‘Two no-hopers. One cursed village. One hell of a night!’

Lesbian Vampire Killers – also known as simply Vampire Killers in the US – is a 2009 British comedy horror film directed by Phil Claydon from a screenplay by Stewart Williams and Paul Hupfield. It was produced by Steve Clark-Hall. It stars Paul McGann (Alien³; The Monk), James Corden, Mathew Horne and MyAnna Buring.

Momentum pictures has claimed that retailers – including supermarket chain Tesco – demanded warning stickers be placed over the word “Lesbian”. A spokesperson from Tesco said that although they did ask for a cover with less cleavage, they “did not suggest that they [Momentum] amend the wording”

Plot:

Jimmy (Mathew Horne) and Fletch (James Corden) are two friends living in London. Jimmy is dumped by his girlfriend and Fletch is fired from his job as a clown for punching a child. They decide to escape their woes and hike to a remote village in Norfolk that they find via an old map. As they arrive at a pub in the village, they see a number of attractive foreign female history students leaving.

Hoping to find more beautiful women inside, they are greeted by a morose crowd of men and approached by a seemingly crazed vicar (Paul McGann) who believes Jimmy is a long lost descendant of a local vampire slayer…

Reviews:

James Christopher of The Times described Lesbian Vampire Killers as “profoundly awful” stating it is an “instantly forgettable lads’ mag farce” and suggested the film was an “appalling waste of a perfectly decent title”.

” … a movie that is much more interested in ogling women and making schoolboy jokes. Any laughs come courtesy of Corden’s randy, blustering Fletch. Phil Claydon directs at a breakneck pace but maybe he just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. I know exactly how he feels.” Allan Hunter, Daily Express

“The comedy consists mostly in a lot of blokey swearing and Scooby-Doo-style running and gurning, the latter supplied by Paul McGann as an exorcist vicar. It’s pretty woeful, and unimaginably boring.” Anthony Quinn, The Independent

“St. Trinian‘s meets The Descent in the pages of Nuts magazine. It’s mostly pretty awful, but there are one or two crass laughs, largely provided by Paul McGann playing the potty-mouthed priest who is the only one who knows how to slay the Page-3 vampirettes.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Don’t think it. Don’t say it.’

The Bye Bye Man is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by Stacy Title (Hood of Horror) from a screenplay by Jonathan Penner, based on the short story The Bridge to Body Island by Robert Damon Schneck.

Principal photography began on November 2, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. STX Entertainment will release the film on June 3, 2016.

Main cast:

Doug Jones,Douglas Smith, Michael Trucco, Cressida Bonas, and Lucien Laviscount.

Plot:

Three college students move into an old, off-campus house, where they find themselves hunted by a supernatural entity called The Bye Bye Man (Doug Jones), who may be responsible for possessing various people and causing them to commit killing sprees throughout recent history…

Cast and characters:

• Doug Jones as The Bye Bye Man
• Douglas Smith as Elliot
• Michael Trucco as Virgil
• Cressida Bonas as Sasha
• Lucien Laviscount as John
• Carrie-Anne Moss as Detective Shaw
• Faye Dunaway as Widow Redmon
• Cleo King as Mrs. Watkins
• Jenna Kanell as Kim
• Erica Tremblay as Alice

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

WH

‘Legend becomes reality’

The Before Time is a 2014 American found footage horror film directed by Miguel Müller (Yolanda) from a screenplay by Scott Bunt and story by Rodrigo Goulart and Müller.

The film is being distributed on VOD and DVD by Supernova Films.

Main cast:

Danielle Baker, Jules Hartley, Phillip Andre Botello, Ted Jonas, Megan Hui, Sean Patrick McGowan.

Plot:

When two rival crews head into the desert to shoot a reality show based on a buried Navajo treasure, they discover that truth is not only stranger than fiction, it’s more dangerous. Something wants them from digging deeper and from escaping the desert alive…

Trailer:

IMDb

The Devil In I is a 2014 song and music video by American nu-metal band Slipknot produced by Greg Fidelman and the band themselves. The song is the second single taken from 5: The Gray Chapter, a Roadrunner Records release.

