Velvicide

Director - Kenneth Perkins (Lux, Zepotha)

Starring - Gea Rose Henry (Allure, The Ms. Pat Show), J.D. Starnes (Murdaugh: Death in the Family, The House Among the Trees), and Jon Devlin (Screw Year's Eve, Phallacies)

Release Date - 2026

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Escape was only the first act"

Format - Streaming (online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Over the last week or so I've been watching several of the films in the Excorsimo set from Severin Films.  These Spanish films are historical due to the fact that they were made following the death of Spain's dictator and the removal of such strict filming regulations.  However, I'm getting a little burned out after a dozen or so films.  I decided to take a break and check out a few other movies sent to me for review.  The first up on the chopping block is the indie horror feature starring friend of Horror Society, Jon Devlin.  The film, Velvicide, was directed by Kenneth Perkins and stars Gea Rose Henry.  I want to thank Jon for sending this one over for review!

     The film follows two people from different walks of life that eventually cross paths.  Callum (Devlin) is an operator at a suicide hotline service who had recently listened to a caller that killed her husband and then herself.  We also follow Velvet (Henry) who was abducted, humiliated, and abused by a masked wearing mad man before she was finally freed left to live her life with the trauma inflicted upon her.  The pair is unaware of the other's existence until they cross paths resulting in an unexpected outcome.

     I went into Velvicide completely blind.  I had received a press release for it sometime ago and shared it on the site but nothing really stood out to me besides the fact that it featured Devlin.  I figured I would eventually check it out so I didn't check out the trailer and other promo material that accompanied the press release.  I try not to watch trailers for films that I'm going to review due to the fact that most of the time the trailer features all the best parts.  Velvicide is a film that had a great cast and an interesting story but was unable to pull it all together to create something enjoyable.  The acting in this one is great.  Gea Rose Henry delivers an emotionally charged performance that will linger with the viewer for days after watching it.  She really dialed in her performance and did a great job.  Devlin is great as well.  His character wasn't as interesting but he once again delivers a great performance.  The supporting cast is solid as well but it's these two that really stand out.  The story for this one is one that I found to be very interesting but it was unable to carry itself through the length of the feature length run time.  I loved the idea of a suicide hotline operator crossing paths with a woman with severe trauma.  There is a twist in there that I'm avoiding that I did love but it doesn't really help the film with it's obvious run time issue.  The story itself should have been adapted into a 30 minute short.  Finally, The film has some blood and some solid effects for what they are but don't expect to see some memorable kills that we want from most genre titles.  Overall, Velvicide is a film that has a great cast and a solid story but the story is not as effective as it could have been if it was trimmed down.  I wanted to love it but it just wasn't for me.  

Van Life

Director - Thor Moreno (Schism, Burn)

Starring - Adam Meirick (Die Again Tomorrow, The Man in the Woods) and Kelsey Anne Osborne (Mortal Poker, California Dream)

Release Date - 2026

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "One van.  A thousand eyes.  No way out"

Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I'm on the fence about found footage flicks.  Most of them, and I mean that, bore the absolute shit out of me.  The dialogue is so fucking awkward, the stories usually lead nowhere, and it's hard to tell what is going on due to the shaky camera work.  I understand that the goal is to make these feel as authentic as possible but the more authentic it is means the more difficult it is for me to finish.  There is a few exceptions to this but the ones I did like can be counted on one hand.  A few weeks ago I was asked to review the found footage flick Van Life.  The title really peaked my interest but the AI made artwork for the film didn't do much for my imagination.  Regardless, the title pulled me in and I agreed to check it out.  I want to thank Damon Moreno for reaching out!

     The film follows a man who is heading out into the woods to find his missing friend.  She has been missing for sometime now and the only thing recovered was her phone.  She was an aspiring vlogger wanting to create content while living in her van.  Using his camera and her last known location, he sets out to find her before succumbing to the same fate she suffered. 

    I absolutely hate writing a negative review but I'm always honest.  I always try to be respectful but I can't like every movie sent my way for review.  The movies may have some things I enjoy but not every movie is for me nor am I the intended audience.  Van Life has a solid, yet small, cast but the story and atmosphere just didn't do it for me.  As I said earlier, I hate writing negative reviews and I wanted to like it but couldn't.  The acting in this one is my favorite part of the film.  The cast is acting alone while narrating their actions for their vlogs.  The dialogue is awkward but that comes with the territory.  The story for this one is one that we've seen several times before especially in a found footage film.  Here we follow someone looking for a missing friend only to find themselves facing the same horrors that the missing had.  Most recently, I reviewed the Horror in the High Desert film which followed a similar story.  It's not that original and what makes this one a tough one to sit through is that it feels like two separate films.  The first portion is the friend looking for her and the second is the video from the phone.  We shouldn't have both aspects playing out like that.  It's almost as if we watched a sequel and followed it up with the original film.  The movie would have flowed a lot better if we just followed the young man for a few moments before we watch the found footage before moving back to him looking for her.  It would have made the pacing way more enjoyable and didn't give away the stuff that happened to her before it's time.  Finally, don't expect to see a bloody mess.  The movie doesn't have a high body count or a lot of the red stuff.  We get a little blood smeared on the actresses face but that is the extent of it.  Overall, Van Life was not for me.  It doesn't have the atmosphere and tension that most found footage films are known for.  While I did enjoy the acting, the repetitive story and lack of memorable deaths made this one a tough one to finish.  If you dig found footage then you may enjoy it but if you are like me then you may want to skip it.  

