HorrorGhouls – Page 4 – Horror Ghouls

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Posted on October 2, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

In Hellbound: Hellraiser II, we shift our focus more on Kirsty (Ashley Laurence), the daughter we saw in the first film, after she’s been committed to a mental hospital because no one believes her story that her dad and stepmother were killed by a Pinhead and three S&M demons. Happy recovery. Yeah, you wish. Because her doctor, Dr. Channard, is a corrupt sadist (wow, what a shocker) who is interested in this mysterious puzzle box Kirsty is telling about. Warden takes one of the basement patients and places him on the bloody mattress where Julia died and gives him a razor so he can slice himself and the the maggots he sees crawling over his body. As he bleeds all over the mattress, Julia’s skinless body emerges, just like we saw with Frank in the first film, and kills the patient while the doctor is watching. She’s now reborn in full villain-mode. Congratulations.

Channard gets a mute girl, Tiffany, to solve the puzzle box, because she’s obsessed with puzzles. Pinhead and company show up, but instead of taking Tiffany, they take Channard, since he only used Tiffany to open the box for his own desires. Huh. Yes, there are rules here, but who would know. And since he’s already “corrupt” like a mofo, his suffering will be legendary, as Pinhead famously puts it.

Meanwhile, Kirsty sees a vision of a skinless ghoul with the text written in blood behind him on the wall: “please help me, I’m in Hell“. She believes that this is her dad, and when she gets the opportunity, she enters Hell to look for him and save his trapped soul, where she finds herself in an endless labyrinth. From here on, it’s mostly all about the nightmarish and surreal atmosphere that slides in a more what the fuck am I watching kind of movie. Kirsty goes from the one Hell scenario to the next, where she also stumbles upon Uncle Frank who lives through his own personal hell. And no, she never meets the Goblin King, unfortunately.

Hellraiser II is filled with cool ideas and some interesting concepts, such as seeing a quick backstory of Pinhead and how Cenobites are created. And like any birth, it sure looks painful. The one who gets a rebirth is the corrupt doctor, and his monster design is, well, something else. His fingers look like snakes/tentacles with razors and is a way more interesting villain than Uncle Frank ever was. The look of the Hell labyrinth was inspired by the Day and Night woodcut by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher and gives the film a bigger scope than the cramped attic we were stuck in the first film. The gore and prosthetic effects are both first-class and imaginative with even some use of stop-motion. Movie expert Roger Ebert was, of course, not impressed and called out the effect maker (Bob Keen) as a “perverted man“ while giving the film a half-star.

This sequel is not written nor directed by Clive Barker, but instead he worked as a producer and was heavily involved with the story and further concepts that he hadn’t the time or budget to expand in the first film. After Barker got burned-out, the direction job went to Tony Randel, who worked as an editor on the first film while the script was written by Peter Atkins (who later wrote the next two Hellraiser films and Wishmaster). Hellraiser II lands relatively successfully as a direct continuation with some inventive set-pieces, a dose of Lovecraftian, more lore, and of course, more gore.

Director: Tony Randel
Writer: Peter Atkins
Country & year: UK/USA, 1988
Actors: Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Kenneth Cranham, mogen Boorman, Sean Chapman, William Hope, Doug Bradley, Barbie Wilde, Simon Bamford, Nicholas Vince
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095294/

Hellraiser (1987)

Posted on October 1, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

I must say I felt a little ripped-off (no pun intended) after watching Hellraiser on VHS for the first time back in the ’90s. You have Pinhead on the cover, looking straight through your sorry soul while grinding his teeth, and he’s barely in the movie. Instead, we have Uncle Frank, a random slimeball who gets his flesh ripped apart with hooks and chains when he opens a mysterious puzzle box he bought at an antique shop in Marrocco — but will eventually return, with a boner, thanks to a cheating wife.