Reviews:

“chugs out of a warbling doom line at the beginning and sets itself onto a morose but tuneful course with moody guitar chimes, dirge-loaded bass and empathetic swills from Corey Taylor … The choruses are a little too safe, but a massive and quick-stepped breakdown plus a grinding bridge thereafter keeps the song robust and hectic.” Blabbermouth.net

Lyrics:

Undo these chains my friend
I’ll show you the rage i’ve hidden
Perish the sacrament
Swallow, but nothing forgiven
You and I can’t decide which of us was taken for granted
Make amends
Some of us are destined to be outlived

Step inside, see the devil in I
Too many times, we’ve let it come to this
Step inside, see the devil in I
You’ll realize i’m not your devil anymore

Under the words of men
Something is tempting the father
Where is your will my, friend?
Insatiates never even bother
You and I, wrong or right
Traded a lie for the leverage
In between the lens in light
You’re not what you seem

Step inside, see the devil in I
Too many times, we’ve let it come to this
Step inside, see the devil in I
You’ll realize i’m not your devil
I’m not your devil anymore
Your station is abandoned
Fool you ’cause I know what you’ve done
Sensation depravation
You should’ve burned when you turned on everyone

Video:

Wikipedia

Sharkenstein is a 2016 American horror film directed by Mark Polonia (Queen Crab; Amityville Death House; Bigfoot vs Zombies) from a screenplay by J.K. Farlew. Polonia and Brett Piper are handling the special effects.

Wild Eye Releasing will unleash Sharkenstein on DVD and VOD in August 2016.

Plot:

In the final days of World War II, a secret experiment to weaponise sharks is shut down and destroyed by the Third Reich. But now, sixty years later, a small ocean town is plagued by a bloodthirsty, mysterious creature, one built and reanimated using parts of the greatest killers to ever inhabit the sea – the Sharkenstein monster!

Source: Dread Central

Related: 2-Headed Shark Attack | 3-Headed Shark Attack | Atomic Shark | Avalanche Sharks | Cruel Jaws | Ghost Shark | Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws | Great White | Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy aka SharkMan | Jaws | Jaws 2 | Jersey Shore Shark Attack | Jurassic Shark | Malibu Shark Attack | Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus | Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus | Mega Shark vs. Kolossus | Piranha Sharks | Psycho Shark | Raiders of the Lost Shark | Roboshark | Sand Sharks | Shark Attack 3: Megalodon | Shark Exorcist | The Shark is Still Working | Shark Lake | Shark Week | Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre | Sharknado | Sharknado 2: The Second One | Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! | Sharknado: The 4th Awakens! | Sharktopus | Sharktopus vs. Mermantula | Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda | Sky Sharks | Snow Shark | Super Shark | Swamp Shark | Zombie Shark

‘They have come from another world… to stay!’

Arachnid is a 2001 Spanish horror film directed by Jack Sholder (Alone in the Dark; A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge; The Hidden; Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies) from a screenplay by Mark Sevi (Ghoulies IV; Scanner Cop 2; Serial Killer; Pterodactyl). The film was made in Spain by Brian Yuzna‘s Fantastic Films production company (Dagon; Beyond Re-Animator).

The film had a limited US release by Lions Gate Films. For its low budget, estimated at $570,000, it did well at the box office, scoring $1.123 million.

In the documentary Behind the Curtain Part II (2012) director Jack Sholder, commented: “I basically did it for the money and it was a stupid script… I got to live in Barcelona for six months and, you know, they paid me well. Everything was good except I had to go to work everyday and shoot a dumb script. I haven’t seen that one since, you know, I made it. And some people say ‘Oh well, it’s actually better than you think’, but I basically tell people to avoid that one.”

Main cast:

Alex Reid, Chris Potter, Rocqueford Allen, Robert Vicencio and José Sancho.

Plot:

A plane crashes on an island, and the pilot comes across a giant spider, which kills both him and an alien.

One year later, Mercer (Alex Reid), the sister of the pilot, accompanies Valentine (Chris Potter) to the same island to locate her brother. On the way to a native village to examine several natives who are dying of spider bites, ticks burrow into Reyes (Luis Lorenzo Crespo). Upon reaching the village, they discover that the village has moved on. Reyes begins to cough up the ticks and Bear (Rocqueford Allen) decides to shoot him to end his suffering.

