Happy Halloween from Road Rash Reviews!
Rejoice horror fans, our favourite time of the year has arrived! The nights grow dark, the weather grows cold and our thoughts turn to spooky tales told around a roaring campfire.
In the spirit of this most creepy of seasons, we at Road Rash have assembled a selection of our favourite horror releases of 2021, there have been some excellent offerings this year.
First up this year we have horror streaming service Shudder.com. If you haven’t seen it yet, head on over and check them out, they have some great titles on offer for horror enthusiasts. Some of our top picks for this year include the blood soaked anthology V/H/S/94, brutal slasher film Random Acts of Violence, the clever and amusing Scare Me, Jakob’s Wife, The Boy Behind the Door and excellent serial killer flick Vicious Fun.
4 stars of in-your-face found footage horror anthology.
V/H/S/94 is an American horror film released in 2021 and is the fourth film in the popular V/H/S franchise. It takes the form of five short stories, each written and directed by a different person and each gloriously blood soaked in it’s own way. Following it’s success at Fantastic Fest 2021 it will
...more 3 star good solid slasher flick.
Random Acts of Violence is written by Jesse Chabot (Goon: Last of the Enforcers) and Jay Baruchel (How To Train Your Dragon, This is the End), who also directs and co-stars. It is based on the one shot graphic novel of the same name written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti. It is a
...more4 star funny and refreshing horror story.
Scare Me is a Shudder Original film, now being released in the UK for the first time outside the streaming service on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from Acorn Media. It is written and directed by Josh Ruben, who also stars and is his stunning directorial debut, followed soon after by the hilarious Werewolves Within.
...more3 Star
You Have to Die, to Come to Life.
Travis Stevens (Girl on the Third Floor) brings us his second feature, and it is a blast as it hails back to the good old days of horror with a large spattering of humour. As horror queen, Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Trancers II, You’re Next, We Are Still Here) gets her
...more4 star thoroughly satisfying kidnapping tale.
The Boy Behind the Door is written and directed by David Charbonier and Justin Powell and is their stunning and very bold directorial debut.
Following highly successful appearances at Fantastic Fest and AFI Fest it is now available to stream exclusively on Shudder.
It’s okay. You don’t have to hide from me. I just wanna talk. I’m not
...more4 stars of delightfully gory eighties style horror.
Vicious Fun is written by James Villeneuve (The Ticket) and Cody Calahan (The Oak Room, Let Her Out) who also directs. Available to stream now on Shudder.com this Shudder original is a fabulous and blood soaked hark back to the golden age of slasher flicks.
“Fade in. The city at night. Rain falls like
...moreThe return of the FrightFest was also a great success this year, with plenty of scary and thought provoking titles, such as Halloween extravaganza Bad Candy, eco-horror Gaia, the innovative Sound of Violence, Bloodthirsty and Demonic.
3 star silly but enjoyable horror anthology.
Just in time for Halloween we have this unabashed celebration of any horror fan’s favourite holiday. Bad Candy is written and directed by Scott B. Hansen (Monumental) and Desiree Connell (The Possession Experiment). Following it’s success on the festival circuit, Bad Candy is now enjoying a UK Digital and DVD release courtesy of Kaleidoscope
...more3 stars of innovative and striking eco-horror.
Gaia is a South African horror film with a very clear message about humanity’s ongoing destruction of the environment. It is written by Tertius Kapp (Rage) and is a promising feature debut for South African director Jaco Bouwer. Featuring some inventive filming techniques, it explores the natural world from angles we don’t normally see,
...more4 star creative and seriously gory horror.
Sound of Violence is written and directed by the highly talented Alex Noyer, a very impressive directorial debut, based on his short film Conductor.
It enjoyed it’s UK premiere at FrightFest and is released on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Platforms on 30th August 2021.
“My name is Alexis and when I hear certain sounds, I
...more4 star satisfyingly toothsome and melodic horror film.
Bloodthirsty is a Canadian horror film, written by Wendy Hill-Tout (Marlene, The Perfect Man) and Lowell (Nerve, You Me Her), a singer who also wrote the original songs for the film, as well as performing the title track. It is directed by Amelia Moses.
It is playing at FrightFest on 29th August 2021 and
...more3 stars. When modern technology meets ancient legend.
Demonic is a 2021 horror film, filmed during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is the first feature film from acclaimed writer and director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) since 2015’s Chappie and is showing at FrightFest prior to it’s release in UK cinemas courtesy of Signature Entertainment.
“I debated whether I should come here at all.
...moreThere have been some excellent independent releases too this year, with titles like The Ghosts of Borley Rectory, Dementer and Jug Face and Nest of Vampires hitting our screens.
4 Star
The Spirits Are Restless.
Geenway Entertainment and writer/director Steven M. Smith (Haunted, Essex Boys: Law of Survival, I Am Hooligan, Borstal, The Howling, The Doll Master) once again visit Borley Rectory. This time it is to visit the 1930s where the psychic researcher Harry Price (Toby Wynn-Davies, Nefarious, Witches of Amityville Academy) intends to spend six-months investigating the strange events
...more3 stars of interestingly outside the box horror.
Dementer is the second feature film from the mind and pen of indie horror director, editor and writer Chad Crawford Kinkle. His first film Jug Face is also included as part of the Blu-ray package. Dementer is released on the alternative streaming service Arrow on 1st October 2021 and will be released on
...more3 Star
Spooks ‘n’ Vampires
British Independent writer, producer, and director Chris Sanders (The Curse of La Quintrala (Short)) brings us his full- length feature horror, wiith a tale of human trafficking and the wrong person crossed. This is Kit Valentine’s (Tom Fairfoot, The Journey Is the Destination, Our Girl (TV Series)) story.
Lapis Lazuli, a deep blue mystical stone. The Ancients believed
...moreIf you prefer your horror with a large dash of comedy, then don’t miss the deliciously irreverent and hilarious Boys From County Hell or the absolute genius laugh-out-loud caper that is Werewolves Within.
4 star gloriously gory and irreverent Irish comedy horror.
Boys From County Hell is a new and surprising kind of vampire film written by Brendan Mullin (Bad Day For the Cut) and Chris Baugh (Lily’s Driftwood Bay) who also directs.
It is released in UK and Irish cinemas from 6th August courtesy of Vertigo Releasing.
“Some things are older than science. Older than
...more4 star hilarious small town werewolf action.
Werewolves Within is an American comedy horror film based on the popular multiplayer VR game of the same name. It has a screenplay by Mishna Wolff (Limp) and is directed by Josh Ruben (Scare Me).
It is presented here in the UK on Digital and DVD courtesy of Signature Entertainment.
“Wow. Yeah, you’re gonna fit right
...moreIf you are more into your retro, classic horror, then there have been a few choice re-releases and re-mastering’s this year, the best of which is without a doubt the boxset of the seminal zombie film Dawn of the Dead. For Stephen King fans there is the Children of the Corn Trilogy and if you like a good old fashioned creature feature, watch out for Prophecy and Nightwing and Shadow of the Hawk. We also saw the master himself at work in Karloff at Columbia, as well as a 4K UHD release of the the terrifying Australian horror The Babadook.
5 star ultimate gift for the discerning horror fan.
Dawn of the Dead is written and directed by horror legend George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Land of the Dead) and was originally released in 1978. This cult classic is presented here following a painstaking restoration courtesy of Second Sight Films. Following the success of the Limited Edition release,
...more4 star bumper boxset of classic horror.
Children of the Corn is a franchise which grew up around the Stephen King (Castle Rock, Pet Sematary) short story of the same name from his collection Night Shift. The first three films are presented here in High Definition Blu-ray for the first time in the UK as well as an Ultra High Definition
...more4 star classic seventies creature feature.
From the pen of David Seltzer (The Omen, Shining Through) comes this brutal and unflinching eco-horror directed by John Frankenheimer (The Island of Dr. Moreau) and produced by Robert L. Rosen (The Crow, Spy Hard).
Originally released in 1979 it is presented here on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK as part of the
...more4 star bats, wolves and exploding owls.
This brilliant package includes two classic seventies horror creature features.
Nightwing was originally released in 1979 and is written by Martin Cruz Smith (Gorky Park) and directed by Arthur Hiller (The Man of La Mancha, See No Evil, Hear No Evil).
Shadow of the Hawk was originally released in 1976 and directed by George McCowan (Seeing
...more5 Star
Bigotry Leads to Skulduggery.
From the master of horror that was Boris Karloff (The mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mask of Fu Manchu, Black Friday) comes a collection of his films from the 1930’s-40’s while he was contracted to Columbia. A lot has been written about this period in cinematic history and most say it was Universal that were
...more4 stars of heart-stopping Australian psychological horror.
The Babadook is an Australian horror film originally released in 2014. It is written and directed by Jennifer Kent (The Nightingale) and was her very impressive feature directorial debut.
Following on from the Limited Edition release it is now available on Standard Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray courtesy of Second Sight Film.
“If it’s in a
...moreAnd last but not least, here are a few of the new releases to get you into that Halloween state of mind. We have an excellent cautionary tale about social media in the form of Followed, some terrifying sci-fi alien action in sequel A Quiet Place Part II, the heart wrenching and scary Mexican film Tigers Are Not Afraid and to finish a brilliant and very creepy series NOS4A2.
4 stars of original and relevant found footage horror.
Followed is an American supernatural horror, found footage film. Written by Todd Klick (Miles and the American Musical), it is the very impressive feature debut of director Antoine Le, firmly marking him out as one to watch.
“About not staying at the hotel, are you kidding me? Dude, it’s ooger booger nonsense, there’s
...more4 Star
The Silent Killer.
Talk about putting your money where your mouth is… producer, writer, director and actor John Krasinski (Shrek the Third, The Office (TV Series)) brings us the second instalment in his Horror/Sci-Fi silent scare fest. This, the second instalment (the first is a must-watch) of the alien invasion, where if you make a sound you are dead. Based
...more5 star hard hitting Mexican supernatural horror.
Tigers Are Not Afraid, originally known as Vuelven, is a Mexican crime-fantasy horror film, written and directed by Issa López (Ladies Night, Three Sundays) and set amidst the devastation of the Mexican Drug War. It is now released for the first time in the UK on Blu-ray, Digital and DVD courtesy of Acorn Media
...more4 Star
A Biker Chick, A Witch and a Wraith.
From the writer that brought us the dark family story of Locke and Key, Joe Hill (pen name) brings us a modern day vampire story, where a supernatural car helps keep its owner alive to do his life given quest. And the girls that must put a stop to his dastardly deeds.
In
...moreSo there you have it folks, this year’s pick of the blood soaked, machete wielding psychopaths. Whatever you choose to do this year , whether it is curling up in front of the telly with a hot chocolate, or heading off out for a bit of trick or treating, just remember, stay safe and above all else, have fun!
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