Writer: Michael S Murphey, Joel Soisson, Rhet Topham (Screenplay) Rhet Topham (Story)
Starring: Marc Price, Tony Fields, Lisa Orgolini, Doug Savant, Elanie Joyce, Glen Morgan, Gene Simmons, Ozzy Osbourne
Plot: A bullied teenage boy is devastated after the death of his heavy metal idol, Sammi Curr. But as Hallowe’en night approaches, he discovers that he may be the only one who can stop Sammi from making a Satanic comeback from beyond the grave.
Tagline – A deadly obsession turns into a spine tingling horror!
Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Trick or Treat starts as we meet bullied high school rock music fan Eddie (Price) that has an obsession with heavy metal star Sammi Curr (Fields), who dies suddenly in a fire. Eddie not wanting to believe he is dead, finds himself getting messages from his records, messages that will lead to his enemies suffering, as Eddie starts getting his revenge on the people that have bullied him in the past.
Thoughts on Trick or Treat
Thoughts – Trick or Treat is a horror movie that will dive into the 1980s fear of rock music creating evil upon the world, with a heavy metal star reacting from beyond the grave to get revenge for a tormented high school bully victim. This will bring to life the idea of evil being transferred between music, which in the modern era of music, just wouldn’t be a thing. When it comes to the horror side of things, we get to see how an unknown evil with start to possess people, becoming part of the problem within the world, striking fear in the neighbourhood and the bullies. This is one of the films that does seem to have dated in the levels we would imagine it to have, without needing to be one that needed to stand the test of time. We dp get to see a couple of unique kill moments, that we haven’t seen since and fit this film perfectly.
Final Thoughts – Trick or Treat is a wacky horror that feels like the perfect 1980s horror.
Plot: An aspiring fashion designer is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something darker.
Tagline – A Murder in the Past. A Mystery in the Future.
Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Last Night in Soho starts when small town young woman Eloise (McKenzie) gets to travel to London to study fashion like her late mother and grandmother once did. Once in London Eloise finds the university life difficult forcing her to move out of the student housing, renting a room in Soho.
Eloise finds herself falling asleep and transported back into the 1960s, in following the life of beautiful young woman Sandie (Taylor-Joy) as she looks to make an impact in showbusiness, only for things to take a dark turn, as Eloise must figure out what happened in the 1960s.
Thoughts on Last Night in Soho
Characters & Performances – Eloise is the young student who is leaving her small village to head to London to study fashion, she has had a difficult life with her parent’s death and her grandmother raising her, but always pushing her to follow her dream. Ellie is a complete fish out of water in the London and the student housing, not prepared for the parties and lacking the social skills for the wild parties. She decides to move out and find her own little place for peace and quiet for studying, but finds her transported to the 1960s, following the life of a beautiful woman navigating that world, getting caught up in what happened to her, leaving her questioning her own sanity as the worlds start to collide. Thomasin McKenzie is brilliant in this role, her ability to bring the innocent side to her character to life in this hectic world is a joy to watch. Sandie is the beautiful young woman wanting to make an impact in the entertaining business in the 1960s, she turns heads when she walks into any room, has an amazing voice and is driven to achieve her dreams. She however falls into the trap many women did in that era, where she is pushed into looking after certain men, which will drive the fear that Eloise is going through in this world. Anya Taylor-Joy is brilliant, being the opposite to Thomasin with the confidence to walk into any room, almost being everything Thomasin wants. When it comes to the supporting cast, we have Jack, who becomes Sandie’s manager in this 1960s, pushing her into the world she isn’t prepared for. Matt Smith does bring this sleezy figure to life her, being the typical 60s lady’s man. John is a fellow student that hasn’t seemed to fit in and seems to be the only genuine person at this university, offering friendship to Ellie, which nobody else her age offers her. Michael Ajao gives one of the best supporting performances of the year, bringing us the laughs needed, while being an honest person in a chaotic world. With the crime happening, we get suspects that Eloise looks to look into in the modern world, along with the selfish fellow students who look down on Eloise’s small town up bringing. The whole film is performed very well, with everyone getting their chance to shine.