That night, Mercer wanders off and is attacked by a mutated spider, but is saved by a native, who ends up getting bitten and dying the next morning. The group moves on, and are attacked by a giant spider, which kills Henry (an “arachnologist”) and Samuel (the group’s doctor). A smaller spider attacks Bear, and another native is killed. Valentine, Mercer and Susana (Neus Asensi), Samuel’s assistant, hole up in a military bunker…

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“This film was pretty generic, especially by todays’ standards when these giant bug movies seem to play on SyFy channel pretty frequently, but what sets Arachnid apart is that the creatures WERE NOT, I repeat, NOT CGI and looked pretty damn nice. Especially the giant spider and we have effects master Steve Johnson behind the creatures.” Corey Danna, HorrorNews.net

“Overall Arachnid is a cheap cheesy fun monster film which will probably have you laughing more than screaming unless of course you have a severe phobia of spiders in which case this could be the scariest horror you have ever seen.” Zombie 2, Love Horror

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

“Scary? Not enough. Unless the sight of a scientist having his paralysed legs eaten by baby spiders behind a screen of webbing puts you off your greens, there is nothing to lose sleep about.” Angus Wolfe Murray, Eye for Film

“Locations are acceptable; effects less so. Some of the stuff involving webs will generate giggles instead of gasps. The ooky spider juice is better.” Mike Mayo, The Horror Show Guide

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Alex Reid … Mercer
• Chris Potter … Valentine
• Rocqueford Allen … Bear
• Robert Vicencio … Toe Boy (as Robert Gabriel Vicencio)
• José Sancho … Dr. Samuel Leon
• Neus Asensi … Susana Gabriel
• Ravil Isyanov … Henry Capri
• Luis Lorenzo Crespo … Reyes (as Luis Lorenzo)
• Jesús Cabrero … Lightfoot
• Héctor Chiquín … Native 1
• Conejo Wilson … Native 2
• Fausto Gualsaqui … Native 3

Trailer:

Web and death scene:

Wikipedia | IMDb | Related: Arachnophobia: Spiders on the Screen – article by David Flint

‘Dining out can be a permanent experience!!!’

Goremet: Zombie Chef from Hell is a 1986 American comedy horror film directed by Don Swan from a screenplay co-written with Jeff Baughn and William Highsmith. It was shot on Super 8 film and promoted as Gore-Met, Zombie Chef from Hell.

Main cast:

C.W. Casey, Charles Barger III, Jeff Baughn, Cindy Castanio,  Chuc Clubb, Loy Dellinger, Theo Depuay, Bob Highsmith, Johnny Howie, Kelley Kunicki, Alan Marx, Joy Merchant, Woody Mitchell, Michael O’Neill, Rocky Oliviero.

Plot:

1386: Priests from “The Ancient Order” place a indefinite curse on a man named Goza that requires him to feed off human flesh.

1986: Goza is now running a seafood restaurant and deli…

Reviews:

“… nearly all of the potential fun is stripped away quicker than a deli slicer can cut through a plastic foot. This doesn’t take itself too seriously and seems fully aware of how dumb it is, but that still doesn’t help matters. The one-liners and gags are lame, there are tons of scenes that seem to go on for an eternity, the continuity is awful and nearly all of the murders take place off-screen.” The Bloody Pit of Horror

“For a movie with such a deliberately exaggerated title there’s very little gore and no real “zombie”. Customers complain about hair and jewelry being in their food so I wouldn’t really call him a “chef”, and “hell” isn’t even really a factor at all. All of that considered, somehow (despite what other reviewers may say) Gore-Met delivers.” Atomic Caravan

” … reeks of weed, Doritos, and old Reebok high-tops in the best of ways. It was made by adults on Super 8, but most likely influenced by ninth-graders playing Dungeons & Dragons while watching Evil Dead. Plus it’s only 67 minutes. Bonus!” Joseph A. Ziemba, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

“The whole film is an exercise in padding. Out of its already brisk 70 minutes, about 20 minutes of that is actually plot. The rest is filled up with impromptu dance sequences featuring a few nude girls, a jazzy musical number of “Down to the Boardwalk”, shots of people drinking beer, and an extended sequence of someone trying to make a phone call.” The Zed Word

“Some call it a parody, but everyone agrees on one thing – it’s really, really unwatchable … features a distracting synthesizer score, and it’s inept in every other possible way.”

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Filming Locations:

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Dance party:

Whole film:

IMDb | Related: The Synth of Fear: Horror Films with Synthesizer Scores – article by Steve Thrower

The Arrival is a 1996 science fiction film written and directed by David Twohy (Pitch Black; Below; The Chronicles of Riddick; Riddick).

Despite praise from critics and audiences alike, the film only grossed $14 million in the domestic market against a budget of an estimated $25 million. However, the film had a reasonably successful run overseas. A sequel, Arrival II: The Second Arrival was released on November 6, 1998.

Main cast:

Charlie Sheen (The Wraith; Grizzly II: The Predator; Scary Movie sequels), Lindsay Crouse, Ron Silver (Silent Rage; The Entity; Shadow Zone: The Undead Express), Teri Polo (The Phantom of the Opera; House of Frankenstein; Van Helsing Chronicles) and Richard Schiff (Tales from the Crypt TV series; Se7en; The Lost World: Jurassic Park).

