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We Go On (2016)
Excellent ghost story
A well made, acted and produced film. With plenty of genuine scares and eeriness. Hard to find too many faults with this little gem I found by chance on Shudder. Kudos to the makers, writers and cast. I'll be looking for more by this crew for certain. The pacing of the film is near perfect, not rushed, the film just rolls along at a pleasant, gentle pace not overstuffed with meaningless filler trying to shock. Best film I've seen in good while. A world away from the meaningless splatter of the Terrifier type of nonsense they pass off as 'horror' these days. This film has more slow burning menace than a thousand Terrifier type of films.
Invoked (2015)
Utter turd of a film.
Being a fan of the Found Footage gene I have had to sit through some abysmal tripe, but this bilge must be close to the worst, the only saving grace of this disaster is the hotness of the female leads, the rest is nonsense, tropes abound in this turd of film, shot for some reason in near darkness, chills, scares virtually zero apart from the fact this garbage ever got a release.
1BR (2019)
Turgid torture porn dross so many fake reviews here.
The title says it all really, a nasty little film, that wishes it could have an M Night Shyamalan style twist, starts reasonably well, then descends into mediocre torture porn...
I suspect the industry shills have been hard at it here again. I wish they would stick to doing their jobs instead of misleading people here. I read that the film's production office suffered during a fire, shame this nonsense didn't go up with it. the only saving grace is the performance of the lead actress, who should be looking at her agent with gimlet eye....
The House in Sherwood (2020)
Highly reasonable
Richard Mansfield is slowly carving a nice little niche for himself, in the UK Found Footage, horror market. This is an enjoyable, well produced, low budget affair. Nice original presentation, interesting concept, well scripted, well acted by the minimal cast, Amazon Prime seem to recognise some potential, shame he can't get a more mainstream, more financially rewarding outlet for his films, for if he can make films of this consistent quality on a tiny budget, what he could do with a few more quid to splash out, is an interesting though. an applaudable effort, deserving of a bigger audience, a larger budget.
The Gatehouse (2016)
A nice, well made, spooky Brit Flick
A truly good film, superbly acted, well scripted, delightfully atmospherically shot, some of the locations (The New Forest, or the Weald I think) are beautifully caught, all in all, a gem among some of the dross found on Amazon Prime. It is a little 'clunky' at times, though on the whole, the film is a great success. the spooks are genuine, the film is well-paced, builds along nicely. The acting is staggeringly good, especially the turn from the young lass.
8ight After (2020)
Arrant nonsense.
I'll post a honest review to counter the fake ones here giving this dross anything more than 1/10 as I wouldn't want anyone to have to endure this dire nonsense, there are few redeeming qualities to this steaming heap of ****. the characters are one dimensional, the dialogue, trite, crass drivel. Amazon Prime need to do the public a favour and wipe this waste of time from the internet....the only scare is that the makers or the wooden, amateurish cast of this putrid garbage. might ever be allowed to make another film.... avoid, save yourself an hour or so, which may be better spent braking wind at the neighbours..
#Followme (2019)
Bilge of the highest order.
The only thing which saves this dross is that the three annoying characters, are all pretty fine looking ladies, that you can't wait for them to be done away with after five minutes of this pap, sort of detracts from any titillation which may be derived from their good looks.
This sort of clumsy garbage, does the Found Footage genre no favours at all. The film is clunky, the dialogue dire, not to mention, downright annoying, Seriously, the makers wanted to portray Sophy as a 'You Tube Star'' with over 2 million followers,ignoring the fact that more than half of those subscribers would probably hit the 'unsubscribe' button less than 30 seconds into one of her dire, vapid vlogs, especially with the other two squawking harpies in them.
There is no build in any tension, not even sinister figure watching them from afar, then for no apparent reason, some random 'psycho' comes along,offs them for absolutely no apparent reason. Had the writer have had any imagination, they could have made it interesting by having the pregnant one, in league with the killer, but that twist might have salvaged the film, meaning there may have been a sequel, or the producers may have made another film, so I guess that is no bad thing.
Possibly one of the clunkiest bits of drivel ever put to video tape. please never allow the production team, especially the cast, writers and directors near a camera again. utter bilge from start to end. Do yourself a favour and roll on by this nonsense. I wish I had....
The Jack in the Box (2019)
very reasonable low budget Brit Horror.
