31 days of Horror 2012 day 31

The  Woman
2011
Vivendi Entertainment DVD

Now first off I am a huge fan of both Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee. So when I heard they were teaming up to write a novella that would be the third chapter in Ketchum's series of stories about cannibals living on the modern day coast of Maine I was very excited. Well the book was released as a trade paperback. And I could never find it at any book store. Then I hear it was also being made into a film. With Lucky directing. Well it premiered at the 2011Sundance film festival and caused some controversy. One member of the audience left the film and went on a rant about how "A film like this should never be made." Well sadly the theatrical release of the film was very limited. I checked and it didn't play any theaters in the state I live in. So I had to wait on the DVD release.

We pick up a few weeks after the end of the novel and film Offspring. The Woman is the only survivor of the tribe of cannibals. And she is living way out in the woods. Then a small town lawyer spots her early one morning while he is deer hunting. He decides to capture her and teach her how to be a proper human. He manages to catch her in a huge net,knocks her out. Then takes her to his home where he ties her up in his root cellar. And he convinces his family to help civilize this wild woman.

But we quickly learn that the father and the son are vile human beings. The father treats all women like shit,and the son seems to have a fascination with torture. We also learn that the oldest daughter is pregnant. One of her teachers comes to the house to talk to the parents about this and all hell breaks loose. Now before this happens there has been small hints that there is something up with the dogs the family keep in a pen inside a barn. And in the climax of the film we learn what this secret it. The Woman gets loose and gets her revenge on those who have tormented her. Then the film ends what with can only be called a semi happy ending.

Now about 4 months after seeing the film I finally managed to track down a copy of the book. And it goes into way more detail about the son and father's hatred of females. Plus it has a short story that happens after the end of the film. Which lets us know that the Woman is on her way to rebuilding her tribe.

The DVD is well done. We get a nice making of that shows how lots of the FX was done. Plus some deleted scenes. Not sure if this is out on Blu Ray but I would love to see it in true HD. The Woman gets an A.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 30

Leatherface The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
1990
New Line DVD

I can remember seeing the trailers for this film and being very excited for a new TCM film hitting theaters.I went opening night and was slightly disappointed by the film. It felt like it was very edited down for an R rating. Well quickly thanks to various horror fanzines I learned the film had been massively edited. So I was hoping the VHS release would be the uncut version. But it was just the R rated cut. So I hold on to the hope that the Laserdisc release would be uncut. Well the Laserdisc was also R rated. I did see at a few cons people selling a supposedly uncut work print of the film. But they were always wanting $30 or more. And I had read in various fanzines that it looked really bad. So I just skipped getting the work print. Then around 2003 New Line released it to DVD and it has the R rated cut and an unrated version. Now the unrated version is still missing some footage. But some of that is included in the extras.

A brother and sister are driving cross country and run into some car trouble on the back roads of Texas. Where they end up running into Leatherface and the rest of his "family". None of the family members from the first two films come back,which is kind of confusing. One new addition is a young girl who IIRC is referred to as Leatherfaces's daughter. In the extra features we get to see that she is just as sick and twisted as the rest of the family. We get a nice part for genre legend Ken Foree as a gun toting survivalist and Viggo Mortensen makes a very early appearance as one of Leatherface's family. In the uncut version the gore flows and the film actually makes sense. The R rated cut is goreless almost and makes very little sense. The only real shitty part is the ending. Ken Foree obviously dies before the end. But he shows up in the last 5 minutes to save the final girl. I wish they had stuck to the original ending. Which is included on the DVD.

Now there is also a fun adaptation of this film in comic book form. I want to say it is 3 issues long. Northstar comics put it out. It seems to follow an early version of the script and has lots of stuff that didn't make it into the film. The script was written by well known horror author David J Schrow. And it is him and the director Jeff Burr that are on the well done commentary. If you have only seen the R rated version of this film give the DVD's unrated cut a try and see if you enjoy it more. Now as most people reading this know the original TCM is not only my favorite horror film,but in my top 5 best films,so naturally I am biased towards any TCM film.Leatherface the Texas Chainsaw Massacre III gets a B.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 29

Evil Bong
2006
Echo Bridge The Midnight Horror Collection volume 1 DVD

Got this in a 8 pack of films for $5. Knew it was from Full Moon and really didn't go in expecting much from it.

New guy moves into what seems to be a decent sided studio apartment. He shares it with 3 other guys who are all big time stoners. They see an ad in High Times magazine for a supposedly possessed bong and order it. Whoever smokes too much out of the Evil Bong is the transported to this strip club,that seems to be inside the bong. Where they end up being killed by the strippers. Lots of cameos of characters from other Full Moon films. Then close to the end we get the top billed Tommy Chong. It seems Chong is the former owner of the bong and tells the new guy,who doesn't smoke,that the bong has a voodoo curse on it. Lots of shit that makes almost no sense happens. And the film ends with everyone but Chong out of the strip club inside the bong. The bong is broken and we see that Chong now lives in the strip club and is playing with his hot wheels.

Wow now I knew going in that most modern Full Moon films aren't that great. But this one seems like they weren't really trying at all. It might work better if you watch it while fucked up on your substance of choice. But watching it while sober is a long experience. Which is strange cause it is barely over an hour long. Evil Bong gets a D+.

32 days of Horror 2012 day 28

Frontier(S)
2007
Lionsgate DVD

Got this one at the annual Wesson trade days. There usually is a dealer that has brand new DVDs cheap. I usually drop a decent amount of cash at his table so he cuts me a deal. Few years back he threw in this DVD for free. "Well it is subtitled so no one wants it." is his reasoning. Well I have no problems with subtitles and had heard this was like a French version of the classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So I was happy to get it for free. Well it sat on the shelf unopened and unwatched for years.

Yasmine and 3 shady guys escape Paris during some riots. They take shelter at a back roads inn. But the family that runs it is a weird Neo Nazi inbred family. So we get lots of bloody deaths and lots of torture. Overall this film is a fun watch and I can see why people compared it to TCM.

The DVD has basically no extras. There is no English audio options but the subtitles are great. Frontier(S) gets a B+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 27

Stephen King's The Shining
1997
 Warner Brothers DVD

In 1997 Stephen King had a remake of his novel The Shining. This aired on TV. So figuring it would be badly edited for TV I didn't bother seeing it. Then after a few friends told me it was good I figured I would rent it one day. Found the DVD this year for $5. So grabbed it.

This adaptation follows the novel closely. What surprised me is how much of the novel was still in this made for TV film. Steven Webber and Rebecca Demorney are great in the parts of Jack and Wendy. Sadly Courtland Mead isn't that good as Danny. But the rest of the cast is spot on. There is some good FX work. Now the CGI hedge animals kind of suck but I am sure the budget on this was pretty low.

The DVD release is 2 DVDs. And has a great commentary with Stephen King,Steven Webber,Cythia Garris and Mick Garris. Loved this commentary and have listened to it 2 times now. There is also some deleted scenes. But really they add nothing to the film. Stephen King's The Shining gets a B-.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 26

Bloody Murder 2 Closing Camp
2003
Artisan DVD

Grabbed this one when Movie Gallery was closing a few years back. Had seen it once years ago and enjoyed it. Where as the first part was horrible attempt at a modern slasher this one is much better. Part of that is cause there is a much better cast in this one.

We get 7 counselors and the owner shutting down the camp for the year. With Tiffany Shepis playing one of the counselors. Lots of bloody kills and some nice nudity this time. With Ms Shepis providing most of the nudity. I have been a huge fan of Ms Shepis for years. The plot is your basic slasher plot. But with a modern spin.

Sadly the DVD has no extras. No commentary,nothing. Which sucks. I would have loved a commentary with the director and Tiffany Shepis. I hear there is a part 3 but I have never found a copy. Bloody Murder 2 Closing Camp gets a C.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 25

Bloody Murder
2000
Artisan DVD

Heard about this modern slasher for years. So when I found the DVD for $3 I grabbed it. Sure all the reviews of it were horrible. But I have learned that my taste in horror cinema and most online horror fans taste are very different.

