Based on a Japanese novel, partly produced by a Japanese team, you’d be forgiven for expecting Room 203 to contain a fair amount of J-horror elements – but that’s not how it primarily comes across. It’s far more rooted in the Western tradition of haunted houses, though it balances its use of tropes with its […]
Now here’s a risky idea: returning to a short film, around seventeen years or so after making it, hoping to expand the universe of that film into a feature-length. A big ask at the best of times, no? Whilst it’s certainly not the first time this has been done, The Cellar (2022) was always going […]
Director and writer George Popov’s low-key but effective supernatural horror The Droving (2020) is an excellent example of the use of folklore in cinema – and though the folklore in the film is original, it feels linked to pre-existing storytelling, particular through the importance of the English landscape. Sideworld: Haunted Forests of England (2022) is […]
Time flies, and it certainly doesn’t seem like three decades since I scored the poster for Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth from the local video shop, back when you could ask nicely for posters at the end of their release run and – if the member of staff took mercy on you – you could […]
A film which the site covered after its screening at Celluloid Screams in Sheffield, UK last year, Offeason (2021) is about to land on VOD and digital release on Monday 11th, 2022 thanks to the folks at Shudder and RLJE Films. Is it worth checking out? Well, to help make up your minds, you could […]
With its sunlit, rural Laotian setting, a series of enigmatic ghosts and intimations of alternate realities, The Long Walk already has a lot of elements and, dare we say, a stockpile of kudos made to draw many viewers to its flame. Add to this that it’s directed by Mattie Do, the much-feted first Laotian female […]
Review: Chris Ward Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more early ‘80s slasher movies for Arrow Video to exhume and give their customary polish to, they bring another lesser-known title to the party, this one being 1982’s Deadly Games. A fairly generic title that doesn’t give much away, Deadly Games is a slightly […]
With its very modern sensibilities and a certain level of artistic ambition, Those Who Walk Away has a few decent moments. Then again, the pitfalls of ambition over substance are written all over this (ostensibly) haunted house movie, with the main effect being that, despite some strong visuals and moments of atmosphere, it labours under […]
Whilst Slapface (2021) starts out with very broad strokes – literally showing us big brother Tom (Mike Manning) and Lucas (August Maturo) taking turns to slap each other as some sort of proxy household meeting – it soon becomes something if not altogether subtle, then certainly altogether more considered. Likewise, the opening credits, with their […]
It’s a crime thriller, but Below The Fold starts with what could easily be a horror film opening. It’s an ominous take where it seems something sudden and shocking has happened: the TV is left on, showing nothing but dead air, a telephone receiver lies abandoned. What is this? We’re not told immediately – we’re […]
There have been a fair few gloomy period pieces floating around over the last few years, and though it’s somewhat beyond the scope of this review, it would be interesting to ponder why: what is it about oppressive religious belief and isolated family groups which has such ready appeal for writers? We can’t possibly hand […]