NIGHTSTREAM REVIEW: MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU TOO

 

Two years after escaping from demonic terror, the young woman is still haunted by unnatural vision. The dangers that await her and her friends are increasingly threatening: the figure of darkness rises to take their lives.

Starring: Chelsea Islan, Widika Sidmore, and Baskara Mahendra

Directed and written by: Timo Tjahjanto

  

   “May the Devil Take You” seems like the polite way to ask if the devil can possess you, and there isn’t much polite about “May the Devil Take You Too.” This story continues to follow Alfie (Chelsea Islan), who along with Nara (Hadijah Shahab) get kidnapped. Not by the devil, but now grown up orphans. It appears they were abused back when they were young, and eventually got revenge on their tormentor. However, the tormentor is back from the grave for another round.

  They’re hoping Alfie and Nara can use their previous experience with hauntings to help them with their current problem. It’s a rough start because not all of them are convinced of the hauntings. Of course this doesn't sit well well with Alfie, who is pretty mad at them. However once the hauntings get going, she has no choice but to fight for survival.

  This film seems to have something that hasn’t been in the previous Indonesian films I’ve viewed. It has a little bit of humor mostly coming from Alfie. She has plenty of remarks for the others especially right after she’s kidnapped. She kind of has a love-hate relationship with the group that creates some funny moments. There’s also a couple of lighter moments in the middle of the fight with the demons.

  Now don’t think for one second that this is a horror comedy because it’s far from it. In more typical Indonesian fashion, once this film goes dark there’s no turning back. A decent sized group is present in order to kill most of them off. The demons keep coming and coming as Alfie, Nara, and who ever else can manage to fight back. It gets particularly crazy down in this basement area.

  Without having seen the original movie, it’s hard to say whether this is a worthy sequel or not. However, if you’re like me and have enjoyed the recent run of horrifying Indonesian films, then you’ll probably enjoy this one as well. Like others, it introduces a good handful of people to eventually kill off. It brings some scares, and plenty bloody deaths. There is something different with an injection of humor, but have no worries this film still lives up to what current Indonesian films have done. With that, I give "May the Devil Take You Too" 3.5 pools of blood.

  

  HorrO

More info about this film at: http://promotehorror.com/2020/10/28/may-the-devil-take-you-too-comes-to-shudder/

WHERE THE SCARY THINGS ARE EPISODE 68

 

Where The Scary Things Are Episode 68: ANYTHING FOR JACKSON with JUSTIN DYCK and KEITH COOPER

In this Episode we review another MUST SEE 2020 FILM, ANYTHING FOR JACKSON. This film is so great. Reverse Exorcisms, Satan Worshipers, Creepy Old People, Hardcore Gore, Kidnapping, just all of the above great horror. We bring on the director, Justin Dyck and Writer Keith Cooper to discuss the film.

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NIGHTSTREAM REVIEW: 32 MALASANA STREET

 

A family moving to a new house to live the dream of the big city. A house where dreams turn into nightmares.

Starring: Begona Vargas, Ivan Marcos, and Bea Segura

Directed by: Albert Pinto

Written by: Ramon Campos, Gema R. Neira, David Orea, and Salvador S. Molina

  

   Add “32 Malasana Street” to the long list of places that seemed like a nice place to live, but are far from it. Looking for a new start, Candela (Bea Segura), Manolo (Ivan Marcos), and their family move into a new apartment in the city. It doesn’t take long before the house starts to act up particularly around their kids. Their daughter, Amparo (Begona Vargas) is supposed to be watching the youngest, Rafael (Ivan Renedo), but gets distracted from her grandfather’s odd behavior. It almost leads the boy to his demise before dad comes to the rescue, but soon enough he disappears again. 

  Of course this shocks the family as they search for the boy. Weird things continue to happen to Amparo and others until the Rafael is finally found. Everyone can breathe easy now…wrong! The boy is traumatized, and soon enough the whole family will join him. Whatever is haunting this house is mad, and is about to take out its anger on this family.

  So the first star of this movie has to be the apartment, and followed closely by the entity haunting them. They make the most of this setting to execute the scares, and build up the mystery. The winding halls, dark rooms, and creepy basement definitely work. The atmosphere seems dark even when they first move in, and only gets darker in the end. 

  The scares start off in a typical manner, but move to more creative stuff as the movie unfolds. Probably the scariest stuff comes at the hands of the grandfather’s weird behavior early on, and then later on with what happens when a woman in a wheelchair gets involved in the action. Also, once the scares get going there isn’t too much wasted time. Either the movie is working on setting up a scare, or getting closer to why this is all happening. And the reason behind it all is a pretty unexpected story.

  Horror fans have seen many families over the years move into a place, and need to move out even quicker. Credit this movie for going so far as to have a banker tell them they are stuck with the place financially. There’s no easy escape except for taking on this ghost head on. Visit “32 Malasana Street” if you’re looking for scares with a pretty interesting story behind it all. With that said, I give it 3 pools of blood.

  

  HorrO

LADY USHER REVIEW

 

This motion picture is a suspense/thriller based on the short story; The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. This updated re-telling is written by award winning filmmaker George Adams and possesses the quintessential features of the Gothic: a large dreary house, strange macabre characters with doubled personalities and a mysterious sickness. A contrast, this standard formula has a plot that is bizarre, unexpected, and full of unforeseen disturbances. Part of the terror in this story is the vagueness of time and place and the haziness sets the tone for a plot that blurs the real and the eccentric.

Starring: Theresa Santiago, Billie D. Merritt, and John Tuby

Directed and written by: George Adams

  

   Being unfamiliar with this Edgar Allen Poe story made watching “Lady Usher” very interesting. Morgan (Billie D. Merritt) has fallen hard for her boyfriend Roderick (John Tupy). When he leaves school to return home to take of his sick father, Morgan must decide whether or not to visit him. She can’t help it, and even with him saying not to she goes to visit him anyway. She has all kinds of expectations, but this doesn’t turn out the way she hoped.

  The house is nothing like she could’ve imagined, as everything seems like she went back a century or two. Before she can even wrap her mind around this she must meet the Lady of the house, Lady Usher (Theresa Santiago). Lady Usher makes her visit more uncomfortable than the house already does. She also makes it weird for Roderick, and now the three must figure a way to get along for the remaining time they’re together. 

  As this story is told there’s obviously something they’re hiding. There’s a lot of strange things happening, and the audience will know Lady Usher has something to do with it. She’s in control of the house, and maybe even people’s feelings. All Morgan wants is to continue her relationship with her boyfriend, but he’s apparently not ready to leave the family.

  While it’s awkward at times, it becomes hard not to be drawn into this triangle of trouble. Particularly, Theresa and Billie’s performances grow as this plays out. They actually turn out to play well off of each other. Interestingly enough, as they fight for Roderick, he almost gets lost in the shuffle. And then there's Mr. Usher (John Ferguson), who is the reason everyone has come home, but never the focus. He does have an important scene that clues Morgan into what may be happening. 

  Overall, “Lady Usher” isn’t going to be a film for everyone. It’s almost a slow burn with a mystery to unfold. Things will be weird at times, and will seem to lead the audience in different possible directions. However, if the audience gets sucked in enough to want to know where the story goes, then they might just enjoy it. It’s a crazy ending that’s certainly unexpected on multiple levels. Again, having no knowledge of the original story, I have no idea how well it compares. I do know it did enough to get 2.5 pools of blood!

  HorrO

CAMPING FUN REVIEW

 

Four friends set out to a remote getaway in Texas, unaware that it is being occupied by a sinister cult.

Starring: Hailey Marmolejo, Bonnie Sturdivant, Thomas Burke, and David Eimer

Directed and written by: Thomas Burke

  

  “Camping Fun” is what this group of four wanted, but it doesn’t turn out to be a lot of fun after all. This is a found footage film showing video that the police have discovered sometime after these young people’s disappearance. It starts as the audience might expect, with the group arriving at a house in the middle of nowhere. There’s a brief introduction to who they are, and the relationship between each other. 

  While they’re supposed to be having fun they show that things aren’t so great between them all. There’s a good argument between some of them, but things turn weird. One of the girls seems to be acting stranger by the second, but the others are slow to catch on to it. Unfortunately for them, their problems are about to get worse because the house wasn’t as unoccupied as they thought.

  So while it didn’t turn out to be much fun for the four characters, this short film should please fans of found footage films. It has a quick setup only giving a glimpse of who these characters are, but that’s alright because they’ll be gone soon enough. It has a little mystery, and creepiness as they investigate the house before revealing what’s truly going on. Of course this doesn’t work without an exciting ending, and it gives the audience just that. And the found footage angle is just as the audience would expect capturing only what is needed to be seen. 

  HorrO

More info about this film at: http://promotehorror.com/2020/09/21/camping-fun/

WHERE THE SCARY THINGS ARE EPISODE 67

 

Where The Scary Things Are Episode 67: HOSTS, DIRECTORS ADAM LEADER AND RICHARD OAKES WITH NEAL WARD, NADIA LAMIN, AND SAMANTHA LOXLEY

We had one of funniest interviews with The Director and Actors from the movie HOSTS. 

ADAM LEADER AND RICHARD OAKES WITH NEAL WARD, NADIA LAMIN, AND SAMANTHA LOXLEY join the show. This was a riot. Please check out the film, HOSTS (with an "S")

Listen here

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NEVER HIKE IN THE SNOW: A FRIDAY THE 13TH FAN FILM REVIEW

Set three months prior to “Never Hike Alone,” “Never Hike in the Snow” follows the strange disappearance of Mark Hill, a Crystal Lake resident who went for a hike in the dead of winter and never came home.  

Starring: Vinny Guastaferro, Thom Mathews, Courtlan Gordon, and Vincente DiSanti

Directed and written by: Vincente DiSanti

  Apparently Mark (Courtlan Gordon) has been investigating the woods, and taking pictures of the area. Unfortunately for him, he has stumbled into the territory of the most feared predator in the area…Jason (Vincente DiSanti). The cops find the car he was driving, but there’s no sign of Mark. Sheriff Rick Cologne (Vinny Guastaferro) seems like he knows what’s happened, but isn’t ready to tell anyone. Instead he has a fellow cop start an investigation while he goes to break the news to Mark’s mother.

  This short horror film opens right in the middle of the action. Mark is running through the snow with Jason on his tail. Jason does something fans aren’t used to seeing him do much of to stop Mark, but then finishes him off in a much more familiar way. What’s great here is that the film takes its time, and lets the audience enjoy the death. The audience gets a couple of shoots of Mark, and then they get to see what Jason does with the body afterwards.

  From there on out, much of the film follows the sheriff, and the investigation. Vinny is good enough at carrying the load here, as his character deals with Mark’s mom, and yelling at his fellow officer. Not many fan films are able to actually get someone from the franchise to be involved in the film, but this one manages to find a role for Thom Mathews to return as Tommy Jarvis. It looks like Tommy is looking for another shot at taking Jason down.

  Make no mistake, the audience does get some more of Jason. It does what the movies don’t do, and explores Jason after the kill. What he does with the body, and where he goes. They also take a risk and bring back someone from Jason’s past. And even though this is a short film they need more than one kill, and they manage just that. This time there’s a little more of a fight against Jason.

  “Never Hike in the Snow” is a fan film that does plenty of justice to the beloved franchise it’s based on. It’s clear they wanted to start off with a bang, and they did making every shot count. Fans can appreciate that they filled in some gaps that aren’t usually covered in the movies. They also took some risks with what goes on with Jason inside his hideaway that seem to work. Of course the audience can't ignore the snow, which is unusual to see with Jason, but adds something to the look of the film. In the end, it appears like this fan film franchise has something in the works, and it will be interesting to see where all of its films together end up.

  HorrO

Click here to watch the film!

NIGHTSTREAM REVIEW: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC

 

Families were terrorized at the orphanage. Someone wants them dead, apparently with black magic that is very deadly. She has a grudge and she was also born because of the sins of the orphans who formed her into the Queen of Black Magic.

Starring: Ario Bayu, Hannah Al Rashid, and Adhisty Zara

Directed by: Kino Stamboel

Written by: Joko Anwar

A Nightstream Film Festival Review

  “The Queen of Black Magic” has used her power to create one brutal and unnerving movie. Hanif (Ario Bayu) takes his family back to the orphanage where he grew up to see a dying father figure Bandi (Yayu Unru). They’re meeting up with two more of his friends from the orphanage, and their wives. It’s a long drive out to the middle of nowhere, and Hanif appears to hit a deer along the way. They stop to check it out, and then finally make to their destination. Soon enough, introductions are made, and people start to get settled in.

  Hanif gets the feeling that maybe he hit something else out on the road, so one of his friends goes with him to check it out. He turns out to be right, but they also find something much more tragic has occurred out there. They don’t have many options on how to handle this, and head back. Unknown to them, things are about to go wrong there as well. An evil magic starts to take over the orphanage, and everyone inside of it.

  Being an Indonesian film, the audience can expect only the worse to come to the people in the orphanage, and those expectations are met and then some. First it starts off with some creepy and crawly centipedes going in and out of people, choking them, and just being disgusting. But think of them as the appetizer. Things get far crazier with what one woman does because she’s worried about her weight, and how another boy is forced to torture himself and another. 

  And why is this all happening? Well in the middle of the wild things that are happening a story is told about some of the women who lived in the orphanage. From Hanif and his friends standpoint a certain set of events happened, but in actuality something much worse was going on. They saw some magic when they were younger, but now they're going to feel the full force of black magic. The Queen is out for revenge for those past events.

  So yes, they’ve created a good story, and reveal it in the perfect way, but lets go back to the true magic of the film. The absolute brutality that the Queen unleashes in the final act will forever be hard to match. She literally tortures everyone who is still alive at this point, and makes one survivor hopelessly watch it happen. She has no mercy on any of them, and now is about to get her ultimate revenge. This moment is full of its own surprises to top off everything that has just happened. 

  “The Queen of Black Magic” continues the streak of movie magic that keeps coming out of Indonesia. It creates a large cast of characters to do all kinds of evil things to. They start off with the disgusting stuff, fit in a few scares, but the focus is definitely on being savage. There have been movies where people are tortured maybe one or two at a time until it moves to others, but the ending scene here is just vicious. Multiple people are being tortured in harsh fashion, and having someone watch is just cruel. For fans of this kind of horror you can’t ask for much more. All hail the Queen, as I give it 4 pools of blood!

  HorrO

NIGHTSTREAM REVIEW: BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL

 

A crew of hardy road workers, led by a bickering Father and son, must survive the night when they accidentally awaken an ancient Irish vampire.

Starring: Jack Rowan, Nigel O’Neill, and Louisa Harland 

Directed by: Chris Baugh

Written by: Chris Baugh, and Brendan Mullin

A Nightstream Film Festival Review

  The county in “Boys from County Hell” sure does goes to hell when a vampire rises from the grave. Eugene (Jack Rowan) seems to be just going along with life spending time with friends when he’s not working for his father Francie (Nigel O’Neill). Eugene and a couple of friends hang out at the pub, and like messing with tourists who come through there. They take two tourists up to a pile of rocks where legend has it a vampire older than Dracula is buried. The audience gets briefed on the vampire, Abhartach (Robert Nairne), because he’ll be making an unexpected return soon.

