Tag Archives: 80s

Gross Movie Reviews #450

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Gross Movie Reviews #450

 

Mr. Cleaver (DVD) – A throwback S.O.V. flick where some punks break into an empty warehouse to party their brains. Things are going great: people are trippy, bumping uglies, and just being drunk until a bad dude with a giant meat cleaver shows up to ruin the party. Crystal, Lump, and friends get real scared when they find Mr. Cleaver’s personal pile of body parts. The punks fight back but run into trouble when they find out the evil dude cannot be killed because the warehouse is his own personal hell for eternity. Some blood, some nostalgia as these flicks will always hit the soft spot in my heart as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars. For more details or to purchase the film, go check out www.togethermagicfilmgroup.com .

 

Ghost Stories (DVD) – A British film that could be considered anthology but really doesn’t feel like it. But that can be up for a debate between you and your friends after watching it. Professor Goodman is a man that makes a living at trying to debunk the supernatural or just trying to prove psychics are just good cheats. Professor Goodman is contacted by an old man. This old man isn’t just any person but someone when Goodman was young he caught on T.V. debunking the supernatural. Goodman goes to the man’s trailer because this was his idol; here is his chance to talk to him. But the old man had his reasons for calling Goodman to him. The old man hands off three cases that the old man claims were real. They couldn’t be explained logically and wants Goodman to either prove him wrong or to tell him that the supernatural does exist? But pay close attention folks because every scene has a point and the payoff is how the film ends. I give the fun film full of hauntings 3 stars.

 

Strike Commando (VHS) – Found another classic from Vincent Dawn aka Bruno Mattei where this 1987 film stars Reb Brown as Sgt. Michael Ransom as this is Mr. Dawn’s version of “Rambo II” if it was made in the Philippines. The film has a few titles but another popular used title was “Cobra Force”. Yes there is a sequel but no Reb Brown. Anyway Ransom is double crossed when he is in North Vietnam trying to help out a group of people out of the war zone. But when the Russians show up things get serious like some awesome slow motion fire-bombing of Sgt. Ransom. Now with Ransom captured behind enemy lines and no one to save him the Russians try to turn him against his own. Ransom won’t have any of it, escapes, kills most of everyone, the guy that double crossed him went to Manila. So we get this added on scene with Ransom and bootleg Col. Troutman in Manila and a large machine gun! 2 ½ stars people for this awesome badness!

 

For the Love of Spock (DVD) – A wonderful documentary about Leonard Nimoy by his son Adam who documents the impact the famous “Star Trek” character had on pop culture and people over the years. Leonard was a struggling actor in Hollywood who like most worked odd jobs and almost quit completely until he landed the role of Spock. At first wasn’t totally known where this character would go or do in the series but Leonard found his calling and loved every second of it. His image was everywhere and still till this day is reference on a regular on TV shows. The person and the character were someone that was loved and appreciated by almost all. His son even documents the hard times as a kid growing up with your dad being Spock. Great stuff as I give it 4 stars.

 

Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (DVD) – This might be a very nerdy documentary but I lived it. This documentary covers everything He-man related. It all starts with how they basically produced the He-man toy line out of thin air after losing out on the “Star Wars” toys. No real back story they came up with a good guy and a bad guy and went from there. With no TV show or movie these action figures sold like crazy to the point Mattel couldn’t keep up with demand and were making up characters as they went. At the height of its popularity it was 95% of the toy business in some form. The cartoon that was soon developed was also in such high demand they came up with “She-ra” which proved to be just as popular. He-man was the thing from 1982-1987 and believe me I lived it as I remember trying to write letters to Mattel to try and get free action figures. Once the Dolph Lundgren film was released that seem to sign the end for the toy line. There were a couple restarts over the years but no luck until recently with nerds taking over the Earth He-man has found new life. If you are about the same age as me you will remember He-man mania as the film documents everything… I give it 4 stars.

