This time around, we’ve got three new films, an ancient classic, and a not-so-old franchise film. We’ll start with the new “28 Years Later,” which just came to streaming. Next, we’ll watch the shark-slasher, “Dangerous Animals” and the weird “Flesh of the Unforgiven,” also from this year. We’ll then go back to 1941 and view the comedy-horror film, “Spooks Run Wild.” Lastly, we’ll cover the final film in the Caesar trilogy with “War for the Planet of the Apes” from 2017.
And, as always, we’ll have five short films.
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Mainstream Films:
2025 28 Years Later
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Alex Garland
Stars: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes
Run Time: 1 Hour, 55 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This has quite a different tone than the first two movies, and neither of us thought it was improved for the better. After 28 years, assuming the rest of the world is just fine, it seems like they would be handling things differently by this point. Brian thought it was on the dull side. Kevin wasn’t bored, but neither of us liked it that much.
Spoilery Synopsis
A group of children watch the Teletubbies as the air raid sirens go off and the parents all get really upset. As Jimmy and the others continue to watch, we hear the adults in the next room being eaten. The rage zombies soon get everyone in the house other than Jimmy. We’re told that the rage virus was beaten back from Europe, but it destroyed the entire UK, which was left as a kind of quarantine zone. That was 28 years ago… Credits roll.
We open on young Spike and the other villagers getting ready for work on their farms and such on the island. His father is Jamie, who makes an amazing-looking breakfast. His mother, Isla, is sick, and she didn’t realize they were leaving the island this morning for Spike’s first time. She doesn’t want Spike to go, as he’s way too young. She’s confused or delirious, but she calms down easily.
Spike and Jamie are going for Spike’s first hunt, and everyone in town cheers them on; it’s a big event. Spike’s only 12, and kids usually don’t go until 14, so he’s an exception. Jenny, the village leader, explains that if anything goes wrong, they’re on their own. They leave the island over the causeway that can only be used during low tide.
The two hunters soon see a rotten-looking man crawling on all fours and eating worms. Spike makes his shot and kills the infected man; Jamie kills two more that sneak up on them. They find a house, and inside is a man tied up and hanging by his feet. Someone tied him up and left him for the infected. The man’s got “Jimmy” carved on his chest. Spike kills it.
The two find a stag’s head stuck way up on a tree, and Jamie gets spooked. It’s time to go back home. Too late, they run into a whole horde of crazies– the fast variety. The chase is on! They soon run out of arrows and hide in the attic of an old house.
We cut back to the village, where people hang up “Welcome home Spike” banners. We hear from Jamie about “Alphas” which are bigger, stronger, and smarter than the usual zombies. Night falls, and they can’t go home. They make a run for it and make it to the causeway, which is just slightly underwater. The Alpha chases them across the water, but the sentries at the village shoot it. They go inside to the celebrations where Jamie’s got a girlfriend on the side, Rosie.
Spike talks to an old man, Sam, about the fire they saw in the woods; he says it’s Dr. Kelson, who’s been living out there for years. He’s… odd, but Sam doesn’t want to talk about him. Spike wants to get the doctor to help his mother. Spike eventually gets Jamie to tell the story about Dr. Kelson burning the bodies of the infected.
Spike and his mentally-ill mother sneak out of the village; he wants to take her to the doctor– across the wilderness of the mainland. They spend the night in an old church. Someone prevents a zombie from killing them during the night– could it have been Isla, Spike’s mother?
We cut to a group of Swedish soldiers who are being chased by a pack of infected. They run into an Alpha, who rips one soldier’s head clean off.
Spike and Isla get chased by zombies, and they hide in an old gas station. They’re rescued by the sole surviving soldier, Erik. He’s stuck here now; once anyone sets foot on the mainland, they are quarantined– permanently.
Isla comes upon an infected woman who is pregnant, and it looks very painful. The baby seems normal enough, and Isla wants to take it. Meanwhile, an Alpha tears Erik’s head off. The Alpha chases Spike and Isla right into the hands of Dr. Kelson. Kelson sedates the big Alpha, whom he’s named Samson. Spike explains why they’ve come, and Kelson invites them to his compound.
