‘Based on true events’

Cyrus – aka – Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer is a 2010 American horror thriller film written, produced and directed by Mark Vadik. It is also known as Cyrus: The Highway Killer.

It stars Brian Krause (Coffin Baby; Poseidon Rex; Camel Spiders), Lance Henriksen (Pumpkinhead; Stung; Hollows Grove) and Danielle Harris (Camp Dread; Hatchet II and III; Stake Land).

Contrary to the statement on the film’s publicity material, the film is not based a true story. However director Mark Vadik has claimed that elements of the plot were inspired by Fritz Haarmann, the “Butcher of Hanover” who terrorised boys and men in post-WWI Germany, a killer who was also the basis for M (1931) among other films.

Plot:

An independent TV reporter and her cameraman interview a man (Lance Henriksen) in regards to a serial killer the man knew by the name of Cyrus. The man traces back through the story of the serial killer and why he became the monster he is.

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Reviews:

“There’s some slasher and torture bits, some macabre dark humor (at least I think we’re supposed to chuckle at Cyrus’s oblivious patrons eating a mysterious meat called “road kill”), and the usual serial killer psychosis. It’s also a slickly produced film rather than being obliquely grim, which means Cyrus falls somewhere between being genuinely disturbing and unusually entertaining.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

“There is enough gore to entertain the horror fans but it doesn’t go overboard and steers away from being gratuitous. There are also scenes interspersed throughout the film that are interviews with psychologists and doctors that look at serial killers from a medical standpoint and gives facts when they are heard are frightening and real.” Corey Danna, HorrorNews.net

“Vadik doesn’t put a foot wrong here. Its a fine, modest little film that will please fans and non fans of the sub genre alike. It perhaps veers to close to the dreaded ‘torture’ style of horror on occasion, but never truly crosses the line into exploitation. Its violent and has some scenes I’d rather forget, but much of the horrific stuff is left to the viewers imagination.” Kyle Scott, The Horror Hotel

“It’s got issues, but everyone is putting effort into doing something different, and it never gets too dull or repetitive thanks to the unusual structure. And any movie that gives Lance and Danielle (plus Tiffany Shepis, in a brief, almost unrecognizable role as Cyrus’ despicable mother) something different to do is worth a look for genre fans.” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

Interview with director Mark Vadik on Dread Central

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Brian Krause as Cyrus
• Danielle Harris as Maria
• Lance Henriksen as Emmett
• Wylie Allen as Young Cyrus
• Patricia Belcher as Maybelle
• Sam Brilhart as Young Emmett
• Rae Dawn Chong as Vivian
• Jeff Christian as Sherriff
• Regina Daniels as Victim Girl #2
• Ben Dubash as Trooper Davis
• Zachary Christopher Fay as Joseph
• Corey Gibbons as Greg
• Andrew Gregg as Salesman
• Doug Jones as Dr. Albert
• Anne Leighton as Vicky
• Trevor Luce as Luke
• Mike McNamara as Rick
• Valerie Meachum as Tanny
• Aris Mendoza as Tina
• Bill Miller as John
• Tanya Newbould as Molly
• Paul Preiss as Katz
• Kim Rhodes as Dr. Dallas
• Jill Sandmire as Amber
• Tiffany Shepis as Cyrus’s Mother
• Michael Steen as Warden
• Shawna Waldron as Chloe
• Tony Yalda as Tom

Filming locations:

Niles and Three Oaks, Michigan, USA

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Wikipedia | IMDb

‘It’s hard to keep a secret if you live forever’

The Moth Diaries is a 2011 Irish-Canadian horror film written and directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho) and based on a 2002 novel of the same name by Rachel Klein. It stars Sarah Bolger (Emilie), Lily Cole, Sarah Gadon and Scott Speedman.

Plot:

At an exclusive boarding school for girls, Rebecca (Sarah Bolger), a sixteen-year-old teenage girl, records her most intimate thoughts in a diary. Two years earlier, Rebecca’s father, a gloomy poet, took his own life by slitting his wrists. Her mother transferred Rebecca to the school, hoping to help her daughter escape the dark memories of her father’s death. With the help of her best friend and roommate, Lucy (Sarah Gadon), and many other girls, Rebecca soon recovered.

However, a mysterious, dark-haired girl named Ernessa Bloch (Lily Cole), has enrolled into the school. Lucy quickly becomes best friends with Ernessa and becomes distant from Rebecca. Ernessa’s presence makes Rebecca feel uneasy. Eerie things start to happen…

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Reviews:

“Questions about adolescence, identity, sexuality, passion, and depression are thrown out, but the film doesn’t have any perspective on any of it. Eventually you start to feel like you’re being pestered by the incessant inquiries of a five-year-old. And by the time the end credits roll, you’ll find yourself asking what the point of sitting through any of it was in the first place.” Nathan Adams, Film School Rejects

There’s a tame, very brief lesbian tryst that MAY involve biting, but, you know, some people just do that – we don’t see puncturing, at any rate. People bitch about the Twilights not really being horror; shit, at least we see them transform, and get at least ONE true fight in each film…” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

” …it feels more like a TV pilot than a feature film, barely substantial enough to fill up the big screen. Even so, it offers glancing pleasures of the atmospheric kind – the impact is the equivalent of a filmy cobweb brushing against your cheek. It tickles more than it bites.” Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline

“Themes of female bonding, jealousy and smothering possessiveness are dramatized with the same lack of passion that attends the one briefly glimpsed instance of girl-on-girl action. The Moth Diaries has no desire to offend, and to that end, it seems to go out of its way not to raise shivers, even in a blood-soaked hallucination that tackily invokes Brian De Palma’s mean-girls horror classic, Carrie.”

“Between the heavy voiceover narration, the multiple literary lectures (Scott Speedman turns up as the teacher who provides the allusions), and the stilted scenes of Bolger and her friends hanging out, the film plays like TV-movie gothic, plodding along to the expected revelations and bloodlettings.” Scott Tobias, A.V. Club

” …all the cast delivers their dialogue as if their drinks were spiked with roofies, and Harron, clearly off her game, never establishes anything resembling a mood or rhythm here. (Silent-movie flashbacks alone don’t count.) Small moments and Grand Guignol nightmares are both accompanied by bombastic music-cue bursts, while the female-bonding sessions bounce between grrrl-power posturing and generic Gossip Girl cattiness.” David Fear, Time Out New York

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“The performances of Sarah Bolger and Lily Cole are the linchpins by which this film is made or broken, and both deliver.  Bolger allows us to feel Rebecca’s sadness and confusion, and even though The Moth Diaries is billed as a vampire story, we honestly want Rebecca to reunite with Lucie and have a normal year at school.” Lonely Banshee

Cast and characters:

• Lily Cole as Ernessa Bloch
• Sarah Gadon as Lucy Blake
• Sarah Bolger as Rebecca
• Valerie Tian as Charley
• Melissa Farman as Dora
• Scott Speedman as Mr. Davies

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘An island. A bride. A monster.’

Frankenstein: Day of the Beast is a 2011 American science fiction horror film written, photographed, edited, produced and directed by Ricardo Islas, loosely based on Mary Shelley’s novel.

Production began in the Orland Park, Illinois area in January 2011 and was funded by indie fundraising website IndieGoGo. The film premiered with a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 27, 2011.

In June 2016, SGL Entertainment announced that they just have signed a deal with 88 Films for the release of Frankenstein: Day of the Beast on both Blu-ray and DVD in the United Kingdom and Ireland towards the end of the year, and will be available in the USA and Canada on July 12th, 2016.

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Main cast: 

Michelle Shields, Tim Krueger and Adam Stephenson.

Plot:

On a foggy winter morning, a raft brings a priest to an isolated island. He is getting paid to perform a wedding ritual under very mysterious conditions. The groom is Victor Frankenstein, and the young and beautiful bride is his cousin Elizabeth.

Seven armed and dangerous mercenary soldiers have been hired to protect her against something huge that hides in the woods, awaiting for that wedding night to be consummated. Victor is the only one who knows the truth about their enemy. His secret will be paid with the life of his private army, whose men will die one by one, as the creature gets closer to his target: the bride…

Reviews:

“It has all the familiar Frankenstein monster elements, but also delivers a certain style and authority that allows it to make its own mark. The acting, setting, costumes and dialogue screams drive-in movie fare, but the production gamely reaches out to retell the myth with a little sex, a lot of gore and an interesting take on the reanimation portion of the monster.” Patrick McDonald, Hollywood Chicago

” … definitely not the most conventional telling of the Frankenstein story, but its diversions from that story made me look past the rough edges that go along with low budget and amateur acting. Shelley-freaks will want to seek it out, but those who don’t have an appreciation toward low fi scares may not be impressed.” Ain’t It Cool News

” … pretty much follows the look and style of a Hammer film. It stays true to the source while creating a much less sympathetic creature and showing us just how brutal he can be. The story is easy to fall in to and the end has a nice little twist.” Corey Danna, HorrorNews.net

Cast and characters:

• Michelle Shields as Elizabeth Frankenstein
• Adam Stephenson as Victor Frankenstein
• Tim Krueger as The Monster
• Paul Barile as Mr. Rowley
• Jay Disney as Henry
• Suzy Brack as Justine
• Wesley Saint Louis as Bartul
• John Vitiritti as Schiffer

Wikipedia | IMDb | Official site

Children of the Corn: Genesis is a 2010 American supernatural horror film co-produced, written and directed by Joel Soisson (Pulse 2 and 3; Buried; Cam2Cam). The film’s premise is loosely based on Stephen King’s short story. It is also known as Children of the Corn VIII. 

