#horror sci-fi review

[hannahwatcheshorror]

THE SUBSTANCE (2024)

A colorful, beauty centric, body horror that Neon Demon wishes it could be. Seriously though this film does the damn thing and I am grateful for that. You feel the emotions with the characters, you understand what they are going through or at least why they are going through it. It gets a little campy at the end there after not really being very camp in the beginning and I was not prepared for it but okay, it is a sci-fi movie after all.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

We meet Elisabeth (played by Demi Moore) who is just turning 50 which we all know is a very bad thing (ew, ages older than 18 and 21!). She is getting the fashionable boot from her show and she isn’t happy about it so she turns to The Substance for a fix of something new. Turns out this means birthing a “better self” from her back. Pretty gross honestly. But out pops Margaret Qualley! She calls herself Sue. Sue takes up Elisabeth's old job and thus her old mantle. Elisabeth isn’t very happy about this but the mysterious phone guy keeps reiterating that they are the same person (so chill, babies).

Pretty immediately Sue starts to break rules and use more time out than she is allowed which causes parts of Elisabeth's body to age extremely rapidly. Elisabeth isn’t happy about this either but still switches places with Sue because she yearns for the spotlight, even by proxy. It gets to the point where Elisabeth is too self conscious to go on a date with a guy who really likes her (because she has seen her “better self” and everyone loves her more). Sue's career taking off means that she borrows more and more time from Elisabeth which makes her even older which infuriates Elizabeth and isn’t fair (but again, they are the same person just split in two).

Mysterious phone man informs us that the original flavor, Elizabeth, can stop the process if she so desires, but again she is too addicted to the fame, she cannot let go so they switch again and this time Sue doesn’t switch back for a long, long time. It is nearly 3 months before Sue is out of the stabilizer which is basically a spinal tap from Elisabeth. The only way to get more is to switch but when Old Lizzy sees herself in the mirror she is this ancient hobbled thing. The phone man is called for the termination syringe and she might be crickley crackley with those old bones but I’ll tell you she booked it to get that package. 

Elisabeth begins to administer the terminator… but has a change of heart! She wakes Sue at the same time Elisabeth is awake! They fight to the death! Obviously the very young and in shape person won, it was incredibly brutal when you get right down to it. Oh and also it was her killing herself so, yikes. Next thing you know Sue thinks she is going to do the New Years Eve Special like she isn’t about to fall apart without any stabilizer but guess what happens? She starts to fall apart without any stabilizer! So she gets the brilliant idea to use the leftover activator that is “single use” and “discard after use” but she still has it (honestly, same). 

Out of Sue's back is born a Cronenberg nightmare creature who just wants to be loved! It also appears to be Sue on the front and Elisabeth on the back. This abomination goes to the New Years Eve show to really kick off the year right and ends up spraying what appeared to be gallons of blood on the entire audience. It was a wild night for all! Then the monster exploded into so many chunks (like Chucky Chunks (still patent pending)) and only the Elisabeth face remained and she scuttled on over to her star on the Hollywood walk of fame to then elegantly dissolve. What a movie.

[g1rl-int3rupted]

The most depressing movie ever, killing myself fr

[lifesarchive]

OUT THERE SCREAMING edited by JORDAN PEELE (REVIEW)

quickly: the ‘horrors’ of blackness have its natural and supernatural roots revealed (bad cop with a third eye / grandma’s love is deadly / wandering man running from nothing / in vivo alien invasion / unstable ex’s / sea siren with your sister’s face / dead man’s swamp revenge / serial killer targeting black robots / white men ruining the atmosphere / daddy’s secret / chaos in the dark / part woman part fish-devil / black magic as an HOA / grief and its blindness / games that ghosts play / negro folk tales as an american requiem / prison industrial complex goes A.I. / black magic as an addiction / whiteness as psyche and psychosis)

A fantastically original collection of short horror stories that span quite a range of horror sub-genres (sci-fi, thriller, romance, and even americana). All unapologetically Black. A superb addition to the limited number of Black horror anthologies (Tales from the Hood, anyone?).

