The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for March 2021

Life marches inexorably forward and I find myself once again faced with a bumper news post to write. I started the year with the intention to write seven posts a week, but I came to a realisation last week that this was leaving me with not much of a weekend left to relax. So, I took the decision to cut down my posts to five a week, giving me Monday to be a man of leisure. On the pandemic front I was fortuitous to be working for a company whose staff were eligible for the vaccine due to the nature of the work, so I can happily state I have now had my first dose, even if the side effects stayed with me for an entire week. Anyway, who cares about me, let's bring out the news...

New horror comic, The Mugwump Corporation issue #1 is now available via ComiXology. The comic is about loner Marybeth Callen who wants nothing more than to find a friend. She finds one, but they transform her into a cannibal monster. I love the art style and colours in this one, has a unique look to it. For more details check out here.
A Disgusting Supermarket of Death by author James C. Harberson III (co-author of graphic novel Stay Alive) is now available on Amazon. This is a comedy horror collection of '...hard-boiled shorts about satanic Christmas movies, performance art euthanasia, child sacrifice skincare, and other demented goodness'. Check here to pick up a copy.
Killer Raccoons 2: Dark Christmas in the Dark made the list of eligible films for The Oscars for 2021, while it never ended up getting nominated for any of the categories this was still a feat I found pretty cool.
Horror sci-fi film Mandao Returns has now been released on Tubi TV. I said of this one in my 7/10 review "..as a movie to put on to just forget about the real world this works as pleasant escapism."

The animated violent time-loop horror To Your Last Death has so far picked up 34 wins since its world premiere at Frightfest. These include Best Feature at the Pasadena International Film Festival, Best Director from Horrorhound, and Best Horror Feature at the Phoenix International Film Festival. Reviewing this in September last year I gave it 9/10 and said "...the animation was attractive also, it is never smooth, but that made for a more strange and creepy look that felt like an animated graphic novel." This is currently free to stream on Amazon Prime, and can be bought or rented on various digital HD platforms as well as Blu-ray.

Voyagers, the sci-fi thriller is coming soon to UK cinemas. This was written and directed by Neil Burger (Limitless, The Illusionist) and stars Tye Sheridan (The X-Men franchise), Lily-Rose Depp (Savage), Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), Chanté Adams (Roxanne Roxanne), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Game of Thrones), Viveik Kalra (Blinded by the Light), Archie Madekwe (Midsommar), Quintessa Swindell (Trinkets), Madison Hu (Bizaardvark), and Colin Farrel (The Gentlemen).
In this film a group of young men and women have been sent on an expedition to colonise a distant planet. After revelations about their mission are discovered they go against their training, and life on the ship descends into chaos. 

This next one is not so much horror, but it did seem unique so thought it would be worth a mention. Starfunk and the Astral Pioneers is described as 'the first feature film made about the Funk music genre whose story takes place in outer space'. The creator, Glenn Towery, having won awards for the screenplay has decided this space fantasy motion picture is going to be part of a crowdfunding campaign so he can get funds to create the movie himself. The Kickstarter campaign is due to run in May. You can check out the website here.

I set myself a limit of an hour and a half to write this months news post, and so finishing with some music news now. A Cloud of Ravens (great name) have released their new album, Another Kind of Midnight on Cleopatra Records. Check out the track for this Darkwave duo's single When it Comes below. I have enough emails to fill up an exclusive music only news post so maybe I will do that in a week or so.

Slutty the Clown and Death Shock - Horror Film News

For today's news post we have details of two different upcoming films from director Joe Cash (She Dogs of the SS, Jezebel), both of which are going to be released by Vipco and Troma. Short film, Slutty the Clown, which is the first in a planned trilogy, and Death Shock which is a remake and reimagining of the 1981 film of the same name.

