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The Rotting Zombie's Round-Up of Horror News for October 2025 (Late Edition) 8:52 AM (9 hours ago)

The official trailer, poster and first images of Scream 7 are now available. I am hideously behind in the series, so this will be the third new one in a row that I haven't been able to get too excited about. From a distance I do always think the art design for the posters is great. As a series this will always hold a special place in my heart, I still remember the night me, my sister, and friend watched the brand new release of Scream on VHS; the film that really cemented my love for the horror genre.
Enough about me...Directed by Kevin Williamson, Scream 7 story has a new Ghostface killer appearing in the quiet town where series icon - Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has built a new life. She discovers her daughter (Isabel May) is the next target of the demented slasher.

The official trailer and poster for the Johannes Roberts directed Primate is out now. The first I heard of this was me and my friend having the trailer pop up about it, we both agreed it did look like it could be entertaining. From what I recall of it, the film is about a group of friends whose pet chimpanzee has gone murderous, something like that. Primate comes to UK cinemas on January 30th next year.

Someone Dies! (2024) - Comedy Sci-fi Film Review 5 Nov 12:49 PM (yesterday, 12:49 pm)

An apparent detective (Joseph Graham - Nothing Really Happens) turns up at an apartment complex with a desperate quest in mind. He has received a letter in the post stating his young daughter has been kidnapped, and that to get her back he needs to go to this apartment address to do something or other. Pretending to be a police detective, he gets access to the place where he discovers a small but assertive young woman - Jane (Amy Anderson who also co-wrote this), she had gone to the flat to purchase a small Japanese sword from the owner; dim but kind hearted Glenn (John Wessling - Coming Out). The detective assumes they are not to be trusted and so goes a bit manic, threatening the pair with a gun. Things calm down enough to the point where the trio form a uneasy truce, and together they discover that under the sink in the kitchen, for whatever reason, is a time machine, and that this has to be linked to the kidnapper's letter.

This is a bizarre and crazy indie film that delights in its eccentric cast and zany situation. For the majority of the movie it is just the three characters, each unique and memorable in their own way. The detective is like a bull in a china shop, his over the top and outlandish behaviour made him very appealing, even if his character is meant to be not the best person. He really reminded me of Saul from Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, but in a detective form. I enjoyed how extreme his behaviour is from the get-go, how he seems to effortlessly draw people into his mad plans and theories. Glenn was a close second favourite, this mild mannered loveable idiot had some of the best dialogue within the film. Then there is Jane, someone whose personality isn't as extreme, but plays the 'straight man' archetype, pointing out flaws in the other characters reasoning, and acting as a mediator, attempting to understand the detective while not being shy to point out his many flaws. In general terms, the dialogue was Someone Dies! strongest point. For all the plots of time travelling cupboards and kidnapped daughters, the meat of the story is the three characters talking with each other.

I found the core story to be a little too confusing, of course with time travel stories that is often the case. I always felt like there were some core parts of the plot that I just didn't clock, something that isn't always helped by the way it is presented to the viewer. The detective arrives in the story due to the letter about kidnapping he receives. This letter seems to have a lot to it, but is never shown on screen for long enough a time to be able to be read. This led to blind spots for me, I wasn't entirely sure why he had gone to the apartment, nor what he was meant to be doing while there. At some point the carrying storyline moves from rescuing his daughter, to wanting to travel back in time so that he can be a better father to her. I didn't really understand why the other characters get so caught up in this with him, as a lot of the threat is perceived and not actually real. Time travel doesn't feature too much, but there are some parts to it. Early on for instance, the detective shoots Glenn. Later in the film his arm is suddenly fine, but instead the man has a missing eye. I liked how unexplained the time travel part was, characters never really understand where exactly things are sent in time to.

In addition to the clever dialogue there are visual gags, including a recurring idea that I loved. Much of the film is silent in terms of soundtrack, but music does appear for dramatic moments. In a genius move, this music is always manually initiated by characters, due to a music deck they have. So for instance, after the detective is shot at while in his car, tense music begins as he flees back to the apartment. Heading in, he sees Jane and Glenn dancing to the soundtrack, which is shown to be playing on the tape deck. This recurring joke of the music being actually within the movie was wonderful, I never got sick of that. As clever as the plot seemed to be though, the core carrying line never clicked with me, I always felt a bit bemused and confused as to what was going on, that did get in the way of my complete enjoyment.

Someone Dies! had an undeniable charm to it. It did get exhausting at times playing catch-up to the characters who seemed like they knew what is going on, I wish some parts of this had been explained better. This indie comedy sci-fi film was entertaining, great characters and fun moments led to something that was neat to watch. Someone Dies! had it's digital release on Amazon on October 21st.

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Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1 'A Tight Squeeze' (2021-22) - Horror Video Game Review 4 Nov 7:17 AM (2 days ago)

The Lighthouse (2019) - Horror Film Review 3 Nov 12:39 PM (3 days ago)

In 1890, an old lighthouse keeper (Willem Dafoe - Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) and his new assistant (Robert Pattinson - The Batman) have arrived at the remote island where the lighthouse they are due to work at is located. The keeper tells the young man that he is exclusively going to tend to the light during night shifts during the four weeks they are stationed there. This is seen as strange as it goes against regulations not to split the shifts, but it soon becomes clear that the old man sees the light as something almost religious, and jealously guards the entrance to it. After a terrible storm prevents the boat from the mainland coming to collect them at the end of their allotted time, the two men's sanity slowly erodes over being stranded on the small barren island.

I was enthralled with The Lighthouse from the beginning. The small non-wide screen view, the black and white footage, and the serious acting had me drawn in to this world. The film mainly features just the two characters, this becomes the most fascinating part of the movie as both iconic actors nail their roles, easily able to carry much of the film on their own shoulders. Dafoe as the wonderfully stereotypical sounding former sailor shone throughout. Pattinson was as good in different ways, but neither character was likeable or even intended to be. There became a feeling of all this being part of some metaphor with the increasingly surreal and hallucinogenic images, such as the assistant discovering a mermaid out on the rocks, or the keeper's strange worship of the lighthouse light. This increasingly descent into madness is reflective of the characters who both go very off the rails. The meat of the movie seemed to be the complex relationship they had with each other, almost like a dysfunctional father and son one. Vast chunks of the film felt a bit like a multi-episode Dragonball Z fight, instead of fists, the two adversaries taking it in turns to verbally decimate the other.

From the strong start I had high hopes for this, but the horror I desired never really came. I actually found the first part prior to the breakdown in sanity to be the more enjoyable part. The crazed later scenes ended up going on for so long that they felt a little stretched out past my particular patience. I get it wasn't the point of The Lighthouse, but I wish there had been more of a storyline that reached some sort of conclusion. The mystery of what the deal with the light is, is never revealed, nor more major plot points.
On the flipside of the plot, the actual filmmaking was very impressive. At times this gave me a real vibe of old black and white drama films from the 1950s. This is much more a drama than a horror, but the absurdist characters give plenty of moments to put some humour in, even if that is always tinged with an element of malice. The manic binge drinking scenes were a real delight.

