THE STORY:
Lisa Brennan (Angela Dixon) is up to the challenge when she finds herself the centre of a dark web of conspiracy after her baby girl is stolen away and she becomes the number one suspect in a murder investigation.  But who is really behind all this?
 
As you watch Dixon battle her way through the beautiful streets of a foreign land in a frantic search for her kidnapped child, it’s hard not to compare her situation and her performance to that of Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills in the successful Taken trilogy.  Fortunately for us, unlike the first 2 instalments of the lucrative franchise, which are just straight-forward abduction movies, there is much more to writer/director Howard J. Ford’s Never Let Go than meets our action-hungry eyes.
 
Under the wing of one half of the Ford brothers who brought us 2010’s The Dead and 2013’s The Dead 2: India, leading lady Angela Dixon shows some real emotional chops as the distraught but fierce mother on the hunt for her lost cub.  Her predicament is truly gut-wrenching as she has no money, no understanding of the language as well as no proof that had brought a child into the country in the first place.  The fact that her daughter is only a baby is enough to set you on the edge of your seat!
 
For those sceptical few, this is not a weepy affair.  There are chase sequences a-plenty.  The violence is pretty merciless and brutal.  And the fight scenes are fast, fun and well executed.  Girl’s certainly got the physical chops too.  “She’s a mother lifting the bus” as one character poignantly puts it.  I don’t know about any bus, but she’s definitely kickin’ ass.
 
LAST WORDS:
I would go as far as to say that every aspect of this movie is on point, from the acting to the special effects to the cinematography and beyond.  The real crime of Never Let Go is not that a baby was stolen from its mother.  It’s the unjust fact that because there are no big Hollywood names attached to the movie, this thrilling project probably won’t even receive a quarter of the recognition that it so blatantly deserves.

The Mexican drug cartels and the escapades of Pablo Escobar have been pretty hot topics in both film – Sicario – and TV – Narcos – recently. Still very real and somewhat disturbing, this subject is a meaty plot point and draws audiences in. In Brad Furman’s latest gritty crime drama based on a true story about a money laundering scheme linking itself to Escobar himself is intense and extremely well executed.
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Bryan Cranston gives another stellar performance here as U.S Customs Official Robert Mazur who goes undercover to bring down the trafficking network that leads to Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar. He joins fellow agent Kathy - as his covert fiancée - (Diane Kruger) and his colleague Emir (a brilliant turn by John Leguizamo) and becomes a money laundering businessman named Bob Musella. From then on Mazur envelopes himself in the drug underworld and gets knee deep in the action in order to get closer to the kingpin himself and bring them all down for good.

This biographical drama builds tension well from the beginning and gives a real insight into this corrupt organisation that still exists today. The film is effortlessly shot and even features a crackled print that looks as if it was filmed in the 80’s which really projects you into the story. It also features a superb soundtrack that goes in line with the time and the nature of the story perfectly.

The performances are impressive across the entire cast. It’s nice to see John Leguizamo in a role that gets him involved a bit more as he’s been a supporting actor for quite some time now. He gives a fantastic turn as Emir; charismatic but grounded he pulls it off perfectly. The same goes for Benjamin Bratt who also hasn’t been seen on the big screen in a while. He plays Roberto Alcaino, Mazur’s top Lieutenant whom he must win the trust of. Bratt is sincere and understated and wins us over even though he’s essentially playing one of the bad guys. Kruger also gives a tender performance as Robert’s undercover fiancée; she holds her own and is more than just the typical female counterpart.

However, of course it’s Cranston who really stands out here and makes it difficult for us to ever take our eyes off him. He carries this bold presence with him when he enters the screen and he nails every role he’s ever taken on. He is charming yet fierce as Robert; proving himself versatile and capable of taking on any part in any genre. The only element that slightly lets this film down just a little is the climax. It all moved so intensely up until that point and then it just felt a bit rushed but this doesn’t take away from a solid, superbly written and acted film that’s informing and engaging.

