Set on one fateful night, six friends gather for their monthly ‘games night’… and accidentally unleash a demonic force that might tear them – and their friendships – to pieces.
“Don’t Move” is a gory and fun horror short, where a Ouija Board session has gone wrong…very wrong!
Director: Anthony Melton
Country & year: UK, 2013
Actors: Rachel Bright, Jake Hendriks, Beth Cooper, Kate Braithwaite, Martin Skipper, Calvin A. Dean, Ian Whyte, Ben Tillett
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt2846600/
Dr. William Benson is driving late at night to reach a patient, and stops at a mansion to ask for directions. He learns that he must drive a huge detour and that the roads there are bad, and the man at the mansion offers him shelter for the night. As the conscientious doctor he is, he declines the offer and continues on. A lady in white suddenly stands in the way, and this forces Benson to swerve his car which makes it bump into a mountain wall. When he is going to check for the mysterious lady in white, she is nowhere to be to seen, but another lady suddenly crashes in front of him and lies unconscious in the car with a white blouse…which suddenly turns black in the next clip. Just five minutes in and a continuity error already. Impressive. Anyway, he carries her away and brings her back to consciousness by patting her on the cheek, like the doctor he is. But unfortunately he does not manage to start the car, and sees no other way than to return to the castle to ask for help. When he enters the castle the place looks abandoned, with trash, rats and covered furniture.
He then comes across an older guy who seems to have been stabbed to death, who glances at Benton with some crazy eyes as he asks “what can I do for you” and gives a sinister laugh. Okay, Dr. Benton, time to turn around, there’s no help to get here. Still, this is just a gentle start on the rabbit hole he has stumbled into. When he opens another door he witnesses someone who has a sex orgy with scenes of a blowjob, close-up penetration and lesbian sex. Okay. After seeing enough, he shuts the door and looks further around, and suddenly the woman pops up…the one he left in the car, with no signs of harm or discomfort. And she’s really happy to see Benson, as she rather calls Peter, as if she’s known him all her life, and gives some obscure lines that don’t make any sense. And just like the viewer, Mr. Benson is just as lost and confused and wants some fucking answers (pun intended).
As I said, a rabbit hole. And a hairy one. The movie actually starts out as a classic Hammer movie with thunder, rain and an old castle, but as soon as we see our protagonist, or whatever he is supposed to be, it quickly nosedives into a stumbling, incoherent obscurity of a demented sleazeball of a movie with x-rated porn scenes in between. The balance between horror and porn is completely off. It’s as if the writer and director Luigi Batzella couldn’t decide whether he wanted to make a traditional horror or a porn, but went for both with no clue how to blend it together, with a script that apparently was scribbled in a hurry on his palm between the shooting. With a title as “Nude for Satan” I expected a fair amount of tits and bushy beavers, but I was completely unaware this was actually a x-rated pornflick with close-up penetration and whatnot. But okay, what a pleasant surprise. So let’s just call it “Fuck for Satan”, then, to avoid further confusion.
Fuck for Satan is probably most known for a certain random spider scene. And I must say, it lived up to the hype. How can one not laugh at a fake, giant spider that seems to be made of a bunch of layers of cow dung? And to make it more realistic, just stuff some wooden branches into it and it got some really believable legs. Haha, oh my.. Fuck for Satan also has the most frantic use of zoom I’ve probably seen. As if the cameraman was clearly told to zoom in and out as much as possible to make a desperate attempt to add some tone of surrealism or whatever. Well, I beg to differ. The movie isn’t trippy for one bit, just weird and messy with lazy directing, while the horror aspects fails as a blind, drunken sailor on an unicycle. And what does the space-like music have to do here? Is there a flying saucer wobbling from a string in the background somewhere I don’t see? Who knows. Who cares. But man, that spider scene..haha.
Director: Luigi Batzella
Original title: Nuda per Satana
Country & year: Italy, 1974
Actors: Rita Calderoni, Stelio Candelli, James Harris, Renato Lupi, Iolanda Mascitti, Luigi Antonio Guerra, Barbara Lay
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt0162503/
A tailor is closing up his shop for the night, and soon realizes that something is not quite right with one of the mannequins…
“The Coatmaker” is a suspenseful little horror short that builds up the tension, and serves us some nice chills!
