Pitfall ( Blu ray review )

When you think about redneck states across America you have to include Alabama on your list. You should probably add states such as West Virginia, Arkansas and Kentucky as well. That´s where you see them MAGA pickup trucks driving everywhere with MAGA flags, where you marry your cousin instead of going on dating night at church or your local bingo hall. Life is simple in redneck country, just drink that peach cobbler moonshine, sit on the porch looking at cars passing by while listening to the country albums of artist Jason Aldean. If you never heard of country artist Jason Aldean, you did not miss that much honestly. The only single i can remember is his hit single Try That In A Small Town just because it did so well in America, and also did pretty well in the United Kingdom for some reason. I actually like small towns so this is nothing against the subject of a smaller town, it´s just that the lyrics of this song is so politically focused that it becomes annoying to me. If you are going to make a song about a smaller town, make a positive song instead. Speaking about redneck people, we have seen so many different kinds of movies especially including small town folks living in poverty, or is simply bat shit crazy rednecks. A perfect example of this is the 2003 slasher horror film Wrong Turn from director Rob Schmidt. The plot is very basic, a group of college students travelling through West Virginia, becomes victims of cannibal inbred rednecks who loves some fresh human meat. That is pretty much it when it comes to the plot, but it´s still a fun horror slasher movie with some really brutal kills. The inbred redneck characters are actually funny to watch, even if they are really distrurbing individuals. The first film did well enough so this became a whole franchise of 7 movies ( if you count in the 2021 remake ). I can accept the first film and the two sequels, i can even accept the 2021 remake as well. But from Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings it just went downhill from there. They should have ended the sequels right after the third film. The first film is definetely worth a watch though if you have not seen it, especially if you love slasher horror films with some brutal killing scenes. Speaking of slasher horror films in the forest, i recently picked up a physical blu ray copy from the UK of the survival slasher horror film Pitfall, from director James Kondelik ( one of the director´s of the 2014 Dean Cain´s cult classic Airplane vs. Volcano, which he directed with his twin brother Jon Kondelik ). Since i am a fan of this genre and also wanted to see actor Randy Couture ( from The Expendables franchise ) in a horror film, is this worth picking up on physical media or should you go for the original Wrong Turn movie instead?

Scott ( Marshall Williams ) and his sister Ashley ( Alexandra Essoe ) decide to camp together out in a forest area, where Scott and Ashley lost their parents 5 years ago in a horrible car accident. They travel together with friends and partners, so especially Ashley can deal with her PTSD. Ashley is struggling being out here again, but decide to deal with it rather than hide at home. What they don´t know is that there is a serial killer out there known as Hunter ( Randy Couture ), who have set up pitfall traps to capture anything that´s alive.

While i was watching Pitfall i started to think about if i have ever seen a horror film where you have pitfall traps included, i can´t think of one single film where i have seen that before. At least not where they are a very important part of the film, so that makes Pitfall a bit of an original slasher horror film for trying a different path. How could i describe this film without giving away too much plot, imagine this film to be the serial killer version of Wrong Turn but without deformed rednecks. That´s probably one easy way to describe the plot, and if Pitfall would have been just another serial killer film this could have been a boring watch. Thankfully, thanks to the pitfalls across the forest plus some fun traps, this makes the serial killer story more fascinating. Because when it comes to serial killers, we have seen so many films that looks exactly the same and i appreciate the effort with this film. When it comes to the serial killer himself only known as Hunter ( played by former UFC fighter Randy Couture ), i think this is a great character in a film such as this. Doesn´t really talk, just set up traps to kill whatever he can get his hands on plus kill victims by hand as well, or by using certain weapons. Another very important part of the film is how brother Scott and his sister Ashley lost both of their parents in a car accident, dealing with PTSD. Especially the sister Ashely played well by actress Alexandra Essoe ( who i recognized from the 2019 psychological horror film Doctor Sleep, worth a watch ). I think Alexandra capture a realistic portrait of how someone can struggle with PTSD and staying sober, where everyday feels like a nightmare and you do your best to deal with life. This film is really brutal and you can tell they are using practical make up effects, and i really appreciate how violent this film is which makes the serial killer scenes more fun to watch. I think Pitfall looks good in general and the forest scenes do capture some creepy moments in the dark, knowing someone is out there to get you. So anything negative to say? Not really, i could probably mention a few minor details but in general i enjoyed this slasher horror film. If you just want lots of blood, killer scenes with practical make up effects and a cool looking serial killer then this should work for you. Pitfall is a film that´s definetely for fans of the Wrong Turn franchise or similar films, and i can tell director James Kondelik must have had fun making this film considering how brutal the most gory scenes are. Worth picking up on physical media if you want to add something tasteful to your slasher horror collection.

Rating: DDD

The Moonlight Murders

I remember very clearly around the year of 1995 that Swedish TV channel TV 3 used to show a lot of different TV thrillers. That kind of thrillers you could tell were made on a limited budget, and really looked like it was specifically made for TV. Since i watched a lot on TV 3 back in the day, i would check some of those TV thriller movies out. Some turned out to be alright while others....not that good. Perhaps it also mattered that i was 18 years old at that time, i prefered watching big box office releases at the cinema. And in the year of 1995 i visited the cinema a lot, i watched Bad Boys, Braveheart, Judge Dredd, The Usual Suspects, Copycat, Crimson Tides, Assassins and Seven among many titles. Regarding TV thrillers back in 1995 i only remember a couple of the titles i watched and even recorded on my VCR player, such as the 1994 TV thriller Web Of Deception from director Richard A. Colla ( the director of the original 1978 science fiction pilot for TV series Battlestar Galactica ). Web Of Deception is a very typical classic 90´s crime drama thriller, that have that magical 90´s touch that we all remember. Legendary actor Powers Boothe ( who i love in the 1987 western action film Extreme Prejudice with Nick Nolte, William Forsythe, Rip Torn and Michael Ironside ) plays the character Dr. Philip Benesch, a respected pychiatrist in the city. His wife Ellen Benesch ( Pam Dawber from the classic sitcom comedy TV series Mork & Mindy ) finds out he cheated on him. After thinking through all of this a while she decides to stay, But only if he is honest and promise to work on the relationship with her. One day Dr. Philip have a new admirer known as Corrie Calvin ( Lisa Collins ) who wants to have a relationship with him. He says no, and she doesn´t stop and continue following him around, even visit his home without permission. When Dr. Philip hurt his hand through a broken wine glas, Corrie take the blood from the napkin to set up a crime scene where she arrange his fingerprints on a gun that kills her. Now he is facing murder charges, unless he can proof he is innocent. Web Of Deception is a good choice if you want a classic crime TV film with good acting, solid characters and a simple story that works. You can actually watch it for free onthe YouTube channel MovieSpehere Full Movies. Every year we see Lifetime TV movie thrillers being released for streaming, and i loose count of how many titles they actually release. I decided to check one of the Lifetime thrillers released this year called The Moonlight Murders. Is this a must watch this upcoming Halloween weekend or should you watch the 1994 TV thriller Web Of Deception instead?

The criminal investigation reporter May ( Harley Bronwyn ) is the host of the crime TV show The Moonlight Murders, where she especially investigate a serial killer that have killed a lot of women over a long period of time. One key witness name Zeke ( Clayton Louis ) who is is a big fan of her TV show, plus works as a security guard at one of the building´s where one woman was found dead, agree to be interviewed on her show. May see this as an oppurtunity to find out some more clues of who the killer is, but it seems that Zeke may be a bit of an obsessed fan of May.

I have watched several Lifetime movies over the years, everything from Tv thrillers to Christmas movies as well. While i sometimes feel that too many of these movies feel very blend or look too similar to each other, i do have a favourite Lifetime thriller that´s known as the 2022 film Safe Room from director Boris Kodjoe. This film is surprisngly good for being a TV thriller released by Lifetime. I will say though that i prefer Lifetime movies over The Hallmark Channel movies, because at least some of these movies actually have descent acting. When it comes to The Moonlight Murders one of the reasons why i picked this film is because i noticed the high rating on IMDB at 7.3. That is quite high for being a Lifetime TV movie and that did make me curious. In a way i can understand why this rating was that high, considering this is a TV thriller. The acting is far better than most Hallmark movies and the plot is actually not that bad either. You could say that this film is divided into both a serial killer film, and the investigation of the victims by the journalist character May ( played by actress Harley Bronwyn ). The most interesting part of this film are the interviews between May and security officer Zeke ( well played by actor Clayton Louis ) on her crime investigation TV show The Moonlight Murders and outside of the camera. Because you can clearly tell that Zeke is struggling mentally and i feel that Clayton does a good job, portraying a man with mental problems. I like the character Poppy ( played by actress Lauren Cole ), you feel really sorry for her. Being a bully victim since childhood and she is in love with Zeke, accepting his mental issues.The character Detective Doyle ( played by actor John Hardy ) is a real throwack to the 1990´s police detective´s and he is a great match for this character. The mystery regarding the serial killer´s identity is actually not that predictable, so this is also a positive surprise for me. I have to say for being a Lifetime thriller i would say that this is a recommendation for me. The Moonlight Murders may not deliver anything original or fresh, but this really reminded me of good criminal TV movies of the 90´s. This is the kind of TV thriller you want to watch with a cup of tea, or a cup of coffee and just cozy in your sofa. If you miss the 90´s sometimes just like me, do yourself a favor and give The Moonlight Murders a chance. Director Ben Meyerson who starred in the 1996 cult classic thriller Freeway with Kiefer Sutherland, proves with this film there is still hope for TV thrillers in the future.

