When it comes to horror, as a fan,  have my limits, and they dictate what I will watch and read, but as a reviewer, you have to try and put these aside so that you can look at the product with an unbiased view.  

I knew going into watching "We are Monsters" that this would be a hard watch that would push the limits of what I think is acceptable to the boundaries of my personal taste.  The tagline was simple and conveyed the sense of the film "Three Men, One Woman.  No chance of escape". The plot of the movie is as basic as you could get ​

I don’t often get excited about horror films anymore. It’s a shame but since writing horror for a living, I find most films to be a let down. The jump-scares are so obvious you see them coming a mile off, the premise has been done to death, there are twists that are obvious from the start of the film and so on, so fourth. I still go and watch them though in the hope I am going to be surprised and actually enjoy the film. It’s a shame then that the last decent “horror” film I watched was Krampus over Christmas time and that I only really enjoyed because it reminded me of my childhood and films such as Gremlins and Critters. Whilst the concept might not have been original, it was still a fun film with some great effects thrown in there too. Gone was CGI and back was practical effects! Hoorah! But this review isn’t about Krampus. This review is about another film I genuinely got excited about when I first saw the trailer. This review is about The Boy. ​

Life is full of disappointments. From opening up a bar of your favourite chocolate, only to discover that it has shrunk overnight from a regular size to what you would describe as a fun-sized version, to finally getting to watch a film that you have been excited about watching, only to find that the film is a complete mess. 

Since watching the trailer to David Keating's Cherry Tree last year, I was intrigued by the concept - folk horror witchcraft in a Modern Irish setting, that mixed magic, death, and sex with creepy crawlies into what looked like a very interesting film.  Sadly this was not to be the case, instead, Chery Tree ended up being a confused, and cliched coven of bad ideas. 

The death of Jamie Marks is little more than a reason to try and avoid class for most of the people at his school. He was a nobody with no discernible friends and nothing really going for him.

Adam, a boy who goes to the same school visits the place where Jamie was found and meets Gracie, the girl who found the body. The two of them start a tentative relationship, but when Jamie's ghost turns up, Adam starts to become obsessed with finding out the cause of Jamie's death. In doing so he sets himself on a path away from the living and into a world of the dead.

Cameron Monaghan's Adam is a young boy confused. He wants a relationship with Gracie, but doesn't know how to react when she blows hot then cold. He doesn't understand why his mother, Liv Tyler, forms a friendship with the woman who put her in a wheelchair, Judy Greer. And he doesn't understand why Jamie is dead, or why his ghost forms an attachment to him.

Noah Silver plays the deceased Jamie Marks as a creepy, almost stalker-like individual. At times it felt uncomfortable watching as he interacted with Adam. Like spying on an intimate couple at sometimes, whilst at other it was like watching an abusive and manipulative relationship.

Gracie, played by Morgan Saylor, is the girl who found Jamie's body, whilst out collecting rocks. She is also the person who inadvertently introduces Adam to Jamie's Ghost, something she tries to rectify throughout the film. Gracie is portrayed as knowing about the ghosts, but it's never fully explained how much or even why.

The film has some good ideas; the use of words to feed/sustain Jamie's Ghost,  Frances another ghost trapped in a perpetual nightmare loop who becomes jealous of Jamie and Adam's relationship. But the ideas are never fully explored and are left feeling halfhearted and inconclusive, never truly hitting their mark.
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All in all the film is more a coming of age self discovery story with creepy undertones rather than a horror. The ending gives enough to make watching seem worthwhile, but not enough to make it an excellent watch.
 
Rating 6.5/10
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We are pleased to reveal the first trailer and poster for TANK 432 (A.K.A Belly of the Bulldog) - screening at Marché du Film Festival de Cannes and coming to UK DVD 22nd August 2016.

From director Nick Gillespie and executive producer Ben Wheatley (Director Kill List, High Rise), comes this knife-edged thriller about a band of mercenary soldiers battling to escape a mysterious, unseen enemy.

On the run and with nowhere to hide, a group of soldiers and their two prisoners take cover from a mysterious enemy inside an abandoned military war tank. Whilst they try to keep the forces outside at bay, secrets are uncovered and little do they realise the real enemy is already among them, locked inside Tank 432.