Neon Camera Reviews

Evil Dead Rise By Calum Whitfield  A violent treat unlikely to win over those who fail to see the appeal of previous entries but guaranteed to satisfy fans. 4/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥 Directed by: Lee Cronin Starring:    Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher   No Copyright Infringement Intended To be clear right from the start, I love the Evil Dead. It’s easily my favourite horror franchise and quite possibly my favourite film franchise overall. Needless to say, this meant I was very excited going into Evil Dead Rise, and why wouldn’t I be? This is the one longstanding horror franchise with no bad entries, and the trailer and pre-release reports promised all the thrills and spills one could want from an Evil Dead film. Did it deliver? Without any doubt. The film dives straight in with a pre-title sequence that tells its audience exactly what it’s in for culminating in one of the coolest title shots I’ve ever seen with our firs...

Texas Chainsaw Massacre By Calum Whitfield  A trashy, c-tier slasher movie that completely misses what made the original a classic, but those in search of some mindless, silly gore can still get a kick.  2.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥.5 Directed by: David Blue Garcia Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham, et al Where to find it: Netflix  No Copyright Infringement Intended  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is a horror classic. Often seen as one of the original slashers, its dirty, video nasty look, coupled with an unsettling and shocking (certainly for the time) concept led to a film that still holds up today as an intense watch despite a, at least in my opinion, fairly weak final 20 minutes. Over the years there have been a million sequels, remakes, rip-offs, and the like, but none have really lived up to the original, misfiring when trying to hit the tone and feel that made the original such an unsettling watch. Has someone finally managed it? Not by a long shot...

Scream By Calum Whitfield Sharp, witty meta-slasher that manages to feel fresh and exciting despite being a bit of a re-hash. 3.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥.5 Directed by: Matt Bettinelli and Tyler Gillet Starring: Melissa Barrera, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, et al Where to find it: In Cinemas Now  No Copyright Infringement Intended  Scream is one of my favourite film franchises. The original is a ground-breaking classic that revolutionised the slasher, and two of its three sequels have been pretty excellent meta-slashers themselves (we don’t talk about Scream 3). Needless to say, I was excited at the prospect of a new entry, even without the late great Wes Craven or original writer Kevin Williamson. The blow of these two being out was helped a lot by Matt Bettinelli and Tyler Gillet signing on as directors, with the two of them having been responsible for Ready or Not a couple of years ago, an extremely fun and joyously violent horror-comedy that hits just the tone you...

Malignant By Calum Whitfield Not particularly scary and slow to get going, somehow Malignant still manages to be frighteningly good fun  3.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥.5 Directed by: James Wan Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, and Michole Briana White  Where to find it: Buy or Rent from Amazon Prime Video  No Copyright Infringement Intended This was one of my most anticipated films of 2021, but a series of unfortunate events meant I missed seeing it when it came out in cinemas. After waiting for it to be available on wide home release I finally got around to watching it, and all I can really say is I’m glad I got there in the end. Malignant follows Maddison (Annabelle Wallis) who begins the film pregnant and stuck in an abusive relationship. Following a particularly nasty incident of abuse in which Maddison’s head is knocked heavily into a wall, she locks her partner out of their bedroom. Maddison dreams of a figure that brutally kills her husband and wakes...

Trick 'r Treat  By Calum Whitfield  A spooky anthology that makes for the ultimate Halloween night viewing. 4/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥   Directed by: Michael Dougherty  Starring: Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, Brian Cox, et al  Where to find it: Rent on Amazon Prime Video  No Copyright Infringement Intended Halloween is often seen as a significant time of year for horror fans, the spookiest time of year being a good excuse to release and watch horror movies. The classic Halloween-themed horror is of course John Carpenter’s seminal work, Halloween (1978), but a cult film from 2007 might just be the best. Trick ‘r Treat follows a series of connected stories taking place around the town of Warren Valley on Halloween night. These include a school headteacher with a dark side, a group of children getting a little too into the Halloween spirit, 22-year-old Laurie who arrives in town for a party with her sister and friends looking to lose her virginity, and a Halloween hat...

Suspiria (1977)  By Calum Whitfield A spooky, dread-filled, yet staggeringly gorgeous nightmare put to film. 4.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥.5 Directed by: Dario Argento  Starring: Jessica Harper, Joan Bennett, Stefania Casini et al Where to find it: Amazon Prime Video No Copyright Infringement Intended  Suspiria (1977) is perhaps the most famous film directed by the great Dario Argento. Written by him and his partner, Daria Nicolodi, it brings some of the traits of classic Giallo cinema, Argento’s own unique cinematic flair, and a spooky supernatural story together to create an intriguing and unique visual experience. After all these years, is it still worth a watch? Suspiria tells the tale of Suzy Bannion, an American dancer who has moved to Germany to join a famous dance school. While getting a ride to the school she witnesses another student leaving the building, seemingly running away in terror. This student flees to a friend’s apartment where she is brutally, yet beautiful...

