MERCY FALLS *** UK 2023 Dir: Ryan Hendrick. 103 mins I would suggest we have a new splinter group in the genre called Trauma Thriller Horror. These films which I think the film or works that do not contain supernatural influences fit one of those being the survivalist film Ryan Hendrick’s Mercy Falls (2023). Emerging tropes are usually a group of people placed in an out-of-the-way place such as a rave party on an island in the superb Austrian film Party Hard Die Young (2018) or the romantic getaway in the gruesome Eden Lake (2008). The people are stalked by…
Author: Terry Sherwood
Terry Sherwood
Terry Sherwood Born in Ottawa Ontario, Canada; Terry is a "Monster kid ', film fan and popular culture person. Once worked in television as a commercial writer/ Director. Writer of the SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET site covering aspects of the Horror Genre from Books, Comics, to Film old and new. He has previously written for WE BELONG DEAD and MONSTERMANIA magazines, The Spooky Isle UK website, Horror hound and Turner Classic Movies. Published Book of own writings titled SCREEN AND SCREEN AGAIN: ESSAYS ON THE HORROR FILM on amazon world wide plus contributed to other genre books. Chaired numerous convention panel discussions on Horror and Comics Terry is member of The Horror Writers Association and Dracula Society in U.K.
THE MASTURBATING GUNMAN (a.k.a. Masked Avenger Versus Ultra-Villain In The Lair Of The Naked Bikini) **** Australia 1997 Dir: Mark Savage. 90 mins With film, you can enter a world. Lose yourself in the characters, the situations, the conflict, the action, and the adventure. In the case of Writer-Director Mark Savage’s 1997 ridiculously Indie film The Masturbating Gunman (1997), you just go what am I watching but it all fits. Not a horror film or for some a horror film, the picture is also known by its less provocative title of Masked Avenger Versus Ultra-Villain In The Lair Of The…
LIAR’S POKER ** USA 1999 Dir: Jeff Santo. 93 mins I am a Film Noir aficionado and have been for a very long time. An avid viewer of TCM’s Noir Alley and follower of the many things of its Host Eddie Muller. Read pulp/ thriller novels and enjoy Giallo in all its forms. So when I come to Liar’s Poker (1999) which is classed as neo-noir as modern noir is called or a crime film, I am at a bit of a loss until the last fifteen or so minutes. The narrative opens with clipped dialogue and moody expressions of…
ON THE TRAIL OF BIGFOOT: LAND OF THE MISSING *** USA 2023 Dir: Seth Breedlove. 77 mins Bigfoot in the title of the film makes me think of the ‘Bionic Bigfoot’ episode of The Six Million Dollar Man television series. Oddly enough that story dealt with Government conspiracies as does one part of this On The Trail Of Bigfoot: Land Of The Missing by Seth Breedlove. Apparently, this film is a sequel to last year’s On The Trail Of Bigfoot: Last Frontier which concentrated on Bigfoot or sasquatch sightings in Alaska. I don’t want to put my Bigfoot in my…
GALE: STAY AWAY FROM OZ **** UK 2023 Dir: Daniel Alexander. 28 mins Everyone has ventured into the world of the MGM musical THE WIZARD OF OZ, the Judy Garland film was not without its own real-life horror stories during production. The picture always had a sinister tinge to its makeup even with the bright songs, dancing, and the wicked witch screaming as she melts. The flying monkeys swarm all brought the flavor of the original opium-tinged books by L. Frank Baum to life or death. Daniel Alexander’s short film explores the cumulated effect of venturing into a fantastic world,…