Wednesday 30 March 2016
Lights Out (2016) - Horror Film News and Trailer
I had heard that cult short horror film Lights Out was going to be made into a feature length film but I had no idea it was so far along. I thought the short was pretty neat, sure you have seen it already but if not the premise is about a woman who is home alone at night, every time she turns off the light she glimpses a silhouette of a figure which when the light is turned back on is just not there. This continues for the shorts duration until the final nightmare twist.
Coming from producer James Wan (The Conjuring) the feature film Lights Out tells the tale of Rebecca whose brother starts to experience terrifying events which involve a ghostly figure haunting him in the dark, the same being which haunted her when she was a youngster and which seems somehow linked to their mother Sophie.
The movie is due to be released in UK cinemas on 19th August of this year, going by the trailer it looks like it has promise, whether it is just ninety minutes of people flipping light switches off and on remains to be seen but I will be sure to put up a review when the release date rolls around. I do like the idea of a creature that is only able to appear in the dark. Check out the new trailer below...
Tuesday 29 March 2016
Bridal Fever - Horror Film News
Today there is some Scottish horror news in the form of Bridal Fever which is to be the directorial debut from Hayley Tinline. She has produced the effects for a number of Scottish indies including the fantastic Lord of Tears and interesting looking upcoming horror The Unkindness of Ravens.
Bridal Fever is to be a slasher with a gritty and grindhouse edge, influenced by 70's films such as Black Christmas and Alice Sweet Alice. Hayley wants to use her expertise in special effects to come up with a number of memorable death scenes. After witnessing her husband Stuart (Craig MacLachlan) cheating on her with a new lover, troubled Lisa (Nicolette McKeown) goes literally crazy with rage. Stuart and his friends go exploring an abandoned children's hospital and it is at this location which Lisa chooses to enact her bloody revenge on him and those he holds dear...
In order to get this funded Hayley has created a Kickstarter for the film, but rather than ask for the full cost she just wants to raise a modest £2,500 for make-up supplies with her fronting the rest of the film's cost. Check out the Kickstarter page here if you want to donate or find out more, it has already raised over £1000 with nine days left to go so I wish her and her team all the luck.
Monday 28 March 2016
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge (2005) - Horror Video Game Review (Playstation 2)
Now here is a tale of woe, it is not often that I will give up playing a game, and even less often that I will decide to review a game I have only half played. Yet with Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge action adventure video game after three attempts to play through it I have come to the conclusion it is just not possible. Not because it is badly made, not because it looks or sounds awful, nor even that it is too hard, it is for the simple fact this game is as dull as dishwater.
Set a year after the events of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Skeleton Jack is once again getting bored with Halloween. After speaking to Dr. Finklelstein he is giving a new tool to play with; green goo that can be used like a whip, and with this he once again leaves Halloween Town looking for new adventure. After receiving a magical letter from Sally warning of danger Jack hurries back to town only to find the evil Oogie Boogie has been resurrected by his loyal minions Lock, Stock and Barrel, and not only that but he has under his command an army of evil skeletons created by a brain washed Dr.Finkelstein.
Sunday 27 March 2016
Scream Queen Stream (2016) - Horror Web Show
Scream Queen Stream is a web show that premiered February 19th of this year. In the show two 'scream queens' of the horror genre; Jessica Cameron (All Through the House, A Grim Becoming) and her friend Heather Dorff (Truth or Dare, What They Say) get up to YouTube style shenanigans such as reacting to disgusting videos and drinking games with other scream queens.
A new episode is due to go up at 11am every Friday, I assume that's American time seeing as the duo are based in Los Angeles (I believe). In addition to the non horror stuff there is also going to be behind the scenes footage at horror conventions as well as interviews with such people as Amy Hoff, Patrick Robert Young, Powell Robinson, and Jonathan Weichsel.
You can watch the show for free but you can also subscribe via Patreon that can give you exclusive benefits such as private live streams and giveaways. If any of this appeals to you then be sure to check it out.
Saturday 26 March 2016
Peelers (2016) - Horror Film News and Trailer
Indie horror film Peelers is set to have it's world premiere at the Palm Beach International Film Festival that takes place in Florida on April 9th this year. The film is directed and produced by Seve Schelenz who also directed Skew (2011); a film that I have not seen but sounds like it was a found footage... interestingly I just noticed I actually own Skew, is deep down in my 'to watch' pile of horrors I have accumulated over the years.
On the closing night of a small town strip club a bunch of violent infected zombie like people show up and start carnage, it is up to the owner to defend her club and her employees. I have included the trailers below, it doesn't seem like it is going to take itself seriously and seems it may have plenty of gore.
The press release states: 'Peelers destroys the cliche stripper horror sub-genre by giving us a story packed with exciting twists, baseball, strippers of unusual talents and a strong female lead'. I'm always up for more zombie style films and while these are more rage infected than actual walking dead it still belongs in the extended family of the genre. So if you happen to be in Florida in two weeks time then go and check it out, meanwhile see the trailer for yourself and see what you think...
