Gross Movie Reviews #647

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Crocodile Evil (DVD) – Some Asian cinema weirdness from 1986 that just saying “Flying ghost Crocs” would not explain everything but would love for it to be that. A man has to head to Thailand only to be killed for helping out a young lady. Now his younger brother becomes extremely ill and something about two masters fighting over a magical bracelet that could affect the fate of the world if it falls into the wrong hands. It’s weird and I am sure I still don’t understand what I watched but let’s give it 2 stars anyway.

Oddity (DVD) – One night a woman staying in a newly bought old ass mansion is murdered viciously. A year later her husband is moving on with the hot girlfriend and talk of marriage but before he does he wants to visit his dead wife’s sister Darcy who just happens to run the bootleg ‘Friday the 13th TV series’ oddity shop in town. Ted hands her a glass eye from the person who killed her sister but the sister gets an impression from the eye because being blind has given her psychic powers. Somewhere in Ted’s mind he believes he is moving on but Darcy wants to visit Ted and his girlfriend at the house. She needs to feel it, be in it, but also has brought a mysterious trunk with her. For me it felt like a slow burn that tries to be a couple different things (ex: paranormal) but never fully commits to it which in the end was only okay for me as I give it 2 stars.

A Quiet Place: Day One – In this prequel we are introduced to a young woman who happens to be in a hospice center and dying at all too early age. She has come to grips with it but has a wish before she leaves this place of existence. As she goes for a day trip into New York City with the rest of the folks forty, fifty years older than her to a theater that is when the “attack happens”. The alien monsters hit earth as the woman gets lost in a dust cloud as many including military are being slaughtered everywhere. The breakdown of society goes quickly as the creatures hunt by sound and what’s left of the city’s population hides. In all this chaos and end of the earth shit our young lady Samira just wants a certain slice of pizza from a place in Harlem! This is her story of just surviving long enough to eat her favorite pizza and become friends with someone who is just as lost in the world as her. A lot of prequels make the mistake of being a prequel or easy money for studios making that decision as I am usually not a fan. But this film sets itself apart by telling a story that has nothing to do what horror fans have already seen but keeping it in the same realm. Great story telling, great cast, and made you legit care for the Samira character! This is another example of why I believe there could be countless sequels or prequels to the ‘Puppet Master’ series if Charles Band really wanted too but that is for another horror nerd conversation. Horror movie fans go into this cold without rewatching the other films as you will appreciate this that much more as I gotta give it 3 ½ stars.

The Horror (Blu-ray) – This is an Indy clip show of sorts of a talented handsome young man Jason Crowe who has directed, written, or acted in over 70 films over his career. It is clips from several projects starring Jason that is all over the place with condensed clips of aliens, blood, zombies, time travel and more. Great starter film for fans if they wanted to check out what some of Jason Crowe’s projects are all about as I give this 3 out of 4 stars.

Phobo Phobia (Blu-ray) – An anthology hosted by “the final ghoul” herself Jessa Flux as she takes you on a ride through the fear of fear. She shares six tales of fear: fear of clowns, fear of enclosed spaces, fear of witchcraft, fear of burglars, fear of wild animals, and the fear of aliens. All the entries are solid, look great, good cast, and not a bad entry in the bunch but here is the weird thing none of the six really stand out which is something I never thought I would hear  myself saying? This is actually an oddity among the bloated Indy genre of anthologies as all involved should be proud of that as I give this anthology 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

