The Tyburn Tree are a duo comprised of Soft Cell singer Marc Almond and saxophonist John Harle. On February 24, 2014 the pair released ‘Dark London’ on Sospiro Noir Records. Promotional shots for the album were taken in Highgate Cemetery.

The album features songs about the more frightening aspects of the British capital city’s history. Spring-Heeled Jack, The Highgate Vampire, Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper (in cinema and TV) are represented alongside lesser known grim character such as the Ratcliffe Highway murderer. The title of the album relates to the infamous Tyburn Tree gallows on which over 60,000 common criminals were hung in huge spectacles of brutal justice. Seventies production company Tyburn Films (The Ghoul, Legend of the Werewolf) also took their name from the ghastly gallows.

“Ex-Soft Cell frontman Almond channels his fascination for cabaret into theatrical songs about the city’s lore. Meanwhile composer Harle creates a moody score flickering with echoes of Gypsy folk, late-night jazz and, for “Spring Heeled Jack”, about the supernatural London villain, neurotic prog rock.” FT.com

“We all know that Marc Almond can sing but it still comes as a shock to hear his thrillingly drawn-out climax to Harle’s “The Arrival of Spring”, emoting words adapted from William Blake with operatic oomph” The Independent

“Harle gallops across his musical terrain with the attitude of Axl Rose. Terrifyingly extreme and magnificently audacious, Harle is a powerful force in British jazz and pop, and has the integrity, passion and vision to challenge listeners” Esquire USA

Buy Dark London on CD | vinyl | MP3 album from Amazon.co.uk

Official site

‘Shark happens!’

Sharknado 2: The Second One is a 2014 made-forTV American horror film directed by Anthony C. Ferrante (Sharknado, Hansel & Gretel) from a screenplay by Thunder Levin (Sharknado, Mutant Vampire Zombies from the ‘Hood!). It stars Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch and Mark McGrath.

Plot teaser:

A freak weather system turns its deadly fury on New York City, unleashing a ‘sharknado’ on the population and its most cherished, iconic sites – and only Fin (Ian Ziering) and April (Tara Reid) can save the Big Apple…

Reviews:

“Thankfully, the sheer ridiculousness of the film carries it through. It has the same relentless verve of the original movie, and the very idea of a city full of sharks that have fallen – angry and bitey – from the sky remains hard to resist. As before, the film never really pauses, and throws in enough outrageous material to keep you chortling in disbelief – there are even sewer alligators turning up at one point, though of course they are no match for the sharks. And in its own ludicrous way, the film is pretty exciting – and the main cast, at least, still treat it as though they are making high art.” David Flint, Strange Things Are Happening

IMDb

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‘They see your fear’

Citadel is a 2012 Irish psychological horror film written and directed by Ciaran Foy, in his feature film debut. It was filmed in Glasgow, Scotland. The film stars Aneurin Barnard, as Tommy, a widower who must raise his baby alone, after an attack by a gang leaves his wife dead and him suffering from agoraphobia. It is an example of “hoodie horror”.

Plot teaser:

Tommy (Aneurin Barnard) and Joanne (Amy Shiels), who is pregnant, live in a dilapidated apartment complex. One day, when Tommy is in an elevator, Joanne is threatened by a group of teenagers, all wearing hoodies. Tommy watches helplessly as the gang attack his wife, desperately trying to exit the elevator. He finds her beaten, with a syringe in her stomach. In the hospital, Joanne survives and gives birth to Elsa (Harry Saunders), a healthy girl. However, Joanne remains in a coma for several months, eventually being taken off life support. Grief-stricken, Tommy is consoled by a friendly nurse, Marie (Wunmi Mosaku), who attempts to help him with his agoraphobia, the result of his traumatic experience…

Reviews:

“This is a basic story, simply and directly told by Irish writer-director Ciaran Foy. He doesn’t try to explain too much, he doesn’t depend on special effects and stays just this side of the unbelievable. As Tommy, Aneurin Barnard is very effective. He trembles and sweats with fear, he would seem paranoid if it didn’t seem the “demons” weren’t really there, and if they hadn’t really killed his wife.” Roger Ebert

“The structure was in place for Citadel to rise above its tendencies towards melodrama, a trope evident in Tommy’s constant coddling, but the triumphant finish doesn’t wipe away the questionable handling of its main character and his interactions with the crumbling world around him. The blueprint is there, but Citadel might have benefited from a different architect.” Drew Tinnin, Dread Central

“Since they’re all wearing hoodies to hide their faces, it’s actually kind of similar to Them (Ils) at times, especially during the centerpiece home invasion scene where he has to barricade himself in the bathroom. Foy wisely never lets the film get too bogged down in their motivations or an explanation for their powers, and does so in a way that doesn’t feel like he’s saving stuff for a sequel (a common problem in modern horror, and films in general, in this “trilogy” obsessed landscape).” Horror Movie a Day

Wikipedia | IMDb

Godzilla is a 1998 American science fiction monster film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich (Ghost Chase). It was a reimagining of the popular Japanese film monster of the same name. The screenplay was written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The plot of the film revolves around a giant reptilian monster, mutated by nuclear tests in the French Polynesia, who migrates to New York City to nest its young. The cast features Matthew Broderick, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn and Jean Reno.

Godzilla earned $379,014,294 in gross revenue before ancillary sales (VHS, DVD, TV, cable and Blu-ray). Despite its initial commercial success upon release, the film was met with a negative reception from critics and fans of the Japanese Godzilla series alike. The negative reception highlighted by critics included the film’s thin plot, acting, and directing while fans of the Japanese Godzilla movies targeted the film’s drastic reinvention of the titular character, which included its radical redesign and departure from the source material.

Plot teaser:

Following a nuclear incident in French Polynesia, a lizard’s nest is irradiated by the fallout of subsequent radiation. Decades later, a Japanese fishing vessel is suddenly attacked by an enormous sea creature in the South Pacific ocean and only one seaman survives. Traumatized, he is questioned by a mysterious Frenchman in a hospital regarding what he saw, to which he replies, “Gojira”. Dr. Niko “Nick” Tatopoulos (Broderick), an NRC scientist, is in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, but is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of an official from the U.S. State Department. He is sent to Tahiti and Jamaica, escorted by the military, to observe the wreckage of the recovered Japanese fishing trawler with massive claw marks on it. The Frenchman is also present, observing the scene, and introduces himself as Philippe Roché (Reno), an insurance agent. Aboard a military aircraft, Dr. Tatopoulos identifies skin samples he discovered in the shipwreck as belonging to an unknown species. He dismisses the military’s theory that the creature is a living dinosaur, instead deducing that it is a mutant created by nuclear testing. The large reptilian creature, dubbed as “Godzilla” by the media, travels to New York City leaving a path of destruction in its wake…

Reviews:

All the supposedly heroic characters wear baseball caps backwards. So the MORON alert flashes even before they spout trite dialogue. That said, the mildly amusing French secret agent element and the finale with the baby Godzillas ripped off from Jurassic Park are relatively engaging. The film was unfortunately a wasted opportunity with a Godzilla that is presented as just a giant radioactive lizard – without any kind of character – plus vacuous human characters that just annoy rather than engage the audience.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

“It’s even emphasized by the monster’s revamped design, which bears no resemblance to any Godzilla we know. The thick legs are gone, the back spines are gone, the cruel, humanoid eyes are gone. What it is, in short, is a plain old allosaurus (or whatever paleontologists are calling it these days). Godzilla’s profile was always absolutely unique and unmistakable, but this thing here? I saw pictures of that in dinosaur books when I was a kid. I mean, Christ, he doesn’t even breathe radioactive fire! What the hell’s THAT all about?”

