The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for March 2024

Likely a bit of a disjointed news post this month as I am going to have to try and write this in the evenings after work each day this week, due to really not getting much of anything done at the weekend.

Daisy is a creature feature that comes from Michael S. Rodriquez (Last American Horror Show 1 & 2), it draws from both modern events as well as folklore. The film is about an Afghan war veteran suffering PTSD who now works for his fathers vehicle repair shop. The man brought back a creature he discovered while on tour, that turns out to have a thirst for human blood. Bizarrely, the idea for this creature came from talks with an actual war veteran who heard tales of an apparent real life cryptid while out in Afghanistan. The film was created in just six days on a modest budget, and features lots of practical effects. Daisy is currently on the festival circuit with plans to release it on streaming platforms and physically by summer time.

A Quiet Place: Day One is due to arrive in theatres on June 28th. As the title hints at, this will take place during the initial invasion from the noise hating monsters. That is something I find quite exciting as I thought the prologue sequence in A Quiet Place Part II was the most interesting part of that movie. This prequel movie looks set to cast a new group of characters, with actors announced including Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff and Djimon Hounsou. I'm a bit late to the party, but near the beginning of February a teaser trailer for the new entry in the series was released.

Thrash metal band Scarefield have released their debut album, A Quiet Country, which contains eleven tracks that the press release states are '...pure melodic, speedy, thrash madness...'. Along with the album release is a music video for their track 'Child of the Corn' which is a track taken from the album.

Cult classic horror film Basket Case is going to get a 4K UHD Blu-ray release for the first time. This is to occur on 30th April where the film will also get a 4K streaming release on ARROW, the streaming subscription service. I have never actually seen this film (I believe I might own it on VHS somewhere), but I have seen the two sequels which were ok. This first film follows Duane Bradley, whose formally conjoined twin, the deformed Belial now lives inside a wicker basket. The pair have headed to New York where they intend to get revenge on the surgeons responsible for their separation.

An official teaser trailer has been released for Bikers vs Werewolves which is coming from Mahal Empire. The film is to star Jake Busey (Starship Troopers), Robert LaSardo (The Mule, Death Race), Michael Pare, Glenn Plummer and James Duval (Donnie Darko). It currently has an Indiegogo campaign running to get funds, though not too long on that, so if you want to contribute to what has already been a successful campaign then head over here to the page. 

Fantasy horror film Spirit Riser has released an official trailer as well as premiere dates. The film is to premiere March 30th at Museum of the Moving Image, and Gardena Cinema on April 26th. The film is about two sisters who are put onto opposite coasts of America by a 'terrifying cosmic entity'. It stars Amanda Flowers, Summer Greenberg, Lynn Lowry, and features Michael Madsen as the narrator. Tickets for the April 26th showing can be purchased here.

Indie comedy horror Everwinter Night is out now via Prime Video. The synopsis has two best friends who find themselves at a remote ski lodge where a group of mysterious wealthy men are throwing an odd celebration. This Adam Newman directed film had a strange production as the original planned movie was cancelled at the last moment, and so it was decided that a totally new story would be created on the fly as the cast and crew were two days out from shooting on location in New Hampshire.

Finally for this month's round-up, found footage horror movie Moth came to VOD platforms on March 26th from Bayview Entertainment. This is about a university professor and her student Adam, who have travelled to Central Europe in the hope of finding undeniable proof of the mothman legend. I reviewed this back in 2016 where I stated '...it almost deconstructs the genre in the intriguing way it plays out and makes you think'.

Easter Bloody Easter (2024) - Comedy Horror Film Review

Easter Bloody Easter is the feature length directorial debut of Diane Foster. This comedic horror has came at the perfect time, seeing as it is Easter weekend when I have sat down to review this. There could have been an attempt to make this a pure horror, but the ridiculous premise is lent into, leading to fun scenes of blatant puppets attacking people rather than any attempt at realism.

There have been a series of strange animal attacks around the small rural Texan town that Jeanie (Foster) resides in, and after her husband Lance goes missing, Jeanie becomes convinced that the two events are linked. Local kook, Sam (Zach Kanner) is convinced the killings are the work of a legendary creature known as a jackalope (Jamie B. Cline), and with his assistance, soon Jeanie and her best friend Carol (Kelly Grant) are on the hunt for the creature, something that is a human that has the ability to transform into a giant killer rabbit.

There were parts of Easter Bloody Easter that I did find interesting, both around the characters themselves as well as the antagonist creature. The main method of attack comes from rabbits under the creature's control who have turned into murderous versions of themselves, reminding me a lot of the deadly rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There is no real attempt to make these attacks look convincing, one moment there will be an actual rabbit on screen, then suddenly it would have turned into a red eyed puppet ready to attack. This culminates in a wild mass killing scene that helped give this comedy horror a surprisingly high body count. Say what you want about the silly looking killers, but leads to some funny final words from victims, such as one who simply states "Fu*k Easter!" before she dies, and another (who has two killer rabbits attached to her chest) shouting "My t*ts! My t*ts!" before perishing. The humour was present throughout, mainly with how characters interact with each other, but it wasn't the sole focus of the movie, which also tries to keep things moving along at an urgent enough pace.

