Film Reviews by NP

From the get-go, you realise that director John Gulager isn't messing about with 'Zombie Night'. Having explained the premise in the title, he's more concerned with getting on with the gory action and giving the viewer no excuse for allowing their tension to wander. Sometimes, you can't beat the sight of the walking, rotting dead biting chunks out of characters we've only just met.

Still famous for her role in 'The Patridge Family', Shirley Jones is Nana and her daughter Birdy is played by Daryl Hannah. These and other characters are earmarked to be our guides throughout this undead nightmare, but happily, writers Richard Schenkman, Keith Allan and Delondra Mesa like to play with our expectations.

The problem with 'Zombie Night' is that it falls into the trappings of the genre. You can't kill the assailants because they're already dead, and a bite can turn you into one of them. This proves to limit what can actually be achieved with this story and occasionally, it seems as if it is going around in circles.

Whilst never threatening to re-invent zombie themes - and why should it? - this is 88 minutes of pretty much exactly what you would expect. No more, no less. My score is 6 out of 10.

Six forensic students arrive on an island to begin a scientific expedition. That might seem like a fairly harmless pursuit, perhaps even slightly dull, but when you realise 13 Eerie has been put together by the producer of Silent Hill and Resident Evil 4, you'd hope that something grisly might turn up.

You'd be in luck. There are enough grisly scenes of the undead, the almost dead and the dead-dead to please most ardent gore-seekers, but that's not the end of the story, luckily enough. Lowell Dean directs expertly, zipping through scenes of danger and grim jeopardy and featuring characters well-played and convincing, doing everything that should keep the aggressors at bay - and still they keep coming. The winter-crisp Canadian locations are suitably rough and murky and a perfect backdrop for the snarling, grunting zombie-types.

Occasionally, realism is compromised by the heavy prosthetics and make-up jobs plastered over the zombie actors as the cold sunlight exposes their occasional limitations, but other than that, this is a wonderfully raw slice of zombie action. It's rather more intelligently plotted to just be a runaround and I strongly recommend it.

Jeffrey Donovan from Blair Witch 2 here plays Jack, who is paired with appealing imp Lu (Quinn McColgan) after a bus attempting to take them to a safe space is attacked by a group of gorily realised zombies. As if events were not punishing enough, the world - or this portion of it - is also in the grip of an unforgiving winter, convincingly directed by Miguel Ángel Vivas, who also co-wrote this.

The locations, filmed in Spain and Hungary, are superbly shot. As the character of Patrick (Matthew Fox) is introduced and the three main players form a fragile triumvirate, 'Extinction' settles into a personal story of the plight of these people we have come to know, against the magnitude of the palpably grim world in which they live, and the rotting living corpses that frequent it.

If that's not the recipe for a good night in with a mug of something warm, I don't know what is! My score is 8 out of 10.

Kate, the central character in ‘Creep’ reminds me a little of Naomi Watts’ character in ‘The Ring (2002)’, in that she is so brash and mean-spirited it is difficult to warm to her. She not only declines a polite plea from a homeless man for some change, but patronises him too, and seems pleased with her spite. Possibly this is to highlight the irony of being mistaken for a vagrant herself, bloodied and filthy as she is by the film’s end.

The plot? Horrible bloke kills people by a train line. It’s something that has been attempted similarly countless times over. And yet I love this. It is laced with good characters (often more likeable than the heroine) and given some nice touches – and that is before we’ve even met the wrecked, unsightly killer.

It is a little unclear as to what exactly ‘Craig’ is, although there are plenty of partial clues. Is he a survived abortion, the result of an illegal experiment, or something else? The specifics don’t really matter because he is a powerful character in his own right, often due to the ticks and painful movements Sean Harris brings to the part. He glances at a selection of pickled foetuses in the abandoned medical facility where he lives and hears the sound of babies crying in his mind. Equally, in one of the most effective scenes, he straps homeless victim Mandy (Kelly Scott) to a delivery chair and goes through the motions of a surgeon before disembowelling her. It’s all grim and extremely effective.

As with many things, there are logical shadows cast over this – Craig has been alive a long time and presumably, these are not the first people he’s killed. He shows no intention of covering his tracks, so why hasn’t he been apprehended by now? Also, Kate has the advantage over him on two separate occasions before she finally kills him.

Filmed in brash, early morning tones – all sickly yellows and blues, it’s a persuasively shocking production, but at least Craig’s eventual demise seems permanent. A shame, actually – a sequel would have been welcome.

Sometimes when watching slasher films, it's difficult to sympathise with the teen heroes/cyphers, who are depicted as writers think teens always are - either horny, drunk or stoners. In this one, they're all three and more besides. Any attempt to make this bunch likeable has been left firmly at the door. So with that in mind, it's easier to sit back and enjoy the fun when this group stumble across an abandoned house in the middle of the desert. The house has a history; there's a very good reason it's been abandoned.

