Mercy (2015)

Not to be confused with the 2014 Stephen King film, Mercy is a indy short by Canadian couple Jodi & Victor Cooper that follows serial killer Mercy Noble.

For a low-budget short, Mercy really is a fine piece of art, ironically so as Mercy Noble is known as "The Artist".

She realises that in the small town she lives there are a lot of depressed people who are considering suicide. Using a website where these people share their thoughts she tracks them down and helps them along to their final resting place.

Afterwards she paints a grizzly scenario in their blood. Hence, The Artist.

For such a short piece there is a lot to take out of it. I for one watched it twice in a row and still there are unanswered questions - which is why I found this such a great short and describe it, in itself as "art".

Kirsten Wight as Mercy Noble is the true star and I would not be surprised to see her again after this, as both anti-hero and posthumous narrator of Mercy she glides into the role like she was born for it.

Well put together and well thought out, although filled with glorious brutal violence it begs more of you than just enjoying the gore. I would love to see this team continue in the same vein.

8/10 Masks

The Sand (2015)

The floor is lava? Remember that game? Jumping from sofa to chair to bed to the cat because "THE FLOOR IS LAVA!"

OK, that's basically what The Sand is - a big game of Off-Ground Touch.

The premise, not bad and straight into B-Movie land. A group of scantily clad teens are on a beach, if they touch the sand they die....something about aliens that eat flesh or some what-not.

The saving grace(s) of this movie are:

•  That it starts off looking like a "found footage" but it isn't. 
• There are boobs. 
• There is a fat bloke with a crudely drawn wang on his face.

Sadly that all happens in the first ten minutes leaving you the rest of this stinker. Sequel? Kick The Can? What's The Time Mr.Wolf (with a werewolf!)?

2/10 Masks.

#thesand #thesand2015 #horror2015 #horrorreview

Nige Sez

Always wanting to mix things up a bit, every now and again we'll get a "Nige Sez" comment from Hot Radio 102.8 DJ and the man who can eat the pasta faster than a rasta - Nigel Rouine.

Check out his reaction to Green Inferno - Here 

Nigel hosts the Saturday show on Hot Radio 102.8 - visit his Twitter @Niggles66

(Honourable Mention) Bone Tomahawk (2015)

I'm not going to give this a review properly, because no matter how you spin it, it's just not a horror film.

It is however an excellent Western - that just happens to have cannibals in it at the end. The rest of the film is great, don't get me wrong I really enjoyed it. Yet it is not a horror.

Although - it does contain some of the most gruesome and graphic gore that even this seasoned veteran of the sick had to have a little wince - a man being hacked in half from the groin and Kurt Russell being cut open and having a red hot hip flask inserted into him - top stuff.

No masks for review as it's not a horror, but as a movie it's up there in the high rankers.

Howl (2015)

One thing our American cousins do better is the Hollywood Blockbuster - and we Brits have the corner on quirky character based comedy - relatable situations etc.

Every now and again we have a go at transporting one into the other and sometimes it even pays off - albeit usually under the radar (Dog House, Severance, anyone?)

Howl comes from this school of a very British movie, a group of people who would normally not speak to each other are thrown together on a broken down train - Howl has the recipe for a heartfelt "getting to know you" movie but hey, chuck a few werewolves in there and we're talking business.

Tense and creepy with typical satirical humour, mocking social observations and the odd bit of being ripped to shreds by a howling lycanthrope - score.

Not one you'd watch over and over but one you need to watch.

6/10 Masks

The Final Girls (2015)

Not to be confused with "The Final Girl" that came out earlier this year.

Malin Akerman and Tassia Farmiga (American Horror Story) star in this Last Action Hero meets Friday The 13th comedy slasher.

Akerman plays an actress who is struggling to find work because all people remember her for is an 80s slasher called Camp Bloodbath.

After dying in a car crash her daughter (Farmiga) goes to a showing of the movie at a theatre and by some strange events herself and some friends end up being transported in to the film.

Well aware that's exactly what has happened they decide to see if they can change the events, including taking the dead mother with them when they go home.

Brilliant for a film with a budget, The Final Girls lampoons the slasher genre perfectly as two worlds collide. Technically not a horror or a slasher but a comedy it's not without it's gruesome moments and unexpected gory deaths.

I'm wondering if in the same vein as "Headless" that "Camp Bloodbath" might get it's own film, time will tell.

This flick was a great concept and a great ride. Bang on.

8/10 Masks

The Green Inferno (2015)

The wait is finally over - Eli Roth's much anticipated and delayed cannibal film The Green Inferno is finally out and was it worth the wait? Yeah I think so.

