Emelie (2015)

 

Estranged (2015)

High Rise (2016)

Uncaged (2016)

Intruders (2016)

 

It all goes south in the must see trailer for Southbound

We’ll no doubt see our fair share of anthologies this year—seeing that they’ve been on the rise lately—but there’s one that made quite a bit of noise last year during its festival run and that film is the open road thriller Southbound. To say there’s a lot of buzz surrounding this one would be an understatement, and you’ll quickly see why after watching its fantastic first trailer. What stood out to me the most about this trailer—even more than its unmistakably eerie atmosphere and striking visuals—was that every segment looks amazing, each teasing their own wicked brand of horror.

View original post 100 more words

Kirazu (Killers) 2014

 

In Killers you’ll be met with a kick to the face with the introduction of one of our main characters Nomura, a classy, charming, intelligent, and affluent Japanese business man. The film begins with a look at one of Nomura’s murder victims. You see her strapped to a chair in a room with a sophisticated setup of cameras and video recording equipment. She has a plastic bag taped over her head. She’s sobbing and shaking with panic and fear. Nomura’s wearing a white mask to hide his identity from his recordings while with sarcasm tries to calm his victim down. He turns around and walks towards a table which holds an array of his killing tools of choice, and decides on the hammer. He walks back to his victim and gives her a blow to the head leaving her shaking and in shock. Blood starts pouring down her face when Nomura strikes another fatal blow and the cameras catch his killing ritual from the beginning to his victims last breath.

Nomura is meticulous in cleaning up and uploading his video to a dark web site where members share videos of their killings. This leads us to Bayu, a struggling journalist in Indonesia who shares custody of his daughter with his estranged wife. We learn that he unsuccessfully tried to investigate and expose a corrupt politician named Mr. Dharma. He is eventually drawn and introduced to Nomura through videos he’s watched on the same dark web site that Nomura is a member of. Bayu gets attacked one night by two men in a taxi cab, but manages to kill them both and catch it on camera. He decides to upload it to the site, and Nomura contacts him. This begins their relationship and Nomura’s grooming of Bayu in the joys of killing and keeping discreet.

Nomura and Bayu communicate and share their videos, but we quickly start to realize that Nomura is the killer with no remorse or conscience for that matter. Bayu is the type who tries to kill and stop only the corrupt. Nomura is the more experienced killer who has an extensive history of violence. Bayu is inexperienced, sloppy, and still manages to hold on to his humanity. He is a family man who wants to try to reunite his family. Nomura has no family and lives in a fog of loneliness. I thoroughly enjoyed the Killers film and the juxtaposition of the two main characters. I liked the writing and the way the story flows and weaves the characters lives together. There is much gore so those sensitive to limbs being ripped off torsos, and violence against women may want to pass. Over all, this was a good one for foreign horror lovers and I’ll be looking out for more films from the Mo Brothers.

Backcountry (2014)

 

Backcountry is a very intense and frightening film based on the tragic story of Jacqueline Perry and Mark Jordan. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/black-bear-kills-woman-camper-north-of-chapleau-ont-1.556281 In the film, a couple (Alex and Jenn) decide to embark on a camping trip to revisit an old childhood hang out spot that Alex used to visit. Alex wants to share a bit of nostalgia with Jenn and is excited to lead her to an old lake in the woods. Jenn is a bit reluctant from the start yet agrees to go on the trip. In the beginning of the trip they enjoy themselves and the wilderness. At one point they run into an odd woodsman who offers to cook them fish which puts Alex off a little because he’s a stranger, but the next day they leave it behind them and continue on their way. Once they reach their destination they are astonished to find out that the lake Alex mentioned isn’t there. The lake isn’t there because they never found it, and they ended up at the wrong spot. They soon realize that they are completely lost and that they also have a black bear on their trail. They have no map or cellphone and have to rely on gut instincts to survive. Think about what it’s like to fight and triumph over fatigue, broken bones, starvation, and having a blood thirsty black bear chasing you down as prey. Scary thought isn’t it? I enjoyed this movie but have serious doubts that I’ll be camping in the woods anytime soon.

Damien TV Series Comic-Con Trailer

 

Housebound (2014)

 

 

Housebound is as creative as it is hilarious. I’m not one for comedy-horror, but the writer of this film did such an excellent job with the story that it quickly became one of my favorite horror films.
We follow a tough girl named Kylie who runs the streets committing crime and giving the finger to the law who has no idea what to do with her or how to straighten her out. After a failed robbery attempt the courts decide on house arrest leaving Kylie confined to her childhood home with her mum, delightfully played by Rima Te Wiata. Tensions grow between Kylie and her mum as time goes by, and she shows no signs of remorse for her behaviour. It isn’t until she starts experiencing strange paranormal occurrences within the home that she starts trying to put the pieces to the puzzle together with her mum and security probation officer as to why these things are happening. I really liked how Kylie’s character was a strong female lead. She didn’t frighten easily and was prepared to figure things out her own way. But do the answers lie with their deranged looking neighbor? Is there more to their old house beneath the surface? You’ll just have to watch. It serves up many laughs AND spooks so I doubt you’ll be disappointed. Cheers and Enjoy!