Horror Film Review: Blackwater Lane (2025) ★★★☆☆ (Independent Film)

Driving home on a rural road one stormy evening, teacher Cass (Minka Kelly) passes an accident but decides not to stop. Her decision comes back to haunt her when it transpires that the victim was actually murdered and Cass might be next. Also starring Dermot Mulroney and Maggie Grace, Blackwater Lane is based on the BA Paris novel Breakdown.

In the aftermath of the accident, Cass’s world starts to spiral into chaos. Strange accidents keep happening in her home, eerie visions of her deceased mother haunt her, and an unsettling feeling creeps in—someone else is in the house. As she grapples with these terrifying experiences, Cass slowly begins to doubt the people closest to her. Are these just hallucinations, or is there something much darker at play, threatening her every move? The line between paranoia and danger starts to blur, and Cass is left wondering if she can trust anyone, even herself.

Blackwater Lane straddles the line between supernatural horror, psychological thriller, and crime drama. The twist and central premise are surprisingly clever, delivering a satisfying payoff that keeps you guessing until the very end.

Sadly, it seems that the film was directed by somebody who believes England is a tiny island where Yorkshire, Cambridge, Suffolk and London are all within a stone's throw from each other. Filmed on location in Suffolk, Blackwater Lane features sweeping aerial shots of the autumnal landscape and village scenes on the streets of Framlingham.

It should have worked but then Cass goes for a psychiatrist's appointment in London and is later "rushed" to a hospital 90 minutes away in Cambridge. Coupled with the unusually electric storm in the opening scenes of the film (gale force winds are more Suffolk's style) and the fact that the murder is being investigated by a DC from Howden Moor (4 hours drive away), it's all a bit of a mess geographically.

The editing is slightly odd too. Camera angles switch mid-sentence, often leaving head and body positions out of sync. There are also several glaring mistakes, particularly when it comes to how emergency services operate in England, which definitely pulls you out of the experience.

I give Blackwater Lane an okay three out of five stars. The film proved compelling enough to hold my attention to the end and I was satisfied by the core conceit. I enjoyed the blend of thriller and horror too, but feel that director Jeff Celentano should perhaps have moved the setting of the film to a location he is more familiar with.
★★★☆☆

Blackwater Lane will be available on Digital Download from 27th January

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Late one night a woman drives by a stranded motorist who is later revealed to have been murdered. After a series of terrifying events the woman believes she is the killer's next victim.

Trailer: Blackwater Lane (2025), dir. Jeff Celentano

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Horror Film Review: Nosferatu (2024) ★★★☆☆

Brace yourselves. There is nothing worse than a horror fan scorned and I'm afraid Nosferatu didn't quite live up to my very lofty expectations. When I sat down alone in a theatre at 10am on the 1st of January, I honestly thought I was going to hand it an enthusiastic five out of five stars. There is so much about this film that is good but I can't shake the impression that it is overall a middling experience.

The Exceptional

Harking back to the 1922 silent film (itself an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula), Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession and possession as a terrifying vampire Count Orlok (played by an unrecognisable Bill Skarsgård) pursues a young woman, causing loss and devastation in his wake.

Robert Eggers has delivered a visually beautiful period film with outstanding cinematography and excellent detail in costumes and sets. The film begins with the journey of young Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) from what is now Germany to Transylvania, providing the viewer with an authentic insight into local folklore about vampires and the ways in which communities protected themselves against them.

Eggers makes great use of music, silhouettes, shadows and lighting to create a love letter to the 1922 silent film. One particular scene stands out, where Thomas arrives at Orlok's castle and is filmed walking through dimly lit passages, which thus appear to be monotone. As he approaches the Count, the reflection from the fires glows orange on the walls, creating a colour-splash effect and reminding us that this is not a silent film in black and white.

The effect is a visually spectacular film that is both chilling and unsettling, but horror fans cannot subsist on eye candy and a sense of foreboding alone.

The Okay

The problem is that the plot of Nosferatu is one of the most well-known stories of all time and nothing is going to surprise viewers familiar with Bram Stoker's Dracula, the 1922 film, Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula or, indeed, a host of other adaptations and remakes. What was perhaps surprising was how formulaic the storytelling felt, as if it were merely going through the motions of the source material without adding anything fresh or engaging. Given that this is a direct yet inoffensive adaptation, it would be unfair to mark it down on this count, but that still doesn't mean we needed this remake.

The Horrible

I absolutely love that Count Orlok was so horribly disgusting, with bits of skin hanging off his body and chunks of hair missing. He is grotesque, decaying and there is no trace of Skarsgård in his facade.

If you can feel a 'but' coming, it's this. What Nosferatu does so well is also its downfall and I'm fairly certain they are going to need to implement a Worst Sex Scene award at the Razzies because this film could secure two distinct nominations.

And this was the ultimate issue. Despite being technically brilliant with excellent cinematography, good actors and superb costumes, pedestrian storytelling (and to a much-lesser extent, bad sex) lets this film down. Considering how much I wanted to love this, I feel more than a little disappointed.

I give Nosferatu an okay three out of five stars. It's not that it was bad, it just wasn't great. It's honestly time for the current obsession with remakes to end, especially in the horror genre, and a director like Robert Eggers has already shown he's capable of original storytelling with The Lighthouse. More of that kind of stuff, please!
★★★☆☆

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Horror Film Review: Doctor Jekyll (2023) ★★★☆☆ (Hammer Films)

Oh, let our dark hearts rejoice! Hammer Films has risen from the dead, resurrected in an acquisition by British theatre producer John Gore. The first film on the revived Hammer slab is Joe Stephenson’s Doctor Jekyll, starring Eddie Izzard, Scott Chambers and Lindsay Duncan. A creepy mansion, an unpredictable scientist; will this modern retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde deliver?

