One could argue that no one has crafted such an impact on the horror genre nor weaved a unique style into the fold than Italian Maestro, Dario Argento. Director Simone Scafidi attempts to fashion a visual insight into the auteur’s life and work through a series of archival footage and mixture of interviews from industry admirers such as Guilermo Del Toro; Nicholas Winding Refn, and Gasper Noe; long-time collaborators, Michele Soavi and Lamberto Bava; and family members such as his sister Floriana and daughters Asia and Fiore. All of whom offer their own take on what made Argento such a remarkable talent. That’s not to say that Scafidi isn’t willing to look deeper into Argento’s character, skirting around some of the less than desirable attributes that can be carried by gifted and driven disposition. It’s an area that sparks the potential to venture into the lengths that an individual may go to in order to create their vision. This issue is that Scafidi merely dangles this observation before the viewer, little willing to venture below the surface of Argento’s veneer.
That being said, there is plenty to stoke the fire of creativity on show, and Dario Argento Panico produces a window into a remarkable career, including moments with the man himself, talking through his own observations and reasonings across a multitude of highs and lows, starting with his impactful beginnings and the animal trilogy, The Bird With The Crystal Plumage; The Cat O’Nine Tails; and Four Flies on Grey Velvet, including the Three Mothers trilogy, Suspiria, Inferno, and The Mother of Tears. Just the tip of the iceberg, but one that we can gracefully skate across an absorbing collection of works.
The Prognosis:
Dario Argento Panico is a documentary that testifies to the remarkable talent that the director has provided in the celluloid world. It will no doubt grip cinephiles and fans of Argento’s work, but there is lost potential here, where the director is all too willing to skim the surface, neglecting the urge to cut deeper into the character, and the balance between greatness and the sacrifice one makes to achieve high standards, damning all that may fall between. There are moments that Scafidi dalliances with the heart of an auteur and one can only wonder how far he would have pushed the knife, to cut open and dissect the things that maketh the man.
Saul Muerte
Dario Argento Panico is currently streaming on Shudder.
Music in film achieves a number of things: it establishes setting; it creates atmosphere; it calls attention to elements; it reinforces or foreshadleaningsows narrative developments; it gives meaning to a character’s actions or translates their thoughts; and it creates emotion.
(K. Kalinak, 2024)
Such is the weight that music has in films that to find the right balance is imperative in delivering the right intonation or mood to a piece. If it’s off kilter in any way, then you risk thrusting your audience out of the narrative and falling into an abyss of disconnection. Unfortunately, this becomes common place during Joe Lynch’s latest offering from the directorial chair. It feels intentional but the choice to mix up the erotic ambience with mystery and intrigue, ends up feeling like a late night straight to tv from the 80s.
One might argue that Suitable Flesh is aiming to present itself in this field, tipped as a successor to Stuart Gordon’s Lovecraftian classics, From Beyond and Re-Animator, it even boasts one of stars from both of these features, Barbara Crampton. And thank God as she is head and shoulders, one of the most interesting components to the film.
There is plenty to praise on the basis of its premise alone, but its execution gets too muddled through amplifying different genres with a hazy mix of confusion. Another example of how the composition never hits the right note throughout.
When psychiatrist, Dr. Elizabeth Derby (Heather Graham) becomes involved and obsessed with one of her clients, Asa White (Judah Lewis – The Babysitter) she soon becomes entangled in an ancient curse; one with octopedal ramifications, another of Lovecraft’s signature themes arises.
The first and second act hinges on this lustful interaction, accompanied by murderous deeds, and psychological leanings. So embroiled in this component that Lynch neglects to add any depth to the proceedings and skates along the surface hoping that the intrigue is salvageable enough to keep the plot afloat.
The supporting roles from Johnathon Schaech (Quarantine) and Bruce Davison (X-Men) are woefully underused, with the exception of Crampton who plays Derby’s confidante and lifelong friend, Dr. Daniella Upton, this is Graham’s picture to deliver, but too often she is trapped in a two-note affair, struggling to break out of her fixed portrayal of a woman in crisis.
Suitable Flesh’s saving grace comes in the final act, when Lynch finally decides to dial up the tension and leans heavily into a gripping climax, with a disappointing and predictable final reveal.
The Prognosis:
What promised to be a reawakening of Lovecraftian themes brought to light in the 80s, Suitable Flesh leaves you floundering, in search of something to grip onto, waiting all too late in the final act to serve up anything remotely appealing to its audience.
Saul Muerte
Suitable Flesh is available on Shudder from Fri 26th Jan.
Kalinak, Kathryn, ‘What does film music do?’, Film Music: A Very Short Introduction, 1st edn (New York, 2010; online edn, Oxford Academic, 24 Sept. 2013), https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780195370874.003.0001, accessed 24 Jan. 2024.
Shudder has been down this lone sniper road before and arguably travelled it with better results in one of their earlier Exclusive and Original features, Downrange. In this instance, Night of the Hunted takes up the plight with Alice (Camille Rowe – No Limit) who is heading home with her work colleague / lover, John (Jeremy Scippio) when they choose to stop off at a petrol station; a decision that will make a drastic turn in their lives when they come under attack from a hidden assailant, armed with a sniper rifle.