Story – The story here follows a young student struggling with life in London and university, which will see her find her own place, leading her to transport herself into the 1960s, thrown into a bigger mystery about another woman’s life. This is a story that will see the human struggles of moving to a big town from a small town, showing the adapting difficulties she is facing, while chasing her dreams. The other side of the story comes down to the mystery about what happened in the 1960s, which starts as a dream turning into a nightmare for Eloise which will see the question of reality put into the story for Eloise. This is a story that will keep you guessing along the way, as we wait to see where things could end up going.
Themes – Last Night in Soho is a stylish horror thriller that will use sci-fi elements to create the different time worlds we are entertaining, with the London location showing just how maniac London can be, from the 1960s world, to the modern one. This is a film that uses the two time periods to show us the different worlds, how things have changed, but will have the same problems in. when it comes to the horror, it will have large moments that could be seen as nightmare fuel, with the figures haunting Eloise, while the everyday horrors could be just as scary.
Final Thoughts – Last Night in Soho is a stylish horror that is a showcase to the 60s with plenty of mystery.
Plot: In the fall of 1960, Father Thomas Riley and Father John Thornton were sent by the Vatican to investigate a miraculous event in an Irish home for ‘fallen women’, only to uncover something much more horrific.
Tagline – This Is Not Found Footage. It Has Been Supressed by the Catholic Church for the Last 58 Years
Runtime: 1 Hour 16 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Devil’s Doorway starts with Father Thomas (Roddy) and Father John (Flynn) heading to a small Irish ministry, one that has a reputation for mistreating the women who has found themselves within the walls.
When the strange events start happening with the statues around the ministry starting to bleed, with the blood proving to being from a pregnant woman.
Thoughts on The Devil’s Doorway
Final Thoughts –The Devil’s Doorway is shot like a found footage film, which plays out like we are watching the recordings of something shot a long time ago, with the idea being in the 1960s, this does help give us the true found footage feeling we don’t always get. Using the church for the story seems to be more of an attack on what certain churches have done in the past, showing the many secrets that could have happened. Diving into the possession side of things is always going to struggle to make an impact, as the sub-genre has been done way too many times. The acting however, does make us feel like we are watching real priest that are unsure of the truth, which is great to watch. When it comes to the horror we get a mix of voices from behind the camera, or things that happen off camera, with only the reaction left to give us the judgement on what is going on.
Starring: Adam Burns, Allen C Gardner, Matthew Gilliam, Matt Mercer, Nathan Ross murphy, Drew Paslay
Plot: At a rented house, Eddie and his best friends unite for his bachelor party. The next day, though, a fight for sanity and survival begins when they discover there are snipers outside the house and a ghost inside, none of whom want the guys to leave.
Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Cold Feet starts when Eddie (Gardner) is on his bachelor party, at a rented home with his pals, Johnny (Burns), Jeff (Gilliam), Boyd (Mercer), Neil (Murphy), Kyle (Paslay), Mason (Stiller) and Ben (Arrendondo). What starts as the typical boys weekend, with drinks and a stripper, the morning after is a different day.
The morning will find the stripper dead, snipers outside the house and a ghost that is jumping between bodies, with the guys losing their memories during the events.
Thoughts on Cold Feet
Thoughts – Cold Feet brings us the bachelor party gone wrong, as the friendships will be tested, reputation will continue to follow the characters around, but the unite between the guys is what will be important to keep everything together for the friends, during an unexplained series of events, ones that they will want to hold together to survive. When it comes to what is going on with the ghost jumping between bodies, the need to try and figure out how to make it through the situation, with knowledge that only friends would know about each other. Where the random idea of snipers or gunmen outside the home happens, will see strange, not always adding much more other than trapping the friends in the home. The performances in the film are great, with the friends all coming off like natural friends, right down to the ‘sorry Neil’ line, which everyone is in on, which keeps the friendship in the jolly style, rather than that awkward one, where some people might not be as close as others. The comedy in the film hits when it needs to, not going to heavy on it, while the horror plays into the horror, rather than giving us any scares along the way.
Final Thoughts – Cold Feet is an enjoyable horror comedy, constantly leaving us surprised with what happens next.
Writer: Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist (Screenplay)
Starring: Amelia Dudley, Taylor Turner, Greg Schweers, Beau Minniear, Erik Bloomquist, Madeleine Dauer, Jeffrey Fryer, Charles Rosenay
Plot: Fraternal twins spend a hellish night at the remote inn their father disappeared from the night they were born.