Kelson has made a whole forest out of human bones, including a skull tower, as a memorial and tribute to the dead. Kelson shows Spike how to make a clean skull out of Erik. Kelson examines Isla and diagnoses that she has brain and breast cancer that has spread. There’s nothing he can do to help. The doctor drugs up Spike and then mercy-kills Isla. One more skull for the pile!
In the morning, Samson attacks, but Kelson and Spike hide in safety. Kelson wants Spike and the baby to go home before something bad happens.
28 Days later, the villagers on the island find the baby, left there by Spike, who continues on in his exploration of the mainland. They also find a note from Spike saying he’ll be away for a while.
On the road, Spike runs into a gang of men all dressed alike who take care of a bunch of fast zombies. They’re the Jimmy gang, and they’re all named Jimmy. “Let’s be pals,” he says.
Brian’s Commentary
Why, if the rage virus is so insanely deadly, is it allowed to continue in the UK? Why wouldn’t NATO or the US simply nuke it flat? There’s just too much risk of it getting out.
Well, you might say it’s because of the survivors, like on the island. If that were the case, why would the authorities airdrop food, medicine, or at least radio to them?
Where did the doctor get all that iodine, and why didn’t he kill Samson long ago if he sedated him regularly? He clearly had no problem with mercy killings.
The acting is fine, and the sets are cool. Other than random shots of dirty naked people running around, there really wasn’t much zombie action in this. The Jimmies at the end made no sense and wasn’t much of a payoff after seeing “Jimmy” carved into everything along the way.
I thought it was really… dull.
Kevin’s Commentary
I didn’t think this was dull, but there were too many elements that didn’t make sense - which Brian already went over in his commentary. I thought the Jimmy gang at the end was pretty funny actually. I guess if it’s an apocalypse, one should embrace the crazy.
I did appreciate that they were realistic about the arrow use. They were used up accurately and the quivers didn’t magically refill.
I didn’t think this was nearly as good or entertaining as the first two movies. This was too different.
2025 Dangerous Animals
Directed by: Sean Byrne
Written by: Nick Lepard
Stars: Hassie Harrison, Jai Courtney, Josh Heuston
Run Time: 1 Hour, 38 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was a little reminiscent of “Wolf Creek,” with an Australian serial killer who has been at his work for quite some time. Tucker, the baddie, finally meets his match when he pursues Zephyr. It’s a little on the predictable side, but it’s well made with a good cast and it entertains.
Spoilery Synopsis
A young couple walks out to the pier. Tucker shows up for Greg and Heather, who want to hire his boat. He makes a joke about no one knowing they’re even here, and then takes them out to swim with the sharks. On the way out, he tells the story about how he was attacked by a shark when he was seven, and then he shows them the scar.
Tucker dumps some chum overboard to attract a shark, as the young people watch the sharks arrive. Tucker sings “Baby Shark” to calm them down. Greg and Heather climb into the shark cage and go down. There are a lot of sharks down there, and Heather eventually calms down to enjoy the show.
Tucker pulls them up, and when Greg gets out of the cage, Tucker stabs him and pushes him overboard. “Welcome aboard,” Tucker says as credits roll.
Zephyr and Moses are at a convenience store. He needs a ride and “convinces” her to take him. Turns out, they’re both surfers and start talking about that. They end up going home together for sex.
Very early in the morning, Zephyr goes out to the dark beach and gets ready to surf. She left her fin key at Moses’s place and borrows one from Tucker. As she texts Moses, Tucker grabs her from behind. He sedates and ties her up, then loads her into his truck.
Moses arrives at the surfing spot and parks next to Zephyr’s van, but she’s nowhere to be seen. A while later, he sees her van being towed and goes to the police.
Zephyr wakes up chained to a bed next to Heather, who’s also chained. They’re on Tucker’s boat, way out in the ocean. Heather tells Zephyr what happened to Greg. Tucker comes in with food and water. The water is drugged, and both girls pass out.
Zephyr wakes up tied to a chair on deck; Heather is chained to a harness and a hoist, and Tucker has a video camera. He talks about his “true calling.” He uses the hoist to pick up and lower Heather into the chum-filled water. He videos the whole resulting shark feeding frenzy. “Tell me that ain’t the greatest show on Earth.” He says he’ll do the same to Zephyr tomorrow night.