The Lighthouse was obviously a very impressive film, something that the filmmaking and acting combine to make happen. Personally, while it never got anywhere near as terrible as Mother!, this still ended up going on for longer than I desired it to be, the last half hour in particular where it became more abstract. The Lighthouse can currently be streamed on Prime Video, though it is due to leave the service in about a week.

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The Black Phone (2021) - Horror Film Review 31 Oct 10:06 AM (6 days ago)

Based on a Joe Hill story of the same name (Stephen King's son), this creepy horror takes place in a small American town in 1978. There has been a spate of kidnappings of local children in the area which the police have been powerless to stop. The press have came to call the perpetrator 'The Grabber' due to the method they have of abducting their victims off the street in broad daylight. Finney (Mason Thames - How to Train Your Dragon) is a shy young boy who has been hearing about the rumours of the abductor, but has just been getting on with life. One day while walking home he encounters a magician struggling to get supplies into his van. Really not showing much common sense, Finny goes to help the man, only to get abducted - for this is the notorious 'Grabber'! He awakes in a soundproofed basement, his abductor promising he won't hurt the boy. There is a black phone in the basement, and despite being disconnected, occasionally it rings. For reasons unknown, this phone has supernatural abilities, allowing Finney to converse with previous victims, and by talking to these shadows, he begins to use their combined knowledge to try and find a way to escape. 
Meanwhile, his younger sister - Gwen (Madeline McGraw - Toy Story 4 voicework, Ant-Man and the Wasp), begins to have disturbing dreams that seem to hint as to the location of her kidnapped brother.

Much like with Nicolas Cage in Longlegs, the antagonist here is someone who is rarely featured, and becomes a more powerful and intimidating villain as a result. Hawke is on fine form here, short on dialogue, but big on creeps with the expertly designed demon mask he wears. I loved how the mask had interchangeable parts to it, when he is in a bad mood for instance, the mask is reflected by the lower half having an angry scowl to it. The Grabber was an interesting character, seeming to have almost split personalities going on with the way he acts differently based on his look. Little is revealed about this movie maniac, not any kind of explanation for who he is, or why he is doing what he is. This just makes him more compelling. The wrench in the works to change this from being another movie about a deranged murderous kidnapper is the supernatural element. Rather than have this be something only Finney experiences, it is made clear that the killer also hears it's unexplainable rings, but in his derangement has convinced himself it is all a trick of his mind. A large part of Finney's story takes place in the basement, the phone calls he has to prior victims represented by them standing around near him in a ghost form, bloodied and beaten as they were when they were murdered.

Coming from the director of Sinister (one of the scariest films I have seen in my humble opinion), I had hoped this would be equally scary. It isn't, but that isn't to downplay the atmosphere and lovely seventies vibe of the film. Dream sequences are often shown with blurry footage, as if they were being recorded on a Super 8 camera, and there are some arthouse style moments of the killer standing around looking suitably disturbing. The story, split between Finney's imprisonment and his sister's journey of her own, kept things from getting dull. For Finney, it is a journey of learning to finally stick up for himself, for Gwen, it is about accepting the powers she seems to have acquired from her late mother.
Violence crops up throughout the movie, though the actual on-screen body count is surprisingly low. It culminates in a satisfying and apparently conclusive finale.

I like Hawke in pretty much anything, so seeing him play a bad guy here was a treat. Sure, I understand why he doesn't get too much screentime, but his scene stealing scenes were a little too much few and far between. A sequel has recently released that appears to double down on the supernatural element, turning the Grabber into more of a Freddy Kruger type dream-invader. I will have to check that out, but for The Black Phone, I felt the blend of crazed killer and ghosts made for a unique feeling blend.

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Dr. Fright's Halloween Nights Presents Horrorfest (2025) - Horror Scare Maze Review 30 Oct 9:33 AM (7 days ago)

It is the beautiful month of Halloween once again and I find myself returning once again to Dr. Fright's Halloween Nights, this time under the Horrorfest banner. I first went two years ago for Route 666 and loved it, but heading back last year for Route 666 Vol. 2 I felt a little disappointed as it really was quite similar. As in previous years, for 2025 it is split into seven different horror mazes, the only difference being the seven mazes were split between four differently named tents. Was this third time the charm, and was there any innovation in the format?

With a 19:00 slot on Saturday 25th October we seem to have picked a great time. There was the shortest queue yet to getting into the maze, and throughout the queues were minimal. By the time we were leaving, the entry line had really gotten quite deep, so lucky us! The flipside if you can call it that is that this was the quickest we have gotten through the mazes yet, my friend estimated it was roughly half an hour from starting to coming out the end into the glorious food area. Ticket prices had definitely gone up, under £20 on our first visit, this time I believe tickets were around £30 each, similar to last year.

Abattoir (2016) - Horror Film Review 29 Oct 9:26 AM (8 days ago)

After her sister and nephew are brutally murdered in their home, investigative reporter Julia Talben (Jessica Lowndes - 90210 TV series) becomes obsessed with trying to find an explanation for it. She discovers that quickly after the tragedy took place, someone purchased the house and removed the room of the crime from it. This leads her down a rabbit hole where she first discovers that a mysterious person named Jebediah Crane (Dayton Callie - Fear the Walking Dead TV series, Halloween II) has spent the past fifty years or so purchasing the buildings where murders took place and removing the room that was the crime scene. She then learns an even stranger fact; each of the victims had originally lived in a small town called New English. With the hat-trick of surprises culminating in Julia discovering her birth mother (who she never knew) also happened to come from New English, she decides to travel to the remote town, with her ex-boyfriend - detective Declan Grady (Joe Anderson - Horns, The Crazies) hot on her heels. There she discovers a town-wide conspiracy spreading back decades, the elusive Jebediah Crane, and a huge mansion made entirely out of murder rooms.

I didn't expect much from this horror, but it was actually a lot different to what I expected it to be. I had thought this would be a Seven clone, taking place in a city with a serial killer on the loose. Instead, it was something entirely different. While not Lovecraftian in nature, this does include a unique and strange town that holds a terrible secret, so there was some crossover.
Immediately apparent was the sometimes terrible script. Some characters fare better than others, and some manage to make their cheesy lines work and some struggle with them. The worst character for me was Grady, he comes across as the most stereotypical hard-boiled detective imaginable, all of his lines just sounded so artificial and corny, a feeling that Julia seems to mimic in every scene she is with the man. Some characters seemed to be given life by the script. A mid-movie highlight was the eccentric Allie (Lin Shaye - Ouija: Origin of Evil, Insidious), and for a time I thought she was going to be the stand-out actor in the movie. She effortlessly stole every scene she was in, but there was a second character who came to be the most interesting to me. I thought Callie was fantastic as the antagonist. There was a slight feeling of Needful Things to him, and the backstory that he had apparently been to Hell and managed to return was decent. He doesn't appear a huge amount, but when he does it always made for some enjoyable scenes.

This had elements of a mystery, a thriller, and a horror to it, with each act feeling like a slightly different genre of movie. Things really got interesting in the short third act, in which the house of murder finally makes its appearance for the final twenty minutes of the roughly 100 minute horror. A feeling of Thir13en Ghosts to this part, and despite some CG that wasn't the best, I had also seen far far worse. I loved the set design for this. Truth be told, I did really enjoy this part of the movie. There is a decent amount of horror here, but it was often diluted by that aforementioned weak script. Some parts did stand-out, such as a videotape Julia receives of her sister's murder, and an old projector that shows Jebediah back in his glory days.

