Last month director Mike Flanagan took us on a terrifying unique take on the Billy Goats Gruff legend with Absentia, we saw tough woman Zoe Bell take on 49 other women bare kuckle style to win her freedom in Raze, and we embraced Sweden’s homage to Evil Dead with Wither. So as another four weeks have passed now is the perfect opportunity to look at what horror films are coming out on home release for the month of July.
THE SACRAMENT (2013)
Director: Ti West
Starring: Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Kentucker Audley
Release: 7th July
A hit with festival goers at this years Glasgow Frightfest, master of the slow-burn horror Ti West tries his hand at his own interpretation of found footage with The Sacrament. Based on the Jonestown Massacre, the film follows a newsteam as one of their team travels to an undisclosed location to find his missing sister. Once they have arrived at Eden Parish they meet the community’s leader and it’s not long before the visitors realise that this paradise is not what it seems. We loved this movie and strongly urge you to check it out.
VIDEO NASTIES: DRACONIAN DAYS (2014)
Director: Jake West
Release: 14th July
In the sequel to his prevous documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape (2010), Director Jake West and his producer Marc Marris takes us all back to the time of the Video Recording Act, July 1984 to uncover its shocking effects on home entertainment. Known as the most restrictive stage of censorship in the UK both West and Morris explore the so called moral guardians and discuss the subversive social culture that sprung up around it. A very informative and in some place shocking documentary about censorship gone crazy, if you were a fan of the first documentary then waste no time and seek this out.
HAUNTER (2013)
Director: VIncenzo Natali
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Peter Outerbridge, Michelle Nolden
Released: 14th July
Haunter is directed by Vincenzo Natali (Cube) and was shown during last years Film4 Frightfest. 15-year-old Lisa (Breslin) lives with her family and is the only one to realise that they are repeating the same day in 1985. As she investigates she discovers that her family were killed and are trapped in the very day they died. After making contact with Olivia, a girl who presently lives in her home, she sees similar signs and must work to save Oliva from her own fate. Haunter is a slow-burn mystery that proved to be a success amongst festival goers so if supernatural movies are your thing this one is definitely for you.
RETURN TO NUKE ‘EM HIGH VOLUME 1 (2013)
Director: Lloyd Kaufman
Starring: Asta Paredes, Catherine Corcoran, VIto Trigo
Released: 14th July
It’s time to return to Tromaville with Lloyd Kaufman’s Return to Nuke ‘Em Hugh Volume 1. In a school that has been affected by the near by nuclear power plant, the glee club have mutated into a gang called The Cretins. As time goes on the remaining student body also begins to mutate leaving the future in the hands of a couple who must fight them all to survive the madness. Filled with toxic waste, lesbians, monster penises, blood and gore and gratuitous nudity, if your like your films in the gutter then you may get a kick out of this one.
THE BATTERY (2012)
Director: Jeremy Gardner
Starring: Jeremy Gardner, Adam Cronheim, Niels Bolle
Released: 21st July
The Battery is a zombie film directed and written by Jeremy Gardner and tells the story of two former baseball players Adam and Mickey who team up after a zombie apocalypse in order to survive. When Adam intercepts a radio transmission from a protected community calling themselves The Orchard, he will stop at anything to find them. Dealing with the zombie apocalypse as a catalyst rather than a point of focus, The Battery was one of our festival favourites of last year and we are confident you will love it just as much as we do.
NOT SAFE FOR WORK (2014)
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: JJ Feild, Max Minghella, Eloise Mumford
Released: 21st July
From Joe Johnston the director of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the producer of The Purge and Paranormal Activity comes the office slasher Not Safe for Work. Max Minghella (The Social Network) plays an ambitious legal assistant who witnesses the murder of one of his co-workers whilst working late one night. Determined to evade the killer and save his co-workers Tom must stay one step ahead or he might be next. Packed with plenty of twists and turns to spin your head this is one to watch with your friends on a Friday night.
MISCHIEF NIGHT (2013)
Director: Richard Schenkman
Starring: Ian Bamberg, Noell Coet, Adam C. Edwards
Released: 28th July
It’s the night before Halloween and Emily Walton (Noell Coet), a young girl who has suffered from psychosomatic blindness, has been left home alone. So when an intruder breaks into her home she must use her remaining senses to survive the horrors of Mischief Night. From the looks of the trailer director Richard Schenkman (Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies) has crafted a home invasion thriller that will make you check twice when you lock up your home at night.
SX_TAPE (2013)
Director: Bernard Rose
Starring: Caitlyn Folley, Julie Marcus, Chris Coy
Released: 28th July
From the producers of Insidious and The Devil Inside comes Sex_Tape, a found footage horror directed by Bernard Rose (Candyman). A young couple with an adventrous sex life investigate an abandoned hospital as a possible location for their next art show. When the couple’s exploits awaken something supernatural in the hospital they end up facing something that lusts for more than just flesh. According to the trailer what we have here is a found footage film that borrows elements from Grave Encounters and House on Haunted Hill and looks every bit as chilling as it should do.
CHEAP THRILLS (2013)
Director: E.L. Katz
Starring: Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton
Released: 28th July
Cheap Thrills is another festival favourite from SXSW and Film4 Frightfest. The film stars Pat Healy as Craig, a man down on his luck as he decides to drown his sorrows in a nearby bar. After an encounter with his old friend Vince, the pair reminisce about their past before being invited to join a bored married couple who love nothing more than to make bets on people’s behaviour. So, to make the night interesting, the couple begin to offer wagers to the pair in return for money which then sparks off an epic battle for the cash. Packed with enough black comedy and plenty of outthere moments, Cheap Thrills is a film that will leave you stunned.
This month horror fans get to embrace dangerous dares, paranormal hauntings, home invasions, and perhaps one of the best zombie films ever to be made. So we here at CinemaChords hope you will keep these titles in mind when you want to kick back with a scary movie or two but our favourites this month are Cheap Thrills, The Sacrament and The Battery so be sure to check them out.
