Author of sci-fi/fantasy, horror and adventure/thriller fiction

BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (2001)

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I recently rediscovered BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF, a 2001 French film about a noble sent by the king in 18th century France to the Gevaudan region to investigate killings by a monstrous wolf. I liked it even more the second time around. It not only holds up over the years, it shines.

The film begins with the knight de Fronsac and his Iroquois companion Mani, traveling to Gevaudan. Almost immediately, during a confrontation on the road, we learn that Mani totally kicks ass in hand to hand combat. At last, they reach their destination, the manor of the local noble, whose son (the wonderful Vincent Cassel) takes an instant disliking to de Fronsac and whose daughter (Émilie Dequenne) becomes the subject of de Fronsac’s amorous interest.

What follows is a terrific mix of monster terror and mystery, excellently choreographed fighting, a political plot, and plenty of intrigue (involving the wonderful and drop-dead stunning Monica Bellucci). With a runtime of two hours and twenty minutes, it almost feels epic. The costumes and sets make the pre-Revolutionary France of the 1700s feel real.

In short, this is a good one, a hidden gem waiting for you.

BACKCOUNTRY (2014)

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In an impressive debut by writer/director Adam MacDonald, BACKCOUNTRY tells a story about survival in the wilderness, loosely based on a true story. It’s surprisingly human, atmospheric, and tense, a little hidden gem.

Alex (Jeff Roop) picks up his girlfriend Jen (Missy Peregrym) for a special weekend camping trip at a provincial park. He’s a bit of a showoff about his wilderness skills, while she’s a city lawyer glued to her phone and going along for the ride. They’re warned not to take a certain trail, as it’s closed, but Alex appears determined, as he’s on a special personal mission.

Then everything goes wrong, and the couple finds itself fighting for their lives in the Canadian wilderness.

I won’t say more about the plot, as it’s very simple, and it rolls out nicely such that it’s best to simply watch the movie even without a trailer. I like how MacDonald played with some horror tropes–a warning not to go somewhere, a red herring threat, even a sense of justice in the disproportionate Greek myth sense. The setting is terrific, both beautiful and ominous. The beauty of this film, however, is in the characters, as most of the film’s intensity and tension comes through their reactions.

As for who the couple is, I think they will strike most people as very familiar. Alex knows the wilderness fairly well and wants to impress Jen, but his showing off means accepting risks and not being able to admit when he’s wrong until it can no longer be avoided. Jen doesn’t like the wilderness but is playing along, and once things go bad, she is furious but trusts Alex’s leadership but demands decisive action. By the end, we see the real people they are in crisis, and it’s actually quite touching.

Overall, BACKCOUNTRY plays to all the strengths of good indie film-making–beautiful natural sets, a focus on character to invest the viewer, and realistic threats. I liked this one a lot.

FOUND FOOTAGE 3D (2016)

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In FOUND FOOTAGE 3D (2016), a small crew of indie filmmakers venture to a derelict farmhouse to shoot a found footage horror movie, only to find themselves in a very real horror story. I really liked this one for its perfect balance of self awareness and playing it straight.

The film follows producer and actor Derek, editor Mark (Derek’s brother, who is also shooting a behind the scenes documentary about the making of the film, and which provides the real found footage movie), Derek’s wife Amy as lead actress, sound technician Carl, director Andrew, and production assistant Lily, a horror fan. Derek has what he thinks is a brilliant idea to bring new life to a tired genre, which is to shoot it in 3D. He’s also a bit of a narcissist, and he’s in the midst of breaking up with Amy, resulting in endless tension and disruption.

The film very cleverly has the characters recognize and debate the conventions of the genre, from establishing in the first act why everything is being recorded and explaining why they are still recording in the third act after the monster appears. From this self awareness of the conventions and overwrought tropes, the film draws quite a bit of comedy and plentiful setups that pay off. Otherwise, we’re given a pretty straightforward found footage film about a haunting, which itself pays off with a genuinely thrilling explosion at the climax.

Overall, I really liked it and recommend it. This is one of those movies I went into not expecting much and ended up delightfully surprised.

THE SADNESS (2022)

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Fresh from Taiwan, THE SADNESS (2022) is a nasty, viscerally disturbing horror film that is somehow fitting for the COVID pandemic era.

