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Horror Fuel

DVD Review: “The Alienist Season 2: Angel Of Darkness”

I hold in my hand a copy of “The Alienist: Angel of Darkness“, which serves as the second season of the crime-thriller series from TNT, set to be released on May 18, 2021. Let me start with the box itself which has an almost metallic sheen and features an image of the three main stars, Daniel Brühl (Rush), Luke Evans (Midway), and Dakota Fanning (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), flanked by red wings dripping with blood. The box is quite beautiful and honestly, pictures don’t do it justice. It would make a fantastic piece for any collection. “Angel of Darkness” features eight one-hour episodes on three discs. The season picks up a year after the team’s first investigation where Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a pioneer in forensic psychiatry, tracked down the brutal serial killer John Beecham with the help of a team of trusted companions and a revolutionary application of the principles of his discipline. Kreizler and his friends–high-living crime

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
May 10, 2021
Horror Fuel

Kurt Sutter Makes His Feature Directorial With ‘This Beast’ Inspired By A True Story

“Sons of Anarchy” writer-director Kurt Sutter is making his feature film directorial debut with This Beast, inspired by The Beast of Gévaudan, the true story about a mysterious beast that terrorized a French village in the 1760s. The Netflix film is set in “an 18th century English village is besieged by a mysterious and elusive beast. Dozens of innocents are slaughtered and the mayhem is driven to puritanical heights by religious fanaticism. The impossible task of killing the beast falls to a lowly trapper who promises he can stop the carnage. But for him this hunt is not a professional mission, it’s a deeply personal one.” Sutter, whose series “Sons of Anarchy” was a major hit filled with drama, excitement, violence, and love, will write, direct and produce This Beast. Jason Blum and Blumhouse will produce along with Carla Hacken under her Paper Pictures banner. Blumhouse Television’s Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold will executive produce. Bringing my disturbing, familial story

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Mar 9, 2021
Horror Fuel

Keira Knightley To Star In New Apple TV+ Series “The Essex Serpent”

Pirates of the Caribbean star Keira Knightley is setting sail for a new adventure with “The Essex Serpent”, the Apple TV+ series adaptation of Sarah Perry‘s novel set in 1893, Deadline reports. In the novel, “When Cora Seaborne’s brilliant, domineering husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was not a happy one. Wed at nineteen, this woman of exceptional intelligence and curiosity was ill-suited for the role of society wife. Seeking refuge in the fresh air and open space in the wake of the funeral, Cora leaves London for a visit to coastal Essex, accompanied by her inquisitive and obsessive eleven-year-old son, Francis, and the boy’s nanny, Martha, her fiercely protective friend. While admiring the sites, Cora learns of an intriguing rumor that has arisen further up the estuary, of a fearsome creature said to roam the marshes claiming human lives. After nearly 300 years, the mythical Essex

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 25, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Gwen (2019)

Writer-director William McGregor’s period thriller, Gwen is a mix of subgenres set in the hills of Wales during the industrial revolution. A poor family struggles to keep their farm going under as their livestock is mysteriously butchered, a shadowy figure lurks outside in the darkness, and a group of men threatens the family in a push to get them to sell their farm, all while the mother is struck with sickness. Eleanor Worthington-Cox plays the eldest daughter and the star of the film. Her character is left to take care of her little sister, her mother, and the farm as her mother falls ill. Cox’s performance is incredible. Her character goes through so many troubles and she never fails to portray every scene, every emotion beautifully. I imagine it wasn’t an easy role, and for such a young actress, which leaves me highly impressed by Cox. The cinematography and scenery were absolutely fantastic. The way the land and the light

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 4, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: The Isle (2019)

Three dudes, one lifeboat…not as kinky as it sounds, as said dudes, Oliver (Alex Hassell), Cailean (Fisayo Akinade) and, Jimmy (Graham Butler) to be precise, are the survivors of a mysterious shipwreck that find themselves stranded on a fog enshrouded, ice cold, drab and dreary island in 1800’s era Scotland. They come to stay with Douglas Innis (Conleth Hill) and his daughter (Tori Butler-Hart), and soon learn that shipwrecks are a way of life around the island and have lead to the massive dip in the locales’ population. The trio soon find themselves balls deep in a supernatural tinged quandary as they learn just why the populace, such as it is, remains in such a haunted and doomed location. Directed and Co-Written by Matthew Butler-Hart (along with his wife Tori Butler-Hart whom, if you have a shred of retention, will remember is one of the film’s actors as well) The Isle is a miasma ensconced, deliberately paced, slow burn throwback

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jan 26, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Dinner With the Alchemist is A Full Course of Mystery and Magic!

At the dawn of the twentieth century, New Orleans is burdened with a terrible plague so consuming that the bodies of the victims are littering the streets. Times are understandably desperate….so desperate that Marie Laveau (grand daughter of the infamous voodoo priestess of the same name) can’t help…and if even voodoo is powerless you know you are well and truly in the shit. Before long the enigmatic alchemist Jacques St. Germaine arrives in town, and teams up with Marie to solve the pestilent problem. Having these two powerhouses of the arcane joining forces is fortuitous, as soon bodies (specifically those of prostitutes) begin turning up that are not the result of the disease, but rather the result of ritual rites involving the draining of blood. Soon seemingly half of New Orleans is trying to solve the case, from ham-fisted policeman to the residents of a local whorehouse, and as they try shocking secrets are revealed and innocent lives are caught

