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!
You’re All Doomed (DVD) – Mark Polonia showing no signs of slowing down brings in the usuals for his no budget slasher quickie. In 1986 at Camp Hollow a maintenance guy neglects a gas line and blows himself up as he receives the nickname “Crispy” because not only he survives but still to this day looks all charred up. A few years go by as Crispy returns to said camp to exact revenge which because of this the camp shuts down, now it moves to present day. Owner of the camp brings in a cleanup crew of four to do what is needed before they bulldoze the place for a new shopping center. But Crispy decides it is time to escape the asylum and have one more killing spree! The movie doesn’t waste any time telling the story here as if you are a slasher fan or completest yinz are going to want to view this project as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Dropbear (Tubi) – You had me at ‘Killer Koalas’! A group of tourists get scammed by a bootleg Steve Irwin or Steve-O. Literally they named the character after the crocodile guy in this Aussie film; anyway the tourists follow this dude into the outback for adventure. But the sad adventure gets real interesting when their asses walk right into a lair of killer koalas that have mutated from government experiments. The topper there is one mutation the government cannot find and it’s this massive leader that is pissed they have ruined his home years ago and apparently is immune to gun fire. This film could have been better but also could have been so much worse so I say just go into it just enjoying the corniness as I give it 2 stars.
Night Fright (DVD) – This fun monstrous oldie comes out of 1967 where an object falls to the woods one near Satan’s Hollow. A young couple investigates more like trying to make out and see a flash of light only to become victims of a mysterious creature. The sheriff baffled by the outcome and the government already closing off the area still investigates other attacks away from the crash. Soon it becomes clear the creature isn’t an alien but a mutation from the government who sent up in a rocket many months ago to study space travel only for it to crash land back on earth. Now said project is pissed and mangling humans when they cross it. A fun flashback to B-movies at the drive-ins we have heard so many stories about as I give it 2 ½ stars.
Cocaine Roach (Tubi) – This one is way late to the party after ‘Cocaine Bear’ but it beat out ‘Amityville Cocaine’ (yes it was a real project up until December 2025 when it finally got taken off IMDb) . In this hilarious adventure a couple of middle aged dudes lose their jobs and they are in need of money and drugs. They are con into working for their drug dealer along with an associate and a girlfriend to head to the drop house that automatically locks once inside. The only one with the key is the money man who will only show up at the time that was given. Things go from bad to worse when one gets shot and the cocaine fueled roaches that live there eat the person. Not a great film by any means but wasn’t all horrible if it made me laugh several times throughout as I give it 2 out of 4 stars.
Dummy (Fawesome) – Again Polonia busy as ever and working at break neck pace releases a tale of a retiring ventriloquist who bombs at his last performance with his puppet ‘Chucklehead’. Archibald the ventriloquist had a long career that seen a lot of ups but now a long downward spiral sees the only option is suicide. (I did enjoy the reference to “That’s Incredible” by one character explaining Archibald the Great.) Archibald’s suicide causes his spirit to go into Chucklehead and begins his reign of terror over the hotel patrons of where they were staying after the last show. Whether you enjoy the film or not the thing I respect and enjoy was the use of same locations for multiple things and ideas Corman style as the legendary Mark Polonia keeps writing his own story in his own style of independent filmmaking as I give the project 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Bears on a Ship (Xumo Play/YouTube) – The major airline unions have gone on strike which sucks for a rich newly married couple who want to leave Mexico after honeymooning. So they hitch a ride on a large vessel that many others have also since the airline industry is not moving. So in a drug hazed bad decision after it’s learned that there is a bear on the boat this individual lets the bear out of its cage. Nevermind the first almost 40 minutes of filler that wasn’t needed, come on people we just want killer bears! Anyhow, the bear that is some kind of special animal from the Mexican jungle and can be barely seen throughout the film runs amok as the vessel barrels towards the states. This movie makes ‘Grizzly 2’ look like ‘Grizzly’. Honestly this had potential but they filled the story with character filler instead of just dropping money into practical or better computer effects of the bear killing people? I mean you did call your movie “Bears on a Ship”, we degenerate horror fans expect a fun mess to enjoy, and not filler as I can only give this project 1 out of 4 stars.
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Transylvania Tapes (DVD) – Latest project from the talented independent soul Brad Sykes takes us to Bucharest! A dramatic horror found footage/documentary mash up that follows a young woman Mara was born in Romania but moved to L.A. when she was very young. After a family member died in the past year she found tapes of what her mother made in 1997 looking for a possible family property but disappeared mysteriously. Mara travels across the world to make a documentary about her following in her mother’s footsteps to also hopefully find some answers. Mara’s mother was an actress and in theater during the 80s and was very popular in the area as she uses this to help track down some old peers of her mother’s to interview. As Mara gets deep with some of these interviews a curse is mentioned several times which of course Mara refuses to listen to warnings about looking for her mother. The film is quite intriguing and beautiful as this somewhat found footage film comes off genuine compared to many from the past. What also helps this project along is the actor that plays Mara; Valeria Badiuc absolutely has a natural charm that lures you in to be interested in her journey. Now I was a little upset Charles Band or his castle were not in the film and the film runs a little long for me at 109 minutes but Ms. Badiuc’s performance and Mr. Sykes using the beautiful landscape and buildings as a character itself lends this to be a must watch independent film in 2026! I give this light mash up 3 out of 4 stars.
Coven of the Black Cube (Blu-ray) – There was all kinds of cool people from the independent genre that show up in this old school no budget vibe kind of flick. The film revolves a young woman questioning her relationship as she meets the head of a coven named Clover who legit seems to have real concern for the young woman VI. Clover actually sees potential in VI in allowing her into her witchy life for better understanding of what can be better than what she has become accustomed too. The only thing VI doesn’t know is Clover takes great pleasure in helping women kill their husbands/boyfriends with a potion she has come up with. The story at its core is all about Clover being a serial killer with this witchery stuff as the background that is mixed into a very perverse love story that wasn’t meant to be as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.
Blood Oath (DVD) – A Troma release from 2011 that has friends who tell a story about an urban legend then go looking for it to see if it is at all true? The slim backstory is that a deranged child lives in the woods looking for victims that come to this cabin. Of course said group of friends find the cabin and slowly they are slaughtered by this hulking deranged killer. Not a ton to this bare bones slasher film but also might be why not many of seek it out for a watch as I can only give it 2 out of 4 stars.
Zombies of the Third Reich (Tubi) – It is war time and the Nazis are under extreme pressure by their relentless leader to create super soldiers in some unknown French bunker! Problem is the bunker has gone quiet recently as the Allies were keeping tabs and fear the worst as they send in a recon/rescue team to get one of their own out. The special team gets in quickly but soon understands getting in was never the problem as getting out will be as the Nazi experiment cannot get out in the real world. Believe me you read about this film and will wanna see it and hope it’s even a fraction of ‘Dead Snow’ or ‘Outpost’ but it doesn’t even come close. The film from the beginning fails from poor execution or just plain laziness of getting this project together. Not so much of the characters but everything around them. If you watch you’ll understand and want to forget it as quickly as you chose to watch it as I give it a ½ star.
Island Escape (Tubi) – A team of mercenaries is dropped onto a mysterious island to rescue a scientist where an unknown experiment has been going on for decades. Once the team arrives they immediately find some mysterious but monstrous foes that seem hell bent on attacking the team. In a short span of time the team figures out they have been dropped into an insane wormhole experiment that resets the island every three days and they cannot escape the ongoing experiment. As time quickly goes by the team understands there is multiple versions of them on the island and it’s endless. I enjoyed the concept of this film but it gets a little murky in the middle as it seems to have a tough time of how they wanted to resolve this wormhole issue they were in but still give it 2 stars for being interesting.
The Creeps (Amazon) – So some old creepy Russian guy opens a portal to a dimension where demons float out to infest snowmen at Finnish ski resort! Sounds corny, sounds like you have seen this ten times before but I advise you have not kids. Now enters our main character Zach who is 17 at said ski resort with a friend (raises way too many questions but that is for a whole other conversation that you will have to ignore that plot point to enjoy this film) who has a love for the 80s nostalgia. The movie wastes no time as the creatures attack a party that Zach and friends attend as Zach hides in an outhouse/porta potty to talk to his Grandpa Joe Dante! Once Zach comes out of hiding the movie shifts into high gear of chaos, blood, and Christopher Lambert with Highlander references that will simply blow your mind in this most entertaining piece of cinema! Kids this project is 4 stars all the way so yinz need to seek it out immediately as Christopher lets us know one more time, “there can only be one”.
