Monthly Archives: April 2025

From Hell House to Ashland Falls: Cognetti’s Eerie Evolution

06 Sunday Apr 2025

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The Hell House LLC director slows things down for a moody, multi-perspective mystery.

A slow-burning mystery from the creator of Hell House LLC, soaked in dread and small-town secrets.

After a family tragedy, Chuck Wilson (Joe Falcone) moves to the quiet town of Ashland Falls with his wife Maria (Elizabeth Vermilyea) and younger sister Isabelle (Kathryn Miller), hoping for a fresh start. But peace proves elusive as the trio becomes entangled in the unsettling lore of their new home—specifically the ominous mystery surrounding a woman named Helen Foster. As the story unfolds from the perspectives of each family member, the true nature of Ashland Falls begins to take shape—and it’s far from comforting.

Stephen Cognetti, best known for his Hell House LLC trilogy, steps away from the chaos of found-footage terror to deliver a more measured, psychological horror in 825 Forest Road. The scares are subtle, the pacing deliberate, and the dread seeps in slowly as the audience is invited to peel back the layers of each character’s experience. By splitting the narrative into three viewpoints, Cognetti crafts an eerie puzzle box of grief, guilt, and unresolved trauma, all tethered to a town that harbors something rotten at its core.

While some may find the pacing too slow or miss the jolting immediacy of Hell House LLC, there’s a quiet confidence in Cognetti’s restraint. He’s developing his voice beyond found footage, proving that he can unsettle audiences without relying on the genre’s usual tricks. The performances—especially Vermilyea as the emotionally fraying Maria—ground the film and help build a creeping sense of paranoia.

The Prognosis:

825 Forest Road may not fully capitalise on its premise, and its ambiguity might frustrate some, but it marks another intriguing step in Cognetti’s horror journey. It’s a film that whispers rather than screams—but it leaves behind a chill all the same.

  • Saul Muerte

825 Forest Road is now streaming on Shudder.

Blind Beast (1969) – A Haunting Dive into Obsession and Madness

05 Saturday Apr 2025

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Few films capture the terrifying extremes of desire and artistic obsession as viscerally as Blind Beast (盲獣, 1969), directed by Yasuzō Masumura. Adapted from Edogawa Rampo’s twisted tale, this haunting psychological horror film immerses viewers in a nightmarish world where the boundaries between love, art, and cruelty blur beyond recognition. As a prime example of Japan’s pinku eiga movement, Blind Beast is both provocative and deeply unsettling, an eerie descent into madness that remains as hypnotic as it is disturbing.

The film follows a blind sculptor, Michio, who kidnaps an artists’ model, Aki, and imprisons her in his warehouse studio—a surreal, cavernous space adorned with grotesque sculptures of oversized body parts. In this tactile prison, Michio seeks to craft the ultimate masterpiece, guided only by touch and an all-consuming obsession with the female form. As the two become locked in a perverse battle of control and submission, their dynamic spirals into a shocking climax that pushes the limits of psychological horror.

Masumura’s direction transforms Blind Beast into a fever dream of sensual horror. The set design alone is unforgettable—giant, looming sculptures of lips, breasts, and limbs create a surrealist landscape that feels more like a descent into the subconscious than a physical location. This oppressive, tactile environment enhances the film’s themes of blindness, sensation, and the distortion of reality. The film’s use of lighting, shadow, and close-ups amplifies the claustrophobia, making Aki’s entrapment feel as much psychological as it is physical.

Unlike many films within the pinku eiga genre, Blind Beast isn’t merely an exercise in exploitation; it’s a deeply unsettling meditation on power, art, and the consuming nature of obsession. The performances, particularly by Mako Midori as Aki, elevate the material beyond its pulp origins. Her transformation from victim to something far more complex is both terrifying and mesmerising, reinforcing the film’s psychological depth.

That said, Blind Beast isn’t for everyone. Its slow, methodical pacing and unnerving themes may alienate viewers looking for more conventional horror. However, for those drawn to the eerie, the grotesque, and the philosophical, it stands as a singularly unique film—a macabre masterpiece.

  • Saul Muerte

Scream Baby Scream (1969) – A Psychedelic Nightmare with More Style Than Substance

04 Friday Apr 2025

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The late 1960s saw an influx of bizarre, low-budget horror films that leaned into surrealism and psychological horror. Scream Baby Scream (1969), directed by Joseph Adler, fits squarely into this niche—an oddball mix of artsy horror and grindhouse sleaze. While the film struggles with pacing and lacks narrative depth, its eerie dreamlike atmosphere and grotesque imagery make it a strangely compelling relic of its time.

The plot follows a deranged artist who kidnaps models and disfigures their faces to create his own “masterpieces,” a setup that recalls Eyes Without a Face (1960) but with a much grimier, low-rent execution. The film attempts to explore themes of artistic obsession and vanity but never fully commits, instead relying on a series of repetitive kidnappings and hallucinatory sequences that teeter between hypnotic and tedious.

