Review: Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman (2000)

Stars: Scott MacDonald, Christopher Allport

Budget: Less Than Part 1

Directed By: Micheal Cooney

Ah remember that little comedy horror film with the cult following?
No, not troll or troll 2, the one with an early performance by Shannon Elizabeth and a wise cracking killer snowman.
That's right Jack Frost and I know I made this joke on the first part but not the Micheal Keaton heart warming one either.

In the first film we see Jack on his way to be executed for being a murdering psychopath, just when you think he's escaped he's dowsed in a chemical that melts him at an atomic level.
His DNA mixes with the snow allowing him to form into a snowman at will. Much murderous hilarity ensues as he goes on a killing spree with some quite unique kills racked up and some truly awful puns thrown into the mix.

Unfortunately despite it doing okay Cooney rushed out a sequel that supposedly had half the budget the original did. I can't find anything to back this up, no numbers or documentation anywhere for amounts these films cost. It does show in this sequel what an even crappier budget does and doesn't allow you to do.
In a sequel you want more of the same but ramped up to 20 right?
Unfortunately Jack Frost 2 does not offer this.

We Join the cop Sam from the first film Suffering from post traumatic disorder from his encounter with Jack (even worse than when he first caught him). He's advised to go on holiday by his wife and doctor so he decides to, especially since his two coworkers are also getting married.

Like most Government officials It seems they can't leave well enough alone, the FBI dig up some of the jack infected anti-freeze to do tests on. A janitor accidentally knocks a cup of coffee into the Jack mix and the caffiene and warmth somehow counter the chemical effects and Jack is reborn. Theres a new twist now though Jack has some of Sam's blood in him now which psychically links them both.

So he follows Sam to the Cobana in the pacific by just flinging himself into the sea and washing up on the beach. I think he's immune to heat now too or something like that, Agent Manners returns too even though he seemed quite dead in part 1, This is when Sam starts to realise there's something amiss.
Killings ensue with carrot noses being used as deadly weapons, this is where the budget shows they aren't nearly as good or as fun as the first films.

Despite the heat not effecting him as much as it should, he does seem to be able to cool the whole place down and make it snow! Despite the kills being subpar to the first films they are certainly increased 3 or 4 fold with many people dying in this one.
Sam tries to use the anti-freeze trick again and it does work, unfortunately Jack is now resilient to the chemical from being bonded with it by the coffee (I think). Jack also now has the ability to reproduce by spiting up snowballs that turn into little snowmen. These little guys devour poor Manners after he finds a nest of them.

The way they find out how to kill them and thus kill Jack in the end is incredibly odd compared to the anti-freeze ending of the last one. Despite not being as pleased with this one as I was the first film it's still got 'some' of the charm of the first. Cooney does apparently want to get a 3rd one off the ground but that was back in 2016, if he ever does I hope he has a better budget and brings back the feel of the first one more (supposedly a giant Jackzilla).
THN awards Jack Frost 2: RotMKS, a decent 2 out of 5 stars with a watch if you enjoyed the first one recommendation. 

Review: Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula (2020)

Stars: Gang Dong-Won, Lee Re

Budget: $16 Million

Directed By: Yeon Sang-Ho

Every time we look to the East for films something good always comes, be it Ringu, Ju-on or Godzilla. It goes the other way too, clearly on the undead hype director Yeon took the zombie genre and added a flair that was much needed in 2016's Train to Busan.

It was eerily creepy, tense yet had heart that made you feel each major characters ending. Along with the ending that gave us an incredibly tense finale to boot.

It was to many as it was to me cinema gold. Which when I heard of a sequel coming I was positively squeeing with delight. Every bit of information I leapt on, then it started to fall apart when I seen the first trailer.

BAD CGI I mean PS2 game cut scene bad, silly gimmicks like using radio control cars and Kids drifting in cars.

I kind of hoped it was a trailer didn't do the film justice kind of deal, I hoped that it would come together and gel well in the finished format. It almost very almost did for the first few minutes of the film. I watched getting my hopes at the tense feels of the first ten to fifteen minutes of this film. Then it jumped to the future and everything unraveled like a poorly knitted scarf...

It's like everything they did from making Alien into Aliens they did everything right, added action, heart likable characters expanded the universe. It feels like Peninsula tried to do this but failed terribly by adding the wrong type of stuff. Namely no good characters, no returning characters, not that that's needed. Not if you take the story then expand it in a meaningful way surely then?

OH it involves a plot to just steal some money and takes things from films like fast and furious, Land of the Dead and even resident evil. Suppose i'd better get on with the film.

The great beginning, starts off with some akin to the last film with our protagonist Jung a Korean army captain. He's escaping with his sister, her son and brother in-law in the initial break out of the virus. They make it to a ship but not before they have to leave behind another family with a young kid. OH that's not going to come back is it?
In the ship an infected man starts to attack everyone, unfortunately Jung's Nephew is one of the people infected. His sister refuses to leave her child forcing Jung to lock everyone infected in the cabin on the ship, much to the chagrin of Chul-min (his bro in-law).