A film about a mansion made up of stolen rooms where people have been murdered was a really cool idea. It was a shame that the movie took so darn long to actually get to that part, I wish the third act had lasted longer than the scant twenty minutes we are given. I did enjoy the whole mystery aspect from before that bit, but I felt that the story was never really explained too well. I didn't look too closely, but I had the feeling I would be able to pick holes in things if I had done so. Abattoir was a better film than I had expected, and certainly had its moments, but the weak script and some odd story decisions meant this just missed out on being a classic.

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Fortnitemares 2025 - Thoughts on the Halloween event 28 Oct 9:25 AM (9 days ago)

The story in recent years has really began to suffer in Fortnite, with it relegated to just an excuse for the new season to exist. It shouldn't be a surprise then that the introduction of 'Fortnitemares' was quite jarring. Elsewhere we had been in the middle of a season about battling a giant bug invasion, but that was swiftly punted out the window with zero fanfare in order to bring horror to the chapter 6 island. The changes much as last year, are vast, lots and lots of giant pumpkin decorations and Halloween decorations in general popping up over the map. There are also a variety of new P.O.I's that have appeared. The 'Fortnitemares' challenges result in you earning a cool original skin of a killer wearing a pig mask.

First with the main Battle Royale mode. What little story there is links the invasion of horror to Doja Cat of all people! For some reason, Epic have decided she is the face of 'Fortnitemares' 2025, with her appearing in the game as a boss character under the name 'Mother of Thorns'. She isn't the only new boss on the map however, she is joined by the returning original creation Ultima Carver (basically a pumpkin knight), as well as the iconic Jason Vorhees from Friday the 13th films! There is also a camp based location added that you might encounter the hockey-mask wearing maniac at. Classic Halloween items such as the pumpkin launcher and witches broomstick return, but these pale in comparison to the new Scream weapon added to the game. Head into a phone box and you emerge dressed as Ghost Face, complete with large knife and a phone with which you can use to highlight any enemies in the area.
Over in OG Battle Royale things are more muted, the map gets a Halloween makeover and some classic weapons, but that's about it. Horde Mode once again returns. In this mode you usually battle hordes of zombies, culminating in a large boss fight. There is a crossover this year with K-Pop Demon Hunters, with you able to hire them to fight alongside you, as well as use their unique powers. The zombies have been swapped out for surprisingly bland looking demons, but there is the addition of extra boss fights, including a neat one against a giant ghostly banana character.
Most interesting for me was with Reload. A brand new island has been released; Nitemare Island. As the name suggests, this is pure horror based, with locations such as 'Spooky Suburbs', 'Creepy Cabins', and 'Retail Ruin'. I really don't enjoy Reload as a game mode, but it was very cool to have a whole map dedicated to horror.

As always, the changes and new modes are just one half of the coin, with horror themed skins being the other. This year has been the most expensive yet if you wish to get all the crossovers and unique creations. There has been so many this year. Crossovers include Friday the 13th, Poppy Playtime, Wednesday, Terrifier, The Black Phone, Scream, and even the cast of Scooby-Doo have appeared, complete with the Mystery Mobile as a vehicle type you could buy. Original skins have also been strong - a magma version of Ultima Carver, werewolves, vampires, and my personal favourite original skin - a monstrous knight with a huge mouth in its stomach area.

I realise it is quite sad to spend money on digital skins in a video game, but I see 'Fortnitemares' as my version of Christmas. It really makes the month of October feel more special. I might not agree with many of the extortionate costs of the skins and accessories, but I have really enjoyed this year's 'Fortnitemares', would recommend.

Paranormal Investigations (2025) - Horror Film Review 22 Oct 8:22 AM (15 days ago)

This has turned out to be a lengthy review. I thought Paranormal Investigations was a great film despite some little missteps. It would have been nicer to have a little more variety during the third act, and it would have worked better with a more authentic looking antagonist, but I enjoyed the flawed characters and their internal bickering, and I really did adore the way the movie was presented and edited together, quietly amusing. Director Raymond Wallace said of his film:

Jacker 3: Road to Hell (2025) - Thriller Film Review 17 Oct 8:29 AM (20 days ago)

Thirty years previously, a serial killer known as 'the Jacker' (Herman) went on a notorious killing spree, his modus operandi typically being to murder his victims during carjackings. Despite his large amount of victims, the police were never able to capture him due to the killer seemingly striking at random, before one day vanishing without a trace. Now, with no explanation other than possibly due to it being the anniversary of the original killings, the Jacker is back, once again creating a large kill-count. This causes Gloria (Debbie D - Phil Herman's Unearthed, Doomsday Stories) to reappear; a survivor of the original Jacker killing spree who went into hiding after he failed to kill her. Now she begins to have troubling nightmares about the man, seeming to have some type of psychic connection with the killer, and realising he is back she desperately tries to alert people.

Did I have much of an idea what was going on? No. Did I have a fun time watching this very low budget thriller? Hell yes. It begins with a prologue sequence in which a man shoots his wife dead, before being killed in turn by a policeman. Before he goes however, he is able to transfer his essence into his young son. I wasn't sure of the importance of this scene, but it does set up the murky possibility that the Jacker is supernatural in nature. This supernatural element doesn't appear heavily, but it is referenced again later in the film, and you could argue the many nightmare sequences characters have are also a cause of this.
The story is split between a multitude of characters, some of which only appear in order to become more victims for the serial killer, some who have their own little subplots going on, such as journalist Chris (Christopher Kahler - Phil Herman's Unearthed, He Sees You When You're Sleeping), and of course Gloria; the main protagonist but whose story mainly takes place away from the new killings. Jacker's storyline has him back on a meandering murder-spree, he of course kills people whose cars he has stolen from them, but also his fair share of home invasions, and happenstance while out walking the streets of the city. He makes for an entertaining villain, seeming to get pleasure out of his motive-less killings, and he talks a fair bit. It was also amusing that many people seem to recognise who he is before they are dispatched by him; the event from the past having left a scar on the city.

There are a whole bunch of death scenes, the Jacker's weapon of choice usually being a gun which he uses to single shot his victims. There are some closer kills, even one severed penis to be found here! Scenes typically have these characters begging for mercy, and occasionally even getting that mercy. Favourite of these had to be Butch Patrick (Eddie from The Munsters) playing a fictional version of himself outside a fan convention. There are a few scenes with female nudity, often feeling like these were only there for titillation. There were also various scenes that were played for comedic effect, with the indie feel of the film world these moments fitted in seamlessly with the more dramatic scenes. Perhaps part of his supernatural powers, perhaps just to make the film flow more smoothly; Jacker appears able to be exactly where he wants to be at any given point. He flits around between scenes, so one moment he will be invading a home, next scene he will be out walking in woodland, the next scene he will be meeting someone to try and buy guns, with no rhyme or reason to why he is where he is. He made for an entertaining antagonist, but he didn't make for a cohesive feeling character, a force of nature rather than anything deeper.

