Movie:

Plot: Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton star in this horror/scifi/thriller as a couple who has trouble convincing friends and neighbors that an alien is entering their house each night to terrorize their children. So they take matters into their own hands.

Review: My expectations for Dark Skies were very low going in. First – It’s a PG-13 horror film. Second – I was told by credible horror critics that it was a dud. My fellow critics are wrong! This is one massive horror surprise to me and I only have a few faults. Continue reading and get your alien freak on.

Finally, a “serious-style” horror film that don’t open with “Based on a true story,” instead we get a great quote before any visuals are present. It goes something like this “There are without a doubt two sides, there is either other intelligent life forms besides us humans or not, these are the facts, in either case both are equally frightening.” What a great statement, and true that, in my case I don’t believe in little green men, but do generally get freaked out by the good horror movies that have them, ala Fire In The Sky, Alien and Screamers, amongst many more.

The story is a simple one; a family of four going through financial troubles gets visited by aliens in their home. At first it starts frivolously but quickly turns downright horrifying. There are numerous jump scenes that literally made my hair stand on my neck. The directors timing was impeccable and had me wincing in my seat holding on for the next one. Plus, it always helps when young kids are involved, I think it raises the level of scare-factor, and in Dark Skies, the youngest (about 6 or 7) is the main target with the mother getting the second brunt of the alien attacks. The movie had an incredible aura and atmosphere, dark in key scenes while the surroundings being lit up enough to be squeamish. Even the subtly faint score was a massive positive, keeping the undertones going strong throughout the whole film with the pop coming at the right times.

While I am praising Dark Skies to the high heavens, there are 2 things that tick down my overall rating, and it mainly comes with the little kid actor. His presence was mediocre at best. While he did have an “invisible friend” as many tots do, when the shit hits the fan, he was emotionless, and at that age you would be scared out of your mind. To me, he just wasn’t a believable cast member, and the producers could of got a better child actor. Secondly, although may seem petty, there is a problem with the story, the kids have marks all over them (from the aliens) and people in power are aware of this. There is no way in hell that the parents would be able to take their 5 year old home from the hospital when he has deep marks and branded-wielding burns. Still though, it doesn’t diminish the film by much.

Dark Skies is about the 50th horror film I seen so far in 2013 and stands above all the rest to date. Dark Skies proves that a PG-13 film can be awesomely scary, even though it don’t happen to often. Do not hesitate whatsoever by getting your hands on Dark Skies as soon as possible. You will not want to leave your seat once while watching, it is so engaging that tests your mind “Is it possible that aliens are here, and if so, could this happen…” Turn off them lights, crank up that sound system and you will “feel” for the family’s plight while being terrified – Dark Skies is a horror hit!

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 05/13/2012 Rating: 8½/10 Recommendation: Buy Now!

Trailer: Watch DVD: Movies Unlimited BluRay: Amazon Social Media: Twitter

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2013/05/13/dark-skies-review/feed/ 0 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2013/05/10/the-garden-of-sinhardcore-horror-book/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2013/05/10/the-garden-of-sinhardcore-horror-book/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 22:31:31 +0000 Horror Palace http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=8036 The Garden of Sin is a brand new horror themed book that just launched this week on Kickstarter! Its a Fully Illustrated, poetic, adult story book, inspired by the seven deadly sins, very dark, and very scary! It is as elegant as it is grotesque! And could be viewed as a re-telling of Dante’s Inferno.

The Garden of Sin takes the reader on a journey through Hell, reminiscent to Dante’s Inferno, as Virgil guided Dante through the Inferno, the reader is guided by a mysterious cloaked figure, known as The Shadow, your tour guide and narrator through The Garden of Sin. On your voyage, The Shadow brings you deeper and deeper, as you experience many different levels (or "circles") of Hell, each representing one of The seven deadly sins. All the way from The Wood of the Damned, where your journey begins, through the Abyss of Lust, to The Slaughterhouse of the Gluttons, down to the deepest part of Hell, where The Shadow Judges the sinners right before your eyes while you, the reader, judge yourself. Is your conscience clean enough to face The Shadow?

The Garden of Sin is set up very much like a children’s book, or fairy tale book, where every page is illustrated, with writing on the left side, and illustrations on the right, some being double page spreads. All of the illustrations throughout the book were drawn by hand, and none of the images inside the book are digital. The entire book is written in a poetic, verse style, most of it being narrated, where as some pages are direct expressions of each sinner representing one of The Seven Deadly Sins (ex. Lust, Greed, Wrath etc.). Each of the sins will be divided into chapters, where the style of font will change according to the atmosphere set by the artwork. The Garden of Sin will be available in soft cover or hardcover format, with full color images, and will be roughly 120 pages.

The Garden of Sin needs your help! Contribute through Kickstarter with the below link to make this happen!

• KICKSTARTER CONTRIBUTE LINK
• TEASER TRAILER

WAY DOWN IN CHINATOWN was shot mostly in black and white, and is, beyond classification.  It has elements of horror, noir and SciFi, and is both hilariously funny and grotesquely creepy.  It was made partly as an homage to great pictures like Metropolis and Nosferatu, and partly as an apocalyptic end-of-the-world fable.  It is, though, primarily the story of two normal people, Victor and Jessica Mitchum, who, one day, are made an offer they can’t refuse…

WAY DOWN IN CHINATOWN is currently streaming privately to select reviewers and will become available to the public very soon, so keep an eye out on this movie that dares to test the boundaries of horror!

Book:

Author’s Summary: It is 2005 in Great Britain, and an invasion of venomous spiders has hit the country. Hitchhiking’ in imported food, the spiders are able to thrive in the changing climate. At first, coverage of the attack is overlooked in favor of world events, but soon the spiders begin to take over. They cover everything they come across in gigantic webs and kill everything in sight. Their favorite food? Humans. Immune to insecticides and pesticides, the spiders multiply and take over towns and villages, spreading outwards from the London sewers. Dire consequences ensue for many residents of Great Britain as they fight to keep the killer spider epidemic under control. Soon everyone is affected, and all still-living residents are made to evacuate their homes. As the spiders spread, so does the havoc they wreak and the numbers they violently kill.

Review: I loved this story immensely – it has distinct properties of a Science Fiction/Creature style movie of the long since forgotten era. It was very creative and completely vivid keeping my mind in turmoil during the entire read.

Killer Spiders is basically about an Entomologist and a few researchers that discover this type of crazy spiders (ooh I loath spiders too). One of the Scientists studies this deadly species and finds out that there not from the local territories but across state lines. The group soon try to eradicate the hairy creatures but the Scientists aren’t as smart as they look, as when they try to exterminate them, the spiders spread out into different groups keeping their survival intact, and protecting their new queen to continue onwards creating havoc in the city.

The thing about these ferocious spiders is that – all it takes is one venomous bite, which paralyzes the human body and causes a slow and painful death. During the amuck, a lone person (kept anonymous) has the fortitude to locate the leader before the birth of more deadly soldiers in the arsenal of already there being an overrun population of scary, freaky, haunting spiders about the lay of the land.

Killer Spiders is available to purchase at better book stores all over the world. The lowest price I came across for the Paperback is $13.52 at The Book Depository, a great, and not well-known book store. As a bonus, if you don’t mind reading a PDF on your computer, or if you have a Kindle or Tablet you can get the Electronic Version or E-Book Version for free. This is an outstanding book that I highly recommend to all. It has all facets of traditional horror that we have all come to love over the years. Not counting, those dark nightmares thinking there is a spider in your bed!!! This novel will have you finishing it in a flash, and it’s a longer book too, which I always like. It keeps your mind wandering after its finished. Put very, very, very simply, get this book today, you won’t be disappointed. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 04/28/2013 Rating: 9½/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Get

Book: Killer Spiders Paperback: The Book Depository E-Book: eBookeo Social Media: Facebook Social Media Publisher: Twitter

Jason Figgis (Director) has worked on projects such as;  Sky One, Sky Arts, the Discovery Channel amongst others, and has distributed Hollywood Studio, Lionsgate films.

The Ecstasy Of Isabel Mann is campaigning for donations and is very important at succeeding in the goal to get this incredible vampire tale made. Everyone involved in this feature film project has worked hard over several months preparing the film in drama workshops with the teenagers involved in the cast as well as a huge amount of time and effort on set from all involved to realize this exciting feature film.

DONATIONS and INFORMATION LINK.

Anyone who contributes to this project will help them realize the end result of this film to the highest standard possible. They believe they have a very exciting take on the Vampire genre…with no holds barred in terms of the performances from the teen and adult cast alike. This is like a Socio-realist vampire film but with plenty of gore!!!

Robbinsville, NJ (April, 2013) – Dan Maurer (www.danmaurer.com), award-winning producer and director of stage plays and musicals, recently completed work on the horror novella Snow Day. Black Rapids Press will publish the title as both an ebook and audiobook on April 30th through Amazon.com, Audible.com and iTunes, other online retailers will be added in the fall. In addition to authoring the story, Maurer also directed the audiobook edition, which features the voice talents of award-winning actor Allwyn Baskin. “With reading going digital, and tablets making it easy to combine different forms of media to deliver a richer experience, it made sense to launch Snow Day in multiple formats,” Maurer said.

Snow Day is a novella that blends equal parts nostalgia and nightmare as it takes readers back to 1975. It recounts the tale of ten-year-old Billy Stone, who played carefree in the snow until an adventure gone awry left him far from home, staring death in the face, and running from a killer bent on keeping a horrible secret.

“Setting things in 1975 gives the story a whole different frame of reference when it comes to children; how they were treated, and how they were supervised,” Maurer said. “It was a time before Amber Alerts and printing a missing kid’s face on a milk carton. Back in those days, you sent your kid out to play in the morning and didn’t see him again until the sun went down and he came home for dinner. You wouldn’t think of doing that today in this age of play dates and the highly scheduled lives that we create for our children. Looking at that period of time was both nostalgic and frightening for me. I hope readers will feel the same.”

The story, running about 30,000 words, and about 3 hours in recorded form, is fiction written in the style of a memoir so it lends itself well to audio interpretation.

Maurer said: “I’m very fortunate that Lynn Baskin came on board for this project. He’s an accomplished actor with an engaging style and a voice that fits the material well. His reading really gave Snow Day a whole new dimension – very accessible, yet very creepy. Once I heard the finished recording of his reading, it gave me chills.”

The audiobook edition of Snow Day marks the third time Maurer and Baskin have collaborated. Most recently, Maurer directed Baskin in a 2011 production of Elton John & Tim Rice’s AIDA. Before that, they worked together in the same capacity on a production of Driving Miss Daisy, for which Baskin won the NJACT Perry Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play.

Dan Maurer is a 1988 graduate of East Carolina University and a resident of Robbinsville, NJ. He spent seven years in trade book publishing including stints in the editorial departments of both Doubleday and Houghton Mifflin. In recent years, he has divided his between being a full-time digital marketing strategist and a part-time theater producer and director. Snow Day is his first published work of fiction.

Allwyn (Lynn) Baskin, an award-winning actor based in New Jersey, has appeared in a variety of musicals, comedies and dramas. He has performed voiceovers for commercials and public service announcements. In addition to his great love for the spoken word, he is also an interpreter of American Sign Language and received his theatrical interpreting training from the Julliard School.

Snow Day is written by Dan Maurer, narrated by Allwyn Baskin, and published in ebook and audiobook by Black Rapids Press. The ebook edition will be available for sale from Amazon.com April 30, with copies available from Barnes & Noble.com, Smashwords, and the Apple iBookstore this Fall. The audiobook edition will be available for sale April 30 from Audible.com, Amazon.com and iTunes.

NOVELLA DETAILS:

TITLE: Snow Day
AUTHOR: Dan Maurer
eBOOK LENGTH: 30,000 words / 100 pages (estimated) eBOOK ISBN: 978-0-9889946-0-7
PRICE: $2.99

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR: Allwyn Baskin
AUDIO RUN TIME: Approx. 3 hours
AUDIOBOOK ISBN: 978-0-9889946-1-4
PRICE: TBD

LINKS:

Amazon Catalog Link: http://amzn.to/10f4imW

Sample Chapter: http://bit.ly/10kyoW1

Audiobook Sample: http://snd.sc/109Rag8

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/danmaurer

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/danmaurerauthor

Putrid Putters is one of the best miniature golf games out there for the computer. Your goal is simple in mini golf; get the golf ball in the hole in the fewest amount of shots. It sounds easy but horror characters, villains, monsters and obstacles stand in your way! Choose from 2 entertaining and terrifying courses; Scarecrow Fever and Bloody Barbarians. Putrid Putters makes it simple to play a round of golf; use the mouse to aim, and use the mouse button to adjust the power strength. Oodles of features included; 2 courses, 36 holes, golf ball chooser, creepy music and sound effects with a detailed statistical database! Plus, an in-game high score leaderboard showing you the best 100 rounds played in the world!

Since the launch of Putrid Putters back on September 2nd of 2012, we are proud to announce that the game has received 494 scores to the Worldwide Internet Tables. Keep playing and submitting your scores, we are extremely excited that Putrid Putters is fun for all of you horror fans!

Visit the Putrid Putters Main Page to download the new version and/or upgrade to the full version after the time-limited trial has ended.

• Title: Mutant Monks From Outer Space
• Year: 2012
• Time: 13 Minutes
• Director: Wesley Skelley
• Social: Facebook | YouTube Channel | Production Website

You control a good witch and must navigate through the catacombs of mazes inside the mansion while avoiding ghosts and picking up all of the body parts thrown about. Tons of features; 50 levels, 4 difficulties from easy to frantic, keyboard or joystick play, gobs of horror bonuses, oodles of creepy music tracks and sound effects, plus, in-game worldwide high score tables!

Since the launch of Morbid Mansion back on June 18th of 2012, we are proud to announce that the game has received 563 scores to the Worldwide Internet Tables. Keep playing and submitting your scores, we are stoked that Morbid Mansion is fun for all of you horror fans!

Visit the Morbid Mansion Main Page to download the new version and/or upgrade to the full version after the time-limited trial has ended.

SYNOPSIS: Jacob Fitts television host and survivalist, with his crew Producer Adam Levine & Cameraman Mason Riley set out to shoot another episode of their popular survival show, I Am Alone. Episode 113 takes us deep into the Colorado Rockies where Jacob will be left alone for 7 days while his team sets off into town to capture footage and shoot interviews. Within hours a viral outbreak spreads rapidly across the globe. Unaware of this outbreak, Jacob, isolated continues shooting his Television show. As day one comes to a close Jacob is attacked and bitten by an infected person. As the virus spreads through the town Mason and Adam have to fight the infected to save their own lives. With the CDC monitoring the outbreak they pick up Mason and all his footage and bring him back to base for questioning.  Reviewing Mason’s footage the CDC tries to piece together why the virus has taken longer to transform Jacob. The CDC forces Mason to relive the events of the previous days through his footage to learn more about the virus and Jacobs survival.

NOTES: The Kickstarter Campaign begins April 28th, 2013. All support is welcome! For all of the details including an epic Zombie Walk in Colorado on May 3rd, 2013, visit the MAIN MOVIE PAGE.

SUMMARY: To be directed by director/producer Massimiliano Cerchi (Hellinger, Holy Terror, Carnage Road & many others).

Dark Mountain Pictures flagship production THE HOUSE OF EVIL will be a gore combination of Haunted House movie and a Demonic Slasher film.

Shot in 3D on location in Colombia, South America with Practical SFX provided by Steve at GutRot Effects & Matt Valentine (SyFy’s Face/Off).

Featuring Camden Toy (Buffy The Vampire Slayer & Angel) as Zoltar & Starring Elske McCain (Jessika Rabid, Gimme Skelter, Killer Biker Chicks) as the voluptuous female lead! Introducing a talented newcomer, Brik Baker.

Original soundtrack will be created by the well known veteran horror composer, Mars Homeworld.

NOT a remake, NOT an English version of a foreign film, NOT a short film & in spectacular 3D!

SYNOPSIS: What do you do when your dream home becomes an absolute nightmare? Behind every window lies a shadow, behind every door lies a secret. Between reality and the paranormal, deep within the foundations of the most seemingly placid facade lies the intermediate gates to Hell…. Meet Brik and Melanie, a couple in love, out to build a bright future for themselves. Their newly bought villa where their affections should bloom…. now becomes… their tomb…. From day one since they entered the house, the doomed sweethearts notice something terribly wrong; within their diabolical domicile, within each other. Seeking desperate aid from a renowned occultist, they hope to free themselves from the damnation evolving and surrounding, seeking to devour them like a ravenous, bloodlusting beast. How do you escape from something you’ve already become a part of since the day you moved in? Behind every corner lies a shattering truth, down every staircase exists an evil so shocking your blood will run cold as you witness one of the most shocking films ever to grace the screen…. Horror Master Massimiliano Cerchi (Hellinger, Carnage Road, Holy Terror,Hellbilly,etc..), Scream Empress Elske McCain (Jessicka Rabid, Splatter Movie, Incest Death Squad), Veteran Horror Nemesis Camden Toy (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Chromeskull: Laid To Rest 2, The Vortex) and newcomer Brik Baker have designed the definitive Gothic horror masterpiece of 2013 and it turns the tables on every haunted house film you have ever witnessed up til now. You will hear floorboards and walls creak around you. You will feel a demonic presence surround you, and rise from within yourself. You will wake up screaming! This film is best not to be watched… in the dark… because you don’t just watch this film… this film… watches you. House Of Evil 3D… Going to Hell never became so terrifying as going home.

LINKS:

• Donate via IndieGoGo
• Movie Homepage
• Max Cerchi on Facebook

Book:

Author’s Summary: Imagine if you found yourself the attention of the entire world . . . The dysfunctional Keene family awaken one Saturday to find several strangers and neighbors staring at their home. Events turn more bizarre when more hypnotized strangers arrive, all seemingly transfixed with those within the Keene household. As the ominous crowd gathers and grows larger by the hour the Keene’s find themselves under siege in their own home. With hundreds, then thousands of bodies pressing against the walls of their home, a rising body count and grim premonitions plaguing their dreams, the family must work together to discover who or what is controlling the Starers.

Review: On opening this review I would be remiss not to state that the novel reminded me of a few horror/scifi films namely – Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and They Wait, both mysterious, weird and alien-like that keeps you mesmerized throughout. Starers has that much beloved scifi feel all with zombie-like trances.

Starers is about the Keene family with a strong focus on the youngest daughter Lucy. They get stuck or more of the sorts, imprisoned, in their own abode because of these “starers.” Someone or many are controlling the townsfolk in which they stand outside of the Keene’s house under a haunting gaze. They all act zombie-esque with no emotions protruding and stare at Lucy. Wherever or whatever she does they follow with a super-scary ominous tone that is brazen and downright freaky.

There is strong paranoia throughout the home which makes total sense in this situation. This “evil” that is controlling many won’t give up until they get the grand prize of a bride. Dylan (Lucy’s father) is determined to protect his daughter at all cost. Will love survive in the end and lay defeat to the “starers,” you must read this novel to find out, it is well worth it tenfold.

Starers is available to purchase at most, if not all, online outlets in Paperback print form with the price coming in at around $9.99. If you want the Electronic Version or E-Book Version for your computer, iPad or Tablet Device, you can get it super low at Amazon for $2.99. If you have the amazing and highly recommended Amazon Prime Service, you can get Starers right now for free with Whispernet! This is an incredible novel that comes in at a strong recommendation. You will not be able to put the book down until you find out that fate of this family, and…who are these starers and where do they come from, questions will be answered…get it now horror readers you will be enthralled. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 03/26/2013 Rating: 9/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Starers Paperback: Tower Books E-Book: Amazon Social Media: Twitter Social Media: Facebook

THE SPIRIT OF PARENTING by Dan Dillard is coming soon to your e-reader, tablet or bookshelf so be on the lookout!

SYNOPSIS: Bloomington, IN, March 22, 2013 – Introducing Gerry Sheffield. He drinks, uses drugs, and treats women like trash. All these things can’t fill up the gaping hole where his soul should be. His parents are elderly, and Bill and Margo Sheffield have had enough of their son’s irresponsible and sometimes illegal crap. They have decided that the only way to help Gerry…is to haunt him.

This is a novel of paranormal revenge with just enough comedy to dull its harsh, black edge. Gerry is one nasty character with no shame. Sometimes tough love isn’t enough, but as ghosts, maybe Bill and Margo can scare him straight, or worse.

AVAILABILITY: Paperback 305 pages, published by Dan Dillard for a May-June 2013 release……E-book, all formats 53,000 words, also a May-June 2013 release.

AUTHOR: Dan Dillard is just a dude who writes to center himself. His family loves him, including a fantastic wife, Stephanie, and two young ladies who put up with his immaturity amazingly well. The wife navigates as they adventure about this rock with a dog, a bird, a lizard, and some fish. The children provide the adventure. All is right with the world. Writing, playing music, drawing, animating…any art form really gets him deep down and if it tells a good story, he’s all about it. He hopes you’ll read his work and if you do, he hope it scares you. Or at least, he hopes you’ll get a laugh.

LINKS:

• EMAIL: demonauthor@gmail.com
• WEBSITE: www.demonauthor.com
• SOCIAL: www.facebook.com/demonauthor

• Title: Behind The Curtain
• Year: 2012
• Time: 2 Minutes
• Director: Max Stern
• Social: IMDB | YouTube Channel | Email

SYNOPSIS: They come from the middle of nowhere. They flee fine families and broken homes in search of experience and dreams. They travel the same interstates and back roads as we do. Trigger the same bells entering 24-hour convenience stores. Veer off at the same rest stops headed for places like the Adirondacks, Woodstock, Myrtle Beach and Tampa. And then they vanish. In the wake they leave trails run cold, memories of fresh faces and promising smiles later recalled by strange passersby.

These young women are now heroines of the American Ecstasy, the new feature-length chiller from celebrated photographer and filmmaker Jonathan Leder. An anthology film exploring tales of resilient women snared in a single terrifying, hallucinatory nightmare, fates left gasping in the gloved hands of a mad everyman, this is the movie that will prove, once and for all, that the most monstrous of highway predators is America itself.

STARRING: Britany Nola (November 2012 Playboy Playmate), Amy Hood, Lindsay Roan, among other rising female actors.

LINKS: Movie Page | Twitter (Movie) | Twitter (Britany)

• Title: And Let God Do The Rest
• Year: 2012
• Time: 17 Minutes
• Director: Ben Gelera
• Social: IMDB | Facebook | YouTube

About SINISTER VISIONS:

Are you ready for a terror attack combining both succubi, women possessed by demons, serial killers in electric chairs, aggressive zombies, vengeful crazy women, men with very deep emotional scars and of course a fair amount of amputation and gore? SINISTER VISIONS consists of five grueling horror stories to make your bones freeze.

SUCCUBUS is about a beautiful young blonde, Emma, studying to become an archeologist. On an excavation trip to Syria she finds something in the sand that is about to change her life completely. She hurries home hoping to be able to escape it, but she is about to get wiser.

MY UNDEAD GIRLFRIEND is a twisted story with a lot of morbid, dark humor, telling the story of the day Keith woke up next to his girlfriend who had out of the blue turned into a flesh eating undead and tonight he is about to meet her parents for the first time! This day is going to be a bit out of the ordinary!

MOTHER KNOWS BEST is the story about Carl, a somewhat shy man preparing for a date with his childhood sweetheart, Rebecca. Carl’s mother has quite a few objections about the date and she is not too shy to express them, though.

In A WOMAN SCORNED we meet Gail tied to a bed by Holly. Gail have had the nerve to start a relationship with Richard, who unfortunately is Holly’s former husband – and Gail does not approve at all!

Finally, GENITAL GENOCIDE presents us to serial killer Charles Albert Harris who, sitting on death row waiting for the switch to be turned on, takes us through his crimes while the audience of the court room listens. Harris wants a last reaction out of the audience that consists of many relatives of his audience – and a reaction he gets.

SINISTER VISIONS is a collaboration between filmmakers from USA, UK, Sweden and Denmark and features works from skilled writers such as Garry Charles, Stefan Bommelin, Henric Brandt, Rasmus Tirzitis, Cody Cather, Doug Gehl and Lars Egholm Fischmann while the directing has been in the capable hands of Henric Brandt, Doug Gehl and Kim Sønderholm.

Starring: Kim Sønderholm, David C. Hayes, Michael Harrelson, Debbie Overbey, Rob Douglas, Rick Dyer, Daren Palacio, Bart Overbey, Brian Weir, Liana Hubbard, Tori Montgomery, Pamela Ricardo, Peg Thon, Kat Herlo, Miriam Yeager, Nadia Bond, Lars Bjarke, Ralf Beck, Pontus Olgrim, Camilla Löjdström, Andreas Rylander, Stefan Jonasson, Babs Brinklund, Mehrnaz Bagheri Beiknejad, Mette Løvendahl, Toke Lars Bjarke, Nadine and many, many others.

Book:

Author’s Summary: Martin Smith and John Becker: bestselling authors with ordinary names and extraordinary minds. Their words have power — to heal, to kill, to change the lives of their “characters” in shocking and unexpected ways. Famous for their uncanny similarity in both physical manner and literary voice, their childhood rivalry spins out of control into adulthood. The death of one at the hands of the other brings to light their troubling past — and a mysterious presence, watching on from the shadows — an authorial entity with roots beyond our time or dimension; an entity with far-reaching designs. The pen is truly mightier than the deadliest sword.

