Reviews of New Horror Films!
Reviews of new Horror films. Take a look at our 'Retrospective Look at...' section for reviews of lots more horror films!
V/H/S
‘V/H/S’ is a handheld horror anthology directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West (Director of the incredibly creepy and vintage ‘House of The Devil’ and ‘Innkeepers’), Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg and the directing quartet known as ‘Radio Silence’. First of all, I think it’s best going in to ‘V/H/S’ not knowing much, so I will try keep away from summarising the short stories and just give my overall opinion, so this isn’t going to be a very long review. However, I can say what you should already know; ‘V/H/S’ follows the story of group of misfits that are hired by an unknown party to break into a desolate house and acquire a rare V/H/S tape, they discover more than one tape, not knowing which it is, they start to watch them.
There are 5 shorts overall, each one telling a completely different story, each one original in their own way, unfortunately that does mean there are some that are much more superior to others. The first short follows 3 lads going for a night out, they have made camera glasses so they can film themselves having sex with drunken girls without the girl realising, so already, it’s given us a good, different reason as to why they are filming. Without saying too much, the first short is one of the best; the acting feels natural and realistic, with a few laughs along the way. As with all the shorts in the anthology, things turn for the worst and we are left gripping on to our seats in the final sequence, and it’s safe to say it’ll make you think twice about meeting girls on a night out.
The second short is by Ti West, yet you wouldn’t know, this follows a couple going away for the weekend, and documenting their travels. This one is definitely the most eerie, with a few uncomfortable moments. Again, the acting is up to standards and believable, with a twist at the end that you will not see coming. This short is nothing that will scare you too much, but you respect it for its ideas.
The third short follows a group of young friends going to the woods; again this is just a typical documentation of their travels. Unfortunately, this is where the acting starts to get questionable, it feels a lot like a student movie, with below average acting, but again, you have to respect it for its idea, I don’t want to give any hint of what each story actually involves, but this one is where the gore is at, and the special effects are pretty damn good.
The fourth film decides to take a different route, and is all from the POV of a laptop video chat, again it has nice ideas, and out of all the shorts was the first to make me jump. They could have done so much more with this short; unfortunately the twist comes and decides to go down a completely different path, which for me personally, ruined it, but others may like it. Again, the acting is pretty below average, but without saying anything, I like to believe that it was like that for a reason. This short was definitely the low point of the movie for me.
Finally we get to the final short, and what a finale it is. We follow a group of friends attending a Halloween party, the whole film is from the point of view of one guy’s costume (dressed up as a teddy bear nanny camera), it is a refreshing take on their reasons for filming (like the first short). Again, like the first short, we have our laughs, the acting is believable and feels real, and again things turn for the worst, but in an exciting way. Unfortunately, once it’s finished you can’t help but want more.
Overall, ‘V/H/S’ is a breath of fresh air to the found-footage genre, and will definitely keep you entertained, unfortunately, even though there are some great pieces of work, there is also some work that is below average, but everyone will have their own favourites. The quality of the footage varies from each film, depending on the type of camera used, which I liked, none of them are perfect though, as they are meant to look like V/H/S quality, which really is what Paranormal 3 should have looked like. During all these shorts, there is another story going on, which is extremely mysterious and really left me thinking, but I won’t go any further as I don’t want to spoil it, as I think it’s best to go in not knowing much at all. ‘V/H/S’ covers almost every horror sub-genre, one of the shorts reminded me a lot of ‘Grave Encounters’ (I won’t say which), so there will be something for everyone, hopefully they won’t get too carried away with sequels, but I can say there are a lot more tapes, so a sequel could be on the cards. I usually don’t like giving .5 reviews, but some of the acting and one of the shorts let it down for me, yet I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It won’t keep you awake at night, but it will keep you entertained.
3.5/5
Individual ratings:
Short 1 – 4/5
Short 2 – 3/5
Short 3 – 2.5/5
Short 4 – 2/5
Short 5 – 4/5
UK release for V/H/S TBC
William Gordon
There are 5 shorts overall, each one telling a completely different story, each one original in their own way, unfortunately that does mean there are some that are much more superior to others. The first short follows 3 lads going for a night out, they have made camera glasses so they can film themselves having sex with drunken girls without the girl realising, so already, it’s given us a good, different reason as to why they are filming. Without saying too much, the first short is one of the best; the acting feels natural and realistic, with a few laughs along the way. As with all the shorts in the anthology, things turn for the worst and we are left gripping on to our seats in the final sequence, and it’s safe to say it’ll make you think twice about meeting girls on a night out.
The second short is by Ti West, yet you wouldn’t know, this follows a couple going away for the weekend, and documenting their travels. This one is definitely the most eerie, with a few uncomfortable moments. Again, the acting is up to standards and believable, with a twist at the end that you will not see coming. This short is nothing that will scare you too much, but you respect it for its ideas.
The third short follows a group of young friends going to the woods; again this is just a typical documentation of their travels. Unfortunately, this is where the acting starts to get questionable, it feels a lot like a student movie, with below average acting, but again, you have to respect it for its idea, I don’t want to give any hint of what each story actually involves, but this one is where the gore is at, and the special effects are pretty damn good.
The fourth film decides to take a different route, and is all from the POV of a laptop video chat, again it has nice ideas, and out of all the shorts was the first to make me jump. They could have done so much more with this short; unfortunately the twist comes and decides to go down a completely different path, which for me personally, ruined it, but others may like it. Again, the acting is pretty below average, but without saying anything, I like to believe that it was like that for a reason. This short was definitely the low point of the movie for me.
Finally we get to the final short, and what a finale it is. We follow a group of friends attending a Halloween party, the whole film is from the point of view of one guy’s costume (dressed up as a teddy bear nanny camera), it is a refreshing take on their reasons for filming (like the first short). Again, like the first short, we have our laughs, the acting is believable and feels real, and again things turn for the worst, but in an exciting way. Unfortunately, once it’s finished you can’t help but want more.
Overall, ‘V/H/S’ is a breath of fresh air to the found-footage genre, and will definitely keep you entertained, unfortunately, even though there are some great pieces of work, there is also some work that is below average, but everyone will have their own favourites. The quality of the footage varies from each film, depending on the type of camera used, which I liked, none of them are perfect though, as they are meant to look like V/H/S quality, which really is what Paranormal 3 should have looked like. During all these shorts, there is another story going on, which is extremely mysterious and really left me thinking, but I won’t go any further as I don’t want to spoil it, as I think it’s best to go in not knowing much at all. ‘V/H/S’ covers almost every horror sub-genre, one of the shorts reminded me a lot of ‘Grave Encounters’ (I won’t say which), so there will be something for everyone, hopefully they won’t get too carried away with sequels, but I can say there are a lot more tapes, so a sequel could be on the cards. I usually don’t like giving .5 reviews, but some of the acting and one of the shorts let it down for me, yet I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It won’t keep you awake at night, but it will keep you entertained.
3.5/5
Individual ratings:
Short 1 – 4/5
Short 2 – 3/5
Short 3 – 2.5/5
Short 4 – 2/5
Short 5 – 4/5
UK release for V/H/S TBC
William Gordon
When the Light's Went Out
Film's focusing on ghost's and poltergeist's have been done to death (Pardon the pun) and most of these ghost films regularly claim to be 'based on a true story'. Many of these ghost films don't work. British horror 'When the Lights Went Out' though is something a little special.
Based on the true story of "the most violent poltergeist haunting in European history" When the Lights Went Out is the result of a two decade quest from writer/director Pat Holden as he is the nephew of the of the character called 'Sally' in the film.
