Cereal Man (2023) - Short Horror Film Review

Cereal Man is a short horror film that comes from Deformed Lunchbox, who their press release states is the fastest growing horror channel in Canada. The short appears to be a proof of concept as it directly ties into their marketing for a feature length movie of the same name, even having the last third of the short be marketing for that campaign. As such, this post shall be part news story and part review.

The short itself is two minutes of the three and a half minute run time. This follows a cereal obsessed killer, who along with kind of enjoying the breakfast food, is also insistent that his kidnapped victim also eats the stuff. The footage is low quality and grainy, with the impression of old VHS tape footage. Rather than a handheld found footage style method, the shots used are static from random angles, which brought to mind Skinamarink more than anything. The way this is framed, it looked authentic, even if there isn't too much of a story able to be given in the short run time.

On the news side of things, there is currently a Kickstarter running to raise funds to make a feature length version of this concept. Denman Hatch, the writer/director of Cereal Man states "I feel positively disturbed by the tragic story of Cereal Man...After creating 50 short horror films since 2016, we are excited to launch our Kickstarter and give longtime fans a chance to support what they have been asking from us for years - a full feature-length film in our colourful Deformed Lunchbox style". For more information on the Kickstarter head here.

While this didn't feel like a movie that would appeal to me, from the concept it seemed interesting to see how this style of film would fit into a feature length offering. If they can keep the sense of realism that permeates this short then it could be something special. As for the short itself, it didn't outstay its welcome, and made for a decent little slice of nightmare life.

SCORE:

The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for May 2023

I've done the usual for this month, set myself a one hour time limit with which to write a bulked up news post about all things fictional horror. As usual, I'm playing lots of horror video games, too many to list. I will say my addiction to The Elder Scrolls Online hasn't diminished, I can never shake the feeling that I'm wasting my time on an infinite MMORPG rather than playing things I actually have a chance of finishing!

Horror action film The Flood now has an official trailer out. Described as 'Prisoners vs. Alligators', this sees five prisoners having to shelter in an old sheriff's department while being transported, due to a once in every fifty years superstorm. Eventually, they are forced to team up with the police to survive an assault by deadly alligators. This features Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers, Sleepy Hollow), Nicky Whelan (Halloween II), Louis Mandylor (Rambo: Last Blood), and Mike Ferguson (The Last Deal). The Flood comes to theatres, On Demand, and Digital on July 14th.

Chilling Tales for Dark Nights is an audio horror channel that features some work from Steve Gray, including 'Bestial', 'The Vampire Testament' and 'Demon Doll'. 'Bestial' stars Jon Mach Maciag as The Detective and is about a girl who becomes attracted to a mysterious stranger new to the town she lives in, with the detective suspicious of the new arrival due to murders that occur the same time he appears. 'The Vampire Testament' is narrated by Gray and is about a long dead man given the opportunity to get revenge against the Holy Order who killed him. 'Demon Doll' meanwhile is a music video loosely based around the doll from the Annabelle films. To hear these, as well as plenty of other stuff then head to the channel here.

The first trailer and stills have been released for short horror Biters & Bleeders. Written by Charlie Carson Monroe, this is the debut short horror film from New 32, an independent queer-owned film company. The short is about a troubled couple who move into a stately home after the husband inherits it, hoping the move will help fix their interpersonal problems. An infestation of monstrous bed bugs tip the couple over the edge however. Biters & Bedbugs will debut on the festival circuit later this year.

A brief non-horror related bit of news now, only mentioned due to the polite email. Crush! is the latest single from Nashville rock group CHLSY. The track is described as '...the ultimate love anthem with heavy Indie Rock and Pop influences'. If you have Spotify then you can find it here. I've given it a listen on YouTube and yeah, it's a pretty good track actually.

Girls Under Glass have released a new music video for their track 'Tainted', it features the iconic Norwegian artist Mortiis. It is the first track to be taken from upcoming album 'Backdraft', which is due to release on June 2nd by Dependent Records of Germany. You can check out the new video below.

HERD (2023) - Zombie Horror Film Review

With a blog titled 'The Rotting Zombie' it's no surprise that I'm always happy when a zombie film shuffles along for review. HERD is an action horror directed and co-written by Steven Pierce, and is a film that created a sour feeling due to the initially silly actions of the central protagonist, but whose actions eventually came to be validated in a way that not many zombie films try and do.

Jamie (Ellen Adair - Trick, Homeland TV series) and her girlfriend, Alex (Mitzi Akaha) have gone away to the country for a five day boating holiday as a last attempt to try and fix their failing relationship. During a heated argument, Alex falls overboard and ends up breaking her leg, so Jamie brings her to land and sets out to try and get help. It turns out the news reports about a statewide viral outbreak was true, for the couple soon find themselves caught up in an unfolding zombie apocalypse that started a week prior. Rescued by a group of redneck militia (but not before Alex is scratched by an infected person), the two find sanctuary at the militia's base of operations, but with the groups response to any sign of infection being terminally extreme, and with a rival militia seeking to take much needed supplies by force, Jamie soon realises she must try and get her and an Alex showing increasing signs of infection, away from both groups.

