One To Watch - Crimson Peak

In my humble opinion, Guillermo del Toro will have a tough time topping his unbelievably complex fairytale El Laberinto Del Fauno (known to English audiences as Pan's Labyrinth). With this prestige pedigree and his early work in horror with Cronos, Mimic and - to some extent - The Devil's Backbone, this is definitely a project worth getting excited about.

Nice neck beard -  respect Guillermo.

The details are pretty scant, with the only real clues coming from a couple of articles based on what I believe was an exclusive interview he gave to a Deadline reporter. Co-written with Matthew Robbins and now being re-written somewhat by Lucinda Coxon, he wants this to be a big-budget horror, both playing with and honouring the old school class of horror films. I'm intrigued by this movement away from the low-budget shlock and the found-footage genre that have recently dominated studios' horror budgets, and I'd love to see a big name like del Toro smash something like this out of the park and hopefully secure more financing for bigger, terror inducing numbers in the future. It's due to begin production in early 2014, so it's a long time between drinks, though it has the potential to be very worth the (not inconsiderable) wait.

But we have to keep this in mind - despite having confirmed this as his next movie, del Toro had previously confirmed that he was doing The Hobbit films, and we all know how that turned out (for those of you who don't - he didn't). So while this announcement ought to be taken with a grain of salt, del Toro's clear excitement for the piece and the strong backing of Thomas Tull at Legendary Pictures (the man behind DC's current success-filled push and also a man who rakes in plenty of moolah) should negate that salt somewhat with a spoonful of sugar.

The original article can be found here for more juicy details:
http://www.deadline.com/2012/12/guillermo-del-toro-to-helm-crimson-peak-as-next-feature-with-legendary-pictures/

Trick 'R Treat - [Un]Happy Halloween!

Despite watching this some time after Halloween, and despite my total lack of respect for that particular holiday, Trick 'R Treat is a cracking watch - funny, scary, in your face and batshit crazy. Helmed by Michael Dougherty (best known for his writing work on Superman Returns and X2) in his feature film debut, this anthology of intertwining shorts unfold with razor-sharp precision, forming an impressive accomplishment that belies its direct-to-DVD fate.

We witness five different stories that weave around each other beautifully... Emma (Leslie Bibb) and her husband return home after trick or treating only to find that blowing out that jack o' lantern before bed was a terrible, terrible idea. The town principal (Dylan Baker) invites a chubby kid to enjoy some candy with him, only for that unfortunate fatso to find out that not all is as it seems in the particular household he has the misfortune of stopping at. A group of kids gang up to play a prank on the local savant, which involves playing out the return of the dead, mentally challenged kids who perished in the 'Halloween School Bus Massacre' at the hands of the bus driver according to their parents' wishes. But the joke's on them when their gag goes a little awry. Laurie (Anna Paquin), your typically awkward 22 year old virgin is preparing to go to a party with her bombshell sister and her flirty friends, and they convince her that it's a great night to finally lose her innocence - throw a vampire attack into that story strand, and things begin to get interesting in Laurie's quest to meet a nice guy. Finally, local grouch Mr. Kreeg gets more than he bargained for with a particular trick or treater, who may turn out to be a Halloween demon. Yikes.

There is a tremendous sense of fun here that was totally neglected in the other anthology I've reviewed (V/H/S). Tonally, Dougherty has dragged out a powerfully dark, mordant humour - we get the murder of children played for some slapstick laughs, we get the American Pie virginity pact morphed with a twisted riff on all your classic monster movies. In essence, this packages together all your major horror tropes with some added spice from the (often guilty) giggles and has a seamless linking mechanism that I cannot stop admiring. 'Peeping Sam' (the creepy little tacker in the poster) is one of the most iconic characters I've yet encountered in horror - he's flawlessly designed for maximum creep factor, and even though he looks like a little kid with a tops costume, he still blows Pinhead away for scares. The cast are uniformly great – I’m a big fan of Brian Cox, Anna Paquin and Leslie Bibb, and they don’t disappoint. I’ve also now become a fan of Dylan Baker, who does some oddly excellent emotive work, and succeeds despite the inherently unlikable actions of his character. But the cast’s best assets are its young players, who are both natural and wonderfully caustic – which many films seem to miss out when creating an ‘accurate’ portrayal of exactly how kids act in the real world. Everything else ticks the right boxes – some strong editing and classically spooky cinematography sit nicely with the score and production design.

As you may have guessed already, I liked Trick ‘R Treat. Really liked it – it was well-written, well-shot, well-acted and well… Just well done. While its lower than usual budget may have prevented it from reaching Mach speed with some sub-par effects, it definitely approaches supersonic – Dougherty earns a tidy 4.1 out of 5 pagan holidays.

One To Watch - You're Next

His pack versus mine? Surrender?

After its release at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, You're Next generated the most incredibly positive early reviews. Lionsgate eventually snapped up the distribution rights, continuing its recent trend of cracking horror releases such as Cabin in the Woods. But then they really screwed the pooch and set the release date as August 13. 2013. Those complete motherflippers. But the fact remains that it will be released, and by all accounts, it will be an absolute rip snorter.

Crispin Davidson brings his new girlfriend along to his parents' wedding anniversary celebrations to meet the family. He was just begging for awkwardness. Absolutely gagging for it. On his knees. But - Praise the Lord! - the whole shindig comes under attack from a gang of killers wearing animal masks. However, little Ms. GF of Mr. Davidson harbours a hidden ability to fight back, and it's supposed to get raucously entertaining, violent and brutal very quickly.

The cast are great - AJ Bowen, who was the one truly good thing about The Signal, plays Crispin, and Aussie Sharni Vinson reportedly blows the movie away as his secret-power-driven gal pal. Indie horror directors Ti West and Joe Swanberg also have small bit parts, which is cool to see. If the early reviews are anything to go by (which they often are - see Sinister; but are just as often not - see the disappointing V/H/S), You're Next will be slaying them in the aisles.

Eric D. Snider from Film.com called it 'An energetic mix of dark comedy, senseless violence, satisfying surprises, and good old-fashioned mayhem.' Scott Weinberg from FEARnet said it provided 'Proof... that not all "home invasion" horror movies have to be bleak and miserable.' I like the sound of that - a topsy-turvy  spin on a genre staple with some humour to boot. Plus I think the poster looks super cool.

