Since the late nineties there has been a boom in the number of horror movies coming from Britain. Due to an increase in popularity of the horror genre as a whole and improved marketing and distribution opportunities, numerous high quality horrors have emerged and are making an impact on the worldwide market in a way not seen since the Hammer Horror movies from the fifties and sixties.
Initially the UK based Hammer Horror Films Production Company dominated the horror movie market for decades with their brand of gothic monster movies. more recently British horror has moved away from the haunted castles, fog covered graveyards and gothic villains that dominated the Hammer brand and has grounded itself in more believable situations but without straying too far from that distinctly British heritage. Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy were replaced by much more viable (although not necessarily less fantastical) threats. More recently Britain is responsible for some dark and twisted horror movies, often characterised by having demented themes and not very happy endings. Even the darkly humorous ventures from Britain tend to have a quite callous undertone and leaves those who watch with a sense that everything is not going to be alright.
Movies such as 28 Days Later, Creep, Dog Soldiers and Eden Lake reinvigorated the British horror industry and was accompanied by a revival of Hammer Horror in 2008. Britain is making a big impact on the horror movie market with their high quality and distinctly British brand of horror disturbing the world with cruel cynicism and sadistic sarcasm.
Small Town Folk is an odd mixture of styles which shouldn't work and, well... it doesn't really. The ambience is befitting of a made for TV mini-series for all the family, probably shown around supper time in the build up towards Christmas and probably featuring wizards, goblins, annoying know-it-all tweenies and wardrobes or something. This nausea... Click to read more "Small Town Folk"
If ever there was a commendable lesson in modern day parenting then Tom Shankland's The Children is it. If you are going to be hippie, hipster, new-age, middle class, tosser parents and you force this upon your children then they will probably get sick in the head and kill you. Intuition provides an inclination of where the story is going to go fro... Click to read more "The Children"
Before Dawn tells the story of an estranged couple Meg (Joanne Mitchell) and Alex (Dominic Brunt) who go to the countryside in order to try and salvage their relationship. They leave the kids with Meg's mum and head off for their weekend, unbeknown to them however, a zombie outbreak is already beginning.I was lucky enough to see director Dominic B... Click to read more "Before Dawn"
It is a rare occurrence that a comedy movie combines the correct ingredients to slip comfortably into the horror genus. British director Paul Andrew Williams manages to do this impeccably with The Cottage, and manages to take what starts as a bumbling crime caper seamlessly into a more traditional slasher movie without relying on lame humour so oft... Click to read more "The Cottage"
Bane tells the story of four women who, after being administered an injection, awake in a medical facility with no memory of who they are or why they are there. They are subjected to various cruel and unusual tests, but things get decidedly worse when a masked surgeon begins to visit them, carving numbers into their skin. It soon becomes apparent t... Click to read more "Bane"
The UK horror scene has had a resurgence in popularity in the recent years after a prolonged nap time after the death of Hammer Horror, with some quality horror making an appearance in the last couple of decades. Many of the UK's progressive horror directors are unafraid to put a new twist on age old horror themes and often add a little bit of the ... Click to read more "British Horror Movies"
