Slashvivor! (2017) by Stephen Kozeniewski and Stevie Kopas - Horror Novel Review

My whole life I have had a huge fondness for the killer gameshow idea. From my young years watching The Running Man and playing Smash TV, to later on becoming obsessed with Battle Royale, and becoming quite possibly the sole fan of very indie horror Slashers ("Super Fun!"), and later loving the idea for graphic novel Slashermania. This has been an idea that really appealed, that mix of what should be innocent fun mixed with the hauntingly sadistic. When I saw that authors Stephen Kozeniewski (The Thing Under Your Bed) and Stevie Kopas had written their own entry into this horror subgenre; Slashvivor!, I was very intrigued. Having read author Sean E. Britten's excellent Kill Switch trilogy towards the end of the teens, I didn't really see how this one would feel too different. Earlier this year I read standalone prequel, Razortooth, which was written after this novel. Would having foreknowledge of the world and its characters impact my enjoyment or add to it? 

In an alternate Earth that saw Russia and the U.S.A engage in a nuclear war (and America very much coming out on bottom), the continent is now a nuclear wasteland that has came to be known as 'The Geiger Lands' There is no government anymore, instead various warlords have rose up to rule the various states. In this land there is a special gameshow broadcast illegally that the whole nation adores. 'Try Not to Die' sees contestants plucked out of the remains of society at random and taken to a custom built arena full of deadly traps, where they are hunted by vicious killers. These maniacs, referred to as 'slashers' are loved enough that they have become household names, and stars in their own right. For the latest episode of the show, one of the unlucky contestants is Dawn, a determined young woman who intends to not only find a way to survive the rigged game, but also to find a way to somehow reach the producers box and kill the show creator; warlord Marisol.

Having read the prequel, I eagerly awaited the arrival of Razortooth, but she turned out to be far more of a side character here, appearing at around the halfway point of the roughly 300 page book. I love killer gameshows but initially I can't say I was impressed with this one. The contestants were quickly dropping like flies, while the action pausing for ad-breaks (that get their own mini-chapters, much like with the prequel) led to a frustrating feeling of stopping and starting. I then had the realisation that I was little better than the rabid audience, wanting to see blood and violence at the expense of everything else. Once I began to appreciate this wasn't going to play out as a proper episode of the show, and followed the format more of rebelling against the very idea of it, that I became much more invested in the story. The actual gameshow makes up most of the novel, and it was neat that both the contestants and production staff get their own little subplots going on. Best of the staff parts were jaded gameshow host, Mark Winters. He was a very interesting character, turning to alcohol to be able to believably play his part of jokester host, when in reality he is horrified by it all. I enjoyed these frequent cutaways to him and his interactions with other staff, such as showrunners, and the producers themselves. My very favourite part of the novel was a found footage style section that saw two hapless camera-men forced to head into the cells where the killers are kept, after one of the contestants is abducted by one of the slashers.
From the very start, Slashvivors! is a wild ride, never dull, never lacking in extreme violent action. This was a brutal world where life is so cheap that many people dream of being able to get murdered by their favourite slasher.

Where most of the contestants are blank slates; just existing to be killed like Star Trek 'redshirts', the slashers were full of personality, and became the highlight. From a homicidal Abraham Lincoln kill-bot, to the cannibal - Charming Charles, mutant Denny the Killer Clown, and psychotic child, Abadonna - these killers were so varied and so much fun to read about. Of course, Razortooth eventually enters the story, and having read her origin story made the character better here. It was also cool to see other characters from the prequel also appearing in roles here.
There were moments of extreme violence, the use of a cheese-grater on a limbless victim's face for instance, and someone who was forced to eat their own genitals! The world was sadistically cruel, reflected very much with what happens throughout the story.
Slashvivor! went along at a blistering pace, Dawn was a decent protagonist, with a good story progression. I liked the use of flashbacks to reveal more about some of the characters, such as the origin story for warlord Marisol.

After a start that I was unsure of, I quickly got into the thrilling story, becoming hooked. This was one of those novels where I had a genuine bittersweet feeling reaching the end, I wanted to stay with these characters more. Slashvivor! was a fantastic novel, well worth reading.