Wikipedia | IMDb

Plot keywords: nuclear explosion Panama Ukraine Chernobyl earthworms worms footprint military redhead ship ocean helicopters rain Jamaica cap backwards plane fishing trawlers lizards radiation french Polynsia New York Coffee Komodo dragon diner television fish fishermen jetty truck mayor yellow cab Iron building manholes crowbar sewer Chrysler Building looting French secret service Scooby-Doo chewing gum Elvis Presley reporter subway Central Park submarine torpedo Madison Square Garden Lincoln Tunnel Jimmy Page Barney

‘Reality is not an option’

Dementamania is a 2013 British horror film directed by Kit Ryan (Botched) from a screenplay by Anis Shlewet. It stars Samuel Robertson, Vincent Regan, Kal Penn, Geoff Bell, John Thomson, Holly Weston, Anthony Cozens.

Official synopsis:

Frustrated with the social injustice he must face every day and the bureaucratic culture of the office he works in Edward Arkham is at boiling point.

Although successful in his job, working for a leading IT consultancy, years of routine have taken their toll, his work now seeming so unbearably monotonous, fuelling his frustration and bitterness.

When Edward is stung by a mysterious bug, it results in a painful and aggressive rash. It also unlocks the door to a secret world inside his head causing nightmarish fantasies to manifest themselves within vivid hallucinations. As the rash spreads and threatens to envelop his entire body, his visions become more real and reality begins to drift further and further away…

Reviews:

“Dementamania is a fun horror black comedy fusion that channels the frustrations of modern life that we can all sympathise with, into a twisted fantasy of violent desire and madness. Never afraid to walk the line between pure humour and pure horror, it is an ambitious little gem, full of creativity and a twisting plot that throws the audience into a delirious nightmare that buries right into the heart of everyday horror and angst.” Movie Ramblings

“Dementamania has a rich look and some impressive mind-warping horror effects but suffers from a hard-to-care-about protagonist and an overfamiliar descent-into-madness plot trajectory.” Kim Newman, Screen Daily

“One of the things that really stands out about Dementamania is the direction from Kit Ryan. There’s lots of innovative and refreshing camera techniques and cuts throughout which keeps the energy of the film at a high. Ryan also brings to life some of the film’s more bizarre moments with panache making a remarkably polished movie on a relatively small budget.” Entertainment Focus

“While I felt the ending becomes a bit too clichéd and almost trite, the trippy ride there through the wings of an angry hornet named Edward was worth the trip. Bloody, brutal, and sometimes even beautiful as Kit Ryan intersperses some fun techno songs with funky lighting to spice up some of the scenes, Dementamania may be a bit of a clichéd foray, but still a visually unique and downright brutal one worth taking.” Ain’t It Cool News

IMDb | Facebook

‘She gives good fang!’

Nocturna (usually referred to by its promotional title Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula) is a 1978 American comedy horror film conceived by star Nai Bonet and written and directed by Harry Hurwitz, who was credited as “Harry Tampa.” This was the fourth and final time veteran horror star John Carradine played Count Dracula; he had also played him in House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula and Billy the Kid vs. Dracula.

It premiered in France at the Paris Festival of Fantastic Films on March 1, 1979 to coincide with its U.S. release. Brother Theodore also stars, and Mac Ahlberg was the cinematographer. The movie is copyrighted 1978 in the opening and ending credits as it was filmed in October and November 1978. Nai Bonet appeared in a semi-nude pictorial in the April 1979 issue of Gallery magazine to promote the film.

Plot teaser:

The Count’s statuesque granddaughter Nocturna runs away to the New York disco scene with what she calls ‘my boyfriend’, a friendly blond hulk who had been doing a gig in Transylvania. However, New York does have its problems, Nocturna soon learns. The quality of the blood supply is being compromised by drugs, pollution, high-sugar diets, and preservatives so that the local vampires have formed a club, the BSA (Blood Suckers of America), in order to discuss possible solutions, such as the use of syringes instead of fangs and the opening of a blood bank that solicits donors from the public….

“Nocturna is Bad Movie Jackpot for undiscriminating fans of 70’s cheese. If the gaudy fashions, dated music (the soundtrack features original cuts by Gloria Gaynor and Vicky Sue Robinson), and rampant disco dancing aren’t you’re thing; there’s still plenty here for you to enjoy. There’s a great scene where Nocturna takes a bath and does a spoken word rap about love over the soundtrack a la Margot Kidder in Superman. It has to be seen to be believed. And wait until you get a load of the scenes where the vampires turn into bats. All of the transformations are done via animation that looks like leftovers from an episode of Schoolhouse Rock. It’s too hilarious for words.” The Video Vacuum

“This movie is supposed to be a comedy, but it’s not funny. Worse, the whole thing is directed in plodding fashion with a great deal of outright clumsiness, particularly in the action of the final 20 minutes (during which Nocturna’s overpowering of Theodore isn’t even shown). Writer/director “Harry Tampa” (actually Harry Hurwitz) evidently structured the proceedings around the eminently forgettable disco tunes that litter the soundtrack, devoting a large amount of screen time to energy-free dance sequences. Not even a gratuitous nude bathing scene that occurs early on and a lengthy T&A packed whorehouse sequence do much to liven things up.” Fright.com

“There are a few ideas which wouldn’t disgrace a Mel Brooks movie: Dracula (Carradine) wearing dentures, a lady vamp sleeping in curlers and coffin, and her exasperated complaints about the quality of urban blood through ‘pollution, drugs and preservatives’. It’s all terrible, but there’s no indication that it’s meant to be anything else. Only see it when you feel very, very silly.” Time Out

Buy Nocturna vinyl soundtrack from Amazon.com

WH

Mean-spirited US poster artwork

Bloodrage (also known as Never Pick up a Stranger) is a 1979 psycho thriller exploitation film directed by Joseph Zito (under the pseudonym Joseph Bigwood) from a screenplay by Robert Jahn. It stars Ian Scott, Judith-Marie Bergan, James Johnston, Betsy Ramlow and Lawrence Tierney (The Kirlian Witness; Silver Bullet; The Horror Show).

Director Zito previously directed Abduction (1975) and went on to helm two slashers, The Prowler and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, before focusing on reactionary action movies.

