The Unspoken is a 2016 Canadian horror film written and directed by Sheldon Wilson (The Hollow; Scarecrow; Red: Werewolf Hunter; Mothman). It is also known as The Haunting of Briar House.

In North America, the film is released theatrically and on VOD on October 28, 2016. A DVD release follows on December 6, 2016 from Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Main cast:

Jodelle Ferland (The Tall Man; The Cabin in the Woods; Case 39), Sunny Suljic, Lochlyn Munro, Fulvio Cecere, Michael Rogers.

Plot:

In 1997 the close-knit Anderson family vanished from their rural home without a trace without an explanation. No bodies were ever found and for seventeen years the house has remained undisturbed. Until now…

Reviews:

“The opening is particularly strong, setting up a haunted house story in a way that actually gives it more of a backstory and feel of place. Less effective is the local rednecks who’ve hidden drugs in the now years later and still abandoned house of notoriety sub-plot. Still, they do develop insomuch as being part of the kind of resolution that should please fans of the genre.” David Paul Hellings, SFF World

“I actually started playing Count the Checklist, hitting ten before I got to the title sequence and you know what? It was a damn sight more entertaining than actually watching the movie. I can’t tell you more about the plot because that’s about it. In the last twenty minutes the filmmakers remembered to put something else in and at that stage Unspoken goes completely off the rails.” Pat Fox, Vulturehound

“Sheldon Wilson, who wrote and directed, puts forth a game effort to tell a cohesive story and so do the actors. (Neal McDonough makes what is, essentially, a cameo and commands attention for the few minutes that he’s on screen.) What’s missing, however, is an authentically unnerving atmosphere that could breed fear or suspense, leaving The Unspoken to flail about in search of scares.” Peter Martin, Screen Anarchy

“In terms of horror, the film’s strongest scenes take place during the home invasion, but this is the kind of scripting where somebody thinks up a brutal way to maim or kill and then assumes they can hang a whole story on it. It’s desperate stuff. Meanwhile, characters come and go but only seem to matter when they’re onscreen.” Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

“Events build to a climax and then that twist, which will probably surprise you, even if it might not be entirely satisfactory. And that’s the problem with Unspoken as a whole – there are some good bits here, and lots of promise, but it doesn’t really hang together.” John Llewellyn Probert, House of Mortal Cinema

IMDb

Amityville: No Escape is a 2016 supernatural American horror film directed by Henrique Couto (Alone in the Ghost House; Haunted House on Sorority Row; Babysitter Massacre) from a screenplay by Ira Gansler (Scarewaves: segment ‘Office Case’).

Main cast:

Joni Durian (Halloween Spookies; Her Name Was Torment 2; Babysitter Massacre), Alia Gabrielle Eckhardt, Allison Egan (Just Your Average Halloween Party; Snuffet; Easter Casket), Ira Gansler, Julia Gomez, Josh Miller, Michael William Ralston, Duane West.

Plot:

A group of college students go into the deep woods by the most haunted town in America to better understand fear – and they found it…

Cast and characters:

• Joni Durian as Sarah Benning
• Alia Gabrielle Eckhardt as Lisa Sheets
• Allison Egan as Elizabeth Wells
• Ira Gansler as Woodsman
• Julia Gomez as Lina
• Josh Miller as George Wells
• Michael William Ralston as Simon Tressler
• Duane West as Tim

Wikipedia | IMDb | Facebook

‘The most frightening thing about Jacob Singer’s nightmare is that he isn’t dreaming.’

Jacob’s Ladder is a 1990 American horror film written by Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost; Deadly Friend), directed by Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction) and starring Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña and Danny Aiello. The film’s title refers to the biblical story of Jacob’s Ladder, or the dream of a meeting place between Heaven and Earth.

A remake, directed by David M. Rosenthal and starring Michael Ealy, is set to be released in 2017.

Plot:

Divorced Vietnam veteran turned postman Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) is disturbed when he begins to be plagued by bizarre and violent hallucinations, both of the family he has abandoned and a bloody battle he could not previously remember. The images are so strong that the line between past and present, real and unreal, begins to dissolve. Desperate for help, Jacob turns to his ex-wife, Sarah, and chiropractor Louis (Danny Aiello)…

Made by an independent film company Carolco Pictures ten years after being written by Rubin, Jacob’s Ladder drew from several inspirations for its story and effects, including the short film An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and the paintings of Francis Bacon, and as a modern interpretation of the Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State, the Tibetan Book of the Dead:

Rubin explained: “The inspiration in a sense is my entire spiritual upbringing. Once you have a meditative life you start to see that the world is really far different than what it appears to be. What appears to be finite is really couched in the infinite, and the infinite imbues everything in our lives.” Before writing his scripts for Jacob’s Ladder and Ghost, which too was released in 1990, the Jewish-born Rubin spent two years in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Nepal.

Though only a moderately successful upon release, the film garnered a cult following and became a source of influence for a number of other works, notably the horror media franchise Silent Hill.