Rob (Scott Chambers, Malevolent) is fresh out of prison. Downtrodden and defeated, he needs to get a job before he can visit his sick daughter in hospital. In a suspicious stroke of luck, he secures an interview for a carer position for the reclusive Doctor Nina Jekyll (Eddie Izzard). Incredibly, he gets the position but seems immediately to be on a collision course with Jekyll’s assistant, Sandra (Lindsay Duncan). It doesn’t take long for Rob to work out that something sinister lurks in the shadowed halls of Jekyll’s mansion but he might be looking in the wrong places for the source of the danger.

From the opening credits, Doctor Jekyll harks back to the glory days of Hammer Films. A sense of unease permeates every scene, heightened by Rob’s naivety and inexperience. While scary in parts, Doctor Jekyll is not about jump scares so much as that Kafkaesque feeling of doom. What would you do if your own morals got in the way of your success?

Always stay two steps ahead

Cinematographer Birgit Dierken makes excellent use of light and shadows, bright colours and silhouettes in the film. Much of the film takes place in Jekyll’s mansion with its Escher artworks and locked doors. One scene that stood out for me was right at the beginning when Rob walks through the gates of the mansion. He is captured from above with the long shadows of the iron gates trailing him. It is deeply foreshadowing; which will catch Rob first, his past or what lies beyond those gates?

Scott Chambers gives an excellent performance as Rob (full name Robert Louis Stevenson, of course). He is believable as a young man who finds himself adrift and quite lost, trying to become a different person to the one that landed him in prison. Eddie Izzard gives a likewise excellent performance as Nina Jekyll, with a compelling and powerful presence onscreen.

I was thoroughly enjoying Doctor Jekyll right up until the final act. I can think of far more satisfying endings or reveals for a film that proved itself willing to change the source material. Nevertheless, it’s down to personal taste and I can imagine will leave audiences divided.

I give Doctor Jekyll a good three out of five stars. Director Justin Kurzel has delivered a creepy film, deserving of the Hammer Horror banner, but the plot somehow prevents this film from being elevated to four stars. I didn’t love the ending but I liked it enough to seek out further works from Scott Chambers and Joe Stephenson.
★★★☆☆

Doctor Jekyll will be available on Digital Download from 11th March

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Trailer: Doctor Jekyll (2023), dir: Joe Stephenson

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Horror Film Review: Silence of the Prey (2024) ★★★☆☆ (Golden State Film Festival 2024)

Folk horror Silence of the Prey opens the 8th edition of the Golden State Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood tonight. Karyna Kudzina stars and makes her directorial debut, alongside Michael Vaynberg, in a film highlighting the plight of undocumented migrants who, lacking the protections of everyday people, often fall through the net.

Nina (Karyna Kudzina) has escaped her native Belarus and arrived, undocumented, in the United States. Desperate to provide a stable environment for her daughter Isabella, Nina accepts a position as a live-in caretaker for a man on an isolated rural homestead. She is warned that he is eccentric but nothing quite prepares her for Luther (Chris LaPanta) or his community who forego modern conveniences and hunt their own food.

When Colombian national Andres (Monte Bezell) arrives at the homestead after his car breaks down, Nina finds a kindred spirit, one to share the horrors of the locals’ geographical and political ignorance and their increasingly intrusive questions.

“If I have to choose between being homeless on the street with a four-year-old and eventually being deported, or staying with a strange old man, I will choose the last. Unless you have any other suggestions”

As Nina begins to experience disturbing visions and hallucinations, she realises that all is not as it seems with Luther and his community. What is the terrifying secret that Luther is hiding and what lies beyond his friends’ ignorance and prejudice?

Silence of the Prey highlights the exploitation and vulnerability of those who do not have a voice, the people who arrive silently in other countries and lack the protections of documented arrivals. Anything can happen and as Nina observes, nobody even knows she is there.

Like many folk horror films, Silence of the Prey is a slowburner with little action taking place in the first hour. The isolation of Luther’s homestead and antiquated views of the community provide ample foreshadowing of what is to come.

Silence of the Prey is a family affair. Karyna Kudzina is married to Monte Bezell and their daughter Isabella stars as Isabella in the film. It is no surprise then that there is chemistry and a sense of cohesion between the characters that is obvious on screen. Chris LaPanta shines as the maddening and abstruse Luther, who seems to be on Nina’s side in one moment and not in the next.

My only complaint about Silence of the Prey would be that the storytelling is a bit linear and somewhat lacking in nuance. In their effort to highlight the plight of the undocumented, writers Kudzina and Saro Varjabedian have fallen into the trap of telling rather than showing and the key conflict is delivered with little subtlety.

Despite that, I give Silence of the Prey a good three out of four stars and recommend to fans of independent film and folk horror. I'm interested to see what Karyna Kudzina does next and hope that it includes more collaborations with Monte Bezell.
★★★☆☆

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Trailer:Silence of the Prey (2024). Directed by Michael Vaynberg and Karyna Kudzina

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Now in its 8th year, the Golden State Film Festival is an opportunity for emerging independent filmmakers to showcase their talents, gain exposure to a wider audience, and compete for prizes. Filmmakers from across the United States and around the world are eligible to participate, and short-form as well as feature-length works are considered for entry.

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Justin Kurzel's Critically Acclaimed 'Nitram' (2021) - Film Review ★★★☆☆

It was an event that shocked the world. The April 1996 Port Arthur massacre caused fundamental changes to Australia's gun control laws and remains an incredibly traumatic event in the nation's history. Director Justin Kurzel explores the events leading up to the massacre in the critically-acclaimed film Nitram that has won 18 Australian and international film awards to date, including Best Actor for Caleb Landry Jones at Cannes Film Festival 2021.