Jim and Kat are young lovers who separate in the morning, Kat to take the train to work and Jim to grab coffee and start his own day. In the background, we become aware of a new virus dubbed Alvin, which scientists are saying is dangerously mutating, though the COVID weary public, sick of lock downs and infected in a way themselves with viral disinformation, is having none of it. As usual, the annoying scientists are right; Alvin is mutating, and those infected become compelled to inflict pain.

If you’re thinking this sounds like the graphic novel CROSSED by Garth Ennis, which isn’t so much read as inviting stomach-turning visual assault, you’re right; CROSSED is an inspiration for the film, just as it was for THE RETREAT, my zombie series written with Stephen Knight and Joe McKinney (it was also inspired by THE ANABASIS by Xenophon). And man, does it deliver: blood and gore and hacking and stabbing indulged to the max, spiced with moments of graphic torture and sexual assault held back just short of indulgent.

It’s ugly stuff, brutal and nasty, and man, it sets up one hell of an apocalypse. The grinning sadists who form the “zombies” in this story are pretty darn freaky and frightening. The combination of blood, tension, and cruelty is viscerally upsetting. The filmmakers handled all of it right in my view, punching you in the face without celebrating the punch, if you will. They adeptly set up long scenes of steadily escalating tension as characters react with terror and paralysis until the zombies arrive to play. The fairly cynical story runs right up to the point of nihilism, as our protagonists try to help people only to get burned, average people lash out in ignorance and fear and cowardice, and even the expert we meet is villainous.

It all ends on a note of hope, though it’s vague and also not very emotionally satisfying. The problem is in the lack of character arcs. In TRAIN TO BUSAN, for example, a detached dad learns the value and responsibility of fatherhood during a zombie apocalypse. In THE SADNESS, nothing is really learned or gained, making the story entirely about the world ending in slaughter and perhaps a thematic message that when it comes to public health maybe we should listen to public health experts. As a result, I wasn’t as invested as I would have liked in the protagonists, whose story simply ends, and it would have been interesting to see more of the best of human nature in contrast with the infected’s worst.

Despite this, I like this one quite a bit as something new in zombie land, a serious gut punch.

MAD GOD (2022)

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The magnum opus of veteran animator Phil Tippet, MAD GOD (2022) is a surreal stop-motion animation horror trip that’s beautiful and puzzling, rolling out like an artist’s scream, a filmmaker’s dream project that amazes you that it somehow got produced.

Currently watchable on Shudder, the film begins with the Assassin descending onto a ruined, mutant, horrible world on what may be a suicide mission under orders from the Last Human. He passes through bizarre landscapes populated by tortured souls, monstrosities, terrible machines, and endless war, and runs afoul of the Surgeon, producing a chain of events leading to the Alchemist creating a new universe that only falls into the same state of decay. A form of decay that never quite dies, one that becomes a malignant ecology of its own.

If that doesn’t make sense, that’s okay. Most of the fun of this creative wonder is simply in beholding. The rest is up to interpretation, if you’re up for it: themes about humanity being prone to its own self destruction, religious allegory about every renewal leading to corruption. Visually, the film is nothing short of astounding in what it achieved technically and aesthetically. MAD GOD rolls out like something Hieronymus Bosch, the painter of the famous landscape of Hell, might have produced if he had the means to produce stop motion animation and a budget.

Otherwise, there’s the emotional impact, which infiltrates more than punches. MAD GOD is nihilistic, sad, horrible. Everything dies, everything is self-absorbed, everything fights everything else to get what it wants, everything beautiful eventually falls into ruin.

Definitely check it out if you’re into–I’m not sure. Something beautifully bleak, horribly interesting, engagingly savage.

THE CHILDREN OF RED PEAK Available for $2.99!

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The Kindle edition of my cult horror novel THE CHILDREN OF RED PEAK is being promoted by Hachette and Amazon with a Kindle Monthly Deal. Until June 30, you can pick up the novel for just $2.99.

They escaped the cult, but are they free?

David Young, Deacon Price, and Beth Harris live with a dark secret. They grew up in an isolated religious community in the shadow of the mountain Red Peak, and they are among the few who survived its horrific last days.

Years later, the trauma of what they experienced never feels far behind. When a fellow survivor commits suicide, they reunite to confront their past and share their memories of that final night.

But discovering the terrifying truth might put them on a path back to Red Peak, and escaping a second time may be impossible…

Click here to get it now.