Saturday, 31 December 2022

The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for December 2022


The final post of the year, and the third news post of the week. In general terms I don't think 2022 will be remembered as one of the better ones, but that has been the case for the last few years now so I'm pessimistic 2023 will be any better.

I may not have seen the latest entry in the Scream franchise, but it is still one that excites me. Scream VI has been announced and follows the path of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan and Leprechaun 5: In the Hood by moving the action to New York. In this one, the survivors of the latest Woodsboro Ghostface massacre head to New York to start over, but it seems the latest iteration of the Ghostface killer has decided to come along for the ride. Cast members include Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega, Hayden Panettiere and Courtney Cox. This is to be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, with a story by James Vanderblit and Guy Busick.

Two Dash One is an interesting sounding romantic drama directed by Nate Hapke. Two young lovers become reunited in the afterlife where they are given a second chance for their relationship. However, stuck in an eternal version of their vacation cabin, the two women struggle to 'find life amidst the monotony'.


Switching over to music news, Dark Delirium have a new album out titled New Era. This is a descriptive album title as it is the band's first output since David Jakob Ekse left as the vocalist and lyricist. The new album is '...darker, more brutal and experimental'. Track Echo Chamber features David on vocals (the last song written before he left), with the rest sung by Simeon.


A brief look at the JustWatch UK Christmas charts. With the top 10 films in the streaming chart I can see the classic Christmas horror Gremlins in at number seven. Over in the top 10 TV shows streaming chart, the excellent Wednesday is in at number two, while 1899 is at the tenth spot (a sci-fi period piece that I haven't really heard much about).

FredHeads is A Nightmare on Elm Street documentary that is releasing in February 2023 from Bayview Entertainment. This follows a group of friends who found each other thanks to the franchise. They set out to share other stories of fans whose lives were changed by the series.


The Legend of the Dark Clown is a new comic from Matthew Martino, available on Amazon. This comic  tells the sinister story of how a birthday clown became an evil super villain after joining the 'Killer Clown Mafia'.


I had intended to do more for this final news post of the year, but it turns out that Christmas has made me busier than usual and so I ran out of time to write more. The same will likely affect next week's posts due to having New Years Eve plans for a change.

Friday, 30 December 2022

The Rotting Zombie's Horror Film News Anthology December 30th


This is the second news post I am writing this Christmas Eve (at time of writing). I'm planning to watch a few films for review over Christmas and Boxing Day, so my three news posts shall be written today. Trying to decide which Christmas film to watch this evening, I do love Home Alone but am thinking maybe Die Hard, Batman Returns, or even The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Described as 'Saw meets Squid Game', Party Bus (directed by Carlos Berber) is a new horror film release from Acort International. The synopsis sees a man going on a bachelor party on the titular party bus. Included among the passenger's are the man's ex-girlfriend as well as some shady figures from his past. Needless to say, things do not go well.


Brandon Pennick's short horror film Sedalia is streaming on IVOX and PopFlick. This one is about a retired costume designer who moves into a remote farmhouse. After experiencing some paranormal events, the woman decides to research the home's dark history.


Finally for this news anthology, The Salamander House came to Blu-ray on December 27th from VIPCO and Bayview Entertainment. A writer travels to an old coastal house in Puglia, with the intention of getting inspiration for his next novel. This works out for him, as soon he is experiencing hallucinations that hint at the sinister past of the house. He also learns of a Satanic cult that operated in the area, and may possibly still have a presence.

Thursday, 29 December 2022

Prince of the Crimson Void (2022) - Horror Film Review


It is always a pleasure to see that writer/director/actor (as well as many other things) Dakota Ray (Dante's Shadow of Sin, Sebastian's Unholy Flesh) is continuing to make films in his own unique style. Prince of the Crimson Void is the latest of these and remains as nihilistically bleak and dark as always. Known for infusing each of his films with a different coloured filter, this time around there is a red/pink one, as always this adds to the otherworldly vibe.

Ray stars as Fabian, a drug and alcohol addicted serial killer. In the past he had teamed up with another serial killer, a man named Kimball (Darien Fawkes - The Rise and Fall of an American Scumbag), and he has began to feel hostility to this man due to him showing signs of having a conscience. With the two sharing a burial ground for their many victims, Fabian heads there, with the intention to kill his former partner, hoping that doing so will add the killer's souls to his own, transforming him into a God.

At just under an hour long, Prince of the Crimson Void doesn't waste too much time. On occasion these films have slightly dragged in places due to protracted camera shots of the various (cool) items around the set, here, there are still plenty of these scenes, but they seemed a lot snappier and edited down. The movie is split into various chapters, something that is often the case for these movies. Even more stripped down than previously, the movie only features the two actors, with no supporting cast (unless you count the various corpses the two play with). Ray plays as always a deeply nihilistic killer, someone devoid of any remains of humanity. I found Kimball's character to be a great addition. I did wish he had more screen time to explore some of the more wild aspects of his character, in particular I liked the idea put forward that an alter-ego he created while killing people has weirded him out enough that he doesn't like to become it anymore. This is shown in a great scene where the alter-ego (a clown type mask with a huge nose) appears in his room and talks to him. Fawkes, who came out of acting retirement for this movie, was a great part of the movie.

Wednesday, 28 December 2022

The Rotting Zombie's Music News Anthology for 28th December 2022


Hope everyone is having a nice festive time at the moment. Bad planning has meant that I'm going to be putting up three different news posts this week. I'm writing this post on Christmas Eve, which I finally get off work for a change due to it being on a Saturday, happy times! I have lots of stuff I need to be doing outside of my blog, so this weekend I have split the post writing over three days in lieu of the traditional two day schedule. Onto the music news then!