At no point does the film name the perpetrator of the massacre, referring only to 'Nitram', a nickname that Martin Bryant particularly hated. Indeed, much in the film is off-screen including, thankfully, the events of the actual massacre and its aftermath. What we see instead are the events in Bryant's life in the years leading up to that fateful day and how he appeared to the outside eye.

Nitram is a difficult film to judge and I'm left wondering what the point of it was. There is the overwhelming impression that guns should never have been sold to such a strange and unstable young man who clearly had a volatile and unsettling demeanour. The question is, who is the message in this film intended for? Perhaps countries that still have guns for sale to the public and instances of mass shootings (e.g. USA and Russia)?The message at the end of the film, that there are more guns in Australia now than in 1996, makes the film feel unbearably nihilistic and, again, pointless. It's a lone voice screaming into the chasm and it appears, perhaps, 25 years too late.

The performances by the four main actors were undeniably good. Caleb Landry Jones delivers such a convincing performance as Nitram that the viewer's lip seems to instinctively curl in disgust. Nitram is a horrible and thoroughly unlikeable character, is it any surprise that he struggled to fit in?

Yet this is the issue I have with the film. Martin Bryant was known to have an extremely low IQ of 66 and was later diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. We see how impossible it was to like this strange young man but not how this might have felt to him. In a sense, Nitram shows us no more than Bryant's Wikipedia page but we still have no insight into the man, his feelings, his motives.

I don't necessarily want excuses or explanations for the events in Port Arthur in 1996 but I have to ask again, what was the point of this film?

I'm given to question why I watched this film and what I expected from it. Following the attention at film festivals, I expected a more insightful look into Bryant's psyche and the circumstances leading to his decision but instead, Nitram felt like an average linear biopic, faithfully portraying the events in Bryant's life but failing to deliver anything of substance.

Given that we know so little about Bryant except that he revelled in his notoriety and in learning more about the extent of his casualties, is it not likely that this film is simply giving him what he wanted?

I give Nitram an okay three out of five stars. Director Justin Kurzel has delivered a film with great acting and superb cinematography but it's a slow-moving and ultimately pointless film that simply throws celebrity but not insight into Martin Bryant's actions.
★★★☆☆

Released exclusively in cinemas nationwide on 1 July 2022 / 112 mins / Cert: 15 / Picturehouse Entertainment

Nitram (2021): Trailer

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Camryn Garrett's 'Full Disclosure': A Novel About an HIV Positive Teen ★★★☆☆

This is a book that battled with its desire to write portray an HIV positive teen in an accepting, affirmative manner while simultaneously realising that a book without conflict would be too neatly wrapped up. So the drama is created by introducing a blackmail plot with an extremely underdeveloped antagonist. We learn nothing about why this character would make the moral decisions he makes.

Full Disclosure is a book about an HIV positive student who has to move schools after her HIV status is discovered and her life made an bearable. There is so much to love about this book including the information that we learn about living with HIV, the normalisation of the experience, the idea that you can live a full life with HIV and that there are precautions you can take to ensure that the disease isn't passed along to those around you.

There are two things that somewhat marred another fantastic diverse interesting novel. The first is that the main character is awful. She creates drama with there is none, she treats her friends terribly and she is a remarkably selfish young woman. The second is that despite the main character being awful there is a rather lovely but unlikely scenario that her friends and her boyfriend are all fabulously accepting of her HIV status when she tells them and they offer her unconditional support. It simply didn't seem statistically probable that everyone would've been so accepting, the more likely scenario being that her friends would've been burnt by her terrible behaviour and somehow hit back at her.

I am a terrible fiction writer. I know this because when I was 15 we had to write a novel for school. I wrote a story about a girl who has a car accident and while she recovers in hospital, her estranged parents reunite and fix their marriage. My teacher told me it was the worst book she had ever read. She said it was a fantastical story and that life just didn't work like that. That's how I felt about this novel.

As mentioned in the intro, there is a thread throughout the novel of the main character being threatened by letters to out her HIV status if she doesn't leave her boyfriend. I thought the theme was very much under-developed and the resolution very dissatisfactory. Although, even though we didn't get to know the perpetrator's motives, his reaction was the most likely in the novel. People suck in real life.

I can see what the author was trying to do. She was trying to create an HIV story that reflected the positivity of having an HIV experience rather than simply focusing on the negativity and the scary things. And I think there could have been ways to express that positivity and to express how HIV positive people can show agency and competency in the management of their condition, without creating a fairytale where everybody was supportive except for the evil jealous boy next door.

I give Full Disclosure an okay three out of five stars.

★★★☆☆

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Anthony Kessel's 'The Five Clues' (Don't Doubt the Rainbow #1) ★★★☆☆

Thirteen-year-old Edie Marble and her family have had a tough year. Edie's mother passed away a year before and Edie learns at the stone unveiling that her death may not have been an accident after all. Through five clues that she leaves for her daughter, Edie's mother leads Edie to the truth about her death and a massive corporate human rights violation. The Five Clues is Anthony Kessel's debut novel and the first book in the Don't Doubt the Rainbow series about amateur sleuth Edie who must harness the Three Principles approach to solve crimes.

The Five Clues is cool in many ways. It has an Alex Rider approach to crime fighting in that it is pretty implausible, definitely not something you should try at home, but bucketloads of fun and non-stop action nonetheless. Like Anthony Horowitz's teen crime fighter, London-based Edie is working through her grief over the loss of her mother and couldn't do it without the help of a very good friend.

Unlike Alex Rider, Edie has a tight-knit family, including a loving father and younger brother. It is this love that will determine whether or not Edie is successful in her quest. I loved the music references that Edie and her parents shared and know that this book will appeal to the teens of music-loving parents.