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Karen the Beauty Queen Butcher (2026) - Horror Film Review

I have had the screener of Karen the Beauty Queen Killer for much of this month, but hadn't found the time to get around to watching it until this past weekend. This is an indie comedic horror that veers deeply into the modern day version of a B-movie. Directed and co-written by Zachary Snygg (Zombiez), this wildly leans heavily into the use of A.I for almost everything here. Would this one trick pony with its many A.I generated scenes be a memorable watch?

There is a brutal serial killer on the loose in New York, with the masked killer's choice of victim being winners of beauty pageants. Meanwhile, Karen (Jasmin Flores - Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottonhell) is determined to make a career out of winning beauty pageants, much to the annoyance of her hen-pecked and sexually frustrated husband, Ted (Scott Bolger - He Sees You When You're Sleeping). With the killings benefitting her goals, Karen becomes well known in the media, loved and hated in equal measure. When the serial killer is caught, Karen must look to her own skills to continue to be on top of the pageant game.

It became increasingly clear just how much A.I is used here to tell the story. To begin with I didn't notice it too much, I enjoyed the scenes with the killer, and the ridiculously violent and unrealistic way victims were torn apart in geysers of blood. After the killer is stopped though, this falls into a troubled and ultimately dull middle section that seemed to go on forever. It made the picture lose the momentum it had built up to that point. The use of A.I may have been used with a tongue in cheek approach, but it took over so much of the movie that it felt authentic scenes were few and far between. Overhead shots of the city were fine, but the many, many scenes of identical looking crowds of people really overstayed their welcome. It was a bit amusing at first how obvious it all was, but these lengthy parts soon led to extreme boredom, making the 100 minute movie really drag. Visually this had a soulless look to it, and in terms of the plot, not much was really going on. The heavy A.I use ruined the film, with about 80% of the movie having that slightly uncomfortable and artificial look to it. While likely intended as a joke to create a 'so bad its good' type vibe, it fails at this and just becomes bad, with my patience wearing thin. You can have the most disgustingly violent and gory scene ever, but with that A.I look, it did nothing for me other than to make me roll my eyes.

The main characters were not bad. I thought Ted was decent, and special mention goes to the two detectives, with Harris (Phillip Green) and his counterpart having some hilarious scenes together where they have meandering conversations that almost felt ad-libbed. Those scenes were the very best parts of Karen the Beauty Queen Butcher, but few and far between in a sea of terrible looking A.I generated crowd scenes. The humour was ok at times, and it had some current-news jokes thrown in, such as a few referring to modern day folk-hero/alleged CEO killer, Luigi Mangione.

The first twenty minutes or so I didn't think this was bad, I had an early review score that was much higher than what I eventually decided for this. The utter tedium of the middle soon had me desperately wishing for the film to end, it just dragged and dragged. Not completely terrible, the actors were fun in their roles, but there wasn't much actual things happening here, making for a vapid and often pointless experience. Karen the Beauty Queen Butcher is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, with it coming to TubiTV and Fandango in the first week of July.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 18th June 2026

With my bloody sack of horror news still overflowing, it was time for another trilogy of terror. Three horror news stories plucked from the maggot-infested bottom, some likely out-of-date bits of info for your reading delight.

Back in April, The Horror Collective acquired 213 Bones. This horror is a throwback to slashers of the 1990s. Directed by Jeffrey Primm, it follows a group of college students in the Pacific Northwest who find themselves the target of a masked killer. Starring Luna Fujimoto (Blade of the 47 Ronin), Hunter Nance, Colin Egglesfield (All My Children), Dean Cameron (Summer School), Liam Woodrum (Geek Girl), Toni Weiss and Frances Barker McCormick (Disney's Wonder Man), this film made its debut at FrightFest. It was the final film of horror fan Primm, who sadly passed away shortly after the completion of the film.

Another The Horror Collective acquisition was Canadian horror film - Fresh Meat, which comes from writer/director Daniel Turres. The film is about a group of influencers who break into an abandoned prison complex to make some content, but end up unleashing a ravenous inmate. Fresh Meat was showcased at the Blood in the Snow Film Festival earlier this year where it won 'Best Special Effects'.

