Tag Archives: Horror

May 21 2020

Cry for the Bad Man (2019) Movie Review

Director: Sam Farmer

Writer: Sam Farmer (Screenplay)

Starring: Camille Keaton, Scott Peeler, Karen Konzen, Eric Dooley, Christopher James Forrest, Victor Jones

Plot: A small town widow faces a grisly confrontation with her would-be extortionists.

Runtime: 1 Hour 10 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Thriller 101

Story: Cry for the Bad Man starts when Marsha Kane (Keaton) a widower who finds herself being pressured into selling her home by the MacMohan family, with the three sons, Wayne (Peeler), Derrek (Dooley) and Billy Jr (Forrest) visiting and trying to intimidate her with nightly visits.

Marsha is prepared for the next visit, which shows she has a much deadlier side then the brothers believed, which sees both sides needing to try and stay ahead of each other or face death.

Thoughts on Cry for the Bad Man

Characters – Marsha Kane is a widow living alone in the family house she has been living in for most of her life, built with memories she never wants to give up, she finds herself being harassed into selling, something she isn’t willing to do, this brings out a side of her that will fight for her home over the people trying to push her out. Wayne, Derrek and Billy Jr are the three brothers who are trying to force Marsha to sell, they visit with threats of a deadly exchange next time, which sees them arrive guns ready to take the house by force, only they learn how dangerous she truly is.

Performances – Camille Keaton in the leading role is the strongest part of the actor, we know she is the biggest name in the film too with her legacy in horror. The supporting cast is solid only they don’t seem to be selling the pain their characters should be experiencing well at all.

Story – The story here follows a widow that is being pushed into selling her by an aggressive family, only for her turn the tables on them, when they come with their biggest threat. This story can be broken down to be very simple to follow, seeing both sides trying to gain control of the situation, with flashes of action. We do have a few too many stand offs, which do go through the same conversations about the situation without going anywhere different, with certain character changes not making complete sense to everything we get told earlier. Overall the story is an easy follow, doesn’t challenge the audience too much and works for the simplistic nature of the concept.

Horror – The horror in this film does rely on the ideas of seeing a home invasion, while it is more prepared for it, rather than sudden impact of it, which does take away moments of fear.

Settings – The film is set in one location for the most part, Marsha’s home, it is isolated away from the world, which does show the threat she could be facing.

Special Effects – The effects are injury related, with the biggest one, never seeming to look like it actually hurt the victim of it.


Scene of the Movie – The second visit start.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The injuries seem to not hurt much.

Final Thoughts – This is a by the book horror thriller that does the spinning the tables on the invaders with ease, keeping everything simple to watch.

Overall: Easy Watch Horror.

May 19 2020

The Curse of Hobbes House (2020) Movie Review

Director: Juliane Block

Writer: Wolf-Peter Arand (Screenplay) Juliane Block (Story)

Starring: Mhairi Calvey, Makenna Guyler, Waleed Elgadi, Kevin Leslie, Jo PRice

Plot: When down on her luck Jane Dormant learns about the death of her Aunt Alexandra she expects a life-saving inheritance but finds herself battling bloodthirsty Zombies instead, fighting for her life.


Tagline – Don’t wake the dead!

Runtime: 1 Hour 22 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Unique Undead Action

Story: The Curse of Hobbes House starts with the death of Aunt Alexandra (Hussey) a distant relative of down on her luck Jane Dormant (Calvey), ask to attend the will reading, Jane has an unexpected reunion with her social media celebrity half-sister Jennifer (Guyler) as they deal with they own disagreements in life, join by groundskeeper Naser (Elgadi) and Jennifer’s partner Nigel Thatcher (Leslie).

As the night comes the secret curse on the house comes to life, with darkness filling the halls and the shadows holding secrets of the undead, which will see the sisters needing to put their differences aside to survive the horrors.

Thoughts on The Curse of Hobbes House

Characters – Jane Dormant has struggled in life, she is now living in her car, with her latest job finishing, she doesn’t know where to turn next until she gets an unexpected call about the death of her Aunt and being left something in the will. She is street smart, showing she is up for the fight with the threat that comes their way. Jennifer is the half-sister of Jane, she is a social media celebrity going by the name of Journey, the two clash, like any siblings whose lives have gone in different direction. Nigel Thatcher is the partner of Jennifer, he fills the role of somebody who believes they are better than anyone else. Naser is the caretaker who was given a chance to learn about the curse and the one that does fill in the answer to what is going on.

