Indie director Ti West’s (House of the Devil, Innkeepers) new film horror film X has already set a release date for Blu-ray and DVD! The film will arrive on home media on 5/24/22 and is already available for pre-order on Amazon! The flick stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, and Scott Mescudi!
“In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives.”
“If you don’t leave Abraham House a different person, you won’t be leaving at all.”
Christopher Moore’s creepy, atmospheric spookfest CHILDREN OF SIN premieres on Amazon Prime April 22.
After being sent to a sinister religious retreat by their stepfather, two siblings fight to escape in order to save their mother from harm’s way.
Meredith Mohle (Triggered), Cami Roebuck (A Day to Die), Jo-Ann Robinson (NCIS : New Orleans), and Faith Stanley (Black Friday) star in a new film from the director of Blessed the Children and Triggered.
MonsterZero NJ hopes to have a review for you soon!
Sarah (Sasha Anne) and Alex (Evan Adams) are the sole survivors of an RV crash near the famed New Jersey Pine Barrens. Sarah’s cousin Kelsey (Madison Ekstrand) was never found, and Sarah is convinced something supernatural was involved, possibly the Jersey Devil itself. On the anniversary of the accident, Sarah convinces Alex to join her in returning to the spot and finding out what really happened that night, and to Kelsey. Obviously, their suspicion that something is not right in these legendary woods is frighteningly on-point.
Indie horror is well-directed by Dale Fabrigar from a script and story by Tricia Aurand, Sandy Lo and Suzanne DeLaurentiis. Fabringer does conjure some tension and the film certainly gets points for having some good gore and using a prosthetic creature over CGI. If the flick is held back a bit, it’s by some amateur acting—though lead Sasha Anne holds her own nicely—and focusing more on Sarah and Alex dealing with some sinister locals than the briefly, but effectively seen creature. There is a sub-plot about a longstanding feud with Sarah’s family and said locals, which disappointingly takes center stage, when Fabringer already showed us, he was very adept at handling the critter sequences. It is an economical 76 minutes in length, uses its locations nicely and while we didn’t get the outright monster movie we came for, Dale Fabringer does show potential as a filmmaker and maybe his next flick will be the full-on creature flick/horror movie we think he’d do a good job at. Also stars Anthony Jensen, Catherine Healy and Joseph Almani as the before mentioned locals. Flick arrives on digital streaming and home media on 4/12/22.
When documentary filmmaker Chad (Chad Taylor) returns to his hometown for a funeral, he gets an unexpected opportunity to make a new documentary, when the dead girl Lisa (Mélie B. Rondeau) rises from her coffin. He returns with his crew to find out the truth of what has happened, but his dream documentary may become a nightmare the more he and his friends investigate.
Found footage horror is written and directed by Ali Akbar Akbar Kamal and the flick is far more silly than scary. Lisa’s resurrection is seen by some as an act of God and once she starts to perform miracles, the religious community is convinced her actions are divine. One can appreciate the attempted commentary here, but the awful acting and silliness of the proceedings ruins any impact the film strives for. As found footage, it never feels like we’re actually watching real footage as the goings on are too hokey to be taken seriously or seen as anything other than a movie…and a disappointingly bad one at that. Obviously, our crew starts to see that something more sinister than saintly is at work here, but as the events become more obviously evil, the film just gets sillier and sillier till it’s ludicrous finale. Also, at only 75 minutes long, the film still feels tedious, like a TV show episode dragged out to almost feature length. Other cast members include Katie Fleming, Chris Kelly, Domenic Derose, Nicole Fairbairn, JoAnn Bundock, and Flora Burke. Film will be available this Friday 3/25/22 on The Terror Films Channel and on other VOD outlasts 4/8/22.
Latest indie horror from A24 takes place in 1979 and finds sleazy Texas producer Wayne (Martin Henderson) setting out to make a porn film with stars Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), Maxine (Mia Goth), and Jackson (Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi) along with their two-person film crew RJ (Owen Campbell) and his girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega). They travel to the remote farm of strange, elderly couple Howard (Stephen Ure) and Pearl (also Mia Goth), who turn out not to be the harmless old folks they seem, and the porn film soon turns into a horror movie…for real.