Finally for today, at the start of May production began on indie thriller - The Dead Rose. Filmed in Los Angeles and Denver, this is written/directed by Kimmy Drain and stars Frank Stallone, Eric Robert and Andrew Divoff. The synopsis states this is about a Catholic prelate who has been entrusted with guarding an ancient dagger said to have the power to destroy the world. He finds himself having to contend against a Satanic cult who wish to end the world using its power. The press release states The Dead Rose '...confronts modern issues including racial tensions and the growing threat of child trafficking - painting a chilling portrait of a society on the edge, while delivering a powerful message of redemption'.

Together Till the End (2026) - Zombie Horror Film Review

It doesn't take much of a wild guess to tell what my favourite sub-genre of horror film is. Of course then, I was excited to watch the debut feature length Salvador Medina written and directed Mexican zombie film Together Till the End (based on a short film of the same name). This indie film confines the majority of its 85 minute runtime to a single apartment and features just a handful of characters. Would this be enough to make for a compelling picture?

Elena (Jimena Bilsup) and boyfriend, Joaquin (Rolando Breme - 1974: The Possession of Altair) have recently moved to a new apartment in the middle of a bustling Mexican city. The film begins with them preparing to go on a vacation to visit Elena's mother. It is just before they leave that they discover something terrible. A deadly virus that had originated in Europe has made it to their country, and now the whole city appears to be over-run with victims; people who have died and returned to life as flesh-hungry ghouls. Joaquin wants to still travel to Elena's mums house, thinking it will be safer there, but Elena thinks maybe staying put is the best idea. The arrival of a suspicious stranger; Giovanni (Giovanni Gamba) creates an uneasy alliance, with the trio forced to work together to protect the apartment from being invaded by the hungry dead.

Together Till the End stays in the apartment location for about 99% of the film. The action only moves outside of it via Facetime video calls. Those parts were neat due to being presented in a narrow vertical format, as they would appear on a phone itself. Due to the relatively bland central location, there were also just a handful of characters, eight in total, most of which only made very minor appearances. Elena and Joaquin were likeable leads, with the later in particular standing out, due to being a flawed character. He is portrayed as a bit of a love-rat, but despite this, his character acts selfless and noble throughout the story. There didn't seem to be as much to Elena, she was decent enough but nowhere near as interesting. Giovanni was an interesting character, and while it was obvious that he may not be exactly who he claimed to be, he was a fun person to distrust, and the film makes no effort to hide his duplicity.

Being an indie film, there sadly were also just a handful of zombies shown here, roughly seven or eight in total over the course of the whole movie. At times this led to a bit of frustration as a viewer. In one scene, the couple are watching a news report on TV, but the camera is pointed from behind of it, so that you don't actually get to see anything. The same annoyance happens in a different scene where the couple are looking in horror out of their apartment window, but again nothing is actually shown, just some sound effects to suggest what is occurring. There are a bunch of action scenes, but nearly all of the violence is implied rather than shown, usually happening just out of shot. I get its the constraints of the budget, but it gave the film a bit of a slower paced feeling, especially in the meandering third act. I also felt the abrupt event that happened right near the end credits could have been handled a bit better.

Together Till the End was a decent indie zombie film. Far more drama than horror, this benefitted from some good dialogue, and I liked the occasional bit of dark humour thrown in. Personally I would have liked more ghouls, but regardless, this was a solid indie entry in the very crowded sub-genre.

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Vindicated (2011) by Scott Harper - Horror Novel Review

Having read author Scott Harper's Shadow Castes: Book 1 - Aspects book earlier this year, I noticed that I also had a copy of the third book in his Wendy Markland trilogy. It all started with 2008's     Predators or Prey?; a vampire story that I was initially luke-warm on. Last year, I realised there was a sequel - the excellent Necromancer, which had zombies as the main enemy. Capping off the trilogy is Vindicated, returning to vampires, and a perfect finish to the trilogy.