Final Caller (Blu-ray) – I still stand by this review but it was time to go check out the Blu-ray version of this film as I feel this is one of the more under the radar projects of Mr. Sheets’ career. The Blu-ray comes with a great BTS segment of Todd just being down to earth and explaining what was going on in his life while this project was going on, there is a commentary of course, and a short film ‘The Request’. Also too it just felt like Todd was trying something out of his comfort zone… : Todd Sheets fresh off the killer ‘Bonehill Road’ and the over the top ‘Clownado’ is back with an ultra-low budget film that involves a shock jock and his show “On Through the Night” where he tells strange stories and takes calls. For Roland the shock jock tonight seems like any other night of doing his show where he is yelling into the mic putting down his fans and spewing conspiracies. But his soon to be ex-wife shows up with the divorce papers and a caller called “The Outsider” who is going to fulfill some kind of ancient ritual by brutally murdering young women. The caller claims it is up to Roland to stop him from being a serial killer but of course Roland takes this as some kind rubbish and hangs up. This begins a hellish downward spiral for the show and all involved as “The Outsider” keeps calling back to yell back at Roland and explain how he devours his victims as he kills them and will visit Roland to complete the ritual. Roland now finds himself in world of crazy shit as he is trying to escape his own radio show and not become part of the bloody body count of “The Outsider”. This is a straight forward gore and even more extreme gore Todd Sheets project that will have his fans screaming for a sequel as I give it 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Saurians 2 (Tubi) – Mark Polonia’s son Anthony takes over the reins for the sequel 30 years later to tell the story of a dinosaur or two rising from a mountain in Fossil Valley. It seems the dinosaurs have awaken again and this time around a duo called “Crypto Duo” are not just in the area to interview survivor Alan about his ordeal but to also investigate the new occurrences. There is a lot of filler to this short feature but eventually the duo finds themselves transported into a long lost world debating what should be done with the dinosaurs. If I am being completely honest here this feels like something Mark and Anthony were paid straight up to put out there for content more than giving a strong sequel? It feels like pieces of stock footage from other projects strung together with maybe a few new scenes with the Alan character. It isn’t terrible, I just feel fans would have wanted more since it’s a sequel to a Polonia dinosaur project that fans may have forgotten as I can only give this 1 out of 4 stars.
Pickaxe (DVD) – Well this is a sloppy sex-filled monstrous slasher film that was entertaining as hell. It is 1988 and after a naked blood soaked sacrifice a crazed undead serial killer has returned from the grave to continue his carnage in Woodland Hills. Two people survived the first go around with Alex Black as now one is a cop (A. Michael Baldwin) and the second is drunken crazed person (Tiffany Shepis) that burned down an asylum a year after being committed. These two must answer the call as a group of supposed teenagers have traveled to a cabin near Woodland Hills for a drug induced drunken loud sex before heading to a concert. Alex Black the monstrous mess he is wastes no time hacking off heads and ripping out hearts because an evil amulet he wears. Yeah this blood soaked slasher has its flaws but the chemistry between Baldwin and Shepis’ characters as them not just being cameos help you oversee the flaws of this adventure. This picture also could have used a Matt Cannon for a better score. You may not enjoy the lackluster ending but again this was quite entertaining horror fans and yinz need to seek it out as I give it 3 stars.
One Million Babes BC (Tubi) – This Mark Polonia adventure made me laugh several times throughout the picture. Not sure that was the intention but I see it for what it was and just had fun watching two visitors discover a cave to tell the story that was written on the walls by the first people who could stand and have independent thought. These individuals read the drawings and tell the story of Luna and Ogg who are the superiors of a tribe who are at odds with each other. At some point Ogg feels threaten by Luna and feels she should be sacrificed to the volcano gods to help their tribe. Yes there is a dinosaur farting (oh yes I laughed my ass off), yes Tim Hatch makes a perfect caveman and Jamie Morgan is quite a bad ass, yes they are all wearing flip flops and loafers, but I feel if you watch this through the lens of those 50s and 60s B-movie types that had cave people you’ll find this entertaining and have a few laughs too as I give it 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!
The Devil’s Hacksaw (Tubi) – This was a premise that excited me before the release and the trailer looked great. The plot revolves around a crazy dude in 2001 who kidnaps a school bus full of kids as he then commits suicide scarring his son who was also on the bus for the long term. Because of the incident the kid is committed to an asylum only to escape of course present day! This scarred individual slaughters his way through the quiet town with a bit of humor about his actions along the way. This is one of your more mean spirited Indy slashers that I feel you will enjoy it more than I did if you don’t see the trailer first as I can only give this project 2 out of 4 stars.
Rippy (Tubi) – Yinz had me at Michael Biehn where his old ass is needed to go fight a big ass zombie kangaroo! Of course this is an Australian production where after several odd deaths a sheriff must live up to their father’s legacy to save their small community that’s being terrorized by this monstrous thing. This beast is almost unstoppable after mutating from the local water stream and feasts on humans constantly. Yes it is a huge mess but this is a fun monster mess that all horror fans can get behind if yinz give it a chance as I give it 2 ½ stars.
Harmony Falls (Tubi) – A small town sheriff calls in a cryptozoologist Ian McDermott near Mount St. Helens because of stories and recent animal attacks that don’t exactly add up. If it makes sense this turns out to be a very dry maybe even more boring werewolf film that makes you question everything that was filmed as I can only give this project a ½ star out of 4.
Tunnels (Tubi/YouTube) – Depending the source you of reading material about this late 80s project it was suspected to be some kind of weird TV pilot? A couple of reporters get curious about the various rat stories under their building and go investigating. Instead of finding some weird rat creature the duo uncovers some weird plot of the homeless getting snatched up and being sold as slaves overseas. This easily could have gone all in on the CHUD formula but chose to do something very convoluted that gets the viewer lost as I can barely give it a ½ star.
There’s a Zombie Outside (Tubi/DVD) – Directed by the wonderfully talented Michael Varrati pits four friends renting a house for a weekend that happens to be just a movie project for an actor Ben. Ben is literally having trouble determining what reality is and what’s not as he keeps seeing a zombie outside of his window as he tries to keep a grasp on reality. Ever since his movie Ben has been having personal troubles and friends are worried what is exactly going on with him? Varrati does exceptional work to tell a quite unique zombie tale that doesn’t fit the mold of the usual zombie genre fare as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.
Jimmy and Stiggs (Blu-ray) – Jimmy believes he is being attacked or abducted by aliens after taking several drugs and pissing off his woman. Trapped in his apartment Jimmy record his possible abduction for research purposes that convince him he needs to prepare for the aliens. Stiggs stops by and finds he quickly becoming part of this drug-crazed alien attack in Jimmy’s apartment that turns into one of the biggest mess of goo in recent memory. The filmmaker’s love for such a project ‘Bad Taste’ warns you immediately what you are in for an amazing bonkers filled gag movie where Jimmy must fight off aliens! I absolutely respect the complete chaos this film is as I gotta give it 3 stars and a must see for horror fans so they can discuss!
Piranha Women (Tubi) – A Full Moon project that I believe was supposed to be a series of films or something for streaming but ended up being a one off mash-up from Fred Olen Ray and Charles Band. Alexia looks into an experimental treatment for her condition that not only causes her to be separated from her boyfriend but may cause death for other people. The concerned boyfriend Richard looks into her doctor only to find that bodies are starting to pile up on the shores of the local bay. It’s a quick sexy horror thing that is forgotten as quickly as you watch it as I give it 1 ½ stars.
The Dark Lurking (Tubi) – A 2009 Australian low budget flick that has survivors locked down in a secret research station where some old creatures have resurfaced. For any chance of survival that is left they must climb several levels to the surface to even have a chance being rescued from the horror that was unleashed. A mix of Aliens, Event Horizon, and Doom is the best way to explain this creature filled horror as I give it unimpressive, could have been more 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!
Whispers (YouTube) – This is an upcoming independent project out of Bulgaria I believe where recent disappearances at Bonavar Park has three men and soon a woman all having different stories of how they got to a strange building in the middle of this mysterious park. All involved are looking for a young woman Sophie where several others have gone missing around the same time. An interesting project that feels with no budget they took elements of ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and elements of a ghost hunting movie to throw them in a blender and should grab interest of people who seek out the supernatural as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (On Demand) – A year has gone by since Mike and his sister had the incident at one of the famous pizzerias where the animatronics went nuts. Both are trying to get past it but at same time Abby would like to see her robotic friends again. But there is an original location not far from the siblings that has been disturbed as it had some unique differences that other franchises did not have. This original place had a marionette that had been locked in place but has escaped its prison to use its rage on those who wronged her. Charlotte the young girl that inhabits the marionette, her goal is to possess Abby and cause death everywhere beyond the walls of the closed down location. The teenagers are going to like this sequel just like the first film as you see from the first few minutes there is a third project in the works as I give it 2 ½ stars.
