Friday 29 April 2016

Call of Duty: Black Ops III: Zetsubou no Shima (2016) - Thoughts on the new Zombies map


After what seemed like forever finally the second of the DLC map packs for Black Ops III have arrived. Eclipse like Awakening is comprised of four multiplayer maps and one map for the awesome Zombies mode. I have become rapidly aware that I usually do these posts about the new maps long before I have seen even a little of what they have to offer. That was the way with Der Eisendrache as I did not mention the bow or its many alterations at all then. As such this is my initial thoughts about the new map, not a definite deconstruction of it.

Zetsubou no Shima (Island of Despair in English) takes place on a Japanese island which was the base for a research team studying Element 115. The prologue sees the four intrepid heroes (Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen) on a boat en-route to the island when they get caught in an altercation with Japanese soldiers and end up diving overboard. Washing up onto the shores of the mysterious island the search for the parallel dimension of Takeo begins and the game starts...

Thursday 28 April 2016

The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonca & PizzaBoy (2016) - Horror Video Game News (iOS)


The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonca & PizzaBoy is an iPhone game that is based on a trilogy of graphic novels that were published in the U.S by Dark Horse Comics. It is a horror themed adventure game that was developed by OKAM Studio with close input from both the writer of the comics; Filipe Melo, as well as illustrators Juan Cava and Santiago Villa (who wrote the story and illustrated the game respectively) and is published by Deep Silver FISHLABS.

The game takes place in the haunted city of Lisbon which in the lore is the world's monster capital. You play as Eurico; a former pizza delivery boy who now works for occult investigator Dog Mendonca and who finds himself caught up in a bizarre criminal case. Along the way you team up with a middle aged werewolf, a severed gargoyle's head, as well as a demon trapped in a little girl's body. The game is said to be packed full of homages to horror films, b-movies and nerd culture.


From the trailer (I will include below) it looks to be in the mould of old school adventure games and seems to have been made with care rather than as a quick cash in as it looks pretty attractive. I have a copy of the game so when I have played it I will be able to provide more detail on just how fun an experience it is. I hadn't heard of the graphic novels this is based on so it will be interesting to see if not having read them is a hurdle. The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonca & PizzaBoy is available now on the Apple App Store and costs $4.99 U.S, £3.99 U.K, and 4.99 Euros in Europe. The press release says this cost gives access to all chapters and features with no additional charges, the game is due to be released on Android devices in the near future and is available on PC.


Wednesday 27 April 2016

Friend Request (2016) - Horror Film Review


When I first saw the trailer for Friend Request I honestly thought it was a sequel to last years Unfriended such was the similarity in storyline. This is another horror that uses social media as a way for an evil force to haunt people it sees as responsible for wrongs committed against them.

Alycia Debnam-Carey (Fear the Walking Dead) stars as Laura; a college girl who befriends a shy loner named Marina. With the girl too obsessive for her to deal with she makes the fatal mistake of unfriending her on Facebook, not long after this a video goes up online of Marina committing suicide. Laura is at first devastated by this, feeling responsible but soon her closest friends start to show up dead one by one, each time a video of their death shows up on Laura's Facebook page as if she had posted it. As her closest friends die and her Facebook friends disgusted with her online antics (that is nothing to do with her) unfriend her in droves it seems the evil spirit of Marina will not stop until Laura is all alone...

Saturday 23 April 2016

The Break-In (2016) - Horror Film Review


I've got into the habit of trying to watch films cold, doing my best to avoid anything so I can go into a film with no expectations, so when Justin Doescher; the producer, director, writer and main lead for ultra indie horror The Break-In sent me a screener that's exactly what I did. To my dismay I soon realised this was from the dreaded and very crowded found footage genre, and while it ticked all the usual boxes for the stale conventions it at least featured a few things I had not seen done before.

Jeff Anderson (Justin Doescher) and his newly pregnant fiancee Melissa (Maggie Binkley) have just installed a home security system in their home after a spate of nearby burglaries in the area they live. Jeff has also just brought a new phone that he is very proud of and uses to film his daily events near constantly. At the films start we are told that what we are about to see is pieced together footage that the police have as evidence and so we are led to believe that at some point the titular break-in will occur.

Tuesday 19 April 2016

Lucid (2015) - Short Horror Film News


Lucid is a short five minute long horror film that stars Denmark's most prolific actor; Kim Sonderholm (Harvest, Escaping the Dead). The film is directed by Henrik Bjerregaard Clausen and has won three awards, two for best actor and one for best short film as well as a nomination for best director.

Sonderholm stars as a mysterious man who becomes determined to take control of his life, due to the David Lynch levels of bizarreness on offer there is not much more I can say. Parts reminded me of Lost Highway, especially the car scenes with whomping street lights the car passes by. The film is in English though dialogue is mostly kept to a minimum and feels almost art house in style.

Currently Lucid can be viewed on the Ekko Shortlist, on this site films stay up based on how many votes they get so check it out and if you like what you watch give it a rating (here)

Sunday 17 April 2016

Dead Bride - Horror Film News and Pitch Trailer


A few weeks back I did a small blog post about Scottish horror Bridal Fever and now bizarrely another bride based bit of horror film news has reached my inbox, this time in the form of Dead Bride which comes from Francesco Picone who was the director for the bridge based zombie short Anger of the Dead.

After her fathers death, Alyson, her husband and baby head back to her childhood home. After some supernatural events occur Alyson discovers her family have been cursed due to her grandfather killing a bride in the past. With her child captured Alyson must travel into the underworld in order to rescue the baby and find a way to end the curse.

The press release describes Dead Bride as a psychological horror that is to be full of suspense and twists and turns that will keep the viewer hooked. The production is currently looking to get funds to enter pre-production. The pitch trailer is included below and features suspenseful walking around in the dark, messed up scenes of demonic possession and of course the titular dead bride.

Thursday 14 April 2016

Ritual (2012) - Horror Film Review


Ritual (also known as Modus Anomali) is an Indonesian horror film directed by Joko Anwar and starring Rio Dewanto. While originally released in 2012 it is soon to come to UK DVD via Terror Cotta.

Dwanto plays a man who wakes up to find he has been buried alive in the middle of a huge forest. He claws himself out of his shallow grave only to release he has complete amnesia, he doesn't know where he is, who he is, or how he came to be buried alive. A nearby cabin reveals the corpse of a woman and after checking his wallet the man realises with horror she was his wife, he also discovers he has children. Thinking his children may be out in the woods the man sets out to find them, but he is being hunted by someone with deadly intentions for him...

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Faces of Snuff (2016) - Horror Film Review


My goodness, after a literal never ending two hours and fifteen minutes watched over three days I have finally managed to get to the end of Faces of Snuff; an anthology film made up of a crazy amount of snuff films. Snuff films are real life videos that show people being killed on camera, this movie of course features no actual deaths but instead an unending amount of pretend ones which work to various degrees but are all just so pointless.

I try to go into films with no knowledge of what they are about so initially I didn't even realise this was an anthology. Contained within must be at least fifty short films, many not lasting more than a few minutes, a lot without sound and many designed to look like they were filmed on Super 8 or handheld camera. Most of these have utterly no plot to them and most of these feature women being tortured, killed and sexually abused. Now before I go on to the review proper I am going to have a shower to symbolically wash away some of the filth I have witnessed...

Sunday 10 April 2016

Layers of Fears (2016) - Horror Videogame Review (PS4)


Here at The Rotting Zombie HQ I don't make much money, a solid £20 a month from advertisements, I get my fair share of free stuff but never in the realm of video games and so I thought I would spend this months gains on a copy of Layers of Fear; a game which I had some doubts over but sounded like it was doing something new.

You play as a troubled painter who has returned to his Victorian era style home in order to complete what he believes to be his masterpiece. Things mostly seem fine enough but upon getting access to his studio and removing the dust sheet from his latest painting the nightmare begins. Whether it is all delusions within the artists damaged mind, or if he really has been transported to a hellish dimension is left up to the players imagination but nonetheless over six levels (or layers I guess) he must explore his forever changing mansion in order to discover his and his families tragic past, as well as collect the sinister ingredients needed to finish his painting.

Saturday 9 April 2016

Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) - Fantasy Videogame Review (PS4)


I'm never too sure about reviewing fantasy games but with the previous entries in the Dragon Age series reviewed on this site and with the main antagonist being a demonic being this felt like it belonged.

After the events of Dragon Age II there has been all out war between the mages and their previous protectors; the templars. To try and get a peace agreement a summit is arranged at the temple of Sacred Ashes between the leaders of the Chantry and the two warring groups. During this summit there is a terrible explosion that kills all but one person; the character you play as. A huge rip in the veil that separates the world of the living from the world of the dead has been torn asunder above the ruined temple, and all over the land smaller rips have appeared from which demons of the fade flood through. Initially seen as being responsible for this chaos your character manages to prove their innocence, and with the gift to somehow be able to close the rifts due to a magical anchor fused to their arm they are made the figure head of the Inquisition; a force above the law that intends to find out a way to close the giant rift in the sky, to find out who was responsible for creating it, and to find a way to stop them...

