The Flesh People (2026) - Comedy Horror Film Review

The final film watched for review this weekend was a real curveball. The Flesh People is an indie horror that featured some jet black humour. Written and directed by Keshav Srinivasan, it was a twisted modern day New York based version of the type of story that sees two oddballs existing together.

Ricky (Jorge Carrión Álvarez in his film debut) is an American immigrant who is in the country to get a medical degree. However, not long before film's start, he has been kicked out of medical school after three years due to getting caught stealing drugs. Needing a place to stay in New York, he has become the roommate of Geraldine (Louise Heller); a lady in the second half of her life, a former stage actress who lives in a rundown apartment in a poor part of the city. The disparate pair discover they have a similarity with the nihilistic outlook of life they share. Both are frauds in their professions, and both are prepared to go to extreme lengths in anything they attempt. Their friendship becomes very co-dependent the longer they spend together. This leads to increasingly deranged situations.

The film goes to some grim places, but never looses the black humour at any point. I liked this began with a present day section before the film then moves back in time to show how that (bloody) present came to be. The situations increasingly got more dark, following a natural path with its incremental nature. The odd friendship between the two leads is the core of the story, with the majority of the 105 minute film being based inside their lived-in apartment. Over wild drug trips, the pair come up with various plans to improve their finances. From performing back-street medical procedures, to selling meat from a questionable and gruesome source, there soon comes a police presence due to their illegal activities. By the end things have gotten all too crazy, leading to a suitably zany ending. The escalation was fun and the infrequent outdoor scenes were always lovely to see.

Make-up effects such as injuries sustained looked great on camera, with some scenes that had me feeling a little queasy. It was great to see the hallucinations of the characters during the drug trip scenes, the most pure horror part of the movie. There was a gradual body count as the film progresses, with some fun kill scenes that included parts where the camera follows the path of the murder weapon, these were pretty neat looking. The plot wasn't designed to be deep and involved or full of twists and turns. Instead it felt more like a claustrophobic gaze at these two lost characters who have just happened by unlucky fortune to come into each others lives. The characters go from situation to situation at a regular pace, which does lead to some of these situations sometimes feeling like a bunch of disconnected skits rather than a continually running story.

The Flesh People featured very well cast duel protagonists. I found some scenes a bit too gross for my liking, though this was an entertainingly depraved jet-black comedic odd-ball movie.

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The Dead Don't Die (2019) - Comedy Horror Film Review

I've been in a zombie kind of mood more than usual these past few weeks, and so when a scheduled screener for a review didn't pan out, I decided to check out instead the Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise) written and directed comedy zombie film; The Dead Don't Die. My decision to watch it was based more on hearing it was a bad and boring film then any high hopes, so I wanted to see if that was as boring as had been made out, especially when discovering it was stuffed to the brim with notable actors.

The world is in a bad place. Knocked off its axis, Earth is experiencing ever increasing natural disasters. Not that this is something that is bothering the residents of the small sleepy town of Centerville, who are too caught up in their small town dramas. That is until they get a disaster of their own, with the dead inexplicably returning to life and crawling out of their graves. With the town soon overrun, and events spiralling out of control, the local police force comprised of Chief Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray - Zombieland, Hamlet, Ghostbusters), Officer Ronnie Peterson (Adam Driver - Star Wars: Episode VII - IX), and Officer Mindy Morrison (Chloë Sevigny - Russian Doll, Antibirth), decide to head out on a routine patrol. Despite the overwhelming odds, the trio hope to bring law and order back to their town.

The Dead Don't Die may not be as dull as I was led to believe, but it wasn't without its issues. The comedy is quite dry, so much so that it took me about 45 minutes to realise that yes, this was supposed to be a comedy horror film. It is full of long empty scenes of characters chewing the fat, odd and meandering conversations that at times felt ad-libbed. Murray felt like he was bored in his central role, his character serious and calm, but he never stood out. Sevigny fared worse, a generic 'straight man' role that saw her character panicking and crying throughout the film as opposed to the unfazed duo of Murray and Driver's characters. Every time Mindy spoke it made the film that little bit worse. Driver really was the saving grace, his almost sociopathic pragmatic character took to the zombie apocalypse like a fish to water. I loved his role as Ronnie, and it was him arriving to a crime scene in a ridiculously small smart car that was the first moment here to make me smile. He was a constant delight with his dead cold outlook, and much humour was made of the viewer expecting him to finally react and show emotion, but that reaction never coming, even when he is slicing the head off of a recently killed potential love interest he is still all business. Away from him, the humour really is hit and miss, some parts are so bad as to be distracting. A prime example is late in the film when Cliff asks Ronnie why he has been so certain all along that they will fail to stop the outbreak. This leads to a weird fourth-wall breaking scene where Ronnie explains that he has read the film's script, and so knows how the story will end. This bizarre scene went on far too long, it felt tonally out of place, and it was a bad explanation for what had been a running joke with the character.

