Frightening Strikes

It has to be said that I avoided this film for a while as, when it first came to my notice, a handful of reviews didn’t rate it very highly. But after being impressed by "Z" and "Superhost", also directed by Brandon Christensen, I made it my business to take a look and was glad that I did . Still/Born opens with Mary (Christie Burke) giving birth to twin boys, with her husband, Jack (Jesse Moss), in attendance. Sadly, one dies so Mary and Jack return to their new home with their surviving son, Adam, and try to rebuild their lives. Mary is not only grief-stricken but struggles with parenthood and feels like a failure as a mother. She goes through the motions as she tries to come to terms with her loss and suffers sleepless nights while she struggles to meet the demands of a new baby. It’s not long before Mary starts to experience eerie visions and her suspicions grow that something is determined to take her child from her. She is not convinced that what she is experi...

Jack McHenry, director and co-writer of Here Comes Hell , clearly has a passion for vintage horror films and it shows in this affectionate tribute to the genre, interwoven with modern day horror techniques without losing the spirit of his homage. The Mystery of Westwood Manor Following the jaunty 1930s big band style opening theme and a “trigger warning” announcer, “Here Comes Hell” opens with hip-flask wielding George (Tom Bailey) on a train to Westwood Manor to meet his friends. He chats to a fellow traveller, who tells him of the mystery surrounding George’s destination and the hell-summoning activities of its former owner, occultist Ichabod Quinn. As the cast of characters assemble at the Manor, there are tensions and old rivalries bubbling under the surface. Christine (Margaret Clunie) has history with both Freddie and George and Elizabeth draws contempt merely for her lower class status. And, as if this wasn’t awkward enough, Victor announces that he wants to hold a seance to sum...

Summary and Review of The Free Fall/The Voices Sara: Andrea Londo Nick: Shawn Ashworth Rose: Jane Badler Director: Adam Stilwell Release: 2022 (released as “The Voices” in Canada) After witnessing an horrific and traumatic event at her parent’s home on the eve of their anniversary, Sara is saved from a suicide attempt and awakens to find her loving husband protecting her from the outside world while she recovers. Unfortunately, she has no memory of this or anything before that. In fact she doesn’t really seem to know her husband, Nick, but in a weakened state, she succumbs to his care. To provide additional help in the house, Nick hires Rose, who doesn’t seem to care for Sara at all.  Within the confines of their modern gothic home, Sara drifts through her recovery in a dream-like state experiencing nightmares and frightening visions until she's not sure where they end and reality begins. She has no contact with others, including her sister, whom Nick describes as “unforgivable...

Christine: Maggie Q Neil: Luke Hemsworth Samantha: Alex Essoe Madee: Kat Ingkarat Director : Darren Lynn Bousman Release: 2020 "Death of Me" opens with married couple, Christine and Neil, awakening in their AirBnB apartment with a hangover and no recollection of what happened during the latter part of the previous evening. The apartment is a mess, Neil has dirty, bloodied hands and Christine has a strange talisman around her neck. However, there's no time to ponder as they have to catch the ferry to the mainland and they’re late. After a mad dash to the port, the couple discover that their passports are missing. No passport, no ferry but there's another one that evening so there’s time to remedy the situation. Bewildered by their predicament, they return to their apartment where Neil reviews the previous evening's photos for clues as to where they might have been and what might have happened. To their horror, they discover a video of themselves drinking in a ...

Superhost follows two social media influencers, Teddy and Claire (also romantically involved), who are losing subscribers for their travel vlog (Superhost) by the bucketload. This is having an adverse affect on their finances so, to try and up their game and get back on track, they take off for a break to a highly rated rental house where they plan to film a video that will make a splash and pull in the viewers again. Super Friendly Host On arrival, the property looks like a dream but the couple is unable to enter the house as the access code doesn't work. Out of nowhere, Rebecca, their super friendly superhost, arrives to provide assistance. Over-enthusiastic and eager to please, Teddy and Claire think she is just a little eccentric. But as the narrative progresses Rebecca seems overly concerned about how her review might be affected by minor mishaps in the house, leading to unexpected interventions that become more bizarre and unwanted. Claire and Teddy realise they may have unde...

Summary and Review of Train to Busan Gong Yoo: Seok-Woo Su-an Kim: Soo-An Ma Dong-seok : Sang-hwa Jung Yu-mi : Seong-kyeong Director: Sang-ho Yeon Release: 2016 The opening scenes show the South Korean authorities responding to a hazardous incident at an industrial plant by imposing a quarantine zone. A truck driver passing through hits and kills a deer in the road, only for it to twitch and spring back to life, but not as we know it and it doesn't take a genius to work out what comes next. Cutting back to Seoul, we are introduced to Seok-Woo, a successful fund manager, who thinks mainly about making money and of himself. He is separated from his wife and has custody of their daughter, Soo-an. Although he loves her, Seok-Woo is too preoccupied with his work to pay attention to Soo-an’s emotional needs and when she is desperate to visit her mother in Busan for a birthday treat, he is initially reluctant but relents as he feels guilty for missing her school recital. And so, fath...

Beth: Keegan Connor Tracy Kevin: Sean Rogerson Josh: Jeff Klyne Director: Brandon Christensen Release: 2020 The "imaginary friend" sub-genre doesn’t really grab me, as too often I have been disappointed but I was intrigued enough by the description and promo poster to give "Z" a go and, I'm pleased to say, was not only grabbed but unceremoniously wrestled to the ground and left feeling distinctly dazed by the experience. "Z" starts predictably enough with an ostensibly happy family; Beth, Kevin and their son Josh. Beth’s mother is dying and her sister is unreliable, drinking to escape the inevitable outcome. Beth has matters on her mind and Kevin is the archetypal bread-winner who often works away. Josh is a quiet, reserved boy with few friends but suddenly he introduces an imaginary companion, whom he names as “Z”. Although taken aback, his parents are not unduly concerned at first and play along believing this to be a phase.  However, the arriva...