The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Tuesday 6th June 2023

Hello campers, and welcome to another anthology of horror news. I'm writing this slightly hungover, so hopefully things will proceed in an orderly fashion.

Heir of the Witch is an upcoming horror film that will be streaming worldwide on August 4th later this year, coming from Pasha Entertainment as their first feature film release. Said to have been inspired by actual events (the grandmother of writer/director/lead actress Victoria Bell was a Moldovan witch), this follows a woman named Anna who moved to America as a young child, after having been subjected to cruel treatment by her evil witch grandmother. Now, her grandmother's spirit haunts the woman, determined that Anna should follow the dark path she took. The trailer makes it look like it could be quite dark and atmospheric.

Necronomicon is now available from Dragon Studios. Coming from award winning filmmaker Richard Driscoll. Using H.P Lovecraft's iconic fictional evil tome as its basis, this follows a comic book writer who has headed to New Orleans to research a new book, but in actuality has been lured there as part of a bonkers plan designed to reincarnate dark magician Aleister Crowley. This stars Steven Craine, Michael Madsen, Bai Ling, Lysette Anthony, Danny Lopez, as well as the late actor Tom Sizemore in one of his last roles. All the of this the teaser trailer reiterates anyway.

Finally for today, horror novelist and horrornews.net contributor William Burke has created a new YouTube series titled The Cult Movie Museum. Burke says of his new channel "I wanted to create a guide for fans of eclectic films that was concise, useful and entertaining. Most of the shows I've seen on the YouTube platform are either too long, too sarcastic or just plain mean spirited...I keep the episodes to around six minutes, so the viewer gets the information they need, while being entertained." The Cult Movie Museum will post a new episode weekly.

Mad Heidi (2022) - Film Review

Sometimes a film comes along that despite not being a horror, still seems like it would be a perfect fit for this blog, due to the subject matter. The Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein co-directed, crowd funded fantasy film Mad Heidi is a prime example. Described as a 'Swissploitation', this takes all the stereotypes of the Swiss and ramps them up to ridiculous heights, telling a somewhat unoriginal story, but made very entertaining due to how exaggerated everything is.

Twenty years previously, cheese magnate and Swedish President, Meili (Casper Van Dien) proclaimed himself president for life, with Sweden becoming a fascist dictatorship. In the years that followed all cheese was banned, with the exception of Meili's brand, which unknown to the general populace had qualities that opened up regular consumers to being more easily controlled. The lactose intolerant found themselves in a kind of genocide, with President Meili's violent troops determined to wipe them out. After Heidi (Alice Lucy), a girl from a quiet mountain village, witnesses her boyfriend being executed for selling black market cheese, and then her grandfather dying while trying to protect her from soldiers chasing her, she becomes determined to hunt down President Meili and kill him. First however, she must find a way to escape from the prison she has found herself locked up in.

The film is ridiculous, but in a really good way. My initial impression was how this felt similar to a Quentin Tarantino flick, but he himself was heavily influenced by exploitation grindhouse films and so the similarities are understandable. While this apes those types of films from the seventies, this is made as a modern day film, without any attempts to try and make the footage look old. In addition to a fantastic Spaghetti Western sounding soundtrack, you have villains who get their own title cards when they first appear, training montages, gratuitous violence and lots of blood. With Heidi you have a strong protagonist, someone who is determined and driven from the start. Slowly more side characters are introduced, with much of the story split between Heidi's journey and the antagonists there was never any down time. Meili himself was a decent antagonist, with some funny over the top qualities to his arrogant character. One early scene in which he orders an underling to be executed for being one and a half minutes late to a meeting perfectly summed him up. 

The visual effects were great throughout, leading up to some great death scenes. Later, when decked out in her very stereotypical Swiss milkmaid outfit, Heidi uses her halberd to gruesome effect, at one point slicing a soldier into two pieces vertically. Character deaths are often over the top gory, with blood spraying out in satisfying amounts. Some of these may be CG effects, but they look good, and add to some comedic moments. Make-up effects are also good, with some cheese altered super soldiers having a suitably gross look to them. Swiss elements are in full effect throughout, the Nazi like dictatorship uses the traditional Swiss red cross in place of swastikas, everyone is obsessed with cheese, there are mountains, Sound of Music style spinning around in open fields, cuckoo clocks and all manner of other stuff. This gives Mad Heidi a unified look to it that never got stale.