  Francie has been hired to clear the land where this vampire rests, and also land belonging to the family of one of Eugene’s best friends. On the following night they have an argument by the pile of rocks, and something unexpected happens that takes his friend’s life. Still upset over the loss of his friend, Eugene takes out his frustration on the pile of rocks. When the crew comes back to work later on, the strange happenings begin. 

  The opening scene will have the audience’s attention, and after setting up the story and characters it will get back to that kind of bloody fun. While it’s a vampire story, they take some risks and create some of their own rules. One of the best things that this vampire can do is suck blood out of people without even touching the person. The vampire doesn’t even need to be seen, and all the sudden someone will just start bleeding from somewhere on their body. 

  But before they even get to Abhartach, they must face off with more recently turned vampires. The first vampire is one of the workers who is turned, and what’s particularly funny here are the attempts to kill it. They try a couple of things that don’t work, and it becomes drop dead funny especially after they stick a pole through him. The second vampire is a little more of a surprise, and creates a more serious situation. However, no matter how serious things get, or bad the situation is there’s just the right amount of humor sprinkled in.

  A lot of that humor begins with the relationship between Eugene and Francie. Francie loves his son, but he’s very tough on him. Eugene tries to please his dad, but that’s almost an impossible thing to do. Also, Francie is a very serious, no nonsense kind of person that just wants to do his job, and doesn’t have time for this vampire madness. Their back and forth over handling the vampires is always entertaining, and then sprinkle in moments with other characters like Claire (Louisa Harland) and SP (Michael Hough).

  “Boys from County Hell” rolls the dice and wins big. Horror audiences continue to crave something new, and they bring something fresh in the world of vampires. The blood flows right from the start, and continues throughout the film. The blood and guts is done right, and there’s plenty of it. They reveal a bad ass vampire, and introduce a new and maybe even harder way to kill it. Not lost in it all are many humorous moments of this group of workers trying to figure out how to fight the vampires. The story is just terrific from beginning to end, and so is the acting. With that, I give it 4 pools of blood.

  HorrO

NIGHTSTREAM REVIEW: AN UNQUIET GRAVE

 

A year after the death of his wife, a man enlists her sister to help him bring her back.

Starring: Christine Nyland, and Jacob A. Ware

Directed by: Terence Krey

Written by: Christine Nyland, and Terence Krey

A Nightstream Film Festival Review

  “An Unquiet Grave” will remind audiences just how tough grieving the loss of a loved one is. Jamie (Jacob A. Ware) has been grieving the loss of his wife, Julie, for a year now. Somewhere along the line he got the idea of a way to bring her back, or at least part of her back. On the anniversary of her death, he gets his wife’s sister, Ava (Christine Nyland), to go on a drive with him with the intention of performing a ritual. As they drive to the spot of her death, there’s a lot of talk, and indecision from Ava over whether she can do this or not.

  Of course once they get to the spot there’s no turning back. It’s dark and creepy out in the woods, but Ava is brave enough to go along with Jaime’s plan. Unfortunately, he hasn’t told her the whole truth. They will be reuniting with her, but in very different ways. It will be an awkward reunion, and one that eventually goes wrong.

  As the film goes on the audience will notice that this whole movie includes only two actors Jacob and Christine. That obviously puts a lot of pressure on them to perform, and they do a very nice job. There are other moments when things get weird and creepy, but dealing with the high emotions of the situation is the most important thing and they handle it well. Extra credit goes to Christine who is actually playing two characters in an unusual way.

  They use grief to set the mood of the film right off the bat. Jaime and Ava have a depressing talk on the way to the grave, and the conversation doesn’t get easier when Julie returns. She’s confused about what happened, and why she’s returned. Before Jaime can get to really explaining what’s going on something has come looking for him. Again, it’s not necessarily about creating scares. It’s about creating a creepy atmosphere that matches the mood that set and maintained throughout.

  Disturbing graves has never been a good idea, and it’s still a bad idea in “An Unquiet Grave.” Yes, Jaime is grieving and filled with guilt, but instead of helping he’s about to make matters worse. He lies to Ava, and puts her life in danger to ease his pain. There might be many lessons learned from the film, but one is that there’s no easy way to deal with your pain. With that, I give it 3 pools of blood.

  HorrO

More info about this film at: http://promotehorror.com/2020/10/02/an-unquiet-grave-dramatic-new-horror-world-premiering-at-nightstream/

NIGHTSTREAM REVIEW: BROOKLYN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL SHORTS

 

Each of the 5 film festivals that make up the Nightstream Virtual Film Festival submitted blocks of short films that were supposed to be shown at their festivals. Here, I've selected several films from the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, and posted a brief review of each film. I definitely recommend you check out these films at the festival, or if you catch these films individually in the future.

Killing Small Animals

Directed by: Marcus Svanberg

A woman floating through life without much purpose kills a butterfly. She loves the feeling.

This is a short horror film that moves at its own pace, and might not go over well with animal lovers. The movie does exactly what the title says, and there isn’t anything pretty about it. This young woman kills a butterfly, and it’s all down hill from there. She as the urge to kill another animal, and then another. The animals get slightly bigger each time with a surprise waiting at the end. Overall, this is a brutal film, but there’s something about this woman that will have the audience just glued to her. She’s just so cold, and it’s like watching a serial killer in the making.

Boy Eats Girl: A Zombie Love Story

Directed by: Sarah Gurfield

It’s your classic romantic comedy meet-cute setup: Undead boy meets undead girl while they’re feasting on a corpse’s innards. Sparks fly. Magic happens.

The film opens with a boy and girl zombie chasing down a young woman for a snack. They eventually catch her, and the feast begins. At first they’re fighting over the food, but soon enough the food brings them together. Kind of still playing the typical human boy and girl roles, the girl wonders off after their romantic time together, and the boy wakes up later and goes searching for her. The true laughs start when they are reunited again. Overall, this might not be what you expect from zombies, but is a clever spin on relationship drama. It manages some blood and guts to start, and concludes with a hilarious ending. 

Going Steady

Directed by: Brydie O’Connor

In scenic 1950s Kansas, a discontent young woman daydreams about the love she wishes she had.

As a young woman waits for her boyfriend to come over, she listens to the radio and can’t help but get some thoughts going in her head. The boyfriend gets there, and mentions something to her that takes her into a daydream. A daydream that starts deadly, but then is pretty humorous. She makes a few changes with her boyfriend, and then proceeds to wheel him around town. Overall, it’s nice to see a film set in a much different decade, and use the setting to its advantage. It creates several funny moments, especially bringing new meaning to a drive-in, before taking things back to reality.

Shut Eye

Directed by: Robert Gregson

Self-medicating at a rental property, a recovering addict’s attempts at sleep are consistently interrupted by disturbing apparitions. 

At first the audience might think this woman is just looking for some time alone, but there’s a little more going on. She’s apparently struggling through rehab, and is just looking for a good nights sleep. The guy taking care of the home she’s renting thinks he’s helping by giving her drugs, but he’s not. However, when she lays down to try to sleep, she ends up with much bigger problems. Overall, on the surface this might not seem like a horror movie, but that definitely changes once she tries to sleep. The few scares created by whatever it is that’s  haunting her makes this short film well worth the watch.

Mr. Thisforthat

Directed by: Thomas Mendolia

This titular monster is just waiting for feature-length expansion: a demon that grants wishes to a little girl dealing with hate-filled parents, but at a cost.

This film is really going to make the audience feel sorry for this little girl. All she wants is for her daddy to come back, and to have a nice normal family. Well being a little girl there’s not much she can do, or is there? She finds a strange  monster in her room that’s just waiting to take advantage of her situation. It knows she has desires, and tells her he can grant wishes, but they will come at a cost. The girl starts asking for wishes that only make matters worse. Overall, this is a sad story, but also one with an interesting monster. It’s mysterious, creepy, and it’s consistent at making people for pay for their wish.