​THE STORY:
Popular college student Laura (Alycia Debnam Carey) thinks the worst is over when obsessed classmate Marina (Liesl Ahlers) commits suicide.  But when Laura’s friends start to die shortly after her death, she realises that the worst is yet to come…
 
Friend Request is exactly what you’d expect it to be.  A group of friends getting killed off one by one, suffering unremarkable deaths at the hands of a supernatural force while everyone thinks our leading lady is going crazy/behind it all (deep breath…) until the remaining few finally decide to believe her and they all resolve to go on some bullshit road-trip to find a way to put a stop to the evil that stalks them once and for all…  Come on guys, we could write this kind of shit in our sleep by now.
 
Admittedly all the jump scares are where they should be, for once.  There’s no excess, except where volume is concerned.  It’s difficult to judge a truly effective jump scare when I feel like I’m Jason Miller and William Friedkin is standing behind me with a loaded gun!
 
What also fell short for me was the lack of intensity in the portrayal of Marina’s obsession.  In today’s world, if stalking someone is as easy as clicking onto someone’s Facebook, Snapchat or twitter page and browsing through media that they have posted up there for the world to see, it never actually feels like she’s doing anything wrong.  There needs to be a violation, an intrusion.  But how can there be when everything is served up to her on a silver platter.
 
LAST WORDS:
Never mind the fact that this movie is beyond predictable.  Was there ever really a point in making it after the much more inventive Hacked (2013) or Unfriended (2014)?  I guess one could describe it as a less bloody version of Chain Letter (2009) or a less shit version of Smiley (2012), except without all the misplaced existential bullshit.  So in the case of cyber horror, this one finds itself on middle ground.  Just barely.

​THE STORY:
We are regaled with a re-telling of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado and Dreams.
 
Inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, the film is comprised of two of the celebrated writer’s short stories and a single poem.  The strongest of which has to be Mastronardi’s turn, helming the opening chapter of the anthology, The Tell-Tale Heart.  Troma favourite Debbie Rochon steals the show with her on-point narration and fabulously uninhibited performance as the live-in nurse driven insane by the still beating heart of her slain employer.
 
As the anthology rages on, the bar set by story one unfortunately falls by the wayside, and by its conclusion never rises nor even comes to close to a match.  Is it because Cask and Dreams lack the chilling simplicity of Heart?  Perhaps…  Still, with Poe’s immortal words as a constant guide the remaining chapters never stray too far from their collective path. 
 
There are a few most welcome cast surprises along the way, such as Desiree Gould, Aunt Martha of 1983’s gender-bending slasher classic Sleepaway Camp, and the seldom seen Adrienne King, Alice of Friday the 13th (1980).  I do have to extend a big fat kudos to the movie’s poster designer as it harks back to Lucio Fulci’s 1981 classic The Beyond.  Lucio also released his adaption of Poe’s short story, The Black Cat that very same year.
 
LAST WORDS:
Never judge a book by its cover, or in the case of Bart Mastronardi & Alan Rowe Kelly’s horror anthology Tales of Poe, never judge a movie by its trailer.  …Seriously, I’m not kidding.  Someone needs to change that fucker.  Although I dare say that this movie probably wouldn’t have been such a pleasant surprise without it…

In 1999 a film was released that shocked horror audiences around the globe. Backed with one hell of a marketing campaign, The Blair Witch Project became on of the best found footage horror films of all time and spawned a sub-genre that (unfortunately) holds a huge place in horror. With a failed sequel, Book of Shadows, tarnishing the legacy of the Blair Witch franchise no more films were made. Until now. Marketed as The Woods, director Adam Wingard, the man who brought us the amazing The Guest and the horrifying You're Next, shocked the world when he announced the film as Blair Witch at comic con earlier this year. Ever since this has been the most hotly anticipated horror film in years, but does it hold up to the hype? 