My favorites were Wandering Devil (loverboy with wandering feet can outrun everyone but himself), The Rider (a dead man intervenes on behalf of two black women traveling alone), Flicker (an intermittent darkness unleashes chaos from the shadows), The Norwood Trouble (a group of black ‘practitioners’ will be damned if white rioters try to destroy their town), A Grief of The Dead (grief separates and reunites a pair of twin brothers), Your Happy Place (an incarcerated man must decide his reality after having it stolen from him), Hide & Seek (brothers learn to protect themselves with the same magic that wants to harm them).

★★★★★ Superb.

[simonbreeze]

Movie Night!

It's October, 80s movies all done. I thought I would kick off with something a bit scary.... Event Horizon.

Infinite space - Infinite terror

Event Horizon is about a rescue crew that investigates the mysterious reappearance of a spaceship that had been lost for seven years. The crew discovers an unimaginable interstellar horror that tests their sanity and souls. 

Event Horizon has aged well. Still a great looking, well acted and poop your pants scary movie! Having seen this movie more than once over the years, it still surprises me how Event Horizon still manages to be creepy, tense and engaging. Yes, the story and acting can be a little cheesy in places, but generally, a very solid science fiction horror movie.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[krissiefox]

Lethal Company (PC) Game Review

Lethal Company is a survival horror game that came out roughly a year ago, which I was introduced to by my little brother. You play as a scrap scavenger working for a cold and ruthless company, and must travel to different planets looking for items inside of abandoned structures. Every time you visit a planet you are given a quota to meet, and if you fail to do so, then you will be killed by your own employers upon leaving the planet!

As a survival horror game, it is very effective and atmospheric. The graphics are intentionally murky, being seen through your characters dirty helmet. Every planet is populated by all sorts of freaky creatures and monsters that can be encountered both indoors and outdoors. The sound design is fantastic, with lots of creepy ambience and unsettling background music when you're wandering inside the old structures. There are little bits of humor here and there but most of the time things are quite eerie.

Gameplay wise, Lethal Company is quite difficult for me, even when playing online co-op. It's very dark inside of buildings, and I feel it's almost mandatory to have a flashlight with you, which you unfortunately can only get by purchasing one (though they are pretty cheap) . I would have preferred a flashlight just being built into the players suit or something, but the game does seem to have a robust modding community, so perhaps someone has made a mod for that!

While the game's multiplayer mode can take away from the horror experience in some ways, it also has some nice features to it and some features that add horror in different ways! For example, some monsters in the game can hear if people are talking on their microphone, and will discover you unless you keep quiet. Another great spooky feature is that players voices can no longer be heard if they die, and they also have limited range, meaning if you get separated from your group, you won't be able to hear anyone and you'll be all alone with the monsters looking for you. Other nice general game-play features for the multiplayer include things like being able to save your teammates by teleporting them back to the ship if a monster is after them, or working with a friend to watch for monsters while they carry a large scrap object around.

Outside of the excessively dark environments at times, Lethal Company is a great horror title and a cool spooky multiplayer experience as well. I definitely recommend giving it a look, and it's also DRM free (at least in single player mode)!

More screenshots below!

[zagorudan]

Just put out a video compiling last year's Halloween special. I talk about a lot of crummy monster movies (and one or two fun ones).

[digitalkaijustudios]

Mothra is practicing self-care and will be out of office until further notice :)

It's Godzilla vs. Ebirah vs. Mothra in the greatest beach movie ever made. Join Kevin and Kayla as they discuss Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966).

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/74sNYRUJzzLKePAenOrGKt?si=e7c18bf423b040af

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/cDB-sL1xYXc

KO-FI: https://ko-fi.com/digitalkaijustudios

This is a clip from episode 8 of Gorilla Whale: A Godzilla Watch-Along, Podcast by Digital Kaiju Studios. This podcast is hosted and produced by Kevin Carpenter and Kayla Knutson. Art by Ashlee Hart. New episodes every other Friday! 

[whilereadingandwalking]

Lakewood by Megan Giddings is an intriguing sci fi horror about human experimentation and the exploitation of poor and Black research subjects. Lena Johnson needs to be accepted into Lakewood: the study would give her the money she needs to support her sick mother and be able to continue attending college as well. As long as she keeps the study secret and confidential, it should be fine—but how far will she go for stability? How much is she willing to sacrifice?