The Girl Inside the Photograph

Director(s) - Ed Alexander and David Michan (Less Than Nothing, Price of Fame)

Starring - Jaira Brownlee (Daughters and Sons, Hatching), Marie Issermann (Dear Cancer, The Man Who Lived Forever), and Donald A. Rogers (An End to New Beginnings, Exalted)

Release Date - 2026

Genre - Horror

Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

      I get a wide range of genre titles in to review and I never know exactly what I'm going to find when I hit play on a movie.  These movies range from horror comedies with very little horror to extreme horror with buckets of gore and zero story.  However, a lot of the stories I get for review fall somewhere in between the two.  Several weeks back I received an email to check out the indie horror feature The Girl Inside the Photograph.  I agreed to check it out but couldn't get to it right away so I added it to my list.  After a couple weeks I was able to finally check it out.  I want to thank co-director David Michan for sending this one over for review.

     The film follows a young girl who discovers that her cat is missing.  While she is investigating the feline's disappearance, she uncovers strange things happening in her home.  She looks into the home's history further and learns that those that lived there before her also suffered through strange occurrences.  After interviewing them, she learns that something sinister is in the home and she could find herself becoming part of the house's history.

     I went into this one completely blind.  I skimmed the press release when I got it because I knew I would be watching it and I have to say that I don't think the synopsis nor the trailer would have ruined the experience for me.  The movie has a lot going on and while there was some things that I liked, the movie itself just wasn't for me.  The acting in this one is solid.  The characters are written to fit the story very well.  Their personalities do not clash and the cast does a fantastic job at bringing them to life in front of the camera.  With that being said, some of the scenes during the middle portion of the film felt a bit dry.  They had no emotional range and the dialogue came out almost like a table reading.  I don't know if something was going on during filming or what but it just didn't fit that well.  The story for this one is a bit of a haunted house-esque type story mixed with a mystery.  I feel like this could have been a solid story if it was in written form.  However, the way the story unfolds on film is a bit dull.  The drawn out scenes with no endgame in sight made the film feel a lot longer than it actually was.  Finally, this is not a bloodbath like most of us genre fans are looking for.  The movie itself relies heavily on character interactions and scenes with brooding atmosphere to get to the audience.  Overall, The Girl Inside the Photograph has some great cinematography and acting but the story left a lot of room for improvements.  This one is not for me but you may dig it.  Check it out and support indie cinema!

The Mortuary Assistant

Director - Jeremiah Kipp (Slapface, The Geechee Witch: A Boo Hag Story)

Starring - Willa Holland (Legion, Arrow), John Adams (Hellbender, Where the Devil Roams), and Paul Sparks (Waco, The Lowdown)

Release Date - 2026

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Alone with the dead"

Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I'm an avid gamer and have been most of my life.  Horror as always been an obsession but I spend more time with a controller or keyboard and mouse in my hand than I do watching movies.  I've been gaming on PC for a few years now and found dozens of fantastic indie horror games through Steam.  One of those eerily creepy horror games was The Mortuary Assistant.  This game was originally released in 2022 but it wasn't until last summer that I decided to finally play it.  I loved the atmosphere, the tension, and some of the little details they added into the game to really drive in that supernatural and occult aspect.  While the jump scares didn't always work, it still delivered one of the most genuinely unnerving playthroughs that I've experienced as an adult.  A few weeks back I received a press release for the film adaptation and was very excited for it.  My mind immediately raced with the ideas of how the movie would play out and which parts of the game would be included.  A few days later I received a link to review the film and I quickly jumped on it!  I couldn't wait to check it out.

     The film follows a young woman who is recently hired as an assistant at a mortuary.  She is then asked to cover a night shift after proving to the mortician that she is more than capable of taking care of things in his absence.  He has her come in one night when several bodies are delivered.  Alone, she starts preparing the bodies as normal but things are anything but.  She starts to receive strange phone calls from her boss and other strange occurrences before realizing that something is in the mortuary with her.  

     As I stated earlier, The Mortuary Assistant is one of the creepiest indie games that I've been fortunate enough to play.  It's not a perfect game but it makes great use of the location and story.  I had high hopes for this adaptation and was surprised to see that Jeremiah Kipp had brought the film to life.  I recently reviewed Kipp's The Geechee Witch: A Boo Hag Story and enjoyed it.  This only fueled my excitement for the film.  The acting in this one is fantastic.  The film really is a one person show with Willa Holland doing most of the heavy lifting.  I'm a huge fan of the DC series Arrow and The Flash and knew she would do great in this role.  She really gets into the role and makes it her own while showcasing a wide range of emotions.  The supporting cast is effective in their roles but the movie is all eyes on Holland and she delivers.  The story for this one does make some minor changes from the game but still remains true to the game for the most part.  These changes are noticeable but it makes sense as to why they were made.  The location is very similar to the mortuary in the game and a lot of the trickets, symbols, and so on are very influenced by the game.  With that being said, the film is unable to duplicate the spine-chilling atmosphere and tension that made the game so much fun.  The film is dark and really tries to use the slow pacing to it's advantage but it just doesn't work like expected.  Finally, the film has some amazing effects.  The autopsy scenes are fucking phenomenal.  The effects for these scenes look top notch and unforgettable.  We also have some fun make-up effects on some of the characters.  Sadly, the main supernatural presence, shown on the film's artwork, is goofy.  I was hoping the film would take a more realistic look with the creature but what we get is laughable at best.  Overall, The Mortuary Assistant is a faithful adaptation to a very underrated game.  While it doesn't have the atmosphere that the game has, it is still an entertaining horror film.  Willa Holland is fantastic and the effects are a must see.  Check it out especially if you dig the game like I do.