From here on in, 'Raised by Wolves' is a good, satisfying example of its type. Retired adult film star Jenna Haze is top-billed on some of the promotional material, but her appearance is little more than a cameo. The rest of the film is occasionally effectively spooky, and you do get a sense of 'something' playing with these pretty irredeemable characters. My score is 7 out of 10.

To me, this Swedish vampire film is like an appreciative throwback to the handful of European horror films that proved popular in the early '70s and is a cosy bedfellow alongside the wonderful, and better-known 'Let the Right One In' from the same year. This isn't quite up there in comparison (not many things are), but it promotes a convincing lifestyle for modern-day vampires.

Two sisters, Vera and Vanja (Jenny Lampa and Ruth Vega Fernandez), celebrating the freedom their 'addiction' gives them, attend an illegal nightclub. Almost raped by a clubber, they drain him of his blood, little knowing he's the (now former) head of a notorious biker gang. As the gang pursue them through the night, these 'ordinary people' become the aggressors and the vampires are the ones we find ourselves sympathising with.

That's the main thrust of the film. It's a slim story told well and performed wonderfully. Events come at their own pace, and there's a bittersweet ending that proves very effective. Director Peter Pontikis also writes and produces, and happily, has not let the unfairly negative reviews this film garnered hamper his career. Thick with all the giddy delirium you'd expect two vampires to experience during a typical night, 'Not Like Others' (also known as 'Vampyrer') won't exactly tempt you join the undead, but might allow you to view them in a different light.

I love the classic idea of vampires, the grand, cape-swirling children of the night. But I also really enjoy films that suggest that vampires are perfectly ordinary people you would pass in the street.

This Swedish vampire story deals with two sisters who make the mistake of killing and draining a key member of a biker gang (which could easily be seen as self-defence as he was trying to rape one of them at the time). Suddenly our sympathies are with Vanja and Vera and the remaining bikers – the ordinary people – are very much the aggressors as they follow them relentlessly through streets and town centres.

This isn’t an eventful film, but I get the impression it is deliberately low-key. It’s just one event in the day-to-day (or night-to-night) existence of two vampires in the modern world, and as such it is worth watching – not least for the excellent performances, and the night-time filming, which puts over the loneliness and desolation the two sisters have to deal with.

Stephen McGeagh has written and directed a grimy, messy horror film. You may imagine the title focuses on an addiction of some kind. Set in the rougher parts of Manchester, the drug in question may not be what you expect, although with this being a genre film, it might well be!

There's a strong cast at work here, convincing and likeable (well, some of them), and the revelations as to the nature of events are skillfully handled. Set against a rainy, urban backdrop, the unrelentingly grim future these characters are desperately trying to escape is all-enveloping. Whether Lee (Jessica Bardon) and Michael (Elliot James Langridge) do eventually find a way out from the lives that shackle them is not for me to say, but their journey is a shocking and bloody one, and 'Habit' is a film I enjoyed very much. My score is 8 out of 10.

The style of 'If A Tree Falls' marks it out as something different from the oft-tread woodland slasher genre. Stuttering camerawork, grainy inserts, imagery that momentarily obfuscates what we are seeing. Certainly Gabriel Carreris a director determined to make a mark - and most of the time, he succeeds very well.

The characters in Ry Barrett's story, Brad and Lisa Carpenter (played by Barrett and Jennifer De Lucia respectively) and friends Will and Vanessa (Daniel Zuccala and Breanne TeBoekhorst) are well-played and fairly likeable, although they are hardly flawless. Such depth, it could be argued, makes them more interesting to watch. Certainly, we, see them suffering at the hands of masked assailants and are moved by the motiveless brutality of it all.

A slasher film with a difference, I found 'If A Tree Falls' thoroughly entertaining in a violent, bloody kind of way. Directorial flourishes ensure that visually, things are always interesting. My score is 8 out of 10.

I'm not sure the phrase 'you've been had' is quite as apt as it is with this film. And rarely has it been so enjoyable to be on the receiving end of such a big tease. Director and co-writer Andrew Weiner has assembled a fine cast and crew to helm this found-footage extravaganza which takes in extensive location filming in Canada, although the end credits state filming in Alaska. Another little tease?

We spend much time with a group of filmmakers eager to capture the sight of the legendary Frankenstein Monster, rumoured to be hiding in the showy wastes. It's wonderful to believe the poor Creature has indeed made a home for himself far from humankind and is relatively happy. Entrepreneur Jonathan Venkenheim (Kris Lemche) isn't interested in the Monster's contentment; he wants to make a name for himself. The crew he gathers around him are caught up in his dreams, but become increasingly - and understandably - despondent. All are very well cast and share many moments of amusing camaraderie - or not.

So good is their company, that I almost forgot what I watched this for, and it's just as well because we have to wait an inordinately long time before we set eyes on the furious focus of Venkenheim's obsession. You may feel cheated by the outcome, or you may thoroughly enjoy this venture. I did.