The plot is a mishmash of various slasher tropes. Teens at a summer camp. Getting killed for having sex and doing drugs. Killer is named Trevor Moorehouse but is a obvious rip-off off Jason and Michael Myers. The kills are all bloodless and there is next to no nudity. Which is strange for a slasher.

Thankfully the dvd has a fun commentary with the director which goes into great detail about the production of the film. This commentary is worth the $3. So unless you find it cheap skip this. But rent it for the commentary. Bloody Murder gets a D-.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 24

The Cabin in the Woods
2012
Lionsgate DVD

This movie was filmed back in 2009 but held up from being released for a few years.Part of this had to do with MGM filing for bankruptcy. I heard about it in 2009 and all I knew was Joss "Buffy the Vampire slayer" Weldon was one of the writers. Now I enjoyed most of the seasons of the Buffy TV show. So I was wanting to see what he could do with a more serious version of horror. Well in early April 2012 it got a wide release. But the theater in town didn't get it and I didn't get a chance to see it. Thankfully I did real good about avoiding spoilers about the films plot. All I knew before I watched it today was what I had seen in the trailer.

WARNING SPOILERS BELOW SKIP IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM YET!

A group of 5 college students head up to a cabin in the woods. At first I was like "Great we got the normal horror stereotypes." There is the jock,the slut,the stoner,the smart guy and the virginal young lady. But quickly we find out that there is something up and this film isn't gonna be your normal teens/young adults get stalked and killed way out in the woods. It seems there is some kind of underground scientific lab below the cabin. And two guys in it are in charge of making sure that at the very least the four of the group,minus the virgin,die. And it looks like that is what happened. A group of inbred zombie hillbillies attack and the only one left alive is the virginal girl. She is out on the pier and is about to die when we find out the stoner isn't dead. He saved her and leads her to a underground room he has found. And this is where the film takes a major turn. The people in the lab keep talking about how these young adults must die to appease the "Ancient Ones". Which I must assume are the elder Gods from HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. We find out there are more than one lab like this. There seems to be many around the world. Once a year at least 4 people must die to keep the "Ancient Ones" from rising and destroying the world. Well it seems all the other labs have failed this year so it is up to the on in the USA. But the stoner and the virgin find an elevator and go down into the lab. Where they learn all kinds of monsters are kept in cages and depending on what item is messed with in the cabin's basement that determines what creature/creatures come to kill the people. There is a werewolf,zombies,vampires and my favorite a being clearly based on Pinhead from Hellraiser. Well the stoner and virgin manage to find the sacrifice room and then meet up with the director of this operation. Who is  a person I had no idea was in this film. Now I don't want to spoil the ending so that is all I can say.

SPOILERS OVER!

The DVD looks great and has nice strong sound design. The acting is all well done. With all five of the college students doing a great job. Chris Hemsworth plays the jock and this is the best acting I have seen from him so far. But outta the 5 the real stand out is Francis Elliott "Fran" Kranz as Marty the stoner. Most films with stoners overplay it.. But Fran does a great job of not going over the top with his performance. All the FX work is really well done and it was hard to tell what was practical FX and what was CGI. It seems outside of a few people this film is really well liked and considered one of the best horror films of the past few years. Cabin in the Woods gets an almost perfect A.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 23

Tourist Trap
1979
Koch Vision DVD

Saw the first half of this years ago when I was a kid on late night UHF.Really enjoyed what I liked but forgot the name of the film. So a few years ago I tracked down the DVD. Which sat unwatched for years on my shelf. Not sure why I didn't watch it for so long. But I have a bad habit of buying DVDs and leaving them unwatched on my shelves for years at a time.

We get a weird thriller with Chuck Conners and a young Tanya Roberts as the only real well known stars. Full of unset-telling moments and lots of creepy stuff. The film is full of creep manikins and all kinds of weird camera angles. Actually a few moments remind me of scenes from "Twin Peaks Fire Walk with me". The plot is your basic people trapped out in the boonies and having to take shelter.

The DVD looks decent. But I would love to see a totally remastered version of this film one day on Blu Ray.  The commentary is great and is loaded with info about the film. Lots of behind the scenes stories. Tourist Trap gets a C+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 22

Three on the Meathook
1972
Substance DVD

Now this is a film I have heard about for years. Remember seeing the above video cover on the shelves of my local video store. But never rented it.

Supposedly based on Ed Gein,this film is a story about 4 women that go on a trip to a lake. On their way back they have car troubles and a nice young man takes them back to his farm. 3 of the girls die.

Wow what a boring badly paced film. I went in expecting a wall to wall bloodbath. And got a slow boring film. Directed by William Girdler, this was his second film. He ended up doing 3 blaxploitation films and then had his biggest hit. Which was Grizzly.

Now the DVD looks like a VHS rip. And the only extras are trailers for a bunch of low budget crappy looking films. Thankfully I just rented this instead of buying it. Three on a Meathook gets a F+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 21

Lovecraft fear of the unknown
2008
Documentary Channel airing

I first heard of H.P. Lovecraft after seeing Reanimator with my Uncle. He told me it was based on a Lovecraft story. So next time I was at the library I found a collection of Lovecraft's stories. Read them and at that young age most of them didn't appeal to me much. Years later after hearing so many authors I love talk about how much they liked Lovecraft,I read some more of his work. And loved it.

This documentary,while it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know,is a fun watch. Some well known people like Neil Gaiman,Ramsey Campbell and Guillermo del Toro. The documentary is a nice walk through Lovecraft's life and all his influences. Plus loaded with info about his unusual views on society.My favorite part has to be when various people try to pronounce Cthulhu. Now since this was airing on the Documentary Channel it might have had some slight edits. But it didn't seem to be missing anything.

If you are a fan of Lovecraft's works. Or someone that knows the name and doesn't know much about him this is worth tracking down. Lovecraft fear of the unknown gets a B-.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 13

Buffy the vampire slayer season 1
2002
20th century Fox DVD

It has been close to 10 years since I have watched the first season of this fun show. I never got to see it when it was airing . Cause when it was airing on WB we got only UPN. Then when it moved to UPN over cable company took away UPN and gave us WB. So it wasn't until it hit syndication and FX that I got to see it. Loved the show and have been slowing getting the DVD season sets. Got this one last week for $3 total.

Starting as a mid season replacement in 1997 the first season was only 12 episodes. But in those 12 episodes all the mythos are set up. We get introduced to Giles,Xander,Willow and Cordelia.

The stand out episodes are ,The one where we find out Angel is a vampire,The demon in the computer one,and my favorite where there is an invisible girl. Which has a great ending with some secret government group taking the invisible girl and training her to be an assassin. Now my memory might be faulty but this is never brought up again in the rest of the TV series.

The DVD looks pretty good. I know this first season had a very low budget,but the picture and sound is great. There is a few commentaries that are informative. And there is some behind the scenes stuff. Buffy Season 1 DVD gets a B.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 20

Drive In Horror Show
2011
Midnight Releasing DVD

Heard about this film thanks to Night of the Living Podcast's crew. Was gonna rent it from Netflix but it seems it is streaming only. So I took a chance and bought the DVD. This is a low budget horror anthology. Luis Negron is our host and does a great job introducing each segment.

The first segment is titled "Pig". It is about a woman that was slipped a roofie at a frat party and date raped by a frat boy douche bag. Well she gets her revenge by gluing him into a tub and turning on the water so he will drown. OK acting in this segment with well done FX work.

Up next is "The Closet". This is a fun tale about a young kid who wants to be an astronaut but his family is against that. He discovers a creature in his closet and it helps him get his revenge. While some of the acting in this segment is not that great the premise and FX work are well done.

"Fall Apart" is the third segment. And has the best FX work of the entire film. It kind of reminds me of the old EC horror comics.

"Meat Man" is up next and it is really the worst segment of the film. The acting by the two kids is really bad. Some OK FX work but not enough to make up for the bad acting. And the twist at the end is one I called 4 minutes into the film.