Director: Scott Dale
Country & year: Australia, 2018
Actors: April Carson, John Jenkins
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt8874262/
In this third “Annabelle” horror movie, we follow the doll to its final destination: the Warren’s occult museum, which houses all kinds of cursed and possessed items. After the Warrens bring the doll back home with them, they quickly realize that the doll has the ability to possess and control the other things around her, and so they put it inside a glass case and lock it, containing the evil presence and prevents its influence on the other items around it. When a teenage girl is babysitting Ed and Lorraine’s daughter, one of the babysitter’s friends decide to invite herself in order to check out the place for its occult items. Having recently lost her father in a terrible accident which she blames herself for, she wants to use the place to get in contact with him…and takes a peek inside the occult museum after finding the keys. She is immediately drawn to the Annabelle doll in the glass case, and uses the key to open it…and soon, the evil presence in the doll is awakened.
“Annabelle Comes Home” is the third installment of the “Annabelle” horror movies (which are spin-offs from the first “Conjuring” movie). In many ways, it could also be considered the third Conjuring movie as well, since the story takes place inside the home of the Warrens, and bringing forth small glimpses from several of their “cases” throughout the years. The premise behind this movie is that Annabelle awakens the other cursed and possessed items in the museum, and it actually works pretty well. It gives us the claustrophobic haunted house feel, with some really good atmosphere and even a few truly creepy scenes. The director, Gary Goberman, is making his debut as a director with this movie, and it’s a pretty solid one. Earlier he’s also been the writer of the first “Annabelle” movie.
We are also being presented to several ideas for upcoming movies in the “Conjuring” universe: The Ferryman, a haunted bridal dress that possesses people and turn them into killers, a Samurai armor that apparently holds a gruesome backstory, and…a werewolf. Now, there’s been a few rumors that the third Conjuring movie would include a werewolf story (from the story about Bill Ramsey) but this is not confirmed. Personally I’d love to see the third Conjuring movie deal with the story of Maurice Theriault (Satan’s Harvest), which was actually referenced at the end of “The Nun”…but no such luck, I guess. That being said, there appears to be tons of ideas for any sequels, prequels and spin-offs, so I’m fairly certain we haven’t seen the last of the Conjuring universe yet…far from it.
The real Lorrain Warren passed away a few months prior to this movie’s release, on April 18, 2019, at the age of 92 (Ed Warren died several years back, on August 23, 2006). In some ways this movie can be seen a nice little tribute to her.
Director: Gary Dauberman
Country & year: USA, 2019
Actors: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Michael Cimino, Samara Lee, Kenzie Caplan, Sade Katarina, Michael Patrick McGill, Brittany Hoza
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt8350360/
Related posts: The Conjuring (2013) | The Conjuring 2 (2016) | The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) | The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
Although Alexia, Franco’s ex-girlfriend, has been deceased for some time, Franco still has her as a contact on his social network. When he decides to delete her and move on, something strange starts to manifest through his computer.
“Alexia” is a creepy horror short film with lots of atmosphere, showing us that internet and social media has opened up a new way for horror directors to bring new ideas to the screen.
Director: Andrés Borghi
Country & year: Argentina, 2013
Actors: Sergio Berón, Paula Carruega, Pilar Boyle
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt3328092/
Once upon a time, in a small village of Transylvania, lived happily a beautiful young girl with her family and lover. Until one day, when she suddenly got sick and everything changed for her.
“Vampirismus” is a gothic vampire short film, made in black & white which suits an old-fashioned vampire tale so well.
Director: Gabriele Saffioti, Massimiliano Nardulli
Country & year: Romania, Italy, 2017
Actors: Marius Bodochi, Dan Condurache, Sorin Dobrin, Aida Economu, Victor Tapeanu
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt8568936/
Nicole is a young journalist eager to find out the truth in the case of an exorcism gone wrong in Romania, where a nun died and the priest and nuns involved were convicted for murder. She travels all the way over to Romania in order to dig deeper into the story, and after meeting with Father Anton and visiting the monastery where the exorcism took place, strange things start happening. As she finds out more and more about the nun that died, it becomes obvious to Nicole that something paranormal really did happen to that girl…and that it may even start happening to herself now.
The story in this movie is inspired by true events: the “Tanacu Exorcism” where an allegedly mentally ill nun, Maricica Irina Cornici, was killed during an exorcism in Romania in 2005. This was a case that was widely publicized in Romanian media, and after the priest and nuns were sentenced to jail, many of Tanacu’s residents still believed that Cornici had actually been possessed by a demon (including Cornici’s brother). Later, it was revealed that she had died of an overdose of adrenaline given to her in the ambulance.
Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes are the writers (known for being the writers of Conjuring 1 and 2), while the director is Xavier Gens, known for “Frontier(s)”. In other words, some very familiar names in the world of horror movies. While Xavier’s “Frontier(s)” is a violent and gory movie, “The Crucifixion” has none of this, and is a movie playing far more on the psychological level and giving it a drama/mystery tone.
Since this movie was filmed in Bucharest (Romania), there are many moments of beautiful and atmospheric scenery to behold, which is actually one of the film’s major advantages. It is unfortunate that it never manages to build more scares, and plays out more like a mystery thriller/drama, where the mystery takes a lot more place than the horror. With that being said, there is a certain amount of suspense (much helped by the Romanian scenery and buildings), and if you like a horror movie that plays out more like a crime/mystery/drama, then this might be right up your alley.
Director: Xavier Gens
Country & year: UK | Romania | USA, 2017
Actors: Sophie Cookson, Corneliu Ulici, Ada Lupu, Brittany Ashworth, Catalin Babliuc, Matthew Zajac, Iván González, Ozana Oancea, Javier Botet, Jeff Rawle, Florian Voicu
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt4181782/
Following a death in the family, its members start hearing a mysterious sound.
“The Bells” is a creepy short horror film where a man starts hearing church bells ringing inside the house. The sound of the bells gets louder and louder…and there’s something more inside than just the sound…
Director: Virat Pal
Country & year: USA, 2018
Actors: Danny Barclay, Nell Rutledge-Leverenz, Gabriel Ayala
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt8568936/
It’s a hot summer night in Camp Blackfoot, where a group of teenagers are preparing to pull the prank of the year on the camp’s caretaker, Cropsy. We learn that he’s obviously a bully who deserves a lesson, and the kids also learn in the hard way that a prank with matches and fire isn’t the best combination. They sneak into his cabin, planning to scare him with a rotten skull full of maggots and candles in its eye sockets. It gets from bad to worse when the fire gets to Cropsy himself, and he runs out in full flame, with the kids being helpless witnesses as he stumbles down to the lake. Five years later, he is released from the hospital, completely deformed and disfigured by the burning, and of course, hungry for revenge.
So this is the premise of “The Burning”, the film which is best known for kick-starting the movie career for the Weinstein brothers, Harvey and Bob. Having founded the company Miramax Films in 1979, with only two obscure films in its catalog, the young brothers were desperate for a hit. And having realized that making a slasher is quick and cheap and could be big business like both “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and John Carpenter’s “Halloween”, and other slashers who came and went. So, why not. Harvey Weinstein was inspired by Cropsey, a boogeyman-urban legend from New York that was a popular campfire story, but ended up using only the name for the movie’s killer. And yeah, we all know at this point who turned out to be the real boogeyman here, but that’s a whole different story. Brother Bob was involved in writing the script and their mommy Mira worked as a consultant. So this was more or less a family project. The Brit Tony Maylan, who previously made documentaries, was set to direct while Jack Sholder worked as the editor, who later made “Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge”. Yes-keyboardist Rick Wakeman gives a great soundtrack, and Tom Savini stands for the effects. But the big star here is probably a young Jason “George Costanza” Alexander in one of the roles. Here he is 22, slim and has hair. Would you imagine. This was also his debut role. And no, we don’t get a twist where Cropsy is actually Cosmo Kramer, even though it’s a hilarious thought. And enough Seinfeld references for today.
With some great talents in place with lots of potential, it’s too bad that the film itself is nothing much. After the opening sequence and a quick, gritty scene where Cropsy, dressed as a giallo killer, visits a brothel and find his weapon of choice with which he kills one of the whores before he heads to the camp, the film is pretty dull and boring. There’s too far between the interesting moments, and most of the second act is just lots of filler scenes where the kids bathe, smoke, and mostly do nothing to keep the interest up. No build up, no tension, just a bunch of random scenes that goes nowhere. And visually this looks more like a cheap teen comedy, where atmosphere is nowhere to be found. And the night scenes in the woods that were shot day-for-night…why even bother? This is just lazy and uninspiring. Yawn. Where did the budget go? Who knows. So, where’s all the killing scenes? In the last twenty minutes, if you’re patient. And some of them are brutal and juicy, at least.
And if you want to know more about the original “Cropsey”, watch the documentary “Cropsey” from 2009.
Director: Tony Maylam
Country & year: USA, 1981
Actors: Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua, Jason Alexander, Ned Eisenberg, Carrick Glenn, Carolyn Houlihan, Fisher Stevens, Lou David
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt0082118/
A struggling actress moves to Hollywood where she discovers a piece of furniture, but upon bringing it inside her apartment she is haunted by a malicious ghost.
“The Armoire” is an award-winning creepy horror short, which shows us that picking up old furniture that someone else has thrown away might not be a good idea. It could have been thrown away for a reason…
Director: Evan Cooper
Country & year: USA, 2017
Actors: Kirk Baltz, Hannah Barlow, Bradley Rose, Strange Dave, Evan Cooper
IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt6142624/
