Rabies (Hebrew: כלבת‎, Kalevet) is a 2010 Israeli film written and directed by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado. It stars Lior Ashkenazi, Ania Bukstein, Danny Geva and Yael Grobglas. It is the first Israeli horror film and was shown at the UK’s Frightfest and the Tribeca Film Festival in the USA.

Plot teaser:

A brother and sister who run away from home find sanctuary in a deserted nature reserve. When the sister falls into the trap of a psychopathic killer, the brother sets out on a race against time to find help. In a twist of fate the rescue of the sister becomes inadvertently intertwined with the lives of a group of young tennis players, a ranger and his dog, as well as a team of policemen…

Buy Rabies on DVD from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“Fortunately, Rabies represents more than a glorified footnote in an international encyclopedia of obscure horror. A whole lot more, actually. In fact, it’s the most fun I’ve had with a horror flick all year… and this is a genre that often feels piped into my system continuously, IV-style.” Slant

“Rabies is a confident, interesting thriller; a very well-directed, intriguing spin on a deeply derivative premise. Situations mount and the characters do unspeakable things – sometimes due to mistaken identity, through malice, or by way of plain, character driven revelations.” Eye For Film

“Rabies’ subversion of the usual body count discourse is admirable to a point, but it mostly just feels like one of those neat concepts whose execution is sometimes lacking because the film doesn’t do anything else remarkably well. Though it’s briskly paced and has a few good shocks, Rabies only adds up to a fairly decent movie.” Oh, the Horror!

Wikipedia | IMDb

WH

‘It will not rest in peace’

The Poltergeist of Borley Forest – formerly You Will Love Me – is a 2013 American horror film directed by Stephen McKendree (You’ve Got Hell) from a screenplay by R. Presley Stephens.

The film stars Marina Petrano, Christopher Ingle, Rhea Rossiter, Weston Adwell, Nicholas Barrera, Jason Beck, Rebecca Barrow Hall, Cortland Woodard, Chris Cook, Lisa Shorts, Mary Trzcinski, Chris Wandembergh, Mary Chauvin.

Plot teaser:

After visiting a supposedly haunted forest, a teen girl comes to believe that a violent poltergeist followed her home and is stalking her.

Buy The Poltergeist of Borley Forest on DVD | Amazon Instant

Reviews:

“It’s also surprisingly…dull. There’s not much of a killing spree here. It’s going to take a good while to even get violent, which is weird. Then when we discover just what the ghost was actually after, it’s a strange sort of let-down. This could have been a lot more than it was, but the plot is sub-par, the effects are lackluster, and frankly, there’s something off about the audio engineering.” Steve Anderson, Technology Tell

“While the setting might look scary, if the character in the shot is not convincing then the entire scene fails. And sadly, that is the case for the majority of this film. With an entire forest at the director’s behest, the acting, or lack thereof, take away from what could have been some genuinely creepy moments.” James McDonald, Moviepilot

“It’s a horribly acted, badly written, subpar directed and laughable effects ridden student film that should have never seen the light of day.  There’s not a single frame within that holds any sort of serious scare or dramatic appeal (not even the supposed clever backstory!) – a real feat for a 103 minutes film.” Jason Coleman, Starpulse

IMDb | Facebook

‘Coming soon after your pussy’

Bunny the Killer Thing is a 2015 Finnish comedy horror film written, edited and directed by Joonas Makkonen from a story co-developed with producer Miika J. Norvanto.

Cast:

Enni Ojutkangas, Veera W. Vilo,Orwi Imanuel Ameh, Jari Manninen, Marcus Massey, Roope Olenius, Vincent Tsang, Olli Saarenpaa, Matti Kiviniemi, Katja Jaskari, Hiski Hamalainen, Gareth Lawrence.

Raven Banner Entertainment (WolfCop; The Demon’s Rook; Muck) have now obtained the worldwide rights.

Plot teaser:

In the dark winter woods of Finland, a group of Finnish and British holiday makers are stuck in a cabin where they are terrorised by a creature which is half human, half rabbit. The creature is Bunny the Killer Thing, who is after anything that resembles the female genitals…

Trailer (NSFW):

IMDb | Official website | Facebook

Dead Story is a 2015 American horror film directed by Indian-born Suneel Tripuraneni from a screenplay co-written with Bruce W. Durbin. Its stars Kelsey Deanne, Chase Austin, Jessica Willis, Sheril Rodgers, Jay Bowles, Jason McRoberts, Christopher Phipps.