According to Lyne’s audio commentary on the Blu-ray, test screenings indicated that the initial version of the film was overwhelming for the audience. In response, about 20 minutes of disturbing scenes, mostly from the last third of the film, were deleted from the final cut. These are provided as extras on the Blu-ray disc.

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“This is a fascinating film, not only for what it achieves, but for what it avoids. Psychological thrillers play tricks as entertainment. Often the trickery becomes the raison d’etre. Here, there are no tricks. Within the framework of an extraordinary story, which lays itself open to cinematic indulgence, the overriding factor is integrity.” Angus Wolfe Murray, Eye for Film

“Jacob’s Ladder is so ‘dark’ it sucks Robbins right down with it. By the time Jacob is being strapped to a bed and wheeled down a hospital corridor strewn with bloody limbs, it’s hard to care whether the Orwellian image is a hallucination or not. You just want out.” Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

“Beautifully designed by Fatal Attraction helmer Lyne, Jacob’s Ladder feels like an offbeat slice of post-hippy experimentation retooled for the MTV generation: what it lacks in depth and subtlety, it more than makes up for in shock tactics and woozy unpredictability, all anchored in Robbins’s wide-eyed and pitiable central turn.” Tom Huddleston, Time Out

“This movie was not a pleasant experience, but it was exhilarating in the sense that I was able to  observe filmmakers working at the edge of their abilities and inspirations. Not every movie has to be fun.” Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

“Despite Robbins good performance and impressive visions of New York circa 1971 as Hell, this is ultimately more annoying than affecting, betraying the superficial grime-as-glamour razzamataz that sunk Alan Parker’s Angel Heart (1987) into an identical mire of pompous post-generic sludge.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Cast and characters:

• Tim Robbins as Jacob “Professor” Singer
• Elizabeth Peña as Jezebel “Jezzie” Pipkin
• Danny Aiello as Louis Denardo
• Matt Craven as Michael Newman
• Pruitt Taylor Vince as Paul
• Jason Alexander as Mr. Geary, the lawyer
• Patricia Kalember as Sarah
• Eriq La Salle as Frank
• Ving Rhames as George
• Brian Tarantina as Doug
• Anthony Alessandro as Rod
• Brent Hinkley as Jerry
• S. Epatha Merkerson as Elsa
• Kyle Gass as Tony
• Lewis Black as Jacob’s doctor
• Perry Lang as Jacob’s assailant
• Macaulay Culkin (uncredited) as Gabe Singer

Wikipedia | IMDb | Related: Silent Hill Revelation 3D

Post by Will Holland

‘The good. The bad. The Satanic.’

Ghost Town is a 1988 American horror film directed by Australian Richard McCarthy [as Richard Governor] and [uncredited] Mac Ahlberg. The script was written by Duke Sandefur (Necronaut; The Phantom of the Opera), based on a story by David Schmoeller (Puppet Master; Crawlspace; Tourist Trap) for Empire Pictures.

According to the book Empire of the ‘B’s, director McCarthy (who had only previously directed an Australian edition of Benny Hill) allegedly discarded the script and improvised whole scenes before either walking out or being thrown off the production.

In the US, the film was released by Transworld on November 11, 1988 in a limited release, only showing on eight screens. New World Pictures released it on VHS. A US Blu-ray was released in July 2016 by Shout! Factory.

Buy: Amazon.com

Main cast:

Franc Luz (The Nest), Catherine Hickland (Witchery; Robowar; Werewolf TV series), Jimmie F. Skaggs (Dead End; Hollow Man; Puppet Master), Bruce Glover (Simon Says; Die Hard Dracula; Night of the Scarecrow), Zitto Kazann, Blake Conway, Laura Schaefer, Michael Alldredge.

Plot:

Young bride to be Kate Barrett is kidnapped off of a desert road. Deputy Langley is assigned to find the young woman. Once Langley tracks down Kate, the two find themselves stuck in literally in the past. The two must find out how to destroy the evil that has plagued the “ghost town” for decades or just become a page of the towns horrible history themselves…

Reviews:

” …the movie is beautifully photographed by Mac Ahlberg; and the performances are convincing. What starts out as an interesting premise, however, soon turns into a run-of-the-mill, Saturday-afternoon bad-guy western–the only difference being that here the villains are zombies.” TV Guide

“Though a little slow-paced and adequately acted, the film has a nice ghost-town atmosphere, thanks to Ahlberg’s clever blending, as in his work on Prison, of genre conventions so that typical Western images work in a horror-movie context.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

” …it conjures up an atmosphere not unlike two other late-period Empire chillers: Prison and Catacombs. But Ghost Town is easily the least of the three (in spite of a superbly-realised dream sequence midway through) and ultimately a missed opportunity. Shame.” Empire of the ‘B’s

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

“The pacing for this movie is extremely slow, I swear they shot the scene when he walks to the town in real time, cos it takes close to 15 minutes for him to get there and the whole scene is spliced with stock footage of spiders, birds, snakes, crows, and scorpions. Save for Bruce Glover who plays a Wise Blind Man named the “Dealer”, most of the acting in this ranges from bland to horrible.” Tom, Shit Movie Fest

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Franc Luz as Langley
• Catherine Hickland as Kate
• Jimmie F. Skaggs as Devlin
• Bruce Glover as Dealer
• Zitto Kazann as Blacksmith
• Blake Conway as Harper
• Laura Schaefer as Etta
• Michael Alldredge as Bubba

Filming locations:

Old Tucson Studios, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Axe Murders of Villisca is a 2016 American horror film directed by Tony E. Valenzuela (creator of the genre YouTube channel BlackBoxTV), making his feature-length directorial debut. It was written by Owen Egerton (Follow), based on a story by Kevin Abrams and Tony E. Valenzuela. It produced by Seth Caplan and was formerly known as Villisca.

