Tag Archives: Tim Gross

Gross Movie Reviews #708

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Payday (DVD) – A Chase Dudley production which means an Indie film that looks great with usually a great cast also and this one was no different as this is more of an Action/Drama Heist film that goes sideways. A restaurant manager has been doing some illegal business with some of the restaurant’s money. As Adie is being called on it she already has in play a set up of her unlikely criminal element boyfriend who believes he is helping her out of love for them to runaway together. As Ben enters the restaurant and both believe they are in the clear, the police show up with Ben not running away but staying with Adie back at the restaurant that then turns into a no win hostage problem. From the beginning Adie is manipulating everything so she comes out smelling like roses! Chase plays up the tension with the one location and with Adie clearly the villain playing everyone inside against each other just builds the tension and gives the film bite. One major flaw is running time as I believe they linger all too long in the dialogue. All the actors were great but this thing runs at a long 106 minutes. With an edit especially in some of the long drawn out dialogue scenes, you get this at 76 minutes I think this Indie project has one hell of an impact as I give the film 2 out of 4 stars.

Die You Zombie Bastards! (DVD) – One of the most bizarre low budget productions that we have been blessed with in the 2000s! This project dares to mash up several movie plots together and comes up with a wild story about a serial killer’s wife being kidnapped by an evil Baron. Red is a lovable serial killer who just killed off a bunch of hippies as this evil dude kidnaps his wife which transforms Red into a superhero who goes on a journey. This journey is to help Red fend off the zombies the Evil Baron keeps sending Red’s way so the Baron can have his way with Red’s wife. Boobs, blood, chaos, absurdity, and scenes of some of the wildest things in a horror movie are what best describes this adventure as this 2005 film deserves to be rediscovered by film fans as I give it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

SpookT (Blu-ray) – One of the few paranormal films that I found interesting as Rachel and Claire show up in small town, Pa., for different reasons to investigate a haunted house called ‘The Gibson House’. This house has been considered off limits because of Dr. Byler and his odd behavior several years ago but also the girl that went missing on a dare to go in the haunted house. One looking to debunk the legend, the other trying to prove the legend and possibly find the real reason the little girl disappeared. The investigators team up as they do not play this supernatural thriller for laughs as it dials up the creepy factor with its old school style of scares. Again not a huge fan of this genre but I do believe fans of 70s old school scares but get a nice kick out of what they did with this movie as I give it 2 1/2 out 4 stars.

Blown (Blu-ray) – This forgotten wild gem from 2005 reminds you immediately you are in for a treat when it begins with something called “Mastercrap Theater”. Right out of the gate there are three friends hitting the porn store to “find things to throw around during a bachelor party”. The trio finds the ultimate party favor for Bobby’s party… the blow up doll! Unbeknownst to the boys this ultimate sex doll isn’t your ordinary blow up doll. Once the stripper shows up that is when the fun begins as she is strangled by the blow up doll as the doll has a bloody rampage through the party. Is it disgusting, raunchy, and way beyond good taste… yes! But I laughed my ass throughout the film especially when its revealed its all because of voodoo as I give this project 3 out of 4 stars.

Blood Orgy of the Damned (Blu-ray) – This is a 2001 project from Abnormal Entertainment that I truly thought they may have kept to themselves as it is supposedly a lost film with no soundtrack? So the cast of the film do a riff track about a couple vampires brought back to life looking for a virgin. There are a few laughs at the beginning but for me this got old quick as there was some inside jokes and sometimes when you think a project is a great idea? Sometimes it is not in my opinion and should not put out there for public consumption as I give this project 1 out of 4 stars.

UFO: The Otis Files (Blu-ray) – A more recent project from Abnormal Entertainment that is a mockumentary about a man named Otis who has seen aliens in his small town Michigan. But locals are not so keen when Otis is getting the spotlight treatment talking up aliens even though they are actually trying to cover the whole thing up. A weird little project that may interest Indie alien project fans as some of these can test your patients on what you consider is an actual movie as I give this 2 out of 4 stars.

The Beast of Yucca Flats (Blu-ray) – A bad public domain film from 1961 that deals with a Soviet scientist on U.S. soil who is exploded to to a nuclear explosion that changes him into a beast that roams the desert. When the beast isn’t attacking random victims the movie moves at a snail’s pace to fill time as I give it 1 out of 4 stars.

Return to Yucca Flats: Desert Man-Beast (Blu-ray) – So in 2010 there was an Indie sequel to the horrible early 60s film where the beast survives? But which film is worse is entirely up to you? Not a whole lot going in this sequel as the man-beast continues his terror of roaming around ripping body parts off. Its meh to say at best as I give it 1 out of 4 stars.

Undone (Blu-Ray) – This 2008 twenty minutes short deals with a serious matter of a man in a very drunken state because of family tragedy asking for some alone time with a criminal. So an officer makes Travis’ wish come true by dropping off said prisoner to him as he has 24 hours to do whatever he wants just don’t kill him. Travis slowly tortures him but the criminal claims innocence as he laughs at Travis’ attempt to torture him. Then that’s when it gets a little intense with an ending that forces you to think ” How far would you go if put into this?” The short film project builds and builds into something quite disturbing and interesting as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Evil Flows Within (DVD) – This was Lisa Neeld’s first project as a director after working the Indie scene as an actor for the past several years. She goes the way of the silent film to tell the story of a vampire visiting her one evening. Using just music and actions of your cast to tell the story is always a tough and interesting choice for your first directorial project. Lisa also plays Marian in the film as everything is hunky dory in her life until a mysterious vampire visits her and changes her. Marian struggles with the concept of being a part of the undead but is it a horrific dream she had or did it all already happen as she dreams of being in a different world. Kudos to Lisa going for something different as it for sure will stand out when showing it at festivals as I give it 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

One Too Many (DVD) – This 2024 short film stars Lisa Neeld as a woman who shows up to a bar one stormy night for a few drinks. But Lisa is pushed out of the bar because it closes at midnight. Drunk and sick she manages to make it to the boccie court out back only to puke then have a mishap. Waking after 3am she is witness to some ghostly weirdness learning nothing good happens after midnight but a lot of us already know that as I give this project 2 out of 4 stars.

Come see us at the last Living Dead Weekend June 12-14th, 2026

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Its hilarious I post about this book as it was my ultimate goal of making a coffee table book as it’s only available through me at the Grossfest table at conventions! Available for $20 and can be found at our table at Living Dead Weekend at Monroeville Mall June 12th-14th, 2026. The book has found new life recently as the best way to describe it is imagine if “Stephen King lived in Pittsburgh and wrote the Night Shift Collection” . The book contains 47 short stories written over a four year period that has already inspired a movie adaption along with several other possible projects coming in the future with several other filmmakers (whether any of that happens, who in the bleep knows?) Point is for whatever reason people are discovering something I wrote a few years back and yes I am super proud of what I wrote.

This show should be huge horror fans… We won’t just have my Tales from the Gross Side books but of course our $5 movies as usual along with our 2 for $30 VHS sale , but we will have a special guest at the Grossfest table and that is Ed Demko! He is keeping a lid on what horror stuff he is bringing but you will wanna get there early and often to see what Mr. Demko will have at the Grossfest table. Plus you never know what the Gross Brothers have brought out of the magical basement… So Indie horror fans come visit us and all the other cool vendors that will be there to celebrate one last time one of the greatest locations for a horror movie to ever exist!

Gross Movie Reviews #707

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Tales from the Quadead Zone (DVD) – This was one of the most notorious VHS movies that horror fans seeked out for years as copies were going at cheap “$750” each as the film feel out of print quickly and became thing of legend among independent movie collectors. This project is a SOV anthology from Charles N. Turner who unleashed this project on the world in 1987. As it fell out of print it apparently made an imprint on Louis Justin of Massacre Video as a few years back he tracked the rights and Charles to give us a DVD we all could appreciate. Was supposedly going to be three stories with a wraparound but never worked out as Charles explains in an interview on the disc. It ended up just being two stories with a long wraparound. The two short stories are weird about hunger and revenge on a brother after death with the long wraparound being about a woman telling her dead ghost son Bobby stories from the book called “Tales from the Quadead Zone”. This is a very inventive wild anthology that has a certain charm that I can see why some collectors truly loved the movie. No matter what just glad this exists on some kind of physical media as I give it 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Subhuman: The Amityville Experiment (Fawesome) – Hello kids, we have entry #82 as I knew this project existed for a bit of time but was almost impossible to track down until recently when it finally hit streaming. This little project has a scientific experiment from someone’s basement escape into the world or town known as Amityville. Subject 19 is a flesh eating blob with one eye that is growing as it feeds outside of its cage! Its a hilarious creature feature that runs 45 minutes and claymation as I give this entry 2 out of 4 stars.

555 (Blu-ray) – Again Massacre Video does their best to dig up the obscure and this slasher/serial killer film that was no different from the likes of a ‘Tales from the Quadead Zone’ in its uniqueness as this title was sought after feverishly for years. A DVD appeared a few years back then Massacre Video up their game by releasing a special edition blu-ray with a newly mastered print that also included interviews with cast and crew. This almost unknown slasher from 1988 goes out of its way to be unique as the killer kills for five nights in a row as the killer will have five victims then disappears for five years to a different city. This time around two detectives are making it their life’s work to catch this sicko in this brutally wild and bloody SOV slasher! This is a great grab for physical media collectors as I give it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Screw Years Eve (Blu-ray) – This project from Gatorblade Films has Richard Tanner directing a Sean Donohue script that grabs for nostalgia from frame one and heads to present day day quickly. The duo drops a late 80s slasher formula into a present day independent horror project that is harder to pull off than you think… Over the years in this small town people die who celebrate New Years after the tragic death of a young man at a party. But a group of young people are going to go against the norm for nostalgia to celebrate the new years again! The story takes a bit of time to develop but it all makes sense once the killing starts. Lots of 80s references peppered in there, a pink gorilla, and the most crucial but small part belongs to Angel Bradford as Jamie the bartender. She is the right person for the right character to help pull together which I believe is a tough formula for present day horror. The cast is great through and through and I did hope for a different ending but this will satisfy the independent horror film community looking for another holiday horror as the project is something to behold as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Shrubs (YouTube) – A short film from a filmmaker in my neck of the woods in Pittsburgh who got a talented group of people together to make a 26 or so minute film about killer shrubs. Yes folks its Arbor Day weekend festival in this small modest town as they been celebrating Arbor Day for a hundred years. But tragedy strikes quick in Mount Evergreen when a young man smoking the devil’s lettuce then takes an ax to a tree! That is when the woods fights to the death to kill the community in this hilarious attempt in making the ultimate Arbor Day horror holiday film. This short has it all including a 70s TV movie ending intentionally or not all involved should be proud of this film. David Dietz and Ben Dietels are stand outs as usual as I give the short film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

The Barn III (Theater) – Justin Seaman returns once again to tell the story of a town where past sins of Halloween have been forgotten as the film picks up in 1998 with returning characters. The story then flashes forward to 2025 where Josh is now much older and a preacher who every Halloween is checking barns for the demons or his best friend Sam. Nothing happens and Josh’s sister Heather convinces him to take a year off but his nephew and best friend find the book Josh has been hiding and the harvest is on again. Without giving too much away the film goes big and over the top and rightfully so with the characters, the creatures, and the gore. I may always believe the first film is the best of the trilogy, this entry declares we will be seeing Justin in Hollywood soon as his vision has the chance to be the next big thing among horror movie collectors as I see this being Justin’s ‘Terrifer’??? Horror fans take that whatever way you want point is no matter what I think Justin Seaman may have just put the horror community on notice as I give this latest entry into the series 3 out of 4 stars.

