Horror

Film Review: Eldritch, USA is a weird and wonderful genre piece that wears its make-shift mentality with a gleefulness

Eldritch, USA wears its miniscule budget and make-shift mentality with a gleeful pride over the course of its 108 minutes.  Its limitations are obvious, but there’s a certain scrappy charm to it all that you can’t help but be a little taken by its ambition and camp B-movie mindset; there’s a certain Little Shop of…

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Interview: Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan on surviving the “best and worst” time filming Evil Dead Rise

For such a bloodied horror experience, the leading ladies of Evil Dead Rise are all smiles and levity as they discuss the “torturous” episode of filming, their own descent into “the abyss”, and how exactly Jim Carrey was used as a reference point. Ahead of the film’s global premiere earlier in the year (read our…

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Film Review: Evil Dead Rise is a relentless and beautifully horrific addition to the long-running franchise

Enhancing the punishing and graphically gory nature of Fede Álvarez’s 2013 “reimagined” Evil Dead and the more comedic inclination of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 (1987), Lee Cronin‘s Evil Dead Rise is a manic, at-times disgusting horror treat that proves there’s still a whole lotta (after) life left in this franchise. Given that Cronin seems…

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Film Review: Pearl; Mia Goth is the gift that keeps on giving in demented horror prequel

If X was Ti West‘s homage to classic 70’s horror effort The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then Pearl could almost be aligned with The Wizard of Oz, just with, you know, a lot more blood and dry-humping scarecrows. The fact that X was an initial singular success story was enough of a win for independent horror…

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Film Review: Daughter navigates gender, authority and autonomy in an unnerving, claustrophobic setting

Informing us that the film is based on fact more than fiction, Daughter has a certain familiarity about it when it initially begins, horrifying us with the imagery of a woman being bludgeoned by an unknown assailant.  It’s a suitable start for Corey Deshon‘s horror-leaning effort that successfully navigates mostly a singular location, a small…

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Interview: Skeet Ulrich on new horror film Blood, the everlasting fandom of Scream, and how being a father affects his choices

The horror genre and Skeet Ulrich go hand-in-hand.  Or do they? As Peter Gray spoke with the actor for his latest project Blood, a horror/thriller following Michelle Monaghan’s Jess, who moves her two children back to her childhood home where their lives quickly deteriorate into terror after the family dog bites her son, giving him…

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Talk To Me shocks and lingers with dread as it submits to the cruel and comedic capabilities of the horror genre: Sundance Film Festival Review

Whilst it’s fair to be tired of the “elevated horror” tag that so many genre pieces aim for nowadays, and the attachment of the-little-studio-that-could A24 only fans the fire, one needn’t worry with Talk To Me, an Australian-made horror effort that’s been acquired by the aforementioned studio for US distribution following wild reactions out of…

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Film Review: M3GAN; A.I. horror-lite comedy is a self-aware slice of glorious lunacy

Right from the opening of M3GAN it’s obvious what type of film Gerard Johnstone‘s A.I. horror-lite is going to be: one that doesn’t take itself remotely seriously, has its wink poised at the audience, and knows you can’t think it’s ridiculous any more than the creators already do. If its trailer didn’t already clue you…

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Win a double in-season pass to meet M3GAN; She’s more than just a toy. She’s part of the family

Thanks to Universal Pictures we have 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see M3GAN, a fresh new face in terror from the horror genre’s most prolific minds – James Wan, the filmmaker behind the Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring franchises, and Blumhouse, the producer of the Halloween films, The Black Phone and The Invisible…

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Interview: Christmas Bloody Christmas writer/director Joe Begos on seasonal horror, practical effects and shooting on film.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and fiery record store owner Tori Tooms just wants to get drunk and party, until the robotic Santa Claus at a nearby toy store goes haywire and makes her night more than a little complicated. Santa Claus begins a rampant killing spree through the neon drenched snowscape…

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The Callisto Protocol Review: An Unsettling, Unforgettable Adventure

My immediate impressions of The Callisto Protocol were sceptical at best. From new developers Striking Distance Studios and video game director, designer and producer Glen Schofield, one of the minds behind the original Dead Space, I couldn’t help but feel his newest attempt at survival horror was clearly something left unfinished with his previous franchise….

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4K Ultra HD Review: The original Scream remains a horror classic as it upgrades its specs for killer home release

Releasing a horror movie only days out from Christmas doesn’t seem like the smartest marketing ploy.  Add to that a slasher example of the genre at a time when “horror” was a bad word – and so often relegated to the straight-to-video treatment – and you had, essentially, a film slashed dead on arrival.  Such…

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Film Review: The Menu is an eat-the-rich black comedy that’s prepared and plated to near-perfection

A satire surrounding the wealthy, faux celebrities, foodies and their misplaced importance, or chefs with a God complex seems far too easy to execute for a mock artist.  For director Mark Mylod (What’s Your Number, TV’s Succession) and screenwriters Seth Reiss (TV’s Late Night with Seth Meyers) and Will Tracy (TV’s Succession) it’s low-hanging fruit…

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Interview: Deirdre Mullins on female-centric horror film Mandrake and equal representation within the industry

Premiering exclusively on Shudder from November 10th, Mandrake is a Northern Irish folk horror tale that marks the directorial feature debut of Lynne Davison. Premiering earlier this year at FrightFest Glasgow the film follows probation officer Cathy Madden (played by Scottish BAFTA-winner Deirdre Mullins), who is given the task of rehabilitating notorious killer ‘Bloody’ Mary…

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Interview: Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes on creating horror film Sissy from a deeply personal space

After earning a swarm of likes from SXSW audiences earlier in the year and from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), where it earned nominations for Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Lead Actress (for Aisha Dee’s committed performance), the social media slasher Sissy is ready for local audiences to like and…

