The Black Gloves

"The Black Gloves" (2017) (aka "The Owlman 2" for streaming release) is the newest film by the team at Hex Media which includes director Lawrie Brewster and writer Sarah Daly. This is the second film to feature their creepy, scary Owlman who was also prominent in "Lord of Tears" (aka "The Owlman"). The filmmakers have created a whole mythology around the Owlman with its roots in the folklore and old religions of the Scottish highlands. This movie takes place and is styled after the film noir movies of that period and is even filmed in black and white, which adds to the atmosphere of the film. The film is a wonderful mash up of genres: film noir, psychological thriller, gothic and atmospheric horror.

The film stars Jamie Scott Gordon as Finn Galloway, Macarena Gómez as Lorena Velasco, and Alexandra Nicole Hulme as Elisa Grey.

Finn Galloway is psychologist recovering from the recent loss of a young patient of his who had been haunted by an owlman creature she sketched. To help with his grief, he begins an investigation to discover the truth behind this mythical creature. The investigation leads him to an imposing mansion at the isolated Baldurrock Estate in the Scottish highlands where a once famous ballerina, Elisa Grey is living in seclusion and silence with her very intense ballerina teacher, Lorena Velasco. 

 

Finn Galloway tries to convince the women that he can help bring Elisa out of her long, silent, fugue-like state by conducting counseling sessions with her.  Elisa is a fragile and lost soul after a fall from fame and other horrors she has experienced at the house. Her ever watchful and very intense ballet teacher, Lorena, is a task master that demands nothing but the best from the fragile ballerina with hopes Elena will return to stage to perform her legendary performance as the Black Swan. Lorena herself is a former ballet star who faced an injury that prevented her from pursuing her destiny so she keeps pushing Elena so she can vicariously live through any future glories of her student. The codependency of the two women is extreme with Lorena the strict mother figure and Elena the helpless child. Can Dr. Galloway figure out the puzzle of Baldurrock, the Owlman, Moloch the ancient god, the controlling and overbearing teacher and the ethereal but wounded figure who is Elisa?

Macarena Gómez who plays the wonderfully over the top and sinister teacher is a Spanish actress whose looks, gestures and speech all fit beautifully into the film noir experience the filmmakers have created. The beautiful and talented, Alexandra Nicole Hulme does a superb job playing the broken ballerina, Elisa, who does what she can to reach out to the visiting psychologist for help from the horror she is trapped in. Jamie Scott Gordon is commanding as Dr. Galloway who is working through his grief and wants to help the young woman but has his own controlling nature and tragic life experiences to deal with.

Director Lawrie Brewster, writer Sarah Daly and their team of filmmakers provide us with a film you can really enjoy. The filmmakers excel at the cinematography. The rocking motion of the camera during the dream and/or reality sequences adds to the intense turmoil and tension on the screen very effectively. The filmmakers painstakingly created a film like that from the 1940s, very effectively using black and white film while mastering the use of shadows, reflections, sinister silhouettes and candlelight that makes this film so memorable. The Victorian looking Owlman with its long fingers and tall figure, is a very sinister creature you wouldn't want to run across in the woods or lurking around the corner of the hall. Whenever we see the Owlman onscreen it is a startlingly creepy experience.

Will the lengths that Elisa goes through trying to survive her experiences at Baldurrock with the Owlman, Lorena and Dr. Galloway, give her the strength to find herself and to live for another day?

I really enjoyed this horror noir film and highly recommend you immerse yourself into the dark, moody, contemplative and psychologically complex experience that is "The Black Gloves".

You can purchase this film at Hex Media's Hex Store.

The Babadook

"The Babadook" (2014) starring Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall is surprisingly creepy horror movie about a children's pop up book that has a horrible creature that comes to life to terrorize a mom and her young son.

Widowed mom Amelia (Essie Davis) is trying to keep up with the demands of life - working and being a single mom to a very precocious son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman).  Her husband died taking her to the hospital when her son was born seven years earlier.  She is still working through the grief of losing him.  Samuel is quite a handful, getting kicked out of school, causing problems with his cousin and making life very difficult for his mom.

