Mycho pictures.

I thought that today, I would make an attempt to open more horror fans eyes to an indie company from the UK called Mycho entertainment group. Just take a look at these trailers for a look at what they create.

How awesome do they look?

The company makes low budget indie horror movies, but also music videos for bands and artists. Company founder MJ Dixon has been running the company for ten years more or less single handedly , and has produces award winning material in the past.

Check out their website for more info!!

www.mycho.co.uk

And the website of the movie Slasher house.

www.slasherhouse.webs.com


Also, check out their facebook pages for their recent/upcoming productions!!!

www.facebook.com/BloodOnSantasClaws

www.facebook.com/Thornmovie

www.facebook.com/slasherhouse

www.facebook.com/creepsville

Lets get the word for Slasher house out there!! There will be a review of this movie coming soon right here!!

You can also find jobs on their movies by checking out their website!!! Go give it a look! You won't be dissapointed!


Darkest regards......Dani.

Awesome Indie horror movies Part II: Dani's Revenge.

Here we go with the second part of the list!! Check these out if you like to think all Indie horror is handycam, backyard trash! Indie horror isn't only movies that are made in the backyards of wannabe horror directors, so why label it as such. You can't use an umbrella term like Indie horror, when there are so many good Indie horror movies out there. It just doesn't make sense!! People are discounting some amazing horror movies weather they like to admit it or not (and I'm sure they won't). There are bad and good things in all areas, so lets get a life, stop with the hating and concentrate on the good stuff!! But, you should also remember, movies are subjective, so one persons gold is another persons shit!! Anyway, on with the list.

My name is Bruce (2007).

Bruce Campbell stars and directs this movie, playing an over exaggerated version of himself who is kidnapped to fight an ancient evil!! Laughs, scares and rolling heads aplenty, and lots of cameos from people who were in the Evil dead movies. The theme song is catchy as hell too!

Satans little helper (2004).

A sometimes hilarious throwback to the slasher films of yore (that's the late 70's/early 80's for all of you who don't know) this movie features some great kills, a great villain and the ending is beyond creepy!! One for a Saturday night in with a lot of alcohol!

Home sick (2007).

Made with a very small budget, although you certainly wouldn't know from the acting and FX, a man turns up to a party carrying a suitcase, and asks each of the party goers to name someone they hate, before he kills each one of those people named. Buckets of blood, and the ever Awesome Bill Mosely make this one to watch again and again.

Feast (2005).

I know this movie is hated by a lot of people, but I thought it was a good old monster movie with lashings of gore, a high body count and it had the energy of something made back in the 70's. A bar is attacked by monsters. That's pretty much the plot in a nutshell. It really has everything you want from a movie.  Beautiful women, monsters, gore, a cameo by Jason Mewes, and buckets of maggot ridden vomit!!!

Colin (2008).

Shot on a budget of £35.00, Colin tells the story of Colin (who didn't see that coming) who is attacked and bitten by a zombie. We follow him as he slowly turns into one of the undead. Incredibly emotional and powerful, the whole movie rises above its tiny budget and creates a new kind of Zombie movie. This movie shows how far you can go with imagination, talent and will and very little money!

Let the right one in (2008).

Ignore the polished turd that was 2010's remake, the original is much more character driven, emotional and just about better in every way! A young loner meets up with a strange young girl, and as their friendship blossoms, he learns something that will change his life forever. Creepy in every sense of the word, but beautifully shot. One of the greatest vampire movies in existence.

The house of the Devil (2009).

Ti West's third feature cements his slow build technique he continued with The innkeepers. The movie comes across as though it was made in the 80's. It is incredibly suspenseful, and the ending has to be seen to be believed. Gritty, brutal and beautiful, all at the same time. If you have yet to check this out, what are you waiting for?


Until next time...

Darkest regards......Dani.

Dr Blood's coffin (1961).

Something is going on in a Cornish tin mine. Peter Blood (Keiron Moore) is experimenting with the dead, attempting to bring them back to life. He uses Curare (an african poison used on the tip of arrows) to remove the still beating hearts from people he feels are not fit to live in order to bring others back to the land of the living.

Directed by the same person that bought us the Incubus themed classic The Entity, Sidney J. Furie, this movie has a definite Frankenstein flavor about it. The experiments the young Doctor Blood mentions are only vaguely referred to through the first half of the movie, and it moves along at a rather slow pace, choosing more to concentrate on the relationship between Doctor Blood and his father's nurse, Linda Parker than on sinister experiments and the collection of body parts.

The performances make this move feel incredibly slow. There doesn't seem to be any feeling or passion from any of the actor persons involved, apart from Hazel Court who plays Linda Parker, in the final scenes of the movie, but that could be due to a lackluster script or half hearted direction. Nevertheless, it doesn't seem like any of the actor persons hearts are in this movie. No pun intended.

A couple of Medical operation scenes near the end of the movie, and the introduction of a monster do help the movie along, but in all honesty, it's too little too late. All in all it comes across as no more than a half hearted rehash of Frankenstein, albeit with more romance, and less monster.

One for genre completists only, and something that certainly doesn't warrant repeat viewings. Stick with Hammer. They do it so much better.

You can purchase the Region 1 DVD from Amazon by clicking here.

Darkest regards......Dani.

At midnight I'll take your soul (1964).

Here we have a classic in horror cinema. The awesome José Mojica Marins brings his Horrific blasphemous creation to life in the fantastical A meia-noite levarei sua alma (At midnight I'll take your soul).

His character, Zé do Caixão (coffin joe) is a blasphemous man with a distaste for all religion and emotion. He is looking for the perfect woman to continue his bloodline, his idea of immortality.

At the beginning of the movie, Zé finds out his wife cannot have children, and begins making advances towards his best friends fiancée, Terezinha. She rebuffs his advances, which then plunges her and her fiancée into danger.

This movie has such a dark atmosphere. The intro alone is enough to chill the blood with  Zé do Caixão's ideals being the focal point and introduction to the characters flawed philosophy.

For a movie made in 1964, a lot of taboo subjects were covered. Rape, blasphemy and the beating of women. Not forgetting the torture scene involving a live tarantula!!

There are also a couple of scenes of gore, and although it looks cheap, it still comes across as shocking, even today.

In my opinion, Coffin Joe is the greatest horror icon you never knew.Decked out in his black cape and top hat, with his terribly long and razor sharp fingernails making him instantly recognizable.

This movie is groundbreaking in every possible way, epitomizing everything that should be in a great horror film eg. a scary villain, amazing sets (which were all apparently one room dressed to look differently), inventive cinematography that brings Bava to mind, and some brutal gore scenes. Wasn't that something back in 1964??

The movie is also incredibly honest in every sense of the word. Coffin Joe broke all the rules, attacking religion, his graphic depictions of violence and his inability to take no for an answer, his will knowing no bounds.

Any horror fans out there that have yet to discover the deliriously crazy world of Coffin Joe are in for such a treat. The film is truly atmospheric, and it stays with you long after viewing. It is also way ahead of it's time. At midnight I'll take your soul is a horror film buffs dream (or should that be nightmare) come true, and is essential viewing. Coffin Joe is without a doubt one of the unrecognized greats of horror cinema, and everyone in the world should without a doubt recognize the name José Mojica Marins.

This movie is the firs part of a trilogy, which continues with "This night I'll posses your corpse" and "Embodiment of evil", both of which I will be reviewing in the future. If you have yet to experience Coffin Joe, what are you waiting for??

Darkst regards......Dani.

Awesome Indie horror movies!!!

Yes, contrary to what many of you out there think, there are many Indie horror movies out there that aren't shot on handy cam, made by Troma, Toetag or Full Moon. So I thought I'd write a list detailing some of these for your enjoyment!!

Splinter ( 2008 ) .

Four people are trapped in a gas station by a creepy splinter parasite that transforms Its still living victims into deadly hosts. Pretty much a one location movie (apart from the first fifteen minutes or so). The whole movie is claustrophobic and has such a tense atmosphere It's sure to please. Plus the creature (what you see of it) looks amazing!

Jacob's ladder ( 1990 ) .

I really can't tell you much about this dark nightmarish movie for fear of giving something away. This movie plays on dreams and nightmares,  is incredibly intelligent and looks amazing. The demons are rather disturbing too. There is also a conspiracy mixed in with all the supernatural goings on and the ending lets you make up your own mind, instead of spelling everything out for you.

Ginger Snaps ( 2000 ) .

Another incredibly intelligent independent movie. One of the Fitzgerald sisters, who are both outcasts in their town, is bitten by something while they are out in the woods. This is also the day that she has her first period. Her sister tries desperately to help her before Halloween (and the next full moon) arrives. An incredibly heartfelt commentary on how puberty turns us from children into slathering beasts, this film looks beautiful and has everything a good lycanthrope movie should have!

Kill list ( 2011 ) .

A British horror movie, and one that certainly blew me away on first viewing. A year after a he messes a job up, a hit man takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for killing three people. The movie does an amazing job of creating suspense and it certainly makes your jaw hit the floor in the final act, and the violence is brutal as hell. It's one of those movies that manages to burrow into your mind, and sits there for days afterwards making you wonder what you just experienced.

Fido ( 2007 ) .

A zombie horror movie, this time starring comedian Billy Connolly as a zombie named Fido who is a little boys best friend, but after his zombie friend eats the neighbour things start to go awry. This movie is funny and a pretty savage commentary on 50's America, where instead of black slaves, people have zombies (who are controlled with collars). An amazing performance by Billy Connolly and a happy ending make this one incredibly different.

