Tag Archives: film

Gross Movie Reviews #659

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Halloween Massacre (Tubi) – A no budget UK horror film that comes in under 60 minutes and looks like hacked up project or pieces of film splice together has a pissed off lady Valentina looking for revenge. Apparently in the small town of Charnwood an escaped convict dressed as a clown has found other killer clown friends as they lure people into their weird home to murder. Valentina is hell bent on tracking down this horrible killer and killing him herself. There are only two redeeming scenes in this stupid mess: a) A clown faking a punch to a pregnant lady’s belly a couple times and b) the killer clown pushing a watermelon up inside a woman’s sensitive area. Outside of those two scenes the film is not very watchable so consider yourself warned if you go looking as I give it 0 stars.

Horny Teenagers Must Die! (Tubi) – An Indy feature that has a group of high school graduates all of whom are the stereotypes of slasher films past heading to a weekend cabin party. Once the young people have sex they are slaughtered shortly after. The film does a solid job of a slasher film but its biggest flaw is it does nothing or even try to do something to make it stand out from the crowd of imitators as I could only give it 1 ½ out of 4 stars.

Swabian Granny Gore Terror (Blu-ray) – This crazy no budget gore flick is straight out of Germany in 2019 where the film can also be found under the title ‘Demonic Murder Granny’. Some bitchy old lady eats a random jar of raspberries from 1867 in her basement to quickly transform into a monster. Once transformation is completed she is on the hunt to launch an assault on drug-addled criminals, lazy construction dudes, rando dudes getting high, and a handicapped dude for shits and giggles. So if you consider entertainment “crazy granny killing randos in a gory manner” then this project is for you as I give it 2 stars.

Livescream (Blu-ray) – Scott is a gamer who streams his game playing online and has gathered a few followers over the time he has been doing it. Well an unknown fan has sent Scott a new horror game to play online for his audience. Scott is excited as he jokes with it being called a “haunted game” but also finds it a little sketchy that he had no knowledge of this game existing? Scott reads the instructions non-seriously then jumps into the gameplay but quickly dies in the game as this is where the movie takes a turn as the game explains there are consequences with playing this horror game. The viewers of Scott quickly become victims as they mysteriously disappear or killed but the kick in the ass is Scott will die also if he quits. As he continues with the gameplay Scott increasingly becomes nervous that his viewers are literally dying by his hands if he doesn’t accomplish finishing each level. I honestly haven’t played video games on any regular basis since I completed Resident Evil 3 on my PlayStation (or otherwise I am old) but I quite enjoyed the premise of the film, the design, and the bare bones but effective storytelling. For a gamer or a younger movie watcher it will feel interactive if you allow yourself to be entertained as I give this no budget project 3 out of 4 stars.

Hell’s Trap (Blu-ray) – Here is a 1989 Mexican thriller about two macho dudes who want to settle their competition with each other by going bear hunting in the mountains. A bear has recently been blamed for a few deaths of hunters who were recently there so what better way to settle a bet between friends than going bear hunting. They are warned they may find more than they bargain for which of course they quickly find in a crazed American war vet who wears a mask, has a bat cave, and a Freddy glove aka metal bear claw to slaughter folks that come looking his way. Nacho and friends have enough charm along with the crazy killer to keep horror fans entertained for this one as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Dinosaur Prison (Tubi) – A trio of women break into a highly secured (which is laughable) prison that is being used for animal testing. To the young ladies surprise they find dinosaurs imprisoned in the cells. Honestly this idea should have died in the first two minutes when no one questions them wandering around taking pictures but ignore the giant plot hole including the security guard that never shoots them but threatens too way too many times to count. Anyhow the women are captured by security and a weird so-called doctor dude that looks like an extra from a Willy Wonka stage play explains he is behind the experiments but he needs them to get the word out about the dinosaurs. Sounds all well and good until the so-called high-tech prison (again, where are your cameras) malfunctions and the dinosaurs find themselves free to start eating people. I wanted to laugh more at this film but it kept trying to be too serious as I can only give it a ½ star.

Murder for Pleasure (DVD) – An early project from filmmaker Derek Braasch that was released in 2016 as its plot revolves around a young man named Victor. Victor goes to see a professional as he struggles with his anger ever since his parents were killed in a restaurant several years ago. Victor’s struggles are getting the best of him as the only answer seems to be to kill those who he believes deserve it to calm the tendencies. As the film progresses Victor doesn’t just murder people but also torture them as he ups the level of violence ‘August Underground’ style! The story of Victor has flaws but it is something that can be seen as entertaining in the sense of a young man losing himself in his insanity and loss of parents at a young impressionable age  as I give the Indy film 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 #658

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Tsunami Sharks (YouTube) – Another shark flick out of the UK where this time around an unlikely tsunami hits a European city and along with it comes blood thirsty sharks. As the water rises the sharks infest the city as they trap people in their homes, buildings, and restaurants, you get the picture. The people need to be quick on their feet as they try to survive and figure out how to escape the sharks. It is a quick stupid shark filled fun flick I give 2 stars too.

Mountain Shark (Tubi) – Just another rando shark film out of the UK area where this time a scientist has perfected an experiment of a shark living and swimming in the countryside mountains of the UK. Think ‘Tremors’ with bad CGI? Anyhow it was supposed to be a decommissioned military project but the shark has escaped. A non-descript group of military persons are brought in to supposedly capture the creature but the good doctor is using them to make his killing machine that much more perfect. There was something that bothered me in the middle of the film when the scientist is holding a gun on the military persons and kept looking away let alone the gun he had on them was going away from them too… Why didn’t one these fuckers fuck his ass up immediately? Isn’t this what they train for or am I weird movie nerd overthinking this and the movie would have been half as long? Anyway, if you get past the shark looking better in the original PSone Resident Evil game you will be entertained and enjoy as I give this 2 ½ stars.

Blood Tracks (DVD) – A relatively unknown weirdo flick from the mid-80s about a rock band “Solid Gold” going to a snowy mountain with an abandoned factory to shoot their latest music video. Unknown to those who have invaded these premises a family has been living off the grid in the factory over the past four decades. Think ‘The Hills Have Eyes” meets “Slaughterhouse” with snow! An avalanche and the camera man being attacked by something leads the crew to be on high alert but just speeds up the process as the family wastes no time murdering everyone in a bloody manner. One problem folks, even cleaned up there is still some dark scenes that you will keep you squinting to see as I give the film 2 ½ stars.

Dick Dynamite: 1944 (On Demand) – The latest crowd funded project involving Nazis getting their ass kicked in bloody style. Its 1944 and the Nazis have a new experimental liquid that they are testing on women and children that they want to drop on Manhattan to turn the whole city into zombies. Anyway Dick Dynamite is a big muscle bound soldier who is released from prison to lead his dirty half dozen to stop the Nazis ultimate plan. The project was shot over a couple of years and has a lot laughs and gore but if you are like me you have seen this type of film maybe one too many times? It isn’t terrible but its non-ending in my opinion didn’t help me liking this film as I place this in the category of the “trailer looks better than the finished project” as I give it 2 stars.

Backwoods Marcy (DVD) – This interesting project is a 1999 SOV film out of Sharkey Video directed by and stars the talented Dawn Murphy. A real estate dude named Donald is lost in the middle of nowhere for a meeting about a property he was going to check out. After picking up one hitchhiker to get his whistle wet he picks up another named Marcy. Marcy literally looks like a backwoods person who hates city folk but is very willing to help Donald for a ride to see her kin. When Donald gets upset by her smell he throws her out of the car with being lost and frustrated then accidently runs Marcy down with the car. This is where the real story begins as Marcy has Donald exactly where she wants him. Marcy catches her victim then proceeds to rape, torture, and cages Donald for her pleasure as she will kill anyone that comes sniffing around the campsite. The film is simply brilliant with its use of story, use of locations, and reversing the roles of backwoods horror as Marcy is relentless in making Donald her pet as that makes for an entertaining no budget film as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

It’s a Wonderful Knife (Shudder) – Winnie is a senior in high school looking forward to college and life is grand until a serial killer shows up to her small holiday town of Angel Falls. Then Winnie’s life is changed forever as she just happens to kill the serial killer and he is unmasked to reveal it is the asshole real estate guy Mr. Waters who employees her father. One year later Winnie is stuck in a rut as it looks like all around her has forgotten the events of last Christmas except her. So just like the old holiday classic she wishes to never be born as this throws her into an alternate reality where everything is different as Mr. Waters own everything and still killing anyone who he feels is not a volunteer part of his end game. Winnie finds a new friend and they must kill again in order to restore Winnie’s reality? A holiday horror maybe aimed for the ‘Happy Death Day’ crowd but I still enjoyed it for what it was as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Santastein (Tubi) – A young man named Max has been stealing corpses in his spare time from the local morgue. He has a plan on restoring Santa as Max was the reason for Santa’s death several years ago and since then it doesn’t snow along with Santa no longer delivering presents. With the help of his friend’s Paige experiment his plan is to reanimate Santa to bring back Christmas! Sounds great in theory to Max until the undead Santa is slaughtering folks who are naughty. I enjoyed, I laughed at this project that doesn’t overthink it as it has fun with the story at hand as I give it 3 stars.

Junk Bonds: The Return of the Junk Bucket (Tubi) – In this Indy sequel Cassie is a survivor of a cannibal family who loves cutting off people’s junk. Yes it is a parody of ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ but with dicks! As the survivor Cassie is recaptured by the family they want to celebrate their son’s special day with strippers of course which sets in motion a whole new batch of dick cutting and vagina stabbing. I could never tracked the first film so of course I just went ahead and watched the sequel first as fans of old school Troma will be happy seeing this project keeping the Troma spirit alive as I give the film 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 #657

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Yule Log 2: Branchin’ Out (Max) – So Zoe surviving the Yule Log Massacre of the first film as it is referred too wakes in a hospital and wants to do the holidays without a fireplace. Meanwhile, the Yule Log that won’t die has other plans to track down the only survivor to finish the job it started. Zoe and friend start road tripping until an accident caused by Zoe leaves them stranded in the Hallmark movie town of Mistletoe. Here Zoe learns to love again even though she carries an axe with her at all times and a firefighter named Blaze is shirtless the whole film. The Yule Log eventually finds Zoe in the most ridiculous way while leaving a blood soaked trail to her during a Yule Log Festival. I laughed my ass off several times during this sequel as this is possibly the best one, two holiday punch since the ‘Jack Frost’ films as I give it 3 ½ stars.

House of the Wizard’s Blackened Soul (YouTube) – Dakota Ray’s latest Indy project is a short film that runs 27 minutes surrounding a young troubled man Gideon. Gideon has several issues struggling through life then thrown a curveball when he becomes the caretaker for his not in the best of health grandfather and his estate. Gideon takes it on but falls into a deeper world of darkness that he cannot escape as he discovers something even worse was waiting for him. Is Gideon dreaming it all? Was he already dead? Was this the dark world Gideon wanted all along? These questions can be debated after watching and how each viewer will for sure see things differently than the last. Mr. Dakota Ray usually plays with dark things in his projects but takes it to an interesting level with this well shot almost artsy project. This wild short film will find its audience as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Black Rat (DVD) – This is a 2010 film out of Japan from the dude who directed ‘Battle Royale II’ for whatever that is worth. A young lady Asuka dances in front of a rat head on top of a school building only to commit suicide after. Sometime later a group of supposedly Asuka’s friends receive a text to meet at midnight in their classroom at school. The friends meet up only to be confronted by a mystery person in Asuka’s rat head and armed with a baseball bat. One by one their secrets are put out there through flashbacks as they die. I wanted to like this more but just felt like a subpar concept that was never as entertaining as I just described it as I give it 2 stars.

The Beast in the Cellar (DVD) – An early 70s film that tackles the story of a creature nearby a British Army Camp murdering soldiers in the countryside. Joyce and Ellie are two older women who just seem innocent and a bit curious people who live off the beaten path in the same countryside. But after authorities and soldiers have visited their home several times for their safety it comes out Joyce and Ellie have had a secret that started during the Great War as they must care, protect, and keep their younger brother from war. Not too terribly bloody but an interesting find if you enjoy British horror as I give it 2 stars.

Mad Cow Massacre (YouTube) – Pretty much first time filmmakers out of Iowa having a little fun on a tiny budget set their serial killer plot in the small town of Farmville. Here is where the latest killings have taken place by a psycho in a cow costume. A detective has been tracking the killer (Mad Cow Killer) through several towns but the killer has decided his murder spree to continue day after day now just in Farmville. This change in behavior has baffled the detective but allows him to gather reinforcements to trap the sick Mad Cow Killer but even after death he cannot be stopped. The project is very rough with many flaws but they understood the massacre concept. It has a lot of heart as it was exactly what I like finding in my micro-budgeted massacre movies as I hope for a sequel soon and as this film gets 2 out of 4 stars.

Grandma’s Cookies (YouTube) – A holiday short film of a young boy staying with Grandma who wants to stay up to see Santa on Christmas Eve. But Grandma tries to convince the boy it isn’t the best thing to be awake to see Santa as she knows the real Santa. See Grandma for years has made special cookies for Santa every year since a child for good reason as the boy staying awake finds out it isn’t all merry as I give the entertaining horror short 3 out of 4 stars.

Joe Returns A Video (YouTube) – This 2019 short film is hilarious in so many ways as it’s all about Joe who forgot to return a VHS copy of Steven Seagal’s ‘Above the Law’ in 1989 and now in 2019 decides it will not be late another day. Joe cannot think of racking up another day of late fees and heads out from his picturesque suburb home to go for a walk to the video store three decades later. Along the way Joe encounters several characters but at all times he explains he has to return Steven Seagal’s ‘Above the Law’ VHS. I was literally laughing about every thirty seconds throughout this 12 minute short as I give it 4 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 #654

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Street Trash (Amazon/remake) – I totally forgot this was even happening because it’s just one of those films that are too much of a “cult hit” to be remade or not enough people know about the original? But I kept an open mind especially since the dude that gave us the weird ass flick ‘Fried Barry’ this just made me curious in general. Anyway, set in Cape Town, South Africa where the homeless are growing and trying to fight back. Apparently the plan from the mayor is to exterminate the homeless with drones! Which makes them even more dangerous is a scientist on the mayor’s payroll has figured out the formula for the “Viper” liquid that is turned into a gas for the drones to use on the homeless. The gas will melt the homeless with no chance of survival. But the homeless have a plan to fight back in this gooey mess of a remake and that is cool by me as I give the remake project 3 stars.

12 to Midnight (Xumo Play) – Think about the title for a minute and know that this flick stars Robert Bronzi aka bootleg Chuck Bronson! Oh by the way spoiler alert instead of a naked dude killing nurses it’s a werewolf slaughtering people and that includes Detective Toth’s wife. Daniel Roebuck, Sadie Katz, Tito Ortiz round out the cast as Toth isn’t dealing with the death of his wife well and thrown off the force. But Toth is quickly brought back in as the serial killer is piling up bodies that resemble the murder of his wife. Now Toth goes tracking down a werewolf and drug dealers for revenge. Its cheesy, not exactly making a lot of sense, but its bootleg Chuck Bronson vs. werewolf so I give it 2 ½ stars.

Operation Blood Hunt (On Demand) – This werewolf film takes place during WWII in the South Pacific. The Reverend is a supernatural expert who used to be Special Forces that is wanted by the military to travel to this island in the South Pacific to investigate why a group of marines have disappeared? He and his group have 48 hours but they are warned it might be the Japanese Imperial Army they run into? Besides many slaughtered bodies, The Reverend and others find gold as the real reason some of the military brass wanted professionals to go in. This movie was disappointing as the trailer made it out to be lots of WWII werewolf fun instead we got lots of filler with a disappointing concept and costumes as I give it 1 star.

Terror of the Master (Fawesome) – Found an early 1998 SOV flick from a young Jeff Kirkendall that involves a young local news reporter Drew Thompson who feels she hasn’t had her chance just yet. During this thriller girls go missing and recently Drew seen a girl at her second job who was kidnapped in the latest of the local disappearances. Drew being the investigator along with her sister go probing around town and find two bank robbers have a connection to the missing girls. Soon after Drew is kidnapped and Drew learns the criminals made a deal with a vampire to protect and feed it as he will turn them. It is a rough around the edges SOV flick but has a certain thriller charm that SOV fans will eat up as I give the film 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Amp House Massacre (Tubi) – A movie where if you are over the age of 25 you will hate the characters immediately and enjoy their deaths as they happen. But there is a point to this folks as the story centers around Mario Stillwell, a social media influencer who started as a no one in 2020 and now is the biggest thing out there in digital land. He comes up with the idea of buying a mansion for all his friends to feel safe to party and influence (yes, I hate myself for just saying that). They all move in and things are going great with the likes, subscribes, and money until Mario dies at the one year anniversary party that was being live streamed. One year after Mario’s death the influencers’ friendship is fractured as they believe they are stale and need to bring in new money to rebrand. Soon as the new face shows up the house is locked down as the influencers have their deepest secret revealed and die horribly one by one. Surprisingly the movie is watchable for the mere fact you are probably going to root for many if not all to die as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Halloweenight (DVD) – A 2009 Indy film where Mark Polonia directs, John Polonia wrote, Jon McBride did the music, and Brett Piper did the effects. If you are an Indy fan do you even need to know what it’s about? Because I wanted to see it soon as I seen all that! So some local college students (the oldest ones on film ever) decide to mess with Creepy Harold’s scarecrow as a prank before their big Halloween party. Crazy Harold doesn’t take to kindly to this event and swears revenge as he steals a heart, performs a ritual, and then places it in his beloved scarecrow. Now prepared Crazy Harold sends his evil scarecrow to wreck the big party for his revenge. Also check out the wicked ass skeleton thing the scarecrow becomes at the end of the film as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.  

Hallow Gate (Blu-ray) – Terror Vision reaches deep into the grab bag of Tim’s teenage video rentals of 1989 with this Halloween cheapie that was released in 1988 and they gave it the special treatment. We begin with a young boy Mark at his Halloween party bobbing for apples with friends where his father takes offense and almost drowns the boy. Mark swears his hatred for Halloween and has a run-in with a young lady as a gas station attendant. After the dust settles a judge believes it would be in the best interest for Mark to stay with Grandma as long as he is taking his meds instead of being in prison. Mark is quietly reading one evening until he doesn’t take his meds, kills Grandma, and then orders costumes for his party. Some kids are convinced to deliver the costumes who become trapped by Mark as he dresses up for each kill at the mansion. One of my favorite death scenes in the Ray Di Zazzo flick is the slow moving tractor scene as it’s so hilariously slow. There are a couple interviews, commentary, and Shocktail hour. Now they have the cleaned up print and the original on this disc which the cleaned up version looks great but seems to have some low volume issues at the beginning of the movie as I give the package 3 stars.

Vigilant (YouTube) – That damn Phil Brocklehurst has made another short film as he never stops working. This short deals with a man who hears a voice that says “kill”. Is it justice, a dream, or is it something more as this man feels criminals should be put to death? An interesting concept that felt like it could be fleshed out more with same effect but this filmmaker has a certain style that is effective and leaves us viewers wanting more as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Trivial (DVD) – Indy vet James L. Edwards brings something different in this feature as an online game show yet seen by the public is hosted by Laurel Edmonds is about to go live with its first episode that applies “Revenge… Torture… Murder… “, according to the show’s opening. She has a partner that helps her kidnap unknowing victims and places them on the show. The contestants give a right answer they have a chance to move on but if they give a wrong trivia answer they must be punished. And three wrong answers mean death in this sadistic game show. Laurel lives to torture and only she can be right in this gritty sadistic underground streaming game show. This can be an uncomfortable watch for some as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Talk to Me (Blu-ray) – An Australian horror film where a group of friends have found the new high as they have found a something that allows them to conjure spirits. It is believed to be a party trick for friends to post on social media apps but it is believed when Mia and friends hit up a party where the game happens. It consists the person to hold this hand that may or may not been cut off a psychic that allows the person holding hands to see into the other side. It’s all fun and games for Mia and friends until it hits home when Mia’s mother is one of the spirits that visits but when you are left holding hands too long they will take you over. Such as a young kid who begins to smash his head in because the spirits have him and this causes Mia to become obsessed with speaking to her mother and learning if she really committed suicide. This film has the creepiness of ‘Flatliners’ and ‘The Innkeepers’ as it does the whole conjuring spirit thing right as I give the project 3 stars.

Any comments please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews .

Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!

Gross Movie Reviews #653

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Onyx the Fortuitous The Talisman of Souls (DVD) – This is an odd bird of a movie where the plot revolves around a fanboy character Marcus who still lives at home with mom (Barbara Crampton) and works at the local “Meat Mart”. But Marcus is really into this dude Bartok who worships Satan that has a contest of where five selected people get the chance to hang out in Bartok’s mansion. The five from all different walks of life all very into Bartok (Jeffrey Combs) the Great make it to the mansion for the ritual. The goal of this ritual is to bring forth the evil god Abaddon for immortality and Bartok to rule. But the five get curious and wonder what is really up with Bartok as they have odd dreams as they believe there is a prophecy about this event as not all Bartok can be true? Yeah the movie has a few flaws but we get Jeffrey Combs coming off as a doppelganger of Michael Ironside in ‘Turbo Kid’, Barbara Crampton being delightful as always, ghouls, monsters, and the vibe of this being some weird mid-90s fever dream I once had when I was 20. This movie might be odd but it was an absolute hoot to watch so give it a chance as I give it 4 stars.

The Stalking (Amazon) – Jeff Kirkendall and Mark Polonia keep it quick where small town America has a witch that casts a dark spell on the town near the Halloween holiday. Now the unsuspecting townsfolk are being attacked by killer sunflowers as I give it 2 stars as I felt there was more to this movie we never got to saw? Have to give these two credit for having a SOV movie going for that 50s drive-in or old horror host movie vibe.

Werewolf Santa (Tubi) – First this UK holiday flick had me at the title but second Joe Bob Briggs doing a narration or a little story telling at the beginning of the film to set it all up about Lucy and Christmas Eve was wonderful. Lucy runs a YouTube show about monster hunting that is viewed by many until she has caught Santa being bitten by a werewolf. Now Lucy wants to have Santa turned back before she has to kill Santa Claus. The film has its moments but feels choppy at best most times but I still gotta give it 2 ½ stars.

Frankie Freako (On Demand) – The guy known for ‘The Void’ and ‘Psycho Gorman’ decides to do a weird reboot of ‘Ghoulies’ if it was smashed together with ‘Cabbage Patch Kids’ with John Carl Buechler smiling somewhere. The film has a young married man Connor who is considered a square with his boring ass life until he sees a party line ad for Frankie Freako. You know one of those 1-900#s that he calls and suddenly Connor’s life is turned upside down after Frankie Freako and friends visit to party! But that is only half of the problem as the president from Frankie’s world has sent things to crossover to capture and bring them all back. Yes the film is fun and has the vibe of a failed 90s Saturday morning pilot for Nickelodeon but throughout the film there is just that little something missing to put it over the top for me. Even if I give it only 3 stars I do believe there will be others that enjoy this project more than I did but no matter what I do know John Carl Buechler would be proud knowing stuff like this exists!

The Bouncer (all streaming platforms) – A gritty, fast-paced action film that keeps it simple about Frank Sharp, a man with a past who is trying to hide in plain sight being a bouncer for the good money. Frank plans on paying for his mother’s hospital bills but it’s not ideal when you are a wanted man. Mr. Sharp doing what he believe is right even though he was warned to let it go makes a sharp turn into having life in constant hard mode as he rescues a young woman Sylvia from a mob boss Mr. Kane who has slapped her around. Frank quickly figure out this isn’t going to be easily forgotten and must stay hidden until he can plan an escape as Mr. Kane is an unforgiving Russian mob dude. This international project does a smart with its great use of locations, great casting, tight and exciting action scenes to keep it entertaining for all as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars. P.S. a reminder again not all cool action films need an overblown budget and star the Rock.

Santa Isn’t Real (Tubi) – It is Christmas time of course and Santa has come down the chimney to eat your holiday cookies and kill your ass or that is what happened to Nikki last Christmas Eve. Now spending almost a full year in a coma and its believed her near death experience was a suicide attempt she wakes to find friends wanting to take her away to a hidden cabin for fun, booze, and reconnecting. But Nikki is nervous rightfully so as she believes Santa is real and will kill all of them. The biggest problem with this holiday film is within five minutes of it starting you know everything that is going to happen including the ending with no holiday charm or anything. Expected fun holiday horror with a title like that but felt like Santa passed over this one as you should too this holiday season as I gotta give it a fat jolly zero 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!

Just in time for the holidays!

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Infinite Santa 8000 (Blu-ray) – One of my favorite Indy releases over the years is an animated feature from two brilliant minded people Michael Neel and Greg Ansin. Funny thing is it has been about ten years since I first reviewed this masterpiece of cinema coming to DVD. Now finally getting the special edition treatment through a great company Synapse Films more people will get to witness the glorious movie that I have talked about for years. This is a mind-blowing post-apocalyptic animation set thousands of years into the future where Santa still thrives or now just survives looking for people who still have the Christmas spirit. We begin with a narration to catch up the viewer “of how we got here” as Cyborg Santa is about to ‘Thunderdome’ with another in order to win sacks of meat as food is scarce in this world. Yes folks, our future are super violent, robots have taken over earth, and Santa must fight to survive but he still lives in the North Pole! What keeps the jolly bastard going these days is a robot girl named Martha who when not training loves to hang out with Santa in his workshop and hear stories of Christmas past. But after a mysterious visitor one evening Martha is kidnapped from Santa’s Ranch and we are off to the races with complete chaos as Santa and his robotic reindeer jump into action to chase down an evil rabbit! Martha’s and our holiday hero discover this is only the beginning as a thing from the past Dr. Shockleton and her mutant army are on course to not only to rid the world of the Santa menace but to reshape the world into her own. For movie nerds out there let me break this down: imagine elements of the film Wizards, Adult Swim programming, scenes from the original Terminator and Mad Max films, and a character that is a straight up an old school Bond villain, and a soundtrack that feels like lost audio tracks from early Slayer mashed together into this beautiful piece of animation that in the end is all about the Christmas spirit! And what is even better is this is the director’s cut with extended and new scenes added including a little look into who Dr. Shockleton is after credits?! To me what makes this even more special is the short interviews with the voices of the cast so you get to see and hear who these talented people are, the original 13 part web series of this project, audio commentary from the dynamic duo themselves Michael Neel and Greg Ansin, music videos, plus more than anything this feature being on Blu-ray I believe makes everything in this feature pop and look even better than it ever did when watching it ten years ago on YouTube and such. This brilliant piece of holiday cinema will make a great addition to horror fans’ collections but also yearly holiday movie watching for years to come as my opinion has never changed giving it 4 out of 4 stars and now officially can be found at www.synapsefilms.com .    

Gross Movie Reviews #652

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Space Sharks (On Demand) – In this Indy CGI-fest space debris falls to earth to have killer plants killing hikers in the mountains and a weird POV camera that is supposed to be a space shark stalking people. Not a whole lot happens in this 60 minute feature and that is without the long ass credits but besides you falling asleep there is of course a conspiracy about space sharks. Honestly, I was expecting more with a title like that but was very disappointed as this movie should give its cool title back as I give it 0 stars so consider yourself warned.

Crackcoon (Amazon) – Yes, admittedly I was a little critical of this recent Brad Twigg feature because I thought it missed the boat (Cocaine Bear)? Well thank Mr. Twigg for proving me wrong as the film opens with a quite fun death scene as super crack has hit the streets! This new strain of drugs is turning people into crazed killers so imagine when a couple drug dealers throw their stash out the window and a raccoon gets ahold of it. The drugged murder-crazed animal wastes no time going on a murderous rampage all over the mountain where it lived. Meanwhile a forest ranger who has no business being married to Jessa Flux just wants the small town sheriff to take these animal attacks serious. The story is outrageous, loved the cast (the Frankie character steals the film), hilarious kills, and special thanks to filmmaker Brad Twigg for restoring my faith that a good Indy movie can be made out of a terrible idea that was most likely said out loud when everybody was drunk… I give the film 3 out of 4 stars.

Death Streamer (Full Moon) – Charles Band is working his black magic again of going back to what made Full Moon, Full Moon? Small cast, great location, and an interesting horror story to be told as it worked in the early 90s and it has been working again here in the 2020s. With this new bloodsucker film has a vampire live streaming his feedings at an S&M club to select viewers. But to the vampire’s disgust some web show investigators called ‘Church of Chills’ stumble upon this unique and intriguing show. They want to know if the murders are staged or actually real to get the clicks, the interest in their show uncovering this hidden gem. Once they dive head first into the history of the club they find out a lot more than they bargain for. Saying it out loud it may sound like you have seen several versions of this plot already but do me a favor and let your guard down on this one. It’s worth the quick watch as Mr. Band is clearly establishing a new wave of Full Moon fun in Cleveland, Ohio as I give this film 3 out of 4 stars.

Monster Bash (Tubi) – I can always look forward to Asylum Entertainment making hot garbage from time to time that is so damn watchable as you had me at Michael Madsen is Dr. Frankenstein. The good doctor is sending his monster out into the night to collect things for a certain experiment he needs to perform as his life is coming to an end. His goal is to become a god among men or to become an unkillable abomination by collecting certain things from Dracula, Mummy, The Invisible Man, and Wolfman. This causes an unlikely team-up to stop the madman Dr. Frankenstein. The movie is so terrible its brilliant as you should grab the friends and beer and enjoy this for what it is and be happy it exists as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Glowzies (Tubi) – So a trio of mountain bikers happens to come upon an old mill building that has been fenced off for years. But the three unleash something that has been trapped for the past three decades until the government can decide a proper clean up but have forgotten about it. Doesn’t take long for glowy-eyed zombies attacking people but that is the least of the plotlines here as the material making everyone a zombie is an alien element that had the government decide to leave the survivors there after they try to mind swipe them? Or just have old dudes called ‘the watchdogs’ to scream at anyone “don’t go up there” that comes even remotely close to the location. What’s the solution for the zombies, how about surf music as it makes their heads explode which allows me to give the film 2 stars.

Blood and Breakfast (Vimeo) – This Indy feature from Mark Byrne has worked in the Indy genre for several years and his latest project is a clever concept that stars a few familiar Indy vets that fans will enjoy. Story centers on an old fashion bed and breakfast ‘The Amberson House’ where several strangers staying there happen to share stories and understand they have all been survivors of a serial killer. The strangers staying at the inn after sharing their stories are now being picked off one by one. The film feels like an old school horror tale to be told but at the same time the film from beginning to end felt like it was missing something I could never put my finger on that would put it over big as I give it 2 out of 4 stars.

Chum (DVD) – Another Indy film project from Jason Graves where within a few years into the future the great white shark has gone extinct. But this hasn’t stopped scientists from engineering a new breed of shark to make a comeback. Of course learning nothing from ‘Jurassic Park’ the baby sharks get released and head off to chomp down on some humans in the closest small town. When describing the film or watching the trailer it looks fun but by the end you feel more annoyed than entertained by the baby rubber sharks as I give it 1 ½ stars.   

Festival of the Living Dead (Tubi) – So this horror movie exists in some weird space for horror fans as its main plot is the events of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ in 1968 were real. Now fast forward to present time a young woman ‘Ash’ who is the granddaughter of Ben has a chance to attend the 55th Festival of the Living Dead music event that celebrates those who died then. Ash’s bestie Iris decides to watch Ash’s brother so she can have a birthday of a lifetime but instead after her boyfriend wrecks the car taking a short cut the group quickly figure out there is flesh-eaters taking over! The day quickly becomes the worst birthday ever as Ash, Iris, and friends must survive the zombie attack before they nuke the event in order to control the outbreak. I give the film 3 stars as it is a solid story and I may not be a fan of the end or ending of a certain character I do feel this will be a tough watch for horror fans or more specifically NOTLD fans to give a fair viewing? Before you judge this flick let’s remember horror fans there is a project called “Children of the Living Dead” and someone thought it was a good idea to film new footage to the original 1968 film? So take this one in with a grain of salt and I will be here to discuss after viewing if needed.

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!

It’s a Wonderful Slice review

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It’s a Wonderful Slice (DVD/Vimeo) – So I was privileged enough to check out a not released yet holiday Indy flick from an unknown filmmaker to me, Michael Moutsatsos (hope I spelled that right?). Anyway, Michael goes an unconventional route of holiday anthology story telling that gives the viewer a history lesson of Santa, Krampus, and a mischievous elf on their killing ground that eventually leads into the introduction of the storyteller. When the storyteller appears this is where the real movie begins as he ties together five quick holiday horrors that a man being sliced in his shower, a friend using wolves as cover for a murder, Santa attacking a couple in the woods, Satan controlling a man, and finally a beautiful woman toying with her victim. The story telling isn’t breaking new ground (but unconventional) as I quite enjoyed how the filmmaker went about putting everything together in this no budget production using a small if not same cast in each segment and using maybe three sets or areas the whole film. Otherwise, knowing what you have (not much) using it to your advantage and a high budget glossy look along the way. How to put it: when I see something like this I already know this might not be the filmmaker’s best work to date but it shows me they are usually testing or experimenting of putting together something even more entertaining in their next project or the one after that? Again anthologies can be a tough sell since a lot of filmmakers make them these days but these stories are quick, don’t linger, and you got someone dressed as Santa slaughtering people and quite simply you are going to have Indy movie viewers smiling in the end as I give this 2 out of 4 stars.

A podcast on a cool post-apocalyptic cult film “ACCION MUTANTE”

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https://cinemadegeneration.podbean.com/

Cameron Scott is a podcaster who the past several episodes has been covering post-apocalyptic films but on his latest podcast for Cinema Degeneration decided to cover the film “Accion Mutante”. A cult French film that few have seen but is fun stuff as he asks huge horror fan and fan of this film Kay Crawford (director of Drain Snake Massacre) to dive into this great gem of a post-apocalyptic film that also has finally found its way on to Blu-ray! If you like podcasts, you are weird like me, and you love post-apocalyptic movies grab this episode as you will not be disappointed into this deep dive of “Accion Mutante”.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cinema-degeneration/id1550525634?i=1000637244731

Gross Movie Reviews #519

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Gross Movie Reviews #519

 

Bloodfist V: Human Target (DVD) – This time around Don “the Dragon” Wilson stars as Jimmy Stanton who wakes up in the hospital with amnesia. The super-hot Denice Duff is paid $500 to go into his room and claim to be his wife to take him home after he wakes. Quickly she gets involved in something much bigger as some mob guys come by at every opportunity to kill Jimmy. As Jimmy tries to figure out who he truly is the NSA comes a knocking to explain he was undercover as part of a Chinese smuggling organization. Not knowing who to believe as usual he goes out on his own with Ms. Duff to clear his name and kill every bad guy in his way! A fun and hilarious direct-to-video bootleg of Steven Segal’s ‘Hard to Kill’ with no real serious villain as I give it 2 ½ stars.

 

Bloodfist VI: Ground Zero (DVD) – In this entry Don “the Dragon” Wilson is an Air Force officer who is delivering classified material to a missile complex. Instead of a simple delivery he stumbles into a siege in progress on the missile site to set off a nuclear war. Eventually Mr. Wilson makes his way into the highly secured underground facility to save the day as I give it 1 ½ stars.

 

Bloodfist VII: Manhunt (DVD) – Don “the Dragon” Wilson is Jim in this entry into the series where it teaches you not to pick up strange hot blondes in a bar. After a night with the hot blonde Jim is accused of being a cop murderer and Steven Williams is on the job to track Jim down to bring him to justice. Jim must not only clear his name but bring down the drug ring within the LAPD as I give it 2 stars.

 

Bloodfist VIII: Hard Way Out (DVD) – The last entry for Mr. Wilson has him as a high school teacher with a past in the CIA that catches up to him. Assassins are out to kill him as part of a cleanup operation as his former boss is expected to be declared the new head of the CIA. He heads over seas to keep his teenage son safe but that only slows the CIA down for a day before they catch back up as I give this last entry for “The Dragon” 2 stars.

 

Bloodfist 2050 (DVD) – This 2005 entry into the series made eight years after the original series is a Filipino post-apocalyptic film set in L.A. 2050 that begins with some stock footage of 80s Filipino post-apocalyptic films. Then we are introduced to a young man named Alex that when he isn’t banging the local stripper he gets wrapped up in a famous fighting ring. This is supposedly going to help him find his brother’s killer and make some money along the way. The film is kinda of dull and been done before aka the first ‘Bloodfist’ movie, this entry just has a lot more boobage in it as filler scenes with a few strippers dancing as I give it 1 star.

 

The New Mutants (On Demand) – This was that forgotten or shelved supposedly horror film starring mutants that we all wondered about but weren’t really excited about. If bored, the film isn’t that bad as teenage mutants are sent to an asylum that is funded by the Essex Corporation for scientific research. The teens are told it is for their own good but as a new mutant is introduced into the group they are being haunted by their own fears and must ban together to defeat their fears. This film just comes off as a misfire more than a bad movie and most likely besides being caught up in the whole Fox/Disney takeover was just a rushed project as it seems like the ‘X-men’ phase of superhero films were ending??? Anyway it is still worth a watch if you can’t find much else as I give it 2 stars.

 

Jiu Jitsu (On Demand) – If your brain needs something like a ‘Hardcore Henry’ to fulfill that feeling this might be the project for it? A weird comic bookish story about an interdimension being that comes to Earth every six years at this ancient temple to fight the best warriors alive. If the warriors disagree or do not fight the being it will just destroy the Earth. Seems simple enough as when all the crazy MTV action fight scenes are not happening with Tony Jaa and others we get just enough crazy Nic Cage to keep you interested till the end. The action film is entertaining and filled with some good fight scenes but the ‘hero’ character of the plot isn’t someone I feel fans will care about and hurts the film overall. I still give it 2 ½ stars for all its action but I would say check out ‘Triple Threat’ before you get ass deep into this movie.

 

Terminator: Dark Fate (DVD) – You can make fun of me for watching the whole ‘Bloodfist’ series for no reason. But for those who are fans of this series of films you know this series was done after the third entry, correct? ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ the most pointless film ever made! This sequel/reboot tries its best to be pointless but really seems to recycle the storyline we just digested in ‘Terminator: Genisys’… I personally just watch the films because of Arnold but if you are just looking for something dumb to watch here you go! Spoiler alert: Skynet does not exist any longer and it is now called Legion. Not saying but just saying this should have been done when they decided to make the third film. Hey Hollywood if you are going to do this again just give us the humans vs. terminators post-apocalyptic war film in 90 minute form otherwise it is just dumb as I give it 1 ½ stars.

Llamageddon (DVD) – This wonderful creation is about an alien llama that crash lands on Earth in a small community and begin its takeover! When the llama isn’t stomping a victim with its hooves it is killing people with its laser eyes. Yes, you heard me correctly people when its shoots lasers from its red eyes fireworks go off. The alien llama stumbles upon a house party of young people where it begins killing them one by one but also spits on one party goer to have him begin a transformation. This independent film has it all folks and I absolutely laughed my ass off as the alien llama tries to destroy us all! If that isn’t enough pay attention to their drinking game as the character Dan changes shirts in every scene (17 times if I counted correctly?) I cannot thank filmmaker Howie Dewin enough for giving us this amazing gem of cinema as I give it 4 stars all the way!

 

Fatman (On Demand) – So what do you do with a super racist actor that may have ruined his career forever? How about have him play the role of Chris Cringle aka Santa Claus. This isn’t your typical holiday film as a young man is given a lump of coal for Christmas and this upsets him to the point of hiring a hitman to kill Santa Claus. If Santa doesn’t have enough to worry about he has to take on a government contract in order to make ends meet so he can continue giving good boys and girls presents once a year. This holiday film goes far off the reservation in this dark comedy to bring a holiday story that is just perfect for us weirdos. Santa isn’t your typical jolly red coat figure we all remember he is portrayed as a normal old guy just trying to get by with what he has. Difference is this Santa has been doing it for hundreds of years and I refuse to describe more of the movie because I like how the story tells you just enough to explain everything quickly to keep the flow going. This holiday gem gets 3 ½ stars and will most likely become a yearly watch for me.

Piranha Sharks (DVD) – Think sea monkeys kids! A science project gone wrong and now the military no longer interested in the project presents a problem: what to do with the piranha sharks? How about sell them as the hottest new product to get through an infomercial? And that is what two weird idea guys come up with as they sell them by the millions becoming rich overnight. But of course things quickly go wrong as the piranha sharks are reproducing out of control and starting to attack people anytime the water is turned on. Not even Jose Canseco pleas for his favorite thing can stop a couple exterminators from coming up with an idea to save New York City! Even a mayor played by Kevin Sorbo (who is Winnie the Poohing it around the office)  hopes the exterminators come up with an idea to save them all before all out nuclear assault as I give the entertaining film 3 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/ !