Slutty the Clown stars Claire Bacon as the titular character she created for her modeling, and which was expanded with the help of Cash in order to bring this character to the film world.
In the film a group of urban explorers are exploring the ruins of an old factory when they find a strange room full of toys that they promptly trash. This turns out to be a bad move as the factory is home to Slutty, an insane woman who dresses like a clown and who has a penchant for sexual violence. Along with Bacon other actors in the film include Lauren Annetts, Lili Thorpe, Richard Bacon, Eve Bamfield and horror icons Ari Lehman (Clown Motel: Spirits Arise, Friday the 13th) and Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger).
With an estimated budget of just £500 and filmed in less than a week this UK based film has a lovely retro exploitation vibe to it. I've seen a rough cut and thought the setting in particular was fantastic, while the small part by Lehman was a highlight, I loved the delivery of his lines. The physical release announcement trailer can be seen on YouTube, and the film will be released by Troma on VOD via Watch Troma.
The sequel is titled Slutty the Clown II: Strapped On and is due to be filmed in the summer. This will see Claire Bacon reprise her role and will feature cameos from James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Ari Lehman, Lloyd Kaufman and Roger Jackson (Scream).

Death Shock is due to start filming towards the end of the year, with a 2022 release planned. This is going to be a feature length remake and reimagining of the 1981 exploitation cult classic that was summed up as 'sex and black magic in the Norwich countryside. Check out the cool poster for the remake below.

Confessions of a Haunting... (2021) - Short Horror Film Review

Over the past year Andrew J.D Robinson (We Are the Missing, The Becky Carmichael Fan Club) has produced a few microshorts, the latest one of which is Confessions of a Haunting... which he both wrote and directed. This three minute horror takes the form of a recorded video message and features just the one onscreen character, actress, Julie Mainville (We Are the Missing, Butchers).

Mainville plays a mother who is recording a video message to someone unknown. In the message she talks about a strained relationship with her father, and that even after he was gone this strained relationship continued.

The set-up of a video message lends itself well to a short horror, and thankfully a good protagonist was chosen in the form of Mainville whose character speaks with conviction. There are some good lines here, in particular one stood out "Horror is being afraid of losing something...true horror is knowing you had lost something" which in the context of what is being spoken about was quite effective. The supernatural element of this short comes towards the end and made for something that was different to the typical jump scare you might expect, instead more of an optimistic feel was gone for, which I hadn't expected.

Regardless of the direction this went to, it managed to tell a contained story well, especially in such a short timeframe. This succeeded due to the actress used. Confessions of a Haunting... is currently on YouTube so definitely check it out.

SCORE:

The Endless (2017) - Horror Film Review

After enjoying the 2012 indie horror film Resolution so darn much the other week I just had to check out the 2017 spiritual sequel The Endless. What I liked most about the first film was the pervasive sense of dread and the all encompassing mystery of just what on Earth was happening. This time around, the directors, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead play the part of the protagonists, with Benson again being responsible for the story. This worked fantastically as they happened to have tiny cameos in Resolution so were able to reprise these roles and build on their characters. There isn't really anyway around it, there will be spoilers for the first movie as the twist ending plays an integral part in this one. If you have yet to see Resolution go do so, it was a brilliant horror.

Ten years after Justin (Benson) and his younger brother Aaron (Moorhead) escaped an alleged death cult they receive a strange videotape in the mail. The tape features one of the cult members, Anna (Callie Hernandez - Alien: Covenant, Blair Witch) telling the men that she would always be waiting for their return. Surprised that the cult hadn't imploded, and completely disillusioned with the harsh life they have experienced living in the city, Aaron convinces his brother to take him back there. He explains he needs to visit in order to get some closure and to be able to properly move on with his life. The brothers arrive to find that nothing there seems to have changed over the past decade, even the members there do not seem to have aged. Aaron is overjoyed to be back, with it increasingly seeming like his brothers' warning stories about cult life were not completely true. Justin meanwhile is ill at ease, he always felt there was something off with the place and that feeling is compounded with his return when he begins to experience a series of unexplainable events.