So, it'll be in the US on August 13, 2013, and in Australia probably significantly later than that. Just a heads up - put it in your diaries now so you don't miss out.

13 Assassins - And 200 Bad Guys

I've decided that from now on, I'm not going to justify my movie choices to readers – rest be assured that if it’s in this blog, it contains some level of horrific material. This is my final justification: 13 Assassins is horror in a more traditional sense – it’s directed by the Japanese veteran of some seriously disturbing wares – Takashi Miike, with some absolutely gut-wrenching moments, though not many intentional jumps. This is epic. This is bloodsport. This is brilliant.

Shinzaemon is a committed samurai in mid-19th century Japan. While Lord Naritsugu, the cruel brother of the current Shogun, seemingly kills and rapes at will, the tipping point comes when a wronged samurai commits seppuku as a form of protest against him. Shinzaemon accepts a fateful mission from Sir Doi, concerned that Naritsugu will one day inherit a higher position – he must put an end to Naritsugu’s life. Banding together an unlikely collection of 11 other samurai (including his frivolous nephew) their goal is simple – kill Naritsugu. But when the evil Lord’s right hand man Hanbei gets wind of the plot, he lets his master know, and his security force is naturally beefed up. Now our band of brothers are going to have to go out of their way and way out of left field to pull this off. When the final battle commences, it’s 13 versus 200 in a village that they've rigged to become the ultimate death trap. Let the mass assassination begin…

The Japanese cast are all excellent – they bring incredible severity and gravitas to their roles as necessary, but they’re also fearless when it comes to laughing in the face of death. Kōji Yakusho stands out as Shinzaemon with his gritty determination, and Gorō Inagaki practically transcends evil in his incendiary role as Naritsugu. Yūsuke Iseya also gets a mention for his wonderfully humourous portrayal of a hunter who becomes our 13th assassin. But it’s probably Miike himself who runs away with this movie – his take on the traditional, semi-historical samurai epic. The fights are gloriously choreographed, embracing yet paradoxically shunning excess in all the right ways as wave after wave of enemies are ruthlessly dispatched by katanas with almost ballet-like grace. But these are not the Michael Bay carnage you may expect – instead we get movement that can be logically followed around the village hosting the final showdown, and a story to follow throughout the battle concerning characters we have become invested in. Sure, there’s some CGI there (flaming bulls anyone?), but it’s largely tastefully incorporated, and the stunts are immaculately performed.  The final good word must be extended to the production design and costuming, who kit out a small army of samurai and a larger army of soldiers with great looking gear, and create a convincing village absolutely laden with jaw-dropping trap moments.

13 Assassins is blockbusting entertainment at its finest (if you don't mind subtitles). It may take a few minutes to kick into gear, but we have characters to cheer for and cry with, a villain so heinous that the audience simply cannot be indifferent to his fate, action that entertains both emotionally and technically, and frequent nods to the genre pieces that so lovingly inspired it. I had a blast with 13 Assassins, and I can highly recommend finding a copy somewhere - 9 out of 10 blood-drenched blades.

One To Watch - World War Z

If the strength of early hype was ever anything to go one, World War Z would win Oscars. Multiple Oscars. However, some odd re-drafts and re-shoots of the third act may have muddied the waters a little. With this said, I still reckon the first trailer looks mind-shattering, and I'm not even familiar with Max Brooks' immensely popular source novel.

Starring Brad Pitt as a UN employee who scours the globe for information concerning a sudden zombie outbreak that threatens an apocalypse, World War Z has named the Bourne trilogy and The Walking Dead as touchstones for a gritty, realistic look at the occurrence and aftermath of an undead pandemic. Those behind the camera are top notch. Director Marc Forster has shown that he can handle action (I enjoyed Quantum of Solace's action despite the overuse of shaky-cam - the opening car chase in particular was tops) and darkly sensitive stuff (Monster's Ball). Cinematographer Robert Richardson is one of my all time favourites from his extensive work with Tarantino and Scorcese. Composer Marco Beltrami carved himself a nice horror niche via his collaborations with Wes Craven. Editor Matt Chesse worked on QoS with Forster and the criminally under-seen Warrior. But it's the writers that are most intriguing...

Originally written up by J. Michael Straczynski, the initial script had Ain't It Cool News asking 'whether or not a zombie movie qualifies as 'Best Picture' material'. Wowsers. It was then retooled by Matthew Michael Carnahan, which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it - I loved State of Play but he also popped out Lions for Lambs (yawn). But the studio - having seen the ending - brought in Damian Lindelof (who totally dropped the ball on Prometheus) to have another crack at it, but after coming up with a plan, he then diverted the actual writing to Drew Goddard (who totally caught the ball on Cabin in the Woods). It's a long story, but the motto is that we have no idea how this is going to turn out. However, don't be too worried about the re-shoots, because they're actually remarkably common in big films where studios are investing mega-millions.

The trailer (which is what really galvanised me to write this one up for the blog) rocks. I love the whole idea of swarming zombies as opposed to the regular shuffling idiots - take a peek below:

World War Z will be released June 21, 2013, and it could be the next big thing. Or it could not... Either way, Paramount are hoping it's gonna take in some serious dollars at the box office.

Final Destination - Or Is It...?

This is one of those movies that made an indelible impact on the genre, throwing away the conventions of 'teenage friends die horribly' films and putting in the place of the armed psycho or bloodthirsty beastie the concept of Death itself. It's kinda screwy, as you'd expect from some X-Files old hands, and generate some respectable uncertainty and tension.

You've probably all heard the story... Alex boards a plane with his school's French club, only to have a terrifying vision of the craft's disintegration. He loses his marbles briefly and as a result, he and six others are booted off. It gets weird when Flight 180 does indeed explode shortly after take off, and two things happen - everyone on board dies, and our hero and his friends are justifiably a little put off given their suspicious survival. For a few weeks, Alex is a bit of a leper, as the whole school (and the FBI now that you mention it) knows that he predicted the accident, and must be some sort of unlucky charm/demonic wizard. But then Alex's best mate dies in suspicious circumstances which are passed off as suicide, but the survivors are convinced that there is something out there trying to finish off what should have started on the plane that fateful night... And that something may just be Death itself.

