When Jack Dignan launched his directorial debut feature, After She Died at A Night of Horror International Film Festival last year, it came with a bold, well-structured, pot-boiler of a movie that etched out the pangs of grief with minute detail. It was enough to make one sit up and take notice, eager to know where Dignan would go next in his creative celluloid venture.
This year, he has chosen to serve a familiar tale woven through the theme of a broken psyche. Choosing to self-rehabilitate at a secluded house in the woods (always a troublesome sign), a young drug addict, Kate (Kaitlyn Boyé – The Furies) is accompanied by her older sister, Olivia (Laneikka Denne) to aid her through the process, As the night unfolds, and they unpack the shared and isolated trauma that the siblings have gone through, the inadvertently fall through the cracks of time and dimension, trapped in a continuing vortex of sequences, fighting to find their way out of their turmoil.
The Puzzle Box is a metaphor for the predicament that the sisters find themselves in as each door within the remote house opens and slides different sections of time and dimensions, in a convoluted vessel of complexities that will force the pair to search deep within themselves and solve the paradox.
Dignan hones his visual prowess in this film, choosing to use a found footage approach to the narrative through his cinematography to convey his concept. The result is an unsettling, and nauseating feel to the final product to deliberately set the viewer off kilter. To double the sense of dread, we’re also presented with a screaming, ‘banshee-like-woman’ (Gotta love a good banshee!!) to hound and barrage both Kate and the audience in a relentless pursuit, that seems to have no end.
The Prognosis:
Jack Dignan comes out swinging for his sophomore feature and delivers a haunting and harrowing journey into a paranoia filled rabbit hole. The shifts and turns are deliberately jarring and part of Puzzle Box’s charm is the unsettling way he drags the viewer down and pulls you along the disturbing pathway into a perpetual void.
Ursula Dabrowsky has been slowly crafting her Demon Trilogy to continue her fascination with demonic possession and the fragility of the human mind. Where Family Demons (2009) and Inner Demon (2014) fostered the fears and anxieties that unfold through isolation and complexities of a disturbing or unsettled ménage, her third instalment, Devil’s Work grounds these ideas and gradually shifts the sands of perspectives in an almost seamless single take.
Once again, Dabrowsky chooses a remote setting as her playground, following a couple, Charlie (Cassandra Kane) and Dustin (Mark Fantasia (Bad Girl Boogey) who plan a romantic getaway at a quiet cottage away from life’s ailments; only to be hounded by Charlie’s sibling, Linda (Luca Asta Sardelis – Storm Boy).
Dabrowsky delightfully unfolds the traumatic episode with ripples of paranoia, meticulously crafting a simmering storyline, ready to boil over at any given moment.
As the audience is tantalisingly told about Lindy by her sibling Charlie, we begin to paint the picture of a disturbed mind, who is on the brink of sanity, harbouring some ill feelings and terrorised by a darkness that consumes her. Once the scene is set or our predetermined ideas settle about Lindy and her deranged behaviour, the audience is then presented with a harrowing notion; Charlie and Dustin are not alone. Somehow Lindy has found out where they are and is about to rip apart any ideals of mystique that the couple had hoped would be born out of their weekend.
It is the solitude that will haunt them and determine if they are to survive their ordeal and the extremes that Lindy will put them through.
The Prognosis:
Every family has their ailments, but what if a sibling was so dangerously unhooked that a very real danger could threaten your world?
Ursula Dabrowsky is well and truly in her comfort zone, revisiting similar themes for her third feature. Beneath this simple premise is a dark and disturbing tale that moulds itself around you and slowly consumes you.
Dabrowsky not only has the gift of piloting the voyeur through a disconcerting vision, but she is also ably supported by cinematographer, Maxx Corkindale to lure into a false trance, before subjecting us with Luca Asta Sardellis’ wonderfully fractured portrayal of Lindy.
These are how stories should be told to unsettle the soul.
Writer, director Joe Lo Truglio makes a curious choice for his feature length directorial debut.
We initially side with Kate (Beth Dover – Orange Is The New Black) a victim of domestic violence, but decides to remain head strong and vigilant in her recovery process.
Her decision is somewhat marred however as she ventures to a remote location to mend her wounds, which just so happens to be an outpost designed to spot fires in the surrounding woodland and alert the authorities to prevent widespread.