One night Samuel picks out the nightly storybook to read together before bed.  It is titled "The Babadook" and is a scary popup book about a shadowy creature that is trying to get in and terrorize the family in the book.  As Amelia reads it, she quickly sees it escalate into violence between the mother and the son and immediately hides then tries to destroy the book.
However, being a special book, it is returned to them and the Babadook monster, first only seen by Samuel, continues to intrude deeper into their lives.  Soon Amelia, and the viewer, doesn't know what is reality or what is within the characters' minds.

"The Babadook" is a very effective psychological thriller and horror story.  It creates a menacing and oppressive atmosphere as the mother and son become isolated from the world around them as they try to deal with this monster that may or may not be only in their minds.  The cinematography, music, eerie sound effects and great acting by Essie Davis contribute to an enjoyable horror film that will send chills down your spine.

The Night Digger

"The Night Digger" (aka "The Road Builder") (1971) starring Patricia Neal, Pamela Brown, Nicholas Clay and Jean Anderson and written by Roald Dahl is a horror, thriller, melodrama about a daughter caring for her elderly mother in a decaying mansion who are joined by a young stranger on a motorcycle.

Maura Prince (Neal) is an aging woman who is stuck in a life caring for her elderly and blind mother, Edith Prince (Brown).  They live in an old mansion in the English countryside that according to Maura is 'going to pot'. Maura has been offered a full time job at the hospital where she volunteers but her mother is a master manipulator who gets her to remain at home with her.

Needing to make some extra money, Edith was considering a friend's nephew as a tenant but that has unexpectedly fallen through.  Out of the blue, a handsome young stranger, Billy Jarvis (Clay) shows up at their doorstep saying he has been referred by the friend and offers to do work around the house in lieu of room and board.  Edith falls for the young man's charms and she almost convinces herself, as well as her busy body church friends, that Billy is her great nephew.

Billy moves in and soon is fixing up the old house and gardens and even winning over the reluctant Maura who didn't want him there in the first place.  As things get better and better at home, Billy starts getting bouts of depression and heads off on his motorcycle in the middle of the night with murderous results.  Apparently, the Night Digger is a serial killer that has been killing young women in the area and getting rid of the bodies. How will this turn of events affect the Prince mother and daughter?

"The Night Digger" is an excellent psychological love story filled with eerie Gothic atmosphere.     Patricia Neal is superb as the long suffering daughter of an overwhelming mother, who just wants to break out and live her own life before it's too late.  The action is rather slow but the decaying mansion and estate as well as the talented cast of characters and the situations they encounter, make this gem of a film very enjoyable to watch.

Lord of Tears

"Lord of Tears" (2013) is a haunting new horror movie that takes place in a crumbling old country mansion in the misty Scottish Highlands, starring David Schofield, Alexandra “Lexy” Hulme, Jamie Scott Gordon & Euan Douglas from writer Sarah Daly and director Lawrie Brewster.

 

 James “Jamie” Findlay (Euan Douglas) is a school teacher who inherits his family’s ancestral estate, Baldurrock House, in the remote Scottish Highlands when his estranged mother dies.  She also leaves him a letter reminding him of the reason he left the home and why he must never return there.  Upon reading the letter, Jamie’s subconscious memories start to surface and he is once again being haunted by his past.

 

James discusses his mother’s death and his growing concern about his past with his childhood friend and coworker, Allen Milton (Jamie Gordon) who assures him he is just going through the grief of losing his mother.  We also discover Allen is going through his own trials with the illness of his father. 

To discover what is behind his long lasting terror, James returns to his childhood home, a large, old mansion in the remote Scottish countryside.  Upon his arrival he meets Eve “Evie” Turner (Lexy Hulme), a beautiful young American woman who has been staying on the estate.  Evie is quite striking and extremely friendly and she quickly attracts the adoration of the lonely and increasingly terrified Jamie.  She helps him with his investigation to get to the root of his terror.

                           

Lurking on the estate is a tall, eerie, quite dapperly attired figure with an oversized owl head and long talons for its fingers.  What is the significance of this creature that Jamie knows he has seen in his childhood and adult nightmares?  The depth of his terror builds as he uncovers the truth of what happened at Baldurrock House and what is yet to happen.   

 

Director, Lawrie Brewster, has endeavored to make his film "Lord of Tears" in the vein of classic British chillers like "The Wicker Man", "The Haunting" and "The Innocents".  The multi-talented, Sarah Daly not only penned the screenplay, she also wrote and performed some of the hauntingly beautiful vocal pieces on the soundtrack as musical artist Metaphorest.