Sally, played excellently by newcomer Tasha Connor, moves into a new house with her mum (Kate Ashfield) and her dad (Steven Waddington) which was supposed to be their dream house. Set in Yorkshire during the early 1970's (the name of the film comes from the frequent power cuts Yorkshire experienced at the time). As the family start to settle in the house, strange unexplainable things start to happen to them. Jenny (Mum) and Len (Dad) dismisses all the strange activity and accuse Sally of simply messing about as she was not enjoying her first few days in her new house.
When the strange activity takes a turn for the worse Jenny and Len are forced to take action to save not only themselves, but their close friends who are too scared to enter the house.
It's hard to make a ghost film now that can't be compared to other ghost films, especially in the wake of the hugely successful 'Woman in Black' and 'The Innkeepers', watching this film you will notice what could be seen as homages to other ghost film's, this isn't the case, the "homages' work extremely well in this film, they have been planned, and for a film that has been in production for over two decade's, thats a lot of planning, When the Light's Went Out was probably been planned before the recent explosion in ghostly films had been developed.
The atmospheric camera work is a delight to watch and set's the mood perfectly. A number of slow zoom's lead the audience to expect something to happen, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, the director has got this spot on, it happens enough times to keep you guessing, to keep you on the edge of your seat, while on other occasions it happens then nothing follows, but it builds the tension perfectly.
Sadly though the film is predictable in place's, the storyline is solid and well rounded but you will know what is going to happen next. Kate Ashfield's acting is extremely wooden and it's hard to fid her convincing as a loving mother to a 'troubled' child. Tasha Connor on the other hand is a delight to watch, acting in her first film, expect to see her having a glittering career.
Parts of the script seem unrealistic, couple this with Ashfield's acting, meaning some scene's are hard to enjoy, especially scene's that have Ashfield as the centre of attention. Other parts of the script though are excellent, scene's involving the vicar are a joy to watch and the humour within the film fits in extremely well with the characters and the situation they have found themselves in.
When the Lights Went Out stand's out over various other ghost films as it has, at its core, a believable family experiencing a real problem. Some paranormal films suffer greatly as the events that take place within the film are too unbelievable or the characters don't act in the way you would imagine them.
When the Lights Went Out - 4/5
When the Lights Went Out is released in the UK on Friday 14th September 2012.
James Voller
Based on the true story of "the most violent poltergeist haunting in European history" When the Lights Went Out is the result of a two decade quest from writer/director Pat Holden as he is the nephew of the of the character called 'Sally' in the film.
Sally, played excellently by newcomer Tasha Connor, moves into a new house with her mum (Kate Ashfield) and her dad (Steven Waddington) which was supposed to be their dream house. Set in Yorkshire during the early 1970's (the name of the film comes from the frequent power cuts Yorkshire experienced at the time). As the family start to settle in the house, strange unexplainable things start to happen to them. Jenny (Mum) and Len (Dad) dismisses all the strange activity and accuse Sally of simply messing about as she was not enjoying her first few days in her new house.
When the strange activity takes a turn for the worse Jenny and Len are forced to take action to save not only themselves, but their close friends who are too scared to enter the house.
It's hard to make a ghost film now that can't be compared to other ghost films, especially in the wake of the hugely successful 'Woman in Black' and 'The Innkeepers', watching this film you will notice what could be seen as homages to other ghost film's, this isn't the case, the "homages' work extremely well in this film, they have been planned, and for a film that has been in production for over two decade's, thats a lot of planning, When the Light's Went Out was probably been planned before the recent explosion in ghostly films had been developed.
The atmospheric camera work is a delight to watch and set's the mood perfectly. A number of slow zoom's lead the audience to expect something to happen, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, the director has got this spot on, it happens enough times to keep you guessing, to keep you on the edge of your seat, while on other occasions it happens then nothing follows, but it builds the tension perfectly.
Sadly though the film is predictable in place's, the storyline is solid and well rounded but you will know what is going to happen next. Kate Ashfield's acting is extremely wooden and it's hard to fid her convincing as a loving mother to a 'troubled' child. Tasha Connor on the other hand is a delight to watch, acting in her first film, expect to see her having a glittering career.
Parts of the script seem unrealistic, couple this with Ashfield's acting, meaning some scene's are hard to enjoy, especially scene's that have Ashfield as the centre of attention. Other parts of the script though are excellent, scene's involving the vicar are a joy to watch and the humour within the film fits in extremely well with the characters and the situation they have found themselves in.
When the Lights Went Out stand's out over various other ghost films as it has, at its core, a believable family experiencing a real problem. Some paranormal films suffer greatly as the events that take place within the film are too unbelievable or the characters don't act in the way you would imagine them.
When the Lights Went Out - 4/5
When the Lights Went Out is released in the UK on Friday 14th September 2012.
James Voller
A Night in the Woods
Ever since the success of ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘Grave Encounters’, there has been a rise in Supernatural based Found Footage films, it’s about time someone revisited the open wooded setting, such as the excellent ‘Blair Witch Project’, this is exactly what Richard Parry offers us. ‘A Night in the Woods’ tells the story of Brody (Scoot McNairy, star of Gareth Edwards breathtaking monster road-trip movie ‘Monsters’), his girlfriend Kerry (Anna Skellern) and her cousin Leo (Andrew Hawley), as they go hiking in Dartmoor’s Wistman’s Woods.
I grew up loving Dartmoor; it is almost a second home to me. As a child I was told the myths, legends and ghost stories that surrounded Dartmoor, it was these stories that kept me awake as a child, and made me scared to fall asleep on those foggy, pitch black nights on the moors, so as you can already tell, the setting is already a plus for me. The film starts with Brody filming Kerry, asking her questions of where she was the night before and why she didn’t wake him up when she got back, already we can see Brody is that over-protective and paranoid partner, following these questions; they start to get ready for their trip. Halfway through the car journey they pick up Kerry’s “Cousin”, Leo, from a train station, before we meet Leo, you can tell Brody is already unhappy about his presence on their camping trip, as Leo enters the car, there is awkward conversation, tension and an uncomfortable atmosphere, at this point we already know there are secrets being kept.
Our first similarity to ‘Blair Witch’ is a scene in a Dartmoor pub where Brody is filming the locals telling Ghost stories about Wistman’s woods, after hearing these stories we know they aren’t in for a good night. Throughout the rest of the day, Brody is almost obsessed with filming Kerry and Leo together; his over-protective and paranoid characteristics are seeping through the camera lens. Tension starts to build more and more throughout the day, both sexual and physical, and Brody starts to ask questions, suspecting that Leo isn’t really Kerry’s Cousin. Secrets are shared, and it begins to get hard to trust anyone, especially after the line “It would be so easy to kill someone out here, just one push” provided by Brody as he stands on the edge of a raised rock on a moor.
Day turns to night, the camp is set up, and Brody walks off leaving Kerry and Leo to themselves, where more secrets are revealed, it begins to get harder and harder to trust the characters, mainly Leo and Brody. This is when more of the ‘Blair Witch’ starts to shine through, noises are heard within the trees, focussing on what you hear more than what you see, eventually Leo also leaves and you are left with just a camera and Kerry. At this point you can’t trust Brody, Leo or the woods itself after the stories heard earlier, and paranoia begins to take over. Not much is really seen in this film, you see first person, Kerry being followed by an unknown figure holding the camera for a good 15 minutes, which is enough to give you shivers down your spine, eventually she realises she is not safe in these woods, cue running handheld camera. The movie has its fair share of jumps, but what got me more were the noises, the sound of what can only be described as a blunt metal object hitting a hard material and screams heard from within the woods.
