‘When play becomes slay’

A Darker Fifty Shades: The Fetish Set is a 2015 American horror thriller written and directed by Shane Wheeler. It stars Bill Oberst Jr. (Circus of the Dead, Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies), Sarah Nicklin (The Disco Exorcist, Sins of Dracula), Glenda Galeano, Tomiko, Julia McAlee, Angel Curran, Deauxma, The film’s original title was The Fetish Set.

The film is available on Wild Eye Releasing DVD from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk. The DVD Special Features include a commentary from Sarah Nicklin, cast audition tapes, and more.

Plot teaser:

Four beautiful women attend a fetish convention in San Antonio, Texas, hoping to make some easy money, but find themselves thrown into a dark, underground world of obsession and murder when a deformed, sadistic serial killer (Bill Oberst Jr.) sets his sights on the quartet. Now, their friendship and personal limits will be torn apart as they struggle to survive the most brutal weekend of their lives…

Filming locations:

San Antonio, Texas

IMDb

The Dead Pool is a 1988 American action film directed by Buddy Van Horn, from a screenplay by Steve Sharon. It stars Clint Eastwood (Tarantula; Revenge of the Creature) as Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan. It is the fifth and final film in the Dirty Harry film series, set in San Francisco, California.

The story concerns the manipulation of a dead pool game by a serial killer, whose efforts are confronted by the hardened detective Callahan. It co-stars Liam Neeson (The Haunting), Patricia Clarkson and features Jim Carrey, each of whom eventually went on to greater film fame.

Plot teaser:

Fame finally catches up with Harry Callahan. His testimony against crime kingpin Lou Janero puts the mobster in prison and Callahan on the cover of a San Francisco magazine as the city’s ace crime fighter. Callahan discovers he has been assigned a partner: Asian American, martial arts-skilled partner Al Quan (Evan Kim). They are then assigned to investigate the death of rock singer Johnny Squares (Jim Carrey), killed in his trailer outside a meatpacking plant during filming of a music video for a slasher film directed by Peter Swan (Liam Neeson).

Later, Dean Madison, Swan’s executive producer, is shot and killed during a Chinatown restaurant stickup. Harry and Quan see the holdup and rush to stop it; Harry manages to gun down all of the robbers inside the restaurant, except for one who manages to escape out the door but is subdued by Quan’s expert martial-arts skills. When they examine the dead producer’s belongings, they discover a list in his pocket with Harry and Johnny Squares’s names on it. It turns out that the dead producer and Swan are carrying out a “dead pool” game in which participants try to predict celebrity deaths, either by natural causes, old age, or as a result of working in dangerous professions. In a turn of events, another celebrity on Swan’s list, movie critic Molly Fisher, is stabbed and killed in her condominium, by an intruder claiming to be Swan…

Reviews:

‘The movie just tries too hard.  Be it the shooting of Neeson’s movie with Jim Carrey playing a metal rocker or the cameos of Guns N’ Roses (the movie uses their song Welcome to the Jungle), the tone is way too light.  The most laughable scene in the movie looks like it is straight out of a Naked Gun movie and it involves a way too long car chase between Harry and a remote control car.  The chase goes on and on and it is possibly the best remote control car ever (that thing is fast!)’ JP Rosecoe, Basement Rejects

‘The best thing about The Dead Pool is the best thing about almost all of Clint Eastwood’s movies: The film is smart, quick, and made with real wit. It’s never just a crude action movie, bludgeoning us with violence. It’s self-aware, it knows who Dirty Harry is and how we react to him, and it has fun with its intelligence. Also, of course, it bludgeons us with violence.’ Roger Ebert

‘ …the weakest and last of the otherwise classic series. My main gripe is the 80’s style gloss it has to it. There is nothing remotely gritty or disturbing about it, which is what made the other films work. That 70’s, almost documentary style suited Harry Callahan and it’s all sadly missing from this film. That’s not to say it’s a terrible film, there are enough one-liners to make it entertaining…’ Eion Friel, The Action Elite

Wikipedia | IMDb

Jack’s Back is a 1988 American horror film directed and written by Rowdy Herrington (an electrician on Humanoids from the Deep; A Nightmare on Elm Street and Nightflyers). It stars James Spader (Wolf) and Cynthia Gibb.

