american horror movies – Horror Ghouls

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

Posted on May 20, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

The year is 1968, where Iris Campbell is going to attend the opening ceremony of a high-rise restaurant tower called Skyview. The one to bring her there is her fiancé Paul, who wants this event to be as perfect as possible. Oh, if he only knew. Well, since this is a Final Destination movie, we know the drill: Iris has her premonition, and oh boy, is this one a total disaster! The grand opening of the Skyview ends just as well as Titanic’s first voyage. The entire tower collapses, causing a huge death toll. After Iris watches her final moments before dying, however, this is where the movie takes a turn from the previous films: instead of seeing Iris “waking up“, we see college student Stefani Reyes waking up in bed with a scream. Apparently, she’s been having recurring nightmares about this event for months, driving her equally sleep-deprived roommate to the brink of murder. Stefani travels back to her family for some answers, and finds that her nightmares are linked to her maternal grandmother, Iris.

The grandmother is no longer in contact with anyone in the family, and she lives waaaay out in bumfuck nowhere. Stefani decides to pay her grandmother a visit to get some answers, and ends up at Iris’s fortified cabin. There, Iris tells Stefani all about how she was able to disrupt Death’s plans when she prevented the tower’s collapse, literally saving the lives of everyone there. She gives Iris a book where she has documented Death’s omens and giving instructions on how to spot them. Stefani, of course, thinks her grandmother’s just totally kooky and regrets going there in the first place…until Death makes his move. Soon, Stefani realizes that Iris was right, and Death is now trying to kill off the survivors in the order they would have died at the Skyview…and of course, all their descendants who were never meant to exist if they had died as intended. This, of course, includes Stefani and her younger brother, plus several of their other family members.

Final Destination: Bloodlines (aka Final Destination 6) is the latest film in the Final Destination franchise. It was directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, and written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor. It’s based on a story that was developed by them and Jon Watts. After the commercial success of Final Destination 5, the next film was described as some kind of “re-imagining“ of the franchise. That’s…not really the case, though. They’ve changed the basic setup a little bit, but it’s still a classic Final Destination film, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It premiered on May 16, and has so far received generally favorable reviews. It has currently grossed $105 million worldwide. The highest grossing film in the franchise, The Final Destination (the 4th film) made $187 million worldwide. It’s still early, so it remains to be seen if their sixth installment breaks that record.

So, how does this movie hold up to the rest of the franchise? Well, we watched it at the big screen and had a total blast with it! Six films in and it’s still feeling as playful and fun as ever, perfectly balancing humour with grisly deaths. Already from the opening scene with the Skyview you know it’s going to be good, keeping you eagerly anticipating how all hell will break loose. And it sure does! During this premonition scene there is a 71 year old stuntwoman, Yvette Ferguson, who came out of retirement in order to play a fire stunt. Now, how cool is that! Aside from the bonkers opening scene, there are many other kills that turns both bloody and gory, so the fun lasts throughout.

Final Destination: Bloodlines proves that the franchise is still going strong, and still feeling surprisingly fresh. That being said, it’s been approximately 14 years since the previous film, so it’s not like we’ve gotten these movies thrown at us every single year or so. We’ve had some time to build up an appetite for a new one, and it certainly was a great time! Now, we all know that a 7th film will be inevitable. Just how long that will take, however, remains to be seen. They still have so many ideas to take from, bad things can happen to a lot of people everywhere: on a cruise ship, in a tunnel, at a concert, on tourist attractions around the world (like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, etc.), at Las Vegas, at a circus, etc. etc. The possibilities are endless! Will be fun to see what idea they go for next.

Also, R.I.P. Tony Todd (Bludworth). It was nice to see his story arc ending here, with a reveal of his character and backstory.

Directors: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein
Writers: Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor, Jon Watts
Country & year: USA/Canada, 2025
Actors: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Ellen Wroe, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, P.J. Byrne, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner, Courtney B. Vance, Tony Todd
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9619824/

Prequels:
– Final Destination (2000)
– Final Destination 2 (2003)
– Final Destination 3 (2006)
– The Final Destination (2009)
– Final Destination 5 (2011)

Final Destination 5 (2011)

