With a divorce and house sale pending, a police detective is put on the case of several ritualistic murders being committed her in town. As she investigates and finds clues, she loses more and more of her mind.
Tag Archives: Horror
Terrifier (2017) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2017]
A crazed clown terrorizes a group of young women and the people trying to help them on Halloween night.
Written and directed by Damien Leone, Terrifier takes the scary clown idea and ups the violence from recent films such as IT and makes the kills bloodier and more brutal. The film has some definitely good ideas and the clown’s design is interesting and creepy for sure, but for those without coulrophobia, the clown is only as scary as the performance for him. This is something that will be touched on in a little bit. The story here is the classic slasher on Halloween night story; a killer maims and hurts a group of people on Halloween night. The difference is in the execution which is well done here but still feels a bit like more of the same at times. The title, Terrifier, gives an expectation for the viewer that this will be terrifying and unless you are really scared of clowns, the film is only a little scary and not quite terrifying.
Don’t Let the Devil In (2016)
Newlyweds John and Samantha’s (Marc Slanger and Jordan Lewis) marriage is already crumbling after an abortion. John’s boss offers to relocate him to a small town in Maryland in hopes to heal and to oversee the development of a casino. But the small town they move to aren’t happy that he’s there and set something sinister in motion. Don’t Let the Devil In was written and directed by Courtney Fathom Sell.
Death Metal (2016) [Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2017]
Panhandling plus satanic riffs equates to all out of carnage and bloodshed in writer/director Chris McInroy’s return after Bad Guy #2 with horror short Death Metal. Lars spends his day in the park, strumming his guitar with a tip jar at his side. Instead of money, it’s insults that are thrown his way. After lamenting to his father, and being completely negligent, Lars returns with an evil axe that makes him sound like he actually can play the instrument well.
Filippa (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
A father comes home to his daughter playfully wanting to play hide and seek. As he searches for her, something is clearly not as it should be.
Written and directed by Alexander Rönnberg, Filippa plays on parental fears and a father’s wants, hopes, dreams, and nightmares. The short film does so by showing just a small activity between a father and daughter and adding a fear element that just about any parent can relate too. Here that fear of losing a child gets more complex as the film advances and does so in subtle, nuanced ways that give the film a power over the viewer that is strong, impressive, and soft all at the same time. It’s one of those shorts that does not put things up in the viewer’s face and lets the viewer find their own fear and dread in the story. The film builds a nice family vibe and then adds this fear slowly and sneakily at first and then it all adds up to a sense of dread that permeates the atmosphere.
The Northleach Horror (2016) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
Somewhere in the UK, a scientist and his assistant run odd experiments that have bizarre, weird, and scary results.
Directed by David Cairns who co-wrote with Alex Livingstone, The Northleach Horror is a comedic take on the wartime insane scientist scenario. They take something that has been done before and breathe fresh air into it with a sense of humor that can only be from the UK. This sense of humor makes the film as it’s dark, it’s inappropriate, yet it’s so funny. The way the humor works is perfectly paired with the film’s darkness while it also balances it out. The entire film is soaked in this humor and riddled with inappropriate jokes that work perfectly. Of course, this is for someone who has a similar sense of humor and some might not find it to their taste, but horror fans should be quite pleased.
Sandman (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2017]
A woman wakes up in the middle of the night and as she tries to push away a nightmare, she finds something much worse lurking in the dark.
This short by Liam Banks is one truly creepy one that uses a story from most people’s childhood and cranks it to eleven. The way the creepy thing is introduced is great and how it comes closer and closer to the lead is chilling. This short takes something most people were raised into being scared of and uses it against the lead which creates an effect on the viewer. This short uses simple methods to bring the creepiness forth and make it powerful.