I have something of a love/hate relationship going on with the works of Australian film director Chris Sun. While I loved the brutality of Charlie’s Farm, I struggled to connect with modern ozploitation flick Boar, namely for the poor dialogue and weak acting.
His latest effort The Possessed boasts Wolf Creek’s John Jarratt as its lead, playing exorcist Jacob Chandler. The character of Chandler is based on a real life accidental exorcist and the inspiration behind the movie.
Jacob has been using his paranormal powers to rid the locals of unwanted demonic spirits, and is helped by his nephew Liam (Lincoln Lewis- Bait) to carry out this dark deed. The trouble is that these possessions are growing in number and seem to have a vested interest in Jacob, becoming stronger with each cleansing.
Throw in the mix, Liam’s girlfriend, Atalie (Lauren Grimson – Wyrmwood: Apocalypse) who also has the ability to see demons; and her friends Carissa (Simone Buchanan) and Orion (Jade Kevin Foster) and we have a team of untrained, inexperienced demon hunters to try and rid the town of evil.
The Prognosis:
The premise is an interesting one, and the growing menace that is plaguing Jacob and those he loves with the based on real events aspect grounds the film into a realm of watchability.
The issue however is one that appears to torment Chris Sun’s filmography; on-screen talent and weak scripting.
He continues to deliver a strong concept and in this case, some amazing effects, but beneath the surface, the old production scars run deep. Too often the audience is left drifting from one scenario to the next without any clear narrative to tie it all together. For this, The Possessed will always leave you wanting.
Saul Muerte
The Possessed is currently available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.
It’s a dark stormy night and a young woman in town for a job interview arrives at her Airbnb, only to be greeted by a strange man. The place has been mistakenly double-booked and with no alternative but to ignore her better judgement she decides to stay there too.
So, with this kind of set-up, you’re probably thinking this will be a colour-by-numbers horror, right? Helpless female in the dead of night, strange dude that just has to be a serial killer… right? Right?
WRONG!!!!
And frankly that’s about all I’m going to say about the plot.
This, I promise, is a SPOILER FREE ZONE… no SPOILERS to see here, none, not one, absolutely no SPOILERS allowed, heck they’re barely even tolerated here in the zone.
I went in blind with this one. After seeing the teaser trailer about a month ago, I made a conscious effort to avoid any semblance of a spoiler…and that my reader, is the way you too should go into this.
Whilst this movie has an absolute blast playing with various horror tropes, most notably the incessantly bad decisions all horror protagonists make. It’s the twists, rug pulls and absolute batshit insanity that makes “Barbarian” a must watch.
The Prognosis:
Director Zach Cregger, usually an actor known for more comedic roles (“The Whitest Kids U Know”, “Wrecked”), gleefully dances between the genres of comedy and horror. There were times I found myself gripping my seat in terrified anticipation, only to be laughing my absolute ass off seconds later.
*The director even liked my tweet… now we’re best friends, obviously.
The actors are all fantastic too.
Brit actor Georgina Campbell, from the excellent “Hang the DJ” episode of “Black Mirror” & the apple+ series “Suspicion”, absolutely shines.
There you have it… an attempt at a review that gives absolutely nothing away.
So now I’ve kept my side of the bargain, all you need to do is go see “Barbarian.”
Then dear reader, let’s discuss… you can catch me on Twitter with my new bestie Zach… Zach Cregger the director… Creggers… Creggsy… actually, I don’t know him.
The sheer presence of Alice Krige on screen will always draw me in such is the weight of performance that she is guaranteed to bring to the numerous roles she plays. In horror circles she came to light in 1981’s supernatural flick Ghost Story. My own personal journey into the horror celluloid history would cross paths with Krige when I first watched Sleepwalkers to fuel my passion for all things Stephen King and was struck by the gravity and sensual portrayal of matriarch villainess Mary Brady.
For her latest venture, She Will Krige plays beautifully to age as fading film star Veronica Ghent who goes to a healing retreat in Scotland to recover from a double mastectomy. The central theme of defeminisation runs rapidly throughout this feature with most male characters using their false privilege status to choose every avenue to assert power over the female gender. Veronica’s physical scarring is the most obvious feature. There is more lurking beneath the surface however with a mental trauma hinted at and disclosed later in the narrative.
Veronica is joined by Desi (Kota Eberhardt) who also falls prey to male assertiveness when she is hit on at a bar, and then things turn south fast when they try to force themselves upon her.
A bond is formed between Veronica and Desi that is cemented by the land in which they have come to; once a place where women were burnt as witches but through which a power is harboured by those who will vengeance.
The Prognosis:
Director Charlotte Colbert makes a worthy entry for her first foray into feature length filmmaking. With weighty performances from Krige, Eberhardt, and veteran screen actors Malcolm McDowell and Rupert Everett, she has crafted a mystical film that captures an eerie and haunting presence. This is further enhanced by Cinematographer Jamie Ramsay’s visual eye (one that has him fast rising up through the ranks behind the camera with See How They Run and Strangers) who manages to build a visceral feeling to support the characters hardship and turmoil with each frame shot.
She Will may be a slow burn, but there is enough charisma here to fuel the intrigue to a well developed narrative to fan the flames of a theme that warrants more attention.`
As 1957 drew to a close, so did Universal’s stories around monsters, giant creatures, and supernatural events in the science fiction realm.
It wasn’t that the production company was short on ideas, and Monolith Monsters is a testament to this, pushing the envelope away from the known and into the unknown. When a meteorite crashes and its material then grows to epic proportions once exposed to water and turns anyone that crosses its path to ash.
Grant Williams who had already starred in the successful The Incredible Shrinking Man would star as the everyman turned hero, Dave Miller. Dave happens to be the head of San Antonio’s geological office, so he’s a man with smarts and just might have the answer to saving humanity from these monumental blocks of stone.
Joining Millar is his girlfriend and teacher Cathy played by American singer Lola Albright who supported Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds in The Tender Trap and was only a few years away from acting opposite Elvis Presley in Kid Galahad. For Monolith Monsters though the lead characters Dave and Cathy would use their combined knowledge along with college professor Arthur Flanders (Trevor Bardette) to find a solution to stop the threat expanding into their town.
A particular highlight is the cameo performance from William Schallert as a benign meteorologist, happily carrying out his day without the slightest notion of the impending danger that is facing humankind. Also keen viewers will note a young Troy Donahue in one of his earlier roles playing a dynamite expert.
Whilst noted for its production design and special effects plus some noteworthy performances Monolith Monsters suffers with execution. It presents a unique story but fails to manifest or produce anything out of this grain of salt idea. As such the sands of time have been unkind over the years, left as a forgotten relic from a decade of dwindling success.
– Saul Muerte
Monolith Monsters is currently available as part of a double feature blu-ray with The Deadly Mantis at Umbrella Entertainment.
As the Halloween season begins it is inevitable that the various streaming platforms will inundate us with a plethora of horror themes to satisfy the needs of the frenzied genre fans. What I didn’t expect was to see a Marvel / Disney+ production with a supernatural love song to the golden age of horror.
Werewolf By Night is a Marvel Studios Special Presentation, the first in a series of short features to tie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It holds what has now become synonymous with the full-length features adding a dash of humour to buddy dialogue scenes. What elevates the movie however is the directorial vision; a passionate and dedicated view of 1930s horror including using black and white cinematography to set the scene but adding a modern twist.to the narrative.
The thrust of the piece follows a dark and stormy night (of course) where five experienced monster hunters gather after the death of Ulysses Bloodstone to participate in a ritualistic competitive hunt and wield the sacred bloodstone to become their new leader.
Among them is the timid, yet astute Jack Russell (Gael Garcia Bernal) who not only has ulterior means for being at the hunt but also harbours a secret of his own, which if unleashed could spell a different outcome for all involved.
The Prognosis:
The appeal of Werewolf By Night comes through not just with its endearing characters, namely Bernal’s Jack Russell and Laura Donnelly’s Elsa Bloodstone, playing with an underlying chemistry embroiled in the survival and turmoil that they are presented with, But its cinematography is so rich and lush that you are instantly transported to a specific time in celluloid history, and i simply love the way that it plays with the fourth wall, applying texture to our field of vision.
It does fall into the trappings of a Marvel / Disney production however and lack in scares, but what makes up for this with a gloriously fun and engaging tale that hooks you in and packs it all neatly into a 53 minute running time.
Back in 2018, the writing team of Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride & David Gordon Green did the unthinkable and brought Michael Myers back to life and stalked the big screens once again.
With a strong focus on the long lasting effects that trauma has on us all and who better to champion this cause than ultimate survivor, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis – who turned out a phenomenal performance in that role).
Fans both old and new alike were lapping up this brutal the on a 40 year old franchise, so it was inevitable that further two movies would arise. However…
People (myself included) felt let down by the directorial path that was chosen. Halloween Kills felt like a fluff piece, a filler if you will to bring about the conclusion and along with it the end to the franchise??
Despite this, there were some faithful to the resurrection (ooh, bad choice of word. I’m still having my own trauma counselling over that movie :p) and were keen to see how the trilogy would play out. Again I would include myself in those who waited with anticipation.
But before we get to my thoughts on this, let’s view the trilogy through the trauma lens and the five stages of grief, as I personally find that this ties in with the central theme and our understanding of the creative mindset.
Halloween (2018) would set up the premise of trauma and its unshakeable hold on the victims with stage 1 – Denial. Most of the characters are in a state of denial, with the exception of Laurie, who is so immersed in the state that she is on a deeper level and knows that the shape of evil will always be there as long as Michael is alive. This is her mantra and never waivers across the three movies.
Moving into Halloween Kills (2021) and we traverse through stage 2 – Anger with our rising vigilantes and stage 3 – bargaining as those who try to lure Michael to his death end up bargaining with their own.
So, now we come to Halloween Ends (2022) which must then face the final two stages: Depression and Acceptance. The former of the two does not bode well to focus on for the feature but go there it does.
The feature picks up with two of our central survivors Laurie and her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and the remnants of Haddonfield. Among the residents is Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) a boy who accidentally kills the kid he is babysitting and is forever tarnished among his community. It is here that he is quickly thrust into comparison with Michael, and the new face of evil. As much as Corey struggles to reassert himself, he is further quashed and forced to ask whether he should just concede to his fate.
David Gordon Green continually likes to dabble with the whole nature vs nurture idea and with it starts to lose the kernel of a Halloween franchise movie; namely Myers on a killing rampage. By shifting the core perspective to Corey and away from Myers, the more we question the true heart of the movie. In fact, Myers has been left residing in an abandoned sewer beneath the Haddonfield streets to lick his wounds, like a paltry Pennywise wannabe,
The silver lining of hope comes with Allyson who develops a romantic interest with Corey; a moth to the flame of violence. The other kindled romance is between Laurie and Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton); is there still a chance of happiness for Laurie?
As we build to the films’ climax, the characters must ultimately face acceptance. Do they acknowledge their past, shake off the shackles of accusations and character assassinations, or let trauma (Myers and his myth) win?
The Prognosis:
You play with fire and you’re gonna get burned.
David Gordon Green and Danny McBride struck gold when they first brought Myers back to our screens and the subject of trauma.
But by continually going back into the frey, the strength of their initial premise wanes. By sidelining Myers in their quest to scrutinise the impact of grief and trauma, they lose the essence of Halloween, With it they have inadvertently killed off the franchise, perhaps forever. Those devoted to Halloween must now go through their own 5 steps of grief but it’s debatable if we will ever reach acceptance.
I can just picture myself now, sitting in the room when this movie was pitched.
“Okay, so picture the worst criminal degenerates known to humankind, being transported from Manilla in the Philippines to Busan in South Korea on a boat”
:So,,, an aquatic equivalent to Con Air?”
“Yeah… yeah! Only bloodier… and bigger. These crims are seriously fucked”
“Okay. sure. What else have you got?”
“Well these guys turn the tables and take command of the vessel…” “So, a bit like Under Siege?”
“Kind of, but don’t forget, it’s gory as hell. So, anyway, just when you think things can’t get more fucked up, the passengers find out that there is something much darker and disturbed lurking in the ships bowels. Human experimentation of epic proportions on a war veteran that made him superhuman and relatively indestructible”
“So, something like Universal Soldier meets Resident Evil”
“Will you stop with the movie references and remember? This movie is gonna be bloody violent and pushed to the extremes of sensationalism purely for the entertainment value.”
“Yeah I get it. Sounds perfect for the midnight crowd wanting to be pushed to the edge. I’ll buy it.”
That’s essentially Project Wolf Hunting in a nutshell. It’s extreme because it can be. And it doesn’t hold back on going beyond the realms of reality for the sake of balls to the wall action. There are those that may find the nonsense approach to ramped up storytelling, a huge turn off. But then again, they’re probably not the right audience for this kind of film.
With supposedly 2.5 tons of blood used in the production of the movie, you can cement a picture in your mind of the tone that director Hongsun Kim was aiming for and he definitely doesn’t hold back.
The film doesn’t paint a pretty picture of the characters involved either, with most of them blacker than black, crooked or corrupt and willing to bend the rules to gain the upper hand in this volatile world. Even those with slightly redeeming characteristics aren’t spared the grace of survival, leaving one to question just who or what deserves to thrive in this landscape?
When push comes to shove though, this is immaterial as only the fittest and the smartest will rise out of the quagmire of fury and even then, their chances of living to tell the tale is slim. The audience will care little for this though, as it is the relentless action that they would have paid money to see, and this is where the director doesn’t fail to produce.
The Prognosis:
Strap yourself in for a bloody, insane and gory ride on a boat filled with criminals on a war path to destruction and damnation.
This film is jam-packed with mindless fun with kills coming from every direction.
I’m a sucker for insane action flicks and Project Wolf Hunting is ridiculous to the extreme without falling short of pleasure on every level.
The adrenaline will propel you to the film’s conclusion and is the most entertained I’ve been in some time.
There has been a 10 year absence since “The Master of Horror” Dario Argento stepped behind the camera to call the shots. That feature was the much maligned adaptation to Bram Stoker’s gothic masterpiece, Dracula… in this case in the 3D variety.
Apparently stirred into action when Argento’s daughter Asia discovered the script, Dark Glasses bears a lot of the hallmarks to what made this directing auteur great. Tapping into the giallo scene that built his name, Argento weaves a narrative around Italian escort Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli) who is attacked and pursued by a serial killer. She manages to escape but in her flight she is involved in a car crash, resulting in her loss of sight and the death of two of the occupants in the other car. They were the parents of Chin, who manages to survive the wreck and becomes the subject of Diana’s guilt and road to recovery.
At first Chin is reluctant to receive her care but soon warms to her maternal protection. The issue and conflict arises with the serial killer still on the loose and hellbent on finishing off what he started,
The Prognosis:
Dark Glasses imbues the heightened sexuality and psychological trauma that is oft’ a part of Argento’s cinematic playground.
Pastorelli produces a compelling and sensual-yet-damaged protagonist in distress, but the narrative falls in numerous places and loses structure as result.
This patchwork of Argento’s formative years has moments of success and is still visually arresting at times, but it struggles to string together a cohesiveness worthy enough to allow these notes to sing.
Saul Muerte
Dark Glasses will be streaming on Shudder Anz from Thurs 13th October.
Christina Ricci will always have a close association with the horror genre, namely for her child role as Wednesday from The Addams Family. Sleepy Hollow, and Cursed. As her roles matured, it would be inevitable that she would take on more maternal roles and this is where Ricci finds herself in her latest feature. Here she takes on troubled mother Laura, who is escaping with her son, Cody (Santino Bernard) from an abusive relationship.
Monstrous is set in 1950s America at a time that comes with all the trappings of a ‘housewife’, so when Laura tries to take up a new life in a lakeside town in California, she has to overcome all the obstacles that a male-dominated world would bring.
To make matters worse, Cody is struggling to fit into this new life and is ostracised from his school peers. Laura does her best to push Cody out of his comfort zone, but with little effect.
What director Chris Sivertson adds to the fold however is a much darker layer, lurking beneath the facade of Laura’s troubled woes. One that she has subconsciously buried to hide the ‘monstrous’ truth. And when some unknown entity starts to make its presence felt from the lake, Laura must find a way to protect her family or lose it all.
The Prognosis:
The trouble with Monstrous is that it falls too easily into predictability with the supposed reveal, all too easy to spot.
The narrative is a little too dry as well and feels flat, especially considering the subject matter.
On a positive note however, Ricci still proves she has the A game and adds plenty of weight to a deeply troubled character.
Deadstream is more than your average found footage horror film, as it is packed to the punch with so much energy, zest and macabre humour that it’s no wonder that it has been likened to something from The Evil Dead franchise.
It also tackles and in my humble opinion succeeds in making its unlikeable lead protagonist likeable.
The guy in question is Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter), a disgraced internet personality from his online prank show, Wrath of Shawn. Shawn tries to reanimate his audience and draw them back into his life by challenging himself to spend the night in a haunted house and livestream the whole event. Unfortunately he ends up royally pissing off a vengeful spirit and must do all he can to escape and survive the night.
The low budget aesthetics is part of the features appeal, utilising real effects to capitalise on the gritty realism of the supernatural and paranormal events that unfold. Keeping the location to a minimum, primarily at said haunted house, essentially a dilapidated building is also a smart move, allowing the creativity to run loose without being tied down to constantly having to relocate. It also allows time for the ambience to build and have fun when unleashing their vision.
The Prognosis:
The writing is witty and clever in that it plays it straight, so when the macabre mayhem unfolds, it is pure joy to watch.
Winter also writes and directs alongside his partner Vanessa, which indicates not only do they have a firm grasp of the material, so when delivered feels flawless, but this is clearly a labour of love for them and this oozes through every scene.
Surgeons of Horror 