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.

Saturday 26 November 2022

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology November 26th 2022


I'm approaching the end of my week off of work (at the time of writing), a week in which I certainly had fun, but felt I could have achieved more than what I did. I did play through some horror games at the very least, as well as got addicted to The Good Place, a show I had been meaning to watch for ages.

Gothic/occult wave Russian duo, Raven Said have released a new EP titled Chants to Dissolve, which is available on CD and digital formats (via Bandcamp). The press release states the EP is '...about the spiritual essence that represents a certain alchemical phase of Solve' whatever that means. The press release is also keen to state that this Russian duo are '...very much against the war in Ukraine'.


I had to mention upcoming feature film, Wolf Story for that cover image alone. The film has gone into post production with principal photography completed. The story has been described as a spin on a typical rom-com, with a college professor who accidentally becomes a werewolf, and then uses his new powers to stop an evil occultist plot. This stars Daedalus Howell, who also wrote and directed this, also in the cast are Emily Maya Keyishian, Mark P. Robinson and Alia Beeton.

Classic horror RPG Cursed Mansion has had a release date of Friday 13th of January 2023 announced. Alongside this news was a new trailer for the game


Finally for today, Bridgehurst Asylum for the Sane was released on Blu-ray on November 22nd. This takes place during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1919 and finds a young woman who is wrongfully sent to an asylum that is run by corrupt owners. This comes from Bayview Entertainment.

Friday 25 November 2022

Little Nightmares II (2021) - Horror Video Game Review (Playstation 5)


Little Nightmares
was a horror game that left me a little disappointed. Despite the superbly creepy graphics I soon came to be frustrated by the controls, and the story didn't feel like it went anywhere that interesting. The game's three DLC packs were a mixed bag, with only one of them, The Residence, being a better experience than the base game. I believe Little Nightmares II originally retailed with a price of £35 here in the UK. Knowing that the first game was only around four hours long, I had no intention of getting this sequel unless it was heavily discounted. Well, that time has come, and seeing it for under £9 I decided to give it a go and hope against hope that it was a better game this time around. The story elements I do speak of is my own interpretation, with no dialogue it is all up to the player to decipher. 

You play as a small boy who exists in a world built for giants. Starting in a forest he begins his adventure, to seek out the reason why all his life he has had recurring dreams of a door marked with an eye symbol at the end of a long corridor. His journey takes him to the house of a giant poacher, and it is while exploring this place that he rescues a girl of similar size to him. The pair flee the shotgun toting giant and their travels eventually take them to a gigantic city of monstrous proportions, a place that the boy eventually learns the meaning of his dreams of the door.


With this sequel I finally understand the title of the game. While the first one was horror, it didn't feel like this one did atmosphere wise. This feels like being in a living nightmare, every location oozes with menace. This had more of a feel to Inside in that for the majority of the game you are journeying from left to right, each new location is a point on your onwards journey. The woods and poacher's cabin is a great introduction to the game, it is here that you learn the controls, something that the game often leaves you to discover for yourself, rather than providing any button prompts. The majority of the game takes place in the city, with rain perpetually pouring down. It is split into different areas in which there usually roams an area antagonist. Much like the first game, you encounter a variety of horrific boss enemies who patrol areas, and chase you down and kill you should they spot you. The first of these is the poacher, whose constant shotgun blasts require you to manoeuvre yourself behind cover. Later you encounter an extremely freaky looking teacher in a school, her neck is able to stretch seemingly infinitely, leading to some very crazy moments, helped by the crazed expression on her face. In the second half of the game you encounter the most scary of the boss characters, a 'Slender Man' looking thin figure who silently walks constantly towards you, appearing everywhere you turn, that was a highlight in terms of the horror.

Wednesday 23 November 2022

My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving (2022) - Drama Film Review


My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving
is at its heart a drama about the importance of family. There is one element that made this a good fit for my blog, and that is zombies. With the special needs protagonist obsessed with the undead, and in particular a show about them, around a fifth of the film's runtime uses scenes from the fictional show, to contrast what is happening there to what is happening to the main lead. This was directed by Charles B. Unger, with writing by Richard Soriano. Soriano says of the film "This film is a love letter to the special needs adults that have become my family as well as the caregivers and their families and the adults without loved ones in their lives."

Joshua Warren Bush stars as Marcus, a special needs adult in his early twenties. With the characters in his favourite zombie show placing a lot of importance on family, the man decides he wants to find his mother, someone who he hasn't seen since he was a child. Eventually she is located, with Marcus needing to get some money to be able to afford the trip to see her. He gets a job at a nearby laundromat and soon befriends the owner, Jung (Ray Chang - Lethal Weapon 4), his wife Me Young (Grace Shen - Grey's Anatomy TV series) and their son Kim (Chris Wu). However, after a criminal sees the potential in Marcus due to his size and gullibility, the man falls in with the wrong crowd, and soon he must make a choice as to where his loyalties lie.