The last segment and I want to say the longest is "The Watcher". Two couples go camping out in the woods and get slaughtered by some crazed inbred. Great FX work and the acting is well done.

Drive In Horror Show is a nice low budget anthology and is more than worth renting. Drive In Horror Show gets a B-.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 19

Vampegeddon
2010
Echo Bridge Midnight Horror collection volume 4 DVD

Now I have been doing my whole watch at least one horror film a day in October thing for close to 10 years. And I have seen some really bad films. But this one has to be one of the worst.  Where to start? First off it seems the entire film was dubbed in post production. Not sure why since the cast all seem to speak English and the lips match the words all the time. Then there is the acting. The actors/actresses all look to be late 20s or early 30s. But are suppose to be high school students. And all of them over act constantly. Not sure if maybe the dubbing adds to this or not. Then there is ever present background music. All of it is bad. Generic hard rock and metal.

But it isn't all negative. One of the actors looks just like Bubba Ray Dudley so that made me chuckle a few times. And one of the lead actresses had a front tooth that looks like it might be made out of wood. Which almost made me laugh. Vampegeddon gets a F+.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 12

Echo Bridge Entertainment gets shit on a bunch by online horror fans. They are well know for their packs of 8 films spread out onto two DVDs. Usually these packs can be found for $5. I keep hearing how the picture quality is shit. Well I have a pretty good TV and my cousin has an amazing huge LCD TV. I have watched lots of these Echo Bridge packs on both TVs and the picture looks pretty good. Plus you are usually getting 8 movies for $5. Which means you are paying around 63 cents per film. So I figured I would do some quick reviews of all the horror related Echo Bridge sets I have.

 The Midnight Horror Collection Volume 01
Pretty sure this is the first one I got. I had heard it was out and in the Walmart $5 bin. I wanted it so I could finally have a non-DVD-r copy of Meridian. But I looked for weeks and never could find it. Finally ordered it off Dvdempire paying $8. Then later that day went to Walmart and I saw a copy sitting on top the bin. So I grabbed that copy. Then canceled my order when I got home. The films on this one are.
The Legend of Sorrow Creek-Still haven't watched this one,but it is a 2007 DTV film.
Prom Night-This is a 1980 slasher with Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielson. Not a fan of the film.
Below-2002 WWII horror film produced by Darren Aronofsky. Haven't watched it yet.
I am Omega-A 2007 mockbuster of "I am Legend" from the Asylum. Fun time waster.
Charles Band's Evil Bong-Full Moon studios film from 2006. Funny but nothing amazing.
Meridian-Review of this is here. Meridian review from last years 31 days of horror.
Demonic Toys-1992 film from Full Moon Studios. Really funny and well done.
Decadent Evil-2005 Full Moon Studios vampire film. Not horrible,but I doubt I watch it again.



So outta 8 films there is 3 I know I will watch more than once,2 I haven't seen yet,and 3 I might watch again. Not a bad deal for $5

The Midnight Horror Collection Volume 04
Got this one along with volume 5 earlier this month for $5 total. So that is 16 films for $5. So 32 cents a film.
Now since I have just gotten both of these I haven't seen many of the films on them.
The Last Vampire on Earth-2009 DTV low budget Twilight rip off. Reviews on it are pretty bad.
Night Shadow-1989 werewolf film,the description on the back of the case sounds like "The Howling".
Kraken:Tentacles of the deep-2006 made for Sci Fi channel giant monster on the loose film.
Bloodlock-2008 DTV film about a house with a secret.
Blood Red Moon-2009 DTV Twilight rip off. Really bad. Skip this one.
Howling IV:The Original Nightmare-Fun but slow werewolf film.Adapts the first Howling novel.
Raging Sharks-2005 made for Sci fi creature feature with Corin Nemec and Vanessa Angel.
Vampegeddon-2010 DTV horrible vampire film. Will be reviewed later this month.
Well out of the 4 films I have seen off that pack. Only Howling 4 is worth seeing.

The Midnight Horror Collection volume 05
This is the other one I got with volume 4 for $5 total.
Live Animals-2008 torture porn,really bad skip this one.
Salvage-2006 Australian film,interesting premise that is dragged down by not so good acting.
Memory-2006 psychological thriller with Dennis Hopper and Billy Zane. Looks decent. Will watch it soon.
Wages of Sin-2006 film about an evil preacher. Tried watching this a few times and never make it far.
Roman-2006 psychological thriller. Directed by Angela Bettis. Worth paying $5 just for this film.
Mortuary-2005 film from Tobe Hooper. Not  one of his better films. But worth at least one viewing.
Skeleton Man-Really well done 2004 film. With Michael Rooker and Casper Van Dien. Worth a watch.
Bloody Mary-2006 DTV horror,some OK FX work and the acting isn't horrible.
So 3 bad films,4 great to OK ones,and one I want to watch but haven't seen yet. Worth grabbing for the 4 good ones.

The Midnight Horror Collection Bloody Slashers
This is the one from the Midnight Horror Collection that people look for. Cause it is the only region 1 DVD release of the 80s slasher Curtains.Again this cost $5 so each film was $1.25.
Hoboken Hollow-Dennis Hopper stars in this film. Still haven't watched it.
Secret of the Clown-Watched this one and it is just OK. Worth at least one viewing.
Room 33-Another I haven't seen.
Curtains-Heard about this film for years but could never track down a VHS of it. Well this DVD version looks like they ripped it from an ex-rental VHS. Fun slasher that makes this set worth tracking down.
Curtains is worth the $5. But I wish a better looking and sounding version comes out one day.

The Midnight Horror Collection Blood Predators
As always cost $5 so $1.25 a film.
The Vampire Conspiracy-A weird mix of Vampires and torture porn. Average film at best.
Fist of the Vampire-ECW's Blue Meanie and Darrian Cane star in this bad DTV Vampire flick.
Curse of the Wolf-ECw's Blue Meanie,Leaping Lanny Poffo and Darrian Cane in another bad DTV film.
Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned-No way the film can live up to that title.
Outta the 3 I have watched only one is worth seeing. Total dud of a pack.

The Midnight Horror Collection Charles Band Presents Puppet Master Volume 01
This time we get the first 3 Puppet Master films from Full Moon Studios. So 3 films for $5 equals $1.67 a movie. We get the first two films on one side of the DVD and the third film gets the other side all to it's lonesome.
Puppet Master-The original film that started one of the longer running franchises in horror history. Really fun film. With some well done puppet FX work.
Puppet Master 2-Nice sequel that is almost better than the original.
Puppet Master 3:Toulon's Revenge-A prequel this is my favorite of the series. Set in WWII Germany this one tells us the origin of the puppets.
Now I am a fan of this franchise so this set is totally worth the $5 for me.

 The Midnight Horror Collection Charles Band Presents Puppet Master Volume 02
This one has Part 4 on one side of the DVD. With 5 and 6 sharing the reverse side. Again $5 for the set so $1.67 a film.
Puppet Master 4-In this entry we get a new puppet Decapitron. And sadly the puppet FX aren't as good as the previous 3. But still worth watching.
Puppet Master 5-Pretty much part 2 of the 4th film. Fun time waster but not one of the better entries in the series.
Curse of the Puppet Master-The puppets have a new master. Who is a deep woods scientist. The puppets get revenge on their new master and at the end we get a new puppet added to the gang.
While these 3 films aren't nearly as good as the first three at this cheap price this set is worth picking up.

Sharks,Piranhas&Monsters 6 movie pack
Another $5 pack. So 6 films means each one cost 84 cents. 4 of these were made for Sci Fi channel films. While the other 2 are low budget films from the 50s and 70s.
Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus-Asylum made cheese starring Debbie Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas. Really funny in it's so bad it's good way.
30,000 Leagues under the seas-Captain Nemo and friends have some adventures under the seas. Skip it.
Attack of the Giant Leeches-AIP 1959 low budget film. The giant leeches look like people walking around in sleeping bags. Fun but nothing special.
Beneath Loch Ness-Miramax made for Sci Fi channel film. OK watch if you are bored and have nothing else to watch.
Mega Piranha-Made for Sci Fi Channel film with Tiffany,the 80s pop singer. Really bad and really fun.
Piranha-1972 jungle thriller. Skip this garbage the print they use looks really bad.
Besides Mega Shark and Mega Piranha this set is a total let down.

