3 (2017)

Online screener review 

Written and directed by Lou Simon

Stars: Todd Bruno, Aniela McGuinness, Mike Stanley and Katie Carpenter.












Thanks to Lou Simon for reaching out to ask me to review another film in her growing catalogue of horror and thriller films. I have enjoyed them immensely so far particularly Hazmat and Agoraphobia. This time Lou has gone the psychological thriller route with a small cast, claustrophobic setting and a lot of tension. 3 is impressive in many ways but particularly in how Lou manages to tell a successfully dark and twisting tale with very little.

The core cast comprises of Todd Bruno and Aniela McGuinness as 'He' and 'She' a couple who take Mike Stanley (as 'It') hostage in order to make him confess to a rape he is believed to have committed. Said confession -by the way - will be extracted via any means necessary.

There isn't a chance in hell I am going to say any more on the plot and the details of the suspected offence other to say as things go along it really will surprise you and make you think back over the entire movie. I certainly did. This is always a great thing. There are some similarities to another movie which you may pick up on and which I wont mention but in actuality 3 is very very different. The final scene is also a knockout - nicely done.

The couple as mentioned are not afraid to do whatever it takes to get a confession and He leads the show in this sense. There are a few scenes where he really goes for the jugular, providing some shocking and wince inducing moments.

The cast are really great. Aniela plays She with a creepy, cool calm as well as sad vulnerability while Todd Bruno veers from softly spoken and caring to raging and murderous with skillful ease. Mike Stanley is extremely impressive and plays the 'did he or did he not do it' role to the hilt. I was unsure for a while whether I felt scared and sorry for the guy or was disgusted by him and his possible ability to keep lying through his teeth...testament to a great actor.

A taut and twisty thriller with a shocking conclusion not to mention an excellent example of what can be achieved with a well written script and a small and able cast . In addition the film explores some themes, although horrible and dark,that are  not addressed enough on TV or film. Check 3 out as soon as you can.

Be sure to check out https://www.whitelotusmovies.com/ for more on Lou's work.

Hillbilly Horror Show (2014)

Directed By Sharif Salama

Written by Blu De Golyer

With Bo Keister, Scott Geiter, Rachel Faulkner as your Hillbilly Horror Show Hosts! 

I was so pleased to hear that Scott Geiter (well known in the horror community as The Voice of Horror 'Gruesome Hertzogg' a passionate and dedicated reviewer and actor) would be hosting a new online horror series and here is the first fruits of this labor: Episode 1 of The Hillbilly Horror Show....

Along with Friends Bo (Bo Keister),  Lulu ( Rachel Faulkner) Scott plays Cephus, rounding out our hosts for an hour of horror shorts from a mixture of established and newcomers to horror film making.

This first episode features the following shorts and I will give a little summary of for each:

Franky and the Ant

Directed by Billy Hayes

Written by Billy Hayes

Franky and the Ant features two friends (perhaps in a loose sense of the word) kidnapping a young woman from her home, taking her out to a freshly dug grave...so likely not to end well. Being ten minutes long you know this film is going to get to the point pretty quickly, which it does and we soon learn that things are not all they seem. I loved the films about turn and was nervous about how it might end based on the rather horrifying predicament of one of the three characters. Safe to say the film ended in the way I was praying it wouldn't, leaving a bad taste in the mouth and jaw slightly agape. Props to Billy Hayes for creating a dark and bleak psychological horror film in just ten minutes which I enjoyed but also felt a bit queasy watching!!

Doppelgänger

Directed by Drew Daywalt

Written by Drew Daywalt

I can't say too much about this film except that it's refreshingly different to any other horror short I have seen recently. Featuring some amazing stop motion effects, we are witness to the meeting of two skeletons wandering around a desolate and eerie landscape. Even those looking for something far more straightforward in their horror should be transfixed by this film as I was. Recommended for something new and very interesting. 

Amused

Directed by Cuyle Carvin

Written by Cuyle Carvin 

Amused, I am not ashamed to admit, gave me the massive creeps. There is something so terrifying about the thought of being chased around an isolate area by a complete lunatic and that is the awful fate that befalls our main character in this short. The travelling woman finds herself witness to a savage killing, the perpetrator of which is a giggling wide eyed maniac who quickly gives chase. It's down to the woman to find her killer instinct in order to fight back and survive. A great short horror film which easily tapped into one of my true fears and even though I did see the ending coming, it still worked extremely well. 

The Nest

Directed by Tim Zwica

Written by Tim Zwica

The longest of the four shorts, The Nest  is a brilliant and inventive film with some cool effects and a claustrophobic atmosphere. Although you may roll your eyes at the fact that the core element of this story is giant bees, I can gaurentee you haven't seen them used in this way before. In fact the true villian of this film is probably the creepy lady who runs the diner featured in the film, using a macabre method of keeping her honey a coming.  There is a scene with two young girls who upset the diner owner which had me cringing in horror. Their fates are NOT nice let me tell you.  That said there is a perfectly executed scene of justice towards the end which should have audiences cheering out loud so it's not all doom and gloom. A VERY highly recommended film to horror lovers out there. As well as a great story, the special effects are also very credible and makes me wonder what Tim Zwica would be capable of with a big budget...amazing things I predict. 

The Hillbilly Horror Show is a lot of fun, bottom line. Its clear that this is what these guys wanted it to be and that really shines through.The hosts are great fun, Scott along with horror actor Bo Kesiter and model/actress Rachel Faulkner all bounce off each other hillariously as they go about their business and watch the shorts. I hope they can keep this momentum up for the next episodes as I think it will be a must see for horror fans.

Head on over to the website and see what its all about AND you can rent the first episode for next to nothing....so GO DO IT.

Peelers (2016)

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