MUSIC BOX MASSACRE 7 hits Chicago again this October!
THE MASSACRE IS BACK!
THE MUSIC BOX MASSACRE 7 hits the MUSIC BOX THEATER in CHICAGO once again!
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
https://www.vendini.com/ti
Ticket Info from the Music Box site:
$29 from 8/15 – 9/15 only 350 available at this price!
$34 from 9/16 – 10/14 only 200 available at this price!
*$38 day of show * only 100 available at this price!
There is an online service charge, yep… and you can avoid it if you come into the Music Box to purchase your tickets. If you purchase in person, the Music Box has to pay the fee for you.
24 hours of horror films, noon ’till noon.
JUST ANNOUNCED!
The first announced guest of this year’s Music Box Massacre is none other than HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS! “The Godfather of Gore” and director of such sick scarefests as 2,000 Maniacs and Blood Feast will be on hand for a screening of “The Wizard of Gore!”
Features announced so far:
Pumpkinhead (80′s Horror Classic!)
The Wizard of Gore (HGL Craziness!)
Burn Witch Burn (Wild Witchery!)
Hour of the Wolf (Ingmar Bergman Insanity!)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (Vincent Price’s Most Infamous Role!)
Gates of Hell (Lucio Fulci!)
The Vampire Lovers (Hammer Horror Ladies!)
Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things (Bob Clark’s Zombie Shocker)
The Sentinel (70′s Sickness!)
From Dusk ‘Til Dawn (Grindhouse Gorefest!)
The Music Box Theater is located at:
Chicago, IL 60613-3718
(773) 871-6604
Join the official Movieside Massacre fan page for more info:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Massacre/113071528784239
REVIEW: THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER (1993)
Everyone in the Midwest, and probably everyone in the United States (if not the whole world) has heard of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. It was a tragic story that was reported in the media where I lived (in Illinois) regularly once he was apprehended because of the states’ close proximity to Wisconsin, where most of the murders were occurring. I remember as a teenager being horrified, yet disturbingly fascinated by each and every article I read on this very sick and disturbed individual.THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER (1993) paints a very vivid and true-to-facts type of film on this notorious serial killer, including his victims, methods of dispatching victims, and digs into the psyche and mindset of an adult Dahmer.
What I found so interesting about the 1993 bi0-pic on Dahmer is the fact that this was the first movie to come out on Dahmer (the first of many more to come), and this film was made while Dahmer was still alive before Dahmer was killed by an inmate in prison by a barbell pole. This is probably the reason the film was so controversial, on top of the fact that the film was made about a serial killer and sex offender who murdered 17 men and boys. When the movie came out, it was already steeped in controversy and so much controversy that it got the filmmakers, director David R. Bowen (whom also composed the music in the film) and actor/writer Carl Crew (BLOOD DINER) a spot as guests on his show-along with the victims of Jeffrey Dahmer. The film outraged many people. especially the family’s victims (and understandably so) but what angered many of the families even more was the fact that the family members of the victims did not get earn any money for the exploitation of their loved ones’ tragic deaths being portrayed.
Carl Crew portraying serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer
Even though there is a disclaimer stating that the stories and victims’ of Dahmer’s portrayed in the film had details changed to protect the victims, from what I know about each case in reading newspaper articles and doing research on Dahmer and the murders, they were pretty accurate with the actual events.
The film, although shot on the cheap, really comes off as a very grim and accurate portrayal of Dahmer and his methods of luring, murdering, and eating his unlucky victims. The movie shows viewers a bit of Dahmer’s mindset, the thoughts going inside his head and how he went about choosing his victims and the lies he told them to convince them to come home with him or go to various locations for what most thought was going to be just sexual encounter or a way to make some quick cash in a photo shoot. The film was the first come out and tell the story of Dahmer, as in the coming months and years there have been at least a dozen films made concerning his awful story.
I think that as far as the acting went, Carl Crew really did a wonderful job in his portrayal of Dahmer and was the only actor that stood out and carried the whole film. I remember Crew for starring in the horror-comedy BLOOD DINER (1987), another film that I really liked and used to have on VHS (currently looking to buy myself another copy of the gem!), and his performance really added to the authenticity of THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER. Intervision picked up this film and gave it a dvd release, as well as a very informative director’s commentary, along with actor/writer Carl Crew, and I really enjoyed this movie much more than I thought I would. The film looked to have a very low-budget and I just did not expect to enjoy the movie quite as much as I did.
Cops busting Dahmer with a young boy
I think films on serial killers always interest me more than most other films, factual or fictionalized, on the subject matter of horror and real-life events. The films’ voice-over narration conducted by Crew, as well as the film’s lack of a decent budget as all the interior shots were filmed in a soundstage in Burbank (before the Japanese investors pulled out leaving the crew with only 30% of the movie filmed) and the crew had to use friends and family to get the film finished. If having investors pull out a third of the way was not enough of a reason to be discouraged into quitting the film, the Rodney King Riots occurred in L.A. during this filming period and the lighting company and dollie company had their buildings and equipment torched to the ground by rioters.
As for the blood and gore of the movie, there really was not a whole lot of it, but I felt that the lack of it did not hurt the film any. There were some violent scenes, such as a victim getting hit in the head with a weight from a weight bench set, or the scene where Dahmer is drilling a hole in a victim’s head and pouring some chemicals in it resulting with the victim having a seizure of sorts, angering Dahmer and leading to the victim being instantly killed. The fact that these scenes are based off of real-life events is pretty disturbing, whether the effects are very well done or not. I believe the film was just trying to show viewers the means in which Dahmer murdered his victims, but not necessarily go into any sort of graphic detail. There was one scene in which a decapitated head was shown sitting in Dahmer’s refrigerator and I thought it was a well done prosthetic and really looked realistic.
The film really shows quite a bit the sexual nature of Dahmer, the intense foreplay that led up to the victims’ demise, as well as having some really hilarious dialogue that in listening to the director’s commentary and hearing writer/actor Crew stating that the dialogue (most of it) had to be pieced together from the source materials at hand which happened to be mostly from police reports. THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER is a film that, after having watched it once with my girlfriend and again while writing the review, find myself liking it more and more with each viewing. The film really has a lot of personality and character to it, and I was surprised at how much the film angled into getting into the psyche of Dahmer and his twisted mind. The other films that I saw about Dahmer were not that in-depth, did not follow the facts nearly as closely, and were more dramatized more than anything. I give the filmmakers great credit into sticking to the facts and really telling a story worth telling. I saw DAHMER (2002) with Jeremy Renner and the film had a much larger budget and failed to paint such a vivid picture as Bowen and Crew crafted in their film. It just goes to show you that a larger budget with bigger named actors from Hollywood does not always equate to a better motion picture.
The film has inspired me to dig back into the details of the murders and pick up some books on the murders and further my research on the subject matter. Sometimes when I see a film about a subject matter that really interests me and I have a decent understanding of the materials and the movie sucks, I get really pissed off at the filmmakers for ruining a subject I enjoy learning about. If anything, the makers of THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER will inspire others to research about Jeffrey Dahmer and even more importantly, remind folks to be leery and very careful when meeting very charismatic individuals that one does not know very well or are meeting for the first time. It amazed me how trusting so many boys and young men were when meeting Dahmer for the first time. I also felt that the movie also portrayed the police in a realistic manner, especially in scenes that showed how the cops disregarded protocol and the rules of procedure which led to Dahmer to continue going out and killing more unsuspecting men.
I really have to recommend picking up the INTERVISION release of THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER on dvd. To date, this movie has been my favorite release from the fairly new distributor. I am looking forward to what undiscovered film gems that company digs up and puts out on dvd. I am glad that THE SECRET LIFE made it to dvd almost 18 years later and with a commentary track with director David R. Bowen and actor/writer Carl Crew. This film ranks as one of my top serial killer films and one of the best that I have ever seen, regardless of the film’s low-budget.
REVIEW: KILLER YACHT PARTY (2006)
Troma Films, known for their low-brow toilet humor blended in with low-budget indie schlock “classics” such as THE TOXICAVENGER, CLASS OF NUKE ‘EM HIGH, SURF NAZIS MUST DIE, as well as distributing some solid cult-like entries in the sleaze market such as Joel M. Reed’s BLOODSUCKING FREAKS, we now have some modern-day films from Troma. As a young teenager, the company Troma meant T&A and gore, mixed with crude humor and I guess as a young prepubescent boy-I was ok with that. Now, grown up a little more (and I stress “little”), I need a bit more than flashes of boobies, some fart/toilet humor, and uber-cheesy gore and blood.
With KILLER YACHT PARTY, the feature debut of Piotr Uzarowicz, I believe Troma Films is still putting out some films that are more in line with the word “horrible” than “horrorfying”. In fact, I actually was a bit surprised that KILLER YACHT PARTY was not as bad as I thought it would be. The plot of the film revolves around a core group of douchebags that are only into the club scene and what it entails-getting drunk and getting laid. I used to work at a nightclub and it seemed that everyone associated with it just wanted to party every night, score with the hot ladies (or guys, depending on one’s preference), and either sell drugs at the venue or for promoters-make tons of money at the door and on liquor sales. This film throws in the mix a club on a yacht that has a haunted history, and a murderer racking up a body count.
One of the more interesting scenes in the film
The film is, essentially, a slasher film on a yacht. Oh yeah, and it advertises Kate Luyben is in it from TRUE BLOOD. Luyben was in two episodes of TRUE BLOOD in 2010, but I guess because she really was not in many other television or horror movies, this is the route to go in the ad campaign to get folks to want to check it out. Granted, this film is listed in IMDb as having been made in 2006, and then picked up by Troma about five years later (and 4 years after Lubyen was in TRUE BLOOD), this is really the only drawing aspect to me wanting to see this film, aside from the promise of “busty, hot girls” getting “butchered. Well, on this point, the film sort of delivers.
There are some very hot girls in this film—ya know, the plastic, fake kind that have had plastic surgery to get perfect noses, cheek bones, and tits. Also, most of these ladies look as though they wouldn’t know how to cook a microwave dinner, but then these are the girls that most viewers enjoy seeing slashed and gutted. I know I love when the spoiled, hot, rich girl gets it by the ugly, maniacal killing psychopath!
Becky Boxer and Maggie Marion
So, the club promoters, Brock (Eric Clark) and Monica (Kate Luyben) have set up this yacht party and Lacy (Becky Boxer) and Jane (Maggie Marion) who were at an event the club promoters were throwing the night (or week) before, get an exclusive invitation to attend this yacht party. Of course, the film tries to throw in some mysterious and odd characters to throw the audience off into not really figuring out for sure who the killer was, but after watching the film, it becomes fairly obvious who, or what, has been killing off everyone on the boat (oops, plot spoiler). Yeah, the film has quite a bit of murders and killing throughout most of the film. This would be a good thing, except that the murders are pretty straight-forward and really lack the creativity in how the victims are picked off one by one, which I think is an important aspect in truly making a solid slasher film. In all of the Friday the 13th films, Jason, or his mother, or a revenge-driven paramedic-they all have very fun and creative ways that the killer takes out his victims. It is one of the only reasons that I watch and enjoy slasher films, aside from the usual large amounts of gratuitous nudity from very attractive “actresses” (some of which are only cast for their screaming ability and luscious bodies), but it is, nonetheless, a valid reason.
KILLER YACHT PARTY lacks any type of imagination in the kill-scene department. Sometimes it is hard to think of new ways to kill a human being aboard a boat. There are only so many ways one can die, especially on a boat and there have been boatloads (pun intended!) of movies that have had victims dispatched on a boat. Therefore, why not at least have the full murder scene shown instead of dicing it up with annoying edits, spots of black screen breaking up the full murder. I guess that is the only way I know how to describe the edits when murder scenes occur. There are cuts in the middle of the murders where black nothing appears, almost as if the scenes were being cut and censored by the MPAA, but that is not the case because the film does not even have a rating on it.
The scenes of blood and little gore could have been done a bit better and would have looked better if there weren’t annoying editing spots tossed in during most of the murders. The scenes that were not shown, such as a girl lying on the floor with shards of a broken mirror stuck in her face and the rest of her body in random placement, were just after-shots of murders and usually were sub-par in the special effects department.
The gore and blood within this film is not up to par, but the acting in the film was not quite as bad as I thought it would be. Granted, many of the names in the film have been in small roles here and there or uncredited in some of the films they were in, but I felt that the D-List actors and actresses in the film did have some acting ability and gave the film a status that was a notch or two above an uber-low budgeted film that not only had extremely low production values, but also talentless bodies running through the scenes without any grace or purpose.
The plot directs viewers into the mystique of a woman that died on the boat and is believed to be haunting it, as well as having a creepy old guy taking care of the boat and also its captain. Then we have another old creepy guy, sort of like the old man’s character in the first few FRIDAY THE 13TH movies, warning the horny, playful teenagers and camp counselors that Crystal Lake was doomed and everyone that sets foot on the grounds will die. This old creepy guy in KILLER YACHT PARTY hangs around the docks and just acts creepy, as well as giving a lift to an unwanted drug dealer that was banned from attending the party, as well as the club promoters’ events. The film tries to confuse viewers into thinking one or several other characters or a ghost is doing the killing.
Is KILLER YACHT PARTY a ‘whodunnit murder mystery’ or just a less than good example of a slasher film? I would tend to lean towards the latter as the murders throughout the entire film don’t really conclusively lead towards any one particular character, especially when the only part of the murderer we see is black rubber gloves, which we see past the halfway point. The sad fact is that we don’t see any killing occur until almost an hour into the movie, a movie that is less than 90 minutes in duration. I guess, technically, there is one murder in the first 15 minutes, but we don’t actually see it but assume the victim is killed by her scream.
The hour leading up to the murders is boring dialogue intended to build up the characters and give them some depth, but unfortunately the characters are about as deep as a puddle after a light rain. It would a totally different matter if all the blood and gore towards the end of the film was over-the-top and incredible and made the tedious wait until the action started all be worth it, but that is definitely not the case. The wait is in vain.
KILLER YACHT PARTY is not the worse low-budget, indie film to come out on the market, but it is dismally close to being thrown in that category. I think this film is one that is normally not Troma material, as it is kind of light on the sleaze, nudity, and gore- all components of a fun Troma film. I also wonder about the reasons for the film being made in 2006 and being picked up by Troma almost five years later. It seems that this film is one that could have been passed up.
Heavy amounts of gore and nudity, as well as showing all the murders and not cutting parts out with lame editing techniques that make the scenes look as though they were censored, could have been the only saving grace this film had. Instead, I just felt that KILLER YACHT PARTY was a tedious waste of nearly 90 minutes that I could have passed up on and spent my time watching another movie.
I found the commentary, conducted by director Piotr Uzarowicz and writer Alex Silver to be far more interesting and engaging than the film itself. Aside from that, there is only a trailer for the film, as well as a slew of other Troma Team releases. I dug the cover of the movie, though. I wish the cover lived up to the content of the film and had as much blood within.
KILLER YACHT PARTY fails to stay afloat as a slasher film that holds any sort of merit in the genre. My advise is to pass up this lackluster slasher film and instead, rent some of the classics from the ’80s that defined the genre.
BOOK REVIEW: CHILDREN OF STATIC by Vin Marr
Vin Marr’s Children of Static, a total mindfuck of a journey filled with monsters and the darkest thoughts one’s psyche can imagine comes to life in this story of a group of kids just looking for somewhere to party.
