This website is dedicated to horror movies (independent and mainstream), beer, Full Moon, Spookies, Graveyard Shift, Leprechaun sequels, massacre films and watching every god damn horror film ever made or die trying!
The Bogmanifest (DVD) – Filmmaker Mitch Laing has something to say about Cryptids with his 34 minute tale that takes place in 1907 Arkansas. Pretty much a Sasquatch creature has killed a couple of hunters from a small community near Indian land. Sheriff gets a hunting group together to track down this person or really this thing once everyone is on board that it wasn’t the work of Indians getting revenge against the white man. But fun fact even the Indians are afraid of this Bogman legend but respect it as the hunting party tracks this thing down they get more than they bargain for as the Bogman rips some of the hunting party to shreds. There are things that give this movie some legit charm even though it’s seems crudely put together at times. Mitch and crew just like Mark Polonia with ‘Once Upon a Time Amityville’ had a great location and knew exactly how to use it. Also not straight up calling it a Sasquatch monster as they give a different twist with more stories to be told makes it for great entertainment for Bigfoot lovers as I give the monster project 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
The Miracle of Violence (DVD) – Two guys hanging out at a movie theater are excited to sit down and check out their DV tapes to see what they got in this SOV anthology? First tape deals with two friends trying to walk home after a night of partying but something has followed them. Second tape deals with degenerates that keep drinking these slushies that are laced with drugs causing them to murder people. Next adventure is about YouTubers unboxing gone wrong because of what they were delivered from the ‘Dark Web’. The next tape deals with an unfortunate group of filmmakers getting behind the scenes footage in the woods and a random lunatic keeps shooting a gun begins to take aim at the group. Another tape has a couple old dudes fishing and discussing supposed ritualistic killings that took place at their fishing spot. And last one (unless you consider the wraparound of the two guys in the theater watching this) is about five friends who get their asses beaten down at a skate park but it only gets worse when werewolves arrive! This independent anthology has a unique feel as it comes off more like random videos taken by several people as they are trying to prove the existence of the supernatural or plain weird shit. A weird, but unique rough around the edges approach to an anthology that will have its fans as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars but would have given 3 out of 4 if the sound was more level from tape to tape and seen it edited down a few more minutes.
Strong Arm (DVD) – Anthony Moran’s first independent feature made in 2020 uses Detroit as the backdrop for everything that happens in this film. It centers on a war vet Jake Ramsey who has come back to his old stomping grounds to clean up after his sister who was left for dead in a random parking lot. Jake of course wants to go all ‘Death Wish’ on a local crime ring that is suspected of this horrific crime. The film is intense, brutal, and atmospheric but with the musical choices as the soundtrack along with Jake’s nightmares it only add to the film’s intensity as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Let Us In! (DVD) – Mr. Anthony Moran’s second feature comes off as ‘The Crazies’ and ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ had a baby in an alternate universe! This super wild film from 2022 has the government placing a “Shelter in Place” order all across Detroit on the emergency broadcast system as it is alerting residents to have no contact with the infected? As two people find themselves stranded they find a house where the person that lets them in doesn’t live there. After a long set up a gang called “Satan’s Keys” arrive at the home looking for the drugs they feel they are owed since their motorcycles were taken. This sets up for a blood filled battle between Satan’s Keys, the two individuals who are stranded at the home, and what lurks hidden in the house confines awaiting for its next slaughter. This all makes for a fun time for independent horror fans but it does feel incomplete in the end but not enough to take away from what Mr. Moran accomplished as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.
Clown in a Cornfield (Shudder) – Dr. Maybrook and his teenage daughter Quinn have arrived in Kettle Springs where Baypen Corn Syrup had originated at. A Midwest fly over town that is stuck in the 90s (referenced in the movie). The Baypen Factory burned down recently and a group of teenagers Quinn begins to hang out with are blamed by the town and its sheriff. Meanwhile this teenage group likes to pull pranks on each other with the clown mascot and load it up on YouTube. Things seem very innocent until a prank goes wrong at the Founders Day parade and the party that follows that evening where the group is locked out of a barn after clowns come out of the cornfield looking to slice and dice! Remember it’s all because Frendo the Clown and the town are a tradition to weed out the bad things in so many words. An excellent entertaining twist on the clown horror that will have fans watching multiple times as I give the film 3 ½ stars.
Samhain (DVD) – Justin Freed aka bootleg Drew Marvick has escaped a facility as it goes up in flames to kill again. This no budget film pretty much goes for the jugular of a dude killing several people in a community wearing a clown mask but misses its target big time. The film felt cobbled together and not thought all the way through as it felt like they possibly were making it up as the camera filmed. Sorry I wish I could say something better about the project but I know what I watched as I can only give it 1 out of 4 stars.
Chainsaw Killer (DVD) – A 2001 Mark Polonia project that really doesn’t feel like a Polonia project as 15 years before a man kills himself with the tape from his VHS movie ‘The Force Beneath’. Now present day a madman with a chainsaw is running around a rural Pennsylvania town hacking people to pieces with the nickname “Chainsaw Killer”. This is all going on while an early YouTuber is hell bent on finding a rare copy of the movie ‘The Force Beneath’ even if it means stealing it out of handicapped dude’s garage. I believe there was a lot of reaching on making a connection between the two things that were happening in the film. Along with Mark Polonia most likely being a hired gun on a subpar script or he wasn’t given a whole lot of time to put this project together. No matter what the answer is this much lesser known Mark Polonia film is still floating out there for anybody interested in tracking down a copy as I can only give it 1 out of 4 stars.
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!
Operation Undead (Amazon) – A Thai zombie flick without it being called a zombie film that is set in a fictional story set during true events of World War II. The Japanese army is advancing their way into China and India and wants to find an island where they can use their new experimental biological weapon. The Japanese government and Thai governments meet for peaceful negotiations to allow the Japanese army travel through but the experiment has already landed at an island and it is ravaging the island quickly as police and military assess the damage. Now with the Fumetsu virus out there the Japanese scientists want live specimens for further experimentation but that is being hindered by how quickly the virus is spreading among the islanders. The virus turns the victims into cannibals who can of course infect others but is allowing them to still have brain function to think and see who is human and non-human. The Japanese convince Thai officials they must act quickly to contain this virus. A fun twist for horror fans in this genre to decide if it’s a true zombie flick but also entertaining and enjoyable for the back drop the story is set in as I give the film 3 stars.
What Scares You (DVD-R) – All around talented individual Jason Burke’s latest short film comes off as a bootleg early Nick at Nite one-off from the early 90s that has four friends checking out an old house as they plan to stay the night? The friends challenge each other to speak about “what scares them” along with some tense conversation unknowingly that their fears are about to haunt them. One by one the friends die from what they fear most but before you make judgment on what appears to be hey “I have seen this several times before”, the evil twist is what makes for some scary fun to enjoy as I give the Mr. Burke’s latest 3 out of 4 stars.
Violent Streets (DVD-R) – Another not released yet feature from Indy filmmaker Brad Sykes has unearthed another exciting project he made around 1994! This ambitious project isn’t so much a horror movie as its gang picture on no budget in the vein of 70s and 80s high school gang films. There are two small gangs who were friends at one point but now see things differently as they constantly battle for the upper hand on the other. It becomes personal when one of the battles between Orin and Kane is over a young woman Sara to see who gets to have her for their prize. But Sara isn’t having any of it even though her pals think she is just getting herself in more trouble of not going along with it. Now Orin and Sara must be on the run as this gang war is about to turn deadly. For no budget this was a very ambitious project but Sykes makes up with its gritty SOV style that gives the content a certain charm as the heart of the actors just going for it take after take makes for a very watchable piece of cinema that I give 3 out of 4 stars.
Version 1.0.0
Killer Kabbage (DVD) – In a not so serious futuristic film with a hilarious concept has scientists in present day 2024 trying to solve the world’s food crisis with experiments on veggies, mostly cabbages! But 200 years in the future the world is a wasteland where a duo of Cage and Gibson look to survive by hunting killer veggies until they are approached by a government droid. The droid instructs the duo to head to a secret location as they are recruited as mankind’s last hope because of radioactivity reasons! The mission is to time travel to 2024, find the original experimental cabbage, and bring back a sample that started this apocalyptic war between killer cabbages and humans. Once the duo time travels and adjusts to present day of 2024 the fight is on as there is limited time before the war begins as they quickly find out the experiments are already out of control! This feels like a lost project from the early 90s from J.R. Bookwalter or the Polonia Brothers with a ‘Bad CGI Sharks’ vibe to it and I absolutely freakin loved it! Don’t be surprised if this pops up on my “Best of 2025 list” as this Indy feature had me laughing out loud several times as I give it 4 out of 4 stars as you had me at Killer Kabbage.
The Psychic (Tubi) – The 1977 Lucio Fulci film is also known as ‘Seven Notes in Black’ as this was a first time watch for me of Fulci’s early work. A young woman Virginia had a vision of her mother committing suicide at a young age and now has had a vision of a woman murdered then buried in the wall of a home. Virginia goes to see her therapist also ex-dude to speak of it being something more but it’s her ex-dude. Problem the home happens to be her new hubby’s house and the cops arrest him on suspicion. Virginia complains to the authorities that there gotta be more to this so she takes to doing her own snooping and heads down a rabbit hole of trying to prove her hubby’s innocence. As Virginia gets deeper in the rabbit hole she begins to have more visions that come true leader her to the killer. For me this piece of Fulci work had more filler than killer but sure there is fans of this project as I give it 2 stars.
