Wednesday 30 December 2015

Top 5 Horror Videogames of 2015 - In Video Format

It was one of my new year resolutions for 2015 to put up an actual live video on YouTube, unfortunately I didn't get around to doing it until this week. It will be quite apparent that this was rushed out as it is quite badly filmed and I free styled a lot! Still it is achieved and as a test run it went ok, for certain there is a whole continents worth of room for improvement...



So there you have it, the only way is up. If you disagree with any of these choices then feel free to let me know in the comments below, and should I not do a blog post tomorrow then Happy New Year from The Rotting Zombie HQ.

Tuesday 29 December 2015

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Overview of the zombie segments (Playstation 4)


In November the latest game in the Call of Duty franchise was released, on it's own that doesn't deserve a mention on the blog but of course it features the excellent Zombies mode that Treyarch always include in their games. On top of this mode though there are a couple of other cool extras that make this instalment the most horror packed one yet.

In Zombies up to four players must survive wave based rounds of zombies attacking, each round the zombies get stronger, faster, and more plentiful. Dotted around the map are new items you can buy (using points gained from killing the undead) as well as power ups from vending machines, and new areas to open up. New to Black Ops III are 'Gobblegum' machines that give you a limited time perk such as having your knife do five times as much damage or being able to quickly reload.

Monday 28 December 2015

Fallout 4 (2015) - Post Apocalyptic Video Game Review (Playstation 4)


A few months back I mopped up the remainder of Fallout: New Vegas in anticipation of Fallout 4 being released. While the trailers for this new generation game didn't blow me away I had faith that it would have no option but to be a great game if it stuck to the formula of what came before. Now after around a hundred and five hours of play time I am finally ready to write my review.

For the first time in a Fallout game you get to experience life before the nuclear bombs fall and destroy the world. Starting the game as either a man or a woman in Boston in 2077 your peace is short lived when air raid sirens go off. Fleeing to a nearby fallout shelter with your partner and baby you are tricked into entering cryosleep. Two hundred years later and you are awoken from your long sleep only to see your partner shot dead in front of you and your baby; Shaun kidnapped, before you can react you are knocked out again. Awakening a while later you leave the confines of Vault 111 to discover a nuclear wasteland and set out into it to try and rescue your son...

Sunday 27 December 2015

Pod (2015) - Horror Film Review


With Pod I have finally seen all the films I wanted to see before making my nominations for this years Fright Meter Awards. If you are a regular reader of my blog then I am sure that is music to your ears as these past few weeks I have not shut up about them.

After receiving a bizarre message on his answer phone from his brother; ex-soldier Martin (Brian Morvant) Ed (Dean Cates) and his alcoholic sister Lyla (Lauren Ashley Carter) travel up to the remote lakeside house where Martin lives to have an intervention. In the past Martin has suffered mental health problems and it is feared he has relapsed. Upon arriving a manic and babbling Martin warns his siblings that he has captured something he calls a 'pod' and has it locked up in the basement. Is what Martin saying true, or as the family suspect has he gotten ill again?

Saturday 26 December 2015

Zombie Killers: Elephant's Graveyard (2015) - Zombie Horror Film Review


I just have two more films I want to watch before making my nominations for the 2015 Fright Meter Awards, unfortunately the film I chose to watch today was Zombie Killers: Elephant's Graveyard. Now I just have to mention unfaithful box covers once again, the front cover for the DVD was fine enough but the back showing a group of soldiers against the back drop of a ruined city...there is not even a hint of any sort of city in this film, why must ruined cities always feature on low budget zombie film covers?

Zombie Killers takes place around six years after zombie apocalypse suddenly took over the world. The town of Elwood is a thriving community who live behind flimsy looking wire fences out in the countryside of America and is ruled over by Doc (Brian Anthony Wilson). It has survived by evicting any infected inhabitants and also from being protected by the self proclaimed Zombie Killers; a small group made up of young adults led by Seiler (Billy Zane). That's about it for plot, I mean there is some proper story eventually but it's so far into the film to say anything would be a spoiler.

Friday 25 December 2015

Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015) - Horror Film Review


I have always had a soft spot for the Tremors films and while none have ever matched the Kevin Bacon led first in the series they still have not been bad films. Tremors 4: The Legend Begins came out over ten years ago and was a prequel so I didn't know what to expect from this new entry in the franchise.

