ALL THE WEEK'S HORROR HEADLINES (4th-11th May)

Not got time to trawl the web for all the top horror news of the last week? Well allow me to give you a bite-size breakdown of the all biggest nightmarish news!

1. THE HOWLING AND DEE SNIDER'S STRANGELAND HEADING FOR REMAKES

Emaji Entertainments has secured the remake rights to not one, but TWO cult classics. First 1981's werewolf flick The Howling (which has actually spawned SEVEN sequels already!) and also the 1998 Dee Snider vehicle, StrangeLand. Written by and starring Snider as the creepy Captain Howdy, this has built up quite the following.

Read Emaji's press release on The Howling here.

2. NEW SCREAM SERIES TRAILER

Heh heh heh. Awesome.

3. ROB ZOMBIE REVEALS ANOTHER 31 IMAGE

I feel like I've seen this movie already! Yet another image from Rob Zombie's 31, this time showing the good guys including Eighties icon Meg Foster and the ubiquitous Sheri Moon Zombie in the most awesome/bizarre top I have ever seen.

4. GRAVE ENCOUNTERS: THE BEGINNING!

Fans of the Vicious Brothers' found-footage shockers Grave Encounters and its sequel (both of which I thought were pretty cool!) will be licking their lips at the filmmakers' latest tweet.

Prequel? I'm down with that!

5. FATAL PICTURES GIVES US A LOOK AT HEIR

I loved Fatal Pictures' last two shorts, Worm and Familiar. I love the work of the hugely talented Robert Nolan. And I love everything that I've seen with the hardest working man in horror, Bill Oberst Jr. I'm pretty sure you can guess how I feel about Fatal Pictures' Heir, starring both Nolan and Oberst.

It cannot come soon enough.

6. NEW RELEASES

First up a movie that I have been waiting forever to see — Wyrmwood.

It's Mad Max with zombies.

I'll let that sink in.

Buy it at Amazon here and stay tuned for my own review.

Next up we have the intriguing The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne starring the great Udo Kier.

Buy it at Amazon here.

Also out this week we have creepy looking haunted house tale, The Haunting of Radcliffe House.

Buy it at Amazon here.

Are you a British reader and after more atmospheric homegrown frights? The Sleeping Room could be the flick for you!

Buy it at Amazon here.

If you prefer your movies with zombies and Billy Zane (and who doesn't love that????), check out Zombie Killers: Elephant's Graveyard.

Buy it at Amazon here.

And finally, here's a ghostly woman and a spooky child flick, Awakened. That ticks a few boxes, am I right?

Buy it at Amazon here.

If you haven’t already, do please check out and like the Hickey’s House of Horrors Facebook page, which you can find here. It gives you a nice quick link to any new posts on this blog, plus regular news updates from around the web. I check the Internet so you don’t have to! Alternatively, follow me on twitter: The House@HickeysHorrors

Until next time, I hope you enjoyed your stay.

RAW REVIEW: SICK: SURVIVE THE NIGHT

So, Zombies are still 'in' then.

With The Walking Dead continuing to draw a massive audience, I'm not expecting the zombie craze to go anywhere soon.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing — anything that brings our genre to a wider audience is to be applauded. The fact is zombies are so popular because they are a bloody good horror device. The storytelling potential with zombies is great, the problem is too many people cashing in on the trend are happy to rehash what we've seen before (namely Romero's first three seminal Dead flicks) rather than tell a new and original tale.

Last week saw the release of Ryan Andrews' SICK.

Is this a film that breathes fresh life into the undead? Or just another resurrection of a mouldy old corpse? Read on...

SICK: SURVIVE THE NIGHT (2012)

Dir: Ryan M. Andrews 

Starring: Christina Aceto, Richard Roy Sutton, Robert Nolan, Jennifer Polansky, Debbie Rochon, Sandra DaCosta, Ryan Barrett, Devin Upham, Breanne TeBoekhorst, Cengis H Fehmi

SPEEDY SYNOPSIS: I'll try not to spoil too much here but continue at your own risk.

A deadly virus has ravaged the earth. The infected have become ravenous predators, shuffling and mindless until they catch a scent of prey, than swiftly becoming brain-eating killing machines. Society has collapsed — aside from a few government bases that act as safe zones, the world is overcome. 