Posted on May 16, 2025May 20, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Sam Lawton is an office worker who is going together with his colleagues to a company retreat. On the bus, he has a premonition where the North Bay Bridge starts collapsing due to high winds, and he witnesses a lot of people getting killed. This also includes himself, after getting his ex-girlfriend Molly Harper in safety. When the premonition is over, and he starts realizing that this is really going to happen as all the small details prior to the incident becomes familiar, he panics and urges everyone to get out of the bus. Several people follow him outside, and they manage to leave before the bridge collapses. Naturally, Sam is questioned by the FBI afterwards, but everything was ruled to have happened due to natural causes. Shit happens, sometimes. After the survivors attend a memorial for all their deceased colleagues, they start dying one by one. A woman named Candice dies in a freak accident at the gym, and a man named Isaac has a not-so-pleasant experience at a Thai massage. No happy ending there. Bludworth, the coroner who has appeared in some of the movies since the start and has always seemed to know about Death’s mischievous plans, tells the remaining survivors that they are now dying in the order they were supposed to die in if they had not survived the bridge collapse. So now Sam and the remaining survivors must try to figure out a way to beat Death.

Final Destination 5 is the fifth movie in the franchise. It was released in 2011, and is directed by Steven Quale and written by Eric Heisserer. Just like the previous film, called The Final Destination (which was actually yet another movie that was supposed to be “the final film“ but which changed due to the financial success) it was shot in 3D. And just like the previous film.. the 3D effects haven’t really aged that well. Still, that doesn’t ruin the experience at all, it just adds an additional goofy flavour to it. It grossed $157 million worldwide, making it the second-highest grossing film in the franchise. The sixth film has its premiere (at least in most places) today on May 16th, so let’s see if the new one breaks any of the old records!

This film follows the same formula as previously: the protagonist has a premonition, saves some people, and then Death is coming for them. Many franchises have lost all their steam long before coming to their fifth installment, but the Final Destination movies keeps it going surprisingly strong. This might have a bit to do with how these movies are always being very simple popcorn-horror entertainment that were never meant to be groundbreaking masterpieces. Plus, the concept behind the movies opens up for so many possibilities, it’s nearly impossible to not keep it at least entertaining with its main forte: the death scenes! Or most importantly: how everything leads up to the death scenes. As always, there’s several scenes here that gives that “ick“ feeling, and the kills are just as fun as ever.

Final Destination 5 is yet another fun entry into the franchise and proves that it’s still going strong. This movie is also providing some twists and turns and even ties everything back to the first movie.

Director: Steven Quale
Writer: Eric Heisserer
Country & year: USA, 2009
Actors: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Ellen Wroe, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, P.J. Byrne, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner, Courtney B. Vance, Tony Todd
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1622979/

Prequels:
– Final Destination (2000)
– Final Destination 2 (2003)
– Final Destination 3 (2006)
– The Final Destination (2009)

Sequel:
– Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

The Final Destination (2009)

Posted on May 13, 2025May 20, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Nick O’Bannon and his girlfriend is watching an auto race, together with some of their friends. Then (of course) Nick is having a premonition: a terrible accident that happens on the racetrack. After the premonition is over, and he starts noticing certain details that proves to him that this will actually happen, he starts to panic and brings along several other people with him outside of the stadium: his girlfriend Lori plus their friends Hunt and Janet, and also a racist truck driver named Carter, a woman named Samantha, a security guard named George, and mechanic Andy and his girlfriend Nadia. Once they’re outside, the accident happens and while you could’ve thought they were all safely out of reach, a stray wheel comes out of the stadium which decapitates Nadia. Carter also wants to run back inside the stadium because his wife is still there, but George manages to stop him from running into his certain death. Later, Carter has decided to give George a proper thanks for saving his life by driving to his house at night with plans of burning a cross on his lawn. In his distorted, racist mind it was George’s fault that his wife died (or the jackass probably just needed someone to blame, even if it was the man who saved his life). Death has other plans, though. The wind knocks off a horse hoof that was hanging from a rope on to the radio of Carter’s tow truck, where the song “Why Can’t We Be Friends“ starts playing (obviously, Death’s got a sense of humour). The truck starts driving by itself, letting loose a towing chain onto the road. It all ends with Carter getting wound up on the chain, dragging him down the street while sparks cause the chain to catch fire. That’s one of the survivors down. It doesn’t stop there, of course, as more of the survivors keeps dying in strange ways. Nick eventually becomes convinced that Death is coming for them all.

The Final Destination (aka Final Destination 4) is the 4th movie in the Final Destination franchise. It was released in 2009, as one of those 3D movies. The previous film, Final Destination 3, was originally supposed to be the final film, making the series a trilogy. But as already mentioned in that review, there would be no premonition needed in order to foresee that there would be a 4th film sooner or later. James Wong was originally on board to direct this one, but he had to drop it due to scheduling conflicts. Then, David R. Ellis returned (director of Final Destination 2). This movie ended up being the highest grossing of all the Final Destination films so far with $28 million on its first weekend (thus beating Rob Zombie’s Halloween II the same year) and with $187 million worldwide. There’s a sixth movie coming soon, so let’s see if that record gets broken then.