Black Phone 2 (Blu-ray) – Our sequel takes place in North Denver 1982 where Finn and Gwen are a little older but are still reminded of the serial killer ‘The Grabber’ every once in a while. Things get a little weird as Finn struggles constantly with surviving but his sister begins having dreams of talking to their mother at Alpine Lake Camp in 1957. As the nightmares intensify and Finn not completely convinced ‘The Grabber’ is dead? The siblings with a friend sign up for the Christian camp and head into the mountains for possible answers only to be snowed in for days. Here is where we learn the origin of the killer and why the siblings are in need of being there. Just like the first film the sequel leans into the supernatural but without going completely ridiculously falling off the rails to give a solid horror effort as I give the film 3 stars.
Nosferatu (Remake/Blu-ray) – Our story takes place in Germany 1838 where a young man Thomas is sent by his firm to have papers signed by an old count named Count Orlok. Much time goes by and the wife of Thomas believes he may be dead as she warned him not to go? As more time passes with the old Count making his way to their village to reclaim what he believes is his Ellen becomes increasingly ill. This event sets up an evil plague invading the village and a specialist not just for Ellen is called in but also for the hope of destroying the plague before it consumes everything. I enjoyed this solid remake that may have some horror fans feeling like they are watching 1992’s ‘Dracula’ the first half but stick with it folks as this film is super atmospheric and beautiful where it goes. Like the ‘Wolfman’ remake let the movie build because there is point to the story building as I give this project 3 stars.
Gooblefoot (Tubi) – This independent project begins with a young witch being burned to death around Thanksgiving 1752 but not before she cursed the village of Salem’s Bluff a few days before. Now present time and stories of odd deaths over the years has a professor in folk lore sent a tape of evidence of this creature attacking someone. The professor who has PTSD travels to Salem’s Bluff to encounter the legendary creature and uncover the truth. The biggest issue with the no budget project is the film is mostly incoherent… It feels like there was something there but the heart of the project may have been edited out so beware of this oddity as I can only give it 1 out of 4 stars.
Game Over (DVD) – This 2009 project out of Germany is not for your average horror fan as Debbie Rochon as Tina who moved to Germany for various reasons gets a surprise on her birthday… Her two best friends who also consider themselves scream queens like her showing up. After some partying and not knowing how to drive stick shift the trio ends up in a park drinking. There the three are attacked by a maniac who kidnaps the trio to bring them back to his dwelling for constant rape, torture by his sadistic girlfriend, and acts of how sadistic he can be as the women see they are not just the only victims. A weird, brutal, and gory adventure into torture until Tina has been pushed past the edge as she escapes and snaps to be just as brutal as her attacker. This brutal tale just beats you over the head with its constant gore and no glimmer of hope as I give it 2 ½ stars as it was mostly not my cup of tea.
Lucifer (DVD-R/YouTube) – This 1987 British/Canadian horror film is also known as ‘Goodnight, God Bless’ with a wild opening scene that has a man looking like a priest gunning down kids and a teacher in a school playground. The film is somewhat tame after that opening but it sets the tone of someone impersonating a priest to slay his way through the city. But mostly this killer is obsessed with the little girl Mandy because he ran out of bullets at the playground to kill her. With an odd open ending or I should say studio or filmmaker were unsure how to end the film I could only give it 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!
Pandemonium (Blu-ray) – So this 1983 horror spoof finally found its way on Blu-ray in the past year or so and always thought it might be a lost film as I remember watching this about the age nine or ten on HBO and it was gone. The disc comes with a twenty minute interview with the filmmaker explaining how the film came to be and how there was so many people just starting their careers in the film. A hilarious plot involving the reopening of a cheerleader camp that had been closed down for years because it had various murders happen. Bambi who twenty years ago didn’t get the chance to be on the cheerleading squad now has the chance to teach top cheerleaders how to be better. Bambi wants to make the camp a success no matter if there is an escaped convict and someone that escaped the asylum on the run. Bad jokes throughout that may not work now but the highlight is Paul Reubens interacting with a horse who is part of the Royal Canadian Mounties, hilarious nostalgia worth checking out again as I give it 3 stars.
Predator: Badlands (Blu-ray) – A young Predator who is saved by his brother because he is the runt of the litter is believed he should just be killed escapes his home planet to go prove himself. The hunt is how the predators prove themselves to their elders so the runt has chosen the great Kalisk that happens to be an unkillable beast. The death planet that the Kalisk lives on is a planet that pretty much is trying to kill you at every turn and this is where the young predator discovers a synth missing its legs but willing to help. Weyland-Yutani Corp is there to capture the Kalisk for its regenerating factors and bring back to the corporation if possible. This wasn’t the Predator film I was looking for but it was entertaining in some of Easter eggs they leave for fans and really including Weyland-Yutani into the storyline which makes me believe this is all to set up something else for future films as I give it 2 ½ stars.
The Beast of Walton St. (Tubi) – Small town homeless population is disappearing for mysterious reasons as the film starts off strong to establish what exactly is going on but fizzles quickly. Two young squatters at a garage encounter an oversized creature one night in an alley near a large dumpster. Curious, they investigate for the two young women to have a werewolf track them down to be its next meal. Again starts strong but felt it lost its way as it was trying to tell two stories that really didn’t mesh in the end as I can only give it 2 out of 4 stars.
There’s Snowed Escape (Tubi) – During a weekend of partying at a cabin to celebrate an engagement the newly soon to be married couple goes to a well to make a wish. Instead they accidentally resurrect a legendary killer in the form of a snowman called “Cold-hearted Cliff” who carries an ax. Sounds fun but it is far from being “Jack Frost”, the film has lots of flaws but has enough fun moments to be worth a watch as I give it 2 out of 4 stars.
Smashquatch (Tubi) – The rainbow mountain area became famous in the 70s for its Sasquatch sightings and a famous baseball player’s son running into the woods after his famous father lost his marbles. With all that being said you really get a large man wearing a gorilla mask killing people with a barb wire baseball bat. Honestly with a few adjustments this project could have been a fun watch? But from beginning to end the movie just feels and looks like a mess as I can only give it 1 out of 4 stars.
The Wildman Massacre (Tubi) – This is a dramatic story of a father and daughter out hunting together and come across a creature they haven’t ever seen before. They blink and the daughter shoots the thing. This changes everything after they search for the creature and find it. They both decide to just bury it but there were others and they come to kidnap Dana. This leaves Larry searching all night and stumbles upon four hunters who sort of want to help. Problem is Larry may have gotten his daughter back but he led those hunters to their deaths along the way. This was more dramatic storytelling than horror for the Bigfoot fans out there but definitely worth checking out as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Slaughterhouse 2: Death Metal (Tubi) – Honestly didn’t see this coming… Yes, yes I have seen ‘Mutilator 2’ and hopefully they never release that unless they do some heavy reshoots and editing? So the same guy that did the first one says “fuck it” and makes the sequel almost 40 years later while not just directing connecting it to the original but also bringing back some characters. Buddy Bacon’s brother Cleavon left long ago to find his own way and he did as he also has a son who doesn’t speak much and fancies to murder. But Cleavon’s son does it to make their ‘Wonder Jerky’! People get suspicious though when several people go missing near Cleavon’s automotive yard. The original has a small following and most likely will be surprised by this sequel good and bad. For me this was just such an odd choice as if anything I am surprised a Blumhouse or A24 studio didn’t remake this smaller horror flick from 1986 as I give it 2 stars.
Gator Lake (Tubi) – The film also goes under the title ‘Lake Jesup: Bonecrusher’s Revenge’ which is based on true events of gators taking over a lake for 13 days in 2003. An ex-con Bubba has been employed by the mayor to go gator hunting as a large gator has not just chased other gators out of the area but has taken to eating certain individuals. Bubba’s theory is the large gator nicknamed ‘Bonecrusher’ is targeting people who have wronged their species over the past few decades and he knows who is at the top of that food chain. This is a prime example of fun B-movie animal attacks stuff that would have had a great response to being premiered on a SyFy Channel a few years back but now this fun cheesy stuff gets lost in the shuffle of streaming crap as I give it a solid 2 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!
So as usual the list isn’t your normal “best of” list for those of you that are only an average movie watcher… My movie watching habits can be all over the place at times but this year’s list of films is interesting as it includes: a couple of old friends in independent cinema prove there is still great stories to be told outside of the mainstream, some familiar names, killer sharks (and shark movies you most likely never heard of), bonkers sci-fi stuff, something different from Lovecraft, Addison Binek making me laugh my ass off like no one else, a remake that finally really surprised me, and a first time independent filmmaker doing something out of the norm and guess what folks it was awesome!
