RAW REVIEW: COOTIES

Who'd have thought that the young boy playing video games in Back to the Future Part II would later star in one of the most successful movie series of all time, then go on to establish some serious horror credentials?

Elijah Wood is obviously a fan of our beloved genre (his work in Franck Khalfoun's Maniac remake is one of the strongest horror performances of the last decade) so when I saw that he was set to star in horror-comedy Cooties with a who's who of comic talent, I was eager to catch the movie.

Would this flick hit the spot? Or is it one to avoid like the plague?

Read on...

COOTIES (2014)

Dir: Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion
Starring: Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, Jack McBrayer, Leigh Whannell, Nasim Pedrad, Ian Brennan, Jorge Garcia, Cooper Roth, Miles Elliot, Armani Jackson, Morgan Lily, Peter Kwong

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

Clint Hadson (Wood) is an aspiring novelist working on a frankly dire-sounding horror story, Keel Them All, about a possessed boat. However, to pay the bills he has taken work as a substitute teacher at Ft. Chicken Elementary School. Here he is reunited with former childhood sweetheart Lucy (Pill), but is distraught to discover that she is dating butch, alpha male PE teacher Wade (Wilson).
Upon starting work he is introduced to oddball Vice Principal Simms (Brennan) who is acting as head teacher and, high on a power trip, confiscates all of his staff's mobile phones.
However, this proves costly when a batch of contaminated chicken nuggets are delivered to the school that spreads a virus throughout the students, transforming them into violent, ravenous, flesh-eating ghouls. As the infection spreads a handful of surviving staff-members including Clint, Lucy, Wade, camp Tracy (McBrayer), abrupt and caustic Rebekkah (Pedrad) and socially inept science teacher Doug (Whannell) are forced to hole-up inside the school and try to formulate a plan of escape.
Meanwhile, outside the school a baked and tripping crossing guard, Rick (Lost's Garcia), is witnessing the events and REALLY struggling to keep his shit together.
Can Clint, Lucy and Wade overcome the tension of their romantic entanglements to fight together? Will the teachers escape the pre-pubescant horde? And can Clint overcome the various plot hurdles to complete Keel Them All?

THE BEST BITS (mild spoiler warning): Let's cut straight to the chase Cooties is absolutely hilarious. You'd expect nothing less with this level of talent involved, but it really is worth reiterating. The script, written by stars Whannell and Brennan, along with Josh C. Waller, absolutely sparkles with wit and the cast are, without fail, awesome.
The jokes are effective and a couple of the recurring gags in particular are especially funny, but the bulk of the comedy comes from the excellent characterisation. A real ensemble piece, each character has their moment to impress, which must have played a key role in attracting this calibre of cast.
First to Wood, whose Clint is a quiet, likeable chap and arguably the biggest 'straight man', of the cast, mining most of his laughs from the interaction he has with the larger than life characters around him. That's not to say that Wood is anything less than entertaining — he's a fantastic actor and very funny in his own right (the Keel Them All stuff is side-splittingly funny to anybody who has ever had to face the realisation that the story they're writing is actually a pile of crap) and he provides the human heart of the story, especially through his relationship with the sweetly likeable Pill.
Pill is delightful as the group's permanently upbeat cheerleader and you can't help see how why Wood's clint would have fallen for her. Pill is chirpy and cheery but shows enough restraint to keep Lucy from becoming annoying and her superb comic timing ensures she never gets lost among the more out-there characters.
Which brings us to Wilson's monstrous Wade, a towering, glowering performance of such machismo that he damn near runs away with the whole film. He's given plenty to do and, despite initial appearances that he'll be the guy you love to hate who ends up going out in a gloriously bloody way, he actually gets you onside as the film progresses and has a couple of surprisingly emotional moments. He's a big guy and he throws his weight around in some set-pieces that cause plenty of inappropriate laughter — a man of his stature clotheslining 11-year-olds really shouldn't be as funny as it is. Plus nobody delivers a poorly conceived toughguy quip like Rainn Wilson when he's on form and here, dear readers, Mr Wilson is well and truly on form.
Speaking of the kids, they're all fantastic too — I especially liked the work of young Roth as Clint's brattish nemesis Patriot, while the uninfected Calvin (Armani) and Tamra (Lily) also impress with their screen time.
Elsewhere Whannell is also a real highlight, his oddness coming to the fore more and more with each scene — I especially enjoyed his character's obvious glee at getting to dissect and investigate the source of the disease and constantly asking the silent group to calm down. Whannell is a talented actor and his writing is obviously at an extremely high standard. Finally, the devilishly acidic Pedrad has some of the best lines in the film, while McBrayer's elastic features and extravagant character traits, while underdeveloped, also raise some laughs, as does the always fun Garcia, whose terrific work proves justification for his otherwise pretty meaningless sub-plot.
The plot veers from drama to comedy by way of some surprising horror moments and this lack of predictability really works in the film's favour. You're never quite sure whether the next scene will cause you to laugh or scream (sometimes it's both!) and the film balances its horror and comedy finely. And yes, while I've raved about the humour, Cooties manages a couple of effective scare and gore sequences. The opening sequence, during which we are shown the origin of the contaminated nuggets, is utterly stomach-turning, while the suspenseful stalking sequence involving a tricycle and a vent is seriously tense. Lyle Vincent's cinematography ensures the film always looks great while you're laughing so hard you pee your pants or filling them in another way through fright, while Thomas William Hallbauer's production design is full of lovely little touches that are well worth keeping your eyes peeled for.
There's some great gore in the film, plus a truly spectacular gag late on, that shows precisely how talented the Fractured FX team is.
What's more, the film is entirely happy to go to some horribly dark places. Along with Wade's brutally violent dispatch of one of the infected children, we also get a horrible scene in which one of the zomblings clambers into a car with his baby sister and distracted mother — a scene which almost goes too far without ever being graphic.
That's quite possibly the film's biggest asset — Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion know exactly when to show restraint and when it's the right time to go for belly-laughs, heart-stopping scares or visceral violence. Undoubtedly boosted by a sterling editing job by Brett W. Bachman, Cooties isn't always forging forward at breakneck speed, but when it does, it does it very well indeed.