Everyone who solves the puzzle box opens a portal to Hell, of some sort, and out comes The Hell Priest himself, aka Pinhead (Doug Bradley) with his three Cenobites, Spencer, Chatter and Butterball, ready to fulfill your deepest desires. But the thing is, those who are “corrupt“ will die a gruesome, painful death (all politicians should be handed a puzzle box each, I would say). Then we have the husband/wife Larry and Julia who moves into the house Frank lived in, a shithole filled with cockroaches. But the worst thing is that Frank’s remains/corpse rots under the attic floor. After Larry cuts himself in a nasty way, his blood drips through the floor and onto the remains of Frank. He then reemerges as a skinless corpse, like a red skeleton from Castlevania.

And then it gets interesting: No, Pinhead doesn’t show up, but hear this — it appears that Julia and Frank had a wild affair (!) and was fucking like there was no tomorrow. The original cut of Hellraiser actually had so much fucking, or “erotism“ to put it in more polite English, that it got an X-rating. And Frank must really have a Master Cock from Fuck Forest and the erection like a grade A pornstar from Dimension XXX, because Julia will do everything to fix this boring loser, even if she has to walk over dead people. So if they’re ever gonna fuck again like they were teenagers, Julia has to lure men to the attic so Frank can feed on their flesh and blood. The poor individual who gets trapped in the crossfire is David’s teenage daughter Kirsty, who already has a strained relationship with her stepmother Julia. If Frank wasn’t already the villain, Julia is probably even worse, and the evil Disney stepmother-looks certainly suit her.

Trivia: Lance Henriksen was first offered to play the role of Frank, but turned it down. This was in his golden era when he still had the luxury to choose n’ pick roles. He later signed up for one of the shitty straight-to-DVD sequels, Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005). Isn’t that funny. Clare Higgings, who portrays the evil stepmother, has never seen the whole film since she hates horror movies, and already after the first ten minutes of its premiere she walked out. She still signed on to be in the sequel, which is way more gory.

Hellraiser is Clive Barker’s creation, from top to toe, his demon baby, based on his own novel The Hellbound Heart. And can you actually believe that the working title for the film was Sadomasochists from Beyond the Grave? Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. The unique look of Pinhead and the Cenobites was inspired by Punk fashion, Catholicism, African fetish sculptures, and by Barker’s visits to the S&M clubs in New York and Amsterdam (mixed by some drug-induced fewer nightmares, if I have to guess).

The limited budget really shows, especially with the animated lightening sparks, which was already dated back then. Clive Barker and some “Greek guy“ (according to Barker himself) made it by hand over a drunk weekend, and…well, that’s good to know. Then there’s the “engineer“ monster that could be something from Dead Space or the later Resident Evil games. And while it looks cool by design, they had no clue how to utilize it and clashes with the dead-serious tone.

Where the movie shines is the practical/gore-effects, and the attic resurrection scene of Frank is a classic moment by itself. The dusty isolated atmosphere in Frank’s house, where we spend most of our time, is filthy and grimy and reeks of bad vibes, cheap perfume and god knows what else. The prosthetic makeup-designs of especially the three Cenobites are flawless and they still look terrifying and intimidating which blends perfectly in with the atmosphere. The main plot itself, with the two sleazy lovebirds, is something I never cared much for. More Pinhead and Cenobites, please.

That said, Hellraiser is an entertaining ’80s gore film with a tasteful blend of horror, S&M and even some nasty torture porn that still manages to rip some new assholes. And it also made a completely unknown British actor, Doug Bradley, into a horror icon as Pinhead, for better and worse.

Writer and director: Clive Barker
Country & year: UK, 1987
Actors: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman, Oliver Smith, Doug Bradley, Nicholas Vince, Simon Bamford, Grace Kirby
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093177/

Mr. Crocket (2024)

Posted on September 29, 2026September 29, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

Time for a trip down the nostalgia-lane once again, at least for those of us who grew up during the 90’s. We’re now in 1993, where there’s a children’s TV show called Mr Crocket’s World, hosted by Mr. Crocket himself of course, and his puppets: Boogaloo Blue and Squawky Bird. Now, this TV show is not one of those popular shows that everyone knows about…only a select few gets to experience it fully. This includes a boy named Darren Harper, who found the VHS tape in a free library outside his home. Later that day, during dinner, Darren once again experience the abuse from his stepfather Kevin. Yes, he’s growing up in that kind of home…because you see, here’s another thing: Mr Crocket only seeks out children who happen to grow up with shitty, abusive parents. And Mr. Crocket and his friendly puppets are ready to bounce into the real world from the television to set things straight! Before Darren’s stepfather can make the dinner even worse, Mr. Crocket emerges from the televison, gets a monster chair to trap the guy and soon has the bastard killed in an amusingly satisfying and gory way. Then he takes Darren with him and they all live happily ever after…

Or not. We fast forward to one year later, where we meet the single mother Summer Beverly, who is struggling with her disobedient son Major. Her husband died recently, and she believes Major’s behavioral issues are due to the loss of his father. Or is it that simple? When she finds the Mr. Crocket’s World VHS tape in the free library, she gives it to her son in the hopes he’ll have something to cheer him up. And indeed he does…the boy becomes obsessed with the show. And his behavior gets even worse, and he starts throwing tantrums. Having had enough, she snaps at him one day and sends him to his room, and this is where Mr. Crocket once again comes out of the TV to bring a child with him to a happier place without bad parents. Except in this case, it looks like Mr. Crocket missed his mark a little. Anyway, with Major now missing, Summer learns about the other missing children and cases similar to hers, and starts researching Mr. Crocket to find out exactly who or what he is, and how she can hopefully get her son back.

Mr. Crocket is a supernatural horror film from 2024, directed by Brandon Espy in his feature directorial debut from a screenplay he co-wrote with Carl Reid. Espy made a short film in 2022 with the same name. This feature film premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 26, 2024, and was later released as a Hulu original and can be seen internationally on Disney+. Espy got inspiration for the movie after seeing how his eldest son obsessively watched a TV show called Blippi, and then mixed in more inspiration from Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, Pee-wee’s Playhouse and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Quite a mix. Being born in 1987 and thus experiencing childhood during the 90’s probably also did its piece.

And going for a 90’s style movie, there is one thing you absolutely, absolutely need to do: use practical effects. And they sure got that right here! There’s lots of fun practical effects including the delightfully cheesy-creepy monster chair, who is of course named Mr Chair because what else. There’s ripped torsos, guts and blood, all done in a cartoonish and silly way. In Mr Crocket’s own hellish realm, there’s not only his demonic-looking puppets but also living clocks, mailboxes, and furniture. All practical, by the way. There’s also a short animated cartoon used as part of the backstory for Mr. Crocket, and YES, it was done by actual animators, from the NY animation studio Cartuna. So take heed, directors out there: it’s possible to have an animated cartoon in your movie without retorting to fucking GEN AI. Yes, you probably know which movie I’m hinting towards right now.

Elvis Nolasco who plays Mr. Crocket in this film, really, really wanted the role. And he fits it so well, where afterwards you can’t really imagine someone else playing it. He even remained in character throughout the filming, and even introduced himself to the cast and crew as Mr. Crocket. Must’ve been quite a blast, especially when doing parts of the TV show theme song A Friend Like Me.

Mr. Crocket is by no means any masterpiece, but it is pure 90’s horror cheesefest, and one I found surprisingly fun and creative and also a little more bloody than I initially expected. Which just added to the fun. Would have loved to see a sequel if done with the same 90’s charm and the same use of practical effects. And of course, with Elvis Nolasco reprising his role as Mr. Crocket. No news of any sequels though, even if both Espy and Nolasco have expressed an interest in expanding the story further. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Director: Brandon Espy
Writers: Carl Reid, Brandon Espy
Country & year: USA, 2024
Actors: Jerrika Hinton, Ayden Gavin, Kristolyn Lloyd, Alex Akpobome, Elvis Nolasco, Akim Black, Jermaine Rivers, Riley Vinson, Lyla Randall, Jabari Striblin, Vivien Huang
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32916093/

SHUT EYE – Horror Short

Posted on September 27, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

Anxious and unstable after removing herself from a money-grubbing rehab facility, a recovering addict isolates herself in a nearby rental home while she gets her life on track. Haunted by episodes of sleep paralysis and visions of silhouetted demons, she scores an Ambien from the strange property manager in order to get a good night’s rest. When the episodes intensify and town secrets come to light, she’s certain the haunting forces aren’t only in her mind.