A zombie film with a difference, but that difference only makes itself apparent in the epilogue that serves as a kind of debrief to what has come before. With not many undead to be found here, it soon becomes clear that the title HERD refers more to the humans than the monsters. This is very much a case of the old adage of survivors being more deadly than the creatures. It is by unlucky coincidence that the militia base is at the former workshop of Jamie's estranged father, several swiftly edited flashbacks reveal how nasty this man was upon finding out his daughter was gay, with the growing anger and resentment towards this man given at least some bearing on the relationship trouble Jamie finds herself in. After an action heavy first act, the film moves to a more sedate pace, with most of the second act being set at the base, it is here people play music and eat, while the trigger happy men are in their element getting to play out their fantasies of ruling over the community (not in a sinister way it must be said, the group appear mostly very happy with their situation). Big John Gruber (Jeremy Holm - House of Cards TV show, The Ranger) is the leader of this group, and someone who struggles with his authority at times, which makes him make some unfortunate concessions. On the other side is Sterling (Timothy V. Murphy - Snowpiercer TV series, The Frankenstein Theory), a cold blooded man who leads a militia made up of masked men, both in their own ways are as bad as each other.
With Alex infected early on, I soon came to despair at Jamie's actions. Her hiding the fact her girlfriend was infected, her later actions that put a lot of people in danger, she became really irritating to me. It became farcical at times, especially when she is literally in-between the two warring factions, or surrounded by infected, yet still shouting for help for the increasingly sick Alex. Does HERD then also refer to the viewers of the movie themselves? Looking past the commentary on LGBT issues, and the suspicion of government, as a viewer of a zombie film you have certain expectations with the rules of everything. This film tries to knock you off balance somewhat with the slightly too neat deus ex machina ending that gives a new interpretation of all that has occured before, and I had to grudgingly admit that in this version of the world, characters who irritated may have had a point. 

For much of the movie the infected take a backseat, they appear sparsely in the beginning, are absent throughout the middle act, only coming back towards the end of the final act. They look good, with effective makeup and prosthetics to give them the look of being covered in giant boils on their face and arms. They are different however in that it is established early on that they only attack if they feel threatened, even to the point where they recognise if a gun is being pointed at them or not. There was some inconsistencies with this, such as them at times being angrily startled by loud noises, and at other times literally only reacting if they feel under threat. 

I expected a typical zombie film with HERD, and this seemed familiar enough until that late reveal. While interesting, it didn't help at endearing me to Jamie, as a protagonist she wasn't that likeable a person, and I did feel the way this all ended was a little too neat. It may be a little light on zombies, but with good practical effects, a fair bit of blood, and a decent enough story, this was still entertaining. HERD is due for release on 3rd July from High Fliers Films.

SCORE:

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 25th May

I am writing this on May 19th, the day of my best friend's birthday, so I'm in a good mood. Also, I need to stop flip-flopping between U.S and U.K date structures as I am quite random which way I go when writing dates. Onto the news...

Ghost is an iconic film starring the late Patrick Swayze, as a child, my mother would forever convince me to watch it without complaint due to the promise of the scene towards the end when the demon things do their thing to the guy's murderer. Ghost is also the name of a new horror that is coming to POV Horror and Wicked Horror TV on July 9th. This one is directed by Dillon Brown and is about a twisted cult who aim to weaponize demonic entities, with the only prevention being a group of church sanctioned mercenaries. Interestingly, this is described as a found-footage action/horror, whose roots are to be found in eighties movies. Ghost stars Michael Rock, Amanda Morgan, Joshua Myron McKinney and Vernon G. Wells (Mad Max 2), check out the nifty trailer below.

The poster has been revealed for Hex Studio's latest project, the 80's sword & sorcery throwback horror, The Slave & The Sorcerer. Inspired by classic films such as Deathstalker and The Beastmaster, this tells the tale of slave Tyrol, who volunteers to lead a mission to the dungeon lair of the evil wizard Akaris, in order to rescue a kidnapped Princess. This stars Chris Black, Jonathan Hansler (The Devil's Business), Briony Monroe (The Black Gloves), Megan Tremethick (Ghost Crew), Richard Pate (The Black Gloves), Chris Capaldi (The Necromancer), Stephen Kerr (For We Are Many), as well as rugby star Dean Schofield in his first feature role. The movie, which the press release states is like 'Deathstalker meets The Evil Dead' is due for release in winter 2023, there is also a Kickstarter currently running, which can be found here.

Finally for today, found footage horror The Woodmen is a collaboration between 105ive Films and Gray Sky Pictures, with shooting to begin in June in Georgia, and to be written and directed by Joshua Brucker. Not much more is revealed at the moment, other than it is set to feature Nancy Anne Ridder and Leonora Scelfo from the Scream franchise, as well as LC Holt (VHS 2, You're Next).

Bunker 717 (2022) - Horror Film Review

Being off work for a week, I decided that every day I would watch a different horror film for review. Browsing Shudder, I came across the Grégory Beghin directed French horror film Bunker 717 (also known as Deep Fear), and with it having a picture of a Nazi zombie thought I would check it out. It turns out that title picture was a little misleading, as was the title as a whole (the Bunker 717 one). The titular place doesn't turn up until forty five minutes into this eighty minute movie, and I'm not entirely sure the zombie from the cover picture was actually a zombie. Thankfully, once I had gotten over my disappointment, I found this to be a great little horror.

This takes place in Paris in 1991, and Henry (Victor Meutelet) is due to report for mandatory military service. Wanting to give him a good send off, his best friends, Sonia (Sofia Lesaffre) and Max (Kassim Meesters) arrange with a shady friend of Sonia's, Ramy (Joseph Olivennes) to have a private and illegal tour of the catacombs below Paris, something to remember. After encountering rats, skinheads, and flooded corridors, the group get completely lost, and eventually end up inadvertently at a newly discovered entrance to a part of the underground that hasn't yet been explored by the collective of people Ramy lives with. Promising to lead the friends back to the surface after having a quick look at the new area, Ramy heads inside, which turns out to be the worst mistake in a long series of bad moves.