Look past the joyous absurdity of the setting and you have a fantasy film that could be accused of not doing enough to really tell a unique story. There are little surprises in a story sense, but what this does does have in buckets is style. I can't imagine there is too much out there which quite looks like this. Mad Heidi is due for a nationwide theatrical release across North America on June 21st from Fathom Events, Raven Banner Releasing and Swissploitation Films.

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Wake Wood (2009) - Horror Film Review

It's the three year anniversary today (as of time of writing) since my mother sadly passed away, so I figured for my blog I would pick something easy, and at random chose one of the many horror films I own but have not yet watched. The David Keating (Cherry Tree) directed and co-written horror, Wake Wood turned out to be a coincidentally relevant choice as it is all about bringing a loved one back from the dead for one last goodbye.

After their daughter, Alice (Ella Connolly - Don't Go) is mauled to death by a rabid dog, her grieving parents, veterinarian Patrick (Aidan Gillen - Game of Thrones TV series) and pharmacist Louise (Eva Birthistle - Here With Me) move to the rural town of Wakewood for a new start. With their relationship on the rocks, Louise is set to leave the place, but a chance encounter with a strange ritual leads to Wakewood's de facto leader, Arthur (Timothy Spall - The Harry Potter film series) offering the couple a strange gift. In return for them promising never to leave the town, he states he is able to bring their daughter Alice back to life, for her to be able to spend three final days with them, the only stipulation being that she must have died less than a year ago, and that she mustn't travel beyond the town's borders. Desperate to see their daughter, the couple agree, the ritual is a success and they are delighted to have her back. Something however isn't quite right, and as the three days pass, Alice begins to exhibit disturbing behaviour...

Wake Wood was apparently the first Hammer Horror film to have a theatrical release in thirty years, and it does have some trappings of that iconic film company. This falls neatly into folk horror territory, and the old customs and rituals the village folk follow are represented well on screen, with some memorable moments, such as when a group of people parade through the town beating strange roughly made wooden instruments. This felt almost like an inverse to The Wicker Man, in that rather than be outsiders to the strange goings on, Arthur is keen to sincerely bring the couple into the fold, despite the protestations of some of the other locals. The protagonists were decent enough characters, but there wasn't too much to them, I think I may have slightly preferred Patrick to Louise, but there wasn't much in it. Spall stole the show in his understated performance, and while he wasn't in the movie all the time, he was still in it a lot more than I expected. I also, surprisingly, found Connolly to have an effective performance as Alice, creepy kids can often come across as irritating rather than scary, but the death stares the child brings to the role and the scenes she appears in led to some great moments.

The film doesn't shy away from violence, and doesn't even restrict it to adults, Alice's mauling by a dog in the prologue sees the child covered in blood and bodily damage, even if nifty use of editing implies this by focusing on close-up shots. Along with quite a few animal corpses, there are a few cool looking deaths scenes that play out on camera, such as someone crushed to death by a bull, and someone who gets a poker straight through their throat. All of these include plenty of blood, and warrant the movie having an eighteen rating. The only dodgy looking moment comes from one shot that used CG effects, but other than that it was all good.
The film tells a decent cautionary tale about getting what you most wish for. I did find the plot got a bit meandering and melodramatic at times, especially in the final act which began to drag, as well as got a bit farcical with all that was going on. One thing I can say for Arthur, he certainly had a lot of patience with the protagonists, who constantly acted like they thought they were the most important people in the whole village.

I wasn't sure that I would enjoy Wake Wood, it got off to a bit of a limp start, but once Alice is resurrected things began to pick up. While it began to unravel a bit towards the end, it all comes together nicely, with some little twists and turns along the way. The film at least made me realise that as it has been over a year since my mother died, I probably should leave this particular resurrection ritual well enough alone.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 1st June 2023

I'm close to finishing a lot of different horror video games at the moment, so expect to see reviews for those drop some year soon. No one really cares about game reviews on my site, but it seems a shame not to review them when they are relevant to horror. I think I may also write a review for season eight of Inside No.9, a British horror themed comedy show that my father really enjoys watching. Onwards to the news.

