Super Duper Shock Cinema

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-18T21:06:00.000-05:00

Hopefully, I'll have some time to watch a few movies over vacation. I currently watching the great British bike flick "Psychomania" and I've got the indie film "Bellflower" waiting in the wings. Regardless if y'all celebrate Christmas or not, I wish the best to you and yours. Tell those precious to you how much you love them, and here's to a new year of good horror movies!

Very best wishes!

I'm not dead, just really, really, busy!

2011-10-23T22:26:00.000-04:00

I haven't been blogging like I should. Matter of fact, most of you blog more accidentally than I do on purpose. It is for you that I have the utmost respect. I think all of you are awesome, and I'm honored to be a fellow horror fan. I could not let the most important day in horror slip by without saying (albeit a bit early).....Happy Halloween!!!!!!

Stakeland

2011-08-30T00:17:00.000-04:00

This movie was way more intense that I expected. Very post apocalyptic, dreary, depressing, and great! I don't know, but for some reason the title takes you to "Zombieland" and the lighthearted annals of the horror comedy. That's my own fault for not doing my research prior to watching it. Maybe it was a good thing that I wasn't expecting what I got. I haven't been that suprised in a while. Nick Damici is brilliant as "Mister", a hardened vampire killer that befriends "Martin", a young boy whose family was murdered by vampires. A reluctant stoic hero and his young protege' is nothing new, and certainly plaugue films, even with vampires aren't new. So I'm not saying this film is an original. What I am saying is this film does what's been done before better.

The villian Jebediah Loven is the leader of a cult known as "The Brotherhood". What's even more frightnening than the end of the world and vampires is something we should trust, whether it be religion or society, ending up enslaving us or even worse trying to kill us. The Brotherhood believes the vampires are part of God's judgement, and feed people to them or drop them in the middle of settlements in terrorist style fashion. Another interesting facet of "Stakeland" are two very familiar faces that for some reason are not readily identifiable. The lovely Danielle Harris is Belle, a pregnant girl that hitches a ride with Martin and Mister. I thought for a little while that we were going to get the urgency of what to do when the baby comes amidst all the carnage like we did with the original "Dawn of the Dead, but Belle didn't make it that far. Also we have Kelly McGillis as Sister, a nun who is rescued by Mister after an attempted rape by members of The Brotherhood. Anybody alive in the 1980's will suddenly come to the realization that adults in the movies we watched as children are now senior citizens. Oh well, Kelly McGillis wasn't all that hot in '86.

One of my fellow horror movie fans said he loved the movie, but hated the ending. I can see that. Then again, the ending is appropriate for the feel of the film. Anything else would betray the spirit of the atmosphere that the filmakers worked so hard on. The afore mentioned fellow fan loaned me this dvd. I probably wouldn't have watched it as soon as I did if he hadn't. Thank goodness for fellow fans who recommend good films and would know how to properly use a stake if things go bad.

Interplanetary streaming on Netflix date correction

2011-08-01T15:39:00.000-04:00

To all my beloved peers. If you have read my recent post since before about five minutes ago, you would have been misinformed that "Interplanetary" was already available to stream on Netflix. It begins this Tuesday August 2. Please pardon the error on my part, and please watch "Interplanetary"!!!

Interplanetary is streaming on Netflix this Tuesday!

2011-07-31T20:34:00.002-04:00

I follow the writer/director of this film, Chance Shirley on Twitter. I noticed the other day, a tweet from him that Interplanetary will be available to stream on Netflix this Tuesday. Please, please check this one out. On my way to Dallas for Texas Frightmare Weekend, I was fortunate enough to stop in Birmingham, Alabama and have some beers with Chance Shirley and Chuck Hartsell, who collectively make up Crewless Productions. An very independent production company based in Alabama that's been responsible for not only "Interplanetary", but also the very underated zombie horror/comedy "Hide and Creep" and some very smart short films such as "Reciprocity" and "Birthday Call". These guys are renaissance men who have much love for films and filmaking, and still have not realized how cool they are yet.

"Interplanetary" is about Mars Base Two, a self contained Mars research base operated by the Interpanetary corporation. It opens with the discovery of a fossil in a cave that could prove that there is or has been life on Mars after all. The guy who discovers it (played by Chuck Hartsell) is seduced by the prospect of "money and hot women" and tries to keep it a secret and cash in for fame and noteriety. However, things do not go as planned, and life on Mars doesn't turn out to be too friendly. What I love about this movie and other Crewless project are the seriousness of the production value on very limited budgets, and also the very well written dialogue that's sharp, but also very light hearted. There is gore in this film that satisfies the space horror aspect, but there is also a very cool "Office Space" vibe that pokes fun of work stereotypes and how corporate America could screw anything up. If you are thinking that my ADD is flaring up and I can't be talking about one film only, trust me. I liked it so much, I got a copy from Chance before I left for Texas Frightmare Weekend, and gave a copy to Roger Corman. Give it a watch, these guys are great! Let me know what you think.

30 Days of Night: Dark Days

2011-06-27T23:07:00.000-04:00

I really, really wanted to hate this one. I did. I just can't though. For a straight to video sequel, it's pretty good. One of the main reasons to rule it out before I had even watched it was the absence of the lovely Melissa George. Most of the time when they bring in a replacement for the original actor, it's probably going to suck. An effort by an unscrupulous studio to cash in with a substandard companion film to a beloved novea classic. It happens all the time (i.e. Creepshow 3). Kiele Sanchez does a very respectable job of taking on the role of Stella from Melissa George, and captures the feel of being broken and tortured by knowing something terrible that no one believes or cares about.

It departs somewhat from the graphic novel, but doesn't abandon it entirely. Here's a cool scene where Stella rigs the lights with UV bulbs at a presentation where she is trying to convince the audience that vampires exist. Could've done without the vampires in the audience looking like they just came from "The Matrix" Either way, you've seen worse, I know you have. Give it a try.

Texas Frightmare Weekend 2011

2011-04-16T15:03:00.000-04:00

Once again, I'm leaving the comfortable confines of domestication, and road tripping to Dallas for Texas Frightmare Weekend. This will be the second time I've attended, and it's heaven on earth for horror geeks like myself. If money and geography doesn't stand in your way, I highly recommend it. Not only are there people there you would've never thought you would meet in your lifetime, but the staff is awesome and extremely helpful. Hopefully this year, I'll be over the giddy fanboy enthusiasm that probably makes me seem creepy, and can take a deep breath and enjoy the moment of meeting some of my horror idols.