Plot teaser:

In December 1914, a young bride, Caitlin, brutally murdered her husband, while he slept in his bed, at a remote Texas ranch. Again, in December 1944 and 1994, more horrific murders took place at the same ranch. In December 2014, Anne and her husband, Harold, have just moved into the ranch, believing that it offers the solace that they both crave. On their first night at the ranch, their friends, Emma and Neil, throw them a house warming party, with Neil asking them if they’ve heard the story of the ranch. Neil begins to tell them that this is a ‘Dead Story’, as it will get you “dead”, as opposed to a ghost story, which is just meant to scare you…

Filming locations:

Celina, Texas, USA

IMDb

‘Fear lives in the dark.’

Animal is a 2014 monster horror film directed by Brett Simmons (Husk; The Monkey’s Paw; Chilling Visions: 5 States of Fear) from a screenplay by Thommy Hutson and Catherine Trillo. It was executive produced by Drew Barrymore.

It stars Jeremy Sumpter, Elizabeth Gillies, Keke Palmer, Joey Lauren Adams, Amaury Nolasco, Parker Young, Paul Iacono (Return to Sleepaway Camp); Thorsten Kaye. The soundtrack is by tomandandy (The Hills Have Eyes; The Strangers).

The film was given a limited theatrical and VOD release on June 17, 2014. A Blu-ray release by Shout Factory! followed on February 17, 2015. 

Plot teaser: 

Two couples are being chased through the woods by a mysterious beast. Barbara trips and is killed, despite Douglas’s attempts to save her…

Sometime later, five college students arrive in the forest to take a day long hike. Jeff forces the others to try and find a waterfall he and Alissa used to go to as kids, but they end up taking so long that it is nighttime by the time they start walking back to the car. Along the way, they discover the remains of Barbara’s body, and then encounter the same monster that killed her. It chases them to a cabin…

Buy via Amazon.com

Reviews:

“From start to finish, for about 80 minutes, nothing out of the ordinary happens. The action is confined to one location because the budget is miniscule. The one-dimensional characters behave like you expect them to and die in the order you expect them to. The creature is actually not just a dumb animal but is herding and hunting them. It’s so depressingly lazy.” Paul Doro, Shock Till You Drop

“Animal does have some slick cinematography on its side. The majority of the film takes place at night, and everything is crisp and well-lit. All of the forest locations look fantastic and the cabin the survivors convalesce in has some great production design going on. Sometimes craft can make up for a shitty narrative, but Animal‘s almost complete lack of story overshadows everything else.” Patrick Cooper, Bloody Disgusting

“Sure, a simple cat-and-mouse formula establishes the proper framework for any backwoods monster movie, but dragging characters off-screen gets old after a while – especially without any atmospheric tension or terror. Like I said, Animal has a foundation built for success, but that’s where the construction crew left it – hollow, unfinished, and without a touch of detail.” Matt Donato, We Got This Covered

Perhaps due to its the formulaic basis, Animal (awful title!) is a wasted opportunity all round. It’s well-filmed on an obviously limited budget and the creative creature design had some good opportunities for scare scenes but its packed with boring, bickering characters and not enough monster attacks.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

Choice dialogue:

“You don’t need to be an asshole, asshole!”

Filming locations:

Manchester, Connecticut, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb | Official site

‘Vampire leopard women prowl the jungle”

Night of the Sorcerers – original title: La Noche de los Brujos translation: “Night of the Warlocks” – is a 1973 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio (Tombs of the Blind Dead, Night of the Seagulls, Demon Witch Child).

Cast:

Maria Kosti, Lorena Tovar, Barbara King, Kali Hansa, Jack Taylor, Simon Andreu and Joseph Thelman.

Plot teaser:

1910, Bumbasa, West Africa: A white missionary (Barbara King) is kidnapped by native Bokor (sorcerers) to be sacrificed under a full moon. The Bokor tie her between two posts, whip her, then decapitate her. However, the voodoo ceremony is interrupted by British soldiers who shoot all the participants. Unnoticed in the melee, a shedim (demon) takes possession of the woman.

Years later, Professor Jonathan Grant (Jack Taylor) commands a safari investigating the disappearance of elephants. The safari team stumbled across the clearing where the natives had performed their rituals, before being wiped out in colonial times.