Review: This novel has ties with butterflies that create chaos and hallucinations into people’s minds. It’s has a science fiction slant with paranormal activities.

There are two main characters; Martin Smith and John Becker – these 2 buddies were born at the same time amongst the amuck of the world. They both have uncanny abilities, and while growing up in their youthful spirit they make up their own friends in their minds. Neither of them have real friends so they rely on each other to appease the social construct they woefully lack. While the story progresses…a cynical end approaches and in some weird way you are routing for them in belief that these loners in some way will change the dynamic that happened before.

I personally wasn’t a fan at the lay out of the novel. To me it seemed as though there were too many writers involved in the story and it was extremely confusing to me which made it a very difficult read. Not to bash on The Green-Eyed Monster but I think this horror book is more for the deep thinking, mysterious-minded individuals who like an adventure in the vein of “it was Professor Klum in the mansion” a-la a game from my youth (many will comprehend the analogy), where you thrust your thought-process into a deep psycho-analysis that for me completely took me out.

The Green-Eyed Monster is available to purchase at Amazon and Barnes & Noble in Paperback print form with the lowest price being $11.04. If you want the Electronic Version or E-Book Version click over at the bottom, or…a simple search will guide you to Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Kobo for a price of $4.99 which can be downloaded immediately after payment goes through. This is more of a horror literary read and was a toughie, so if you like mind-numbing reads this is for you, all others looking to escape and have a good time with a book in hand, please beware that The Green-Eyed Monster is far more than relaxing time. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 03/10/2013 Rating: 4/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Avoid Suggestion: E-Book: Avoid

Book: The Green-Eyed Monster Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Barnes & Noble Website: Fan Blog Social Media: Facebook

The directors include Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton (YellowBrickRoad) with Hearing, Emily Hagins (Pathogen) with Touch, Eric England (Madison County) with Taste, Nick Everhart (Slash-In-The-Box) with Smell, and Miko Hughes (Actor in Pet Sematary) with Sight. Andrew Gernhard, Zach O’Brien, and Colin Theys (Banshee!!!) produced for Synthetic Cinema.

Here’s a link to the brand new 3D Teaser Trailer which begun airing today on Chiller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YcBzIVXM-U

• Title: Bunny The Killer Thing
• Year: 2011
• Time: 17 Minutes
• Director: Joonas Makkonen
• Social: IMDB | Facebook | YouTube | Jo-Jo The Dog Films: Home & Facebook |
  Director: Facebook & Twitter

Also a winner for – “Best Horror Film” at Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival and "Best Actor" – Adam Johnson & "Best Actress" – Julie Gonzalo at Los Angeles Comedy Festival.

If you are attending the SXSW Film Festival, join in for a special one-night only showing of VAMP U at the best theater in Austin…Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane on March 14 at 10:00 p.m.

VAMP U is a hilarious vampire comedy packed with sexy sorority girls, crazy frat boys, bloodthirsty vampires, and lots of laughs that was written and directed by Maclain Nelson (Osombie, Orc Wars and Dragon Warriors) and Matt Jespersen, plus it features a great cast of rising stars and veteran talent.

Synopsis:

• Wayne Gretzky (Adam Johnson) is a vampire with fangs that won’t grow.  His “impotence” began when he inadvertently killed Mary, the love of his life, 300 years ago.  To take his mind off the pain, he teaches college history – who better than a guy who’s been around for centuries?  Attempting to regain his full vampire powers, he enlists help from his friend and colleague, Dr. Levine (Gary Cole).  But nothing works…that is until a new semester brings freshman Chris Keller (Julie Gonzalo) – a dead ringer for his beloved Mary.  They begin to have an affair, which quickly goes south when he accidentally turns Chris into a vampire.  Now, as she leaves a bloody trail of destruction across campus – converting a sorority house full of coeds including the irresistible Samantha (Alexis Knapp) to her vampire legion – Wayne is faced with the task of stopping her before they kill the entire student body!

Cast:

• Adam Johnson (Orc Wars, Frozen and upcoming Dragon Warriors)
• Gary Cole (Pineapple Express, Talladega Nights, Entourage, Office Space and Dodgeball)
• Julie Gonzalo (Dodgeball, A Cinderella Story, Must Love Dogs, Eli Stone and currently starring on Dallas)
• Alexis Knapp (Pitch Perfect, Project X, Percy Jackson & the Olympians and Couples Retreat)

   
Available NOW on VOD and Digital Download, plus coming to DVD on March 12, 2013!

Check out VAMP U on Facebook!

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The hosts of The Walking Dead Enthusiasts (http://www.twdenthusiasts.com/), a show dedicated to The Walking Dead, are very excited to welcome Mr. Coleman about his experiences on the zombie blockbuster hit!

Fans of The Walking Dead now have the opportunity to submit questions for Chad to answer.

If you would like to submit a question for Chad, you can:

• Leave a Voicemail on the ZOMBline: 1-347-69-ZOMB1 or 1-347-699-6621.
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A decade ago, a Hollywood Hills home was found burnt to the ground with the owner nowhere to be found. After all the leads became cold, the house was rebuilt and sold to a couple who encounters strange happenings around the property. After a hardened homicide detective gets involved, the story takes on an even more dangerous twist.

SYNOPSIS

Kyle and Sarah are starting a life together in a renovated house in Hollywood Hills, on the same property where the original house burned-down a decade earlier with its owner vanished. Despite certain rumors about the property, the couple decides to acquire the home of their dreams.

But they quickly encounter bizarre occurrences around the house. And when one of their friends disappears and the forensics expert assigned to the case is found murdered, they realize they’re being targeted in a twisted cat-and-mouse game.

Enter Detective Brills, a hard-boiled homicide detective who’s been trying to solve the riddle of the house ever since the fire. He’s more than determined to help the couple to find out what’s really going around the estate. But he too cannot stop the murderous rampage that begins to claim the couple’s friends and associates, one by one.

After finding human remains in the crawl space, Kyle and Sarah slowly learn about the unspeakable events that took place and realize the culprit is closer to them than they can ever imagine.

HISTORY OF THE FILM

Chris Tasara based his first feature length film on several unusual events that occurred in his Hollywood Hills home. He describes the events as follows:

“When they were excavating my backyard, they found bones and we had to call the police in. A forensics team was brought in and they determined the bones to be animal, but we weren’t so sure. A knee bone was found and the rest of the remains were cut into bizarre shaped pieces. Whatever they were, my feeling was they were so old that tracing them was going next to impossible, which is why the police probably let it go. I took that incident and ran with it, except I had the human remains found in the crawl space.

The second incident involved an apparition in the window. I don’t really believe in that sort of thing, but my workers were staying here and took a picture of what looked like an angry old man staring into the window here one night. They actually showed me the picture and it was spooky!

The third incident (and the only one that happened after I moved in) was the electric saw turning itself on one night. Other than that, I’ve had mostly good luck since I moved into this place.”

CHRIS TASARA (WRITER/DIRECTOR) BIOGRAPHY

Chris Tasara is a diverse up-and-coming director who has already helmed a feature-length award-winning supernatural crime thriller, a boxing documentary, and a music video. His first feature film “Deadline” (www.deadline-themovie.com) is currently being readied for worldwide distribution including video on demand and 3-D Blu-ray release in the spring of 2013 in the U.S. through Interactor Media.

Chris’ first feature film “Deadline” netted him 13 awards from the California Film Awards, the L.A. Movie Awards, the Lucerne International Film Festival, and the L.A. Cinema Fest of Hollywood among others. The film was an official selection in the 2012 Fright Night Film Fest and the 2012 Indie Horror Film Fest, where it was nominated for Best Director, Best Feature, Best Leading Actress, and Best Cinematography.

Chris’ work previous includes music video work for Atlantic Records and "Fortitude and Glory," a boxing documentary on the late, great trainer Angelo Dundee, featuring interviews with two-time heavyweight champion George Foreman and Manny Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach (www.fortitudeandglory.com). Fortitude won the Gold Remi Award for Best Sports Documentary from Houston Worldfest.

Chris holds a Master’s degree in film from the University of Miami. Before getting his start in directing, Chris did runway work for Nike, talent work for Pepsi and Heineken, and print work for Men’s Exercise and various other fitness catalogs. Chris currently resides in Southern California.

Chris’ directing reel can be viewed at www.tasaradirecting.com.

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A LuchaGore Production

Starring: Mark Campbell, Ariel Hansen, Nathan Dashwood, Breann Grainger, and Gigi Saul Guerrero

Voice Over by: Jesse Inocalla

Recreated by: Gigi Saul Guerrero, Luke Bramley, and Raynor Shima

Produced by: Raynor Shima

Directed by: Gigi Saul Guerrero & Luke Bramley

Edited by: Luke Bramley and Gigi Saul Guerrero

Sound Design by: Luke Bramley

Music Composed by: Jonathan Moxness

Titles by: Raynor Shima

Poster by: Cameron La Fave

SPFX by: Carolyn Williams

Make Up by: Carolyn Williams & Meaghan Andersen

Production Design by: Raynor Shima

Production Crew: Jordan Williams, Gordon Cheng & James Chase

Behind the scenes stills by: Jordan Williams & Gordon Cheng

Behind the scenes video by: Gordon Cheng

Special Thanks to: Cameron La Fave, Fabian Saul, Romi Saul, Levi Nash, Jonathan Moxness, Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve

Most, if not all submitted will be published on the Horror Palace website getting your news out to horror fans all over the world.

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1. Go to our Contact Us Page and fill out the appropriate information in the form.
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Book:

Author’s Summary: They survived the apocalypse…but are they ready for the aftermath? Lionel Morton and his sister, Claire are trapped and in danger in a wasteland frozen in nuclear winter. Somehow, they managed to live through the collapse of human civilization, but the real nightmare is just beginning. Taking shelter in an abandoned bunker, they intercept a radio broadcast that promises salvation in "New City" — the supposed last vestige of humanity. With nowhere else to go and nothing to lose, Lionel and Claire decide to embark on the most dangerous journey of their lives: fight through the wasteland to reach a place that may not even exist. Sun Bleached Winter is a dark, violent story of survival, desperation and loss that explores the truly terrifying reality of the apocalypse in a world where good and evil are meaningless and where killers and cannibals lurk over every hill.

Review: The story is similar as with most horror novels; it’s about surviving salvation in a world of death and endless snow.  Lionel Morton and his sister Claire are trying to find more people, and a place to live in this abrupt ending of civilization.  They continually face hard times and avoid bad people, which in this they are cannibals looking for human meat.

Bad luck comes to Claire when she gets a cut on her forehead running away from the savages. She slowly weakens and eventually tragedy ensues for Lionel. His whole outlook and perspective shifts…he starts talking to himself…and/or…an unknown dark shadow whom he thinks is taunting him. From there I am leaving it to your imagination as many things continue to fluster Lionel in this epic struggle.

I 100% loved this novel, and I am rating Sun Bleached Winter the highest possible because I could relate to this crisis and unbeknownst circumstances that would surely come in a scenario such as this. There are very few ideas in novels that portray such true feelings that if these events did happen in real life, the pursuing demise of oneself would surely exist.

Sun Bleached Winter is available at popular book stores like Amazon and Barnes & Noble in Paperback form for the low price of $11.94. If you’re anxious and can’t wait for shipment there is also an Electronic Version or E-Book that they are most commonly called for your Kindle, Smart Phone or Tablet device at almost 1/3 the price of the book coming in at $4.50. This is an outstanding novel that deserves the mass appeal of all you horror readers in Internet land. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 02/08/2013 Rating: 10/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Sun Bleached Winter Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Website: Fan Blog Social Media: Twitter

Four college students dig up an ancient Aztec relic in their own backyard, only to discover a dark force that is attached to it.

LONGER SYNOPSIS

Following a strange, cult-like incident, police recover home video footage from a residence in Riverside, California.

The footage starts as we see Nick and Darren film themselves as they attend a South American history class at UC Riverside, California. We learn that they are actually film students and are filming themselves for practice to prepare for an eventual career in film.

Nick has a girlfriend named Karen and Darren has a girlfriend named Liz. All four of them move into a house in Riverside as their apartment lease expires.

Nick and Darren attend a Modern Television class, where their professor tells them their class assignment is to create a Reality Show filming their daily life.

As they setup cameras, they notice strange occurrences around the house,  such as lights turning on and off, strange sounds during the night. They seem to be coming from the backyard.

Liz, Darren’s girlfriend, decides to plant a lemon tree in the backyard of the house. As Darren starts digging through the rough soil with a shovel, he discovers there is something buried in the ground.

They dig out a wooden crate, open it, and discover it contains an ancient Aztec human sacrifice container.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

The Aztec Box is written, directed and produced by Serge Bronstein.

The following is an excerpt from an interview:

Q: What inspired you to write “The Aztec Box”
A: I have always liked ancient history and have always been interested in film. One of the reasons for creating this film as the fact that, in my opinion, there are very few good movies produced by Hollywood nowadays. As a kid, I loved watching Indiana Jones, and one of my favorite shows on TV is Pawn Stars. Even though it’s scripted, I loved how it teaches the viewer these little historical stories. In my film, I wanted to involve some ancient mystery, but also make sure that it is plausible, believable and tied into actual historical events. The Aztec Calendar was all the rage in 2012, so when I started writing the script in early 2012, I picked the Aztecs over the Egyptians.

ABOUT THE CAST

Nick Uzarski – Nick plays … Nick, the main character in this film. Nick is a native Californian and enjoys surfing and basketball.

Brisa Freitas – plays Karen, Nick’s girlfriend. Brisa is originally from Brasil. She loves yoga and bellydancing. Brisa has an extensive theatre background and is currently living in New York.

Suziey Block – Suziey plays Liz, the antagonist of the story. Suziey is a striking brunette and a veteran actor and director. Suziey starred in Entrance – a suspense film about a barista in Los Angeles stalked by an unknown admirer. Suziey is originally from Michigan and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Hans Hernke – Hans plays Darren, Liz’s boyfriend and Nick’s best friend.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Serge Bronstein – http://www.aztecbox.com/site/contact/

To consolidate the website and make it much easier to navigate and find what you need quickly has been completed. This is the third look to Horror Palace over 16 months and we are excited to present the fans the new and bold layout.

The focus of Horror Palace rolls on with new features in the pipeline. Horror Palace will continue with Written Horror Movie Reviews, Written Horror Book Reviews, Full Length HD Horror Shorts, Horror Trailer Database, Horror PC Games (updates coming soon) and the Freebies section.

With the overhaul we are expanding the website with 3 new features and more to come very soon!

• PRESS RELEASES – Horror News Topics, Movies, Directors, Upcoming Items, Etc…
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Horror Palace wishes to thank all of you horror fans for your continuing support while we trudge forward in this amazing field we call HORROR!

“It’s a monster movie,” Blair admits. “But it’s a monster movie unlike any other.” In THE STRAYING, two creatures with very different histories and world views are thrust together with unexpected results. “While there are elements of the standard horror film, think more in the spirit of “The Hunger” than “Predators Meets Aliens”; the bulk of the battles are more psychological, more sociological. And, as the two monsters learn from each other, I hope the audience will also learn something about prejudice, perceptions and perhaps our own humanity.”

Blair wrote the film for himself and fellow DEADLY REVISIONS actor Bill Oberst Jr (Best Actor, Shockfest 2012). Oberst, who read Blair’s script over the holidays, says he is intrigued. “One of my idols, Lon Chaney Sr., once said ‘I endeavor in each of my roles to bring humanity to those we call monsters.’ That is what I am striving for now, so the underlying idea of THE STRAYING; that everyone has the potential to be a monster and every monster has elements of humanity within them; resonated strongly with me. I liked what I read.”

Blair agrees and hopes the film touches chords across the board. “While it’s an ostensibly small story about two lost souls, I hope people will glean the echoes that speak to all prejudice, including ageism, lookism, homophobia—you name it. I think most people feel like a victim of the dark side of that at least once in their lives and so this movie is for and about them, in that way.

For more information, inquiries or interview requests, contact TheStraying@2writers.com.

Book:

Author’s Summary: The "Family" kills folks for a living. They take the jobs that no one else can survive. They’re the best at bringing death, as well as defeating it. Now, one of them has gone rogue and it’s up to The Family to hunt down one of their own before he brings about the end of the world and exposes the secret existence of werewolves. It’s horror and adventure Old West Style with blazing guns, stampeding horses, flying fists, and werewolves galore.

Review: A very interesting wolfy-style read for real, it captivated my brain cells and kept my attention span through all 100+ pages. A Pack Of Wolves is about those dog-like beasts. A “family” lives far from civilization to avoid trouble with the mass population. But…theirs a group of mercenaries who knows about this clan and they think they’re devious which they are not for the most part. This pack tries to do the right thing.

It doesn’t help the “family” when one of them goes rogue, seeking more power for his selfish ways and control over the normal human beings. He starts to turn people into wolves to create a large army of fierce creatures to gain larger numbers. So…his wolf family is “hot on his tail” so to speak to try and stop the madness. It’s a battle in the end against good wolves vs. bad wolves, who will survive? You must read A Pack Of Wolves to find out all of the gritty details and finale that’s well worth it.

I totally loved this novel, and was wanting more from the author, Erik S. Brown. To my amazement while researching the book, I found out there is a Part 2 called “Skyfall.” I purchased it myself immediately and is on the way to me as I type. I am excited that the ending was left open and that Mr. Brown continued on with the saga.

A Pack Of Wolves is available to buy at most of the popular stores online like Amazon and Barnes & Noble in Paperback form for $10.99. There is also an E-Book version for you tablet users so you get the Electronic Edition immediately for $3.99. This is a super read horror peeps and should be bought at your earliest convenience. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 01/24/2013 Rating: 9/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: A Pack Of Wolves Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Website: Fan Blog Social Media: Facebook

Book:

Author’s Summary: A lost dream, a desperate hope…lost innocence, and a horror black as night. A young girl’s innocence is ripped from her when she is turned against her will into a vampire. Hunted and alone, Fleurette longs for escape from her hellish existence of eternal night, blood-letting and carnage. In war-torn Afghanistan, another young girl, Ruhee has been cast into another kind of dark bondage as a child bride. Raped, tormented and suffering, she longs for escape. These two lost souls find a strange but pure form of sisterly love together as they survive side-by-side in a world gone mad. Ruhee must grow up amid war and turmoil. As if American predator drones and the deadly raids of the Taliban were not bad enough, she must keep her "sister’s" dark secret, while merciless vampire hunters lurk in the shadows. When Ruhee comes of age and finds an unlikely but pure love with a brave but deeply troubled young Taliban soldier named Batal, Ruhee finds herself trapped between light and darkness. Her heart is torn in two, and she must make an impossible choice between love and immortality, as her young life teeters on the brink of hell.

Review: A teenage girl, Fleurette, has no one left, everyone she knows has been killed. She gets turned into a vampire and wanders around until she crosses paths with another teenage girl who desires help as the youngling is being raped and badly bitten. Onwards to lost souls, torment, brutality and the desire for blood.

Fleurette’s changing ways…she is amped to become a creature of the night who helps save other girls during a war-torn society. So many soldiers are cruel with destruction and lack of unjust humanity without a care in the world. It’s up to Fleurette to save the ravaging brutality and death of the teens in these despicable times.

The story is incredible and snagged my attention from the get-go. I should say I am a touched bias as the vampire novels are amongst my favorites. There’s a fascination with this ravaging undead that I have always gravitated to. I read this from start to finish in one sitting, and so will you, I guarantee it. It’s a scary story that makes you cringe with all of the violence, mayhem and torture which leads you continue on in hopes of a happy ending.

Desert Flower is available to buy online at many outlets in Paperback form for $10.96 (the lowest I found). Or you have the option of buying the Electronic Edition (E-Book) for your portable device like a Kindle or iPad at a price of $3.95. I have to conclude with the pricing on this book; for a novella of fewer than 70 pages, I think the price is awful steep, but…and this is a good but…this is a fantastic read and should be purchased unequivocally if you are a horror reader. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 01/16/2013 Rating: 10/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Desert Flower Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Website: Fan Blog Contact: Email

The interview is scheduled for 5pm EST | 2pm PST on Tuesday, January 15th, so all callers will need to be on the line by 4:55pm EST. If you would like to talk directly with The Morbidly Made crew and Dan Yeager, call (215) 778-4126. Mike Sankovich the producer will be handling the calls. Horror Palace supports the guys at The Morbidly Made, they have an awesome program.

After the interview the show will break, and they will continue on to their TC3D discussion at 6pm EST and run for approximately 30 minutes.

Book:

Author’s Summary: The powers of hell that lie within are very real . . . Following his murder, Andrew McMurray finds himself transported to the depths of hell. There he is indoctrinated as an apprentice to a demon master, Sonneillon. Exposing Andrew to the dark reaches of his evil powers, Sonneillon demonstrates a demons’ ability to possess, torment and control the thoughts and actions of the living. What is Andrew’s ultimate goal following his apprenticeship? Revenge on his wife, Katelyn and their nine-year-old son, Joshua, both of whom he holds responsible for his murder. Andrew’s plan of revenge begins to materialize once he inhabits Joshua, having him act out in often violent and disturbing ways. With possession of Joshua s mind and body complete, will hell’s ultimate evil goals come to pass, or can the local priest of a small Maine town exorcize Father from Son? At stake, doom-laden repercussions for all involved . . . and perhaps the world as a whole.

Review: This story is about a woman who is married to a very abusive husband. Together they have a son named Joshua. One dark night the sad being of a man, the husband Andrew, brings home another woman and they begin a romp of sex and drugs with Joshua in the house and doing their deeds in the bedroom. When the wife Katelyn gets home she hears noises, moans and the such, and when she investigates, all chaos breaks loose and Joshua becomes a killer. The soul of the father goes straight to hell wherein one of Satan’s minions plots a revenge tactic to get back at his family and other close friends.

It really takes a turn for the gruesome when the father tries to fulfill his revenge by possessing his son’s own flesh and the blood telling him what to do. Demon fans will be in-tune to the malevolent diatribe of what is to come. There is no remorse and killings a flew. An exorcism is the only answer. You have spirits, freaky happenings and the norm that comes with possession-style reads.

I absolutely loved this novel; for one it contains valuable life lessons to those who ponder or dis-believe if heaven and hell exist. The afterlife can be a touchy subject, and I for one was scared off of my toes. It’s a gripping and horrific story that will keep you up late at night and give you those demonic dreams us horror readers so gloriously look for.

