All You Need Is Death (2024)

An ancient and obscure Irish folk song may have terrifying consequences in writer-producer-director Paul Duane's new horror that, after having its UK premiere at this year's Glasgow Frightfest, is now getting a cinema release from Blue Finch.

Anna (Simone Collins) and Aleks (Charlie Maher) are collecting old folk tunes in Ireland with the express purpose of selling them on to collectors. So far their efforts haven't yielded anything sufficiently obscure for them to hit the jackpot, but a lead takes them to the house of alcoholic Rita ConCannon (Olwen Fouéré doing her best Fionnula Flanagan impersonation). 

Rita claims she knows a song that is 'only for the ears of women' and claims any attempt to record it could spell disaster. Unfortunately that's exactly what Agnes (Catherine Siggins), an obsessive academic does, resulting in some very strange happenings indeed.

An interesting entry in the 'dangerous art that can drive you insane' genre, which would also include John Carpenter's CIGARETTE BURNS and IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH seems to get a bit bored with its own (very good) central concept about halfway through and throws in a lot of other things the film doesn't really need. All it had to do was keep to the idea of 'song that brings about STONE TAPE - like creatures' and that, coupled with Agnes' arrogant academic and our two innocents abroad - both characters we see in the fiction of M R James - and ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH could have been a classic.

Instead it collapses under the weight of its own unchecked ambition. Even so, Duane isn't a hack, thank goodness, and visually the film has some inspired compositions and even some pleasing visual quotes to both Argento (one death scene) and Cronenberg, both senior (Agnes's introduction) and junior (the establishing shot of Agnes' residence is straight out of POSSESSOR). 

So ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH is certainly worth a watch and Duane is certainly a film-maker to keep an eye on, but lowered expectations for this one are recommended. Here's the trailer:

Paul Duane's ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH is out in UK cinemas on Friday 19th April 2024

Nyctophobia (2024)

"Found Footage Rides Again"

The genre nobody wanted to see a resurgence of gets a new entry with Kim Noonan's NYCTOPHOBIA, getting a digital release from Miracle Media.

Twin sisters Rose and Azalea (Chiara and Bianca D'Ambrosio) are about to set off to their post-graduation party with friend Brooks (BJ Tanner). However, before they leave the house, strange things start to happen. Rose is convinced the moon, which was previously full, has disappeared. Then there's a power cut. The only source of light is Brooks' phone which he has been using to record their pre-party preparations.

No other light source - including the torch Rose has bough as a present for nyctophobic Azalea - will work, and as the night goes on it becomes apparent that there are creatures in the dark who are after the eyes of human victims.

NYCTOPHOBIA has a brief running time of less than 80 minutes but still needs padding by topping and tailing the main action with two youtubers in conversation about what might have happened. There are a few nice touches - the twins' father has had a stroke and starts talking gibberish in a nicely composed scene where images of the kids' graduation are projected on a screen while a strange message has been written on a blackboard in the corner.

Otherwise this is strictly amateur stuff - clunky dialogue that frequently feels improvised, and a lot of shaking the camera (or rather the mobile phone) around to create tension. There are worse found footage films out there but there an awful lot that are better than this, too.

NYCTOPHOBIA is out on UK Digital from Miracle Media on Monday 22nd April 2024

The Bad Shepherd (2024)

"Almost a Horror Western"

It's a bit rough and ready but there's a pleasing sense of doom and gloom that infuses Geo Santini's THE BAD SHEPHERD, now getting a UK digital release from Scatena and Rosner Films.

Four friends on a hunting trip come across the dead body of a woman next to a sackful of money, leading to the inevitable question: should they call the police or give the body 'a proper burial' as one of them calls it and run off with the money?

Guess which they choose.

Off they go to their isolated cabin in the woods where they soon have a visitor in the form of the mysterious Mr Sidney (director Santini), who seems to know everything about them. Should they give him what he claims is his money, or tie him to a chair and descend into spiralling madness and betrayal?

THE BAD SHEPHERD has a contemporary setting but with a bit of rewriting (the opening set up and dialogue is all a bit clunky), and a bit more money it would have made a decent supernatural western. If you can get through the opening 20 minutes the film gets better and by the end it has the feel of a good EC comics story. The locations are excellent and go a long way to giving the film a considerable sense of atmosphere. Certainly worth a look of you're forgiving and especially if you fancy a could-have-been western.

THE BAD SHEPHERD is out on UK Digital on Monday 22nd April 2024

The Borderlands (2013)

"First Class Found Footage Classic"

Producer Jennifer Handorf's 2013 found footage horror that premiered at Frightfest that year gets a deserved special edition Blu-ray release from Second Sight.

There's been an alleged miracle at a tiny Catholic church deep in the UK's West Country (actually West Ogwell in Devon). A team has been despatched from the Vatican to either verify or, more likely, disprove what has happened. The team consists of Deacon (Gordon Kennedy) and Mark (Aidan McArdle) assisted by tech guy Gray (Robin Hill) who is there to ensure round the clock filming of their investigations by the numerous cameras he sets up, and which the team have with them at all times.

At first it looks like the local vicar had been faking everything, but as events progress it turns out that there really might be something supernatural going on in, or rather under, the church, something far more horrible than any of them might have been expecting.

Eleven years after its hugely well received premiere, if anything THE BORDERLANDS has improved with time. It's essentially a slow buildup to a brilliantly unpleasant conclusion, with ideas and hints of what's actually going on dropped in along the way such that the film rewards repeat viewings.

Second Sight's disc offers a greatly improved transfer over the previous DVD release, plus a host of new extras. These include a 30 minute interview with producer Handorf and another of similar length with Kennedy and Hill. Both interviews go into good detail about the filming and how, after reshoots and what sounds like multiple edits, the film ended up in its current version.

Special effects man Dan Martin gives a tutorial on movie slimes (more interesting that you might think!) as well as talking about the picture in a 15 minute interview, and all four of the above are together for the commentary track, which goes over some of the above but has extra material as well. Finally, the archival making of featurette has been ported over, and the limited edition comes with art cards, a 70-page book and a slipcase to keep everything in.

THE BORDERLANDS had a terrific reception at its premiere. It's good to see that its reputation has endured, and if you've never seen it before Second Sight's edition of what is already something of a classic is the one to get.

THE BORDERLANDS is out from Second Sight on Blu-ray in both standard and limited editions on a new release date of Monday 15th April 2024

Til Death Do Us Part (2023)

"In Desperate Need Of Counselling"

Timothy J Woodward, Jr's TIL DEATH US DO PART, now getting a UK digital release from Plaion Pictures, has a great action movie central premise. A bride (Natalie Burn) gets cold feet on her wedding day and leaves her husband to be at the altar. This causes the ire of his seven groomsmen. Led by the Best Man (Cam Gigandet) they hunt her down and she ends up having to violently despatch each of them. 

That sounds great, doesn't it? Reminiscent of Tarantino or, for the more literary minded, Cornell Woolrich. So make sure you check out the work of those instead rather than watching this hugely disappointing effort, which is short on action and very long in meaningless, meandering dialogue scenes that frequently feel improvised. 

There's another plot going on as well, bits of which are revealed in either flash forwards or flashbacks (the film is never clear until the end) and which only serve to confuse the narrative, and to cause fans of THE LOST BOYS (1988) to squint at the screen and ask themselves if that really is Jason Patric (it is). Cam Gigandet tries hard to inject some charisma into the proceedings to the point where you begin to feel sorry for him, and Natalie Burn is actually quite good in the few action scenes where she's required to do something. 