Jeanie and Carol were fine as the protagonists, I didn't really like them, but they were inoffensive. At first it seemed strange that we are meant to feel bad for Jeanie worried about her missing husband, I thought we should have actually seen him prior to his disappearance. This did make sense in a plot based way later on in the movie. There were a large cast of characters, with plenty of stand-out ones, my favourite being the dozy good natured and very much put-upon husband of self important local Mary Lou (Allison Lobel - Paralysis); Eugene (Miles Cooper - The Prey: Legend of Karnoctus). I found this actor very funny to watch.
Much of the mystery of the film comes from the protagonists attempting to discover the identity of the creature, and this wasn't that exciting. Despite some red herrings I pretty much guessed who it would turn out to be straight away. It was a fun enough pick, but the finale in which the heroes battle the giant rabbit felt a bit low on excitement, with it being dispatched fairly swiftly. I was constantly being reminded of Bunny the Killer Thing, a film who carried out the idea of a giant killer rabbit better mainly due to a better looking costume for the creature. Here, it was obviously someone in a giant bunny suit rather than something that looked real.

I didn't have a bad time watching Easter Bloody Easter, but I also didn't think it really did much to stand out. There were some fun moments mixed in with bizarre Easter themed dance montages and low level community drama, and I appreciated the body count was a lot higher than anticipated, but this wasn't that big on surprises. It makes for a perfectly fine, if unoriginal feeling horror that is worth a watch, but isn't essential viewing. Easter Bloody Easter came to Cable VOD and Digital HD from Gravitas Ventures on March 26th.

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Velma (2022) - Short Horror Film Review

Velma is a short fourteen minute horror that was written, directed and stars Scarlet Moreno. Described as a 'bloody feminist tale' and with a unique looking 1960's setting, this had a bright and distinct look to it. In terms of the plot, this was one I had seen in a similar style countless times before.

Moreno stars as Velma, a woman looking for love but constantly being let down by her dates who all only seem to want one thing out of her. She hopes that one day she will find the man who meets her dreamy ideals.

While I knew exactly where the story was going to go to, this was a delight to watch mainly due to the set design full of gaudy details. The short takes place entirely at Velma's expensive looking home, with the first half being a slow montage of various men shown partly out of shot arriving at her home and enjoying an extravagant meal with her, before she leads them off to the bedroom. The story is told by the silent on-screen sequences, with Velma narrating as if she is speaking to her diary. You get the impression she is after someone who doesn't just want sex, but wants a more meaningful relationship.
Around the halfway mark is when the montage stops and you get to see the whole process of her dates from start to finish. I enjoyed the performance of the lead, due to the male characters not having a voice and being ill-defined the focus was always on her. The sixties setting gave the short almost the feel of a fairy-tale, while the repeated 'Moon River' song that plays out was a perfect fit for the vibe of the short.

Velma is a visually engaging short that had a great blend of set and costume design. It might not have done anything surprising but this had style in spades, making for an enjoyable time. Velma had its world premiere at Panic Fest in 2022 and arrived on VOD on March 26th.

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Stranger Sings! (2024) - Comedy Horror Musical Show Review

I very rarely put up reviews of shows I have been to as reviews on this blog, I cant be sure but I think I have done at least one of these types of reviews before. Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical originally began in the US where it won a variety of awards including Best New Musical at the Broadway World Off-Broadway Awards. The show then got licenced out worldwide, with the show I watched last Saturday (23rd March 2024) at Derngate, Northampton being one such professional licencing which is touring the UK this year.

When I watched this I happened to both be suffering a bit of a sleep deprived hangover (the after effects of drinking really do affect you more as you get older!), as well as a (currently undiagnosed) sinus infection, so that is sure to have some part to play at least in my impressions of this, as will my writing this a few days after I saw the show. Still, I went with my dad and my sister and got their impressions just to make this review a little more balanced. Something I won't factor in was the show briefly stopping for around ten minutes halfway through the first half due to technical issues. It was annoying but out of control of the performers, I especially felt bad for one of them stranded on stage hiding behind a chair for the entirety of the stoppage!

You would have to be living under a rock to not realise this is a parody of Stranger Things. This follows the basic plot of season one, though does fit to include some references to events from later seasons, as well as includes some characters who hadn't joined the show at this point. Basically, in the quiet town of Hawkins a young boy named Will has gone missing while cycling home one dark night. With not much ever happening in the town this comes as quite the shock. His best friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas set out to search for him, and encounter a strange girl named Eleven who has escaped from a nearby science facility. They, along with a bunch of other town folk soon learn of a twisted alternate reality known as the 'Upside Down' where a terrifying monster resides.

First up I will speak of the performers, none of which I could fault. I was surprised just how much like the characters from the show these people resembled, purely via the use of wigs and similar clothes. I thought the woman who played Joyce was the one who most resembled the character she was parodying and gave a manic chain-smoking impersonation. Amusingly the part of Will was done by a small muppet that the Joyce performer was controlling, less distracting than you might think. Least like its actual show counterpart was the man who played the role of Dr. Martin Brenner. Here, he was a more stereotypical madman, wild white hair and constantly breaking out into maniacal cackles, with an aim to take over the country. Despite that, his was a fun performance also. The decision was made to have the person playing the music to actually be on stage in the corner. On occasion she would have mild interaction with the cast, so it wasn't as odd as it could have been, but she still seemed fairly separate from everything else that was going on.