IFC Midnight has picked up North American rights whilst production company Film Mode Entertainment has retained international rights.

Main cast:

Robert Adamson (Dr. Chopper), Jarrett Sleeper (Fight of the Living Dead), Alex Frnka, Riley Bodenstab, Kellan Rhude, Conchata Ferrell (Two and Half Men; Krampus), Jon Gries, Urs Inauen, Claude Knowlton.

Plot:

The Axe Murders of Villisca focuses on the paranormal repercussions of what many consider to be one of the most horrifying unsolved murders in the United States. Now used as a tourist destination, the Villisca Axe Murder House has terrified visitors from around the world and is considered one of the most haunted houses in America.

The film follows the present day story of three troubled teens who decide to break in and spend the night at the house, forever changing who they are and what is known about the original murders…

IMDb

Ghost Stories is a 2017 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Jeremy Dyson (The League of Gentlemen) and Andy Nyman. It is a cinematic adaptation of the stage show of the same name, which last ran at The Arts Theatre, near Leicester Square, in London in 2015.

Main cast:

Martin Freeman (Cargo; Hot Fuzz; Shaun of the Dead), Alex Lawther, Andy Nyman (ABCs of Death 2: segment ‘A’; Black Death; Severance), Paul Whitehouse (Burke and Hare; Corpse Bride), Amy Doyle, Ryan Oliva (Heretiks; Howl; The Seasoning House), Ramzan Miah, Emily Carding (Scareycrows), Maria Major.

Plot:

Having stumbled across a long-lost file containing details of three cases of inexplicable ‘hauntings’, Professor Phillip Goodman, an arch sceptic, embarks upon a terror-filled quest to find the truth…

IMDb

‘Evil loves the lonely’

Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl is a 2016 American gothic horror film written, co-produced and directed by A.D. Calvo (House of Dust; The Midnight Game). The film’s working title was Sitter.

Calvo explained his intentions to IndieWire: “This film is an effort to examine how, little by little, one can go from being conscientious and considerate to being careless and ambivalent. How, over time, slips in one’s moral compass can lead to lapses in judgment; perhaps even lead to evil.

The story juxtaposes the material desires of a poor young woman with the physical needs of her wealthy elderly aunt. So, really, this is just the age-old social security debate, which is as relevant in today’s political climate as it was back in 1980.”

Main cast:

Quinn Shephard, Susan Kellermann, Erin Wilhelmi, Rob Tunstall, Mike S. Ryan, Frances Eve, Kristin Johansen, Hada Vanessa, Jonathan Holtzman,  Lainie Ventura, Adam Schartoff, David Pirrie, A.J. Helm, Matt Goyette.

Plot:

When Adele’s mother gets a call for help from her rich sister, she sends Adele to live with her. Alone in a large, empty house, shuttling food and medicine to a woman who won’t leave her room or show her face, Adele grows lonely.

She meets a local young woman, Beth, seductive and mysterious, with whom she quickly becomes intimate friends. Beth commands increasingly more of Adele’s time and focus, testing Adele’s moral ground as she starts to abandon her responsibilities caring for her aunt.

As Adele begins to discover that Beth may not be who she says she is, she is sent spiraling down a psychologically unhinged and phantasmagoric path, following in the footsteps of her unstable aunt…

Reviews:

“Calvo takes horror fans back to a period of cinema that was short-lived and almost impossible to recreate fully. If one is not a fan of those slow-paced, moody and cerebral offerings, then this will not change your mind. Those who appreciate that side of the genre will find something rare and delightful. It is a stylistic achievement, and in the end, a melancholy exploration of just what the title promises – loneliness.” Ben Larned, Bloody Disgusting

“Unfortunately, Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl’s solid cast and admittedly great sense of mood and atmosphere fail to elevate the film above its disappointing story and lack severe lack of narrative punch. With a bit more narrative fine tuning Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl could have been something really special, but now all we are left with is a seemingly hollow experience.” Dane Williams, Caffeinated Film

“Calvo (who also scripted) steers away from the conventions of the well-worn good girl/bad girl buddy movie, and instead lets the light of each enhance and accentuate their own shadowy traits. It’s in little moments, like Beth’s hobby of taking tombstone rubbings, or the way Adele rifles through the housekeeping money, that Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl is chillingly captivating.” Richard Whittaker, The Austin Chronicle

