third film, taking place six years after the initial outbreak, has survivors hiding out in an abandoned sanatorium. Directed by Steve Hermann, with SFX makeup by Beth Metcalf and Marcus Koch, and coming from Acrostar Productions the crowd funding page can be found here.

Finally for today, Frank Palangi's Tubi horror anthology; At Death's Door is now crowdfunding on GoFundMe for a sequel. The original anthology was adapted from Christopher Pelton's short story collection - Toe in the Water, I'm guessing this sequel will also follow suite. Production on At Death's Door 2 has officially commenced, with the first segment already completed. Check out the campaign page, here.

Birdcall (2026) - Short Horror Film Review

Birdcall is a fifteen minute short zombie(ish) film that tries its best to hide its indie budget. Directed by Justin Calandriello, and written by Halle Kott, the individual parts of this all work, but would it flow together in a satisfying manner?

The intro (bizarrely told via a puppet show), introduces us to the world of Birdcall. An avian disease has made the jump to humans, the disease causing victims to first rot, before making them become homicidally violent, and then finally mutating them into a new form. Scientist Jon (Sam Beaton) and his wife, Rosie (Vassiliki Gicopoulos) have travelled to a remote cabin. Rosie believes it is due to her insulting a superior of Jon's back at the facility that they have been sent away from the main facility, but unknown to her, Jon is infected, and has travelled to the cabin in order to test out a cure he has been working on.

There were a mix of styles here that meant at points the short didn't flow too smoothly. I liked the weird intro section, an easy and effective way to bring viewers up to speed on the film world. The whole short takes place inside the cabin location, the unnerving sounds outside indicating they are trapped here. The two characters are the focus of this short, and at times they revert to found footage moments where they leave video diaries. Jon was very arrogant, and him and Rosie's marriage is explored via dialogue indicating she is with him and his people for protection, making her initially quite a submissive character.

The plot goes as expected, some nice make-up to sell Jon's obviously increasingly rotting body. The constant monster calls from outside added atmosphere, though some of the sound effects did sound a little generic. The cabin was a decent location, but the side plots of what Jon and Rosie are doing did feel a little sporadic. 

Birdcall does a lot with a little, much of the horror implied rather than shown. The core-story wasn't something unique, though the set-up made for a little change. This was a good enough entry in this type of single location infection horror. Birdcall has its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival as part of the Official Selection of the Weekend Fantastique du Cinéma Québécois on July 31st.

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Breach of the Soul (2026) by Richard T. Wilson - Horror Novel Review

When I heard that the author of the Halloween Girl graphic novel series was releasing another book, I was of course interested to check it out. To my surprise, Breach of the Soul turned out not to be a graphic novel, but was instead a full blown novel set within the Halloween Girl universe. Skimming press releases once again led to surprise and delight. My question was; would a novel be able to do justice to the moral and magical world without the use of art to sell its ideas? For transparency, I was quoted not once, not twice, but three times at the back of the book about Wilson's prior works in the series.

The novel, over 198 pages, is split into two interconnected stories. The first of these is the 80 page long 'Part 1 - Julie and the Devils'. Here, a teenage runaway - Julie ends up in the woodland home of an evil witch. Luckily for her, there is a friendly ghost there to help her escape. She then learns that the witch is part of a Satanic cult who intend to bring ruin to the town Julie lives in.
'Part 2 - Fallen Masks' then takes place a little while later in the nearby town of Crystal Springs, where in a large graveyard, a certain teenage ghost - Charlotte, lives, alongside her much older friend Poe. They sense a darkness spreading over their town, with it felt that something evil must be responsible for causing the mild townsfolk to become embittered and lose their empathy for their fellow man. In the midst of the change, a killer emerges, determined to punish those he believes to be impure.