A Demon Lies Within is available to buy online in Paperback form for $15.95 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others. During my research I even found it cheaper than that at a great book store called Books-A-Million for $10.68, outstanding price for a novel of this length. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 01/11/2013 Rating: 9/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: N/A

Book: A Demon Lies Within Paperback: Books-A-Million E-Book: N/A Social Media: Twitter Social Media: Facebook

            

Horror Movie	Year	BillChete	ChrisiFix
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter	2012	8.5
Abraham Lincoln Vs. Zombies	2012	3.0
A Brush With Death	2007	1.5
A Darker Reality	2008		7.5
Airborne	2012	3.0	2.5
Amphibious 3D	2010	1.0	3.0
A Night In The Woods	2011		3.0
Apartment 143	2011		3.5
Asylum Blackout	2011	5.0	6.5
ATM	2012	4.0	4.0
Barricade	2012	8.0
Battleground	2012	4.0
Bedevilled	2010	6.7
Beneath The Darkness	2011		6.5
Beware	2010	8.0
Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes	2012	2.0	3.0
Blackout	2009	7.5
Blood Oath	2007	6.0
Bloodwork	2011		5.0
Cassadaga	2011	4.5
Chained	2012	5.5
Chernobyl Diaries	2012		5.5
Creature	2011	7.0
Creep Van	2012	2.5	4.0
Cujo	1983	9.0	9.0
Dard Divorce	2007	4.0
Dark Tide	2012	4.0
DeadTime	2012	3.5	4.0
Death Stop Holocaust	2009	7.0	2.5
Demons Never Die	2011		5.5
Descendents	2008	5.0
Detention	2011		2.0
Devil’s Crossing	2011	3.0
Devil Seed	2012	5.0	5.0
Die	2010	3.5	4.0
Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark	2011	7.0	6.5
Don’t Go In The Woods	2010	7.5	2.2
Dream House	2011	2.0	2.0
Eaters	2011	5.0
Episode 50	2012	1.5
Evilution	2008	6.0
Excision	2012	6.0	7.5
Exit Humanity	2011	3.0	5.0
Exorcismus	2010		5.0
Fall Down Dead	2007	3.0
Father’s Day	2011	2.9	3.0
Filth To Ashes, Flesh To Dust	2011	2.5
Frat House Massacre	2008	7.0
Ghost Rider 2: Spirit Of Vengeance	2011	5.0
Greystone Park	2012	1.5	2.0
Grotesque	2009	4.0	6.0
Hell	2011	4.0
Helldriver	2010	4.5
Hellinger	1997	4.0
Hostel: Part III	2011		6.0
House Of Flesh Mannequins	2009	7.0
Hurt	2009	6.5
Intruders	2011	4.0	7.0
Juan Of The Dead	2011	2.0	3.1
Junkyard Dog	2010	6.0	3.5
Kidnapped	2010	8.0	6.5
Kill	2011	3.7	1.0
Killer By Nature	2010	5.0	3.0
Life Blood	2009	6.5
Live Animals	2008	6.0
Lizzie	2012		7.0
Livid	2011	8.0
Lost Woods	2012	1.0	1.7
Lovely Molly	2011	7.0	8.5
MindFlesh	2008	2.5
Monsters In The Woods	2012	1.0	1.0
Mother’s Day (Remake)	2010	8.5	9.0
Munger Road	2011	3.0	4.2
Murder Party	2007		3.0
Night Of The Living Dead: Re-Animation	2012		3.0
Night Wolf	2010	6.0
Offspring	2009		7.5
Paranormal Activity 4	2012		5.0
Piranha 3DD	2012	5.0	5.0
Playback	2012	6.5	7.5
Prometheus	2012	2.5	6.0
Psychotica	2011	4.0	4.0
Rites Of Spring	2011	7.0	5.5
Rogue River	2012	3.6	5.1
Rosewood Lane	2011	6.1	4.5
Run! Bitch! Run!	2009	6.5
Sand Sharks	2011	1.4	1.5
Scary Or Die	2012	6.0
Séance: The Summoning	2011	4.0
Sector 7	2011	3.0	1.5
Shuttle	2008	8.0	6.5
Silent House (American Remake)	2011	5.0
Silent Night	2012	7.0	6.5
Siren	2010	1.0
Slaughter	2009		6.5
Sleep Tight	2011	5.5
Smiley	2012		3.5
Steve Niles’ Remains	2011	3.0	2.3
Stormhouse	2011	2.0	5.5
Teeth	2007	6.0	6.5
Terror Trap	2010	2.5
The Abandoned	2006		8.0
The Apparition	2012		7.5
The Barrens	2012	7.5
The Birds	1963	10	10
The Broken	2008		8.0
The Bunny Game	2010	2.0	2.0
The Cabin In The Woods	2011	3.0	3.5
The Changeling	1980		3.5
The Collection	2012	8.5
The Convent	2000		5.0
The Dead	2010	9.0	3.0
The Dead Undead	2010	2.6	2.0
The Devil’s Rock	2011	6.5	6.0
The Exorcist	1973		10
The Frozen	2012	7.5
The Ghostmaker	2012	7.5
The Grey	2011	5.0	8.0
The Gruesome Death Of Tommy Pistol	2010	2.5	2.5
The Hike	2011	5.0
The Innkeepers	2011	3.0	7.2
The Legend Of Hell House	1973		3.0
The Pact	2012	6.0	7.5
The Portal	2010	2.0	2.0
The Possession	2012		8.0
The Silent House (La Casa Muda)	2010	8.5	4.0
The Sleeper	2012	7.5
The Skin I Live In	2011	5.0	5.5
The Tall Man	2012	6.0
The Terror Experiment	2010	3.5	4.0
The Thing (Prequel)	2011	4.0	8.0
The Victim	2011	5.2	2.0
The Woman	2011	7.0	8.0
The Woman In Black	2012	3.5	7.5
Tied In Blood	2012		3.0
Trippin’	2011	2.0
Twilight 4: Breaking Dawn – Part 1	2011		8.0
Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show	2010	6.2	4.0
Underworld 4: Awakening	2012	7.0
Undocumented	2010	5.0	6.0
Virus X	2010		6.5
Wolf Town	2010	2.0	2.0
Wound	2010	2.5	2.5
Wreckage	2010	6.0
Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines	2012		5.0
X	2011	5.0

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2013/01/03/a-complete-list-of-horror-movie-ratings-in-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/12/28/2013-horror-movie-predictions/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/12/28/2013-horror-movie-predictions/#comments Fri, 28 Dec 2012 21:09:15 +0000 Horror Palace http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=6940 It’s that time for the staffs predictions for upcoming horror movies coming out in 2013. These are horror movies that the critics feel “should” be worth a watch or possibly buy based on the news and information researched about them.

BillChete’s Top 10

1. You’re Next
2. Come Out And Play
3. Texas Chainsaw 3D
4. Hallows’ Eve
5. Old 37
6. Lake Noir
7. Bloody Homecoming
8. The Mooring
9. Girls Against Boys
10. Nobody Gets Out Alive

ChrisiFix’s Top 10

1. Evil Dead (Remake)
2. Texas Chainsaw 3D
3. Aftershock
4. Jeepers Creepers 3
5. Haunter
6. The Helpers
7. The Haunting In Connecticut 2
8. 6 Miranda Drive
9. Resolution
10. 7500

Again these are horror movies that are slated for release in 2013 either in the theater, on BluRay, or DVD. It’s possible some get pushed backed as release dates always fluctuate based on production.

Year: 2012
Studio: Independent
Director: Jason Figgis
Stars: Catherine Wrigglesworth, Emily Forster, Adam Tyrrell
Language: English (UK, Ireland)
Length: 1:46
Sub-genre: Infected (zombie)

This haunting film looks at the day to day survival of two sisters, Evie (Catherine Wrigglesworth) and Fran (Emily Forster), as they struggle to survive in the aftermath of a worldwide viral epidemic in which the adult population has been decimated. In a genre which is (let’s just admit it) oversaturated, Director Jason Figgis manages to find a fresh wrinkle. The survivors of the epidemic, must deal with their new surroundings, which continue to be horrific, even though the infected have all (presumably) died.This is the situation the two young sisters find themselves in. To keep each others’ spirits up, they read from the classic childrens book, The Railway Children, that the film gets its name from. Eventually, they encounter other young people who are just trying to survive, as well. These kids, however, have not managed to transition to the new reality as smoothly, and are more hostile and ruthless.

Now this movie is not a conventional horror movie, but it is unsettling, as we follow the two sisters dealing with their challenges, which could result in dire consequences for either one, all the while presenting flashbacks of the encounters many of the characters survived. In these flashbacks, we get most of the horror in this film. It did disappoint me, as a horror fan, that they chose to pull back from anything resembling gore in these sequences, but it did set the psychology of the survivors. The real meat of the story is how the various surviving kids adapt to the situation, and their inherent mistrust of everything, considering they were largely attacked by their infected parents. Some try to survive and maintain a level of morality, most tread the line while huddling together behind amoral, survive as a group mentality, and some dip into the survive at all costs mindset that includes (insinuated) cannibalism. The film definitely brings to mind the classic, Lord of Flies.

The film is shot wonderfully, and presents a nice collection of views from wide shots of surrounding landscape to huddled intimate scenes. It captures the bleak situation of the tale adequately, and is one of the films’ strong points, along with good acting from nearly all participants. The few adult actors do a great job of portraying the madness they suffer once the infection sets in. It is really chilling. Another suprisingly startling scene involves an encounter one of the characters has with a young boy who is alone drawing pictures in an abandoned building. The child’s reaction to being interrupted was well thought out, and helped bring depth to the story.

There really isn’t that much gore at all. An underachieved shotgun wound, and facial contusions are about it. There are the “cannibal” scenes, which are extra disturbing considering it’s small children devouring the human flesh, but it is far from graphic.

The writing is compelling, though it feels as though it could have been better told in a pair of films, or even a miniseries. The pace gets a bit hastened toward the end, and leaves a bit too much of the story unexamined. I really would like to know more about some of the characters.

The soundtrack is very melodramatic. A bit TOO much for my tastes, though I loved the exit track, and some of the main music was enjoyable. Pretty mediocre overall.

That being said, this film gets in your head, and you really get behind the two sisters in their struggle. It is also a very female led event, which ads to the appeal of the movie. I can’t begin to recommend it to the hardcore horror audience, due to it’s underwhleming lack of gore, but those whose tastes are a bit more adventurous will certainly find much to like in this little gem of a movie!

Reviewer: Boss Butcher

Date: 11/26/2012

Rating: 7/10

Recommendation: High rent /For Hardcore horror fans: AVOID

• Title: Midnight Roadkill
• Year: 2009
• Time: 4 Minutes
• Director: Owen Mulligan
• Social: YouTube Channel

• Title: The Beast
• Year: 2012
• Time: 12 Minutes
• Director: Peter Dukes
• Social: IMDB

• Title: Cleaver
• Year: 2012
• Time: 7 Minutes
• Director: Stephen Parker
• Social: IMDB

It is our way of saying thanks for standing by Horror Palace, your home to all things horror! Get over to the Freebies page today and sport a new background on your PC Desktop!

Book:

Author’s Summary: While being tracked by a team of Demon Hunters, hordes of demons of all shapes and sizes scurry and lurk in the darkness at every bend. Overwhelmed by the bloodthirsty demons and the satanic Dwellers that live in the sewers, one former angel would lend a helping hand. Through tenacity and gadgetry, Arcane will rise as a formidable adversary to ward off evil. As the arrival of the biggest threat the city has ever encountered, Arcane will need all the help he can get. Follow this giant screenplay with multiple characters on their own personal journeys through Hell and back again, while being delighted with Noir style masterful illustrations to keep your mind racing and your nightmares plentiful.

Review: It’s judgment day and Arcane (an angel) battles Arioch, the president in Hell, one of Lucifer’s strongest allies. Arioch created havoc on Earth killing humans with gobs of minions. This master demon wants his own domain to control the entire universe. But…the human population that hold strong beliefs fight back even though their cities are destroyed and there food is scarce. With the help of Arcane, the homosapiens faith and power try to survive by outwitting and destroying the malevolent demons that walk amongst them.

Arcane proves to be a formidable script, with ferocious demons, all described in pain-staking depths. These creatures of sorts; devour, torture and skin their human prey. Each demon has their own way of destroying their victims, all written in vivacious detail. This story is scary and amounts to a few evenings of shivers while lying in bed before nighty-night.

For those of you that watch horror television programs, Arcane brings to mind a similar portrayal as in Supernatural, a long-running show about the unknown, which stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. One of my favorite TV shows about the supernatural with many demons on a regular basis all with differing powers.

Arcane in summary; a supernatural tale where good combats evil, and as we all hope, you must read the novel to see who triumphs over one another. Arcane captured my attention thoroughly, and with the addition of artwork scurried throughout the novel, gives Arcane high marks. You actually get to see visuals of these demons that go perfectly along the storyline – huge props for that. I feel credit is due to the illustrator, Nathan Thomas Milliner, who provided an artist’s rendition of the action and characters.

The book is available to buy at a few online book sellers in Paperback form including Barnes & Noble and Amazon where it is the most inexpensive at $21.99, or you can get the E-Book also known as the Electronic Edition for $2.99. Please be advised; Arcane is written in a manner of a screenplay. I personally liked it, but it is possible that it may bother you as the story flows in an untypical nature. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 11/14/2012 Rating: 8/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Arcane Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Barnes & Noble Social Media: Twitter Contact: Email

Year: 2012

Studio: Independent

Director: Lindsay Denniberg

Stars: Priscilla McEver, Casey Puccini, Chris Shields

Language: English (USA)

Length: 1:35

Sub-Genre: Demon, Artsy, Feminism

Let me start this review by saying that certain viewers will probably find this film magical. I, however, do not fit into that category. I am not in the target audience.  I can see the level of thought and expression that was captured, but it doesn’t appeal to me in very many ways. I feel confident it won’t appeal to you either.

Synopsis: A young woman who works in a video rental store realizes that the man she has been having a relationship with is the ghost of a former lover. That is because she is basically the offspring of the first female creation, Lillith. She is a Lillin, or a succubus. when she copulates, the male participant dies.  She is torn. She really loves this man, but if she follows the relationship to its natural destination, he will die. If she doesn’t, SHE will die.

Video Diary of A Lost Girl is a film that most viewers will probably turn off in the first 10 minutes. Only the artistic/creative types will ever venture further.  It begins with a setup scene, shot on video with many green screen effects and blacklight color elements that portray Lillith’s betrayal and rape by Adam. Lillith leaves for the red sea and copulates with many demons and gives birth to a new race of females: The Lillins. They are basically succubi.

After the intro credits, the story becomes a pinch more conventional, however it is still shot in the garish tones of a black light poster and the scenes are more reminiscent of a stage production than that of a motion picture. The acting is less that stellar, but there are a few moments one can get lost in. The lines are campy, but a few manage to get a chuckle. One happens when the suitor of Louise (the main character) puts on 3D glasses at Nosferatu. Louise says, “You do know this isn’t in 3D?” to which he remarks. “No. But YOU are.” That’s about as good as it gets in this flick.

The writing is a mixed bag. I actually like the idea of the conflicted Lillin, Louise. Trying to decide whether to follow her desires and love the man who is in love with her (which will result in his death),  or follow her heart and die by not copulating with him. The execution is another thing. The script is mostly boring, and not delivered well by the actors.

Then there is the visual presentation. The cinematography is adequate. everything is in frame. It is captured well enough. It is shot overwhelmingly with green screen effects with dayglo tones. It is simply not for everyone. It is merciless in it’s presentation of this style. You will either like it or hate it. I liked it…for a while. But watching over one and a half hours of this style was tedious to me, and I feel most viewers will share my sentiments. I did like some of the creative uses of video static in the moon and Louise’s menstrual blood. Credit that to green screen cinematographer, Taylor Wood.

As far as the acting goes, Priscilla McEver is by far the best actor, but her good moments are a bit sporadic. Also of note is Casey Puccini who portrays Louise’s boss at the video store. He provides a bit of stability, ironically.

The music was by far the most appealing part of this movie for me. It is a driving soundtrack of alternative, new wave sounds. Some of the tracks are reminiscent of Siousxie and the Banshees, which was cool. there are also some cool low key electronica spots during transitional moments that I found enjoyable. Another inclusion that helped this movie along was the interspersed clips of great old (public domain) horror flicks including, Nosferatu, Night of the Living Dead and Carnival of Souls.

This movie will appeal to a narrow segment of the movie-going public, but even more adventurous viewers will find that Video Diary of a Lost Girl leaves them cold.

Reviewer: Boss Butcher

Date: 11/10/2012

DVD: N/A

Rating: 3/10

Recommendation: Avoid

Book:

Author’s Summary: Alaska, 2010 In a remote Alaskan creek the U.S. Air Force unearth the find of the millennium. Little do they know that the mysterious discovery will lead them to something that will unleash a terrifying nightmare upon Earth… Texas, 2017 The military is moving into the abandoned chemical plant next to Ken Forde’s farm. But the military isn’t the only new arrival in Speaker. A weird, frazzled stranger is keeping a close eye on the plant, as well. What could possibly be going in there? Unfortunately, Ken and the rest of world will soon find out… CROGIAN: a highly secret military project that has gone horribly wrong unleashing an apocalyptic blight on the world. Ken and all the residents of Speaker awake to a nightmarish landscape. Cut off from civilization, they must make their way to Houston and sanctuary — a journey through stifling heat, and a route filled with giant abominable creatures. Who will make it to Houston? Who will survive the horror that is… CROGIAN

Review: Crogian is a story of survival and I loved it. When the head of the military hires a batch of scientists to do experiments on plants and animals, an ex-employee bombs the lab they are working in and all hell breaks loose. This causes massive damage in Texas, and all trees, plants and animals, except rodents and birds have dire consequences in which their growth is sped up and they tower like never before, exuding treacherous bigness with a fierce nature.

The military orders the townsfolk into an evacuation procedure but the people become stuck because all of the cars have been destroyed by monstrous insects like; worms, roaches, beetles, etc. A woman scientist named Anna tries to reverse the experiment or  concoct a cure but she comes up empty and can’t master an antidote. The military ends up taking the situation into epic proportions in order to eradicate the disastrous fumes they have surfaced in Texas.

You may be wondering what the title “Crogian” means. A brief analogy would be “Creator of Giants” which is a term that is used in the novel to describe a secret military project that has gone horribly wrong unleashing an apocalyptic blight on the world. Crogian was devised to be a weapon but an insane menace causes mayhem to unleash.

A few positives for you; The book was very exciting, vivid in nature and the wording used was easily understandable especially since this is science fiction in nature with horror elements all over it. A lot of novels use made-up words or terminology which can be tough to comprehend. There is plenty of action in Crogian to keep you entertained in the mind; it’s exactly the type of book I like to read. There are zero, let me say that again, zero negative things about Crogian. It is the best horror novel I have read in a long time.

The book is available to buy at many online book sellers in Trade Paperback form for $15.95 or you can get the E-Book also known as the Electronic Edition for $4.99. I’m not done yet, there is a limited supply, signed by the author, Hardcover available too for $44.95. Crogian is a must-have book, I fully recommend it. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 11/09/2012 Rating: 10/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Crogian Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Smashwords Bio/Interview: Melange Books Contact: Email

However, new research indicates that it may not be as unhealthy as you think, especially if you opt to watch a tense horror movie. Research carried out on behalf of Lovefilm by the University of Westminster has shown that moviegoers can burn over 100 calories while watching scary films.

And those movies that make you jump out of your seat with fright regularly burn even more calories. The researchers studied people’s heart rates, consumption of oxygen and carbon dioxide output during the time they watched ten different horror films, and the one that used up the most calories was Stanley Kubrick’s classic The Shining (184 calories). In second place was Jaws (161 calories) and in third place was The Exorcist (158 calories).

Paranormal Activity burnt 111 calories; good news for anyone who wants to go and see the latest in the series – Paranormal Activity 4 – which is currently featuring on the Edinburgh Cinema Listings and in other towns across the UK.

Paranormal Activity 4 is the sequel to the story in Paranormal Activity 2. In fact PA4 opens with the ending of PA2, with Katie killing her sister Krista and disappearing with baby Hunter. The story then moves on five years and focuses on the strange events that start affecting a family in suburbia when a woman and her strange young child move into the neighbourhood.

This time the main characters are siblings Alex and Wyatt, Alex’s boyfriend Ben, and the new little boy in town, Robbie, who spends all his time with Wyatt and around whom strange happenings seem to take place.

Paranormal Activity 4 promises enough frightening moments to at least equal out the extra calories you’re going to consume in snacks while you watch it!

Led by Tara Eary (Tara E.) and husband Geoff Janssen the duo concocted a unique concept revolving around a mixture of Zombies and Fairytales bringing the horror audience a spin on the two popular cultures.

You can support these up-and-coming filmmakers by contributing an amount between $10-$1000 for the production of Zombie Fairytale Theater. The campaign is running on IndieGoGo, click over and see the great perks Tara is offering the supporters.

We wish Tara E. and company great success with their current project, they are talented independent filmmakers bringing horror to us!

Book:

Author’s Summary: A sleazy motel, burrowed on the edge of town, is haunted by rumors of dead hookers found between mattresses and peep holes drilled through walls. When Special Agent Daniels targets the motel during an investigation, the nefarious owner, Sanjay, must scramble to conceal evidence of his own dark deeds. Just when he believes things can’t get any worse, motel guests begin to vanish without a trace. Can Sanjay discover the truth behind the phenomena threatening his motel before the Feds get suspicious, or does he risk exposing his own sordid enterprises to seek help from the outside? Why don’t you book a room for the night and find out? At these bargain rates you’ll be lucky if you only find dirty sheets and a few skeletons in the closet. Welcome to the Shady Palms Motel. Check out is at 11, if you live that long…

Review: The overall thematic element of Shady Palms is a simple one, people end up going missing without a trace in the Shady Palms Motel. The owners name is Sanjay and he runs a rotten motel which he has no clue what is happening around him. One day his mind changes when he witnesses mutant bedbugs sucking the life out of a little kid whom he tries to rescue.

There is an FBI Agent named Daniel who is investigating this run-down motel because a terrorist is staying at this abode. In addition, all of his crew has died from mysterious circumstances. What everyone dares to find out is that these crawling bedbugs bite their victims or inject their antennae, and then it’s all over for the victim. Paralysis and the human carcass starts to melt turning it into a pink, slimy ooze.

There are a slew of positive points on Shady Palms. Mostly, I like that it is a science fiction story mixed with the macabre details of terrifying insects. The story captivates, draws you in, and doesn’t let go until you conclude your sensory overload with all of the vivid, gritty, grimy details of the unsuspecting – succumbing to the prey of the creepy crawlies. Shady Palms is a non-stop read you will want to finish in one sitting, kudos to the author.

I struggled to even be critical with Shady Palms. I was fascinated from the overview on the back of the book. I got sucked into the story and I didn’t want the novel to end. The only nitpick that I have is that it is not straight-up horror. SciFi is a close cousin to the horror genre so I deducted 2 points overall. Still, this doesn’t affect how good this book is, anyone who likes horror will indeed be tickled pink (tickled red for you seekers of dread) with Shady Palms.

The book is available to buy at Amazon on Paperback for $14.99 or you can get the E-Book or Kindle Edition for $2.99, and if you have an Amazon Prime Subscription the book is 100% free. Shady Palms is a no-brainer recommendation, I endorse it completely. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 11/03/2012 Rating: 8/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Shady Palms Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Website: Fan Blog Social Media: Twitter

Movie:

Plot: Police officer Anna Mari tries to stop a card playing serial killer in this chilling tale from Dario Argento. Anna’s forced into a dangerous game with the maniac, and if she loses, she must witness the gruesome deaths of the man’s victims via webcam.

Review: Many things in life are seemingly determined by luck.  Meeting the girl of your dreams on a random stop at a coffee house or hitting the daily lotto numbers are two great examples.  However, in the Dario Argento film The Card Player, a serial killer uses luck as the ultimate form of terror.

The premise of the film revolves around a serial killer that goes by the name of The Card Player.  He kidnaps women and kills them over the internet based on the outcome of a single game of Video Poker.  If the killer’s opponent loses the hand, the person on screen is tortured and then killed.

As the film progresses, the film winds up being a game of cat and mouse between the serial killer and the local police.  The killer presents several potential victims to the police and each time they play against him, they lose and the victims are killed.

When the commissioners daughter is kidnapped, the police enlist the help of a poker prodigy to try and free the girl.  The poker pro is successful in securing her release but the killer is now suspect something is amiss and things go downhill from there.

This films sees the police use state of the art technology and criminology in order to track down this killer.  Overall, this film comes across less as a horror movie and more like an episode of the hit TV series CSI.

That is not necessarily a bad thing as CSI is one of the highest rated shows in CBS history.  Those looking for lots of blood and gore will be a bit disappointed as this film does not take advantage of that as other films created by Argento in the past.

However, The Card Player is a solid attempt to integrate the madness of a serial killer with modern technology.  If one does not go into watching this movie expecting a classic horror movie and approaches it more like a psychodrama, it should prove to be a rather enjoyable experience.

Overall Rating – 6.5/10

Book:

Author’s Summary: A hotel explodes in Mexico City, and all available evidence points to an American citizen, Alex Valdez, as the terrorist. The FBI is desperate to find the truth before the Mexican government can. Dead Religion follows the trail of FBI agent James Allison, who leaves his family and journeys to Mexico in order to find what secrets lay behind the destroyed hotel and all the lives lost with it. To do that though, Alex Valdez’s life must be laid bare—the blood rite his parents left him and the ‘God’ they felt had been unleashed on the world. Agent Allison races to find the truth in Mexico City, to uncover Valdez’s life, before he finds himself face to face with the same terror.

Review: Dead Religion confronts your fears, it makes you contemplate faith, and proposes many questions; how strong willed do you think you are when one of your most trusting Gods you believe in is coming after you? Well that is the exact thing that Alex Valdez must face in this novel, all in the style of the iconic Stephen King.

There are many characters you cross paths with in Dead Religion. Including the person you follow the most Alex, his wife Brittany, a psychiatrist named Daniel, and James, a FBI Agent who is assigned to investigate and solve a bombing to a hotel in Mexico which causes destruction, mayhem and death to several of Alex’s closet comrades. There are many more people you encounter in Dead Religion, and will learn about them during your reading.

A touch more on the story; during James’ crime solving he finds out if there are terrorists involved or could it be plain insanity? A focal point is on this “plague” that surfaces which when people come in contact with the disease ridden, they get infected and start experiencing hallucinations, nightmares or reality, you must decide. Another device used in Dead Religion is a God who goes by Maux. You have sacrifices, death and strange occurrences that play out and develop into the fight for survival in this bizarre world in which Alex lives in.

The ending was a shock, it never occurred to me that the climax would be so bleak, but hey, this is horror and I appreciate a story not wrapped up in a tight little bow. Dead Religion has many positives, a few a like to outline is; in today’s tumultuous landscape, with rampant religious quandaries, Dead Religion couldn’t of come out at a better time. The story was fascinating and thought-provoking, not as weird as some authors, but still good. My main gripe with this novel is that the story unfolded in a back-and-forth kerfuffle jetting you off to the past and thrusting you back to the present throughout the whole read. I do like sequential novels more, so it was a rougher ride of comprehension for my liking.