There were too many subplots going on, with the film following about seven different stories unfolding. In addition to the police patrol there were three teenage inmates at a juvenile detention centre that were seemingly the only inmates there. Their story was so uninteresting that I honestly can't even remember what the resolution of their part of the movie was. Then there is the off-putting strange Scottish mortician, Zelda Winston (Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin, Doctor Strange). She spends the film casually walking around town killing undead with a samurai sword while making painfully unfunny puns. The same applied to Hermit Bob (Tom Waits - Mystery Men), another character who spent the film visiting various locations. He acted as the in-movie narrator, always happening to be in the background of pivotal scenes to give more information to the viewer. Hermit Bob was totally pointless, adding nothing whatsoever to his scenes. At least the hardware store owner and his friend added a lovely traditional zombie siege story. Sure it was generic, but otherwise The Dead Don't Die would have been missing that trope of zombie films. Even more subplots come with racist farmer - Frank Miller (Steve Buscemi - Ghost World, Reservoir Dogs); another pointless one, and a trio of city folk stuck in the area while travelling through (including popstar Selena Gomez). There was just too much going on, when this should have been something more focussed on just a few storylines. Different subplots rarely intersected with one another and felt disjointed.
The backdrop of the world heading towards disaster was also odd. It seemed to only be there as an excuse why much of the film takes place during daytime, and why no ones mobile phones or radios worked.

It took half an hour for zombies to appear, and then it is just the two of them (including Ziggy Pop in a cameo). Roughly another 30 minutes later and this finally felt like a proper zombie film. There were finally plenty of scenes full of streets of stumbling undead. I was all there for the stereotypical scenes of people being attacked by the ghouls, my highlight of this. Special effects, especially make-up effects were great, and it was an interesting decision to have zombie leak black dust rather than blood when they take damage. More than a few exciting fight scenes against the zombies, and it was novel to have a zombie child make an appearance, still a rare thing for a zombie film to include.

There was potential with The Dead Don't Die, but it would have need a bit of work to transform this. It could have worked as a more serious and traditional zombie film, especially with so much humour falling flat in the current version. I would have also stripped out a lot of the needless subplots, to focus on the more essential ones. I don't get why this was so full of notable actors, it wasn't needed, especially when with the exception of Driver, none of these famous people stood out and did anything interesting. One actor cannot save a film, it was too patchy in its execution to be classed as a good film, but there were plenty of great, if stereotypical zombie scenes here. For me who loves generic zombie stuff, that was one part of the whole that really appealed. The Dead Don't Die is currently streaming on Disney+.

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Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026) - Comedy Horror Film Review

I had heard that the Jane Schoenbrun (We're All Going to the World's Fair) written and directed Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma was a dark comedic horror and that it starred Gillian Anderson (The X-Files). That was the extent of my knowledge of this movie heading to the cinema with my best friend to watch it. There was humour, it was suitably dark, and it did star Anderson, but the movie used the concept of horror films to tell its dark romantic story, rather than the horror be the focus.

Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) stars as Kris; a gay up and coming film director who has been given the chance to revitalise a long running slasher film series called - 'Camp Miasma'. The film's trans villain - Little Death (Jack Haven) is seen as problematic for a modern audience, and so the film has been given to Kris, hoping that a gay director will appease critics of the film. Being a huge fan of the original entry, with one particular scene being pivotal to her gay awakening as a child, Kris has decided to track down the film's original final girl, Billy (Anderson), an actress who since that role has became very reclusive. Kris plans to travel to Billy's remote property and try and convince her to come back to the series for a role in the latest entry. Arriving, she is surprised to see that Billy lives at the same location that the first Camp Miasma was filmed at. Kris becomes entranced with the mysterious and strange Billy, and as the days of her visit pass, she becomes more and more taken with the former actress. Also going on in the background - Camp Miasma's slasher; Little Death, might exist in the real world, and might be looking to kill.

I had imagined that this would be a slasher that took place in a meta-way, much as what happened with The Final Girls. It was slightly similar here, though with characters not falling into a horror film (though there is a bit of that), but in a hallucinogenic way falling into the creation of a horror film. Peppered throughout the main movie are scenes from the film within a film - Camp Miasma. It had a filter to give a suitably seventies look, but the directing was pure modern day on how it was shot, and kills were shown in an artsy and stylish way. I enjoyed these film clips, and they integrated into the real story in very purposeful ways. Much of the horror here was from the clips of the film, and so lose any power due to knowing it wasn't real. That isn't to take away from the pleasure of the very violent kills. Little Death is a diminutive white overall wearing trans-person who wears a metal box on their head, and wields a huge spear. During the many lovely looking kill scenes, he tears limbs and heads off of victims, as stylised fountains of over the top red gore spurting out the bodies. These scenes were great fun to watch, the highlight being a protracted massacre scene that focuses the camera directly on Little Death, swinging away as he slashes his way through a room.

The film had a trippy vibe, with the real world blending with the fake. Exterior locations often use obvious painted backgrounds, and characters from the film are encountered in the real world, making for some surreal moments. Unexpectedly, the core of the story is a lesbian love story, with Kris discovering a sexual awakening. It included long (non-graphic) sex scenes of the two leads, which included some nudity. Horror films were key to the plot, but not really the point of the film, being there more as an allegory for desire. Kill scenes are done in a way that aren't designed to create fear, and the protagonists never felt like they were in any threat The humour here isn't a constant, but there were moments that made me laugh out loud, with Dylan Baker (Immortal, Fido) shining in a tiny role as someone Kris is speaking to on a Zoom call - the comedic highlight of the film that had the audience laughing.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma was a good film even if it never felt like it was too much for me. This isn't a slasher, not even a meta-one, and that is perfectly fine, it never said it was. Instead, its a dark gay romantic arty story of self discovery, that nonetheless includes plenty of references to classic slasher films, with everything from Friday the 13th, Halloween, Sleepaway Camp and A Nightmare on Elm Street brought up at one point or another. Just be prepared for some weirdness along the way.

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Bad Karaoke (2026) - Comedy Horror Film Review

Bad Karaoke is a comedy horror co-directed and co-written by Chris Lightbody, with Robert J. Steinmiller Jr also directing. The film is the directorial debut of both men, and with its story about a cursed karaoke machine resonating with me, I was eager to see if this bloody horror with its musical numbers, could possibly live up to its potential?