Watching The Endless I was struck by two things. Firstly that this was way more than a spiritual sequel, this definitely takes place in the same film universe and even features a bunch of returning actors. It also become apparent that that delicious layer of persistent dread from Resolution was missing. For the first forty minutes or so this really bothered me. The film was great, there was no doubt about that, it just felt like this was a far more friendly and chilled adventure. That dread never did return, however by building on the mythos Resolution established this became something that felt like there was endless mystery to it. As the minutes ticked on I became desperate to find some sort of...well, some sort of resolution to the tale. I pondered if the revelations shown here somehow impacted on the effectiveness of that first films unknowable story, and by actually showing what had become of the protagonists of the first film it did a tiny bit. I had heard they featured somewhere within this but I expected a throwaway mention at best, instead they are not only get mentioned by several different characters but then we are treated to a couple of meaty scenes featuring these fantastic characters, the original actors reprising their roles in a way that made their scenes feel like a little bit of joyous fan service.

Bad Land (2007) and The Dead Half (2017) - Horror Film News

News on a couple of HNN Presents releases for today. First up is Bad Land that is directed by Ron McLellon and stars Jennifer Cudnik, West Cummings, and Beth Kenner and is available from Bayview Entertainment. This is about a group of college students who accidentally go onto the property of a family of sinister rednecks. The family, wanting to keep their secrets safe from outsiders begin to target the students.

Another HNN Presents release is The Dead Half, also available via Bayview Entertainment. The synopsis for this one concerning a filmmaker who hopes to get make a name for himself by filming a documentary from within an abandoned house that was once a clinic run by a bizarre doctor and his twin daughters. The filmmaker, along with some friends, plan to stay overnight in the property, an idea that turns out to be terrible when it becomes apparent that something very evil inhabits the place.

Witness Infection (2021) - Comedy Zombie Horror Film Review

The award winning Witness Infection is a comedy zombie horror film that comes from director Andy Palmer (Funhouse Massacre). While billed as a comedy I struggled to find any part of this that was funny, despite the horror here there is a bit of a light hearted tone I guess. It's a shame but I found the best part of this to be the film's title itself.

Carlo (Robert Belushi - How I Met Your Mother, Devil's Due) is the son of a former mob boss whose family were moved to a small town by the witness protection agency. Due to an error a second mob family were also moved there and there is trouble brewing between them. Carlo is told by his father the solution for their troubles is for him to marry the daughter of their rival. However, Carlo, who is a dog groomer, is sweet on his best friend and fellow dog groomer, Gina (Jill-Michele Melean). Wanting to do the right thing by his family Carlo decides to head to the rival mob families mansion in order to agree to the marriage, he brings along Gina and their friend Vince (Vince Donvito) for support. This all takes place on a day in which unknown to them contaminated sausages have infected large portions of the towns population, the infection turning the victims into flesh hungry undead...

For a zombie film this sure takes a while to actually show any undead. Outside of the prologue it is a good half hour before any rotters are seen, and that is only a fleeting look, it's three quarters of an hour before they become the central point of the plot. This slow build up didn't do the film any favours, not helped by the generic Italian American characters who are full of swearing, insults, and tracksuits. Belushi was fine as the protagonist, his character was a good person even if there wasn't much compelling to him. The characters of Gina and Carlos had little on screen chemistry which made it hard to believe they were in love with each other. Cheesy music is played over their scenes to try and create this illusion but it never really worked. The music in general wasn't that well suited, the action scenes often had bombastic dramatic music playing that didn't really fit the tone that well.

Entombed (2020) and My Autopsy (2020) - Horror Film News

Post apocalyptic horror Entombed was released on DVD and Digital on March 16th from Bayview Entertainment. This Kjell Hammerø directed film stars Martine Johansen, Grethe Mikaelsen and Herbrand Larsen. The synopsis is that in the near future a pandemic has brought about the collapse of civilisation. Seamus, a man on the run, discovers an underground shelter which he thinks will grant him safety. However, he soon finds out that he is not alone and that things may be even more dangerous than up on the surface.