Megan Giddings' writing and I don't get along. I'm not surprised its first three chapters won a prize, as those were the most compelling. It's a fundamental mistake for this book not to be in 1st person; it is a deeply close 3rd pov that's all about what is and isn't real, and I believe it's the main reason the writing often came off as awkward to me—it had to explain what Lena was feeling or experiencing, her thoughts, but from just outside, which led to a detached feel to the storyline.

I found the experiments and the entire experience of Lakewood compelling and upsetting. There's a true element of social horror here, as every time Lena considers leaving, she thinks about how much she needs the money, and stays. That desperation is so brutal and relatable that it powers much of the book. The end was unsettling and unresolved. While it makes sense for only so much to be resolved—part of the point of the book is the destabilizing nature of the research project, Lena's inability to know what did and didn't happen, and what people can get away with—the ending did still lack a sense of urgency.

Content warnings for medical trauma, body horror, sexual assault, torture, gaslighting, abuse, grief, misogyny, racism.

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: The Monster Maker

👻 You can support me on Ko-fi! ❤️

0 Stars

Plot: Desperate to blackmail a woman into marrying him, a man gives her father a rare condition.

Review: With an incoherent plot, undeveloped characters, and rampant ableism, this film commits the ultimate B movie sin: it isn't even fun to mock.

Year: 1944 Genre: Sci-Fi Horror, Bio Horror Country: United States Language: English Runtime: 1 hour 2 minutes

Director: Sam Newfield Writers: Lawrence Williams, Pierre Gendron, Martin Mooney Cinematographer: Same Newfield Editor: Robert E. Cline Composer: Albert Glasser Cast: J. Carrol Naish, Ralph Morgan, Tala Birell, Wanda McKay, Terry Frost

-----

Story: 0/5 - Appalling. A jumbled mess of empty characters and cliche concepts, most of which appear to be forgotten as soon as they're introduced.

Performances: 2/5 - Not awful, though Naish is a knock-off Lugosi.

Cinematography: 2.5/5 - The strongest element, with some decent lighting and shadow use.

Editing: 1.5/5 - Certainly doesn't help the story's poor pacing.

Music: 2/5

Effects & Props: 2/5 - The gorilla suit is fairly well articulated considering the year and budget.

Sets: 1.5/5 - Limited. Set pieces are obviously reused.

Costumes, Hair, & Make-Up: 2/5 - Morgan's makeup is passable (though ableist and inaccurate), working best when obscured by shadows.

Trigger Warnings:

Very mild violence

Sexual harassment (mild; criticized by film)

Ableism (uncritical)

Xenophobia (uncritical)

Medical abuse

Mild animal abuse

[ratleyland]

This movie was much better than I expected it to be.

It paid homage to the original movie... but keep things fresh, scary and exciting at the same time.

[atxsubpunk]

A Quiet Place: Day One

I've seen all three of the "Quiet Place" films, and while I don't remember much of the first two my instinct is to say that "Day One" is the best of the lot. It's certainly the bleakest. I appreciate post-apocalyptic films that focus on characters managing the new world order (Nausicaä / Mad Max) instead of showing characters trying to put the world to rights (I Am Legend). The two leads are great. I expected that from Lupita Nyong'o but Joseph Quinn was very much her equal. It was actually his character that had my attention as the movie progressed. Can he be trusted? Why is he doing the things he's doing? What does it say about me that when I see simple kindness and decency in a stranger that my suspicions rise and I start surveying the landscape for a melee weapon? Joseph Quinn's traumatized facial expressions made for some of the most memorable images of the film. It's rare to see a man terrified without screaming, demolished but still functioning. It reminded me of David Johnson's performance in "Alien: Romulus." Not because Johnson's character was terrified, but because 99% of said performance came entirely from his face and communicated more any amount of dialog could. I also want to give props for the 99 minute runtime. That may sound like a backhanded compliment but it isn't. The secret to making a good movie is knowing exactly what kind of movie you should be making, and these filmmakers understood that. That's an accomplishment.