It is Horror Short Sunday again, and this time we’re taking a look at Shut Eye! Sleep paralysis is never fun to experience, and it sure sounds horrible to not be able to have a single night’s undisturbed sleep because of it…

Director: Robert Gregson
Writer: Addison Anderson
Country & year: USA, 2025
Actors: Mia Darrow, John Posner, Chris Sirois, Adam Souza, Kate Tilley
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt11083262/

100 Tears (2007)

Posted on September 25, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

― I think I’m gonna shit my pants!

Imagine if Terrifier was directed by Andreas Schnaas, just with a more sober camera man and even a cleaner camera lense. There you more or less have 100 Tears. What else is there really to say.

Well, there’s actually a plot here, somewhere, I believe. It goes something like this: A mute double-chinned psycho clown, simply called Gurdy the Clown (Jack Amos), goes around and slaughters people like there’s no tomorrow with a ridiculously big meat cleaver. C o o l. He kidnaps some victims to drag home to his abandoned warehouse to, well, torture them. A girl gets slowly killed in Ginî piggu-style, before killing another guy and ripping out his intestines like a kid opening his presents on Christmas morning…and then chopping his head off with the meat cleaver, causing blood spurts like a garden hose. Gurdy surely has learned from the best.

Then there’s this mysterious young disturbed blond woman, a Harley Quinn wannabe, who picks up guys at the local bar to take them to an alley to have oral sex before she, yeah you guess it, kills them. What connection does she have to anything, you ask? It’s pretty obvious.

There’s also an iceberg to this Gurdy clown, and the two tabloid journalists, Jennifer and Mark, are working to get to the bottom of it. If they’re a couple/married or whatever, we don’t know. But what we know is that the guy who plays Mark, Joe Davidson, is no doubt a clone of James Gandolfini. And they’re overall entertaining to follow if you’re drunk enough, even though most of the wonky dialogues just flies over your head while we’re waiting for the next goreshow by Gurdy.

Because the most outstanding here are the practical effects made by the director himself, Marcus Koch, who has worked on 100-plus obscure independent horror films. Nikos the Impaler and Lung II are two I can mention that are reviewed on this site. So, if you’re first and foremost looking for crazy over-the-top violence where torsos get cut in half and limbs scattering left and right, spiced up with some dumb humor in glorious Z-movie format, you’ll have a jolly good time. A Director’s Cut Blu-ray is released by Unearthed Films and can also be found on Tubi.

Director: Marcus Koch
Writer: Joe Davison
Country & year: USA, 2007
Actors: Georgia Chris, Joe Davison, Raine Brown, Jack Amos, Kibwe Dorsey, Rod Grant, Norberto Santiago, Jerry Allen, Jeff Dylan Graham
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0943946/

The Spider Labyrinth (1988)

Posted on September 22, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

An American researcher named Alan Whitmore is sent to Budapest in order to check out what has happened to Professor Roth who seems to have gone awol. Once arriving in Budapest, Alan meets the attractive guide Genevieve, who takes him to meet the professor. The professor’s wife leads him inside to what appears to be a paranoid and nervous man, someone who may have found out more than he ought to have. Alan plans for a revisit later, only to find that the professor has now been murdered, hanging from the ceiling in a rope that is…laced with cobwebs? Strange…and creepy as hell. Alan, wants the help of his guide Genevieve who is very eager to offer it (and who is not the least bit suspicious at all, of course). He wanders around the streets of Budapest, and sometimes encounter strange locals who aren’t the most welcoming. And more people keep dying. He’s trapped in a web of murder and strange incidents, all seemingly related to some kind of old spider God and a cult worshipping it.

The Spider Labyrinth (Italian title: Il nido del ragno) is an Italian horror film from 1988, directed by Gianfranco Giagni in his feature film debut. And this obscure little film, which was very hard to come by until the recent years, is an oddball that combines giallo with cosmic horror and creature feature. And spiders, mostly of the fun, jittery stop-motion kind.

