I hope you’re having a ghoulish holiday, and to sweeten it up just a bit, we’ve got a treat that will really satisfy your appetite for CARNAGE! LAHorror.com is stoked to premiere our new short horror film, “Knife Party”! This little slice of horror is directed by Paul Stephen Edwards and produced by LAHorror.com contributors Mikhail Zakharchuk and Hunter Johnson. It also features a totally dope soundtrack from TeKNOsuicidE! So put on your best outfit and come join Alec James, Chrissy Cannone, Cassandra Jones, Robert Michael Price and myself to the “Knife Party”! I’ll be sure to bring my sharpest cutlery, too…cheers!
Who doesn’t have nightmarish memories from high school? The mere thought about my 10-year high school reunion makes me nervous – not because I didn’t like my classmates or have any terrible regrets, but because you get to see how people change and after years, and who knows what kind of monsters people have become…
In Slasher Studios’ debut feature film, “Don’t Go to the Reunion,” the reunion of the 2004 class of Hamilton High is no different, however instead of awkward conversation and bad fruit punch – this 10-year reunion is MURDER. You see, the popular clique, led by the beautiful Erica Carpenter (Stephanie Leigh Rose), wasn’t exactly the nicest to a certain horror movie loving geek Scott Rantzen (Brady Simenson). After a high school prank goes terribly wrong, naturally destroying Scott’s life, someone is back for settle the score 10 years later at the special, invite-only, “A-list” class reunion…
It’s the classic set up for a 80s revenge slasher, which “Don’t Go to the Reunion” has no shame emulating. And why would it? In this day and age, we are bombarded with horror remakes, sequels and reboots. It seems like a lifetime ago that the golden age of slasher horror reigned supreme – and “Don’t Go to the Reunion” reminds us how great the campy slasher can really make us feel. This film is an unbelievable pleasure to watch, especially for its target audience: die-hard slasher movie junkies.
And for those less seasoned horror viewers – let me explain what “Don’t Go to the Reunion” can offer: amazing, tongue-in-cheek one-liners (such as “Out of my way, faggot!” and “Why did we ever come to this fucking reunion?!”), plenty of gratuitous sex and nudity, tons of red-herrings and most importantly buckets and buckets of GORE. “Don’t Go to the Reunion” is a serious blood bath!
Brandon (Matty Dorschner) warns that something is going very wrong at this reunion…
But sex and gore do not alone a terrific slasher make. “Don’t Go to the Reunion” features several terrific performances by some cool-as-ice actors. Most notably, the quiet and cautious Brandon (Matty Dorschner) and the mysterious new boyfriend David (Spencer Harlan) really shine and add a couple of layers of suspense and intrigue to this film. And who can’t love the beer guzzling brute Joe (Mike Goltz), who can be spotted frequently in this film slamming beers and trying to convince other people (and himself) that he’s not gay (you might remember him in a similar fashion in Slasher Studios awesome horror short, “Teddy”).
I think it’s safe to say that director Steve Goltz and writer Kevin Sommerfield have succeeded in what they’ve set out to do: create an enjoyable, gory slasher film which pays homage to the greats that came before it. Albeit a classic set up, it’s great to see original horror coming out of indie filmmakers to remind us of how thrilling the scene used to be, and still could be for that matter. The work of Goltz and Sommerfield will be a pleasure to watch in the future as their passion radiates in each shot of this film, lending to the sense that everybody was on board to get bloody, have fun and make a memorable, freaky and occasionally hilarious slasher romp. I’m not sure if I’ll go to my 10-year high school reunion next year, but “Don’t Go to the Reunion” is one event that you should definitely not skip!
Curiosity can be a dangerous thing. It’s the cause of many problems for people in horror films and something that can ultimately become deadly. How often do we see someone investigate a strange noise, pursue a forbidden curse or, in the case of “An American Ghost Story,” the new film from 2 Man Production, knowingly invite themselves into the home of a malevolent spirit?
