Tag Archives: Todd Sheets

Gross Movie Reviews #391

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Gross Movie Reviews #391

 

The Gate II (VHS) – Very out of print and nowhere near as good as the first movie but follows the Terry character around in this sequel. The sequel was released a few years after the original (1987) but was supposedly filmed in early 1988 and was shelved for unknown reasons? The sequel picks up several months after the ending result of the first film. Terry’s dad is an unemployed airline pilot, his best friend moved because of the demons and all, and Terry still is not well liked in school. So to try and change his luck Terry breaks into his destroyed old friend’s house to call about some demons and such again… This time for good stuff! After some bullies and the hot school girl ruin the ritual Terry gets one of the demon minions and holds him hostage for his wishes to come true. Because of budget constraints??? There is only one demon/minion until the end of this flick. Terry dies saving his dad and hot school girl only to come back to life at his funeral. It’s a fun way to see how the story continues but this could have been a franchise about demons and such and I am still surprised there hasn’t been a remake. If you are a big fan of the first film, the sequel is worth tracking down just because of the Terry character otherwise you are not missing much as I give this 1 ½ stars.

 

The Funhouse Massacre (DVD) – So Robert Englund runs an asylum that is government funded but under the radar of the public in the middle of nowhere land. He has a reporter visiting that wants the low down on why this place exists or why they haven’t killed the insane serial killers they keep? Of course Englund’s character gives her the grand tour and their wonderful backstories. When he drops his guard the bootleg version of Harley Quinn/Batty Boop kills him and releases the inmates. The head of the six insane inmates is played by great bad dude Jere Burns who has a plan of taking over the local funhouse and carnival, locking it, and making it their playground! All who go to the local funhouse are now locked in and become victims of the insane serial killers. Some fun Halloween shit, some cool effects, and we get a great cast Clint Howard and Courtney Gains joining in on the fun. I give the flick 2 ½ stars.

 

Killjoy’s Psycho Circus (El Rey Network/DVD) – Now not all Full Moon stuff is for horror fans or the ‘Killjoy’ films for all horror films to be exact. But this franchise has a weird niche and keeps getting better with every entry especially with Trent Haaga being involved. Haaga may have not directed this entry but still stars as the head honcho himself “Killjoy”! After Killjoy escaped Hell in the last film he has been back on earth for a while. Killjoy has a weekly TV show but it’s in the pooper since Batty Boop left. In a sad attempt of trying to get people to tune back in Killjoy allows a bootleg Batty Boop (Robin Sydney aka Luanne) come on the show and do her thing. Meanwhile, apparently good old Satan is about to be ousted from hell if he doesn’t go after Killjoy and bring him back to hell. So Satan gets a spaceship, a hot girl, convinces Batty Boop (sort of) to go back to Killjoy to set up him for the capture. One problem in all this mess is Killjoy and Batty Boop has been on earth long enough that they are becoming more human and Batty wants a baby? A hilarious and weird film series that I will be always interested in as long as Trent Haaga is and for that I give it 3 stars. Note to you if you watch it: See if you catch the laser blast sounds and music lifted from “Flash Gordon”…

 

Poseidon Rex (DVD) – That dude from ‘Sleepwalkers’ is making a career out of these low budget creature features but anyway he plays a treasure hunter in this flick. Well his dumb ass just happens to blow up the bottom of the ocean (The Blue Hole, too easy to make comments) for some Spanish gold and POOF! There is a swimming T-Rex! And he is eating all the people swimming or boating in the ocean. Like I said, ‘Sleepwalkers’ dude… 1 star.

 

The Night Before Halloween (SyFy Channel/DVD) – Let me just start off saying quite a few people like this flick and me for some reason find it to be a pile dog crap but fuck it you go watch it! The night before Halloween a dark force comes to kill a teenager after a Halloween prank goes bad. Before his death he leaves a message to his friends that just covered up an accidental death/coma of one of their friends. A year passes and still haunted by the events the friends get a weird phone call from the coma patient, meet up, and find out it is some fucked up thing they need to do… Meaning they must scare someone into killing someone else to lift the curse? To me it was a mash up of ‘It Follows’ and ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ with less sex and Gordon’s fish stick outfits? I give this SyFy venture 1 ½ stars.

 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (DVD) – A zombie film that not only snuck under most people’s radars but was an actual good zombie flick is about zombies in 1700s England! Sometime between 1700 and 1800 London goes all ‘Escape From New York’ and builds a wall around the city after a zombie outbreak happens. London builds an army to fight this menace and keep it in check. As it closes in on 1800 the problem is all but gone but still exists as people like to hide they may have been bitten. Great concept so far, then we have Brother Noopsie aka Charles Dance training his daughters to be not fine women but how to defend themselves against the zombie apocalypse. After attending a dance a few zombies show up only to be a sign of something bigger is coming? End of days… This was an absolute treat to get lost in as I give it 3 ½ stars.

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Dreaming Purple Neon (DVD) – Holy Fucking Shit! It’s another balls to walls horror film from Todd mother fucking Sheets! Todd Sheets has almost outlasted everyone in the independent horror scene. While Jon McBride and the Polonia Brothers were getting some mad press in the late 80s and early 90s with their shot-on-VHS classics the highly talented Todd Sheets was perfecting his craft until he blindsided the horror community with his project ‘Zombie Bloodbath’! Since then Todd Sheets has become a household name in the horror community for making some of the craziest ass over the top Indy horror films you could ever witness. And saying that with this latest project from Mr. Sheets he may have topped everything he has done? The film begins with some shady business/gangsters planning something and talking about the purple neon. Next thing we know they shoot a man in the office ask the receptionist to clean it up and she gets scared. So she goes to her best friend at a dentist office with these drugs and two guns. Now understand there fine folks this entire movie (95%) supposedly takes place in and down in the basement of a dentist office… On top of that we have a creepy old dude named Mr. Archer hanging out in the basement with naked people (hot women and non-hard penis hanging around like Christmas decorations) talking about a vessel. Which happens to be some teenager upstairs in the dentist chair that doesn’t know the business/gangster dudes have shown up and shut down the dentist office? Confessing but awesome a ritual takes place, a couple people die horrifically, some torture, a female demon is born, the main gangster dude gets castrated, more blood and guts, more naked people, and if the female demon Abby (I will call her) lives the apocalypse happens! And the purple neon drugs will make sense eventually. But wait there is more… Spoiler alert: no fucking lie, bootleg Gene Simmons shows up and kills a zombie while satanic Jesus is enjoying the falling black rain. Yep, my brain hurts just trying to recall the most unpredictable ending I ever watched and oh yeah I give it 3 ½ out of 4 stars. If there was something that stop me from giving it a perfect and it’s the 111 minute running time but hey I feel like an ass just for nit picking… So horror fans go do yourself a favor and go get this flick from www.zombiebloodbath.com or check out more about it at www.facebook.com/DreamingPurpleNeon .

 

In the Deep (DVD) – A shark flick that stars singer/actress Mandy Moore. Mandy just dumped by her guy is in Mexico with her younger sister trying to enjoy a vacation. On a whim Mandy and her sister go with a couple local guys on boating trip where Matthew Modine is the captain and you get in a shark cage to experience the great whites. Well the women get in, enjoy the sharks, then the cable breaks and they fall to the bottom of the ocean with not much air left. Now do they make it back to the surface or do they die down at the bottom from their air running out. A cool shark thriller well worth the watch as I give it 2 ½ stars.

 

American Mary (DVD) – I was so giddy that I was able to get around and watch this little slick horror flick about Mary, a surgical student who is up to her ears in debt. Nowhere else to turn she goes to a go-go club fully knowing this is not what she wants to do. But someone gets injured, she is offered $5000 cash and no questions asked and next thing you she is a wanted girl in the underground surgical world. Mary goes to a surgical party with her peers and gets drug and raped. She changes her mind and begins to fall into the underground scene of body modification. Fun stuff folks and never hurts to see Katharine Isabelle in another horror flick. I give the film 3 stars.

 

Wedding Slashers (DVD) – Jenna is a girl who had a horrible past that she ran away from. Now, Jenna has friends and her man Alex, just asked to marry her. Problem, her past has caught back up to her and part of her past is her family believes in: Incest is best! Richard Lynch shows up for the last five minutes as Jenna’s father but Jenna and her fiancé must slice and dice their way out of trouble in order to get married. I give it 1 ½ stars.

 

Halloween Spookies (YouTube) – An entertaining family friendly Halloween anthology special from the minds of Dustin Wayde Mills and all around cool horror dude Dave Parker. The fun Halloween film deals with a clown in the house, a guy being informed he’s dead, and if ‘The Gate’ was made by Dustin Wayde Mills. The three stories are surrounded by two evil witches making a brew that they are planning on using a little kid for the extra ingredient. All three stories are PG-fun and bring back memories of ‘Tales from the Darkside’ and ‘Monsters’ TV shows. The project isn’t too scary or bloody and actually a surprise to me how well it came out showing the range of both Mills and Parker. I give the fun Halloween project 3 out of 4 stars.

 

Gravy (DVD) – So the TV show ‘Psych’ is over, that didn’t stop James Roday from getting some of his old friends together to make an outrageous horror film. The outrageous horror film is about three demented people who are cannibals and every Halloween they find a dark bar/restaurant thing and lock it up and have fun with those inside. This year they pick a Mexican place that has a variety of characters where not everything goes to plan as the cannibals learn something about themselves. Once things go sideways the cannibals try to salvage the night and kill whose left. Super bloody, super funny and it stars Paul Rodriguez as the head of the restaurant. I give it 2 ½ stars.

 

Any comments or questions please send to grossmoviereview@verizon.net or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews . Remember folks always support your local independent movie theater, independent video store, and independent filmmakers! It will keep horror alive………

You can always visit and see some past reviews, independent film news, or me ranting at: www.grossmoviereviews.com !!!

Don’t forget you can also hear Kyle Poling and me talking about horror flicks on a weekly basis on the Bloodbaths and Boomsticks podcast at: www.bloodbathspodcast.blogspot.com/

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 for details.

Also you can pick up my new book “Gross Movie Reviews: More Sequels, More Massacres, More Beer” at: http://www.lulu.com/shop/tim-gross/gross-movie-reviews-more-massacres-more-sequels-and-more-beer/paperback/product-22853681.html

The first Trailer and Official website for the new Horror film DREAMING PURPLE NEON launched!

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The trailer can be viewed and shared on any website via this link:

 

https://vimeo.com/168604581

 Dreaming

THINK YOU’VE SEEN IT ALL?  THINK AGAIN!  In this sea of “Safe” Horror films directed at teenagers, rated PG or PG-13, finally a movie comes along that not only makes Waves, it brings a Tsunami!  A movie with GUTS, and lots of them!  A movie that breaks taboos and never plays it safe, that goes right to the edge of the cliff and jumps off!  A movie that pushes boundaries and goes for the throat!  This is the one people will be talking about in 2016!

 

DREAMING PURPLE NEON is the new feature from indie Horror director Todd Sheets.  A Modern Horror Film that is also an homage to the splattery Horror films of the past, especially the mid 70s through the late 80’s!  Fresh, original and full of twists for today’s blood craving Horror Maniacs!  A strong story, all practical special makeup effects, real physical stunts and strong acting from an amazing cast of both Veterans and New up and coming talent makes DREAMING PURPLE NEON a true treat for fans looking for something new, yet retaining that familiar feeling of nostalgia for the Horror films of the past.  From the first draft of the script back in 1996, DREAMING PURPLE NEON is a true labor of love, created with passion, hard work and integrity, 20 years in the making!  A love letter to Horror films and exploitation cinema… movies that would play the Drive In Theaters and Grindhouses all over America!  Music for the film is being composed by Japanese Composer Toshiyuki Hiraoka.  DREAMING PURPLE NEON is expected to be released in October 2016, with advance screenings beginning in August 2016 at various Festivals and Conventions in America, England, Italy and Japan.  Theatrical screenings in America for Halloween are being booked already as well.  The OFFICIAL website is http://www.DreamingPurpleNeon.com.

 

In April 2012, Director Todd Sheets had a heart attack, requiring quadruple bypass surgery.  Todd was in the hospital for a month and a day.  While recovering he wrote “House of Forbidden Secrets” and began rewriting “Dreaming Purple Neon.”  After release from the Hospital, Todd began heart patient therapy, fought to regain his strength and began preproduction on “House of Forbidden Secrets” due to the script being completed first. The film went into full production in late November 2012.  Todd had been part of the Horror underground since 1989, creating Horror films for the home video market worldwide.  Many of these films went on to become “Cult Hits” and sold very well all over the world on VHS and even Cable TV.  But in 2005, Todd put his film career on hold while he raised his children and created the hit radio show NIGHTWATCH.  It was the life-threatening scare of the heart attack and spending so much time in the Hospital, not knowing if he would ever recover, that made Todd decide he had to get back to doing what he loved most.  “House of Forbidden Secrets” was his triumphant and successful return to indie Horror!  It took 2 years to complete.  House of Forbidden Secrets went on to play conventions and theaters all across America and was an Official Selection of over 70 Film Festivals worldwide from late 2013 when editing was finally finished, through March 2016!  The film is set to be released on DVD and BluRay late this Summer from MVD Distribution.  And now Todd is back at work on his follow up film, “Dreaming Purple Neon.”

 

Interviews with Todd and the cast are available now.  There are also extensive promotional graphics and set pics available for anyone who helps promote the film.  We are thankful for any and all interest in the film.  Please contact us through the Official facebook page for DREAMING PURPLE NEON at https://www.facebook.com/DreamingPurpleNeon

 

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

 

Todd Sheets

Extreme Entertainment – www.ZombieBloodbath.com

House of Forbidden Secrets – www.HouseOfForbiddenSecrets.com
NIGHTWATCH – www.nightwatchradio.com
Jackalope Media

www.nightwatchradio.com
www.jackaloperadio.com
www.zombiebloodbath.com

 

 

Gross Movie Reviews #348

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Gross Movie Reviews #348

 

By Tim Gross

 

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (On Demand) – It is easily one of the most anticipated horror films since Rob Zombie’s “House of a 1000 Corpses” and has the tagline “Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead”! I am here to tell you horror fans nothing can live up to that fucking hype. Very good flick but not legendary so tame down your fat peckers and bloated vaginas horror fans. The first good thing it got going for it is its ‘Australian’! Second, its gory as a mother fucker… But here it is, some weird shit happens overnight, like “Night of the Comet” shit people where stars are falling and people notice. But next morning some have turned into some crazy ass flesh-eating beings… Zombies! With a twist! Apparently, their breath is methane and they get faster at night as all the world’s flammable fuels have become water. And anybody that has A-negative blood type is immune to the zombie virus. Most of the film centers around two characters in Barry and Brooke. Barry just killed his daughter and wife and has blown his attempt at suicide so his next best option is trying to find his freaking hot artist of a sister Brooke who has been captured by some so-called government folks and is being experimented on. I totally understand the tagline while watching the film but my only problem with the film and it could be me nit-picking at it is the film is not sure what exactly it wants to be: that serious zombie flick, the zombie-comedy, the crazy ‘Peter Jackson type zombie flick, it seems to not make up its mind especially with the ending it gives us. Don’t get me wrong I really enjoyed it but let’s not anoint a film before we have seen it. I give the cool flick 3 ½ stars.

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To Hell with a Bullet (DVD/Amazon Prime) – A story about a singer named Billy who has been in a heavy rock band for over ten years and they have never got their break. One day down on his luck Billy is fired from his own band, his girlfriend wants to kick him out, and on top of that he just happens to kill his stripper girlfriend by accident. But things are looking up as Billy goes to see this voice doctor dude who is going to help Billy get his voice back. From there Billy gains a new friend who doesn’t care his stripper girlfriend is dead, he gets his band back, and a record producer is coming to see the band this coming Friday night. The story has been done in several forms over the years in short film, TV series, and so on, so it’s a logical choice to get a flick under your belt and put out there for the masses. I enjoyed the film from Vick Wright originally from the UK. I understand why he would go this route, but the film focuses way too much on the music than story and it’s a little long (106 minutes). That doesn’t mean it’s a bad film as much as it means to me Vick Wright to get a feel of filmmaking in Hollywood. The film has great direction, good music, great presentation, but would have loved to see more of the voice doctor/Satan character as many filmmakers do not flesh out this character enough usually due to restraints by the studio? I may have not like the flick as much as some horror fans will but what it shows me is Vick Wright hasn’t found the right project for his talents… I give the flick 2 out of 4 stars and wish him luck in the future. You can get the flick at this link:  http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Bullet-Timothy-V-Murphy/dp/B00WL8LTO0/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1431389442&sr=1-1&keywords=To+Hell+with+a+Bullet

 

Splatter Asylum (DVD) – A rereleased film from legendary independent filmmaker Todd Sheets from 1996 has found its way to DVD. Rudy has bought a mansion he wants to turn into a club but finds out the hard way it’s haunted during a house warming party he was having for friends. The friends find a book or journal all about the haunted house and all the fucked up shit that went down many years ago. The film is a crazy gooey mix of “Killer Party”, “Night of the Demons”, and ‘Lovecraft’ without the budget. But hey it’s Todd Sheets and I will watch anything that awesome mother fucker makes as he made the “Zombie Bloodbath” trilogy! I give it 2 out of 4 stars and more about the film can be found at: www.zombiebloodbath.com .

 

2020 Texas Gladiators (YouTube) – Not totally sure if its available on DVD but for the love of Rutger Hauer it is directed by Joe D’Amato and written by George Eastman under different names in all its Eye-talian glory! What you need to know: it’s a post-apocalyptic film set in 2020 where the so-called New World Order takes over an energy refinery and Texas Rangers come to fight them. No there isn’t no Chuck Norris… No there isn’t any Kevin Nash or Scott Hall… But there is random death and rape in this mish-mash of a flick that is like a couple scripts mashed together! So thank you George Eastman for not eating babies in every movie and giving us this random crap… I give it 2 stars.

 

Escape from the Bronx aka Bronx Warriors 2 (YouTube) – Don’t get me started on trying to explain which is the real sequel, this flick or “The New Barbarians” with Fred “the Hammer” Williamson as it’s more confusing than Charles Band’s “Puppet Master” timeline. But if you are a fan of the original “1990 Bronx Warriors”, get your motorcycle with the plastic skull on it and your Mark Gregory poster out as it picks up shortly after that. The evil rich dudes that failed to kill off the gangs in the first flick decided they had about $10,000 left from the first film’s budget and Henry Silva was in town so they made a sequel. Only in this flick ‘Trash’ aka Mark Gregory comes up with a plan to capture the evil president dude to stop the extermination of the people of the Bronx. Problem is the film leaves you thinking there may be a third film and it’s not 1983 so I am not sure if Enzo G. Castellari still has a unproduced script lying around. I give the flick 2 stars and well worth knowing it exists!

 

Wheels of Fire (YouTube) – A film from 1985 that not only is a bootleg of “Mad Max” but may have bought the left over props from the first two films down to the cars. Our main character ‘Trace’ rolls into a nomad town to see his sister who may have the most topless scenes in one movie ever made. Well of course Trace slightly upsets the nomads and they are after Trace and his sister. Trace’s sister gets kidnapped and raped often as Trace is busy doing his super bootleg version of Mad Max and meets another girl named “Stinger”. They have sex, she dies, and then he remembers to go save his sister. Amazing stuff folks! It is truly the closet Mad Max rip-off I have ever seen and for that I am grateful as I give it 3 stars.

 

Whispers in the Gloom (DVD) – Another rerelease onto DVD from legendary independent filmmaker Todd Sheets that was released in 1998. Aliens have landed and they just happened to be in a small town where a man who claimed to work at Area 51 calls into a radio show that gets shut down shortly afterward. The radio host and guest who happen to be an action star soon rock out in a Ford Tempo and must use kung fu to defeat aliens! Only Todd Sheets could make this shit happen besides the Polonia Brothers and it is acceptable! I give the very entertaining film 2 ½ out of 4 stars and can be found at www.zombiebloodbath.com .

 

Mother’s Day Massacre (DVD) – A skinny dude named Jimmy has always wondered who his mom was as he hates his father who mistreats him and his girlfriend on a regular basis. After his girlfriend encourages him to go to this mysterious old redneck backwoods town, his friends get murdered by two weirdos! Jimmy soon finds out his dad was more than just your average asshole and only realizes when it’s too late that he wants to bang the neighbor girl. It’s weird, it had massacre in the title, it is a slasher, and has a couple cool make-up effects, so of course I watched it as I give it 2 out of 4 stars and can be found at www.midnightreleasing.com .

 

Bread Crumbs (DVD) – Well if you ever wondered what would happen if Hansel and Gretel were evil and happen to stumble upon a porn crew who happens to be filming their latest project in a well hidden cabin you have your movie here… I give it 1 ½ out of 4 stars.

 

Endgame (YouTube/DVD) – Another 1983 post-apocalyptic flick that has George Eastman, Al Cliver, and Joe D’Amato all involved in the year 2025 where New York City is in radioactive ruins. The film literally predates “The Running Man” by a few years but turns into two different movies 30 minutes in when the lead character is asked by a mutant to help her and friends to a safe zone outside the city for gold. This flick may have the all-you-can-eat menu of post-apocalyptic Eye-talian flicks as it jams in ten different plots into one great film that has the “Rocky 3” ending.  If there was a film I would have to point Eye-talian film fans to it would be this classic as it has everything you could want as I give the flick 3 ½ stars. And let me take this time to thank George Eastman and the character ‘Ninja’ for bringing me this entertainment!

 

Any comments or questions please send to: GrossMovieReview@verizon.net, GrossMovieReview@aol.com or www.facebook.com/grossmoviereviews . Remember folks always support your local independent movie theater, independent video store, and independent filmmakers! It will keep horror alive………

You can always visit and see some past reviews, independent film news, or me ranting at: www.grossmoviereviews.com !!!

Don’t forget you can also hear Kyle Poling and me talking about horror flicks on a weekly basis on the Bloodbaths and Boomsticks podcast at: www.bloodbathspodcast.blogspot.com/

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 for details.

And do not forget to order your copy of Gross Movie Reviews: The Wrath of Gross at: http://www.lulu.com/shop/tim-gross/gross-movie-reviews-the-wrath-of-gross/paperback/product-21975934.html