THE WORST BITS (mild spoiler warning): There's very little to pick at in Cooties, because it really is that good.
I suppose we could hark back to the underdeveloped storylines involving some of the supporting cast — there's not much of an arc for Rebekkah, Doug or Tracy. What's more, I thought the genre might have moved on from poking fun at characters for being effete homosexuals? That pretty much seems to be the entire joke for McBrayer's Tracy, but thankfully it never comes across as mean-spirited, just a little awkward and tired. It's probably because the humour involved in the characterisation of the other characters was so much wittier that I thought this felt a little cheap.
Furthermore, while these characters were undoubtedly very funny, they weren't quite as compelling on a dramatic sense. The romantic subplot isn't particularly gripping (compared to fellow zom-rom-com Shaun of the Dead, for example) and the film definitely gets by more on its comedy accomplishments than its dramatic or horror credentials. If you go into this expecting plenty of laughs, you're in the right place. If you're expecting nail-biting terror or some deeper emotional engagement, you might be better off looking elsewhere.
Finally, strange as it may sound considering how much I liked the characters, I could have done with a higher body count. Whether played for gross-out splattery laughs or to up the ante and sense of danger, a few more fallen faculty members could have given the film a definite boost.
Ultimately though, these are minor personal quibbles in an excellent film that I'm sure will gather plenty of fans and has a real chance at becoming a cult classic.

THE VERDICT: Cooties is one of two fantastic horror-comedies released this week. It's probably the one that will find a larger audience and for good reason — with a sterling cast, plenty of laughs and splatter and looking a million bucks, this is a movie that screams quality. If this is the standard that all of Wood's SpectreVision films are aspiring towards, I shall continue to watch their output with great interest. But for now, I recommend, no, I implore you to watch this hilariously entertaining twisted little thrill ride. You will thank for me it.

Cooties is available to buy from Amazon here.

For more information, check out the film's official Facebook page here. Give it a Like while you're there too, show some love!

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: INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3

Along with Paranormal Activity, one of the first franchises to take hold in the post-Saw landscape is Blumhouse's Insidious series. The first came across as Poltergeist for a new generation (before some bright spark decided the world actually needed a new Poltergeist), while the second (reviewed here) was a decent sequel that never really hit the highs of its predecessor.

The third hit cinemas earlier this year and will get its home release on 12th October, just in time for Halloween.

But is third time a charm?

Read on...

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 (2015)

Dir: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Tate Berney, Steve Coulter, Ashtob Moio, Hayley Kiyoko, Adrian Sparks, Ele Keats, Michael Reid Mackay

SPEEDY SYNOPSIS: I'll try not to spoil too much here but read on at your own risk, needless to say there will be spoilers for the first two Insidious movies.

Set before the events of the first Insidious, Chapter 3 is the story of young Quinn (Scott) who believes that her recently deceased mother Lillith (Keats) is trying to contact her from the other side. Curious, she decides to contact a medium and comes across series regular Elise (Shaye). However, Elise is still getting over the loss of her late husband and has ceased using her gift after a series of threatening encounters with a malevolent entity (The Bride in Black from the first two films).

At first loathe to take the risk, she eventually acquiesces when she sees how much this means to the young Quinn. However the seance is cut short when the spectre of Parker Crane once again attacks. Terminating the session, Elise informs Quinn that she cannot help her but leaves her with a warning to be careful, for when you call out to one of the dead all of them can hear you.

Back home Quinn noticed some bizarre occurrences, including creepy noises, but she thinks nothing of it, distracted by attempting to learn her lines for an upcoming theatre audition. This proves extremely challenging though, as her father Sean (Mulroney) heaps far too much responsibility, essentially charging her with all the housekeeping and watching over her younger brother Alex (Berney) while he goes out tow work to keep a roof over their head.

After Quinn reaches New York she fluffs the audition when she is distracted by a shadowy figure gesturing to her. Later that same evening she spots the figure once again while crossing the road — however the distraction causes her to get hit by a speeding car, which causes severe injuries.

With both her legs broken and in plaster, Sean brings his daughter home and puts her to bed. However, her sanctuary soon becomes a cell as she realises that she is being stalked by a demonic entity from the Further, the rasping Man Who Can't Breathe (Mackay). As the otherworldly being's assaults become more vicious, Sean first turns to Elise (who once again nearly falls victim to The Bride in Black), then a pair of video-bloggers recommended by his son, Tucker and Specs (the returning Sampson and Whannell).

Eventually the desperate group are forced to rally together when they realise that the Man Who Can't Breathe has a very different MO to most of the predatory entities in The Further — rather than drag the souls of the living into the afterlife to possess their empty bodies, he takes them so he can torture their frightened souls for ever.

Can Quinn escape his vile clutches? Can Elise overcome her personal demons to battle this one? And what else is lurking in the Further waiting to strike?

THE BEST BITS (mild spoiler warning): Arguably the strongest element of the last two Insidious films was the character of psychic ghostbuster Elise and genre stalwart Shaye's sterling performances. Here, she's finally moved more into the spotlight as she's given a much more prominent role.

This really works, not least because the always fantastic Shaye is once again on tiptop form. Elsewhere Mulroney impresses, as well you might expect from an actor with his experience, while young Scott is also fantastic. She's a likeable young lady and, although this isn't necessarily the most complex role, she totally hits all of her marks, really nailing the vulnerability of her character. She looks legitimately terrified at times, which suggests she could make for a superb scream queen in the future. Here's hoping she sticks with the genre.

Of course a great cast is wasted if they don't have strong material to work with. Luckily Whannell's script is pretty damn good. In fact, I'd argue that Insidious 3 has some of the scariest moments of the entire series. This is thanks to the great villain, Mackay's Man Who Can't Breathe, a nightmarish creation, emphasising Mackay's gaunt features, a seemingly sickly man in a tattered hospital gown with an oxygen mask permanently affixed to his glowering face. Leaving a trail of black, oozing footprints and with his harsh, rattling breath, he's a marked improvement on Mrs Crane and her gender-confused son in the previous film. 

What's more, the character's unique M.O. and steadily escalating attacks, when combined with the vulnerability of our lead, makes for some genuinely unsettling setpieces.

Credit must also go to Whannell for the way in which the script and pacing keep these attacks interesting. For while the script does actually fall into a rather repetitive cycle of 'attack, lull, attack, lull' it remains interesting because each attack becomes more frightening and intense than the event that preceded it. Luckily, Whannell also realises when the attacks have reached their peak and has outside help get involved at exactly the right time.

Whannell took over directorial duties from his long-term collaborator and co-creator of Saw, James Wan. I've waxed lyrical about the respect I have for Wan's directorial style before, especially the good, old-fashioned way in which he  crafts his frights. If the likes of The Conjuring and Dead Silence taught us one thing about Wan, it's that he is a fan of horror classics, and I'm delighted to say that Whannell seems to have learnt plenty of top spooky storytelling tips from his colleague. 

There are some rocky moments here and there, but for a first time gig with a production of this magnitude, it's a fantastic effort. Whannell's style is a little rawer and edgier, less classical than Wan's, but the cinematography by Brian Pearson ensures that the film still looks absolutely gorgeous and that there's no glaring shift between Chapter 3 and the previous Insidious movies. This edginess adds to the danger of scenes, it keeps you on edge, a vital prerequisite in making those jumpscares payoff.

And yes, there are scares, plenty of them. However, unlike a lot of modern horror films that rely almost entirely on keyboard slam jolts, Insidious Chapter 3 combines legitimate, well-earned jumps with carefully crafted creepy atmosphere and proper horror thrills. For those of you who have grown tired of modern film-makers who seem to have confused jumps and vile gory acts of torture and mutilation with actual scares, this will be a refreshing breath of fresh air.

Finally the ending — I don't want to spoil it, but it's intelligent and actually suggests that the inevitable Chapter 4 could take place in two timelines, immediately after this chapter and again in the future, following on from the finale of Chapter 2. That I'm very much interested in such a film suggests that Whannell et al have done more than enough to keep me onside.

THE WORST BITS (mild spoiler warning): Insidious: Chapter 3 is a very good movie, however, it is not without its flaws.

Chief among these is the fact that, as great as the first two acts are, the third feels like it falls a little flat. It's almost as if the film was so beholden to reintroduce elements from the first two Insidious movies that it lost some of the momentum of its own story. As nice as it is to see Specs, Tucker and even Steve Coulter's Carl (albeit for one inconsequential scene), their inclusion is entirely unnecessary as Elise could just have easily swanned in at exactly the same point having had a change of heart through some soul-searching and the film could have had precisely the same ending.

I understand that it was done to show how Specs, Tucker and Elise became a team, but even that falls a little flat. A film in which all three were given plenty of screen time and would effectively utilise each other's strengths would surely have made for a more stirring take than 'Tucker and Specs are just charlatans who get bailed out by Elise who honestly doesn't need them in the slightest'.

Although I want to take this opportunity to talk about just how amazing the always excellent Sampson's Zangief-esque Mohawk and beard are. Bravo, sir. Bravo.

And now to the climax. While it does have some pretty creepy imagery, it's just not anywhere near as frightening as the scenes that have come before. It's not a total wash-out by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that my expectations were raised by the earlier scenes and sadly, it failed to live up to them.

That isn't to say that the well-crafted scares were also without flaw. Whannell is clever in that he slowly sucks all background noise and the score out of a scene before springing his jolts, a very unnerving trick indeed. However, once you notice that he's doing this, the brief moments of total silence before each jump effectively act as an early warning, which robs them of some of their impact.

Finally, the Brenner family, despite being brought to life by a talented cast, didn't quite have the depth of the Lamberts in the previous movies. Once again, I think they may have suffered from a lack of development due to a plot that tried to juggle too many balls at once. Maybe if they return to play a role in future instalments in the franchise they can be fleshed out a little more.

THE VERDICT: In a year in which recent rivals The Conjuring and Sinister also released sequels and spin-offs, it is Insidious: Chapter 3 that most certainly comes out on top thanks to a wonderful star in Shaye, superb direction from Whannell, a compelling story and some excellently crafted creepy set pieces. If you enjoyed the first film, or even if you just fancy something a little different from the endless conveyer belt of Found Footage horror films on shop shelves, this is a movie that's well worth your time.
You can buy Insidious Chapter 3 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: THE VISIT

There can be few directors who went from having the world at their feet to a subject of scorn as rapidly as M. Night Shyamalan. After his critically and commercially successful smash, the excellent Sixth Sense, he followed it up with a cult classic in the form of Unbreakable. Personally I loved Signs and I thought The Village was a good, but not great little movie. I even thought The Lady In The Water was a brilliant homage to the family friendly sci-fi/fantasy flicks of the Eighties, a combination of Batteries Not Included, Splash and The Neverending Story.
However, these films mark the point at which the backlash against Shyamalan's films began, and the less said about the spectacular misfires that were The Happening and The Last Airbender the better. 
After Earth marked a slight improvement in his fortunes (although the double team of Will and Jaden Smith probably had a significant part in that), before he abandoned feature films to handle the reins of cult TV smash, Wayward Pines.
Which brings us to Shyamalan's latest effort, The Visit, a return to the smaller scale dark thrillers with which he made his name. Early word of mouth has been pretty good, so could this be the return to form that we've all been waiting for?
Read on…

THE VISIT (2015)

Dir: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jorge Cordova, Benjamin Kanes, Ocean James, Seamus Moroney

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

Young budding filmmaker Rebecca (DeJonge) and her little brother Tyler (Oxenbould) are about to meet their grandparents for the first time. After their mother Paula (Hahn) met their father there was a serious family argument — which she refuses to discuss with her children — and since then she has not spoken to them.
Now the siblings' father has left them and Paula's parents have since contacted her over the internet and asked if they can meet their grandchildren.
Paula is unconvinced but the two children, especially Becca, want to go, saying they'd like to spend a week with their estranged grandparents while their mum gets to enjoy a relaxing cruise with her new boyfriend.
Despite her initial misgivings, Paula agrees and Rebecca decides to document the whole thing, from packing their bags, to their mother waving them off at the train station and beyond.
When they finally reach their destination in rural Pennsylvania, they are met by the kind and elderly Nana (Dunagan) and Pop Pop (McRobbie).
However, as they spend more time with the pair, Becca and aspiring rapper Tyler start to suspect that something is wrong with their grandparents. From moments of confusion to unsettling outbursts, it soon becomes clear that they are almost certainly starting to suffer dementia and — after Pop Pop explains that Nana suffers with a condition called sundowning, whereby her mental state deteriorates as the day progresses, and his own incontinence is discovered — soon the children find themselves instructed to stay in their room after bedtime at 9.30pm.
What starts as an in-turn mildly amusing or desperately sad situation soon takes a dark turn when Pop Pop's aggressive paranoia and Nana's night-time rampages become even worse. What is going on at the house? Will the children ever discover the truth about the day their mother left? And will they even live long enough to?

THE BEST BITS (mild spoiler warning): This may sound like a strange thing for a self-confessed Shyama-fan to say, but arguably The Visit's biggest strength is how much it feels unlike a typical M. Night film.

First off, it's found-footage (I know, I know, bear with me), so that instantly flies in the face of the cold, meticulous, almost clinically lot and framed shots that is a trademark of the director's style. The fact that 15 year old Becca is clearly presented as a serious of student of film does give Shyamalan an out when he's unable to resist a particularly stunning shot, but for the most part, the film is considerably more frenetic than anything I've seen from him before.

What's more, while Shyamalan is well-known for taking pretty outlandish premises and presenting them in a restrained, low-key and very po-faced manner (well, the odd foil hat excluded) The Visit is actually very funny. It happily embraces its own wackiness, giving the young leads plenty of quips and running with the ridiculously sinister antics of the elderly antagonists with almost reckless abandon. It's a side of Shyamalan that I've never seen before, displaying a wry sense of humour that has been absent until now.

That's not to say that this is a weaker story than any of his previous works — far from it, once again Shyamalan is able to craft a delicately layered mystery and the characteristion, if a little heavy-handed at times, is once again a surprisingly moving look at people coping with life-altering events.

Now, I know what the vast majority of you are wondering — does this film have a big twist? I'm a little reticent to discuss the intricacies of the plot here but I will say that there is a quite shocking reveal late on in the movie that certainly ups the ante somewhat. However, this is far from the huge game-changer of The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable, instead feeling like an organic development that plunges the film into the final act rather than defining it. I didn't see it coming and I was pleasantly surprised by it.

Of course, a decent plot can be well and truly ham-strung by an inadequate cast. Thankfully that isn't the case here.

A couple of minor wobbles early on aside, both DeJonge and Oxenbould are excellent. They have great chemistry — their rapport feels natural and, with it, we are instantly given more reason to care about them as their relationship becomes all the more believable. Both are given some very emotional scenes and both deliver the goods when it counts.

On this showing I really do believe that young Miss DeJonge could well be a name to look out for in the future.
Elsewhere the excellent Hahn does a superb job during her limited screen time. She's a polished actress and does a great job of pulling her scenes together. It's just a shame she's not on the screen for longer.

However, THE actors to watch in The Visit are the frankly astonishing Dunagan and the equally spellbinding McRobbie. Both show fantastic range, taking their characters along arcs that see them as warm and likeable, then sad and sympathetic and finally legitimately frightening. What's more, both provide brave utterly committed performances, from Dunagan's nudity and McRobbie's feinted incontinence, to the physical way in which they hurl their whole bodies into key scenes, such as Pop Pops assault on a passerby and the way in which Nana gallops backwards and forwards during her moonlight sojourns. 
They are a vital part of the success of the film and without their tremendous performances it would be significantly weaker. Both really are that brilliant.
It's no coincidence that the work of Dunagan and McRobbie utterly encapsulates the very best of The Visit, a complex blend of laughs and scares. Shyamalan has said he produced three cuts of the film, one deathly serious, one a goofy comedy and this, the final cut, which falls somewhere in the middle. It is the blend of light and dark that really makes this film stand out, having audiences flinching, shrieking and giggling, often all at once. The laughs are well-deserved (the script has plenty of wit about it) and the scares exquisitely crafted. I never thought I'd find senior citizens creepy — between this and The Taking of Deborah Logan I've been well and truly proven wrong!
Despite the way in which many moviegoers feel about both Found Footage and Shyamalan, The Visit looks fantastic and it has a cheeky, quirky heart.

THE WORST BITS (mild spoiler warning): As much as I enjoyed The Visit, it isn't without its flaws.

Unfortunately, the biggest of those is a Shyamalan trademark — the serendipitous manner in which previously mentioned events play a major role in the finale (a lá Signs). I personally don't need every single element tied up in a bow at the end of a film, sometimes things can be said without EVERYTHING becoming a major part of the climax. 

The ending also suffers from some unnecessary schmaltziness, plus it seems to actually have about three consecutive endings tacked on one after the other. I won't spoil them but the last one at the very least could have been easily excised.

Which, in a round-about way, brings us to the next major flaw. As likeable as DeJonge and Oxenbould are, both characters are prone to moments of irritating precociousness. Both occasionally spout lines far more mature than the typical language of a 15- and 13-year-old. What's more, while it's clearly played for laughs and meant to make for a loveable personality quirk, Tyler's rapping is very annoying. Each time he started I found my fists and jaw clenching involuntarily — it really is that bad.

Another misstep in the otherwise great script was the rather unnecessary use of poop gags. It works in the likes of South Park, but when we're talking about senility it would perhaps have been better to leave these moments (not least THAT scene late on) on the cutting room floor.

On a storyline note, while the big reveal is wonderfully executed, it is quite easy to pick some holes in the story afterwards, many of which are to do with exactly how awful a mother Paula must be for this exact scenario to have unfolded. It can just about be explained away but even so, it does hit the film somewhat.

Finally, while we're on the subject of Hahn's Paula, it really is a shame that she's so criminally under-utilised. She's a really very excellent actress and it's a crying shame that she wasn't given more to do with the role.

THE VERDICT: The Visit is a really, really good, fun film. Is it a return to the form of Shyamalan's career highs of The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable? No, it isn't, but it is a massive improvement on the likes of The Happening and The Last Airbender. It's something of a departure for Shyamalan, an experiment outside his comfort zone, one that he actually shot and produced with his own money, away from the influences of studio backers, and while there are a couple of slips here and there, it's a risk that pays off. 

Strangely this is a film I can recommend to both fans of Shyamalan's work AND those who dislike his typical output.

The Visit is still playing in cinemas so do give it a shot.

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: LAST SHIFT

There's something inherently eerie about empty public buildings. It's the alien concept of subverting the norms, showing normally bustling spaces, those that one is used to seeing full of people, bare and seemingly abandoned. 

Horror movies have developed a tradition for the effective use of empty schools, libraries and especially hospitals, perhaps most memorably utilised in Halloween 2.

Less common, but every bit as effective, is the use of an isolated, vacant police station, as proven in both John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 and the video game Resident Evil 2.

Which brings us to Anthony DiBlasi's Last Shift (originally titled Paymon: King of Hell, then wisely renamed), a movie that has intrigued me for some time.

Was it much cop? Or would I want to throw it in the slammer?

Read on...

LAST SHIFT (2014)

Dir: Anthony DiBlasi

Starring: Juliana Harkavy, Hank Stone, Erica Lea Shelton, Randy Molnar, J. LaRose, Joshua Mikel, Natalie Victoria, Sarah Sculco, Kathryn Kilger, Mary Lankford, Matt Doman

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

Jessica Loren (Harkavy) is a rookie police officer who has joined the force to follow in the footsteps of her father (Molnar) who died on duty a hero.

However, her first shift is not particularly glorious — she is assigned to an old station that has recently relocated to another precinct. Closed to the public, Loren's job — as she is reliably informed by her gruff superior, Sgt Cohen (Stone) — is to watch over the building until a team can come to collect the crime scene evidence kept in storage.

Left to her own devices, her night takes a strange turn when a homeless man (LaRose) wanders in and urinates in the lobby, then she receives a series of panicky phone calls from a distressed young woman called Monica (Shelton) who is being held captive on a farm.

As the night goes on, Loren comes to realise that the mysterious events could have something to do with a notorious old case involving a murderous Manson-esque cult, led by the diabolical and now deceased John Michael Paymon (Mikel).

As the decidedly creepy occurrences (including visions of hooded, bloody figures) escalate, Loren is torn between fleeing for her own safety and the shame of disgracing her father's memory by abandoning her post. 
What is going on in the empty hallways? What links Loren to the Paymon family? And will she last the night?

THE BEST BITS (mild spoiler warning): I chanced upon Last Shift with very little in the way of expectation — however, when I saw that it was from the director of Dread and Cassadaga, two great horror flicks, that soon changed and I eagerly looked forward to watching it.
Luckily, I was not disappointed.
The story (co-written by director DiBlasi and Scott Poiley) is simple, but effective, slowly feeding us the information we need to make sense of the spooky goings-on but using those same scares to keep us hooked. What's more it's a story that makes sense and when explanations are given for the unexplainable, you don't find yourself screaming abuse at the screen. All too often explanations kill the mystery and with it, most of the scares, but if anything, these explanations just up the chills. With a complex backstory involving a murderous, Manson family-like cult and the supernatural, giving the story a little room to breathe allows it to sink its hooks in before ratcheting up the nastiness.
Of course, a key part in building a suitably dread-soaked atmosphere is in the look of the film. Thankfully the cinematography by Austin F. Schmidt is superb, while DiBlasi's eye for framing makes for some extremely tense moments and some effective, well-worked jumpscares.

What's more, these are legitimate, well-earned jumpscares. Tension is built the old-fashioned way, through giving us a character worth caring about, then placing her in genuinely unnerving situations, emphasising darkness and isolation in the shot with lots of empty space, then promptly filling aforesaid space with nightmarish visuals. These are proper horror frights, no spring-loaded cats, deafening telephones or ninja-like colleagues who inexplicably remain utterly undetected until appearing in bathroom mirrors. The frightful imagery with which DiBlasi chooses to jolt the audience — bloody, masked assailants and unrecognisable, brutalised victims — are well worth the visceral response their unexpected appearance provokes.

I mentioned that we have a protagonist worth caring about and that is thanks to the superb characterisation and an awesome performance from Harkavy. Walking Dead fans will recognise the stunning Harkavy from her stint on the show and her work in Last Shift gives us a very good indicator as to why she was granted such a high profile gig. She's a very talented actress, which is absolutely vital considering that she carries the bulk of the film on her shoulders. Make no bones about it, Harkavy is the star of this film, everybody else is supporting cast. She's the one through whom we witness the story unfold and it is her arc that we follow. 
It's actually refreshing to see a horror heroine who isn't a simpering victim who turns her fortunes around — Loren is a strong capable heroine who could just as easily been male. I also loved the character trait in which her profession acted as a substitute for her faith. In the scenes during which she's terrorised, Loren recites her police oath as if it were the Lord's Prayer to fortify her resolve. She also carries a battered old book for times of crisis, however instead of a Holy Bible, this is a Law Enforcement Handbook. It's a nice touch that helps to strengthen the sense of the character's dedication to her work and, with that, strengthening her motives to stand by her post, which Harkavy carries off effortlessly. She's quite fantastic.

However, just because Loren is the lead, that doesn't mean that the rest of the cast are any less impressive. LaRose (who I loved in Windwalkers) is unrecognisable in his role and makes a lasting impression. Shelton's voice work is also very impressive, however, the real scene stealers have to be the utterly terrifying Paymon family. 

Mikel is superb, charismatic but manic, unhinged but seductive — everything you'd expect from an insane cult leader.

As his two most devout followers Sculco and Kilger utterly nail it, veering from naively childish to deranged at a moment's notice. The creepy interrogation footage of the trio calmly discussing the ritualistic murder of doubters and innocents is every bit as chilling as the spectres roaming the station.

And, ultimately, it is the scares that define the success of a horror film. This is one area in which Last Shift really delivers. From the heart-stopping jumps to the twisted psychological scares cultivated through character and the isolated sets, by way of some spectacularly gruesome effects and set pieces from Jeremy S Brock and Jason Murphy (the Elm Street-esque 'dragged' body is a particular ghoulish highlight and the grisly make-up work on the extremely unnerving Bashed Face Betty, when combined with Lindsi Jeter's truly frightening performance makes for serious nightmare fuel) Last Shift brings the fear. 

Finally, as gorgeous as the film is on the eyes, it would be remiss to overlook the wonderfully atmospheric score by Adam Barber. A vital part in cultivating dread, Barber's work is utterly flawless and, combined with the recurring use of the Paymon family's hymn, totally hits the spooky spot.

THE WORST BITS (mild spoiler warning): I've read a few reviews of Last Shift and one area in which I've noticed some criticism is a perceived lack of realism with regards to how long Loren remains at the station in the face of some seriously disturbed shit.