Blair Witch is the direct follow up to the 1999 film (we are ignoring Blair Witch 2 here, and for good reason) which sees James, the little brother of Heather from Blair Witch Project on a mission to find evidence that his sister may still be alive. Finding an online video which claims to be from the Black Woods, James is convinced he sees his sister. Together with his film making buddies Lisa, Peter and Ashley, James heads to the Black Woods to find out the truth. Joined by two Locals the group set up camp in the woods and as you can imagine shit begins to go down.

Blair Witch is an odd one, it is a film which has taken a few days, and a series of conversations about the film to fellow horror fans, to settle in my head. Did I enjoy this film? or is it just another found footage was of space? I am going to lean more on the side of enjoy here. But this isn't to say I didn't think their were problems here, and to be honest if it wasn't for the final act I would have being more disappointed with them film than I was, and this is for one simple fact...This film progressed and evolved the mythology of the original and this made the film good. However there are so many issues littered around the film which could easily pull it in the other direction and will make you want to shout 'what you doing Wingard??' at the screen.

So lets start with the negatives of the film. To start with yeah this films like a total rehash of the first film, the journey to the town, the locals, the camping and the wooden stick figures. Even with the new tech it still feels like the same old again. The second thing is a huge gripe for me, and many other horror fans, and that is the jump scares. SO.MANY.JUMP SCARES! this ruined the film at points, I mean come on who in their right mind would creep up on a friend in the situation and go 'HEY' and how many times do we need to see it. All jump scares do is cheapen the horror, It makes loud noises into the scare factor, and this is another problem with the film and that is the fact it is basically loud noises though most it. When i say Loud noises I mean loud, so much so that it got annoying very fast.

However the film does have alot of plus notes. I love the expansion of the mythology, including the errie endless night. This is done very well in the scene when Lane and Talia reunite with the group and we find out they have been in the woods for 5 days longer than the group even though the arrived at the same time. The bending of time really messes with the minds of those involved and this adds intrigue into the film which leads to making the final act even more gripping. Could Heather be alive but trapped in an endless cycle of days and nights? James sure as hell is convinced that this could be the case. The scene with the Stick people and Talia (the second moment involving her) was very well done with out giving to much away. To be honest I thought Valorie Curry did an amazing job as Talia who added that innocence to the proceedings. But not everyone agreed with me on this one. The rest of the cast were fine, it is your usual horror fair but good god was the Ashley character annoying. Corbin Reid was seriously over acting at times but this is just a small personal gripe.

Overall I suppose yeah I enjoyed Blair Witch when all was said and done, and if you were a younger audience member who maybe hadn't seen the original Blair Witch Project then all of the gripes from us old school horror lovers won't really be an issue and really we need to review this film as a single entity so as a film it wasn't actually that bad all in all. Is it a rehash? for the most part yes but the closing act made this film good. I love the expansion of the house, the tunnel scene was tense as hell and the end moments were great, untill we get the usual camera drops to the floor ending. They is one problem I had which wasn't really to do with the film itself but more the trailer. The tunnel scenes is a tense moment as I said but it would have been much more scary if...I dunno it wasn't shown in full in the trailer.....it took the moment away and really half the big moments were shown in a trailer of some variety which is bloody annoying. So in closing Blair Witch is a good watch that will annoy some horror fans, but don't get pulled into the scariest film ever made crap because to be honest jumps scares don't equal scary.

You can guarantee you’ll always have fun when the likes of Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco and the rest of the gang get together and make something special. From Superbad to Knocked Up and Pineapple Express to This is the End there have been some real comedy gems. So when their latest project was announced as being a computer animated film about sausages and other foods finding what life’s like once they leave the supermarket, we knew this wouldn’t be a straight up kids move. We were right.
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Frank (Seth Rogen) has been desperate to leave Shopwell’s Store for years and start his new life. Himself, Brenda the hot dog bun (Kristen Wiig) and the rest of his sausage friends have all been led to believe that something greater awaits them once they enter what they call ‘the great beyond’. One day Frank, Brenda and their friends get picked up and thrown into the trolley and get ready for the start of the rest of their lives but crisis strikes and Frank and Brenda get separated from his friends and left stranded in the supermarket. Desperate to try again Frank travels from one end of the store to the other to try and make it back to his shelf. Along the way he learns more about the true nature of his existence and what lies in the outside world and it’s much darker than he expected. It’s up to him to warn the rest of the foods and condiments before it’s too late!

