Intrusion: Disconnected: The Final Girl After The Final Showdown

Intrusion: Disconnected is a horror thriller film directed by Kyle Cates. The plot sees Holly (Katie Stewart), a survivor of horrific violence, become convinced that the man who tried to kill her has returned from beyond the grave as the local unexplained death toll starts to rise around her.

This is an unsettling watch, there is just something about it that made me uneasy. We are never quite sure as to Holly’s mental state, and as such we get sucked up in her own paranoia with her. The killer almost becomes a mythical figure as he stalks her every waking moment, very much like a more real version of Freddy or Jason.

I thought Stewart did a great job here. She was a very rootable lead, she was easy to cheer for and it was an inspired choice to focus on what happens to ‘the final girl’ after the showdown; with regard to the mental tole and effect that has on their life. We see Laurie Strode after Halloween, but her mental state and the effect her life or death confrontation had on her life going forward is glossed over.

I found this to be a harrowing watch through and through.

Overall, I enjoyed the performances and the very real threat of the killer that also felt somewhat mythic. It is unsettling to watch; My only issue is that this film has some pacing issues and some parts of it drag on and on and make you lose interest.

Pros.

Katie Stewart

The real sense of threat

It is unsettling

I enjoyed the mental health focus

Cons.

It has pacing issues throughout; it could have been structured a lot better

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Host: Elbow Bumps Might Be Able To Stop The Virus, But They Can’t Stop Demons

Host is a found footage screen set horror film directed by Rob Savage. The plot sees a group of friends conduct a séance over zoom/ or an equivalent during the 2020 Covid19 lockdown, as things progress they release the spirit they have summoned is in fact demonic and wants to see them all dead.

So, to me this film was boosted by the novelty factor of having it take place during lockdown; specifically the UK’s interpretation of that. I enjoyed see people bump elbows as a form of greeting, it made me laugh. No doubt this will be the first of many films to take this format and no doubt it will get repetitive quickly, but for now, as this is the first, I found a novelty to it.

This film reminded me in a lot of ways of Unfriended and its sequel, it used a lot of the same tricks and turns. Though I did enjoy the ending of this more as we get to see the demon (though invisible), pick of each character in a horrific fashion, I thought these supernatural elements added nicely to the technology and isolation horror aspects.

This film has a strong atmosphere that it uses for most of it scares effectively. However, there is one jump scare right near the end that really got me as I was not expecting it. Normally I would be dead against the use of jump scares, but here they actually pull it off well.

Overall, a fun lockdown themed horror film. That is good for a one time viewing.

Pros.

The lockdown setting

The performances were quite good

The kills

The ending scare

Cons.

It is quite familiar

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

American Mary: The Horrors Of Body Modification

American Mary is a Canadian horror film directed by the Soska Sisters. The plot follows young surgeon Mary (Katherine Isabelle), who turns to performing extreme body modification surgery as a side hustle to make extra money.

This feels very much more exploitation esque than The Sisters other work, before or after, and as a result it feels harder to swallow. The premise is basically a rape revenge film, though done through a slightly different lens.

Your enjoyment of this film will come down to how squeamish you are, if you can stand live surgery and enjoy seeing people sliced into and stuff like that then you will enjoy it, as it is a very engaging watch. However, if you fall into the other side and find such subject matter hard to watch then you will be put off. I fall into the latter category.

Katherine Isabelle is a strong lead, we buy her turn to the dark side, even as it extends beyond torturing her attacker. Even though she arguably lives long enough to be the villain of her own story, she is still very rootable and crucially she is fascinating to watch develop and go on that journey.

Overall, there is a lot of good here, but because I can’t stand live surgery and that sort of subject matter I was off put, but that is a personal preference on my part. If you that doesn’t bother you and you like grindhouse exploitation style films then you will enjoy this too

Pros.

Katherine Isabelle

An interesting character arc

Darkly funny

Cons.

It is hard to watch

The subject matter will be divisive to some

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Honeymoon Project: Can You And Your Partner Survive A Year Alone Together?

The Honeymoon Phase is a science fiction thriller film directed by Phillip G. Carroll Jr. The plot follows a young couple who volunteer for a science experiment, to test the idea of ‘honeymoon’ phase. After they move into a new house together, thing soon take a turn for the sinister as it appears that the house and the scientist monitoring them behind the scenes are trying to pit the pair against each other.

I enjoyed the Black Mirror esque, dark science fiction. I thought the film uses the threat of existential dread well to create a haunting atmosphere that lasts for the whole film. The acting is top notch and both Mike Sutton and Chloe Carroll flourish in standout performances.

My issue with this film is it takes things a step too far, into bad taste. Bear in mind that taste is subjective to the person, so you may feel different to me. Examples of what I am talking about are the sex scenes that are scattered throughout the film, these border on the soft core pornographic and get to the point where you feel uncomfortable watching them.

I understand that maybe this was done to push the art form and the boundaries, but for me it was too much.