A cover-band made up of Emily (Lexi Underwood), Noah (Case Walker - The Other Two), singer Hannah (Kat Cunning), and drummer Logan (Kevin Clayette - Neighbours) have headed to a remote AirBnB alongside Hannah's girlfriend, Ava (Jenna Karan - Goon of the Lagoon) and Logan's best friend, Matt (Jonathan Jason Green - 13th Sign). They have a wedding gig the next day, but this evening they plan to party with lots of drugs and alcohol. Enroute to the place they are staying, they visit a local bar, where Melissa is gifted an old karaoke machine which the barman seems all too eager to be rid of. He was eager for them to take it as the machine had been linked to a horrifying incident, and now is cursed. When the friends turn it on in the evening, they fall into a deadly karaoke session where the punishment for a bad performance is a gory supernatural death. The only way for any of the friends to survive the night is to put on the performance of a literal lifetime.

Comedy in horror can always be something tough to get right, thankfully the comedy on offer here mostly lands well more often than not. Dialogue between the characters was witty and the central threat was dumb enough that it was hard to take it too seriously. Emily and Noah are set-up to have unsaid feelings for each others, but this wasn't a source of much tension, with the whole group of friends getting on surprisingly well. Outside of farcical moments such as Mark deciding to cook some food in the midst of all the unfolding terror, there isn't really much conflict to be found here, something that helped with the film's non-straight faced vibe.

In an inspired move, each of the death scenes here is prefaced by a musical number featuring the next potential victim, almost turning Bad Karaoke into a musical horror. Each subsequent song seemed to have more effort and heart put onto it, with singing broken up by music video-lite moments of characters transported to different locations while they sing. Reasonably early on, the machine is believed destroyed, but its power means that any electronic screen it can carry on its session with, its program appearing on phone and car screens. One amusing example was a character sat on a toilet, who is suddenly forced to perform, as his friends offer support from the other side of the locked toilet door. Kills are very bloody, there is no shortage of gore here, with the central location splattered all over in blood. The deaths are supernaturally caused and did look quite cartoonish with the use of CG to do things such as swell up one victims head before it pops. The kills were very hit and miss with how they looked, it is easy to dismiss the silly looking artificial kills as part of the comedy horror, but I feel this was the weakest part of the movie regardless. The plot was basic, but I appreciated the flashback sequence that completely explains how the machine came to be cursed; it all leads to a fun and surprisingly heartfelt finale.

Bad Karaoke is of course a silly concept, and it means that this always feels more comedic than horror filled. Both are combined so strongly that neither overshadows the other. Stupid, but entertaining, there might be some dodgy CG special effects here, but I had a good time with it. Bad Karaoke had its world premiere at FrightFest on August 30th.

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

Laziness is the word I would use to describe my blog output this year. Case in point; my news round-up for August is publishing in September. It really should have been up last week. Back in the Rotting Zombie HQ I have once again got a trapped nerve in my back, always joyous, and I do wonder how none of my nerves have rotted away by this point in my un-life

After Impact is a sci-fi thriller (written, directed, produced and starring Michiel Rensen) that is set for a North American digital debut release on September 15th 2026. In this movie, Ethan inherits his father's business just as the world faces the arrival of a deadly asteroid. Surviving by hiding out in his family's bunker, he begins to suspect he is the sole survivor, but this may not be the case.

Coming to North American VOD platforms on September 4th 2026 is the psychological horror film, Influence. The story sees a struggling filmmaker who becomes obsessed with a popular social media influencer and actress. When her pitch to the star is rejected, the filmmaker flips, breaking into her home and taking her hostage.

Indie entertainment group DRagonSTUDIOS are set to release their own streaming platform this October named DRagonFLIX. The press release states this services '...aims to bridge the gap between contemporary indie filmmaking and nostalgic genre cinema'. Subscribers will get access to two hubs at launch; exclusive new indie film that will be debuting directly on the service rather than in cinemas, and a free classic movie channel that will be streaming a 24/7 collection of curated films, including cult classics, timeless films, and vintage horror.

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on September 4th is CHAT, described as 'supernatural AI terror meets dark comedy'. A couple who have recently moved to a new home, face terror when their young son discovers a strange A.I powered tablet that unleashes supernatural horror on the family. Directed by Ole J Hartmann and starring Carter Sirianni and Alexis Schrepple, you can check out the trailer below.

Acorn Media have announced the release of a season 3 of The Terror horror anthology series, titled The Terror: Devil in Silver. Based on Victor LaValle's book of the same name (the stories adapted by the writer himself), this season, the story is a about a man wrongfully committed to a psychiatric hospital, who then discovers the existence of an entity that feeds on the suffering of the place. The Terror: Devil in Silver also comes to Blu-ray and DVD on 5th October.

Finally for today, the official trailer for Illinois based post-apocalyptic zombie horror, Holler has released. The change here that instead of being set before or during the outbreak, this story takes place many years after the undead took over the world, where they have become common to the survivors. There is currently a successful Kickstarter going to complete the film, that can be found here.

The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for 21st July 2026

The best laid plans of mice and men, a Saturday mostly wasted, instead of concentrating on this little blog. One film review down, but not the three I intended. Still, tomorrow is another day, hopefully I will get a good working ethic then!
Of course, none of that makes sense now, this was written last week prior to be deciding to be lazy and take a week off blogging. I blame the hot weather! Onwards to the late news.

