Category: Reviews
FrightFest: All Cheerleaders Die
Not a bad parody of 90s high-school horror, but its deliberate clichés fall short.
FrightFest: Housebound
It is not just in its writing and direction that Housebound excels; the production design is a feast for the eyes.
FrightFest: Wolfcop
With its icky transformation scenes, lashings of blood and gore, and bizarre sense of humour, this has cult stamped all over it.
FrightFest: The Last Showing
With frustratingly little to sink one's teeth into, the film is just as forgettable as the formulaic films it seeks to mock.
FrightFest: Late Phases
The inevitable showdown is a hoot, but overall, a throwaway experience that should have spent more time in development.
Camp Dread
Tries to pass itself off as self-aware, but in the end it is, disappointingly, a rather vacuous and plodding mess.
Subversive Horror Cinema
An exhaustively researched, largely successful attempt to analyse the subversive qualities inherent in the horror cinema.
Willow Creek
With long takes, reliance on sound and suggestion, and chilling climax, it is one of the better found-footage titles.
After
With its engaging themes of destiny, fate, and redemption, After emerges as a strangely touching and haunting film.
Halloween (Devil’s Advocates)
A joy to read; insightful and well researched, it serves as encouragement to return to Halloween once again.
Sheer Filth!
Sheer Filth was one of the more eclectic fanzines, covering not only cutting-edge exploitation but strange music and literature.
The Best British Horror 2014
Not all of the tales are memorable but overall The Best British Horror 2014 is an agreeable, worthwhile anthology.
The Quiet Ones
A script crying for a horror backbone is frustratingly weak for the most part, its tedious jump-scares no substitute.
Hatchet 3
The body count is huge, the dialogue abysmal, the story perfunctory at best, yet the enthusiasm ensures it's never tiresome.
Ghost Stories
The promised 'extreme shock and tension' is a baffling assurance; what we have here is far from a true horror production.
Devil in the Woods
Delivers a number of tired tropes amidst a bland screenplay that largely consists of tedious, drawn-out padding.
We Are What We Are (2013)
Carefully conceals the cannibalism at its heart in favour of the examination of familial roles, rites of passage and ritualism.
Blackout
An incredible amount of humour, and the weird-for-the-sake-of-weird mentality is not just ballsy, but also highly entertaining.
Only Lovers Left Alive
Rich characterisation, an intriguing premise and delicately handled direction enhance this full-blooded yarn.
All Roads Lead to Hell
Buchan excels at short and twisted love stories, but it’s Simmonds’ graphic artwork that makes the author's prose shine.
The Thing (Devil’s Advocates)
An excellent study in its own right, well researched, informative and intelligently written in a clear, presentable style.
The Complex
Atmospheric and beautifully shot, it may not take any original paths, but should appeal to admirers of Japanese horror cinema.
Frankenstein (TV Miniseries, 2004)
A bloodless take that merely skims the surface of the story’s rich depth. Uninspiring direction further renders this dreary.
Shackled
A wonderful beginning to a story that promises surreal, and what follows calls to mind David Lynch in its dreamlike quality.
The People Under the Stairs
While it is often overlooked, it is an effective horror flick with a dark sense of unease that is still incredibly palpable.
My Amityville Horror
My Amityville Horror poses many questions, but by the film’s conclusion, very few have actually been answered.
Lifeforce
Unstrained and anarchic, Lifeforce may not be considered Hooper’s best work, but it’s certainly one of his most wildly entertaining.
Sharknado
Fearless in its idea, but disappointingly lacks the direction and acting needed to pull off its own wacky intellections.
Insidious: Chapter 2
Although the plot loses some of its intrigue, Wan superbly distracts us with his talent to make the audience feel constantly unsettled.
FrightFest: Big Bad Wolves
Deftly balancing genres, it's a remarkable script that never misses a beat, truly belying the writers' inexperience.
FrightFest: In Fear
A smart screenplay delivers an effective psychological thriller that wastes no time in initiating a tension that remains taut.
FrightFest: Missionary
Anthony DiBlasi maintains a firm hand on the reins and ensures Missionary slow-burns its way to a satisfying and moving finale.
FrightFest: No One Lives
Ryûhei Kitamura's second US venture is a riot; revelling in its throwaway nonsense, it's fun from the get-go and knows it.
FrightFest: The Paranormal Diaries – Clophill
One hell of a dull time, with nothing other than repetitive speculation to lull one to sleep.
FrightFest: Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman
Crams in every bit of exploitation style it can into the first 10 minutes alone.
FrightFest: Rewind This!
Nothing but fun is to be had here, the film a catalogue of gore and nudity posing as a behind-the-scenes survey of SFX techniques.
FrightFest: Haunter
Showcases a great deal of devil in its detail, with a tight-knit, metaphysical framework that may require multiple viewings.
FrightFest: 100 Bloody Acres
The upbeat tone is maintained so thoroughly that, even when the blood rises in gouts, it doesn't dampen the lightheartedness.
FrightFest: V/H/S/2
Improves on the formula established by the original film; by slim-lining the segments, and by featuring fewer, the impact is undeniable.
FrightFest: Wither
An entertaining if not very original demonic possession slash zombie gorefest that, at the very least, showcases energy and zest.
FrightFest: Hansel and Gretel – The 420 Witch
Incredibly fun with some fantastic gore, but falls just short of its own expectations.
FrightFest: Antisocial
Compare Antisocial to projects with similar production constraints, and there is no parallel in terms of cinematic experience.
FrightFest: The Dyatlov Pass Incident
The final act crosses the line between fantastical to slightly amusing ridiculousness.
Possession
Stark, exhilarating and utterly lacking in compromise, Andrzej Zulawski's film is an emotionally brutal watch.
The Seasoning House
A sense of conviction and commitment to realism prevents the film from seeming an exercise in exploitation.
Infection Z
Flounders between drafts, as confused as its one-dimensional characters. A jarring edit does nothing to help matters.
Hellsing Ultimate Volume 5–8
Follows original events more closely and benefits from this with a much more coherent and progressive storyline.
La Belle Dame sans Merci
A read with huge amounts of intrigue; there are enough unanswered questions to leave the reader looking forward to part two.