Children of Static is the 2nd novel from the first book of the Epic series, written and illustrated by Vin Marr. Eye of Obrek was the first novel and “only the order of the books is important to the continuity of the series and not the individual novels there in.”
The preface to Children of Static goes on to say that EchtraMedia (the publishers of the book) and the author both agree “the series is a challenging read.” As I was reading the book, I was finding out firsthand JUST how challenging this read was going to be. The story is a mixture of horror, science fiction, and a whole world and concept that this reader was sometimes confused in understanding and comprehending.
The story starts out with a group of young adults, mostly teenagers, who have set off to pick up some booze, bringing along with them food for the night and a few weapons and flashlights. This group, consisting mostly boys (and one girl) are going to an old house to party that is sort of away from other residences and abandoned. So far, I was following along the story. Not to speak to soon, the story jumps into a flashback involving other characters that had not been introduced yet. Several paragraphs later the story jumps back to already introduced characters but readers are hearing their thoughts, some of which are of the past and a sort of flashback. This was where the narrative started to get a bit confusing. The story jumps around between past, present, reality, and a magnificently altered reality—to some it would be considered Hell.
The warning in the preface was so close to the truth of the matter. This read would be difficult, sometimes confusing, and at times-totally frustrating. Even with the confusion and frustrating narrative, I found myself compelled to read more because there was some interesting character development when the story decided to focus on one event in the book and maintain a linear direction instead of bouncing all over the place like an angry fly searching for a way out of an airtight glass jar. Marr has a way of describing gory detail fairly well, but I felt that it moved to quickly and did not really give readers enough food-for-thought to digest and let settle within one’s psyche. I found a great deal of potential within the writing, and the author’s talent resided within his character development, but I just wish there had been more time for building the characters up and give the reader a chance to become familiarized with Brad, Calvin, Tom, Shaun, Lyle, Brillo, Ricky, Billy, Larry, RB, and Jan.
The story focuses around an evil entity, if one can even call it an entity, of magnificent proportions that slips into the thoughts and feelings of the group of kids once they enter the old and dilapidated house. Once in the house, they all are part of a nightmare they desperately wish to wake up from. It is during this nightmare that I found some pleasure in Marr’s vivid descriptions of gore and violence that I can only compare to the gore and creativity in John Carpenter’s film The Thing, of which a alien creature takes over humans and in gory fashion recreates the human physically, while consuming the hosts body. The merging of multiple anatomies that occurs in The Thing and within Marr’s Children of Static for me had many similarities. In talking with the author about his book, I learned Carpenter’s The Thing was a major influence on him and in his writing.
There are two illustrations within the book: one being the group of young adults that go to the old house for a night of drinking and testing out each other’s nerves and the other being one of the creatures within the story whom the teenagers find and end up fighting for their lives because of. After reading a few descriptive paragraphs regarding the “monsters” within the book, I was really anxious to see if my mind had created what Marr was envisioning in his head. Suffice to say, the creature was pretty intense looking and the artwork was done well.
For me, the story was as confusing as some hailed pieces of Science Fiction and as gory and dark as some books I have read from Stephen King and Clive Barker, but just not as easy and organized to read. I felt that book has potential and because it is only one novel with a series of novels, maybe after reading all the parts together this reader may find the story to be less confusing, but who can say. I have mixed feelings on the first piece of work I have read from Vin Marr. I thoroughly enjoyed the gore and descriptive violence, which is prominent more so in the second half of the book, but I also felt that the development and detail put forth for each character was entertaining, but left me thirsting for more back story and depth put forth. I personally felt that with deeper histories setting up each character would give the book an easier flow to follow. I always feel that one of the positive aspects to a good story is really developing the characters within so that when tragedy or joy befalls each, the reader is pulled further into the story and the outcome affects one more deeply.
I believe Marr has a vast world created up in his head and is just having some difficulty translating it in words and in a way that readers can understand and enjoy reading about. Once the narrative reads more cohesively and in a simpler manner, I think a compelling and fantastic story lies beneath the confusing and difficult narration. I recommend reading Marr’s work, but maybe taking notes on characters and carefully noting of events that occur in present time and those that are either from the past or in the not-too-distant future. Otherwise, one may be as confused at times as I was during the story.
If one is interested in purchasing the Kindle edition of Children of Static, please click HERE!
INDIE SLASHER REVIEW: BIKINI GIRLS ON ICE (2009)
Well Go USA’s BIKINI GIRLS ON ICE(2009), directed by relative-newcomer to filmmaking Geoff Klein, who until this film has only directed a few shorts (if IMDb is correct) has crafted a slasher flick that follows all of the known conventions to the slasher genre but one- creating a film that has on-screen violence/murders, blood and gore, or nudity. The film has a pinch of each-but not enough of any one ingredient to keep the movie interesting enough through all the elements one is accustomed to finding in a horror film, and in particular, a slasher film.
What makes a successful slasher film one may ask? For starters, how about some on-screen slashing instead of each and almost every kill scene cut (by the director, mind you, and not by the psycho in the film) from the movie right before any opportunity of blood spilling occurs for the viewers. Gee, I thought that the whole point of watching a horror film marketed and advertised as “a brilliant mix of FRIDAY THE 13TH and URBAN LEGEND” and “a classic slash-action that horror fans everywhere will die for” was to actually deliver a miniscule amount of what the film is hyping itself up about. I think that BIKINI GIRLS ON ICE had the potential to be a decent low-brow, run of the mill slasher film that would be fun to watch and be regarded as a solid slasher film to watch-maybe nothing new to add to the genre but a film that could possibly have been created to cater to fans of mindless gore that actually might have had a few scenes of solid suspense mixed in with some blood oozing out from knife, axe, or blunt objects being used as murder weapons—but no. No such luck. The film lacks everything that could have made it a glorious, low budget, probably B-grade slasher film. What was particularly nerve-wracking was the fact that the cast gracing the screen was filled with lovely figured girls prancing around in bikinis throughout the whole film, including Chicago-native Danielle Doetsch (BLACK DAYS), Scream Queen Suzi Lorraine (TORMENT, DESTINED TO BE INGESTED), Cindel Chartrand (MISBEHAVIOR), Christina Sciortino (THE END), Kerri Taylor (SATAN’S SCHOOLGIRLS), Caroline Faille (a first time actress) and a few other attractive girls clad in bikinis. The title did not lie—there were girls in bikinis throughout the whole film. The problem was that there were girls WEARING bikinis throughout the whole film and not girls TAKING OFF bikinis throughout the entire film. I figure if a movie whose plot revolves around a bus full of women’s soccer players stranded at an abandoned gas station during a fundraiser for their soccer team is filled with beautiful women with trim and fit bodies sporting bikinis, then I want to see a little bit more than just some cleavage and buttocks peaking through in skimpy attire. There was one sex scene within the film in which Nikki (Taylor) goes for a little lesson in stick with a customer of the car wash that is offered much more than just a wash. This is the one and only scene of nudity and its a topless sex scene and is fairly brief. I was kind of a little bit disappointed by this. Thankfully for the film, the acting in it was not horrible and at times pretty convincing but mediocre acting in a slasher film with hardly any blood and gore with a majority of the murders cut before any actual flesh is cut or chopped apart really became quite annoying. I was sure I had put in a slasher film in that was not approved for PG rating because if that one brief scene of nudity was omitted from the film, it would able to be presented on the Disney Channel or another such network.
Christina Sciortino of BIKINI GIRLS ON ICE
The director Geoff Klein even states during the films commentary that he consciously made a decision to not film much of the violence within the script on film because he felt that it would be scarier and viewers imaginations would run wild and come up with their own ideas about what happened. Sadly, the only thing I was thinking about was how much potential this film had and how it could have been way better if their was quite a bit more on-screen violence shot in the film and if there was a load more blood and gore. Save the lack of blood and violence within a film for “thrillers” and “suspense” films, not movies dubbed “slashers”.
On a positive note, I absolutely loved the movie’s cover art, as well as the title itself. BIKINI GIRLS ON ICE has a certain ring to it that screams out exploitative scenes of nudity, blood, and guts and going into the film I could tell right off the bat that I was going to be in for a major disappointment. I felt that the two actresses whose characters stood out and gave me something to keep me attentive were the performances of Danielle Doetsch and Cindel Chartrand. The two characters are best friends in the film and really gave believable performances. Doetsch, in particular, had a real energetic buzz going on around her and her animated performance kept me awake during this less than adequate entry to the slasher genre.
The killer in the movie, dubbed the name “Moe” because it is written on the work shirt he is wearing during all the murders that viewers are not privy to, just goes stomping around grunting and exhaling loudly while quickly entering a shot and raising a weapon, only to have the director yell “CUT!” before anything is done on camera for the viewers’ enjoyment. I also noted that the director really has a hard-on for the Australian horror film WOLF CREEK whose plot revolves around a group of young adults stranded in the middle of a barren stretch of Australia only to ask for help from a psychopath who takes them captive and begins to torture and kill them. If only the director had taken his love for WOLF CREEK and applied some of the aspects of it that made the film so popular with viewers–the addition of blood and gore to each murder that was filmed.
The special features on the film are pretty decent and include a Behind the Scenes segment, Deleted Scenes, some bloopers, and trailers. In listening to the commentary with director Geoff Klein and writer/producer Jeff Ross, I found out that Klein really enjoyed WOLF CREEK, even going so far as to throwing in his film his favorite sound that was used in WOLF CREEK for a scare scene or murder sequence. What I did not understand is why the director than did not decide to go the route in which WOLF CREEK took where there is tons of blood, torture, and on-screen violence. Our psychopath in the film also has no motive or reason for killing other then that he is absolutely completely nuts.
I did enjoy the commentary, but noticed that both Ross and Klein delivered it with about as much enthusiasm and interest as young child forced to watch foreign news report on changes in the stock market. I can see myself definitely using the movie’s commentary as background noise to fall asleep to at night. The intonation in both their voices rarely fluctuated and was so soft-spoken that it makes for perfect napping audio.
BIKINI GIRLS ON ICE is not the worst slasher film out in the genre, but it is one that I feel is worth skipping over–especially if looking for a bit of nudity, more than a sprinkle of blood, and scenes of on-screen violence actually shot and shown to viewers instead of leaving the violence in the imagination of the viewer. I have a wonderfully twisted and sadistic imagination but I watch horror films to see what OTHER twisted and sadistic visions filmmakers can conceive of and capture on film. I look forward to seeing a film that director Klein creates with the intention of leaving nothing to the viewers’ imagination and instead, just show us what you have in that creative brain of yours, Geoff.
(Look for this review, along with many others, in the 2nd Issue of SHU-IZMZ ZINE, due out later this month!)
TRAILER: HELLDRIVER (WELL GO USA)
An alien-spawned, mysterious mist blankets the northern half of Japan, transforming those who inhale it into ravenous, flesh-eating zombies hell-bent on devouring the surviving human population. Plunged into chaos, Japan is torn in two—”the southern half of the country, where the populace remains untouched by the deadly gas, lives behind a heavily-fortified wall, while the northern half is a lawless, zombie-infected wasteland. Political forces are locked in a stalemate over whether the living dead should remain protected as family members or exterminated like a plague. The economy withers away, and all hope seems lost for the people and the nation of Japan. Sexy...yet dangerous!
Hope arrives in the form of Kika (Yumiko Hara), a beautiful high school girl armed with a chainsaw sword powered by an artificial heart. Recruited by the government, Kika leads a ragtag group of desperados on a secret mission into the zombie-infected wilds to exterminate zombie queen Rikka (Eihi Shiina from AUDITION and TOKYO GORE POLICE) and put an end to the plague of the living dead. But the road is fraught with a thriving zombie culture that, with its own designs on the living half of Japan, refuses to lay down and die.
Visionary filmmaker Yoshihiro Nishimura’s first solo directorial effort since TOKYO GORE POLICE is an epic, apocalyptic road movie featuring non-stop action and over-the-top splatter. The long-awaited realization of his dreams, HELLDRIVER is Nishimura’s bid to create the ultimate zombie film.
The showdown for the future of Japan is at hand and no one, living or dead, may survive to see it! SYNOPSIS SOURCE: WELL GO USA
Please share your thoughts on this latest from Well Go USA. The movie looks kind of fun, gory, and freaky. Is it going to be something worth watching? Well, it has Eihi Shiina (AUDITION) in it, so I am definitely going to check out this flick from Japan! It also is directed by the special effects and make-up guy, Nishimura, who worked on Robogeisha, Hard Revenge Milly, Machine Girl, Tokyo Gore Police, and many, many more! I don’t know about you, but I really love these intense gory splatter-fests from Japan that push the edge of creativity. Definitely worth checking out!
REVIEW: BLOODY BIRTHDAY (1981)
Kids that kill.
Those three words had me hooked on seeing this film when I read the film’s synopsis back in the mid-80s on the back of the VHS box at the liquor store/video rental store Elm’s Liquorland in Arlington Heights. What made this rental between me and my friends even better was the old, slimy store clerk (who, himself, looked to be a child molester) tried to tell my buddy’s mother that Bloody Birthday (’81) was a horror film about kids that killed adults, had a fair amount of nudity, and was nothing that anyone under 17 years of age should be watching. O.K., she said. I will worry about my kids viewing choices while you just make sure drunks have a choice of video rentals while they are picking up a bottle of Jack Daniels or a case of beer. I thought it was funny that a scumbag at a liquor store whom looked and smelled like he was drunk 24/7 was giving a mother of two kids advice on parenting. Dude, you work in a liquor store selling a vice to drunks and avid drinkers. Hell, if the guy decided not to sell alcohol to those he felt drank too much or whose livers were dying out, he probably would be out-of-business or barely scraping by financially. His “warning” made me and my two buddies even more stoked to watch this morally-depraved film about murderous little shits!
I remember that I was not disappointed with Bloody Birthday at all. In fact, I loved it. I had never seen a film where kids under the legal age of driving, as young as ten years old, were going around wasting anyone that they felt they wanted to kill or got in their way. What was even better about this film was the fact that there were a few actors and actresses that I was familiar with: K.C. Martel of E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (’82) fame, Elizabeth Hoy from The Blues Brothers (’80), and Billy Jayne from Cujo (’83). These were actors and actresses that I knew from other movies, one of which was from the horror genre, and did not play evil and twisted roles as in Bloody Birthday.
Killer kids looking oh-so-innocent
Bloody Birthday’s plot revolves around three kids: Debbie Brody (Elizabeth Hoy), Steve Seton (Andy Freeman), and Curtis Taylor (Billy Jayne) whom all were born on the same day at the height of a lunar eclipse. The doctor at the hospital, credited as “doctor” and played by the incredible Jose Ferrer (Dune (’84), The Caine Mutiny (’54), and Lawrence of Arabia (’62) in a very brief role, notes this lunar eclipse as he goes in with a nurse to care for the new-born babies. We then skip to about ten years later where the kids look and appear to be nice little boys and girls, except for the fact that they are killing adults, some even as young as teenagers and any other kids that cross them. Some of the victims whom are killed lose their lives because they are out late at night having sex outside in a cemetery, as is the case in one murder, or are screwing around in the back of their van. In either case, the scenes contain some nice nudity and sexuality in which we are shown that the kids murdering the victims are watching the sexual foreplay for a bit before killing them in slasher film fashion. Along with the bad kids, there is one good kid amongst the group whom goes to the same school and lives in the same neighborhood whose name is Timmy Russell (K.C. Martel of E.T. and The Amityville Horror fame). His older sister Joyce Russell (Lori Lethin) is main lead in the film, also best friends with one of the devious children’s older sisters’, Beverly Brody (West Coast Julie Brown of MTV (not to be confused with Downtown Julie Brown also of MTV) and also starred in Earth Girls Are Easy (’88) and Clueless (’95)).
