The Gore Connoisseurs

New Korean sci-fi suspense thriller  The Call sees two women communicate across two decades via a mysterious landline phone. Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye), from 2019, warns Young-sook (Jong Seo-jun) of an impending catastrophe in 1999, but when it transpires Young-sook is a card-carrying psychopath, Seo-yeon begins to regret saving her. Recently dropped on Netflix with little to no fanfare, it would be easy to miss The Call. It's far from a perfect movie, yet its high-concept premise is an excellent basis for a twisty cat and mouse conflict between the past and present. It's definitely more of a horror-adjacent thriller than a true horror flick, so will disappoint committed gorehounds, but it's still very much worth a shoutout on here. Read the film's pros and cons below to find out if it's worth a watch . This is a spoiler-free zone. The Call 's hits The movie's time-bending premise is excellently exploited. We see how each woman has an advantage over the othe...

Netflix’s zombie game has historically been pretty strong, with Cargo and Ravenous both standout entries in a sometimes tired subgenre. Buzzy new Korean movie #Alive looks set to continue the trend  – but is it worth a watch? In a nutshell: Layabout twenty-something Joon-woo (Ah-In Yoo) is left home alone in his parents’ apartment when the zombie apocalypse kicks off outside his window. Lacking in both groceries and basic life skills, does Joon-woo have what it takes to stay alive? This is a spoiler-free zone. #Alive 's hits This is the most relatable zombie film I’ve seen in a long time. Rather than the hardened and resourceful survivors we’ve grown used to, Joon-woo is too scared to leave his apartment and initially just goes back to his online gaming to pass the time. The movie has the patience to flesh out its characters, with most of the film focusing on Joon-woo’s attempts to keep despair at bay. That said, it’s not afraid to get its hands dirty with some nerve-jan...

Stand-up comedian Jay Baruchel has decided to take a stab at the meta-slasher , promising to probe into the twisted hearts of horror fans and their insatiable longings for on-screen blood and guts . Is it time to re-examine our life choices? More importantly, is Random Acts of Violence worth a watch? In a nutshell: Todd (Jesse Williams) is working on the final issue of his successful Slasherman graphic novel series -   controversially based on the real life I-95 killer, who was never caught. Deciding to take a road trip with some friends to get the creative juices flowing, Todd realises a crazed fan is re-enacting the kills from his comic books. This article is a spoiler-free zone. Random Acts of Violence's hits  Some of the social commentary is pretty spot-on – I particularly enjoyed a scene at a horror convention where Todd is asked to sign weapons and miniature replicas of torture vans. As in most of the famous slasher franchises, Todd’s fans very much see the murdero...

You may come to Shudder's new original The Beach House expecting Cabin Fever, but the end result is decidedly more Colour out of Space. But is the sci-fi  contagion freak out  worth a watch ? A note on spoilers - The hits and misses sections are completely spoiler free zones. If you've seen the film, scroll down to the cliché count to see which horror topes we're dealing with and the questions and theories section to find out what the hell happened in the final scene. The Beach House' s   hits We don't often get hard sci-fi in horror - but the central concept of the movie rivals the ideas in Annihilation and Coherence and is pretty intiguing. It's an intimate story with cosmic implications. The film is full of surprises and some of the directions it takes are completely unexpected. First-time director Jeffrey A. Brown told Film Festival Today he 'didn’t want the viewer to anticipate what the next scene was going to be' - and he's...

Netflix's offering of original horror movies has been patchy at best, but their latest release Cam immediately piqued our interest. The movie explores the modern phenomenom of cam girls: women who stream erotic performances, allowing their viewers a say in the what happens on screen in return for cash. Alice (Madeline Brewer) is scaling the Top 50 of her website, until a mysterious lookalike steals her account and starts to break down the delicate online boundaries Alice uses to protect herself. It's available to stream now , but is it worth a watch? Cam 's hits It's written by former cam girl Issa Mazzei; hence why the details feel so authentic. The rivalries between the women; the sinister boundary-pushing of their male clients; the pressure for the women to constantly outdo their previous performance – all of it feels real. Mazzei faced some ugly misogyny when pitching the movie to studios , but thankfully Blumhouse realised the film's potential ...

Lowkey British chiller  Possum  certainly wins the award for Silliest Name for a Horror Movie, but is it any good? This moody, largely silent study in Lynchian strangeness and English grottiness will seem like a drag to some, but bear with it and you may find it oddly bewitching. Possum' s hits Sean Harris as an absolute weirdo who may or may not be a paeodphile and Alun Armstrong as the world's shadiest uncle. A definitely-unsuitable-for-children puppet which is a) indestructable and b) probably alive. It really looks nothing like a possum. A scenic backdrop of scrappy moorland and post-industrial decay which shows off rural England at its worst. An atmosphere of unrelenting dread courtesy of the Radiophonic Workshop's experimental score. Possum' s misses The unrelenting bleakness. Though Harris and Armstrong give complex performances, it's near-impossible to sympathise with either of their characters. Leaves itself very open to the "...

Argentinian horror  Terrified ( Aterrados ) has earnt a clutch of festival gongs and some are calling it the scariest film of the year. But is it any good? It's a Shudder exclusive and caught our eye for its social media buzz and creepy as hell poster. But does Terrified earn a place on your Halloween watchlist?  I rarely see something in any horror movie that I’ve never seen before, but five minutes into #Terrified on @shudder and... Well... Holy fuck. — Ben Rock (@Neptunesalad) October 27, 2018 Just finished #Terrified on @shudder ! Wow!!! pic.twitter.com/QcupQ2jaG2 — Michael “Myers” Aiello (@Michael_Aiello) October 21, 2018 Finally got around to watching ‘Terrified’ @shudder ..... no just no...so creepy it made my eyes water. No sleep tonight 🙈🙈but definitely worth a watch. You cant hide behind a cushion &read subtitles #underthebed #terrified #creepy #nosleep #horror #horrorfan #horrorfam pic.twitter.com/DKMNvXRejU — Wendy (@WendyJP81) O...