We soon see that Tucker’s been at this a while, with dozens of former victims. Back on shore, Moses looks all over for Zephyr, but she’s still not there. He does find her surfboard and gets the police involved in a real search. He uses the beach-cams to see Tucker’s truck on the night he kidnapped Zephyr.
Zephyr manages to knock out Tucker and get his keys. She runs up to the control room and uses the radio, but Tucker injects her and she passes out again. She manages to throw Tucker’s video camera overboard before jumping over herself.
Tucker goes back to the dock to buy a new camera and avoids his annoying pier neighbor, Dave. Meanwhile, Moses calls Tucker and then heads to the marina. He boards the boat, hears Zephyr, breaks in, and finds her. Tucker shows up, and the two fight until neighbor Dave shows up to get involved. Dave doesn’t live long after that.
Now, with both of them chained to bed, Zephyr and Moses talk about relationships. It’s not long before Moses finds himself in the shark harness– in broad daylight. Moses hangs there, perfectly still, and the sharks go away. Tucker stabs Moses and puts him right back in the water. When a helicopter flies over, Tucker puts them both back in their cell in a hurry.
Zephyr breaks her own thumb to get out of the handcuffs. That doesn’t work, so she chews her own thumb off instead. She traps Tucker in the cell, but he’s smart and knows a way out.
She jumps overboard and swims toward the resort on the horizon. He chases her in his dinghy and catches her. They go back to the boat.
This time, he puts Moses in the viewer seat while Zephyr hangs from the harness. As he gives a speech, the biggest shark he’s ever seen comes up to the boat. Somehow, she gets loose from the harness and comes face to face with the big shark.
Zephyr crawls back onto the boat and shoots Tucker with a harpoon gun; he goes overboard and the shark gets him. As the shark swims away, Zephyr’s foot gets caught in the harpoon line, and she goes overboard as well.
Moses, still cuffed to the chair, passes out. Zephy eventually swims back to the boat, can’t wake Moses up, and shoots off a flare for help. A nearby party boat sees the flare and heads their way.
Brian’s Commentary
It’s essentially “Wolf Creek” on the ocean. It’s even got the same accents. Jai Courtney is very good here as Tucker, totally crazy and yet fun to watch. I dunno about the whole videotaping-while-a-shark-eats-you part of it, but I’m sure there are plenty of serial killers out on boats in the ocean.
It’s all pretty predictable, but it’s well made, looks good, and doesn’t get boring. Overall, I did like it.
Kevin’s Commentary
I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I did. Shark movies tend to be overdone and on the mediocre side. We could see where things were going for the most part, but this was pretty well made and entertaining. I’d say see one if you like shark movies, and especially if you’re a fan of “Wolf Creek.”
2025 Flesh of the Unforgiven
Directed by: Joe Hollow
Written by: Joe Hollow
Stars: Debbie Rochon, Joe Hollow, August Kyss
Run Time: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
A couple’s struggles are made more complicated by supernatural forces. This reminded us both of a take on Hellraiser, with more elements of strange romance and relationship complications. There’s some decent work being done here, but this one didn’t really connect with either of us.
Spoilery Synopsis
We watch a man in a bondage suit watching weird torture porn on a small TV as we get flashes of manga pages. “There will be no becoming,” warns a voice as the man begs. The man is beheaded and his body burns. Elsewhere, a woman wakes up. Was that a dream?
We hear about “The Death Dealer” who searches for lost souls and leads a legion of demons. In return for facing your fears and embracing them, you survive. Credits roll.
Jack and Sienna Russo go to the house by the lake, and it’s a very cold winter’s day. They’re having some marital problems. We cut to Vivienne, who’s talking to her mother on the phone; she’s made some bad life choices.
Jack wants to be a writer, but he has no inspiration. Sienna dresses in a bondage suit to get him in the mood. His publisher wants two pages by Monday, or he’s fired. Someone sends him a videotape and a note labeled, “Inspiration.”
We cut to Vivienne, who gets all made up in a nice dress and then shoots herself in the head.
Jack plays the tape. It’s a video of a leather-clad man in a mask tormenting a woman in a white mask. The man then slaps the woman several times.