Full Moon Triple Feature
 This set has 3 semi related Full Moon studio films. Again it cost $5,so that works out to $1.67 a film.
Demonic Toys-Fun fast paced film about killer toys. With Tracy Scoggins.
Dollman-Fun Sci fi film with Tim Thomerson. There is some well done forced perspective shots in this.
Dollman VS Demonic Toys-This has people from Dollman,Demonic Toys and Bad Channels. But too bad the film is boring. It is barely over an hour but fells much longer.
Well like Meatloaf said 2 outta 3 ain't bad. Worth grabbing for Demonic Toys and Dollman.

Full Moon Triple Feature
This collects the first 3 of the Subspecies franchise. I know there is a part 4 and another film that is a spin off. I saw the first 2 years ago on Showtime late at night.
Subspecies-Not bad early 90s low budget vampire movie. Good atmosphere.
Bloodstone:Subspecies II-Quickly made follow up,that isn't as good as the original but worth a watch.
Bloodlust:Subspecies III-Horrible film,don't both watching it.
Another pack that was $5 so each film is $1.67. The first 2 are worth that price. But part 3 isn't even worth a buck.

The Prophecy Collection Miramax Classics
This collects all 5 of the Prophecy franchise.Prophecy 1 and 2 share the same side of a DVD. With part 3 getting the other side. The parts 4 and 5 share the same side of a DVD.Now unlike every other Echo Bridge set I have bought,this one cost $7.50. So 5 films at that cost equals out to$1.50 a film.
The Prophecy-Saw this during it's short theatrical run. Had read about it for months in Fangoria when it was known as "God's Army". Walken gives a great performance. So does Eric Stoltz and Virgina Madison.
The Prophecy II-Walken returns and this film also has Jennifer Beals and the late Britney Murphy. Fun film that is almost as good as the original.It also has a small part for Glenn Danzig.
The Prophecy III:The Ascent-Walken is back for a third time. I know I have seen this before,but remember nothing about it.
The Prophecy:Uprising-No Walken this time. But we do get Doug "Pinhead" Bradley and the always lovely Kari Wuhrer. What I remember of the film is decent.
The Prophecy:Forsaken-Kari Wuhrer is back. And we also get Jason Scott Lee and Tony "Candyman Todd. Haven't seen this one so far. But all the reviews claim it is really bad.
This set is worth the price for the first 2 films at least.

The Children of the Corn Collection Miramax Classics
Collecting Children of the Corn 2,3,4,5,6 and 7. This set was the first time part 2 came out on DVD in region 1. I found it in the Walmart $5. The DVD case is orange and that caught me attention. Now before buying this I had seen parts 2,3,4,5 but had not seen 6 or 7. So 6 films for $5 works out to 84 cents a film.
Children of the Corn II:The Final Sacrifice-I remember enjoying this when I saw it years ago on VHS. But watching it now it fucking sucks. The FX work is pretty shoddy and really there isn't that much of a connection to the first film. I do wish they had explored the corn mold causing craziness angle more.
Children of the Corn III:Urban Harvest-A inner city couple adopts two brothers from that wacky corn cult. So we get killer corn in the city. Good FX work and a inventive plot.
Children of the Corn IV:The Gathering-Children of the Corn IV review from 2010 .
Children of the Corn V:Fields of Terror-6 college kids take a wrong turn and run into those wacky corn cult kids. Strange cast in this one you got Alexis Arquette,Ahmet Zappa,Eva Mendez,Fred Williamson and David Carradine.Better than part 2 but not as good as 3 or 4.
Children of the Corn 666:Isaac's Return-Children of the Corn 666 2011 review
Children of the Corn VII:Revelation-Still haven't watched this one.
So we get 4 good films.One I haven't seen and one stinker. But this is easy to find for $5 so worth getting.

The Hellraiser Collection Miramax Classics
Before this set came out it was hard to get Hellraiser III on DVD. It had been released years ago and had gone out of print. Another $5 bin find. So once again it is 84 cents per movie. Containing Hellraiser 3,4,5,6,7 and 8. I am a huge Hellraiser fan so grabbed this as soon as I saw it. Even though I already owned 3,5,6 and 8 on DVD.
Hellraiser III:Hell on Earth-This film gets unfairly shit on. Sure it isn't as good as the original. But I enjoy it much more than the over praised piece of shit that is Hellraiser II Hellbound.
Hellraiser IV:Bloodline-The last of the series to get a theatrical release it was held up for a long time after filming was finished. With another director coming in and re filming lots of scenes. Horrible film that totally shits on the story set up in the Hellbound Heart novella that spawned this franchise.
Hellraiser V:Inferno-Another one that seems to get shit on by fans. "Pinhead is barely in it!" is why most say they don't like it. Well he gets almost as much screen time in this as he did in the original. Fucking amazing film and my second favorite in the series. It is like a dark,sexy and twisted Twilight Zone episode.
Hellraiser VI:Hellseeker-Hellraiser 6 2010 review
Hellraiser VII:Deader-This one started off as a non-Hellraiser film. Then Dimension films bought the script and had some small parts with the Cenobites added to make it a Hellraiser film. Not that good. But not horrible.
Hellraiser VII:Hellworld-Another entry that didn't start out as a Hellraiser film. But was changed into one when Dimension films bought the script.Slightly better than part 7 but not by much.
This is worth grabbing for parts 3,5 and 6.

Well lets see 13 DVD sets reviewed. 30 good films out of a total of 67 films. Total cost for 67 films is $62.50. So less that a buck a movie. So really these Echo Bridge packs are a decent value.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 18

Yellowbrickroad
2010
Vivendi Visual Entertainment DVD

Back in 1940 the entire population of a small New Hampshire town abandoned their town and head up a trail into the mountains. A search party is sent out by the Army and they find some of the people frozen to dead. But others have been viciously slaughtered. Thanks to a cover up the legends about this town grow over the years and many myths pop up about it.

By 2008 the town has been repopulated but the woods the former residents disappeared into are still unmapped. Finally the coordinate for the start of the "YELLOWBRICKROAD" trail are declassified. So a small group of people set off on this trail to try to discover what caused the former residents of the town to abandoned their homes and head off into the woods.

The film while not horrible isn't that interesting. We get lots of scenes of people walking in the woods and arguing. It seems like most of the people are slowly losing their minds ,but there wasn't enough interesting stuff in the film to really keep my attention. I kept glancing at the clock on my DVD player to see how much longer the film had. That is never a good sign. Some of the acting is well done. But they aren't given enough good material to make an engaging film. The DVD has a commentary but I didn't bother listening to it. Mainly cause I didn't enjoy the film the first time watching it. Yellowbrickroad gets a D.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 17

Porkchop
2010
Independent Entertainment DVD

This film is a fun low budget throwback to the 80s teens in the woods slashers. 3 guys and 3 ladies plus a robot go camping out in the deep woods. And one by one are killed by a crazy redneck wearing a huge pig mask.

What made the film stand out to me is how creative the kills are. One lady gets a weed eater shoved into her taint and blood sprays all over the place. Plus the film has the right blend of comedy and horror that a slasher like this needs to stand out. One of the funniest scenes is when the nerd of the group keeps trying to score with the token slut. But he fails and she ends up getting fucked by the robot.

The end of the film leaves it wide open for a sequel. Which I have heard is coming out soon. After doing some research it seems this was made on a $3000 budget. And there are scenes where the low budget shows,it is still worth at least a rental. Porkchop gets a C+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 16

Orphan
2009
Warner Brothers DVD

A young couple adopt a 9 year old Russian girl. Hoping this will help them cope with the stillborn child they just had. At first everything seems ok. But slowly we realize that Esther,the orphan,isn't all that she seems. She always dresses in old period clothing. She also seems to know more about sex than a kid her age should. The mother does some detective work and discovers Esther comes from a nut house in Estonia.