I think this takes place roughly six months after the events of Necromancer. Monster hunter, Wendy Markland has headed to Florida, though has noticed a car has been following her the entire way. Confronting the driver at a gas station, he introduces himself as Colm Pryce - a fellow monster hunter who brings with him terrible news. He tells Wendy that she is being hunted by a very powerful group of vampires who call themselves 'The Kindred of Malignity'. Their leader is Adolph Larson; a vampire so strong that he has powers rarely seen (such as being able to be outside during the daytime). Colm also tells Wendy that what makes this group more dangerous is that each time a member is slain, the remaining members inherit that dead vampires strength.

Vindicated was a great end to the trilogy. Where Necromancer was an almost stand-alone story, this one has ties back to both novels. Never the most capable or enthusiastic of monster hunters, Wendy is really shown to be on the back-foot here. There never seemed a single point in the novel where she is doing anything but reacting to the actions of her attackers. As antagonists go, The Kindred of Malignity were pretty cool. I loved that each member was given at least a little bit of backstory to their characters. This gave an almost Kill Bill feel of the unique gang members all out to get Wendy. While in peril and out of her depth, she is helped by the group never seeming to ever take her seriously as a threat. The vampires are either really inept, or the apparently super vampires are not that much more dangerous than the normal type, with them spending the entire book constantly underestimating Wendy.

The horror comes in three key ignition points throughout the story. Each time the group get in a battle with Wendy and Colm you could be sure of a thrilling read. Lots of gory decapitations of victims, and lots of extreme violence given to the paper tiger vampires. I zoomed through the 281 page novel, barely able to put it down. By this point in the series I was really hooked, liking protagonist Wendy despite her continuing off-putting narcissistic qualities of constantly admiring her own body. Being a Harper book, of course this heroine is a flawless beauty, something she is well aware of. There is some growth to be found in her character, with her leaving the book a very different person at book's end than she was at the start. This was a transition I hadn't expected.

Vindicated was a great finish to the story of Wendy Markland. I really liked how flawed and ultimately human she was. She gets emotional, she makes terrible mistakes both in her actions and her priorities, but she really grew as a character over the course of her three books.

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The Dead Place (2026) - Horror Film Review

With myself still recovering from a trapped nerve in my rotted back, I have had a much reduced blog output, it has gotten quite neglected these past few weeks. I hadn't actually intended to do any blog posts at all this week, but an email informing me two of the screeners I currently have for review were about to expire meant that I was forced into action! The first of these two films I watched was Horror Show Pictures, The Dead Place. This indie horror, written and directed by Michael Pickle (Stab Awake), had the big selling point of featuring an actor best known for playing the part of a particularly sadistic clown.

It begins with a serial killer, credited solely as 'The New Kid' (David Howard Thornton - the Terrifier series), heavily injured, after having taken a fatal blow from his final victim. As the killer slumps to the ground, he begins to lament his fate, and his sadness at not being able to kill anymore people. It is then that he hears a strange voice from a supernatural entity (Bill Oberst Jr. - The Man in Room 6, 3 From Hell). This voice offers the dying man a chance to kill again, all he has to do is give himself over to the being and give him his soul.
Meanwhile, high schooler Isaac (Idris Veliu in his film debut) has been having a tough time. Cursed with the gift of being able to see dead people since a young age, people around him find him weird, with even his own mother beginning to think her child needs psychiatric help. One day, the entity contacts Isaac also, interested in his special gift, it promises him great power should he also give himself over to it.

I really enjoyed this indie horror. For a change, I thought the main protagonist was a great character. Sure he is troubled, but at heart it is obvious he is a genuinely decent person, something that comes across with his interactions with other characters, such as the respect he shows for his wholesome father. Isaac's girlfriend Katharine (Lexi Graves) and younger brother play their parts well, but it is school trouble maker James (Nick Theurer - The Bell Keeper) and his gang who were the highlights. The running joke of James vehemently denying he is a bully despite all the evidence to the contrary somehow never wore out its welcome.

Thornton is great as the red hoodie wearing ghost killer. It was cool to see the actor in a speaking role, and with his way of talking, he came across like a Freddy Kruger style wise-cracking villain. This was fitting as the story of The Dead Place did feel a bit familiar to A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. This killer is missing from the film for much of the first act, but when he finally reappears he was fantastic to watch. I loved the gleefully evil way he spoke, and his manic ever present grin. The practical effect of his distended jaw looked ok, but was certainly better than some less than real looking CG blood sprays, but outside of that, there was a good amount of blood flowing. There was also a decent amount of kills, including some lovely looking throat slits.
The story kept my attention throughout, leading up to an unexpected finale that seemed to set up a sequel, rather than give any closure to this film's over arching plot, a minor annoyance.