Vivienne wakes up and a muscular man in a mask appears from a portal. “Your becoming can be so beautiful. Become my Jezebel,” says the deep voice we heard in the pre-credit sequence. She needs to embrace her fears and “become” before she runs out of time.
Sienna talks to Jack about the strange man she’s been dreaming about; we know who he is. The Death Dealer’s weird, screechy-voiced assistant, Livinia, tortures a man who wants more time.
Jack continues to watch the depraved videotape until Sierra comes in to talk about what she did. She had an affair with Jack’s best friend. Soon after she finds herself locked in a room with a magical portal. She soon meets Livinia, who introduces her to the Death Dealer. The Death Dealer strangles her, and she wakes up back in her own bed.
We get a montage that shows us that Sienna tried to kill herself at one point. Jack watches the video, and a lot of the “story” seems to reflect his own life and cheating wife. Jack thinks his publisher, Callie, sent it to him for inspiration.
Jack goes to the bar, angry, and runs into Vivienne there, who seduces him. When he goes home, Sienna wants them to do Ecstasy. The Death Dealer soon shows up and smacks Jack before tying him up. It’s a bad trip.
Mike the bartender explains a bunch of stuff; he knows about Jack and Vivienne. On Jack’s video, the tortured girl cuts off the Death Dealer’s penis and then shoots him in the head– and then herself. Jack starts to think Sienna had something to do with the tape.
Sienna comes in, and she admits she sent the tape. Was everything on the tape real? She says it’s more about forgiveness; anyone can forgive. “You hurt me too. That’s why I had to kill Vivienne.” She wants him to use all this in his novel. Then she vanishes.
Livinia laughs and tortures Sienna, who actually killed herself a while back. All of this was her embracing her fear of a life without Jack. She has become. Jack, on the other hand, does write his book.
Brian’s Commentary
It’s a sort of low-budget riff on “Hellraiser” without all the violence and special effects.
The music selections in this film are just horrible. Did the filmmaker think we’d want to hear that droning, moaning, mush?
It was written, directed, produced, and starred Joe Hollow. His acting isn’t terrible here, but his directing leaves a bit to be desired. It’s really slow, the editing and acting feel a little off, and a lot of the scenes just feel like an excuse for women to wear bondage gear.
The twist at the end didn’t really save this one for me.
Kevin’s Commentary
The costuming and effects did the job for the most part. The story dragged a bit, but got the job done in the end with an interesting wrap up. I think it might have been a stronger film with the writing/directing/producing/starring delegated more instead of all being one person.
1941 Spooks Run Wild
Directed by: Phil Rosen
Written by: Carl Foreman, Charles R. Marion, Jack Henley
Stars: Bela Lugosi, Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan
Run Time: 1 Hour, 5 Minutes
Watch it:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Despite the title, there is a complete lack of spooks. There are endless quips and zany adventures as the gang encounters Bela Lugosi and his sinister sidekick. It’s actually really dated in the humor and everything else about it, and it doesn’t hold up much for entertainment.
Spoilery Synopsis
Six “Boys” get arrested. “We’re going to camp, not reform school.” They’re loaded on a bus and taken to a small town in the mountains. Three of the boys plan a jailbreak for that night, but first, they go to the soda shop. They hear a radio announcement warning about “The Monster Killer” who’s left a trail of three inhuman murders. Muggs, Danny, and Glimpy brag about eating monsters for breakfast.
Jeff and Linda are the “camp” chaperones, and they aren’t happy with the delinquents they’re stuck with. He’s studying to be a lawyer, and she’s a nurse. At the camp, night falls, and the boys hear howling outside. What if that killer guy is prowling around here?
A creepy man and a dwarf arrive in town with two caskets. Nardo (Lugosi) and Luigi are moving into the Billings Estate, where no one’s lived in ten years. Dr. Von Grosch comes to town, he’s here to catch the monster killer. Von Grosch wants to keep his arrival secret.
A man sees Nardo and Luigi in the woods and shoots at them, but they vanish. Muggs, Danny, and Glimpy sneak off into the woods. They meet up with Scruno, Peewee, and Skinny out there. The man who shot at Nardo takes a shot at Peewee, but Peewee doesn’t vanish, he gets hit.
