A Good Marriage (2014) - Horror Film Review

A Good Marriage is based on a short Stephen King story of the same name, and it was King himself who adapted that story into a film script. Now I know it is commonly understood that he is a master of writing but personally I have never read a good book of his, in particular his short stories are mostly terrible.

Darcy Anderson (Joan Allen) seems to have the perfect life. She lives in a beautiful house, has plenty of friends and a loving husband and kids. Her idyllic lifestyle all comes crashing down one fateful night when she stumbles across a hidden box in her garage that suggests her husband Bob (Anthony LaPaglia) is actually the notorious serial killer known as Beadie. Not long later, Bob realising her discovery confronts Darcy and gives her an ultimatum; either she can report him to the police, which in turn will ruin the life of her and their children, or with the promise that he wont kill again they can continue living the dream life she is so accustomed to.

Despite the subject matter A Good Marriage is not a horror film, I would not even class it as a thriller, it is more of a gentle drama where the only real horror elements come in dream sequences. The grim discovery happens around twenty minutes into the movie and the confrontation rather than sinister actually turns quite darkly comic as Bob is so nonchalant about the whole thing. The twenty five years of married life between them means there is not some tense stand off as these are people who pretty much know each other.

Nothing much really happens in the film at all, but I got the sense that was the point of it all, turning the whole process on its head there are no thrilling chases, brutal violence or even any swearing. The serial killings are only shown from news reports, and Bob himself is almost too nice of a guy. This doesn't work so well for the character of Darcy who just appears unconcerned about the vile things her husband has done, I spent a fair bit of the film wondering just what she was thinking by allowing a sadistic killer to live just to keep up appearances. There is a sub plot involving a mysterious man who seems to be shadowing the Anderson family, this man (played by Stephen Lang) steals the film in the scenes he appears in despite having a virtual blink and you miss him role.

As previously stated the horror mostly comes in dream sequences, and there are so many of these that the Xanax munching heroine has that I started to doubt what was real and what wasn't. I'm not sure if that was intentional but it got in the way when a key scene early on left me pondering if it had actually took place at all rather than digesting the new plot beats.

It seems strange to say this about a serial killer film but if you are after something gentle then this is actually not a bad flick to chill to, it is inoffensive and the acting is not terrible and also reasserts my belief that relationships are not a good thing to have. I found myself with brain switched off just enjoying the mellow setting and what is essentially pretty much a character piece drama. If your after scares and thrills stay away from A Good Marriage, but sometimes it is nice to just dip your feet in the shallow end.

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Cobretti by Videogram (2015) - Horror Music EP News

Magnus Sellergren's Videogram project is always a joy to listen to, I loved the self titled debut album Videogram and now he has a new E.P out. With the new E.P Videogram has not strayed from the successful method of basing the music on trashy films of the late 1970's and 1980's. I realise this is not horror based at all, but for Magnus I make an exception as the sensibility is the same.

The album's title Cobretti gives away the fact that all three songs are based on the 1985 Sylvester Stallone fronted action flick Cobra that I am ashamed to say I have never seen. The first track Cobretti has a video that mixes up clips from the film to awesome effects. The editing for these videos just seems to constantly improve, what happens in the video fits so well with the musical beats. The second track The Night Slasher is not bad, but it is final track Cobretti End Titles (featuring D.A Medina) that was the most enjoyable.

As always my one complaint is that the songs are over all too quickly, being as they are around two minutes in length. I could happily listen to these tracks for hours at a time, but then that is what the repeat all button is for. The E.P can be brought from a number of places, including here for $3. Check out the video for lead track Cobretti below...

Cannibal Fog (2014) - Horror Comedy Film Review

Cannibal Fog is a Swedish horror that the makers have described as 'a meta drama comedy with art house influences in the urban cannibal genre'. Before I start the review proper I have to state for the record that stuff was occurring in my personal life that may have made me less receptive than usual in my pursuit and acceptance of all types of horror.

Michael (Linus Karlgren) is a young man who has wasted his life in the pursuit of porn and meaningless sex. A chance encounter with contaminated food at a local cafe sets him upon a search for the addictive new taste. Meanwhile middle aged man Albin (Malte Aronsson) who resides in the same city as Michael is a secret cannibal serial killer who serves his 'special' meat dishes up as meals for food connoisseurs. Eventually the paths of Michael and Albin meet and fate plays out.