The Dead Place can be a little rough around the edges at times, as can be seen with some of the less impressive effects. I did think both Thornton and Veliu were great in their roles, and of course it is always a pleasure to hear the voice of Oberst Jr. If a sequel does get made, then I will be interested to see the direction this goes in. 

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Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors (2026) - Horror Video Game Review

A few years back I got bitten terribly by the Vampire Survivors bug. On the surface it looked like junk shovel-ware, but just one play was enough to discover just how insanely addictive that rogue-like auto-shooter really was. Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors is aiming to do the same with card battlers that the other game did with auto-shooters. Boy, does it succeed.

Much like its predecessor, the story here has you setting out to discover the source of the evil responsible for unleashing hordes of monsters upon the land. Starting off in a village, you choose your character and leave, the assumption being that a vampire is the cause. Of course, exactly the same as before, the big joke is that there isn't a single vampire to be found anywhere in the game.

Again, this is presented with a charming pixel-art style. Indeed, the monster and character models are lifted whole-sale from Survivors, looking even more basic and janky due to being blown up to a larger size to fit the first-person card battling. Each stage follows a familiar rogue-like pattern. Defeating enemies with your card attacks gives you XP gems, which then level-up your character, each level giving you the option of three rewards. There are different attack types, buffs, and special abilities to add to existing cards. Each card has a value, usually between 0 and 3, these allow you to build up combos, with each subsequent card in line getting more and more powered up. You traverse maze like levels in first person, dotted around are candles to break for gold and other boons (gold being used at the village to buy new heroes at the tavern, buy permanent upgrades at the shop, and later, adding ability slots to cards at the blacksmiths). Levels are usually made up of five floors, with the exit to each floor being guarded by a boss enemy whose charging attack can be quite painful to receive if not countered.

Story-wise, of course this is very basic. Levels are identical to Survivors, woods, an enchanted library, milk factory etc. It is very addictive and I always felt I was making progress, each run taking anything up to an hour to get through. I found it fun to play both with and without podcasts as background accompiment. It was also lengthier than you might expect, my final play time being over 24 hours! Similar throughout, I still rarely got bored playing this, and by the time the end credits rolled it just about hadn't outstayed its welcome.

Vampire Crawlers, much like its protégé was crack in the form of a game. Highly addictive and with a good sense of progression, this was very much worth playing. Even better, it is currently on Xbox Game Pass.

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Dead Space: Catalyst (2012) by B.K Evenson - Sci-fi Horror Novel Review

Last year I was taken by a sudden urge. In this heightened fever I decided that I would work my way through all Dead Space media in chronological order. Over the years there has been novels, graphic novels, films, audio dramas, and of course the sci-fi horror video games that started it all. I enjoyed reading Dead Space: Martyr and so a second novel from the same author; B.K Evenson was something I was looking forward to reading. While this one didn't do anything as surprising, it was still a decent follow up.

Istvan and Jensi are two brothers who grow up in a slum area on planet Vinduaga. From a young age, Jensi had to look out for his brother due to his mental health issues that caused him to hear voices, and to sometimes lash out in psychotic anger. Circumstances lead to Jensi being adopted by a loving family, but Istvan decides to instead stay in the slum area of the domed settlement they lived in, and become homeless. Time passes and his deteriorating mental state, and new voices in his head, lead to him assassinating a politician. His punishment sees him removed to a penal colony for political prisoners at the far reaches of the known galaxy, which also happens to house a top secret research facility that has a replica of the 'marker'; based on the ancient marker that was discovered 80 years previously on Earth. It appears that the marker has been using its strange influence to set up the circumstances that would bring Istvan there, seeing him as the perfect vessel to spread its message.
Jensi meanwhile hasn't given up on his brother, years later eventually discovering where he has gone, Jensi joins a supply drop crew and sets out on a fateful rescue mission.

