Tag Archives: Brad Twigg

Gross Movie Reviews #700

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Nightmares Unleashed (DVD) – The newest project to come out of MMH Productions where this kind sir goes out of their comfort zone to bring something I would perhaps call “Fantasy horror”. A young woman has just gotten a new VHS tape called ‘Cult of the Scarecrow’ and quickly finds herself sucked into the movie by an evil jester called, “Joseph the Clown”. At first being a huge horror fan the young woman believes it is just wild to be standing near the cult members and be in the movie but then it all becomes too real as the cult members want a virgin! She is saved for now by a young man Matthew who has been looking for his sister. Together Raven and Matthew must cross several movies to fight off witches, zombies, tree monsters, a demented scientist, vampires, a summer camp killer, and a fun house to escape Joseph as he has created in this movie world a prison for him to play with people who watch these obscure horror films. Raven and Matthew’s goal becomes saving the kids to defeat Joseph but that only sounds good in theory. The project dares to be totally different, has a ‘Funnyman’ kind of vibe to it, and the Joseph the clown character keeps the film creepy yet alluring at the same time and for that I gotta give this interesting piece of cinema 3 out of 4 stars.    

Deathboard (DVD) – This 2020 Brad Twigg horror film may have gotten overlooked as a lot of projects did during that year revolves around a young woman buying a beautiful house cheap. Once a group of friends come over to help celebrate she lets them in on how she got it so cheap and couldn’t pass it up. As she explains the house used to be the home of a brutal psycho four years ago but has since passed. Of course Val and friends go investigate the basement that even when buying no one looked at? But they find an Ouija board and kiddingly try to conjure the spirit of the brutal killer of Psycho Cyrus. After a scene of pizza eating, dealing with sexual harassment pizza guy, too much drinking, too much sharing about their sexual encounters, we get to the good stuff as the killer wastes no time slaughtering their way through the friends. But wait there is more… what comes with this cool little project is not just the great ‘Slumber Party Massacre’ and ‘Sorority Babes in the Slime Bowl-O-Rama’ vibes but a cool ending that ties some things together as I gotta give this little known Indie feature 3 out of 4 stars.

Creep Footage 3: ‘Night Nurse (DVD) – Didn’t even see the first two films, hell didn’t know they existed but when did that ever stop me from watching sequels out of order? Anyway, this 23 minute short that is done like a cool History channel-style documentary of sorts about a character ‘Nurse Candy’. This said Nurse Candy who interacts with a dangerous patient ‘Apple’ in asylum is the direct cause of an evil event Halloween 1988. The person Apple was already a danger but the actions of Nurse Candy led this Apple character to an evil night of bloodshed. Documentary, found footage stuff I will leave it to you what you think but great people involved with the short and glad a great young actor pointed it out to me as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

The Priest: Thanksgiving Massacre (Tubi) – You know me kids if I am not tracking down Amityville flicks I gotta keep that ‘massacre’ list going as many years ago a priest commits a terrible sin then doubles down on it by committing suicide. Now present day a family is spending an awkward holiday at a secluded cabin in the woods together. We learn because of dad’s porn star girlfriend using the steam room too much it awakens the undead priest from under the floor boards of said cabin. They all believe it is the son trying to be creepy and watch his sister undress in the crawlspace even though he finds the journal of the undead priest. But it is all set into motion as this undead bastard can smell sin in the air! Once after the journal is found and looks like this film is going to be a lot of awkward fun it comes to a screeching crawl of waiting for this undead bastard to kill them all which of course doesn’t happen. People yinz had something here and yinz let go to waste as this was barely a massacre so I can only give it 1 star.

Amityville Aliens (DVD) – So entry #77 has come into our lives as a 75 minute project that is a project that featuring shorts put together in a way that connects to Amityville? The film begins with legendary Donald Farmer intro that leads into the films we are about to watch were confiscated from a Black Ops shelter in New Mexico about alien encounters in Amityville, New York. The first short takes us into a post-apocalyptic war between aliens and residents of Amityville. The second short film is Martian Girl Massacre which is a delightfully gooey mess about a young woman being possessed by a giant pink alien in the backyard that causes her to slaughter friends in return her prize is being slaughtered horribly by the alien. Third short film is a black and white throwback where Galactic Samurai Schoolgirls visiting Amityville to gather men but instead find some mobster underlings. The fourth short film takes place in 1928 Amityville where an older woman and her shotgun have an encounter with a stop motion werewolf in armor. Oh by the way nevermind the Miller High Life box you’ll see in the cupboard at the beginning, remember its 1928… The fifth short comes off as an old paranormal public access show tackling aliens in Amityville and they reveal the main cause of the horror in Amityville is the space fungus in the soil? This entry is quite entertaining, hell hilarious at times but two things here: first I would have arranged these shorts very differently because I would have ended the project with the post-apocalyptic short instead of opening the film with it. This just throws off the vibe of watching these “so-called” confiscated films plus I felt that project was a terrible lead into Martian Girl Massacre which is a fun watch on its own. Second the two highlights that will have Amityville fans clamoring for more are the Martian Girl Massacre and Galactic Samurai Schoolgirls. These two projects are the most polished but most importantly felt like they were the most versatile as they could be put out there in the world on their own but at the same time they fit perfectly into an Amityville space anthology. I would go as far as maybe these two projects overshadow the others but hey I just review these things as I give entry #77 into the series 2 ½ out of 4 stars. P.S. you can always send me your Amityville arguments or comments.

Bionic Ninja (YouTube) – Well apparently someone was bored again on social media as they declared “this movie is the worst of all time”. Of course you now have my attention just because of the title but I hate when people do this because I hate to say it “you are usually wrong”. It’s just an opinion kids. This 1986 film has a secret tech film stolen in Hong Kong that has the KGB and CIA fighting over possession of it. Sadly there aren’t any cyborg ninjas but there is a bunch of non-stealthy ninjas employed by the KGB who want the film. Beginning to end it is filled with ninjas, fights, car stunts, and even the Miami Vice theme song?! Even though the whole film is based on which world power will get this secret it feels like this film was all about random ninjas being non-stealthy unlike some of the other early 80s ninja films that are classics. Sorry kids go back to social media claim some other bullshit because this movie was far from being the worst as I found it quite entertaining at times as I give it at least 2 stars. Also have yinz ever watched Hereditary? Now there is at least an argument to throw out there on your Google machines…

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!  

Oh yes, we have another guest announcement for Grossfest 2026!

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Over the past decade this person has directed and produced over forty films that started with such titles: “MILFS vs. Zombies” and “Frames of Fear”. Over the decade he has slowly carved a nice niche in the independent genre with popular titles: “Wrestlemassacre” and “Shriekshow”. But a couple recent titles really have the independent community celebrating his work with “Killer Campout 1 and 2”, “Crackcoon”, and “Cracula”… Yes Grossfest fans give this exciting filmmaker a warm welcome as it is… Brad Twigg!

