Late Night with the Devil

LATE Night with the Devil is a refreshing take on the demonic possession/exorcism and found-footage horror genres.

This is a unique film that proves dark, delicious, and downright hilarious in parts, and will stay with you for its wicked and entertaining build-up, which is perfectly executed and delivered upon.

Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) hosts syndicated talk show ‘Night Owls’, which is a big hit with insomniacs across America, but isn’t going to cause Johnny Carson any sleep loss, or see his ratings plummet either.

In fact, Jack’s own audience has started to dwindle since the tragic death of his beloved wife Madeleine (Georgina Haig) and he is terribly spooked by his waning popularity. Desperate to turn his fortunes around, on October 31, 1977, he plans a Halloween special like no other — unaware he is about to unleash evil into living rooms across the country.

The concept behind this supernatural horror-comedy, written, directed, and edited by Colin and Cameron Cairnes, is really very clever.

Jack decides to give TV audiences something they have never seen before — conversing with loved ones from beyond the grave, group hypnosis, and a live studio exorcism, complete with spooky costumes, musical guests, satanic rituals, and a badly-behaved demon named Mr Wiggles.

Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett would turn in their graves at the ungodly mayhem that ensues on the sofa of this retro TV show. With mishap after mishap, tension builds before the final segment, and ratings start to skyrocket with it.

The scene is perfectly set for a diabolic and explosive finale that is truly nightmarish and makes sitting through the Late Late Show on a Friday night only feel like the first circle of hell. Second or third if you are talking about the Toy Show, obviously.

Late Night with the Devil is a fiendishly enjoyable watch. This is one of the most refreshing and flipped out pieces of horror cinema I have seen in sometime.

Roll it there, Lucifer!

(5/5)

Death Whisperer

FANCYING itself as Thailand’s answer to The Exorcist or Evil Dead, Death Whisperer is just your bog standard awkward Asian horror.

Directed by Taweewat Wantha, this tiresome film is formulaic, cliched and overstays its welcome like an unexpected visit from the mother-in-law.

Adapted from the novel Tee Yod… A Distant Voice Wails Madly by Krittanont, this absolute shambles is poorly acted, lacks suspense or atmosphere, and for the most part is totally lifeless.

In the film’s more thrilling scenes, which are few and far between, Sam Raimi is a clear influence, but it lacks structure, depth and a sense of humour.

Wantha’s film, now streaming on Netflix, wouldn’t be so painful, if it didn’t take itself so seriously. The cast is wooden, and the whole things seems nothing more than a vessel on which to build hunky leading man Nadech Kugimiya’s career around.

When a remote village is plagued by a deadly curse, Yak (Kugimiya) must fight to save his family from a bloodthirsty spirit.

Based on true events, the story is set around a rural farming family who finds itself under supernatural threat when second eldest daughter Yam (Rattanawadee Wontong) begins to act strange.

Things are really slow to get off the ground, and when they do, they escalate quickly, but by that point I was already struggling to stick with it. There’s a couple of gory scenes, even one or two chilling encounters worthy of Mr Raimi himself, but there’s more wailing and squawking than anything else.

I thought Death Whisperer would never end. It is excruciating and rather banal. But what do I know?

The film was a blockbuster smash in Thailand. So much so that a sequel is due for release by the end of the year. I will certainly be giving that a miss.

Despite some half decent effects, this one drags like overtime on a Monday night.

(2/5)

You’ll Never Find Me

YOU’LL Never Find Me is a claustrophobic horror-thriller set in a desolate caravan park.

The debut feature from Australian film-makers Indianna Bell and Josiah Allen is intensely menacing despite its deliberately slow-moving pace. New to Shudder, this tense chiller unfolds like a Shakespearean play, and actually feels like it was made for the stage.

The drama builds during a violent storm when an isolated man living at the back of a run-down trailer park, and obviously going through his own dark night of the soul, receives an unwanted caller in the early hours.

Patrick (Brendan Rock) has been hiding away from the world for many years, leading a lonely existence, in a forgotten corner of the back of beyond.

As the uproarious squall worsens, a desperate woman (Jordan Cowan) seeking shelter from the violent weather outside pounds on his door, and shakes Patrick from his languor. Her appearance in the middle of the night, is as much a mystery, as why he would chose to live such a secluded life away from prying eyes?

As the savage storm worsens, these two solitary souls begin to feel threatened, skirting around each other at close quarters, like caged animals.

With all the feel of a taut fever dream, Bell and Allen’s debut feature is creepy and atmospheric, and keeps the audience, pinned to the edge of their seats, and left guessing right up to the final scene.

Deliciously edgy, you could cut the heavy and unpredictable atmosphere with a knife.

You’ll Never Find Me is visually dramatic, and uses flickering light and rumbling noise to powerful effect to create a tempestuous and dread-filled stage for these two broken night-owls. Every utterance, every movement is filled with apprehension and will leave you, wooly-headed and intoxicated, by its tortuous momentum.

This is a deftly brilliant ride from start to finish.

(4/5)

History of Evil

HISTORY of Evil, now streaming on Shudder, is a dystopian thriller set in the not too distant future where a fascist, God-fearing government has taken over the United States.

The debut feature from Bo Mirhosseni mixes genres to give us a haunted house horror with a dark vision of the world that we could soon find ourselves living in — sooner rather than later, if we remain on our current trajectory!

And while it all sounds lively enough on paper, it is for the most part dull and meandering.

For a film that comes off like a mixed assortment of The Hunger Games crossed with The Shining and The Amityville Horror, it is sadly one big infuriating muddle.

With the US plagued with war and corruption, turning it into a theocratic police state, ordinary citizens have hit back against the oppression and formed a group very originally called The Resistance.

Alegre Dyer (Jackie Cruz), History of Evil’s answer to Katniss Everdeen, is one such member who breaks out of political prison and reunites with her husband Ron (Paul Wesley) and daughter Daria (Murphee Bloom).

On the run from the militia, the family takes shelter in a remote safe house, which they are told most people are too frightened to come near. But their journey is far from over, as the house’s dark past begins to eat away at Ron, and his earnest desire to keep his family safe is overtaken by something much more sinister.

The house, as it happens, is haunted by a white racist – a real good old boy who, in life, was a member of the KKK. He comes off like the country cousin of LIoyd, the bartender from The Shining, who manages to get under Ron’s skin and makes him believe that his family needs ‘correcting’.

Unfortunately, the best ideas here are borrowed from much stronger material, and what we are ultimately left with is a poorly executed shambles.

(1/5)

Suitable Flesh

RETRO erotic body-swap horror Suitable Flesh, now streaming on Shudder, is based on the 1937 HP Lovecraft short story ‘The Thing on the Doorstep‘.

Heather Graham and Barbara Crampton star in this horny adaptation, written by Dennis Paoli and directed by Joe Lynch. Deemed a “spiritual successor” to Stuart Gordon’s 1980s Lovecraftian horror films, Re-Animator and From Beyond, Lynch’s film fits right into this comic sideshow for all its totally bonkers goofball comedy, euphoric curative mutilations, and glossy sensual swagger.

A cinematic love letter to the late, great horror filmmaker, it comes off as an unpredictable and delightfully perverted gift to fans of everything from erotic thrillers to body horror and HP Lovecraftian cosmic mayhem. Actually, the only thing really missing here is Bruce Campbell’s manic cheese-eating grin.

Graham is brilliant in the starring role as Elizabeth Derby, a once successful psychiatrist who had a loving husband (Johnathon Schaech) and the world at her fingertips.

Now, she finds herself locked up inside a mental institution after the murder of young male patient, Asa (Judah Lewis), to whom she had an inexplicable and almost otherworldly attraction.

Hoping to clear her name, Elizabeth confides in her doctor and best friend Dr Dani Upton (Barbara Crampton). She recounts what happened, giving way to a freakish and unsettling tale of sexual madness, supernatural horror, and homicidal rage. The deeper the story goes, the more unhinged and carnage-laden life becomes, not just for Elizabeth but for everyone in her path.

Outlandish and mind-bending throughout, Lynch does a really great job at tipping his hat to the horror cinema great and clearly lots of fun was had along the way. This has an old skool 80s and 90s feel to it and will provide real thrills and sentimental VHS flashbacks to fans of warped Lovecraftian horror with sex and gore aplenty.

(4/5)

Destroy All Neighbors

NEW to Shudder, Destroy All Neighbors is a flaky and somewhat twisted horror-comedy with plenty of splatter and not so much substance.

Directed by Josh Forbes, it tells the off-the-wall tale of William Brown (Jonah Ray Rodrigues), a neurotic, self-absorbed musician determined to finish his prog-rock magnum opus – a project he has been working on for years but seems no closer to finishing.

William’s long-suffering girlfriend Emily (Kiran Deol) puts up with his foolish notions and the fact he always has one excuse or another for never completing anything.

She just about puts up with his overly complicated and pretentious compositions, but, according to William, “not everyone will get it, but the right ones will”.

Right now, he’s facing a creative roadblock, but still fantasises about being the best thing to hit prog-rock since Emerson, Lake, and Palmer while moping through his job as a studio engineer (a glorified “knob-twiddler’) that is as poorly appreciated as it is paid.

He puts his current bout of innovative malaise down to his new noisy and troll-like neighbour Vlad, played by Alex Winter of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure fame, complete with full prosthetics.

When he finally works up the courage to ask his rather grotesque next door neighbour to keep the music down, things take a rather gruesome twist and William accidentally beheads the nasty Vlad.

From here it is gory mayhem and goofy comedy all the way to its ostentatious, pernickety and enthusiastic finale complete with Mellotron and bassoon.

Destroy All Neighbors is a twisted splatter-comedy that turns out to be a deranged journey of self-discovery that brims over with guitar solos, oodles of blood, and jokes that run out of steam quickly despite all the muster.

Forbes’ film ultimately proves as exhausting as Genesis’ acid trip of a double-album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Definitely not for everyone, but perhaps this too is a case of the right ones will get it.

(2/5)

The Sacrifice Game

The Sacrifice Game is a Christmas horror set in 1971 in a boarding school for girls that borrows from genre favourites such as The Strangers and The Devil’s Rejects.

Christmas is bad enough for students Samantha (Madison Baines) and Clara (Georgia Acken) who are stuck looking at the drab and dutiful corridors of their school during the holidays. But, as it turns out, there is worse than Christmas dinner with their sympathetic teacher Rose (Chloe Levine).

And, although you mightn’t believe it, there’s even more disagreeable things than uninvited in-laws turning up to your festive shindig unannounced.

Deciding to make the most of their lot, Samantha and Clara strike up a bond and decide to make the most of their Yuletide predicament.  But when things take a deadly turn and a gang of cult killers arrive at their doorstep on Christmas Eve, the festive cheer is somewhat dampened by murderous proceedings.

A bunch of all-grinning Manson Family-esque loons turn up at the Blackvale Catholic Girls’ Boarding School for a night of devilment and debauchery like none this educational institution has ever seen.

The Sacrifice Game, new to Shudder, brings a number of different elements together to create a rather nefarious seasonal romp mixing hostage thriller, home invasion, cult sacrifice, and coming-of-age drama. Think horror’s answer to Once Upon A Time in Hollywood with a Black Christmas twist.

Director Jenn Wexler has gone for a more stylised retro feel from the Quentin Tarantino school of cool with turtle necks and tan leather jackets aplenty, instead of focusing on producing a truly creepy seasonal slasher.

The dialogue, plot, and performances are ham-fisted at times and leave a lot to be desired, but there’s enough imagination along the way to keep us invested and entertained.

There’s also a really clever twist at the end of Wexler’s film which comes as a pleasant and truly wicked surprise.

(3/5)

It’s a Wonderful Knife

IT’S A Wonderful Knife is a camp Christmas slasher that reimagines a cinematic festive favourite with all the flourish of a blunt blade slicing through roast chestnuts.

In short, it definitely could use some sharpening.

In fairness, Winnie Carruthers (Jane Widdop) is no George Bailey, and this mturkey of a Yuletide horror-comedy isn’t a patch on Frank Capra’s 1964 classic, It’s A Wonderful Life.

New to Shudder, It’s A Wonderful Knife is far from wonderful despite moments of mildly entertaining seasonal revelry. But look, I have seen worse, and its heart is clearly in the right place.

The story unfolds on Christmas Eve. A year on from saving her town from a psychotic killer and Winnie’s life is not so great. In fact, it’s far from wonderful.

In a desperate James Stewart twist of fate, she wishes she’d never been born and finds herself in a nightmare universe. In this parallel Scooby Doo existence, Winnie discovers that, without her, life could be much worse for those she loves, giving her new purpose.

The killer is still at large in this Wes Craven-esque world and she must team up with town misfit Bernie (Jess McLeod) to put an end to the murder spree and get back to her own reality.

Sadly, the gags fall flat on their face, the characters are all teeth and glee but bring about as much pizzazz to the party as a parish priest at a swinger’s night.

It’s all very chipper but it lacks surprises, and turns out to be overly generic with few scares or anything exciting to leave under the tree. The cheesy love story at the centre of the film gives proceedings a certain festive warmth, but if you are looking for a Gremlins or Krampus edge, you have most certainly come to the wrong place.

This turkey is cold!

(2/5)

Sister Death

NEW to Netflix, Spanish horror film Sister Death is the prequel to Veronica, and focuses on the story of Sister Narcisa (Aria Bedmar) and her first encounter with the spirit world.

Set in post-war Spain, Narcisa, a young novice with supernatural powers, arrives at a former convent, now a school for girls, to become a teacher. As the days go by, the strange events and increasingly disturbing situations that torment her will eventually lead her to unravel the terrible knot of secrets that surround the convent and haunts its inhabitants.

On its release back in 2017, the original film was hailed by Netflix as the scariest movie on the streaming service – that week, at least!

Again directed by Paco Plaza, Sister Death is more an origin story than a prequel. But it is more stylish and sober with it, and equally captivating as leading lady Bedmar, is mesmeric as the innocent and at-sea young postulant, struggling with her faith and paranormal abilities.

Sister Narcisa, played in her old age by Consuelo Trujillo, appears in the original as an ominous presence christened ‘Sister Death’.

And while the pace of Plaza’s latest film moves like molasses, the overall air of mystery and the chilling atmosphere is amped up by a far more compelling and moodier tale that draws us in and holds us in its powerful grasp.

Most of this is down to the winning performance from Bedmar, a star in the making, as well as the distinguished camerawork and lighting that adds to the God-fearing aura of dismay throughout the dark convent halls.

Sister Death is a far more memorable and enjoyable experience than its predecessor and Plaza has directed a sequel that is effectively tense and disturbing.

From the Spanish filmmaker who brought us such horror classics as Rec and Rec 2, this is a film worthy of Netflix’s braggadocious claims of ‘scariest film’ this week.

(4/5)

Five Nights at Freddy’s

BASED on the popular horror video game series, Five Nights at Freddy’s is a supernatural and dark affair that probably has the kiddies very excited about the prospect of an outing to the cinema.

My eldest, now a strapping teenager, had been been talking about the possibility of the young gamers’ favourite coming to the big screen since he was knee high to a grasshopper. Now that it was finally here though, he wasn’t overly phased one way or another, but his pre-teen younger sibling was well excited.

Seeing as my youngest is a horror mad nut like his pops, I had no fears that he might be out of his depth. In fairness, he was in his element, and raving about it later, but be warned, Five Nights at Freddy’s is definitely not suitable for younger audiences.

In fact, I saw one mother and a gaggle of kids leave the cinema 20 minutes into the film after realising this was not The Care Bears Movie.

The terrifying horror game phenomenon is brought to the big screen by Blumhouse — the producer of M3GAN, The Black Phone and The Invisible Man— as a blood-curdling spooktacular which comes off like a gloomy blend of Stephen King’s It and Willy’s Wonderland.

The film follows Mike (Josh Hutcherson), a troubled young man caring for his 10-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio), and haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his younger brother more than a decade before.

Recently fired and desperate for work so that he can keep custody of Abby, Mike agrees to take a position as a night security guard at an abandoned theme restaurant: Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. But Mike soon discovers that nothing at Freddy’s is what it seems. With the aid of Vanessa, a local police officer (Elizabeth Lail), Mike’s nights at Freddy’s will lead him into unexplainable encounters with the supernatural and drag him into the black heart of an unspeakable nightmare.

Directed by Emma Tammi, Five Nights at Freddy’s doesn’t break any moulds but it is absorbing enough to whet our appetites for a sequel.

(3/5)