The book is available to buy at Amazon on Paperback for $7.99 or you can get the E-Book or Kindle Edition for free, if you have the amazing Amazon Prime Subscription. The cost is the selling point here and comes as an easy recommendation, an inexpensive price point that I appreciate from Mr. Beers. For the cost of a Venti Latte at Starbucks, you can have a few nights of indulging yourself into a strange story while escaping your money woes. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 10/26/2012 Rating: 5½/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Dead Religion Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Website: Fan Blog Social Media: Twitter

Year: 2011
Studio: Odyssee Pictures
Director: Larry Wade Carrell
Stars: Grace Powell, Dylan Horne,Krystn Caldwell (Psychic Experiment), Larry Wade Carrell, Leo D. Wheeler (Domain of the Damned), Joe Grisaffi, Parrish Randall, Jeremy James Douglas Norton
Language: English (USA)
Length: 1:32
Sub-Genre: Revenge, Supernatural, Slasher

Plot: Sheriff Andy and his Deputy, Billy have a big problem on their hands: the enormous son of a local waitress, named Jacob. Only Jacob’s sister, a small but strong girl stands between Jacob unleashing an unstoppable killing spree on their little Texas town. What happens if she can’t stop him anymore, and he listens to the evil spirits he hears?

Review: This indie film, directed by Larry Wade Carrell, brings what I would call an entertaining and even fun horror movie experience. Despite it’s faults, which I will detail, I really enjoyed this movie, and it’s throwback feel. The movie starts with the Sheriff being called because a group of local boys on their bicycles are headed toward and abandoned house that is part of a local legend. The Sheriff (played by director, Larry Wade Carrell) talks with the one boy left behind, which leads into the main body of the story. Back in the 70s, when Sheriff Billy was just a young deputy, and was called out with then Sheriff Andy, to a domestic abuse call. When they arrive, they find the abusive man of the house (who happens to be Billy’s brother, Otis) on the verge of being killed by his huge, mentally challenged stepson, Jacob. Jacob isn’t responding to their orders until his little sister gently takes his hand and leads him away. From here, the story follows Otis’ wife, Edith who is a waitress at the local diner. Edith was previously married to a man named Lawrence Kell, who had inherited a house and became obssessed with it and a strange book he found in the floorboards. This unleashed evil spirits which drove Kell to a showdown with the small community. These spirits are still around, but only Edith’s daughter and son, Sissy and Jacob, can hear them. Sissy’s gentle guidance of her brother is all that stands in the way of history repeating itself, as their home life threatens to boil over.

The acting in this film is a mixed bag, but I really enjoyed the dual roles performed by Larry Wade Carrell, who plays both Billy and his drunken, violent brother Otis. I particularly enjoyed his portrayal of Otis with his mullet style hair, and exaggerated expressions. The little girl, Sissy (Grace Powell) was charming, as well, and Dylan Horne who plays Jacob looks menacing, with his hulking stature and bald head. Also of note is a cameo by the car from John Carpenter’s Christine, and a nice performance from Michael Beihn (Aliens, The Terminator, Planet Terror) as Lawrence Kell.

Though the locations and sets are mostly good, there are a few flaws, such as squad car lights that appear unstable. The props are good, especially the evil book and occult items that are found in the house. There are also many nice old cars in the film, and I missed any anachronisms, if there were any.

When it comes to makeup and practicals, the overall execution is good. The blood and gore effects are nice, and compliment the wide variety of kills in the film. Everything from dismemberments, stabbings, and bodies cut assunder are covered. My two favorites are a body cut in half by a machete, and a nice head bash with a unique weapon called The Slugger. It is basically a baseball bat fitted with a buzzsaw blade. The detached limbs are a bit rubbery, but it is forgivable. The one glaring flaw in regards to makeup is the aging effects and the moustaches and sideburns. They are fairly destracting, but not fatal to the story by my estimation. I didn’t detect any cgi in this movie. Maybe on some of the gunshots.

The camera work is good overall, and at times the film has the appearance of a bigger budget production. This also comes into play regarding the soundtrack. Really the only part of the soundtrack I disliked was at the beginning when the local boys are riding through the town like a bunch of rascals. It just had a Disney-like quality that felt out of place in a horror film.

I am going to recommend watching this movie when it becomes available. It isn’t a particularly scary film, but it does have some gore and a nice, satisfying payoff toward the end. It is a fun, old school revenge tale, and is a bit humorous without a bunch of overbearing comedy. A nice balance which I found entertaining.

Reviewer: Boss Butcher

Date: 10/25/2012

DVD: N/A

Rating: 6.5/10

Recommendation: Strong rental

Social Media: Odyssee Pictures on Facebook

Book:

Author’s Summary: Monstrous transplants. Appalling amputations. Bizarre implants. Nightmarish forms of body enhancements. Disturbing, perverse, often gut-wrenching stories–all between the covers of this anthology. Here are 20 tales by some of today’s best horror, suspense, and science fiction writers, including Graham Masterton, John Shirley, Scott Nicholson, Michael Laimo, Lisa Mannetti, L.L. Soares, Armand Rosamilia, Aaron J. French, Christopher Nadeau, Michael Bailey, Adrienne Jones, Charles Colyott, J. Gregory Smith, Michael Louis Calvillo, Jezzy Wolfe, Jonathan Templar, P.I. Barrington, Elliott Capon, Rob M. Miller, and Weldon Burge. The stories are not for those who are faint of heart or squeamish, or who are easily offended by nasty language, bloody violence, and freakish body augmentations. You’ve been warned!

Review: Zippered Flesh: Tales Of Body Enhancements Gone Bad is a collection of 20 short stories, most are original even though there are a few republished stories here. This is an anthology style read where I will outline each story briefly. BOOTSTRAP – THE BINDS OF LASOLASTICA; A Scientist, cancer and cloning do mix; IDOL; Family members body parts help a girl perform on-stage again; UNPLUGGED; A recluse encounters aliens; COMFORT; A crazy guy cuts open his dead mother for some womb-style feelings; YOU WITH ME; Drugging women, cutting facial parts and sewing them to oneself is an atrocity; THE SHAPING; Sculpting using real body parts is the key; SOMETHING BORROWED; Borrowing organs doesn’t always work; EQUILIBRIUM; Body parts show up on the doorstep of a family; SAWBONES; Replacing limbs and organs with tools and reptiles; WHIRLING MACHINE MAN; Imagination produces a fairy; SEX OBJECT; Surgery and sex; THE SAD, NOT-SO-SAD, BALLAD OF GOAT-HEAD JEAN, AMBIVALENT DEVIL QUEEN; Women sacrifices and cults; LOCKS OF LOATHE; Receiving organs from a donor causes serial killings; BY HOOK; Curses, fears and more body parts; CREEPING DEATH; It’s addicting to get tattoos, but you don’t think it’s cult related, do you; PARAPHILIA; An amputee tries to make money; INDEPENDENCE DAY; Glamor surgery turns bad when the devil appears; MARVIN’S ANGRY ANGEL; Attaching an angel to your body isn’t always a plus; CHANGE OF HEART; Reversing witch curses causes more harm than good; HEARING MILDRED; A spouses death turns maniacal when voices are heard.

I gave you a quick feel of each story, and overall I would like to state that it was a struggle for me to get through many tales encompassing one overall book. The collection is brutal…nice, but traveling in-and-out of stories got cumbersome. Zippered Flesh is not for the squeamish, it’s detailed, and gore entrenched, cancer ridden with body part mutilations which I personally desire with a book of this nature, but…after reading almost 300 pages and different entanglements it got overbearing.

My favorite story by far was SAWBONES by L. L. SOARES which garnered a 10 rated fictional story. I truly wish the whole book was based around this subject matter. It has several different feels all rolled into one. A person goes through surgery to add saws to his bones, he is a killer, and he crosses paths with a woman that instead of intestines replaces them with a serpent or snake so to speak. It was engaging, climactic and different than any horror story I have ever read. A huge thank you to the author for providing an unparalleled story that grips you to the inner-core. Give us more L. L.!!!

My thought process was similar to another anthology book I read earlier for Horror Palace, which is; my “review mind” had to keep it fresh and not confusing, I wrote down a rating for each individual story. When the book was completed, I totaled up the ratings and divided by 20 which gave me the final overall outcome of Zippered Flesh. It’s the only way to be fair for a book in this written style. Some stories and authors are better than others, way better actually.

The book is available to buy at Amazon on Paperback for $12.78 or you can get the E-Book or Kindle Edition for a mere $2.99. Readers who like short stories and torturous details will definitely get a thrill ride with Zippered Flesh. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 10/23/2012 Rating: 5/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Avoid Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Zippered Flesh Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Social Media: Twitter Social Media: Facebook

Title: A Cadaver Christmas

Year: 2011

Distributor: Level 33 Entertainment

Director: Joe Zerull

Stars: Daniel Rairdin-Hale, Hanlon Smith-Dorsey, Yosh Hayashi

Language: English

Length: 86 minutes

Sub-Genre: Zombie, Comedy

Plot: After a janitor (Rairdin-Hale) shows up at a local bar covered in blood, a rag-tag team of heroes is thrust into battle with a horde of “cadavers”. Can the janitor, the drunk (Smith-Dorsey), the bartender, the cop (Hayashi) and his perp work together to survive this Christmas Eve and save humanity?

Review: I love Christmas. Soon after Thanksgiving I’ll be the first to start breaking out the Christmas CDs and I won’t be tired of it until New Year’s. Freakish, huh? Because of this, I have a hard time getting into Horror films which are set on or around Christmas, put simply: it’s just too macabre for me. Tim Burton’s animated, A Nightmare Before Christmas, truly disturbs me. I’m also not huge on Horror Comedy. My point in all of this is that this film should be a perfect film for me to whole-heartedly despise. It starts off leaning that way. We open with a bartender and a single patron in a bar and the first exchange (albeit small) leaves me wondering what I had gotten myself into. Then something strange happens; a janitor covered in blood walks in and heads to the bathroom to wash the blood off, he does so, and then comes back out still dripping in blood and for whatever reason, I was hooked from that point on. This janitor looks like one of the pencil-necked and single brain-celled teachers on Disney and Nick shows which my daughter likes so much. However this janitor becomes the action hero of the film and is almost believable. In terms of acting Rairdin-Hale, who plays our kickass janitor, is clearly the standout, but nearly everyone plays their part to perfection.  Soon we meet our bumbling cop type Sam Sheriff, that’s right -his last name is Sheriff- and he has to save the day by dragging the bar patrons back to the building in which the zombie (or cadaver) outbreak began. A female security guard joins the fray after a hilarious and useful side gag and then we’re ready for some serious mayhem. At times the film is nearly too silly to bear but it always works in its favor; it is reminiscent of a Monty Python film in ways. Touting a reported budget of only $7,000, A Cadaver Christmas looks damn good and I’ve seen films which cost over a hundred times more that look no better. For that budget the effects are more than adequate and the cinematography is solid. Let me say this about the writing; the stupider you can make a film and have it still work, the more intelligent the creators must be. That might be hard to grasp, but I believe it’s true nonetheless. The writers are very intelligent and aren’t just good at bringing laughter, they present some truly unique ideas. I don’t want to give anything away but I truly hope this creative team makes enough money on Cadaver to make a high-concept horror film one day, I think they have it in them. Kudos to everyone involved and to director Joe Zerulla, I may have found my first go to holiday horror film. Well done.

A Cadaver Christmas released on VOD and DVD October 4th. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwWQYWLb3MI

• Title: Tiny’s Halloween 3
• Year: 2012
• Time: 15 Minutes
• Director: Douglas A. Plomitallo
• Social: YouTube Channel

• Title: Tiny’s Halloween 2
• Year: 2010
• Time: 13 Minutes
• Director: Douglas A. Plomitallo
• Social: IMDB

• Title: Tiny’s Halloween 1
• Year: 2009
• Time: 8 Minutes
• Director: Douglas A. Plomitallo
• Social: IMDB

Mr. Plomitallo runs Scared Stiff TV and is dedicated at providing the audience creepy, scary and quirky films. His blockbuster Tiny’s Halloween has been sequalized in 3 parts with the latest in the chain included on Horror Palace.

We are proud to have in our archive this chiller of a series. Get in the mood before Halloween and enjoy a back-to-back-to-back run of all 3 horror shorts right here! Listed below are direct links to each of the shorts.

Tiny’s Halloween:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

After watching the series, check out the YouTube Channel of Doug’s for even more horror shorts covering sub-genres of Monsters, Aliens, Thrillers, Slashers, Zombies and many more for you to enjoy free!

Movie:

Plot: The real-life descendants of Little Red Riding Hood are dedicated werewolf hunters, but Virginia "Red" Sullivan, her generation’s head tracker, faces a horrible conflict when her fiancé, Nathan, is bitten by a werewolf and she must protect him.

Review: I’ve had this movie for quite some time and always skipped over it as I knew this was a SyFy original picture, so I was expecting cheesiness, jokiness and ludacris CGI as with many that come out of the popular cable channel. Let me tell you, it’s not all bad, still not a glowing praise but read on. 

The story is run of the mill; a special agent falls in love and hides her true background from her beau. When she takes her new found lover to her hometown all hell breaks loose and her true life style is exposed. She is the leader of her family’s werewolf hunting escapades and when her boyfriend gets bit by a new breed of werewolves that can turn during the daylight, she struggles to maintain her bloodline and her new found loyalty to her soon to be husband.

There are a few things that always come to my mind when I think of this movie. Her family calls her “Red” and you guessed it, she has bright red hair, but that is not the reason for the name, you also guessed it; they had to take 5 minutes out of the movie to explain it. How predictable and pretty lame writing. The other point that stands out, this is a positive note; several of the man-to-wolf transformations were pretty good. It’s all CGI but many of them were very credible, except and this is a big except, when they get to total hairy werewolves, its garbage. Video games have better effects than this movie.

The score and sound effects were satisfactory, nothing startling with jump appeal, but then again were talking about fake-looking werewolves so a movie like this couldn’t scare a teenager who never seen a horror movie. The action scenes were passable as was the acting. Good ole Stephen McHattie from Summer’s Blood and Pontypool plays the leader of the werewolves, and is by far the star of this movie, way over the lead Felicia Day who has been in umpteen TV shows.

I will say that Red: Werewolf Hunter kept me watching. There was an entertaining appeal to it, and even though I was lying in bed tired, I couldn’t doze off because there was things about it that you wanted to find out how the movie was going to conclude. Maybe it was McHattie, maybe it was some of the initial transformation scenes, whatever it was I don’t feel like I wasted any time by watching this.

Closing out the Red: Werewolf Hunter review, I will say that if you are a fan of werewolf-style movies I think you should take a watch on this. There were some twists to the story that I thought were credible. But for all other horror fans, skip this one by. If you are in need of a good werewolf movie, four always come to mind; Underworld, Ginger Snaps, The Howling and Wolfen. You may wonder why I excluded An American Werewolf In London; while it does have the best man-to-werewolf transformation ever filmed, I loathe the comic undertones that were inbred in that film.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 10/10/2012 Rating: 4/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: Overstock BluRay: N/A Social Media: Facebook

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/10/10/red-werewolf-hunter-review/feed/ 1 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/10/05/working-stiffs-book-review/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/10/05/working-stiffs-book-review/#comments Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:27:20 +0000 Dark Goddess http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=5903 Book: Working Stiffs
Year: 2012
Publisher: Necro Publications
Author: Lucy Leitner
Language: English
Chapters: N/A
Pages: 248
Type: Novel

Publisher’s Summary: Working Stiffs is a hilarious, action-packed tale of survival in the fast-paced world of pharmaceuticals. Something has gone horribly wrong in the Pro-Well Pharmaceuticals factory and ex-meth dealer Marshall Owens, the company’s owner and drug genius, must keep the surrounding Pittsburgh area from finding out. Unfortunately, the undead assembly line workers have other plans. The infection spreads and chaos reigns supreme as the surviving Pro-Well employees battle their way through offices with whatever weapons they can scrounge from the supply closet. They must get outside. But they don’t know that The General is out there amassing a shambling, rotting army of Pittsburgh’s finest. Will the employees make it? Will two repulsive workers find love in a janitor’s closet? How many office workers can one man take down with the blade of a paper cutter and some staplers? Will Marshall Owens go back to selling meth? And most important of all, will Pro-Well’s stock value plummet? Find out all the answers in this brilliant new horror/comedy novel reminiscent of style of Christopher Moore.

Review: I am going to start this review with my perception of the plot for Working Stiffs; a previous drug-lord named Marshall Owens is the CEO of a Pittsburgh Pharmaceutical company. He creates chemicals that zombiefies or sickens lowlifes in society like the homeless, whores and addicts so he can put them to work at the drug company on the assembly line so he can get out of paying the employees.

These drugs turn the unsuspecting lower rung of society into grotesque gray-looking creatures with rotting teeth and scabbed skin desiring flesh. These working zombies so to speak get chained up and must perform daily duties in the factory in return for human meat that they desperately want. But there is a twist when “The General” doesn’t get turned into a walking dead, somehow escaping the drugs power…and he bands the affected together for a little payback on the money-hungry Mr. Owens.

Working Stiffs has tons of action and very descriptive brutality which I admired. There is blood, guts, gore and body parts all over this book. The author painted an extremely vivid picture in my mind that worked flawlessly. On the downside, it was tough to comprehend on certain occasions; there were many characters to follow while trying to picture in my mind the time allotments that were given instead of chapter breakdowns. Additionally, there were some comedic elements that frankly didn’t work. I never felt a chuckle coming on, moreover I think it was unneeded and took me a touch out of it.

An extra tidbit is that Working Stiffs is a part of a 5 horror book collection of new authors, and if you desire more scary books to read late at night take a peek at; Revelations, Red Town Lost, Last Stand On Zombie Island, Crogian and of course this zombie-comedy novel, Working Stiffs which will be a moderate recommendation by me. I am not particularly a huge fan of zombies but it did have plenty of moments to keep my mind wandering.

The book is available to buy at Amazon on Paperback for $15.95 or you can get the E-Book or Kindle Edition for a mere $4.99. On a side note; there was a limited supply of autographed, hard-bound books available for Working Stiffs, but it’s sold out already, I can see why because zombie lovers will be titillated with this one.  My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 10/05/2012 Rating: 5.5/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Avoid Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Working Stiffs Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Social Media: Twitter Social Media: Facebook

Dredd 3D (2012)

Studio: IM Global

Directed By: Pete Travis

Writers:  Carlos Ezquerra (Characters), Alex Garland (Screenplay),  John Wagner (Characters)

Starring: Karl Urban (Judge Dredd), Olivia Thirlby (Anderson), Lena Heady (MaMa)

Length: 95 Minutes

MPAA Rating: Rated R

Trailer

Mega City-One is a vast city that is home to 800 million people and stretches from Boston to Washington DC.  Outside the walls is an irradiated wasteland, behind the walls is a crime ridden city.  The Hall of Justice is the haven for the only law within the city…the Judges.  The Judges are just that….judge, jury, and executioner.  The greatest Judge of them all is Dredd (Karl Urban).  Dredd does his job and does it to the letter of the law, literally, so good that he is the most feared throughout the city.  On this day, Dredd has to evaluate a rookie Judge, Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), who happens to be a psychic mutant, and an orphan taken in to be trained as a Judge.  Dredd must evaluate her, and see if she has what it takes to be a Judge in Mega City-One

There is a new force in Mega City-One, it’s called “Slo-Mo”, a drug that is inhaled and slows the brain and reality down to a fraction of it’s normal speed.  The leader of the cartel is Ma-Ma (Lena Heady), once a prostitute turned drug lord, and she is to be feared and respected.  Ma-Ma runs the Peach Trees building, a 200 story highrise , which is a haven for junkies, homeless, and less fortunate.  It is also, where the story takes place.

Once Dredd has been assigned to evaluate Anderson, they choose to answer a call at the Peach Trees, where three bodies have fallen from several stories.  Through investigation, the Judges determine where the crime took place, and proceed to do what they do…JUDGE.  When a ranking member of  Ma-Ma’s gang has been arrested and is to be interrogated, she does whatever she can to keep that from happening.  The Peach Trees building is completely locked down, with no way out.  Dredd and Anderson are now targets for cartel, and the only way to survive is to work their way to the top to find Ma-Ma, judge her, and destroy her operation.

Let me tell you that I stayed away from knowing anything about this film.  I didn’t look at images, read articles, or anything.  I went in blind, other than re-watching Sly Stallone’s Judge Dredd from 1995.  I enjoyed the film from 1995, but something was missing…oh yeah the violence, violence, violence, and the fact that Dredd never takes off the helmet.  All of which was what made the Stallone version kinda blah.

In this new incarnation of Judge Dredd, Karl Urban kills it from the start.  He brings an intensity to the character that was previously lacking.  His grit and lack of expression during the film was great.  He became Dredd.  Lena Heady put on a gritty no-frills performance of her own as Ma-Ma.  She pulled off the psychotic drug lord, who doesn’t take shit from anyone, especially Judge Dredd.  Olivia Thirlby as Judge Anderson pulled off the nervous and undecided rookie Judge part pretty good.  She did show a vulnerability of her character at the beginning, but also showed the progression of her character by the end of the film.

The big winner in this one is the 3D…it’s done pretty damn good, considering I am not a fan of 3D films.  The gimmick actually worked in this one.  The special EFX and CGI were killer in this film, another win in my book.  The kills in this film were great with the 3D, and all the “Slo-Mo” drug effects were awesome.

One of my favorite comic characters that finally has a film that takes care of business and show the bad guys, who is the law!  People get out of the house and get to the theater and watch this film.  It’s damn good and gives you what you want in a Judge Dredd film.  A good film doesn’t deserve to die a horrible death at the box office….support this film so there will be a sequel.  Urban needs to be Dredd from now on.

I AM THE LAW!!!!

8 out of 10, a definite watch and a definite purchase on Bluray when it hits the shelves for sure!

Haddonfield Hatchet, Co-Host, Land of the Creeps Horror Podcast

Land of the Creeps Twitter

Shaun Davis Twitter

We have accomplished an unbelievable amount of work in only 12 months time and added a plethora of new features including; 2 Horror PC Games, Horror Short Movies, Trailers, Comics, Freebies and Written Reviews for both Horror Movies and Horror Books.

Plus, halfway through the year, Horror Palace received a face-lift supplying the visitors a clean, easy to navigate and fresh new look to the website.

We have anticipated in launching 3 new and cool items over the coming year. These things will blow you away, always innovating and keeping Horror Palace the forefront in the horror genre.

Finally, we would love to share a few stats with you that we are very proud of, and this is all because of you, the horror audience, the most dedicated fans in the world.

• Most Read Horror Movie Written Review: The Human Centipede II (4,947 readers).
• Most Read Horror Book Written Review: The Sentinel (1,204 readers).

BillChete’s 11th best horror movie of 2011 now has Internet streaming options! Featured on several episodes of Grisly Zone, the slasher throwback, Beware, is a must-see independent horror movie that has beautiful women, tons of blood and a downright scary-ass killer.

In this gritty gore-fest, five college kids out for some thrills stumble into an urban-legend nightmare when they roam into the realm of Shane — a boy twisted by torture into a bloodthirsty madman said to stalk the woods in search of new victims.

Beware has won over fans and critics as a fun back to the basics Indie gem. Featured at Film Festivals throughout the country with an airing on Showtime, Beware is horror at its purest. If you enjoy true horror, show your support by streaming or downloading Beware, a film made by slasher fans for slasher fans, and send a message no more found footage crap!

Stream, Download or Buy the movie right now:
- HD Stream (Rent) For $4.99
- HD Download (MP4 Buy) For $9.99
- DVD At Amazon For $13.40

Video Interviews on Grisly Zone:
- Grisly Zone (Video) 024: Jason Daly (Writer/Director)
- Grisly Zone (Video) 030: Lorena King (Lead Actress)
- Grisly Zone (Video) 034: Vivi Pineda (Supporting Actress)

Book:

Author’s Summary: WELCOME TO BLACKSTONE – Designed by a madman, built with inmate labor and home to the nation’s worst criminals, Blackstone Penitentiary was considered the Alcatraz of the Midwest.  Over a one-hundred-year history, it amassed the more odious distinction of being the most haunted location in America. PAROLE WILL BE GRANTED – No longer in operation and left abandoned, it awaits renovation for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places.  Spearheading the ambitious restoration project is Anthony Creighton, a caretaker seeking to unlock the reformatory’s long-buried secrets.  He enlists four strangers to help in that mission, individuals who possess extraordinary psychic abilities.  Along with a skeptical scientist, the group embarks on the first full-scale paranormal investigation of the notorious prison.  Their goal:  to confirm the existence of life after death. TO ANYONE WHO SURVIVES THE NIGHT – Six guests.  Ten thousand ghosts.  And all of them fighting to escape.

Review: I’ll tell you I was in the mood for a good supernatural book when I started reading Blackstone. Lost souls are trapped in an abandoned penitentiary because the warden tortured the prisoners by conducting experiments with the aid of a perverse doctor. These diabolical men injected the prisoners with a concoction of so called medicine or drugs which turns the unsuspecting inmates sicker and sicker into psychosis and craziness until they die.

Jump to some of the lead characters in the book; Anthony Creighton is the president of the Grant County Historical (a Museum of sorts) in Marion, Indiana. He recruits 5 people to help him investigate paranormal activities in this barbaric and desolate penitentiary. Each one of the 5 people has psychic abilities which grab your attention reading onwards. There are killings; there are thousands of ghosts with no escape from this eerie building.