“There is some great stuff here, and while I’m loath to criticize a film simply for a botched finale, there is no getting away from the giant misstep in the final act of Sweet Sweet Lonely Girl. I’m sure it looked good on the page, and there was probably some way of realizing it without it appearing so absurd, but I can’t help but think of this film as a wasted opportunity.” Simon Read, Quiet Earth

“Calvo’s latest has a vintage horror vibe to it that works. It’s a silent chill that rushes up your spine out of nowhere. So focused on nailing the effective atmosphere, though, the narrative is left exposed to plot holes … This isn’t a literal ghost story, but it the haunting, atmospheric elements that invoke classic ‘70s fare is the most compelling aspect of the film.” Meagan Navarro, Modern Horrors

“Calvo keeps things vague, implying some sort of satanic connection to the proceedings along with a good old fashioned ghost story, but he can’t get past the hurdle of getting out from under his own influences, crafting a well-made independent horror film that continually hits a ceiling of quality.” C.J. Prince, We Live Film

Filming locations:

Rockville, Vernon, Connecticut, USA

IMDb | Official site | Facebook

‘Welcome home.’

Behind the Walls is a 2017 American supernatural horror film written and directed by James and Jon Kondelik (Dam Sharks!; All Hallows’ Eve 2).

Main cast:

Vanessa Angel (Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft; Monster Night; Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys), Hutch Dano, Reggie Lee, Lew Temple, Bailey Spry, Taylor Autumn Bertman, Jayne Taini, Mason Mahay, Tim Curcio, Tim Soergel, Joseph Gilbert.

Plot:

Years it has waited, now someone’s moved in. Through the eyes of the evil within we witness a broken family desperately seeking a new beginning, in a new home, but this house lives, watches and wants them to stay – forever…

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‘Don’t follow too close’

Ghosthunters is a 2016 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Pearry Reginald Teo (The Curse of Sleeping Beauty; Dracula: The Dark Prince; Necromentia).

In the UK, the film was released on DVD on 5 July 2016 by The Asylum.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Main cast:

Francesca Santoro (My Haunted House TV series), Stephen Manley (Crucible of Terror), David O’Donnell (Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark; Halloween Knight), Phyllis Spielman, Liz Fenning, Crystal Web, Kjai Block, Kim Shannon, Kris Marconi, Anna Harr.

Plot:

Henry (Stephen Manley), a paranormal investigator, recently lost his wife Martha (Phyllis Spielman) and daughter Gabby (Anna Harr) to captured and convicted serial killer Nightstalker, who enjoys torturing and killing his victims while dressed as a plague doctor. Henry asks his friend Neal (David O’Donnell) to help him use a machine he designed which can capture and convert ghosts into ectoplasm.

After the funeral of his family, Henry meets with Neal, Neal’s reporter girlfriend Amy (Francesca Santoro), machine programmer Jessica (Liz Fenning), and Devon (Web Crystal) at the Nightstalker’s house. The team sees many ghosts with their devices which includes ghost vision goggles. They finally manage to capture a ghost.

Devon becomes uncomfortable with the idea and leaves, but is killed by an unknown ghost. Amy begins to gain psychic abilities every time the machine is used. She sees how the Nightstalker killed his victims and senses a dark presence which is not a ghost, but she believes is the spirit of the Nightstalker…

Reviews:

“Unfortunately, Ghosthunters is a disappointing dip into dullness for the director.  Production value is ok, albeit movie-of-the-week quality.  But the story is so lazy and the acting tuned so carelessly high that the final film reads as a passionless rush job with no memorable merit to speak of.” Culture Crypt

“The film’s only small flaw is a retread of a montage featuring what may be Gabby getting killed and the Night Stalker, which is seen quite a few times in different spots. However, getting past that, the film smoothly transitions into a twist that is unexpected and shocking that it delves into insanity, ultimately making this one of the stronger titles from the Asylum.” World Film Geek

“The editing was coherent and I found it refreshing that this horror film didn’t follow the stereotypical formula of ‘everyone splits up and dies one-by-one in a predictably boring fashion’. Stephen Manley has no trouble carrying the lead role and is dynamic and believable.” J. Henry, Amazon.com

Interviews:

Actor Stephen Manley talks to Brad Slaton for Terror Time

Cast and characters:

• Francesca Santoro as Amy
• Stephen Manley as Henry
• David O’Donnell as Neal
• Liz Fenning as Jessica
• Web Crystal as Devon
• Phyllis Spielman as Martha
• Anna Harr as Gabby
• Kim Shannon as Sally
• Aaron Moses as Stanley

Filming locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘They didn’t picture this’

Polaroid is a 2017 supernatural American-Norwegian horror film directed by Lars Klevberg, based on his 2015 short of the same title (see trailer below). The screenplay is by Blair Butler (Slasher School TV series; America’s Next Top Zombie Idol).

The Dimension Films-Eldorado Film-Vertigo Entertainment co-production has an anticipated release date of 25 August 2017.