Friday 25 March 2016
The Monster Chronicles: Tiktik (2012) - Horror Film Review
The Monster Chronicles: Tiktik (also known as Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles) is a horror film from the Philippines that originally came out in 2012 but is due for UK DVD release for the first time very soon. The film deals with the subject of the aswang. I didn't know what this creature was but a quick Google search gave me this: '...A shapeshifting monster usually possessing a combination of the traits of either a vampire, a ghoul, a witch, or different species of werebeast in Filipino folklore'.
Dingdong Dantes stars as Makoy; a young man from the city who has travelled to the countryside in search of his girlfriend Sonia who has returned home to her family after leaving him. When he arrives he discovers she is heavily pregnant but is met with hostility by her and her mother. Her father Nestor (Joey Marquez) invites Makoy to go shopping with him in order to see what type of man he is but whilst visiting a strange remote village in order to buy a pig Makoy upsets the locals who unbeknown to him are secretly aswang creatures. Back at Nestor's home the family come under attack by one of them but with the creatures death events escalate with the beings family wanting to get revenge. Makoy and Sonia's family must now try to survive the night while under siege by the deadly monsters.
Wednesday 23 March 2016
None But Myself (2015) - Short Horror Film and News
Earlier this month I received an email from Leon Oldstrong about his upcoming zombie film that he has wrote and is due to direct. In preparation for this feature length film he has released an eleven minute short titled None But Myself that he also wrote and directed. I'm not actually sure if that is to be the name of the feature length film also.
For much of the running time there is nothing horror related at all, I did get slightly confused so apologies if I analysed what was happening incorrectly. It seems that Dillon has fallen into deep depression after the failure of her marriage with Marcus and maybe also due to bullying by some local girls. She still lives with the man but finally decides to leave only to discover a terrible calamity has fallen upon Britain.
The short is to prepare the way for the film so I guess it is setting up the events of Dillon coming to be alone in a zombie filled world. There is also to be a spin off web series released in five parts, interestingly both this short and the web series had a combined budget of just £1000. I decided against reviewing None But Myself as it is a set up for a larger project, but the exploration of mental health issues could be interesting if applied to a post zombie apocalypse world, and despite being the main character Dillon doesn't actually have any speaking lines here. The main feature (again not sure if it is to share the same title) is currently in pre-production. Check out the short below and see what you think.,,
Tuesday 22 March 2016
Startled! (2016) - Spoof Horror Film Trailer and News for Grindsploitation: The Movie (2016)
Coming out this year is Grindsplitation: The Movie which is a horror anthology that features clips and trailers from over 40 Indie film makers. One of these trailers is by Ali Reynard the producer of Fear Town, USA, and The Slashening.
Startled! is a fake trailer for a slasher film, in it two girls are baby sitting on their own, a voice over says they are about to have the longest night of their lives. The trailer is a collection of false jump scares with the lead girl getting startled by a collection of different things (mainly a cat, and her friend). Jump scares in films are pretty lazy, especially false ones and so this trailer was amusing enough, the voice over adds a lot to it. Check it out below, at two minutes it isn't going to take up much of your time.
The trailer for Grindsploitation: The Movie is also below, the films contained within it all seem to be purposely schlocky and full of funny bad looking effects, at one minute forty it will take up even less of your time.
Monday 21 March 2016
The Boy (2016) - Horror Film Review
Cohan stars as Greta Evans; an American who has travelled to a remote mansion in the UK to take on the role of nanny to eight year old boy Brahms. The strange parents introduce her to the boy which it turns out is a creepy life size porcelain doll, at first she thinks it's a joke but it becomes apparent the elderly couple truly believe the doll to be real. With them off all too quickly on holiday Greta is left alone with just Brahms for company, and the grocery man Malcolm who comes by once a week. Ignoring the rules left for her to follow she instead neglects the doll, but after a series of unexplainable events it seems that just maybe the spirit of the real Brahms (who died in a fire twenty years previous) is possessing the doll and that it would be unwise of her to anger it...
Saturday 19 March 2016
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) - Horror Film Review
As soon as I first saw the trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane I was intrigued, this is due to the trailer breaking the current vogue of revealing every single plot point and instead focusing on getting you interested in seeing the film (the UK trailer at least, the one on IMDB is less well crafted), I wish more trailers would do that. Many people retroactively hate Cloverfield, personally I loved it and so that was another bow in this movies cap for me.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars as Michelle who after getting in a tremendous car crash on a lonely road wakes up to find herself locked inside an underground bunker. Her captor soon reveals himself to be Howard (John Goodman) and he tells the girl that he rescued her from her wreck, he also informs her that a cataclysmic event has occurred that has rendered the outside world inhospitable and that her, himself, and local man Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) may well be the only survivors left alive. Is Howard being truthful though, or has Michelle gotten herself captured by a dangerous madman?
