Gross Movie Reviews #610

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Cocaine Cougar (Tubi) – Dustin Ferguson is back at it again like a lot of people doing a parody of “Cocaine Bear” but the movie is only 50 minutes long and 15 of that is credits? Sorry my friend you are no Charles Band and people know I have given that dude some shit over the years for that. But anyhow a cougar breaks out from the Ferguson Labs where the bad CGI cougar kills a drug dealer and snorts cocaine. Then the rampage is on the so-called mountain side where you hear lots of terrible jokes. Mr. Ferguson is a talented person but I have always felt he does much more with documentaries and extras for other movies than he does for his own work if that makes sense as sorry my friend I gotta give this a ½ star.

Doll Shark (Tubi) – Of course it is from the minds of Mark and Anthony Polonia as they are back at it with another shark movie but the biggest problem is they didn’t have shark movie expert Maddie Deering involved and that was a mistake. We begin with a child named Kirby receiving a stuffed animal shark from his father that has an evil shark tooth placed inside for luck but actually possesses the stuffed animal. Kirby loves the thing and even has it watched the cartoon it is based on with him but things get crazy when the possessed shark eats a dog and random humans in this hilarious Indy film that honestly would have been better if Maddie Deering of “Spirit Animal” and “Bathtub Shark Attack” was a part of that so I can only give this project 2 stars.

House Squatch (DVD) – For the love of fuckin’ Rutger Hauer I never thought I would see the day of this kids but thank you Mark and Anthony Polonia for doing something that has no business making me laugh the way this one did. So apparently when Squatches are threaten or they were a human’s pet as a small Sasquatch they will revert to going back to houses??? Sure, this is stupid, I am in! After rumors of a Squatch squatting in some houses of a local real estate mogul the local sheriff is pressured into trying to remove this creature from the homes as it is killing people who bother it. Think of this as a long “Three Stooges” skit where they are trying to trap Bigfoot. So if yinz need some laughs in your life look no further as I give this horror Indy comedy 2 ½ stars.

The Mutation (DVD) – A giant rat/human hybrid experiment has broken out its cage from a rando scientist’s basement who has been working in secret. Now the rat is seeking victims out on the city streets and eludes the zoologist that is brought in to help authorities. The movie isn’t real entertaining until “an extreme rules match” breaks out between a waitress and the giant rat in the middle of a restaurant where the bad ass cop leading the investigation cannot get his gun out but watch the carnage. There was a story, a rat costume, but the execution could have been a lot better as I can only give this film 1 star.

Claw (DVD) – A recent lower budgeted flick about a gene-splicing experiment or raptor gets loose in a ghost town. Two people heading to L.A. break down and walk back to this ghost town in hopes of a phone but instead are in for the fight of their lies with this pissed off creature  that seem to kill only one person the whole movie? Who thinks this movie would have been better if it was called “Tourist Trap vs. Raptor” and Chuck Connors and Lorenzo Lamas ghosts showed up? Since it’s not that lets give it 1 star and yes I know Mr. Lamas is alive… maybe?

Blood Punch (DVD) – A college dude named Milton is in drug rehab after he got busted and trying to put his life back together. But then a hottie Skylar comes a calling in the rehab center looking for someone to help her and the crazy boyfriend to cook meth for a day and make a shit ton of money. Everything is normal until the three show up at a cabin to begin the process and Milton begins to keep reliving the same Tuesday everyday Groundhog Day-style! This is where the film begins to get even weirder as Skylar remembers everything that has happened and apparently has killed Milton several times as the bodies of Milton are piled up beyond some rocks. It gets a bit confusing and I am not totally sure if they get it right but you gotta give them this they came up with one weird movie about making meth where everyone gets killed multiple times as I give it 2 ½ stars.

The Annihilators (DVD) – Imagine New World Pictures decided to make a B or C-list version of “The A-Team” in 1985/1986 and you have your 90 minute movie. This feels like a direct-to-video kinda of thing that I am surprised I never had the pleasure of crossing by in the video store where a group of bad Vietnam soldiers head home after the war only to come together again ten years later for a friend. Their friend Joey gets slaughtered by a local gang who has been pushing around all the little community businesses for extra cash. So the old Sargent makes a few phone calls and gets the squad together to teach the community to defend themselves and they go on the offensive against these street thugs. A super solid action flick that will have you saying the whole movie “hey, I know that guy” as I give it a solid 2 ½ stars.

Fear Pharm 2 (DVD) – The sequel picks up right from the first film but also quickly goes back 15 years ago to explain how it all started at ‘Cool Patch Pumpkin Farm’ and the breakthrough for the facial cream began. These days Herschel is looking to expand their product as we find him on some kind of Home Shopping Network selling the facial cream and advertising the farm. With growing bigger comes great risk as the survivors find themselves all getting loose and running into the corn maze to escape to get the authorities involved. Herschel and his daughter are at odds most of the film as he is about family and she is about the thrill of the kill but they must work together or the whole thing is over. The sequel has heart, smartly written and well casted, with the effects a little bit too be desired compared to the first film but still a solid effort as I give this 3 stars.

Children of the Corn (Shudder/remake) – Yes people another remake and I think this makes 11 movies or something I actually have lost count. Anyway this version decided to take a different route and have it entrench in today’s farming but harks back to the original of trying to be lean and mean and that isn’t a bad thing. After a horrific accident between police and a child care facility a girl Eden wanders out of the woods with a different attitude on life. When all the adults decide to burn the corn crop because of terrible problems and make fun of the children at a community meeting, Eden decides it is time to round up the other children and take over the town. Bo who is on her way to college tries to come up with a resolution but quickly finds herself trapped as Eden as all the adults executed in various horrific ways. This might not be the best of the bunch but it’s got some bite, a little brutal, and way fuckin’ better than that SyFy Channel remake several years back that just left a sour taste in your mouth as I give this movie 3 stars.

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Gross Movie Reviews #505

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Gross Movie Reviews #505

Cry Havoc (On Demand) – I was so looking forward to Bootleg Chuck Bronson’s first slasher film that includes Richard Tyson as the bad guy! Richard Tyson is known only as “The Voyeur” as he hides in the deep mountains as he has made the F.B.I’s top ten most wanted list. The Voyeur has granted an aspiring journalist to visit and interview him so he can explain his art and experiments he is doing. What the world doesn’t know is The Voyeur uses a mass murderer only known as “Havoc” to conduct his projects. Young women are kidnapped and thrown out in the woods for Havoc and it is filmed by all of Voyeur’s cameras for his art. Interview is going well and The Voyeur is happy until Bootleg Chuck Bronson has followed of them to the secret location as he is looking for his missing daughter he hasn’t seen in years. If Havoc isn’t slaughtering people we get long scenes of Bootleg Chuck Bronson walking around and then a long climatic fight scene that really doesn’t end… Hell the film itself just stops like they forgot to edit the ending in or something? I had high expectations going in but they gradually were dying a slow death as the movie went on with its non-ending as I give the Bootleg Chuck Bronson flick only 2 stars this go around.

 

The Deadly Mantis (DVD) – A fun 50s sci-fi flick about a giant prehistoric mantis that has awakened from the ice above the Arctic Circle. With it traveling southward the U.S. military declares war on the large creature as its beginning to feed on humans along the way. The monstrous mantis is cheesy and never gets old as I give the classic monster flick 3 stars.

 

Ghetto Blaster (YouTube) – The 1989 direct-to-video ‘Death Wish’ clone stars Richard Hatch as Travis and R.G. Armstrong as his father. Travis has returned to the old neighborhood after three long years and the neighborhood has changed. To help set the tone of the movie it opens up with a drive-by shooting between gangs that a child is shot in. So of course this must mean gangs rule the streets of the old neighborhood and Travis’ father doesn’t want to give up the old store and retire. Then a botch robbery happens when the Hammers come to collect and his father is shot and killed. From there Travis uses his Special Forces skills to prank the Hammers gang and get under their skin but eventually gets physical when they kidnap his daughter. This is your third tier vigilante stuff but entertaining enough I was glad to track it down as I give it 2 ½ stars.

 

Night Shift Collection (VHS) – First released in 1986 then again in 1994 and they are two short films based on the Stephen King collection of stories of the same name. The first short is ‘The Woman in the Room’ about a lawyer whose mother is dying from cancer and he is trying to decide if he should help her along? Thus he cannot stand the misery she is in. The second short is ‘The Boogeyman’ about a man name Mr. Billings who has had a couple of his children die in his care. Mr. Billings goes to see a psychiatrist because he believes it is the Boogeyman that has killed them? Depending on the info you read on the internet these two shorts based on the King stories were student films paired together and put out there to capitalize on all the King film adaptions. Anyway the shorts are a little dull but worth the watch if you never knew they existed as I give it 2 stars. P.S. the shorts were filmed in 1982 and 1983.

 

Night Shift Collection 2 (VHS) – Another pair of short films that were released in 1989 claiming to be a part of Stephen King’s short story collection to film but only one of the shorts truly were. The second one may have been influenced by King’s work but had nothing to do with King. Again these two shorts were filmed in 1983 but never released until 1989 with less fanfare than the first set. Hell this second set was only a rumor in some horror circles and it seems the means of seeing it might be YouTube these days. What is weird about this set is the first short is ‘The Disciples of the Crow’ or what we all would come to know in 1984 as ‘Children of the Corn’. Same movie in short form with no stars and less about the corn and more about worshipping crows. The second short is someone else’s work called ‘The Night Walker’ that is about a young man named Walter who worked one night shift in a hotel that just reopened room #321 for the first time since the 40s. Apparently a couple on their wedding night did a murder/suicide and this has Walter curious and scared at the same time. This collection is worth the watch for the mere reason of its connection to ‘Children of the Corn’ as I give it 2 stars.

Post-Apocalyptic Commando Shark (DVD) – A hilarious concept for an independent film about Soviet doctors splice human and shark DNA together to make a Russian commando shark. This soldier enables the Red Army to invade the United States and begin WWIII. U.S. citizens fight for their lives but the man-shark is hell bent on killing every American soldier it finds. The idea is absolutely wonderful but begins to lose its luster about halfway through the film. To me it felt if they had a great idea with a subpar script and trying to use ‘Sharknado’ as a springboard for all to come running. Better script equals better movie so instead of 82 minutes maybe you should have ended it after 35 minutes. But hey kudos to yinz for getting Debbie Rochon for a cup of coffee as it wasn’t no ‘Bad CGI Sharks’ and for that I can only give this feature 2 stars.

 

Haunter (YouTube) – Philip Brocklehurst who seems to working on a new short film every month these days has another about a young male. This young man is disrupted from his sleep to find his house is haunted and it has had enough of him being there… Scaring him life may not be enough! I give it 2 ½ out 4 stars as I would have liked to see this short film go a little longer as there felt like there was more to the story?

 

Devil’s Trail (DVD) – Filmmaker Henrique Couto decided to dip his toes into the “Found Footage” genre with this tale he filmed in 2016. We have two internet hosts heading out to New Jersey Pine Barrens for a 21-day survival trip for their internet show. They will film everything they do and what happens as they are only allowed to bring three items a piece for this survival trip. Along the way they discuss the “Jersey Devil” among other urban legends about the woods. But as things do not go as planned for the duo the relationship breaks down and strange things begin to happen. Does it have something to do with the witches they encounter at the beginning of their trip, very possible? I agree with Henrique in his interview in the extras this genre of film can die horribly if the ending isn’t interesting and with his ‘Devil’s Trail’ whether you love it or hate it you cannot lie the ending of this film makes it worth watching! Thank you for that my friend as I give the film 3 stars.

 

Dinosaurus! (DVD) – A super cheesy film from 1960 that has a construction crew unearthing prehistoric dinosaurs from the sea floor that includes a caveman. The man who runs the island finds the caveman first and has big plans once getting his body off the island. Problem a storm rolls through and resurrects the caveman and dinosaurs and they run rampant through the island chasing the natives and the construction crew! This is B-movie stuff well worth the watch and laughs as I give it 2 ½ stars.

 

The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (Shudder) – Quite the Eye-talian film mystery as Julie Wardh is married to a wealthy Wall Street dude but also has been bad taste in men before and during her marriage. Julie Wardh only got married because she considered him safe for her lifestyle but has gotten bored again and out banging the socks off any nice looking dude she can find. But there is a catch one them could be a serial killer as this is ongoing in her life a man with a razor blade is slicing up young women. An interesting twist in the film comes when someone tries to blackmail Julie but gets her best friend Carol murdered but this only serves as the appetizer to what the ending of the film brings us. Usually these types of film or giallo are not my cup of tea but the ending makes it all the worthwhile as I actually didn’t see that ending coming and for that I give it 3 stars.

 

Street Asylum (VHS) – This 1989 film was one of those flicks that I seen released in theaters for a weekend and then disappeared. Of course I knew Wings Hauser was the star and found this on YouTube so it was time to finally get my first watch in. Wings Hauser is Sgt. Ryder who is working the Hollywood beat of degenerates. After he gets shot during a rooftop incident he gets an offer from a captain to join a special police force called “S.Q.U.A.D.” This new force is going to clean up the streets of Hollywood one body bag at a time. As Ryder first gets into the new swing of things he soon understands things are not right as his partners go nuts and supposedly commit suicide. Ryder slowly going insane discovers he is part of a human experiment to make a better police officer. Once he removes the implant from his back it is now time for revenge against the man behind it all, the new mayor to be! As usual Wings Hauser was great; Brion James as the crazy preacher… perfect, but the film lags in the middle some like a few too many edits may have been made to this B-Grade sci-fi thriller as I give it 2 ½ stars.

 

Cy Warrior (VHS) – I can never get enough of cheesy Eye-talian Sci-fi stuff and this was no different as Henry Silva plays the villain mercenary hired to bring in a cyborg. The military loses a newly built cyborg with no program who decides to take a stroll to an island. There a boy finds him and takes the cyborg to his hot sister with almost saying, “Found you the perfect dude to bump uglies with and someone I think is bad ass because he is part man/part machine.” The military wants Silva to pick up their secret project before anyone notices? Silva just wants to fucking kill a shitload of innocent humans and blow up this thing of the face of the Earth. Yep, there is your movie besides the cyborg salsa dancing, I think, with the hot sister and trying to escape the clutches of Henry Silva. Worth the laughs folks as I give this feature 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 .

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