The Woman
in Black 2 – Angel of Death is the sequel to the 2012 film The Woman in Black which starred Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps a young lawyer who travels to a remote village where he discovers a vengeful ghost of a scorned woman who is terrorizing the locals.
Directed by Tom Harper and written by Jon Croker and Susan Hill this film takes place 40 years after the events of the previous film.
From husband and wife team Chris Majors (director/producer) and Meredith Majors(writer/producer/star); Lake Eeerie is a new indie horror/thriller starring Betsy Baker (The Evil Dead), Lance Henriksen (Aliens/Terminator) and Marilyn Ghigliotti (Clerks). Due for release worldwide in 2015.
Young widow Kate (Meredith Majors) moves into an old house
on Lake Erie to recover from her husband’s death. The house has not been lived in for over 40 years. From the moment Kate moves into the house, she is soon haunted by a dark presence. Kate is taking multiple pills/ medications for her anxiety and depression; therefore, she is not sure if she is losing her mind or if the haunting is really happening.
Kate is suddenly enveloped by a whirlwind of tragedy and dark forces, and must decide whether or not she is strong enough to fight back and figure out the evil truth before it’s too late.
Day of the Dead is widely regarded as the third installment in George A. Romero‘s seminal zombie series; following Night of the Living Dead (1968) & Dawn of the Dead (1978).
This Limited Edition Steel-book release from Arrow Films Video is a re-hash of their 25th Anniversary edition Blu-Ray release; the special features included here are the same.
Birth of the Living Dead is a documentary detailing the production of the George A. Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead which is widely regarded as inventing the modern zombie genre as discussed in the film; directed by Rob Kuhns.
Written by Lewis Mainwaring & Benjamin Gummery
Spoiler Free
Mockingjay, Part 1 is the follow up to the 2013 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and is based on the Suzanne Collins‘ novel, Mockingjay, the third and final instalment in The Hunger Games trilogy.
Directed by Francis Lawrence (who also directed Catching Fire) the film stars Jennifer Lawrence as the captivating Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne. The film also sees the return of Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow – The tyrannical President of Panem who reigns with a ‘cold fist’ (insert laugh here), Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee and introduces Julianne Moore to the franchise as President Alma Coin.
This film follows on directly from the previous film with Katniss waking up to the realisation that District 12 no longer exists and that she is now at the heart of the new rebellions base located in the ruins
of District 13. Continue reading
From director Richard Grey and writer Michele Davis-Gray, The Lookalike is a gritty noir thriller starring Justin Long (also a Producer on the film), Gillian Jacobs, John Corbett & Steven Bauer.
This plays like any other drug deal gone bad, mixed-morals thriller. I did however find the plot baffling and hard to follow at times. The screenplay seems to assume you will figure out the back story as you go along as there are no real exposition scenes at the start of the film. It uses that old device of introducing us gradually to the characters intertwining tales; but this has been done better by others many times before.
Justin Long plays
Holt, the socially-conscious flatmate of drug dealer Joe who sparks up a romance with junkie Lacey (Gillian Jacobs); but as the story develops we see there is more to this interaction than meets the eye. Long turns in his usual quirky performance. Continue reading
In the run up to Halloween this year; I’m looking at some horror ‘B’ movies that are watched mostly for the sheer comic value of the laughable story, production & performances. Horror is a genre which continues to deliver this type of film in spades.
These films have picked up a cult following over the years however.
Bats (1999)
IMDb 3.6/10 – Rotten Tomatoes 17% – Budget £6.5 Million / Opening $4.7 Million
The eponymous ‘batastrophe‘ from director Louis Morneau is a comedy of errors right from the start; but not intentionally so. It also deserves some kind of award for the number of times the characters say the name of the film. The ludicrous plot borrows heavily from many stereotypes of the small town horror/disaster genre and the result is only worth watching for the comic value. It did manage to spawn a TV movie sequel ‘Bats: Human Harvest (2007)‘ for the SyFy channel. The bats here are a poor patchwork of CGI, animatronics and real bats. Continue reading
Debug is the 2014 Sci-Fi/Thriller big screen debut from writer/director David Hewlett (better known for his sci-fi acting roles such as Stargate & Rise of The Planet of the Apes) and stars Adrian Holmes, Jeananne Goossen and Jason Momoa.
The story resolves around a team of criminal computer hackers that have been sent into space by the Department of Corrections to help salvage old ships by over-riding their computer systems. This seems like an easy job; until they come across an abandoned prison ship. As they interact with the various virtual elements of the ship’s system they s
oon realise it is fighting back in a very real and physical way as it turns the team on each other.
This is hardly new territory in sci-fi (i.e. the Alien franchise starts with a similar premise and there is of course Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Oddyssey) however the hacker angle does provide a fresh and interesting new take on this. All that said I feel the film is well executed but did not particularly stand out for me. Jason Momoa’s performance is ominous and unnervingly evil as the ships AI Iam.
Not to be confused with the TV series of the same name; Reaper is the 2014 thriller/horror from director Philip Shih and writers Mark James/James Jurdi. The film features a strong cast including Danny Trejo (Machete Kills), Vinnie Jones (Snatch), Shayla Beesley (Sex and the USA), Jake Busey (From Dusk Till Dawn – TV Series), Christopher Judge (Stargate) and James Jurdi (Pocket Listing).
The story plays out initially like a typical road horror movie in the tradition of The Hills Have Eyes & The Hitcher. Hitch-hiker Natalie (Beesley) gets a ride with happy-go-lucky travelling salesman Bill (Busey). When Bill crosses the line Natalie turns the tables on him and we learn there is much more than meets the eye to this girl. This leads her to run into drug runner Brad (Jurdi) who is carrying out a pick-up for tough criminal boss Rob (Jones). Later on the pair meet Jack (Trejo) at the suitably named ‘Last Chance Hotel’ and the story turns somewhat sinister. The twists in this tale remind me a lot of Tarrentino’s writing for From Dusk Till Dawn.
From Wonder Wheel Productions and joint writing/directing team John Adams & Toby Poser ‘The Shoot’ stars John DiMaggio (“Futurama,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”), Keith Allan (“Z Nation,” “Mad Men”), Doug Spearman (Cradle 2 The Grave), and Toby Poser (The Lucky Ones).
The main protagonists are Tommy (Adams) & Dougie (Sam Rodd); a pair of struggling musicians that are in debt to a loan shark represented by token ‘Bad Guy’ Steve (DiMaggio) while trying finish off their recording sessions. Continue reading
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