Real Horror

Horror, suspense and the supernatural ... real and imagined

[amityvillenow]

A QUIET PLACE: INTENSE HORROR WITH UNEXPECTED FACES

A QUIET PLACE: INTENSE HORROR WITH UNEXPECTED FACES

In a world of too damn many trailers for too damn many horror movies, it’s amazing to see one that actually still scares you — on that isn’t derivative or tired, and one that features actors you’ve never seen in this context before. But A Quiet Place hits all the right switches. Co-written and directed by John Krasinski — yeah, nice, affable John “The Office” Krasinski — and starring Krasinski…

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[amityvillenow]

GONE BUT SHOULDN'T BE FORGOTTEN: THE PET

GONE BUT SHOULDN’T BE FORGOTTEN: THE PET

Every year there are a few great thrillers or horror movies that get made, get poorly distributed, and sink beneath the unending tidal wave (or title wave, really) of New Stuff … often Inferior Stuff, but still, the tide never stops. Such is the case with Pet, a truly disturbing thriller/horror film with some outstanding work by Dominic Monaghan and Ksenia Solo and a twisty-turny screenplay by…

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[amityvillenow]

LET'S CALL THIS THE FINAL WORD ON THE OLD AND NEW DOCTOR WHO

LET’S CALL THIS THE FINAL WORD ON THE OLD AND NEW DOCTOR WHO

Its been an … interesting run for Peter Capaldi as The Doctor. Looking back, he’s probably the most ill-served actor to come into the series since, arguably, Colin Baker … or maybe ever. His first few episodes (or seasons) are generally held as among the weakest since the series was revived, full of poor plotting, self-referential chaos and mugging. About the only good thing in all of it was…

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[amityvillenow]

WYRMWOOD TV: EVEN BETTER THAN THE MOVIE?

WYRMWOOD TV: EVEN BETTER THAN THE MOVIE?

It’s hard to believe it’s been three years since Wymwood: Road of the Dead crashed into the world of zombie post-apocalypse film — one of the very best of the genre since, well, forever, and right up there with post-apoc films in general, from Road Warrior forward. If you haven’t seen the original movie, it’s available on Netflix and VOD. It’s well worth a look or even a re-look, especially now,…

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[amityvillenow]

SCARY STORIES FROM KATY TOWEL ARE .... WELL ... SKARY

SCARY STORIES FROM KATY TOWEL ARE …. WELL … SKARY

Katy Towel is an amazing animator of eerie shorts that are absolutely unsettling. She even does the equally odd audio herself. Here’s a perfect (and perfectly creepy) example: If you like this — and how could you not? — there’s plenty more. Recently the remarkably bizarre Ms. Towel has been branching out. There are a few books: Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow, and Charlie and the…

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[amityvillenow]

BATES MOTEL OPENING FOR ONE FINAL, FRIGHTENING SEASON

BATES MOTEL OPENING FOR ONE FINAL, FRIGHTENING SEASON

Bates Motel has been an unexpected pleasure since its beginning. Expectations were understandably low before its first-season premiere: yet another reboot or lame-ass prequel of a treasured classic; one more chance to crap on tradition. But not this time. This time Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore made something special out of the cool, dreamy (as in “nightmarish”) thriller that Alfred…

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[amityvillenow]

The Last Broken Darkness: A Different Kind of Apocalypse

The Last Broken Darkness: A Different Kind of Apocalypse

Beauty — or something that could almost pass for elegance — are rare on film at all, and even more rare in movies about the apocalypse. Christopher-Lee dos Santoss’ The Last Broken Darkness is the first truly stylish post-apoc tale since, perhaps, Joon-Ho Bong’s Snowpiercer. It also looks desperate, hypnotic, and pretty darn fascinating. Christoper-Lee do Santos is a South African prodigy whose…

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[amityvillenow]

THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE IS A WHOLE NEW KIND OF CREEPYThe Norwegian director André Øvredal was inspired to do a horror movie after attending a screening of The Conjuring. He immediately called his agent and told them that they should try and find a good horror script for him. A month later they showed him this script and he was immediately interested.

THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE IS A WHOLE NEW KIND OF CREEPYThe Norwegian director André Øvredal was inspired to do a horror movie after attending a screening of The Conjuring. He immediately called his agent and told them that they should try and find a good horror script for him. A month later they showed him this script and he was immediately interested.

Trollhunter, way back in 2010, was a rulebreaker when it came to horror genrification. It was sort of a found footage/mockumentary, but done with such a deft and realistic touch that you didn’t really think of it that way. It was a monster movie, too, and a fantasy with a whole set of fairly elaborate rules. But there wasn’t a fairy or magic spell to be seen. It was even a satire, in a way, about…

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[amityvillenow]

DON'T MOVE: ANOTHER SCARY SHORT

DON’T MOVE: ANOTHER SCARY SHORT

Don’t confuse this with Don’t Breathe or Lights Out. It’s an unsettling little short all its own, one of the artifacts from a Chilling Tales for Dark Nights, a fascinating YouTube channel that actually hides some gold. There are a lot of great things in this piece: a rich story, some good scares, and a world around the story that makes you want more — more, in fact, than the aforementioned Lights…

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[amityvillenow]

FLEX: AN ELECTRIC, SURPRISING, SMART AS HELL URBAN FANTASY

FLEX: AN ELECTRIC, SURPRISING, SMART AS HELL URBAN FANTASY

… only $1.99 on Kindle right now. The vast, depressing majority of ‘urban fantasy’ these days is just half-hearted noir in fantasy drag, with orcs taking the place of gunsels, damsels instead of dames, elves as substitute street creeps, and magic bolts as stand-ins for pistols. Most of it, therefore, is not very good and there’s way too much of it. Then, once in a while, something really…

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[amityvillenow]

AFTERMATH: A POTENT POST-APOCALYPSE SHORT WITH WATCHING Short subjects are enjoying a bit of a renaissance these days, but sadly most of them -- especially in the horror and speculative genres -- are either highly imitative or just plain poorly made.

[amityvillenow]

THE MAIDEN: SHORT & SCARY

THE MAIDEN: SHORT & SCARY

Sometimes you can tell a whole story in just a few minutes — like eight minutes and a few seconds, which is all it took Michael Chaves to tell The Maiden. It’s a smart, scary, beautifully made short, available on Vimeo and right here … &nbsp THE MAIDEN – short horror film from Michael Chaves on Vimeo. ;

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[amityvillenow]

TRAIN TO BUSAN: FAST ZOMBIES, HIGH SPEED, CLASS WAR Every time we think the zombie trope has finally run its course, something like Train to Busan…

[amityvillenow]

DR. STRANGE, GREATEST KID’S MAGICIAN IN THE COSMO (NOT REALLY) Okay, this is funny. We're still weirded out by Benedict Cumberbatch talking American, and it takes a little while getting started, but we're up for trying to turn, "Do you want to go home with Marcus?" into the next threatening internet meme. (Btw, Dr. Strange premieres at an interdimensional portal near year on Nov. 4,)

[amityvillenow]

OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL IS JUST PLAIN SCARY

OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL IS JUST PLAIN SCARY

Yes, yes, the Ouija Board is just a made-up thing that Parker Brothers hacked together a few decades ago, and it has about as much authenticity as a haunted version of Hungry Hungry Hippos … but over the years, it has developed a kind of urban-legend power all its own, and Ouija: Origin of Evil plays off all that accumulated weirdness to make a move that seems — at least judging by this trailer —…

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[amityvillenow]

IVERSON, INVASION, WHATEVER: GO WATCH ROBOT OVERLORDS We're clearly obsessed here at AmitvyilleNow International Headquarters. We recently were looking at our Twitter account, and noticed in the left-hand column that…

[amityvillenow]

BATMAN vs DEADPOOL: WHAT SUPERHERO FIGHTS ARE SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE

BATMAN vs DEADPOOL: WHAT SUPERHERO FIGHTS ARE SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE

Yeah, you can shoot it at night. Yeah, you can have them in for close hand-to-hand combat. But you have to do it right, and way back when, future Deadpool director Tim Miller showed us how it was done, in a short animated (though it barely looks animated) short ostensibly produced to promote the video game Arkham Asylum. All future superhero movie directors/designer/combat masters, take note.…

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