Tag: horror
Down by Ally Blue (book review)
‘Down’ by Ally Blue is a surprisingly creepy book! The setting is one of the least explored vistas on Earth, the ocean floor, seven thousand metres down. They might as well be in space. The BathyTech 3 mineral mining facility is pressurized and air-locked. Any trip outside requires specialised equipment, including an oxygenated mist […]
At The Devil’s Door (film review by Frank Ochieng).
Writer-director Nicholas McCarthy’s ‘At The Devil’s Door’ is a fright vehicle that dutifully tingles from time to time but somehow still feels strained in its creepy convictions. McCarthy, whose 2012 low-budget horror gem ‘The Pact’ demonstrated a surprisingly taut scare showcase with armed potential, delivers a dread-ridden drama that curiously does not seem to pack a psychological punch as […]
The Sacrament (film review by Frank Ochieng).
The vastly underrated ‘The Sacrament’ dares to bring a chilly psychological spin on the disenfranchised in society that have willingly checked out of a nightmarish existence only to gravitate to an unassuming paradise with a hidden horrific reality that awaits. Filmmaker Ti West’s horror gem ‘The Sacrament’ is chilling and an astute commentary on the fragile human condition […]
Proxy (film review by Frank Ochieng).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-chvqkdo5wU Writer-director Zach Parker’s slow burn and chilly-minded ‘Proxy’ is an intensifying horror vehicle that sneaks up on one’s nervous system with its observational dark character studies and creepy tension that builds gradually while creating an understated complexity of fear. Parker’s seedy psychological pot-boiler does not have much of a meaty plot to sink its terrifying teeth […]
Godzilla (film review by Frank Ochieng).
Cinema’s legendary large lizard is back trampling over the escapist dreams and desires of those humans that dare to stand in the way of the mighty Godzilla. In fact, this latest reboot of the popularised classic movie monster promises its share of colourful carnage and familiar nostalgia that moviegoers may want to associate with the raucous reptile. […]
Almost Human (2013) (film review by Frank Ochieng)
Writer-director-photographer Joe Begos certainly shows a passion for low budget horror flicks, particularly the variety from the 1980s where these vintage frightfests were cheaply made gross productions but rich in guilty pleasure gore. In fact, ‘Almost Human’ (not to be confused or mistaken for the Fox-TV show of the same name) is set in the late 1980s […]
Vaastu Shastra (2004) (a film review retrospective by Mark R. Leeper).
‘Vaastu Shastra’ is an (Asian) Indian ghost story made very much in the style of American horror films. It ignores Bollywood conventions like forced comedy and periodic musical interludes. Instead it is brief and to the point. A young successful couple moves into a new home and soon finds strange happenings and their son creating […]
Nurse 3-D (film review by Frank Ochieng).
Sometimes what is considered someone’s trashy findings is indeed another person’s treasure. Co-writer/director Douglas Aarniokoski may very well fit this sentiment with his inspired horror showcase ‘Nurse 3-D’, a relentlessly cheapened and chilly small-scale piece of grindhouse cinema that registers its exploitative muster with winning, sleazy results. Sure, ‘Nurse 3-D’ resorts to its titillating tricks that make for […]
Vampire Academy (film review by Frank Ochieng).
The giddy vampire vixens showcased in director Mark Waters’s horror fantasy ‘Vampire Academy’ do not seem to have any considerable choppers while sinking their fangs into this tepid teen tart suspense piece. The impish promotional tagline for the film’s motto is ‘they suck at school’ which devilishly registers. Unfortunately, ‘Vampire Academy’ sucks beyond its bloody walls of academia as […]
After The Dark (film review by Frank Ochieng).
The ambitious juggling act that is writer-director John Huddles’s ‘After The Dark’ is somewhat of a challenging one courtesy of its revolving themes. After all, the task of rendering a teen-oriented philosophical fantasy about the hypothetical premise of contemplating apocalyptic survivalist skills in an academic exotic setting is not exactly what one would call aimless juvenile-induced entertainment. […]