Plot teaser:

In Los Angeles, a young doctor is suspected when a series of Jack the Ripper copycat killings is committed. However, when the doctor himself is murdered, his identical twin brother claims to have seen visions of the true killer…

Reviews:

‘Jack’s Back was written and directed by Rowdy Harrington, who pays adequate homage to the requirements of the thriller, especially in a couple of truly shocking moments. But he’s up to something more than a routine shock movie here. He has taken the trouble to make three-dimensional characters, and paused here and there to provide scenes that make the characters seem real and complicated, instead of just pawns in a movie formula.’ Roger Ebert

‘ …so dull it leaves you plenty of time to marvel at how a plot can be this rickety, how a production can look this shabby, and how the first-time writer and director Rowdy Herrington could borrow a story with so relentless a grip on our imaginations and in no time at all declaw it.’ Caryn James, The New York Times

‘An angry black police captain? Check. A scene set in a porn shop/strip club for no reason? Check. Lots of jazzy sax? Check. Then we have some “oh, the 80s” details, like a guy in a hideous pink and blue pastel shirt giving our hero some grief, and people smoking inside the mall… it’s possible that the only way to enjoy anything about this movie is if you have an appreciation for how silly the 80s were.’ Horror Movie a Day

Choice dialogue:

Cop: “This isn’t Twilight Zone, Sam. This is real life!’

Cast:

• John/Rick Wesford – James Spader
• Chris Moscari – Cynthia Gibb
• Sgt. Gabriel – Jim Haynie
• Dr. Carlos Battera – Robert Picardo
• Dr. Sidney Tannerson – Rod Loomis
• Jack Pendler – Rex Ryon
• Scott Morofsky – Chris Mulkey
• Anchorman – Mario Machado

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Someone out there is watching you… Don’t unlock your door.’

Deadly Intruder – aka The Deadly Intruder - is a 1985 US horror thriller film scored and directed by John McCauley from a screenplay by actor Tony Crupi (who appears as a drifter and was also in Joel M. Reed’s Blood Bath). It also stars Molly Cheek (Stepmonster), Danny Bonaduce, Daniel Greene, David Schroeder and Stuart Whitman (The Monster Club; Vultures).

 Plot teaser:

A mental patient breaks out of a sanitarium and heads for a small town named Midvale looking for the love of his life. The disturbed individual is obsessively jealous, slaying anyone whom he fears may be endangering his relationship with his potential girlfriend. But there is also a creepy drifter hanging around. After a number of vicious killings, the escaped lunatic and the obsessive drifter confront each other…

Reviews:

‘The murders, which are mostly crowded into the first half of the picture … aren’t very bloody, and there are next to no Special Makeup Effects to be seen unless they were hiding somewhere in the gloomy photography; but they’re kind of mean-spirited, like when the friendly and trusting garage mechanic is slowly crushed under the car he’s working on! There’s also a guy stabbed in the eye with a screwdriver, a lady whose face is pushed into a running car engine and a sink drowning featuring a loose nightgown; and, in what may or may not have been intended as some sort of meta-reference, Danny Partridge gets his head rammed through a TV screen!’ Ha ha, it’s Burl!

‘A strictly okay slasher that wears its Halloween influence on its sleeve, but manages to break away from the formula somewhat. Danny Bonaduce is in this. He gets his head smashed into a television. Subsequently, he’s electrocuted and dies. Fuck yeah. That’s possibly the sole reason to see this for many. The kills are a little varied, but bloodless.’ Basement of Ghoulish Decadence

‘Unimpressive psycho-killer flick… Most of the violence is kept off screen by director John McCauley.’ John Stanley, Creature Features

Choice dialogue:

“You know cooking without garlic is like making love without foreplay.”

International titles:

Murhaaja saapuu öisin - Finland
Der Tödliche Feind – West Germany

Wikipedia | IMDb

A Friday the 13th coffee table, complete with undead hockey-mask wearing slasher Jason Vorhees in chains embedded in the middle, has been created by Australian company Slaughter FX and can be purchased for a mere $800.

Slice – original title Cheun – is a 2009 Thai serial killer film directed by Kongkiat Khomsiri. It stars Chatchai Plengpanich and Arak Amornsupasiri.