Our cast here is a real mixed bag, as with most teen ensembles. Devon Sawa displays some charisma as Alex, especially when facing off against death solo in a deserted cabin, but he seems a little immature in a role that perhaps is too heavy for him. The other youths have similar problems, notably Sean William Scott (in the days prior to his talent for comedy being singled out as his primary focus) and Kerr Smith - they just can't seem to grasp a) the seriousness of imminent death and b) that there are real people dying around them... I dunno, I just wasn't convinced. Director James Wong (aside from not being able to wring much from his young cast) is solid with his build-ups - several sequences which ultimately result in some untimely but beautifully choreographed deaths are well-orchestrated, and still manage to wring some suspense more in trying to figure out how exactly the character will be disposed of. On that note, I'd level some criticism at the lack of emotion they built in towards the people under attack from Death - I was possibly more interested to see them die in interesting ways than see them cheat Death's plan. Lastly, aside from the below par long shot of the aeroplane goin' up in a cheap looking explosion, the VFX crew should cop some praise. A nice visual signature marks the scenes when you know something's going down - the internal shot of the plane being conflagrated, the bathroom asphyxiation, Ms Lewton's vodka fuelled Rube Goldberg style death and the train collision are particular highlights.

It took a formula and gave it a kick in the teeth. I respect that. The fact that it wasn't in fact the final destination [film] is indicative of the niche it filled. I've seen Final Destination 5 and I have to say I prefer the fifth (which is unusual for a franchise of such longevity), largely due to its impressive effects, higher calibre of actors and unexpected twist. But the original Final Destination is not too bad - I hand it a cheeky 3 out of 5 doomed younglings.

Sinister - Super Duper 8

Sinister is one of the most bestest creations yet reviewed by Terror Bites, hands down. It reduced three 18-20 year olds to genuinely yelling in terror for a solid 10 seconds at an occasion, and kept them tensed for the vast majority of the action. I feel like I've just had a great workout.  I shed a little sweat. It was legit.

Ethan Hawke moves his young family into a new house, the former residents of which were cruelly hung from a tree in the backyard and their daughter kidnapped. Old Hawkey finds a box of Super 8 films in the attic and - upon inspection - finds all manner of horrific snuff films recorded on them. As a famous true-crime writer, he is naturally intrigued, and connects all the deaths by the inclusion of a pagan symbol and a mysterious, dark figure. He begins to hear things around the house, and as he descends into paranoia, he descends into the bottle too. An expert in the occult recognises 'Bagul', a pagan deity who snacks on the souls of children, and hops between dimensions via images and video. This evidently does not bode well for the Hawkster. The local police have little time for our protagonist, but one star-struck deputy does what he can to help. As their findings become more and more (you guessed it) sinister, Ethan must try to save his family and preserve his own sanity, before big bad Bagul gets his claws on them...

There is a certain plausibility surrounding Ethan's character that stands out in Sinister - hungry for another taste of fame, his hubris is his downfall, rendering him oblivious to the danger before it's too late. He plays the father particularly well, and some of the scariest moments occur between Hawke and a projector in a darkened room. The remainder of our players, while perhaps not memorable (with perhaps the exception of the deputy and his hilarious straight-faced discussion of the respective limbs of scorpions and snakes), are effective in filling the blanks on the cast list. Director Scott Derrickson rarely allows the audience to breathe a sigh of relief, and vamps up the tension from the squeamish opening frames. Some of the scares have been criticised as being lazy and very manufactured, but when they're this good, who really cares? That screaming for 10 seconds anecdote - not a word of a lie. The horror is palpable, and it's nice as an audience to share these jumps with an on-screen character, as we experience much of it in tandem with Hawke's character. The special effects, while low budget, are arresting and realistic - perfect for this kind of picture. The editing is tightly managed, and beautifully contrasts languid build-ups to pay-offs with other segments which bombard the audience with constant leaps. As much as Hawke and Derrickson nail their roles, Christopher Young almost manages to steal their thunder with his stellar score. It alternates between pulsing electronically, almost hypnotically, bubbling beneath the surface and traditional string-driven crescendos, which ratchets up the tension on the thin line between modern and old-school that Sinister treads.

I was lucky enough to enjoy this in the company of my good friends Albert von Hammerschmidt OBE and Esteban. Here's genuinely what they had to say. Esteban (who persisted in his loquacious response despite my lecturing him that Blogger didn't partake in emoticons and that very few would actually appreciate the full scale of his critique) said ' :p '. Albert said 'ah, AH, ARRGGHHHHHHHHHHIHHRGHGGggggHhHhHHHHH. Holy fuck.' How very apt.

Trying to write his In Cold Blood brings about Hawke's downfall. Is this trying to make a statement about the modern immunity to voyeuristic perversions in horror audiences? Again, who cares? This is a horror film, and a terrifically frightening one at that. For me, it lived up the hype generated by its trailer which I discussed in an earlier One To Watch piece, and for that, I have little choice but to slap it with a thankful 11 out of 13 missing children.

The Host - Don't Mention The War...

It's almost as though these 'industrious little fellows' (to quote the horrifically un-PC Jeremy Clarkson) set out to answer the question 'just how obvious can we possibly make a political allegory?' The answer to this question is very obvious. In fact, the anti-American sentiment (though this does simplify the whole film somewhat) was so latent that even the North Koreans managed to praise its virtues from the mountaintops. Hmmm.


When an American scientist pours hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde down his lab drain, the end result is a big ol' ugly-as-sin fish monster that rises from the deep and decides it likes the tang of human flesh. Delicious. Our plot follows dim-witted Park Gang-du, who manages to lose his daughter to the creature's tail/appendage (see poster on left). In the aftermath, Gang-du and his family are captured by the government under the pretence that the creature carries a deadly virus. But - shock horror! - Hyun-seo  calls them, still very much alive and trapped in a sewage drain along the river somewhere. So the whole family - his old father, his alcoholic brother and his archery champion sister - tag along to rescue the little one, plagued by useless government intervention along the way. When plans to gas the creature with 'Agent Yellow' (totally not suss...) threaten the little one's life, it becomes a family road-trip satirical horror comedy racing against the clock. Game on.

