Theresa Derwin's terror-tree.co.uk

Welcome to the first in a regular post where I share with you what I get up to on a Saturday night (down boys)!

As a child, Saturday night was always horror night, so I’ll try my best to watch films you will want to watch, or warn you of films you really don’t want to watch! And maybe you’ll join me one evening.
Last Saturday I started with two films; The Possession and The Bigfoot Tapes. So here, for your entertainment is . . .

The Possession
Producer: Sam Raimi
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Natasha Calis
Running Time: 92 minutes
Release Date: 21 Jan 2013
Reviewer: Theresa Derwin

Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Clyde) and Kyra Sedgwick (Stephanie) play estranged parents to two girls. The youngest girl buys a mysterious wooden box with her Dad at a garage sale and starts to hear encouraging voices from it. And that’s when things get really interesting! Of course I did want to ask if the child had ever seen Hellraiser or Seven. Don’t open the box! Never open the box!
The tension builds slowly in this horror flick, and there are genuinely scary moments. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is always reliable and Natasha Calis as the young girl Em, with some behavioural issues (think Linda Blair) is very convincing.
The scares start small and I have to admit I jumped a few times. The soundtrack is a little OTT, and there is a famous line from an equally infamous possession film used near the finale. It was also slightly ruined with a predictable ending, however overall it was a good solid horror film and addition to the sub-genre.

The Bigfoot Tapes
Producer: Stephon Stewart
Starring: Stephon Stewart, Davee Youngblood
Running Time: 82 minutes
Release Date: 6 May 2013
Reviewer: Theresa Derwin

This addition to the found footage films starts with a record of a call to 911 reporting a dog being eaten by a creature. The next scene we meet the ‘director’ of a Bigfoot ‘documentary’ as he pursues the caller of the 911 report. There are some technical errors regarding the colour of the abominable snowman mentioned, but only a geek like me would notice (having a cryptozoologist as a friend). The obligatory couple tag along with the ‘director’ played by real-life director Stephon Stewart on the search for the big hairy fella. The scenery is beautiful (a great advert for the tourist board) and the film rolls along at a reasonable pace, but it isn’t quite in the league of Troll Hunter. With the prerequisite rednecks/hill billies hanging around at Elk Creek Campground as the crew track down the oldest folklore legend in the USA. The dialogue is strangely authentic, with lines such as “the goats are tasty, so’s chicken.” Curiosity kept me watching, though a religious and poetic redneck was a little hard to buy. However the subversion of the stereotype (see Deliverance) works well. The Bigfoot visuals when they come along are slightly dodgy, but not too bad. Things get really tight for the film crew when they are abandoned in the backwoods. The question I always ask with these films is ‘would they still be filming lost as they are?’ When BF turned up on camera when their backs were turned, I really wanted him to do a dance routine like the Pandas in the Kit-Kat advert.
Overall, again I enjoyed this film, my only issue being a gratuitous scene near the end. The script and direction was good and it was kind of fun. Worth the effort.

The House of Wood
Author: Anthony Price
Publisher: Crooked Cat Publishing Ltd
Page count/size: 214pp
Release Date: 4 March 2013
Reviewer: Andy Angel

Three years ago Rachel James was caught up in terrible events at the House of Wood that ended in tragedy. She survived and left for college, vowing to never return to Willows Peak.

Move to the present, and the death of Rachel’s parents changes things – she has to return for the funeral and on approach to the town she sees the last thing she expects………….someone is rebuilding the House of Wood!!

This is a cracking tale of horror and possession in the style of the books I was reading when I first discovered this genre many years ago. No vampires, no werewolves, no zombies, just a tale that creeps up on you, and once it has a hold, doesn’t let go ’til the last page is turned.

While the deaths are being investigated Rachel has to stay in town and meets ‘new guy in town’ Doctor David Cochrane, a psychologist. She agrees to talk to him about the ‘event’ over dinner and it is here that the story really picks up a couple of gears.

During the evening the whole story comes out (in flashback), the atmosphere grows tenser, and the book gets more difficult to put down.

I must say, I thought I knew where the story was going. It seemed the author was leading the story one way, but in the end he wrongfooted me, and I am glad to have been wrong.