Another example of what I am talking about is the curling iron scene. There is a part of the film when Eve (Carroll), is pregnant and is trying to lose the baby and rather than do anything else, that would be much easier, she decides to stick a curling iron up her vagina to kill the baby and I am left saying why?

Overall, though this has strong performances and a well-formed premise, the bad taste issues are just too much for me to overcome I found it very difficult to watch.

Pros.

The performances

The premise

The sense of existential dread

Cons.

The curling iron scene

The oddly pornographic sex scenes

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Owners: The British Knock Off Don’t Breath

The Owners is a thriller film directed by Julius Berg. The plot follows a group of thieves who break into an old rich couple’s house hoping to rob them of their fortune, however the tables are soon turned.

This is very familiar to Don’t Breath, in more ways than one, I don’t want to openly say it is a rip off, but it does seem more than a little influenced by it; down to the keeping a young women secretly chained up part. Regardless, I am really starting to get sick of these sort of films, there have been a lot of them recently, the thieves break into someone’s house and then things flip on them sort of films and I for one am getting bored.

This is a thoroughly unpleasant watch, unlike Don’t Breath this film doesn’t see any of the characters you are supposed to be rooting for live to tell the tale; the ending is a real bummer.

The praise I will give this film is that parts of it are quite creepy, mainly from about half an hour in we can see evidence of this. The first 30 minutes have structural problems and feels needlessly drawn out. However, once the flip occurs there is a good amount of tension and atmosphere, enough to make you forget about some of the films other glaring issues.

Maisie Williams is strong here; she makes for a likeable lead but also a believable survivor. When we see her characters’ final stand against the evil old couple she is carries the physicality well, clearly as a result of her GOT action training.

Overall, watchable, and maybe even enjoyable for some. Personally I found it a bit too bleak and was off put by the pacing issues and the weak secondary characters that populated and overly busy script. Williams was good though.

Pros.

Maisie Williams

The tension once it gets going

Cons.

The first act drags

There is too much going on and far too much back story

The secondary characters feel needless

It is a bit too bleak

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Hosts: An Easy Way To Ruin A Christmas Dinner

Hosts is a horror film directed by Adam Leader and Richard Oakes. The plot sees a sinister race of being possess people in an effort to take over the world. We follow two such possessed people who are invited round to their neighbour’s house to have Christmas dinner with murderous consequences.

This may be the best horror film that I have seen all year, as soon as you finish this review immediately watch it, it is that good. The reasons for this extreme compliment are as follows.

It is utterly engrossing; I couldn’t look away while I was watching it. I had to know what was going to happen next. In the beginning you have no idea what is going on, but as the film goes on more and more little details are revealed and then it all becomes clear. I would recommend a second watch with this one as you get a lot more out of it the second time.

The acting is superb the entire cast are terrific, but the two leads steal the show. Neal Ward as Jack perfectly captures a sadistic edge with such menace that it is a little unnerving. Moreover, Samantha Loxley is haunting and nothing short of demonic. The quiet family dinner scene that quickly turns into a bloodbath is propelled into being so much more by her performance.

I enjoyed the fact that this film builds an atmosphere rather than have cheap jump scares that everyone can see coming from a mile off. I thought the film’s scares were done well and used effectively to great result.

Overall, maybe the best horror film of 2020 don’t sleep on this one.

Pros.

The violence is brutal but effective

The ending

The performances

The atmosphere and the scares

Very hard to look away from

Cons.

None.

5/5

Would give higher if I could

Reviewed by Luke

The Turning: A Mockery Of The Ghost Story Horror Genre, Featuring A Prime Example Of Stunt Casting.

The Turning is a horror film directed by Floria Sigismondi. The plot sees young governess Kate (Mackenzie Davis), arrive at an old country house to begin teaching a young girl, however as she stays on things quickly become far more sinister.

So, this film clearly is trying to mimic the style of classic ghost story/ haunted house horror films of past generations, or more recently something like Del Toro’s Crimson Peak, which is a gothic romance. Where those films usually go for an understated approach, this film hit you in the face, with all the subtly of an explosion.

It fails at what it tries to do in an almost spectacular fashion, it does not have an atmosphere or creepiness, rather it has jump scares that it crams in every ten minutes, so you don’t get bored, which just feel cheap and jarring tonally.

This film feels that by being oppressive and unpleasant to watch that that makes it scary, or unsettling, it doesn’t. The film uses violence in a very vulgar way, often going to a tasteless extreme which makes Eli’s Roth’s torture porn look in good taste. We see the kid from Stranger Things stomp a fish to death, so the film can prove how edgy and dark it is and it just feels very needless. Likewise it uses rape, or the threat of it, as a plot device especially towards the later stages of the film where Davis’s character seem on the verge of being assaulted near constantly, again why? Using the threat of rape to build tension feels, icky, it feels cheap and you really get that sense as you watch it.