The Legacy (Blu-ray) – This is a 2009 Indy slasher from Jason Crowe who also directed and stars in it along with a quick appearance from ex-wrestler Al Snow. The film comes screaming out of the gates with blood, boobs, and shaky cam to set the tone in the first few minutes. Of course a few friends head out to the woods for some camping and partying so when the story of the ‘Reaper’ killers is told that is when this mess of a movie really switches gears with buckets of blood and sometimes hilarious content. The film doesn’t overdue it all with its 61 minute running time, cool casting of Indy vets Katie Stewart, Roni Jonah, and Jim O’Rear, and the hilarious reshoot edits that have been edited in at certain points. It might be a clear mess of an Indy slasher but it is a very lovable and memorable one worth seeking out as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Amityville Turkey Day (Tubi) – Yinz can thank me later as this is entry #63 and a direct sequel to ‘Amityville Thanksgiving’. The sequel is still following the missteps of Dr. Frank Domonico and his missing patients who has become the talk of the town of Amityville. A so-called filmmaker Rocco has one last chance to make a film for a small studio and it will be a mockumentary about the good doctor taking advantage of the couples on Thanksgiving. They set up in the doctor’s house for filming of the project but also they are sent a package containing a puppet mutant turkey that lurks around set. When the mutant turkey ain’t possessing people it is trying to eat them. This all sounds like a fun mess to watch until you get about halfway through and feel like they just got lost in their own project as scenes of conversations just linger for way too long to pad the feature film. You didn’t need to pad it folks… you are making a sequel to a legit letdown of a holiday film and you introduced a mutant puppet turkey!!! This could have been so much more fun but once again the trailer is so much better than the finished project as I can only give this entry 1 out of 4 stars.

Motivational Growth (DVD) – Ian is a depressed man who all but just lives in his apartment like a hermit until he comes to the conclusion it is time to commit suicide in the bathroom. In his failed attempt Ian slips and smacks his head off the tub to knock his ass out only he wakes to a big glob of mold in the corner talking to him. Oh by the way the mold is voiced by Jeffrey Combs who begins to converse with Ian and give him advice. Ian believing this isn’t too weird eventually is convinced to eat a piece of the mold and that is when the weird stuff really happens! As the hallucinations continue and bodies pile up Ian falls deeper into the mold’s world. Is Ian dead? Did Ian dream everything? Or is it Groundhog Day for Ian? This weird tale will leave you with more questions of what you watched but you will enjoyed you did as I give this 3 stars.

Black Mold (Tubi) – A thriller of sorts or at least the setup of one as two photographers go take pictures of abandoned places for their art. Things are going well until they enter a mysterious old government facility called Franklin Hill where the two get great pictures until they encounter a hobo. The crazed hobo knocks them out until he can figure if “they” have sent them to take him away? It becomes a slow downward spiral into the two friends trying to figure out how to get back home but instead become combative. If you enjoy slow building and crazy this will be the thriller for you but for me this left me wanting a little more but that may have been the plan of this feature all along as I give it 2 ½ stars.

The Convent (4K/Blu-ray) – So finally making its way to the new physical format for horror fans is this wonderfully perfect horror film that put the name Mike Mendez on the tip of most horror fans in 2000. In 1960 a young woman Christine returns to a boarding school she attended to completely destroy nuns and a priest that took her baby that causes the shutdown of the convent. Some college kids 40 years later of course feel the need to break in to party and see if it’s really haunted?! The cops show up to chase the young people out and we are led to believe a young lady who is on parole is hiding but kidnapped by a demon only to find out it is a group of Satanists who are trying to sacrifice a virgin? No cops around so the kids decide to break back in only to raise the demons from hell that have waited for them along with amateur Satanists as complete gory chaos ensues. One girl survives the demon possessed gorefest and she must get an older Christine to help put an end to the demons that never rest. After Christine sets the legend straight she agrees to go and put this to a final end as every five years or so these demons keep looking for a virgin?! Extras for this beauty include: uncut version of the film, audio commentary from cast and crew, another commentary from “the lords of hell”, video tour of locations, original press kit, deleted scene, gore outtakes and more. This film gives off that joyful ‘Night of the Demons’ and ‘Evil Dead’ vibe that is just priceless and made horror fans be excited for any Mike Mendez project that came after the 2000 feature as I give this 4 out of 4 stars. You can purchase the 4k version at www.synapsefilms.com of course.

Killers (Blu-ray) – This 1996 low budget feature is the debut film of Mike Mendez and features the James Brothers who killed their parents. This of course sends the brothers to Deathrow as they killed them in cold blood until one stormy night the high profile duo escape prison. The duo knocks on a door of a perfect family home only to hold them up at gun point and hide from authorities. The duo bound the father and weirdly finds out the wife and daughters are huge fans of the murderous brothers which turns this thriller upside down. The James Brothers believe they are in a safe place until the story takes a strange turn as authorities going door to door to find them causes the family to show they have secrets of their own (example: Castle Freak shit going down). This feels like a weird dream sequence mash up of 90s movie violence splashed together into a 96 minute package? The extras for this Blu-ray include: uncut version of the movie, a director’s commentary, and an alternate ending which might be the most interesting thing of this project because it shows how important editing is and how editing can effect a tone of a movie… Definitely not the usual low budget horror stuff from the 90s you would expect as I give it 3 out of 4 stars and be purchased at www.synapsefilms.com .

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 #589

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Nutcracker Massacre (Tubi) – A novelist named Clara is heading to her Auntie Marie’s home for the holiday after a break up with her boyfriend. She figures some nostalgia would be good for the soul since she is so down. Along the way she stops at a novelty shop and picks up a gift for the auntie but when unwrapped, it is a sugar plum fairy not the nutcracker she thought she bought. That night the sugar plum fairy magically brings the life-sized nutcracker dude to life that goes on a killing spree for the holiday. This corny UK flick doesn’t make a ton of sense but if you needed a little different holiday slasher then you found the right movie as I give it 2 ½ stars. 

Meathook Massacre: Next Generation (YouTube) – Also known as “Meathook Massacre: Mayhem” has first time filmmaker Timothy Thomas take a stab at the series where apparently Bubba will never die (even though he did in the last entry… completely). This time around Becky a sports journalist becomes the latest victim of Bubba as he stalks her and breaks into her home. After a battle and both wounded (wearing an eye patch) Becky retreats to live with her father but wants to return home and move on. Once she does the notorious killer is back on the prowl for Becky but Becky is packed to the gills with weapons to fight this dude. Becky eventually figures out the meathook is somehow the ‘source of power’ for Bubba and that is how we have another film in this ongoing series as I give this uninteresting sequel 1 star.

The Killing Tree (DVD) – Some of yinz may have seen this under a different title of ‘Demonic Christmas Tree’ recently but anyhow those crazy ass people in the UK are just churning them out as a murderous evil spirit brought back by an evil spell into a killer Christmas tree! This killer a year ago went on a crazy murder spree of killing 12 families on Christmas to spread the message to all that they do not have the Christmas spirit. So of course Clay is back to finish the damn job as an evil Christmas tree! Some of the story is told through flashbacks to explain what is exactly going on but bottom line Clay wants revenge on Faith for everything. The death scenes are bad but we are talking killer Christmas tree movie that is terribly cheesy but will hit the mark for any drunken horror fan that needs their fix during the holiday season as I give the film 2 ½ stars.

Amityville Thanksgiving (Blu-ray) – So again for all the kids that are counting with me this would be “entry #41” into the Amityville series… and yes this would be 42 now but I do not count the YouTube video “Amityville Gas Chamber” a movie but just an April Fool’s joke to clarify to those who been following this mess? Anyway, apparently a filmmaker decided to set out to make the worst Amityville film in the series and almost succeeded? But then they must not have seen “Mt. Misery Road” or “Vanishing Point”? A holiday entry… sort of, where an old married couple goes to a remote place to hang with their creepy therapist who is trying to bang the wife or just be creepy. Dr. Frank Demonico from Amityville apparently looks for a couple every year to sacrifice for his evil plans until finally after years of this the Amityville authorities have wised up. Just plain dumb, boring, and way too much filler. And the couple people/critics I seen online must likely connected to the film claiming “us viewers don’t understand the plot points”? Honestly, really, actually go look up Steve Rudzinski and see how a real professional would attack or use this series for a project? Or hey you can just fuck off and understand your movie is a pile of elephant dung as I give it 0 stars. But here is the funny part it still ain’t no “Jeepers Creepers Reborn”, so go think on that one.

Kiss of Death Productions Short Films Volume One (DVD) – These are unreleased short films from the vault of legendary independent filmmakers David and Diana Silvio. For years these sat unseen but now the Silvios’ are unleashing their Indy projects onto the world. First up is ‘Hidden Fist II: Satan’s Mob’ where martial arts expert Bill C. Kelley plays Dirk Jones who attempts to fight his way through wannabe gangsters to get to their evil mob boss with his former flame only for the boss to mysteriously disappear. The ending was kind of Scooby-dooish but fun. Second up was the sequel ‘The Hidden Fist III: The Final Thrust’ as I can’t help laughing every time I say the title but that is me and I will always be a teenager. This time Dirk Jones is thrusted into a tangle with another mob (see what I did there?). There is kidnapping, murder, stunts, and much martial arts fighting. Third short film is ‘The Waiting Wolf’ where a supposedly mystery woman seeks out karate master Jack claiming to be stalked by an evil man? After Jack’s assistant is beaten up and goes to have a looksee and Desiree is super happy to see a fight about to go down. But in the end the joke is always going to be on her bitchy ass! As I am sure David would call it “a twisted adult tale”. Plus a fun hidden gem is the promos for ‘Meat for Satan’s Icebox’! As usual fun stuff from this wonderful couple and let’s not forget an entertaining performance from Bill C. Kelley as I give this collection 3 out of 4 stars.  

Le Prix Du Danger (VHS) – A few of yinz may know this 1983 French film as “The Prize of Peril”? Anyway, you remember the film “The Running Man” with Arnold? Well this gritty feature predates the flick by four years and pretty much it looks like as usual the American Hollywood ripped that shit off. If interested, it’s worth jumping down the rabbit hole to go look for this one as it has a quite different ending I wasn’t sure how to fell about as I give the flick 3 stars. But to be honest now that I know this exist it still won’t change my mind on how much I love the Arnold flick.

Blood, Guts, and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida (Blu-ray) – A documentary that tackles the rich history of independent filmmaking in the state of Florida and how it has produced several Indy gems over the years from several talented individuals. Sean Donohue puts together the usual great doc that talk: Creature from the Black Lagoon to Bob Clark to Tim Ritter to Stanley to H.G. Lewis to Joel D. Wynkoop. Donohue is able to give the world a lot of inside stuff most fans may not know about and like most documentaries they can start to repeat conversations if left long enough but just when you think it’s over? It isn’t and it is actually kind of a shock about 80 or so minutes in at what one person’s opinion of the Florida filmmaking scene is… I give Mr. Donohue credit for leaving this in and getting others comments about this after it is said. As usual to some Sean and company might be an acquired taste among horror fans but to me they are some talented people down there in that sunshine state as I give this documentary 3 ½ out of 4 stars.

The Lair (On Demand) – A creature feature from Neil Marshall that takes place April 2017 in the Afghan Mountains unofficially where a royal Air Force pilot is shot down behind enemy lines. As she fights for survival from oncoming soldiers she stumbles upon a hidden bunker that she forces her way in. Chased inside and fighting for her life they all stumble upon a secret Russian experiment. Escaping barely from this bunker the pilot is picked up by a U.S. military team and taken too this desolate outpost that is there for the rejects of the military. But it doesn’t take long for these creatures to break out and track her down as they were bred for unnatural reasons and left abandoned as now these tough bastards are awake. Fun creature feature that felt a little clunky but still enjoyable as I give it 3 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!