Friday 8 April 2016

Bunny the Killer Thing (2015) - Comedy Horror Film Review


Back in December of last year I did a small news post about the release of Finnish comedy horror Bunny the Killer Thing (directed and co-written by Joonas Makkonen), it didn't seem my thing as it seemed to revolve around sex jokes which I usually don't appreciate. However having watched Bunny the Killer Thing for review I have to say it was frankly hilarious from start to finish (or should that be 'start to Finnish'?), something I was not expecting.

During the prologue a man finds himself kidnapped and at the mercy of a mad scientist. The scientist injects him with a strange serum that starts a mutation within his body, with new found super strength he breaks free from his bindings, knocks out the kidnappers and flees into the nearby woods where he further transforms. Meanwhile a group of friends are journeying out to a cabin in woodland for a weekend of partying, on the way they pick up three shady British guys whose car has broken down. The partying starts in earnest but the festivities are interrupted by the kidnapped man who has now mutated fully into a six foot tall rabbit-man armed with an enormous and deadly member, and thirsty for female copulation...

Thursday 7 April 2016

An Ending - Horror Film News


Jessica Cameron (All Through the House, A Grim Becoming) has recently announced her next film; An Ending which she is to produce, co direct (with screenwriter Josh Chiara) and star in. Shooting for this movie which she describes as an 'artistic horror adventure' is to begin at the end of April this year.

Cameron stars as Florence; a woman who awakes in a nightmare world after being rushed to hospital for reasons unknown. In this strange place she meets up with two other women, Collette (Heather Dorff) and Molly (Ali Ferda) who are also trapped. The trio find themselves hunted by a shadowy being and after being separated they all start their own personal journeys through this bizarre hell.

That's all the information I have at the moment, the synopsis sounds interesting and Cameron has worked with Chiara, Dorff and Ferda previously so hopefully that puts them all in good stead to make an entertaining film.

Wednesday 6 April 2016

Under The Flesh #3 (2016) - Zombie Horror Comic News


Way back in July 2014 I first mentioned the zombie comic Under The Flesh. Back then it had a Kickstarter going to get the first issue made, later that year in November it had a Kickstarter to get issue two printed, and now in 2016 a Kickstarter is going to get the third issue completed.

Under The Flesh is a zombie story with a slight twist, the creators describe it as 'Captain America born in a jacked-up, demon-possessed version of The Walking Dead, where only men are cursed!'. In the world of the comic zombie Armageddon has swept the globe but only males turn into the undead. These creatures known as fleshers are very deadly, even head shots don't stop them. Not intent to just eat their female victims they also it is suggested rape them also. In this doomed world super soldier Ruben Lobos exists, due to experimentation prior to the outbreak he has enhanced abilities and an immunity to the virus. In issue one his girlfriend Dinah left their hideout and so he went looking for her. Issue two had him discover a member of the National Resurgence Initiative while also coming under the scrutiny of a man who is able to control the walking dead...

For this third Kickstarter $1,000 was needed, but with five days still to go an impressive $2,183 has already been gained. While it has succeeded I still thought it was worth mentioning in case any of you want to also pledge some funds (a variety of incentives are offered on the page including exclusive covers and past issues of the comic). The art style brings to mind comics of the 1980's and there is plenty of gore and violence with heads and limbs flying frequently. So if this sounds interesting to you check out the Kickstarter page here.

Tuesday 5 April 2016

The Walking Dead: Season 6 (2015-16) - Zombie Horror TV Show Review


So onto season six of The Walking Dead and the show shows no sign of finishing. While there is plenty of excitement and a seemingly ever increasing budget there was also the first signs of stagnation with recycling of old ideas. There will be mild spoilers here for this and previous seasons as a warning.

With Rick's group now firmly entrenched at Alexandria this season chronicles their benign take over of the small estate. With attacks to the town uniting his group and the original inhabitants things finally seem to be falling into place, but the arrival of a large hostile force calling themselves 'The Saviours' led by a mysterious figure called Negan brings terror and dissention. It seems that finally Rick may have bitten off more than he can chew (not literally as was the case in season 4!).