American Horror Story NYC: Bad Fortune

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The killers gameplan is finally revealed and things take a turn for the supernatural.

I thought this was a very strong episode, I enjoyed the fortune telling scenes even if they were a bit silly and over the top. Moreover, I welcomed this season of the show more openly embracing the supernatural as for the most part this season has been relatively human focused.

I thought the Big Daddy fight scenes were well done, you never quite knew whether Patrick, played by Russell Tovey, was going to escape or whether he was going to die, they were tense scenes. Moreover, the death of Leslie Grossman’s character felt like it brought with it a new found sense of stakes for the season and her character really does drive the mystery forward.

Overall, another strong episode of this season with a very welcomed move towards the supernatural, I hope some of these mysteries will soon start to get tied up.

Pros.

Grossman

The ending

The veer towards the supernatural

The continued build of the mystery

Cons.

A little slow at times

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American Horror Story NYC: Blackout

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The mystery furthers.

I enjoyed that this episode continued to explore the killer and what he is trying to do, I think that if the show is to truly nail its landing this season then he will have to have one hell of an endgame to live up to all the hype the show has installed in him as the main villain.

However, but also good, the thing I am more interested in about this season that I think it is doing incredibly well is talking about the ever looming threat of AIDS, with the epidemic growing threateningly close over the horizon. I am curious to see how the show will address it, whether it will fully sink into conspiracy theory area or have it and the indifference many showed towards the victims be the real horror of the season, or maybe a bit of both.

Big Daddy continues to be a compelling supernatural villain who hopefully we won’t learn much more about so that some of the seasons mysteries can be left to the imagination.

Overall, another strong episode.

Pros.

The mystery

Teasing the past of the characters we think we know

The looming catastrophe on the horizon

Big Daddy continues to be a memorable villain

Cons.

It continues to be far too heavily eroticised

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Interview With Narrator/Director George Popov: Sideworld Damnation Village

Written by Luke Barnes

I recently had the chance to interview narrator/director George Popov about their new horror film Sideworld: Damnation Village, which presents viewers with a look into one of the most cursed areas of the UK. In this interview we discuss history, shadows of the past and the means and measures of storytelling. I hope you enjoy.

Q: Why focus on villages other areas with creepy pasts?

GP: In our research these three villages got mentioned often as the most haunted in the country. Pluckley and Prestbury especially quite famously compete for that title. Eyam was very intriguing with it’s history of the plague providing and a backstory and a possible explanation for the paranormal activity there.

Q: What Inspired This Sequel?

GP: Exploring Haunted Villages has been on our list of Sideworld topics almost from the beginning. The decision for it to be the third one in the series seemed very easy to me. The atmosphere and colours I was imagining for the documentary were complementing our first two features very well and it felt like a very natural completion of the first trilogy. Going from natural settings like Forests and Sea to something man-made and community driven, it established a needed new angle to Sideworld while still in rhyme with the previous films.

Q: What Was Your Message With This Sequel?

GP: We deal a lot with the impact of the legacy of events and the weight of history. In a great way that continues the topics about repetition and lingering that we have started in the previous film. However now we delve deeper in those themes, both in terms of folk horror and in science and history.

Q: Do You Think Buried Underneath The Surface Of Every Village There Is A Ghost Story?

GP: Wherever there are humans, there will be stories. it’s inevitable. The more closed local community of a village preserves those stories very well. I think, however that there are some locations where ghost stories and encounters are more prevalent, and that may be due to a lot of other external factors. That notion is a big part of our exploration in the documentary.

Q: Do You Have Any Funny Stories From The Production?

GP: Quite a few, yes. It was a very adventurous production as always. I can be here all day retelling even just one of them, but let’s say a lot of them involved nature doing extraordinary things for us to get some great footage. We also crossed paths with some really cool characters in the villages and twice we literally stumbled into an amazing hidden location.

Q: What Locations Will You Try And Tackle Next If There Is A Fourth Sideworld Film?

GP: More Sideworld is coming and we have a long list of potential topics and locations that we’re very excited to explore. It has been a crazy first year for Sideworld and making three feature films in that time was a new and amazing experience. Now I’m enjoying this stage of being able to stop for a second and look at what we’ve done and make sure those films can reach as many people as possible. But I’m even more excited for us to look at the next stage and implement our many ideas for the future of the franchise.

Q: Any Word Of Wisdom For Aspiring Filmmakers Gleamed From Your Time Working On This Film?

GP: You can allow yourself to be confident in your abilities once in a while. Sometimes. Maybe.

