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The Invitation: Evie is a struggling New York ceramicist, unable to survive on an artist's income she caters at events as she tries to finish her MFA. At one event she gets a goodie bag with a free DNA Test. The results show that she has English relatives who are well off. A cousin pays for her to come to England to attend a family reunion in Whitby where they are all attending the wedding of their aristocratic acquaintance and patron, Walter DeVille. If we hadn't been forewarned by the prequel we would still reckon there was something creepy about DeVilles stately manor, given the paintings and sculptures, the way the internal gloom counterpoised the gleaming stone exterior. A creepy butler appears to play a part in the disappearance of waitresses hired to cater for the wedding. Wonder eerie cobweb encrusted wine cellars and a dark library room provide the perfect locations for attacks where we can't quite make out the assailant. As the narrative unfolds the nature of the attacker becomes clearer and the horror scenes are more explicit, Some gore is spilled but more is saved. while yiu might guess as to what's going on from an early stage I'll refrain from spoilers here. The mansion itself is virtually a character as are it's environs with some vivid overhead shots of dancing. not really original but it does try a new angle on an old trope, a romance as well as a horror story, it's well worth a viewing. Directed by Jessica M. Thompson, written by Blair Butler. 7/10.

In cinemas.
 
I am not sure it is strictly a horror film but Paper House is a film that sticks in my memory. It is a British film made in 1988 and is a story of a young girl who draws a picture of a house which she subsequently sees in her dreams or subconcious. Quite Fortean settings with the strange house set in a stone circle. I just did a search and it is on Amazon Prime so may take another looks and see if it is as interesting as I remember!
 
Vampyres: A remake of the 1974 film. Not great and a bit disjointed. Two Vampire sirens live in an old dilapidated house, they seduce or ambush their victims in the woods. There are plenty of throats slashed with knives (these vampires don't have sharp canines) and victims being hung upside down so that the blood drinkers may bathe in their blood. The plot really could be more coherent but the vampire lore and their hunting methods are entertaining if you are a horror fan, not for the squeamish though. There's also a victim who strikes back with a crossbow. Instead of villagers in the inn giving warnings we have women who run a B&B who caution travelers. Just about worth watching. Directed & written by Víctor Matellano. On Netflix. 5/10.
 
Hatching: Finnish Horror Film about yet another unhappy family, unhappy in it's own way. Very dark a Tinja (Siiri Solalinna), a 12 year old gymnast is literally henpecked by her influencer mother (Sophia Heikkilä) who has to present he perfect family in her vlog. The truth is rather different as the mother lives vicariously through Tinja's gymnastic progress, the pushy mother from hell. Tinja develops a monstrous alter-ego as a an egg hatches. This monster lives under her bed and in her closet. Plenty of metaphors here dealing with everything from adolescent rage to unfaithfulness. The monster in both it's avian and "human" guises is terrifying and disturbing. Made all the more so as it is presented through prosthesis, make up and puppetry rather than CG effects. Elements of extreme body horror and some good jump shocks add to an aura of strangeness which will leave you shell-shocked. Directed by Hanna Bergholm, written by Ilja Rautsi. 8/10.

In cinemas.
 
Bodies Bodies Bodies: Horror/Black Comedy with elements of slapstick but even with these the chuckle might die in your throat. There are some plot twists which I can't reveal but you will be entertained by this tale of mostly spoiled brats. A game of Bodies, Bodies, Bodies starts to go wrong as they quarrel among each other, the low level violence of a drinking game worsens. Suddenly a real dead body is discovered and it looks as if one of the survivors must be the killer. The house is isolated due to a storm and the power is off. The body count and jokes mount but there is real tension and paranoia her as the group disintegrates. Not particularly original but the drama is well maintained. Directed by Halina Reijn in her English-language debut. Written by Sarah DeLappe. 7/10.

In cinemas.
 