I get where that argument comes from, but it totally overlooks a huge part of the character's mindset. Under tremendous pressure to live up to her father's reputation, Loren is utterly driven to not fail him. Without that drive, we lose our lead's key motivation. 
What's more, we're given plenty of extra reasons for her to stick around, not least the series of phonecalls she receives from a distressed young girl in mortal peril. Loren is led to believe that she may be all that stands between Monica and a terrible fate and the weight of responsibility hangs heavy on her. Also, after taking LaRose's homeless station invader into custody, Loren is burdened with a duty of care for her captive. As if that's not enough, we are also shown that at one point she has reason to believe that she is being subjected to a hazing prank pulled on rookies, and finally, by the time all of the other factors have been removed, she has been subjected to a severe psychological ordeal and deliberate insidious manipulation, so quite understandably, her head is not in the right place to be making any decisions. 
So, long story short, the main problem that most people seem to have with the plot really isn't a problem under more careful inspection.
While I praised the characterisation of the lead and the work of the supporting players, it is worth reiterating that outside of Loren, the characters are quite thinly sketched. As the story focuses on Harkavy's character and the events around her this isn't too big of a deal but there are times at which characters are introduced only to be promptly dropped and never seen or heard from again.
Finally, while I liked the way in which DiBlasi took his time telling his story, the movie did feel as if there were points at which it became a little repetitive. What's more the pacing was further skewed by the abrupt ending which also flares from a quietly suspenseful character piece to an out of left-field shoot-out sequence. Perhaps some tweaking in the editing room might have helped out here and made the transition between the second and third acts less jarring?

THE VERDICT: Last Shift was a really pleasant surprise. Playing out like a diabolical mixture of Assault on Precinct 13 and Silent Hill, it looks and sounds fantastic, tells a compelling story and delivers big time when it comes to memorable scares. With a great lead and seriously talented director, this is definitely one to watch. Consider me a part of the Last Shift cult!

For those of you who want to check the film out (and you really should!) it is available TODAY (6th October) in the States from Magnet Releasing, on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD. I shall let my UK readers know as soon as we get a release.
In the meantime, check out the film's official Facebook page here. Give it a Like while you're there too, this is a movie that deserves your 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! Alternatively, follow me on twitter: The House @HickeysHorrors

Until next time, I hope you enjoyed your stay.

ALL THE WEEK'S HORROR HEADLINES (28th Sept-5th Oct)

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. MANIAC COP REMAKE FINDS A DIRECTOR

A remake of Maniac Cop (that criminally underrated slasher franchise) is on the way and John Hyams, the director of Universal Soldier films Regeneration and Day of Reckoning is attached to direct.

I've always loved the MC films, not least for Bruce Campbell and Robert Zdar, so I approach this news with some trepidation...

Read Twitch Film's story here.

2. X FILES TRAILERS RELEASED

The X Files, that most momentous of cult pop culture TV series, will return to our screens in January, 13 years since the last episode aired. ANd Fox has given us a couple of cool trailers to whet our appetites!

3. FILM4 FRIGHTFEST ANNOUNCES LINE UP FOR HALLOWEEN EVENT

The Film4 FrightFest Halloween event is back at the Prince Charles Cinema on Saturday 24 Oct with six brand new movies, including two World premieres, a European and two UK premieres.

This year’s Shockathon kicks off at 11am with the surprise movie which guarantees a sci-fi cocktail of weird creatures, crude humour and hilarious action. Next up is the UK Premiere of THE VATICAN TAPES, a dynamic, unusual and thrilling exorcism shocker by Crank director Mark Neveldine. This is followed by the World Premiere of THE UNSPOKEN, a chill-orientated sinister ghost story with an insidious sting in its tale. Kicking of the evening with a massive jolt of brutal energy is the UK premiere of MOMENTUM, a break-neck, nerve-shredding violent thriller starring a stand-out Olga Kurylenko & James Purefoy. Our second World Premiere is BELLY OF THE BULLDOG, directed by Nick Gillespie, whose past short films have been shown at FrightFest to great acclaim. We are delighted to welcome him back for his feature genre debut. To complete the line-up prepare yourselves for twists galore, horrific jolts and seat-edged suspense with the European Premiere of I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE III: VENGEANCE IS MINE, which whole-heartedly retains the stunning shock impact of the entire controversial series.

Guests attending include MOMENTUM stars James Purefoy (The Following) and Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) and from BELLY OF THE BULLDOG, director Nick Giilespie plus key cast, to be announced later.

Plus, they’ll be showing two fantastic shorts, THE CHICKENING, a poultry-infused remix of The Shining, directed by Nick DenBoar & Davy Force and THE PACKAGE, starring Dan Palmer (Stalled) & Tom Gordon. And of course there will be intros, Q & A’s, give-aways and a few special surprises…

Alan Jones, co-director, said today: “Enough with the after dark jitters, caffeine fixes and trying to stay awake through the last movie. FrightFest is always ahead of the curve when it comes to redefining event experiences so here’s our latest innovation. All before midnight you’ll delight in fright with six of the must-see movies of the moment. Carefully selected by the FrightFest team of experts to show exactly where the genre is right now, these six nightmares before Christmas are tales of Halloween you just have to witness”.

Passes for the London event cost £45 and are on sale NOW. 