'Abattoir' immediately arrests the attention. Julia, the lead character played by Jesica Lowndes, appears to have drifted in from a noirish film from the '50s. Her boyfriend Detective Grady (Joe Anderson) talks like a modern-day gumshoe. The setting, however, is distinctly in the present. This strangeness is only compounded further by the storyline, involving collecting rooms that have witnessed murders.

It's an eccentric premise, and one that is too abstract to appeal to everyone. I loved it. In fact, I love anything that does something 'different' with the horror genre. The finale too, plays very much into the world of the fantastic which also proves to be mind-boggling. Director Darren Lynn Bousman pulls out all the stops to ensure that although what you may have seen is deeply unnerving, the climax moves things into another dimension.

A group of typically beautiful young people are holidaying in Mexico. Amy (Jena Malone) seems to be the butt of the others' meanness due to her fragile nature. Catwalk models can be so cruel! Anyway, the group are persuaded by a German tourist Mathius (Joe Anderson) to visit some local ruins. That's when the perfect holiday becomes something less savoury.

Their teen tales of adolescent mino-drama may not be enthralling, or put another way, mind-numbingly tedious, but they're not really a bad bunch. Certainly, the viewer is not baying for their death as in any 'Wrong Turn' sequels, and when they begin to suffer some nicely imaginative horror punishment, it's hard not to feel for them.

The sun-stroked Mayan locations are gorgeous, and strangely very 'right' for the story. Away from home, away from the familiar trappings of your ordinary life, there is a real sense of displacement here - even if it is a kind of paradise. Things become more desperate and nasty as time goes on. This does not disappoint. Stick with it. My score is 8 out of 10.

Prolific director Jess Franco follows up his previous very successful Orloff films with this stylish black and white chiller. As is often the case with Franco, this production has been distributed around the world under several titles. Some refer to the title character as Orloff, and some as Jekyll. But who cares when we're having this much fun? The weakest link is the main man himself - whatever his name is! With Howard Vernon unavailable, Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui steps in; he's avuncular, cuddly and friendly-faced, the polar opposite of Vernon.

Everything else is much as it often is in monochrome Jess Franco films. Stylish, arty, stark, polished, creepy and ever so slightly dull. The magnificent monster is far too handsome to warrant all the shrieking that greets his every appearance. Hugo Blancoplays zombie henchman Andros very well, and he's aided by sinister lighting and spooky music, but really, his 'hideousness' amounts to nothing more to bad acne.

This is an enjoyable ride, though, and a million miles away from the gleeful bargain-basement fetish-romps that Franco would soon be producing. Some seeds of his future obsessions are sown here, in what would become familiar character names (Andros, Melissa for example) and a lengthy exotic jazzy cabaret sequence.

Perhaps not quite up there with the earlier 'The Awful Doctor Orlof', this is nonetheless unsettling, riotous early picture from the notorious Uncle Jess.

Ten years after his successful stint as Tarzan, Lex Barker is still in hero mode. At the end of the '50s, he found work surprisingly hard to come by and so travelled further afield than his native America where he still received top billing. He's a bit wooden in this, to be honest, but then he isn't required to do an awful lot other than to look smouldering and get involved in a few scraps - which he does with aplomb.

There are echoes of Dracula here, with blood providing life (long) after death, and Christopher Lee as Count Regula. Dripping corridors, a doomy atmosphere and plenty a heaving bosom, all heartily directed by Harald Reinl, ensure a thickly sliced slab of gothic splendour.

Edgar Allen Poe had barely begun to write his final work, on which this film is based before he passed away. Here, the talented Benjamin Cooper takes hold of the bare bones of the story and turns it into a sedately paced 88-minute film. Although achieved on a modest budget, the results are far from impoverished, and prove to be highly enjoyable - more than I expected.

JP (Matt O’Neill) finds himself washed up on an island, where he sees the apparition of a young woman. He's looked after by gruff lighthouse keeper Walsh (Vernon Wells). "I'll always keep a light burning during the night," he promises.

From here on in, we're treated to secrets, wraiths, apparitions, mysterious fever dreams, and a finale that only tells us what it wants us to know. This is a carefully made horror pot-boiler which may lack spectacle but tells a richly atmospheric tale very well. My score is 9 out of 10.

As with many modestly budgeted monster films, our views of the titular creature are fleeting and often obfuscated - at least until the end. This shouldn't be any kind of deterrent to anyone seeking out 'Night of the Wolf': it's great fun. A shaggy killer wages terror over a gentle, picturesque retirement community, and that's all you really need to know.

The story is imaginative and never run-of-the-mill. As we get to see more of the antagonists, it's good to see a lack of CGI, which for me, robs a production of its essential sense of 'place' - unless there's millions of pounds or dollars being spent. Much better that, for their flaws, these creatures are of the physical variety. Nice transformation too.

Directed effectively by Adrián García Bogliano and wonderfully scored by Wojciech Golczewski, 'Night of the Wolf' gets an 8 out of 10 from me.