Rating: DDD

House At The Edge Of The Woods

When ever i am asked what physical found footage horror film you should pick up on DVD or blu ray, i have a list of at least 10 films that you really need to see. Horror films within this genre that are not only really solid, but for specific reasons of why you need to see these films. The positive about especially the genre known as found footage horror, is that a lot of films have interesting stories to tell, especially when it comes to some really talented director´s who can create fascinating story telling. Instead of going through a list of all of these 10 films, i decided to pick one of them and let you know why you should get a DVD copy. I am thinking about the 2013 found footage horror film known as Afflicted, directed by Derek Lee and Clif Prowse. The plot sounds faitly simple, two young men prepare themselves to travel across Europe to party and meet girls while filming everything like a travelling vlog. When of the guys, Derek, finds out he is seriously ill after a hospital visit finding out he is diagnosed with AVM, he feels even more inspired to travel. Just in case he doesn´t have much time left on Earth he needs to do this trip worldwide. After a couple days of travelling while going out in France, Derek is found in bed with strange flesh wounds after an evening with a mysterious woman. After this night something seems to be happening with him, as if he becomes more physical stronger than a human being while having other health isses. Afflicted really is a very different approach when it comes to found footage horror films, because this film is clearly inspired by vampire related stories which makes this film fascinating. Very well made found footage horror film from director´s Derek Lee and Clif Prowse. Im hoping we can see a blu ray special edition in the future of Afflicted, including interviews with people who worked on this film. I would suggest though that you pick up a DVD copy and experience this film, definetely worth a watch if you love this specific genre. Speaking of found footage hororr film, i usually try to check out at least a couple of titles within this genre every year, depending on what films looks interesting. I came across a review of the horror film House At The Edge Of The Woods on YouTube from the British film critic Screen Stars. Even if he had some things to say about the film, i did find the plot of this movie to be interesting. I decided to rent it on VOD to see if this would be something in my taste. Is this a must watch during autumn or should you skip this one and go straight to the 2013 horror film Afflicted instead?

Jeremy´s ( Josiah Miller ) father went missing after being seen on surveillance camera walking into the forest towards a shining light. No one knows where his father went, so Jeremy ask a team of paranormal investigators making a documentary about the disappearance of his father. They set up everything around his father´s house, looking into the areas around the house to see if they can find any clues of where he might have went. As the paranormal investigators dig deeper into this case, bizarre things start to happen.

One of the most important details regarding making a good found footage horror film, is making the horror scenes feel creepy, or some kind of disturbing atmosphere. If you manage to do this and tell a good story as well, you are on the right path to please horror fans of this genre. In the case of the horror film House Att The Edge Of The Woods i would say this film divided me a bit. What do i mean by that? I think there are parts of this film that i appreciate, especially the main story of the film and the idea of a team of paranormal investigators who are on this case. Basic set up for a story, but still interesting enough for a found footage concept. And then there are details i feel should have been done better than what the film offers. Before i get to the negative let´s go into the positive first. I think this film looks good considering the low budget, and they use the forest locations in a simple yet effective way that matches the story well. The acting in general is alright where i especially enjoyed the performance of actor Dulvlu Spa, except for one specific character called Jeremy ( played by actor Josiah Miller ) who i felt didn´t work that well. There are a couple of smaller creepy scenes that leaves an impact. And now we have to get into the negative for a bit. As i mentioned earlier in this review it is very important to make a found footage horror film with the right tools. And this is something that this film is missing in certain scenes, this film is not as scary as it should have been. There is nothing wrong with the plot, it´s just that director Brandon Hartsock didn´t make much effort into the horror scenes in this film, and basically just followed a similar path as many found footage horror films in the past with no big surprises. I think if you are going to capture the interests of the audience you need to make the horror scenes effective, or make you feel engaged at least. If you don´t pull this off then you loose a very important thread. House At The Edge Of The Woods is not a terrible found footage horror film, there are a few solid scenes that offers some interesting ideas. But without any really creepy moments or some really effective horror scenes, House At The Edge Of The Woods will not be one of the titles you will remember for any specific reason within this genre. I would suggest that you pick up a physical DVD copy of Afflicted instead, if you really want to see a really good found footage horror film.

Rating: DD

Undertone

If you look into the specific category of paranormal horror movies you will find so many titles to explore, it may seem impossible to know what you should watch. One of the most famous franchises within the paranormal category, is of course the well known film The Conjuring and it´s sequels. Even if i am a big fan of this franchise, let´s not dig into any of these films and let´s focus on a completely different film within the paranormal genre instead. This is where we fly all over the world and find ourselves in the country known as Argentina, home of legendary soccer player Diego Maradona. The 2017 argentinian paranormal film Atterados ( known as Terrified as well ) from director Demián Rugna. One of my personal favourite foreign paranormal horror films in many years. The film begins in a home where Clara ( Natalia Senorales ) hear strange noices coming from the kitchen sink, as if someone is talking from the sink about that there is a plan to kill her. She tell her husband Juan ( Agustin Rittano ), but he doesn´t believe her and blames their neighbor Walter Demián Salómon ) for the loud noices. Juan wakes up at night, hearing the noices himself but even larger than before, he goes over to Walter´s house to tell him to be quiet. No repsonse, just strange noises coming from his gate phone. As Juan get back into their home, he still hear strange noises. But it´s coming from the bathroom where Clara is being thrown into the wall by some evil spirit. This turns out to be one of the strange paranormal things happening in this neighborhood, where more strange events takes place as a young boy who died by a bus accident comes back to life and sit in his mother´s kitchen. What is going on in this street? Very creepy horror film that´s well written, strong acting performances and very powerful dialogue as well. A must watch on streaming service Shudder if you live in America, or watch it on VOD or physical media. Since this summer i had planned to watch the A24 paranormal hororr film Undertine, a film that looked quite different from this year´s horror releases. Since i have enjoyed several cinema releases from A24 that includes even Eddington ( yes i did enjoy this film, i would recommend it ), is this a horror film worth your precious time or should you stick to the argentinian 2017 horror film Terrified instead?

Evangeline "Evy" Babic is a young woman with a Catholic upbringing, living alone with her comatose mother, for whom she provides care. She and her friend Justin Manuel ( Adam DiMarco ) run The Undertone, a horror podcast where they report on supernatural occurences, which Evy dismisses as hoaxes while Justin fully believes they are real. One day, Justin is sent an anonymous email containing a seemingly random string of letters and ten audiofiles, wich they play on the podcast. As they listen through these audio files that includes the vioces of a couple Mike and Jessica, strange things begin to happen in Evy´s home while she goes through all the audio files.

If you think that Undertone is a traditional paranormal horror film, im here to tell you that this is not what you might have expected. You could say that this fiilm is divided into two stories, you have the podcast show regarding paranormal stories and you have the story of a woman taking care of her elderly mother. I think this is a very interesting combination, considering if you have taken care of a family member that´s ill you know how challenging that can be. And this film manage to capture that in a realistic way, that elderly care is not easy work. The podcast show itself may not sound like anything special, but what Undertone manage to do is capture a creepy atmosphere through the sound recordings that the main character Evy listen to. And this is a very important detail regarding this film, how effective the sound effects are and how they match so well with the story that they are trying to tell. Because when you think about it, we all react differently on different sounds that we hear, so what if you hear things that you have never experienced before? Lead actress Nina Kiri ( who i really enjoyed in the brilliant TV series The Handmaid´s Tale ) as the character Evy is a fascinating character. You hear her doubting that there is something supernatural out there around the world, yet she runs a podcast talking about supernatural cases. While you can tell she is struggling what to do about her mother, which of course is taking it´s toll on her. The paranormal horror scenes are effectively designed, especially when it comes to Evy´s different strange experiences in her daily life. I have to mention how efeective it is hearing famous children song´s being played in reverse, as if there are demonic messages hidden within the lyrics, from a psychological perspective knowing this is supposed to be for children. Undertone proves why A24 are still so good at making horror films, maybe not as effective as Hereditary or Midsommar but i still find Undertone to be fascinating for trying a different approach. Undertone almost feel like a podcast version of the 2005 horror film White Noise, it becomes clear that director Ian Tuason is a talented film maker and  deliver a solid first full feature film. A little bit slow in some dialogue scenes but as a paranormal hororr film, Undertone is definetely worth checking out.

Rating: DDD

Hungry

If you want a category within the genre known as horror that includes diversity, you should look for animal horror films. You will find so many different versions of animal horror, where you have everything from attacking grizzly bears, snakes, alligators, hogs, spiders, sharks, deer, crocodiles,  and many more. Animal horror turned out to be especially popular during the 1970´s and the 1980´s, with classics such as the 1976 film Grizzly. You can probably figure out that this film is about an attacking grizzly bear, but what´s especially interesting is how much money this film made on a 750.000 U.S. dollars. Worldwide this film made 39 million U.S. dollars and let´s be honest, that is fantastic box office numbers for a horror film such as this back in 1976. Since then we have a lot of animal horror movies released every year, espcially on the lower budget scale. There are exceptions of course where there is a bigger budget and i do have one i can recommend, especially if you love animal horror films with sharks. The 2012 Australian horror film Bait 3D ( yes it was shown in cinemas in 3D, also known simply as Bait ). Since the film Bait didn´t get a cinema release here in Sweden, i bought the blu ray instead. A tsunami wave hits all over town and a group of survivors are trapped inside a over flooded supermarket building. A shark manage to get inside the water of the supermarket, which means the survivors have to find different ways to get out of the water. If they jump they might slip into the water and become shark food, so what else can they do to survive? Directed by Kimble Rendall, who was the second assistant director of Nicolas Cage classic 2007 film Ghost Rider. A fun B horror movie with some really gory scenes. What i especially think works with this film is the different locations of this overflooded building, the set design looks great and definetely a different take on shark movies than the usual release. Worth a watch on DVD, blu ray or streaming if you enjoy animal horror films. One of the horror films i have been looking forward to see this year, is a animal horror film simply called Hungry. I have actually never seen an animal horror film with a hippo before, so that got me excited considering i have seen so many different kinds of animals killing human beings. Hungry is directed by James Nunn, who gave us the 2021 effective action film One Shot with Scott Adkins. Is this one of the best animal horror films of this year, or is Hungry doomed to be forgotten because it´s not as good as it sounds?