Elemental Cry is the third single release from dark electronic folk band, Hem Netjer. The song is to appear on the band's new album, The Song of Trees, which is due for release towards the end of February. Elemental Cry is a song about facing your fears and finding your inner strength, with the verses written from the warrior's viewpoint, with the chorus from a general's viewpoint. The song is available on all major digital platforms.


UK goth rock band, Sirens of Light have released a new full-length LP, Nullus Margis Gothica MMXXI. This was designed as a concept album revolving around three themes; '...the power of the feminine, belief systems and how the individual constructs their reality around these concepts.' The album is available on limited edition CD and digital formats via Bandcamp, it will then be distributed globally from January 29th via Code 7 Music.


Finally, a little bit about Swiss nu-metal/metalcore band Chaoseum. Their first album First Step To Hell released in 2018. The following year saw the release of a live album, Live In Hell - Les Docks Lausanne 2019. In 2020 the band released their second studio album, Second Life, with their track Smile Again achieving over nine million views on YouTube. During the Covid pandemic Chaoseum worked on acoustic album, Second Skin. Now up to the present year, November saw the release of their fourth studio album, The Third Eye.

Tuesday, 27 December 2022

On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier (2022) - Horror Documentary Review


On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier
is the latest documentary from Small Town Monsters (On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey, On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Discovery) and as the title obviously suggests, this is once again about the search for definite proof of bigfoot.While my father is convinced of the creatures existence, I am on the fence about it, of course I would love to believe, but am naturally skeptical. I would have thought I would have been bored of documentaries about the creature, having seen so many, yet I might actually suggest that Last Frontier is one of the better ones.

Directed, narrated and featuring Seth Breedlove, this ninety minute doc was filmed in Alaska, hence the title 'last frontier'. There is much made of why this might be a possible place for the elusive creature to exist, due to the sheer size of the area. I loved that there was a narration, I recall the last documentary I watched didn't have one and it felt sorely missing. This follows a familiar format and the vast majority is made up if eye witness accounts from various people. What made these eye witness accounts all the better was how much the people giving these accounts seem to genuinely believe what they are saying. This includes a man who is so overcome with emotion at telling his story that he literally breaks down in tears, and an account from an elderly woman who Breedlove notes is the most authentic sounding one he has ever heard.

What really set this apart from other Small Town Monsters docs was the emotive score, there is an epic sounding, but also bitter sweet music that plays over the whole thing, and it really added a lot of atmosphere to what was being spoken about. There are also the usual recreations, mostly taking the form of images of bigfoot hiding in the trees, or shown as a silhouette, and there are also lots and lots of drone shots, a staple of the Small Town Monsters documentaries.
The content here I found more interesting, with it suggested that the remote area, and distance from the equator has naturally resulted in larger, more monstrous creatures being sighted. There are even talk of different species roaming the areas, with various eye witness testimonies describing various types, such as the albino bigfoot. This gave more of a genuine horror vibe than earlier ones about the creature I have watched, it seemed from what everyone was saying that this creature, should it exist, is really not something that would be a happy experience to encounter.

Balanced against these eye witness testimonies are native american accounts of the creature that has made it into their myths and legends. Several of the people interviewed were native americans themselves who firmly believe in the creature. Breedlove takes a more measured approach in his narration, with it sounding more like he hoped the creature exists, rather than being a firm believer in it. He does throughout remain very respectful of the people he is interviewing, and as I said, these people really do believe in their experiences.
Having watched a lot of these, I was happy to see Last Frontier was one of the better ones, I really enjoyed my time with this, it is beautifully shot, and it ends well, finally giving some new evidence in the form of recordings captured during the making of the documentary, which included strange howls, random bangings and strange cries. On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier comes to cable VOD and digital HD on January 23rd.

SCORE:

Sunday, 25 December 2022

Amber Road (2022) - Horror Film Review


Going into this film with only the title to go off, I assumed Amber Road would be some horror taking place on the backroads of America in the same style as Clinton Road. Well, it turns out that was a stupid assumption to make as this horror (written and directed by B. Luciano Barsuglia - Zombie Farm) falls neatly into the torture porn subgenre of horror, a sub genre that I don't particularly like.

James (William McNamara - Age of the Living Dead TV series) and his wife Mary (Janet Wang) have found themselves kidnapped by Pauline (Rachel Riley - The Black Room), a sadistic killer who live streams torture onto the dark web, specifically a website named 'Amber Road'. Meanwhile Emma (Elissa Dowling - Tommyknockers), a local police officer who is on leave after the murder of her husband, learns of the couple's disappearance after being visited by a P.I.
Even further into subplot territory, the enigmatic owners of Amber Road, who facilitate the online killings, find themselves caught up in a power struggle.

I'm never a fan of prolonged scenes of torture in films and so Amber Road really wasn't designed with me in mind. To be fair, while there is a whole bunch of torture of the kidnapped couple, there is quite a bit of film time that takes place away from the torture chamber. On the surface it seemed that Emma would be the protagonist, but in fact there are a variety of different characters who feature, perhaps most notably Pauline. I found her smugness to be really off-putting, I guess it isn't the intention to make the primary antagonist likeable, but it meant I really didn't care for the character, and so I didn't like following her around in her daily life as the local mortician. She gets more fleshed out as the eighty seven minute film runs its course, including some flashback sequences, but even when there are suggestions that she might not be as black and white evil as she appears, I still couldn't stand her 'holier than thou' attitude. She does probably get the most screen time, it felt that there should have been more scenes featuring Emma, but she only really features in a couple of them.
Some of the subplots felt tangential, none more so than the one featuring the owners of the website. These did feature some recognisable actors, such as the always entertaining Robert LaSardo (Bridge of the Doomed) and Tom Sizemore (Tommyknockers), but the cheesy effects used to simulate the dark web, and their confusing storyline meant that these moments were completely lost on me. Talking of fun appearances, it was cool to see Gregory Blair (Ugly Sweater Party, Garden Party Massacre) in a tiny role here.