City Limits (DVD) – Okay folks, this lesser known post-apocalyptic film is so in my wheelhouse! This 1984 film stars John Stockwell, Rae Dawn Chong, James Earl Jones, Robbie Benson, Kim Cattrell, and Don Opper (he wrote the script) among some other names. This movie literally looks like they made this film with leftover movies on a shoestring budget and it worked. In 1984, a plague has hit killing almost all adults and leaving kids to fend for themselves. 15 years has past and now the kids or survivors of this plague run the cities with no power. John Stockwell as Lee heads to the city for adventure to look for a group of survivors known as the “Clippers”. Clippers are a motorcycle gang that has split the dark city with the “DA’s”. The gangs have made peace for years now so they would stop killing each other and just try to survive. But a corporation has moved in and is trying to force the gangs to be a part of the system of rebuilding. If they do not cooperate with the Sunya Corp. they will be killed. With Lee finding these new friends he wants to help them fight for the city and keep it from the adults trying to move in. This movie is absolutely cheesy wonderfulness! I give this mid-80s gem 4 stars all the way!

 

Any comments or questions 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………

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/ also available at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kyle-poling-2/bloodbaths-and-boomsticks?refid=stpr

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.

Grossfest 2 is coming… July 20, 2019, check our Facebook page and www.grossfest.com for details and upcoming guests.

Gross Movie Reviews #399

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Gross Movie Reviews #399

 

The Howling: Reborn (DVD) – Before we get started horror fans this movie seem to be pooped out of thin air? No one totally knows why or claims it? Just like most of the howling sequels this entry had nothing to do with the other sequels. No one is totally sure this was a reboot either? So I like to believe someone picked up an old Fangoria magazine or just stumbled randomly on Google about “The Howling” series and said, “Let’s roll with it!” Problem is no respected horror fan was excited by the last entry ‘New Moon Rising’… So why now I ask, who actually fucking knows but I bet you if this film had a different title there is a good chance it is released into theaters for teen girls not pooped out there in “On Demand land” like it was. Reboot, sequel, someone’s bad movie idea come to life, you knew I would eventually break down and watch this son of a bitch. The film is boiled down to ‘Teen Wolf’ (Michael J. Fox version) trying to fight off the new bullies in school who happen to be a pack of wolves led by his dead mum. And the teenage boy will do anything to protect his new hot girlfriend and himself from the psychos while locked up in their high school. I totally knew this film wasn’t marketed for me but it still gets 1 star. Maybe they can do a documentary on whose crazy idea it was just to do another ‘Howling’ flick?

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A Boy and His Dog (DVD) – The mid-70s post-apocalyptic flick has been public domain at times and released several times on DVD but truly never gets the respect it deserves. Its 2024, after World War 4 and Don Johnson who plays Vic has a psychic link to a dog named “Blood”. Vic and Blood are just trying to navigate the Wastelands to survive and for Vic to get laid at some point. After finding a girl at the so called movies he follows her too finally to get laid but things get sidetrack as others have followed. Vic saves the girl and follows her to the underground against Blood’s wishes. So Vic learns for himself as he finds a weirdo colony actually sent the girl out to find a guy to help repopulate their underground community. Of course Vic wants none of this and escapes with one of my favorite movie endings ever! I give the classic 3 ½ stars.

 

Mutator (VHS/YouTube) – Brion James stars as David a man who just got the job to fill in for the missing security guard at the Tigen Corporation. With the doors shutting for the night and his night shift begins where he is debating with the other guards about the possible genetic experiment that went wrong at the facility several months ago. Meanwhile a couple animal activists convinced the young daughter of the CEO of Tigen to help them break-in and release some of the animals to make a statement. Once inside they only find dead animals and something is following them very closely. It’s a weird cat creature that has been loose since the accident and has tried to be covered up by the CEO. A straight-to-video sci-fi blast as I give it 2 ½ stars.

 

Dead Man Walking (VHS/YouTube) – As I keep diving into the post-apocalyptic genre of the 80s I found this unknown gem that stars Wings Hauser, Brion James, Jeffrey Combs! Holy shit people I would watch this a hundred times just for the casting of those three alone. It doesn’t mean it will be the most exciting film like this one but sometimes you wonder if they get all-star B-movie casts like this to just sell the crappy flick. The year, 1997, World War 3 has happened and a plague has killed off half of the world’s population. The survivors if you wanna call them that are left in the ruins to survive and there is the few who are called “The Zero Men”. They have the plague but are not contagious but have a year or two left of life and can be unpredictable. Combs was a limo driver for his rich ass boss and the boss’s daughter was kidnapped by an escaped convict and zero man in Brion James. Combs finds Wings Hauser, another zero man to hire him to help track down this woman through the plague zone. Gotta give some love to the filmmaker thinking the old “fish bowl” AMC car would survive all this to travel through the plague zone. Again not the best of plots but the cast is what makes this gem worth tracking down and owning if you are a weirdo like me. I give the B-flick 2 stars.

