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Horror Fuel

Movie Review: ‘Girl’ Starring Bella Thorne Is A Must See

Writer-director Chad Faust’s new thriller Girl is set to arrive later this month. Ahead of the release, I got my hands on a copy and I’d like to share my thoughts with you. Bella Thorne stars as a young woman seeking out the father that assaulted her mother when she was a kid. She’s learned that he’s threatening her mother and she’s begun a journey to put an end to it. But things may not be as they seem. When she arrives she discovers something disturbing and becomes the target of two brothers who desperately want the cash her father has hidden somewhere on his property. WARNING: mild spoilers ahead. Thorne’s character arrives on a bus in the backwater hell hole of a town where her father lives. The town is mostly shuttered. It’s the type of place where people are born into struggle and suffering and rarely are able to escape. A place where everyone is broken and the

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Nov 16, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-Ray Review: Antebellum Is Both Horrific And Moving

WARNING SOME SPOILERS! The writing and producing duo Gerard Bush + Christopher Renz make their feature directorial debut with Antebellum. In the beginning, we are introduced to Veronica, a strong-willed, well-spoken, educated author, and speaker who talks about racism and patriarchy. Played by Janelle Monáe, Veronica is kidnapped and wakes up on a Southern slave plantation in what seems to the past with a new name, Eden, given to her by her captors. She seems broken and reserved to her fate, but she hasn’t completely given up yet. When a death occurs she finds renewed strength. Eric Lange (TV’s “Narcos,” “Lost”), Jena Malone (Contact, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), Jack Huston (Kill Your Darlings, American Hustle), Kiersey Clemons (Sweetheart, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising), and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious, TV’s “Empire”), also star. This is not your everyday horror movie. There are no supernatural monsters jumping out to scare you, it’s much worse, the film reveals that the real monsters are all

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Nov 3, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Come Play

When Oliver, a young boy, reads a story online about misunderstood monsters he has no idea that is about to unleash a monster, putting himself and his parents in the path of a relentless entity hellbent on dragging Oliver back to his world. Being autistic and no-verbal (he doesn’t talk) has left Oliver with no friends and with a mother who struggles to cope with the situation. The monster in this film is drawn to the boy because of his loneliness. Making the situation both sad and frightening. While yes, Come Play is a horror film, it’s also much more. It’s about one family’s struggle to cope with autism. I guess it affected me more than it will some others. You see, I have an autistic nephew who is precious. He was non-verbal for years and the thought that something or someone could get to him through his loneliness scares the hell out of me as does the thought that

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 28, 2020

Netflix Review: “The Haunting of Bly Manor” Is Not Perfectly Splendid

Last year, when Netflix aired the genre series “The Haunting of Hill House,” I had no clue that a series could ever reach the ranks it did in my book. A nearly perfect series unfolded before, and I was left bragging about it to anyone who would listen. I’ve seen the series four times since the first time I was introduced to the Crian family. So imagine my excitement when “The Haunting of Bly Manor” was announced; I was ecstatic, to put it mildly. With many of “Hill House’s” cast returning, I knew in my heart that this season would be just as good as the first; you could say that I had high hopes. But did it stand up to my expectations? That’s what I’m here to discuss. Based on Henry James’ “Turning of the Screw” as well as a few other of James’ stories, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” is a haunting tale of a young American teacher

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 16, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Don’t Look Back

Writer-director Jeffrey Reddick has a ton of genre titles under his belt including creating the Final Destination franchise. Now, he’s back with a new tale of terror, Don’t Look Back, a haunting tale that follows a group of people who witness a man beaten to death in a park but do nothing to stop it. Soon after the murder paranormal activity begins to plague Caitlin (Kourtney Bell) who is still recovering from the murder of her father. When the witnesses begin to turn up dead, she sets out to get to the bottom of it. The cast, which also includes Will Stout, Skyler Hart, Jeremy Holm, Jaqueline Fleming, Amanda Grace Benitez, Han Soto, Damon Lipari, and Dean J. West, is not filled with well-known actors like you would expect it to be. I think, in the end, it actually works out better this way. It helps you to identify more with the characters and makes things a tad more believable.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 9, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-Ray Review: The Pale Door