Plot:

Climatologist Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse) examining a poppy field and remarking that it “shouldn’t be here”. We then see that the poppy field is in the middle of the Arctic.

Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen), a radio astronomer working for SETI, discovers an extraterrestrial radio signal from Wolf 336, a star 14 light years from Earth. Zane reports this to his supervisor, Phil Gordian (Ron Silver) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but Phil dismisses the claims.

Zane soon finds that he has been fired because of supposed budget cuts, and blacklisted, preventing him from working at other telescopes…

Reviews:

“It’s a strong, lean piece of writ ing that moves quickly. Nothing is wasted, and nothing happens the way you’d expect. Twohy is able to make the sight of water dripping down a wall seem ominous, and he’s completely in control of scenes like the one in which a woman prepares for bed not knowing that scorpions are creeping under the sheets.” Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Gate

” … like so many science-fiction films, begins as a promisingly eerie mixture of pseudo-scientific exposition and chilly paranoia. But once its plot has been bared, it turns into a muddled chase movie filled with glaring inconsistencies.” Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“Let’s also say that Sheen’s acting, which can range from effective, controlled intensity (Platoon, Wall Street) to idiotic, uncontrolled venting (Terminal Velocity), is in pop-eyed mode here, and he spends most of the movie in a kind of sweaty apoplexy that makes one worry for his health.” Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

“The well-chosen effects combine models, computer-generated creatures, some neat transformations, and a deeply frightening scene involving scorpions. It’s one of the most uncomfortable moments in modern horror.” Mike Mayo, The Horror Show Guide

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Charlie Sheen as Zane Zaminsky
• Ron Silver as Phil Gordian / Mexican Guard
• Lindsay Crouse as Ilana Green
• Teri Polo as Char
• Richard Schiff as Calvin
• Tony T. Johnson as Kiki
• Leon Rippy as one of Phil’s agents
• David Villalpando as a Cabbie
• Buddy Joe Hooker as another of Phil’s agents

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

Tulpa – aka Tulpa – Perdizioni mortali – is a 2012 Italian giallo-horror film directed by Federico Zampaglione (Shadow) from a screenplay co-written with Giacomo Gensini, based on a story co-written with veteran Dardano Sacchetti (A Bay of Blood; Cat O’Nine Tails; The Beyond; Cannibal Apocalypse).

It premiered at the 2012 London FrightFest Film Festival and was released in Italy on June 20, 2013.

Plot:

Lisa Boeri (Claudia Gerini) is a business woman with a secret double life: if during the day she is a busy and serious worker, the night she is an assiduous frequenter of private sex club Tulpa, owned by a haunting Tibetan guru, where the sickest fantasies of customers become reality.

But the fiery lovers who attended Lisa begin to die one by one in increasingly cruel ways, and the woman finds herself involved in the chain of murders…

Reviews:

“The murders are beautifully staged and photographed, and are properly nasty and horrible. The performances are all just the right side of odd, and the ending is so deliciously and deliriously bonkers that it will make giallo fans want to watch it all over again.” John Llewellyn Probert, This is Horror

“The essence and religion of Tulpa (the subject itself) is explored quite well bringing some unique visuals additions to the trippy tone and direction of the film. Actress Claudia Gerini is quite stunning to watch granting us a few revealing moments in between. She provides quite a performance which contributing much to the main charter of the film.” HorrorNews.net

“For all it’s weaknesses (and there are plenty of those), Tulpa is an interesting ride, which has some gruesome murder scenes, a camp horror vibe, which is fun and non-threatening and plenty of hyperbolic twists and turns along the way, which really (in an ideal world) will keep you on the edge of your seat.” Front Row Reviews

“The cast are required to look impressive in designer clothes and gruesome prosthetics rather than give nuanced performances, but the cadaverous Nuot Arquint – who played the spirit of death in Shadow – has a real presence as the proprietor of the ludicrous, yet surprisingly sweet sex club.” Kim Newman, Screen Daily

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Claudia Gerini: Lisa Boeri
• Michela Cescon: Giovanna
• Nuot Arquint: Kiran
• Michele Placido: Roccaforte
• Ennio Tozzi: Ferri
• Ivan Franek: Stefan
• Crisula Stafida: Giulia

Red band trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

Demon Hole is a 2016 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Josh Crook (Salvage; Alien Dawn TV series) for production company Monster Circus.