Blackstone has tons of positives and I am going to be on the vague style because this is one must have book in your collection. The story keeps you guessing and involved which leads to you continue reading without putting the book down. Blackstone is a longer horror novel too, which I am proud to say I was excited with. If a book doesn’t keep you entertained it can become a struggle to get through if you’re not lost into the story.

On closing albeit quick review not to spoil a single drop of the storyline and action, it reminded me of another horror novel by one of the most recognizable authors out there, Stephen King. If you ever seen the TV miniseries Rose Red and enjoyed that, Blackstone is right up your alley. This novel is available as a full printed out Paperback book at Amazon on their publishing platform for $15.00. You can also get the E-Book or Kindle Edition at a low price of $3.99. Blackstone gets the highest marks possible. It is a 10 and should be purchased in one form or another, it is a gripping, vivid and scary story that horror readers will love. My ratings, suggestions and links are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 09/26/2012 Rating: 10/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Blackstone Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Website: Author/Fan Website Social Media: Twitter

Movie:

Plot: Hired to steal a rare VHS tape from a secluded house, a group of petty crooks breaks in and discovers a corpse surrounded by TVs and stacks of tapes. Now they must watch each horrific and bizarre video as they search for the correct one.

Review: Is it possible to be immediately turned off of a horror movie you may ask, the answer is yes! And then you know you have to suffer through 2 more hours of atrocious handheld camerawork that looks like it was filmed by a 5-year old. V/H/S is an utter mess from start to finish.

A touch on the story; there are 6 different shorts with an anthology scenario that ties together in one basic theme. The overall concept has a group of annoying, bratty, loud and dorky teens breaking into an apparent abandon home to track down a VHS tape for an unknown perpetrator. While they’re there, they find an abundance of tapes and start to play them when the film breaks away to an approximately 20-minute short which has some strange occurrences and killings.

I must say V/H/S was extremely hard to get through; the camerawork is some of the worst that I have seen in a found footage movie. You have gobs of shakiness, twirliness, out-of-frame shots, dizzying in-and-out focus, and speedily jumbled shots and moreover it never stops! There may be a total of 10 minutes of still footage, and that is only one of the shorts where they are video conferencing via a computer, all the rest is unbearable.

The sound is as pathetic as with the video. Squeals, scratches, tininess, thumps, hollowness are the norm in V/H/S. The filmmakers tried to keep it authentic by having it sound like the dialog was coming from the crappy mikes that are on low-grade video cameras. They nailed that for the most part, but I did notice in several situations they added a touch of background and mood music which blew the whole concept up in smoke.

The thing that ticks me off the most is that some of the shorts in V/H/S had a great story arc and could have been amazing if filmed conventionally. For example; after a night of young male adults partying, this leads them to bringing a strange-looking chick back to their motel room for some gang sex-capades, but this girl turns out to be a sort-of vampire-like beast with super-human powers. There were some excellent practical’s, a throat-slit scene was one of the best I have ever seen shot. Suffice it to say a few highlights don’t make up for the poor choices made to keep this in the stupid cam shots.

Before the ratings and recommendations, I have to point out that the editor did a mind-boggling array of work, not his fault I assume, as the filmmakers wanted it this way, but the VCR tracking lines, fuzziness and constant blinks like a videotape in the uttermost poorest quality, which was NEVER like that in the day as I grew up on VCR’s, both, Betamax and VHS, was, and is, a total bummer.

On concluding V/H/S; it is one to dismiss as if you never heard about it. You can get it on VOD or Streaming if you so desire for $9.99 with a DVD date coming out later this year. Believe you me, if this is the way horror movies continue to be filmed, I just might be throwing up petitions and sending them out to studios to stop making films in this style. It does not make it feel more real, PERIOD! Get off the Paranormal Activity bandwagon and make HD movies, who the hell wants to watch the poorest of video, balls-low VHS quality in these days of time when we have 1080p High-Def, and 4k right around the corner!

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 09/22/2012 Rating: 1½/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch VOD: Amazon DVD: N/A Social Media: Facebook

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/09/22/vhs-review/feed/ 0 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/09/19/dagon-page-22-the-end/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/09/19/dagon-page-22-the-end/#comments Wed, 19 Sep 2012 19:00:46 +0000 Horror Palace http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=5472

Book:

Author’s Summary: The devolution WILL be televised. Two young women, both insignificant figures in the magical underworld, find themselves drawn away from their personal concerns and into an odyssey through the Minneapolis sewers, the future, and the past, as they battle against a coalition of wandering sorcerers, a warlock who casts spells through drains and pipes, and the weeyatches, a coven of reality stars/witches, in order to prevent a dystopian catastrophe.

Review: Witch lovers clap your hands because this book is all about an apprentice witch who fights an evil witch. Her name is Dylan and Finn is her master. When they attempt to talk to a malevolent witch named Daphne, Dylan gets captured. With the help of an intriguing person, Mae, who is out for revenge because her brother was killed, Dylan escapes and they make a plan to save Finn, all the while her powers growing stronger.

Along with all of the witches in the novel, you have wizards, warlocks and “drain speakers” who can turn ordinary people into zombie-like creatures. There are an abundance of characters to keep track of and I did like how the story unfolded over time.

The writing style was one that I wasn’t accustom to. There are many time-traveling-like scenarios where the story goes back-and-forth from the past to the present. The reason for this was to alter the events that had happened. Almost like a Sci-Fi type of story. It got quite tedious and cumbersome keeping track of all of the activities going on.

A few positives on Weeyatches; put simply, it was a fascinating story, there were tons of events to keep track of, and it was different than any other witch story I have come across in my 20 years of reading novels. The only thing I wasn’t all that enthused with was to me there was too much time traveler escapades that got confusing, it is a book where you must concentrate all the time or you will be baffled with the story. You do want to make sure you have no interruptions while reading.

Weeyatches is available as a Paperback book at many online locations for $18.99. You can also get the E-Book or electronic edition at a price of $5.95. The book cover graphics are misleading and a touch dull. It doesn’t entice you to pick up the book to read what it is about. After initial publications sell, hopefully the artwork can be updated to appeal to the reading audience on a second edition. My ratings and suggestions are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 09/19/2012 Rating: 7/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Weeyatches Paperback: Barnes & Noble E-Book: Amazon Social Media: Fan Website Contact: Email

Year: 2012
Studio: Corona Pictures
Director: Robert Heath
Stars: Jennie Jaques (Shank) , Jack Gordon (Heartless), David Oakes (The Borgais), Jason Mava (Anuvahood)
Language: English (UK)
Length: 1:31
Sub-Genre: Kidnapping, Torture, Thriller, Mystery

Plot: A group of friends attend a birthday party for an acquaintance, and find themselves at the mercy of a maniac out for vengeance, who forces them to play a party game with dire consequences.

Review: Truth or Dare (also known as Truth or Die) is a stylish movie, that follows a group of young friends who are invited to a birthday party for an acquaintance a year after and eventful party, in which one of the couples ended their relationship. The story has several problems, the first of which, is the reasoning of all the friends even attending this party, as none of them being especially close to the birthday boy. Then, after they are shot kidnapped and torture is being applied (in the form of the famous party game from which the film gets it’s name), the characters are still unrealistically defiant. The path of the story, is unexpected, if not entirely enjoyable. Likeable characters not faring as well as the shallow, unpleasant ones. I particularly didn’t like the ending much at all.
The acting is mostly very good, with flaws which may be more the fault of the writing. They all deliver their lines well, but don’t convey any real sense of terror or shock that the situation would dictated. One character is shot in the leg and has a couple of fingers blown off, but remains the calm leader, hardly acting injured or in shock until nearly the end of the movie. One exception is Jennie Jaques, who plays Eleanor. She conveys the most range of emotion the best of this group of young actors, and overall probably the best performance.
As far as practical effects, they are done very well, although it’s not overly graphic. Mostly stab wounds, and other bloody injuries. The most notable one is one character has acid dumped on them and the makeup of their scalded flesh is done very well. Very little if any cgi was used.
The production values were high on this and it has a distinct visual style. While I tended to like the way the film is presented, I feel some people may not appreciate it. It comes down to personal taste. In my opinion, the way it is shot is one of the film’s strong suits.
In the end, it just isn’t very remarkable. The movie looks great, and has a lot of things going for it, but the story drags it down for me and leaves me with an unsatisfied feeling. It is not a particularly bad movie, it’s just flat, and ends up being pretty average.

Reviewer: Boss Butcher Trailer: N/A
Date: 9/12/2012 DVD: Amazon
Rating: 5/10 Blu Ray: N/A
Recommendation: Possible Rental Social Media: Twitter

Book:

Author’s Summary: The movies never prepared him for this, even the ones that ended badly. Jack “Colonel” Jones is suddenly alone in the world. After surviving a plague that decimates the U.S., and perhaps the entire human population, he is left in a junkie’s nightmare where hard drugs are the only remedy for an ongoing virus and dead bodies are his only companions. Sick and desperate, he meets a savior who goes by the name Jack Cruz. Jack Cruz is a hulking behemoth with a giant pistol and stockpile of post-apocalyptic supplies, but he also has a mysterious past and an increasingly disconcerting obsession with the death and decay that surrounds them. As Colonel’s suspicions rise, and he begins to feel complicit in the wrongdoings of his post-apocalyptic roommate, Colonel must grapple new the questions: Can you be moral when there are only two people left on earth? Can there be sanity? And who decides? Is Colonel just paranoid, or are his fears justified? As the stakes heat up and the intensity flares, Colonel must find out the truth and decide – when your only companion in the world might be a murderer, and there is no one left to kill, is surviving worth it? The End of Jack Cruz grabs readers as a plague memoir by a Renfield-like character, Jack “Colonel” Jones, who becomes the unwitting companion to a man on a mission from God to ‘save’ humanity’s final moments. Through tormenting impotence, grinding doubt, and the weakest constitution, Colonel attempts to understand the sole survivor to whom he’s become enslaved. An existential drama, much like Waiting for Godot, The End of Jack Cruz is much more than just a story about two people locked into a battle of survival; it’s the story about a man’s final chance to awaken from life lived in the shadows.

Review: Jack Cruz is a psychology teacher at Seattle University, and a doctor studying virology. He also has his own bastion full of food which is key. Jack is, if I may, a jack of all trades. He is one of the few survivors in a hospital where he works where a woman there needs more drugs or dope so to speak. A virus outbreak called “slick” killed almost every living thing on Earth except for those under this concoction of medication. When another character called Jack also, Jack Jones to be precise, meets up with Jack Cruz there is some perturbing events that happen.

Jack Cruz is not as innocent as he may seem in the beginning, he’s a maniacal killer. People are unsure of events that are taken place until other weird deaths surface which causes Jack Jones, his assistant, to suspect or question his motives and devices that have been taken place. In the end, it may shock you, it may disturb you, but the outcome is clear…this may be The End Of Jack Cruz.

This is a different story, I was expecting zombies – that didn’t happen, this virus decimated the planet and it is very bleak which I liked. Many stories have fairytale-style guidelines but in this you were wondering where it could lead…a big positive for me. Another plus was; there were very few characters. I have said it before in my reviews, when you are involved with only a couple people, it is much more comprehendible and enjoyable to me.

The writing style was not my favorite, it felt like a narrative where Jack Jones is always speaking about Jack Cruz. I would of liked to see the novel from Jack Cruz’s point of view instead. This is one of my pet peeves while reading – it sometimes felt disjointed to me even though I knew who the heroin was. At times the book was unexciting because Jack Jones was always talking to himself about all sorts of daily life. The horror was minimal, I didn’t feel for any of the lead characters, it was quite obvious to me, more of a story of survival, still though…I didn’t have a problem getting through the book.

The End Of Jack Cruz is available on Paperback at many online locations for $15.95. You can also get the E-Book or electronic edition at a price of $4.95. The End Of Jack Cruz has a very colorful book cover that really shines, huge marks for the artist, it really pops. All of my suggestions are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 09/11/2012 Rating: 5/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Avoid Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: The End Of Jack Cruz Paperback: Barnes & Noble E-Book: Amazon Social Media: Fan Website Contact: Email

Putrid Putters is an addicting mini golf game which has a simple premise; get the golf ball in the hole in the fewest amount of shots. It sounds easy but horror characters, villains, monsters and obstacles stand in your way! Choose from 2 entertaining and horrifying courses; Scarecrow Fever and Bloody Barbarians. Putrid Putters makes it simple to play a round of golf; use the mouse to aim, and use the mouse button to adjust the power strength. Every golf term is noted including; hole-in-one, albatross, eagle, birdy, par, bogey, double bogey, triple bogey, quadruple bogey and if you are really struggling on a specific hole an uh-oh too bad score. Oodles of features; 2 courses, 36 holes, golf ball chooser, creepy music and sound effects with a detailed statistical database! Plus, an in-game high score leaderboard showing you the best 100 rounds played in the world!

You can try Putrid Putters for FREE with our 30-minute trial version. Give the game a shot, and if you like it, you can get the fully unlimited licensed version for the low price of only $10 U.S. Dollars.

INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL: For being a fan of the Horror Palace Network we are offering an Introductory Coupon Rebate for $3 off the total price. Enter the code “gzputters3″ during Checkout to receive your discount. This Special lasts until September 30th 2012, so don’t delay, give Putrid Putters a try today!

For all of the details, and to download, install and buy Putrid Putters, click on any of the highlighted red texts.

Movie:

Plot: A family is held hostage by sadistic home intruders.

Review: I want to elaborate somewhat on the story as very little is stated on the wide range of horror websites that have summaries. So here goes;  A Jewish middle class family of 5 is celebrating a birthday and Dad always films these special occasions. At the point they were about to sing Happy Birthday there was a loud noise. The father ran to see what it was and 4 masked, swastika tattooed men had gotten into the house, proceeded to gather all the family members, tie them up, degrade and do unimaginable acts of violence. This turns out to be a terrorizing brutal night, a families worst nightmare.

The movie  has a very simple concept, a middle class family is held against there will in their home by 4 masked men and brutally tortured by these Hitler loving racist lunatics. Which is where the movie gets it title Hate Crime.

For starters the film is entirely handheld shaky camerawork which was a turn off immediately! Someone, anyone please tell me why so many directors and film writers are going in this direction????? I absolutely hate the shaky cam. Maybe they think that it adds a sort of realism or makes you feel as though you are in the moment with the actual events that are taking place….hmm….NO I DON’T THINK SO!!

It seems as though most of the movies that go in this direction the characters end up doing some brainless and moronic actions! Picture this "your filming a family gathering to celebrate your son’s birthday when all at once 4 masked men barge into your home wielding guns and knives, I would think that your first instinct would be to drop the fucking camera and try to protect your family, not run and hide under the bed while still filming." It’s actions such as this that really irritates me and alienates me from the story right from the get go.

Some other weak aspects of this movie would be the physical violence, like some scuffles with punches that were clearly obvious misses and if you’re going to commit an act of violent sexual nature then make sure the underwear is off or at least down on the person being violated. Plus, there is no soundtrack!! If this would of had some chilling, eerie music playing in the background in parts it would of boosted my rating for sure!

The gore in this movie is very minimal and the actual acts producing this were shied away from. There are gun shot wounds but no blood. The acting is split across the board in my opinion. Some were convincing in there character roles and others were just blatantly substandard. The men who played the intruders were actually pretty good and they had some hot bodies….lol, as far as the family goes, I was not convinced they feared for their life.

Some good points, oh that’s right there aren’t any……just joking. There is actually a scene that takes place in the opening of the movie in which I was totally shocked, it is something that rarely happens. My jaw dropped and my eyes were bugged out of my head, but they didn’t show it…….oh wow would of loved to see some blood splatter all over there! There also was another potentially gore fest scene in which I would of loved to see what happened but was let down again and only the aftermath was shown. Mr. Bressack had some very good ideas, to me they just fell a little short.

Boy I think this is one movie that could of been a pretty decent horror torture flick if it wasn’t for the handheld shaky camera, have a little more gore, actually show what is taking place and get some actors that are a little more prominent or skilled, who could pull of a convincing part.

I want to thank James Cullen Bressack for giving me the opportunity of watching and reviewing Hate Crime. I think he is a very talented man that has greater things to come.

Reviewer: ChrisiFix Date: 08/29/2012 Rating: 3/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: N/A DVD: N/A BluRay: N/A Social Media: Twitter

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/08/29/hate-crime-review/feed/ 2 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/08/28/this-dark-earth-book-review/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/08/28/this-dark-earth-book-review/#comments Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:50:55 +0000 Dark Goddess http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=5289 Book: This Dark Earth
Year: 2012
Publisher: Gallery Books – Simon & Schuster
Author: John Hornor Jacobs
Language: English
Chapters: 7
Pages: 352
Type: Novel

Author’s Summary: The land is contaminated, electronics are defunct, the ravenous undead remain, and life has fallen into a nasty and brutish state of nature. Welcome to Bridge City, in what was once Arkansas: part medieval fortress, part Western outpost, and the precarious last stand for civilization. A ten-year-old prodigy when the world ended, Gus is now a battle-hardened young man. He designed Bridge City to protect the living few from the shamblers eternally at the gates. Now he’s being groomed by his physician mother, Lucy, and the gentle giant Knock-Out to become the next leader of men. But an army of slavers is on its way, and the war they’ll wage for the city’s resources could mean the end of mankind as we know it. Can Gus become humanity’s savior? And if so, will it mean becoming a dictator, a martyr . . . or maybe something far worse than even the zombies that plague the land?

Review: Of all of the genres in horror, zombies aren’t my favorite especially when reading, but let me tell you, This Dark Earth had me right from the beginning. A typical zombie story here, as in books and movies alike, the government is involved, a huge chemical leak unfolds and thus a virus is airborne which causes massive destruction and out comes the zombies that eat you to the bone.

We start learning about the leads; Dr. Lucy and her young son Gus, who is only 10 years old. They become the mainstay of the story while we meet boatloads of other survivors. The characters are plentiful in This Dark Earth, it is one of my quibbles about the book. For some reason to me I don’t like heaps of people while reading, it gets very cumbersome and hard to remember, so it is getting ticked down a bit.

The characters are always on the move looking for safe havens and places to stay when they come across Bridge City, which is now called their home. The doctor and kid find other survivors on this western-style desolate apocalyptic landscape that are flippant and trying to take control of the situation. The inevitable doom of hordes of zombies, mischievous leaders and the struggle of daily survival leads to showdowns with the remaining survivors for control of civilization as we know it.

The seedy population captures the young prodigy who has emerged as a leader in this war-torn world. Gus endures tortuous acts of abuse so they can get vital information about the rulers of Bridge City. During all this mayhem, zombies are trying to break down the wall that’s surrounding the city, and the constant fighting amongst the survivors ends with a gripping climax that leads to you wanting more.

This Dark Earth is graphic and I like that in a novel, moreover…you need it in a zombie tale and you get gourdes of it. The book is available on Paperback at every popular retailer out there from Amazon to Barnes & Noble to Books-A-Million to iTunes for $10.98. You can also get the Kindle edition or Nook edition for $9.99 in the electronic format. I am recommending This Dark Earth to all horror readers not only zombie fans because it is worth it. My final tallies and suggestions are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 08/28/2012 Rating: 7½/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: This Dark Earth Paperback: Barnes & Noble E-Book: Amazon Social Media: Fan Website Contact: Twitter

Movie:

Plot: More than 150 years after a party of settlers came to a gruesome end in the snowbound Donner Pass, a group of teenagers on a ski trip are horrified to discover that someone in the area still has a voracious appetite for human flesh.

Review: The story of George Donner and his party back in the 1800’s who turned cannibalistic never ceases to die. There have been many horror movies of this same premise, most notably Ravenous and the aptly named The Donner Party that starred Crispin Glover. At least Donner Pass is not a dated piece albeit this movie does start with an opening sequence spent back in time that sort of explains the story.

There are a few minimalistic changes in Donner Pass but nothing particularly exciting explaining. The basic idea is that when you eat the flesh of a human it gives you all sorts of power, cravings and hunger for more human flesh; a wendigo, and a dozen more movies in the same vain. It’s always better making sure that the human meat is fresh which gives you even more visions and strength. 

In Donner Pass you are following a bunch of high school students who are out for a good time in the Nevada mountains. The story almost flows like a slasher, you have stalkings (extremely poor ones at that), killings and dumb teenagers that do the opposite things that you would, if you were put into a situation like this. Suffice it to say, the movie drug at times with stupid kid antics and annoying character portrayals.

The acting was hit and miss, with some being bearable and others being utterly annoying. There are a few positives; the film was shot well, the action was discernable and pleasing at times taking place in the snow. And the soundtrack was decent for this style horror movie, nothing outstanding but it did work. Now onto a few negatives; CGI snow and blaring green scenes while in the cars, quite pitiful to be honest. Plus, the climax of the movie was such a let down, predictable, retarded and uneventful.

Finalizing my review of Donner Pass, I would like to throw this out to writers and filmmakers; how about this idea; get off these old legends and stories that have been done umpteen times. You could have had the same movie without ever mentioning the Donner Party with very minor changes. Give us viewers a break because Donner Pass is getting docked a few points simply for rehashing the same old myth. My final words are this; Donner Pass is a run of the mill movie that falls flat on many fronts, chalk this up as an avoid.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 08/19/2012 Rating: 4/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: Amazon BluRay: N/A Social Media: Twitter

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/08/19/donner-pass-review/feed/ 0 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/08/17/night-of-the-shadows-the-beginning-book-review/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/08/17/night-of-the-shadows-the-beginning-book-review/#comments Sat, 18 Aug 2012 05:51:50 +0000 Dark Goddess http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=5106 Book: Night Of The Shadows: The Beginning
Year: 2012
Publisher: Lulu
Author: S.M. Randle
Language: English
Chapters: 51
Pages: E-Book = 128, Print Length = 254
Type: Novel

Author’s Summary: A woman starving for love and affection is guided by forces that make her do unspeakable things. Things that make her famous. But it’s not enough to make her happy for long. This horror book is set in the small town of Shelby North Carolina. It follows the struggles and crimes of a woman serial killer. The young woman is starving for love and affection and is led by forces that make her do outrageous things. Things that she begins to accept, love and enjoy.

Review: I was tickled pink with the writing style of first time author S.M. Randle. Night Of The Shadows: The Beginning left me wanting more. I read this horror novel straight though in one days’ time and I got thinking…this can’t be an author’s first attempt at writing a novel, but it is. Night Of The Shadows: The Beginning is for everyone, it captures your attention while being inexpensive, thrilling, engaging and put simply a great read. Enough of my praise, let’s get to the story.

Night Of The Shadows is basically about an African American woman named Bobbie Jean whom gets possessed by evil shadows. The shadows voices speak to her and tell Bobbie Jean to commit brutal crimes for her sexual pleasure and other odd reasons.

She then travels to a small town in North Carolina called Shelby where the shadows tell her to continue her wicked ways by kidnapping 5 different men. She inflicts differing tortuous methods on each of the men for Bobbie Jean’s sickening sexual desires, and eventually to kill them with sharp bladed objects and by other means. During this process she falls in love with one of the abductees named Dr. Jason Glassam, so she saves him for last to convince the Doctor that they could have a future together.

While this mayhem is going on a little girl that goes by Sara can see what the shadows have been telling Bobbie Jean through her nightmares. Sara and her parents end up at the local police station to tell them about all of the missing guys. The cops initially dismiss their words, then after some time goes by, Sara meets up with JT (Jessica Taylor) who now work together to try and stop the demonic shadows and rescue the missing men.

Bobbie Jean at this time is a psychotic serial killer that’s hell-bent on gratifying her needs which keep being spoken to her through the dark shadow’s voices. When we get to the end of the book I was literally shocked at the open-ended nature of the story. Night Of The Shadows: The Beginning keeps you in suspense and demands that this becomes a  series, to continue the saga of the infamous Bobbie Jean Pratt and the shadows that continually coerce her and help her in her escapes.

Night Of The Shadows: The Beginning is way underpriced in my humble opinion. You can get it for the low price of $2.99 in electronic form. It is not available on physical paper yet. I highly recommend this novel to all horror readers, it is well worth the price, and if I was the author I would be charging $7.99 minimum, it is a gripping story from start to end. My ratings and suggestions are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 08/17/2012 Rating: 10/10 Suggestion: E-Book: Buy Only Available In Digital Form

Book: Night Of The Shadows E-Book: iTunes E-Book: Barnes & Noble  Social Media: Lulu Contact: Email

• Title: Demon Bitch
• Year: 2012
• Time: 10 Minutes
• Director: Mike McMurran
• Social: IMDB

• Title: Silence
• Year: 2010
• Time: 2 Minutes
• Director: Tess Mesaro Brioso
• Social: YouTube Channel

• Title: Making Friends
• Year: 2011
• Time: 11 Minutes
• Director: Marvin Suarez
• Social: YouTube Channel

• Title: Kitty Kitty
• Year: 2010
• Time: 11 Minutes
• Director: Michael Medaglia
• Social: IMDB

• Title: Lovely Monster
• Year: 2011
• Time: 5 Minutes
• Director: Francesco Calabrese
• Social: IMDB

This new look features a cleaner layout (less lengthy and more concise), a new clickable Red TV icon to play the trailers, and a few more trailers were added to the master list.