To book go onlinehttp://www.princecharlescinema.com/events/events.php…
or call the Prince Charles Cinema on 0207 494 3654
Passes can also be bought at the cinema

FULL LINE UP:

11:00 SURPRISE MOVIE

12:55 THE VATICAN TAPES (UK Premiere)
A concerned priest, two Vatican exorcists and the distraught father of a young girl battle to save her soul after she expresses increasingly erratic and strange behaviour. It soon becomes clear that Angela has been taken over by an ancient satanic force and that she must be quickly purged of evil. But what nobody knows is that the spiritual crusade is not just for Angela - it’s for the entire world as humanity knows it.
Director: Mark Neveldine. Cast: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michael Peña, Dougray Scott, Djimon Hounsou, Peter Andersson. USA 2015. 91 mins.

15:00 THE UNSPOKEN (World Premiere)
In 1997 the close-knit Anderson family vanished from their home without a trace. No bodies were ever found and no explanation satisfied curiosity. For 17 years the house has remained undisturbed...until now. This eerily expert frightener is further enlivened by terrific performances from ‘Suits’/’Arrow’ star Neal McDonough and SILENT HILL/THE TALL MAN/TIDELAND’s Jodelle Ferland.
Director: Sheldon Wilson. Cast: Jodelle Ferland, Sunny Suljic, Neal McDonough, Jessie Fraser, Jonathan Whitesell. Canada 2015. 90 mins.

17:30 MOMENTUM (UK Premiere)
Clint Eastwood’s go-to cameraman Stephen S. Campanelli turns skilled first-time director with this BOURNE style thriller done with panache and witty super-slick suspense. From its attention-grabbing futuristic bank heist opening to exciting airport chase finale, the breathless cat-and-mouse action never stops as CIA assassin James Purefoy relentlessly tracks glamorous jewel thief Olga Kurylenko for a stolen computer hard drive implicating corrupt senator Morgan Freeman in a terrorist plot. Kurylenko is terrific as the criminal mastermind enduring torture with a smile and inventively avoiding Purefoy’s gleefully evil sadist.
Director: Stephen S. Campanelli. Cast: Olga Kurylenko, James Purefoy, Morgan Freeman, Karl Thaning, Dylan Edy. USA/South Africa 2015. 96 mins.

19:45 BELLY OF THE BULLDOG (World Premiere)
With nowhere else to hide, a group of mercenaries and their prisoners take cover inside a long abandoned Bulldog tank. But, while they try to keep the forces outside at bay, the real enemy is already among them, locked inside the belly of the Bulldog. After collaborating closely with Ben Wheatley on FREE FIRE, HIGH-RISE, A FIELD IN ENGLAND and KILL LIST, Director Nick Gillespie makes his feature genre debut.
Director: Nick Gillespie. Cast: Rupert Evans, Deirdre Mullins, Michael Smiley, April Pearson, Gordon Kennedy. UK 2015. 84 mins.

22:15 I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE III: VENGEANCE IS MINE (European Premiere)
After her harrowing experiences in 2010, Jennifer Hills has taken the name Angela and is now working in an anonymous office job. Attending a rape support group to find closure, she meets feisty Maria Finch and they become firm friends. Then Maria suggests Angela join her in taking revenge by proxy on the abusers they hear about in their secret sessions…This superior sequel is genuinely surprising, consistently gripping, smartly written and brilliantly acted.
Director: R.D. Braunstein. Cast: Sarah Butler, Jennifer Landon, Gabriel Hogan, Doug McKeon, Karen Strassman. USA 2015. 87 mins.

4. TV SPOTS FOR PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION

Three TV spots for the final film in the Paranormal Activity franchise — The Ghost Dimension have hit the web. I don't hate the series as much as most (I even enjoyed The Marked Ones and, whisper this now, PA4) so I can't wait to see how the series concludes.
Watch the spots here!

5. CABIN IN THE WOODS 2?

Den of Geek recently conducted an interview with Cabin in the Woods director and co-writer, Drew Goddard, in which he revealed that Lionsgate have been in contact about a possible sequel.
Avoiding spoilers here, but not entirely sure how that would work, which seems to be echoed in Goddard's unenthusiastic response: 'The funny part is, I don’t think we planned that movie to do a sequel, you know? But that being said, the fun thing about Cabin is, the rules are pretty crazy. We get away with a lot of crazy stuff. So, I’m sure we could figure it out if we got inspired to. I know Joss and I both feel like we don’t want to tarnish what we did with the first one. With a sequel, we’d only do it if it made us laugh hard enough, I suppose.'
Read the interview here.

6. NEW RELEASES

First up this week, The Houses October Built gets a UK release under a new name — The Houses of Halloween. It's had some pretty positive word of mouth so expect a review here soon!

Buy it at Amazon here.

Also this week we receive a LANCE FUCKING HENRIKSEN flick!!!!! Another renamed US release, Harbinger Down (cool name!) becomes Inanimate (crap name!)
I love horror at sea and this boasts some cool effects works. Again, expect a review soon...
Buy it at Amazon here.

Another good one here, with Werewolf Western, Blood Moon hitting shelves this week. And guess what? Review soon etc.
Buy it at Amazon here.

We also get 'the perfect so-bad it's awesome flick' Raiders of the Lost Shark. Now that's some cover art right there. Oh and...
BEST. NAME. EVER!
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.