Behind the Couch

After my recent viewing of Evil Dead (2013), I found myself thinking about the subtle (and not so subtle) Lovecraftian elements, particularly the creepy arcane tome found in the cellar of the cabin. A prominent feature of the earlier Evil Dead films too, the Necronomicon is an ancient (fictional) grimoire containing summoning spells, incantations, the laws of the dead and various accounts of an unknowable pantheon of cosmic deities known as the Great Old Ones. The Necronomicon was created by HP Lovecraft and appeared in many of his stories. According to Lovecraft scholar ST Joshi, the author was likely inspired to create a fictional grimoire that could drive its reader insane and unleash incomprehensible cosmic horrors from the beyond, by a collection of short stories by Robert Chambers, The King in Yellow (1895). In his essay Supernatural Horror in Literature (1927), Lovecraft describes this collection as: “a series of vaguely connected short stories having as a background a m...

Fede Álvarez's remake of Evil Dead (1981) throws out the splat-stick humour of Sam Raimi’s original shocker and ups the ferocity to nearly unbearable levels to create a dark, surprisingly bleak and frequently horrifying film. The basic plot – a group of friends fall prey to demonic forces while staying at an isolated cabin the woods – remains largely the same, but Álvarez introduces a compelling element involving addiction and grief to really flesh things out. The screenplay – co-written by Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues – is an exercise in stripped back storytelling with minimalist plot. There is a welcome emphasis on the use of practical effects instead of CGI, which results in some truly startling make-up and gore, further enhanced by a raw physicality from the actors who all throw themselves into proceedings with grim aplomb. While the violence is certainly outlandish, it is grounded in a gritty realism quite far removed from Raimi’s original, which makes it all the more un...

Over the past few years Scandinavian horror has been making quite the mark on genre cinema, with filmmakers finding ways to surprise audiences and subvert expectations with titles like Let the Right One In, Not Like Others and Cold Prey . Some even mine spooky Nordic folklore for frights — think Marianne and Trollhunter — lending their films a unique tone quite unlike anything else around. The latest Scandiwegian chiller, Wither , has been touted as the Swedish Evil Dead , and with good reason. Gratuitous splatter FX aside though, it fails to offer much in the way of ingenuity, its set-up all too familiar to horror audiences. Head over to Exquisite Terror to read my full review . While you're there, why not check out our coverage of other titles screening at this year's Fright Fest.  

Sam Raimi’s low budget, splattery shocker Evil Dead (1981) tells of a group of friends who, while staying at a remote cabin in the woods, unwittingly unleash demonic forces which possess and mutilate them one by one. The combination of slapstick humour, inventive camerawork and splashy make-up effects ensured the film much controversy upon release - though it has since attained cult status. With the remake still riding high at the box office, I thought it appropriate to revisit Raimi’s original film – hailed by Stephen King as ‘ferociously original’ – and explore its creepy soundtrack by Joseph LoDuca. Utilising both analog synthesizers and more traditional instrumentation, LoDuca’s score is rife with violent, Herrmannesque strings and a diabolical mischievousness, perfectly enhancing the sadistically impish shenanigans which ooze, slosh and spatter throughout the story. Head over to Paracinema.net to read my full review and listen to an excerpt of the score. While you’re ther...

2012 Dir. Drew Goddard Five friends go to stay in a creepy cabin in the woods. Sinister occurrences, bloodshed and something called ‘game changing’ ensure. However as the tagline suggests, if you think you know the rules, think again; The Cabin in the Woods has more than a few surprises and twists to reinvigorate even the most tired horror tropes. A word of warning though; if you’re in any way interested in seeing this film, don’t read anymore of this review. As much I begrudge adding to the hype of anything, I simply believe that films such as this really benefit from the audience not knowing anything about them. Having said that, I think that even if you do spoil the surprise, The Cabin in the Woods should still serve as a highly enjoyable and playful ride in the way it addresses the conventions of horror cinema and turns them on their head. The narrative follows a typical slasher scenario with teens being menaced and murderlised in an isolated cabin. So far, so Evil Dead ....

2009 Dir. Tommy Wirkola AKA Død Snø A group of medical students on a skiing holiday in deepest, darkest Norway come face to face with marauding zombie Nazis… Yes. Zombie Nazis. Dead Snow is every bit as preposterous as it sounds. In a similar vein to Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland , Wirkola’s striking looking film is an outrageous comedy-horror that deftly mixes chills with chuckles and gore with guffaws. The film sets its tone in the opening scene as a young woman flees in terror across a desolate snowscape accompanied by the strains of Dukas’s mischievous symphony The Sorcerer’s Apprentice . Director Wirkola wisely keeps her pursuers to the shadows and we only catch the briefest glimpses of them before they set upon the unfortunate woman and tear her asunder. The film’s cine-literate characters are an amiable bunch and the script (by Wirkola and Stig Frode Henriksen) takes time to establish group dynamics and ease us into the company of the group before all hell break...

2009 Dir. Sam Raimi When loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is ordered by her boss to 'toughen up' if she ever wants to get a promotion, she begrudgingly decides to get assertive: with the wrong person. Mrs Ganush, an elderly gypsy woman, applies for a third extension on her mortgage; Christine turns her down and inadvertently humiliates her. Mrs Ganush places a nasty curse on Christine that will culminate in her being dragged off to hell in three days. Over the next few days Christine’s life is turned inside out by demonic forces intent on torturing her before pulling her down to burn in hell for all eternity... Can she find a way to stop them before its too late? When Ain’t It Cool News described Drag Me To Hell as a ‘juggernaut’, they really weren’t lying. While not particularly scary, this film is the cinematic equivalent of a roller-coaster. The jumps and shocks come so thick and fast that quite often you don’t have time to fully recover before the next on...