Obviously for me the best part about the movie were the scenes set within the fictional zombie show. These sequences were always fun to watch, the show is given more of a muted drab look than the real world, and features lots of scenes of characters battling the undead. The undead looked great here, and while this only made up a small portion of the overall run time, it was fun to keep re-visiting and see the progression of the character's plot. This feeds back into the main story due to the themes of family that are present within the show. Special effects are kept to a minimum but they were enjoyable, a zombie with its face on fire in a blatant use of CG for example, was still entertaining to watch.
The main film felt a little convoluted at times, perhaps one less subplot would have smoothed things out as there seemed to be a lot going on at times. Marcus wanting to meet his mother may have been the driving force for his actions, but this scene when it happens became almost farcical due to the extreme nature of the character he meets.

Monday 21 November 2022

V/H/S (2012) - Horror Anthology Film Review


V/H/S
is one of those film series that I have heard lots about but never actually gotten around to watching. That changed today when my Blu-ray of the first in the series landed on my doorstep. It's really something I should have gotten around to watching sooner, as I love a good anthology. Anthologies are nothing without a unified concept and with V/H/S that concept is found footage. Both the wraparound segment and the five short films all use that idea to tell their stories.

The set-up for the film and wraparound story takes place within Tape 56, directed by Adam Wingard (Death Note, Blair Witch, You're Next) and written by Simon Barrett (Blair Witch, The Guest, You're Next). A group of low level career criminals who film their exploits in order to sell on the dark web are hired for what sounds like a simple job. They are to break into the house of an elderly man, in order to steal a V//H/S tape, being told that it will be obvious which tape is the one to take. Things don't go according to plan as they soon discover the corpse of the old man, as well as a pile of tapes which all seem identical. As some of the group search for the one they were hired to steal, another decides to check out some of them, which make up the various short films. Good wraparound films are always welcome, and while this initially starts off effectively, I found the short segments in between the films to not really do anything too interesting, least as a device for why the short films are being shown it worked.
It became clear with this story and the others that followed that this is very much found footage in the style of the first decade of this century. Namely lots and lots of shaky hand-cam footage and camera glitches. To be expected due to the time this was released, but I wonder if future entries in the series improve on this generic approach to found footage horrors.


The first proper short is Amateur Night, directed by David Bruckner (the new Hellraiser, The Ritual), who also co-wrote this along with Nicholas Tecosky (Siren). This one follows a group of friends who have recently gotten hold of some glasses that have a secret camera built into them. Their aim is to go to a club and pull some girls, so that they can take them back to their motel room and secretly film themselves sleeping with them. Things go down a bloody path when one of the girls they bring back to their room happens to be hiding a terrifying secret. I enjoyed this one despite lots of shaky footage. The found footage aspect felt believable and there were some great makeup and special effects, it all culminates in a fantastic looking finale.
Next is Second Honeymoon, directed and co-written by Ti West (X, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, The House of the Devil), and starring Sophia Takal and Joe Swanberg as a couple on vacation. This takes place in the form of a road trip the two have gone on, with their daytime adventures contrasting with the unknown horror that takes place as they sleep. I liked the part that occurs halfway through, but thought the eventual twist wasn't that exciting, mostly lacking in scares, though had a cool special effect towards the end.

Tuesday the 17th had great atmosphere to it, and some really effective looking digital effects. This was directed and written by Glenn McQuaid (I Sell The Dead) and had a group of friends heading to a remote lake at the insistence of the newest member of their group. Being the only short set out in woodland, this had a distinct look to it, I really liked how the killer lurking in the woods is never able to be shown on camera. What really let this down was the main protagonist who felt very unconvincing, and what happens also led to what appeared to be plot holes. Despite that this was still one of the better shorts to be found here.
The penultimate short is The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger, and sadly that title is about the best thing to be found here. It takes the form of a webcam interaction between the titular Emily and her boyfriend, with Emily convinced her new apartment is haunted. It all leads to a bizarre twist that didn't quite work for me. That was also written by Barrett, and was directed by Swanberg (the main lead in Second Honeymoon).
With V/H/S having a near two hour run time I was beginning to get a little tired of the film, thankfully though, the final short film (which also closes out the movie as a whole) is also the very best. 10/31/98 was written, produced, and directed by the collective known as Radio Silence, and as the title suggests, this takes place on Halloween in 1998. A group of friends head to a mansion for a Halloween party, but instead they discover many horrors, including a cult who appear to be in the process of killing a chained up girl in the attic. When the action starts it really starts here, featuring lots of very entertaining digital effects, including objects flying around rooms, and spectral arms reaching up out of the floor and walls. I really enjoyed that final one and as always shows why anthologies are such a cool format to go for.


I admit I had hoped for more from V/H/S, it was a collection of found footage films that were certainly from their time. While I wouldn't go as far as to say I didn't enjoy them all, some of them did have issues. It was cool however, discovering all the notable horror directors who worked on this, and with such a solid start I am excited to see how newer entries in the series pan out.

SCORE:

Saturday 19 November 2022

Haunted: The Audio Drama - Season 1 (2022) - Horror Audio Drama Review


Back in March I started listening to a new horror based audio drama, fittingly named Haunted: The Audio Drama. This had originally been planned to be a TV show but due to budget constraints the decision was made to change the format. I have now finished listening to season one of the show, roughly one episode a week was dropping, for a total of thirty three episodes spread over eight different stories.

I previously reviewed the very first two episodes, so I will gloss over that part. Basically, paranormal enthusiast Abigail Corbin (voiced by Isabella Barbieri) seeks out her idol, ex-paranormal investigator James Hunter, in order to get him to help her investigate strange goings on in her town. They learn of a strange signal that has the power to turn anyone who hears it homicidally mad. With that as the basis, and the season's overarching plot, the two end up going on further adventures, with the hope that one of their investigations will eventually lead to clues that can help them solve the case of the strange signal.

Some of the stories are better than others, but what ties this all together is the wonderful vocal talents of the main cast. Abigail and James both grew as characters over the first season, and it was lovely seeing how their friendship grew. Personality wise they are polar opposites, Abigail is somewhat naive and passionate, while James is a bitter and jaded alcoholic. He is always presented as someone being old and out of touch with the world, which always felt strange seeing as the character is only thirty five years old, five years younger than I am in real life, yet acting like someone a lot older. There is a recurring character of a former love interest of Abigail; policeman Dan Cowell (Luke Hunter), he is the biggest side character by far, popping up in plenty of the chapters, growing lots as a result. There was also the eternally friendly and optimistic Cheryl (Tess Gustard), she was another nice side character. Probably my favourite of the side characters was someone I think may have been named Benton, either way, he was like the opposite of James, a paranormal investigator who believed absolutely everything he investigated was in some way linked to the supernatural, even when the evidence suggested otherwise. He was a complete idiot, but strangely endearing.

Friday 18 November 2022

Inscryption (2021-22) - Horror Video Game Review (Playstation 5)


I listen to a few different video game podcasts, earlier in the year there had been lots of talk about a really unique sounding card based game called Inscryption. Card games normally hold little to no interest for me, but the passion with which this game was spoken about really had me wanting to check it out for myself, especially due to it seeming to have a creepy horror aesthetic to it. Seeing it on sale on the Playstation 5 I snapped it up, hoping it would be something I would enjoy. I can happily report that this was one stunner of a game, one that cements the fact that gameplay and story can trump amazing graphics every single time.

To go too much into the story would ruin the surprise, for this is a game that thrives on constantly surprising the player. At its core, this has you playing as a man, who is playing the fictional video game Inscryption on his PC. In the game within the game you find yourself in an old cabin deep in woods on a dark and stormy night. This cabin is home to a creepy old man shrouded in darkness who asks you to play a card based adventure game with him. This takes the form of a rogue-like (meaning each new attempt features randomised elements so that no two playthroughs are the same). In addition to playing the card game, you can get up and explore the cabin at any point, playing the game slowly reveals clues as to how to solve various puzzles dotted around the cabin. You also encounter a few cards who appear sentient, a fate you discover awaits you, as each failed attempt sees your character transformed into a card, with each subsequent attempt having you play as a 'new' arrival at the cabin.


At first I didn't fully understand that I was playing a man who was playing a video game, but this becomes far more apparent later on with more elements that refer to this concept. As I said in my intro, card games hold little interest to me. Here, with such a strong horror element I was hooked. The basic set-up for each match has a board with twelve places for cards, set up into three rows. You only have access to the first row, and it is here that you must place cards, with the intention to cause damage to your opponent. Each point of damage puts a gold nugget onto a scale, the goal being to tip the scales in your favour and win the match. Your opponent has the same goal, and with him he is able to utilise the other two rows, with his cards advancing. Both of you need a clear path to the opponent in order to damage them, and so the cards battle against each other to kill each other off. Cards have both health points and damage points, and get a whole host of specific abilities, such as being able to attack the opponent directly even if there is a card in their way, or instantly killing any enemy card they hit.
Sacrifice is the name of the game however, with many of the cards only able to be played onto the board once the required number of your own cards currently already on the board have been sacrificed. This later gets expanded upon with some cards requiring bones to be used (bones gained from when cards you have placed are killed), some cards requiring specific magical gemstone cards to be present on the board before they can be used, and some requiring a specific store up of energy for them to be used. 

Thursday 17 November 2022

Terrifier 2 (2022) - Horror Film Review


I enjoyed Damien Leone's Terrifier, though certainly wasn't a film without its issues, namely the near absence of any real plot. It did however introduce me to one of the best new horror film villains of the twenty first century, namely, Art the Clown. Since then I have checked out the film he first appeared in, anthology horror All Hallows Eve, which showed the origins, now with Terrifier 2 we have the evolution of his character. Spoilers for the first film are sure to follow.

Terrifier 2 picks up where the last film ended, with the supremely creepy killer mime, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton - Terrifier) miraculously coming back to life at the Miles County morgue. While visiting a nearby laundrette to wash his blood stained costume, he encounters a creepy young girl (Amelie McLain - Transference), who like him is also dressed as a clown and mute. A year later and a troubled girl, Sienna (Lauren LaVera - Iron Fist TV series) is determined to enjoy Halloween, a night which also happens to be the anniversary of the massacre by an unknown person dressed as a clown. Sienna begins to have nightmares about Art, while her twelve year old brother Jonathan (Elliot Fullam) has hallucinations of Art and his new assistant. With their deceased father having drawn the clown in the weeks leading up to his suicide (that happened before the events of the first movie), they soon come to believe that there is some strange link with Art. A link that the clown also seems to sense, as he has chosen Sienna and her family as his new targets, as he begins a new bloody rampage across Miles County.


As a reaction to the criticism of a lack of plot in the first film, this time around there is much more of one. It seemed to be able to fit in a story around all the very violent killings of Art that the length was increased, leading to a film with a run time of two hours and twenty minutes. For the most part this still flew by, yet I can't say that towards the end it did start to feel ever so slightly like it was beginning to drag. It was interesting the similarities this felt it had with the Halloween franchise. Both take place on Halloween and feature a white faced killer who never speaks. Both killers are able to blend into their environment due to it not being strange that someone would be dressed up as something scary for that particular night. In A Nightmare on Elm Street fashion the clown is able to enter the dreams of his victims, while his young assistant may not be a physical threat, but has the ability to appear as a hallucination, as well as impersonate voices of other characters. I did like the girl, she was very good at doing creepy smiles, same as the clown himself.
The story mostly focuses on Sienna, with a whole bunch of friends and others slaughtered in imaginative fashion. I liked her character and how vulnerable she feels as a person, constantly having panic attacks even before Art makes an appearance. Her brother was more of a blank slate, his character didn't feel that well developed, and being a child I figured he would escape much of the torture and bloodshed.
The first film only got a supernatural feel towards the end when Art is resurrected. This time around there is more of a strange feel, the killer constantly survives violence that even Michael Myers may have struggled with. That actually works against the film, with the last part of the film in particular starting to drag due to the amount of times it feels like Art has been defeated only for him to be perfectly fine moments later. It was interesting to get a spin on the usual unkillable killer trope though, that was one part of the last third that really did work. 

Wednesday 16 November 2022

Menschenleere (2022) by Vlimmer - Music Album Review


Menschenleere
(translating as 'free of humans') is the latest album from Berlin based Vlimmer, a follow up to his debut album Nebenkörper which released late last year. If I had any musical integrity I would have headed back and gave his previous album a listen to see how different this sounded, but I didn't. From my ears this sounded more synthy, and even a little lighter in parts, with some catchy tunes among the off kilter darkness.

The press release states this album 'offers a blend of apocalyptic but danceable industrial, tribal-driven post-punk, and bittersweet new wave'. That sums up the album better than I ever could. Most tracks are full of eighties sounding synth, something which always appeals to me. There also felt like a lot of emotion to the songs, with the 'bittersweet' description being apt. Despite not knowing German I could still infer the emotion coming across in the singing, such as with third track Zielzweifel that sounded to my ears like the type of music that would be playing during a road trip montage in a post-apocalyptic movie.
The album opens on Erdgeruch, a pulsating eighties synth opener that sets the tone for the rest to follow. It leads into the wonderfully discordant Mathematik that has a goth-dance vibe to it. As a whole the album has a heavy industrial feel, something that I'm sure helped get it to top place in Bandcamp's industrial chart. Noposition is a prime example of the more heavy industrial side, while follow up track Schädelhitze is a good example of the more airy dancey style, with a hauntingly chilled feel to it.

There are plenty of tracks on the album that had catchy tunes to it, I often found myself humming along to the main musical beats. Kronzeuge had another melancholic tone to it with a light feel at times despite a heavy sound. Probably my favourite track was Schwimmhand that had a hypnotic quality to it, was another that I could imagine as a great backing track in an eighties post apocalyptic sci-fi B-movie. Despite the repetitive beats and the abundance of synth, each track stood apart from each other. With ones like Stimmriss you had Vlimmer at his more slow and brooding, while Fatigo was almost cheerful, relatively of course. The electronic based Menschenleere is the penultimate one with some Terminator style drums echoing in the background, nearly my favourite. Finally is Raynaud which closes the album to a sombre finish.

I enjoyed my time listening to Menschenleere, it is an album that felt cold and dark, but is emotive with it, less an album of anger, more one that had a feel of reflective regret to the sound. This released on November 4th from Blackjack Illuminist Records.

SCORE:

Tuesday 15 November 2022

Night of the Tommyknockers (2022) - Horror Film Review


It was only last month that I reviewed Michael Su's Bridge of the Doomed and now I find myself watching another of his new horrors. Before it was zombies, this time it is a creature feature, one which has been combined with a western. For whatever reason people seem to struggle to mix horrors and westerns together, at the very least I hadn't seen a decent one, everything from the Kurt Russell led Bone Tomahawk to indie films like The Legend of Hawes failed to leave much of an impression. Night of the Tommyknockers may be full of cliches, but that is what works in its favour, as it ticks all the right boxes to feel suitably western, while has some great creature design.

In the 1870's, some miners digging for gold accidentally release some lethal creatures which had existed living beneath the ground for countless years. Meanwhile, Dirk (Richard Grieco - Attack of the Unknown) and his gang of bandits are looking for a new town to rob, having just pulled off a successful bank robbery. Dirk's girlfriend, and fellow gang member, Betsy (Angela Cole) suggests a particular town to head to where she believes the bank is storing gold. They arrive to find the place seemingly deserted, and they soon find out the reason for this, the place had been under constant attack from creatures freed from the nearby mine. With no other choice but to team up with the survivors hiding out in the saloon, they must all work together to try and fend off the creatures until dawn comes.

Night of the Tommyknockers was shot two years after Bridge of the Doomed and used much of the same team who made that one. With that film it sometimes felt like it wasn't able to make the idea of it's main plot, that of  protecting an essential bridge, seem that believable, due to the bridge not seeming that essential. With this film, from the very start it felt like a western. The music was spot on, the locations were perfect, and the huge cast of characters felt like they fitted in to the time period. By the time the intro credits rolled, with lovely sepia tinged images I was fully into the time period, and there was never a moment where it felt like this was a film attempting to create the feel. As stereotypical as some characters and moments were, this felt like a western through and through, with the horror a nicely blended element.

Sunday 13 November 2022

Scorn (2022) - Horror Video Game Review (XBox Series X)


From the cover image alone I was intrigued by horror puzzle/adventure game Scorn. That led me to pre-downloading the game without even a concrete idea of its genre. I assumed it was going to be a first person shooter, but instead this is a more sedate experience, which does feature combat, but only more as a side show.

There isn't really much of a story in Scorn. You play as a humanoid figure who begins the game coming to consciousness in a vast desert, in what looks like a nightmarish alien world. Seeing a giant tower in the distance, your character decides to head towards it. Before too long however, the ground beneath you collapses and you find yourself in a giant underground biomechanical facility.

The most striking element of this game is the fantastic artstyle, being in the world of Scorn is like walking around in a Zdzislaw Beksinski painting. The world is horrifically alien, with the merging of technology and organic being a constant. This is a place where you traverse fleshy corridors, operate machines by biomechanical tools grafted to your skin, and use living batteries to open doors. It is also true to say that H.R Giger was another big influence, more so as the game progresses. The final area of the game in particular is full of grotesque statues of fornicating alien beings. Roughly split into five different chapters, from your beginnings in an underground factory, you follow a path that takes you through the literal belly of a giant monstrous creature, ride a tram line that appears to have been created out of a spine, and suffer a parasitic entity that causes you as much pain and misery as it helps you. Along the way you witness an increasing amount of cancerous like growths, which perhaps hint at the doom that must have occured in this once working civilisation. Throughout the game there are many references to the process of pregnancy, from android creatures with pregnant bellies, to the foetus like creatures that operate as power cells, suggesting a world in which machines had been created to replace the natural pregnancy cycle.

Friday 11 November 2022

Bloodlines: The Jersey Devil Curse (2022) - Horror Documentary Review


It was literally only the other week that I was talking to my father about cryptids and mentioned that I had never really heard anything about the Jersey Devil, and now a week on and I have received a screener of Seth Breedlove's (Momo: The Missouri Monster) latest documentary, Bloodlines: The Jersey Devil Curse. This doesn't so much explore eye witness accounts of the cryptid, but it more looks into the myths and legends about the creature, charting just where the idea of the demonic looking creature may have originated.

Over eighty minutes the documentary heads backwards in time, starting off with an account in the 1980's, before heading to the turn of the 29th Century, then going all the way back to the 1600's. There are the usual talking heads you would expect, the majority appear to be more discussing the history that led to the creation of this legend, rather than experts who genuinely believe the creature to be a real thing. Throughout there are several lengthy recreations that I don't know if they were based on reality, or if they were made up, or if it was a bit of both. It didn't start too well, with the recreation of a sighting in the eighties featuring some very wooden acting. The second recreation was the most visually interesting as it styled itself as a silent sepia tinged film, complete with screens of dialogue for when characters have spoken. The final one seemed the most unrealistic, about a midwife discovering a demonic altar while attending to Mother Leeds, a woman who was said to have birthed a demonic creature hundreds of years ago.

So rather than treat this as a real creature (though the doc does state it is certainly possible a previously unknown creature could exist out in the vast Pine Barrens of New Jersey), this is more a look at the circumstances surrounding the creation of the myth. The many sightings that gripped newspapers in the early 1900's for instance are passed off as newspapers wanting to sell copies, while the whole Mother Leeds myth that popped up is said to have been originally created as a way to demonise a prominent settler who had strayed from his faith. The insight into historical facts was interesting, showing the reasons why this became a legend, it just wasn't so exciting with the recreations, however exciting they were made to be. I did think the CG monster wasn't actually that bad looking, and the directing was also not bad.

As always with Breedlove's documentaries, this felt like a quality product, lots of drone shots of the Pine Barrens, and every section had good design to it. Whenever there isn't an overarching narration I always feel it missing, the talking heads guide the doc ever onwards, but I feel narration would better unify everything. Still, a week ago I knew barely anything about this subject, and now I feel I know plenty, so this doc could be said to be a success. Bloodlines: The Jersey Devil Curse comes to Cable VOD and Digital HD on November 15th, from 1091 Pictures.