The performance from all three actors is great, with words and without; they clearly show tension, hidden secrets and pure fear. The trouble with knowing the background of the setting so well, is that you can’t help but think what you would have added to make it better, the film is a great attempt, but Dartmoor has so much to offer, with three great actors and a perfect setting, you expect more. With such an abrupt ending (they always are with found footage films) you are left with more questions, depending on your feelings towards ambiguous endings, that’s either a good thing or a bad thing, I personally love them, I love a film leaving me thinking and wanting more, but that was a problem with this film, I did want more, and with a setting that is known for people getting lost, you expect more than what is given.
‘A Night in the Woods’ is a great attempt at ‘Blair Witch’ style, found footage movie, that may or may not leave you scared of going into the woods at night. I plan to watch it next time I’m in Dartmoor, maybe that will affect me more. After a lot of poor attempts at found footage films (yes I’m looking at you ‘The Asylum Tapes’), ‘A Night in the Woods’ is one of the better ones.
3/5
A Night in the Woods is out now on DVD and Blu-ray
William Gordon
I grew up loving Dartmoor; it is almost a second home to me. As a child I was told the myths, legends and ghost stories that surrounded Dartmoor, it was these stories that kept me awake as a child, and made me scared to fall asleep on those foggy, pitch black nights on the moors, so as you can already tell, the setting is already a plus for me. The film starts with Brody filming Kerry, asking her questions of where she was the night before and why she didn’t wake him up when she got back, already we can see Brody is that over-protective and paranoid partner, following these questions; they start to get ready for their trip. Halfway through the car journey they pick up Kerry’s “Cousin”, Leo, from a train station, before we meet Leo, you can tell Brody is already unhappy about his presence on their camping trip, as Leo enters the car, there is awkward conversation, tension and an uncomfortable atmosphere, at this point we already know there are secrets being kept.
Our first similarity to ‘Blair Witch’ is a scene in a Dartmoor pub where Brody is filming the locals telling Ghost stories about Wistman’s woods, after hearing these stories we know they aren’t in for a good night. Throughout the rest of the day, Brody is almost obsessed with filming Kerry and Leo together; his over-protective and paranoid characteristics are seeping through the camera lens. Tension starts to build more and more throughout the day, both sexual and physical, and Brody starts to ask questions, suspecting that Leo isn’t really Kerry’s Cousin. Secrets are shared, and it begins to get hard to trust anyone, especially after the line “It would be so easy to kill someone out here, just one push” provided by Brody as he stands on the edge of a raised rock on a moor.
Day turns to night, the camp is set up, and Brody walks off leaving Kerry and Leo to themselves, where more secrets are revealed, it begins to get harder and harder to trust the characters, mainly Leo and Brody. This is when more of the ‘Blair Witch’ starts to shine through, noises are heard within the trees, focussing on what you hear more than what you see, eventually Leo also leaves and you are left with just a camera and Kerry. At this point you can’t trust Brody, Leo or the woods itself after the stories heard earlier, and paranoia begins to take over. Not much is really seen in this film, you see first person, Kerry being followed by an unknown figure holding the camera for a good 15 minutes, which is enough to give you shivers down your spine, eventually she realises she is not safe in these woods, cue running handheld camera. The movie has its fair share of jumps, but what got me more were the noises, the sound of what can only be described as a blunt metal object hitting a hard material and screams heard from within the woods.
The performance from all three actors is great, with words and without; they clearly show tension, hidden secrets and pure fear. The trouble with knowing the background of the setting so well, is that you can’t help but think what you would have added to make it better, the film is a great attempt, but Dartmoor has so much to offer, with three great actors and a perfect setting, you expect more. With such an abrupt ending (they always are with found footage films) you are left with more questions, depending on your feelings towards ambiguous endings, that’s either a good thing or a bad thing, I personally love them, I love a film leaving me thinking and wanting more, but that was a problem with this film, I did want more, and with a setting that is known for people getting lost, you expect more than what is given.
‘A Night in the Woods’ is a great attempt at ‘Blair Witch’ style, found footage movie, that may or may not leave you scared of going into the woods at night. I plan to watch it next time I’m in Dartmoor, maybe that will affect me more. After a lot of poor attempts at found footage films (yes I’m looking at you ‘The Asylum Tapes’), ‘A Night in the Woods’ is one of the better ones.
3/5
A Night in the Woods is out now on DVD and Blu-ray
William Gordon
Chernobyl Diaries
Chernobyl Diaries follows a group of six young tourists who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an "extreme tour" guide. Ignoring warnings, he takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a deserted town since the disaster more than 25 years ago. After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, however, the group soon finds themselves stranded, only to discover that they are not alone..
I have always had a thing for movies that try but often fail to bring a new take on the "found footage" genre something that began with for me "The Last Broadcast"
Chernobyl diaries does exactly what it says on the box, it doesn't slap you in the face more a gentle shove in the back. For me its a cross between The Descent and an episode of Most Haunted, in that it shocks but is still predictable. Uri the distressed and war torn tour guide is perhaps the films most interesting character which is a shame considering the story could of been much better to allow the other actors to becoming more engaging, its not an intellectual film by any means and doesnt have that expected twist, but it is a gentle amble with not alot of blood and gore.
Other than that its teens running around, getting lost, splitting up when they should stay together pretty predictable stuff but worth a watch.
2/5
Chris Noble
I have always had a thing for movies that try but often fail to bring a new take on the "found footage" genre something that began with for me "The Last Broadcast"
Chernobyl diaries does exactly what it says on the box, it doesn't slap you in the face more a gentle shove in the back. For me its a cross between The Descent and an episode of Most Haunted, in that it shocks but is still predictable. Uri the distressed and war torn tour guide is perhaps the films most interesting character which is a shame considering the story could of been much better to allow the other actors to becoming more engaging, its not an intellectual film by any means and doesnt have that expected twist, but it is a gentle amble with not alot of blood and gore.
Other than that its teens running around, getting lost, splitting up when they should stay together pretty predictable stuff but worth a watch.
2/5
Chris Noble
[REC] 3: Genesis
The Spanish language horror, ‘[REC]’, came out in 2007, directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. Using the classic handheld camera style footage, it created a horrifying and claustrophobic experience, as you witness via first person, a TV crew, firemen and the residents of an apartment block defend themselves against infected, rabid-like people in a quarantined building. ‘[REC]’was pure, on the edge of your seat, horror, with an ending that left me wide awake at night. ‘[REC] 2’ was then released 2 years after, directed by the same two directors, set in the exact same apartment building, minutes after the events of the first film. Due to the use of an armed SWAT team, all suspense and fear was taken out, but this didn’t mean it was a bad film. ‘[REC] 2’ had many nice twists and was well executed for a horror sequel, answering questions and leaving you with more questions wanting to be answered, with its fair share of jumps every now and then. What really did help these two films though was the use of handheld footage, setting you in their shoes, not relying on loud sound effects to get you out of your seat, put paranoia and pure fear. Straight after the sequels release we were given news on 2 more sequels, ‘[REC] Genesis’ and ‘[REC] Apocalypse’, which brings us to this year, 2012, the release of ‘[REC] 3: Genesis’.
‘Genesis’ was directed by only one of the original directors, Paco Plaza, which makes you wonder if he was the least talented out of the two. ‘Genesis’ starts just like the previous films, with a handheld camera. It is the wedding day of our two protagonists’, ‘Clara’ and ‘Koldo’. Minutes in and we already have a little nod to the first film, so we know exactly how it’s all going to kick off. The videos from the wedding are extremely well done, getting the realism spot on. Twenty minutes in and certain events start to take place, and we are left with the Bride, Groom and the wedding guests running for their lives and looking for a place to hide. It is at this point where the handheld camera is ditched, cleverly I may add, and we are shown the opening title card. Everything is now shown in third person, like a normal cinematic horror film, we are accompanied by a musical score and sound effects as well, it is at this point where it no longer feels like part of the ‘[REC]’ series.