Paul Anderson (Stephen Twardokus) is an aspiring writer who’s trying to get it together. You see, Paul has never finished anything he’s set out to do, and with his new idea he’s more determined than ever. Unfortunately for him and his girlfriend, Stella (Liesel Kopp), his new idea involves moving into the home of a recently murdered family and trying to communicate with its restless spirits. Before long, both Paul and Stella realize that they are not alone and certainly not welcome…
The set up for “Revenant” is simple, but the execution is fantastic. What filmmakers Derek Cole (director, producer), Stephen Twardokus (producer, writer, actor) and Jon Gale (producer, actor) have done is create a bare bones story that still manages to scare the piss out of you with a “less is more” mentality. Wait, I take that back— “less is more” may not be an accurate way to describe this movie, because it is FULL of legitimate scares. From your classic jumps to your slow, sinister sequences, “An American Ghost Story” keeps you on edge from the very first scene until the last. It’s tense as hell and doesn’t let up.
What works about this film is its overall creativity in the things seen on screen. As a filmmaker myself, I was perplexed as to how these guys pulled off some of these sequences. There are no CGI ghosts in this movie, and the practical effects are ridiculous and always frightening. From the spirit rising out of the bed sheets to an entire kitchen erupting in rage, the ingenuity behind the camera is this film’s most impressive feat.
Paul Anderson (Twardokus) has a naïve curiosity with the spirits in his house…
Yet, all of the horror elements in “Revenant” are amplified by Cole’s stellar direction. His choices to make slow zooms, subtle camera movements and some clever editing always keep you in anticipation. Every scene has the ability to give you frights and, trust me, most of them do. Cole is clearly well-versed in the art of suspense, and fans of classic ghost stories such as “The Haunting” or “Poltergeist” would certainly enjoy “An American Ghost Story.”
While this film is exceptional in terms of the talent behind the camera, without good performances all may be for not. Luckily for “An American Ghost Story,” it’s cast, though small, all pull their weight and add to the overall success of the film. In particular, our leading man Twardokus plays the over-curious writer believably, and you can clearly see the shift in him when he realizes that he’s in far over his head in this house. Liesel Kopp as Stella is the most relatable of the characters, given the fact that she is the rational of the two and is far more afraid of these spirits than her boyfriend. Kopp really shines when things get rough. Her panic and fear are felt through the screen.
“An American Ghost Story” is damn scary, and that’s no joke. My advice to you if you get the opportunity to watch it: give this movie the respect it deserves. That means phone off, lights off, popcorn and a beer.
For more information about “An American Ghost Story,” please visit the films official website. You can also check out “An American Ghost Story” on Facebook and Twitter. Actress Liesel Kopp was LAHorror.com‘s first featured artist. You can view her story here.
“Desolation Wilderness” follows two friends as they seek inspiration outside the academic institutions they find so restrictive. Their experiences, rewarding at first, become increasingly battered by influences beyond their escape. The film praises art and the creative, lecturing that one must shun popular art and contemporary means in favor of engaging the naturally inspired sanctuaries of the world around you. It is a philosophy applied to and promoted within the film. Robby Massey and Derek Mungor comprise the creative team on both sides of the camera in this effective art house horror.
The film opens on the road, with our main characters Noah (Massey) and Russell (Mungor) engaging in small talk, pit stops and farewells to the big city. Their destination and intentions are not immediately clear, but it is these questions, along with their natural dynamic, that make for an enjoyable, albeit wandering, beginning. We are granted a mild sense of unease generated by the mystery of their actions and the peculiarity of their interactions. At a grocery store, they encounter a cashier seemingly automated in his responses. It is the introduction of atypical and it’s a big part of this film.
The remainder of “Desolation Wilderness” pays full respects to its title. Far removed from the distractions of city life, the characters eat, sleep, work and play while their perceptions of reality begin to fail. Increasingly odd behavior between the two builds to a wholly maddening climax. And therein lies the horror. While much of the film is seemingly mundane, slice of life type cinema, it is peppered with just enough weirdness to nurture a curious anticipation of things to come.
The film is beautifully shot and rendered predominantly in black and white. Sound design could be called minimalist, sometimes intriguingly selective. It bows out several times throughout the film in favor of mimed actions and dialogue. By the end, it has evolved into a series of drones that carry the viewer through a Lynchian sequence of images that are as gripping as they are perplexing. The camera, direction and pacing contribute to the roving feel of the entire film, along with the oft-employed montage. What initially strikes you as a presentation of happenstance in the most carefree of ways slowly descends into a surrealist nightmare punctuated with folk music videos. It is a unique film and it’s definitely not for everyone.
Massey and Mungor turn in authentic performances with natural and spontaneous dialogue that can be credited to finely executed improvisation. In the film’s more bizarre moments, all communication is prolonged with heavy use of dramatic pause. It is out of the ordinary, but not out of place, and helps achieve that which too few films strive for: to be disturbing without being grotesque.
“Desolation Wilderness” is an oddity. As a film, as a horror film and as art, it has few defining features, endless interpretations and a seldom seen composition of patterns, images and feelings uniting for a whole that is not easily defined by genre or category. It is engaging, disorienting and scary. Although not a horror film in the traditional sense, it is very much so in the emotional sense. It elicits uncomfortable feelings from its alarming use of imagery, close quarters, the unexplained and a generally off kilter presentation of the world. It is intentionally ambiguous and encouragingly subjective. Want though we may, we are not provided a Rod Serling epilogue to ease our minds. If you’re in the mood for a dark, psychological film that, without any sense of urgency, somehow manages to feel oppressive, this is a unique outing. “Desolation Wilderness” invites as much consideration as you can spare long after the credits roll.
“Desolation Wilderness” will be available via a self-released DVD soon. Please follow this film on Twitter @enterdesolation. You can also check out the film’s official website. This review was written by Levi Caleb Smith.
Thought we’d start the week right by sharing a nasty little horror flick by Joe Sanchez, called “The Baby.” It’s a quick one but it’s full of emotion and creeps. And besides, what better way is there to start your Sunday morning by watching a horror flick?? Enjoy horror lovers, we’ll be bringing new stuff all week!
“What if Silence was a Living Thing?” An intriguing tagline from an equally intriguing film, Jeremiah Sayys’ “Of Silence” is a dark and brooding tale of a deeply disturbed man haunted by the silence that surrounds him. It is a horror-thriller and a slow burn, a film that presents a number of questions and leaves many of the answers up to its audience.
Colby (Jeremiah Sayys) has just lost his wife, and he’s not doing well. He has debt collectors hounding him, his family can’t cheer him up and to make matters even worse, he’s tormented by a presence in his seemingly empty house. Now he must delve deep into the shadows and try to find out if he’s losing his grip on reality, or if there is truly an insidious being in his house that is after him.
As stated before, this movie is a slow burn and doesn’t pander to its audience. Sayys (the writer, director, producer and star) obviously had a vision for this film and, to his credit, makes this a haunting experience through his one-man-show type performance and some tricky directing. While the film doesn’t necessarily have the quickest or fullest plot, it’s much more of a character study and peek into the mind of a man gone mad. Frequently, Sayys uses canted angles and slow moving shots to creep us closer to the film’s shocking conclusion.
Jeremiah Sayys plays the disturbed Colby in “Of Silence”
Sayys also manages this low-budget masterfully, and while the film does utilize special effects and some creative creature design, most of the scares come through the silence, or lack there of, in Colby’s life. Frequently, we are forced to listen to the howls and cries of the house, the demonic noises that haunt Colby’s daily routine that truly send a chill up your spine. You’re never quite sure who—or what—is causing them, and the clues that pop up in the film itself only lead you to realize that nothing in Colby’s world is as it seems.
The supporting cast is sparsely seen and is mostly comprised of Colby’s family and a few friends. They do seem unsupportive of Colby’s pain at times, often cracking jokes and hooting and hollering when Colby is clearly uninterested in company. The bright spot is the sweet and well-intentioned younger sister, Haley (Ashlee Gillespie), who seems like the only one who truly wants to help Colby deal with the grief he is constantly feeling. Masiela Lusha also adds a creepy element to the film as Colby’s wife, who often appears on screen alive…and dead…
What I found interesting about this movie is that while it’s a horror film, the true villain remains unknown for quite some time. It teeters on the border of ghost, monster and psychological thriller and has plenty of legitimate scares (one bloody hand scene in particular made me jump pretty high).
Sayys has no doubt succeeded in what he set out to do, and after watching this film, I certainly hope that he has the opportunity to do another horror film with a larger budget and a bit more gore (what can I say, I’m a gore hound). Sayys proves himself as an actor and director with this ambitious project, and don’t be surprised if this movie puts him on the map, so to speak. After all, “Of Silence” is a real scream!
“Of Silence” is currently making the festival rounds around the country and internationally. You can view more work from WorldsLastHero Productions at their official website. Also be sure to check out “Of Silence” on Facebook. Review by Hunter Johnson.