Plot teaser:

The police are unable to find or stop a serial killer who targets men and dismembers their bodies. When the next victim is the son of a politician, the police turn to ex-hitman Tai (Arak Amornsupasiri) for help in hunting down the serial killer. Tai is then sprung from prison and works with the police to find the killer before the killer slices again…

Buy Slice on DVD from Amazon.com

Reviews:

“Slice is a bleak tale of actions and consequences which plays out to a fittingly tragic conclusion, and for people who enjoy visceral horror with a bit more emotional charge to it, this is a worthwhile movie.” Horror Extreme

“I highly recommend this film to those who aren’t offended by the disturbing aspects of it. It’s an enjoyable watch with some major twists that really got my attention.” In Nervous Convulsion

“This is a movie that never lets the audience calm down and go back to that normal state of non-thinking, non-controversial relaxation. When some shit happens here it happens big, and it won’t take long until something even worse happens. The stuff in this movie is something that never, and I mean never, would happen in an American movie.” Ninja Dixon

IMDb

WH

‘Come and get it’

Hannibal is an American psychological thriller–horror television series developed by Bryan Fuller for NBC. The series is based on characters and elements appearing in the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris and focuses on the budding relationship between FBI special investigator Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), a forensic psychiatrist destined to become Graham’s most cunning enemy.

Hannibal has received critical acclaim, with the performances of the lead actors and the visual style of the show being singled out by critics.

Season 3 of Hannibal introduces some new characters, such as Richard Armitage as Francis Dolarhyde as serial killer The Tooth Fairy and Rutina Wesley as Reba McClane, a blind woman whom Francis is attracted to. Meanwhile, the role of deformed psychopath Mason Verger is being taken over by Joe Anderson, whilst Zachary Quinto will play a former patient of Dr. du Maurier, and Tao Okamoto will play a handmaid to Hannibal’s Aunt, Lady Murasaki. Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) is also joining the show.

Hannibal returns to NBC on June 4th, 2015. Meanwhile, you can read Digital Spy’s interview with Bryan Fuller

Buy The Art and Making of Hannibal book from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Buy Season One on Blu-ray + Digital HD from Amazon.com

Buy Season 2 on Blu-ray + DIgital HD from Amazon.com

Buy Season 1 and 2 on Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk

Poster images source: Screenrant

‘Disco isn’t dead, but you just might be’

Discopath (in French: Discopathe) is a 2013 Canadian film directed by Renaud Gauthier, and starring Jérémie Earp-Lavergne, Sandrine Bisson, and Ivan Freud.

Plot teaser:

Set in the mid-1970s, Discopath is a slasher about Duane Lewis, a man who transforms into a crazed serial killer whenever he catches the relentless rhythm of disco! As Duane flees New York, desperate to escape the disco craze, his murderous tendencies explode again in a whirlwind of bloody violence and groovy beats…

Buy Discopath on DVD from Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“The gore effects are excessive and over the top, but the film as a whole is never as shower-inducingly off putting as the movies Gauthier is trying to emulate. It’s a love letter to the kind of trash cinema young cinephiles in the VHS era often grew up with, with sharp, consistently funny writing and a game cast who aren’t afraid to come across as goofy. It’s a great bit of fun.” Dork Shelf

“In spite of its flaws, Discopath still manages to be an extremely cool little movie. It is impossible for me not to like with its irresistible nostalgic genre charm aping the early 80’s golden age of the slasher sub-genre with much genuine love for it rather than coming off as something just faux lacking the authenticity that some so called love letters do with no passion for the material.” Cinematic Shocks

“Perhaps writer-director Renaud Gauthier – who clearly has a lot of affection for his inspiration – could have sacrificed some of the super-styled slo-mo sequences in favour of characterisation. Or story. Or intentional humour. Or anything to distinguish his production beyond the flares and hair and boring gore.” Rock n Reel

Wikipedia | IMDb

WH

Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th is a 2000 American direct-to-video parody film directed by John Blanchard. The film stars Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Tom Arnold, Coolio and Shirley Jones.

Several mid and late ’90s teen horror films are parodied, as are the slasher films of the ’70s and ’80s, including the Scream films, Friday the 13th (1980), Halloween (1978), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), as well as other non horror films and television series. Although there are many different films parodied, the film follows the plot of Scream (1996) closely. It is often compared to Scary Movie, a commercially successful spoof from the same year, which had as a working title “Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween”.