Breach of the Soul was such an easy book to read. The clear and simple words and fable-like layout of the story me getting through the breezy novel like a hot knife through butter. To begin with, I thought maybe this was more geared towards a teenage audience, but with plenty of swearing and some scenes of bloody terror, this wasn't actually the case. The two stories were very inter-linked, with the same characters reappearing in both. The stories also did feel quite separate, each one with its own adventure. Wilson's trademark 'heart' is on show in these stories. A universe where Heaven and Hell do actually exist in the afterlife. The heroes here aren't vengeance filled with hate towards their enemies, instead they do what they need to for the betterment of the innocent; acting both noble and selfless. Topics here in a roundabout way cover real life things that from an outsiders perspective have made America seem like it is in a death-spiral with itself. Covid and how people acted during it is mentioned, and more specifically it speaks of political divisions that have led people's relationships with each other fraying. It is nice in the Halloween Girl universe that this is able to be attributed to be literally caused by evil forces, and so can be fixed more easily than reality.

Julie, despite some bad judgements (she is just a teen after all), was a protagonist easy to like, and easy to root for. Like the graphic novels, Charlotte, Poe, and Alma were really likeable - nice characters full of kindness and understanding. These characters were the perfect foil to the evil of the Satanists and witch McKenna.

The book flew along at a fast pace, well written to the point that in my minds eye, I could see these events playing out. This may be a horror, but is one that keeps a positive outlook on mankind. Dark things do happen during the events of the book, but it never felt like good wasn't going to triumph over evil.

Breach of the Soul was a lovely read from start to finish. The story told effectively, the returning characters translated into purely words in a natural and entertaining way. I really enjoyed reading this. Breach of the Soul released on June 3rd.

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Fathers (2026) - Thriller Film Review

It was nice to see upon starting thriller, Fathers, that it was written and directed by Harley Wallen (Final Recovery, Beneath Us All, Ash and Bone), he has made some enjoyable films in the past. The mystery of the story for this one really drew me in, I just hoped it would all get tied together in a satisfying and cohesive bow.

Natalie (Kaiti Wallen - Final Recovery, Beneath Us All) is found one day lost and confused in the woods. It turns out she is the same person who was abducted outside her home as a child fifteen years previously. Unfortunately for her, she has lost her memory, and so is unable to help the police with finding where she had been and who she had been with all that time. Through a series of flashbacks, we see her under the care of a paranoid man claiming to be her real father (Harley Wallen). He has convinced Natalie that Calvin (Jerry Hayes - Final Recovery, Beneath Us All), the man she thought to be her actual father, is evil and has sent people out into the world to find and abduct her. In the present, unable to recall much more than fragments of memory, Natalie struggles to identify what is fact and what is fiction.

The film follows a back and forth structure between past and present over its near 100 minute runtime. The actress playing young Natalie (Emilia Wallen - Beneath Us All) was excellent in her role; a curious and kind child who was easy to like. Surprisingly, the abductor also presented himself well for the most part. Thankfully, this man believes himself to be the girl's father, and so there is no sexual or physical threat from him. The moments of action with him were effective, though the use of a red tint to indicate when he has lost control was an odd choice. I didn't like the present day Natalie. I get she is troubled and upset, but the permanent scowl on her face like she is smelling something bad, didn't endear me to the character.

I may not have been too keen on the protagonist in present day, but I was still very interested to piece together the pieces of the puzzle that made up the story, to see where things would end up. Sadly however, Fathers fizzles out rather than sticks the landing. It isn't an exaggeration to say the film literally cuts to credits mid-flow, leaving unresolved plot lines and a feeling of deep dissatisfaction. When seeing this, I exclaimed out loud "What the Hell!?", such was my surprise at the abrupt finish.  

I loved the back and forth between past and present, how clues as to what might be going on are drip-fed to the viewer. Scenes of peril were few and far between, but they worked and looked effective (outside of the red tint). A minimal use of special effects, but they did the job adequately. More than anything, it was the story that kept me hooked, even if it did lead to that unfortunate end. Fathers was a decent thriller, that was held back from being an essential watch due to a couple of smallish issues. 