A group of tourists go out on a boat ride to watch alligators in the Louisana swamplands, but they have no idea that something else is out there waiting for them. Perhaps even more dangerous than the alligators themselves....

When the film Hungry get into the swamp plot it reminded me instantly of the 2006 horror film Hatchet. It´s a similar boat tourist ride in the swamp and in Hatchet they were checking out locations based on ghost stories, the difference is of course that in Hungry this is an alligator tourist ride instead. I just thought it was fun being reminded by the original Hatchet movie, which you should see if you have not seen this film. When you have a group of characters on a boat you need to have interesting characters to feel engared. I would say that the most interesting characters are especially the former firefighter grandfather character Tim ( played by comedian and actor Jim Meskinen, who made the voice for the comic book character Deadshot in the 2008 animated film Batman: Gotham Knight, worth a watch especially on physical media ). I actually wish he could have a lead role in this film, because this is the kind of character you need to survive out in the swamps when you are not familiar with the environment. Actress Madison Davenport ( who did a great performance in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series ) as the character Sistine, have a charming personality while you can tell she is struggling with the death of her mother. Another interesting character such as Walker ( played by actor Joaquim de Almeda who played the evil character Bucho in the 1995 action classic Desperado ), a man filled with knowledge about the swamp. When it comes to the hippo itself it takes a while before you actually see the hippo attack in full person, and as i mentioned earlier about the shark movie Bait 3D there you actually got some brutal attack scenes. You don´t really see that many scenes such as this in Hungry, which in my opinion is a missed oppurtunity. I prefer watching brutal kills by animals, it becomes a more fun watch for a fan of this genre such as myself. As a survival horror film i would still say that Hungry manage to appreciate this film for trying to bring back similar films such as Grizzly from 1976. It´s a film with flaws, but still enjoyable enough if you appreciate this genre. Director James Nunn give us an old school animal horror film that´s enjoyable if you just want something easy to watch. Worth a visit on VOD or streaming, Hungry will make sure your stomache stays full.

Rating: DDD

Bait

Being a film maker is not easy at all, there is a lot of work behind the making of a film no matter what budget you have to work with. One of the most difficult challenges you have, especially if you are making low budget films is that you can only use the resources you have. You are not supposed to go over the budget that you have, of course that is not always easy knowing that things can change along the way. When it comes to practical make up effects especially withing horror films, this is a challenge itself when you know this puts pressure on the practical make up artists. Now, i will always defend pracitical make up effects any day of the week, no matter what the budget is on the film. I rather not have any CGI or AI effects at all if it´s possible. I fully understand that AI effects are here to stay, and for low budget film makers this is of course a way to save money. But let´s be completely honest here, no AI effects can never replace the charm, or the great looks of practical make up effects. It just does not look as good as it does seeing something created or crafted with practical make up effects. You can disagree with me if you want, i have no problem with that. This is just my personal opinion and i will always support make up artists all over the world. Since we are talking about practical make up effects, i do love to check out low budget monster films where they actually create monsters by using a costume and practical make up effects combined. For example, how many of you have seen the 2020 horror film Don´t Speak from director Scott Chambers? It´s actually not as terrible as you might expect being a British low budget horror film. A family head towards Grandmother´s house in the countryside to visit her, as they arrive she seems to be completely vanisheed. As the parents head into the small town they are about to discover that something is not quite right. A simple plot, with a monster design that actually works for a practical make up effects suit. I also appreciate the pracical make up effects on the flesh wounds, really old school effects. Don´t Speak is clearly inspired by the 2018 horror film A Quiet Place, and i have no problem with that at all. Worth a watch on Amazon Prime if you enjoy old school monster B movies. I have heard about a creature feature low budget horror film called Bait released this year, especially after i watched a review from British film critic Geek Legion Of Doom giving his opinion on this film. This seemed to be exactly something in my taste so i decided to check it out on VOD. A creature feature horror film with practical make up effects included, is Bait exactly what we needed this autumn or is this a lazy attempt of cashing in on horror fans who will accept any kind of horror film basically?

The Herring family is heading towards a family visit out in the countryside while it seems they are a bit lost, considering one of the main roads seems to be closed. They decide to take a different smaller road which ends up being a terrible mistake. Someone have put out Iron Sharp Barbed Wire on the road, causing their car to crash while driving over it. They are captured and taken to an unknown location where a male stranger is keeping them prisoners. But he is not alone in this building, some kind of creature is also there hungry for human flesh....

How many of you checked out the horror film Dangerous Animals with a serial killer feeding people to sharks? Bait follow a similar pattern such as that film except this is where the victims get eaten by a monster instead. The plot is neither original or interesting in that sense, but what makes this film work is that it´s a true throwback to monster practical make up effects classics such as the British cult horror film Rawhead Rex. The design of Rawhead Rex may look silly today considering this film was released in 1986, but it was a fun gory B movie with blood and flesh wounds, just the way we like it during British Sunday Dinner. Now, one of the biggest highlight of Bait is actually how gory this film is in certain scenes. Seeing the monster eating body parts straight from the body, all done by practical make up effects. This is exactly what the world needs more than ever, we need a throwback to classic low budget films where people did not need computers to be creative. The creature looks like a mutated version of actress Joan Rivers, after having too much surgery and botox procedures where chemicals went completely nuts. A fun design i have to say and especially seeing the creature eating human body parts, this was exactly what i wished for. So a big thasnk you to the practical make up effects team you did a wonderful job. When it comes to the acting you can´t expect really powerful acting performances, not from a low budget film such as this. But im completely fine with that and would say that most of the performances work, considering the characters we are dealing with here. I would probably say that i like British actress Natalie Hughes ( who i remember from the 2011 horror film The Hike ) as the character Angela in this film. Anything negative to say? I guess i could say that you can tell that the dialogue in certain scenes is not a strong point in this film, while some acting performances are not effective. Then again, this is a low budget horror film so i can accept some of the flaws considering we have fun with the gory scenes instead. Bait is not a film for everyone, you will most likely appreciate if you enjoy old school moster films like Rawhead Rex and similar. If you just want a good B movie night then Bait is worth a shot, i had a good time with this film. Director Andrea M. Catinella directed the terrible low budget horror film Piglet that i didn´t like at all, she really stepped it up in a positive way with Bait and she have my respect for this film.

Rating: DDD

Daniel´s B Movie Autumn Madness: Simon Says ( 2025 )

Boarding games was a big part of my childhood. We used to play board games like Fia Med Knuff ( to fully understand how this game works just google it ), we also played Diamanten wich was like an adventure game where you are supposed to find the largest diamond, where you also travelled across Kairo and Tanger. I did try to learn chess for a while but that was extremely boring to me, i even dropped out during chess class that i had in school. I did enjoy playing the classic boarding game Monopoly when i was a little bit older. But then after a while video games started to take over my interest more and more, i was playing a lot of games on my Amiga 500 computer including my Nintendo set. So, boarding games became a bit of history just dusting in my mother´s basement. I have played Monopoly at Christmas celebrations with relatives, or we played poker as well, just to gather the family and do something else together, I can appreciate boarding games differently these days because it´s actually nice sitting down doing something together. But certain games should perhaps be avoided such as playing with a ouija board, because you never know if you will communicate with someone on the other side. There are a lot of horror movies that includes the using of a ouija board, and i have seen quite a lot of titles over the years. I could have easily talked about the bigger budget horror films, but i decided to mention an independent horror film instead known as Ouija: Deadly Reunion released back in 2021. One of the few low budget ouija horror films i felt at least tried to use an ouija board for a specific purpose. While some of the low budget ouija horror films barely had a story, Ouija: Deadly Reunion actually use a pretty basic story with a group of friends gathering to celebrate a birthday party. The acting is of course not that good in Ouija: Deadly Reunion, but we were not expecting Oscar performances so i can accept that. Why this film works better than some other low budget ouija films, that we actually have characters in this film. On the negative side i would probably say that the ouija scenes could have been done more effectively. Is this horror film scary? Not really, but there is something charming about Ouija: Deadly Reunion trying to be like a theatre play infront of a live audience. If you want to watch this film on YouTube you can watch it on the channel CiNENET on the following link:

Ouija: Deadly Reunion (2021) [Horror] 🪦👻 Summon the Spirits… If You Dare | full movie

Since im doing the segment Daniel´s B Movie Autumn Madness i decided to picka low budget horror film to review. So i picked the 2025 British independent horror film known as Simon Says from director  Steven M. Smith. I did see a trailer of this film and i got curious, was this film better than the actual trailer itself? Could this be the low budget horror film that will finally unite every nation for world peace, or is Simon Says the perfect example of a failure from start to finish?

4 people have been invited to a Scottish castle weekend where the owner give them an oppurtinuty to have a chance to play a game known as Simon Says. The winner will be the owner of the castle, so of course the offer is tempting for especially one of the guests. They all finally agree to play this board game, not knowing that this game might end their lives.....