Despite being a bit lost as to what had come before, I enjoyed Jacker 3. I liked how the killer wasn't needlessly cruel, living to kill, not living to torture, and I liked the cheerful way he goes about things. The plot involving Gloria did feel very disconnected to his storyline, at times this slightly felt like two separate movies playing out in the same film universe. Jacker 3: Road to Hell was an entertaining indie thrill ride. Don't always expect the strongest of acting (especially during the amusingly wooden news segments), and don't expect too much plot, but this was a solid indie film which never became dull.

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The Rotting Zombie's News Anthology for Thursday 16th October 2025 16 Oct 8:22 AM (21 days ago)

Retro slasher Brute 1976 is now available on VOD and Digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Vimeo On Demand, and YouTube Movies via Cinephobia Releasing. This Marcel Walz (Pretty Boy) directed slasher earned a respectable 7/10 rotted zombie heads in my August review, where I stated 'Brute 1976 wears its inspirations on its sleeve, and it benefits from not trying to pretend it is something wholly original'.

Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2024) - Comedy Horror Film Review 15 Oct 11:24 AM (22 days ago)

An epidemic has swept America in which drug users have become addicted to a dangerous new type of bath salt. The side effects cause the addicts to wander around in a stupor, attacking anyone who gets within reach, as well giving the addicts a taste for human flesh. Liz Topham-Myrtle (Butler) is the landlady of a remote housing block, knowing her tenants have nowhere else to go, she rules over them with an iron-fist. She takes advantage of them, pitting them against each other, and changing their tenancy agreements on a whim. With the police wrapped around her little finger, and with martial law close to being called due to the nationwide bath salt epidemic, Liz is making her own little empire. The tenants, angry at their treatment by her, have began to rebel, leading to a series of events that have drastic consequences.

The general idea behind this film I liked. I appreciated the zombie sub-plot, and while not literal zombies, these addicts filled the role well. It was always suggested that out on the streets is carnage, with the addicted out in force, but this never came across that strongly on screen. With a muted zombie outbreak, there was also a muted response to it, which did make the threat of them seem over-exaggerated. Butler was scene stealing in his lead role. It is really obvious it isn't an actual old lady, but this gives the character a really surreal appearance that just added to her commanding role. The quick fire matter of fact way the character speaks was often mesmerising, even if she was a detestable character. That became my core issue with much of the movie, how unlikeable virtually the entire cast are. Even characters on the more good side of things still appeared to be horrid people. Rosie (Kimberley Weinberger) was set-up to be the protagonist, but was barely better than the rest of the horrid cast. When there are no characters to like, it becomes hard to care about any of them or their fates. This is reflected within the film itself, as the cast of characters are all back stabbing and out for themselves, even with a high body count, these characters don't appear to particularly care about all the death going on around them.

Special effects delighted at times, there are more than a couple of severed limbs, a load of corpses, and one quite entertaining scene involving a chainsaw! The 'zombies' for want of a better term, do get some classic moments such as tearing open people's stomachs, and there is a bit of decent looking gunfire effects as well.
With the movie taking place near entirely at the dusty desert compound, the look fitted the downtrodden story well. It doesn't take much to see this is partly a critique against the housing situation in America, while also speaking out about corruption and racism.

The set-up for Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea was good, I liked the addition of a dangerous epidemic sweeping the country. I do wish there had been more characters to root for, this had an almost Shakespearean quality of betrayal and arrogance behind the story, but with this cast of nasty people, it was hard to care about any of it too deeply.

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Sincerely Saul (2025) - Comedy Horror Film Review 13 Oct 4:56 AM (24 days ago)

Saul (Ryan Schafer - Everybody Dies by the End), is a 26 year old man who never really grew up. He lives with his terminally ill grandma (Mickey Faerch - Memory: The Origins of Alien), doesn't work, and is a member of a support group for involuntary male virgins. Him and his grandma have a love/hate relationship, he does care for her, but he is also adverse to 'borrowing' money off of her for his obsession with an online cam-girl and his desire to fulfil his perceived happiness needs.

Saul is a hard protagonist to like but even so he does have some redeeming qualities buried deep down. Being a comedy horror, I expected there would be a tipping point where the Napoleon Dynamite styled character would go on a bloody rampage. Much like a child however, Saul is all bark and no bite, ineffectually having tantrums rather than actually causing people physical harm. He is barely able to speak normally, acting like a sullen teenager when answering questions from the people he encounters in his life. These characters are an eccentric bunch of weirdos and odd-balls. From the 'friendly' Officer Porter (Karl Backus - Skin: The Movie) whose close relationship with his mother feels rather forced, to the long suffering comic book clerk (Ty Mabrey in his film debut), there is virtually no one here who comes across as normal. My favourite side character had to be the nerdy bow-tie vlogger that befriends Saul at one point. The interaction between Saul and his grandma was the strongest part of character development. From their strange relationship you get a sense that Saul is the way he is due to his family, the grandma at times seeming like an older mirror of the troubled man.

There isn't that much that happens, the film feeling like a snapshot of a few weeks of the protagonists life. He begins the movie trying to kill himself, and threatens to several times over the 95 minute runtime, but you get the sense it is all for show. I couldn't see how there could be a happy ending for such a dysfunctional man, the snapshot approach works in that there doesn't really need to be a resolution. The film ends with some characters in better positions, some characters in worse positions, but on the whole most characters have little to no growth to them; they are all too set in their ways. I liked how a potentially huge plot point of a vast forest fire that Saul inadvertently caused just bubbles away in a severe side plot, only occasionally referenced. This matches with the film's weird humour, it always felt funny in a round-about way. The horror mainly comes from the situation Saul has grown into, it was hard to see how this 'neckbeard' would be able to rise above his issues. A nightmare sequence towards the end features the most horror to be found here, the rest of the movie having a more drama focussed (though exaggerated) approach.

Sincerely Saul made for an interesting movie. The stripped back story combined with the stark black and white look made something that was different enough to keep my attention throughout despite not too much going on. Saul was a unique lead, definitely hard to like, but there was also something pathetically innocent about how he is in his miserable existence. Sincerely Saul was released on 29th September.

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Scurry (2024) - Horror Film Review 11 Oct 1:45 AM (26 days ago)

Overall I was impressed with Scurry. There were a few parts that didn't resonate as well, but it managed to tell its ambitious story effectively, the underground setting meaning a lot of the bigger picture stuff is assumed to be happening above ground. The 'one-shot' gimmick obviously doesn't mean one single uncut shot for the whole film, with the amount of times scenes are plunged into darkness, I am sure there are a lot  of scene cuts. What worked with this was the feeling of one long, single journey. From the camera swooping in from a chaotic city scene to centre on an unconscious Mark at film's start, to the amazing finish, this showed the entire torturous journey of the protagonists. This means the entire seventy minute movie plays out in real time, characters experiencing the events and getting to know each other at the exact same speed as the viewer.
Mark was a mostly great character. Sure, the man had his demons in his past, but he comes across as empathetic, caring, and an all-round good guy. I will admit he did begin to grate on me a bit in the momentum stalling scene deep in the third act, his dialogue there causing me to laugh out loud. He was also hardy, seeing as how he had a gaping hole the size of a small letterbox in his stomach from a film's start injury! The same can't be said for the woman (also hardy with a bad leg injury; I mean she can't said to be a nice character). From her first appearance she was selfish, mean spirited, bullying, and a little bit narcissistic. No matter what Mark said or did, she would treat him terribly, scoffing at the idea of him wanting to get back to his 'perfect family', and putting her needs ahead of his. Pretty much treated him like he was a side character in her own movie rather than a duel protagonist. Armed with a pistol, she holds the power, making Mark crawl behind her, and taking his items (such as his lighter) off of him. At one point she even forces him to head back down an occupied tunnel in order to collect mystery drugs she had dropped. She eventually gets more bearable, but for too much of the runtime I was wishing the character would just get over themselves and found them overly irritating.