Plot:

A high school loner, Bird Fitcher, stumbles upon a vintage Polaroid camera. She soon realises that the camera holds a terrible secret: whoever has their picture taken by it meets a tragic and violent end.
Bird and her friends must survive one more night as they race to solve the mystery of the paranormal Polaroid before it kills them all…

IMDb

‘Prey for the children’

Out of the Dark is a 2014 English-language Spanish-Colombian supernatural horror film directed by Lluís Quílez based on a screenplay by Alex Pastor, David Pastor, and Javier Gullón. It stars Julia Stiles (The Omen; Wicked), Scott Speedman (The Monster; The Moth Diaries; The Strangers), Stephen Rea (Asylum; Werewolf: The Beast Among Us; Underworld: Awakening) and Pixie Davies. The Colombian/Spanish title is Aguas rojas (“Red Water”).

Opening plot:

In 1992, Doctor Contreras Sr. (Elkin Díaz) prepares to abandon a finca in Santa Clara, Colombia. On the second floor, he is chased by a group of children, falling to his death impaled on a spike when he is pushed from the balcony.

Twenty years later, Sara (Julia Stiles) and Paul (Scott Speedman) move from the UK to Santa Clara with their daughter, Hannah. Sara is to be the new manager at a paper mill that her father Jordan (Stephen Rea) owns. They move into the finca, which is owned by the company, and adore it. However, Hannah is frightened by the open dumbwaiter in the wall of her room…

Reviews:

” …a handsome enough package that makes decent use of locations. The lead actors are solid as usual, but you can feel them all knocking their heads against the low ceiling of material that’s afraid to take any risks — playing it so safe that the film ends up lacking anything in the way of real personality, scares or plot surprises.” Dennis Harvey, Variety

“The film does have something to say about hubris and how conquistadors (in this case white people) feel the need to civilize local populations (whether they want to be or not). Like most of the story, this message is delivered in a foreseeable way, hitting beats that harken back to films like The Devil’s Backbone and The Orphanage.” Patrick Cooper, Bloody Disgusting

“Stylishly filmed and often scary, Out of the Dark unspools a conclusion as conventional and button-down as a wide tie knot and a pair of wingtips.” Chris Packham, The Village Voice

“From its generic title to its familiar child in distress storyline to its hackneyed depiction of things going bump in the night, Out of the Dark is thoroughly forgettable. But at least everyone involved got a nice trip out of it.” Franck Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter

” …director Lluís Quílez is too in love with Isaac Vila’s rich location cinematography to make the tale meaningful or suspenseful. In hurrying to hammer home its point about big business and threatened environments, Out of the Dark forgets to be interesting.” Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

“The sweat of three writers and the acting chops of Stephen Rea still don’t come close to earning Out of the Dark a passing grade. Derivative and devoid of tension, this stagey first feature from the Spanish director Lluís Quílez mystifies solely on account of its R rating.” Jeanette Catsoulis, The New York Times

“For a feature that pushes 90-plus minutes, there are more than just a few slogging scenes, unfortunately with little or no reward at the end, and performance wise, the three-headed dragon consisting of Stiles, Speedman and Rea limps harmlessly through the film with little Pixie providing the early chops to outshine them all.” Matt Boiselle, Dread Central

Main cast and characters:

• Julia Stiles as Sarah Harriman
• Scott Speedman as Paul Harriman
• Stephen Rea as Jordan
• Pixie Davies as Hannah Harriman
• Alejandro Furth as Dr. Andres Contreras, Jr.
• Guillermo Morales Vitola

Production:

Principal filming took place in Colombia between April 2013 and July 2013, followed by post-production. The film premiered at Germany’s Fantasy Filmfest on August 27, 2014.

Filming locations:

Honda, Tolima, Colombia

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Beyond time, love never dies.’

Curse of the Phoenix is a 2014 British supernatural horror film directed by Robert Young (Bloodmonkey; Hammer House of Horror: ‘Charlie Boy’; Vampire Circus) from a screenplay by Hugh Janes. It was filmed with the working title The Wraithe.

The film will be released on DVD in the UK as Ghost Ship by High Fliers Films on 20 March 2017.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Main cast:

Joseph Sentance, Sheena May, Kate Young, James Kennan, Fawn James, Lizzie Stables, Kevin Horsham (Theatre of Fear), Kevin Johnson.

Plot:

A romantic young man, Josh (Joseph Sentance), is haunted by a strange, beautiful apparition – The Wraithe. She believes Josh is her lost true love and tries to claim him for herself, therefore putting Josh and any woman close to him, in mortal danger…

Reviews:

“Likable, down to earth characters that act somewhat like real people. Spooky scenes on the ship are well shot and has a great ambiance. An interesting paranormal mystery that has an air of classic literature to it. A slow burn, but has a good enough momentum to keep you engaged.” Geek Legion of Doom

Filming locations:

Plymouth, Devon, England, UK
Cornwall, England, UK

IMDb | Official site

‘Some doors, once opened can never be closed again’

We Go On is a 2016 American paranormal horror film written, edited and directed by Jesse Holland (The Crooked Man; Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear; YellowBrickRoad) and Andy Mitton (The Vermont House; Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear; YellowBrickRoad). It stars Clark Freeman, Annette O’Toole (It; Cat People) and John Glover (Gremlins 2).

Paralyzed by his fear of dying, Miles Grissom (Clark Freeman) is offering reward money to the first person who can show him a ghost, an angel, a demon – anything to prove to him that we go on after our deaths.

Miles narrows the responses down to three viable candidates – a scientist, a medium, and a worldly entrepreneur. And along with his protective mother, he embarks on an adventure through Los Angeles that will spiral into an unthinkable nightmare…

In the US, the film is released on Blu-ray/DVD on April 4, 2017, by Lightyear Entertainment.

Buy: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“As with Yellowbrickroad, a sort of slasher pic minus the usual cheap thrills, We Go On provokes both admiration and some annoyance with its meandering, occasionally cryptic storytelling […] though O’Toole, creating a fully rounded, relatable character despite some implausible writing, does much to keep the proceedings psychologically grounded.” Dennis Harvey, Variety

“It’s great to see a ghost hunting film that isn’t just a bunch of film students running around an abandoned asylum. It’s a film where the character actually has motivation and purpose for the ghost hunting. Miles is a sympathetic character rather than a pitiable one which makes all the difference, you’re along for the journey, his quest into the paranormal.” Christopher Stewart, UK Horror Scene

“We Go On takes you in several directions and each one is satisfying. There is a lot of creeping horror and plenty of authentic ghost story elements to go around. I really found myself enjoying the fact that those elements were all intertwined with family bonds, love and an interesting look at the afterlife.” Trey Hillburn III, iHorror.com

Filming locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

IMDb | Facebook

‘She’s here’

Dead Bride is a 2017 Italian supernatural horror film written and directed by Francesco Picone (Age of the Dead aka Anger of the Dead; shorts: Martyn; Io sono morta).

We currently have no other credits or plot details but will update as soon as known. In the meantime, the trailer below is self-explanatory.

IMDb

‘Would you stay or move out if your neighborhood had ghosts?’

LaddaLand aka Ladda Land – Thai: ลัดดาแลนด์ – is a 2011 Thai horror film directed by Sophon Sakdaphisit (ThirTEEN Terrors TV series; Coming Soon; writer of 2004 Shutter) from a screenplay co-written with Sopana Chaowwiwatkul (Phobia 2). It stars Saharat Sangkapreecha, Piyathida Woramusik and Sutatta Udomsilp.

The film is based on an urban legend, believed by many locals to have taken place in Chiang Mai late last century, about a family who moves into a new house where they gradually begin to encounter paranormal events. It was very successful in Thailand where it was the number one film in the country on its opening week.

Forty-ish marketer Thee (Saharath Sangkapreecha), his wife Parn (Piyathida Woramusik), his rebellious teenage daughter Nan (Suthatta Udomsilp) and lively young son Nat (Apipich Chutiwatkajornchai) moving from Bangkok to Laddaland, an upmarket housing estate.

Convinced his new job with a company that sells dietary supplements is the answer to all his troubles, Thee ignores Parn’s legitimate concern over hefty mortgage payments; he also believes the move will lift Nan’s deep-seated resentment of him and his wife, who left the girl with her grandmother for much of her childhood.

Following the grisly murder of a Burmese housemaid and Thee’s unpleasant encounter with wife-beating next-door neighbour Somkiat (Sahajak Boonthanakit), ghosts start appearing before Nan, who is unable to convince her parents that she’s making up these supernatural incidents…

Buy DVD: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

” …Thai horror Laddaland is hiply designed and assembled, cost-effective, functional and cozily familiar. Director Sophon Sakdaphisit (who co-wrote The Shutter and directed another clever horror Coming Soon) fuses stock genre conventions with kitchen sink drama in a credible and moving way… Maggie Lee, The Hollywood Reporter

“Like Dream Home, it presents a horror-veiled satirical take on the plight of regular folk hoping to own real estate in today’s economy, but its humanistic heart echoes Kurosawa’s depiction of overwhelming external forces dismantling the unity of an otherwise loving family. Laddaland is good enough to overcome its aggressively sentimental final act…” Teresa Nieman, Screen Anarchy

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com

“Keeping gore to a minimum, the pic maintains a consistent air of malevolence, and is well served by a precision-tooled soundscape that raises goosebumps with perfectly timed whooshes and ear-splitting screeches. Classy widescreen lensing by Kittiwat Semarat varies impressively from glossy magazine-like imagery of the Laddaland when Thee and family arrive, to moody pictures of interiors where menacing creatures hold sway.” Richard Kuipers, Variety

Wikipedia | IMDb

Wait Till Helen Comes – aka Little Girl’s Secret – is a 2016 horror film directed by Dominic James from a screenplay by Victoria Sanchez Mandryk. It is adapted from the book by Mary Downing Hahn. It stars Maria Bello (Lights Out; Demonic; The Dark), Sophie Nélisse and Isabelle Nélisse.