I watched this film in two sittings and at nearly two hours long I had to do it this way as I just could not get engaged with it due to the bizarre humour and the art house stylings it plays with. Much of the film follows Michael; a greasy haired loser, whose family have all but given up on him. His obsession with sex mirrors Albin's obsession with food providing a grim parallel between the two. The problem with the Michael segments is that not much really happens, The one plot hook is that he keeps waking up with flesh from his leg removed; just who is cutting away his flesh as he sleeps? Albin on the other hand has far shorter screen time but his segments are actually not that bad. One scene in which the pretentiousness of food critics is played up was actually pretty funny truth be told.

The soundtrack is pretty awful with lots of shouty rock and middle of the road forgettable background Muzak that sounds like it would be at home in an elevator. The film is in its native language with English subtitles and while occasionally the dialogue shines for the most part it is nothing special. Acting is hard to tell but it seems to be at least competent and I was delighted to see the man of many roles; Kim Sonderholm in a bit part. I have said it before and I will say it again, that man just gets everywhere!

Cannibal Fog starts strong showing as it does a scene from the end of the film to leave you wondering how things get to that stage, and in general the last quarter of the film is pretty darn good. With the introduction of a secret cannibal society and a mad finale that was exciting and fun to watch it really picked up, but by then it was too little too late. I loved the relationship between Michael and Albin but it comes so late into the film that it just seems a wasted opportunity.

There are some great ideas here, the explanation of the films title Cannibal Fog was unexpected and leads to some great moments but when so much of the film follows a disgusting unlikeable character again it is far too late to make up for what comes before. Dealing as it does with flesh eaters there is plenty of human meat being prepared which turned my stomach a bit, not really into the cannibal genre it turns out! It is easy to see the contrast between pleasures of the flesh and pleasures of eating the flesh, as well as humans obsession with food types and the preparation of it.

If your after mild art house and a strange time then Cannibal Fog might be right up your alley, for me though I just could not get into it until far too late when it had all but wrapped up.

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Lab Rats - Horror Film News (also 6 Shooter Short Horror Film)

David 'dwyz' Wyman (who worked on British zombie flick Zombiehood and short horror The Chateau) has a new short film in the works that he is going to be directing, Lab Rats; a film that is to feature "...revolting mutations, oozing, melting faces and bodies literally exploding".

Eco-warrior Kat and her friends get a tip off that bio-chemistry company Ring-Amnion are secretly conducting experiments on animals despite publicly denying this. Kat decides to break into a lab owned by the company to see if the claims they received are true. Judging by the quote in my previous paragraph I am assuming that it is true and that horrific experiments are being performed.

Producer Lauren Parker states that they hope to use mainly practical effects with VFX used to make the practical effects look even better. They are using the same SFX and VFX crew that worked on 6 Shooter; a short horror with a budget of just £70 that I had the pleasure of watching earlier about worms attacking a bunch of young adults after a drinking game goes bad. In fact check out 6 Shooter below...



Now there is a Kickstarter campaign currently going for Lab Rats, they need to raise £4,000 and currently have £1,349 with 14 days left to go. If you fancy donating to what sounds like a fun film then head over to the Kickstarter page here. And if your still not sure then check out the SFX video below where you get to see an ear dissolve in awesome fashion...

Birch Bog Forest - Horror Film News

The found footage genre just never seems to die, still years after it reached its zenith the titles keep on coming out. Every once in a while a good one comes about, maybe Birch Bog Forest from Clever Girl Entertainment could be one of those?

The film will take place in the forests of New Hampshire, USA. A couple discover reports of a sudden rise of missing hitchhikers in Birch Bog Forest, the boyfriend who is a freelance videographer decides to head to the forest to try and find out what is causing the spate of disappearances. Could it be due to a creature in Indian mythology named the Crygar who is said to have once hunted a native Indian tribe to extinction?

Birch Bog Forest has recently had an Indie GoGo campaign launched in the hopes to get the funding needed for the film to go ahead. Campaign manager Alexander Azzi is hoping to raise $10,000, at the moment $66 has been raised but with 57 days left to go it is very early days. If you fancy donating to the campaign then head to their page here.

