horror

by

Rec160: Weapons – a clever vanishing act

MOVIE

Title: Weapons, 2025

Director: Zach Cregger

Starring: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin

Weapons is a movie that is probably best seen cold, because it does not walk the expected path as it plays out its central mystery. The fan gets hit one morning when a classroom of kids fails to turn up to school – except one. Emotions run high, and the teacher (Garner) falls under suspicion as the days wear on and the kids don’t turn up. The only clue is footage of them all running away from home in the wee hours. From there, things spiral in pleasantly surprising and eerie ways. The story is presented in a series of interconnected viewpoints, both filling in the background and taking the narrative forward. It’s a clever balancing act of horror and dark comedy, light relief turning into dread, and offering one of the bleakest endings I’ve seen in ages. The audience reaction was a reminder of why some flicks are worth seeing in the cinema, as gasps became laughs became gasps. Ouch.

by

Rec160: Together – holding tight in a sticky situation

MOVIE

Title: Together, 2025

Director: Michael Shanks

Starring: Alison Brie, Dave Franco

We checked out Together to see what Alison Brie is up to now that she had graduated from college and retired from professional wrestling. Turns out, she’s making a fun movie where the body horror takes togetherness to a whole new level. Millie (Brie) has convinced her musician boyfriend (played by Brie’s husband, Franco) of many years to accompany her to the sticks where she can take up a teaching position. There, they stumble upon a secret that really tests the strength of their fraying bond to each other. It’s not the tightest plotted, and the sacrifice of art for a sensible career hits an uncomfortable note, but there are some striking moments – an eyeball effect is worth seeing, and a scene with a saw puts the teeth on edge. I’m glad I didn’t read much about it before going in, because ultimately, there’s enough going on to make it not entirely predictable and a bit of a conversation starter.

by

Rec160 – 28 Years Later

MOVIE

Title: 28 Years Later, 2025

Director: Danny Boyle

Starring: Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes

Something to be said for this, the third instalment of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s 28 series: it’s not as bleak as the second outing, 28 Weeks Later, but it still has plenty of bite. The UK is still in quarantine as the Rage virus wracks the island, the non-infected self-sufficient but supplementing with foraging and zombie hunting. Anyone who has played Zombicide will note a development in this outing roughly analogous to the three different kinds of ‘zombies’ present in that game as well as insights into the ecosystem of the infected that reminds us that they are not undead, just very angry and very hungry. Enter young Spike, who becomes a conduit for a meditation on life and death as, armed with a bow and a deep love for his ailing mother, he has a coming-of-age journey. Bookending the movie is an unexpected turn for another young survivor, perhaps a springboard into a planned further two movies. Tasty.

by

Rec160 – Bring Her Back

FILM

Title: Bring Her Back, 2025

Directors: Danny and Michael Philippou

Starring: Billy Barrratt, Sora Wong, Sally Hawkins

After absorbing this masterpiece at an advance screening, my wife and I agreed that there is something quite special about a mundane kind of evil. Despite all the gruesomeness and clever use of some horror tropes, the Philippous’ second outing after the superb Talk To Me succeeds due to its grounded performances. In particular, Hawkins, as the social worker cum guardian to orphaned Andy and Piper, nails her role beautifully. I knew very little about the movie going in and see no reason to unveil too much here, as there are some lovely, superbly paced reveals. There’s an isolated, hippie-style home in the hills, a spooky video tape, a spooky kid, all pieces in a game of cunning manipulation. Add some occult rituals and jaw-clenching body horror, anchored on real care, love and desperate loss, and you have one of the strongest horror films since, well, Talk To Me. I can’t wait to see what the Adelaide duo do next.

by

Rec160 — Sinners

FILM

Title: Sinners, 2025

Director: Ryan Coogler

Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton

There’s an air of From Dusk Till Dawn to this Southern-drenched period piece that strikes me as one of the best battles of the bands ever – everyone is getting down to the blues in a 1930s juke joint, but then the vampires arrive and the jig is up. Jordan plays twin brothers who return to their home town after having schooled up as soldiers and criminals. They’re trying to pick up where they left off as a gang of two, encountering the friends and lovers left behind as they muster musicians, including a talented guitarist (Caton), and helpers for the opening of their club. Has anyone tallied the number of tracking shots, and how long they go for? They certainly add to the feeling of immediacy. The acting, the sets, the cinematography – there are fabulous transitional edits between scenes – and, yes, the music, whether Buddy Guy’s guest spot or a touch of Riverdance, makes for an immersive experience worth revisiting.

by

Conflux, here we come

I’m very chuffed to report that Kirstyn and I will be guests of honour at Conflux, Canberra’s festival of speculative fiction in October this year.