The characters are in dark tunnels for much of the movie, sometimes the one shot uses this to cool advantage, such as panning back to reveal a monster is obliviously digging in a tunnel above them, or to sweep down a hole to show the viewer what is making the noise the characters can hear. It also pans away to flashback sequences in a clever fashion. Many of the effects seem to use CG, such as the panning shots, but they never looked bad, and added depth to the world of the film. There is more action than you might expect, the humans are surrounded by monsters, but those are not particularly aware of these survivors trying to find a way out. There are plenty of small exciting moments, the third act begins with a really entertaining scene that had me giggle out loud, and which saw the duo covered in blood! The creatures look like giant crabs ("giant enemy crabs; hit weak points for massive damage" to paraphrase a much memed Sony 2006 E3 press conference). The darkness of the film means they are often in shadow enough that the design and look-in film is effective.
The story had me engaged enough that I wanted to see Mark survive; to see if he could be reunited with his family. Both characters had their melodramatic cheesy moments where they lay their cards on the table, reveal to each other their darkest secrets. Those felt a little bit formulaic for this type of film, but were at least brief. Being biased towards him, Mark's one was much better than the woman's. There is some lore that is dropped towards the end about the threat they face that threatens to turn the film into a parody of itself, but it paves the way for the memorable Sam Raimi-esque ending zinger that was just perfect, even if the explanation was utterly ridiculous.

Apart from a dip in pacing in the middle of the third act, I really enjoyed Scurry. Mark was a great protagonist for the most part, and at least the woman eventually becomes more bearable. I might not have liked the character, but she was played well, as was Costa's Mark outside of one small stumble. It sold the illusion of being one unbroken shot beneath the streets and sewers of a city well, I enjoyed the CG effects to pad out the world, and the unique ways the film had of displaying key information to the viewer. The dank environments felt suitably claustrophobic. Scurry came to Digital HD on October 3rd in North America via Signature Entertainment.

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Retrofate (2025) by Assassun - Music Album Review 10 Oct 2:41 AM (27 days ago)

Things begin with the sneering and angry sounding 'Poisonalan', its assortment of repetitive beat carrying the track along. 'At the Kiwi Crates' is the weirdly titled and weird on the whole second song. The lyrics sung in a kind of rap beat are very odd, loved it, and I also loved the dirty back beat thudding away throughout.
'1995' is where the retro EDM rave sound begins to appear more frequently. This is the start of a downward descent deeper and deeper into awesome sounding EDM music. 'Past/I N B E T W E E N/Future' has even more of a rave-like feel, the music here is amazing, with what sounded like chiptune style music at times, and entertaining lyrics. Then 'D.E.A.T.H'. goes even further into the EDM wastelands with an evil sound to it, loved the backing beat. 

Following the sarcastic EDM roadtrip 'The Sons of the United Plagues' we get to 'Abysmalism', a track both dramatic and experimental with the lyrics almost becoming spoken word. 'Off the Globe' is the end of the really grimy sounding back beats, another good example of it, those backing beats are so great. Penultimate track 'GATEKEEPER' may just be my favourite on the whole album, I'm not a fan of the genre, but it was still a surprising delight to hear parts where a drum n' bass beat kicks in for some high energy sounding moments that were fun. Finally comes the more slow and introspective finisher 'The Concrete of Time'. A bit surreal, and a very slight opening feel of a The Streets song, this had some good parts scattered throughout its weird journey.

I seem to say this every time, but I once again loved Assassun's latest album; Retrofate, delighted with its abundance of grotty sounding EDM (in the best way). blended with the lovely post-punk industrial sound. There was a good stretch of the album where every song was better than the one that came before. Enjoyed this one more than I had initially expected to.

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Drive Back (2024) - Horror Film Review 9 Oct 12:23 AM (28 days ago)

Olivia (Whit Kunschik - Caged) and her partner Reid (Zack Gold) have gotten lost out in the wooded backroads of America while driving back from their engagement party at Reid's parents house. Finding a remote gas station, the couple ask the eccentric old woman they discover there how to get back to where they need to be. She then reveals to them a secret short cut via a road passing through the middle of a thick wood that only the locals know about, and directs them on how to find it. Things begin to go odd as soon as they arrive on the short cut - time appears to be passing strangely, each of them begin to have memory lapses about things that have only just happened, and they encounter a very hostile hitchhiker. Then they begin to notice familiar landmarks they are certain they have passed before, and it is discovered they they appear trapped in some time of loop, no matter which way they drive, they come across the same stretch of road.

As I said in my prologue, there were many parts of Drive Back that felt very similar to ideas used in similar films. A bickering couple, a dangerous cloaked stranger, seeing past and future versions of yourselves; all are cool ideas, but none of them are original. There were some parts here that felt a little more fresh. It wasn't implemented well into the film, but I liked the concept of heading further into the future going one way down the road, and heading back into the past if heading the opposite direction. So, Reid and Olivia don't have the greatest chemistry together, something that is a key part of the drama going on between them. In addition to Olivia being pregnant, Reid is also still trying to come to terms with her having cheated on him in the past. More interesting was Reid's relationship with his survivalist father. This was important enough that the bleak prologue sequence shows an event that happened when Reid was a young boy on a hunting trip. Both protagonists were decent characters, the actors able to convey all the confusing story changes. Some of the highlight dialogue scenes were when the two were almost going insane due to the rapid fire memory alterations they were getting, the scene a dizzying quick edit to heighten the disorientation.

There is a decent effort to inject horror into this, characters frequently have really violent and gory nightmare sequences, and I have to say how much I liked the look of the blood here. When there is a call for blood, there is a heck of a lot of it. The location for the story was perfectly suited, designed to just be a part of the background. There are more characters to be found than just themselves, but the supporting cast are a mixed bunch of mostly mute antagonists who all look the same. Also, if you are after any sort of explanation for the loop-based terror going on, then you may be disappointed, but its typical of the sub-genre not to explain things.

After a promising start, Drive Back soon fell prey to the pitfalls of the genre. Focussed on just the two characters, it did feel a little samey at times, but it is when the two realise they are trapped in a loop that the film becomes more derivative. The hour and a half (or so) runtime felt exactly its length, with the middle part of the movie dragging somewhat. As for the end, not the worst way to finish a story, but also not the best way either. This is a decent example of this type of film, and I would recommend it over others I have seen in recent memory.