Green Inferno has been whispered about since it's planned release in 2013 and since then we've seen stills and trailers but not much about the actual film, other than knowing it's a cannibal flick.

This is a modern take and/or throwback to the awesome Cannibal Holocaust and perhaps a one-up on it's loose remake Welcome To The Jungle.

A group of activists travel to Peru to protest the bulldozing of a piece of rain forest that is home to a primitive tribe. Their protest goes to plan but on their way home they fall prey to a plane crash which lands them in the middle of the afore mentioned tribes people, who just happen to not be that appreciative of the support, but are happy for the nice juicy human flesh.

There are the expected fair shares of gruesome body hacking, slashing and devouring but The Green Inferno is not a movie that relies purely on shock tactics (although we do get the obligatory "body impaled on a stick") - we have a plot, we have a cast with character and we have some brutal twists and turns.

Green Inferno is hands down one of the best out there in this little-covered genre, extra points for making it a straight forward movie instead of falling prey to what could have easily been another "found footage" romp.

Worth the wait? Yes. Worth the hype? Yes.

9/10 Masks

"You're sick! I got to the bit where they eat the first guy, felt nauseous and couldn't watch any more!"

Circle (2015)

I'm a huge fan of movies like this - dark, all set in one room, tense.

A group of strangers find themselves in a room, where they cannot leave, cannot move and someone gets killed once every few minutes.

In trying to find out why they realise that they have the power to chose who dies next, but only one person can be left standing.

Can't say too much more, it's a builder, it's subtle, it's great.

7/10 Masks

Deathgasm (2015)

Wow - been looking forward to this one for a while now and it certainly didn't let me down!

Deathgasm - an odd metal kid moves in with his Christian aunt and uncle and shocks them with his satanic music and look.

After meeting a fellow metalhead at a record store they form a band and go on a hunt for a reclusive washed up metal star - after finding him in possession of some odd sheet music they use it for their band and all hell breaks lose - literally.

Unleashing satanic power the town transforms into flesh eating monsters - complete with a heavy metal soundtrack and some mild nudity.

Awesome.

Much like the classic metal movies such as Trick or Treat, Deathgasm is an instant cult classic.

9/10 Masks

The Vatican Tapes (2015)

Ever seen a movie about possession and/or exorcism?

Then you've already seen everything about this film shot in a different way - apart from maybe the end which leans towards The Omen and a sequel.

Its almost like there was no script, they just used bit of other scripts.

nicely packaged, no contents.

2/10 Masks

Knock Knock (2015)

Keanu Reeves is like Marmite - you love him or hate him Much has been said in recent years about how his acting is basically just a plank of wood, and yeah, he's not got the greatest range but he is Keanu Reeves and for me, that's enough.

Don't see too much of him these days and now he's popped up in this home invasion thriller "Knock Knock".

What can I say about it - all home invasion films kind of follow the same theme right? This one doesn't deviate from the norm. Eli Roth once again sits in the directors chair and wonders when he will get a day off.

Keanu plays an architect who's artist wife and kids have gone away for the weekend - a knock on the door reveals two girls who are helped at first before things take a turn for the less clothed and then the torture begins.

Nothing new to see here but the Roth/Reeves combo makes it a film that works - and even keep you on the edge of guessing. Worth a watch.

6/10 Masks

I Spit On Your Grave 3 : Vengeance Is Mine (2015)

In 1978 Day Of The Woman (Re-Titled as I Spit On Your Grave) was released and shocked the world with it's depictions of violent gang rape and subsequent harsh revenge. Banned all over and all but lost to the video nasties archive before the digital age.

Come 2010 and they re-made it. The shock element had long gone to more violent and unwatchable modern classics and it was generally considered a bit pointless.

However this didn't stop a part 2 and now a part 3.

Part 3 continues from the 2010, 1st version - Jennifer our heroine is still haunted by her experience and attending group therapy for rape victims. Into the mix comes an off the handle rock chick who convinces her to take Boondock Saints style revenge of sex pests all over city. When said rock chick seemingly gets offed by her ex-boyfriend, Jennifer exacts her dead friends wishes - putting herself on the most wanted list and hunted by the police in the process.

Honestly there isn't much to this movie. We can surmise that there might have been intentions to make an underlying point about victims of abuse and girl power but it didn't shine through.

However, we do get some fantastic cringe-worthy gore including bite-and-knife fellatio and a steel pipe up the jacksy. Sadly that's about the only thing that makes it worth sitting through.

Not a waste of time but not a good chapter in a great legacy.

4/10 Masks