Dutch Horror Spotlight #4: The Johnsons (1992)

  By James Simpson | December 4, 2013 - 7:50 pm |
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johnsons1Dutch Horror Spotlight #4: The Johnsons (1992)

 

Director – Rudolf van den Berg

Starring – Monique van de Ven, Esmee de la Bretoniere, Kenneth Herdigein

The latest entry in DHS is a title so obscure it is near impossible to find it on DVD, but James Simpson somehow did it…

Plot:

In a hospital 7 babies (septuplets) are born, seemingly via some unconventional methods. The plot then moves forward 7 years and these babies are now all young boys in an orphanage. They brutally kill the other children who live there and paint a weird symbol on the walls in blood. They are all sent to a insane asylum due to their now unhinged mindsets. 14 years later we see Emalee (de la Bretoniere) who is getting ready to celebrate her 14th birthday by going camping with her mother. Emalee has several nightmares of children killing people and using their blood as paint. A psychiatrist tells her this is just her minds way of coping with the fact she is yet to have a period. But what … Continue reading →

Yule Die (2010) A UKHS Xmas Horror Review

  By Andy Deen | December 4, 2013 - 6:18 pm |
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yuledie1Yule Die (2010)

Writer/Director – Seth Middleton

Starring – Shania Mangrum, B J Lampley, Nikki Spiess, Derek Bradley.

 

Well it is Xmas Horror review time on UK Horror Scene and as editor I have asked all the UKHS writers to send in reviews of Christmas chillers . So I thought it was only fair that I should get involved too, but I thought I would delve into some obscure and less well known Yuletide shockers. So this leads me nicely into my first offering – Yule Die (2010) .

A young girl named Emily (Shania Mangrum) has a severe phobia of Santa, she freezes and completely clams-up at the mere mention of the bearded ones name. This could be to do with the fact that 1 year earlier Emily was attacked by a man named Jack Winter who tried to abduct her but was eventually disarmed by local hero Nick (B J Lampley).

It is now Christmas Eve and Emily’s Mum and Dad have split up , with one of the reasons for the separation being that Emily only feels safe when Nick (and not her father) … Continue reading →

Home For The Holidays (1972) A UKHS Xmas Horror Review

  By Dave Wain | December 3, 2013 - 9:41 pm |
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HFTH 001HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (1972) DVD

 

Review by: Dave Wain

 

Stars: Sally Field, Jessica Walter, Jill Haworth, Julie Harris, Walter Brennan

 

Written by: Joseph Stefano

 

Runtime: 74 minutes

 

Directed by: John Llewellyn Moxey

 

 

 

The 1970s were a phenomenal time for TV movies in the United States, spearheaded by ABCs ‘movie of the week’ which heralded such classics as Steven Spielberg’s Duel (1971), John Newland’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973) and Dan Curtis’ Trilogy of Terror (1975) to name but very few. One seasonal film that they commissioned was Home for the Holidays, a film which has every right to include itself in the slasher genre. It was written by the great Joseph Stefano (Psycho) and directed by TV veteran John Llewellyn Moxey who most famously shot The Night Stalker in the same year.

 

We open this film in the Morgan household in the midst of the Christmas period. It’s an impressive home both in size and décor, with artificial Christmas trees littering every spare surface. The head of the household is Benjamin Morgan (Walter Brennan) and … Continue reading →

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987) A UKHS Xmas Horror Review

  By Matty Budrewicz | December 3, 2013 - 9:12 pm |
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sndnprt2-1Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)

Directed by Lee Harry

Starring Eric Freeman, James Newman and Elizabeth Kaitan

Sometimes there are bad movies. Then there’s Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2, a movie so staggeringly horrendous that- after years of intense study- I can only presume was designed as some sort of elaborate, transgressive performance art piece. Yet however depressing, tacky and badly acted it is the fact of the matter is this: I love this movie.

No, wait: I absolutely love this movie.

No, actually, scratch that too: I absolutely bloody love this movie. And, in order to truly understand why, you’d have to experiece this tawdry tale for yourselves.
This time, the second chapter in the five strong seasonal slaughter saga shifts focus onto Ricky, the equally as crazed younger brother of the originals killer Claus. Under psychological assessment on Crimbo Eve, Ricky (Freeman, giving an eyebrow heavy performance of such power it’d make Roger Moore cower) relates his own disturbing upbringing to his therapist (Newman) before embarking on the inevitable axe-wielding rampage.

sndnprt2-2It’s a truly gobsmacking eighty … Continue reading →

Theatrical Review: Carrie (2013)

  By Oliver Ryder | December 2, 2013 - 5:39 pm |
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C1Carrie- 2013

Dir: Kimberly Pieirce

Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Gabriella Wilde, Portia Doubleday, Judy Greer and Ansel Elgort.

Victim of school bullies and an over-bearing, bible-bashing mother (Moore), Carrie White (Moretz) discovers that she possesses strong telekinetic powers, which both frightens and excites her. When the leader of the school bullies is banned from attending their high school prom, the group hatch a plan to further humiliate Carrie…unaware that it will have disastrous consequences…

*Sigh* well, here we go again. Another day, another remake, another tedious headache. Interestingly, however, I’m not the hugest fan of the original De Palma adaptation of Stephen King’s first novel. I don’t think it’s bad, but it certainly has not aged well and with regards to execution, there remain certain elements of it that just work. The overall problem is that it is obvious from the word “go” that Sissy Spacek is completely bonkers and is likely to go on a major killing spree and I don’t know if it is just me, but I find the mother completely underwhelming and not at all the intimidating matriarch from the novel.