Burt Gummer (Michael Gross; the only actor to appear in all five films as well as the short lived TV series) now works as a professional monster hunter who is called to a wildlife preserve in South Africa along with his new cameraman Travis (Jamie Kennedy) by Erich Van Wyck as it is feared the monsters that have plagued Gummer before have appeared in the area. In the Tremors universe the monsters of the piece go through three stages, there are the Graboids (huge worm type creatures), Shriekers (bipedal beasts), and finally the Ass-Blasters (who use their internal gases to fly), it is the Ass-Blasters who are thought to have appeared. With Van Wyck's motivations not being at what they first seemed, and with the South African monsters having evolved differently it is up to Gummer and Travis to save the day.

Thursday 24 December 2015

Zombieworld (2015) - Zombie Horror Film Review


The box art was enough for me to tell Zombieworld was going to be a bad film, but as it had zombies in it and was a contender for this years Fright Meter Awards I gave it a watch regardless. It is a compilation of thirteen different zombie stories ranging from the ridiculous to the serious, most of which were pretty consistent in low quality. I will do a mini review of each of the films on offer so may seem like a weird post.

The concept for the piece is that it is 2013 and undead apocalypse has occurred. TV reporter Marvin Gloatt (the talented Bill Oberst Jr. in a wasted role) is broadcasting on the last on air channel and isn't even going to let a zombie bite stop his constant reporting. Each of the short stories is billed as a different report from around the world. Dark Times is a P.O.V short that has civilians running away from an incident into woodland, eventually the person who we are seeing the film from is killed and comes back as a zombie. This was kind of novel but not too exciting, though there was an amusing scene with a guy armed with a golf club.

Wednesday 23 December 2015

A Quick General Update


Hey, just a brief update to mention my updates for my pages and channels on various social media and stuff. My blog is the main place I'm based, the other pages are mere satellites and so tend to get left alone to (literally) rot a lot. I have had a look at improving them and so that has nearly been done.

The Rotting Zombie Facebook page (here) now has a new banner, in general the page is just used to post links to new blog posts but occasionally any news I get that is too small to include in a post is put there. The Rotting Zombie Twitter (here) is not doing too badly, again I mainly post links to new blog posts, but also include thoughts on anything horror related I have seen lately. The Rotting Zombie YouTube channel (here) is very basic at the moment, I have changed the banner today but as you can see it is far from perfect, though amazingly it took me two and half hours to even get it looking like that! Mainly I just upload any PS4 footage I feel appropriate though by years end I hope to put up an actual video (mainly as it was my new years resolution for 2015 to put up one). Finally I have now put up a link to my Instagram page (here).

So yeah, check those out and subscribe if you so wish and as it is nearly time for Krampus to come calling I will say Happy Christmas and hope it is terrifying for you all.

Tuesday 22 December 2015

Bound to Vengeance (2015) - Horror Film Review


I have seen so many horror films this month, it really has reignited by passion for the genre, Bound to Vengeance is another such film that I utterly adored. It is a revenge fantasy in the vein of Last House on the Left and Julia.

This movie starts where many end with the heroine of the piece; Eve (Tina Ivlev) managing to escape from her captor after having been kept chained up as a sex slave for the past six months. As she goes to kill him however he reveals a chilling secret, she was not the only girl he had captured and should he die the locations of the other victims will never be known. Rather than going to the police (and likely due to temporary madness on her part) she decides to take the man captive and have him drive around town to all the various places the other captives are at. Each new place brings with it darker and darker revelations with Eve slowly losing the remaining grip on her sanity...

Monday 21 December 2015

Z Nation: Season 2 (2015) - Zombie Horror Show Review


When I first started watching season one of Z Nation I really was not impressed in the slightest, I felt it was boring and stupid with too many unlikeable characters. Yet by the end of the season I was completely hooked with its refreshing lack of desire to take itself too seriously and by the never ending slew of original ideas for zombie drama. With a cliffhanger ending I was pumped for season 2 and just hoped it would carry on blazing the path of madness. There will be spoilers for season 1 and no doubt mild season 2 spoilers here.

The show picks up almost immediately where the first ended with a panicked Murphy having accidentally triggered the launch of nuclear warheads to key locations around America. The gang (made up of Warren, Doc, Mack and 10K) manage to escape the base they are at, with Murphy and a now zombified Cassandra also fleeing. Citizen Z who was also bombed manages to survive but at the cost to the integrity of his base, in a last ditch attempt to help he puts out a broadcast on all frequencies requesting the capture and delivery of Murphy in exchange for a huge reward. This message sets up the basis of the series with seemingly everyone in existence hunting for Murphy...

Sunday 20 December 2015

Dead Rising: Watchtower (2015) - Zombie Horror Film Review


I really wasn't expecting much when sitting down to watch Dead Rising: Watchtower, after all not only was it straight to video but it is based on a video game and movies of games are generally terrible (House of the Dead and Doom springs to mind). For once however it seems someone has actually played the source material as this is chock full of references and nods.

Watchtower takes place between Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 3 (both of which I have only partially played). In this world zombie outbreaks have occurred previously (the events of the first two games in the series) but there is a prevention in the form of Zombrex; an anti-virus injection that must be administered every 24 hours. Chase Carter (Jesse Metcalfe) is a small time reporter and has entered a quarantine zone in Oregon with his camerawoman Jordan in order to do a story on the treatment of the infected. However while he is there a new zombie outbreak occurs, the Zombrex no longer seems to be working and infected are turning into the living dead at an alarming rate. Jordan escapes to a military blockade but Chase becomes trapped in the zone where he teams up with an infected woman named Crystal (Meghan Ory) and soon realises there is more to the events than at first seems...

Saturday 19 December 2015

Let Us Prey (2014) - Horror Film Review


Coincidentally this is the second film in a week I've seen that involves a police woman on her first day at her new station, the first being Last Shift. Let Us Prey is the opposite end of the pond though taking place as it does in a small town in Scotland.

Pollyanna McIntosh stars as Rachel Heggie; a policewoman who has recently been transferred for unknown reasons to a small Scottish town. On her first night she soon discovers the station she is to work at is staffed by a trio of corrupt and sadistic officers who make it clear right away that they do not like her. A mysterious man (Liam Cunningham) ends up being locked up in the cells who seems to have a strange power, he is able to see into the souls of anyone he comes in contact with and see their darkest secrets. It seems the eight people; both police and prisoners alike have been drawn together for a reason and that by the time midnight comes around this reason will be revealed...

Friday 18 December 2015

Some Kind of Hate (2015) - Horror Film Review


Becoming a catch phrase of mine but it is another day and another possible contender for the Fright Meter Awards watched, this time it was the ghostly slash em up Some Kind of Hate. While I didn't enjoy this movie it was refreshing to give a review score that wasn't six or seven out zombie heads out of ten for once!

After striking back at the bully who has made teenager Lincoln Taggert's (Ronen Rubinstein) school life hell for several years the loner is sent to a reform school out in the middle of nowhere. Though he makes a few friends including ex cheerleader Kaitlin (Grace Phipps) he soon comes under attack from a new set of bullies. After a beating Lincoln retreats to a restricted area of the compound where his angry cries summon the extremely angry spirit of Moira; a girl whose bullying led to her death. Moira agrees to help the boy get revenge but her methods are deadly and he discovers that there seems no way to stop her murderous rampage...

Thursday 17 December 2015

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014) - Zombie Comedy Horror Film Review


Another day another Fright Meter Awards contender watched, though today it was actually a zombie film and so more relevant than usual to The Rotting Zombie. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead is an Australian horror comedy that as the title hints at is mostly a road movie.

After a strange meteor shower takes place people begin changing into undead ghouls with seemingly no pattern to who becomes infected and who doesn't. Benny (Leon Burchill) is out on a hunting trip in the bush with his two brothers who both turn, meanwhile after receiving a desperate phone call from his sister Brooke (Bianca Bradey) warning of the unfolding chaos Barry and his wife and young daughter flee the city to head out to the country. Along the way he is forced to kill his family. Eventually Benny and Barry meet up and with an armoured car powered by zombie blood they start off on a mission to find Brooke, but what they don't realise is that she has been captured by the corrupt army and has been experimented on...

Wednesday 16 December 2015

Last Shift (2014) - Horror Film Review


Another day and another film that happens to be up for nomination for the annual Fright Meter Awards, though coincidental this time as I was sent the film for review anyway. Last Shift was written by Anthony Diblasi and Scott Polley while it was also directed by DiBlasi, I loved the idea behind this one and so hoped it would live up to the potential.

Juliana Harkavy (The Walking Dead) stars as Jessica Loren; a rookie cop whose on her first night of the job. Her first assignment is simple, she is to perform the last shift alone at a police station that is due to close the next day, everyone else is already based at the new one but someone was needed to wait for the hazardous waste crew who are due to show up sometime in the night to collect left over hazardous evidence. Things start to go wrong almost immediately with a crazy homeless man who keeps breaking in, then later things take a turn for the weirder with doors opening on their own and objects moving around. Not wanting to embarrass herself on her first day on the job she tries her best to ignore all this but soon she has no option but to confront her fears, but is this just part of an elaborate hazing ritual or is something more decidedly supernatural occurring?

Tuesday 15 December 2015

The Final Girls (2015) - Horror Comedy Film Review


The Final Girls is yet another horror that people on the Fright Meter Awards committee have been raving about. The film is like a horror version of The Last Action Hero with a similar plot device used of people getting sucked into a fictional world.

Max (Taissa Farmiga from American Horror Story) is attending a special screening of Camp Bloodbath; a cult 80's slasher which Max's late mum (Marlin Ackerman) was a character in (a blatant parody of Friday 13th). Not long into the showing and an accidental fire breaks out in the cinema which results in Max and her friends heading for a fire exit behind the screen, but rather than get to the exit they somehow end up inside the world of the film. They soon discover they are unable to leave and realise the only way back is to survive to the end of the movie when the final girl kills the Jason look-a-like butcher. Due to their meddling they accidentally get the heroine of the piece killed and so must now work together to defeat the murderer themselves, but for Max she has a different goal, she wants to save the character Nancy who was the role her mum played...

Monday 14 December 2015

WolfCop (2014) - Horror Comedy Film Review


Out of all the many classic movie monsters it is werewolves that are by far my least favourite type, I just find something inherently unexciting about them, too animal like and not monster enough. WolfCop is another film I brought based on the fact it had been getting some love on the Fright Meter Awards committee member page, though the fact this is a comedy made me hope it would be better than what the genre usually offers.

Leo Fafard stars as Lou Garou; an alcoholic washed up cop in a small town that has been over run with crime. One night while investigating reports of a disturbance out in some woodland Lou is ambushed by some shadowy figures, coming to he finds it is morning and he is back at home, though has a strange pentagram carved into his chest. He returns to his wasted life but the next night under the light of a full moon something horrifying happens, Lou is somehow now a werewolf! Using his new found strength and sense of smell he sets out to clean up his town, but it seems that whoever caused him to become a werewolf in the first place has some sinister plans in store for him...

Sunday 13 December 2015

Seruta (2016) - Fantasy Film News and Trailer


From the sounds of it black and white indie British film Seruta is more of a fantasy type rather than a horror but it does sound pretty interesting, taking place as it does in ancient Britain 700 years before the Roman conquest. It is set to explore the mythology of the British Isles and is directed, shot and edited by Steven Lyons with Merlyn Roberts producing and starring in the film.

The Celts; horse warriors from the continent have invaded the lands where the Friac tribe live, and so Ontahil in order to save his people must travel to the Isle of the Dead to become a warrior and gain favor from the Gods (by facing the initiation known as Seruta). I have included the teaser trailer below that is very fantasy like featuring both monster type creatures and even a zombie thrown in for good measure.

Seruta is currently beginning it's second cycle of production with the new trailer being released as part of a drive to raise funds to complete. Roberts says of the shoot 'So far it has been a challenging but rewarding project to work on. Ninety percent of the film has been shot on location in forests or by the sea and the elements have been both cruel and kind to us'. This sounds like something different and the topic is not one that has been explored that much, check out the trailer...

Saturday 12 December 2015

Victor Frankenstein (2015) - Horror Film Review


I wasn't expecting much from Victor Frankenstein despite an interesting enough trailer, I just felt that it would be too tame and have yet to see Daniel Radcliffe really shine in anything, however I was pleasantly surprised.

Radcliffe co-stars as a hunchback who is rescued from a life of abuse at a travelling circus by Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) who recognises his scientific intellect. After curing his deformity and giving him a place to live he names him Igor and introduces him to his life's work. As everyone knows of course Frankenstein's desire is to create life and with Igors help he gets the knowledge he needs to fulfil his dream of creating man. However with a devoutly religious rogue detective after him (Daniel Mays) and a sinister wealthy benefactor with his own agenda will things go according to plan?

Friday 11 December 2015

Bunny the Killer Thing (2015) - Horror Film News


Anyone reading from outside of America; this wont really apply to us at all as this is U.S.A based news, however with a trailer to share and being a Friday it seemed like a quick and easy post to do!

Bunny the Killer Thing is a horror comedy from Finland, in it a group of friends head to a remote cabin for a winter weekend, however they soon find themselves at the mercy of a horny six foot tall half man half monster creature whose only desire is to mate. I have included the teaser trailer below but be warned it is NSFW featuring many shots of the creature with it's male member (thankfully fake) showing.

Toronto's Raven Banner and US based distributor Artsploitation Films have picked up the rights for a stateside Blu-ray/DVD release early next year while FilmRise will be doing the VOD release. Artsploitation's Ray Murray says of the film: "Depending on your view, Bunny is either a horribly offensive film wallowing in scenes of rape, nudity and sexual depravity or is a hilarious, inventive and blood-drenched spoof of monster movies. We hope most will side with the latter". If that sounds like your thing then be sure to check it out.

Thursday 10 December 2015

Creep (2014) - Horror Film Review


It is December and the cut off point for the Fright Meter Awards nominations is fast approaching and so I find myself panic watching as many of the films up for nomination as I can, it's a good thing I work better under pressure! Today's film was Creep, I knew nothing about it so when it started and I discovered it was from the found footage genre my heart sank (as always when it comes to that genre). The film actually has a recurring motif of hearts and so that last sentence was accidentally clever by the way.

Aaron (Patrick Brice who also directed and co-wrote this) turns up at the mountain home of Josef (Mark Duplass who also co-wrote) after answering a Craigslist ad. Josef has hired him to follow him around for a day filming everything he does. He soon reveals that he has a terminal illness and wants to create a video diary for his unborn son which seems like a decent enough idea, however things soon take a turn for the creepy when the first thing he wants Aaron to do is film him having a bath. From there things only get stranger and it begins to seem like Josef is less interested in making a film for his child to be and more about getting close to Aaron...

Wednesday 9 December 2015

My Master Satan (2016) - Horror Film News


My Master Satan is an upcoming short horror film from Denver filmmaker Dakota Bailey and looks to be pretty bananas. It is actually a sequel to Satan's Coming for You that Bailey previously made and stars the main characters from that one that I admit I haven't heard of.

Alister (Dakota Bailey) and Bubba; two drug addicted maniacs go on a killing spree whilst in pursuit of LSD, along the way they engage in all sorts of violent acts as well as meet up with their serial killer friend Woody. Apparently it all culminates in them having a huge acid trip and once again seeing Satan.

I don't know if knowledge of the previous film is needed or if this can be seen without that, it is hard to make out much in the all too brief trailer (included below). Uniquely this very indie horror was filmed on a VHS camera so I imagine the low quality will be embraced. Personally I love VHS, takes me back to my younger days. It was hard to tell from the trailer if this would be good or not but I wish Bailey and his crew all the best. My Master Satan is released on February 16th 2016.

Tuesday 8 December 2015

A Christmas Horror Story (2015) - Horror Film Review


A Christmas Horror Story is a seasonal horror anthology featuring four different tales taking place on Christmas eve, it is kind of similar in style to Trick r' Treat in that while the four stories are unrelated from each other they do intercut at several points and all take place in the same town (mostly).