It is fifth film in the series to go straight to home video, in this case on August 30, 2011.

Main cast:

Billy Drago (Mirror, Mirror III and IV; Demon Hunter; The Hills Have Eyes), Tim Rock, Barbara Nedeljáková (Hostel and sequel; Strippers vs. Werewolves; Whispers), Kelen Coleman (Cassadaga), Duane Whitaker (Tales from the Hood; The Haunted Sea; Trailer Park of Terror), Dusty Burwell.

Plot:

Tim and Allie seek shelter in a remote desert compound after becoming lost and stranded. A strange Manson-like character, Preacher (Drago), reluctantly allows them inside with strict orders to be gone by morning and not wander “where you are not invited.” At first, Preacher and his mail-order wife Oksana (Nedeljakova) deny the faint screams and cries that emanate from one of the crumbling outbuildings.

When Allie sneaks outside to investigate, she discovers that she and Tim have stumbled onto a bizarre cult worshiping an entity that may — or may not — dwell inside a haunted little boy…

Reviews:

” …the performances are generally fine but the budget is small and the action is a bit slow. There is a lot of talking, a lot of strange behavior and not much action or gore.” Don Sumner, Horror Freak News

“The casting was perfect and the actors really deliver the goods. Budget may have been a factor as to why it was more drama than action and Soisson made the right choice by sticking to the strong drama rather than trying to put together cheesy action with some chump change. My main complaint was the lackluster ending.” Corey Danna, HorrorNews.net

” …writer/director Joel Soisson opts for something a little closer to psychological thriller, with Drago telling each side of the couple something about the other (one a lie, the other we’re never given a straight answer) and playing them against each other, which causes tension and allows to pad the running time with cheap but effective personal drama.” Brian W Collins, Horror Movie a Day

” …most of the action doesn’t even take place anywhere near a cornfield, as the lack of budget keeps everything situated inside Preacher’s house and the yard, so it might be more accurate to call the big baddie “He Who Walks Behind the Outhouse.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Filming locations:

Agua Dulce, Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, California, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb

Scooby Snacks – aka Scooby Snax – began as a fictional food item, but now include a Warner Bros. licensed dog treat (made by Snausages, a subsiduary of Del Monte Foods), a vanilla wafer cookie snack with the same name and Graham cracker sticks.

Scooby Snacks are used as a form of incentive payment for the cartoon characters Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, starting in the Hanna-Barbera series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and its various spin-offs.

‘Scooby Snacks’ is also a 1996 song by the band Fun Lovin’ Criminals.

In June 2016, the term ‘Scooby Snack’ was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Producer William Hanna had always imagined that a “Scooby Snack” would taste like some sort of a caramel-flavoured cookie (however, the batter is coloured like brown sugar and similar in colour to butterscotch), and he and Joseph Barbera had previously used the concept of a dog, Snuffles, that goes wild for doggie treats in the Quick Draw McGraw series in 1959.

In A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, a treat known as Mellow Mutt Munchie was offered as an alternative to the Scooby Snack. They appeared in the episode “The Return of Commander Cool”, where an amnesiac Shaggy believed himself to be his favourite superhero Commander Cool and Scooby to be Mellow Mutt and, as a consequence, wouldn’t allow Scooby to eat a Scooby Snack. Scooby reacted to the Mellow Mutt Munchie the same way he does with the Scooby Snacks.

In another episode, “Wrestle Maniacs”, despite no longer being amnesiac, Shaggy tried to offer a Mellow Mutt Munchie instead of the traditional Scooby Snack but his Mellow Mutt Munchie box was empty so Daphne offered a Scooby Snack anyway.

In Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins it is revealed that Shaggy made up the recipe which includes eggs, water, flour, cocoa, sugar, and dog kibble for texture.

In Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, it is shown that the recipe for Scooby Snacks comes from Sorcerer Snacks who were renamed for Scooby-Doo after the gang solves the mystery of who was trying to sabotage their production.

Scooby Snacks seem to come in many different flavours (although all boxes are identical), and in one of the later episodes, “Recipe for Disaster”, Scooby and Shaggy are ecstatic when Shaggy wins a tour of the Scooby Snacks factory where they attempt to sample the batter pre-cooking before being shooed off by an irate worker who thinks they are trying to steal the recipe.

Wikipedia

The act of slaying one or more of your fellow human beings in a ritual, usually as a token to a God or spiritual ancestors, extends back to the first glimmers of the dawn of Man – the stranger fact is that it is still practiced today. Taking many forms and seen in a myriad of cultures, these ceremonies, though now far rarer than once they were, still hold a fascination for the creative arts, and human sacrifice is one of the go-to platforms for the construction of horror film and literature, from Greek myth to Hammer Films and H.P. Lovecraft to Children of the Corn.

Human sacrifice almost always revolves around appeasing a supernatural denizen of a perceived afterlife – the greatest gift seen to offer an apparently vengeful deity being a living (soon to be dead) offering.  The earliest evidence of human sacrifice found thus far has been in the Sudan, where an excavated Neolithic site uncovered evidence of three apparently high-ranking individuals being killed in a ritualistic manner, surrounded by high value ceramics and two slaughtered dogs.

Dating back 5,500 years, this was in the period that Man made the transition from hunter-gatherers to more ‘civilised’ farmers and cultivators. Elsewhere in Africa and seemingly having developed completely separately to this example, bodies have been unearthed in Southern Egypt, dating back to approximately 3000 B.C. which have identifiable marks of having their throats cut prior to decapitation.  Carved tablets from a similar period depict a kneeling person in front of another holding what resembles a sword, a bowl on the ground in front of the former, presumably to catch the spilled blood. A monarch or God in the image strongly indicates that this is a ritualistic killing as opposed to an execution for a crime. Egyptian discoveries feature two of the most common reasons given for killing a human – to appease a God or to ward off potentially disastrous natural events, and to give a deceased elder or leader suitable accompaniment to the afterlife, often buried alive with the less active corpse inside a pyramid or other sealed tomb.

In Asia, similar examples of human sacrifice took place to pay tribute to dead slave owners and high ranking dignitaries – in China, slaves accompanied their masters to the afterlife in both small numbers and mass slayings of up to nearly 200 men, women and children. Across the border in Tibet, pre-Buddhism, the execution of innocent men and women, as well as instances of cannibalism, a practice which rather goes hand-in-hand with human sacrifice, were commonplace – even centuries later, there are a few examples of renegade sects killing people as part of secret tantric rituals.

In India, the South Pacific, many parts of Africa and most famously, South America, sacrificial human offerings are well documented from ancient and not so ancient times. These range from the use of a sharp implement to cut the neck (or remove the head entirely), the resulting blood or body parts often drunk/eaten or used to make potions and body decoration; the impaling of the victim through whatever orifice was seen most suitable, thus allowing the offering to be on display to the relevant God as a totem; poisonings, flayings, live burials and even more inventive methods.

Mayan and Incan sacrificial ceremonies are amongst the best-understood, largely due to the clear documentation left in the form of ornate daggers, beautiful illustrations, mass grave sites and almost impossibly preserved mummies. Particularly prevalent was the sacrifice of children, a recurring Aztec  ritual requiring the ‘tears of children’ to appease their rain God. South and Central American offerings were on scale significantly larger than many other cultures – confirmed examples have ranged from several hundred at a time to several thousand. An estimate from one historian suggests up to 250,000 Aztecs could have met their end in this way in just one year.

In ancient Hawaii, ritual killings were largely centred on demonstrating military strength, the capture of an opposing tribal chief being cause for especially brutal torture, with the victim strapped upside down on a wooden rack and pulverised with blunt instruments to tenderise the flesh. The triumphant chief would rub his capture’s sweat upon his body and then gut the unfortunate enemy, naturally not wasting anything and partaking of their innards as a reward.

Though the establishment of the major religions we now see around the world, these practices were either outlawed or were rejected by evolving societies. However, sacrifice of a human (and certainly animals) still occurs throughout the world, largely in secret ceremonies still dedicated to the pleasing of a deity. Killings are found in remote areas of India and Sub-Saharan Africa, as part of religious rites, witchcraft and for personal financial gain and well-being.