What I enjoyed most about the novel was Edie's Judaism and the descriptions of the Jewish grief rituals such as the stone laying service. Being half-Jewish myself, I'm most familiar with Jewish funerals and graveside rituals and it felt great to see that represented in a YA novel.

What Kessel does best in The Five Clues is to write complex and detailed villains, especially in Zero, the trained assassin central to the story. It is rare to really get to the heart of a villain's motives and raison d'etre, especially in a young YA novel such as this.

But that is where The Five Clues doesn't quite meet the mark. It is aimed at the younger side of the YA spectrum and the ways the Three Principles are shoehorned in to the story felt a lot like telling, not showing. I'm not certain it was particularly well done either, I have a post-grad in psychology but still have little understanding and appreciation for what the Three Principles entail, besides seeming vaguely Jungian. I do know that it was mentioned so many times in the novel that I lost the will to care about it by the end and I suspect younger readers will feel the same.

Nevertheless, The Five Clues is fun with a well-thought out mystery and well-written antagonists. I give it three out of five stars and recommend to fans of Alex Rider and Enola Holmes.

★★★☆☆

The Five Clues will be released on 2nd August 2021 and you can pre-order from Amazon. You can also visit the Addicted to Media YA Fiction Bookshop to see my recommendations (note: both these links are affiliate links; I will receive a small commission if you purchase using these links at no extra cost to you).

I received an electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley. I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me.

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Horror Film Review: Relic (2020) - A Shudder Exclusive ★★★☆☆

I was trying to recall when last I saw an Australian horror film but how could I forget The Babadook, the film that started my whole obsession with horror? Relic is the debut feature by director Natalie Erika James and similar to The Babadook, the metaphor is the monster.

Kay (Emily Mortimer) gets a call from the local constable in her mother's town. Her mother Edna is missing and hasn't been seen by neighbours for several days. Kay drives to her mother's house with her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) and they find no sign of Edna. The house is in disarray, with fruit rotting, beds unmade and a creeping dark substance on the walls. The days stretch out as Kay and Sam rattle about the house, unable to do anything but simply wait.

Suddenly, Edna (Robyn Nevin) returns home, seemingly lucid but unwilling to shed light on where she's been. And that's when the walls of the house begin to close in.

Relic is the kind of film that gets under your skin and is deeply unsettling. While normally I steer well clear of spoilers, I don't think I'd be able to do justice to this film and my thoughts on it without spoilers, so stop here if you haven't seen the film yet. My one-line review? It's a solid horror but with extremely dark cinematography, so recommend viewing on a big screen rather than a home cinema.

Relic is a film about the horror of dementia and it is portrayed visually and spatially through Edna's house. We see walls closing in, hoarding, decay, getting trapped in endless loops within the house, and rooms closed off, inaccessible and too scary to explore. It is a dark, claustrophobic horror dealing with the cloying feeling of dementia taking hold; the creeping rot as day by day, another part of the person, of their mind, is lost to the condition.

It's also equally a film about a haunted house and an extremely good one because there is nothing supernatural about it, no one running around for rushed, hackneyed explanations involving medieval Christian torture to explain the haunting (I'm looking at you The Banishing). It's an old woman, alone with her failing mind and her feeling of a palpable presence that has come to torment her.

The acting in Relic is superb, with Nevin, Mortimer and Heathcote giving credence to the women they portray. Throughout the film there is a strong script and a subplot about the estranged relationships between mothers and daughters, the breeding resentments and the failure to communicate or understand one another.

The setting is great too, from the clutter of the house to the claustrophobic closets and those long, narrow passageways.

I wish I could have rated this film higher but the cinematography was incredibly dark, making it very difficult to see many of the scenes. With it being a slow-burn horror, I found my attention straying and I wish I could have better seen the impressive set design and special effects.

Relic is an excellent allegory for dementia with great performances and a devastating finale. I'm utterly conflicted because director Natalie Erika James has delivered a creepy and disturbing horror but the lighting means that I can only give three out of five stars.
★★★☆☆

A Shudder Exclusive, Relic will be released on 11 May 2021.

Relic (2020) directed by Natalie Erika James - Trailer

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Horror Film Review: Shortcut (2020) ★★★☆☆

"Every journey has its road and every road, sooner or later, comes to a crossing, a sudden juncture and only one choice to make". Five British teens are on a school trip in Italy when an obstruction causes them to back up and take a shortcut through the woods. Directed by Alessio Liguori and written by Daniele Cosci (who previously worked together on In the Trap), Shortcut is a film about the choices we make and the decisions that come back to haunt us for the rest of our lives.

Cinematically, Shortcut is quite striking. Liguori made beautiful use of light and colour, evident immediately in the juxtaposition of a little yellow raincoat against the fallen leaves and then the little red school bus against the green forest. The score throughout the opening credits sets the scene for what is to come and we know immediately that this is not a tale with a happy ending for all.

If you've not read the synopsis for the film, Shortcut will surprise you. It seems to go in one hair-raising direction before going in another darker, altogether more terrifying direction. I won't spoil it for you if you don't know, but I was quite thrilled with this sudden genre-bending change.

Ultimately, Shortcut is about five teens put in an unprecedented situation in which they must fight for survival. Cosci wrote five distinct personalities, each with their own character traits and issues to overcome, and the young cast excelled in bringing them to light. Jack Kane and Sophie Jane Oliver showed great chemistry as Nolan and Bess, while Zac Sutcliffe and newcomer Molly Dew showed great range as outsiders-to-heroes Reggie and Queenie. My only complaint was that the film relied a little too heavily on fat-shaming but Zander Emlano did a great job of adding gravity and bravery to the character of Karl.

Was it scary? Shortcut is gory and quite a thrilling caper but not particularly scary. Nevertheless, it's visual candy, has good performances and was a lot of fun.

I give Shortcut (2020) three out of five stars. The visuals, red herring, use of music and acting each earn a star but sadly the fat-shaming takes one away again.

★★★☆☆

Shortcut will be available on DVD and Digital Download from 29th March! Order your digital copy here & DVD copy here (affiliate links, I may earn a small commission if you buy using these links).

Shortcut (2020) trailer

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Horror Film Review: Hunted (2020) ★★★☆☆

This year came with no promises, so I'm preparing to bunker down with an endless supply of horror films. My first for 2021 is also my first from French director Vincent Paronnaud, Shudder original Hunted.

Hunted begins in a bar in Belgium where French contractor Eve is trying to have a good time, despite the uninvited attention of certain men in the bar. Her knight-in-shining-armour turns wicked wolf and suddenly Eve finds herself lost in a forest in a life-or-death battle for survival.

Two maniac killers. The woods. Eve.

Hunted is a gory retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood story with onscreen violence and off-screen sexual assault. It is also the story of wolves and what one woman will do to survive and get her revenge.

Belgian actress Lucie Debay (The Confession) shines as Eve, our intrepid survivor. Ariel Worthalter (Girl) is the absolutely psychopathic, unhinged wolf and Ciaran O'Brien (Misfits) is his feckless accomplice. It's a testament to Worthalter and O'Brien's performances that I detested them so much, not everyone can play such a convincing antagonist.

When the focus isn't on the wolf and his sick film hobby, Hunted is a beautiful film to watch. I loved the forest setting juxtaposed against the modern, soulless houses that Eve builds. The forest, with its perils and frozen rivers, made for a very atmospheric setting, disturbed by ample use of the colour red.

There was also the fairytale element, more grim than glitter, and a fantastic cameo from Simone Milsdochter as The Huntress. I would definitely like to have seen more of her story explored. In fact, I'd have liked to have seen a different outcome, one where The Huntress played a greater role, where Eve had more agency than luck, and where our antagonists' fortunes were infinitely more unfortunate. That could just be me though, I'm not a great fan of Grindhouse or exploitation horror.

Nevertheless, Hunted was a fun film to kick of the year and I give it an okay three out of five stars.

★★★☆☆

Hunted premieres on Shudder tonight, 14 January 2021.

Hunted 2020 Trailer

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Tiffany D Jackson's 'Monday's Not Coming' | Audiobook Review ★★★☆☆

My first thought on finishing Tiffany D Jackson's Monday's Not Coming was joy, "so glad it's over" to be precise. There are four primary reasons for this, three of which drive my three-star review.

Monday's Not Coming is about two best friends Claudia and Monday, how Monday comes from a severely abusive home and how Claudia is seemingly the only person who cares when Monday doesn't return to school after the summer holidays.

It is one of the most ugly, devastating stories I've read, similar in theme and tone to Courtney Summers's Sadie, which I voted as my favourite book of 2019. The storytelling was also slightly similar but whereas Sadie utilised two timelines, Monday's Not Coming uses a very messy and convoluted four storylines. This shouldn't have been a problem but I listened to the novel on audiobook and have to admit that it would have been far better to read in written form to try anchor the various timelines.

I'm a great fan of audiobooks and Imani Parks did an exceptional job of bringing Claudia's voice to life but ultimately ten hours of audio was too long for this novel and I committed the cardinal audiobook-lover's sin of listening to the book at 1.25x speed. I just wanted it to be over.

A lengthy audio narration and dark themes wouldn't have impacted my rating but the confusing timelines certainly did. What ultimately moved my rating from four to three stars was a very clumsy PTSD and amnesia twist. It was a twist-too-far to an already complicated story, a twist I felt was unnecessary to the outcome of the novel or the core themes of the novel itself.

I also didn't feel that it was particularly authentic; this is strictly my own experience but I actually did experience partial-amnesia following a bank robbery (20 years ago) and every part of my mind was screaming "it doesn't work like that" as I read this book. What Jackson is describing is a rare fugue state that would likely have required hospitalisation or at the least permanent adult supervision.

Ultimately, I give Monday's Not Coming an okay three out of five stars. What saved this from being a two-star review was Monday's story. Like Sadie, this is a story that will haunt me for some time after I've finished it.

★★★☆☆

Support local bookshops and buy Monday's Not Coming at Bookshop.org. You can also visit the Addicted to Media YA Fiction Bookshop to see my recommendations (note: both these links are affiliate links; I will receive a small commission if you purchase using these links at no extra cost to you).

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Horror Film Review: The Unfamiliar (2020) ★★★☆☆

British Army doctor Izzy Cormack (Jemima West) returns home from a particularly brutal war to find that nothing makes sense anymore at home. She begins to suspect she has PTSD following a series of increasingly disturbing events but a charlatan manages to convince her that something supernatural is afoot.

Realising that his wife is slowly unravelling, Ethan Cormack (Christopher Dane) convinces Izzy that they should take a much-needed break in Hawaii. Unfortunately, events take a darker turn there as Izzy's disturbing visions continue and Ethan's history as an anthropologist catches up with the Cormack family.

The Unfamiliar is written and directed by Henk Pretorius, whose work I first encountered on Fanie Fourie's Lobola, a quirky South African romantic comedy.

The Unfamiliar is a very different film with tons of jump scares, very dark imagery and an exploration of Hawaiian mythology. The imagery, use of colour, props and scenery are all excellent and there are loads of scream-out-loud moments.

My only complaint is that The Unfamiliar tried to do too much. There is a lot crammed into this 89 minute film, so much so that it could easily be split into three films (for each of the three acts), each with its own unique plot. Charlatans, body snatchers, voodoo, revenge against anthropological raiders and possession, The Unfamiliar has got it all and its a pity because I think it could have been quite compelling with a little more focus.