Cinedigm have acquired the North American rights to Shaky Shivers. This is an 80s inspired comedy horror film that was directed by Sung Kang, and which won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Gasparilla International Film Festival in Tampa, Florida. The story sees two young women (played by Brooke Markham and VyVy Nguyen) discovering a book of spells at an abandoned camp, which results in them facing a series of supernatural encounters that include zombies, werewolves, and a BigFoot. Shaky Shivers is out in theatres this Fall, followed by an exclusive release on horror streaming platform Screambox.

The 3rd Guest is now available on video-on-demand from Indican Pictures, starring Clint Carmichael, Matthew T. Clark, Joseph Lopez, Logan Laurel, Andrea M. Anderson, Nikki Kris, Chelsea O'Toole, Terumi Shimazu, and Annette Gromala. After her daughter dies suddenly, a work obsessed woman, Evie, seeks a former lover for comfort. The man takes Evie with him on a ghost-hunting assignment that soon turns sour when real paranormal events begin to happen.

Finally for today, A Baroque House have released a trilogy of their short films under the title Blood Corrodes Inside Trilogy in a three set Blu-ray boxsets. The press release states 'These offerings present a captivating and unconventional fusion of fetishism, explicit content, and gore, offering a fresh perspective on contemporary DIY horror while paying homage to 70s roughies and late 90s amateur fetish horror'. Spit is about two girls who discover a book able to bring their most depraved fantasies to life. Red Tragedy is about a spurned woman who begins a path of self destruction, while final film Sea of Blood is about two porn producers whose adult film begins to turn into a snuff film. There were an initial hundred and fifty signed copies, with an additional three hundred and fifty unsigned and unnumbered copies following on from this. Check here for details on how to buy this.

Cereal Man (2023) - Short Horror Film Review

Cereal Man is a short horror film that comes from Deformed Lunchbox, who their press release states is the fastest growing horror channel in Canada. The short appears to be a proof of concept as it directly ties into their marketing for a feature length movie of the same name, even having the last third of the short be marketing for that campaign. As such, this post shall be part news story and part review.

The short itself is two minutes of the three and a half minute run time. This follows a cereal obsessed killer, who along with kind of enjoying the breakfast food, is also insistent that his kidnapped victim also eats the stuff. The footage is low quality and grainy, with the impression of old VHS tape footage. Rather than a handheld found footage style method, the shots used are static from random angles, which brought to mind Skinamarink more than anything. The way this is framed, it looked authentic, even if there isn't too much of a story able to be given in the short run time.

On the news side of things, there is currently a Kickstarter running to raise funds to make a feature length version of this concept. Denman Hatch, the writer/director of Cereal Man states "I feel positively disturbed by the tragic story of Cereal Man...After creating 50 short horror films since 2016, we are excited to launch our Kickstarter and give longtime fans a chance to support what they have been asking from us for years - a full feature-length film in our colourful Deformed Lunchbox style". For more information on the Kickstarter head here.

While this didn't feel like a movie that would appeal to me, from the concept it seemed interesting to see how this style of film would fit into a feature length offering. If they can keep the sense of realism that permeates this short then it could be something special. As for the short itself, it didn't outstay its welcome, and made for a decent little slice of nightmare life.

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The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for May 2023

I've done the usual for this month, set myself a one hour time limit with which to write a bulked up news post about all things fictional horror. As usual, I'm playing lots of horror video games, too many to list. I will say my addiction to The Elder Scrolls Online hasn't diminished, I can never shake the feeling that I'm wasting my time on an infinite MMORPG rather than playing things I actually have a chance of finishing!

Horror action film The Flood now has an official trailer out. Described as 'Prisoners vs. Alligators', this sees five prisoners having to shelter in an old sheriff's department while being transported, due to a once in every fifty years superstorm. Eventually, they are forced to team up with the police to survive an assault by deadly alligators. This features Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers, Sleepy Hollow), Nicky Whelan (Halloween II), Louis Mandylor (Rambo: Last Blood), and Mike Ferguson (The Last Deal). The Flood comes to theatres, On Demand, and Digital on July 14th.

Chilling Tales for Dark Nights is an audio horror channel that features some work from Steve Gray, including 'Bestial', 'The Vampire Testament' and 'Demon Doll'. 'Bestial' stars Jon Mach Maciag as The Detective and is about a girl who becomes attracted to a mysterious stranger new to the town she lives in, with the detective suspicious of the new arrival due to murders that occur the same time he appears. 'The Vampire Testament' is narrated by Gray and is about a long dead man given the opportunity to get revenge against the Holy Order who killed him. 'Demon Doll' meanwhile is a music video loosely based around the doll from the Annabelle films. To hear these, as well as plenty of other stuff then head to the channel here.