Paco Plaza stated that ‘Genesis’ was inspired by ‘Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness’ and it shows. All suspense and horror is replaced with laughs and over the top gore. At moments it could actually be compared to the hilarious British Rom-Zom-Com ‘Shaun of The Dead’. We follow ‘Clara’ and ‘Koldo’, who have been separated and are trying to reunite during all the madness that is going on around them. There is some fun involved with a chainsaw and some kitchen tools, which will have you laughing at the tongue-in-cheek humour more than anything. The film doesn’t take itself seriously at all, there is use of Spanish music, that I can only describe as something from a Spanish soap opera, with scenes between ‘Clara’ and ‘Koldo’, purposely using cringe worthy moments, filled with plenty of cheese!
The infected in the first 2 films could really be compared to those in Danny Boyle’s ’28 Days Later’ sprinting and more rabid-like, unfortunately this is not always the case in ‘Genesis’, they can’t decide whether they want them to be like the mindless, slow and stumbling zombies from a George A Romero film, or the latest sprinting zombies, it is always different, and never really quite makes sense. It still sticks to the religious route, but the way of escaping becomes extremely simple and quite stupid, I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say if the priest in [REC] 2 had done this (not quite sure why he didn’t, he must have known) things would have been a whole lot easier, and the job would have been over extremely quickly.
Don’t get me wrong, ‘Genesis’ is a fun film, and did have me laughing, but that’s not the path we wanted to go down after the first two films, [REC] is one of my favourite foreign horrors, and was a terrifying experience, it’s hard to believe this film came from the same seed. It’s an unnecessary addition to the ‘[REC]’ series, it doesn’t add much, just gives you an insight into where else the virus has spread, and shows it with a big smile. Do not watch this film for scares, because there are none, it’s just a fun Friday night movie, far from perfect, but it’ll keep you entertained for 77 minutes. As a standalone film I would have given it 3 stars, but it isn’t a standalone film, it’s a sequel to what was a great series. You can get away without watching it, even if you are a fan of the series, and just wait for the final film ‘[REC] Apocalypse’ which will be directed by the other original director Jaume Balagueró, let’s hope he can re-install fear back into our hearts, unfortunately it has been announced that ‘Apocalypse’ will also go down the cinematic route, and avoid the handheld style. I also recommend, if you haven’t seen it, that you watch [REC] straight away, before seeing this third instalment.
2/5
[REC] 3: Genesis is out now on DVD and Blu-ray
William Gordon
‘Genesis’ was directed by only one of the original directors, Paco Plaza, which makes you wonder if he was the least talented out of the two. ‘Genesis’ starts just like the previous films, with a handheld camera. It is the wedding day of our two protagonists’, ‘Clara’ and ‘Koldo’. Minutes in and we already have a little nod to the first film, so we know exactly how it’s all going to kick off. The videos from the wedding are extremely well done, getting the realism spot on. Twenty minutes in and certain events start to take place, and we are left with the Bride, Groom and the wedding guests running for their lives and looking for a place to hide. It is at this point where the handheld camera is ditched, cleverly I may add, and we are shown the opening title card. Everything is now shown in third person, like a normal cinematic horror film, we are accompanied by a musical score and sound effects as well, it is at this point where it no longer feels like part of the ‘[REC]’ series.
Paco Plaza stated that ‘Genesis’ was inspired by ‘Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness’ and it shows. All suspense and horror is replaced with laughs and over the top gore. At moments it could actually be compared to the hilarious British Rom-Zom-Com ‘Shaun of The Dead’. We follow ‘Clara’ and ‘Koldo’, who have been separated and are trying to reunite during all the madness that is going on around them. There is some fun involved with a chainsaw and some kitchen tools, which will have you laughing at the tongue-in-cheek humour more than anything. The film doesn’t take itself seriously at all, there is use of Spanish music, that I can only describe as something from a Spanish soap opera, with scenes between ‘Clara’ and ‘Koldo’, purposely using cringe worthy moments, filled with plenty of cheese!
The infected in the first 2 films could really be compared to those in Danny Boyle’s ’28 Days Later’ sprinting and more rabid-like, unfortunately this is not always the case in ‘Genesis’, they can’t decide whether they want them to be like the mindless, slow and stumbling zombies from a George A Romero film, or the latest sprinting zombies, it is always different, and never really quite makes sense. It still sticks to the religious route, but the way of escaping becomes extremely simple and quite stupid, I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say if the priest in [REC] 2 had done this (not quite sure why he didn’t, he must have known) things would have been a whole lot easier, and the job would have been over extremely quickly.
Don’t get me wrong, ‘Genesis’ is a fun film, and did have me laughing, but that’s not the path we wanted to go down after the first two films, [REC] is one of my favourite foreign horrors, and was a terrifying experience, it’s hard to believe this film came from the same seed. It’s an unnecessary addition to the ‘[REC]’ series, it doesn’t add much, just gives you an insight into where else the virus has spread, and shows it with a big smile. Do not watch this film for scares, because there are none, it’s just a fun Friday night movie, far from perfect, but it’ll keep you entertained for 77 minutes. As a standalone film I would have given it 3 stars, but it isn’t a standalone film, it’s a sequel to what was a great series. You can get away without watching it, even if you are a fan of the series, and just wait for the final film ‘[REC] Apocalypse’ which will be directed by the other original director Jaume Balagueró, let’s hope he can re-install fear back into our hearts, unfortunately it has been announced that ‘Apocalypse’ will also go down the cinematic route, and avoid the handheld style. I also recommend, if you haven’t seen it, that you watch [REC] straight away, before seeing this third instalment.
2/5
[REC] 3: Genesis is out now on DVD and Blu-ray
William Gordon
The Asylum Tapes
I’ve always been a fan of The Found Footage Genre, one of my favourite movies of all time being the Classic ‘Blair Witch Project’ along with other favourites such as ‘[REC]’, ‘Cloverfield’, ‘Chronicle’, ‘Paranormal Activity’, the low budget ‘Evil Things’ and even Mockumentaries like ‘The Tunnel’ and ‘Lake Mungo’. The genre may be slowly dying out, but I still love them, and on occasions they still give me chills, the only bad thing about the genre is you get films like ‘The Asylum Tapes’ which makes you wish the genre had never been made.
‘The Asylum Tapes’, Directed by Sean Stone, follows a group of young filmmakers, who decide to visit an abandoned psychiatric hospital (well, they say abandoned, and that no one has been there in years, but all the lights were on, so that’s always useful). I don’t particularly want to go into detail on the plot, because there really isn’t one, they go in because of scary stories, stuff happens, “this is their footage, this is real”. Which brings me to my first complaint, if you want realism, don’t add a soundtrack, I couldn’t tell if this was meant to be found footage like they claimed, or something else entirely. You get the feeling that they could only afford a cheap camera, so they claimed it was a handheld camera movie, I’m not sure about you guys, but if I’m filming a natural event, I don’t ask everyone to stop what they’re doing quickly, while I change camera angle, ‘cause apparently that’s what this guy was doing with the amount of cuts they had in one scene, which simply involved them all sitting around a table telling ghost stories. Let’s not forget there’s random archive footage every now and then, at the beginning it was cool, and kind of creepy, then it overstays its welcome by popping up every now and then throughout the film, more so at the end.
