As has become standard with apocalypses; the majority of the threats the duo face, come not from the cause of the destruction, but from the immoral humans that roam the countryside, preying on the weak.

Emma and Sonny make the typical ‘odd couple’ pairing; initially suspicious of each other but eventually coming together in their trek across the wilderness as they face ever increasing dangers together.

Nearly four years in the making, ‘A Feral World’ is the feature length adaptation of Director, David Liban’s short ‘Feral’ (2016). The additional footage has clearly been filmed over the intervening years, as and when more money became available. Discrepancies in the age of the characters, particularly Sonny, who grows up a lot over the films 104 minute run time, are cleverly dealt with by intermittent chapter headings that progress the timeline of events.

The film itself is very much a mixed bag for a low budget passion project. The performances of the main cast are well above par and believable throughout. Character development is key here and even minor characters seem well fleshed out with a back story and character development, which does a good job of investing the viewer in their fate.

The special effects are a bit ropey for a modern title, but with a little suspension of belief they do the job.

Due to the segmented nature of the film, it does at times; feel like short episodes of a TV series that have been cobbled together. Similar to how the BBC edited Blake’s 7 into 90 minute TV movies for sale to American audiences.

The other drawback of the segment structure is that, inevitably, some are more entertaining than others. The first and third are good, but the second and fourth seem to drag somewhat. In addition, each has its own narrative and so there is little build up of real tension. As a result, when the final showdown finally arrives it seems a bit anticlimactic.

As a whole the film seems like a missed opportunity, a good cast and premise that don’t really meet their potential due to budget and filming constraints. I only hope this showcase is enough to convince someone to fund the Director into a bigger budget adaptation.

Daniel Few

The post A FERAL WORLD (2020) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

It transpires that Kate’s husband is currently awaiting trial for the murder and Kate lives in constant fear of his possible release. Her paranoia is evident as she imagines intruders in the house and worries about Beth being kidnapped.

Beth is tired of her mother’s constant nagging, bored of the safe house and just wants to be able to see her Dad again, who she clearly believes is innocent of the crime he has been accused of.

The situation is further complicated when the safe house suffers a home invasion from Mary (Kristen MacCulloch – Psychogoreman, 2020) and Lewis (Nick Smyth – For the Sake of Vicious, 2020), the parents of the deceased. They have their own theory on who killed their daughter and are out for vengeance.

As more details of the day of the murder are revealed the identity of the guilty party becomes more and more convoluted, until the final act brings all the players together for the startling reveal.

As plot lines go, there is nothing new here. It’s a standard take on the old ‘Whodunnit’ formula and, anyone who has seen any movie of this type will have little trouble in guessing the identity of the killer long before the reveal.

That being said there is still a good deal here to recommend sitting through the 80 minute run time. The single location is used to great effect, and the savings on the budget make the rest of the film all the better for it. The acting is above par and if anything, is a little too on the nose, making the killer stand out like a sore thumb in my opinion.

The slow burn tension is well managed and when the action finally kicks off it is shocking and graphic, giving the payoff that you would want from this type of film.

In conclusion, there is no new ground to be broken here, but worth a watch if you are looking for a new take on an age old premise.

Daniel Few

The post MOTHERLY (2021) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

Later, stopping at a rest station, Monette takes a bathroom break, returning to the car to find that his passenger has disappeared, taking Monette’s St. Christopher medallion with him.

Several weeks after the event Monette relates the tale to a priest in confession, including the disturbing events that occurred subsequent to the hitchhikers disappearance.

Adapted from a short story by Stephen King (first published in the December 2007 issue of Playboy magazine) Mute should make ideal material for a short.

Unfortunately, as Stephen King stories go, Mute is not particularly grisly, nor does it contain anything that will make your spine tingle. Narrated in flashback, it immediately removes any concern you may have for the narrator and the twist reveal is described, rather than viewed onscreen, which removes what is essentially the ‘money shot’ of the story.

