The Echo Game (2009)

Directed by Brian Feeney

Written by Brian Feeney


Stars: Alisha Seaton, Jeannie Bolet, Melissa Lee and Judy Clement as ‘Anne Cassavettes’

DVD Release date: June 7 2011 (USA)


First time director Brian Feeney serves up the slasher shocks and intriguing supernatural horror with the effective little indie flick The Echo Game.

Life is pretty sweet for lesbian couple April Reilly, Casey Lin and their daughter Sarah until a visit from the police disrupts their happy existence forever. It appears that Rachel, Aprils former lover and biological mother to Sarah may have faked her own death in order to protect her family – but from what? It soon transpires that a rogue, not to mention extremely wanted scientist, Anne Cassavettes, has a very special interest in the missing in action Rachel and after confronting Rachel at the start of the movie turns her murderous glare to the unsuspecting Sarah. Without giving too much away, The Echo Game spins a gruesome yarn of cat and mouse as the close knit family attempt to evade the maniacal Cassavettes and her menacing henchmen.  A complex plot involving psychic abilities serves to enhance the narrative and ensure much more meat on the bones than your usual slasher film. The movie delivers a number of highly effective, set piece murder scenes along the short running time, including the cruel yet creative slashing upon a bubbly nurse.  A tense and bloody showdown at the end finish this impressively fast paced little flick with a satisfying yet slightly sombre note and it would be fantastic to see a sequel which builds on the aftermath of what has transpired.

Impressive performances raise the bar of the film with Alisha Seaton and Jeannie Bolet as April Reilly and Casey Lin proving effective as the concerned/distraught parents and Judy Clement both excels and terrifies with her cold, calculating and downright vicious turn as Anne Cassavettes.  The Echo Game also completely belies its low budget, it’s filmed extremely well  and suffers none of the well known indie pitfalls such as bad sound and aimless performances. It’s an engaging, interesting and often shock filled horror yarn, which I think a lot of viewers, will be impressed with/surprised by. Look the movie up on Facebook and via its official site: http://www.leadballoonpictures.com/projects/the-echo-game - and then go grab a copy of the DVD!

June 9 (2008)

(Screener Copy)

Directed by T.Michael Conway


Written by T.Michael Conway


Stars:  Jon Ray, Trevor Williams, Maggie Blazunas, Alasha Wright and Chad Vincent

Ahhh.... my favourite sub genre of the moment – the found footage horror flick. June 9 was shot in 2008 and is the product of Director Tim Michael Conway and a film that I eagerly sought out once I heard of its existence.  Through talking to Tim, a genuinely lovely guy, it turned out that the movie had sadly never received its official, and planned, DVD release. It has however been shown on cable in the United States and I see that it now also has a pay per view option on Amazon.com now so lucky viewers stateside can get their mitts on this movie – I therefore recommend that you do so now! Tim was nice enough to send me a copy of a movie which I am ever grateful for – I just hope it gets an official DVD release soon as it’s an unsettlingly creepy and very worthy entry into the sub genre.

Based around a group of five mischievous friends, the movie follows a summer spent playing pranks on passer bys (and each other) while driving around town. Boredom eventually leads the group to darker territories when then they happen upon the town of Boston Mills, nicknamed ‘Hell Town’ by some. Here the group’s fun loving nature is not at all appreciated by the odd folk who reside there, and it’s this lack of appreciation boiling over into something darker which is the key focus of the movie.  Several creepy moments fairly early on are just small teases of the bloodshed to come. There is a very unsettling sighting in the woods at night, an intensely creepy CB radio message and the most terrifying house break scene you will have seen in a movie of this kind yet.  Nothing of note happens to any of our main characters during this sequence but it really does beg the question of what might have been and also what were those other people doing in that house?  It’s a downright chilling sequence and certainly stays with you.

The end of the movie brings the horror in spades and those viewers, who felt short changed by the Blair Witch Projects climax, should find plenty to enjoy here as the kids pay violently for their intrusive behaviour. Turns out that one of the girls missing purses really wasn’t worth retrieving. The ending is a jaw dropper indeed; it’s completely brutal, uncompromising and disturbing. Watching teenagers killed in such a loving way by the perpetrators really serves as a true horror movie event.  On the back of the ending I would love to see some form of sequel or maybe even prequel that goes into more detail about the townsfolk of Boston Mills and their motives and ideals.