1)Side Effects May Vary (DVD) – A movie project I wish I would have seen sooner as even before we get into the review this will make it into my “Top Ten list of 2025”! So J.R. Bookwalter returns to the director’s chair for the first time in 23 years along with help from writer and star James L. Edwards. Glenn has been sick for several weeks during this pandemic and doesn’t exactly believe in the science behind the new vaccines even though his wife has gotten it. Because of his illness lingering and nagging from his wife Glenn heads to the doctor’s office to get treatment. But because of the illness he cannot be vaccinated but can be part of this experimental shot that can be given during illness. He takes it believing he is doing the right thing for himself and others. It isn’t long after Glenn experiences side effects of blurred/weird visions, then also after a very uncomfortable but hilarious sex scene with the wife his dong falls off! From there Glenn becomes a gooey monstrous mess with murderous tendencies. As Glenn’s best friend gets involved, cops get involved, weird things begin to happen as Glenn’s disgusting meltdown is absolutely glorious with a perfect ending to this social commentary. This independent project is a prime example of doing all the little things right equals’ success as JR and crew put on a Masterclass of “how to make your independent movie correctly”. This was a perfect pandemic film that many have tried and failed at making so congrats to JR and James for bringing this adventure to life as I will be talking about it for years. As I give this project 4 out of 4 stars I also have to say Brinke Stevens steals the show here kids as this is her best performance since ‘Sorority Babes in the Slime Bowl-o-rama’! The DVD has a great Q&A for their opening night of the film done by none other Art Ettinger.
2) Don’t Mess with Grandma (Tubi) – This Tubi original is one of my first favs of 2025 as it stars Michael Jai White as Jasper and Billy Zane. The plot of the film besides Jasper throwing white people out a window the whole movie is Jasper taking care of his Grandma who lives in the middle of nowhere. Jasper everyday drives two hours to go take care of anything she needs while getting drunk doing it while running from Grandma’s dog who doesn’t like him. Well tonight things go a little sideways as three people show up in pig masks to burglarize Grandma’s house. Not going to happen in this laugh a minute film as Jasper defends the home quickly but soon sees there is friends or family in this case who have planned this job for a while as they won’t go away quietly. Basic but entertaining premise this 4 out of 4 stars film is “home invasion gone wrong” that includes Jasper singing a DIO song while a man dies in his arms, a person getting paper towels duct taped to their ass because they are missing part of an ass cheek, and how Jasper just wants Grandma to consider moving into the city. Again folks 4 stars all the way as it will be hard for any of yinz to not find this extremely entertaining and laugh the whole 80 minutes as I did.
3) Graveyard Shark (Blu-ray) – A legend about a half-shark/half-human thing stalking a graveyard has caught the eye of a Cryptids Hunter named Abby. Abby since she was a child has wanted to prove things like Sasquatch are real because her father was killed by a monster. Abby the so-called cryptozoologist is hired by a Dr. Lovnik who runs a Graveyard Shark survivors AA group. The good doctor would like Abby to chase down this legend and kill it for these survivors to have closure. Abby being super excited by this opportunity wastes no time investigating the Graveyard Shark legend and it is all because of a horny fisherman and his one night of passionate love making with a mermaid that made this creature possible. After witnessing the carnage Abby wants to end this “Street Sharks” look-a-like monster before it continues its bloody rampage but as usual there is more to this story such as: sasquatch sex, shark sex (doggie style and a young lady that believes her and the shark are a thing), and shark vs. werewolf for the final fight. WTF?! I am all in with this fun entertaining gory mess as I think I found another 2025 favorite that all of yinz need to witness as I give it 4 out of 4 stars. Also kudos on that bad ass shark costume!!!
4) Jaws of the Shark (Blu-ray) – Oh, for the love of Rutger Hauer where has this 2012 no budget Swedish project been hiding from me? From second one this film was made with a smirk on their faces as scientists experiment with a shark and less than eight minutes into the film we have a dude in a bad shark costume running around with a chainsaw killing people! This 65 minute beauty had me laughing from beginning to end as the filmmaker didn’t just lean into the movie being bad, they know it and absolute had fun with it which makes this project brilliant. If the chainsaw doesn’t get you laughing? It doesn’t take long to watch the shark put a human on a spit roast, do horrible car stunts, or have a detective make terrible but hilarious jokes at a police lineup. With this creature on the loose it comes down to a survivor wearing a wig for no apparent reason (as most of the characters are) and a shark mercenary (he wears a gas mask the entire film) to track and kill this creature before it continues its slaughter! Oh my friends there is indeed a good chance this fine project ends up on my “Best of 2025 list” as I give this movie 4 out of 4 stars.
5) Mickey 17 (Theater) – So venturing out of my comfort zone I took a chance on a film I wasn’t impressed by the trailers or who was starring in it. But I gave it a chance and I believe I found a film that many don’t understand (but are intrigued) or chooses too not understand, right now but I am telling you give this feature five years and there are going to be fans calling it a “cult film”. Or as I also like to point out this film hit too close to what is going on in society now? Anyway, a film based on a book about advanced tech as the film is set in 2054 where a human could be listed as an “expendable”. Mickey signs up for space travel where human experiments can be performed legally. The basic premise is scientists test various things on Mickey to see how it affects humans. When he dies the scientists reprint a new version of him out with his past memories. Now Mickey #17 is lying at the bottom of an ice pit waiting to be eaten by some horrible creature on a planet humans know little about. This is where the story actually begins forty minutes into the feature as Mickey 17 doesn’t die and walks back to the ship only to encounter Mickey 18. By intergalactic law there cannot be ‘multiples’! This of course knocks everything out of balance while Mickey 17 is tired of dying and finally for the first time in his life just wants to live. This is a great complex and completely outrageous script, wonderful cast that I just absolutely enjoyed with great delight! Yes, it will be on my list of ‘best movies of 2025’ but only time will tell if I am correct if this is the next “Buckaroo Banazi” cult like film of its time? Point is don’t sleep on this one movie watchers as I give this 4 stars as I try not to give up too much about the film as I want you to really experience this one!
6) 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.
7) H.P. Lovecraft’s Celephais (Vimeo) – A short story of Lovecraft’s adapted to film by Michael Neel who edited and directed this 34 minute short film project. This might be a story that horror fans are not too familiar with as the usuals are: The Unnamable, Re-Animator, From Beyond, or even Dagon of which we have seen adapted to name a few. This version deals with an old man fascinated with a dream place/land called “Celephais” that he has been chasing down since he was seven years old. He travels his dreamland when he sleeps constantly as he believes this is home but along his travels he encounters many that are interested in him. This short story/short film is fascinating to me as it can be taken as many things? For me for instance this old man is dying or already right at the edge and his brain is taking him to where he always thought he belonged… before he crosses over in so many words if you believe in such things as the ‘beyond’ to just put it out there broadly. That is how I see it as I may experience something like that a few years back but the point is filmmaker Michael Neel and crew just nailed this project as it was well thought out, well shot, perfect use of locations, and just enough weirdness that I think Lovecraft fans will enjoy it. This short film is one of the best things I have watched in 2025 as it’s absolutely charming at the same time hypnotically amazing! For that my friends I have to give this short film 4 out of 4 stars.
8) Addy and Andy (Blu-ray) – A no budget 12 episode show from Addison Binek and Andrew Hansom about two young men living together and what antics they get themselves into. Think of an unfiltered but professionally shot sitcom or long skit of two dudes in their early twenties trying to figure out life but mostly like to entertain themselves when together. Some of my laugh out loud episodes involve the movie CHUD, the duo trying not to let the other see they are drinking, The Del Taco episode, and the vampire of course. All the episodes are hilarious but had to point those out as I believe this creation comes off natural and wouldn’t be surprised two young dudes with no camera and living together would be doing these things? I know I would have and for that I am delighted to give this must see project 4 out of 4 stars. What is even better is the episodes are an average of less than ten minutes making it an easy watch but more importantly easy for rewatches on a regular basis.
9) Silent Night, Deadly Night (Remake/Theater) – So this was the second time around for the 1984 classic to remade that caught myself and a lot of horror fans by surprise of being made. Of course being a huge fan of the original I had to see what the hell they were going to do this time around… and folks I really liked this one! Without trying to give things away because I feel this remake needs to be seen to be believed as the filmmaker and writers flipped this story on its head. What do I mean by this? They figured out how to pay homage to the original but at the same time understanding retelling of the original story just wouldn’t work these days. Best way to describe this film: Killer Santa somehow transforms into an anti-hero who at one point kills Nazis! Yes, folks all the elements of the original with Billy becoming a Killer Santa are there but they do it in such a glorious way for 2025 that we even get the famous line: “It’s Garbage Day”. This is one of those remakes that I am curious to see if it makes an impact enough for horror fans to enjoy two or three holiday seasons from now as that 2012 remake was solid but missed the point of the 1984 original. You gave me lots of blood, an odd take on Killer Santa that surprised me it worked, and finally a small town in a horror film where everyone is a POS, for that I cannot believe I am saying this I give this project 4 stars and wouldn’t be surprised it sneaks into my “top ten” for 2025. Horror fans seriously don’t miss out on seeing this film in the theaters it was a lot of fun!