The film is currently in post-production.

Main cast:

Samantha Scaffidi (Terrifier), Austin Ramsey, Paris Campbell, Summer Bills, Adrian Denzel.

Plot:

A fracking crew drills on sacred Native American land unleashing an ancient demon. Six teens have to serve community service in the remote forest where the demon is lurking. They find themselves trapped in a realm of illusions with plenty of marijuana, an abandoned cabin, dark caves, endless woods, and temptation. There are only two ways out of these woods – succumb to the demon or die…

Filming locations:

Athens County, Ohio, USA

IMDb

‘A classic tale of horror!’

Web of the Spider – original title: Nella stretta morsa del ragno (“In the Tight Grasp of the Spider”) – is a 1971 Italian-West German-French supernatural gothic horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti (The Virgin of Nuremberg; Killer Fish; Cannibal Apocalypse), using the pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson, from a screenplay by Bruno Corbucci. The film’s score is by Riz Ortolani.

The film is a colour remake of the 1964 black and white Castle of Blood, also directed by Margheriti. He would later comment that it was “stupid to remake it” and that “the colour cinematography destroyed everything: the atmosphere, the tension.”

Main cast:

Anthony Franciosa (Curse of the Black Widow; Tenebrae; Death House), Michèle Mercier (Black Sabbath), Klaus Kinski (Death Smiles at Murder; Schizoid; Nosferatu the Vampyre), Peter Carsten, Silvano Tranquilli.

Plot:

A troubled Edgar Allan Poe (Klaus Kinski) attempts to confirm a supernatural story by examining the ghosts’ tombs. Later, an American journalist named Alan Foster (Anthony Franciosa) visits Poe in an English inn to challenge the horror writer on the authenticity of his stories.

This leads to Foster’s accepting a bet from Lord Blackwood to spend the night in his purportedly haunted castle on All Soul’s Eve. Foster is surprised by female appartitions who appear to be half-humans. Ghosts of the murdered inhabitants continue to appear to him throughout the night, re-enacting the events that led to their respective deaths and driving Foster towards madness…

Reviews:

“Anthony Franciosa as Alan Foster doesn’t quite blend with the period for me. His haircut screams 70’s and reminds me of James Caan. Oh well. The biggest addition is Klaus Kinski as Poe. Though not in the film much, he is a commanding presence which is a blessing and a curse since he plays Poe as a crazed and sinister drunk. Interesting.” Sinful Celluloid

“Ortolani’s score is as intrusive as in the original version and the presence of Kinski doesn’t compensate for the absence of Steele, but the camerawork is pleasant, and helps make the film one of Italy’s last classic gothic movies…” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror 

“Stylish Italian supernatural thriller holds one’s attention…” John Stanley, Creature Features

“It’s atmospheric, wistful, occasionally philosophical and very slow.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Cast and characters:

• Anthony Franciosa – Alan Foster
• Michèle Mercier – Elisabeth Blackwood
• Klaus Kinski – Edgar Allan Poe
• Peter Carsten – Dr. Carmus
• Silvano Tranquilli – William Perkins
• Karin Field – Julia
• Raf Baldassarre – Herbert
• Irina Maleeva – Elsie Perkins
• Enrico Osterman – Lord Thomas Blackwood
• Marco Bonetti – Maurice
• Vittorio Fanfoni
• Carla Mancini
• Paolo Gozlino

Release:

The film is also known as E venne l’alba… ma tinto di rosse (“And Comes the Dawn… but Coloured Red)”, Dracula im Schloß des Schreckens (“Dracula in the Castle of Terror“), Edgar Poe chez les morts vivants (“Edgar Allan Poe Among the Living Dead“).

Whole film (full screen and Greek subtitles):

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image thanks: Todo el Terror del Mundo

Mark of the Witch – formerly known as Another – is a 2014 supernatural American horror film written and directed by Jason Bognacki (The Red Door).

Epic Pictures are releasing the film in the US digitally and on VOD on June 6, 2016.

Main cast:

David Landry (The Blood Let; Teeth and Blood; Terrordactyl), Maria Olsen (Agoraphobia; Hacked Off!; Impuratus), Lillian Pennypacker, Nancy Wolfe (The Attic Expeditions), Michael St. Michaels and Paulie Rojas.