Peewee is hurt, so they drag him up to the house on the hill, looking for help. Luigi answers the door. The house is full of cobwebs and all the usual haunted house paraphernalia. Inside, Nardo reads about the “Monster Killer” in the newspaper.
Nardo looks Peewee over and offers to give him some medicine rather than call a doctor. Meanwhile, Jeff and Linda argue about whether or not it’s even worth looking for the six missing kids. Back in town, the mayor and sheriff talk about catching the killer, which isn’t going to be easy.
Nardo shows the boys to rooms where they can spend the night while they wait for Peewee to recover. Scruno stays with Peewee to watch him, but Peewee looks dead. Peewee wakes up and walks out, looking like a zombie now. Muggs and the others come to the conclusion that Nardo is a vampire. Scruno tells the others about Peewee becoming a zombie; Nardo says he has no idea what happened to Peewee.
Jeff goes to the sheriff and hears about Peewee getting shot and going to the old Billings house, where the killer is rumored to be staying.
There are some hijinks as the boys explore the haunted house. There’s lots of running around, secret doors, and Bela Lugosi leering evilly.
Outside, Dr. Von Grosch picks up Linda and heads up to the house.
Nardo and Luigi encounter the Monster in the hallway. Nardo says the ghost has made a mistake and then falls down the stairs. The ghost is really three kids in a trench coat with a skull on top. They soon find Peewee back in his bed, feeling much better now.
Dr. Von Grosch and Linda enter the house, and he suddenly turns creepy. Yes, he’s the killer, and has been all along.
The police break in, and Muggs explains that Nardo’s really a good guy and they’ve all made friends. Nardo and Luigi are magicians, here to perfect their act. They all hear Linda screaming and run upstairs. The cops and Von Grosch shoot through a door, but then Muggs sneaks in through the skylight and distracts the killer while Linda lets in the good guys.
After everything settles down, Nardo gives a magic show for the gang and makes Linda disappear. They all have a final laugh at Mugg’s expense.
Brian’s Commentary
Some of the “boys” looked to be about thirty years old, but that’s still a common thing today. They were first advertised as the “Dead End Kids” in seven films, later the “East Side Kids” for 21 films, and eventually became “The Bowery Boys,” for 41 films. That’s a lot of movies for some guys who aren’t the least bit funny today.
Lugosi and his “mini-me” sidekick are fun. Angelo Rossitto, as Luigi, doesn’t say anything here, but he played dwarves and midgets in over a hundred movies and TV shows over a very long career.
We kept waiting for the spooks to run wild, or even walk slowly, but there were no spooks. It’s only an hour long, but it’s not funny, not scary, and not particularly entertaining.
Kevin’s Commentary
It’s pretty obvious the hijinks in this inspired “Scooby Doo” later on. It was short but still managed to drag and seem too long. The humor and script are very dated. It was kind of interesting in a historical archive sort of way, but that’s about it.
2017 War for the Planet of the Apes
Directed by: Matt Reeves
Written by: Mark Bombeck, Matt Reeves, Rick Jaffa
Stars: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn
Run Time: 2 Hours, 20 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
The story continues about five more years after the last movie. It’s pretty consistent in quality, keeping the entertainment and driving up the action. Things wrap up pretty well, but of course leave it open for another movie in the continuing saga. If you enjoyed the previous two movies, you’ll probably like this one too.
Spoilery Synopsis
We are told that fifteen years after the plague, the remainder of the US Army was dispatched to eliminate the apes. Under command of Colonel McCullough, the apes went into hiding, but they are preparing to retaliate. We see that the humans have some apes working with them. Suddenly, there’s a lot of shooting. Lots of apes die, but they still manage to beat off the human invaders.
Some human prisoners talk to Caesar. The apes who followed Koba now help the humans. They release the humans, and then Rocket and Blue Eyes arrive, saying they’ve found something– a potential new home beyond the mountains. There are too many to make the journey safely the way they came, so they need to find a safe way out of the woods.
That same night, Caesar realizes that the human soldiers are a lot closer than he thought, closing on their family encampment. He silently alerts some of the fighters, and watches as The Colonel himself arrives to kill all the group’s children, including Blue Eyes. Winter, the big white gorilla, betrayed them all. Cornelius, Caesar’s little son, is the only survivor of the massacre. He leaves Cornelius with Lake, Blue Eyes’s widow.