The issue is that by segregating herself from the world, albeit within range of a local town community, she not only is running away from her fears but is also doing so in a place where she is forced to live with her own thoughts, surrounded by the threat of danger, lurking at any moment. Naturally, Kate is on hyper alert at all times nursing herself through the aftermath of a traumatic experience.
All of this bodes well in theory and people seem to be bending over backwards to support her needs so that she can feel that sense of accomplishment, but things soon start to unravel as her paranoia sets in and her trepidation escalates.
It is from this point that there are clumsy choices that soon push the viewer from empathy to disdain, as gradually Kate goes from victim to assailant, acting out her pent up aggression and unleashes on all who cross her path.
Whilst you can understand the transgression, the twists and turns she takes in order to get there are drastic, forcing the viewer to disconnect with our initial protagonist and abandoned without any sense of direction or where their loyalty should belong.
The Prognosis:
For a debut feature, Joe Lo Truglio goes bold, but fails to pull off his vision due to a lack of cohesion, nor depth in his skill set for it to land successfully.
A lot of promise, but ultimately stranding the audience without a solid ground from which to draw conclusions from.
– Saul Muerte
Outpost (2022) is available on major streaming platforms in UK & Ireland from September 11th and Australia & NZ from September 13th.
It’s clear from the get-go that this film is Director Adrian Langley’s love song for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Butchers follows a similar path, or should I say journey?. as we follow a small group of friends travelling across the remote Canadian landscape when their car breaks down ala Wrong Turn. Instead of inbred hillbillies, they encounter a pair of sadistic butchers who have taken the law into their own hands. If anyone dares to enter their domain, it’s fair game and there’s a strong possibility that they could be carved on the cutting block
While it tends to stick along the line of predictability, there is a little more going on beneath the engine of a cannibalistic gorefest. Langley and his writing partner Daniel Weissenberger take the literal concept of butchery to the extreme as the barbarous Watson brothers, Owen (Simon Phillips) and Oswald (Michael Swatton) take pleasure in kidnapping and impregnating women with plans of breeding them for more meat. This warped outlook makes for gruesome viewing in spite of walking the all-too-familiar lines of a well-trodden formula.
Naturally, our would-be-victims fight tooth and nail for survival, making ridiculous choices along the way to meet their demise, including battling their own internal conflicts, but the performance holds strong enough to keep you engaged throughout, most notably Phillips’ smart and gruelling butcher and potential final girl in the mix, Julie Mainville.
The Prognosis:
Much like his more recent feature Bunker, Adrian Langley offers a mediocre-yet-fun movie that puts the characters through the paces. The tension mounts with a steady pace, and the conflicts are torturous on the right side of entertainment.
It may not offer anything new or even stretch the realms of originality, but Butchers is a tough ride that will apply the hook and keep you gripped to the end.
Saul Muerte
Butchers is currently streaming on VOD and available for Home Entertainment.
Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, writer/director Laura Moss transforms the classic Gothic tale with a modern, gritty and rooted interpretation and one which elevates a tragic perspective of its two female leads.
Our Doctor Frankenstein in this instance is Morgue Technician, Dr. Rose Casper (expertly portrayed by Marin Ireland – The Dark and the Wicked) who’s obsession with raising the dead has brought her on the brink of humanity. So vastly disconnected from the world around her, Rose delivers an icy, cold and blunt demeanour, warding anyone away from her.
Rose’s methods lead her to an encounter with maternity nurse, Celie (Judy Reyes – Smile) who works ungodly hours to support her only daughter, Lila. When Lila suddenly dies, Celie’s world crumbles into grief, but unbeknownst to her, Rose has taken the body to perform her experiments and has successfully brought Lila back to life. When she first finds out, Celie is angered by the subterfuge, but soon realises that she can have a second chance of life with her daughter and before long forms a bond with the wayward Doctor Rose; one that would lead them both down a macabre, and deeply immoral path.
The Prognosis:
While it’s fair to say that there’s strength in the basis of Frankenstein for this film, Laura Moss and her co-writer Brendan J. O’Brien transforms a catastrophically modern take and weaves a deep narrative, mixed with strong performances from its two leads. Dr Rose, is candid and abrasive, content to sit on the periphery of society, and Celie forced to accompany her through the grief of losing her child. This unlikely duo is the heart of the movie and draws you into their world as a result.
The script is tightly woven together, allowing the characters to have equal opportunity to shine in its darkly lit limelight. It also takes a bold rise out of life’s slough to provide moments of bleak humour to pepper through its macabre tone.