If you would like to check out Sideworld: Damnation Village it is available to rent or buy over on Amazon Prime Video.

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Sideworld: Damnation Village

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A horrifying look under the skin of a number of British village.

With the previous two entries into the Sideworld series I was a big fan I enjoyed their creepy blend of folklore and wider mythology and how they feel so specific to different aspects of the British experience. As such I was expecting big things when I saw this film, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. Now I am not saying this film was bad, far from it, but I am saying it felt a little stunted when compared to the two previous films. I don’t know whether it is because this film decided to focus more on a modern and man made area but it just felt limited and frankly a little stretched thin.

That aside all the technical aspects of this film were on point and the film for the most part generated a creepy atmosphere that sucked you in and didn’t let go, leaving you chilled to the bone. I thought the horror elements were perhaps at the strongest here with regard to the whole series. Certainly I was left unsettled.

Overall, Still a fun scary experience but a bit more threadbare than I was expecting it to be.

Pros.

The scares

The atmosphere

It is interesting, but it doesn’t go far or deep enough

Cons.

It is too short

It should have gone into greater depth and really explored the area

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Raw: A Different Side To University Hazing

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A young vegetarian medical student, played by Garance Marillier, develops a taste for human flesh after eating part of a rabbit during the hazing process at her university.

I think in so many ways this film is a triumph, I enjoy that it is not fully a horror film as even until the end there are also dark comedy aspects to the film that made me laugh. However, when viewing this film as a horror film it certainly falls within body horror more than any other genre, though an argument could be made for psychological horror as well I suppose. I think when considering this film as a body horror film it feels like a modern update to the early work of David Cronenberg, with a slight tinge of Eastern influence as well. I think if gore is not your thing then definitely give this one a miss, although I would say the gore never crosses the line into gross out territory.

Additionally, I thought that Marillier was a breath of fresh air in this film, feeling both deeply relatable in terms of her university experience, bar the cannibalism, but also somehow ethereal and myth like. I think you would be hard pressed to not like any of the characters here as they are all fairly easy to warm to.

Overall, a fabulous film.

Pros.

Marillier

The body horror

The relatability, feeling both real and fantastical at the same time

The ending

The dark comedy

Cons.

Some slight pacing issues

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American Horror Story NYC: Smoke Signals

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The aids epidemic looms large, and the killer picks up steam.

I really do find it interesting how this season of AHS is handling aids and the aids epidemic of the eighties, clearly a lot of horror is being drawn from that real world tragedy but the show is trying to put its own spin on it as well. I thought fully going into conspiracy theory territory and saying that aids was developed as a biological weapon for use in the cold war was certainly very out there, but I like that the show went into this larger than life frame with it.

Moreover, I like that we are seeing more and more of the killer and the net seems to be closing in. I think both sides of this season are working well together to create strong scares and unsettling themes.

My one issue with this episode, though I think it is actually more aptly for the season as a whole, is the fact that there are far too many characters at times. Each of these are given their own mini stories and quite often it can be hard to remember who is who and what they have to do with the wider narrative of the season.

Overall, another strong episode.

Pros.

The new origins of aids

Seeing more of the killer

The tension and scares

The ending

Cons.

A few too many characters

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Hocus Pocus 2: This Time With More Alexas

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Sanderson Sisters return again.

I found this film to be mostly charming, I liked the updated humour and thought that the Sisters interacting with modern technology was a lot of fun. The film definitely benefits a lot from making the Sisters front and centre for this new instalment as it gives them a lot of time to shine. This is doubly good as the new lead of the film Becca, played by Whitney Peak, is incredibly dull and forgettable and the originals are needed to step in and save the film from her.

I think the stand out stars of this film were Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sarah, Sam Richardson’s Gilbert and Doug Jones’ Billy. Sarah Jessica Parker brings such a warmth and child like sense of wonder to her role that really helps to separate her character from the other Sanderson Sisters and makes it hard to root against her. Richardson is always very easy to warm to and that is no less true here, he has great chemistry with Jones and the two should get their own spin-off. The return of Billy could have felt in many ways just a nostalgia grab, but Doug Jones really does add a sense of agency to Billy and gives him an arc that adds weight to his return which really does work well.

My main issue with the film is the ending wherein the Sisters are basically redeemed and then killed off, seemingly setting the stage for Becca and her pals to become the new witches going forward. Now this sucks on multiple levels, firstly they shouldn’t have been redeemed the enjoyable thing about these characters was in how cartoonishly evil they were at times, secondly the seeming replacement characters are dull and have no soul or personality, and finally these films are about the Sanderson Sisters so to get rid of them from the franchise would be hugely folly.

Overall, still a good time but the ending spoils it to an extent.

Pros.

The humour

Jessica Parker, Richardson and Jones

It does justify its existence

Cons.

The ending

The new trio of leads are just awful

American Horror Story NYC: Thank You For Your Service

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Gino, played by, Joe Mantello is abducted by the killer and Dr. Wells, played by Billie Lourd, further explores the origins of her mystery virus.

I am still quite enjoying this season of AHS I think that the mystery is interesting and that both strands of it are coming together nicely. I am keen to keep watching as I want to know where it is all heading.

Moreover, I liked that this season is really hitting on how hard life was for LGBTQ+ people in this time and place and showing how the cops not only don’t want to know but actively at times hate them. I think the scenes wherein Adam, played by Charlie Carver, was detained by the police simply for speaking out about his experience and held without merit were both infuriating and also moving.

Where this season is losing me is like all Ryan Murphy series the fact that many scenes just boil down to softcore porn. Now, I don’t mind this when these scene service the plot in some way, but more often than not it just feels stuffed in to both pad for runtime as well as to titillate Murphy and Co.

Overall, the second episode continues to further the mystery in interesting ways, but the constant forced sex scenes are holding it back.

Pros.

The mystery

The performances of Lourd, Tovey and Mantello

A degree of unpredictability in what might happen next

The ending of the episode

Cons.

The needless sex scenes

Pacing issues

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Barbarian: Stay Out Of Basements, Learn A Lesson

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A rental house with a mysterious woman, played by Matthew Patrick Davis, living underneath it turns into a life or death struggle for several of its occupants.

I thought this was quite a smart art house horror film. Clearly there was more to it than a lot of the generic genre fare that comes out in the multiplexes these days, in many ways it reminded me of the films of Jordan Peele, smart horror wherein the themes and broader societal comments become almost more important than the horror itself.

However, I also did think this film had a number of good scary scenes, particularly the death of Bill Skarsgard’s character, as well as the flashbacks with Richard Brake. I think this film can be quite scary when it wants to be and the monster of The Mother is easily a new one for genre diehards to latch onto. I enjoyed that they never fully explained how the Mother was the way she was, because whilst they do say she is the product of copious inbreeding, that doesn’t explain her ability to withstand so much violence done to her by the main characters and then just carry on again in the next scene, there has to be more to it.

The one thing I didn’t much care for was the mid movie twist wherein after the seeming death of our two main characters we then meet AJ, played by Justin Long, an actor turned predator. During our time with him the film goes to great lengths to talk about career ending allegations and guilt, but I feel like all of this has been done better and said in a more timely manner. Not to say that this is no longer and important conversation, it is, but it has really missed the fever pitch when these sort of debates were happening all the time. In addition the way the film handles these topics and conversations lacks any kind of grace or nuance and sometimes feels a little in bad taste.

Overall, a good film for the most part with a few baffling choices made that drag it down somewhat.

Pros.

The monster

The mystery

The ending

Cons.

The MeToo stuff

It doesn’t fully make the most of its premise

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Prey For The Devil: Watch Out For Old Men With Long Tongues

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A nun, played by Jacqueline Byers, sets out to become an exorcist.

Before I get into all the ways this film was lazy trash I just want to give it one thing and that is the fact that it does have a number of good effect scenes where we get quite creepy and disturbing things coming from the possessed little girl, played by Posy Taylor.

Okay, let’s crack on with all the ways in which this film highlights the very worst of the sub-genre. The worst sin of this film is its script which is paper thin, ridiculous to a laughable extent and so incredibly predictable that you might as well stay home and guess how this film will turn out, not only will you be right and save money, but you will also have to give up a lot less of your time. Around about the time the little girl turned out to be the main characters daughter, a moved which is sign posted almost from the get-go, is when I mentally checked out of this film.

There were also a number of moments wherein this film was supposed to be scary but that it actually went the other way and was funny. This can be best seen during the early part of the film where an old man attacks our lead and has a tongue that just flies about the room and then he starts dancing with her, this to me was in no way scary and was in fact actually hilarious is this film supposed to be a horror comedy?

One last thing to note is that the girl power message of this film of breaking the system and that women can do anything men can do feels like it belongs in the nineties, it is horribly trite and overdone and feels almost like the film is overcompensating for something else, but I will let you decide what that is.

Overall, an incredibly weak possession film, but shockingly not the worst I have seen.

Pros

Colin Salmon

It is watchable

Cons.

The script

It is laughable at times when it is trying to be scary

The girl power stuff is incredibly ham-fisted and awfully handled

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