Underground horror films fit into a tidy little subgenre of their own, in terms of setting this must closely resembles both The Tunnel, After..., and As Above, So Below, the later being most in tune with this as they are both set in the exact same location, albeit different areas. Unlike that one, and despite one of the protagonists carrying a bulky handcam, this wasn't a found footage, outside of a couple of moments that are shown from a first person perspective. It also shares a wonderfully atmospheric location, with set design that never looked anything other than claustrophobic. The group squeeze through very narrow looking passages in a few scenes, never failing to look far far too narrow, with the cast often starting to panic at how tight it all is. I had expected lots of Nazi zombies, I blame the cover image used, as that was a bit misleading. It may well a spoiler me even mentioning that, but then there is the short prologue that takes place two years prior to the events of the main plot, in which someone is dragged screaming away off screen by an unseen antagonist, so something is certainly down there.

Much of the horror comes from the friends being trapped underground, they go through plenty of maze like sewers, caves, and stone quarries. I'm not particularly claustrophobic, but watching this I was again reminded of my pledge to never go the catacombs under Paris in real life! Adding in a gang of roving skinheads was a great idea, as this gave a very real danger to the group, that the gigantic, yet ultimately passive catacombs couldn't provide on their own. The protagonists were not the most exciting of characters, yet the actors were good in their roles, they felt like long time friends, and there were subtle hints of subplots that never actually got addressed. While this was in French, the English subtitles were always well written, so I didn't feel anything was lost in that respect. The special effects were sparse, but led to some fun looking moments for the hapless heroes. It did take a heck of a long time to get to that titular bunker though, and the last twenty minutes were perhaps the most exciting to be found, but almost felt like a different move entirely. It leads up to a wonderfully bleak finish, and the most darkly comedic moment of the film a few minutes before that.

I spent the majority of Bunker 717 waiting for the (alleged) zombie to appear, I wasn't impatient, but with the dwindling run time I was confused as to when this would all kick off. In hindsight, the journey was better than the eventual destination, as there was a lot that happens, even if the core plot was a bit light. The catacombs of Paris as depicted in the movie were full of atmosphere and horror, and it was a nice touch that the end credits play over a series of photos from the real world inspiration, for there is indeed a Nazi bunker under the streets of Paris. Bunker 717 can currently be streamed on Shudder.

SCORE:

Motion Detected (2023) - Horror Film Review

Motion Detected is a nearly solo character horror about a woman losing her mind to a home security system. Co-written and co-directed by Justin Gallaher and Sam Roseme in their directorial debuts, this got off to a weak start and never really managed to find its footing, with disparate elements that never really came together in a satisfying way.

After experiencing a terrifying home invasion in which she was nearly killed by a serial killer dubbed 'El Diablo', Julie (Katelyn MacMullen) and her husband, Miguel (Carlo Mendez) have moved from Mexico City to the U.S.A. Julie is suffering PTSD about her ordeal and so is very concerned about security at their new house. Luckily, the house they are renting has a state of the art security system which includes an A.I, the security system named Diablo by unlucky coincidence. With Miguel called back to Mexico on business, Julie is left on her own, and it is at this point that she starts to have trouble with Diablo. The system seems to have a mind of its own, constantly stating the titular "motion detected" around various parts of the house, and this, coupled with Julie's PTSD induced nightmares and hallucinations, sees her mind start to slowly unravel.

Even after a poor prologue in which a little girl is lured into a cupboard by a glitchy figure, I was prepared to give the movie a chance. It at the very least looked good, with decent camera work and some fine editing (aside from the weird way the protagonist's nightmares are edited together with footage of her sleeping in bed). The story at first glance reminded me a lot of Dean Koontz' classic horror novel Demon Seed, which itself had a similar story of a woman being tormented by her A.I security system. The problem here was that things were spread a little too thinly. For the longest time it isn't really clear if the security system is just bust, or if it is maliciously causing the woman problems. With Julie's PTSD, it wasn't clear if maybe her imagination is getting the better of her, there was even a feel that the root cause could be supernatural in nature, as objects move on their own, and doors open and close on their own. Without going into spoilers, it went in an unsatisfying direction that stretched credibility. By the point the security system was running a live feed of Julie's nightmares, in order to digitally create a hard light hologram of her nightmare aggressor, my credibility had snapped and I was unable to take anything else that happened seriously.

There is a cast of just seven characters, but mainly it is Julie on her own. The best scenes of the film involve only her, I liked the first solo drinking montage she had, and I liked her constant prayers to the Mother of Death statue she had. The dialogue wasn't the best at times, one key scene which was so bad I even wrote it down. Speaking online to her therapist about her paranoid belief the security system was tormenting her, the therapist (Kimberli Flores) states "Why don't you just disable your alarm?", to which Julie dramatically replies "I...Don't...Know...How!", that part was unintentionally funny to me. As for her husband, he was portrayed as so sickeningly devoted and loving to Julie that I came to suspect he was either off cheating on her, or he was secretly orchestrating things from behind the scenes. It turns out, mild spoiler, that no, he has nothing to do with anything. Barely being in the movie and adding so little, I don't even know why he existed, other than to call her up every few days to state he is still stuck in a never ending gauntlet of business based meals.

The horror just wasn't scary, the CG effects used to show glitchy figures moving around the house looked too clean, the scary things that happen were more irritating than anything, and attempts to expand the scope of the single house story never worked well. Motion Detected had a good idea as a basis, but the direction this went in was a bit far fetched. The film came out today, May 19th, on Cable VOD and Digital HD, from Freestyle Digital Media.

