INDIE HORROR “THE DEATH of APRIL” GETS A POSTER AND TRAILER!
From the official synopsis…
“Meagan Mullen, freshly moved in her new home, keeps in touch with her friends and family through a video blog. As her entries (and her life) become more complex and emotional, strange things begin to happen in her room: and the camera captures all of it. Told primarily from the point of view of an ordinary wireless webcam, The Death of April documents the unsettling activity in an otherwise average girl’s bedroom – and the mysteries that surround it.”
Flick from Terror Films arrives on digital on 12/9/22, is written and directed by Ruben Rodriguez and stars Amy Rutledge, Stephanie Domini, Adam Lowder, RayMartell Moore and Katarina Hughes.
INDIE HOLIDAY HORROR ANTHOLOGY “THE CHRISTMAS TAPES” GETS A POSTER AND TRAILER!
From the official synopsis…
“Dave Sheridan (THE DEVIL’S REJECTS), Greg Sestero (THE ROOM), and Veron Wells (THE ROAD WARRIOR) star in a yuletide frightfest like no other!
In Robert Livings and Randy Nundlall Jr.’s Christmas-Horror Anthology THE CHRISTMAS TAPES, a family’s movie night on Christmas Eve is interrupted by a stranger, insistent on making the next Christmas ‘classic’ film himself.
“THE CHRISTMAS TAPES is a throwback to the anthology films of the 80’s and 90’s, but with a modern found-footage twist.
Christmas Horror is a subgenre that we feel deserves more attention, and this film came about from us discussing the classics and how we could possibly bring something new to the table. From day one, we were aware that this film had to be fun and could not take itself too seriously.
Developing each segment and the trajectory of how they would transition from traditional horror to comedy-horror was an exciting journey. We look forward to you discovering this box of Christmas tapes,” say the directors.
Terror Films will release THE CHRISTMAS TAPES worldwide on digital December 12.”
INDIE HORROR COMEDY “ALL EYES” GETS A POSTER AND TRAILER!
From the official synopsis…
“A recently fired podcast host comes across a story that he feels could revitalize his career.
The story: a recently widowed farmer claims there is a monster living in the woods behind his farm.
The plan: trap and kill the beast.
Directed by Todd Greenlee, “All Eyes” stars Jasper Hammer, Ben Hall, Danielle Evon Ploeger, and Laurie Cummings
Written by Alex Greenlee and produced by Emily Calhoun, Adam Greenlee, Alex Greenlee, Todd Greenlee, Janice Pellam, Laurie Cummings, Tab Pierce, Jeff Greenlee, and Lisa Greenlee
“All Eyes” is available NOW on iTunes, Amazon Prime, Vudu, YouTube, and others.”
SWEDISH INDIE HORROR “REPORTAGE NOVEMBER” GETS A POSTER AND TRAILER!
From the official synopsis…
“Carl Sundström’s REPORTAGE NOVEMBER, starring Signe Elvin-Nowak, Jonas Lundström, and Isabel Camacho will premiere on digital and VOD this October from Terror Films.
A mysterious death of a mother and the disappearance of her child leads a group of freelance journalists to the outback of Sweden. The group of four, led by the famous journalist Linn Söderqvist, will make a reportage about the happening and search for leads missed by the police. Equipped with cameras and supplies to survive in the forest for days, they wander out in the woods to find the truth.
The film, penned by Nathaniel P Erlandsson, was shot in Sweden.
Says director Sundström, “Many years ago when I got my first glance of the second act of Cannibal Holocaust, I felt that faux documentaries was the best ways of touching the audience deep inside. A way to create a genuine feeling through a documentary format and bring the horror out from the screen into the real world. Ever since then I have been an avid found footage fanatic who appreciate the story telling from a POV perspective. To have the slow burn concept where you get to know the characters thoroughly and you are feeling like a part of the story. A style of film where you cannot show more than the characters see. What they know, you know, and what you know, they know.