The first trailer and stills have been released for short horror Biters & Bleeders. Written by Charlie Carson Monroe, this is the debut short horror film from New 32, an independent queer-owned film company. The short is about a troubled couple who move into a stately home after the husband inherits it, hoping the move will help fix their interpersonal problems. An infestation of monstrous bed bugs tip the couple over the edge however. Biters & Bedbugs will debut on the festival circuit later this year.

A brief non-horror related bit of news now, only mentioned due to the polite email. Crush! is the latest single from Nashville rock group CHLSY. The track is described as '...the ultimate love anthem with heavy Indie Rock and Pop influences'. If you have Spotify then you can find it here. I've given it a listen on YouTube and yeah, it's a pretty good track actually.

Girls Under Glass have released a new music video for their track 'Tainted', it features the iconic Norwegian artist Mortiis. It is the first track to be taken from upcoming album 'Backdraft', which is due to release on June 2nd by Dependent Records of Germany. You can check out the new video below.

HERD (2023) - Zombie Horror Film Review

With a blog titled 'The Rotting Zombie' it's no surprise that I'm always happy when a zombie film shuffles along for review. HERD is an action horror directed and co-written by Steven Pierce, and is a film that created a sour feeling due to the initially silly actions of the central protagonist, but whose actions eventually came to be validated in a way that not many zombie films try and do.

Jamie (Ellen Adair - Trick, Homeland TV series) and her girlfriend, Alex (Mitzi Akaha) have gone away to the country for a five day boating holiday as a last attempt to try and fix their failing relationship. During a heated argument, Alex falls overboard and ends up breaking her leg, so Jamie brings her to land and sets out to try and get help. It turns out the news reports about a statewide viral outbreak was true, for the couple soon find themselves caught up in an unfolding zombie apocalypse that started a week prior. Rescued by a group of redneck militia (but not before Alex is scratched by an infected person), the two find sanctuary at the militia's base of operations, but with the groups response to any sign of infection being terminally extreme, and with a rival militia seeking to take much needed supplies by force, Jamie soon realises she must try and get her and an Alex showing increasing signs of infection, away from both groups.

A zombie film with a difference, but that difference only makes itself apparent in the epilogue that serves as a kind of debrief to what has come before. With not many undead to be found here, it soon becomes clear that the title HERD refers more to the humans than the monsters. This is very much a case of the old adage of survivors being more deadly than the creatures. It is by unlucky coincidence that the militia base is at the former workshop of Jamie's estranged father, several swiftly edited flashbacks reveal how nasty this man was upon finding out his daughter was gay, with the growing anger and resentment towards this man given at least some bearing on the relationship trouble Jamie finds herself in. After an action heavy first act, the film moves to a more sedate pace, with most of the second act being set at the base, it is here people play music and eat, while the trigger happy men are in their element getting to play out their fantasies of ruling over the community (not in a sinister way it must be said, the group appear mostly very happy with their situation). Big John Gruber (Jeremy Holm - House of Cards TV show, The Ranger) is the leader of this group, and someone who struggles with his authority at times, which makes him make some unfortunate concessions. On the other side is Sterling (Timothy V. Murphy - Snowpiercer TV series, The Frankenstein Theory), a cold blooded man who leads a militia made up of masked men, both in their own ways are as bad as each other.
With Alex infected early on, I soon came to despair at Jamie's actions. Her hiding the fact her girlfriend was infected, her later actions that put a lot of people in danger, she became really irritating to me. It became farcical at times, especially when she is literally in-between the two warring factions, or surrounded by infected, yet still shouting for help for the increasingly sick Alex. Does HERD then also refer to the viewers of the movie themselves? Looking past the commentary on LGBT issues, and the suspicion of government, as a viewer of a zombie film you have certain expectations with the rules of everything. This film tries to knock you off balance somewhat with the slightly too neat deus ex machina ending that gives a new interpretation of all that has occured before, and I had to grudgingly admit that in this version of the world, characters who irritated may have had a point. 