It's a creature film primarily, so does the creature cut the mustard? Yes. Yes it does. It's not really a spoiler because it's revealed so early on, but it's a big cross between a fish, a dinosaur and a tadpole with a handy tail. I dunno why, but I actually enjoyed the fact that they didn't muck around with the big reveal - it was very much: 'here it is, enjoy it, now watch it mess up these people's lives'. That was refreshing. Does our amphibious friend bring the necessary scares? Meh. Sometimes. But it's function is more than a few jumps (not to say that there aren't any scares - I leapt at least twice), as it's the catalyst that explores the fractures within the family that we follow, and it's these harsh realities that are often most frightening. Our cast are fairly accomplished in Korean cinema and they achieve good results here, handling the frequent switches between bizarre asides and earnest emotion with a great sure-footedness. On that note, the writing is truly different to anything you've ever seen before, transitioning between satirical, surreal, emotional and suspenseful at a rate of knots. But as I said before, maybe its political commentary was a little to transparent for my tastes, though I stress that these are very much my tastes and others may prefer their social messages applied with a liberal brush.

The Host wasn't the masterpiece that I was expecting given the unbelievably strong critical response and its megabucks at the box office. However it's definitely not a bad film - overtly enjoyable, sometimes scary and palpably silly. So for me, it's sitting on about a mid-range 13 out of 19 abducted Asian youths. Apologies for my lateness with this review, but I'm currently sitting in the middle of uni exams, so I'll be back to my usual, happy-posting self in about a week (fingers crossed).

One To Watch - I, Frankenstein

Rather than exploit this optimal study time in stuvac for that work which it was intended, I have instead opted  to keep my legions of fans (erroneous) informed on the coming horror scene. Now, this upcoming film looks solid, and the cast is just one of the reasons to get excited - Aaron Eckhart (underrated in my opinion), Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski (who's great in the new season of Dexter) and Miranda Otto (another solid showing from our America-based Aussies).

Stills on set of Eckhart in make-up/costume

Behind the camera, we have Stuart Beattie (Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!), whose debut Tomorrow, When the War Began was beat up a little by critics, but the action was nice and visceral, and directors often improve with age and experience. The plot reads as follows: Frankenstein's monster, named Adam and having taken the surname of his creator, becomes involved in a war between two immortal clans in an ancient city.

Based on a graphic novel (the author of which co-wrote the script with Beattie), I, Frankenstein promises some thrills, scares and - I imagine - some full on battle scenes... After being pushed back 7 months by its studio to accommodate the movie Snitch, I, Frankenstein will have plenty of time stewing in the can for some extensive post-production work, which should turn out a polished final product.


So, a release on September 27 in the US means we'll probably see it in Australia between October-November, and I'm pretty keen to enjoy it in about a year's time.

The Innkeepers - Things That Go Bump In The Night

Ti West is a film-maker that you can count on. He loves to place characterisation first, and when making horror movies, this ensures you care about the characters. He loves to play it old school too, and never needs to cheat when developing his scares, like when some directors have things jump from just out of shot when the characters would have been able to see them already. The Innkeepers ticks all the right boxes.

Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are the two remaining employees of a hotel about to be shut down - the Yankee Pedlar Inn, reported site of Madeline O'Malley's suicide in the 1800s after her husband abandoned her on their wedding day. Both ghost hunting enthusiasts, they spend their last few days trying to contact O'Malley's spirit with only a couple of guests still staying in the inn. Unexpectedly, Claire begins to yield some results when the piano starts playing itself at night, but a clairvoyant guest warns her to steer clear of the basement where they supposedly stashed Madeline's body to save the reputation of the inn. Naturally, the haunting builds in intensity, and when something happens to one of the two remaining guests, it all spirals out of control culminating in a trip to the very same basement that they were warned about so vehemently...



Kudos must go to Eliot Rocket the cinematographer, whose camera swoops and dollies energetically to create some properly thrilling moments, almost like an action-horror hybrid. Sara Paxton too does a brilliantly natural job as Claire - we care about her as a character because she seems genuinely likeable and curious, and always eager to help out her mate Luke. The cast are helped by West's very flowing dialogue, which builds from light-hearted comedy in the first half to some intense arguments throughout the second. Final props must go to Jeff Grace, the composer. From the opening strings over the credits to the eerie piano rolls throughout the initial haunting and the final orchestra explosion, the 'avant-garde' musician nails the tone of the film beautifully.

Here's what Esteban had to say about this 2011 effort:
I want to tell you of a story of a family I once be haved in. It was many a year ago, back in my hometown of Peru. We once went on a holiday, and walked to the next village to enjoy the lovely tree and coffee beans. We stayed inside an inn. In the in we were staying in was a man who had grey hair and overalls. He would carry bread roll in his pockets which was a scary theme. The story is about this because he still was not as scary as the movie film which was pretty scary in my frankly opinion. My least favourite part was when the character drank the beer. Thank you.

Okay, so some modern viewers may consider the film a little generic or even a little slow - but I liked that about it. It's an homage to earlier days of horror when gore wasn't the first priority, and it serves this purpose pretty well. As always, I hope the West can return to this form after the slight misstep that was his segment in V/H/S - I'm giving it 3 out of 4 hanged brides.

One To Watch - Stoker

Simply put, Stoker boasts one of the best trailers that I have seen in my entire life - it's attention grabbing, informative plot-wise, stylish as hell, stunningly paced and what's more, the crew behind the lens appear to be more than qualified for the job.

The English debut of Korean film-maker Park Chan-Wook (who also directed the reportedly phenomenal Oldboy, soon to be remade by Spike Lee), Stoker is allegedly a horror film, family drama and psychological thriller. The writer - Wentworth Miller III (that's right, one of the two bald guys from Prison Break) - has attracted some major talent, from Chan-Wook in the director's chair and the Scott brothers producing to Clint Mansell scoring (probably my favourite film composer) and Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode and Jacki Weaver acting up a storm (great to see 3 out of the top 4 billings are Aussie exports!).

I am super excited for Stoker, and I hope you are too (make sure you watch the trailer in at least 720p - it really packs a punch right from Kidman's brilliant opening line to the frenetic montages of gorgeous images throughout).

Updates - Carrie, Evil Dead

As some of you may have seen, this last couple of weeks have seen the release of some serious teasers for two of the films I have labelled as ones to watch. First of all is Carrie, which is impressive in its ambitious scope, and let's be honest - who doesn't love a bit of an extended dolly through a ravaged town...

Next, we have the initial teaser for Evil Dead. And it looks demonic. Utterly devoid of the humour that so marked the original trilogy, the remake looks downright gory and pretty filthy. That said, I'm glad to see flashes of the ol' 'Rape Tree' and rushes through the woods - but be warned, it's not a trailer for the faint of heart, and the last shot is one of the most disgusting I have honestly ever encountered.

So take a look, but prepare for some graphic graphics. Personally, these teasers really hit the spot, and I'm even more hopeful now that these films are going to blow some minds.

The Mist - You'd Better Not Go In The Mist Today...

I'd read the Stephen King novella that this was based on before watching the film, so I had some idea of the events to come. However, seeing them played out like this is an incredibly different experience to reading words on page, and while The Mist could certainly have benefited from a budget deserved of its 'unspeakable terrors in the mist' premise, writer/director Frank Darabont examines the human side of the apocalypse with tact and genuine emotion.

After a vicious thunderstorm damages his home, David Drayton leaves his wife to head into town with his son and pick up some supplies. While in the local supermarket with many other grocery seeking residents, an all-encompassing mist rolls over the town, and when a man runs in terrified and shouting about 'things in the mist', people get a little tense. When it's established beyond a reasonable doubt that there are indeed deadly, other-worldy creatures hidden in the dense fog with a knack for butchering the human race, relationships in the supermarket get strained. Camps develop, representing the extreme religious response to the end of days, our more realistic protagonist and his survival focused friends and finally those in utter denial of their reality. As the body count rises, those in the supermarket begin losing their minds and our hero has to find a way to survive the ordeal with his family together.


Thomas Jane owns the show here as Drayton - a man out of his depth who has to maintain appearances for his son, and somewhat for his own sanity. He's fiercely protective but incredibly tender towards his son, and his role is written particularly well. Darabont's script is spot on in its characters and their development - the political camps that form play off each other nicely, and particularly affecting is the local mechanic Jim's transformation from hard man to religious convert following his traumatic experiences. The camera is another highlight - the movement seems to pre-guess everything that the viewer wants and adapt to it, and also manages to capture some properly horrifying stuff, like the overhead tracking of the military Private as he's dragged out into the mist by the fanatics.

With everything in the film considered, it's the ending that still manages to haunt most of all. While very different to the book, it's so damn bleak that you can't help but decay inside at the horrors displayed. While yes, a little more of the old studio monies wouldn't have hurt, Darabont and Co. have crafted an effective and thought-provoking horror film - 3 out of 4 tentacles.

Take Shelter - The Perfect Storm

I’m not sure if I can truthfully call this a horror film. I can definitely label it a psychological thriller. And I can definitely label it a brilliant, brilliant movie with a creeping sense of dread that permeates every frame right up to the electrifying conclusion. So to hell with explicit ‘horror’ labels, because this modern American masterpiece is a hell of a lot more scary than Hellraiser.

Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) begins to have apocalyptic visions of huge maelstroms, destructive tornadoes, flocks of birds flying in bizarre patterns, oily raindrops that render people insane - he fears for his own sanity and the safety of his wife (Jessica Chastain) and young, hearing impaired child (Tova Stewart). His mother (Kathy Baker) has a history of paranoid schizophrenia, and Curtis struggles with his desire to protect his family from his dreams and save his own mind. We watch his life fall apart as he spends thousands of dollars trying to prepare for the ultimate storm he's sure is coming - losing his job, his insurance, his friends - but no one else seems convinced. As the community begins turning against him, it's just Curtis and his family against a small town, and perhaps the elements too...



I absolutely loved this film. Everything about it, from Michael Shannon's incredibly subtle yet explosive powerhouse performance as a man questioning his reality to the slowly advancing camera that constantly and threateningly inches towards its subjects, absolutely gripped me from start to finish. Indie writer/director Jeff Nichols creates a masterful slow-burn of tension that literally never ends - the film's final sequence (and no spoilers here - it's mind-blowing) is a summation of the film's principle tension that is at once thrilling, heart-breaking and astonishingly epic; I literally get tingles thinking about it now. The music (by David Wingo) has a lovely, string backing that builds up the emotion perfectly with occasional piano led moments in the quieter scenes. Shot on a pretty small $5 million budget, the effects in this film never threaten to steal the focus from the human element, but are perfectly integrated in the aesthetic of the whole piece. For a man in his early 30s, Nichols has much to offer cinema, and I have every faith that he will continue to deliver quality like this for decades to come.

In short, I can't quite recommend this as a pure horror, despite its taut construction and difficult subject matter. However, I can and will recommend this as a brilliant film, and easily one of the best I have seen in the past year. It's masterful film-making and takes viewers on a most brilliant journey into the depths of the human person - 96 out of 100 disorientated starlings.

One to Watch - Evil Dead

Yet another remake in the pipes, but it looks like fans needn't worry about the sacred cow of Sam Raimi's original being desecrated. While the original trilogy is best known for the slapstick of Evil Dead II and the iconography of Bruce Campbell's character Ash, the early look at this April 2013 release at New York Comic Con seemed to be incredibly stripped back and grimy - a full-blown horror with lashings of extreme violence amongst homages to the original films.

You're sure you don't want to come in?

Young Uruguayan director Fede Álvarez was chosen by Sam Raimi (who's producing the remake) off the strength of his short 2009 film Ataque de Pánico! (which can be found on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dadPWhEhVk - made for only $300!). Early reports say that he's managed to make the film very much his own while maintaining some of the visual cues of the 1981 film e.g. the kinetic rush through the woods surrounding the cabin, so his selection seems positive. With the script developed by Álvarez and revised by Diablo Cody (Juno), we can expect a very authentic mix of teen dialogue and a hopefully cliché free film, especially given how recent films like The Cabin in the Woods have so successfully warped said clichés. The cast is a list of several young up and comers, including Jane Levy from TV's Suburgatory, Lou Taylor Pucci, Elizabeth Blackmore and Jessica Lucas, who I have no doubt will benefit from Álvarez's proximity to their ages and the seasoned production team of Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert.

Anyway, always the optimist, I have a strong belief that this will be a good one. As The Evil Dead trilogy really sparked my current passion for binging on horror films, it may be blind hope that's firing my faith for this remake, but only time will tell. Evil Dead is scheduled to hit the US on April 12, 2013, and will likely drop in Australia a month or two after that.

The Blair Witch Project - Hungry and Cold and Hunted

The Blair Witch Project revitalised an entire genre when it hit the horror scene in 1999. Extremely low budget horror has always been a staple, but the found footage twist established in no uncertain way a sub-class of terror that is here to stay. Their approach to filming was lean, mean and efficient, and the finished product proudly reflects this approach.

It's a story that most people know - the three student film-makers (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard) heading into Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch. Locals tell them of Rustin Parr, the hermit who murdered seven children at the behest of the spirit of Elly Kedward and others spin tales of the hair-covered witch figure in the woods. They logically decide to enter said woods and go filming at some locations from the legend, finding some odd rock formations and hearing odd sounds at night. After losing the map and admitting that they too are seriously lost, tempers begin to fray, and the woods seem to turn against them. When one of their party goes missing, terror reaches fever pitch and pretty much stays there.

My God it's effective. Shot on two cameras (a colour camcorder usually held by Heather and a black and white 16-mm camera operated by Josh), the footage is edited between the two in a way that both develops multiple perspectives and unsettles the viewers. Conversely, the gorgeous old-school of the 16-mm occasionally punctuates the colour footage with the bleak and threatening beauty of the forest slowly swallowing our trio. The filming locations are almost our film's fourth lead, and the autumn colours hide our deepest fears behind a washed-out palette. But that's the primary thrust of this film - we never see the titular witch nor Parr, it's the descent into psychosis with the students that truly terrifies us. Reading up on the filming process is incredibly interesting - the cast was hounded through the woods and deprived of food and sleep for eight days, receiving instruction left in milk crates and improvising much of the dialogue. The directors - Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez - ought to be congratulated for their unusual and highly effective approach. Finally, the cast - they're very solid, as can be expected given the calculatedly harsh treatment that they received from the crew. Heather's teary apology to the camcorder must receive a special mention - the acknowledgement that they're going to perish in those woods will still chill me for weeks to come.

Unbelievably profitable at the box office and well-received by critics, The Blair Witch Project could be called a classic of modern horror. Well-made, acted and with an incomparably dark and haunting ending, this has to be one of the better horrors I've reviewed yet. I'm now properly scared of going camping ever again - 6 out of 7 straw dolls hanging ominously from the forest's canopy...

Advantage Satan - Just Not Cricket

I was first subjected to this experience last year when it played late night on SBS. This being before I began my recent horror binge, I was relatively inexperienced/a bit soft and literally could not finish it. It shook me to my core. When I found the short film online (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RbKwDItEgc) and managed to sit through the entire ordeal, I was remarkably impressed by its pitch black humour and stunningly well-matched use of the audio in tandem with some delicious camera work.

*Slurp*

The script from Rob Beamish is somewhat high concept, but it's fleshed out perfectly by the cast and remaining crew. When a young couple (Shelly Lauman & Mark Winter) are heading back from a party, they decide to have a quick, slightly pissed frolic on the local tennis courts. Abruptly, the lights flare up and the PA system blasts to life with some creepy shit. They're locked in. They try to escape. It gets intense.

I really enjoyed this. Director Sean Byrne (who wrote/directed The Loved Ones) has an eye for horror, and the tension ratcheted up here is exceptional. Our leading couple are also very solid - there's not much required from them in the short space of time but they can do loving canoodling and brain-numbingly scared with the best of them. But it's that damn soundscape that steals the show. A few songs by Wolf Eyes make up the demonic yowlings from the PA and they eat away at the viewer's resolve perfectly. All in all, Advantage Satan doesn't require much effort to watch, and it's terrifically worth the 10 or so minutes of your life that it devoures - 5 out of 6 cool, cool beverages.

One to Watch - Carrie

While remakes are inevitably greeted with groans, this one comes with a certain level of credibility. Director Kimberly Pierce comes from a background which suggests a certain prowess when it comes to extracting phenomenal performances from her cast, and writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has a history in developing interesting relationships in the series Big Love.

Something in my eye?

But the real promise in this comes down to two main things - the source material and the cast. The crew have promised to be more faithful to Stephen King's novel than the 1976 film, which (having not read the book myself) I've heard is a good thing. Other adaptations of King's work have been pretty great (such as 1408 and The Mist), and pretty scary too. But the cast - oh the cast! Chloë Grace Moretz is a very special young actress and phenomenally talented. She'll be able to bring both the awkward outsider and the raging, telekinetically charged teen roles together beautifully in a melding of her parts in Kick Ass and Let Me In to play Carrie. We've also got Julianne Moore in the interesting role of Carrie's mother, which gives her a lot to work with. So yeah, I'm pretty stoked for this one to come together, and possibly net Chloë her first Oscar nomination (like it did for Sissy Spacek when she played the role originally).

New York Comic Con will get the first look at this March 2013 release in a couple of days (on October 13th), and I'm very hopeful that this could be another addition to Moretz's already very strong canon. Look forward to our review of this when it hits next year.

Kill List - Nek Minnit

This genre-bending hitman/bromance/romance/drama/horror film has confused and wowed audiences in equal measure since its release in 2011. I admit to belonging more to the former description, and everything you think you know in the first half gets blown the fuck out of the water before the film is finished. While initially more sinister than scary, researching the film's meaning actually manages to make the whole experience more haunting.

Our leading man Jay (Neil Maskell) and his best mate Gal (Michael Smiley) work as assassins to support their respective partners/families. They get in with one bunch of oddball clients who (after signing the contract in blood) set them three kills - a priest, a librarian and an MP. After working through a couple of them, Jay's past (a botched mission in Kiev) comes back to haunt him and shit gets cray. Real cray. While scoping the MP's country estate, they see some  pagan ritual types and from then, Jay, his friends and family get pulled through the shit.

The three lead performances were pretty astonishing. Maskell manages to humanise a character who is constantly fluctuating between extremes - a violent, angry bastard and a loving, family man. Smiley provides the yin to his yang, granting us with some wry smiles on our collective descent into insanity. Jay's wife (MyAnna Buring) holds her own too, playing the mix of vulnerable and fiery that the script requires with aplomb. Ben Wheatley's direction folds out in a dreamy manner, indie visuals and atmosphere languidly developing until extreme acts of violence break through the ethereal texture. His script (written with his partner Amy Jump and partly ad-libbed by the cast) is a layered affair, which develops as one goes into the underlying meanings. I found ... most helpful. I had no idea what I was watching between about the 70 minute mark and the finale, but the above reading (which I'll call compulsory for all viewers following this experience) developed a creeping fear in me and a begrudging respect.