Plot teaser:

While in her house alone dimwitted teenager Harvey “Screw” McAlister (Aimee Graham) is attacked by “The Killer”. While being chased, Screw accidentally runs into a bug zapper and her face gets electrocuted. The killer, feeling disappointed that he was not the cause of her death, lights up a cigarette, leading to the melting of his Jason Voorhees mask into a Scream mask. The next day, new kid Dawson Deery (Harley Cross) signs up at Bulimia Falls High School, meeting up with a new group of friends including Boner (Danny Strong), Slab (Simon Rex), Barbara (Julie Benz) and Martina (Majandra Delfino), to whom Dawson takes a liking, though he is not sure if she is a lesbian. While the group discusses the death of Screw, they remain certain they are safe in school, not noticing the chaos that surrounds them, including a nuclear bomb being built and the killer attempting to murder a student…

Reviews:

“The movie’s most telling scene comes when, after the ‘rules of parody’ lecture, the characters decide to watch Airplane!. It is by far the smartest move made by any character in this movie, and exactly what you should do, as opposed to renting Shriek, if you desire a funny, well-made parody.” Larry Getlen, AMC

“Imagine the lamest joke you’ve ever heard and then stretch it out to around an hour and fifteen minutes, and you’ll have a vague conception of how excruciating it was to sit through this miserable flick.” Reel Film Reviews

“It spends most of its time referencing non-horror movies like: Wizard of Oz, Something About Mary, Reservoir Dogs, Baywatch or Home Alone. And when it does reference horror movies like Child’s Play, Psycho (what a lame bit!), NOES, IKWYDLS, Friday the 13th or Scream, it just winks at them, never really setting up a full gag … It takes more than throwing movie references into a film to make it funny. It takes endearing characters, comic timing and good jokes. This movie has none of those things.” Arrow in the Head, Joblo.com

Choice dialogue:

“Look, this is lame. Let’s get outta here…”

Cast:

• Julie Benz as Barbara Primesuspect
• Harley Cross as Dawson Deery
• Majandra Delfino as Martina Martinez
• Simon Rex as Slab O’Beef
• Danny Strong as Boner
• Coolio as Principal Interest or the Administrator-Formerly-Known-As-Principal
• Aimee Graham as Screw Frombehind
• Tiffani-Amber Thiessen as Hagitha Utslay
• Tom Arnold as Doughy Primesuspect
• Shirley Jones as Nurse Kevorkian
• Rose Marie as Mrs. Tingle
• David Herman as Mr. Lowelle
• Mink Stole as Madame La Tourneau

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Meet a killer of a different sort…’

MurderLust – aka Mass Murder – is a 1985 American horror thriller directed by Donald Jones (Project Nightmare; Housewife from Hell) from a screenplay by producer and soundtrack composer James Lane [possibly a pseudonym for Jones?].

The 1987 British VHS release was cut by a painfully censorial 2m 33s.

Cast:

Eli Rich (Dangerous Love; The Jigsaw Murders), Rochelle Taylor, Dennis Gannon, Bonnie Sikowitz, Lisa Nichols, M. Burton Leary, Bill Walsh, George Engelson, Dayna Quinn, Martha Lane, Ashley St. Jon [aka Lisa Lake], Linda Tucker-Smith

Plot teaser:

Steve is an arrogant misogynist serial killer with erectile dysfunction, who is also a seemingly respectable Christian Sunday school teacher. However, when not in Church preaching the Bible to teenagers, he abducts or cons young women, kills them, and disposes of their bodies in the Mojave Desert…

Reviews:

This is no Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer but it has certainly been overlooked and deserves to be seen in the context of there having been some truly awful mid-1980s that have received considerably more attention than they warrant. Despite being cheap, Donald Jones’ MurderLust can at least afford aerial shots of the Mojave desert, reasonable acting and an agreeably engaging synth score. Psycho character Steve’s confident attempts to ingratiate himself with both men and women, despite his inadequacies, are sickly pre-Stepfather-like (the sub-theme regarding his lack of a real career and financial proclivities are part of the overall character breakdown) and all the more effective for it. The film also pokes fun at religious hypocrites, a welcome reoccurring theme in the horror genre.

Adrian J Smith

“MurderLust is fascinating as a study of a woman-hating serial killer. It’s unpleasant without being graphic – just about all of the murders occur offscreen – and the bad synthesizer score gives it a creepy vibe.” Ryan Clark, Thrill Me!