The music really wasn't for me, and I never expected it would be. This seemed like something you would find in High School Musical, lots of wide smiling faces, extremely exaggerated performances, as well as some genuinely impressive choreography. People throwing props to each other, dancing in unison, people doing the splits, kicking their legs up high and spinning people around their shoulders. All very impressive despite me not liking that style of song and dance. I wouldn't say there was a standout song, I think the one which is about the films of actress Winona Ryder was probably the weakest.
The show sped along at quite a speed and there were plenty of jokes made about some of the weaker parts of the plot. In particular, here, Barbara became much more of a character than in the show, with it made fun of several times how her and Nancy were meant to be best friends, yet Nancy completely forgets about her once she has been taken. Stranger Things has plenty of humour to it anyway, but there were still some funny moments, such as Jonathan being even more of an awkward weirdo, Hopper and his attempt to tell his tragic past story constantly being interrupted and references to future events both in dialogue and character appearances.

Stranger Sings! The Musical Parody was something that I expected would either be amazing or terrible. Actually though, it was for me just decent. If I liked that style of singing and dancing I would have enjoyed this a whole lot more. Technical issues aside, the performers seemed perfectly suited for their roles, they all seemed really into it, and brought the characters to life. I will finish with some quotes from my family, with my dad saying "It's not really my sort of thing but it was ok", and my sister stating "I enjoyed it. Wasn't the best thing I've seen but have certainly seen worse!".

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4 Minutes of Terror: Night Slasher (2024) - Short Horror Film Review

4 Minutes of Terror: Night Slasher is the latest film from horror filmmaker Nicholas Michael Jacobs (Tales from Six Feet Under, Urban Fears), someone who is known for his urban horror anthologies. In recent years a lot of his output has been centred around the antagonist character of Genevieve, so it was nice to see some welcome variation. Night Slasher is the first in a series of anthology horror shorts under the 4 Minutes of Terror banner, and surprisingly enough this clocks in at around four minutes. As always, Jacobs is responsible for much of the creation, both directing, producing, writing, editing and acting in this one.

Reggie (Naceem Bright) is visiting the grave of his mother one dark night where he vows to find the person responsible for her death. Walking back to his car along the silent streets the man suddenly discovers he is not alone.

While the plot of this short is very simple and not something you would have not seen before, it was executed wonderfully. Much of the short is the lead up to the meeting of the titular Night Stalker (Jacobs), with Reggie walking down dark lonely streets, but the camera work here was constantly engaging. In particular I really liked the off-kilter angles used throughout, giving the city an uneasy odd feel. I don't know exactly what this particular angle use is called, but it reminded me of the original Silent Hill video game that used similar distorted angles.
The look of the killer was great, the red hooded coat along with a cool looking mask really gave something distinctive. He may not have featured much but his look was visually striking against the backdrop of the streets.
There were some noticeable computer generated effects on a few occasions, such as the writing on a tombstone, and sparks coming off the killers weapon as he draws it along metal railings, but that didn't really take anything away, instead it kind of added to the comic book Tales From the Crypt style this short was aiming for. Some may be a bit disappointed that the film cuts to credits before the movie reaches its full conclusion, but I loved the way that final scene integrated itself into the fun end credits in which the cartoon figure of The Freak talked about what had just occurred.

The quality of Night Stalker was impressive, it felt to me that Jacobs has steadily been improving his craft over the years. Despite a somewhat unoriginal tale, I found myself really enjoying this. The music and sound effects were spot on, and I really did like that neat transition into the end credits. I'm a sucker for horror anthologies, so this being the first in a new series is exciting to me, I saw on IMDB that the follow up, 4 Minutes of Terror: Death Throes is currently in pre-production, so I will keep my eyes out for that one.

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Dirty Jersey (2023) - Short Horror Film Review

Every so often a film will turn up out of nowhere and blow you away, for me Dirty Jersey is that film. This short horror was directed and co-written by David Keane in his directorial debut and clocks in at around thirty seven minutes, it is just fantastic throughout.

A young boy, Chester (Lincoln Simcox) accidentally knocks himself out while playing in the woods near his remote home, he awakens to see a huge winged creature standing over him.
Around the same time, Nate (Casey Donnelly - Hayride to Hell) has decided to surprise his girlfriend Margret (Amanda Fraass - The Killer Clown Meets the Candy Man) by gifting her a quad-bike. Along with his best friend, mechanic Seth (Sean Barnes), they take her out to the Pine Barrens so that she can ride it. None of this is to her liking, but making an effort she goes along with their plans. With it getting late, Margret insists on being taken home, and after an argument with Nate, she heads off with Seth. So begins a most terrifying and bloody night for all three, where no one can be trusted.

I loved this from the start to the end, it was a nice surprise to see this just getting more and more enjoyable as it went on. The prologue featuring Chester dressed as a rabbit creature as he wanders the woods was decent enough, with it initially seeming hard to work out how his sequence would fit into the larger picture. The main part of the film is the three friends adventures out at the Pine Barrens. I liked how poorly Nate and Margret seemed to get on, it made things seem that little bit more real than a stereotypical couple deeply in love. I also liked how it wasn't clear what direction the horror was going to come from, I can't really say any more for fear of spoiling the events here, needless to say there were a few red herrings as to where the true horror would emerge.

There were two key parts to Dirty Jersey that really elevated this above other films of its type. It can hardly be called original to have a synth soundtrack that sounds like it was ripped out of the eighties, nonetheless, this soundtrack was amazing, I think probably my favourite thing about this short as a whole. Also great were the very bloody practical effects, coincidentally this is the second film I have watched today (at the time of typing) in which someone's head is ripped right open! There is plenty of blood to be found here, and while the effects don't look super realistic, the fact they are practical (outside of some possible CG blood spurts) is a huge bonus. From its beginnings I really didn't expect so much bloodshed as we get treated to in the film's finale.