Runtime: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Night at the Eagle Inn starts when twins Sarah (Dudley) and Spencer (Turner) head to a remote inn where their father disappeared when they were born, they have returned in search for answers, after spending their time researching the events of that night.
As the siblings spend more time in the Inn, they find themselves meeting the ghosts that roam the halls, including meeting their father, who has been trapped in his own living hell for their whole lives. Now the twins need to figure out how to escape this place or face being trapped in their own hell too.
Thoughts on Night at the Eagle Inn
Characters & Performances – Sarah and Spencer are twins that are looking for answers about what happened to their parents, they have been together for their whole lives without them and are filled with the confidence in their search for answers, they aren’t prepared for what they find, needing to use their ability to stay together and support each other to make it out alive. Amelia Dudley and Taylor Turner do both have excellent chemistry together, making it feel like we are watching real twins go about their lives. When it comes to the other characters, they are people met around the Inn, they all other ideas on what could be happening.
Story – The story here follows twins who go in search for answers about what happened to their parents in the same inn they are attending for answers, only to find themselves getting trapped in their own living hell. This is a story that is wanting to channel the haunted hotel world, we have seen done elsewhere before. Turned into a mystery solving story about wanting to learn about what happened to their parents, giving away enough to be disturbing, showing what would happen if you opened pandora’s box. This is a story that will work well for a shorter movie, keeping the story wanting to give us more as the story keeps rolling on.
Themes – Night at the Eagle Inn is a horror thriller that will use the location of a remote inn to create the horror created in this film. Most of the horror comes from the uncertainty of what is going on, with the dread created from being in this world and what it planned for the victims to go through.
Final Thoughts – Night at the Eagle Inn is a horror filled with dread from the moment they enter the inn.
Writer: Jacob Coen, Steph Du Melo, Roger Wyatt (Screenplay)
Starring: Lara Lemon, Francis Magee, Lucy Drive, Melissa Hollett, Jamie Langlands, Tom Clear
Plot: When a young girl called Eve gets kidnapped and imprisoned in a dungeon-like basement, the police believe it is the work of the notorious Pied Piper.
Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: As A Prelude to Fear starts when a talented celloist Eve (Lemon) looks to meet an elite teacher Giles Corcoran (Wyatt), Eve finds herself kidnapped and imprisoned. Eve’s boyfriend Jamie (Langlands) looks to get the police involved DCS Barnbrook (Magee) leading the investigation, believing the notorious Pied Piper has returned.
AS Eve learns from another captive woman what is waiting for her, she is left learning the lesson, she is getting put through, as the investigation looks to finally nail the Pied Piper, with all clues pointing towards the same teacher.
Thoughts on As A Prelude to Fear
Characters & Performances – Eve is the celloist that is on the way to a lesson with one of the most famous teachers, she gets kidnapped and locked away in a dungeon, wanting answers, learning about where she is trapped. She tries to pull the other women together for an escape, but learning about the punishment for not following orders. Lara Lemon does well in this role, with most of the film seeing her in the one location searching for help. DCS Barnbrook has seen his career stumble while tracking the Pied Piper, he has always believed it to be Corcoran, he just needed proof to close the case. Francis Magee shows the broken man wanting the truth a man who made it his life’s work to get answers for. Giles Corcoran is the music teacher that is the prime suspect in the missing women, his personality does continue to point fingers at him, as his action will make him the prime suspect. This is a film will introduce a lot of characters, with the other women held captive, the boyfriend searching for answers, starting to lose his patience and the other officers trying to keep the story calm without it getting out of control.
Story – The story here follows a young woman that gets kidnapped and must figure out how to survive the environment she is locked up in, while the police are searching for answers to the person known as the Pied Piper, who has been targeting women for years. This is a thriller that will get split into two sides of the story, the first side is Eve trying to survive, this side isn’t as intense as it could be because we focus more on her discussing the situation with another women, rather then being put through too much, with most of the horrors involved being spoken of, not even the screaming reaction to. On the other side we have the investigation be it by the police or the boyfriend, this is everything you would expect, with them usually coming up short when things don’t go to plan. The two mix together well enough, keeping everything shimmer along for the truth.
Themes – As A Prelude to Fear is a thriller that wants to keep you guessing, while heavily pointing towards one direction, the locations are used to show the trapped environment that Eve finds herself in, which could be considered anywhere in this world. Nothing does feel as intense as it should do, which will end up leaving moments of the film feeling flatter than they should.
Final Thoughts – As A Prelude to Fear is a thriller that shimmers along, without getting to the intensity levels it could.
Starring: Brad Moore, Nicholas Vince, Emily Booth, Jon-Paul Gates, Emma Burdon-Sutton, Christine Randall
Plot: While filming a documentary about an agoraphobic woman, a celebrity psychologist is drawn into supernatural events.
Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: They’re Outside starts when celebrity psychologist Max (Wheatley) looks to record his latest show in agoraphobic woman Sarah (Randall) who hasn’t left her home in over five years, believing there is a creature known as Green Eyes waiting for her outside.
As Max looks to keep pushing for Sarah to break the trend, only for him to learn a much darker secret about what is going on within the walls and the surrounding woods.
Thoughts on They’re Outside
Characters & Performances – Max is the celebrity psychologist who goes around the country trying to help people in need, using them to keep his own fame relevant, he is a selfish man, not showing any levels of sympathy for the people he is trying to help. Sarah is the woman that has agoraphobia, she hasn’t managed to leave her home in 5-years, she finds social interaction difficult, while not caring that she hasn’t managed to leave the home. She is in fear of a legend from the woods of Green Eyes, a figure that she believes lurks in the woods. With this being a documentary everyone we meet does have a story about the recording we are watching. The performances in the film are on the level you would come to expect to see from a found footage film, with the characters often feeling unsure of what is going on more than anything else, but not looking like they are trying to make it look like acting, being quite natural in the film.
Story – The story here follows a celebrity psychologist who is trying to help a woman with agoraphobia that has let the striking fear of the local woods hold her captive in her home for years. This is told in documentary format, which means, found footage, which for the main part of the story is everything you would come to expect, with the idea that the lead if arrogant towards the person he is looking to help. We know from this sub-genre of horror that the first half is all set up for everything to be let loose in the second half, which will take things in a string of random moments taking us through the horror emotions in here. Certain parts of this do take away from what we experience by the end, which is trying to do something different, only this decision does slow down the horror side of the film a lot more than it needs to.
Themes – They’re Outside is a found footage horror that will take us to an isolated location where something has been holding a woman captive in her home, as we see the celebrity psychologist try to help her, only to get put the knocking, noises and unknown of the darkness here. This is everything you would expect to see in a found footage, one that doesn’t seem to give us much on the original case, and when it does, holds way too much back from what Green Eyes could truly be.
Final Thoughts – They’re Outside is a horror that builds to a big scare, held back by the slow found footage style.
Writer: Herman Yau, Erica Li, Eric Lee (Screenplay)
Starring: Andy Lau, Ching Wan Lau, Ni Ni, Kwan-Ho Tse, Ron Ng, Tak-Bun Wong, Raymond Chiu, Zhang Yang
Plot: When a bomb went off unexpectedly during a police operation to disarm it, Poon Shing-Fung, a bomb disposal officer, got caught in the blast and thus lost one of his legs. Poon decided to leave the police service. Three years later, the police suspect Poon, who was found in a coma at the spot of a terrorist bombing attack, of being involved in several bombing attacks in the past two years. Poon can hardly remember his past and even his own identity due to Post Traumatic Amnesia. He plans to escape to find out the truth. Meanwhile, knowing the terrorist organization’s schemes of destroying Hong Kong landmarks, Poon, as the key person between the police and the terrorist organization, would possibly save or destroy lives of the innocent civilians in the city.
Runtime: 2 Hours
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Shock Wave 2 starts when we meet bomb disposable expert Poon Shing Fung (Lau) who on his latest job with his partner gets seriously injured, losing a leg, building his road to recover, leaving the police force along the way.
5-years after the incident, Hong Kong finds itself under attack by a mystery bomber, with most of the clues pointing towards Poon Shing Fung, only he doesn’t have any memories of what has happened, as he looks to find the truth about his place in the battle between the police and a terrorist group.
Thoughts on Shock Wave 2
Thoughts – Shock Wave 2 is not a direct sequel to the original, but will dive into the similar lives of bomb disposal officers, taking things in a different direction by injuring one of the officers, which would see their career ended, the battle against terrorists is still going on, with the bombs becoming even more destructive. We have a bigger plot which will offer up plenty of questions about how officers who get injured should be treated, as well as how they might be seen as threats with their skills. This is one that is looking to make the most of the bigger action sequences, trying and succeeding in giving us massive action set pieces, with massive explosions throughout. this is a film that will get extra respect for not holding back on everything we see, while keeping us on edge with the battle to see who is behind everything.