Unfortunately, they decide to camp nearby…

Buy via Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

” … it’s hard to find a better-paced, more enjoyable exercise in sensationalism of its kind. It can’t decide what kind of horror movie it wants to be, so vampirism, voodoo, possession and the walking dead are all tossed in like a big salad, and a very tasty one at that. The film is also not afraid to spill blood or allow for some kinky sadism, notably in repeated rituals where pretty women have their blouses literally whipped off… George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

” … a mean-spirited, poorly made exploitation picture that relies on nudity, brutality, and gore rather than story, acting, and characterization. And what’s worse, it’s not even competent on this level, for it breaks the first rule of exploitation filmmaking: Shock, sicken, and titillate, but never, never bore your audience.” Bryan Senn, Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema

Buy via Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“The film’s general shoddiness is everywhere. In the daytime, the vampire women take the form of animals, played by stuffed leopards whose heads peer out through some bushes. Fernando Garcia Morcillo’s roller-rink organ-driven score is like something out of an Emmanuelle knock-off. The tired jungle cliches uneasily mix with the ’70s sexploitation elements, which in turn don’t blend well with the intended horrors.” Stuart Galbraith IV, DVD Talk

“The plot is paper thin, the acting amateurish and some scenes were too dark due to the shooting process. Although, that said, when the shots weren’t too dark there was some great lighting and atmospherics. It hasn’t a shred of pc awareness and, you know what, it is great fun. It is leopard skin bikini vampiric fun from a master of exploitation horror.” Taliesen Meets the Vampires

“Graphic violence and plentiful soft-core sex cannot relieve the tedium…” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

” … endearingly kitsch jungle exploitation flick … De Ossorio brings his familiar spooky touch to scenes where zombies crawl out of their graves and cannibals cavort around piles of skulls. By the far the most enjoyable aspect are the leopardskin bikini-clad vampire women, as Barbara Rey and Loli Tovar prance around the jungle with demonic glee.”Andrew Pragasam, The Spinning Image

“Racist, risible and completely redundant, it’s a forgettable effort.” Jamie Russell, Book of the Dead

Filming Locations:

Aldea del Fresno, Madrid, Spain

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Chilling Scenes of Dreadful Villainy | VHS Collector

Km 31: Part II – original title: Km. 31 Sin Retorno – is a 2015 Mexican horror film directed by Rigoberto Castañeda and a sequel to the 2006 film Km. 31. It stars Carlos Aragon, Adrià Collado, Odin Ayala and Ileana Fox.

Press release:

The film stars Carlos Aragon as Ugalde, the detective who led the investigation into a series of mysterious deaths on a benighted stretch of road surrounded by woodland. Aragon back on the beat, after being disgraced and even incarcerated for failing to solve the original case, investigating a series of child abductions, KM 31: Part II will also feature Ileana Fox, who awoke from a coma at the end of the original, possessed by an evil spirit. Here, she will embody La Llorona, a mother in Mexican myths who lost her own child.

Buy Km. 31 on DVD via Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

IMDb

‘Hot blooded couples fall prey to a cold blooded maniac’

Iced is a 1988 American slasher horror film directed by Jeff Kwitney (Beyond the Door III aka Amok Train) from a screenplay by Joseph Alan Johnson (The Slumber Party Massacre; Berserker; The Ghosts of Sodom).

Cast:

Debra De Liso, Doug Stevenson, Ron Kologie, Elizabeth Gorcey, John C. Cooke, Joseph Alan Johnson, Dan Smith, Michael Picardi, Lisa Loring, Sharon Bingham.

Plot teaser:

Years ago, their close friend was killed when he fell from a cliff while skiing in a drunken rage over  a woman. Now, years later, they have all been invited to Snow Peak, a remote ski resort, by a real estate advert. As they arrive, they begin to suspect something is not right… but by the time they realise, its far too late! Someone is stalking them, seeking revenge for a loss none of them understand…

Review:

“Iced is probably worse than the modernised snowboard film, in nearly every way. You think that the final twenty five minutes will redeem the crap before. No, it doesn’t, because more quick cuts and cheesy dramatics fill the feature even further. This is just a slasher movie that secretly wants to be a Soap Opera, and has an ending that clears nothing up. While I sort of enjoyed it, a recommendation would just be cruel.” Josh G., Oh, the Horror!

“Iced is not a very good movie. Technically, it’s a bit of a mess with horrible editing, slow pacing and overtly misguided dialog (with only marginal acting at times), but if you’re a USA Up All Night kind of person (and who isn’t?), then this movie is a must. Plus, there’s plenty of boobs (courtesy of Lisa Loring who played Wednesday in the original Addams Family) and some decent blood to keep the proceedings going. There’s also a surprising amount of male nudity.” Amanda by Night, Retro Slashers

“Iced is a 1988 horror movie about skiing. You’ll see a lot of it. It’s also a movie about ass. You’ll see a lot of that, too. It’s a strange dichotomy that, I think you’ll agree, doesn’t work at all for a horror movie.