Throughout Dirty Jersey had a professional look to its indie filmmaking. I always love horror films inspired by the eighties, and this one did not disappoint. With a story that I could never tell exactly where it was heading, a sublime soundtrack, interesting characters and those practical special effects, this had everyone I was looking for, wrapped up in a short run time that still felt like it was able to tell its tale without rushing. Dirty Jersey is available to watch for free on YouTube, so check it out!

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Death Note: Short Stories (2021) by Tsugumi Ohba - Horror Manga Book Review

I would say that Death Note is my favourite anime of all time. When it first aired I was obsessed with the idea of a notepad that would kill anyone whose name was written down in it. While visiting my best friend's apartment last year I noticed a Death Note manga, looking closer I realised it was a Death Note: Short Stories, released in 2021, this contains six short stories, a few of which actually take place after the events of the core story. I was very interested to read more so I borrowed the book off my friend's daughter.

The collection was released in 2021 but it actually contains Death Note stories that have been written by Tsugumi Ohba over the past twenty years, including some good ones and some that were not so good. The first two stories are both ones that take place after the events of the core Death Note story, I will try and keep spoilers to a minimum. First up is 'C-Kira' which was first published in 2020. Here, a new person has gotten a hold of the dreaded Death Note. People believe that Kira (the name given to the original Death Note user) has returned after an absence, but it becomes clear to Near (the young detective who caught the real Kira) that it is a pale imitator who is not worthy of being tracked down.
Next up is 'a-Kira' which again follows a new holder of the note. Interestingly, this new owner has plans to sell the book rather than actually use it themselves. This story brought some of the in-depth cleverness that the main story was known for.

That is about it for the decent stories, as the rest contained here felt far more like filler. None more so than a collection of comedic skits called 'Death Note Four Panel Comics', originally published 2004-2005. There are around thirteen of these, and as the name suggests each one is made up of just four panels. These take place outside the world of the manga with characters interacting with each other in silly what-if ways. I didn't think much of these at all. 
The penultimate stories are more filler, these ones focussing on the character of L (the teenage detective that Near took over from). 'L - One Day' follows L over the course of a single day, while 'L - Wammy's House' shows how L came to be chosen for his future role. Both didn't really add anything.
Final story is also the first in the time frame, 'Taro Kagami' was a one-shot prototype of what would become Death Note. Here, a young student gets the note book and accidentally finds out its terrible powers. There was a bit of a more light hearted innocent approach here, specifically with the inclusion of a special rubber that is able to wipe out names from the Death Note, bringing anyone who had died via it to be brought back to life.

The art by Takeshi Obata was wonderful as expected, but out of the stories I only felt it was the first two that were worth reading. Many of the others felt like filler, though it was interesting to see the prototype story. If you are into this series it might be worth a read, but I wouldn't say it is at all essential reading as it doesn't really add too much to what is known.

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Abaddon's Pit (2024) - Horror Film Review

Abaddon's Pit (written and directed by Jason Egan and Matthew Nash) is a metaphysical sci-fi horror that doesn't seem to be that bothered if its story can be easily understood. On the surface this has a lot that I like, a feeling of cosmic terror, some 'out there' ideas, and an interesting premise. An uninteresting protagonist and some really bad looking computer generated effects combine with its indie stylings to put a dampener on what is otherwise pretty strong stuff.

After the death of his beloved wife in a car accident, Dave (Jeff Ayars) moves to the countryside where he takes up residence in his aunt's farmhouse, the lady having gone missing presumed dead some time previously. The leader of a local religious commune, Faith (Faith Kelly) hopes that Dave's cousin Gareth (Lawrence Trailer) can convince him to join their group, but Dave is more interested in a small triangular hole that he has discovered on his aunt's property. With Gareth's help, Dave begins to perform experiments on the seemingly bottomless hole, with strange incidences occurring. A block of ice lowered into the hole comes out on fire yet intact, a dead fish comes out alive, while a live piglet comes out of the hole severely mutated. Despite the bad evidence, Dave becomes obsessed with going into the pit himself, meanwhile, Faith comes to believe the pit is a thing of evil, and with her flock sets out to stop Dave's goal.

Special mention has to go to the CG effects just due to how bad they look, in a way that I found increasingly distracting. Early on a skinless dog is discovered, but it moves in such a fake looking way that it doesn't look real in the slightest. Ill fitting CG effects pop up again and again, from the piglet, to locusts and fire effects, all look artificial. That isn't to say it is all bad, in one scene when something is killed blood spurts onto the camera lens, again I think this was via the use of CG imagery, but it brought to mind The Evil Dead, and looked great. 'Evil' contact lenses also didn't look good, but some of the effects were decent. I liked a character later on who seemed to have stars dancing in his eyes, and I thought everything around the religious cult was excellent, with some great costume design.

Dave made for a really bland protagonist, his obsession with the hole isn't that well explained to the viewer, and it isn't clear why he believes he will be able to see his dead wife once again should he get in the hole. Gareth was a more likeable person, but the stand out character was Faith. Kelly was fantastic in this standout role, she really stole every scene she appeared in. That brought another issue, the whole last act of the film really went down the rabbit hole. It seemingly stopped the story up to that point, instead turning into an art house style dream. It reminded me of episodes you get into TV show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bojack Horseman where characters are forced to encounter the weirdness of a dream world where nothing makes sense. It becomes prime surreal art house, even seeing fit to include a song and dance number or two. I just didn't think this worked that well, led to some interesting plot developments, but I didn't like that the religious cult storyline was literally left unfinished elsewhere.

