Behind the Couch

Paranormal Entity tells of a family who are increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. They decide to videotape the ‘activity’ on a series of strategically placed cameras throughout the house. And on handheld cameras when events need to be conveyed with a sense of immediacy or urgency. It is impossible not to make reference to Paranormal Activity while talking about Paranormal Entity . It's essentially the same story but told in a very different way. Whereas Activity drew its audience in with slow-burning chills and intrigue, Entity switches tension for tedium, and slow-burning terror for jump shocks, and becomes repetitious and predictable too early on. In the grand tradition of Transmorphers, I Am Ωmega and The Day The Earth Stopped, Paranormal Entity is the latest mock-buster from The Asylum, a production company famed for producing cheap and cheerful titles that basically capitalise ...

A few reviews of my book Dario Argento have been appearing in various magazines and websites over the past month... I just thought I'd post them here and keep track of what folks are saying about it. So far, so good - it has been garnering mainly quite positive feedback. Which is great! I'll add links to more reviews as they appear. The first review of the book appeared on the Danish website  Uncut . There's an English translation  here ... Reviewer Lars Gorzelak Pedersen said he 'devoured' the book and " it will be welcome from both experienced Argento enthusiasts as horror fans who just want to know what the hype is about, or who want to enrich their experience of the director's films with new perspectives."  According to the latest  FrightFest emagazine , ' Dario Argento ' (Kamera Books) by James Gracey is not only " Well written and comprehensive ," it is also "' An invaluable guide for die-hard fans and recent  convert...

Tales Of The… is an online weekly anthology incorporating all types of creative media. Hosted at www.talesofthe.com , its aim is to provide a platform for Northern Irish creators to showcase film, art, prose, music and just about any other type of creative endeavour you can think of. A new piece is published every Sunday and the intention is to create exciting fiction, without being tied to any particular genre. At the moment Tales Of The… revolves around everything HP Lovecraft and Cthulhu, but for the most part creators and collaborators have free reign to create and share whatever they want. " That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die ." Tales of the... Cthulhu Quarter, chronicles the arrival of H.P. Lovecraft’s tentacled god Cthulhu in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter . Events were kicked off by a short film prologue , detailing one man’s unrestful night, which may have been brought about by the coming of a cosmic force… The film ...

1980 Dir. Lucio Fulci The suicide of a priest in the small town of Dunwich, New England, mysteriously results in the opening of the gates of hell. As fate would have it, it falls upon a reporter, a psychic, a psychiatrist and his patient, to team up and find a way to close the portal before All Saints Day, when the dead will rise and feed upon the living. A hugely influential and much-admired work of horror cinema, City Of The Living Dead , taken purely as a stand-alone film, is a must-see horror classic and proves one of the most compelling and disturbing entries in Fulci’s undead trilogy. A languid and creepy opening scene sets the tone and mood for the remainder of the film as a priest makes his way slowly through a moody cemetery and takes his own life – his image will haunt the rest of the film, appearing to various people and driving them insane. City of the Living Dead possesses an uneasy, positively queasy atmosphere and the director not only creates a startling and high...

2009 Dir. Sam Drog A motley crew of bumbling Satanists kidnap a waitress to offer her up as a bride to the Devil and to become the mortal mother of the antichrist. However, her boyfriend and no-bullshit-taking Highway Patrol Officer brother have other ideas and set out to rescue her and give the Satanists an ass kicking of Biblical proportions. Unfortunately, their ill-planned intervention merely serves to botch the unholy ritual in progress and all the power of hell is inadvertently transferred into an unlikely host: a recently sacrificed chicken. Now, as the forces of good and evil battle it out between themselves, a demonic, flesh-eating barnyard animal is threatening to engulf their very souls and recruit them in its growing army of the living dead! Dear reader, is it possible to imagine anything more fearsome and terrifying than an undead chicken, possessed by the devil and intent on killing innocent human victims ? I thought not. As incredible as it may sound, a Satanic Kil...

2008 Dir. Morgan Hampton Mild-mannered businessman Scott (Wayne Casey) is abducted by thrill-seeking killers Razor and Julie (Paul Schilens and Lisa Wharton) and taken on a hell-ride into the bowels of a ‘family’ consisting of rapists, murderers and modern day cannibals. The three are then captured and sent to Red (Annie Scott Rogers), the head of the ‘family’, who promises them all freedom. As time passes and the abuse at the hands of their captors becomes more frequent, Razor and Julie are seemingly released, giving Scott hope that he will also be freed. When that day finally comes and he is positioned as the ‘honoured guest’ at a feast Red has prepared, Scott thinks his nightmare is finally over. He should think again though… After an intriguing opening that snares one’s attention, in which a man is abducted at gunpoint by two dangerous thrill-seekers who then run over and kill an innocent bystander, Razor’s Ring twists and turns into a very different film. By turning the tab...

2009 Dir. Jeremiah Kipp Written and directed for the annual Sinister Six Festival in NYC, Contact stars Zoe Daelman Chlanda and Robb Leigh Davis as a young couple who, whilst experimenting with bizarre drugs, experience terrifying, mind-altering visions… Sensual, dark, nauseating and highly unsettling, Jeremiah Kipp’s Contact may only run for 10 minutes, but the hallucinogenic impression it leaves will echo for much, much longer. Opening with a quiet scene in which a couple set their table for dinner and seem on edge as they expect their guest, the film immediately evokes the likes of Eraserhead in its representation of angst-ridden, queasy domesticity. Contact basks in an eerie glow from the outset and quickly sets the mood with an atmosphere sopped in dread. Cutting to the main thrust of the narrative and left to wonder about the couple and their anticipated guest, we join Koreen and Westy as they venture into a desolate and bleak urban waste-scape to score a hit from the s...

2007 Dir. Donn Kennedy In 1877, a fierce, mysterious creature was discovered in the northern woods of Oneida County, Wisconsin. Dubbed ‘The Black Hodag’ by the locals, this legendary monster, rumoured to have a taste for human flesh, was spoken of only in hushed tones by those who even dared to speak its name. Jump to the present day, and a group of college friends are reunited at a funeral. Keen to catch up and reflect on old times, they embark on a road trip into rural Wisconsin to rent a cabin in the heart of the Black Forest where they intend to spend the weekend partying. Their first night in the area sees them spending the evening at a nearby bar, listening to the locals' dark tales of the creature said to stalk the woods. The friends’ cynicism and disbelief soon turns to terror as mutilated bodies begin popping up and it finally dawns on them that they have just become the latest items on the Black Hodag’s menu... Winner of the Best Horror Feature award at the New Yo...

The latest feature from writer-director Pat Higgins, independent horror-comedy Hellbride, is a supernatural stew of laughs and bloody carnage that mixes rom-com traditions with horror conventions to splattery effect. Tensions mount as a wedding day nears. Unbeknownst to the couple, the engagement ring is cursed - it once belonged to a jilted bride who embarked on a vengeful killing spree - and it brings death and destruction to all who wear it. Included in the mix are an unreliable best man and an eccentric expert on the occult who has been hunting for the cursed ring for years. Bloody chaos and supernatural vengeance ensue...  I caught up with director Pat Higgins to have a chat about his film work, why comedy and horror can work well together, and the trials and tribulations of making a low budget movie. Behind the Couch: How did the story for Hellbride come about? Pat Higgins : Kind of embarrassing to admit, but Hellbride actually grew from a kiss-off line. The very ...