Wendigo is a 2001 American horror film written, edited and directed by Larry Fessenden (Depraved; Beneath; Habit); it stars starring Patricia Clarkson, Jake Weber, Erik Per Sullivan, and John Speredakos.

George (Jake Weber) is a professional photographer with a Manhattan advertising agency. Needing some time away from the city, George, his wife Kim (Patricia Clarkson), and their ten-year-old son Miles (Erik Per Sullivan) head to upstate New York to take in the winter sights.

George accidentally hits and severely injures a deer that ran onto the icy road. After George stops to inspect the damage, he’s confronted by an angry local named Otis who flies into a rage. Once they reach their destination they discover that Otis, unfortunately, lives next door and strange things begin to happen in the cottage…

Reviews [may contain spoilers]:

“Wendigo had all the aces in hand during most of this horror game, but when the last call came in, it folded. I was enamored by the depressive feel, the trippy look, the solid actors, the intelligence in the dialogue and the creative, old-fashioned special effects though. There’s also such a sense of impending doom floating about this flick…” John Fallon, Arrow in the Head

“This is truly a hidden treasure among the masses of cookie-cutter horror flicks in the bunches. I cannot gush enough about Fessenden; Hollywood, take notice of this guy. This is a realistic, creepy, and heart-wrenching film that is a lot of fun to watch.” Felix Vasquez, Cinema Crazed

“The grainy aesthetic and snowy setting give the film a dangerous, wintry vibe […] Horrifying creature effects and an unexpected twist make Wendigo the filmmaker’s most frightening film to date. The finale—which is filled with unsettling practical effects—will stay with you for long after the credits begin to roll.” Blair Hoyle, Cinema Slasher

“Like other art-house films such as Nadja, Wendigo seems to have contempt for its genre, utilizing it as nothing more than an excuse to do some visual experiments.  Wendigo wants to be a monster movie for the art-house crowd, but it falls into the trap of pretention almost every time.” Tim Sanger, Film Threat

“The rampaging Wendigo may be a manifestation of Miles’s incipient Oedipal rage, but at the same time, it is a force embedded in nature and history. Such abstract notions may put off fans of the genre in its most elemental, slice-and-dice form. But for those in search of something different, Wendigo is a genuinely bone-chilling tale.”Dave Kehr, The New York Times

Cast and characters:

• Patricia Clarkson as Kim
• Jake Weber as George
• Erik Per Sullivan as Miles
• John Speredakos as Otis
• Christopher Wynkoop as Sheriff Tom Hale
• Lloyd Oxendine as Elder
• Brian Delate as Everett
• Daniel Stewart Sherman as Billy
• Jennifer Wiltsie as Martha
• Maxx Stratton as Brandon
• Richard Stratton as Earl
• Dash Stratton as Little Otis
• Dwayne Navara as Mechanic
• Shelly Bolding as Store Owner
• Susan Pellegrino as Nurse
• James Godwin as Wendigo

Filming locations:

Kingston, Phoenicia, and Ulster County, New York, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb

Dagon is a 2001 Spanish horror film directed by Stuart Gordon (The Dentist; From Beyond; Re-Animator; et al) from a screenplay by Dennis Paoli. Despite the title, the plot is actually based on H. P. Lovecraft‘s novella The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1932) rather than on his earlier short story ‘Dagon’ (1919).

A boating accident off the coast of Spain sends Paul and his girlfriend Barbara to the decrepit fishing village of Imboca. As night falls, people start to disappear and things not quite human start to appear. Paul is pursued by the entire town.

Running for his life, he uncovers Imboca’s secret..they worship Dagon, a monstrous god of the sea… and Dagon’s unholy offspring are on the loose…

Vestron Video is issuing Dagon as a restored Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release on July 24, 2018.

• Audio Commentary with Director Stuart Gordon and Screenwriter Denis Paoli
• Audio Commentary with Director Stuart Gordon and Star Ezra Godden
• New: “Gods & Monsters” – A discussion with Director Stuart Gordon, Interviewed by Filmmaker Mick Garris
• New: “Shadows over Imboca” – An Interview with Producer Brian Yuzna
• New: “Fish Stories” – An Interview with S.T. Joshi, author of I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft
• Vintage EPK
• Archival Interviews with Stuart Gordon, Ezra Godden, and other Cast & Crew
• Theatrical Trailer
• New: Conceptual Art Gallery from Artist Richard Raaphorst
• Storyboard Gallery
• Still Gallery

Reviews:

“Though it’s not perfect, Lovecraft fans will most likely be willing to forgive Dagon‘s shortcomings in favor of a film that obviously shows great respect and appreciation for its source materials.” Jason Buchanan, AllMovie

“With a few script touch ups and, more fleshed out characters and a more endearing lead, the film would’ve kicked my ass all over my padded my room. As/is there was a human anchor missing. But even with its set-backs there are still enough horror treats in this unsettling tale to make it worth the boat ride.” Arrow in the Head

” …Dagon demonstrates that the filmmakers still ascribe to their small-budget and exploitation roots, putting most of their money up on the screen by way of creature effects, make-up, production design, etc., along with a mild infusion of some gratuitous T&A. The look of the movie and the effects is fantastic…” Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

” …I’m willing to forgive the sometimes cheap-looking digital effects and the sometimes rubbery-looking tentacles. The fact that said tentacles are often seen in association with Macarena Gomez (probably the sexiest high priestess in movies for many a year) or clutching at a naked Raquel Merono (who essays the helpless struggling victim role very nicely) while she’s suspended in chains over a pit probably helps.” John Llewellyn Probert, House of Mortal Cinema

“Godden does a great job as the confused Paul and adds a comic relief touch to his character while still showing the emotion of pure terror and narrowly escaping the mutant townsfolk. Speaking of which, there’s also a good amount of scares and gore to go around. Every chase scene if full of suspense and does a great job entertaining you for the film’s 90-minute runtime…” Strange Kids Club

” …builds some good spooky mood at first and manages to be watchable with Godden making a suitably “dorky” hero, an okay opening dream sequence involving a mermaid, decent creature effects and couple of gruesomely cool moments (the best one involving a derelict’s face). Sure it’s a bit leisurely paced and certainly not perfect…” The Video Graveyard

“Gordon nicely creates the decayed humanity of Lovecraft’s ‘Innsmouth’ […] Dagon is a dark story well told, but for some Lovecraft lovers, it may be a fish that should have gotten away.” Andrew Migliore and John Strysik, Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H. P. Lovecraft, Night Shade Books, 2006

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

• Ezra Godden as Paul Marsh
• Francisco Rabal as Ezequiel
• Raquel Meroño as Barbara
• Macarena Gómez as Uxía Cambarro
• Brendan Price as Howard
• Birgit Bofarull as Vicki
• Uxía Blanco as Ezequiel’s mother
• Ferran Lahoz as Priest
• Joan Minguell as Xavier Cambarro
• Alfredo Villa as Captain Orpheus Cambarro/Captain Obed March
• José Lifante as desk clerk
• Javier Sandoval as Ezequiel’s father
• Victor Barreira as young Ezequiel
• Fernando Gil as Catholic priest
• Jorge Luis Pérez as Boy

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Prey. Slay. Display.’

House of Wax is a 2005 American-Australian horror film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows; Orphan) from a screenplay by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes (The Turning; The Conjuring; The Dark Side of the Moon; et al), based on a story by Charles Belden.

The movie stars Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Paris Hilton, Jared Padalecki, Jon Abrahams and Robert Ri’chard.

The movie is a very loose remake of the 1953 film of the same name, itself a remake of Mystery of the Wax Museum. (1933).

Carly Jones, her twin brother Nick, her boyfriend Wade, her best friend Paige, Paige’s boyfriend Blake and Nick’s friend Dalton are on their way to a football game in Louisiana. When night falls, the group sets up camp. A stranger in a pickup truck visits their campsite, shines his lights and refuses to leave until Nick smashes one of his headlights.

The next morning, Wade discovers that his car’s fan belt is broken. Carly and Paige wander into the woods, where Carly tumbles down a hill and falls into a pit filled with rotting animal carcasses. After rescuing her, the group meets a strange man named Lester, who offers to drive Carly and Wade to the nearby town of Ambrose to get a new fan belt. The two arrive at Ambrose, which is virtually a ghost town…

Reviews:

“House of Wax takes forever to get going, which wouldn’t pose a problem if some big payoff loomed in the end. But the film doesn’t so much let tension build as stall inevitable disappointment. Like too many horror movies these days, House of Wax goes for scares, but settles for being gory and deeply unpleasant.” Nathan Rabin, AV Film

“At times it can appear that House of Wax is more style over substance (and I’m looking at you, finale) but underneath the glossy surface is a gloriously nasty slasher which delivers the goods. The slasher material feels fresh, the wax elements are played to perfection and the cast do decent jobs of making it all seem believable. Highly underrated…” Andrew Smith, Popcorn Pictures

“105 minutes may seem like a lengthy slog for such a simple stalk and slash picture but precious few of them are wasteful and the last thirty are more than worthy of the price of admission alone. Give House of Wax an opportunity when you desire an old school horror fable with a glossy sheen as, given the chance, it may well melt away your defenses like it did mine.” Rivers of Grue

“House of Wax is not a good movie, but it is an efficient one and will deliver most of what anyone attending House of Wax could reasonably expect… assuming it would be unreasonable to expect very much.” Roger Ebert