Also from Bayview Entertainment is Holly Mollohan's My Autopsy which stars Dominic Cancelliere, Joseph Moreland and Hunter O'Harrow. This drama is about a woman named Rachel who is so desperate for love that she stumbles into an abusive relationship. Even after escaping this relationship she is haunted by the memories of her abuser. Described as 'sex, drugs, rock and roll, and stream of consciousness poetry with a dreamlike twist' this movie is available to buy now.

Everybody Gets Stabbed (2020) - Comedy Horror Film Review

I'm having a bed day today due to some flu type side effects of having the Covid vaccine and so I thought rather than waste the day I would instead watch of bunch of movies I've been sent for review. First off was the Australian indie comedy horror film Everybody Gets Stabbed. This was the directorial debut of Levon Polinelli who also co-wrote this alongside the movies two main actors, Daniel Buckle and Nick Pages-Oliver. To do a lazy summary this film is basically an indie hipster version of Scream if the antagonists were the main characters.

Best friends Clive (Pages-Oliver) and Desmond (Buckle) have decided to kill all their friends for reasons that are a lot lamer than the ones they initially provide. Desmond is a closet gay man, indirectly suggesting early on that the pent up stress of hiding his secret has led him down this dark path. Clive on the other hand suggests his reasons are that everybody likes him, yet secretly he is just a plain nasty person. As the body count ramps up the two attempt to frame one of their friends for the crimes, and as the tension between the two killers increases one of them begins to wonder just how far is too far.

I expected Everybody Gets Stabbed to be mean spirited in its comedic elements. Having obvious bad guys as the leads meant things are always shown from their perspective. Strangely these two are quite interesting leads in how normal they come across. They are not likeable, yet neither are they unlikeable, the chilled, laid back and consequence free actions they take are at odds with the bloody bodycount they ramp up. This spreads across all the characters with Clive and Desmond's friends mainly being made up of undeveloped characters. It makes the. Their roles can be seen as a commentary on white male privilege, both believe their actions are right and are too flawed to see the problem really is with them. 

Resolution (2012) - Horror Film Review

I have long bemoaned the fact that horror films just do not scare me anymore. Even ones touted as 'scariest film ever made' etc leave me cold, even if they still happen to be good movies outside of the ability to give fear. I stumbled across Resolution after reading an article that mentioned the 2017 horror film The Endless. The article (about the best horror films to watch on Netflix) in its description for The Endless said to really get the most out of the film you should watch Resolution, as it was a spiritual sequel to that one. Boy am I glad I did as this managed to maintain a pervasive sense of chilled terror from beginning to end. The fact that something here is obviously not right, yet there is no real indication as to just what is not right led to my mind thinking up all sorts of unknown horror. I have seen this described as an indie The Cabin in the Woods and there are enough meta moments contained here to support that theory.

One day Michael (Peter Cilella - Dementia) receives a video that shows his former best friend; Chris (Vinny Curran - Spring) out in the country. Along with the video was a map showing the location of Chris's home. Chris is a drug addict and had moved away from the city after his behaviour lost him all his friends. Against the wishes of his wife, Michael decides he is going to make one last attempt to help his friend and so heads out to the dilapidated cabin with the singular aim of getting him clean. After his persuasion to get him to go to rehab fails Michael takes the drastic step of tazing Chris and handcuffing him to a pipe in his house. He tells him that if Chris still wants to do drugs after he has gotten past eight days of withdrawal then he will leave him to do what he wants, but that he wants one last try to save him. As the days pass Michael starts to discover strange recordings left around the cabin, videotapes, records, photos books and more, all seemingly left on purpose to be found by him, and all showing grisly stories. With nothing else to do and with his curiosity getting the better of him he decides to follow the trail that has been left for him by persons unknown.