The climax was strong and fast paced, the resolution believable and satisfying.

And then……………The Epilogue – WOW!

I was delighted and privileged to be asked along to the launch party for Sarah Pinborough’s brand new book from Jo Fletcher Books Mayhem. The novel, which is set between 1886 and 1889, takes place in the background to the Jack the Ripper murders whilst another fiend was stalking London. These were the Torso Murders, and it started with a mutilated female torso being found on the footsteps of a church. And the scariest part about this novel? It’s based on fact. Whilst Jack sought fame and notoriety, the brute behind the torso murders kept secrets to his/her identity hidden, though this creature like Jack, was said to have knowledge of human anatomy.

So it was on a rather sunny Tuesday evening that a number of us gathered at the Prospect of Whitby for drinks to celebrate this new novel by Sarah Pinborough. There we took the chance to chat to editors, publicists and like-minded bloggers or reviewers who joined Sarah to launch the book.
This was followed soon after by a jaunt across the road to the Wapping Project, an art gallery/restaurant that served up a solid supply of vino then canapés whilst we chatted, listened to Sarah introduce the origins of her book and generally mingled snapping photos.

In the midst of mingling it was great to meet horror editor Steve Jones, who favoured my Fringeworks partner Adrian Middleton and I with enthusiasm for an idea we’d been considering. On the back of the Steampunk Sherlock Holmes books we’re releasing over the coming year, discussion had arisen about Holmes vs. Zombies (as you do) to which suggestion Steve had enthused, declaring it as a ‘no brainer’ pardon the pun, even offering us a cover quote. We were ecstatic of course, so watch this space for further news. Steve was also on hand to offer artistic advice on the photos and to pour the wine, him being an ex bar person, like myself.

Amongst the guests and hosts I got to also congratulate Sarah who was bubbly and enthusiastic, as always, particularly upon telling me that this September she’ll be in Belfast interviewing some of the cast of Game of Thrones. Fantastic. I also spent time with Jo Fletcher herself, an innovative publisher who definitely has her finger on the pulse when it comes to choosing new books and writers.
The experience was amazing, Jo and Lucy from Jo Fletcher books were wonderful hosts, and the whole day (including introducing Sarah to my Sherlock Holmes rubber duckie) will remain a very fond memory.
To retain the memory on my return to dear old Brum I dived into Sarah’s Mayhem, which I’ll be reviewing in a few days.

The Corridor
Director: Even Kelly
Distributor: Signature Entertainment
Release Date: 25th Feb 2013
Reviewer: Kate Middleton

I found the Corridor an enjoyable film, it made me jump, and gave me goose pimples. The characters were funny, serious and scary and I found myself just staring at the screen in places and going WTF. I also got the wrong idea by looking at the film as if the lead character is just as crazy as a bag of cats. More fool me.
It seemed to start out like a horror film with the ‘Cabin in the Woods’ setting and I thought it was just going to be another predictable horror film. It wasn’t and that’s great it was something different something that didn’t give answers or explanation and left me wanting to know more.
The quality of the film could have been better; there was unnecessary camera shake and the sound levels were way off I had to keep turning the volume up. One of the great things in this film is that they show something that I find alarming, visual sound, coming from characters especially when it sounds unnatural. Freaks me out. It’s spooky and supernatural and it just generally makes me feel uneasy which is great. It’s a horror film after all.

Creakers
Author: Paul Kane
Publisher: Spectral Press
Page count/size: 29pp
Release Date: April 2013
Reviewer: Theresa Derwin

In the latest Spectral Chapbook by prolific author Paul Kane, following the death of his Mother, Ray moves back to her house to renovate it and sell it on, so he moves into the building to start work on it. He brings along his sleeping bag and equipment to stay there during the restoration period. As an experienced house re-builder, Ray knows that those old places that make noises in the night are called Creakers, so he expects some noise during the night, but not this much. The noises and the things crawling over him at night are not normal. The reader can feel his growing tension and fear as the noises and creaks in the house grow and grow.
The story falls into that nice tradition of anthropomorphic horror, in which objects take on human personification and become the objects of horror, bringing back painful memories of his home, his childhood and his Mom.
Filled with squirmy uncomfortable imagery, this is cheap as chips chills! Give it a go.

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