Written and directed by Thomas J. Churchill, Amityville Uprising starts with views of the beautiful town, highlighting several cozy locals. We then get a hard aerial cut that shows a massive explosion taking place within Amityville. The next transitional cut drops us into a military facility in full havoc; bodies lie about as military personnel […]
Reviews
[Review] Netflix’s James Wan-Produced “Archive 81” Falls Down Rabbit Hole of Eerie Cult Conspiracy
Cursed videotapes are no stranger to horror, but “Archive 81” aims to set itself apart with an eerie mind-bending mystery that distorts time and reality. A loose adaptation of Daniel Powell and Marc Sollinger‘s horror podcast, the supernatural series sends viewers on a twisty journey full of audio-visual nightmares. The James Wan-produced Netflix show is […]
[Review] ‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’ Ends Franchise With Final Lighthearted Monster Adventure
The Hotel Transylvania franchise has thus far made a charming go of exploring the deep humanity and family bonds within the realm of monsters, so it makes sense that it’d make a firm Bigfoot-sized step into literal territory for its fourth and final outing. Hotel Transylvania: Transformania sees many of its human and monster characters walking a […]
[Review] ‘The Kindred’ Makes for a Heartfelt Thriller with a Weak Sendoff
A woman makes her way down a hallway in a panic. Wobbling slightly, she looks behind her shoulder, making her way into an elevator and heads to the ground floor. She walks outside and tries to catch her breath; a body plummets to the ground and crashes before her. The woman has barely any time […]
[Review] Suspenseful ‘See for Me’ Adds Moral Complications to Home Invasion Thriller
Home invasion thrillers are inherently terrifying for corrupting the private space designated most for comfort and safety. The terror compounds when the home dweller can’t fight back easily; their vulnerability exacerbates the suspense tenfold—vulnerabilities like blindness. See for Me isn’t the first home invasion thriller to center around a blind character trying to evade the dangerous […]
[Review] Tongue-in-Cheek Awareness Makes ‘Red Snow’ a Delightful Holiday Horror Comedy
When it comes to horror comedies, one must find the humor in the macabre. How do you take a monster that is meant to elicit fear and present it as funny? In the case of Red Snow, written and directed by Sean Nichols Lynch, you combine charismatic actors with playful homage. For at the heart […]
[Review] ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ Gets Deeply Nostalgic and Sentimental Over Legacy
In an age where IP is king, and sequels, reboots, and updated adaptations take precedence, The Matrix Resurrections appears to fall right in line. But what should a reboot or sequel be in the context of its franchise? Which approach best serves its legacy, and perhaps more simply, what is a reboot, remake, or sequel? Resurrections grapples with its legacy and […]
[Review] ‘The Darkness of the Road’ Is a Psychological Nightmare Ride Filled With Chills
It isn’t clear what Siri (Najarra Townsend) is looking to get away from – all we know is that she and her daughter Eve (Gwyneth Glover) are in need of a fresh start. As Eve sleeps in the backseat, Siri drives throughout the night. The desert land around her is barren, her only sights being […]
[Review] Puppet Combo’s ‘Christmas Massacre’ Makes a Scuzzy Festive Slasher Into a Demented Score Attack Game
Puppet Combo’s eye for the absurd in PS1 era horror and old-school low-budget slashers alike has been key to the popularity of their games, and Christmas Massacre joins that growing list thanks to a giddily gory take on the arcade score attack game. The prologue sees a young boy, adorned only his underwear, a Santa […]
[Review] ‘Hurt’ Devastates With Emotional Tension and Dread-Filled Atmosphere
Directed by Sonny Mallhi, written by Mallhi and Solomon Gray, Hurt’s general premise involves a solider returning home to his wife, and when both go to one of their favorite Halloween haunts, an evil follows them home. While this is a prominent part of the film, Hurt has a lot more going for it beyond […]
[Review] Demonic Horror Movie ‘Agnes’ is Possessed By Weak Writing and Messy Thematic Exploration
Within the first ten minutes of Agnes, there is an opening scene where a young girl sings in a peaceful manner to a group of nuns; a couple minutes after that, there comes a scene of said nuns sitting together, with one abruptly shouting how the group are all whores and lustful – the table […]
[Review] With Great Survival Horror and Action, Shudder’s ‘Death Valley’ Knows How to Thrill
When it comes to cool monster flicks, the name Matthew Ninaber should ring a bell. You may have seen him around this year already – not in his regular looking human body by any means, but all dressed up as the iconic PG of Psycho Goreman! Ninaber is much more than a supernatural powerhouse though, […]
[Review] ‘Death to Metal’ Misplays Its Comedic Chords, But Makes It Up With Violent Gore
For as grim as the lyrical subjects can get in metal, the genre has the means to bring about good into the world. But there are folks who don’t recognize that and just want to complain and be judgmental when it comes to metal – like Father Milton (Andrew Kilborn). As a child, Milton was […]
[Review] ‘Krampus: The Naughty Cut’ – Scream Factory’s Extended Cut Belongs on Santa’s Nice List
In 2015, Michael’s Dougherty’s tale of yuletide terror, Krampus, was released in theaters with a family-friendly PG-13 rating. That was less a way to draw in a broader audience and more of a means of appeasing the MPAA. Scream Factory, working under Dougherty’s supervision, has now restored those excised bits to deliver the definitive “Naughty Cut.” […]
‘The Witches’ Put an Academy Award Winning Actress Up Against the Dark Arts [Hammer Factory]
While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 1955 and 1979 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the public eye, resurrecting the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy in vivid […]