It is revealed that Esther is actually Leena Klammer a 33 year old woman that suffers from hypopituitarism, a condition that stunted her physical growth. She has spent most of her life posing as a young child.

I got lucky and didn't have the big reveal of this film spoiled for me before I saw it. The actress playing Esther is great. And all the FX work is well done. The dvd has very few extra features. The main one is a alternative ending. But I found this cheap,want to say I paid $5. Orphan gets a B-.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 11

Essential Marvel Horror volume 1
 2006
Various artists and writers

This is a collection of pretty much all of the solo appearances of Daimon Hellstorm AKA the Son of Satan and his sister Satanna. It starts off reprinting Hellstorm's appearances in the first two issues of the 70s Ghost Rider comic. Then his 13 issue run in Marvel Spotlight.All 8 issues of the Son of Satan solo series. Plus his appearances in Marvel Two in One and Marvel Team Up. For Satanna we get her appearances in Vampire Tales 2 and 3,Haunt of Horror 2,4, and 5,Marvel Premiere 27 and Marvel Preview 7.

I actually can remember reading some of the Son of Satan issues of Marvel Spotlight when I was little. Which is strange when I consider how religious my mom was at the time. I have always liked the Daimon Hellstorm character. Him being the son of Satan,but also being a exorcist and even becoming a monk at one time is a nice parallel. Now some of these comics reprinted here are kind of cheesy,but even then they are still a fun read. The artwork is never anything amazing but it also doesn't flat out suck. So if you have an interest in Hellstorm this is the trade to pick up cause outside of his time in the Defenders this reprints pretty much every comic he was in.

Now before reading this all I knew about Satanna was what I had read about her in the Marvel handbook. The stories reprinted in here all have gorgeous artwork. And some of them are text only stories. It seems she mainly appeared in the various Marvel B/W magazines. Which makes sense cause those magazines didn't fall under the Comic code. So the writers and artist could do stuff in these stories that wasn't allowed in normal comics at the time.

Now this trade has a cover price of about 17 bucks. But it is easy to find it for much less than that. I got my copy from Instocktrades.com for a little under 10 bucks. And it is worth more than that. Essential Marvel Horror volume 1 gets a B.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 10

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein:Prodigal Son
2008
Dabel Brothers Publishing

Now I have never been a huge fan of Mr Koontz's novels. I have read about 6 of them and enjoyed 2 of the six. But earlier this year I was at my local Dollar Tree and looking through their selection of books. And I found this hardcover graphic novel. So I figured for a buck I would take a chance. I took a look inside the dust jacket and saw the original price was $22.95. Which is way too much for such a thin book.

Set in New Orleans this is the story of Victor Frankenstein ,now known as Victor Helios. And his first creation Deucalion is searching for him. It seems Victor is creating more creatures,but isn't using dead bodies anymore. His new creations are more biological androids. Deucalion teams up with some homicide cops. While I did enjoy this graphic novel,the story is just barely getting going when the book is over.

Written by Chuck Dixon,art by Brett Booth,colors by Color Dojo,Andrew Dalhouse and Mohan and lettering by Bill Tortolini. This book is worth what I paid but if I had paid more than $5  I would have been pissed. While the artwork is great,always been a fan of Brett Booth, the coloring looks muddy. I am amazed that the cover price is so high. I doubt there is more than 150 pages in this book. I get a feeling that this didn't sell well that is why it ended up in Dollar Tree. Dean Koontz's Frankenstein:Prodigal Son gets a C-. And that is only cause of the good artwork.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 15

Hellraiser Revelations
2010
Dimension Extreme DVD

Before this film came out horror fans were already hating it. Partially cause Doug Bradley was replaced as Pinhead. Plus word had gotten out that this film was only made so Dimension could keep the rights to make more Hellraiser films. So I skipped getting it for 2 years. Then I found a used copy for $3 and took a chance.

Two friends run away to Mexico where they spend many days getting fucked up. They both disappear and a year later their parents are gathered together in one of their homes.One of the guy's younger sister finds the puzzle box.She is fucking around with it and it causes her brother to appear out of nowhere.After a bunch of boring bullshit the Cenobites show up. Really there isn't much to say about this film. The new Pinhead looks like shit. The acting is bad. At least the FX work is ok. It is barely worth the $3 I paid. And mainly that is cause I am a huge fan of the Hellraiser franchise. Hellraiser Revelations gets a D+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 14

Chillerama
2011
Image Entertainment DVD

Four horror directors came together and created a anthology film. Set at a drive in theater,that is having a marathon of rare films,during it's last night in operation. Richard Riehle is the owner of the drive in and gives a fun performance.

The first "film" shown is by Adam Rifkin. Titled "Wadzilla" it is a throwback to 60s era giant monster run amok films. Adam plays the lead who gets an experimental drug to raise his sperm count. Which causes him to produce this giant sperm AKA Wadzilla.This is a fun and silly way to begin the anthology.

Up next is Tim Sullivan's "I was a Teenage Werebear". This is a spoof of the AIP beach films plus "I was a Teenage Werewolf". This segment seems to divide people. Either you love it or you hate it. It is a musical about a teenage guy who gets bit by a werebear and starts killing people. The musical numbers are a good blend of serious and silly.

The third segment is directed by Adam Green. "Diary of Anne Frankenstein" is a nice parody of the old silent films. Joel David Moore is good as Hitler and Kane Hodder as Meshugannah. Meshugannah is a Jewish Frankenstein's monster. And Kane plays up the comedy of the character. Overall this is the best segment of the film.

Last we have "Zom-B-Movie". Directed by Joe Lynch,this segment happens at the drive in. When some zombie goop gets into the popcorn. While not horrible it could have been better if given more time to develop.

Chillerama is one of the better anthology films to come out in years. The dvd has a fun commentary Some deleted scenes and director interviews. Chillerama gets a B.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 09

It tolls for Thee
2009
Lawdog Comics

I discovered this comic thanks to Instocktrades.com. I was making a order from them and needed a few more items to reach the $50 that would get me free shipping. So I looked at the clearance section. Saw this comic was only $2. So being a horror fan and enjoying zombie comics I took a chance. The book is in the wide screen/sideways style that it seems most comic strip collections are printed now. The finished art is by Manuel Martin Penichio. Jason Millet does the colors. J.Matthew Crawley does the lettering. And the story/art/design is credited to James Heffron.

Set in 1208 AD this is a fun story about a farmer's daughter,a Templar Knight,an eastern ambassador,a nun and an executioner are the motley crew that has to save a village from a horde of zombies. Now the story is good ,but the artwork is the stand out of this comic. The artwork has a dark look to it that fits the story really well. And the detail all all the gore and violence is really well done. I like how the story ends where there could be another volume of this story. But it seems Lawdog comics is out of business so I doubt we will see another volume. That is why it is good the ending also is good enough to stand on it's own. After the end of the story we get 24 pages of sketches and background info on the characters.I always like seeing stuff like this in trades. It is nice to get to see behind the scenes stuff like this. It tolls for Thee gets a B+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 13

Dario Argento An eye for Horror
2000
Image Entertainment DVD

I have been an Argento fan for close to 20 years now. I found out about him and his films thanks to Chas Balun's Deep Red magazine. Over the years I have tracked down and seen most of his films.

This sadly is a very short,under an hour,documentary about Dario.While it is well done,parts of it feel rushed. With how many films Dario had done by 2000 this documentary should have been at least 2 hours long. Now I want to say I heard that Dario can speak English. But anytime in this documentary he is interviewed he is speaking Italian. Really the best parts are the segments with his daughter. Asia Argento offers some nice insights into her father's mind. And without these parts the documentary wouldn't be worth watching. Dario Argento An Eye for Horror gets a D-.

31 days of horror 2012 day 12

Screaming in High Heels the rise and fall of the Scream Queens era
Unreleased
2012


Managed to see this short but fun documentary today. It is all about how 3 b-movie actresses created a phenomena that spread all over. Brinke Stevens,Michelle Bauer and Linnea Quigley all started out doing low budget b-movies. And managed to build a great career out of this. Now the director does go into the past of all three women. And that part was interesting. But there is stuff they left out. Like Michelle did a few porn films under the name Pia Snow. This is not mentioned. Which is strange cause she talks about posing for Penthouse.

What I enjoyed the most is finding out about the early lives of all three women. Now before watching this I knew that Brinke was a marine biologist and was at one time married to Dave Stevens of Rockateer fame. But I knew next to nothing about Linnea and Michelle.

Overall this was a decent documentary. I just wish it had been longer. Screaming in High Heels gets a B-

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 08

The Walking Dead Season 2
2011
Anchor Bay Blu Ray

I watched Walking Dead season 2 last year as it was airing and found the pacing to be really bad. Too much time was spent on the farm and the couple of months break after the first 6 episodes didn't help. But the final 2 episodes of the season were really good. So I knew I would be buying the season set when it came out.

We start off not too long after the end of season 1. The group runs into a major traffic jam on a highway. And before they can figure out what to do a herd of zombies attacks. Everyone manages to stay safe. But Sophia and Rick end up in the woods. They get separated. So the group starts looking for her. While out looking for her Carl is accidentally shot and this leads our group to a farm owned by Hershall.

Now I have read up to around issue 74 in the comic,so I thought I knew what was gonna happen this season. But so much was changed from the comic. In the comic the "Farm" storyline doesn't last very long. Which is good cause so far it is the weakest storyline in the comic.

Well the first half of the season is mainly the group on the farm. Trying to find Sophia and dealing with Carl getting shot. Shane and the guy who accidentally shot Carl head off to a FEMA station to get the needed medical gear and supplies. And they get ambushed by zombies. They are on their way out of the station and Shane has hurt his leg. And between the two of them they have maybe 10 bullets left. So Shane ends up shooting the other guy in the leg. So that the zombies will be busy eating him while Shane gets away. I can totally understand Shane's logic in this situation. He understands the world has changed. If he hadn't shot the guy in the left,him the guy and Carl would have all died. But by basically killing the guy,Shane and Carl will live. But this causes a noticeable change in Shane.

Back at the farm Glenn ends up hooking up with Hershall's daughter and through this learns that instead of killing the "walkers" Hershall and his group round them up and are keeping them in his barn. Once this knowledge gets out it causes all kinds of problems. Finally Shane goes to the barn and opens up the door. And the first "walker" to come out is Sophia. Rick shots and kills her and that is how the first half of the season ends.

The second half picks up the pace and we get a nice tense scene set in a bar in the nearby town. The tension between Rick and Shane keeps getting stronger and stronger. And finally in the next to last episode Shane tries to kill Rick. But Rick gets the jump on him. In the final episode the herd from the highway makes it's way to the farm and the group manages to escape. Later that night Rick reveals that the scientist at the CDC told him that everyone is already infected with the virus. So no matter how you die you will come back as a "walker". And the episode ends with the camera pulling back from the group huddled around a campfire and off in the distance we see a high security prison.

Watching this for a second time,and watching all the episodes in 2 days really helps the pace of the show. I still say they didn't need to spend so much time on the farm. But at least we got two great episodes at the end of the season.

The discs all look and sound great. Plus the final disc is loaded down with all kinds of extras. There is a few commentaries and all of them are worth a listen. There is also all the webisodes. Sadly the webisodes aren't worth a shit. The Walking Dead Season 2 set gets a C+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 11

April Fool's Day
1986
Triple Feature Paramount DVD

Even though I am a huge fan of slasher films,and really love the ones made in the 80s,I never saw April Fool's Day until a few years ago. After seeing a fun interview with the director in "Falling to Pieces" I knew I had to see this film. Well then I was in town and found a dvd set that had "Tales from the Darkside the movie","Stephen King's Graveyard Shift" and "April Fool's Day". It was only 10 bucks so I grabbed it.

Muffy,played by the mega cute Deborah Foreman,invites a bunch of her friends from college to visit her on an island her family owns. So the film starts off with the friends waiting on the ferry to take them to the island. And we get to meet and learn a little about each of them. The only people I knew from  the group was Amy "Friday the 13th part II" Steel and Thomas "Freaks and Geeks" Wilson. It is April 1st so we see plenty of pranks. Once they get to the island it seems that Muffy has set up all kinds of pranks all over the house they will be staying in. But something more sinister is happening. Someone is killing the friends. And at the end we get a twist that I bet ,unless someone has clued you in,no one would have guessed.

It seems this is a film that among slasher fans is either loved or hated. Most of the people that hate it,seem to hate it cause of the ending. I love the movie. The acting is better than most slasher films. With Steel,Foreman and Wilson being the standouts. And the FX work is well done. April Fool's Day gets a B.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 07

The Mammoth Book of Zombies Comics
Edited by David Kendall

Reprinting 18 different zombie comics in black and white,this book is a nice collection of a wide variety of zombie fiction. There is stories written by Steve Niles,Jon Arye,Buddy Scalera,M.Swank,Darko Macan,Oleg Kozyrev,Mark Bloodworth,Stuart Kerr and many other writers. Overall the artwork is pretty good with some stories having amazing artwork.

The real stand outs are "Necrotic:Dead Flesh on a Living Body","Dead Eyes Open","Might of the Living Dead" and a great adaptation of the Robert E. Howard horror classic "Pigeons from Hell". Necrotic is a fun story about an archaeologist that has his friend mummify him when he dies. He comes back to life about 60 years later and tries to live a normal life,but quickly realizes that isn't gonna happen. Dead Eyes Open is a fairly long story about zombies that don't crave human flesh and behave like living humans. Lots of twists and turns in the story that keep it interesting. Might of the living dead is a short comedy piece that helps offset all the grimness and darkness in the other stories. Then there is Pigeons from Hell.I had read the Robert E Howard story many years ago in a collection of short horror fiction. But had forgotten most of it. This adaptation is amazing. The artwork helps capture the mood of the story. If you are into comics and horror this a nice collection to get. The cover price is right at 18 bucks but it is easy to find a used copy for less than half of that. The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics gets an B+.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 06

31 days of Horror 2012 day 10

The Funhouse
1981
4 Movie Marathon Cult Horror Collection Universal DVD

For many years this was the one Tobe Hooper film I had not seen. Not really sure why. I can remember seeing the VHS in various video stores. I just never rented it. Then I found this 4 movie set for $5. Since I didn't have The Funhouse or Serpent and the Rainbow on DVD I picked it up. I know plenty of online horror fans that claim Tobe has only done one good film. But really beside the original TCM,TCM 2,The Funhouse,Lifeforce and Toolbox Murders are all good to great films from a guy who is one of my favorite directors.

Amy and her best friend Liz go to the local carnival with their boyfriends. After wandering around the midway for a few hours. Liz's boyfriend comes up with the great idea of them all spending the night inside the carnival's dark ride. While this is all happening We see that the guy wearing a Frankenstein's monster mask,who runs the dark ride,has gotten the fortune teller to come to his home. Which is inside the dark ride,it seems this guy has something wrong with him and he pays the fortune teller to let him fuck her. But as soon as she touches his penis he ejaculates. She tells he it is over and he freaks out and kills her. Amy and her friends see all this threw some cracks in the floor. They also see when this freak's father shows up and tells him he knows he isn't allowed to kill anyone from the carnival. While Amy's friends are watching this happen ,one of their cigarette lighters drops through the cracks in the ceiling,thus alerting the freak and his father that someone is watching them. So we get a nice long chase through the funhouse. We get to see what the freak looks like without his mask on and whoever did the FX work did a great job.

After seeing the film the first time I did some research online and found out that Dean Koontz did a novelization of the film under a different name. Well my local library happens to have the novelization on the shelves. So I checked it out to read. Wow the novelization adds a bunch to the film. In the novel we find out that Amy's mom at one time was married to the freak's dad. And the freak is Amy's half brother. We also learn that Amy is pregnant. And get more back story on the freak and the carnival. So if you enjoy The Funhouse track down the novelization and give it a read it will really add to your enjoyment of the film. The Funhouse gets a B-.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 05

American Horror Story
2011
20th century Fox Blu ray

Now last year during my 31 days of Horror I talked about the first 2 or 3 episodes of this new series. For some reason I watched the first 6 and never watched the last half of season 1. But the day it hit Blu Ray I bought it and over the past 3 days been marathoning it.

The Harmon's are a some what normal family. The father is a shrink,the mom has just suffered from a miscarriage and their daughter Violet is a moody brooding teen. After Ms Harmon catches her husband cheating on her,they end up moving to California to get a fresh start.

Turns out the house they buy has a long an gruesome history. Pretty much everybody who has lived in it is now dead. And if you die in the house your ghost will haunt the house forever.

Well right off the bat we get clues that this isn't gonna be your normal FX drama. The first episode is packed with strange images and camera work that isn't the norm.

Each episode of the season starts off with a flashback. And it is through these flashbacks we get a bunch of the back story filled in. Like in the first episode the neighbor,played by Jessica Lange,tells the maid "Don't make me kill you again!" Now we already know something is strange about the maid. Cause to the husband she looks like the young woman in the picture at the top. But everyone else sees her as an old lady with a wonky eye. A few episodes later we get a flashback where Jessica Lange kills the Moira the maid. Cause Jessica thinks the maid is screwing her husband.

Each episode is filled with stuff designed to unnerve you. Like the Rubber man. In the first episode the Harmon family finds a latex bondage suit in the attic. It belonged to the previous owners. A gay couple who died in the house. And someone keeps showing up wearing the Rubber Man outfit all through out the season.

What I really liked about the show is seeing some of these episodes for the second time I can see all the little clues and foreshadowing that was in them. Stuff that if you know what to look for lets you know what will happen later on in the season.

The Blu Ray set looks amazing. The sound is well done and helps set the mood. I haven't watched any of the extras. But did listen to the commentary on the first episode. One drawback to that is there is some major spoilers in that commentary. But oh well. American Horror Story season 1 Blu Ray gets a A-.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 09

Tender Flesh
1997
Lust for Frankenstein/Tender Flesh double feature Shock-O-rama Cinema DVD

I first heard about this Jess Franco film thanks to the late Alternative Cinema magazine. They did a long review of it and talked about how the limited edition VHS release was gonna be the only release of the fully uncut version. At the time I had just discovered Jess Franco and really wanted to see Tender Flesh,but the price for the VHS was more than I was willing to pay. Fast forward to 2009 and I find on eBay a DVD that not only has the fully uncut Tender Flesh but the Jess Franco film Lust for Frankenstein. I ordered it. And ended up having to wait about 2 weeks before I finally got it.

Amber Newman plays a stripper,and her and her mega sleazy boyfriend are invited to a private party on an island owned by a very rich woman. What they don't know is this woman wants them to come so she can hunt them down. This is Jess Franco's version of the classic story "The Most Dangerous Game". The cast has a few people that if you are into cult cinema you will know. People like Amber Newman,Monique Parent and the late Lina Romay. Now while this is a sleazier version of the most dangerous game,what makes it stand out in most people who have seen it's minds is a scene where a woman marinades a steak by pissing on it. And you can tell this scene isn't faked. Yeah I know it is pretty gross. And I bet that scene is the one that was supposed to be removed from the non-limited edition VHS releases. No idea if there ever was a non-limited edition release. Overall the film isn't bad. Amber and Monique are both nice looking ladies. The acting is all over the place,with some of the actors doing good jobs. And some of them being worse than a kindergarden production of Peter Pan. Tender Flesh gets a C-.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 04

From WING in 2001 here is Leatherface vs Jason.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 08

La lengua asesina AKA Killer Tongue
1996
4 pack Source One Entertainment DVD


Back in 1995 or 1996 I read an article in Fangoria about an upcoming horror film. It was being filmed in Spain and had Robert "Freddy" Englund,Doug "Pinhead" Bradley and Melinda "Return of the Living Dead III" Clarke. This movie was La lengua asesina AKA Killer Tongue. From the article and the various pictures it looked like it was gonna be a fun little horror comedy. Well I never saw it for rent in any video store in my area. And it wasn't until sometime in 1999 that I found it for rent in Hollywood Video. After one viewing it quickly became a favorite of mine. I never did see it on DVD,then in 2008 I found a DVD four pack that had it,the Fear,The Fear Halloween Night and Grim on it. And the DVD was only $5. So I had to get it.

Melinda Clarke is hiding out in the desert with her four poodles. Her boyfriend and her have done a bank heist job. He got caught,but not before he could hide the money. So she is waiting on him to get released so they can get the money and live a life of freedom. One night she sees a meteor crash not to far from her home. Part of it ends up in her food. Which Melinda and her four dogs eat. This causes Melinda's tongue to gain super powers and a mind of it's own. And her four dogs turn into are transformed into drag queens. But the tongue is a killer tongue and makes Melinda go out and kill people. Her boyfriend escapes from jail,and is pursued by the warden and one of the guards. These two are played by Robert Englund and Doug Bradley.

Killer Tongue is a film I am surprised doesn't have a big cult following. It has all that is needed to attract a devoted cult following,but it seems even among hardcore film fans the film is pretty much unknown. I think it is one of the better horror movies of the 90s and majorly under-rated. Killer Tongue gets a B.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 07

Last Man on Earth
1964
Last man on Earth/The Devil's Messenger double feature Digiview Entertainment DVD

Ever since I saw the original House on Haunted Hill one Halloween night when I was very young, I have been a fan of Vincent Price. So after seeing the Omega Man,and that cinematic abortion that was  I am Legend with Will Smith, I had to see the first film based on the classic Richard Matheson 1954 novel I Am Legend. Found this at Walmart in their selection of $1 DVDs.

It is 1968 and Vincent Price spends his days going out to get supplies and killing all the vampires he can find. And his nights walled up in his house hoping the vampires  can't get in and kill him. Filmed in Rome this black and white film has a very dream like feel and look to it. Mr Price does a great job in the lead. Which  is good cause the film is pretty much a one man show. While the film does change some stuff from the novel so far it is the closest to the novel any film has gotten. The cinematography really helps capture the loneliness that Vincent is suffering from. One day he sees a dog while out making his rounds. He chases after the dog and finds out there is other people out there . They are infected but haven't become vampires thanks to some vaccine. One of them goes back to his house with him. And when the others of her group show up she tries her best to keep them from killing Vincent. But it doesn't work. These other semi infected people finally impale Vincent with a spear on the altar in a church. With his dying breath he declares himself the last man on Earth. Last Man on Earth gets a B.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 06

Cherry Falls
2000
Cherry Falls/Terror Tract Alliance Atlantis Canadian DVD

Before it came out Cherry Falls was getting lots of press in genre magazines and online. Rumors said that the first cut of the film got a NC-17 rating. So it was edited five times until it got an R rating. For some reason it didn't get any kind of theatrical release and finally after what seemed like years made it's premiere on the USA network in a heavily edited version. I saw it when it first aired on USA and even  with it edited for cable could see that it had potential to be a pretty good modern slasher film. Well I kind of forgot about the movie until around 2005. When I heard it had gotten a DVD release. As a double feature DVD along with Terror Tract,an anthology horror film starring the late John Ritter. Well I could never find the DVD. It seems like it quickly went out of print. And when I would find a copy online for sale it was selling for way more than I was willing to pay. So I just gave up on owning a copy. Then earlier this year my Aunt had asked me to make a wishlist of stuff I wanted for my birthday. I was making the list at Amazon and discovered that someone was selling this DVD brand new for about 10 bucks. So I threw it on the wishlist,thinking that if my Aunt didn't buy it for me I would buy it for myself.  Well since she is such a great lady,for a midget,she got it and some other DVDs for me. One thing I noticed about the copy I have is it is a Canadian release and it comes in one of those stupid ass new eco-amray cases. So I have no idea if this is a new release or maybe a bunch of copies were found in some warehouse and repackaged. I am just happy to finally have a copy.