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The Creep Tapes (2024) - Horror Series Review 8 Oct 2:05 AM (29 days ago)

The second half of the season begins with 'Brad' in which the killer offers a true crime documentary maker the opportunity to film a real crime in progress, with penultimate episode 'Brandt' mainly just being Duplass' character on his own after the titular man fails to show up. Season finale 'Mom (and Albert)' is the biggest lore dump, with the killer visiting his equally insane mother and her new boyfriend. It is all as you would expect and there were no real revelations, and was also the least horror filled episode. Throughout the season, things were always entertaining but I was never blown away. I enjoyed the variation in these episodes but they remained relatively samey. Of course the iconic wolf costume 'Peachfuzz' makes plenty of appearances, even appearing to be sentient during 'Brandt'. The scenes where the victims come to understand the danger they are really in was always the highlight, Duplass plays his role to perfection, plenty of sudden jump scares by screaming at characters, and the chase sequences were always a lot of fun. The short length of the episodes prevents a feeling of slow pacing that can be the case in found footage feature lengths, with the story picking up at the most interesting point typically.

The Monkey (2025) - Comedy Horror Film Review 6 Oct 12:04 PM (last month)

Twin boys Hal and Bill are going through their father's belongings they find in the attic one day. They are hoping to learn more about the man, not having known him after he abandoned his family when they were very young. In with his possessions is a creepy looking wind-up monkey doll with a key ready to turn in its back. They soon come to learn that whenever this key is turned, and after the monkey has gone through its mechanical motions of banging a drum, someone near to them is killed in a most random way. The monkey chooses its own victim, something that is learned hard when it takes someone irreplicable away from them, and together they decide to get rid of the device.
Twenty five years after they chained it up and threw it down a deep well - Hal (Theo James - Divergent), now grown up and having lived an isolated life (in an effort to not give the monkey the opportunity to take anyone he cares about), learns of his aunt's untimely demise. He realises the monkey is back and ready to go on another killing spree of those that him and Bill are close to.

I have always been a big fan of the Final Destination series of films, so with this sharing some of that DNA, I was always going to like this. James plays both himself and twin-brother Bill and plays them both very weirdly. The comic vibe is very dark, but it also is quite playful and silly when it wants to be. It isn't only the events that are occurring that are humorously surreal, but also with the dialogue. Nearly all the characters within the film are very odd and strange, feeling like characters who know they are in a dark comedy horror. I was surprised by some big names who appeared here. There is a wonderful prologue featuring Adam Scott (Severance TV show), and I was happily surprised to see Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings series of films) appear for one short but amusing scene. Characters throughout were all so oddball in a unified amusing way. Perhaps my favourite side character being the very novice and out of his depth priest (Nicco Del Rio - Black Mirror TV episode 'Common People') who performs his funerals as if he is surprised to be the one leading them.
The first third of the film is led in narration by an adult Hal talking about his childhood. I hadn't expected the film to have a time skip, so hadn't expected one when it happened. The parts set in relatively modern day became even more strange. Hal is on a super awkward annual father/son road-trip meet-up with teenage son Petey (Colin O'Brien - Grey's Anatomy TV show) when the two get caught up in the re-emergence of the monkey and its murderous ways, Petey being emerged in the random chaos in  some often drily amusing scenes.

There are a heck of a lot of death scenes throughout the hundred minute horror (and a bunch of nightmare sequences), and not one of them is handled in a reserved manner. Each death is just as much, or more comedic than the death that came before, certainly played for laughs. A lot of inventiveness is shown, but a lot of these deaths also only occur during brief montage sequences. It was a mix of practical effects and CG, leading to a decent variation in silly kills. From a character who has the contents of a wasp hive fly into their mouth, to accidental beheading, accidental empaling, and my favourite;  a character who met their end (sadly offscreen) by being trampled to death by a pack of horses while they were in a sleeping bag while out camping. Much like the Final Destination films, these deaths are darkly comedic and often have a bit of set-up to them, though nothing quite as elaborate as that other series.
The monkey has a really creepy design to it, the editing and cinematography of the filmmaking really unit to create the feeling it is a cursed object and something to be feared. Able to appear where characters least expect it to be, this monkey was the highlight of the movie - impressive for a mostly inanimate object.

The Monkey was a film that I think would have worked just as well as a serious horror as to what Perkins made it into. At times I did wish it had been played more seriously, that toy design could have been used for some genuine scares. All in all, this was an amusing and frequently inventive film that mostly hit the mark. The Monkey is currently streaming on Prime Video.

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7eventh 7ircle (2025) - Short Horror Film Review 3 Oct 9:40 AM (last month)

Over sixteen minutes we get a series of tales that appear to be told from beyond life. It features various characters wearing creepy masks, hanging out and doing stuff. There are some demonic cultist type people out in woodland ready to sacrifice a doll, a family of cultists sat around a dinner table with their meal of sticks, among other such things. Mainly this is dialogue free, it had the feel more of a music video, with the expertly edited images going in time with the hypnotic beat of the music. What dialogue there was had some background interference to it but that didn't really detract from anything. Apparently, this short film is based on the seventh circle of Hell from Dante Alighieri's Inferno, a quick Google search reveals that is the circle for the sin of violence.

I won't even begin to pretend I understood what the purpose of any of this was. It made for a trippy quarter hour, and the mix between the images and sound was often sublime, was definitely something to experience. 7eventh 7ircle had it's world premiere on 5th September at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. It has it's hometown premiere in Asheboro on 11th December at the Sunset Theatre.

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Uncanny: Fear of the Dark (2025) - Supernatural Stage Show Review 2 Oct 9:56 AM (last month)

They say you should try and write reviews the same day as you see the thing you are reviewing. That sadly wasn't able to be the case here, so this is written some four days later, I'm sure there will be details I miss here, but the general feelings I have for it remain while typing!
Uncanny is a BBC podcast and TV show that has Danny Robbins as host. In the show he presents various alleged hauntings and comes across as someone completely neutral in the belief in ghosts. He also has two experts helping him, one expert who believes in the supernatural, and one expert who doesn't. Uncanny: Fear of the Dark is the second theatre production I have seen, having been to Uncanny: I Know What I Saw roughly a year ago.

The last stage production was made up of a deep dive into two different hauntings, one for each half, and most enjoyable so it was. For Fear of the Dark, this has been stretched out to now six different cases. Being a huge fan of anything anthology-like in style, this was music to my ears. There was more variation here than I thought, and being a low level fan of the show it included topics I had never seen Robbins explore.
It appeared that me, my father, and my sister, only noticed our tickets were each nowhere near each other right at the last moment before heading in to Northampton's Derngate theatre making for a bit of an amusing start. My seat was on the second floor in a box that was one away from the nearest to the stage. This meant that my view was partially restricted as it was a struggle to make out props that would often appear right at the back of the stage. That part wasn't good, what was great however was the fact I was on the side where the two experts sat, so I had a great if slightly vertical view of them throughout the show. The stage design was more cluttered this time around, the theme being that it is Danny Robbin's version of The Warren's artefact room. I liked the cluttered design of the stage, even if I couldn't see the back area reserved for impact moments. There was a neat video wall across the top of the stage, with three different screens where footage was being displayed on.

