The Quiet Ones is a 2013 British horror film produced by Hammer Films starring Jared Harris, Sam Claflin, Olivia Cooke, Erin Richards, Rory Fleck-Byrne and Laurie Calvert.

Directed by John Pogue (Quarantine 2: Terminal), and apparently “inspired by true events”, The Quiet Ones ”tells the story of an unorthodox professor who uses controversial methods and leads his best students off the grid to take part in a dangerous experiment: to create a poltergeist. Based on the theory that paranormal activity is caused by human negative energy, the rogue scientists perform a series of tests on a young patient, pushing her to the edge of sanity. As frightening occurrences begin to take place with shocking and gruesome consequences, the group quickly realizes they have triggered a force more terrifying than they ever could have imagined.”

IMDb | Official page

The Devil Rides Out, released as The Devil’s Bride in the United States, is a 1968 British Hammer horror film, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley. It was written by American writer Richard Matheson and directed by Terence Fisher. The film stars Christopher Lee, Leon Greene, Charles Gray (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Patrick Mower (Incense for the Damned) and Nike Arrighi.

The powers of good are pitted against the forces of evil as the aristocratic Duc de Richelieu (Lee) wrestles with the charming but deadly Satanist, Mocata (Grey), for the soul of his friend, Simon Aron (Mower), who has been associating with Mocata and his coven. Set in 1920′s England, the Duc and his friend, Rex van Rijn (Greene), soon find more and more evidence of ritual sacrifice, black magic and the Dark Arts, with not only Mower but respectable members of society and a young girl called Tanith (Arrighi) having been lured into Mocata’s inner circle. The film develops as the Duc, van Rijn and their far more sceptical friends, Richard and Peggy Eaton (Paul Eddington and Rosalyn Landor), realise the gravity of the situation, interrupting a forest-based Satantic mass, attended by Satan himself. Mocata manoeuvres to bring Peggy under his spell, finally unleashing the full force of the Left Hand Path upon the group, who rely on all the Duc’s knowledge and white magic to save them.

Lee had been stamping his feet for a long time for Hammer to bring flesh to Wheatley’s words but there was understandable reticence on the part of the hallowed British production house. Eleven of Wheatley’s novels are steeped in Satanism, the practices and the history, which though lending itself to Hammer’s already rich history of storytelling, brought with it very real threat of Britain’s head censor, John Trevelyan cutting it to ribbons, if indeed he allowed it to exist at all. Hammer had already brought the first of Wheatley’s novels to the screen earlier in 1968, the Devil-less fantasy film The Lost Continent.

The rights to filming Wheatley’s book had belonged to Michael Staiver-Hutchins (who was also responsible for the film’s special effects) and an early attempt to make the book acceptable for the screen was made in 1963 with American writer John Hunter (Never Take Sweets From a Stranger) penning a treatment. though the producer, Anthony Hinds, declared it ‘too English’ for mass appeal. As such, the celebrated American, Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, many episodes of Twilight Zone) was approached at the end of the decade, charged with thinning out the lengthy descriptions of Satanic lore and picking up the pace somewhat.

There was also the need to change the plot slightly; in the book, Mocata’s diabolical plan is to start a World War by seizing the Talisman of Set (a mummified phallus, always check before you seize anything). This involved budget-worrying plane chases and even more special effects, so this was jettisoned. In the novel, Aron’s character is Jewish, lending the book an entirely different tone, which again is omitted in the film. The dialogue is very snappy, brevity lending an urgency and mystery to the proceedings.

Lee’s passion for the source material, as well as his close association with Wheatley meant he was always going to bag a lead role, here playing the hero to magnificent effect. Well versed in the ways and history of Black Magic himself, Lee throws himself into the role and clearly relishes every minute, delivery one of his greatest screen roles. Mower (later seen in Incense for the Damned and Cry of the Banshee) is also very believable as the naive young man in well over his head. Matching Lee’s performance is Charles Grey (best remembered as Bond villain, Blofeld but also playing key roles in Theatre of Blood, Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Beast Must Die, amongst many others), magnificent as Mocata, quietly oozing evil and seduction, without resorting to histrionics or cliches, as much Matheson’s triumph as the actor’s. His eyes stare through the screen offering mere suggestions at the carnage he can make possible.

Paul Eddington, later known for his comedy roles in the The Good Life and Yes, Prime Minister, is an effective ‘everyman’, understandably doubtful as to the accusation of sorcery and witchcraft going on. Less effective is Arrighi, slightly alluring but distant even considering her dazed and hypnotised state in character. Worse still is Greene, not only looking like he’s wearing a stuffed suit but bumbling through, getting in the way and doing that dreadful thing horror films often lapse into, giving the impression he’s never heard of the devil/vampires/zombies etc as if that’s the norm. The icing on the cake is that his voice is dubbed by Patrick Allen, which would be just about ok, if only Allen didn’t have one of the most recognisable voices in British television.

Production designer,  Bernard Robinson, does an amazing job with the sumptuous, grand set-pieces in the stately home settings and the film’s climax, working to a tight budget yet delivering sets of great style. The relocation of the filming from Hammer’s traditional home of Bray to Elstree studios gave him much more space to explore the Satanic sabbath and indoor scenes. Fisher, entering the twilight of his career (only Frankenstein Must be Destroyed and Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell followed), allows the actors to work with Matheson’s script without distraction, with plenty of close-ups and tightly-framed shots showing the fear and concern on the actors’ faces.

The Satanic Mass itself is a rather staid affair, a bit of dancing in frocks being about as shocking as Fisher dare venture without risk of Trevelyan involving himself unnecessarily. It does however give us the chance to see a rarely-glimpsed sight of the Devil himself in a horror film, referred to here as Baphomet or most famously, ‘The Goat of Mendes’. Easy to make ridiculous, the depiction is actually extremely startling, a slight smile on his goaty lips and an element of fear even on Mocata’s face. The Dark Lord was played by the famous stunt performer, Eddie Powell, who also served as Lee’s double in 1958′s Dracula.