Young Curtis Taylor (Billy Jayne) interrupting some teenage lovin'
Joyce works at the school all the children attend and one night is researching the students’ birthdays and notices that the three kids whom all share the same birthday were born during a lunar eclipse in which the sun and moon block Saturn, which in astrology just so happens to control emotions. This is why the kids are remorseless and are stone-cold killers. At times, watching the little kids bash a teenagers head in with a shovel and choking his girlfriend with a jump-rope as if they were just playing a game of kickball or a game of tag outside is pretty damn disturbing. None of the murders in the film are extremely gory or even that bloody, but just the fact that 10 year old kids are peeping on girls screwing around with their boyfriends, breasts bare, or getting undressed and dancing around naked in the privacy of their own bedroom as is the case in which Beverly does while her younger sister Debbie charges her two young boy friends a quarter to watch through a homemade fashioned peephole in the closet is totally disturbing. I can’t recall a movie from the ’80s, or even off-hand right now that has kids this young and cute savagely killing off adults. The only film that comes to mind to me is Children of the Corn, but in the case of that film, there were some more supernatural elements at work and the kids all live in a cult-like cornfield and some of the kids are in their upper teens, if not even older. I think Bloody Birthday stands out more because of the innocence the kids exude in their perfect little white. suburban neighborhood where a lost dog is probably the biggest problem to occur.
Lead Lori Lethin desperately trying to get some help
One of my favorite scenes in the film is, aside from the nude dancing of Julie Brown (sorry guys, no full-frontal nudity by any actress at any point) in her bedroom is another scene in which a victim is killed by an arrow shot through the peephole and goes right through the eyeball. Now this scene is by no means comparable to a, say, certain scene in a certain Dario Argento movie in which a bullet is shot through a door’s peephole (Opera) or another epic eyeball scene in which a splinter is pierced through a woman’s eyeball in beautiful gory fashion from a Lucio Fulci film (Zombie)-but it is still fun…and a cute, little 10-year old girl is doing the killing.
actress Julie Brown before her stint at MTV as West Coast Julie Brown
As well as having some very brief scenes with screen legend Jose Ferrer, Susan Strasberg (Psych-Out (’68), Scream of Fear (’61)) also has some short screen time in the movie. I think it may be a unique role for her, as well. I found it very interesting that both Ferrer and Strasberg decided on being in a horror film about 10-year olds that go on a killing rampage.
The film, directed by Ed Hunt, is not his first only foray into the world of horror. Horror fans may recall another genre film starring David Gale (Re-Animator) in which a giant brain is being used by Gale (as Dr. Blake) to brainwash the town with mind-control and the rest of the planet for world domination. Hunt’s first horror film was Bloody Birthday and some of his other earlier works, one of which was first marketed as soft-core pornography (Corrupted (’73) ) and the other another sexually-oriented film (Diary of a Sinner), did not shy away from nudity and sexual themes. I guess one can assume it only fitting that Bloody Birthday cover an array of taboo subjects such as kids killing adults, peeping on girls undressing and couples having sex. Hunt seems to be in very familiar territory with Bloody Birthday. The Brain even had some scenes of nudity if I can recall correctly.
These kids need to get an ass-whooping from mommy and daddy
Severin’s release of Bloody Birthday comes packed with some special features, including an audio interview with director Ed Hunt, as well as an interview with lead actress Lori Lethin (who played Joyce Russell) entitled Don’t Eat the Cake. This is one of tw0 recent Severin releases that are of the slasher genre (the other being Nightmares a.k.a. Stage Fright) and both contain a short but interesting documentary on the slasher genre by none other than Adam Rockoff (author of Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film), entitled A Brief History of Slasher Films. Adam Rockoff is an active member of the horror community whom I have run into at various horror conventions and film festivals in the Midwest, and is also buddies with some of my buddies and professional acquaintances in the Chicagoland horror community. I also had the pleasure (or displeasure) of writing a fairly scathing review of Wicked Lake, a film he wrote the screenplay for.
Do not piss this kid off...
In the end, I found out I probably enjoyed Bloody Birthday just as much as I did when I saw it for the first time as a young, warped youth, except that this time around I did not get so excited when boobs appeared on the screen or a woman’s ass was shown as I did when I was just starting to hit puberty in junior high or whenever the hell I started to. The years without a girlfriend are some dark years, indeed! As a slasher film, I feel that Bloody Birthday is very unique in that it portrays kids killing adults and has some perverted elements of kinkiness to it with the peeping of teenagers having sex and the sister dancing around naked while the boys pay to see. I wished the gore was more and the blood flowed more freely, but I suppose there is never enough blood, gore, and nudity in a film to ever satisfy my tastes. As a horror film and a slasher film, I really think one ought to at least view this film, if not even buy it.
P.S.-Don’t forget to look for low-budget action/adventure star Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja (’85)) in a very tiny role as the boyfriend of Beverly Brody (Julie Brown).
REVIEW: NIGHTMARES a.k.a. STAGE FRIGHT (1980)
When I popped in Nightmares and started watching it, I was expecting a standard slasher film that was going to offer nothing new in terms of violence, blood, and the usual frights and scares that films from this genre are usually known to offer. But then I looked the film up and realized it was categorized in the Australian exploitation category known as Ozploitation. After viewing Mark Hartley’s Not Quite Hollywood, of which Nightmares is mentioned quite a few times in, I knew that I was going to be in for something quite a bit different and possibly far uniquer than most of the American slasher films I have seen in my time.
I was right, but also wrong. The film is definitely unique but I am not sure if always for the right reasons. Australian director John Lamond takes a bizarre approach to directing this fully-restored print of the very graphic giallo-like thriller that Nightmares comprises of. The film blends aspects of the American slasher genre with many core components of the Italian giallo genre in one mind-blowing perverse oddity. I throw perverse in the mix because there is a fair bit of nudity and sexual situations throughout the film.
Nightmares a.k.a. Stage Fright starts off in peculiar manner, one of which that totally baffled me at first viewing. I actually had to go back and watch the first fifteen minutes several times before I understood the first few flashback scenes made sense. In the beginning of the film we go back to January of 1963 and are privy to a young girl whom wakes up in the middle of the night, probably due to a bad nightmare (hence the title), and opens to the door to her mother’s bedroom and catches her in the act of lovemaking with a man. We are not shown the two copulating individuals faces or told who they are. I assumed they were the girl’s mother and father, but maybe that is not so. Then we move forward to a month later where the little girl (I am assuming the same little girl) is getting in to a car with her mother and a man, presumably her father, saying goodbye to his wife and daughter. The mother is about to drive off and the little girl wakes up in the back seat wrapped in a blanket.
The mother says, “I thought you were asleep.” The father tells his wife that he will see her in a couple of days once he can get away. At this point I am kind of confused as to whom the lovemaking individuals were, if the two girls that were shown on screen were the same girls, and if the man saying goodbye is the woman’s husband. The car with the girl and mother drive off and the next scene the woman (I think its the same woman whom I believe is the mother of the girl who had the nightmare, saw her mom and (possibly) father having sex in the film’s first scene) is driving the car while a man and groping and rubbing her inner thigh and crotch. Sadly, we are shown a view of the scene from the chest down and don’t get to see the hornballs’ faces. The girl wakes up, yells at the man (whom I now believe is not her father or anyone else’s) to leave her mother alone (ok, it is, in fact, the girl’s mother) and grabs her mom, causing her to lose control of the car and not notice a vehicle parked in the middle of the road (appearing to be empty) and crashes into it. At first viewing, I thought the parked car was the one with the little girl and her mother because the prior scene did not show them having driven away yet and I was not sure if the two scenes with the little girl were in fact the same girl. The beginning scenes of this film really confused the hell out of me and after watching those scenes more than several times I concluded that the young child was the same character in every scene she was in and that the mother was cheating on her husband with one or more men and that the young daughter did not approve of this infidelity. Sometimes giallos can be so confusing to me if I don’t pay very close attention. I can recall how many times I have had to re-watch specific scenes or portions of these films more than one time.
Another part of giallos that are part of their style that sometimes bewilder me are the incessant flashbacks and confusing plot-lines. Nightmares was one of those such films that initially confused me so much that I was almost debating on whether to attempt to sort the film out and even write up a review of it. I finally decided that I was going to watch the damn movie until the beginning sequence of events made sense…or until I could kid myself into believing it made sense.
Now, the somewhat confusing introductory scenes of Nightmares have concluded. The viewer learns through statements made by the man that was messing around with the little girl’s mother (the result of the accident was that the mother flew threw the windshield and with the help of her daughter moving her body her neck was slashed upon the jagged broken windshield glass) that the little girl caused the accident and killed her mother by dragging her neck across the glass. This fact was conveyed to us through some barely audible off-screen comments by what appeared to doctors or medical officials. More utter confusion.
We fast-forward to present times and what looks to be this messed-up child grown-up is none other than actress Jenny Neumann portraying Helen Selleck. Neumann is best known for her role in another slasher film, notably more popular and well-known than this film, Hell Night. Now, as an adult, Helen is trying out for a role in a theater production. She gets the part but when told of the good news she is less than thrilled. I guess that may be because she has traumatic flashbacks and nightmares frequently, some of which occur while she is awake, and also seems to talk to herself most of the time and in another voice. I think that this is what schizophrenics’ exhibit. I think a schizophrenic wrote the story because I found confusion clouded this story just as much as fog masks the city of London regularly.
Jenny Neumann as the headcase Helen Selleck
The rest of the film is full of point-of-view shots as cast members and crew of the production of the theater play are killed off in bloody and gory fashion one-by-one. Many of which are murdered during sex or in the process of having just had sex. The slasher book of rules citing that fornicating and sex go hand in hand with getting carved up by a sharp knife or tool definitely apply here in this film. I would say this film threw that rule into effect the same year that the American slasher film Friday the 13th did in their but can’t say for sure if anyone really copied this rule from one or the other. Hell, Anthony Perkins slashed up the beautiful Janet Leigh in Hitchcock’s Psycho during the infamous shower scene which is one of the earliest examples of sexuality and slaughter going in hand-in-hand (along with Powell’s Peeping Tom which some argue is the first true slasher film of the genre even though both came out in the same year so who’s to say?). Contrary to what I have written, overall I really did enjoy this Ozploitation slasher-giallo flick.
Part of the enjoyment was due to quirky lines of dialogue that had me cracking up at their absurdity. For instance, when Helen has a flashback of some victims whom were recently murdered from the set of the play, she starts cackling and crying at the same time, of which I was not sure if it was more laughter or crying that I heard when all of a sudden a fellow cast member slaps her hard in the face as all the cast and crew stare at her in disbelief. Helen instantly blurts out,
“You bitch! You fucking bitch! I can do whatever I want, you hear?! You can’t stop me!” and runs off.
The girl that slaps her simply replies, “She’s mad…”.
There were quite a few scenes such as this one that only would elicit a reaction of laughter more than anything else. I found myself laughing more often than not and having quite a fun time doing so. The director within the film, actor Max Phipps, was a total douchebag and gave one of the better performances within the film. He played George D’alberg, director of the play, and was relentless as the know-it-all judge of talent even though the eminent critic, Bennett Collingswood portrayed by John Michael Howson, considered his work to be a pile of crap. The film centers around the crew squabbling with each other and Helen (Neumann) and Terry Besanko falling for each other romantically.
The film has many cool sequences and an excellent soundtrack courtesy of composer Brian May, known as one of the best film music composers in the history of Australian Cinema. May, whom has created the music for Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Road Games, and Patrick, composes another soundtrack that gives the listener chills as it perfectly matches the insanity of the flashbacks throughout the film and the atmosphere-heavy sequences during artful murders filled with nudity and creative edits most notably familiar in Italian giallos. Several times I was reminded of one of my favorite Italian directors, Dario Argento, and his earlier work with directing giallos. Several scenes depicted within the film in which the murderer raises shards of glass instead of the usual butcher knife are so reminiscent of Argento’s style. The weapon, in this case piece of glass, is raised- catching the moonlight and shining artfully in the night, just before striking down into the victim and causing a stream of blood to run down the poor soul’s skin. This occurs several times within the film and it never gets old with me. It is standard giallo slashing. I love it.
Nightmares incorporates all the familiar elements of slasher films and the style of giallo, just sometimes in a confusing manner and fashion. I think the style of the film really pushes this movie into being unique among a plethora of movies coming out that same year. Maybe it has something to do with being an Australian film made by an Australian director and their styles being somewhat unique and different than both Italian directors of giallo films and American directors of slasher films- or maybe not. I do know that the film was overall entertaining, easily predictable once the opening sequences conclude, and only somewhat annoying that every murder is show POV and, at times, with little to zero light. Why couldn’t the director throw in some more lights during some of the night scenes? It would have made the movie much easier to view and not take too much from the overall atmosphere of the picture. Besides those minor points, I was thoroughly entertained with Nightmares. It is not the best slasher-giallo-Ozploitation film out there, but it certainly is better than a fair amount of them. I felt that it was a fair entry to the slasher genre from our friends down under.
SHU-IZMZ gets interviewed by ZombieBloodFights.com!
One of my fan-fashioned pics Bowie used for the interview pics!
If anyone has been reading SHU-IZMZ for awhile, or even a short time, they may have caught on that I am obsessed with film, and horror films, in particular. I love watching them and writing about them. Hell, I can have a lengthy discussion talking about movies all fucking day if the occasion arose. Well, apparently someone out there also shares a passion for movies and horror films and recognized mine and decided to interview me (Shu) about horror films, the beloved city he lives in, and his hangouts and day job. It was a really cool interview and I had a chance to answer some questions that are not normally asked of me. I got a chance to get personal with Bowie Ibarra and his readers at ZombieBloodFights.com. I am writing up this post because if one is not friends with me, Bryan Schuessler, on Facebook than one may not have seen this link posted. I am going to repost the link on twitter (@shuizmz) as well as some other social networking sites. Bowie is an avid reader of SHU-IZMZ and I can’t thank him enough for interviewing me. Bowie is not only a huge fan of horror films, but also an author. He lives down in Texas and is fortunate to be able to frequent the Alamo Drafthouse Theater in Austin, TX. This theater is probably the only desire I would have to visit Texas for. So head over to ZombieBloodFight.com or just click this LINK to read my interview.
RELEASE: More nudity, violence, and gore in grindhouse-style slasher flick
I have already seen Frat House Massacre (2008) and had the luxury of experiencing it on a huge screen at the Portage Theater in July of 2009 at a Horror Society event (a site I used to write for) in Chicago. I enjoyed the film, primarily due to the style and large amount of nudity, gore, and a phenomenal soundtrack by Claudio Simonetti (of Goblin fame). I am happy to be able to revisit this film once again and see if I still have the same affection for it as I did two years ago. Check back for my thoughts on this film once I have reviewed the dvd release of it from Synapse Films.
Frat House Massacre
DVD
Label: Synapse Films
SRP: 19.95
Run Time: 116 Minutes In English
Color Widescreen 1.78:1 Region One Dolby Digital 5.1
Director: Alex Pucci
Stars: Rane Jameson, Chris Prangley, Jon Fleming
Production year: 2008
From the creators of CAMP SLAUGHTER comes FRAT HOUSE MASSACRE, a true homage to the best of the late 70′s grindhouse and early 80′s slasher films! Sean (Chris Prangley) and his little brother Bobby (Rane Jameson) thought joining the Delta Iota Epsilon fraternity would be the best time of their lives with parties, freedom, girls and sex. The fraternity president Mark (Jon Fleming of TVs WILL & GRACE and DANTEíS COVE), however, is a little strange. His twisted hazing rituals include extreme physical and mental torture that lead the boys down a horrific path of destruction and death. But death may be just the beginning, as this gritty twisted film unfolds. Inspired by actual events and set in the year 1979, FRAT HOUSE MASSACRE is a disturbing journey through the twisted world of fraternity boys, pledges and the not-so-innocent sorority sisters swept up in their madness. Loaded with violence, gore, nudity and a fantastic music score by Claudio Simonetti, this DVD is the director’s cut containing over twenty minutes of additional footage.
Bonus features include: Director’s Commentary, Crew Commentary, Deleted Scenes, “Making Of” Featurette.
SOURCE: Synapse Films
REVIEW: BLOODLUST ZOMBIES (2011)
For those of you who are semi-avid fans of adult films, or even just peruse youporn.com, youjizz.com, or one of the other many sites on the internet that offers clips of free porn varying in length and quality-you probably have heard of or have unknowingly watched a clip of Alexis Texas and that bubbly, beautiful ass that generally would not be on the rear of a blonde Caucasian girl hailing from-you guessed it-Texas. Alexis Texas, porn star found from the makers of the adult film series Shane’s World while working at a bar in October of 2006, first got her start in Shane’s World’s College Amateur Tour in Texas. From there she went on to work in some Bang Bros. productions, then on to L.A. to work in the adult film industry full-time.
Alexis Texas doing what she does best...
Alexis Texas (real name Thea Alexis Samper) will not be the first porn-star whom has thrown on some clothes (more attire than is usually required) and given a shot at acting in a low-budget, or even big-budget horror film. I don’t mind porn stars taking a stab at acting in horror films, as long as they do what they are known for and good at- removing some clothing at some point during the movie because let’s be honest-Most of them cannot act worth a lick! If the scene in the film does not involve a strip tease of some sort or a steamy sex scene- viewers may be in for a very bumpy ride while dialogue is painstakingly delivered. Luckily, viewers of Bloodlust Zombies will get some Alexis Texas nudity, some sexy removal of clothing, and plenty of sexual innuendo all tossed in the mix with vulgar humor and zombies munching human flesh. Horror flicks paired with porn stars seems to be a trend that Breaking Glass Pictures and its sister horror label Vicious Circle Films has started to fall into. Granted, as far as I know, it is only their 2nd film to star an adult film sensation (Tori Black in Half Moon was their 1st, I believe), but throwing an adult star in the cast of a low-budget horror flick will only enhance its nudity factor, if even that.
one of the more bloodier scenes with that awful blood
Our story’s plot revolves around a military weapons manufacturer that has created a chemical that, when injected into animals such as the facility’s lab cat, the creature is turned into an aggressive, homicidal, carnivorous, zombie-like, killing machine. While the head honcho at the facility is banging what seemed to be just the secretary, accidentally broadcasting the hump-o-thon over the phone’s intercom service, the scientists accidentally knock over the vials of infected blood, breaking some of them all over the floor of the secured bio-hazard workspace.
zombies or strippers?
Thinking the lab is secured, the scientists get infected by the cat and from here on out-it’s your standard low-budget, direct-to-video. lackluster zombie flick. Yeah, another zombie flick. To be honest with everyone, I am totally fu**ing sick of zombies. I think that they have been commercialized beyond belief and have already saturated the horror market. The last zombie film that really moved me and had me thinking I was watching a movie first and a zombie film second was Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, which many will argue is not even a traditional zombie flick. I really don’t see what else one can do to spice up the genre, besides doing what director/writer Dan Lantz did and throw a porn star into the mix. Well, having Alexis Texas in the film may have just generated some buzz with those familiar with the adult film industry or peak the interest of those hoping to glimpse some steamy sex scenes or gratuitous nudity, but for a seasoned veteran of the horror genre Bloodlust Zombies was more of the same done with a halfheartedly.
plenty of these to go around in the film
I was hoping there would be a bit of eye-candy to take away from the run-of-the-mill plot and less than acceptable CGI and low-budget special effects, which there was, but aside from that the only thing going for this movie was a bit of sexually-laced humor from one of the film’s more obnoxious characters, Darren (Adam Danoff), who as one of the employees at the company was thrown in the film as one of the many characters to provide comic-relief. The film definitely had more moments of humor, whether intended or not, than it did horror, scares, or gore.
Bloodlust Zombies was about as good as a film generally gets that has a porn star with top billing, a no-name cast besides Alexis Texas and her impressive porn career (as well as cast in Fred Olen Ray’s Bikini Frankenstein), and a next to nothing budget. The film was far less painful to watch than I had previously thought it to be. Thankfully, the movie moved along at a pretty quick pace, only dragged on a few times and that was mostly because the dialogue delivered was going on a bit too long for anyone to take seriously or find much humor in. The cliche sexual references were ever present and there were scarce moments of genuine acting and only a small amount of scenes of gore that are barely worth mentioning.
apparently zombies strip their tops off before craving flesh
One aspect of the movie that I could not get past was the recipe for fake blood that was used. I could not take it seriously. The color was lighter than most films’ scenes with blood and almost had a brightness to it. I really thought the crew was using some kind of paint, as it almost had a pinkish-tinge to it. The film was not only light on the gore, but when victims were bit and flesh was ripped off it looked as though the crew was trying to conserve the latex used for flesh being torn off. The horribly colored blood was also used sparingly during scenes in which the zombies tore flesh off from the victims’ necks.
Don't worry, Alexis-the film is almost over
Two things can somewhat save these type of low-budget, no-name horror flicks-wanton gore and nudity. I have never looked for high-caliber acting or an intriguing plot with these types of films-so work with what ya got. On some levels, director Dan Lantz did. He had a porn star and he gave her some scenes of nudity and portrayed her as sexually charged-up, but then digresses by having a fellow co-worker who showed an evident dislike for her go on a righteous speech on how Andrea (Texas) is a bright, young woman and should not be chasing after a man because he is older, rich and powerful-but instead fall for a man that loves her for her intellect and independence, as well as her beauty. Ok, Oprah Winfrey, enough with the feminism and lets get back to point of the film- to be entertained by some blood and guts. Oh wait, I forgot that there really was not any of those aspects within the film really worth mentioning.
an axe-wielding Alexis Texas
All in all, I really thought the film was going to be a far worse viewing than it was. It had high levels of cheesiness, that at times, were entertaining. The special effects were done with especially low-grade CGI and the organic effects were just a notch better than the digital ones (although I did kind of dig the finale with Texas which looked to be completely digital) and I did not hate this film. On some shameful level, I kind of had a soft spot in my rotting gut for it. I can’t really recommend the film, nor would I ever entertain the thought to purchase the movie (unless, of course, I was a completest for Alexis Texas flicks) but I can say it was a bad, low-budget film that was not agonizingly and painstakingly difficult to watch. Let’s not get this film confused with other films that are so bad they are good. Bloodlust Zombies does not fall into that category. I may have come to the point that I have seen so many bad, low-budget films that watching an Andy Sidaris action/spy film is becoming confused with watching a solid James Bond film. I am now going to go pop in Romero’s Night of the Living Dead so that I can remember what a great zombie film with minimal financial resources truly can turn out like.
REVIEW: NINJAS VS. VAMPIRES (2010)
Sadly, I have not had the pleasure of seeing director Justin Timpane’s (Ninjas vs. Zombies) prior entry in the “Ninjas vs. _____” title series, but I won’t lose any sleep over it. I am sure the film was probably decent, but comedic entries in the horror-action genre are just not my cup of tea, generally speaking. I find that movies that do not intend to be funny which contain elements of action and horror generally are funnier to me than films that intend to be funny, littered with witty puns and slapstick humor here and there. One of the rare cases involving a horror-comedy that was intended to contain loads of humor and actually turned out to be extremely hilarious was Shaun of the Dead. I genuinely laughed out-loud while viewing that film. Unfortunately, for Timpane’s Ninjas vs. Vampires, I did not. That is not to say that Nvs.V was an awful film, I just did not find it very funny.
So, what did I find entertaining about Nvs.V? For starters, the story that revolves around a group of vampires feeding on the normal, everyday folks of the town they have decided to call their home in was nothing new, but who cares? The film reminded me of so many other vampire tales but even that didn’t matter. How many ways can you rework a classic tale of vampires swarming down upon a town and needing to feed on humans? Yeah, they did it in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Blade, John Carpenter’s Vampires, many of the Dracula films, The Lost Boys, Fright Night, etc…The plot was all the same on a general level, but as to the specifics, things either got creative or dull. In the case of Nvs.V, things actually got fairly creative. Thank goodness it got creative because I was not really feeling the comedic elements of the film. In fact, the jokes were just about to get extremely tedious.
Aaron (Jay Saunders), a young and aspiring filmmaker who evidently carries a digital camcorder around everywhere he goes, is out with a childhood best friend, Alex (Devon Marie Burt), who just so happens to be the girl of his dreams. Aaron finally musters up enough courage to lay it all on the line and tell her exactly how he feels. In doing so, he bombs. Horribly. Alex tells him, basically, that he is a big pussy for not sharing his feelings about her with her when they began to develop and is angered at the fact that they are best friends just because he is in love with her and wants to spend every minutes with her all the time failing to be honest with her and express his actual thoughts in regards to her. Oh, and he has her whole vivid reaction on camera so that he can relive the disastrous moment over-and-over again.
Moments following these events, vampires appear out of nowhere and start to attack the two. Moments after this, a group of ninjas with a vampire just materialize out of nowhere and save the two by attacking the vampires with their ninja skills. Alex is taken home by the group and can’t remember a damn thing leading up to the events and Aaron is left at the scene, completely astonished at what just occurred.
The film is actually pretty decent as far as low-budgeted affairs go, but what totally irks me and brings to movie down levels of praise and admiration is the atrocious CGI effects that is rampant throughout the film. In particular, all the CGI blood whenever someone was sliced or had a body part chopped off was done horribly. The scenes where the witch transported the ninjas was about the only effect that was passably executed. Just imagine watching a film whose story can only really be told with believable special effects, such as the Underworld series, and then having laughable effects at every given turn. With a low-budget horror film, bad organic effects can be left to slip by if the film capitalizes on its schloky-ness, but a film that wants the fight scenes and CGI to complement the unique powers and ways the characters kill off their adversaries, it does not do anything to further the fantasy elements in the movie and make them seem believable. In fact, I believe it only hurts the movie in the long run.
Aside from the crappy CGI, I actually dug the film. The fight scenes had pretty decent Martial Arts choreography and it looked like the actors may have some backgrounds in fighting and using weapons. In fact, the fight scenes were the shining point throughout the whole film. Also another piece of the film I really thought worked out well was the cast. The acting in Avs.V was pretty decent. At times, I did roll my eyes at some of the deliveries given by specific members of the cast, but as a whole, the acting was far better than the quality of the CGI.
Our plot, which revolves around the evil vampires trying to take over the whole world and ruling the planet..blah…blah…blah, really is nothing new as far as vampires and horror movies go, but the film’s journey was somewhat amusing and, at least, entertaining until the film’s surmise. I guess Nvs.V is one of those films that I did not hate, but I did not really like all that much. The film was tolerable. I think that is the correct word that aptly describes my thoughts on the film.
Manson, one of the cooler looking characters in the film
I tolerated the crappy CGI effects that were predominant throughout the whole film. I tolerated the generic-looking costumes some of the evil vampires wore during the film. I also had to excuse the fact that at times the whole vampire posse had characters that looked like they were either extras in a WWE wrestling match or were pre-CGI versions of villains from the Mortal Kombat films. I am sure the Halloween costume shop was happy when the crew walked in and cleaned out their store for props, costumes, and masks for the film. Sadly, I could not get past the budget of this film and the shoddy screen effects used…and the screen effects are used very often.
The good points in the film, aside from the entertaining fight scenes, was the overall structure of the film. Timpane knows how to piece together a film and keep the flow moving along pretty decently. Granted, there were some moments where scenes of dialogue dragged, but overall the pace was set nicely. Aaron (Saunders) sometimes had way too much dialogue and laid the camp on a bit too heavy, but he carried the weight of film and was one of the most believable characters in it. I felt as if Saunders was the only actor in the film that had any charisma and likeability to his character. I really could care less about any of the others performances.
Director Justin Timpane
Justin Timpane has a pretty bright future as a director and writer and I think once he can get some more money to finance a film with a bit more of a budget, he will create some pretty interesting and enjoyable pieces of work. With each film made, he will probably be improving his craft and turn out some cool films. Keep an eye out for Justin Timpane because I am sure we will be seeing much more of him.
TRAILER: THALE (2011)
The Norwegians are back with some cool dark folklore. I love the culture of Northern Europe- from their Black Metal, church-burning subcultures to the dark stories that come out of their country. Forget remaking genre horror films- just pick up a Norwegian book of folklore and get a Norwegian to translate it and make some movies using this dark material. Anyways, I am stoked to be seeing TROLL HUNTER at the Music Box Theater on June 24th and by the look of the THALE trailer, maybe the States will be able to get this film to play at an Indie movie theater. One can only hope. Check out the teaser trailer. It does not give much away as to whether the film will be cool or awful, but with many of the films coming out of Northern Europe, I am betting on the movie not sucking!
SYNOPSIS:
According to TWITCH, the film centers around a Huldra – a seductive forest spirit who appears from the front to be a beautiful young woman but who also has a cow’s tale and whose back appears to be like a hollowed out tree. The Huldra has been known to offer rewards to those who satisfy them sexually and death to those who fail to do so and are also prone to stealing human babies. Wow, that sounds pretty grotesque. I looked up the director, Aleksander Nordaas, on IMDb, and THALE is not even listed under his credits. Only Sirkel and a short from 2008, Bak lukkede dører, are listed under titles he directed. I am sure now that TWITCH has broken this news story, more information will be made available. Head over to TWITCH for more photos from the film, as well as another trailer for some of Nordaas’ prior work.
Check out the trailer below…
Real-life murders at candlepin alley give fictional film Family Secret some heat
Brighton, 1980
Not too long ago, SHU-IZMZ reviewed an indie horror film entitled Family Secret (2009) (see review HERE), a low-budget horror flick directed by Geno McGahee and starring Forris Day, Jr. and Alex Pierpaoli, about a family whose members are being picked off one-by-one in gory fashion by what seems to be either a homicidal maniac or a grandmother whose death was faked. We enjoyed the film and performances within the film, as evident by the review, and just got an email from the director, Geno McGahee, about some real-life events that involved some murders in 1980 at a candlepin joint known as the Sammy White’s Brighton Park Massacre. If one watched the film Family Secret (which all of you should watch!), they would remember a certain bowling alley massacre that occurs in the film and this would be the scene that the alleged family members have been contacting the director about. Here is the Wikipedia link concerning the real-life murders. Thanks for sending me this, Geno! I always say many films mirror real-life horrors and terrors-whether intending to or not (the latter in this case) and I think some of my readers will appreciate reading about this.
Bryan A. Dyer, a debt-ridden former employee of Sammy White’s Brighton Bowl, bludgeoned a manager and three others with a tenpin before shooting the men, who he had handcuffed, inside the Soldiers Field Road bowling alley in late September 1980. Dyer, who stole nearly $5,000 from the alley’s safe, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Here is the Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_White%27s_Brighton_Bowl
Interestingly enough, the murders in the film and the murders in real life both occurred in the Boston-area of Massachusetts. How ironic is that? When reading the article on the real-life Sammy White’s murders, it was stated that the victims were brutally bludgeoned and shot execution-style. A bloody bowling pin was found at the murder site and determined to be the weapon used during the murders. Upon reading this, I was also reminded of the film Gutterballs, directed by Ryan Nicholson, who happens to be from Canada. I do not think this film was inspired by the murders intentionally either. I can’t think of any more horror films whose weapon of choice is the bowling pin. If there are any other films, please let me know, folks.
Did Eli Roth reference the Sammy White's Brighton Bowl Massacre in Cabin Fever?
Upon reading this, it was stated that Eli Roth used the Sammy White’s Murders as inspiration for the gruesome campfire story in the film Cabin Fever. I had not heard this before reading the Wikipedia article, but when trying to click on the reference link for this fact, the link was not valid so I am not 100% that this is really true. I have not watched the film Cabin Fever with the accompanying commentary track yet, even though I have seen the film a dozen times. I think I may have to revisit Cabin Fever, along with Family Secret again upon learning of these recent revelations.
Some cool links if readers would like some further information on Sammy White’s Brighton Bowl and the unfortunate massacre:
Breaking Glass Pictures: The Anniversary at Shallow Creek gets a July release
May 13, 2011 – Philadelphia, PA – Breaking Glass Pictures has announced the July 5 DVD release of director Jon D. Wagner’s horror film “The Anniversary at Shallow Creek.” Former pro baseball player Eric Fischer and his wife Brianna Lee Johnson share acting and producing credits for the film, which will be released under the Vicious Circle Films label.
Synopsis: When Sam and Paige decide to escape the stress of medical school for a romantic getaway in the mountains, their four best friends end up tagging along and turning it into a weekend of partying. Little does the group know that their beautiful mountain lodge has a dark history: exactly one year before, the house was the scene of a grisly double murder – and the killer was never caught. Now, as night falls and the group drinks beer by a bonfire, a predator hides in the darkness, watching them all through the cross-hairs of a sniper rifle. In an instant, the friends’ night of partying turns into a bloody fight for survival.
“The Anniversary at Shallow Creek” is a slick homage to horror classics and a clever update of the genre that never leads exactly where the audience suspects. As the kill count rises, the surviving friends find themselves to be pawns in a horrifying game – one that promises to test their survival skills and the strength of their relationships.
Special features for the DVD will include a behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews and audio commentary with the director, stars and producer.
Jon D. Wagner, according to IMDb, has only been credited as producer, line producer, or co/associate producer on a handful of films, including Afro Ninja (2009), which seems to be a video of the Blaxsploitation genre, as well as some other seemingly low-budget features from various genres. According to his bio, he has not directed any major films and I am curious to see how this film turns out. Keep your eyes peeled for a review here in the near future. Judging by the trailer (see below), the film may be pretty cool. I shall let you all know what I think of it once I get a screener and get it reviewed. A film about a serial killer always interests me.
SOURCE: BREAKING GLASS PICTURES
www.BreakingGlassPictures.com
www.Facebook.com/BreakingGlassPictures
twitter.com/breakingglasspx
twitter.com/viciouscrclflms
REVIEW: SLEDGEHAMMER (1983)
I am very unsure how to start my review for Intervision’s latest new-found unheard of ’80s slasher flick that could well have been forgotten amongst the shuffle of all the other far superior slasher films of the ’80s, such as Friday the 13th, Maniac, Prom Night,
Terror Train, The Burning, the later entries in the Halloween series since the first Halloween was made in the late-70′s, Pieces, The New York Ripper, Sleepaway Camp, Silent Night, Deadly Night, and so on and so forth. I mean, there are a ton of freaking slasher films out there, more than ten films made a year-every year! This was a thriving genre in the ’80s and I am sure that if I really did some research I would find well over a dozen slasher films made in ever year starting with the 1970′s up until present day. I am sure a bunch may be direct-to-video low-budget schlockers, some even may just be tiny independent flicks some buddies got together to make out in the backwoods of their local forest preserve or wooded backyard, but nonetheless, a slasher film would have been made and could be added to the numbers of mainstream and studio versions on the list to back me up and prove my point.
Slasher films are fun. Slasher films are violent. Slasher films tend to have nudity, when it be slight or gratuitous, and have raunchy sexual innuendos and humor littered throughout the film. Slasher films also tend to host a pretty intensive body count and the victims usually die in a creatively gory fashion. All these aforementioned attributes to the slasher genre are what I love about the genre. I am guaranteed a body count in a slasher film and characters will be killed off, usually in a bloody fashion. If there are some tits and ass thrown in- even better. Oh, the director wants some fabulous bush tossed in for a totally nude-efying experience, I am down with that as well (but that is just this critic’s personal preference).
Now I recently reviewed The Dorm That Dripped Blood (a.k.a. Pranks) (1982), which I felt was a pretty decent entry into the slasher genre and was very entertaining, primarily because of the creative kills and gore, but also because of the uniquely creepy score created for the film. I am finding out that the soundtrack to a slasher film, in terms of original music written for the movie, whether it be orchestrated or done on a Casio keyboard that one can pick up at Radio Shack or the local Target, the music must go along with the movie to create tension and intrigue while viewers wait for the slasher to strike again.
Now we come to Sledgehammer, a direct-to-video/shot-on-tape slasher film from 1983 that contains a ridiculous story, almost supernatural in nature, that the director does not even attempt to explain to audience members and you know what- it doesn’t even matter because the film is so quirky in every way, from the scenes created to the shoddy production values and how the director uses key elements in sound, lightening, and camera techniques to create a starkly original and unorthodox slasher film. The back of the dvd case states that this is “the first shot-on-tape slasher movie for the home video market as well as one of the rarest genre films of all!” This claim may be true.
Sledgehammer starts out with some polarized shots set to a very effective and eerie synth-heavy soundtrack as the credits roll on, actors faces scrolling by as their names pop up underneath. Serious and somber looks grace their faces. I thought this was very unique for such a low-budget film and set the tone nicely. Random shots of a person walking down some stairs, turning open a door know, possibly a sledgehammer in hand, and then a polar shot of the lovely red and white house which to me looked like a farmhouse but that just may be because of the traditional farmhouse paint job. Our farmhouse, without knowing from already listening to the commentary, I would say is located somewhere out West, maybe California or Montana, out in the hills. This standard, classic red-painted farmhouse is indeed important and integral to the plot of the film, or just really a nice farmhouse, because the director keeps the farmhouse in a very long, steady shot…then slowly zooms in for a closer shot of this nicely painted red and white-trimmed farmhouse. In fact, while watching this movie, one will notice there are a great deal of slow, zooming shots and pans accompanied by that terrific and splendid heavy bass synth soundtrack blasting its way through your eardrums and giving one an massive aural orgasm and censorial overload. The director of photography could be zooming in on an ant picking at a scrap or crumb on the ground, but a slow zoom followed with heavy synth that intensifies as the shot slowly explodes onto the screen fully makes the shot seem that there is some sort of impending doom looming over the horizon.
-Our next shot is now inside the house with a mother wearing a translucent nightgown yelling at her 10-year old son as a raging alcoholic on the last of nerves would telling him to shut his mouth as she throws him in a closet and bolts the lock shouting at him to not say another word this evening and repeatedly yelling at him to shut-up. She wins mother of the year, right? Get ready for the heavy synth music as it slowly builds up speed, camera slowly zooming in on that locked closet door, until our next shot goes back to the mother while she gets some action from a man, one that seems to be having an affair with this married mother of one. She goes down on the guy, and from out of nowhere, or just the locked closet, the shadow of a large man wielding a sledgehammer appears and bashes in the fornicator’s head in. This scene is the first gory shot in the film, done pretty nicely showing the head cave in with some gore, and then a close-up of the mother as she gives the camera a look of shock, terror, and a last plea for mercy.
Jump to ten years later and we have a classic slasher plot: a bunch of partying young adults, both good-looking males and females- head up to this red-and-white painted house (it surprisingly looks exactly as it did ten years ago) for some fun. We are not told whose house it is, how they rented or came to be using it, or really anything else…but who cares? It is a slasher film and I just want to get to the sex and violence. Well, there is both in Sledgehammer, but not as much sex and nudity as I would have liked to have seen. There are some brief glimpses of a breast of one woman and an ass shot of one man (careful, at first you may think its a woman’s butt before the shot opens up!), but mostly just ridiculous lines of dialogue delivered during partying scenes consisting of cast members drinking cans of Budweiser and crushing them on their foreheads or shaking the cans up and spraying the beer all over everyone and everyone yelling and cheering on because wasting booze and getting all sweaty and wet with alcohol is what fun is all about.
The film has a ridiculous amount of charm, mainly due to its off-beat lines of dialogue and humor, intentional or not. At times, I just think the director, David A. Prior, let the cast get ripped on booze and just say whatever the hell was on their minds. The scene where the camera is just set in front of the van with the cast unloading all the gear was a pretty long shot, with characters popping in and out of frame, simply unloading all the crap for the trip. It probably was really all their clothes, food, and booze for the film and cast or crew. As the commentary points out, there is one “vag grab” which only consists of having a “vag” (that is short for vagina, kiddies) and one to “grab” it. Usually this is done by a male grabbing a female’s vag, but I guess in this day and age women may engage in the practice as well.
With more partying and stuffing food into faces while young adults scream, clap, and cheer incessantly- this occurs at their dinner- and then breaking into a food fight with condiments, cake, potato salad, and whatever else was on the table flying all over and being smashed onto all cast, the film is only complemented with scenes that occur for no other reason than just occurring and pointless dialogue and banter between characters. Each female is paired up with a male, creating some sort of couples’ dynamics for the film in which the guys can’t talk shit about the girls and the girls can gossip and talk to each other about how their relationships are going. At no point did I really become attached to or care about any characters in the film. The characters don’t really develop in this movie. I did not mind, though. I was too busy marveling at the unique overall style of this shot-on-tape, slow-mo, bass-synthesizing bonanza of blood and bizarrely shot masterpiece. Well, maybe not a masterpiece but definitely a film to be added to anyone whom allots a particular section on their shelf for slasher films.
As Rick (Ted Prior, Raw Nerve) tells the young goofballs the story of Sledgehammer (replete a flashback from about thirty-minutes ago in case one forgot what happened) with only a candle to light his face, as well as the others’ faces (in a shot that pans the circle of actors and actresses while the cameraman holds a lit candle in front of the lens), the story unfolds and a mock-seance is performed. In a shot just prior to this, a sledgehammer just randomly pops up, resting in a room’s corner. This sledgehammer pops up randomly throughout the film. The reason for this is never explained, but who cares, right? (I will be saying this periodically throughout the review because so much occurs in the film for no apparent reason whatsoever).
The creepiest aspect to Sledgehammer, besides the incredible soundtrack and music within the film is the murderer’s mask he wears. The killer, played by Doug Matley, who goes around killing the young adults within the film with a sledgehammer all the while wearing this bizarre mask. It really is like half a mask and sort of transparent and very hard to describe. I wish I could get a replica of the Sledgehammer mask. Maybe one will be made if the popularity of Sledgehammer rises. The boy in the beginning of the film is portrayed by Justin Greer. Sadly, he has not been in any other films. His claim to fame is being locked in a closet and staring out a window of a house. The awesome synth-bass of the film was created by Philip G. Slate and sadly this was the only film he made music for.
David A. Prior, director and writer of Sledgehammer, went on to make more low-budget B-grade, some even Z-grade horror, sci-fi, and action flicks. Although I have never seen any of the films he made (I only heard of Killer Workout), I hear his talents as a director for unique use of a film’s music in it and slow-mo shots and pans as were evident in Sledgehammer did not get used in future films or lead to him making it into bigger budgets and more mainstream fair. Prior also did not make any more slasher horror films besides these horror/sci-fi flicks: Killer Workout (1987), Night Wars (1988)-which was more Sci-fi, Night Trap (1993), Mutant Species (1995)-again more Sci-fi than horror, Zombie Wars (2008) and Night Claws (2011). Killer Workout is the only horror film of the aforementioned films that is a slasher film. The rest of Prior’s work are Z-grade action flicks that probably are not on the level of Charles Bronson or Chuck Norris flicks from the ’80s. There is no Death Wish or Missing in Action caliber of awesome ’80s/’90s action/war flicks. I guess one can toss Stallone and the Rambo flicks in there, too. While were at it, Schwarzenegger can smash his way in, as well. I can tell by the titles and plot summaries that the rest of Prior’s flicks definitely will be fun views on a B-movie level.
Most of the cast and crew in Sledgehammer have not been in another movies, or anything else of any significance besides former Playgirl model Ted Prior (also the director’s brother) who has starred in a great number of films directed by his brother, as well as the epic Surf Nazis Must Die (1987) from Troma Entertainment and the earlier mentioned Killer Workout (1987). I found it mildly interesting, if not downright hilarious, that the character Joni (Linda McGill) was also in the video Shape-Up for Sensational Sex, credited as the “girl on table”. I think credited as a “fluffer” in a porn film would have been prestigious than just a “girl on table”. I mean, what does this “girl on table” do? Does she take or receive? Does she moan? Is she just a piece of eye-candy? Is she clothed or nude? Hmmm…the possibilities are endless as to what she can be doing!
Another actor in the film, John Eastman playing “John” in Sledgehammer, also appeared in direct-to-video’s Dollman (1991), as well as being what appears to be a very proud member of the USMC, judging by the pics in his IMDb credit. A personal quote from John: “When one Marine stands for a just cause, people take notice. When two Marines stand united for a just cause, America takes notice. When the Marines stand united for a just cause the WORLD better take notice!“ The extent of John Eastman acting in any other projects involving a military character or hero involved his voice being used in the 2005 video game Vietcong 2.
Actor Ray Lawrence, whom only had a small part as the drive of the van in the film was also in the cult-hit Suburbia (1983) as a Citizen Against Crime portraying a man with a shotgun. I loved that film and just thought I would mention Lawrence’s part in that film. The only other actor in Sledgehammer that has been in a significant amount of films or television besides Ted Prior has been Luci-Lynn Norris (whom is not even credited to a character in Sledgehammer) whom has been in tons of television shows, although uncredited in quite a few of them. Most notable of those television shows was Dallas (1981-1986) and The Twilight Zone (1985-1986).
The cast and crew of Sledgehammer was, for many, their first involvement in a film’s production and for some, their only involvement in a film’s production. I think for a crew’s first slasher film, they could have done far worst. At any rate, in some film buff’s eyes, Sledgehammer is notable entry into the slasher film genre of the ’80s, will probably be likely to gain a cult-following after Intervision’s release onto dvd, and for this cinephile’s purposes, will be a great addition to my horror film collection and one that will be a chronicle of why there, to this day, are so many avid collector’s of VHS Horror and Sci-fi tapes. WIth the advent of Blu-ray discs and high-definition, there still is a loyal cult following of VHS enthusiasts. Hell, just check out the fanzine Lunchmeat (one that I have been trying to keep up with buying) as well as the fellas at Bleeding Skull and Alamo Drafthouse programmer Zack Carlson (author of Destroy All Movies!!!).
The special features on the DVD release of Sledgehammer from Intervision include:
an audio commentary with director David A. Prior
an audio commentary with Bleeding Skull creators Joseph A. Ziemba and Dan Budnik
Hammertime: Featurette with Destroy All Movies!!! Author Zack Carlson
SledgehammerLand: Featurette with CineFamily Programmers Hadrian Belove and Tom Fitzgerald
Interview with director David A. Prior
Sledgehammer is one of those films that you either love, hate, or love to hate. To me, it is an important entry in the slasher genre because it was the first slasher movie to be shot on videotape and be distributed for the home video market. The film has so many quirks and nuances within it, always offering a new piece to the puzzle of a z-grade slasher flick and continually popping questions into my head such as, “What the hell was the director thinking in this scene?” The film is not by any means a “great film” but it is one worth watching, whether to make fun of or laugh at, but is one that is entertainment in every sense of the word and one that I recommend watching.
SLEDGEHAMMER – Locking The Kid In The Closet from Severin Films on Vimeo.
REVIEW: THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF (1973)
Jess Franco (Vampyros Lesbos, Bloody Moon), a filmmaker that NEVER ceases to amaze me how he can go the polar opposite in his style and brand of filmmaking-going from artistic and perverted sleaze to lack of art-filled boredom with nothing more than a glimpse of pointless nudity and zero unique shots. Oh, and the best part about the lost print of Jess Franco’s The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff is that the quality is less than average, at times extremely hazy and fuzzy, lacking a very interesting story, camera angles, shots, and little more than slightly-entertaining plot and story. Suffice to say, this print of Franco’s Dr. Orloff film could have stayed hidden.
Intervision, a brand new exploitation film company recently introduced to readers of SHU-IZMZ originating out of Thailand less than two years ago from industry veteran Larry Gold, Sr. whom was the founder and CEO (Gold, Sr. has recently passed away and Severin Films has picked up the distribution and marketing for Intervision during the merge).
According to Gold, Sr., the long-thought lost The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff was a 40-year long search. Gold goes on to say about the film, and I quote, “It’s classic Jess with a story right in his wheelhouse, featuring his most infamous villain, that luckily for Intervision received a botched release back in that most halcyon year of 1973. I would have released it myself back then, but Jess and I sadly weren’t speaking at that time due to a long-forgotten row we had trumped up over a poker game gone astray. So he took Sinister Eyes to a competitor of mine, who promptly butchered its distribution, losing the negative in the process.”
After reading the press release, I was expecting to see a piece of Franco’s work that would be unparalleled to any film of Franco’s I had ever seen up until that point—Boy was I wrong. I watched Franco’s Sinister Eyes after I had seen and reviewed Franco’s Paula-Paula, which I HATED. I was not surprised as Franco is getting pretty old now and I am really shocked after hearing each interview that he is still writing and directing films to this day, but he still tends to surprise with a decent, if not pretty good film, now and then. Unfortunately, The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff was not that film.
Dr. Orloff is a character in a series of films most of which were directed by Jess Franco, which include The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff (1973), The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962), The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966) and I don’t think Dr. Orloff’s Invisible Monster aka Orloff and the Invisible Monster (1971)(dir. Pierre Chevalier) belongs in the series because Franco did not direct it, but Dr. Orloff is a character in the movie so I am just going to throw that one in there for good measure. Some of the Franco box sets I found online were bundled with a few other Franco films which going by their titles and film synopsis’ were not Dr. Orloff films. I can’t recall having seen any other Orloff films but judging by how terrible the one film I saw was, I may have just threw that memory of that Orloff film deep down into my subconscious.
As far as I can tell, The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff is about Melissa Comfort (Montserrat Prous, Diary of a Nymphomaniac), a heiress who is having these awful nightmares involving the violent death of her father. She has been paralyzed since birth and spends a majority of the movie sitting in a large bed in her pajamas, screaming at all hours of the night from her violent nightmares and royally pissing off her Aunt- Lady Flora Comfort (Kali Hansa) and step-sister Martha Comfort (Loreta Tovar). The two are pretty hot actresses that I was hoping would have some sensational scenes of gratuitous nudity, but I was sadly disappointed. A Jess Franco film that is void of a fair amount of nudity, such as Sinister Eyes, AND a compelling plot and storyline, is a bad Franco film indeed. There was one tiny bathtub scene where some nudity was present, but other than that, it was pretty damn tame.
Lady Flora Comfort decides to enlist the help of eminent psychiatrist Dr. Orloff (William Burger, Keoma, Five Dolls For An August Moon) to deal with Melissa’s repeated nightmares, many of which involve Melissa killing her father, who just happens to be played by Jess Franco in a small cameo. The scenes of Dr. Orloff, involving quite ridiculous close-ups of an average pair of eyeballs, had me cracking up at first, but then totally annoyed. Once Melissa is taken outdoors with the help of her faithful servant, a creepy, tall Mathews (Jose Manuel Martin) and meets a concerned neighbor, Sweet Davey Brown, who was played quite effectively by Robert Woods and added some quite needed comic relief and interesting scenes of dialogue now and then. As Melissa’s nightmares increase, more vividly each night, her manservant Mathews snoops around and figures out that Melissa’s aunt and stepsister are plotting against her. Melissa also thinks that she is responsible for her father’s murder as viewers are privy to countless dream sequences, some scenes which look like dream sequences but were just scenes filmed with massive amounts of fog present. In one scene, Mathews takes Melissa away in a car to save her from her conniving sisters, we learn that the dreams are not dreams but her subconscious state under hypnotism performing heinous acts of murder by the “sinister” Dr. Orloff. I read one critic describing this film as “bland“. I agree and will say that a common cure for a bland film is throwing tons of nudity and violence into the film. After all, a film which revolves around three beautiful actresses, two of which whom portray slutty and seductress-like characters, should be naked at least a few points during the film and should have some bloody scenes and gore in them. There are murders going on! We want to see the murders taking place, along with the blood and gore and just throw in some tits and ass for exploitation”s sake.
It is rare that I review a Jess Franco film that is lacking nudity, but it is even rarer that I am reviewing a Jess Franco film that is also lacking weird camera angles, artful shots, and some sort of spice to liven things up. The film needs a swift kick in the balls and a vat of hot sauce dumped all over it and having Lina Romay (Erotic Kill) in a morsel of a scene as Sweet Davey Brown’s girlfriend? That is blasphemous. Her character should have been someone a bit more unknown in the world of cult and exploitation films. The only part of the film that was somewhat entertaining and showed some vibrant acting was when Sweet Davey Brown and Inspector Crosby (Edmund Purdom, Pieces) interacted, Brown trying to get Inspector Crosby to further investigate the Comfort residence. I found this earnest interest in Brown to be somewhat dumbfounding, as he barely knew his neighbor and only met Melissa once, not even realizing she was wheelchair-bound and then once realizing this, further insulted her by insisting he teach her how to swim. What a great guy!
As more and more family members and people around Melissa continue to die off, she is worried that she will be next. The audience is never really astounded by the fact that people are being murdered and it is nothing of an Agatha Christie who-dunnit muder mystery, but viewers are not completely let in on who is killing who as each murder occurs…at least not until the 2nd half of the film.
The most annoying aspect about this print from Intervision was the fact that it was horribly cropped on the sides, cutting off some of the credits and probably a good amount of the film as well. The picture looks like one is viewing it inside a steam room at the gym at times, even when the fog is not being used for an “eerie effect”. I give props to Intervision for finding a print of the Franco film for purist fans but I really think this was one of the more boring films to have been made by Franco, but it definitely was not his worst. I think that title, of the Franco films that I have seen, goes to the most recent of his films, Paula-Paula. That film utterly annoyed me to no end. To make Sinister Eyes a better film would involve moving the story along at a swifter pace, adding some blood and gore to the murders and actually showing the murders in much more graphic detail, and heap on the nudity. Fill the screen with wonderful ’70s bush in a most exploitative manner. I think William Berger could have at least tried to be more menacing as Dr. Orloff. He was boring as hell. There was zero menace to him and his portrayal of Dr. Orloff. If I understood Spanish (the movie is in Spanish with English subtitles that at one point turn off for some utter confusion not that there was not already confusion in the film), I may have harped on the actual performances of the actors and actresses, but I can’t tell whether foreign performances are delivering their dialogue well or not.
The film only runs about 76 min. so it is a short ordeal to withstand and, as I am finding out more and more, the interviews with Jess Franco following the film are the usually the most interesting, as was the only extra feature on the disc, The Sinister Origins of Dr. Orloff: Interview with Director Jess Franco. I really wish there were English subtitles accompanying this interview because Franco’s accent can be quite heavy at times and almost incomprehensible. Aside from that, I am just happy that a company is trying to find rare and obscure prints of lost or forgotten films, mostly exploitative in nature, and putting them on dvd and giving them a release for fans and cinephiles alike to watch and enjoy. As bad as these forgotten exploitation flicks can be, I appreciate them for not being remakes and being in good, ol’ fashioned 2-D.
BLU-RAY REVIEW: THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD a.k.a. DEATH DORM/PRANKS (1981)
What defines a slasher film?
I guess that the term can be loosely applied to a great deal of horror films that involve a maniac running around slashing victims apart with various “sharp” tools of carnage-such as machetes, butcher knives, chainsaws, axes, etc… Some might say that a slasher film also has to have 80% of the cast being killed off required to be female and at various times to have their breasts, bush, and buttocks exposed for a titillating effect to male viewers and females that dig women. The killer generally has to be masked or at least his or her face hidden from view of the camera and be human-no supernatural murdering allowed in a slasher film. Finally, most decent slasher films will begin by showing a flashback of some sorts. Friday the 13th (1980) did it. Halloween (1978) did it (even though it was made two years before the ’80s). My Bloody Valentine (1981) had a flashback. Terror Train (1980) had a flashback, too. Even The Burning (1982) did it. Almost all five of these films are slasher films from the ’80s, some classics, some just fun flicks that horror fans worldwide adore. The three aforementioned films I love the most are Friday the 13th and Halloween which any film buff and individual who does not live in a cave knows of. Some other slasher films from the early ’80s include Prom Night (1980), New Year’s Evil (1980), Happy Birthday to Me (1981), Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) and so on and so forth.
Now we come to The Dorm that Dripped Blood, a film that came out in 1981 (also titled Pranks and Death Dorm), that stole one of its titles from another film entitled The House that Dripped Blood (1971). I personally think Death Dorm has the nicest ring to it and would have gone with that title. The directing duo of Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Osbrow, who also went on to direct together The Power (1984) and The Kindred (1987), two films which I have yet to view. Our story in The Dorm that Dripped Blood starts out with a flashback murder…I think. I am not sure who is murdered in the opening scene and what part it played in the film (unless I am missing something glaringly obvious), but it did have a nice gore effect in which a young man’s hand is sliced down the middle in between two fingers. This effect was done quite effectively by Makeup FX creator Matthew Mungle, fresh out of the famous Joe Blasco make-up school. Not even a minute into the film and there already is a grisly murder. I thought the film was on to a glorious start.
One of the gore scenes restored in the Synapse release
As our film progresses, viewers learn that a college dormitory has been closed down and a group of students have volunteered, or been picked (not sure which) to help get the building in order so the new owners can renovate it. Their duties include clearing out 100s of desks, kitchen supplies, beds, and all furniture. All of which has to be done in two weeks so the buyers can than destroy the building and build something else there. Joanne Murray (Laurie Lapinski), Craig (Stephen Sachs), Brian (David Snow), Patti (Pamela Holland), and Debbie (Daphne Zuniga) have all decided to stay to clean up the dorm during the college’s Christmas Break. As things progress and the group starts cleaning up, trouble has already surfaced. Debbie (Zuniga) finds out that her parents are coming to pick her up for break and that leaves Joanne in charge of one less individual to help her get things cleaned up. If that is not enough, a local vagrant or drifter by the name of John Hemmit (Woody Roll) has been seen hanging around the empty dorm, possibly living there, and he is giving everyone the creeps.
Laurie Lapinski as Joanne and David Snow as Brian
When people start getting killed off, one by one, everyone seems to think that the creepy Hemmit is at the source of all the grisly murders. The film slowly turns into a standard slasher film minus any sort of nudity whatsoever and no masked killer. Every scene in which someone dies in some pretty bloody scenarios by the killer is without ever seeing the killer- only his or her hands are shown. The high points in this film was the wonderfully creepy and eerie soundtrack written by Christopher Young. In watching the special features, one learns that this was one of the first soundtracks he ever created. I think he did a wonderful job. At times, I was reminded of the music from the ever-popular Friday the 13th films, but there were only slight similarities. One can only make a violin produce so many original sounds.
One of the unlucky victims in Death Dorm
Some of the death scenes in The Dorm that Dripped Blood were very fun, such as a dude’s head getting drilled from behind, blood gushing out instantly or the scene where a victims gets slashed with a large machete right in the shoulder area, blood reminiscent of the color and consistency that H.G. Lewis used in his Blood Trilogy that was very red and almost resembled some red paint. I also really thought one scene where a man was beaten on the head with a baseball bat full of large spikes and nails sticking out of it. The scene does not cut away as the spiked bat wails upon the head, denting and bludgeoning the face with each strike. The scene put a very twisted grin across my face. I enjoyed that little piece of gore that was well-executed (pardon the pun) by FX artist Matthew Mungle. For this film being one of his first features he was given the chance to work on, I think he did a very fine job. He did such a fine job that after the film was released it was considered a Video Nasty by the U.K. and was banned.
Joanne (Laurie Lapinski) is terrified at this point in the film
With the release of The Dorm that Dripped Blood onto a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack by Synapse Films, this is the first time that the film has been out in any format completely uncut. This version of the film, formerly entitled Death Dorm, is a transfer created from the only existing 35mm answer print of the original “Director’s Cut”. This is the version of the film thought to have been lost for thirty years. This version contains additional scenes, extended gore sequences, and a different sound mix. The blu-ray disc is a high-definition 1080p widescreen presentation with an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono audio and a DTS-HD MA isolated music track. At times, the picture has a grainy look to it, but that is due to the fact of the original print it was taken from. This all adds to the vintage look and feel this forgotten slasher film with major sequences of gore totally removed from it finally restored to its completeness for fans of the slasher genre to get all hot and bothered over.
As with many slasher films, there is a nice little twist at the end of the film-one of which I did not see coming. The special features on the disc include a commentary by directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter, interviews with composer Christopher Young and Make-Up FX Creator Matthew Mungle (won an Oscar for Best Makeup in Dracula), an isolated music track, and original theatrical trailers. One might notice that this film is actress Daphne Zuniga’s (Spaceballs, The Fly II) screen debut. Overall, I was very entertained with the film and very excited to find out how much gore and bloodshed was restored to this underrated slasher film, lost amongst all the other well-known and larger budgeted slasher flicks of the ’80s. The House that Dripped Blood may not be the finest example of an 80′s slasher flick, but it is definitely one to be remembered as part of the genre.
A Friend’s plea for help…
David 'Bones' Hebert (1970-2011)
An actor in the horror community and a friend of mine, Dan Ellis, has called upon my help and others in the horror community. Dan Ellis, whom you may recognize from having starred in such excellent horror films such as Gutterballs, Hanger, Monsturd, and his latest film, Bleading Lady a.k.a. Star Vehicle, recently lost a good friend to violence, a murder in fact, that involved police officers and the details of the murder seem to be highly questionable, especially to those close the victim, whose name is David Paul Herbert. I am posting this information so that those in the horror community who may have known him or might no any details or clues to help Dan Ellis and the friends and family of the recently deceased to put some closure on the murky details of his murder on April 18th in the Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati. I implore my readers to click on this link and if any insight or knowledge on the case can come of it, please contact Dan Ellis and anyone else involved with the incident. I will reprint the main details of what happened down below for readers to check out. I also will post the link to the webpage if one is interested in more thoroughly sorting through the details of the case. Dan has been on the SHU-IZMZ RADIO show in the past and has always been willing to conduct an interview, help in getting us screeners through Plotdigger Films and any other projects he has been involved in. Any exposure to this case can help so feel free to pass the links or any info along to anyone and everyone that may shed some light on things. I appreciate everyone that reposts the link to this on any social networking or high-traffic websites or readers.
Let’s help those within the horror community when they come calling for we are all one big happy family that love horror films and that is our common bond. Thanks.
-Shu
In the early morning hours of April 18th, 2011, a 911 call was placed reporting a ‘cutting’ in the Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati. David Paul Hebert, affectionately known as ‘Bones’, was named as a suspect. Soon after the 911 call was placed, David and a companion were apprehended by police. Officers at the scene reported that David denied having a weapon. According to police statements, David removed a switchblade from his pocket and lunged at officers, prompting Sgt. Andrew Mitchell to fire two rounds into his chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Cruiser Cam video released by the Cincinnati Police Department shows that his beloved dog was with him when he was killed, and there was no immediate attempt by city personnel to revive him. The switchblade, which was reportedly used to lunge at police officers, was found 25 feet away from David’s body.
This website was created to provide a library of information and the latest updates released to the public in this investigation. There are links to background information on David Hebert and Sgt. Andrew Mitchell, as well as photos, video, events, media stories and press release information. If you would like any information, please feel free to contact us. If you have information pertinent to this investigation, please contact us or the City of Cincinnati Citizens’ Complaint Authority at (513) 352-1600.
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR WEBSITE!!!!
REVIEW: RIVER OF DARKNESS (2011)
River of Darkness, directed by Bruce Koehler (End Game, Death From Above), is another indie horror film filled with sub-par acting, low-grade special effects, and an average plot about a small town that becomes plagued with death when a series of vicious murders begins occurring, members of the community dying off one-by-one in a pretty grisly fashion, that is if the special effects were up to par.
The murders are occurring by the spirits of two old river squatters, the Jacobs Boys, portrayed by wrestling sensations Kevin Nash (The Punisher, The Longest Yard) of TNA Wrestling on Spike TV and WWF, WCW, and ECW’s Psycho Sid Vicious (Sid Eudy), and wrestling Olympic Gold Medal winner Kurt Angle of WCW and WWF fame. Sadly, aside from a few rare cases, professional wrestlers that make the move from professional wrestling careers to starring in movies, Hollywood-sized budgets or otherwise, don’t always make the transition with any sort of grace or talent. As many of you know, professional wrestling is as much acting in front of an audience as one cast in a theater play or filming a scene for a film crew, the only difference is the action in front of a film crew has no scores of fans cheering and egging the action on and there is the possibility of redoing a scene over and over again until the scene are done correctly in filmmaking. In the case of River of Darkness, I don’t think that really ever applied.
I think one of my biggest gripes apart from pro-wrestler Kurt Angle not being able to act worth a lick on the screen (he sure as hell is no Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or even “Stone Cold” Steve Austin or John Cena), but I believe his character he portrayed, Sheriff Logan, was less of a meathead, tough-guy, hillbilly cop and more of a deep-thinking, calm, and sleuth-like type of law enforcer that investigates events thoroughly before jumping in to things with all guns blazing. I guess, for me, its hard to distinguish Kurt Angle-the cocky and arrogant professional wrestler from Kurt Angle-the actor portraying a small-town sheriff investigating a string of grisly, supernatural murders. The roles of Kevin Nash and Sid Vicious are perfect- they are caked with make-up and have no speaking roles. They just stand there looking big and menacing, periodically murdering townsfolk.
One of the better performances in the film was by indie horror actor and director Alan Rowe Kelly (I’ll Bury You Tomorrow), playing the part of Mary Rutledge-a local resident whom has had some premonitions about the evil spirits coming to the town. Kelly’s part is small but believable.
The film goes along at a fairly quick pace (THANK GOD!) and more and more townsfolk die in horribly grisly ways, but not so horrible in a blood and guts sense because the film’s budget (apparently over 3 million dollars?) obviously put no money into creating some decent gore and blood for all the murder scenes. Maybe the money was put into paying the salary of the big wrestling names cast in the film, but it certainly was not used in any of the kill scenes. I think that upping the level of gore would really add to the horror aspect of the film and back up each murder since these seem to be the focus of the film. Also, filming the movie in HDV 1080i50 rather than on 35mm film (or any other type of film) adds to the “cheap look” the movie had. Granted, film is much more expensive and difficult to edit, but it really looks much better and more professional.
Another wrestling icon within the film is Ray “The Glacier” Lloyd, a professional wrestler from the UWFI in Japan, as well as the WCW circuit in the States. Interestingly enough, Lloyd did a finer job of acting than Kurt Angle ever did and it is just too bad that Lloyd’s role of a wanna-be sheriff turned diner manager/owner is minimal as far as the story and film goes. Another name thrown in the cast of the film, also given minimal screen time is Night of the Living Dead-fame #1 zombie in George Romero’s cult classic zombie film Bill Hinzman. I would much rather have been watching some professional wrestling or Romero’s Night of the Living Dead than have to sit through this tedious, dreadfully awful attempt at making a decent horror film.
When I look at low-budget horror films that lack solid acting or production levels, I try to find one particular aspect of the film that is not reliant upon money being thrown into it, such as a good story and script, that works within the film’s budget. Sadly, the lack of both is apparent within River of Darkness, but the acting was so horrid that one can’t help but grind their teeth in apparent frustration for having to sit through this mess. The delivery of dialogue by almost all involved within the film was on par with an elementary school play performed by 4th graders. The approach the director should have taken with the film is to have focused on the blood and guts, throw in some gratuitous nudity, and choreograph some B-grade action sequences so as to take the viewers mind off of the cinematic slop that is what River of Darkness is comprised of. Distract viewers from the run-of-the-mill plot, acting, and lack of talented players in the film with babes and blood. Roger Corman had the formula perfected for B-grade cinematic blissfulness- just take a look at Monster a.k.a. Humanoids From the Deep (Even Russ Meyer, whom had some of the most ridiculous plots and story lines ever kept things interesting with gratuitous sex and nudity). This (Humanoids From the Deep) film did have a bit better acting in it than River of Darkness does, but it also knows that titillating scenes of hot females running around half-naked to fully-naked coupled with decent looking mutated sea monsters gorily tearing up the townsfolk was a recipe for creating a solid genre flick with true “cult” potential and following.
River of Darkness would have had so much more to offer if the special effects and gore was just raised to a higher level and threw in some eye-candy baring their clothes. Sadly, when a film is lacking the integrity of a script, dialogue, and acting worth watching- go for pure lowbrow entertainment and save the film by giving the audience something to enjoy. I do not think even one full bucket of blood was used throughout the whole production. Sad to say, that this film did not suck because it was filled with a bunch of big-name wrestlers but because the horror elements of the film were lacking. The primary focus was that these spectral spirits are butchering the townsfolk, but there was an overall lack of “butchery” present throughout the film. A classic example of this is (without spoiling the film’s ending) when a key character is savagely chopped to pieces by the Jacobs Brothers, all armed with axes. The scene goes on to show close-ups of axes raised with blood on them…then sound effects resembling chopping of flesh…. then a shot of the axes coming down. The victim is neither showed being chopped up after one blow, during the subsequent blows and thrusts of the axes following, or even the aftermath of the whole nasty affair. I guess calling it nasty is presumptuous of me because the viewer is never privy to any nastiness whatsoever.
Upon reading the press release of this film, which describes River of Darkness as an “action-packed gore-fest”, I had semi-high hopes for it…at least better than average expectations. I was sorely disappointed on all levels after the film’s completion. I recommend skipping River of Darkness unless a total geek for seeing some of wrestling’s legends working out of their elements while “acting” within this film. Other than that, at best River of Darkness is nothing more of a novelty film for wrestling fans for it sure has nothing to offer to fans of the horror genre.
REVIEW: FAMILY SECRET (2010)
Geno McGahee’s horror/slasher film Family Secret is a low budget, independently produced-movie with a lot of heart, handful of no-name actors and actresses, and sub-par special effects and make-up…yet I still enjoyed watching this film because a few of the lead characters really gave decent performances and there were some well-delivered lines of dialogue that had me rolling in laughter…for the most part.
The story begins with Geno McGee (Forris Day, Jr.), a successful journalist and lead reporter for the local newspaper, getting news from the family that his grandmother has kicked the bucket. Upon hearing of this tragic turn of events, we find out his grandmother was not liked by Geno, as well as the rest of the family, of which Geno has not talked to or seen in over 10 years. Geno has really been out of touch with them and really does not care for anyone related to him. Geno, being a successful writer in the family with a hot wife, Danielle (Leean Aubuchon), and a good career is quite a contrast to everyone else in the family whom all seem to have financial issues, awful marriages, spousal abuse. It all reminds me of the type of folks that belong on the Jerry Springer Show.
The film starts out giving the audience a little taste of each family member and the dynamics of their family and home-life, as pathetic and worthless as that may seem. We get a sense of what a bitch his grandmother is when Geno (played excellently by lead actor Forris Day, Jr.) relays a story to his wife after waking up from a bad dream in which his late grandmother (referred to as Nana by Geno) comes to him in nightmarish fashion. When his wife, Danielle asks him about his grandmother Geno tells of her about a time when Nana snapped his dog Skipper’s neck in half when he was a little boy. Nana was one wicked bitch, beating young Geno and torturing him throughout his childhood. Immediately following this disturbing tale from his past, Geno decides it’s a good time to try to bang his wife. His wife voices my exact thought- who gets horny right after reminiscing about one’s evil grandmother? Yuck! The scene ends with Geno yelling, “Fuck me, Nana! Fuck me, Nana!” Classic.
As our story progresses, we come across more family members, such as the overweight Uncle Gary Vershon, played by newcomer Alex Pierpaoli (who totally reminded me of director and actor Kevin Smith). I guess Pierpaoli reminded me of Smith primarily because he possesses a beard, is overweight, and both of them are pretty damn funny. Uncle Gary Vershon is a foul-mouthed, insensitive, bigoted, lazy asshole. I believe most families have at least ONE Uncle Gary amongst them. I think Pierpaoli played the part of Uncle Gary perfectly and was one of the most memorable aspects to the whole film-that and Forris Day, Jr.’s performance. Both actors were splendid throughout the film and really made the movie very enjoyable to watch.
Gahee directing "Uncle Gary" on in bowling alley scene
Although this film is a horror-whodunit-slasher-mystery type of film, I felt that the gore and special effects throughout the film were pretty boring and borderline awful. The gore and blood was not very well done and could have benefited from a bucket of blood thrown here and there, especially when meat cleavers and large knives are being used to murder unsuspecting victims by the “Granny Killer”. I think I would have enjoyed the film much more as a fan or horror and slasher films if there had been a bit more emphasis and focus on the effects created for each murder. Even with these aspects of the film that I felt were lacking, the cohesiveness of the story and plot is what holds this film all together and makes it interesting to watch and the performances given by a few key players in the movie add to the enjoyment of the film. Granted, some of the acting in the film is only a notch above awful, but the positive aspects to the film outshine most of the negative aspects.
I think I could sit watching Uncle Gary’s negatively vile character treating everyone around him like crap all day long. The guy is such a sleazy, rude, obnoxious asshole that does not give two-shits about his wife, his daughter, or anything around him unless it satisfies his own needs and wants.
As the film goes on, Geno is assigned to cover these murders that are being committed by someone or something that highly resembles the family’s late grandmother. Shortly after the funeral the murders start up and Geno’s family is being picked off one by one. Ignoring the fact that the newspaper assigning a family member related to all the murders just may be some sort of conflict of interest, Geno is determined to get down to the bottom of things and find out who is killing of his family- is it the grandmother, back from the dead, or is it someone just dressing up as an old lady who just goes around slaughtering one particular family’s members?
Director Geno McGahee, who also wrote the film, did a fine job of weaving a story that is both entertaining and interesting to watch. Although I have a slight gripe with the shoddy gore effects, the rest of the film was entertaining. There were enough well-done performances given throughout the film to keep one interested throughout.
I listened to the director’s commentary, which I highly recommend viewers to listen to, and there may have been a few performances given that I really had to disagree with the filmmakers’ views upon, such as the lines delivered by young actor Jacob Moon who plays this smart-ass kid, Larry, who happens to be hanging out at the bowling alley one night while members of Geno’s family also happen to be bowling there. There is a particular scene in which Larry is looking for two of his friends at the local bowling alley, finding them slayed by the “Granny Killer”, and reacts to their bloodied corpses by saying, “Angela, Angela, Angela…” in one of the most pathetic lines of dialogue ever given. Fortunately, these instances are far and few between. Just a few minutes prior, Moon was believably portraying a smart-ass little punk delivering some genuinely funny lines of dialogue.
Some of the lines of dialogue delivered were just too damn funny not to laugh at, even though this film is not to be categorized as a comedy. I think the mystery, comedy, and horror in the film is pretty well balanced and this is what makes the film work. If the crew had some more money to work with, I believe the blood and gore would have been more plentiful and this movie may have shined even brighter. Family Secret is a prime example and should be a lesson learned to many independent filmmakers- if one does not have loads of money to throw into a film’s production, write a solid story with great characters and dialogue performed by a handful of solid actors and actresses. Even if half the cast is lousy at acting and it looks like they are just robotic in reciting dialogue with no emotion whatsoever, a few strong leads can overshadow the amateur performances-which was the case here. I believe that to be the case here.
Upon listening to the commentary given by director Geno McGahee, actor and co-producer Alex Pierpaoli, and director of photography John Golden, I found out that Pierpaoli has not acted before, yet he gave one of the best performances throughout the film, and was definitely the funniest character to watch in any scene. He played the part perfectly and was really added some character and lowbrow charm to the whole production. My favorite scenes with Pierpaoli were when he is drunk in an Italian restaurant and bar, harassing a gay couple telling them he better not get too close to them or else he may catch A.I.D.S., as well as his scene in the bowling alley where he rips on one of the employees for being bald (his head was shaved). Uncle Gary pulls no punches- that is what I love about his character.
Director Geno McGahee
One of the funnier things commented on during the commentary was when director McGahee touches upon the fact that so many movies made in Hollywood nowadays, like Michael Bay mega-blockbusters and the Final Destination flicks, have a cast that looks right out of a modeling magazine- all the dudes are perfectly chiseled and have six-pack abs, while the women have tight asses and perky breasts. McGahee goes on to say that with the cast of Family Secret, this is not the case at all. Granted, there are some lookers in the film such as actress Leeann Aubuchon or Elizabeth Madera, but overall these actors and actresses are people one would run into on any given day at any given place. As director McGahee points out, when he goes walking out in public, “For every beautiful person I saw, there were fifty porkers!” (Well spoken, McGahee!).
The dvd, distributed by Tempe Video and released by X Posse/Webhead Entertainment Productions, can be ordered HERE. There also is a Facebook page for the film. I found it interesting that not only has Geno McGahee directed and made Family Secret, as well as Evil Awakening (2001), Rise of the Scarecrows (2003), and the upcoming Scary Tales (2012), he also reviews films from all genres and budgets, over at Scared Stiff Reviews. I am pretty sure that having watched tons of films from all genres has helped him learn what works and what does not work when making a film, as evidenced by Family Secret.
As the story gets closer and closer to coming to a conclusion and some answers are slowly answered as Geno McGee begins to uncover the truth behind the murders, the film becomes more and more enjoyable. At times, I thought I had a handle on who was murdering everyone, but as the film draws to its conclusion, the “family secret” is finally revealed and I don’t think ANYONE is prepared for what happens as all the questions anyone may have are finally answered.
Family Secret, as well as other indie horror flicks, are coming up with far more interesting and creative subject-matter than many of the movies coming out of Hollywood that have been recycled, regurgitated, and become redundant in countless sequels and thoughtless remakes. Geno McGahee has created a film that pays homage and tribute to many of the horror and slasher films that he talks about cherishing watching while growing up and Family Secret is a very admirable effort that was well executed and delivers the goods. I highly recommend checking this indie gem out!
REVIEW: The Haunting a.k.a. No-Do: The Beckoning
The Haunting (a.k.a. No-Do: The Beckoning) (2009), is a film that was released as part of Fangoria’s FrightFest series, distributed by Lightening Media, and we over at SHU-IZMZ just got around to reviewing this title, the final one of the eight new films that came out over a year ago (July, 2010). As I have said before, time and time again, I have always been apprehensive when watching a film that has Fangoria’s name attached to it. Fango has put out some really large pieces of shit that they have attached their names to through Fango Films, distributor or otherwise. One in particular that I felt was atrocious was The Last Horror Movie (2003).
Generally, many of the films distributed were very low-budget and were less than adequate in the genre of horror. If the films were not putting Fangoria on the banner head I might cut the movies some slack but I felt that a horror film from a generally reputable horror publication such as Fangoria whom has been in the horror business for so many years should not attach their name to films that are really scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of plot, gore, special effects, and acting. I have come to grow extremely leery of any film that Fangoria gives its thumbs-up to. As of recent years, I have also come to regard the magazine itself as one of the lesser in strength in terms of writing, coverage, and knowledge of horror and genre films. I grew up reading Fangoria, as well as GoreZone and Toxic Horror (with its short run), and, sadly, I no longer subscribe to Fangoria. I have, instead, started reading Rue Morgue and HorrorHound. I think the only good thing about Fangoria is the fact that it is priced lower than the aforementioned publications, particularly if one subscribes to it. I wish Rue Morgue would offer a discount to subscribers that was as substantial as Fangoria’s discount was. Rue Morgue is my favorite of the three magazines but who the hell can afford to be spending $10 on one single issue of a magazine. Most of the relevant and current newsworthy articles one can obtain via the Internet for free of charge (as long as one has an internet connection) anyways. But let’s get back to a line-up Fangoria has come out with that, as readers of the past seven reviews up at SHU-IZMZ can attest to, did not all suck. In fact, some of the films were pretty decent, if not totally kick-ass horror films.
For reasons that are beyond my comprehension, Lightening Media decided to send me a screener of The Haunting (not to be confused with Robert Wise’s 1963 film of the same title or its horrible remake) that was dubbed HORRIBLY in English. The film is originally in Spanish and the overdub was so bad that a good portion of the soundtrack was considerably lower in volume, in regards to the sound effects, whenever a piece of dialogue was spoken. That really sucked and as hard as it is to do so, I am trying to not be biased in review because I really enjoyed most of the film as a whole. I was infuriated to find that the official release of the film has the original soundtrack option of Spanish with English subtitles or the craptastic English dubbing that I was privy to. Now that my rants on the current state of Fangoria Magazine and sending Shu screeners that are not in the original language with English subtitles is over, lets get on to Mr. Quiroga’s film, The Haunting.
The Haunting (a.k.a. No-Do: The Beckoning) is a Spanish ghost story that takes its plot line from a bit of historical fact, as well as some possible speculation, inspired by the Catholic Church’s documentation of actual, unexplained supernatural phenomena in the ‘40s, as well as drawing from the No-Do: Noticiarios y Documentales (News & Documentaries), the state-controlled series of cinema newsreels produced in Spain from 1943-1981 and closely associated with the 1939-1975 dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. These “newsreels” contained a good deal of propaganda, as well.
In a Fangoria interview, director Elio Quiroga (Fotos, La Hora Fria) was quoted as saying that the film “is a ghost story about people who can see invisible things”, as well as going on to say that, “also the story of the people that secretly filmed supernatural phenomena about a century ago in Spain: The cameramen of the Secret No-Dos, old newsreels about unexplainable phenomena commissioned by the Catholic Church in the ‘40s that have been kept buried in secret for decades.”
The first time watching The Haunting, I was extremely intrigued and riveted by the thought that the Catholic Church had actually did their own sort of paranormal investigation. I did know they had done exorcisms and battled the Devil. Whether they really were battling and exorcising some dark force, be it Satan or any other evil entity, I was not sure. I do not know if the priests performing the exorcism were even sure, but the possibility that there are (or is) really demons and evil entities was thoroughly fascinating and entertaining to me. For this sole reason, I was ultimately hooked on Quiroga’s film, hoping that by its end I would not be angry at having spent 90 minutes watching it. I was more than pleased, as The Haunting is a pretty solid ghost story. Viewers of the film are bound to be comparing it to other Spanish horror films regarding ghosts and the paranormal, such as Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Orphanage (El orfanato) (2007), or Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone (2001) which both films, in my opinion, are excellent, but Quiroga’s film is both on a much smaller budget and a somewhat different subject matter in its exploration of ghosts.
Ana Torrent
Our story starts out with two married physicians, Francesca (Anna Torrent) and Pedro (Francisco Boira), whom Francesca has just given birth to her new baby and is now suffering from postpartum depression. On the advice of their friend and psychologist Jean (Roscio Munoz), the family moves to a new home that is outside of the city and in a more rural setting. They decide to move into a house that was once occupied and is still owned by the Catholic Church, of which the cellar and attic are locked and the family is barred from entering.
As Francesca’s depression deepens, her husband really begins to start worrying about her, especially when she becomes obsessed with her new baby and the fact that she begins to hear and see strange things, most of which she believes their origins to be coming from the basement and attic which is locked up. As her nightmares continue, more and more apparitions and ghostly happenings begin to occur and she starts to fear for her newborn child’s life. After seeking the help of a local Catholic priest and psychiatrist, Father Miguel (Hector Colome) (who knows very well the history of the house), he unveils the true matters at hand and together they figure out a way to uncover what exactly they are dealing with and how to combat it. The film has decent acting, not the best and not the worst, but what really stands out aside from a slightly common theme and storyline are the filters used for filming and the all-around atmosphere and special effects. A ghost story just does not pack any thrills or chills if the visual effects are lacking. Terrible visual effects turn a possibly engaging and quasi-terrifying experience into another run-of-the-mill viewing experience. Fortunately, the filmmakers threw in some very cool special effects and made the film an overall enjoyable view and surprisingly creepy experience.
I thought that adding the No-Do component to the film was a brilliant idea. It offers some Spanish history to add validity to the background information concerning the Catholic Priests, as well as the time-period in which the Spanish production company No-Do was present. During the 1940’s, many Catholic priests were investigating supernatural and paranormal activities and Quiroga shows good judgment in slipping this aspect into the film to keep things interesting for viewers.
If at times the film seems choppy and scenes do not flow together quite as nicely, that is due to the film being originally around two hours in duration and being chopped down to 95 minutes. That is almost 25 minutes of footage cut from the film. I really have to wonder if that footage really needed to be removed from the film and why it was removed. Maybe one-day a Director’s Cut will come out with the original footage restored.
The film, The Haunting, is dedicated to the memory of Joaquim Jorda (1935-2006), a Spanish director who traveled to Paris, France and met Truffaut, Rohmer, Chabrol, and Rivette which led his films to gain a political edge and awareness to them. He directed and wrote a number of influential films, as well as winning and being nominated for a handful of awards. Posthumously, Jorda was awarded the National Film Award. He had died at age 70.
The Haunting also ends with very interesting quote from Sci-Fi author Philip K. Dick: “If you find this world bad, you should see some of the others.” This just gives viewers something to ponder once the film is finished-to believers of ghosts, the paranormal, and other alien worlds, as well as to those more grounded in things that are far easier in justifying their existence.
For those in need of a decent ghost story that delivers solid visual effects and also adds a bit of Spanish history in the mix, The Haunting is your bag of tricks. It may not be on par with some of the other Spanish and Japanese ghost stories with far greater budgets, but the film does well with what it has to work with. I just wish the version I had seen was in Spanish and subtitled in English instead of being atrociously dubbed over in English. I think I would have had a far more enjoyable viewing experience had it been the other way around.
REVIEW: PIG HUNT (2008)
Fangoria FrightFest and Lightning Media brought fans eight terrifying films back in the summer of 2010, all of which SHU-IZMZ got the screeners for, and due to a ton of other screeners being mailed off to us, we are just getting around to finishing off writing the reviews for films. A long-time reader and supporter of Fangoria, most notably in the past when I feel the magazine was at its strongest in writing and quality, I have since changed my opinion somewhat when I see horror films sporting the Fangoria banner. To say the least, I was just a bit apprehensive when I received eight dvds for review with Fangoria blanketed across the envelope. After reading a few of my reviews from the FrightFest line-up, one can say that I have changed my opinion drastically as to films that are associated with Fangoria. There was a pretty decent selection of films (although a few really did suck ass!) and I excited to writing about Pig Hunt, a wonderfully unique film directed by James Issac (Jason X, Skinwalkers, The Horror Show) and written by Robert Mailer Anderson and Zack Anderson. The film stars Travis Aaron Wade (War of the Worlds (’05)) as John Hickman, whose late Uncle owned a shack out in the middle of the boonies, locale to many rednecks. Hickman decides to take his girlfriend, Brooks (Tina Huang) up with his three buddies, Ben (Howard Johnson Jr.), Quincy (Trevor Bullock), and Wayne (Rajiv Shah) on a hunting expedition. What Hickman neglects to tell his buddies is that his Uncle’s shack is located in the deep backwoods of the forest where there are not only wild boars running around, but an infamous wild boar-one bigger, fiercer, and meaner than any boar ever.
Once I read the synopsis for this film, I immediately thought of the Aussie Ozploitation film from the ’80s, Razorback, directed by Russel Mulcahy. I loved that film, as I tend to enjoy over-the-top violent and gory “animals-on-the-rampage” horror flicks, and I was hoping I would enjoy Pig Hunt just as much. Let’s just say that out of ALL the Fangoria FrightFest films, Pig Hunt was my favorite by quite a large margin.
The film excelled on pleasing its audience on so many levels, but one aspect of the film that really impressed me was the unique soundtrack that was created by ex-Primus/Sausage frontman and bassist Les Claypool. He wrote the whole soundtrack to the film, full of heavy, funky bass twangs that are most notably Claypool’s own, fitting in perfectly with the hillbilly, redneck region that the film takes place in. Not only does Claypool provide the awesome soundtrack, but he also plays one of the characters in the film, Preacher, who is the head of a family who has lived in these deep woods probably forever. The members of the family don’t look like they bathe regularly nor get out to the city much, if at all.
As far as the acting went in the film, some of the performances and characters could have been a bit more polished (Howard Johnson Jr.) or less ridiculous in nature (Byronn Bain), but overall I was satisfied with the natural performances. They added some realism to the film and kept things serious when they needed to be (like when characters were injured or killed off) and reacted in the correct manner when the reality that a huge, flesh-eating wild boar that rivaled in size to a giant elephant was hunting them down and not vice-versa. Travis Aaron-Wade did a tremendous job as the lead actor and actually replaced the originally cast lead actor in the film playing the role of John Hickman just two days before filming! Talk about some major performance pressure. I think Wade handled it nicely.
Travis Aaron-Wade as John Hickman
The film was nicely edited, creating tension and curiosity throughout the film with only showing bits and pieces of this monstrous relative to Porky Pig, partly due to the incredible chops and licks that Les Claypool creates throughout the film with his incredible bass playing. Claypool may be most recognized for (besides Primus and Sausage) for creating the intro music for Robot Chicken, as well as working on Barnyard and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. One thing that had me worried with this film was because I was immediately drawn in by Claypool’s funky yet technical bass-playing was that the rest of the movie was going to be a colossal disappointment. Boy was I wrong!
Pig Hunt continues as one would think: City boys and gal in the woods get hunted by wild boar, picked off one by one in gorily fashion, then run into the locals and get into a scrap with them making the enemies both human AND animal. Well, that does happen but there is one component to this film that I did not see coming into play at all: demented hippies. Pig Hunt ups the ante of violence, gore, and creativity by throwing into the mix a marijuana farming community of hippies who will stop at nothing to preserve their crops, as well as their secret weapon. That is all I am going to divulge as to key elements of the film’s plot so that I don’t ruin it for anyone that wants to see Pig Hunt, which should be EVERYONE!
The film not only is filled with violence, gore, a bit of suspense- but there is also some decent nudity. The film really fills in all the gaps and corners to making Pig Hunt a horror film that could be categorized in both the horror genre, as well as the exploitation genre. I feel that Porky Pig and Babe would be highly offended at how his older and much more aggressive and violent cousin is portrayed in this film- another film to be categorized in the ever-growing sub-genre of Pigsploitation. Well, there really is not a genre of such a name (that I know of), but there really should be one as more killer pig movies are made. That goes for all the genre films involving animals killing humans and other animals.
Pig Hunt delivers a decent level of gore
Interestingly enough, director James Issac cites David Cronenberg as his idol and mentor, but I did not feel or acknowledge there being any subtle psychological underlying themes besides Man vs. Pig. Director Issac said that Cronenberg “let me into his world” and that Cronenberg said Issac could “ask him (Cronenberg) any questions I (Issac) wanted to. He (Cronenberg) really allowed me to pick his brain.”
Well, fortunately for fans of horror films with more simpler and apparent themes, Pig Hunt did not turn into some sort of psychological film with extremely bizarre scenes like Naked Lunch and was a fun and simple film about a wild boar ripping apart anyone or anything that gets in its way. I like my animals-on-the-rampage flicks to be nice and simple.
The acting in Pig Hunt was rounded out nicely with decent performances by the two hillbilly brothers Jake (Jason Foster) and Ricky (Nick Tagas), who back in the day were quasi-buddies with Hickman. Viewers are led to believe that all three at one time or another used to hunt together. We learn more about Hickman and his past throughout the film as new events unfold. There is even a small cameo in the film by musician Charlie Musselwhite, playing the general store proprietor Charlie in the film, who had a gig in San Diego at midnight and ended up driving throughout the night just to get back to the shoot in the morning for his scene. The dialogue he was to read was given to him in the very last second.
Interestingly enough, the filmmakers originally wanted to have genuine wolf dogs used in the film during scenes in which the cast was hunting the massive boar, but due to budgetary constraints, the cost for the dogs and their handlers was too much for Pig Hunt’s budget. There is a dog in the film that is used to track down the boar and also used effectively as a device to add suspense to the film when it senses the carnivore nearby.
I really enjoyed Pig Hunt and found it to be the strongest entry bearing the Fangoria FrightFest banner. I was not the only one for the film was the winner of the “Bronze Audience Award” at the Fantasia Film Festival and the “Gold Remi Award” at the Worldfest International Film Festival. The acting, although not the strongest or most natural at times, definitely had a quirky charm and character to it. The characters were unique. The plot was not as simple as one would imagine and packs a few surprises at the end of it, keeping viewers on their toes. Although the film was not the bloodiest or goriest, there was enough in it to get the job done and satisfy both horror fans and animal-rampage fans equally.