Performances – Mhairi Calvey as the streetwise of the two sisters is great, while Makenna Guyler works very well as the social media celebrity, the two shows us just what would happen with sisters arguing. Waleed Elgadi and Kevin Leslie are both strong in the supporting roles, filling the required parts of the bigger story.

Story – The story follows two sisters that must come back together for a will reading, only to learn they are being prepared for something bigger, which will see them fighting off the undead. This story does create its own mythology about why the curse is put in place, which is a very interesting start to the movie as we get to learn what will happen, while the characters must wait to see how things will unfold. When it comes to the sister dynamic and character action, we do follow the traditions of the undead rising formula, this is also seen in the characters decisions too. When we do get to the undead rising they do have a unique look, which would play into why and who they are, when they are rising. This is a story that has the seeds to be delved into deeper in the future too, with how important this location will be to stop the undead rising.

Horror – The horror in the film does give us the undead rising, we get to learn about what causes this, which is usually one of the bigger weaknesses in the genre. The undead do have a unique look, with their glowing eyes too.

Settings – The film is shot in one location, the remote house, it has a historical look, which only gets to play into the deeper picture of everything going on.

Special Effects – The effects used in the film are used well, we don’t turn to them for the shock undead kill, rather, we focus on the story at hand.


Scene of the Movie – The first undead appearance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – How did the undead get upstairs?

Final Thoughts – This is a horror movie that does bring something new to the undead concept, we have a greater built in mythology about what is causing everything, that doesn’t take clues to uncover.

Overall: Unique Undead Spin.

May 13 2020

Stigmata (1999) Movie Review

Director: Rupert Wainwright

Writer: Tom Lazarus, Rick Ramage (Screenplay)

Starring: Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Pryce, Nia Long, Thomas Kopache, Rade Serbedzija, Enrico Colantoni

Plot: When a young woman becomes afflicted by stigmata, a priest is sent to investigate her case, which may have severe ramifications for his faith and for the Catholic Church itself.


Tagline – The messenger must be silenced.

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Science & Religion as One

Story: Stigmata starts as we meet Father Andrew Kiernan (Byrne) who travels the world in search of a way to debunk religious miracles, with his latest one putting him in the bad books at the Vatican, meanwhile in Pittsburg party girl Frankie Paige (Arquette) receives rosary beads from her travelling mother and soon starts experiencing strange vision and events that she denies doing.

Father Andrew is set to Pittsburg to investigate the mysterious events of what is happening to Frankie, trying to get to the bottom of why she has become targeted by evil forces.

Thoughts on Stigmata

Characters – Frankie Paige is a hairdresser and party girl, with her latest worry being, whether she has become pregnant or not, she receives gifts and letters from her mother that is travelling, with the latest being a rosary beads. Her life is turned upside down when she starts going through horrific visions and events, causing her to have the effects of a stigmata, unaware of the injuries being inflicted upon her, needing help and being unaware of where to find it. Father Andrew Kiernan travels the world in search for answers about religious miracles, he is drawn in the very thin line between science and religion, where he is willing to leave people believing miracles, if it makes their lives better, which doesn’t always set well with the Vatican. He is assigned to learn the truth about what is happening to Frankie, a case that will let him question his own faith more than ever. Cardinal Daniel Houseman sends out the order for the investigators, he choices when they get closed down and that includes seeing him trying to make sure Father Kiernan only does what he wants.

Performances – Patricia Arquette as the young lady going through the painful experience is strong, we do believe her everyday woman, while seeing the frustration building up within her. Gabriel Byrne is always strong in an investigate role, this is no different from him. Jonathan Pryce only turns up a little bit and brings his class to the film, while the rest of the cast don’t have anything to do.

Story – The story here follows a young lady that has become the target of an evil presence putting her through a stigmata, where the person sent to try and save her is an investigator priest who has started to lose his faith. This is an interesting story with a twist on the exorcism ideas, we do have a woman getting put through a ritual by an evil presence, while also having a priest that isn’t all about letting religion be the answer to everything. We do get plenty of balance between science and religion showing how the two sides can be spoken about in the same conversation. It does show how the findings have always changed the stories of how religion has been revealed, which is interesting to see how history can always been seen in different lights.

Horror – The horror in this film revolves around how Frankie is going through an unexplainable experience, it does show how religion can bring the worst horrors in life.

