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Baskin's fine, but you might have to turn up the brightness on your TV/monitor to see what the hell is going on.

The director was last seen making an apocalypse movie for kids.
 
Last night's dose of horror was Flight 666, available free to view on YouTube (or on Prime Video).
Well it starts off quite intriguingly and I must admit that there's nothing like a good creepy tale set on an aeroplane.
Sadly, this is nothing like a good creepy tale set on an aeroplane.
As the paranormal events become increasingly OTT, I found my attention beginning to wander.
Half way through there's something of a change in direction and a major plot hole.
Mind you don't cut yourself on the paper-thin stereotyped characters too (the camp air steward and square-jawed, muscle-headed air marshal being particularly egregious examples).
If the story doesn't grab you, I suppose you can play horror cliché bingo, ticking off the face in the mirror, white contact lenses, food turning to maggots, door that won't unlock, strobing lightning revealing a glimpse of something etc.

Cannot honestly rate it any higher than 3/10.

 
The House Next Door: A Possessed as distinct from a Haunted House. A new house is built in an exclusive area, a lovely young couple own it, a nice young architect designed it. But the architect is troubled, this was his first independent commission, now he seems to have lost his inspiration. Trouble soon befalls the new couple and other residents who follow them in occupying the house. Mostly psychological horror, people seem pushed to do things they normally wouldn't but also scenes of genuine horror. A TV set taken over to show films of past deaths, ghostly apparitions; gruesome suicides and murders occur. Directed by Jeff Woolhaugh. On SyFy Channel. 6/10.
 
It will definitely be interesting to see. I've always hoped someone would make a film based on King's short story The Long Walk.
Me too! .. I even cast it in my mind with Keith Gordon playing the president's son and his mate from Christine playing our hero .. and a certain Pink Floyd tune towards the end. It The Long Walk would be an exhausting film.

Stephen King’s The Long Walk Movie Adaptation Still Moving Forward
New Line Cinema's movie adaptation of Stephen King's dystopian book The Long Walk is still moving forward according to director André Ovredal.

BY COOPER HOODPUBLISHED NOV 04, 2020

https://screenrant.com/stephen-king-long-walk-movie-update/
 
Maniac (2012): A truly savage and disturbing horror film. Frank (Elijah Wood) is a serial killer who collects scalps to put on the antique mannequins he restores. His nefarious activities are interrupted by a photographer Anna (Nora Amezeder) who wants to use his dummies in an exhibition. Frank falls for her but things get complicated. Really graphic scenes of Frank staling, murdering and scalping his victims abound, He also suffers from hallucinations, talks to himself and his dead mother as well as to the mannequins. His actions are also driven by flashbacks to his past which he relives in real time. Some of the tropes aren't exactly used in an original way but the tension is maintained throughout Maniac with great performances from Wood and Amezeder. Directed by Frank Khalfoun from a screenplay by Alexandra Aja and Gregory Levasseur. On the Horror Channel. 7/10.
 
The remake of Maniac is a walk in the park compared to the scuzzy original. Joe Spinell was disturbing because he was really getting off on acting out murders of women. He loved the role. Elijah's too nice a guy for it.
 
The remake of Maniac is a walk in the park compared to the scuzzy original. Joe Spinell was disturbing because he was really getting off on acting out murders of women. He loved the role. Elijah's too nice a guy for it.

Agreed. Much preferred the original.
 
Priest exorcist warns public on the danger of patronizing horror films

An exorcist priest said patronizing horror films or films that deal with magic and witchcraft is “dangerous” as this could lead to possible demonic possession.


In a Facebook post, Father Ronnie E. Ablong of the Diocese of Dumaguete cited the young woman he has been exorcising as an example.

“I have been exorcising a young woman for many weeks now. Thirty-nine demons have already been cast out. Five of these demons come from the movies the demoniac had watched. The names of the demons are either the primary or secondary characters of these movies,” he said.

“First, Valak ,from the movie The Nun (2018). Second, Esme (Cullen), from the movie Twilight (2008). Third, Sylvia Ganush, from the movie Drag Me to Hell (2009). Fourth, Diana Walter, from the movie Lights Out (2016). And fifth, Annabelle, from the movie, Annabelle (2019),” added Ablong.

