THE ASPHYX Is The Very Picture Of Terror

THE ASPHYX
~Free on KINO CULT~

Sir Hugo Cunningham is a photographer of the paranormal, out to capture an image of the soul escaping the body. When his fiancée and son are killed in a boating accident, with Cunningham on the shore taking pictures, the tragedy ironically yields the first evidence he needs, but it is not what he had expected. In the photographs, he see's a blurry, ghostly image moving towards his son prior to his death. He concludes it is THE ASPHYX, an entity from Greek mythology, which is believed to appear only when death is a looming possibility, like an over anxious Grim Reaper.

After crafting a special moving pictures device, particularly designed to more clearly capture the elusive force, Cunningham and his adopted son Giles discover after documenting a local execution that they have indeed, once again, attained filmed evidence. What they further discover is the fact that THE ASPHYX seems to become trapped in the camera's beam, which leads them to try and imprison it, and in turn, stave off death indefinitely.
Then, the love interest Christina, shows up, who is not only Giles' step-sister, but bride-to-be. Kinky! Soon, a horrified Christina is roped into helping her father and brother-husband with their insane experiments, in their increasingly mad quest to conquer death, and achieve eternal life.
From here on out, THE ASPHYX's narrative really starts to wind itself up, as the mounting desperation and insanity of the characters yield some crazy plot twists, and in turn, more nihilistic tragedy.

THE ASPHYX mixes Jules Verne's visionary Victorian-esque gadgetry with H.P. Lovecraft's penchant for paranoid, cosmic tales of foolishly curious men toying with the dark unknown. The results are an oddball gem of a film that exudes a comforting Gothic charm, not unlike the Hammer output of the same time, while also being stunningly original in it's premise, and at times, genuinely creepy and disturbing in it's delivery.

Directed by Peter Newbrook
Starring Jane Lapotaire, Robert Stephens, Robert Powell, and Ralph Arliss

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10 SCAREY STREAMS FOR HALLOWEEN: THE FEATURE FILM CUT

UZUMAKI - Prime (subscription)

A masterpiece of nightmare logic, in which citizens of the small Japanese village of  Kurouzu-cho fall under the supernatural curse of the uzumaki, the spiral. The shape becomes an obsession, leading to odd and sometimes psychotic behaviors, and even stranger deaths.

Adapted from the mega-classic horror manga by the legendary Junji Ito, with it's vibe, reminescent of H.P. Lovecraft, in particular THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH, by way of a more serious minded Tim Burton tripping on acid, this often overlooked live action version of UZUMAKI should have been an arrival for it's director, the mono-named Higuchinski, who only went on to direct only two other films (LONG DREAM from 2000, and TOKYO 10+01 released in 2003).

JENNIFER'S BODY - Prime (subscription)

Anita (Amanda Syfried) has a little problem. Her best friend, Jennifer (Megan Fox), has been killed by an overzealous rock band into the occult, only to be reanimated, and bound to a flesh hungry demon. Even worse? No one believes Anita, and now? Jennifer is even trying to steal her one romantic prospect away.

Karyn Kusama directs from a screenplay by Diablo Cody, which skewered body shaming, sexism, homophobia, and CIS males long, long before #MeToo came to town. The two leads, are particularly strong, with Seyfried delivering the solid performance she's come to be known for, and Fox being surprisingly effective as the cheerleader, literally, from hell.

THE RITUAL (Netflix)

A night out for some close friends turns tragic when one of their group is shot and killed, after they accidentally stumble into a liquor store robbery in progress. A few months later, they gather again for a hiking trip through the Scandinavian countryside, to honor their lost friend, and reconnect with each other after drifting.

After a wrong turn, they find themselves lost in the forest, and soon they are plagued with odd visions, and an unseen stalker. As the situation worsens, things go from terrible to terrifying, as members of the party begin disappearing, falling victim to whatever monstrous entity pursues them.

Based on a novel by author Adam Nevill, adapted by screenwriter Joe Barton, and directed by new horror hotshot David Bruckner, THE RITUAL is a claustrophobic nail biter, that expertly ratchets up the tension, into a bat-shit crazy climax that I refuse to giveaway here, but trust me...if you like monster movies, the third reel seriously delivers.

TERRIFIED aka ATERRADOR (Shudder)

A cursed neighborhood is collectively having a very, very bad week.

A young boy is hit and and killed, run over by a bus, only for his grieving parents to find muddy footprints leading in from outside and to the breakfast table, where they discover the rotting cadavar of their young child sitting there...motionless?

A woman is hearing ghostly voices emerge from her kitchen sink drain, whispering very real threats of a torturous death.

A man, besieged by a supernatural entity he cannot see, sets up a night camera and discovers there very well may be, literally, a monster under his bed.

TERRIFIED weaves these bloody tales together in a parallel narrative by way of a group of paranormal investigators who come to document, and hopefully explain jusT what in the hell is going on with the cursed block of homes. The thing is...Hell is going on, and the over-curious researchers may well be in over their heads.

Writer/director Demián Rugna contributes an incredibly strong and effective offering to the horror anthology format, with each story having it's own brutally vicious hook. The sense of dread is strong with this one,  carried along by Rugna's ability to build a truly disturbing experience with his deft and stylistic mastery of cinematic tension. Humorless and nihilistic, don't expect any relief or escape from the darkness, but if you are a fan of the more serious side of gore and supernatural film, I promise you will not only be entertained, but TERRIFIED.