Sideworld: Terrors of the Sea

Hey I run the blog the horror nation I got sent this as a screener to review. Still I give my honest review on my blog and here. I've got to be in the mood for a Documentary and it's got to be good to keep my interest.

I hadn't heard of this series prior to this screener but being a horror reviewer I leapt on the chance as a spooky story while wrapped up in bed seemed good to me.

This was great though, Sideworld gives us tales of spooky real life areas or things noted by reputable sources throughout history. These ones are all nautical themed which was great as I love mysteries of the sea the most.

I really recommend this series if you like some spooky stories and want a great time for the duration.

George Popov continues to impress as one of the indie writer/directors to watch out for. The new Sideworld entry is filled with a creepy entrancing atmosohere ro the brim. All mentioned stories were simply enchanting and masterfully delivered. I thought nothing could beat the footage of the forests, but some of the water views here are simply incredible. Props to all the illustrations chosen for the movie - some of them were frankly terrifying. The narration in this new entry is also severely improved. Looking forward to the next one!

The content has the potential to be interesting, of that there is no doubt. And the production quality is top-notch. But the pacing... First, someone needs to wake the narrator up before recording. I've used a more energetic voice reading my kids to sleep. Second, the program could easily shave twenty minutes, or more, by simply using less backward-flying drone footage ( We get it. It's the ocean. Next.), less attempts at a dramatic pause, and, again- narrating faster than a snail crawls. The Burnsian "zoom-scan" and fade technique is fine, but again...countless minutes are wasted with no narration, just slow zoom and ominous "music". Anyway, had to watch in segments as I kept falling asleep...

As title! Popov gives a ~70 min talk on ghost ships, sea monsters, phantom sailors and not-so-little mermaids. Unless you're an absolute boffin for the subject matter, a lot of the legends will be new to you, even if some of them aren't. The accompanying visuals are beautifully shot scenes of coastal locations, interspersed with artworks related to the various stories.

SIDEWORLD: TERRORS OF THE SEA is a great documentary for fans of maritime folklore, and a very worthy sequel to SIDEWORLD: HAUNTED FORESTS OF ENGLAND. Hopefully the filmmakers will keep the series going and explore many more myths and legends in future.