The show begins with a super serious intro that Robbins was amusingly self deprecating about. The host as always was very friendly and chatty, there is something very likeable from him, and he can be legitimately funny at times. He was joined frequently on stage by Dr. Ciarán O'Keeffe (the skeptic) and Evelyn Hollow (the believer) who would give their opinions on the cases discussed. I swear O'Keeffe wasn't in the show I saw last year, but my dad says he was. Either way, it was a pleasure to see these two as well, having seen them in a load of Uncanny's TV episodes.
It begins predictably enough with the first case being a supernatural case of a haunted nursery, classic Uncanny stuff. For me, while I knew U.FO sightings had been explored before, this was the first time I had personally seen it. I loved the change-up in style, and was fascinating to discover that O'Keeffe had been caught up in Britain's most well known UFO sighting as a child! There was an even more strange case looked at later on, about a Bigfoot type creature spotted just outside of Scunthorpe. Robbins interviews the believable man in a pre-filmed segment as he drives down the exact same patch of road where he encountered what he believes he saw.

The order of the cases is a bit mixed in my head, but regardless, after an interval we got back to what felt like a slightly more creepy act. There was a case offered as hope in the existence of an afterlife (to me it felt more unsettling than hopeful!), and a poltergeist encounter that also got the hairs on the back of my neck slightly rising. At one point during the show, audience members are invited to ask the host and experts questions, this was interesting enough. It was the later segment where audience members are invited to share their supernatural encounters that things unexpectedly took a turn for the entertaining. Personal favourites of the five or so supernatural accounts include a daughter who had an 'imaginary' friend as a child that she later discovered was the spit of someone who had once lived in her town during Victorian times, and a man who saw a large sized rabbit with a face of a human one dusky evening as a teen!

With the increase to six cases over two hours instead of just two, there is the expected more streamline feel. While these never felt particularly rushed through, there were a couple that were almost too brief. I enjoyed the way the footage was displayed on stage; how both Robbins and the audience would both be watching it intently (plus it gave me an excuse to lay back in my seat rather than having to lean over the barrier to see!). More of the same then, but that is not a critique. Despite the show seemingly being cursed for me (again leading me to unexpected travel woes on the short journey home), I loved this, it improved over time. I got there exhausted from a long day at work, and left even more tired, but with a smile in my heart for a fun evening kind of spent with family.

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The Draft! (2023) - Horror Film Review 1 Oct 8:10 AM (last month)

Five college friends have headed away to a remote villa for the weekend. After one of them is found murdered, as well as groundskeeper Mang Dadang (Ernanta Kusuma), the friends decide to flee the place but find themselves unable to. Film nerd Amir (Winner Wijaya) suggests a theory; that they are all characters in a horror film script and are stuck following the whims of a writer. This outlandish idea surprisingly turns out to be the reality for the group, and with previous events altering and characters coming back to life seemingly randomly, they realise that they are trapped within a draft of a script.

It is an interesting premise, and one I have enjoyed in the past, with films such as Resolution and of course; The Cabin in the Woods. Things begin predictably enough for a horror film, so predictably that Iwan (Adhin Abdul Hakim) can't resist pointing them out to his friends. There was a bit of a hump accepting the characters had discovered they were trapped within a film script, but eventually that is made apparent purely by the wild happenings. There is plenty of amusing, almost fourth-wall breaking moments with the script, where characters criticise the writer for being lazy and not having developed them enough than to have hazy backstories. Amir becomes the heart of the film, it is him who is the first to realise, and also the one who becomes skilled at forcing positive changes in the story playing out. As the film plays out it switches horror genres also, it manages to fit a decently sized zombie section, as well as a slasher, and a demonic horror. This led to never really knowing what was to come next, with characters able to accidentally 'will' items and events into being, while coming to understand that while they are in a draft there is always a way for them to come back from apparent death.

This strange direction also removed much of the horror aspect from the picture. The amusing script, and how cheaply death is treated never comes across as too serious. One highlight was a corpse that various characters keep tripping over and reacting to each time they pass it. There are bleak moments on occasion, usually these are sign posted as being there as an intention of the writer, with characters stating how what they are saying is meant to create sympathy from the viewer, before overly cheesy sorrowful music begins playing.
There are some really exciting scenes throughout the movie, particularly towards the end of the second act in a wonderful little mini-event within the film world. I loved how wild that part got. I also thought one of the storylines having people get possessed and then ripping their jaw off their face was fantastic, I would have loved to see an actual horror about that!

The Draft! is a clever horror that completes the assignment it gave itself well. It keeps you guessing while being at times both purposely generic and playful with expectations. This naturally leads to a reduction in any legitimate terror, but is balanced out with an interesting set-up and a likeable cast of protagonists. The Draft! came to Screambox on 23rd September.

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The Rotting Zombie's Round-Up of Horror News for September 2025 30 Sep 9:39 AM (last month)

Snake Resort (2024) - Horror Film Review 29 Sep 10:52 AM (last month)

Out in remote Arizona, a crazed scientist (Jeff Serdy as Dr. Cross) has been working on a controversial anti-venom. He believes this will make him world famous once it has been perfected. Part of his research has included him genetically enhancing a rattlesnake, to make it into far more deadly a predator. Not taking the best precautions; the scientist is attacked and the snake escapes. With a sole desire to kill, the creature makes the 20 mile trip to the nearest settlement - a remote RV park, home to a small community of people. One by one, they begin to get picked off, with the survivors needing to come up with a way to defeat the murderous snake.

Snake Resort is very indie in style. There was never an issue hearing the dialogue being spoken, but occasionally there would be abrupt silences or background interference. Also with the dialogue, at times the lines sounded a bit too wordy, I couldn't quite put my finger on it but it did feel sometimes the script could have been tightened up a bit. This led to scenes that seemed to go on a bit too long. One early example was a painfully long introduction of a drifter (Frank Haraksin) arriving in town. Sometimes the scenes felt overlong for no real reason. This includes the slightly too long intro credit sequence, and the bunch of epilogues placed on top of each other at the film's conclusion. Looking past all that and there are more positive aspects that had me quite enjoying the movie.
The acting wasn't terrible, I came to like many of the eccentric characters, even if they never particularly stood out from each other. Highlight was the weird exterminator; Nate (Jim Perry), but in general, with not a gigantic cast, each character played their roles to an acceptable standard, whether it was purely existing to be a victim of the snake, or being one of the more slasher-based joint protagonists, such as Brett (Yotty) or diner worker Stephanie (Katrina F Kelly).

It was refreshing to see the snake here was actually a normal snake. Not tiny but not particularly large, this snake impressed by stealing a few moves from slasher classics. It has the Jason Vorhees type skill of being able to teleport around off-screen. One moment it will be inside someone's trailer home attacking them, the next moment, outside in a field somewhere, and then wherever it is deemed it needs to be next. It also does a great job of sneaking up on people, despite its loud rattling noise, characters just are not aware of it until its far too late. There were a large amount of kill scenes, but they all played out mostly the same. The snake will be shown on screen lunging towards the camera, and then you get an exaggerated death scene as the victim will dramatically fall to the ground dead. The reliance on practical effects worked so much better than the alternative. Recently I saw Coyotes; a creature feature about a pack of coyotes, whose main complaint I had were the animals being obviously fake. Here, despite snakes rarely ever appearing on screen with the characters, it felt more real and believable. Characters are killed in a variety of locations, with the snake able to near enough instantly kill with a single bite, meaning there isn't a need for much special effects, but the scenes sell themselves well.

