In the remote Shetland Islands of Scotland, legends of ritual sacrifices of surrogate mothers to great warriors’ children crop back up after Dr. Tora Hamilton arrives with her husband to his homeland after losing a child. Soon after, Tora finds a body in her new yard, minus the heart which sends her on a hunt for the truth. Director Peter A. Dowling wrote the script based on the novel of the same name by Sharon (S.J.) Bolton.
Tag Archives: Horror
The Walking Dead: Alien
This is the story of Jeff, a visitor to Barcelona Spain. Furthering my idea that there are endless stories to be told in Robert Kirkman’s universe, Brian K. Vaughan takes on a one shot about the story of a tourist named Jeff and how he fared in the zombie apocalypse. Jeff is not the solid and heroic kind of man, and unlike his family, Jeff is one with a Peter Pan complex seeking a future of his own. Though many have theorized that the zombie apocalypse was unleashed in the US, Vaughan explores how it ravaged Europe just like it did in the South.
Krampus (2015)
Michael Dougherty is brilliant at completely rethinking and reformatting our image of popular holidays and the lore the masses have subscribed to for centuries. After doing an amazing job with Halloween, Dougherty tackles Christmas with what is easily one of the most demented holiday horror films ever made. “Krampus” is an intelligent horror comedy based around the lunacy of the holiday and how the hollow rituals and traditions practiced can build a sense of cynicism and pure hatred for what is supposed to be a fine time of year.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (1986): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
Forget what Hollywood has tried to feed you, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2” is the actual sequel to Tobe Hooper’s masterpiece, and is widely embraced by horror fans as such. It’s the wacky and surreal embracing of the madness from the first film carried over from the nihilistic cynical seventies, in to the consumerist eighties, where the Sawyer family is now devoting their lives to mutilating yuppies, and going around the world selling their own brand of chili that’s made of people. Hooper’s sequel is a massive tonal departure from the more disturbing original, introducing actual nemeses for the Sawyers including Lefty, a vengeful cowboy hell bent on bringing down the Sawyers, and Stretch, a hapless DJ who becomes the unfortunate recipient of attacks by the Sawyer family when she hears them murdering two victims when one of them calls her randomly.
The Invitation (2016)
I will say for the record to avoid any and all spoilers about “The Invitation,” because Karyn Kusama’s film is a masterpiece that deserves an audience with the ability to soak in the full weight of the experience. Kusama’s “The Invitation” is one of the most competently made and mesmerizing horror thrillers I’ve seen so far this year. It’s a haunting and disturbing look at the unbearable pain of grief, and how so many are incapable of dealing with it that it allows for a predator to prey on them without fail.
The Dead Room (2015)
“The Dead Room” was written by Kevin Stevens and director Jason Stutter who crafter a story seen many times to which they unfortunately bring very little that is new and very few genuine scares. After a family flees their new home in fear for their lives, a trio of investigators is sent by an insurance company to prove or disprove the family’s claim that it’s haunted by malevolent spirits. The haunted house sub-genre having been done to death over the last few years and throughout horror’s history is not re-invented here. Stevens and Stutter do have the advantage of being one of the few films about this set in New Zealand that I know of.
Sex Murder Art: The Films of Jörg Buttgereit [4 Blu-Ray/2 CD Collector’s Edition]
Now Available for fans of extreme horror and underground cinema, Cult Epics releases a four movie compilation of Jörg Buttgereit’s acclaimed genre films along with a near encyclopedic series of extras. Featured is “Nekromantik” the film that centers on a young man named Rob who collects body parts while disposing of corpses through his job. An avid necrophiliac, he ventures to steal a fully in tact corpse and brings it home to wife Betty, who is also a necrophiliac. Before Rob realizes, Betty gradually falls in love with the corpse, and leaves husband Rob for it. “Nekromantik” is still considered a volatile and controversial horror film even in the day and age where blood and grue are common place on mainstream television. Divisive and revolting, “Nekromantik” garners a large reputation both good and bad from horror fanatics.