Gross Movie Reviews #677

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Gone with the Dead (Tubi) – A west coast independent zombie virus film where a virus has been unleashed onto an innocent population that is now turning them into flesh eaters! The film mainly centers on an extremely annoying group of people who spend most of the movie deciding what should be done during an outbreak of mutant rabies. I would love to say this was fun but the film quickly takes an uninteresting turn with the group so yinz are on your own if go into this as I cannot give it any stars.  

Night of the Juggler (DVD) – This wild thriller about a kidnapping gone wrong is set in 1980 New York with James Brolin as Boyd whose daughter is mistaken for a rich landlord’s daughter. Hell as the kidnapping happens early in the film and then its followed by an absolutely bad ass chase scene between Boyd and this weird kidnapper known as the ‘juggler’ that goes for twenty minutes. Boyd is an ex-cop, now divorced truck driver trying to do the right thing for his daughter on her birthday by fighting New York’s finest who have a grudge against Boyd while tracking down the weirdo. If you are like me and never came across this film years ago it is worth the time now to track it down and enjoy all the New York regulars as I give it 3 stars.

Bio-Zombie (Blu-ray) – If you were checking out rare horror bootleg films in the early 90s you came across this Asian gem that I once called “the Asian version of Beavis and Butthead fighting zombies in a mall”. Invincible and Bee are two hoodlums who run a bootleg movie and game shop but also work for a low level boss. After an incident with a random stranger and their boss’ car, they feed him the energy drink he asked for before death and throw him into the trunk. Dead guy escapes, follies galore, and a new zombie virus quickly spread throughout the mall with only Invincible and Bee left to stop it. A super entertaining rewatch with commentaries, interviews, and a bunch of fun stuff that will make you even a bigger Asian zombie fan as I give it 4 stars all the way!

Sharkdemic (Blu-ray) – Buyer beware of this project as it feels like a YouTube clip show from Japan that was turned into a feature of sorts. A young man in Japan claims he saw a flying shark which sets off a war on all sharks, I guess. When flying sharks are not enough for you, weird looking ocean life shows up with chainsaws to kill humans. This is a weird, wild, no budget piece of chaos that was not meant everyone and most likely works better in short bits in my opinion as I give it 1 star.

The Jar (Blu-ray) – A super slow oddity that really isn’t a horror film about a dude named Paul who helps an old man with a large jar only for said old man to disappear in his apartment but the jar is left. Paul stares at this jar and quickly has weird visions as he tries to destroy this strange thing but it keeps coming back to haunt him. As the film creeps along Paul’s visions get extremely more bizarre as he has flashbacks of war, being pinned to a cross, has sex with the woman down the hall then she changes into the old dude from the beginning of the film which just sends Paul over the edge. All this ends with an ending that is really a non-ending but you do get some answers in the commentary and interviews that are packed into this special edition as I give the revisit 2 stars.

Radioactive Flesh Eating Foliage (DVD) – In 2015 someone had a hilarious idea with no budget and went hog wild… and I was entertained with this little project that also features Mel Heflin and Nadia White. Somewhere in the Maryland Mountains, nature has been abused with chemicals too long as there are stories of trees attacking hikers in this fun SOV feature. Even though there is this legend of “the goatman” and other stories of ghosts, there have been too many rumors about trees trying to kill! So the only thing to do is hire two convicts with guns to wander into the wilderness only to become victims themselves of this ‘nature gone bad’ independent horror film that has lots of boobs and people being attacked by branches held by people off-screen. I know there isn’t much of an ending and it sounds super corny but it did make me laugh a few times and that I got to give 2 ½ out of 4 stars for that.

Jacker (DVD) – A 1993 SOV feature that stars Phil Herman as Mike aka “The Jacker”. This mysterious young man with an unusual mean streak enjoys looking for easy victims. No one is immune to Mike killing with no remorse as his girlfriend finds out at home when Mike claims “he needs to make a living” then kills her. The victims pile up rather quickly which causes people to eventually call Mike “The Jacker” especially for his teasing and torturing of victims. A detective named Jackson gets so frustrated with the case of Mike and knowing he is the killer that he must risk losing his job to rid society of this menace. Oh for sure this project is rough around the edges and another bold undertaking for Phil Herman and friends to pull off but again there is a weird charm about the New York accent and what exactly is this film is supposed to be as I give it 2 ½ out 4 stars. P.S. for all that need to know a twenty something Phil Herman shows off his naked ass!