Plot:

A beautiful young woman is driven into a dark underworld of demonic possession, desire, and extreme indulgences when she learns she may be the devil’s daughter…

Reviews:

” … you need a good deal of persistence to stick with Mark of the Witch until the end. Its ambitiously artsy stream sometimes undermines the narrative, which goes through fits and bursts of disjointed sequences between more coherent moments.” Becky Roberts, Horror Talk

“Mark of the Witch is not exactly what you called scary – perhaps freaky at best – and with its slim plot and game but hardly outstanding performances. However, if you’re looking for change of pace to something a little more reflective and considered, then perhaps it is the picture you should seek out.” Jack Kirby, Nerdly

“For a film that is only 80 minutes long, Mark of the Witch likes to waste its short run-time. If the film maintained a normal speed it would barely hit the hour mark. I enjoy a bit of slow-motion horror as much as the next horror fan, but when the majority of the film is shot in this way it becomes frustrating and any ounce of slow-mo meaning is quickly lost.” Jessy Williams, Scream magazine

“Mark of the Witch is a long and painful 76 minutes that, had it played out at normal speed with a little less padding, it could have made for a fun short or episode of a horror anthology. As it is, it’s slow, unnecessarily weird and cheap looking, with the wide-eyed central performance from Paulie Rojas the only thing worth sitting through it for.” Chris Ward, Flickering Myth

Trailer as Mark of the Witch:

Trailer as Another:

IMDb | Facebook

WH

‘Creeping terror… kills like a strangler!’

Night Monster is a 1942 American horror film produced and directed by Ford Beebe (The Phantom Creeps; The Invisible Man’s Revenge) from a story and screenplay by Clarence Upson Young. It was distributed by Universal Pictures.

For publicity value, star billing was given to Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, but the lead roles were played by Ralph Morgan, Irene Hervey and Don Porter, with Atwill actually in a character role as a pompous doctor who becomes a victim to the title character, and Lugosi in a small part as a butler.

Plot:

In a small town, unexplained murders and rumours of mysterious happenings surround the swamp-based home of the reclusive but respected Curt Ingston (Morgan).

Ingston uses a wheelchair, and has invited to his home the three doctors who were trying to cure him when his paralysis set in. Already in the household are his grim-humoured butler Rolf; a lecherous chauffeur, Lawrie; a mannish housekeeper, Miss Judd; an Eastern mystic, Agar Singh; and Ingston’s allegedly mentally-ill sister, Margaret. Outside, the gate is watched by a shrivelled old hunchback called Torque…

Reviews:

“Before this potpourri of occult mumbo-jumbo runs its tedious and fantastic course no less than eight normally healthy looking actors wind up as corpses. Perhaps Lionel Atwill and Janet Shaw were the most fortunate of the victims, meeting their demise early in the proceedings before the audience became inured to such violence.” The New York Times, November 30, 1942

Buy: Amazon.com

“Jack Otterson’s (The Mummy’s Tomb) art direction and Charles Van Enger’s camera build a noir atmosphere and slick gloss for Beebe’s movie. Enhanced by moody, terror-tense music, some of it previously heard in The Wolf Man, the secluded mansion’s menacing shadows, secret passageways, and flickering, fireplace-lighted gloom, all surrounded by a miasma of swirling fog, show an hypnotic palette of images.” Zombo’s Closet

“Mainly a mystery with the usual sinister suspects, including Lugosi standing rather sadly on the sidelines as the butler, the film, though capably acted and serviceably directed, is routine.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

‘Stilted, creaky would-be thriller with a good cast and an impertinent plot.’ LeslieHalliwell.com

Buy: Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Bloody hilarious!’

Me and My Mates vs. The Zombie Apocalypse is a 2015 Australian comedy horror film written and directed by Declan Shrubb. It stars Jim Jeffries, Alex Williamson and Greg Fleet. The film’s working title was Dead Exchange.

The film will be released in North America on July 5, 2016.

Plot:

Three Australian telecom tradesman find themselves trapped in a telephone exchange during the onset of a zombie apocalypse…

Teaser:

Trailer:

IMDb | Official site

WH

‘They killed her but she refused to stay dead’

Night of Terror aka Escape from the Insane Asylum is a 1986 American horror film directed by Felix Girard from a screenplay by producer and lead actress Renee Harmon (Frozen Scream).

Main cast:

Renee Harmon, Frank Neuhaus, Henry Lewis, Lynn Whitmire, Lauren Brent, Arline Sprecht, Steven Neuhardt, James Lewis, Jan Vanderberg, Marian Wayne, Ivan Corda,  Joni Barnes, Graham Galloway, Tania Anatole, Noel Stron.

