Horror Bites - Bugging out

THE MIST (2007) 

Frank Darabont's third Stephen King adaptation brings to the screen something truly unsettling - being stuck at the local store during the busy hours. Though I guess there are a few other horror elements involved. Part siege movie, part monster mash; it handles some great set pieces and a few fun characters even if there is more splatter than atmosphere in places, and not all the effects are totally convincing to say the least. It's solid entertainment although it's never really that harrowing, but at least it's fun to see how things unfold as it mixes predictable tropes with unexpected jolts of imagination.

HCF Review - Payback

WADE IN THE WATER (2019)

Revenge is a dish best eaten cold as they say. That is if unknown authors (or cooks) are to be believed of course. But in reality this idea and the concept of dealing out justice to evil-doers is a complex issue, and this is a story which attempts to examine just how nebulous things can get. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Blue Ruin, Calvary and perhaps You Were Never Really Here, this is another story balancing dark themes with black comedy and eccentric characters in an attempt to tell a thought provoking and disturbing story. There are moments of both humour, tragedy, and stomach churning drama, but just how balanced this meal is needs further examination.

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Scorecard

SEPTEMBER 

FILM OF THE MONTH: Alien ☆☆☆☆

HCF Review - Time For Revenge

EVANGELINE (2013)

Spooky night shots complete with headlight beams in the mist are usually a sign that a horror story is on the cards. And when when the story is being filmed in the local woods to save money you can predict how things will play out. Most viewers will probably recognise the ‘unseen demon’ point of view from The Evil Dead films roaming through the foliage too. These are all staple elements by now after all. So you’ll be surprised to hear that this isn’t really about any sort of malevolent entity living in the shadows. It’s true that the ancient evil of the forest is going to awaken which the opening narration suggests, but if anything this takes far more from The Crow – so you know how things are going to turn out.

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HCF Review - Caribbean Blues

 CARGO (2017)

Cargo may be an apt title for a story in which people are changed from human beings into a commodity, but it’s certainly not a snappy name that makes this release stand out from the crowd. This isn’t the story about zombies or the film about a man inside a shipping container. It’s not about a fishery or a spaceship either. Instead this is a tale of personal tragedy and the way any sense of reality in a struggle can be warped when money is involved. It might be set in the Bahamas but this isn’t a travelogue film and instead focuses on small scale drama as a fisherman decides to take a darker path. But do these elements make it stand out amongst a sea of similarly name films? It’s hard to say for sure.

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