Plot teaser:

A young man named Richard visits Beverly, a local prostitute, and runs into her boyfriend, a police officer named Ryan, on the way into Beverly’s home. Richard and Beverly get into an argument, which ends with Richard accidentally shoving Beverly through a window, killing her. Richard cleans up the scene, evades Ryan when he returns from running errands, and hitchhikes to New York City after disposing of Beverly’s body.

Richard acquires a room in a dingy motel, gets a job at a bottling company, befriends a neighboring drug dealer named Candice, and voyeuristically spies on Nancy, a prostitute who lives across from Candice. Intoxicated by what he felt during Beverly’s death, Richard murders a woman named Lucy, torturing and humiliating her beforehand. Ryan, suspicious of Beverly’s disappearance, heads to New York in search of her, enlisting the aid of the local police, and passing photographs of her around at strip clubs and bars.

During the course of his investigation, Ryan spots Richard in a restaurant, and hears a broadcast announcing that Beverly’s remains were uncovered. Concluding that Richard probably killed Beverly, Ryan finds out where he is staying, and heads there…

Reviews:

” …oozes the atmosphere of the sleazy 70’s and is bound to upset even the steadiest of stomachs, not because it is overly bloody (it’s not) but because of the matter-of-fact way that director Joseph Bigwood (actually Joseph Zito using a pseudonym) treats the material and characters. While the storyline is of the basic ‘serial killer murders prostitutes’ formula, the acting and situations seem so natural and unhampered by not having a big budget (this is an extremely low budget effort) that it makes the killings all the more horrendous”. Fred Adelman, Critical Condition

“The unpolished acting works, too, giving things a reasonably authentic flavor, with Scott especially hitting all the right notes as Richie. This is a guy who would creep you out if you even bothered to pay attention to him, but is so non-descript and unassuming that you probably wouldn’t. You can already hear his neighbors being interviewed on the news saying “I guess I’m kinda surprised he’d do something like this, he just seemed like one of those guy who was sort of — I dunno, there, ya know? Ya never had much reason to pay attention to him one way or another.” How many times have we heard a variation on those very words from somebody talking about a real life psycho?” Trash Film Guru

Choice dialogue:

“She was beautiful… she disgusted me.”

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Refrigerator is a 1991 American comedy horror film starring Julia McNeal, Dave Simonds and Angel Caban. It was written and directed by Nicholas Jacobs.

Plot teaser:

A couple drive drunkenly across the streets of New York to their squalid apartment. They get home and have brief sex in the kitchen. When the wife walks into the kitchen, the refrigerator opens up and sucks the girl in.

Steve and Eileen Batemen are a young couple in Ohio. They are moving to Avenue D in New York, and move into the same apartment with the killer refrigerator. Steve takes a new job, while Eileen is trying to become a performer. Eileen pretends to be awarding an award while in the apartment, then walks all over Broadway.

When Steve and Eileen go to sleep, they start having nightmares about the refrigerator, Steve is seeing mini people inside the refrigerator (supposed victims). Eileen has a nightmare that she is seeing unborn babies.

Steve is soon driven to insanity by the refrigerator, leaving Eileen to cope with her and her acting career on her own. A plumber named Juan comes to the apartment one night, warning Eileen her refrigerator is from hell and the devil controls it…

New York in 1991. A poor person’s hell and a yuppie dream…

Reviews:

“The Refrigerator works best, surprisingly, as straight-up horror mixed with comedy, and not the other way around. Much of it is played for laughs, certainly, but the refrigerator is an authentically menacing, even eerie presence throughout, and the special effects are quite impressive considering the low budget.” Adam Groves, The Fright Site

” …the fridge scenes and the kills are all pretty fun, it has some wonderfully atmospheric shots and the dialogue is often super-hilarious (“I am the waffle maker!”).” Maynard’s Horror Movie Diary

“While the basic premise of The Refrigerator – take a couple of dream yuppies and plop them into a world of madness and horror – is satirical and wry, the final results aren’t very satisfying. The main failure of the film is that none of the separate entities work on their own – the funny scenes generally aren’t funny and the scary parts, while original in idea, aren’t scary, only overly gory.” TV Guide

Choice dialogue:

“The appliance’s may be old but they have a lot of character”.

Wikipedia | IMDb

End of the Line is a 2007 Canadian horror film written, produced and directed by Maurice Devereaux (Blood Symbol; Lady of the Lake; $lasher$). It stars Ilona Elkin, Nicolas Wright, Neil Napier, Emily Shelton and Tim Rozon.

Plot teaser:

Karen (Ilona Elkin), is a traumatised woman who suffers from horrific nightmares involving a subway train. Flashbacks show her trapped in a subway.

A Christian doomsday cult, which has been consuming and distributing hallucinogen-laced muffins that make people see visions of demons.

On a texted signal, they take over services and begins massacring non-believers throughout the city, believing it is their mission to “save” the souls of humanity for God, which can only be accomplished by killing people with swords and daggers…

Reviews:

“Anyone who is a fan of Christian Mythological horror (movies like Fallen, Stigmata and their ilk), or anyone who is just tickled by the idea of a zombie movie with Christians in place of the living dead, owes it to themselves to write this in pen on their schedule. It is one of the few films I will have already seen that I will be watching again at the fest just so I can see it on the big screen with an audience. A truly inspired original effort that comes Highly Recommended.”C. Robert Cargill, Ain’t It Cool News

“why has Maurice Devereaux‘s hair-raising subterranean shocker taken so long to surface from the festival circuit? Maybe it’s because this sick satiric tale—in which religious zealots conduct their own Rapture with cross-shaped daggers on a stalled subway—pushes sensitive buttons about fundamentalist hysteria. Then again, maybe it’s because the movie raises the even more subversive possibility that the zealots are right. Either way, this is scary as hell and impressively unrelenting.” Jim Ridley, The Village Voice

“The filmmakers are good at screwing with our minds. Likewise the ending. The technicals are terrific, and the camerawork pushes the intensity meter while the cast do everything demanded of them with utter conviction. There is no winking at the audience, and the panic factor gets higher with every scene. No wonder the film won several awards, such as the Audience prize at the Dead by Dawn Festival and the Special Jury Prize at the Fantastic Festival. It was also in the official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival.” Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile

Cast:

• Ilona Elkin as Karen
• Nicolas Wright as Mike
• Neil Napier as Neil
• Emily Shelton as Julie
• Tim Rozon as John
• Nina Fillis as Sarah
• Joan McBride as Betty
• Danny Blanco Hall as Davis
• John Vamvas as Frankie
• Robin Wilcock as Patrick

Wikipedia | IMDb

M is a 1931 German drama-thriller film directed by Fritz Lang (Metropolis, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse) and starring Peter Lorre (The Beast with Five Fingers; The Raven; Tales of Terror). It was written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou and was the director’s first sound film. The plot shows one of cinema’s first serial-killer hunts and was a shift in horror from monsters to real-life horrors.

In early 30’s Berlin, despite a serial killer being on the loose, families are trying to carry on with their lives as normal. We see a six year-old girl named Elsie Beckmann playing with a ball alone on a street having left her friends. She is approached by a relatively nondescript man, Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), whistling as he walks, who buys her a balloon from a blind peddler. This innocent act is soon to be revealed as something far more sinister as, although the crime goes unseen, her empty place at the dinner table and abandoned toys suggest at the horror which has been committed.

Beckert, in common with several real-life murderers, taunts the Berliners by boasting details of his crimes, which are printed in the local newspapers. The police, with no leads to go on, comb over every possible detail looking for clues but despite using the very latest techniques, including fingerprint analysis, they struggle to make a breakthrough. Under the leadership of Inspector Karl Lohmann (Otto Wernicke; The Testament of Dr. Mabuse), his forces forensically check every detail they have and scour their archives for potential suspects, whilst the troops on the ground raid countless criminal gangs in a fruitless attempt to catch the killer.

The criminal fraternity are equally appalled at the crimes but, at the same time, object to their nefarious activities being regularly interrupted. As such, they gather themselves together and throw allegiances out of the window to seek out the serial killer themselves, led by the notorious, Der Schränker (“The Safecracker”, played by Gustaf Gründgens; Faust). Despite their reputations, they ensure the safety of the city’s youth by employing the many beggars to keep watch on every street corner.

The police finally make a breakthrough and lie in wait at his rented accommodation. Meanwhile, the unaware killer stalks another young victim but is thwarted by an attentive mother. His distinctive whistle is recognised by the blind beggar we met earlier, who quickly informs members of the underworld as to his fears. Beckert is trailed by the informant, who ensures the suspect doesn’t get lost in the crowd by pretending to bump into him, giving him the opportunity to transfer a large letter “M” from his palm to the back of his coat.

Initially unaware, the symbol alerts other members of the criminal vigilantes who begin to appear en masse. Realising he is being trailed, Beckert flees into a large office building but it isn’t long before he is trapped and ‘arrested’, not by the police but by the criminals. A court is hastily assembled in an abandoned distillery, from judge (a murderer himself) to defence. It isn’t long before Beckert is found guilty, his pleas that he is unable to control his urges falling on deaf ears. It now becomes a game of morals and justice as a three-way tug-of-war decides whether Beckert can make his pleas heard by the courts of the land rather than the trial by The People.

Fritz Lang, known for his close attention to detail, soaked up numerous accounts of real-life serial killers (comparisons are regularly drawn with Peter Kürten, the so-called \Vampire of Düsseldorf’) to ensure his depiction was not only chilling but unnervingly believable. His intention was not only to cast some light on what would motivate a child-killer to commit such heinous acts but also to examine the roles of parents, society and the perpetual question as to the validity of capital punishment.

Contrarily, though M is Lang’s first film utilising sound, the film is almost entirely devoid of a soundtrack as such, the only ‘music’ of any real significance being the tune whistled by the killer, “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. This is one of the very earliest uses of a musical device known as a ‘leitmotif’ – a short melody which denotes a particular character or action. In this instance, any time we here the piece, even if Beckert isn’t on-screen, we know he is nearby. The film regularly omits diegetic street sound, putting even more focus on the theme of sight and sound and how closely we actually pay attention to what is going on around us. In actual fact, Lorre couldn’t whistle and the musical theme comes from the lips of Lang’s wife.

Originally titled, Mörder unter uns (“Murderer Among Us”) the film immediately courted controversy, even before release, raising the heckles of both German studios and the Nazi Party. Other early titles for the film included Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (A City searches for a Murderer) and Dein Mörder sieht Dich An (Your Killer Looks At You). Interestingly, despite the role of the murderer being so pivotal to the film, the strength and motivations of many of the characters shine through, achieving the aims of the director for the film to be a social commentary on all members of society, not just the most obvious.

This was Lorre’s first major role and one he was essentially able to play twice, both in his native tongue and in English when the film was re-shot. Despite his previous roles largely being in comedy, M led to Lorre being cast as a villain for many years after. In fact, none of the crimes are ever shown on-screen, though rather like many of the most important works of cinema, you would swear you see more than is actually presented. Beckert’s internal turmoil may be very real to him but we are left with no doubt as to his crimes or the threat he poses.

It wasn’t until the 1990’s that the existence of foreign language versions of the film (English and French) were uncovered; the sets and plot the same but the language and even several scenes, quite different. The various versions run to anything from 105 minutes to 117. Even then, a missing scene remains undiscovered, approximately 7 extra minutes, further examining the bizarre practice of murderers almost giving themselves up in an attempt to publicly proclaim their crimes and the inefficiencies of the police force.

M remains a deeply unsettling and challenging film and which, alas, deals with themes and events which are still very present with us today. It regularly appears in the loftier areas of critics’ favourite films, one of the few to transcend language to feature in both general and world lists.
Daz Lawrence

“In an urban society, everything connects. Each person’s needs are fed by the skills of many others. Our lives are woven together in a fabric. But the connections that make society strong also make it vulnerable”.

Threads is a 1984 British television drama, produced jointly by the BBC, Nine Network and Western-World Television Inc. Written by Barry Hines (Kes) and directed by Mick Jackson (Volcano) , it is a docudrama account of nuclear war and its effects on the city of Sheffield in northern England.

The primary plot centres on two families, the Becketts and the Kemps, as an international crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union erupts and escalates, mimicking the real-life tensions but allowing the threatened Cold War to escalate beyond the hypothetical and into a fully-blown attack. As the United Kingdom prepares for war, the members of each family deal with their own personal crises, the rigors of family life, not least the unplanned pregnancy of Ruth Beckett (Karen Meagher; 28 Weeks Later) and urgent requirement for some new wallpaper not halting, as a much larger-scale danger develops. As Ruth and her boyfriend, Jimmy Kemp (Reece Dinsdale, best known for his role opposite John Thaw in the deadly dull sitcom, Home to Roost), we observe the political angle, members of Sheffield City Council, on the orders of the Home Office, setting up northern headquarters in the basement of Sheffield Town Hall, closely monitoring news reports of an American submarine going missing off the coast of Iran and the mobilisation of Russian troops on the ground.

With the Americans launching a counter-offensive, occupying Iranian oil fields, tensions in the UK begin to spill over, the populous involving themselves in demonstrations (ironically, not just pro-CND but demanding more jobs) or looting shops and businesses. Nuclear exchanges are reported near the Russians’ base in Masshad, Iran, after which a flimsy truce is declared. The civil defence arrangements become increasingly panicked and stretched as it seems the worst scenario is looking evermore likely. After an American attempt at diplomacy is rebuffed, the conflict appears to quieten, though UK civilians fruitlessly attempt to withdraw their savings and take to the roads in a bid to find safe ground, the consequence being endless traffic jams and further unrest.

At 8:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. in Washington, D.C.) on 26 May, Attack Warning Red is transmitted, and Sheffield’s air raid sirens sound. A warhead air bursts over the North Sea, obliterating many communications systems, then another hits RAF Finningley, 20 miles away from Sheffield. Although the city is not heavily damaged, chaos breaks out. Jimmy is last seen attempting to reach Ruth. Shortly after the first strike, Sheffield is hit by a one megaton warhead over the Tinsley Viaduct, causing enormous destruction. A title card states that strategic targets, including steel and chemical factories in the Midlands, are attacked, with two-thirds of all homes being destroyed and immediate deaths ranging between 17 and 30 million.

There is chaos at the Town Hall, partially demolished in the blast with the surviving civil servants trapped beneath, armed with little, though conflicting information, dwindling supplies and inevitable communication problems. We are also reminded that they too have loved ones on ‘the outside’, their fates unknown. Having witnessed the devastation of the blast; from melting milk bottles, to fires taking hold, to fried cats, we now see the nuclear radiation and its effects on the survivors, already struggling to escape the rubble but now faced with agonising illnesses, lack of running water and medical supplies and a fractured government authorising killing squads to shoot looters and deserters on-sight.

We re-visit the affected after a month, then a year, the dead remaining unburied, the country’s infrastructure almost non-existent, disease rife and the on-set of a nuclear winter, the perpetual dusk destroying crops. Later, the sun returns but only to highlight the squalor the remaining injured must endure. With much of the ozone layer decimated, cancer and other conditions are commonplace, the search for food and shelter remaining the overriding concern.
Many years later, Britain is depicted as having returned to the Dark Ages; ragged clothing, primitive farming techniques and a mangled version of language being employed by a population reduced from 11 million people to 4. The film ends with no redemption and little hope, the future bleak for all and life forever changed.

30 years on, Threads remains one of the most shocking and affecting film shown on British television. Coming 20 years after another nuclear parable, The War Game (ironically, originally not shown on the BBC under orders from the Wilson government), Threads is far more unflinching in its assessment of a nuclear attack, using a largely unknown cast (including many who weren’t recognised actors at all), an ‘anywhere’ location and the depiction of very real fears and logistics. To compound the unremitting tension, the action is interspersed with genuine news reports, Civil Defence announcements and public information films (Protect and Survive, an upsetting watch at the best of times), are a reminder that the mid-80’s were still shrouded in Cold War tensions, Threads serving as a stark picture of a very real possibility.

Mick Jackson was hired to direct the film, as he had previously worked in the area of nuclear apocalypse in 1982, producing the BBC Q.E.D. documentary A Guide to Armageddon. By undergoing rigorous research to capture the actual plans in place should such a catastrophe take place, the documentary feel overtakes the film from the very start, though some may find the later scenes of grey ruins and uneducated survivors a little too stretched and film-like. The film was shot on a budget of £250,000–350,000, much of the budget going on a rare depiction of post-attack scenes, the majority of previous efforts only showing up to and including the dropping of the bomb. Remarkably, Jackson went on to have mainstream success as the director of Hollywood smash, The Bodyguard.

Allegedly viewed after broadcast by then-US President Ronald Reagan, as well as Party Leaders in the UK, the initial screenings in Britain, America and Australia were accompanied by studio discussions, debating the issues raised in the film. Although distinctly anti-nuclear, the events are shown as being part of a much bigger picture, the lack of preparation and planning by the Government being as damning as the hopeless brinkmanship of the Americans and Russians. Threads was also shown in British schools, both as an example of storytelling and the use of documentary-style filming. Though having been released briefly on two occasions, the use of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” has left licensing rights a huge stumbling block to the definitive release this film deserves.

Daz Lawrence

‘Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster’ is a 2013 song by San Francisco-based indie rock band Thee Oh Sees. It was the second single taken from their album Floating Coffin.

The violent and disconcerting music video for ‘Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster’ was directed by John Strong, who previously directed the video for the band’s “Lupine Dominus”. The video depicts a killer dragging a body to his car in a seemingly empty car park, only to be disturbed by a horrified witness…

Buy Floating Coffin from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

México Bárbaro is a 2014 Mexican horror anthology film with tales by eight different directors:

Isaac Ezban – “La cosa mas preciada”
Laurette Flores Bornn – “Tzompantli”
Jorge Michel Grau – “Muñecas”
Ulises Guzman – “Siete veces siete”
Edgar Nito – “Jaral de Berrios”
Lex Ortega – “Lo que importa es lo de adentro”
Gigi Saul Guerrero – “Día de los Muertos”
Aaron Soto – “Drena”

Cast: 

Mathias Retamal, Barbara Perrin Rivemar, Claudia Goytia, Sara Camacho, Ramón Medína, Rubén Zerecero, Dulce Alexa, Anuar Zuñiga Naime, Lorena Gonzalez, Gilean Alducin Luciano.

The title is derived from a 1908 essay by John Kenneth Turner that highlighted the political and social situation in Mexico during the twilight of the long dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz.

Official plot synopsis:

México Bárbaro shows the world stories that form a part of our culture, and even some that have haunted us and made us have nightmares since childhood, those ones which took away our innocence. The boogeyman, trolls, ghosts, creatures, Aztec sacrifices, and of course our most beloved tradition, Day of the Dead, immerse in urban and rural stories are some of the issues that make up this anthology.

Reviews:

” … the film fails to be a cohesive conceptual anthology. When it world premiered at Sitges 2014, it was screened back-to-back with two other recent horror anthologies: V/H/S: Viral and ABCs of Death 2. If I’m going to compare it with those productions, well, México Bárbaro at least doesn’t try to unite its eight segments in a way that hardly makes any sense as V/H/S: Viral did, but it definitely lacks the concrete ideas — as well as the brutality and energy — that the best shorts from ABCs of Death 2 have. It’s a welcomed effort that could have been much more powerful.” Eric Ortiz Garcia, Twitch

IMDb | Facebook

Avoid the Horror is a January 2015 British advertising campaign by conference call provider Powwownow.com that focuses on the nightmare of commuting to work and travelling to meetings. The company is suggesting that rather than travelling to meetings, on often overcrowded transport, it’s easier to make a conference call.

The campaign, which runs for several weeks, is being featured across several radio stations including Magic, Absolute, Capital London, LBC and Talk Sport.

Plus, there are ads on the London Underground, taxis and at mainline rail stations.

Sharknado 3 is an upcoming 2015 American horror movie sequel to the first two Sharknado films. The director will again be Anthony C. Ferrante and Thunder Levin is returning as scriptwriter.

The cast includes Tara Reid, Ian Ziering, Cindy Margolis, Brittani Cox and the recently announced Cassie Scerbo. Unfortunately, Vanilla Ice and Jedward are also rumoured to have roles. 

The Asylum production is due to debut on the Syfy channel July 2015.

Plot teaser:

When Fin and April go to Florida for the summer vacation, strong winds and lots of rain comes to Florida and a Sharknado comes and destroyes Florida. The Sharknado goes to Washington D.C. and sharks falling from the sky. It’s up to Fin and April to stop the Sharknado the third time.

IMDb

‘The screams you hear may be your own!’

The Demon – also known as Midnight Caller - is a 1979 South African slasher film co-produced, written and directed by Percival Rubens (Survival Zone; Sweet Murder). It stars Cameron Mitchell, Jennifer Holmes (Raw Force), Craig Gardner and Zoli Marki.

The Demon was released direct to video in the USA on March 1st 1981 by Thorn EMI. On April 28, 1983, the film made its US television debut through Gold Key Entertainment. It was released in the USA by S.J. Interntational Pictures in 1985 under the title Midnight Caller. The film has since become public domain, and has been released on DVD several times.

Plot teaser:

Fourteen year-old Emily Parker (Ashleigh Sendin) is kidnapped from her rural home and murdered by a faceless, heavy-breathing maniac. Later, the maniac hitchhikes to the city with a gregarious truck driver (John Parsonson). The maniac kills the truck driver, steals his cash, and takes up residence at a hotel in Johannesburg’s Doornfontein neighborhood.

Two months later, Emily’s parents — frustrated by the failure of law enforcement officials to either locate Emily — enlist in the help of Bill Carson (Cameron Mitchell), a retired Colonel in the U.S. Marines who now works as a freelance psychic detective. Joan Parker (Moira Winslow), the distraught mother, needs to know whether Emily is alive or dead — but the angry Mr. Parker (Peter J. Elliot) is preoccupied with bloody revenge, and aggressively implores Col. Carson to find the man responsible. Carson gravely intones that the entity they seek is “an aberration of the species. Something hallucinating evil” — and warns the Parkers that it would be best if they didn’t find him!

Meanwhile — for reasons left unclear — the maniac decides to fixate on a young, American pre-school teacher named Mary Jones (Jennifer Holmes), who shares a bungalow in Johannesburg’s Saxonwold neighborhood with her 18 year-old cousin, Jo (Zoli Marki). Mary first sees the elusive maniac lurking outside her classroom — disappearing and re-appearing in the fog — and later, spying on her at the mall.

When not stalking Mary, the maniac holes up in his hotel room — doing push-ups, growling, and tearing up girly magazines. He also prowls Johannesburg’s Hillbrow district at night, attacking various women…

Buy The Demon on DVD from Amazon.com

Reviews:

‘There’s minimal gore due the fact that the nutjob’s method of murder is to put a bag over the head of each victim and asphyxiate them. We can’t escape the scriptwriting shipwreck of the character development parts, which are snooze-inducing, and they seem to have let Cameron Mitchell loose on the quaaludes before he turned up on set. Does this make The Demon a total waste of space? Well funnily enough, no. We may be somewhere off Halloween with what we have here, but there’s enough in the extremely cute actress, remorseless assailant and idea that a place in the world exists called Boobs Disco to have kept me engaged.’ Luisito Joaquín González, A Slash Above…

‘ …The Demon seems like two movies with different plot lines spliced together. In any case, the film was clearly influenced by Halloween with its ambiguous killer whose face is hidden and who wears a brown leather jacket and gloves with razors on them. There’s at least one unexpected development in the movie, but most of it is over-familiar. That’s too bad, because The Demon isn’t badly directed and has some good scenes, although the ending is a mite dragged out.’ Great Old Movies

‘There is absolutely no plot structure in this film. There is no explanation about the demon, who he is, what he does, and why he does it. He just terrorizes a town and kills people that cross his path. The Parkers are a poorly structured family and things are just cut off to the point that there is no explanation whatsoever, especially the way it ends.’ Caponomics

Cast:

• Cameron Mitchell as Col. Bill Carson
• Jennifer Holmes as Mary Jones
• Craig Gardner as Dean Turner
• Zoli Marki as Jo
• Peter J. Elliot as Mr. Parker
• Moira Winsow as Joan Parker
• Mark Tanous as Bobby
• George Korelin as Dr. Stuart
• Vera Blacker as Mrs. Stuart
• John Parsonson as The Truck Driver

Wikipedia | IMDb

“Obey”

They Live is a 1988 American science fiction film written and directed by John Carpenter (Halloween; The Fog; The Thing). The film stars Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster. It follows a nameless drifter referred to as “Nada”, who discovers the ruling class are in fact aliens concealing their appearance and manipulating people to spend money, breed and accept the status quo with subliminal messages in mass media. Many consider it the defining film commentating on Reagan-era consumerism and corporate greed.

Unemployed drifter, Nada (wrestling star, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Hell Comes to Frogtown) lives in 1980’s America, a place where free-thinking is discouraged and those outside the system are forced to make ends meet however they can. After taking a job as a casual labourer on a building site, he befriends the similarly disaffected Frank Armitage (Keith David; The Thing; Pitch Black) but both are soon alerted to the strange loud preaching conducted by a blind man (Raymond St. Jacques, Voodoo Dawn) in a nearby church, along with an unusually attentive night-time helicopter presence.

Nada investigates and finds the church is a front for less savoury activities. The interruption of local television signals and plans to demolish the nearby shanty town where he is staying all seem to be connected and when exploring the building he uncovers a sophisticated scientific set-up and some carefully concealed boxes. His snooping uncovered, he ‘liberates’ one of the boxes to examine at a more convenient time. When that time comes, he finds what look initially like unassuming sunglasses but upon wearing them finds that they uncover a strange black and white version of his familiar surroundings, unveiling a world packed with totalitarian commands throughout all media and, even more disturbingly, that the average person walking down the street ready to accept this doctrine is a skull-faced alien being.

The aliens soon recognise that Nada has seen through their disguise and with advanced communication systems (which also allow teleportation) in their watches, pursue him, lest their secret is revealed to the other humans who still outnumber them. Escaping, Nada takes local Cable 64 TV executive, Holly Thompson (Meg Foster; Leviathan; Stepfather II) hostage desperate to convince her of his findings and reveal them to the world. Unwilling to believe him, they part when she calls the police, Nada making his way back to the abandoned box of glasses to distribute to the masses. He bumps into Frank and a lengthy fight ensues, after which Nada explains all and the pair attempt to unravel the plot.

They find that members of their demolished shanty town have formed a collective, they too in rebellion against the alien oppressors. Wearing modified alien-revealing contact lenses, they resolve to destroy the transmission signal which is projecting the aliens’ brainwashing messages. The aliens are revealed to be working alongside complicit human industrialists, soaking up the Earth’s resources to enhance their own world, reducing Earthlings to slaves and the planet hobbled by global warming. Can Nada and the activists stop the aliens before the whole world obeys?

They Live comes at the end of John Carpenter’s golden period, signs of fatigue already evident; the love it or hate it Big Trouble in Little China (1986), the moments of brilliance of Prince of Darkness (1987) tempered by clumsy narrative and dubious acting even then not predicting the agony of some of his 90’s output. Fortunately, Carpenter made the film before the curse of the horror director struck; the ham-fisted, elephantine social commentary which blighted film-makers such as George Romero’s latter day zombie films.

The film is based in part on Ray Nelson’s 1963 short story, “8 O’Clock in the Morning” (or even more likely, the 1986 comic book anthology, Alien Encounters), telling not only in the narrative but also in the length – a classic film it may be but it does feel stretched, indeed it’s remarkable that Carpenter managed to keep proceedings on track – we learn quickly what the problem it takes some time for us to be told the solution – as an A-Z, we are certainly taken the scenic route. It is clear who Carpenter has an issue with socially and we aren’t given any choice as to who we should side with. In interviews since, he has been even more overt, referring to the oppressors in the film as “Republicans” – fortunately, he restrains himself slightly more behind the camera, a breezy sense of humour preventing stagnation by indignation.