As mentioned, this movie was made with 3D effects. And, uhm… like in most 3D films… the effects haven’t really aged that well. They are not outright horrible per se, but they’re more likely to bring out a few chuckles here and there. As always, though, it’s the lead-up to the kills that brings the entertainment value. There’s some pretty decent gore, and Death is as playful as ever, having as much fun as possible while killing the characters off in all kinds of ways.

The Final Destination brings more of what you’ve already seen in the previous movies. It’s like that ordinary yet fulfilling meal you decide to eat on a lazy day: it’s nothing great, but keeps you content and does what it’s supposed to do. With a Final Destination movie you know pretty much what to expect.

Director: David R. Ellis
Writers: Eric Bress, Jeffrey Reddick
Country & year: USA, 2009
Actors: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, Haley Webb, Mykelti Williamson, Krista Allen, Andrew Fiscella, Justin Welborn, Stephanie Honoré, Lara Grice, Jackson Walker, Phil Austin
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1144884/

Prequels:
– Final Destination (2000)
– Final Destination 2 (2003)
– Final Destination 3 (2006)

Sequels:
– Final Destination 5 (2009)
– Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

Final Destination 3 (2006)

Posted on May 9, 2025May 20, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Wendy Christensen is a high school student who goes together with her boyfriends and some friends to have a good time at an amusement park in Pennsylvania. They’re going to board the Devil’s Flight roller coaster (nothing bad can happen on a ride with such a name, right?), but of course Wendy has a premonition that promises total mayhem as lots of people die during the ride due to a dropped camcorder that lands on the roller coaster’s eroded tracks. Following the same formula as the previous films, Wendy sees everyone (including herself) die horrible deaths, and afterwards she freaks out and tries to warn everyone. A total of nine passengers decide to get off due to her hysteria, but several others still remain on the ride, including her boyfriend Jason. And those people all die of course. So, what happens next? Well, you guessed it: the survivors are dying one by one under mysterious circumstances. Kevin, one of the survivors, tells Wendy about the Flight 180 incident (from the first film), and they realize they are in the same situation.

Final Destination 3 is the third film in the Final Destination franchise, and it was directed by James Wong and released in 2006. While Final Destination 2 was very much a direct sequel to the first film, this one was envisioned as a stand-alone film. And just like with the earlier films, few critics gave very favorable reviews but it still became yet another financial success, with a box office of nearly $118 million which made it the highest grossing of the three current films at the time. It was originally intended to be the final part of the series, with the original title actually being Cheating Death: Final Destination 3, where they intended to make it a trilogy. Hah! As if. O f course you don’t just drop something that keeps making bank with every movie that’s being made.

The idea for this film actually came from an incident in Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth (obviously not always, though). Wong said he was inspired by a 2003 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad incident, where a derailment occurred where one man died and 10 others were hurt. So while the first film stirred the fear of traveling by plane, and the second film reminded us how dangerous the highways can be, this third film evokes the fear of roller coasters and how utterly helpless you are if something bad happens. The cast members couldn’t have had much fear of rides like this, though, as they had to ride the roller coaster a total of 26 times on the same night (!) in order to shoot all the scenes for Wendy’s premonition. Must’ve been a blast!

By watching this third film, you can’t blame anyone except yourself if you expected something very different from the first two. Once again the main focus is centered around the deaths and all the details that leads up to them, where you keep wondering how everything will unfold. Sometimes it feels like watching Death playing a point ‘n click game where all kinds of small things eventually lead up to the death of the current victim. As always, the deaths are often over-the-top and cheesy, but that’s just part of the entertainment value in these movies.

Final Destination 3 is more of the same, but still just as much fun.

