Gross Movie Reviews #714
Venus Die Trap (Tubi) – This independent project attempts to be an intentional B-movie old school style as it mixes old stock film footage with new stuff shot to fill in certain scenes. The story is pretty basic as it centers on a small town in North Carolina where a meteor has fallen to earth in the nearby woods. The residents quickly see weird things happening and blame the meteor out in the woods as venus fly traps have mutated then attack people! The fate of the community rests in the hands of an innocent botanist named Sally. The film has its moments, it doesn’t overstay its welcome on screen, it is a fun homage to movie stuff that if old enough your parents witness these projects at the drive-in as I give is a solid 2 out of 4 stars.
Blood and Rust (Tubi) – In small town Ohio a young man named Lamont believes he is doing the right thing by running his father’s diner and taking care of the transit homeless that wander through from time to time. But Lamont when alone believes he is just a hamster on a hamster wheel running to nowhere especially after he loses his father to a strange animal attack. Enter our other main character Belko the vampire hunter as Lamont learns the hard way vampires are in town to feed and take over. Lamont is all about helping to save this town as long as it helps the homeless and the sheriff doesn’t get involved as the sheriff gives Lamont a hard time. Little that Lamont knows this life changing event can finally help him get off that so-called hamster wheel of life? The concept and how I explain it makes the film sound a lot better than it is… I mean there is a great idea in there I just felt it wasn’t executed well as I give this project 1 ½ out of 2 stars.
Sonny Boy (Blu-ray) – What if I told you there is this bizarre project released in 1989 that stars Paul Smith, David Carradine, and Brad Dourif you would most likely say “I’m in!” To top it off let me just point out David Carradine does the main song and plays a woman in the film. Plus, Paul Smith owns a cannon that he uses to shit people with if they cross him? Those who have seen this understand and respect the bizarre beauty of this film. This oddity of a story begins in 1970 at a remote hotel where Weasel (Brad Dourif) steals a car unknowingly with a baby in back as he brings it to Slue and Pearl as they are a couple criminals who run a desert town with their wheeling and dealing ways. The couple, mostly Slue, raise the child in their bizarre wicked way to help them take down people who don’t agree with their antics. Years go by until the baby is a full grown adult and the small town has had enough of these criminals. This was a film that you would only hear stories of existing for years as I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bootleg tape many moons ago but now has a great cleaned up physical media copy that needs to be seen in order to understand anybody that has described this wild project! If you are a big movie buff and have not witnessed this you need to fix it right now as I give this project 3 ½ stars.
Invisible Shark (DVD-R) – Independent filmmaker Douglas Waltz is at it again with this wild idea that would make you think old school SyFy channel would have made three of these? No they didn’t as Mr. Waltz makes his David “the rock” Nelson picture where a small town sheriff and deputy are forced to believe there is a shark in their waters when a mangled body washes up on the beach. No one sees the attacks but they see the aftermath as this invisible creature attacks residents of Poloniaville! It takes some time but the police figure out because of the killer animal’s invisibility it doesn’t play by the rules of a regular shark which can work to their advantage of saving the residents. This project is truly wild and insane but this rough cut proves Mr. Waltz believes in giving viewers something wildly strange that they might be missing in their movie watching as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Bone Sickness (Blu-ray) – This somewhat forgotten Indy gem from Brian Paulin in the early 2000s may finally get the credit and kudos it deserves as the movie has found new life in this new special edition. So Alex is a young guy who is terminally ill with a wife Kristen who will do anything to extend Alex’s life or cure him of his terrible disease. Alex’s best friend Thomas comes up with an idea of feeding Alex bone marrow from the recently departed believing this could help him as Kristen is okay with this too. Alex unknowingly is being fed this and begins to go through some sick and gruesome changes that do cause him hunger for blood, nevermind this causing the dead to rise. As Kristen and Thomas believe they were doing what’s best for Alex’s hunger and health, the film slowly turns into this dream-like zombie gorefest that goes way beyond the usual independent zombie stuff we are used to. Paulin’s project is bizarre, gritty, and an absolutely exciting gooey splatterfest that needs to be cherished. Feels like a crazy combo of Meat Market meets Fulci! Rewatching this movie made me appreciate how freakin good it is and many of the filmmakers out there need to watch and rewatch ‘Bone Sickness’ to understand you can do what you do with passion and little money… It can be done! This special edition that is so worth owning has a new commentary with Brian Paulin and Rich George, another commentary from Cult Movie Obsessives, a new location tour segment, and a featurette “The Morbid History of Bone Sickness” along with some of the older extras from the previous DVD from in the early 2000s. 4 out of 4 stars from beginning to end!
Amityville Bloodlines (Blu-ray) – Oh I have tracked more down as we go with entry #83 from the young filmmaker Blaize Tudor as he brings this sequel to his ‘Amityville Bloodbath’. The 34 minute film brings in a few independent vets we all know and love to tell the story of Dr. Trevor and his experiment “Skull Face” who has been let loose in Amityville killing all big and small in the town. Because of the curse or legacy of Amityville this evil experiment cannot be killed. Also after listening to some of the commentary from Blaize Tudor it helped me understand ‘Amityville Bloodbath’ as I see this as more of a ‘Evil Dead/Evil Dead 2’ thing of its not a remake but not a true sequel also? Confusing, I know but I believe the young man Blaize has stumbled onto something that he left a lot that could be done with this idea unknowingly? I saw Skull Face as more of the curse of Amityville that could go full serial killer or supernatural killer as this got away from the Amityville house in general… Skull Face could be a ghostly entity that continues the curse of the town? Maybe to make a little more sense so yinz don’t feel like I am completely insane, think “In a Violent Nature” as I give this project 2 out of 4 stars. Also too would like to point out it was cool to hear Blaize in his commentary be somewhat critical of his past project connecting to this as some independent commentaries try to beat into you they made the perfect project.
Critter Collection Volume One (DVD) – Matthew Mark Hunter digs deep to give audiences eight short films of terror that deal with a boy being bitten by a cricket, a man being haunted by a roach in his motel room, a story about a giant centipede or Dinopede, a man collecting bugs and regrets the aftermath, two segments that were made nine years apart about a rat terrorizing a man, puppet bunnies fearing for their lives as one wants to leave the forest. So if you are not a fan of killer animals or bugs this no budget fun may haunt you as I give the project 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Amityville Webcam (Blu-ray) – Welcome to entry #84 that has been floating around for a bit of time but getting to watch it on streaming or physical media form has only been made available recently. Premise of this entry into the series is about demons webcamming in their time off to play a role playing game where they are humans and deal with a possessed webcam. I give it credit for doing something different for sure but I believe it tells its story in 60 minutes and then just repeats for the next 40 minutes after. Again a solid different concept for the series but goes way too long. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t a ‘Mt. Misery Rd.’ mess as I can only give this entry 1 ½ out of 4 stars.
Last + Last After All (DVD) – An animated 16 minute short film broken into two segments of a possible post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh. The first one is about a person who just recently woke up in this new wasteland only to find out they might be the last human alive. The second segment is an odd pair wandering the wasteland. I would love to say I enjoyed it but to me it felt incomplete? But also I am not a huge animation guy so I could be missing something as I give this 1 out of 4 stars.
Amityville Bed & Breakfast (Blu-ray) – Entry #85 literally goes in a direction I am surprised it took this long to get too? This entry into the series has two brothers buying the haunted property cheap because of unpaid taxes. Their challenge for their streaming house flipping show is to fix up the property to make it a bed and breakfast to help the community get rid of the so-called bad PR the house has had since the original murders. As the Beaver brothers progress into the project and weird things begin to happen immediately they learn through some documents that everything might not be supernatural? The Beaver brothers struggle to deal with the so-called fixer upper as the crew keeps disappearing and cash runs low but they get through it all to accomplish their task in this very entertaining entry into the series as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.
Amityville Easter (Blu-ray) – Oh entry #86 into the Amityville series goes in the weird but not totally unexpected direction as a group of influencers head to the Amityville estate at the edge of the Amityville community for an interview with a famous widow that could mean more subscribers and money for them. The property besides being owned by a widow was also the site of a famous murder by a deranged half bunny/half human killer. The influencers were only allowed to be present on the property if they would agree to the widow’s terms and all their equipment was turned over to the butler when they arrived but this group is desperate for content. As they spend the night there things immediately get weird for the influencers from seeing the widow looking very sexual (best way to describe it) and the female influencers made to do an easter egg hunt? All this just for an interview that is believed to be a big pay day unless the half bunny/half human can stop killing them all. This project has its moments and I give it kudos for just being odd from the start so if you need to see a rather weird entry into the series? Look no further as I believe this would be way better to watch with a group as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
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