Apr 27, 2015
Review: CAN’T COME OUT TO PLAY (2013) {0}
John McNaughton comes back out to play
It’s been nearly 30 years since director John McNaughton announced himself to the world with Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, which gifted us Michael Rooker, and far too long since he returned to the horror genre. So that’s reason enough to celebrate his latest film, The Harvest, which after a triumphant premiere at last year’s FrightFest is finally getting a UK release under the new title Can’t Come Out to Play. Whatever the reasons for the name change (perhaps to avoid confusion with the 1992 thriller starring Miguel Ferrer and Leilana Sarelle, or simply to sound less arty), McNaughton’s return to the genre is a welcome one.
Apr 27, 2015
Review: UNFRIENDED (2014) {0}
While a large majority of the hardcore horror fans are content to bemoan the prevalence of the “found footage” format, a few people are out there trying to change your mind by bringing some new perspectives to the experience. And while it’s certainly true that you’ll find a lot of dry, dreary, and redundant found footage movies out there, it’s also sort of satisfying when you find one that’s relatively clever, novel, or creative.
Apr 27, 2015
Interview: Christopher Butler, Writer-Director of THE SCOPIA EFFECT {0}
After four years of blood, sweat and tears, first-time writer/director Christopher Butler achieved his vision of producing a sci-fi horror epic against impossible odds. From first draft to final completion it was the most ambitious low budget feature film ever attempted. Now, as it finally reaches British audiences as an iTunes digital exclusive, David Hughes talks to Butler about The Scopia Effect.
Apr 25, 2015
Review: THE GENERATION OF Z: APOCALYPSE (Live Event) {0}
Originally performed in New Zealand and now coming off the back of critical success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Generation of Z: Apocalypse is a fantastic fusion of theatre and horror survival game. It bears all the hallmarks of the latter, moving from set-piece to set piece in calculated peaks and troughs of suspense, guided by stereotypically gruff marines. The story has been told countless times before, but not quite from this perspective. London is gone, overrun by the undead, and we’ve been corralled into an abandoned underground refugee camp. The set design is utterly fantastic and they know it, giving you plenty of time in each area to peruse the various discarded items and overlapping letters, notices and photographs, particularly in the dank room where it all begins.
Apr 25, 2015
Exclusive Review: THE SCOPIA EFFECT (2014) {0}
Shouldn’t death be a once in a lifetime experience?
Does anyone (here in the West, at least) seriously believe in reincarnation any more? To put it glibly, the once-popular concept of past lives is not what it used to be. The New Age therapeutic process of past life regression (PLR) is now filed away with healing crystals, tinfoil hats and – soon, with any luck – homeopathy. But, as Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, Jonathan Glazer’s Birth and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives demonstrated, you don’t have to believe in reincarnation to weave a fascinating film narrative from the concept – or to appreciate the results.
Apr 24, 2015
EXCLUSIVE REVIEW: Bad Land: Road To Fury (2014) {0}
Any time a film undergoes a significant name change before releasing to the international market, especially one designed to capitalise on an upcoming blockbuster, it can’t help but ring a few alarm bells in the viewer. Jake Paltrow’s second feature, formerly known as Young Ones (no relation to the anarchic post-modern ’80s sitcom) has been dutifully changed to Bad Land: Road To Fury. Given the desert dystopia setting of the film, and the presence of Nicholas Hoult among the cast, this is pretty shamelessly hitching a ride on the Mad Max: Fury Road bandwagon.
Apr 20, 2015
Review: IN RESIDENCE (2014) {0}
There’s a good reason that so many independent horror films take place in an isolated location that’s populated by only a handful of characters: because the fewer “moving parts” a low-budget producer has to worry about, the lower the odds of something going irrevocably wrong. If you have A) a creepy location, B) a decent premise, and C) a handful of hard-working actors, you have a solid chance of banging out something at least halfway intriguing. Such is (mostly) the case with In Residence, a 61-minute “calling card” sort of horror flick from first-time director (and, I should add, personal friend) Tim Buel.
Apr 20, 2015
Review: HOLY GHOST PEOPLE (2013) {0}
It was only a matter of time before the filmmaking team known as “The Butcher Brothers” would drop the slightly silly moniker and start crediting themselves as normal guys, and it only seems fitting that Mitch Altieri and Phil Flores would choose to do it with a film like Holy Ghost People. The duo has shown some skill and (better yet) improvement with each successive movie – The Hamiltons, The Violent Kind, The Thompsons (and yes I left out April Fools Day to be kind) – but their latest is easily their most complete, cohesive, and compelling thriller yet.