Less impressive, effects-wise are the scenes towards the climax of the film where our heroes entrench themselves in a holy circle to fend off attacks from a giant spider an the Angel of Death himself. Both suffer from a lack of budget, the spider clearly clawing at a glass pane and the Angel’s horse rearing up again and again on a crudely edited loop. The horse was no actor, wings or no wings, possessing only one lung and wheezing after the slightest exertion (incredibly, not a joke). Digital intervention for the recent Blu-ray release attempted to fix some of these flaws and achieved this to some extent, removing many of the matting issues. There is, however, charm to the creakiness and overall detracts little if at all from the tone and action.

James Bernard’s score is of the highest calibre, delivering instant dread and threat whilst remaining hauntingly beautiful, one of the greatest ever scores for a horror film. Costing a mere £285,00, the film did reasonable business, though despite pleasing Wheatley himself immensely,  did not lead to further excursions for the Duc. Renamed The Devil’s Bride in the USA, so as not to confuse cinema-goers into thinking it was a Western, the film stands up extremely well, the 1920′s setting lending the film a timelessness and one of an almost historical document for the ages.

One of Lee’s favourite films, he is an advocate for the film being remade to redress the special effects issues, though, sadly his wish to play the Duc once more seems more than slightly unlikely. To quote Mocata’s most famous line: “I shall not be back… but something will”.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

Poltergeist is a forthcoming reboot of the 1982 supernatural film being produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert (Evil Dead) and Roy Lee (The Woman in Black, The Strangers) for MGM and the director is Gil Kenan, who previously helmed animated family horror movie Monster House. The hugely successful 1982 original was produced by Stephen Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre).

Perhaps indicating that this new version lacks focus, a host of writers have so far worked on the production: Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose), Juliet Snowden (The Possession), Stiles White (The Boogeyman) and Paul Harris Boardman (The Exorcism of Emily Rose). David Linsay-Abaire (Rise of the Guardians, Rabbit Hole and Robots) wrote the most recent draft of the film, which suggests that it may be mild horror.

According to Bloody Disgusting, the plot details are as follows:

The new version follows Eric Bowen and his family who, after he loses his job, relocate to a new town to start anew.  His daughter, Madison, is abducted, making him truly understand what’s important in life: family.  In the new version, Eric’s wife, Amy, can communicate with the dead.

Another interesting new character is Carrigan Burke, a television personality who hosts “Haunted House Cleaners.”?  The supernatural doesn’t scare this guy. Dr. Brooke Powell is Carrigan’s ex-wife who is a parapsychologist at a local university.  Her team investigates the supernatural events surrounding the disappearance of the Bowen girl.

Meanwhile, Moviehole have reported that the new film will indeed be a sequel, rather than a remake as initial reports suggested:

Firstly, the Kenan-directed Raimi-produced reboot – much like the “Evil Dead” remake – exists in the same world as the previous “Poltergeist” films. So while it is a ‘reboot’ of the franchise, it’s also somewhat of a sequel – taking place years after the Freeling’s were ran out of town.

In one scene in the new film, the kids’ find some things behind the sliding panel in the attic. Yep, you guessed it – they find some of the Freeling’s possessions, intentionally left behind. There’s the Star Wars bed sheets (from Robbie’s room), a black-and-white TV set (why, of course!), and some Christmas decorations.

Although the new film may possess new characters and somewhat of a different storyline, all the “familiar beats” from the original “Poltergeist” films are in it. There’s the scary tree that proves a looming threat to our youngster (and gets pulled underground), the freaky ‘clown’ that sits upon a rocking chair in the bedroom (in this case, the clown sits in younger brother Griffin’s room), and of course there’s ‘phone’ trouble (in this case, older sister Kendra’s iPhone gets damaged by unseen forces), and of course the little girl – Madison – who makes friends with ‘The Lost People’ that nobody can see (but who don’t mind ‘showing off’ – making Madison’s hair stand up like she’s just been struck by electricity, being just one of their ‘tricks’).

Vampire hunting kits first appeared in the mid-Victorian era, around the year 1840. They became even more common post-1897 with the publication of Bram Stoker‘s novel Dracula, appealing to both the Victorian’s passion for highly decorative conversation pieces and their keen interest in the supernatural. They have been located in countries across Europe, including England, France and Romania.

They were usually housed in portable wooden boxes, with locking systems to prevent keep both the contents safe and secure and to prevent them from falling into the ‘wrong hands’. Though the contents varied according to the whims of the manufacturer or the owner; they variously contained:

1. A wooden mallet

2. A wooden stake

3. A rosary

4.  A crucifix

5. A stake (sometimes more than one, allowing for bad shot and multiple foes)

6. Pliers (presumably to assist with the removal of coffin nails and fangs

7. A pistol

8. Vials of various liquids and potions; holy water, sulphur, powdered flowers of garlic, flour of brimstone, holy earth

9. A Bible or sacred texts

10. Rope to bind the limbs

Although reproductions have appeared from the 1920′s right up to the present day, original kits, often with their contents completely intact, have found their way onto the general market, commanding high prices. Below is a kit acquired by the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England, purchased at a major auction house for £2000.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-18367300

Although suspected to be a late 20th Century copy, it features a handwritten note which says:

Luke 19:27, But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

Daz Lawrence

Devil’s Pass  (known as The Dyatlov Pass Incident in the UK and pre-production elsewhere) is a 2013 Russian/American/British production concerning the mysterious true events surrounding the deaths of 9 experienced hikers in the Ural Mountains of Russia in 1959. Set in the present day, it follows a group of American students who vow to uncover the truth and presumably get top marks in class.