Outside of the poor looking CG effects, the main problem with Abaddon's Pit was the bland and lifeless protagonist. I didn't care about his journey, and the metaphysical angle the story took didn't get me invested. There were some good moments mixed in with this, and I liked the cosmic horror parts, but the abrupt shift in style for the final half hour, and an open ended finish left me more confused than anything. Abaddon's Pit is available on digital worldwide (excluding Amazon Prime Video), and comes to AVOD digital platforms on 30th April 2024 thanks to Vipco and BayView Entertainment.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Tuesday 19th March 2024

I think this will likely be the sole news post this week as I am planning to finally getting around to reading a Death Note manga I borrowed off my best friend's daughter. With that out the way, here is a trilogy of news stories.

Sci-fi horror Brightwood is coming out in the UK, Ireland and Australia on March 21st. The film revolves around an arguing couple out on a run in some woodland who inexplicably find themselves trapped in a localised time loop. I reviewed this back in September of last year where I said it '...played out like a cross between Vivarium and Triangle...'.

I'm always up for a decent horror anthology, one such possibility is the anthology film Death 4 Told which is available now on digital platforms worldwide and will arrive on AVOD digital platforms on 30th March from Vipco and BayView Entertainment. This Bo Buckley and C. Michael Close directed horror stars Alicia Goranson alongside Tom Savini and Margot Kidder. There are four short films contained within, a writer and his wife who move into a new home to find it's already occupied, college couples telling ghost stories around a campfire, a TV crew filming a paranormal show, and a fake psychic unprepared for the horror heading her way.

Finally for today, an Indiegogo campaign has been created to raise funds for Night of the Dead Sorority Babes. Directed by Steve Hermann and Angel Nichole Bradford, and described as a 'campy horror feature film', this was written specifically for a group of indie 'scream queen' actresses. The proof of concept short film can be viewed on YouTube, while the campaign for the feature film can be found here.

Greed & Gore (2023) - Short Horror Film Review

Greed & Gore is a short fourteen minute horror film that was directed and co-written by Adam Kirkey. It lives up to its title with a story that is a cross between Reservoir Dogs and The Strangers, featuring plenty of greed, and indeed, plenty of gore.

After robbing a bank and taking a hostage, a group of criminals are out in rural Canada on the way to a safehouse that their driver has chosen. When arriving, despite the poor condition of the property, they decide to hunker down for the night, celebrating their heist with alcohol and partying. After the lights suddenly go out one of them heads into the basement to check the generator, unaware that there is an intruder in the house who is none too happy to see them there.

I love short films that feel like they are much longer than they actually are. With Greed & Gore you have a feature length story crammed into a short, but without feeling like it is really missing too much. From the initial car journey, to the partying montage scene, up to the first kill, events move along swiftly but without seeming rushed. The anti-heroes are a slightly generic bunch, you have strong silent Whiskey (Nick DeWolfe), comedic joker Tango (Matthew Bell), perpetually angry Romeo (Krishan Dutt - The Boys TV show) cold Sierra (Monica Zelak), with calm and collected Delta (Curtis Desrosiers) rounding out the crew. I did enjoy the montage scene of Tango throwing notes around everywhere, was a fun little sequence.

From the moment of the first kill events ramp up. The gore part of the title fits well as there are some really fun looking moments of violence. From a severed hand, to a head split in half horizontally, and numerous axe blows, this all looked great, if a little clean. While there is a reliance on practical effects, some of the stuff around the edges seemed like it had some CG assistance, such as the frequent cutaways to show the house in the howling wind and rain. The killer was a typical masked maniac, but I liked his look, the mask that looked like a zombie clown was pretty neat. In terms of the story, I liked the hostage angle, it is never made clear if the killer is purposely leaving her, or if they have just seen her as a non-threat. The first kill that takes place in the basement around the blindfolded victim (Julie Mainville - Confessions of a Haunting..., We Are the Missing) was a highlight, loving the way the blood from the kill splashes over her.
There was variety with the filmmaking throughout, from drone shots, to shots that appear to have been done from chest mounted cameras on the actors, and insert shots, it was varied but never felt too much.

The award-winning Greed & Gore is available to stream now from Slinger Pictures, with the filmmakers hoping to start production on a feature version of this idea this Autumn. This short doesn't outstay its welcome, is full of violence, and looks fantastic. Maybe some of the kill effects looked a little too crisp and clear, but overall I was impressed with how this was made, exceeding my expectations.

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It's A Wonderful Slice (2024) - Horror Anthology Film Review

Towards the end of last year I reviewed Phil Herman's Christmas themed anthology horror, I Slay on Christmas. Recently he contacted me about another Christmas themed anthology horror, this one titled It's A Wonderful Slice, written, directed, and produced by Michael Moutsatsos. There was certainly a lot packed into this ninety five minute anthology, but did at times feel a bit lacking in terms of variety. I couldn't find this on IMDB and there isn't much of a credit sequence at the end of the movie, so apologies for leaving out actor names.