Director: James Wong
Writers: Glen Morgan, James Wong, Jeffrey Reddick
Country & year: USA/Canada, 2006
Actors: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Kris Lemche, Alexz Johnson, Sam Easton, Jesse Moss, Gina Holden, Texas Battle, Chelan Simmons, Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, Amanda Crew
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414982/

Prequels:
– Final Destination (2000)
– Final Destination 2 (2003)

Sequels:
– The Final Destination (2006)
– Final Destination 5 (2009)
– Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

Final Destination 2 (2003)

Posted on May 6, 2025May 20, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

It’s been one year since the fatal Flight 180 explosion, and shit’s about to happen all over again. Just on the ground this time, not in the air. College student Kimberly Corman is going on a spring break with her friends, and they’re heading for Daytona Beach, Florida. Just like in the previous film, our protagonist has a premonition: on the highway, a deadly pile-up is caused by a logging truck. Realizing that this is actually going to happen, she panics and stalls her car on the entrance ramp, which prevents a lot of other people from entering the deadly highway. Everyone’s pissed off, and when a state trooper begins questioning her, the pile-up occurs right in front of their faces. Despite Kimberly’s attempt to save her friends, however, fate (or Death himself) instantly made other plans: instead of her friends being killed off in the way she saw in her premonition, they are all killed when getting hit by a car carrier while the state trooper manages to push her aside at the last second. Still, there’s a lot of other survivors that would otherwise have died in the pile-up since Kimberly blocked the road prior to the accident. How will Death pick them off one by one this time?

Final Destination 2 is a supernatural horror film from 2003, and it is the sequel of Final Destination from 2000. It’s directed by David R. Ellis, with screenplay written by J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress. The first movie became a financial success despite rather low ratings from the critics, so of course a sequel had to be made. This movie received mixed reviews, and grossed $90 million internationally. So, yup, another commercial success without a doubt. At this point you didn’t need to get any premonitions in order to foresee that this would be a horror franchise with many sequels to follow.

So, how does the second film differ from the first? Just as much as two Tom & Jerry cartoons differ from one another, more or less. It’s the same premise over again: person gets a premonition of impending death, manages to save themselves and some other people’s asses, and then Death kills them off one by one in the most “random“ ways possible. This one is a bit more bloodier and gorier than the first, and the kills are always a load of fun. Granted, the CGI effects aren’t really that much to write home about, but it’s all about the build-up before the actual killings happen.

Final Destination 2 is, just like the first, a fun popcorn-entertainment horror movie that follows the same formula as the first, but still manages to be entertaining and a lot of fun.

Director: David R. Ellis
Writers: J. Mackye Gruber, Eric Bress, Jeffrey Reddick
Country & year: USA/Canada, 2003
Actors: Ali Larter, A.J. Cook, Michael Landes, David Paetkau, James Kirk, Lynda Boyd, Keegan Connor Tracy, Jonathan Cherry, Terrence ‘T.C.’ Carson, Justina Machado, Tony Todd
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309593/

Prequel:
– Final Destination (2000)

Sequels:
– Final Destination 3 (2003)
– The Final Destination (2006)
– Final Destination 5 (2009)
– Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

Final Destination (2000)

Posted on May 2, 2025May 20, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Alex Browning is a high school student who is going on a trip to Paris with his other classmates. He boards Volée Airlines Flight 180, but before the takeoff he has a premonition where he sees how the plane explodes in the air, killing everyone on board. He starts panicking, screaming that there will be an accident, and he is removed from the plane. Several of his friends and some other classmates follow him, including one of the teachers. They don’t believe him, of course,with the exception of one: Clear Rivers, who found his reaction so believable that she also decided to leave the plane before takeoff. Afterwards, they can see that the plane explodes shortly after takeoff. Huh! So Alex wasn’t just a crazy loon after all. Naturally, him predicting this beforehand makes him suspicious, and he is interrogated by the FBI. Suspicious or not, it’s pretty clear he doesn’t have anything to do with the accident, and he is just one of the lucky people to be alive. Or…that is, until the survivors keep getting killed in freak accidents. It seems Alex has disrupted Death’s plan, and the lives are now being claimed in the order they would have died if they hadn’t left the plane.

Final Destination is a supernatural horror film from 2000, directed by James Wong. The screenplay was written by Wong, Glenn Morgan, and Jeffrey Reddick, and it was based on a story by Reddick that was originally written as a spec script for an episode for The X-Files. The movie became a financial success despite receiving mostly negative reviews from the critics, making $10 million on its opening weekend. There has since been 5 other films made, with the 6th is heading to the theaters later this month.

What makes Final Destination, and all its sequels for that matter, so entertaining is it’s rather simple premise that still opens up for so many ideas. How many ways are there to die? More than we could possibly fathom. Everyday situations, household items, everything can literally turn into a death trap if the circumstances are right. And while the film series could have become too repetitive, it still manages to serve up so many inventive ways of how people could die in the most unexpected ways possible. In this first movie, the first death provides the classic formula for many of the deaths: several things happen which makes you constantly wonder how the person will get killed off, often with a few red herrings thrown at us as well. Many of the deaths are shown in a slightly cartoony way, sometimes with a bit of gore (although no excessive amounts). Storywise, the suspense mainly lies in how our protagonist, Alex, tries to figure out a way to beat Death while getting help from Clear, the only one who truly believed him right from the start.