A few scavengers, known as Vultures, survive in this mess, sweeping for food, clothes, medicines, weapons — anything that can help in the day to day battle for survival.

In one government base, Dr Leigh Rozetta (Aceto) is working towards finding a cure. Aided by her tough assistant (and former vulture) Claudia (Polansky) the task seems fruitless, even if video contact with her colleague Dr Fehmi (the great Rochon) suggests headway is being made. Under increasing pressure from the overbearing armed forces troops in the base, Rozetta decides to head out into the world beyond her base and return to her parents' home.

Meanwhile a group of vultures led by the shrewd McKay (Hickey's House of Horrors fave Nolan) and including tough and jaded Seph (Sutton) are heading out on a routine sweep. These characters are due to collide under terrifying circumstances. The only question is: who will survive the night?

THE BEST BITS (minor spoiling warning): One of SICK's strongest points is how unpredictable it is. Taking a pretty cliched set-up (small group of survivors holed up in an isolated home surrounded by the undead while tensions summer within) it twists and turns along some routes that I really never saw coming. Whatever events you feel sure will occur later in the story are swiftly tugged out from under your feet.

Characters have arcs you can't possibly predict and deaths occur in an order you'd never guess. This is refreshing to see, I can guarantee that a major studio would have never shown the guts to make some of the decisions that Andrews et al have in this film.
This is a grim, dark story. It is almost unrelentingly horrifying and rarely shows a light at the end of the tunnel. It carries some serious gut-punches that will definitely hit you hard. This is not a feel-good film, but this is rarely a feel-good genre. I mean this in the very best way, SICK: Survive the Night is a HORROR film.

The dense plot is also used to explain the nature of the infected more — there is very much a scientific explanation for a lot of the zombies' behaviour. Andrews and his writing partner Chris Cull have clearly put a lot of thought into fully realising this grin world they have created. Andrews has said that he and Cull envision SICK as part of a trilogy and there is definitely scope to continue and expand upon this story.

The film is comparatively low-budget (as so many indies in the genre are), but Abdrews and his cinematographer Michael Jari Davidson do a pretty good job with what they have at their disposal to keep the film looking polished with some great shots that clearly show some love towards the films of Romero.

The Sick are a little different too, combining the classic shuffling zombie with today's 28 Days Later-inspired fast-moving and ferocious infected. The make-up effects are simple but nicely done, eerie black veins and lots of dripping brownish blood. It's a shame the now ubiquitous pale-blue/white contacts make another appearance, but I'm prepared to let that slide.

Of course it's no good having a great and well-realised world and a quirky story if the actors aren't up to the task of bringing it to life. One of SICK’s big strengths is that the infected themselves are almost a backdrop to the far more human story taking place about trust, survival and the relationships of our ragtag band of leads. This requires that they all hit their mark. Thankfully there are some very strong performances to be had here. Those who've read my reviews of both Worm and Familiar will know how impressed I've been by Robert Nolan and once again, he rocks. He's one hell of an actor and he's fast making a big fan here. Once again, well done, sir!

Of course he's joined by another of my genre favourites, scream queen legend Debbie Rochon and she is marvellous as always. Much like her turn in Phobia, she’s clearly having a blast but this time she’s afforded a fair bit more screen time.
It’s not just the big-names that account themselves well — I was impressed by Sutton who showed a great range in his role of Seph and Aceto had some fantastic moments. I’ll be looking out for both of them in the future.

THE WORST BITS (mild spoiler warning): Basically, SICK: Survive the Night is a zombie movie. For a lot of you hardcore fans, that will be an instant no-no. The over-exposed nature of the undead epidemic film will mean that a lot of you won’t be prepared to sit through another hour and a half of bickering survivors, waves of brain-eaters and the crumbling of civilisation. SICK takes some risks and adds some nice twists to the story, but the basic premise is one we’ve seen a lot. If you’ve had enough of carnivorous corpses, this one could leave you cold.

It is to be applauded by trying something different by focusing on the characters rather than the zombies, but that isn’t actually that different nowadays. In fact, most recent low-budget zombie movies tend to do this, probably because it saves on a crippling effects budget.