Jacker 2: Descent to Hell (DVD) – Not a lot of time passes by as they did this sequel in 1996 where “The Jacker” who was believed dead has returned. Jackson now a disgraced cop after throwing the suspect off the bridge is upset “The Jacker” has called him to let Jackson know he will be around. Six months pass and “The Jacker” gets his revenge but that is not enough for this figure as the story leans heavily into this mysterious Mike turning him into a mythical or even spiritual unknown evil. With that Mike continues his killing spree in this no budget sequel that even has “The Jacker” being haunted by his past which makes the film even odder? There is a scene where Mike is shot several times by a carjacker and Phil Herman’s character is even surprised by the event… This sequel is so wild and offbeat I am not sure if there was a legit explanation I would be satisfied with but it kept me interested as I give the feature 2 ½ out of 4 stars. P.S. The Jacker does a great Darkman impression in a scene to surprise another character, fun no budget stuff.

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 #676

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Cyclone (DVD) – An odd disaster film from 1978 that has a shark on the cover and has you think you are getting sharks eating people the whole film? We don’t… as this boring but yet at the same time wildly interesting film goes in a whole other direction. Pretty much the movie opens with a warning of a bad storm coming so we witness a plane crash land at sea and two boats become stranded. The passengers of the plane of who survived are wounded and the sharks arrive for a feast but three days later as they still float at sea one of the boats find them with shortly after the bigger charter boat that is stranded because of no gas finds them. This sets the rest of the picture for some really long dull parts of survivors of the storm having no food or water. So cannibalism it is kids! First they eat the dog, and then they chop up a dude that just died! They carve pieces of him and throw it on top of the boat to dry out in the hot Caribbean Sea, yep shit gets real dark. The movie is around two hours and crazy dull with moments of really dark inhuman shit as I give this must see to believe oddity 2 stars.

Raiders of the Lost Shark (DVD) – A Canadian shark film where a shark is on the loose feeding on all who enter the water. Supposedly the shark is a product of something mysterious going on an island across the water so of course some college students say “cool beans” and go investigate! At the same time their professor is hired to kill this eating machine as she has had experience in the past but somehow there has been experiments going on at the island the whole time. The film was produced by Indie vet Brett Kelly and for me at least there is no in-between on the films he is involved with: either really good or like this one pretty bad. This film really just didn’t know how to be a killer shark film as it felt like a mish mash of several which I can only give it 1 out of 4 stars.

Killing Spree (Blu-ray) – Terrorvision put out a recent cool version of this early Tim Ritter flick that is packed full of extras, commentaries, and made me want to sit down and rewatch this classic again as I haven’t checked it out in over twenty years. We are introduced to Tom, an ordinary dude who works hard, tries to avoid the nosey neighbors, and hang with his hot wife at home. Sounds reasonable until work has cut his check by 40% which makes Tom think about a second job as he doesn’t want his wife Lisa going back to work. On top of that Tom believes his wife Lisa is boinking every dude that enters the house that eventually sends him on a “killing spree”! Even decades later this underground classic works as the downward spiral of the character Tom slipping into his madness is brilliant with the fun lighting of the killing moments and its inventive kills. But wait there is more but why spoil it if by some chance you haven’t had the pleasure of enjoying this Tim Ritter film that has a excellent payoff as I give it 4 out of 4 stars.

The Violence Movie Part One and Two (DVD) – Two SOV short films that were shot in 1988, then had some footage added in 2003, then scored by Harry Manfredini! WTF? These early shorts are from The Wilkinson Brothers, who one of them went to Hollywood to work on many projects but like many filmmakers in the 80s they loved ‘Friday the 13th’.  So they picked up a camera as teenagers, grabbed a friend, and made a masked killer slasher that included a goalie mask of course. The DVD includes commentary, alternate endings, deleted scenes, among other fun tidbits as I give the project 3 out of 4 stars.