This year the roster includes the likes of Clive Barker, Robert Englund, Angus Scrimm, Deiter Laser and Tom Six from "The Human Centipede, and the guys from "The Boondock Saints" and many, many more. Check it out for yourself, and hopefully, I'll see you there. If anybody out there's going, let me know. I'd love the chance to get together and hang out for little bit.

Here's the link to the website: http://www.texasfrightmareweekend.com/start.html

Being Human

2011-04-04T21:33:00.000-04:00

I'm not much of a serious watcher, but frankly, I'm hooked on "Being Human. I feel a little guilty, like I'm liking the remake without watching the original. Anybody from the U.K or anyone whose seen the original first., chime in and let me know what you think. How does the SyFy version fair?

Dance of the Dead - John Hughes Meets George Romero

2011-03-13T23:31:00.000-04:00

I remember Stephen King made the comment that he didn't trust anyone who enjoyed high school. (By the way, I remember this very vaguely, but I'm almost positive that I read that he said it.) Anyway, I agree to an extent. If these are the best days of our lives, we have a long, long, time after high school for life to really suck. High school can be pretty cool though. It's not possible to appreciate it when you are in the moment, because you do not have the monotony that adult life is sometimes to compare it to yet. It' s a necessary experience that doesn't come with instuctions, and we usually try to find our place with the jocks, the preppies, the metal heads, the sluts, the cheerleaders, the poor kids, the rich kids, the geeks, the goths, well you get the picture. What if a special circumstance occurred to bring them together when otherwise, they're paths would never cross. Am I talking about an all day study hall in an ultra cool modern school librabry with an abstract statue in the middle? No, I'm talking zombies brought back to life from nuclear radiation!!!

This little gem is from Ghost House Underground, Sam Raimi's label that is an homage to his love of great B-grade horror. Please don't confuse this film with the "Masters of Horror" episode of the same name. Two entirely different films, with this one being way more fun. Remember those Saturdays in the video store when you take that chance on a film you never heard of, and it ends up being one your favorites that from now on you are trying to recommend to everyone else (i.e Night of the Creeps). This film is definitly not polished, but very well done with very respectable effects. I don't think that it would be nearly as enjoyable as it is, if it had had a bigger budget. The filmakers did their best to cast actual teenagers in the roles, with one exception of Justin Welborn, the actor that plays Kyle. He's the crazy guy you never made eye contact with when you were in the same class.

Another very cool facet to this film is the band that wouldn't be caught dead playing the prom, but end up playing to keep the zombies mesmerized. There is even a very nice slow cover of the Pat Benetar song "Shadows of the Night". I've included the YouTube clip of it below: Check this one out.

American Scary

2011-02-08T00:29:00.000-05:00

Every now and then, I might find myself in a bit of a mental rut. Lately, I've been watching ''Fright Night" and "Fright Night 2" a lot. They're the comfort food of horror movies for me. I love them and I can watch them over and over again. Sometimes though, you've got to sniff the proverbial coffee beans and desensitize your pallet So for every five or six horror movies I'll watch, I'll temper my minimal intellect with a good documentary.

I really lucked up with this one. IT'S A DOCUMENTARY ON B-MOVIE HORROR HOSTS!!!! Yes, I was and am that excited about "American Scary". For most of us, Elvira is the one that comes to mind the most, but "American Scary" deals with regional hosts that unless you lived in that area back in the day, you didn't know about them. I really, really dig stuff like this because it harkens back to when all of us first discovered horror. If we were lucky enought to have a parent that would let us stay up and watch our first horror movies, this is about as nostalgic as it gets.

Most of the hosts featured in "American Scary" I've never heard off except "Vampira", but to get the backstory on how these shows came together and the regional cult following they had is awesome. I can even do one better than that. There is one horror host still doing his show on the internet, and that deserves some respect. If you haven't already, please check out Count Gore De Vol. Here's the link to his website: http://countgore.com/gore/index.html Enjoy and check out "American Scary" streaming on Netflix. Peace!

The Grapes of Death (1978)

2011-01-17T22:09:00.001-05:00

It's all been a line item on my bucket list to learn how to speak French for a while now, so here lately, I've been trying the immersion technique. I love horror movies, and I've been watching a lot of French ones over the last few months. It really hasn't help me to become bilingual, but I've seen some great films that I would have missed otherwise. This being one of the better ones.

The plot description says that this is a zombie movie. I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to using the term "zombie". In my opinion, a zombie needs to be dead, very much like the Romero zombies. It's a lot scarier when they are dead, instead of just sick. However, I can't hate on pandemic, epidemic, or plague movies. I loved "28 Days Later", Cronenberg's "Rabid", and "Rec", all great films. I can see how "The Grapes of Death" and "Rabid" influenced the more recent two. The plot was originally a disaster movie, but the director saw possibility in a horror film. These films always have a social message, and this does too. You should really pay close attention to that organic label on the wine that you are thinking of buying.

All heck breaks loose when some funky pesticide is sprayed on the grapes in a quaint French vineyard. The opening scene is the workers after spraying the pesticide with bandannas tied around their faces. Kind of like that OSHA video you had to watch at work, one guy says "The new respirators will be here this week". If UPS had gotten the respirators there a couple of days sooner, everyone would not be a homicidal maniac by now.

After someone drinks the wine, it happens in stages. First they become slightly disoriented, then they develop a nasty wound with some ungodly drainage, then all the killing starts. Our protagonist is a young woman on a train. Her friend is murdered by one of the infected farm workers that stows away in their train car. She flees the train and ends up at a countryside farm. The father is infected and murders his daughter. She sees the whole thing go down, freaks out, and drives away in the farmers' car. She was on her way to the vineyard where it all started, because her fiance works there, which becomes more relevant later. There is an "infected carrier" twist, somewhat like in "28 Weeks Later", except she takes off all her clothes . I thought this film would be pretty innocuous, but it's actually pretty brutal. It has the visceral feel of a giallo, with the bright red blood, and a decapitation scene that's hard to watch. I thought I was jaded enough by now to be unphased, but I still found it gross.

One more thing, those crazy Frenchman love their nudity. I'm not complaining, it's just that the nudity in French films have a different pacing than other films. It's very casual, and completely unlike how we see nudity in horror in the States. I wouldn't find it surprising to be watching a French horror movie now, and see two women having breakfast without any clothes on. It would just be weird to see it in "28 Days Later". Vive La France! A bientot!

Jason in the Snow!