 

Lawrie Brewster - Director

After working hard to make a polished horror film that created a unique and uncanny antagonist, the Owl Man, which drew inspiration from classic mythology and lore, ancient history and modern legends, the dynamic duo of Lawrie Brewster and Sarah Daly have been working overtime over the last year to get this film released.  They conducted a highly successful Kickstarter campaign, found additional funding and formed their new production company, Hex Media and along with producing partner, Dark Dunes Productions, successfully released the film this month.

Sarah Daly - Writer

Certain scenes from “Lord of Tears” will remain with you long after first viewing.  The wonderfully talented and beautiful Lexy Hume steals the show in some of her scenes especially her scene where Evie is performing an extravagant dance for Jamie in the main room.  Evie’s classic beauty is featured most in the scene where Jamie is in the swimming pool and she enters down the spiral staircase to join him – with the haunting melodies and vocals that Sara Daly (Metaphorest) has provided, the scene really shines.  The scenes of Moloch, the Owl Man, are truly eerie and the first time Jamie sees him appear in the forest brought chills down my spine. 

 

“Lord of Tears” is a supernatural and psychological thriller that knows how to build suspense and terror.  With very little blood, lots of uncanny imagery, characters we care about and a house that is a character in itself, the filmmakers were able to craft a very scary film which reminds me of the atmospheric horror chillers of my youth that I have always enjoyed the most in the horror genre.  

 

If you enjoy classic horror movies that immerse you into eerie atmosphere and build an uncanny sense of suspense, check out “Lord of Tears” – you won’t be disappointed.

 

"Lord of Tears" had its World Premiere on 10/25/2013 at the Bram Stoker International Film Festival. You can order the special collector’s edition DVD or Bluray, soundtrack CD and other Owl Man goodies direct from the Hex Media's website.

"Lord of Tears" trailer

Sweet, Sweet Rachel

"Sweet, Sweet Rachel" (1971) is an ABC Movie of the Week horror / thriller starring  Alex Dreier, Pat Hingle, Louise Latham and Stefanie Powers.

Rachel Stanton (Powers) returns home to her palatial seaside mansion one evening to watch in horror her husband, seemingly in a trance, run toward and through the window to die on the seaside rocks below.  She then receives a phone call from a mysterious female voice reciting all the cards that are spread out on the table.

Filled with grief, Rachel seeks the help of ESP expert, Dr. Lucas Darrow (Dreier) to help her solve the mystery.  In the meantime, she starts seeing visions of things and feeling a power that is making her do things she doesn't want to do.  The Dr. and Rachel both believe someone used ESP to kill her husband and to go after her.

Out of the blue, Rachel's aunt and uncle Arthur and Lillian Piper show up at Rachel's house and insist on staying so they can take care of her during her time of need.  Their daughter Nora, who was in love with Rachel's husband, also keeps popping up.  Lillian has psychic powers of her own and Dr. Darrow is immediately suspicious of the aunt, especially after they start keeping her in the house for her own good and keep the doctor away from her.

This is a good made for TV thriller.  Stephanie Powers does a great job as a woman being assaulted from psychic forces.  There are lots of shadows and a wonderfully mysterious setting and atmosphere that permeates the movie.  Plus, it keeps you guessing until the end!

Nightmare

"Nightmare" (1964) is a Hammer horror/thriller starring:  David Knight, Moira Redmond and Jennie Linden.  

Janet, a teenager who goes to a private boarding school has some issues.  Her mother is in an insane asylum because she stabbed Janet's father.  Janet has recurring nightmares of her mother and of herself doing horrible things.  She is afraid she has inherited her mother's madness.  She leaves school early and returns under the watchful eye of her schoolteacher Mary Lewis to her family home.

Her guardian Henry Baxter has arranged a nurse named Grace Maddox to be there.  Shortly after arriving, Janet continues to have dreams that she can't decide are dreams or reality. She also keeps seeing a scar faced woman in white that glides around the house.  Poor Janet seems to be going mad, or is she being driven mad?

This film takes an unexpected turn a little over halfway through.  This is good, suspenseful thriller that will keep you guessing until the end.