I have seen some good low budget horror films coming from United Kingdom over the years but i have also seen some really terrible ones such as the 2025 independent horror film Piglet ( anyone remember this one? ). I can accept terrible acting, low budget special effects and even bad CGI effects as long as the film is fun to watch. And here we have a film that should be mentioned on lists of terrible British horror films because Simon Says in not only terrible, this has to be one of the most boring horror films i have ever seen. And i seriously mean that, i almost fell asleep three times within almost 90 minutes playtime. And when you are supposed to be scared or feel any kind of horror atmosphere, this films helps you get a good night´s sleep instead. That seriously have to be a bad sign if a film makes you so bored, you would rather sleep. One of the biggest issues with Simon Says is the character himself known as Simon, this is supposed to be a scary character that´s connected to a board game Simon Says. But he doesn´t look scary at all, he looks like a LSD fan stepping out from Woodstock 1969 with a hat and sunglasses. And if this was their best attempt to make the horror character Simon scary, i wonder if they even had any other ideas on the writing board or just said:- Let´s just find clothes from our Grandparent´s basement boxes. Because we all know to make a horror film effective, you need the horror character to have an interesting practical design, or a certain look to leave some creepy vibes. One positive detail, i do think the board game of Simon Says is a good idea and the wooden figures are supposed to be characters in this specific house. The scenes where they are playing the board game is the best part of this film, but that´s not many minutes in total. The acting in general is nothing special, where the only fun character might be Dina, played by actress Leila Kotori ( who you also can see in the terrible British low budget horror film The Mermaid´s Curse ). The CGI effects from Simon when he kills people, we have to talk about them. Imagine watching CGI effects from the year of 1999 but looked terrible already back in those days. That´s what you get here in Simon Says so they obviously had no budget to spend. The plot itself is nothing interesting or anything you will remember, that they are playing the game Simon Says out of curiousity. Simon Says proves that you do not need a budget to help you get a better sleep schedule, just film a bunch of scenes with terrible CGI effects and call it a horror film. Director Steven M. Smith have directed a lot of low budget British horror films, and i can accept his 2021 film The Ghosts Of Borley Rectory. But i have to say, Simon Says have not much at all to offer and i will not be watching the sequel ( yes one was made after this film ). Simon Says what? I honestly dont care, i need a whiskey after this experience.

Rating: D

If you still want to check out the British horror film Simon Says, even though my review wasn´t that positive, you can check it out for free on the YouTube channel V Horror Plus, here is the link:

Simon Says 1 | Horror Psychological Thriller Movie - YouTube

Supergirl ( Blu ray review )

If you grew up during the 1980´s as a child, there was a big possibility you were reading some kind of comic book back in those days. Comic books were really loved in many different formats, and in our local comic book store in my Swedish hometown known as Uddevalla we would spend our weekends there checking out different DC Comics, Marvel comic books but also other slightly more science fiction inspired comic books as well. I used to love reading Conan The Barbarian comic books, because this was such a cool character and he was really brutal. It was during this time period that i saw a VHS copy of the 1982 film adaptation of Conan The Barbarian, in my school friend Nicklas home because they loved Arnold Schwarzenegger movies and bought Raw Deal on VHS as well. I remember seeing the sequel Conan The Destroyer as well at Nicklas home. When i got closer to 12 years old i moved on watching more superhero comic books such as Justice League, i even started reading Batman comic books which wasn´t my thing back in 1987. Perhaps it was because i knew that the 1989 film adaptation of Batman was going to be released in cinemas worldwide with actor Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman. Either way during the 1980´s i can definetely clarify that comic book stores was the cool spot for a nerd kid like myself. Of course in my youth i have heard about the Superman movies with actor Christopher Reeve at that time, and i did eventually see both the first film and the second one on VHS tapes. I really enjoyed both films and i still do to this day. The third one i can watch just for nostalgic reasons and Superman IV - A Quest For Peace is plain and simple really awful. Back in 1984 there was also a film adaptation of the comic book character Supergirl where actress Helen Slater was chosen to play this character. A big box office bomb at that time and i can see why.  This film did not have the same charm as the Superman films, or any big budget which caused problems to the special effects. I actually rewatched the 1984 film recently to prepare for my review of latest Supergirl film adaptation. I do like actress Helen Slater in the lead role, too bad that the film suffer from big problems such as awful special effects, even some of the action scenes don´t look that good. I do think legendary actress Faye Dunaway is fun as the evil character Selena, while it is charming seeing legendary actor Peter O´Toole included in the cast as well . This is probably a film only for those who are Die Hard fans of the comic book character Supergirl, or like the similar comic books. So after we had a new Superman film released last year, this summer we had a new Supergirl film adaptation out in cinemas worldwide. I did not see this film on the big sceen, i actually ordered a blu ray copy from the UK instead. So the question is does this new film adaptation of Supergirl work better than the 1984 film version, or is this latest film adapation just a lazy attempt to cash in on the character?

Kara Zor-El ( Milly Alcock ) is cynical and delusioned, tired of her Yellow-sun-granting powers and near-immortality, preferring to hang out under a Red Sun and get into drunken bar fights, her life one long hangover, punctuated by vomiting and breakfast cereal. Celebrating her 23rd birthday by getting just as drunk as ever, her party is about to end when a young woman named Ruthye ( Eva Ridley ), suddenly show up and tell people she is out for revenge by killing a ruthless gang leader in retaliation for the slaughter of her family. She begs Kara-Zor El for help, since she can´t do this on her own. Kara would rather be drunk, but realise that this might give her a chance to deal with her addiction and do something good for once.

How many of you remember the 2008 film Hancock with Will Smith as the super human Hancock, a drunk, ego tripped wreck who didn´t care about humanity anymore, especially now when everyone hates him? That film was actually an interesting take on people with super powers, who have fallen completely and seemed stuck with personal issues. In the latest film adaptation of Supergirl we actually find her living in a similar position, except she is not hated by everyone like Hancock was. So, this brings me to talk about a completely different take on Supergirl than we have seen before. Where she likes to get drunk and party, not take any responsibility for hew own actions. I know there are some people who have complained about the decision to make Supergirl into a drunk, i think it was a good choice and i will tell you why. Far too often we are suppsed to see superheroes to be a good role model in society, so we need to see a different take on comic book characters sometimes to show they may have flaws like everyone else. Just because you have super powers doesn´t make you a better person compared to an ordinary human. I have also heard so many right wing people across American complain about actress Milly Alcock´s physical look, basically that she looks ugly. I think that is very rude attacking her physical looks, i see nothing wrong with her natural beauty and you would think adults would be smarter than that, attacking someone for how they look. Speaking of Milly as Supergirl, i think she gives an interesting performance considering we have never seen this version of Supergirl before. Milly handle both the acting well plus her physical performance. I like her chemistry on the screen with young actress Eve Ridley. Jason Momoa is of course here as the evil character Lobo, who looks like he just came home from a goth metal concert with his outfit. Jason is alright, i wish he could have done something fun and unexpected with his character though. In some ways this almost feels like a Star Wars version of Supergirl with so many different aliens characters. I know a lot of people have complained about this film being influenced by the comic book miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, while not looking anything like it. I can understand if you are expecting this film to look like the comic book, so im just reviewing this film as it is. While there are some fun action scenes we also have some CGI effects scenes that could have looked much better. I would say though as a superhero film and if you like Star Wars influences, then this could work. Nowhere near as good as the classic Superman films, just easy popcorn entertainment if you are in the right mood. Director Craig Gillespie ( who directed the brilliant biographical drama film I, Tonya, a film you simply have to see ) have actually done a better Supergirl film than the 1984 version, at least more enjoyable i would say. Worth picking up on physical media if you especially collect superhero movies in general.

Rating: DDD

Alien Storm

For a long time in Hollywood we especially had two legendary film producers that seemed to change the industry completely. The Cannon Group with film producers Menahem Golan and his cousin Yorum Globus was a truly magical combination, together they produced so many classics such as Missing In Action, American Ninja, Invasion U.S.A., Death Wish 3, King Solomon´s Mines ( from director J. Lee Thompson, the director of the 1962 original Cape Fear film ), Runaway Train,, Cobra ( the classic with Sylvester Stallone ), Masters Of The Universe, Bloodsport, Cyborg and many more. Let´s be perfectly honest, without The Cannon Group the 1980´s never would have been the same. They took some big risks making low budget films and they actually had some big cinema hits. Of course one of their biggest mistakes was making Superman IV - A Quest For Peace from 1987, simply because they didn´t have enough money to finish the film on the budget they wanted, so they had to cut the budget just to be able to finish the film that caused a lof of issues. They couldn´t do special effects the way they wanted while making the film, so they reused flying scenes of legendary actor Christopher Reeve, to be able to stay within a certain budget. I can still enjoy parts of Superman IV since i am a fan of Christopher Reeve´s classic Superman films, but i think it´s fair to say that this film did have some issues and is perhaps not as good as it could have been. I still love a lot of films produced by Menahem Golan and Yorum Globus and i still rewatch their movies. And for a while it seemed that we had two brothers in America who could be the next to take over the independent movie industry. I am of course talking about the brothers Sonny Mahal and Michael Mahal, and i was honored to review almost every single film that they produced, where they shared my reviews on each film´s IMDB page. Sonny Mahal and Michael Mahal proved that the independent movie industry was alive and doing well, they released several really popular films within different film genres with big Hollywood stars. They made some really great films such as Attack Of The Uknown, Night Of The Tommyknockers, Bloodthirst, Devil´s Knight and many more. Then i got the tragic news that Michael Mahal have passed away on May 19th, 2025. I was very shocked and i was immediately thinking about his brother Sonny. I did reach out to him personally to show my respect, both to him, his brother and their family as well. Even though Michael is no longer with us his legacy lives on in the films he produced with his brother Sonny, and i was given an oppurtunity to watch the film Alien Storm that they produced together. So this review will be a tribute to film producer Michael Mahal. Is the film Alien Storm a true classic throwback to alien films of classic B movies of the past, or is this not as good as i was hoping it would be?