My old friend Albert von Hammerschmidt OBE had this input to offer:
Do you enjoy having your mind fucked?
Do you yearn for that glorious empty feeling experienced after watching a movie that can be neither explained nor described?
Do you like a good gore fest?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then Kill List is for you. Superficially it has great gore and action sequences, but this is by no means a superficial film. It has layers upon layers of meanings, which are not resolved for you.
It starts as a gang/crime/assassination movie with strange lines and unexplained actions that constantly build a feeling of genuine unease that culminates into a sublime genre shift into full blown horror.
The on screen chemistry is great especially between the lead and Gal (who by the way gave one of the best performances in a horror film I have seen in many a moon). They constantly show these little quirks they have as a team, like stealing the soap and shampoo from the places they stay at, and having genuine all round college-calibre banter.
Watch this movie to be challenged, puzzled and yearning for more. A high, hearty recommendation.

It's not an easy watch, but it is a rewarding one. You'll walk away disturbed on a level you didn't know you could be. There's a proficiency in this film that most independents lack, and it benefits accordingly. While not much of a jump scare film, it is undoubtedly a horror. And a damn solid one at that - 8 out of 10 nude cultists.

One to Watch - Sinister

This is the first of the posts in which I keep an eye out for an upcoming horror release that's sure to get the people going. Since being released at FrightFest in March, Sinister has been greeted with pretty strong reviews and currently sits on a Rotten Tomatoes score of 84%, which means that 27 out of 32 reviewers so far have enjoyed the film. Let me tell you - this is high, especially for a horror.

Hey good lookin'... What you doin' later?

But the reviews aren't the real reason that I am super pumped for this one - it's the trailer that really ticks the boxes. Watch it now, and turn off all the lights before doing so. It's good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgYxydrVlDk.

I like Ethan Hawke - he does some solid work (you can look back at Training Day, Gattica and Before The Devil Knows You're Dead), and he reportedly gives a strong turn here. Director Scott Derrickson had a decent effort with The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and some of the shots that can be found in the trailer (i.e. Bagul in the pool with that unsuspecting kiddie and Bagul then coming to life on the laptop screen) are amazingly, amazingly scary. However, some detractors have called the movie a little lazy, but the trailer is enough to dispel any notions of laziness for me. To be reviewed in the future...

Slender - Run! F#cking Run!

Surprise, Muthaf#cka!

I posted earlier that I wanted to branch out in terms of my reviews, so today I am bringing you the first game review, and it's a corker. Based off some dodgy mythology about a figure known as the 'Slender Man', this 1st person exploration game gets superbly creepy. Your character has climbed into a fenced-off, heavily wooded area for some unknown reason and has to try and collect 8 pages of doodles left for him by the Slender Man before getting caught.

It is absolutely, balls-to-the-wall terrifying. I didn't think that a computer game could be so horrifically disturbing. The game map is put together so that confusion is the first order of the player - the woods all end up looking the same and there are only ten landmarks (such as a decrepit truck and a run down collection of tiled rooms) to help you get your bearings, upon eight of which will be posted pages. The Slender Man pops up whenever he feels ready, though it reportedly gets more frequent the more of his notes you collect. I say reportedly because when Esteban and I played together, we were so tense that our first sighting of the aforementioned fiend caused us to leap away from the game controls and thus guaranteeing our avatar's demise without someone to control his hasty escape. Oh yeah, we literally played together, Esteban on the WASD keys and yours truly on the mouse - it's just that scary. I ended up literally sweating and yodelling 'Run! Just Fucking Run! Ahhhhh!' everytime we ran into him.

Some minor gripes - it's annoying to not be able to sprint with the torch up, the graphics are pretty average and apparently the game engine can screw up occasionally and cause the thin devil to appear right in front of you from nowhere, but they are ultimately very minor. Esteban had this sentence to contribute: Slender man creates some chronic suspenses so you will not want to watch but you have to to make page finds.

 I can highly recommend this if you're after a shocking night in - 7 out of 8 ominous, handwritten warnings.

Some nice links -
The game download site: http://slendergame.com/
A steely player finishing like a boss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayVyc0K5tCA
11 drunk guys playing Slender (vulgar yet undeniably hilarious): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXwkfSmYkf4

Prometheus - Why Am I Here?

Having not yet seen the original Alien, I thought it appropriate to check out this 'quasi-prequel' before travelling to the depths of space with Sigourney Weaver. It's ambitious for sure, but when the answers to questions raised don't live up to their intriguing promise, perhaps ambition is not enough. And it's not all that scary. However, it's very well made and features stunning visuals in tandem with a mixed bag of performances.

Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and her partner Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) are chartered by Weyland Corp to investigate the origins of humanity in the outer reaches of the universe with a crew after finding a star map repeated in numerous ancient civilisations' cave paintings. Their ship touches down on a moon with Earth-like properties and they explore the place, finding a mysterious structure that seems to suggest that their makers originated here. But there also appear to be the remains of some horrific biotech and an absence of 'Engineers' (the name bestowed upon these primordial creators of life) which hints at some past destruction which puzzles the crew of our titular spacecraft. Elements of classic body horror are driven wild in the next hour or two and the plot gets closer to its prequel premise. As events take a turn for the worst, Shaw and Co. must a) work out what the hell is going on and b) save the world. Just an average day at the office then...

As far as horror goes, there are some nice moments, but it's ultimately more about inducing a few squirms than all out fear. The production design is uniformly excellent, boasting some filthy beasties, space-age technology and some alien architecture that evokes the stunning work of H. R. Giger and Gothic cathedrals in equal measure. Marc Streitenfeld's score is effective in generating unease thanks to some unusual techniques such as recording the music backwards then flipping it for the film. Our cast acquit themselves well (with the exception of Noomi Rapace's attempt at an English accent), with Michael Fassbender's android David stealing the show in his artificially intelligent ignorance of emotion and cold delivery. It's also well shot with some sweeping panoramas in counterpoint with tight, claustrophobic close-ups that tense the audience right up. While I caught it only regular 2D, I can only hazard a guess that the 3D would be pretty spectacular. Ultimately, the let down that undoes all the other good work is the script. It wants to know so much, and sets its own bar too high to ultimately clear. The ending in this sense feels rushed, as though they couldn't be bothered to resolve all the issues.