The four stories are quite different in scope but all have a festive theme to them, they straddle different genres but thematically go together. A group of students researching for a project break into a sealed wing of their school where a year previous two people were found murdered in a ritualistic fashion, but upon going to leave they discover themselves locked in and at the mercy of a ghostly presence. A squabbling family are hunted by the anti-claus Krampus in snowy woodland after a boy maliciously breaks a figurine of the beast (second film in three days I have seen with Krampus in it!). After returning home from a trip to private land to steal a Christmas tree Scott and Kim start to fear something terrible has happened to their son Will, The final story while all this is going on is Santa is at the North Pole battling a zombie outbreak that has turned his elves into bloodthirsty ghouls!

Sunday 6 December 2015

Goodnight Mommy (2014) - Horror Film Review


The Fright Meter Awards Committee have been going on about how good Goodnight Mommy (Ich Seh, Ich Seh) is for ages now and I so I thought a view was in order. This is an Austrian horror from directors and writers Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz and may just be the most straight up horror I have seen in a while.

Twins Lukas and Elias (Lukas and Elias Schwarz) live at a remote home deep in the Austrian countryside with their mother (Susanne Wuest) who has recently returned from having cosmetic surgery done. However the heavily bandaged woman acts far meaner and differently than the boys remember and soon they start to fear she is an impostor, but just what lengths will they go to to prove she is not who she says she is?

Saturday 5 December 2015

Krampus (2015) - Horror Film Review


The trailer for Krampus was pretty odd, it seemed to blend comedy and horror together in a way that didn't really feel right, however coming from director Michael Dougherty (of Trick 'r Treat fame) I was pretty interested to see what his spin on a Christmas horror would be. Krampus does it's best to slowly drip the reveal of how the antagonist goes about his business so there will be minor spoilers in my review.

It is a few days before Christmas and Tom (Adam Scott) and his wife Sarah have her sisters unliked family over for the holidays. The couples son Max (Emjay Anthony) who still believes in Santa gets upset with all the fighting and squabbling going on and in a fit of anger he rips up the letter he had written to him and throws it out the window. His disillusionment however has had the effect of summoning a terrible blizzard that heralds the arrival of Krampus; the anti-claus to his household. Soon the once divided family must band together to try and survive the nightmare that Krampus brings...

Friday 4 December 2015

Attack on Titan: Part 1 (2015) - Fantasy Film Review


I did a review of the Anime series of Attack on Titan last year and so after watching the first live action film last night I thought I may as well do one for that too. Since coming out I have heard mostly negative reports about the quality of the movie but I wanted to see for myself, especially as while I like the anime I am not in as much love with it as many fans seem to be.

In the world of the film humans live behind three gigantic circular walls that were built hundreds of years in the past as a means to defend humanity against the might of the Titans. The Titans are huge humanoid monsters who exist only to eat people, have not been seen for a hundred years, and so are almost a myth. Eren (Haruma Miura) and his friends Mikasa and Armin sneak out to the outer wall but while they are there a being known as the colossal Titan appears and destroys a part of the wall. In this gap flood an army of Titans who start killing all they see. In the chaos Eren looses Mikasa and it seems she has died. Two years later and all humans have retreated behind the second wall, Eren and Armin are now part of the military and are part of a task force tasked with travelling though the Titan infested lands in order to find a way to block up the gap in the outer structure...

Tuesday 1 December 2015

Prototype 2 (2012) - Horror Video Game Review (X-Box 360)


Back in 2010 I played through Prototype which is an open world horror game set in New York after zombie apocalypse erupts. In that game you played as hoodie wearing Alex Mercer who has gained monstrous powers that lets him absorb humans letting him see their memories, as well as turning his body into a deadly weapon. I did enjoy it but felt it got far too hard and frustrating. Maybe Prototype 2 will learn from the mistakes...

Prototype 2 takes place three years after the conclusion of the first game, you play as U.S Marine James Heller who returns from a tour in Iraq to discover his wife and daughter have been killed after a second zombie outbreak in New York. Figuring Alex Mercer is to blame the solider tracks him down but is easily defeated by the super being, yet rather than kill Heller, Mercer instead infects him, turning him into a mutant like him. Mercer then tells him that he wasn't the one who started this new outbreak, it is instead an evil organisation called Blackwatch who are using the chaos as a way to test out new strains of a mutant virus. Full of anger Heller sets out to destroy all those to blame for his loss.