The film is split up into five different short films, but there are also a lot of little sequences around these, most notably at the film's start. The introduction sequence has a man dressed as Santa armed with a machete dancing around streets while festive music plays out. This brought a recurring idea of a juxtaposition between wholesome music and twisted visuals. I liked that this sequence seemed to be shot around real people rather than actors, giving some nice reaction shots. This is then followed by a little sequence 'Santa's Woods', in which Santa, Krampus and an Elf frolic around woodland getting up to mischief. This kind of introduces the shorts as it is explained that there are many stories of horror that take place around Christmas time. Following this is a short sequence of a vlogger heading to woodland before encountering a festive slasher, before a similar one titled 'Krampus: Prologue' that is set in 1975, represented by a sepia look and fake Super-8 style film grain. This barrage of shorter sequences also sets up some of the issues I had with the anthology as a whole. They mostly feature a victim encountering someone dressed up as Santa who then proceeds to kill them as the finale of the short. It led to a repetitive feel, with some of these being better than others.

The first proper short was 'A Slay to Remember'. In this one, a peppy Airbnb host named Alex is delighted to be hosting a famous actor and writer, Tom, a man who has headed to a remote American town to get away from his fame for a while. The character of Tom was played by an actor who appears in nearly all the shorts, playing a totally different character each time. With multiverses being in vogue at the moment, it was almost like each short took place in a different reality for this character. It's good he was entertaining to watch, but not as much as the character of Alex. I liked how it wasn't too clear to begin with which of the two characters the horror would stem from. This was a fun short, though I felt it stuck around a little bit too long.
Next up was 'Here Wolfie Wolf'. A man (the actor who played Tom) has headed to woodland with his filmmaker friend Carlos. After Carlos vanishes, the man discovers a werewolf type creature dressed up like Santa, who swiftly takes chase. I liked the sound effects used for the creature, and it had a fun finish that was unexpected twice in quick succession.

The third film is 'Santa's Got an Axe to Grind' and serves as a kind of sequel to the first short, as the character of Alex pops up again, but this time in a woodland setting. As fun as it was to see this character again, there wasn't really much going on here, making it probably the most unneeded part of the anthology as a whole.
'Demonic Intensions' is the penultimate one, again starring the actor who played Ben previously. This one tries something a little different by featuring just the one character. A man who is either demonically possessed or who is suffering mental health issues.
Final short is 'A Doll to Die For', and for a change we have a female antagonist. Filmed in black and white, this one stood out visually, though is the same sort of thing by having a crazed person torturing a tied up victim. The actress had a neat enough Harley Quinn style craziness, believing the mall Santa she has kidnapped is the real deal.

Christmas and horror does go well together, and this indie anthology does have good parts to it. The shorts were obviously linked together, there are two different creepy looking Santa masks that the various killers wear throughout, while the tools of violence they use are also shared between them all. This also goes to the interior locations, with the first and fourth film having the exact same building, while the woods used for most the others is functional, but again brings a conjoined familiarity. This indie horror never tries to be something it isn't, the acting can be a bit basic at times, but this is leant into, with some enjoyable moments coming from some of the dialogue. The sound quality wasn't always fantastic, with some moments that sounded a bit tinny, but I did love the music throughout, a definite highlight, the mix of light music and dark actions never got old.
While I wish there had been a bit more variety than just short after short of a festive themed killer capturing victims, I still thought It's A Wonderful Slice had a decent enough unified look to it, and regardless of variety it felt like a lot was stuffed into this, and there were some definite stand out actors, such as the recurring bearded character and the man who played Alex. 

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 14th March 2024

For the second news anthology of the week I bring three more rotted pieces of news from my bloody mail sack of horrors. In 'me' news I am currently playing Helldivers II, though I don't think that really fits into the horror spectrum. I haven't mentioned it previously, but the current season of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III has a zombie theme to its battlepass. Not only is it full of zombie calling cards, stickers and emblems, but it also features Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead as its big skin. That would be cool, but not only does he have something of a cheap knock-off look to him, but they have someone very much not Andrew Lincoln providing his lines. As a paid skin there is also Michonne, thankfully she does look a bit more like the character she is meant to represent!

Friends Forever is an eighties styled slasher film that is streaming exclusively on Reveel. The synopsis has a mother of a family going insane and killing her family as a result of discovering their years supply of food has been ruined. Thirty years later a bunch of teens break into the abandoned family home in order to throw a wild party, but no doubt discovering a killer who is none too happy to see them there. To see this head over to Reveel here.

Afterlife is a documentary that is out now on digital platforms from BayView Entertainment, and is due to head to AVOD platforms on 30th March. Described as '...compelling and thought-provoking...', this follows a filmmaker (Ben Harl) as he explores what could happen to us once we die. The documentary includes interviews with spiritual teachers, scientists, and medical professionals.  

Finally for today, too crazy not to mention is horror parody (should that be parrotdy?) Murdaritaville which came to digital, Blu-ray and VHS from Amazon and ByTheHorns on March 1st.  This is about a group of friends who find themselves the target of a deranged were-parrot(!) while on route to an impersonator contest. Being a lover of both birds and horror, this seems like the perfect (birdseed) mix.

Aware of the Wolf (2023) - Horror Film Review

I had originally intended to watch something completely different for today's review but the link had expired, and so I turned instead to the Joshua Nelson (The Things We Cannot Change) written and directed horror Aware of the Wolf. This horror might have a bit of a decent message at its heart, but the horror sure takes a long time to come.