Scream Park (DVD) – A forgotten 2012 moderately budget horror film that was made at an amusement park just north of Pittsburgh, Pa. The plot involves the “Fright Land Amusement Park” closing because of bankruptcy. The manager has a meeting with the skeleton crew of employees to explain how and why of the park’s closing. At the same time a mysterious dark van shows up in the parking lot that evening. Of course said manager is convinced to let the young employees’ party in the park since this it for all of them but the mystery thickens as each of them start to disappear and two masked figures roam the park. This is one of those films that probably had the best intentions on paper but once filming it all became a huge mess to say it kindly as you are not missing much with this project as I give it 1 star for the mere reason of Steve Rudzinski being casted in it.

Dinogore (DVD) – Friends head out to Uncle Dante’s cabin for the weekend as this project starts off really slow. But the party gets going with its three PBRs as it is interrupted by an earthquake that awakens a dinosaur who roams the woods to snack on humans. A lot of time is spent on the characters not wrapping their head around a dinosaur is trying to eat them but this might have just been an example of how hard it was to make a movie during COVID? I believe I have seen better from the filmmaker and from the cover of the movie you would expect it to be a lot of fun as I didn’t laugh once so I give the dud 0 out of 4 stars.

Lunchmeat (DVD-R) – This 1987 underground independent movie inspired quite a few filmmakers out there and what is weird this film still isn’t out there legit on any format other than the VHS many years ago as far as I can see? Six friends head to a cabin for the weekend of course only to be low on beer, food, and gas. After stopping at the burger joint and the film introducing two of the three hillbillies who are going to ruin their weekend it sets the stage for a low budget gorefest.  The hillbillies set a plan in motion to detour the group and hopefully use them as fresh meat to eat! From there it becomes a game of survival for both groups as they run around the woods trying to survive this low budget ordeal. Time hasn’t been kind to this grisly fun film but it is still a classic to many as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Dark Match (Shudder) – This is the latest from Lowell Dean who gave us ‘Wolf Cop’ and because of that this dude he will always have my attention with any project. Set in the late 80s wrestling world where “SAW” wrestling promotion has made a name for itself but has seen its better days in Canada. They are contacted to do a show for big money in the middle of nowhere and their shady ass promoter isn’t going to turn it down. So the wrestlers pack up the trucks and drive to the middle of nowhere only to walk into some oddness. Along the way a featured bad guy or girl in this case ‘Miss Behave’ is having dreams or visions of satanic rituals, fire, and the championship belt? Things get real weird after a night of drugged induced mischief and the bad guys are being guarded in a locked room by armed guards during the event. Five matches, five sacrifices, to make the ritual happen or so says the “Prophet” a former wrestler from the past who feels wronged by SAW. Cults, wrestling, gore, and the possibility of Satan what isn’t there to enjoy as I give this feature 3 stars.

Creature from the Hillbilly Lagoon (DVD) – Oh this was a fun independent feature as to me it comes off as ‘Humanoids from the Deep’ remade as a comedy, on a low budget, with a great creature costume! This 2007 film features a story about a local professor and her students out on a field trip of sorts to test the local waterway for toxins. The reason for this is there have been reports of toxic dumping from a giant corporation years ago along with some recent toxic dumping by others. They want to know how polluted is it? There have been rumors of mutations but never proven. The field trip is going well until one of them is bitten by something mysterious underwater. As he slowly changes hillbillies roaming the shoreline are being slaughtered by a disgusting creature and if by some chance they survive the attack they become deformed and change. From beginning to end this project is hilarious with a great cast that plays up the hillbilly parts just right but the star has to be the impressive creature they cobbled together as I give this entertaining creature feature 3 ½ out of 4 stars.