“It takes its time and it actually gets better as it goes along. Yes, it’s sensationalist, silly entertainment meant for a young audience, but everyone knows that going in. And yes, its dialogue is stilted, its characters un-delineated and their motivations ridiculous.” Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

” …isn’t bad as these things go, although these things go nowhere a healthy individual should want to. Having never claimed to be a healthy individual, I found it tolerable. It’s nowhere near as punishing as Rob Zombie’s House of 1,000 Corpses, but it’s increasingly tense and resourceful and, in the end, it gets the sick job done.” David Edelstein, Slate

” …a fun slasher romp with some neat ideas and grisly murders. Paris does okay with her “slutty blonde victim” part and the waxy finale is something we’re unlikely to see anywhere else. Most definitely not for discriminating horror fans, but if you’re game for some trashy entertainment and well-executed executions, then you could do a lot worse.” Vegan Voorhees

“I like this movie a little bit because they still kill the old way. In recent years, in search of big bucks, a number of horror movies have been produced as hard but nevertheless permissible PG-13s, to bring in a younger cash customer. When you see that, you know there’s a certain line the movie won’t cross; it lessens the upfront apprehension, which after all is the point of the horror movie, no?” Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

Cast and characters:

• Elisha Cuthbert as Carly Jones
• Chad Michael Murray as Nick Jones
• Brian Van Holt as Bo Sinclair / Vincent Sinclair
• Paris Hilton as Paige Edwards
• Jared Padalecki as Wade Felton
• Jon Abrahams as Dalton Chapman
• Robert Ri’chard as Blake Johnson
• Damon Herriman as Lester Sinclair
• Andy Anderson as Sheriff
• Dragicia Debert as Trudy Sinclair
• Murray Smith as Dr. Victor Sinclair
• Emma Lung as Jennifer [uncredited]

Release:

The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released in US theaters on May 6, 2005.

With a reported budget of $40 million, House of Wax earned $70 million at box offices worldwide, $32 million of which came from North American receipts. House of Wax also earned $42 million in VHS/DVD rentals.

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘They’re beautiful. They’re sexy. And hungry for human blood!’

Vampire Sisters is a 2004 American horror film directed by Joe Ripple (Jebediah; Stakes) and produced by Don Dohler (director of The Galaxy Invader; Nightbeast; The Alien Factor). The Timewarp Films production stars Darla Albornoz, Leanna Chamish, and Syn DeVil.

“These sexy sirens bring a whole new meaning to “Ladies of the Night” as they lure victim after victim to their VampSisters.com website.

Utilising the web to entice victims to their lair, they seductively work their beauty and their bodies to fulfil an unholy desire to feed on human blood!

Once the kinky fun begins, the sisters bare their fangs and the feeding frenzy begins! After these sensual bloodsuckers are finished, they drag the bodies to a hideous creature they keep locked in their shed. As the missing persons pile up, two undercover vice squad detectives pose as a kinky couple to infiltrate the Vampire Sisters’ home.

A chilling battle between the sisters and the undercover cops leads to a mind-blowing finally climax; Iggy — the creature in the shed — is finally released.” from Brain Damage Films plot synopsis

Reviews:

“The gore effects are limited, mostly confined to splashing blood but there is a scene where a man has his eyes drilled out, or should that be drilled in? The special effects are awful as well, the blood looks far too runny, almost like red water. There are a couple of brief CGI shots and again they’re awful.” B Movie Nation

“It’s an uncomplicated B-movie to be sure. You are promised sexy women attacking idiots that they pull off of their website and that is exactly what you get. Over and over again. Horny victim knocks on the front door, the vampire ladies do some teasing, and then the blood starts flowing.” Dr. Gore’s Movie Reviews

“Everything about the movie is slipshod, from the “acting” to the dialogue to the direction; the film is a sinkhole of suckage […] Vampire Sisters is endlessly repetitive, with the trio eating a victim and inviting another almost immediately afterwards…” David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

IMDb | Image credits: The Dwrayger Dungeon

Stabbed in the Face is a 2004 American slasher horror film directed by Jason Matherne (Silk Scream; Grimewave; Goregasm) from a screenplay by Jared Scallions. Eric Fox, Dana Kieferle and Steve Waltz.

Reviews:

“I don’t recommend you watch this unless you’re a fan of stupid, clichéd, poorly-acted, bad lit, indie slasher that’s barely worth watching even though it has nudity and gore. It feels like it’s all over the place with the characters and by the end of it I actually couldn’t remember or care who was who.” Film Bizarro

“I was kinda surprised how mean-spirited some of the violence is in this, there’s a kill that is so brutal that I had to pick up my jaw from the floor (I loved it). There’s plenty of T&A (including female full frontal nudity from Helen Whiskey) and sex.” Independent Flicks 

“This one seems to purposely celebrate in cliches but doesn’t make them funny and is badly lit and very badly edited to boot […] The climax features a confusing mess of motives, there is plenty of nudity, and the killings feature over-the-top gore but are very short.” The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre

Release:

Wild Eye Raw issued the film on DVD in the USA on December 13, 2016.

IMDb

‘No one can hear you scream… if they’re screaming too.’

Scare Zone is a 2009 American slasher horror film written and directed by Jon Binkowski (ReVisitant; The Visitant); it stars Arian Ash, Chris Burns, Neil Brown Jr. and Simon Needham.

Scare Zone is Oliver’s pride and joy. Sure, it’s just another strip-mall Halloween Horror House, but as always, he’s put his heart and soul into it.

The attraction is open for three nights only, and Oliver has brought back his old staff, including ex-con Spider, eager bride-to-be Summer, and the enigmatic Goth princess Claire…

Reviews:

” …nice to see an indie film take a horror attraction and use it to the advantage of the film to induce suspense and tension. Scarezone has its faults, but I’d definitely recommend it for experimental fans that appreciate films like Popcorn, and Scream.” Felix Vasquez, Cinema Crazed

“The cast is a forgettable collection of mannequin-level cannon fodder, walking clichés with no traits of distinction. The script is utterly clueless in developing any sense of mystery, and the dialog is filled with painfully flat one-liners (note to the director: putting a hyperactive guy with an ersatz-British accent in your film does not make you Monty Python).” Jonny Numb

“The gore is so-so, the acting passable, the sets are ok… it’s a real haunted house attraction… and it shows, for better or worse. The cast was hired for obvious reasons: the most attractive people they could afford. The key to this being half-ass enjoyable is that the actors don’t seem to be disillusioned about what kind of film they are in.” Mr. DuLac, Letterboxd

Filming locations:

Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights on the “Body Collectors” set

IMDb

Margot Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018), born as Margaret Ruth Kidder, was a Canadian American actress. She is best known as Lois Lane in the Superman film series, playing alongside Christopher Reeve. Kidder began her career in the 1960s appearing in low-budget Canadian films and television series.

Horror fans mainly know Margot Kidder’s work as the twins in Brian De Palma’s Sisters (1973); as sassy Barbara “Barb” Coard in Bob Clark’s seminal slasher film Black Christmas (1974); and as Kathy Lutz in The Amityville Horror (1979).

However, Kidder also appeared in horror-themed productions such as 1973 TV movie The Suicide Club (part of The Wide World of Mystery series), The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, the 1992 Tales from the Crypt episode ‘Curiosity Killed’, The Hunger TV series episode ‘The Sloan Men’ (1997), the 1997 Aaahh!!! Real Monsters kids’ television series (voicing Mistress Helga), slasher movie The Clown at Midnight (1999, with Christopher Plummer), supernatural anthology pic Death 4 Told (2004) and Rob Zombie’s Halloween II (2009).

In 2015, she won an Emmy Award for her performance as Mrs Worthington on the children’s television series R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour.

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘The ultimate axis of evil… dead!’

Platoon of the Dead is a 2009 American science fiction horror feature film directed by John Bowker (Twisted Illusions 2; Werewolf Tales; The Evilmaker and sequel; et al). The Pipedreams Entertainment production stars Ariauna Albright, Tom Stedham, Chris Keown

The film was released on Blu-ray by Tempe Digital on May 18, 2018. Special Features include:

• Director’s audio commentary
• Behind-the-scenes featurette (25 mins)
• Cast and crew interviews (7 mins)
• Zombie House tour (7 mins)
• Tough Tom’s Movie Boot Camp (4 mins)
• Blooper reel (6 mins)
• Deleted scene (3 mins)
• Optional English subtitles
• Tempe Digital trailers

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com

In the distant future, man’s greatest enemy is one another as the flesh-eating undead wages war against the living! A Marine platoon is ambushed during a mission, leaving only three soldiers alive to fend off the growing army of the living dead.