Martyr was entirely set on Earth, this sequel entirely set off Earth, The lengthy first part didn't grab my attention. Charting the early lives of the duel protagonists, this had nothing to do with the more interesting parts of the Dead Space universe. I admit I fell off the book completely early on, only returning back to it some months later. The book improved steadily from this opening section, with the introduction of the planet the penal colony is based at where it felt the story really started to come into its own. The core of the story explores the markers influence on its victims, from the Unitologist head of research at the top secret base; Dr. Briden, to the prisoners of the nearby facility, and the guards in their ship orbiting the planet. This I still found interesting and didn't mind (much like Martyr), the iconic necromorph monsters not appearing until the final part of the novel. When they do appear, it felt very much like the games; from people discovering you need to cut off their limbs, and needing to stamp on their corpses, to the inclusion of cutting tools, RIGs, and even the inclusion of a mini stasis field. This all felt suitably appropriate.

I guess for me, the story here didn't really feel important to the overall lore. The whole story is based on an obscure note found in Dead Space 3, which itself was extremely light on details. Having gotten the origin of Unitology in Martyr, there were no surprising revelations to be found in Catalyst. The novel did pick up from its slow beginning, and told an enjoyable and exciting story, even if it really was just a side story rather than an integral piece of fiction.

Dead Space: Catalyst was the last of the novels by Evenson, and indeed the last Dead Space novel to be written as of 2026. From here on in, the multimedia series this takes place in moves up to the time that the video games are set in. Here, there was plenty of gruesome violence and dark moments, and did feel like it belonged in the universe.

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Amityville: Descendants of Darkness (2026) - Horror Anthology Film Review

After a few weeks of being pretty much off of this blog, I've made an attempt to return, though a lingering trapped nerve in my rotted back has really slowed me down a lot! Master of anthologies; Phil Herman, is back with his 16th anthology; bringing another collection of low budget indie horror tales, this time in the form of Amityville: Descendants of Darkness. Kind of set out like a presentation, this brings together four short films and a wraparound segment that use the mythos of the real life, allegedly haunted Amityville house as their basis.

The wraparound segment is a presentation by Dr. Marsh (Tiffany Sinclair) about the history of the Amityville house, explaining to the viewer that the place was just an entry point for evil, and even with its destruction that evil still lingers. She was an odd character and the actresses delivery of her lines made these in-between moments captivating to watch. There was an intimate feel helped by good set design and some moody lighting. Not much really happened in these parts but they worked well at setting up each of the stories.
'The Shed' (written, directed, edited and produced by Todd Sheets - Final Caller) was the first film, running roughly 20 minutes. Three small-time crooks have travelled to a shed on the edge of the Amityville property due to rumours that money is buried there from a robbery that took place back in the 1970's. The trio; Frank, Danny and Scarlett (Dilynn Fawn Harvey) soon find themselves at the mercy of a demonic cult, who are angry at having their resting place disturbed by the intruders. Meanwhile, Father Anson (Mike Reeb) heads to the shed after a series of arthouse style nightmarish visions. This one was an early highlight, the exaggerated acting and the cartoonish digital effects combining to make this feel like a horror comic brought to life, in the style of Tales from the Crypt. There was an almost Evil Dead Rise level of blood and gore here, extremely bloody and gruesome, but also with a feeling of the tone having its tongue firmly in its cheek. It all culminates with the arrival of the priest, whose unexpected fight scene channelled Peter Jackson's Braindead. A fun start to the anthology, and special mention to the collapsing scarecrow moment; it looked great on camera.

Next up was 'The Possessed Relic' by Marcelo Fabani (I Slay on Christmas segment 'The Best Company'). This brought with it a complete change in vibe, taking place far from Amityville, and the only short not to be in English. The idea for this one was that even objects taken from the infamous house could be cursed. Moody husband, Santiago (Stan Lubo) discovers an old red rocking chair out on the street outside his apartment block, and decides it will be a nice addition to his new cosy corner he is working on in his apartment. The pacing here was a bit odd, it takes place over a series of days, with each day introduced via a title card, and each day including one moment of horror, I'm sad to say this didn't leave much of an impression on me. The core cast (including a dog) were all good, and there were a couple of stand-out moments such as when Santiago discovers what has happened to his missing pet. It kind of abruptly ended before I really knew what was going on.