This actually surprised me a little, for a low budget flick, the acting is top notch if you can get past the 'American' accent of the male protagonist, the story flows coherently,makes reasonable sense throughout,which builds nicely to the spooky moments. The 'Jack' character is admirby spooky and wonderfully acted out, not over used in any way, which can sometimes be a flaw in films of this ilk. overall, the film works well, which could be considered a triumph for the makers, as clearly the budget was minimal, yet that isn't always reflected in the end product. all plaudit to cast and crew, who have pulled one of the 'Holy Grails' of the filmmaking world. of making a solid film on a tiny budget.
Open Water 3: Cage Dive (2017)
Not a total disaster but pretty dire
The first point is why would anyone go from California to dive with Great White Sharks? It's not as though California doesn't have Great Whites of their own?
The acting is pretty ordinary, the characters do make you actually hope the fish eat them which is a common screw up in Found Footage films.
The story is decent enough, the effects not too bad, so all in all, there are worse ways to kill an afternoon.
Malicious (2018)
Reasonable, but nothing you've never seen before.
This film was pretty ordinary stuff, with nothing new in it which you haven't seen before. The stand outs are the acting which is on the whole very good, capped by superb turns by Delroy Lindo, Melissa Bolona as well as Bojana Novakovic and Josh Stewart, who deal well with a patchy, at times hackneyed script.
Overall the film just scrapes out on the right side of the scale with some reasonably spooky moments, plus Melissa Bolona in the shower always helps...
The Investigation: A Haunting in Sherwood (2019)
Another solid Mansfield Dark effort which still falls a little short...
Another decent production from the growing portfolio of Richard Mansfield. As with his previous Found Footage efforts; A Haunting in Sherwood, appears to be another ultra low budget affair, so to expect 'Studio' quality production would be daft. What we get is a solid, genuinely creepy film which is, in parts, a little confusing as we get no explanation as to exactly why Gareth is investigating the house where the events take place. until later when it is loosely dropped in that neighbours have been complaining about noise coming from the house. Had that been explained earlier, the subsequent scenes would have been easier to follow as it seemed as though Gareth was in the house and hacking the guy's security for no reason at all. Nit-picking aside, we are left with a well paced, superbly acted tale, which has it's 'WTF' moments, which don't drag the film into the realms of daftness as can happen all too easily in this genre. Another solid piece from Mansfield Dark which leaves me thinking that fairly soon they will hit 'paydirt' and produce a classic. So far they have been close in several of their films without quite hitting the nail on the head. One hopes they find funding to produce more quality films as low budget filmmakers are the future of the genre.
The House on Mansfield Street (2018)
A reasonable film
Reportedly made on a budget of a few hundred GBP which would mean only a fool would expect anything approaching big studio quality. Richard Mansfield has gathered a cult following through his excellent adaptations of the ghost stories of MR James' (and others) so my expectations were slightly raised.
What I found was a well made, well-paced found footage film , which while suffering from some of the tropes which so plague the genre (shaky camera, electrical interference etc), still came out as a pleasing effort overall. The story was solid enough, the production polished, the acting reasonably good, and well blended together. Mansfield has produced a film which without breaking any boundaries, entertains and keeps the viewer guessing, without totally flummoxing them, until the rather sudden ending. I felt another ten-twenty minutes to pad out the story , or back story if there was one, could have pushed the film further. All-in-all this production has made me look forward to more of his content in the future.
Wendigo (2001)
Ponderous, tiresome and dull.
This film had a reasonable, yet well trodden, premise which it failed to deliver on at any time. The decent performances by the cast keeps it from being an out and out stinker, but the torpid pace of the story, as well as some well hammered tropes, such as the 'mysterious//sinister' Native American or inbred 'dangerous locals' don't really do enough to keep the viewer absorbed until the film finally comes to life. The film verall suffers an identity crisis. Is it a 'home invasion' type of horror, or a 'family stalked in the wilds but loonies' type of film, or a genuine supernatural horror tale? It tries to be all three, and fails on all counts. The film os a well made production, pleasing on the eye for the most, but is let down by the poor direction and weak story.
The Haunting of Borley Rectory (2019)
A slow burning but valiant effort.
This is an ultra low budget affair, so don't expect RADA quality acting, or Hollywood effects or dynamics or you'll be disappointed. This is a well strung together narrative on a tiny budget which is sadly low on chills. The story is well set out, if a little tediously, though not reflecting the Borley myths at all, and the adding of Harry Price to the character list is a little haphazard.