Final Destination is a fun popcorn horror movie, where the many ways to die in otherwise normal, everyday situations is the fun part. And while this movie probably didn’t have the same effect as Jaws had on its beach-lovers, I can guess it at least gave a few people the jitters if they were traveling by plane shortly afterwards..

Director: James Wong
Writers: Glen Morgan, James Wong, Jeffrey Reddick
Country & year: USA/Canada, 2000
Actors: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke, Daniel Roebuck, Roger Guenveur Smith, Chad Donella, Seann William Scott, Tony Todd, Amanda Detmer, Brendan Fehr
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195714/

Sequels:
– Final Destination 2 (2000)
– Final Destination 3 (2003)
– The Final Destination (2006)
– Final Destination 5 (2009)
– Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

Sinners (2025)

Posted on April 29, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

We’re in 1932, where the twins Smoke and Stack have returned to the Mississippi Delta after having spent years in Chicago working for the mafia. They’re back with a lot of money stolen from the gangsters, and they have decided to purchase an old sawmill in order to build a juke joint for the local black community. Along the way, the bring with them other people, including their young cousin Sammie who is an aspiring guitarist. His father is pastor Jedediah, who warns him that blues music may one day invite the devil into his life. “If you keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home“, are his words of warning. Well, whatever…young Sammie still brings along the guitar and plays on the juke joint’s opening night. The music does indeed draw the attention of someone, who also appreciate music that comes straight from the soul…

Sinners is a horror period drama with musical elements. It was written, co-produced and directed by Ryan Coogler. The movie originally began development through Coogler’s production company Proximity Media in January 2024, but already the next month Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the distribution rights during a bidding war, and afterwards casting for additional roles took place in April. Ludwig Göransson, who has been a longtime Coogler collaborator, composed the film’s score and also served as an executive producer. The movie was filmed primarily in New Orleans and the surrounding areas of Louisiana. Coogler revealed that one of his major inspirations for the film was the novel Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, and a Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone episode called The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank. Another source of inspiration was his late uncle, a man named James who lived in Mississippi and loved blues music and Taylor Whiskey.

The movie has received an unanimous amount of praise, and is already deemed the best (or one of the best) horror movies of the year. Prior to seeing this film I had not only taken notice of all the praise, but also seen headlines that were comparing it to From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), which set the bar pretty high. Sure, the movie’s got a bar and vampires, but Club Juke certainly ain’t no Titty Twister. And while I enjoyed the movie for the most part, I’m glad I toned down the expectations a lot prior to going into the big screen.

I’ll start with the positives: first and foremost, the movie looks great, the visuals are really gorgeous. I also enjoyed the somewhat slow build-up when introducing the characters, where our protagonists are set to put together their little joint. Almost felt like the set-up in a video game where you need to talk to all the npc’s who each can provide something for your “build the juke joint“ quest. I also enjoyed the musical parts quite a lot. There’s a scene where Sammie starts playing his guitar and sings, and everything transcends into a slightly surreal montage where musicians from both the past and the future are present: we see characters among the juke joint’s patrons who are obviously from modern day, as well as tribe people from a long gone past, all joining in the music and providing an excellent visualization of how music connects us throughout the ages. Despite this musical number’s greatness, however…just like in the old classic Disney movies and many other musicals, the villain gets the best song. The lead “vampire“, outside the joint stack, leads his vampire minions in a ring while starting to sing an Irish Jig, which increasingly builds up its crescendo and provides music that sounds both jolly, slightly evil and slightly primal at the same time, providing a perfect counterpoint to the previous musical number and once again showing the connection effect of music from both new and old times. To be honest, these were the parts I enjoyed the most since the musical numbers here were used in a way to enhance the story and character’s motivations (rather than just being a song played in the background).

The things I didn’t particularly care about, was the amount of excessive dialogue where some if it became simply too repetitive, which caused some pacing issues. Another major disappointment is the invasion scene where the vampires finally enter the building at last (isn’t really much of a spoiler, it’s a part that you knew would inevitably happen). It felt too disjointed and underwhelming, and I simply could not help having the From Dusk Till Dawn invasion in mind, and thinking how so much of that epicness was missing here. There were some mentions of the KKK earlier on in the film, and I was actually hoping for some crazy, epic fight where the Klan would come to the place and get killed off by the vampires (preferably in the most gruesome ways possible) while the survivors inside the joint would have to fight and conquer both threats. No such luck, though. There were also a tribe of Native Americans introduced in the middle of the film, which were vampire hunters (or something..?) and we never get to see them anymore.