Check out their crowdfunding video below where Alexander speaks of his aim for the film including the goal to have no CGI effects at all, and to make a film that will 'screw with your mind'. As always I wish them all the best, there can't be too many horrors in the world and while the found footage genre is often rotten this could have potential.

Necromentia (2009) - Horror Film Review

Necromentia is a strange beast of a film, also an interesting film, but good? I'm not so sure of that. It is Cliver Barker in nature dealing as it does with flawed people and a vision of Hell.

The film is clever in that it has three interconnected stories that play out in reverse. Starting off a grieving man; Hagen is unable to get over his lovers death. He keeps her body preserved as best as he can in the hope that she will come back to life. He is kidnapped by a thug named Travis who tells Hagen he can send him to Hell where he will be able to find his departed lover. The next tale is set a year or so previously and explains how Travis came to be on the hunt for Hagen due to a deal made with a demon named Morbius. The final story explores just why Morbius wanted Hagen in Hell.

As Necromentia progresses you are forced to reevaluate your preconceptions of characters, travelling back in time for each new story is an interesting move and one that would make rewatching the film be worthwhile (not that I think I ever would). Travis for instance first appears as a nasty bad guy while showing his back story puts him in a more sympathetic light (almost). The same goes for Hagen and Morbius who both are shown in a different light. Just proves you should not be so judgemental, even as a viewer of a film!

Being a story about Hell it is impossible to avoid comparisons between Hellraiser and these films are very close in tone. To get to Hell requires blood, in Necromentia's case sigils must be carved into flesh but the idea is the same. A variety of different demons are shown here, much like the Cenobites each looks different. There is a fat man wearing a pig mask with tubes coming out of every orifice; that's Mr Piggy (reminded me a lot of Pigsy from the videogame Manhunt), Morbius who is grey all over and has black pits for eyes, a gas mask wearing, distorted voice, wheel chair bound child, and finally a monster who just looks like Nemesis from Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The monster designs are all quality and really makes for a solid looking film.

Where Necromentia falls down though is the sets used. It is very minimal with not many locations used, and the ones that are used while intricately detailed are also very small and claustophobic. Attention to detail is fantastic but when Hell itself consists of a single dark maintenance tunnel I did feel a bit short changed. A lot of the special effects are physical rather than CGI which was a decent touch. There is plenty of violence and gore, usually in tortuous scenes. Travis for example is hired by people to cause them pain. There is one long uncomfortable scene of him wearing a gimp mask slicing up a young woman, he even near severs a finger off of her. The scene ends with him untying the woman who then proceeds to pay him for his actions. What sort of place exists where cutting off someones finger is not seen as a bad thing?! Real freaking weird if you ask me.

None of the characters seem out of place, it almost seems like the world they inhabit is Hell itself and the maintenance tunnel Hell is just another facet of it. A man who tortures people for a living, a mentally disabled boy who is influenced to kill by a singing dancing pig man, a mourning man who performs necrophilia on his dead lover; it certainly rings of Hell to me.

With decent special effects, an interesting and cleverly designed plot and wonderfully created locations Necromentia is a lot better than I expected it to be. However the slim sets, over indulgence of gory violence and a general feeling of hopelessness mean while a good film it is not a fantastic one.

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It Follows (2014) - Horror Film Review

It Follows is a psychological horror that carries an unremittingly bleak vibe from the start up to the very end, certainly not a feel good film, something I seem to crave nowadays. It reminded me quite a bit of The Ring which is not a bad thing.

Jay (Maika Monroe) is a typical 19 year old girl whose life is turned upside down after an innocent sexual encounter. After the act her lover knocks her out and she awakens tied to a wheelchair in a deserted building where she is told that a curse has been passed onto her. a being is hunting her, something which can take on the form of anyone and exists only to kill. No matter where Jay goes, no matter what she does it is always going to be walking straight towards her, and when it finds her she will die, the only escape is to pass on the curse through sex. Now stalked wherever she goes Jay with the help of her friends must find a way to stop the terror.