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Feb 11, 2018

More from period piece

Horror Fuel

DVD Review: “The Alienist Season 2: Angel Of Darkness”

I hold in my hand a copy of “The Alienist: Angel of Darkness“, which serves as the second season of the crime-thriller series from TNT, set to be released on May 18, 2021. Let me start with the box itself which has an almost metallic sheen and features an image of the three main stars, Daniel Brühl (Rush), Luke Evans (Midway), and Dakota Fanning (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), flanked by red wings dripping with blood. The box is quite beautiful and honestly, pictures don’t do it justice. It would make a fantastic piece for any collection. “Angel of Darkness” features eight one-hour episodes on three discs. The season picks up a year after the team’s first investigation where Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a pioneer in forensic psychiatry, tracked down the brutal serial killer John Beecham with the help of a team of trusted companions and a revolutionary application of the principles of his discipline. Kreizler and his friends–high-living crime

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
May 10, 2021
Horror Fuel

Kurt Sutter Makes His Feature Directorial With ‘This Beast’ Inspired By A True Story

“Sons of Anarchy” writer-director Kurt Sutter is making his feature film directorial debut with This Beast, inspired by The Beast of Gévaudan, the true story about a mysterious beast that terrorized a French village in the 1760s. The Netflix film is set in “an 18th century English village is besieged by a mysterious and elusive beast. Dozens of innocents are slaughtered and the mayhem is driven to puritanical heights by religious fanaticism. The impossible task of killing the beast falls to a lowly trapper who promises he can stop the carnage. But for him this hunt is not a professional mission, it’s a deeply personal one.” Sutter, whose series “Sons of Anarchy” was a major hit filled with drama, excitement, violence, and love, will write, direct and produce This Beast. Jason Blum and Blumhouse will produce along with Carla Hacken under her Paper Pictures banner. Blumhouse Television’s Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold will executive produce. Bringing my disturbing, familial story

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Mar 9, 2021
Horror Fuel

Keira Knightley To Star In New Apple TV+ Series “The Essex Serpent”

Pirates of the Caribbean star Keira Knightley is setting sail for a new adventure with “The Essex Serpent”, the Apple TV+ series adaptation of Sarah Perry‘s novel set in 1893, Deadline reports. In the novel, “When Cora Seaborne’s brilliant, domineering husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was not a happy one. Wed at nineteen, this woman of exceptional intelligence and curiosity was ill-suited for the role of society wife. Seeking refuge in the fresh air and open space in the wake of the funeral, Cora leaves London for a visit to coastal Essex, accompanied by her inquisitive and obsessive eleven-year-old son, Francis, and the boy’s nanny, Martha, her fiercely protective friend. While admiring the sites, Cora learns of an intriguing rumor that has arisen further up the estuary, of a fearsome creature said to roam the marshes claiming human lives. After nearly 300 years, the mythical Essex

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 25, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Gwen (2019)

Writer-director William McGregor’s period thriller, Gwen is a mix of subgenres set in the hills of Wales during the industrial revolution. A poor family struggles to keep their farm going under as their livestock is mysteriously butchered, a shadowy figure lurks outside in the darkness, and a group of men threatens the family in a push to get them to sell their farm, all while the mother is struck with sickness. Eleanor Worthington-Cox plays the eldest daughter and the star of the film. Her character is left to take care of her little sister, her mother, and the farm as her mother falls ill. Cox’s performance is incredible. Her character goes through so many troubles and she never fails to portray every scene, every emotion beautifully. I imagine it wasn’t an easy role, and for such a young actress, which leaves me highly impressed by Cox. The cinematography and scenery were absolutely fantastic. The way the land and the light

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 4, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: The Isle (2019)

Three dudes, one lifeboat…not as kinky as it sounds, as said dudes, Oliver (Alex Hassell), Cailean (Fisayo Akinade) and, Jimmy (Graham Butler) to be precise, are the survivors of a mysterious shipwreck that find themselves stranded on a fog enshrouded, ice cold, drab and dreary island in 1800’s era Scotland. They come to stay with Douglas Innis (Conleth Hill) and his daughter (Tori Butler-Hart), and soon learn that shipwrecks are a way of life around the island and have lead to the massive dip in the locales’ population. The trio soon find themselves balls deep in a supernatural tinged quandary as they learn just why the populace, such as it is, remains in such a haunted and doomed location. Directed and Co-Written by Matthew Butler-Hart (along with his wife Tori Butler-Hart whom, if you have a shred of retention, will remember is one of the film’s actors as well) The Isle is a miasma ensconced, deliberately paced, slow burn throwback

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jan 26, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Dinner With the Alchemist is A Full Course of Mystery and Magic!

At the dawn of the twentieth century, New Orleans is burdened with a terrible plague so consuming that the bodies of the victims are littering the streets. Times are understandably desperate….so desperate that Marie Laveau (grand daughter of the infamous voodoo priestess of the same name) can’t help…and if even voodoo is powerless you know you are well and truly in the shit. Before long the enigmatic alchemist Jacques St. Germaine arrives in town, and teams up with Marie to solve the pestilent problem. Having these two powerhouses of the arcane joining forces is fortuitous, as soon bodies (specifically those of prostitutes) begin turning up that are not the result of the disease, but rather the result of ritual rites involving the draining of blood. Soon seemingly half of New Orleans is trying to solve the case, from ham-fisted policeman to the residents of a local whorehouse, and as they try shocking secrets are revealed and innocent lives are caught

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Feb 11, 2018