Speaking of effects, those of you looking for plentiful gore will be disappointed here. This isn’t a film about spilled guts, gallons of blood and grisly wounds. I’d argue that is most certainly not the point of SICK, but there is VERY little of the mucky stuff on display, so if that is what gets you going with an undead caper, you’re out of luck.

Also, while earlier on I praised the unpredictable writing, one of the side effects of this is that some very interesting characters who you expect a lot more from get less screentime than perhaps they should. This was especially true of Polansky’s Claudia, who felt a little wasted. She was given a clear arc, a glimpse of gratuitous nudity and an under-developed lesbian sub-plot, but hardly any time to do much with it. I also would have LOVED to see more of the vulture group’s knife-throwing bad ass (Fehmi). Perhaps one of the other SICK trilogy of films will give us some more of them? Fingers crossed.
Also, while I praised the leads, alas not every member of the cast was quite up to the lofty standards of the likes of Rochon and Nolan. This is often the case with low-budget horror — an expensive star often appears alongside some decidedly lower-rent actors and proceed to show them up along the way. Luckily the main culprits of this were limited to very little screen time and it isn’t an issue in too many scenes.
Finally, speaking of Rochon and Nolan, I was gutted to see that though don’t get to share any scenes. Oh man! Looks like I’ll have to wait to see two of my favourites rocking it onscreen together. Are you listening out there horror filmmakers? Somebody make it so!

VERDICT: I enjoyed SICK: Survive the Night a lot, but it won’t be for everyone. It is an unashamed zombie flick. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel by any stretch, but it takes a tried and tested formula and gives it some nice tweaks here and there to keep it interesting. I’m going to recommend the flick, and not just to completist fans who’ll snap up anything with Ms Rochon in.
It looks good, it sounds good, there’s a top-drawer cast and an interesting and unpredictable story in a well-realised world. What more are you after? Count me in for any sequels too, I’d love to see what else Andrews and his crew have waiting for us.
The film is available now through most major stockists, so be sure to check it out. Also, why not check out the movie’s Facebook page? Give it a Like too, especially if you want to Ryan’s trilogy vision come to fruition!

If you haven’t already, do please check out and like the Hickey’s House of Horrors Facebook page, which you can find here. It gives you a nice quick link to any new posts on this blog, plus regular news updates from around the web. I check the Internet so you don’t have to!
Alternatively, follow me on twitter: The House @HickeysHorrors

Until next time, I hope you enjoyed your stay.

RAW REVIEW: FAMILIAR

A couple of days ago I posted a review of Fatal Pictures' highly-acclaimed short, Worm.

Starring the very impressive Robert Nolan and directed by the talented Richard Powell, Worm was a massive hit here at Hickey's House of Horrors.

Now as Fatal Pictures' final short, Heir, draws closer, it seems the perfect time to take a peak at their previous short, Familiar.

Once again pairing Nolan and Powell, can this possibly hope to hit the same heights?

Read on...

FAMILIAR (2012)

Dir: Richard Powell

Starring: Robert Nolan, Astrida Auza, Cathryn Hostick

SPEEDY SYNOPSIS: I’ll try not to spoil too much here, as it is only a short film, but read on at your own risk.

John Dodd (Nolan) is a man unhappy with his lot in life. An unfulfilling marriage to his wife Charlotte (Auza) and a disappointing relationship with his daughter Jordan (Hostick), he is secretly counting down the days until he will be able to flee them both and set off for a new beginning and freedom.

However, when Charlotte breaks some unexpected news John feels trapped once more. A nagging voice inside his head tells him to take desperate and terrible measures to escape.

But is this voice really just John's subconscious? Or is there something even more horrific taking place?

THE BEST BITS (minor spoiler warning): This worked once before, so I’m sure it’ll work again:

ROBERT NOLAN.

Every bit as brilliant as he was in Worm, Nolan once again brings a frustrated, pathetic but very dangerous character to life. Like Worm, the bulk of the lines come from Dodd’s internal monologue, delivered with finesse by Nolan.

I raved at length about Nolan's performance in that previous review, so I’ll cut it short here. Suffice it to say that he was excellent then and he’s every bit as incredible this time round.