The true events of the deaths of the hikers in 1959 has long mystified investigators. Despite being highly experienced climbers and hikers, the 9 individuals (led by Igor Dyatlov) were found in various states of undress in areas around their camp, with signs that they had made concerted efforts to get out of their tents. The bodies were found to contain unusually high levels of radiation and with their bodies crushed by pressure akin to that of a major car accident; one of the members had had their tongue and much of their oral cavity removed. Tragic events indeed and such that only one rational explanation can be given – an avalanche. Apparently not – it was almost certainly aliens. Or a Russian military exercise to keep something secret. Or paranormal intervention. Or a yeti. I don’t think anyone mentions an avalanche once.

Cut to the present day University of Oregon, where uppity know-it-all Holly (Holly Goss – I’m always suspicious when the character’s name is their own) assembles a group of her annoying student friends to prove her tutor, Professor Kittles (Kittles!), wrong and that there is something waiting to be uncovered in the Urals that will explain what the greatest minds have so far missed. Along for the ride are Jensen (Matt Stokoe), Denise (Gemma Atkinson, doomed to forever be known as GemmaAtkinsonwhousedtobeinHollyoaks), Andy (Ryan Hawley)  and JP (Luke Albright, the only one of them legitimately speaking with an American accent). To Russia we go! It is at least filmed in Russia, possibly the only positive I can give the film. We are immediately treated to shaky camera work, at once lazy but also used in that most baffling of ways, with ‘normal’ camera work used when necessary. Given the camera man and sound recordist at least look like they’re meant to be proficient in their roles, you would think the results wouldn’t look like they’d got a husky to do it. On a very basic level, had they returned to Oregon (spolier! oh, never mind) they would be laughed out of class for producing something so poorly made.

Ominous rumblings in the mountains are the first concern, as well as the fact they are overshadowed by a peak known as the Mountain of the Dead (actually the first falsehood, it’s actually really known as Dead Mountain, quite a difference) though with fresh-faced Denise distracting the chaps (and this viewer) it’s left to Holly to bleat about the peril she’s brought them to. There’s talk of ‘orange lights’ having been seen in the sky back in the 50′s and when large, shoe-less footprints are found near their camp one morning, seemingly appearing and disappearing randomly, a thoughtful tooth is sucked by all. A couple of days into the expedition, a strange (I’ll say) door is found built into the side of the mountain, which evidently only locks from the outside. I think you can guess where this is going.

Post-rockfall, triggered by ghastly noises, they set of their flare (orange lights in the sky), attracting Russians with guns who clearly want rid of them. Escaping to the mysterious door, they uncover a secret lab, CGI monsters, a time wormhole and evidence linking the place to the Philadelphia Experiments of the Second World War, where sailors were found fused to the USS Eldridge, amongst talk of tamperings with space-time continuums. Don’t worry, it’s in the dark, so the shaky cam is now shaky cam with night vision. Gah.

Utterly rotten to the core on all levels, I’m sick of saying the sub-genre of found footage has reached its nadir but again, hats off, new ground has been broken. There’s something a little uncomfortable about shoddy and silly ideas being used to explain away a real-life tragedy that is still well within living memory of many. The acting is grim and the added sex appeal of Atkinson is highlighted by the fact that she’s barely risked with any actual lines of dialogue. In fairness, the cheaply realised monsters are only half-stolen from REC – they’re also half-stolen from The Descent.  By the time you’re introduced to a wormhole at the end, any dramatic tension (there wasn’t any but you at least want the satisfaction it was worth getting to the end) is lost and you rather wish you’d cracked open that box set of Quantum Leap.

Final word has to be on the director: Renny Harlin! THAT Renny Harlin, Die Hard 2, Deep Blue Sea, Long Kiss Goodnight, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and all those. You could excuse (to some extent) a first-time director trying to hide their inadequacies under the veil of dodgy camera work and choppy editing but this must be the lowest a mainstream director has ever sunk. Renny Harlin!

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

Nothing Left to Fear is a 2013 American horror film directed by Anthony Leonardi III and “presented by” Slash of Guns N’ Roses fame who also provides the score. It stars Anne Heche, Clancy Brown and Jennifer Stone.

Wendy, her husband Dan and their kids have just moved to the small town of Stull, Kansas, where Dan is the new pastor. But in this sleepy community of friendly neighbours, a horrific series of occurrences awaits them: Their teenage daughter is being tormented by grisly visions. Her younger sister has been marked for a depraved ritual. And deep within the heartland darkness, one of The Seven Gates Of Hell demands the blood of the innocent to unleash the creatures of the damned…

“Not as scary as it had the potential to be, Nothing Left to Fear relays too much on the look and not on the display to invoke scares, so you are left with a creepy, slightly tense horror that despite its lack of hype doesn’t live up to what it could have been.” Horror Focus

“A great mood, some impressive visuals, and good performances, make this a solid entry for the genre. It’s not perfect, but as a first outing for Slasher Films, as well as director Anthony Leonardi III, this should have fans waiting impatiently for what the future holds.” The Film Reel

Buy Nothing Left to Fear on Blu-ray | DVD | Amazon Instant from Amazon.com

WH

The Entity is a US horror film directed by Sidney J. Furie (Doctor Blood’s Coffin, The Snake Woman) based on a screenplay by Frank DeFelitta from his own novel of the same name. Despite being filmed and planned for a release in 1981, the movie was not released in worldwide theaters until September 1982 followed by a 20th Century Fox release in the United States in February 1983.

