Behind the Couch

A year after they cover up their involvement in a fatal road accident, a group of friends are targeted by a mysterious, vengeful killer. In their desperation, the friends seek help from the survivors of a similar massacre from years before. The original I Know What You Did Last Summer   came hot on the heels of  Scream (1996) and was a huge hit in the late 90s. It was a taut, effective throwback to minimalist slashers of the 80s, and very much a part of the late 90s slasher film revival, unfolding as a compelling story of the (violent) end of innocence. It spawned a Bahamas-set sequel a year later, in which the murderous fisherman pursues surviving heroine Julie James and her friends to a tropical island retreat, and a further, unconnected supernatural sequel in the 2000s (the events of which are not part of the cannon established by the first film). The I Know films were never as critically acclaimed as the likes of Scream , but they were still slickly produced, effective s...

One year after the brutal murder of her friends by psychotic fisherman Ben Willis, Julie James continues to struggle with the trauma and grief. When her BFF Karla wins a holiday to an island in the Bahamas, Julie hopes the change of scenery will help her put the nightmares behind her. However, someone is waiting for her on the island. Someone who still remembers the events of last summer , and the summer before. Someone who wields a hook and craves bloody vengeance and will stop at nothing to obtain it… Get ready for some sun, sea, solitude... and slaughter! Written by Trey Callaway and directed with stylish aplomb by Danny Cannon, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer might arguably be a generic slasher sequel, but it’s also a highly entertaining, well-made and atmospheric slasher sequel. Not only does it have a great cast (including Mekhi Phifer, Bill Cobbs, Jeffrey Combs, Jennifer Esposito, Jack Black and 70s soul singer Ellerine Harding ), but an interesting location, engaging her...

Directed by Jim Gillespie and written by Kevin Williamson - whose screenplay is loosely adapted from the YA novel of the same title by Lois Duncan -  I Know What You Did Last Summer tells of a group of friends who cover up their involvement in an apparently fatal car accident. One year later, their dark secret resurfaces in the form of a mysterious stalker intent on terrorising them and spilling their blood. Coming in the wake of The Craft and Scream , I Know What You Did Last Summer was produced in the late nineties, a time when teen horror was officially hot (titles such as Urban Legend , Halloween H20 , The Faculty  and Cherry Falls   would soon follow). Like Scream before it, it heralded the arrival of Kevin Williamson and his distinctive brand of horror drama, driven by likeable, literate, pop-cultured characters the audience were invited to care for. Williamson’s work slyly (and not so slyly) references, subverts and pays homage to the very tropes and conventio...

When surgical nurse Jan Compton is tragically killed in a car crash, her fiancé Dr Bill Cortner retrieves her severed head and keeps it alive by means of highly unorthodox (!) and ethically iffy experiments. Despite Jan's protestations, he then sets out to find a suitable body for her, by any bloody means necessary… With its low budget, outrageous premise, and a lurid title promising all manner of exploitative thrills, the most shocking thing about The Brain That Wouldn’t Die is that it’s actually a deceptively thoughtful B-movie. Opening with a woman’s disembodied voice pleading ‘let me die, let me die’, the screenplay by Rex Carlton and director Joseph Green ruminates on some big and interesting ideas. While it can’t claim to be a feminist film, The Brain nonetheless has some feminist themes throughout it - such as bodily autonomy, patriarchal oppression, societal beauty standards and, perhaps most pointedly, the literal objectification of women. Other ideas thrown into the mix...

A young college student who remains on campus alone during Thanksgiving falls prey to members of a cult intent on hunting her and killing her. With its simple premise and highly suspenseful execution, Kristy is a back-to-basics adrenaline-fuelled exercise in lean, mean tension. Anthony Jaswinski's screenplay takes a few moments to set the scene, introduce protagonist Justine (Haley Bennett), outline her situation in the broadest of strokes, before it gets down to the business of terrorising her – and the audience. As the campus empties, we follow Justine as she bids farewell to her boyfriend and goes about her day, complete with a melodically scored montage of her dancing along empty hallways, studiously poring over books, running, swimming, doing her laundry and chatting with the friendly caretaker (James Ransone) and security guard (Matthew St Patrick).  Things are grand, if a little sad and lonely for Justine. She misses her family but takes it in her stride and keeps herself bu...

This underappreciated backwoods-slasher is a top-tier example of the subgenre, demonstrating just how powerful and effective the slasher can be as a form of storytelling. Released in the early 80s, the Golden Age of the slasher film, Just Before Dawn combines eerie atmospherics and breathless suspense, emerging as a survivalist horror creeper with echoes of an environmental message. Its premise is standard slasher fare (but hey, that’s why we’re here, there’s comfort in the familiar) as a group of friends head into the mountain forests of Oregon to explore a piece of inherited land, only to fall foul of a sadistic killer who picks them off one by one. Hmm, a backwoods slasher in which city-folk camping in a deep, dark forest are brutalised by a hulking, machete-wielding bogeyman? Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Just Before Dawn is far from a Friday the 13th clone though. While it was released the same year as Friday the 13th Part 2 and The Burning , it’s a very different beast: relative...

I recently wrote an essay on the 1981 Gothic slasher film Hell Night , exploring the influence of folklore and cautionary fairy tales on its narrative. Following in the wake of titles such as Halloween , Friday the 13th , Terror Train , My Bloody Valentine , The Prowler and Prom Night , Hell Night  was produced at the height of the 'Golden Age' of slasher films (1978 - 1984). While it strongly adheres to typical slasher conventions, it offers interesting variations with its eerie fairy tale subtext and social commentary on the dangers of rites of passage initiations and social indoctrination. If you're interested in reading more, my piece has been published in the latest issue of We Belong Dead and you can pick up a copy here . 

When a conservationist encroaches upon an old wood to study a species of invasive fungus, he invokes the wrath of the Hallow – a clan of “faeries, banshees and baby-stealers” – igniting a terrifying chain of events and plunging his family into a hellish nightmare. Written by Corin Hardy and Felipe Marino, and directed by Hardy, The Hallow is a mean, moody, thoughtful creature-feature with strong elements of folk, eco and body horror. In the grand tradition of folk and fairy stories, Hardy’s film warns of the dangers of trespassing in places we have no business being, as well as offering commentary on the importance of protecting the environment and respecting the myriad other species – known and unknown – which co-habit this planet with us. Hardy and Marino’s screenplay eases us into the story, establishing the characters and spending time with them, thus ensuring later, horrific events are reinforced by a strong emotional core and skyward-rocketing tension. Adam (Joseph Mawle) and Cl...

A motley crew of construction workers, led by a constantly squabbling father and son, unearth an ancient vampire when they demolish a stone cairn to make way for a new road on the outskirts of their sleepy, rural village. Written and directed by Chris Baugh, and co-written by Brendan Mullin, Boys from County Hell is as riotously funny as it is taut, grisly and atmospheric. Its use of an obscure Irish legend about a vampire provides it with a strange, unique feel, and Baugh and co. subvert typical tropes associated with the vampire, creating some fascinating lore of their own.  While the figure of the vampire is not as prominent in Irish myths and folklore as it is in the folktales of eastern Europe, there are still a few fascinating instances – such as the Dearg-due (which can be translated as ‘red thirst’ or ‘bloodthirsty’) of Waterford, and the Marbh Bhéo (the 'night-walking dead'). It’s also interesting to note that two of the earliest and most influential vampire novels wer...

Written and directed by Lee Cronin, and co-written by Stephen Shields, The Hole in the Ground tells of lone parent Sarah (Seána Kerslake), who, after relocating with her young son Chris (James Quinn Markey) to an isolated house beside a vast forest in rural Ireland, begins to suspect he has been abducted and replaced by an otherworldly imposter: a faerie changeling.  While Cronin’s film begins as so many horror films do, with a family moving into an old, creaky house beside a deep, dark forest, it soon becomes apparent that his studied approach, attention to characterisation and mining of creepy Irish folklore will take us deeper into the dark than most. Cronin draws us slowly into the story: Sarah and Chris struggling to settle in their new home; Sarah taking medication for anxiety, and the suggestion she’s escaped from an abusive relationship; the discovery of a massive sink hole in the forest beside the house; an older neighbour who claims faeries abducted her own son years bef...

Ghouls on Film is a Belfast-based feminist horror zine ‘for scream queens of all genders’, the contents of which aim to investigate the world of horror from a feminist perspective, ‘exploring how women can find agency in a genre that is traditionally male-dominated.’ Editor Isabella Koban, the founder and programmer of the local film society the zine takes its name from, organises screenings and events in the Black Box (an arts and performance space in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter). These events typically showcase underrepresented voices within the horror genre, both onscreen and from behind the camera, and contributors to the zine are largely comprised of women and non-binary folk. The first issue features an in-depth essay on the classic Stephen King adaptation Carrie (1976), a think-piece on horror networking events, book recommendations from Victoria Brown - founder of the Readers in the Rue Morgue horror book club - and an interview with Belfast drag artist King Phisher. Inspi...

When her daughter goes missing after venturing into the cellar of their new home, Kiera (Elisha Cuthbert) uncovers terrifying secrets concerning the history of their house and the diabolical practices of its previous inhabitant… Written and directed by Brendan Muldowney, The Cellar is based on his spine-chilling short film The Ten Steps (2004), which depicts a young girl’s haunting descent into the cellar of her home during a power-cut. This moment comes at the beginning of The Cellar , and from here Muldowney opens out the story to follow the mother’s frantic search and unearthing of the sinister history of the house. With elements of HP Lovecraft’s Dreams in the Witch House and William Hope Hodgson’s The House on the Borderlands, The Cellar is an immensely creepy, atmospheric work. It deviates from run of the mill haunted house narratives with its intriguing use of occult mysticism and mathematical alchemy to twist the laws of time and space. Spoiler alert: the previous owner of t...

After the tragic death of their baby daughter, Martha and Tomas (Samantha Morton and Steven Mackintosh) relocate from London to the tiny coastal village in rural Ireland where Tomas was born. They move into his old family home, a small cottage overlooking the Atlantic. When their neighbours perish in a fire, the couple take in their orphaned daughter Daisy, a young autistic girl with complex learning needs. Some of the locals believe Daisy is a faerie changeling, and when several strange accidents and deaths occur in the area, fear takes root within the community, further ostracising Daisy and driving apart Martha and Tomas. Written by Lauren Mackenzie and directed by Aisling Walsh,  The Daisy Chain  is a quietly haunting story of grief, otherness and the contagion of fear. It shares much in common with recent Irish horror titles, such as Aislínn Clarke’s  Fréwaka , with its ambiguous use of folkloric beings, social commentary regarding rural communities left in the dust ...