Smile: The idea of a chain curse, spread from person to person is a well worn trope, it's how Smile approaches the idea makes it a well worth watching film. Rose (Sosie Bacon) is a doctor in an Emergency Psychiatric Unit, working long hours, you can see how tired she is. she assesses a patient, Laura (Cautlin Stasey), who is seeing entities, suddenly Laura starts smiling and cuts her own throat. Rose discovers that Laura had also witnessed a suicide only days before. This sets her off on a quest for patient zero or someone who has broken the chain. with the help of her ex, Joel (Kyle Gallner) who is a detective. The chain of smiling suicides stretches way back. There are some good jump scares in Smile, a lot of the horror scenes take place in her reveries where she sees terrible visions. Flashbacks to her youth and her mentally troubled mother in a distorted form also happen in these day-nightmares. There is also the psychological horror of Rose's disintegrating personality, she has no insight into her behaviour or how it is perceived by others. Smile's 115 minute running time is fully justified as the narrative unfolds. Written and Directed by Parker Finn (in his feature directorial debut), based on his 2020 short film Laura Hasn't Slept. 8.5/10.

In cinemas
 
Smile: The idea of a chain curse, spread from person to person is a well worn trope, it's how Smile approaches the idea makes it a well worth watching film. Rose (Sosie Bacon) is a doctor in an Emergency Psychiatric Unit, working long hours, you can see how tired she is. she assesses a patient, Laura (Cautlin Stasey), who is seeing entities, suddenly Laura starts smiling and cuts her own throat. Rose discovers that Laura had also witnessed a suicide only days before. This sets her off on a quest for patient zero or someone who has broken the chain. with the help of her ex, Joel (Kyle Gallner) who is a detective. The chain of smiling suicides stretches way back. There are some good jump scares in Smile, a lot of the horror scenes take place in her reveries where she sees terrible visions. Flashbacks to her youth and her mentally troubled mother in a distorted form also happen in these day-nightmares. There is also the psychological horror of Rose's disintegrating personality, she has no insight into her behaviour or how it is perceived by others. Smile's 115 minute running time is fully justified as the narrative unfolds. Written and Directed by Parker Finn (in his feature directorial debut), based on his 2020 short film Laura Hasn't Slept. 8.5/10.

In cinemas
Perfect timing @ramonmercado :). It's playing at my local and I was wondering if it is worth the time.
 
I am not sure it is strictly a horror film but Paper House is a film that sticks in my memory. It is a British film made in 1988 and is a story of a young girl who draws a picture of a house which she subsequently sees in her dreams or subconcious. Quite Fortean settings with the strange house set in a stone circle. I just did a search and it is on Amazon Prime so may take another looks and see if it is as interesting as I remember!
I'll look out for that on Prime, been a long time since renting it on VHS. There was a children's TV series (Escape into the Night) in early 1970s based on the book, which I was greatly taken by (although I was 12 it was still a bit spooky - unusual for kids TV today maybe, but not then).
 
Old People: A dark German film, while it is thematically similar to Mom and Dad, it;s darkness is not leavened by the black humour of that film. It does involve social commentary though of a realistic rather than satirical form. Old people are left on their own in flats with limited home help, dumped in inadequately staffed nursing homes. The film begins in an urban area with an old man rising from his wheelchair and battering his carer to death with an oxygen bottle, even the innocent will suffer, In the distance we see fires raging in a city, signs of the elders revolt. Most of the action takes place in a rural area and while there some soapish strands to the story it is an engaging narrative. Mostly the elderly target anyone younger, there are some exceptions where familial ties stay their hands. Mostly they resemble Zombies the the way they gather together, surrounding and attacking houses. Some savage scenes of horror as younger people are torn apart, axed, battered to death, The film might have worked better with 10 minutes shaved off it's 101 minute running time but it's certainly worth watching even if it's message is delivered with a heavy hand. Directed & written by Andy Fetscher. On Netflix. 7/10.
 