So, as much as … Continue reading →

Interview with Haunted: After Dark editor, Paul Stevenson

  By Oliver Ryder | December 2, 2013 - 5:32 pm |
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1174982_555485491167494_701617848_nHi Paul! Thank you so much for talking to UKHorrorScene.co.uk!

Q. What first got you into the world of all things horror-related?

A. I blame my Dad and my Godfather Karl who let me stay up and watch a Dracula film during a caravan holiday at Skegness back in the late 1970s when I was 8 or 9 – it was the one where Dracula falls through the ice, Prince of Darkness I think – it was on a small black and white portable TV in a rickety old style caravan but I was hooked, much to my Mum’s disdain

 

Q. What made you decide to start writing and publishing your own horror magazine?

A. Ultimately it was down to the fact that it was something that I had always wanted to do and I saw a gap in the horror magazine market for a fun, fresh and new style of magazine that was different, informative and thoroughly entertaining.

 

Q. What sparked the decision to branch out to a sister publication away from ‘Haunted’ magazine?

A. Haunted Magazine was initially a print magazine, running for two years … Continue reading →

Interview with Christmas Slay director Steve Davis by Dean Sills

  By Dean Sills | December 2, 2013 - 5:09 pm |
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cs6Interview with Christmas Slay director Steve Davis by Dean Sills

Synopsis – Christmas Slay

The story of ‘Christmas Slay’ begins on a wintry Christmas Eve in the picturesque Kentish countryside, the horrific murder of a loving family, and the capture of a Santa Claus obsessed blood thirsty killer. As Christmas dawns closer the following year, a group of college girlfriends decide to get away from it all and relax and party over the Christmas holiday, they decide to escape to the idyllic Mistletoe Lodge nestled within the beautiful snowy mountains of the Scottish Highlands, but what starts off as the perfect festive getaway of fun in the snow and a glass of eggnog or two, suddenly descends into a gruesome blood bath of terror, and a fight for survival.

Now you all know a little about this new Christmas Horror movie please welcome the director of ‘Christmas Slay’ to UK Horror Scene. Welcome Steve and thank you for talking to UKHS about your new movie.

OK, let’s get started with the questions, Steve.

UKHS - How and when did you first become interested in making films and why horror?

SD – I have always been interested in film and TV, I was bullied throughout most of … Continue reading →

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) A UKHS Xmas Horror Review

  By Matty Budrewicz | December 2, 2013 - 8:35 am |
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sndn1Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

Director – Charles E. Sellier Jr.

Starring – Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Linnea Quigley, Britt Leach, Charles Dierkop.

Christmas is coming, the turkey’s getting fat, here comes Santa Claus… With his giant effin’ axe! Ho-ho bloody ho!
Ah, Silent Night, Deadly Night. Despised by critics, cherished by cult horror afficianados, this glorious near legendary slasher from the sub genres golden holiday themed age (think April Fools Day, My Bloody Valentine et al) tells the heartwarming story of Billy – a young man with a serious aversion to all things festive.

You see, as a child Billy and his baby brother Ricky were the unfortunate witnesses to the violent Christmas Eve (“The scariest damn night of the year!” according to their nuts-o grandpa) murder of their parents by some rotter dressed as Santa. After spending the next decade in an orphanage headed by a tyrannical Mother Superior, Billy finally flips after being coerced into a Father Christmas suit and embarks on a nasty yuletide killing spree all of his own.

SNDN2Though it … Continue reading →

Jack Frost (1997) A UKHS Xmas Horror Review

  By Mark Pidgeon | December 1, 2013 - 9:28 pm |
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jf1Jack Frost (1997)

Director – Michael Cooney

Starring – Scott MacDonald, Christopher Allport, Stephen Mendel, F. William Parker.

 

Christmas films are a dime a dozen, Jack Frost on the other hand is one of a kind (well two of a kind if you include the sequel) so bad its good is the best way to describe this festive oddity that every horror fan must witness at least once.

 

Jack Frost (No, not the equally terrifying Michael Keaton film) is a serial killer whom on a cold snowy December eve is being transported to his death, his notoriety crossed half a dozen states and 38 murders before the sheriff of fictional town Snowmonton apprehends the menace. The trouble is Jack (Scott McDonald) isn’t finished his murderous spree, and a chance accident with a genetics truck in the bad weather allows the killer to escape. Things don’t look too good for old Jack as the truck which garnered his freedom was about to put a chill on things.

 

Deadly acid is released from the destroyed truck melting Jack’s face and skeleton, fusing him with the snow itself in a laugh … Continue reading →

December on UK Horror Scene

  By Andy Deen | November 30, 2013 - 4:24 pm |
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Dont-open-till-christmasHi everyone , well after a pretty low-key November here at UKHS we shall be having a monster December. All our writers will be reviewing Christmas horror films and we will be having a new review every day so it will be just like your very own Horror Xmas advent calendar .

 

Also after Christmas all UKHS writers will be forwarding on their reviews of 2013. It will include the top 5 or 10 films of the year plus things like favourite books, soundtracks, festivals and so on.

It will be a great last month of the year so please keep popping in daily to see whether the days film review will be a Christmas Cracker or a real turkey (see what I did there) .

 

Cheers everyone – Andy Deen (Editor UKHS)