SCORE:

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for 18th May 2023

My news inbox was so low the other day that I had to change my traditional trio of news stories down to a duo. Vaguely related is that video game Fortnite now no longer allows you to play as a trio, not horror related, but as someone who mainly plays as part of a trio that sucks.

Toronto Is Broken have teamed up with REEBZ for new Nu-Metal and Drum & Bass single 'Breed'. The press release states 'The track sports a decidedly malevolent atmosphere at it explores themes of mental illness as seen from the inside out'. It is actually surprisingly great, my angsty younger self would have adored this track, with the two styles fitting together well. 'Breed' is out now on all platforms from FiXT.

The first images and teaser poster have been revealed for upcoming horror anthology F'd: Tales From the End Times. Principal photography have wrapped on two of the five segments, with the first set of images coming from Ash Hamilton's (Holes in the Sky: The Sean Miller Story) wraparound and end segment currently called 'Declassified'. The director stated "With Holes (in the Sky) we wanted to use the mockumentary method and sort of play with reality. Here, this is definitely full-blown fantasy. It's action-horror and pretty relentless... and very, VERY gory.". The film's other segments are to be directed by Dillon Brown (The Flock), Ben Harl (Last Day), Josh Brucker (Mothman) and John Isberg (Final Summer). F'd: Tales From the End Times is aiming for a late 2023 festival run.

Finally for today, Electronic-Rock artist/producer Celldweller has released a Rock, Metalcore, and Industrial remix of 'Soul Parasites' that involved a team-up with Cinematic Rock artists Void Chapter and Soul Extract. This is the third single to come out ahead of upcoming Satellites Remixed album. The press release states 'It's "Soul Parasites" like you've never heard it before. Taking the original Rock, Metal, and Djent leanings Soul Extract and Void Chapter blend in Metalcore, Industrial, and Progressive metal for a track that could easily stand on it's own as a unique creation'. 'Soul Parasites' (Soul Extract and Void Chapter Remix) is out now from FiXT.

Death Metal (2023) - Horror Film Review

Back when I first heard of the Michael Kuciak directed and written Death Metal I knew it was a film I would be interested in checking out for a review. The idea of a piece of cursed media that drives anyone who hears it insane is an idea that has been used in various ways over the years, whether it be a cursed guitar in 2013's Music Store Massacre, or cursed movies, such as with Screen and the Masters of Horror episode 'Cigarette Burns'. Following a rough start, this nasty indie film (nasty in the best way) soon came to delight, thanks to some great practical special effects, plenty of gore, and some good sound design.

After a disastrous European tour that nearly ended their band, death metal group Abyssinister are convinced to come together to record a new record by their founding member, Ivan (Nico Zahniser). Having hired a top producer, Fleming (E. Ray Goodwin), they head to his remote farmhouse to record in his new state of the art basement studio. It is there that Ivan tells his bandmates that while in Europe he came across a piece of music named the 'Devil's Concerto', which legend states caused all who heard it to go insane and kill themselves. He has mixed it into a rough demo of the band's new album, but after playing it to the group strange things begin to happen. One by one they begin to experience terrifying hallucinations and unexplainable body trauma, and one by one they are found dead or go missing, for it appears the legend about the curse was actually real.

This didn't get off to the best start, as the first four minutes is pretty much a music video for an actual metal band. I guess that was to set the vibe, as the band members we follow are never really shown playing their instruments much, but it was quite dull, especially for someone who isn't really into that genre of music. That coupled with some strange editing decisions nearly lost me early on, but thankfully things soon picked up. There was a weird use of slow motion when showing scenery, and these odd zoomed in insert shots of characters facial expressions that repeat after they have been shown once. It was a little off putting, but the later appearances of these worked a lot better once the horror began.

There was a nice selection of characters, I wish there had been more depth given to some of them, particularly the sullen and moody Ivan who never once came across as remotely likeable. Best of the bunch was Chris Richard's mild and friendly Satan worshipping character, who had some of more funny moments, such as when he reveals he had legally changed his name to 'Baphomet', and who refuses to wear prosthetic devil horns during their first act performance due to being against his beliefs. On the whole the film is serious, and tells a dark story, but there were a few moments like that which poked fun at the genre. A lovely campfire scene where Ivan's girlfriend Shadia (Shadia Martin) sings an acoustic song with gruesome lyrics, a guy struggling to make out what the band's logo actually says due to the hard to read font it is written in, and the band members having a humorous argument about what convoluted niche genre of music theirs falls into.

The special effects really delighted, and led to some messed up scenes that didn't make much sense but looked fantastic. A woman whose bite marks on her shoulders had sets of fanged teeth hidden inside them, eyeballs and their storks which fall out of a character's eye sockets, a gruesomely bloody suicide scene, and even a drumstick through the eye. All were practical effects and included plenty of screaming and plenty of blood that dripped everywhere. Even better was that each subsequent victim then came back as a Cenobite type being, their method of death being incorporated into their demonic look.
There was some arthouse style editing used whenever the cursed music was heard, which looked great on screen, and the idea to have this looping ear piercing scream playing over and over also added a lot to this. It was a slight shame that the finale decided to get rid of the great practical effects and instead insert some terrible looking digital effects.

Death Metal was an indie horror that wasn't without its faults, it had some rough edges to it, but also had some wonderfully messed up moments that compensated a lot. With each subsequent kill more surreal and violent than the last, and a slight grindhouse feel at times, this was an enjoyable horror that wasn't afraid to go to some messed up places. 