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Though rarer, the specific practice of Vodun or Vodou /Voodoo is rumoured to occasionally utilise human rather than animal offerings, even in the present day. Other cults, even in Western Europe, still offer sacrifice as part of ceremonies from self-proclaimed messiahs to devil worship – indeed, some  serial killers could well be said to do the same, although in a far more ‘lone-wolf’ scenario.

Human sacrifice in Britain was certainly rumoured to have taken place in the Iron Age, though the tendency was for the offering of a slaughtered animal, usually a horse or dog in exchange for forgiveness or good fortune. Druidic rituals did, allegedly, see humans killed, though it is thought these were more often prisoners of war or criminals. Methods of dispatch have been well documented due to the discovery of several incredibly well-preserved corpses found in peat bogs throughout the 20th Century (a phenomenon also seen throughout Scandinavia).

The most famous British example has been dubbed Lindow Man (due to the location of the discovery) and his method of dispatch seen to consist of a mistletoe-spiked drink and several blows to the head, whilst in Denmark, a similarly well-preserved corpse, Tollund Man, displayed evidence of having been hanged, though it has not been able to ascertain whether this was sacrificial or pure punishment for a crime.

Roman texts, penned by the likes of Julius Caesar, Tacitus and Pliny the Elder, reveal outright disgust at the practice of human sacrifice and cannibalism by the Celts. This, it has to be said, is a tad eyebrow-raising, given the Roman’s penchant for impromptu mass-murder and massacre for sport. However, much of this rhetoric has been disregarded as propaganda, an attempt by the Romans to portray the Celts as inhuman savages. Ironically, the most iconic image of human sacrifice in Britain around this time, the looming wicker man, was almost certainly an animal only offering, with no evidence found to suggest that humans were also encased within and set on fire.

The disturbing and often perplexing history of human sacrifice has lent itself to all areas of art for centuries. The Mexicans and inhabitants of pre-Columbian America celebrated the act in wildly elaborate statuary and paintings. The ever-inventive Aztecs’ actions did rather lend themselves to artistic documentation – the removal of vital organs from living victims, starvation, immolation, drowning and cannibalism were all used to give thanks to one god or another. These have appeared rendered on ceramics and codices, whilst often ornate daggers reveal the planning and importance the sacrifices had in their societies.

The Mayans could at least match these feats, sometimes even trumping them with absurd-sounding ceremonies involving live burial, the bow and arrow equivalent of a firing squad and, most intriguingly, the strange entwining of sacrifice and an Mesoamerican ballgame, in which losing teams would often find themselves beheaded, their skulls becoming ‘bats’ for future games.

There is even pictorial evidence of people being bound up with twine until they resemble the large rubber-type balls usually used, the unfortunates batted and kicked around mercilessly until death or victory. As with the Aztecs, many vessels, paintings and carvings have been unearthed featuring these acts, as well, of course, as the sacred pyramids they were usually centred around, including the dedicated altars.

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Human Sacrifice in Horror Films

The Mummy (1932 and many times thereafter)

A reanimated Imhotep seeks to reanimate his long-dead lover by mummifying the unlucky Helen

The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)

Boris Karloff, as the diabolical Fu, attempts to masquerade as a resurrected Genghis Khan in order to stir up an Asian uprising into conquering the West. Pre-code, so heady stuff.

King Kong (1933/1977)

Poor old Fay is welcomed to Skull Island to meet their gigantic God for dinner.

The Black Cat (1934)

Satan. Rites. Damsel. Karloff. Lugosi.

The Mole People (1956)

Subterraneran Sumerian crackpots sacrificing elders after mistaking daylight for a mystical oracle

The Devil’s Hand (1959)

Likeable Satanic cult shenanigans, headed by Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon from the Batman TV series)

The City of the Dead (1960)

Atmospheric, if a little threadbare Christopher Lee vehicle

She (1934/1965)

Immortal jungle queen demands an equally long-living companion by immolation in a mystical blue flame

Blood Feast (1963)

Food catering meets Egyptian rites as Fuad Ramses dispatches local girls to please the God Ishtar.

Eye of the Devil (1966)

The title offers more than a nod in the direction this hugely atmospheric though undervalued film takes. Almost certainly the only film starring David Niven, Sharon Tate, Donald Pleasence and John Le Mesurier.

Brides of Blood (1968)

Mutations on a remote island require virginal sacrifices to a local monster.

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Dennis Wheatley, the go-to for Devil-satiating texts, is brought to film in one of Hammer’s greatest offerings. Those sacrificing are seen to be ‘normal’, respected members of society, as opposed to the popular view of dancing, mostly naked hippies.

The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1970)

Standard English village fare – the resurrection of the cloven one through skin growing and sacrificial rituals.

The Shiver of the Vampires aka Le Frisson des Vampires (1971)

Jean Rollin’s dreamy look at sacrifice in a chateau.

Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971) and sequels…

Though the slowly shuffling zombies are the star of the show, their origins as blood-drinking, Satan worshipping Templar knights at the beginning of this three-film saga are shown in flashback

Enter the Devil (1972)

A grimy entry into the 70’s obsession with Satanic cults

Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1972)

Ted V. Mikel’s uber-schlocky blood-thirsty witches on the hunt for male blood to offer to the Devil.

The Mummy’s Revenge aka La Venganza de la Momia (1973)

Dazzling, if not entirely gripping entry into Paul Naschy’s attempt to play every famous horror monster

The Wicker Man (1973)

Poor Sergeant Howie gets closer to some frightened goats than he’d like, all for the sake of some apples.

Craze (1974)

Psychotic London-based antique dealer Neal Mottram (Palance) sacrifices women to the statue of African god Chuku in the belief that it will help his ailing finances…

Race With the Devil (1975)

This well-oiled set-up of the inadvertent observation of a human sacrifice leading to a cult in pursuit has rarely been matched.

The Devil’s Men aka Land of the Minotaur (1976)

Tourists visiting a Greek archeological site are being abducted by a strange cult, intent on providing their God – the Minotaur – with a sacrifice!

Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)

Part of the notorious ‘video nasty‘ list, this slaughter for Aztec Gods romp is still unavailable in the UK.

Demonoid (1981)

300 years ago, a Mexican Satanic cult cuts of the hands of their victims to please the Devil. Years later a hand causes mischief.

Midnight aka The Backwoods Massacre (1982)

Backwoods ‘cops’ and their demented siblings sacrifice young women in a psychotic attempt to resurrect their mother’s decomposed corpse…

Q: The Winged Serpent (1982)

Larry Cohen’s hugely entertaining modern day tale of sacrifice in New York, seeing the follower of an Aztec cult sacrificing locals in a bid to appease a huge flying Quetzalcoatl living atop a skyscraper (ironically, a God whom the Aztecs didn’t actually deem as requiring human sacrifice, actually being gifted slain hummingbirds and butterflies)

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

An ingenious plot sees now iconic masks lulling innocent wearers to their fate at the expense of Old Gods.

Children of the Corn (1984-2011)

Preposterously long-running franchise in which a town’s over-18’s are sacrificed to a cornfield-based deity

Blood Cult (1985)

A local sheriff investigates a spate of sorority slayings that are found to be the work of a satanic cult. One of the earliest shot-on-video releases, it’s a self -sacrifice to sit through!

A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987)

Larry Cohen’s almost universally derided follow-up to the much (and, I would suggest, unjustly) revered Tobe Hopper mini-series see the town farming blood from a supply of non-vampiric folk.

Evil Altar (1988)

In the small town of Red Rock, a devil-worshipping cult led by Reed Weller (William Smith), is in league with the local sheriff (Robert Z’Dar). Weller’s servant is The Collector (Pepper Martin) who kidnaps boys and girls for sacrifice…

The Lair of the White Worm (1988)

Ken Russell’s slightly rude, slightly berserk and slightly entertaining snake god romp

The Guardian (1990)

William Friedkin’s unfairly overlooked, if rather daft tree-worshipping drama with ancient druids needing blood to satiate their idols

Borderland (2007)

With a Mexican backdrop, a refreshing change to the norm with drug runners and cartels mixing with the more traditional religious cults

The Shrine (2010)

A remote Polish village harbours a terrible secret (it’s human sacrifice)

Rites of Spring (2011)

A man known only as the Stranger kidnaps and sacrifices young women as part of a pagan death ritual…

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

One of the most divisive horror films of recent years offers up a novel depiction of sacrifice, which audiences either loved or hated

House of the Witchdoctor (2013)

Surprisingly competent teens in peril horror.

House of Salem (2016)

When kidnapping goes wrong…

Sacrifice (2016)

An ancient pagan religion requires the sacrifice of young women in the Shetlands

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia.com

‘Darkness lives inside’

The Possession is a 2011 American supernatural horror film directed by Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch) from a screenplay by Juliet Snowden and Stiles White, “based on a true story”. It was co-produced by Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead).

