Gross Movie Reviews #699

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Amityville Corndog (YouTube) – So entry #76 became a thing recently as this short film from filmmaker Blaize Tudor stars some talented folk in Mel Heflin and Ralph Rey along with Blaize himself. A group of friends have a get together one weekend and of course a friend has brought the Ouija board to play! Using the board of death the group brings forth the spirit of a killer corndog as one by one they become victims of said corndog. Yes it is completely absurd and I love it as this short film into the series gets 3 out of 4 stars.

Project Genesis (Tubi) – Holy ballsacks people this movie goes all over the place for well over two hours. So this dude that isn’t from around this village, an outsider in 1992 disrupts a ritual overnight that allows dead bodies to fall from the sky. Fast forward to 2023, Stella the small child who went looking for her outsider daddy has a daughter of her own with nowhere to live. As her mother has fallen ill Stella heads back home as she is asked to go looking for her missing father who screwed shit up? With an old radio Stella is able to contact her father once a year according to her mother as once in contact that’s when shit gets completely confusing and wild. There is time travel, zombies, dinosaurs destroying cities, portals, these weird rings, dimension jumping all because the C.I.A. wanted the tech of course in this crazy ass and good luck Thai film I can only give 2 stars too.

Fatal Desires (Tubi) – Wow, Sean Donohue, a super talented filmmaker out of Florida digs in the bag of throwbacks (when the Skinamax existed) to pull out a sexually charge thriller we haven’t seen since the early 90s. A very beautiful couple is having sexual issues as they agree to employ a high end therapist to help them with their troubles. The therapist turns the tables on them as she tries to earn their trust and attempts to seduce both for her own devious reasons. In the end as the couple is full of sex and regret the therapist is able to lead the couple down a dark road against each other. This feature will surely not be for everyone but Mr. Donohue does his best to remind those of us that remember those days of the erotic thriller there is still great stories to be told especially when you have an all-star Indie cast to help pull it off. For that I give the feature 3 out of 4 stars.

Members Club (Tubi) – This horror comedy out of the UK is something I absolutely heard nothing about but glad I gave it a chance as the feature opens with a park sign reading “No Dogging”… I was hooked immediately! Quickly we are introduced to a group of male strippers who have aged out of the profession but refuse to stop. Their brilliant name for the group is “Wet Dreams”! Wet Dreams is offered a gig of the lifetime as it is a sold out venue as its unlikely they are going to have an opportunity like this again to perform in front of a sold out crowd. All are drugged before the show and quickly are told they are sacrifices for an evil ritual to bring forth an old witch that is looking for revenge hundreds of years later. Things don’t exactly go according to plan as the strippers must fight the witch in order to escape the terror in this somewhat gory and uncomfortable fun feature as I give it 2 ½ stars.

The Sound of Horror (YouTube) – So recently I watched a newer horror film called ‘Invisible Raptor’ as someone pointed out there was an older Spanish flick that did the concept first. So I went down the wormhole to go find this 1966 b-flick where an archeologist and friends go treasure hunting in a mountain that has urban legends about it. The locals fear the mountain but that doesn’t stop this group from digging away to find a petrified egg and a mummy thus disturbing the invisible dinosaur that roams inside the mountain. The group must make the hard decision to either leave or die trying to find the so called legendary treasure as I give the film 2 stars.

Movies to Watch on a Rainy Afternoon: Christmas Special (Blu-ray) – The entertaining and talented Addison Binek is back at it again as he brings forth a collection of his famous holiday cheer episodes to a better format for fans. As Mr. Binek refers to himself as “Addy Claus” goes the road of the usual holiday horror with a couple of oddities that will make you turn your head slowly in that creepy Michael Myers way in confusion but yet delight. Remember not all of them can be hits as he quite gets into the spirit of riffing on such features: Jack Frost, Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Killer Snowman, Santa Claws, Christmas Evil, Santa’s Slay, Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys, To All a Goodnight, Slaughter Claus, Cannibal Claus, Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventures, Santa Claus: Serial Rapist, Krampus: The Christmas Devil, The Elf, Once Upon a Time at Christmas. This set is not only for the holiday horror die hards but for folks that just like to laugh at quirky cinema they never knew could be this funny as why I give this set 4 out of 4 stars.

Movies to Watch on a Rainy Afternoon: The Holiday Leftover Edition (Blu-ray) – This might be Addison’s most interesting and hilarious collection to make it to the Blu-ray format for fans as Mr. Binek really goes all out to truly make this the weirdest collection of leftovers a must have. Addison starts off strong as he gives us Easter Bunny Kill Kill!, no matter how tasteless or uncomfortable it makes him while riffing on it. Unlucky Charms continues the laughter as it makes Addison question if there was ever a plot? He quickly moves right onto Peter Rottentail that only confuses him because the lack of rabbit references and the filmmakers not truly understanding how magic works. Mr. Binek then really digs into Plan 9 from Outer Space as it is considered a Halloween treat for some so he can make sense of it for others. As he goes back to an Easter film in Easter Casket Addison only finds he gets upset there isn’t more candy in plastic Easter eggs but believing every scene is filmed in a rando hotel room. And then he reaches Blood Freak … (remake from Daniel Boyd and Tim Gross) which makes Addison convinced Thanksgiving is only a holiday for doing drugs? From there Addison brings out a Home Alone sequel I literally didn’t know existed? But leave it to the famous Indie label Mail Order holiday horror to have Addison question if watching all these projects was even a good idea especially when he lays into Hell on the Shelf. If that wasn’t enough Amityville Thanksgiving leaves Addison questions about gift wrapping and not understanding this entry is a holiday entry into the Amityville series. All this leads into two oddities of the holiday leftover edition that features Cookie Christmas movie which is truly bizarre and can only be believed if watched along with the underrated and possibly one of the most brilliant horror sequels of all time in Leprechaun in the Hood! As you can tell I have always been a fan of Addison’s work and his riffing on movies but this “Holiday Leftover Edition” might be the crown jewel as he digs deep for projects that most don’t know about along with one or two that you have come across on Tubi or something with great curiosity as this must own Blu-ray without a doubt gets 4 out of 4 stars.

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!  

Gross Movie Reviews #698

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Robot Ninja (Blu-ray) – “This review was written in 2014 after I got ahold of an old VHS copy I borrowed from someone…before there was this Blu-ray but go into detail about the extras.” In the age of weird, horrible, obscure low budget VHS movies getting legit releases and special VHS/DVD combo releases I am very surprised there is never been any news on this relatively lesser known gory comic bookish horror film. J. R. Bookwalter’s second feature was made in four months and $15,000, a lot less than his first feature “The Dead Next Door”. The film revolves around comic book artist Lenny who is upset with his agent selling the rights of the comic to NBC for a weekly series now being pressured by his boss to start making the comic book more like the weekly series. This makes Lenny go over the edge to become the real life “Robot Ninja” after he tries to stop three individuals from raping a couple on the edge of a freeway. He has the costume made; he is taking a massive amount of drugs, it’s time for Lenny/Robot Ninja to take to the streets looking for revenge! The film is a disgustingly fun time for J.R.’s second effort. I give the movie 2 ½ out of 4 stars. The film also boasts appearances from Linnea Quigley, Burt Ward, and Scott Spiegel. I remember first seeing the film in 1990 when I helped a video store (Movietime) order it out of the Cinema Home Video catalog. Now we fast forward many years and there is this wonderful 2K restoration of the film which looks absolutely beautiful. But the gem of this package is the extras besides seeing the movie much different than us weirdos remember seeing a couple decades back. The extras include several interviews with cast members in 1999/2000, two commentaries, and my favorite thing which made me so happy to now own this version is an interview with J.R. Bookwalter explaining why it took so long and how he has a new appreciation for this film as I do too. Thank you to J.R. and all that were involved in this process as this Blu-ray was just perfect!

Sons of Steel (Blu-ray) – Digging deep into the post-apocalyptic genre for this one as I first reviewed it a couple years back before I knew an American Blu-ray version was available: Thank you Shudder for helping me find more Australian weirdness! This 1988 flick is in the somewhat futuristic land where a rock front man Black Alice runs things but he is also a peace activist. One night a suspicious boat comes into the Sydney harbor while Black Alice is forced into becoming an experimental hologram and released 113 years later in a world that was destroyed by nuclear war. Now Black Alice has ten hours to live which is a side effect of the hologram thingy to find a way back to his time and stop everything from going boom? Think “Repo Genetic Opera” (kind of) decades before it was made might be the best way to describe the weirdness as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars. This Blu-ray restoration spruced up the colors of the film but has an absolutely informative segment with Gary L. Keady explaining why America never seen this flick until the last few years, great stuff in my opinion.

Commando Ninja 2: Invasion America (Tubi) – A few years have passed since the glorious original was made. Surprisingly it wasn’t too long after this international fun mockery of the 80s action feature told the internet there would be a sequel? But it was quiet for a good long time until the past couple weeks the legendary original film and its sequel showed up on Tubi for all in the world to finally witness the glory! So the sequel picks up in 1990 America where somehow there is Vietnamese soldiers buying weapons on American soil. After a terrorist attack on a military graduation the hero John Hunter is thrust back into action and tracks down where these Vietnamese are disappearing… John and friends head down a tunnel into earth that transports them to Vietnam where somehow dinosaurs thrive and the Vietnamese and Russians have captured Marines. This is where the real chaos begins as we got Vietnam, flashbacks, zombies, cyborgs, experiments on P.O.W.s, and a villain that reminds me the evil dude in the Inspector Gadget cartoon. It’s hilarious, gory, but overstays its welcome as it runs two hours long. I love the concept but sometimes you got to know when enough is enough as I can only give this action flick 3 stars.

Burglar from Hell (Blu-ray) – A Phil Herman SOV classic that was revived recently with this crazy ass packed special edition Blu-ray that has everything from a new transfer of the independent classic to a commentary with Phil “Chip” Herman to a wonderful interview with the legendary Debbie D, Barry Gaines, Bryant Sohl to the unreleased first film of Phil Herman called ‘The Wrong Side of Town’ which in my opinion is a delightful underrated no budget picture that is highly recommended for all first time filmmakers. But back to this classic tale that is set years after the terrible home invasion from Frank that goes wrong. Years after the event friends vacation at the home only for a young lady to conjure up Frank the Tank back from the dead to terrorize all who decided to come to the home. The story takes a bit of time to build but it’s better for the plot in the long run and has a high body count. The classic project is rough, entertaining, completely wild, and no denying that Phil Herman was going to become a legend among independent filmmakers with unique work like this as I give it 3 ½ out of 4 stars.

The Stoop (Vimeo) – Soon coming to a format or streaming site near you is this odd but interesting non-horror film that had my full attention from the beginning as the plot revolves around Amos Dibble. Mr. Dibble has OCD but has found a way to carve out a life and work life that he is able to control to his benefit. But one day Mr. Dibble’s life is literally thrown into chaos when a cute young lady sits on Dibble’s front steps. You have to understand the condition and circumstances as this is devastating to Amos as it can send his life into chaos. These steps are very private to him as they are his getaway place from everything. But a funny thing happens to Amos as he becomes intrigued with the why, how, when she is going to be there? On top of that she converses with Amos not noticing his condition as he struggles with this new concept. It isn’t just difficult for Amos; it can be scary as hell as he finds himself changing routine just to catch glimpses or even sit next to the young woman. Amos soon finds himself complicating his uncomplicated life to be with her, to be more for her in this adorable and wonderful adventure in love. The chemistry between Brian Moore Ward and Aysiha Stephenson is golden as Mr. Dibble cannot deny “she is the missing ingredient” in this must see feature I give 3 out of 4 stars.

Blue Sunshine (4K/UHD) – Oh Synapse I love yinz releasing this Jeff Lieberman classic that is seen more of a classic now than when it was first released with the subject matter it dealt with into 4K. Mr. Lieberman stirs the pot with this project as even with his new introduction makes I smile as we get to watch this glorious restoration that involves C.I.A. experiments in the sixties. The plot of this important film begins with a man at a party who hid his hair loss and goes psycho on three women only fight with his friend Jerry to the death. Quickly from there Jerry is on the run and must act quickly to clear his name as authorities believe he is a murderer. With a little help from a friend Jerry slowly connects the dots of the tragic event at the lodge that sent him on the run. The connection is a drug called “Blue Sunshine” that was taken ten years before at Stanford University and now (1977) the people who took part in the acid have become violent and lost all their hair. Its real, hard-hitting, and more relevant now in my opinion than then! Along with this great film you get two commentaries (one of them with Jeff Lieberman and Howard S. Berger discussing things), all kinds of interviews with Mr. Lieberman, two old anti-drug films, and two versions of “The Ringer” giving Lieberman fans hours of content to ingest and debate as I give the package 4 out of 4 stars.

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!  

Gross Movie Reviews #697

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Nick Knight (YouTube/DVD-R) – Unbeknownst to me this was a 1989 TV movie or a prequel of sorts or just failed pilot that starred the great Rick Springfield (for the kids out there, dude was everywhere in the 80s). A couple years later they revived the idea in 1992 and called it “Forever Knight”, a vampire cop show that ran in syndication (like Xena and Hercules it depended where you lived and what channels you got in order to watch the program as it really didn’t have a set time). Detective Nick Knight is a crafty detective who gets results but only works nights for odd reasons to the rest of his fellow cops. A problem arises as a serial killer who kills almost nightly and his victims have been nicknamed the “vampire murders”. As Nick struggles with his vampirism a theft of a Mayan cup raises an eyebrow as this cup is believed to be used to cure vampirism as Nick’s master Lacroix (not the carbonated water) has come to town to taunt him. For a TV movie of 1989 it was pretty good but guessing the love story that had a sad ending in the pilot didn’t go over well for critics as I still enjoyed it overall and give it 3 stars.

R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead (Tubi) – This one surprised me it was a Tubi Original released this past Halloween as I just finally got around to checking it out. A mom of two moves to a small town of Red Haven “Where the Harvest Never Ends” as it seems too perfect since moving from New York after her husband died. The oldest kid Finn fits in immediately but young Sam doesn’t like the move and chooses to cut off a strange pumpkin in Mr. Palmer’s barn during the harvest festival. His older brother Finn returns the pumpkin but doesn’t return the next day as he is completely forgotten about except Sam knows. Help from a new best friend and an outcast they unravel the mystery of the cursed land the crops that grow on Mr. Palmer’s farm. The scarecrow thing was pretty cool and I quite enjoyed the non-happy ending to this feature as I give it 3 stars.

Nazi Supersoldier (Tubi) – Another low budget Nazi zombie film out of Germany that begins in May 1945, where an experimental super soldier project is underway in Berlin. Well we all know what happened then so now in present day there are rumors of a secret lab somewhere in the forest of Berlin. If a group of students can discover it they plan to use it for their thesis as they would do a proper TV report on the location. The group finds the secret lab but doing so unleash a thing called “Project Juso” that is impervious to weapons and looks like a bootleg ‘Violent Shit’ killer as he slaughters his way through the woods. I truly wanted to like this project but felt like the idea didn’t have enough plot behind it to make it fun or interesting as I can only give this film 1 star.

Mortal Game (Tubi) – Big game hunters travel to an island for the ultimate hunt but none have ever returned? Of course a new group of hunters who are flown in are sure they will find this unknown creature and have it for their trophy case. But of course in this Canadian flick the creature is the hunter as it feasts on all who come to the island. This movie really didn’t make a ton of sense and I really wanted the creature to be a werewolf or something but we can’t always get what we want like a great creature feature in this case as I can only give it a ½ star.

Orgy of the Dead 2 (DVD) – Andrew J. Chambers set out to make a love letter to the obscure maybe even cultish 1965 horror film and I believe the filmmaker accomplished their goal. Your coffin based host, The Emperor, likes to hang out in his cemetery with his lovely princess to see who they will entertain this evening? It just so happens a group of four have a car accident nearby, now three who are looking for help but instead stumble into a graveyard full of kink as The Emperor and his minions enjoy the dancing entertainment for the evening. Jessa Flux who plays one of the car accident victims is absolutely fun with her comments as she is crucified! This piece of entertaining sleaze will not be for all horror fans but I gotta respect what Mr. Chambers and crew accomplished as they should be proud of their efforts as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

The Invisible Raptor (Tubi) – Tyler Corp. is a secret research center that is connected to an amusement park called “Dinoworld”. So of course there is research on the only invisible live raptor! Being the intelligent creature it kills its captors and escapes! As nearby residents seem to be getting eaten up it’s up to the bumbling staff of Dinoworld to track down the creature to stop it terrorizing all who live there. The film has its moments with chasing dinosaur shit, small wieners, dinosaur sex, and a hilarious house party that just becomes a smorgasbord for the raptor but its nearly two hour running time has too many lulls throughout as I can only give it 2 stars.

Darbie’s Dreamhouse (DVD) – This newer Donald Farmer flick has quite a talented cast as Jessa Flux stars as Darbie… She is a ten year old Alice’s doll who has several dolls but when Alice isn’t around the dolls have their own life in Dolltown, USA. This is where Darbie and all her friends and boyfriend included come to life. Well Darbie’s boyfriend Ben is planning a surprise birthday party this Saturday with Beach Blanket Ben, Rodeo Darbie, Danger Darbie, and Ditzie Darbie as they try to exclude Darbie’s sister Tripper because they feel she will spoil it. Well they were not wrong as Tripper believes Ben is cheating on Darbie so she tells her sister all about his cheating. This sends Darbie in a rage as she needs a root beer and her butcher’s knife to show her so-called friends they cannot take her boyfriend Ben or mess with Darbie’s perfect doll life! The project is a bizarre live action independent oddity that will have you smiling from ear to ear over Darbie’s killing spree as I give this wild project from Mr. Farmer 3 out of 4 stars. (Also much respect to Jessa Flux for being one of the writers).   

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!   

Gross Movie Reviews #696

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You’re All Doomed (DVD) – Mark Polonia showing no signs of slowing down brings in the usuals for his no budget slasher quickie. In 1986 at Camp Hollow a maintenance guy neglects a gas line and blows himself up as he receives the nickname “Crispy” because not only he survives but still to this day looks all charred up. A few years go by as Crispy returns to said camp to exact revenge which because of this the camp shuts down, now it moves to present day. Owner of the camp brings in a cleanup crew of four to do what is needed before they bulldoze the place for a new shopping center. But Crispy decides it is time to escape the asylum and have one more killing spree! The movie doesn’t waste any time telling the story here as if you are a slasher fan or completest yinz are going to want to view this project as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Dropbear (Tubi) – You had me at ‘Killer Koalas’! A group of tourists get scammed by a bootleg Steve Irwin or Steve-O. Literally they named the character after the crocodile guy in this Aussie film; anyway the tourists follow this dude into the outback for adventure. But the sad adventure gets real interesting when their asses walk right into a lair of killer koalas that have mutated from government experiments. The topper there is one mutation the government cannot find and it’s this massive leader that is pissed they have ruined his home years ago and apparently is immune to gun fire. This film could have been better but also could have been so much worse so I say just go into it just enjoying the corniness as I give it 2 stars.

Night Fright (DVD) – This fun monstrous oldie comes out of 1967 where an object falls to the woods one near Satan’s Hollow. A young couple investigates more like trying to make out and see a flash of light only to become victims of a mysterious creature. The sheriff baffled by the outcome and the government already closing off the area still investigates other attacks away from the crash. Soon it becomes clear the creature isn’t an alien but a mutation from the government who sent up in a rocket many months ago to study space travel only for it to crash land back on earth. Now said project is pissed and mangling humans when they cross it. A fun flashback to B-movies at the drive-ins we have heard so many stories about as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Cocaine Roach (Tubi) – This one is way late to the party after ‘Cocaine Bear’ but it beat out ‘Amityville Cocaine’ (yes it was a real project up until December 2025 when it finally got taken off IMDb) . In this hilarious adventure a couple of middle aged dudes lose their jobs and they are in need of money and drugs. They are con into working for their drug dealer along with an associate and a girlfriend to head to the drop house that automatically locks once inside. The only one with the key is the money man who will only show up at the time that was given. Things go from bad to worse when one gets shot and the cocaine fueled roaches that live there eat the person. Not a great film by any means but wasn’t all horrible if it made me laugh several times throughout as I give it 2 out of 4 stars.

Dummy (Fawesome) – Again Polonia busy as ever and working at break neck pace releases a tale of a retiring ventriloquist who bombs at his last performance with his puppet ‘Chucklehead’. Archibald the ventriloquist had a long career that seen a lot of ups but now a long downward spiral sees the only option is suicide. (I did enjoy the reference to “That’s Incredible” by one character explaining Archibald the Great.) Archibald’s suicide causes his spirit to go into Chucklehead and begins his reign of terror over the hotel patrons of where they were staying after the last show. Whether you enjoy the film or not the thing I respect and enjoy was the use of same locations for multiple things and ideas Corman style as the legendary Mark Polonia keeps writing his own story in his own style of independent filmmaking as I give the project 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Bears on a Ship (Xumo Play/YouTube) – The major airline unions have gone on strike which sucks for a rich newly married couple who want to leave Mexico after honeymooning. So they hitch a ride on a large vessel that many others have also since the airline industry is not moving. So in a drug hazed bad decision after it’s learned that there is a bear on the boat this individual lets the bear out of its cage. Nevermind the first almost 40 minutes of filler that wasn’t needed, come on people we just want killer bears! Anyhow, the bear that is some kind of special animal from the Mexican jungle and can be barely seen throughout the film runs amok as the vessel barrels towards the states. This movie makes ‘Grizzly 2’ look like ‘Grizzly’. Honestly this had potential but they filled the story with character filler instead of just dropping money into practical or better computer effects of the bear killing people? I mean you did call your movie “Bears on a Ship”, we degenerate horror fans expect a fun mess to enjoy, and not filler as I can only give this project 1 out of 4 stars.

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!   

Gross Movie Reviews #695

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Waltz (YouTube) – An interesting take on the Alice in Wonderland story where Alice is from across the pond and has come to the states to get away from mother but also find steady work as a copyrighter. When her job goes south Alice leans on her good friend and photographer Calvin looking for answers on what to do next? But when she struggles mightily to find a job in her field she becomes more desperate for money as she comes across an opportunity to do erotic photos for the website “Biggest Fan”. Calvin who actually likes Alice but Alice only sees Calvin as an end to a means and ignores his warnings; Calvin begrudgingly helps Alice anyway with the erotic photos. As the money rolls in Alice ups the ante with a date with a fan that helps bring in a stalker to Alice. Now said stalker dressed as the Mad Hatter kidnaps and tortures Alice for the mere purpose of teaching her a lesson! The small cast is wonderfully talented including David Dietz who gives viewers someone to really care about in the end. The movie is an entertaining tale of terror but the one flaw of the picture might be the torture scenes or back and forth between the characters of the stalker and Alice that felt like it was giving away a little too much or leaving nothing to the viewer’s imagination. No matter what I think this is a super solid independent terror that all involved should be proud of as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

The Actor’s Curse: A Tale of Twisted Fate (DVD) – This anthology involves an older man full of regret and booze as he sits to write in his journal four stories. These stories involve an abusive filmmaker getting  his dick hacked off, an overlooked actor seeking revenge from beyond the grave, a down on his luck Spanish filmmaker who is given his 100th chance on a documentary about South American vampires that he doesn’t take seriously, and the troubled past of a make-up artist catching up to the individual. Once written all the tales come to life all at once causing horror to the troubling older man. A very serious and direct anthology that really could be taken several different ways by several viewers which means great work to all involved as I am not a huge fan of anthologies but liked this stuck to good storytelling and not using filler to fill up a feature as I give the anthology 3 out of 4 stars.

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!

Gross Movie Reviews #694

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Transylvania Tapes (DVD) – Latest project from the talented independent soul Brad Sykes takes us to Bucharest! A dramatic horror found footage/documentary mash up that follows a young woman Mara was born in Romania but moved to L.A. when she was very young. After a family member died in the past year she found tapes of what her mother made in 1997 looking for a possible family property but disappeared mysteriously. Mara travels across the world to make a documentary about her following in her mother’s footsteps to also hopefully find some answers. Mara’s mother was an actress and in theater during the 80s and was very popular in the area as she uses this to help track down some old peers of her mother’s to interview. As Mara gets deep with some of these interviews a curse is mentioned several times which of course Mara refuses to listen to warnings about looking for her mother. The film is quite intriguing and beautiful as this somewhat found footage film comes off genuine compared to many from the past. What also helps this project along is the actor that plays Mara; Valeria Badiuc absolutely has a natural charm that lures you in to be interested in her journey. Now I was a little upset Charles Band or his castle were not in the film and the film runs a little long for me at 109 minutes but Ms. Badiuc’s performance and Mr. Sykes using the beautiful landscape and buildings as a character itself lends this to be a must watch independent film in 2026! I give this light mash up 3 out of 4 stars.

Coven of the Black Cube (Blu-ray) – There was all kinds of cool people from the independent genre that show up in this old school no budget vibe kind of flick. The film revolves a young woman questioning her relationship as she meets the head of a coven named Clover who legit seems to have real concern for the young woman VI. Clover actually sees potential in VI in allowing her into her witchy life for better understanding of what can be better than what she has become accustomed too. The only thing VI doesn’t know is Clover takes great pleasure in helping women kill their husbands/boyfriends with a potion she has come up with. The story at its core is all about Clover being a serial killer with this witchery stuff as the background that is mixed into a very perverse love story that wasn’t meant to be as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Blood Oath (DVD) – A Troma release from 2011 that has friends who tell a story about an urban legend then go looking for it to see if it is at all true? The slim backstory is that a deranged child lives in the woods looking for victims that come to this cabin. Of course said group of friends find the cabin and slowly they are slaughtered by this hulking deranged killer. Not a ton to this bare bones slasher film but also might be why not many of seek it out for a watch as I can only give it 2 out of 4 stars.

Zombies of the Third Reich (Tubi) – It is war time and the Nazis are under extreme pressure by their relentless leader to create super soldiers in some unknown French bunker! Problem is the bunker has gone quiet recently as the Allies were keeping tabs and fear the worst as they send in a recon/rescue team to get one of their own out. The special team gets in quickly but soon understands getting in was never the problem as getting out will be as the Nazi experiment cannot get out in the real world. Believe me you read about this film and will wanna see it and hope it’s even a fraction of ‘Dead Snow’ or ‘Outpost’ but it doesn’t even come close. The film from the beginning fails from poor execution or just plain laziness of getting this project together. Not so much of the characters but everything around them. If you watch you’ll understand and want to forget it as quickly as you chose to watch it as I give it a ½ star.

Island Escape (Tubi) – A team of mercenaries is dropped onto a mysterious island to rescue a scientist where an unknown experiment has been going on for decades. Once the team arrives they immediately find some mysterious but monstrous foes that seem hell bent on attacking the team. In a short span of time the team figures out they have been dropped into an insane wormhole experiment that resets the island every three days and they cannot escape the ongoing experiment. As time quickly goes by the team understands there is multiple versions of them on the island and it’s endless. I enjoyed the concept of this film but it gets a little murky in the middle as it seems to have a tough time of how they wanted to resolve this wormhole issue they were in but still give it 2 stars for being interesting.  

The Creeps (Amazon) – So some old creepy Russian guy opens a portal to a dimension where demons float out to infest snowmen at Finnish ski resort! Sounds corny, sounds like you have seen this ten times before but I advise you have not kids. Now enters our main character Zach who is 17 at said ski resort with a friend (raises way too many questions but that is for a whole other conversation that you will have to ignore that plot point to enjoy this film) who has a love for the 80s nostalgia. The movie wastes no time as the creatures attack a party that Zach and friends attend as Zach hides in an outhouse/porta potty to talk to his Grandpa Joe Dante! Once Zach comes out of hiding the movie shifts into high gear of chaos, blood, and Christopher Lambert with Highlander references that will simply blow your mind in this most entertaining piece of cinema! Kids this project is 4 stars all the way so yinz need to seek it out immediately as Christopher lets us know one more time, “there can only be one”.

Final Caller (Blu-ray) – I still stand by this review but it was time to go check out the Blu-ray version of this film as I feel this is one of the more under the radar projects of Mr. Sheets’ career. The Blu-ray comes with a great BTS segment of Todd just being down to earth and explaining what was going on in his life while this project was going on, there is a commentary of course, and a short film ‘The Request’. Also too it just felt like Todd was trying something out of his comfort zone… : Todd Sheets fresh off the killer ‘Bonehill Road’ and the over the top ‘Clownado’ is back with an ultra-low budget film that involves a shock jock and his show “On Through the Night” where he tells strange stories and takes calls. For Roland the shock jock tonight seems like any other night of doing his show where he is yelling into the mic putting down his fans and spewing conspiracies. But his soon to be ex-wife shows up with the divorce papers and a caller called “The Outsider” who is going to fulfill some kind of ancient ritual by brutally murdering young women. The caller claims it is up to Roland to stop him from being a serial killer but of course Roland takes this as some kind rubbish and hangs up. This begins a hellish downward spiral for the show and all involved as “The Outsider” keeps calling back to yell back at Roland and explain how he devours his victims as he kills them and will visit Roland to complete the ritual. Roland now finds himself in world of crazy shit as he is trying to escape his own radio show and not become part of the bloody body count of “The Outsider”. This is a straight forward gore and even more extreme gore Todd Sheets project that will have his fans screaming for a sequel as I give it 3 ½ out of 4 stars.