He also issued this warning:”Please do not mention or pronounce their names because doing so will empower them or you will be harassed.”

Ablong said the case is still ongoing and that he made his post to warn the public.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/05/priest-exorcist-warns-public-on-the-danger-of-patronizing-horror-films/

Edited to add: The good father recently also warned us that we were particularly susceptible to demonic possession while Covid was doing its thing.

maximus otter
 
This man of the cloth's touching warning seems to forget The Exorcist sent hundreds of thousands back to the bosom of the church, maybe more.
 
Review for FT magazine

New Blood
Critical Approaches to Contemporary Horror
Editor(s): Eddie Falvey Jonathan Wroot Joe Hickinbottom
Paperback - £45. eBook options - £45.

  • January 2021·288pages·216x138mm
  • ·Paperback - 9781786836342
  • ·eBook - epub - 9781786836366
  • ·eBook - mobi - 9781786836373
  • ·eBook - pdf - 9781786836359

Horror has managed to retain its position as one of the most profitable Film (and TV) Genres. Even with the onslaught of the Covid-19 Virus it has thrived online through Netflix, Amazon, Hulu etc. While established studios have used Zombies, Vampires, Ghosts and Murderers as protagonists, Independent filmmakers with miniscule to moderate budgets have produced phenomenal returns; eg - ParanormaL activities and Saw franchises. The more truly independent minded films such as Get Out, Green Room, Raw, The Witch are of interest to the essayists in this collection. Even the Halloween (2018) and It (2017) reboots are referenced. Revisionist twists allow The Final Girl so endemic in the Slasher trope to strike back in The Final Girl (2015), Happy Death Day (2017) and in the Halloween reboot. The New Horror in TV could be seen to have begin with True Blood, using allegories based on Gay (God Hates Fangs!) and Racial oppression, moving on to the Existential Tewrror of The Walking Dead (perhaps inspired by the 2008 economic crash), American Horror Story (Satire at it's best) and Black Mirror utilising more British approach. Twelve essays range from The New Independent Prestige Horror, to Streaming Netflix Original Horror to an appraisal of the work and reputation of Takashi Miike.

Abigail Whittall looks at the history of Nazi Horror and how it has been reimagined. The first Nazi Horror flick was Revenge of the Zombies (1943), a Nazi scientist raising an army of the undead for the Third Reich. There was a hiatus until The Frozen Dead (1966), moving on to the more sophisticated Death Ship (1980) and The Keep (1983). The modern approach was exemplified in Hellboy (2004), The Devil's Rock (2011), Frankenstein's Army (2013) and Overlord (2018); all of these involve the Ahnenerbe the SS Institute for the study of the Occult and Ancient Archeology). Dead Snow (2009), OutPost (2008) and Frostbite (2006) could be seen as effective horror but thematically as throwbacks to older films.

Thomas Joseph Watson's analysis of Green Room (2016) puts it the context of Hardcore Punk and Subcultural violence. Very much an allegorical film: "the actual"horrors" of Green Room are positioned within contexts of angry, racist ideology and the escalating violence which is created". The violence is all too real though when the Punk band witness a murder in the Neo-Nazi owned venue and the eponymous green room comes under siege. The irony is that the nazi leader Darcy Banker (Patrick Stewart) is more concerned about how this will affect his heroin business rather than any political ideology. Green Room is really a product of director Jeremy Saunier's own experiences as part of the Washington D.C. Punk and Hardcore scenes.

Eddie Falvey considers Contemporary Body Horror in Revisiting The Female Monster. How Werewolves and Vampires can be found to be fundamentally sexed, imparting ideas about social and sexual difference. This is illustrated (though differently through Teeth (2007) in which a teenager uses her vagina dentata to defend herself. Aa one reviewer put it: "Teeth s hilarious IMO. She turns into a dick biting superhero in the end". Falvey also examines Raw (2016), It follows (2014) and Contracted (2013).

An interesting collection aimed more towards an academic audience.