“In theory, the “outwardly respectable bible thumper by day/ depraved prostitute killer by night” premise sounds like it might be offensive enough to entertain, but actually sitting through this bland, very slow moving and aimless movie is a whole other story. The acting and dialogue are bad throughout, but neither is bad enough to elicit any laughs.” The Bloody Pit of Horror

Choice dialogue:

Debbie: “It’s just a picture of a big prick, like you.”

Steve: “Leave it to a woman to fuck things up!”

Trailer:

Whole film online:

IMDb

The Devil in the White City is a forthcoming 2016 psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese from a script by Billy Ray (The Hunger Games) and starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island). The film is based on a 2003 non-fiction book, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson.

The book is set in Chicago, circa 1893, intertwining the true tales of Daniel H. Burnham, the architect behind the 1893 World’s Fair, and Dr. H. H. Holmes (DiCaprio), the serial killer who lured his victims to their deaths in his elaborately constructed “Murder Castle, which contained a gas chamber, crematorium and a dissecting table where Holmes would murder his victims and strip their skeletons to sell for medical and scientific study…

Deadline.com has reported that Paramount have acquired the rights to Larson’s book after a Hollywood bidding war. Appian Way’s DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson will be producing the movie along with Stacey Sher, Scorsese and Emma Tillinger Koskoff.

Image thanks: Frank Geyer

The Jack the Ripper Museum – which opened on 4th August 2015 – is located at 12 Cable Street, London, E1 8JG.

The unveiling of the museum’s frontage in late July 2015 caused immediate controversy because it had originally been announced as “the first women’s museum in the UK” when planning permission was sought from Tower Hamlets Council. The skull and cross-bones on the front of the museum was subsequently removed by its owners.

As reported by The Guardian, Andrew Waugh, founder and director of Waugh Thistleton Architects claims he was duped about the purpose of the project: “It is salacious, misogynist rubbish,” he told Building Design online. “The local community was duped, we were duped. They came to us and said they had no money but that this is a real heartfelt project. It is incredibly important to celebrate women in politics in the East End. We really ran with it. We did it at a bargain-basement fee, at cost price because we thought it was a great thing to do.”

None of Jack the Ripper’s female victims were murdered in Cable Street, the crimes took place in the nearby Whitechapel area. In fact, the killings were known as the Whitechapel Murders. The front of the museum has two fake blue plaques: one for George Chapman, one of several Ripper suspects, who lived on the premises for a time, and another for Elizabeth Stride, a Ripper victim, whose body was taken to a morgue near the Cable Street spot.

Former Barclays Bank and Google diversity chief Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, who is behind the scheme, has said:

“We did plan to do a museum about social history of women but as the project developed we decided a more interesting angle was from the perspective of the victims of Jack the Ripper. It is absolutely not celebrating the crime of Jack the Ripper but looking at why and how the women got in that situation in the first place.”

On 2nd October, London’s Evening Standard reported that Dr. Lisa Mckenzie, a research fellow at the London School of Economics, would be leading another protest by the Women’s Death Brigade, backed by far-left political party Class War.

Official blurb:

“The museum is dedicated to the history of the East London in the 1880’s, providing a serious examination of the crimes of Jack the Ripper within the social context of the period.  For the first time it tells the story of the man known as ‘Jack the Ripper’ from the perspective of six of the women who were his victims. As you explore the museum, you will discover everything there is to know about the lives of the victims, the main suspects in the murders, the police investigation and the daily life of those living in the east end of London in 1888. Once you have all the clues, will you be able to solve the mystery of Jack the Ripper?

As you make your way up the stairs, you’ll see details of each murder recorded on the walls. The victims’ names, ages and murder locations are shown, along with newspaper reports and illustrations of the crimes.”

Background of the victims:

Official site | Evening Standard | Londonist | “From Hell…” Jack the Ripper on Screen – article

‘He who has the weed, has the power.’

Halloweed is a 2016 American comedy horror film produced and directed by LazRael Lison (Rift) from a screenplay by Michael Bussan and Dale Zawada.

Main cast:

Shannon Brown, Simon Rex (Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th; Scary Movie 3, 4 and 5), Michelle Mueller, Jayson Bernard, Jim O’Heir (Mimic 2; Helen Keller vs. Nightwolves), Jason Mewes (Feast; Vampire Apocalypse; Devil’s Tower), Robert Craighead (The Return of the Living Dead; Demon Lake; Crabs!), Tom Sizemore (Paranormal Movie; Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn; Black Wake), Danny Trejo (Volcano Zombies; Dead in Tombstone; 3 Headed Shark Attack), Lester Speight, Deja Dee, Ray Wise, Vince Corazza, Jacqui Holland, Eric Sweeney.