Despite that small complaint, I give The Unfamiliar an okay three out of five stars.

★★★☆☆

The Unfamiliar Trailer

The Unfamiliar is available on digital and VOD and is released through Vertical Entertainment in North America and Lionsgate UK in the United Kingdom.

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Erin Entrada Kelly's Star-Struck 'We Dream of Space' ★★★☆☆ | Audiobook Review

2020 is turning out to be a disappointing year for books. I thought Erin Entrada Kelly's We Dream of Space was going to be my favourite book of the year but I just found it quite sad.

We Dream of Space takes place in the month leading up to the January 1986 Challenger launch. Three siblings in the Nelson Thomas household are coping with brewing hostilities at home. Fitch has severe anger issues, his twin sister Bird can take a Walkman apart and put it back together again and their older brother Cash is dealing with extreme feelings of failure after being kept back a grade at school. Only the magic of the upcoming Challenger launch keeps Bird together who in turn keeps the family together.

I love 80s nostalgia, as captured perfectly by Stranger Things and Jason Rekulak's Impossible Fortress, and expected We Dream of Space to capture that magical yet surreal time. We Dream of Space certainly focuses on a star-struck nation but other than an absence of mobile phones and some scenes in a games arcade, there is little else about 80s culture and sentiments in the book.

But of course, We Dream of Space focuses around a very significant event in history. Drawn in by the beautiful blue cover and title, I expected dreams, exploration and the space endeavour but this was the opposite of inspiring, and despite the space travel theme, definitely not uplifting. I knew my habit of judging books by their pretty covers would come back to haunt me one day. We Dream of Space was a very depressing and realistic story about invisible Generation X kids, a broken family and a series of disappointments.

I'm aware that this review has more to do with my expectations and enjoyment of the book and less about the book itself, which isn't entirely fair. There was good character development and Erin Entrada Kelly did well to capture the three unique points of view of the Nelson Thomas siblings.

I also enjoyed Ramon de Ocampo's narration on the audiobook version. He did a great job of capturing all three voices of the Nelson Thomas Children.

Overall, We Dream of Space was well-written but quite sad. I give it an okay three out of five stars.

★★★☆☆

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Georgina Young's Text-Prize-Winning "Loner" | New Adult Book Review ★★★☆☆

I'm trying to work out why I chose to read Loner. It was partly the hype; the first I heard of Georgina Young's Loner was that it was winner of the 2019 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing. The description sounded enticing, with mention of roller DJs, Harry Potter fans and old school photography. I suspect I was also riding high on the Normal People wave and may have seen an article comparing Loner to Sally Rooney's exceptionally popular book.

Whatever lead me to Loner was not what I found in the book and that is little surprise.

Had I properly read the blurb, I would have realised that a book about a university dropout aimlessly navigating social isolation, unrequited love and a perpetual sense of failure was never going to be exciting reading. In fact, it was all rather bland.

Perhaps it was that my own memories of university were of an identical inertia, an inability to function that slowly marched its way to a bone-grinding depression? Whatever the case, Loner was not the quirky, uplifting book I was in the market for and perhaps the hint was in the title?

Despite my reservations and lukewarm reception, I strongly suspect that this will somehow become a television series. The critical hype is immense - hence the Text Prize - but for those of us seeking a bit of escape during the worst year ever? Not so much. Ultimately, Loner reminded me of why I don't read New Adult fiction.

I give Loner an okay three out of five stars. Recommended if you're looking for the post-millennial version of Douglas Coupland's Generation X.

★★★☆☆

I received an electronic copy of this book from Netgalley. In my search for superior young adult fiction, I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me.

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Malorie by Josh Malerman (Bird Box #2) | Audiobook Review ★★★☆☆

If I thought finishing Station Eleven while a pandemic hit was bizarre, I have no words for reading a post-apocalyptic novel. In Josh Malerman's Malorie (sequel to Bird Box) our protagonist talks about people mourning the world they have lost, meanwhile in the real world, we've learned that it doesn't take an apocalypse to lose a way of life.

Malorie is set 17 years after apocalypse, a decade after the events in Bird Box. Boy and Girl, Tom and Olympia, are teenagers now and if you think the post-apocalypse will protect parents from teenage rebellion, think again.

A census man arrives on the doorstep where Malorie and the teens are hiding out only to be chased away by a terrified Malorie. He departs, leaving documents on the porch.

It is in these documents, disturbing glimpses into a world that they dare not see, that Malorie discovers that her parents Sam and Mary Walsh might be alive.

It took years to prepare for their journey down the river at the end of Bird Box but the maddening allure of the possibility of her parents being alive drives the family out into the world and on to the fabled Blind Train, travelling towards where the Walshes were last recorded.

I absolutely loved Bird Box, giving it a glowing 5 star review back in 2014 and remarking that it "couldn't be creepier if it was woven together with cobwebs and dust using rodent bones as needles". I want to say that I had high expectations for Malorie but the truth is that I didn't think Bird Box needed a sequel and I was happy to just read Malerman's other works instead (A House at the Bottom of a Lake is particularly good).

It turns out that my instincts were partially correct and I'm going to base my rating based on an average of several factors.

As a sequel to Bird Box

Two stars. Malorie definitely wasn't as good as Bird Box. Where Bird Box hinted and implied, Malorie told and explained. Bird Box was creepy, interesting and terrifying, Malorie rehashed a lot of what we knew already and was often dull.

As a horror story

Two stars. Bird Box terrified me. It was the scariest book I'd ever read, Malorie was not.