En route to their pickup point, the platoon come across an abandoned house with three mysterious women hiding inside. If they can make it through the night, they’re home free… or so they think, because someone is hiding a dark secret that may alter the course of this gore-drenched war…

Reviews:

” …has a fair few enjoyable twists and ideas in it. A perfect Sunday morning hangover movie; its unchallenging, freewheelin’ approach makes it fun and easy viewing.” Blood Capsules

“The acting is a bit shaky, and delivered sarcastically at times when the character is seemingly trying to be serious. Bowker’s Platoon of the Dead has not as much gore as most zombie flicks contain, and the low budget gross-out props are put together quickly but do kind of get the point across of what exactly is coming out of a zombie or human body.” Joanna Rose, HorrorNews.net

“The soundtrack is bad, actually it’s pretty annoying. For a zombie film there ain’t many zombies… There is virtually no gore, the special FX are a joke, there are some practical FX and a few digital visual effects, such as laser fire and disintegrating bodies.” Independent Flicks

“Platoon of the Dead has a painful amateurism on almost every level. The film feels exactly like it was shot in and around someone’s house […] a film that avoids almost every opportunity for any kind of makeup effects, which are almost requisite for any effort setting out to be a zombie film.” Richard Scheib, Moria

Cast and characters:

• Ariauna Albright … Heather – Twisted Fates; Orgy of the Damned; Dark House; The Telling; Bloodletting; Polymorph; Ancient Evil: Scream of the Mummy; et al
• Tom Stedham … Sergeant Butler – HazMat; Gut Munchers; Blood Creek Woodsman; Torment
• Chris Keown … Lieutenant Roberts – Blood Creek Woodsman
• Michelle Mahoney … Stacy
• Tyler David … Private Dillon
• Amanda Bounds … Jill
• Jonathan Jacoby … Jacoby
• Lewis Franklin … Rescue Soldier

Filming locations:

Corvallis and Peoria, Oregon, USA

IMDb

Image credits: Pop Horror

New and future releases

HORRORPEDIA on social media: Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

The Popobawa (or Popo Bawa) is a mythical cryptid originating in Eastern Africa, specifically in and around the Tanzanian area. Popobawa is an alleged evil shape-shifting being which is said by witnesses to take both human and bat-like form, causing instances of panic to spread among affected communities.

Popobawa is unusual in cryptid terms in being a relatively recent phenomenon, the first specific reference being from 1965 on the Tanzanian island of Pemba, perhaps pertinently just after the island’s political revolution. Named from the Swahili for Popo (“bat”) Bawa (“wing”) due to the shadow it casts when flying overhead, it is the most recent “shetani” , the collective of mostly malevolent mythical spirits originating in the Eastern Africa area.  As a shape-shifting creature, it takes the form of a human by day and as a hunched or dwarfen humanoid with a variety of characteristics at night – these can include:

• A hunched or dwarf-like human body
• Long, pointed ears
• A mouth crammed with fangs
• Grey skin
• A single eye in the centre of its forehead
• Huge, bat-like wings, folded when not in flight into a cape
• A large penis (up to six feet in length!)
• Emission of a sulphurous smell
• Appears in a puff of smoke
• Occasionally seen with a tail and a bird’s talons

Many of these elements seem interchangeable, with daytime sightings and metamorphosis into animals also reported. With no ascribed motive for the Popobawa’s attacks on men, women and children, it is notable and quite shocking that the majority of the creature’s attacks are not only violent but also see the sodomitic rape of the victim, lasting up to one hour. The victim, if left alive, is told by the spirit to tell others of what has happened, lest the beast to revisit them and re-enact the assault.

It would seem likely that a strong history of homophobia in the region has made a significant impression on this element of the story – others have suggested that the area’s history as colonial hotbeds of slavery is responsible to some extent. The night-time attacks have left communities (though most tellingly, usually the men) staying awake at night to guard against the Popobawa visiting their homes.

By the 1970’s, Popobawa was given something of a backstory, an angry sheikh having released a djinn (genie) to take vengeance on his enemies. However, he lost control of the creature and the djinn took its current form, demanding its victims believe in its existence. More sightings began to appear, particularly in Tanzania and Zanzibar, though it was 1995 when the first of two notably widespread panics were attributed to attacks.

Reports of the 1995 attacks were investigated by prominent American sceptic, Joe Nikell who reported that there was evidence that the likely cause was some kind of sleep paralysis, rather than an actual physical encounter. Accounts from people said to have been victims regularly tell of feeling they are being held down whilst being attacked, in common with many alien abduction stories and out of body experiences – this would certainly lend itself to Nikell’s theory.

Mjaka Hamad, a peasant farmer in his mid-fifties and an apparent victim of the Popobawa’s attacks in 1995, has related his ordeal to the media:

“I could feel it,” Hamad said, “…something pressing on me. I couldn’t imagine what sort of thing was happening to me. You feel as if you are screaming with no voice. It was just like a dream but then I was thinking it was this Popobawa and he had come to do something terrible to me, something sexual. It is worse than what he does to women.”

The most recent wave of widely-reported Popobawa sightings came in 2007 in Tanzania’s former capital, Dar es Salaam, significant enough that even BBC news covered it. Some locals anointed themselves with pig oil to protect themselves from the Popobawa, whilst steel and salt are also said to repel the creature.

TV Personality Benjamin Radford, who investigated the Popobawa in 2007, reported in Fortean Times that the legend has its roots in Islam, the dominant religion in the area. According to Radford, “holding or reciting the Koran is said to keep the Popobawa at bay, much as the Bible is said to dispel Christian demons.”

Daz Lawrence, HORRORPEDIA

Wikipedia

Image credits: Cryptid Wiki | Mythology.net

The following is a list of the best horror films currently available on Netflix USA and UK in June 2018.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

In small-town Virginia, police are called to a gruesome crime scene where a family has been massacred in their own house. In the basement, an even more disturbing discovery is made: the partially buried corpse of a nude woman.

The cops take this unidentified victim to a small, family-run morgue, where they ask proprietor Tommy Tilden (Brian Cox) to perform an urgent forensic analysis in order to help determine what happened at the blood-stained house… [read more]

The Babadook (2014)

Six years after the death of her husband, Amelia struggles to discipline her “out-of-control” six-year-old Samuel – a son she finds difficult to love. Samuel’s dreams are plagued by a monster he believes is coming to kill them both.

When a disturbing storybook called “The Babadook” turns up at their house, Samuel is convinced that the Babadook is the creature he’s been dreaming about… [read more]

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

In 1897, newly-qualified solicitor Jonathan Harker takes the Transylvanian Count Dracula as a client from his colleague R.M. Renfield, who has gone insane.

Jonathan travels to Transylvania to arrange Dracula’s real estate acquisition in London, including Carfax Abbey. He meets Dracula, who discovers a picture of Harker’s fiancée, Mina, and believes that she is the reincarnation of his dead wife Elisabeta… [read more]

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Technicians Gary Sitterson and Steve Hadley prepare for an operation, one of several taking place around the world, while joking with fellow technician Wendy Lin.

College students Dana Polk, Jules Louden and her boyfriend Curt Vaughan, Holden McCrea, and Marty Mikalski go to a remote cabin in the woods for a vacation. While there, the technicians control the local environment and give them mood-altering drugs to manipulate the group into following a scenario. The drugs gradually reduce the group’s intelligence and awareness, and also increase their libido… [read more]

Carrie (1976)

Withdrawn and sensitive teen Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) faces taunting from classmates at school and abuse from her fanatically pious mother (Piper Laurie) at home. When strange occurrences start happening around Carrie, she begins to suspect that she has supernatural powers. Invited to the prom by the empathetic Tommy Ross (William Katt), Carrie tries to let her guard down, but things eventually take a dark and violent turn… [read more]

The Conjuring (2013)

When a rural family of seven begin to suspect that they are not alone on their Harrisville, RI farmstead, they hire world-renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren to check out their secluded farmhouse.

The Warrens may be seasoned ghost hunters, but they soon realise that they are in over their heads. As supernatural activity around the home becomes increasingly violent and ominous, the couple must fight for their lives in order to destroy the most terrifying evil they have ever encountered… [read more]

Creep (2014)

Aaron (Patrick Brice) is an optimistic videographer that decides to work for Josef (Mark Duplass) after answering his ad on Craigslist. All Aaron has to do is record Josef throughout the day and remain discreet about the entire set-up. Josef tells Aaron that he’ll be recording a series of videos for his unborn son, as he’s suffering from a terminal illness and will never be able to see him grow up. While Josef seems strange, the money is too good for Aaron to pass up and he agrees to the task.

However, as the day progresses Josef becomes increasingly strange and Aaron finds it difficult to tell whether or not some of the things Josef is saying or doing are truly jokes or actually a sign of true danger and mental instability… [read more]

Cult of Chucky (2017)

Confined to an asylum for the criminally insane for the past four years, Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif) is erroneously convinced that she, not Chucky, murdered her entire family.

However, when Nica’s psychiatrist introduces a new therapeutic “tool” to facilitate his patients’ group sessions — an all-too-familiar “Good Guy” doll with an innocently smiling face — a string of grisly deaths begins to plague the asylum, and Nica starts to wonder if maybe she isn’t crazy after all… [read more]

The Descent (2005)

Having entered an unmapped cave system, six young women become trapped and are hunted by bloodthirsty human hybrids lurking within… [read more]

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

On the run from a bank robbery that left several police officers dead, Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and his paranoid, loose-cannon brother, Richard (Quentin Tarantino), hightail it to the Mexican border.

Kidnapping preacher Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) and his kids, the criminals sneak across the border in the family’s RV and hole up in a topless bar. Unfortunately, the bar also happens to be home base for a gang of vampires, and the brothers and their hostages have to fight their way out… [read more]

Gerald’s Game (2017)

Once again, Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino) has been talked into submitting to her husband, Gerald’s, kinky sex games—something that she’s frankly had enough of, and they never held much charm for her to begin with. So much for a “romantic getaway” at their secluded summer home.