The film stars Barbara Hershey (Insidious and its sequel), Ron Silver (Silent Rage), David Labiosa, George Coe, Margaret Blye, Jacqueline Brookes (The Werewolf of Washington, Ghost Story) and, in a minor role, Alex Rocco (The Boston Strangler, Return to Horror High).

Single mother Carla Moran (Barbara Hershey) becomes the victim of a violent sexual assault in her home by an invisible assailant. A subsequent episode of poltergeist activity causes her to flee with her children to the home of her friend Cindy (Margaret Blye).

They return to Carla’s home and the following day, Carla is nearly killed when her car mysteriously goes out of control in traffic. Urged by Cindy to see a psychiatrist, Carla meets with Dr Sneiderman (Ron Silver) and tentatively agrees to undergo therapy. A subsequent attack in her bathroom leaves bite marks and bruises on Carla which she shows to Dr Sneiderman, who believes she has inflicted them on herself. We learn that Carla suffered a variety of traumas in her childhood and adolescence, including sexual and physical abuse, teenage pregnancy and the violent death of her first husband. Sneiderman believes her apparent paranormal experiences are delusions resulting from her past psychological trauma.

Carla is attacked again, this time in front of her children. Her son tries to intervene but he is hit by electrical discharges and his wrist is broken. Dr Sneiderman urges her to commit herself to a psychiatric hospital for observation, but she refuses…

Wikipedia | IMDb | Related: Paranormal Entity

“The Entity is a legit, honest scary movie, a movie that foregoes gore and false scares in favor of true butt-clenching terror. It’s a simple premise but acted marvellously and crafted sufficiently; the film never relies on camera trickery or an artistic flair to mask shortcomings, but rather makes use of angles and perspective and otherwise skewered shots to enhance, not explicitly generate, an edgy, chaotic, uncertain vibe. The picture’s additionally paced with a deliberate cadence; the tradeoff is a movie that’s a bit overlong and stuffy in a few stretches, but that fills out nicely by the end…” Martin Liebman, Blu-ray.com

“The film works best when it remains mysterious. The final act tries too hard to explain things, conjuring up a hokey scientific experiment for the climax — but up until then, I gotta say, for what is essentially a ghost story, I was pretty creeped out.” Into the Dark

“Much like all great protagonists, Moran slowly becomes empowered and faces her attacker directly. The change she goes through is worth the watch alone. The ending credits state the encounters continues after Moran moved, but the intensity and frequency diminished. Overall, The Entity is hall of fame material as far as I’m concerned, If the intense BUMP BUMP BUMP that precedes the attacks doesn’t phase you, well, you are certainly a bigger man than me. Rent this today!” Fister Roboto

Buy on Blu-ray | DVD from Amazon.com

Buy on Blu-ray | DVD from Amazon.co.uk

Casper’s Scare School is a 3D computer animated TV film starring Casper the Friendly Ghost (Devon Werkheiser). It was directed by Mark Graves and concocted by four (!) scriptwriters: Kirk De Micco, Robert Mittenthal, Andrew Nicholls and Darrell Vickers. The cast features the voices of James Belushi (Little Shop of Horrors), Dan Castelleneta (Homer and various Simpsons characters’) and veteran comedienne Phyllis Diller (Mad Monster Party?, Doctor Hackenstein,The Boneyard and The Silence of the Hams).

It was produced by The Harvey Entertainment Company, released by Classic Media and premiered on October 20, 2006. A TV series of the same name followed in 2009. There is also has a video game of the same name.

As a result of Casper being too friendly when playing with a boy named Jimmy, Kibosh: The King of the Underworld has Casper enrolled into a Scare School headed by the two-headed headmaster Alder and Dash. He befriends Ra, a mummy with unraveling issues and Mantha, a zombie girl who keeps falling apart. When Casper discovers the two-headed headmaster’s plot to use a petrification potion to turn Kibosh into stone and take over the Underworld and Deedstown, he and his new friends must stop him…

“The look of Casper’s Ghost School is often excellent, with smooth, velvety blacks and purples and grays creating an evocative, spooky backdrop. Several action scenes standout, particularly the arrival of the pirate ship to the Scare School, with a giant sea monster rising out of the ocean to attack it. All of the figures are attractively modeled, although Casper and The Ghostly Trio often look unnecessarily dark – almost sooty – for no apparent reason other than overenthusiastic shading. And quite a few of the jokes at the Scare School are funny, with some of the faculty members (Dr. Thurdegree Burns and Frankengymteacher) good for solid laughs.” Paul Mavis, DVD Talk

“Casper’s Scare School is as bland, banal, and homogenized kiddie entertainment as you can get. Though stated from an adult’s perspective, I can’t see a parent getting excited and wanting to sit down with his or her child to watch this one once, let alone the numerous times obsessive, televisionized kids are apt to do these days. Yet from a kid’s viewpoint, I would have to venture this wouldn’t be that much more appealing to them. The story is thin — but still teaches lessons about friendship and being one’s self; the jokes fall flat; and the CGI style is average, without any special flair.” DVD Verdict

“The film was one that I felt was probably great for the kids but lacked the nuances an adult audience would look for in a kid’s film that would make it enjoyable at both levels. However it did feature a vampire (and a vampire who bites his own tongue at one point, for that matter).” Taliesin Meets the Vampires

Wikipedia | IMDb

We are deeply indebted to Taliesin Meets the Vampires for some of the images above

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is an upcoming American supernatural horror film written and directed by Christopher B. Landon. It stars Andrew Jacobs, Richard Cabral, Carlos Pratts and Molly Ephraim. It will be released on January 3, 2014 in U.S. and Canada theaters. It is a spinoff of the Paranormal Activity horror movie franchise and uses the same found footage format.

The story begins in June 2012, at a party in Oxnard, California. After a woman dies in the apartment beneath the party, some party goers take a camera to investigate. They discover items associated with black magic rituals. When Jesse, the film’s lead protagonist, discovers a mark on his arm, strange forces pursue him while Jesse’s loved ones attempt to save him.

Official site | Wikipedia | IMDb

The Outing is a 1987 American horror film that is an edited and shortened version of the original motion picture, titled The Lamp. The picture was written and produced by Warren Chaney, directed by Tom Daley, and stars Deborah Winters and James Huston.

An ancient genie is released from a lamp when thieves ransack an old woman’s house. They are killed and the lamp is moved to a museum to be studied. The curator’s daughter is soon possessed by the genie and invites her friends to spend the night at the museum, along with some uninvited guests. The genie kills them off in an attempt to fulfil her ultimate wish…

The original, The Lamp had a long distribution period in Europe, Asia and other overseas’ markets. The edited and shorted version, The Outing, was distributed in the United States by The Movie Store (TMS). The USA Network played the movie on a regular basis for several years after its release to television.

Buy The Outing from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“If I had caught today’s flick The Outing closer to its year of release (1987) late at night on USA’s Saturday Nightmares, I probably would’ve loved it. I was a teenager then, and The Outing perfectly fits the bill for the type of cheesy late-night horror I’d watch on sleepovers. Now that I’m an old woman, however, the sweet 15 minutes at the beginning and the sweet last half hour simply weren’t enough to make up for the dull-ass 45 minutes in the middle.” Final Girl

“The Outing, which opened yesterday in several unfortunate area theaters, is one of the worst horror offerings in some time. It is slow (perhaps “Nod-Outing” would have been a more accurate title), stupid and senseless, and the special effects look as if they were shot on a family’s weekly shopping budget.” Washington Post

Wikipedia | IMDb

Posters courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art

WH

The Apparition is a 2012 American horror film written and directed by Todd Lincoln and starring Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, Tom Felton, Julianna Guill and Luke Pasqualino.

On May 21, 1973, six people conduct The Charles Experiment, a parapsychological exercise, in which they stare at a drawing of a deceased man, Charles Reamer, hoping to summon his spirit. Years later, four college students, Patrick (Tom Felton), Lydia (Julianna Guill), Greg (Luke Pasqualino), and Ben (Sebastian Stan) attempt to recreate the Charles Experiment on a larger scale by using modern technology. During the experiment, something attacks the students and pulls Lydia into the wall. Some time later, Ben and his girlfriend Kelly (Ashley Greene) are living together. After countless strange occurrences around their home, Ben gets 36 “urgent” emails from Patrick that first inform him of a new attempt at the Charles Experiment, followed by a warning that “containment failed” and finally “you are in danger”…

“Yeah, it’s pretty unsurprising – but on the other hand, the characters aren’t written as laughable cardboard cutouts who can’t hope to pull off a believable person. The characters here are likeable and genuine, and even though the ending wasn’t what I was looking for, the rest of the movie to a lesser degree was sort of what I wanted to see. It doesn’t rely on cheap scares or gore to pretend to frighten us – it relies on PG-13, if not cliched, images and suspense tactics that are decent, if not “seen before”.” Metacritic.com

“The Apparition’s something-crossing-over-into-our-world plot might not break new ground, but it’s far from the worst idea for a movie I’ve ever heard. In fact, there are quite a few details about the film that really work. The camera angles are frequently interesting. The visual effects are clean and well put-together, especially for the smaller budget. There’s a great usage of mold, easily the creepiest of all household annoyances, and the setting, a starter community filled with mostly empty houses, is clever, topical and the right level of creepy. Unfortunately, none of this matters at all because the main characters are completely unlikable, and the momentum is consistently ruined by poor decision-making. The film waits too long to give viewers the backstory, adding confusion instead of suspense. It lets its male protagonist loudly swear while his girlfriend is on the phone with her parents, making him seem more oblivious and douchey than endearing and funny. It seemingly throws us in the middle of the action but then allows it to drag on for a few days, sacrificing both real time excitement and longterm character changes. And perhaps worst of all, it chooses to vaguely explain itself.’ Mack Rawden, CinemaBlend.com

“Clocking in at 74 minutes (not including end credits), the only thing scary about The Apparition is that any studio would think to charge you to watch it. This supposed supernatural thriller is a hollowed out shell of creaky noises, shadows and utter nonsense. There is little doubt as to why this film sat on a shelf for over a year, waiting for an empty weekend to con unsuspecting moviegoers out of their money, but if you end up paying to see this don’t be ashamed to ask for your money back. I get the feeling writer/director Todd Lincoln was going for something ambiguous, believing what we don’t understand is scarier, and in most cases that’s true, but when all you give the audience are shadows, a few crazy visions and killer bed sheets you haven’t done anything to scare anyone. The highest praise goes to the Warner Bros. marketing department who somehow came up with the tagline “Once you believe, you die.” Even this makes no sense, unless I missed a seriously important piece of the plot, considering dying in this case has nothing to do with believing, unless you believe every shitty movie brings cinema one step closer to dying… In that case, the marketing is true.” Brad Brevet, RopeofSilicon.com

Buy The Apparition on DVD | Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk | Blu-ray + DVD + Ultra-Violet | Instant Video from Amazon.com

Posted by Anushka

Things Happen at Night is a 1947 British comedy horror film, directed by Francis Searle,  a jobbing director who worked fairly steadily from the early 1940s to the beginning of the 1970s without making anything of any significance. This is no exception.

Based upon a stage play, The Poltergeist, by Frank Harvey Jnr, the film tells the story of the Prescott family, who are beset by strange events, usually involving coal. Hot coals from an unlit fire have burned a hole in a bearskin rug, other hot coals smash through windows and are found scattered on the floor. As insurance man Joe Harris (Gordon Harker) shows up to assess the damage, a psychic investigator also arrives and announces that the acts are the work of a poltergeist, most likely connected to the  family’s teenage daughter, who is going through a rebellious stage (this being a 1940s British film, this consists of announcing that she doesn’t like school).

While modern British cinema’s obsession with ‘street cred’ is rather pathetic, you can perhaps understand it more when you see older films like this, where everyone is frightfully posh – only member of the royal family seem to talk like this anymore. It’s one of those films that features a family who are supposedly struggling with money but still live in a massive house and employ a cook and a butler – I imagine working class audiences were less than sympathetic to their plight. That such characters were considered ‘typical’ by the flmmakers says a lot. Harker, the main star, offers up a comedy turn as the lower class Harris (though when I say ‘lower’, he’s still essentially middle class, with aspirations of social climbing that are of course mocked).

Snobbery aside, the main issue with Things Happen at Night is that it is neither scary nor funny. Performances are weak, characters unconvincing and the humour is feeble while the scares are non-existent. It takes more than the odd bit of petty vandalism to make a poltergeist scary.

The only real point of interest here is that this may be the first film to deal with poltergeists as opposed to ghosts or spirits. It’s also, oddly, structurally similar to The Exorcist – a young girl ‘possessed’, a mysterious expert turning up to exorcise the demon. That’s about the only point of interest though. A song and singer are credited, although neither appear in the film.

David Flint, Horrorpedia

The Frozen Ghost is a 1945 horror mystery film starring Lon Chaney Jr and Evelyn Ankers. Directed by Harold Young, it is the fourth film in the Inner Sanctum series that was spun of the popular radio show of the era. It was a Universal production.

Chaney plays Alex Gregor, a stage psychic whose career is shattered when a drunken skeptic that he has invited onto the stage days while in a trance. While the authorities put it down to natural causes, Gregor is convinced that his powers killed the man and immediately quits as a stage performer and retires from public view.

Buy all six Inner Sanctum Mysteries on DVD for a mere $8.16 from Amazon.com

His manager, George Keene, arranges for Gregor to work for Mme Valerie Monet (Tala Birell), who runs a wax museum, where the other employees include mentally unstable former plastic surgeon Rudi Poldan (Martin Kosleck) and Valerie’s niece Nina Coudreau (Elena Verdugo). Gregor is soon caught up in a mess of frustrated desires – Valerie is jealous of the attention he pays to her niece, Rudy is also jealous of Gregor’s appeal to Valerie and Nina, and Gregor’s stage assistant and fiancee, Maura Daniel (Evelyn Ankers) reappears in his life. Things come to a head when Valerie is apparently killed, one again by Gregor’s psychic powers. But has she really been killed, or is there a sinister plot afoot? Fans of such murder mysteries will need no clues in order to make their minds up.

Notably lacking in ghosts, frozen or otherwise, this is nevertheless an entertainingly lurid affair, with Chaney playing the hapless – not to say gormless – victim character that he excelled at. It’s also good to see him reunited with The Wolfman star and scream queen Evelyn Ankers too.

Like all the Inner Sanctum films, The Frozen Ghost is introduced by a distorted head seen within a crystal ball, who tells us that the Inner Sanctum is “a strange, fantastic world controlled by a mass of living, pulsating flesh” (which could actually be a description of the producers). This introduction and standard credit sequence makes the Inner Sanctum films closer to a TV series than a regular movie (and sure enough, that’s what it later became).

Posted by David Flint

The Quiet Ones is a 2013 British horror film produced by Hammer Films starring Jared Harris, Sam Claflin, Olivia Cooke, Erin Richards, Rory Fleck-Byrne and Laurie Calvert. It is released April 2014.

Directed by John Pogue (Quarantine 2: Terminal), and apparently “inspired by true events”, The Quiet Ones ”tells the story of an unorthodox professor who uses controversial methods and leads his best students off the grid to take part in a dangerous experiment: to create a poltergeist. Based on the theory that paranormal activity is caused by human negative energy, the rogue scientists perform a series of tests on a young patient, pushing her to the edge of sanity. As frightening occurrences begin to take place with shocking and gruesome consequences, the group quickly realizes they have triggered a force more terrifying than they ever could have imagined.”

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Paranormal Xperience (aka Paranormal Xperience 3D and PX3D) is a 2011 Spanish horror film. As the title suggests, it was shot in 3D and directed by Sergi Vizcaino. It stars Amaia Salamanca, Maxi Iglesias, Lucho Fernández, Úrsula Corberó, Miguel Ángel Jenner, Manuel de Blas, Alba Ribas, Eduard Farelo and Óscar Sinela

Plot:

Angela a psychiatry student whose skeptical of the existence of the paranormal in the world, is forced to investigate an old mining town for the purpose of proving or disproving paranormal activity. Along with her, she is accompanied by her younger sister Diana Whisper, who lends Angela her van, and a few other students. They journey to the town and go through some ancient salt mines. Aware of the danger provided by tampering with the grounds, through the legend of the sadistic Dr. Matarga, they still open a portal to the after life with disastrous consequences…

The film was released as a 2D DVD and 3D Blu-ray in the UK in February 2014.

Buy Paranormal Xperience on DVD or Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“We spend forty minutes having the students wander around and then forty minutes watching them being picked off by heavy smoker and creepy-mask owner, Martarga. Excuses to split up are forged, getaway vans develop engine problems, nut jobs loom in the corner of the frame and much is made of the fact that the female cast have attractive body parts (one memorable bit of mise en scene places Ursuala Corbero’s denim-short clad buttocks in a lingering, extreme close-up filling two-thirds of the frame while something goes on in the distance, barely glimpsed in the few inches left available, even Matarga notices, going on to compliment her on her ‘buen culo’ twenty minutes later).” Guy Adams, The British Fantasy Society

“The film was beautifully shot using some interesting locations. The ghost town looked pretty creepy (even in daylight) and the choice to set some of the action in a salt mine was a nice touch that offered an interesting look I had not seen in a horror film before. There are several effects/death scenes that are freaking outstanding!! These were achieved using some great practical effects. The sad part was that there is also a death scene where only CGI is used and it looked HORRIBLE.”  Corey Danna, HorrorNews.net

“Predictable and clichéd as it may be (does a film’s twist still count as a twist if we can see it coming from a mile off?), Paranormal Xperience does impress in its gore sequences. Despite being very obviously filmed for 3D (expect to see a lot of fingers, gore and grue thrown at the screen), it’s delightfully nasty at times, making good use of the old eyeball piercing, barbed wire garrotting and smashed glass splatter sequences throughout. The CGI blood is no good, and some of the makeup work is a bit iffy, but it only adds to the film’s charm.” Starburst

“It’s pretty. Shiny. Glossy. PX3D is like Gossip Girl but with more violence. The cast is good looking, some of the kill scenes were good and bloody, and it made a valiant attempt at being a paranormal/torture porn hybrid of some sort. There’s a decent story buried somewhere underneath all of the smooth visuals, though it’s a shame that it wasn’t fleshed out better.” The Horror Club

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Monsterz is a 2014 Japanese horror film by Hideo Nakata (Ring). It is a remake of Min-suk Kim’s 2010 film Haunters. It stars Tatsuya Fujiwara, Takayuki Yamada, Satomi Ishihara, Tomorowo Taguchi, and Motoki Ochiai. The film is due for release across Japan on the 30th May, 2014.

Synopsis:

A man (Tatsuya Fujiwara) possesses a special ability to manipulate others with just his eyes. Because of this special ability, he killed his abusive father and was abandoned by his mother. He now lives a lonely life in the dark side of a city. Meanwhile, Shuichi Tanaka (Takayuki Yamada) doesn’t have a family and lives with his friends. Even though he is poor, he has a bright outlook on life. One day, these two men meet. The man becomes confused, because he can’t manipulate Shuichi with his eyes.

Thanks to Far East Films for this information.

The Snare is a 2014 British horror film written and directed by C.A. Cooper. It stars Eaoifa Forward, Dan Paton, Rachel Warren, Renate Morley. The film is due to be released in the Spring.

Plot:

Three students head to the seafront for a drunken weekend, only to be imprisoned on the top floor of their holiday apartment by a malevolent paranormal force…

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WH

The Entity is a US horror film directed by Sidney J. Furie (Doctor Blood’s Coffin, The Snake Woman) based on a screenplay by Frank DeFelitta from his own novel of the same name. Despite being filmed and planned for a release in 1981, the movie was not released in worldwide theaters until September 1982 followed by a 20th Century Fox release in the United States in February 1983.

The film stars Barbara Hershey (Insidious and its sequel), Ron Silver (Silent Rage), David Labiosa, George Coe, Margaret Blye, Jacqueline Brookes (The Werewolf of Washington, Ghost Story) and, in a minor role, Alex Rocco (The Boston Strangler, Return to Horror High).

Single mother Carla Moran (Barbara Hershey) becomes the victim of a violent sexual assault in her home by an invisible assailant. A subsequent episode of poltergeist activity causes her to flee with her children to the home of her friend Cindy (Margaret Blye).

They return to Carla’s home and the following day, Carla is nearly killed when her car mysteriously goes out of control in traffic. Urged by Cindy to see a psychiatrist, Carla meets with Dr Sneiderman (Ron Silver) and tentatively agrees to undergo therapy. A subsequent attack in her bathroom leaves bite marks and bruises on Carla which she shows to Dr Sneiderman, who believes she has inflicted them on herself. We learn that Carla suffered a variety of traumas in her childhood and adolescence, including sexual and physical abuse, teenage pregnancy and the violent death of her first husband. Sneiderman believes her apparent paranormal experiences are delusions resulting from her past psychological trauma.

Carla is attacked again, this time in front of her children. Her son tries to intervene but he is hit by electrical discharges and his wrist is broken. Dr Sneiderman urges her to commit herself to a psychiatric hospital for observation, but she refuses…

Wikipedia | IMDb | Related: Paranormal Entity

“The Entity is a legit, honest scary movie, a movie that foregoes gore and false scares in favor of true butt-clenching terror. It’s a simple premise but acted marvellously and crafted sufficiently; the film never relies on camera trickery or an artistic flair to mask shortcomings, but rather makes use of angles and perspective and otherwise skewered shots to enhance, not explicitly generate, an edgy, chaotic, uncertain vibe. The picture’s additionally paced with a deliberate cadence; the tradeoff is a movie that’s a bit overlong and stuffy in a few stretches, but that fills out nicely by the end…” Martin Liebman, Blu-ray.com

“The film works best when it remains mysterious. The final act tries too hard to explain things, conjuring up a hokey scientific experiment for the climax — but up until then, I gotta say, for what is essentially a ghost story, I was pretty creeped out.” Into the Dark

“Much like all great protagonists, Moran slowly becomes empowered and faces her attacker directly. The change she goes through is worth the watch alone. The ending credits state the encounters continues after Moran moved, but the intensity and frequency diminished. Overall, The Entity is hall of fame material as far as I’m concerned, If the intense BUMP BUMP BUMP that precedes the attacks doesn’t phase you, well, you are certainly a bigger man than me. Rent this today!” Fister Roboto

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Buy on Blu-ray | DVD from Amazon.co.uk

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The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill is a 2013 British horror film directed by Michael Bartlett (Treehouse) and Kevin Gates (The Zombie Diaries; Zombie Diaries 2) from a screenplay by the latter. It stars Mark Andrews, Michael Bartlett, Criselda Cabitac.

Plot synopsis:

In March 1963, a black mass was held at The Church of St Mary The Virgin, a ruined church in Clophill, Bedfordshire by a coven of dark witches. Tombs were looted, animals sacrificed and human bones arranged during a macabre ceremony. Further defilements continued at Clophill in the following years, with cattle in nearby fields found mutilated, evidence of necromancy discovered and perpetual sightings of paranormal activity witnessed at the isolated ruin. 50 years on from the original incident, the Clophill legend remains etched on the psyches of the local populace.

In 2010, a documentary team was assembled to investigate the legend of the Clophill witches and to try and uncover the truth behind the paranormal events. What followed during that long weekend was a terrifying journey into the unknown…

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Reviews:

” … a movie that’s definitely not for everyone – it’s for those of you out there with a genuine curiosity of the paranormal and the supernatural, and it’s also for those who can appreciate a good ghost story with deeply laid roots in reality. Suffice it to say that all of the participants in this project – including Gates and Bartlett – got more than they bargained for. A lot more. If looking for truly spine-tingling shivers is something that’s on your agenda, then this is without question your hot ticket!” Steve Barton, Dread Central

“It’s fair to say, however, that despite my losing patience during the second half, I enjoyed Clophill and it proved remarkably effective when seen late at night, alone in an empty house. There is a lot of low-budget ingenuity on show here from the use of night-vision – which naturally makes everyone look like a demon – to Pete Renton’s low-key and ominously rumbling music track. Indeed, the sound design of the film is immensely important and I strongly recommend that you watch the film on high volume.” Mike Sutton, The Digital Fix

“Clophill takes the bare bones of the now-exhausted found footage genre and gives it a desperately needed new lease of life by crafting a movie which is part-genuine documentary, part horror fiction. The real thrill for the viewer is that Clophill is put together with such inventiveness that it blurs the line between what’s real and what’s imaginary and it’s hard to tell where the documentary ends and where the fiction starts.” Paul Mount, Starbust Magazine

“There’s something slightly Blair Witch about The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill, but without the excessive snot and unfortunately the tension, acting skills or audience engagement. The film screams originality; however it is a real shame that it is executed in such a terrible way. We were expecting a lot more.” Faye Ducker, Bring the Noise

” … major credit should be given to the directors for taking a gamble on mixing fact with fiction. It could have backfired spectacularly, but it didn’t and because of that ambition we have an eerie, atmospheric movie that hopefully will be the first of many Paranormal Diaries.” Dave Wain, UK Horror Scene

“While PD:C may alienate a portion of the modern horror audience that has grown used to jump scares and gore the more discerning fan is likely to appreciate its attempts to do something different, shunning the predictability that this sort of film usually emits in great, stinking waves. One of the freshest and most enjoyable entries into the found footage genre we have seen in years, and one of the stand out horror films to come out of Britain in many years.” Ryan Tandy, Zombie Hamster

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50 Berkeley Square is a supposedly haunted townhouse on Berkeley Square in Mayfair, in Central London. In the 1900s it became known as “The Most Haunted House in London”; mostly due to Peter Underwood‘s description of the house in the book Haunted London.

The four-storey brick town house was constructed in the late eighteenth early nineteenth century.From 1770 to 1827 it was the home of British Prime Minister George Canning. The house was then bought by Viscount Bearsted, who rented the property to one Mr Myers. Since 1937 the building has been occupied by Maggs Bros, a firm of antiquarian book dealers. In 1998 the building was thought to be the oldest unaltered building in London.

Legend varies, but mostly states that the attic room of the house is haunted by a spirit of a young woman who committed suicide there. She purportedly threw herself from the top floor windows after being abused by her uncle; and is said to be capable of frightening people to death. The spirit is said to take the form of a brown mist; though sometimes it is reported as a white figure. A, rarer, version of the tale is that a young man was locked in the attic room, fed only through a hole in the door, until he eventually went mad and died.

In the Victorian era at least two deaths were said to have occurred after people spent the night in the room. However, the first ghostly happenings were reported by George Canning, who claimed to have heard strange noises and have experienced psychic phenomena whilst living there.

After George Canning’s residency in 1885, the house was bought by a Mr. Myers, who had recently been jilted by his fiancee. It was said that he would lock himself in the attic room and slowly went mad over the rest of his life. During his stay at the house, it fell into gross disrepair and it is during this time that its reputation began to build.

As a bet, in 1872, Lord Lyttleton stayed a night in the building’s attic. He brought his shotgun with him, and during the night fired at an apparition which had appeared. In the morning, he attempted to find what he had shot at, but could only find shotgun cartridges. The next year the local council brought a summons to the house’s owners for failure to pay taxes, but due to the house’s reputation as haunted they were let off.

In 1879, Mayfair reported that a maid who had stayed in the attic room had been found mad. It was later reported that she died in an asylum the day after. On the day she was found, a nobleman purportedly took up the challenge to spend a night in the room, and his was the first death recorded in the house. The coroner pronounced him dead of fright.

In 1887, sailors from HMS Penelope stayed a night in the house. By morning one was found dead, having tripped as he ran from the house. The other reported having seen the ghost of Mr. Myers, coming at them aggressively.

No phenomena have been reported since the house was bought by the Maggs Brothers in the mid-1930s and though many contemporary media outlets reported happenings at the house, more recent investigators claim nothing untoward has ever taken place there.They observe that Lord Lytton’s story The Haunted and the Haunters – bears a remarkable resemblance to the supposed hauntings at 50 Berkeley Square.

Wikipedia | Image credits: British Listed Buildings | Unholy Terrors