For much of the movie the infected take a backseat, they appear sparsely in the beginning, are absent throughout the middle act, only coming back towards the end of the final act. They look good, with effective makeup and prosthetics to give them the look of being covered in giant boils on their face and arms. They are different however in that it is established early on that they only attack if they feel threatened, even to the point where they recognise if a gun is being pointed at them or not. There was some inconsistencies with this, such as them at times being angrily startled by loud noises, and at other times literally only reacting if they feel under threat. 

I expected a typical zombie film with HERD, and this seemed familiar enough until that late reveal. While interesting, it didn't help at endearing me to Jamie, as a protagonist she wasn't that likeable a person, and I did feel the way this all ended was a little too neat. It may be a little light on zombies, but with good practical effects, a fair bit of blood, and a decent enough story, this was still entertaining. HERD is due for release on 3rd July from High Fliers Films.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 25th May

I am writing this on May 19th, the day of my best friend's birthday, so I'm in a good mood. Also, I need to stop flip-flopping between U.S and U.K date structures as I am quite random which way I go when writing dates. Onto the news...

Ghost is an iconic film starring the late Patrick Swayze, as a child, my mother would forever convince me to watch it without complaint due to the promise of the scene towards the end when the demon things do their thing to the guy's murderer. Ghost is also the name of a new horror that is coming to POV Horror and Wicked Horror TV on July 9th. This one is directed by Dillon Brown and is about a twisted cult who aim to weaponize demonic entities, with the only prevention being a group of church sanctioned mercenaries. Interestingly, this is described as a found-footage action/horror, whose roots are to be found in eighties movies. Ghost stars Michael Rock, Amanda Morgan, Joshua Myron McKinney and Vernon G. Wells (Mad Max 2), check out the nifty trailer below.

The poster has been revealed for Hex Studio's latest project, the 80's sword & sorcery throwback horror, The Slave & The Sorcerer. Inspired by classic films such as Deathstalker and The Beastmaster, this tells the tale of slave Tyrol, who volunteers to lead a mission to the dungeon lair of the evil wizard Akaris, in order to rescue a kidnapped Princess. This stars Chris Black, Jonathan Hansler (The Devil's Business), Briony Monroe (The Black Gloves), Megan Tremethick (Ghost Crew), Richard Pate (The Black Gloves), Chris Capaldi (The Necromancer), Stephen Kerr (For We Are Many), as well as rugby star Dean Schofield in his first feature role. The movie, which the press release states is like 'Deathstalker meets The Evil Dead' is due for release in winter 2023, there is also a Kickstarter currently running, which can be found here.

Finally for today, found footage horror The Woodmen is a collaboration between 105ive Films and Gray Sky Pictures, with shooting to begin in June in Georgia, and to be written and directed by Joshua Brucker. Not much more is revealed at the moment, other than it is set to feature Nancy Anne Ridder and Leonora Scelfo from the Scream franchise, as well as LC Holt (VHS 2, You're Next).

Bunker 717 (2022) - Horror Film Review

Being off work for a week, I decided that every day I would watch a different horror film for review. Browsing Shudder, I came across the Grégory Beghin directed French horror film Bunker 717 (also known as Deep Fear), and with it having a picture of a Nazi zombie thought I would check it out. It turns out that title picture was a little misleading, as was the title as a whole (the Bunker 717 one). The titular place doesn't turn up until forty five minutes into this eighty minute movie, and I'm not entirely sure the zombie from the cover picture was actually a zombie. Thankfully, once I had gotten over my disappointment, I found this to be a great little horror.

This takes place in Paris in 1991, and Henry (Victor Meutelet) is due to report for mandatory military service. Wanting to give him a good send off, his best friends, Sonia (Sofia Lesaffre) and Max (Kassim Meesters) arrange with a shady friend of Sonia's, Ramy (Joseph Olivennes) to have a private and illegal tour of the catacombs below Paris, something to remember. After encountering rats, skinheads, and flooded corridors, the group get completely lost, and eventually end up inadvertently at a newly discovered entrance to a part of the underground that hasn't yet been explored by the collective of people Ramy lives with. Promising to lead the friends back to the surface after having a quick look at the new area, Ramy heads inside, which turns out to be the worst mistake in a long series of bad moves.