10) I:Scream – A Minty Musical (Blu-ray) – This independent feature might be the surprise of 2025 that movie fans have been looking for. In Aleen Isley’s directorial debut, Charlie a young scientist must fight off their own creation. Trying to woo the love of the young scientist’s life with chocolate chip mint ice cream it is unforeseen that a janitor later would accidentally cause a spill of Charlie’s animation formula into the ice cream that was left causing a major issue? The experimental formula brings the delicious green ice cream to life to immediately eat the janitor’s arm then cause chaos nearby as it grows to eat people in its path! Charlie with friends entrust a former ice cream man, “Old Man Reggie” to steer them to a solution in defeating this mutant ice cream problem. Along the way Miss Isley’s characters break out into song about the killer ice cream making this a lighthearted horror must see. Aleen Isley used all of her behind the scenes experience of several other projects to prove it is worth taking a chance to make something memorable and entertaining for your debut. She deserves to be congratulated in what she has accomplished even with a scene stealing David Dietz as “Old Man Reggie” as I give this feature 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Gross Movie Reviews notables of 2025 (no order here) that should encourage you to check out and support…
The Emasculator (Blu-ray) – This newer SOV flick centers around a young woman named Cindy and her father who haven’t had the best relationship since the passing of Cindy’s mother. After another argument Cindy heads out on a date with a guy who has a whole other definition of a date as Cindy sadly learns the hard way. Cindy is raped and filmed to her father’s dismay in a hotel room and instead of listening to Cindy’s wishes of letting it go he takes upon himself for revenge with a tool used for castrating cattle. He doesn’t just want revenge but to mutilate these sick men. This SOV flick is a fun ride through sleaze, revenge, a love for a daughter, which the film has a sick twist that may leave you disliking all characters involved as it gave off Nailgun Massacre vibes to me. Just for that folks I got give this picture 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Wally Meets Popeye (DVD) – So leave it to the talented Indy filmmaker Steve Rudzinski to decide a fourth Popeye movie was needed in 2025! Wally Griswald returns in this feature where he has won another trip but this time to the island of… Ohio? If you are a fan of Steve’s work you know the Wally character has been through a lot including Amityville (which there is a quick joke or two thrown in at the beginning). If you don’t know of Steve’s great filmography and like me must watch all the Popeye films, buckle up kids because this plays out like a live action old Scooby-Doo adventure without the dog and the gang! Wally excited for another free trip that somehow he has randomly won finds himself back on the detective job because of a green monster that has scared everyone away from the tropical island of Ohio. Years ago the same thing happened and the monster suddenly disappeared with help of an outsider. Now Steve and his buddy Rick who also just happens to be vacationing on the island need the help from the island’s famous sailor man Popeye. Popeye knowing of the monster has led him to convince the love of his life Olive Oyl to jump on his boat and travel to the other side of the island once he fixes it? Popeye knows all about this “Dawn Monster” legend because it keeps running away from him during fights. Its clear Popeye and the two detectives must team up to stop the reign of terror! Clarence Seybert III as Popeye and Carly Sonafelt Olive Oyl was some of the best casting of an Indy feature I have seen in years as their chemistry and handle of the characters jumps off the screen. Also there is this hilarious off script or maybe on script rant in the middle of the film between Wally and Rick that had me in almost tears laughing. Steve and crew made sure this tight low budget feature didn’t overstay its welcome, was an ass load of fun, entertaining as hell, and made sure its main characters Popeye and Olive were beyond exceptional so thanks to Steve not just continuing the “Wally” universe but giving another reason why Indy film fans should pay attention to the excellent work Mr. Rudzinski continues to do as I give this exciting project 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Cagey(DVD) – If you are looking for no budget, off the wall, has that lost 90s SOV feel then David Bachmeier (wrote, direct, and edits) has a new treat for yinz. Emily is a young woman who just got fired from her pizza delivery job and needs to make the rent soon. Desperation makes Emily take a leap of taking a housesitting gig for the weekend. Mark who hires Emily doesn’t let her in on the secret he has hidden there because he is trying to protect family. Along the way of this feature there are some possible (fake future?) movie trailers that oddly help the story to pace out well. Without saying too much about the plot some Indy fans will see this project as tasteless or even disturbing but most I believe will respect what they have witnessed. For me, this feature doesn’t feel forced, comes along organically, allowed me to relish the plot and also never trust a person in a pigeon mask as I got to give this movie 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Wolf Moon Rising (Vimeo) – Todd Sheets is one of the most respected filmmakers in the Indy genre and I just enjoy when he decides to make a movie that most wouldn’t even dream to attempt. I really do feel like someone said “werewolves in space” to Mr. Sheets and without hesitation decided the film needed to be made?! The film jumps right into action as it opens up with a military transport ship in trouble as werewolves have overrun the transport ship in a glorious bloodbath of an opening. With the ship in trouble and crew pretty much dead a survivor kicks the last werewolf into a cryo tube as she jumps in hers in hopes of survival. Another ship called Amberstar receives the distress call but must make it quick as the damage has left the transport ship in critical condition. The Amberstar crew works hard to bring aboard the cryo tubes with odd readings but wants to do the right thing of saving the two beings? The tubes open and within minutes the beast is loose again within the Amberstar crew dealing with the aftermath as their biggest worry of the “space crud” being released has come true. Now Mr. Sheets has said this film is the vein of Roger Corman, I go one step further as to me this film has the vibe of ‘The Terror Within’ from 1989 which was released by Concorde Pictures. Is the film perfect… no, but you got to outright respect a filmmaker that goes completely against the grain and makes a “werewolf in space” film but also makes it god damn entertaining so folks I gotta give this crazy ass idea of a movie 3 ½ out of 4 stars. Thank you Mr. Sheets for being an inspiration in the independent horror genre.
Special Needs Revolt! (Tubi) – This independent film is hilarious, made to make you feel awkward and very on par with today’s politics right now in 2025! Billy Bates is a guy with Down syndrome who is forced to live in a group home because his grandma “Is a bitch!” Billy’s words not mine. During a New Year’s Eve party Billy finally gets in the spirit of the event after seeing a candidate for President: Donald J. Kruger is going to run on the platform of getting rid of all the cripples. Billy slips on puke, hits his head, and wakes up three years later to find this moron Kruger is the president and has special needs people arrested on site. As Billy fights with authorities in public he escapes their custody in the town of Donville where he finds friends in hiding. These are people just like Billy hiding out from the new government and military as Billy decides it is time for a rebellion! Billy Bates leads a force of special needs people and wrestlers to capture President Kruger and expose him for the asshole he is. I absolutely enjoyed this film as I too have two special needs people in my life and there is a lot of possible awkward moments in the film for audiences who do not have anybody like Billy in their lives. I wish the 110 minute running was edited down as I believe the project would benefit greatly from it but don’t let that stop you from enjoying an excellently made film with a great cast that will make you squirm a little while watching it as I give it 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Creature from the Hillbilly Lagoon (DVD) – Oh this was a fun independent feature as to me it comes off as ‘Humanoids from the Deep’ remade as a comedy, on a low budget, with a great creature costume! This 2007 film features a story about a local professor and her students out on a field trip of sorts to test the local waterway for toxins. The reason for this is there have been reports of toxic dumping from a giant corporation years ago along with some recent toxic dumping by others. They want to know how polluted is it? There have been rumors of mutations but never proven. The field trip is going well until one of them is bitten by something mysterious underwater. As he slowly changes hillbillies roaming the shoreline are being slaughtered by a disgusting creature and if by some chance they survive the attack they become deformed and change. From beginning to end this project is hilarious with a great cast that plays up the hillbilly parts just right but the star has to be the impressive creature they cobbled together as I give this entertaining creature feature 3 ½ 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.
Worst film of 2025 and that is saying a lot for how many Amityville movies I have watched…
Booger (DVD) – The film is from 2023 but just hit all the streaming sites and is a complete turd! Anna loses her best friend Izzy who helped take care of this stray cat. Shortly after Izzy’s death the cat supposedly bites Anna, disappears, and Anna slowly goes through changes including her depression for her dead friend. Anna completely ignores her boyfriend, job, and life in general looking for this cat named ‘Booger’. The film is listed as a horror/comedy and I neither laughed nor seen anything horrifying other than wasting my fuckin 78 minutes watching it. A stupid young twenty something wants to act like a cat and at the end all is fine? This passes for some kind of a movie? I have seen movies that don’t even try but this so-called movie is insulting Indy filmmaking in general as this of course gets nothing except for already winning the award for being the worst film I have watched already in 2025. Sorry it’s not Meta, it’s not ironic, and it’s just fucking dumb!