The film was belatedly released in the US on August 31, 2012, having premiered at the Film4 FrightFest.

In an intervew for Shock Till You Drop, Bornedal stated that he was drawn to The Possession‘s script, having seen it as more of an allegory for divorce than as a true horror film

Main cast:

Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Grant Show, Madison Davenport
and Matisyahu.

Plot:

A newly separated couple Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) live in different homes. After Clyde picks up their two children, Emily “Em” (Natasha Calis) and Hannah (Madison Davenport), for the weekend, they stop at a yard sale where Em becomes intrigued by an old wooden box that has Hebrew letters engraved on it. Clyde buys the box for Em, and they later find that there seems no way to open it.

That night, Em hears whispering coming from the box. She is able to open it, and finds a tooth, a dead moth, a wooden figurine, and a ring, which she begins to wear. Nw, possessed by a dybbuk, Em becomes solitary, and her behaviour becomes increasingly sinister…

Reviews:

“The scene where he goes mano a mano with the dybbuk will remind lots of people of Max von Sydow’s face to face with a demon in The Exorcist. Comparisons can be made with Linda Blair’s suffering in that film, and Natasha Calis’ tortured performance here. Fair enough. The Exorcist has influenced a lot of films, and this is one of the better ones.” RogerEbert.com

“While director Ole Bornedal’s horror is unlikely to win over many viewers, it’s certainly not an awful film (here’s looking at you, The Apparition).  There are more than a handful of unintentional laughs to be had, though.  A little girl giving you a stern stare from the yard isn’t haunting anymore, it’s just awkward.  That said, The Possession does manage to deliver a handful of decent scares and legitimately creepy moments that might even give you the chills.” Gregg Katzman, IGN

” … director Ole Bornedal doesn’t add a single idea of his own, cribbing the movie’s eerie lighting schemes from David Fincher (Zodiac), its hyperrealist mise-en-scene from Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In), and, most predictably, its disquieting intimacy from William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.” Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader

“Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick are fine as the parents of a girl (Natasha Calis) inhabited by an evil dibbuk released from an old wooden box, and Calis is appropriately creepy as that increasingly malevolent kid. Still, the scary bits are too familiar: It seems clichés are non-denominational.” Keith Staskiewicz, Entertainment Weekly

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

” … director Ole Bornedal has a fine, if too precious, visual sense. Bornedal repeatedly uses an aerial establishing device which he freely admits in his commentary is supposed to give the viewer the idea that “someone—or something—is watching us”, and while that’s kind of silly, there are some genuine scares scattered throughout the film…” Jeffrey Kauffman, Blu-ray.com

“Unlike the often tongue-in-cheek approach of some Raimi-produced horror movies, The Possession takes itself very seriously and moviegoers looking for a unique or unrelenting scare fest will likely be underwhelmed. However, compelling leading actors and mostly engaging characters elevate the The Possession above some of its exorcism movie contemporaries – resulting in a competent but unremarkable horror drama hybrid.” Ben Kendrick, Screen Rant

“It’s basically a standard possession film that has a rather predictable ending. All the while the father runs around in desperation, trying to find a way to help his little girl before something terrible happens. The furthest it gets in scares are the typical loud noises/bangs on the soundtrack…” Jeff Beck, We Got This Covered

Cast and characters:

• Natasha Calis as Emily “Em” Brenek
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Clyde Brenek
• Kyra Sedgwick as Stephanie Brenek
• Madison Davenport as Hannah Brenek
• Grant Show as Brett
• Quinn Lord as Student
• Matisyahu as Tzadok
• Jay Brazeau as Professor McMannis
• David Hovan as Rabbi Adan
• Brenda Crichlow as Miss Shandy
• Anna Hagan as Eleanor
• Ella Wade as The Voice of the Dybbuk
• Cameron Sprague as the Abyzou

Wikipedia | IMDb

Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles – aka The Monster Chronicles: Tiktik is a 2012 Filipino action comedy horror film written and directed by Erik Matti (Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2; ABCs of Death 2 “I is for Invincible”).

The film stars Dingdong Dantes, Joey Marquez, Lovi Poe, Janice de Belen,  Ramon Bautista, LJ Reyes, Roi Vinzon, Mike Gayoso, Rina Reyes.

Plot:

Makoy, a soon-to-be-father, is suddenly forced to protect his pregnant wife from an onslaught of hungry aswang monsters. He must not just fight for his love, but fight for their very survival when running into trouble with a group of gypsies who transform into TikTik – horrific, man-eating creatures with a taste for newborn children and a hunger for revenge!

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“Tiktik starts a little slow; however, after a point, the action is non-stop and the film becomes something very close to a splatter, with constant bloodbaths and impressive fights … Most of the action takes place inside a house, a tactic that along with the fact that Sonya is on labor, gives the film a claustrophobic feel, which strengthens the horror and thriller elements.” Panos Kotzathanasis, Asian Movie Pulse

“This is in no way a flawless film, it has many problems not least of which is the truly dodgy looking CGI, however the comedic edge and comic book visuals made me fall ever so slightly in love … Apparently much of Tiktik was filmed using green screen, as such the countryside and locations all looked weirdly fake and dream like, but rather than repel this added to my enjoyment as it carries this well seeming at times to share the comic book style of 300...” Daniel Simmonds, The Rotting Zombie

“Tik Tik is a cleverly crafted amalgamation of action, comedy and horror. What sets out very much as an ominous, poker-faced horror soon turns bat-shit crazy as slo-mo fight sequences give flight to guts wrapped around pitchforks, hearts ripped from bodies and skin being torn off by teeth. That’s fun – oh, so much fun – but behind the blood, guts and garlic, at the root of the limbfest, is the humane story of Makoy and Sonia that very much lies at its unashamedly heartfelt core.” Becky Roberts, HorrorTalk

“If you’re expecting a conventional horror movie that will scare you by altering mood or copping out by taking the all-too-predictable gulat sequence, this isn’t it. Tiktik is fun and fresh, adapting more Grindhouse methods, like excessive violence, to boost the level of entertainment. And if you aren’t laughing your way out of the cinema, or touched by its awareness of the Pinoy penchant for emotion, you’ll probably be raging to maim, mutilate, and whip some aswang ass…” Anton Umali, FHM Philippines

Cast and characters:

• Dingdong Dantes as Makoy
• Lovi Poe as Sonia
• Joey Marquez as Nestor
• Janice de Belen as Fely
• Roi Vinzon as Tatang
• LJ Reyes as Hilda
• Ramon Bautista as Bart
• Mike Gayoso as Ringo
• Rina Reyes as Pacing
• Roldan Aquino as Capt. Rainier Regalado
• Jan Harley Licana as Abel
• Dwight Gaston as Rex
• Cris Pastor as Mutya
• RJ Salvador as Kulot
• Regina Bernardo as (aswang formed)
• Alberto Rejalldo as (aswang formed)
• Jeff Fernandez as Kulas
• Montito Almario as Cedric

Wikipedia | IMDb | Facebook

‘Sex. Blood. Vengeance. And that’s just the first date’

Julia X – aka Julia X 3D – is a 2011 American horror thriller produced and directed by P.J. Pettiette (Jennifer’s Shadow; Bad Dreams storylines) from a screenplay by Matt Cunningham, based on Pettiette’s story outline.

Main cast:

Valerie Azlynn (Dark Awakening), Kevin Sorbo (Piranha Sharks; Paranormal Movie), Alicia Leigh Willis, Joel David Moore, Ving Rhames, Gregg Brazzel, Cassie Shea Watson, Saxon Sharbino and Meg Rains.

Plot:

Internet dating has never been more deadly as Julia is about to find out. What starts out as a night of romance ends up being anything but as the man of Julia’s dreams, known only as The Stranger, turns out to be the sort of guy your mother warns you about…

Trapped in The Stranger’s sights, Julia soon finds out his true identity is not the suave, smooth-talking lover but a sadistic and amoral killer who wants to play a deadly and possessive game.