Reportage November is made for found footage lovers and while writing it we had all aspects and rules of what makes this genre great in mind. A film that focuses on suspense and mystery to bring the viewer to the edge of the seat. We have created a film that is just as much about the slow build-up of the story as the horror. I hope that you enjoy this slow burning thrill that takes place deep in the Swedish outback. “
REPORTAGE NOVEMBER hits digital and VOD worldwide October 14
Carl Sundström’s REPORTAGE NOVEMBER, starring Signe Elvin-Nowak, Jonas Lundström, and Isabel Camacho will premiere on digital and VOD this October from Terror Films.”
“Terror Films will release the Michael Pare-starring Bigfoot horror movie THE WILD MAN this September!
The film, directed by Tampa Bay native Ryan Justice (Followers), was developed during the pandemic.
“We used our downtime to create and develop projects. THE WILD MAN happened to be the perfect project to make at the time. As a Florida Native the Legend of the Skunk Ape (Florida Bigfoot) always had our interest. We wanted to do a fun movie around the legend and do something different with the bigfoot movie genre.”
Lauren Crandall, Julian Green, and Mike Reed also help make up the cast.
Young women have been going missing in Ochopee, FL, without a single suspect in custody. A young journalist, Sara, convinces her crew to join her investigation as she travels to Ochopee to document her discoveries, but they soon realize their presence in this town is not welcome. Determined to find her story, Sara convinces her friends to stick with her, because they’re onto something big. Upon meeting Dale, the town’s notorious conspiracy theorist, she’s convinced he knows more than he is willing to share. The crew humors Dale’s ridiculous theories, even accompanying him into the Florida swamps on his quest to show them “The Wild Man”, hoping he’ll somehow reveal his guilt. But what the crew discovers is a secret much deeper than fairy tales and legends. What they discover is much darker and more sinister than they bargained for.
THE WILD MAN will first premiere on digital platforms September 30 ahead of plays on the Terror Films and Kings of Horror YouTube Channels.
Incantation is a Taiwanese found footage horror that has former paranormal investigator Li Ronan (Tsai Hsuan-yen) fighting to save her six-year-old daughter Dodo (Huang Sing-ting) from a malevolent entity. During a past investigation, a pregnant Li and her companions (Sean Lin and Wen Ching-Yuan) violated sacred ground and provoked a curse. Now the sinister specter has come for Dodo. Flick is supposedly inspired by actual events.
Directed by Kevin Ko from his script with Chang Che-wei, this is a delightfully bonkers horror in all the right ways. Sure, it’s a bit too long at 111 minutes, but unlike most found footage flicks, this movie gets started with the spooky stuff right away and maintains an atmosphere of dread throughout. There are some very unsettling and disturbing moments, and some very over-the-top and gory moments too. The film knows when to be subtle and spooky, and when to go off the rails and really hit us with some craziness…and it does. Some of it provides unintentional chuckles, when it’s trying to scare, but that is still as entertaining as when the flick is giving us goosebumps. Kevin Ko gives the film a nice creepy atmosphere and uses his locations very well, while utilizing the past investigation footage to show us how Li got into her current supernatural conundrum. Tsai Hsuan-yen makes a solid heroine as the overwhelmed Li Ronan, and little Huang Sing-ting makes for a sweet and sympathetic kid as the malevolent entity’s helpless target, Dodo. Flick is currently streaming on Netflix and definitely worth checking out, even if not being quite as scary as its online reputation would have us believe.
Found footage horror finds paranormal investigator Geoff (Greg Sestero) teaming up with his estranged psychic sister Izzy (Leah Finity) to investigate an abandoned and allegedly haunted school. If personal tensions weren’t enough, the effects of a past tragedy and a sinister presence lurking the halls make this possibly the most real and terrifying episode of Infrared of all!
Flick is written and directed by Robert Livings and Randy Lundlall Jr. and the duo try hard. There are a few spooky sequences, but like most found footage flicks it takes a long time to really get going and we spend at least an hour with Geoff and Izzy’s personal melodrama. It follows the formula almost too closely with anything interesting happening in the last act and then it ends suddenly with a cheap jump scare. Yes, there is an unexpected element that is revealed near the end, but it comes too little and too late to make things interesting and not enough is done with it before the credits roll. At least the directors give the flick a bit of a found footage feel, most of the time, though an overacting Jesse Janzen as the eccentric property owner Wes comes across as nothing but scripted hijinks. Seen worse. Seen better. Infrared premiers on VOD on 7/22/22 on the Terror Films Channel and 7/29/22 on all other digital streaming outlets.