Underground horror films fit into a tidy little subgenre of their own, in terms of setting this must closely resembles both The Tunnel, After..., and As Above, So Below, the later being most in tune with this as they are both set in the exact same location, albeit different areas. Unlike that one, and despite one of the protagonists carrying a bulky handcam, this wasn't a found footage, outside of a couple of moments that are shown from a first person perspective. It also shares a wonderfully atmospheric location, with set design that never looked anything other than claustrophobic. The group squeeze through very narrow looking passages in a few scenes, never failing to look far far too narrow, with the cast often starting to panic at how tight it all is. I had expected lots of Nazi zombies, I blame the cover image used, as that was a bit misleading. It may well a spoiler me even mentioning that, but then there is the short prologue that takes place two years prior to the events of the main plot, in which someone is dragged screaming away off screen by an unseen antagonist, so something is certainly down there.

Much of the horror comes from the friends being trapped underground, they go through plenty of maze like sewers, caves, and stone quarries. I'm not particularly claustrophobic, but watching this I was again reminded of my pledge to never go the catacombs under Paris in real life! Adding in a gang of roving skinheads was a great idea, as this gave a very real danger to the group, that the gigantic, yet ultimately passive catacombs couldn't provide on their own. The protagonists were not the most exciting of characters, yet the actors were good in their roles, they felt like long time friends, and there were subtle hints of subplots that never actually got addressed. While this was in French, the English subtitles were always well written, so I didn't feel anything was lost in that respect. The special effects were sparse, but led to some fun looking moments for the hapless heroes. It did take a heck of a long time to get to that titular bunker though, and the last twenty minutes were perhaps the most exciting to be found, but almost felt like a different move entirely. It leads up to a wonderfully bleak finish, and the most darkly comedic moment of the film a few minutes before that.

I spent the majority of Bunker 717 waiting for the (alleged) zombie to appear, I wasn't impatient, but with the dwindling run time I was confused as to when this would all kick off. In hindsight, the journey was better than the eventual destination, as there was a lot that happens, even if the core plot was a bit light. The catacombs of Paris as depicted in the movie were full of atmosphere and horror, and it was a nice touch that the end credits play over a series of photos from the real world inspiration, for there is indeed a Nazi bunker under the streets of Paris. Bunker 717 can currently be streamed on Shudder.

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Motion Detected (2023) - Horror Film Review

Motion Detected is a nearly solo character horror about a woman losing her mind to a home security system. Co-written and co-directed by Justin Gallaher and Sam Roseme in their directorial debuts, this got off to a weak start and never really managed to find its footing, with disparate elements that never really came together in a satisfying way.

After experiencing a terrifying home invasion in which she was nearly killed by a serial killer dubbed 'El Diablo', Julie (Katelyn MacMullen) and her husband, Miguel (Carlo Mendez) have moved from Mexico City to the U.S.A. Julie is suffering PTSD about her ordeal and so is very concerned about security at their new house. Luckily, the house they are renting has a state of the art security system which includes an A.I, the security system named Diablo by unlucky coincidence. With Miguel called back to Mexico on business, Julie is left on her own, and it is at this point that she starts to have trouble with Diablo. The system seems to have a mind of its own, constantly stating the titular "motion detected" around various parts of the house, and this, coupled with Julie's PTSD induced nightmares and hallucinations, sees her mind start to slowly unravel.

Even after a poor prologue in which a little girl is lured into a cupboard by a glitchy figure, I was prepared to give the movie a chance. It at the very least looked good, with decent camera work and some fine editing (aside from the weird way the protagonist's nightmares are edited together with footage of her sleeping in bed). The story at first glance reminded me a lot of Dean Koontz' classic horror novel Demon Seed, which itself had a similar story of a woman being tormented by her A.I security system. The problem here was that things were spread a little too thinly. For the longest time it isn't really clear if the security system is just bust, or if it is maliciously causing the woman problems. With Julie's PTSD, it wasn't clear if maybe her imagination is getting the better of her, there was even a feel that the root cause could be supernatural in nature, as objects move on their own, and doors open and close on their own. Without going into spoilers, it went in an unsatisfying direction that stretched credibility. By the point the security system was running a live feed of Julie's nightmares, in order to digitally create a hard light hologram of her nightmare aggressor, my credibility had snapped and I was unable to take anything else that happened seriously.