Old People: A dark German film, while it is thematically similar to Mom and Dad, it;s darkness is not leavened by the black humour of that film. It does involve social commentary though of a realistic rather than satirical form. Old people are left on their own in flats with limited home help, dumped in inadequately staffed nursing homes.
OMG! I think they filmed this in Canada. Sadly, this is a society issue here.
 
THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST

Two young women move into a New York apartment which turns out to have been owned by... Jeffery Epstein!
One begins a lesbian relationship with a conspiracy theorist who is determined to find out who killed Epstein, the other becomes possessed by a 13yo and begins masturbating over pictures of Prince Andrew! So yeah, this low budget film directed by and starring Dasha Nekrasova has proved very divisive. It exploits a still-in-the-news story, but it is exploitative for the sake of it? For me, no. It's certainly a cut above an exorcise in cheap trash. 8/10 On Shudder & Blu Ray.

THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER

Joanna Hogg follows her Souvenir movies with this gothic ghost story. A mother and daughter (both played by Tilda Swinton) check into a grand hotel, in which there's a perpetual fog outside and they appear to be the only guests. As it goes on, the story is more concerned with their relationship then any haunting, but it's still quite effective. 8/10 Playing at festivals.
 
Halloween Kills: Let There Be Blood! Needless to say Michael Myers survived the fire in the previous film and sets forth once again on a path of mayhem and murder. But it's not just Michael who goes wild, Simpsonsesque mobs charge around a hospital seeking Michael, determined that te evil will die that night. Hysteria and victimisation are subtly dealt with in this film even if the determination of Myers' surviving victims to kill him is justified. A gory film, Michael slays firefighters using a Halligan Bar, then turns their own tools on them , including an angle grider cutting into a head. Stabbings abound as does eye-gouging and impaling. Some really disturbing scenes with a more than adequate number of jump shocks. The tension is generally maintained throughout but two scenes could have been edited: the mob charging around the hospital; the survivors at the start of the film reminiscing about 1978 in the local bar. Maybe ten minutes cold have been shaved off the running time. The film also flips back to 1978 at times, revealing new facts about what took place then. Apart from that nothing really original but it's a satisfying slasher flick. Directed & Co-written by David Gordon Green. 7/10.

Halloween Ends: October 2022, Michael is back in more ways than one but so is the other person who can't be killed - Laurie (Jamie Lee curtis). She's bought a house in town where she lives with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), both suffer from survivors guilt to some extent, this is worsened by locals blaming them for provoking Myers and drawing him to Haddonfield, A new character, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), accidentally killed a boy he was babysitting at Halloween 2019 after the boy played a prank, he was acquitted of manslaughter but many locals regard him as a psycho. Laurie comes to his aid when he is being bullied by teens and ensures he carries out an act of revenge. tHings turn strange after this, it;s not just that Myers returns, it;s how he does it, Plenty of jump scares but again it's how they unfold and the disturbing way in which people are murdered and maimed that delivers the main shocks. Blood flows, limbs fly off, a DJ gets in the grovve oe part of him does. Corey and Allyson form an attachment as the mayhem ensues throughout Haddonfield as midnight on Halloween approaches. Laurie must take up arms once more against her death defying foe. Much better than a lot of reviews and peeved fans would suggest, the tension is well maintained. But does Halloween really end here? Directed by David Gordon Green and written by Green, Danny McBride, Paul Brad Logan, and Chris Bernier. On Peacock and in cinemas. 7.5/10.
 