2010-12-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

This rumor and/or variations of it have been floating around for a while now. The last thing that I read about it was that the Platinum Dunes sequel was going to have a sequence of Jason doing his thing in the snow. It was a fairly old post back in 2009. Filming was supposed to take place this Winter, which means they could be filming it as we speak.

As I sit here typing in North Carolina with about 4 inches of snow on the ground ( yeah, I know for you guys up North, that's not even worth mentioning ), I've had some time to think about what a Friday the 13th would be like set in the erie, silent, whiteness of winter. In my opinion, just a sequence would be just leaving you wanting more.

From what I've read, anyone that isn't at least intrigued by this prospect has the rationale that Camp Crystal Lake is all about Summer, swimming, and fornication in sleeping bags in tents. I couldn't agree more. I also couldn't agree more that there's a hole new bag of blood and fornication that is yet to be tapped to its full potential.

The contrast of bright red blood in pristine white snow had also been mentioned, and what an awesome visual that would be in the film. That was maybe about the fourth or fifth cool thing about this prospect that occurred to me. I don't know much about the geography of where Camp Crystal Lake should be, but I do think that making the setting a ski lodge would not be pushing any plausible boundaries. Not just any ski lodge, but a luxury ski lodge with indoor pools, a hockey rink, and any other amenities you can think of.

The Summer tourism business in Crystal Lake has been in the toilet for quite sometime, and an entrepreneur has the idea to build the ski lodge on the outskirts of the camp. Capitalizing on the mystique of the legend, but at just a safe enough distance that no killin' should ensue. No Friday would be complete without horny teenagers, and Jason could dispose of them in all sorts of ways. I'm thinking a snow blower, snow plow, Zamboni, and speaking of hockey, how cool would it be it Jason killed the hockey jock of the group in the hockey rink as he takes a shot at Jason while he's standing in the goalie crease. Think a variation of the boxing match in part 8, except way more cool.

After watching "Frozen", some of the cold weather stuff, such as frostbite would be fun, and the cat and mouse chase through the woods in the snow at night would be epic. The blackness of the night lit up by the glow of the moon on the snow, and the we might could even pull a little "The Shining" out of our hat, and have them stranded by a blizzard. The virginal heroine could even be a figure skater, how much more virginal can you get than that. I would love to see Kane Hodder or Derek Mears take a crack at it. I was fortunate enough to meet them, and both are awesome. Let me know what you think.

Without Warning - Jack Palance and Martin Landau as two crazy old bastards!

2010-12-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

I had never heard of this film until just recently. It came out in 1980, and I've got to say I'm horribly disappointed in myself for not being familiar with it. It has all the staples of the early 80's slasher films, with a dash of 50's "alien invasion" films. Disposable characters whose sole purpose was to up the body count, a van complete with one horny couple, and one virginal couple, and one small town that doesn't believe the protaganists. Perfect! It cant get much better than that. About the only way it possibly could get better is to have maybe one or two veteran actors play some crazy small town folk. Well, you got it. Two very gifted veteran actors Jack Palance and Martin Landau play two really, really crazy dudes. Before I get too sidetracked, let me give you a brief plot summary.

An alien stakes a claim on a small town and begins hunting the humans with these really weird flying things that kinda of look like jellyfish, except they're really badass with teeth and these tentacles that burrow into skin. They seem to literally suck the life out of their prey, and then the alien stores the bodies in a shed in the woods outside the town, apparently for food. It's never really explained why, or how the alien got to the town, and you really don't get to see it almost until the end. You do however get to see multiple attacks by the flying things throughout the movie. Sounds lame, but it works. This film would have stone cold terrified me when I was a kid. Jack Palance plays this hunter who knows a little backstory on what's going on, and Martin Landau is Korean War version of the damaged and paranoid Veitnam Vet stereotype. As before mentioned, they are both crazy old bastards.

Horror movie fans are sometimes notorious for being "haters" and maybe holding a movie to a higher standard than maybe even the people who made it. If you take this movie for what it is, a "creature feature", you're going to love it. It has several faces you will recognize, besides Jack and Martin, there's Larry Storch from "F Troop", and a very young David Caruso. The two teenagers who try to warn everyone are perfectly cast, and the special effects aren't bad. They were done by Greg Cannom, and hold up fairly well. Enjoy!

The Stepfather (1986)

2010-12-06T22:24:00.000-05:00

I had all but forgotten about this one. I've seen the video box for it at least 10,000 times over the years, and had never taken the time to rent it. Sometimes a film may peak your interest for years and finally when you resolve yourself to take the time to view it, you wonder what took you so long. Then again, it's not always like that, like the time I finally watched "Superman 4". Procrastination was working for me on that one. That was so not the case with "The Stepfather". This is a classy, creepy thriller that has stood the test of time. I haven't seen the remake, and it might take me just as long to see it as it did the original, regardless the original is going to be hard to top. The story was based on an actual individual, and the screenplay was penned by Brian Garfield, who wrote "Death Wish", and the tipping point for this film is the masterful casting of Terry O'Quinn. He's so freaking white bread creepy it will make your skin crawl!

O'Quinn portrays Jerry Blake, just one of the may aliases of a psychopath that has an insatiable need have a picture perfect family even if it kills them. The film opens with one of the most disturbing scenes in horror. O'Quinn is bearded and blue jeaned and goes upstairs to the bathroom. He shaves and dons some casual office attire. As he walks down the steps looking like your high school principal, bodies of his former family are strewn about the living room with blood stains on the carpet. He walks unaffected out the door to join another family. That unlucky family is Shelley Hack and Jill Schoelen, a widow and her teenage daughter.

This film doesn't have a slow burn that builds up to a climax. It has a constant tension that gives you a feeling of uneasiness, and culminates into a disturbing feeling of this could really happen. I always find myself most frightened by people who appear normal, but are capable of horrific things. I had considered throwing in some spoilers on this film, but I just can't. It's too good. Unfortunately, most of you have probably gotten around to seeing it at least before 1992. If it has been that long since you have, it's worth re-visiting. I dare say that it was the original formula template for some lesser films that came after such as "Single White Female" and "Pacific Heights".