Conflux has always been a fabulous convention, offering plenty of information about the craft and business of writing as well as a great opportunity to hang out with writers and readers, united in their love of all things spec fic.

It’ll be challenging and fun to be taking part as a guest, especially as a double bill with Kirstyn (others are yet to be announced), and I’m looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones.

I expect I’ll be banging on about the enduring allure of vampires, the Gothic, and climate fiction, and whatever else pops up.

Attending conventions has been a valuable element in my journey as a writer, and I’ve always appreciated opportunities to give back to that. This will be next level, though!

I encourage genre writers to investigate such opportunities, to get insights into the industry, meet like-minded souls, and be part of the community. So come on down, the water’s fine. Memberships are now open.

by

Sweet Music – where Dracula meets Cthulhu

Today marks the official release day of Into the Cthulhu-Universe, an IFWG anthology that transplants Lovecraft’s mythos into other literary realms.

My short story, ‘Sweet Music’, came out of the blue, or more likely the black: a casual conversation with co-editor Steven Paulsen in which it was mentioned there was a hole in the anthology.

‘Anyone done Dracula?’ I asked.

‘No.’ Eyebrow raised.

‘Give me a week, see if anything emerges…’

And here it is, a little different to the original concept that first dug its way out of the back brain.

You’ll notice some of the hard-copy research material pictured, the exquisite coincidence of a certain Cthulhu castle in Transylvania, the challenge of layering Tepes over Stoker over Lovecraft et al.

I’ve written only two other Cthulhu-esque stories — ‘An Incident at Portsea, 1967’ and ‘Slither’. Nice when things come in threes, even if years apart!

Into the Cthulhu-Universe is now available from the usual online retailers. Find out more at IFWG.

by

Rec160: Presence

Film

Title: Presence

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Stars: Callina Liang, Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Eddy Maday

This haunted house film is fabulous until it gets tripped up by its final reveal, but it’s worth a watch. The point of view is that of an entity inhabiting the unremarkable suburban home, with a penchant for a particular wardrobe. I was quite happy not knowing the entity’s identity and story, and enjoyed the constraint of having pieces of story provided only by what it can hear or see from its vantage points within the home. A family moves in and the dynamics are built through vignettes: tiger mum has a business secret as well as devotion to her son’s swimming career, dad isn’t coping, daughter is suffering from the death of her best friend from an apparent drug overdose (one of two). But at the end, the time paradox referenced by a medium undermines the simple elegance of the set-up, and narrative coherence – already a little frayed by the side plot of dead students – unspools. That wardrobe? Ew.

by

rec160: Blink Twice

Film: Blink Twice

Director: Zoë Kravitz

Starring: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum,

Year of release: 2024

Comparisons (e.g. Rolling Stone and Esquire) between this, the debut for director Zoë Kravitz, with the work of Jordan Peele (in particular Get Out) is not unwarranted. Here’s an apparent idyll that of course has a dark secret, and the reveal is beautifully balanced as clues and tension mount after a leisurely set-up. Horror ensues amid the social critique, Naomi Ackie’s Frida bearing the brunt amid a cast of questionable dudes and a delightful sisterhood. There is a certain, triumphant inevitability to events once the trigger is pulled, even though the survivor ratio is always in question and the denouement offers a masterful twist. Channing Tatum heads the good-time bros partying hard on their private island, his portrayal totally convincing of a tech tycoon on the comeback trail from an unknown but intimated scandal. Money talks and money walks in this premise, a superb addition to the ouvre in which exploitation in the Me Too era receives its just desserts.

by

rec160: A Quiet Place – Day One

Film: A Quiet Place – Day One

Director: Michael Sarnoski

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff

Release: 2024

When this movie emerged, I wondered what it could add to the first two (sensational) instalments. We’d seen how the aliens arrived and – spoiler – how they could be fought. So what did Day One have to offer? Turns out, plenty. Albeit, probably any apocalyptic monster or zombie could’ve done the job of setting up this entirely enthralling survival story. It rang a similar bell to the fabulous Aussie flick These Final Hours, where values such as family and friendship are put under an intense lens as the curtain comes down in inevitable fashion. Adding to the emotional pull is a cat that has a habit of being in the right, or wrong, place at the right time. There’s a touchstone to the previous movies that rewards familiarity but doesn’t confuse, Day One a masterclass in how to tap a franchise without cannibalising it or fracturing the narrative. If only Alien: Romulus had been able to show such a deft touch.