Extremely unpleasant found footage thriller tells the story of Megan Stewart (Rachel Quinn), a promiscuous 14-year-old party girl who is friends with good girl Amy Herman (Amber Perkins). Megan meets a guy named Josh (Dean Waite) online and begins to chat with him. She leaves her home to go meet Josh one night and disappears without a trace. Amy tries to help authorities find her friend, while documenting her own feelings about the disappearance. Unfortunately, this earns the sweet natured girl the wrong kind of attention.
Flick written and directed by Michael Goi was originally made in 2011 and based on some real disappearances. The decade old found footage feature has become a bit of an internet sensation recently when it was featured on Tik Tok. The film in itself is very effective in a few unsettling ways. While like most found footage movies there are some slow parts, it’s the first and last act that are the most disturbing. The first act has some very shocking portrayals of underage drinking and sexual activity amongst kids barely in their teens that is chilling in itself. Then we watch the mystery unfold for the second act as Amy tries to figure out what happened and speaks online to the increasing hostile Josh, who denies he met Megan on that fateful night. It’s the final act that really gets stomach churning as Amy gruesomely finds out what really happened to Megan and it’s not pleasant. There is some shocking imagery and just the thought about what happened and happens beyond what we see onscreen is even more chilling. It’s not only a very unsettling and cautionary tale of online predators, but unchecked teenage behavior as well. BE WARNED…the last act is extremely graphic, brutal and disturbing, especially as the subject is an underage teen girl. Goi maintains the illusion we are watching actual footage and his young leads add to the realism with good and natural performances. Megan is Missing made barely a ripple in 2011, but now has attained cult status due to online exposure and a recent wider release on streaming networks. Megan is Missing can be found on Amazon Prime and Google Play, if you dare. It’s not a pleasant watch and the rating here is for effectiveness alone as, this is not an enjoyable or entertaining film in any way.
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.
Shudder Exclusive takes place nine years after the events of the first film with a new chapter of the story told with new footage. We find that the Abaddon Hotel was finally set to be demolished after all the death and disappearances that have occurred there. It was suddenly purchased in 2018 by entrepreneur Russell Wynn (Gabriel Chytry) to be used to stage his performance show Insomnia. He asked the new host of Morning Mysteries, Vanessa Shepherd (Elizabeth Vermilyea) to cover the set-up of the show with his cast and crew, leading up to opening night. It’s mostly her footage we are witnessing, as once again spooky things are documented occurring at the infamous location, leading up to an opening performance where all Hell breaks loose…literally.
Supposed final film in what is now the Hell House LLC trilogy is once again written and directed by Stephen Cognetti. It’s an improvement over the somewhat disappointing Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel, though not as consistently creepy as the spooky surprise that was the first flick. To a degree it’s more of the same, with a documentary showing footage that was filmed while folks tried to do something spooky within the house and paid dearly for it. The last act does open things up and takes things in a more “Biblical” direction and it’s a matter of horror film preference as to whether one finds it effective, or too over-the-top. Cognetti does build some tension, atmosphere and provide some chills here, despite this being the third go around, and even if the novelty has warn off, he gets credit for taking some risks to conclude his trilogy. The hotel location is as creepy as ever and the cast of unknowns all perform well enough to assist in the suspension of disbelief that this is real footage. There are also some amusing cameos from the other installments that won’t be spoiled here.
Overall, it’s an entertaining finale and while some of it’s wrap-up worked and some of it wasn’t so successful, Cognetti proves he is a filmmaker to keep an eye on. He still can chill with his now familiar format and there is a surprise or two that play with expectations. Hopefully his next film abandons the tired found footage genre and gives us some straight up horror to see what he really has up his sleeve. Most certainly worth a watch, especially if you are a fan.
-MonsterZero NJ
Rated 3 (out of 4) scary clown mannequins…who are still in that darn cellar.
MonsterZero NJ's Movie Madhouse 