 

Kill Show (YouTube) – A short film that features a young woman’s struggle with her perverted mind frame of being a clown. The film takes you into her mental breakdown and she gets off on hearing about her random killing spree that can only end in one way. She wants to be known/remembered, not forgotten. Todd Braley and crew do a wonderful job of making this an interesting and creepy short film that makes you want to know more about this young woman’s story. What adds to the feel of the flick is the way the film was shot as it felt like the crew might have been trying to give the viewer a unique disturbing view into her madness. Wonderful stuff from Mr. Braley and hope there is a lot more coming for film fans. I give the short film 3 ½ out of 4 stars and you can rent it at www.reelhouse.org/infinitymediaprods/kill-show .

 

Digital Man (DVD) – Oh a fun horrible post-apocalyptic flick that has a cast that is worth more than the budget of the film: Matthias Hues, Ed Lauter, Chase Masterson, Don Swayze, Amanda Wyss, Adam Baldwin, Paul Gleason, and Clint F’N Howard! This B-movie combines Robocop and Cyborg Cop into a military weapon that was made to tackle terrorism. Digital Man is used in a secret mission to take out some terrorists and does it pretty quickly. Some higher-ups in the military are not happy with the test against the terrorists going well and try to sabotage Digital Man on his flight back. The flight goes down in a small town of Badwater and a team of humans and cyborgs are sent into the town to dismantle and retrieve the launch codes from Digital Man. Hilarious action scenes keep you awake throughout this B-flick that made question if ‘Dollman’ or ‘Robot Wars’ was being filmed at the same time on the same set. Oh the bad fun movie gets 2 stars.

 

Lesbian Vampire Killers (DVD) – Two bumbling friends (Jimmy just had a bad break-up again and the other just fired again from his job) take a trip into the countryside after a drunken idea they had. Instead of just enjoying the scenery and hanging with hot women they are now in in the fight of their lives with vampires, lesbian vampires. The lesbian vampires are trying to revive their ancient Queen Carmilla who was vanquished by Jimmy’s long lost relative the Baron centuries ago. But Jimmy is the saving grace as he has the power within him to kill the queen if he doesn’t get bitten first. If you enjoy films like ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Doghouse’, you’ll enjoy the humor in this horror/comedy also as I give it 2 ½ stars.

 

Prototype (VHS/YouTube) – A very boring sci-fi flick set in 2057 L.A. where a young scientist is interested in why the “Prototype program” disappeared 20 years ago and its founder ten years before that. She learns more about the program when given access and convinces a young wheelchair bound war vet to be a part of an experiment in the revived program. Once he does he becomes a weapon unbeknownst to her. Not a whole lot happens in the movie except a lot of robot vision and random robot sounds and for that I give it 1 star.

 

Desert Warrior (VHS/YouTube) – Look out boys and girls I found another post-apocalyptic flick from the 80s, made in the Philippines, and stars mother fucking Lou Ferrigno with a damn eye patch! If it helps to find this flick in your local libraries it was also released under the title as ‘Sand Wars’. Plagues of course have destroyed the world after World War 3 and Zerak (Lou) is sent to find an uncontaminated woman for his clan. The radiation fallout is destroying the clan and the leader wants fresh women to help keep the clan alive. Zerak finds a woman named Rachella who wants to explore outside of her underground bubble. Rachella gets in some trouble with mutants and Zerak saves her. Soon Zerak doesn’t want her to be used by his clan, he wants to save her. Lou is so bad ass in this flick he lets a mad doctor perform an experiment on him to give his eye back instead of death! I give it 1 ½ stars.

 

Any comments or questions please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.netor 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 always visit and see some past reviews, independent film news, or me ranting at: www.grossmoviereviews.com !!!

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.

Also you can pick up my new book “Gross Movie Reviews: More Sequels, More Massacres, More Beer” at: http://www.lulu.com/shop/tim-gross/gross-movie-reviews-more-massacres-more-sequels-and-more-beer/paperback/product-22853681.html

A special treat for commentary fans from Bloodbaths and Boomsticks!

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Once again we are joined by our buddy and new dad RICK OF THE DEAD to do a fan commentary for the BMX flick RAD. so listen and see what professional wrestlers and serial killers we see in the background. we also got chicks  with dudes voices, dudes in chicks clothing, doughnut men, skeevy business men, drunk mayors, Mr. Hand, sexually explicit little sisters, ass slides, and Aunt Becky. ENJOY!!!

http://www.bloodbathspodcast.blogspot.com/

 rad

Gross Movie Reviews #363

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Gross Movie Reviews #363

 

By Tim Gross

 

Cooties (On Demand) – There are recalls on all chicken tenders coming out of the ‘Happy Poultry’ Corporation in Fort Chicken, Illinois. And a little girl at the Fort Chicken Elementary Summer School has found the tainted tender. She becomes slowly infected, meanwhile Elijah Wood is Clint Hanson who just happens to be a substitute teacher at the school and witnesses the little girl biting a piece of a boy’s face off! The infection spreads quickly and during recess the kids begin cannibalizing the teachers. The teachers fear for their lives as they become torn to pieces by infected children and try to survive the outbreak. Love this concept for a horror film and surprised it hasn’t been used already as I give the gory little film 3 stars. Plus I love the scene where they drug the infected kids with Ritalin and there is a “Commando” movie reference.

 

D.C. Cab (DVD) – A stupid but brilliant early 80s film about Washington D.C. cab drivers. The film has one of the best casts for a comedy ever and centers around Adam Baldwin’s character hitchhiking from down south to become a cab driver. Marsha Warfield, Mr. T just to name a couple but fat Gary Busey is at his best in this hilarious film. Worth revisiting now and again as I give it 3 ½ stars.

 

Why Horror? (On Demand) – A documentary from Tal Zimerman who is a self-proclaimed “huge horror fan” like the rest of us. Tal takes us viewers on an interesting ride through the history of horror films and his own experiences with horror movies over the years. Pointing out all the peaks and valleys of horror film and all the great people in the genre. An interesting movie that can be done 500 different ways but this dude got his financed and out there so kudos to him as I enjoyed it. If anything it spends almost the whole time highlighting how cool horror movies can be as I give the documentary 3 stars.

Die Die

Die Die Delta Pi (DVD) – The film begins in Spring 1986 where the Delta Pi sisters are deciding what they are going to do on spring break. But before they do anything they have the Toga party on the beach with the boys to haze the new girl Marissa. Things go wrong and Marissa catches on fire, several sisters are found murdered, and the house mother is missing. 27 years later the Delta Pi sorority has reopened at Sun State University. And according to one crazy old sorority sister ‘The Burnt One’ is coming! If that isn’t enough the new sisters are reestablishing the annual bonfire and tell the story of what happened many moons ago. Soon the new sisters are being murdered one by one. A fun, entertaining, and nostalgic independent horror film that does a great job fitting in with the likes of “Slaughter High, Killer Party, Cheerleader Camp, etc.” It is missing the corny 80s music soundtrack or even corny music video but does redeem itself with a great death scene on a gas grill. This type of film always wins my horror movie heart as I give it 3 out of 4 stars and available on amazon.com.

 

Croczilla (DVD) – This dude in China raises a pet giant crocodile only to sell it and its babies to a crooked dude who wants to sell the meat at his restaurant. Soon the giant crocodile gets pissed and loose then begins to wreck everything outside of Beijing, China. The movie takes a comedic twist when the giant croc swallows a woman’s bag of euros and she wants them back as it’s her life savings. Entertaining at times but has some hokey effects at times also. So for that I give it 2 stars as its no “Killer Crocodile’ or “Alligator”.

 

Avengers Grimm (DVD) – Casper Van Dien plays Rumpelstiltskin who leads a revolution against Snow White and her kingdom. During the fight they get thrown through the magic mirror into present earth time. But by time the princesses find a way through Rumpelstiltskin has already set up shop and has an evil plan to take over the world. And the princesses become superheroes… yes it was that terrible as I give it 0 stars as Asylum should stick to “Sharknado”.

 

Lost After Dark (DVD) – The slasher flick begins in 1977 Michigan as we are treated to a woman being chased and hacked to pieces by a bear trap in the opening minute of the film. Seven years later some teenagers plan on skipping out on the school dance, steal a school bus, and party at a cabin for the weekend. Two problems: first the bus breaks down and they go looking for help, second Robert Patrick is the vice principal and he decides to take matters into his own hands by tracking down his kids and the bus. But they all get fucked up by the cannibalistic hippie who has lived for many years on his own deep in the woods. An urban legend of sorts… The storyline isn’t breaking new ground but the film does sport some beautiful, gooey, bloody wet goodies throughout each murder scene. Another fun nostalgic slasher film worth putting on your watch list as I give it 3 stars.

 

Grabbers (DVD) – An Irish creature feature about sea creatures that attack an Irish village that survive only on water and blood. So the answer to defeating them is going to the tavern and getting the whole village drunk! Love the Irish as they keep it simple, funny, and have some bad ass sea creatures. I give the film 3 ½ stars.

 

Mercenaries (DVD) – The main plot is a female version of “The Expendables” or even “Escape from New York” of female prisoners are sent on a mission to rescue a diplomat. Cynthia Rothrock plays the president and Zoe Bell kicks some ass but the film lacks some direction and thought could have been better in the long run if they wouldn’t have rushed the project out there a couple years back. I give it 2 stars.

 

Turbo Kid (On Demand) – Another film that is a throwback as it acts like a 80s flick set in a 1997 post-apocalyptic world that just happens to be a Canadian/New Zealand co-production. A kid who is surviving on his own with his BMX bike collects relics from the world that use to be and live alone in his bunker. From time to time he goes to trade stuff for water and a new comic book! He comes across a girl while reading his comic book and they soon become friends but are thrusted into harm’s way when ultra-evil dude Michael Ironside captures the girl and Turbo Kid tries to save her a couple times. The film is like a blend of every sci-fi PG-13 film that showed on HBO Saturday mornings during the 1980s. And for me I am all in on enjoying such an over the top entertaining flick. The characters, the weapons, and the over the top violence make this film a gem as I give it 3 ½ stars.

 

Mimesis (DVD) – Some people get drugged and dragged off to a farmhouse to be dressed like characters from the “Night of the Living Dead” film and be a part of some twisted role-playing game. Soon the people figure out what’s going on and begin fighting the zombies’ aka real life psychos who claim the movies made them do it. A different horror movie concept but using “Night of the Living Dead” as the backdrop is just too easy for the cash in instead of trying to use maybe an obscure horror flick or something that wouldn’t give your horror film as much backlash. Also I was disappointed in the film overall but understood why they went with it but still only give the film 1 ½ stars.

Winners-Tape-All---Poster

Winners Tape All: The Henderson Brothers (Vimeo) – Independent filmmaker Justin Channell gets the band back together (Zane Crosby and Josh Lively) to put out a mockumentary about two famous brothers who made backyard horror flicks in the 80s. Justin smartly uses the VHS collector’s boom the past several years as the backdrop of the story. Henry Jacoby, VHS enthusiast, gets the ball rolling on how video stores were getting rid of VHS tapes for nearly nothing when DVD hit big and Henry discovered The Henderson Brothers films. “The Curse of Stabberman” and “Cannibal Swim Club” are the masterpieces of the Henderson Brothers. And Henry takes great joy in this as the brothers are brought together to discuss their projects, how they were made, and where they go from here? Especially now their long awaited project “Father’s Day of the Dead” is being financed by Henry’s Blood and Guts Video. Justin and company give a funny look inside look of what has gone on the past several years in the horror genre. And if I could describe this movie in the best way possible I would say “The Spinal Tap of the shot-on-video genre”. This movie had me laughing out loud several times throughout just for the mere reason I have watched many shot-on-video movies but their rereleases on DVD and VHS (again) and Justin did a great job bringing this project to life. When they talk about anyone that was involved with the two projects are dead I had tears coming out of my eyes laughing. If you are a hardcore movie/VHS tape collector and know humor this film is perfect for you as I give it 4 out 4 stars.

 

Any comments or questions please send to: GrossMovieReview@verizon.net, GrossMovieReview@aol.com 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 always visit and see some past reviews, independent film news, or me ranting at: www.grossmoviereviews.com !!!

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.