A really solid entry into the found footage sub genre and a huge shame that it’s not *yet* more widely known.  I can’t wait to see what Tim Michael Conway might come up with next, he clearly knows what scares us and I hope to see many more great things from him.

PANMAN (2011)

 




(Screener Copy)


Directed by Tim Pilleri (Bucket of Blood Films).

Written by Tim Pilleri


Stars: G. Larry Butler, Talia Tabin, Tina Molina, Tim Pilleri.

His blood is boiling....







Who DOESNT want to see a horror movie about a pan headed serial killer? I was personally sold as soon as I discovered that PANMAN would indeed feature a pan headed maniac with a penchant for kitchen utensil related carnage. 

While the premise of the movie may come off as mindless 80’s style horror fare (not a bad thing mind), there is actually far more going on in this movie than the average horror fan may expect. You have a love story complete with (violent) break up, outrageous (yet highly effective) comedy and a fleshed out back story to explain the history of our saucepan-wearing slasher.  In essence the movie features a psycho slashing, demon chef who has been bumping off Culinary School students (run by the zany professor Hunter) for years.  But there are people out there who know PANMAN’S secrets and they have a little plan in place to take him out for good. ......

As one might expect PANMAN is a horror comedy. Horror comedy isn’t an easy task to pull off because, as we all know, one element (often both) fails miserably to complement the other. In the case of some films I think it would have been safer to stick to either the scares – or the laughs. Tim Pilleri, the man behind this often hilarious gem, doesn’t need to worry about that usually ill fitting dynamic. While there aren’t any real scares as such, the horror elements are handled brilliantly, in particular the opening scene. Everything from the score, the atmosphere, the cheesy dialogue and finally the creative kills just screamed 80’s slasher flick. This in turn was followed up by the kind of cool title sequence you might see in an old Stuart Gordon flick.  Consistently permeated with a sharp sense of humour along with some out and out spoof gags (funeral cake anyone) there is never really a moment to long for another splash of blood amidst the comedy.

It would be an injustice not to point out how well shot PANMAN  is. It’s clear and crisp and the direction is spot on, particularly in the stalking scenes.  The acting was also pretty good with the bonkers and eventually crazed   Professor Hunter and sweet yet vengeful Justice being clear standouts. The PANMAN  hit squad were all fun to watch and it makes a nice change to see these falling foul of the demon chefs murderous antics in the climax rather than a bunch of squabbling teenagers. Not that there aren’t any squabbling teenagers biting the big one - it’s just not all about them. And it works.

All in all PANMAN  is an effective and fun horror comedy featuring the most brilliantly absurd of new horror icons. As I said before, Who DOESNT want to see a horror movie about a pan headed serial killer? I can’t wait to see what Tim and his team come up with next – maybe a PANMAN sequel? Or the creation of another kitchen utensil related serial killer?? I would bet there are many ideas a-cooking so watch this space! Also please do support the movie if you can – hopefully news of a distribution deal is forthcoming so you can lay your greasy paws on a PANMAN  DVD and bring the horror home.  

More details on the film and Director Tim Pilleri can be found this-a-way: www.whoispanman.com so check it out!

(3) Slices of Life (2010)

 




DVD Release date: June 7 2011 (USA)

Written by Anthony G. Sumner, Eric Richter, Alan Rowe Kelly

Directed by Anthony G. Sumner

Stars: Kaylee Williams, Merve Blauvelt  and Helene Alter-Dyche.

For those fans out there who are really appreciating the new surge of Tales From the Crypt style anthology flicks such as ‘Drive-in Horror Show’ writer and director Anthony G. Sumner has really come up with the goods for you with his new film ‘Slices of Life’. The movie has quite rightfully been receiving a lot of buzz and high praise over the past year or so and received its anticipated DVD release June 7 this year.

The movie consists of three stories (Work Life, Home Life, Sex Life) with a genuinely intriguing wrap around story, featuring a sweet and vulnerable performance by rising scream queen Kaylee Williams. Considering its extremely low budget this movie far exceeds expectations – It’s well made, well written and features a number of strong performances, particularly from its female actors.

Opening tale ‘W.O.R.M,’ (Work Life) is an hilarious story of a nano virus gone horribly wrong, resulting in a blood bath of body horror and out and out gore. It’s basically a zombie tale with a techno twist and very enjoyable to boot. It may also be worth pointing out that the always superb Alan Rowe Kelly provides a freakishly entertaining cameo here as a sexy web cam vamp – fans will certainly be thrilled. Admittedly W.O.R.M is the least enjoyable of the three shorts but isn’t to take away from its entertainment value.

Second up ‘Amber Alert’ (Home Life) is a dark tale involving child kidnap, demonic haunting and a disturbing resolution which rears its head at the end in gory fashion (*Ahem * Sledgehammer scene!) Toya Turner as the pregnant-lead-in-peril, shines here as her character ‘Vonda’ really raising the bar for acting within independent horror. I wouldn’t want to give away the ending of this short so to conclude it’s a great little movie and extremely engrossing along with it.

Finally you get the craziest segment of the bunch ‘Pink Snapper’. This gory little short involves a brother and sister on the run, a house masking a gruesome secret and all kinds of the red stuff.  Another scream queen in the making, Deneen Melody, plays the damaged female character ‘Susan’ to perfection in this tale. After supposedly killing her abusive Uncle, Susan’s brother Eric (Galen Shloeming) takes her on the run where they stumble upon a far more dangerous horror.  I wouldn’t want to give too much away regarding the climax of Pink Snapper except to say you may find yourself crossing your legs VERY tightly! This segment really ends the anthology part of the movie on a blood splattered high.

The wrap around segment serves to tie things up in an original and interesting manner but again it should be seen first hand. Slices of Life is one of those indie flicks that needs to be seen and appreciated as it really does bring the horror goods. The film seems to be quickly finding its audience which is just fantastic to see – purchasing a copy comes highly recommended.

Demon Divas and The Lanes of Damnation (2009)

DVD Release date: April 5  2011

Directed by Mike Watt

Written by Mike Watt


Stars: Amy Lynn Best, Brinke Steven,  Debbie Rochon,Lilith Stabs Robyn Griggs, Nikki McCrea and Sofiya Smirnova

Demon Divas and The Lanes of Damnation is the fifth feature film from the lovely people of Pennsylvania based film company Happy Cloud Pictures. Described as a homage to the sexy and silly horror comedies of the 80s before its release, I for one was chomping at the bit to see what HCP had come up with – particularly considering the quality entertainment of their previous indie horror outings. One of the main differences between Demon Divas and any previous output is the pure emphasis on the fun and camp. Not to knock any of the previous films, as they are all great in their own right, but it just was fantastic to see writer and director Mike Watt and producer and actress Amy Lynn Best (the talented husband and wife team behind HCP) letting loose, having a blast and actually delivering good on their promise to bring back the sexy, blood spattered side of the 80s.

The movie presents a simple plot, paying direct homage to goofball horror movies such as Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowlarama and Nightmare Sisters. Two geeky but sweet college gals; Lisa and Taffy (played to near perfection by Nikki McCrea and Sofiya Smirnova) have incurred the wrath of a spiteful posse of sorority girls led by the vindictive and unbalanced Rochelle (a hilariously over the top Stephanie Bertoni).  The bowling alley where the girls work is run by a group of entrepreneurial women (played by a sassy line up of indies hottest scream queens; Amy Lynn Best, Brinke Stevens, Debbie Rochon, Lilith Stabs and Robyn Griggs) who are, in truth, age old demons looking for their next meal and a refresher of their satanic powers.  Since our demon divas need wishes to accomplish this, their obvious new targets are the lovelorn Lisa, who wants to rip Rochelle’s iron claws from her high school crush Johnny, and the charmingly trusting Taffy who JUST wants to be liked. It’s safe to say that once the wish for the bowling alley owners to help the girls is unleashed, that all kinds of entrails, eyeballs and other grue and gore are going to hit the fan. During a late night mixer at the alley held by the Rochelle’s entourage and their dumb jock boyfriends, the demons, recently empowered, go on the rampage, causing death, destruction, and a lot of laughs throughout the night.

This movie just ticks all the boxes in the horror comedy department. Some viewers may note the lack of nudity in this type film but it in no way detracts from the incredibly witty dialogue (pretty much anything the dim witted sorority girls spew out), the clear, crisp picture and the fun, gory killings.  The acting is also pretty much impressive across the board especially considering several people in this movie are complete and utter first time actors. It requires a decent performance to deliver humorous lines effectively and luckily this is accomplished really well here. Sure there are a few technical flaws along the way such as a bit of dodgy sound here and there but this is only likely to cause bother to a real stickler for perfection and should be forgiven considering the sheer enjoyment to be had.

Demon Divas comes highly recommended as does all other films made by HCP – which can be purchased here like: www.happycloudpictures.com. Also keep an eye out for the next movie, a far more seriously toned ‘Razor Days’ – which you can also view the trailer for over at the HCP website. It looks killer.

The Loved Ones (2009)

DVD Release date:  4 October 2010 (UK)

Directed by Sean Byrne

Written by Dean Byrne

Stars: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, Victoria Thaine and John Brumpton

Australian Director Sean Byrne gives the horror genre a most welcome -and painfully nasty - boost with this shining example of a true piece of cinematic terror.

Drawing on a much maligned subgenre such as 'torture porn' may be ill advised if you can't find a way to draw new blood from it and do something different – and here is where Sean Byrne delivers admirably.

Opening with a fast and brutal car smash we are soon dropped in the middle of the depressed and bleak world of Brent (Xavier Samuel) - a teenager who lost his father in aforementioned accident where he was behind the wheel. Carrying a wealth of grief and guilt and dealing with his mother’s subsequent alcoholism, the only happiness Brent seems to have to save him from a dark descent into complete mental breakdown, is his sweet and loving girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine).

Still, this is a horror movie so you can very much expect the shit to hit the fan at any time and this comes in the form of school misfit Lola Stone (played with incredible and terrifying talent by Robin McLeavy). When Lola first asks Brent to accompany her to the end of school dance with her meek whine of a voice you would be forgiven some surprise to discover the true twisted monster which lurks beneath her shy facade.

Not allowing a little polite rejection to stand in her way, Lola has her 'Daddy' (a very scary John Brumpton) kidnap Brent and bring him home to their very own end of school dance. Not wishing to give too much else away as there are plenty of surprises to be had in Lola's house of horrors, it is safe to say that this prom will not be a pleasant experience for Brent. Rather than vodka laced punch, dancing the night away and some 'fun' in the back seat of a car, Brent instead gets up close and personal with knives, syringes, hammers, powers drills...and in keeping with the prom theme - a mirrored disco ball!

In what appears to be an attempt to alleviate the stress of Brent’s ordeal we are also shown a side story in which Brent’s best friend Sac takes the girl of his dreams, sexy goth Mia, to the dance. Here these characters manage to get up to all the things Brent could only wish that he was doing. While most of this side story appears very much irrelevant it does tie in rather well at the end, where we find out further details of Lola and family’s hideous endeavours - let’s just say that things are more powerful and far reaching than they appear to be in the first half of the film. In  fact my sound advice to anyone who intends to see this flick is AVOID THE OFFICIAL TRAILER LIKE THE PLAGUE! Way too much given away here and will certainly detract from the viewing experience.

Performances are solid all round in ‘The Loved Ones’ with everybody doing a great job with their roles, most of which aside from ‘Sac’ require some grit. Most impressive however are the well chosen leads. Xavier Samuel seems to effortlessly portray a damaged teenager finding it difficult to cope in the wake of tragedy. He also shows great promise when baring his teeth and fighting for his life after accepting it’s kill or be killed. Robin McLeavy gives the performance of her life in a role that will get her noticed even if people start crossing the street to avoid her. Her spoiled, sexual, childish and violently insane ‘Lola’ tramples all over Kathy Bates’ ‘Annie Wilkes‘ with bloody spiked stilettos  – and further more she seems to be having a blast doing so. The girl deserves more roles – pronto.

I highly recommend going into The Loved Ones as blind as possible to ensure you experience all of the twists and turns as they are intended to be. This film is one blood splattered date you do not want to miss or be late for.  Also -If you are thinking of taking a weirdo to your school dance do yourself a favour and stick with Carrie White!!