Plot:

Trying to escape the infamy of a serial killer father, Trent Modine (Shannon Brown) and his goof-ball stepbrother Joey (Simon Rex), both seeking a new start, find refuge in a small town of Mooseheart.

However, it doesn’t take long before the family name catches up. Joey, a free spirited stoner and Trent, love sick pessimist, must figure out how to sort through a string of cliche murders that happen start as soon as they arrive…

IMDb

NB. Interestingly, there is another – apparently unconnected – comedy horror film project named Halloweed also due in 2016. Expect a title change for one of these movies…

El Espectro del Terror – translation: “The Spectre of Terror” – is a 1972 Spanish psycho thriller film written and directed by José María Elorrieta [as J.M. Ekorietta] (Feast of Satan; Diabolical Shudder; The Curse of the Vampire). It was released in Spain in June 1973.

Main cast:

Maria Perschy (The Ghost Galleon), Sancho Gracia, Aramis Ney (The Curse of the Vampire), Betsabé Ruiz, Víctor Alcázar, María Dolores Tovar, Ernesto Vañes, Ramón Lillo, Titania Clement, Maritza Olivares [as May Oliver]. 

Plot:

Madrid: Charley Reed (Aramis Ney) is an American Vietnam war veteran and befuddled serial killer who sloppily disposes of his victims in an acid bath.

Mainly preying on beautiful women, the psychopath also murders a drunken ex-buddy who publicly mocks him in a bar and a doctor who offers to help him.

Reed’s killing spree ends when he attacks Maria Preston, a feisty airline stewardess with a determination to live…

Review:

It is easy to understand why this pedestrian Spanish psycho thriller by José María Elorrieta has remained utterly obscure for so many years and why it didn’t receive an international release. The simplistic plot merely lurches from one incident to the next, whilst Aramis Ney plays the killer as he becomes more and more deranged.

There is no style in the presentation of the murderous yet seemingly mundane events that unfold and no reason for empathy with either the victims or the troubled maniac – clearly suffering from post-‘Nam traumatic stress disorder of a very intense nature. Aside from the sound of occasional intense war flashback gunfire on the soundtrack, Javier Elorietta’s discordant piano accompaniment, presumably intended to denote a descent into madness, merely grates on the nerves.

Beyond the apathetic delivery, the most unsettling thing about the film, for this reviewer at least, is the killer’s penchant for messily drinking milk straight from the bottle.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

Choice dialogue:

Charly: “Don’t make me kill you!”

Charly: “I am sick. I don’t want to hurt you.”

IMDb

The Thrill of a Kill is a 2011 Norwegian micro-budget splatter horror film produced written, photographed, edited and directed by Lars-Erik Lie on a budget equivalent to just $5,000.

Cast:

Kirsten Jakobsen, Arve Herman Tangen, Camilla Vestbø Losvik,  Toril Skansen.

Plot:

After fighting with her mom, Kimsy runs into the woods to cool off, where she meets a friendly photographer. A day of bloodshed and murder follows…

Reviews:

With The Thrill of a Kill, producer/writer/director Lars Erik Lie went all the way in order to make the goriest splatter film ever made in Norway, and additionally, he succeeded in making an entertaining horror film … minor glitches are easily overlooked as the story progresses and the blood squirts faster.” Nordic Fantasy

“The shots are kept tight with a strong range of believable performances by the women actors involved. It never needs to use too many fx as the ones that are captured on camera are shot in a way that make the scenes feel realistic without a large budget to work with.” HorrorNews.net

The film is released on DVD in the US on January 26, 2016, by Wild Eye Raw.

Trailer 1 (mature only):

Trailer 2 (mature only):

International trailer (mature only):

IMDb | Facebook

‘Angrier. Deadlier. Sexier.’

American Psycho 2 – aka American Psycho II: All American Girl – is a 2002 black comedy slasher horror film sequel to American Psycho (2000) directed by Morgan J. Freeman from a screenplay by Alex Sanger and Karen Craig. It stars Mila Kunis (Black Swan) and William Shatner (Incubus; The Devil’s Rain; A Christmas Horror Story).

The film was adapted from a script titled The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die, and was originally conceived as a thriller with no association with American Psycho. It was not until production began that the film’s script was altered with the incorporation of the Patrick Bateman subplot.

In 2005, Kunis expressed embarrassment over the film, and spoke out against the idea of a sequel. “Please — somebody stop this,” she said. “Write a petition. When I did the second one, I didn’t know it would be ’American Psycho II.’ It was supposed to be a different project, and it was re-edited, but, ooh … I don’t know. Bad.”

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Plot:

A 12-year-old girl is being looked after a babysitter who is on a date with serial killer Patrick Bateman. After Bateman kills and starts to dissect her babysitter, the girl stabs him with an ice pick.

Fast forward to the present day and the girl, who is named Rachael Newman, is now a college student studying criminology under Professor Starkman, a former FBI agent. Rachael aspires to join the FBI and is determined to get the teaching assistant position under Starkman, which would make her a shoe-in for the FBI training program.

Tough competition for the position stands in her way, and Rachael proceeds to kill off classmates one by one…

Reviews:

“Well, let’s face it; the screenplay, directing and the film’s bravery are not up to par with the original “American Psycho”. But as a stand alone, kitschy, more conventional slasher…it worked. It’s tacky, easy on the eyes/ears and pleasant enough to peek under its skirt to witness the goods.” Arrow in the Head

“Kundis does a good job as Newman, blending sexuality with a sharp performance, although there are often telltale signs of the film’s breakneck 20-day shoot. The ‘Two Years Later’ coda is also ludicrous. But what would be a slasher sequel be without one of those? Despite its critical panning, American Psycho 2 could have been far worse.” Slasherama.com

” … a mixture of dumbed-down irony, groan-inducing black comedy, and gratuitous bloodshed. Like the original film, Psycho 2 treats mass murder as a joke, with society’s indifference as the punchline, but the gag isn’t fresh or funny this time around. Freeman and his screenwriters mistake misogyny and misanthropy for satire and sociological insight…” Nathan Rabin, A.V. Club

Cast and characters:

• Mila Kunis as Rachael Newman, the serial killer, and a student of Professor Starkman’s class, seeking to learn everything she can about serial killers.
• William Shatner as Robert Starkman, a college professor and former FBI agent. He teaches in the Behavioral and Social Sciences department and is Rachael’s professor.
• Kim Schraner as Elizabeth McGuire, Starkman’s assistant
• Geraint Wyn Davies as Eric Daniels, the school psychiatrist
• Michael Kremko as Patrick Bateman, the killer (in the original, Bateman was played by Christian Bale) in this film, the character exists only in Rachael’s memories.
• Robin Dunne as Brian Leads, one of Rachael’s classmates; he is choked to death with a condom by her.
• Kim Poirier as Barbara Brown, a student in Starkman’s class who is hoping for a good grade, only to be set aside due to the professor’s affair with Cassandra Blaire.
• Lindy Booth as Cassandra Blaire, a student in Starkman’s class with whom he is having an affair.
• Charles Officer as Keith Lawson
• Shoshana Sperling as Gertrude Fleck
• Lynne Deragon as Mrs. Newman
• Philip Williams as Mr. Newman
• Kay Hawtrey as Mrs. Daniels

Choice dialogue:

Rachael Newman: “My mother drives me crazy. Now I know that sounds pretty clichéd but how many people actually envision carving into their mother’s neck and yanking out her vocal chords?”

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Victim. Survivor, Avenger.’

Survival Knife is a 2016 horror revenge slasher film directed by Mike McKown (Stiff; Boxed; 60 Seconds to Die; Grindsploitation 2: The Lost Reels) from a screenplay by Jim Towns (House of Bad; Snowfall; 13 Girls) for Robot Monkey Studios.

Main cast:

Danielle Donahue (Amityville Death House; Queen Crab; Bigfoot vs. Zombies), Tara Davis (Alexis), Josh Ebel (Boxed), Chrissy Jenness, Melody Joy, Tom Kolos, Jesse-Lee Lafferty, Bruce Lentz, Dawn Lilly, Kaitlyn Shoeb, Candice Starks.

Press release:

picks up where the typical Hollywood slasher film ends. Penny is the sole survivor of a vicious attack that killed five of her closest friends. To escape, she was forced to brutally kill her would-be murderer. As she begins the slow process of recovering both physically and mentally, she struggles to deal with the violence that happened to her – and the violence she committed herself – and worries that the same killer instinct that helped her survive is slowly turning her into something else…

Filming Locations:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Wild Eye Releasing trailer:

Robot Monkey Studios trailer:

IMDb

Alleluia is a 2014 Belgian-French psychological thriller directed by Fabrice Du Welz (Calvaire; Vinyan) from a screenplay co-written with Vincent Tavier. It stars Laurent Lucas, Lola Duenas and Helena Noguerra.

Plot:

Retells the classic “lonely hearts” case of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck — who targeted single ladies via personal ads, then moved in, stole their money and killed them (previously filmed in 1969 as The Honeymoon Killers and 1996 as Deep Crimson)…

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“Fabrice du Welz’s serial-murder jolly doesn’t quite dramatically press its central relationship enough to prevent the film from devolving at the last into a default bloodbath. But it’s disturbingly credible for a long time, its expert camerawork – all bifurcated faces and heaving pores – seeding the air with claustrophobia around Almodóvar regular Lola Dueñas and Laurent Lucas’ dysfunctional union.” Phil Hoad, The Guardian

“Alleluia may be a remake, butits somber look couldn’t be more original — all the better for the film to spring its nasty surprises on auds, none more unexpected than the way certain shots remain seared into one’s subconscious in the days and weeks that follow.” Peter Debruge,Variety

“Du Welz hardly unveils a simple account of unhinged, obsessive love. His is a demonic hymnal of passion, a darkly droll exercise in the delusory notion of love as an unhealthy obsession told with aggressive flourish. But at its prominent dark heart is an utterly captivating performance from Spanish actress Lola Duenas.” Nicholas Bell, ION Cinema

“The cinematography, courtesy of Manu Dacosse (Amer, Mobile Home) is appropriately gritty and grainy throughout, showcasing Du Welz’s extremely precise mise-en-scene that helps the story move forward both as a narrative and as a character study, with numerous intense close-ups allowing the actors to turn their deranged characters into frighteningly three-dimensional human beings.”Boyd van Hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter

“Du Welz’s film becomes very repetitive very quickly, doubling down on heaving bodies and gushing arteries in order to sustain some sense of momentum. The director’s fetish for invasive close-ups and spatial incoherence comes to seem an aesthetic gimmick, promising a sense of intimacy that never comes to pass, as his film devolves into a genre film that presumes it has the imprimatur of psychological horror.” Christopher Gray, Slant magazine

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Lola Dueñas as Gloria
• Helena Noguerra as Solange
• Laurent Lucas as Michel
• Stéphane Bissot as Madeleine
• David Murgia as Père Luis

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb | Official site

‘One by one they will meet…’

The Slayer is a 2016 American slasher film written, produced and directed by former actor Reuben Rox (Return to Witch Graveyard; Screams of a Summer Day; Lurking Evil) who also stars.

The film should not be confused with the 1982 film of the same name.

Main cast:

Catherine Franklin, Rachel Wise, Teresa Reed, Jade Michael LaFont, Luc Bernier, Sarah Hubbird, Ryan McKinnon, Randy Robinson.

Plot:

Summer camp counsellors fall prey to the vicious killer lurking in the deserted grounds…

Filming Locations:

Southern Oregon, USA

IMDb

‘Don’t think it. Don’t say it.’

The Bye Bye Man is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by Stacy Title (Hood of Horror) from a screenplay by Jonathan Penner, based on the short story The Bridge to Body Island by Robert Damon Schneck.

Principal photography began on November 2, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. STX Entertainment will release the film on June 3, 2016.

Main cast:

Doug Jones,Douglas Smith, Michael Trucco, Cressida Bonas, and Lucien Laviscount.

Plot:

Three college students move into an old, off-campus house, where they find themselves hunted by a supernatural entity called The Bye Bye Man (Doug Jones), who may be responsible for possessing various people and causing them to commit killing sprees throughout recent history…

Cast and characters:

• Doug Jones as The Bye Bye Man
• Douglas Smith as Elliot
• Michael Trucco as Virgil
• Cressida Bonas as Sasha
• Lucien Laviscount as John
• Carrie-Anne Moss as Detective Shaw
• Faye Dunaway as Widow Redmon
• Cleo King as Mrs. Watkins
• Jenna Kanell as Kim
• Erica Tremblay as Alice

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

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