Overall, I think Sinners is a pretty good period drama movie with some great musical elements and horror mixed in, and while I wasn’t as “blown away“ as the majority who watched the movie seems to have been, I could easily appreciate the movie’s higher notes and qualities.

Writer and director: Ryan Coogler
Country & year: USA/Australia/Canada, 2025
Actors: Miles Caton, Saul Williams, Andrene Ward-Hammond, Jack O’Connell, Tenaj L. Jackson, Michael B. Jordan, David Maldonado, Aadyn Encalarde, Helena Hu, Yao, Sam Malone
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31193180/

Crawlspace (1986)

Posted on April 25, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

– You’re just inches away from a fate worse than death. And that is directing Klaus Kinski!

It should be a big red flag when you have an old weirdo named Karl Gunther who owns an apartment complex which he only rents out to young women. And especially when he looks like Klaus Kinski. But there’s nothing shady about him, how could there be with those blue, warm and kind eyes? He only likes to kill some time by crawling around the air vents like a rat and spying on the tenants while they do their daily things, like having girls parties with tequila mixed with milk (yuck), and dates with cringe sex acts. Because when you couldn’t stalk people through social media and webcams, like today, you had to be more creative and use your imagination, like this Gunther guy.

And in his secret little attic apartment he has his small collection of bodyparts in jars, building death traps, and where he writes his secret journal while he has a cute, little white kitty to keep him company. And don’t worry, nothing bad happens to the cat… ha-ha. He also has an another pet, and that is a woman trapped in a cage who has gotten her tongue cut off. Between the killings, Gunther plays Russian Roulette as a form of self-punishment. If the bullet goes off, well, it’s game over. If not, so be it, and over to the next victim. As Gunther does his normal business by stalking and murdering his female tenants one by one, he, one day, gets an unexpected visit by a young man who’s about to expose his dark and shady past, which explains one thing or ten about Gunther’s murder tendencies. You can be happy to confront him, by all means, but not sit too comfy in his chairs…

And if the building looks somewhat familiar, it’s because it’s the same set-design used in Troll the same year. But the real troll in this place, is none other than the goblin, the myth, the monster himself: Klaus Kinski.

Crawlspace is written and directed by David Schmoeller and produced by Charles Band’s Empire Pictures. And of course, talking about this particular film is impossible without diving into the behind-the-scenes madness, which is more entertaining than the film itself. Because David Schmoeller was highly excited to work with Klaus Kinski, after watching him in the great Werner Herzog films. To do some quick background checks on Kinski, David Schmoeller contacted the previous director he worked with (Ulli Lommel, I’d guess). He said that Kinski was wonderful to work with and nothing but a good experience. Had he spoken with Herzog instead, God knows how that conversation would have turned. In other words: He was completely oblivious to what kind of a deranged madman he really was and the radioactive shitstorm that would follow him. It wasn’t after he read an interview with him in the Playboy Magazine that he knew that he was in big trouble. “Oh…“. Yeah, you can say. Enjoy the Klaus Kinski Crazy Train!

On day three of shooting, Kinski went on full war with the crew that escalated into six fist fights. And that’s just him warming up. He refused to follow basic orders, such as start acting when hearing “action“. He would instead scream and yell: Action! Action! Action! I’ve made over 200 movies and directors always saying action! So, instead of “action“, Schmoeller said: Light, camera, roll … Klaus. That form of ego boost worked for a day and a half until Kinski suddenly started screaming again. Klaus, Klaus, Klaus..! All my life, directors have called Klaus! … facepalm.

So, if the director couldn’t say “Klaus“ to start the scene, what should he say then? Kinski replies: Say nothing. I start when I’m ready. Alright then. But the madness is far from over. Because after Schmoeller says “cut“, Kinski screams again and yells: Cut! Cut! Cut! I’ve made over 200 movies and the directors are always saying cut! He points at the director and says: Don’t say cut. I stop when I’m finished.