Cut to FOUR years later now, we have s suitably mentally scarred Jung doing odd jobs for money and supplies. This is where it quickly descends into bad territory, they are recruited by the American mobsters to retrieve 20 million dollars, really you take a lame storyline like that for your sequel?
Bad man, just bad, they agree and quickly get to the money. It's while on the way back they are ambushed by some thugs who've formed some kind of gang. From here the two nobodies with them are quickly dispatched.

Jung gets separated from Chul but it rescued by some stupid toys and a Tokyo drifting teen girl, He quickly realises once introduced to them that the family is the one he left behind at the beginning didn't see that coming now did we.
Chul is capatured after the Gang discover him in the back of the van he was hiding in and Land of the Dead make him fight for survival in an arena. There is a pretty cool Rat King type zombie amalgam here that's about it.
Like most bad guy tropes the gang members that realise theres a ton of money in the one truck decide to double cross their boss and run off without him with the cash. 

Jung learns that theres a boat waiting for him so he goes to get the money, then learns Chul is alive too, so goes to get them both. Chul is unfortunately killed by the lead bad guy Hwang while saving Jung's life, bummer right?
They are then chased to the boat by the remaining bad guys, they use some zombies to help them win against the thugs. The girls grandpa dies from wounds too, I won't spoil anymore as we don't here at THN unless the film is abysmally bad. What I will say though is Peninsula end on a much more higher note than Busan did.

So I wanted to like this, hell I liked the beginning and some of the visuals (shitty CGI aside) are just fantastic. The numerous zombies up against the glass, the Rat King zombie thing are great. But it's just so bland and by the numbers compared to the OG TtB. So THN awards TtB Presents:Peninsula a decent 2 out of 5 stars, it might make an entertaining time filler if nothing else is on.

THN's Top 5 Haunted Places: Northern Ireland

Another place close to my heart, as my Nan was from NI making me 1/4 Irish too, not only that Ireland has a close thing with all things Halloween. From Samhain to other occult celebrations it's a fun time in Ireland around that time of year. I hope to experience it one day
Being a place like Wales where a lot of older buildings/areas still exist to this day, in very good condition too. Let's go on a little exploration hey?

1. Ballygally Castle Hotel


Built in 1625!
The castle is one of the only 17th century places in Northern Ireland still used as a residency today. In it's time it's housed many folk and been many things. Many leaving a possibly ghostly imprint on/in the halls and walls of the old castle.
In the 1700 it housed many protestants due to the civil war of the time, it was in the hands of the Shaw family until 1800's when they became bankrupt and had to sell the place. passing hands and families many times in the years up until 1950 when Lord Cyril turned the castle into the hotel it is today, residents claim to have heard voices in certain rooms.
Workers have seen apparitions and heard noises too, maybe it's some of the former owners or other dead folk!

2.White Horse Hotel

Looking at this place you'd not think some a modern(ish) looking place would be home to anything spooky. As such looks can be deceiving the Whitehorse Hotel is home to a stagecoach that many people have seen pull up outside the hotel. It then dispenses a portly man who walks up the doors then promptly vanishes without a trace.
Then there's the usual footsteps in the corridors and even bathroom noises when no one is around!

3. Mourne Mountains

The Mourne Mountains or to many just the Mournes is a very rocky mountain range in N. Ireland it's said to home to many spirits and powerful supernatural forces.
This one such spirit is the spirit light of Slieve Binnian, supposedly guides you or even blocks the path to some haunted trees!

4. Dunluce Castle

Though in disrepair it's one of the most haunted and oldest castles still standing in the whole of N. Ireland built in 1500 by the MacQuillan Family, though the earliest records of the castle are from 1513. It was then seized in 1550 by MacDonnell clan, they were a very brutal clan who brought an era of violence to the area.
Lots of ghosts are said to be seen, some believing the wronged members of the MacQuillan clan to haunt the site. Many ghostly noises have been put on record too.
You can go and explore around the grounds and see excavated items too!

5. Dark Hedges

This hellish looking place is the aforementioned Dark Hedges, planted in the 18th century by the Stuart family. They are beech trees that make this beautiful, though spooky archway of trees.
Spooky for a reason it's said ghostly carriages have been seen thundering down the road, ghostly sounds and apparitions come from the bushes.
It's also been used in the series Game of Thrones in Episode 1 of Season 2, little claim to fame there that makes it a popular site to see.

That's the north part of Ireland done, next time we do southern Ireland, both are massively historic places like wales I'm sure these areas will be a wealth of other top 5's later on.
This is THN signing out, bye!

THN Reviews, Blumhouse Amazon Prime October Specials: Black Box (2020)

 

Stars: Mamoudou Athie, Phylicia Rashad

Budget: Unknown

Directed By: Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour

This movie is one of four horror films made or selected by Blumhouse for Amazon Prime over the October period. I'll be reviewing each one with my thoughts on each Starting with:

Black Box, I thought I had this film sussed from the beginning but it did throw me off for a few minutes then after that I did kind of guess what was going on, though by then it was very obvious.

