Welcome to the first official "Dead Harvey 10"! This is where, every month, we will scour the internet and leave no rock unturned to find the 10 indie horror films that we're most interested in checking out. Are these the best 10 out there? Probably not. Are they all going to be indie? Doubt it. They're just the 10 we're most interested in... but we will tell you why we're interested in them. So, read on for what we're looking out for this month.
Red Dot - released on Netflix, Feb 11th. This is a Swedish flick from filmmaker Alain Darborg. What else has he done? No surprise, a bunch of other Swedish films... and he's won some awards. Here's the plot: When Nadja becomes pregnant, her and her husband make an attempt to rekindle their relationship by traveling to the North of Sweden for a hiking trip, but... their romantic trip turns into a nightmare. (1) I like that Netflix is picking up foreign indie horror/thriller films. It's a good look. (2) It's an intense trailer and I'm getting the feeling that it's something along the lines of "Hard Target" or, even better, "Surviving The Game". I feel it's been a while since we've seen a good R-rated film where humans hunt humans for sport. CLICK HERE to check out the trailer.
Crime Scene: The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel – another one on Netflix, this one comes out Feb 10th. This is another documentary from the guys that did the Epstein doc, as well as The Ted Bundy Tapes. The Producer is Joe Berlinger. He did Blair Witch 2 and was profiled in “Hollywood Horrors from the Directors Chair: Six filmmakers in the Franchise of Fear”. I enjoyed both the Epstein doc, as well as the Ted Bundy Tapes and now I'm interested to see how they tackle this story. I remember when this happened and it's pretty messed up. Here's the plot: Elisa lam was a 21- Canadian tourist who stayed at the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles in February 2013. Weeks later, after disappearing, her body was discovered in the hotel's rooftop water tank. CLICK HERE for the trailer.
Joe Bob Put a Spell On You - Joe Bob Briggs is a favorite of Dead Harvey's Brad Paulson, so a new Joe Bob special is definitely on the radar. This one comes out on Shudder, live on Friday, February 12th and will be available on demand starting on the 14th, I believe. From the official promo: Love is in the air for the first-ever Last Drive-In Valentine’s Day special! Joe Bob Briggs hosts a double feature of two unusual films about the power (and horror) of love. Dim the lights, pour a glass of bubbly—Dom Perignon or Lone Star, your choice.
Shook - this is a shudder original that's coming out on February 18th and the trailer looks pretty f'ing good. It's from Jennifer Harrington, who looks to have clocked most of her career as an editor and has directed a couple films previously, having came on the scene with a short thriller called "Cargo" in 2008. Here's the plot: When Mia, a social media star, becomes the target of an online terror campaign, she has to solve a series of games to prevent people she cares about from getting murdered. But is it real. Or is it just a game at her expense. Check out the trailer... and I love this style where they mix found footage, computer screens and everything - economical and helps tell the story. CLICK HERE for the trailer.
Red Woods – this looks like a true indie horror flick and it's available Feb 5th on VOD, so you can find it on iTunes, Youtube, Amazon, etc... it's from On Beat Productions and, what I found really cool, is the website that they put together for it, which you can find HERE. I love how they're all-in, too. You can buy merch, there's links to everything, there's interactive timelines. Really, all this shit helps you with awareness, it makes you look legit and when you're shopping your film, they like this stuff. It's written, directed and produced by Nicholas Danko, distributed through Film Bridge International and Freestyle Digital Media. CLICK HERE for the trailer.
Wrong Turn: The Foundation – Yup, this is a reboot of the original series and would be the 7th installment. I liked the first couple "Wrong Turn" films, I might have seen one or two others, but I had no idea they made four other ones. Here's the plot: A team of friends are hiking the Appalachian Trail, only to be hunted by the "Foundation", a self-sufficient community of people who have lived in the mountains for hundreds of years and have become extremely hostile to outsiders. This is a great sub-genre and I don't know what you call it, but it probably started with "Hills Have Eyes" and extends to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "House of 1,000 Corpses". Basically, backward, mutant hillbillies that hate normal people. Saban Entertainment is behind it, so it's indie... but not that indie. They're the guys behind films like "Fatman" and "Guns Akimbo". I think this actually got a one day theatrical release and will be on VOD Feb 23rd, so should be able to find it everywhere. CLICK HERE for the trailer
Hellkat - Here we go! This is a great looking low-budget indie flick and it comes from Proportion Productions. I looked these guys up and they just crank out low budget films, probably 4 or 5 a year... no kidding. Clearly they have a system and no lack of messed up ideas. You have to appreciate that. The plot here: A fallen MMA fighter must win a netherworld no-holds-barred death tournament against man, beast and demon to save her soul. It comes out Feb 2nd and you might have to search around a bit on VOD to find it, but I think you'll find it Prime Video and Google Play. CLICK HERE for the trailer.
Central Park Dark – This indie horror makes this list simply because Tom Sizemore is in it. It might very well be awesome... or shitty, I don't know. It comes out Feb 2nd on VOD and has Tom Sizemore in it. I don't know what to say other than he's basically become an indie horror icon... that you could probably get to be in your film. The plot: A one-night stand turns into a never-ending nightmare. A married doctor has a one-night stand with an unstable woman who jumps out of his window, then begins to torment him, though it's unclear if she is still alive or not. Written, directed and starring Cybil Lake. You can find the trailer HERE
The Reckoning – Here we go! From Neil Marshall of "Dog Soldiers" and "Descent" fame. He did a bunch of TV work on awesome shows like "Hannibal", "Westworld" and "Game of Thrones" before completely shitting the bed with "Hellboy" in 2019. NOW, we get a return to form. The plot: Evelyn, a young widow haunted by the recent suicide of her husband Joseph, is falsely accused of being a witch by her Landlord after she rejects his advances. This was likely intended to get a theatrical release (and I read that it was held up for a while by different distributors) and there's a pile of production companies involved. It also won a pile of awards: Global Independent Film Awards, Hot Springs International Horror Film Festival, Lonely Wolf: London International Film Festival, LA Film Awards, NY City Horror Film Festival, Oniros Film Awards, on and on… I think it's gets released on Feb 5th on VOD. You can find the trailer HERE.
IFC Films: The Vigil Movie - I've heard about this movie for a while for some reason... It premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2019. Then, in 2020, the film was acquired by Blumhouse Productions. The film received a limited theatrical release in the United Kingdom and Ireland in July 2020 through Vertigo Releasing and began screening in select theaters in New Zealand on July 16th. It was then released internationally on August 5, 2020. In October 2020, IFC Midnight acquired the film from Blumhouse and has set it for a February 26, 2021, release... on VOD. Crazy how many times it's switched hands and moved around. Anyhow, you can see the trailer HERE.
**BONUS** HOST comes out on DVD Feb 2nd. It's a Shudder original, so it's still there. However, if you don't have Shudder, this is one you should really see.
That's it for February's Dead Harvey 10! We'll be doing this each month and if you want to make sure you don't miss it, sign up for our newsletter. We'll send it out through there, plus post it on the site... and some other places.
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