Friday, 23 December 2022

Ash and Bone (2022) - Horror Film Review


I first heard of Ash and Bone at the start of 2020, and now nearly three years later I have gotten to see it. Directed by Harley Wallen (Agramon's Gate), who also co-stars in this, and written by Bret Miller in his feature film writing debut, this sounded on its synopsis like a typical cannibal family type horror, and while I was interested to see it, my expectations were pretty low. I was pleasantly pleased then to see this did something a little different with the cannibal family sub-genre, something that came at the perfect time.

Lucas (Wallen) and wife Sarah (Kaiti Wallen - Agramon's Gate) have left Detroit to go on an extended vacation to Lucas's childhood home town. Along with them is Cassie (Angelina Danielle Cama - An Intrusion), the teenage daughter of Lucas who has recently gotten into trouble after falling in with a bad crowd. It is hoped the change of location will be good for the troubled girl, something that has caused growing resentment from her of her dad and step-mom. Sneaking off to a local bar, Cassie befriends two locals, and while talking about small town legends, she learns of a creepy family, the McKinleys, who live in a property on the edge of town, and who it is suggested are responsible for the many disappearances of young women in the area. Seeing it as something fun to do, Cassie convinces the locals to take her to the remote house, and they end up breaking in to have a snoop around. Having assumed the legends to have no basis in truth, the trio are shocked to discover evidence that is not the case, and while they manage to escape, their intrusion didn't go unnoticed by Clete McKinley (Jimmy Doom - Love Immortal) and his sister May (Erika Hoveland - Before I Wake).


After a fun little prologue in which a young woman is axed to death while trying to escape from the cannibal's home, the film goes to the arrival of the family. It isn't long before Cassie's ill fated expedition to the home of the cannibals, and it was here I expected the majority of the film would take place. That was when things got switched around, with Cassie and her new friends escaping relatively easily. Ash and Bone then changed track, with this becoming a character piece about the teen and her family. There are infrequent flashbacks to show Cassie with her city friends, which slowly reveal what led to her being taken away by her father. I really liked the family dynamic going on. Sarah for instance may be a step-mother, but rather than be a stereotype she actually came across as measured and rational. Then there is Lucas, far from the controlling stern father I would typically expect, he is also quite measured in his dealings with his daughter. I guess you could say Cassie was the weakest of the three, being a gloomy rebellious teenager, but she still had layers to her, with efforts to give at least her and Lucas some backstory that explained parts of their characters.

Thursday, 22 December 2022

Cursed Words by I.D Russell (2022) - Comedy Horror Book Review


Cursed Words
is the latest novel from I.D Russell (Under Blood Lake, The Killing Death), and like those other novels, this takes place in the same world, featuring some welcome returning characters. I always forget how dark parts of these novels can get, while there are certainly purposeful comedic moments, sometimes this is pushed to the side for some more concentrated horror.

Sick of his author girlfriend telling him how hard it is to write a novel, Dexter decides that to prove a point he is going to write one in a single weekend. He decides to travel to the Van Lundgren estate, a bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere, somewhere outside of his home of River City. He hopes that the peace and solitude there will allow him to focus on his task. The night he arrives however, also sees the arrival of a whole bunch of different characters, all there for their own reasons. With the estate having a dark past, this gets reignited with the arrival of the strangers.
Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Sergeant Frank Malone and his rookie partner Jimmy Hooper are travelling out of River City with the aim of making it to a favourite roadside cafe of Malone. Their journey eventually leads them inadvertently to the cursed estate.

While they are very much side characters, it was comforting to see the return of Malone and Hooper. My first experience with this shared universe was watching the 2008 comedy thriller The Killing Joke and so the images of these two characters are cemented into my mind as Jeremy Dangerfield and Tyhr Trubiak, making them seem more real. Malone in particular was as expected the stand-out part of Cursed Words. While he might not feature too often, he as always brings to mind Frank Drebin from Police Squad, coming across as a bumbling idiot, yet having a bizarre method to his madness that always results in him coming out on top. Much of the comedy revolves around him, it was a real highlight every time he got a chapter to himself.

The focus however isn't on this brilliant character, but instead much of the novel follows wannabe writer Dexter. This is good up to a point, but with the heavy supernatural elements playing out, a lot of the story falls under an unreliable narrator, by this I mean events happen that seem real to Dexter, but might not actually be taking place. Up until around the halfway point the book was easy enough to follow. The various characters are introduced at the estate and it feels like this is going to play out as a somewhat traditional murder mystery. There is decent backstory drip fed throughout Cursed Words, with ten chapters evenly spread throughout that are set from the mid nineteen fifties up to the mid nineteen sixties, concerning a troubled child that had unfortunate 'accidents' that follow him wherever he went.
I was surprised then to see this murder mystery quickly morph into something that was far more supernatural. The second half of the novel is a whirlwind of strange events that keep you ever guessing as to what is going on. Characters die in one chapter, but then return in the next none the worse for wear, the antagonist included. There are false leads and red herrings that are so well mixed in that it can be hard to parse what is real and what is fabricated. It led to me reading at an ever increasing speed, hoping that all would be resolved and explained by the books end. For me that never happened, from the last final twist I was left pretty confused with what had been going on, unsure if the unreliable viewpoint pointed towards literal supernatural goings on. If Cursed Words was a film then the whole second half would have gone deep into arthouse territory, containing as it does dream sequences that may actually be real, hallucinations that again may actually be real, as well as a lot of full frontal male nudity, so all very arthouse.
This confusing perspective did make the subplots a nice change of pace. Getting Malone and Hooper's outsider perspective calmed things down, as well as being genuinely amusing, while the sections set in the past gave definite facts to what was occuring in the present. With Dexter, I wanted to like the character, but struggled due to never knowing exactly what was going on with him.