Drag Me to Hell By Calum Whitfield Raimi’s return to his roots is a fun horror/black comedy well worth watching even if it does struggle to live up to its classic older siblings. 3.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥.5 Directed by: Sam Raimi Starring: Alison Lohman, Lorna Raver, Justin Long, and Dileep Rao Where to find it: Netflix No Copyright Infringement Intended Sam Raimi is probably best known for his part in launching the ongoing superhero movie revolution with his Spider-Man trilogy beginning in 2002. Long before this, however, he made his name by creating the iconic horror franchise, The Evil Dead in 1980. In 2009, he returned to his horror roots with Drag Me to Hell. Was it worth the wait? Drag Me to Hell follows Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a former country girl turned city loan officer looking to make some progress in her career. To do this, she decides she needs to act tougher to impress her boss and as such rejects an elderly woman called Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver) for an extension on...

The New Mutants (2020)   By Emily Hubbard The last of the 20 th Century Studios X-Men franchise is perhaps the most disappointing of them all  1/5 Cameras 🎥 Directed by: Josh Boone Starring: Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Blu Hunt  Where to find it: Sky Cinema/ Now TV  No Copyright Infringement Intended In the film industry, when a movie’s release date gets moved back multiple times it’s usually not a good sign (unless it’s because of a global pandemic). After being delayed no less than 5 times, you’d have been forgiven for forgetting The New Mutants exists, and you’d be better off for it. Originally set for release on April 13 th 2018, this superhero ‘horror’, and the last X-Men film to be released by 20 th Century Studios before the company was bought by Disney, focuses on five teenage mutants being held in an eerie secret institution, run by Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga), that will supposedly train them to join the likes of Wolverine and Cyclops. All is not...

Saw (2004) By Calum Whitfield  Iconic horror movie manages to hide a great little thriller under a ridiculous amount of flashbacks and filler 2.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥.5 Directed by: James Wan Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, and Danny Glover Where to find it: Rent it on Amazon Prime Video No Copyright Infringement Intended  Saw is something of a modern classic (modern in a fairly loose sense; the film is now around 17 years old), having a reputation for being an early precursor of the popular “torture porn” genre, starting one of the most successful horror franchises of all time as well as launching the careers of its two creators, James Wan and Leigh Whannell. Has it earned its reverence? Saw takes place in an interesting setting, focusing on two characters chained up in a bathroom with a dead body between the two of them. This tight setting is intriguing and exciting, suggesting that the film will be a tightly wound, fairly claustrophobic thriller. Our two characters, Dr. Law...

Lake Mungo By Calum Whitfield A mockumentary telling a tragic tale of grief in the guise of a classic ghost story 4.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥.5 Written/directed by Joel Anderson Starring: Rosie Traynor, David Pledger, Martin Sharpe, et al. Where to find it: Shudder No Copyright Infringement Intended  Australian film isn’t a scene people probably think about too much, but they make some really good horror movies. Lake Mungo is a tiny budget ghost story that made almost no impact when it came out but over the years has picked up a bit of a cult following: is this deserved? The film follows the family and friends of Alice Palmer, a 16-year-old girl who drowns while out near a dam with her parents and brother. Following her sudden death, strange occurrences start happening and her family begins to question whether she’s really gone. It plays out as a classic talking-heads-style documentary similar to all the true crime documentaries you can see on Netflix today with the participants talking...

  Slither Review By Calum Whitfield Kooky mid-2000s horror-comedy staring Nathan Filion and Elizabeth Banks plays out as a homage to horror through the ages, but is this B-movie throwback an A-class picture? 4/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥 -Directed By: James Gunn -Starring: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, and Gregg Henry -Where to find it: Amazon Prime Copyright Infringement Not Intended James Gunn is an interesting filmmaker. Best known these days for big-budget superhero blockbusters like the Guardians of the Galaxy movies as well as the recent Suicide Squad. But before his mainstream breakthrough James Gunn started his directorial career with an interesting little film called Slither. Slither flopped on arrival but is a film that deserves to be looked at again as it is, in my opinion a treasure. Slither follows the residents of a small town in South Carolina. When a meteorite crash-lands nearby a sentient alien parasite is released and begins to take over the community b...