_ From debut director Glenn Ciano comes this low budget slash fest starring two horror heavy weights. We have William Forsythe who starred in Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN and the most recent John Wayne Gacy drama THE LAST VICTIM and one of the biggest names in horror Robert ‘Freddy Kruger’ Englund but were they enough to save a film with actors who, I’m sorry to say, can’t act?

The script seemed to lack that spark of something which I just can’t put my finger on and this shows in the films direction. The press releases tells us that after a ghastly beheading of a young girl Detective Caretti (Played by relatively unknown actor Joey Fatone) and the skeleton crew of the local police station are confronted by a man named Inkubus (Robert Englund – Freddy Kruger) who claims to be behind that and many other murders dating back to before the 1800’s. With the help of a retired cop and the one man who was close to capturing Inkubus, Gil Diamante (William Forsythe – THE ROCK, THE LAST VICTIM) they must hunt him down before he can kill again. Sounds cool right? Yeah that is what I thought before I placed this into the DVD player but I found myself getting a little bored of a storyline which had a lack of UMPH.

INKUBUS wasn’t all bad thought, the pure menace of the Incubus character was played well but that is something you have come to expect from an actor of Englund’s caliber and William Forsythe was a damn good hero for the film.
Given that the films writer Carl V. Dupre (the screenwriter for HELLRAISER: HELLWORLD, HELLRAISER: HELLSEEKER and PROPHECY 3) should be well used to writing for the genre I am a little bit let down by the fact it lacked the ingredients needed to make this a runaway hit. The direction, to be fair, wasn’t that bad for a debut film on a low budget. We are treated to some nice moments of gore and some special effects which would put some other horror films to shame. Maybe if the film had a different screenwriter the film may have worked a little better.

If you are looking for an easy afternoon horror film to watch then INKUBUS could fill the time perfectly but as I have said before on this site, if you are looking for a great evening film with friends or a loved one you may want to give this a miss.

Release date:  13th February 2012
Format: DVD
Certificate: 18
Running Time: 77 mins
RRP Price: (DVD) £17.99 

_What starts out looking like a colourful nod to Peter Jackson's Bad Taste soon descends into a well-filmed but poorly scripted stoner zom-com. As with all films based around weed, it's assumed that everybody in the whole fucking world loves the bud, so the relish the chance to get munted.
Well, personally, I hate the green. Anything that makes it okay to be bored is shite, as far as I'm concerned.
Still, on with the film. It sure looks good. It's been filmed with a good knowledge of filters, camera angles, lighting, etc. and this gives it the edge over the majority of other super-low budget horrors out there.
But it's massively let down by the story. It tends to not bother with the zombie apocalypse side of things and concentrate instead on the two wankers that 'lead' the film on their quest to get stoned. This gets boring real quick.
The cast are what they are. Not bad, not stand-out but all able to read their lines suitably well enough.
The zombies all look great but growl and talk with cheap 'scary voice' effects. That also gets annoying quickly too.
Special effects are pretty good. The zombie makeup effects are effective. The gore is plentiful and looks very good on camera. And the director has figured out how to use After Effect or a similar program to add some workable CGI to his stuff. It looks good and he obviously has an eye for it.
The sound is a bit of a let down, at least on my disc, as it's all quite muffled and the ADR sounds very out of place for the action.
As with most horror-comedy films, this never seems to be able to settle down in one camp or the other. Unfortunately, the horror just isn't scary and the comedy just isn't funny. Unless you're a knob head stoner, in which case you'll think it's the best thing ever since your cat slid off it's chair whilst asleep the other week. Haa ahahahahahahaha! That was so funny!
Fuck off. Get a job.
This film sounds like it should be Cheech & Chong meets Day Of The Dead. It's not.
If I could say something to the filmmakers, I'd say this: Well done for having a crack at it, and it sure looks good, but it's not for me.

__ It is rare that you come across a film involving a killer car, and I don’t those films like DUEL or HUSH where a guy in a truck/car chases around a young couple, no I mean a film which has the same feel as films like CHRISTINE, a blood thirst car horror that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Well the wait is over as this February sees the latest AFTER DARK horror release HYBRID or if you are buying this on Blu-Ray HYBRID 3D.

A team of workers at a Garage are hunted by a shape shifting creature who takes the shape of a car. The team, stuck in the three tier garage, must hunt down the bloodthirsty automobile before it hunts them down. We have a basic plot line here but what it lacks in in-depth story HYBRID makes up with great visual effects and some of the best acting I have seen in a lower budget horror in a very long time.

Directed by ONE MISSED CALL director Eric Valette and written by Benjamin Carr, who has several horror scripts such as HELLRAISER: DEADER AND THIRTEEN GHOSTS under his belt, HYBRID is actually one of the most original and well made films to come to DVD recently and takes a lesser used creature style that is missing from the horror scene. Even thought the plot was basic Carr’s script was well put together. Dialogue was well delivered and the action was well thought out.

The acting was actually really good which I was surprised about as we find that acting skill is sometimes lost in lower budget films. The cast isn’t full of particularly known actors and actresses with the leading lady Shannon Beckner, better known for the straight to DVD AMERICAN PIE: BETA HOUSE, being the least known member of the team. Beckner is however supported by some more experienced cast members such as Adrien Dorval (THE PLEDGE, TWILIGHT: NEW MOON) and Oded Fehr (THE MUMMY, RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION) who help molded this film into a well rounded machine.