While not brilliant, it deserves a sequel purely to bring the same production quality and cast to what will hopefully be a better script. Prometheus wants to answer big questions like 'Why are we here? Where did we come from?', but I felt left asking 'Why am I here without a finished film to enjoy?'. With this said though, it's a fun ride up until you realise that some of it just makes no sense, so I'm awarding it 3 out of 5 doomed crew members.

Hellraiser - Frank: 'Don't Look At Me!'

I never thought that I would be an aficionado of the 'BDSM horror' sub-genre, but then I had the misfortune of watching Clive Barker's Hellraiser. While evidently a labour of love for Barker (who scripted and directed from his own novel) and though modern viewers can perhaps appreciate its kitsch and cult status, it's dead-serious tone, insane plotting and horrific cast KO any chance of a positive review here.

We see a fan of the ol' sadism school of pleasure (that would be Frank) acquire and open a mysterious puzzle box before being promptly tortured to death by the 'Cenobites', extra dimensional pain-worshipping creatures afflicted by severe ugliness. His brother and his brother's wife move into the house in which the bondage took place, and when his brother spills some blood on the floor, a mutant Frank appears from the floorboards, freshly escaped from the Cenobites' clutches. It turns out the wife once had an affair with Frank, and when she discovers him/his filthy corpse of a body, she naturally agrees to get him more blood so he can be restored and they can continue their torrid passion/borderline rape fantasies (seriously?). She begins luring unsuspecting strangers back to the attic for Frank to feed on, but Frank's brother's daughter (from his first marriage) begins to suspect something. It all gets out of hand, but not in the 'fun night in King's Cross' kind of way, more like the 'walk through Redfern alone at midnight' kind of way...

This was not Barker's first film as director, but you wouldn't know it. It has the subtlety of an old-fashioned shot to the nut sack (Anchorman 2 teaser trailer reference there...). It boasts the style of vintage pornography. It aptly demonstrates the unfortunate affliction of unintentional comedy. And finally, the production value manages to transcend its moderately low budget in all the wrong ways - if not for the solid practical effects and make-up, I would have suspected it was a home-movie. I've read some of Barker's work, and he's a great writer, and I've witnessed what I felt was a great adaptation of a Barker story (Midnight Meat Train - highly recommended), but Hellraiser feels like a shadow of its potential.

So, as I mentioned in the last post, brevity will be my new focus, so I'll push on to the input of my viewing colleagues - this time the trifecta of Esteban, Bevan from Paul's and Albert von Hammerschmidt OBE.

Esteban's contribution:
It's been real while but Mr. Savalez is back! Mr Gillard reput my visa on for study! I only travelled back from Peru recently.

Now, firstly when I arrived at college (lose!) I watched a film named 'Hellraiser' with my pals. It was not my favourite of which. There was really weird make up and strange characters and a really weird malleable box which a man played with and heaps which made strange men who wanted to give pleasure to come which I didn’t get heaps. But perhaps that is for the fact that my English has fallen since being out of Australia. The weird part was when I became stiff at sex.

If you like skin, don't watch this film because there is not much of skin. But do watch it if you like blood and haired men giving biscuits to young people. I give it 4 ours of the 10 our flight from Peru.

Bevan from Paul's' contribution:
Perms, goo and Latex. Hellraiser is one of those horror movies that fails miserably at raising a scream but completely succeeds as a wacky comedy. With fantastically outrageous costuming and design, some classic lines – "Little girl want a cookie?" – and a general absurdity of plot, Hellraiser is great fodder for a bored Thursday night's viewing.

Albert von Hammerschmidt OBE's contribution:
Pinhead is one of those classic movie monsters and therefore Hellraiser is a must watch just for this. However the script is unintentionally hilarious, with the line delivery only supplementing the misdirected script.

The movie is filled with classic WTF moments with viewers constantly asking themselves: "What just happened?" and "Why did she run up the stairs when down would have been a lot safer?"

Don't question it – just embrace it and have a fun 90 minutes with it

So, despite the grudgingly appreciative opinions of my learned friends, it can come as no surprise that Hellraiser will receive a negative rating from this blog. While impressive practical effects and multiple (unintentional) laughs (the line in this review's title is absolutely rib-tickling) raise it's standing, everything else about it really devastates any chance of success it had. I'll hand it a meagre 3 out of 11 cold beers.

Enjoy the trailer here (but avoid the finished product): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAx34IZ8bTk

A New Direction

I like to think of myself as a large wad of Play-Doh, able to be moulded with ease to adapt to uncomfortable social situations and exacting yoga positions. Aptly, I also consider myself able to adapt to the suggestions of others as to how the whole Terror Bites venture is panning out. So in this post I'm going to outline a few things that will happening on this blog in the future...

1. Shorter Reviews
I'm reasonably verbose - if there's something I want to say, I'll generally manage to get it out somehow. However, I appreciate that people don't really have much time to read my musings, and after a couple of people have reacted in a mildly shocked fashion after noting how much content goes into each review, I've realised that I may need to lock it up a bit. So I'll be keeping it more brief for here on in.

2. More Consistent Uploads
While I'll try to watch two horror films each week, you may have noted that my uploads are quite inconsistent. Now, this is not my fault (yeah, I'm passing off the blame... can you blame me?). The other contributors to my blog (including DJ Cheeky Wingz, Albert von Hammerschmidt OBE, Esteban, Bevan from Paul's and Susan) are all real people (obviously under false names of their own choosing), and I'm often waiting on them a week after watching a film to send me their paragraph which I then piece into the review. I've decided now to a) remove this reliance by watching more films by myself (I'll be taking one for the team and trying to not be too damn terrified) and b) skirt around this issue by - if I'm waiting for another contributor's input - posting about other horror related news.

3. Branching Out
As I mentioned above, I will be trying to keep my readers up to date with things outside of the films that I choose to watch. This will include heads up for upcoming films that look worthy of your attention, links to articles on other sites if they might be of interest and other cool horror related stuff I find online.

So, thanks for sticking with me in the last number of months as I iron the kinks out of my blogging style, and I hope you can continue to enjoy Terror Bites.

Yours in looseness,
Callie Babe