Terry (Tony Murphy - The Things We Cannot Change) is a self help guru who provides his own special type of therapy for downtrodden, weak and mild people. He calls his class 'Terry's Transformations' and teaches that within everyone is a wolf, and that by seeking out your inner wolf you can become a predator rather than prey. Elsewhere, Detective Wagner (Suzanne Johnson - The Things We Cannot Change) and Detective Hoffman (Kelly Fine) are investigating a series of strange murders in the area, the victims covered in bite marks.

This is only the second film of Nelsons that I have watched but there really seems to be a style that is gone for. The last one of his I watched was about a vampire self-help group, and that is repeated here, with a vague werewolf tone to it instead. The majority of the film takes place at the self-help meetings in which various weak people listen to Terry as he tries to get the meek to stick up for themselves. It starts with a few different scenes showing how each of the characters are put down in their lives. You have a pregnant girl whose step-mum (Debra Holtzman - The Things We Cannot Change) constantly belittles her, you have Veer (Vamshi Krishna Achutha) whose cruel boss threatens cancelling his work visa should he try to go against her, you have a woman whose husband has no respect for her, and Ella Mae (Katie Raulerson - The Things We Cannot Change) who has let men walk over her her whole life. The actors were fine for this type of indie film, their individual antagonists might be very over the top and exaggerated but it worked in making you as the viewer pity them. Their sessions led to some cringy moments, such as when they all try and howl like wolves, but these moments feed into their lack of confidence.

The actual horror takes a very far back seat to the rest of the movie. The detectives investigating the murders only feature in a couple of short scenes, that subplot makes up less than a fifth of the overall film. A shame as the prologue featuring two lovers getting seemingly attacked by wolves out in woodland made it seem like the horror would be more pronounced. Aware of the Wolf finally gets going in its third act, but it is only really in the final scene that things begin to move, by that point it was a little too late. That isn't to say it was dull leading to that moment, but as well intentioned as some of the first two acts felt, this was light on action and heavy on scenes of people sitting around talking in the therapy sessions. Some of the make-up effects were passable, but the few times violence is shown on screen it wasn't sold that well, with actors trying to make it seem like they are throwing punches, but looking a bit lame.

I though the character of Terry was the best part of this, and I thought the later revelations about his real intentions were not that badly implemented. I also thought the Tales From the Crypt style end twist was amusing in a morality tale type of way. Far too much of the lead up to the third act had a kind of holding pattern feel to it, with not much really happening despite the amount of run time that was happening. Aware of the Wolf is out now on digital platforms worldwide (excluding Amazon Prime Video) and will head to AVOD digital platforms on 30th April.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Tuesday March 12th 2024

With an inbox that isn't getting any smaller, here is the first of two news anthology posts for this week. Onwards as ever to the news.

BayView Entertainment are a regular inclusion on my news posts, and today's post features two of their horror films that are due for release soon. The first of these is Raveland which is out now on digital platforms in the UK, USA and Canada. This fantasy mystery thriller follows a group of teenagers on a supernatural island in their quest to find the person able to prevent ominous forces from harming them and their loved ones. Written and directed by Rebecca Ugo, and starring Racheal Ihim, Kent Shocknek and Will Horton, this is also due to head to AVOD digital platforms worldwide on 30th March.

The Exorcism Tapes was voted 'Most Original Concept' at the Videoscream Film Festival 2021 and is now out to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and USA as well as on AVOD worldwide. Written and directed by Jason Hawkins and starring Hawkins, David Mitchum Brown and Jason Reynolds, the synopsis is that a video coined The Exorcism Tapes was uploaded to the internet, purporting to show a real life exorcism. 

Finally for today, Listen Carefully has its world premiere at the Fantaspoa Film Festival in April 2024. This American indie psychological horror film was written, directed and stars Ryan Barton-Grimley. It is about an assistant manager who is forced to carry out the twisted instructions of a voice on a baby monitor after his baby daughter is kidnapped. Also starring is Simone Barton-Grimley and Ari Schneider (as the voice). For more information check out the film's website here.

The Well (2023) - Horror Film Review

The Well is an Italian horror film that comes from Federico Zampaglione (Shadow), who both wrote and directed this. He has been dubbed 'the Italian Rob Zombie' and that is a moniker that really fits as even before reading that I was reminded of that director's work while watching this gruesome slaughter-fest. While this just misses out on being a fantastic film, there is still plenty to enjoy here.

Lisa (Lauren LaVera - Terrifier 2, Clinton Road) is an American art restorer who has been contracted to head to a remote Italian village in order to restore a 15th century painting that a rich duchess is in possession of. She is told the painting recently received smoke damage and that it is essential it is restored within a fortnight as it is due to be sold at an auction. The more she works on the creepy painting, the more disturbing nightmares and hallucinations she gets, but is compelled to ignore her instincts and carry on the work for fear of her father's business being ruined by breaking the terms of the contract.
On the way to the village Lisa had befriended some botanists who had planned to camp out in the nearby forest to conduct some research. Elsewhere, things went bad for them, as on their first night camping they are all captured by an unseen person. The three, Tony (Gianluigi Galvani), Tracy (Taylor Zaudtke - The Leech) and Madison (Courage Osabohine) awaken to find themselves imprisoned in an underground cell which faces onto a large well. Their brutally sadistic mute jailor systematically begins to slaughter them, in order to feed them to a monstrous creature that dwells at the bottom of the well.
Needless to say, these two separate events are more linked than at first it might appear.