A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)

2010-11-28T02:21:00.000-05:00

Man, I've been dreading putting down my thoughts on this one, for a few reasons actually. Reason number one, I'm a big fan of the "Nightmare On Elm Street" series, and reason number two, I am a member of Generation X that grew up with Freddy Krueger. Don't see the relation so far? Well, I hestitated writing about this film, because of a built-in-bias for the original, and not giving this one a chance no matter how good it was. Getting older is a really strange trip, and aside from finding hair in unwanted places, one finds themselves defending what was dear to them in their youth with extreme prejudice. I remember renting the original from the video store, and taking the tape out of the brown book-like video cassette case (remember those?), and loading it into my VCR with the wired remote. I had never seen anything like it, and it shaped my taste in horror from then on. I've been fighting this old man bias since I realized that my Dad really did believe that all music made after 1962 sucked, and paint stopped being good when they took the lead out of it. I like the 80's, but I try to seperate my self from it a bit, and keep at a safe distance. I have no 80's music on my iPod, and I stopped watching John Hughes movies with Molly Ringwald in them a long time ago.

As most of you know, I usually only blog about movies I like, except for films that I have high expectations for, built partly on nostalgia for its predecessor (i.e. "Survival of the Dead). When these films disappoint me, it takes a little longer to get over it than watching a bad film that I wasn't expecting anything from in the first place. This film just happens to be one of those exceptions. I won't say that I hated it, because I didn't, but I was disappointed. The main thing is the way that Freddy looks. It's downright awful. I can't take credit for this comparison, but it was mentioned that he looked like Fire Marshal Bill form "In Living Color", sadly that's pretty close. I read that they were actually trying to go for a real burn victim look, and maybe they did, but it's just not Freddy. I think that I'm becoming more biased, and my ear hair is becoming more dense as I write this. Jackie Earle Haley didn't do a bad job, but he wasn't as sadistic and smooth as Englund.

I'm not even going to go in the direction of what was similiar in this one to the original, there were some things. I wouldn't even care if they had not had those similiar scenes in. I just wanted a good film that could do what the original wasn't capable of due to budget limitations. I was impressed with how well this film blends dream with reality, and blurring the line between them, but this wasn't realized to it's full potential because I was expecting much more elaborate dream sequences once they realize that they're in Freddy's world. Nope, didn't happen. I'm not going to say anything more about the film, the cast, or the plot, it's worth a watch to make up your own mind. They wouldn't have made a film this bad back in the 80's, that's when they really knew how to make horror movies. Just kidding. I think that I'm going to go trim my eyebrows now.

Adam Green's "Frozen"

2010-11-14T23:46:00.000-05:00

I've heard a lot of buzz about this film that I don't think that I would have if someone else had written and directed it. It comes from the mind of Adam Green of "Hatchet" fame. "Hatchet" was "the slasher film that could". It not only gave the slasher genre a shot in the arm, but also revitalized the career of the great Kane Hodder. He had gotten a raw deal (in my opinion) in "Freddy Vs. Jason", but that paved the way for him to portray Victor Crowley. A backwoods version of Jason who also kills indiscriminately not in the woods, but in the swamp. "Frozen" is definitely not a horror film. It's more a survival tale rooted in urban legend. The kind that begins with "Did you hear what happened up here a couple of years ago. These three kids got left behind and stranded on the ski lift all week." That's exactly how it begins. This film has been embraced by the horror community because one of their own directed it, and I'm very glad that it did. It's worth your time. It's also a good icebreaker (excuse the pun) for someone who's not horror literate on what good storytellers horror directors and writers can be.

The primary protagonists in the film are three college students, two guys and a girl. To make things interesting, the guys are lifelong best friends, and the girl is involved with one of the guys. Kind of the whole "We had fun before she came along" type thing. They have had a nice day of skiing, but want one more run down the slope before everything closes down for the week. They bribe the chair lift operator, and board the chair lift to head up the hill. In the meantime, the lodge staff is in a hurry to leave, and a changing of the guard manning the chair lift, results in them being forgotten.

The slope lights go out, and at first they have the reaction that we all would have. "They haven't forgotten us, something must be wrong with the lift" After a few hours, it because apparent that they have been stranded. The best thing about this story is while you're watching it, you keep saying to yourself, I would totally do this or if they do that they could get down. They're suspended fifty feet up, and using the cable to get to a lower chair or a pole to climb down is easier said than done. Fifty feet is a long way up, and the cable is razor sharp. To complicate things even more, a pack of wolves are waiting down below in the snow.

The darkness and the cold set the mood. It's every bit as much of a character as the actors are. The feeling of isolation and discomfort is felt much more, and some of the effects budget is spent on what happens to skin when it sticks to something metal and covered in ice. It could be compared to "Open Water" except in the snow, but the concept is unique and fresh with obviously a lot of thought and paranoia written in on what would happen if this had really occurred. The hype for this one is well deserved. Enjoy!

I Love You Guys!

2010-10-20T22:20:00.000-04:00

It's not Thanksgiving I know, but Halloween is definitely a time to be thankful for all the other horror fans out there. After decades of thinking that I was alone, I am alone no more. I've got all of you. For so long, I was the only one in the group that wanted to go see the horror movie instead of the romantic comedy (Well, I guess I still am, but I can read about some good horror on your blogs, and interact with fans like myself after suffering through the Matthew McConaughey movie.) By the way, only you guys would know that Matthew McConaughey was in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie! Because of all of you, whenever anybody in my social circle needs a horror fix, I'm the go-to-guy for recommendations. It's a bit sentimental, I know, but I had to say it. Happy Halloween!!!

Manhater Live or Die Campaign

2010-10-10T22:45:00.000-04:00

I'm preaching to the choir, when I tell you guys that independent filmmakers are the life's blood of original horror. Having had the pleasure of watching brilliant independent horror and relishing in the pleasure of telling other horror fans, "You've got to see this movie!", I appreciate struggling filmakers now more than ever.

Writer/ Producer Phil Calderone has been tirelessly promoting his film "Manhater". Up to this point, it's had solid reviews, but funds are needed to get it more exposure. Phil has a very unique campaign to accomplish this. Please check out Phil explaining everything at the following link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/canyonfalls/manhater-movie-marketing-live-or-die-web-series

"Manhater" has a hodge podge of explotation cinema goodies including a woman abused and scorned, a stern plot that centers around her revenge to the men who wronged her, and the supernatural force that give her the ability to do it. Think of it as "I Spit on Your Grave with an spirit possession twist. Being a progressive thinking modern male, I very much enjoy a good horror yarn about the girls getting even, instead of being victimized. It also scares the crap out of me also, and makes me walk the line a little closer with the women in my life. Please, please check this movie out, and support it if you can!

Deathdream - aka Dead of Night (1972)

2010-10-10T17:01:00.000-04:00

Very few directors can work seamlessly between different types of genres. Even the great ones usually have to stick to a variation of the same formula. Bob Clark was the exception. He's most noted for that holiday staple "A Christmas Story" ( You'll shoot your eye out kid!) and for the "Porky's" series, the pioneer of the 80's/50's sex comedy. If that last term needs some explanation, I can happily oblige. An 80's/50's sex comedy is a film about teenagers trying to score set in the 1950's, but filmed in the 1980's.

Bob Clark's horror dossier is unjustly lesser known, but equally as superb. Deathdream is a well spun tale about a soldier named Andy in Veitnam. His parents get devasting news that he has been killed in the line of duty, but just a few days later, he comes home very much alive (sort of). He seems much more stoic than he used to be, but his parents and sister overlook it at first, and chalk it up to seeing the horrors of war first hand. It's not until he kills the family dog in front of all the neighborhood kids that the father begins to think something is amiss.

I'm going to leave out as many spoilers as I can, so you guys can see this one for yourselves. It's never really revealed how Andy is dead yet still alive, but if you wanted to get technical, he's either a zombie or a vampire. He draws blood from his victims with a syringe and injects himself with it. Without fresh blood, he begins to decompose. The effects are pretty decent for the time that this movie was made, and is also the very first film the great Tom Savini worked on as an effects artist.

This screenplay was written by Alan Ormsby, a longtime collaborator with Bob Clark. George Romero would be proud of all the social undertones about war, the nuclear family, and ignoring a problem until it cannot be ignored anymore. I can't help but wonder if this film was an inspiration for the Stephen King novel Pet Semetary. It's not an ancient burial ground that brings Andy back, but before he comes home his mother chants a mantra that "He will come back". This film, like "Pet Semetary" poses the dilemma of losing a loved one, and doing anything to get them back. Sometimes though, dead is better!

One of the coolest videos ever!!

2010-09-26T23:14:00.000-04:00

I know that this technically does not count as genre cinema, but then again, I've never been a purist. I just know what I like. This is a music video from a Florida funk band called JJ Grey and Mofro. If you thought that the treadmill video from OK Go was was creative, this one raises the bar, albeit maybe in a sleazier direction. Let me know what you think.

Ghost Story

2010-09-14T21:34:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to mention this one for quite some time now. This one came out of left field. You know, the movie that your mom wants to rent from looking at the pictures on the box. You think that you're going to hate it, and it ends up being one of your all time favorites. That's very much the case with this film. It boast a very high brow cast including Hollywood royalty such as Gene Kelly and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and the great John Houseman ( hence the mom and even grandma appeal mentioned earlier). It also features a very young and beautiful Alice Krige. You Trekkies out there know her as the Borg Queen. I've always been smitten by her. She hails from South Africa, making Charlize Theron the second most beautiful actress to be originally from there.

This movie has always reminded me of a very polished "Tales From the Crypt" episode. It has the "your sin will find you out" morality scenario that I've always been a fan of in horror movies. Four men in their youth accidentally kill the beautiful girl next door and dispose of the body (kind of like a gothic "River's Edge"). Years later, their indiscretions revisit them when they are old men. This movie is stylishly creepy with good special effects for the time, and solid acting. Half the film is a period piece when showing the flashbacks of the murder, and the second half is a tense unravelling of revenge and reckoning.

The Guys from Hide and Creep on the Conduit Cast!

2010-08-30T00:25:00.001-04:00

Check out the directors of "Hide and Creep" Chance Shirley and Chuck Hartsell on "The Conduit Cast" with Chris Conduit. "The Conduit Cast" can be found on iTunes, and is generating a following as one of the best horror podcasts out there. Yours truly got to sit in on the interview and enjoyed talking to these two talented independent filmakers. Keep an eye on when the episode is released by suscribing to "The Conduit Cast" on iTunes.

Hide and Creep - One of the best films you've never seen!

2010-08-29T15:30:00.000-04:00

I found this hidden gem late one night on the Sci-Fi channel, and haven't seen hide nor hair of it anywhere else until recently. I really, really like this movie. It restores my faith in the horror genre and in independent filmaking in general. The title is a little ambiguous, but imagine, if you will, that the zombie apocalypse began below the Mason-Dixon line. It centers around the tiny little southern hamlet of Thorsby, Alabama, which is an actual town by the way (I looked up the town website), and how they deal with the dead returning to life to devour the living. Sounds like a "Shaun of the Dead" knockoff with good old boys right? Not really. It was filmed in late 2003, about a year before "Shaun of the Dead" was released.

It comes from an Alabama based production company, Crewless Productions. They have made several short films, one short "Birthday Call" gave way to "Hide and Creep". I've been doing some digging, and trying to find out more about these guys. It seems they're local favorites, but haven't achieved the notoriety that they deserve yet. "Hide and Creep" was made for about $26,000 and was financed mostly from one of the Crewless guy's credit cards. It doesn't look like it had such a limited budget, and makes me wonder where does all the money go on the films that suck that have way bigger budgets?

Please give this one a closer look. It's very well written with some smart humor and clever sight gags, and the gore effects aren't bad either. It also poses one more interesting question. Are zombies afraid of the dark? Enjoy!

The Day IT Came to Earth....Pure Sci Fi Schlock Goodness!

2010-08-12T22:49:00.001-04:00

This is one of those that I happened to seek out just for nostalgia's sake. If you believe Malcolm Gladwell and the whole issue with timing, most thirtysomethings are blogging about old horror movies now, because we all came of age with Elvira and those new things called Video Cassette Recorders. I personally was introduced to horror because I had a cool Mom who let me watch Darren McGavin in the "Nightstalker" series, and took me see "Halloween II" when I was eight. The first horror movies we watch always seem to leave images with us that never really leave, that end up having more power in our memories than they ever had on celluloid. Such is the case with this film for me.

I don't really recall exactly when I saw this one. I want to say it was on "Movie Macabre", but I'm not entirely sure. I watched it again this week for the first time in about 27 years. Definitely not scary this time, but still pretty fun. This movie is a lovingly made parody of all the 1950's era "invasion from space" films, made in the late 1970's. It has no one of any particular notoriety other than Mrs. Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and is directed by Harry Thomason, the creator of the 1980's show "Designing Women", but damn it, I still like it! Matter of fact, I like my B-Horror with unknowns. The fact that Kevin Bacon and Johnny Depp were in horror movies at the beginning of their careers just means that they will probably not be a part of any reunions of those films at any convention I might be fortunate enough to attend.

It unfolds with a mob hit and two gangster hiding the mark in a Rural Lake. Just so happens that a meteor crashes into the lake and re-animates the corpse. The monster looks very similar to the familiar poster of Lucio Fulci's "Zombie 2", but it doesn't eat flesh or do anything cool like that, it pretty much lurches around and scares college kids. The kids go swimming and discover the meteor submerged in the lake. There's one scene here where the college kids are swimming and they swim directly over the monster, and it reaches up and almost grabs them. I have no idea why, but this is one of those images that was burned into my mind as a child. It scared the crap out of me. Even now, when I am swimming in a lake, I think about how creepy that would be.

The kids take the meteor back to their teacher at the college and the rest of the movie is the monster making various appearances scaring the pee out of the kids and trying to get the meteor back. If it seems that I'm being vague about the plot, nope, that's actually what happens. Like I said though, this movie is fun. It's set in the 1950's with a "Happy Days" feel to it, and the cast is from a PG version of "Porky's". You don't have to go out of your way to see this, actually on second thought you probably will. It may suck for you if you didn't see it when your were little, but if you did, it's 1983 all over again.

A Nightmare On Elm Street 2 ... Freddy's Gay????

2010-07-29T23:51:00.002-04:00

I first saw this film in the Fall of 1985 in the theatre. Now, I had absolutely no idea then of the underlying gay subtext of the film. Then again, at that particular juncture, I didn't have body hair yet. I can forgive myself pretty easily for that one, later on is where the shame comes in. I love this film. We all have those beloved films that summon a particular time in our lives and every time we watch it, we can re-visit a little bit of what the passage of time has taken away. I feel exactly that way for this movie, and for Friday the 13th Part 5, both of these choices still tend to make me unpopular, because these two entries in two iconic horror anthologies are seen as the worst. I also think Roger Moore was the best James Bond. Maybe my tastes are substandard, or maybe you guys need to leave me alone about it. No, no, wait, don't stop reading I didn't mean it!

I haven't seen Nightmare 2 for a good four or five years so a refresher was warranted. Oh my lord! The gayness is all I see now. It's not the gay subtext that I have an issue with, it's the fact that I so blatantly missed it. I haven't been this wrong on something since I downloaded that last Chris Cornell album. I had had random thoughts here and there about Jesse being a little efeminate, but not to the point of complete enlightenment on what it's all about. If you get the chance, check out the "Never Sleep Again" documentary about the whole series, I featured it about two or three post ago. It has a complete backstory on this very thing. Here some stuff to convince you, if you need it...

Jesse and Grady pull each other's pants down while scuffling in P.E.
Jesse has a board game in his room called "Probe"
The coach is into S and M and Jesse runs into him at a Gay Bar
During the big party scene, instead of breasts like usual, we see shirtless guys.
Jesse is dancing to a very early version of Cathy Dennis' "Touch Me" while cleaning his room, and using his butt to close his dresser drawers.
Both the star Mark Patton and the production designer were gay.
Jesse rejects Lisa's advances at her pool part after a huge Freddy tongue comes out of his mouth. Frankly, I don't know many heterosexual guys that would consider this a hinderance.
This film consistently gets voted the "Top Gay Popular Horror Film" on many internet forums and polls

I've just begun to scratch the surface, and I realize that you can read too much into anything, and anyone can sound gay at any point. All this has been a hard one to me to swallow (See what I mean!) It doesn't change my opinion about the film, I'm not gay, but I don't have anything all against some one who is. It actually makes it a little more fun to watch it now. I still think that this one retains the feel and look of the first film as a maverick low budget horror film from a fledgeling studio, and everyone, I mean everyone couldn't wait for it to be released. It cements the fact that the filmakers were trying to do something different with this one on more than one level, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Christmas in July! ...... Don't Open Til Christmas (1984)

2010-07-26T13:21:00.000-04:00

A slaying we will go! Sorry for the pun, but I really couldn't resist. Not exactly appropriate for the weather, because most of us are sweating profusely and cursing how we wished the weather would get warmer around 6 months ago. I know I am. However, it is what it is, and seeing as horror movies are one of my favorite forms of escapism, let's go where it's cool and dark to jolly old England for a little Christmas cheer. First of all, let me preface this by saying that I have a really soft spot for British horror, and horror movies set in the UK in general. I think it originates from watching the old Amicus and Hammer British horror films from the 1970's on this really cool independent channel WGGT in Greensboro, NC on Saturday afternoons when no one paid for tv and everyone had three channels. By the way, I just noticed that Scare Sarah recently covered "The Vault of Horror", one of the afore mentioned classic horror anthology movies. Please check the blog and the film out if you have seen neither of them before.

"Don't Open Til Christmas" is easily classified as a slasher film. It has all the elements, masked killer, holiday theme, boobs, virginal heroine, everything. It has a very cool early 1980's feel to it, the official release date was 1984, but according to IMDB some scenes were shot a couple of years earlier and production was held up. Not one of the better entries into the genre, but not bad at all. It seems that a masked killer (slasher film ingredient #1) has it in for everyone dressed as Santa Clause. I never watched this as a child, and am wondering what the ramifications of still believing in Santa would have been on me. I did see "Silent Night, Deadly Night" as a sixth grader when I had not bought into the Santa idea for quite some time by then. I did still go trick or treating that year and was one of the kids that everyone says is too big to be still doing that after they leave the doorstep. I did have a really nice costume that year, because by that time I could wear a small adult costume. I went too far didn't I? Back to the movie.

The pivotal scene in the film is when a man dressed as Santa is killed by someone behind a curtain at a Christmas party. This scene was really weird. He takes a spear through the head and falls on the floor, and no screaming or running for the door by any of the party guests. It appeared that no one thought the killer would have it in for them as well, and that they were all privy to the whole Santa's the only one who pisses him off deal. You would think he accidentally passed gas instead of being murdered. I had to watch that scene again just be sure I hadn't missed something. The guy that got it with the spear is the virginal heroine's(slasher film ingredient #2) father. The film's central characters are her, her boyfriend, and the investigators from Scotland Yard. The rest of the film is various killings of guys in Santa suits and then the climax at the end. It shifts from probable suspects throughout the film from the boyfriend to a weird news reporter, and so on.

You're probably wondering where the boobs (slasher film ingredient #3) come in. The heroine's boyfriend meets up with an old friend of his who happens to be a photographer now. The boyfriend visits a photo shoot his friend is doing and there happens to be model there doing a topless photo session. The heroine arrives a few minutes later, and is encouraged by the boyfriend to join in and wear a wig so no one will recognize her, thus making the boyfriend irredeemable throughout the rest of the film no matter what happens. "Dad didn't leave me a lot of money after he took a spear through the head, so maybe I'll take my douche bag boyfriend's advice and pose for some skin photos a few days after the funeral."

