No One Gets Out Alive

"No One Gets Out Alive" (2021, Santiago Menghini, The Imaginarium, Netflix).

Ambar (Cristina Rodlo) moves to Cleveland after her mother dies. As an undocumented immigrant, she finds herself at the mercy of some devious and exploitative characters, including Red (Marc Menchaca), the owner of an old boarding house who demands rent in cash up-front in exchange for not asking Ambar any questions. The boarding house is large, run-down and apparently, only accepts female tenants. Ambar experiences some odd things in the house, but chalks it up to other tenants' behaviour. Besides, she has bigger concerns like finding a job. 

After a co-worker scams her out of most of her savings and the spooky happenings in the house become more intense, Ambar seeks help from a distant cousin, Beto (David Barrera), but when he is unable to help her, she is forced to ask Red instead and this plays right into his and his brother Becker's (David Figlioli) grim plans...

A fairly serviceable haunted house story with a cast of interesting characters and exploration of some very real life horrors. The effects are good and Rodlo cuts a sympathetic protagonist who is also very resourceful. 

The film doesn't go into much detail of the history behind the spookiness and it feels a little unexplored which robs the ending of a bit of oomph. An impressive creature is present, but we don't get too much time with them and it feels less like a 'less is more' approach and more of an 'out of the blue' approach as a viewer. 

Currently available on Netflix.

[Image: The Imaginarium, et al]

Hani

Angelica

 "Angelica" (2015, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Pierpoline Films) is a ghost story set in Victorian England, and loosely based on a novel of the same name by Arthur Phillips.

Mitchell Lichtenstein, the man also behind 2007's "Teeth", brings us a ghost story centred, of course, around the lady bits of a young Victorian woman called Constance (Jena Malone). 

Constance marries surgeon Joseph Barton (Ed Stoppard) and soon falls pregnant with their child, Angelica. However, after a traumatic birth, the Bartons are warned to halt all future sexual intercourse; something that both Constance and Joseph find difficult to adhere to. Constance also suffers from severe postpartum depression and finds she cannot separate herself from Angelica for any length of time, to the extent that it further damages her marriage. 

When Constance begins to tell of a sexually explicit apparition of a man haunting the room of Angelica, Joseph dismisses this as further strange 'womanly' behaviour, leading Constance to seek the help of their servant, Nora (Tovah Feldschuh) and her occultist friend and con-artist, Anne Montague (Janet McTeer).

A film that attempts to straddle the line of elegant Victorian stuffiness and perversity, but is subject to a heavy-handedness that leans further towards the latter. Without the strong lead from Malone, who manages to maintain an air of decorum despite the plot's many indignities, it would be a somewhat difficult watch. Many of the scenes head more towards incidental humour and the film lacks the more horror elements that would usually be associated with a Victorian ghost tale.

[Image: Pierpoline Films]

Hani

Death of a Vlogger

"Death of a Vlogger" (2019, Graham Hughes, Enlightened Monster Productions, 101 Films) is a found footage mockumentary about a video content creator who discovers his flat is haunted.

Graham Hughes stars as the titular vlogger, Graham, who hits the trending gold mine after a viral video seems to show evidence that his Glasgow flat is haunted. From there we follow a mockumentary style with interviews from friends, fans and... others as we learn the tale of Graham's rise to fame and journey to darker territory.

A well paced, interesting film that delivers some thoughts on the nature of social media and 'cancel culture' as well as some genuine jumps and impressive effects and camera work which are used sparsely and to great effect. The mockumentary and vlog style feels extremely relevant in 2020's pandemic lockdown world and keeps the slow burning style moving. The plot builds up with twists and turns to keep viewers engaged and changing their allegiances between the characters as we are delivered more information.

Creative and well crafted, this film is worth checking out and is currently available to rent from various Video On Demand services.

[Image: Enlightened Monster Productions, et al]

Hani

Ghost Story

"Ghost Story" (1981, John Irvin, Universal Pictures) is a ghostly tale about shared secrets... It's based on a Peter Straub novel



Four well-off elderly men, Ricky Hawthorne (Fred Astaire), Dr. John Jaffrey (Melvyn Douglas), Mayor Edward Charles Wanderley (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and Sears James (John Houseman) are members of the Chowder Society. They meet to share chilling tales and enjoy a tipple together. But when one of Edward's sons dies in a mysterious accident, it becomes apparent that the Chowder society share a dark secret, and that secret is clawing its way back to them.



A fairly traditional horror with spooky scenes, old creaky houses and a grim little twist in the plot. We are treated to some interesting death scenes including a rather explicit, nude window fall (helicoptering did not seem to help) and quite a sad and melancholy plummet from a bridge.