The most striking part of The Well are the nasty stomach churning special effects. Thankfully, these special effects are all practical (apart from one key scene during the finale), and they look horrific in the best possible way. Among the visual horrors are some strong almost torture porn moments of victims really being made to suffer. Limbs are hacked off, an eyeball is raked out, a rusty nail goes through a foot, someone is pinned to a door by a crossbow bolt, and some poor unfortunate even has the skin peeled off their face! The mute and mentally unstable jailor really felt like he stepped out of a Rob Zombie movie, while there are some nightmarish moments that Lisa suffers through. The creature design for the thing in the well was great, I admit it did initially remind me a bit of Gollum from The Lord of The Rings, but the more you saw of it, the more I came to appreciate how horrid it looked. 

The cast were mostly great, I thought that the duchess' teenage daughter Giulia (Linda Zampaglione) was one of the weakest links, the petulant rebellious teenager came across as a bit one dimensional, making for not that compelling a character. With most the characters here, the less you know about them the better, it is only really Lisa herself who gets some character development. Special mention goes to Melanie Gaydos as Dorka, her expressive turn during the culmination of the movie was so cool to see, putting the other actors in that particular scene to slight shame.
 As always with cursed painting horrors, the art needed to look effectively dark, and here the painting was ace. A slight possible plot issue might have occurred should Lisa had chosen to work on a different part of the painting than she did at the start. I found Lisa's story the less interesting of the two going on, but I enjoyed how they linked together. It did lead to an epilogue that was a little bit cheesy, the plot in general had some good moments to it, but I would be lying if I said that any of the revelations that occur were that surprising to see.

I thought The Well was really well made. The locations all looked very dusty and grimy, the special effects were gruesomely delightful, and I found myself invested in the events of the movie. Only really let down by a couple of generic characters, and an epilogue that I wasn't that sure about. The Well had its UK premiere at Frightfest in Glasgow on 9th March.

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City of the Living Dead (1980) - Zombie Horror Film Review

Back when I was first properly getting into horror films at the turn of the century I would pretty much buy anything that looked interesting. The zombie genre in particular was a highlight of horror for me, and so seeing Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead (a horror legend, not that I knew that at the time) on DVD I purchased it, fully expecting it to live up to the title. I did not like what I got, instead of an undead filled extravaganza I instead had a supernatural horror full of bizarreness. I hadn't seen it since, but hearing it was heading to limited edition 4K UHD, as well as heading to the ARROW streaming subscription service I just had to check it out, to give it a fair chance that my younger self didn't do. It turns out some of my memories of this were correct, but other parts I had thankfully misremembered.

A priests suicide in a graveyard in the American town of Dunwich results in the gates of Hell being opened. Having had a vision of this event occurring, a young New York based psychic woman, Mary (Catriona MacColl - The Beyond) teams up with a reporter named Peter (Christopher Bell), as she believes her vision has shown her that the only way to close the gateway to Hell lays with the priest, and that they must get the  gate closed before the approaching All-Saints Day is reached. Their task becomes a lot harder once they arrive at the town, and discover that a variety of supernatural events are occurring, including the dead refusing to stay dead...

The whole film has a feeling of a nightmare to it and so elements of this only make sense in a kind of dream logic type of way. From what I remembered there were not actually any zombies in the movie, thankfully that turned out to be incorrect, with the whole third act turning the film into a zombie one. The make-up effects on the walking dead was fantastic, corpses look to be rotting, with live insects such as worms and maggots crawling over them. In a really novel way, the undead are supernatural in nature, having the pretty chilling ability to not only teleport, but having super strength and able to make people literally puke up their internal organs just by locking eye contact with their chosen victim! The story is a bit bare bones, and it is never really stated exactly how the heroes are going to be able to close the gateway to Hell. It all leads up to an infamously terrible ending that rumour says wasn't actually meant to the end, but that the footage was somehow lost or destroyed and so, not being able to afford a re-shoot, Fulci had to make do with what he had. It is a shame that the last scene in the film is also the worst, it leans into the dream logic, but it really makes no sense whatsoever. Following on from some really strong scenes it did put a bit of a dampener on an otherwise near flawless final thirty minutes.

It is an upward path to this living up to its title, but the horror that comes before is frequently pretty neat. The priest teleports around town murdering random people (always showing up still hanging from his noose), there is a tense scene in which a woman buried alive is constantly nearly pick-axed to death by the man trying to save her(!), and at one point the protagonists  have to endure a rain of maggots. Disgustingly this scene was actually done using real maggots, with the poor cast having thousands and thousands of the insects blown over them by a giant wind machine. I hate insects being used as a means of generating horror, I don't find it scary, just gross and sickening. Maggots likely don't have feelings, but I still felt bad seeing them treated in such a bad way. Other moments are cool though, such as a mysterious fireball that erupts out the floor, mirrors smashing on their own, cracks in walls opening up, and walls bleeding. Then there is the ultra violent scene where the town idiot has his head forced into a spinning drill. Being the eighties the effects are of course all practical ones and look suitably great. Also great is the soundtrack, it sounds very much like Goblin's style, and was wonderfully catchy.

I had hoped that giving the film a second chance would improve my feeling towards it, and I was right. Rather than a poor quality DVD transfer, the film here looked crisp and clear, really adding a lot to all the nightmarish scenes. I still think the many scenes involving real insects was ill-judged and gross, but the other horror makes up for it, especially with the undead whose ability to teleport made them an intimidating foe to face, and of course the wonderful practical effects. City of the Living Dead comes to ARROW (here), and releases on limited edition 4K UHD on 25th March.

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