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

It isn't an exaggeration to say I have been taking a casual approach to my blog these past few months. Being back working full time in a day job has led to a struggle at finding a work/blog balance. With my health on the way to being rosy (a persistent back issue has plagued me these past few months) -  onwards to the news once again!

Deadlocked: Dad of the Dead is a horror-comedy from writer/director Casey Jackson, to stream exclusively on Screamify from July 1st. Taking place entirely in a public restroom (bringing to mind Stalled), this 84 minute movie has an accountant and his daughter trapped in the place, alongside a bunch of strangers, after a zombie outbreak occurs.

Alien Storm (not the classic Megadrive/Genesis video game)is debuting on July 21st, coming from Mahal Empire. The film is about a rich businessman who is forced to flee, along with his guests, into his high-tech secret bunker when a strange fog spreads over his estate. They soon find they are not alone, with an alien presence inside the compound. 

Autonomous is a vertically shot horror thriller series that takes place entirely inside a self-driving car. This sixteen episode show was designed specifically to be viewed on mobile. Directed by Kyle Valle and starring Erin Áine and Domenic Jungling, this sees a man trapped inside a self-driving car that refuses to change its route. Autonomous is available to stream now on Screamify.

The Mortuary Assistant is a new demonic possession film that is a Shudder Original. Based on the video game of the same name, this comes to Blu-ray, DVD, and digital on 20th July thanks to Acorn Media International. Directed by Jeremiah Kipp (Slapface), this follows Rebecca (Willa Holland - Arrow), a new mortician working the night shift, who discovers a demonic entity has latched onto her.

Sounding very interesting, I Hate Found Footage is a blend of found footage, horror, comedy, and puppets! It follows two roommates who head into the woods to make their own found footage movie. The horror doesn't come from the puppets (the protagonists are these), but still sounds like something unique. This comes from Michael Rock and will debut globally on July 24th, with FOUND TV+ members getting access one day early.

On 1st July, Slashercise premieres on BloodStream, the film being a homage both to slashers, and to workout videos of the 80s. Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), this is about a masked killer named Meathead, who targets the fitness clubs of Los Angeles. The ensemble cast includes Vanessa Decker (Terrifier 2), John Bloom (The Hills Have Eyes), Keli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master).

Cleopatra Venom have announced the release of Portraits of the Apocalypse, coming to digital and DVD on 14th July. The film takes place in Buenos Aires after a mysterious infection spreads throughout the city, and tells four different stories, from the perspective of a journalist, a soldier, a mother, and a stranger. This award winning film was written and directed by Nicanor Loreti, Fabián Forte, and Luca Castello, and alleges to reimagine '...the zombie outbreak through a distinctly South American lens'.

Luke Sparke; the Australian director of Primitive War, has released a first-look teaser trailer of his next dinosaur film, with a working title of Dinosaurs of the Wild West. A Kickstarter to raise funds for this goes live on 7th July where a full trailer, project title and exclusive rewards will be unveiled.

Finally for this month's news instalment, the first look of slasher film - The Stutterer has been revealed. The press release states 'While structured as horror, the film does not glorify violence. It explores fear, shame, trauma, and the long-term emotional effects of being made to feel "less than." Even the killer's mask functions as a metaphor...' Currently attached to the project are Eric Roberts, Rhonda Shear, Lloyd Kaufman, Mel Heflin, Brinke Stevens, Markin Carvalho, and Kobi Frumer among others.

New Year's Absolution (2024) - Horror Film Review

 

When I began watching the Nick Leisure (Last the Night) directed and Damion Stephens written New Year's Absolution, I assumed it was going to be a slasher. It didn't take too long to realise this falls into the smaller sub-genre of horror, I've clumsily named 'friends do an annual meet-up and end up tearing each other apart over one night of madness'. Indeed a smaller sub-genre, but one I have enjoyed in the past with movies such as The Invitation, and other such ones that annoyingly I cannot recall the names of.