After Jessie is handcuffed to the bedposts—and Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) crosses a line with his wife—the day ends with deadly consequences. Now Jessie is utterly trapped in an isolated lakeside house that has become her prison—and comes face-to-face with her deepest, darkest fears and memories… [read more]

Hush (2016)

After an accident robbed her of her hearing as a teenager, author Maddie Young began to lead a life of seclusion. As an adult she spends her time in an isolated cabin out in the woods, but Maddie soon realises she is no longer alone and is now being hunted by a masked killer… [read more]

The Invitation (2015)

Will and Eden were once a loving couple. After a tragedy took their son, Eden disappeared. Two years later, out of the blue, she returns with a new husband… and as a different person, eerily changed and eager to reunite with her ex and those she left behind.

Over the course of a dinner party in the house that was once his, the haunted Will is gripped by mounting evidence that Eden and her new friends have a mysterious and terrifying agenda… [read more]

It Follows (2014)

For nineteen year-old Jay, fall should be about school, boys and weekends out at the lake. But after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter, she finds herself plagued by strange visions and the inescapable sense that someone, or something, is following her. Faced with this burden, Jay and her teenage friends must find a way to escape the horrors that seem to be only a few steps behind… [read more]

John Dies at the End (2012)

A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return as no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humankind from this silent, otherworldly invasion? [read more]

Misery (1990)

Sick of his 19th Century romantic heroine, Misery Chastain, novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) kills her off and writes a more personal, modern novel.

When his car crashes in remote mountains Paul is saved by ‘number one fan’ Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who adores Misery and has even named her pig after her. As she nurses him back to health at her remote dwelling, he realises she is not just going to let him go… [read more]

Oculus (2013)

Ten years previously, tragedy struck the Russell family, leaving the lives of teenage siblings Tim and Kaylie forever changed when Tim was convicted of the brutal murder of their parents.

Now in his twenties, Tim is newly released from protective custody and only wants to move on with his life; but Kaylie, still haunted by that fateful night, is convinced her parents’ deaths were caused by something else altogether: a malevolent supernatural force­­ unleashed through the Lasser Glass, an antique mirror in their childhood home… [read more]

The Omen (1976)

American diplomat Robert (Gregory Peck) adopts Damien (Harvey Stephens) when his wife, Katherine (Lee Remick), delivers a stillborn child. After Damien’s first nanny hangs herself, Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton) warns Robert that Damien will kill Katherine’s unborn child.

Shortly thereafter, Brennan dies and Katherine miscarries when Damien pushes her off a balcony. As more people around Damien die, Robert investigates Damien’s background and realises his adopted son may be the Antichrist…

[read more]

The Ritual (2017)

After a tragic robbery and homicide incident, four British former university friends reunite for a hiking trip in Sweden. However, they encounter a menacing presence in the forest that seems to be stalking them… [read more]

Se7en (1995)

The newly transferred David Mills (Pitt) and the soon-to-retire William Somerset (Freeman) are homicide detectives who become deeply involved in the case of a sadistic serial killer whose meticulously planned murders correspond to the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, and envy… [read more]

Teeth (2007)

Dawn (Jess Weixler) is an active member of her high-school chastity club but, when she meets Tobey (Hale Appleman), nature takes its course, and the pair answer the call. They suddenly learn she is a living example of the ‘vagina dentata’ myth, when the encounter takes a grisly turn… [read more]

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) packs her things and leaves her apartment, angry over a dispute with her partner Ben (Bradley Cooper). While driving away she turns on the radio; it claims that there are numerous blackouts in major cities. Michelle becomes distracted after Ben calls her, and her car crashes and goes off the road from the distraction, flipping upside down.

When she awakens, she discovers she is chained to the wall in an unknown location. After reaching her phone only to receive no signal, a man named Howard (John Goodman) enters the room and tells her he saved her life and the world outside is now uninhabitable due to the nuclear or chemical fallout from “an attack.”… [read more]

30 Days of Night (2007)

In the far Northern Hemisphere, the small town of Barrow, Alaska, experiences a solid month of darkness every year. Though most of the residents head south for the winter, some townspeople remain behind. However, those that stay regret their decision when, one year, hungry vampires descend on Barrow to feed. Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his wife (Melissa George) and a dwindling band of survivors must try to last until dawn breaks over Barrow’s monthlong twilight… [read more]

Train to Busan (2016)

Seok-woo is a fund manager, workaholic, and divorced single father to his young daughter, Soo-an. For her birthday, she asks him to take her to Busan to see her mother.

As the train departs, a convulsing, ill young woman boards with a bite wound on her leg. She becomes a zombie and attacks a train attendant, quickly spreading infection in the train. Seok-woo receives a call from his co-worker warning him that “violent riots” have erupted in Korea… [read more]

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

A group of “college kids” are going camping in the Appalachian mountains. While at a gas station, they encounter Tucker and Dale, two well-meaning hillbillies who have just bought the vacation home of their dreams: a run-down lakeside cabin, deep in the woods. On Tucker’s advice, Dale tries to talk to Allison, but because of his inferiority complex and appearance, he only scares her and her friends… [read more]

Veronica (2017)

Madrid, 1991: During a total eclipse of the sun, Catholic schoolgirl Veronica and two friends decide to make a Ouija board to invoke her father’s spirit. After the glass shatters, Veronica enters a kind of trance and passes out, frightening her friends.

Having recovered, she starts to perceive strange things at home that make her think she’s brought her father back to the world of the living [read more]

The Wailing (2016)

A mysterious sickness is spreading among the people of the Goksung village, causing violent murderous outbreaks followed by stupor and eventually death.

Police and doctors first suspect the victims were poisoned by wild mushrooms. Officer Jong-goo, who is investigating the cases, meets a mysterious young woman called Moo-myeong (“no name” in Korean), who tells him about a Japanese stranger and his involvement with the deaths… [read more]

Zombieland (2009)

After a virus turns most people into zombies, the world’s surviving humans remain locked in an ongoing battle against the hungry undead. Four survivors — Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and his cohorts Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) — abide by a list of survival rules and zombie-killing strategies as they make their way toward a rumoured safe haven in Los Angeles… [read more]

‘Move over, Jason. Look out, Freddie. Heeere’s Ronnie!’

The Tripper is a 2006 American comedy horror slasher feature film produced and directed by David Arquette from a screenplay co-written with Joe Harris (Darkness Falls); it stars Jaime King, Thomas Jane and Lukas Haas.

North California: A group of free-loving hippies attend a small-scale rock festival being held in a forest for a weekend of debauchery, only to be stalked by a radical-minded psychopath dressed and talking like Ronald Reagan…

Reviews:

“All credit to David Arquette for putting together a film that tries to do little but entertain and manages it admirably. But I’m still trying to work out whether wrapping it in apparently political ideas which aren’t actually there was a lucky mistake or a stroke of marketing genius.” MJ Simpson, Cult films and the people who make them

” The originality of the first half-hour of the film is gradually overtaken with a tepid second act, where the mechanics of the various killings are worked out in the woods, followed by a final act that looks more like the films Arquette is supposedly parodying than he’d probably like to admit.” Paul Mavis, DVD Talk

” …everyone seems to be going all-out, but they seemed to concentrate on the fun stuff and skimp on what was harder work: Making us care whether the potential victims live or die (or at least differentiating them enough that there’s a possibility they’re something other than slasher fodder), putting some teeth behind the satiric points the film ham-fistedly tries to make…” Jay Seaver, eFilmCritic.com

“The first thirty minutes are quite good and the ending works very well, but there’s an entire middle section which is badly paced and packed with filler.” Jeremy Knox, Film Threat

“The rambling story attempts to turn the genre on its head, but it ends up giving in to every slasher cliché (Arquette himself plays a backwoods redneck). The acting ranges from abysmal to barely adequate.” Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

” … some unpleasant bad trip scenes and plenty of gross-out shock value.”  Shirley Halperin, Steve Bloom, Reefer Movie Madness: The Ultimate Stoner Film Guide

“Not particularly scary or funny, The Tripper at least moves along at a decent clip and throws in some ‘Sixties-style psychedelia and nudity (both male and female) along with the traditional slasher movie gore.” James O’Ehley, Sci-Fi Movie Page

“Arquette doesn’t reinvent the wheel with this flick, but he sure gets a lot of mileage out of it. He establishes a moody atmosphere, films the murders with gleeful abandon and puts the “Axe Cam” to good use. He goes a little overboard with the film’s many drug-induced “trip” scenes, but since this is David’s first time out as director, I’m willing to give him a mulligan on it…” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“By the end, though, the film’s politics have become so muddled that the only thing remaining is the perfunctory slice-and-dice of a bog standard slasher. Ideology, presented here in the broadest of strokes, is just another grotesque mask to be donned and discarded at will – or a trip to be taken until the effects inevitably wear off.” Anton Bitel, VODzilla

Cast and characters:

• Jaime King as Samantha
• Thomas Jane as Buzz Hall
• Lukas Haas as Ivan
• Jason Mewes as Joey
• Balthazar Getty as Jimmy
• Marsha Thomason as Linda
• Paul Reubens as Frank Baker
• Richmond Arquette as Deputy Cooper
• David Arquette as Muff – Scream franchise
• Courteney Cox Arquette as Cynthia – Scream franchise
• Christopher Allen Nelson as Gus / Ronnie
• Paz de la Huerta as Jade
• Redmond Gleeson as Dylan
• Michael X. Sommers as Trooper Neatnick
• Wes Craven as Hippie wearing a top hat [uncredited]

Trivia:

The title is a play on Ronald Reagan’s nickname of “The Gipper”.