Kinski would never do a take two, because why should he. He was the best, after all, he just always happened to be surrounded by a bunch of mongoloid amateurs ( the viewpoint by none other than Kinski, der meister himself ). According to the commentary track by writer/director David Schmoeller on the Blu-ray, Kinski would cut lines and refuse to say certain important plot-related dialogues which Schmoeller assumed he just forgot. He would reply with I didn’t forget, I just didn’t need to say it. The only way Kinski would say these lines was after Schmoeller had to go to him and say You know what, Klaus, I don’t think you need to say this next line. Kinski would then disagree and say Yes, I do. It’s an important line. Bro, talking about pure tiresome childish mindgame fuckery mixed with a handful of deep-rooted borderline narcissism. But a big thanks to the goldmine of funny trivia.

Due to all the Kinskiness, the twenty days-shooting schedule had to be extended by ten days. They also had to have some of the crew members on his tail when he was out for lunch, like a wild dog on a leash, so they could bring him back to set to finish the movie. Because hiring Klaus Kinski was far from cheap where his name alone was a big selling point, and there was no budget to replace him. And speaking of hiring Klaus Kinski and the risk that he would sabotage the whole film, listen to this: The Italian producer, Roberto Bessi, actually wanted to kill off Klaus Kinski so that they could have his insurance money. Yes, really. David Schmoeller made a short documentary in 1999 titled Please, kill Mr. Kinski where he goes more in detail. This was not the first time someone behind the scenes wanted to delete him though. During the making of Fitzcarraldo (1982) one of the natives offered director Werner Herzog to kill Kinski. Herzog wisely decline, because, well, he needed the bastard to finish the film. And the same said David Schmoeller as he also was hellbent to survive the Kinski Crazy Train, because that in itself is always worth a golden medal.

I really hope that some day a biopic of him gets made, because the sheer absurdity that was the demented world of Klaus Kinski is something that no one could make up, not even Chris Chan. Just watch the five films he made with Werner Herzog, the documentary My Best Fiend Klaus Kinski, his insane directorial acid-trip delirium Kinski Paganini, which also became his last film before he died of a heart attack in 1991 at age of 65. Then we have a series of his bizarre public outbursts, and the cultural trainwreck fiasco that was his short-lived tour as Jesus Christ Savior that was canceled after one show because he couldn’t keep himself together. And that’s just the surface. Because when you dig deeper into the Klaus Kinski iceberg, we also have the sexual abuse/rape/incest allegations, which is a whole horror story by itself for a Netflix miniseries. Bill Skarsgard would be a great choice to play Klaus Kinski.

Uhm, what the hell was I originally talking about… yeah, Kudos to David Schmoeller for being able to end up with a polished-looking film, considering the circumstances. It has some stylish qualities with some slick camerawork and cinematography, especially during the last act where Kinski chases the final girl through the crawlspaces on a trolley. Despite the behind-the-scenes insanity, Kinski does a great, and sometimes an eerie/mesmerizing performance here, and his far more soft-spoken to almost whispering approach adds to the creepy/weird factor, a stark contrast from his megaphone-loudmouth that we’re mostly used to. Much of the horror relies on the psychological aspects where our man, Gunther, only leaves the victims as morbid corpses after killing them off-screen, except for two, if I remember correctly. It’s also obvious that David Schmoeller used all his writing juice on Karl Gunther, where the moldy leftover dialogue went to the rest of the cast, who have as much personality as rubber sex dolls. And the final girl isn’t much to root for, to be honest. The only woman here who actually does a convincing job is the mute one in the cage who emotes with her scared and traumatic eyes.

At the end of the day, Crawlspace works maybe more as a curiosity for the die-hard Klaus Kinski fans, and he’s the sole reason to give the film a watch, like most of the Kinski films. Or just to quote the director himself: Crawlspace is not a particularly good movie, except for the fact that it has Klaus Kinski in it.

Writer and director: David Schmoeller
Country & year: USA/Italia, 1986
Actors: Klaus Kinski, Talia Balsam, Barbara Whinnery, Carole Francis, Tane McClure, Sally Brown, Jack Heller, Abbott Alexander, Kenneth Robert Shippy
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090881/

Abruptio (2023)

Posted on April 18, 2025April 18, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Les Hackel is a guy who has just been dumped by his girlfriend, and has to live with his parents which includes a nosy and nagging mother. And of course, the “whatever mom says“ kind of dad. On top of that, he works at a dead-end job. Les hates his life, but of course he does the one thing that will surely make his life even more miserable: drowning his sorrows in a bottle. Yup, Les has got a severe alcohol problem as well. When your life is like an open wound, the sweet temporary relief of alcohol is all too tempting, but in the end it’s just making everything much, much worse. Les is apparently smart enough to have realized that, as he’s trying to sober up…but that’s never an easy task, of course. Then one night, he discovers a fresh incision in his neck. He gets a call from his buddy Danny, who’s also got the same incision in his neck, and he says to Les that someone has implanted a bomb inside them. Danny gets a mission on his phone, but refuses to comply…and his head goes BOOM! That, at least, proves to Les that the bomb stuff is all too real. He also starts getting messages with demands to carry out several missions, always with deadly results. As the violence escalates around Les, he tries to find out what is really going on in a world that seems to have gone completely insane.