Dr, Cyclops (DVD) – An older 40s flick I don’t remember ever seeing so I knew I should take a crack at reviewing it. We have a great biologist who isolates himself in the Amazon for unknown experiments for two years until he has a breakthrough. The good doctor is very secretive but sends for a highly regarded scientist to check his work? Dr. Cyclops is happy with what he hears and attempts to send them away shortly after they arrive. Refusing these other scientists meddle in the secretive doctors work to find out the hard way they get shrunk. For the time this film has some great set design and special effects worth seeking out to see how this idea has been done over dozens of times since the 40s as I give this film 2 out of 4 stars.

Recorded 2 (YouTube) – A found footage film independently shot in Bulgaria where a young woman from a film crew and her driver go missing! Friends attempt to investigate not understanding how she would disappear without a trace as they film their travels along with a superfan who is concerned. As friends find the car and believe they might have a clue about Georgina someone comes hacking and slashing away. Good solid concept for a found footage flick that doesn’t overstay its welcome in the running time department but have a feeling American audiences will not enjoy the simple but effective story telling with this feature as most mainstream found footage projects in the states will spoon feed the audience… Ever notice some of the worthy found footage projects come from outside the states as I give this project 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

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

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

Gross Movie Reviews #706

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Amityville Descendants of Darkness (DVD) – Well kids welcome to entry #80 into this long running series as this time around Phil Herman and friends decide to go with the anthology route as the theme here is: some evils never die they evolve. The project opens up with a gooey adventure of three individuals looking to dig up a pile of cash that was buried under a shed after a robbery. With it being Amityville these three don’t have a chance. The second story goes international that involves a cursed rocking chair that is a gateway to ruining a couple’s loving partnership. Our third part of the anthology deals with a retired detective who never got passed his last case as it continues to haunt him. The last case just doesn’t disturb the retiree but consumes him as evil tends to do. Our final tale deals with a house that has trouble keeping its occupants according to the weird ass neighbors as the structure was built on the original foundation of the legendary haunted house. All in all this was a solid effort from beginning to end that didn’t rely on comedy but old school story telling as this anthology is set up it for each story ramping up the creep factor trying to surpass the last. Even though this is an entry into the Amityville series with a few slight dialogue changes this could have been a great standalone independent anthology with some talented people involved as for that I give this entertaining entry 3 out of 4 stars.

Amityville Rex (DVD) – So Mark Polonia has given us entry #81 and this feels like the old bar joke in some form of: a priest, a detective, a young lady with a bag full of cash, and T-rex walk into a bar as Mr. Polonia just ran with it. T-Rex bones have been recently discovered under the streets of Amityville and have recently been put up for display for the community to enjoy but a priest is getting terrible visions of it and what is to come next? Meanwhile a perfectly casted Tim Hatch with mustache (folks, this thing steals the movie) as the hard-nosed detective is trying to lean on a suspect as she has hidden a mob connected guy’s $300,000. A lot of garble and gab about a “dark one” somehow resurrecting a dinosaur gets all of our characters in a building where the building caretaker (Mark Polonia) meets a terrible end as “the dark one” brings to life, evil! The folks run for their lives but cannot escape the building unless they defeat this evil dinosaur as only in Amityville would this whole storyline would be acceptable. Is this entry into the series crazy, absurd, and feel like I said before a bar joke gone too far, of course but once again Mark Polonia figures out a way to entertain you with an Amityville entry as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars. There is a director’s commentary on the DVD but for some reason it refused to work on mine but hey at least I got to watch the film.

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

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

Gross Movie Reviews #705

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Isle of the Damned (DVD) – An independent spoof on the eye-talian cannibal movies or ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ to be exact from the talented film group Dire Wit Films who I just love their work as this 2008 effort is worthy to seek out people! Private Investigator Jack Steele is a man with principle as he tries to fight through the crew he is sailing with looking for the Marco Polo treasure and also trying to bang his young son Billy. This treasure is believed to be on the “Island of Cannibals” where no one goes. Once there Jack Steele encounters baby eating, horny dick munching savages where he must save potential victims of the cannibals there. Problem is with all that being said Steele meets a curious stranger in Alexis Kincaid who has lived on the island for years and knows the cannibals very well. In all this chaos of cannibals Kincaid refuses to leave with Jack and his son when they leave the island in this wild and super gross Indie spoof that proves Dire Wit Films shouldn’t be forgotten but celebrated in the independent community as I give this project 3 ½ out of 4 stars.

Destroyer (DVD) – This quickly out of print gem gets lost in the shuffle of Prison, Shocker, and The Horror Show from the late 80s and really didn’t have much of a presence on late night cable. This is what I wrote in 2015 about it: With this unknown 1988 flick (at least unknown to me anyway) I seen the box art late last year and knew I needed to see this horror flick. It is an 80s wet dream of a horror movie: Lyle Alzado as the killer or undead killer, Deborah Foreman as the cute stunt girl, Anthony Perkins as the director of the woman-in-prison flick, and Clayton Rohner who was the guy in “April Fool’s Day” that seem to be banging his girlfriend the whole film. Ivan Moser (Lyle Alzado) is on death row for murdering two dozen people and is going to be electrocuted. When it happens, power goes out, riot begins, and Moser’s body is never recovered. 18 months later a film production of a women’s prison movie is ongoing in the former prison that held Moser and people are starting to show up dead. All Moser wants is to be alone with Malone (Foreman’s character). Even though most deaths happen off screen there is one hell of a death scene with Moser killing someone with a jackhammer that is somewhat featured on the cover of the movie! When I talked about it on our Bloodbaths and Boomsticks podcast I gave it 3 stars but I got to amp it up a little and give it 3 ½ stars just because it has everything you look for in an 80s slasher flick. I do not remember anything about this flick even with “Shocker”, “The Horror Show”, and even “Prison” getting a lot of press at the time of this film. But glad I found it to enjoy its Lyle Alzado greatness! Now the reason I bring this feature up is the out of print DVD I found is from (Cheezy Films) which before Shout Factory acquired the rights and these are still floating out there by the way, but why did that supposedly HD transfer on Blu-ray from Shout Factory go out of print so quickly? And why hasn’t this title found a place to land other the Tubi streaming service? Most horror people who have seen it, love it so why hasn’t Terror Vision, VS, or Synapse got their paws on it…? Because the DVD I found was barely an upgrade.

