Author: Steven West

TERRIFIER 2 **** USA 2022 Dir: Damien Leone. 140 mins Though the first TERRIFIER arrived at the point where it looked like a possible cash-in on the success of IT CHAPTER ONE, it was the first full-length outing for Art the Clown, the antagonist of writer-director Damien Leone’s earlier short films, themselves adapted for the feature portmanteau debut ALL HALLOW’S EVE (2013). TERRIFIER merged the format and old-school gore FX of 1980s slashers with graphic, mean-spirited death sequences closer to the more aggressive trends of early 21st century American horror -notably the bisection of a naked blonde. Originally played by Mike Gianelli,…

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DO NOT DISTURB **** USA 2022 Dir: John Ainslie. 92 mins Writer-director John Ainslie, whose most high profile credit to date was the screenplay for the inventive JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER (2007), cleverly subverts expectations with DO NOT DISTURB, which starts out as a potentially typical psycho-drama, evolves into an excruciating (in all the right ways) “toxic relationship” piece and culminates with a feeding frenzy. Canadian newlyweds Kimberly Laferriere and Rogan Christopher (both terrific in tough, emotionally raw roles) are staying at an Adults Only resort for their Miami honeymoon, befriending another, slightly odd couple (Janet Porter, Christian McKenna) along…

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CROC! (aka Crocodile Vengeance) * UK 2022 Dir: Paul W. Franklin. 84 mins The 2007 movie CROC (minus the THEM!-style exclamation mark adorning this one) was an entirely forgettable waste of Michael Madsen’s under-used screen talents…but at least it was vaguely watchable. Its namesake (a rare British foray into the realm of crap CG monster movies) offers a feature length expansion of that genuinely amusing wedding party sequence from Lewis Teague’s rightly well regarded ALLIGATOR. It showcases what might be cinema’s worst ever digitally-created monster crocodile (complete with giant, distracting, flapping tongue) and the most unlikeable ensemble cast in recent…

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THE PRICE WE PAY *** USA 2022 Dir: Ryûhei Kitamura. 85 mins Japanese director Ryûhei Kitamura has been in the genre business since the late 90s, scoring a cult hit with the inventive low budgeter VERSUS (2000) and crossing over into visceral American genre fare via the suitably crunchy Clive Barker adaptation THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, alongside vigorous latter-day B-movies like NO ONE LIVES and DOWNRANGE – enlivened by his sense of style and propensity for impressively executed explosions of extreme violence. From British screenwriter Christopher Jolley (SCARE ATTRACTION, REMEMBER ME), THE PRICE WE PAY is characteristically brisk, brutal and unpretentious.…

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THE HARBINGER **** USA 2022 Dir: Andy Mitton. 87 mins Screenwriter / director Andy Mitton’s follow-up to the quite wonderful YELLOWBRICKROAD and THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW continues an impressive run of smart, character-driven independent horror films – this one melding a dose of 1980s style rubber reality horror against the backdrop of a major city during the pandemic. It unfolds in a suitably wintry New York City apartment building enslaved by the restrictions and paranoia of Covid. In the opening sequence, a young woman (Emily Davis) is comforted by the building manager while she falls apart from the extended isolation. Mitton…

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