I’ve always been scared of abandoned buildings, abandoned ASYLUMS even more, so hearing this film was set in an asylum, I immediately thought of ‘Grave Encounters’, which I liked, but felt dragged on a little. The scariest thing about this film is the setting, abandoned rooms, old dolls and broken mannequins, the perfect setting for a haunting, what a shame they couldn’t work with it a bit more. The main scares throughout the film are the use of shadows, when I say ‘Scares’ I mean ‘attempted scares’. I’m all for creepy shadows in the night, I’m always a fan of what you don’t see, as I believe there’s nothing scarier than your own imagination, but Sean Stone doesn’t give you enough time to be scared, they see a shadow, they run and suddenly we’re onto a new scene and they’re back into checking out the rest of the Asylum. When it’s not shadows it’s a man in a gas-mask, and in all honesty, the camera goes crazy, starts flashing images and when that happens, you’re not scared, you’re just lost and confused.
Now for the characters, good old Director Sean Stone also stars in it as himself! With a bunch of other people, you really forget what their names are because you don’t care for them that much at all. The acting is pretty poor, and that the characters are extremely stupid. They see a shadow of a man, they scream, they run, they feel something brush past them, they hear noises, apparently instead of running, they forget everything they’ve just witnessed and carry on with their exploring, they are so stupid you don’t care for them, I couldn’t care less if any of them were killed off.
This review is extremely negative I know, but I find it hard to find anything likeable about it, which brings me to my final complaint: What actually happened? The ending is just one big mess, flashing images, the camera changing places by itself, people screaming, a bit more archive footage to add some sort of effect; I don’t know what the Director was thinking. Once it ends, you are left feeling as crazy as the patients of the asylum, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t make sense, but that’s just me.
In conclusion, you want a ‘found footage’ film to watch? Don’t watch this; the director clearly doesn’t know how to handle found footage. You want a film set in a creepy abandoned Mental Asylum? Watch ‘Grave Encounters’, this film made me appreciate it even more. It is poorly constructed, with rushed scares that make you feel the Director wanted to film it as quickly as possible so he could rush home before his dinner got cold. I saw films in A2 Film Studies that looked better than ‘The Asylum Tapes’. The film is just over an hour and 15 minutes long, but it feels a lot more, I was left looking at the time bar every couple minutes to see when this pain and torture would all be over. ‘The Asylum Tapes’ is an insult to the ‘Found Footage’ genre. Watch it if you want, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
1/5
The Asylum Tapes is out now on DVD and Blu-ray.
William Gordon
‘The Asylum Tapes’, Directed by Sean Stone, follows a group of young filmmakers, who decide to visit an abandoned psychiatric hospital (well, they say abandoned, and that no one has been there in years, but all the lights were on, so that’s always useful). I don’t particularly want to go into detail on the plot, because there really isn’t one, they go in because of scary stories, stuff happens, “this is their footage, this is real”. Which brings me to my first complaint, if you want realism, don’t add a soundtrack, I couldn’t tell if this was meant to be found footage like they claimed, or something else entirely. You get the feeling that they could only afford a cheap camera, so they claimed it was a handheld camera movie, I’m not sure about you guys, but if I’m filming a natural event, I don’t ask everyone to stop what they’re doing quickly, while I change camera angle, ‘cause apparently that’s what this guy was doing with the amount of cuts they had in one scene, which simply involved them all sitting around a table telling ghost stories. Let’s not forget there’s random archive footage every now and then, at the beginning it was cool, and kind of creepy, then it overstays its welcome by popping up every now and then throughout the film, more so at the end.
I’ve always been scared of abandoned buildings, abandoned ASYLUMS even more, so hearing this film was set in an asylum, I immediately thought of ‘Grave Encounters’, which I liked, but felt dragged on a little. The scariest thing about this film is the setting, abandoned rooms, old dolls and broken mannequins, the perfect setting for a haunting, what a shame they couldn’t work with it a bit more. The main scares throughout the film are the use of shadows, when I say ‘Scares’ I mean ‘attempted scares’. I’m all for creepy shadows in the night, I’m always a fan of what you don’t see, as I believe there’s nothing scarier than your own imagination, but Sean Stone doesn’t give you enough time to be scared, they see a shadow, they run and suddenly we’re onto a new scene and they’re back into checking out the rest of the Asylum. When it’s not shadows it’s a man in a gas-mask, and in all honesty, the camera goes crazy, starts flashing images and when that happens, you’re not scared, you’re just lost and confused.
Now for the characters, good old Director Sean Stone also stars in it as himself! With a bunch of other people, you really forget what their names are because you don’t care for them that much at all. The acting is pretty poor, and that the characters are extremely stupid. They see a shadow of a man, they scream, they run, they feel something brush past them, they hear noises, apparently instead of running, they forget everything they’ve just witnessed and carry on with their exploring, they are so stupid you don’t care for them, I couldn’t care less if any of them were killed off.
This review is extremely negative I know, but I find it hard to find anything likeable about it, which brings me to my final complaint: What actually happened? The ending is just one big mess, flashing images, the camera changing places by itself, people screaming, a bit more archive footage to add some sort of effect; I don’t know what the Director was thinking. Once it ends, you are left feeling as crazy as the patients of the asylum, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t make sense, but that’s just me.
In conclusion, you want a ‘found footage’ film to watch? Don’t watch this; the director clearly doesn’t know how to handle found footage. You want a film set in a creepy abandoned Mental Asylum? Watch ‘Grave Encounters’, this film made me appreciate it even more. It is poorly constructed, with rushed scares that make you feel the Director wanted to film it as quickly as possible so he could rush home before his dinner got cold. I saw films in A2 Film Studies that looked better than ‘The Asylum Tapes’. The film is just over an hour and 15 minutes long, but it feels a lot more, I was left looking at the time bar every couple minutes to see when this pain and torture would all be over. ‘The Asylum Tapes’ is an insult to the ‘Found Footage’ genre. Watch it if you want, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
1/5
The Asylum Tapes is out now on DVD and Blu-ray.
William Gordon
The Cabin in the Woods
If it wasn’t for the people at MGM we would of had The Cabin in the Woods in 2010, possibly even 2009 when the film was actually shot. The studio wanted to convert the film into 3D, despite objections from director Drew Goddard and co-writer Joss Whedon, Finally this year saw the release of one of the greatest horror fils ever? Needles to say it will go down as a classic.
You all know the story, 5 archetypical teenagers go to the Cabin in the Woods. We have the Jock and his blonde girlfriend, the newcomer to the group, the geeky girl and the stoner. How very American horror film cliche. The group head of to the cabin for a weekend full of fun but what they encounter when they get there is not fun, not fun in the slightest.
This film would not of worked as well if it was Fincher behind the camera, or Polanski or Speilberg but with Goddard and Whedon working together on the script and Goddard taking director’s duties, it works and film fans know it will work because these two know the horror genre inside out but more importantly they know how to tell a story, and with this film, it’s a bloody (no pun intended) good story.
I know this has been put in every review of this film so far, but it really is impossible to tell you what happens in the film without giving the story away. All you need to know is that this will be a cinema experience you will not forget in a hurry and it is also one you need to experience soon.
Horror fans will pick up on the in jokes more then the average moviegoer. Predictable? In part’s yes, but we don’t mind, it adds to the charm of the film. We know what’s going to happen next in certain parts because it happens in every horror film… ever, but the filmmakers know that we know and they throw something at us straight after that we most certainly were not expecting. Genre Bending? Most certainly, it is predominantly a horror film but it has a wonderful comedy element to it. It’s as comical as it is terrifying.
A sublime horror filled 20 minutes that you have never seen before, or likely to see again, rounds off the end of the this magnificent piece of film-making. It very rarely happens in modern cinema now, we live in the age of superhero films and remakes, and that’s fine, but this film goes against everything you expect from a film especially in the horror genre. We have recently become too comfortable in the horror genre, a genre that is supposed to shock and scare us but The Cabin in the woods takes you out of your comfort zone, then when you feel equilibrium has been achieved, bang! Your thrown further out of your comfort zone.