There is a cast of just seven characters, but mainly it is Julie on her own. The best scenes of the film involve only her, I liked the first solo drinking montage she had, and I liked her constant prayers to the Mother of Death statue she had. The dialogue wasn't the best at times, one key scene which was so bad I even wrote it down. Speaking online to her therapist about her paranoid belief the security system was tormenting her, the therapist (Kimberli Flores) states "Why don't you just disable your alarm?", to which Julie dramatically replies "I...Don't...Know...How!", that part was unintentionally funny to me. As for her husband, he was portrayed as so sickeningly devoted and loving to Julie that I came to suspect he was either off cheating on her, or he was secretly orchestrating things from behind the scenes. It turns out, mild spoiler, that no, he has nothing to do with anything. Barely being in the movie and adding so little, I don't even know why he existed, other than to call her up every few days to state he is still stuck in a never ending gauntlet of business based meals.

The horror just wasn't scary, the CG effects used to show glitchy figures moving around the house looked too clean, the scary things that happen were more irritating than anything, and attempts to expand the scope of the single house story never worked well. Motion Detected had a good idea as a basis, but the direction this went in was a bit far fetched. The film came out today, May 19th, on Cable VOD and Digital HD, from Freestyle Digital Media.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for 18th May 2023

My news inbox was so low the other day that I had to change my traditional trio of news stories down to a duo. Vaguely related is that video game Fortnite now no longer allows you to play as a trio, not horror related, but as someone who mainly plays as part of a trio that sucks.

Toronto Is Broken have teamed up with REEBZ for new Nu-Metal and Drum & Bass single 'Breed'. The press release states 'The track sports a decidedly malevolent atmosphere at it explores themes of mental illness as seen from the inside out'. It is actually surprisingly great, my angsty younger self would have adored this track, with the two styles fitting together well. 'Breed' is out now on all platforms from FiXT.

The first images and teaser poster have been revealed for upcoming horror anthology F'd: Tales From the End Times. Principal photography have wrapped on two of the five segments, with the first set of images coming from Ash Hamilton's (Holes in the Sky: The Sean Miller Story) wraparound and end segment currently called 'Declassified'. The director stated "With Holes (in the Sky) we wanted to use the mockumentary method and sort of play with reality. Here, this is definitely full-blown fantasy. It's action-horror and pretty relentless... and very, VERY gory.". The film's other segments are to be directed by Dillon Brown (The Flock), Ben Harl (Last Day), Josh Brucker (Mothman) and John Isberg (Final Summer). F'd: Tales From the End Times is aiming for a late 2023 festival run.

Finally for today, Electronic-Rock artist/producer Celldweller has released a Rock, Metalcore, and Industrial remix of 'Soul Parasites' that involved a team-up with Cinematic Rock artists Void Chapter and Soul Extract. This is the third single to come out ahead of upcoming Satellites Remixed album. The press release states 'It's "Soul Parasites" like you've never heard it before. Taking the original Rock, Metal, and Djent leanings Soul Extract and Void Chapter blend in Metalcore, Industrial, and Progressive metal for a track that could easily stand on it's own as a unique creation'. 'Soul Parasites' (Soul Extract and Void Chapter Remix) is out now from FiXT.

Death Metal (2023) - Horror Film Review

Back when I first heard of the Michael Kuciak directed and written Death Metal I knew it was a film I would be interested in checking out for a review. The idea of a piece of cursed media that drives anyone who hears it insane is an idea that has been used in various ways over the years, whether it be a cursed guitar in 2013's Music Store Massacre, or cursed movies, such as with Screen and the Masters of Horror episode 'Cigarette Burns'. Following a rough start, this nasty indie film (nasty in the best way) soon came to delight, thanks to some great practical special effects, plenty of gore, and some good sound design.

After a disastrous European tour that nearly ended their band, death metal group Abyssinister are convinced to come together to record a new record by their founding member, Ivan (Nico Zahniser). Having hired a top producer, Fleming (E. Ray Goodwin), they head to his remote farmhouse to record in his new state of the art basement studio. It is there that Ivan tells his bandmates that while in Europe he came across a piece of music named the 'Devil's Concerto', which legend states caused all who heard it to go insane and kill themselves. He has mixed it into a rough demo of the band's new album, but after playing it to the group strange things begin to happen. One by one they begin to experience terrifying hallucinations and unexplainable body trauma, and one by one they are found dead or go missing, for it appears the legend about the curse was actually real.

