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Gretel & HanselMovie Review Anyone familiar with the original versions of classic fairy tales like “Hansel and Gretel” already knows that they have lots of horror movie potential. As a rule though, most attempts to capture these tales on film tend to miss the mark. It’s clear from the conspicuous reversal of the titular names that Gretel & Hansel hopes to distinguish itself from the rest of the pack right from the get-go, but does it actually do the job, or are you better off spending 90 minutes of your time on some other film? ... Read More | |
RitualMovie Review A married couple with a complicated relationship, a corpse, and a room at a less than reputable motel. It’s a classic formula for a horror movie that’s no doubt familiar for many genre fans. It’s also the set-up for Mickey Keating’s 2013 film, Ritual. Ritual is the 14th original film distributed by After Dark Originals. It stars Dean Cates (Pod) and... Read More | |
Dead AwakeMovie Review Whether you’ve personally experienced it or simply heard your share of other people’s horror | |
The Noonday WitchMovie Review When you think of the most chilling horror tales of all time, there are a lot of staples that come immediately to mind when it comes to possible settings – like dank asylums, haunted houses, isolated forests, or just about anywhere that feels a little creepier and more sinister under cover of darkness. You don’t probably think of sun-drenched corn fields or bright summer days in the countryside, but The Noonday Witch may just change your mind about that. The Noonday Witch is a 2016 Czech language film brought to the screen by... Read More | |
Kairo (Pulse)Movie Review It’s safe to say that we’ve created our share of iconic horror characters here in America. Horror icons like Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Michael Myers (Halloween), or Jason Vorhees (Friday the 13th) are so highly recognizable, that they’re pretty much synonymous with the mere concept of a horror movie. Even so, no country handles horror quite like Japan does. Japanese horror films have a much-deserved reputation for... Read More | |
The Black RoomMovie Review When it comes to classic horror tropes – like haunted houses and the dark secrets they hide – there’s definitely more than one way to approach material that is very familiar to the average genre fan by now. More and more modern filmmakers are adopting a cerebral approach and turning their haunted house movies into social commentaries with something larger to say. Others are focused on simply telling a good scary story with plenty of jump scares and special effects. Still more go for an exploitive approach that is almost intentionally trashy. The Black Room... Read More | |
The ShrineMovie Review The Shrine is the type of film that comes complete with lots of familiar horror tropes an avid genre lover will recognize. You’ve got the mysterious disappearance of a traveler under mysterious circumstances, as well as a team of people seeking answers as to the details of those circumstances. You’ve got a remote village in a foreign land populated by strange people who raise an eyebrow or two thanks to their mysterious beliefs and practices. Scares, jumps, and mysteries abound as the protagonists attempt to make sense of it all. Given those facts, the plotline of... Read More | |
VampiresMovie Review Jack Crow is much more than a vampire hunter. He is a war machine that considers vampires as the embodiment of Evil and teammates as soldiers to be strictly trained so that they never fail. The Vatican monitors him from afar, assists him through specially trained priests, and supports him economically. This unlikely but functional partnership between this sort of crepuscular cow boy and one of the most important religious institutions in the world undergoes a stop when the ancient and powerful Valek breaks into the room where a vampire hunting party is celebrating, making a killing. Jack Crow's collaborators all die... Read More | |
The Curse of La LloronaMovie Review If you’re a fan of the ever-expanding universe of The Conjuring, then it makes sense that The Curse of La Llorona would definitely be on your radar. It is the sixth addition to the franchise, joining other recent hits like The Nun and Annabelle in fleshing out the world first introduced by the original Conjuring back in 2013. It’s also the directorial debut of... Read More | |
Pet SemataryMovie Review Whether you’re the type of person who loves remakes or simply the type who loves to hate them, it’s highly likely that 2019’s Pet Sematary is on your radar for one reason or another if you’re into horror. It’s directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer (who also directed Starry Eyes) and is, of course, a reboot of the classic Stephen King film... Read More |