In short – Prepare to have a new favourite movie.
5/5
The Cabin in the Woods will be released in the UK on DVD and Blu-Ray on September 24th 2012.
James Voller
Did you know? - The latin that Dana reads from the diary is: "Dolor supervivo caro. Dolor sublimus caro. Dolor ignio animus." It means: Pain outlives the flesh. Pain raises the flesh. Pain ignites the spirit.
You all know the story, 5 archetypical teenagers go to the Cabin in the Woods. We have the Jock and his blonde girlfriend, the newcomer to the group, the geeky girl and the stoner. How very American horror film cliche. The group head of to the cabin for a weekend full of fun but what they encounter when they get there is not fun, not fun in the slightest.
This film would not of worked as well if it was Fincher behind the camera, or Polanski or Speilberg but with Goddard and Whedon working together on the script and Goddard taking director’s duties, it works and film fans know it will work because these two know the horror genre inside out but more importantly they know how to tell a story, and with this film, it’s a bloody (no pun intended) good story.
I know this has been put in every review of this film so far, but it really is impossible to tell you what happens in the film without giving the story away. All you need to know is that this will be a cinema experience you will not forget in a hurry and it is also one you need to experience soon.
Horror fans will pick up on the in jokes more then the average moviegoer. Predictable? In part’s yes, but we don’t mind, it adds to the charm of the film. We know what’s going to happen next in certain parts because it happens in every horror film… ever, but the filmmakers know that we know and they throw something at us straight after that we most certainly were not expecting. Genre Bending? Most certainly, it is predominantly a horror film but it has a wonderful comedy element to it. It’s as comical as it is terrifying.
A sublime horror filled 20 minutes that you have never seen before, or likely to see again, rounds off the end of the this magnificent piece of film-making. It very rarely happens in modern cinema now, we live in the age of superhero films and remakes, and that’s fine, but this film goes against everything you expect from a film especially in the horror genre. We have recently become too comfortable in the horror genre, a genre that is supposed to shock and scare us but The Cabin in the woods takes you out of your comfort zone, then when you feel equilibrium has been achieved, bang! Your thrown further out of your comfort zone.
In short – Prepare to have a new favourite movie.
5/5
The Cabin in the Woods will be released in the UK on DVD and Blu-Ray on September 24th 2012.
James Voller
Did you know? - The latin that Dana reads from the diary is: "Dolor supervivo caro. Dolor sublimus caro. Dolor ignio animus." It means: Pain outlives the flesh. Pain raises the flesh. Pain ignites the spirit.
Livid
So I haven’t really watched too many international horror films before, and I can see how it may put people off more than other subtitled film genres may do. A horror film is designed to frighten you, to allow you to be so absorbed into a story that you can’t help to start getting anxious, this is why horror films such as The Innkeepers, Paranormal Activity, and other such horror films. They invite you in and start off slowly, allowing you to relax into the film before starting with the scares.
Livid (Livide) manages to subvert this because it is, in part, an art film, as well as a supernatural horror. The scares aren’t so forward and announced, and instead the anxiety of the piece comes at you over the course of the film, whilst developing the story and characters in a way that other horror films may not be able to. In fact, to go off on a slight tangent, in Joss Whedon’s ‘Cabin in the Woods’, which could also be called: ‘Horror Deconstructed: The Movie’, we see that the monsters of the piece were chosen from a selection of wide variety of generic horror monsters, and are given only a few lines of backstory.
In Livid, we see the monster of the piece developed in a way we rarely do in British or American horrors. Sometimes this works to the films advantage, such as with the aforementioned Paranormal Activity series, which throughout the first film kept the secret behind the supernatural creature mostly a secret, only really stating that it’s a demon. This works well for the series because the less we knew of the demon and its reasons behind terrorising Katie (the protagonist). As the series goes on, especially in the third instalment, we find out more about the demon and its reasons, and I felt this somewhat ruined the scariness of it, because something that terrorises for no reason is much scarier than something which does have reasons, because it then becomes more relatable.
Livid’s character development works well because you’re supposed to make that connection with the ‘monster’. The ending justifies the means behind why they decided to develop the vampire, more than one of the three protagonists. But I feel as though I’ve spoken enough behind the developments of the characters, but maybe not enough of the characters themselves and the plot in general, so here we go.
Livid’s plot is a relatively simple one. After hearing of an old woman’s fortune during her first day working as a home nurse, Lucy with her boyfriend; William and his brother; Ben, decide to break in and swipe the treasure. The treasure belongs to an old woman who lives in the house, although in a cerebral coma, named Jessel. However, shortly after breaking into the house, weird things begin to happen, and the three soon realise they are unable to leave… So far, so clichéd, correct?
The film begins to develop more from there, as we learn that Jessel isn’t in as much of a Coma as first thought, and that her long thought to be dead deaf daughter, is actually a vampire, who was raised by the strict Jessel, a former dance instructor. I won’t go into much more because it’s well worth going to see the film yourself.
My only criticism, which seems to be one shared by a number of reviewers, is that the film did not end well, in such a way that it neglected to really explain the reasoning behind the actions at the end of the film. Some of that is down to subtle elements that the more genre savvy viewer may see, whilst casual viewers may miss it entirely. However, some important details were just left unexplained; ruining what may have been a great story.
There is an English-language adaptation in the works, being written by David Birke, but this is still very early in development and no director has been chosen. Other horror films that have been adapted for English-language viewers have often lost part of their magic (example: [Rec]), so my feelings are mixed about this adaptation. The film works in French because the art-genre nature of the film, whether that would work as an American, would seem more unlikely.
If you like your fast paced fright-fests, then this isn’t the film for you. It runs at a slower pacing, and the horror and gore factors aren’t too strong. However, if you enjoy a more developed story with supernatural horror elements, and don’t mind subtitles, then this is a film that I can recommend. The slower-paced and more developed storyline may alienate more hard-core horror fans, and for those who may enjoy it will still have to face a disappointing ending.
3/5
Liam Walters
Livid (Livide) manages to subvert this because it is, in part, an art film, as well as a supernatural horror. The scares aren’t so forward and announced, and instead the anxiety of the piece comes at you over the course of the film, whilst developing the story and characters in a way that other horror films may not be able to. In fact, to go off on a slight tangent, in Joss Whedon’s ‘Cabin in the Woods’, which could also be called: ‘Horror Deconstructed: The Movie’, we see that the monsters of the piece were chosen from a selection of wide variety of generic horror monsters, and are given only a few lines of backstory.
In Livid, we see the monster of the piece developed in a way we rarely do in British or American horrors. Sometimes this works to the films advantage, such as with the aforementioned Paranormal Activity series, which throughout the first film kept the secret behind the supernatural creature mostly a secret, only really stating that it’s a demon. This works well for the series because the less we knew of the demon and its reasons behind terrorising Katie (the protagonist). As the series goes on, especially in the third instalment, we find out more about the demon and its reasons, and I felt this somewhat ruined the scariness of it, because something that terrorises for no reason is much scarier than something which does have reasons, because it then becomes more relatable.
Livid’s character development works well because you’re supposed to make that connection with the ‘monster’. The ending justifies the means behind why they decided to develop the vampire, more than one of the three protagonists. But I feel as though I’ve spoken enough behind the developments of the characters, but maybe not enough of the characters themselves and the plot in general, so here we go.
Livid’s plot is a relatively simple one. After hearing of an old woman’s fortune during her first day working as a home nurse, Lucy with her boyfriend; William and his brother; Ben, decide to break in and swipe the treasure. The treasure belongs to an old woman who lives in the house, although in a cerebral coma, named Jessel. However, shortly after breaking into the house, weird things begin to happen, and the three soon realise they are unable to leave… So far, so clichéd, correct?