All over the world a mysterious fog is spreading across several major cities. It seems that inside this fog there are creatures from outer space that landed on Earth. President Nolan ( Kevin Sorbo ) is informed very late about this invasion but refuse to just sit back, he will do everything he can to make sure everone will be safe and secure. While a well known business man is having a great party at his Las Vergas mansion, the aliens are entering their area. Luckily there is a bunker underneath the house. They must fight their way through to make sure as many as possible will survive this invasion.

How many of you remember the 2011 science fiction actior film World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles? In this film Earth was invaded by aliens that looked like robots. A very explosive, violent film that was both fun, well made and had a lot of good looking action scenes. Alien Storm may not look like Battle Los Angeles in the same sense, but this is an alien invasion film and if you are a fan of similar films such as World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles, then this could be exactly what you are looking for. Let´s get into some of the things a appreciate about this film, and let me start by saying i appreciate the set up for this film. It is pretty simple plot that feels like an old school science fiction alien film, a group of people stuck inside a mansion in the Las Vegas area where aliens are invading the city. And those who know my kind of movie taste, you know i love creature feature science fiction horror films. So we have several positive details to talk about in Alien Storm, so let´s start with the creature design of the aliens themselves. When i saw the design of these alien creatures i was reminded of another independent horror film called It Came From Below from director Dan Allen. There are some differences of course of the creatures in both of these films from a design perspective, but i appreciate the creature design in Alien Storu for trying to feel like a throwback to 1980´s creature feautre films. We have a huge cast here so i will just mention some of the performances that stood out to me. Hercules actor Kevin Sorbo actually surprised me how well he played the character President Nolan.. Legendary actor Tom Arnold does a fun performance as Mayor Walker, while actor Denny Nolan and actress Laura Mason as a married couple match well on the big screen, especially when they arm themselves against the aliens. Actor Johnny Huang as the party DJ Beetz, he knows how a party should look like. Actress Elley Ringo have some great scenes together with Tom Arnold, i wish we could have seen more. I do feel that Elley give one of the strongest acting performances. Alien Storm is a quite short film but i appreciate that, that helps the story run smooth without too much dialogue, I would say the acting in general are actually not bad from most of the actors, and when you have fun characters in an alien invasion story, it definetely helps this film become more fun to watch. If you miss creature feautre alien movies that we used to get in the 1980´s, then this will definetely please you. Alien Storm knows exactly what audience it was made for, and embrace this with a fun violent sci fi horror story. Director Adam Werth have directed several films in the past that i have enjoyed, and i feel the same way about Alien Storm. This is without a doubt a film i would recommend if you just want a fun throwback to the 1980´s, i will definetely be picking up a physical copy and so should you.

Rating: DDD

Seven Snipers

I have a tradition that i usually follow every year, no matter what season of the year we are talking about. I like to rewatch some classic films that i really appreciate for personal reasons, it could be because of nostalgic cinema memories during the 1990´s or because of VHS release that made a impact on me. One perfect example of this is the 1993 action military film Sniper, directed by Luis Llosa ( who also directed the Sylvester Stallone action film The Specialist, definetely worth a watch ). Why i enjoyed the 1993 film Sniper so much was mostly because of the chemistry between main characters Thomas Beckett ( played by actor Tom Berenger ), and his younger sniper partner Richard Miller ( played by actor Billy Zane ). To see these two men on a mission in the jungles of Panama is both exciting, charming and the film manage to capture the importance of working together as a team. If you make one mistake you could end up dead. I also think that this film looks good in the jungle scenes, it feels like we are actually there on location in Panama. Ever since i bought the Scandinavain DVD release of this film ( must have been over 20 years ago at least ), i try to rewatch this film every year. Because it takes me back to my cinema experience i had with Sniper and that was actually a wonderful experience. I have seen some of the sequels over the years and i can accept Sniper 2 and Sniper 3 basically, both of them with Tom Berenger in the lead role. These sequels are not as good as the original film, but enjoyable as pure action films. The other sequels are....not that good if im being perfectly honest. It felt like they were making too many sequels and they didn´t even bother to care about the characters or the stories. I haver no idea how many more movies they will make in the Sniper franchise, but im sure they will try and milk out money as long as the films do well on streaming or digital. Speaking of snipers, since this summer i was curious to check out an action film with actress Radha Mitchell ( who i especially remember from the 2006 film adaptation of Silent Hill, based on the extremely popular video game of the same name ) simply called Seven Snipers. This film looked like a throwback to 90´s action movies and how can i say no to that? I decided to rent this film on VOD and review it as well. Is this one of the better Radha Mitchell movies in recent years, or is Seven Snipers so bad, you would rather suffer through Mariah Carey´s awful 2001 film Glitter than no one seems to remember but me?

Retired military sniper Voodoo Child ( Radha Mitchell ) lives on a ranch in Australia with her daughter Anja ( Annabel Wolfe ), where she tries to raise her daugher in the best possible way, after being away alot during military service. One day a mysterious man shows up claiming a real estate company is interested in bying her land. Voodo Child don´t buy the man´s offer, and it turns out she was right. It seems that someone from her past wants revenge on her, so she calls in her old sniper team for backup on her ranch. It becomes more clear that another sniper named The Dragon ( Tim Roth ) is the one behind of all of this, who have a certain reason for making this so personal against Voodoo Child.

When i started watching Seven Snipers i was immediately reminded of the 1993 action drama film Nowhere To Run. In that film Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a prisoner who managed to escape from a convict transport, and is now drifting around the countryside. He gets to know a mother and her two children, where a real estate company want to buy the woman´s land. Of course she refuse any offer and the real estate company use force to scare her. There are some similarities between Nowhere To Run and Seven Snipers, at least when it comes to the real estate company who wants to buy main character Voodoo Child´s land. Then it turns out there is a completely different plot here after all, that there is a revenge story behind everything. So even if Seven Snipers started off quite simple, we suddenly move forward in a complete different direction. On the positive side for this film i would say that the sniper scenes are alright, not as effective as the 1993 classic Sniper but still good enough to enjoy. Lead actress Radha Mitchell as the former sniper soldier Voodoo Child does have a cool personality. She is confident, doesn´t take shit from anyone and is not afraid to go into battle. I am actually surprised to see Radha Mitchell do this kind of character considering she have not been in many action films, other than Man On Fire, Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen of course.  Legendary actor Tim Roth ( from Quentin Tarantino classics such as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction ) plays the sniper character The Dragon. I would say he is alright, but have definetely seen him act better in older classics. I would have liked to see The Dragon character be even more cold, and brutal than we see him in this film. I like the brotherhood among the snipers who help their friend of Voodoo Child, where they really need to support each other during this shootout. On the negative i would probably say that there are a couple of dialogue scenes that felt drawn out, just to have the playtime getting closer to almost 90 minutes. Also, some of the decisions that certain snipers does seem kind of unprofessional in certain scenarios. As a pure and simple action film i still feel that Seven Snipers have enough entertainment value, especially for those who love military sniper films of the 90´s. Director Sandra Sciberras ( who directed the low budget Australian horror film The Dustwalker ) deliver a film that definetely feels like a tribute to old school military action movies at the VHS store, and i do appreciate the effort. Seven Snipers should definetely be a hit at the Elderly Home who are fed up with watching Jeopardy.

Rating: DDD

Blood Witch

Witches!

What would life be without them? You get a nice bowl of soup with eyeballs, mixed with some nice herbs and hopefully some other flesh included. I mean, you are not going to have much food just by eating eyeballs, so hopefully the witches have added some other flesh to make the soup more tasteful. What else are witches good for you might ask yourself? They do use a lot of things from nature durent different seasons of the year, making sure they keep themselves updated with Mother Nature. So if you need advices of what plants you can eat, or use in cooking then witches are the ones to ask. They are also aware of what plants they can use in health and wellness purposes. I would also argue that some witches know how to use different spells by doing a ritual, where candles and specific herbs are included. So if you are tired of your annoying neighbor, why not ask your local witch to put a spell on that old nagging hag? So you see, there are some good things about knowing a local witch. Speaking of witches in general we had a lot of horror films that includes witches, in many different stories connected to witchcraft. I could probably mention at least 10 films you should see if you love horror films with witches, so let´s just bring up one specific title. The 2018 independent horror film The Witch In The Window, how many of you have seen this film? I could imagine mostly big horror fans have come across this film at some point, but it wasn´t a big release back in 2018. I bought a physical copy of this film from the distribution company Njutafilms. The Witch In The Window tell the story of a father and a son who stays in a house for 6 weeks, to fix up an old farmhouse. It´s been abandoned for a long time and need some work, while this might help him reconnect with his son. As they begin the renovation, strange things begin to occur. The Witch In The Window is a very simple horror film, but the witch elements actually works in this film. This is a slow burn horror film that´s focused more on atmopshere than any physical violence, plus the relationship between a father and a son. I would also like to mention that the film looks good, even though this is clearly a low budget horror film. Worth picking up on physical media or if you rent it on VOD. How many of you have heard of the British independent distribution company Black Coppice Films? I have only seen a couple trailer of their releases and decided to check one of their films out, simply called Blood Witch. Since i enjoy films regarding witches, is this a must watch to prepare for this Halloween or will Blood Witch be quickly fogotten once you have seen this film?

Centuries after being killed for witchcraft, a mother and a daughter are resurrected. They seek revenge on descendantsof those responsible. As locals disappear, two journalists investigate the mysterious events.