Laura Moss captures the pulsating beat of its inspiration and amplifies with a delightfully twisted take for a contemporary audience.
Having been a loyal supporter of the Sydney Underground Film Festival for the past six years, I’m certainly no stranger to the diverse and eclectic choices that make up the film list year on year. The organisers proudly wear the latest weird and wonderful of the celluloid vein as part of its staple line up and Poundcake by Director Onur Tukel is no exception. Tukel is no stranger in taking on controversial conversations which centre on the subject of relationships or gender, and with Poundcake he picks up the tendentious topics and rams it into the ground, pulverising it into a pulp. For those unaccustomed to the director’s visual and political stance, it’s fair to say that Tukel doesn’t shy away from areas that are too uncomfortable for some, and deliberately pushes those buttons in order to not only get a response but to also create discussion.
In his latest venture, Tukel directs and performs in a tale which is billed as a serial killer in New York City who is going around killing straight white men and no one blinks an eye. On face value, this is filled with intrigue, and it’s premise hooked me in along with the gimp mask wearing, beefy-looking serial killer, but these moments are fleeting, and somewhat shocking as his chosen method of killing is by raping his victims. The majority of the time, the film is told by a group of podcasters and members of the community who all share their polarising views. This dampens the moments of horror and instead squashes and distances the viewer with the bombardment of messages.
The Prognosis:
SUFF will hang their hat on the weird and wonderful moments in film, and with this Poundcake fits the bill. Horror lovers may find themselves wanting however, as this film is a socially political narrative from a director who will challenge some with his views. Personally, I found them a little jarring, but maybe you have a different spin on things and feel that he is deliberately provoking commentary.
Why not judge for yourself and post your thoughts here.
Since the early 2000’s Director/Actor Andrew Bowser has been honing his craft with a unique blend of comedy and fantasy. It’s fair to say that in recent years, his greatest creation thus far is Marcus J. Trillbury aka Onyx the Fortuitous, a comic book enthusiast, video game player, and quirky nerd, and features in a number of youtube clips that have gone viral. It’s little wonder then, that Bowser would invest in bringing his fabrication to a feature length scale in Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls.
Onyx is struggling in life, both at home and at work, drifting aimlessly with his heart on becoming a successful occultist, when he gets a call to the mansion of his idol Bartok the Great with an invitation to raise the spirit of an ancient demon.
Like a warped wonka-esque tale in which the golden ticket promises a wondrous experience, Onyx along with four other devotees have been carefully selected to take part in the ritual. Each taking on a specific role that may condemn their souls for all eternity. Is Onyx destined to fall once more and succumb to the greater evil or has destiny something else in store?
The Prognosis:
Bowser has no option but to go all in to enhance his alter-ego Onyx the Fortuitous on the big screen. There are some that may not warm to his persona but his eccentricity but others will find it warming and infectious. Beneath the comical, fantastical exterior is a smart and enduring narrative with a steady rhythm pulsating to a satisfying climax.
Bowser also brings in the strength of a solid supporting cast to add weight to the proceedings, namely Olivia Taylor Dudley (The Magicians), and the reuniting of Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator). Where he stretches the believability with his vision, it taps into an unearthly charm and resonates with an insatiable charisma. May Onyx the Fortuitous find more tales of the occult to lure you into his zen.
There is more than meets the eye with this low budget Australian flick. Beneath the veil of this family drama, nestles a disturbing and modern insight into the paranormal; a balance between scientific understanding of a troubled mind, and the delicate belief in a possessed soul.
Lara (Georgia Eyers – soon to appear in upcoming film Violett) has been experiencing horrific visions that seem to have manifested since a horrific car accident, which led to the death of her baby son. One would presume that this trauma has brought about these hallucinations, her bodys’ way of coping with this deeply psychological scar. Her husband though, (a devout, religious man) Ron (Dan Ewing – Operation Rainfall franchise) is drawn into a web of religious zealots, clouded by their beliefs that Lara is possessed by a demonic spirit. This has not only fueled Ron’s attempts to have an exorcism performed on his wife, but even has Lara convinced that she is not well and may have to listen to his demands in order to rid her of her ailment.