We join Nolan on the sofa watching home movies, he's got a puzzled look on his face, we learn that Nolan has lost his memory after being in a car crash that killed his wife and left him brain dead and in a coma for a while.

Even at the beginning here we see he's been acting uncharacteristic of himself, it seems his kid daughter has been looking after him and trying to jog his memory with things too. Seems he lost his temper and hurt his hand punching a wall. After a few things go from bad to worse, like not getting his job back as a photographer because his work seems different. At the urge of his friend He goes to see a doctor who specializes in rebuilding neural pathways.

While 'under' He see's a scary blank faced apparition that moves and sounds like it's all broken like, despite this things do slowly start to come back to him. Though the memories are in direct contradiction to how other people know or describe how he usually acts.

This is where the movie threw me for a few minutes though I was right in thinking the 'thing' was a allegory for something, which it sure did end up being in the end!

A few more sessions however reveal the true nature of what was/is going on within his head, as well as what part some other players have in his story. I won't say no more as I don't want to spoil any of the twists and turns as they are a major part of the film.

Suffice to say it's quite a big error here, as if he hadn't gone to meet the doctor what would have happened?

Would he have just lived as is, would she have tried to intervene some other way?

That's the only way I think it's a little weak.

Acting wise there's some good chops going on here, seems the older the actor the more believable the performance. Doctor Brooks being, for me a stand out.

Effects wise there's a lot of clever using an effect to cut to a new scene, cheap, easy and effective. All practical effects look decent enough, all equipment looks authentically medical and believable in use.

It's not exactly horror it's more a thriller too I feel like.

Final verdict if your hankering for a twist movie with some spooky elements It's worth a watch, THN awards Black Box a reasonable 3 out of 5 stars.

THN Reviews, Blumhouse Amazon Prime October Specials: Evil Eye (2020)

Stars: Sunita Mani, Sarita Choudhury

Budget: $5million

Directed By: Elan & Rajeev Dassani

This movie is one of four horror films made or selected by Blumhouse for Amazon Prime over the October period. I'll be reviewing each one with my thoughts on each film, next up:

Evil Eye an almost exclusively Indian cast tells a supernatural tale that even though is a tried and tested formula weaves in the lifestyles and beliefs of the characters to give it a fresher feel.

This was the one and only Blumhouse film that had an easily obtainable budget attached, guessing they had all around the same amounts spent on them. Very little to no effects some practical blood effects and warping for old memory flashbacks etc.

Acting wise this film had some of the best acting chops out of the four films very strong performances from ALL of the cast especially Sunita as the troubled mother. This film also insights into how Indian families work as well as their (more modern) out looks on life, money and tradition.

It's a thing to marry into same race, rich families if your female, I have and still do have some good Indian friends. It was nice to see as an outsider something I've talked to them about, though i believe these were/are Bengali Indians who are mostly Hindu, pretty apt for the theme of the film. Which as I've said is a tried and tested horror film premise, a killer that doesn't stop even in death.

So on with the actual film. We join Pavilli who is a close to 30 Indian woman with her mother (Usha) constantly going on about finding a husband. Seeing some her friends happy with spouses/boyfriends she reluctantly agrees to go on a date her mother sets up in a coffee shop.

Her date ends up late so she ends up talking to a good looking Indian guy instead, he's rich too and seems perfect. The two hit it off and things move fast. Usha after seeing him however starts to get bad feelings about him, linked to something that happened to her in the past. This gets even worse after she talks to him and something he say triggers more memories.

She advises Pavilli to leave him but due her seemingly failing health and mental stability everyone begins writing off her feelings as just being all in her head. I really cannot say anymore without spoiling a big twist, that is telegraphed quite openly, though does keep you guessing for a good portion of the film though

Despite being filmed late 2019 the way this film is filmed seems very apt for todays Covid19 situation, a lot of it is singularly filmed over the phone conversations, with only a few people at a time coming into direct contact, I liked that.

Despite being one of the lowest ranked of the 4 Blumhouse films, this one was one of the ones I enjoyed the most of all. Despite it's tried and tested formula the newish take on it. THN awards Evil Eye (2020) a strong 4 out of 5 stars.

THN Reviews, Blumhouse Amazon Prime October Specials: Nocturne (2020)

 

Stars: Sidney Sweeney, Jacques Colimon

Budget: Unknown

Directed By: Zu Quirke

This movie is one of four horror films made or selected by Blumhouse for Amazon Prime over the October period. I'll be reviewing each one with my thoughts on each film, next up:

Gosh well I found this a slow burn from the beginning, almost to the boring. It was only saved by small flashes that grabbed my attention back from such a snooze fest.

The acting was very wooden and boring too, effects wise the effects on show were good for what they were. Practical on the dark drippy eyes looked believable. To it's strength this was the first one that actually felt horror based rather than a thriller.

However the droning monologues and incredibly boring plot were the downfall of this piece, mix that with something that is not a love of mine, piano music, this was a dead end.