Finally, whoever is Finn Wolfhard’s agent should be fired as he was entirely wrong for this film. He did not play the unhinged twisted character well, instead he came off more a brooding spoiled little kid who is having a tantrum, he was in no way threatening throughout the film and every time the film went that way I rolled my eyes. Stunt casting if ever I saw it, tapping into to that sweet sweet Stranger Things crowd.

Overall, vulgar and needless if it wasn’t for Davis I would give this film a 0

Pros.

Davis is trying, she is too good for this film.

Cons.

Using rape as a plot device

Showing needless violence to prove how edgy and dark the film is

A badly miscast Finn Wolfhard

Some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Babysitter Killer Queen: Netflix Really Doesn’t Understand Teens, How To Regress Characters And Ruin A Good Thing.

The Babysitter, Killer Queen is a comedy horror film directed by McG. The plot follows on directly from The Babysitter, where we now see Cole (Judah Lewis), live a life of ridicule. No one believes him, but one day events transpire to prove just how real his ordeal was.

So, I was a big fan of The Babysitter and was quite excited for this sequel, even if Samara Weaving was going to have far less of a role. It brings me no pleasure to say this is bad, it is bad for a series of reasons that I believe came about as the creatives didn’t realise what worked and what people liked about the first film.

The characters are walked back on from the first film, they behave in ways that don’t really add up with how they would do based on what we know of them from the previous film, it is contradictory. Like there is nothing to suggest that Cole’s parents would just give up on him and send him off to a mental institution. Likewise the end of the first film suggest that Melanie (Emily Alyn Lind) and Cole, might have feelings for each other and that they might start dating, yet that seems to be set back a ways here; most likely so they can string the same beats out.

The character dialogue I found to be incredibly cringey a lot of the time, it feels once again like an adult trying to guess/replicate from a false understanding how teen’s today talk. The returns and reveals all felt quite hollow to me, as though they were trying to make the best out of bad situation.

Overall, this film proves conclusively that not every film needs a sequel.

Pros.

It is still entertaining

There are a few good moments

Cons.

The characters are altered in ways that make them inconsistent

The dialogue is awful

It doesn’t have the same tension or sense of fun as the first film

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Curse Of Chucky: Stop Beating A Dead Horse!

Curse Of Chucky is a horror film directed by Don Mancini. It is yet another sequel in the Child’s Play series, this time around Chucky (Brad Dourif), stalks a family from his past killing them one by one seemingly because he wants to take care of a few lose ends from his past.

For the most part this is just yet another copy and paste Chucky movie, the family start out unaware of the doll, the kids befriends the doll, people start dying, more people become aware of the doll, the show down, the end. They are play out pretty much the same, with the exception of Seed and Bride, and this is no different. It is dull and predictable.

What makes this film especially bad is Chucky himself. He tries to be menacing a lot more in this film, they don’t really give him a lot of jokes or one liners and he is trying to be scary. The reason this is dumb, is because the premise and Chucky himself are inherently silly, so they don’t work when presented otherwise. Annabelle in those movies was never presented as a silly kind of campy character, Chucky on the other hand was, that is the problem.

My other issue with Chucky in this film is the way he looks. For the first half of the film, Chucky looks awful, the actual doll is horrible to look at and looks nothing like classic Chucky. When I first put the film on and saw him looking like that I am not going to lie to you I was tempted to turn it off, however midway through the situation is rectified and the whole thing just feels pointless; the same can be said of the film generally.

Overall, yet another trashy horror movie sequel.

Pros.

I enjoyed seeing the Bride at the end

The flashback scenes were interesting

Cons.

The way the doll looked for the first 45 minutes

The fact they try and make Chucky Scary

I have seen this film before so many times, even though this was my first viewing

It was deeply dumb and poorly thought through.

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Get Duked: DJ Beatroot Takes On The British Aristocracy

Get Ducked is a British black comedy film directed by Ninian Doff. The plot follows a group of boys as they’re doing their Duke of Edinburgh award in the Scottish highlands, the twist of course is that they’re being chased by someone who is dressed as the real Duke Of Edinburgh who seems intent on hunting them down and killing them all.

So, as a comedy film I feel mixed about this. One the one hand some of the jokes feel quite cringe, especially all the Rap based jokes, they didn’t do anything for me. However, as I always say humour is subjective. On the other hand there were a few good jokes that did make me laugh out loud, I enjoyed the Alice Lowe cameo, and the rabbit poo induced battle at the end.

Where this film shines is as a rather extreme take on social commentary. The classist message of the film is clear from the off, the film does not mince words in this regard and is very straight forward and direct about it. A Duke (Eddie Izzard) hunting down a group of working-class Scottish boys calling them vermin, is very in your face.

Usual I don’t like overt political messages, but I found the speech at the end about how these boys can never hope to have the good life and no matter how hard they work the system will always be against them, to be quite moving and poignant and work on multiple levels.

Overall, a hidden gem that you need to see. A cult classic in the making.

Pros.

The message

The horror and the tension

Alice Lowe

The comedy that worked

Cons.

The comedy that didn’t work.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke