Indie Horror Movies

The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh

January 11, 2014 by Eric S. 1 Comment

Synopsis: An antiques collector inherits a house from his estranged mother only to discover that she had been living in a shrine devoted to a mysterious cult. Soon, he comes to suspect that his mother’s oppressive spirit still lingers within her home and is using items in the house to contact him with an urgent message

My Quick Review: It’s tough to be too negative with a movie that shows a lot of heart and is trying something new with the genre.

With that being said it’s also hard to recommend a movie that should have been a short segment in an anthology and that is stretched way past the point of boredom.

The Last Will is all atmosphere and rests on the shoulder of his main character, perfectly played by Aaron Poole and voiced by Vanessa Redgrave. This is a movie about loneliness and fanatic religion and as such it works and makes you think. That is, if you can stay awake and get involved with the story.

Because if you’re looking for genuine scares, you might have already turned off your screen before anything really exciting happens.

Rodrigo Gudino (founder of Rue Morgue) shows talent behind the camera but The Last Will should have been another short of his since it does not have enough meat to sustain a full length feature.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: Rodrigo Gudiño

Origin: Canada

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The Dirties (2013) Review

January 9, 2014 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: Two best friends are filming a comedy about getting revenge on the bullies at their high school. One of them isn’t joking.

My Quick Review: I have to admit, I feel kind of cheated by The Dirties. The whole movie teases you of a big impending doom that never completely comes and, as such, the ending is a big letdown.

The Dirties takes a found footage approach to tell this classic story of High School Bullying. The use of POV shots is justified by the movie within the movie trick and, it kinda work at the beginning but, as the film moves on, you’re just wondering about the mute cameramen and why they are always there shooting.

Both main characters are immediately sympathetic and the dialog never feels forced. It’s therefore very easy to connect with and get attached to them.

The tension slowly rises when it becomes obvious than one of the duo is getting more serious about filming an actual shooting and his sense of reality starts to blur away.

The problem with The Dirties is that this creates a lot of buildup but not much reward in the end and therefore, seems pointless.

So, while The Dirties has 2 main leads with great chemistry and a skillful blend of dark humor and dread, it ultimately fails to deliver anything new or original to the genre . Skip it if you’re looking for something grittier and with more horror/violence.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: Matt Johnson

Origin: Canada

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The Banshee Chapter (2013) Review

January 8, 2014 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: Journalist Anne Roland explores the disturbing links behind her friend’s sudden disappearance, an ominous government research chemical, and a disturbing radio broadcast of unknown origin.

My Quick Review: I was pleasantly surprised by The Banshee Chapter, a genuinely creepy movie with well-earned jump scares that gave me jolts a few times.

The film is an effective mix of traditional filmmaking, ‘found footage’, and even actual documentary and news reels. The subject matter is based on real experiments conducted by the CIA during the Cold War.

Fans of the X-Files and HP Lovecraft stories (From Beyond is even cited by one of the main character) will find themselves right at home watching the Banshee Chapter and will look past through its shortcomings: poorly written dialog, awkward editing at times and some unconvincing acting.

What does work here like gangbuster is the tension building. First time director Blair Erickson manages to pull off many scary moments almost as well as James Wan did in The Conjuring. Sure, some of the jump scares are being abused but it almost always works.

In conclusion, The Banshee Chapter offers us many great scares and a creepy atmosphere while giving some new twist to the already tired found-footage genre.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Blair Erickson

Origin: US

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Kiss of the Damned (2012) Review

January 6, 2014 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: The vampire Djuna resists the advances of Paolo, but soon gives in to their passion. When her trouble-making sister unexpectedly comes to visit, Djuna’s love is threatened, and the whole vampire community becomes endangered.

My Quick Review: Probably the sexiest vampire movie in recent history, Kiss of the Damned goes back to the roots of vampire movies. No emo-type vampites who glow in the sun, the vampires in Kiss of the Damned are sexy but also afflicted by their condition. They are also potentially dangerous blood-thirsty creatures, as shown with the character of Mimi.

Xan Cassavetes has truly crafted with Kiss of the Damned, the renewal of the vampire genre. Sure, the movie isn’t without its own problems (the script never really goes anywhere, some of the dialog seems forced), but it is superbly supported by its lead actresses (the 3 french leads are perfect in their roles) a haunting score, and an eroticism brilliantly shot.

I certainly hope we will see more from director Xan Cassavetes soon (and why not a sequel to Kiss of the Damned), since we need more feminine sensibility in our horror genre.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Xan Cassavetes

Origin: US

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YellowBrickRodad (2010) Review

January 2, 2014 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: In 1940, the entire population of Friar, New Hampshire walked up a winding mountain trail, leaving everything behind. 2008: the first official expedition into the wilderness attempts to solve the mystery of the lost citizens of Friar.

My Quick Review: YellowBrickRoad (YBR from now on) is the first feature from writers/directors Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton, whose segment in Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear, was one of the highlight of the movie.

Music, and its influence on people, is a recurring theme in both of those stories. In YBR, the music is a conduit that drives people to madness while they are hiking on a secret trail through the woods.

While not getting into too much details, it’s never really explained how or why the music is being played on the trail but it doesn’t really matter since YBR is more about the journey than the destination (there are plenty of The Wizard of Oz references throughout the movie, another journey-type movie).

The movie itself is about human relationships and the slow slip into madness. It’s the story about what might happen to a group of people who start to lose their bearings, as well as the story of the perpetual search for life’s answers.

While the scope of YBR is ambitious, and the first half of the movie entertaining, the plot is already running on fumes by the two-third mark. At that point everything has been said and there is nothing much left to keep viewers engaged.

Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton might have bitten more than they could chew since YBR could have benefited from a shorter length (75mn or so maybe) and better editing near the end, but for a first full feature, YellowBrickRoad shows great potential and I’m looking forward to what they have in store next.

My Rating: 6/10

Director: Jesse Holland, Andy Mitton

Origin: US

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