Gates of Gore's Independent Horror Reviews

 Cast: Thomas Haley, Corey Sorenson, Jessica Cameron, Brooklyn Haley, John Marrott, Jerry Broome Director: Thomas Haley An unknown virus has ravaged the world. While a majority of the infected are quarantined away from civilization, a lone man fights to come up with a cure to save humanity. BREAKDOWN is the directorial debut for Thomas Haley and I must say I was very impressed.  During these difficult times we are actually living in, this movie really hit you in the gut of how worse things can get and if you are asking "just how worse can it be?", imagine being one of a few survivors of a mysterious plague. Now that is truly horrifying.  Not only is Thomas Haley the director, he is also the star of this film and I thought he did a great job. I really hope to see what he will come up with next.  There's really not much in the way of interactions with the few characters here, but that made it scary for me. Just being alone in a world that have mostly died off is upsetting.

  Cast: Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, Lauren Molina, Larry Fessenden Director: Dan Berk and Robert Olsen  After a night out of partying, 3 female friends sneak into a secluded, remote mansion to have more  fun. However, what was supposed to be good times, things turn horribly wrong. I didn't know what to expect when I came across this film. I actually thought this was going to be something about body horror, but I mean with that title and not reading the description, how can you not think that way.  When I started watching this movie, I discovered it was not what I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing, is it? BODY was more of a thriller about 3 women who get more then they bargained for when they get caught by the groundskeeper of the mansion and what ends up happening until the very end. Plus this movie takes place during Christmas and I thought I knew every holiday horror films, so it's great to come across one I had never heard of. I was quite impressed with BODY

Cast: Cailee Spaeny, Zoey Luna, Nicholas Galitzine, Michelle Monaghan, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone, David Duchovny  Director: Zoe Lister-Jones After moving with her mom to a small town to live with her new stepfamily, a young girl discovers her new found powers that she had and with the addition of 3 of her classmates, their powers grow more powerful then they expected. Does this sound familiar? Well it should, especially if you are a fan of the 1996 film, THE CRAFT. When news of THE CRAFT: LEGACY was let out, it was reported that they were planning a remake/reboot and I was really pissed off with it. Fortunately, they eventually didn't go down that road and THE CRAFT: LEGACY turned out to be a sequel instead. However, the movie was really disappointing in so many ways.  The 4 main actresses did a decent job with what they were given, but I just wish it was more. Unlike THE CRAFT, there were no development with the characters nor did they show their private lives, which would've

  Cast: Kathryn Newton, Vince Vaughn, Uriah Shelton, Misha Osherovich, Celeste O'Connor, Alan Ruck  Director: Christopher Landon  An infamous serial killer mysteriously swaps bodies with a 17 year old high school girl after he attacks and stabs her with an ancient dagger. When I first heard that a horror version of FREAKY FRIDAY was in the works, I was not enthusiastic at all about this news. I mean, can't Hollywood come up with their own ideas?  However, my mind was changed upon learning that Christopher Landon was behind this and he did both HAPPY DEATH DAY films and they were incredibly fun. FREAKY (leaving off the Friday part of the title) was the biggest surprise for me. I knew what I was in for from the first 10 minutes or so. The killings were quite bloody and brutal. Sure, the characters that were killed off first, you really didn't care about. Or basically any of the murder victims for that matter.  Kathryn Newton who portrayed the young high school student turned