News

Stars: Richard Rowden, Sean Cronin, Munraj Bhachu, Ewen Weatherburn, Destiny Viva, John Craggs, Brandon Ashplant, Cameron Ashplant | Written and Directed by Lars Janssen

It’s not often you get a reinterpretation of Captain Hook that casts him as something approaching a tragic antihero, let alone a horror-tinged outlaw seeking redemption. But Captain Hook: The Cursed Tides, the latest from writer/director Lars Janssen (Underground), leans confidently into this premise, and while not all of it lands, the result is a brisk and moody adventure with just enough bite to keep genre fans intrigued.

Running at a lean 90 minutes, the film opens on a surprisingly visceral note: Hook (Richard Rowden) suffers a brutal defeat at the hands of Admiral Smee (Sean Cronin), who slices off Hook’s hand and leaves him for dead. It’s an origin beat that plays less like swashbuckling fantasy and more like gritty revenge horror. Hook’s retreat to the windswept,...

Severin Launches New Seasonal Ghost Story Series On Shudder This December: "From boutique label Severin Films and renowned author, producer and filmmaker Kier-La Janisse comes new annual series The Haunted Season.

Created by Janisse and executive produced by Severin Films, new episodes of The Haunted Season will arrive on Shudder each December with chilling short form horror tales in the tradition of telling ghost stories for Christmas. Future episodes will be announced each year as the holiday season approaches.

The first of these original commissioned productions comes from director Sean Hogan, called To Fire You Come at Last.

In 17th century England, near a rural village where unquiet spirits gather, a grieving Squire hires three local men to help carry his son’s coffin to a graveyard across the countryside. But as darkness descends upon their journey, disturbing secrets will be revealed. Violence will rise to the surface. And as...

Some horror films have the look of what is thought to be yesteryear. Many employ this for the story, the actors to be a certain style of the time for nostalgia. One of the moments you notice when viewing these is the Directorial choices that often are too modern for the time. The lighting is not for black and white photography that was often done by Europeans fleeing trouble in their countries. Casting your mind back to the days of Dead Of Night (1945), and The Ghost Train (1941) and sprinkling in the crime work of Director Basil Dearden you have the wonderful experience of Sean Hogan’s folk horror short film To Fire You Come at Last (2023)

Evocatively photographed in early Mario Bava ‘Black Sunday’ style in black and white you find a group of men who have been coerced into walking a coffin to the local graveyard for burial. However,...

Stars: Mark Carlisle, Richard Rowden, Harry Roebuck, James Swanton | Written and Directed by Sean Hogan

Running at only 45 minutes, To Fire You Come At Last is one of the shorter features playing at this year’s Frightfest. Within that tight runtime, writer/director Sean Hogan crafts an eerie folk-horror tale that delivers an unsettling atmosphere within the black-and-white imagery brought to the screen.

Set in rural 17th-century England, Squire Marlow (Mark Carlisle) intends to carry the coffin containing his deceased son to the local graveyard. Joining him in the long walk are his right-hand man, Pike (Richard Rowden), and Holt (Harry Roebuck), a childhood friend of the deceased. The only other person able to help them is Ramsey (James Swanton), a low-status drunk that all look down upon. Despite the party being afraid of walking the pathway after dark, Marlow promises to double their wages if they take the journey.

Stars: Tim Cartwright, Emma Spurgin Hussey, James Swanton, Reece Connolly, Jake Watkins, Richard Rowden, Rory Wilton, Grace Blackman, Derek Nelson | Written and Directed by Charlie Steeds

Originally titled The Haunting of the Bloody Tower and shot back to back with Werewolf Castle, The Haunting of the Tower of London sees writer/director Charlie Steeds go off in another new direction with his films. Where Werewolf Castle was more of a medieval fantasy, The Haunting of the Tower of London is a historical horror/mystery that plays a bit like a mix of the Vincent Price films The Tower of London and Witchfinder General with a supernatural element added in for good measure.

Based extremely loosely on actual events The Haunting of the Tower of London opens with the discovery of the corpses of two missing princes. The future Richard III, currently the Duke of Gloucester and “the most feared man...