On with the plot of the film.

Twin sisters Viv and Juliet grow up with a love of the piano, both good at playing but Viv unfortunately begins to out-shadow her sister. Juliet works very hard to keep her standards up where as Vivian it seems to come very easy.

Juliet becomes disillusioned with how hard she's working and not getting nowhere, with no time for her life. Vivian however has time to see friends, talk up the tutors and pursue other enjoyments.

Juliet comes across a deceased students book that somehow seems to improve her life and skills at the cost of bizarre things happening to friends and family.

Yeah I'll leave it there you know how I feel about this film, it's got a decent story on paper but to me at least was just too boring in execution. Again no budget to be found on this, can't have been much.

THN awards Nocturne (2020) a weak 2 out of 5, so we won't spoil the ending as usual, watch it if your doing a marathon of the four films 

THN Reviews, Blumhouse Amazon Prime October Specials: The Lie (2018)

 

Stars: Peter Sarsgaard, Joey King

Budget: Unknown

Directed By: Veena Sud

This movie is one of four horror films made or selected by Blumhouse for Amazon Prime over the October period. I'll be reviewing each one with my thoughts on each film, next up:

The Lie, well what can I say this must have been made on a very tight budget indeed, little to no special effects. One thing I did like however is The Lie is solely based around one aspect, The Lie, it's all about it. I may sound like i'm talking in riddles but once you watch this film you'll get it.

The Lie perpetuates a feeling that is in a child's innocence something they would do to achieve the goal they want, especially when they get the desired effect. Enough with the riddles now.

Two divorced parents are trying to get their daughter (Kayla)to a retreat she apparently goes on every year. It falls to the dad to take her. Along the way they see and pick up Kayla's friend who is also going at a bus stop. These something up with Kayla and Brittany right from the beginning, there even seems to be some weird tension between the dad and Brittany too when he says she's good looking.

Though this is only brought up once more later on, though it is a reason why Kayla does what she does.

Anyway Brittany needs a pee, Dad doesn't really want to stop but does both of the girls run off to take a piss. They take a while so Dad goes looking, he hears a scream then see's Kayla on a bridge without Britt. She says she pushed her off due being jealous, it was and accident she didn't mean to kill her.

Dad looks for Britt's corpse but only finds her purse with cracked mobile/cell inside. He doesn't want to hand his daughter in so they hide from a passing truck then go back to mum's. Mum's horrified but goes along with the lie that Kayla was ill and they never went.

Over the course of the film now the lie grows, keeps getting added too, though it strangely brings the mum and dad closer together again. I'll leave it there as any more explanation will spoil the ending.

Overall okay, again not really a horror movie, more of a thriller again in my eyes. The twist?

I had this sussed from almost the beginning unfortunately, It was still a good watch with some good acting pulled off by Peter Sarsgaard and the mother too, Kayla was just wooden and one note sobbing all the time, though might have just been her character. Like I said earlier little to no practical or special effects apart from blood and a dream shot of dead Brittany.

THN awards The Lie a weak 3 out of 5 stars watch if there's nothing else on.

THN's Top 5 Haunted Places: West Wales

Not many places on the west coast but I have managed to scrounge 5 together for this list, last one for wales for now as there are many, many other haunted places in both South and North Wales I'll go back and make 'another 5 places' in the future perhaps.
You may have noticed a lot of Welsh places are castles, we are known as the land of castles, we have a lot of green places left in rocky hills and mountains. Those castles are hidden in the most unlikeliest of places, read on!

1. Margam Castle

Not actually a castle it's a very large country house from the Victorian era built at the beginning of 1800. Lived in until mid 1900 the house seen a lot of people come and go.
Outside view:

It's been shown on various haunting shows like Most Haunted and Paranormal Lockdown. One of the most frequent seen or encountered spirits is that of Robert Scott, he was killed by a poacher now his spirit ever angry rages about.
Inside:

A fire in 1977 forced them to renovate the building too, it's currently protected by the local council and ghost walks were done before Covid19, looking to start up again soon.

2. Llanelli House

Is a Georgian grand house, built in early 1700
This is how it looks now:

but before 2009 it was in a state of disrepair
like:


It's been the site of many spooky happenings for a lot of ghost hunters, it's age and occupancy give a varied amount of historical suspects to call upon. One such is Mira Turner who resided there has been said to show up a lot in many investigations!

3. Pembrey Woods

Yeah a WHOLE freaking woods, so many scary, spooky and paranormal things have happened here it's unbelievable. So beautiful in the daytime but full of terrifying sounds and happenings in the night.
Picture:

Weird stuff like dolls nailed to tree's, spooky things like people chanting among the trees and then there's the paranormal things like demon dogs, demons and ghosts frequently seen. Another site Most Haunted has explored too, no standout spirits of mention just very active.

4. Iron Age Forts in Haverfordwest (Castell Henllys)

Rebuilding on ancient excavated sites the current iron age forts and huts are a true recreation of what was once. Despite the buildings being relatively new there's been some haunting experiences in this usual little historic experience.
Pictures:

This would have been a place they would have worked with the newly discovered material Iron. Of course a lot of accidents would have happened in this very experimental time.