I could be wrong but i get a sense that a film such as Blood Witch, tries to bring back the old school horror films that we used to see in the legendary British film distribution company Hammer Films. They were of course known all over the world for their British low budget horror films such as the Dracula franchise with legendary actor Christopher Lee, and Hammer Films honestly released some other true classics such as the 1976 horror film To The Devil A Daughter. However, to say that Blood Witch would be anywhere good as the classics from Hammer Films, that is simply not the case here. I do appreciate the effort trying to really do a traditional witch horror film, using practical make up effects and real locations instead of a film studio only.  Especially the scenes where there are some brutal practical make up effects, thisis exactly what a film such as this needed. One of the biggest issues i have with Blood Witch, as i have experienced with specifically British independent horror films in the past, is that they use too many dialogue scenes and scale down on the horror scenes. This is just a simple way to make the film last around 85 minutes, because you don´t have to use that many bloody scenes and save money basically. There are  characters i enjoyed in yhis film. Let´s start with Father Thomas Jackson ( played by actor Jon-Paul Gates, who i have seen in the independent horror film Doll Cemetary ). Hearing Father Thomas telling a man that helps him- Fucking idiot, in the middle of an exorcism scene, that was actually quite funny and one of the highlights of Blood Witch. I personally feel the character Father Thomas should have had much more sceen time in Blood Witch. The second actor Denny Nolan ( who i remember from the horror action film Bridge Of The Doomed ), plays the character Spencer Jones which have some charming dialogue. Oh, i should say the ending scene is really brutal and surprisngly fun. This is probably the only positive things i can say about Blood Witch, because i feel that this could have been a much more fun horror film if it was more violent, and more gory than doing so many doalogue scenes. Director Chris Shane Sanders have not made a horrible film, just a very boring one.

Rating: DD

Normal

Remember when a movie become a bigger success than you would have imagined? Usually some big ciname releases may either flop, or they might make enough money to make a little bit of profit. Then you have those films that made a hell of a lot of money, that no one probably saw coming. You never really know these days because the audience will always decide what they enjoy. Even if a film critic hate a film, the audience may not even bother what critics are sauing and still pay for tickets. For example, back in the year of 2017 i never would have imagined, that the psychological horror film Get Out would be a massive box office success. I remember that the movie critics praised the film, however, i never expected a horror film made on a limited budget of 4.5 million U.S. dollars, would end up getting over 259 million U.S. dollars in ticket sales. That is really impressive numbers of ticket sales, no matter if you like the film Get Out or if you dislike this film. I personally enjoyed this film for a number of reasons, both because of the acting, the storyline but especially how effective this film is as a psychological horror film. Worth a watch if you are looking for a solid horror film, no matter if you prefer to watch it on streaming or physical media. Another film that really surprised me is actually an action film, and that is the 2021 film known as Nobody from director Llya Naishuller. On a budget of 16 million U.S. dollars this film ended up making over 57 million U.S. dollats in ticket sales. Not bad at all, not a massive success perhaps but still making a descent profit considering that cinemas have been struggling since the pandemic, Plus this film did well on streaming and physical media as well. Nobody turned out to be a really violent action trip, where actor Bob Odenkirk ( perhaps mostly known from the Netflix TV series Better Call Saul ) really showed a very strong physical acting performance. I do appreciate the violence in this film, combined with a good sense of humour. I have not seen the sequel yet Nobody 2 but i definetely plan to watch it at some point. I did however see Bob Odenkirk´s film Normal which i decided to review. A film i have read positive reviews about, so considering im a big fan of the original Nobody film of course i was excited to watch Normal. Is this another great film with the highly respected Better Call Saul actor, or is this way worse than we ever would have expected?

Ulysses ( Bob Odenkirk ) begins serving as intern sheriff of the small town of Normal, Minnestota. At first it seems that most locals welcome the new sheriiff in town, as well as Mayor Kibner ( Henry Winkler ). But after he discover certain details about the bank of Normal, something doesn´t seem quite right about this town. The locals don´t like it when people dig into the past, and this may cause some big issues for the new Sheriff Ulysses.

What if you did a similar environment as in the 1996 classic film Fargo and combined some influences from films such as the 2023 film Americana? Then you pretty much have have the concept for what Normal looks like. Small town stories from Normal, where you get to see how the people of this town function in different scenarios. If you thought actor Bob Odenkirk would do a similar acting performance in Normal as he did in the 2021 action film Nobody, i can tell you that this is a completely different character. I would describe his character Ulysses as a typical small town sheriff, who tries to deal with local folks as good as he can. Bob Odenkirk deliver a solid performance and i like the fact that he tries to do a classic small town sheriff character, in the same sense that we experienced in the 1996 cult classic film Fargo. Different films of course, still you can feel some inspiration could have been used from Fargo while they were making the film Normal. I could of course be wrong, but if you compare these two films i feel some similarities. Legendary actor Henry Winkler does another great performance as the fun character Mayor Kibner. This film unfortunately turned out to be a box office bomb this year, and in one way i can understand why. It´s not because this film is bad, it´s actually a really good film. But i feel that this is a difficult film to make a wider audience want to see it, because not many films telling a story about a small town have been box office hits. Just look at the 2011 film Take Shelter, that was praised by critics and had a great cast. It didn´t help and barely crossed over the film´s budget around 5 million U.S. dollars. Not a big box office bomb, yet managed to find an audience on streaming and physical media instead. I just think Normal is a difficult film unless you enjoy small town stories, which i am a fan of. With that said i do think this film works both as an action film, thriller combined with drama. The violence is fun, the dialogue is actually effective as well and i do think director Ben Wheatley ( director of a personal favourite of mine called A Field In England, worth picking up on physical media ) proves himself again to be a talented director. That he can basically take on any genre in film, and still leave a positive impact as he have in his previous films. The biggest surprise of Normal is how this turns into a very violent showdown where even the Japanese Yakuza are involved. If you loved the 2021 film Nobody then this could be something for you. It´s the kind of old school action film we used to get in the 1980´s, where violence was the key to solve problems, instead of just talking. Normal have all the ingredients you need for a fun old school action popcorn night, and Bob Odenkirk proves that there is still hope for the action genre.

Rating: DDDD

God Of Frogs

It may not be often you hear about the genre known as creature feature films these days, but if we go back in cinema history you had plenty of cinema releases within this specific genre. One of the most iconic creature feature horror film classics, has to be the 1951 horror film The Thing From Another World. This film is of course a combination of science fiction and horror, which works really well combined. Considering the film was made back in the year of 1951, it did have some cool practical make up effects and was professionally made. I prefer the 1982 remake of course by legendary director John Carpenter, who really took the story of The Thing to a complete different level. Amazing practical effects in the 1982 film adaptation, but let´s talk about a completely different film within the creature feature category of movies. For example how many of you remember the 1978 horror film that´s now considered to be a cult classic known as Pirahna? Directed by legendary director Joe Dante ( the director of so many classic films such as The Howling, Gremlins, Explorers The Burbs, Gremlins 2, and many more wonderful films ), this 1978 low budget horror film Piranha was actually the film that opened up the door for director Joe Dante´s future. On a budget around 770.000 U.S. dollars it made around 16 million U.S. dollars in ticket sales worldwide, not bad for such a low budget film. The story is basically set in Lost River Lake, where skiptracer Maggie McKeown ( Heather Menzies ) is looking for missing teenagers, who seemed to have disappeared after a visit at this lake. She hires local drunk Paul Grogan ( Bradford Dillman ), to help her investigate what happened to the missing teenagers. They discover that the water is infested by an unusual species of piranha fishes. It is a silly, yet a fun creature feature horror film that actually have pretty good acting, is quite well made considering the low budget and i do like the storyline that´s simple but effective. The special effects of the piranha fishes may look cheesy, but that´s part of the charm with creature feature horror films. A film worth a watch, especially on physical media. Speaking of creature feature films, we still get some of them released especially within independent horror studios. I came across an anthology horror film called God Of Frogs which is a creature feature film as well, thanks to the review from British film critic Geek Legion Of Doom. Since i am a fan of both genres, anhology horror and creature feature films, this did sound like my cup of tea. Is this a film you should see this autumn or should you skip this one and go straight to the 1978 classic Piranha instead?

Deep in the heart of the jumgle exists an elemental creature with an eternal hunger. Once every quarter century it emerges to feed, and everytime its fate is entwined with the same human family.

I think it is fait to say that God Of Frogs start off pretty bizarre, when we found ourselves among hippies in the year of 1969 and a woman have sex with a frog creature. Now, when you read this you might be thinking:- Why would you want to do that? Well, i can´t really answer that. I suppose back in the late 1960´s anything was possible, so why not? Maybe this frog creature is a great lover, perhaps human men have a lot to learn from them. But that´s not the only time the frog monster have sex in this film, oh no. We got to have frog sex in the year of 1994 as well. I mean, you gotta have fun in the 90´s as well, right? I should clarify that these frog monster is kind of tricky, because at first they seem to look human during sex, but apparently then can transform just like that and the women think they are having sex with male humans, and yet continue when the monster transform into it´s real body. The real reason though why these frog creatures have sex is of course to have babies from female humans. This film is divided into four different chapters and they are all connected to the frog creature. I have to say that the practical make up effects of this creature is not bad at all, and the frog suit itself looks good for being a low budget film. Obviously they worked with the budget they had, and i think they pulled this off nicely. Actually, this film had help from special effects make up artist Jess Smith, who also did a great job on the 2024 horror film The Killgrin, worth checking out. The acting is a bit of a mixed bag, some acting performances don´t really make any bigger impact, but in the third chapter of this film i do think actors Corteon Moore and Christian Lloyd give us the most interesting characters. I do like the idea of each chapter taking place so far from each other, giving a different perspective of why this creature have a bigger purpose through history. Is every chapter good? I don´t think there are any bad ones, it´s just that the third chapter manage to capture my interest more than others. Overall i would say God Of Frogs is an interesting concept for a anthology horror film. It may not be a film for everyone, but if you specifically enjoy anthology horror stories this should be a fun watch. If you love old school practical make up effects with monsters included, then this is the film you have been waiting for.