As is always the case with Russell's novels, Cursed Words is written very well. As confused as I was, this wasn't due to the style of writing, it was very easy to visualise in my mind's eye what was happening. Some of the characters were well realised, of course Frank Malone as always was a pure joy to read about. I fear a lot of my confusion over the plot was down to me, over the days that have passed since reading this I have sorted out a lot of the story in my head. Regardless, Cursed Words is well worth a read, a murder mystery with an arthouse difference, and a story that goes to some very unexpected places.

SCORE:

Wednesday, 21 December 2022

Dana (2020) - Short Horror Film Review


Dana is an award winning short eighteen minute long thriller that was written and directed by Lucía Forner Segarra (this received more than one hundred and twenty festival selections and forty two awards). This initially seemed to be inspired by the #MeToo movement, but it actually came about after the director herself suffered an assault, with the film made as a cathartic outlet for her trauma. At its heart this is a revenge thriller, a subgenre of horror that I typically enjoy, and with this Spanish entry I certainly did.

Thais Blume stars as Diana, a woman who while walking to her car late one night is attacked by a would be rapist. Having killed the man in self defence, she returns to to her caravan home traumatised. As the days pass and no one visits, she realises she has gotten away with her possible crime. She sees this as an awakening and becomes a vigilante who protects woman that find themselves under assault, leaving her calling card at the scene of every murder.

There is a lot packed into this eighteen minute film and it goes along at a fast enough pace that it tells its story competently. Blume is the highlight of the film, perfectly cast, she shows both strength and frailty in her role. Aside from best friend Tomás (Niko Verona) the rest of the cast only have fleeting appearances, many of which appear as various rapists set during a montage of murder. I think it was important for the protagonist to have a male best friend to show that her actions aren't created from hatred of men, more that she has taken matters into her own hands due to a failing criminal system.
This reminded me of #MeToo due to the snowball effect her actions bring to the film world, and while this is fantastical in how this normal woman becomes an unstoppable killer, it was a satisfying film to watch. Special mention goes to the blood spray mask that she brings with her, added a nice little comedic element to all the bloodshed that occurs.

With a great soundtrack that includes eighties synth among the musical choices, and with a strong and believable lead in Blume, Dana was an enjoyable thriller, impressively paced and with a story that seemed vaster than its short run time.

SCORE:

Monday, 19 December 2022

The Nameless Days (2022) - Horror Film Review


The Nameless Days
is a horror, written and directed by Andrew Mecham and Matthew Whedon (Behind You). This sets itself apart by its unique setting, though its story, however well told, didn't really do too much to progress the horror genre.

Text at the movie's start speaks of an Aztec myth that the 'nameless days' occur once every twenty years, and is a period of time where the Gods can descend to Earth in order to claim sacrifices.
Nicole (Ally Loannides - V/H/S/99 segment 'Suicide Bid') is a teenage Texan girl who lives with her stern and serious father, Charlie (Charles Halford - Constantine TV series), near the Mexican border. Due to the solitude of the remote rural location, she has dreams of going to university at California to work on her running. With her being the only close family he has, Charlie is quite against the idea. Nicole ends up getting involved with a teenage boy called Rahui (Alejandro Akara - Dark Harvest) and his sister who has recently given birth. Both had recently illegally crossed the border, and find themselves pursued by a demonic creature who wants to claim the newborn baby for its own. Knowing that the 'nameless days' are near to an end, the trio must do all they can to keep the baby safe, with the hope the demonic creature will be forced to return to where it came from once the special days end.

The Nameless Days was a slow burn horror that hides a lot of its budget constraints behind a small cast of characters. It wasn't until the film's second half that events really began to feel like they were moving along. While an indie film, this actually looks great throughout. A lot of mist and fog in the later half really made everything look atmospheric. The small cast of characters were all very morose, with the mood forever being serious throughout. Nicole wasn't a bad protagonist, her plight felt believable, and she was fleshed out enough due to the aspirations she is shown to have. Her skill, that of long distance running, also comes into play in a natural feeling way. I also liked the role of Charlie, as gruff as he was, you got a sense that he really did care about his daughter. Other characters didn't get too much to them. Nicole's best friend Caitlin (Ali Kinkade) is never clued in to the horror going on, so her infrequent appearances felt odd as it seemed she was playing someone from a different genre of film altogether. Nicole also seemed to notice this difference, as when Caitlin randomly shows up at her house in the dead of night, she doesn't see the need to properly warn her about the danger that is very much waiting literally outside. Charlie's best friend Victor (Trey Warner) was a character who felt very wasted. The actor brought a lot of life to his role, but only seemed to be in the film as a way for the Aztec myth story to be introduced. Maybe I missed a death scene, but he just seemed to vanish midway through the movie, when it felt he had a lot more to offer.

Sunday, 11 December 2022

Don't Look in the Mirror (2022) - Short Horror Film Review


I'm ill with Covid at the moment so have been taking things extremely easy blog wise this weekend (at time of writing). So, here I am with my third short horror film of the week. Don't Look in the Mirror was directed by Alex Magana and didn't hold too many surprises.

Lauren (Autumn Noel) is out walking one day when she spots a mirror left by the side of the road with a 'free' sign on it. Checking it isn't broken, the girl takes it home. When she looks into the mirror however she becomes entranced with her reflection and unable to stop staring at herself. Days pass and her mother (Elle Sunkara) arrives to see why her daughter hasn't been answering her phone...

A simple idea here, and coincidentally the second mirror based short horror I've seen this week, after The Changing Room. This was four minutes of perfectly fine film, but as often happens, this wasn't that exciting to watch. It felt obvious where the story was heading, while the character didn't appear to have changed in appearance for most the short, despite it supposedly being days without sleeping or eating and drinking anything. It leads up to a fun enough final shot. At four minutes this doesn't out stay its welcome but again, didn't really leave much of an impression in a post Smile world.

SCORE:

Friday, 9 December 2022

The Changing Room (2022) - Short Horror Film Review


It's not a good sign when you go to research the film you just watched and are unable to recall the title. With Sam Evenson's The Changing Room I at first thought it had been called The Mirror Room and then The Mirror Box before finally re-discovering its actual title. At its core this uses mirrors to great effect, but even so was maybe underutilised.

Wanting to try on some clothes while in a shop, a woman (Jamie Taylor Ballesta - 13 Reasons Why TV show) decides to ignore the warning sign and head on up some stairs to the changing room. The room has two full length mirrors opposite each other, making for a fun infinity effect that the girl messes around with. Her fun turns to horror however when she spies something in one of the many reflections that shouldn't be there.

I love the idea of having two mirrors facing each other, I feel it must have been hard to film without the camera getting in shot. The horror aspect was what let this down though, the entity glimpsed just wasn't that exciting to see, with The Changing Room soon falling into an obvious plot path. It was well shot and fits a lot into its four minute run time, but when the core horror isn't there for me it wasn't going to leave much of an impression. I did like the ending shot, probably the highlight, but all in all this didn't do enough to really stay in the mind.

SCORE:

Thursday, 8 December 2022

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for December 8th 2022


I'm in the beginning stages of a cold at the moment so I will likely keep this news post brief today (turns out it was actually Covid). I'm watching so many different relevant shows at the moment but am not really close to finishing any of them. At some point the dam with burst and there will be a slew of show and book reviews. Anyway, onto the news.

Dark Force Fest is a three day festival that is coming from VampireFreaks, the team behind Triton Festival and Dark Side of the Con. This new festival is going to bring the newest trending artists from Gothic, Industrial, Darkwave and the Post-Punk scenes. The event is going to occur from March 31st to April 2nd 2023 in Parsippany, NJ at the Sheraton Parsippany hotel. The festival is going to include over thirty bands, including Suicide Commando, ACTORS, Rabbit Junk, Video Vision, Empathy Test, Solar Flake, BILE, Psyclon Nine and Das Ich. For more details check out here.


Italian horror Screams From The Swamp comes to Blu-ray on December 27th from VIPCO and Bayview Entertainment. In the film, after Angela's husband and son die in hospital, she becomes obsessed with secretly following the doctor who operated on them. Her paranoid obsession is luckily well founded as it turns out the doctor and his colleagues kill people for fun in their off time. She decides in order to take down these killers she will turn to 'dark otherworldly forces', as you do.


Finally in this short news anthology, Werewolf Cabal is coming soon to VOD platforms. The story is about an American author who discovers a werewolf worshipping cabal after travelling to a remote British town to collect an inheritance. The film stars Vernon Wells (Mad Max) and Dani Thompson (Christmas Slay) and will be coming to all the usual places, such as Amazon Prime, TubiTV and The Roku Channel.

Wednesday, 7 December 2022

Laura Hasn't Slept (2020) - Short Horror Film Review


I had already planned a bit of a lazy blog weekend due to getting the latest Call of Duty game and a big Fortnite event. Then I woke up today (at the time of writing) with a stinking cold, not really surprising seeing as how my work colleagues had been dropping like flies last week (I have since discovered it is actually Covid, five days later and I still feel like trash). Despite my own self inflicted issues I had with Parker Finn's Smile, I thought it had a terrific idea behind it, knowing it had been based on a short film of the director's, I had hoped one day to see it. Well, the director has made that a lot easier by sticking the eleven minute, excellently titled Laura Hasn't Slept up on YouTube.

The titular Laura (Caitlin Stasey - Smile) has gone to her psychiatrist, Dr. Parsons (Lew Temple - Night Caller, The Devil's Rejects) to tell the man about the very disturbing recurring dream she has been having every time she goes to sleep. She dreams of a creepy man with a terrible smile who threatens to show her 'his real face'. The psychiatrist seems eager to help, but is everything as it seems?

Much like I ruined Smile for myself by watching the trailers over and over, with Laura Hasn't Slept it was impossible to watch without comparing it to the later feature length film. As a short this was fine, actually, it was somewhat elevated above the usual oh so scary jump scare finish. It was certainly formulaic though, and I thought that a sequence before the end was slightly overlong. As a template for the film Smile would become, this was fascinating. You have a smiling figure with a smile that was not as pronounced as in the feature length, you have dream sequences bleeding into reality, and the general barebones of what the evil would come to be. Interestingly in terms of story, and something the director has also implied, Laura Hasn't Slept could easily be seen to be a prequel to Smile, the protagonist character shares the same name as the character that Stasey also portrayed in Smile's memorable opening section.