As a satire, the film works, even with slightly comic book aliens as the enemy force, the concept of rich individuals and huge corporations controlling how we live our lives is certainly well within the realms of credibility. The glossy win-at-all-costs capitalist city versus a shanty town of rags and tin-can-hat homeless folk (not to mention the hero literally being called ‘nothing’), may jar a little as an extreme comparison but the subliminal messages which proliferate advertising boards, television and all forms of media feel chilling in the climate of yuppies and excess, certainly no less perverse than the attack on greed and superficiality of American Psycho. The subliminal messages themselves have become iconic; “Consume”, “Do Not Question Authority, “Marry and Reproduce” and, of course, “Obey”.

The film was shot in Los Angeles in March 1988, working from Carpenter’s own screenplay, alongside other key crew members who had regularly worked in the genre or with Carpenter; cinematographer Gary B. Kibbe (Halloween II; Misery), producer Larry J. Franco (The Thing; Mars Attacks!) and make-up artist Francisco X. Pérez (Evilspeak; Friday 13th Part III). The make-up effects of the aliens are made from painted latex, be-wigged skulls which are reminiscent of humans but strange enough to reveal their true menace. Perhaps due to the majority of the shots of the aliens being in black and white, they are genuinely unsettling and have become ironic in their own right, a spoof of the infamous Oscars ‘selfie’ soon being digitally altered for, ironically, satirical effect. Towards the end of the film the aliens are shown in colour, the filter device abandoned.

Piper’s casting as Nada is a surprising choice, though is fitting with Carpenter’s love of disposable pop culture, from B-Movies to video games, the actor coming straight from the carnival of Wrestlemania III ring. Something of a blank canvas to work from, Piper’s legacy is two-fold; the line, “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m all out of bubblegum” (a line from his little black book of wrestling bon mots) and the incredibly lengthy fist-fight between Nada and Armitage, which lasts five minutes and twenty seconds. The fight was choreographed by Piper without Carpenter’s knowledge, though the director was so impressed that he elected to keep it in the film uncut.

It almost goes without saying that the soundtrack is the work of Carpenter himself, assisted as he often was around this period by Alan Howarth. It is extremely circular; repeated pulsing beats, clicks and rhythms tell of an ominous threat but rather more of one which really is ever-present and already amongst us – it is certainly one of Carpenter’s least chilling scores. Rooted less in supernatural groans and synthetic, eyeless threat, the white collar blues-ish harmonica (synthesised) and military percussion suggest a very contemporary landscape as well as the relentlessness of the benign forces in the film, both the aliens and their human collaborators. As a stand-alone piece, it’s not as enjoyable as earlier Carpenter scores but in the context of the film it has improved somewhat with age. The score has seen several releases on CD and a particularly impressive limited coloured vinyl version on Spencer Hickman’s Death Waltz label.

Made on a modest budget of around $3 million, the film opened to largely muted critical response, the majority disappointed in an apparent lack of imagination and the constant return to Carpenter’s beloved B-Movies as a source of influence.

In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, “Since Mr. Carpenter seems to be trying to make a real point here, the flatness of They Live is doubly disappointing. So is its crazy inconsistency, since the film stops trying to abide even by its own game plan after a while.” Richard Harrington wrote in The Washington Post, “it’s just John Carpenter as usual, trying to dig deep with a toy shovel. The plot for They Live is full of black holes, the acting is wretched, the effects are second-rate. In fact, the whole thing is so preposterous it makes V look like Masterpiece Theatre”.

The paying audience were slightly more forgiving, sending the film to number one at the American box office, grossing $4,827,000 during its opening weekend and ultimately $13,008,928. The film was, however, very fleeting in its residence in the top ten, the irony being that Halloween 4 was deemed such a threat to its takings that it had its release date moved to avoid the competition (they weren’t wrong, it took nearly $18,000,000).

Time has been kind to the film’s reputation, both critics and fans warming to it in the decades since – perhaps the barbed commentary seems more insightful in retrospect or maybe the 80’s are far enough away now for us to be more gently mocking, rather than us thinking it’s us who are the joke. The film’s imagery has been hugely influential, rarely more so than on graffiti artist Shepard Fairey, whose Andre the Giant ‘Obey’ image now adorns t-shirts worldwide as commonplace as Ramones or Motorhead iconography. Nada’s “bubblegum” line has been used in a video game (Duke Nukem 3D) and by Richard Ayoade’s character in Channel 4 comedy The IT Crowd (“I came here to drink milk and kick ass. And I’ve just finished my milk.”), whilst the fight scene has been aped in the long-running adult animation series, South Park.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from hardcore and gangsta rap artists such as the Geto Boys and Insane Clown Posse, who brought the genre into the mainstream, if somewhat fleetingly. The term horrorcore was popularised by openly horror-influenced hip hop groups such as Flatlinerz and Gravediggaz.

Horrorcore is the hottest potato within the hip hop genre, upsetting the purists and proving too extreme for mass consumption, it has even seen so-called ‘godfathers’ of the scene distancing themselves as pioneers. It has been argued that Jimmy Spicer’s 1980 single “Adventures of Super Rhyme” was perhaps the first example of anything that resembled horrorcore, due to the segment of the song in which Spicer recounts his experience of meeting Dracula. Interestingly, even this came after the wave of Blaxploitation films which flooded 42nd Street cinemas, the films themselves rarely grasping the opportunity to have an accompanying song to give them even greater visibility outside their niche.

Buy on CD from Amazon.com

A year later, groups like Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde (unclear whether the misspelling was intentional) and songs like Dana Dane’s “Nightmares,” saw releases, though these had more in common with the horror pop craze of the 1950’s and early 60’s, with monsters seen as comical characters and the threat minimal. It wasn’t until the horror film itself embraced a more bubblegum aesthetic, with the likes of A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger appearing on television regularly, despite the film’s age rating, that rap and horror films edged closer together.

In 1988, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince released “A Nightmare on My Street“, which described an encounter with Freddy Krueger. It was a crossover success and reached 15 on the Top 100 but whilst music was beginning to embrace horror, the film industry was less sure (possibly partly due to Smith referring to Krueger as ‘Fred’ and the song concluding with the razor-fingered murderer quipping, “I’m your DJ now, Princey”). New Line Cinema sued for copyright infringement and the accompanying video was pulled and copies destroyed. The album was emblazoned with the legend “not part of the soundtrack…and is not authorized, licensed, or affiliated with the Nightmare on Elm Street films”; all this despite the film’s producers seriously considering using the song in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. It’s telling that a genre which had used themes and imagery from horror films far earlier, metal, had actually beaten the pair to Freddy’s affections anyway, with Krueger appearing in Dokken’s video for “Dream Warriors” which was indeed included in the soundtrack to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors a year earlier.