Final Thoughts – Shock Wave 2 Massive movie that doesn’t hold back on anything.
Starring: Adam McNab, Nicky Evans, Rosanna Hoult, Jean-Paul Ly, Richard Sandling, Kaitlyn Riordan, Mica Proctor, Nichaolas Aaron
Plot: An action thriller about a group of filmmakers who find themselves on the run from a violent horde of criminals after witnessing a brutal gangland execution. Unable to flee the derelict building they have been shooting in, the hapless film crew must use their technical skill and cinematic knowledge to defend themselves. The stunt man is a martial arts master, the special effects guru disregards safety and sets lethal traps, and the sound department strategically lay radio mics to detect when the hoodlums are on their way. Cue lots of thrills in a cat and mouse game of survival.
Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Nightshooters starts on the set of Dawn of the Deadly being directed by Marshall (McNab), the low budget night shooting zombie movie, the movie is having the typical problems, with a difficult actor Harper (Allen), an explosive expert Ellie (Hoult) not willing to let anyone take advantage of her, along with calm actor Donnie (Ly), and other crew members on the night shoot. The crew accidently witness mobster Tarker (Sandling) murder somebody in a revenge kill.
When Tarker’s men see the crew, they head over to the building, needing to cover up any witnesses they see, leading to a battle to survive the night for the crew, against the hordes of henchmen Tarker sends after them.
Thoughts on Nightshooters
Characters & Performances – Marshall is the director of the horror movie being shot in the abandoned building, he is trying to keep his team together as things start to fall apart. He has put the team in danger, by trying to break a few rules to make this happen, he is already starting to deal with the difficulties of making the movie, before needing to help his crew escape. Donnie is the calm actor on the set, but a man that can handle himself in a fight with his martial arts skills. He brings the best defence for crew, taking out numerous people that head the crew’s direction. Jean-Paul Ly gets to show off his skills in this film, showing we have a stuntman turned actor, who can show off their fighting choregraphing, being the strongest part of the action side of this film. Ellie is the effects expert on the film, she knows how to make weapons which can defend the crew, while also refusing to let any man take advantage of her. The crew does include the sound engineer, a washed up actor, an camerawoman along with the assistant, who tends to make mistakes, due to her inexperience. Tarker is the gangster who is using the building to get his own revenge, he is demanding in his screen presence, calming the scene down before committing the murder, he sends his men to get the job done, slowly losing the patience as the night rolls on. Richard Sandling is the most demanding character in this film, you can see he holds the power away from the chaos being created. Tarker does have a string of henchmen, with O’Hara leading the search, he falls into the one that talks too much and doesn’t have the control he thinks over the men, with the stand out of the henchmen being Chilemba, a nonsense hardman that keeps everything calm in his hunt for the film crew, waiting for the final showdown with Donnie, to give us the biggest fight scene.
Story – The story here follows a crew on a horror movie that find themselves witnesses a murder from a ruthless gangster who sends his men after the crew, as they look to survive the night. This story is kept on the simple side, by giving us a concept which will see a small group of people need to fight to survive against a large group of henchmen. Where the story does shine, is by giving the whole crew enough development to make us care about them making it out of the building alive, with one sequence feeling highly intense. The story relies on the creativity of the effects expert to help the crew survive, along with the martial arts skills to fight through. The story is kept on the level that is needed, easy to watch, keeping you on edge, never making things more complicated than they need to be.
Themes – Nightshooters is a survival action movie, showing the small film crew needing to fight back through a large group of gangster, using only the resources they have or can find in the building, this will give us some creative kills, showing the dangerous everyday equipment can be. We will also get the fight sequences which will let Jean-Paul Ly show off his skills in the film, both on and off camera being the film’s fight choreographer. The locations are also key, with two abandoned buildings next to each other about to get destroyed, putting the time frame on escaping in the film, along with the difficulties of an easy escape.
Nightshooters will be available in North America on a number of digital and cable platforms beginning November 2nd.
Final Thoughts – Nightshooters is a relentless action movie, filled with intense sequences and DIY style kills.