Going into this blind would have made this a lot more effective, again that is down to me and not to the competency of Parker Finn. With trashfires like Lights Off getting created off the basis of a short, at least with this one it led to something greater than what was an already enjoyable concept. If you liked Smile, then Laura Hasn't Slept is certainly worth checking out, if only to see the origins of a such a supremely creepy idea.

SCORE:



Monday, 5 December 2022

The Possessed (2021) - Horror Film Review


I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think that the Chris Sun (Boar) directed The Possessed (not to be confused with The Possessed) may be the first Australian demonic possession film I have seen. This was also somewhat based on real events, or at least the protagonist is based on a real man, Mark Gardener, a man who claims to have the power to expel demons from peoples bodies. Whether that is real or not it is hard to say, but Gardener came up with the story concept for this, and some real footage of his 'clearings' play out during the end credit sequence.

Jacob (John Jarratt - Wolf Creek 1 & 2) is a foul mouthed, yet kindly man who has a special gift. After an accident he discovered he had the ability to 'clear' demonic entities that have latched onto people. He does this with the aid of his nephew, Liam (Lincoln Lewis - Home and Away soap opera). Recently he has noticed that he is being asked to perform more and more clearings, with each one seeming to be harder than the last. Jacob learns of a couple whose house appeared to have previously been the site of a demon summoning, and with the aid of Liam, Liam's girlfriend Atalie (Lauren Grimson - Wyrmwood: Apocalypse), her nerdy best friend Carissa, and gay friend Orion (Jade Kevin Foster), sets out to perform the clearing. What he finds however will prove to be his hardest clearing yet, with a very powerful demon to beat.

If Hallmark made horror movies then I think The Possessed may be what they would come up with. Ignoring the way people act when they are possessed, every single character in the movie is a kindly one, with nearly zero conflict amongst the group of friends. It wasn't really clear where the story would be heading, with an initial prologue that has Jacob exorcising a demon from his wife amusingly explained away as something that he has to do a lot and not actually leading anywhere. In fact, after this prologue, Jacob's wife is never really featured, or even brought up again. The story doesn't even really finish in a satisfactory fashion, instead this had the feel of a pilot episode to a TV show like Supernatural or something, as the film works at bringing the group of friends together, each of which has their own unique skill they bring.

Sunday, 4 December 2022

The Walking Dead: Season 11 (2021-22) - Zombie Horror TV Series Review


Almost a year ago I reviewed the first part of the bumper length final season of The Walking Dead. That season has only recently ended, with the twenty four episodes zooming through events. My first review was about the first eight episodes, since then there were two further parts. I will try not to speak too much of that first part as I would just be going over old ground.

Part one was mainly concerned with Maggie and her suicide mission into the heart of the new antagonistic force, The Reapers. This storyline culminates with the first episode of part two, No Other Way, with the show heading into the endgame storyline that heavily revolves around the Commonwealth. What I really liked about that storyline was the use of in medias res (starting the story in the middle and then going back to show how events came to be). That idea is something that is used again in the second part. This time we see Daryl shockingly now a soldier in the commonwealth army outside the gates of Hilltop demanding Maggie let him and his soldiers in. This middle part mainly takes place in the Commonwealth where it becomes clear that the paradise it initially appeared to be isn't so true. The settlement may number in the thousands, but the society there is trying to ape the class structure that was prevalent prior to the apocalypse. The rich live lives of luxury, while the rest have to work hard to serve them, and the poorest are treated as expendable commodities whose lives do not matter. Michael Mercer (Michael James Shaw), the leader of the Commonwealth army became a character I really liked, someone who is aware of the rampant corruption of his leaders, but doesn't want to rock the boat and potentially put the civilians in danger. Lance Hornsby on the other hand is king of the corruption. The character is basically Saul Goodman (from Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul), he cares only about himself. It isn't too much a spoiler to say that the Commonwealth has some deep seated issues with it. It is a fitting antagonist to end the show on as it is the biggest that our band of survivors have yet had to deal with. This is evil with a smiling face, on the surface all is pure and innocent, yet hidden behind is deep corruption.


The Commonwealth is where the majority of the second two parts of season eleven take place and features a huge number of characters. The show has always struggled with a large cast and it has been many, many seasons since I knew the names of the many main characters. Here that issue is compounded, some certainly make a mark, such as Governor Pamela and Mercer, others join the ranks of the nameless. The show has always struggled to make deaths feel meaningful, often humorous that characters appear only to instantly be killed off, that is reflected all throughout the season, with the hapless Commonwealth guards repeatedly getting killed by zombies in the most stupid of ways, though no less entertaining. Being the final season there are some more prominent deaths, though far less than I expected there to be. It didn't help that a few of those killed off where characters who had been in the show for a few seasons, but whose names I never did learn. There are many storylines going on, but some really work well. As annoying as I find Maggie for instance, it was fascinating all the scenes she shares with Negan, he was one of the highlights of the show as a whole. I never thought I would come to love a character who had such an evil past, its testament to the amazing acting talents of Jeffrey Dean Morgan that this character path felt so believable.
Despite this final seasons end there were parts that felt rushed. The biggest for me was the notion that some of the undead have started evolving into more intelligent versions, being able to use simple tools and climb obstacles. This got introduced out of nowhere, explained away by a character saying he had heard about these. As a viewer I certainly hadn't, and this idea unlike the undead, never really evolved into anything as interesting as it sounded like it could be.

Saturday, 3 December 2022

On the Edge (2022) - Horror Film Review


Sometimes not reading the synopsis before watching a film for review can come back to bite you. On the Edge is the latest horror from the Soska Sisters (twins Jen and Sylvia), it was written and directed by them, with both featuring also in the film as actors. The press release states this is a psychological erotic thriller, a term which I would say is apt, but also one which isn't the sort of film to appeal to me.