It Follows is almost art house in its style and execution. There are lots of long long shots of nothing and inconsequential focus on non relevant items. The soundtrack is discordant, screeching and stark. The music sounds like it is from 1970's horror and ramps up the tension and looming threat, amplifying the fear rather than being separate. This bleak outlook is resonated in the locations with many dilapidated houses, buildings and wide lonely beaches, and even reflected in the characters themselves with Jay slowly going insane with the knowledge there is no escape, and her friends who are at a total loss on how to help her in any meaningful way.

If The Terminator was a horror rather than a sci-fi action film then this could easily be that film. The being only walks, never runs, never speaks and is invisible to all but the victim (and any people previously cursed). It can appear as a friend, a family member, a random stranger but is usually portrayed as what I assume to be previous victims with beaten half naked females, gaunt men, and the one appearance of a screaming pale faced child. A trick used is to have the being in the background slowly making it's way towards the scene playing out in focus at the forefront, this is always effective and starts to make you really question if it is the evil or just some random human going about their business. In a decent move that I have to give It Follows credit for the horror is confined for the most part to this presence, there was only two or three jump scares in the whole film. No matter what form the evil takes it is always threatening.

It can be seen as a cautionary tale about casual sex, about the danger of STDs, or even the fear of unwanted pregnancy, but it felt to me more the exploration of mankind's mortality. You are getting closer to death with every passing second and nothing you can do can change that. Using sex as a means to feel, to stop being so numb just doesn't work, even with that done you just end up still so hollow, safe with the knowledge that a temporary reprieve is all you have attained. When it comes down to it acceptance is the only way to deal with the negative thoughts and emotions that come with being alive. You have to face the evil straight on and just try and get on with your life as best as you can rather than be constantly running.

It is not all fantastic though, while I laud the inventive 'monster' of the piece it would be nice to know more of it's powers, while it is said to only walk it seems to teleport off camera getting to distant locations in a short amount of time, at other points when it is close to Jay (within short walking distance) it just doesn't appear. In one scene it is shown to be standing on the roof of Jay's house; just how did it even get up there? With decent pacing and a near final scene at a swimming pool that manages to not fall into the trap of being over the top the film still manages to shine and again shows that off screen deaths need not be a bad thing when imagination comes to town.

With no explanation, no resolution and no joy for Jay this film happily stands on it's own, to explain would be to ruin the magic and the terror. While I won't be kept up at night over this it makes a change to watch something that really makes you think and to imprint your own impressions onto events. A real downer, but an entertaining one.

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Open Water (2003) - Horror Film Review

The problem with most horror is that it is not really 'feel good' stuff to watch. I decided to watch Open Water which turns out isn't really horror and is more of a survival/disaster film but also was not 'feel good'.

Daniel (Daniel Travis) and his girlfriend Susan (Blanchard Ryan) head to the Caribbean on holiday to do some scuba diving. They head out to the middle of the ocean with a scuba group. Due to an incorrect head count the couple are accidentally left behind, they come to the surface to find the boat gone and their troubles only go down hill from there.

The basic plot for Open Water is actually based on a real life event that took place in Australia. The reason for being abandoned and a bit later on in the film use what actually happened as reference points. I don't know why but I figured there would be more of a horror slant to this. The quote on the front of the DVD box reads "Blair Witch meets Jaws' which made me figure some sort of supernatural type goings on. Meanwhile the blurb on the back of the box makes it seem like the two are at the mercy of nefarious people who are purposely playing with them. The truth is far more mundane.

The problem with having a film mostly shot in the middle of the ocean is that there is not a lot to look at. Even at a 77 minute run time I was done with it all ages before the end credits roll. It doesn't help that due to not actually being able to leave the actors all alone the shots used are all quite close up and you never really get the impression there is not a boat a few metres out of shot (which there would have been for the actors safety). The part of the sea they are in is quite busy so there always seems to be boats just out of reach and planes flying over to keep making the characters have hope.

Once the couple find themselves stranded the film seems to loose steam. Lots of things happen to the hapless duo to keep things interesting but it seems like a check list of problems is being crossed off. Jellyfish sting them, they get attacked by sharks, they fall asleep and drift off from each other, they argue with each other but these events all unnaturally flow together. You know things are not great when a mid film highlight is a character puking up.