Playing by the rules were the Fat Boys who recorded the similarly-themed “Are You Ready for Freddy?” for the film A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and its soundtrack. The Chubby Checker-approved funsters even coaxed a rap out of Englund, though he had already flexed his musical muscle with Freddy Krueger’s Greatest Hits in 1987, an appalling collection melodically but a sign that horror was big business in all forms of pop culture.

This was all rather flotsam and jetsam compared to what would truly be recognised as horrorcore, the first example of a darker strain appearing with The Geto Boys‘ debut album, Making Trouble, which contained the dark and violent horror-influenced track “Assassins“, which was cited by Joseph Bruce (Violent J of the horrorcore group Insane Clown Posse) in his book Behind The Paint, as the first recorded horrorcore song. The album had Tales From the Crypt-style narratives which were a world away from the luminous, jokey scares which went before. Their third album, “We Can’t Be Stopped”, featured the classic, “Chuckie”, which sampled Child’s Play.

Pre-Eminem, Detroit’s most prominent hip hop artist was Esham, regularly cited as the most influential horror core artist of recent times. Contrarily, Esham denounces such labels (as did New York-based Kool Keith of Ultramagnetic MC’s, though both are prone to changing their minds) and, in fairness, the supernatural is more-often overlooked in favour of real-life horrors, with the troubles of his home city being a metaphor for Hell itself on his debut, “Boomin’ Words from Hell“, embracing rock and metal samples to enhance the effect. Extreme violence was to the fore, with occasional nods to familiar foes:

Esham – “Red Rum” (1989)
“More like Jason, but it’s you I’m chasin’
And once I catch ya, I’m micin’ and acein’
Runnin’ through your mind like Loki
And the reason you don’t see me, cuz I’m low key
I’m the Saturday shocker, horror flick routine
Showin’ you shit, that you never seen
Michael Myers, the crucifiers”

Ultramagnetic MC’s – “Travelling at the Speed of Thought” (1988):

“Respect me, when I whip your brain
Skip your brain and dip your brain
In the lotion while I deck ya skull
I’m like a bird when I’m pecking ya skull
Til it hurts and swell, puffs, bleed, blood”

KMC became the first act to actually use the phrase, “horrorcore” (disputed, naturally) in 1991, whilst other artists throughout the United States began to use similar styles of delivery and themes to distinguish their music from other forms of hip hop; of note are Brotha Lynch Hung, R.A. The Rugged Man, Backyard Posse, The Flatlinerz and The Gravediggaz. R.A. The Rugged Man, in particular, used themes and imagery from the horror films he loved; his debut album (eventually released several years after production) was titled “Night of the Bloody Apes” and featured a track called “Toolbox Murderer”. Under his real name of R.A. Thorburn, he became involved in the horror film industry himself, appearing in a number of shorts as well as co-writing and acting in Frank Hennenlotter’s Bad Biology.

Buy The Fear soundtrack CD from Amazon.com

The boiling pot for these new acts was The Fear, a horror film which horrorcore used as its muse, the reverse of Singles which had used Seattle’s rock music scene for its own purposes. Consequently, frontrunners Esham and Flatlinerz combine forces to cover the title track, whilst Insane Clown Posse, the breakout mainstream stars of the genre, enjoyed huge radio play with “Dead Body Man”. Similarly, Gravediggaz developed a devoted following, their debut, “6 Feet Deep”, not only referencing horror films but using minor chords, atmospherics and effects used in the films themselves.

Buy Gravediggaz 6 Feet Deep from Amazon.com

While rappers in the underground scene continued to release horrorcore music, the mid-90s brought an attempted mainstream crossover of the genre. In 1994, according to Icons of Hip Hop, “[Horrorcore] gained prominence in 1994 with the release of Flatlinerz’ U.S.A. (Under Satan’s Authority) and Gravediggaz’ 6 Feet Deep (released overseas as Niggamortis), the latter aided by the early incarnation featuring Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, the former Redrum (Jamel Simmons, nephew of Def Jam label co-founder, Russell Simmons).

Flatlinerz were possibly the pinnacle of the genre, despite only releasing one full-length album and only being resurrected as a going concern in 2014. Their track, “Live Evil” samples Jerry Goldsmith’s Ave Satani, from the film, The Omen.

Buy Insane Clown Posse’s Hallowicked from Amazon.com

The genre is not popular with mainstream audiences as a whole; however, performers such as Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid have sold well. The genre has thrived in Internet culture and sustains an annual super show in Detroit called Wickedstock. Every Halloween since 2003, Horrorcore artists worldwide release a free compilation online titled Devilz Nite.

Branching off slightly is Necro (who took his name from the Slayer song, “Necrophobic”), whose merging of rap and death metal prompted him to coin the term “death rap”. He has based his tracks on subjects ranging from The Manson murders, to suicide, to sexual violence, to cannibalism. His music was cited as an influence on the child murderers Michael Rafferty heard testimony from convicted murderer and Terri-Lynne McClintic, who were said to have repeatedly listened to Necro’s music. Necro has stated he would never condone the harm of children.

Buy It’s All Bad from Amazon.com

A final word for a performer, who, whilst not only creating songs in the horrorcore style, did at least practice what many of the other acts preached. Big Lurch (real name, Altron Singleton), so-called due to tall, looming frame, only released one album, initially called “The Puppet Master” but later changed, for understandable reasons, to “It’s All Bad”. On “I Did It To You!” he sings:

“Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson
And all of your friends I’mma finsta school ya
‘Cuz murder’s a hobby
I’m using a torture chamber and not a Ruger”

On April 10th 2002, Tynisha Ysais was found in her apartment by a friend. Her chest had been torn open and a three-inch blade was found broken off in her shoulder blade. Teeth marks were found on her face and on her lungs, which had been torn from her chest. An eyewitness reported that, when Singleton was picked up by police, he was naked, covered in blood, standing in the middle of the street, and staring at the sky. A medical examination performed shortly after his capture found human flesh in his stomach that was not his own. High on PCP, Singleton had attacked, murdered and partially eaten his victim, a court later pointing to his lyrics as an indication that he was prone to such thoughts, let alone deeds. He is currently serving a life term in prison.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

CTRL is a 2016 British science fiction horror film to be directed by Harry Lindley.

Wanderland Productions is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter. The trailer below is CTRL: Nine Laws, a short film made to express some of the ideas in the script. Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired allowed the filmmakers to draw heavily on his ‘Nine Laws of God’ for the voiceover. The film was shot over 48 hours on several cameras including an iPhone 5, Sony Handicam and a Canon 7D mounted on Polecam.

Plot teaser:

Lex and her boyfriend Dru visit her reclusive brother Leo’s top-floor apartment in the heart of London. The young couple discover Leo has created a digital virus intent on gaining absolute knowledge, which is evolving at an alarming rate. The already uncomfortable family reunion turns nasty when the virus traps the trio, and begins to spy on them using disturbing ‘biological’ drones. Despite outsider Dru’s growing resentment towards the siblings’ close bond, the three must stay united to have any chance of overcoming Leo’s godlike creation.

Official website

Source: Anything Horror