Film Reviews by NP

In this low-key folk horror, we follow Danny and Hayley (Ed Murphy and Elva Trill) as they seem determined to get themselves into as much bother as they can. They are a likeable couple, and it's a pleasure to spend time in their company, but you do wish - as is often the case in such films - that they would just turn around and go home.

Director and writer Mark Sheridan, for whom 'Crone Wood' seems to be his last venture to date, has created an immersive found footage world. Events are presented at a fair pace, and we're never in doubt as to exactly the kind of jeopardy our heroes are in - unless he wants to reveal a further twist, that is.

Taking full advantage of the beautiful Irish location, and the notorious Hellfire Club too, which hosted a satanic group at one time. Crone Wood is well worth a visit. My score is 8 out of 10.

To begin with, the viewer is overwhelmed with ideas. Soothed by the impressive photography and evocative locations, the revelations and twists soon become less disorientating. Derek Nguyun is a very good director; whilst watching, I actually felt he was playing with my mind - which was his intention, I'm sure!

Linh (Kate Nhung), is a shy and humble new housemaid. Our sympathies rest with her as her good nature is taken for granted and she is treated less well than she should be. As her confidence grows, however, events become less easy to predict. It's an intriguing set-up, and Nhung is excellent.

As a horror film, this is rather less successful. The scares are tepid and it's down to the ambience of the opulent surroundings to provide something creepy - which it does, but I could have done with more actual thrills. By the end though, the twisting plot pays off and brings to an end a highly enjoyable film. My score is 8 out of 10.

Not everybody goes for slow-burning horror films, but I do. So 'Dogged' won't be for everyone. It's a low-budget venture that lasts for nearly two hours. For those who like spectacular, fast-moving jump scares and mind-altering special effects, this probably won't appeal.

Director, producer and co-writer Richard Rowntree's folk horror would have been more effective if its rich and atmospheric camera work was achieved in a grainy filmic texture; here the video causes it to lose its richness somewhat. But make no mistake, 'Dogged' is an immersive experience, and if you go with it, it'll provide you with a rewarding 116 minutes. Funded via Kickstarter, it tells the story of Sam (Sam Saunders) who returns to his coastal island home to attend a funeral. Here, he discovers that things seem to have changed in his absence, and the local ambience has taken on a very sinister tone. Women folk have been relegated to a position of subservience, while their men have claimed a certain unchallenged dominance. Things get darker here on in ... My score is 8 out of 10.

Ever since the seminal film from 1973, exorcisms have been a thriving subject for various horror productions. Director and co-writer Marc Carreté’s story provides something a little different. We are still treated to 'wailing and gnashing of teeth' as we would expect when demonic forces are expelled from the human host, but this Spanish film concentrates more on the exorcists themselves. Fifteen-year-old Alba (Clàudia Pons) and her grandfather Eloy de Palma (Lluís Marco) travel from city to city to help the possessed, usually comprising of those existing in the lower end of society.

Jordi Dalmau's excellent score is worth mentioning because it enhances the dread. When we realise that even those we thought of as the 'good guys' turn out to have dark secrets of their own, we're inclined to believe that nowhere is safe. Well worth a watch. My score is 7 out of 10.

This, the first Spanish horror film to be shot in 3-D, takes its cues from several cliched American slasher films, which doesn't immediately bode well. A handful of perfectly manicured young friends posture and gesticulate throughout the early scenes, inciting nothing much from the audience except perhaps irritation at such characterless, self-satisfied people. The usual bland prog-rock music score accompanies their every pout, too. So far, several points lost, I'm sorry to say.

Once we drift into more isolated locations, Director Sergi Vizcaino’s camera is disinclined to dwell so much on the bottoms of the females in the group to take in the rugged beauty of the world in which they now find themselves, and things begin to pick up. The performances all round become more enthusiastic. Our villain Dr. Matarga (Manuel de Blas) fails to make much of an impression when we first meet him, but like the story, he grows on us - and on the cast of characters too, only not in the way they relish.

'Paranormal Xperience' is the very definition of a 'grower'. It's worth sticking with and, even though we may not ultimately get the explanations we're looking for, it's a good, chilling ride. My score is 6 out of 10.

Also known as 'Last Stop on the Night Train', this was banned in the UK in 1976, only surfacing once Shameless dusted it off and released it on DVD.

At first, you might well wonder what all the fuss was about. What begins as an untidy-looking production, we witness sinister activity on a train, from a couple of youths notable for their distinct lack of menace. But this isn't mere hooligan behaviour here. They progressively become more abhorrent as time goes along, and Director Aldo Lado is in no hurry to move on from their deeds. The fact that their behaviour seems to be controlled by the main antagonist makes things even more distasteful.

That the shocking events are carried out in such measured tones also means that various horrors are both disturbing and on occasion, highly satisfying. Once used to the mindset of the villains, it's easy for us to want the very worst for them.

A good cast, and some beautifully foggy cinematography - my score is 8 out of 10.

Rearranging events from Mary Shelley's original novel, this film manages to be true to the book while at the same time making something new.

Very much an independent production, Ricardo Islas has directed a very atmospheric horror variation on the familiar theme, of an animalistic monster who seems to delight in killing. You may not blame him, because most of the supporting characters want to kill him too. More than bloodlust, a sense of mating drives him along.

Newly married Victor Frankenstein (Adam Stephenson) and his new wife Elizabeth (Michelle Shields) are, at the time of the story's commencement, being heavily guarded by a group of guards only too aware there is a monster afoot. Frankenstein here is a rather fey character, who is afraid of what he has created, but is not prepared to take the responsibility. What transpires is a game of cat and mouse between the motley selection of guards and the creature, with the latter displaying an almost impossible inability to succumb to death. Some of these effects stretch the budget and the realism.

This is low-key and highly enjoyable, muddy and grimy, with a fast-moving story and willingness to go gory when the plot demands it. Also, the ending is delightfully oblique, allowing us to imagine that somewhere out there ... evil lurks.

According to the DVD extras, 'Cassadaga' is two originally separate story strands melded together. This is apparent but still works well as two strands of the same tale being told. It also means there's plenty of incident. There are gratuitous scenes from the get-go, and the characters are not difficult to like and empathise with as we follow them through a twisted mass of events.

The ending is good, too, ensuring the destination is as enjoyable as the journey. Good performances, convincing effects and an engaging story. My score is 8 out of 10.

One of the joys of Devanand Shanmugam's film is that it begins so steadily, even sedately. You might even be put off by this, but stick with it. Events turn progressively darker, even if they never reach the wince-inducing depths of Mark's aspirations as a stand-up comedian (don't worry, he's supposed to be bloody awful). Mark (Michael Lieber) is a bit of an idiot, and, as is often the way of things recently, the girlfriend, in this case Jill (Loren Peta), provides the practicalities and the backbone of the relationship.

So strong is she that when the couple's new landlords, Henry (Christopher Craig) and Josephine Baker (Antonia Davies), prove to clearly be up to no good, you're surprised she doesn't cotton on sooner. Whatever, this tightly written chiller becomes progressively more weird and genuinely disturbing - nasty, even.

Another joy is the unpredictable quality of the ongoing story. You truly don't know where it is heading, but get quite a jolt when it gets there. My score is 8 out of 10.

As I write, it's 69 years since Godzilla first stomped across our planet, causing the kind of destruction that is, even now, wowing audiences across the world. Toho films were originally (and subsequently) responsible for most of The Big G's attempts to save/destroy humanity. Perhaps less well known, particularly to Western audiences, is that Toho also enjoys a run of horror films. They were behind 1998's seminal Ringu, for example, which spawned a whole host of ghostly dark-haired children in horror films.

They flirted with the Prince of Darkness himself with this trilogy of films. Beginning with 1970's 'The Vampire Doll' and ending with ending with 'Evil of Dracula (1974)', 'Lake of Dracula' stars Shin Kishida as a thin glowing-eyed vampire and is more frightening than you might imagine. Nicely directed by Michio Yamamoto and bathed in abrasive colours, he is a force well up to the standing and style of other Draculas.

Any middle section of a trilogy has the most difficult job. No beginning and no end to speak of, it might ungraciously be regarded as 'filler' to any ongoing story. Happily, the stories are so loosely connected, 'Lake' is free to do as it pleases to a large degree.

There's a note of restrain with the horrors here, which isn't always the way with Toho films, and yet the finale is as horrifying as you could hope for. A triumph of lighting, tension and a generally eerie ambience, my score is 8 out of 10.

No-nonsense Meg (Olivia Williams) has been hired to renovate a sprawling, ramshackle Yorkshire mansion. Unfazed by the task at hand, her family are brought along to accompany her. Artistic Alec (Matthew Nodine), her partner is enthusiastic. Her two children are not.

Unhappy they may be, but Penny and Harper (Antonia Clarke and Adam Thomas Wright) are two likeable children, not prey to the poutings that define others of their age group in films such as this. The acting is great, but Director Nick Willing makes sure the property itself is the star. Sprawling and oppressive, it could never be anything other than a haunted house. Typecasting!

As events become spookier, if not entirely original, they also become confusing, and other characters are brought in to explain what's going on, including a brief turn from Steve Oram's Nigel the ghost hunter. Even then, many things remain unanswered. Some find that annoying. In this case, I am happy with the outcome - sometimes it's better not to know everything!

A recommended chiller. My score is 7 out of 10.

There's always one guest that seems intent on ruining the evening. Steven, played by David Chokachi, is the jerk in question here. Loutish and determined to cause a fight, he disrupts burgeoning friendships between George and Dora and newlywed Vassil and Nadya. It's almost as if he has some agenda of his own.

Slowly the 'normal' people seem to fall under Steven's influence and become infected by whatever is fuelling his fury. This kind of descent is not totally original, and it's true to say the running time is a little too long, but Director and co-writer Martin Makariev does a great job loading the increasingly intense scenes with a thickly spread sense of suspense. This subtitled Bulgarian film features some scenes - mostly those involving Steven - that are spoken in English. Well worth seeing. My score is 8 out of 10.

"We don't own the land, the land owns us," is a quote that gives you a good impression of the message 'Crow' is giving us. These days, much fiction takes it upon itself to preach to us about one thing or another. Sometimes we agree with what is being said, other times, not.

'Crow' is described as an eco-horror and the balance between the two is finely tuned. Wyndham Price has co-written a fine script, by turns wistful, mesmeric, spiritual and an unsettling warning about what might happen if you mess with things better left alone. Alicia (Elen Rhys) is our most sympathetic character - ignored and treated as the trophy wife she initially seems to be.

I found this film great fun, and extremely well directed by Price. Only the depiction of the forest itself is an issue - it's too clean and laundered. Crow and his tribe would, you imagine, be living in fuller, more unkempt greenery befitting the nature of the story. Other than that, my score is 8 out of 10.

Sometimes, it's good to sit back and let a horror movie unfold before you. It needn't be the slickest written, it needn't contain hidden messages or agendas, and it needn't be bursting with CGI or a massive budget. 'The Sichouse' is stylish in its direction and increasingly manic in its storyline. The characters are put well and truly through the mill and the overall feeling is one of chaos and, as you would imagine, sickness.

Co-writer and director Curtis Radclyffe has meticulously (over?) edited the scenes here, drenching them in cold colours and bleeding out any warmth, the camera angles are frequently eccentric, ensuring viewers are never feeling reassured. The sense of chaos makes it virtually impossible to keep up with what is going on, but that is, I think, deliberate. Just as the characters are losing their minds, so we are invited to lose ours for the duration. Some won't enjoy that, but I found it an enjoyable stark experience. It's a bit of a dark trip. My score is 7 out of 10.

There's a lengthy introduction to this tale, involving the set-up for a home-invasion story with a twist - the aggressors are in the house before the homeowners get there, and they are meticulous in their methods.

Director Adam Mason’s found-footage-type horror extols the truly frightening prospect of a stranger in your house. As viewers, we are privy to the family going about their daily business, sleeping - but we're unaware of the stalker's dark plans, and that's the worry. Anything is possible. The house has become his world. He is a further member of the family that no one sees.

Of course, inkeeping with horror stories, our good guys - particularly Dad Aaron (Jeremy Sisko) - are prone to illogicality, even stupidity that works against them, but succeeds in furthering the plot. I'm happy with that, because the result is so entertaining. The finale is particularly good; it manages to be shocking and satisfying.