Our protagonist, Don Wanderley (Craig Wasson), attempts to work out what plagues his fathers' group and family, while also battling his father's contempt for his lifestyle, status and choices. But it is the secretive and elegant society marred with darkness that holds the most interest in the film.


Beautiful scenery and a good cast keep this relatively simple plot going. The film delivers a surprising amount of action, despite the collective age of the main cast. I found it to be old fashioned but entertaining. The film suffers overall from a slightly anticlimactic final act, but a nicely realised final reveal that brings everything to a tidy and complete end.

[Image: Universal Pictures]

Hani

Doctor Sleep

"Doctor Sleep" (2019, Mike Flanagan, Intrepid Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures) is the film adaptation of Stephen King's 2013 follow up to his novel, "The Shining". It's also a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1980 classic film adaptation of "The Shining".

Mike Flanagan continues to impress with his spooky style and crafting. As a big fan of both The Shining and also the novel of "Doctor Sleep" itself, I was pleased to thoroughly enjoy this film.

Danny Torrance (Roger Dale Floyd) and his mother Wendy (Alex Essoe) move to Florida after the events at the Overlook Hotel. Danny is deeply affected by what he saw and learned in the Rocky Mountains, but he's also being dogged by the hungry spectres of the hotel who have followed he and his mother. Luckily, the spectre of Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly) is also still around and with his help, Danny is able to find a way to lock the Overlook's ghosts away.

Years pass and we find Danny (Ewan McGregor), now "Dan", has followed his father's footsteps and become an unemployed alcoholic with anger issues. But when he is contacted through the Shining by a young girl called Abra (Kyliegh Curran) who believes that she and other children with the gift are in danger at the hands of the devious True Knot gang lead by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), he finds himself and his friend, Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis) are the only ones able to offer their help.

It's a great tale and the film is perfectly cast, with possibly the exception of Jack Torrance who is a smidge unconvincing as a young Jack Nicholson. Essoe, however, is fantastic as Wendy without feeling too much like an impersonation. Carl Lumbly also brings Hallorann back to the screen exceptionally.

McGregor gives his usual great performance and delivers Dan Torrance right from the pages of the book. Kyliegh Curran also gives a strong performance throughout giving Abra the right level of spunk and optimism.

Our villains are perfectly villainous. Rose the Hat is page perfect, and manages to be monstrous but also demonstrates her own misguided determination to maintain her 'family'. The True Knot are fabulously brought to life and perfectly cast. It's almost a shame we don't get to know them better but the screen time we get with them is fun, dark and twisted .

The recreation of the interior of the Overlook is lovingly done and stands extremely well as a side to side comparison with Kubrick's film. The ghosts also are great fun and recreated with a fan's eye. Some scenes in the exterior of the hotel are a little less shiny, but overall don't mar the film.

All in all, I found this film to be exactly what I would have asked for. I look forward to it being released with some behind the scenes or documentary footage.

[Image: Intrepid Pictures, et al]

Hani

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

"Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" (2019, André Øvredal, Lionsgate, Entertainment One, CBS Films, Sean Daniel Company) is a film based on the series of short stories by Austin Schwartz.

A horror anthology aimed at teens (think "Creepshow" meets "Goosebumps"), the film is surprisingly jumpy and really well put together. We follow Stella (Zoe Margaret Colletti), Auggie (Gabriel Rush), Chuck (Austin Zajur) and Ramon (Michael Garza) who find the book of scary stories by Sarah Bellows, the town's local horror legend, on Halloween night. The stories not only have a horrible way of becoming reality, however, the group discover new stories are still being written from beyond the grave and people they know, including themselves, are the unlucky protagonists... Can they put a stop to Sarah before it's too late?

Although very heavy on CGI which may not age very well in the long run, the film has a neat wraparound story and enjoys a seasonal Halloween theme which could make it a fun addition to annual viewing.

The stories are well adapted for screen from the original tales and even those of us too old to enjoy the childhood nostalgia of the stories themselves, the film still captures the feel of the tales and makes an entertaining 120 minutes.

Our protagonists and even antagonist bully, Tommy (Austin Abrams), feel well rounded and give a good performance in their roles. The late 60s setting of the film seems somewhat incidental, but not the the film's overall detriment. In the main, the adult characters are kept to the periphery and leave the main work to the kids.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good the scares were. The film doesn't seem to shy away from being quite dark and it's certainly a film young me would have loved. For the adult viewer it will feel relatively trope-laden but it's a perfect film for younger horror-hounds in the making who want to see something scary but aren't quite ready for some of the more adult targeted films. It's a good gateway film and could have the staying power for longevity in the future.