Coming out on July 28th is Cleopatra Venom's new horror film - The Withering, on Digital video. The film concerns an old woman with terminal cancer. This lady becomes obsessed with a strange amulet she gets a hold of. This device siphons the life force of others in her town, keeping  her fit and healthy. The more she uses this however, the more sick the rest of the town become, as she becomes younger and stronger, the town begins to die, and is up to the woman's sister to come to the town's aid and destroy the device.

The Hoodoos is a supernatural horror comedy that became available to stream from July 1st on Amazon, Google TV and Vudu. Directed by Jonathan Waler and written by Sean-Michael Argo, the film is a combination of voodoo and a heist. The synopsis has a heist crew breaking into an abandoned plantation and stealing Confederate gold coins. With begrudging sorcerer in tow (due to magical wards), the crew head out, unaware that they will each encounter a sentient voodoo doll that is thirsty for mayhem.

Finally for today, news that Bayview Entertainment have acquired indie thriller; Grace of God. This Doomsday cult horror comes to streaming this summer. Written and directed by JT Kris, the film follows a 13 year old girl who becomes indoctrinated into a cult, and upon realising its darkness, seeks a way to escape.

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

It isn't an exaggeration to say I have been taking a casual approach to my blog these past few months. Being back working full time in a day job has led to a struggle at finding a work/blog balance. With my health on the way to being rosy (a persistent back issue has plagued me these past few months) -  onwards to the news once again!

Deadlocked: Dad of the Dead is a horror-comedy from writer/director Casey Jackson, to stream exclusively on Screamify from July 1st. Taking place entirely in a public restroom (bringing to mind Stalled), this 84 minute movie has an accountant and his daughter trapped in the place, alongside a bunch of strangers, after a zombie outbreak occurs.

Alien Storm (not the classic Megadrive/Genesis video game)is debuting on July 21st, coming from Mahal Empire. The film is about a rich businessman who is forced to flee, along with his guests, into his high-tech secret bunker when a strange fog spreads over his estate. They soon find they are not alone, with an alien presence inside the compound. 

Autonomous is a vertically shot horror thriller series that takes place entirely inside a self-driving car. This sixteen episode show was designed specifically to be viewed on mobile. Directed by Kyle Valle and starring Erin Áine and Domenic Jungling, this sees a man trapped inside a self-driving car that refuses to change its route. Autonomous is available to stream now on Screamify.

The Mortuary Assistant is a new demonic possession film that is a Shudder Original. Based on the video game of the same name, this comes to Blu-ray, DVD, and digital on 20th July thanks to Acorn Media International. Directed by Jeremiah Kipp (Slapface), this follows Rebecca (Willa Holland - Arrow), a new mortician working the night shift, who discovers a demonic entity has latched onto her.

Sounding very interesting, I Hate Found Footage is a blend of found footage, horror, comedy, and puppets! It follows two roommates who head into the woods to make their own found footage movie. The horror doesn't come from the puppets (the protagonists are these), but still sounds like something unique. This comes from Michael Rock and will debut globally on July 24th, with FOUND TV+ members getting access one day early.

On 1st July, Slashercise premieres on BloodStream, the film being a homage both to slashers, and to workout videos of the 80s. Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), this is about a masked killer named Meathead, who targets the fitness clubs of Los Angeles. The ensemble cast includes Vanessa Decker (Terrifier 2), John Bloom (The Hills Have Eyes), Keli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master).

Cleopatra Venom have announced the release of Portraits of the Apocalypse, coming to digital and DVD on 14th July. The film takes place in Buenos Aires after a mysterious infection spreads throughout the city, and tells four different stories, from the perspective of a journalist, a soldier, a mother, and a stranger. This award winning film was written and directed by Nicanor Loreti, Fabián Forte, and Luca Castello, and alleges to reimagine '...the zombie outbreak through a distinctly South American lens'.

Luke Sparke; the Australian director of Primitive War, has released a first-look teaser trailer of his next dinosaur film, with a working title of Dinosaurs of the Wild West. A Kickstarter to raise funds for this goes live on 7th July where a full trailer, project title and exclusive rewards will be unveiled.

Finally for this month's news instalment, the first look of slasher film - The Stutterer has been revealed. The press release states 'While structured as horror, the film does not glorify violence. It explores fear, shame, trauma, and the long-term emotional effects of being made to feel "less than." Even the killer's mask functions as a metaphor...' Currently attached to the project are Eric Roberts, Rhonda Shear, Lloyd Kaufman, Mel Heflin, Brinke Stevens, Markin Carvalho, and Kobi Frumer among others.

Hacked: A Double Entendre of Rage Fueled Karma (2025) - Comedy Horror Film Review

I've had the screener for the Shane Brady (ApocaFISH) written and directed comedy horror film, Hacked: A Double Entendre of Rage Fueled Karma for a while now, and I almost didn't watch it this week due to nearly taking a complete week off of working on my blog. I might not have loved it, but I'm glad I did decide to check this out. The film looked like it was a lot of fun to make, even if some of the comedy on show here came across as a little mean spirited.

Partly based on real events that Brady went through in his personal life, Mark (Brady) and his wife, Amy (Augie Duke - Sincerely Saul, Exit 0) lose their $20,000 down payment on a new house in an online phishing scam. Unable to recover the money due to the unhelpful actions of their bank and the property company, the couple, along with their two children; Ralph (Owen Atlas - Little Evil) and Freddy (Collin Thompson - ApocaFISH), are forced to move to a motel in a rough neighbourhood. By good fortune, they end up discovering the home address of the hacker; a notorious criminal known by the moniker 'The Chameleon' (Chandler Riggs - The Walking Dead). With assistance from a very unexpected source, they manage to kidnap the hacker with the intention to torture him until he gives up his bank details so that they can retrieve their hard earned money.