The plot may sound PG but it most certainly isn’t for children. Directors Craig Tiernan and Conrad Vernon have created a hilarious, bonkers and at times downright inappropriate comedy that entertains on all levels. The animation is spot on and the vibrant colours and textures all juxtapose the darker nature of the story as it unfolds. Rogen, Franco, Hill, Rudd, Hader, Wiig, Cera and a whole host of other actors longer than my arm all provide great charismatic voices for the wide variety of food items (some of which you may have forgotten even existed!) They make us sympathise with these products to the point where we’re dreading them to leave once we realise what’s in store for them.

The film could have reached its potential even more if it had focused more on life outside the store as it would have put the characters in different situations but it’s still highly entertaining as Frank makes his way across from one end to the other and comes across loads of different characters along the way. The story is simple but hits all the comedic notes and thrills you throughout until you reach a hysterical final sequence that goes above and beyond even for these guys! You know when you’re shaking so much you can’t stop laughing? That’ll most likely be you at the end and trust me those images will stay with you long after the credits roll…

Nucleus Films are back with another amazing and eye opening documentary. In 1995 up and coming horror director Richard Stanley was given the go ahead to direct his true to the book adaptation of the classic novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. But only days into production, and after getting two of the biggest names of the time in Marlon Brandon and Val Kilmer, Stanley was ejected from the project. Replaced with John Frankenheimer the film spiraled out of control. Egos ran high and a lack of love of the project was evident. What was produced has been known as the worst film ever made and this is the story behind it.

I have never seen The Island of Dr. Moreau, I know of it but have never got round to watching it. But I do love a good documentary and Nucleus yet again delivers. The story of the films overall demise is an epic one. Richard Stanley learnt very quickly about the egos of Hollywood stars, and it makes you think that if Bruce Willis had stayed on the project if this could of had a totally different outcome. We have stories of witchcraft from the Stanley camp which comes across very odd but we also see how the cast, other than Kilmer, really respected Stanley and you can see several friendships were formed in the first few days, especially between Stanley and Fairuza Balk.

In regards to Val Kilmer.....he comes across like a huge dick, demanding things get changed, telling Stanley how much certain scenes wouldn't work and the disrespect he showed Marlon Brando. Overall Kilmer and Brando didn't respect the film and this lead to some of the many issues with a film which took months longer to film than it should have. 

Lost Souls is a must watch for any film fans, horror fan or not, this films backstage problems lead to one hell of a story.

THE STORY:
After being asked to consult on a missing family case, Takakura (Hidetoshi Nishijima) grows to suspect that his strange neighbour Nishino (Teruyuki Kagawa) could be the man responsible for their disappearance.
 
Remember that rather unpleasant influx of sub-par American remakes of East Asian ghost girl movies, such as One Missed Call (2008) and Shutter (2008) to name a couple.  The well-versed horror connoisseur may recognise director Kurosawa as part of the original movement for being writer/director of 2001’s Kairo.  That’s Pulse (2001) for all you monolingual-oids (and me) out there.
 
I hesitate to describe Creepy as a slow-burn as it often provokes an immediate “Fuck that!” response, but I implore you that the film’s events would not be nearly as plausible otherwise, and I remind you that Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) was also a gradual builder.
 
Yes, the slow-burn approach is more than necessary as the true horror of this unnerving psychological skin-crawler is the villain’s seduction of our hero’s lonely wife, Yasuko, played by the beautiful Yûko Takeuchi.  Although wholly platonic, mirroring an abusive relationship, he uses that unpredictable barrage of love and hatred to pull her in by pushing her away.  It wearies the heart to witness as the kind housewife, isolated by a cold and uncaring new neighbourhood, is easily manipulated by her only source of companionship while her husband’s mind obsesses over the disappearances.
 