[hannahwatcheshorror]

THE FLY (1986)

A classic story of a scientist who dared to dream big but fell hard. Much like Frankenstein before him or even Gemma after him with M3GAN. Hell, this movie is even like both iterations of The Invisible Man as it shows just how far a man will go, how far a man can go. Jeff Goldblum does an excellent job deteriorating while also sounding like the smartest man in the room (though he is usually the only man in the room and he isn’t really a man anymore). Geena Davis puts up a good fight against the Brundlefly but ultimately is too upset and grossed out. What a wild ride, this movie. So buckle in, it’s time for The Fly.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Our dorky little Goldblum (aka Brundle) has a teleportation project he wants to show Geena Davis. She is less than interested at first but after she sees his machines go “whoo” she is all on board. They hook up very quickly but it’s Jeff Goldblum under all that magnificent nerd so I am not surprised.

Our lady dashes out to take care of some business and even though the teleporter has only once sent a living thing through without basically turning it inside out, Brundle goes through (in a jealous and drunken rage). He comes out better but… Different.

Now here is my issue, the teleporter has more than just a “problem with flesh” like Brundle says, it has a problem with things that are moving and breathing, pal! Just think! A stocking isn’t going to move so teleporting that is one thing but a dancing chimpanzee is a whole different ball game! I didn’t even do very well in science and I can see that! It has nothing to do with making the machines go wild for flesh, though that sounds like another horror movie all together and probably like a monster from Cabin in the Woods. Brundle, baby, get it together!

ANYWAY, Brundle wants his girl to go through the teleporter too but she is too afraid, plus he is acting too fidgety. He is stronger and faster than he was before because little does he know there was a fly in the pod with him while he teleported and they FUSED TOGETHER AT A CELLULAR LEVEL. (Wack and might I say, gross) He is slowly turning into what he calls a Brundlefly. (Gross!) He eats a lot of sugar and his skin no longer fits him right. He is frightening off all the ladies and it is a real turn off! 

It all comes down to him trying to fuse with Geena Davis since she is pregnant with his kid but she (still) doesn’t want to go into the pod. While this is happening our little Brundlefly does his final transformation, his skin falls off and he is really this insectoid crustation thing (YUCK).  It takes her ex with a shotgun to stop the fusion and then the lady herself has to shoot Brundle in the head. End of movie, roll credits. Bing, bang, boom, The Fly. A hideous Cronenberg delight.

[megaweapon]

me saying to myself “oh, harlan guthrie uploaded a seven part horror series all at once. I can surely sit back and wait a while, absorb this later” is the most hilarious lie i’ve told myself in a while. “yeah I won’t binge this immediately” i thought to myself. absolute clown behavior.

[elliepassmore]

Absolution review

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: The Southern Reach trilogy, eco horror, spy flicks, mind control

Annihilation review

Authority review

Acceptance review

Big thanks to Netgalley, McClelland & Stuart, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I read Annihilation a few years ago and absolutely loved the weirdness of it. I loved the rest of the Southern Reach trilogy as well, particularly Acceptance, and so was eager to see what VanderMeer had in store for this book.

Absolution reads more like Authority than like Annihilation and Acceptance, but it still stands as a different form of storytelling from the other three books (much like each of the others tells their stories differently from the other two books). We get to know some more about Central and the kinds of things going on in the background, even before Area X became known as such (but with all that terroir, can Area X really be said to have never been Area X?). And Central plays a much bigger role than you might think, even based on the hints dropped in Acceptance.

The first story in this book, taking up maybe the first 1/3, is about an expedition of biologists who came to the Forgotten Coast for research 20 years before Area X took over. It's told from Old Jim's (from Acceptance) point of view, though Old Jim wasn't actually there when the biologists were. Like most expeditions to the area, as we know, it doesn't go well for very long. Even then there are odd goings-on on the Forgotten Coast, made all the worse by an underlying Central experiment (or experiments).

This story definitely felt the most similar to Annihilation but it still lacks the overall inching creepiness that that book has. I did enjoy the breakdown of the expedition and the way it coincided with both environmental and human-made events/objects. It was definitely interesting to see how the Southern Reach's influence permeated even then and helped result in part of that breakdown. It was really fun to see some of the stuff discussed in previous books come out on the Forgotten Coast.

The second story took up the bulk of the book and focused on Old Jim....who was not as native to the Forgotten Coast as one might think. Old Jim actually worked for Central and was sent there on a mission disguised as retirement by none other than Jack and Jackie Severance. Poor John never knew just how deep his family's connection to the Forgotten Coast ran. Old Jim's story reveals a lot more about Central than what was previously known, and we also get to see more of the Seance and Science Brigade (forget poor John, poor Saul).

I think Old Jim's story is my favorite even if it did feel more like Authority (my least favorite of the original 3, though I still like it). Old Jim teaches us a lot about Central and, more specifically, about the mind control and the breakdown of Central that we see come out more in Authority. And man, there is a lot of mind control going on. Or at least attempted mind control. While the hypnosis is never truly hidden in the other books, Old Jim has a different view than the Biologist, Control, Gloria, or Ghost Bird, and thus we get to see just how much hypnosis and mind control are used. It's insane. And really goes to show that no one really had a chance.

I also liked Old Jim as a character. He's clearly in a bad place and has been used badly by Central besides, but as the story unfolds, he develops more as a character and comes into this kind of gruff fatherly role that wants to know what's going on and wants to be on the right side of things. Old Jim can't help the situation he's been forced into, but he can certainly open his eyes and ears to what the Forgotten Coast is trying to tell him and do the best he can. 'Cass' is a fun character too and I liked seeing how she and Old Jim got along, and then later how she came back into things. I did so want to see more of Saul, Gloria, and Charlie though.

The final story in the book focuses on the first expedition into Area X after it becomes known as Area X. More specifically, it focuses on Lowry, my absolutely least favorite character in the entirety of the series. I even like Henry and Suzanne more. Even Jack and Jackie. Lowry, perhaps no surprise, is just as terrible in the first expedition as he is when we meet him in Authority and Acceptance. He's mean, he's vulgar, he's self-centered, and he's got nothing particularly going on in his brain except curse words and a desire to have sex and do drugs. Just the kind of guy you'd want on a mission into Area X. Not.

I'm sure Lowry got messed with by Central, but the fact of the matter is, I'm not sure his brain was screwed on straight to begin with, and I'm 100% certain he's only on the expedition because of the Severances. I did not like being in Lowry's head and wasn't a fan of the cursing, the latter of which is saying something. That being said, we do finally get to see what Area X was like after the border came down, and we get more insight into the other side of things with Old Jim -- the side where Jack Severance holds the strings and knowledge. I did like piecing together more of that puzzle, as well as getting some more Easter eggs to the other books (I'll reiterate, poor John. Poor Saul, poor Old Jim, poor 'Cass'). That being said, Area X is still not weird enough for me. I want insane levels of weird, and this is only somewhat disturbing levels of weird. (but also, wtf Whitby. I'm going to need a Whitby book à la Dead Astronauts)

Overall this was an interesting addition to the trilogy and provided some new information about the Forgotten Coast and the inception of Area X. I wasn't sure I'd like Old Jim, was pleasantly surprised; knew I didn't like Lowry, was not surprised. I definitely wanted more Area X weirdness than I got and less Area X explanations than there were (thankfully not much is explained still, but it went in a direction I'm not sure I like). Interesting though.

[coulsonlives]

Holy shit, Coherence is an amazing movie

It's one of those movies where it seems like the characters are just talking about random stuff, but legit everything becomes important at some point and it's just 🤯

[la-libreria-chula]

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Very late but I decided to participate in Chicago Bookstore Crawl #IBDCHI24 this year for indie bookstore day 📚 Staring off at Bucket O' Blood bookstore, making my way down to Skunk Cabbage Books and ending at City Lit Books on Kedzie, with two others in between who were not participating. So really I went to 3 that were listed 😭 but it was an attempt. And then I continued the next day at The Book Shop in Batavia where you can fill a bag of books for $25. So you can say my weekend was *cough cough* booked...