The overall production is pleasing enough to pass an hour or so. The period is nicely captured, the setting bucolic enough, though the scares are mild, more of the slow building chiller type, but there are a few reasonable creeps, but if you're a die-hard gore and jump-scare lover, then this film won't be for you.There is enough promise in the overall product to suggest that the production team could well produce something much better in the future should they ever get the funding and recognition to follow up this commendable effort.
They're Watching (2016)
Entertainingly daft fun.
This was a pleasant surprise all round, the standard of acting is pretty good, the dialogue all round is well-paced as well as no too corny. The narrative plods along nicely with some reasonable, if hackneyed creepy moments until the entertaining, unexpected climax, The characters allow the film to flow along while being annoying, you don't care about their fate, apart from the incredibly beautiful Mia Faith, who shines as Sarah. All in all, a good fun film.
Leaving D.C. (2012)
Highly original
This film is a good example to other film makers who want to use the found footage technique on how to avoid the much repeated tropes which so infest the genre. The acting is first rate (there is something of Tom Hanks about him), there is no shaky camera work, no brats talking over each other. The film is beautifully paced with genuine chills over endless Lewton buses so overused by many directors. A big hats off to the makers, cast and crew.
Paranormal Farm (2017)
Quite outstanding.
Here is a real rarity, a found footage film which skilfully avoids so many of the standard tropes which have made the genre almost un-watchable these days. The protagonist is engaging from the start as the film rolls gently along. Then we enjoy some genuine spooky moments as the film moves along at a good pace. I would have liked to have been able to give the film a ten score but it does lose the way a little as the film draws to the end. All in all a sterling effort. Well acted, an interesting story, engaging characters, genuine chills. I look forward to seeing more by these guys.
Deep Blue Sea 2 (2018)
Utter Bilge.
Has Renny Harlin upset someone at WB so much they feel the need to totally destroy any legacy from his excellent original film Deep Blue Sea by serving up this nonsense as a sequel? There were any number of sequels WB could have put money into and produced a film as good as the original. They didn't, they made this pile of dung instead.
'I help people see that sharks are not monsters but you sharks ARE monsters'' screams the utterly cliched, unbelievable 'heroine' who is a 'shark expert' and that is one of the high points of her contribution to the plot.
The dialogue is ridiculous and hackneyed, the acting straight off the casting couch.
Frankly this dross makes The Asylum/Syfy shark films look like Spielberg. The makers and all involved should be ashamed of themselves. The supposedly (and totally predictable) scene where a bloke who sees his newly wed wife killed is laughable in the fact that it looks more like she's farting in the water than a shark is attacking her (really!!!). Dreadful. Thank the Lord it didn't cost me a penny to endure this turd of a film.
Mystery and Imagination (1966)
Decent Horror Dramas
From the 'Golden Age of British TV' these Dramas only suffer from some rather hammy acting in parts and some liberties with the original novels on which they are based, especially the rather strange rendition of Stoker's Dracula. The real tragedy is that some stories which have been crying out for a good TV portrayal, such as JS Le Fanu's The Room at the Dragon Volant (called the Flying Dragon' in this series), and MR James' The Casting of the Runes, Number 13, and the Tractate Middoth have all been lost in time. Though some of the above have been portrayed on TV (or the big screen) from other sources, the versions have been poor in comparison to what may (one hopes) be lying in some loft/cellar/African marketplace if one can judge from reports from those who saw and recall the originals. Let's hope these lost episodes are found and restored to the public in the future.
The War of the Worlds (2005)
Good intentions, hideous result...
I'd been after seeing this version for a while, but as another reviewer had to do, I couldn't find it in the UK so I wound up ordering one from the US online, soon wishing I'd not bothered. While the producers are to be applauded for trying to follow Wells' story (unlike the dire Hollywood versions); the totally un-English feeling locations, the ludicrous 'English' accents - Jack Clay (Ogilvy) sounds like he's doing a poor impression of Peter O'Toole; the stick-on facial hair, the poor visual effects, the hackneyed dialogue all sum up to make it a huge pile of dross albeit one made with the best of intentions. Sadly, War of the Worlds rejoins Dracula, (Conan Doyle's) The Lost World, The Time Machine, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and many others in the pile of classic novels which 'filmmakers' still can't seem to get right on screen... All in all, as they say in Lancashire (or might if they were using the script writers from this film), 'it's a reet load of bob'
Hammer House of Horror: The Thirteenth Reunion (1980)
Best of the lot.