SCORE:

The Rotting Zombie's News Double Bill for 16th May 2023

I am off work this week which means I am spreading my posts out rather than writing them all on the same day. I cleared out my news inbox last week, hopefully its replenished enough that I can scrape together a small news post. In me news, I'm currently (finally) watching Wednesday, it's not bad. On the gaming front, on X-Box, I am still trying to do the final level on Vampire Survivors, I'm on the second chapter of Loop Hero, need to get back into Atomic Heart, and same goes for the addictive Dead Cells. Over on my Nintendo Switch I have started The Mummy Demastered once again. Meanwhile, on PS5, I brought The Callisto Protocol in a sale and am loving it, and have finally returned back to Resident Evil Village VR. I also must return to Cult of the Lamb. Finally, still loving Elder Scrolls Online, nearing the end of the vampire-centric Rivenspire area currently.

The Nocturnal Affair have released a new single, which is a reimagined darker version of Depeche Mode's 1997 single 'It's No Good'. The press release states '...the band's crushing and melancholic musical style is an ode to darker alternative music torchbearers like Type O Negative, HIM, David Bowie, Gary Numan, and Nine Inch Nails.' For once, I actually checked out the song, it was not bad. The Nocturnal Affair will be touring with Smile Empty Soul on their 20th Anniversary Tour, alongside opening act The Stone Eye, starting May 20th.

The Empty Space is the latest horror film from Bayview Entertainment. This was directed by Andrew Jara, and stars Valerie Alene, Joe Sinclitico and Rachel Olsen and releases on Blu-ray on May 30th. It tells the story of Aimee Andrews, who after the violent death of her boyfriend has began to struggle with her mental health. Just as she feels ready to finally move on, her boyfriend returns from the beyond, with Aimee having to confront her fears to find out who or what has come back, and what they want from her. Surprisingly, I even watched the trailer for this one, got to respect someone who wears the same hat no matter the occasion was my thoughts on it. 

The Bell Keeper (2023) - Horror Film Review

I got the wrong tone straight away for The Bell Keeper. Avoiding any type of synopsis as always, this initially looked like it was going to be a crazed redneck slasher film. What I didn't account for was how dumb this became, with characters full of corny one liners, and a vibe that was very much tongue in cheek for the most part. It also isn't a slasher, but thankfully, this went somewhere far more interesting.

Directed by Colton Tran (Snow Falls), and co-written by Joe Davison (Frost Bite) and Luke Genton (The Bone Box), this tells the familiar tale of a group of city kids heading out into redneck America in search of adventure. Falling into a box of stereotypes, you have sexist jocks, Gabriel (Capri-Antoine Vaillancourt) and Matthew (Mike Manning - The Call), their girlfriends, who include social media obsessed Megan (Alexis B. Santiago - Far Cry 5: Inside Eden's Gate), and feminist Holly (Cathy Marks - American Horror Story TV series), as well as Matthew's younger brother, the neurotic and awkward Liam (Reid Miller - Santa Jaws). They have travelled to the remote Bell Lake due to Holly wanting to make a documentary about urban legends, Liam, a late addition due to him owning a camper van which the friends have borrowed. As part of their documentary they ring an old bell located at the lake at midnight, as this had been said to open a gateway to Hell. Obviously they hadn't expected the story to be true, but unfortunately for them it kind of is. The four friends who heard the bell rang find themselves opened up for demonic possession. Liam, and Brittany (Kathleen Kenny - The Secret of Sinchanee), who is a girl in the area searching for her missing brother, inadvertently didn't hear the bell, so soon find themselves not only up against Liam's demonically possessed friends, but also a lurching mountain man, Hank (Randy Couture - The Expendables 1-3), whose fate is irretrievably connected to the curse of the bell. 

This starts off so into its genre that you even get a crazy person at a rest stop warning the friends not to head where they are planning to go. That, and the prologue that had Hank viciously dispatching two kidnapped people, led me to believe this was going to be a backwoods slasher. That was one thing that I approved of here, as it quickly becomes clear this is more of an ode to The Evil Dead series, something that this doesn't try to hide, as at one point one of the characters even directly puts out an Ash Williams one-liner. I love me some zombies and I love me some demonic possession, so the blend of the two here creates some fun moments. To be honest I was despairing at the thought of having to watch this moronic group of friends interact with each other. Gabriel turning anything anyone says into a sex joke, Matthew being generally sexist, Holly constantly pointing out the power and independence of women (reminded me a lot of Britta from sitcom Community), and Megan who was in a state of constantly being appalled at the rough conditions of the campsite. Even Liam was off-putting, his painfully self conscious ways making him seem like he had walked in off a different type of film altogether. The dialogue doesn't get better, Liam continues making nearly cringe inducing talk, with the two other protagonists joining him in their unrealistic quips and comments on their situation. All this points to the fact the characters don't find their situation serious, which is perfectly fine, I had just expected something that took itself a little bit different.

The deadites (for lack of a better term) look great, especially Holly, whose permanently fixed evil grin made her stand out from the others. It leads to some fun action sequences when the heroes battle these characters. In their deadite form, these people were infinitely more bearable than before they turn, helps that they don't speak once they have turned. There are some decent special effects, even a few decapitations, and while some of the effects did appear to be CG ones, they were still plenty passable.
Balanced against this was the goofy and very dumb plot, with various moments unconvincingly explained away, including that slight red herring of a prologue. Characters here all to readily believe some pretty wild tales, and at one point a character mentions another character's death, despite him not actually having any way of having known that, due to being somewhere else entirely when it happened!

The Bell Keeper was a very stupid movie, with a little too much bad dialogue, and a story that didn't hold up to scrutiny. It was however, also darn entertaining, after I had switched off my brain, I did find this enjoyable and fun to watch. I am always going to be up for some demonic deadite style possession. The Bell Keeper is due for release on 28th August from High Fliers Films.

SCORE:

Ravenous (2017) - Zombie Horror Film Review

Ravenous (original title Les affamés), is a Canadian, French language zombie horror film directed and written by Robin Aubert (Saint Martyrs of the Damned). In the past I had a girlfriend who insisted on having a film playing in the background when she slept at night, I came to recognise certain films that I was able to sleep to, due to how quiet they were, and this one would fit the bill, as throughout the characters are virtually silent. It makes for a slow burn horror, but one where there is actually a lot going on.

The movie takes place in rural Canada, where some weeks or months previously there had been a devastating viral outbreak. Those infected became violently deranged, with a thirst for non-infected human flesh. Bonin (Marc-André Grondlin) is one of the few survivors, and after meeting up with a woman, Tania (Monia Chokri) and a young girl, Zoé (Charlotte St-Martin), they eventually join with a few other survivors at a farmhouse. Knowing that a herd of infected are coming their way, they decide to head even deeper into the wooded countryside, with the intention of making it to an old bunker that is situated there.

With the whispered way the protagonists speak, this had a vibe of A Quiet Place to it, often the characters say more with looks and gestures, than by actual dialogue. I liked that these characters worked together well, and don't hesitate when hard decisions have to be made, though it did also mean a lot of them were blank slates. The world is a bleak and hopeless place, with death around every corner. The core cast lose a lot of their members over the one hour forty five minute run time, and there is a sense of resolute acceptance for their chances of survival. Grondlin was the highlight of the movie, and for a character who barely speaks he became someone I really came to be rooting for. I also loved that a character dubs him 'the cornball comic' due to his way of telling terrible jokes as a way to break tension, even if he only does this on a handful of occasions, while looking as miserable as sin while he does this. The body count among the small cast is quite deep, with not even the younger characters spared from gruesome zombie attack.

The characters felt believable, but there were a couple of moments that felt silly. One of these is the recurring figure of a 'village idiot' type man, someone who keeps popping up in the most random of locations, leaping out at the survivors and screaming in order to prank them, completely oblivious to the apocalypse that is going on in the area around him. That at least leads up to a fun payoff. I also thought a character who appears at the very end was slightly ridiculous, even if that does link up the short prologue (set at a pre-apocalypse racetrack) with the rest of the movie.

The zombies fall into the infected category, they run, and while headshots kill them straight away, they also respond to trauma on other areas of the body, rather than be undead creatures who don't feel pain. They are also very weird acting. For the most part Ravenous feels like it is set in the 28 Days Later universe, but the infected, when they are not pursuing non-infected get up to some strange things. Mainly they stand or lay around in The Girl with All the Gifts style, but they also build strange towers made out of chairs, children's toys, and any other junk they can get their hands on. Completely unexplained, but it makes for a surreal vibe which plays into some tense scenes. There are several thrilling sequences when the heroes find themselves pursued by the infected, including a great running battle through dense woodland, and a creepy part that takes place in a misty field. Was also cool that the infected seem to work together, their screams alerting others nearby to their location, and they even appear to set traps at point.

That the film (outside of the prologue) picks up quite a few weeks into the outbreak, with characters completely clued in to what is happening, makes for a mysterious film. With no explanation for how the event happened, and with bleak and depressed characters not really having any hope for their own survival, I found this morose and sad film engaging, especially when the somewhat stale notion of other survivors being the real enemy not factoring into the story. With some lovely special effects (a highlight being a shotgun blast to an infected man's head), and a great cast, Ravenous was a good entry in the crowded zombie genre, even if the overall plot left something to be desired. Ravenous can currently be found on Netflix.

SCORE:

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for 11th May 2023

My second news post I'm writing today (at time of writing), with me doing my blog in a different order. It's never meant to be a good idea starting with the shorter items and going onto longer, but I'm giving that a go today. Super tired as for some reason I can't sleep more than around five hours a night at weekends.

VIPCO and Bayview Entertainment have two physical releases in May. Death Metal is a film I have mentioned previously, and a review of it shall be dropping on this site next week. The other film is My Cherry Pie, this follows three criminals on the run, who accept an invitation from a stranger, Cherry, who lets them stay at the nice sounding Pleasant Creek. That place however is an abandoned hospital with a dark past, which is now the hunting ground for a killer dressed like a plague doctor.

Toxsyck have released an industrial sounding track, 'Death Wish'. The German producer duo state "The hypnotizing and cyberpunk'esque vocals suck you into a soundscape that feels like you're losing traction in time and space while the hard-hitting drops let your whole body shiver". The track is out now on all platforms from F!XT.

Finally for today, Cristian Carter's dark synth-pop project CAEV.R has announced latest single 'Deflect'. They say of the track "The single was inspired by people who shirked responsibility for their actions and instead played the victim, which is a frustrating and disappointing experience I'm sure many have gone through". Mari Kattman (COP International) provides vocals that Carter says was the ideal choice for the track.