The story of having the down payment for his new home stolen from him actually happened to Brady, and you get the feeling that this was a cathartic film to make for him. In reality, his hacker was never found, but here, he gets to portray his revenge fantasy in a light hearted, albeit occasionally quite dark horror where justice is served. Riggs' Carl Poppa in The Walking Dead was one of my favourite characters, so to see him here in a much more silly role was a lot of fun to see. Plenty is done to show him as a cartoonishly evil character - stealing from charities and vulnerable people, and such an unpleasant and self-centred person that he is shown at one point literally liking the smell of his own farts. That leads into some of the humour for me not really resonating, it was usually a bit juvenile for my old tastes. All the characters were over the top, it felt like the actors enjoyed making the film with their over the top and goofy portrayals. No one acts sensibly here, and that leads to entertaining parts such as a child actor playing a 40 something year old F.B.I agent, and the police's ridiculously protracted automated message (the comedic highlight of the film). There were lots of jokes about bodily functions, never something that appeals to me, so expect plenty of scenes based on vomit and defecation humour, most of which left me feeling a bit cold.

The whole movie had a light-hearted laid back vibe to it, where everything that happens is layered with a ridiculous outlandish feel. This was reflected in the editing style that included large colourful text appearing on screen, fourth wall breaking moments, and plenty of montages and films with the film being shown. There was even a song and dance number at one point!. With the film having such a colourful feel to it, there was a surprising amount of violence, especially during the protracted and lengthy torture scene that made up most of the middle of the film. Obviously done in a revenge fantasy type of way, it led to some scenes that seemed very cruel. Special effects were never over the top gory, but there was still a decent amount of blood, and also had the affect of making the protagonists seem a bit psychotic with how conscience free these normal people turn to extreme violence. No slight on the actors, I liked the teenage boys, and a lot of the side cast were decent, and of course Riggs shined throughout, having a much larger role than I initially expected him to have.

I thought Hacked was enjoyable enough. Riggs was fantastic, and the story was often fun to watch. Humour can be subjective though, and a lot of the jokes here didn't really resonate with me, nor did I find the protagonists that nice a bunch to follow. That this was partly based on real events was a neat part of the movie, I enjoyed the text that would occasionally pop up to explain what parts actually happened, and the epilogue sequence was interesting; finding out what happened in reality. The film was effective at lampooning not only the hacker, but also other people who in reality were perceived as villainous, and despite some darkness to the comedy here in the middle part, it was a well put together movie that did get a lot of things right. Hacked: A Double Entendre of Rage Fueled Karma arrives on DVD and VOD on June 2nd in North America from S&R Films.

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New Fears Eve (2025) - Comedy Horror Film Review

New Fears Eve is a comedy slasher co-directed by Eric Huskisson and P.J Starks (Hallows Eve: Slaughter on Second Street), the later who also wrote this. Comedy in horror films can be hard to get right, humour is subjective after all. Too much humour and you can dilute the threat of the antagonist force is one such concern. Thankfully, the best thing that this movie does is treat the killer and kills with respect, making them look legit and gnarly on screen, even when comedic elements get mixed in.

There is a serial killer on the loose in the city, someone the media have came to call 'The Doctor' due to their kills indicating medical knowledge, as well as many of the kills being via surgical implements. This madman on the prowl hasn't really affected the employees of Hooper Industries, who are gearing up for a mandatory work-based New Years Eve party. These include three best friends; Leslie (Lily Claire Harvey - Hinsdale House),  Brian (Turner Vaughn) and jokester, Moses (Matthew Tichenor). Little do they all know that the serial killer has chosen their office party as the place to see in the New Year.

So yes, humour can be hard to do as it isn't always going to appeal to everyone. Sadly in this case, for me personally, the majority of the jokes fell flat. I have never been a fan of sex and bodily function jokes and there are plenty of those here. I felt the comical script resulted in many actors saying their lines in an unnatural way. The film didn't go as far as to be a farce, characters and situations can get funny, but they still operate in a relatively normal world, rather than unexpected madness breaking out at any point. Maybe due to this being a comedy horror it was intentional, but characters here never seemed authentic, making it hard to care about them when they don't feel like real people. There were a good amount of notable side characters, such as the ever reliable Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Dave Sheridan (Scary Movie), Jeffrey Reddick (the creator of Final Destination), and Hannah Fierman (V/H/S segment 'Amateur Night') to name a few.
Another element of New Fears Eve was the story, and as may be expected, this was wafer thin. The subplot involving stand-out character; crooked cop, Officer Flanagan (Jay Woolston), suggested a grander plot was happening somewhere deep in the background, but this never came to the forefront. Indeed, the film ends with its story completely unresolved, cutting to credits when it felt like the finale was just hitting its stride, most unsatisfying. I assume this is so a sequel can be made, but it would have been nice to get some closure on the first film's journey.
Back to the comedy; it wasn't all off-putting, there were some humorous moments on occasion. I liked that the protagonists had all previously been terrorised by the Doctor but hadn't bothered to mention it to each other, and a Die Hard gag got a smile out of me at one point. The best of the humour was of the visual kind, mainly popping up in the excellent kill scenes.