Movies to Watch on a Rainy Afternoon: Troma Edition (Blu-ray) – Now I checked this out 2019 when Addison just released this fun edition on DVD so with the new Blu-ray, it was time for me to check this out again with my daughter who is a huge fan of Mr. Binek’s projects. Now Addison being the smart dude he is didn’t just go for any Troma titles he went for the second tier kids! Here is the list he tackles: Rabid Grannies, Hectic Knife, B.C. Butcher, Troma’s War, Getting Lucky, Redneck Zombies, Slaughter Party, and Star Worms II: Attack of the Pleasure Pods. Over two hours of Troma hilarity. Addison goes with masks, a Troma cake, low budget fireworks, spitting up, jumbo being stapled to a wig to explain a brain, and reading a Fangoria with his feet to get his riffs over on these features. There are times I literally laughed out loud especially during B.C. Butcher and Hectic Knife (which Addison’s good friend is behind that project). Redneck Zombies seem to be the tough one out of the bunch but that didn’t stop Addison riffing on it and making fun of himself doing it. The beauty of this edition is instead of Lloyd condemning or being upset by this he embraces Addison’s fandom, ideals, and intelligence to put together a great product for not just Troma fans to enjoy but movie lovers as once again I give this entertaining project 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!

Grossfest 2025 is two weeks away my friends

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GUESTS:

Mark Polonia

Jeff Kirkendall

Jamie Morgan

Tim Hatch

Jessa Flux

Mel Heflin

Phil Herman

Steve Rudzinski

Aleen Isley

Morrigan Thompson-Milam

The official Grossfest tattoo artist and all around coolest horror movie fan ever to exist Angel O’Connor!

Special guest – Jason Burke

Grossfest August 1st & 2nd, 2025

Location:

Comfort Inn Conference Center

699 Rodi Road, Pittsburgh, PA, 15235

Tickets for admission: $10 for one day or $15 for both days.

Vendor, movie, and tattoo room hours:

(Again no one under 18 will be allowed to get a tattoo so please don’t ask. Also you will need a Grossfest wristband in order to make your appointment with Angel the tattoo artist.)

August 1st, Friday 4-10pm

August 2nd, Saturday 11-7pm

Here is the vendor list:

Nene’s Soaps

Nekroshark Films

Burghbrats Krafty Kreations

Melissa Sapienza-Garrett

Classy Crows

Lowell Squires

Sam Hice Art

Ultra Violent

Matthew W. Parmenter

Cheevies Film Productions

Chase Will

Nomad Comics

MMH Productions

Kiss of Death Productions

RJR Craft Labs

13 Occult

Secondhand Spooky

Video Nasty Productions

Clifton Taylor

Celebration of Spirits

1282 Productions

Loretta Lynn Chambers

Steve Livengood

Static Talent/Matt Chasin/Michael Coulombe

Dandylinn

Dazed N Disorderly

Drunken Yinzers Productions

JAB Productions

Chanda Rawlings

Tabatha Rader

Gross Movie Reviews #675

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Slimoids (DVD) – This 2018 Indy flick hasn’t been talked about much in the Indie community so I thought it was time to check this project out… Well folks this has some cool people in front and behind the camera with some cool ass creatures that I believe were done by the great talent Dustin Mills. Story goes a scientist creates three small but deadly creatures to help her get revenge against her former colleagues who thought she was going too far with their experiments? No time is wasted in people being killed by these creatures in such a grisly manner that Charles Band would be jealous of the puppet and effects work with these small creatures done on such a small budget! This evil scientist enjoys her venture into human experimentation as she enjoys her creations being called “Mistakes of science”. I quite enjoyed the effort put into this project as it has that direct-to-video creature feature vibe from the late 80s written all over it as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Freak (DVD) – Not too long ago this Indy adventure decided to go in a different direction with the usual ‘killer in the woods’ stuff Indy fans were used too. This project has the same layout but an exciting surprise as five young friends head out to the woods for a weekend that has historic creepy mysterious stories about it. Be careful for what you wish for as the legend of Arthur Crenshaw haunts the campground where these kids are staying at. A little suspense, believable characters, and a super interesting creature makes for a fun creature feature as Arthur Crenshaw slaughters his way through the campground. Another great low budget gory monstrous tale worth checking out as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Death Reel (Blu-ray) – Oh this is a treat for SOV fans as this limited release a few years back features a few unreleased short films from the Polonia Brothers from 1983-1985. The tales feature the very young duo at the time tackling a killer scarecrow, things going too far at a cabin, a maniac and a cult. I believe all the tales at the time were shot on Super-8. A wraparound story is made up of a movie guy named Marty who won these short films at an auction and heads home to watch these films. The wraparound is kind of annoying but that doesn’t take away from how special this is as we get to see how The Polonia Brothers first started. If anything this should be used to inspire people to “still make their own damn movie” to use someone’s phrase once as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Sand World (DVD) – This rather recent Mark Polonia directed film of course is to cash in on the new ‘Dune’ films as a mining ship must land for repairs. The crew lands only to immediately to be greeted by these cool looking sand worm creatures that would have been great for a different “creature feature” (that is for a different conversation). The crew quickly figures out sound attracts them and knows they need to stay alive long enough to get the repairs done so they can lift off. But the crew’s acting captain is haunted by visions from the planet even though she has never visited this mysterious place. The crew and acting captain struggle with their new environment as they try to make sense of what exactly this planet is? If you are a straight up Polonia dude this may not be your cup of tea but if you are a sci-fi nerd this feature may strike a nerve or two with you to enjoy a B-movie version of ‘Dune’ in so many ways as I give this 2 out of 4 stars.

Wolf Moon Rising (Vimeo) – Todd Sheets is one of the most respected filmmakers in the Indy genre and I just enjoy when he decides to make a movie that most wouldn’t even dream to attempt. I really do feel like someone said “werewolves in space” to Mr. Sheets and without hesitation decided the film needed to be made?! The film jumps right into action as it opens up with a military transport ship in trouble as werewolves have overrun the transport ship in a glorious bloodbath of an opening. With the ship in trouble and crew pretty much dead a survivor kicks the last werewolf into a cryo tube as she jumps in hers in hopes of survival. Another ship called Amberstar receives the distress call but must make it quick as the damage has left the transport ship in critical condition. The Amberstar crew works hard to bring aboard the cryo tubes with odd readings but wants to do the right thing of saving the two beings? The tubes open and within minutes the beast is loose again within the Amberstar crew dealing with the aftermath as their biggest worry of the “space crud” being released has come true. Now Mr. Sheets has said this film is the vein of Roger Corman, I go one step further as to me this film has the vibe of ‘The Terror Within’ from 1989 which was released by Concorde Pictures. Is the film perfect… no, but you got to outright respect a filmmaker that goes completely against the grain and makes a “werewolf in space” film but also makes it god damn entertaining so folks I gotta give this crazy ass idea of a movie 3 ½ out of 4 stars. Thank you Mr. Sheets for being an inspiration in the independent horror genre.

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!

Grossfest 2025 movie room schedule!

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Grossfest 2025 Movie Schedule

Friday, August 1st 

As always we start off Grossfest with the Matt Cannon short film classic

4:05pm – 4:30pm – Hexercise

4:30pm – 4:55pm – What Scares You (short film)

5:00pm – 7:00pm – Phil Herman’s Unearthed

7:00pm – 8:40pm – Macabre Medicine (Blu-ray release premiere)

8:40pm – 10:40pm – Torture the Flesh

10:40pm – 11:30pm – Wally Meets Popeye (premiere)

11:35pm – Midnight – Special Screening of Maddie Deering’s Trash Removal

Saturday, August 2nd

11:00am – 12:35pm – Violent Streets (Brad Sykes unreleased film premiere)

12:35pm – 12:45pm – Grossfest Lifetime Achievement Award in main room

12:45pm – 2:15pm – Return to Splatter Farm (with Mark Polonia and crew Q&A after film)

2:15pm – 3:35pm – Magnum Opus

3:35pm – 4:45pm – Cagey

4:45pm – 6:45pm – Jacker 3: Road to Hell (premiere) maybe if it’s finished?

6:45pm – 8:05pm – Leech (close out the show with a wild one)

Remember folks all films are unrated (so please be mindful of your kids) and remember schedule and films are subject to change!