The film was released across Canada on 25 November 2016. TriCoast Studios are handling worldwide distribution across various platforms including DVD and video-on-demand.

Plot:

A young girl, Molly (Sophie Nélisse) move to a converted church in the countryside with her mother and new stepfather (Callum Keith Rennie). Her new dad, Dave, came with a new step sister, teenager Heather (Isabelle Nélisse). Gradually exploring the area around their new home, Heather explores the graveyard to their church house.

In the graveyard she meets a seemingly friendly ghost named Helen. However, Helen is no friend. She is actually just trying to lure Heather to drown, so that she can take her soul. Young Molly is the only one aware of this, and when she tries to tell her mom and brother, they think she’s delusional…

Reviews:

“This movie was so damn dark! I don’t mean thematically. I mean that it was often hard to see what was going on in the movie because it never seemed to occur to anyone to turn on a light! I get the point, of course. This was a horror movie and everyone’s scared of the dark. But, after a little while, the constant darkness went from being atmospheric to just being silly.” Lisa Marie Bowman, Through the Shattered Lens

“Young Dickinson is most convincing as the initially skeptical little brother […] Director Dominic James and his crew make the most of an atmospheric setting, which is nicely photographed by Rene Ohashi. It and the story take no time to grow and develop, however. Ghost stories should be much less direct.” Wes Connors, IMDb

Cast and characters:

• Maria Bello as Jean
• Sophie Nélisse as Molly
• Callum Keith Rennie as Dave
• Isabelle Nélisse as Heather
• Liam Dickinson as Michael
• Abigail Pniowsky as Helen
• Cassandra Tusa as Teenage Girl #3
• Jerni Stewart as Teenage Girl #2

Filming locations:

Principal photography began on the 28th September 2014 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Wikipedia | IMDb | Facebook

Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell – aka Jigoku no chimidoro Muscle Builder and The Japanese Evil Dead – is a 2009 Japanese supernatural horror film written, directed by and starring Shinichi Fukazawa. It also stars Masaaki Kai and Asako Nosaka.

After a surprise phone call interrupts his daily workout, beefy body builder Shinji agrees to meet his photojournalist ex-girlfriend to help with her research on haunted houses.

Accompanied by a professional psychic, they visit an abandoned house once owned by Shinji’s father.

However, inside the house a dark secret lingers and they find themselves trapped and tormented by a relentless ghost with a thirty year grudge …

In the UK, the film is released on DVD on 24 April 2017 by Terracotta’s Asian horror label ‘Terror Cotta’.

Special Features include a step-by-step artwork gallery by Graham Humphreys (The Evil Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street), original Japanese trailers, an extensive behind-the-scenes photo gallery and two ‘making of’ video clips.

Reviews:

“Gore is splattered across the screen throughout […] frequently delving into stop-motion animation for it’s more elaborate splatter sequences. Many horror comedies fail because they cannot find the correct balance between scares and laughs. Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell sticks to The Evil Dead blueprint by punctuating its comedic situations with buckets of blood.” Ken Wynne, Attack from Planet B

” …a showcase of talents, from Fukazawa’s budget-wary thrills and genre-awareness, to the quality and volume of the effects. Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder in Hell is an extended short film, or a feature film missing reels, either way it feels like the kind of thing that used to hide on the top-shelf of your local video store, which is no easy feat.” Scott Clark, The Forbidden Room

“This movie is very much a product of the late 90’s when it was filmed, the stop-motion effects are actually very good and there is bloody aplenty to go with the gore. The acting is fine too and you do get the feeling that the two leads still have feelings for each other.” David Creed, UK Horror Scene

Trivia:

The film was shot and edited in 8mm, then digital video, over a period of fourteen years!

IMDb

‘Devil on its way’

Kanika is a 2017 Marathi Indian supernatural horror film written and directed by Pushkar Manohar. The latter co-produced with Sandeep Manohar. It stars Sharad Ponkshe, Smita Shewale and Chaitrali Gupte.

A renowned doctor encounters unusual paranormal activity and discovers his colleagues are experiencing the same situation. It transpires that, in the past, he and his entire team misused their knowledge and positions. Their ordeal becomes critical when the team begin to be murdered, one by one. Desperate, the doctor confesses his crime to his loved ones but they refuse to help and he finds himself alone facing a ghostly vengeful presence…

The film was released in India on 31 March 2017. An online review, with English subtitles, by Popcorn Pe Charcha is below.

Main cast:

Sharad Ponkshe, Smita Shewale, Chaitrali Gupte, Kamlakar Saatpute, Aananda Karekar, Falguni Rajni, Vandana Marathe, Nilesh Behere, Kritina Vartak.

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Siam Square is a 2017 Thai horror film directed by Pairach Khumwan. It stars Morakot Liu, Eisaya Hosuwan and Nothasit Kotimanuswanich.

The so-called “Shibuya” of Thailand has been the center of Bangkok for half a century. The shopping centers, hip standalone shops, popular cafes, and restaurants are all there. With increasing competition in the University entrance examination, a lot of cram schools have shot up all over the area, leading to more traffic and activities for teenagers. But when night falls, it becomes the place of an urban legend.