Lots annoyed me about Open Water. Susan doesn't realise sea water is not a wise thing to drink for one; really? That completely baffled me and seems like it was put in as the script writer thought the audience would be imbeciles and so wouldn't understand why the two were dehydrated with all the water around. A lot of the scenes have something happening underwater and so one of the characters would have to wet their goggles, put them on, swim down, see the problem and come back up to explain to the other character. That got tiring fast and must have happened at least seven or eight times. On the subject of pointless things early on there is an aborted sex scene which I am certain was just put there to show Ryan's flesh off for some lazy titillation, this was just not needed.

The plot is unavoidably thin, it irritated me that no one would realise the two were missing but I guess as that was the part of Open Water that was based on true events it is hard to complain about. If I was given the film and asked to make a more streamlined version then I reckon I could easily cut it down to 10 minutes. The camera quality was also not the best, a lot of it, especially the land based sequences look like they were filmed on hand cameras, at least the special effects were all real and not CGI based.

When it comes down to it, no matter how awful being in that situation would be in real life, watching two annoying people floating around being miserable for an hour does not make for great entertainment. In the end it all seemed just a bit pointless.

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The Generation of Z: Apocalypse (2015) - Zombie Interactive Theatre Experience News

After sell out shows in New Zealand and at the Edinburgh Fringe The Generation of Z: Apocalypse is heading to London. Tickets go on sale for this on Friday 20th February but I have been provided with a code that will allow you to buy tickets for this event at a special price tomorrow (Thursday 19th February). More on that later.

The storyline for the show is that in 2015 zombie apocalypse has swept London in the form of the Z virus. With society collapsing humanity is in for a fight. The show is immersive and puts the audience into the story, Your choices can effect the shows narrative and outcome.

The show is to take place in a purpose built venue in Whitechapel and spans over a 25,000 square foot bunker. It is described as "a thrilling 75 minutes of high velocity storytelling that will terrify even the hardiest of thrill seekers" and is not suitable for those under the age of 16 as it features shock, tension, and realistic depictions of gore and violence.

To get early tickets for this cool sounding event head on other to www.thegenerationofz.com and enter the code EXTINCTIONISNOW tomorrow (Thursday 19th). You are also able to get the £25 preview rate on standard tickets and early bird access tickets on Thursday also. Performances start on 4th April and run till 5th July.

If your still unsure then check out the frankly awesome trailer below...

 

Silently Within Your Shadow (2015) - Horror Film News

Scott Lyus (the director of short horror Order of the Ram) has another film he is currently working on. It is another short horror but this time about a ventriloquist's dummy and has a big name attached to the project. Personally puppets for some reason I find real freaky.

Silently Within Your Shadow is described as "a dark, twisted love story that explores the idea of jealousy; and the struggle between choosing passion for art or romantic love". I am guessing that Hugo; the dummy of Lucette does a Chucky (from Child's Play) and becomes murderous once it looks like his owner is going to abandon her job for a love interest.

Lucette is played by Sophie Tergeist, but the better news is that legendary horror actor Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects, Exit Humanity) is to be the voice of Hugo! This short film has a Kickstarter campaign to get the funding needed to be created. It currently has £320 of its £6,000 goal and has 34 days left to go. If your interested in funding this, or to find out more the Kickstarter is here.

Check out the concept trailer below...

Bodom (2014) - Horror Film Review

Bodom is Hungary's first ever feature length found footage film and also the first Hungarian film I have ever reviewed. Here at The Rotting Zombie HQ found footage don't always get a warm welcome as it seems a genre bereft of any new ideas.

In 1960 at Lake Bodom in Finland four youngsters camping there were attacked in the middle of the night with only one survivor, the attacker was never caught. That much I believe actually happened in real life. In 2009 two students; Annikki and Pietari head to the lake to do a thesis about the strange murders, but their trip ends with horrific consequences.

Bodom is set out like a documentary rather than just a collection of pieced together camera work. This actually made a decent change to the usual formula. Picture The Blair Witch Project but with later interviews with the friends and family of the missing people intercut. This works in not only splitting up the shaky cam footage that can often get tiring but also works in that there is a legitimate reason for the footage to be around. There is nothing worse than a found footage film where the found footage of the piece makes no sense for existing neatly edited together. Also appreciated was the ending in which the documentary attempts to explain the events and reveals some decent information. Characters in the interviews display foreshadowing of events to come that really help create a sense of mystery.