Encouraged by one of the congregation, Barbara (Rosie Traynor – Lake Mungo), Ron dismisses the warnings of Lara’s psychiatrist (Eliza Matengu), who firmly believes that the trauma has brought about the onset of schizophrenia, he calls upon the help of an extreme exorcist, Daniel James King (Tim Pocock – Red Billabong). King is a man of his own world, and bends to his own rules outside of the Catholic system; a red flag if ever there was one. Once he has been invited into Ron and Lara’s world, there is no stopping him from ridding Lara of three demonic spirits that he is convinced has consumed her soul, but at what cost?
The Prognosis:
Director Nick Kozakis takes the bull by its horns for his sophomore outing, creates an anarchic approach to the subject matter, which belies the hindrance usually associated with a low budget feature. While it takes some turn for the cogs of damnation to turn, the heart of the film lies with Eyers’ portrayal of Lara. Throughout the narrative, Kozakis deliberately twists and turns the audience journey, manipulating our own speculations of Lara’s plight. Is she really possessed or has her mind snapped under the pains of a truly traumatic ordeal, forcing her to fight internally with the strain of her psychosis? He also slowly turns up the dial, making for uncomfortable viewing and guiding the viewer to be forced into a painful process, led by the strangled beliefs and views of all those involved.
Yes, there are flaws, but the gritty, portrayal of these characters’ blindly driving to cure Lara from her plight, hooks you in and refuses to let go until the deed is done.
Saul Muerte
Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism is currently streaming on ShudderANZ.
In our recent Full Moon Sessions discussions, Watch It Wombat’s Nick posed the question, ‘What are some of the better movies currently streaming on Shudder?” So, with the gauntlet thrown down, I went back into the archives of my reviews taken from their Exclusive and Original movies to see which movies still hung strong in my memory.
Here is my Top 12 Exclusive and Original Movies streaming on Shudder:
Things go badly for a hack director and film crew shooting a low budget zombie movie in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility, when they are attacked by real zombies.
For his debut, director Shinichiro Ueda manages to deliver a fun-ride of a movie, whilst shaking up the zombie comedy genre to great effect.
Fans of horror will delight in the reveal and filmmakers will applaud when the curtain is lifted. It’s a great piece of cinema and Ueda proves a versatile creative and a potential name to keep an eye out for down the track.
An overworked nurse returns home to find a maniac hiding out with a bruised and beaten hostage. When an unexpected wave of violent intruders descend upon her home, it becomes a fight for survival.
Each character draws upon their internal strengths through an amazing ordeal that is gripping and intense throughout the narrative. I didn’t expect to be so gripped by this film, but the Directing and Writing partnership of Gabriel Carrer and Reese Eveneshen tantalise our expectations of just exactly how far they can push the action and keep the insanity of it all grounded in reality.
Widow Ruth is seven months pregnant when, believing herself to be guided by her unborn baby, she embarks on a homicidal rampage, dispatching anyone who stands in her way.
I absolutely applaud Lowe’s tenacity in making this film whilst being 7-8 months pregnant herself. Her drive, or axe to grind, is very apparent in getting this beautifully crafted horror comedy out of her system.There’s a message here deep at the films core…don’t piss off Alice Lowe…EVER!!
An Australian movie that features a woman who is kidnapped and finds herself an unwilling participant in a deadly game where women are hunted by masked men.
The Furies is a savagely brutal insight into what lies beneath the veil of humanity through this bloody, demonstrative tale of survival. It may be a low-budget affair, but director Tony D’Aquino wrangles out enough disturbing and abhorrent scenes that the audience, like Kayla, must endure to its horrific conclusion. Another fine entry into the Australian horror scene.
On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that something evil is taking over the family.
Director Bryan Bertino (The Strangers) is clearly drawn to the subject of isolation, fractured lives and what the fear of the unknown can have on the psyche. Here, he crafts and wrangles out every last ounce of agitation from a small, yet strong cast by wallowing them through grief and the brink of despair until they are consumed by their emotions. It is a slow-burn, but the strenuous ordeal through which both its leads and the audience is drawn through is well worth the payoff.
After unearthing a gem that controls an evil monster looking to destroy the Universe, a young girl and her brother use it to make him do their bidding.
Steven Kostanski manages to direct a beautiful love song to the 90s period of home entertainment with a warped and visually appealing feature. Psycho Goreman is peppered with humour and is the dark candy of kids sci-fi adventures of yester-year. It rekindles the energy of the visual treats we hold dear to our hearts in our childhood and garnishes it with gore-tastic moments that Kostanski and the team have made theirsignature style. Psycho Goreman should firmly be on your genre-film pulse. Tap into this baby and enjoy its insanity.