They say that to pass the National Entrance Exam, you have to worship an evil spirit. By tying red threads onto a specific chair, you increase your chances of passing the exam. When a group of nonbelievers find the “red threads chair” in one of the so-called cram schools, they decide to perform the rituals and try to find out what happened.

During the same time, there is a rumour that the evil spirit of a girl who disappeared mysteriously over thirty years ago has now come back and is walking the empty streets late at night. When one of their friends is haunted and dies after an incident, the teenagers try to find out what’s really going on…

Interview:

Director Pairach Khumwan talks to Parinyaporn Pajee for The Nation

Source: Dread Central | Screen Anarchy

‘Hear the fear.’

Dark Signal is a 2016 British horror film directed and edited by Ed Evers-Swindell (Infestation, 2005) from a screenplay co-written with Antony Jones. It stars Siwan Morris, Gareth David-Lloyd and Joanna Ignaczewska.

Deep in the heart of the isolated Welsh valleys, an eerie hush spreads throughout the deserted wilds.

Stranded and terrified, single mother, Kate (Joanna Ignaczewska), finds herself entangled in an ill-thought-out plan: a midnight robbery about to take a dangerous turn. On lookout for her boyfriend, and left trembling in the middle of a secluded forest, she quickly realises she is not alone. With her is the vengeful spirit of a murdered girl…

Meanwhile, across the valley at a local radio station, Ben (Gareth David-Lloyd) and Laurie (Siwan Morris) are midway through their last ever radio show. With the arrival of medium, Carla, and filled with determination to go out with a bang, Laurie and Ben are about to get much more than they bargained for.

Patching together fragments of ghostly sounds, they begin to unravel the clues to a frightening crime before doing do the unthinkable… making contact with the dead.

The film was released on DVD in the UK on 30 May 2016 by Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

In the US, it is released in movie theaters on June 2, 2017 and on VOD and iTunes June 6th.

Reviews:

“Dark Signal is a rare Welsh-born horror that captures the essence of its location beautifully, giving you frights and a pick-n-mix bag of horror tropes thrown at the screen one after another – some working much better than others that can unfortunately detract from the overall experience.” Dave Robinson, Crash Landed

“The Welsh need to be making more horror movies if they maintain this standard. The use of the countryside evokes the isolation of the characters, the accents are unlike anything else on screen out there and the story hits enough points of originality. Too bad the shaky beginning lets it down a notch but overall, a very effective horror and recommended by us.” Mike Out West, Flash Bang

” …it hits or at least attempts to hit the spot more often than it doesn’t, thanks to sprightly direction and a game cast. But its aspirations are somewhat hampered by a sluggish and often unfocused script, a batch of tough-to-root-for characters and, fatally, its delivery of a bogeyman who appears to have no motivation for his boorish behaviour…” Paul Mount, Starburst magazine

” …it stumbles along the way and at times feels more reserved than it should be but it’s slow pace provides the perfect foundation for a sense discomfort to grow. The strong performances elevates the film and it is through the careful nurture by Evers-Swindell that Dark Signal gets a much needed boost.” Jon Dickinson, Scream magazine

“The primary cause of the movie’s failure is in the way it tries to force together two sub-genres; the serial killer with a ghost story, in a completely haphazard and disjointed manner. It almost feels like the writer was trying to pay homage to some of his favourite films, but couldn’t quite figure out how to do it properly.” The Gingernuts of Horror

“Dark Signal is a beautifully shot, well acted film, but the flimsy script, lack of character development and unimaginative killer and supernatural elements let it down massively. By all means give it a watch if you’re a fan if British horror, but prepare to be more frustrated, than scared!” Kriss Pickering, UK Horror Scene

“The slasher element is rather tame despite its tongue snipping and knee breaking and the supernatural theme is pretty much ghostly jump scares and voices through the radio transmitter with a touch of possession thrown in for good measure. It all feels too cobbled together that none of it works as separate ideas, nevermind as a whole.” Bat, Horror Cult Films

“Entertaining, engaging and far more interesting than it first appears Dark Signal is a great British horror export and well worth a watch with its central character Laurie joining a pantheon of radio DJ horror heroes facing their fears and transforming the meaning of FM into F*cking Mental.” Love Horror

Main cast:

Siwan Morris, Gareth David-Lloyd (Doctor Who), Joanna Ignaczewska, Duncan Pow, Cinzia Monreale (The Stendhal Syndrome; The Beyond; Beyond the Darkness), Eleanor Gecks,  James Cosmo, Sioned Jones, Amelie Leroy, Kai Coleman, Jennifer Moylan-Taylor, Malcolm Raeburn, Douglas Durdle, Genna Loskutnikov, Luing Andrews.

Filming locations:

Llandudno, Conwy, Wales, UK
Ruabon, Wrexham, Wales, UK (farm house)
Snowdonia National Park, Snowdonia, Gwynedd, Wales, UK

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