The shining star of New Fears Eve were those kill scenes. There is a Hell of a lot of kills throughout the 95 minute runtime, nearly all of which are shown on screen rather than alluded to or suggested. There are comedic deaths, but there are also plenty of violent and brutal kills that have strong horror elements to them. It can be over the top for laughs, such as a victim getting their face ripped off ridiculously easily, a victim getting impaled with a flung dildo(!), someone having their intestines fed into a waste disposal unit, and a trio of victims all getting their throats slashed in the same swipe. Blood is never in short supply, making even these more silly deaths feel visceral. More 'traditional' kills include decapitation, stabbings (usually with scalpels), a drill, and a bone saw to the back of a head. All of these were done with wonderful practical effects that made every single death look fantastic and on occasion pretty horrific!
As to the killer himself, he really looked kind of neat, achieving a perfect balance between sinister and goofy. The Victorian look of top hat, waistcoat, and long coat combined with the plague doctor mask made him look the part, while the glowing red eyes on the mask gave it a little of a cartoon feel.

New Fears Eve may not have appealed to me in terms of its humour, but it is hard to argue that this film doesn't do its kill scenes fantastically well. Varied, inventive, and often over the top, these were all a delight to see. It would just have been better if there had been any characters here to really care about, rather than a whole load of cannon fodder for the Doctor. New Fears Eve was released in December by Cineverse.

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Chicken Dinner Restaurant (2023) - Comedy Film Review

After recently reviewing surreal horror comedy Bluetooth Speaker, the director of that; Dallas Ryan, asked me if I wanted to check out another film of his. That film was the 2023 indie comedy Chicken Dinner Restaurant. He pre-warned me that it wasn't a horror, but figuring it would have the same surreal comedy his horror films do, I decided to check it out. I feel surreal comedy is a distant cousin of horror, both share a somewhat unsettling quality.

Chloe (Chloe Brewer - Bluetooth Speaker, Live One), Dallas (Dallas Ryan - Bluetooth Speaker, Live One) and Ryan (Ryan Vania - Bluetooth Speaker, Live One) are three employees at CDR (chicken dinner restaurant obviously). One day, on their lunch break, Dallas informs them that he found an old treasure map at his home, and that if they follow the clues on the map that they will discover the legendary lost gold of Fester Hopperfoot.

This indie comedy was easily identifiable as being one of the director's films. He has a unique style that has his comedy being played straight, yet being very weird at the same time. This was co-written by the three stars, and was apparently based on their TV show The Chloe, Dallas, and Ryan Show. From the clear story at the start, this descends into something more akin to a sketch show, with the three leads playing a variety of characters, many of these characters looking identical aside from wearing different clothing. Most the time, the characters even share the exact same names as one another. The story about the search for the hidden gold is a minor one within the film. The other subplots make up the rest of the film and include such bizarre moments as a news reporter trying to uncover what has happened to L.A's Tupperware, and three candidates for the position of mayor, who are all endorsing the use of drugs as part of their campaign pledge. That last one had the most screen time, with the three characters constantly giving speeches to the camera. Nearly the entire film is shot outside, mostly in and around parking lots, and much of this has characters directly talking to the camera, rather than to each other, with it inferred they are being filmed by a camera crew. The same actors playing identical looking characters means that title cards for each new scene are given, to give some background on who the characters were. I actually thought those moments, along with the chill music, were some of the more pleasant moments to be found here.

These scenes, and dialogues are all interspersed with the popcorn munching 'movie watcher' (Steve Bilecz - Bluetooth Speaker, Live One), a character outside the movie proper who represents the viewer, and who points out the inconsistencies and flaws of the filmmaking. From complaining about the loud background interference that plagues the outdoor scenes, to pointing out that the locations used and characters that appear all look very similar to each other, he speaks for the viewer. Usually, I find the films of Ryan to outstay their welcome, I was surprised then to see that Chicken Dinner Restaurant runs for a nice and lean 68 minutes. Even at this length, it felt almost a bit overlong, not helped by a chaotic edited finale that was a mishmash of images edited together with discordant music playing for around six of the final eight minutes.

The comedy isn't given via jokes and visual humour, instead it is via the random dialogue characters speak. Like the other films, it sometimes felt like the lines were being made up on the spot, with frequent repetition, and over empathising different words. This is compounded by editing techniques that include lines of dialogue being repeated over and over again (in one instance for literal minutes!), and characters motions being repeated. Sometimes with the view zooming in with each subsequent repetition, sometimes with the film speed slowed down. These were all odd but entertaining, if occasionally a bit indulgent. Elsewhere, where dialogue is edited it becomes really noticeable, with dead silence replacing the near constant background hum of traffic and people going about their days, rather than words beeped out.

This was a weird indie comedy that had all the hallmarks that I have come to expect from the director. This is a film that recognises its budget constraints, and even uses these as a way to further its comedy. More an extended sketch show than a film proper, it might have started to feel a bit samey by the time the end credits rolled, but this was a chilled affair, and one that remains consistent throughout. Chicken Dinner Restaurant isn't going to appeal to everyone, but it really wasn't bad. Chicken Dinner Restaurant can be viewed on Tubi.

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Onlyfangs (2025) - Comedy Horror Film Review

I am an appreciator of puns and play on words and so I thought Onlyfangs was a great name for a movie (I have a box full of elastic bands on my desk in my current job that I have written 'onlybands' on). This comedy horror, co-directed by Angelica De Alba and Paul Ragsdale (Murdercise) doesn't let its larger than life story get in the way of some genuine horror moments, and the humour also is dark enough that it doesn't detract from moments of horror.