The Sandman (2022) - Horror TV Show Review

When I was a young teenager, my local library started stocking graphic novels for borrowing. I recall that one of those was Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. I didn't appreciate it at the time, as the only lasting impression it gave me was that the artstyle was strange. Last year, a TV series finally got made of the graphic novels, and it had quite a buzz back then. I was not only late to the party, only beginning it when the bonus episode came out, but I also watched it in a stilted way, watching it sporadically over the past seven months or so. That all means this review might be fuzzy on details, apologies for that!

The Sandman is a dark fantasy/horror that is set in a world in which the Gods are real, but watch humanity from afar. Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) is the God of Dreams, and it is while he is on Earth seeking out one of his nightmare creations, The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook - The Predator), who had escaped from the dream world, that disaster strikes. A man hoping to ensnare Death, instead accidentally captures Morpheus, and decides he will make do with this being instead. His items of power are stolen from him, and he remains magically imprisoned for the best part of a century. Finally managing to escape, Morpheus sets out to find his stolen items, as well as finally put a stop to the pain and suffering that The Corinthian has been unleashing on the world.

Season one takes place over twelve episodes, with that final episode 'Dream of a Thousand Cats/Calliope' being an anthology story seperate to the rest. The show as a whole has an anthology feel at times, as while the core plot point does concern Morpheus, he takes a back seat to other characters. Due to the power of the protagonist it often felt underwhelming with the places his quest takes him. The journey here is more important than the destination, as his power seemed to effortlessly give him success every time he had to deal with humans. I say humans, as the excellent fourth episode 'A Hope in Hell', has him travel to that titular place in order to battle Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie - Wednesday TV series, Game of Thrones TV series) in a special effects laden spectacle. 

Luckily, the parts of the show that are not dedicated to the main plot thread are a lot more interesting, and work wonderfully as stand alone episodes. '24/7' may just be the best of the lot, is certainly the darkest at the very least. In this one, John Dee (David Thewlis - The Omen) has headed to a diner, where the powers he has received thanks to one of Morpheus' stolen items means he has the ability to force people to tell their most hidden truths. What occurs over the next forty five minutes is pure horror, with John sat there in the diner, while the guests and staff alike's revelations leads to eventual murder and bloodshed. What was so great about that episode was how it was portrayed on screen. With so many characters to follow, events kept rewinding back in time, so that it was possible to see all the many different horrors that were taking place. 'The Sound of Her Wings' is like a companion piece, in this one, Morpheus shadows his sister, Death (Kirby - The Good Place TV series) as she visits those around London who have recently died. That was a beautiful and calming one. Then there was an episode that revolves around Morpheus, and his meet-ups every ten years with a man who he made immortal. Having the same location being shown over so many different time periods was a fun idea, leading to a great pay-off at the end.

I'm not familiar with the source material, but with season one you have an effective and emotive show, one that has a feel of melancholy to it. Sturridge was great in his role, but it wasn't as large as you might expect. There are a whole host of other characters and it is their stories and interactions that much of the show is centered on. Morpheus often felt like a 'full stop' to any plot, as he always seemed to appear at the end to solve it. With so many interesting characters this didn't become an issue with just a few that I found to be a bit lame (such as Cain and Abel, and Rose's missing little brother). Seeing as how this is based heavily on the source material this is a bit of an unfair criticism, but I wish the main plot had been that little bit more captivating, as it was all the side stories that really stole the show for me.

The Sandman was an excellently made and mournful series that made good use of a mostly strong cast, and had the budget to back up the effects needed to sell the world. While I wish the main plot had been more involving, all the little side stories were what really made this one shine. The Sandman is currently streaming on Netflix.

SCORE:

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for 9th May 2023

I had a truly rotten week of work in my day job last week, so I've decided to dial back my blog commitments by mainly focussing on my own stuff I've chosen to review, rather than screeners I've been sent. This dialing back also includes two seperate news posts this week, to be fair, my bloody inbox has fifty one emails currently sitting in it, so it could do with some slight culling.

I Need You Dead! is now available on Blu-ray from Bayview Entertainment. Directed by Rocko Zevenbergen, and starring Estevan Muñoz, Sidra Morgan-Montoya, with Lloyd Kaufman, is about a teenage punk who somehow '...births a strange fleshy creature and soon finds himself at odds with the psychedelic monster of his own creation.' Check out the trailer below.

Scream VI became available to download and keep from today, with 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD releases following from 10th July. This brings the iconic Ghostface killer to New York, with the killer more deadly than ever. The physical releases include over an hour of bonus content, including behind the scenes interviews, as well as commentary by the filmmakers. I really must get around to watching the latest Scream movies.

Finally, in time for the Walpurgis Night celebrations that took place on 30th April came the release of a new Videogram single. That name is the moniker of Magnus Sellergren, with the sound creating the feel of old horror film soundtracks. 'Walpurgisnacht' was originally released on the 'S/T' debut album, and is now back in a new 2023 remix, alongside previously unreleased track 'La Notte delle Steghe End Titles'. The horror themed single comes packaged with artwork from 19th century Spanish artist Luis Ricardo and can be digitally streamed on all music platforms.

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021) - Horror Film Review

Escape Room (as always, not to be confused with Escape Room) was a neat horror film that may have been very silly, but it was also very enjoyable, and featured some superb set design. It takes me back to the heady pre-pandemic days of going to the cinema, and due to that pandemic I missed out on seeing the sequel, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, when it hit the cinemas. Well, it's now came to Netflix and currently sits at the No.1 position in the UK top ten at time of writing. I had heard it was a poor sequel, but had to check it out anyway. I'm glad I did as while this is again really silly, it was again really enjoyable, so much so that I was surprised when it ended at just how quickly it seemed to flow by. Spoilers for the first film to follow.