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Film Review: Terrifier 2 is a hyper-nasty, extended horror treat for fans of the original’s gruesome nature

Going into a film like Terrifier 2, audiences can’t help but be versed in the news surrounding the film that has largely focused on just how spectacularly gory this thing is and the fact that such splatter has caused American cinemagoers, who have pushed the micro-budgeted horror film to rope in over 5 times its…

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Win a double in-season pass to see the new Australian horror flick Sissy

Thanks to Arcadia we have 10 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see the new Australian horror that takes a killer stab at the influencer generation – Sissy, in Australian cinemas from November 3rd, 2022. Cecilia (Sissy) and Emma were tween-age BFFs who were going to grow old together and never let anything come between…

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Where Aussie audiences can watch Terrifier 2 this Halloween

It’s the horror movie so gory that audiences in the US have reportedly fainted and vomited at countless sessions.  Now, it’s Australia’s turn! A surprise box office success and sequel to 2016’s breakthrough cult horror hit Terrifier, Terrifer 2 continues the demented reign of Art the Clown, here resurrected by a sinister entity and returning…

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Film Review: Barbarian elevates its simple premise with dark humour and unsettling terror

The premise for Barbarian is almost insultingly simple that its ultimate outcome feels all the more revelatory, thanks to writer/director Zach Cregger expanding on his narrative familiarity with intrigue, dark humour and unsettling terror. A film that has two distinct halves but manages to still feel cohesive in spite of its shift, Barbarian initially sets up…

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Interview: Andi Matichak on Halloween Ends: “This is the final conclusion. Let’s not be precious about it.”

After skewering the narrative of the Halloween films with the direct name-same sequel in 2018, David Gordon Green took a massive kitchen knife to all that had come before and created a brand new series within the horror franchise. After reviving the iconic Michael Myers for Halloween and Halloween Kills, the epic conclusion to his…

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Film Review: Raven’s Hollow is an atmospheric gothic horror tale that favours story over scares

Not exactly an origin story in the traditional – or autobiographical – sense, but a healthy start all the same as to how legendary horror writer Edgar Allan Poe fuelled his creativity for all things macabre, Christopher Hatton‘s Raven’s Hollow indulges in the author’s aesthetic for an atmospheric chiller that favours story over scares. In…

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V/H/S/99 flexes its creative muscle with a shaky form: TIFF 2022 Review

One of the more unlikely franchises of a resilient nature, V/H/S/, a retro-appearing horror anthology effort that often compiles a series of genre directors flexing their creative muscle through short horror narratives, is now in its fifth iteration in the form of V/H/S/99. The horror tales that often are confined within the V/H/S/ films are always…

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Mean Spirited is an enthusiastic horror-comedy that delights in the purposefully awkward: FrightFest Film Review

When watching Mean Spirited I couldn’t help but wonder why Jeff Ryan isn’t a household name.  As a director he has worked within a duo of spaces that have well been tested – the mockumentary comedy and the found footage subsect of horror – but both this and his previous effort (YouthMin) prove he has…

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Film Review: The Invitation; serviceable enough to accept or best to return to sender?

It’s all too easy to wax lyrical these days about trailers spoiling and “giving too much away” for the keyboard warriors who oft decide they hate a film before they even see it.  Whilst the jury is still out on how many will dislike The Invitation, I can attest that, as far as spoilers go,…

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Film Review: Orphan: First Kill adopts a blackly comic, campy personality that succeeds in shocking its audience

Of all the unexpected horror sequels to come to fruition, Orphan: First Kill would be up there as one of the more unlikely titles.  Yes, it’s a prequel, first and foremost, but original star Isabelle Fuhrman is back in the unsettling role of Estonian psychopath Esther that birthed her career in 2009’s Orphan.  Why this…

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Interview: Director Rebekah McKendry on her philosophical scarer Glorious

The pandemic gave many a creative time to think as so much of the entertainment industry faced an uncertain future. For director Rebekah McKendry through, it played into her favour. Presented with a unique, near-singular-set horror film that mused on philosophy and existentialism, Glorious seemed like an idea born from a world that was unsure…

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Film Review: Glorious is surprisingly contemplative for a lightly demented horror film

With a rest-stop bathroom glory hole serving as a type of universal gateway between a confused, confined Ryan Kwanten and an unseen, but very heard, J.K. Simmons, one would be forgiven for thinking Glorious may be, well, just a little filthy. Sure, it’s dirty at times and leans into a gory mentality when it sees…

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Film Review: What Josiah Saw subverts our horror expectations with a brutal subtlety

Though What Josiah Saw may include rather expected tropes of the haunted gothic subsect of the horror genre, Vincent Grashaw‘s self-contained chiller continually subverts our expectations with a brutal eeriness that’s likely to divide its audience between those who are enveloped by its slow burn mentality and those who prefer their horrors far less subtle….

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Film Review: The Cellar is a haunted house effort that aims for tension over bloodshed

Whilst The Cellar won’t exactly be riding high on viewers’ lists of must-see scary movies, Brendan Muldowney‘s haunted house horror effort at least conjures an atmosphere and an unlikely climax to earn it valid points for trying. Muldowney’s script initially plays into the genre tropes we expect when Keira Woods (Elisha Cuthbert) and her family…

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Interview: Director Jay Cheel on Cursed Films II; “There’s weird energy around this production”

When people look at films that are super beloved and then hear stories about the difficulties or tragedies that happen on set, they then go onto describe that production as “cursed”.  After exploring such controversial productions as Twilight Zone: The Movie and Poltergeist during its first season, Cursed Films II explores a further quintet of…

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