That Resolution manages to be so darn creepy without actually showing much is testament to the skill of the directors, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Spring), with Benson also writing the story here. The unknowable is always more unsettling than actually showing something and so the constant appearance of these forms of media, coming from someone who seems to be secretly filming the duo made for an overwhelming sense of unease. They may be out in the middle of nowhere but the place is filled with suspicious and nefarious characters. There are a whole host of random people encountered, including members of a religious cult, angry native Americans, rednecks, homeless cave dwelling addicts, a bizarre Frenchman (a great scene featuring iconic horror actor Bill Oberst Jr - DIS), and a mysterious dog named Sarah. With everyone Michael meets hiding secrets, and the isolation of his character as he wanders the fields and hills of the surrounding area there is an outsider vibe going on. The casting here is great, especially so with Michael and Chris. The former may be a little bland, an everyman character, but he is revealed to have more flaws than he first seems to. Chris on the other hand almost takes on the role of a comedy character. It was amusing how Michael is off doing all this weird horror movie stuff while Chris is literally stuck at home bemused by all the wild stories he is being told. It felt like they were co-existing in two different genres at the same time.

Todd - Horror Film News

The Aaron Warren directed horror film Todd came to DVD from Bayview Entertainment on March 16th. This film stars Michael Winslow, Eliana Ghen and Aaron Jackson and is about an eccentric man (Todd) who becomes a morbid introvert, withdrawing himself from society and eventually becoming insane. Things really become bad when he decides to focus his attentions on an aspiring actress, his psychiatrist and their family.

The Woman in Black (2012) - Horror Film Review

When I was a teenager in the 90s I went with my parents to see a theatre adaptation of Susan Hill's 1983 novel The Woman in Black. It might be strange to say but that play managed to be terrifying, even thinking back on it now I get goosebumps. That was part in due to the meta way the story was told, the play was set out as if it was two actors rehearsing a play about The Woman in Black, with the chilling reveal at the play's end that the 'actress' playing the part of the titular woman had only been visible to one of the two actors (and of course the audience), the insinuation being that the play itself had been haunted by the evil ghost. To keep up this illusion this actress wasn't even credited in the play's program. You had to be there I guess, but it gave me a sleepless night! Anyway, back in 2012 when a new version of the classic story was being made into a film I decided to skip it. I felt both that it could not live up to my memories of that play, but also, with Daniel Radcliffe in his first film role since the Harry Potter series had came to an end I felt I wouldn't be able to take him seriously. The film was followed up with a sequel in 2014 (the dull The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death) and during my review of that I stated my intention to one day watch the first one, and now here I am.

Radcliffe plays Arthur Kipps, a young solicitor in the early 1900s who is deep in mourning after the death of his wife some years previously. This has affected his performance at work, with his employers giving him one final chance to prove himself. He is tasked with travelling to the small village of Crythin Gifford in order to sort out the affairs of a woman named Alice Drablow, so that her former home; Eel Marsh House can be sold. He arrives to find the village folk hostile to his presence, the only friendly face he encounters is the wealthy Sam Daily (Ciarán Hinds - Game of Thrones TV series). It is rumoured that Eel Marsh House is haunted by its former owner and that anyone who sees this ghostly figure is cursed. Arthur at first dismisses these stories but as he investigates the property he begins to believe that there may be some truth to them.

What came first, the chicken or the egg? It would be easy to dismiss this horror as derivative of others that have came before, it shares similar plot elements to movies such as Sinister and Ringu with what happens not being too surprising. However, the book it is based on came out long before those were even thought of. For me what stood this apart was the time period, this has a good feeling of a Gothic horror and it felt strangely freeing to not feature the trappings of modern day technology. I like Radcliffe as an actor yet I never really feel he is that amazing in the roles I have seen him in. Here it really felt like he was acting well, sure he still had a face that seemed a bit too youthful for the role he was playing but he gave a believable performance. My favourite moments were when he was alone, reacting to the events happening around him without the need for any kind of dialogue, he shows the fear in his eyes well. Despite a large cast the majority of the characters are totally background ones, with Sam feeling like the only supporting character. I enjoyed the interactions between these two.

