Review by Ben Bussey Sometimes, it feels like you learn all you need to know about a film from a single descriptive phrase. Hammer Horror, Slasher Movie, Torture Porn, Found Footage; all these titles carry with them a weight of expectation (or, sometimes, lack thereof), and more often than not as soon as we hear […]
Review by Nia Edwards-Behi I’ve been eagerly awaiting the chance to see A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night for some time. A film dubbed an Iranian-vampire-western, directed by a woman, seems quite tailor-made to my tastes. Shot in stark black and white, the film is set in the fictional Iranian town of Bad City, […]
Review by Matt Harries Anyone who reads this site regularly will know that the ‘found footage’ film inspires somewhat mixed emotions. I consider myself to be relatively un-jaded with the format, mainly because I have studiously avoided it, with the exception of the first [REC] film. I even have to admit to never watching The […]
By Keri O’Shea “Even dying is an act of eroticism.” The name ‘Cronenberg’ may be synonymous with a particular brand of warped body horror these days, but it wasn’t always so. Still, those of us familiar with his work now will have a fair idea of what to expect; one can only imagine what effect […]
Review by Nia Edwards-Behi I can’t personally think of a horror sequel I’ve more eagerly anticipated recently than [REC] 4. The last one I’ve been as excited for was probably [REC] 3, which I ruddy well loved, unlike, apparently, most people. However, I’ve also tried not to get too excited for [REC] 4, knowing full […]
Review by Nia Edwards-Behi Sometimes, you’ve really got to admire a particularly high concept film. ‘Small-town cop turns into a werewolf’ was a concept that had me hooked quite easily. The excellent promotional material helped a lot too, as well as the great wolf design and make-up, and the retro 80s vibe that’s so in […]
Review by Tristan Bishop The coming-of-age tale is one that pops up again and again within the horror genre. It’s not hard to see why – we were all young once, and having young characters dealing with unimaginable horrors is a good metaphor for the way the world reveals more unpleasant aspects to us as […]
Review by Matt Harries Horror, to use the broad genre tag to which we here at Brutal As Hell are beholden, is a form of entertainment that at its most powerful shocks us. Whether it is with a moment of bloody violence, a startling denouement, or the realisation of a barely fathomable terror; horror gains […]
By Guest Contributor Helen Creighton They say you should never, ever meet your heroes, whoever ‘they’ are. They are likely right, for a host of reasons – the risk of gushing and embarrassing yourself for life and the unpleasant shattering of a pleasantly-sustaining personal fantasy when said hero turns out to be a bit of […]
Review by Karolina Gruschka I was not entirely sure what the phrase ‘play hooky’ in the film title means and therefore looked it up online. Turns out it is an American term employed to state that one is skipping school or work. This would make sense as the five main characters in Play Hooky (2014) […]
Review by Ben Bussey If there’s one complaint that holds up above all else when it comes to 21st century horror, it’s surely the lack of any truly great new iconic bad guys. We can pretty much measure the best decades for horror by the great monsters they gave us, from Dracula and Frankenstein (both […]