COLONIALS ** USA 2023 Dirs: Andrew Balek & Joe Bland. 80 Mins This one is best paraphrased by a quote from Heartbreak Ridge (1986) in which Clint Eastwood’s character remarks to a bunch of recruits “The audience is looking for a few good Science Fiction films. Unfortunately, you ain’t it”. The work in question and everyone points the name of the Producer/Director out is the atrocious Joe Bland co-directed film Colonials (2023). When I first saw the name, I thought of Charles Band of Full Moon Features fame which is in the same style as a film like Trancers (1984)…
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 CURSE OF ROSALIE (aka The Harbinger) ** USA 2022 Dir: Will Klipstine. 114 mins This film makes a point of saying that it uses people from Veteran Films a non-profit production company created to provide jobs for Veterans, Victims of Domestic Violence, and Native Americans. These people are employed in crew and cast to build a future for themselves. Worthy yes and this is going to upset some but are they good people for this film?The Curse Of Rosalie (2022) is a drain on the eyeballs and the brain with some limited positives. The Curse Of Rosalie (2022) was…
DEAD BRIDE ** Italy 2022 Dir: Francesco Picone. 83 mins Italian Horror should be more than the works of Dario Argento, Mario Bava, and Lucio Fulci. How does one compete with icons? Well the answer for me is that you don’t. The long shadows of these and others cannot help to be thought of in Italian genre cinema. One just has to look at Argento’s Dark Glasses (2022) aka Occhiali neri to see that even a Master still has it in a slightly different form. A new example is Dead Bride (2022) by Writer-Director Francesco Picone who shows us that…
RHYME OR DIE *** UK 2021 Dir: Max Lincoln. 10 mins Small films like short stories are the hardest to write and review they must be complete in scope much like the literature format ‘shotgun fiction’ designed to be read while waiting for public transport. Writer Alex Moran and Director Max Lincoln take to the concept of a ‘rap contest’ and combine it with the Saw franchise to a deadlier conclusion with Rhyme Or Die (2021). Five strangers of diverse backgrounds are kidnapped only to wake up with ‘Thrall‘ like metal collars (From the Classic Star Trek episode The Gamesters…
SPELLBOUND *** UK / Switzerland 2022 Dir: Robin Rippmann. 11 mins Films can get interpreted differently by the audience. We each whether we like it or not bring our backgrounds, experiences, and life to the viewing experience. This brings us to Spellbound (2022) by Director Robin Rippmann who as I see it brings elements of Gothic romance to the screen. The Gothic as illustrated in the classic work of Ann Radcliffe, Emily Brontë, and Daphne du Maurier coalesces quite well in the film. The definition of the romance of a Gothic nature is a romance that deals with desolate and…