Abruptio is an adult puppet Sci-Fi horror film from 2023, which was written, edited and directed by Evan Marlowe and produced by Kerry Marlowe. It screened at several festivals, and won 21 awards. The movie stars several well-known actors here for the voices of the puppets, including Robert Englund, Jordan Peele, and Sid Haig in his final film before his death in 2019. And yes, the movie was released in 2023, but the voice recordings started on May 23, 2015, and wrapped on December 2, 2017. A passion-project, for sure, where Marlowe mentioned in an interview with Dread Central that the very first idea for using puppets in this film came from a dream he had about everyone having turned into puppets. Dreams can, for sure, be quite the inspiration!

The puppets in this movie really belongs in the uncanny valley area, where some of them look like pure nightmare fuel. The puppetry is mixed with part live action, giving everything a really weird and surreal vibe. It’s a bit reminiscent of the British puppet show Spitting Image, but whereas the puppets in that show are pure comedy caricatures, the puppets in Abruptio leans more towards being outright grotesque. And it definitely works on establishing the otherworldly, sick tone. Aside from the visuals, the whole plot of the film feels like a fever-induced nightmare, and we start to expect that the film is also leading up to a certain reveal. We do get more than a few little snippets of information from the very start of the movie, which immediately makes you question what Les is actually experiencing and what significance everything has. I don’t want to spoil too much here, but even if you can more or less guess what the movie is leading up to from early on, the ride surely is an outlandish one.

Abruptio is, for sure, a one-of-a-kind horror movie. If you want something bizarre and different, give this one a watch!

Writer and director: Evan Marlowe
Country & year: USA, 2023
Voice actors: James Marsters, Christopher McDonald, Hana Mae Lee, Jordan Peele, Robert Englund, Sid Haig, Darren Darnborough, Rich Fulcher, Sohm Kapila, Patrick Cavanaugh, Carole Ruggier, John Wuchte
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3963226/

Octaman (1971)

Posted on April 15, 2025April 15, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Octaman, or Octamaaaan, like Johnny Depp would have said it, is exactly what you think it is – a mutated, cheesy-looking octopus humanoid who shuffles around and kills people, played by a poor actor who can barely see shit through the costume. Yep, it’s one of those films. This is the type of vintage Z movie amateur campy schlockfest that could easily be mistaken for a lost Ed Wood film. And if you get some strong Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) vibes, you’re not wrong. Octaman is written and directed by Harry Essex, who also was a co-writer of said film.

The plot is something like this: we follow Dr. Torres as he goes on an expedition with a small crew to a primitive Latin fishing community in Mexico to uncover some atomic radiation. And they, of course, encounter Octaman, who’s actually credited in the opening sequence as Octaman, not the actor, just to add some extra flavor of mystique. It worked with Boris Karloff with Frankenstein way back in 1931, but here, though, with the cheesy costume and all that doesn’t even fool a blind person, it’s just comical. Anyway… Octaman starts to stalk and kill people one by one.

Octaman goes pretty fast into the monster action. And I’m using the words “monster action“ very loosely here, because there’s nothing much to get excited about, except for having some laughs at its overall incompetence, as the action has the impact like a pillow fight in your sister’s bedroom. The way Octoman attacks its victims is pure retarded slapstick comedy. He leaves his bodycounts with open wounds and an eye that almost pops out of some poor dude’s skull, yet he only slaps them like a drunk bitch with his overlong rubber suit tentacles as he also struggles to not lose balance. He’s as intimidating as, well, Octaman. Fun stuff. The monster costume was designed by the one and only Rick Baker, who later became one of the most prominent effect makers in Hollywood. This was his very first gig, and… we all have to start somewhere.

Writer and director: Harry Essex
Country & year: Mexico/USA, 1971
Actors: Pier Angeli, Kerwin Mathews, Jeff Morrow, David Essex, Jerome Guardino, Robert Warner, Norman Fields, Read Morgan
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067515/