One of the few flaws I had with Worm was that while Geoffrey was brilliantly realised, the other characters had a little less depth. Thankfully that is something that has been addressed in Familiar. Dodd’s wife Charlotte is given plenty to do, going through some serious emotional turmoil. A character that starts as an annoyance to John soon gains the audience’s sympathy and Auza does a sterling job in the role. She more than holds her own opposite NOLAN. Hostick has less screentime but she does have a couple of key scenes and she is great in each of them.

Much like Worm, this is a marvellous slow-burn effort. The story starts as the tale of a desperately unhappy man, but as the horrors unfold onscreen we learn that there is much more to this short than we first realised.

Completely shocking body horror and some brilliant visual effects occur later on as the short builds to a truly twisted and unforgettable climax. This is an excellent and well-crafted tale.

Credit must also go to Powell for his assured direction. I thought his work in Worm was great, I’m prepared to say I thought it was even better in Familiar. That is strong praise indeed. The screen positively drips with an atmosphere of growing tension, the angles and framing suggesting the very worst.

Finally the story is one of the most grim and disturbing I've seen in some time. It goes to some extremely dark places, so be warned. Following in the same thematic footsteps of its predecessor (albeit via a very different conclusion) it covers the terrifying depths of the evil that dwells within men. If you want a twisted descent into the nightmarish, Familiar is the short for you. 

THE WORST BITS (minor spoilers follow): If it was hard to find fault with Worm, it is even harder to criticise Familiar as nearly all of its predecessor's flaws have been addressed. 

I suppose some people may find its more extreme moments a bit much. More sensitive viewers may be upset by the worst atrocities of the story including SPOILERS********** a poisoning induced miscarriage and bloody self-mutilation in the shocking final scenes SPOILERS END********** I’d argue that whole point of horror is to shock, to disturb and to hold up a mirror to the fears of society. In order to do so it needs to go to some pretty upsetting places at times.

I do wish that the film had an extended running time. I think that the rather abrupt shift towards that horrific finale could have done with a little more room to breathe, perhaps via a couple more clues on the way? Once again, I think it says a great deal about the quality of Familiar that the only real problem I had with it was wanting more!

VERDICT: Fatal Pictures have done it again — Familiar is a legitimate genre masterpiece. Worm was one of the very best shorts I’ve ever had the pleasure to review and I actually thought Familiar was even better.

Featuring another showstopper of a performance from Robert Nolan (who is now officially on the Hickey's House of Horrors 'Cool List') and excellent guidance by Powell, this is not just a short that I recommend you see, I DEMAND that you see it as soon as possible.

I was excited by Heir before, now I absolutely cannot wait to see what Powell and his producing partner Zachary Green have in store for us!

In the meantime, check out the movie’s Facebook page. Be sure to Like it while you’re there too, these guys definitely deserve our support!

If you haven’t already, do please check out and like the Hickey’s House of Horrors Facebook page, which you can find here. It gives you a nice quick link to any new posts on this blog, plus regular news updates from around the web. I check the Internet so you don’t have to!

Until next time, I hope you enjoyed your stay.

RAW REVIEW: WORM

I've said this plenty of times before, but I think there are a number of extremely gifted, bright talents in indie horror, many of whom truly shine without the constraints of big studio interference.

And nowhere are these talented filmmakers and actors given more freedom than in short films.

Shorts have offered some of the most fantastically dark, challenging and beautiful screen moments since this blog was resurrected last year. From the old school creepiness of Doll Boy and Klagger, to the beautifully disturbing I Am Monster and the biting social commentary of First Night, shorts can offer it all — which is why I get excited to hear about any that are making waves.

Few have received as much acclaim as Fatal Pictures' efforts. With their new offering Heir on the way, now seems the ideal time to review their previous hits — Worm and Familar.

Will these two hit the heights of the shorts listed above? Read on...

WORM (2010)

Dir: Richard Powell

Starring: Robert Nolan, Kimberley Curran, Dustin Foxman, Kyle Martellacci, Christina McLain, Samantha Nemeth

SPEEDY SYNOPSIS: I'll try not to spoil too much as this is a short film, but read on at your own risk.

Geoffrey Dodd (Nolan) is a quiet, well-mannered and amiable high school teacher — at least that is what everybody thinks.