Grossfest 2026 – July 31st-August 1st

Friday 4-10pm

Saturday 11-7pm

Tickets: $15 for one day or $20 for both days

Vendor tables are $100 each and come with two passes (tables will go up to purchase soon)

Movie room schedule will come closer to event and of course we have a tattoo room

www.grossfest.com

Comfort Inn Conference Center

699 Rodi Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15235

(412) 244-1600

Oh yeah, we got more Grossfest 2026 announcements to make!

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This next Grossfest 2026 guest announcement should not surprise anyone as her presence on screen since she started her career a few years back has made her a must see in the independent genre. In the short time she has been an actor she has already worked on some stand out films such as Deathboard, The Legend of Crick Foot, and A Cheesy Christmas which proved with each project she will be a favorite to see for many years. We can only be talking about the entertaining young lady… Melissa Sapienza!

Grossfest 2026 – July 31st-August 1st

Friday 4-10pm

Saturday 11-7pm

Tickets: $15 for one day or $20 for both days

Vendor tables are $100 each and come with two passes (tables will go up to purchase soon)

Movie room schedule will come closer to event and of course we have a tattoo room

www.grossfest.com

Comfort Inn Conference Center

699 Rodi Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15235

(412) 244-1600

Gross Movie Reviews #645

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Alien: Romulus (Theater) – So this installment takes place about twenty years after the original Nostromo blowing up and a space research mission picks up the remains of the explosion. Now floating unmanned in space and about to crash into the rings of a terraformed planet with no sunlight some young folks get an idea of escaping the life term of dangerous work of going to salvage the cryotubes from the dead space station. They fly up and connect with the dead craft to explore and be in and out but it all goes wrong when they have to go hit the research lab? This is where the story literally tries to incorporate every ‘Alien’ film ever made in one way or another… Now saying that what is funny this might be the first entry you may not need to watch the others to understand what is going on? The film gives us a bit of everything including the dreaded Ripley Scott’s vision of Prometheus which is for a different conversation but doesn’t belong to this? Bottom line fans of this franchise there should be an entry every 16 to 18 months like the ‘Puppet Master’ series. Problem is Ridley Scott needs to let go or do we all forget he claimed “to be done with the series in the 80s” until 20th Century Fox came calling with their check book and wanting a sequel to ‘Blade Runner’? Or do all yinz horror fans forget that shit? Another conversation for another time (GIMME NEIL Bolmkamp’s vision of the real “Alien 3”), sorry this movie opens that door for me to bitch! Anyhow don’t pay too much attention to the Prometheus shit as this movie was good but not great but worthy of rewatching several times because they got it right! I give it 3 stars now please give me a series of films with the Colonial Marines and yes my photo is on a recent Aliens comic… Go check I am not lying!

Zombies Invade Pittsburg (Vimeo) – This movie is so rare it took someone (Ninja Master Dan Komarek) digging  around archive.org and someone who posted this once watched Public TV movie posted on Vimeo to make me aware and for me explain to both parties this is most likely a Florida film? Long story kids… From Jess Turner productions and released in 1996 but actually made in 1988 after much research by me it is not a Pittsburgh, Pa., zombie flick. First, yinz forget the “H” n’at at the end of Pittsburgh, Pa., which is a dead giveaway along with the palm trees but let’s move on. A barrel of unknown goo is leaking into the waterways and the police are baffled of how it got there or what it could be? After a few phone calls and long scenes of the sheriff talking to people making himself look important he finds out it’s entirely the government’s fault that cleans it up quickly. But for the love of Rutger Hauer it is too late as the goo has leeched into the waterways and cemeteries and the dead are rising. The film has some blood but most of the film is shot too dark for a lot of the zombie scenes, along with no real ending after 88 minutes but still fun for weird nostalgia reasons as I give it 2 out of 4 stars.

Rejected (YouTube) – This short film from Rene Riva Productions is an interesting one as they made an anthology into 15 minutes with a ‘VHS’ vibe. It is late November 1997 at the Sonu Studios and a couple of TV hosts are showing the rejected ads for the new Sonu digital camera that takes floppy disk. The characters in these ads that use the new advanced camera face certain death! Plain and simple this is 15 minutes of horror awesomeness done right as I give this short film project 4 out of 4 stars.

Killer Campout II (DVD) – Brad Twigg and folks head back to the woods a few years later for this sequel to give Indy horror fans a supernatural slasher. It is 1990 and Camp Phoenix has reopened for an open minded camp counselor guru who wants troubled teenagers to find themselves while camping at Camp Phoenix. But three dysfunctional misfits decide it’s a good idea to dig up the corpse of a serial killer, Blackwell, to perform a satanic ritual and of course that won’t go bad? Once raised from the grave the evil force known as Blackwell wastes no time to slaughter all in his woods! A very solid Indy cast that seems to fit their roles and are not just throw-ins, a good amount of gore, and some awkward sex scenes to satisfy the slasher formula for viewers. But if I was to point out something I would love to see this edited down to about 78 minutes instead of its 93 minute running time as a few scenes linger a little too long at times but still gotta give this sequel 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Babezilla vs. The Cyber Skanks: Rise of the Mecha Babezilla (DVD) – Please check your brain at the door before watching as Hojbob Productions wants to make sure you are in for a roller coaster ride of sleaze! The latest from filmmaker Andrew J. Chambers where you know exactly what you are in for immediately as the movie opens with a hilarious disclaimer. The main plot of this sleaze is creepy corporate types wanna turn beautiful young ladies into robotic skanks to fight their nemesis “Babezilla”. They are tired of her kicking their ass with her laser shooting titties! So when Babezilla isn’t fighting zombies or doing terrible porn she likes to do meet and greets to meet her fans. There is where the Cyber Skanks try to tackle the superhero for good but fail only to have Babezilla track them down to their evil lair. If you like sleaze, great casting of Indy stars (Jessa Flux, Kelsey Livengood, Clint Beaver, and Ginger Lynn), bad taste, and a kung fu master (?) known as Master Beta? Then yinz are in for a gringe worthy treat in another adventure of Babezilla as I give this hilarious project 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Die, Daisy, Die! (DVD) – Mark Mackner returns to a long running character of his creation named Daisy Derkins (four features and a short film). After the much loved superhero Daisy defeats a lizard person she wants to settle down a bit and open a comic book shop. But hey let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves as Daisy understands there is no guarantee running a business and takes up a second job with the new shady dating app everyone is using in town called “DateGo”. The app is all the rage but it is all to help financials of the humanoid lizards and their attempts to stop the great Daisy Derkins and her amazing superhero antics. The humanoid lizards come up with a convoluted plan to go back in time with another villain “The Dawn Avenger” to not kill Daisy but to rewrite history for they won’t have to lose to her again in their fight to take over the world. Meanwhile Daisy is just worried what it is like to be interviewed on Public Access TV for her grand opening of her new comic book shop. This is like some weird alternate universe Troma film from the late 90s but hey look at that Lloyd Kaufman shows up to play himself and throw off the weird timeline of a serial killer returning to the present with the lizard creatures and Daisy as she must stop them all. Did you understand all that because I am still trying too as I give this project 2 ½ 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!

