Horror Movies to look out for in 2013

With 2012 coming to a close we look forward to some of the horror delights that 2013 has to offer!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D 

(4th January 2013)

Horror/Thriller

A young woman travels to Texas to collect an inheritance; little does she know that an encounter with a chainsaw-wielding killer is part of the reward.

Director: John Luessenhop

Writers: Adam Marcus (screenplay), Debra Sullivan (screenplay)

Stars: Alexandra Daddario, Tania Raymonde and Scott Eastwood

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia

(1st February)

Horror/Thriller

A young family moves into an historic home in Georgia, only to learn they are not the house's only inhabitants. Soon they find themselves in the presence of a secret rising from underground and threatening to bring down anyone in its path.

Director: Tom Elkins

Writer: David Coggeshall (screenplay)

Stars: Chad Michael Murray, Katee Sackhoff and Cicely Tyson 

Warm Bodies

(8th February)

Horror/Comedy

After a zombie becomes involved with the girlfriend of one of his victims, their romance sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.

Director: Jonathan Levine

Writers: Jonathan Levine (screenplay), Isaac Marion (novel)

Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and John Malkovich

The ABC's of Death

(8th March)

Horror/Anthology

A 26-chapter anthology that showcases death in all its vicious wonder and brutal beauty.

Directors: Kaare Andrews, Angela Bettis

Writers: Adrián García Bogliano (segment), Simon Rumley

Stars: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Iván González and Kyra Zagorsky

Maniac

(15th March)

Horror/Crime

The owner of a mannequin shop develops a dangerous obsession with a young artist.

Director: Franck Khalfoun

Writers: Alexandre Aja (screenplay), Grégory Levasseur (screenplay)

Stars: Elijah Wood, Nora Arnezeder and America Olivo

John Dies at the End

(22nd March)

Horror/Comedy

A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return as no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humankind from this silent, otherworldly invasion?

Director: Don Coscarelli

Writers: Don Coscarelli (written for the screen by), David Wong (based on the story by)

Stars: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes and Paul Giamatti

Carrie

(5th April)

Horror/Drama

A sheltered high school girl unleashes her newly developed telekinetic powers after she is pushed too far by her peers.

Director: Kimberly Peirce

Writers: Stephen King (novel), Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (screenplay)

Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore and Judy Greer

Evil Dead

(19th April)

Horror

Mia, a young woman struggling with sobriety, heads to a remote cabin with her brother and a group of friends, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads to danger and horror.

Director: Fede Alvarez

Writers: Sam Raimi (1981 screenplays), Fede Alvarez (screenplay)

Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez and Jessica Lucas

The Lords of Salem

(26th April)

Horror/Thriller

Residents of Salem, Massachusetts are visited by a 300-year-old coven of witches.

Director: Rob Zombie

Writer: Rob Zombie

Stars: Sheri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison and Jeff Daniel Phillips

World War Z

(21st June)

Horror/Action

A U.N. employee is racing against time and fate, as he travels the world trying to stop the outbreak of a deadly Zombie pandemic.

Director: Marc Forster

Writers: Max Brooks (novel), Damon Lindelof (screenplay)

Stars: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos and David Morse

So 2013 promises to be an exciting year for the horror genre, we have our favourites already picked out for the new year....do you?!!

Happy New Year from us all at The Evil Eye, here's to a gruesome 2013!!

Adam 'Evil Eye' Cutler

The Horror Masterpiece BRUTAL gets its DVD Release

Back in September we brought you an exclusive review for the new horror movie 'Brutal' from director Michael Stevens and we can honestly say we were blown away awarding it 5 stars (check out our review here). Now you can check out for yourselves what had us chomping at the bit and foaming at the mouth as 'Brutal' is now available to buy on DVD.

We spoke to director Michael Stevens earlier this week and this is what he told us:-

My new film "BRUTAL" is now available on DVD for purchase!!!

100% of all profits (yes merchandise too) will go to "For Those In Need" a non-profit charity lead by Pastor John Taft (29 years with Beaverton Foursquare Church), supporting victims of the Clackamas Mall shooting, victims of the Newtown shooting and the Portland chapter of Victims of Violent Crimes. "BRUTAL" may look violent (and it is), but the heart of the film is how "EMOTIONALLY" and "SPIRITUALLY" brutal it is to lose a child and have them become a victim of a violent crime. PLEASE...Order a copy today and help "For Those In Need" support the devastated families.

www.mynameisbrutal.com 

We would just like to wish Michael and the rest of the team behind 'Brutal' all the success in this campaign, and wish you all a Merry Christmas from us all at The Evil Eye

Adam 'Evil Eye' Cutler

The Devil You Know Book Review Author Mike Carey

The Grumbling Gargoyle is back from her spell of 'Exorcising the Demons' and what better way to return than reviewing Mike Carey's The Devil You Know, so grab your crucifix and holy water and enjoy the review!

Synopsis:

Meet Felix Castor, a man whose talents as an exorcist are much in demand as London becomes more and more saturated by the supernatural.  Felix is not only brilliant at his job he’s also freelance which enables him to charge whatever he feels like....and affords him one Hell of a lifestyle!

Or at least it did until he ‘Retired’ following a Devilish encounter from which he only just managed to survive.  Still, needs must and with old debts to attend to he is drawn back to his former Demon demonishing deeds when he accepts a seemingly simple exorcism.

Unfortunately, the ghost he is employed to exorcise, which haunts a London Hall of Records, proves to be more of a problem than Felix bargained for.  Realising that things are just not adding up Felix decides to investigate these peculiarities and the more he delves into the mystery the more he’s dragged into a world he’d have prefered to avoid.  A world where Demons, Were-Beings and Ghosts each vie against the other to claim the big prize which is...Felix Castor!