Via an increasingly disturbing voiceover we are given an insight into Geoffrey's dark and deranged psyche, gearin his true thought and feelings towards himself, his colleagues and, most terrifyingly, the pupils in his care...

THE BEST BITS (mild spoiler warning): ROBERT NOLAN.

This entire short follows one character and the performance of Nolan in the role is pivotal to success of the short — and Nolan is a revelation.

He is absolutely astonishing in the role. His performance is flawless, whether physically or in the vocal inflection of his increasingly bitter, twisted and horrifying internal monologues. I have seen some great performances in short films and Nolan's is easily up among the very finest of them. 

The writing in the monologues is also magnificent — at times darkly humorous, at others tragically pathetic but always truly scary. Hearing Geoffrey's ever so creepy yearning for a pretty student, his bitter and envious hatred for a young man with his life still ahead of him and his petty, hilarious but vindictive feelings towards the fellow teachers he can barely stand to be around is a brilliant ploy, making the short feel almost like a novella, a dense text on which we are given a peek behind the curtain of a drab, average man and see the hideous thing inside.

Worm is also shot brilliantly. The increasingly claustrophobic tight shots on Nolan's face just heighten the tension. When combined with the building hysteria in his delivery you find yourself waiting for the inevitable explosion — and dreading what may come.

The everyday backdrop of a regular high school is transformed into a smothering prison through camerawork that drags you kicking and screaming into Geoffrey's world. Excellent work.

THE WORST BITS (mild spoiler warning): There really is very little to find fault with here. I suppose the nature of the short film brings it own problems — a limited running time brings its own constraints.

First, while the character of Geoffrey is brilliantly and effectively realised, the other characters have less depth. Of course the whole point of the story is that it is entirely from one very sick man's perspective. It isn't beyond the realm of possibility that he sees those around him as little more than annoyances or one dimensional embodiments of his own feelings of inadequacy and isolation. 

Frankly, I was quite happy with Worm just being the story of Geoffrey, told from his point of view. With a lead this compelling time spent with other characters would only disappoint!

Second, and I'm loathe to discuss this as it covers the ending of the short but feel I should address it. I would seriousky suggest that if you haven't seen the short yet you now skip over on to my verdict as this following point is neglible anyway. This is a short film that works best if you are unspoiled so please come back to this section of the review only AFTER you have watched it.

Still here? Sure you are prepared for spoilers? Okay, read on SPOILERS********** Some people may be disappointed that the seemingly inevitable meltdown doesn't come. The downbeat ending may leave some exasperated. While I can understand that point of view, I have to say that I completely disagree. While the short finished at a set point, the story is still going. Just because this day wasn't the day of the inevitable and terrible tragedy that is on the way, that doesn't mean it will never come. Geoffrey will live this day and the next and the next under the same pressures, his feelings just getting stronger. The bloodshed will come, and THAT is the most terrifying thing about this short. We saw how close these characters came to a truly horrifying climax. The most frightening thing about this story is that this man is undetected among us, simmering away, getting closer and closer to that breaking point. We know it will come but everybody else remains oblivious... until it is too late. SPOILERS END **********

VERDICT: Wow. I'd heard some great things about Worm but I was still shocked by just how amazing it was.

Anchored by a brilliant performance by Robert Nolan (one that assured I will eagerly look forward to more of his work) and fantastically shot and crafted by writer/director Richard Powell, Worm is a must-see. As much a fascinating character-drama as a horror story, this is yet another gem in the ranks of genre shorts. Seeing this has made me all the more keen to get to Familiar. Oh, and did I mention that the upcoming Heir sports the Hickey's House of Horrors dream combo of Robert Nolan AND Bill Oberst Jr.? 
2015 is shaping up to be a great year already!

If you get the chance to catch the short, I thoroughly recommend that you do so. In the meantime, check out the movie’s Facebook page. Be sure to Like it while you’re there too, these guys deserve our support!

If you haven’t already, do please check out and like the Hickey’s House of Horrors Facebook page, which you can find here. It gives you a nice quick link to any new posts on this blog, plus regular news updates from around the web. I check the Internet so you don’t have to!

Until next time, I hope you enjoyed your stay.