As the horrifying events unfold Alice comes to the realisation that this is no mere stroke of the wrong place, wrong time and that she has been specifically targeted by a man with a violent vendetta. Alice can’t rely on her social skills to talk her way out of this predicament, but must rely on her wiles and the limited resources that a petrol station can offer, in order to have any hope of survival. All the while, she comes under psychological scrutiny from the shadows of both her past and the killer in the night.,
The Prognosis:
Director Franck Khalfoun has produced mixed results in his canon of work thus far, which has never quite hit the mark since 2010’s Maniac. With Night of the Hunted, a remake of Spanish film, Night of the Rat, is once again middle of the road affair for Khalfoun. While Rowe manages to portray a woman under siege, carving through the emotions of grit, determination, vulnerability and loss (and even tips the balance of audience backing at one point), the run of the mill is all too predictable, refusing to veer outside of the comfort lane.
Saul Muerte
Night of the Hunted is currently streaming on Shudder.
It’s a rare thing these days to reach the fourth instalment of a franchise and to say that it has not only surpassed its original enterprise but made a far richer experience as a result, but that is exactly what writer, director Stephen Cognetti has been able to achieve with Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor. By releasing himself creatively from the shackles of Abbadon Hotel, which marked the location of the three previous features and expanding the Hell House universe into another setting, Cognetti can afford to embellish his vision, and explore new terrain whilst still using the code from which he had initially begun his found footage horror genre journey.
When a group of internet sleuths, Margot (Bridget Rose Perrotta) and Rebecca (Destiny Leilani Brown) decide to embark on an investigation into the Carmichael murders and choose to stay at the family abode, they encounter a far sinister world that arcs back to the satanic rituals performed at the Abbadon Hotel. Accompanying them into the paranormal examination is Margot’s brother, Chase (James Liddell), who is struggling with his own mental issues, a component that throws questions around the stability of the group. The further down the rabbit hole of inquiry they go, the more they begin to turn inward, becoming mistrustful of one another and feeding on the phenomena that engulfs the manor.
The Prognosis:
Presented through video journals, the story unfolds through the four nights that the trio chose to spend at the Carmichael residence, all the while the audience knowing that none of the group would be heard from again. Did they simply disappear? Or did something consume their souls? Will the tapes uncover the truth to their disappearance? It’s a narrative that is no stranger to those familiar with the Hell House LLC franchise, but Cognetti still manages to weave a strong narrative out of it and emboldened by experience also produces a worthy tale to tell.
Saul Muerte
Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor is currently streaming on Shudder.
Demián Rugna has just directed his most ambitious and ostentatious movie yet. Where Terrified made certain horrorphilia fans sit up and take notice, his follow up feature, Satanic Hispanics was a little underwhelming. When Evil Lurks ramps it back up a notch with a haunting tale grounded in native folklore. Set in a remote village, the film follows two brothers Pedro (Ezequiel Rodriguez) and Jimmy (Demián Salomon) hear gunshots in the dead of night. When dawn breaks, their investigations lead them to a corpse, severed in two and then to a home of demon possessed man. There are rules around the removal of the possessed, known as ‘rottens’ to be held by experts, but with the afore-mentioned corpse, led to be one of these ‘cleaners’ and with the local authorities dismissing the case, the brothers are asked by the landowner, to help dispose the body themselves. In doing so though, they unleash a harrowing evil that slowly consumes and infects all that come in its path.
Once this virus is exposed, Pedro and Jimmy try to round up their family with the aim to get as far away as possible. Their choices lead them down a pathway to hell, exposing all the truths and fears that they have wished to lay dormant.
As the horror unfurls, so do the dwindling hopes of survival as the main narrative centres on Pedro’s pursuits in saving his family, but in doing so, unearths his own failings with brutal and mortifying ferocity. In many ways, in life, Pedro has dug his own grave, by walking away from life’s troubles, so when he is forced to confront them, he must do say in a test of his mettle, but Director Rugna, will wring out every ounce of desperation to push his protagonist to the limit, using evil as the insipid sponge to soak it all up and feed of his weakness.
The Prognosis:
It’s possible that Rugna has delivered one of the most unexpected sleeper hits of the year, but you won’t be fooled into a false slumber as When Evil Lurks is a dark expose on the frailties of humanity. It unleashes a melee of fears from the characters involved, and ventures to the brink of despair, and in doing so asks, ‘can humankind rid themselves of past traumas, or will they be forever doomed to repeat them, embedding the emotional scars deeper and deeper?
Saul Muerte
When Evil Lurks is currently streaming on Shudder.
As Mastemah opens, we’re presented with a disturbing, albeit poetically portrayed scene following a hypnosis session that sees a patient throw himself out of a high storey building, plummeting to his death. This singular moment sets up the narrative to pose a couple of important questions that run throughout the film; is this a result of hypnotic persuasion? Is there something darker that has a hold on the psyche? It’s a subject that is clearly of interest to director and writer, Didier D. Daarwin, who delves deeper into the subject with his protagonist/antagonist, Louise Wilmens (Camille Razat – Girls With Balls), a character who spends most of the film seemingly questioning her own actions and reactions that are presented. When Louise sets up her own practice in a remote setting, following the afore-mentioned events, one could view this as a time for healing and the isolation from a city lifestyle, but is there something more sinister at play?
To allow this internal journey to spiral forever inward and thus project manifestations outward, the character of Louise takes on a series of patients, primarily a brooding enigmatic male figure, Theo (Olivier Barthélémy) who embodies a stereotype of mysterious masculinity. The more embroiled Louse becomes in unpacking Theo’s mind, the more she succumbs to both hers and his sexual being. These perceptions murky the water to the point of confusion and winds its way down to a complex conclusion.Throw into the mix a mentor figure in Francois de Maestre (Tibo Vandenborre) who continually questions or queries and in some cases supports Louise’s actions, that the audience is further trying to figure out who or what is pulling the strings, so that by the time the climax occurs, we’re left floundering rather than grasping securely to what has been proposed.
The Prognosis:
There’s plenty to unpack in Daarwin’s vision, which much like the psychological mind can lead one astray. The issue is with the execution and in presenting a convoluted analysis, and in deliberately being aloof in what helms the theoretical, the audience struggles to be convinced and lost in the mix.
Having secretly shot the latest instalment in the V/H/S/ franchise back-to-back alongside V/H/S/99, Bloody Disgusting are set to release V/H/S/85 on the streaming platform, Shudder. This time around sees one of the pioneer directors of the franchise David Bruckner (The Ritual) with his segment Amateur Night return to add more flavour to the proceedings. It’s clear that Bruckner is going from strength to strength in his storytelling with a bent towards science fiction, evident with bringing Hellraiser before a contemporary audience. Bruckner’s V/H/S. Segment Total Copy is peppered throughout the feature and follows a group of college teachers pushing past their skillset into untapped territory. In doing so, they venture into a domain that slowly spirals out of control.
Joining Bruckner is a team of bold visionists, each with their own unique style spilling forth into an eclectic union of enterprising stories. My own personal liking leans towards Scott Derrickson’s (Sinister) segment Dreamkill; which is a psychic-bending, slasher frenzy that twists and turns delightfully towards a gripping climax. For fans of Derrickson’s work, there is an easter egg in there which arcs back to one of the characters from The Black Phone. Another segment I enjoyed was No Wake, directed by Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn) who feels as though he is in his element with his traditional found footage tale set on a lake retreat. We follow a group of teens who get more than they bargained for when they are slowly being picked off by a hidden assailant, and then pick up the tale further into the feature when we see the story complete from the assassin’s point of view. The other two entries are just as compelling with Natasha Kermani’s segment TKNOGD; following performance artists tackle technological gods and Gigi Saul Guerrero’s (Bingo Hell) segment, God of Death, taking you to the depths of Mexico in the wake of an earthquake which has awoken a once dormant God.
The Prognosis:
For its’ sixth entry into the franchise, V/H/S/85 is arguably the most diverse and compelling. It allows each director to spin their tale using their individual voices, without the detriment to the final reel. Enjoyable and fragmented to create a blend of disturbing, visionary narratives.
– Saul Muerte
V/H/S/85 is screening on Shudder from Friday 6th October.
Having already placed a haunting, psychological tale in a public convenience, starring Ryan Kwanten in Glorious, director Rebekah McKendry has established that she conveys stories from the most unusual setting. Her latest venture to hit Shudder, chooses to relocate to an elevator. The substance of the movie lays ground in an online phenomenon where people play a specific game to test their fears and the spectral myth that once you have ridden any elevator whilst stopping at a set order of floors, to invoke a ghost. The trick is to not open your eyes when you reach the fifth floor, or end up haunted to your own death by the female phantom.
Told from the perspective of high school graduates who run an online series debunking similar urban legends. They fall down on their luck when their sponsor threatens to pull the plug unless they can turn around a successful show by the turn of the week. Thankfully, or maybe not?, the team meets Ryan (Gino Anania) who presents them with the afore-mentioned game. The hook, or catch in this instance is that not only is the urban legend real, but Ryan’s sister may have been a victim and he believes the team are also responsible. Fuelled by vengeance and the search for truth beyond the known world, Ryan will go to all costs to seek it out.
The Prognosis:
I’ll be honest here. The thought of yet another social media horror feature immediately halted my need to watch this film, but it is markedly better than a few i’d like to mention.. Ahem Countdown or… cough Unfriended. Elevator Game does unfortunately share one characteristic though… unlikeable characters, so yes that in itself is part of the game, to watch these deviants get their comeuppance, but in this instance it comes at the cost of the film.
It’s fairly obvious who will end up in the finale, such is the predictability on show, but it’s still a fun ride. It also misses some of the humour present in Glorious too. Mark this up as a missed opportunity to elevate her career, but still promise that she may still reach the penthouse suite if McKendry keeps producing solid outings.
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.
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.
Surgeons of Horror 