Wes (Drew Marvick - Bridge of the Doomed, It Stains the Sands Red) is a video editor who in his spare time attempts to hunt monsters with his geeky friends, to no success. One evening, he happens to actually capture footage of a real vampire, though the footage is so bad that no one believes his claims. The vampire is part of a group of all female killers led by Scarlett (Nina Lanee Kent - Murdercise), who for decades have hunted and killed humans for their blood, mainly males. Not wanting their identity to get out, the group attack Wes and his friends, intending to kill all of them. With Wes however, they find someone who isn't afraid of them. Instead, he is overjoyed; his life long obsession with monsters being a real thing having finally been confirmed. With the vampires living in squalid conditions, Wes offers them a suggestion - rather than kill people for their blood, he suggests that with his help, they create an online platform where paying customers can request for the women to suck their blood. This would both make them rich, as well as stopping the needless killing of victims. This actually works, and soon Onlyfangs is a worldwide success, with the client's not suspecting the blood suckers are the real thing. However, it seems that Scarlett may have an ulterior motive for creating so many new vampires, and with their fame, enemies, such as conspiracy nut Ridley (Anthony lave To'omata - Murdercise) have emerged, determined to prove to the world the monsters they actually are.

It took me around thirty minutes before this film clicked for me. Before this, I found it cheesy and really not that entertaining, I was wondering how I was going to endure the two hour runtime. It really picked up when the titular idea came into play. That isn't to say it didn't occasionally feel bloated. There was a good chunk where the quality dipped when Onlyfangs is introduced, with a series of disparate scenes of vampires around the world sucking their clients blood. It didn't really gel with the idea that by exposing themselves, the vampires would attract the attention of the sinister master vampires. After this, it became more focussed, leading to some great moments underneath all the titillation.

Much like its real world similar namesake, this features plenty of scantily clad, and occasionally topless  women. The film has a whole bunch of montages, with many of these being sexy videos of the vampires dancing erotically. I get this was for the vibe of the online platform, but it was undeniably also there to entertain, and featured a bit too much for my liking. There was a feeling of female empowerment, with the female characters all being strong willed and capable of defending themselves, but they also came across at times a bit like sex objects rather than characters in their own right. This didn't apply to the lead vampires, all of which had interesting personalities. I wouldn't go as far to say they were likeable, as they were definitely anti-heroes, at times killing innocent people. That goes for Wes too, mainly he was a decent character, but he had a bit of a pathetic streak to him where he would act like a child in front of his mother. Maybe my favourite character was the gangly super-geek Quentin (Shane Meyers). Initially he seemed to be in the film purely for his wild facial expressions, but his relationship with one of the main vampires was fun.

The humour was not as in your face as I expected, and was mild at best. It did work though, and led to some quietly humorous moments, such as the fourth wall breaking part where Wes announces the first of the many montage sequences. These montages had some stylish parts to them. The film is stylish when it wants to be, with a late film montage of the vampires going on a killing spree wonderfully shot and edited. There is plenty of blood to be found, of varying quality, but it all looked good to my eyes. The fangs of the vampires looked universally good as well, so that didn't detract in the slightest. Some later special effects seemed a bit lacking, but they just about worked. The music was also excellent. The film's score itself has some lovely eighties sounding synth work, while the actual songs chosen were also good, fitting the 'alternative' look and feel of the film well.

The story did its job, but it did feel a little dated with what it was referencing. Everything felt a bit early 2020's, with references to mask wearing, Covid jabs, and the crazy beliefs of MAGA type characters. That would have worked at the time, but with the dark downward trajectory that America appears to be in, in the real world, this all came across as a bit bittersweet to see. From an outsiders perspective, that once great country appears to be dying, so this felt like a relic from the recent past, rather than covering topics that are more relevant in the current time.
Onlyfangs was very well made, and had an enjoyable cast of almost loveable misfits. A bit too much of a focus on scantily clad females for my liking, but the horror moments worked, and the slightly meandering plot did have some strong moments, that made for a genuinely thrilling conclusion. Nearly great, this blood soaked fang filled adventure was a good bit of escapism that had plenty of effective moments, and a good amount of quality filmmaking.

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BOX (2025) - Short Comedy Action Film Review

I had a week off of my blog last week, partly due to having no urgent screeners to watch for review, and partly just because I felt like it. Anyway, I am back now, and the first review for this week is for Stephen Ready's short comedy martial-arts film - BOX. The email I received regarding this was just to announce it's existence, but I felt a review was warranted due to how darn good it was.

A man (Eric Jacobus - stunt coordinator on video game God of War: Ragnarok) is working one day when he has a cardboard box thrown at his head. Breaking the fourth wall, the man states that he bets the viewer thought the box was going to hit him, before out of nowhere he comes under vicious attack by a man wearing a black morph suit (Jason Chen-Leung - SOCAP_404), who taunts him by telling the startled man he will never know what is in the paper bag he is holding. This begins an intense martial-arts battle between the two (choreographed by Jacobus).

The fight sequence here makes up the meat of this nearly 7 minute movie so it is a good thing that it is excellent. Equal parts intense and surreal, there are plenty of laugh out loud moments. The mystery assailant uses all manner of weapons to fight the man, including a sheet of paper that acts as a razor sharp blade, and most amusingly; in one part he uses a small child as a weapon! The combat between the two leads was fantastic, plenty of exciting shots, including classic up-close shots of fists and feet connecting with flesh. The meta nature of this gave plenty of surreal moments, such as the on-screen editor of the short getting a pencil in his neck at one point; his flailing around causing him to keep hitting his laptop screen, instigating real-time edits. For all the violence, this was never designed to shock, a bloodless affair, and one where quick edits mean the fighters rarely actually connect with each other. Not a problem in the slightest as it didn't detract even remotely.

