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     I know Martyrs was originally released in 2008 around the world, but it made its wide release here in the United States in 2009.   After many of my friends and collogues telling me I have to see this film, and with some of them telling me it was the best film they have seen in the past ten or so years; I knew it was time to get my hands on a copy and check it out. I’m glad I did, not only is it my best film of 2009, but is one of the best horror films I’ve seen in about fifteen years.  It’s a film that I’m still thinking about today, it sticks with you well after the first viewing.

    I’m a parent, and my second child is due any day now. Need I say more? People who didn’t care for the film that I’ve spoke with, don’t have kids so they can’t relate, and while it can be argued that Writer/Director Paul Solet does not have children either; you could have fooled me. The guy did his research and really hit the nail on the head. Parents will do anything for their children including killing for them.

A horror, science fiction film that shows how history repeats itself. Full of plenty of action a gore, the film has many hidden messages that define the nature of the human race when faced with a species of alien from another plane living here in on earth and in all places: South Africa. Countries were apartheid was an issue until 1994.

This film probably won’t be released until next year where it will be part of an anthology of short films, yet it has made its way around the country on the festival circuit.  It’s not a feature film, but with a running time of around forty-five minutes, and a story that really hits you hard, this low budget film deserves a lot of credit. Actor, director, producer Alan Rowe Kelly uses social issues to the tee in this horror film about a gay couple who cross paths with a bible thumping family of zealots  in the deep woods, while shopping at their back road antique shop.  The couple finds themselves fighting to survive as the family tries to kill them because of their sexual preference.

   Here’s a film that just appeared on my doorstep one day and after all the bitching and complaining I was doing relating to the lack of good horror films this year, this was the first of the year that I wrote a four star review for. Its an original take on the zombie genre.

 I’m a sucker for monsters in space films. While reviews for this film were mixed, I loved it. It was a lot like Aliens crossbreed with the cave creatures from The Decent aboard the Event Horizon. There is nothing special or original about the plot, but it was one hell of a fun film.

A creepy film that reminded me of a mix of a film that Hammer Studios, Hitchcock, Argento and a group of eighties filmmakers got together and decided to put a film together. It has a lot of creepy moments and puts you right in the lead characters shoes.

  I mentioned I was a parent above, Right? So what would any parent do if an alien disease took over your children’s minds and told them to kill and eat you. To add more terror to the thought, would you have the will power to kill your own child, if such an event occurred? It’s a scary question to ponder.

   On the subject of children again. What would you do if you lost your child while on vacation in Indonesia when the tsunami happened? Only to one day see him on television as part of a tribe of children in the deep jungles of Vietnam and Burma and could possibility be part of the slave trade.  Well you would go looking for him in this remote and dangerous part of the world where anything can happen.

   A bunch of radio personalities trapped in a radio station while the people outside the studio develop an unknown form of craziness, maybe their zombies, maybe they just went mad. All we know is that whatever it is; it is spreading.