Halfway through and the third film is 'Blood Moon over Amityville' by Derek Braasch (Phil Herman's Unearthed segment 'Ties That Bind'). Here, a hard boiled detective (Joe Jauch), still living with regret over an unsolved case 5 years previously that resulted in the death of a girl, is guilt tripped into going out for one last look for answers. His search leads him to an abandoned apartment complex where he does find answers of a sort. An early bar scene was a highlight of this one, but this film sped along at such a quick pace that the ending took me completely by surprise. A little underwhelming, but I did enjoy the film noir feel and the detective character.
Finally, we have 'Echoes of the Damned' that was directed by James Panetta (Jacker 3: Road to Hell) and written and produced by Herman. In this one, couple Jack (Herman on fine form) and Megan (Debbie D - Jacker 3: Road to Hell) move into a home that had been built on the former site of the Amityville house. Troubles for the couple begin straight away, with Jack in particular being plagued with hellish visions of the location's dark past. There was a great collection of odd-ball characters here, in particular, very strange next door neighbour Karen (Deanna Marie - Clown Motel 3: Ways to Hell) whose persistent manic grin became almost distractingly weird!

Amityville: Descendants of Darkness had four distinctly different shorts. While I would say only the first and last were the ones I really loved, the other two were still well made and featured some good scenes. From the comic book horror of 'The Shed' to the more traditional horror of 'Echoes of the Damned', this anthology remained interesting throughout. I always have a lot of time for anthologies, and so enjoyed my time with this one.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Round-up for May 2026

I am (temporarily) back in employment, my old job I was made redundant from at the end of last year having hired me back for a few months, until the end of July. Due to that, I have become a bit haphazard with this old blog. My news round-up of the month was delayed, so that appears now. I am also currently waiting delivery of a new charging wire for my Kindle, so can't read any eBooks on my reading pile of shame for the moment. As a final rusty nail in the rotting coffin, I currently have a trapped nerve in my back, the joys of getting old! Onwards to the news...

On 21st April VCI Entertainment released the global Blu-ray debut of double-feature: The Slime People and The Crawling Hand. These are both new 4K scans from the original 35mm negatives. In The Slime People, a wall of fog has covered a city, and spear wielding slime people from beneath the ground have emerged to hunt humans. A few survivors team up to try and find a way to force the creatures back into the earth.
Meanwhile in The Crawling Hand, after a mission to the moon goes wrong, an astronaut wants his shuttle to be destroyed on re-entry to Earth. Scientists realising the man has been possessed by something on the moon, complies with his request, but a single limb survives the explosion and still possessed, it sets out to look for victims. The double feature comes with an assortment of extras including audio commentaries, poster galleries, and a collectible booklet.

BayView Entertainment has announced the worldwide acquisition of suspense thriller Sharp Obsession. Written and directed by Abraham Lopez, this is a feature length version the the award-winning short film, Hidden Lives. The film follows an aspiring singer-songwriter who is offered a place to stay after befriending a kind stranger. However, it doesn't take long for the woman to discover the dark controlling side of her new roommate.  

Also from BayView Entertainment is psychedelic horror, Exophoria, which comes from Kerry McArthur. This takes place in a secluded mountain town where a young doctor encounters two comatose teenagers. She discovers their condition is due to a dangerous and almost forgotten 1970's hallucinogen that allows users to share the same drug-induced nightmares.

Back at the start of April, the first official trailer dropped for Jared Masters latest film; mermaid horror - Tropical Parasite. This follows a treasure hunter who gets caught in a love spell by a water nymph, and cursed by a sea gypsy which sees the anti-hero infected by a rapidly spreading parasite. With Masters iconic grindhouse-style sleaze, the press release states this film is '...a wild unapologetic ride filled with blood, gold, and mutated horrors that will leave you gasping for air and begging for more'.

The final post for this truncated news round-up is news of Blood Witch, which got a late April VOD release. Coming from Black Coppice Films, this new horror comes from Chris Shane Sanders (writer/director/producer). Centuries after being executed for witchcraft, a mother and daughter are resurrected in modern day, they set out on a hunt for the descendants of those responsible for their deaths.