The Beast Comes at Midnight - Horror Film News

The director of cult vampire film Cold Hearts, Robert Angelo Masciantonio has signed on to direct new werewolf movie The Beast Comes at Midnight. The film revolves around a young podcaster (Michael McKeever) whose interests lie in investigating all things paranormal, serial killers and conspiracy theories. He finds out the small town he lives in is under attack by monsters. The only people who believe his wild claims are a cheerleader (Kylissa Katalinich) and a sideshow fortune teller (Robert Bronzi) who was once a monster hunter. Masciantonio joins musician and film composer Dennis Tenney (Night of the Demons 1 and 3, Leprechaun 3 and 4). 

Executive producer Todd Oifer says of this film: "We are setting out to make a monster movie with practical fx and a riveting story that appeals to both lifelong horror fans and new followers of the genre. In the vein of classics like The Lost Boys, Silver Bullet and Phantasm that star young actors thrust into extraordinary and fantastical situations. The team felt only Robert A. Masciantonio could deliver the goods."

Know Fear (2021) - Horror Film Review

I've said it many times before, but demonic possession has always been one of my favourite genres of horror, I think this stems back to The Evil Dead. That is kind of fitting in the case of Know Fear as there were elements in this Jamison M. LoCascio (Sunset, The Depths) directed indie horror (co-written by LoCascio and Adam Ambrosio) that gave this a slight feeling of that classic, but set in a suburban house rather than at a remote cabin. This may be slightly rough around the edges in places but in general I appreciated a lot of what the film was going for.

Donald (David Alan Basche - The Exes TV series) and his wife Wendy (Amy Carlson - Green Lantern) have recently moved into a new house. While unpacking they come across a box left by the previous owners, and it is while looking in this box that Wendy accidentally cuts her finger, the blood from which happens to fall onto the page of a strange book. After Wendy begins to start behaving strangely her niece, Jami (Mallory Bechtel - Hereditary) who is obsessed with the paranormal, comes to believe that her aunt has been affected by a demon. She realises the strange book is actually a magical guide to dispelling demonic forces, but that it requires three people to operate it successfully. Without letting anyone know what she is doing Jami activates the book, this seems to alert the demon (for there actually is one) who magically seals the doors to the house to stop anyone from leaving. To banish the demon using the book three people are needed, one who gets the power to understand the demon's language, Donald, one who gets the power to see the demon, Jami, and one who is able to hear the demon speak, Jami's brother Charlie (Jack DiFalco - Daredevil). They, along with a family friend who had just happened to be visiting; Nancy (Meeya Davis - Orange Is the New Black) must work together to try and save themselves.

When it is just Wendy (an actress sadly wasted in a role that saw her out the picture for the majority of the films runtime) things seemed mild and typical for a horror like this. I was prepared for a well meaning, but ultimately dull experience, so it was a neat thing to discover that from the second act onwards the stakes raise considerably. This did have the unintended effect of making that first act a little bland, it was full of moments that I didn't think worked that well. The prologue which shows the previous family all dying was neat, no complaint with that. But there are moments and scenes that felt like they didn't add anything at all. One early example is a scene featuring Jami off filming a video for her paranormal YouTube channel thing. I felt like the only reason this featured was to show the character believes in the paranormal, it just wasn't needed. Then you have Donald (who comes across as a much more down to earth guy in his first scenes than later on in the movie) teaching his nephew about the wisdom of the 'pale blue dot' which is referenced time and time again over the course of the film but came across as a bit of a silly notion in the context of what was happening.