Peter (Aramis Sartorio) is a family man who tells his wife (Sylvia) that he has to go away on a business trip for a few days. We next see the skittish man at a hotel where he has booked the penthouse suite. His nerves seem well founded as when he enters the apartment he is met by a stern woman (Jen Soska) who tells the scared man to strip. It isn't long before he has been knocked out, waking to find himself tied up. The key question being, is this some suexual perversion the man wanted, or has he been blackmailed into coming to this situation.

Around 95% of On the Edge takes place in the hotel room, and for a two hour film this felt very slow going. Peter spends the majority of the film completely naked and being sexually and psychologically tortured by the woman he is forced to call Mistress. For almost half the film the man is tied up, with the Mistress sexually torturing him, such as the devices she inserts in places. The trouble was that not only did this not appeal to me, but I found the length of time these scenes were dragged out to soon led to boredom. For the majority of the movie it is Peter and the Mistress as the only characters, often Peter is just babbling and crying making for a story that became a lot more abstract. The surreal nature did lead to some decent moments, such as when the maid (Andrea Jin) arrives to the room and not only seems nonplussed that Peter is locked in a cage, but also has a chilled discussion with the Mistress about how to deal with Peter's body once he has been killed. These elements work in creating a mystery for the viewer, ever unsure if this is something the rich man has signed up for or not.

Friday, 2 December 2022

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Friday 2nd December


Ho ho ho, it is finally the month where playing incessant Christmas music is acceptable, rather than the irritating radio station my work has on in the main lab, which has been pumping out Christmas tunes for the past two weeks. Bad planning has meant that I've put up two news posts in one week, there was just nothing else I was close to finishing up in time for a blog post. In me news, I'm back into Elder Scrolls Online, a game I've been playing on and off for countless years. I'm also giving Amnesia: The Dark Descent another go as part of a playthrough of the collection that brings together the first two games. It looks even more dated than I remember, but the voice work is better than what my memory told me. Anyway, news.

New from Arrow Video US are the following releases. First up is Shawscope Volume 2. This is a limited edition box set that includes fourteen films from the kung fu studio, nine of which have brand new 2K restorations. Also included is a sixty page collectors book, never before seen archival interviews and two CDs of music from the De Wolfe music library.
On December 6th is the Blu-ray release of The Leech, a film that I reviewed yesterday and gave a respectable 7/10. That one is a dark horror comedy about a priest's downfall after inviting two homeless people to stay with him over Christmas. Also out on the sixth is Nightmare At Noon, which comes from Nico Mastorakis (Island of Death), here, scientists poison the water supply of small town, turning the residents into murderous psychos. Finally, again on the sixth, is Silent Running UHD, a sci-fi classic that takes place in a world where all flora on Earth is extinct.

Horror film Hellbilly Hollow is having its world premiere as the closing film at this year's New York City Horror Film Festival, which will also include director/actor Kevin Wayne and producer/actor Kurt Deimer in attendance. They play two twisted brothers who run the titular haunted attraction that includes secretly real murders as part of its staged performance. A team of online paranormal activity arrive at the attraction and become the latest victims of the brothers.

Finally for this smaller post, 1976's Creature from Black Lake comes to Blu-ray on December 13th. This Bigfoot film has two college students heading out to do research on the creature and end up encountering it. Apparently the story for this was inspired by real news stories. Extras include an audio commentary and a new featurette titled Swamp Stories.

Thursday, 1 December 2022

The Leech (2022) - Comedy Horror Film Review


I spent the majority of my time watching the very darkly comedic The Leech thinking that one of the main leads looked a lot like Jeremy Gardner (After MidnightSpring, The Battery). Well, it turns out that similarity was because it was no other than Gardner, something that instantly made this feel-bad comedy horror that little bit better. Written and directed by Eric Pennycoff (Sadistic Intentions), this is a morality tale that gets more and more demented as the story goes on.

Father David (Graham Skipper - Beyond the Gates) is a priest at a failing church. His sermons are all about helping people in need, and so when he encounters homeless man, Terry (Gardner) with nowhere to go, he offers him a place at his home for the night. It isn't long however before Terry has invited his girlfriend Lexi (Taylor Zaudtke - Sadistic Intentions, After Midnight) to stay also, and they convince David to let them remain at the house for the Christmas period. The priest sees it as an opportunity to rehabilitate the pair, hoping his teachings will get them to follow God and give up their sinful ways, but the more time he spends with them, the more it seems that he is the one becoming changed by them.

I thought The Leech was a good film, but it wasn't a comfortable watch. This is most prevalent in the first half of the movie where you really come to feel for David. It felt like a horror film for introverts,with David seemingly lost with how to get back control over his life, and whose peace is permanently ruined by the increasingly unwelcome guests. The only voice of sanity is Rigo (Rigo Garay), a former drug addict who David helped a year previously, and who recognises how bad the two guests really are. It becomes a series of uncomfortable scenes, with Terry in particular being an awful human being. From the title, I assumed that Terry secretly had ulterior motives, but it did seem like he was just an awful person. Gardner was great in the role and remains constantly unhinged throughout.
His character swears, plays loud rock music, drinks and smokes heavily and does a lot of drugs. It leads to some cringe inducing moments, such as when David walks in on the man pleasuring himself.
David was the character with the biggest character path, from his mild and meek persona, over the course of the movie he becomes more angry and bitter, a reverse parallel to a scene in which the priest tells Terry that the church follows more the teachings of the New Testament God, someone who is far more peaceful than the wrathful God of the Old Testament.