[Image: Lionsgate, et al]

Hani

Annabelle Comes Home

"Annabelle Comes Home" (2019, Gary Dauberman, New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster Productions, The Safran Company, Warner Bros. Pictures) is the seventh film in The Conjuring Universe created by James Wan and is the third feature film centred around the haunted doll, Annabelle, whom we were introduced to in the original The Conjuring and who is based on an actual case by the real life Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Starting from the doll being taken from the young nurses in the first Conjuring film, we follow her home to Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren's locked room full of other haunted artefacts. Some time later, the Warren's daughter, Judy (McKenna Grace), is being babysat by family friend, Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) and her friend, Daniela (Katie Sarife). Unfortunately, it turns out that Daniela had other, more personal reasons for tagging along and she breaks into the artefact room searching for a way to contact the spirit of her father. Unwittingly touching everything and anything she can lay her hands on, Daniela also releases Annabelle from her blessed case allowing the doll to wreak havoc on herself, Judy, Mary Ellen and Mary Ellen's admirer, Bob (Michael Cimino) who had come to the house to serenade Mary Ellen in a badly timed attempt at seduction.

A really fun entry into a series that I feel was getting pretty tired. The very limited setting of the Warren's house makes for a good old fashioned spook house feel and the scare scenes are, in usual Wan style, well portrayed and effective. The fact that Annabelle is given the power to raise other spirits nearby makes the variety of ghosts attacking the teens and kid pretty diverse. Personally, I enjoyed the first Conjuring but felt a little cold on the subsequent films, but I found this film to be a fun ride and the first, since the original film, to spark some life back into the creepy little doll despite the doll herself getting very limited screen time. It's jumpy and a little silly - just what I wanted out a spooky doll film.

[Image: New Line Cinema, et al]

Hani

Haunter

"Haunter" (2013, Vincenzo Natali, Wild Bunch, IFC Midnight) is a haunted house story with a slant.


Lisa (Abigail Breslin) is a teenager in 1985. She's also dead. Lisa 'lives' in her house with her mum (Michelle Nolden), dad (Peter Outerbridge) and little brother, Robbie (Peter DaCunha) who appear unaware that they are also dead. Lisa's stuck in a Groundhog Day-esque timeloop of the same day; the car is always broken, the laundry is always needing done, dinner is always the same...


When Lisa becomes aware of her predicament, she tries to highlight it to her family but they seem to be oblivious to their situation. Lonely and angry, Lisa begins to try to find out what is going on. She starts to find clues and discovers that she is the ghost haunting the teenager, Olivia (Eleanor Zichy) now living in her room in 2013. To add to this, there may be a sordid history in the house and many other ghosts trapped there... Can Lisa stop it before Olivia's family are doomed to be next?!


A fun little film with a good performance from all of the cast, but especially from Breslin who is a sympathetic protagonist but also a strong character. She manages to walk the line of moody teenager and girl-in-peril without coming across as whiny or overbearing.


While the plot is fairly straightforward and the antagonist suffers from some confusing scenes throughout; the overall film is entertaining and creates an engaging atmosphere. The repetitive nature of the timeloop is something that has been done extremely well before (the previously mentioned Groundhog Day) and since (Happy Death Day). "Haunter" manages this timeloop fairly well also, with slight tweaks in the loop to show progression and just enough repetition to highlight what's going on. It also captures some elements reminiscent of the Amityville House.


"Haunter" nicely tells the tale from the ghost's perspective without getting too caught up in the ghost mythos, and delivers an intriguing little mystery. It's fairly light on the scares, however.

[Image: IFC Midnight, et al]

Hani

Gothika

I decided to give this one another shot as part of my Robert Downey Jr. appreciation 'month' (this has so far lasted 3 months and looks not to be ending anytime soon. That man is a gift.). My first and last viewing of this film was at a house party in 2005 and I remember being pretty unimpressed at the time. But I was a cocky 17 year old, so lets see how it fares this time:




"Gothika" (2003, Mathieu Kassovitz, Dark Castle Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures, Columbia Pictures) is a film about a psychiatrist who wakes up to find herself a patient in the mental hospital she works at.


Dr. Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) works at Woodward Penitentiary as a Criminal Psychiatrist. She is working with several disturbed and violent women including Chloe Sava (Penélope Cruz). She's also the wife of Dr. Douglas Grey (Charles S. Dutton) who runs the facility, and has an apparent friendship-but-nothing-more relationship with her colleague Dr. Pete Graham (Robert Downey Jr.) - much to the latter's disappointment.


On a stormy night, Dr. Grey crashes her car on a bridge while narrowly missing hitting a young girl standing in the road. When the Dr. approaches the girl to check if she's ok she bursts into flames. Miranda doesn't remember anything else until she wakes up as a patient at Woodward herself and Pete breaks the news to her that she apparently went home and brutally murdered Douglas.