Mutants (Blu-ray) – A film with a cool title and Michael Ironside above the title sounds fucking terrific but Mr. Ironside is only in it for a hot minute to clean up shit at the end. So saying that let’s get into this as a scientist experimenting with food additives somehow turn people or test subjects into mutants! Big food business is cool with the experiments as long as it gets the results besides having infected sugar leech into the drinking water. Government gets wind of it and decides to send Michael Ironside and his team in to wipe the area clean of the test subjects, mad scientist, and the infected sugar. I should have went with my Spidey-sense on this one when I seen the cover as I knew it was too good to be true as usual or ‘crap with a name’ as I give it 1 star.

51 (DVD)  – This is a 2011 project that was part After Dark Original and part SyFy Channel presents which somehow I missed when first released. This of course deals with the government or more specific Air Force opening the doors of Area 51 to give reporters a tour to see there is nothing there mysterious or what not? Gain the trust of the public again. Things are going fine or just okay as reporters confront said Air Force colonel about things they are not seeing until “patient zero” who by the way is able to morph into anyone it touches decides to escape after 25 years of sitting still. But this alien is not alone as it unlocks the other cells of captured aliens to cause chaos in the top secret military location. Now it’s time for survival for military personal along with reporters as they must make their way above ground before they are slaughtered. This project has a couple of the usual SyFy Channel casting choices, some cool creatures/aliens that make for a fun cheapie monster film wroth rediscovering again as I give it 2 ½ stars.

Murder Rock (DVD) – So a Fulci film I have never seen and barely heard about is a hilarious 80s treat. The movie might be known to some as ‘Murder Rock Dancing Death’ and even some other fans would know it as ‘Slashdance’ but whatever you know this film by, get ready for a horror film about a cut throat dance class. At the “Arts of the Living Center” dancers just don’t go there to train but to be the best of the best. But it’s a little different in 1983 as a whole class of dancers have accidentally found out they are vying for three positions in a high profile show and none of them will stop at nothing to get an edge. While the dancers are occupied with what they could be… a lunatic has taken upon themselves to use a hairpin to pierce the heart of their naked victims to murder them. As the dancers die and the top detective gets frustrated and creepier with the pace of the film one thing that Fulci made sure was the viewer has many suspects to pick from in this murder mystery. Once you wade through all the dancing, early 80s music, and everyone blaming each other to be the killer, Fulci gives one of his more interesting endings to a film as I give this an entertaining 3 stars.

Birdemic: Shock and Terror (Blu-ray) – Thought it was time revisit this so-called “Best Worst Movie of all time.” Did yinz all forget about ‘Troll 2’? Or am I not supposed to bring that up? More on that later… Anyhow this special edition has two commentaries, deleted scenes, and a couple featurettes. If you haven’t caught on I am not a big fan either way but anyway this love story is about Rod and Nathalie who hit off quickly. After some choppy acting between the two, Rod explaining he has a Hybrid Mustang (dude, it didn’t exist), Nathalie talking it over with mum, 47 minutes in the two bump uglies at a random hotel and the fake birds begin to attack. The lovers try to plan their escape with a couple others at the hotel where they literally drive around a beat up Ford Aerostar shooting fake birds out of the windows! The big reveal is the bird flu has caused the chaos in the movie not on the internet. I give this project 1 ½ stars so let’s get back to this being “Best Worst Movie of all time”. Because shit if you wanna go old school what happened to ‘Attack of the Killer Tomatoes’ or was this just the majority of people online decided before there was the Tik Tok or a ‘Sharknado’ they wanted to declare this to be cool? And if I am even close on that idea sorry folks I got one word for you ‘SPOOKIES!’ Also there is at least a dozen titles I could name that deserve the “Best Worst Movie of all time” title. I believe this might have been the first independent film those internet kids watched if you want me to take a guess but whatever as I still say this was meh. It was meh when released it is still meh now.

Meat Market (DVD) – Talk about revisiting an old friend as I haven’t watched this since shortly after it was released as this title along with the sequel are long out of print especially since its quick Blu-ray release that no one knew about has me questioning why hasn’t this gotten the special treatment by a bigger company? In 2000 this independent Canadian zombie film made an impact in the Indy scene as it open the flood gates for everyone again to make a zombie film. This SOV zombie flick with lots of cheap gore effects is about two former security officers who are fighting the undead as hordes of zombies begin to feast on cities. The two believe their best chance of survival is trying to escape the city as along the way they team up with a trio of vamps, a Mexican wrestler, and all just hoping they can even find a survivor or two. They all must become scavengers in order to survive this bloody chaotic ordeal. The zombie film has its flaws and rough edges as they went for it all with locations, gore everything! Is it J.R. Bookwalter’s ‘The Dead Next Door’ or Todd Sheets’ ‘Zombie Bloodbath’ not really but just like those two independent films Brian Clement dreamt big and I believe sparked interest again in the early 2000s showing independent filmmakers a zombie film can be made with a little heart and passion behind it. If you are able to find one of these long out of print DVDs there is a commentary with Brian Clement which could be fun for the Indy zombie fanatic as I give this 3 out of 4 stars. Oh by the way kids pay attention as this was the year 2000 and this zombie film isn’t cause by contamination but Nano tech…! A very interesting premise for that time…?

Meat Market 2 (DVD) – The sequel picks up a year later as Brian Clement has learned from his first experience to make this film project a leaner, meaner, and much smoother viewing experience that the first film. There are only three survivors from the first story but they talk of meeting others in their travels. With the cities dead and food scarce it has become apparent the zombies are evolving because of the Nano technology that caused this extinction. The survivors get caught and placed in a military stronghold that is more of a cult organization that is hiding things from their members such as experiments and what they actually feed people. If you are considered desirable you are allowed to be a part of the cult if not you are mistreated and experimented on for hope of the new world order. Brian Clement and friends go for broke with even more gore, more disgusting weirdness, a lot of dick chomping, and if you really wanna get into the subtext or bored a little kink (but that is for a different conversation) as I give this project 3 ½ out of 4 stars. Again if able to find this out of print gem it does sport two commentaries on the DVD too.

The Slumber Party Massacre Collection (DVD) – After all three films were originally released to DVD for the first time and it was just great to have them even though they looked like VHS rips a decade or so passed and they released this upgraded transfer of the three films to this 2-disc set. What made this set so special is it had been 30 years or so since the release of the original and this sported an hour long documentary that covered all three films and their impact on the horror genre. Now I don’t if this documentary has popped up on any other releases since then but it does make this set worthy tracking down for the price and for that I give it 4 stars or 4 drills.

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

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

Grossfest 2026 guests and vendors

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Grossfest 2026 – July 31st-August 1st

Friday 4-10pm

Saturday 11-7pm

Tickets: $15 for one day or $20 for both days

Vendor tables are SOLD OUT!

Movie room schedule will come closer to event and of course we have a tattoo room

www.grossfest.com

Comfort Inn Conference Center

699 Rodi Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15235

(412) 244-1600

Hotel reservation code (remember you edit how long your stay is also) :

Grossfest 2026 guests

Todd Sheets

Jenn Nangle

Morrigan Milam

Brad Twigg

Melissa Sapienza-Garrett

Carly Sonafelt

Steve Rudzinski

Aleen Isley

James L. Edwards

Angel Bradford

And of course the super talented Angel O’Connor as our tattoo artist! (She is working on a new picture)

Special Guest for Friday (July 31st) only!

Christine M. Soltis

Grossfest 2026 vendor list

Chanda Rawlings

Ty Cheman

Dazed N Disorderly (Samantha Prinkley)

Steve Livengood

Cheevies Films

Daryl Hook

Andrew Chambers (Hojbob Productions)

Ginn Griedel

Jonathan A. Moody

Samuel Hice

Chase Will

Daniel Boyd

Art Ettinger (Ultra Violent Magazine)

Phil Herman

Michelle Bowser

Jess Weary

James Balsamo

Loretta Lynn Chambers

Ben Banks

Tabatha Rader

MMH Productions (Matthew Mark Hunter)

Jason Burke (greatest all-purpose man ever)

Chris Rhydings (Hit List Video)

Addison Binek (JAB productions)

Shawn Wright

Ashley Englund (Secondhand Spooky)

Kiss of Death Productions (David F. Silvio and Cassandra Blue aka Diana)

And least but not least the two guys from Wasteland that my brother forgot their names… (Broaden Torture Productions)

See yinz July 31st-August 1st, 2026

Second Stop on the Grossfest 2026 tour

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Second stop on the Grossfest 2026 tour is Cinema Wasteland.

www.cinemawasteland.com

We will have DVD, Blu-ray, and Indie titles all $5 of course. Then we are bringing some cool slipcase movies and such for $10. Plus a couple best offer things. Come visit us!

See yinz April 10-12, 2026— with Tom Gross in Strongsville, OH.

Gross Movie Reviews #703

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Ticks (4K/Ultra HD) – This glorious creature feature came out in 1993 which also known as “Infested” had a young cast that would become household names in the industry since then but always will be known for the role that Clint Howard played. The gooey feature has some misfit teens that are forced to attend a camp to get out of the city and learn about nature. As the teens adjust to their new surroundings we are introduce to Clint Howard who is a war vet growing weed with illegal chemicals that of course mutates regular deer ticks. These things make quick work of Clint Howard as he also does self-harm trying to escape causing the mutant ticks to infest the woods. These sick bad ass looking giant bugs attack the camp and try to feed on the young campers who are forced to fight back if they wanna get back to the city.  For many years the no thrills DVD, which for the most part was a VHS rip was the only thing horror fans had. Even though this horror flick didn’t get its due even with all the cool names involved and the wonderful special effects has finally got its chance with this 4K clean up and extras for horror fans to drool over: Two commentary tracks including one of them being moderated by Joe Begos and a really cool three part making-of documentary that will make you love this film that much more! Giant bugs, slime, gore, and Clint Howard being the cause of the problem makes this a fun package for horror fans as I give it 3 ½ stars.

Hippo’s Revenge (YouTube) – A dad trying to reconnect with his daughter as they have drifted apart because of a death in the family try to save a mother hippo and its offspring by bringing them to their rescue preserve. But Mama Hippo is feisty and very protective of her young but goes missing off the preserve because of an evil animal kidnapper’s (Marx) minions trying to steal the animals because dad didn’t want to sell the hippo. It’s mainly bad CGI chaos with a very thin plot that has you wanting something else to happen other than what you watch as I give it 1 star.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Shark (Tubi) – Henry Jekyll becomes super protective of his dead wife as depression drives him to take an experimental drug called “Sharcopine” as he confides in a friend to tell the story of the changes in him? Henry goes insane as the drug turns him into a horny man-shark but the film gets bogged down with subplots that don’t go anywhere. He’s horny, he’s crazy, but the dude that gave us the glorious ‘Abomination’ instead gave us something nowhere as memorable with too much filler. My friend you should have taken notes from ‘Graveyard Shark’ before you had ventured into the “shark film genre” as I can only give this feature 1 ½ out of 4 stars.

Lost Faith (Blu-ray) – The great label “Saturn’s Core” has released an underground fan favorite that was released in 1992 from Joel D. Wynkoop who did his best John “Zombie Deathhouse” Saxon impression (write, direct, starred, produced, even sang a song) to bring his no budget Chuck Norris feature to life… and succeeded! Steve Nekoda is a good looking martial arts dude whose wife heads to a modeling agency for a possible part but when Steve returns to pick her up for their date he finds police and his girl missing. Some bad dudes used the model agency thing as a front to kidnap good looking women, hold them captive on a jungle island, and sell them into slave porn or something. Along the way Steve denouncing God: steals a car, gets in a bunch of fights, gets arrested, gets railroaded by the police, then scolded for losing his faith. A week after the disappearance the wife’s best friend shows up at the door to lead Steve to rescue his wife as this begins to restore his faith in finding her. This is the ultimate special edition SOV action package for Joel Wynkoop fans as there is a new extended cut of the film, an intro from Joel explaining how some of the film was shot in 1988, 1989 then released in 1992, a Joel Wynkoop commentary, an old making of documentary, alternate flashback film opening and ending, and a 2018 short film sequel called “Nekoda”. Through pure determination you got to respect what Mr. Wynkoop accomplished which also makes for an interesting deep dive into the early career of Joel D. Wynkoop and his impact on independent filmmaking as I give this package 3 out of 4 stars.

Blood on the Bleachers (Blu-ray) – A west coast filmmaker named Chase Dudley is starting to make waves in the independent film community as he is driven to make a difference with his projects that are well produced, in different genres, and with not much money. This slasher film centers on a masked killer who killed two years before at a high school with no witnesses. Now, a professor, Mr. Reynolds, challenges his senior students to group together for their class assignment to investigate. Not just rehash what happened but do a deep dive to see if they can come up with new theories or clues that the police have failed to find. As the students get serious about the project the masked killer returns to claim more victims in this great production that also sports a great cast. But as a viewer with it’s just over two hour running time it wore me down more than entice me to invest who the killer is? Again I know there is a few recent two hour plus horror films out there but I am telling you filmmakers and future filmmakers, people like a Roger Corman or Charles Band were not wrong about running times for your picture as I give the movie 2 out of 4 stars. Edited to 95 minutes I truly believe this film would have been a much meaner spirited slasher than it comes off.

Frankenshark (Blu-ray) – Every once in a while you watch a film that you question if it is an actual film or just something completely else hiding as a film? This Bill Zebub project is just that as the other title for this flick is “Dickshark”. The whole plot of this film is a so-called scientist has misplaced his experimental ‘penis enlargement cream’. When the cream is used somehow there becomes a shark dildo creation that gets loose in the water system then attacks naked women. With each attack the monstrosity becomes larger with no way of being stopped as said so-called scientist aka Bill Zebub goes on a weird political tirade with another character as different metal songs are played over lots of slow motion scenes throughout the movie. Bill Zebub has his detractors and also has his fans but this project left me asking “is this an actual movie?” as I cannot even give it a rating.

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

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

Gross Movie Reviews #702

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At Death’s Door (Tubi) – Another independent horror anthology hits the streaming site in where the stories go more for storytelling, suspense, and old school scares than your typical blood splattered anthology. First story deals with a young woman who has nightmares of a clown in her past and how it is connected to her father who she absolutely adores as you wonder is she insane or being led to believe something else? Second story tackles a serial killer who must check in with mom about his latest killer conquest as she rehashes the good old days of murdering folk. Third story has a podcast/radio host named John who dabbles in the paranormal as he claims he is a medium but slowly losing his mind. The last story has a beautiful young woman renting out a suite that causes her past to haunt her for a past sin in a place that isn’t what she thinks it is… A solid showing here folks as I believe it does enough different storytelling that this anthology will be a diamond in the rough for fans of the horror anthologies as I give it 3 out 4 stars.

Groundhog Day Massacre (YouTube) – A lost 1986 SOV short film that had me immediately at “massacre” from Insanity Productions and didn’t disappoint as it left me in smiles for hours after. The film begins with a quick “this might be connected to Amityville” scene but quickly introduces us to the killer who wears a paper bag over his head with safety goggles on and a sawzall with extension cord included. Yes folks, these kids did not hide it at all as this home movie is completely terrible and I love it! The extension cord comes unplugged a few times as the killer chases after his victims. But the real gem here is the background. Whether you are 3, 13, or 23 at the time of this short film being made it will for sure give you some happy flashbacks of that time in the 80s and for that entertainment I give this 3 out of 4 stars.

The Mystery of Dipyramidion (Fawesome) – An odd chap who is fascinated with this ancient artifact called the ‘Sky Key’ as he produces a show on social media called “The History Guy” where he tries to search but educate followers on these wonders. This latest dive into the wormhole of artifacts takes a weird turn as Nathan learns of a billionaire purchasing the artifact through an auction and Nathan has a plan to go see if he can grab it? The fascination of this relative unknown artifact is that throughout history anyone that has held it in their possession has great power. So through pure accident of getting the ‘Sky Key’ Nathan finds himself going through portals to different times, places, maybe even dimensions and collecting things to show off to his followers. But in the end Nathan believes he might be doing more harm than good and decides the adventure of a lifetime has to end. It is an innocent adventure film done rather entertainingly on no budget that I believe will find a following on streaming as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Night of the Rats (DVD) – Besides being a horror weirdo that loves tracking down ‘Amityville’ and ‘massacre’ movies I always love me a good rat flick! And Mr. Matt Jaissle thank you for putting in the effort on making this happen. There has been some illegal dumping found at the Evans City power plant that has leeched into the sewer system causing rats to mutate and attack humans. Two individuals are in charge to quickly resolve this problem but little they know the invasion of killer rats cannot be stopped. Shit, I love the scene when they pull out the laser guns to start shooting the rats but that doesn’t stop it from being a fun lovable mess of a movie. Now to be honest I kinda seen the ending coming and wasn’t happy with it but honestly there can only be one ‘Rats: Night of Terror’. Overall I felt like the film was made just for me as I give this fun movie I had to own 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Minnie’s Midnight Massacre (Tubi) – Twenty years after a young seventh grade girl is locked into a storm cellar by her bullies she has come back to stalk her bullies on vacation as she is dressed as Minnie Mouse. Even though the group of friends are celebrating how long they have stayed friends the aftermath of the bullying has haunted them but hasn’t stopped them from living their ‘best lives’ sort to speak. The film isn’t the best of ideas as it has been proven over the past year with the slew of films portraying Mickey Mouse aka Steamboat Willie since it went into public domain… But I liked the suspense building and the commitment of the Minnie killer but the ending can be seen a mile away which does take away a bit from the good I said after you witness it as I give the project 2 out of 4 stars.

Apocalypse Bigfoot (Tubi) – Some hunters at a hunting camp believe they have taken a shot at something odd or homeless person living out in the woods as they hope the next day of hunting will be better? The next day isn’t as the creature known as Bigfoot goes on a rampage and slaughters their asses. Now small town sheriff is sent to look into the murders but Bigfoot isn’t done as he wants blood from the community! Oh by the way nevermind the sheriff has animal control stuff readily available (too many questions for this slim plot point). Can the sheriff stop this hairy uncontrollable beast? Well you only know if you watch it as the sheriff uses his dead partner as bait as I give this uneventful Bigfoot film with a great title only 1 ½ out of 4 stars.

Robocidal (Tubi) – A Mark Polonia film that has a computer lab where a system failure and a fire in said building send Robot V-227 to leave the lab. The robot quickly starts a killing spree that catches eyes of two older no-nonsense detectives who begin their investigation and refuse to believe a robot can be the killer. With the bodies are piling up the detectives find clues that only leaves the robot as the killer causing them to panic plan to stop this piece of tech and its Robocidal ways! The term is used often throughout the dialogue so of course I had to write it in the review. It’s a little fun feature that has the vibe Mark actually made this in 2002 and just finally got around releasing it for us fans and for that I will give it 2 out of 4 stars.

The Outing (Blu-ray) – A slipcase in all and going by its original title “The Lamp” is what horror fans will know this horror film by as this is a well worth collector’s item for horror fans. (Review in 2024)  For me this was one of those late night “Skinamax” features I always caught on late Friday or Saturday night so of course I have a soft spot for it. Forgive me for only remembering the last 30 minutes of this movie but it is with kids sneaking into a museum after hours to party horror formula. The story begins with degenerates breaking into an old woman’s house finding “the lamp” and unleashing the evil in it causing their deaths. Short time after it ends up at a museum where some kids decide to sneak in after hours to stay overnight to party. Problem is the Djinn has already done its damage and now wants to slaughter the kids before it is forced back into the lamp. A fun but uneven horror film with a cool creature, some fun kills, and a great poster that many older horror fans remember hanging up in the video stores. This special edition explains even though there was no negative produced Vinegar Syndrome was able to still do a restoration and add in a few seconds here and there of scenes doing it. The package besides its cool slipcase and cleaned up film also include a commentary with producer and cast plus an absolutely delightful making of called “All in the Family” that is the gem of this supernatural horror package as I give this must have 3 stars.

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

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

Gross Movie Reviews #701

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Sharks N Da Hood (Tubi) – This bootleg of a bootleg ‘Sharknado’ from Dustin Ferguson comes ten years too late as a bad storm rolls through Compton, California as the ocean rises flooding the streets with sharks attacking people. An idea that could have been fun if done a different way or to be precise could have been a rehash of ‘Leprechaun in Da Hood’ with sharks? Instead and I hate to say this but this project is just plain emotionless and a stock footage filled borefest. The scene that describes it all is a character driving in a convertible with no storm and the sun out as throughout the film and scene there is radio and television reports about the storms and rising waters as she drives down the road with nothing happening in Compton so yeah this gets 0 out of 4 stars.

Clown Motel (DVD) – In 2016 Joseph Kelly unleashed a short film that brought this quite unusual landmark in Nevada to the cinema world. A group of people driving in the desert of Nevada breakdown and are forced to walk their way for help. They believe they have found it in a creepy and mysterious “Clown Motel” that has to be seen too believe. (Nevermind what looks like a Super 8 in the background in one scene? Could have been a mistake during a reshoot?) When the group arrives with no one working there the group grabs a key to a room to get some rest. Within sometime after that is a knock at the door and free cookies so of course since the people are white and dumb they eat the cookies. They pass out from the cookies and an evil clown takes advantage and murders them as I enjoy the corny hamster in a bucket death scene for one of the characters. Overall getting past some of the sound issues there is a slight paranormal feel to the short film as the real highlight is the motel itself as I give the project 2 out of 4 stars.

Clown Motel (DVD) – Three years later Joseph Kelly turns his idea into a full feature with a couple big horror names attached to the project. The plot of the film revolves around so-called ghost hunters and a bachelorette party converging onto the motel and having a party together. Unbeknownst to these future victims of the motel is the clowns that did live there used to be nice until they were burned alive because of greed for gold. (Nevermind, someone came along and fix the motel exactly the way it was?) Once the party gets going that is when the two groups don’t see the clowns wandering out of the graveyard next door to visit them. As the two groups fight for their lives to escape they find an old journal of someone that was trapped there in the 70s in hopes of finding answers. This full feature leans much more into the paranormal which just gives the film a weird vibe throughout as I give it 2 out of 4 stars.

Clown Motel: 2 Death Do Us Part (DVD) – The evil clowns have returned and the sequel rehashes what happened in the first film to open this sequel as the lone survivor Brooke is still trapped in a motel room trying to decide what she can do? So for this feature for whatever crazy ass idea the military gets involved as Brooke’s soon-to-be husband is recruited for a covert mission to find the creepy ‘Clown Motel’ and enter the clown’s realm. Meanwhile the clowns wait patiently around the door of the trapped Brooke waiting for her to make a run to somewhere with no success. As the savage clowns wait to capture Brooke’s soul they have the soldiers show up that allows them to continue their search for souls they need for some convoluted ritual in a cave where the clowns are hanging out this time around. Way too much slow motion action goes on in this film as its main purpose is to set up a third film as I can only give the expanding project 2 out of 4 stars.

Amityvillenado (Fawesome) – Welcome children as entry #78 has been unleashed onto the world in the form of a horror comedy that is worth watching! It begins with the infamous house in Amityville being destroyed by a freak tornado. The next day, Trey who is a former resident of Amityville and his best friend Jib roll into town to stay at his sister’s house for the weekend. With the house destroyed Trey still wants to check out the site maybe even brag to his best friend about all the weird shit that has happened over the years. The two go check it out and find a $2 bill and an Ouija board in the dirt of where the old DeFeo house stood. As the two argue what else can be done with their weekend a freak storm keeps showing up causing chaos among residents as apparently the storm has latched with the evil spirits of the DeFeo home. As the freak storm keeps sucking the souls of Amityville residents Trey, Jib, an old friend in meteorologist June Weathers, and Officer Lipshits must find a way stop the evil tornado’s evil reign of terror in Amityville. A lot of good fun here with one big hang up is it runs a way too long 111 minutes! When you think about it after watching as fun as it is there are certain scenes that could have been cut down or removed for a better running time as I give this latest entry into the Amityville series 3 out of 4 stars. P.S. these folks deserve your support of this feature they have watched many entries like me because of the references they throw out along the way.

Cape Cod Cthulhu (Fawesome) – This recent Mark Polonia film deals with Lovecraft and Poe as the feature is introduced by none other Craig Muckler of ‘Microwave Massacre’ fame! The movie opens with a person dying in a cemetery that leads into a young woman jumping into a car to tell a story to the famous Mark Polonia. Mark is so famous he even gets pitched the idea of directing ‘Spookies 2’ by Frank Farel himself! The young woman tells Mark the story of how her and two friends head to Cape Cod during spring break for the discounts but also to rehearse together. Have no clue of why there is this so-called ‘Cake Boss’ rap song in the film but it all leads up to this young woman explaining the spirits of Poe and Lovecraft having a boxing match in the living room of the cottage they rented in Cape Cod. In the end of all this weirdness I came away feeling like Mark might have made a film to just poke fun at his recent movies as I give this project 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Ebola Syndrome (4K/Ultra HD) – This 1996 film is unlike anything most horror film fans have ever seen and for the first time as a couple years ago Vinegar Syndrome restored this film unrated to the states where you usually seen some kind of bootleg of the project. The story of Kai begins in 1986 where being involved with a married woman he needs to murder his way out the situation. Immediately Kai is on the run as the story moves to South Africa ten years later where Kai works cheap for a Chinese restaurant. Looking for cheaper priced meat for the business Kai heads out into the jungle of South Africa with his boss to buy pigs. While there Kai attacks a woman only to contract the deadly Ebola virus from her and bring it back to the restaurant. Kai sick at first but then becomes immune to the virus is tired of having his balls busted by the boss’ wife as Kai brutally slaughters them and takes their money to travel back to Hong Kong. There Kai continues his contamination of everyone around him as he kills again with an ending that is just completely wild and something I have never forgotten after first seeing this film in Incredible Strange Video in Dormont, Pa., around 1998 for the first time. The film gets 4 stars for sure but this is a thing of beauty for collectors besides the slipcase, there is the great 4K scan of the original negative, interview with director Herman Yau, featurette of Yau trying to explain how hard it was to get the project translated into English, interviews with lead actor Anthony Wong, a couple of commentary tracks, and a 20-page booklet on Herman Yau’s career and about this legendary project. More than anything this movie is something for horror fans that are tired of hearing their friends complain about liking “gory movies but can never find them?” Just tell your friends “hold my beer” and hand them this feature.  

The Benefactress: An Exposure of Cinematic Freedom (Google) – Now full heads up the person that sent me this screener warned me it’s “not my cup of tea” but that hasn’t ever stopped me from at least giving the film a watch as I do watch lots of stuff outside of monsters, slashers, and Amityville entries. The independent film comes out of the UK that goes to great lengths to be different as it centers on a character named “Juicy X” and her relationship with a certain filmmaker. They take quite a ride into underground cinema that could be seen as the dark side of film, or as an extreme sexual exploration, or as a disturbing art form that isn’t for the mainstream audience to understand. Point is Juicy X goes to the extreme with an unknown person in her residence while being filmed doing it by Guerilla Metropolitana who eventually gets in on the act also. The project isn’t my cup of tea and I knew that going in but sometimes me watching a project like this can help the right audience find it in what could also be viewed as a small part of ‘Faces of Death’ from the art world for those who are not exposed to such cinema? Honestly giving this project a rating would do it injustice in my opinion. Giving it exposure to find the audience that appreciates what it is sometimes is more of the goal of me reviewing and in hopes of finding them.

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

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