Most likely responsible for none of this working is director Timothy Woodward, who made the similarly dreadful THE FINAL WISH (2018) and whose film-making skills seem to have actually got worse in the five years since. Watch READY OR NOT again instead. Meanwhile here's the trailer: 

TIL DEATH US DO PART is out on Digital Platforms with a new revised release date of Monday 15th April 2024

Lovely Dark & Deep (2023)

"Ambitious Beyond Its Means"

And that's being kind. Writer-director Teresa Sutherland seems to be going for a 'Benson & Moorhead meets Arthur Machen' vibe with LOVELY DARK AND DEEP, (now getting a UK digital release from Blue Finch). Unfortunately it's an attempt that falls flat and will leave most viewers confused, not at all helped by a third act that tries to go for 'weird and enigmatic' but instead will only confuse some and annoy others.

Georgina Campbell is Lennon, who has just taken up a post as a park ranger in a US National Park where so many people have apparently gone missing it's hard to believe anyone is ever allowed to go hiking there. 

Her sister who disappeared there many years ago, and Lennon plans to use the job as an opportunity to search for her. She sets off into the lovely and welcoming sunlit forest which at no point feels anything other than just that. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT gave us a forest no-one would want to spend an hour in, whereas here there's never any sense that Lennon's trip is anything other than a lovely walk in the woods.

There's mention of someone recently having disappeared. Lennon finds her. Or does she? Because as the film goes on we become less and less sure of anything Lennon experiences. Rather than this being suspenseful and disorientating, it's actually terribly difficult to care about any of what's happening. There are frequent shots of the forest she might be trapped in, which looks like a lovely place where you might want to holiday there yourself. The ending leaves you trying to piece things together that make no sense, but in the worst way. Ambiguity in this kind of narrative is fine, utter confusion is not. 

Teresa Sutherland was also responsible for writing 2019's THE WIND, which I described as either a very slow measured piece or really rather boring depending on your point of view. LOVELY DARK AND DEEP isn't boring, but it misfires on a number of levels that may leave you questioning if it was worth the time you devoted to watching it. Here's the trailer:

LOVELY DARK AND DEEP is out on Digital from Blue Finch on Monday 25th March 2024

City of the Living Dead (1980)

Following on from their recent release of HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, Arrow Films bring another Lucio Fulci classic to UHD.

A priest hangs himself in the small town of Dunwich in one of the many mesmerising sequences Fulci manages to conjure up on a small budget. This causes the gates of hell to open, and if they're not closed by All Saints' Day (which of course is going to be very very soon) then Hell on earth will ensue. So it's up to cigar-chomping Christopher George and medium Catriona MacColl (after she's been rescued by George from being buried alive in another standout scene Tarantino would later steal for KILL BILL VOL 2) to either save the day or cause reality to fracture in a kind of spider webby way that has left people debating the ending of this one for years.

It's a testament to just how good, and how varied, Fulci's 'zombie quartet' of 1979-1981 is that any one of the four (the other two are ZOMBIE FLESHEATERS and THE BEYOND) can be justifiably be argued by fans to be their favourite. CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD does a fantastic job of conjuring an otherworldly atmosphere such that you can believe Hell is leaking into the town of Dunwich. Add in some memorable special effects and Fabio Frizzi's music and it's easy to see why the appeal of CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD persists after all these years.

Arrow's UHD transfer provides an upgrade on previous release, and while you can't expect miracles it's amazing how much more detail you get on direct comparison with their previous Blu-ray release. One example would be the shot of the hanging priest which mow shows much better definition of the tree branches against the sunlight. 

The disc does come with a ton of extras, though, many of which have been carried over from previous releases. These include two commentary tracks (Catriona MacColl and Jay Slater, Giovanni Lombardo Radice and Calum Waddell) and a stack of interviews with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti, production designer Massimo Antonio Geleng, DP Sergio Salvati, SFX man Gino De Rossi, composer Fabio Frizzi and actors MacColl and Carlo De Mejo.

Fulci expert Stephen Thrower provides a video essay, and Andy Nyman gives us his appraisal of Fulic's gothic period. There's also a Kat Ellinger video essay, behind the scenes footage, alternate title sequences and image gallery.

Finally, you get a reversible sleeve, a double-sided poster, six lobby card reproductions and a 60 page book with writing from Travis Crawford and Roberto Curti. 

Lucio Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD is out from Arrow Films on 4K UHD on Monday 25th March 2024