Red , white and blue ( 2010 ) .

This is one sick movie. Erica is cold and emotionless and happens to sleep with any man she can. She befriends a war veteran named Nate and gets a job working at the same place as him, but still sleeps with pretty much everyone there except for Nate. One of her one night stands finds out he has HIV and is sure he caught it from Erica. What happens from there on in is one seriously sick and twisted ride, coming across as more sickening than the home invasion scene in Henry:Portrait of a serial killer. The film manages to cross many genres beginning as a morality tale before moving into the realms of social realism before becoming  a sick and twisted horror movie.

Stakeland ( 2010 ) .

A vampire hunter by the name of Mister takes in a boy called Martin (surely a reference to George Romero's movie) as America falls around them. This is an incredibly emotional movie and it takes you on such a journey, it really is hard not to enjoy it. The whole movie is directed well, looks beautiful and the vampires are actually scary!! It is also incredibly hard to guess where the story will go next.

The woman  ( 2011 ) .

The amazing Lucky McKee (May, The woods, both of which are also independent movies, Masters of horror's Sick girl) brings us a companion piece to the movie Offspring (again, an independent horror movie). A country lawyer captures a feral woman and attempts to civilize her, but little does he know that with him keeping the woman so close to his home, his whole family are in danger. This film shows some sickening behavior and again, is a very beautiful and well shot film with a killer story to boot. I have never been disappointed with a Lucky McKee movie, and here he continues to take us on a trip where not one of us can see where we are going. Breathtaking.

Part 2 will be with you all soon. Thank you for reading.

Darkest regards......Dani.

 

The sky has fallen (2009).

I have been meaning to review this for ages, but having been struck down with yet another illness I haven't really had the energy to watch anything at all.

I managed to finally view Doug Roos The sky has fallen last night and I must say I was incredibly impressed.

First of all, the movie is an independent horror movie. Secondly, it contains no CGI whatsoever!! All the FX in the movie are practical. The zombie makeup is first class, bringing back memories of Gianetto De Rossi's zombies in Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2.

The creature make up is also incredibly well realised, and also very effective!!!

Indie horror is where ingenuity, creativity and a gritty determination to succeed still lives. This film showcases every one of those things and more!!

The story tells of a new disease that within a couple of hours, has wiped out nearly all of mankind. People are fleeing to remote locations to avoid the infection. They begin seeing mysterious black figures carrying the dead away and experimenting on them. It is down to Lance and Rachel to kill the leader of these creatures before humanity is wiped out forever!!

Another thing worth mentioning about this movie is that most of the shots are tight close ups. This really accentuates the loneliness of the two main characters and really adds to the creepiness of the movie too.

There is a lot of dialogue, but it is broken up well with nightmarish scenes of violence and splatter and it moves the story along nicely, developing the characters of Lance and Rachel nicely and making you really care for them.

All in all, The sky has fallen is an incredibly thought provoking and emotional piece of cinema, showing great talent in both storytelling and FX. A haunting and disturbing movie that should please every horror fan out there!!! Go see it!!!

Go to the official site to show your support!!

www.theskyhasfallen.net

Darkest regards......Dani.

More from Shiva Rodriguez.

I had another email today from Shiva Rodriguez and thought I would share some of it with you all. So here goes.

The Blood Drive for Predatory Moon is up now, and the video for it can be found on the Gallery page of our indiegogo campain
www.indiegogo.com/predatorymoon or on our website here : www.predatorymoon.com/blood-drive .

That was a lot of fun to shoot. We had a crew of seventeen people out at a remote farmhouse and basically spent the entire day shooting the six episodes straight though. Among the victims for the Blood Drive were a zombie, a clown, a backwoods cannibal, and a vampire.

We're also going to be launching a weekly raffle this Wednesday (Dec 12), where donors to our campaign will be entered into a drawing to win a piece of original werewolf artwork by our creature designer, Daniel Byrd. He's done three very unique pieces to be raffled off during the last three weeks of our campaign.

Shiva also commented on the last post I made about the comment about story being more prominent than FX in a movie. This is what Shiva had to say :-

And just to answer to that comment on the article about concern for a good story... I have written several screenplays in the past that were produced under pen names in order to keep under the radar of the unions. I also penned a novel called "The Gallows Flower" that I believe is still available through the publisher on Amazon.

So as you all can see, there is no doubt this is going to kick ass in every way possible!!! Anyone that puts art before money deserves recognition!!! SUPPORT INDEPENDENT HORROR!!!!

I hope you all check out the Predatory Moon site and support Shiva and her crew's attempts at bringing something new to the werewolf genre!!!! Next timeI will be returning with a review of Doug Roos The sky has fallen.

Darkest regards......Dani.