Check this one out, it's good slasher movie fodder. You can watch it free on YouTube. Enjoy, and Scary Christmas!

Contact.... A bad trip in a good way

2010-07-08T19:16:00.002-04:00

Oh how I love my horror shorts! They're like the energy drinks of horror cinema, all the horror high with a lot less wait. I also like horror shorts because it affords budding film directors to showcase their talents without waiting for the opportunity to helm a full length feature. Furthermore, a filmaker can retain much more creative control of his or her original vision, because of not depending on a bigger budget or studio interference.

Anytime I find one that I particularly enjoy, I'm going to try to pass it along to you guys. One in particular, that I did enjoy was "Contact". It's an original project from filmaker Jeremiah Kipp. He's cut his teeth in horror from being involved in such sleeper gems as "I sell the dead" and "Automatons". He's also involved with a really cool film entitled "Satan hates you" with horror royalty such as Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm, and Debbie Rochon. He has also written for Fangoria Magazine, so in a nutshell, he should know his horror.

Kipp has created something very ethereal with "Contact". Is has a very dreamy feel, much like the feeling you have when you're caught between being awake and asleep, and the line between them is difficult to discern. It lasts about ten minutes, and makes you intrigued enough that you have to watch it at least two more times.

It consists of two main scenes, one of an elderly couple setting three places at a supper table, and an urban setting where a couple is meeting a pusher to get a fix of some sort of recreational drug and get high together. The primary portion of the movie deals with the trip the couple takes when they do the drug. They sit naked in a room, do the drug and wait. At first things appear beautiful when the drug kicks in. They seem to begin exploring one another's bodies, and doing all those things that make drugs so alluring when you hear people from the sixties talk about them. Things become weird however,when the girl goes on a bad trip. The feel of the film becomes tense, and everything in the room seems closer and more claustrophobic. She seems to have the sensation of things crawling on her. Her boyfriend reassures her and calms her down telling her "Everything is alright". That seems to work until they begin to kiss. I've got to tell you, I was really impressed with this particular effect. I'm not sure if this was meant to be an anti-drug film, but what happens next would classify it as one. Can't tell you because I definitely don't want to spoil it.

I can say that the production is very good on this film. From the afore mentioned gore effect, to the cinematography. It shows that these guys have been involved with filmaking for a while. The film is shot in black and white, and the contrast of the two scenes are remarkable. The room where the elederly couple is setting the table is filmed with soft tones with the natural light beaming in through the windows, while the abandoned factory where the couple buys the drug seems dirty and depressing.

The characters are well rounded. The girl appears to be the victim. The boyfriend, while not intending for things to go as bad as they do, is easy to blame for getting them into this in the first place. He seems to know everyone at the factory where they buy the drug, and the girl seems to be along for the ride following his lead. It even includes an androgynous pusher that they buy the drug from to further creep you out. The older couple is the girl's parents, and they seem vulnurable and hurt waiting for her to leave the iniquity of the city and come home. I like this film, because you can read into it whatever you like, and speculate about anything you choose to. Isn't that why we watch movies?

Watch "Contact" free at http://www.contact.shroggle.com/

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

2010-06-29T23:51:00.000-04:00

Holy Crap! If you thought it would be super cool for someone to put together a documentary on the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series, and include every detail humanly possible. Kids, this is it! Admittedly, I'm more of a Jason fan, but I can spare some love for Freddy. If we didn't have dvd's or even vhs, this would have been a whole set of Time-Life books. It's all there, stars, producers, directors, screenwriters, effects guys, everything!

I really enjoyed the "Friday the 13th" documentary "His Name was Jason", but comparing that with the Elm Street documentary isn't even fair. This is everything any fan could hope for chock full o' backstories, and it even covers the old "Freddy's Nightmares" series. Even cool factoids like Peter Jackson once submitted a script idea for one of the sequels. I wish the "Friday the 13th" documentary would have came after this one, so it could have gleaned some pointers from "Never Sleep Again". It's over three hours long and best viewed in one sitting. If I was a bigger fan, I might even consider purchasing this one. Enjoy!

Survival of the Dead

2010-06-16T19:19:00.000-04:00

This really hurts for me to say this about a Romero "Dead" film, but I was disappointed in this one. I'm really trying to be open-minded, because frankly, this is a new experience for me. I have never, ever not liked a Romero "Dead" movie. Maybe I went into this one with unrealistic expectations, and had the bar set to high, or maybe I just don't like it now and after multiple viewings, I'll see the hididen genius that I was oblivious to before. Obviously, George Romero knows more about making a movie than I do, and I do not question his motives or inspirations. I just don't like this one right now.

I could give you a synopsis of the plot, but if you are looking at this blog, you probably have a general idea. It centers around a national guardsman named Crocket, played by Alan Van Sprang. Now he's been in all three of the new "Dead" movies (i.e. Land, Diary, and Survival). He plays Crocket in "Diary" and "Survival". In "Diary", he's one of the guardsman that rob the RV, and in "Survival" he's the leader of a national guard unit that is looking for some sanctuary from the walking dead. "Survival" is set immediately after "Diary". According to the film, it's been six days since the dead began to walk. So that would put it not even a week after "Diary".

They do find a much more beautiful place. They end up at the fictional Plum Island off the coast of Delaware. It would seem to be perfect, but as we all know, there's always something to screw what would be perfect otherwise up. In this case, it's the fueding O'flynns and the Muldoons. They're two clans whose patriarch each has a different philosophy about this new problem. One wants to kill 'em all and let God sort them out, and the other hopes to teach them to eat something else other than people.

I think it would have been cool to have Alan Van Sprang to play "Brubaker", the character he played in "Land". This would've been a good opportunity to connect all three. He began in "Diary", landed on the island in "Survival", and left the island to go to work for Dennis Hopper's army at Fiddler's Green in "Land". Even the events would have been in chronological order, since "Land" is set after zombies have completely taken over.

In a nutshell, I'm not a purist and only like the holy trinity of "dead films", "Night", "Dawn", and "Day". I actually kind of dig "Land", it's becoming one of my favorites. I even like it better than "Day". Does this make me less of a George Romero fan, I definitely don't think so. I've enjoyed all his films for decades, and consider him a master filmaker. I've been fortunate enough to meet him twice, and both times he was very gracious and catered to every question that anyone had. He's an asset to horror and all types of films in general, I just don't dig "Survival" right now, maybe in ten years I'll see if differently.

The Devil's Ground

2010-06-02T14:50:00.000-04:00

This is one of those hidden gems that everyone that watches B horror hopes for. This was a really well done and smart film. It has a very youthful looking Daryl Hannah as a woman driving down a deserted road, stopping for gas at a gas station with a weirdo gas attendant, and last but not least, picking up a blood soaked hitchhiker. How's that for a run-on sentence!

The hitchiker is a female college student who claims her friends have been murdered by a crazed pscho in the woods. Her and her group were in the woods trying to find an old indian burial ground to prevent the surrounding forest from being developed. They dig and begin to find bones. They're sure they have found the burial ground until they unearth a skull with fillings in the teeth. (creepy!). They also begin to find limbs with jewelry still on them. Without giving up any spoilers, Daryl Hannah is looking for her husband who disappeared on the same road. Check it out. I promise you'll like it.

Ecological Terror! The Thaw!

2010-05-23T20:31:00.000-04:00

Lessen your carbon footprint or die horribly! That's the undiluted message of Ghost House Underground's "The Thaw". I highly recommend this hidden gem. It has Val Kilmer in a small, but pivotal role as a scientist that's been doing research in the Artic for many years. He and his associates unearth a wooly mammoth in the thawing ice. This alone solidifies his theory of the planet slowly warming at an unatural trend, but that's not the worst of it. The mammoth has vicious parasites hidden inside it that are revived by the thawing of the mammoth. I used to live in this old house that had bugs that looked almost like this in it. They're kind of a cross between a cockroach and an earwig. They burrow into their host's flesh and lay their larvea. The host is then eaten from the inside out.

Problems ensue when a group of research students come to the outpost, including Val Kilmer's estranged daughter. I've seen her in Superbad, I think. As I write this, I haven't checked to see if I'm right. Either way, this has a little of the Cronenberg body horror with a tad bit of Carpenter's "The Thing"

Texas Frightmare Weekend

2010-05-18T14:58:00.000-04:00

Me and the Legendary Kane Hodder. Texas Frightmare Weekend was a blast! It was my first horror convention and definitely not my last. My extreme appreciation to all the guest who took time out of their schedule to attend, and to all the event staff.

Hammer's Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires

2010-05-06T11:53:00.007-04:00

This is Hammer's contibution to the Kung Fu craze of the 1970's. Hammer horror films are like pizza, none are bad, just some are better than others. This one is kind of like school pizza from the cafeteria in comparison to the other Hammer films. It's definitely not bad, but no Christopher Lee, and definitely not enough vampire action.
The fight sequences are really good, and Peter Cushing is his usual eloquent Van Helsing. It was refreshing to move Van Helsing to a new locale, namely Chun King, and the look of the film is classic Hammer English refinement.

P.S. Stay tuned for photos from Texas Frightmare Weekend!

Anybody goin' to Texas?

2010-04-25T23:20:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to ask if anyone's going to Texas Frightmare Weekend in Dallas? I'll be there. If so, drop me a line. I'd really enjoy meeting anyone involved in movie blogging, horror fiction, or independent film making.

Best Regards,
Kfed

2010-04-20T22:34:00.002-04:00

Dead Snow

2010-04-19T22:17:00.000-04:00

Nazis and Zombies. Ah, it's like the peanut butter and chocolate of cult cinema. They just naturally go together. I must admit, I heard alot about this film on horror podcasts prior to getting a chance to watch it. Alas, I've had my hopes for a horror gem dashed before because of expectations set way too high (i.e Trick R Treat and Jennifer's Body). "Let the Right One In" seems to be the foriegn film that even your friends that don't follow import horror flics know about. In that same vein comes "Dead Snow".
It hails from Norwegian filmakers and has the afore mentioned horror double threat of Nazi Zombies. I judge how well I like a foriegn film by how much I mind reading the subtitles. I didn't mind so much on this one. It has an "Evil Dead" feel to it with the isolated cabin and the twentysomethings vacationing there and a zombie vs. survivors showdown with axes and chainsaws. It also has the creepy old guy that gives the group the lowdown on the zombies. No spoilers here, but the end has an old-school "The Fog" feel to it.

Reeker

2010-04-03T22:53:00.000-04:00

I was pleasantly suprised on this one. The story goes that there is a vicious spirit that kills indiscriminately while being identified by a foul odor. Hence the title. It has a few familiar faces in it. Derek Richardson from "Hostel", and Arielle Kebbel from "The Uninvited". This film maintains a pretty healthy level of suspense throughout, while not giving up much to the bigger picture until the end. Five college students get stranded at a rundown motel. When I say motel, I mean the classic definition of a motel being longer than it is high, and a hotel being higher that it is long. It's a motor lodge in every since of the word.

One of the five is being pursued by Eric Mabius from "Resident Evil" for stealing his drugs. It's kind of a "Guido the Killer Pimp" type role, but it works in the end. There's also a blind guy in the group with a heightened sense of smell. The tension builds as he knows whats there, but at times is left totally vulnerable by not being able to see how to get away. Even if you watch it, and you don't like it midway through, hold on until the end. The plot twist at the end is pretty creative, and definitlely worth it.

Stop the Hate!

2009-12-07T20:22:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah, I know it wasn't the real Jason doing the killing, but it had that winning Friday the 13th formula. I first remember renting this in the fall of 1985, and remember not being disappointed then. I still feel the same way. Besides, everybody came out right. They got to do something different with the franchise, and the real Jason still came back in part 6.

I've been reading the Crystal Lake Memories history of Friday the 13th, and everyone trashes part 5, I mean everyone. Watch it again, and give it another chance. This time around, you know it's not really Jason. It will all go down alot easier.

Pontypool Rules!

2009-11-29T21:24:00.000-05:00

What can I say? This is the most original zombie film I've seen. Now, I don't want to be misunderstood, Romero is still the king of the genre. This just takes it to a very interesting variation. The zombie virus is spread not through bodily infection, but through the English Language. Some words are infected, and some are fine. If you hear and understand and infected word, you become infected, and slowly descend into advanced stages of the disease. I can't say much about this film without giving away spoilers. It's set in Pontypool, Ontario Canada, and centers around a former " shock jock" who lost his corporate radio gig after being fired, and now is the morning dj for a small station in Pontypool.

Throught the first half of the movie, the tension builds as disturbing stories of mass violence come into the station. There is a skeleton crew in the station consisting of the dj, his producer, and her assistant. The few people I've recommended it too, didn't understand it the first time. Watch closely, and maybe even watch it two or three times. It's worth it.