HYBRID is a really entertaining film, with great acting and edge of your seat thrills that would get any horror fan pumped. Well directed this film will hopefully hang around for a long time and not disappear as it would be a shame to let this gem fall under the radar.

Release date:  13th February 2012
Format: DVD  & Blu-Ray
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 81 mins
RRP Price: (DVD) £15.99 (Blu-Ray) £24.99

 When the news that the BBFC had banned HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 came out it caused many a row between horror fans, with me being one of them. Now people who know me well know I am a stubborn bugger if I think I am in the right and when it comes to film censorship I would be very happy to fight in the front lines in the battle to stop films getting banned. Now YES this films is a sick and twisted film full of controversial material that will make the most hardcore horror fan blush however there is some I need to tell all the haters of the film, a fact which my surprise you.....IT IS ONLY A BLOODY MOVIE! THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 is artistic film which is meant to shock and offend as Tom Six is trying to prove a point to the critics of the first film and the people at the BBFC who tried to ban the previous film. Did it shock and disgust me? Yes it did and this is coming from someone who isn’t easily shocked but let’s be honest this isn’t as controversial as A SERBIAN FILM.

The direction of the film makes up for the overall script, showing of Tom Six’s obvious talent in the director’s chair. The black and white works well and gives a gritty underground horror feel and also makes our villain, the mentally unstable Martin, look far more sinister. I think the choice to use Martin, Played by Laurence R.Harvey, as the villain making a total flip from the first films evil doctor Heiter. There are some sections of the film which I think the film could have done without, for example the pregnant lady giving birth in the car as she escapes but compared to what was cut this wasn’t as bad as what you could have been watching.

So here is my argument. The reason why I am defending this film is because I believe that horror should shock and disgust the viewer. Horror is supposed to HORRIFY people and with THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 that is what you get. Also I hear on a daily bases from horror fans that re-makes and sequels are taking over and that nothing is original anymore, HELLO?! This is an original idea and you are all moaning about it!

Okay so this film isn’t for everyone but to say BAN THIS FILM is taking away freedom of choice. When thinking about this subject I always think of the horror novels from writers like WRATH JAMES WHITE, EDWARD LEE and JACK KETCHUM who take the genre to a new extreme with some stories being way more hardcore than HUMAN CENTIPEDE films could ever be and in all fairness I would hate to see those kinds of books disappear.

The Synopsis is as follows:

"Martin is a mentally disturbed loner who lives with his nagging mother in a bleak London housing project, where loud neighbors and cramped living conditions threaten to plunge this victim of sexual and psychological abuse over the edge.

He works the night shift as a security guard in an underground parking garage, where customers and their vehicles come and go as he indulges his obsession with THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE) watching the film over and over on the small TV set in his office and meticulously examining the scrapbook he has lovingly filled with memorabilia from the film, including the mouth-to-anus surgery instructions made famous by Dr. Heiter, the mad scientist from Martin’s favorite movie.

Pushed to the brink by his harridan mother, haunted by the teasing voices of his abusive and incarcerated father, Martin sets into motion his plan to emulate Heiter’s centipede by creating his own version, in a rented warehouse, which he begins to fill with victims, including a loud neighbor, two drunk nightclubbers, a prostitute and a lecherous john, and several more … including Martin’s pièce de résistance, one of the actresses from THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE).

Except that Martin lacks the surgical skill, medical instruments and operating theater necessary to create a larger centipede in the image of Dr. Heiter’s masterpiece. So he makes use of materials at hand: duct tape, staple gun, household tools and a fanboy moxie.

What follows is one of the most harrowing and terrifying films ever conceived, featuring a central character that makes FIRST SEQUENCE’s Dr. Heiter seem downright cuddly in comparison. THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FINAL SEQUENCE) is a triumph in biological horror by one of the new masters of the horror film."

_ When Bart (David Anders -24, VAMPIRE DIARIES)wakes up in a coffin a day after his funeral he thinks he has been buried alive by mistake, but upon visiting his friend Joey the pair discover that Bart isn’t just dead but he is very much UN-dead.  Needing blood to survive Bart is forced to make a choice regarding the future. The best friend’s quickly find that Bart’s zombie-fied state is a perfect opportunity for them to become vigilante crime fighters, and they soon begin killing lowlife criminals to provide a steady supply of blood for him.

Classed as zombie buddy movie, the synopsis for THE REVENANT promises an action packed adventure but I found myself a little let down by the overall feel of the film. Aside from Bart looking like a zombie there isn’t a whole lot of zombie action involve through the film, which will disappoint the majority of zombie lovers out there. It is not a terrible film, it has some mildly amusing scenes, and the crime fighting aspect worked for the final half of the film but I went into it thinking ZOMBIES.

Acting wise it was so so and the direction was pretty good so the film wasn’t a total flop but part of me thinks that THE REVENANT can’t live up to other zombie films that have come out recently, films like THE DEAD and even the Zom-Com DEAD HEADS.

Generally THE REVENANT wasn’t great but if you fancy something to just put on which doesn’t use up much mind power then give it a try. WARNING to zombie fans this is more vampire style than zombie so just be careful when selecting.

Release date: 2nd April 2012
Format: DVD  & Blu-Ray
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 113 mins
RRP Price: (DVD) £12.99  (Blu-Ray) £17.99