From director Aaron B. Koontz comes the western horror The Pale Door, an indie film that follows a group of outlaws that discover a woman locked inside a trunk during a trailer robbery. They release her not knowing that she is a witch. When one of the gang is shot they follow her to her town in hopes of finding a doctor and saving their leader, but things don’t go as planned after entering a brothel. Even though the film had a small budget, the cast is surprisingly good, especially Devin Druid, Zachary Knighton, Bill Sage, Pat Healy, Natasha Bassett, and Monster Squad actor Stan Shaw. The cast also includes Melora Walters, Noah Segan, and James Landry Hebert who plays the infamous Cotton Mather. The special effects, which features a ton of gunfire, burn makeup and people crawling on ceilings, were impressive, as was the town that I assume was built just for the movie. The lumber alone would have

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 5, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-Ray Review: The Silencing – Starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, best known for his role in “Game of Thrones,” stars as Rayburn, a reformed hunter who now manages a wildlife reserve named after his missing daughter in The Silencing, from director Robin Pront. While checking his game cameras he notices something odd, a man in a gili suit hunting a young woman. Quick to his feet, Rayburn heads out on a mission to save the woman (Annabelle Wallis) not knowing that it would be the first step in his journey to find the truth of his daughter’s disappearance. As you watch The Silencing, written by Micah Ranum, mysteries, crimes, murders, and motives unfold. While some have selfish motives to keep their silence and their distance Rayburn is relentless where his daughter is concerned. He is not giving up. When it comes to the movie’s villain, there’s a twist, which I won’t ruin for you. This isn’t some bumbling moron with a rifle. This killer is calculating, smart, well-armed,

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 30, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Darren Lynn Bousman’s ‘Death Of Me’

I’ve long been a fan of writer-director Darren Lynn Bousman. He’s the brilliant filmmaker that brought us films like Saw II and Saw III, Tales of Halloween, and the fantastically twisted film Repo! The Genetic Opera, as well as the upcoming movie Spiral. What’s not to love? Well, he’s back with a new terror-filled film, Death of Me, which is set to be released this October. Maggie Q stars as Christine, a wife along on a trip with her travel writer husband Neil (Luke Hemsworth) who are traveling to a stunning island off of Thailand. After a night out at a local bar, the two wake up and themselves covered in dirt and bruises, with no memory of the night before. With their passports and ID missing, the two are stranded. After discovering a video on Neil’s camera, they are stunned at what they see and Christine is left confused and terrified of her husband and everyone around her. A

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 28, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Alone (2020)

Director John Hymas’ thriller Alone is an intense tale of one woman’s fight to survive as a serial killer hunts her down. When Jessica (Jules Willcox) backs up her belongings and heads off to start a new life in a new town she has no idea of the horrors she is about to face. A serial killer has set his sights on her and will stop at nothing to get her. Warning: Spoilers Ahead Jessica is a complicated character. She’s still coping with the loss of her husband and her family’s opinion that she’s making a mistake leaving town to start over. When Jessica stops at a gas station she meets a stranger (Marc Menchaca) who asks a few to many questions like where is she going, where is she from, if she’s traveling alone. Of course, this automatically raises red flags. Every time she stops he pops up and it doesn’t take long for her to realize that she’s

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 21, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Shortcut (2020)

Headed to theaters this September is the survival horror Shortcut from director Alessio Liguori. Ahead of its debut, I snagged a copy to review. Here are my thoughts. Written by Daniele Cosci, Shortcut follows a group of five teens and their bus driver as they travel down an empty road. When they come to a spot blocked by a downed tree they must take a shortcut, only to find that road blocked as well by a dead deer. When the bus driver (Terence Anderson) gets out to drag it off the road so that they continue their journey, he is ambushed by a psycho and held at gunpoint, and forced to keep driving. You would think that things were bad enough, but you’d be wrong. There’s something out there, something hungry, that is ready to pounce when the bus breaks down in a tunnel. Let me start off by saying that I was very impressed by the young cast that

