Author: Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins

FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR **** USA / Norway 1986 Dir: Randal Kleiser. 86 mins In between huge commercial hits with teen-pitched blockbusters (GREASE, THE BLUE LAGOON) and forgotten sequels to other people’s hits (HONEY I BLEW UP THE KID, BIG TOP PEE WEE), director Randal Kleiser made this oft-underrated alternative to the Amblin-dominated family sci-fi films of the 80’s. The first half is especially strong, cleverly subverting our genre expectations while foreshadowing images to come: an apparent flying saucer revealed as part of a dog-frisbee contest; a passing blimp casting a vast shadow over everything like a huge alien ship…

Brad Sykes’ cult classic PLAGUERS starring Steve Railsback is now available for the first-time on Blu-ray and DVD from Wild Eye Releasing. The 10th Anniversary edition includes audio commentary and an unseen Q+A with cast and crew. Synopsis: When an alien contagion is released aboard a spaceship transforming its victims into demonic flesh-eaters, the crew must either destroy the infected or join them. Wild Eye Releasing has released PLAGUERS on Blu-ray and DVD.

The follow-up to Jay’s well-received ASHES (released in July), KILLER THERAPY stars RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD alum Thom Mathews, along with PJ Soles (HALLOWEEN), Adrienne King (FRIDAY THE 13TH ), Daeg Faerch (Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN), Michael Qeliqi, Elizabeth Keener and Ivy George. Brian is a disturbed child with sociopathic tendencies dealing with a father who doesn’t love him, a mother unconvinced of his violent nature, and a newly adopted sister he believes is there to replace him. After a series of escalating violent incidents, he is bounced around from failed therapist to failed therapist, maturing into a young…

WHITE CHAMBER *** UK 2018 Dir: Paul Raschid. 89 mins A grim Brexit-era sci-fi movie using the visual language of early 21st century horror: the woke-up-in-a-strange-room-and-harassed-by-a-mystery-puppet-master gambit of the torture movie cycle and acid-scarred, feral characters frantically chomping off their own fingers like the “Rage” victims of the 28 DAYS / WEEKS LATER movies. The economy of the set-up and story suggest key influences included everything from original TWILIGHT ZONE episodes to one-location low budget gems like CUBE and EXAM. Ominously set in the “United Kingdom, Soon”, it posits a near-future where the country is ravaged by civil war and…

Horror-on-Sea will be returning to Southend once again in 2020 with its biggest blood-soaked line up of independent film as they celebrate their 8th Year. It remains one of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals and was originally formed to promote independent horror films, which are not normally given an opportunity to be played on the big screen. Hosted at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea) the festival will be running over two weekends from Friday 10th January to Sunday 12th January and Friday 17th January to Sunday 19th January. Screening over 36 Features and 62 shorts, many of these…