X is written and directed by Ti West (TheHouse of the Devil, The Innkeepers) and is basically The Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Debbie Does Dallas. It is a good, old-fashioned, grindhouse style flick with lots of sex, gore and flesh crawling moments. X starts out like most of West’s flicks with a slow burn, but one where we start to feel from the very start that something is not right. This prevailing sense of dread builds as things get weirder and weirder and West makes us constantly feel that a threat is soon to emerge, no better symbolized then by the gators lurking about the couple’s property. When the blood finally starts to flow, it’s prosthetic gore and there are some nasty kills to characters we’ve gotten to know and like. Even sleazy Wayne has a good-ole-boy charm that’s hard not to endear to. This makes it all the more impactful when the film crew starts to fall to various sharp objects, shotguns and the before mentioned gators. It’s scary, nasty and in between the violent moments, there are some that will certainly make your skin crawl. The sexual, undercurrent the film has also gets very disturbing…and that’s by design. This is simply West’s best horror since The House of The Devil, and one of the best horrors so far this year. It’s sexy. sleazy, scary and gory…what more do you want from a horror flick!?
Director West has a good cast in support. Henderson gives Wayne a charming appeal that despite his sleazy nature and willingness to exploit his girlfriend, Maxine, makes him a likable rogue. As Maxine, Mia Goth deftly balances a young woman with both a strong sexuality and a gentle sweetness that really makes her character work. Snow is delightfully sassy as Southern belle and porn star Bobby-Lynne, who is no dumb blonde. She’s using her natural talents to make a better life for herself. Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi is also solid as ex-Marine and war veteran turned porn star Jackson. He’s fun and has a nice heroic side. Jenna Ortega is once again impressive as “church mouse” Lorraine who seems sweet and virginal but may not be as innocent as she appears. Owen is likable as filmmaker wannabe RJ, and Stephen Ure and Mia Goth are very creepy—especially Mia Goth—as the elderly Howard and Pearl. A good cast.
Overall, this is one of West’s best films and a refreshingly, old-fashioned horror that leaves all the overdone meta/retconning crap behind. It’s scary, gory and has some moments and kills that will legitimately make your flesh crawl. It has a sexual undercurrent that goes from sexy to disturbing and pays homage to the classic grindhouse era horrors of the 70s, while yet being its own thing. Definitely one of the best horror flicks to come out so far in 2022 and one of West’s most effective horror flicks yet. Stay through the credits!
Good things came from Amazon today! One of my favorite guilty pleasures from the 80, and one of the best of the pre-Lord of the Rings sword and sorcery epics, The Sword and the Sorcerer has finally made it to Blu-Ray, and it’s 4k, too! Directed by Albert Pyun and written by him, Tom Karnowski and John V. Stuckmeyer, The Sword and the Sorcerer is a gory, action-packed 80s cult classic that fans have been waiting to arrive on HD disc for a long time! Now, thanks to the awesome folks at Scream Factory, it was released today with all the extras you have come to expect from this amazing label! I can’t wait to watch it in all its remastered glory! (Full review HERE)
Foo Fighters horror/comedy opens in 1993 with a pretty and very wounded girl (Jenna Ortega) crawling across a floor and meeting a gruesome fate. We then cut to modern day as the Foo Fighters are under pressure to deliver their 10th album and move into an ominous mansion to record it…a mansion where a band gruesomely met their deaths decades earlier. Soon the guys are embroiled in a blood-spattered tale of spooky specters, evil books, demonic possession and flying body parts.
Flick is directed by BJ McDonnell from a script by Jeff Buhler and Rebeca Hughes from a story by Dave Grohl, himself. As such it is an hour and forty-one minutes of silliness, spookiness, gore and mildly amusing jokes. One probably has to be a big fan of Grohl and the band to truly find these proceedings entertaining, though the effort has it’s torn-out heart in the right place. There is abundant gore once things get going, a lot of classic horror tropes and clichés are poked fun of, there’s a little rock n’ roll, and there are some legitimately spooky and amusing bits amongst the ones that fall flat. The flick is about ten to fifteen minutes too long, though, and could have used a much snappier pace. The Foo Fighters obviously play themselves, with Grohl taking center stage, and do get the tone of the material. The band members are also surrounded by guest appearances from Will Forte and Lionel Richie, not to mention horror queen on the rise Jenna Ortega, as a member of the ill-fated 1993 band Dream Widow. The flick is made with an obvious love of horror movies, and it does show, as it uses elements from its influences brazenly. Even if it’s not totally successful at what it sets out to do, and is a bit overlong and self-indulgent at times, there are far worse ways to spend 100 minutes.
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