The Spider Labyrinth is one of those movies where everything surrounding the protagonist just always feels off. I mean, you do of course have the straight-forward key points in the plot, like the pretty love-interest lady who seems to be overtly friendly and is definitely very, very sus. And the paranoid professor who happens to die before revealing something important, and stuff like that. But it’s also the overall scenery and setting, where the protagonist is walking through suspiciously empty streets. There’s more atmosphere than logic, and this makes the entire movie feel a little dream-like. With the old deity-worshipping cult, the movie definitely goes for a bit of a cosmic horror/Lovecraftian vibe as well.

Many of the filming locations are gorgeous to look at, and the practical effects are fun. The puppet and stop motion effects have the needed charm. I also like the strange witchy spider-like vampire woman, whom we see murdering people every now and then, but most of all I was intrigued by the small, black ball that always appears right before someone gets murdered. It makes an icky squelching sound when hitting the floor, and always adds to the already weird, uncanny atmosphere of the whole film. What’s inside those balls, you might wonder? Well, you can take a guess.

The Spider Labyrinth is a bizarre little Italian occult monster flick, heavily relying on its surreal visual style and building up to a totally crazy ending. As mentioned it was for a long time very hard to find, but a few years ago Severin Films picked it up and released it on Blu-ray and DVD. The movie can also now be found on streaming in some places, including Tubi.

Director: Gianfranco Giagni
Writers: Riccardo Aragno, Tonino Cervi, Cesare Frugoni, Gianfranco Manfredi
Original title: Il nido del ragno
Country & year: Italy, 1988
Actors: Roland Wybenga, Paola Rinaldi, Margareta von Krauss, Claudia Muzii, William Berger, Stéphane Audran, Valeriano Santinelli, Massimiliano Pavone
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095728/

KALI – Animated Horror Short

Posted on September 20, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

Something terrible is happening in Hamelin. After Kali Maclaire finishes her usual shift at the convenience store where she works part-time after school, she has a terrifying encounter with an ancient entity that has emerged from the woods beyond the edge of town.

Horror Short Sunday is here again, and this time we’re taking a look at the animated horror short Kali. This is one of the Don’t Walk Home Alone After Dark shorts, created by Andy Coyle (known for his work directing the animated Netflix series Hilda).

Director: Andy Coyle

American Psycho (2000)

Posted on September 18, 2026September 18, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

We’re in 1987, and Patrick Bateman is a New York City investment banker who is very obsessed with showing off a perfect façade. His clothes need to be perfect and of the best brands, he only dines at the most trendy and expensive restaurants, and is of course within a circle-jerk of apparently likeminded wealthy associates: shallow, arrogant, and secretly hating each other and filled to the brim with jealousy. However, Bateman is not all what he seems on the surface. Inside him there’s very violent impulses he can’t (or won’t) control. He’s in fact a reckless serial killer, brutally killing everything from animals, homeless people, prostitutes and also one of the other rich douchebags from his circle of acquaintances. This leads to the involvement of a private investigator. Bateman, however, has already spiraled so far down into a dark hole filled with sadistic depravity, that he has already started to lose his sense of reality.

American Psycho is a psychological thriller from 2000, based on the 1991 novel by the same name written by Bret Easton Ellis. The film was directed by Mary Harron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Guinevere Turner. It stars Christian Bale in the role as Patrick Bateman, and also includes some other familiar faces like Willem Dafoe.

The author of the novel, Ellis, considered it “unfilmable“. And if you were to do a proper and true adaption including some of the book’s most graphic content, then yeah…they would have censored the fuck out of it and probably banned it outright in many countries. The novel, while starting off rather slow, really goes hard in the latter part of the book and it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. Some of the scenes depicted in the novel are even more extreme and vicious than what you would find in a Terrifier movie, and that says something. Anyway, Edward R. Pressman was determined to make an adaption no matter what, with Stuart Gordon, David Cronenberg and Rob Weiss considered as directors before Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner started writing the screenplay in 1996. The pre-production didn’t go smoothly with lots of back and forth, and Harron was even fired when she wanted to hire Bale to play Bateman. Lions Gate Films wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for the role, so they replaced her with Oliver Stone. That didn’t go well, as DiCaprio and Stone had “creative differences“ which made them leave the project, where Harron was reinstated as the director and got her wishes to cast Bale. Which is good, as Bale does an excellent portrayal of the arrogant and unhinged yuppie.