SCORE:



Thursday 10 November 2022

The Rotting Zombie's New Anthology for November 10th 2022


I managed to clear out my news inbox last weekend, so this time around it will be a look at what has arrived since then. The virtual reality headset PSVR2 has finally gotten a price and release date, it is going to cost a whopping £550 here in the UK, with a February release planned. Personally, despite the eye watering cost I do still intend to get one, a large part of that being finally able to play Resident Evil: Village in VR, that, plus the announcement of a spiritual sequel to the fantastic PSVR launch title, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.

The War of the Worlds (1953) and When Worlds Collide has been released on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray as a double feature. A limited-edition collectable release also released, this comes in a digipak sleeve, including eight photo cards, five art cards and two magnets. Extras include the original War of the Worlds radio broadcast and some making of documentaries. Personally I have never enjoyed film versions of War, as a teen I got obsessed with H.G. Wells' original novel and read it over and over again, meaning the films could never live up to my imagination. Regardless of my thoughts, I'm sure both films will look fantastic in this new format.

Baltimore based alternative rock trio, Novo Koloso have released the official music video for their track Hallucinate Your Faith, with the sophomore album of the same name released on November 8th. The video was directed by Mark Colegrove and features public domain footage from The Arrival, a promotional video from 1980 about UFO cult, Church of Unarius. As of the time of writing the video has been removed from YouTube due to a copyright claim, so here's to hoping it gets restored.

13 Tracks to Frighten Agatha Black comes to Blu-ray on December 13th from VIPCO and Bayview Entertainment. This interesting sounding horror is about a young woman who takes solace in some horror story records from her childhood after suffering a tragedy. She begins to get obsessed with these stories, convinced that they have hidden within them terrible messages about the future.

Wednesday 9 November 2022

The Man in Room 6 (2022) - Horror Film Review


It was the weekend before last that I first went to watch The Man in Room 6. I admit it was upon starting the film and seeing it was two and a half hours long that led me to delaying the review for a week. This was written and directed by Trevor Juenger, a man whose name always stuck in my mind, as it was his 2014 arthouse horror Coyote that was my first introduction to Bill Oberst Jr. and his intense acting style. For that reason alone I was interested to see Juenger's latest horror, as Oberst Jr. plays a key role in the film. Despite its lengthy run time, The Man in Room 6 resolutely failed to be dull, and while I can't profess to understanding the story all that well, it was something that captured my attention.

The film begins on a train, with Carrie (Jackie Kelly - Tennessee Gothic) on the run, for reasons unknown. A strange man (David Wassilak - Coyote) appears, who says he has been instructed by Carrie's mother  to bring the girl back, and to do so he ends up drugging the woman. In her earlier life she had inadvertently struck up a friendship with an elderly man at a nursing home. This man, William (Oberst Jr. - DISCoyote, Resolution) tells the girl a series of bizarre stories about his life, which include accounts of meeting a mermaid, black magic, and of a curse that means he can never die. It seems that at some point something occurred with William that resulted in Carrie being sent to a juvenile detention/psychiatric centre. Whatever happened with William has left a mark on her, as she claims to still see him wherever she goes.

It is hard to talk about the story for Room 6 as it is deeply layered. With the way it plays out it almost felt like an anthology at times, and are shown a variety of stories from different time periods, from the 1940's, to the 1980's and all the way up to near present day. The plot can be very confusing, with it feeling like key elements are purposely left vague to the viewer. This can also be seen with what happens, such as things that occur in the future that then seem to feed back and affect the past. With William's fate being such an important part of Carrie's story I thought it was interesting that this isn't actually shown, instead it is just what Carrie later relates to a friend. It became hard to follow events, and sometimes it didn't feel that well joined up even if later on things become more clearer. The first fifty minutes is mainly concerned with the stories of William. Oberst Jr. is in full facial prosthetics to imitate an old man, with the flashbacks (obviously) featuring him as he really looks. There were two different stories shown with him, both of which worked well as short horrors. In one, adrift at sea he encounters a beautiful and strange mermaid, this has a fairytale type feel to it, and despite what must be an indie film, it seemed authentic. Maybe her fish costume wasn't the most realistic looking, yet the story was told well on screen. The second of his stories had him returning home from World War II to find his wife behaving very strangely. It seems that she may have begun practicing black magic while he was gone. Oberst Jr. was in The Man in Room 6 for far less time than I expected, but with such a long run time this still meant he still featured for nearly an hour of the movie.

Tuesday 8 November 2022

Life After: The Void (2016) by Bryan Way - Zombie Horror Book Review


Life After: The Void
is the sequel to Life After: The Arising, a zombie novel about a somewhat irritating teen who teams up a group of others after a zombie outbreak occurs in his hometown. Despite my misgivings with the main character, and the over the top verbose way he narrated the story (with it all told from a first person perspective), I still really enjoyed this more sedate version of apocalypse survival. This was followed by three short stories, only one of which (Life After: The Basement) has any bearings on the sequel's plot. I was pleased to discover The Void is a better book than the first, especially when it comes to pacing and character development. There will be unavoidable spoilers for both The Arising and likely the spin-off stories to follow, as a warning.