Story-wise, this was far more poignant than it would first appear. Somehow, a tribute to a real life stunt man who died is inserted without it feeling out of place, as the narrator (Josh Petersdorf - voice work on video games Overwatch 2, Street Fighter V) talks about the joys of being a stunt man, and how fun and rewarding it is. The mix of this being a fight happening, melded with it also being a film that is being made on-screen was wonderful. Of all things, I somehow got a vibe of video game The Stanley Parable from this.

I was dubious when starting BOX if it would be a good fit for a review on this site, due to not being a horror. The weird and cool surreal vibe really won me over, as did the fantastic fight sequences, and the silly humour. I thought this was a great short, and you can check it out for yourself as it is currently on YouTube.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 20th November 2025

My second post of the evening (at the time of typing) sees me pick a trio of horrifying, terrifying, and possibly informative news stories from my bloody news sack. Onwards to the news.

The brilliantly titled Girl in the Refrigerator has been released by BayView Entertainment on Digital platforms worldwide, including on FlixFling. This dark comedy fits neatly into the sub-genre of horror about normal people trying to hide the body of a person they have killed (two such examples that spring to mind are the excellent A Young Man with High Potential and Cold Blows the Wind). In this one, a man accidentally kills his girlfriend and makes the fateful decision to try and hide the crime rather than report it. You can probably guess where he decides to store the body to begin with. The dark comedy aspect comes in due to the man then deciding to spend the day drinking with his best friend, before falling for a next door neighbour, who he then invites to his home before remembering about the body. Girl in the Refrigerator was directed by J.Francis Juelkuvsky and stars Jimmy Bevetti, Jaclyn Francine and Maria Brenda.

Music news next with UK South London dark electro duo Palindrones who have released a new video for their song 'Abraxas'. This is taken from their third album; Chapter Two: The Slender Blade and will be featured on December's upcoming double A-side single 'Abraxas & The Brightling Star'. The press release describes this track as '...a paradoxical dance of creation and destruction'. The trippy and fragmented video was pretty neat, and I appreciated the chill vibe of the music at this late time of night where my bed chamber is calling to me.

Finally for today, horror documentary Beware The Demonic has been released on Digital platforms worldwide via VIPCO and BayView Entertainment. The doc explores true evil, with first-hand accounts and revelations about the '...roots and hidden truths of demonic spirits...' This was directed by Albert Edgar Wilson.

Asteroid Vixens (2025) - Comedy Sci-fi Film Review

Asteroid Vixens is a comedy sci-fi that according to IMDB was written and directed by Felicity Yeung (White Slaves of K-Town). It doesn't shy away from female nudity, with almost every scene in this 90 minute film having women scantily dressed, half naked, or indeed fully naked. Trying to piece this together is a loose plot that mainly succeeds due to some amusing dialogue between the film's two main characters.

Xex (Kate Ly Johnston - Feral Female) is a fembot, who alongside a floating robot A.I, has travelled to Earth in their spaceship to abduct beautiful women and impregnate them with embryos of hybrid humanoids. Their mission sees them fighting off would be adversaries, while travelling around the globe across time and space looking for suitable candidates.

This sexploitation indie B-movie revels in its purposely cheap looking sets and features no end of female nudity. Despite this there was a lot of variation with scenes set in many different locations. This was almost an anthology of sorts, lots and lots of different things going on, with the lead characters having a slight Mystery Science Theater 3000 feel to their scenes. These were the best parts of the movie, with the space ship represented externally as an obviously CG creation, and internally with a smallish room covered in foil. Computer screens and read-outs are obviously just bits of paper stuck to the walls rather than actual props, and the impregnation beam is a very bright and artificial looking CG effect. I loved the A.I, represented on screen by what appears to be an upside down plastic bowl suspended from the ceiling by a string, with foil strips hanging off of it. This was by far my favourite character, and the scenes on the ship were my favourite moments. Neither of the two characters speak out loud, with it being stated it is all via telepathic communication. Their conversations are almost nonsensical, with both characters going on about the things they are trying to do. They were all universally entertaining, with much of the comedy coming from their discussions. The A.I has a text to speech sound to it, making what they speak about all the more amusing. A special mention to the couple of interview scenes here also, they gave me a real feel of classic parody news show The Day Today with the reporters disinterested delivery.

Most of the film takes the form of different scenes of naked young women hanging around with each other. There are no sex scenes thankfully, but instead you get girls dancing, having baths or showers on their own or with others. There are occasional scenes inserted that have a more traditional film type feel. One of the core side plots being Bouvier (archive footage with her playing a film version of herself) trying to rescue her twin sister who is one of the 'millions' of people that the aliens have abducted. Other plot based scenes included one set in the ancient past that features the legendary Lloyd Kaufman as High Priest, and one set at a party whose male guests all appear unwanted by the girls there. The plot is barebones enough that there did become a moment where I began to wish there had been more to what was going on, with the final third of the film beginning to outstay its welcome ever so slightly. I would be lying if I said I didn't like the frequently trippy visuals, and I also appreciated how well this all was edited together into a cohesive whole, despite it featuring essentially random and unrelated scenes. Despite the very high amount of nudity, it managed to never feel tacky, something that sex scenes would have tipped it over into feeling like.

I liked the B-movie vibe with Asteroid Vixens, especially the parts set on the space ship, and it did feel like something that was different to the norm. I did wish for more of a connective story to all the nakedness (something that even happens in the end credits, with the end credits painted onto a naked dancing woman of course). Asteroid Vixens won't be for everyone, but I personally enjoyed the trippy and non-serious vibe, the integration of space ship and random scenes, and the humorously cheap looking set design.

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