7/10.
 
Review for FT magazine

New Blood
Critical Approaches to Contemporary Horror
Editor(s): Eddie Falvey Jonathan Wroot Joe Hickinbottom
Paperback - £45. eBook options - £45.

  • January 2021·288pages·216x138mm
  • ·Paperback - 9781786836342
  • ·eBook - epub - 9781786836366
  • ·eBook - mobi - 9781786836373
  • ·eBook - pdf - 9781786836359

Horror has managed to retain its position as one of the most profitable Film (and TV) Genres. Even with the onslaught of the Covid-19 Virus it has thrived online through Netflix, Amazon, Hulu etc. While established studios have used Zombies, Vampires, Ghosts and Murderers as protagonists, Independent filmmakers with miniscule to moderate budgets have produced phenomenal returns; eg - ParanormaL activities and Saw franchises. The more truly independent minded films such as Get Out, Green Room, Raw, The Witch are of interest to the essayists in this collection. Even the Halloween (2018) and It (2017) reboots are referenced. Revisionist twists allow The Final Girl so endemic in the Slasher trope to strike back in The Final Girl (2015), Happy Death Day (2017) and in the Halloween reboot. The New Horror in TV could be seen to have begin with True Blood, using allegories based on Gay (God Hates Fangs!) and Racial oppression, moving on to the Existential Tewrror of The Walking Dead (perhaps inspired by the 2008 economic crash), American Horror Story (Satire at it's best) and Black Mirror utilising more British approach. Twelve essays range from The New Independent Prestige Horror, to Streaming Netflix Original Horror to an appraisal of the work and reputation of Takashi Miike.

Abigail Whittall looks at the history of Nazi Horror and how it has been reimagined. The first Nazi Horror flick was Revenge of the Zombies (1943), a Nazi scientist raising an army of the undead for the Third Reich. There was a hiatus until The Frozen Dead (1966), moving on to the more sophisticated Death Ship (1980) and The Keep (1983). The modern approach was exemplified in Hellboy (2004), The Devil's Rock (2011), Frankenstein's Army (2013) and Overlord (2018); all of these involve the Ahnenerbe the SS Institute for the study of the Occult and Ancient Archeology). Dead Snow (2009), OutPost (2008) and Frostbite (2006) could be seen as effective horror but thematically as throwbacks to older films.

Thomas Joseph Watson's analysis of Green Room (2016) puts it the context of Hardcore Punk and Subcultural violence. Very much an allegorical film: "the actual"horrors" of Green Room are positioned within contexts of angry, racist ideology and the escalating violence which is created". The violence is all too real though when the Punk band witness a murder in the Neo-Nazi owned venue and the eponymous green room comes under siege. The irony is that the nazi leader Darcy Banker (Patrick Stewart) is more concerned about how this will affect his heroin business rather than any political ideology. Green Room is really a product of director Jeremy Saunier's own experiences as part of the Washington D.C. Punk and Hardcore scenes.

Eddie Falvey considers Contemporary Body Horror in Revisiting The Female Monster. How Werewolves and Vampires can be found to be fundamentally sexed, imparting ideas about social and sexual difference. This is illustrated (though differently through Teeth (2007) in which a teenager uses her vagina dentata to defend herself. Aa one reviewer put it: "Teeth s hilarious IMO. She turns into a dick biting superhero in the end". Falvey also examines Raw (2016), It follows (2014) and Contracted (2013).

An interesting collection aimed more towards an academic audience.

7/10.

I rewrote the review to make it more relevant to FT readers.

New Blood
Critical Approaches to Contemporary Horror
Eddie Falvey, Jonathan Wroot & Joe Hickinbottom, eds
University of Wales Press 2021
Pb, 288pp, £45, ISBN 9781786836342

New Blood sets out to survey Horror Films made since the turn of the millenium. While it's emphasis is on new independent films it acknowleges the contribution of established studios. The synergy between the two sectors has allowed the Horror Genre to maintain it's pre-eminent position in old and new media.Twelve essays range from “The New Independent Prestige Horror” to “Streaming Netflix Original Horror” to an appraisal of the work and reputation of Takashi Miike.

The editors argue that revisionist twists allow the Final Girl protagonist (so endemic in Slasher movies) to strike back in The Final Girl (2015), Happy Death Day (2017) and the Halloween reboot. This emphasis on female empowerment is built on by Eddie Falvey in Revisiting The Femae Monster showing how werewolves and vampires can be found to be fundamentally sexed, imparting ideas about social and sexual difference. Taking an even more Fortean twist she illustrates her thesis through Teeth (2007) in which a teenager uses her vagina dentata to defend herself.

The editors suggest the new horror in TV began with True Blood, using allegories based on gay (God Hates Fangs!) oppression, moving on to the existential terror of The Walking Dead (inspired by the 2008 economic crash) and Black Mirror, utilising a more British approach.
Of most interest to Forteans will be Abigail Whittall's essay on the history of Nazi Horror and how it has been reimagined. The modern approach was exemplified in Hellboy (2004), The Devil's Rock (2011), Frankenstein's Army (2013) and Overlord (2018); all of these involve scientists and archeologists from the Ahnenerbe, the SS institute which promoted Nazi racial doctrines through archæological research. Mixing the scientific with the Occult.

Thomas Joseph Watson’s analysis of Green Room (2016) puts it in the context of hardcore punk and subcultural violence. It’s very much an allegorical film though the violence becomes real when the punk band witness a murder in the Neo-Nazi owned venue and the eponymous room comes under siege. The irony is that the Nazi leader is more concerned about how this will affect his heroin business rather than any political ideology.

An interesting collection but very much aimed towards an academic audience. It achieves it's purpose in presenting a review of the mutations in Tropes and Films made since 2000 but it's main attraction to Forteans will be bringing fresh films to their attention.

Páiric O’Corráin
3/5
 
The Block Island Sound: A horror film which largely depends on a foreboding atmosphere and a sense of psychological threat rather than too much gore. There are scenes where the dead seem to have risen but these may be hallucinations or apparitions only visible to one observer. Nevertheless information is imparted by them and commands delivered. Set on an off-coast Island, large scale fish kills bring a marine biologist back to the home she has been avoiding. There is family drama/conflict involved but it mostly rises above the soap level. You also get evidence of parasites controlling humans and animals. The presence of a conspiracy theorist on the island and his influence on one of the main protagonists drives the film's narrative. Written, Directed and Produced by Kevin McManus and Matthew McManus. On Netflix. 7/10.
 
Priest exorcist warns public on the danger of patronizing horror films

An exorcist priest said patronizing horror films or films that deal with magic and witchcraft is “dangerous” as this could lead to possible demonic possession.


In a Facebook post, Father Ronnie E. Ablong of the Diocese of Dumaguete cited the young woman he has been exorcising as an example.

“I have been exorcising a young woman for many weeks now. Thirty-nine demons have already been cast out. Five of these demons come from the movies the demoniac had watched. The names of the demons are either the primary or secondary characters of these movies,” he said.

“First, Valak ,from the movie The Nun (2018). Second, Esme (Cullen), from the movie Twilight (2008). Third, Sylvia Ganush, from the movie Drag Me to Hell (2009). Fourth, Diana Walter, from the movie Lights Out (2016). And fifth, Annabelle, from the movie, Annabelle (2019),” added Ablong.

He also issued this warning:”Please do not mention or pronounce their names because doing so will empower them or you will be harassed.”

Ablong said the case is still ongoing and that he made his post to warn the public.

https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/05/priest-exorcist-warns-public-on-the-danger-of-patronizing-horror-films/

Edited to add: The good father recently also warned us that we were particularly susceptible to demonic possession while Covid was doing its thing.

maximus otter
Is it just me or are most of these 'demons' fictional characters
 
I know there are classic horror movies such as Hitchcock’s Psycho shower scenes, and the stomach popping Alien,

but the one that did me in was Jaws.

I will not get into the ocean because of that movie.
 
Feedback: Mundane rather than Mondo horror but very violent. A crusading talk show host (Eddie Marsden) has been physically attacked and other station employees threatened over his investigations. His boss wants him to tone things down and persuades him to let his ex Ex co-host shockjock (Paul Anderson) appear on the show. Things start to go wrong pretty quickly as the station is taken over by two masked men who want Marsden to ask Anderson pointed questions online. Savagery ensues, the least of which is an attempt to cut off one of Marsden's fingers. Though the gory horror is extreme - battered to death with a sledge hammer, burned alive; the psychological horror also comes to the fore. The tension rises and characters become more psychotic as more secrets are revealed from an incident which occurred years before. Not a film you'll forget in a hurry and it'll keep yu wondering about hat really happened all of those years ago. Great performances from Marsden, Anderson and Ivana Baquero as a production assistant. Written & Directed by Pedro C. Alonso. Streaming free at: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/feedback 8/10.
 
Coven Of Sisters: Set in the Basque country in 1609, very much in the mould of Witchfinder General but far darker. A Witchfinder along with his scribe, interrogator (torturer) and platoon of soldiers is progressing along the coast, seeking out Witches and Heretics. So far they have burned seventy seven women at the stake along with three Parish Priests who were found wanting. The Witchfinder Rostegul (Alex Brendermuhl) wants to observe an actual black Sabbath, in the next village six teenage girls are arrested, having been denounced as Witches, he wants to force them to reveal their Demonic secrets. but of course they have none. The brightest among them, Ana (Amala Aberasturi) tries to trick the Inquisitor, pretending to chant the Black Mass when is she in fact singing Basque folk songs, the other girls join in. Their intent is to delay their executions until the men of the village return from sea who will then fight off the Witchfinder's men. There are disturbing scenes of torture but more is implied than actually shown. The real horror is psychological as the girls as the girls are thrown into a dark cell, not knowing what they are accused of. Rostegul twists their words to imply guilt, even what they haven't said is used to incriminate them. But Anna along with some older women use the Inquisitor's fanaticism against him, keeping his interest and postponing her fate as Scheherazade did. A savage film which you'll remember and mull over longer after the end credits have rolled. Directed by Pablo Aguero, Screenplay by Pablo Aguero and Katell Guillou. On Netflix. 8/10.
 
Hospital: Taiwanese Demon/Angry Ghost film. Two psychics bring two women on ghost tour of an abandoned hospital, both lost loved ones there. In fact the hospital was noted for unexplained deaths and suicides. The psychics use folk magic, Yin water Corpse water to summon up the spirits women's dead relatives. Things do not go smoothly and it is soon clear that a darker spirit is present in the hospital. The elder psychic is possessed by a Demon. Very dark, both in camera filters and narrative development. Ghosts appear but there are also flashbacks you what happened when the hospital was open. Ghosts in the present attack people with lancets, levitate, try to get their victims to defenestrate themselves. A strange child mannequin is wheeled about by a ghost while the Demon invokes visions of Hell and headless dead. The film is confusing at times and there are a few plot twists. Directed by Chu Chia-lin. On Netflix. 6/10.
 
Coven of Evil: Low budget English horror film, mostly filmed o the Yorkshire Moors. Opens in 1798 with a Occult sacrifice during a total eclipse of the Sun, a Gateway is opened. Flash forward to the present day and a young journalist who has written an article about a local (supposedly) Wiccan Coven is mocked by their High Priestess but is invited to observe an actual ritual. His journey to their house is itself a bit of a ritual as he has to seek directions from a Benny (Crossroads) type character. Things get complicated when he reaches the Coven's farmhouse as ends up participating in the Ritual and gets involved with Priestess's sister. An interesting story but the pace is a bit uneven and not all of the acting is great. The horror is there though with sacrifices, throats cut, cannibalism and the bleakness of the Moors. Especially the sacrifice site, a natural outcrop but it resembles Standing Stones. It could easily have lost 10 minutes from it's 100 minute running time. Written & Directed by Matthew Lawrence. On YouTube pay to view. 6/10.
 