Saurians 2 (Tubi) – Mark Polonia’s son Anthony takes over the reins for the sequel 30 years later to tell the story of a dinosaur or two rising from a mountain in Fossil Valley. It seems the dinosaurs have awaken again and this time around a duo called “Crypto Duo” are not just in the area to interview survivor Alan about his ordeal but to also investigate the new occurrences. There is a lot of filler to this short feature but eventually the duo finds themselves transported into a long lost world debating what should be done with the dinosaurs. If I am being completely honest here this feels like something Mark and Anthony were paid straight up to put out there for content more than giving a strong sequel? It feels like pieces of stock footage from other projects strung together with maybe a few new scenes with the Alan character. It isn’t terrible, I just feel fans would have wanted more since it’s a sequel to a Polonia dinosaur project that fans may have forgotten as I can only give this 1 out of 4 stars.

Pickaxe (DVD) – Well this is a sloppy sex-filled monstrous slasher film that was entertaining as hell. It is 1988 and after a naked blood soaked sacrifice a crazed undead serial killer has returned from the grave to continue his carnage in Woodland Hills. Two people survived the first go around with Alex Black as now one is a cop (A. Michael Baldwin) and the second is drunken crazed person (Tiffany Shepis) that burned down an asylum a year after being committed. These two must answer the call as a group of supposed teenagers have traveled to a cabin near Woodland Hills for a drug induced drunken loud sex before heading to a concert. Alex Black the monstrous mess he is wastes no time hacking off heads and ripping out hearts because an evil amulet he wears. Yeah this blood soaked slasher has its flaws but the chemistry between Baldwin and Shepis’ characters as them not just being cameos help you oversee the flaws of this adventure. This picture also could have used a Matt Cannon for a better score. You may not enjoy the lackluster ending but again this was quite entertaining horror fans and yinz need to seek it out as I give it 3 stars.

One Million Babes BC (Tubi) – This Mark Polonia adventure made me laugh several times throughout the picture. Not sure that was the intention but I see it for what it was and just had fun watching two visitors discover a cave to tell the story that was written on the walls by the first people who could stand and have independent thought. These individuals read the drawings and tell the story of Luna and Ogg who are the superiors of a tribe who are at odds with each other. At some point Ogg feels threaten by Luna and feels she should be sacrificed to the volcano gods to help their tribe. Yes there is a dinosaur farting (oh yes I laughed my ass off), yes Tim Hatch makes a perfect caveman and Jamie Morgan is quite a bad ass, yes they are all wearing flip flops and loafers, but I feel if you watch this through the lens of those 50s and 60s B-movie types that had cave people you’ll find this entertaining and have a few laughs too as I give it 2 out of 4 stars.

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!

Review of Brad Sykes’ latest project

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Transylvania Tapes (DVD) – Latest project from the talented independent soul Brad Sykes takes us to Bucharest! A dramatic horror found footage/documentary mash up that follows a young woman Mara was born in Romania but moved to L.A. when she was very young. After a family member died in the past year she found tapes of what her mother made in 1997 looking for a possible family property but disappeared mysteriously. Mara travels across the world to make a documentary about her following in her mother’s footsteps to also hopefully find some answers. Mara’s mother was an actress and in theater during the 80s and was very popular in the area as she uses this to help track down some old peers of her mother’s to interview. As Mara gets deep with some of these interviews a curse is mentioned several times which of course Mara refuses to listen to warnings about looking for her mother. The film is quite intriguing and beautiful as this somewhat found footage film comes off genuine compared to many from the past. What also helps this project along is the actor that plays Mara; Valeria Badiuc absolutely has a natural charm that lures you in to be interested in her journey. Now I was a little upset Charles Band or his castle were not in the film and the film runs a little long for me at 109 minutes but Ms. Badiuc’s performance and Mr. Sykes using the beautiful landscape and buildings as a character itself lends this to be a must watch independent film in 2026! I give this light mash up 3 out of 4 stars.

(This will be showing at Grossfest 2026)

Gross Movie Reviews #693

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The Devil’s Hacksaw (Tubi) – This was a premise that excited me before the release and the trailer looked great. The plot revolves around a crazy dude in 2001 who kidnaps a school bus full of kids as he then commits suicide scarring his son who was also on the bus for the long term. Because of the incident the kid is committed to an asylum only to escape of course present day! This scarred individual slaughters his way through the quiet town with a bit of humor about his actions along the way. This is one of your more mean spirited Indy slashers that I feel you will enjoy it more than I did if you don’t see the trailer first as I can only give this project 2 out of 4 stars.

Rippy (Tubi) – Yinz had me at Michael Biehn where his old ass is needed to go fight a big ass zombie kangaroo! Of course this is an Australian production where after several odd deaths a sheriff must live up to their father’s legacy to save their small community that’s being terrorized by this monstrous thing. This beast is almost unstoppable after mutating from the local water stream and feasts on humans constantly. Yes it is a huge mess but this is a fun monster mess that all horror fans can get behind if yinz give it a chance as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Harmony Falls (Tubi) – A small town sheriff calls in a cryptozoologist Ian McDermott near Mount St. Helens because of stories and recent animal attacks that don’t exactly add up. If it makes sense this turns out to be a very dry maybe even more boring werewolf film that makes you question everything that was filmed as I can only give this project a ½ star out of 4.

Tunnels (Tubi/YouTube) – Depending the source you of reading material about this late 80s project it was suspected to be some kind of weird TV pilot? A couple of reporters get curious about the various rat stories under their building and go investigating. Instead of finding some weird rat creature the duo uncovers some weird plot of the homeless getting snatched up and being sold as slaves overseas. This easily could have gone all in on the CHUD formula but chose to do something very convoluted that gets the viewer lost as I can barely give it a ½ star.

There’s a Zombie Outside (Tubi/DVD) – Directed by the wonderfully talented Michael Varrati pits four friends renting a house for a weekend that happens to be just a movie project for an actor Ben. Ben is literally having trouble determining what reality is and what’s not as he keeps seeing a zombie outside of his window as he tries to keep a grasp on reality. Ever since his movie Ben has been having personal troubles and friends are worried what is exactly going on with him? Varrati does exceptional work to tell a quite unique zombie tale that doesn’t fit the mold of the usual zombie genre fare as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Jimmy and Stiggs (Blu-ray) – Jimmy believes he is being attacked or abducted by aliens after taking several drugs and pissing off his woman. Trapped in his apartment Jimmy record his possible abduction for research purposes that convince him he needs to prepare for the aliens. Stiggs stops by and finds he quickly becoming part of this drug-crazed alien attack in Jimmy’s apartment that turns into one of the biggest mess of goo in recent memory. The filmmaker’s love for such a project ‘Bad Taste’ warns you immediately what you are in for an amazing bonkers filled gag movie where Jimmy must fight off aliens! I absolutely respect the complete chaos this film is as I gotta give it 3 stars and a must see for horror fans so they can discuss!

Piranha Women (Tubi) – A Full Moon project that I believe was supposed to be a series of films or something for streaming but ended up being a one off mash-up from Fred Olen Ray and Charles Band. Alexia looks into an experimental treatment for her condition that not only causes her to be separated from her boyfriend but may cause death for other people. The concerned boyfriend Richard looks into her doctor only to find that bodies are starting to pile up on the shores of the local bay. It’s a quick sexy horror thing that is forgotten as quickly as you watch it as I give it 1 ½ stars.

The Dark Lurking (Tubi) – A 2009 Australian low budget flick that has survivors locked down in a secret research station where some old creatures have resurfaced. For any chance of survival that is left they must climb several levels to the surface to even have a chance being rescued from the horror that was unleashed. A mix of Aliens, Event Horizon, and Doom is the best way to explain this creature filled horror as I give it unimpressive, could have been more 1 ½ stars.

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!

Gross Movie Reviews #692

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Whispers (YouTube) – This is an upcoming independent project out of Bulgaria I believe where recent disappearances at Bonavar Park has three men and soon a woman all having different stories of how they got to a strange building in the middle of this mysterious park. All involved are looking for a young woman Sophie where several others have gone missing around the same time. An interesting project that feels with no budget they took elements of ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and elements of a ghost hunting movie to throw them in a blender and should grab interest of people who seek out the supernatural as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.  

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (On Demand) – A year has gone by since Mike and his sister had the incident at one of the famous pizzerias where the animatronics went nuts. Both are trying to get past it but at same time Abby would like to see her robotic friends again. But there is an original location not far from the siblings that has been disturbed as it had some unique differences that other franchises did not have. This original place had a marionette that had been locked in place but has escaped its prison to use its rage on those who wronged her. Charlotte the young girl that inhabits the marionette, her goal is to possess Abby and cause death everywhere beyond the walls of the closed down location. The teenagers are going to like this sequel just like the first film as you see from the first few minutes there is a third project in the works as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Black Phone 2 (Blu-ray) – Our sequel takes place in North Denver 1982 where Finn and Gwen are a little older but are still reminded of the serial killer ‘The Grabber’ every once in a while. Things get a little weird as Finn struggles constantly with surviving but his sister begins having dreams of talking to their mother at Alpine Lake Camp in 1957. As the nightmares intensify and Finn not completely convinced ‘The Grabber’ is dead? The siblings with a friend sign up for the Christian camp and head into the mountains for possible answers only to be snowed in for days. Here is where we learn the origin of the killer and why the siblings are in need of being there. Just like the first film the sequel leans into the supernatural but without going completely ridiculously falling off the rails to give a solid horror effort as I give the film 3 stars.

Nosferatu (Remake/Blu-ray) – Our story takes place in Germany 1838 where a young man Thomas is sent by his firm to have papers signed by an old count named Count Orlok. Much time goes by and the wife of Thomas believes he may be dead as she warned him not to go? As more time passes with the old Count making his way to their village to reclaim what he believes is his Ellen becomes increasingly ill. This event sets up an evil plague invading the village and a specialist not just for Ellen is called in but also for the hope of destroying the plague before it consumes everything. I enjoyed this solid remake that may have some horror fans feeling like they are watching 1992’s ‘Dracula’ the first half but stick with it folks as this film is super atmospheric and beautiful where it goes. Like the ‘Wolfman’ remake let the movie build because there is point to the story building as I give this project 3 stars.

Gooblefoot (Tubi) – This independent project begins with a young witch being burned to death around Thanksgiving 1752 but not before she cursed the village of Salem’s Bluff a few days before. Now present time and stories of odd deaths over the years has a professor in folk lore sent a tape of evidence of this creature attacking someone. The professor who has PTSD travels to Salem’s Bluff to encounter the legendary creature and uncover the truth. The biggest issue with the no budget project is the film is mostly incoherent… It feels like there was something there but the heart of the project may have been edited out so beware of this oddity as I can only give it 1 out of 4 stars.

Game Over (DVD) – This 2009 project out of Germany is not for your average horror fan as Debbie Rochon as Tina who moved to Germany for various reasons gets a surprise on her birthday… Her two best friends who also consider themselves scream queens like her showing up. After some partying and not knowing how to drive stick shift the trio ends up in a park drinking. There the three are attacked by a maniac who kidnaps the trio to bring them back to his dwelling for constant rape, torture by his sadistic girlfriend, and acts of how sadistic he can be as the women see they are not just the only victims. A weird, brutal, and gory adventure into torture until Tina has been pushed past the edge as she escapes and snaps to be just as brutal as her attacker. This brutal tale just beats you over the head with its constant gore and no glimmer of hope as I give it 2 ½ stars as it was mostly not my cup of tea.

Lucifer (DVD-R/YouTube) – This 1987 British/Canadian horror film is also known as ‘Goodnight, God Bless’ with a wild opening scene that has a man looking like a priest gunning down kids and a teacher in a school playground. The film is somewhat tame after that opening but it sets the tone of someone impersonating a priest to slay his way through the city. But mostly this killer is obsessed with the little girl Mandy because he ran out of bullets at the playground to kill her. With an odd open ending or I should say studio or filmmaker were unsure how to end the film I could only give it 2 stars.         

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!

Gross Movie Reviews #691

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Pandemonium (Blu-ray) – So this 1983 horror spoof finally found its way on Blu-ray in the past year or so and always thought it might be a lost film as I remember watching this about the age nine or ten on HBO and it was gone. The disc comes with a twenty minute interview with the filmmaker explaining how the film came to be and how there was so many people just starting their careers in the film. A hilarious plot involving the reopening of a cheerleader camp that had been closed down for years because it had various murders happen. Bambi who twenty years ago didn’t get the chance to be on the cheerleading squad now has the chance to teach top cheerleaders how to be better. Bambi wants to make the camp a success no matter if there is an escaped convict and someone that escaped the asylum on the run. Bad jokes throughout that may not work now but the highlight is Paul Reubens interacting with a horse who is part of the Royal Canadian Mounties, hilarious nostalgia worth checking out again as I give it 3 stars.

Predator: Badlands (Blu-ray) – A young Predator who is saved by his brother because he is the runt of the litter is believed he should just be killed escapes his home planet to go prove himself. The hunt is how the predators prove themselves to their elders so the runt has chosen the great Kalisk that happens to be an unkillable beast. The death planet that the Kalisk lives on is a planet that pretty much is trying to kill you at every turn and this is where the young predator discovers a synth missing its legs but willing to help. Weyland-Yutani Corp is there to capture the Kalisk for its regenerating factors and bring back to the corporation if possible. This wasn’t the Predator film I was looking for but it was entertaining in some of Easter eggs they leave for fans and really including Weyland-Yutani into the storyline which makes me believe this is all to set up something else for future films as I give it 2 ½ stars.

The Beast of Walton St. (Tubi) – Small town homeless population is disappearing for mysterious reasons as the film starts off strong to establish what exactly is going on but fizzles quickly. Two young squatters at a garage encounter an oversized creature one night in an alley near a large dumpster. Curious, they investigate for the two young women to have a werewolf track them down to be its next meal. Again starts strong but felt it lost its way as it was trying to tell two stories that really didn’t mesh in the end as I can only give it 2 out of 4 stars.

There’s Snowed Escape (Tubi) – During a weekend of partying at a cabin to celebrate an engagement the newly soon to be married couple goes to a well to make a wish. Instead they accidentally resurrect a legendary killer in the form of a snowman called “Cold-hearted Cliff” who carries an ax. Sounds fun but it is far from being “Jack Frost”, the film has lots of flaws but has enough fun moments to be worth a watch as I give it 2 out of 4 stars.

Smashquatch (Tubi) – The rainbow mountain area became famous in the 70s for its Sasquatch sightings and a famous baseball player’s son running into the woods after his famous father lost his marbles. With all that being said you really get a large man wearing a gorilla mask killing people with a barb wire baseball bat. Honestly with a few adjustments this project could have been a fun watch? But from beginning to end the movie just feels and looks like a mess as I can only give it 1 out of 4 stars.

The Wildman Massacre (Tubi) – This is a dramatic story of a father and daughter out hunting together and come across a creature they haven’t ever seen before. They blink and the daughter shoots the thing. This changes everything after they search for the creature and find it. They both decide to just bury it but there were others and they come to kidnap Dana. This leaves Larry searching all night and stumbles upon four hunters who sort of want to help. Problem is Larry may have gotten his daughter back but he led those hunters to their deaths along the way. This was more dramatic storytelling than horror for the Bigfoot fans out there but definitely worth checking out as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Slaughterhouse 2: Death Metal (Tubi) – Honestly didn’t see this coming… Yes, yes I have seen ‘Mutilator 2’ and hopefully they never release that unless they do some heavy reshoots and editing? So the same guy that did the first one says “fuck it” and makes the sequel almost 40 years later while not just directing connecting it to the original but also bringing back some characters. Buddy Bacon’s brother Cleavon left long ago to find his own way and he did as he also has a son who doesn’t speak much and fancies to murder. But Cleavon’s son does it to make their ‘Wonder Jerky’! People get suspicious though when several people go missing near Cleavon’s automotive yard. The original has a small following and most likely will be surprised by this sequel good and bad. For me this was just such an odd choice as if anything I am surprised a Blumhouse or A24 studio didn’t remake this smaller horror flick from 1986 as I give it 2 stars.

Gator Lake (Tubi) – The film also goes under the title ‘Lake Jesup: Bonecrusher’s Revenge’ which is based on true events of gators taking over a lake for 13 days in 2003. An ex-con Bubba has been employed by the mayor to go gator hunting as a large gator has not just chased other gators out of the area but has taken to eating certain individuals. Bubba’s theory is the large gator nicknamed ‘Bonecrusher’ is targeting people who have wronged their species over the past few decades and he knows who is at the top of that food chain. This is a prime example of fun B-movie animal attacks stuff that would have had a great response to being premiered on a SyFy Channel a few years back but now this fun cheesy stuff gets lost in the shuffle of streaming crap as I give it a solid 2 ½ stars.

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!