Plot:

After being committed to a sanatorium by her wealthy husband, a rich heiress is on a race against the clock to prove her sanity and to expose the savage medical experiments that are being performed in the asylum…

Reviews:

“Despite some unintentional laughs here and there, especially the opening asylum scenes full of cliched nuttish behavior, it’s mostly just dull, inept and confusing. The acting’s pretty awful, the story’s all over the place and it’s mostly just talk and very, very tame.” The Bloody Pit of Horror

“Another Renee Harmon mashup job, part SOV and partly cribbed from Frozen Scream. A crummy world of ugly interiors, stilted acting, baffling flashbacks (or are they hallucinations?), harsh key lights slicing through indecipherable night scenes, and corrupt doctors who casually toss around the word ‘retard’.” Matt Lynch, Letterboxd

“Utterly incomprehensible and amateurish piece of crap with enough weirdness to satisfy fans of low-budget trash.” Humanoid of Flesh, IMDb

Clip:

IMDb | Image credit: Australian VHS Covers

Arachnicide is a 2014 Italian action horror film directed by Paolo Bertola (Virtually Dead; The Witch of Malbacco). It is also known as L9 Commando.

The film is unleashed on DVD in the US on May 10, 2016 via Midnight Releasing.

Main cast:

Riccardo Serventi Longhi, Crisula Stafida, Gabriel Cash, Filippo Galati, and Marco Conte.

Official synopsis:

“After years of experimenting, a researcher succeeds in creating an incubator that accelerates plant and animal growth. This technology is controlled by a powerful criminal organisation and is being used to accelerate the growth of plants needed for the manufacture of narcotics and illegal drugs. To destroy the laboratories they operate, the United Nations put together an elite team of operatives.

The L9 Commando is a task force composed of six of the best soldiers from different Special Forces Units. After successfully taking down the drug operation, the L9 Commandos are called on for an important mission that brings them to Albania, where they discover a sinister plan that could destroy everything. Arachnicide or die!”

Trailer:

IMDb | Artwork by Gary Marta Design

Invasion is a 1966 low-budget British science fiction alien invasion film, directed by Alan Bridges for producer Jack Greenwood of Merton Park Studios.

The film was written by Roger Marshall from a storyline by Robert Holmes. Holmes later re-used elements of his storyline in a 1970 Doctor Who serial entitled ‘Spearhead from Space’, starring Jon Pertwee.

Plot:

An alien spacecraft which crash-lands on Earth, near a secluded hospital in the English Home Counties. The aliens, identified as Lystrians, are humanoid and have the appearance of Oriental women. They are taken to a rural hospital where they cause a forcefield to be raised around the building…

Reviews:

“… after a worthwhile set-up, nothing much happens. The story becomes slow moving and somewhat uneventful. There are various happenings around the hospital as they try to puzzle over the nature of the alien and then debate whether to believe his story, but this is mostly talk rather than atmosphere. Things are pumped up sporadically with the appearance of the forcefield…” Moria

“While its a little slow going, Invasion is actually an inventive, atmospheric effort. Director Alan Bridges breathes tension and suspense into the gritty Cold War-influenced screenplay…” Peter Fuller, Kultguy’s Keep

“Made on a very small budget but imaginatively photographed by Wilson, the setting of this highly atmospheric film is an English hospital… tense, well-paced climax.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction

Cast and characters:

• Edward Judd as Dr. Mike Vernon
• Yoko Tani as Leader of the Lystrians
• Valerie Gearon as Dr. Claire Harland
• Lyndon Brook as Brian Carter
• Eric Young as The Lystrian
• Tsai Chin as Nurse Lin
• Barrie Ingham as Major Muncaster
• Anthony Sharp as Lawrence Blackburn
• Glyn Houston as Police Sergeant Draycott
• Ann Castle as Sister Evans
• John Tate as Dundy
• Jean Lodge as Barbara Gough

Release:

The film was theatrically released by Anglo-Amalgamated in the UK, and by American International Pictures in the USA.

A video release by Warner Home Video was available in the UK in 1992.

A DVD version was re-released in November 2014 by Network.

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Home sweet Hell’

Restoration is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by Zack Ward from a screenplay co-written by James Cullen-Bressack for Grit Film Works, which is co-owned by Bressack and Ward.

The film is released by Uncork’d Entertainment on May 3, 2016 via VOD through all major digital and cable TV platforms. It will be available on DVD July 5th.

Main cast:

Zack Ward, Nick Principe, Jeffrey Johnson, Kirsty Hill, Sarah Ann Schultz, Adrian Gaeta, Keith Jardine, Javier Flores, James Cullen Bressack, Anna Harr, Emily Roya O’Brien, Kevin Porter, Pilar Schneider, Lucy Angelo, Charles Chudabala, Pam Hyatt.

Plot:

While renovating their house, a couple finds a diary hidden in the walls, lost for 30 years. Opening the book releases the ghost of a child that haunts their dreams and waking life, driving them to find the cause of her death and release her soul…

Trailer:

IMDb

‘Join Vincent Price on a suspense-filled journey to the supernatural!’

Escapes is a 1986 American fantasy horror film made for TV. It was written, produced and directed by David Steensland. The ‘film’ is actually an edited together anthology of six supernatural video shorts, each originally produced separately and shown on HBO and the Sci-Fi Channel: “Something’s Fishy,” “Coffee Break,” “Who’s There,” “Jonah’s Dream,” and “Think Twice.”

Wraparound footage of Vincent Price, who allegedly received $10,000 for a few minutes of work, was later added to link the individual tales together to provide an overall running time of 69 minutes. A “director’s cut’ with sixteen extra minutes was also released on VHS.

Buy VHS: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“Young Matthew (Todd Fulton) receives a mysterious videotape in the mail titled, you guessed it, Escapes. Hey, it stars Vincent Price, he figures, so how bad can it possibly be? As it turns out, pretty damn bad.” The Bloody Pit of Horror

“I can’t fault Vincent Price for anything, as he’s on screen for a grand total of maybe four minutes, but if he hadn’t been it at all, I would definitely not have suffered through till the end. There is no violence or gore, no outright scares, weak scripts, a pitiful budget, etc.” Satanic Pandemonium

“Overall, this anthology is more tame than the entire series of Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark and possesses even less creative storytelling. If you pass this one over, you’re not missing much, but if you’re an anthology buff, you may want to suffer through it.” Hollie Horror, Letterboxd

“Five stories in the tradition of The Twilight Zone but not as satisfying.” John Stanley, Creature Features

“The end concept is copied from Dead of Night … Price wasn’t choosing his projects with much care at this point.” Michael J. Weldon, The Psychotronic Video Guide

Whole film:

IMDb | Image credits: Video Wasteland

‘Like. Comment. Kill.’

Friend Request – aka Unfriend – is a 2016 English-language German supernatural horror film directed by Simon Verhoeven from a screenplay co-written with Matthew Ballen and Philip Koch.

The film was released on 7 January 2016 in Germany by Warner Bros. Pictures, and will be released in the US by Freestyle Releasing. It serves as a German version of the 2014 American horror film Unfriended, produced by Blumhouse.

Main cast:

Alycia Debnam-Carey, William Moseley, Connor Paolo, Brit Morgan, Brooke Markham, Sean Marquette and Liesl Ahlers.

Plot:

Laura is one of the most popular students in college and enjoys her life and family. She is active on social networks and especially likes sharing things about herself with over 800 of her friends on Facebook.

One day, Laura receives a friend request from “Marina”, a girl she barely knows, but nevertheless accepts it and begins a relationship with the lonely girl online and outdoors. However, when Laura shares a picture of herself at her birthday dinner, the jealous and confused Marina angrily confronts Laura at college publicly before she is stopped by security and taken away, vowing revenge on Laura.

That night, Marina commits suicide via a live webcam video she sends to Laura due to the fact that Laura unfriended her off her Facebook page. Soon after, Laura finds herself stalked by Marina’s demonic spirit and threatening to make her “lonely” after taking over her Facebook page in order to remain friends… forever!

Reviews:

“Emoticons, iPhones and iPads are used to gimmicky effect in a horror which, despite its digital theme, feels distinctly dial-up … Unfortunately, atmosphere comes second to a succession of mutilated faces appearing on touchscreens, laptops and mobiles, all accompanied by gigantic booms on the soundtrack.” Daily Record

” … some of the imagery is nice, some of the deaths satisfyingly grisly. Marina’s artwork provides a few eerie animations which would have worked better in a more stylistic film than this, but they still breathe a bit of life into an otherwise fairly generic and loud jump-scare strewn mess. It will probably appeal to a younger crowd (at the wizened old age of twenty-two, I was definitely the oldest in the room when I saw it this week, and the teens in front of me were squealing plenty).” Samantha McLaren, Scream magazine

“Friend Request is less of a horror film and more a collection of tropes and clichés sellotaped and stitched together to create a Frankenstein’s monster of bad ideas you’ve seen done better in other films.” Tom Percival, Unilad

Filming locations:

Cape Town, South Africa

Trailer:

International trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb