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Severin Launches New Seasonal Ghost Story Series On Shudder This December: "From boutique label Severin Films and renowned author, producer and filmmaker Kier-La Janisse comes new annual series The Haunted Season.

Created by Janisse and executive produced by Severin Films, new episodes of The Haunted Season will arrive on Shudder each December with chilling short form horror tales in the tradition of telling ghost stories for Christmas. Future episodes will be announced each year as the holiday season approaches.

The first of these original commissioned productions comes from director Sean Hogan, called To Fire You Come at Last.

In 17th century England, near a rural village where unquiet spirits gather, a grieving Squire hires three local men to help carry his son’s coffin to a graveyard across the countryside. But as darkness descends upon their journey, disturbing secrets will be revealed. Violence will rise to the surface. And as...

Some horror films have the look of what is thought to be yesteryear. Many employ this for the story, the actors to be a certain style of the time for nostalgia. One of the moments you notice when viewing these is the Directorial choices that often are too modern for the time. The lighting is not for black and white photography that was often done by Europeans fleeing trouble in their countries. Casting your mind back to the days of Dead Of Night (1945), and The Ghost Train (1941) and sprinkling in the crime work of Director Basil Dearden you have the wonderful experience of Sean Hogan’s folk horror short film To Fire You Come at Last (2023)

Evocatively photographed in early Mario Bava ‘Black Sunday’ style in black and white you find a group of men who have been coerced into walking a coffin to the local graveyard for burial. However,...

An exercise in minimalist filmmaking, with just four active characters, a simple set of outdoor locations and a slender 45 minute running time, Sean Hogan’s To Fire You Come At Last, which screened as part of Frightfest 2023, tells the story of Squire Mallow (Mark Carlisle), a man intent on transporting the body of his only son, Aldis, to the local cemetery where it can receive a Christian burial. This seemingly straightforward task is complicated by fact that dusk is falling and nobody in the locality likes the idea of being on the lichway at night. They say that the Devil himself rides that road at night; they also say that a gigantic, headless hound has been seen running alongside it, presaging doom. The Squire is not impressed by such superstition, but by the end of the night, he may feel differently.

Persuaded by various means to accompany him on...

Stars: Mark Carlisle, Richard Rowden, Harry Roebuck, James Swanton | Written and Directed by Sean Hogan

Running at only 45 minutes, To Fire You Come At Last is one of the shorter features playing at this year’s Frightfest. Within that tight runtime, writer/director Sean Hogan crafts an eerie folk-horror tale that delivers an unsettling atmosphere within the black-and-white imagery brought to the screen.

Set in rural 17th-century England, Squire Marlow (Mark Carlisle) intends to carry the coffin containing his deceased son to the local graveyard. Joining him in the long walk are his right-hand man, Pike (Richard Rowden), and Holt (Harry Roebuck), a childhood friend of the deceased. The only other person able to help them is Ramsey (James Swanton), a low-status drunk that all look down upon. Despite the party being afraid of walking the pathway after dark, Marlow promises to double their wages if they take the journey.

Stars: Jenna Verdicchio, Steve Hope Wynne, Kristina Dargelyte, Rosie Cochrane, David Aldridge, Adam Lewis, Mark Carlisle | Written and Directed by Johnny Johnson

When it comes to reviewing independent movies you tend to compensate for the low budget at times and feel that you have to be lenient in your criticism. I’ll admit I’ve done this in the past but to be too lenient would be unfair to the makers of the movie who want a fair criticism of something they have put a lot of work into. This is why when I watched Psychotic, yes I saw the usual weaknesses of independent movies and there were other weaknesses but there were many things that should also be praised.

Psychotic takes place, as many horrors do, in a mental institution. For a nice change though this is not found footage, but the tale of an institution in its last...