Everything seen has been ghostly guards walking about to spiritual kids running around the fort grounds, ethereal laughter bouncing around the grounds.

5. Carew Castle

One of the oldest places on here built in 1270, in an event which is rare occurrence the Carew family still actually own the building!
It is however not roofed, windowed or kept in shape unfortunately as seen in this picture here:

The grounds are maintained though by The Pembrookshire Coast National Park, who the family lease the grounds too them.
It was a stone fort first then over the years, as it was a very defensible position, was built up into the full size castle that remains there till this day. Being this old the site is home to many many a haunting from groups of soldiers to sounds of metal on metal clashing and clanking.
A few of the owners have even been recorded on EVP, unfortunately I can't find names to confirm this.

So folks there you go that concludes Wales, for now at least, where to move to next, we'll see and surprise you next time!
Much love and spooky times from THN.

Review: The Colour/Color Out of Space (2020)

Stars: Nic Cage, Joely Richardson

 
Budget: $6-12 Million

Directed By: Richard Stanley

If ever a film was a Nic Cage vehicle it was this one, if you want some manic guy to play a role which needs disbelief then total belief in the same film this is you man. Type cast?

Maybe, but the guy is a powerhouse of his role, of which, no one else compares, even closely.

Based on a short story from non other than H.P. Lovecraft that tells the tale of a vicious sentient color/colour from space. It has the ability to transmogrify anything it come into contact with, with it's strange radioactivity.

The story has been adapted many times but non so close to the original work (except the date/location) as this one. Other adaptions are Die, Monster, Die! in 1965, The Curse! in 1987, The Colour in the Dark in 2008 and a few more up until this version. I can't seem to find out any information why there's such a large discrepancy between the budget amounts. The other supporting cast play a massive role too, Tommy Chong though a small part is effectively used too as is Joely Richardson.

When a man suffering a mid life crisis just after his wife has had a mastectomy he decides to up sticks and move to an old house. It was once owned by Nathans (Nic) father is in a little disrepair but he intends to fix'er up and grow their own produce too.

He strangely takes to alpaca farming too, of course the kids are a little adverse to this change as they always are. Then one night a meteor drops right in their front yard, is struck by many bolts of lightening then it kind of disappears into the ground.

Where unknown for a while if infects the water supplies nearby. Anyone drinking the water begins to mutate, from the pants, the alpacas and even Nathans family.

Ward a hydrologist and the Sheriff come to see the meteor, Ward notices the water seems strange he tests the water which is found out to be possibly infected by the meteor. Weird things start to happen such as time fluctuations, mutated vile tasting plants and the alpacas mutating into some weird wiggly mess.

One by one the family succumb to this strange mutation too, though Vivian the daughter, a practicing Wicca does try to help with her spells. Unfortunately to no avail. 

Ward tries to warn them a little later but is it to little to late?

A good adaptation of the book and some great performances by the cast and crew, well worth a watch if you like the surreal and the macabre. 

THN awards The Colour/clolor Out of Space 4 out of 5 stars

Review: Candyman 3: Day of the Dead (1999)

Stars: Tony Todd, Donna D'Errico

Budget: unknown

Directed By: Turi Meyer

Weirdly this sequel is based in our year of 2020 (if only they knew!) a full 25 years after the last film. Though only made in 1999.
I've not been able to find much on the budget or how much this sequel made. It did only have limited cinema release in the US, can't find info if it was released anywhere else.

No actors of any consequence starred in this either except of course Tony Todd as the titular Candyman again. We do get Donna D'Errico of Baywatch fame who for me was about the only recognizable face.

So far this movie hasn't been regarded as good, so I thought it'll be a good reason to give it a watch again and to be totally honest I couldn't remember if i'd actually even seen it all those years back.

This time it revolves around Caroline McKeever who is Annie's daughter from the last movie. She owns a gallery in Los Angles somehow the Candyman returns to claim he soul to stay with him as she's a full reincarnation of his own daughter.
He starts doing his usual schtick of killing people involved with her just like he does in part 1 and 2, except this time some people actually cotton on to whats going on. Midway they capture Caroline then call on the Candyman to take her so that the murders stop.

The Candyman kills everyone but her then reveals to her how he came back, that Annie summoned him back from the dead then he killed her making it look like suicide. He then tells her all the other people he killed, including members of her family, Caroline screams that she'll kill him. He vanishes leaving Caroline escape.

Now that is pretty much the whole movie right there in a nutshell so we won't spoil it any further. If you like the first and/or second of these movies it's a good stopping point of the series, though it's by far the worst of the bunch. He now resides in the pictures of the gallery, foreshadowing for the new film? 

THN wards Candyman 3 a mediocre 2 out of 5 stars.

THN's Top 5 Haunted Places: North Wales

Welcome To the Nation of Horror, horror is not only in films. Films have been inspired by real life places throughout most of time, not only that folklore, myths and legends too.

Last time I did my neck of the woods south wales, today we are travelling up country to the north, a slightly more welsh place than the south. Also a lot more mountains and even older building exist up in that area.
Today we'll explore 5 of these places, we will start of with:

1. Pool Parc Asylum

An abandoned asylum found in Ruthin is supposedly haunted by a woman in white (usual type of ghost seen in many places) seen in many of the asylums doorways. Here we have a picture of the asylum when it was open:

Many other sightings and sounds have been heard coming from the spooky halls when doing investigations in the site. Many people claiming the screams are like sounds of anguish and regret. Here's what you can expect today:

It's a very popular Urbex place these days, I'm sure there's a few videos on here on some UK YouTube Channels.

2. Pen-Y-Lan House

A large manor house located in Wrexham, it's a very Gothic looking country house. It's also still lived in by residents. Strangely as you can go there on ghost hunting evenings, here's an outside look:

Nights offer group vigils where you can attend table tipping sessions and tours of rooms. For braver folks there's Ouija board usage and single room vigils for lone people too.
Many things involving these activities has said to have produced supernatural occurrences, EVP and ghostly noises have also been recorded in this scary location!

3. Nantclwyd-Y-Dre Town House

One of the oldest still standing buildings in wales built in 1435, making it the oldest wooden framed house too. Here's what it looks like outside:

The place has had special renovated parts to tour around, all furnished with genuine furniture from the era too is really set to immerse you in the time period. Ghost hunting in the building has specific places set up for glass divination, table tipping and some kind of human pendulum thing?
Again for less fearful people there's Ouija boards, these experiments have all had varied joy, such as spirits of the past contacting via the board.
Here's an inside view:

The main thing I've divined about this place is the staggering £25 an hour they ask for entry fees, which is to me a horror unto itself!

4. Ruthin Gaol

An old welsh jail (yes Gaol is welsh for jail) or prison used to house some of the worst people in the area in it's heyday. It was built in 1654 with additional wings built over time.
Here's an outside view:

It was particularly famous for it's dark room punishment, used on people who did both small and big crimes. sometimes for even just owing a debt. Walk through the ancient halls and jail rooms experience haunting noises or a glimpse of some spectre as you do.
Lone vigils in cells are on offer as well as lesser or greater ways to communicate with the dead, such as spirit glass or Ouija boards. Only one person was ever hanged here for the murder of his wife one William Hughs. Many have been said to be contacted by his spirit who seems to hate women.
Inside appearance:

This is one place i'd love to do a vigil in and hopefully break me in on seeing something with my own eyes, who knows one day!

5. Beaumaris Gaol

Yes another jail/prison in the Beaumaris area of Wales built in only 1829 it also housed many debt owners as well as harder criminals in it's time. It was expanded a number of years later but then closed, it was then a police station until 1950.
Spookily still it was then turned into a children's clinic until 1974 when it was finally made into the museum it is until modern day.
Here it is outside today:


Two executions were carried out one in 1830 for the attempted murder of his wife by William Griffith, then in 1962 for killing his father in law Richard Rowlands was hung too.
Many ghostly sightings and happenings have been recorded here, from children laughing to the hung men contacting people through various ways. Such as EVP, Ouija board, thrown items etc.
View from inside:


There you go five more spooky places to explore in North Wales this time, we'll be looking at West wales next time, though we might leave east wales out due to there not really being many places there, plus it's not a large part of wales due to the overall shape of the country.
Till next time stay spooky and farewell from THN

Review: Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)

Stars: Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan

Budget: $6m

Directed By: Bill Condon

With a new one of the psuedo, reboot/sequels coming out i'm taking a look back at the previous entries in the series. Here is the second in the series Candyman 2 or Farewell to the Flesh.

With the success of the original it was inevitable to see a sequel of some kind. The films have now become a 'franchise' garnering respect of the likes of Ft13th and NoES. Some don't see them as scary or as strong as those series, though a lot find Tony Todds Candyman a very strong enough character.

This one takes place not long after the last, about 3 years, though has little to do with the characters from the original film. It is again based on having the belief in the Candyman but with a bit of an extra twist thrown in to extend the mythos. As with the first movie though it's still all about the belief/fear in the man himself, to keep that fear in people so he can always exist perpetually.

Teacher Annie Tarrant from new Orleans is troubled, Her dad went missing investigating some murders linked to Candyman. Also her brother has been falsely accused of murdering a book writer (the long haired teacher guy from part 1). It doesn't help that he was seen harassing the man a number of times over the book about Candyman he wrote.
Annie stupidly summons Candyman when one her students says about him, also Mardi Gras is about to start New Orleans too. Doesn't take long before people start being killed, one Annie's husband.

