Written by Douglas Irvine and Cameron Hall Directed by Douglas Irvine ★★★★ Frights are easy. Jumps and screams are simplistic. Genuine fear is talent. Fear is a remarkably powerful state. And yet, the rush from it, the exhilarating thrill of something which pushes us into a primal reaction, is a gold standard of storytelling. Horror … Continue reading Ghosthunter – Silver Cloud Studios
https://youtu.be/MDQJ5M6RKRw Written and Directed by Andy Mitton United States/ 2022/ 87 mins ★★★★ Covid-19 as a narrative tool isn’t entirely new; most expressionist mediums have taken to picking at the still-open wound of the Pandemic in various ways, but there’s a trickier minefield to navigate where the horror genre is concerned. Here Covid-19 isn’t strictly … Continue reading The Harbinger – Shudder
https://youtu.be/y0snyYvBhsw Directed by Dominic Brunt Written by Joel Ferrari and Pete Wild ★★★ The continuing grasp of British horror-comedy already claims zombies, a smattering of vampires, ghoulies, and even a few too many killer sheep. Well, now it is the turn of a beast of old, a lycanthropic laugh infusion in the form of Emmerdale actor and … Continue reading Wolf Manor
Written by Taqi Nazeer Directed by Niloo Farr Khan ★★★★ The Jinn, or perhaps you’re more familiar with the term Djinn or anglicized and generic term Genie, are beings of near-impenetrable veils, unlikely to ever be seen but always felt. The power and faith behind these pre-Islamic spirits are no less revered or impactful than … Continue reading Jinnistan – Traverse Theatre
Written by Sam Essame Directed by Lisa Millar In a world where our implicit trust within technology leads to ease, there’s always an element of concern – of something lurking in the coding of a digital realm that might be trying to find a way out. Mingling the difficulties of homeschooling in a Pandemic era … Continue reading Host – Living Record Festival
Based on the original novel by Bram Stoker Written and Directed by Andrew Quick and Pete Brooks ★★★★★ Conceptually, an alternate reality in which histories vilest, most callous monsters were stopped before their atrocities were committed isn’t a rarity – but seldom is it performed well, or with a degree of regard and understanding of … Continue reading Dracula: The Untold Story – Imitating the Dog
Original Text by Washington Irving Adapted by Philip Meeks Directed by Jake Smith ★★ So... Art is subjective, as is tone. Horror is another avenue in which the prickling frights of jump scares and spooks may shiver one’s spine and tickle the funny bone of another. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a gargantuan classic of American … Continue reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – King’s Theatre
https://youtu.be/BsfEAAtZRDs Directed by Ian Boldsworth UK/2021/101mins ★★★★ We have a rather unique approach to the paranormal in this country, don’t we? It usually results in a few F-bombs and Scooby-Doo prats falls. Yet, our obsession with the supernatural and what lies beyond the veil is as ancient as it could possibly be. From Psychics to … Continue reading The ParaPod: A Very British Ghost Hunt
Based on the book by William Peter Blatty Adapted by John Pielmeier Directed by Sean Mathias When all medical help fails your child - when it seems as though the Reaper is closing in around her, or perhaps, a darker entity, you would turn to anyone to save them. After daughter Reagan begins to show … Continue reading The Exorcist – King’s Theatre
Writer: Rona Munro Director: Richard Baron Janet Horne, the last woman to be legally executed in the British Isles, arrested in Dornoch Scotland is the subject of Rona Munro’s The Last Witch. Alone with her claw-handed daughter, Janet fends for the pair in the Highlands. Her charms, herbal remedies and manipulation tricks those into offering scraps … Continue reading The Last Witch – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