This story has previously been adapted in 2012 with an all British cast. In that version Patrick Ryecart (The Kings Speech, 2010 and most recently TV’s The Crown), plays Monette and invokes sympathy for the characters situation. This American version may stay true to the source text but it lacks any kind of emotional punch and, as a result, the characters feel dull and one dimensional.

With a runtime of only 26 minutes, Mute doesn’t outstay it’s welcome as such, but it doesn’t go anywhere either. The aforementioned British version tells the same story in half the time to much better affect.

Daniel Few

The post MUTE (2021) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

The basic story-line (if it can be called that) revolves around the character of Ivan the Butcher (played by Writer and Director, Oli Steyning), who undergoes a quest to seek revenge after his favourite customer is robbed of his prized salami sticks.

As well as the crazed butcher, other characters who make an appearance during the shorts 21 minute run time include a clueless cop, a confused vegan, a couple of stoners and a TV lawyer that makes ‘Better Call Saul’ (2015-present) Saul Goodman look like Perry Mason (1957-66).

All the characters here are played as over-the-top as possible and each attempts to chew more scenery than the last. Having said that, the classic stereotypes are probably the easiest thing to grasp in this mess.

The overall style of the short is hard to describe but is almost as if the film makers watched the ‘Hilary Briss’ segments from ‘The League of Gentlemen’ (1999-2007) and thought: this would be much better if it had been made by the ‘Monty Python’ (1969-74) team…while they were on acid.

If this sounds like your brand of humour then you should definitely check out ‘The Sum of Several Sticky Situations involving Salami Sticks’. Everyone else will be left scratching their head, wondering what the hell they’ve just watched.

Daniel Few

The post THE SUM OF SEVERAL STICKY SITUATIONS INVOLVING SALAMI STICKS (2021) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

They lead a pious life, in service to their God, Etan, who both blesses and protects the farm that they inhabit. The boundaries of their land are clearly marked by a circle of animal bones and certain death waits any who cross to the wasteland beyond.

Father also doubles as Etan’s High Priest, instructing the children in how best to serve him and dealing out punishment for their sins. Atonement starts at missing super for the evening and frequently involves beatings. Far more severe treatment is warranted for frequent transgressors, Etan doesn’t seem big on mercy.

Whilst they may not be a ‘Happy’ Family, they are certainly content with their lot. That is until newcomer Mary (Keana Lyn – The Hardy Boys, The Yard) arrives and interrupts the Family dynamic.

Introduced by Father as a future bride for Caleb, the mysteries of her origin, combined with the beguiling effect she has on the male members of the family, results in an ever-growing wedge being driven between members of the group.

As the children become ever more rebellious, the puritanical parents strive to tighten their tyrannical grip…culminating in a generational confrontation of Biblical proportions.

Although the viewer is never given an exact year the film is set, the visual ascetics bring to mind the sublime 16^th Century setting brought to life in The Witch (2015), and the dialogue is peppered with plenty of ‘Thees’ and ‘Thous’ for good measure. However, the inclusion of electric lighting suggests a more modern or perhaps even post-apocalyptic setting.

The performance of the cast is excellent; raising what could have easily been a mediocre film, to something far superior. The interactions between different family members raise the slow building tension with each interaction and changes in relationships of individual characters, not just between parents and children, but between Father and Mother and the individual children, keep the viewer guessing as to where the eventual breaking point will lead.

This is definitely a film for those who prefer dialogue and tension build up to non-stop shocks and action. The ever escalating punishments should keep the easily distracted on point though and the final confrontation, when it comes, does not disappoint.

Daniel Few

The post THE FAMILY (2021) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

Previous film crews have attempted to contact the spirit of a notorious serial killer, who was once incarcerated at the prison. Although each attempt reported spooky encounters, all the footage taken was mysteriously wiped upon leaving the prison grounds.

Can the team survive the night within the prison walls? Will they be able to solve the mystery of how a prisoner disappeared from solitary? And will they be able to finally prove the existence of spirits?

Straight away we are in familiar territory here, with the bar being set by previous genre entries such as ‘The Innkeepers’ (2011) and the superb ‘Grave Encounters’ (2011).

There is nothing wrong with re-treading old ground in the genre, providing you have a unique take on the material, as ‘Host’ (2020) recently proved.

Paranormal Prison starts out very well, building the back-story of the prison, its previous occupants and alluding to disasters and spooky goings on within the prison walls.

The acting from the largely unknown cast is above par for this type of film and each of the characters are well fleshed out, even if the ‘previous trauma’ monologues get a little cringe inducing after a while.

All things considered, the first forty-five minutes of the seventy minute run time do a good job of setting up slow burn anticipation for the final act. This is sadly where the film utterly fails to deliver.

The ‘action’, such as it is, mainly revolves around an animated mannequin, played by Don Shanks, who famously played Michael Myers in ‘Halloween 5: The Curse of Michael Myers’ (1989). His role here is reduced to standing in random places whilst the rest of the cast run away screaming.

We are then treated to a series of flashbacks to earlier moments in the film, either because the film makers thought viewers would be too dense to pick up on the ham fisted clues that have been laid out like breadcrumbs or, more likely, just to pad the runtime to over an hour.

The mystery that the team solves would have been solved by the Scooby Doo gang in less than twenty minutes and the obligatory ‘twist’ ending is so obvious that any genre fan will have guessed it long before the final reveal.

All in all a very disappointing climax to a film that showed such potential early on. My advice is to watch the first three quarters of an hour, turn it off and make up your own ending, I guarantee it will be better than the one they filmed.

Daniel Few

The post PARANORMAL PRISON (2021) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

He is towed into town but finds himself unable to pay for repairs. That’s when he is offered a deal that seems too good to be true. If he spends the night cleaning the long-abandoned ‘Willy’s Wonderland’ restaurant on the outskirts of town, in preparation for its grand reopening, not only will he get his car fixed, but also earn himself a thousand dollars for his trouble.

Of course, what no-one bothers to mention is that the restaurant was formerly owned by paedophilic devil worshipers and was closed down following a massacre and subsequent police shoot out. Since then the good towns folk, led by the corrupt Sheriff Lund (Beth Grant – Donnie Darko, 2001) have been secretly sacrificing trouble makers and wayward strangers to the demonically possessed animatronic puppets that still inhabit the abandoned restaurant.

If all this sounds strangely familiar, it’s because the plot of the film follows that of the ‘Five Night’s at Freddy’s’ game franchise (a film adaptation of which is currently in development) so closely that it is a miracle that no lawsuits were filed.

Back to the action and the films body count is increased courtesy of the Sheriff’s willful daughter, Liv (Emily Tosta – Party of Five, 2020), who talks her friends into staging an ill-conceived rescue attempt in order to prevent further meaningless deaths.

Naturally, what none of the major players have counted on, is that this particular stranger, armed with a carrier bag full of energy drinks and a bad attitude, isn’t about to let some killer cuddly toys get in the way of his getting the job done.

Whenever I hear the words ‘Nicolas Cage’ and ‘Horror Film’ used in the same sentence, I am filled with an emotion that is equal parts dread and anticipation. His previous work in the genre is patchy, to say the least. Mention scenery chewing turkeys such as Drive Angry (2011), or even worse The Wicker Man (2006) and you are likely to set the teeth of any horror fan on edge.

However, more recent efforts such as Mandy (2018) and The Color out of Space (2019), have been met with much more positive reviews.

It was with all this in mind, and with little to no expectations, that I sat down to watch Willy’s Wonderland. To say that I was pleasantly surprised would be something of an understatement.

Nicolas Cage is perfectly cast as the un-named stranger; effortlessly flipping from passive caretaker to psychotic killing machine and back in the blink of an eye. The rest of the cast, whilst clearly only present to increase the onscreen carnage, do a surprisingly good job of fleshing out their one-dimensional cliche characters. There is very little plot to speak of, but if you can get past that and just go with it, this is a fun ride that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

This film will appeal to fans of 80’s horror or no-brainer splatter fests. Those who demand more from their horror films, like character development or plot twists had best avoid.

Daniel Few

The post WILLY’S WONDERLAND (2021) appeared first on Horror Asylum.