Filmed in Liverpool and other areas in the UK, which I picked up from some slight scouser accents and my time following a certain football club that wears red, I found Artifacts Of Fear a wonderful seventy-five-minute tight terror experience. The trouble is the actual film is a huge one hundred and ten minutes long caused by some poor choices in directing and editing that mar sometimes committed actors on screen. Plot holes, and several continuity errors on screen in editing that cause one to go okay how did that happen?

The stories all have inspiration in work like From Beyond The Grave (1974), The Screaming Skull (1958) and many others with a framing story of two young men seeking an item for a Halloween party they plan to host. Laurence R. Harvey who is the best part of the film takes a turn as a creepy curio shop dealer Mr. Kosminski who leads the ill-fated lads to a special item he has in his basement. The device with a skull and menacing dialogue by Paul Kelleher, demands silver for a story which launches the rest of the film.

The first one, a young policewoman is terrorized by a masked serial killer who has been terrorizing the city. She is working on the case with lots of running, looking scared, anguished screams in one generic look at what a slasher film is with an ending. Way too many shots of bits of furniture, feet running etc. all to pad it out creating a glacial pace. Moments of real terror are lost such as when the young girl is leaning against her doors with the maniac outside. What a moment for silence, a wary look at the door followed by a thunderous knock. The saving grace of this first story is the rather frightening video footage that the policewoman must watch of a murder victim as part of the evidence and her investigation. The best shot is the horrible sounds of mutilation on camera followed by the crazed killer revealing himself as an old man in a blood-stained apron. The blank passive expression in the camera is a priceless moment of cold-hearted dread.

Artifacts Of Fear just shrieks to be edited down. The number of shots used particularly in moments from other stories such as the final segment when we see three angles of a person smoking a cigarette cut to music. In that same last segment, there are glaring continuity troubles when the character is watching fireworks outside at night. Cut to a shot of eyeglasses with no reflection of the fireworks in them. The same character is drinking from a flask in his hand that magically disappears in the next moment. In many of the other stories, useless reparative shots are used to pad out stories or segment length that make one go why why why why and did I say why? Editing moments of a music instrumental music track when music is used to accent dread does not make one tap one hand or make it into a music video.

The film has some practical blood and some visual effects that one expects however it mares some committed acting performances, particularly from the already mentioned Laurence R. Harvey, one of the brothers in the third story Ted played by Carl Wharton, and the two young guys who have their moment in the wrap-around segment Luke Morgan as Alex and Cameron Patmore as Nathon.

Often indie horror films are a training ground for people to learn their craft. The object of appraising a film of this nature is not to destroy or to belittle effort as some do but to be honest as a horror film and a film for public consumption. Artifacts Of Fear (2023) had potential however it looks cobbled together under the guise of character development coupled with a pace that kills, lots of shots of people turning heads in various directions and many views of the same things that will make you scream at the screen, and not in a good way.

BayView Entertainment have released ARTIFACTS OF FEAR on VOD including Tubi and Amazon Prime Video

Terry Sherwood

The post ARTIFACTS OF FEAR (2023) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

This CGI dino battle show is set in 2030. The world naturally has been pushed apart and government investment in the war effort has produced a breakthrough “of Jurassic proportions”. This break is for some odd reason to recreate flesh-eating dinosaurs, to wreak havoc on the Earth in time for World War III. The creatures will wipe the slate clean and return humankind to the ‘noble savage’ of the Stone Age without  Raquel Welch and John Richardson from One Million Years B.C. (1966)

The picture then moves to two years later and the group of survivors are running out of food and medical supplies. Three of them, Mick (Clint Gordon), Drew (Mark Haldor) and Mia (Antonia Whillans) set out to find whatever they can. This does not sit well with Louisa (Chelsea Greenwood) who is carrying Mick’s child and doesn’t want him to go on the mission.