The feature film is an action-packed horror flick depicting a supernatural serial killer based on pre-Colombian mythology in a hunt for revenge in the metropolis of São Paulo.
The storyline may be a fractured and complex one, but Skull: The Mask more than makes up for its faults by producing a frenzied and energetic slasher flick that taps into the heart of its country’s mythological roots. Its hard-edged approach and cracking SFX make this an enjoyable and crazed journey with some wickedly dark humour along the way, that if you’re willing to let it course through your visual senses, will prove to be well worth your time. Hats off to the creative team Foncesca and Furman. You’ve made a fan out of this writer.
A lone drifter suffering from partial memory loss accepts a job to look after a psychologically troubled woman in an abandoned house on an isolated island.
It’s a bold and momentous achievement for a directorial debut, and while it doesn’t necessarily tick all the boxes, the performances are faultless, and the fragmented narrative are compelling enough to keep you chained to the storytelling. It will either grip you, or grind you up. For me, it was a well-constructed tale, that is just the right side of deranged.
Wall Street data analyst Richard Boca sees ominous patterns: His computer models are behaving erratically, as are the swarms of mosquitos breeding in his apartment, an infestation that attends his psychological meltdown.
This movie is highly intelligent and beautifully shot. It’s the kind of film that gets under your skin. It takes a while for it to take effect but once it does it pulls you in and infects you. There are many elements at play with each layer revealing the dark truth behind the powers and money of the world. Mosquito State has successfully infested my mind, a mark for me is always an important ingredient in filmmaking. It still resonates as I find that I’ve fallen for its charm and lulled by the hypnotic score.
Never take your mistress on an annual guys’ getaway, especially one devoted to hunting – a violent lesson for three wealthy married men.
Beautifully shot by cinematographer Robrecht Heyvaert, with an amazing score by Robin Coudert that compliments the narrative and keeps driving up the tension, Revenge offers some great performances that push their acting to the very limits. Director Coralie Fargeat manages to harness all these elements together whilst providing a stunning movie that elevates itself above the quagmire of sensationalism by using smart and intense drama at its core. A must watch movie.
A troubled woman on the edge of divorce returns home to her younger sister after years apart. But when her sister and brother-in-law betray her trust, she embarks on a vicious crusade of revenge.
Best movie of the year? Possibly.
Best performance of the year? With Madeleine Sims-Fewer’s portrayal of the central character Miriam and the violation that occurs combined with the trauma that this leaves on her… Definitely
Violation is a slow burn, but a perfect exercise in raw performance with a tightly knit script to explore a wrenching-yet-topical subject.
It awakens the senses and projects every ounce of emotion onto the screen. I always fall deep for movies that elicit such a response, and for that, I can’t rate it highly enough.
An agent works for a secretive organization that uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies – ultimately driving them to commit assassinations for high-paying clients.
From the shocking opening scene, through a brilliantly crafted sci-fi screenplay and an ultimately rewarding conclusion, Brandon Cronenberg has thrown the gauntlet down, commanding our attention as a filmmaker with vision, powerful performances, and a beautifully presented mindfuck.
1963 would prove to be an instrumental year for the Master of Macabre, Mario Bava. Having kick started with the giallo flick The Girl Who Knew Too Much, before teaming up with Boris Karloff for the horror anthology Black Sabbath, he would round things off with the stylised and sadomasochistic film starring Christopher Lee called The Whip and the Body.
A somewhat convoluted tale, Lee stars as Kurt Menliff, a man who has been kicked off the family will because of his relationship with a servant girl, who committed suicide. When Menliff returns to reclaim his title, he is later found murdered, but mysterious sightings lead locals to believe that he has returned as a ghost to seek vengeance.
The Whip and the Body is probably most known for its sadomasochistic themes that dominate through the middle period of the film, causing Italian censors to slap an 18 rating on it, only for it to be seized for charges of obscenity. The movie would be heavily cut down for American and British audiences along with being heavily dubbed by none of the original actors, which then demolished any clear narrative, reducing it to a complex mess.
There are some genuinely interesting scenes on show, but due to the nature of its release, the film is pale in comparison to the other two movies that Bava released that year, despite being at the peak of his filmmaking.
Despite all this, Bava still manages to capture his visual style, working alongside cinematographer Ubaldo Terzano once more having previously combined for Black Sunday. Lee too provides a magnanimous presence on screen that proves he was born to be a leading man.
Surgeons of Horror 