As a standalone post-apocalyptic novel

Three stars. Had I read this on its own, without expecting it to be particularly scary or live up to its predecessor, I would have rated it above The Road which I couldn't finish but far below The Walking Dead, The Survival Game or Wye. It's quite an interesting (albeit slow) quest, traversing a post-apocalyptic landscape while blindfolded and landing up on a Blind Train.

As a young adult novel (which it unexpectedly became)

Three stars. This is a strange addition but so much in Malorie focuses on Tom and Olympia, their rebelliousness and their desperation to see the world they have grown up in that I figured it deserved a rating as a YA novel and it does okay on this level.

On average, I give Malorie an okay two-and-a-half out of five stars, rounded up to three stars. I'm not entirely sure I'd recommend it but I'd definitely recommend Malerman's other works.

I listened to Malorie on audiobook narrated by Katherine Mangold who did a great job of capturing Malorie's fear and desperation as well as capturing distinct voices for the other characters.

★★★☆☆

I received an advance copy of this audiobook from Netgalley. The audiobook function is new on Netgalley and is very much in the beta stages. I was unable to download this or another audiobook using the iPhone app and ultimately had to download to my work Android phone. Not ideal.

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Believe by Julie Mathison | Book Review ★★★☆☆

There is a magical world that children can escape to when middle school gets to be too much to handle and they have problems making friends. A world of adventure and happiness, friends and allies, all you need is an imagination. In Believe, debut novel by Julie Mathison, eleven-year-old Melanie is one such believer, a bullied child going through a rough patch and one in desperate need of a friend.

Things start looking up when Melanie meets Sabrina and she even lands the role as Peter Pan in her school play. The only problem? Melanie's mother is missing, possibly involved in a fight to bring down the mob, and Melanie misses her dearly.

Believe is an enchanting story about grief, friendship and trust. Set in 1980, it harks back to a simpler time before the advent of technology and when the original Charlie's Angels was on TV.

There are twists in Believe and I somehow guessed both of them in the opening paragraphs. I'm not sure that early middle-graders would though which would make the reveals especially interesting and will generate a lot of conversation on the issues addressed. The final reveal was very well done indeed.

My main criticism of Believe would be the quotes of Peter Pan throughout the novel. I've always been a fan of Peter Pan and Melanie's experience playing Peter is integral to her development throughout the story. However, Peter Pan is a play marred by racism and from the quotes used I deduce that the children are performing the original, unabridged stage version.

This would have been absolutely normal in 1980 when the book was set (and Melanie does reflect on how uncomfortable some of the terms make her feel) but there are references to 'Indians' and 'natives' throughout the book and Melanie goes on to use the term 'pygmy' in a story which is an equally racist term.

The author has responded to feedback from ARC readers and edited certain passages in the book including a passage using ableist language. Mathison notes that she has attempted to encourage “discussion with kids about the impact of our historical use of derogatory language and depictions in public discourse” but ultimately I feel there was insufficient analysis of the racist terminology common in the era in which it was set. I give Believe an okay three out of five stars and recommend that parents and teachers engage in deeper discussions on the racist language present in the book.

★★★☆☆

I received an advanced copy of this novel on Netgalley and edited this review based on alterations made in the final copy, based on the author's response to initial criticism.

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Sara Zarr's Coming of Age Novel 'Goodbye from Nowhere' - Review ★★★☆☆

Oh. Have you ever picked up a book, highly recommended by everybody, and you just didn't like it? Actually, that's not really accurate, I liked a lot about Sara Zarr's Goodbye from Nowhere but there was a lot I didn't like about it and I was seriously considering not finishing it at one point.

Goodbye from Nowhere starts on Thanksgiving with Kyle at his family farm Nowhere with his huge family. He's invited a girl, Nadia and he really likes her.

Then he finds out his mother is having an affair and somehow manages to make it all about him while ghosting Nadia completely, as if it is her problem. When Nadia (understandably) moves on, he manages to make that all about him too, while failing to understand that he effectively moved on too while he was crushing over his first cousin Emily the whole time.

Goodbye from Nowhere is one of those books that reminds me how it is so much easier to forgive horrible characters in television and film. Kyle would have been hot in the screen version, obviously, and you'd find yourself relating to him - to his gestures and mannerisms - despite yourself. You'd maybe even like him a bit and probably start to hate Nadia who never, ever did anything wrong. Reading this as a novel, however, meant that I didn't like Kyle at all and definitely shared Nadia's bewilderment.

If you've ever had the disconcerting feeling of joining a huge family for a big event and spent the whole time trying to tell them apart, remember their names and figure out how they all fit together, you'll relate a lot to Goodbye from Nowhere.

There are so many characters and while I felt for the nostalgia of it all, I just couldn't get over Kyle's narcissism and his creepy crushing on Emily. For teenage girls, life is littered with enough people-who-we-thought-were-friends lusting after us, it's just too much to add first-cousins-who-we-trusted-with-our-lives to that mix.

I give Goodbye from Nowhere a disappointing three out of five stars. It's not so bad it deserves a lower rating and I'm conscious that hating a story or its character isn't a good reason to rate a book down but I didn't enjoy it.

★★★☆☆

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The Witches of Willow Cove by Josh Roberts ★★★☆☆

I'm always on the lookout for wholesome, magical adventures and was immediately intrigued by The Witches of Willow Cove by debut novelist Josh Roberts. Following a particularly dramatic Halloween experience in which thirteen-year-old Abby Shepherd and her best friend Robby escape imminent danger by flying off on a broomstick, Abby discovers that she is a witch and that she is not alone in Willow Cove. Five other girls in the tiny hometown of Willow Cove are witches too and the mysterious Miss Winters arrives to teach them about their burgeoning powers.

Meanwhile, Robby is involved in a mystery of his own. When his step-mother goes missing and a local teacher is attacked, Robby seeks the help of his friends Zeus and new schoolmate Becca to get to the bottom of the events. Somehow he knows it is linked to the disappearance of his own mother years before.

Abby and Robby drift apart, their friendship strained by recent events, but their investigations soon lead them and their friends back together again as the group of children must fight a powerful force and prevent another great tragedy in the town of Willow Cove.

The Witches of Willow Cove is the type of book that I usually love but sadly I didn't love this one. While JK Rowling certainly didn't invent magic or Latin, readers will recognise incantations, magical creatures, wands and broomsticks from the Harry Potter universe.

I also found the astonishing lack of response to Robby's step-mother's disappearance implausible. When people go missing, family members can't breathe and are crippled by the uncertainty of it all; they don't carry on their lives as normal as we see with Robby's father. Finally, the novel depends heavily on a mean girl trope. While Olivia has a history of bullying Abby and puts her trust in the wrong person, Abby's extreme physical violence towards Olivia is not justified and is never properly explored.

I give The Witches of Willow Cove a disappointing three out of five stars and would be unlikely to read further if this were to become a series.

★★★☆☆

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Horror Film Review: The Dare (2019) ★★★☆☆

So here's something you probably don’t know about me: I have a cockroach phobia. I’m not talking about a simple fear or dislike but a full blown phobia and it has its roots in my childhood so in my opinion, it’s not exactly an unreasonable fear. I’ve been known to launch myself out of a toilet cubicle mid-pee on realising that the walls were streaming with roaches and have refused to eat in a restaurant because I noticed one tiny little roach on the ground in the toilets.

There are actually more ridiculous stories which I can’t share because my skin is crawling but suffice to say, I can’t go near them.

I’m only sharing this because I’ve watched a lot of horror with a multitude of creepy crawlies pulsating out of corpses and on to human beings. I’ve also been known to head straight for the Bugs section in the Natural History Museum and seek out the centipedes.

But Giles Alderson’s The Dare? It absolutely triggered my cockroach phobia, making me retch and rock myself back and forward in sheer terror.

I wish I could rate this film higher because I loved Alderson’s A Serial Killer's Guide to Life and I did wonder how well Alderson would do with pure horror.

Well I know the answer now: too well.

The Dare focuses on loving father and workaholic Jay Jackson (Bart Edwards) who suddenly finds himself locked in a room with three other people. One is in a severely life-threatening state with his skin sliced off his body in parts and his mouth sewn shut. None of the prisoners can reach each other and they must battle for food.

We learn about Dominic through a series of flashbacks. Kidnapped by sadistic monster Credence (Richard Brake), he is tortured and made to believe that his family do not care enough to come looking for him.

It doesn’t take the four prisoners long to work out that they have met before and that can only mean one thing, they know who is holding them captive.

And then there is the torture. It was pretty bad. I don’t mean bad as in not good, those four deserved everything they got, I mean bad as in hectic. And there are roaches. Or other bugs that were menacing and terrifying enough to count as roaches.

If you like horror that makes you cry with terror and wish it would all just end, then you’ll love The Dare.  

Me? I'm going to need therapy. Again. I give The Dare an okay three out of five stars and recommend to fans of independent horror who are infinitely more brave than I. Although I watched it, to the end, so I guess I’m not too bad.

★★★☆☆

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Darren Charlton's 'Wranglestone' - Love In the Time Of the Zombie Apocalypse ★★★☆☆

Fifteen years after the zombie apocalypse, an isolated community exists in a national park, surrounded by a lake, nervously awaiting what winter and the great freeze will bring. The First Fall celebration is a time of happiness for the Lake-Landers but also a warning of the hardship to come.

When naive homebody Peter welcomes a stranger ashore, he puts the whole community in danger and finally gives credence to those who have been insisting that he grow up and learn to protect Wranglestone. Peter has long watched Cooper from afar but now he is tasked with helping the boy herd the dead away from Wranglestone and into the wilderness.

Out there on the plains, Peter will discover that he isn't the only person who has been watching but that also isn't the only secret he will uncover in that vast wilderness. On a journey of first love and self-discovery, Peter will learn about the dark secret of Wranglestone and how they have been living a lie for fifteen years.

Darren Charlton's debut young adult novel has been described as a mix between Brokeback Mountain and The Walking Dead. As a huge fan of The Walking Dead, I loved the post-apocalyptic setting of Wranglestone, the depiction of the Dead, the memories of previous lives and the exploration of life in this frightening new world. The book often felt like TWD fan-fiction, but it had enough going for it, especially with the introduction of the Pale Wanderers, to keep it fresh and interesting.

The growing relationship between Peter and Cooper is beautifully written and shows great tenderness and love. I loved this aspect of the novel and how Wranglestone wasn't about the characters being gay but about gay characters having an extraordinary adventure in a snowy, post-apocalyptic wasteland.

I also liked the twist, the uncovering of the great lie that had kept the community isolated and controlled. Indeed, there was a great deal to like about Wranglestone but I felt really confused at the end. While I wouldn't say it was rushed, there were too many 'knowing glances' and loose ends to really know what was going on. Perhaps I would have been kinder had I known we were being set up for a sequel but in its execution, it felt awkward and staged.

It is with a fair measure of disappointment that I give Wranglestone an okay three out of five stars. Given my abundance of feelings in the first half of the book, I expected to love this. I did like a good deal of it but I was left seriously underwhelmed by the vague ending,having not appreciated that we were heading for a sequel. Perhaps I'll feel differently once I've read the sequel - I certainly hope so - I've been known to re-read entire series again to appreciate the whole story.

★★★☆☆

Wranglestone is published by Little Tiger Group and will be released on 6 February 2020.

I received an electronic copy of this book from Netgalley. In my search for superior young adult fiction, I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me.

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