Gross Movie Reviews #362

 

By Tim Gross

 

Kenny and Company (DVD-R/YouTube) – So who would of guessed the man that gave us such an evil but bad ass film in “Phantasm” would do a coming of age film in 1976 centered a kid named Kenny and Halloween. We all got start somewhere and Don Coscarelli started with this film. It’s not a horror film at all but more of your typical 70s ‘after school’ special about Kenny and his best friend trying to build a car for soapbox derby, overcome bullying, girls, and having Reggie Bannister as a teacher. The film is a little dated but a lot fun if you were born during the 70s and worth tracking down. I give the film 2 stars.

 

The Magnificent Seven (DVD) – This was one those films that had always been on my list to watch as I am a huge fan of “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly”. Plus, Eli Wallach is a bad ass who bullies a small Mexican village ever year before harvest time. Well, the village has had enough sending the women and small children to live in the shadows as the farmers do the work but send three men out to buy guns. They come across a no bullshit gunslinger played by Yul Brynner. Yul is the man before Clint’s ‘The Man with No Name’ character showed up in 60s spaghetti westerns. Yul decides the poor farmers need help more than he needs money but it just can’t be himself that takes on Eli Wallach and his bandits. All-star cast in Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and a young Robert Vaughn makes movie just perfect to watch. It is a piece of cinematic history as I give it 4 stars and do yourself a favor of watching it at least once before you die!

 

Deathgasm (OnDemand) – Best movie of 2015 outside of “Mad Max: Fury Road”! We got gore, death metal, demons, and it is made in New Zealand… Perfect! Brodie is a teenager that is screwed since he got sent to live with his aunt and uncle because his mom decided to do drunken sexual favors to a mall Santa! So now living in the middle of ‘Ass Fuck’ nowhere Brodie tries to make friends with the local nerds Dion and Giles and just happens to have a crush on his dickhole cousin David’s girlfriend Medina. Who later on we find out is a pure bad ass. So Brodie scopes out the local record shop and meets Zaak. Immediately they become blood brothers and start a death metal band. The two just happen to stumble upon satanic sheet music in an album protected by a musician named Rikki Daggers. Brodie then figures out how to play the sheet music after getting his ass kick by his cousin and bring forth demons that will put the whole world in darkness. Once it happens and demons take over almost everyone in the nowhere town Brodie must find a way to stop it with help from his friends. Highlights from the film include: the quote “Do Demons recognize Day Light Savings Time”, a fight with demons that involves sex toys, and a music shop psychic. Everyone involved from cast to crew is awesome for putting this film together. The 16 year old metalhead still inside me was ready to throw up the devil horns and start thrashing after this fun 4 star movie.

 

American Ninja 5 (DVD) – Hell yeah I found it folks! David Bradley is the man in this PG-13 rated 1993 direct-to-video film that also stars Pat Morita. Bradley is reluctant to talk about his ninja ways until his girlfriend is kidnapped and taken hallway across the world. So Bradley and a young boy he is stuck with that weekend stowaway on the bad guys’ plane and save his girlfriend. Boring but definitely a possible precursor to “Power Rangers” as there are multiple colored ninjas fighting David Bradley. I give the film 1 star.

 

Violent Shit III: Infantry of Doom (DVD-R) – The film is also called “Zombie Doom” but that doesn’t matter as Karl the Butcher returns again in this German produced independent feature. Karl now has a son to help and they live on a small island where they train to be Karl disciples. The cult finds three shipwrecked men who are disposed of quickly by torture and a game of death involving the disciples chasing them on the island. But no fear some random ninjas just happen to be on the island and Dr. Senius has made a shitload of zombies to attack Karl the Butcher and crew. Oh did I mention Karl’s son owns a double barrel shotgun with unlimited bullets. Not as entertaining as the second flick but I still found some humor in this movie existing as I give it 1 ½ stars.

 

Shark Lake (DVD) – Dolph Lundgren is Clint Gray who gets arrested for selling illegal exotic animals. Five years later, the deputy that arrested him has his daughter and there is a shark or sharks eating the locals. Now, Clint has to protect his daughter from his former employer and must get the deputy to not arrest him while trying to capture or kill the sharks. The effects are just downright horrendous and story seems kind of choppy. But we do get to see Dolph punch a shark in the fucking face so there’s that. I give it 1 ½ stars.

 

The Hollow (DVD) – A great concept about a 100 year Halloween storm and a fire creature but it three whiny sisters that you will want to die in the first five minutes. The whining is non-stop in this “should have been a lot better” Halloween-themed feature. I give the film 1 star.

 

Robocop (DVD/remake) – So I finally sat down to watch Snake-eyes fight crime in the future. It’s a little harsh but come on Hollywood once again remade a violent classic. But I gave it a chance and was not disappointed but if anything this flick would help my argument of just continuing the series and not rebooting it. This time around its 2028 and politicians are fighting over robots being the police force in America even though it has worked so well in other countries. So Michael Keaton and crew agree on making a cyborg to win the people’s vote. This version goes for giving a more non-violent and family man “Robocop” than the original. The film has its moments and was a pleasant surprise how watchable it was but what it misunderstood about the original concept from 1987 is it’s over the top violence but also its cheesy commercials which made the film a classic. What also did not help the reboot of the film was the main villain was killed halfway through the film leaving the new Robocop just tying up loose ends. Now that I have gotten older I have try to give remakes a second watch, a second thought, or just a chance but still doesn’t mean they are good. I am glad I watched it as I give it 2 stars.

 

Night Train of Terror (YouTube) – This 1985 film has been rumored to be two or three films smashed into one… Spookies anyone? But in this film God and Satan ride a train where they discuss three cases and decided who gets who when they are dead. The film is weird, has a lot of Claymation, has Richard Moll, and looks like most of it was shot in 1979. And by the way that weird bootleg Jane Fonda workout music video that was going on in the train didn’t make a lick of sense but I still give the chaos of a film 2 stars. If interested, the film has finally seen the light of day on Blu-ray.

Slimy Little Bastards (YouTube/DVD) – A cheapie but goodie from independent actor turned independent filmmaker Dave Parker gives us a film about a curator who tries to help a gentleman in need as his van “took a poop’ on him. While the curator looks for a car jack for the gentleman he tells him three stories about rare small creatures he likes to collect: ‘Organic Shit’, ‘Brain Busters’, ‘The Crusties’. If you are a Dustin Wayde Mills fan you will notice a couple familiar faces along with Dustin acting in front of the camera for Mr. Parker. The film is a gooey fantastic entertaining fun ride that doesn’t over stay its welcome in the anthology film world. I believe Mr. Parker did a fine job of giving independent fans something fun to add to their collections as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars. Plus I couldn’t stop laughing when a character in the last story pointed to a toxic shitfrog and ask “is that a jugaloo?”

 

From Whisper to a Scream (DVD) – One of my favorite filmmakers Jeff Burr got a chance to direct Vincent Price in this anthology that was very early in his career. But also I have always known this film as “The Offspring” with its creepy box art from 1987 of a small creature peeking out of a tear in the picture. Vincent Price plays a librarian who chronicles stories of the small town Oldfield. He begins telling them to a woman posing as a journalist questioning Price’s character on his niece’s execution. First story deals with an old dude having sex with a corpse and surprise comes nine months later. Second story deals with a man who wants immortality after he is brought back to life after being left for dead. Third story is about a freakshow romance that ends in buckets of gore and sadness. And the last story is about the Civil War ending and some Union soldiers having the tables turned on them when they come across some children fending for themselves. A lesser known but a very solid anthology that gets lost in the shuffle when horror fans recall some of their favorites. But believe me with its new release on DVD/Blu-ray many horror fans will be happy and it will make many more with its availability as I give the film 3 stars.

 

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