Settings – The film put the film in modern American in Pittsburg, which shows us that these events could happen to anybody, though Frankie’s apartment is just weird.


Scene of the Movie – The train of terror.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The sound mixing is terrible.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting horror that will balance science and religion together well, with strong performance.

Overall: Interesting Horror.

May 10 2020

The Tell Tale Heart (2020) Short Movie Review

Director: McClain Lindquist

Writer: McClain Lindquist (Screenplay) Edgar Allan Poe (Story)

Starring: Sonny Grimsley, James C Morris, Mikah Olsen, Teren Turner

Plot: Adapted from Edgar Allen Poe’s original text, this Original psychological thriller Story has been re-imagined in this mind-bending, pulse-pounding, bloody-disgusting short film.


Tagline – Descend Into Madness

Runtime: 22 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Excellent Twist on a Classic Tale

Story: The Tell Tale Heart starts as Detective Tucker (Turner) and Officer Sharpe (Olsen) arrive at the mansion, greeted by the Narrator (Grimsley) who is being questions about the noises that occurred in the mansion the night before, as he tries to explain the noise, he dives into his own story that drove him to want to get rid of his master the Old Man (Morris) and his evil eye.

Thoughts on The Tell Tale Heart

Final Thoughts – Edgar Allan Poe gave us some of the greatest short stories, The Tell Tale Heart is one of the most famous, With this version we do mix modern investigation of what might have happened with the classic narration to show the descent into madness the narrator goes through due to his guilt coming through. We have four characters that are flushed out to feel realistic and to let the actors give us strong performances throughout. The camerawork and settings help increase the descent of the Narrator too, which makes this one of the strongest versions of Poe’s work.

Overall: Must Watch Poe adaptation.

May 8 2020

A Nun’s Curse (2020) Movie Review

Director: Tommy Faircloth

Writer: Tommy Faircloth (Screenplay)

Starring: Felissa Rose, Damian Maffei, Gunner Willis, Kristi Ray, Jason Vail, Michael James Day, Erika Edwards

Plot: A group of travelers are forced to seek shelter inside an abandoned jail where a notorious nun named Sister Monday had once been assigned and was suspected of murdering prisoners.

Runtime: 1 Hour 13 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun Late Night Horror

Story: A Nun’s Curse starts as four friends, Ashley-Kae (Edwards), Gabby (Ray), Anthony (Maffei) and Michael (Willis) are looking to go on a weekend away, with Ashley looking to investigate the locations of the Sister Monday (Rose) mystery, which has haunted her for years.

The deeper Ashley-Kae and her friends head into an abandoned jail, she starts to witness just what Sister Monday used to do to the prisoners, the ones she is meant to have murdered, only now is she still haunting the walls looking for new victims.

Thoughts on A Nun’s Curse

Characters – Ashley-Kae is a young woman that has been haunted by the mystery about a demonic sister that has been haunting her for years, she is on the journey with her sister in search for answers, going through historical sites along the way. Sister Monday is the nun that murdered prisoners and has been used to create fear in Ashley-Kae in her younger years, we are left wondering if she is still haunting the building. Gabby is the sister of Ashley-Kae who would rather be left to party, but knows this trip is part of the deal, she does start to get more inpatient along the way though. Anthony is the boyfriend of Gabby who doesn’t have any patience she has, he just wants to have sex and party along the way.

Performances – Felissa Rose as the evil nun works very well bring the star power to the role with ease, Erika Edwards as the leading lady being haunted does stand out of the group of friends. The rest of the cast does well without needing to do too much in the film.

Story – The story here follows four friends who go on a weekend away with a detour to investigate an abandoned location which is meant to be discovering the truth about a mysterious murderous nun. The story does follow the traditions of them going into a location, becoming separated and slowly going through horror moments, while diving into the history of the location. The story might well follow a routine, only it does end up with one of the weaker final acts in recent horrors, even if it does do something smart beforehand.

Horror – The horror in this film does work well, it is basic scares, with a lot of action going on in the background and having moments of gore when you least expect it.

Settings – The film uses the abandoned location of the jail which does give us the typical locations for haunted horrors, we find them stranded and being haunted through the movie.

Special Effects – The effects in the film do add some moments of horror, though we do get a moment that doesn’t look good for the most part.


Scene of the Movie – The Sister’s true action.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The final act.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror that is one you can enjoy one evening, it might do most things you expect, even if it does give us a cop out in the final act.

Overall: Late night horror 101.