Snake Resort entertained me due to how closely it followed the conventions of the slasher genre, the pint sized villain made for something more unique, eschewing the trope of having it be gigantic, or having dozens of the things. Even at around an hour and a half this did feel slow in places, especially with long over lingering shots of scenery, and word heavy dialogue. I did like the vibe with this very indie horror though, and for that it gets praise.

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A Mother's Embrace (2024) - Horror Film Review 26 Sep 8:31 AM (last month)

Ana (the prolific Marjorie Estiano) is a firefighter based in Rio de Janeiro who has recently been allowed back to active duty after suffering a severe panic attack during a call. While out on a minor job, Ana and her team; who include fellow firefighter Roque (Reynaldo Machado), rookie driver Mourão (Rafael Canedo), and the captain - Dias (Val Perré), receive a call asking them to assist at a nursing home which has apparently partially collapsed. Arriving at the location they find the building intact, but protocol means they must still inspect the premises. This is much to the annoyance of the owner, with it clear the fire crew are disturbing an important night for her and her group. The crew quickly become aware of the terrible state of both the building and the elderly people who live there, with the building in such dangerous condition, and with a bad storm on the way, Ana convinces Dias to arrange an evacuation under the slight pretence that the building could collapse in the storm. Splitting up to check over the large retirement home, all four encounter very odd things going on, from cultists to snake/eel type creatures squirming around. Something vey weird is going on in the home this stormy evening.

I was gripped from the start of this. The prologue sequence has Ana as a child in the 1970's visiting a carnival with her mother before heading home and the mum trying to kill them both. I loved this opening and how it handled the event that occurred here. This feeds enough into the main film itself (that is set in 1996), that I often pondered whether Ana was actually alive, or living in some hellish afterlife. Even before the horror begins, Ana is hallucinating her deceased mother everywhere she goes, still looking exactly the same as she did back in the 1970's. This makes her as protagonist a bit unreliable. Seeing things from her perspective, it took me the longest time to work out if anything bad was actually occurring in the home or if she had just gone a bit loopy.
The location was fantastic, dank dreary sets that are full of neglect and abandonment, the rain outside, and the constant noise it makes is a welcome bit of icing on the cake. Despite being set primarily at night, the film is well lit in all the best ways, making use of the darkness to make potential horrors that more twisted, and use of light that you are never left watching and frustrated about not being able to see what is going on.

I appreciated the flow of the story here, it is a series of natural feeling instances that ramp up the horror inch by inch. It felt like a breath of fresh air that the antagonists appeared on the whole just as surprised to find Ana and her people there as they were to find themselves in the surreal situation. I also liked the increasingly less subtle Lovecraftian aspect to the story, it leads to some fun monstrous moments, such as people seemingly being controlled via large tentacle type creatures infesting their bodies. The mystery remains the core of this, Ana frequently finds herself away from what feels like would normally be the core story, she is much more focussed on rescuing a little girl who appears very unhappy to be there than really caring about what increasingly looks like the headquarters of some Old God worshipping cult. Some of the tentacle creatures shots look a little CG heavy, but the practical special effects look great here, and when there is a need to be, things can get quite bloody.

A Mother's Embrace was a film I loved, the setting was pitch perfect, and I am never going to be annoyed about the introduction of anything Lovecraftian in a horror film. It may be more about the style than anything else, the story remains relatively basic, though that is perhaps due to how little is ever explained to the viewer, or indeed, to the protagonist we follow for much of the 90 minute movie. With great atmosphere and interesting characters, I found myself having a great time watching this. A Mother's Embrace came exclusively to the streaming platform Screambox on September 16th.

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Dead Space: Martyr (2010) by B.K Evenson - Horror Novel Review 25 Sep 8:44 AM (last month)

The novel takes place three hundred years prior to the events of the Dead Space video games and chronicles the first experience humans have with the alien marker discovered on Earth. For those not in the know, markers are large statue type creations of likely alien origin that basically emit a signal that can cause people to transform into nightmarish monsters. From the video games I knew of the 'Unitology' religion - a religion that worships markers as God type creations. I also knew that the founder of this religion was named Michael Altman. The novel is interesting at showing how this man came to be this religious leader, for when the novel starts he is just a research scientist. A strange signal had been recorded off the coast of Mexico, and it is discovered that it is emanating from some sort of object deep below the sea. Altman's research into this strange signal gets the attention of the very shady corporation known as DredgerCorp; run by the intimidating Markoff. Not really given much choice, Altman is offered the chance to work at DredgerCorp's floating lab facility that has been placed above where the mysterious object is located. Crew are sent down in a submersible vessel to get a closer look at the object, they discover a strange alien looking object covered in strange glowing runes. There becomes a problem in that most of the people who travel down to look at the device end up going violently insane at some point during the journey. Altman however for some reason seems mostly immune to the negative effects of the marker and so becomes the chief pilot for the vessel. Markoff wants to bring it to the surface, convinced the marker could contain the key to unlimited energy, while slowly, members of his team and the scientists he's hired start to become convinced the marker is a God-like creation, and that Altman's immunity to its terrible effects must mean he has been chosen as the spokesperson for it.

I came to this book unfortunately knowing full well the story that would be told. I hadn't known that the lore-cast had been basically giving a synopsis of the whole book, so I can't tell how well some of the surprises would be on a fresh read. It is clear from the off that Altman isn't the religious figure he was later made out to be in the games. He is fascinated with the marker, and his curiosity is perhaps one of his weak points which causes many problems for him. He isn't religiously fascinated with the marker, for him it is an irresistible object of scientific curiosity. As the book goes on, and more and more people start to see him as some sort of herald, Altman wants none of this, especially when his girlfriend - Ada, also starts to believe the device to be Godly in nature.
The story then covers the initial discovery of the marker, and how Altman was turned against his will to be a figurehead for a new religion he had zero personal belief in.
Being a prequel, I was prepared for no necromorphs (what the monsters people transform into are known as), or if that if they did appear there would be only a handful. Without going into the reasons why, there is a necromorph outbreak that makes for quite the thrilling, brutal, and gory third act, things became more action based than I had anticipated.

The novel is well written, and split into a lot of chapters and sections throughout the 488 pages. It was paced well with a slow ramp up of peril, both from the marker itself and the shady organisation Altman finds himself ingrained with. I thought he was an interesting character in that he has flaws for sure, he seemed like a fly getting closer and closer to the centre of a spider web, and even without knowing, I think I would have been able to guess that this might not really end on that positive a note. It was actually a particularly bleak finish! This adds to the game's universe rather than takes away from it. Not only was it great learning about the origins of 'Unitology', I also never realised until reading this that the term 'dead space' refers to the zone around the marker itself which the monsters are unable to penetrate. You also are given a lot of information about the hallucinations the marker causes, with their origins as whether it was designed as a protection against the marker, or an effect of the marker looked into but left purposely vague.

I really loved Dead Space: Martyr, and as the first step in my quest to chronologically experience all the series has to offer over a multitude of media formats, this was a great starting point. Evenson also wrote a second novel titled Dead Space: Catalyst that is also a prequel to the games, so that shall be my next port of call.

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