Branding his victim with a X, Julia is destined to be the next in the long line of ex-dates but unbeknownst to The Stranger, this time he has picked on the wrong girl…

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Reviews:

” … well-wrought generic thriller fleshed out in 3D. The depth is enhanced, as well, by a multi-dimensional plot with doses of cheeky humor and verbal panache, as well as in-your-face visual thrusts that make keen use of the format. Ripped from the news pages of Craigslist killers and Internet predators, Julia X is a twisted concoction of modern-day dating dilemmas, as well as a satiric slant on the “soul mate”- delusions of naïve romancers.” Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter

” … this is really just yet another dumb slasher movie — sort of. See, it even kind of falters at that level because the body count is rather low … I’d hesitate to call this a good movie, but it’s sometimes clever and entertaining, even if it reads like a freshman year treatise on violence and feminism. Gory, tactless, but not without a keen sense of self-awareness, Julia X is stupid fun at best.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

“Three quarters of the movie become essentially a comedy torture-thriller, filled with humour, vicious attacks and two hot blondes. Whilst it’s mildly entertaining at the beginning, especially with the unexpected twist, it soon becomes a tired exercise with the story lulling in mid-air and leading nowhere fast.” Bat, Horror Cult Films

” … while much of the action is verbally understated, the violence these people heap upon each other is ridiculous. It’s a staple of the genre, the serial killer as unkillable superhero, but here it’s taken to such an absurd extreme that, once again, I am unsure whether they meant it to be silly, or just don’t understand why this shouldn’t be in a serious movie.” Ben Bailey, Stupid Blue Planet

“The humor falls flat, the cinematography and set design is hideous and cheap (two pipes show up in one of the house’s bedroom more than once, making the set look like a boiler room) and – worst of all – all the characters are unredeemable and hateful. Pettiette’s commentary on the sexes is meaningless, mean and the most misogynistic thing to hit the big screen since Deadgirl.” David Harley, Bloody Disgusting

“Kevin Sorbo masterfully portrays a twisted serial killer and, dare I say, in a sexy way. In many of these movies we tend to get a lot of useless camera angles. The camera was placed and used perfectly – no wasted motion. The soundtrack, which is scarce as all get out, is used to great effect. We are not bombarded with useless music that acts as a “tell” of the story and/or action. The tone of the movie is dark but is full of twisted and fun dark humor. Julia X, in a word, is smart.” Hack Johnson, HorrorNews.net

IMDb | Image credits: HorrorNews.net

Under the Bed – aka Scary: Under the Bed – is a 2012 Canadian-American horror film directed by Steven C. Miller (Automaton Transfusion; Scream of the Banshee; Silent Night) from a screenplay by Eric Stolze (Late Phases).

The film stars Jonny Weston (John Dies at the End), Gattlin Griffith, Peter Holden (Child of Darkness, Child of Light; Alien Abduction), Musetta Vander (Monster Night; Transylmania; Mansquito), Kelcie Stranahan, Bryan Rasmussen, Nikki Griffin, Tyler Steelman, Sam Kindseth.

Plot:

Neal has been living with his aunt following the death of his mother, and it is implied that he attempted to burn their house down. He has just returned to live with his father and new stepmother Angela, and younger brother Paulie; although everyone seems to welcome him back, his father is very hostile, and the neighborhood kids believe that Neal is crazy.

Neal speaks to Paulie about the true cause of their mother’s death, revealed to be a monster that lives under their bed and is only repelled by light. The monster has begun to torment Paulie as it did to Neal, and the brothers must formulate a plan to destroy it once and for all…

Reviews:

“The film-makers call the film a “suburban nightmare” and that is an succinctly accurate description. Unfortunately, it’s a little too heavy on the “suburban” without enough “nightmare” until it is almost too late. The beginning two-thirds plays entirely too close to Saturday afternoon movie-of-week fare … Thankfully, Jonny Weston and Gattlin Griffith as the two leads are extraordinary and make for realistic, believable siblings.” Doc Rotten, HorrorNews.net

“With some more care at the script stage, this could have been an instant classic. As it stands, though, Under the Bed is just too loosely put together to be truly great; and the tonal (and content) shift will likely leave many scratching their heads — but monster movie aficionados, especially those who grew up with the kind of fare which Miller’s film idolises, will eat it up.” Gareth Jones, Dread Central

“Under the Bed isn’t effective enough for any kind of hidden greatness, but it works well enough to be a surprise. Its greatest asset is a fun and interesting sibling team, exasperated by a refreshing lack of angst. But there’s a lot of goofiness to get over, as well as a firm DTV aura the film never quite overcomes.” Evan Saathoff, Birth. Movies. Death.

“The more the movie progresses, the more the demons are revealed. At first, they seem sort of cheesy and could have been done better, but once they begin to truly attack, an entertaining finale ensues with brief, yet unexpected, gore from a movie that you thought was going to be based on scares alone.” Simon Rother, Horror-Movies.ca

Wikipedia | IMDb | Facebook

‘The tuition isn’t all that will kill you.’

Murder University is a 2012 American horror film directed by Richard Griffin (Flesh for the Inferno; Dr. Frankenstein’s Wax Museum of the Hungry Dead; The Disco Exorcist) from a screenplay by Lenny Schwartz (Scary Little Fuckers; Normal).

Main cast:

Jamie Dufalt, Michael Thurber, Samantha Acampora, Rich Tretheway, Juicy K. Thunder, David Adams Murphy, Dave Almeida.

Plot:

1983: A series of brutal, cult-like murders are taking place at a New England college.

Josh Greene, a shy freshman, is the lone survivor of a series of murders that are reminiscent of a similar string of killings some twenty years prior. As he seeks to uncover the secret behind the attacks, he is joined by Detective Forrester, who was instrumental in halting the bloodshed before, and his daughter Meg, who had barely escaped being a victim previously…

Reviews:

“Griffin and screenwriter Lenny Schwartz have a real gift for comedy and the cast deliver every line with a perfect deadpan, loved it. The music s great, a burping 80’s synth score with shrieking stingers and droning atmosphere. There’s also a cool 50’s flashback scene featuring a trio performing a ditty about the pinko commie threat, sweet, followed by some sex, gore and humor in short order.” McBastard’s Mausoleum

“The filmmakers have obviously watched many, many genre films and have set out to make a worthy and respectful tribute to a classic style that is rarely seen these days. The wanton nudity and over the top gore are strangely, refreshingly comedic at a time when more polished, sterilised films are prevalent from the studio system … Murder University is a typical example of a good idea that just hasn’t either been thought through well enough, or not conveyed adequately to the screen.” John Townsend, HorrorNews.net

“Throughout, the acting is better than average. This isn’t a genuine slasher movie containing nothing but gruesome murders. Sure, you have that but there is also a good story with plenty of humour, jokes and music, terrible as the latter may be. The characters are also three-dimensional with even the bad guys coming across as real people. This is because the script is reasonable and the actors are not cardboard cut-outs.” Rod MacDonald, SF Crowsnest

“Murder University would be a good slasher/giallo tribute if it stuck to BEING a slasher/giallo tribute. It has a good slasher storyline, likable characters, passable effects, a bit of good comedy, and plenty of sex, blood, and nudity. However, the tangents the script takes into weirder, more out-of-place comedy cause a wildly inconsistent tone and actually overshadow the few moments where the jokes work!” Mike, Horrorfreak News

Filming locations:

Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA

IMDb | Image credits: Horrorfreak News | HorrorNews.net

Related: Final Exam | Graduation Day | Splatter University

Morbius the Living Vampire, a scientist named Dr. Michael Morbius PhD, MD, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Morbius went on to become a heroic, tragically flawed protagonist in his own series and other titles. Morbius is a man suffering from vampiric abilities and physical traits resulting from a biochemical experiment, as opposed to supernatural means.

Powers and abilities:

Michael Morbius experienced a transformation by electrical shock treatment and chemical ingestion into a pseudo-vampire. As a pseudo-vampire, Morbius does not possess all the powers of an actual vampire, nor is he subject to all the traditional limitations and weaknesses thereof. He possesses a variety of superhuman powers, some of which are similar to supernatural vampires within the Marvel Universe such as superhuman strength and speed as well as heightened senses including night vision and echolocation.

Due to his vampire-like condition, Morbius is forced to ingest fresh blood on a regular basis to sustain his life and vitality. However, Morbius does not possess any of the mystical vulnerabilities that supernatural vampires are subject to, such as garlic, holy water, crucifix, or silver. Morbius has a strong aversion to sunlight, thanks to his photo-sensitive skin which prevents any protection from major sunburn, in contrast to “true” vampires that are incinerated by it, with the result that he can move in daylight but his powers are diminished and he will stick to the shade if circumstances demand him to be active during the day.

Morbius also lacks the shape-shifting and weather-control powers, and the ability to control animals, of vampires. Like “true” vampires, Morbius does possess the ability to hypnotize beings of lesser willpower and bring them under his control, which can only be resisted by those possessing an extremely strong will. Morbius possesses an accelerated healing factor and can recover from mild to moderate injuries at a rate beyond that of ordinary humans.

Most of Morbius’ victims die or are severely injured by his bite. Unlike supernatural vampires, Morbius’ victims do not necessarily become vampires themselves. There have only been six instances where Morbius’ bite has turned other individuals into vampires. The causes behind these transformations have never been clearly explained, even though in Blade’s case, Morbius’ bite combined with his unique physiology to turn him into a part-vampire with all the strengths of a traditional vampire and none of the weaknesses.

The irradiated blood of Spider-Man causes Morbius’s vampirism to go into remission. As a result, after drinking Spider-Man’s blood, Morbius does not need to feed again for some time. Morbius once developed a serum based on Spider-Man’s blood, which would stave off his vampirism for short periods of time.