This is our way to keep Horror Palace fresh with an ever easy user experience for our visitors.

Book:

Author’s Summary: Eighteen-year-old Kenny Arthur wishes he was just a typical small-town kid, but a near death experience and a message from the other side has made that impossible. Kenny knows there’s a plague coming, and it’s not natural. He knows it can crush the life out of this world. And he knows he’s the only one who can stop it. What he doesn’t know is how. Kenny sets out to do what he must, but the world outside Friendship, NY is more than he bargained for. Before long, he’s exhausted, dirty, broke, and not one step closer to accomplishing his goal. Then a pint of blood he sells for cash causes a miraculous healing, and suddenly Kenny knows how he’ll cure the plague. But if he wants to find the devil, he’ll have to hide while he does it. The government, the sick, the desperate, the greedy all want a piece of what the press is calling "the Miracle Boy." Kenny is on the hunt and on the run. His only friend is a thieving street kid named Rooster, who might help him get to where he’s going, or sell him for a million dollars first. Kenny can’t trust, he can’t stop, he can’t rest – until those who hunt him drain him dry, or the devil is dead, whichever comes first.

Review: Bled Out was a fascinating read, a story that I have never come across before. This has been back to back book reviews that I couldn’t wait to finish. It had me twisted and turned in so many different directions, and I couldn’t wait to find out the conclusion of this engaging story.

Bled Out is about one person named Ken whose parents died when he was young. He quickly became an orphan. When Ken reaches 18, the age most kids can’t wait to become, he starts having bizarre visions guiding him to seek out an infected person that is possessed by evil.

Now on his own, leaving the orphanage behind, Ken is in search of the infected person with little money in his pocket. He was already in dire straights and then he gets robbed taking him down a dark path living off food provided by homeless shelters. In search of a way to make money, he sells his blood at a blood bank. Ken’s blood is used on a transplant patient unbeknownst to him his blood is a special concoction that cures any disease when it is injected into the inflicted.

Now knowing his blood is life’s salvation, a slew of people are after him, including; doctors, scientists, the government and one terminally ill millionaire named Robert Stone who hires private detectives in search of the priceless red gold of Ken’s. Meanwhile, he meets some trustworthy confidants who help him hideout while searching for the infected person in his mind who he believes holds his fate.

Eventually Ken does find this mysterious person while avoiding capture, and what comes to be is a shocking twist I will never forget…you must read Bled Out to find out the amazing climax.

Bled Out is available for $16.99 in Paperback form, or if you have an Amazon Kindle or E-Reader Device you can get the book in electronic form for $5.99. My ratings and suggestions are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 08/01/2012 Rating: 8/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Bled Out Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Social Media: Twitter Contact: Email

Plot: A perpetual string of gruesome suicides plagues a small town. And the reason for this plague may be well-deserved.

Review: The movie that comes to mind when I hear this premise is M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening,” which was also released in 2008 and was built around an inexplicable phenomenon of mass suicides. Thankfully, “From Within” is far better than “The Happening,” but I guess that’s not saying much. The eventual explanation for this film’s suicides is much better than Shyamalan’s, to be sure.

Director Phedon Papamichael’s film, “From Within” (2008), has a number of promising ideas for a horror flick: For example, imagine facing off against an evil specter of certain death when the grim reaper I’m referring to is actually one’s own self! That’s right — in “From Within,” the fatal omen is seeing a disturbing version of yourself, coming to kill you in a violent manner that will look like suicide to everyone else, but will feel like cold-blooded murder to you.

Now, if you think about this for a minute, you’ll realize that Papamichael has a clever, circular idea at play here in his film. When a person commits suicide, he takes his own life. But in this movie, there is, for lack of a better description, an evil version of the victims’ selves, killing themselves. So, on one hand, they seem to be murdered by an external force, or another being, but since they appear to be murdered by themselves, isn’t that technically still suicide? Neat, right? Not to mention, being killed by yourself seems like the ultimate betrayal, a concept that’s horrifying in itself.

Another interesting spin that screenwriter Brad Keene gives us is the role reversal of the evil religious zealots versus the sympathetic family of witches. I am reminded of Isaiah’s biblical prophecy which speaks of them that “call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness.” But we see in “From Within” that evil is everywhere, and therefore, inescapable. Keene does more than play with our assessments of good and evil. In many ways, “From Within” is a cautionary tale for intolerance. The subtext seems to be that intolerance of others turns into self-loathing, which in turn, eventually results in self-destruction.

The director, Phedon Papamichael, is actually a long-time cinematographer-turned-director, so he’s no rookie to the film industry. In fact, he was the director of photography on a giant list of mainstream (and some award-winning) well-known film titles, such as “The Descendants,” “Knight and Day,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Walk the Line,” “Sideways,” “Identity,” and “Cool Runnings,” just to name a few. He also directed “Dark Side of Genius” in 1994. In short, the captain at the helm of this film is a good one, but for some reason that I’m having trouble identifying, “From Within” doesn’t amount to a noteworthy horror film.

Perhaps it’s forgettable. For example, just to give you an idea of how mild the witchcraft theme is in this movie, as I wrote this review, I was planning an upcoming Horror Metropolis episode with a witchcraft theme, in conjunction with Rob Zombie’s forthcoming “The Lords of Salem” (2012). And even though I have been writing the review for “From Within” for the past few hours, it never even came to mind when I was thinking about possible picks for witchcraft movies… So, what does that tell you?

Sure, there are a couple of good kills, such as a big pair of scissors jabbed into a girl’s neck. We’re shown the aftermath, but not the attack. I like the scenery in this film, as well; it was shot in Maryland. How many films are shot in Maryland? The sound design is decent, too, because the victims’ alter egos make this creepy growling noise. But without a doubt, the scariest part of this film is a painting of one character’s great grandmother in the nude (regrettably painted in her later years). Yikes. I bet there’s a story behind that painting (and I’d love to hear it), but there’s no trivia provided on IMDb. If you know anything about that freaky painting, please post a comment below.

“From Within” is just barely below par to qualify for a rental in my book, and ultimately I’d say avoid it … unless, of course, somebody is trying to make you watch “The Happening.” In that case, “From Within” is the lesser of two evils.

DVD Contest: Here is the long-awaited, 2-DVD, 8 horror movie give-away contest word: “Meatloaf.” Helpful hint: The other word you’ll need to win is spoken during Episode 004 of the Horror Metropolis podcast. After you collect these two words, be the first to e-mail HorrorMetropolis@gmail.com and you’ll win! Good luck.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis.

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead Date: 07/19/2012 Rating: 4.5/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: Amazon BluRay: N/A Social Media: N/A

The reviews and ratings has its own section called Horror Books under Written Reviews.

On June 30th the first horror book review was published for Little Deaths. This marks a day in history as Horror Palace yet again continues to strive to bring you more facets in the horror field we so proudly love.

Then on July 16th another horror book review was posted for The Sentinel by Jeremy Bishop, which garnered a whopping 10 out of 10 from our faithful book reviewer, the Dark Goddess. She will be reviewing at least one (1) new horror book per month, possibly two if time permits itself.

If you are an author or publisher and would like to get your book reviewed on Horror Palace, then navigate to the Contact Us Form and supply the information. And make sure you choose the appropriate field from the Drop-Down menu titled Book Review.

Book:

Author’s Summary: In the frigid waters off the Arctic Ocean, north of Greenland, the anti-whaling ship, The Sentinel, and her crew face off against a harpoon ship in search of Humpback whales. When the two ships collide and a suspicious explosion sends both ships to the bottom, the crews take refuge on what they think is a peninsula attached to the mainland, but is actually an island, recently freed from a glacial ice bridge. Seeking shelter, the two opposing crews scour the island for resources. Instead, they find Viking artifacts, the preserved remains of an ancient structure and a stone totem warning of horrible creatures buried in the island’s caves. Facing violent, frigid storms, a hungry polar bear and the very real possibility that they are stranded without hope of rescue, Jane Harper leads the two crews, who must work together to defend themselves against an ancient evil upon which the modern stories of both zombies and vampires are based. The original undead are awake and hungry. Beware the Draugar.

Review: I loved The Sentinel; I couldn’t put this book down. It is one of the best horror novels I have read in a long time. It captured and kept my attention span the whole time. I read The Sentinel in two sittings. I would of read it straight through if I didn’t have to get up for work the next morning. I thought about The Sentinel during my daily chores at the office and rushed home to finish the novel after supper.

The Sentinel has it all; zombies, vampires, mystery, suspense, crime, investigations and a titillating level of detail. You have two organizations; one that is exterminating whales to protect civilization and one that lands in the middle; some good characters and some bad. When the Vikings attempt to blow up the ship to stop the madness, a catastrophe happens and both vessels sink, which lands them on an unknown island which houses curses and evil.

Now on an uninhabited island with underground caves, a mysterious trap gets opened, and the dead now becomes the undead, and these zombie type creatures start – killing, infecting and biting the shipwrecked survivors turning them into zombiefied battlers.

Now there is a race against time for survival; the two opposing crews must rely on the intelligence of Jane Harper who struggles to maintain sanity over the opposing groups while staying safe against inclement weather, zombies, vampires and the starving animals who want them dead.  

The Sentinel is available for $14.99 in Paperback form, or if you have an Amazon Kindle or E-Reader Device you will be pleased to know that an electronic form of The Sentinel is only $3.99. My ratings and suggestions are below.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 07/16/2012 Rating: 10/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Buy Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: The Sentinel Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Social Media: Twitter Contact: Email

Book:

Author’s Summary: You think you’ve got bad dreams? Consider author John F.D. Taff’s nightmares. Taff has the kind of nightmares no one really wants. But it’s nightmares like these that give him plenty of ideas to explore; ideas that he’s turned into the short stories he shares in this new collection Little Deaths. Little Deaths features 19 pieces of short horror fiction; some have appeared previously in print elsewhere, others appear for the first time here. All of them are chilling, weird looks at the human condition from a decidedly dark perspective.

Review: Little Deaths is a collection of 19 short stories which I will outline briefly. BOLTS; a Frankenstein tale with reanimations; CALENDAR GIRL; A mysterious black book  documents daily life and strange occurrences; BUT FOR A MOMENT…MOTIONLESS; God, Uriel and the bizarre; THE WATER BEARER; Water becomes a fountain of youth for a Doctor; THE CLOSED EYE OF A DEAD WORLD; Another world manifests when a hidden door is found in a newly acquired old house; SNAPBACK; A race for humanity with leaks in an underground facility; THE MIRE OF HUMAN VEINS; Spiders and menstrual cycles foretell a supernatural experience; THE SCENT; The sense of smell is amplified for a man with a hat; CHILD OF DIRT; Unborn babies do have feelings; ORIFICE; The body coloring tattoo process has a life of its own; HELPING HANDS; Extremities appear on a killer named Mr. Cradock; IN MEN, BLACK; An ordinary dress suit will change a man’s life forever; DARKNESS UPON THE VOID; What can happen when a Religious man loses everything; SHARP EDGES; The subconscious state of dreams can really be true; THE LACQUERED BOX; Halloween and magic is never a good mix especially for Vivian; HERE; Dogs are a man’s best friend except when one owner can’t escape paranoia; THE TONTINE; Creatures of the night hold the cards for wreaking havoc in the world; The MELLIFIED MAN; Having a sweet tooth is more disturbing than ever imagined; BOX OF ROCKS; A newly married widower has her hands full with her abusive husband.

I gave you a taste, albeit short of Little Deaths a new novel by the 25 year senior author John F.D. Taff. There is definitely a style to Taff’s writing which brings me back to THE TWILIGHT ZONE…weird, psychological stories that never wrap up in a tight little bow. The collection of short stories is well crafted and for the most part interesting. The good thing about a book like Little Deaths is…if a story doesn’t suit your fancy, you know you only have a dozen or so pages to read to get to the next one.

Three stories intensely captivated me which led to a second read for a more thorough dive into depravity. First is HELPING HANDS, a genius piece of craftsmanship. A killer has his victim’s hands grow all over his body, and his trip to a Doctor does more harm than good. What a fascinating tale that had me engulfed in the story. I could see a whole novel being featured on this subject matter. Second is THE MIRE OF HUMAN VEINS, spiders always get under my skin, I almost mean literally, and this tale takes an unexpected turn that I still think about while writing this review, a dark, creepy and satisfying horror experience. Third is THE MELLIFIED MAN, a based on real life scenario that shows how crazy some people are out there in the world. True events or even the thought of a true depiction like this truly freaks me out, this one even has a moral, put down that candy!

I would like to outline my thought process when tackling a book that is comprised with many different subject matters and stories. I shifted my “review mind” after each mini-fiction piece. I jotted down my thoughts and put a rating on each story. When the book was completed, I tallied up the ratings and divided by 19 which gave me the final outcome or rating if you will. 

I would like to close Little Deaths by saying that I appreciate the Author relaying his thoughts behind each of the 19 short horror stories; it is exciting to me to learn how stories and books come to be. The smallest life experience can turn a person into a creative mastermind. Little Deaths is available for $10.84 in Paperback form, or if you have an Amazon Kindle or E-Reader Device you will be pleased to know that an electronic form of Little Deaths is only $3.99. My ratings and suggestions are below. I hope you enjoyed reading my review on Little Deaths, there is nothing better than relaxing at home with a good book in hand, and, if…the book is good…you escape into this fantasyland without a care in the world.

Reviewer: Dark Goddess  Date: 06/30/2012 Rating: 4/10 Suggestion: Paperback: Avoid Suggestion: E-Book: Buy

Book: Little Deaths Paperback: Amazon E-Book: Amazon Social Media: Twitter Contact: Email

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/30/little-deaths-book-review/feed/ 0 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/28/dawning-review/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/28/dawning-review/#comments Thu, 28 Jun 2012 17:03:36 +0000 BillChete http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=4097 Movie: Dawning
Year: 2009
Studio: Wholecrue Productions
Director: Gregg Holtgrewe
Stars: Najarra Townsend,  Christine Kellogg-Darrin, Jonas Goslow
Language: English
Length: 82 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Thriller, Supernatural

Plot: Strange things start happening when a brother and sister show up to visit their father and step-mother in northern Minnesota, beginning with a mysterious attack on the family dog. But the plot thickens when a stranger appears, and his arrival upsets what at best was only a tentative balance and the pretense at civility begins to crumble. Soon, their lack of trust in each other exposes their weaknesses and what the stranger has started, whatever is waiting in the dark may finish.

Review: Let’s see where to start on this crud. We will begin with a few facts this time. Dawning was made for $115,000 which is quite substantial for an independent horror film. After you see the movie though, you will be in amazement at what in the world it was spent on. Another tidbit for Dawning is; while it is listed as a 2009 movie, which is when the movie wrapped filming, it actually didn’t get released until June 2011, probably due to editing, post-production and distribution.

Moving on to the story. You are dealing with 4 family members the whole movie. And what was such a turn-off is; as a viewer, you are witnessing a dysfunctional family which gets so tiresome and sickening. Sitting through almost 80 minutes of arguing and bantering with nothing happening. You do get a ever so small jolt with the fifth character in the film; a stranger shows up played by Daniel Jay Salmen, who is without a doubt the best actor in Dawning.

Eventually as time passes, grueling time might I add, you are led to believe that there is some unknown evil presence that is coercing and playing tricks on the mind, turning everyone against one another. That is, if you can even make it that far in the film and don’t shut it off. Nothing, and I mean nothing happens in this movie.

Let’s summarize Dawning; stupid story, poor acting, jerky camerawork, weak dialog, completely unbelievable scenarios, and I feel I must spell it out, B-O-R-I-N-G. I struggled to stay focused on this movie, and this is one that you will fall asleep on. Final words, way too many faults and please heed my warning; avoid like the plague.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 06/28/2012 Rating: 1/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: Barnes & Noble BluRay: N/A Social Media: Twitter

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/28/dawning-review/feed/ 0 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/27/dagon-page-10/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/27/dagon-page-10/#comments Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:00:24 +0000 Horror Palace http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=4086

Movie:

Plot: When three very warped college kids plot to torture and murder a randomly chosen fellow student, they craft an elaborate, ghoulish killing chamber and keep a video diary to chronicle their bloody exploit. But as the pals proceed with their ghastly plan, the violence they unleash threatens to consume them as well.

Review: In the long and tiresome list of horror movies that have adopted the handheld scenario, Meadowoods, is just another one in the ever growing line of failed movies that have tried to capture the fame that The Blair Witch Project received, and more recently Paranormal Activity.

The storyline is kind of ridiculous. You have 3 college buddies who want to be “known” for something. They live in a small, uneventful city and want to make their mark on society and be famous, or infamous, depending on your outlook. They decide they will document a murder on film, then shelve the video and release it in their old age.

I am not a backer of these style films. With Meadowoods, you get the shaky cam constantly with cut off heads, dizzying fast movement camera clutter, out of frame video, in-and-out focus, and many sky and ground shots with weak dialog in the background. On top of that, the Director felt the need to go back-and-forth between interviews and footage of the 3 friends concocting this plan of murder. Albeit with pretty lame acting and unexciting characters.

There is a positive to this movie, once the plan starts to unfold and unravel, it does get quite freaky, and there is a twist that most viewers wont expect. Still though, that is over an hour into the movie, and by then you are completely out of the flick. Put simply, Meadowoods should be avoided. Chalk it up as another crappy handheld horror film.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 06/24/2012 Rating: 2/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: Overstock BluRay: N/A Social Media: Facebook

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/24/meadowoods-review/feed/ 0 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/23/quarantine-2-terminal-review/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/23/quarantine-2-terminal-review/#comments Sat, 23 Jun 2012 08:26:20 +0000 BillChete http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=4065 Movie: Quarantine 2: Terminal
Year: 2011
Studio: RCR Media Group
Director: John Pogue
Stars: Mercedes Masohn, Josh Cooke, Bre Blair
Language: English
Length: 86 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Zombies

Plot: When a virus that turns its victims into crazed killers infects travelers on an airplane, authorities seal off the jet to let the virus run its course. Realizing they’ve been left to die, a flight attendant and a passenger plan a daring escape.

Review: What a whirlwind of a surprise Quarantine 2: Terminal is. If you seen the original movie, or the Spanish films, Rec or Rec 2, which this movie is based upon, you would think you are getting a sloppy handheld smorgasbord of chopped of heads and spiraling camerawork. Quite the opposite with Quarantine 2, this is a professionally shot film with a 180 degree turnabout from the Rec films. High praise goes out to the filmmakers for not following the norm and changing up the story dramatically.

This thrilling sequel even features some notable horror stars including the beautiful Mercedes Masohn from Red Sands and the new TV series 666 Park Avenue, Phillip DeVona from Premonition, Julie Gribble from ChromeSkull: Laid To Rest 2 and Lynn Cole from 2005’s Dark Remains.

A little more on the story; airline passengers are stuck in flight when the virus outbreak unfolds this time around. With small quarters and nowhere to run, the stewardesses, crew and travelers must defend against these ravaging, zombie-esque infected, that want nothing more than to eat flesh. The plane is able to land, but only to succumb to an isolated airport hangar, where the remaining survivors get trapped by local authorities, so the virus doesn’t spread to the mass population.

I am still shocked, even while writing this review, that Quarantine 2 turned out so extremely scary, terrifying and brilliantly crafted. There are many neck and face chomping scenes, startling and loud music, zombie charging effects, and tons of gory parts. The story flowed nicely with very little downtime, which keeps you engaged in its entirety. The makeup effects were another huge positive, along with the acting, which was way above par.

Quarantine 2: Terminal is available in retail stores and many online outlets too. Sad to say there is no BluRay for this smart little zombie film, but it has been reported that one is to come down the road. With approximately a $4 million dollar budget, and a straight to DVD campaign, I have a feeling this movie might get overlooked by the mainstream. I am here to tell you, do not hesitate, grab Quarantine 2 today, you will not be disappointed.

On a side note; Quarantine 2: Terminal was my personal favorite zombie film of 2011. I even gave it a nod on Grisly Zone 013: Top 10 Horror Movies Of 2011 And Predictions For 2012. That is a must-watch episode of Grisly Zone that countdowns the best horror films of the previous year.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 06/23/2012 Rating: 7½/10 Recommendation: Buy

Trailer: Watch DVD: Walmart BluRay: N/A Social Media: Facebook

]]> http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/23/quarantine-2-terminal-review/feed/ 0 http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/22/exit-humanity-review/ http://www.horrorpalace.com/2012/06/22/exit-humanity-review/#comments Fri, 22 Jun 2012 22:28:34 +0000 Horror Palace http://www.horrorpalace.com/?p=4045 Movie: Exit Humanity
Year: 2011
Studio: Foresight Features
Director: John Geddes
Stars: Bill Moseley, Brian Cox, Mark Gibson
Language: English
Length: 108 Minutes
Sub-Genres: Drama / Western / Zombie

Plot: As the American Civil War concludes in 1865, Confederate soldier Edward Young begins to see something even scarier than his Union enemies in the wooded battlefields: walking corpses. When Young returns home to discover his 11-year-old son is missing, he begins to search for him across the zombie-infested countryside, while keeping a journal of his account of the living dead phenomenon.

Review: Many horror fans are purists and don’t appreciate the blending of genres that’s become so commonplace today. I’m closer to the purist side of the spectrum myself, so I was surprised that a zombie western that’s primarily a drama appealed to me. I attribute this to how well made the film is. “Exit Humanity” is a good-looking, well written period piece inhabited with the flesh-eating dead. Except for the “period piece” part, that’s all any zombie fan ever wants anyway.

Consider an early scene where Young’s Confederate soldiers are warring against the Union army in the woods. Even though he’s amid the horrors of war, something even more terrifying catches Young’s attention: a seemingly unstoppable ghoulish-looking man charging toward him, barely acknowledging the gun-fired body shots he’s taking from Young’s gun. Here the protagonist fights a literal monster for the very first time, and he behaves accordingly.

Contrast the scene described above with other modern zombie films where the actors confess their awareness that they’re playing in a zombie movie by referring to the monsters as “zombies.” I hate that. So many zombie films today regard their monsters as merely an atypical occurrence on an otherwise typical day. But in “Exit Humanity,” the characters behave as though they are genuinely freaked out by internalizing the fact that dead people are not only moving but trying to eat them.

Think about it: The reason why “Jaws” is a great title for the book and the film is because the characters never refer to the shark as “Jaws.” The moment a film becomes self-reflective is the same moment that the spell is broken for me.

Just to be clear, I review films like “Exit Humanity” with the hard-core horror fans in mind. So, you should know that this movie starts out as a period piece with zombie elements mingled in. And then at that point, the film’s tone shifts into a western, then a romance, and the zombies are almost forgotten about altogether. (And this doesn’t have a horror movie type of ending, either.) I suspect this problem with the changing tone of the film happened at the script level, where the lead character takes on other missions and objectives during the movie (such as keeping a promise to a loved one, or helping a friend in need), because there’s no single objective that the protagonist is trying to accomplish throughout the duration of the film.

“Exit Humanity” has some artistic merit, as well. For instance, particularly in the beginning of the film, there are animated graphics inserted from time to time as transitions. Some of the animations are better than others, but I suspect this decision was made of necessity, as a shorthand solution to cut down on some shooting and special effects costs. Creative choices like these graphics are often the result of some kind of limitation or restriction.

Horror actor favorite Bill Moseley has an antagonist’s role in this film, but his performance is fairly tame by Bill Moseley’s standards. Indeed, all of the performances are quite good, including the lead, Mark Gibson, who resembles Kiefer Sutherland and plays Edward Young convincingly.

The first 30 minutes of “Exit Humanity” are heavy-laden with voice-over narration (by Brian Cox), which is usually indicative of a problem at the script level, but for the first part of this movie, our protagonist is the only speaking character. The journal is the device used to sustain such lengthy narration, and it works.

Overall, “Exit Humanity” is a well written, smart and artistic film. It depicts the story of a believable, struggling character and his grief and pain, mixed with some zombie attacks and kills. The zombies look fine, with black and lifeless eyes, but we don’t see them as often as we do in other zombie flicks. As is the case with many zombie movies, the film itself isn’t actually about zombies.

As a film critic and a lover of the cinema, I have to admit that “Exit Humanity” is far better than I ever could have hoped for. It exceeded my expectations for a zombie film set at the end of the Civil War. But taking into account its genre-blending and how it might hold up for a horror purist who’s looking to watch a good horror movie, it’s a good movie, yes, but not a good horror movie: 5.5 out of 10 — Rental. “Exit Humanity” is currently new at Redbox as of this past Tuesday, June 19.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis.

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead Date: 06/22/2012 Rating: 5.5/10 Recommendation: Rental

Trailer: Watch DVD: Amazon BluRay: Amazon.ca Social Media: Facebook

Movie:

Plot: In this horror-comedy hybrid, a chemical spill at a weapons lab leads to a zombie outbreak. This spells big trouble for the employees trapped inside the facility after an emergency lockdown is declared to try to contain the menacing horde of zombies. The most inconceivable person out of all the workers steps up in a big way and tries to escape before the ravaging, blood-craving zombies infect everyone in sight.

Review: I sat down, popped in the DVD, and after 5 minutes, I knew I was going to hate this film. It is a zombie-comedy, or zombedy, as they’re called now, with horrendous jokes, cheesy acting and wooden characters. These style horror films are a dime-a-dozen these days and most of them fail miserably, including Bloodlust Zombies.

For starters, the so-called zombies are nothing of the sort. Yes, I know, the infected and virus-ridden catch the zombie sub-genre, but I have no inkling why. The zombies in this are not the dead coming back to life. Instead, a spill of this newly devised chemical spreads through a laboratory turning people sick basically. How lame! It’s funny because the infected people try so damn hard to act like zombies, but it is so poorly done it wouldn’t convince a kindergartener.

The leading actress is a porn-star, Alexis Texas. She uses her stage name, which I don’t blame her, I wouldn’t want my real name associated with this horror film either. She does appear topless in many scenes, along with some other women, which is the only positive I could muster from Bloodlust Zombies.

Thank the high heavens that this film only runs for slightly over an hour, because I don’t think I could of took much more of this ultra-low junk of a horror movie. If you see or hear about Bloodlust Zombies, please let it go in one ear and out the other, cause it is not worth wasting your time and hard earned money.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 06/22/2012 Rating: 1/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: Amazon BluRay: N/A Social Media: Facebook

Morbid Mansion takes PacMan to the next level, with oodles of horror bonuses, creepy music tracks and effects, with many unique things never before seen in a PacMan style game like “UFO Warp.”

You can try Morbid Mansion for FREE with our 30-minute time limited trial. Test ride the game, and if you like it, you can upgrade to the full, unlimited, licensed version for only $10 U.S. Dollars.

In Addition, Grisly Zone is offering an Introductory Special of $3 U.S. Dollars off the total price, which drops the total down to only $7 bucks! You must watch or listen to Grisly Zone for all of the details. This Special only lasts until July 4th, 2012, so don’t delay give Morbid Mansion a try!

For all of the details, and to download and install Morbid Mansion, click on any of the highlighted texts.

Put your hands together and give praise to Bora Bora Films for their horror-thriller short film “The Southern Belle” for winning the award for the Best Screenplay in the 32nd Breckinridge Festival of Film. Congratulations go out to the Studio and Martin Cox the writer of this 10-minute gem.

The Southern Belle is a must-see with excellent acting, a shocking twist and an all around great horror short.

The Southern Belle Links:

- Bora Bora Films
- New Website Geared Towards The Southern Belle
- Facebook Fan Page
- Follow Bora Bora Films On Twitter

Plot: Supposedly based on true events and set in Pennsylvania in 1973, “The Fields” is about a young couple who are having terrible fights, so they send their young son to stay at his grandparents’ farm while they try to work things out. But the boy isn’t any safer on the farm, because there is something or someone out in the cornfields terrorizing the grandparents.

Review: First question: Why am I reviewing a non-horror film on the Horror Palace Network? Answer: Solely because horror fans won’t be misled into renting this film under the false notion that it’s a horror flick. “The Fields” has a horror-suggesting trailer, and it has played at a couple of horror film festivals, but it’s a drama and a mystery, with a few thriller elements; there are no horror elements whatsoever. But “The Fields” has its moments, nonetheless, so please read on.

Having noted everything above, “The Fields” is a mildly creepy little oddity of the cinema. I think cornfields are inherently freaky — thanks to “Children of the Corn” (1984). “The Fields” has moments of potential that it never fleshes out, but the fact that the moments exist in the first place is an achievement: For example, the foul-mouthed grandmother (Cloris Leachman) frequently and adamantly instructs the boy (Joshua Ormond) to stay out of the cornfields. And when she says this, her reasoning is as follows: “We don’t want to have to come lookin’ for ya, and find you all dead and black and swollen up.” Each time she delivers this same line, she says it creepier than the previous time. We’re certain this set-up is going to pay off later on, but it never does.

And really, the masterstroke of “The Fields” is a subtle statement that the horrors of the outside world are often not much worse than the horrors we experience within the supposed sanctuary of our own lives. We watch the boy in this movie witness disturbing scenes, which seem to be commonplace in his childhood. For instance, there’s a scene that takes place with a few of the kid’s degenerate relatives in a basement where they hack the head off a live chicken just for laughs. This reminded me of a similarly gruesome scene that my mother once witnessed as a child, and she still speaks of it to this day as something that scarred her childhood mind.

Granted, “The Fields” obviously wasn’t aiming to be a horror film, but if writer Harrison Smith had embellished the horrific depictions of the “outside world’s” characters — such as the mystery assailant(s), then we might have had a unique mystery that doubled as a legitimate horror flick. I’ll cite two quick examples for this point: First, the boy discovers a dead girl lying in the cornfields, but the murder happens offscreen, long before we encounter the corpse. Second, there are frequent news reports of the Manson family’s murderous exploits — particularly the murder of actress Sharon Tate from four years earlier — but none of this is depicted.

Though it seems like I’m being overly critical of “The Fields,” there is something major that it does exactly right: Just because these filmmakers had a minimal budget doesn’t mean they commissioned minimal acting talent. I have to give credit to the directors and Colleen Kay, who oversaw the casting for this film. Even though most of their faces aren’t overly recognizable, the quality of the actors’ performances is. The aforementioned Cloris Leachman was in “Young Frankenstein” (1974), and the lovely Tara Reid (“Urban Legend,” 1998) plays the boy’s mother. I have often wondered why low-budget films don’t just get very selective when choosing their no-name acting talent. What have they got to lose? Is it better to cast lesser-known actors who can’t act — or lesser-known actors who will deliver great performances. For the most part, “The Fields” is uncommon in that it does the latter.

In conclusion, for most Horror Palace Network listeners and readers who are strictly looking for horror films, I’m rating “The Fields” a 4.5 and telling you to avoid it. But for those who are willing to watch other genres and appreciate unusual indie films, then I’d suggest checking out “The Fields.” The film’s destination is obvious all along, and therefore, unsatisfying. But like most things in life, the joy is in the journey.

For those who are interested, “The Fields” is currently available at Redbox (listed as a “Drama”), Netflix, and Blockbuster.com, but again, I’m recommending that viewers who are strictly looking for horror to avoid it.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis.

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead Date: 06/15/2012 Rating: 4.5/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: Breaking Glass Pictures.com BluRay: Breaking Glass Pictures.com Social Media: Facebook

Movie:

Plot: After each facing hardships that changed their lives, three strangers find themselves mysteriously gathered at a remote cabin — and as they discover the connection that links them, they must join forces to survive and make it out of the woods.

Review: Enter Nowhere begins with a run-of-the-mill convenience store robbery when one of the assailants wants the clerk to open the safe before escaping the crime. The cashier says something bizarre, and right when you are ready for some action, the story shifts to a woman in the woods with only a broken down cabin around.

From there a few characters appear out of nowhere, and basically, there are 3 people stranded in the woods trying to cope with getting back to their lives. One of the three characters is Sara Paxton from Shark Night 3D and the new, lethargic ghost movie, The Innkeepers.

The story starts to drag at an unprecedented level with the only mystery being how are all these people are connected. Even when it is revealed, 90% of viewers would have probably of guessed what the twist is. There are very few scares and while this does hit the horror genre, it is one that doesn’t particularly deserve it.

There are a few good things to mention with Enter Nowhere, namely the acting, the characters were all vastly different and it made for some interesting conversations. Another positive point is there are a few flashback style scenes that were pulled off well, with crazy coloring, bright hues and spiraling camerawork.

Enter Nowhere was just released on DVD at the end of April, and for the horror fan, their just isn’t anything here to grab your attention or maintain any level of fright whatsoever. The movie is a bore and one I could see many fans stopping the film before it is over and going to something else. Enter Nowhere is a drag and should be avoided. If you want a Sara Paxton film to watch I recommend the remake of The Last House On The Left, a much better horror movie for sure.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 06/15/2012 Rating: 3/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: J&R VOD: Amazon Social Media: Twitter

• Title: Nostalgia
• Year: 2011
• Time: 12 Minutes
• Director: Harry Bartholomew
• Social: YouTube Channel

• Title: Lanrete
• Year: 2010
• Time: 7 Minutes
• Director: Peter Dukes
• Social: IMDB

• Title: #19
• Year: 2011
• Time: 15 Minutes
• Director: Tommy Merry
• Social: YouTube Channel

• Title: Bump
• Year: 2010
• Time: 7 Minutes
• Director: Martin Troy
• Social: YouTube Channel

• Title: We Are What We Eat
• Year: 2012
• Time: 10 Minutes
• Director: Sam Toller
• Social: IMDB

Starring:  Bill Oberst Jr., Baby Norman, Jason Vail, Don McGraw, Ronald Ogden

Written and Directed by Richard Schenkman

90 minutes

Distributed by The Asylum Home Entertainment

Trailer

Let me start off by saying I was not enthused when I first read about this film coming out, especially with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter coming out in late June.  I finally decided to pick Abraham Lincoln vs. ZOMBIES up and give it a go, and let me tell you I am glad I did.  Bill Oberst Jr. portrays the 16th American President, Abraham Lincoln with such sincerity and realism like he was in a big budget blockbuster.  I commend Bill Oberst Jr. for giving his all in this role.  So to all the award people out there in Film-Land….GIVE Bill Oberst Jr. an award for his portrayal of the scythe swinging Lincoln!!! However, I can’t really say that about the rest of the acting, although it wasn’t terrible or to over the top….well maybe just a little.

This film could be on the History Channel with the way it is set up and filmed with the only difference that Lincoln was kicking ass and taking names.  Hell, even a young Teddy Roosevelt gets into the swing of things, literally.  The film was shot in Sepia tones giving it that classy look and feel no matter how absurd the concept.  At some points throughout the film, I thought I was enjoying some History Channel story about the Civil War.  Since I am an enthusiast of the Civil War and American History during that period, I had to try and separate my inner history nerd from my inner movie freak….which was easy enough to do.  Enough of me gushing on this right now….let me get down to business.

We start off with Lincoln’s father and mother running in the woods away from zombies.  Lincoln’s mother gets bitten by a zombie, but his father comes to the rescue.  Later on, all three Lincoln’s are at the family home, when young Abe hears a gunshot.  Abe goes in to the bedroom to find his father dying from a self inflicted gunshot wound, and his mother turned zombie tied to the bed.  Abe realizes what he has to do…the zombie slaying begins.  Flash forward to President Lincoln, who in having a past encounter with the living dead, stumbles upon a rather grisly discovery…the living dead were responsible for decimating a garrison of Union soldiers who were trying to take Fort Pulaski from Confederate soldiers in Georgia .  Lincoln then leads a rag tag group of Secret Service Agents, Confederate soldiers, and a couple ladies of the night into combat against the horde of the living dead.  With the grouping of such characters, the zombies are in for one hell of a fight.  Some of those characters begin to sympathize with the zombies, fearing that they are just innocent men, women, and children that are inflicted with some sort of medical condition.  I don’t want to spoil too much of this film, since I think it is a fun film to watch.

I do have one thing to say about the character of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.  The actor portraying General Jackson was so much fun…considering the first thing I noticed was his beard.  A beard that was so fake that you couldn’t help but laugh.  I applaud the baby face actor who so generously graced the screen with such a horrible application of facial hair….I am sure ZZ Top would be proud of.

There are mentions of other historical characters throughout this film, which could inevitably be the base for more films in the future.  I was well into this film, and began guessing what could the ending hold for our characters.  Well it was cleverly tied in with historical fact…

Overall Abraham Lincoln vs. ZOMBIES was a fun and entertaining film.  The zombie special effects were not that bad, however, the CGI involved was easy to pick out….but with around $150k budget, it could have been worse.  Once again, Bill Oberst Jr. gets a 10 out of 10 for his portrayal of Lincoln, and I cannot express the awesomeness of his acting!!!  The other actors did well, but nothing compared to Oberst.  With all that being said, and me trying not to give away to many spoilers, I say this movie is definitely worth a rental…maybe even a purchase if the price is right.

Abraham Lincoln vs. ZOMBIES is a 6 out of 10

Haddonfield Hatchet (THE MEAT)

Co-host, Land of the Creeps Horror Podcast

As always check us out at www.landofthecreeps.com or at www.horrorpalace.com

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Movie:

Plot: In this indie Western-horror hybrid, a meteorite strikes California gold country and turns a town full of prospectors, prostitutes and gunslingers into flesh-eating zombies who develop a craving for a bounty hunter and his Apache warrior prisoner.

Review: Set in the Western times, The Dead And The Damned also known as Cowboys & Zombies, begins with an old fashion shoot-out around a saloon. The acting was stale but the fighting scenes were satisfactory. What you come to find out after a good 10 minutes, is this bounty hunter is out to serve justice and make money for his family back home. His next “job” is to capture alive an Indian who apparently is a rapist and killer. Around 40 minutes in there is a little snafu.

The story slightly shifts to these townspeople who find a glowing green rock in the desert. In amazement they take a pick-axe to the object when a mysterious smoky gas protrudes and turns everyone into zombie-like beings, some slow and some fast. They are out for flesh when they come across the bounty hunter, mistaken killer and a young girl that the bounty hunter purchased to help him in the capture of his next prisoner.

The zombies in The Dead And The Damned were done fairly well. Some of them scary and ravaging. For the most part the make-up was good. But here in lye’s the problem, all of the gun shots, wounds and the like were a CGI catastrophe. I presume the director hasn’t heard of squibs, or either didn’t think it through. It is a low budget film coming in at $30 thousand, but a few bloody squib packs would of went a long way in this film, as 99% of the killing was with gun shots.

There was a particular scene I was impressed with; the young blonde gets trapped in a room with a fierce, older woman zombie. The look of this zombie was scary and the scene had a lot of tension. We also got the only non-gun wound kill here with an axe to the head. Props on that part there.

The sound and score was lame, nothing chilling or frightening, kind of bland and dull. A few nice tracks thrown in would of helped big time on The Dead And The Damned. I am not a fan of old westerns, if you are, this might be an easier watch to you then it was for me, but horror fans desiring decent sound will want to skip this one.

In closing, The Dead And The Damned is a predictable and un-engaging horror film. Will you care for these characters? I think not, because the acting was quite poor. It was hard to buy anybody’s motivation, and the Apache Indian character should of stayed mute, because when he talked it hurt the film more. Overall, this is an easy avoid. I don’t feel like I wasted 80 minutes of my life, but there are far better independent horror movies that deserve your hard earned money over The Dead And The Damned.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 06/12/2012 Rating: 3/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: Import CD’s BluRay: N/A Social Media: Facebook

Movie:

Plot: There’s blood in the water when a hungry pack of piranhas set their sights on scoring tasty morsels from a bustling water park in this second installment of the popular 3D franchise. The all-star cast of potential victims includes David Hasselhoff, Christopher Lloyd, Gary Busey and Ving Rhames.

Review: I was not a huge fan of Piranha 3D, matter of fact, I came in with a generous rating of 5, middle boat if you will. Overt comedy and over-the-top scenarios is not my thing, so I wasn’t looking forward to this sequel as I expected the same, and that is exactly what I got with Piranha 3DD.

It’s not all bad here. There are some cameos; Gary Busey had a brief part and Christopher Lloyd comes back for a second time to play the crazy scientist who is the only one in the world that knows about these genetically mutated fish. David Hasselhoff of Knight Rider fame plays a small role as does Ving Rhames, who you thought was dead in the first one. He is wheelchair-ridden and legless due to the piranha chomping off his extremities, and he is now terrified of the water because of it.

The story shifts to another town where a new Water Park is opening. It might sound bizarre when you think how do piranha get into water rides in a theme park? But it all makes sense when the charismatic and crooked owner pumps water in from a nearby river, then all hell breaks loose on flume rides, pools and the like.

The 3D effects were dumbed down compared to the first one and generally very good. Actually, I liked the 3D in the first one, so I was perplexed as to why they didn’t go the same route with this one. Maybe the 3D haters didn’t want them overused, and they weren’t for the most part. There were still plenty of “in your face” thrills that will keep the 3D audience entertained.

On a positive note, the lead is played by Danielle Panabaker who I adore. She is a very talented actress and holds her own in horror movies. Danielle was the best thing about John Carpenter’s The Ward, and she also had roles in the Friday The 13th remake and The Crazies remake. The acting across the board was great, even though they had to play these goofy characters. Where the line was drawn was with David Hasselhoff. The Baywatch music theme played many times in the film, just to give it that added extra cheese factor I loathe.

Piranha 3DD is airing at limited theaters across the world, but a good thing is that you can stream the movie right now on Facebook or YouTube for a small fee, compared to what theaters are charging. If you liked the first one, Piranha 3DD will entertain you, there are boobs galore, hot women and nonsensical scenarios as in the original. I will be coming in with the same rating as the first, only for Danielle Panabaker. If it wasn’t for her, this would have been several notches below. So for my recommendation, give it an online stream for $6.99, it sure isn’t boring and there is plenty of eye-candy there to keep you chuckling and engaged. Was it scary…absolutely not.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 06/05/2012 Rating: 5/10 Recommendation: VOD

Trailer: Watch DVD: N/A VOD: Facebook, YouTube Social Media: WikiPedia

Plot: When a North Carolina teenager moves to a pig farm on the outskirts of Atlanta to escape an abusive boyfriend, she begins to realize that her new home is even more dangerous than the one she moved from.

Review: I value a good story arc and character development in any genre, including horror. But “Slaughter” is a rare example of a horror film that actually takes these elements too far. Indeed, much of the film seems more like a drama than a horror film. Yet, as one might hope from any film that spends so much time developing its subplots, “Slaughter” rewards the patient viewer with a wild, 35-minute grand finale. It borders on the absurd, but after the 53-minute drama that precedes it, I think horror fans will find the film’s over-the-top ending sequence refreshing.

To be fair, “Slaughter” opens with a curtain-raiser that definitely gets your attention: We see irritatingly, intermittently blurry close-up shots of a young woman who is bound at the wrists and ankles and being dragged onto a lakeside dock. Then we see her captor anchor a cinder block to her legs and then push it into the lake, pulling the woman in with it. That’s how “Slaughter” opens. Then the chronology backs up and starts at the beginning to show us how the submerged woman got in such a predicament.

It turns out that the woman from the beginning of the movie is our protagonist, a girl named Faith (Amy Shiels). This character earns our pity because she is apparently fleeing an ex-boyfriend whom she fears. At one point we see scars from slashes on her back, and with her anxiety and nightmares involving her ex, Jimmy (Vance Daniels), we get the picture that he is emotionally unstable and a genuine threat to her life. Here again we have another horror movie character who already has suffering in her life and doesn’t deserve the forthcoming horrors. Unfortunately, this Faith character is also somewhat aloof and withdrawn, so she doesn’t have much charisma to make her likable to us. We feel sorry for her on a human level, but that’s about it. This is particularly puzzling since writer-director Stewart Hopewell went to such great lengths to develop this character for us.

Soon Faith meets Lola, played by Lucy Holt, and she is Faith’s opposite in almost every way. Naturally, they become fast friends. But not long after moving onto Lola’s father’s pig farm, Faith begins to suspect that Lola’s father does some unsavory things in his slaughter house that go beyond just killing pigs.

Now, if you’re bored reading this review so far, I agree. I’m bored writing it. As noted above, up to this point, “Slaughter” is a drama which depicts two young women finding comfort from their broken backgrounds through their newfound friendship.

But the reason I’m rating “Slaughter” a 6 out of 10 and calling it a “Rental” is due to the way it unfolds once the story catches us up to what we saw in the beginning, with Faith getting dropped in the lake. This finale begins at about the 55-minute mark, and this movie doesn’t stop delivering onscreen madness until the end. In some ways, “Slaughter” approaches “pushing the envelope” with some of its dealings with children and other unsettling occurrences. And though it doesn’t show everything graphically or explicitly, I still got the point and was squirming on my couch over some of the awful fates that befall Faith.

If you want to try something funny with someone who has a good sense of humor, find a chick-flick or drama lover and don’t show that person the introduction to this movie. Start off with Faith’s move to Atlanta. Then watch your friend’s reaction when things start to unravel with this movie’s grand finale. This film will be especially entertaining for those who have a phobia of dentistry. Good times. But seriously, if you can’t tolerate a slow-burn in order to get a good pay-off, then “Slaughter” isn’t for you. But if story and character development are up your alley, like they are for me, then “Slaughter” is worth the investment of your time.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis.

[Note: This review is 2 of 8 of the Horror Metropolis 2-DVD, 8-horror movie give-away contest.]

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead Date: 05/29/2012 Rating: 6/10 Recommendation: Rental

Trailer: Watch DVD: Amazon BluRay: N/A Social Media: N/A

Plot: Six vacationers embark on an “extreme tourism” adventure to the Ukrainian city of Prypiat, the 25-year ghost town that resulted from the aftermath of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster in April 1986. Though the tourists assume the city is devoid of all forms of life, they find out how dead wrong they are after they become stranded amid the radioactive wilderness and its predators.

Review: “Chernobyl Diaries” broke my heart from sheer disappointment. The trailer looks promising, and its premise appears to be perfect. From watching the previews for this movie, we assume that these attractive 20-somethings visit the Chernobyl disaster site and get attacked by some kind of radioactive, mutated humanoid freaks, right? At least, that’s why I paid theater prices to see the first screening of the film on its opening day.

Wrong. Well, maybe. I’m not sure.

Having seen the film today, I can honestly tell you that I’m not certain if the kids in this movie are attacked by radioactive, mutated humanoid freaks. I’m pretty sure that’s what happens, but not certain. Why? Because the filmmakers opt to never give us a good look at the humanoids or any of their attacks, for that matter. “Chernobyl Diaries” doesn’t show us any kill scenes or gore. The only gore we get is from the aftermath of a kill or a mere injury. Let’s put it this way, if this movie had a little less profanity, it could have been rated PG-13 (possibly even PG), instead of R.

“Chernobyl Diaries” does a few things exactly right, but it does them for way too long. Watching this movie is like getting a good back-scratch and then your back-scratcher never stops scratching until your flesh is ripping off, bloody and clumpy and gathering under her fingernails. I remember reaching a point while watching “Chernobyl Diaries” when I realized that the movie was never going to cash in on anything it had been building up and promising. The phrase “high and dry” comes to mind…

Initially, I thought director Bradley Parker and screenwriter Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity”) were taking Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” (1975) approach, where they slowly build tension and anticipation by scaring us with the threat of an imminent monster. But to be clear, watching “Chernobyl Diaries” is like watching “Jaws” if Spielberg had decided never to show us the shark.

The “Master of Suspense” himself, Alfred Hitchcock, once taught that telling the audience that there is a bomb under a table is far more effective than merely having a bomb explode immediately. The anticipation of death builds suspense and excitement. “Chernobyl Diaries” gets this part right, but we want to actually see the explosion eventually, not just its aftermath. At one point during his instruction, Hitchcock jokes by saying, “The bomb must never go off.” But the makers of “Chernobyl Diaries” didn’t realize Al was only kidding.

I have to note that the casting was nearly perfect for this film. Dimitri Diatchenko steals the show as Uri, the extreme tourism travel guide. And I also have to commend Jonathan Sadowski (“Friday the 13th,” 2009) for his performance as Paul, the instigator of this extreme tourism trip. My only casting complaint lies with Jesse McCartney as Chris, who plays Paul’s uptight younger brother. This character is supposed to be a square, but his youthful, Disney Channel face is all wrong for this movie.

“Chernobyl Diaries” was filmed in Serbia and Hungary, and its sets and locations are tremendous. The setting is atmospheric, convincing and truly creepy. I will give credit to Peli for attempting to write his characters in such a way that the deaths of their companions are affecting to them. And I also have to compliment a brief glimpse of a huge, CGI bear that looks passable and some genuine suspense generated by some dogs; otherwise, there’s not much more to praise here.

In summary, horror fans need not bother seeing “Chernobyl Diaries” because it doesn’t have much to see. I am rating it a 4.5 out of 10, which is an “Avoid” altogether. It’s a somewhat suspenseful thriller but not much of a horror film. Instead, we get a lot of shaky-cam to obscure the non-existent action, and when the camera is still enough for us to see what’s happening, the shots are cloaked in darkness, lit only with one or two swirling flashlights. Bottom line: Great premise. Decent set-up. Poor execution. Zero pay-off. Avoid.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis. Contact Jay of the Dead: HorrorMetropolis@gmail.com

[Note: "Chernobyl Diaries" is a new release written review and not one of the eight films included in the two DVD give-away contest sponsored by Horror Metropolis.]

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead Date: 05/25/2012 Rating: 4.5/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: N/A BluRay: N/A Social Media: Facebook

• Title: Teleportal
• Year: 2010
• Time: 2 Minutes
• Director: Paul Shrimpton
• Social: YouTube Channel

• Title: Terrifier
• Year: 2011
• Time: 19 Minutes
• Director: Damien Leone
• Social: IMDB

• Title: Helping Hand
• Year: 2010
• Time: 6 Minutes
• Director: Alessandro Cima
• Social: YouTube Channel

• Title: Scarecrow At Midnight
• Year: 2011
• Time: 12 Minutes
• Director: Jamie McRoberts
• Social: IMDB

• Title: Eel Girl
• Year: 2008
• Time: 5 Minutes
• Director: Paul Campion
• Social: IMDB

Plot: After being involved in a car accident during Mardi Gras, three men and two women are admitted into a Louisiana hospital to have their non-life-threatening injuries treated by a life-threatening hospital staff.