Nice locations of mountains and lots of CGI dinosaurs that oddly don’t eat most of their victims they don’t even scar them up much. The team meets other survivors, splits up, and runs into some raptor-sized dinos that will get into the bunker leading to chases down dark corridors and Louisa going into labor at the worst possible moment. Silly moments like trying to kill a monster with a handgun, gratuitous scantily clad women in towels running down corridors. Survivors emoting that ‘everyone should just calm down’ after a near-gun battle.

Jurassic Valley (aka Kingdom Of The Dinosaurs) (2022) is not deep Science fiction cinema it is downright silly popcorn viewing. The people are all pretty, but they deliver some lunatic lines often badly and scream a lot, especially in the end which doesn’t make too much sense.

JURASSIC VALLEY (aka Kingdom Of The Dinosaurs) is out now on DVD in the UK and to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the UK courtesy of High Fliers Films.

The film is out in the USA under the title KINGDOM OF THE DINOSAURS and is available on DVD and to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the USA.

Terry Sherwood

The post JURASSIC VALLEY (aka Kingdom Of The Dinosaurs) (2022) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

Similar to the aforementioned Asylum (1972), this new and very competent film opens with the arrival at a remote psychiatric hospital, a new resident Doctor Makenzie (Elissa Dowling) who tries to learn more about her patients from her new boss Doctor Moon (Airisa Durand). These patients in this small rural facility share a delusion regarding a common supernatural presence in their lives that drove them over the edge. These medical histories unfold in stories as the files are read and discussed. The stories range from a haunted young woman bringing home a potential one-night stand to an artist who has left a relationship succumbing to medication causing her painting to paint themselves climaxing in a visit from the entity. Other stories are perhaps the best ones for me concerning two brothers who have murdered their father. The work concerns the effect of guilt and how far protecting one of the family will go instead of the actual murder.

Taking the piss out of the reality ghost shows a renegade producer hires a female assistant to prove that the entity and not him caused the murder he went to prison for. The final story concerns a troubled addict who looks astonishingly like Flea the bass player from Red Hot Chili Peppers battling his addiction and his overbearing mother much to a bloody conclusion. The film always returns to the inmates in their respective cells afterwards.

Beware The Boogeyman (2024) achieves what it wants to despite budget with tight editing and the above-listed actors that commit to the vision. Lovely witty dialogue, some stilted in moments but the intent is all on screen. The segments have different directors, so you get style changes particularly in the set when one moves from dark fog outside to a white-walled kitchen and sunshine similar to some of the sets used by John Woo in his Hong Kong action films with younger Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Some of the best deliveries in the film is between the actors in the sequence with the two guilt-ridden brothers trying to come to terms.

An odd conclusion for the film may leave some going, could it all have been something else?

Competent viewing yes, long in moments yes and perhaps a better-designed creature that doesn’t look like a cross between a cenobite and Jason Voorhees unmasked would help. Overall, refreshingly interesting stories that are well done for your anthology-craving minds. ‘Now you will know what its like to be a God’.

BEWARE THE BOOGEYMAN will be released on DVD in the UK on 30th September 2024 courtesy of High Fliers Films

Pre-order your copy here: https://amzn.to/3WGT2nt

BEWARE THE BOOGEYMAN is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the USA courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures

Terry Sherwood

The post BEWARE THE BOOGEYMAN (2024) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

The movie opens with a dreamlike flashback sequence that effectively sets the eerie tone. From there, we follow the characters to the infamous house in the woods, a setting that Rees transforms into a character of its own. Visually, the film impresses with its dark, atmospheric cinematography that captures the creepy beauty of the forest and the house. The score, albeit a little disjointed, enhances the tension throughout.

Reminiscent of home invasion classics such as Bryan Bertino’s “The Strangers” (2008), the movie blends tension and weirdness while utilizing practical techniques to create a disturbingly real experience. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to overlook the lackluster performances from much of the main cast. However, Olga Solo’s memorable performance as Goldilocks is particularly unsettling and deranged, helping to carry the film during her scenes.