Rating: DDD

If you want a physical DVD of this film you can pick up your physical copy on the following link from MVD Shop:

God Of Frogs DVD | Miracle Media

If you want to hear British film critic Geek Legion Of Doom giving his opinion on God Of Frogs, you can watch the review on the following YouTube link:

GOD OF FROGS ( 2026 Kate Vernon ) Creature Feature Frogman Horror Movie Review

Passenger

I have drived all across Sweden on many different highways over the years, all across different cities and even along the Swedish coast lines. This is a very beautiful country to drive through with lots of beautiful forest areas, there are many beautiful smaller cities and i have to say there are some great resting places along the highways for drivers to stop at, especially near different lakes. Usually nothing strange have ever happened while i was driving through Sweden, except for one moment that happened back in January of 2016. I was driving down towards Gothenburg and stopped at a gas station in the city known as Karslstad. It was a cold winter day so i needed a hot cup of coffee and a hot dog as well. While i was getting gas for my car, a drifter walked up to me asking if i could drive him to Stockholm because he needed to travel to his brother. I told him:- Im going to Gothenburgh so it´s the wrong direction but good luck finding help by someone else. He got really upset saying:- Can´t you just fucking help me? I could tell he might have some mental problems because him mood changed very quickly. I was respectful and said:- Im sorry i can´t help you. I paid for the gas and got in the car, while i could see him standing looking at me from a distance. The way he stared at me was creepy. I understand if you don´t have money you will ask for help, i have no problem with that part. I just feel that this man could not control his emotions, because he got in a really bad mood quickly. Either way, i will never forget this drifter outside of the city of Karlstad. Speaking of drifters one of the best psychological thrillers ever made, is the 1986 classic film The Hitcher from director Robert Harmon. The plot is really simple but very effective. A young man named Jim Halsey ( played by actor C. Thomas Howell ), he is delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego. On his way there he pick up a hitchhiker named John Ryder ( played by legendary actor Rutger Hauer ), who seems quite odd at first. But that´s not even close to the real truth, he is actually even worse than that. He is a mentally disturbed serial killer and he want´s to play some disturbing games with Jim along the highway. The Hitcher is one of those psychological thrillers you can rewatch, and never get bored of. Really well made thriller with excellent acting performances, and this is one of those films you should own on physical media or own a digital copy of. Speaking of hitchhiker´s i finally sat down to watch Norwegian director André Ovredal´s latest horror film Passenger, that looked interesting for a number of reasons. Since i am a fan of André´s previous films, is Passenger a film you should see or is this hiw worst feature film so far?

Couple Maddie Brecker ( Lou Llobell ) and Tyler Gennochio ( Jacob Scipio ), are travelling in a van across the country to live a simple life, enjoying sightseeing and exploring different locations for six weeks completely. One late night while Maddie is driving along a highway, a car speed very dramatic as if the passenger is warning them. Maddie slows down to let the driver pass them by. As they continue their journey they see the same car have been in an accident and alarm the accident. The passenger named Lucas ( Miles Fowler ) is suddenly killed by the crash protection car pillow. But something doesn´t seem quite right at the accident location, as if someone else is there out there in the darkness.

If you have seen some of the previous films from director André Ovredal, you know that he is clearly a very talented director of especially horror films. Passenger is of course also a horror film, but leaning more towards the supernatural horror genre. I know that director André Ovredal have worked with a limited budget in the past such as Trollhunter. Even if that film did cost a lot more than the general Norwegian cinema releases, it was still made on a limited budget if you compare to big Norwegian movie titles. Passenger only cost around 15 million U.S. dollars to make and i love to see films such as this being made on a limited budget. We don´t need to make horror films on a 100 million U.S. dollar budget, when you can make really good horror films on a much more limited budget. And since this film is spending a lot of time along a highway it feels like a throwback to similar films of the 1986 classic The Hitcher. That film was obviously a psychological thriller, still you can feel a similar tone in Passenger as i begin to wonder if director André Ovredal might have been inspired by similar films such as The Hitcher. Let´s get into what i feel works well with Passenger and i love how simple this film feels, the plot is very basic and yet it matches well with the horror elements. When you think about how the film is constructed it is either original or different than similar films, but what makes Passenger effective as a horror film is the atmosphere surrounding this journey on the highways. What if you meet someone out there that could destroy your life completely, when you are just trying to travel? One very important detail is the religious undertone of this film. There is a connection to why faith is very important to have, since this Passenger is like a demon from hell and you need faith to fight against it. The Passenger itself is very creepy looking, with long hair and dark demonic eyes, and it matches the storyline pretty good while keeping a dark atmopshere wherever it shows up. The acting especially from the main actors Jacob Scipio and Llobell both give solid performances, where especiallya ctor Joseph Lopez as the Passenger makes the strongest impact. In general i would say that Passenger is a good choice for a horror film, it´s well made, have some effective horror scenes and the plot is actually quite interesting. Definetely a good choice if you enjoyed the previous films from director André Ovredal and if you are interested in reliigion as well.

Rating: DDD

If you live in Europe and want a physical copy of Passenger on blu ray, you can get your UK copy on the following link:

Passenger [Blu-ray] [Region A]: Amazon.co.uk: Melissa Leo, Lou Llobell, Jacob Scipio, André Øvredal, Melissa Leo, Lou Llobell: DVD & Blu-ray

Capture

Some people don´t want to watch older horror movies, they would rather just watch new releases and don´t even bother to see what titles there are out there from the past. I feel that is a bit sad, because there are some really good horror films out there to choose between. They don´t have to be really old from the 1980´s or the 1990´s, they could be just about 15 years old and still be really good. Well, not all titles might be brilliant, but still worth a watch for a number of different reasons. I could easily pick at least 8 movies during this time period worth a watch, but let´s just focus on one specific title. For example if i mentioned a horror film title released in 2011 called Lovely Molly, how many of you would have said:- Oh i remember that film? This is one of those horror films you don´t hear much about in horror communities worldwide, and honestly i feel it deserves to be talk about. The plot is pretty simple, a newlywed woman named Molly ( played by actress Gretchen Lodge ) moves into her deceased father´s house in the countryside, together with her husband. At first it might seem like a wonderful idea, but the longer she stays there, the more painful it becomes as old memories start to haunt her. Lovely Molly is a mixture of found footage styled horror film, combined with a slow burn atmopshere. When you know this film is directed by Eduardo Sanchez, you know that name have a very special heart among horror fans. The director of the 1999 cult found footage horror film The Blair Witch Project, and he actually use some found footage scenes in Lovely Molly as well. Im not going to say that Lovely Molly is as good as The Blair Witch Project, it´s not. But i do think the film feels effective from a story telling perspective, considering how thin the plot is and yet works so well. Lead actress Gretchen Lodge is really good as Molly, and she is actually the biggest reason why this film feels more creepy as she begin to change mentally, physically, emotionally, the longer she stay inside this house. If you want a good horror film to watch to prepare for Halloween weekend, Lovely Molly on streaming or physical media is a great choice. One of the horror movies i did become curious about that came out earlier this year, is a horror film called Capture from director Bruce Wemble. I found out about this film from a review of British film critic Screen Stars, and the story sounded like something i might enjoy since i enjoyed Lovely Molly. also set inside a cabin. Is this a great choice for horror film this autumn, or is Capture not the film you should choose and pick Lovely Molly instead?

Abby ( Kaitlyn Lunardi ) is a young woman and causing a lot of trouble in her life. Her own sister is even fed up with her. When she is chosen by her parents to inherint their old house, she is shocked but this gives her a chance to start over with her life. What she doesn´t know is the dark past of her parents, and what happened in this house while her mother had sessions with patients she was supposed to help....

Something i remembered while watching Capture is that this film is directed by the same man who made the 2020 horror film The Retreat. This turned out to be a great horror film from director Bruce Wemble and is a well made creature feature horror film, considering the limited budget. His film Capture is quite different from The Retreat and feels more like a supernatural horror film. There is almost a sense that this film could have been inspired by the 2012 horror film Sinister, since the main character Abby find old VHS tapes that´s been recorded for patiemts of a psychiatrist. This is the part of the film that´s actually interesting, what secrets are hidden within the walls of this house? What will these VHS tapes reveal? This part also reminded me a bit of the great 2009 psychological horror film The Fourth Kind with actress Milla Jovovich. Another interesting detail is the main character Abby, played by actress Kaitlyn Lunardi ( who i recognized from the horror film The North Witch, worth checking out ), and why i think her character especially work in this plot is that she is struggling with her adult life. She doesn´t really have any goals in life, she have no idea what to do with herslef other than party, sleep around with guys. Having a young woman like her inside an old house is of course not the best combination, especially when strange things are happening around the house. Since she is already struggling with herself, how much can she take mentally if she have to face something evil within this house? The acting performance from actress Kaitlyn Lunardi is good, she capture the broken soul of the character Kaitlyn and make her look realistic. When it comes to the horror elements there are some creepy horror scenes in this film, where the sound effects help certain horror scenes become even more effective. I would definetely say that this is the best looking film from director Bruce Wemble, and his best horror film so far as well. It´s not a horror film without flaws, but i do think the story works better than i expected. If you are already planning what to watch during Halloween weekend, you should definetely rent or stream Capture on your list of Halloween films this year. A horror film that actually works, for such a simple yet effective premise. Let´s hope i never inherit a house, i might have doubts after my experience with Capture.