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 13, 2020

More from Movie Review

Horror Fuel

Movie Review: ‘Girl’ Starring Bella Thorne Is A Must See

Writer-director Chad Faust’s new thriller Girl is set to arrive later this month. Ahead of the release, I got my hands on a copy and I’d like to share my thoughts with you. Bella Thorne stars as a young woman seeking out the father that assaulted her mother when she was a kid. She’s learned that he’s threatening her mother and she’s begun a journey to put an end to it. But things may not be as they seem. When she arrives she discovers something disturbing and becomes the target of two brothers who desperately want the cash her father has hidden somewhere on his property. WARNING: mild spoilers ahead. Thorne’s character arrives on a bus in the backwater hell hole of a town where her father lives. The town is mostly shuttered. It’s the type of place where people are born into struggle and suffering and rarely are able to escape. A place where everyone is broken and the

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Nov 16, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-Ray Review: Antebellum Is Both Horrific And Moving

WARNING SOME SPOILERS! The writing and producing duo Gerard Bush + Christopher Renz make their feature directorial debut with Antebellum. In the beginning, we are introduced to Veronica, a strong-willed, well-spoken, educated author, and speaker who talks about racism and patriarchy. Played by Janelle Monáe, Veronica is kidnapped and wakes up on a Southern slave plantation in what seems to the past with a new name, Eden, given to her by her captors. She seems broken and reserved to her fate, but she hasn’t completely given up yet. When a death occurs she finds renewed strength. Eric Lange (TV’s “Narcos,” “Lost”), Jena Malone (Contact, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), Jack Huston (Kill Your Darlings, American Hustle), Kiersey Clemons (Sweetheart, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising), and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious, TV’s “Empire”), also star. This is not your everyday horror movie. There are no supernatural monsters jumping out to scare you, it’s much worse, the film reveals that the real monsters are all

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Nov 3, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Come Play

When Oliver, a young boy, reads a story online about misunderstood monsters he has no idea that is about to unleash a monster, putting himself and his parents in the path of a relentless entity hellbent on dragging Oliver back to his world. Being autistic and no-verbal (he doesn’t talk) has left Oliver with no friends and with a mother who struggles to cope with the situation. The monster in this film is drawn to the boy because of his loneliness. Making the situation both sad and frightening. While yes, Come Play is a horror film, it’s also much more. It’s about one family’s struggle to cope with autism. I guess it affected me more than it will some others. You see, I have an autistic nephew who is precious. He was non-verbal for years and the thought that something or someone could get to him through his loneliness scares the hell out of me as does the thought that

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 28, 2020

Netflix Review: “The Haunting of Bly Manor” Is Not Perfectly Splendid

Last year, when Netflix aired the genre series “The Haunting of Hill House,” I had no clue that a series could ever reach the ranks it did in my book. A nearly perfect series unfolded before, and I was left bragging about it to anyone who would listen. I’ve seen the series four times since the first time I was introduced to the Crian family. So imagine my excitement when “The Haunting of Bly Manor” was announced; I was ecstatic, to put it mildly. With many of “Hill House’s” cast returning, I knew in my heart that this season would be just as good as the first; you could say that I had high hopes. But did it stand up to my expectations? That’s what I’m here to discuss. Based on Henry James’ “Turning of the Screw” as well as a few other of James’ stories, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” is a haunting tale of a young American teacher

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 16, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Don’t Look Back

Writer-director Jeffrey Reddick has a ton of genre titles under his belt including creating the Final Destination franchise. Now, he’s back with a new tale of terror, Don’t Look Back, a haunting tale that follows a group of people who witness a man beaten to death in a park but do nothing to stop it. Soon after the murder paranormal activity begins to plague Caitlin (Kourtney Bell) who is still recovering from the murder of her father. When the witnesses begin to turn up dead, she sets out to get to the bottom of it. The cast, which also includes Will Stout, Skyler Hart, Jeremy Holm, Jaqueline Fleming, Amanda Grace Benitez, Han Soto, Damon Lipari, and Dean J. West, is not filled with well-known actors like you would expect it to be. I think, in the end, it actually works out better this way. It helps you to identify more with the characters and makes things a tad more believable.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 9, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-Ray Review: The Pale Door

From director Aaron B. Koontz comes the western horror The Pale Door, an indie film that follows a group of outlaws that discover a woman locked inside a trunk during a trailer robbery. They release her not knowing that she is a witch. When one of the gang is shot they follow her to her town in hopes of finding a doctor and saving their leader, but things don’t go as planned after entering a brothel. Even though the film had a small budget, the cast is surprisingly good, especially Devin Druid, Zachary Knighton, Bill Sage, Pat Healy, Natasha Bassett, and Monster Squad actor Stan Shaw. The cast also includes Melora Walters, Noah Segan, and James Landry Hebert who plays the infamous Cotton Mather. The special effects, which features a ton of gunfire, burn makeup and people crawling on ceilings, were impressive, as was the town that I assume was built just for the movie. The lumber alone would have

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 5, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-Ray Review: The Silencing – Starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, best known for his role in “Game of Thrones,” stars as Rayburn, a reformed hunter who now manages a wildlife reserve named after his missing daughter in The Silencing, from director Robin Pront. While checking his game cameras he notices something odd, a man in a gili suit hunting a young woman. Quick to his feet, Rayburn heads out on a mission to save the woman (Annabelle Wallis) not knowing that it would be the first step in his journey to find the truth of his daughter’s disappearance. As you watch The Silencing, written by Micah Ranum, mysteries, crimes, murders, and motives unfold. While some have selfish motives to keep their silence and their distance Rayburn is relentless where his daughter is concerned. He is not giving up. When it comes to the movie’s villain, there’s a twist, which I won’t ruin for you. This isn’t some bumbling moron with a rifle. This killer is calculating, smart, well-armed,

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 30, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Darren Lynn Bousman’s ‘Death Of Me’

I’ve long been a fan of writer-director Darren Lynn Bousman. He’s the brilliant filmmaker that brought us films like Saw II and Saw III, Tales of Halloween, and the fantastically twisted film Repo! The Genetic Opera, as well as the upcoming movie Spiral. What’s not to love? Well, he’s back with a new terror-filled film, Death of Me, which is set to be released this October. Maggie Q stars as Christine, a wife along on a trip with her travel writer husband Neil (Luke Hemsworth) who are traveling to a stunning island off of Thailand. After a night out at a local bar, the two wake up and themselves covered in dirt and bruises, with no memory of the night before. With their passports and ID missing, the two are stranded. After discovering a video on Neil’s camera, they are stunned at what they see and Christine is left confused and terrified of her husband and everyone around her. A

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 28, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Alone (2020)

Director John Hymas’ thriller Alone is an intense tale of one woman’s fight to survive as a serial killer hunts her down. When Jessica (Jules Willcox) backs up her belongings and heads off to start a new life in a new town she has no idea of the horrors she is about to face. A serial killer has set his sights on her and will stop at nothing to get her. Warning: Spoilers Ahead Jessica is a complicated character. She’s still coping with the loss of her husband and her family’s opinion that she’s making a mistake leaving town to start over. When Jessica stops at a gas station she meets a stranger (Marc Menchaca) who asks a few to many questions like where is she going, where is she from, if she’s traveling alone. Of course, this automatically raises red flags. Every time she stops he pops up and it doesn’t take long for her to realize that she’s

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 21, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Shortcut (2020)

Headed to theaters this September is the survival horror Shortcut from director Alessio Liguori. Ahead of its debut, I snagged a copy to review. Here are my thoughts. Written by Daniele Cosci, Shortcut follows a group of five teens and their bus driver as they travel down an empty road. When they come to a spot blocked by a downed tree they must take a shortcut, only to find that road blocked as well by a dead deer. When the bus driver (Terence Anderson) gets out to drag it off the road so that they continue their journey, he is ambushed by a psycho and held at gunpoint, and forced to keep driving. You would think that things were bad enough, but you’d be wrong. There’s something out there, something hungry, that is ready to pounce when the bus breaks down in a tunnel. Let me start off by saying that I was very impressed by the young cast that

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 13, 2020
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