Gross Movie Reviews #370

 

By Tim Gross

 

Sorceress (DVD) – Jim Wynorski and Jack Hill added their two cents to the fantasy world in 1982 with this lower budgeted gem. Twin daughters are born and the evil wizard Traigon demands that the first born be sacrificed. But unsure which was born first wants both put to death while torturing the mother. “The Two that are One” are saved from the evil wizard and Traigon spends the next twenty years searching for them as they spend their days getting naked and punching centaurs in the face. Once Traigon knows their whereabouts we got all kinds of shit going including zombie warriors showing up to the party! It is no “Sword and the Sorcerer” but the fantasy film is still a lot of fun to watch as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Demon Queen (DVD) – One of Donald Farmer’s first films is a mostly incoherent S.O.V. film from 1986 that has a female vamp named Lucinda eating her way through the city or men. Depending how you look at it. The film doesn’t really have a beginning or ending but just exists which is kinda cool in retrospect. If interested www.massacrevideo.com just put together a special edition of the film for DVD which I am sure is well-produced as usual. I give the flick 2 stars. If it helps there is a wonderful face-melting effect in the film.

Scream Dream (VHS/DVD-R) – A couple films later Donald Farmer puts together a much better S.O.V. film that deals with an evil demon-like rock singer named Michelle Shock. Film has an amazing opening as we get to witness a woman being split in half by a chainsaw. Michelle Shock just happens to be the next hottest thing happening in rock music and strange shit happens around her constantly. You soon find out why when Michelle goes down on a male fan and turns into a demon and bites off his junk! Ms. Shock continues her murder spree as management denies everything and news outlets begin to investigate missing persons on nights of her shows. Not wanting to deal with it any longer the record producer fires Michelle Shock to hire a new fresh face. Jamie is the fresh face but just becomes the next meat suit for the demon when she searches out Michelle Shock. A demon, gore, and boobs sum up this fun indy flick. I give it 3 stars.

 

Amazonia (DVD) – The 1985 film is considered the last of the Eye-talian cannibal films by some but also known as “Cannibal Holocaust 2”, “White Slave”, and “The Catherine Miles Story”. The film claims to be a faithful reconstruction of what happened to Miss Miles over ten years ago. When Catherine was 18 she went into the Amazon with her parents only to be murdered and Catherine to be kidnapped by a tribe. For over the next year she spent her time being tortured and forced to be a part of the tribe that kidnapped her. But after finding out the horrible truth she goes on a bloody rampage. And the story is told from Catherine in court justifying what happened to her and her actions afterwards. Bloody but not as disturbing for most as a “Cannibal Holocaust” but an interesting watch to say the least. The movie is out on DVD in America but is considered an out of print collector’s item. I give the film 3 stars.

 

Mark of the Devil II (VHS/DVD-R) – The 1973 Austrian/German production is a sequel to the famous cult classic starring Udo Kier. The story follows Countess Elizabeth Von Solmenau and her family being ripped a part because she is accused of witchcraft by a madman named Balthasar Von Ross who killed hundreds of women for their belief in witchcraft. Lots Satan talk, shaving witches, people’s feet being burned, and a seven year old that is accused of becoming a werewolf because of witchcraft! Fun stuff, but interesting enough I cannot find any print of the film on any format after 1986. And I believe the copy I watched is a several generation VHS to DVD-R copy and been told there isn’t a lot of good looking copies out there to begin with? So movie geeks happy hunting as I give it 2 stars.

 

A Serbian Film (DVD) – A retired male porn star is offered an offer of a lifetime. An offer that will set up his family for the rest of their lives. But of course that is never true as he goes down the down rabbit hole of working with this so-called porn-artist. And the film just goes into the world of sick, disturbing acts that you cannot unwatch. The film is well produced but that is where I stop my praise of the film mainly because I am a monsters and slasher film guy. The subject matter is harsh to say the least and as I said before you cannot unwatch this film after you have watched it. Good or bad this film will find its audience for years to come and not sure I can give this film a fair rating. Sure this review may piss off a few of the fans of this film but hey I am part of the cool crowd I finally watched it! Still haven’t figured out if that was a good thing or not?

 

The Last Horror Film (DVD) – An odd slasher/serial killer of celebrities flick that stars Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro from 1981. Joe is Vinny Duran, a cab driver with big dreams of going to the Cannes Film Festival meeting his favorite actress Jana Bates and making his movie. Thing is Vinny is what we would call a stalker these days and will stop at nothing to meet Jana and tell her about his script. But friends of Jana are showing up dead and all fingers point to Vinny. And the very last 30 seconds of the film is the greatest as I miss an actor like Joe Spinell. I give the flick 3 stars.

 

At the Earth’s Core (DVD) – Peter Cushing and Doug McClure have built a machine that can dig through dirt at a quick pace at hopes of discovering something new under the earth’s crust. But what they find is much more as they find a whole new world in the outer and inner core of earth. Which of course includes Caroline Munro and friends being slaves, to some weird dinosaur birds that hang glide? And things that keep the cave people in line to do their bidding or just keep the magma from flooding the city and killing them all. A wonderful and mildly entertaining mid-70s flick which has Peter Cushing not in his usual serious role. I am sure at some point this film was a staple for early 80s horror hosts as I give the film 2 ½ stars. The film just recently got a really awesome looking Blu-ray well worth the cash.

 

The Fear Chamber (DVD) – A lesser known film about a police chief played by Steven Williams who puts his best detective on a case of a guy (Richard Tyson) who plays doctor with female victims he kidnaps. The detective almost catches him in the act but is stabbed in the chest and gets a heart transplant. Now he sees female ghosts who give him clues of how to find the evil doctor and his next victims. I like the ending that ties up the loose ends of the story. Not first movie I would go rent but definitely something to keep for a rainy day if interested as I give it 2 ½ stars.

 

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Don’t forget you can also hear Kyle Poling and me talking about horror flicks on a weekly basis on the Bloodbaths and Boomsticks podcast at: www.bloodbathspodcast.blogspot.com/

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 for details.

Don’t forget you can come by the vendor table I will be at for a book, shirt, or a movie March 4, 5, 6^th, 2016 at Pittsburgh’s Horror Realm Convention (for details: www.horrorrealmcon.com) and Cinema Wasteland April 1, 2, 3^rd, 2016 in Strongsville, Ohio (for details: www.cinemawasteland.com) .