It is around three months after the end of the first novel, and the group of zombie apocalypse survivors holed up at a school are not doing too bad, despite frequent arguments between them. They are led by Jeff Grey; a former student who is still struggling to deal with the loss of his girlfriend Julia, Anderson; a National Guard soldier and best friend of Jeff, and Rich; a former homeless man. With evidence that society has survived beyond their base, the group must make a hard decision, whether to stay where they are in relative safety, or to go and seek out one of the fortified government controlled safe havens.

What I loved about The Arising was how comparatively bland the survivor's journey was to the typical zombie survival story. This can even be seen with how the story wraps up on itself, Jeff's journey both begins and ends in his former high school. I was happy to see that for the most part this follows a similar format, with over half of the novel taking place within the walls of their base. This gives time for Way to focus more on the characters, in a The Walking Dead type of way the zombies almost take a backseat to the struggles of the group, who are more concerned about possible human antagonists finding them than the undead.
Characters felt so well developed, with a few in particular really standing out. Anderson had moments in the first novel where he appeared almost reckless, and here that is expanded upon with more definite character flaws becoming apparent. Grey was always a character I struggled to like in The Arising, he came across as arrogant, immature, and needlessly angry, and I could never place if his wordy first person account was a result of the character or the author. This time around the writing felt more measured, and I see that as a result of the character himself growing as a person, making plenty of awful mistakes along the way (a real low point was when he aggressively dismisses Anderson's pain at witnessing the deaths of his National Guard colleagues). There was one particular moment where Grey spots his ridiculous bowler hat on the ground (that he insisted on wearing in the first novel) and decides not to retrieve it, instead stating something along the lines of that 'being a part of the old him'. I appreciated that, even if he does keep up with his painfully 'cool' trench coat and toothpicks. I also appreciated how his arrogance and anger is constantly being challenged. The novel doesn't try and make him an amazing person, instead he is someone full of flaws, with several pivotal moments (especially towards the end) that solely occur because of his cockiness, and on occasion cause him to make a real fool out of himself.

Saturday 5 November 2022

Others (2022) - Short Horror Film Review


Horror has often been used as a way to reflect current world issues, and with Others, you have a film that hopes to be able to extinguish HIV stigma. It comes from Casey House and is directed by filmmaker and screenwriter Paul Shkordoff. This apparently is the first time an actor has been cast in a movie specifically because of their HIV status.

This takes place in a world where an undisclosed blood condition has caused parts of society to be classed as 'others', with the afflicted facing prejudice and curtailing of their rights, such as having to declare when and where they travel, and being set with curfews. Peter (Peter McPherson) is one such sufferer, and it is while he is on a road trip and his car breaks down that his troubles truly begin, with the arrival of a friendly stranger (Lora Burke) who offers him a lift.

This twenty minute film actually finishes around seventeen minutes in. The final three minutes feature small interviews with the cast and crew, with their reasons for why they chose to be involved in the movie. Does this work as a horror though? It does in different ways. First you have the visual prejudice of a ranger (John K Ng) who makes Peter go through intrusive inspections purely because he doesn't like 'others', then later on there is a more horror tinged moment which the film takes the interesting step of featuring an open end. It is never specified what the deadly blood affliction is in this world, so it works as a contrast with HIV, though in this world it is bad enough that there are protests held against the people suffering from it. From a tense start (which feeds back in at the end), you get an effective scene in a car that created a feeling of horror well.

When I heard of Others I was worried that it would be so focused on its message that it wouldn't tell a good story. I was pleased to see this worked well as a horror film, while personally I might have preferred a more in depth end to the short, I still think the way that was chosen was effective, while it was interesting to get some insight from the actors and filmmakers as a conclusion.

SCORE:



Friday 4 November 2022

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for November 4th 2022


Another news post for this week, you can tell I was a bit unplanned when it came to this weeks blog posts. Truth be told I had been intending to review The Man in Room 6, but the two and a half hour runtime had me delaying it until next week when I would have more time to watch it. Instead I shall be watching the short twenty minute horror film Others, which is a film designed to challenge stigma against HIV sufferers.

I sometimes dip into the JustWatch UK streaming charts for movies and TV shows that I receive weekly. A glance at the latest one (which will actually be last week's at time of this post going up) shows Halloween is at number one, the latest film to be called Halloween in the series, not to be confused with Halloween or Halloween. That reminds me, I really need to get to the cinema to watch Halloween Ends, lack of money meant I had to wait for payday before I could afford to do that. It is cool to see Terrifier is in at number three, I love how much Terrifier 2 has blown up, Art the Clown is a fantastic character so it is pleasing that he appears to have slightly broken into mainstream, I really need to find out how to watch the sequel. The only other vaguely horror related film is The School for Good and Evil, a fantasy film where heroes and villains both attend a Harry Potter style school most likely.
In the TV show chart you have The Watcher at number two, I assume this is based on the real life account of a family who began to receive sinister letters after moving into a new home. Dystopian thriller (possibly, never actually seen it) The Handmaid's Tale is at number four, while What We Do in the Shadows is in tenth place. I really want to see that last one, but have yet to locate anywhere it's streamable.