Hell, the title doesn’t even work. “Iced” is more of a title for a movie about ice skating, or ice hockey, or de-icing planes, but not skiing. It doesn’t make any sense. Not making any sense, by the way, is the third of the film’s major themes.” Dr. Boogie, I-mockery.com

Choice dialogue:

Alex: “Pardon me for saying this but you all look prepared for a funeral… or worse!”

IMDb

‘Hell has frozen over!!’

Wendigo is a 1988 American comedy horror film written and directed by Tom Chaney (cinematographer on Mosquito and Legion of the Night). It stars Ron Asheton (guitarist with The Stooges, also in The Carrier; Hellmaster and Mosquito), Lori Baker, Devlin Burton, John Bussard, Patrick Butler and Alan Madlane.

Ron Asheton is scared

The film was released on VHS by Troma Entertainment in 1996 with a cover retitle of Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo. Owing a large debt to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films with its mix of horror and comedy, the film features a torn Evil Dead II poster in much the same way The Evil Dead features a torn The Hills Have Eyes poster. It features stop-motion effects.

Plot teaser:

Two friends go hunting on Manitou Island in Northern Michigan. While wandering the woods, they accidentally break a sacred circle, releasing a terrible monster: the Wendigo. The Wendigo goes on a terrible killing spree, leaving a gun-toting hero and his female love-interest to destroy the monster…

Reviews:

“This movie is insane, and nothing I type here will do that insanity justice. Let’s start with the old man character, who is actually just some guy in an old man mask for no other reason than I guess there were no seniors willing to work in this mess? There’s killer monster puppets birthed from chili who attack while a theme song about chili plays on the soundtrack. A crazy dragon-bat that eats a pilot’s head through a plane window in mid-flight. A topless succubus woman ripped from the pages of a porno magazine who turns into a classic Raimi-style horror hag.” Digital Confederacy

” … it hardly even shows any technical finesse let alone creative promise. But as said before, such a lack of anything resembling filmic capabilities can result in an entertaining film, something that Frostbiter sometimes even approaches being – had it only not pumped up the fucking volume of its soundtrack. It seriously ruins what might have been a good – or at least decently passable – bad-film experience.” A Wasted LIfe

Wikipedia | IMDb

Hex –  aka Charms; The Shrieking and Grass Land – is a 1973 American horror film directed by Leo Garen from a screenplay co-written with Steve Katz, based on a story by Doran William Cannon and Vernon Zimmerman (Fade to Black). It was filmed on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

Main cast:

Keith Carradine (Dexter; Cowboys and Aliens), Dan Haggerty (Terror Night; Elves; Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan), Gary Busey (Silver Bullet; Piranha 3DD; Mansion of Blood), Scott Glenn (Gargoyles; The Keep; Silence of the Lambs), Hillarie Thompson and Cristina Raines (The Sentinel, billed as Tina Herazo).

Plot teaser:

Set in 1919, immediately after the First World War, a loosely knit band of motorcyclists back from fighting in Europe is making their way across the United States to seek their fortunes in California. They come upon the fictional town of Bingo, Nebraska and are challenged to a race by a local hot rodder. The outcome of the race is disputed, and the bikers flee into the surrounding countryside. They hide on a farm owned by two sisters, Oriole and Acacia, whose recently deceased father was a Native American shaman. The bikers are soon discovered by the sisters, who reluctantly allow them to stay overnight. One of the bikers attempts to rape the younger sister, after which the older sister dons her father’s shaman regalia and casts a hex on the gang. The bikers soon start departing this world in not so natural ways…

Buy: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“Mostly humdrum, the muddled and incomprehensible plot is additionally hampered by clumsy attempts at lightheartedness. But the cast of solid ’70s performers bring a strange watchability to this wayward tale.” The Terror Trap

“None of the characters seem to react realistically to the strange events that go on around them; when one of the characters finally says that there’s “something strange going on”, it’s so late in the movie that it became the biggest laugh line in it for me (and a lot funnier than the intentional comedy). In the end, it feels like a somewhat arty mess. Recommended only to the extremely curious.” Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“Largely a mess, but an engaging one. A horror film/Western/World War I biker movie, it exudes an improbable degree of charm precisely because of a freewheeling script that refuses to be tied to any one genre. Although the girls’ motivations remain consistently traditional (well, almost), on the whole the film exudes the feeling of being, almost subliminally, a nostalgic valediction to the counter-culture. ” Time Out

Wikipedia | IMDb

WH

Pod is a 2015 American sci-fi horror film written and directed by Mickey Keating (Ritual). It stars Lauren Ashley Carter (Jug Face; The Woman), Dean Cates, Brian Morvant, Larry Fessenden (Wendigo; I Sell the Dead; Beneath), and John Weselcouch.