This didn't get off to the best start, as the first four minutes is pretty much a music video for an actual metal band. I guess that was to set the vibe, as the band members we follow are never really shown playing their instruments much, but it was quite dull, especially for someone who isn't really into that genre of music. That coupled with some strange editing decisions nearly lost me early on, but thankfully things soon picked up. There was a weird use of slow motion when showing scenery, and these odd zoomed in insert shots of characters facial expressions that repeat after they have been shown once. It was a little off putting, but the later appearances of these worked a lot better once the horror began.

There was a nice selection of characters, I wish there had been more depth given to some of them, particularly the sullen and moody Ivan who never once came across as remotely likeable. Best of the bunch was Chris Richard's mild and friendly Satan worshipping character, who had some of more funny moments, such as when he reveals he had legally changed his name to 'Baphomet', and who refuses to wear prosthetic devil horns during their first act performance due to being against his beliefs. On the whole the film is serious, and tells a dark story, but there were a few moments like that which poked fun at the genre. A lovely campfire scene where Ivan's girlfriend Shadia (Shadia Martin) sings an acoustic song with gruesome lyrics, a guy struggling to make out what the band's logo actually says due to the hard to read font it is written in, and the band members having a humorous argument about what convoluted niche genre of music theirs falls into.

The special effects really delighted, and led to some messed up scenes that didn't make much sense but looked fantastic. A woman whose bite marks on her shoulders had sets of fanged teeth hidden inside them, eyeballs and their storks which fall out of a character's eye sockets, a gruesomely bloody suicide scene, and even a drumstick through the eye. All were practical effects and included plenty of screaming and plenty of blood that dripped everywhere. Even better was that each subsequent victim then came back as a Cenobite type being, their method of death being incorporated into their demonic look.
There was some arthouse style editing used whenever the cursed music was heard, which looked great on screen, and the idea to have this looping ear piercing scream playing over and over also added a lot to this. It was a slight shame that the finale decided to get rid of the great practical effects and instead insert some terrible looking digital effects.

Death Metal was an indie horror that wasn't without its faults, it had some rough edges to it, but also had some wonderfully messed up moments that compensated a lot. With each subsequent kill more surreal and violent than the last, and a slight grindhouse feel at times, this was an enjoyable horror that wasn't afraid to go to some messed up places. 

SCORE:

The Rotting Zombie's News Double Bill for 16th May 2023

I am off work this week which means I am spreading my posts out rather than writing them all on the same day. I cleared out my news inbox last week, hopefully its replenished enough that I can scrape together a small news post. In me news, I'm currently (finally) watching Wednesday, it's not bad. On the gaming front, on X-Box, I am still trying to do the final level on Vampire Survivors, I'm on the second chapter of Loop Hero, need to get back into Atomic Heart, and same goes for the addictive Dead Cells. Over on my Nintendo Switch I have started The Mummy Demastered once again. Meanwhile, on PS5, I brought The Callisto Protocol in a sale and am loving it, and have finally returned back to Resident Evil Village VR. I also must return to Cult of the Lamb. Finally, still loving Elder Scrolls Online, nearing the end of the vampire-centric Rivenspire area currently.

The Nocturnal Affair have released a new single, which is a reimagined darker version of Depeche Mode's 1997 single 'It's No Good'. The press release states '...the band's crushing and melancholic musical style is an ode to darker alternative music torchbearers like Type O Negative, HIM, David Bowie, Gary Numan, and Nine Inch Nails.' For once, I actually checked out the song, it was not bad. The Nocturnal Affair will be touring with Smile Empty Soul on their 20th Anniversary Tour, alongside opening act The Stone Eye, starting May 20th.

The Empty Space is the latest horror film from Bayview Entertainment. This was directed by Andrew Jara, and stars Valerie Alene, Joe Sinclitico and Rachel Olsen and releases on Blu-ray on May 30th. It tells the story of Aimee Andrews, who after the violent death of her boyfriend has began to struggle with her mental health. Just as she feels ready to finally move on, her boyfriend returns from the beyond, with Aimee having to confront her fears to find out who or what has come back, and what they want from her. Surprisingly, I even watched the trailer for this one, got to respect someone who wears the same hat no matter the occasion was my thoughts on it.