Other Men’s Careers (DVD) – Another documentary from huge ‘Evil Dead’ fan Ryan Meade who did an absolutely perfect job with ‘Invaluable’ highlighting Tom Sullivan. As with this project he highlights Josh Becker one of the people that was also on set with Sam, Bruce, and Robert from the beginning. Josh Becker has had a very interesting career to say it best as Josh even admits “he is his own worst enemy”, good or bad. All the usual from ‘Evil Dead’ are interviewed speaking about Becker’s humble beginnings to moving to L.A. back to Michigan because he had scurvy! They cover how he hung out with Sam, Ted, Bruce, etc., discuss his writing on Xena, and his own small budget projects. But this isn’t your usual documentary that makes everything all happy, happy, joy, joy, as even Josh talks about his dark times. Josh has definitely done things his own way and other than the color being a little off at times Ryan Meade did a wonderful job of capturing Josh’s career and bringing it to light that some fans may have not known about. I have always enjoyed interacting with Mr. Becker over the years at a couple conventions and glad to see him featured in a project like this as I got give it 4 stars all the way.
Primitive War (On Demand) – For whatever reasons this wasn’t in theaters, let alone there wasn’t much ad time dedicated to this being released? For the love of Rutger Hauer: dinosaurs, Vietnam War, Jeremy Piven… how do you miss on this? Set in Vietnam 1968 where a Green Beret unit mysteriously disappears in a valley that isn’t occupied by the war taking place. A special recon team is tasked with going into the valley to find out what happened and get out. Do not engage, just report, and get a helio out. The team is all about it as they get off at doing their job but quickly know there is a lot more not being told when they arrive in the valley to find dinosaurs and a Russian experiment gone wrong that could end the world. Recon unit’s new mission becomes not only survival but stop a lunatic from continuing the experiment to see if he can end the world? Oh people this is a big old cheeseball movie with not the best of effects and a long running time but I still enjoyed finding this kind of random project being made as I give it 2 ½ stars.
Cocaine Stepdad (DVD) – The filmmaker alone should win an award for one of the best movie titles ever! Kyle is a young man (not really 12 years old but you will understand) whose mother is about to marry a super sketchy pastor. Terry, Kyle’s last stepdad is in prison and just got Kyle to come on some random lockup reality TV show. Of course Terry is just using Kyle for a prison break and it works! Now on the run Terry and Kyle begin to bond as the two do some outrageous things and eventually break down a plan to stop the marriage between Kyle’s mom and the weird gun totting generic bucket of mayo making pastor. Filmed like a reality TV show or think ‘Natural Born Killers’ with less blood but you laughing out loud a lot more at what the two do along the way in order to stop the marriage. This independent film is absolutely hilarious, sketchy as hell, and has a supreme ending that you need to witness to understand it all as I give this truly different project 3 out of 4 stars.
Amityville Apt. (Amazon) – So entry #75 into this legendary series of films as a solid cast throughout a series of stories/anthology that features evil, the devil, monsters, killer clowns, and ghosts that haunt residents of an apartment complex. The premise is the original Amityville home has burned down a few years back and someone came in to build an apartment complex. To my surprise all segments are shot well, well casted, interesting, and they all do not linger as they blend together wonderfully telling the story of this evil complex. Legit straight up a great entry into the series that I hope doesn’t get overlooked by burned out independent film fans as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.
Kim’s Video (Tubi) – An odd but super interesting documentary about a famous video store in New York City before they cleaned the city up and everything went streaming but that is only the beginning as this isn’t your ordinary documentary. The documentarian, David, who is a movie fan like a lot of us lived in New York City in the mid-90s and was a member of this legendary video store. This store had bands play inside, bootlegs of movies from all over the world, and videos of movies that were never available. The store was one of a couple that the owner Kim also owned a few dry cleaners in New York where his love of movies and his video stores became even more profitable than people could even imagines. Hell his stores would be raided by the FBI in 2003 and a week later Kim would have the shelves full again. In the early 2000s Kim seen what was coming down the pike and instead of selling off his collection that was estimated at 50000 movies he wanted to donate it to something or someone that would take care of it? This is where the story gets weird… In 2009 the collection is donated to a small city in Italy. There was a dedication, people forgot, something about mafia ties, and then this documentarian arrives in Italy to break into this storage building to find moldy tapes! The man David then comes up with a plan to steal the collection back and bring it back to the U.S. This story is wild but I love it because it is something I believe in along with the passion as I give this must see documentary about physical media 4 stars.
The Valley of Gwangi (DVD) – A late 60s B-movie that has a showman Tuck Kirby who has gotten out of the old west/carnival show stuff to sell acts to other shows trying to survive. It just so happen Tuck’s hottie ex-girl has an act no one has ever seen: a little horse that has been extinct for 50 million years but live and doing tricks while on top of a full size horse. Gypsys of course the keepers of this unknown valley where the animal was taken from have retrieved the animal. Tuck, a professor, members of a Wild West show track the gypsys down only to find themselves fighting dinosaurs. They capture one so of course it will be a great idea to take it on the road as an act? Great B-movie stuff with dinosaurs fighting each other throughout along with eating people as I give the film 2 ½ stars.
Like Tears in Rain (Amazon) – A documentary about one of my favorite actors of all time… Rutger Hauer. This project gets really in-depth of Rutger before he hit Hollywood as his wife found some old films Rutger did in the early 70s and so on. The film recounts how Rutger broke into Hollywood but he wanted it to do it his way while being himself as one celebrity puts it “Rutger just didn’t fit in as that made him stand out” at a time where that was difficult. All the things Rutger did in his early life with his wife and best friend was just amazing as he basically enjoyed hanging out with friends’ kids, to being beyond respected by actors and directors as this might make you cry at what he accomplished in life. I have always admired Rutger Hauer and if you watch this and not feel a tear come on or have a new respect for this man you do not have a soul! I loved this documentary about a man that was such a mystery too many but absolutely able to put his stamp on cinema big and small from ‘Blade Runner’ to ‘Hobo with a Shotgun’. I give this project 4 stars and so happy this dude existed!
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Brute 1976 (On Demand) – On August 19, 1976 a group of people headed out to the middle of nowhere desert for a photo shoot that was near the ghost town of “Savage” where stories of people going missing there intrigues the group. Of course unbeknownst to the group a weird ass family lives there to feed on strangers when they pass through. One by one the family picks them off like kids playing with their toys on Christmas morning. The film stars Sarah French who was great as usual as the film has this ‘House of a 1000 Corpses’ vibe but never fulfills its potential of entertaining thrills as from the beginning it feels like its missing that certain ingredient to make it awesome. For that I can only give this flick 2 stars.
Movie Theater Massacre (Tubi) – The Redford Movie Theatre is closing this week as staff is sad to see it go as their jobs will also. Lots of commentary by the characters why theaters are going away these days: COVID, Streaming, Netflix, no 70s erotica, you are getting the picture. But a mystery person has taken it upon themselves to kill off the employees and eventually steal stuff. What seems like a fun premise takes a complete left turn into absurdity as ghosts from the theater’s past kills the killer and somehow the once being sold theater is saved… WTF? The film starts off as a self-aware we are smarter than you watching this movie kind of thing then turns into a complete farce of “we have no clue what we actually want this movie to be”. For that you get 0.0 stars. I feel like there was an idea in there somewhere but yinz quickly got away from it.
Weapons (Amazon) – A film to me at least that was advertised as a modern day ‘Village of the Damned’ actually is not as in a small community a whole classroom of kids except one disappears in the middle of the night. The teacher of this classroom is haunted by the event as she cannot leave things alone by must knowing what really happened. One concerned parent begins to figure things out but this is where we get several stories or points of view from several characters that eventually intersect explaining the evil that is in the town. The movie is a solid scare but not the horror film for me if that makes sense as the cop character and his story arc easily could have been cut out chopping this movie down to a more reasonable viewing experience. Again the movie has an interesting way of unfolding but I believe this horror film is meant for more the mainstream crowd as I give it 2 stars.
The Amityviller Killer (Fawesome) – First, yes you read that spelling right. Second, welcome to entry #70 kids that happens to be a short film consisting of a woman slaughtering Amityville residents. But just when you knew what the hell was going on an alien has landed in Amityville to snatch up subjects for its leader that happens to be a guinea pig. What does this all mean? Could not for the loves of Rutger Hauer tell you but it was better than ‘Amityville Mt. Misery Road’. For just the utter weirdness I give this 24 minute project 2 out of 4 stars.