Some exclusive stills have been released for horror film Bitch, which released on October 28th. This ten minute short stars Sadie Scheufler and J ai Raja (Max Reload & the Nether Blasters), and shows the effects of a curse, the result of a young woman seeking a break from the mistakes she has made in her life. Feral Llama Entertainment wanted to echo the movie-making process of the 1980's, so I figure there will be no CGI.




Finally for today, Brazil based Armored Dawn have released new single, Tides. This is the second single off the band's upcoming album, Brand New Way, the press release stating it '...addresses deeper sentimental themes, such as melancholy...'

Thursday 3 November 2022

Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster (2021) - Horror Documentary Review


I was in two minds whether Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster would be a good watch or not. This nearly one hundred minute documentary charts the legendary horror actor's film output from start to finish. Along the way you get no end of excerpts from recorded interviews, as well as behind the scenes footage and some of his most iconic moments from film and stage.

This follows a traditional format of having talking heads, that of notable people from the industry talking about the focus of the documentary. I fully expected this to be full of people I had no idea about, and while there are film critics and other industry people I didn't recognise, things start off strong with Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, Chronos), someone who pops back up on multiple occasions. He is joined by others, including Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Howling), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Roger Corman, as well as actor Ron Perlman (Season of the Witch). It is clear from what these people say that Karloff actually deserved the legendary status he has achieved over time. I of course have seen Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, as well as later films of his such as The Black Cat and The Sorcerers but never really appreciated him as a well rounded actor. Watching this documentary has made me want to check out some of his other films, of which there are plenty. I also didn't realise he was the narrator for the classic animated film How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

His most famous role is in Frankenstein, a character that has never been bettered than when he did it. Nearly everyone describing a Frankenstein's Monster like creature is sure to describe Karloff's character, the one with bolts in the neck and a squared head, this just shows the impression he has made on public consciousness. Outside of films however Karloff did a variety of things, from being the host of a Twilight Zone style show called Thriller, to performing on Broadway. The man suffered for his art, literally,  with his later years suffering arthritis still not hampering his passion for acting. Over his long career it was interesting how he kept becoming relevant on and off over the decades, seemingly each new decade he would suddenly get a resurgence in popularity.

As enjoyable as the documentary was there was one small complaint with the terrible green screen that makes the talking head sections look a bit amateurish due to the jagged hairlines that occur as a result of this. This was my biggest fault as otherwise I found this all to be really well done. Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster has been released on DVD/Blu-ray as a special limited edition collectors version of the 2021 documentary which features over 140 minutes of additional footage. This includes a newly produced two hour documentary Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story, as well as featurettes Meeting Boris Karloff and Ron's Story.

SCORE:

Tuesday 1 November 2022

Shadows (2020) - Post-Apocalyptic Film Review


Shadows
is an Irish-Italian post-apocalyptic thriller which features only the three characters. Directed by Carlo Lavagna (Arianna), this slow-burn builds up for an interesting character piece whose twists may be predictable, but still remains mostly intriguing. It also does something interesting by flipping the 'bad things happen in the dark' trope on its head.

Teenagers Alma (Mia Threapleton) and her younger sister Alex (Lola Petticrew) live in a remote hotel in the middle of a forest with their domineering mother (Saskia Reeves - Slow Horses TV series, Luther TV series). At some point in the past the world fell into ruin, with nature reclaiming the cities, and the sun becoming so dangerous that to go outside in daylight would be lethal. The hotel and it's surrounding trees are all the two girls have ever known. It has reached a point where the two siblings have begun to fight back against their mother's strict rules, and with her increasingly erratic behaviour, they begin to think that maybe they would be better off leaving, with the hope that they may discover other survivors of this post apocalyptic world.

With just the three characters this was never going to be a thrill ride. Instead, over the course of roughly a hundred minutes the focus is on the deteriorating relationship between the three. By wanting to protect her girls from the dangers of the world, the mother  has caused an increasing rebellious streak in Alex, not helped by her behaviour, with possible signs of early onset dementia in the woman. Alma is split, believing her mother's intentions to be good, but not able to bear being split up from her sister. The film as a whole felt it was a metaphor for growing up, with the setting of the remote warren-like hotel, it came to feel like it was one big nest which the sisters had outgrown. The question becomes if it is better to stay somewhere safe and secure, or to take a risk into the unknown. The three actors all do good jobs, I sometimes felt the more dramatic moments of high energy didn't quite feel as good as the more downbeat introspective moments, but I was hooked for the journey. With the mother you have a presence who haunts every scene, even when she is not around, the two siblings remain terrified of doing anything to upset her, at least with Alma. This makes tense scenes where they go into areas of the hotel they have been told not to visit all the more thrilling. With secret peep-holes hidden around the building, and a reluctance from the mother to speak the full truth at any point, there is a growing sense of unease with her.