The film begins to develop more from there, as we learn that Jessel isn’t in as much of a Coma as first thought, and that her long thought to be dead deaf daughter, is actually a vampire, who was raised by the strict Jessel, a former dance instructor. I won’t go into much more because it’s well worth going to see the film yourself.
My only criticism, which seems to be one shared by a number of reviewers, is that the film did not end well, in such a way that it neglected to really explain the reasoning behind the actions at the end of the film. Some of that is down to subtle elements that the more genre savvy viewer may see, whilst casual viewers may miss it entirely. However, some important details were just left unexplained; ruining what may have been a great story.
There is an English-language adaptation in the works, being written by David Birke, but this is still very early in development and no director has been chosen. Other horror films that have been adapted for English-language viewers have often lost part of their magic (example: [Rec]), so my feelings are mixed about this adaptation. The film works in French because the art-genre nature of the film, whether that would work as an American, would seem more unlikely.
If you like your fast paced fright-fests, then this isn’t the film for you. It runs at a slower pacing, and the horror and gore factors aren’t too strong. However, if you enjoy a more developed story with supernatural horror elements, and don’t mind subtitles, then this is a film that I can recommend. The slower-paced and more developed storyline may alienate more hard-core horror fans, and for those who may enjoy it will still have to face a disappointing ending.
3/5
Liam Walters
Flesh & Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror
This year see's the 11th Fantastic Films Weekend and this year they have a very special Hammer strand curated by Robert J.E. Simpson (Film historian), that we were particularly excited about. Classic Hammer films showing include The Man in Black, Captain Clegg and The Shadow of the Cat. First up though, and kicking the festival off, was the european premiere of Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror.
Directed by Ted Newsom, this documentary was first released on the BBC in two parts in 1994. Today a new version is showing that features an additional 46 minutes of footage.
Narrated by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (The last work they did together and the last work Cushing did before his death) Flesh and Blood is a hugely enjoyable look through the history of the UK's best loved film studio.
Detailing perfectly the history of Hammer and combining rare achieve footage, interviews and filler shots, Flesh and Blood is a must see for Hammer fans. Featuring interviews with Joe Dante, John Carpenter as well as narrators Lee and Cushing we get to see the legacy Hammer has left on the horror genre.
Flesh and Blood also talks in detail about the lesser well known side of Hammer, their police drama's and westerns for example. The main bulk of the documentary focuses on Hammer's two greatest characters: Dracula and Frankenstein.
There has been a boom in cinematic documentaries in the past year, Senna and TT: Closer to the Edge to name a few and yes this is about horror films and yes we are a horror website so you may say we are been biased but this is better because the source material will appeal to more people.
Flesh and Blood is as entertaining as it is insightful and to quote the documentary: "Anything Hammer does, it the best"
Hammer fan or not, this brilliant documentary is a must watch:
Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror - 4/5
James Voller
Directed by Ted Newsom, this documentary was first released on the BBC in two parts in 1994. Today a new version is showing that features an additional 46 minutes of footage.
Narrated by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (The last work they did together and the last work Cushing did before his death) Flesh and Blood is a hugely enjoyable look through the history of the UK's best loved film studio.
Detailing perfectly the history of Hammer and combining rare achieve footage, interviews and filler shots, Flesh and Blood is a must see for Hammer fans. Featuring interviews with Joe Dante, John Carpenter as well as narrators Lee and Cushing we get to see the legacy Hammer has left on the horror genre.
Flesh and Blood also talks in detail about the lesser well known side of Hammer, their police drama's and westerns for example. The main bulk of the documentary focuses on Hammer's two greatest characters: Dracula and Frankenstein.
There has been a boom in cinematic documentaries in the past year, Senna and TT: Closer to the Edge to name a few and yes this is about horror films and yes we are a horror website so you may say we are been biased but this is better because the source material will appeal to more people.
Flesh and Blood is as entertaining as it is insightful and to quote the documentary: "Anything Hammer does, it the best"
Hammer fan or not, this brilliant documentary is a must watch:
Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror - 4/5
James Voller
Exit 7A - Exclusive Interview
Its hard to tell a story in 11 minutes. It's even harder to tell a good story in 11 minutes. Exit 7A is a brilliantly told story that lasts only 11 minutes.
Exit 7A, which was filmed over 2 days on a $500, follows Paul (Ben Watts) as he makes his way home for a family gathering. On his way home, Paul stops for a young hitchhiker (Angela Borrello) after finding out she is heading the same way as he is, Paul decides to offer the young girl a ride. In an attempt to make small talk to pass the time Paul asks the mysterious young woman where she is heading, he didn't expect the answer to be "To kill someone" a startled Paul is then subject to a question from the hitchhiker: "Do you think you can stop me?"
Exit 7A is the new film from Hammer and Saw films based in America. Directed by William Peters who co-wrote the script with Asher Ellis who also wrote the short story that the script is based on, Exit 7A features some stunning cinematography (especially for a short film). Exit 7A has everything, mystery, intrigue and likeable characters. Exit 7A, in short, is a film you would be mad to miss.
Exit 7A is currently on the festival circuit in America. We will keep you updated on the films progress.
Exit 7A - 4/5
We (HH) were lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask director William Peters (WP) a few questions regarding the film:
HH - What appealed to you about this story?WP - I'm a huge horror fan, but I had never really attempted to make a horror or thriller film. So after I had read Asher's short story, I thought it would translate really well to the screen. I love any premise where you stick two very different people in a confined space and see what happens. Those situations always intrigue me no matter what the genre. But to be honest it reminded me of a Rod Serling era Twilight Zone episode, which I really was excited about.
HH - Did you enjoy adapting the story for screen?
WP - Asher and I had a great time adapting his story. It was interesting because we pretty much reworked the entire last half of the story for the short film. Asher was never really satisfied with the way his original piece ended, so this gave him another opportunity to re-work his story, which is cool for him.
HH - How would you react if you were in Paul's shoes?
WP - That's a funny question because its the same one Asher and I asked ourselves as we rewrote the script. I think Paul reacts in a similar way I would have. Then again, I probably wouldn't have picked up the hitchhiker in the first place.
HH - How easy was it to make the film seen as it was all done in two days?
WP - It wasn't easy by any means. Filming in such a short amount of time with such a limited budget would make any filmmaker a little anxious, but it's also really exciting. We had a lot of ambitious shots in the script too, so we had to plan out every little detail, and if one thing went wrong in our shooting schedule, it would have added an extra day, which we didn't have. So it needed to work. And that's when having great actors and a dedicated crew makes all the difference in the world.
HH - Do you think it could work as a feature film?
WP - Sure. There's been worse ideas.
HH - If so, have you thought about going further with it?
WP - Asher and I have discussed ideas, mainly how to make their conversation 80 minutes longer.
HH - Whats next for the film?
WP - It's going to be running in the US festival circuit this summer, but I'm hoping to get a few UK festivals to pick it up as well.
HH - Whats next for yourself?
WP - Hammer & Saw Films has several projects in the works. We're producing a comedic web series this summer and hopefully developing a feature script (Maybe Exit 7A?)
HH - Whats your favourite horror film?
WP -That's a tough one. It would have to be a tie between Halloween, The Thing and if you consider it horror, Deliverance.