Caesar sends all the apes away with Maurice, but he plans on going after the Colonel personally. He ends up taking a few friends, Rocket, Luca, and Maurice, along.
They go to a camp where they think there might be soldiers, but all they find is a scared child who can’t speak. Maurice decides to keep her because she wouldn’t survive on her own.
They soon find another camp, this one full of soldiers, as well as Winter, the treasonous ape. Winter explains his story and asks for forgiveness. Caesar’s wife and son are dead, so Winter knows he’s screwed.
The apes find some people half-buried in the snow after being shot by humans. One of them isn’t dead, but he cannot speak either. They get robbed by a bad ape, whom they catch and start calling Bad Ape. Bad Ape offers his coat to the mute girl. He escaped from the zoo when the plague hit. Maurice says he didn’t realize there were other smart apes out in the world; they could be everywhere. Bad Ape knows of a former quarantine zone where the Colonel and his men might be hiding. Bad Ape gives the little girl the nameplate off a car, “Nova.”
They find the humans’ base, and Luca almost immediately gets stabbed. Nova cries at the loss of her new friend, as do the others. Caesar sends the others away and goes into the human camp alone. He finds all his people have been captured and locked in cages and used as slaves.
Caesar gets captured and gets to talk to Colonel McCullough himself. He walks past the cages, and Cornelius is in there with the others. It doesn’t look good for the apes. The next morning, everyone gets marched out to move rocks to build a wall. When Caesar causes trouble, the Colonel orders Red Donkey to whip him.
Meanwhile, Maurice, Rocket, Nova, and Bad Ape watch all this from the mountain.
Caesar figures out that the Colonel is building a wall to fight more humans; the soldiers that are coming are afraid of the Colonel, not Caesar. There’s something wrong with some of the humans the apes have found, and the other humans fear that. Humans have suddenly started losing the ability to speak and think clearly, some side-effect of the plague, which has mutated. The Colonel killed his own infected son. The other military guys are coming to stop the Colonel. He thinks the final war is coming soon, and if they lose, the world will become a planet of apes.
Everyone glares at each other for about twenty minutes during my nap at this point. Caesar scopes out the whole base and then relays it all to Maurice with sign language. Donkey warns Caesar that the Colonel is going to shoot all the apes when the wall is done being built.
At night, Bad Ape and Maurice dig a tunnel into the adult apes’ holding cell and release them, and then they release all the children apes as well. All the kids get out of the camp by crawling across the power lines.
Caesar, on the other hand, still wants the Colonel and stays behind. Suddenly, humans in helicopters attack the base. Caesar uses the distraction to find the Colonel, who has lost the ability to speak; he’s mute now. Nova’s doll that he took must have been infected. The Colonel wants to die, but Caesar refuses to kill him. He ends up killing himself. Caesar makes a quick dash to escape as the humans from the north storm the base.
As many apes are pinned down by a machine gunner, Red Donkey decides to redeem himself by saving Caesar and his own kind. With Donkey’s help, Caesar blows up the wall– and the whole base.
Suddenly, a giant avalanche comes down the mountain and buries all the humans– the apes take refuge in the trees. Almost all the humans, on both sides, are buried.
The apes continue on over the mountains to the desert, where they will make a new home. As they enter the promised land, Caesar grabs his side where he was shot in the battle. Maurice promises to raise Cornelius and teach him all about his father and what he did for them all. Then Caesar collapses and dies.
And the rest all live happily ever after– until the next film.
Brian’s Commentary
It continues the story in an action-packed way, and also explores the evolution of the planet of the apes. The humans’ plague is evolving to make them stupid and mute, and we know how that’s going to end up. We lose a few characters from the previous films, but we gain a few new ones too. The Colonel’s motivations are pretty clearly explained, and he’s not wrong, he’s just on the wrong side of the main characters. Considering that only 1 in 500 people survived the plague, there were an awful lot of soldiers in that final scene.
Kevin’s Commentary
I liked this one just as much as the previous two movies. It seemed to be a smooth continuation. And it makes sense that other apes besides their group would have been affected by the plague, I’m glad they worked in “Bad Ape” to show that. I’d recommend this if you like the series. It’s more of the same and entertaining.