Wikipedia | IMDb

The post The Tripper – USA, 2006 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

Cry Little Sister is a rock song written by Gerard McMahon (under the pseudonym Gerard McMann) and Michael Mainieri and performed by McMahon for the soundtrack to the horror film The Lost Boys (1987). The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200, however the single did not chart in the US.

McMahon has said that he “wanted it to be about the longing for family from a rejected youth’s perspective, which I went through myself and that many of us have felt.”

Lyrics:

Cover versions:

• Charlie Sexton, on his 1989 self-titled album
• Mystic Circle, as a bonus track on their 2002 album Damien
• Zug Izland, on their 2003 album Cracked Tiles
• Blutengel, on their 2005 album The Oxidising Angel
• Aiden, on the soundtrack of the sequel film Lost Boys: The Tribe and the song also featured from the film Lost Boys: The Thirst.
• Nikki McKibbin, on her 2007 album, Unleashed
• Vesperian Sorrow, on their 2007 album, Regenesis Creation
• Ventana, on their 2009 album, American Survival Guide Vol. 1
• L.A. Guns, on their 2009 Album Covered in Guns
• Seasons After, on their 2010 album Through Tomorrow. This is the only charted cover of the song, reaching #20 on the Mainstream Rock charts.
• Eminem samples the track on his song “You’re Never Over” on his 2010 album Recovery
• Tangerine Dream, in their 2010 album Under Cover – Chapter One
• Celldweller released a “Klash-Up” in October 2012, featuring incidental music titled Hello Zepp from the first Saw movie.
• Krayzie Bone samples the track on his song “Hold on to Your Soul” on his 2015 album Chasing the Devil
• Dee Snider on the album Oculus Infernum, part of his side project Van Helsing’s Curse.
• Shining covers the song on their 2018 album X – Varg Utan Flock.
• On June 15, 2018, Marilyn Manson released a single cover version for Josh Boone’s upcoming film, The New Mutants.

Wikipedia

The post Cry Little Sister [The theme from The Lost Boys] – rock song by Gerard McMahon appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘Whatever you do, don’t answer the phone.’

When a Stranger Calls is a 2006 American horror feature film directed by Simon West from a screenplay by Jake Wade Wall (Devil’s Backbone, Texas; Cabin Fever 3; Amusement). The movie stars Camilla Belle, Brian Geraghty and Katie Cassidy.

This is a loose remake of Fred Walton’s 1979 horror film of the same name that became a cult classic for its suspenseful opening twenty minutes – here extended to a feature-length film.

Far away from the site of a gruesome murder, a teenager named Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) arrives at a luxurious home for a baby-sitting job. With the children fast asleep, she settles in for what she expects to be an ordinary evening. But then the phone rings and an ominous voice asks, “Have you checked the children?”…

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“When a Stranger Calls is a minimum effort horror movie. It does just enough to scare easily unnerved thirteen-year-old girls, and not much else.” Joshua Tyler, CinemaBlend

“The melodramatics are amped up by the token storm raging outside — which is all very well, but the simple creepiness of those threatening calls is lost in all the Gothic thunder, and giving the killer a mobile phone ruins the premise […] Loud, noisy, flashy but too rarely chilling.” Kim Newman, Empire magazine

“Every sequence in this film has been done so many times that even casual viewers will be exhausted by its familiarity. Jake Wade Wall’s bungling screenplay reeks of being padded in rewrites, and even with said padding the film still runs only eighty-three minutes. Consider that its shining attribute.” Bill Clark, From the Balcony

“Having abstained from character development and stalling for something to do between calls, the movie dwells in the house’s dark corners, plugging plot holes with overzealous sound design.” Jonathan Kiefer, Sacramento News & Review

” …there’s nothing new here: the hyped-up score keeps telling us we ought to be scared, but the suspense feels mechanical and fake.” Nigel Floyd, Time Out

” …I know plenty of girls who love horror but this film and I’d also say the wretched Prom Night remake appear to be directed point blank at young teenagers with an excess of girl-themed sub-plotting and are positively anorexic when it comes to genuine horror.” Hudson Lee, Vegan Voorhees 

Main cast and characters:

Camilla Belle … Jill Johnson – The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Brian Geraghty … Bobby – Open House
Katie Cassidy … Tiffany Madison – Wolves at the Door; A Nightmare on Elm Street; Harper’s Island TV series; Black Christmas; Supernatural TV series
Tommy Flanagan … The Stranger – Alien vs. Predator; Trauma (2004)
Lance Henriksen … The Stranger (Voice)
David Denman … Officer Burroughs
Derek de Lint … Dr. Mandrakis
Kate Jennings Grant … Kelly Mandrakis
Tessa Thompson … Scarlett
Madeline Carroll … Allison Mandrakis
Clark Gregg … Ben Johnson
Arthur Young … Will Mandrakis

Filming and locations:

Principal photography began on January 1, 2005 and completed on 28 February 2005 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Signal Hill was used to portray the carnival. Running Springs was the location for the road sequences. The luxury house interiors were located in Culver Studios in Culver City and the exterior was a set built in Franklin Canyon Park, Beverly Hills.

Release:

The PG-13 rated film was theatrically released on February 3, 2006. It grossed over $66.9 million worldwide against a reported $15 million budget.

Home media:

Released on DVD on May 16, 2006 on DVD. Special features include two audio commentaries (one with Camilla Belle and Simon West; the other with Jake Wade Wall), deleted scenes, a 20-minute making-of featurette, and trailers.

A Blu-ray was released by Mill Creek Entertainment on October 4, 2016, with I Know What You Did Last Summer and Vacancy.

At the time of writing, the film is available for streaming on Netflix.

Wikipedia

Fabio Frizzi is an Italian musician and composer. Born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Frizzi is best known for his film scores and was a frequent collaborator with horror director Lucio Fulci.

Daz: You didn’t go the traditional route to becoming a composer for film – so many other Italian composers go to a classical conservatory and then maybe move to jazz and finally film. Your family had the film connection straight away?

Fabio: My family wasn’t an easy connection with the cinema, because my father absolutely did not want me to be a musician, so I studied to be a lawyer. But inside me, the music fever grew steadily. My preparation has been, as you say, different from the traditional and I must admit that for a certain period of time I regretted it. Then, day after day, I realised that the bases acquired from studying for many years beside my maestro Vittorio Taborra, which happened in the past, giving me lessons at home, I had been given a very incisive preparation and my skills were always developed at the appropriate time. With him, I had started with the classical guitar, then I switched to composition studies very seriously until I got to the art of counterpoint.

By that time, I realised that a preparation from the conservatory can be very useful in certain conditions (in Italy there are high-level conservatories with prestigious teachers) and in some musical goals, e

.g. those tied to classical music. But in some cases it may not give the desired results. I think the musical skills reside in people a priori, and the art of composing is one of those things that grow and are perfected, especially with daily practice. Obviously I must say that, once I became author of scores, after the first experiences, my father was very happy and one of my biggest fans because he realised that this was the future I wanted for me.

Daz: Your first instrument was the guitar – again, unusual for a composer, usually it would be a piano or maybe the violin. Did this affect the way you composed?

Fabio: Yes, my first instrument was the guitar, and it’s still what I love more than all the others. I am an avid collector, I always like to play different instruments, because everyone is different, everyone gives different suggestions. Then, at some point in my career I asked myself the question, which I ask you today: a composer, conductor, should know perfectly an instrument other than guitar, such as the piano? Then, with time, I realised that there are many great composers and arrangers in the world that are just guitarists. The guitar is able to develop in those who study and play, a certain kind of creative sensitivity, because crossing harmonies coming from guitar positions are very interesting and they become part of the taste of the future composer. However, the guitar was for me only the first step. A few years after beginning studying music, my curiosity made me discover and study the piano (which I use very often to compose my themes and orchestrations), flute and all keyboards, which at that time were spreading exponentially, and many other instruments that over time I have come to know. Curiosity is the best gift for any human being.

Daz: Pop music seems to influence your work as much as, say, Bach – the harmonies you achieve with synthesisers and mellotrons?

Fabio: My growth, in music, my taste, have gone through pop and rock music that developed so interestingly in those years, and then surely through an initial classical education, that has left its mark. I’ve always listened to all the music possible, when I was a boy – no picket fences – eclecticism has always characterised myself. The strongest influences came from the composers and groups that I listened to during the years of my adolescence, but also the cultural elements that my collaborators, at all times, have brought with them when they collaborated on the recording of my scores, interpreting my themes. So, the elements of prog-rock that fascinated me in Genesis or King Crimson became present in my music through collaboration with musicians like Fabio Pignatelli or Maurizio Guarini [best known for their work with Goblin]. As well as these influences, classical-baroque is found in the use of the string orchestra, of certain brass instruments, but also of the mellotron and synth pads. My most coveted composer is Johann Sebastian Bach: in him there is something much more important and fascinating than the mere experience of his time. The burning of the composition and the harmonious in Bach is absolutely overwhelming to this day. His personality is unmistakable.

Daz: The traditional classical musicians and composers in Italy at the time – what was their opinion of film score composers? Was it a good career to aim for or was it frowned upon for not being ‘proper’ classical music?