Now it is hard to judge the acting ability as it is not in English but to me it seemed to be good, it certainly never seemed like these were fake characters. The subtitles for the most part are decent, a few slight errors (such as the decision to subtitle sound effects at some points). The majority of the film has just the two characters of Annikki and her acquaintance Pietari who really do not seem to like each other even before anything sinister happens. Any conversation they have seems to dissolve into arguments and your left wondering why they even decided to go out to remote Lake Bodom together, especially when it appears that there may be a reason from their past why they really should not be together. These arguments make them seem more real.

At sixty five minutes in length Bodom does not have time to get boring or stale. The usual format for these things takes place with around the first forty five minutes nothing sinister really happening at all. There is a slow build to the terror which suddenly occurs. The plot and reasoning behind what happens is drip fed and is never fully explained and on some levels makes no sense but I felt leaving questions behind made for a more atmospheric story regardless. For once it seems that the reason for the madness may not be supernatural in origin that I felt was a good decision. This is certainly from the 'people lost in woods' side of found footage and not the 'demonic possession in rich peoples' house' type. The flip side to this build up is that there isn't really enough time for the pure horror part of the film to shine in full and some plot elements seem a bit tacked on.

I liked the documentary format of the film, I liked the overall plot and the playing with audience expectations. Bodom looks crisp when it needs to, looks rough when it needs to be (I love how an explanation for abrupt camera cuts is given), and the fact that the Bodom murder from 1960 the students are researching actually happened in real life was a nice touch. This film is not going to keep you up at night with fear, nor can it be said to be completely original (lots of shaky cam and night vision for instance) but it is competent and enjoyable regardless and so is worth a watch.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops - Call of the Dead (2011) - Zombie Map Discussion

With the Call of Duty map packs once again going on sale I saw an opportunity to pick up one of the remaining zombie maps I don't own for Call of Duty: Black Ops. I got five maps in total, four normal and one zombie map, it was only the zombie map Call of the Dead that I was interested in.

In Call of the Dead you play as one of four real life actors; Danny Trejo (Rise of the Zombies), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead). It takes place on a remote Siberian island where the four are filming a zombie flick with George Romero directing. However the fake scene is invaded by real life zombies who attack and kill Romero before anyone realises what is happening.

Call of the Dead is different to other zombie maps in that you have the persistent threat of the George Romero zombie. He is a giant and carries with him a large stage light that is electrified, he will slowly walk towards you where ever you go. Should you make the error of attacking him he will change into a more zombie like monster and charge after you, eventually calming down after a set time has passed.

I realise I am going into far too much detail for what is just one map so will wrap things up. The level is split into three sections. The middle part where you start is a small island with water on one side, the longer you stay in the ice cold water the more you start to freeze which results in your screen being obscured with ice. In a cool touch (literally cool) zombies can turn into blocks of ice should they spend too much time in the sea. The left part of the level features a huge tanker locked into the ice. From the engine room of here the power can be turned on, though I admit I have no idea what this does. The right side of the level features a giant lighthouse, the top of it features a dead end as a warning.

As always the game consists of rounds, each round featuring more zombies, and more health for them. There are windows to keep boarded up, weapons available to purchase with points you get for undead slaying, and additional doors and walkways to open up. You play until you die, there is no end.

While even the reduced price of £8.23 is an extortionate amount for someone only interested in 1/5 of the maps I do feel Call of the Dead is a solid and well designed level and imagine I will have lots of fun with it in the future.

Swords of Insurgency (2015) - Horror Web Series News and Trailer

Swords of Insurgency is a post apocalyptic web series filmed in Virginia that has just had it's first official trailer out. Details on this seem pretty scarce but from the trailer it looks like its about a woman who manages to escape from a brutal high security prison into a world where ninjas, cowboys and bandits all fight each other with samurai swords, mallets and other types of deadly weaponry. Something to do with rebels fighting a harsh controlling regime according to the website.

It looks the part with some sharp images and interesting use of camera angles, while it also seems to have plenty of blood even if it did look like it was mostly computer generated. May well be one to watch out for. Check out the trailer below..