Here Comes Hell: Horror Comedy, a pastiche of 1930s films. People assemble for a a dinner party in a semi-derelict stately pile recently purchased by a gormless chap who has inherited his father's loot. An American oil heir travelling by train to the meet up is warned by a fellow passenger about a previous occupant of the house, an Occultist who scared the local yokels. The dinner party host has the spiffing idea of hiring a Medium who will lead a Seance to contact the Occultist. Things go wrong and Demons are set loose. Great scenes of possession, fingers bitten off, heads half destroyed with bullets but the possessed keep coming. Every cliche in the book is milked for laugh. An entertaining romp. Written & Directed by Jack McHenry. Streaming free at: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/here-comes-hell 6/10.
 
Coven Of Sisters: Set in the Basque country in 1609, very much in the mould of Witchfinder General but far darker. A Witchfinder along with his scribe, interrogator (torturer) and platoon of soldiers is progressing along the coast, seeking out Witches and Heretics. So far they have burned seventy seven women at the stake along with three Parish Priests who were found wanting. The Witchfinder Rostegul (Alex Brendermuhl) wants to observe an actual black Sabbath, in the next village six teenage girls are arrested, having been denounced as Witches, he wants to force them to reveal their Demonic secrets. but of course they have none. The brightest among them, Ana (Amala Aberasturi) tries to trick the Inquisitor, pretending to chant the Black Mass when is she in fact singing Basque folk songs, the other girls join in. Their intent is to delay their executions until the men of the village return from sea who will then fight off the Witchfinder's men. There are disturbing scenes of torture but more is implied than actually shown. The real horror is psychological as the girls as the girls are thrown into a dark cell, not knowing what they are accused of. Rostegul twists their words to imply guilt, even what they haven't said is used to incriminate them. But Anna along with some older women use the Inquisitor's fanaticism against him, keeping his interest and postponing her fate as Scheherazade did. A savage film which you'll remember and mull over longer after the end credits have rolled. Directed by Pablo Aguero, Screenplay by Pablo Aguero and Katell Guillou. On Netflix. 8/10.

Watched it last night.
Agree that it does feel somewhat like a Basque spiritual successor to Witchfinder General.
Some great cinematography, strikingly vivid scenes and some dark humour thrown in - loved the bit where the accused was asked to describe the appearance of el diablo and she described her interrogator to a tee!
I struggled a bit to configure the language options. I can follow Spanish well enough to watch a movie in its original version, but don't know a word of Basque. The English dubbing only extended to the Spanish dialogue, so I had to resort to subtitles (which slightly irritatingly came with descriptive text) for everything.
Language issues aside, it was highly watchable and 8/10 is a fair rating.
 
Ben Wheatley's newest, In The Earth:
As the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the forest for a routine equipment run. Through the night, their journey becomes a terrifying voyage through the heart of darkness, the forest coming to life around them. Written and Directed by Ben Wheatley Starring Joel Fry, Ellora Torchia, Reece Shearsmith, and Hayley Squires
 
Teeing up In The Earth and Coven of Sisters for later viewing. Both sound well tasty. Thanks for the recs, lads.
 
This looks like a good 'un:
Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together – but then nightmares come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into her husband’s belongings, yearning for answers. What she finds are secrets both strange and disturbing – a mystery she’s determined to unravel. THE NIGHT HOUSE stars Rebecca Hall (HOLMES & WATSON, CHRISTINE), Sarah Goldberg (Barry, Elementary), Vondie Curtis Hall (DIE HARD 2, EVE’S BAYOU), Evan Jonigkeit (Togetherish, Sweetbitter), and Stacy Martin (VOX LUX, NYMPHOMANIAC).
 
Beneath (2013): Teens and a lake, we've been here before, this film even has the stock characters: jock, geek, blonde who wants to be an actress. But they don't face a slasher, shark or crocodile. No! Their nemesis is a Giant Catfish! They even have an old man warning them not to cross the lake by boat. Some good scenes of the catfish attacking the boat, biting off limbs, eating people alive. Sometimes the model fish looks real, sometimes it's risible. The film takes a darker turn as the teens fall out and there are a couple of plot twists. Directed by Larry Fessenden. On Netflix. 6/10.
 
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