Fabio: The last thirty years have been very clear about the definition of the different role, but equally central, of film music. Until some time ago, actually, the composer of film music was considered something less important, perhaps because because dominantly cultural classical music was considered the noblest. Recently, the lid was lifted on the boiling pot and we have realised that this argument does not hold true. Among other things, the very concept of classical music was modified enormously: the great classics remain untouchable, while the music of the 1900’s, especially some of its degeneration, there is no longer only one school of thought and valuations have become less complacent. Film music has had instead a season of growth and rising popularity and having this increased repertoire was welcomed increasingly in the great temples of traditional classical music.

Daz: How early did you start to use keyboards and synthesisers?

Fabio: Yes, the keyboards were the second family of instruments that I met. At home we had a piano, German and an excellent brand, which had been given to my brother for a notable birthday. I started playing that, immediately after the guitar, and studying composition using his keyboard. Then, when I was commissioned for my first works, I bought two instruments to help me in the inspiration: an Eminent 310, an organ with two keyboards, plus pedalboard, with a built in drum machine, and a Moog Synthesizer Satellite, a very basic keyboard – that was my first approach to the world of electronics. From there started the first ideas for the soundtracks: the first string session, fake but fascinating; the first rhythmic parts with a black flavour; the first “timid” harmonised brass. The soundtrack of Amore Libero – Free Love, was the real test session for these new devices. Then I had so many good pianists and keyboard players who have performed the music of my film scores, but the passion for those magical tools has never waned. Even now my studio is dominated by a wonderful Roland Jupiter 8 and the king of kings, the Mellotron.

Daz: When you formed Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera, what did you all bring individually to the band? Who was good at what?

Fabio: The trio Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera originated as a publisher’s choice: Carlo Bixio created a kind of firing squad that was to deal with the demands of music, of Italian cinema, which was very active at that time. Franco Bixio, younger brother of Carlo and son of the great Italian songwriter Cesare Andrea Bixio, was a guy with a lot of experience, who had already made soundtracks and was the constant reference point in the work of moviola, taking care of the duration of music, music editing and movie post-production.

[Vicenzo] Tempera brought to our trio a great professionalism as an arranger, he was one of the strongest at that time in Italy, with experience especially in the recording field. I was carrying the freshness of a young man absolutely determined to grow, good management experience of bands and music groups in general. And in the end, a lion hungry of a profession that I loved. All three had complementary roles in individual work. Tempera was the conductor and wrote some themes; I worked writing, I played a lot of guitars and other instruments in our recording sessions, Franco also wrote musical themes and co-ordinated the work. An extraordinarily formative experience for me. When we decided to separate I had grown a lot.

Daz: With regards to western The Four of the Apocalypse…, what were your first impressions of Lucio Fulci – and his of you? It’s a very violent film with very different characters – the score feels quite sad – how much of the film did you see before working on the score? Can you remember who played which instrument or any other details about the recording?

Fabio: Indeed The Four of the Apocalypse… was the film that marked our meeting with Lucio Fulci. He appeared to us immediately as an important person, determined, but the first approach was not easy. We were coming with the guarantee of one of the strongest Italian publishers, but certainly we had to pay the price of this first meeting. I was happy with the choices that Fulci allowed us: the West Coast music; groups like Crosby Stills & Nash, Simon and Garfunkel; The Eagles were very dear to me, so it was not so difficult to cope with the task.

The soundtrack has a dimension of intimacy – the main topic of the film is a journey, a kind of dramatic catharsis. The character of Chaco is told with a more acidic musical theme, but all other characters are punctuated by the individual songs. We saw the full movie before starting to write. At that time we did not work as it is today, the film was studied in Moviola and we were taking notes. Then each of us came back into his own studio to throw down the working hypotheses. The choice of the working group, we faced with our producer: a Neapolitan percussionist very popular at the time, Tony Esposito, performed the drums and percussion. A great guitarist from Milan, Massimo Luca, came alongside me in all parts of acoustic and electric guitar. And many other good musicians joined us in the project. As interpreters of the songs we challenged the two members of a Dutch band, but in the end only one of them managed to come to Rome. The musical product has met all, a huge production, a good soundtrack and record.

Daz: The follow-up film was very different – Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco ovvero: Dracula in Brianza (aka Dracula in the Provinces). At this stage, did you feel like you were already developing a relationship with Lucio? At what stage does the composer become involved in a film?

Fabio: Dracula in Brianza is a completely different film, a sort of comedy with horror influences, used as an element of the story. A funny story, a refined and biting political satire. In fact it is the story of a businessman who turns into a vampire that sucks the blood of its employees. Being the second second film with Lucio, the relationship grew significantly, but we did not have the feeling that they have become milestones. The soundtrack was very different from typical comedy with a few moments of sounds from Transylvania. Very often we composers join the movie near the end, at the beginning of the post.

Daz: What can you tell me about Magnetic System? There are moments on the music to Godzilla that sound very similar to your later score to Zombi 2.

FF – Magnetic System was an idea of our record production, the desire to transform the composing group Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera into a band with a discographic lifetime. So we chose this name – the cover of the disc is taken from an assembled picture rather than an original. Unfortunately this Godzilla record remains the only experience of this kind, which would not have a follow-up. The reason why the theme of Godzilla seems a bit an archetypal theme of Zombi 2, probably lies in the fact that, after the split of our trio, each one of us returned to reclaim some ideas that there had been when we working together. That’s why, despite the thematic evolution, the Zombi 2 theme has a different texture and charm decidedly more appetising,  the echoes of that previous experience are perfectly perceived.

Daz: Sette note in nero (“Seven Notes in Black” aka The Psychic, 1977) What can you tell me about the writing and performing of the score? How do you think your music had changed by this stage?

FF – Sette notte in nero begins to bring us towards the darker soul, a more giallo-like side of Lucio Fulci. The writing of music passed through the creation of the seven notes jingle, which I personally wrote on the piano at home. Franco came to hear my idea and he was very enthusiastic, and from there went on to write the rest. It is rather a classic thriller, through the contribution of Tempera there is much of the perod atmosphere of Italian soundtracks of that time, a little dated and very fascinating.  Again we worked with the orchestra and measure ourselves with as much of the mystery and magic that Lucio begins to put in his films. The relationship with him grew and for me also in the relationship with myself.

Many years later, the main theme of this soundtrack would give us the satisfaction of important recognition, becoming the theme of an extraordinary scene in Kill Bill: Volume I by Quentin Tarantino.

Daz: Zombi 2 (aka Zombie Flesh Eaters). Your first ‘proper’ horror. What do you think are the elements that can make music frightening? How much of the film had you seen before writing the score?

Presumably you had heard Goblin’s score to Dawn of the Dead? How influential was this and other composers working on horror scores in Italy at the time?

Who else played on the score, which instruments were used?

Fabio: Zombi 2 is actually my first horror and is also a waypoint around which revolves my militancy in the staff of Lucio Fulci. The first film I did all by myself, although next to me there was a young apprentice, Georgio Cascio. I began now to understand that, in my opinion, the musical elements that have to express fear, not required to be fearful. Except of course in some boundary scenes. As usual I had seen the whole movie before writing, as usual it was not easy to remember each scene while writing, in the privacy of my office. But today, at times, I think that was a good thing. Remembered images and not seen with comfort before your eyes, they can evoke more in the spirit of the composer. I definitely had heard Goblin music, but my ideas and my influences were different. Probably I had some influences in common with them. I had learned to appreciate some groups of British progressive rock, many talented musicians that widened my musical horizon. Then, as usual, I could count on excellent performers. In this case the fundamental presence of Maurizio Guarini on keyboards, with the two Yamaha which at that time were the dominant instruments, CS 80 and CP 80 made the most of the electronic work. Then percussionist Adriano Giordanella, another constant collaborator, who accompanied me in many other works. The engineer that created the sounds which you all know is Gianni Fornari, engineer of the old guard but very open-minded towards the new. Then session musicians of various kinds, a string orchestra, flute, drums, and surely many other people that I can not remember in detail. In short, a long process of creating the recording.

Daz: By the late 1970’s, there were more composers for film in Italy than ever before it seemed, was it now more difficult to get work or easier because of this? What do you think set you apart and made you different for directors?

Fabio: True, in that time there were many composers, even some successful singers were writing music for film, in short it was a time when the music market was very swollen. I think this depends on the fact that there was a great deal of production activities, many films of medium / low level, so the need to have many soundtracks. It is difficult to know what the directors thought of me, I think they perceived a certain freshness, a great enthusiasm and probably a certain almost maniacal care in completing my score.

read more

‘Her past is yet to come’

The Haunting of Molly Hartley is a 2008 American supernatural horror feature film directed by Mickey Liddell from a screenplay by John Travis and Rebecca Sonnenshine. The Liddell Entertainment production stars Haley Bennett, Chace Crawford, AnnaLynne McCord, and Jake Weber.

After surviving a brutal attack by her insane mother, teenage Molly (Haley Bennett) is eager to get a fresh start at a new school.

Attracting the attention of one of the school’s most-popular students (Chace Crawford), she thinks she is finally fitting in and getting her life on track but, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Molly learns the horrifying truth about her devilish legacy…

Reviews:

“It doesn’t take a genius to pair a suspenseful soundtrack with quick shots of streaming blood, mumbled ghost whispers, and teens shrieking by the dozen, but for all it’s worth, Liddell lives up to the challenge […] Molly Hartley is dull at worst and surprisingly spooky at best.” Chelea Baine, Boston Globe

“The story’s a snooze, so the filmmakers punch it up with smash cuts and thunderclaps that turn the most laughably banal items into cheap jack-in-the-box shocks. They’ll make you flinch — but then again, so will most of the dialogue.” Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly

“Tame and inoffensive (unless you’re on the Lord’s side), The Haunting of Molly Hartley is no more than a big-screen lasso for the Gossip Girl and Supernatural demographic.” Jeanette Catsoulis, New York Times

“The only thing keeping the movie from crossing over into unwatchable territory are its above-average performances, as Bennett and her various costars’ better-than-expected work proves effective at basically sustaining the viewer’s interest through the more overtly tedious stretches.” David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

“Obviously, horror movies don’t need explicit violence to be unsettling or disturbing. I was hoping for an atmospheric ghost story or at least a clever riff on an old theme. Unfortunately, The Haunting of Molly Hartley carefully avoids any potentially interesting or inflammatory turns, and thus could be better titled The Boring of Molly Hartley.” Peter Martin, Screen Anarchy

“Collins does all right as the mousy, religious girl and Woodward isn’t bad – they’re just stuck doing by-the-book characterizations with no real depth behind them. The Haunting of Molly Hartley has absolutely nothing going for it. It’s a muddled mess of a movie with little to appeal to its target demographic…” Chris Hartley, The Video Graveyard

“Overall, the flick is kinda slight and not meaty enough for a feature length movie. (It probably would’ve made for a killer episode of Goosebumps or something.) The awkward title doesn’t do the movie any favors either as what happens to Molly Hartley isn’t exactly a “Haunting” but something more akin to a possession.” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum

Choice dialogue:

Joseph Young: “Books? You’re looking up shit in books? Isn’t that what computers are for?”

Main cast and characters:

• Haley Bennett … Molly Hartley
• Chace Crawford … Joseph Young
• AnnaLynne McCord … Suzie Woods
• Jake Weber … Robert Hartley
• Shannon Woodward … Leah
• Shanna Collins … Alexis White
• Marin Hinkle … Jane Hartley
• Nina Siemaszko … Doctor Amelia Emerson
• Josh Stewart … Mr Draper
• Ron Canada … Mr Bennett
• Kevin Cooney … Doctor Donaldson
• Jessica Lowndes … Laurel Miller
• Randy Wayne … Michael
• Jamie McShane … Mr Miller

Release:

The Haunting of Molly Hartley opened theatrically with a PG-13 rating in the USA on October 31, 2008 in 2,652 movie houses. In the USA, a Fox DVD was released on February 24, 2009. A UK DVD was released on June 14, 2010. In July 2018, the film was streamed on Netflix in the USA.

Box office:

The film took $15,418,749 worldwide against a reported budget of $5 million.

Trivia:

The students in English class are studying John Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Sequel:

The Exorcism of Molly Hartley was released in 2015.

New and future releases

HORRORPEDIA on social media: Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

The Exorcism of Molly Hartley – USA, 2015

‘Sometimes you get the munchies… sometimes they get you!’

Eat Me! is a 2009 American comedy horror feature film directed by directed by Katie Carman from a screenplay by Elizabeth Lee who also stars. The Cold Hands Productions movie also stars Jun Naito, Ivy Hong, and Chesley Calloway.

A Brooklyn garage band, General Malacarne, survives a radioactive event and have to battle against zombies to what they believe is the safe haven of Long Island…

Reviews:

” …the make-up jobs on the zombies seemed to vary quite a bit, some looked great and others were lacking. The continuity of the film is fairly simple; the group makes decisions based on (stoner) logic and reason for the most part.  I felt the film never really climaxed and that we were just dragged though step by step until they came to a poor conceived resolution.” Dano Casas, Buy Zombie

“There are some genuinely creepy and tense moments as well as some very original ideas. Acting is good all round with solid characters who are neither interchangeable nor obnoxious. Overall the film looks a lot better than its minuscule budget would suggest…” Trevor Menham, Full on Fear

“Eat Me! is a film made by people who want to make films, who possess the drive and motivation just to go out and get started and that must be admired. Slightly rough around the edges and in need of a little polish this is still a film that will entertain right up until the strangely abrupt ending. John Townsend, The Horror Asylum

“For its inventiveness, Calloway’s great performance, and the commendable production values, Eat Me! is a zombie comedy movie that I hope finds an audience. It may not satisfy your hunger for a big, gory zombie spectacle, but it has a lot going for it to satisfy your other zombie cravings.” Aaron Allen, The Zed Word

Filming locations:

Shot in Brooklyn, Queens, and partially in Nassau County, New York, USA

Release:

In November 2010 it was released by Japan Video Distribution’s Deep Red label under the title Break of the Dead.

Eat Me! was released on various Video On Demand platforms in September 2014 through indie distributor Cinema Epoch, including on Cox Communications, Comcast, Verizon and Dish Network. The film is also available through Epix, as well as Snag Films and Amazon.com.

Trivia:

The original title was The Eaters

New and future releases

HORRORPEDIA on social media: Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

Related:

Zombies on HORRORPEDIA

Bloodthirst: Legend of the Chupacabras aka Blood of the Chupacabra is a 2003 American science fiction horror feature film written, produced, edited and directed by Jonathan Mumm. The movie stars Dan Leis, Rachel Sense and Loren Taylor.

A sequel, Bloodthirst 2: Revenge of the Chupacabras, also written and directed by Mumm, followed in 2005.

“It descends only at night, hunting the innocent, sucking the life out of every living thing in its path… prepare to come face to face with the Chupacabra, a bloodthirsty creature that has only lived in your worst nightmares — until now.

The deadly myth becomes a gory reality when the citizens of a small town find a map they are certain will lead them to a gold mine. What they discover is that there is more than treasure lurking in the hills — and the map will lead them right to the killer’s lair.” – DVD synopsis

Reviews:

“The production, acting, sound, and image quality are incredibly amateurish, and it really is like watching a home video. […] the subplots run all over the place, trampling the movie into submission: there’s a murder (and vampiritic resurrection,) the lamest bar fight ever, the stupidest newspaper journalism subplot in recent memory, a vampire who looks like a frat boy on a bender, and even a crazy witch called “The Mago,” who claims that the chupacabra is a hungry pet left on Earth by space aliens!” Robert I. Hedges, Amazon.com

“Shot on what appears to be one third of one percent of a shoestring budget, Bloodthirst looks terrible from the very first shot. Every image is incredibly grainy and washed out, and lighting issues plague many an already dull scene. You can almost imagine director Jonathan Mumm hefting around a gigantic VHS camcorder, breathing roughly as he tried to get some semblance of a shot established.” Jonathan Pernisek, CineBomb

Filming locations:

El Dorado County, Sacramento, and San Joaquin Valley, California, USA

Official website

HORRORPEDIA on social media: Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

Chupacabra – urban myth

Chupacabra Territory – USA, 2016

GoatSucker – USA, 2009

Chupacabra: Dark Seas – USA, 2005

Mexican Werewolf in Texas – USA, 2005

The post Bloodthirst: Legend of the Chupacabra – USA, 2003 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘Whatever you do…’

Don’t Look in the Cellar is a 2008 American slasher horror feature film directed by Dennis Devine (Things 4; Vampire Club 3D; Alice in Murderland; Lizzie Borden’s Revenge; et al) from a screenplay co-written by Carlos Perez (Monster: The Prehistoric Project; Vamps in the City; The Occultist). The movie stars Randal Malone, Shevaun Kastl and Tara Shayne.

A group of college students regret their decision to sneak into the cellar of a haunted asylum on Halloween. One by one, they encounter Smiley, the last of a flawed bloodline…

Reviews:

Of course, someone will come along and say “It’s supposed to be cheesy!” Sure. The director took the time to hire actors (let’s call them that for argument’s sake), rent equipment (it actually doesn’t look that bad, as these things go; the trailer is not how the movie itself looks), presumably cater the cast and crew, edit it, get it distributed, etc., and intentionally shot a movie in what is probably his own house…” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

“The “asylum” is obviously someone’s house, the effects amount to nothing more than a little blood spatter when someone gets stabbed (and if you can explain to me how someone getting stabbed in the gut results in spatter all over their own face, I’d love to hear it), and the acting? No, that wasn’t acting. That wasn’t even close to acting.” C. Dennis Moore, Movie Rewind

Cast and characters:

• Randal Malone … Wendel
• Shevaun Kastl … Cheryl
• Tara Shayne … Melissa
• Jed Rowen … Smiley
• Anya Benton … Angela
• Anthony Campanello … Jeff
• Adam Salandra … Matt
• Vanessa Mitchell … Sarah
• Cassie Fliegel … Heather
• Laura Artolachipi … Tammy
• Joanna Teris … Tegan
• Juliette Angeli … Sylvia
• Meghan Falcone … Britney
• Leigh Dunham … Jaime
• Corey Webber … Corey

Don’t Read This!!! Movies that use ‘Don’t’ in their title or tagline – article

The post Don’t Look in the Cellar – USA, 2008 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

Danielle Harris is an actress and director, born in New York on June 1st, 1977. Her career began with roles in various TV series in the mid-’80s, eventually growing to independent films, blockbusters and some notable voice acting. However, it was her participation in a four Halloween films that set the course for Danielle’s fate as a scream queen.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers was directed by Dwight H. Little (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series; et al) and released in October 1988 to great commercial success. Set ten years after the original massacre, Michael Myers is back to kill his seven year-old niece, Jamie (Harris) on Halloween. Danielle beat out several child actresses including Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) to secure her first film role, and subsequently kept her on-set clown costume for years; even going trick or treating as Jamie Lloyd.

