Remakes: impossible to avoid, unwanted by those who adore the original and often seen as a pointless cash-in on someone else’s legacy. Fright Night is a remake, and although it cannot possibly match the kitsch, gleeful stupidity of the original, it is it’s own film: modern, fun, sharp, sleek and thoroughly enjoyable. My hope is [...]

Who remembers the fifth film in any franchise? Really? What about Dream Child? Revenge of Michael Myers? Saw V? Fields of Terror? Forsaken? Seed of Chucky? Perhaps only Leprechaun in the Hood can actually be classed as a “memorable” fifth in a horror franchise, but that’s because it was so bloody ridiculous; pitch one psychotic [...]

A movie is a sum of it’s parts. Sometimes it can be slightly let down by shoddy make-up or poor continuity, sometimes afflicted with terrible editing or an intrusive, awkward score. The Uninhabited is brilliantly directed, features a tense, overbearing score and is genuinely scary at times… but… the acting is appalling. Significantly let down [...]

Quarantine 2: Terminal is surprisingly good. It knocks out a thousand clichés and holds very few surprises, but it’s a decent sequel to a decent remake and well worth a watch. The original Quarantine came out it 2008 and was an almost shot-for-shot remake of the award-winning Spanish horror Rec (2007), albeit with a more [...]

While drilling for oil, the crew of the The Rig’s rig accidentally bore into a dodgy section of sea bed releasing a load of purple stuff. And something with rather a lot of long and pointy teeth. Coincidentally a big ol’ storm rolls in and isolates the cast just as the man-in-a-fish-monster-suit starts picking them [...]

The Dead Undead; having already slogged my way through Zombie Undead in April, the prospect of trudging through the second most tautological zombie film of 2011 was not a exciting one. I expected another cheap Romero rip-off with shallow characters and zero invention. Instead, I got the most explosively ridiculous zombie / vampire mash-up I’ve [...]

Moby Dick author Herman Meville died before anyone acknowledged his book was anything special. It was never well-received in his lifetime and he died without knowing the true impact of his work. Since his death his book has inspired countless writers and filmmakers, been made into films featuring everything from dragons to aliens, and his [...]

Limerick, Ireland, 1188. Some Irish Templar Knights hunt down a red-cloaked figure and lob a giant metal shield at it, which magically turns into a box and decapitates the psychotic beast. Skip forward a few centuries and we find Professor Whelan (Lauren Holly) working on an archiving project in the bowels of an American university, [...]

The Violent Kind is sharp, fast-paced, bonkers, weird, unexpected and – yes – violent. It is also very surprising; surprisingly good, surprisingly likeable and features some genuinely surprising twists and turns. It is a unique and very enjoyable horror / sci-fi film that confuses, amazes and compels. Quality stuff. Young biker / mechanic / criminal [...]

Four women wake up in a “cell”, with no memory of who they are or how they got there. A creepy doctor informs them they’re part of an experiment – what, we do not know. The walls are electrified, the guards wear masks and something horrible is lurking somewhere in the darkness… something with a [...]

Having endured the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I felt compelled to watch the last instalment of an eight film franchise, spawned from seven progressively meandering books by J.K. Rowling. The trailer and all the hype told us this film would be carnage and violence and war and death and that [...]

Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus. There is little that needs to be said about this film that the title doesn’t already say. It’s a film about a huge shark having a fight with a giant crocodile. Plot written. *dusts hands cockily* Okay, so the plot contains more than that. This film is a sequel to the [...]

After Dark Originals: so far they’ve given us a decent set of releases, having delivered the genuinely enjoyable Husk, Prowl, Seconds Apart and Fertile Ground in 2011. The Task is their latest release, but it’s sadly the runt of the litter and seriously fails to impress. Seven contestants are dragged off the street and handcuffed [...]

Nazis – they failed miserably in taking over the world. Yeah, they tried really hard and killed a lot of people, but they still utterly and completely failed. Yet – according to the history of film – they had hundreds of nefarious schemes involving everything from releasing monstrous entities imprisoned in another dimension (Hellboy) to [...]

Hobo With A Shotgun is bonkers. It’s funny, nasty, compelling and very, very bloody. A true homage to the grindhouse era that turns everything up to 11, Jason Eisener’s cult classic-in-the-making is lots and lots of fun. If anyone goes into Hobo With A Shotgun expecting a cerebral arthouse flick or a fun-filled romp then, [...]

Kaboom is Gregg Araki’s latest feature length exploration of tawdry, irreverent, dystopian madness and it’s hugely disappointing. As a huge fan of Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy I allowed myself raised hopes only for them to be dashed by this tired, repetitive, technicolour mess. With 2005′s Mysterious Skin it felt very much like Araki had progressed [...]

The original Zombie Diaries was released to mixed-reception in 2006 and many thought it was dead and buried forever. But someone had forgotten to shoot it in the head and like a vicious, flesh-hungry beast it has risen from the carnage and come back for a sequel. For lovers of the original, you’ll be pleased [...]

I am quickly becoming an expert on Larry Blamire. Having watched three of his other films this year, I have got used to his unique style, sense of humour and delightfully playful approach to filmmaking. For those unaware of Blamire’s work, they come in the form of such ridiculous titles as The Lost Skeleton of [...]

Vampires; they just won’t go away. Everyone’s taken a stab at the genre, from HBO to Kathryn Bigelow. They’ve been sexy, they’ve been psychotic, they’ve been dumb, they’ve been spoofed and they’ve been sparkly-faced effeminate wimpy douchebags. But have you got bored of them yet? Yes? Well, Stake Land will re-kindle your love of the [...]

Remakes of 1980’s horror films; we’ve seen so many of them it’s genuinely becoming hard to know what’s original and what’s just a re-imagining of some obscure 30 year old horror flick. They’ve dug up Night of the Demons and The Hitcher and now they’ve resurrected that classic “Day” film Mother’s Day. Sometimes you dig [...]

On January 17, 2003 a 7.8 earthquake hit Japan. The event was caught on tape by two American filmmakers. But it wasn’t an Earthquake. It was a monster. A really big, tentacled monster, which murdered over 7000 people and was – somehow! – covered up by the Japanese government. Until now, that is! Presumably able [...]

Who likes identical twins? They’re up there in horror’s catalogue of disturbing alongside clowns, creepy porcelain dolls and the sound of an ice cream van at midnight. Imagine, then, that these twins are evil and happen to have a rare telekinetic power that means they can control everything you do. This is the central crux [...]

Dumb name, dumb characters, dumb film; Zombie Undead is incredibly dumb. As innovative & imaginative as tomato soup and just a thrilling, Zombie Undead is one long streak of bloody lumbering stupidness. Avoid avoid avoid. Zombie films… not exactly rare, are they? In the past decade we’ve had Land of the Dead, Diary of the [...]

After a horrific miscarriage, Emily (Leisha Hailey) and Nate Weaver (Gale Harold) move to an inherited house in the countryside, hoping to have a fresh new start. All is well until Emily begins to see other people in and around the house – people long dead. When she talks to local historian Mister Avery (Chelcie [...]

Julia’s Eyes is a taut, fraught, psychological thriller with a touch of the supernatural and a few genuinely brutal moments. Blessed with some captivating central performances, it may feel overlong in places, but it is compelling throughout. There is no irony in saying you need to see this. Julia’s Eyes is superb. Julia’s estranged twin [...]