Miranda spends the rest of the film slowly piecing together her memory with the help of a vengeful spirit and some pretty inefficient security in the hospital. What she finds out shakes her worldview and it's probably for the best that she'd already dispatched of Douglas.


The film suffers from a lot of things that aren't its fault. The main one being it's just another early 2000s teen-aimed horror with that annoying blue tinged hue over every scene. But there remain some gaping plot holes (really? Pete just pulls some strings and she's kept at her previous place of work? I don't think so) and just too much going on in the plot. It's like they made a few storyboards and decided to mash it all together; crooked cops, crooked doctors, malpractice, ghosts, murder, torture porn, revenge, amnesia, sexual deviants getting access to patients without (supposedly) anyone knowing, misrepresented mental health patients.... you name it, it's in here. It's a bit of a mess plot-wise.


One of my main gripes with the film is its criminal(-ly insane) underuse of its talented cast. Halle Berry as the protagonist gets a fair share of screen time but most of her time is spent screaming and/or being sedated so her character isn't given much depth outside of her initial intro as overworked psychiatrist who likes to swim. As the film moves on she gets to deliver a more proactive role and starts to do her own sleuthing, but ghostly possession, or not, I doubt that she would be set free at the end of the film, having, you know, murdered a guy! RDJ manages to inject some depth into the character of Pete through that amazing ability he possesses to humanise all of his characters, but essentially Pete is just there to be a hindrance to Miranda's escape and doesn't actually get to do much of note from a plot perspective except moon over Miranda and then act as jailor. Cruz' character is probably the most interesting of the film with a pretty sad story arc but she's more of a plot device than a main character.


But it's not all bad. The film remains watchable, and although it doesn't fit into any good-bad-cheese list it's also not so terrible that you can't sit through it. Whether  you'd actually want to is another question entirely. I can imagine the trope-laden, well trodden ideas behind the film still seeming fresh to the young and uninitiated, and it could certainly serve as a gateway to youngish, thirsty horror fans in the making who haven't yet been enticed by the pleasures of 2001's "Thirteen Ghosts" or 1999's "House on Haunted Hill" which, in my view, deliver a much better late 90s/early 2000s horror vibe.


What can I say? I came for the RDJ factor... and I pretty much stayed around for that, too. It seems 17 year old me and 31 year old me aren't so different after all.

[Image: Warner Bros., et al]

Hani

Velvet Buzzsaw

"Velvet Buzzsaw" (2019, Dan Gilroy, Netflix, Dease Pictures Inc.) is a film about haunted art.

We follow several somewhat repellent people working in and around the Art world as they discover the art of a disturbed and isolated man named Dease who recently died in his apartment. Despite strict wishes of the deceased to have his art destroyed, art agent Josephina (Zawe Ashton), gallery owner Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo) and art critic Morf Vadewalt (Jake Gyllenhaal) become determined to make their fortunes and names selling the pieces. As Dease's work becomes a success and begins to garner attention, however, the people involved in the deal begin to mysteriously disappear or turn up dead...

A fun supernatural horror which satirises the Art world and delivers some humour along with some cheesy gore. The film takes its time to set up the scene and introduce us to its cast of colourful characters played by a collection of well respected names. In addition to those mentioned above we also have Toni Collette, Tom Sturridge, John Malkovich, Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen and Natalia Dyer all playing parts of artists, curators and others involved in the world of Art all keen to be the one to discover the "next big thing".

Once the set up is complete we are treated to some amusing deaths and some effective imagery delivered in a offbeat style while poking fun at its subject matter. The film has a slick art house feel while also mocking that exact thing but doesn't go out of its way to be anything beyond entertaining. And that is the point! The kill scenes are amusing and creative, if a little silly, and all in all I found it to be a pleasing 109 minute ride.

If you're looking for hidden layers, there aren't really any there. The film has the feel of a Goosebumps book plot turned into a film for a more adult audience. And that, in my book, is no bad thing.

[Image: Netflix et al]

Hani

Malevolent

"Malevolent" (2018, Olaf de Fleur Johannesson, Netflix) is a haunted house film set in Scotland.

Angela (Florence Pugh) and Jackson (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) are an American brother and sister team who, along with their respective boyfriend and girlfriend, Elliot (Scott Chambers) and Beth (Georgina Bevan), 'investigate' paranormal cases in Scotland using their University's equipment. Their work is a scam and they know it, but things begin to get weird when Angela begins to see actual paranormal phenomenon. Scared that she might be losing her mind, like her mother, Angela has to be pushed into taking one last case by her brother. The case is that of Mrs. Green (Celia Imrie) who claims that her large country home is haunted by the spirits of the little girls her deranged son murdered while under her care.

During the investigation, however, the team begin to unravel the mystery and come to suspect that, not only is the house truly haunted, but that there may be more to the story than they have been told.

A film that has received reviews claiming that it's boring, but really it is just standard low-ish budget horror fare. The effects are passable and the plot, once it gets going, is serviceable, if a little predictable. Celia Imrie, in particular, gives a pretty disturbing performance as the mysterious and stern Mrs. Green. The largest flaws are probably the meandering pacing of the story telling paired with some slightly goofy plot points and the fact that the story is set in the 80s with very few period efforts made to set the scene outside of some cars and a distinct lack of mobile phones, but on the whole I found it to be entertaining.

[Image: Netflix]

Hani

Ghost House

"Ghost House" (2017, Rich Ragsdale, Vertical Entertainment) is about a white American couple getting exploited by some white British people while visiting Thailand; getting themselves haunted in the process.


The film offers some visuals of both the beautiful and less beautiful parts of Bangkok as the newly engaged couple, Julie (Scout Taylor-Compton) and Jim (James Landry Hebert), explore.


Upon meeting some overly friendly British guys, they decide to blindly join them on a night of raucous partying and find themselves abandoned in the countryside outside of the city. Julie disturbs a shrine (or Ghost House) and inadvertently becomes the main target of a vengeful spirit (Wen-Chu Yang). It's up to Jim to try and save his fiancée from the angry ghost before it's too late... And maybe find those British assholes again...


A typical vengeance ghost flick that's only innovation is to move the story from Japan to Thailand. The protagonists and antagonists are equally unlikeable (except for the ghost) and the local people and legend play little to no part in the plot. The plot itself is a little wandering and takes a few twists that made me lose some character sympathy where it might have been better to make me feel more sorry for them.


The ghost enjoys a few effective jump scares, but is ultimately victim to a lot of repetition which takes away from her overall scariness. The effects are pretty good, however, and it's worth adding that, if the plot had been stronger, the film would have been more engaging. As it is, it felt a little more like bargain-bin "The Grudge".

[Image: Vertical Entertainment]

Hani

Hell House LLC 2

"Hell House LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel" (2018, Stephen Cognetti, Cognetti Films) is the sequel to 2016's found footage jump-fest, "Hell House LLC".

I personally really enjoyed the original film and you can find my thoughts on it here.

Following on from the events of the first film which covered a documentary team investigating the supposed technical issues which caused tragedy at the opening night of popular Halloween Haunt, Hell House, at the Abaddon hotel in 2009, the second film focuses on the public's continued curiosity of the cause of the tragedy.

Having reached some level of infamy after the documentary was released, Mitchell (Vasile Flutur) ventures back into the Abaddon Hotel after investigative journalist, Jessica Fox (Jillian Geurts), and her team receive an anonymous tip off of breakthrough evidence within the abandoned building. Despite Mitchell's misgivings they head back inside and discover some more of the truth behind the hotel's dark presence.

The familiar surroundings and creation of continuity are very effective and the film manages to continue the story in a believable way, demonstrating that the documentary inspired several wannabe ghost hunters to venture into the hotel with their camera phones and meet some unfortunate circumstances.

A lot of the jump scares are familiar, too, but this isn't to the detriment of the film and actually really pleased me as a viewer. The hotel doesn't change the rules for the sequel, it just reveals more of its nature to the camera. There are one or two elements where we are shown perhaps too much compared to the first film where a lot of the scares were in the subtlety of the horror, but on the whole the sequel delivers a lot of the same level of creep that the first did.

In the pattern of most sequels, however, the film does not quite meet the quality of the original and the characters and actors do not quite convey the same natural relationships and repartee that the original cast did. Things do sometimes feel a little more obviously acted. Although some of these scenes took me out of the story momentarily, the action within the hotel would quickly draw me back in.

The film delivers many more twists than the first and some of the revelations are delivered at a fast pace. A good few of these are succinct and creative, but the volume of them did lose some of the ingenuity and simplicity of the original plot. The story flow of the sequel is also less linear than the original and demands a little more effort from the viewer to keep things in place.

All in all, "Hell House LLC: The Abaddon Hotel" delivers an effective sequel that continues the story from the first film and sets up a comfortable starting place for more in the series. Although it didn't feel as immersive as the original, I certainly enjoyed it and look forward to a third.

[Image: Cognetti Films]

Nightmare Castle

"Nightmare Castle" (1965, Mario Caiano, Cinematografica Emmeci) is a fun black and white Italian horror riddled with well trodden tropes and perfect for scratching a gothic horror itch. It's maybe not the best Italian horror of the time, but it's certainly worth viewing and will appeal to many fans of the genre.

Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith (Paul Meuller) is a mad scientist living in the grand ancestral castle home of his gorgeous and gothic wife, Muriel (Barbara Steele). Muriel, however, is having a steamy affair with their gardener, David. Upon catching the pair mid-embrace in the greenhouse, Stephen flies into a rage and beats the gardener before chaining both of them up and torturing them to death.

Using mad science (it's very different from normal science), Stephen then uses the blood of his victims to give his elderly servant, Solange, youth, turning her into the beautiful Helga Liné. Stephen and Solange then begin a relationship of their own, while the souls of Muriel and David are trapped in the castle by the their disembodied hearts skewered within an urn in the main hall.

To his dismay, however, Stephen learns that he was not Muriel's heir and that the castle has passed to her stepsister Jenny (also Barbara Steele) who currently resides in a mental institution. Seeing an opportunity, Stephen quickly marries the poor girl and drags her to the castle to live with him and Solange while he continues both his experiments and the affair with Solange.

Jenny begins to feel terrified, claiming to hear the spirits in the castle and beginning to take on the characteristics of her dear departed half sister. Finding Jenny's behaviour uncomfortable, and keen to declare her insane (but still married) so he can have his cake and eat it, Stephen calls for Jenny's doctor, Dr. Derek Joyce (Marino Masé) to the castle to treat her. However, the Dr. begins to suspect that there are supernatural forces at work and accidentally releases the vengeful spirits of the dead lovers to wreak havoc on those who wronged them!

Critics of the time considered this film to be too tropey. They threw around words like 'pedestrian' and 'obvious'. And while I can appreciate that the film certainly contains a lot of characteristics prevalent in many horrors from that period, it does so with a charm and clarity that many other films were devoid of. The drama between the characters is well achieved, and the strange and mostly undeveloped sub-plot of rejuvenating youth aside, the plot moves on at a good pace.

Barbara Steele gives us two very distinct characters with the sultry vixen Muriel being the antithesis of her nervous and pure stepsister, Jenny. We are also treated to a period clothing undressing scene that would put many a modern burlesque performer to shame.

The film also boasts some practical effects that still stand well to the modern viewer and a convincing entrance for our ghostly characters upon their release from the urn. While it's unlikely to have you shaking in your boots, it certainly has an ethereal and atmospheric charm that is exactly what I'm looking for in a gothic horror.

If you're looking for a Halloween warm-up film available to stream on Amazon you could do a lot worse than a visit to this drama-filled stately home set in Rome.

[Image: Cinematografica Emmeci]

Hani

Down a Dark Hall

"Down a Dark Hall" (2018, Rodrigo Cortés, Fickle Fish Films, Nostromo Pictures, Temple Hill Entertainment) is thriller-horror based on a teen novel by the same name.

Kit (AnnaSophia Robb) is a difficult teenager who gets in trouble often and does not get on with her parents. So they enrol her in a boarding school called Blackwood for 'gifted' students run by headmistress, Madame Duret (Uma Thurman). Kit and the other teens begin to feel that there is more to the winding halls of the school and soon discover that Blackwood Manor holds some secrets within its walls.

The film is very stylish with a lot of beautiful gothic scenes and some nice creep factor. The characters are fairly three-dimensional and enjoy a nice mix of flaws and charm. And, while it certainly has a teen-horror vibe and the scares are relatively limited, it delivers an entertaining package of weirdness.

The plot does get a little convoluted, however, overall I enjoyed this movie for its entertainment value. And that's what it's all about.

[Image: Fickle Fish Films, et al]

Hani

The Ghost Goes West

"The Ghost Goes West" (1935, René Clair, London Film Productions, United Artists) is a British film about a haunted castle which is sold to an American family who wishes to transport it to America. Unfortunately, the ghost who dwells within the castle comes along for the ride.

Robert Donat stars as both Donald Glourie and his womanising, ghostly ancestor from the 18th century, Murdoch Glourie, who died a coward before battle, shaming his family and thus being trapped within the confines of his ornate home until he can put things to right.

Donald, in need of some cash and having fallen in love with Peggy Martin (Jean Parker), sells the castle to her unwitting father (Eugene Pallette). Unfortunately, the ghostly Murdoch also has designs on young Peggy and Donald begins to fear that he's made a terrible mistake, especially when the Americans begin to excitably attempt to exploit his intangible kinsman.

A pretty cheerful and humorous black and white film that manages to poke fun at the Americans and the Scots in equal measure.

Our non-corporeal anti-hero is not only a coward with a chick habit, he's also a stroppy young man, doomed to wander his ancestral home at his late father's behest. He is able, however, to kick his bad habits and make amends for his shameful ways with the help of his flesh and blood relative. Elsa Lanchester also plays a small role in this film.

The film boasts some excellent special effects for the time including the ghost's transition through walls and tables and randomly popping up to spook guests. There are also some amusing scenes showing the cruise liner taking the castle to the USA which were evidently achieved using a model boat in a basin of water. I love looking out for these kind of innovations in old films.

An entertaining little comedy.

[Image: London Film Productions]

Hani

Ghost Stories

"Ghost Stories" (2017, Andy Nyman, Jeremy Dyson, Altitude Film Entertainment, Warp Films, Catalyst Global Media, Screen Yorkshire, Lionsgate Films) is an anthology film based on a stage play.

Philip Goodman (Andy Nyman) is a Professor who debunks fraudster psychics and other paranormal healers on his TV show. He explains at the beginning of the film that his disdain for such beliefs arose out of his own experiences where his strict, religious father disowned Philip's sister for dating someone whom he did not approve of.

Philip is thrilled to be asked by his hero, Charles Cameron, whom he had thought deceased, to investigate some cases that he had been unable to resolve himself. Cameron tells Philip that he no longer believes that there are no ghosts. Philip pursues the three cases, keen to prove the old man wrong.

Philip visits first a night watchman (Paul Whitehouse) who believes that he was haunted by the spirit of a dead girl. However, he also has guilt over not visiting his own daughter who is ill and Philip believes that the watchman is simply haunted by his own guilt. This segment was perhaps the slowest, and I did find myself a little bored. Although, I do like Paul Whitehouse.

Philip is then introduced to a strange young man (Alex Lawther) who believes that he ran the devil over when joy riding in his father's car. However, Philip observes that the boy is obsessed with the occult and has a dysfunctional relationship with his parents and so surmises that the boy has simply imagined it. This segment did not go the way I was expecting, but I can't help but think that more creep factor could have been made from the parents.

Finally, Philip meets a Financier (Martin Freeman), who explains that he was haunted by a Poltergeist during the birth of his child. His wife died during the ordeal and the child, it is intimated, is abnormal; but in what way it is not revealed. This segment was my favourite of the film and featured a shocking scene that was delivered with such calm sobriety from Freeman that it made it all the more chilling.

Returning to Cameron, Philip begins to experience strange happenings of his own and the film takes a bizarre and unnerving twist that somewhat saved it from being yet another anthology horror.

The film was somewhat slow burning and some scenes were extremely dark, however, I enjoyed the various reveals throughout and the cold, cold ending.

[Image: Altitude Film Entertainment, et al]

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Winchester

"Winchester" aka "Winchester: The House that Ghosts Build" (2018, The Spierig Brothers, Bullitt Entertainment, Diamond Pictures, Imagination Design Works) tells the curious tale of Sarah Winchester, based-on-real-events.

Sarah Winchester (Dame Helen Mirren) is the heiress to the Winchester repeating firearms company. After the death of her husband and child she became more and more reclusive, believing herself to be haunted by the spirits of people killed by her company's products. She employs construction crews around the clock constantly changing and developing her house into a mysterious manor full of twists and turns and doors which lead to nowhere. A house which was later to be referred to as the Winchester Mystery House.

Eric Price (Jason Clarke) is a doctor whom the management of the Winchester company employ to declare Winchester unfit to own controlling shares in the organisation. While Price is suffering from him own troubles, and a penchant for laudanum, he decides to give Winchester a fair assessment, staying with her for a week and letting her tell her story.

The film delivers one or two effective jump scares, and a bounty of beautiful set designs. It boasts a talented cast, who deliver a perfectly acceptable performance, and it tells the tale of one of the most intriguing buildings in existence. However, it seems that this film has been universally panned. Could it be that primarily American audiences are too immature to appreciate a film that is at its core (and not exactly subtly) anti-gun? Or is it something else? I'd like to believe that there is more to horror viewers than their personal politics, so I'm going to focus on areas where I felt the film was lacking.

Despite the intricate scenery of the film (including some shots of the actual house) and a few well executed jump scares there was very few scary moments after the halfway mark. After the big reveal of the nature of the more deadly of spirits lurking around the house, the film began to be a little too liberal about showing us all. A little more mystery in the Mystery House may have kept viewers more on-side.

Price's backstory added a somewhat unnecessary link into the plot which I felt was more heavily focused on than our main story. Unlike the "Annabelle" side plot of "The Conjuring" which acted as a thrilling sidebar to develop the characters, Price's story becomes more involved than Winchester's. Although I did enjoy his story and his period drug abuse to an extent, it felt almost as if our titular character's story was of lesser concern.

