Category: Reviews

DVD Review: Static (2012)

Posted on 06/12/13 by editor 7 Comments
DVD release art

By Keri O’Shea Sara Paxton. Now, where the hell do I know that name? Sara Paxton, Sara Paxton, Sar… Oh wait. Oh, BOLLOCKS. When I realised that the actress from The Innkeepers was also in Static, and that the press release describes her role in Static as that of ‘a hysterical young woman’, I wasn’t [...]

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Blu-Ray Review: The Manson Family (2003)

Posted on 06/10/13 by UK Editor 1 Comment
The Manson Family

Review by Stephanie Scaife Jim Van Bebber’s The Manson Family is a labour of love if ever there was one, taking him approximately fifteen years to complete, shooting on weekends and days off for over ten years, then taking a further five years to edit due to a constant lack of funds. So what started [...]

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Film Review: V/H/S 2

Posted on 06/09/13 by Deaditor
V/H/S Poster

Review by Marc Patterson Ghosts, aliens, zombies and bizarre cults. V/H/S 2 works hard to pack a lot into a small package with a mixed bag of results. The sequel to V/H/S is a minor departure from the original film, a film I found deplorable enough not to bother finishing watching. V/H/S was one of [...]

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DVD Review: Maniac (2012)

Posted on 06/08/13 by editor
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By Keri O’Shea It could all have gone so wrong. It would have been oh-so easy for Maniac (2012) to be yet another entrant in a now vast catalogue of shoddy, pointless reboots. The original is beloved of a hardcore of film fans who like their violence sleazy, but I hope it’s fair to say [...]

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Film Review: The Purge (2013)

Posted on 06/05/13 by editor
The Purge (Ethan Hawke)

By Keri O’Shea Often times, the thing that makes or breaks a dystopian horror is its level of plausibility. Could we – honestly – foresee a scenario which at all resembles that which is depicted in our film? Is it all a little too close for comfort? It’s a fine line to walk though; too [...]

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Book Review: The Venus Complex by Barbie Wilde

Posted on 06/03/13 by UK Editor
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Review by Annie Riordan Serial killers. Are they born without conscience or compassion? Are they programmed in the womb, their DNA containing the propensity for inhuman violence? Are they made, forced into a monstrous mold by external stimuli like a square peg hammered into a round hole by a warped child? Is it a little [...]

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Review: World War Z (2013)

Posted on 06/03/13 by UK Editor
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Review by Stephanie Scaife I will to admit having extremely low expectations of World War Z when I went into this screening, despite the unexpected appearance of the one and only Mr. Brad Pitt to introduce the film and big it up to the audience. The troubled production had been widely reported with the release [...]

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DVD Review: Curandero – Dawn of the Demon (2005)

Posted on 05/31/13 by UK Editor
Curandero Dawn of the Demon Region 2

Review by Ben Bussey When a film is released to DVD almost eight years after it was made, it tends not to inspire a great deal of confidence. However, when said film has the names Robert Rodriguez, Carlos Gallardo and Harvey and Bob Weinstein attached, it also inspires at least a little curiosity. Such was [...]

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DVD Review: Dario Argento’s Dracula

Posted on 05/29/13 by editor
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By Keri O’Shea Bram Stoker’s Dracula was the direct antecedent of what is arguably the first horror film ever made, and in the best part of a century which has followed, it has remained a particularly fertile source for horror movie makers. By their very nature, the films which have followed have been variable; never, [...]

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DVD Review: Dr Alien (1989) and Auditions (1978)

Posted on 05/27/13 by UK Editor
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Review by Kit Rathenar CAUTION: NSFW Photos below. “Don’t you know it’s the eighties?!” Believe me when I say that between the music, the costumes, the haircuts, the cars, and the cinematography, I COULD TELL. I came away from David DeCoteau’s 1989 flick Dr Alien fairly certain that it was objectively dreadful, but not quite [...]

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DVD Review: Hidden Face (2011)

Posted on 05/20/13 by UK Editor
Hidden Face

Review by Stephanie Scaife Mild spoilers ahead. The Hidden Face – or La cara oculta, Bunker or Inside as it’s variously been released – is a Columbian psychological thriller directed by Andrés Baiz (Satan), and although it appears to have been doing the festival circuit for a couple of years it’s only now making its [...]

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The Dangerous World Outside – Sweet Tooth

Posted on 05/19/13 by UK Editor
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By Comix Sometimes, the strangest stories come from the most humble of people. What could at one moment be a sweet tale of childhood innocence can quickly turn into one of horror in a world a thousand miles beyond redemption. Sweet Tooth is exactly that kind of comic. It is a story of brutality and [...]

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DVD Review: Apartment 1303

Posted on 05/18/13 by editor
Apartment 1303 DVD Packshot

By Keri O’Shea As a general rule of thumb, I tend to avoid English language versions of J-horrors. Sure, the Far East has provided rich pickings for cautious filmmakers and those who fund them, but almost as soon as Ring happened, Japanese horror became a victim of its own success; no sooner had Sadako become [...]

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Book Review: The Tent – A Novella by Kealan Patrick Burke (2013)

Posted on 05/18/13 by UK Editor
tent

Review by Annie Riordan So I’m going camping this summer. Actually, I went camping last summer, but it doesn’t count because #1 – I didn’t know I was going camping and #2 – it turned into an epic clusterfuck, which ended with me wading through knee-high pools of rainwater in my pajamas in search of [...]

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Blu-Ray Review: Subspecies (1991) & Subspecies II: Bloodstone (1993)

Posted on 05/13/13 by UK Editor
subspecies

Review by Nia Edwards-Behi I confess to not being particularly familiar with Charles Band’s body of work. I know I’ve seen a Puppet Master film, but I couldn’t for the life of me tell you which one. All I know is that I didn’t like it, but I can’t remember why I didn’t like it, [...]

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Review: Zombieland – the Series

Posted on 05/13/13 by UK Editor
Zombieland series

Review by Mike Snoonian In the fall of 2009 Zombieland stormed cinemas, posing as the only credible threat to Shaun of the Dead’s claim for the best zombie comedy throne*. Featuring the best use of Bill Murray since Osmosis Jones Kingpin, crackerjack performances from its core cast (including a pre-Social Network Jesse Eisnenberg shedding the [...]

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DVD Review: Dead Mine (2012)

Posted on 05/12/13 by UK Editor
Dead Mine eOne DVD

Review by Ben Bussey One thing we can categorically state about Britsh writer-director Steven Sheil is that he is doing his utmost to avoid pigeonholing. Having made his name with the dingy kitchen-sink ordeal horror of Mum and Dad, which was set for almost the duration in a squalid two-up two-down in the shadow of [...]

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