For more information on the film see the website: www.exit7amovie.com and see the trailer here: http://vimeo.com/40624026
James Voller
Exit 7A, which was filmed over 2 days on a $500, follows Paul (Ben Watts) as he makes his way home for a family gathering. On his way home, Paul stops for a young hitchhiker (Angela Borrello) after finding out she is heading the same way as he is, Paul decides to offer the young girl a ride. In an attempt to make small talk to pass the time Paul asks the mysterious young woman where she is heading, he didn't expect the answer to be "To kill someone" a startled Paul is then subject to a question from the hitchhiker: "Do you think you can stop me?"
Exit 7A is the new film from Hammer and Saw films based in America. Directed by William Peters who co-wrote the script with Asher Ellis who also wrote the short story that the script is based on, Exit 7A features some stunning cinematography (especially for a short film). Exit 7A has everything, mystery, intrigue and likeable characters. Exit 7A, in short, is a film you would be mad to miss.
Exit 7A is currently on the festival circuit in America. We will keep you updated on the films progress.
Exit 7A - 4/5
We (HH) were lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask director William Peters (WP) a few questions regarding the film:
HH - What appealed to you about this story?WP - I'm a huge horror fan, but I had never really attempted to make a horror or thriller film. So after I had read Asher's short story, I thought it would translate really well to the screen. I love any premise where you stick two very different people in a confined space and see what happens. Those situations always intrigue me no matter what the genre. But to be honest it reminded me of a Rod Serling era Twilight Zone episode, which I really was excited about.
HH - Did you enjoy adapting the story for screen?
WP - Asher and I had a great time adapting his story. It was interesting because we pretty much reworked the entire last half of the story for the short film. Asher was never really satisfied with the way his original piece ended, so this gave him another opportunity to re-work his story, which is cool for him.
HH - How would you react if you were in Paul's shoes?
WP - That's a funny question because its the same one Asher and I asked ourselves as we rewrote the script. I think Paul reacts in a similar way I would have. Then again, I probably wouldn't have picked up the hitchhiker in the first place.
HH - How easy was it to make the film seen as it was all done in two days?
WP - It wasn't easy by any means. Filming in such a short amount of time with such a limited budget would make any filmmaker a little anxious, but it's also really exciting. We had a lot of ambitious shots in the script too, so we had to plan out every little detail, and if one thing went wrong in our shooting schedule, it would have added an extra day, which we didn't have. So it needed to work. And that's when having great actors and a dedicated crew makes all the difference in the world.
HH - Do you think it could work as a feature film?
WP - Sure. There's been worse ideas.
HH - If so, have you thought about going further with it?
WP - Asher and I have discussed ideas, mainly how to make their conversation 80 minutes longer.
HH - Whats next for the film?
WP - It's going to be running in the US festival circuit this summer, but I'm hoping to get a few UK festivals to pick it up as well.
HH - Whats next for yourself?
WP - Hammer & Saw Films has several projects in the works. We're producing a comedic web series this summer and hopefully developing a feature script (Maybe Exit 7A?)
HH - Whats your favourite horror film?
WP -That's a tough one. It would have to be a tie between Halloween, The Thing and if you consider it horror, Deliverance.
For more information on the film see the website: www.exit7amovie.com and see the trailer here: http://vimeo.com/40624026
James Voller
The Innkeepers
Ti West is quickly making a name for himself in the horror genre. We here at Haddonfield love him. West's latest release is spooky ghost story The Innkeepers. We were lucky enough to see this at Bradford Film Festival (Who had a magnificent Horror strand this year). West has recently been called one of America's best horror directors. The Innkeepers reiterates this and proves just how good West is.
The Yankee Pedlar Inn (Which is a real hotel!) is about to close down, on its last weekend in service, it has two guests and two members of staff working. Claire played brilliantly by Sara Paxton and Luke, played sometimes quite wooden by Pat Healy. They both have a interest in ghosts and paranormal activity (Not the film). Seen as it is the last weekend they will be working and the boss is on holiday on Barbados, they decide to conduct a number of small scale ghost hunts to try and determine once and for all if the hotel is actually haunted by Madeline O' Malley, a former guest who died on her wedding night after been stood up at the alter.
After a rather slow start and a number of jump scares, the film really kicks off when Claire and Luke start to investigate the old inn and soon they realise that there may just be some guest's that never left.
Claire is predictably left alone to investigate and this is when things start to get interesting: she witnesses some strange noises, what sounds like crying and a scene with a piano that you know what is going to happen, but the suspense keeps you gripped and then the pay off its brilliant. The arrival of a strange old man demanding a certain room when checking in adds a sense of mystery to the film, Who is he? Why has he checked into a hotel that is closing down? Why that room?
Eerie as it is brilliant; the last half hour of the film will take you on a roller-coaster ride of scares, laughter and shock. The old man does reappear and proves to have a useful purpose after all and serves as a good "scare machine", especially in the basement.
We all know that the music in a horror film will make or break it, The Innkeepers has a chilling score that adds to the creepy atmosphere and its rather catchy.
A nice touch is the use of title cards. The film is effectively split up into three separate sections, each section receiving its own brilliantly designed title card. It's new and refreshing, something I fear Hollywood and their generic horror remakes will use to death now. Just remember Ti West did it first.
The ending of the film was in no way predictable, it may shock you, it will scare you. I am a huge horror fan and can sit through pretty much any horror film, but this is the only film I have watched recently that creeped me out and it made me jump... a lot.
Overall The Innkeepers is a wonderful ghost story and essential viewing for fans of the genre. Going back to the beginning of the review, West has recently been called one of the best horror directors in America, do I agree with that? Yes, West is one of the best horror directors currently working in the genre and long may this continue.
The Innkeepers is released in the UK on June 8th.
The Innkeepers - 4/5
James Voller
The Yankee Pedlar Inn (Which is a real hotel!) is about to close down, on its last weekend in service, it has two guests and two members of staff working. Claire played brilliantly by Sara Paxton and Luke, played sometimes quite wooden by Pat Healy. They both have a interest in ghosts and paranormal activity (Not the film). Seen as it is the last weekend they will be working and the boss is on holiday on Barbados, they decide to conduct a number of small scale ghost hunts to try and determine once and for all if the hotel is actually haunted by Madeline O' Malley, a former guest who died on her wedding night after been stood up at the alter.
After a rather slow start and a number of jump scares, the film really kicks off when Claire and Luke start to investigate the old inn and soon they realise that there may just be some guest's that never left.
Claire is predictably left alone to investigate and this is when things start to get interesting: she witnesses some strange noises, what sounds like crying and a scene with a piano that you know what is going to happen, but the suspense keeps you gripped and then the pay off its brilliant. The arrival of a strange old man demanding a certain room when checking in adds a sense of mystery to the film, Who is he? Why has he checked into a hotel that is closing down? Why that room?
Eerie as it is brilliant; the last half hour of the film will take you on a roller-coaster ride of scares, laughter and shock. The old man does reappear and proves to have a useful purpose after all and serves as a good "scare machine", especially in the basement.
We all know that the music in a horror film will make or break it, The Innkeepers has a chilling score that adds to the creepy atmosphere and its rather catchy.
A nice touch is the use of title cards. The film is effectively split up into three separate sections, each section receiving its own brilliantly designed title card. It's new and refreshing, something I fear Hollywood and their generic horror remakes will use to death now. Just remember Ti West did it first.
The ending of the film was in no way predictable, it may shock you, it will scare you. I am a huge horror fan and can sit through pretty much any horror film, but this is the only film I have watched recently that creeped me out and it made me jump... a lot.
Overall The Innkeepers is a wonderful ghost story and essential viewing for fans of the genre. Going back to the beginning of the review, West has recently been called one of the best horror directors in America, do I agree with that? Yes, West is one of the best horror directors currently working in the genre and long may this continue.
The Innkeepers is released in the UK on June 8th.
The Innkeepers - 4/5
James Voller