Ever since they were young, a group of friends have been meeting annually to celebrate the new year. Each year, ever since they have known each other, each of the friends have written an anonymous new year's resolution that is then picked at random out of a hat. These resolutions are treated super seriously, with the friends carrying them out even if it's to their own detriment. The meet-up is hosted at neurotic Damon's (Joel Brady - Men in Black 3) new modern house where he lives alongside wife, Claire (Shala White). His guests are surgeon Roy (Michael Copon - Night of the Demons) and his new girlfriend, Kira (Siddalle Diaz), work-out obsessed cop - Jacob (Josh Glimer) and wife Misty (Victorya Brandart - Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle), as well as stylishly gay Stuart (Rafael Siegel - Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; uncredited) and his boyfriend Travis (Lamondo Hill II).
The evening begins well for the friends, with them all happy to catch-up, but things turn sour when it comes time to pick their resolutions and one of the friends picks a resolution that simply says 'kill someone'. In anger at receiving this twisted resolution, the man storms out, and during an attempt to get him to stay, a gun is accidentally discharged and someone is shot. Rather than alert the authorities, the group decide to deal with this matter themselves, setting off a chain of events that see misery and ruin come to the majority of them, with past tensions combining with current problems to disastrous effect.

It was a good half an hour into this 85 minute film before the thrills and horror set in. I admit I was getting a bit impatient for anything of note to happen, but this first act did do a good job of introducing the cast of characters and their various personalities. I have seen films where it takes much longer before anything happens, so it wasn't the worst opening. With the next two acts being so darn hypnotic, I can stomach the slow start. There is effort made to make the constant escalation seem natural, and for the most part this works. I would say there was at least one incident that seemed out of character, just there to keep the story moving forwards.

I loved the foreshadowing on display here. One of these moments was a bit overplayed with constant references to it, but I did enjoy that each of the friend's resolutions do indeed come to pass, albeit, in the most darkly twisted ways possible. It gave the feeling that each of these resolutions came to be a fortune destined to happen in a monkey's paw type fashion. The interactions between the cast of eight were fluid and fun, giving the feeling of a puzzle slowly being pieced together. There was reliance on not just dialogue, but subtle physical moments to give an idea of the groups loyalties with each other.

With these eight characters, many of them I assumed would not survive the film. This was the case, and it became entertaining to see the various ways they are removed from the story. Each death scene is different, and range from the accidental to purposeful. Blood effects were great, with the blood looking really gloopy. The vibe initially had some dark humour to it, such as Damon being more concerned with blood getting on his new flooring than the fact people have died. As the story progresses, things get darker and more sinister, leading to an interesting conclusion.
This had a good soundtrack as well, including a montage sequence set to the classic New Year's Eve tune that everyone knows.

I like these types of film, and New Year's Absolution was a good example. Some parts became far-fetched, but almost like a Rube Goldberg machine, once the separate parts started to move, it was fascinating to see the plot play out. Scatena & Rosner Films' New Year's Absolution releases on July 14th on VOD and digital, including Amazon Prime Video, Fandango At Home, DISH Network, and DirecTV.

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Mr. Reset and the Society of Turnbuckle & Bone (2026) - Horror Film Review

Wow! is the word that stuck with me after watching surreal arthouse wrestling horror experience, Mr. Reset and the Society of Turnbuckle & Bone. Written and directed by Jedediah Kodzewski (Free the Narrative), this sets out its story like an instructional video, never once straying from its intentions. The question is, would this be kayfabe or death?

The sublime five minute prologue introduces you to the all powerful organisation of 'Turnbuckle & Bone'. A montage presentation likens this secret society to the Illuminati, with the group controlling the world fate of wrestling from behind the scenes, with the power to make or break wrestling careers. The film itself is set out as showing the rigorous initiation process that new members must partake in. It does this by following small time wrestler, Power Punch (real life wrestler Vinny Pacifico), someone who is a potential new member, who has travelled to the secret headquarters to get a chance to make it into the wrestling big leagues.

This film had a very cool aesthetic to it. The editing throughout was near perfect. If my review had been based purely on that five minute introduction, then my final score would have been 10/10. Amazingly edited and produced, with perfect sound design. Off topic, I have recently been playing video game Marathon, and the editing style here really reminded me of the style from that game. There is a pirate TV gonzo feel, combined with a nightmarish mash-up of perfectly chosen moments and images.
The film is narrated by an on-screen narrator, who like everyone else in the film, wears a simple and somehow unsettling white paper-maché type mask. With his clipped posh British voice, he gives a matter of fact feel to what he says. It is hard to properly explain what watching this arthouse movie felt like, it gave me a vibe of the in-game episodes that play on TVs throughout Alan Wake. Voice work is often distorted heavily, with key lines of dialogue also appearing in bold on screen. There was a feel of a video game to much of this, flashback sequences and examples of the rise to making it big in wrestling represented by pixel art animations. When the protagonist, Power Punch appears, he even gets his own screen showing his stats.

There were two main mini-stories going on within the instructional. The bigger of these is Power Punch being so eager to join the society that he signs the leader; Mr Reset's (Kodzewski) contract without really considering that the small print states his wife will be taken as collateral should he underperform!
The smaller story concerns a wrestler who goes by the name 'That Dude' who struggles with playing a heel role, when in real life he is a good person. He is contrasted against Ryzin (Rob Ryzin), a heel who delights in his role of chaos. Both try to give fables about the psychological and physical hardships of being a professional wrestler.

Both of those sections culminated in wrestling matches, like the rest of the film, much of this is shot in black and white. The matches are exciting and it is obvious the wrestlers know how to actually wrestle. With everyone wearing those creepy expressionless masks, and that twisted ending, there was a definite horror vibe here, though mostly it stays as darkly surreal. At just over an hour long it effectively teaches its lesson. The kinetic fast paced editing and super-cool feeling unhinged style did get a tiny bit exhausting at times. Still, there really is nothing else like this, a wonderfully bananas horror arthouse that, as mentioned throughout this review, really did have some amazing production to it. Mr. Reset and The Society of Turnbuckle & Bone is available now on Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube TV.

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Sail & Wreck (2026) by Aiming - Music EP Review

Every now and again, I review the odd music album or EP. These are always done more as a favour than anything else, as they are often nothing whatsoever to do with horror. Such is the case with Aiming's latest EP - Sail & Wreck. Four tracks of blissed-out eighties nostalgia, whose review, as is usually the case, I shall no doubt butcher.

The sixteen minute EP begins with 'Our Voices At The Bottom Of The Ocean', which more than anything made me think of a tune set during a summery montage. screaming peak Stranger Things. A peaceful and nostalgia tinged track that even at over four minutes didn't do much to annoy.
Next up is 'First At The Accident' that followed a very similar groove. Very similar to track one, but with more emotive feelings to it; again, a chilled and nostalgia summer vibe to it all.

Halfway through and it is the turn of 'Sh*t In The '80s', which to my lack of supreme surprise was another nostalgic throwback. A steady synth based drum beat throughout had me imagining roller skating, children cycling, and people enjoying times at the beach. The perfect summer day conjured up and stuffed into a song.
Finally, it is the turn of the titular 'Sail & Wreck'. This one started with a more modern beat, though at its heart its shares much of the same DNA.

It was hard to dislike Sail & Wreck. The dreamy sounds of yesteryear were indeed very chill, and easy to let wash over you. Maybe not the most varied of sounds to be found, but nonetheless was the perfect accompiment to living life and making memories, which like the sound of the EP itself, in time will be remembered with nostalgic fondness. Sail & Wreck is Aiming's second EP and is out now.

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Love Is the Monster (2025) - Horror Film Review

Having seen the terrible Karen the Beauty Queen Butcher earlier in the day, I was hoping for a horror of a better quality to really cleanse the palette, I wanted a film that took itself a bit more seriously. Love Is the Monster was a folk-horror whose story was based in Finland. Directed and co-written by Alex Noyer (Sound of Violence, Conductor), this tries to tell a serious story, but emphasis on the tries.

Justin (Leonardo Nam - Werewolf by Night) and Ana (Madeline Zima - The Hand That Rocks the Cradle) have gone to a couples retreat in the wilderness of Finland on the insistence of Ana's best friend, Harper (Kimberley-Sue Murray - Crimson Peak), who is also going with her partner. The retreat is run by Tiina (Milla Puolakanaho), the hippy-like leader of a cult who worship a local nature God known as Lampa. At her retreat she helps those who are struggling in their relationships, using her perspective on life. Justin is fully on board for this, but Ana really doesn't want to be there. Tiina's religion is a sexual one, and lust soon permeates the air. With the guests all giving into their carnal desires, they also begin to hallucinate evil looking doppelgangers with glowing golden eyes. It seems that Tiina has something sinister in mind for Ana in particular, something that involves the rebirth of Lampa into a physical form.

The first half of this 90 minute horror was very slow. It was made up of various couples having sex or otherwise just getting naked at the drop of a hat (the film includes full frontal male nudity, plus lots of breasts and butts if that is your thing). The only visible signs of horror came from the golden eyed hallucinations and a bucket-load of CG birds. There was the idea here that anyone who dies literally transforms into a bird. With birds being my favourite animal, it was hardly the stuff of nightmares imagining that happening. It also didn't help that the many flocks of birds were entirely CG, it never felt like there was a single real bird in the entire film. Other bad looking CG came in the form of digital looking fires, with one mini-explosion in particular looking like something from a made for TV movie. There were some cool looking kill scenes with practical special effects used, such as someone stabbed to death with a stag antler. There was plenty of blood, alongside possessed people, and of course the fake computer birds.

The acting style could be wild at times, with Tiina in particular walking a tightrope of manic veal that occasionally fell off into outright absurdity. The wide eyes and over the top grin could come across as silly rather than someone full of religious fervour. Elsewhere, Justin irritated with his near permanent horny grin, while Ana made for a miserable protagonist who never came to be a character I remotely cared about. There wasn't a single likeable character, always a bad thing when you are meant to be rooting for the lead.
An indie film with less than ideal CG effects, but it still looked cohesive on screen. The story was basic and a little bit meandering, but the look of the lake and surrounding woods was a nice one, creating some atmosphere. The best part of Love Is the Monster was the rustic sounding score. Lots of simple drums, and the occasional inclusion of deep throat singing. This primitive sound really added to the vibe of the folk horror, making for the best part of the whole.

Despite being a serious horror, the cartoon-like antagonist with her exaggerated performance, coupled with the ever present digital birds, had me struggling to take this seriously. A budget Midsommar the setting and the music may have been on point, but the characters and more vitally the story, came to be lacking. Love Is the Monster became available to rent or own in the U.S.A on June 23rd, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

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Slashvivor! (2017) by Stephen Kozeniewski and Stevie Kopas - Horror Novel Review

My whole life I have had a huge fondness for the killer gameshow idea. From my young years watching The Running Man and playing Smash TV, to later on becoming obsessed with Battle Royale, and becoming quite possibly the sole fan of very indie horror Slashers ("Super Fun!"), and later loving the idea for graphic novel Slashermania. This has been an idea that really appealed, that mix of what should be innocent fun mixed with the hauntingly sadistic. When I saw that authors Stephen Kozeniewski (The Thing Under Your Bed) and Stevie Kopas had written their own entry into this horror subgenre; Slashvivor!, I was very intrigued. Having read author Sean E. Britten's excellent Kill Switch trilogy towards the end of the teens, I didn't really see how this one would feel too different. Earlier this year I read standalone prequel, Razortooth, which was written after this novel. Would having foreknowledge of the world and its characters impact my enjoyment or add to it? 

In an alternate Earth that saw Russia and the U.S.A engage in a nuclear war (and America very much coming out on bottom), the continent is now a nuclear wasteland that has came to be known as 'The Geiger Lands' There is no government anymore, instead various warlords have rose up to rule the various states. In this land there is a special gameshow broadcast illegally that the whole nation adores. 'Try Not to Die' sees contestants plucked out of the remains of society at random and taken to a custom built arena full of deadly traps, where they are hunted by vicious killers. These maniacs, referred to as 'slashers' are loved enough that they have become household names, and stars in their own right. For the latest episode of the show, one of the unlucky contestants is Dawn, a determined young woman who intends to not only find a way to survive the rigged game, but also to find a way to somehow reach the producers box and kill the show creator; warlord Marisol.

Having read the prequel, I eagerly awaited the arrival of Razortooth, but she turned out to be far more of a side character here, appearing at around the halfway point of the roughly 300 page book. I love killer gameshows but initially I can't say I was impressed with this one. The contestants were quickly dropping like flies, while the action pausing for ad-breaks (that get their own mini-chapters, much like with the prequel) led to a frustrating feeling of stopping and starting. I then had the realisation that I was little better than the rabid audience, wanting to see blood and violence at the expense of everything else. Once I began to appreciate this wasn't going to play out as a proper episode of the show, and followed the format more of rebelling against the very idea of it, that I became much more invested in the story. The actual gameshow makes up most of the novel, and it was neat that both the contestants and production staff get their own little subplots going on. Best of the staff parts were jaded gameshow host, Mark Winters. He was a very interesting character, turning to alcohol to be able to believably play his part of jokester host, when in reality he is horrified by it all. I enjoyed these frequent cutaways to him and his interactions with other staff, such as showrunners, and the producers themselves. My very favourite part of the novel was a found footage style section that saw two hapless camera-men forced to head into the cells where the killers are kept, after one of the contestants is abducted by one of the slashers.
From the very start, Slashvivors! is a wild ride, never dull, never lacking in extreme violent action. This was a brutal world where life is so cheap that many people dream of being able to get murdered by their favourite slasher.

Where most of the contestants are blank slates; just existing to be killed like Star Trek 'redshirts', the slashers were full of personality, and became the highlight. From a homicidal Abraham Lincoln kill-bot, to the cannibal - Charming Charles, mutant Denny the Killer Clown, and psychotic child, Abadonna - these killers were so varied and so much fun to read about. Of course, Razortooth eventually enters the story, and having read her origin story made the character better here. It was also cool to see other characters from the prequel also appearing in roles here.
There were moments of extreme violence, the use of a cheese-grater on a limbless victim's face for instance, and someone who was forced to eat their own genitals! The world was sadistically cruel, reflected very much with what happens throughout the story.
Slashvivor! went along at a blistering pace, Dawn was a decent protagonist, with a good story progression. I liked the use of flashbacks to reveal more about some of the characters, such as the origin story for warlord Marisol.

After a start that I was unsure of, I quickly got into the thrilling story, becoming hooked. This was one of those novels where I had a genuine bittersweet feeling reaching the end, I wanted to stay with these characters more. Slashvivor! was a fantastic novel, well worth reading.

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Karen the Beauty Queen Butcher (2026) - Horror Film Review

I have had the screener of Karen the Beauty Queen Killer for much of this month, but hadn't found the time to get around to watching it until this past weekend. This is an indie comedic horror that veers deeply into the modern day version of a B-movie. Directed and co-written by Zachary Snygg (Zombiez), this wildly leans heavily into the use of A.I for almost everything here. Would this one trick pony with its many A.I generated scenes be a memorable watch?

There is a brutal serial killer on the loose in New York, with the masked killer's choice of victim being winners of beauty pageants. Meanwhile, Karen (Jasmin Flores - Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottonhell) is determined to make a career out of winning beauty pageants, much to the annoyance of her hen-pecked and sexually frustrated husband, Ted (Scott Bolger - He Sees You When You're Sleeping). With the killings benefitting her goals, Karen becomes well known in the media, loved and hated in equal measure. When the serial killer is caught, Karen must look to her own skills to continue to be on top of the pageant game.

It became increasingly clear just how much A.I is used here to tell the story. To begin with I didn't notice it too much, I enjoyed the scenes with the killer, and the ridiculously violent and unrealistic way victims were torn apart in geysers of blood. After the killer is stopped though, this falls into a troubled and ultimately dull middle section that seemed to go on forever. It made the picture lose the momentum it had built up to that point. The use of A.I may have been used with a tongue in cheek approach, but it took over so much of the movie that it felt authentic scenes were few and far between. Overhead shots of the city were fine, but the many, many scenes of identical looking crowds of people really overstayed their welcome. It was a bit amusing at first how obvious it all was, but these lengthy parts soon led to extreme boredom, making the 100 minute movie really drag. Visually this had a soulless look to it, and in terms of the plot, not much was really going on. The heavy A.I use ruined the film, with about 80% of the movie having that slightly uncomfortable and artificial look to it. While likely intended as a joke to create a 'so bad its good' type vibe, it fails at this and just becomes bad, with my patience wearing thin. You can have the most disgustingly violent and gory scene ever, but with that A.I look, it did nothing for me other than to make me roll my eyes.

The main characters were not bad. I thought Ted was decent, and special mention goes to the two detectives, with Harris (Phillip Green) and his counterpart having some hilarious scenes together where they have meandering conversations that almost felt ad-libbed. Those scenes were the very best parts of Karen the Beauty Queen Butcher, but few and far between in a sea of terrible looking A.I generated crowd scenes. The humour was ok at times, and it had some current-news jokes thrown in, such as a few referring to modern day folk-hero/alleged CEO killer, Luigi Mangione.

The first twenty minutes or so I didn't think this was bad, I had an early review score that was much higher than what I eventually decided for this. The utter tedium of the middle soon had me desperately wishing for the film to end, it just dragged and dragged. Not completely terrible, the actors were fun in their roles, but there wasn't much actual things happening here, making for a vapid and often pointless experience. Karen the Beauty Queen Butcher is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, with it coming to TubiTV and Fandango in the first week of July.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 18th June 2026

With my bloody sack of horror news still overflowing, it was time for another trilogy of terror. Three horror news stories plucked from the maggot-infested bottom, some likely out-of-date bits of info for your reading delight.

Back in April, The Horror Collective acquired 213 Bones. This horror is a throwback to slashers of the 1990s. Directed by Jeffrey Primm, it follows a group of college students in the Pacific Northwest who find themselves the target of a masked killer. Starring Luna Fujimoto (Blade of the 47 Ronin), Hunter Nance, Colin Egglesfield (All My Children), Dean Cameron (Summer School), Liam Woodrum (Geek Girl), Toni Weiss and Frances Barker McCormick (Disney's Wonder Man), this film made its debut at FrightFest. It was the final film of horror fan Primm, who sadly passed away shortly after the completion of the film.

Another The Horror Collective acquisition was Canadian horror film - Fresh Meat, which comes from writer/director Daniel Turres. The film is about a group of influencers who break into an abandoned prison complex to make some content, but end up unleashing a ravenous inmate. Fresh Meat was showcased at the Blood in the Snow Film Festival earlier this year where it won 'Best Special Effects'.

Finally for today, at the start of May production began on indie thriller - The Dead Rose. Filmed in Los Angeles and Denver, this is written/directed by Kimmy Drain and stars Frank Stallone, Eric Robert and Andrew Divoff. The synopsis states this is about a Catholic prelate who has been entrusted with guarding an ancient dagger said to have the power to destroy the world. He finds himself having to contend against a Satanic cult who wish to end the world using its power. The press release states The Dead Rose '...confronts modern issues including racial tensions and the growing threat of child trafficking - painting a chilling portrait of a society on the edge, while delivering a powerful message of redemption'.