This episode caps the entire anthology for me. It has genuine horror, thrills, spills and spooky moments to please the most hardened horror fan. Brilliant turns from all the cast, from a very youthful Gerard Kelly to the ever genteel Richard Pearson who for one departs from his usual 'old buffer' roles to a sinister and evil old gentleman. Careful use of locations, mainly in and around Hammer's former HQ of Bray and Windsor add to the atmosphere, especially that the production team showed the patience in this episode to allow for clear skies above so unlike on some other episodes in the anthology, there is little disruption from aircraft noise as Bray/Windsor were very much on the Heathrow flight path as there is in a few other HHoH episodes. Where some episodes fall flat or get swallowed up in trying to be overwhelming in the 'mindtrip' themes of madness or breakdown, this one stands alone and could well have been/Should be a standalone film under the Hammer banner....
Hammer House of Horror: The Mark of Satan (1980)
A lesser episode of an excellent series
For me this is one of the weaker episodes of this otherwise outstanding anthology. That said the acting is brilliant, if a little over the top at times, the scripts were all brilliant, direction and production all faultless apart from the use of Bray and Windsor as outdoor locations wherein aircraft noise of air traffic heading into nearby Heathrow, often disrupts the soundtrack. All this, aircraft noise asides, goes to create a staggeringly chilling series of stories. |While many bemoan the fact that this series was a one off, there was also the equally brilliant 'Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense' is in the same vein and of the same quality as this series was.
The Sign of Four (1987)
Possibly the best of the lot.
Among the best of all the excellent Granada/Brett Holmes portrayals. Careful use of locations, bold casting and holding firm to the original Conan Doyle story all combine to make for an excellent production, along with Brett and Hardwicke's ever brilliant representations of Holmes and Watson respectively.The production and direction pace the tale superbly well as Conan Doyle intended. The only negative (no fault of the production team) is that in the riverside scenes, the gentrification of London's riverside and disappearance of the riverside historical locations is apparent. All in all, if you are new to Brett/Granada's Holmes shows, or indeed to the Holmes stories in general, you could do worse than to start here with this excellent production.
Ronald Lacey lets a sly, dry fart slip out at 19.03 too as he smokes his shisha and gives the back story to Holmes/Watson and Miss Morstan, just as an amusing asides....
Outside Edge (1994)
Brilliant.
A much too often overlooked sitcom, especially when 'Talking Heads' come together to decide such nonsense in those the 'Best' Ever British Sitcoms' shows. Based on Richard Harris' play, the theme revolves around Robert Daws' stodgy Roger character who is a dyed in the wool stickler for tradition, detail and doing it (cricket)'the right way' and his relationships with his friends and team mates, the unconventional Kevin and Maggie, and his long suffering wife, Miriam (Mim). All the cast shine. Played out against a backdrop of a (long gone) pastoral semi-rural England (Supposedly Surrey but actually filmed in Wollaton in Nottingham) the combination of the whimsical characters, the idiosyncrasies and cultural niceties which surround the Beautiful Game make for a rich final product which cold have run for years but sadly only lasted a few series. I actually used this show to introduce my Thai wife to the above mentioned idiosyncrasies which she would encounter as a Cricket Wife in her life in England which worked a treat as her Thai themed teas have become a byword in our local league....
Shark Lake (2015)
Poor Dolph....
When he was in his heyday in the mid to late 1980s, with a Bond and a Rocky smash behind him, it must have seemed to Lundgren that he would wind up in the 'Stallone/Schwarzenegger' bracket with strings of mega smash box office hits and multi million dollar contracts. Sadly for him, it didn't quite pan out that way with a stream of dreadful B movies coming his way instead from studios desperate to get a smash on their hands. If I were him I'd be looking to dish out a Drago style beating to my handlers for landing me a load of crappy roles in films with 'The XXXXX' in the title... A plus for him is that he isn't the worse performer in this pile of doo doo, which must be the dreadful female lead. The film is surprisingly good fun with all the silliness, cheese, and dreadful acting and ludicrous scripting you'd expect. The cinematography is also worth a mention, some of the nature shots are quite stunning. Harmless inoffensive twaddle at best.