Halloween Ends: October 2022, Michael is back in more ways than one but so is the other person who can't be killed - Laurie (Jamie Lee curtis). She's bought a house in town where she lives with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), both suffer from survivors guilt to some extent, this is worsened by locals blaming them for provoking Myers and drawing him to Haddonfield, A new character, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), accidentally killed a boy he was babysitting at Halloween 2019 after the boy played a prank, he was acquitted of manslaughter but many locals regard him as a psycho. Laurie comes to his aid when he is being bullied by teens and ensures he carries out an act of revenge. tHings turn strange after this, it;s not just that Myers returns, it;s how he does it, Plenty of jump scares but again it's how they unfold and the disturbing way in which people are murdered and maimed that delivers the main shocks. Blood flows, limbs fly off, a DJ gets in the grovve oe part of him does. Corey and Allyson form an attachment as the mayhem ensues throughout Haddonfield as midnight on Halloween approaches. Laurie must take up arms once more against her death defying foe. Much better than a lot of reviews and peeved fans would suggest, the tension is well maintained. But does Halloween really end here? Directed by David Gordon Green and written by Green, Danny McBride, Paul Brad Logan, and Chris Bernier. On Peacock and in cinemas. 7.5/10.
Weird. I swear you posted this a couple of days ago. Did you post it on another thread @ramonmercado?
 
Candy Land: A group of sex-workers live in a motel at a truck stop in Montana. The corrupt local Sheriff deals with any problems and only hits on the sole male hustler, Levi, for freebies. The lives of the women and man are not sugarcoated, the grim reality of the acts they perform and dangers they face is graphically portrayed, the alternative being minimum wage jobs. In one disturbing scene Levi is brutally assaulted by a client. The women are mildly amused by members of a religious cult who want them to repent but when a teen girl runs away from the sect they take her in. Thus is very much a slasher film as mutilated bodies start to pile up. some being the girl's customers, others seemingly killed at random. Some interesting plot twists and a lot of gore with shocking scenes of murder, mayhem and mutilation. This is all just blood off a victim's back to horror fans but be warned! The slasher has an intriguing weapon of choice which fits in well with this tale of old time religion meeting up with sex-workers. Directed and Written by John Swab. 7.5/10.

Saw it at Horrorthon.
 
Anybody tried the horror film identification game?

There are 30 horror films referenced in this image.
fxmb0.jpg



Answer key at link.
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/236123/identify-all-horror-movies-in-this-image
I got 27/30. Chuffed.
 
Terrifier: A very low budget, $35, 000, slasher film, which does a lot with that paltry amount. Art is an Evil Clown, a serial Killer. We observe him stalking his victims, first just miming, playacting, one of his soon to be victims even says "he's harmless". It's this miming which is eo terrifying as he hams it up as he kills, rides around on a little bike, sounds a horn. The murders themselves are brutal as he cuts victims in half, decapitates them., tortures his prey. Be warned that there is not just gore but it is all graphically portrayed. Oh, he's also a cannibal clown, literally eats the face off people. Of course some of those he slays make stupid decisions but you might too if you were trapped in a run down building. The action mostly takes place in an alleyway, a diner and a derelict warehouse, the last of which provides an atmosphere of panic and dread, the tension is well maintained. I won't reveal the opening sequence, I'll leave that for you to enjoy. Written, produced, and directed by Damien Leone. A sequel has just been released, Showing on Legend and the Horror channels. 7/10.
 
Barbarian: Three narrative strands eventually coalesce to create an enthralling tale of terror. The plot line involving a Tv star is heavy on black humoir as he is a terrible cad; the double-booked Airbnb swiftly descends into a tale of terror and the 1980 sequence ties it all together. We have a tale of basements within basements, a tunnel complex containing cages. But who lives there? You get quite a few of the standard horror tropes but they're deftly handled here. Underground no one can here you scream. Characters make unwise decisions but yiu can sort of understand that ihey act through empathy rather than being stupid. Some grim scenes with heads bashed in and limbs ripped off. The dead, abandoned suburbs of Chicago are vividly displayed, police showing indifference to someone they take to be street person. An engaging horror thriller which doesn't sacrifice plot consistency for a few more shocks. Written and Directed by Zach Cregger. 8/10.

In cinemas.
 
