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.
Quite rightfully Jennifer Reeder is taking great, confident strides in her directorial role following the Holy Hell segment in V/H/S/94’and Night’s End. In her latest outing behind the lens, Perpetrator, Reeder takes a bold approach in the realms of a patriarchal dominated society through the eyes of female suppression. She combines this with a coming-of-age tale where as a young woman, Jonny Baptiste (Kiah McKirnan – Mare of Easttown) finds a road to empowerment and the ability to change her proceedings.
When Jonny is taken in by her estranged Aunt Hildie (Alicia Silverstone – The Lodge) she has to adapt to a new way of life; one that is tempered by a strange school run by an overzealous principal (Chris Lowell – My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Promising Young Woman) who insists on forcing the girls in the school to undertake self protection classes and extreme drill practises that allow him to dress up as a masked vigilante, running amok in the classrooms and hallways, hunting them down. This is a fucked up world, that is painted so deeply in a male-controlled domain, even the local enforcement is run by an equally screwed up officer, Sterlin (Josh Bywater – Utopia). The girls in the school are being forced to conform to a certain way of life, even the idolisation of school heartthrob Kirk (Sasha Kuznetsov) is an expected ritualisation for them to have made out with. All of which goes against the grain of Jonny’s own beliefs and with the disappearance of girls in the area, she feels that she must root out the evil within.
As with any reaching maturity tale, with a supernatural twist, Jonny has to go through her own form of metamorphosis that challenges her own perceptions of needing to fit in and not necessarily meeting her own wellbeing. In her search for answers, she finds that support comes from the curious form of her Aunt Hildie and what she describes as the Forevering; one that will transport Jonny into a journey of discovery, self-regulation, and enhancing her female spirituality.
The Prognosis:
Jennifer Reeder’s focus on the stifling of female empowerment through the gaze of a young lady’s transformation into adulthood is carefully scrutinised with a supernatural element. With an awakening of femininity comes a presage of advocacy, which slowly transcends throughout the movie. The energy from which it ascends is a murky one however, and the message gets a little lost in the myriad of imagery and impedimenta.
Saul Muerte
Perpertratoris streaming Exclusively on Shudder and AMC+ from Friday 1st Sept.
There is something vividly unsettling about Robert Wise’s cinematic interpretation of the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. The reason for this chilling viewing is down to a number of combinations that lead to a thrilling, psychological and paranormal experience that still haunts today, 60 years after its initial release. Beyond the subject itself which Jackson had been able to create in her novelisation of psychic researchers investigation ghostly encounters in a supposed haunted location, screenwriter Nelson Gidding (who had previously worked with Wise on I Want To Live!), had misinterpreted the story’s premise and read it as a window into the protagonist, Eleanor Vance’s (Julie Harris) mental breakdown. This happy accident would lend weight to the narrative, pushing the audience to continuously question whether the events are indeed paranormal or the subject of Eleanor’s broken mind.
Another component is Harris’s performance of Eleanor, a shy woman who becomes gradually possessed by the house. Eleanor’s reclusiveness is what makes her so compelling and estranged from the other occupants in the house. Harris at the time was battling depression and found herself naturally withdrawn from her peers, and it is this portrayal that makes her so captivating to watch.
Wise and his cinematographer Davis Boulton had also acquired an untested and warped 30mm anamorphic, wide-angle lens Panavision camera which distorted the visual results of the film. The set too was deliberately well lit, to highlight every nook and cranny, with a low ceiling to add to the claustrophobic feeling the characters go through, trapped within the walls of Hill House.
At the time of its release, The Haunting garnered mixed reviews, but time has been kind to this feature, its presence capturing the hearts and minds of viewers for cinephiles and movie lovers. In 1999, a remake was released starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson and Lily Taylor but lacked the depth and emotive feeling of its predecessor. Filmmaker Mike Flannagan would come the closest with his TV series adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House, but Robert Wise would pave the way for what some have described as one of the greatest ghost stories of all time.
There is something suitably eerie in the way Antony Diblasi (Dread) unravels his psychologically disturbing portrayal of trauma and isolation. Set in a police station run by a skeleton staff, Malum draws comparisons to John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 with a supernatural Manson-esque occultist, hellbent on bringing all who come into their wake to ruin.
When rookie police officer Jessica Loren (Jessica Siula – Split) takes up the graveyard shift at the afore-mentioned, decommissioned police station, she does so in search of answers to her father’s brutal demise and its connection to a vicious cult who undertook a suicide pact within its walls a few years ago.
Upon arrival however, Jessica soon realises that not only does she get a frosty reception from her supervisor, but throughout the night she may not be alone. Diblasi plays out an evening filled with tension where the audience is left guessing whether or not the demons of the past have culminated in tormenting all those whole encounter the police station, hanging in the air and projecting a world of horror into the fold; or figments of a traumatised mind.
The Prognosis:
Diblasi does well to carve out a warped world within the confines of an isolated space. Jessica Siula does well to portray the victimised protagonist which is essential as the narrative rests solely on her shoulders. There are however, too many questions left unanswered and you can’t help but feel that more time could have been invested in the universe to draw out the tense-riddled paranormal instead of the few jump scares that we’re provided with. Yes, there are some strange occurrences that lay groundwork to the atmosphere that has been generated, but considering Malum is a re-working of Diblasi’s previous feature, Last Shift, you’d think that he would have been able to develop something a lot more intrinsic and with a lot more depth.
It’s fairly obvious from its setting that inspiration is drawn from The Shining and the subject of trauma is at the heart of this feature with promise of disturbing reflection on the impact that this has on all who come into its path. The slow, meandering start to this movie however leaves one a little misguided by what is about to unfold. There is a lot of time spent on the quartet of female characters who are all going through various stages of turmoil and are leaning into a false desire to reach enlightenment. So embroiled are they though in their embittered lives that they neglect to remedy their own healing.
Pulling them deeper into their conflict is the narratives’ protagonist (Gayle Rankin – Men) who has inherited a snowy resort from her Grandmother. There is however a continuing threat from her mother (Molly Ringwald – Cut) who may or may not be unhinged, but definitely is the bearer of some traumatic psychological scars.
These ongoing conflicts between the group and their own demons play a part in the web of confusion as the labyrinth of the resort surrounds them and consumes their fears, only to spew it back out upon them. An indicator that they can not seem to deal with their suffering.
It’s a shame though that the story too gets lost and the intentions of the characters are too murky for the audience to bear any commonality with nor find solace in their plight.
The Prognosis:
The elements embedded in Bad Things are a clear homage to The Shining, but where Stanley Kubrick embarked in a deeply psychological and traumatic narrative, helmed by the depth of character that Jack Torrance embodied and wonderfully portrayed by Jack Nicholson, the realms of insanity on display here are thwarted by a shallow interpretation of persona.
Stewart Thorndike does attempt to steer the inspiration into a new direction with an avenue of intrigue and entropy, but her characters are already lost at the start and without hope of resolving their internal conflict.
Saul Muerte
Bad Things is streaming in Shudder from Fri 18th August.
Sandwiched between the opening act of Bram Stoker’s Dracula where Jonathan Harker is imprisoned by the titular dark lord, and the events that unfold in London, there is a chapter centred on the transportation of the Count across the seas to Whitby. For four pages we read the account of this perilous trip courtesy of the captains’ log on the ship The Demeter.
For such a small amount in the novel, the diarised account would have a profound impact on the reader as the crew are picked off one by one before the ship finally reaches its destination, so it’s little wonder that it would draw inspiration in the celluloid artform. The concept holds a lot of promise, with the original narrative detailing a treacherous voyage with a crew of nine sailors, all prey for the beast that has boarded the ship. One can imagine a similar telling to Alien, where a confined space where there is nowhere to run other than to confront the demon can elevate the fears, driving a wedge between sanity and madness, thrusting the crew to fall deeply into the latter.
And so we embark on Director André Øvredal’s vision of this tale, who is no stranger to paranormal and twisted stories in a remote setting as The Autopsy of Jane Doe can attest to. Boasting a strong cast at its helm, leading with Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton) as the trained doctor Clemens, marred in society because of the colour of his skin, bargaining his way on board the ship for the chance to return to his homeland; There’s Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) as the stoic captain; David Dastmalchian (The Boston Strangler) as the loyal-yet-disbelieving first mate, Wojchek; Jon Jon Briones (Ratched) as the cook and religious zealot; and Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale) as the stowaway Anna, who has an intricate connection to the predator. But it is Woody Norman as the young cabin boy Toby who pivots the heart of the story and portrays a captivating character that belies his years.
As for the titular villain of the piece… his presence is always felt throughout the film but his impact is not as telling, nor confronting as one would have hoped for, despite some decent effects.
The Prognosis:
There is plenty of intrigue from a fairly untapped segment in one of Gothic literature’s finest tales, one that would pull me into the arena with willing anticipation. Yet, for all the talent on screen, there is surprisingly little in the way of building up the ambience and dread from someone as fearful as Dracula. So focused are the writers in embellishing the plot with background and character development, (some with the licence that creatives can afford to keep the audience captivated) that they neglect to draw out the fear and trepidation that the Prince of Darkness deserves. While the journey is still an enjoyable one, the course is easily traversed and never delves into the realms of immorality in order to stir the senses, or shake you to the core.
Saul Muerte
Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter is currently screening in cinemas nationwide.
I’ve always been lured in to lycanthrope movies, perhaps because they generally arc back to a tormented soul, cursed by a torturous, shape-shifting, life-altering event that threatens to rip apart the physical self in order to destroy the last ebbs of humanity.
So, upon hearing that Luxembourger film director, Jacques Molitar was offering up a fresh slice of the werewolf folk story, I was gripped with eager anticipation.
Elaine (Louise Manteau) is a single mother, following the disappearance of the father after a naked romp during the films prologue (typical guy, right?)
Cut to 8 years or so later, and Elaine’s son, Martin, is starting to present some unusual physical and psychological traits that lead him to biting a schoolfriend. Shocked and ashamed, Elaine intends to find out the root cause of this odd behaviour and heads back to the paternal grandparents in search for answers, who I might add are significantly well off, casting an automatic divide that juxtaposes the rough suburban lifestyle that Elaine and Martin have been living.
When she gets there though, there are some curious happenings which raise further questions and family secrets that she may have wished remained buried. Elaine must then decide which path her son should take in order for him to survive in the real world.
The Prognosis:
Whilst Wolfkin does boast some decent practical effects, this is a slowburn story that does little when it tries to finally ignite.
Where Let The Right One In and The Hatching (both movie which it has been likened to in promotions) have depth and tension to fill the void, Wolfkin simmers along with plenty to say but little impact in the way that it’s presented.
Hats off to Molitar for attempting to take an age-old tale into a new direction but it ultimately lacked enough bit to sink your teeth into.
– Saul Muerte
Wolfkin is currently available on DVD and Digital platforms.
Surgeons of Horror 