Nishino’s home is horror gold.  On the outside it is gated and shrouded in overgrown shrubbery, and on the inside… a dark and deserted squatter’s paradise, far creepier than the ‘Grudge’ house.  Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised to find the Candyman lurking there.  And what happens there is just as grim.
 
LAST WORDS:
You won’t find vengeful ghost girls haunting your attic, crawling out of your TV, calling you on the phone or materialising out of your internet connection here.  Sorry.  What you will find is an unspeakable fiend who will creep under your skin as he creeps into the minds of his victims.  Does an anti-social society create victims or killers?  Perhaps both?  Or is loneliness the real killer?
 

When Rebecca left home, she thought she left her childhood fears behind.  Growing up, she was never really sure of what was and wasn’t real when the lights went out…and now her little brother, Martin, is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that had once tested her sanity and threatened her safety.  A frightening entity with a mysterious attachment to their mother, Sophie, has re-emerged. But this time, as Rebecca gets closer to unlocking the truth, there is no denying that all their lives are in danger…once the lights go out.

With so many supernatural horrors coming to cinema as of late, I was starting to feel like Hollywood wasn't doing the genre much justice. I thought The Conjuring 2 was passable and with some many more films hitting DVD I went into Lights Out with very little expectation and Damn did this film restore my love of ghost horror.

Lights Out was a bloody good film. It reminded me of the very under-rated 2003 horror film Darkness Falls, and this film as a whole shows what a good supernatural horror film should be. Is it cheesy? a little but this had an early 00's feel and in my opinion this was a great era for the sub genre. The story was solid, the history behind Sophie's attachment with Diana actual played out perfectly, but what was the best part for me was the closing of the film. The film is done, there is no 'five years later' or a scene where we have a final close up of the wardrobe with Diana coming back, this has an actual ending and this is so rare.

The acting was great, the writing and direction was great. Damn it this film was just great in every way. If you are looking for a very good horror flick, especially if you enjoy horror films from the 00's, you should...no MUST see this film.

​THE STORY:
The paranormal pest control pairing that is Desmond & Jake (Greg Garrison & D. Dylan Schettina) come to the rescue when down-on-her-luck Allison Hillstead (Marie Barker) finds that her home has been invaded by some strange and hostile supernatural beings.
 
As I clicked on this particular screener link I carried with me a little ray of hope as the director of the movie I was about to see had previously worked on a project that I had actually seen, one that I even own on DVD.  I say little because that project was Dante the Great from V/H/S Viral (2014) – the black sheep of the freaky found footage franchise.  Still…hope was there.  Alas, by the 12th minute of Torey Haas’ The Neon Dead that hope had been completely extinguished.
 
Bearing in mind that the multi-talented Haas came with a stronger history working in the visual effects department, it’s clear that he has gone into this project with this familiar artistic aesthetic in mind at the expense of more pressing matters.  Hence why the acting is beyond terrible – and I’m talking the condescending tones of a children’s pantomime kind of terrible - while his glow-in-the-dark monsters appear so ghoulishly wonderful that they put one in mind of the luminous creatures you may find lurking in the underground lair of Oogie Boogie of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
 
But as much as the greens, the reds, the blues, all the pretty colours in the dark scream Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977), the fact that The Neon Dead certainly isn’t – and just never could be – only further highlights its shortcomings, which are far more glaring than any electric blue grin or laser red smile.  And why?  Because none of this hocus pocus makes up how desperately unfunny this movie is. 
 
That, and you can’t shake the feeling that one of the ghouls could tear away their costume at any moment to say, “And I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”  - “Rooby Rooby Doo!” -  Erm, no actually – Rooby Rooby Don’t!
 
LAST WORDS:
Have you ever watched a movie so utterly lame that you can literally feel your loathing for it in your bones?  That is exactly how much The Neon Dead sucks ass.  Still you may find yourself drawn in by that one Dario-esque shot of Marie Barker in which she looks like a young Uma Thurman.  Further testament that the movie only has visual appeal.  The rest is just a nightmare.  Probably not the kind that Haas was hoping for…