The bears are now menacing figures, with Daddy Bear emerging as a particularly foreboding presence. Mama Bear and Baby Bear add their own forms of horror, contributing to the film’s overall sense of dread. However, their chosen look for the movie was perhaps a little too child-like and simple, and didn’t come across as terrifying as it perhaps should have been.

Rees’ overall interpretation of the characters is both brutal and interesting, and surprisingly more gory than one might expect. Indeed, the gore, while abundant, is effectively used, peaking in its final act.

“Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge” is a bold and imaginative reworking of a beloved tale. It challenges traditional narratives with its dark, horror-infused vision. Rees has created a unique and twisted version of Goldilocks that is as intriguing as it is terrifying, ensuring this film leaves a lasting impression.

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Summer wants to take on a challenge by taking her four friends into the desert of Sedona. The four will be subjected to trials to find themselves and help heal past troubles. She is unaware that the retreat will lead them all to confront their past traumas, faults and memories in a hallucinogenic metaphysical landscape.

What stands out are the performances of the actors such as Grace Patterson (Katie), Jadelyn Breier (Liz) and Marissa Patterson as Annie. Four friends all with past trauma ranging from childhood to guilt of sexual liaisons to simply not liking being called to be ‘Filler’ at a social event. Committed performances, good honest refreshing vitriol and revelations make this picture a treat to see these people on screen.

Add to this the vista of the desert which I have personally enjoyed the weather, solitude, the landscape of Palm Springs and the silence in this case punctuated by a social media counsellor going by the name of  Hermès (Joe Filippone). Hermès is introduced sitting on a blanket in the desert dispensing trinkets and water. He later turns up as a counsellor bouncing around dancing, dispensing physical logic for the four women to follow on their journey. Hermès is replaced by a new-age child called Inanna (Campbell Crates) who continues the  journey. In one of the best lines of the film one of the women remarks  ‘Who’s the twelve-year-old?’ when they awaken to find the bubbly Inanna in their midst. Add to this you have The Game of Life or TGOL which is a social media documentary with reluctant host Beale (Ryan Jack Connell) add to this mysterious hooded figures against CGI vortex like the Talosians from the original Star Trek series in some controlling ‘Star Chamber’.

Reflect (2023) has a lot happening in it but the pace is relaxing enough that it is not intrusive. The film as a whole work brings out the links between old friends between the women’s heavily emotional journeys with deadpan humour. It’s not a genre in the true sense yet it does have an aftertaste of UFO conspiracy documentaries and Bigfoot finding shows. The film however does have a mere hint of vampirism in one sequence which is likely a satire element in the sense of the ‘bloodsuckers’ that prey on vulnerable people with problems who have the financials to seek solutions.

Reflect (2023) is best viewed by folk who want a whimsical satire of some real traumas in people. The Cult Of Healing no matter how outlandish be it through therapy, royal jelly, self-help books ranging from secrets, the keys to diets and the money they generate are on full display. You cannot dance, ignore diet your hell away, you must confront them ahead which is the message, you may not like the reflection back.

Reflect is out now on Digital Platforms including Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu

Terry Sherwood

The post REFLECT (2023) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

Paul Dudbridge’s Frankenstein: Legacy is a pleasant well-crafted look at a pursuit of  Victor Frankenstein’s’ diary of experiments in creation. This was a story element in Universal’s Frankenstein Meets The Wolf man (1943), Son Of Frankenstein (1939) and The Ghost Of Frankenstein (1942).

The film opens after Victor Frankenstein passes away on a schooner in the Arctic, his diary falls into the hands of a sailor, who passes the notebook on and on until it reaches the hands of Millicent Browning (Juliet Aubrey) a rebellious scientist and noble wife of the bedridden Robert (Philip Martin Brown). Millicent is conducting basic electrical re-animation experiments with animals in fact in sequence she resurrects a malevolent CGI rat using the diary.