Review: Drafty gowns that open in the back. Bed pans. Surrounded by illness and injury. That singularly unique odor. And then there’s the food. There’s a lot to feel uneasy about when we’re in the hospital, not to mention the unthinkable scenarios, such as receiving the procedure prescribed for the patient in the bed next to you, or having a surgical sponge sewn inside you during your operation. But we choose not to think of all the countless things that could go wrong, because we have to trust total strangers to repair our bodies since we can’t do it for ourselves.

After Dark Films’ 2008 release, “Autopsy,” taps into these deep-seated fears and turns our hopefulness on its head.

If you hate movies shot to depict hand-held footage, don’t let the opening credits scare you away. “Autopsy” begins with hand-held shots during its opening credit sequence, but the rest of the movie is filmed conventionally.

Right at the start you’ll probably take notice of the lead actress, Jessica Lowndes (“Altitude,” “The Haunting of Molly Hartley”), whose screen presence is somewhat captivating, despite a decent performance that doesn’t always maintain credibility. I think it’s her eyes that draw my attention.

And though Jessica Lowndes was enough for me to keep watching the film, the reason I’m recommending that horror fans check out “Autopsy” is for a few scenes of painfully convincing gore: For instance, in one scene a character finds a piece of glass under his skin, and as he slides out this surprisingly long shard of glass, it looks absolutely real and excruciating. This scene made me squirm with discomfort.

There are other graphic scenes that depict the spilling of organs and entrails that look quite good, especially considering the modest budget for this film.

A couple of assaults on women occur that are brief, but memorable and upsetting. In one scene a naked man tackles a woman and what happens next is probably unlike anything you’ve ever seen from this scenario. In another scene, a man punches a woman in the stomach a couple of times, and there’s something about the verity of this portrayal that makes it feel like you’re watching a real-life assault, which is both scary and unsettling.

And let’s not forget a “lumbar puncture” to extract spinal fluid from a victim. Oh, and “Autopsy” also features a stabbing in a face with a hypodermic needle. Speaking of facial attacks, there’s a pummeling with an air tank that begins to approach the severity of the unforgettable fire-extinguisher-caving-in-the-face scene found in “Irreversible” (2002), the infamous French film that has the most realistic and lengthiest rape sequence I’ve ever endured.

So as for its execution of effects, “Autopsy” does fairly well, except for a terrible-looking, CGI explosion. (For some reason, CGI fire seems to be difficult to pull off.)

Overall, the casting is fine, with actors you’ll recognize, such as Michael Bowen (“Kill Bill: Vol. 1″) and Robert Patrick, who played the liquid-metal terminator in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991).

One could definitely pick up on an underlying but pervasive theme of “Don’t Do Drugs,” but it’s buried enough that it doesn’t seem preachy.

“Autopsy” has at least one good jump-scare that’s unavoidable, involving an eerie scene with an impossibly skinny patient slouched over with his back toward the camera, sitting up on his bedside. I challenge you not to jump during this sequence — even though you know it’s coming.

And though the mad doctor has some understandable motives that echo those of Mr. Freeze (from the abysmal “Batman and Robin”), hopefully you didn’t subject yourself to that movie so you can enjoy this subplot for the first time in “Autopsy.”

Finally, any film that features the song “House of the Rising Sun” on its soundtrack is OK by me. So, I rate “Autopsy” a 6.5 out of 10, and I recommend renting “Autopsy” for some violent, gory effects that make it a halfway decent scary movie.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis.

[Note: This review is 1 of 8 of the Horror Metropolis 2-DVD, 8-horror movie give-away contest.]

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead Date: 05/10/2012 Rating: 6.5/10 Recommendation: Rental

Trailer: Watch DVD: Amazon BluRay: N/A Social Media: N/A

This feature will be a mainstay as we will continually release horror shorts that appeal to the fans. These shorts are available elsewhere but are extremely hard to find. So don’t forget to check out our new section “Shorts” and sit back, relax, microwave that bag of popcorn and enjoy some uninterruppted, ad-free horror films ranging from 2 minutes to 30 minutes.

The first 5 horror shorts will come out on May 24 which will be the best-of-the-best 2012 has to offer for these quick, eerie and scary short films.

Thanks again for your continuing support as we keep adding key features to Horror Palace!

Movie:

Plot: When two sleazy street hoods wind up in possession of a video camera, they decide to make it big by shooting their own horror movie. Not ones to let a lack of funds, actors, or filmmaking experience stand in their way, the psycho duo opts to simply kill young women for real and record the grisly results.

Review: When you pop in an ultra low-budget horror flick, I always get excited. You never know before the movie begins if you have a gem in your hands. Well that feeling fades immediately with American Scream King. This is yet another one that tries the “Grindhouse” feel with black lines and weird squigglies running through the film. What these filmmakers fail to realize is that the 70’s cheap video camera style doesn’t work. You need some spit shine and polish to pull off the dated look, a la Death Stop Holocaust that the Grisly Zone team reviewed on Episode 028.

Off to the story; 2 lowlifes are wanting to make a horror film, they write 3 rules on a chalkboard when coming up with a concept. They state you need “Boobs, a Beast and Blood” and the rest doesn’t matter. While contemplating the effects portion they realize they have no idea what they are doing, so they concoct their ultimate plan of just killing the abductees, in effect, needing no special effects. What transpires is a group of women tied up in a basement (most topless or each one will become topless) while the 2 high school dropouts play little “games” with them.

Because American Scream King is a short movie, thank god, you still have to sit through the 2 leads “trying” to be demented, all the while making a “mock” on the genre I so dearly love. It’s amazing to me that filmmakers enter into the horror genre, have no idea how to make a movie, and can pass this off to us (horror fans) knowing that we will buy them. And we do, we love horror and support indies, but we have got to draw a line somewhere. Even more unbelievable and astonishing is that the writer/director/actor Joel Paul Reisig has his own “How-to Film School” at Be Your Own Hollywood. If you want to produce low-grade schlock that no one will like, and ruin your career, take the course!

Lets keep the ripping going on American Scream King, horrible audio quality, the screaming peaks and distorts making it unbearable, atrocious acting all around, and this one I am adding a “Stupid” factor of a 10. You may be thinking, I am coming in with the lowest possible overall score of a 1, but I always give credit where credit is due; there is one part with a drill that was actually passable (at least they did a little work there), and some of the girls were easy on the eyes.

American Scream King found distribution in February of this year and is available on DVD if you want to see how bad a horror film can be. After the review I shouldn’t have to say it but avoid American Scream King at all cost. It is not worth even a one-time rent.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 05/05/2012 Rating: 2/10 Recommendation: Avoid

Trailer: Watch DVD: Red Tag Market BluRay: N/A Social Media: Facebook

Year:  2004

Studio:  World Wide Multi Media/ Wicked Lamb Pictures

Written, Directed, and Edited by Elliot Passantino

Stars:  George Prekel, Carl Restivo, Kevin Healy, Elloit Passantino

Language:  English

Running Time:  75 minutes

The Eastern part of the United States has fallen under terrorist attack.  The attack left the US in an apocalyptic state.  George and Carl have decided to take flight.  While the friends are traveling, they decide to stop for supplies at a creepy farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.  Marbus Hiram, who is willing to help the traveling friends, inhabits the creepy farmhouse.  The farmhouse basement is full of women who worship him, and think that he is the Messiah.  The farmhouse is a gateway to Hell, and is full of torture and mayhem.

I was curious about this film, when I first got the opportunity to review it.  Let me tell you…this film is 75 minutes of mind-boggling torture, and I don’t mean that in a good way.  The opening sequence of this film completely took me out of the entire film.  It was chocked full of poor camera movements, and jumped all over the place.  As the film progressed, it didn’t get much better.

With subpar acting, and off-the-wall camera effects that reminded me of a late 80’s or early 90’s music video, I felt like I needed to be on acid to catch the point of this film.  The film had the potential to be violent and gritty, but just didn’t deliver.  There was a few scenes the had some decent gore,  but those kill scenes were never really shown…just glimpses of the killing, which again is something that took me out of the film.  I wanted to see the kills, and the fear on the victim’s faces…didn’t deliver.

The sound effects and score were ever so prevalent throughout the film…to say the least.  There were scenes that appeared to be a constant music video with no purpose but to serve as filler.  I just didn’t get the feeling of dread or suspense or fear.

I will give the director credit for one thing…he made a film…just not a good film.  To me this film had no sense of direction and jumped from place to place.  The cinematography seems to be non-existent.  The overall psychedelic nature of the film didn’t appeal to me.  Do yourself a favor, and stay away from “Season in Hell”.

This movie is a total avoid, 1 out of 10.  AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!!!

Be sure to check out Land of the Creeps with myself and Gregamortis, and help us KEEP HORROR ALIVE!!!!!!

Haddonfield Hatchet,  co-host Land of the Creeps

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Plot: Five college-age men and women travel to a cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway, but they’re being watched and stalked by several, evil onlookers who seek their demise.

Review: I have tried to stop watching trailers altogether precisely because of movies like “The Cabin in the Woods.” You should go into some movies blind, with no foreknowledge about them whatsoever. “The Cabin in the Woods” is one of those movies.

So, if you haven’t seen the previews yet, then keep yourself in the dark. You can trust this review not to spoil any surprises.

Though it’s not really a horror comedy, this movie’s humorous taglines give you a sense of the attitudes of the writers behind this film. There are funny moments in this movie, but the most fitting tagline for “The Cabin in the Woods” is this one: “You think you know the story.”

Yeah, you think you know the story (but trust me, you don’t), because the writers referred to above were producer Joss Whedon and director Drew Goddard. The latter also wrote “Cloverfield” (2008) and was a contributor on the TV series “Lost,” from 2005 to 2008.

So, after realizing that Whedon and Goddard were in charge of this project, and after reading those comedic taglines, you know this isn’t going to be your everyday horror film. And it’s not.

At first, “The Cabin in the Woods” seems like it’s going to be a conventional zombie flick with some extra, unconventional characters who don’t seem to be a part of the movie. But there’s much more to it.

Most horror fans will spend the first half of this movie asking themselves, “What the hell?” and thinking it’s too tame and not hard-core enough to be true horror. That’s how I felt. But like most horror movies, it gets progressively more extreme and more bloody, and it ups the ante to a ridiculous degree.

Even so, “The Cabin in the Woods” is still very entertaining for at least a viewing. At one point in the film, the bloodshed approaches “Dead Alive” (1992) levels, except not as creatively and this movie uses some sketchy-looking CGI bloodletting, instead of practical effects.

I suspect that the most traditional fans will ultimately disapprove of the liberties and twists this movie takes with the horror genre. In other words, these screenwriters take classic horror elements (and characters) and present them in a satirical way that I can only describe as “playful,” or perhaps the British word “cheeky” fits even better.

If you decide to see this movie, here is a few spoiler-free list that you should watch for: The presentation of the film’s title may be the most obnoxious, and therefore, amusing film title presentation I’ve ever seen. I think the filmmakers were riffing on the jump scare. “The Cabin in the Woods” simultaneously celebrates and ridicules the conventions of the horror genre, somewhat like we’ve seen in the “Scream” franchise. And if you’re looking at the subtext, the writers seem to be commenting on how we justify and rationalize our enjoyment of watching unintelligent people get slaughtered by depraved maniacs or monsters.

The five, archetypal horror victims are all likable and attractive or funny. You’ll recognize some of the actors right away, such as Chris Hemsworth (“A Perfect Getaway,” “Thor”) and Richard Jenkins (“Let Me In,” “Step Brothers”). And there’s a bit of nudity, sensual dancing and, of course, a good-looking blonde making out with a stuffed wolf’s head.

If you think I’ve spent this review telling you what this movie’s not, instead of what it is, you’re right. As I wrote initially, “The Cabin in the Woods” is the kind of film whose enjoyment is delivered to its audience through its weird revelations. Beyond that, I can’t see this movie having nearly as much value upon repeated viewings. Therefore, my final rating is a 7, and I’m recommending it only as a Rental, even though I think the die-hard horror fans will probably scoff at this bizarre but loving tribute to their beloved genre.

By the way, speaking of movie ads, the previews that precede “The Cabin in the Woods” include a promising-looking trailer for “Chernobyl Diaries,” which is scheduled for release on May 25, 2012. Expect another Jay of the Dead review for that one. I’m sold.

To hear horror movie reviews from Jay of the Dead and his cohorts, listen to Horror Metropolis.

Reviewer: Jay of the Dead Date: 04/21/2012 Rating: 7/10 Recommendation: Rental

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The first one to launch is a H.P. Lovecraft blockbuster “Dagon” with incredible artwork that posts new pages on a weekly basis. The comic will last 22 weeks with a new page going live every Wednesday until completion.

This is just another reason to stay right here on Horror Palace for all of your horror related needs, as we continue to grow and provide horror fans with supreme horror content.

David Cronenberg’s 1979 film THE BROOD revolves around a new-agey, experimental psychotherapy compound run by one Dr. Hal Raglan, brilliantly played by Oliver Reed. By all outward appearances, the psychiatric compound looks like an upscale Poconos Mountain ski chalet. Aside from the creepy Doctor and a handful of his staff, the facility is filled with a collection of weird sycophant psycho-therapy patients whose adoration of Dr. Raglan and his experimental methods, called Psychoplasmics, is disturbing, to say the least, giving the whole setting a cult-like aura.

The details of Raglan’s Psychoplasmics are intentionally kept vague throughout most of the film, but we come to understand that it involves something about the externalization of inner rage in an effort to exorcise inner demons and Freudian trauma. The methods are also vague, but role-playing with the Doctor himself evidently plays heavily into it. This is evidenced in a brilliant opening scene with one of Raglan’s psychically wounded sycophants.

One of the most receptive patients at the compound is Nola Carveth, a woman who is kept under tight wraps by Raglan, presumably because of her positive reaction to the treatments and because she’ll soon be used as a case study for Ragan’s ground breaking work, proving the efficacy of the treatments.

Nola’s ex-husband, Frank, is kept at arm’s length from Nola because part of the reason that Nola sought treatment in the first place was apparent trouble in their marriage. Their daughter, Candice, is caught somewhere in the middle of this, visiting the semi-isolated Nola periodically.

When Frank finds evidence of physical abuse on his daughter he confronts Raglan, questions his methods, and threatens legal action to disallow future mother-daughter visits.

This triggers a chain of events that includes the mysterious dispatching of strange dwarf-like, bellybutton-less, evil mutant children dressed in brightly colored snow suits. These troll-like beings look terrifyingly similar to Candice… and they proceed to kill both of Nola’s parents, Candice’s teacher, and kidnap Candice herself.

Meanwhile, Frank does some investigating and we come to understand with him that Psychoplasmics has grotesque side-effects that take the form of physical deformities, which are evidently the outward manifestation of half-successful treatments.

At length, Frank’s investigations lead him eventually to Nola herself, and culminates in a truly horrifying climactic scene so grotesque that it needs to be seen to be believed.

I hate to retreat into the safety of hyperbole, but it’s a scene unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s not often we see something truly unique in a movie, especially a b-movie like this one from Cronenberg, but here, that’s exactly what we have.

The film is certainly not without its flaws. Some of the acting is a bit hollow. The dialogue is leaden in areas and if you’re not in the right mood, the Olympic team of snow-suited mini-killers could strike an unintentional funny bone. But the flaws are more than balanced out by many tightly directed scenes and a premise that is fiercely original in its conception.

THE BROOD is an early effort from David Cronenberg, who would go on to direct the cult classics THE FLY and VIDEODROME and eventually the incomparably sublime SPIDER, HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, and EASTERN PROMISES. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time and he gets my respect and loyalty because I know whatever he does will be the singular vision of a passionate individual and not that of a hack artist cashing in on latest trends. He mines deeply personal territory in his films and the driving theme in THE BROOD is a primal fear of the powers of the opposite sex and the terrifying machinations of the female gender. Not your typical Hollywood fare.

It’s because of his courage and willingness to examine personal compulsion and fears that make Cronenberg’s work, even the films that aren’t quite successful, always unique and fascinating to watch.

As a final note, and perhaps most pertinent to the Horror Jungle forum, Cronenberg approaches his violence and gore in a celebratory, almost gleeful way, reveling in the details and horrors of the human body when transfigured by technology, here specifically, by the technology of psycho-babble. But he never goes too far overboard. He seems to have an innate sense of when a bucket of blood ceases to be horrifying and when it just becomes a joke. He plays with that line, but knows when not to go too far. In other words, he has a respect for the power that cinematic gore can wield, but uses it as a device to reinforce his psychological horror.

THE BROOD is easily a four star film.

Movie:

Plot: Four friends embark on a camping trip to an isolated wilderness to shoot a documentary one of them is making. On the first night the group hear blood-curdling cries and see unexplainable shadows surrounding the camp causing them to question whether they should leave. Suddenly the night takes a terrifying turn when one of the group goes missing and the remaining three realize they are being brutally hunted… but by what?

Review: Well, where should I begin?  With the past success of The Blair Witch Project and the most recent success of the Paranormal Activity series, the found footage film is alive and well…which most of the time sucks for the horror fan.  Let me be honest here, I am not a huge fan of the found footage sub-genre, but occasionally there is something worth writing about.  And Evidence just might be that “needle in a haystack”, if I do say so myself.

It is your basic run of the mill story about a group of friends that decide to take a camping trip.  One of the friends decides to make a documentary film about his best friend and his first time “roughing it, in the great outdoors.”  It does start out giving you that feeling of…”I’ve seen this before.”  Well folks, not for long.  This movie is not like anything you have watched in the past.  I really don’t want to give too much away about this film, but damn do I want to.

The initial opening act of the film deals with some very cool characters that are very easy to connect with, which is mainly due to the fact that they are likable in a sense.  The film does have a few slow spots, but the characters keep you into the film.  But hey, once this thing gets going…boy does it get going.

In the second part of the film, we start to get to the good stuff.  The friends start hearing things and seeing some strange things that peak their interest, and make them want to get the hell out of the woods.  In Evidence, you actually get to see some of the strange goings on before it is balls to the wall in the third act.

The third act is an act all unto itself, and that might just be an understatement.  Talk about a twist to the end of this film.  I think it has more twists, ups and downs, and insanity than a roller coaster.  The things at the end of this film, I have never seen before, and I have been talking about this movie all day.  I can’t wait to watch it again, and look for things that I am sure I missed.

Evidence will affect you that is for sure…just be prepared to see things that you haven’t seen before.  Give this movie a chance, even if you’re not a fan of found footage.  You might just be surprised at this little movie.  You won’t be disappointed…I know that I wasn’t.

Check out Land Of The Creeps with myself and GregaMortis and “Help Keep Horror Alive.”

Reviewer: Haddonfield Hatchet Date: 04/05/2012 Rating: 7½/10 Recommendation: Buy

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We implemented tons of things along with a brand spanking new, streamlined, fresh and clean look. Below are some of the changes and features added:

• Complete Website Re-Design.
• Navigational Drop Down Menus For Finding What You’re Looking For Quicker.
• New Featured Images Rotating The 4 Latest Items Across The Website.
• New Photo Gallery With Horror Luminaries Featuring Pop-Up Viewer.
• Two New Buttons On The Home Screen So You Can Be Aware Of New Items.
• Plus…Many Other Smaller Features.

Thank you for your patience while we updated the website. It was a daunting process with all the content we already had, but it was much needed going forward, as we will be implementing gobs more exciting things over the second half of the year.

Thank you horror fans for continually visiting Horror Palace where it’s “All Horror All The Time.”

This will continue until we launch a new and improved website sometime in April. Please be patient as we work on improving our web presence for all of the visitors across the globe.

During these update intervals, the RSS Feed will remain active. So no matter what feed reader you use you will still have access to our horror content during these brief periods.

Thank you for your support as we continually strive at making Horror Palace the supreme outlet for all of your horror needs.

You can get to the Freebies section by clicking on the text at the top navigational bar of any web page on Horror Palace. Our initial Freebies section includes the following items:

• Desktop Wallpaper – 2 high resolution graphical backgrounds available in 3 different sizes to accommodate all monitor screen sizes.
• Music CD’s – 2 awesome and complete music CD’s to enjoy from the staff with instructions on how to burn them directly to disc.

 
More free goodies will be added as they finish development. This is our way of saying thank you for supporting Horror Palace, and for choosing us for all of your horror needs.

Movie:

Plot: Young friends on a weekend outing have the misfortune of witnessing a murder…only to be followed home by the killer. Unaware they’re being stalked by a maniac, the traumatized quartet of vacationers try to forget about the carnage…but then, they realize they’ve been followed home. Ever seen something scary and walked away feeling safe? Beware: You may have been…followed home!

Review: I am always excited when a new slasher hits the market, and after the initial scene I was thinking Followed Home had something strong going for it. In typical fashion, in the most clever of slashers, the filmmakers thrust you into the terror with a brutal opening. Followed Home was no exception; an initial stabbing with tension and screaming, but this movie takes a nosedive, and a fast one at that.

We meet 4 friends, Sam (Zachary Ryan Block), a new proprietor of his own website design firm, his girlfriend Lauren (Tammy De Kauwe) and 2 employees. These 4 head out into the mountains for a peaceful romp in a cabin. It’s during these 30 minutes, where you must suffer with the hideously poor dialog and lazy acting. The opening scene girl comes running to their abode which traumatizes them, they then struggle to maintain their own sanity.

Since the audience must suffer through the garbage time of the film, you are praying it can only get better when the hooded madman offs the friends one-by-one. It is quite the opposite; the attack scenes are hilariously bad and the scare scenes are utter failures. Not to mention the lackluster music and sound effects.

I racked my brain to think of some positive things in Followed Home, but I came away with basically zilch. This was one of the most boring slashers I have ever seen in my life. Coming in at a shade over an hour, I struggled whole heartedly to make it to the end. I can’t believe in a genre that is never boring you could botch such a thing.

Followed Home was released on DVD 4 months ago, and I am befuddled on how this got such wide distribution in many notable online retailers. This is bottom of the barrel horror fans. Overall, this is an epic disaster in the slasher genre, avoid it at all costs! Final rating is 1½.

Reviewer: BillChete Date: 03/10/2012 Rating: 1½/10 Recommendation: Avoid

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CineWeekly is an online digital magazine focusing on articles, reviews and podcasts, solely on movies from the past. No news, simply great insight and discussions.

CineWeekly has featured Horror Palace and we greatly appreciate that. You can find us on a dedicated page on CineWeekly here.

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We are “on the move” and making Horror Palace your one-stop-shop for all things horror by improving the website and adding more features for you to sink your teeth into in the landscape that is all things horror.

Movie:

Plot: At once spooky and grisly, this thriller follows a woman’s quest to find the truth behind claims that her mother killed three people during an exorcism. The daughter’s journey takes her to Italy, where she becomes involved in other exorcisms.

Review: The movie opens up with a 911 call in which a woman tells she had just murdered 3 people, then it goes to news footage of the crime scene and we get to see the bloody bodies which was very believable. Jump to present day and we get to meet Isabella who is the daughter of the woman who murdered these people and is now locked up in a mental institution in Italy.

Isabella decides to go to Italy to see her mother and to try and find out exactly what happened and to delve into the world of exorcism by making a documentary and even takes some classes on the subject.

The movie drags a little here while building character references and we meet a couple of priests who are doing exorcisms on people who the church felt were mentally challenged and not possessed. They decide to let Isabella and her camera man in on the action to film and this is where you get to see the first exorcism.

When you first get to see this girl who is kept down in this dark basement it is quite shocking the way her body is contorted and some of the things that she does. Shortly after we get to see an exorcism performed on Isabella’s mother which was a little chilling but not as shocking as what will happen after.

There are quite a few shocking things that happen in this movie that I was totally not expecting, surprisingly there is quite a bit of gore. I cringed a couple of times and was like (Holy Shit). There are a lot of screams throughout the movie that were blood curdling and I really liked the way they ended this movie, totally unexpected and a really good video effect.

My biggest negative for this movie is of course the documentary style and the shaky cam, I absolutely hate it! God if they would of made this like a regular movie it would of been so awesome.

Yes this was my top pick movie for the year 2012 and I knew going into it that it was documentary style but my love for possession movies and with The Exorcist being my all time favorite horror movie I had to go with this one. Besides the shaky camera work I was a little disappointed in the voices of the possessed, I think they should of gone with a deep crackling voice.

To me this movie had enough startling shocking moments and a bit of a twist to spend the money and go see it in the theaters. No it is not the new Exorcist and I don’t think they will ever make a movie that will take the top spot on my horror list but the story, acting and shock factor make this one to watch.

I don’t know where this will end up being on my list of best 2012 horror movies, probably not going to be number 1 but I enjoyed it and I think most horror fans will. If this movie wasn’t documentary style I would of given it around a 9 but seeing that it was my rating is a 7½, GO SEE IT!!

Reviewer: ChrisiFix Date: 01/20/2012 Rating: 7½/10 Recommendation: See It

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