Gory greetings horroryearbook alumni! Welcome to another edition of IT CAME FROM THE MAILBOX, an exciting column where your old pal Brain Hammer reviews whatever random crap the good folks at horroryearbook decide to throw my way.

No crap this time around. Wil was nice enough to pass along a screener copy of the new film from writer and director James Eaves. Eaves has been making a name for himself in the UK over the last few years with a trio of well received horror flicks – Sanitarium, Hellbreeder, and most recently The Witches Hammer. Eaves most recent effort is a self described “horror science fiction feature film” entitled BANE. I was much impressed after watching the trailer for Bane online and was looking forward to finally seeing it. I’m happy to report that I wasn’t disappointed!

BANE is the terrifying tale of four women that wake up inside an underground cell. Katherine, Jane, Natasha, and Elaine are all suffering from total amnesia and barely have time to begin arguing amongst themselves before their captor arrives to introduce himself. The cruel and sadistic Dr. Murdoch informs the women they are participating in a top secret research project. Dr. Murdoch conducts bizarre experiments in fear and is assisted by a mysterious partner in crime known only as Handsome Man.

Later that evening the women are visited by a blood splattered surgeon armed with an oversized hunting knife. The mad butcher returns nightly to violently carve a number into each woman’s skin. Much like a concentration camp tattoo, this four digit number marks the exact time the surgeon will return to slaughter the women like cattle. Each woman is forced to confront their forgotten past and together they struggle to piece together the dark secret behind Dr. Murdoch’s experiment before the savage surgeon pays them another visit.

This flick is incredible. I was hooked from the start, and the film kept me riveted until the end. The best part about this flick is the fact that it lures you into believing it will be some sort of low rent torture porn before unveiling a major plot twist that takes the film into an entirely different direction. Unlike other reviewers, and to an extent the filmmakers themselves, I refuse to spoil this twist. I would recommend viewers avoid the trailer or reading reviews (except for this one of course!) before watching BANE for the first time. All I can say is that the film takes some very unexpected twists and turns, and that the payoff is there in a big way.

Slasher fans will certainly enjoy watching the surgeon in action. There is no shortage of bloody mayhem. I was also greatly impressed with the acting in this film. All four of the female leads were excellent, as were the doctor and his assistant. You spend a lot of time in close quarters with the ladies, so it is a good thing that all of them are capable actresses. Bad acting would have ruined such an intimate horror film. I have to give much credit to James Eaves for writing such a unique story and for being able to make a fantastic low budget horror film entirely on a sound stage.

This is one of the best horror flicks I have seen in ages, and I can safely say that this flick will earn a high spot on many best of 2009 lists. It will be damn hard for any big budget Hollywood horror flick or lame ass “re-imagining” to rival this one. Horror fans that are always bitching about remakes and how there are no original horror flicks anymore really need to see this. It’s really not fair that a horror flick this good goes straight to video instead of getting major promotion and a theatrical release. I’m hoping that this one will discover an audience on dvd and become an instant classic.

BANE will be released on dvd in the States 05/19/09 thanks to the good folks at Celebrity DVD. In the meantime you can learn more about the film and James Eaves’ other projects at his official website:www.amberpictures.co.uk. Consider this one Brain Hammer approved and highly recommended!

KEEP THE BLOOD FLOWING!!!

Buy Bane here