Millicent is trying to cure her spouse with the help of the book’s secrets of life and death. Robert does succumb to his ongoing illness after thugs from P.T. Barnum beat him relentlessly, to obtain the book. Though Millicent’s son William (Matt Barber) and daughter Clara (Katie Sheridan) disapprove of her research, they discover Millicent has brought Robert’s body to life. Still, the curse of Frankenstein’s fight against death seems to have followed the diary as the monster that rises has no soul or compassion for their father.

Frankenstein: Legacy solidly recalls the Hammer Frankenstein Cycle of films particularly the indurated Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969). It could easily have been a script for that studio back in the halcyon days subbing in Peter Cushing as it explores similar themes of a lost spouse, and the inability to recognize the newly resurrected for the original.

The actors are all top end recalling TV series like Downton Abbey, The Crown and Bridgerton. Production values of large sets with sumptuous furniture, clothing, foggy graveyards, rainy nights, and dark foreboding exteriors all work well with the flowing camera. The actors all get to do some wonderful dialogue reminiscent of domestic drama which in a sense is really what the story is about, which is one family’s experiences with the Frankenstein diary.

Frankenstein: Legacy is budget conscious as Hammer films were yet like those it pulls off an effective film world. The drawback is that some may find this picture talky and not gory yet the dialogue is wonderful.  Filled with acid digs, sentimental affection, murderous accusations, dry wit and pathos, especially when Robert (Philip Martin Brown) is telling his son goodbye as he feels it is almost the end for him after the beating he received. The actors even though they are in the Victorian time sport modern-day hairstyles which Hammer Studios and others did for the men but not the women. The effects are CGI in the lab moments, the opening ship scene, and the resurrected rat but that’s ok. The creation scene usually a big number in a Frankenstein film is wonderfully underplayed likely due to budget more to the point that the story is about the resurrected father and his family, not the thunder, lightning etc.

Frankenstein: Legacy is reminiscent of a Hammer Film without Peter Cushing, cleavage from what became known as Hammer Glamour and the usually magnificent musical score that the studio used. One could easily imagine later Hammer Studios leading man Ralph Bates in a role with Ingrid Pitt,  Veronica Carlson or Kate O’ Mara along for the ride. If you look particularly at the opening ship scene you can see glimpses of characters that look similar to Michael Ripper and others from the Hammer troupe which adds a good touch. Well worth seeing for a feast for the ears and the eyes with blood yes of course yet more like a genre film was before the jump scares and buckets of blood became the norm.

Review by Terry Sherwood

Frankenstein: Legacy is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the UK thanks to 101 Films

Frankenstein: Legacy is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the USA thanks to Amcomri

Terry Sherwood

The post FRANKENSTEIN: LEGACY (2024) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

Aged (2023) is oddly constructed and misdirected in places with some poor direction missing key plot moments. Bright scenes of rural landscapes and a meeting in an antiseptic stilted coffee shop with Charles Bloom (Dave McClain), meeting with Veronica Grey (Morgan Boss-Maltais) to interview as a caregiver for his ailing mother. Charles has cared for his mother, who is suffering from dementia, and now things are more difficult. The dialogue is short, cutting lines, and pauses especially with Charles with sounds of slurping beverages making the scene seem oppressive. Not a lot to grab onto here for the roles of these people. Veronica accepts the work as temporary. She then must provide a cover story for her worried mother and off she goes home.

The soundtrack of lovely Al Jolson tunes and other music from the twenties and even Ava Maria adds an interesting touch of being smothered in lace doilies and lavender. Veronica’s arrival finds the gardener, Joe (Adonis Ringo), face in blank fear as he cut  himself with shears. Veronica heads into the house for lunch and meeting Mrs. Bloom (Carla Kidd) who kindly interrogates her. Veronica finds photos with faces scratched out. Mrs. Bloom is unfriendly as some old people are when a stranger comes into their home, says she is fine and not that bad as her son makes her out to be. The dialogue is so stilted again with empty tones perhaps indicating the oppressive nature of the home, yet it succeeds in slowing down events. If you are going to build a role there must be a role to build.