The film premiered at the South by Southwest festival (SXSW) on March 16, 2015.

Plot teaser:

After receiving a warning not to come to their family lake house in Maine, siblings Lyla and Ed stage an intervention for their brother, Martin. When they arrive, they find that he has descended into apparent paranoid psychosis and claims to have trapped a monster in the basement…

Reviews:

” …  taps into a supernatural/suburban ambiguity reminiscent of the best of The X-Files … in what is basically a three hander, stunt man/actor Morvant furiously pushes the scenario to its limits, making the increasingly dangerous and erratic veteran equally enthralling, terrifying, and tragic.” Richard Whittaker, The Austin Chronicle

“Pod takes an interesting approach to both the  condensed paranoid drama (à la Bug) and the creature feature, resulting in a wildly entertaining film.” Patrick Cooper, Bloody Disgusting

“Pod is a jarring, exciting cinematic funhouse; an aspect seemingly inherent to Keating’s developing voice. In two features, the director is intent on bursting into various subgenres, not with a focus on deconstruction but—with manic narratives that take place over hours—certainly tearing shit up.” Samuel Zimmerman, Shock Till Your Drop

“Credit Keating with throwing together some tense moments of claustrophobic monster horror, which he’s able to generate by using a tiny cabin located in the middle of a wooded lake area … You will be scared, but more importantly, you’ll gaze upon a snowy landscape with a beautifully sinister feel, and for that, Keating’s team deserves a tip of the cap.” Matt Donato, We Got This Covered

Cast:

Lauren Ashley Carter as Lyla
Dean Cates as Ed
Brian Morvant as Martin
Larry Fessenden as Smith
John Weselcouch as John Boy

Locations:

Round Pod, Maine, USA

Trailer:

Clip:

Wikipedia | IMDb | Twitter | Facebook

Among the Living – French: Aux yeux des vivants – is a 2014 French horror film written and directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside; Livid; ABCs of Death 2 ‘X is for Xylophone’; Leatherface).

Cast:

Béatrice Dalle (Inside; Livid), Anne Marivin, Nicolas Giraud, Francis Renaud, Chloé Coulloud, Zacharie Chasseriaud, Damien Ferdel

Funding for the film was raised through a successful crowdsourcing campaign. It had its world premiere on 10 March 2014 at South by Southwest.

Plot Teaser:

Three young adolescent friends decide that they want to start their summer vacation early, so they decide to skip the last day of school in favor of having a little fun. Their adventures that day get them into a little trouble, which causes them to wander to an abandoned film studio lot on the edge of town called Blackwood Studios.

The young boys are horrified when they see a man in a clown mask dragging a chained woman across the lot. They manage to flee and try to get the police involved, only for the police to assume that because the adolescents are only causing more trouble. The adolescents end up going back to their respective homes, unaware that the masked man and his father are planning on taking their revenge on the three friends…

Reviews:

“When Among the Living shifts gears into full-on slasher territory—with the gore to follow, there’s an amazing face slice—who lives and who dies depends on the strength of their family unit. It’s possible only a family willing to go bat for one another could possibly face a father and son so connected, so warped. It’s this section that sees Among the Living at its successful.” Samuel Zimmerman, Fangoria

“The tension in Among the Living is so thick that it spawned collective coping mechanisms, wherein neighboring strangers locked eyes when they couldn’t bear to look at the screen any longer. The fear in the room was palpable as audience gasps and audible cringes fed off one another, heightening the shared discomfort. This is what makes Bustillo & Maury’s work such a treat.” Zach Gayne, Twitch

“Among the Living works quite well in its simplicity and adoration for the ’80s. There’s plenty of creepy/nightmarish imagery on display (best use of a cat door!) yet, to destabilize you, there are some moments you think would be big splatter moments that are surprisingly restrained. Still, Bustillo and Maury push a lot of buttons in what is a classic “clash of families” scenario.” Ryan Turek, Shock Till You Drop

” … a joy to watch (even when you’re viewing it from behind your own splayed fingers). Cinematographer Antoine Sanier completely nails the small-town atmosphere while setting up some truly dazzling reveals. Bustillo and Maury’s film is also something of a homage to the American films they grew up watching…” Marc Savlov, The Austin Chronicle

“Bustillo and Maury are masters of both atmosphere and gore. We’re also reminded that a lot of American films with similar production values play it so incredibly safe compared to these guys – without spoiling too much there are casualties you wouldn’t expect.” Evan Dickson, Bloody Disgusting

Cast and Characters:

Béatrice Dalle as Jeanne Faucheur
Anne Marivin as Julia
Nicolas Giraud as Nathan
Francis Renaud as Isaac Faucheur
Chloé Coulloud as Mila
Zacharie Chasseriaud as Tom
Damien Ferdel as Dan
Théo Fernandez as Victor
Fabien Jegoudez as Klarence
Sidwell Weber

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘If you go into the woods today you might not get out alive!’