The Amityville Lost Tape (Fawesome) – Oh my kids we got entry #71 here as its present day Halloween where an individual finds a VHS tape in a bowl of candy he stole. The tape consist footage of three individuals who are so-called paranormal investigators who plan to visit the Amityville home. To their credit they do a deep dive into everything supernatural or paranormal: EVPs, horoscopes, tarot card readings, discussions, etc. Everything builds to the three visiting the Amityville house in attempt to catch or report something ghastly. But in the end all we get is the characters walking near it and driving near it then some static. There is wonderful buildup by the filmmaker but a disappointing way to end a found footage film as I give this entry 1 ½ stars.
Evil Night (Blu-ray) – Looking for an oddity well you got it here as Chris Seaver and crew in 2014 remade Todd Jason Cook’s underground Indy film from 1992 with a more comedic twist. The plot revolves around your classic movie nerd Jimmy Fisher who is obsessed with the cute redhead Jennifer he is tutoring. But Jennifer with the help of friends convinces her to prank Jimmy in his basement/lab as they plan to post the footage on social media. This sends Jimmy over the edge to wear a clown mask and slaughter those who wronged him. Right or wrong people this was a crude but fun remake to check out but more than likely yinz will think it’s more of a Seaver film than a remake. No matter I give this entertaining remake with a ‘Slaughter High’ vibe 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
He’s Coming to Get You! (DVD) – This well casted independent horror film is about George waking up to celebrate his 33rd birthday. Aside from his girlfriend Asia forced to work a bit that day they have plans to hang, celebrate, and do the TONGUE trick. The two go visit an occult book store where the store owner spooks them a bit. They are satisfied with the experience only to be accosted immediately by two individuals in an alley where George is shot and killed as his girlfriend is kidnapped for nefarious actions. The occult store owner sees the event happen and brings George back explaining he has six hours to use his new afterlife to save his girlfriend. This feature has a little bit of everything: great cast, great onscreen chemistry between the George and Asia characters, a hilarious foot fetish scene, the occult, something for all independent film fans as I give this quite a piece of entertainment 3 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!
Baron Morbid’s Basement of Mediocrity (DVD) – A horror host and his assistant had been doing this show for a while as they decide to show their own feature… ‘Spawn of Sasquatch’. They put together two of Douglas Waltz’s features for a fun picture shown in edited form. Something that used to be done years ago at the drive-in, etc., but they get into that during introduction. They smash the titles ‘Gingersquatch’ (which is quality viewing by the way) and (I believe) ‘Infinite Clown War’ or thirty minutes or so of each project together to make one film for a hilarious combo for their show. Think public access show feel and its tongue-in-cheek process is throwback random stuff I would find in the early 90s on late night cable as I gotta give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars for the effort but also because I am a huge fan of ‘Gingersquatch’!
Scream Test (Blu-ray) – Another horror project done in 2020 that starred Felissa Rose as Angie a popular actress who happens to damage her vocal chords on the set of an independent horror film. She is advised in getting as much rest as possible so her and her manager head to an island to heal up from her aliment. Small but a great resort island for the select few soon find themselves lining up to be killed one by one but the murders are playing out like scenes from Angie’s past features. The premise is pretty cool but this has that awkward feel from beginning to end that it was shot during COVID where everyone was uncertain what would, could be done, or should be, etc. Maybe done two years before this time we might be talking of this being some kind of direct-to-video gem but its awkwardness is what holds this project back. I only give it 2 stars but glad it’s finally available for horror fans to seek out.
Metalheads: The Good, The Bad, The Evil (DVD) – A Bill Zebub flick from 2008 where he writes, directs, and edits of course where his character Bill is kind of dumped by his girlfriend Elaine because he is always jobless! Elaine and Bill see things differently of course in their relationship especially after doing acid which sounded like a great idea to Elaine which takes up a large chunk of the film. It comes down to Elaine wanting more, believing she deserves more or at least someone better than Bill who is worried about himself more than anything else. For me this project had great music but a lot less plot than usual and that is saying something as I feel this film really doesn’t go anywhere other than promoting the cool music that is part of the soundtrack as I give it 1 out of 4 stars.
Rebirth (DVD) – This is a surprising 32 minute short film from a kid that plays every role in the film along with filming it all, very impressive! A young boy murders a friend then commits suicide after the event only to be found quickly by a neighbor. Five years pass before a person performs a ritual for the purpose to bring the young killer back to life. The killer awakes to slaughter all who are about to party in his old home. By no means is this project beyond wonderful but the kid who made it , Ben Gaudet was awesome putting this all together and makes it work. Hell I believe many people twice if not three times older could learn from this rough but fantastic independent project I gotta give 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Ganjasaurus Rex (DVD-R) – WTF Rutger Hauer is this project? In 1987 someone made only one feature ever in their life and it was this… A group of friends have a magically weed seed to grow amazing weed in the California mountains. Problem is the authorities are cracking down on weed growers (much weed raids from news coverage) Because of all the weed raids it seems a legendary dinosaur is chasing down this magical tree while haunting the North Coast of California sort of. The movie is completely absurd and batshit as how this didn’t become a cult classic as I give it 2 ½ stars.
Atomic Gorilla A Go-Go! (DVD) – A 60 minute feature from Douglas Waltz that made me laugh out loud quite a few times but also works as a cult thing from the past that is hard to explain to younger movie viewers. But a random gorilla is abducted by aliens as it doesn’t take long for it to escape their clutches as in return gains special powers that includes the gorilla getting laid even after being radioactive! When the gorilla isn’t being hunted by a bounty hunter the gorilla has some weird visions of an old dude whispering things to him. It was one of those train wrecks that viewers will find themselves unable to turn away while watching as for that I give it 3 out of 4 stars.
Amityville Void (YouTube) – Yes folks we have made it to entry #69 in the series where this entry shouldn’t be taken lightly as if it wasn’t called “Amityville” I feel horror fans would have been sharing this film on YouTube more? But anyway three young brothers in this no budget found footage feature do a paranormal show decide to enter the Amityville house (no it’s not the real house and shame on some of yinz acting surprised in the comments of their YouTube channel and giving them crap). This no budget feature has the three brothers investigating and quickly finding strange things happening. Intrigued by their findings they want to keep going until they have made contact with the presence in the house, problem is the results are tragic for the three. Again if this wasn’t an Amityville title I could see the younger crowd trying to make this project go viral. If anything, we all should enjoy what was accomplished here and keep an eye out for more features from the group as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
Ed Kemper (Tubi) – Movie is based on a true story of a serial killer named Ed Kemper from the early 70s that I never heard of but became quite intrigued after watching said movie. After killing his grandparents in the 60s he was released as an adult five years after saying he would be “completely fine adjusting to the world again”. Kemper at an early age claimed to be abused by his mother and constantly blames her for his murdering ways. Even after his release he went back to live with his mother who only escalated Ed’s sinister need to kill women. Kemper kept upping the ante with each murder as he took pictures of his work to look over later. The effects were kick ass, this serial killer was scary as shit knowing he existed, and they casted a really good look-a-like for this as I give the film 3 stars.
Savage Christmas (DVD) – An independent film from about a dozen years ago or so where a group of college aged people head out to the middle of nowhere for the Christmas holiday to a Bed and Breakfast joint of sorts. After making a quick stop at a crime scene as we all do one of them picks up an amulet that got a film crew slaughtered by a demonic presence! The creature uses this amulet to possess and kill inside the vacation spot during the holiday causing a large bloodbath all in the search for a virgin. The evil seems to be winning until dirty Santa Claus dude shows up to help what is left of the group to survive the X-mas nightmare. It looks fun, it feels fun, but seems to lose its way closer it got to the ending as I give this small project 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!
Wally Meets Popeye (DVD) – So leave it to the talented Indy filmmaker Steve Rudzinski to decide a fourth Popeye movie was needed in 2025! Wally Griswald returns in this feature where he has won another trip but this time to the island of… Ohio? If you are a fan of Steve’s work you know the Wally character has been through a lot including Amityville (which there is a quick joke or two thrown in at the beginning). If you don’t know of Steve’s great filmography and like me must watch all the Popeye films, buckle up kids because this plays out like a live action old Scooby-Doo adventure without the dog and the gang! Wally excited for another free trip that somehow he has randomly won finds himself back on the detective job because of a green monster that has scared everyone away from the tropical island of Ohio. Years ago the same thing happened and the monster suddenly disappeared with help of an outsider. Now Steve and his buddy Rick who also just happens to be vacationing on the island need the help from the island’s famous sailor man Popeye. Popeye knowing of the monster has led him to convince the love of his life Olive Oyl to jump on his boat and travel to the other side of the island once he fixes it? Popeye knows all about this “Dawn Monster” legend because it keeps running away from him during fights. Its clear Popeye and the two detectives must team up to stop the reign of terror! Clarence Seybert III as Popeye and Carly Sonafelt Olive Oyl was some of the best casting of an Indy feature I have seen in years as their chemistry and handle of the characters jumps off the screen. Also there is this hilarious off script or maybe on script rant in the middle of the film between Wally and Rick that had me in almost tears laughing. Steve and crew made sure this tight low budget feature didn’t overstay its welcome, was an ass load of fun, entertaining as hell, and made sure its main characters Popeye and Olive were beyond exceptional so thanks to Steve not just continuing the “Wally” universe but giving another reason why Indy film fans should pay attention to the excellent work Mr. Rudzinski continues to do as I give this exciting project 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
Shark Girl (Tubi) – A young influencer, Heidi, is pushed to go into the water at Venice Beach for her followers and to add spice for all her socials. But little do her and the douchebag she is with know that a nuclear meltdown nearby has cause the sharks to get weird. Heidi is bitten and disappears while douchebag believes Heidi just left him. That evening Heidi washes up on shore as she has a bit of a new hunger (human flesh). As Heidi continues to change as her hunger grows the word is out on the odd shark attacks along Venice Beach. After enough bodies pile up, Heidi’s friends try to stop the “shark girl” from devouring all of them. The movie has its moments but intentionally or unintentionally this movie makes you hate influencers that much more as I could only give this film 1 star.
Predator: Killer of Killers (On Demand) – So this animated feature shows us the Predator world is pretty bad ass as it takes you through a trio of stories throughout time where Predators pick up the warrior after their so-called battle. We have seen this before in the franchise but I believe this was to branch out the Predator world that much more after the success of ‘Prey’ which was a lot of fun. Will we ever get the one with Arnold that we all wanted most likely not? But I still enjoy stuff like this where the warriors have to face off with something even more imposing as I cannot wait to see where they go next as I give this story 3 ½ stars.
Fear Below (Tubi) – An Australian shark film with mobsters and set in the 40s! Many crates of gold are being transported late one night until an accident finds the truck at the bottom of a waterway that just happens to have a hungry bull shark swimming nearby. The mobster looking dudes go get help from a down on their luck diving crew because they want the job of collecting the crates with no questions asked. Finding the truck isn’t the problem, the bull shark that is on the prowl as the crew must deal with the man-eater or be shot for not retrieving the gold is. I quite enjoyed the storytelling and how fun this feature was as I give it 3 ½ stars.
Leprechaun: The Beginning (Tubi) – I can’t resist dumb shit as I watched this tale of British bootleg Leprechaun look for his gold. Years ago a man named Nigel apparently caught the Leprechaun and tortured his ass for the pot of gold that he used to build his enormous home. Now after Nigel’s death two sisters come to the house deciding what to do with it unknowing the secret of the Leprechaun? Throw in some uninspiring family drama and a four-leaf clover and the killing is on! To put it simply if this was some kind of weird thing to cash in on the original Leprechaun series… you failed terribly and way too late as I can only give this 1 star.
The Wrong Side of Town (DVD-R) – Wow Indy filmmaker Phil Herman’s first feature was a SOV action film from 1990 that has very little info on it and very little copies of the film out there. The young Phil stars, writes, and directs this 64 minute feature where he stars as Chad, a rich kid looking for a good time. After hanging out in town at a club Chad gets an invite by a lady for a party she is having the next night. Little Chad knows he is being set up from the get go to a couple young ladies needing a tire to be changed to his friend’s car being stolen from him. Chad doesn’t know it yet but he is a victim of a gang that just wants to torture the rich kid to death for fun. After escaping the gang several times Chad is pushed to kill in order to survive the ordeal. By no means had Mr. Herman had the money to pull this wild project off but the passion is what got this project over the finish line. Yeah, you may have seen better but believe me you’ll have a whole new respect for Phil Herman and what he attempted to do so young in his filmmaking days as I give the project 2 out of 4 stars.
Movies to Watch on a Rainy Afternoon Volume Two (Blu-ray) – I may never be able to pronounce Addison Binek’s correctly because of my yinzer accent but you cannot deny he is the best at riffing films. This collection from Addison’s YouTube channel tackles films such as: Incredible Melting Man, Blood Shack, Demon Queen, It Conquered the World, Night of the Cobra Woman, Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster, you are getting the picture of what he is going after. Addison shows off his knack for describing these flicks in a hilarious, quick, but knowledgeable manner as episodes are an average of 15 minutes long. His comedic touch to the riffing of the movies is something to behold and I knew I was in for a fun treat when my daughter was loving that I got something new from Addison as she has watched a lot the stuff of his over the years from ‘Movies to Watch on a Rainy Afternoon’. This collection works on a couple of levels for fans as you could watch it with friends while drinking and talk about all the movies or use it to introduce a new generation of movie fans to some older films they may never knew existed? Addison is one of the most brilliant and talented young filmmakers out there as he releases more proof why he deserves 4 out of 4 stars.
Alan (DVD-R) – The Maddie Deering film I wasn’t allowed to watch but I finally have as we had plans to do it together soon. The short film revolves around a young man named Alan who isn’t exactly sure of himself but takes a chance of asking out the cute girl Janet at the Laundromat. They hit it off at dinner as they have a few laughs and a kiss and they quickly become a couple. Alan invites his brother Dave over for dinner one evening to meet Janet. Dave is surprised Alan has a girlfriend besides not being a virgin anymore! But instead Dave gets a surprise he was not hoping for with his brother Alan. The short film is exciting and disturbing at the same time but I totally understand why Maddie wanted to revisit this material and expand it to a feature length film as I give this short film 3 out of 4 stars.
Taeter City (VHS) – Welcome to this Eye-talian feature where in the future a certain city has no crime. If there is crime, the criminals are captured and processed to be fed to other humans through a fast food chain! The “Authority” is a group of highly trained individuals who take great pleasure tracking down criminals and slaughter them. But they have their work cut out for them as there has been a mutation from humans feeding on criminals and this man is fighting back against the system by slaughtering “Authority” officers. This film quickly flies into a gory chaos with a splash of ‘Bad Taste’, the gore of ‘Violent Shit’, and the humor of in-movie advertising of a ‘Robocop’! Another reason to enjoy this feature is one member of the “Authority” looks like a bootleg version of the killer in ‘Nailgun Massacre’. The movie was quite fun with its gallons of campy gore but the one flaw for me was the ending as I give it 3 out of 4 stars.
Backwoods Bubba (Blu-ray) – Yes I know some of the names involved with this project but it is never a good thing when you hear from one of them saying the movie was “terrible”. As several people stressed to me to never watch it you knew I had too at some point? So some locals have gone missing in this Indy thriller all because a masked man wants to dress people up as animals to release them for his hunting pleasure outside of his isolated cottage. Bubba enjoys the hunt folks but nevermind you can see half of the cast can remove the shackles at any point. Besides the film being a bit boring I really didn’t understand what was the point to Backwoods Bubba? Why was he killing? What motivated him to kill besides his weird looking dad figure at the casino? And was the point to the casino being in the movie was for being a reference point for a pair of parents looking for their daughter? Now folks it wasn’t ‘Amityville Mt. Misery Road’ BAD but the film was still terrible and only confirmed what I had heard about the project that seems to be all forgotten these days as I give it 0 out of 4 stars. If it helps this project reeks of sounded good on paper but that version never made it on screen if that makes sense?
St. Patrick’s Day Massacre (Tubi) – An event of adultery and murder take place at a historic pub in 1825 on St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, Ireland to set up this story 200 years later where four women get con into checking out this supposedly haunted pub. As the four friends spend the night they get a visit from the pub’s killer past looking for a slaughter as they must survive the night in order to escape? Or just keep up the boring monotone conversation that seems to drag on throughout the film as I still wait for the so called massacre… which should make it clear why I am only giving this film 1 star.
Nazi Zombies (Tubi) – Holy Rutger Hauer kids, how do you fuck something like this up? Now, I wasn’t expecting the next ‘Dead Snow’ but usually if you are going to do something with a title like that it’s gonna be fun… And it just wasn’t. A group of young women who are witches on the side if bored come up with the brilliant idea of trying to conjure something up in a haunted house where Nazi soldiers were buried. If the spell is done correctly a wish for each of the girls is granted. Awesome, well two people die at the hands of the undead ghost Nazis so let’s bring in the younger sister 15 minutes later to do it all over again because it didn’t work the first time, WTF? Best line of the film “Your witchy curse may have worked?” This movie was one big piece of hot garbage from across the pond that felt like there was no direction at any point. The true horror is knowing that dumb stuff like this exists as other cool projects done by passionate people get pushed to the side as this deserves the 0 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!
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