Morbius possesses the ability of transvection, navigating wind currents and gliding for various distances. In Morbius the Living Vampire #2, it was alluded to that this ability may be related to hyper-evolved portions of his brain caused by a combination of his blood disease and vampiric condition.

Even before he contracted the disease of pseudo-vampirism, Michael Morbius already possessed a gifted intellect, and he is an expert biologist, biochemist and neuroradiologist with a PhD in biochemistry, and a Nobel laureate. He also attended medical school, where he specialized in hematology.

Comic book chronology:

Created by writer Roy Thomas and originally designed by penciler Gil Kane, the character first appeared as an antagonist in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (October 1971). This followed the February 1971 updating of the comic-book industry’s self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority, that lifted a ban on vampires and certain other supernatural characters. It was the first issue of Marvel Comics’ flagship Spider-Man series written by someone other than character co-creator and editor-in-chief Stan Lee.

In 2009 Roy Thomas explained: “We were talking about doing Dracula, but Stan wanted a costumed villain. Other than that, he didn’t specify what we should do.” Kane based the character’s look on that of actor Jack Palance (Craze; Torture Garden; Man in the Attic).

A tragic and sympathetic antagonist in his initial two-issue arc, having acquired his vampiric addiction while researching a cure for his own rare, fatal blood disease, Morbius collided again with Spider-Man and others in Marvel Team-Up #3 – 4 (July and September. 1972).

Morbius went on to star in Vampire Tales, a black-and-white horror-comics magazine published by Marvel’s sister company, Curtis Magazines, appearing in all but two of the mature-audience title’s eleven issues (August 1973 – June 1975). All but the first and last of these were written by Don McGregor, with penciling by Rich Buckler and by Tom Sutton, primarily.

After his first two Vampire Tales stories, Morbius concurrently became the star of his own feature in Marvel’s bimonthly Adventure into Fear anthology series, beginning with issue #20 (Feb. 1974) and continuing through #31 (Dec. 1975), the final issue of that title.

These were written, successively, by Mike Friedrich, Steve Gerber, Doug Moench, and Bill Mantlo, working with a wide variety of pencilers.

Following sporadic guest appearances throughout the next sixteen years, the tragic character was revived in the 1992 series Morbius the Living Vampire, launched as part of the “Rise of the Midnight Sons” crossover story arc in Marvel supernatural/horror comics. It ran thirty-two issues (Sept. 1992 – April 1995). These later stories add to his repertoire of powers the ability to hypnotize others, and describe his ability to fly as psionic in nature.

Alongside the core series Morbius the Living Vampire, a reprint series, Morbius Revisited, was published from 1992 to 1993, and featured material originally published in Adventure into Fear #27-31.

Solo stories starring Morbius also appeared in Marvel Comics Presents #144 (Dec. 1993), several issues of the Midnight Sons Unlimited series (1993–1995), the one-shot Strange Tales: Dark Corners #1 (May 1998), Amazing Fantasy, vol. 2, #17 (March 2006), and the one-shot Legion of Monsters: Morbius (Sept. 2007).

A zombified version of Morbius appears in the 2008-2009 Marvel Zombies 3. The real Morbius of Earth-616 (mainstream universe) is kidnapped and beaten by his zombie counterpart who found a way from the Marvel Zombies universe into the Marvel universe. Zombie Morbius holds the normal one captive while using a latex mask to look normal!

The Ultimate Marvel version of Morbius first appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man #95. Unlike his original character, he is a “true” vampire, the son of Dracul, and brother of Vlad III Dracula himself with all of the powers and abilities associated with the usual interpretation of Dracula. This version of Morbius, however, seems to be heroically struggling against his baser instincts, and is in fact a vampire hunter.

On October 17, 2012, Marvel announced that Morbius would appear in a new comic by writer Joe Keatinge and artist Richard Elson, beginning January 2013.

Wikipedia

‘Looking for love in all the wrong faces’

Halloween Party is a 2012 comedy film co-produced and directed by Linda Palmer from a screenplay co-written with Laree’ Griffith.

The Leomark Studios film premiered on VOD on September 2, 2016.

Main cast:

Elle Newlands, Frank Gangarossa, Chris Pentzell, Christine Blackburn, David Banks, Andrea Leithe, Danny Pardo, Skyler Cooper, Jennifer Popagain, Elina Madison, Anora Lyn, Rachel Sorsa, Daniel Schweiger, Karyss Gonzalez.

IMDb | Facebook | Official site

Meat – original title: Vlees – is a 2010 Dutch psycho drama film directed by Maartje Seyferth and Victor Nieuwenhuijs (Venus in Furs) from a screenplay by the former. It stars Titus Muizelaar, Nellie Benner, and Hugo Metsers.

The film premiered at the 2010 International Film Festival Rotterdam.

In the US, Artsploitation Films is releasing the film on VOD and DVD on September 20, 2016, describing it as “the most challenging of international genre films.”

Plot:

A large, lustful butcher, used to living out his lurid fantasies in the shop, becomes interested in his young female apprentice. The young woman, documenting everything with a video camera, enthusiastically gets involved with him. But when the butcher is murdered and a police inspector, who looks exactly like the dead butcher, investigates the crime, the story takes on a bizarre nightmare-ish quality…

Reviews:

” … a stunningly rich study of sex and death, pleasure and pain, fantasy and reality – as well as one of the most imaginative damnations of the animal industry you’ll ever experience. Yes, butchers are a tradition that goes back to the domestication of animals, but a butcher is also a metaphor for cruel and deadly people, and Meat certainly has its freezer full of dastardly delmonicos caught in their own obsessions of passive-aggressive sexual dominance and guilt.” Rick McGrath, Quiet Earth

“It’s an often dark, blackly comic film with a slight aura of sleaze enhanced especially by the location of the butcher shop. There’s a lot of mystery within, both regarding what actually occurs and the motivations of each of the characters – which makes for a wonderful change from a lot of cinema, not having everything laid out for the viewer, even by the final frame. Meat is definitely a film to absorb slowly, which matches its careful pacing nicely.” Adam Grikepelis, Letterboxd.com

Wikipedia | IMDb

Dear Mr. Gacy is a 2010 Canadian drama thriller film directed by Svetozar Ristovski from a screenplay by Kellie Madison. The film is based on Jason Moss‘s 1999 memoir, The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer.

The focus of the film is Moss’ real-life interaction with serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of murdering thirty-three young men and boys.

Screenwriter Kellie Madison approached Clark Peterson, executive producer of Monster (about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, 2003) to attempt to bring the Moss-Gacy story to life. It was during the course of their discussions with Moss, who was thrilled at the prospect of developing his novel into a film, that they learned of his suicide on June 6, 2006. After an appropriate period of time had passed, they approached Moss’ widow and ultimately were able to gain acceptance of the proposal, and Dear Mr. Gacy was developed.

The film stars William Forsythe (Inkubus; Halloween; The Devil’s Rejects) and Jesse Moss (Wolf Cop; Extraterrestrial; 13 Eerie; Tucker & Dale vs Evil).

Plot:

As part of his college thesis, Jason Moss (Jesse Moss), a criminology student, decides to write to John Wayne Gacy and attempt to gain his trust through impersonating a typical victim or admirer.

Moss sends a carefully crafted letter to John Wayne Gacy (William Forsythe) in prison, portraying himself as a vulnerable, sexually confused boy. The letter is an intricate plan to get inside Gacy’s head in hopes of uncovering new information regarding his murders that will aid Moss in writing a standout term paper.

The film unfolds as Gacy, suspicious at first, puts Moss through intense emotional tests via letters and collect calls, all of which leads to strained relationships with his girlfriend and family. Gacy tries to convince Moss to become a hustler, and Moss lies about having his wallet stolen by a client. After hearing that, Gacy offers to have the man’s penis cut off, saying he’s very protective of people he’s close to.

Jason becomes paranoid, meanwhile, and has several mental attacks as he becomes increasingly crazy.

Once Gacy hears that his last appeal failed and he will be executed soon, he offers to pay for Jason to visit him in prison. Jason agrees after getting a call from the warden, who says the two will not be in the same room and there will be guards. Jason also speaks to a victim of Gacy’s who escaped, who doesn’t want him to go. After Jason arrives, he finds out he will be in the same room with Gacy and the guard leaves…

Reviews:

” … a pretty chilling recount of the relationship between Jason Moss and John Wayne Gacy with the majority of this frost coming from the performance of William Forsythe as John Wayne Gacy. I don’t know enough about Gacy to say with any certainty that Forsythe captured the essence of the serial killer, but he sure did capture the essence of a sick bastard, that’s for sure. On the rare occasion that they showed flashbacks of Gacy before he went to prison doing his… thing… it was not pleasant to watch.” Christopher Armstead, Film Critics United

” … not nearly as thorough as the book. Despite that the story progresses faster and omits much detail, it’s one of the better serial killer movies. If you have an interest in the subject, serial killers in particular, I recommend both The Last Victim and Dear Mr. Gacy.” Loretta Sisco, Biff Bam Pop!