City of the Dead (Shudder) – A young college girl in Nan Barlow heads to Whitewood, Mass, to research witchcraft on the advice of her professor (Christopher Lee) so she can turn in a great term paper. Nan’s interest is peaked once she enters this hard to find village and believes she needs to dig into the past immediately. The history of the village is they burned a witch at the stake who cursed all there and Nan is warned to leave quickly by the local priest as he claims evil owns the village and has for hundreds of years. Not long after that Nan goes missing without her professor being too upset by it but her boyfriend and brother soon try to turn the village upside down looking for Nan as the witches are not happy as they may ruin their ritual. Might not be the best of the witch horror films but it is intriguing with Christopher Lee playing the professor who seems to know all that is going on as I give the film 2 stars.
The Temptress (DVD) – An early film project from a young Jeff Kirkendall at the time in 2000-2002 that also includes a short film ‘3 to Murder’ that is a prequel but we will get to that in a bit. The story is about three women who are vampires trying to live life quietly among humans until Angelique shows up demanding the presence of her “first one” Rachel. Angelique and her minions refuse to allow the three to live their undead loves peacefully as she has never gotten over Rachel for not believing in her vamp ways. The project is definitely very rough around the edges and a product of the time in independent cinema at that time but it’s clear you can see Jeff Kirkendall and Tim Hatch were going to be building a relationship in films for a long time coming. Plus the short film (40 minutes) ‘3 to Murder’, the prequel sheds a lot more light on the story in ‘The Temptress’ that includes a deleted scene that answered a big question for me after watching both. I am gonna guess reasoning behind the short film and the feature is: one, wanted to see if they can do it with what they had? Second, might be Jeff might have made an executive decision that if kept the short and feature together they would be too long and viewers would tune out? Third, breaking them up Charles Band style for more content? No matter what it is an always fun finding an early project from Indy filmmakers you respect and see where or how far they have come as I give ‘The Temptress’ 2 out of 4 stars.
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!
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.
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!
Red Light District Shark Attack (Fawesome/DVD) – So Amsterdam sex workers are experimenting with a new drug at their brothel that mistakenly makes baby sharks. Of course some fat horny dude heads out to same whorehouse in Amsterdam for some sex and drugs! Working lady convinces fat guy to take said experimental drug and not only loses weight immediately, he becomes half shark/half man. The rest of the movie is about the young sex workers trying to stop half shark/half man from feasting on their hot little bodies. Short film form would have been much better for an idea like this… But trying to stretch it into feature form to get distribution is just sad and makes for a boring Indy shark movie that gets 0 stars.
Apex Predators 2: The Spawning (Fawesome/DVD) – Dustin Ferguson doing a smart a second time around takes a cue from the famous sequel to ‘Piranha’. The sharks are back attacking people heading to the beach and this time they fly on shore to get their meal as the all-important volleyball tournament is about to go down. This means feeding frenzy for the mutated sharks! The film stars the likes of Vernon Wells, Indy horror host Jennifer Nangle, and Eric Larsen as Jennifer Nangle’s character intermittently takes you through the tragic events of flying sharks by telling the viewer how she survived the attacks. A vast improvement over the first film as I gotta give this sequel 2 ½ stars.
Phil Herman’s Unearthed (DVD) – Phil Herman has churned out several anthologies over the past few years and this one seems to have a different vibe than the ones I have viewed in the past. This Indy anthology installment felt like it wasn’t playing by all the rules in search of giving the viewer an entertaining but different take as these four tales tackle: missing persons, alien abduction, demon possession, and mystical serial killer? You get to see some cool acting talents such as Heather Harlow, Debbie D, and Tina Krause among other famous people in what I describe as a deep dark thriller of an anthology. I do believe the Indy folk will enjoy these entertaining tales as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Operation Fortune (DVD) – Nic Cage has done a similar film but I will always have a soft spot for Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham project. Orson works for the government and is on holiday until he is pulled off by his handler to seek why something nasty was stolen? Orson gets a new crew together along with a Hollywood action star so they can get info at a charity event that an arms dealer is hosting. Point is they need to hack the arms dealer’s cell phone so they know what this thing “The Handle” is being sold too and what exactly or how nasty is this thing? “The Handle” turns out to be the ultimate AI key that will crash the world financial system. Gimme Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie all day as I give this fun action flick 3 stars.
Intrusive (DVD) – Even at 66 minutes this slow burn but effective Indy project is from Eric Shapiro who keeps it simple but complex if that makes any sense. Sabina gets a hotel room and makes an appointment with a spiritual healer because she claims an ancient woman is very loud in her head. This woman in Sabina’s head is not allowing her to sleep or function any longer and needs immediate help from Kelly. Kelly is going to use hypnosis to help Sabina but after a few miscues feels Sabina needs professional help. But Sabina explains the voice is what led her to Kelly which intrigues Kelly why and how deep does this go? As they go back and forth through the session the story fills out and eventually comes full circle. This was a nice changeup in the usual Indy stuff I watch and recommend to people as I do recommend checking this project out as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.
The Lost Platoon (VHS) – You had me at: 1990 David Prior production that deals with an aging reporter investigating a war skirmish in Nicaragua. During a fight with rebels and seeing a man in camp he believes he had encountered this man before, in a different war? The grizzled reporter is obsessed with the four soldiers who haven’t seemed to age for years. His interest gets him in trouble as they reveal themselves as vampires but they are there warring with an evil general that seems to know them also. A somewhat fun low budget vampire film that I give 2 stars too.
The Mouse Trap (Xumo Play) – So the original Mickey Mouse went public domain and of course it didn’t take long for someone to cash in on the name or fail miserably with this project. I dare you to like this garbage. Alex is stuck working her arcade job during her 21st birthday but surprise her friends are the reason why as they wanted to hang with her. Once all are in a dude with the old school Mickey Mouse mask locks the place down to murder the young people one by one while teleporting. Also can we stop the whole “everyone hand over your cell phone as we are going to have fun without them” cliché? No fucking way a 21 year old is going to unglue their phone from their hand to put it in a bag! For the love of Rutger Hauer that is such a dumb lazy story arc. Bottom line horror fans they thought they were smarter than everyone else in rushing this project and all it did was give horror fans an unwatchable mess as I give it 0 stars.
Ninja vs. Shark (Shudder) – An interesting concept that could only be done in Japan as Lord Koshiro Mizuchi sends his minions of the “Crimson Devil Clan” to kidnap, kill, and steal pearls from a small coastal village. The mayor of this village is desperate so why not hire a bodyguard for the village to fight back this evil before they all die or become slaves. This film besides bringing the gore tries to totally entertain with a shark attacking people, half shark/half man (done right unlike a certain movie Red Light District Shark Attack) that eats certain people for said Lord to become younger, ninja fights, some Mortal Kombat shit going down, but most importantly we do get a legit ninja vs. shark! Yes enjoy this craziness as I give you this hidden international gem 3 stars.
King on Screen (Shudder) – A crowd funded project with a ton of interviews with filmmakers who brought Stephen King’s books to the screen. It tries to cover everything but gets caught up on discussing ‘The Shinning’ and for good reason (horror fans pay attention). It does bring up the relationship between King and Romero and as fun as that is there is little if no attention paid to such films: Salem’s Lot, Graveyard Shift, Cat’s Eye, The Dark Half, and Maximum Overdrive. This documentary felt like a mixed bag of sorts but there could be numerous reasons different projects were not discussed or not as much for my liking as I give the project 2 stars.
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!
Blood Red River Bed (YouTube) – A slasher film of sorts from a first time filmmaker that its plot centers around a young man having issues with losing two friends along a river bed in a mysterious manner. There is a little bit of a sound issue at the beginning while establishing the two friends being killed but the issue fixes itself as the film is made to look gritty for effect. The young man against his better judgment goes with friends to party along this river bed where the legendary “Reaper” roams claiming victims on an all too regular basis. But as the friends are slaughtered around him the young man he must face his fear in order to survive the horror. A super solid no budget Indy flick that has a little filler in spots but still establishes being entertaining for fans of Indy horror as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Woodchipper Massacre (Blu-ray) – I took a chance on picking this special edition up from Terror Vision and they did not disappoint! Terror Vision claims this is a new transfer from the master tape? But if we as fans are being honest “there is only so much you can do to shine up a turd?” Meaning this SOV flick is always going to look like a SOV flick from the late 80s no matter what tech you throw at it. But that wasn’t why I got this amazing Blu-ray. For those of you who might not know or heard me screaming about this Jon McBride classic made for almost no money its plot has three kids of various ages who accidentally kill their aunt and cover it up. She rules them with an iron fist when father goes out of town but hey there is a woodchipper out back?! This is one of the more bloodless ‘massacre’ films I have ever watched but it is so much fun and it only gets better with the extras on this new special edition as it differs from the Camp Motion Pictures original DVD transfer… This edition has an excellent commentary done by Mark Polonia interviewing Jon McBride for one of two commentaries. The second belongs to the actress (Denice Edeal with Brad Henderson of Terror Vision of course) who was a teenager at the time of this film and some of her stories are just heartfelt and funny about the memories of working on the film. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this SOV classic especially since it was McBride’s follow up to ‘Cannibal Campout’ as I say your collection is not complete unless you own this Blu-ray as I give it 4 out of 4 stars.
In a Violent Nature (Shudder) – Possibly one of the most talked about horror films of 2024 and possibly since ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ being released? Some of the reviews I have read or people I have talked too who seen this film is either “Love or hate”, there is no in-between and that is where I come in. A necklace is removed from a grave by a dumb twenty something just trying to impress his woman and because of this an undead dude rises from the grave to wander the woods for the first 27 minutes of the film. Or as I like to call this the remake of ‘Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives’. Once or if you are able to get through establishing this undead forest legend wandering the woods the killing spree begins as it is swift and brutal. Part of me wonders if some of the kills were ‘Terrifier’ inspired. This slasher concept was quite intriguing and I was starting to understand why so many horror movie fans were calling this “movie of the year for 2024” until… the ending happened or I should say didn’t happen. We get an extra seven minutes of a survivor just sobbing, passing out, etc., in a truck or plainly nothing happens. I felt like it was a shitty ending for an interesting way of shooting a slasher film and that is why I can only give this horror feature 2 ½ stars. I will say I am very curious about the sequel of what direction it goes and how it is filmed?
Amityville: Where the Echo Lives (Amazon) – Well kids you can thank me later for checking out entry #64 that was in a few theaters for one weekend then went straight to Amazon the Tuesday after. A so-called paranormal investigator is investigating a house that has a connection to a missing murdered girl and a serial killer. Okay fuck this… let’s get to the point and my theory! This film comes off as a cheap documentary about a fictional paranormal investigator that has baggage. You are correct this has nothing to do with Amityville as many in the series do not. But my theory is someone (Lionsgate) noticed for the past several years many Indy filmmakers have been making a name and money on the title “Amityville” when major studios have long forgotten this series? Well time for them to cash in on unsuspecting horror movie fans who want to watch everything “Amityville” or people like me? Shame on yinz Lionsgate and Grindstone Entertainment because this wasn’t entertaining let alone deserved to be called hot garbage as I give it 0 stars as it was dumb and boring.
Unnatural (Vimeo) – A low budget horror western from Little Monster Entertainment and filmmaker Whit Whitman that stars genre vets Al Snow and John Wells. Al Snow plays the old raspy voiced cowboy who roams the old west searching for creatures because he is on a mission from God. Now stuck with his grandchildren after rescuing them from a werewolf attack he must allow them to travel with him to an odd town called ‘Possum Trot’. It is a quiet town but too quiet as Remington (Al Snow) wants to meet the sheriff full well knowing the sheriff is a vampire who made a deal with the town. Good vampire story, solid leads, great location and a horror film that horror fans should not overlook as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
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!
MR-9: Do or Die (Vimeo) – An action film out of Bangladesh that bases the film on a series of novels about an agent called “MR-9” or a version of an international bad ass spy! Anyhow the CIA comes a knocking (Michael Jai White) at the BCI to hopefully use agent MR-9 to gain access to R&R Robotics or the Ross Brothers legit enterprise to stop Frank Grillo aka Roman Ross from blowing up some of the world’s most famous dams. With the help of MR-9 the Vegas event goes well that it has Ross on the ropes giving room for the CIA to close in and stop the brothers from pulling off a huge criminal event. This Bangladesh film has the formula down: Big opening, secret agent, lots of action, and give action film fans a quick taste of Grillo and White fighting at the end. The film isn’t perfect but it is a fun international action flashback to the solid 90s direct-to-video action stuff Americans we use to see on a regular basis. The biggest flaw might have been tacking onto the ending to set up a second upcoming film of MR-9 but remember this isn’t the usual American action film fare. But no matter what you got me wanting to see the next entry as I give this solid film 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Invasion of the Space Preachers (DVD) – Here is a 1990 Indy film that has two friends (a dentist and an account) heading to the woods for a week of fun. On their way to the cabin they rented of course they find a wounded alien and take it with them. Once the alien heals up it turns into a beautiful woman to hang out and blend in with the two fellows as something fishy is going on among the locals and their preacher? The alien/now beautiful woman has come to stop the creepy preacher and its plans to wreak havoc internationally! If you have never seen the film it will be entertaining as hell for the independent movie fans if you are casual movie watcher, you better just move on as I give this fun flick 2 ½ stars.
Monster Busters (DVD) – A 2009 film out of Denmark that comes off as a ‘Goosebumps’ clone where grandpa tells the grandkids stories of hunting monsters in his younger days. Things seem normal until grandpa gets sick and taken to the hospital allowing for one of the grandkids to accidentally let loose a “shadow monster”. Once grandpa gets better he helps coach the kids into Monster Busters so they can recapture the monster that cannot be killed and understand and respect Grandpa’s stuff. The cute monster movie is family fun from a different country that is worth the search if you are a ‘Goosebumps’ fan as I give it 3 stars.
Lycan Colony (DVD) – Again no budget filmmakers, “If you are going to make a werewolf film you better have one hell of a werewolf costume?” In this 2006 independent werewolf film a young lady Sarah bites the new neighbor boy Stew for no other reason other to taste him… I guess? This goes down while Stew’s father is busy fighting werewolf extras that couldn’t afford costumes in a bar and he happens to find out the whole town they moved too is full of werewolves. About ¾’s a way through the film there is some non-sense trying to explain why the werewolves exist in this little town. If that isn’t enough for this mess of a film you will question “WTF you are watching” when you get to its weird video game bullshit to close out the film. And yes I am still not sure WTF I watched as I give this movie 1 star.
Death Rider: In the House of Vampires (On Demand) – The second project written and directed by Glen Danzig which I have stayed away from the first project as too many people made sure I knew how bad that one was. But I may get to that first project sooner than later after watching this? Anyhow, this western has a man, I mean vamp in black knocking at the door of a safe place for vampires with his virgin for entry. Mainly this vampire named Rider is there for revenge is the best way to describe this weirdly filmed western. The movie isn’t terrible as Glen Danzig seem to splash together the legendary Eastwood 60s westerns with Carpenter’s “Vampires” that somehow became a bootleg of a bootleg of “From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter”… without much happening. But what stands out to me more than the star-studded cast might be how this vampire film was shot as it came off as a high tech editing error or totally on purpose for some reason only known to Mr. Danzig himself? There is a weird delay or something? It is one of those movies that has the cast, the budget, and a script but totally unprepared on what to do with it as I give this project 2 stars. P.S. thank you Mr. Danzig for allowing me to look like a better actor than you, please people go compare and enjoy the laugh.
XXX-Mas (Blu-ray) – Johnny Duckett just happens to be a filmmaker of porn with his latest adult film production supposed to be this epic holiday porno like no other with all the bells and whistles! Duckett wants this production to start off a Marvel-like porn universe of holiday porn? Meanwhile Santa has just sat down to eat some cookies and watch one of his favorite holiday films on VHS. Santa sees something naughty on said VHS tape and makes a point to go to the porn set to assault all who are taking part in the porn shoot. Drew Marvick was perfect as the killer Santa! And it is always great seeing the talented Felissa Rosa and Jessa Flux but in the end it just felt like this independent production lacked the memorable staying power of a holiday horror movie other than Drew Marvick being a great killer Santa as I give this project 2 stars.
Debbie Rochon Confidential My Years in Tromaville: Exposed (DVD) – I was expecting a documentary but got a clip show of Debbie Rochon’s work with Lloyd and Troma. It isn’t a bad thing if you are a fan but never did a deep dive into Debbie’s work with Troma TV and Troma promos? Or ever been exposed to her work with Troma? The real treat might be the “Fangoria Trailer Park” extra that is on the DVD? It is a Fango TV thing from the early 2000s that horror fans may have never known about but would enjoy to check out. This was way before Shudder was a thing and how there were several horror outlets or websites taking a stab at trying to really establish a horror network. So by some chance you never been introduce to this talented actress Debbie Rochon this will most likely be a good watch for you as I give it 3 stars.
Aftershock (YouTube/VHS) – A 1990 post-apocalyptic film I have never heard of happen to come to my attention so of course I made a point to check this out. And kids I was not disappointed with its casting of John Saxon, James Lew, Michael Berryman, Richard Lynch, and Matthias Hues! The film is set in a world ravaged by war but still being controlled by something called the “Central Control Information Bureau”. This organization’s goal is to keep humans in line in this post nuke new world. Elizabeth Kaitan of “Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood” fame is an alien that has happen to set down in this mess and spends most of her time on the run from these Central Control non-sense guys or mainly John Saxon. Great cast but not much to the plot other than stealing from “They Live” of telling citizens to wake up and throw in an alien and we got our post-apocalyptic movie that I give 2 ½ stars.
Darkness of Man (On Demand) – An aging JCVD was an Interpol agent that made a promise of protecting a teenager after his mother dies. Now two years later Russell and Jayden get caught up in a violent street war between the Russians trying to take over the neighborhood Korean town where the old Korean mob has been established for decades. Think of a slow burn “John Wick” that has subtle ways of using some solid familiar action stars to blend this story of the burned out former Interpol agent being used by the Korean mob. Might not be the best of the JCVD catalog but might be his most plots driven to date as I give it 3 stars.
The Third Saturday in October (Shudder) – I quite enjoyed this throwback to a 70s slasher film as this one has heart with the music, the look, and the cars. Set in 1979 Alabama where deranged killer Jack Harding is being put to death for his killing spree in 1968 but has refused to say a word since. When Harding is electrocuted there is a man (Ricky Dean Logan) and a woman (Vicki Newton) that is witnesses of the execution who also wanna see him buried in the ground to be sure he is dead. But don’t let a good electrocution keep this killer down as he rises from his coffin to kill again and heads to the town of Hackleburg to restart his bloody rampage. Ricky and Vicki soon believe Jack Harding isn’t human but some kind of unstoppable monster. This is one of the few nostalgic slasher films in the past several years that have gotten the formula right! When watching your 70s slasher film makes me think of “Halloween” and “Phantasm” but also finds a way to give me chills you know you have made this horror fan happy who is old enough to remember that time as I gotta give this wonderful nostalgic 70s movie 4 stars! Horror fans that enjoyed “Late Night with the Devil” will enjoy this also.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Blu-ray) – Everyone new and old is back for this fourth installment into the franchise. They continue the storyline that something has to be done with the old containment unit before it’s too late? This also sets up a new ghost villain or phantom from an ancient orb that has not been seen in centuries is about to use the containment unit to help send the world in chaos and darkness. Once again it is up to the Ghost Busters to stop “The Death Chill” in this family fun movie that may not be as good as “Afterlife” but let me remind you these movies should have been made thirty years ago. So shut up and just enjoy we are even getting these movies as I give it 3 stars.
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!
Late Night with the Devil (Shudder) – Late night host Jack Delroy hosts a late night show called “Night Owls” and on Halloween 1977 it was his last show. The master tape had been lost until recently and now this tape is out there for all of us to see what really happen that night? Leading up to that night Jack’s ratings had been falling drastically especially after the death of his wife. But this show was the one that was supposed to get him back to competing with Johnny Carson again as this Halloween night Jack has a medium, an expert that tries to disprove anything paranormal or magical, and a doctor with a young patient who had been a part of a satanic cult. All this comes together with Lily the young woman becoming possessed on live TV and all hell breaks loose. I like everything about this movie but didn’t love it as the last few minutes of it takes away from the beginning or the set-up of this whole film? I still give this interesting piece 3 stars and hope horror fans enjoy this for what it is…
Red Tide Massacre (DVD) – Yes indeed kids I have found another massacre flick in which John Russo directed surprisingly and Michael Pare stars. The premise of this ‘massacre’ is 2018 Florida as the deadly red tide moves in an escaped convict makes his way through the swamp to hopefully escape the local authorities? In the process he does get tracked down and shot but falls into a stream where he disappears only to reappear some time later starting to mutate from the red tide that has come in to wreak havoc on humans and the environment. As he mutates into a hideous creature, it now begins a killing spree on a local beach and becomes part of an urban legend “the skunk ape”. Of course the film has that old SyFy channel formula of a love story to move the film along (actually it drags this compelling massacre flick down) as the end result of the creature makes this an actual watchable John Russo flick! If you know me I don’t usually say that about any John Russo film as I give this 2 ½ stars.
Super Hybrid (DVD) – Holy shit horror fans where has this 2010 film been hiding all my life as I could literally review this film as: Imagine 1977s The Car meets Deep Rising… SOLD! A driverless old black Chevy Nova is in a terrible car accident one evening in Chicago. The vehicle is towed to the Chicago impound garage to be stored but quickly the car begins to fix itself as the employees don’t think too much of it as they have their own shit to contend with. As the garage employees begin their work that night strange noises and things begin to happen around this car as this car lives for murder. But what makes this intriguing as they become locked into the garage for the night this car not only lives for murder but also is able to change car models when another is near it to hide in plain sight. Also it doesn’t take long for the employees to figure out this driverless car is driven by something that is alive! The film has a few imperfections but this has an insane plot, great cars, and cool stunt work that makes you question why wasn’t this film hyped up a lot more over a decade ago? Horror fans do yourself a favor and track this down as I give this film 4 stars and most likely to be in my “top ten movies” for 2024!
Disgusteen (YouTube/DVD-R) – A really bad, gritty, but fun 1990 SOV flick from the front man of a punk band Ben Weasel about punks who kidnap a young lady Elizabeth who refuses to accept Jesus Christ as her savior and gets involved with vampire punks. The story involves lots of punk music, bad acting, bad effects, and Elizabeth enjoying her new life as a vampire until the one that made her master comes along to destroy the clan. It is pretty much what you expect from a backyard filmmaking SOV film as I give it 2 stars.
Cheerleader Chainsaw Chicks (DVD) – A 2018 film that might be one of the worst things I have watched since “Amityville Mt. Misery Rd.” This was absolute crap! A trio of young ladies head to a cheerleader camp that is on a movie lot only to have their camp invaded by the three stooges of criminals because they hid their stash there! Complete nonsense happens as a dog is traded for the stash and no one dies by chainsaws… hell there is only three cheerleaders in the movie the exception is a quick edit of another team in another room for five seconds. This is a case of the filmmaker believes they are smarter and funnier than the audience and breaking news they are not. I hate to say this if anything this is a prime example of a movie that not only insults actual independent filmmakers but gives Indy films a bad name. Be aware I have already found the “WORST FILM I HAVE WATCHED IN 2024 ALREADY” as I give this 0 stars.
Death Watch (DVD) – A rare 1980 post-apocalyptic film of sorts that I never heard of? A movie with some terrific actors and a plot that people may relate to more than ever as this is set sometime in the future. It really isn’t said but assumed as Harvey Keitel is a man who as a reporter that has an experimental surgery of a camera being surgically implanted in his brain and eyes. This is so he can become part of the daily hit show “Death Watch”. To help explain this future: people only die of old age these days as it is very rare people die of an illness as that has all been cured in the world. Thus giving this set up an intriguing plot twist as an author has just been given her death sentence. In this case now the TV station that runs “Death Watch” series wants to sign her so it can chronicle her last days alive as people are fascinated by this and will tune in. At first Katherine is not fine becoming an instant celebrity but eventually signs off and runs away as it becomes increasing hard to deal with feeling trapped in her house. Harvey’s character being the great reporter he is tracks her down as she runs away with them becoming friends as she has one goal she wants to accomplish before she leaves this cruel world. But there is a wonderful kick to the groin twist in the last twenty minutes that makes this film more relevant in 2024 than 1980 that will make you want to rewatch this film several times as I give this 3 ½ stars.
Godzilla Minus One (On Demand) – Best way to explain this film: This is the remake of Godzilla, Tim Gross always wanted! But let’s tell you a little about it anyway. The main plot of the film revolves around a Japanese fighter pilot who in 1943 first encounters Godzilla on an island. Soon after the war ends in 1945 he returns home to devastation of his land and his family dead but also still haunted by the nightmares of Godzilla on the island. He tries to rebuild with a woman and a child who are survivors of the war with nowhere to go. As a couple years pass and the rebuilding of cities in Japan begin he finds a dangerous job on the sea picking up mines that were left from the war and this is where he meets the Godzilla creature again only to be bigger and much stronger than ever before. As Godzilla rips a part a Japanese city within seconds and disappears again, the Japanese people decide they cannot wait for any government to jump in help they must come up with a plan to destroy this mutated creature sooner than later. What makes this Godzilla more special in my opinion than a lot of the Godzilla films we grew up with or remakes of the 90s is the Japanese people are not just set pieces running away from Godzilla. This fighter pilot being haunted by nightmares of Godzilla and even believing Godzilla is following him in some way makes this a much different plot than what I believe we have seen before? Yeah there have been some cool recent reincarnations of Godzilla but this project literally reached into my brain and said we are going to give you the perfect combo: the iconic music, out of this world effects (no cheesy Godzilla but that will always have a place in my movie heart), a plot that finally or truly is about humans and not just Godzilla, but making Godzilla what he always was supposed to be since he showed up on screen in the 50s… an absolute bad ass unstoppable creature that gives you chills when he hits the screen! For this folks I absolutely give this 4 stars and thank you Toho.
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!
Before we start I always explain I wish I could watch every new flick out there but that is just not in the cards for me. Now I will still get one or two comments of movies I left off or didn’t get to see this year? Hey, it happens but I bet you I have seen dozens or few on my list that you may have not knew existed so remember like all movie lists take this with a grain of salt people.
1) Then My Mind Walked Away (DVD) – One of my favorite Indy filmmakers of all time Jim Roberts has a new project coming to haunt fans as he introduces us to Logan Hill. Filming during COVID, Jim took full advantage of not much crew, not much cast, and the world changing. In the first couple tense minutes the dark tone of the film is set as Logan beats to death his girlfriend and the man she was cheating on him with in bed with a baseball bat. Logan now forced to get rid of the bodies is also quickly faced with visions of horror after the fact. He is soon haunted constantly by a dark figure and visions of himself killing himself constantly. As time passes Logan is going nuts as the young man’s visions get more vivid and real. But when Logan thinks he has completely lost his mind he is shocked by a secret from his family’s past! Trying not to spoil this intense and beautiful film of Jim Roberts, but anyway how to explain it as gore and Jim have gone hand and hand since the beginning. This film has the gore but Jim doing a 180 has only made it a set piece in this feature as this talented bastard may have made the most complete film of his career! And that is coming from someone who absolutely loved “Welcome to Deer Creek” and “Tonight You Die”. This project felt like Jim got out of his comfort zone (now I could be wrong of course, lol), kept it simple, and made something that will surprise Indy fans as this is possibly the best Indy film that I will watch in 2023 (there is a couple releases yet coming). It was a serious film from beginning to end! Everything about this film with the help of Karen Roberts, Jorge Delarosa, and bare bones crew should be proud as the look of this film was beautiful, the natural sounds outside of the music caught in the background, and bare bones cast all played a role in making this wonderful. If I need to say anything else that will make you the movie viewer drool over or run to get this once available as I have a saying about filmmaking: “I am not a filmmaker that would be insulting to actual talented filmmakers, I just know where the record button is…” In this case Jim Roberts is truly one of those talented bastards as I give this movie 4 out of 4 stars!
2) When Evil Lurks (Shudder) – This is a horror film about possession of sorts that just works from beginning to end as it snatches you and keeps you at your edge to the very end. Two brothers check in on a fellow and his family living on some farm land. They come to find a corpse on the land which leads them to this check in. What the brothers find is a disgusting thing that use to be human in bed called a “rotten” or a possessed individual. A professional or “cleaner” was coming to take care of it but that is the corpse the brothers found. Owner (Ruiz) of the land is told by the brothers and next thing they know they are trying to move the “rotten” far from them. This only causes a bigger problem as the thing falls out of the truck and hell comes to the community immediately. There is a set of rules about this kind of demon, there is a bootleg Hugh Jackman, a dog that just snatches a child up by their head, and the movie is SUPER GROSS… count me in as I gotta give this film 4 stars as it is one of the better horror films of 2023.
3) Showdown at the Grand (On Demand) – The Grand theater is one of the longest running theaters in the southwest United States. It has been running since 1928 and has been in George’s family for quite some time as George (Terrence Howard) has made it museum also. This was the theater for exploitation flicks, horror movies, B-movies, everything outside of the norm to be cherished and thrive but its rich history of playing these films is in doubt. George is being pressured by a couple of shady characters to sell the place for future development of high priced apartments and luxury stores. But George’s saving grace might be bringing in an actor he idolizes in Claude Luc Hallyday (Dolph Lundgren) a down on his luck movie star from such films: Iraqnphobia, Moses vs. The Nazis, Blood is for the Living, Necropolis, and Cyber Cartel) who is ready to make a comeback? George’s plan works as he gets a sold out house for the Claude Luc Hallyday event but corporate greed is about to ruin George’s plan as this movie has heart and will make you smile if you are a true movie nerd. Think a splash of ‘Matinee’ mixed with a heavy dose of the Grindhouse trailers of 15 years ago with the state of affairs and pressure the few independent theaters left now have to deal with. I absolutely loved this film and most likely this will be in my “Top 5 movies of 2023” as I give this beautiful film we call art 4 stars.
4) Cocaine Bear (Theater) – The ‘Sharknado’ film of 2023 for us film nerds as this film is very loosely based on drugs found in the mountains of Kentucky and Georgia 1985. A black bear just happens to find the bags of cocaine and likes it! Now add in a couple of drug dealers looking for their stuff, a couple missing kids, a not so smart cop, and a bear high on cocaine looking to slaughter any human that gets in the way of it and its new thing “Cocaine”. This movie was beyond entertaining and most likely will make a lot people’s “Top Ten lists” as they made sure every five minutes the bear is snorting or eating cocaine or characters are talking about the bear on cocaine as I give this brilliance 4 stars.
5) I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday (Blu-ray) – It took me awhile of watching this Indy flick as its a few years old but believe me it will still pack a wallop. The beginning dream sequence is a wonderful and bleak intro to setting up the difficult tone of this post-apocalyptic holiday film that just immediately sucks you in. Kelly and her son Riley are living in a bomb shelter where dad has ventured out into the new cruel desolate and damaged world with possibly no return. One day Kelly ventures out herself just to see if there is any sign of things getting better outside of the shelter? Her findings force her into making a decision about herself and Riley since the end of the world is quickly closing in on them. Without spoiling too much the film is brilliantly shot giving an absolute gloomy, depressing, and utter no hope feel and look. Writer/director Mike Lombardo does a perfect job of not just giving us a terrible new world but giving us an absolutely beautiful unHollywood ending that made me giddy as I give the film 4 out of 4 stars.
6) Renfield (On Demand) – Nic Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as Renfield oh I was in for this from day one when the trailer hit. But instead of just telling another story directly about Dracula this story is from the point of view of Renfield in present day and his struggles with serving his master. Times have changed and it’s much tougher for Renfield to navigate today’s society let alone having his own doubts about what he is doing so he joins a support group. After the crazy opening of this film as Renfield narrates it is one laugh after another because the chaos Renfield deals with along with making a new friend by accident. While Renfield isn’t at his support group wanting out of his toxic relationship with his boss, Renfield is helping his new cop friend Quincy a loud mouth cop trying to bring down a crime family. The film is hilariously over the top but at the same time super entertaining as Nic Cage just eats up the chance of playing Dracula. For me at least I found myself admiring what Nic Cage did as I haven’t seen quite a performance like this since Vincent Price in the original “House on Haunted Hill” or more recent decades Rutger Hauer in “Split Second”. This bloody good time has much rewatch ability and feel this will become a horror staple around Halloween for horror fans who want to lighten up the mood as I can’t help but give this terrific film 4 stars.
7) 10/31 Part III (Blu-ray) – Rocky Gray and a collection of other filmmakers are back to add to their anthology series that has become popular among independent horror fans. This anthology is a monster marathon hosted by Malvolia and has fake trailers with four tales of Halloween horror from Michael Ballif, Brad Twigg, Jacob Perrett, and Zane Hershberger. Now full disclosure yinz all know I seen Zane’s “Hack-in-the-box” last year and thought it was one of the best things I seen in 2022. So the other three had a lot to live up to and they did not disappoint. I am a huge fan of 10/31 series but always felt something was missing from the first two entries to make them complete if that makes sense? Well I can honestly say for me they got it right with this entry as all four stories fit together, fun to watch, and feels like this anthology is the best of the series and most likely will be one of my favorite films of 2023 as I give this entry 4 out of 4 stars. (P.S. the mummy entry made me have wonderful memories of the “Tales from the Darkside: The Movie” again so thank you).
8) V/H/S 85 (Shudder) – The popular found footage anthology is back and just as strong. They have perfected the formula that others fail constantly at I think there might be only one in the series I wasn’t a huge fan of? This one immediately opens with random stuff that just tugs at my childhood where a tape goes into the VCR and boom… truck and tractor pull in an arena and the tracking needs adjusting, fun shit! First up is a story of young people on a camping trip not doing anyone any harm until a sniper kills all of them? What happens next sets up things for the rest of the film (without giving too much away)? Second up is a rescue for survivors in a building that houses a popular network TV crew in Mexico after being hit by an earthquake. Lots of blood, characters you find interesting, and a monster of sorts that doesn’t disappoint. Third up might be the weak link if I am going to pick one (almost all anthologies have one) where a woman doing a one-person play or art in a public theater on the threat of evolving technology as it’s the new god. Fourth story continues the storyline of the first with the campers but with the sniper and why? Fifth story is about a detective who receives video tapes of horrible murders that he watches before they happen. With some research and good detective work he finds out they are coming from a teenager but not the usual way you think as it has a nice twist to it. All that fun with a cool wraparound of “Total Copy” or if you are old like me like that “Hard Copy” show among others during the 80s. This might be one of the best wraparounds to an anthology to date as I thought hard about this but I have to give the film 4 stars folks.
9) CarousH3ll (YouTube/DVD/Blu-ray) – The third entry into Steve Rudzinski’s wildly popular series “CarousHell” with the help of co-writer and ultra-talented Aleen Isley give us the next evolving chapter of Duke’s adventures. In case you haven’t had the pleasure of enjoying the past two Indy treasures: Duke is a terrifying killer carousel horse who has come to life to kill humans, had a child/puppet horse named Robbie, and has turned good in order to track down others like him that may want to use their evil powers to kill both of them. Okay that is a mouth full to take in but now we are caught up without giving too many spoilers away Duke has a new enemy in Usagi: a chocolate carousel bunny that wants to kill Duke in order to steal his power to become the god she deserves to be. If that wasn’t enough Joe ‘the pizza man looking for his $42.39’ is back in a big way and seeking revenge even if he has only one eye. But Joe has found a new group of friends that want to protect Duke and Robbie from the evil Usagi which leaves Joe very conflicted. Of course along the way there is characters from the past that show up and we get introduced to a couple new intriguing characters as Steve and Aleen made sure ‘CarousHell’ fans get all the over the top carousel sex and violence you could want in your independent movie. This wonderfully entertaining sequel wastes no time jumping into the storyline getting the ‘CarousHell’ taste buds wet but for me it felt a little slow but they made me adjust on the run with this project as I think so highly of the first two films. As I said in the past Steve gave me “House of a 1000 Corpses” and then gave me the “The Devil’s Rejects” which was the best way to explain how I feel about the first two CarousHell films. Now both Steve and Aleen understanding it is virtually impossible to top those last two films went about their business quickly and smartly by not giving us “3 from Hell”. But embracing and understanding the story arc they have built over the past two films as they ran with the insanity and gave us an absolute surprisingly brilliant third entry that gives fans a perfect ending (maybe?). Seriously the cast, the music, the perfect running time of 68 minutes is great but the stand out of this latest entry might be the script from Steve and Aleen and their attention to detail and understanding of the fans of ‘CarousHell’. The writing of this film for me at least is their best work to date and have cemented them in making one of the best independent horror franchises a movie fan could ever watch as I give this enormously humor filled film 4 out of 4 stars. P.S. this film just shows these two are an extremely talented duo to be highly respected in the independent world but also should make many other filmmakers scream for them to be a part of their next project!
10) The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (Shudder) – Simply you can call it “Black Re-Animator” (and you are now curious)! A young woman who has lost her brother recently to gun violence believes death is not the end? She believes if death is a disease then she can find the cure? Vicaria or “The Mad Scientist” she is nicknamed in the neighborhood will stop at nothing in making this work which includes stealing fresh bodies and storing them with her equipment in a condemned building. Between society, her home setting, and the loss of her brother this makes her withdraw from life more and more to find the answer or cure to death (sound familiar?) Vicaria figures it out and brings her brother Chris back to life but it comes at a terrible price or does it… A wonderful blend of horror, today’s world problems, and how the world is seen through a young lady who is angry for good reason and firmly believes death can be cured as I give this movie 4 stars.
Honorable mentions:
Every year I like putting out there some of the ones that came close but didn’t crack the “top ten”. Some are new filmmakers I have just discovered, certain projects I didn’t have a chance to check out maybe when originally released, or a project I felt very highly about but no one is talking about it so here they go.
Gay for Pray: The Erotic Adventures of Jesus Christ (Blu-ray) – Another project from Nathan Rumler and Rock Bottom Video as they have just released the Blu-ray version of this earlier film that includes the uncut version with the cut version together for the first time. I highly recommend getting this Blu-ray as the uncut is 20 minutes longer and was only released for a very short time a few years ago so this is a great investment if you are a fan of Rock Bottom Video. Nathan not only proves he knows what he is doing but crafts an amazing independent film (we will get back to that in a minute) that stars a wonderful array of independent acting talent that brings to life one of the funniest things I have ever watched. Our story begins with Jesus supposedly being thrown out of heaven without his powers because he is “GAY”! He happens to visit a home of Adam, Steve, and Eve dressed as a wizard who wants to grant wishes if you suck his dick. Yep, you read that correctly and this is how the film opens! After trying the wizard gig Jesus comes clean to the three as one hates him, one believes in him, and the other just wants to have sex with Jesus even if it means dressing as a man? But anyway since the three got nothing better to do they try to help Jesus get his powers back when he isn’t explaining how he made the bible more family friendly. They try everything to help: social media, making water to wine, encountering protests, even trying to walk on water to prove he is Jesus and he deserves his powers back. But the entire ordeal is not completed until the last ten minutes happen: Jesus, chainsaw, protesters, gore, while The Rainbow Connection song (done by another band) happens. This ending should be one of the more celebrated Indy endings to a movie ever! If you are easily offended please watch this wonderfully entertaining film… Why? Because Nathan’s film is more relevant now than when he produced it five years ago. The dialogue is well crafted; the characters and those who played them were perfect. This movie is going to make some uncomfortable but I dare you to pay attention to the script, again the dialogue as it might be one of the best written scripts ever in my opinion as Nathan predicted what humanity is going to be like? I totally believe he caught exactly how humanity has become one big asshole in the past couple years with this movie. I know there are some detractors of “Fangboner” and “Amityville Vibrator” but I dare you to watch and not like “Gay for Prey” and laugh. Because if you don’t like it or get it just do me the favor of quit watching movies and shut up! Nathan and crew deserve not just our respect but our support as Nathan Rumler and crew are constantly trying to find ways to entertain through independent cinema and thank them as I give this film 4 out of 4 stars.
Sisu (On Demand) – Its 1944 Finland and this is a bad ass account of a man that had enough of the war and left to mine for gold. After a big discovery he begins a long trek across Finland to cash in his discovery but a platoon of Nazis that he passes have a whole other mindset and begin to track the man after a few of the Nazi soldiers meet a horrible death. From there this platoon tracks down this man even when they are given orders to turn back and should “consider themselves lucky they are still alive” as they have found who this mysterious man is? One man just wants to cash in his discovery and a group of Nazis make the horrible decision of fucking with the wrong man. We have seen movies like this but maybe not in a WWII setting on foreign soil that seems to give this film that much more heart as I give the movie 4 stars.
Wrath of Becky (On Demand) – It’s been three years since the incident of Neo-Nazis killing Becky’s father and Becky fighting back against those cruel bastards in a bloody battle to the end. Since then Becky has been on the run and at age 16 she is trying to stay off the grid as much as possible. But by chance Becky happens to be hitchhiking and finds a friend in an older woman who doesn’t ask questions but enjoys the company. Both are unsure of each other but the situation works. With Becky finding a slight glimmer of hope she finds herself being stalked by three all white males known as the ‘Noblemen’. Basically neo-Nazis with a different name and they shoot her roommate in the head and steal her dog. The event of course pushes Becky into survival mode and she goes looking for these men finding out there is a couple more and they have plans for the small town they are staying in. The film doesn’t vary away from what worked the first time and go for the jugular again of continuing a character and her story that we all quite enjoy. Again great cast, smart to stick with what works, the Becky character is just absolutely entertaining as I believe they got another less talked about hit again on their hands as I give it 4 stars. The only thing I will say about the film and it isn’t a flaw as much as an observation without spoiling the film is if they try a third film it will “jump the shark”!
Shackles (DVD) – A Jason Burke film that has no dialogue but uses music and the actors’ actions to tell the story as a man wakes everyday only to be haunted by a beautiful lady whose simple presence is just defeating to the main character. He hopes every time he wakes not to see her but finally gets the courage to push by, smile, and go out his front door. This is some of the best story telling film wise I have seen since: The Misled Romance of Cannibal Girl and Incest Boy and Hexercise as I give this inspiring tale 4 out of 4 stars.
Zero Budget Heroes: The Legend of Chris Seaver and Low Budget Pictures (Tubi) – First off in case the collectors need to know there is physical copies of this out there available. Okay with that out of the way this documentary hits directly in my wheelhouse where I have met Chris a few times over the years and of course he may not remember me but I do remember our interaction. I bring this up because they do spend some time talking about fan interaction, reviews, etc. But mostly the doc focuses on a dude in his 40s now that had a dream of making bad movies as a kid and have fun doing it. This documentary does a superb job of chronicling all the films, events, Chris’ life and feelings about making the films he does. This was wonderful because it allowed an Indy filmmaker to be vulnerable and if anything made me have even more respect for him now than I did maybe a decade or so ago. He is a great example of someone who has done it for many years, kept with it, and talks the highs and lows of those who stick around. Again going back to our interaction I will always come out and say I wasn’t a fan of his ‘Teen Ape’ or a few others early 2000s stuff. ‘Ski Wolf’, ‘Terror at Blood Fart Lake’, ‘I Spit Chew on Your Grave’, ‘Sexsquatch’, these were titles that just sang to me or made me respect what Chris was going for? The other reason I enjoy the overall career Chris: a) he is still doing it, b) but most importantly there is filmmakers out that can’t smell their own shit that outright dislike him, for that I got made respect Chris Seaver and his group as I give this fun and relevant doc 4 stars.
The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema by Slavoj Zizek (YouTube) – Had a close friend suggest this one to me recently as this gentleman looks at film from the philosophical side of things. This three part/2 ½ hour documentary of sorts goes down a rabbit hole of film class so to speak. He breaks down some of the biggest films: The Exorcist, The Matrix, Hitchcock, David Lynch, and tackles music, characters, sexual content, some older films and their impact and the paradox of cinema. If you ever thought there could more to movies this is a good place to start as he break down several things in these movies over the years to explain what they really mean and what they may have been going for as most of us of course missed it. Yeah, this was way too smart for my “Amityville, massacre, slasher film, bad Indy shit” watching ass to understand at spots but a very interesting piece of work to kill time and actually learn something about film that I love and enjoy so much! Well worth checking out kids as it also made me think how much more I would love to have a movie/documentary version of Joe Bob Briggs “Profoundly Disturbing” book. As I feel that might be one of the best things documenting cinema history and its impact on society. Point is if you are a Joe Bob Briggs fan to break it down for yinz n’at, this is well worth your time to understand something we all our so passionate about as I give it 4 stars.
Project Wolf Hunting (On Demand) – Once again Asian horror fucking rocks! This blend of “Con-Air”, “Dead Alive” splatter, with a glass of “The Raid” and “Captain America… sort of” is a Korean flick that has a group of dangerous criminals being transported by ship from the Philippines to South Korea. All the doors have been taken off to the rooms so each convict can be watched by the authorities going along for the ride. Of course there is a plan in place for the convicts to escape but what they are not counting on is the super-secret experiment hanging out in the bottom of the ship that only a doctor who is there for a bundle of cash knows about. This secret is known as “Alpha”! Once the escape and takeover begins it’s a wonderful war between cops and criminals until the “Alpha” has awakened by some human blood dripping down below (believe me just watch because it’s bad ass what happens next). This experiment is awake and pissed off as it is not picking sides. Hell a dude gets beaten with his own arm as this film sports possibly the most gore since “Dead Alive” if not more? Bottom-line: The Alpha doesn’t get old, very hard to kill, and has the strength of five men and he can smell your ass! What turns out from large scale takeover turns to a movie about survival as the movie explains a few things in the second half so stick with it. Most likely there won’t be a bigger splatterfest in 2023 but I was not impressed with the ending and felt it hurts the overall product as I give the film 3 ½ stars.
Don’t Fuck in the Woods 2 (Tubi) – Welcome to Pine Hills Summer Camp as a blood soaked survivor, Jane, wanders in after her ordeal from the first picture. Problem is the thing has followed her! Thus a new group of actual likable characters who eventually fuck in the woods of course have decided to go camping at the wrong time. Or I should have opened with: Welcome to the sex-filled gorefest where a creature feeds on humans after taking over its host! And has a super talented Indy cast! I wasn’t a huge fan of the first film so I was surprised this was getting a sequel but surprise, kudos to the filmmaker for giving a vast improvement of a creature feature as this felt like it was more structured and had an endgame. Bottom line fun shit kids as I give it 3 ½ stars.
AIMEE: The Visitor (DVD/Vimeo) – Full Moon like a lot of other studios are jumping on the bandwagon of making movies about AI. This is no longer the 80s and 90s where we just dreamt about this shit like AI… It is happening as we speak so a movie with present happenings can be interesting if done right? So Charles Band bare bones this feature with a small cast and one location that effectively give the creepiness and suspense of Scott Keyes receiving an interesting package. Besides enjoying porn and fast food Scott never leaves his loft as he is a super intelligent hacker who doesn’t like humanity much. His two partners who are into the illegal business with Keyes have acquired ‘AIMEE’ for him. AIMEE is a mind blowing piece of sophisticated software that interacts with the person that turns it on. Immediately Keyes is fascinated and already lured in with AIMEE as it has Keyes questioning the need for human interaction ever again. The AI doesn’t just interact but learns anything that possibly can be learned about the person that opened her. His friends quickly become worried as they learn this AI was invented for a dark reason then may have gone rogue? The film has a couple cheeseball moments but the low budget just adds to how effective and disturbing this present day film truly is as humans try to understand AI in this extremely creepy tale that I give 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Swamp Woman (DVD) – Sean Donohue and Gatorblade Films go in a different direction than the usual with this parody of a monster film of sorts? He made a no budget parody of ‘Swamp Thing’? Anyhow kids it all starts in 1983 where our beaches are being polluted by toxic waste from Biotech Prime but now in present day they are still doing it but quieter. We are introduced to a scientist Angela Honeydew who is going to change the world with her genesplicing formula but it’s stolen from her when another scientist (evil of course) Dr. Olsen sends his thugs after her. A battle ensues between thugs and Dr. Honeydew as she gets covered in her own formula and runs naked for the swamp only to come back out later as a changed person/thing. Now the new monstrous Dr. Honeydew wants revenge and seeks those who stole her formula. This hilarious over the top ‘Swamp Thing’ parody has everything! Sean Donohue playing the most monotone doctor on purpose that almost had tears of laughter coming out of me, Joel D. Wynkoop pretty much stealing the movie with his performance that felt like Mark Hamil’s version of the Joker being a scientist, and most of all kudos to Sushii Xhyvette Holder for wearing full body make up and running through the swamp fully nude as Swamp Woman. Now I don’t know if Mr. Donohue was trying for a parody here but I will say this “it was one of his best films to date” from Gatorblade Films as I give it 3 ½ out of 4 stars. P.S…. Donohue did make sure there was a shower scene for yinz!
Wolf Hollow (Blu-ray) – Mark Cantu and friends attempted what usually fails in independent cinema… a werewolf film. This story takes place in small town America ‘Wolf Hollow’ or not too far from where I reside. A year after an incident that was a complete bloodbath that the town would like to keep quiet as a familiar face with filmmaker friends returns home to use his family property that has a scare house on it he would like to use for filming. But Ray and Bart still haven’t worked out their differences even though they are family and werewolves. Add in small town politics not for the better, small town secrets, and werewolves just not into being pushed around and we have a fun howling at the moon monster movie with heart and great costumes. What adds to this low budget production is some star power in Felissa Rose, Lynn Lowry, and Hannah Fierman given the right character roles to help this film get the right kind of notice. If you have read my reviews in the past you know I can be rough on Indy werewolf films but I am glad I can say with confidence this is the best Indy werewolf flick I have seen since Todd Sheets’ “Bonehill Road” as I give this 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Fear Pharm (DVD) – Four young people head to the local family-owned corn maze on Halloween that has stories about an unfortunate cult-like incident 15 years ago that no one can really prove or disprove. Melanie, one of the four in the group happens to be the “10,000 person” to come through the gate and gets the chance to go through the “VIP maze”. The group makes it through in so much time they win $10,000! But is it too good to be true, the kids don’t care as it will be fun getting scared and possibly winning a whole lot of cash. Problem is the group doesn’t know if they don’t make it through they will die. Without giving too much away because I consider this film to be “the little horror film that could”. But the filmmaker and crew made great use of location, great camera work at times, and kept the story lean and fresh. This movie has no business being as good as it actually is? They took a generic horror formula that has been used several times in recent years and gave it substance! One of my favorite parts of the film is a character getting his arm cut off and his reaction to it was simple but effective. This is the type of film for horror fans that is a gem that gets talked about well after its release when it hits a streaming platform like Shudder and Tubi and makes you wonder how this didn’t get a bigger release? Anyway I say fucking enjoy kids as this was a huge surprise and have to give it 3 ½ stars.
Bathtub Shark Attack (Theater) – Only from the brilliant mind of independent filmmaker Maddie Deering could a killer shark movie that takes place at times in a “bathtub” and star Lynn Lowry. Hello… SyFy Channel, Discovery, I think you have your next hire? A bubbly couple down on their luck happen to stumble on an offer of great proportions or let’s say cheap when they find the perfect apartment they can afford. Unbeknownst to the couple this little apartment house is home of a dark secret and few are left to talk about it as the tenants usually check in but never check out. As the longer they stay the more Cindy changes as this causes Chad to get to the bottom of the strange happenings and find out how there is a connection to an evil shark god that likes to feast on people in their tubs! This SOV throwback has everything from wall to wall gore, to Lynn Lowry, to human ritual sacrifices (sort of don’t want to give everything away), to a plumber that refuses to die, to a shark that has a dick?! You may believe you have seen every shark movie but there is no way in hell you could think of any more zanier or entertaining shark movie than Maddie Deering delivers here as I give the film 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Black Circle (Blu-ray) – A 2019 film from Adrian Garcia Bogliano that is in Swedish I believe but has English subtitles and stars the great Christina Lindberg as Lena who plays a very important role. This story centers around two sisters Celeste and Isa who listen to an old self-help hypnosis album that is supposedly helping you relax. But from the first listen something very sinister is happening and causes the sisters to seek out the help from Lena Carlsson who recorded the album as a limited edition product that was an experiment. According to Lena an experiment that wasn’t meant for the world as it brings forth your double or doppelganger from the other side. This other you, follow you, and continue to suck life from you to survive in this new world and take over your existence. With the help of Lena they hope she is able to put them back together before the other them takes over? This film is all kinds of interesting, creepy, insane, and an excellent trippy experience into slow burn horror. With this Blu-ray from Synapse Films you get a CD soundtrack that will have fans absolutely delighted, commentary with Adrian Garcia Bogliano, trailer, a short film, behind the scenes of the film, and a great interview of Bogliano and Christina Lindberg. I can definitely see the younger horror crowd losing their shit over how good this movie is as I give the Blu-ray package 3 ½ out of 4 stars and found at www.synapse-films.com .
The Blackening (On Demand) – A mostly black casted horror film that has one of the greatest taglines ever, has the cast heading to a cabin in the woods to celebrate Juneteenth holiday. The couple who rented the cabin find a board game that sets up the plot of the film where the black characters are forced to answer questions or die. As they are forced to play there is a masked character trying to kill them off one by one and they let the jokes fly that keeps the film moving at a crisp pace. I absolutely loved this film until about 45 minutes in as it was like the filmmaker ‘let off the gas’ until the last few minutes of the movie which is very culturally relevant and a solid entertaining horror movie. For me I just wish they would have kept the gas to the floor, but watch it, enjoy it, understand it as I give this 3 ½ stars.
Night of the Axe (DVD/YouTube) – First feature length film from Shawn Wright that features music from Matt (Hexercise) Cannon and it is a slasher so right away you have my attention good or bad. Our story begins with a very large mute man in an insane asylum where he decides to get up and begin a murder spree! But the small town doesn’t have the resources to track him down as had escaped weeks ago but also the young people of the town don’t care until now. Bulk of the film takes place in a home where the locals are having a small high school reunion party where they can get drunk, high, and bump uglies. I gotta give kudos to Mr. Wright for understanding “when to end the film”, giving Indy fans what they want, and keeping the first feature length formula simple. I found the pacing of the whole story a little choppy but still delivered on the blood and guts factor and most likely will have independent movie fans wondering “what’s next” for the second feature as I give this delight 3 out of 4 stars.
Subspecies V: Blood Rise (Tubi/DVD) – Charles Band and Ted Nicolaou return to a fan favorite ‘Radu’ who was one their staples in the early days of Full Moon. This story tells the story of Radu shortly after being born is stolen by the church and grows to be a crusader who tracks down evil for a living. But Radu makes a mistake one evening rescuing a woman and her child believing there has been enough death and just coming face to face with his father/master. After several days of trying to help this woman and child, the woman is a vampire and bites Radu thus beginning Radu’s transformation into an evil vampire with no master who thrives on death and destruction. This was a wonderful edition to the “Subspecies” series and makes you wonder why Charles Band can’t get his shit together to make more projects like this that makes you nostalgic for the original Full Moon days but actually have hope of seeing some cool new shit from them. Old Full Moon fans like me will be actually delighted with this entertaining entry as I give it 3 stars.
Worst Movie of the Year:
Honestly I didn’t want to pick another Chris Alexander film as my “worst” of the year as it would seem I am picking on his films but it just edged out Cocaine Shark from Mark Polonia. But I had too!
Scream of the Blind Dead (Full Moon/Tubi) – This 40 minute short film based on “The Blind Dead” series is just proof that Chris Alexander needs to stop directing and go back to his day job. This poor excuse for a short ‘fan film’ is about a young lady named Virginia who checks out a church in the middle of nowhere because she is a sexual deviant that thinks nasty thoughts and only awakens one shitty Templar Knight. I apologize this sounds harsh but I know this dude has the resources and I am still not over how bad that ‘Necropolis: Legion’ was as I give this garbage 0 stars as this might be the clear cut winner already in 2023 of “Worst Movie of the Year”!
Killer Piñata (DVD/Tubi) – So this was one of those movies I would always forget about existing but remind myself from time to time it was out there. So when I heard a sequel had just hit some streaming sites I thought it was time to give it a watch. A rainbow donkey with a “do not cell” sign on it is sold to an old white dude looking for piñatas for his daughter’s birthday. Unbeknownst to this dumb white guy this donkey has seen some shit and there is an old lady that is hell bent on ending this possessed thing’s life! Anyway some college age adults have a party, find the piñatas in the shed and decide to have fun. But this dick chomping piñata which was possessed by a lonely piñata factory worker who died on the job accidentally decides to take out its rage on the young people! Describing it sounds fuckin wonderful, but the attempt at some dry humor only leads to a few chuckles and made the film awkward as it felt they were holding back? It’s a horror movie about a killer piñata… go fuckin overboard folks as I can only give this 1 ½ stars.
Bride of the Killer Piñata (DVD/Tubi) – The sequel picks up several years later and let’s say “the filmmaker knew they could do better?” The survivor of the first film gets a few new friends shortly after the horrible party with the piñata last time out and tracks its undying ass down! After several attempts of killing the piñata and its army Lindsey is able to box it up, throw it in the basement, and move on with life. A decade later during a Fourth of July holiday, Lindsey has a girlfriend, a baby, and bored as a few dudes are hired to break-in and remove the piñata. This event awakens the killer piñata and he his killing spree begins again as it terrorizes Lindsey’s neighborhood. But there is a twist to the story as the Killer Piñata has a girlfriend and along with that there just so happens to be a serial killer in the neighborhood. The sequel flows much better with the storytelling, more laughs, gore, but still doesn’t justify its 113 minute running time but either way a much better film than the first flick as I give this film 2 ½ stars.
Redhead (DVD) – A film produced by Killer Pug Productions which kudos to yinz guys for that wonderful name but anyhow this gritty Indy project comes from filmmakers Johnna and Sam Hodge. The film begins with a super intense scene and from there does not let go throughout the project as a woman named Autumn Blacksmith is held captive by a deranged individual and his wife. This cannibal couple tortures a woman and her husband in front of Autumn before she is able to find a way to dispatch of the disgusting people eaters and escape! From there Mrs. Blacksmith finds herself under psych supervision for 14 days because of the events she witnessed. Her doctor allows her to go back out in the world but Mrs. Blacksmith cannot get past what happened to her? She cannot sleep as her nightmares drive her to the brink of anytime she is even approached by a person she is stabbing them in the balls or trying to disfiguring them immediately. Blacksmith might be a screwed up individual but this is her new life as she was changed by the horrible event. The only thing that keeps her going is her marathon of killing because that is what makes sense and feels right to her! Even the ending doesn’t let up as it’s just as screwed up as the beginning scene. The film is wonderfully depraved, sickening, and intense. This film will not be for everyone but I have a distinct feeling this will find a cult horror audience in 2024 once it has wide release? Even though the film comes in just over 90 minutes I believe just a little editing of the dialogue scenes in between the killings done by Mrs. Blacksmith would intensify the film that much more and make it feel a little sleazy of making some horror fans uncomfortable watching it. No matter what I think of this film I do look forward to seeing more projects from this duo as I give this super intense Indy film 3 out of 4 stars.
When Evil Lurks (Shudder) – This is a horror film about possession of sorts that just works from beginning to end as it snatches you and keeps you at your edge to the very end. Two brothers check in on a fellow and his family living on some farm land. They come to find a corpse on the land which leads them to this check in. What the brothers find is a disgusting thing that use to be human in bed called a “rotten” or a possessed individual. A professional or “cleaner” was coming to take care of it but that is the corpse the brothers found. Owner (Ruiz) of the land is told by the brothers and next thing they know they are trying to move the “rotten” far from them. This only causes a bigger problem as the thing falls out of the truck and hell comes to the community immediately. There is a set of rules about this kind of demon, there is a bootleg Hugh Jackman, a dog that just snatches a child up by their head, and the movie is SUPER GROSS… count me in as I gotta give this film 4 stars as it is one of the better horror films of 2023.
Deep Murder (DVD) – Think cheeseball Skinamax softcore movie with all the set pieces and an actual cast of names set inside of a horror/comedy. During all the screwing there is a murder but no one leaves as they bring in a detective named “Dick” (there is porn jokes every chance they get) that believes everyone is a suspect even himself? The movie is super dumb but hilariously entertaining as they make sure they hit every stereotypical porn film type they can think of. Please pay attention because there will be times you will laugh so hard knowing you have watched some of the stuff they are making fun of. If you need a super dumb horror film that feels like the porn/comedy version of ‘Clue’ that gets out in 90 minutes or so then here you go kids as I give this 2 ½ stars. Before I forget there is a great kill with a huge dildo!
Ouija Shark 2 (Tubi) – Or if you insist to know its subtitle ‘Ouija Shark vs. Tarot Gator’ but they get to that later? Anyway bootleg Doctor Mordrid aka Anthony was sent to hell after fighting the Ouija Shark in the first film and now finds himself searching for the shark in hell. That is when he isn’t fighting goggled wearing gorillas that were sent by a being that is in charge in hell. Oh yeah they even have a musical number of bikini wearing girls who sing about who is in charge in hell and of the “Ouija Shark’. Meanwhile Anthony’s estranged wife teams up with a psychic to bring Anthony back to earth but this allows everything he was fighting in hell to come with him. The only solution: conjure up a giant gator to fight the Ouija Shark in front of a CGI city… sounds terrible but what can I say “you knew I was going to watch it” as I give the sequel 1 ½ stars.
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!
Day Zero (On Demand) – How to best describe this flick would be a Filipino version of “28 Days Later” starring a bootleg Vin Diesel but with lots of heart. Emon has been in prison for the past several years even though he was in U.S. Special Forces and counting the days to finally see his daughter. It is his dream that it is important enough that his best friend in jail is teaching Emon sign language so he can communicate with his daughter. Well helping Timoy from getting jumped one evening has Emon thrown into solitude but does not last long as the warden has told the prisoners they are released as a horrible virus is spreading quickly through the city. This strange virus is attacking people and causing them to want to chew on fellow humans without much explanation. Emon and Timoy once out and in survival mode head to the apartment complex his ex-wife and daughter lived and it becomes “The Raid” with infected as they must fight through the hordes of infected to find them. There is some very cool fight and kill scenes in this film and cannot say enough how much heart this flick has and how it separates itself from the usual zombie/infected/rage virus stuff as I give this flick 3 stars.
Resident Evil: Death Island (On Demand) – The latest animation film in the horror video game series that takes place 2015 San Francisco and all the usual characters are here: Claire, Jill, Leon, and Chris. All have gone in different directions since the original T-virus outbreak but all are tracking a new form of it that has shown up recently that does not require transference through a bite? Someone on Alcatraz Island has figured out through needle punctures and computerized bugs or “Bio-drones” he can target anyone. Fun stuff as usual with the animation as they haven’t screwed shit up and they have a ‘Zombie Shark’ as I give this feature 3 stars.
Blood & Gold (Netflix) – The setting is 1945 Germany and a group of SS soldiers are heading to a small village after they hang one of their own for desertion because they of bricks of gold that will help them after the war ends which is coming quicker than they want. A young woman cuts down this soldier who was hung and after healing up both come to have a bond over their hatred for Nazis as they have taken something very personal from them during this war. But while they try to plan out what or how they want to seek revenge the Nazis are in the small village asking questions that a few residents are not willing to give answers too about the gold. For from a horror film that doesn’t stop this from an impactful film with an interesting storyline and a nice bit of gore! For that I give this flick 3 stars.
Sharkspolitation (Shudder) – Another kick ass documentary that has shown up on Shudder where they cover everything from ‘Jaws’ to ‘Sharknado’ and everything in-between and how it has impacted society and cinema over the years. They explain the formula, the copycats, the rando forgotten shark films and why everyone lost their mind over an idea pitched to Asylum by SyFy channel? If you love sharks this will be your bonerjam as it touches on everything as I give it 4 stars.
Bloody Sect (DVD) – In what bonkers universe did this early 80s Spanish rip-off of “Rosemary’s Baby” come from? One stormy evening a crazy gypsy-like lady breaks into a man’s (Fredric) home to stab him in the freakin eyeballs with a fire poker because he banged some hot woman. After the event Fredric gets to keep the hot lady around because she wants to be married and get Prego. But the couple has troubles making it happen so they seek out a professional’s help and instead Fredric’s girl gets Prego with a creature from some crazy cult dudes who believe the second coming of Satan is well on his way? From there it just ramps up the crazy as the crazy gypsy-like lady becomes sort of a hero and some little brat of a kid screws up or does his best to screw up the second coming of Satan. Describing this film doesn’t justify how crazy this movie gets as much as you need to witness the greatness of this bonkers ass movie as I give it 3 stars and thank it for existing!
Forsaken (YouTube) – Another day at the office for Philip Brocklehurst as he makes a short film about a young man that witnesses a shadow that suggests many things could be going on or maybe nothing at all in this intriguing short film. The beauty of Brocklehurst’s work no matter how short form it is has been to make the viewer think? For that I always get excited when he has finished up a new short film and have to give for this project 3 stars.
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!
grossmoviereviews 
You must be logged in to post a comment.