Wednesday 16 March 2016
The Tandem Region Times - Horror Website
This is a bit of a strange post today, I have delved into some of my more obscure back log and located an email I received from Nick Raynor; the editor of The Tandem Region Times which is a horror tinged spoof new site for the fictional Canadian municipality Tandem Region that has a comedic edge to it.
The site has been going for over a year and updates once a week on Friday and while I have not had an in depth look at it what I did read was pretty funny and also interesting. People are able to submit their own news stories to the website. As an example of the type of report you will find here there was one about a game show filmed in a constantly shifting maze which inexplicably got itself sealed off from the outside world, the twelve contestants got trapped inside with two weeks worth of food, while a man said to resemble a Hippo had been witnessed walking around on the roof of the construction. That's kind of the absurdest tone the site has going for it, reminded me a bit of the type of reports from The Day Today.
As well as news reports there are also surreal classifieds; 'you were the grey one sitting on a wheelchair made of guts by the front of the bus' (for example), advice columns, as well as a 'Kidz Zone' with articles written as if from children. There is also a section that links together related news reports into a story ark. If you have a spare couple of hours and like the style then this place will be interesting for a time, the writing from what I saw seemed decent enough. Check it out at The Tandem Region Times.
Monday 14 March 2016
The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015) - Horror Film Review
Another week and another horror, with 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Boy, and The Purge: Election Year in the trailers it seems there is no end in sight yet for this unexpected Spring time yield of terror. The VVitch: A New-England Folktale is a film I never even knew existed until I saw it as one of the films coming out this week at my local cinema.
The year is 1630 and devoutly religious William (Ralph Ineson) due to a disagreement with the church has been banished from the New England plantation he and his family had lived at. He decides to build a house on the outskirts of a vast impassable forest and for a while all is well. One day while teen Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) is babysitting her baby brother; Samuel he gets snatched and after a week of searching the family give up. They assume a wolf had taken the youngster but in reality a witch living in the woods had taken him for a sacrifice. With bad luck befalling the farm the family come to believe a witches curse is to blame and paranoia takes over...
Wednesday 9 March 2016
JeruZalem (2015) - Horror Film Review
JeruZalem is yet another horror in the crowded found footage genre, I have to say my heart sank a little when I discovered this as the films synopsis did sound interesting. What is unique is that the method of recording for the found footage is that of Google Glass, wearing some glasses is more of an excuse than holding a camera constantly.
Americans Sarah (Danielle Jadelyn) and her best friend Rachel (Yael Grobglas) have gone away on holiday initially to Tel Aviv, Sarah is taking along her brand new Google Glass her father recently brought her. After meeting young explorer Kevin (Yon Tumarkin) on the plane he convinces them to come with him to Jerusalem instead. Things start off well enough but Kevin soon becomes convinced something terrible is going to happen in the ancient city and begs the two to leave, but before they get a chance to act chaos descends on the place, it seems the biblical apocalypse has started...
Sunday 6 March 2016
The Other Side of the Door (2016) - Horror Film Review
As I have previously mentioned this is a bizarrely packed time of year for horror films. I had already placed The Other Side of the Door into my made up trilogy named 'people doing things they were told not to do'. With The Forest you had a woman heading off into a forest she was warned not to go into, with The Boy you have a woman ignoring the instructions she was given on how to look after a creepy boy doll, and with this one you have a woman who opens a door she was told not to.
Maria (Sarah Wayne Collins from The Walking Dead) is an American living in India with her archaeologist husband Michael (Jeremy Sisto) and young daughter Lucy. The family are in mourning as a tragic accident occurred in the recent past in which the couples son Oliver drowned, Maria in particular is not coping at all and after a failed suicide attempt the families live in nanny Piki tells Maria of an abandoned forest temple where she will be able to speak to her dead son one last time in order to get some closure. Desperate for this chance Maria travels to the remote temple and is overjoyed to discover what Piki said is true, but the one rule Pika made her promise to abide to; that she would not open the temple door during the summoning is ignored. Due to this Oliver's spirit has become trapped in the world of the living and has turned evil, while an ancient horror has arrived to put things right...
Wednesday 2 March 2016
Zombie Barbie (2015) by Levitika - Zombie Music Video and News
Levitika has released a music video for her track Zombie Barbie, it is available on iTunes and was produced by Jeff Blue (Linkin Park, Korn, Limp Bizkit) and directed by Nima Nabili Rad (Martin Garrix). The song is going to U.S radio in April. Levitika is an Australian melodic rock singer/songwriter from Adelaide.
In the video Levitika sings while dressed like a zombie Barbie, sometimes wearing UV fluorescent body paint, she herself designed the outfits she wears in it. She says of the song "The core message of the song is be who you are, be real and don't let society override your identity.." Check it out below if you so wish...
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