“The movie could definitely use some tightening; 102 minutes is pretty long for a film in which nothing happens, especially when they are sticking to the facts – we know Gacy won’t escape and come to the kid’s house or something, so after a while I just wanted them to get to the main event – Moss visiting Gacy. There are a few too many scenes of Moss arguing with his girlfriend too…” BC, Bloody Disgusting

Cast and characters:

• Jesse Moss as Jason Moss
• William Forsythe as John Wayne Gacy
• Emma Lahana as Alyssa
• Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman as Diego
• Patrick Gilmore as Glen Phillips
• Andrew Airlie as Professor Harris
• Cole Heppell as Alex Moss
• Belinda Metz as Valerie
• Michaela Mann as Autumn
• Michael Kopsa as FBI Agent
• Eric Keenleyside as Stan
• Daryl Shuttleworth as Thompson
• Brett Dier as Marcus
• Jaren Brandt-Bartlett as Mike
• Hunter Elliott as Tim Carsey
• Kai Kennedy as Bobby

Filming locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘War is Hell’

The Devil’s Rock is a 2011 New Zealand supernatural horror war film produced by Leanne Saunders, directed by Paul Campion from a screenplay co-written with Paul Finch, and Brett Ihaka.

Main cast:

Craig Hall, Matthew Sunderland, Gina Varela, and Karlos Drinkwater.

Plot:

On 5 June 1944, commandos are sent to the Channel Islands on sabotage and distraction raids, to draw Hitler’s attention away from Normandy.

Two New Zealand soldiers, Captain Ben Grogan (Craig Hall) and Sergeant Joe Tane (Karlos Drinkwater), paddle to Forau Island. They approach a German fortification and hear what they think is a man being tortured. They are disturbed when a German soldier (Luke Hawker) runs out of a tunnel pleading for help. Grogan stabs the soldier in the back of the neck and kills him. They hear a woman screaming…

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“By keeping the action confined to the tunnels and cells of the blockhouse, Campion creates a claustrophobic setting, but for all the gore and demonic transmogrification, there’s a distinct lack of chills and frights.” Michael Hann, The Guardian

“There’s not much in the way of flaws in The Devil’s Rock. The film does suffer a little technically. But, then…it is a low-budget affair. Some of the CGI is a little dodgy and perhaps you could argue that there was a lack of grue for a film about conjuring gore-eating demons. However, I felt that the lack of gore let you take in the wonderful performances without distraction.” Bryan, Film Deviant

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

” … they have a little fun with the historical touches; amidst all the real actions mentioned, the Nazi mentions Hitler’s near-possession of the Ark (Raiders) and attempt to raise the Old Ones (Hellboy). Pretty cool, and not distracting if you don’t get the reference. The demon makeup is also terrific…” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

“Eventually, after what feels like an agebut what was actually only about half an hour, The Devil’s Rock gets to the meat of its story, which turns out to be some disappointing and mass produced packet ham available from any cut price supermarket. There is nothing fresh or creative about the taste of this film once it shows its hand.” Flickering Myth

Cast and characters:

• Craig Hall as Captain Ben Grogan
• Matthew Sunderland as Colonel Klaus Meyer
• Gina Varela as Helena/The Demon
• Karlos Drinkwater as Sergeant Joe Tane
• Luke Hawker as Private Muller
• Jonathan King as Suicide German
• Hadyn Green as Dead German
• Jessica Grace Smith as Nicole
• Geraldine Brophy as the Voice of the Demon

Wikipedia | IMDb | Facebook

‘We must all face our demons’

Inkubus is a 2011 American supernatural horror film directed by Glenn Ciano from a screenplay co-written with Carl Dupré (Hellraiser: Hellseeker), based on the latter’s story. It was produced by Chad A. Verdi for the Woodhaven Production Company.

Main cast:

Robert Englund, William Forsythe (Dear Mr. Gacy; Halloween; The Devil’s Rejects), Joey Fatone (Army of the Damned; Jersey Shore Shark Attack), Jonathan Silverman, Mike Cerrone, Tom Denucci, and Michelle Ray Smith.

Plot:

A skeleton crew working the final shift at a soon-to-be demolished police station in Woodhaven, Rhode Island. The night takes a gruesome turn when the demon, Inkubus (Robert Englund), calmly walks into the station holding the severed head of a murdered girl.

Inkubus toys with the crew, allowing himself to be restrained, and begins to proudly confess to his litany of crimes, some dating back to the Middle Ages. Inkubus has a score to settle with the one detective (William Forsythe) that almost put him away some thirteen years ago...

Buy: Amazon.com

Reviews:

” … the film easily could have played out as a typical slasher, but it diverts from the stalk-and-slash formula. Instead, Inkubus takes a more interesting approach, in which the killer plays mind games with his victims, psychologically toying with them before they meet their demise. The digital effects are cheesy as expected, but there are some good practical effects by Rob Fitz to make up for it.” Alex DiVincenzo, HorrorNews.net

“Is Inkubus a perfect horror film? No, but it is certainly entertaining. The combination of Englund and Forsythe with the excellently utilized supporting cast make for a complete ensemble. Although the story is a bit muddy in parts, it comes together well by the film’s completion and has created a great anti-hero with the demon Inkubus. Almost certainly better than most mainstream horror released recently…” Scott Hallam, Dread Central

“Though short, Inkubus still drags through its confusing tale and left this viewer more bended than the, as already stated, overuse of one of Inkubus’s Houdini tricks. With all of the hocus-pocus and special effects, the key point of the story – the idea that Inkubus has been around since the beginning of time – and is responsible for the downfall of man – is lost. Despite the structural downfalls, the films’ effects (be them abused) and overall quality are actually very nice.” Bloody Disgusting

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

“It kicks off with an opening seemingly inspired by 80s’ body horror sci-fi and continues the craziness throughout. All involved try to keep a straight face, but that just makes it seem worse, although there are some genuinely good ideas behind the shoddy execution. The kill sequences and gore gags are fun if predictable and the pace quick enough that it’s never a chore to watch.” Joel Harley, Horror Talk

Interview:

Glenn Ciano talks to Scott Hallam for Dread Central

Cast and characters:

• Robert Englund as Inkubus
• William Forsythe as Detective Diamante
• Jonathan Silverman as Tech
• Joey Fatone as Detective Caretti
• Michelle Ray Smith as Cole
• Mike Cerrone as Mudge
• Tom DeNucci as Pax
• Kevin DeCristofano as Miles “The Headless Horseman” Coogan
• Dyan Kane as Dr. Emily Winstrom
• Tom Paolino as Meat

Filming locations: 

Cranston, Rhode Island

Wikipedia | IMDb

Herschell Gordon Lewis (June 15, 1929 – September 26, 2016) was an American filmmaker, best known for creating the “splatter” subgenre of horror films.

He is often referred to as the “Godfather of Gore”, though his film career has included works in a range of exploitation film genres including juvenile delinquent films, nudie-cuties, two children’s films and at least one rural comedy.

Herschell Gordon Lewis was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1929. His father died when he was six years old. His mother never remarried; and his family then moved to Chicago.

After graduating from high school, Lewis received a master’s degree in Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. A few years later, he became a professor of English literature at Mississippi State University.

In 1953, Lewis began working for a friend’s advertising agency in Chicago while teaching graduate advertising courses at night at Roosevelt University. He began directing TV commercial advertisements.

Lewis served as producer on his first film venture, The Prime Time (1959). He would assume directing duties on nearly all of his films from then on. His first in a lengthy series of collaborations with exploitation producer David F. Friedman, Living Venus (1961), was a fictitious account based on the story of Hugh Hefner and the beginnings of Playboy.

The two continued with a series of erotic films in the early 1960s. Typical of these nudies were the comedies Boin-n-g! (1963) and The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961).

With the nudie market beginning to wane, Lewis and Friedman entered into uncharted territory with 1963’s seminal Blood Feast, considered by most critics to be the first “gore” film.

Incredibly cheap and cheesy, the film nonetheless stunning audiences with the jaw-dropping gore on display. They formed queues at drive-ins to see it. The splatter sub-genre was born!

The far superior Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) followed, with a whole town getting in on the mayhem. And this one included great singalong ditty ‘The South’s Gonna Rise Again’

Color Me Blood Red (1965) followed the same formula but was about a deranged artist and more low key. Still, the full-color gore on display in these films caused a sensation, with horror film-makers throughout the world gradually saturating their productions with similarly shocking visual effects.

Outside the gore sub-genre, Lewis pursued a wide gamut of other exploitation avenues. Some of the subjects he explored include juvenile delinquency (Just for the Hell of It, 1968), wife swapping (Suburban Roulette, 1968), the corruption of the music industry (Blast-Off Girls, 1967), and birth control (The Girl, the Body, and the Pill, 1967).