All in all, the film suffered from being both slow and showing too much to the point where all tension was lost.

[Image: Bullitt Entertainment]

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Kanika

"Kanika" aka "कनिका" (2017, Pushkar Manohar, Ankit (Sunshine)) is a supernatural revenge horror from India. It is in Marathi language and is available with English subtitles.


Kaushik (Sharad Ponkshe) is a well-off doctor working in his own hospital. He is greedy and happy to flaunt laws in order to receive more money. After his security guard leaves, citing ghosts, Kaushik begins to see the spectre of a little girl haunting him. Soon, he begins to lose friends and colleagues under mysterious circumstances. His wife, Vaishali (Chaitrali Gupte) begins to worry that her husband has lost his mind... The little girl is after revenge, but possibly death is too quick?


The film covers a very polarising subject: abortion. It's a subject that can be difficult to understand across different cultures, genders, religions and social circles. Within different groups, issues with the subject can vary greatly. The main theme behind this film is to shine a light on the practice in the region of terminating pregnancies because of the gender of the child and its resultant social standing. In the case described within the plot, the mother did not want to do this and thus, a vengeful ghost is born.


I have not had as many opportunities to watch Indian horror as I have Japanese, European and American. The film is fairly low-budget with a few plot holes and some long winded dialogue, but it does have a certain charm to it. Our protagonist (or maybe he's the real antagonist?), Kaushik, is a fairly unlikeable person; A greedy and cowardly man who displays some fairly humorous behaviour in his attempt to save himself. There's also a scene with a treadmill where they made the actor mime walking which was decidedly distracting.


Kanika herself has a few good moments where she appears in different places, and similarly to the vengeful spirits within The Grudge and Ring franchises, her appearance is bedraggled with hair covering her face. There are a few scenes where she's not used as effectively and her story does not reach a fully satisfying conclusion.


All in all, the film is fairly low impact. It's not scary enough to make it a thrilling horror, it's not daft enough to venture into the cult B-movie arena and, although it carries a strong social message, it is not delivered particularly well - opting for a more sledgehammer style.

[Image: Ankit]

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Insidious: The Last Key

"Insidious: The Last Key" aka "Insidious Chapter 4" (2018, Adam Robitel, Blumhouse Productions, Stage 6 Films, Universal Pictures) is the fourth film in the Insidious series, but the second in terms of story chronology. We follow the parapsychologist from the series, Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), who is brought in on a case that is very close to her own heart.


Young Elise (Ava Kolker) did not enjoy much of a childhood. Her connections with the ghostly world were not well received by her father (Josh Stewart) who was abusive and violent anyway, and her timid, yet supportive mother (Tessa Ferrer) was met with an unhappy and untimely end for which Elise feels largely responsible. After running away as a teenager (Hana Hayes), Elise is sure that she will never have to see that unhappy house ever again, but alas, fate brings her in on a new case set within the very walls of her initial torment.


A fairly formulaic entry to the franchise, we once again enjoy the company of awkward nerd duo, Specs (Leigh Whannell, Mr Writer/Producer) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), who's uncomfortable patter did a good job of breaking up the scenes. We are also introduced to Elise's estranged brother, Christian (Bruce Davison) and her two nieces, Melissa (Spencer Locke) and Imogen (Caitlin Gerard). I can completely understand Christian's anger towards his sister who abandoned him with their abusive father alone as soon as she was legally able. What I didn't understand was the girls' sudden repartee with Elise; an aunt that they had never known existed. It all seemed a bit sudden, a shade more than curiosity and... unlikely.


The film offers a few fun jump scares and skilfully holds back often enough to deliver a surprise every now and again. The setting is the familiar haunted house of the series, but it works well.


I do not dislike Lin Shaye. I have seen her in plenty of things where I've liked her performance and I would say that my dislike of Elise Rainier is not due to Shaye's performance but the character itself. It's pleasant to watch an older female take the lead in a film, especially as such a flawed character. Elise is not a heroine, per se, she is a woman exploiting her unusual skillset for money and to soothe her own guilt. Not unlike the character of Angel in the Whedonverse who saves people in an attempt to make up for his past transgressions, Elise is driven by good intentions but also selfish ones. Helping people makes her feel better about her past. And there's nothing wrong with that, in fact, I enjoy that aspect of the character. I think what I dislike about Elise as a character is the way she responds to everything. I think the intention is to make her appear strong and methodical, but to me she reads as cold and a little flat.


The monster of the piece enjoys some good scare factor but is a little over-revealed and loses a bit of its edge early on, although the design innovation is commendable.


As fourth sequels go, it's pretty decent, but it does feel like they may be running out of ideas to keep this particular branch of the franchise going.

[Image: Universal Pictures, et al]

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