Author: Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins

THE SPECIAL recently had an exclusive first private screening at the Appell Centre and it soon became apparent that some audience members were not prepared for the controversial subjects of the film. One couple walking out of the cinema halfway through in disgust commenting “I’m not sitting through anymore of this”. It is no surprise with a tag line of “This is not a love story” and Harrison Smith asking people to “See it with someone you hate!” the film was always going to get a provocative response. However, the feeling of the couple were obviously not shared by the…

DEVIL’S PATH *** USA 2018 Dir: Matthew Montgomery. 87 mins Actor Matthew Montgomery’s feature directing debut (which he co-wrote with star Stephen Twardokus) is a bleak, absorbing character-driven thriller set in the early 1990’s. Sensible Midwesterner Noah (Twardokus) carries around a pack of tarot cards, wears his insecurities on his sleeve and is looking for love rather than sex at a popular hiking trail / pick-up point for gay men. He meets his polar opposite, Patrick (J D Scalzo), an asthmatic, elusive EMT who claims to be from “all over” and is seeking sex rather than a chance to get…

FLESH CITY *** Germany 2019 Dir: Thorsten Fleisch 84 mins A young couple are abducted and mutilated by a crazy, holographic doctor guy who may or may not have something to do with beetles. Whilst the man manages to escape minus one of his hands which then grows into some weird fleshy dead chicken type thing that tries to take over the world. In the meantime a really trendy music show, kind of like a cross between old school 90’s MTV vs Eurotrash plays a series of experimental, electronica, Euro pop and rock videos whilst talking of the end of…

SPIRITS IN THE DARK * Hungary / UK / USA 2019 Dir: József Gallai. 70 mins Writer-director-star Jozsef Gallai follows earlier forays into found footage horror (BODOM, MOTH) with this meandering story of a melancholic widower (Gallai) with a penchant for poking around old abandoned buildings. When we first meet him, his wife and daughter have died under tragic circumstances and he has received a video tape from a long-term friend, featuring what appears to be a female ghost in a large decrepit construction. Much of the movie consists of his self-filmed, first-person footage of the place he likens to…

THE FOG ***** USA 1980 Dir: John Carpenter. 91 mins Rescued in post-production by reshoots, reediting and rescoring, this brave attempt at a modern take on the old-fashioned ghost story opens with an Edgar Allen Poe quote though its influences are closer to Lovecraft, EC Comics, THE GHOSTLY GALLEON and – by Carpenter’s own admission, Hammer’s X THE UNKNOWN. The director’s increased stature resulted in his most high-profile cast to date, with John Houseman’s redolent storytelling setting the scene via a beautifully eerie opening campfire ghost story. Many Carpenter regulars survive this time around : Nancy Loomis is still fabulously…