Antrum – The Deadliest Movie Ever Made (2018)

Director: David Amito, Michael Laicini
Starring: Nicole Tompkins, Rowan Smyth. Canada. 1h 35m

I have to admit that before seeing Antrim I had no idea what the word actually meant so I did have to Google it. Turns out that it means, “A nearly closed cavity or chamber…” Well ok, How does one make a movie about a nearly closed cavity? Somehow directors, David Amito and Michael Laicini managed to turn this notion into a retro cursed movie project and argue that the film is (loosely) based on a movie by David B. Earle titled Dining Room or There is Nothing. Believe it or not if you have ever seen any of the creepy movie compilations on YouTube then you probably have seen this short but were unaware of its title, and here is the movie in all of its esoteric glory.

And here is some info from the directors website about the project http://davidbearle.com/nothing.html

Deliver Us From Evil (2014)

Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, Olivia Munn, Chris Coy. USA. 1h 58m
Adapted from: Beware the Night – Ralph Sarchie

From the dawning of The Exorcist every possession movie attempts to become the scariest movie ever made, and yet, through the decades there’s a building up of different styles and techniques which seems to flavour the films throughout the decades and sadly Deliver Us From Evil falls into a series of modern tropes while bringing together some brilliant actors who are often underused for a plot which is apparently based on real events.

Monster Preacher (2021)

Directors: Solita Hanna, Shannon Sears-Rivera
Starring: Josefina Rivera, Jacqueline Askins .USA. 1h 32m

Over the years, a majority of the serial killer cinematic adventures have always been a total let down. Not giving enough of the gory insights for hardcore fans, or trying to make excuses for killing patterns that we may never understand as the killers have been long gone or don’t wish to talk. In stark contrast Monster Preacher manages to almost circumnavigate the killer himself and tightly focuses on two victims, two brave women who survived an horrendous ordeal the killers hands, and yet somehow had never reunited until this documentary.

Curse II -The Bite (1989)

Director: Frederico Prosperi (as Fred Goodwin)
Starring: J. Eddie Peck, Jill Schoelen, Jamie Farr, Bo Svenson .Italy/USA. 1h 37m

After the success of The Curse (1987), an indie effort to breathe cinematic life into the classic HP Lovecraft story The Color Out of Space. An Italian/American sequel, in name only manages to cobble together a strange blend of body horror and romance and in some respects it stands strong as a very strange orphan.

Shutter Island (2010)

Director: Martin Scorsese Starring:Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsle, Max Von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson, Ted Levine, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas USA. 2h 18m

Scorsese is a legendary director but more often I find I can work out his films from the get go and this one I called in the intro and then didn’t enjoy a single second of the movie because for me it was so clear what was going on. But in hindsight I can see the appeal for anyone who didn’t clique what was going on, it must have been gripping and playing on all of their emotions.

Little Accidents (2014)

Director: Sara Colangelo
Starring: s Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook, Chloë Sevigny, Jacob Lofland, and Josh Lucas .USA. 1h 45m

Whenever there is a massive tragedy with one single survivor, there are bound to be many questions, and this is one of the driving forces behind Sara Colangelo’s, slow paced melodrama, surrounding a gigantic and very tragic accident in a small mining community, the survivors struggle to carry on and support each other, after the fatal accident which sets off a chain reaction of misfortune involving the most Survivor, the mining Executives guilt stricken, lonely wife, and a teenage boy with blood on his hands.

The Business (2005)

Director: Nick Love
Starring: Danny Dyer, Tamer, Hassan, Geoff bell .UK. 1h 37m

It feels funny going back in time and finally watching this lary movie. After watching the slew of films which were created from it’s fallout, seeing the original template feels weird as I’ve seen all the parts play out in slightly different ways. Nick Love’s signature direction has conjured a tough guy world for many fans of this”English Bad Boy” subculture. But going back to see one of the early greats you can easily see what they were trying to mimic. This came just after Love’s cult favorite The Football Factory (2004) and aimed to tell a rags to riches tale littered with disgusting language and questionable characters.

A Warning to the Curious (2013)

Director: Ali Djarar
Starring: Danny Webb, John Game, Neal Ward, Monty Burgess. UK. 1h 1m

This Indie ghost sleuthing found footage horror plays out like a version of Most Haunted, with some hints of Grave Encounters (2013) and Devils Familiar (2020) running through, just sadly not the good bits! All the amazing ideas of a mysterious house being a portal to a Lovecraftian void created by a cult, is washed away with too much banter and not enough on screen action. but it’s a tangible tale and I’m sure if you like any Ghost Hunting TV show then you’ll get a kick out of it.

Dark Encounter (2019)

Director: Carl Strathie
Starring: Laura Fraser, Mel Raido, Sid Phoenix, Grant Masters, Spike White, Nicholas Pinnock, Alice Lowe, USA/UK. 1h 37m

Dark Encounter is another film in a long line up, of Intricately detailed thought provoking sci-fi, drawing more towards the side of hard sci-fi and yet remaining dreamily artistic, this bold attempt to to blend a missing person case in and around the most profound alien contact, proved to be very thought-provoking, and somewhat beautifully bittersweet.

With other epic sci-fi titles out there such as Interstellar and Arrival, Dark Encounter can proudy sit among them as a strong contender. Even without going full Christopher Nolanesque and devising a complex world that falls in and on itself, with surreal curveballs and slips within time and space, there is a palatable connection between our world and another. Were the reasoning why, being slightly baffling, it still proves to be an outstanding piece of work both visually and intellectually.

Kaleidoscope (2016)

Director: Rupert Jones
Starring: Toby Jones, Anne Reid .UK. 1h 40m

Rupert Jones, brother of lead actor Toby Jones, has curated a chilling deep cerebral exploration of an ex-con’s relationship with his domineering mother as he attempts to reason with a new insurrection and the secrets of his past. Kaleidoscope is only shy of being perceived as disturbing, because of TJ’s amazing character portrayal of a shy man searching for love. This down to earth portail is so poignant and beautiful raw, that the mystery surrounding his latest date is ever intertwining through reality and fantasy beings to pale in comparison. Maybe the two brothers working together was one of their best moves or maybe they are both just so brilliant at what they do anyway?