Gross Movie Reviews #569

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Gross Movie Reviews #569

Zombies from Sector 9 (DVD) – A filmmaker named Rob Ceus has made this crazy Indy zombie flick out of Belgium! Anyway it is set back in 1986 where a nuclear accident has happened in Crittersville and the next day the recently deceased have become the undead. Three years have passed and Crittersville area or now called “Sector 9” is known to be the zombie outbreak area and a man known as Bookwalker roams the area but the outbreak is starting to spread beyond Sector 9. After Bookwalker loses his wife and kid this sets him on the path of destroying all zombies and vicious raiders alike in his path. The independent film with its gore-filled effects fits right in with the early works of a Todd Sheets or a J.R. Bookwalter that will make Indy fans crave to see this flick again and again. The only overall flaw of the film if I am going to point something out would be the pacing as it makes the film seem cobbled together at times but I still enjoyed as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

The Prison Island Massacre (DVD) – What in the Rutger Hauer have I found myself watching as I have dived deeper into the “massacre” genre with this 2007 film that is also known as ‘Angel of Death 2’ and ‘Women Behind Bars 4’ among a few other titles in a foreign languages. This German film stars the effects of Olaf Ittenbach and Jess Franco’s wife as the prison warden! If anything you know are in for something alright when you get wide shots of this mysterious island and the jail cells are held together by chains and padlocks. Young women are sent to this isolated prison to be tortured, killed, or worse for the warden’s pleasure… When there isn’t some weird German porn thing going on apparently prisoners escape on a regular basis to give the film some plot? If nothing else we do get a great scene of a mercenary trying to help the women out but gets captured, then scalped for his attempt. In the end I didn’t know if I was disappointed or just happy this wasn’t full blown German porn? Watch it and you’ll understand as I give this mess 1 ½ stars.

Clown Fear (DVD) – Hey, another killer clown film at 110 F’N minutes, yes this sounds like a horrible idea. Even though it stars Sadie Katz and Sarah French that isn’t nearly enough to save this clown horror film set in Clown City, USA. A woman, Augie Duke is left at the altar in Vegas so her in her three bridesmaids jump into the car to party and breakdown near “The Clown Inn”. From there it is all jokes and fun until the “Clown Clan” show up to take care of the outsiders! See the backstory is a small town sees clowns as a religion so again why in the fuck is this stupid ass film 110 minutes long? Again independent filmmakers I love yinz all but take note yinz ain’t makin’ “Avengers: Endgame” and never will! EDIT YOUR MOVIE! I give this boring garbage 1 star.   

Shriekshow (Blu-ray) – One of the hardest working independent filmmakers around, Brad Twigg, is back with his latest project that is an anthology of sorts. It does run an hour and 45 minutes but like most of Brad’s projects he does have an actual script/story that covers the time. Intentional or unintentional I enjoyed the beginning of the film as it felt like a montage to ‘Halloween 4’. But the film is about four friends heading out on Halloween to these so-called haunted fairgrounds to investigate. Its Halloween, soon as you see these sets or fairgrounds there is a lot of people that would love to check this shit out so even if it lingering a little in the beginning horror fans will understand because of the beauty of the sets. After entering a tent the four believed was empty they are introduced to a ringmaster who has three stories to tell. All three scary stories are solid, have a little gore, well-written, and a great cast. As the stories are being told the group quickly finds out the abandoned fairgrounds are not so abandoned. Thanks to Brad for tackling a tough subject “clown horror” and not falling into dumb ass shit like most filmmakers have and giving us horror fans another Indy anthology that we will be proud to show friends as I give the film 3 out of 4 stars.

Censor (DVD) – Enid is a part of the British Censor Board in the early 80s help deciding what films get cut or downright rejected. Enid picks a part horror films constantly and now feeling even more pressure to just cut films completely her past comes back to start haunting her as Enid’s sister went missing when she was younger and never found. When the film ‘Deranged’ gets passed and public flack hits back at the censor board Enid cracks under pressure in this dream-state and goes down this wormhole of murder and mayhem! Her dark secrets are revealed about her sister in the end or were they as the film leaves it up to you the viewer what actually happened as I give this weird dreamy horror film 3 stars.

Midnight (Remake/DVD) – This Indy flick falls into the category of why? In 1982 John Russo actually made a good horror film and then made the mistake of allowing Gary Lee Vincent to update it. Now for the why: Why filmmakers do you wanna remake something that was actually good or considered good when there is so much crap out there aka “Blood Freak” that is worth remaking or at least attempting to remake? You are only setting yourself up for failure unless you have a perfect script… And in this case you didn’t have that! A young woman Nancy takes off from home after her stepfather tries to have sex with her. After a bunch of filler for the film Nancy runs into a family who kills in the name of Satan as their family believes blood gives them energy for their satanic powers. Sorry Gary I know you mean well and great friends with Russo but this was a terrible idea from beginning to end and a mistake as I give it a ½ out of 4 stars.

Bigfoot Blood Trap (DVD) – So 5 ½ minutes in and I knew I chose wrongly watching this trash as the set up for the film is creepy old dude in the woods filming two semi-ugly women in the woods who are awkwardly touching each other and then suddenly have a shotgun to shoot at Bigfoot! They take a few shots, and one of them kills Baby Bigfoot. Thank the lord Rutger Hauer I was drinking because that was the only way I was getting through this hot garbage. Meanwhile a young woman inherits the land that Bigfoot roams along with creepy old dudes with cell phones who film ugly women. Anyhow she heard the Bigfoot stories and just like most dumb white people she wants to find and capture Bigfoot. Well of course that is a terrible mistake! And next thing I know more than half of this piece of garbage is some fake doctor getting involved and using Bigfoot as an experiment to breed with human women that they kidnap. Problem with this experiment, Bigfoot hates tattoos! If this film wasn’t so poorly written and acted I would have laughed my ass off the whole time. But I just kept thinking there isn’t enough beer in my house to make me forget this mess as I give this film 0 stars.

Wyrmwood Apocalypse (On Demand) – Super disappointed with the first film as it promised “The Road Warrior meets Day of the Dead” and instead it gave me ‘meh’ so I still tried out the sequel because it’s me. Reese is a lone military man who has lived among the living dead for a long period of time and uses the zombies for fuel among other things for himself. When he isn’t doing that he captures zombies to report back to this underground bunker in hopes for a cure? One day he trips across a hybrid that he feels the bunker will definitely want for the cure. Problem arises when Reese truly doesn’t know what is going on in the underground bunker until he runs into the original hybrid. He goes AWOL and finds out he has been lied to the whole time about the cure and wants to destroy the bunker as he claims “they took his soul”. This film had much better story, pacing, interesting characters, and lots of splatter for the gorehounds as the sequel redeems the disappointment a few years ago as I give it 3 stars.

Hell Van (DVD) – Jorge Delarosa spent almost five years and $75000 putting this passion project together.  If there is anyone that is talented enough to tackle Satanic shit in independent films and not get lost a quarter of the way through, it would be the talented Jorge Delarosa. The setting is a small town called Midway, Texas where everyone knows everyone. After a suspect accused of church burnings burns a church full of kids goes on the run and commits suicide in his van bizarre events begin to happen. Anyone that approaches or is connected to this possessed van die a very horrible death and only Sheriff Redhorse can stop this madness! Mr. Delarosa doesn’t just make a typical possessed car film but tackled it to the ground with such force that the film comes off as Mr. Delarosa shows off how talented he is behind the camera in all forms. We have explosions, burning people, eyeballs being ripped out, zombies, interesting characters you care about, chaotic satanic images to help tell the story, and the music is just the icing on the cake (music is usually forgotten in Indy films not understanding it can enhance the viewing experience). If you didn’t know what I already knew you will after watching this satanic blessing of filmmaking that Mr. Delarosa is an independent filmmaking force that needs more attention. And his latest film is a wonderful blend of Satan, horror, and blood without losing its way of telling a story as I give this film 3 ½ out of 4 stars as ‘Hell Van’ will be a favorite among independent horror fans for years to come.  

The Puma Man (DVD) – The film stars Donald Pleasance in pleather controlling people with an ancient alien Aztec mask as a man named Tony Thorn comes along and is declared a god who will bring Pleasance and his pleather to his knees! But only if he puts on his Puma Man belt and turns into a generic version of ‘The Greatest American Hero’ William Katt. Super hilarious mess of a film as I give it 2 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!

Gross Movie Reviews #540

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Gross Movie Reviews #540

The Beast Beneath (DVD) – In a small town of Desert Valley, California an earthquake wakens its residents in the middle of the night with its shakes and simmers but nothing is thought of it. But this event has caused a monster to emerge from its slumber in the desert and it is time for the beast to snack on its new food source… humans! After a few people go missing the local authorities get involved and act like the disappearances are not that big of a deal but the mayor knows and wants it kept quiet. The beast is brought to the attention of a brilliant scientist (Brinke Stevens) and she is trying to work on a quick answer for the monstrous problem but when someone being attacked is caught on social media the mayor and police have no choice but to blow it up. The build-up of this low budget monster flick was a lot of fun and on par with what we used to get from SyFy Channel in the mid-2000s but the ending or non-ending was not the payoff I think viewers will be looking for as I give the film 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Stale Popcorn & Sticky Floors (DVD) – Another cool documentary that covers some of the memorable grindhouse, horror, and B-movie titles from the 70s and 80s we grew up watching. There is interviews and stories from such stars of iconic films such as Lynn Lowry, Camilla Carr, Brinke Stevens, and a host of others. And people let’s not forget Frank Farel is on here telling more stories about one of my favorite films of all time ‘Spookies’! The doc separates itself enough from others as the stars tell stories about one film that was picked such as an ‘I Spit on Your Grave’. This title doesn’t come off as interviews as much as you the viewer just grabbed a beer with said star and you are ready for story time and for that I give it 4 out of 4 stars.

Cult of the Cobra (DVD) – A bunch of U.S. service men on leave pay a hundred bucks to be sneaked into a secret meeting to witness a woman who has the ability to change into a snake. To their disbelief she does but one of them tries to take a photo and a scuffle ensues and the service men attempt to kidnap this special oddity. She gets away and of course the men are all warned they will all die but they don’t care as their deployment is over and they are heading home for good. Some time passes by and the men settled into their homes back in New York not knowing the precious snake woman has traveled there to seek her revenge. One by one the men fall but the snake woman might be having a change of heart as one of the men has taken time to be very friendly with her let’s say as I give this mid-50s flick 2 stars.

Death Rink (DVD) – The film is set in the year 2001 at the “Roller King!” roller skating rink where Rachel the manager is hanging out with the younger employees for an impromptu birthday party. They play games, smoke tea bags, eat pizza, discuss the lawsuits against the roller rink, along with wondering who in the hell is the person or ex-employee that calls every night to yell “Satan” into the phone. Things are going great and the fun is starting to whine down as everyone wants to leave at some point including Rachel as her boyfriend finally called her back… But an unwanted guest has found their way into the rink while they close up shop. This unknown individual slowly kills the employees one by one. Everything about this movie screams I should love it. Now don’t get me wrong this isn’t a horrible horror film as it had a great cast, great dialogue, some blood, great location, but it all just didn’t add up to success for me as I thought this film could have pressed the gas and gone over the top? Instead I felt the film found a way to limp over the finish line in the end as I give it 2 stars.

The Earth Dies Screaming (DVD) – This is a quick mid-60s post-apocalyptic flick where one day people around the world all die at the same time except for a select few. After a small group of people find themselves holed up at a hotel they figure out they were not in the open when this all happened and believe it could have been a gas attack? To make matters worse generic alien robots walk and a “zombie pace” and cannot be killed by guns but their asses are no match for a jeep. And just when the humans thought they were screwed enough, “oh yay if you are killed by an alien they zombified your ass and control you.” The only hope is if these select few humans figure out how to stop these slow ass trash cans from taking over the world as I give it 2 stars.

Brimstone Incorporated (DVD/Vimeo) – An interesting low budget anthology film directed by Indy vets James L. Edwards and Brad Twigg. The three stories are straight forward serious horror stories which are usually hard to pull off in the low budget world but this crew did it as the titles are: First Date, Mama’s Boy, and Skunkweed. And the wraparound story is called Temper and Associates but we will get to that in a bit. Without spoiling too much First Date gets a little uncomfortable (watch for the kiss you’ll understand), second story Mama’s Boy is not exactly what you think it is which makes it a pleasant surprise, and the third story is about a man who may have been given bad weed? Or was it? But the most interesting thing was the wraparound story as these days seems to be a throw away in the Indy world in my opinion. But these fine filmmakers took a cue possibly from 70s British anthologies and made the wraparound their strength as a character from each story is being reviewed by Gregory to decide where they will fit in “down here or in the corporation”. The Gregory character was actually my favorite thing of the anthology but this film is based more on the great performances from the actors than just throwing gallons of blood and gore against the wall. This is an anthology I will be pointing out to people for years to come as this cast was one of the best I seen for an Indy anthology in years. So if you are looking for a great not subpar Indy anthology look no further than this new feature Mr. Edwards and Mr. Twigg as I give it 3 ½ out of 4 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/ !  

Gross Movie Reviews #522

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Gross Movie Reviews #522

III: Final Contagium (DVD) – So first of all the title since it isn’t from the US I have seen a couple ways you the viewer are supposed to say the title: a) the way I have written it, b) I also had someone explain to me it was (ILL: Final Contagium) which makes some sense for what the film is…, c) also I have had one person email me claiming it is third in the series (which after a very short internet search it is not, but that dude insisted, hahaha). Anyway folks we have a film that is broken into four segments like anthology of sorts where a deadly virus has been unleashed. What connect all the stories are the ongoing news reports on television and radio throughout the segments has four filmmakers contributed to this project. First story is a man picking up a dying woman, second story is about a man seeming like he is helping another out on the street, third is about body modifications going wrong, and the fourth story is about a man trying to save his son at the edge of the end of the world. It is a gooey, fun, disturbing watch for all as I give it 3 stars.

 

Scalps (DVD) – Not the horror film but a western from 1987 that was written by no other, Bruno Mattei! A confederate officer of a Texas fort refuses to admit the Civil War is over and it is time to put down arms. (Sounds very close to what is going on in Washington D.C. right now). Still believing in the war and they have yet to surrender the officer sends troops into Indian land to ravage the land and steal a squaw he fancies. She escapes on the travel back to the fort and finds a lonely rancher who retired from the mess that was called the confederate army after his wife was raped and killed. Both farmer and Indian dislike each other but that doesn’t stop these two from hating this little army of soldiers more as they both have issues with them. So as they try to escape they dish out their own kind of justice to this army as they are to be tracked down and killed. I give this interesting western 2 ½ stars.

 

Interviewing Monsters and Bigfoot (On Demand) – Tom Green is a Missouri forest ranger who is always giving a guy they call the professor trouble because he is always in search of Bigfoot. The professor is a widow and lost his wife in an accident when they witnessed Bigfoot years ago and thus setting in motion his search. The Bigfoot sightings are up again and the professor and crew are setting up a trap for it. But unknown to them the forest ranger and the government actually know that Bigfoot exists! The film has monsters, hillbillies, Bigfoot Hunters, a demented forest ranger, and a cover up by a government agency called M.I.G. This sounds like a wonderfully hilarious formula but once the film gets halfway through it seems to lose its way and quickly becomes a hot mess that had potential as I give the film 2 stars.

 

Max Reload and The Nether Blasters (On Demand) – First, I totally believe this film was just pooped out there in the movie verse just because… But second, this film is what you would call a very nostalgic nerd fest that will have viewers loving it or super annoyed and not finish watching the film. The film has some comi-con all-stars and its plot is about a cursed Collecovision game called ‘The Nether Blasters’. (I kept calling it an Atari 2600 game on our Bloodbaths and Boomsticks podcast, lol.) Anyway, Max is a young gamer who works the local gaming store owned by Kevin Smith who is about to spend a weekend in the VR world.  Max being pressured by his father, Martin Kove to go to that tech school to build games but Max is a slacker. So it isn’t unexpected an old dude known as the ‘Harvester’ leaves an old Collecovision and one of a kind thought to be lost game  ‘The Nether Blasters’ and of course Max plays it and beats it quickly. Just like today’s generation he posts his walk through online and this causes the game demons to start taking over all who play. The game quickly goes global and it’s up to Max, his two friends, and the creators to destroy this Harvester and his plans. As the Harvester collects souls and gains them through gameplay. I give the film 2 ½ stars as it has its moments but also feels like one of those movies you will forget about within the hour after.

MILFS vs. Zombies (DVD) – Another Brad Twigg creation that five seconds in has zombies rampaging a small community. No real reason for the undead walking earth again other than they are chomping on the people and eventually fight the MILFS! It takes about hour or so in before we get to see MILFS fighting zombies so in between all that you literally get to see 25 or so independent horror ideas thrown in to see what works… If anything? We get a zombie critter, a sex party, a mer-man, naked zombies, dick ripping, a guy acting like a dog, bad husbands, and even a dead man’s spirit throwing a machete to his wife to defend herself against the zombie horde. I am sure Brad Twigg wasn’t setting out to remake Romero’s ‘Day of the Dead’ so I believe he may have missed what he was actually going for here. As with a title like that the film should have established the MILFS fighting the zombies from the beginning and still could have had all your random nudity. I give the film maybe 2 stars as for me it comes off as just throwing random stuff into a film more than having an actual plot or structure to what is going on?

 

The Cape Canaveral Monsters (DVD) – This deep dive into drive-in monster obscurity had me watching a 1960 flick where aliens show up on earth to cause issues for the US space program that we now call NASA. The aliens arrive and quickly cause a car accident to take over the couples’ bodies inside. Once the bodies are taken over it is time cause havoc and communicate with other aliens through a fish bowl in a cave they are hiding in. The film is a friendly reminder of fun B-movies to watch from the past but also to actually truly enjoy it would be to watch it at a drive-in with a couple other features of the same ilk. For that I give the film 2 ½ stars.

 

Die-B-Que (DVD) – Supposedly this is a 1986 S.O.V. film that runs about 32 minutes long from filmmaker Jackson Furley, which also looks to be his only film. Apparently the film with some lost footage got put back together in 2011 for S.O.V. fans to enjoy the lost film. The story is about friends who are traveling to a big BBQ party that is interrupted by a rodent infecting their food and drink with its anal leakage. As the party goers ingest the infected food and drink they become zombies ready to attack their friends. But the film ends quickly after it gets going with some behind the scenes footage afterwards. It isn’t anything too exciting but being a fan of these low budget projects it would have been awesome to see what else they would have filmed or put together in their end product. I give the S.O.V. flick 2 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/ !  

Gross Movie Reviews #520

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Gross Movie Reviews #520

 

Wrestlemassacre (DVD) – Brad Twigg turns his short film of the same name into a full feature about a groundskeeper named Randy. Randy is an awkward/shy individual who loves wrestling and literally looks like a smaller version of Bruiser Brody (perfect for the film). His admiring of a customer Becky and another customer’s big breasted wife causes Randy to lose his job but opens an opportunity to jump into wrestling school and live the dream. For Randy the dream comes crashing down when he is laughed at the wrestling school thus causing him to snap! He kills his father and starts a downward spiral into a murder spree of where Randy turns into an insane wrestler hell-bent on wrestling his victim then killing all who wronged him. I absolutely love the concept; Richie Acevedo is perfect in the role of Randy, and love seeing some of the wrestler’s cameos. But Mr. Twigg makes the mistake a lot of independent filmmakers make and that is allowing the film to go on too long. There are whole scenes that could have been sliced out of this 100 minute feature including no one dying until the 53 minute mark of the film. I enjoy this film exists but with some editing I just feel this film could have been so much more for horror fans as I give it 2 stars.

 

Random Acts of Violence (Shudder) – So there is a comic book about a serial killer called “Slasherman”. Slasherman comic is written by a young man who uses the unsolved killings of the I-90 killer between 1986-1991as inspiration for his idea. He has these visions and puts them to paper. His independent comic is pretty popular but the writer is having issues bringing the comic to a close. So he is hitting the road with his crew to hit up some comic book shops for signings and so on to hopefully he can end this saga he started. But leaving some of his comics at a dying gas station for customers to purchase brings the killer out of retirement who would like to help give Slasherman a true ending? The film has some really nice gory parts but the story feels very uneven and leaves you wanting more but not in a good way… Like the film was missing something from the beginning for that I can only give the film 2 stars.

 

Resident Evil: Vendetta (DVD) – Another animated stand-alone film in the franchise that just keeps on going whether ‘Resident Evil’ game and horror fans want to or not. I can scream at you about how stupid the live action films are but most of you already know and agree but the animated features have always been a product that showed more love to the games. The animated features and the people behind them always tried to stick with some of the game storylines and characters unlike the live-action films. In this plot the “Umbrella Corporation” is dead but there have been attacks again by the undead. A man who wants revenge for his dead wife perfects the virus for the undead out of the ashes of the Umbrella Corporation and knows how to control the undead to use it as a Bio-weapon. Chris tracks down Leon to help him save a college professor who has the vaccine for the virus and bring down this maniac that just wants to ruin the world. This entry wasn’t nearly as interesting as the other animated entries but it still better than that cow shit they force fed us fans for several years before as I give it 2 stars.

 

Porno (Shudder) – Another highly anticipated film from Fangoria and Cinestate that takes place with a group of young people working in a movie theater in the early 90s. After a hobo breaks in when the employees are closing the theater for the night a secret basement storage area is found. While looking for the hobo the young employees find a film they want to watch in this secret basement. The hobo runs out and they watch this is weird possibly pornographic psychedelic lost film that these Christian kids have never seen thus unleashing something evil. One by one a succubus tries to tempt them with sex and trying to make their ballsacks explode and oh yeah there is a mangled dong or two. Outside of the fun mangled dong scenes there really isn’t much death going down and what should be a bloodbath of a movie and seems to have quite a few dull moments. The film isn’t a complete mess but also doesn’t make you look forward to a rewatch down the road so stick with ‘Popcorn’ or ‘Midnight Movie’ in the meantime as I give it 1 ½ stars.

Love and Monsters (On Demand) – This fun monster gem is a must see for all audiences as it takes place seven years after the “Monsterapocalypse”. There was an asteroid falling towards Earth. Of course all the governments hurl up all these missiles into space to destroy this rock before impact… it works. Problem is the fallout hitting earth causes all the animals and insects to mutate into large monsters that begin wiping out humanity and force people into underground bunkers. Seven years later Joel is a single bored early twenties dude who cannot help fight the monsters but can make a great minestrone but wants out of the isolation he feels. So he heads out on a mission to find his high school sweetheart Aimee at a bunker on the coast. Along the way he makes friends with Michael Rooker and an eight year old girl who have been living on the surface with the mutated things and teaches Joel some valuable lessons. Joel does find Aimee and there is more to the story but why spoil this amazing creature filled film that you need in your life! This film is sure to be a favorite of most in 2020 as I give 4 stars.

Patchwork (Shudder) – Three women wake up to being stitched together on an exam table with a couple guys talking like this is an everyday thing after being kidnapped at a bar. The three stuck together in the same body must now work together to remember who did this and why? With a couple surprises and a twist along the way the three want their revenge and begin their search for answers with the bar they all remember. They also find love along the way. Think ‘Frankenhooker’ with ‘Re-animator’s’ dark humor and a splash of Peter Jackson and you have a beautiful masterpiece of a dark horror comedy that not enough good words could describe. I would love to say more about the plot but it may ruin some of the surprises throughout the film as I give this gift to the horror genre 4 stars.

 

Bullets of Justice (On Demand) – Well if you haven’t met your quota on weird ass post-apocalyptic flicks this one will help. We meet Rob and his assistant who hunt Muzzles or human/pig hybrids that were a Nazi experiment during WWII and during WWIII someone perfected. Of course this all goes wrong as the world’s military combine forces to fight a losing battle against the Muzzles. With 70% of the population gone and humans is now the food source for the Muzzles and the holy mother Rob is on the search for the holy mother hides so he can destroy this mess of a world. After his latest assistant is killed he requires the help of his sister with a mustache and the knowledge passed down by their father Danny Trejo to find the ultimate pig/human hybrid and kill it! So just to review we got human/pig hybrids, incest, a sister with a mustache that is never explained, lots of mangled dongs, and a bullet shot through someone’s butthole through the peen to kill someone… okay I am in as I give this hot mess of a film 2 ½ 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/ !  

Gross Movie Reviews #498

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Gross Movie Reviews #498

 

Rabid (On Demand/remake) – The Soska sisters take a stab at a Cronenberg classic from the 70s and do a magnificent job! Rose Miller a shy young lady works in the fashion world where her best friend is one of the models. Unbeknownst to Rose her friend Chelsea gets the cute photographer to ask Rose to a party. When Rose learns of the set up through a bathroom conversation she runs out and gets horribly mangled in a car accident. Her face looks like someone took a weed wacker to it and the doctor doesn’t have good news for Rose. Rose moves in with her friend Chelsea and has a tough time of recovery if that is what you wanna call it until she comes upon an ad for “Transhumanism”. The Burroughs Clinic does research outside of the medical boundaries in hopes of coming up with something the world could use? If Rose fits the criteria she would not have to pay anything only to give the doctor some info through follow up visits. After Rose has the experimental surgery she is better than perfect and finds herself having strange dreams. She uses these visions or dreams to start designing and her former boss loves it so much she gets the gig of all gigs with her best friend. Bad news is Rose is spreading a super rabies throughout the city without trying. Her visions may actually be something else like her carving for blood. From there the movie only gets weirder with its love letter ending to Cronenberg as I give it 3 ½ stars folks.

 

Pet Graveyard (DVD) – To be honest I was fully expecting a ‘Pet Sematary’ reboot from the UK but it is a bootleg version of ‘Flatliners’. And didn’t Hollywood already remake that or something? A daredevil by YouTube standards is flunking out of college and convinces two other people that they can visit the other side. Sounds familiar, I know I already said it. But the point is he wants the clicks and to see his dead mother because he is all depressed and shit. They reach the other side by doing some kind of stupid thing called, “Brinking”. Or as I like to call it the writer or filmmaker had an “autoerotic asphyxia” fetish? They say certain words and think of their last memory of their loved one and poof they are in the void. But we all seen this coming because of course something is coming back for your ass because you are messing with god or shit humans are not meant to understand… For that shitty bootleg of a bootleg and yes that cat at the end was wrinkled as fuck I give 1 star.

 

Omnibus of Blood (DVD) – Another recent anthology from the “Fuzzy Monkey Films” crew. It is a collection of independent blood, guts, and sleaze from filmmakers Brad Twigg and Juan Sanchez. ‘Payment Up Front’ may have been my favorite as it reminded me a lot of Trent Haaga’s ‘Deadgirl’. Just another way for these filmmakers to get their short films seen by random people like myself and that isn’t such a bad idea as I give it 2 out of 4 stars.

 

Legend of the Hillbilly Butcher (DVD) – Carl Henry Jessup is a simple man who lives out in the woods alone and just hates when people trespass on his property because they just don’t have any respect. Carl loves reminiscing about the good old days but when Carl isn’t doing that he is looking for meat aka human flesh. When people trespass he hopes they are “Grade A” so he can chop them up in the basement and fry them up for dinner to feed to his woman friend Rae Lynn. But things go south real quick when Rae Lynn finds out about the secret meat. The independent film tries its ass off to have that mid to late 70s to it between how it was shot and keeping the characters interesting enough in this slow burn. It is an interesting Indy project worth checking out for 70s cinema lovers as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Evil Intent (DVD) – An older flick from one of my favorite filmmakers Glenn Berggoetz, which I haven’t had the pleasure of checking out yet. The story begins with three friends: Steph, Paul, and Kelly. Kelly is Paul’s ex-girl but claims to not have any issue with the two hooking up and making it work. Kelly has a new work friend in Tricia who is new in town but becomes best friends with the two girls very quickly as they become “blood sisters”. Steph begins to have depression issues again and forgetfulness that is starting to cause friction between Steph and Paul. Steph keeps taking the needs but nothing changes as she loses her job, sleeps all day, and depression gets worse. Paul being a trooper sticks with Steph even though it soon is not a good thing in the eyes of Kelly. The film switches moods about 3/4s the way in as the story is being told by Steph to her doctor. She goes through the details of her spiral into depression and what events happened next. I am trying not to give too much away as the movie isn’t so much a horror film as much as a solid thriller. Glenn proves even in his earlier films he is a filmmaker that should be noticed as I give the film 3 out of 4 stars.

Zombarella’s House of Whorrors (DVD) – How to best explain this is if a bootleg X-rated episode of Elvira from the late 80s/early 90s got lost and has finally appeared on DVD for the first time. The only time it aired and was unedited with all the sleaze, trailer spots, and hilarious 1-900 number ads. Zombarella of course hosts a three entertaining films that are just jam packed with gore and sleaze and for her to poke fun at including the “Mondo Bizarro”. Just keep paying attention you will understand. But the DVD also includes lots of goodies: commentary, the full Mondo Bizarro episode, deleted scenes, and more trailers from www.sovhorror.com and for that I am thankful as I give the entertaining feature 3 out of 4 stars. (Pay attention also to the trailer titles being advertised during Zombarella’s show… Hilarious shit.)

 

Bliss (Shudder) – A young woman named Dezzy who is an artist that finds a grim blessing for her ultimate project as goes into a crazy visual world of sex and drugs. Not totally sure what is real? Dezzy feels the need for more ‘Bliss’ as she breaks out of her lack of artistry no matter the cost. No words can honestly place this film into a genre as I like to explain it as “enjoy the colors” of this wackado art project and for that I give 3 stars.

 

Love Sick (DVD) – A wonderful little independent short film about a young man named Charles who kidnaps another dude named CJ because he is with his ex-girlfriend Dora. But this isn’t your normal kidnapping as Charles conjures a demon to decide which guy is best for Dora because that makes logical sense. Nothing can go wrong here as I give this funny short film 3 out of 4 stars. Check out https://www.instagram.com/markemiliosciubba/

 

Hoodie (DVD) – Zuckerman and Gordon are the neighborhood watch guys looking into the “Hoodie” gang that has recently entered their community. They find a gang member in the park after hours and call the police. But when the police say they are too busy Zuckerman believes it is a good idea to take things into his own hands. I like the premise with the ending but wish the short film would have just went a little longer as it felt like it had more story to tell? Either way, I give this short film project from www.key13film.com 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

 

Seoul Station (Shudder) – An animated feature that just happens to be a prequel to the wonderful international zombie film ‘Train to Busan’. An old man wanders around the train station bleeding from the neck. Mostly everybody ignores because they just figure it is again another annoying homeless person. Another homeless dude down on his luck tries to get the old man medical help? By the time people take it seriously the old man has changed and walked away attacking humans. The virus spreads quickly but this is just subplot as a father is looking for his daughter in the zombie infested city. This twist in the plot is very interesting but not enough to keep this feature looking even close to watchable compared to ‘Train to Busan’ as I give it 2 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………

Don’t forget you can also hear Kyle Poling, John Shatzer, and me talking about horror flicks 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 and support!

GROSSFEST IS COMING JULY 25TH AND 26TH, 2020… GO TO WWW.GROSSFEST.COM  FOR DETAILS!

 

Gross Movie Reviews #497

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Gross Movie Reviews #497

 

Party Night (DVD) – In a small town where a few girls have gone missing in recent months does not stop a group of six teenagers from ditching their prom. Instead the longtime friends head out to a remote house to party one last time before they all part ways for college. There is some fun to be had at Mount Pleasant Lake and after some high school drama the killing begins. Little known fact in low budget horror films: girls missing, creepy lakefront property, teenagers drinking, and hormones do mean yinz will die. I wasn’t super impressed with the movie but I got to give Troy Escamilla for actually using actors that look the part and using teenage drama to tell the story. Was I mad I watched it, hell no it put me on notice to keep an eye out for future projects from Troy as I give it 2 stars.

 

Timesweep (YouTube) – Dunbar Film Studios is days from being demolished and the studio has been empty for a decade or two. A group of people along with a local news anchor and cameraman arrive at the building to take one last look at film history. As the group enters the building they are transported through time fighting various things and monsters. Not that you would know they were transported through time you get this through some weird side story that is explained about 50 minutes in. When you hear the explanation you totally get why no one cares about this film? But the real story is what the filmmakers used their budget on because this film had a good sum of money and it looks like none of the money showed up on screen. I give this cheap bootleg of ‘My Science Project’ a ½ star just for the mere curiosity of watching it.

A M3owy St. Patrick’s Day (DVD) – I love Steve Rudzinski as he keeps making movies that I would describe to a normal non-movie watching human and they would think I made something up! The third installment in the series picks up in 1993 where Wally’s father arrests a Leprechaun which causes a curse to be placed on Wally in present day. The curse causes Wally and his famous cat Whiskers to switch bodies. This of course means Whiskers gets to eat anything and everything and Wally is left screaming in a cat’s body! Wally’s partner Ellen, now the only functional one of the group must find the prosecutor and the judge from the 1993 case to lift the curse from all three. As usual Steve’s independent film about cats is absolutely hilarious and is a great G-rated introduction into independent film for folks who don’t watch much of it. I give Steve’s cat flick 3 ½ out of 4 stars. Go check it all out at www.silverspotlightfilms.com .

A Meowy Christmas Vacation (DVD) – Steve Rudzinski’s fourth installment picks up from the surprise ending ‘A M3owy St. Patrick’s Day’ where Wally hasn’t been home for months and for good reason. With Wally gone and Ellen still looking for the missing detective Whiskers the cat is paying the bills with funds from its “Instacat” social media posts as apparently millions are following. Meanwhile Wally greeted by an old friend in Rick (Ben Dietels) must adjust to the desolate future of 2050, lizard aliens, and everyone having an eye patch! As Whiskers continues to keep all of Wally’s pets… I mean friends calm until he is back from his long vacation. Wally teams up with the one-eyed warriors to take down Zagel the evil emperor to help prevent this horrible future and get Wally back to 2020. And there is wrestling… Oh and there is Santa Claus. Nope, I am not making this amazing funny shit up. Steve was great again, Ben Dietels was wonderful, and I can’t stop laughing when I think of this movie as I give Steve, his cat, and their friends 3 ½ out of 4 stars. Go check it all out at www.silverspotlightfilms.com .

 

World of Death Volume One (Blu-ray) – A wonderful collection of independent short films from all over the world that even has ‘The Muck’ from Tony Wash. Plus this collection also includes one of the best short films out there that I still laugh at in ‘Invaders’ that involves poor judgment by two would be criminals. The surprise short film from this collection though might be ‘Permanent Press’ about a demon in a Laundromat that has possessed a dryer! Not a bad one in the bunch and there is like 30 in this collection so enjoy as I give the anthology 3 ½ stars. Check out www.wodfilm.com if you dare.

 

Frames of Fear (DVD) – Another independent anthology that involves six films introduced by a character named Festering Frank played by acting vet George Stover. All the films had this nostalgic 90s independent DV feel to me and that is a good thing. But the two short films that stood out for me had to be the one where the guys go digging up rare VHS tapes and one zombie comes for them. And of course ‘Wrestlemassacre’ short was just fucking hilarious if you are a 80s wrestling fan. All solid efforts here as I give anthology 2 ½ stars.

 

Brutality (DVD) – An anthology sequel to ‘Frames of Fear’ as it was also titled ‘Frames of Fear 2’. But anyway Festering Frank is back from the dead again to introduce four new tales from Nathan Hine, Brad Twigg, John Ward, Jim Roberts, and Mike O’Mahony with a wraparound story involving Festering Frank. The two stories ‘The Last Days of Livermore’ and ‘What’s Wrong with Mom?’ were ones I have seen in the past but the other two short films are also pretty solid as we get a killer Santa in a storage unit building. And we get some fucked up baby death going down that may have a hidden message to it… or not. Anyway I give this independent anthology sequel 3 stars.

 

VFW (On Demand) – For the love of John Carpenter thank you Joe Begos for making this idea exist! A new drug called “Hype” has hit the streets and screwing up people quicker than ever before. The drug is making zombies or “Hypers” out of people and tearing cities down. Boz is a drug lord who is about to have a huge deal go down and kills the wrong strung out girl as her sister Lizard takes it personally and steals his stash. Nowhere to run Lizard busts into an old VFW where some old vets are just having their daily drink, watch old videos of women exercising, and telling war stories. A couple of drugged out punks follow her in and that was a big mistake as they attack one of the vets. The old vets take care of the trash pretty quickly in a brutal way. This is where the chaos or war begins as the vets must defend the post and themselves from the onslaught of strung out punks because Boz wants his stash no matter what. This film is absolutely FUCKING AWESOME! The casting of Stephen Lang, Fred Williamson, William Sadler, George Wendt, Martin Kove, and David Patrick Kelly as the war vets is perfect. This is my new ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ as I give possibly 2020s best film of the year 4 stars all the way. I will be watching this flick at least once a year.

 

Guns Akimbo (On Demand) – Daniel Radcliffe continues his pick of odd film roles (but we cinema fans love it) where he plays a nerdy character “Miles” who provoked people online who run a game on the dark web called “Skism”. After meeting the man who created it in Miles’ apartment he is knocked out and awakes with guns bolted to his hands. Miles has 24 hours to kill the “Skism” game champion “Nix” played by Samara Weaving. The movie is bonkers in a good off the rails ‘Hardcore Henry’ way as I give it 3 ½ stars.

 

Lunatic! (DVD) – A short film that runs a little over 38 minutes about two dudes doing a weekend of camping with just the basics. The survival trip includes no cell phones and Scott and Dave are being stalked by an unknown masked maniac. Dave thinks it is a male bonding trip but soon finds out Scott brought him there because Scott has heard about the disappearances in the wooded area and his sister was the latest to disappear. I liked what Erik Vada did with a simple story and how the two characters developed over time. I would have liked it to be a little shorter or get a little more into why this killer exists but hey cannot be too picky as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

 

Low Road (Vimeo) – A Michael McCallum short film that involves a man who is very precise on how to take his revenge for the death of his woman. I give 3 out of 4 stars and don’t forget to check out www.rebelpictures.net .

 

Breaking Wheel (Vimeo) – Another short film from the talented Michael McCallum that involves woman named Nancy who spends months distraught and in disbelief after the disappearance of her boyfriend. Trying to understand the why, what, and how she visits his last destination. As usual great casting, great story, and the shots look perfect as I give this short 3 ½ out of 4 stars and don’t forget to check out www.rebelpictures.net .

 

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………

Don’t forget you can also hear Kyle Poling, John Shatzer, and me talking about horror flicks 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 and support!

GROSSFEST IS COMING JULY 25TH AND 26TH, 2020… GO TO WWW.GROSSFEST.COM  FOR DETAILS!