Hellhole: Poland 1957. a priest is shot dead by police just as he is about to slay a baby in the belief that it is the Antichrist. 1987, a policeman, Marek, disguised as a priest enters a monastery to investigate disappearances in the area. It is a grim place, no electricity, dark damp corridors, terrible food, Spartan cells. It serves as an asylum for the possessed and the Prior swiftly gets Marek to assist in an exorcism, the possessed woman appears to channel a demon, a crucifix bursts into flames. Marek undertakes a clandestine search of the Priors office and finds evidence that a scam is going on. But this is just the start of a journey which will put not just his life but his very soul at risk. Cannibalism, levitation. mad Manichean Monks, gruesome murders, human sacrifice and violence. A detailed ritual is also carried out to summon the Devil to Earth. Yiu'll need a strong stomach to last out this dark Polish horror film, definitely not for the squeamish or fainthearted. Plenty of plot twists as the narrative unfolds leading on to a brilliant ending. Hail Satan! Directed & Co-Written. by Bartosz M. Kowalski. On Netflix. 7.5/10.
 
Hellhole: Poland 1957. a priest is shot dead by police just as he is about to slay a baby in the belief that it is the Antichrist. 1987, a policeman, Marek, disguised as a priest enters a monastery to investigate disappearances in the area. It is a grim place, no electricity, dark damp corridors, terrible food, Spartan cells. It serves as an asylum for the possessed and the Prior swiftly gets Marek to assist in an exorcism, the possessed woman appears to channel a demon, a crucifix bursts into flames. Marek undertakes a clandestine search of the Priors office and finds evidence that a scam is going on. But this is just the start of a journey which will put not just his life but his very soul at risk. Cannibalism, levitation. mad Manichean Monks, gruesome murders, human sacrifice and violence. A detailed ritual is also carried out to summon the Devil to Earth. Yiu'll need a strong stomach to last out this dark Polish horror film, definitely not for the squeamish or fainthearted. Plenty of plot twists as the narrative unfolds leading on to a brilliant ending. Hail Satan! Directed & Co-Written. by Bartosz M. Kowalski. On Netflix. 7.5/10.
I liked this one, though, near the end there were some scenes that I just found funny and was amused by.
 
Watched the psychological horror "Wolf" last night on Sky cinema.

This 2021 Film Ireland movie is based around the genuine psychological disorder of species dysphoria, sufferers of which are convinced that they possess the spirit of an animal but born into a human body.
The central character Jacob (George Mackay) puts in a sympathetic performance, as he struggles not to give into his lupine urgings. Cue lots of scenes of semi-naked Jacob padding around on all fours, snarling and howling. The mental institution Jacob finds himself in rang faint echoes of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next and the sadistic doctor (or "zookeeper") played by the ever dependable Paddy Considine, seemed to be channelling Nurse Ratched on more than one occasion. Jacob's fellow patients (or inmates) are a collection of young people convinced they are a parrot, horse, dog, spider, squirrel, duck, bear and wildcat. The latter, played by Lily-Rose Depp, provides the love interest. As the bad doctor's brutal aversion therapy becomes increasingly OTT, you may struggle to suspend your disbelief. Whilst a supposedly serious topic, there is no real character development here and the inmates' antics felt rather like some am-dram team-building exercise where the participants are asked to pretend to be animals for 5 minutes.
Still, strong performances by Mackay, Depp and Considine just about held my interest for the 90 or so minutes, until I was outrageously short-changed by the non-ending. I guess it was meant to be allegorical social commentary that humans are the nastiest animals of all. Not convinced that it succeeds in that goal though.
It's 15 rated, due to several uncomfortable scenes of abuse and some of a sexual nature (Ms Depp gets her puppies out and gives Jacob a paw-job).
Wolf was a huge box-office flop, with a budget of between $2 and $3 million but only taking around $150,000 before being pulled. I can see why.
My rating: 5/10.
Just arrived on Sky Movies.

227_WOLF_FP_002941635895429-768x411.jpg
 
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