Short Films:
2021 Short Film 10-33
Directed by: Alexander Maxim Seltzer
Written by: Alexander Maxim Seltzer
Stars: Alison Louder, Andrew Chown, Hannah Galway
Run Time: 10:02
Watch it:
What Happens
Ava goes to the crowded bathroom at the theater. She sits in her stall listening to the other girls gossip about the craziest things. Suddenly, she hears gunfire outside. And then inside. Then, the gunman comes into the restroom and kills everyone but her.
What could he want? We watch as Ava negotiates for her life…
Commentary
It’s very well shot. We only see Ava for most of the film, and a few other girls right at the beginning; we never see the gunman at all, so he’s left to our imagination. What does he want? Why is he doing all this? Will we get answers?
So much suspense!!!
2021 Short Film The Bowl
Directed by: Levi Morgan
Written by: Jamie Green, Levi Morgan
Stars: Wade Brasington, Jamie Green, Levi Morgan, and Hannah Pendergrass
Run Time: 7:13
Watch it:
What Happens
Jamie confronts his roommate about a bowl that he ate out of and didn’t wash and put away. “It’s not just any bowl, Wade. It’s YOUR bowl. There must be order.” He seems really upset about the dirty bowl… until Wade says it wasn’t him. Maybe it was the third roommate upstairs?
Or maybe it’s even worse than that.
Commentary
I’ve had roommates like Jamie, and let me tell you, that’s the truly horrific part of this story. Still, none of the three had any idea what was in store for them, but at least they were happy in the end.
This one is really funny. There are no special effects, no jump scares, no blood, and still, it manages to impress– mostly from the great dialogue.
Watch it and then go put away YOUR dishes!
2022 Short Film The Gate
Directed by: Matt Westrup
Written by: Matt Westrup
Stars: John Mawson, Robert Rowe, Tryphene Russel
Run Time: 11:08
Watch it:
What Happens
Experts and eyewitnesses discuss the strange transformations that have been taking place with seemingly random people. They painfully change into distorted, monstrous versions of humans and are often violent. As the experts testify, they start to figure out what’s causing all this.
Will it happen again?
Commentary
The weird creature effects are the main draw here, and they’re very well done. I assume they’re mostly CGI, but they blend right in. Not all the creatures look the same, which makes it just that much more fun to watch.
Be careful what you order online!
2024 Short Film Lady Parts
Directed by: Ariel McCleese
Written by: Ariel McCleese
Stars: Ava Hase, Liv Mai, Jake Holley
Run Time: 14:45
Watch it:
What Happens
Iris, a high school girl, has an erotic dream about her friend Ellie, and it makes her wet. Very wet. This can’t be normal, can it? She decides to go to the big party, where she hooks up with Ethan. She prefers Ellie, but Ethan’s right there, so why not?
There’s nothing wrong with getting a little moist, right?
Wrong.
Commentary
This is well filmed and looks good, but they don’t really try to explain it. It’s most likely an allegory for awkward teenage years, but… wow. I want to know what was going through Ethan’s mind as this all played out.
It’s very weird. Good, but weird!
2024 Short Film The Man with No Mouth
Directed by: Mr. Friend
Written by: Mr. Friend
Stars: Animated. Voiced by Mr. Friend
Run Time: 9:37
Watch it:
What Happens
Little Timothy’s not very smart. He’s up late doing his math homework, and he just can’t get the answers. Much to his surprise, a strange man with no mouth shows up outside his window and wants in. Timothy’s not that dumb; he doesn’t let him in. Still, the man gives him the answers to his homework by holding up how many fingers is the answer. Because he has no mouth. But wait, how was he whistling then?
The next night? Well, now they’re friends. What could go wrong?
Commentary
This one is done with stop-motion, in the style of an old VHS tape. It’s very retro, and it gets all the aesthetics just right. We have to wonder just how “not very smart” little Timothy is, but then we find out.
The ending wasn’t a huge surprise, but it was fun anyway!
Contact Info:
Email: mailto:email@horrorguys.com
Websites:
https://www.horrorguys.com
https://www.horrormonthly.com
https://www.flashfright.com
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