Having survived a twisted escape room experience in which rich people placed bets on who would survive the deadly rooms, Zoey (Taylor Russell - Escape Room) and Ben (Logan Miller - Escape Room) decide they must expose the evil company responsible. They head to New York where they think they have located the HQ of the Minos company, but instead find a derelict building. A series of events leads to the two ending up on a subway train, along with four other passengers, and before they can do anything about it, they discover the train is actually the start of a new escape room. Quickly discovering the other passengers are also survivors of Minos escape rooms, they see the only option to try and work together and once again 'win' the game, but like before, each room they come across is more deadly than the last.

Apparently the home release of the movie had an extended cut which drastically altered parts of the film. I have only seen the theatrical cut and so obviously my review will be based on that. I felt some trepidation coming into this as I was not sure how the two protagonists would manage to fall into another experience. It sub(way)verted my expectations as there were a few false moments before the story begins proper, including a fun nightmare sequence, and various moments that had be questioning what was really going on. The story is silly of course, and one of my very early predictions ended up being true, but there were also some genuinely surprising moments. What I really liked about this sequel is that it goes to some lengths to recap what happened previously, so much so that I didn't really need to have read the Wikipedia synopsis, as the events of that first film are shown in a relatively lengthy prologue

The six main characters were interesting enough, including a priest (Thomas Cocquerel), a former travel vlogger (Indya Moore), and a woman with a condition that means she is unable to feel pain (Holland Roden - Teen Wolf TV series) among the characters. I liked that these were all likeable people, and it was nice how they began to work together as a team almost immediately. Their different accounts of the various escape rooms they had escaped from were entertaining.
The main hook is of course the escape rooms themselves, and I'm pleased to say they were just as impressively designed as before. Over the five or so rooms they encounter all sorts of new dangers, from acid rain, to electricity, quicksand, floods and lasers, all in wonderfully designed rooms. These include some like the first movie that appear initially to be outdoors, before it's revealed to be a trick. I would say one minor complaint is how obscure the puzzles often felt, with me often losing track of just how the characters were figuring things out. There is lots of Crystal Maze style situations of characters shouting hurriedly at each other about what they need to do. Maybe I was misremembering, but the death scenes this time around felt a bit tame, with  more than few characters death scenes happening away from the focus of the camera. The plot was dumb but fun, and leads to a predictably bonkers ending that I hope results in a third film.

Having heard Escape Room: Tournament of Champions was a shadow of the first film, I was most happy to discover I enjoyed this one just as much. The set dressing was fantastic here, with the film having such a cool design to it. It is testament to how much I was loving this that I was genuinely surprised when I found out the movie was near its end, the ninety minutes was over in a flash. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions can currently be streamed on Netflix.

SCORE:

The Nightgown (2023) - Horror Film Review

The Nightgown is the latest film from Jared Masters (Quartz Vein, Ballet of Blood), one that was co-written along with Randy Master. This supernatural horror has all the trappings that the director is known for, with his signature grindhouse style adding a lot to this horror film throwback.

In 1976, three girls fed up with the harsh conditions of the convent school they attend, decide to bunk off. They have heard rumours that the owner of the school, Father Munhauser (Randy Masters) once accidentally killed a girl during a botched exorcism, and with the woodland cabin that occured at being nearby, they decide to go investigate. Once at the cabin they begin to experience supernatural phenomenon, seeming to revolve specifically around the ghost of a girl named Mary (Hannah Dunsley-Ricehester). They decide that they are going to help her spirit, by finding evidence about what happened to her, with the hope that this will give her peace.

I enjoyed this horror more than I expected to, and was impressed with how much stuff is stuffed into the near one hour twenty runtime. This essentially tells two different stories, the girls exploring the cabin and witnessing various scary things, mixed in with a sizeable chunk that serves as a flashback showing what happened at the place. With nightmare sequences that delve into arthouse territory, and various weird scenes, it is never clear exactly what is behind everything. With the antagonist priest character introduced in the prologue I expected he would be in this a lot, mainly however it was just the flashback scenes he appears in. For the most part it is the three protagonists, Jodi (Kate Ly Johnston), Lori (Baracha), and Peg (Elizabeth Rath) getting into various situations revolving around the pretty demonic acting ghosts. This gave a most welcome vibe of The Evil Dead, with the ghosts able to affect the world around them and cause physical harm to the girls. Special mention goes to James F. Gregory who plays the slimy groundskeeper Nestor, he was a highlight of the movie and was never overused.

With the grindhouse feel of the film I wasn't expecting great special effects, or at least I mean I wasn't expecting great looking special effects. Gun fire is very artificial, as are trauma effects, but this is all very purposeful, with that aspect lent into rather than intended to look realistic. Make-up effects for the ghosts was also mostly artificial looking, but again it worked very well with the vibe. There was a varied amount of horror here, from a floating nightgown, to bleeding paintings and possessed people. Plot wise I never really understood why the characters stayed there when all this bad and seemingly demonic stuff was happening, but the plot felt a bit ethereal with it sometimes feeling more like it was atmosphere than story the movie was around for. Special mention goes to the fantastic soundtrack, something that added so much to the scenes. As a whole this looked great, giving the feel of an old film without the need to add artificial film grain and other effects to get that feel over.

I thought The Nightgown was a neat indie horror, inventive and with plenty of unexpected moments throughout. I may have became increasingly lost with exactly what was happening, but the relatively small cast all played their roles well, making a film that felt true to its roots, and something that had a surreal vibe all of its own.

SCORE: