All posts by Jamie Carruthers:
» ‘Mark Macready & The Archangel Murders’
Written, produced and directed by award winning filmmakers Paul Feeney, Ryan McDermott, & Sean Candon, Mark Macready and the Archangel Murders is a high concept independent short film filled with numerous memorable characters, laugh out loud moments, original creature effects and a taste of true British comedy with a sprinkle of horror. Mark Macready and [...]
» A few words from Jamie
Hi there reader types, it’s me, Jamie. I’ve been pretty quiet on the site these last few weeks, I did a bit of focusing on my personal blog, Lets Get Dangerous_, and a bit of work on a short film that I plan on shooting in the summer. Obviously, you lot will get all of [...]
» All The Boys Love Mandy Lane
You know the drill, a group of high school students go somewhere to do stuff they shouldn’t be doing while an unknown attacker picks them off in various ways. It has been a staple of the genre since it began, and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere in the foreseeable future. All The Boys Love [...]
» Autopsy
From the co-writer of not-very-good Argento flick Mother Of Tears and the shockingly bad Tobe Hooper fiasco The Toolbox Murders comes this excellent blood soaked horror comedy. With pedigree like that you would be forgiven for not expecting a whole lot from Autopsy, but this is one movie that delivers, in spades. The plot is [...]
» Brainscan
So this was co-written by the guy who wrote Se7en. Think about that for a few minutes. I mean it, just take a moment or two to ponder that. Feel free to look again at the cast list and at the cover. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the movie is bad or anything, [...]
» Bug
What was the last really good psychological body horror you saw? The Fly, right? At the very least, it was probably directed by David Cronenberg. This movie isn’t directed by that particular legend, but by the eyes behind The Exorcist, William Friedkin. It is, however, equally as taut, intense and gripping as any list-topping horror [...]
» Cabin Fever 2 : Spring Fever
If you read my Top 10 Horror Flicks Of The Decade, you’ll already know the spot that Cabin Fever holds in my heart. Eli Roth moulded a near perfect homage to the classic gross out movies of yore. Being such a fan of that original, I waited patiently, and with trepidation, for Ti West‘s sequel. [...]
» Castle Freak
So Castle Freak, eh? Were you really expecting much from this Full Moon release? I know I wasn’t. I guess that’s why I was blown the fuck away. We all know that Stuart Gordon can be a hell of a director when he really puts his mind to it, but he has his name on [...]
» Cat In The Brain
Lucio Fulci is an institution, or should be in an institution. It is one or the other, I generally forget which. With such genre “classics” under his belt as Zombie Flesh Eaters, City Of The Living Dead and The New York Ripper, Fulci has become a legend of horror cinema if not an acquired taste. [...]
» Creepozoids
Alien was a great movie. Ridley Scott made an excellent film laced with tension and excellent visual effects. David Decoteau must have taken one look at it and thought “You know what this needs? This needs boobs and cheap gore. Also those effects, they gotta go!” And then, together with funding from Charles Band’s Full [...]
» Day Of The Dead
To kick off, I am a firm believer that zombie films don’t have to follow any rules, the living dead don’t have to adhere to a strict code of no running this and no talking that. The fact of the matter is this, if you make a good movie nobody really cares if it breaks [...]
» Doomed
I picked this flick up today, for pretty cheap. I grabbed a horde of cheap movies, six for £10 and this was in there… Suffice to say, I wasn’t expecting much. I will admit though, it exceeded all of my expectations. A bunch of criminal types are dumped on an island in a sort of [...]
» Eaten Alive
Tobe Hooper is one of those funny directors, one real smash and a couple of other successful flicks under his belt, yet people talk of him like he is one of the greats. He is not a bad director at all; he certainly has a definitive style. This was his first attempt at film making [...]
» Evil Toons
I loved this film. It’s that simple. Firstly, Fred Olen Ray isn’t just a director; he is a directing machine, making tiny budgets stretch like the tube tops on his lead actresses. The man can do very little wrong, I’m pretty sure that none of his extensive back catalogue has ever lost money. Sure, that [...]
» Exterminator City
To call this flick a horror movie would be a travesty against horror, it’s a low budget piece of boob-based farce nonsense. The director has no distinguishable pedigree but has clearly been raised on a steady diet of Charles Band, Jim Wynorski and Fred Olen Ray without their wealth of experience. Everything about this production [...]
» Fido
When I first heard the plot of Fido, it was still very much in the making. I was excited. A zombie flick set in a world where the undead were given menial jobs is a total extension of the Romero view of the world. I thought we were going to see serious subtext that discussed [...]
» Freaked
Freaked is a film very much of its time that has somehow managed to gain longevity based off of its wacky college boy humour and its surreal glee. It tells the cautionary tale of letting success get to your head, as Ricky Coogan (Bill & Ted’s Alex Winter) takes a high paying job as the [...]
» FrightFest – Friday 2009
Today was LANDIS DAY and you’d better believe that it was awesome, as expected. I got about four hours sleep and felt rougher than a rabid dog all day, but it wasn’t enough to dampen my excitement
» FrightFest – Monday 2009
The final day is upon us, and I am somewhat rested after getting the closest thing to a full nights sleep I’ve seen all weekend. It was a shame to have missed Black, but sod it, sleep wins.
» FrightFest – Saturday 2009
If yesterday was Landis Day, and what a day it was, then today was David Hess Day, which was just as exciting. David Hess is an absolute legend, and he didn’t disappoint at all.
» FrightFest – Sunday 2009
Its day four in the big horror house, and I am starting to look like an extra from La Horde. I’ve been flagging for a few days but Jesus, this is looking ropey. I swear I won’t fall asleep during any more movies.
» FrightFest – Thursday 2009
And so it begins. I landed at the pub at about 4:30pm and hooked up with some forum folk and a few twitter types; excitement levels were visibly high, not least from me. At around 6pm we made our way over to the Empire to prepare for Triangle.
» FrightFest, punch-ups & no sleep
So, I boarded the train on Friday afternoon, with Steel Panther blaring in my ears (as it so often is), I could tell by the smirk of the girl opposite me that she dug it. A quick change at Preston got me well on my way to Glasgow… I felt a little bit guilty asking [...]
» Frozen
Adam Green is a director with a bright future, although I think he may surprise a few genre lovers somewhere along the way, I’m pretty sure that some of the Hatchet fanboys are unaware his first movie was a romantic comedy that was picked up by Disney. After directing the wonderfully old school Hatchet, and [...]
» Funny Games (US)
Shot for shot remakes are an unusual beast, why would anybody want to see the exact same film again? Gus Van Sant showed us that this can rip the shine from even the most classic of movies, but out of an almost arrogant defiance, Michael Haneke went and did it anyway. Remaking your own movie [...]
» Grace
On hearing a few key details about this movie, you can’t help but imagine a low budget gore romp: Former lesbian’s new born baby craves blood, while baby’s grandmother lactates and obsesses over having another child. Grace could, most definitely, not be described as a romp of any kind. Grace is essentially a suspense thriller [...]
» Grotesque
“King of Japanese grotesque movie” or so says the DVD cover. It would be fair to say this movie has only garnered the level of furore surrounding it due to the BBFC’s decision not to allow it an 18 certificate, meaning that Grotesque is the first movie to be banned in four years. Last time [...]
» Horrors Of The Black Museum
England in the 50′s was a pretty grim place, awash with various shades of grey and littered with dark, foreboding alleyways. Full of stiff upper lips and starched collars, the London of this movie is no different. A long distance killer is knocking off a seemingly random assortment of folk, using strange devices to shuffle [...]
» Humanoids From The Deep
Living in a coastal town is difficult. You have the seasonal trade to worry about, flash floods can be a problem and fishing isn’t without its perils, TV’s Deadliest Catch can attest to that. But those are just the standard day to day problems of living on Amity Island or the nameless shore town in [...]
» Jamie talks Lost finale and Heartless
Jamie has access to a snazzy camera and uses it to record himself venting his spleen on the topics of new Philip Ridley movie Heartless and his love for the now done and dusted TV show Lost in this, his third Gorepress Vlog.
» Jamie waxes lyrical on trailers
The beard is back! In his second vlog, Jamie gives us his thoughts on upcoming movies Super 8 and The Black Death and their trailers. Plus, a few Gorepress updates.
» Jamie’s first vlog
Since Jamie’s been bogged down with an epic amount of Uni work and miscellaneous other commitments, he decided it was the perfect excuse to record the first ever Gorepress vlog. Hear his voice, see his beard and enjoy the rambley goodness.
» Jamie’s Top 5 Zombie Movies
I remember the first zombie flick I ever saw. I was 9 years old and I had stayed up way past my bedtime to watch a Channel 4 showing of Night Of The Living Dead. I had seen horror movies before; down at my buddy’s house, we would raid his dad’s extensive Video Nasties collection [...]
» Night Of The Demons
I had fond memories of this, dating back to when I was just a nipper. I remember being 13 and mistaking it for a sequel to Bava’s awesome Demons flicks… I bought it on VHS, and ran home to watch it. Needless to say, that scruffy 13 year old absolutely adored this flick. The plot [...]
» Progeny
Brian Yuzna is a force to be reckoned with when dealing with genre films, he started off his career producing flicks for Stuart Gordon mainly and somewhere along he decided to take over directorial duties. This, in my humble opinion, was a mistake. This little-seen flick mixes it metaphors like a bull in a whorehouse, [...]
» Psycho Cop Returns
In my role as a bad movie apologist I spend a lot of time talking about Psycho Cop Returns, it is one of my all time favourite bad movies, hell it is probably one of my all time favourite real movies. Directed by Adam Rifkin (under the alias Rif Coogan) who is well known for [...]
» Silent Night, Deadly Night 2
How many movies can you think of that paved the way for a genuine Youtube sensation? Not that many, surely. Well the seemingly endless amount of Garbage Day spoofs, skits and remixes just go to prove that this flick made a massive impact on people, for all the wrong reasons. There are tonnes of other [...]
» Slaughter
Kicking off with a well directed title dragging sequence, you would be forgiven for expecting good things from this After Dark release. Unfortunately this film fails to deliver on almost all of its promise. Apparently based on true events, the story follows a young girl named Faith who, having moved to escape her obsessive ex [...]
» Slices of Life
Everybody loves a horror anthology; following genre classics like Creepshow right through to TV stalwarts such as Tales From the Crypt and The Twilight Zone. It’s a formula that often works with little effort, because if you don’t like a story, another will be along any minute. It’s an easy starting point for low budget [...]
» Spence Wright Interview
Directed by Paddy Breathnach and starring Arielle Kebbel, Red Mist focuses on a group of medical students who are systematically eliminated by a comatose co-worker. A bit like a modern day Patrick. It is currently available at all good DVD retailers . Back in May, I had a chat with writer, Spence Wright, to pick [...]
» The Collector
Like some sort of horror Home Alone, The Collector is a home invasion slasher with elements of “torture porn” in which a masked killer sets up traps for an unfortunate family and a burglar who breaks in to steal a rare ruby. Arkin is a safe cracker with family trouble, he cases a family home [...]
» The Final
Getting revenge on the high school bullies is every goth teens wet dream, in the past these fantasies have led to massacres such as Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s senseless shootings in Columbine High School. These attacks have been discussed and dissected in films such as Heathers and Elephant, but none have been so nasty [...]
» The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto
Rob Zombie is one of those directors. We all saw House Of 1000 Corpses, many of us loved it. Then he brought out The Devil’s Rejects and we just about went apeshit for that. He showed a whole tonne of promise with those first two movies, then pissed all over it, Halloween-style. The Haunted World [...]
» The Meateater
The opening scenes might be more WTF than WOW, although it quickly becomes clear that this is just another run-of-the-mill drive-in move, rushed to theatres to capitalise on the success of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The title is tacked on purely as a marketing device to reel in the fans of that classic. I don’t [...]
» The Pre FrightFest Warm-Up 2009
So it is the morning of FrightFest and before I stick on my glad rags for the opening night’s festivities I thought I would talk a little bit about the six movies I am most excited about.
» Troll 2
Troll 2 is somewhat of a cult in the States, only a cursory glance at the documentary Best Worst Movie shows the mass adoration for this little flick all over college campuses and late night boozy film sessions with tanked up frat boys and true lovers of bad genre cinema. And it definitely is bad [...]
» TromaPPRECIATION
Everyone has that one movie that changed their life, that experience that completely altered the way they viewed the world. For some people it is Citizen Kane, for others it might be Twilight. For me, it was Terror Firmer… I was 14 when I had my first Tromatic experience, Channel 4 were running Troma flicks [...]
» Tshirts, Controversy and Frightfest
As you might be aware, things are a bit rough for me at the moment. All this GoreZone stuff (see Sarah’s last blog if you’re not familiar with it yet) is stressing me out and upsetting me like you wouldn’t believe. I am pretty sure they will come to their senses when they consult a [...]
» Wrong Turn 3: Left For Dead
Wrong Turn isn’t exactly a big business franchise but it must have made a decent enough imprint on someone’s wallet for them to bust out a further adventure of the mutant killer hillbillies. The first was a fairly low key success, the second was a gore-hound’s wet dream and a whole lot of fun. When [...]
» Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings
Two years on from Declan O’Brien’s lacklustre third installment to the Wrong Turn franchise and here he is again with another straight-to-DVD backwoods cannibal romp. When the Monster Ark director took over the series with Left for Dead, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth but O’Brien has gone some way towards [...]
» ZMD : Zombies of Mass Destruction
Based in the sleepy Washington town of Port Gamble, ZMD features a number of disconnected townsfolk fight against zombie hordes, the religious right, and casual xenophobia in this satirical zombie comedy. Zombies Of Mass Destruction is a slightly too on-the-nose allegory of the current Iraq war, leaving no room for interpretation. Even the title is [...]
» [REC] 2
I was very much underwhelmed by the first [REC] movie, some of you may be aware it was effectively heralded as the second coming of horror cinema. Seeing it with that fact leaping around in my mind diminished my enjoyment somewhat, as what I actually saw was a fairly run-of-the-mill cinéma vérité take on the [...]