The Forest aka Terror in the Forest is a 1981 (released 1982) American supernatural-slasher horror film directed, written, edited and produced by Donald M. Jones [as Don Jones] (Abducted; The Love Butcher; Molly and the Ghost). Jones has cameo roles as a forest ranger and Officer Ed Geza.

Main cast:

Gary Kent, Tomi Barrett, John Batis, Ann Wilkinson, Jeanette Kelly, Corky Pigeon, Becki Burke, Tony Gee.

Plot:

Two American hikers, Steve (Dean Russell) and Charlie (John Batis), venture into the local forest along with their girlfriends, Sharon (Tomi Barrett) and Teddi (Ann Wilkinson). However, John (Gary Kent), a cannibalistic woodsman, is lurking in the forest…

Reviews:

“The Forest is definitely lower tier trash, even by the often times very low standards of the slasher and it really doesn’t have a whole lot going for it aside from a few moments of unintentional humor.” Ian Jane, DVD Talk

“Jones’ entry is not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination and offers zilch in terms of suspense, scares or tension … Nothing can be taken away from an admittedly very unique story, a soundtrack that is totally loco and a knife clenching cannibal in a baseball cap.” A Slash Above…

“…an incoherent mess of a flick. There is almost no redeeming value to the film, as the acting is terrible, the music is generic, and the direction is mediocre.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

” … an underrated slasher tale that’s enlivened by a sudden leap into the supernatural; just the ticket for fans who think they have seen all the “slice-and’dice” format has to offer.” Stephen Thrower, Nightmare USA

Buy Nightmare USA from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

Dean Russell as Steve
Gary Kent as John
Tomi Barrett as Sharon
John Batis as Charlie
Ann Wilkinson as Teddi
Jeanette Kelly as Mother
Corky Pigeon as John Jr.
Becki Burke as Jennifer
Tony Gee as Plumber
Stafford Morgan as Man
Marilyn Anderson as Woman
Jean Clark as Mechanic
Donald M. Jones as Forest Ranger

Filming locations:

Sequoia National Park, California

Offline reading:

Nightmare USA by Stephen Thrower has a whole chapter, ‘Let’s Play Nasty’, dedicated to Don Jones’ exploitation filmmaking career.

Trailer:

Prism Home Video trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image thanks: HorrorNews.net | Rare Cult Cinema

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The Devil’s Wood’s is a 2015 Irish horror film written and directed by Anthony White.

Plot:

A group of friends trying to repair their strained relationships decide to go on a road trip. En route they stop off at a small town in the middle of rural Ireland. However, this seemingly idyllic country town is darkened by a history of strange events. Can a town that is inherently evil literally tear them apart? Can they survive…. The Devil’s Woods?

Trailer:

IMDb | Facebook

‘Evil takes many forms’

The Witch -stylized as The VVitch – is a 2015 American-Canadian horror film written and directed by Robert Eggers, who also helmed 2008 Poe-based short The Tell-Tale Heart and is now slated to direct the upcoming Nosferatu remake.

The film premiered at the Sundance Festival in January 2015, where Eggars took the prize for Best Director. It is scheduled to be released on February 26, 2016, by A24 Films.

Cast:

Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie (Prometheus), Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger and Julian Richings (Cube).

Plot:

1630, New England: A farmer is cast out of his colonial plantation and is forced to move his family to a remote plot of land on the edge of an ominous forest that is rumoured to be controlled by witches. Almost immediately, strange and unsettling things begin to happen – the animals turn violent, the crops fail, and one of the children disappears, only to return seemingly possessed by an evil spirit.

As suspicion and paranoia mount, everyone begins to point the finger at teenage daughter Thomasin. They accuse her of witchcraft, which she adamantly denies. However, as circumstances become more and more treacherous, each family member’s faith, loyalty, and love will be tested in shocking and unforgettable ways…

Reviews:

“A fiercely committed ensemble and an exquisite sense of historical detail conspire to cast a highly atmospheric spell in The Witch, a strikingly achieved tale of a mid-17th-century New England family’s steady descent into religious hysteria and madness.” Justin Chang, Variety

“Eggers’s film is altogether stranger and more challenging to conventional genre tastes. Set among a family of Puritan exiles in the wilderness of unmolested New England as strange and ominous forces beset them, The Witch often looks more like historical realism than horror.” Jack Cole, Slant

“The Witch is expertly directed with a hysterical score, beautiful production design and wicked performances from its central cast. Truly spine-chilling when at its most ambiguous, it only stumbles slightly in its final scene.” Peter Turner, Starburst

” … a knockout in terms of visual flair and dread-filled potency. Kate Dickie is flat-out superb as a mother on the edge, Ralph Ineson conveys the confused emotions of a stern but vulnerable patriarch who tries to do right by his family, and the aforementioned Taylor-Joy turns in a pitch perfect and dedicated performance.” Katherine McLaughlin, The List

“The Witch is bargain basement Terence Malick crossed with a Roman Polanski wannabe and dollops of half-baked Bergman, but worse yet, is not unlike lower-drawer M. Night Shyamalan. That, my friends, is truly chilling.” Greg Klymkiw, Electric Sheep

“Anyone who spoils the ending deserves anguish in eternal fire, but I will say The Witch is one of those very satisfying films whose conclusion somehow manages to be surprising but feel altogether perfect. This movie may be too slow and verbose to be the next breakout horror hit, but its focus on themes over plot is what elevates it to something near greatness.” Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian

Cast and characters:

• Anya Taylor-Joy as Thomasin
• Ralph Ineson as William
• Kate Dickie as Katherine
• Harvey Scrimshaw as Caleb
• Lucas Dawson as Jonas
• Ellie Grainger as Mercy
• Julian Richings as Governor
• Bathsheba Garnett as The Witch

Trailer:

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‘Them woods is evil’

Voodoo Rising is a 2016 American backwoods horror film produced and directed by Eddie Lengyel (Hellweek; Scarred; Naughty List) from a screenplay co-written with Kris Smith (Naughty List). The film was previously known as Black Hills and Voodoo Rising: Black Hills.

Cast:

April Needham (Hellementary: An Education in Death; The Slasher; Hellweek), Sarah Domanick (Post-Mortem; Legend of the Melonheads), Don Kilrain (Murder Machine!), Mark Cray (The Ritual; Head Cases: Serial Killers in the Delaware Valley; Scream Queen Campfire), Shaphan David Seiders, Robert S. Miller, Roger Conners (Chill: The Killing Games; Night of the Living Dead: Rebirth; New Blood Awakening), Silvia Marchena Guillen, Justin E. Sherman, Meghan Bakun, Brenna Roth, Kris Smith, Aaron Tomaselli, Mary Lu Garmone, Lisa Gaetano, Heather Longville, Eddie Lengyel , Lori Ingram, Erinn Bakun, James McGilbray.

Plot:

A group of friends decide to spend their last summer together by taking a trip to the rural camping destination Black Hills. Once there, they find themselves in the middle of a deadly quarrel with a local family…

Filming locations:

Garfield Heights, Ohio

Trailer:

IMDb

‘You’ll never know what bit you!’

CobraGator is a 2015 American action horror film directed by Jim Wynorski (Chopping Mall; Piranhaconda; Gila!) and executive produced by Roger Corman.

The internet is oddly devoid of any forthcoming release details, let alone a trailer or even a teaser…

Cast:

Jesse Bernstein (Death Tunnel; 13 Days), Bryan Clark, Savannah Goldsmith, Aaron Groben (Nightcomer; Attack of the Killer Donuts), Lauren Parksinson, Paul Logan (Curse of the Komodo; Cannibal Taboo; Vampire in Vegas), Michael Madsen (Species; BloodRayne; Scary Movie 4), Jack Teague, Grace West.

Filming locations:

Tallahassee, Florida

IMDb | Image thanks: The Journey

‘Some ghost stories are real’

Blackburn is a 2015 Canadian backwoods horror film directed by former stunt man Lauro Chartrand from a screenplay by producer Nastasha Baron.

Cast:

Lochlyn Munro, Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska, Calum Worthy, Sarah Lind, Mike Dopud,  Emilie Ullerup, Ken Kirzinger, Alexander Calvert, Zack Peladeau,  Brandi Alexander, Brad Loree.

Plot:

A forest fire and rock-slide trap five bickering college friends in a small Alaskan ghost town with a horrifying history. When they seek refuge inside the torched ruins of Blackburn Asylum they must fight to survive as the angry inhabitants slaughter the friends one-by-one…

Filming Locations:

Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada

Trailer:

IMDb | Official site

‘Bloodthirsty and hungry… for humans!’

SnowBeast aka Snow Beast is a 2011 American horror film directed by Brian Brough from a screenplay by Brittany Wiscombe. Apparently, it is a loose remake of the 1977 TV movie Snowbeast.

Main cast:

John Schneider (Super Shark), Danielle Chuchran, Paul D. Hunt, Kari Hawker, Jason London (The Devil’s Tomb; Monsterwolf; Zombie Shark), Dale Thomas.

Plot:

Jim (John Schneider) and his research team study the Canadian Lynx every year. This year, he has to take his rebellious sixteen year-old daughter, Emmy (Danielle Chuchran), with him. But the lynx are missing. As Jim and his team — with the help of a local ranger (Jason London) — try to find out why, something stalks them — a predator no prey can escape…

Reviews:

This movie is great because it’s exactly what you expect when you see the title Snow Beast. There are no surprises, just an exquisitely cheesy representation of an equally cheesy Bigfoot / Abominable Snowman myth.” Bruce Kooken, HorrorNews.net

“The entire production has the sensibilities of a more innocent bygone era of filmmaking as this could very well be the tamest of all of the killer Bigfoot movies to come along in the past decade. Ostensibly a family film that happens to revolve around a hungry homicidal hominid hunting humans, if it weren’t for those minimal moments of bloodshed, Snow Beast would be bordering on G-rated.” Foywonder, Dread Central

” … the monster was depicted via a guy in a suit, with CGI kept to a shocking minimum (his red eye I think was the only glaring effect). Sure, the script’s lack of action kept it from being used much, but at least those rare kill scenes looked good. And… uh… actually that’s it. The movie was watchable, I guess, but it was just so lackluster and slow-paced…” Horror Movie a Day

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Trailer:

IMDb | Related: Snowbeast (1977) | The Snow Creature

‘Evil awaits’

Wrong Turn 2: Dead End is a 2007 American horror film directed by former actor Joe Lynch (Chillerama) from a screenplay by Turi Meyer and Al Septien (writing credits for both: Leprechaun 2; SleepStalker; Candyman: Day of the Dead).

The film is a sequel to the 2003 film Wrong Turn and the second entry in the Wrong Turn film series.

It was released on DVD on October 9, 2007 and was commercially successful while receiving a generally positive response from critics.

Buy for £6.99 from Amazon.co.uk

Cast:

Erica Leerhsen (Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Haunted Traxx), Henry Rollins (Psychic Murders; Feast; He Never Died), Texas Battle (Final Destination 3; Hydra; Boggy Creek), Kimberly Caldwell (The Ring Two; The Veil), Crystal Lowe (Hood of Horror; The Hills Have Eyes II; The Collector), Steve Braun (Pterodactyl); Matthew Currie Holmes (The Fog; Demon Legacy).

Plot:

Reality show contestant Kimberly is driving through the West Virginia back country searching for the location of her next project. While driving, she accidentally hits a teenager. She stops to check on him, but the teenager is revealed to be Brother, a cannibal, who bites her lips off.

She attempts to escape, but runs into Three Finger, who splits her in half vertically with an axe. He and Brother drag her halves away…

Reviews:

“Yeah, it has its shortcomings, but then again so do the movies that inspired it. Only a horror fan could have delivered a movie this much fun. A movie that knows exactly what it wants to be and revels in it … Wrong Turn 2 is a love letter to the genre that’s been scrawled in gore.” Steve Barton, Dread Central

” … a far more satisfying experience than its pedigree would suggest. While it won’t gain entry into the halls of classic horror, it will make slasher-film fans happy for a couple of hours.” Ian Visser, DVD Verdict

“what could have been a cheap and lazy cash-in turned out to be one of the year’s better genre offerings”. Brian Collins, Bloody Disgusting

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“Joe Lynch just goes for it in this maxed-out mutant sequel, sating the errant appetites of gorehounds everywhere.” Anton Bitel, Film4

“A fast-paced and completely unapologetic love-letter to the old-school ’80s splatter sequels like Friday the 13th Part 2 and Texas Chainsaw 2. (Gory, too!)” Scott Weinberg, FEARnet

Cast and characters:

• Erica Leerhsen as Nina Papas
• Texas Battle as Jake Washington
• Henry Rollins as Colonel Dale Murphy
• Daniella Alonso as Amber Williams
• Steve Braun as Matt “Jonesy” Jones
• Crystal Lowe as Elena
• Matthew Currie Holmes as Michael “M” Epstein
• Aleksa Palladino as Mara Stone
• Wayne Robson as Old Man
• Kimberly Caldwell as Kimberly
• Ken Kirzinger as Pa
• Ashlea Earl as Ma
• Clint Carleton as Brother
• Rorelee Tio as Sister
• Jeff Scrutton as Three Finger
• Cedric De Souza as Neil
• John Stewart as Wojo
• Bro Gilbert as Chris
• Patton Oswalt as Tommy (voice)

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb