#stephen phillips

“Dreadful suspended business, and vast life pausing, dismantled piers, and naked frames. And further, shapes from obscure troubles loosed, like mist descended.”

Stella Langdale (1880–1976)

illustration from “Christ in Hades” by Stephen Phillips, 1917

This is the most unsettling and disturbing horror movie I've seen this year so far. It really goes for it in this one. I noticed it was rated 18A here in Canada 🇨🇦 and it definitely earns that rating here. Thanks to the Mystery Movie Monday Horror edition tonight, I got to see this tonight here and it really does not disappoint. Some pretty incredible practical effects/gore in this. If CGI is used at all in some of these scenes it goes unnoticed. All this felt like it was really happening. I loved Talk to Me (the first feature from the Philppou bros) but this one is a masterpiece, and new future cult classic in the horror genre. Everyone in this cast was chillingly fantastic here. This one deserves all the awards coming it's way. This is without a doubt one of the years best films in general and also the feel bad movie of the year. There is some new great talent here in this cast and Sally Hawkins is disturbingly great here with probably the best performance of the year so far for a lead, but these kids in this match her level of greatness here too. I was floored at everything with this. I think some parts of this will have sensitive ones heading out the theater though in all honesty. I wouldn't be surprised if there's news of people getting sick to their stomach watching some of this and in moments where I believe this would happen, I had my hand over my mouth at least 3 different times. I can't stop thinking of this film after seeing it here tonight. If you like your horror disturbing and unsettling and want to see how far these guys take this, this is for you.

BRING HER BACK (2024) – REVIEW ⚠️ Content warning: this film contains themes of child abuse, child weaponisation, and intense grief. It is deeply unsettling, emotionally heavy, and not suitable for all viewers. ⚠️ 🎬 Horror / Psychological Thriller

This is not your standard horror film; it’s a raw and emotional, it's the exploration of a mother’s grief and the terrifying lengths she’ll go to in order to feel close to her daughter again. It's heartbreaking, cruel, and deeply human.

The horror isn’t just in the scares, it’s in the manipulation, the emotional damage, and the slow unraveling of reality. The mother’s actions, driven by desperation, grief and denial, are evil in their consequences. The cruelty of it all, especially towards children, is genuinely disturbing.

Andy’s storyline especially broke my heart. It wasn’t one moment, it was everything. Scene after scene, he’s let down, manipulated, gaslit, and used. He was such a kind and gentle character who deserved so much better.

One huge strength of the film is the cast, and especially the child actors. They were phenomenal. Jonah Wren Phillips as “Oliver” really stood out to me.

Now, that said, horror-wise, it left me wanting more. It was creepy and unsettling for sure, but a little slow in parts. I just needed one or two more scenes that really made me feel the horror physically, goosebumps, gasps, the works. That’s probably just my personal taste, though.

Bring Her Back

'Thy Voice is like to Music heard ere Birth/Some Spirit-Lute touched on a Spirit Sea' (1902). Sigismund Christian Hubert Goetze (British, 1866-1939). Oil on canvas. Lady Lever Art Gallery.

From the long poem Marpessa (1897) by Stephen Phillips.