Tuesday, 29 November 2022

The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for November 2022


It is that time of the month again where I splurge out all the news I currently have sitting in my inbox. I have an admission to make, despite Halloween being my favourite horror franchise, I never actually saw Halloween Ends at my local cinema. My lame reason is that the cinema had recently started charging to use their car park on top of the ticket price, and so I had refused to visit. As soon as it is available to watch anywhere I will check it out, as I did love Halloween Kills.
Meanwhile on Netflix I have been watching the excellent Sandman, and have recently gotten into Wednesday, the Addams Family spin-off I never knew I needed.

Twin films Panic and Convulsion are sci-fi thrillers that were created in an experimental fashion. Both films use mostly the exact same script to make two different films using different actors in the lead. Saint Heart and Shane Ryan-Reid star in Panic, with Leonard Zhang and Jose Adam Alvarez in Convulsion. Supporting actors in both films include Chris Spinelli, Nicole D'Angelo, Johnny Mask and Lisa London, and the films were directed by Gregory Hatanaka.



Candy Land is to open the 20th edition of the New York City Horror Film Festival that is taking place December 1st to 4th. This horror thriller follows a cult member named Remy who befriends a group of truck stop sex workers. This has been described as 'a psycho slasher that asks us to reevaluate the concepts of what denotes good and evil through a surprising barrage of sex and violence'.

Terror Talk is now available to watch for free on YouTube over Christmas. This horror from the Jalbert Brothers is about a viral outbreak that leads to a doomsday prepper retreating to his house. Trapped inside, he soon discovers the place is haunted. I gave the film an always respectable seven out of ten, saying 'I liked how open ended the plot was, with it kept unclear for a long time just what is going on'. Its tale of a man in lockdown was a few years ahead of its time, a film that would probably resonate more nowadays than it did back in 2018.


Mario Cerrito's Human Hibachi 2: Feast in the Forest has signed a deal with Troma Entertainment, it will be joining Human Hibachi on its Troma Now streaming service. Here, in the deep woods, a family of cannibals have become obsessed with the found footage that made up the first film, and are on a mission to locate the two survivors of the ordeal.


The Last Slay Ride comes to Blu-ray on December 13th from VIPCO and Bayview Entertainment. This Christmas themed horror comedy stars Elissa Dowling (Girl on The Third Floor) and Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist) and is about a group of indie filmmakers who find themselves up against vampires while attempting to get revenge on a corrupt distributor.


Finally, there is news that female horror filmmaker Megan Tremethick has had a very successful Kickstarter used to fund creating a short film production of H.P Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark. The first time horror filmmaker had her funding goal achieved within twenty four hours, and achieved over 500% of her goal in six days. Starring Gordon Holliday, this is about a man who finds himself exploring a church tower in the dead of night, a place where he encounters a cursed entity.
The Kickstarter success has led to an additional campaign for a second short film titled Revenge of Innsmouth. This one is to be a dystopian horror set in the future, about the oppressed inhabitants of Innsmouth hoping to fight back against their human oppressors. To check out The Haunter of the Dark campaign head here.

Sunday, 27 November 2022

A Plague Tale: Requiem (2022) - Horror Video Game Review (XBox-Series X)


I found 2019's A Plague Tale: Innocence to be a surprise hit with me. I loved the setting of 1300s France, and loved the concept of having to survive a plague of supernatural rats. It was obvious that game was inspired in parts by The Last of Us and so it maybe shouldn't be a surprise that this sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem has been inspired by elements of The Last of Us: Part II. This is mainly in terms of the game trying to be as bleak and miserable as humanly possible.

The story picks up around six months after the end of Innocence, with Amicia (voiced by Charlotte McBurney in the English language version), her mother, best friend Lucas (Kit Connor), and her young brother Hugo (Logan Hannan) having travelled to the south of France. While Hugo is still afflicted with the strange supernatural curse that causes killer rats to follow him wherever he goes, this unnatural ability has been dormant, and it is hoped that the terror of the curse is far in the past. After a chance violent encounter, Hugo's powers come back, even more deadly than before. His mother had gotten in contact with an ancient secret organisation known as The Order, with the hope that the help their specialist knowledge can bring will be able to provide a cure. Hugo however has different plans, he keeps having a recurring dream about a mysterious island protected by a phoenix, and becomes convinced that this place is the answer to a cure. With Amicia's help, the two set off on their own in search of this mysterious place.

Rather than try to dramatically change up the feel, Requiem felt a lot like more of the same. The game is spit into about sixteen chapters, and is split between combat free story sections, such as when Amicia and Hugo are visiting towns and settlements, combat sections when stealth must be used to either bypass or kill human enemies, puzzle sections involving traversing literal seas of killer rats, and a mix of human enemies and the rats. For the combat you eventually gain access to all the tools of the first game, with Amicia mainly using her sling to kill guards, set flammable objects on fire, and extinguish flames. With more combat this time around she also gets a nifty crossbow, though ammo for that is scarce. There is a slight puzzle element with the combat as many enemies wear helmets, requiring you to use environmental objects to aid your fighting, such as pots of oil, and sacks of flour. Hugo also gets some abilities this time around, my favourite being him able to control rats, which you can then use to hunt down enemies. Like before, combat can be frustrating, and with a handful of wave based survival moments forced on you, I often found myself swearing a lot.
Mixed in with the stealth, puzzles and combat are thrilling moments that typically have you running away as thousands of rats swarm towards you like a wave. No matter how many of these occurred (felt it was about once an hour over the ten to fifteen hour game), these always thrilled, and rarely caused frustration.