It seems that a common theme amongst horror artists is that it all begins at a young age. Nobody turns 18 and watches their first horror movie, no matter what kind of household in which you were raised. Whether you had parents who were liberal enough to let you watch monster movies as a kid (I saw John Carpenter’s “The Thing” at the tender age of seven), or you were one of those kids who snuck the movies into your sleepovers or stayed up late and watched them on HBO, if you wanted to watch horror movies, you found a way. If you had a fascination of fear, a desire for the dead or a craving for the creeps, you satisfied it, no matter what age you were.
But why then do parents often try to shield their children from monsters on the screen? Isn’t growing up with certain fears a healthy part of childhood? All kids should have at least a little fear of a monster under the bed or a ghost in the closet–it’s part of growing up. Maybe scary movies are actually good for children in the same way that cartoons, comedies or musicals can be.
Tina Marconi, a frequent contributor and editor of www.babysitters.net, was kind enough to send us a link to exactly why she thinks scary movies are not only okay for children, but can actually give them a positive experience in their childhood. Her article, “Ten Reasons Some Scary Movies Can Be Okay for Kids,” can be read here. Check it out; it’s a unique and practical look at all of the glorious things that horror can do for our families, and we at LAHorror.com couldn’t agree more.
And let’s face it: if there’s one group of people you can trust on a topic like this, it’s babysitters. Jamie Lee Curtis taught me that back when I was a little kid.
A couple of months ago, LA Horror sat down with writer Paul Hart-Wilden and talked horror. Hart-Wilden has written multiple horror films (most recently “Wolf Town”) as well as a collection of short stories that he has assembled in his self-published horror anthology, “Broken Bones.” Hart-Wilden was kind enough to give me a copy of his “Broken Bones,” which I had the pleasure of reading last week. Just do yourself a favor and pick up your copy right now because this book is legit.
Horror anthologies are tricky, and while I have read several, there are usually only one or two stories that really stand out and are memorable. That’s not the case with “Broken Bones,” not by a long shot. In fact, this past week I honestly haven’t been able to get some of these out of my head, not only because they were well written and interesting, but because they were disgusting and gory in the best ways imaginable. Necrophilia, rape, brutal murder, hatred, demons, child murder, disease, self mutilation, love lost and even a couple of vampires—this book has just enough of everything to satisfy the sickest of horror fans.
The first story of the book, “The Way of All Flesh,” has some of the most graphic descriptions of human decomposition that I’ve ever had the joy of reading. You can almost smell the rotting corpse through the pages, and hear the eerie sound of a thousand tiny insects devouring a human body. Not only that, the story has one of the creepiest and most haunting endings that really opens up the floodgate for the rest of the book. It is the perfect hook for “Broken Bones” and instantly grabbed my attention, smashed me in the face and gave me a nervous anticipation for the other stories.
“Dark Heart” was another one that really stuck with me. It is a tale about two morticians who have an unspoken understanding about sexual desires, and how to use their surroundings to satisfy them. However, things get hairy when one of their relatives, a beautiful young girl, ends up in a coffin. It is incredibly creepy, has two very developed and interesting characters and a disgustingly ironic ending that really made me shake my head laughing. Paul Hart-Wilden…you bastard…
“Black and White” was probably my personal favorite for a couple of reasons. The story follows a young white supremacist named Jimmy and his gang of hooligans as they terrorize and ultimately murder a young black man on a night out. After committing this crime however, Jimmy starts to notice something changing about him that he can’t control – his skin slowly starts to darken – and now the tables have turned and his gang is after him. It is an excellent blend of social commentary, horror and heart that has a certain weight as you read it. Not only that, the ending left a giant boulder in my guts that I can still feel now as I type.
I could go on and on about each story. There really wasn’t a bad one in the bunch. The thing that made this book as a whole so enjoyable was that each story was horrific in completely different ways and often put my imagination in some very dark places. Hart-Wilden has no problems creating interesting and developed characters in the span of just a couple short pages, only to thrust them into the worst and most gruesome situations imaginable – spoiler alert – a lot of people die in this book! And not only was this a horrifying read, it was also interesting. Many of the stories pointed out the true horrors in our own society in an intelligent way.
And lastly (and most importantly), I just need to emphasize once again, this book is sick. Seriously sick in all the best ways. And if you’re sick like me, then I highly recommend getting some “Broken Bones.”
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