Interestingly, Harron had actually attempted to read the novel shortly after its publication, but was put off due to the very violent content. She gave it a second chance later, and was especially interested in the satire presented in it. The movie, just like the book, heavily satirizes the 1980’s yuppie culture, where Bateman and his colleagues are depicting social privilege in a very on-the-nose matter. What’s a little hilarious is how the movie got a pretty good reception, where mainly it was well received but some still criticized its “violent nature“. Hah…they should’ve read the book instead, those wusses. Roger Ebert liked it, though, and gave it 3 out of 4 stars.

Bale, in order to appear as much like Bateman as possible, started going to the gym to become completely ripped, and also got a tan and fixed his teeth. Still nothing compared to how far he went for his role in The Machinist, though…but yeah, Bale’s performance really stands out and he fits the role like hand in glove, and totally embodies the character. Some of the political and societal satire is still present, and I found myself often chuckling at how seemingly perfect lives Bateman and the other characters apparently lives, with all that fancy restaurant dining, expensive luxury brand clothing, and the world at their feet. Yet they’re all filled with sickly jealousy over the smallest thing, constantly in some kind of pissing contest with each other, doped on Xanax or snorting coke. None is as miserable as Bateman, of course, who harbors a deep hatred for pretty much everything. It’s entertaining to see how he falls deeper and deeper into the hole he’s been digging for himself, while also wondering exactly what is really going on when certain things become a little too crazy. Both the movie and the book are intentionally ambiguous.

American Psycho is a pretty fun popcorn movie which is also dark satire about the 80’s yuppie opulence. Of course, it is nothing close to as vicious and graphic as the book, so don’t expect anything close to it. A fun little nod to certain parts of the book is actually shown in the movie, though, when we get to see a glimpse into Bateman’s journal where’s he’s made some crude drawings depicting all kinds of acts. This includes some of the things he did in the book, but I don’t think I was able to spot any nods to the iconic “woman, cheese, and a starved rat“. If you’ve read the book, you’ll know…

There is actually a direct-to-video sequel, called American Psycho 2. The movie doesn’t really appear to have anything to do with the first, aside from a quick flashback scene showing Bateman’s death (who wears a mask since that role is not played by Bale), and a woman named Rachael Newman who have become murderous after her encounter with him.

Director: Mary Harron
Writers: Mary Harron, Guinevere Turner
Country & year: USA, 2000
Actors: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis, Matt Ross, Jared Leto, Willem Dafoe, Cara Seymour, Guinevere Turner
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/

The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

Posted on September 15, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

In the year of 2001, Japanese director Takashi Miike made Ichi the Killer, the yakuza splatter horror which got famous for its graphic violence and how it was banned and censored left and right. Even here in Norway the movie was actually totally banned, even though an uncut DVD release in 2007 managed to circulate for a while. The ban was never lifted, so the movie is actually still not legal to distribute and sell or stream here (but it is legal to buy a copy of the movie for private use). Aside from his achievement with this movie, Miike had a very busy year in 2001 where he actually made another five films, one of these being another well-known movie called Visitor Q. However, we’re not going to talk about that one, instead we’re going to talk about another of his films from 2001, called The Happiness of the Katakuris. And…oh boy…if you thought you had figured this director out from watching his horror movie hits, you’ll be scratching your head at this one.

The Happiness of the Katakuris starts off with an opening scene of a woman eating soup in a fancy restaurant. In the soup is some cherub-like claymation stop-motion creature, who sees the screaming woman’s uvula (who has now turned into stop motion as well) and mistakes it for a heart, rips it out of her throat and flies away, and…hell, it’s really one of those things you can’t explain with words without sounding like you’re rambling about your latest fever dream, you just gotta see it for yourself. Anyway: the cherub-thing ends up getting eaten by a crow, who then gets killed by grandpa Katakuri who got pissed off and threw a stick after it because the bird took a shit which landed on his face. What significance this opening had to anything still boggles my mind, but I guess it’s a way of telling the viewer that the world is an absurd place and death is everywhere. Or something like that.

Now we get introduced to the four-generation family of the Katakuris: Masao Katakuri and his wife Terue, his father Jinpei, the couple’s son Masayuki who’s got a criminal past, and their daughter Shizue who is divorced and a single mother with her child Yurie. And of course, we must not forget their cute dog Pochi. They have just purchased a large, old house nearby a former garbage dump close to Mount Fuji, which they have converted into a bed and breakfast and named it “White Lover’s Inn“. Sounds cozy. They have big hopes for this becoming a success, as the road nearby will be expanded up to their house which would turn it into a perfect spot for tourists. However, the road construction isn’t finished yet…and they currently haven’t had a single guest. So when one finally comes during some heavy rain, they’re all so excited. Finally! The first guest! And of course this dude was someone who decided to stay there just to commit suicide during the night. The bastard should’ve just gone to Aokigahara forest instead. To top it all: the way he committed suicide looks more like a murder. The Katakuris decide to save their business by burying the body.

Up next is a sumo wrestler and his young (very young, it appears…) girlfriend. Let’s just say this doesn’t turn out well either. The bodies are piling up, the Katakuris still haven’t had a single “normal“ guest, and Shizue also falls head over heels for a man called Richard Sagawa, who claims he’s a U.S naval officer and the nephew of Queen Elizabeth II. Nothing shady about this one, not at all. Oh, and of course…the nearby volcano also starts rumbling every now and then…

The movie is said to be loosely based on a South Korean film called The Quiet Family, but an obvious The Sound of Music parody is all over the place here and it’s also obvious Miike liked Monty Python. Yes, this movie is also a musical comedy, filled with upbeat and sometimes romantic dance numbers and even a karaoke sing-along. The premise of the story, a family trying to start a guest house and only getting visitors who ends up dying on one way or other, is one that could easily be tackled in all kinds of ways (including ones much darker and grittier). But this is pure batshit bananas absurdist comedy from start to finish. I have to admit it took some time before I got properly into the overall tone of this film. When it comes to comedy, I’m a bit more fan of the dark and subtle kind, and during the first half hour or so I found myself thinking this might be a little too much for me…but somehow, I got more and more into the bizarre, over-the-top vibe without feeling too exhausted. There’s always something happening, it goes from one song number or weird incident to another, and it’s truly unpredictable. Aside from the opening featuring stop motion claymation, this is also featured multiple times during the movie, sometimes mixing real footage with the animated parts. It’s…part uncanny-valley nightmare fuel as well as being fun and amusing.

The Happiness of the Katakuris is a totally bonkers musical that certainly proves that Takashi Miike is a versatile director. And the message you can take away from this movie, I guess, is that no matter how hard and fucked up your life becomes, no matter how much bad luck, just sing a happy song and keep doing your best!

Director: Takashi Miike
Writers: Ai Kennedy, Kikumi Yamagishi
Original title: Katakuri-ke no kôfuku
Country & year: Japan, 2001
Actors: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji Takeda, Naomi Nishida, Kiyoshirô Imawano, Tetsurō Tanba, Naoto Takenaka, Tamaki Miyazaki, Takashi Matsuzaki
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304262/

THE SÉANCE – Horror Short

Posted on September 13, 2026 by HorrorGhouls

Sadie is a teenage witch with all the regular problems. She’s head over heels for her childhood best friend, James. The Devil is trying to force her to become his undead bride to rule over hell. And since her mom’s disappearance, all the evil around town suddenly has it out for Sadie. But when a ghost from her mother’s past threatens James- Sadie will stop at nothing to protect those she loves. The one problem? She doesn’t really know how to use her magic.

It is Horror Short Sunday again, and this time we’re taking a look at The Séance! A fun spooky short where a séance doesn’t go as planned (do they ever?).

Director: Hunter F. Burns, Jordan P. Spalding
Writer: Hunter F. Burns, Jordan P. Spalding
Country & year: USA, 2025
Actors: Sammie Keach, Levi Ladd, Lainey Martin
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt37036456/