He was also not above tapping the children’s market, as with Jimmy the Boy Wonder (1966) and The Magic Land of Mother Goose (1967), which were padded out to feature film length by incorporating long foreign-made cartoons.

Lewis financed and produced nearly all of his own movies with funds he made from his successful advertising firm based in Chicago. Always resourceful despite the low budgets he worked with, Lewis purchased the rights to an unfinished Bill Rebane film and completed it himself, re-titling the film Monster a Go-Go (1965). This approach demonstrated Lewis’s business savvy; by owning the rights to both features, he knew he would not get fleeced by theaters juggling the box office returns, a common practice at that time.

Lewis’s third gore phase served to push the genre into even more outrageous shock territory. Starting with The Gruesome Twosome (1967), he went onto The Wizard of Gore (1968, released 1970) featured a stage magician who would mutilate his volunteers severely through a series of merciless routines.

By The Gore Gore Girls (1972) he had begun to lampoon himself and this last dark comedy would mark his semi-retirement from film altogether. He decided to leave the filmmaking industry to work in copywriting and direct marketing, a subject on which he published several books in the 1980s.

Meanwhile, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, interest in his splatter movies continued to grow as more and more horror fans began to appreciate the naive charm of his outlandish oeuvre. Sequels to Two Thousand Maniacs! and a remake of The Wizard of Gore proved that Lewis’ lasting influence on the horror genre had been firmly established.

In 2002, Lewis himself was finally drawn back into the film world, released his first film in thirty years, Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, a sequel to the first film. It featured a cameo appearance by John Waters, a devotee of Lewis’ work.

In 2016, he proved to still be a draw as Canadian anthology movie Herschell Gordon Lewis’ BloodMania was filmed with his name as part of the title. The same year, Blood Feast was remade in France with a small cameo role for Lewis. He was still enjoying being the Godfather of Gore!

Wikipedia | IMdb | Official website

Posted in tribute to Herschell Gordon Lewis, who died today.

Monsters is a 2010 British science fiction monster film written and directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) in his feature film directorial debut. Edwards also served as the cinematographer, production designer, and visual effects artist.

Plot:

Monsters takes place years after a NASA probe crash in Mexico which led to the sudden appearance of giant tentacled monsters. It follows Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy), an American photojournalist tasked with escorting his employer’s daughter Samantha Wynden (Whitney Able) back to the US by crossing through Mexico’s “Infected Zone” where the creatures reside.

Overview:

Edwards conceived the idea for the film after seeing fishermen attempt to bring a creature in with a net, and imagining a monster inside. He pitched the idea to Vertigo Films who agreed to finance it.

The film was shot in Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the United States over three weeks., and many locations were used without permission. Most of the extras were people who were at these locations during filming and were persuaded to act in it; all of their dialogue was improvised, and Edwards provided outlines of the primary plot points.

Every night after shooting, editor Colin Goudie and his assistant Justin Hall would download the footage so the memory sticks could be cleared and ready for the next day. While new footage was being captured, the previously filmed footage was edited at the production team’s hotel. After filming concluded, the crew had over 100 hours of footage. The original cut was over four hours long but was trimmed to 94 minutes after eight months of editing. 

Edwards created the visual effects himself using off-the-shelf Adobe software, ZBrush, and Autodesk 3ds Max. He had five months to create all 250 visual effects shots, a process he undertook in his bedroom. He produced two shots a day until he reached the first creature shot, when “suddenly two months went by and [he] still hadn’t finished a single creature shot”; Edwards stated that the creatures’ visual effects were the most challenging element of production.

Monsters premiered at South by Southwest on 13 March 2010. Hours later, Magnet Releasing acquired the rights to distribute it in North America. It had a limited release there, beginning on 29 October 2010, followed by a theatrical release in the United Kingdom on 3 December 2010.

The film received generally positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing US$ 4.2 million against a budget of less than $500,000. Monsters: Dark Continent, a sequel, was released on 1 May 2015.

Reviews:

“Both the satire and the human story are more involving than in District 9, and McNairy, in particular, gives an excellent and very convincing performance. This is a very postmodern sci-fi, with its downbeat approach to the monsters themselves, but with a hugely involving love story.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“Monsters is really a road-movie romance that tracks the burgeoning relationship between two strangers as they travel through the ”infected” zone. The result impresses thanks to the lead actors’ performances and Edwards’ skilled efforts. But it should come with a warning: ”Here be (not many) monsters.” Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly

” … despite the well-covered terrain, Edwards adds original touches to the genre, especially where production design is concerned. His use of weather-worn “infected zone” signs and other fading notices go far in setting up an established way of life while he admirably refrains from orchestrating those inevitable creature sightings for maximum (brass blaring) shock value.” Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter

“Monsters” holds our attention ever more deeply as we realize it’s not a casual exploitation picture. We expect that sooner or later, we’ll get a good look at the aliens close up. When we do, let’s say it’s not a disappointment. They’re ugly and uncannily beautiful. We’ve never seen anything like them. And their motives are made clear in a sequence combining uncommon suspense and uncanny poetry.” RogerEbert.com

“Monsters’ wants to be an allegory about American self-absorption or the panic over immigration or something; exactly what is never very clear. If the real monsters are supposed to be us — a metaphor the film’s majestic climactic image makes explicit — on the evidence here, we just aren’t scary enough.” Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Interviews:

Gareth Edwards interviewed by Ryan Lambie for Den of Geek!

Wikipedia | IMDb |

‘This road has no fairy tale ending’

YellowBrickRoad is a 2010 American horror film written and directed by Jesse Holland (The Crooked Man) and Andy Mitton (The Vermont House; We Go On; Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear). It has also been released as Vanished.

Main cast:

Cassidy Freeman (Fender Bender; The Vampire Diaries), Anessa Ramsey (Death Race 2050; Southbound; Rites of Spring), Laura Heisler, Clark Freeman, Lee Wilkof, Alex Draper, Tara Giordano, Michael Laurino, Sam Elmore.

Plot:

A film crew has traveled to the town of Friar, New Hampshire, to finally travel a trail known only via the horrific stories that surround it. In 1940 the entire town of Friar, 572 people, abandoned their town and walked into the wilderness with only the clothes on their back after a viewing of The Wizard of Oz, a film that the entire town was obsessed with.

No-one has ever been able to explain why they did this, especially since only 300 of the townspeople’s bodies were recovered. Of those 300, some had frozen to death in the elements while others were killed in horrific and bloody ways.

When the trail’s coordinates are declassified, crew leader Teddy gains access to the coveted information via Friar’s cinema. His goal is to finally answer the questions surrounding the disappearances and deaths, as well as what lies at the end of the trail…

Reviews:

“By building suspense through this combination of character, setting and story, Mitton, Holland and Hardwick focus on allowing audiences to easily lose themselves in the endless wilderness … The film’s cryptic, metaphoric ending will no doubt frustrate and confuse many viewers, and spark endless online debate. Even with this drawback, the movie is still quite engrossing, with some of the most unsettling scenes since The Exorcist and The Shining. It’s truly spooky.” Scott David, Meet in the Lobby

“The last half of the film really makes good use of music and sound to build effect and unsettle the viewer … The constant sound and scratching of the needle against the record really has an effect on the nerves and makes the silences deafening. This is a little more on the cerebral side of horror with a few moments of disturbing images, made all the more disturbing by their abrupt nature, this is a film well worth the watch.” The Geek Girl Project

” … the camera shakes, and they begin attacking each other, like that Star Trek episode where the Enterprise crew is infected by a virus and they all go nuts. But at least that had a shirtless Sulu sword fighting. Yellowbrickroad is without personality. It’s competently made, but the cast and direction are just bland.” G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle

“If they go back and make a better ending … I could see this being a cult favorite of sorts … The unknown actors are pretty good, the story is interesting, and it has minor doses of unexpected humor (their reactions to a broken GPS are pretty hilarious). And again, it has a guy tearing someone’s leg off. So, worth a look.” Brian Collins, Horror Movie a Day

“YellowBrickRoad is a fresh original update of the backwoods horror film. It’s one that begs to be seen in a large theater, projected with terrific surround sound. Both Mitton and Holland are self professed fans of horror, and though this film begs to break the bounds of the genre I would certainly hope to see them return to horror to craft yet another original terrifying film.” Deaditor, Brutal as Hell

“Underwhelming finish explains zilch, but good perfs, atmospherics and use of backwoods locations make Yellowbrickroad an intriguing cipher.” Dennis Harvey, Variety

Cast and characters:

Cassidy Freeman as Erin Luger
Anessa Ramsey as Melissa Barnes
Laura Heisler as Liv McCann
Clark Freeman as Daryl Luger
Lee Wilkof as Clerk / Usher
Alex Draper as Walter Myrick
Tara Giordano as Jill
Michael Laurino as Teddy Barnes
Sam Elmore as Cy Banbridge

Filming Locations:

Lancaster, New Hampshire, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb