Tag Archives: Channel 13

Gross Movie Reviews #682

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Christmas Revenge (DVD) – This is the short film by Derek Braasch that was included on Phil Herman’s fun project ‘I Slay Christmas’ anthology two years ago and now has been released on its own with some extras. The quick hitting short film deals with Santa being held captive by a man named Curtis. Curtis is upset and wants his revenge on Santa for kissing his mother and ruining the family. Problem, the family was weird to begin with as Santa explains it was Grandpa with mom messing around. It is what it is for the most part but it was enough to distract Curtis for Santa to hit the panic button to alert Mrs. Claus. She arrives to kick ass but also has a bone to pick with Mr. Claus in this fun holiday horror stuff as I give the short film on its own 3 out of 4 stars.

Krampus Collection: Krampus I-V (DVD) – Matthew Mark Hunter is at it again with this holiday collection of short films over the past decade he has made that deals with this evil holiday horror character ‘Krampus’. Part one deals with a young boy David not listening to his babysitter on Christmas Eve as Krampus comes to visit. Part two involves siblings and a babysitter as the older brother Sean despises the holiday as Krampus and his supernatural evil toys come to visit. Part three is a little interesting as a little girl writes Santa about causing her family pain as good ole Saint Nick sends Krampus! Part four deals with the modern day origin of Krampus and individuals believing they can control the evil menace. Part five has Krampus as a snow beast who visits those who celebrate the holiday offseason? None of the collection overstays its welcome, if anything it really shows how much of a filmmaker Mr. Hunter has grown as I give the fun independent collection 3 out of 4 stars.

The Wynkoop Tales (DVD) – Joel Wynkoop writes/directs/produces this anthology of four stories that are from storyteller Barry Atwater who is trying to sell his wild stories to a publisher. The wraparound of course is Barry telling the stories to the publisher and why they should be picked up. But first story involves a husband tired of his wife and selling her to another man to pay the bills. Second story deals with a man trying to do right by his wife after becoming a vampire recently as he tries to not involve her. Third story is an interesting twist of a couple of psychos escaping the looney bin only to enjoy killing again. Fourth story is somewhat hilarious as it involves a woman coming across some masked idoits in a forest whose cult revolves around the demon god ‘Zoltron’! Problem is her father just drove 900 miles to kick some ass to save his daughter. If you are a fan of this great independent talent then this is a must have for your collection as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Lethal Nightmare (DVD) – A recently released film from the Polonia Brothers that was made in 1991 but never made its release because of the company at the time it was with closed up. Now to their best ability you get to witness this once lost film that was shot on Super-8 by the brothers as Mark does an introduction to the film explaining why it wasn’t released and that was a remake of one of their earlier projects. This is a very bizarre Polonia Brothers project as it has a wonderful ‘Phantasm’ vibe to it as three brothers living together discover evil in their home that perhaps is coming from their dreams and nightmares. The more you think you understand the weirder the film gets as I give this very odd never quite finished project 2 out of 4 stars.

Special Needs Revolt! (Tubi) – This independent film is hilarious, made to make you feel awkward and very on par with today’s politics right now in 2025! Billy Bates is a guy with Down syndrome who is forced to live in a group home because his grandma “Is a bitch!” Billy’s words not mine. During a New Year’s Eve party Billy finally gets in the spirit of the event after seeing a candidate for President: Donald J. Kruger is going to run on the platform of getting rid of all the cripples. Billy slips on puke, hits his head, and wakes up three years later to find this moron Kruger is the president and has special needs people arrested on site. As Billy fights with authorities in public he escapes their custody in the town of Donville where he finds friends in hiding. These are people just like Billy hiding out from the new government and military as Billy decides it is time for a rebellion! Billy Bates leads a force of special needs people and wrestlers to capture President Kruger and expose him for the asshole he is. I absolutely enjoyed this film as I too have two special needs people in my life and there is a lot of possible awkward moments in the film for audiences who do not have anybody like Billy in their lives. I wish the 110 minute running was edited down as I believe the project would benefit greatly from it but don’t let that stop you from enjoying an excellently made film with a great cast that will make you squirm a little while watching it as I give it 3 ½ out of 4 stars.

Channel 13 (Blu-ray) – A lost anthology that was made by the Polonia Brothers after ‘Splatter Farm’ that was never quite finished but definitely has a nostalgic vibe of what it was like at the time they filmed it in the late 80s. Again this as an introduction by Mark Polonia explaining what happened to the film and how its available now as the first tale is ‘All Hallows Eve’ where a man brings a scarecrow to life to claim it is the only friend he has. Second tale called ‘Claws of Terror’ deals with a mutant bird meets man. Third tale is somewhat funny as Mark Polonia explains it was the brothers take on ‘Motel Hell’ before ever seeing the full movie called ‘Slaughterhouse’. Hank’s Sauce Farm is the place to be if you want good food and not be seen from ever again! If you are a nerd for Polonia Brothers projects as I am this is some wonderful unfinished stuff to witness as its frozen in time and really cool how they shot Super-8 for a bit along with SOV as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

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Gross Movie Reviews #492

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Gross Movie Reviews #492

 

Rambo: Last Blood (On Demand) – So it seems this is the last entry into a wonderful action series starring Sly Stallone. To be honest it is hard to top the last film in the series as it maybe my favorite for the crazy gore and just get to the good parts kind of flick. This time around John Rambo has supposedly made peace with his past and taken over the family farm just doing his thing. If yinz consider building tunnels under property a normal thing? But Rambo’s niece needs to see her father before she heads off to college and heads into a bad part of Mexico. One of her childhood friends who moved back there sell her out to a cartel that deals in the sex slave trade and that is when Rambo makes it his business to go get her. Spoiler alerts my friends… She dies on the way back that causes Rambo to prepare for war and pretty much took out a whole Mexican cartel with his resourcefulness if that is a word and his tunnels. I personally didn’t like this nearly enough as some others did but it is a “Rambo” film and you get what you pay for and that is Rambo fucking people up as I give it 3 stars.

 

Dismembering Christmas (DVD) – It kills me to talk about this film because the trailer for this independent holiday film had promise but that turned to disappointment once I was no more than twenty minutes in. Young friends get together at a remote cottage for the Christmas holiday instead of spending it with family. Throw away characters show up to tell the group they are basically doomed because of a murder or two that happened a few years ago but of course ignore it. From there the supposed slasher movie is dull and makes you root for the characters to be killed off quickly so you can move on to something else worthy of your time. The film raises so many questions of what is actually going on let alone none of the characters are very likable. I don’t blame the actors as much as I blame the person or persons behind the script as they didn’t have much to work with. It kills me to be this harsh to this independent flick but this was an utter disappointing crap fest that I want to forget as I give it 0 stars.

 

Spill (DVD) – Need more Brian Bosworth in your life then begin your search with this lesser known environmental-action flick from the mid-90s? Yinz may have seen it listed on several apps or channels as “Virus” as the other dozen flicks of the same name. Bosworth plays an ex-football player who now leads the secret service. The ‘Boz’ soon finds himself a part of a deadly germ virus cover up when he is scouting out a location for the president. A truck with a renegade driver crashes in the woods causing a spill that could poison everyone but the president is convinced it is in his best interest to cover it up as quickly as possible. Boz being the good man he is cannot let this go as he seen people die from the spill and tries to convince anyone and everyone this was wrong and covered up by the president as I give it 3 stars.

Weresquito: Nazi Hunter (DVD) – You that feeling of tripping up on an awesome small budget flick you feel no one knows about? Well yinz need to get yourself viewing this wonderful throwback to the late 50s, early 60s creature feature. The filmmaker has a history of shooting films in black and white and looking like they take place several decades ago. And kudos to that crazy bastard because he is good at it! A man shows up in a small town called New Berlin looking for a doctor he knew from the war. But the man is very cautious to let anyone know any other details. John becomes quick friends with a Ms. Schmidt at the diner and they both help each other out. But John’s secret stops romance from budding as when he is angered or sees red he turns into a WERESQUITO! John was experimented on during the war and this transformation is what causes him to search for the doctor that ruined his life. Film buffs everyone rejoice and track this bad boy down as it will not disappoint as I give it 3 ½ stars.

 

Bad Times at the El Royale (DVD) – Too fucking long and would have been so much better if it played out like some crazy lost ‘X-files’ episode. I give it 1 star for having Jeff Bridges play a priest… sort of.

 

Brainstorm (DVD) – A very weird ass movie that stars Christopher Walken who is trying to help explore new forms of communication through a weird brain contraption. This seem more enjoyable when I watched it as a kid on HBO but over 30 years later the film really doesn’t entirely a whole lick of interesting sense as I give it 1 star.

 

Channel 13 (DVD) – A very limited edition DVD/Blu-ray that is a lost film or anthology in this case from the Polonia Brothers that was never finished and never released. Mark Polonia goes into the reason for its release and how it was unearthed as you get to see a project from their early days. It is a couple of stories being told with a wraparound that was recently shot as they never finished what they originally started. A fun project to check out if you are a big independent film fan, if not you just won’t get the early days of the Polonia Brothers as they were one of the pioneers of Independent Cinema. I give this lost project 3 stars.

 

Deadly Games (Shudder) – A 1990 French film that can be found under the title “Dial Code: Santa Claus” is much like a French version of “Home Alone” with a creepy hobo. A rich kid named Thomas still believes in Santa and just like most children that believe he wants to prove to friends he does exist. So through an early version of the internet he contacts Santa but it just happens to be a random hobo. A random hobo who happens to be a toy store Santa for five minutes and gets fired by Thomas’ mum after he was about to go ape shit on a little girl. Instead random hobo finds out there is a Christmas delivery going to Thomas’ home and takes it in person. From Thomas must not only defend himself but protect his almost blind grandfather from the crazy hobo who wants to kill! Weird, kind of fucked up, and the kid has a killer mullet. In my book this film is well worth a watch as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Necrotronic (Shudder) – Thank you to Shudder again for finding random crazy Australian horror films! Apparently since the beginning of time there have always been demons and necromancers fighting especially when the demons started possessing humans. Now some evil bitch has figured out a way to go super high tech and possess a million souls all at once. Meanwhile a guy named Howie who collects poo for a living with his bud is the savior of the necromancers. It all starts when his buddy instead collecting poo is playing a game on his phone that has you collecting ghosts. This is how evil is gonna possess everyone. Weird shit happens with the game and Howie, next up enter the demons who want his soul because the evil mastermind behind the grand plan is his mother… sort of. Oh, did I mention there is a 3-D printer for souls, watch the movie you’ll understand as I give this fun ghost adventure 3 stars.

 

Secret Santa (DVD) – So I tracked down another low budget holiday flick that has college girls and their party being haunted by a “Secret Santa”. Okay let me explain, a masked person leaves them a Secret Santa gift and then they die because they are obsessed with the web cam model that shoves cucumbers into her lady parts. Again it kills me I really like to enjoy these flicks but this was more disorienting than a fun low budget holiday slasher it could have been as I give it 1 star. Bottom-line don’t threaten a killing spree unless you are going to actually give me one.

 

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!