Danielle portrayed Jamie again in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard. The character is mute for half of the film and must escape her masked killer uncle once more. Although Halloween 5 wasn’t as successful as its predecessor, Danielle decided that horror movies were all she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

When it came to Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), Danielle stepped back from reprising her role as Jamie Lloyd due to scripting issues and the low salary offered. It was instead taken on by an older actress, although Danielle can still be seen in ‘The Producer’s Cut’ which offers an alternate ending.

1998 saw Danielle playing goth girl, Tosh, in the slasher Urban Legend directed by Jamie Blanks (Valentine). The film centres around a group of college students who suspect that a series of murders are connected to… urban legends! Tosh is murdered in her bed while her roommate sleeps with headphones in on the other side of the room. It was Danielle’s first return to horror since Halloween 5.

The 2007 Halloween remake re-launched Danielle’s career after a long spell of small-time roles and was the highest grossing film in the Halloween franchise. Initially, director Rob Zombie (The Devil’s Rejects) didn’t want anyone from the previous films involved, but Danielle’s audition changed his mind and she was cast as Annie Brackett. Unlike the original, Annie survives Michael Myers’ brutal attack, only to be finished off by him in Halloween II (2009). Danielle has stated that she had a much harder time with the remakes, which didn’t have the same sense of fun as her childhood roles as Jamie. First-time nude scenes and an abundance of physical violence were difficult for the actress to shake off emotionally.

Also in 2007, Danielle starred in Left for Dead directed by Christopher Harrison: another Halloween-themed horror based on a group of frat boys that are stalked by a machete-toting maniac. She then landed a leading role in 2009’s Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet directed by Frank Sabatella. A group of teenagers uncover the truth about the legend of Bloody Mary after conducting a séance at the grave of a local axe murderer. Word has it that Mary Hatchet will keep returning to kill until she finds her child, Alissa (Harris).

In the same year, Danielle appeared in The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond from director Gabriel Bologna. Nine friends holiday on a private island and discover a game that brings out the worst in all of them. She also starred alongside Robert Englund in the web series Fear Clinic, where a group of young adults visit a clinic to treat their phobias; only for them to seep into a terrifying reality.

In 2010, Danielle took over the leading role of Marybeth in the Hatchet series. Beginning in 2006, the comedic slasher horror series directed by Adam Green sees a group of tourists taking a haunted swamp tour in New Orleans. After getting lost, they find themselves on the run from the disfigured hatchet-wielding legend, Victor Crowley (genre icon Kane Hodder). In Hatchet 2, Marybeth (Harris) returns to the swamp with an army of hunters to put an end to Crowley’s reign of terror; however, it isn’t until Hatchet III (2013) that she learns the secret to ending his curse once and for all.

Again in 2010, Danielle starred in the superior post-apocalyptic vampire flick Stake Land directed by Jim Mickle; and Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer from director Mark Vadik. Further genre credits include ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 (2011), Shiver (2012), Havenhurst aka Resurrection of Evil (2016) and a leading role in See No Evil 2. The 2014 slasher directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (American Mary) sees hulking psychopath Jacob Goodnight rising from the dead and launching a killing spree in the city morgue, where undertaker Amy (Harris) is celebrating her birthday with friends. Also making an appearance is fellow scream queen, Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps). Although star-billed in meta-slasher Camp Dread (2014), it’s only really a cameo role.

2012 saw Danielle’s directional debut, Among Friends, in which a group of friends attend a murder mystery-themed dinner party hosted by twisted psychologist, Bernadette (Alyssa Lobit). Having placed secret cameras in various rooms of the house, Bernadette has a history of evidence that shows the group aren’t as close as they all thought. As secrets and betrayals come to the fore, the game turns torturous and Bernadette’s guests soon become her prisoners.

Among Friends is a small production with a simple plot and some satisfactory moments of gore. A mixed bunch of characters keeps it interesting, and while not all are likeable or believable, there’s plenty of wit flowing throughout the dialogue. Slightly Saw-esque in parts, the confined setting and dark humour succeed where comparable low-budget films have failed. Danielle knows how to get the most out of her cast, no doubt injecting her personality and experience into this debut.

Overall, Among Friends is a fun contribution to horror with a cameo from the star herself, wearing the clown costume from Halloween 4. Danielle has expressed her intentions for more directing in the future and hopes to see the horror genre return to its classic roots, rather than the torture themes as popularised over the last decade. Danielle says that the upcoming Joe Dante produced Camp Cold Brook, which follows a paranormal team that check out an abandoned summer camp with a bloody history, has more of that 80s/90s feel.

Inoperable (2016) gave the actress another pleasingly focused central starring role, although the Groundhog Day-style movie itself is a mixed bag.

Danielle has been referred to as ‘horror’s reigning scream queen’ by New York Daily News, as well as being praised by The Soska Sisters and she has featured on the covers of magazines such as Gorezone, Invasion and Scream Sirens. With roles in the aforementioned Camp Cold Brook, and Frankenstein Gothic, Danielle looks set to keep her scream queen crown for some time to come.

Rae Louise, HORRORPEDIA

Follow HORRORPEDIA on social media: Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

The post Danielle Harris – actress and director appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘Evil cuts both ways.’

Autopsy is a 2008 American horror feature film directed by Adam Gierasch (Tales of Halloween segment; Fractured; Night of the Demons; plus many horror screenplays). The movie stars Jessica Lowndes, Ross Cohn, Ross McCall, Ashley Schneider and Robert Patrick.

Five friends enjoy Mardi Gras in New Orleans. While driving home on the State Route 53, Louisiana, Emily has a car accident. Her boyfriend Bobby and their friends Clare, Dmitriy and Jude are horrified to discover that she had hit a stranger.

When they see an ambulance on the road, they ask for help and the attendants take them to Mercy Hospital. Stern nurse Marian tells Bobby to go to the exam room. When Emily tries to get information about her boyfriend, she meets Dr. David Benway who tells her the Bobby is all right. However, Emily soon unravels a dark secret about Dr. Benway and his team…

Reviews:

“Director Adam Gierasch shows some talent with a few sick set pieces and bursts of aggression, but some comatose performances, predictable jumps and a slightly aimless final third keep this in stable condition.” Cameron McGaughey, DVD Talk

” …once Autopsy gets moving with its strange sense of humor and its admirable devotion to old-fashioned, over-the-top, Fango-friendly gore-gasms…” Scott Weinberg, FEARnet

“Choice scenes, such as of the teens tussling with a recently sutured patient, will make you giggle and retch in equal measure while others will startle you out of your skin. It is this mixture of shock tactics, tension, gore and comedy that really make this film stand out from the pack. Not many film makers can skate the thin line between horror and comedy so adeptly, but Gierasch nails the tone perfectly.” Gorepress

“The gore factor is an absolute blast. There’s a slew of entertaining death scenes which, admittedly borrow from such previous works as Turistas, Friday the 13th and even Dawn of the Dead – but there’s some creativity sprinkled in here and there (there’s something strangely entertaining about severed limbs and hand sanders) that really helps to give Autopsy it’s own identity.” Matt Molgaard, Horror Asylum

” …when you have good acting in a horror movie, that always makes for a great time. Everything else, especially emotion, instantly becomes more credible. The blood and gore is rather plentiful and one of the scenes towards the end is quite memorable. One of those that would make the perfect backdrop to any horror diorama.” Angel Van Croft, Horror News

“Autopsy is a poor man’s cousin of flicks like Hostel, where things just aren’t quite they seem and victims get compartmentalized in some divide and conquer strategy. In most cases, you’re going to laugh at the scenes for being implausible, or clumsily executed, so while I won’t recommend this film as a horror flick, I definitely would do so as a comedy of errors…” (A Nutshell) Review

” …a return to when horror was fun and not simply a vehicle to hit people around the head with loud music and poorly thought out developments. The movie didn’t take itself seriously and delivered just what I needed, a damn fine horror flick not afraid to go over the top. The fate of one of the characters in this one is simply brutal and shocking…” Scary Minds

Cast and characters:

• Jessica Lowndes as Emily – Abattoir; The Devil’s Carnival; Altitude; The Haunting of Molly Hartley
• Ross Kohn as Bobby – Re-Cut; Medium
• Ross McCall as Jude
• Ashley Schneider as Clare
• Arcadiy Golubovich as Dimitrly
• Robert LaSardo as Scott – Cynthia; Bleach; Sky Sharks; Lake of Shadows: The Legend of Avocado Lake
• Michael Bowen as Travis – House by the Lake; All Cheerleaders Die; Slumber Party Slaughter; Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever; The Last House on the Left 2009; Night of the Comet; Forbidden World; et al
• Jenette Goldstein as Nurse Marian – Lost After Dark; Terminator 2; Aliens
• Robert Patrick as Dr. Benway – Hellions; The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond; The Terminator
• Elijah Hardy as Gregory
• Tatyana Kanavka as Gretchen
• Eric Adams as Officer Jacobs
• Janine Venable as Lisette

Filming locations:

Louisiana

Release:

Autopsy premiered in London on August 24, 2008, at the FrightFest Film Festival and was selected as one of After Dark Horrorfest’s “Eight Films to Die For”.

HORRORPEDIA on social media: Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

The post Autopsy – USA, 2008 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.