Review

I’ll be frank...( yeah, yeah...’oh and who shall I be?’...you’re not funny ok? So Shh )...for the first few pages of this book I felt a tad lost and I re-read a couple of paragraphs over again just to find my feet as it were but upon reflection I feel my confusion was down to two things...1) I’m impatient and expect to fully grasp the style immediately and 2) I’m impatient and expect to fully grasp the style immediately...so essentially, it was my fault ( colour me bad! ).  I think the best way to describe the genre of this book is ‘dark urban fantasy’ but by ‘dark’ I mean pitch black dark...as dark as dark can get...darker than the soul of an estate agent!...there...now do you get how ‘dark’ it is?

Castor lives in a London populated not only by its human multicultural inhabitants who harbour their own customs and beliefs but by various supernatural beings whom society simply accepts as existing...each with their own custom and belief structure too.  Walking dead stroll the streets...Werewolves lope along their merry way...( well...maybe ‘merry’s’ pushing it! )...and Ghosts, Poltergeists, Demons and all kinds of other paranormal paraphernalia reside alongside the other...but not necessarily in harmony.

Do not be fooled into thinking this book is some relatively mellow little noir-esque amuse bouche...it isn’t! It’s a several course banquet of glutinous malevolence served with a generous side order of wry wit and sarcasm resting upon a bed of sheer brilliance!  Carey hits hard with an intelligent plot and strong character development.  You begin to feel as if you’ve known these people all of your life because he keeps their personalities ‘real’...( Oh don’t drone on about ‘cliche’ ...the description fits so it stays.  So there! )...

...Felix Castor, for example, is not without flaw...he can be rude, weak, loud, offensive, interfering, a bit of a people hater too...( no! I didn’t copy that from my CV !)... yet he’s also a fighter, extremely talented in his field of work and generally does mean well but a something that happened to him in his past, that he can’t put right, lies heavy upon his conscience and weighs him down, affecting his manner, his outlook on life and also his outlook on death.  Felix Castor is a troubled man...but if he’s not careful that title will soon become his epitaph!

With ‘The Devil You Know’ due to his remarkable expertise and evocative writing,  Carey has managed to maintain an impressive balance between each element of the book allowing for a feisty fusion of mystery, thriller, crime, drama along with the supernatural...with more action than a mattress in a brothel!  Locations ooze with ambience ranging from the creepy grandeur of the gothic to the seedy strip clubs of gangland which, whilst leaning towards a somewhat brutal storyline still carry a healthy thread of sardonic humour.

It’s an energetic read with its twists and turns, pushing you to one place then dragging you back to another, teasing your mind with the sensations of the strange before battering you with the bizarre.  By the end of the book you’ll feel as though you’ve been put through boot camp for the soul and senses...and you’ll have loved every minute of it!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Yes!...you’ll be delightfully grabbed by the ghouls with this one....Enjoy!...

By The Grumbling Gargoyle

Cockneys Vs Zombies Review

Horror/Zombies – Starring Michelle Ryan, Georgia King, Honor Blackman, Alan Ford, Harry Treadaway, Richard Briers, Tony Gardner, Rasmus Hardiker, Ashley Bashy Thomas, Jack Doolan. Written by James Moran and Lucas Roche. Directed by Matthias Hoene (2012)

Cockney brothers, Andy and Terry Macguire put together a gang to rob a bank. Their intention … to steal enough money to save their grandad Ray’s care home from closing at the hands of Heartman Construction and being turned into luxury flats. Having scooped a hefty 2.5 million of Heartman Construction’s money at the bank, the gang find themselves under siege from zombies and embark on a mission to rescue their grandad from the care home.

The true baddies of Cockneys vs Zombies are Heartman Construction. Not only are they responsible for tearing down parts of the East End to make way for ‘Luxurious Living in the Heart Of East London’, it’s the greed of two construction workers that lead to the outbreak of zombies that rampage through the iconic location. Our unlikely heroes are a motley crew of bank robbers led by brothers Andy (Harry Treadaway) and Terry (Rasmus Hardiker), with their fiery, street wise cousin Katy (Michelle Ryan), the incompetent Davey Tuppence (Jack Doolan) and hardcase Mental Mickey (Ashely Bashy Thomas) making up the numbers.

Cockneys vs Zombies is good shoot ‘em up entertainment, no more no less. It’s full of colourful characters, including kick ass old folk, and ditsy Emma (Georgia King) and Jobs Worth Clive (Tony Gardner), the hostages. For me, the stand outs are East End veterans Ray Macguire (Alan Ford), Peggy (Honor Blackman) and Hamish (Richard Briers) who all enjoy a nice bit of zombie blasting more than their afternoon knees up around the old Joanna.

One of my favourite moments sees British institution, Richard Briers hobbling away from the slow, awkward zombies on his walking frame, mumbling, ‘Zombies! Oh no. Oh! Get out of it!’ What makes this piece of comedy genius even better is the contrast of the slow chase with dramatic action music. There are some lovely, original ideas in the movie that I won’t give away, though the plot itself isn’t particularly ground breaking. Cockneys vs Zombies needs to be viewed as a bit of  fun and, in that way, any flaws are easily forgiven. The balance between humour and action is good, though not a patch on 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, and there are some great lines, most of which come from Alan Ford as Ray, ‘You’re about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike’. 

The movie lacks tension and scares, focusing more on humour and gore. But overall, I enjoyed the film. And if there is one thing I have learned, in a zombie apocalypse, get behind the Cockney pensioner with the gun.

Rating:- 4 out of 5

By Lisa Richardson