Gross Movie Reviews #534

Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator (DVD) – This 1989 spoof comedy of sorts lies to you because we never get to see Stephanie thrown into the incinerator! This is more of a tale of ridiculousness as some rich friends get bored every year and do a bad reenactment of ‘Clue’. If there wasn’t much cooler flicks out there from the late 70s and early 80s that already did this better this film would be more of the worthwhile search but in the end I can only give it 1 ½ stars.

Witchcraft IV: Virgin Heart (DVD) – Our sequel starts with possibly the lamest opening of a film ever that has a young couple Pete and Nora out in the woods alone and the actress playing Nora sounds completely monotone when she is in distress. But moving on it has been three years since William the lawyer has used his warlock powers and now just works insurance cases. But when Nora goes missing and Pete is the only one being accused, Pete’s sister needs help so she comes to see William. Once they meet and William agrees to help this sets the tone for the rest of the movie as it plays out like a cheesy film noir with a three minute stripper scene that stars Julie Strain! Even though the film feels cheesy throughout it had a good flow, Julie Strain, a weird backstory for Strain’s character that keeps William interested in trying to help, for that I got to give it 2 stars.

Witchcraft V: Dance With the Devil (DVD) – This might be where the series starts to derail as the only thing left from the first four films story wise is the William character now played by a different actor. So “Bootleg” Ronnie James Dio comes to town and takes over a shady ass club and uses it to take souls. If Mr. Bootleg collects enough he can bring Satan into this world or just have an excuse to have even more naked people than this sequel. This sequel also begins the soft-core porn stuff literally as people seem to be having sex about every 8 to 10 minutes throughout. I’m not complaining but wanted to point out and give credit to the writers and director that were sure to have concerned girlfriend character Kelly care what her reverend thought of her boyfriend. She thought something wrong is going on with him so she turns to the man of the cloth she knows but hey never mind Kelly and the boyfriend have been living in sin the whole time! This is where we can see what these movies were being made for and it wasn’t exactly aimed at the horror fans as I give this 1 star.

Witchcraft VI: The Devil’s Mistress (DVD) – Oh in this 1994 sequel we meet a hunk named Jonathon that enjoys picking up young attractive women and dropping them off dead all over the city for detectives to find and be baffled by the motive. After a couple victims and the press calling it a “serial killer killing spree” a connection to a body in San Francisco is made in the now the detectives highly believe the possibility of the supernatural being involved. The coppers track down William because of his knowledge of the occult and ask for help. They bring in William in this hilarious scene where the detectives’ interview: fortune tellers, psychics, and other crazies that just mark the beginning of the downward spiral of William into witchcraft that he never wanted to begin with. Again this film goes out of its way to be filled with soft-core porn scenes (lots of big boobs, no dongs, but there is a tight dude butt!) I cannot confirm this but I thought I seen this sequel being sold in the famous “Adam & Eve” catalog at one point? You know kids that thing before the internet? Anyway lots of people banging not many people dying as I give it a ½ star… Next time throw a naked dong in to complete the trifecta?

The Mutilator (Blu-ray) – It was time to revisit this low budget slasher film from the early 80s as I didn’t get to see it then and only learned about it in the late 90s, early 2000s when it was being found on the bootleg market. Arrow Video recently corrected this problem putting together a 2-disc “must-have” edition for any horror fan. I myself remembered liking it the first time around but it was some crappy quality. Anyway, most of the gore takes place late in the movie but is well worth the watch if you are a gorehound. A father seeks revenge on his son Ed years later after his son accidentally shoots and kills his mother with a loaded rifle. Our tale goes forward when Ed gets a call from his father to go close down his beach condo during ‘Fall Break’ (which also was the original title). Ed and his friends decide to take advantage of this and go to party before they close it up for the winter but Ed’s father has other plans. Arrow Video not only restored the original unrated version of the film cleaned it up so much it was like watching this movie again for the first time. This of course means we get to see the famous giant fish hook with the girl parts for a wonderful death scene! But Arrow Video didn’t stop there as they loaded it up with a couple funny commentaries, a feature-length documentary (which was eye-opening on the background of this film), original music, and alternate opening titles that played with the movie before anyone knew about it. It does not happen often but I think I like this film more now than then because of this 2-disc Blu-ray from Arrow as I give it 3 ½ stars.

Running Time (Blu-ray) – Leave it to Josh Becker to come up with a cool idea for a film starring Bruce Campbell that doesn’t get seen and appreciated by many fans as it deserves. It’s a black and white project from 1996/1997 where it was shot and edited into one continuous shot by Becker that is a crime drama with a small cast. Bruce Campbell is Carl who is literally just released from prison and after getting his freak on with a girl he had crush on in high school is ready for a heist… that involves the prison he was released from! Once Carl’s best friend and Carl begin their journey into the heist what can go wrong, goes wrong quickly: flat tire, wrong safe, unknown strung-out getaway driver, people dying of heart attacks, a friend’s watch stolen, and Carl getting shot during this mess of chaos. Carl forever optimistic, money or no money must pick between his best friend or start all over with a girl he had a crush on. A super well-balanced, entertaining flick that should satisfy any bitter film junkie out there that doesn’t believe anything good is being released for the public to view. If anything this project further cements that Josh Becker can make something out of nothing no matter what genre it is. The Blu-ray is packed by Synapse Films with fun tidbits such as a fun commentary from Josh Becker and Bruce Campbell, film footage of a Q&A at a film festival the film was a part of, plus a great interview with Mr. Campbell giving the backstory on this project and comparing it to much bigger films. I have a feeling Synapse Films has a quick seller on their hands as I give this Blu-ray 3 ½ out of 4 stars and can be found at www.synapse-films.com .

Infra-man (DVD) – This 1975 project is also known as ‘The Super Infra-man’ for no other reason that I can think of but we do have a weird alien princess and a bionic superhero if you were not aware of this title. Alien princess is pissed off, causes a crap load of disasters, and threatens to enslave all the humans. To fight the alien princess a professor has invented a formula that can turn a man into a bionic superhero that is indestructible and rid the earth of this life-threatening menace. This Hong Kong film clearly has to be the beginning of ‘Power Rangers’ and people cosplaying because there is just a bunch of weird monsters running around the movie fake fighting. Good, bad, whatever you think I give it 2 stars as this just didn’t flip my switch.

Walking the Edge (DVD) – A title under the Empire Pictures umbrella that you would never expect from them that stars Robert Forester, Joe Spinell, and Nancy Kwan. A gritty revenge flick that starts off with a quick bang as Spinell and his cronies visit Kwan’s home looking for her husband. He shows up and things go bad quick as Spinell shoots the kid and father as Kwan runs off. Now with Kwan on the loose Spinell has some loose ends to tie up. Meanwhile Forester plays a cabbie that runs numbers for the mob and sometimes has a nice streak that doesn’t serve him well in the business he is in. Kwan and Forester cross paths after Kwan collects herself and uses the cab to take her places and gun down the people involved killing her family. A gritty thriller I never heard of until recently that was an excellent watch as I give it 3 stars.

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews . Remember folks always support your local independent movie theater, independent video store, and independent filmmakers! It will keep horror alive………

You can find all of my books at www.lulu.com just search for Gross Movie Reviews or Tim Gross there!

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!

You can now purchase copies of Jagoff Massacre and our new feature Blood Freak DVDs online that I co-directed with Dan Boyd at https://drunkenyinzersproductions.company.site/ !