We get a lot more backstory on the Candyman in this one too, like his real name of Daniel Robitaille, who was the son of a plantation worker. We find out Daniel is an amazing painter, this takes him into the world of the white slavers when he is commissioned to paint a picture for a rich landowner. The picture is of his daughter Caroline, the two fall in love and Caroline falls pregnant.
Her father orders a mob to catch and lynch Daniel, except as you know he was treated a lot worse than just hung.
This is expanded on a little more in here with a small child tasting the honey proclaiming Daniel as the 'Candyman'. Caroline's father then uses Caroline's mirror to show Daniel what he looks like, then starts taunting him too. It then believed that Daniels spirit entered the mirror, which Caroline hides in Daniels birthplace. She later gives birth to a daughter, Isabel. It is thought that the mirror is the reason why Candyman can travel to where he is summoned.

In Candyman fashion he starts to kill people involved with him/Annie/investigation. Including the detective interrogating her brother Ethan, Ethan is then shot dead trying to escape the police. He kills Annie's mother who knew their connection to Caroline but disbelieves in the myth.
Annie goes to look for the original mirror in an attempt to stop the Candyman. I'll leave it there as we don't spoil ending here unless the film is abysmal.

THN awards Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh, 3 out of 5 stars where as it only made back just over twice it's budget it is a semi decent sequel that expands on the lore.

Review: Candyman (1992)

Stars: Tony Todd, Virginia Madsen

Budget: $8-9 million

Directed By: Bernard Rose

With the release of the new film coming soon, also despite me getting some leaks from a source that, to me at least don't sound to great, i'll be reviewing all the movies now.

Weird how I haven't done these before as I am as you know an addict of franchise movies. This movie stars the totally awesome Tony Todd who knocks the ball out of the park in his role as the Candyman.
One thing I am not totally in love with in this movie is the way it goes about things. Candyman is a wronged man for sure, but he also exists because people fear and believe in him.
He has to basically kill anyone who doesn't believe in him by calling through the mirror and name 5 times thing. This perpetuates his legend, except with Virginia's character he actually falls in love with her.

Lets get on with the actual film and if it's any good, we join Helen (Madsen) who with her friend Bernadette are writing a thesis on urban legends, if they are real or just perpetuated by people for the use of fear mechanics.
Hearing of Candyman when some girl is murdered in a project high rise tower, Helen and Bernadette go investigate talking to two cleaners who tell her about the myth.
Helen isn't a real believer of the myth of Candyman when she hears about it, even after linking a further 25 kills to his name. The Candyman himself was a black man killed because he fell in love with some rich persons daughter. He had his hand cut off then replaced with a rusty hook, his body smeared in honey then killed by thousands of bee stings.
Bernadette believes the story a bit more than Helen, who happens to go the whole hog and say his name five times in a mirror to her fear, but then is relieved when nothing happens.

She also meets Anne-Marie McCoy a woman with a young baby who explains more to her about the the lore as well. She then decides to write the paper explaining that people use the name as a scapegoat to escape the hardships of the living conditions of their situation.
She goes back for more research finding a young boy who tells her about the Candyman castrating a kid in the nearby restrooms. Helen goes to investigate the area and is besset upon by some youths one with a hook calling himself 'The Candyman'
With a black eye and busted lip Helen goes to the police then identifies the person in a line up, they arrest him in conjunction with the killings too. Leaving for home, in the underground parking lot Helen is confronted by the real Candyman. He's not happy that she's been making people not believe in him, now he'll have to spill innocent blood to make people believe again.

After blacking out Helen awakes covered in blood in Anne's apartment, Anne comes back almost immediately to find her dog beheaded and son missing. Seeing Helen there she freaks out on her attacking her. The police come taking Helen away who is arrested.
She is bailed out by her husband who doesn't know what to believe especially with all the evidence pointing to her and the media black naming her too. Later while alone in the bathroom the Candyman visits Helen again, causing her to blackout once more.
She comes around when Bernadette calling out for her in an adjacent room, the Candyman kills her making it look like Helen did it. This time they lock Helen in a psychiatric hospital.

A month later in an interview with her doctor, who doesn't believe that Helen is haunted by the Candyman, she says she can prove it and calls his name five times in a mirror. Nothing seemingly happens for a few seconds then he comes and brutally eviscerates the doctor. Freeing Helen from her restraints she escapes to flee home.
When she gets back she finds her husband living with one of his students, upset she flees to Cabrini green (the high rise) The Candyman comes to her saying if she surrenders herself to him he'll make her immortal too, this will also save the life of the baby. She does and he kisses her with the bees and the horribly eaten exposed insides all on show. We then find out from a mural that Helen looks almost exactly like the girl that he fell in love with all those years ago.

I'll leave it here as there's not a lot left but theres a few more twists and turns that at THN we don't like to spoil unless the movie is not worth watching at all. Now Candyman is an enjoyable psychological supernatural horror film. BUT I just can't get over the fact that the way it's executed is quite nasty to Helen, she is all fairness totally innocent of everything throughout this film.
Candyman is even supposedly in love with her yet frames her murder, twice! The irony is he's been wronged too so perpetuating a vengeful spirit (especially Vs other people of colour) seems wrong to me, I just end up feeling really bad for Helen every time i watch this.
Now does that make me hate the film?
No, I do love the film for a whole host of other reasons which is, the acting, tense situations and overall great story telling. Candyman receives a strong 4 out of 5 stars from THN.

THN's Top 5 Haunted Places: South Wales

New section I'm thinking of doing let me know if you like it, starting in my own neck of the woods of south wales, i'm even thinking of visiting some of these places. So here we go:

Wales is old, it's got rich history and we still have a lot of old places scattered around, especially in Newport we even have a crumbling old castle here in this very city. Not only that we even have ancient roman ruins in an old part of the city too.
Today though we are looking at 5 of the most 'supposedly' haunted places in the southern part of the country. I am super skeptical, I DO NOT BELIEVE 99% of what I see from videos to photographs I just believe it's far to easy to scam. I have had experiences myself that I can't explain but I still remain skeptical but I would LOVE to see something myself.
These places aren't in specific order of how haunted they are this is just 5 of the possibly most creepy places in this area.

1. Newport Castle
Strangely a lot of the most haunted in south wales are in little old Newport, also here is something i mentioned too. The Newport Castle is a centuries old castle located on the River Usk right by a bring that goes over the river that many use to enter 'the city centre'.
The city centre is the main shopping area for Newport, back to the castle. This place has changed SO much in my 38 years of life, living in this city. From being open to walk through to being limited areas, to now it's totally fenced off. Back in the late 1800's it was partly converted into a factory and/or work place.
Not 100% sure but this is around 1950's I think:

That's not long after the factory/workhouse bits were ripped from the castle, it was fenced off here because at this time there was no roundabout as you come off the bridge. Crossing was done on the main road not below on walkways.
Now this is how I remember it for most of my life:

Here you could inside and walk through the bottom to get to the other side of the railway bridge, Here is where a lot of haunting and sightings of things were mostly seen. From the main room up the stairs to wailing's and moaning from the lower parts.
Here's how it looks these days:


Now onto one of the most commonly seen ghosts of the castle. One Norman Fitzhamon who was apparently a large stature man seen in the furthest towers windows. Chilling huh?

2. Castell Coch

Castell Coch is a smallish castle in the hills near Cardiff, it is 19th century and has fallen into disrepair a few times in that time but has been renovated. It is a place you can go and visit which now looks like this:


If your driving past on the road into the Cardiff you may see this scene up in the hills to the right:

I've never been there myself but i'd like to go one day and take a look around, now for the scary bits.
Many servants who have worked here under residents of the estate have claimed to see a ghostly cavalier at the end of their bed just watching them in the night.
Another spirit seen is one Ifor Bach who owned the original castle in the spot, one spooky story associated with him too is that he used witchcraft. In specifics he used said witchery to use two bewitched stone eagles to catch two thieves!
No one has ever seen or found Ifor's treasure, some people believe it's still hidden on site somewhere.

3. Llancaiach Fawr

A small town house from 1645, supposedly one of the most haunted places in wales, it is on the cusp of south wales, almost west to mid. here it is from outside:


It doesn't look much but many paranormal investigators have recorded many, many EVP (Electric Voice Phenomena) and even smelled lavender when no ones been around. One of the most scary and frequently recorded spooks are one nineteenth century housekeeper Mattie.
She died in the bed chamber, people claim to hear the rustle of her petticoats as she rushes around. Another is the ghost of a young boy whom fell to his death from an upper window.
One thing you can do here also is have actors show you how people lived here in an 'living history' type of tour.
Like this:


4. The Skirrid Mountain Inn

This Inn is again one of the most haunted places in ALL of the UK coming in at 8th place!

Near Abergavenny it is a very old Inn/pub coach stop of old, 900+ years of history in fact. So has numerous stories of people being murdered or dying in or around the old house. The inside is still very old in it's decor too, does this mean the spirits are echoes or recordings embedded in the old wood etc?
Especially the infamous 'hanging beam' where people were hung ending their lives.

There are four very prominent spirits that a lot of people have said to encountered while staying or working in this place. Glasses flaying across the room, dark shadows in the bedrooms and ghostly noises all over the place. Your able to stay on certain nights in ghost hunting parties, whether this has changed in the current situation who knows.

5. The Miskin Manor Hotel

This is another giant house near Cardiff turned into something, a hotel this time. Originally built in 1857 here it is now:


In it's time it has survived TWO, count them TWO fires that have seriously damaged the place. 1922 and 1952, destroyed a LOT of the insides of the house, apparently leaving only the exterior walls. rebuilt as said hotel in 1985 it's still open these days, Room view:

It's very expensive and fancy, this doesn't however stop it from being haunted or spooked by things in the night. Some of these haunting's are the ghost of a lady who appears often in the bar area of the hotel. She is supposedly appears on cue in between 12am and 1am but is a peaceable spirit who causes no other trouble. She is believed to be a resident who follows a path she used in life as the layout was different then.

So that's 5 haunted places from around my area, did you like learning about them?
Like I said let me know and i'll do one of these like once a month or something, probably do North Wales next time, thanks!