Rating: DDD

Obsession

Falling in love with someone is a wonderful thing, and especially if both people feel that they love each other. I truly believe in real love, that we definetely need this all over the world where we want people to be happy. Loving someone no matter what flaws they have, when you truly love someone it´s ok if you are clumpsy, if you can´t sing, if you have a terrible hand writing, because the person who truly loves you accept the way you are. So im always happy to see people in love, and im hoping that we can keep this wonderful feeling alive among humans of all ages. That includes even older people falling in love, it is never too late to find your partner in life as long as you hold on and believe in yourself. However, if you become obsessed with someone who doesn´t feel the same as you, that could become a huge problem. No matter if we are talking about if you are a fan of an author, an artist, or simply fall in love with a person but in a very obsessed way, this could become a truly horrible situation. There have been a number of films talking about someone becoming obsessed in a person, perhaps perfectly shown in the 1987 classic psychological thriller Fatal Attraction. Seeing legendary actress turn into a complete psycopath in the big screen was really scary, she really goes all in on her performance as the mentally disturbed character Alex Forrest. By the way, also a really strong performance by legendary actor Michael Douglas as well. This is a must see on streaming or physical media if you love psychological thrillers. Speaking of really good psychological thrillers, you have to see the 1990 film Misery, based on the classic book by iconic horror author Stephen King. Legendary actress Kathy Bates gives one of her best acting performances of her career in this film, as the very mentally disturbed woman Annie Wilkies who takes care of her favourite author Paul Sheldon ( brilliant performance by legendary actor James Caan ), after he is in a serious car accident. Misery is a personal favourite film from director Rob Reiner, and you should definetely see this one as well. One good advise though if you get a physical copy of Misery, listen to the commentary track and find out some really interesting details during the making of this film. Speaking about being obsessed with someone, there have especially been one film that have been talked a lot about all summer, and that is the horror film known as Obsessed. I did read some really positive reviews about this film and heard films critics being really positive on radion as well. Now, i was supposed to see Obsession this summer on the big screen, at least that was my plan. I ended watching Masters Of The Universe in cinema instead, wich im still grateful for. So i rented Obsession on digital instead and decided to review this film. Is this as good as many films critics are saying, or is this not even close as good as it should have been?

Baron "Bear" Bailey is deeply in love with one of his female friends, Nikki Freeman ( Inde Navarrette ), they work together in a music store with friends, Ian ( Cooper Tomlisson ) and Sarah ( Megan Lawless ). After Barron´s cat Sandy is found dead, he mourn the death of his close friend. As he visits a crystal shop to buy Nikki a replacement crystal  necklace but instead buy her "One Wish Willow", a novelty toy that claims to grant someone one wish when broken. After a group hangout that night, Nikki asks Bear if he likes her, but he is unable to admit his feelings. Frustrated, he breaks the One Wish Willow and wishes that Nikki loves him more than anyone in the world. His wish do become reality, but Nikki is to become a completely different person than anyone have ever seen....

Do some of you remember the classic 1988 comedy Big with Tom Hanks? Where a young boy use an antique fortune-teller machine called Zoltar, and makes a wish that he could be "big"? Obsession does something similar as the 1988 film Big, but this is of course a horror film with a completely different twist. I do think the idea behind a One Wish Willow is interesting in the context of the plot, if you would imagine that it actually worked if you made one wish. I mean just imagine if you could wish for anything and your wish would litteraly come true, what would you wish for? In this case it is the character Bear ( played really well by actor Michael Johnston, who i recognized from TV series Teen Wolf ), he wants the woman he loves to fall in love with him. I can understand the character of Bear being a man myself, we all had that special crush in our youth and we are afraid they won´t feel the same. The most interesting part of Obssession is of course how the young woman Nikki ( brilliant played by actress Inde Navarrette ) goes completely nuts, becoming completely obsessed in Bear in a very disturbing way. As the film goes on you see how Nikki completely loose control of herself, almost as if she have been possessed by a demon. And you begin to question what is really going on with her mind, did the One Wish Willow give Nikki some kind of evil entity, or is there another explanation to her psychotic behavior? Obsession open up a lot of questions, and give some of the answers that we are looking for. As a psychological horror film i would say this film works really well, especially because of the incredibly strong acting performances. Even if i enjoyed actress Inde Navarrette´s performance in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, i feel she takes her acting performance to a complete different level in Obsession. This film really show why you can´t force someone to love you, that his has to be a natural process. It´s a very well made film, the horror scenes are very effective from a psychological perspective and the strength of Obsession is without a doubt the acting performances. I still prefer Misery over Obsession for a couple of reasons, but this is still a really solid horror film. One notice as well, considering how low budget this film was made on, this proves that you can make really good quality films while throwing away over 350 U.S. million dollars on Fast X with Vin Diesel. Director Curry Baker clearly wanted to show us with Obsession the danger of being obsessed with someone, and he really manage to find the right tone to make this story really effective. If you love disturbing psychological horror films, this is without a doubt the film you have been looking for.

Rating: DDDD

Speed Demon

Autumn is getting closer and you know what that means. This is the beginning of the season when The Hallmark Channel prepare to release all of their 200 Christmas movies....oh sorry, i meant 204 titles. They are so many it is easy to loose track. Of course they will release their autumn season inspired films at first, and it always seems like The Hallmark Channel posters are so polished that you can´t even make them look filthy. If i am going to watch any Hallmark films it will be Christmas inspired stories, because they are extremely cheesy, with terrible acting and everyone looks like they just had an orgasm underneath the mistletoe. So yes, i would say i am quite easy to entertain. While i do watch some of these terrible films, i prefer to watch Christmas horror movies instead if im being completely honest. Because they can actually be good for a number of reasons, especially if we are talking about classic ones such as the 1974 horror film Black Christmas, I remember the very first time i watched this film, it was a UK DVD release from the distrubution company Tartan Video ( they had a huge catalogue of DVD releases back in the early 2000´s ). A pretty well made Christmas horror movie, with a great cast such as Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey ( from the TV mini series Stephen King´s IT ) and of course John Saxon ( from the 1984 classic A Nightmare On Elm Street ). The 1974 film Black Christmas is like a traditional slasher horror film, with a simple but effective plot. Worth picking up on physical media especially from distribution company 101 Films. In 2006 we got ourselves a remake of the same name, with a cast full of names i have never heard of before, except for actress Andrea Martin who was in the original Black Christmas film as well. The 2006 remake didn´t have anything unique to offer or felt like a worthy remake to the 1974 film. They did try making a more modern take on Black Christmas, too bad it falled pretty flat. However, it was in this horror remake i encountered actress Katie Cassidy for the very first time. She would later be found in the TV series known as Arrow, which is actually pretty good. I knew that Katie have a role in a horror film called Speed Demon, where she fights the forces of evil on board a train. This film have no physical release yet from what i could see, so i had to rent the film on VOD to actually see it. Being a fan of exorcism horror films in general, is Speed Demon exatly what we need to see as we enter autumn or is this a film you might as well skip and choose a better title in this specific genre?

Sister Lu ( Katie Cassidy ) is travelling on a train with Father Novak ( William H. Macy )), who knows about her struggling addiction past. Sister Lu is still to this day trying to deal with her personal problems, while doing God´s work helping Father Novak. As the journey go on, something strange begins to happen on board this train. It is almost as if an evil force have entered this train to attack Sister Lu and challenge her faith in God.

I have probably seen at least 60 exorcism movies over the years in many different kinds of styles. I have seen traditional exorcism films, i have seen exorcism happning on an airplace, exorcism on a luxury South Seas ocean liner in the 1974 film Voodoo Black Exorcist, i have even see exorcism happening during an online filmed exorcism in the 2019 horror film The Clensing Hour. I will say that the idea behind the plot of Speed Demon is actually not bad at all. I mean, who doesn´t want to see a priest and a nun fighting against a demon while they are travelling on a high speed train? Since we need some plot changes to keep the exorcism genre alive, i think director Jon Keeyes at least tried to bring us something different with Speed Demon. I am a fan of his 2017 film The Harrowing that i actually rented on VOD back when this film was released, a film i feel is still worth watching. I have not seen  all the films from director Jon Keeys since at least 6 years ago, but i can tell he is passionate about telling different horror stories. That becomes clear as well with Speed Demon, however this film does have some issues that i need to talk about. The heavy amount of CGI used in this film, and m not against CGI effects, i definetely prefer CGI than AI effects. My problem with the CGI effects is that they don´t look that good in Speed Demon, especially in certain horror scenes where we are supposed to feel scared. I can accept terrible CGI effects if they work in certain scenes, when you can tell that they actually made an effort to make it work. I just don´t feel that effort here and that is too bad, because i do like the idea behind the main plot. On the positive note i do enjoy the performance of lead actress Katie Cassidy as Sister Lu. I do feel that we get an interesting perspective of her character knowing she is a struggling drug addict, which of course makes this journey quite difficult. Legendary actor Willam H, Macy us here as well as Father Novak, perhaps the strongest acting performance in this film. I am surprised he accepted a role such as this, considering this is more of a low budget horror film. There are a few moments where some horror scenes look ok, but they use way too much bad CGI effects than they should have and that makes this film loose some charm with me. Speed Demon is not the most awful exorcism horror film i have seen, it just could have been so much better than what we are left with. I do appreciate director Jon Keeys movies in general, but somehow Speed Demon don´t have that much to offer. I recommend his 2017 horror film The Harrowing over this one instead.

Rating: DD