Lunch brings apart the pious revelation as Mrs. Bloom gets to know Veronica better: where she’s from, her upbringing, and finding out her new caregiver gave up her Catholic faith. What follows is a strange mix of body horror, illness and haunting that meshes horrendously. Performances again woodenly delivered. The domination of the home and the nefarious purpose takes it toll all as one sees hallucinations and dead people that haunt the rooms and the phone line. Veronica wakes up with bruising on her arms each evening and begins to doubt her sanity. The most startling moment is an incident of elder abuse by Veronica which should have been a crescendo to a scene, yet it seems to be just a moment to be glossed over. The most compelling are those instances in which Veronica sinks deeper into a personality change and some physical changes. The result is a regeneration and a regretful new lease on life for Mrs. Bloom.

Aged (2023) has wonderful Cocoon-like themes yet the first part of the picture is marred by odd shot selection in the lunch scene the cuts are so slow, and the lines are some empty of emotion and monotone that you wonder if you are with the living dead. The story is about the people and the home atmosphere which is missed greatly in that moment. The home itself is lovely with woods, paintings, old furniture, and music oddly not from a Victrola but from a long-playing record.

Aged (2023) suffers from pacing and some development of the roles. There is a ninety-minute strong film here without adding jump scares and traditional tropes when the home becomes the evil such as in The Haunting (1963), The Innocents (1961) and the opening moments of Roger Corman’s The Fall Of The House Of Usher (1960) and others. The trip could have been a lot better with a punch in the actor’s tone, some night scenes and without those Harold Pinter’s pauses.

Aged is out now on Digital Platforms including Tubi and Amazon Prime Video in the UK and USA 

Terry Sherwood

The post AGED (2023) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

The script gives the impression that this was either an idea cast aside or one that was lying around and cobbled together from a shorter work. Treading the same ground as The Ringu series, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (which I detest) of wisecracking older films and the theme has now taken over by the ‘Found Footage’ genre in the vastly superior V/H/S franchise. In this oddly directed slammed-together work you have six people in the film who don’t have a history before arriving at an abandoned French country home.   A holiday of some sort with no mobile phones allowed, an indoor toilet, running water, power and only one road in. The men are not worried as they have beer, and no need to wash.

The people are from six countries, the ‘Ugly’ American (Pétur Óskar) wears two different Harley-Davidson shirts with an exceptional attitude. The British Girl (Isabel McCann) wears Union Jack sunglasses and complains about driving on the left side of the road when she goes to the nearby city for food. The Frenchman (Morgan Lamorté) is referred to by the American as a Frog resulting in a silly punch-up. The Italian (Florie Auclerc) wonders what will power her hair dryer. The Belgian (Delphine Lanniel) makes sexual double entendres to all people. The leader is the Australian quintessential technical outcast played by Ruy Buchholz who finds the cache of VHS tapes hidden in a trunk and a working VHS machine despite no power.

Presenting his findings to the rest of the six, the Australian lectures on the merits of formats. How VHS won the war with Beta format is like how Blu-ray took over from DVD. He stutters over his words, giving the look that maybe he is possessed by this idea. Everyone watched these films which is the best part of the whole story as you get to see some cool clips of vintage video nasties, Italian shockers, Mexican monsters, Science fiction, alien invasions, giant monsters and a sprinkle of porn. This wears thin after a while as it is used many times. The odd discovery is that when these people watch multiple films an evening, the VHS machine gives birth to a special recording combining all the plots.

A Christmas movie and an alien movie, footage from Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1966) and an unknown monster film fuse much to the delight of the Australian. Someone gets the bright idea to use a primitive camcorder on each other inserting themselves into a film. The sort of mayhem begins as the evil VHS machine takes control of people literally sucking them into the world of the films.

Ghosts In The Machine (2016) aka The House Of VHS is an excellent 45 minute genre film unfortunately it clocks in at 83 minutes. Quite a bit of silly dialogue, written as caricatures of foreign people at times is irritating especially the males. The women fare no better as they get to worry about nonsensical things, projecting the horny teenage motif in the slasher films. They even do an aerobic workout in skimpy outfits the only thing missing is the gratuitous nude moments.

The film does have some video effects, such as video dropouts, frame fluctuations, tape creases and video feedback giving one I suppose the experience. Oddly all these people do is huddle together on a couch, drink beer and laugh at the images and clap when the porn is on.

The footage of the films on the tapes wears thin along with an odd musical score that one goes perhaps this was a toss-in to pad this out to feature length. Watch it for the cool footage clips of some obscure films that unfortunately Ghosts In The Machine (2016) aka The House Of VHS will turn out to be not in a good way.

GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE (aka The House Of VHS) is out now to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the UK courtesy of BayView Entertainment.

Terry Sherwood

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The Monster Mash (2022) directed by Kevin Losani and Richard Terrasi succeeds admirably with engaging pulp-like stories whose endings you can see a mile or kilometre off depending on your country. The difference is the work is so lovingly done, with fun, practical effects, at times over-the-top acting that fits and just a little tinge of naughty offence.

The film opens with outstanding titles harkening back to Saturday morning horror cartoons that were never quite frightening. An on-camera host Dr Freudstein (Michael Gentile) and his not-so-able hunchbacked, helmeted assistant Ludwig (Cody Alvord) are doing a devilish operation on a body. The two mutter, cut, and gore it up while introducing three stories.

‘Whispering Hollow Road’ is the first one out of the film gate. Picking up a female hitchhiker called Sky played Cherry Fu alone at night in the countryside. A man Andrew Lakewood (Mike Gentile) offers her a ride with the motive of making her a subject of his next film. The drawback is Lakewood murders hookers and hitchhikers for gleeful fun. Sky and Lakewood converse as they travel, with dialogue giving the hint of sexual tension, nudity of almost necrophilia in nature with something being hidden that turns out to be a bloody retribution. The revenge, the build-up brings to mind the opening intro from Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).

The next segment is ‘The House’ where one finds a couple played by Paul (Kevin Losani) and Sara (Monica Sharma) enjoying a moment of making love while pregnant before going to look over a new home. They drive out to the home after their ‘porn star sex’ and meet Creighton Reed (William Cozy). He shows them the home and then takes them captive looking for a way to carry on his werewolf special gift. Guess whose unborn baby is now at risk? In a well-acted, gore-filled with a capital ‘G’ conclusion one finds out that what happens is heavily influenced way too much by The Howling (1981) which is name-checked. The character name of Creighton is a nod to Lon Chaney Jr.’s real first name since he played The Wolf Man for Universal in 1941. The last name of Reed is a nod to Dr Donald A Reed who was the first President of the Count Dracula Society (CDS).

The last story is ‘Homebound Horror’ which concerns getting mixed up in a gang battle. A returning engaged married soldier has his face literally torn off which you see in all its detail, one is reminded of the French extreme horror film Eyes Without A Face (1960). The young marine is mistaken for someone who has hidden money from wheel-chaired brutal boss (Michael Gentile) and his gang. The soldier doesn’t stay dead and wreaks bloody revenge on those who wronged him. Reaching the level of poignancy with a pitiful muffled cry of saying he is going home to a changed life.

Lots of shootouts, gunplay some torture moments and the subplot of Sherriff Somerville’s (Tim Whalen) last day on the job. Wonderfully done with moments of the sheriff’s family life, and desire to move to Florida add to that the trajectory of the gang war that is happened and you get events on a collision course.

The Monster Mash (2022) wraps up with Dr Freudstein (Michael Gentile) and Ludwig doing gore-soaked things to the corpse to try to raise it from the dead. All can say is the eyes or Ides will have it and not in March. Well done with a huge list of thanks credits ranging from Terence Fisher, Robert Bloch, Rue Morgue Magazine, Fangoria and others abound in this love letter or ransom note to what was termed the golden age of creature features. Worth watching it with your tongue planted in your mouth not your cheek less the ‘Good Doctor’ slice it off in mad vile glee.

The Monster Mash is available now from BayView Entertainment to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and USA. Also available on other streaming platforms worldwide. 

Also available on Blu-ray (REGION FREE).

Terry Sherwood

The post THE MONSTER MASH (2022) appeared first on Horror Asylum.

This wonderfully photographed tapestry of terror by Konstantinos Koutsoliotas’ is a visual and auditory feast reminiscent of Cronos (1992) by Guillermo Del Toro. It’s summer on the Mediterranean coast when strange fog descends on a laid-back port town in Greece, causing its inhabitants to experience visions causing them to sleepwalk into the sea. Turns out that small, multi-limbed monsters reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu have invaded the town. These little beasties fly, grab, tear off heads, and rip out entrails while preparing the way for the large version of themselves called Great Devourer.

The beauty of Minore (2023) is that one gets the taste and ambiance of the people in the little village. Many monster films simply bring people together such as teenagers going on a trip, and people on vacation who take a wrong turn with emphasis on getting to the kills and the creature set pieces. Yet this film is refreshingly different. Using an approach similar to Humanoids From the Deep (1980) one gets to see the people’s lives, their loves, the personalities from an older fellow who sees the ghost of his dead wife to a gang member trying to extort money, to a tattooed bodybuilder with a penchant for making bladed weapons out of musical instruments. The picture takes the tropes of the remote village, townspeople, mysterious fog and a monstrous evil threatening a small bunch of people that are forced to band together and turns it into a delightful journey with action, gore and fun galore.

Photographed in painted colours the film has an unhurried pace reflective of the town’s way of life dominated by food and music. Sequences of music playing, dancing, walking, and eating wonderful food all serve to introduce this world. Even when the drama reaches fever pitch with gore-filled battles. The work creates low-key moments, interactions and quirky set pieces that make one consider multiple viewing for the scenery, the people, and the dialogue.

The locals are led by the bar’s owner, Pantelis (Christos Callow) as they wait for a man they call Teacher. Every night a table is set for his late wife. The Teacher aka Nikodimos (Meletis Georgiadis) is highly revered amongst the locals.

The sailor William (Davide Tucci) is a visitor to this port on shore leave who is looking for the father he never knew. It might be The Teacher Nikodimos who is a master of the bouzouki, one of which William carries with him as his only gift from his father. William has a romantic fling with Aliki (Daphne Alexander) a waitress at a restaurant not far from the hotel. Tremors shake through the night and spikes rise out of the ocean. Residents fall under the spell of a siren song and walk into the sea. Suddenly skinned corpses begin to show up in some wonderful practical effects on shore.

The real horror begins with the monsters grabbing and flying while the townspeople blast them and toss bombs at a local church while the creatures tear the people’s limbs. It’s a dark comedy like when the bodybuilder who builds musical instrument weapons gets his arm lasered off in battle. A tentacle emerges from the stump of his arm and flexes upward, the bodybuilder collapses saying, “Which way to the beach?”.  Even a moment when William is being dragged by a creature after an attack in a bar only to have him grab an intestine as a rope to save himself. Lots of slime, blood, flying monsters and brutal gunfire action drive this film accented by wonderful funny bits tossed in.

Many might be turned off regarding the film’s beginning, but it only adds to the fun of the later stages plus the subtitles. Minore (2023) is well worth the time and the journey with all the images and for anyone even non-genre fans.

Terry Sherwood

The post MINORE (2023) appeared first on Horror Asylum.