Where Scream Baby Scream excels is in its visuals. While the budgetary constraints are obvious, the film embraces a psychedelic aesthetic with strange lighting, distorted imagery, and an eerie, off-kilter score that adds to its nightmarish quality. The scenes of the artist at work, transforming his victims into grotesque creations, are genuinely unsettling, even if the effects aren’t always convincing.

However, the film suffers from a sluggish pace and a script that struggles to maintain tension. The dialogue is clunky, and the characters feel more like sketches than real people, making it difficult to invest in their fates. Despite its flaws, the film’s feverish tone and macabre concept give it an undeniable cult appeal.

The Prognosis:

While not a lost classic, Scream Baby Scream is an intriguing example of late-’60s horror, where artistic ambition and exploitation filmmaking collided in strange and sometimes fascinating ways. Fans of obscure, surreal horror may find something to appreciate here, but casual viewers may find the experience more frustrating than frightening.

  • Saul Muerte

A Horrible Double-Faced Man (1975) – A Forgotten Gem of Korean Sci-Fi Horror

02 Wednesday Apr 2025

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South Korean horror cinema in the 1970s rarely delved into the mad scientist subgenre, making A Horrible Double-Faced Man (공포의 이중인간), directed by Lee Yong-min, a fascinating oddity. Mixing elements of gothic horror, psychological terror, and pulp sci-fi, the film weaves a macabre tale of resurrection gone horribly wrong. While it suffers from uneven pacing and some narrative absurdities, it remains an intriguing, if flawed, effort that deserves a closer look.

The film follows Dr. Jeong, a morally corrupt scientist whose obsession with reviving the dead leads him to commit unspeakable acts. His ultimate goal is to resurrect Ono, a war criminal who hid a fortune in diamonds, using a twisted method that involves transplanting a dying man’s soul into a dead body. The result is a monstrous “double-faced man” – a being with a fractured existence, caught between life and death. It’s a compelling concept, one that recalls Frankenstein, Eyes Without a Face, and even Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but infused with distinctly Korean cinematic sensibilities.

Lee Yong-min, best known for A Devilish Homicide (1965), once again showcases a flair for eerie atmosphere. The film makes excellent use of stormy weather, dimly lit laboratories, and desolate graveyards to craft a moody, almost dreamlike setting. However, the execution of its horror elements is inconsistent. Some moments, particularly those involving the resurrected Ono’s eerie movements and disjointed identity, carry an unsettling edge, while others feel unintentionally campy due to the era’s limited special effects and melodramatic performances.

The film’s thematic depth, exploring the dangers of unchecked ambition and the consequences of playing god, gives it an intellectual weight beyond its B-movie trappings. Yet, its pacing can be sluggish, and the narrative sometimes loses focus, shifting between horror, crime thriller, and supernatural drama without fully committing to any.

While A Horrible Double-Faced Man never achieved international recognition, it remains an interesting relic of 1970s Korean horror—one that blends genre influences into something both familiar and uniquely strange. Fans of vintage sci-fi horror will appreciate its eerie concept, even if its execution doesn’t fully realise its potential.

  • Saul Muerte

The Bell Keeper (2025) – A Hollow Ring to its Terror

01 Tuesday Apr 2025

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Urban legends and supernatural slashers have long been a staple of horror, but The Bell Keeper, directed by Colton Tran, struggles to summon anything beyond the familiar. With a premise that hints at The Evil Dead meets Final Destination, the film follows a group of friends venturing to a secluded campsite to film a documentary about a haunted bell. The legend? Ring it at midnight, and you’ll awaken a vengeful killer. What follows is a mix of ghostly folklore, possession horror, and slasher tropes, but the result never quite coalesces into a satisfying whole.

The film boasts an interesting cast, including UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and horror mainstay Bonnie Aarons, best known as the sinister nun from The Conjuring series. However, despite their genre credibility, their presence does little to elevate the script, which leans too heavily on exposition and underdeveloped character dynamics. The group’s descent into paranoia and infighting—key to the film’s horror—feels more obligatory than organic, leaving little emotional investment in their fates.

Visually, The Bell Keeper has moments of eerie atmosphere, with shadowed forests and flickering lanterns providing the requisite setting for a campfire horror tale. Unfortunately, the tension fizzles under the weight of generic jump scares and predictable plot beats. The titular Keeper, a hulking menace overseeing the cursed land, should have been an imposing figure, but the execution feels lacklustre.

There’s an attempt to blend supernatural horror with slasher brutality, but the film never leans far enough into either to make a lasting impression. The involvement of Final Destination creator Jeffrey Reddick as an executive producer suggests a promise of creative kills or unique horror set pieces, but these never materialise in any memorable way.

The Prognosis:

At its best, The Bell Keeper is a late-night curiosity for undemanding horror fans who enjoy the ritual of watching a group of victims fall prey to an ancient curse. At its worst, it’s a forgettable effort that rings hollow.

  • Saul Muerte