Set in the quiet town of Cherry Falls Virgina,the film starts off with the late Britney Murphy in a car with her boyfriend. Britney gets in trouble for coming home after curfew and is grounded by her father who is the town sheriff. Turns out that same night two other teenagers that go to the same school as Britney are killed. After being checked out by a medical personal it turns out that the girl was still a virgin. And the killer has carved the word virgin into both of the victims bodies. Word quickly gets out about the killer and their apparent M.O. and the teenagers plan a huge orgy at an old abandoned house. Figuring that the killer is only killing virgins,so if there is no virgins the killer will have no one to kill. We also find out that Britney's dad and some of his old high school buddies have a dark secret. And maybe this secret has some connection to the murders.

I love how this movie takes the slasher tropes of only the sexually active teens being killed and turns it completely around. Plus I have always thought Britney Murphy,before her personal demons got the better of her, was a very good actress. The cast is pretty good with Jay Mohr,DJ Qualls and Michael Biehn being the stand outs. The FX work is well done and best of all it is all practical FX no fucking CGI. I would love to see the original cut of the movie released. But it looks like that isn't going to happen. At least the DVD is the R rated cut. Cherry Falls gets a B-.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 03

From IWA Japan in 1997 here is a short fun match between Leatherface and Freddy.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 05

Chopping Mall
1986
Horror Collection 8 Movie pack Lionsgate DVD

Chopping Mall is a film I would always hear about from my friends in school. It seems it was played on one of the various premium movie channels a bunch back in the late 80s. But since the area I grew up in didn't get cable till the end of 1990 I never saw it. I had always wanted to rent it,but never saw the VHS in any video store. So when I got the multipack that had this on it I was pretty happy.

Directed and co-written by Jim Wynorski,Chopping Mall was originally titled Killbots. The film was first released under the Killbots title and did horrible. Then it was released as Chopping Mall and made a nice profit. The cast actually has some semi well known stars for such a low budgeted film. We got Kelli Maroney,Tony O'Dell who is better known for being on the ABC sitcom Head of the class,and cameos from Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov. Even Roger Corman regular Dick Miller shows up in a small part.

Set in the Park Plaza mall,we see that they had just installed a new state of the art security system. Which includes 3 robots that are armed with tasers and tranquilizer guns. A handful of couples decide to throw a party in in the furniture store,where some of them work,after the mall is closed. Most of the couples sneak off to have sex. But Tony O'Dell and Kelli Maroney end up watching old science fiction films on TV. While the party is going on a lightning storm hits the computer that is in control of the security robots,causing them to become killers. One of the couples leaves the store to go get some cigs and is killed by the robots. So the remaining guys go break into the sporting goods store,which is named "Peckinpah's" , to get some guns to protect themselves. At the same time the ladies arm themselves with some road flares and gasoline. After some wild misadventures the only people left alive are Tony and Kelli. And between the two of them they come up with a plan to destroy the robots and hopefully escape the now deadly mall. I have no idea who designed the robots but they did a very good job. They have a unique look,and each one seems to have it's own personality. The movie is a nice blend of horror,science fiction and comedy. And since it came in a pack of 8 films for $5 that means it only cost me about 65 cents. It is more than worth that amount. Now they print they used for the DVD shows some wear and hasn't been remastered. But for the cheap price it is not that big a deal. Chopping Mall gets a C+. 

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 02

Web of Mystery was a pre-code horror comic from Ace comics.Lasting 29 issues. The first issue has a cover date of Feb 1951. And the final issue ,#29,came out in Sept 1955. The first 28 issues were all pre-code,but the final issue has the CCA stamp on it's cover. This issue published some older stories that had been changed cause of the Comics Code Authority guidelines.

The issue I read today was issue 11 from July of 1952. I picked this issue out cause of the cover.You got a giant werewolf. A well drawn beautiful woman and a guy that looks kind of like Mark Trail. There is 4 stories in this issue.

The first story is "Bride’s Dowry Of Doom" which has artwork by Louis Zansky.A douche bag is wanting to drill for oil on what is an old American Indian burial ground. He gets warned by an old lady that if he does this he will be cursed. But of course he doesn't listen.He sets fire to the caskets that have been dug up and put to the side. And in the smoke from the fire he sees a beautiful Indian maiden. The next day he is at a diner and sees a waitress that looks just like the Indian maiden.He uses his money to quickly sweep her off her feet and they are married soon. At the wedding the old lady shows up and stabs the bride. But there is no wound. The bride tells him that he must have been mistaken. That she wasn't wounded by the old lady's knife. That night they are getting ready for bed. And he ask his new wife about the old lady. She blows him off and then changes into a vampire.She knocks her new husband on the head and flies off to feed her craving for blood. After getting full she comes back home. He wakes up and sees her. But she tells him he must have been hallucinating. And that he attacked her,while fighting him off he hit his head and was knocked out. A few days later he nicks his face while shaving.She sees the blood and freaks out. He quickly wipes the blood off his face and she admits to being a vampire.She explains to him how she was an "Indian Princess" who was caught practicing "vampireism". Then burned at the stake in the burial ground. But when he burned all the old coffins the fire temporarily purified her. And she was reborn as a pretty young woman.The old lady that attacked her at the wedding is her great-great-great grandmother who is an Indian witch woman. She has her new husband tie her up,so that when that night her cravings come back she won't be able to go out and kill people. Later that night she is begging him to release her,but then the old lady enters the house.The old lady puts a spell on him that causes him to pass out. And his new wife is released to go feed.She comes back the next morning but is stuck in her vampire form. They start fighting and end up on one of his oil drilling towers. He manages to lasso her with a rope to prevent her from flying off. But this also causes him to stumble off the tower and fall to his death. His body is found by the oil workers and next to him is some old moldy bones. And the story ends with the old lady informing us he died in the exact same place as his wife did many years ago. While this isn't the best horror story I have read,it is fun. The artwork is pretty good for the era it came out in.

Up next is a one page story that is supposed to be based on true events. Nothing about it really stands out. The next full story is the one the cover is based on. "Dreaded Duo’s Blood Banquet" is the title of this story.It is about a traveling circus. Where the dog faced boy Georgie is in love with the owner's beautiful daughter Lil Damion. He will do anything for her. But she only uses him for kicks.One dark and rainy night she gets fed up with him and punches him. Then has the other carnival workers run him off.Georgie is walking through a graveyard when he runs into a mysterious man. This man offers to change Georgie's face. If Georgie will help the man dig up a grave. Georgie is told to dig up the grave and remove the stake in the corpse's heart. After being told this a bolt of lightning strikes right where the mysterious man was standing. Georgie digs and digs and finally gets down to the coffin. He opens it and is about to pull out the stake when some demonic looking things appear.They warn him that if he removes the stake his wish will be fulfilled but with a penalty. Then they disappear right when a bolt of lightning strikes the area they are in. Georgie reaches down and removes the stake. As soon as the stake is removed Georgie is struck by lightning. When Georgie wakes up the mysterious man is there and tells him he has been unconscious for weeks. During this time the man has preformed many surgeries on Georgie's face. Georgie gets up and removes the bandages from his face and sees that now he is a handsome man. So he leaves and goes back to the circus. He finds Lil and ask her out on a date. She agrees,and then he spots the mysterious man in the crowd. He runs over to the man and is told "No! Not now! It is almost midnight!Leave me alone!" And the mysterious man started turning into a werewolf. Georgie sees the werewolf attacking Lil and goes to protect her. The werewolf attacks him,but some of the carnival's roustabouts come up and drive off the werewolf. Georgie heads back to his home and when he gets there he turns into a werewolf. As the werewolf he runs off to the hospital where Lil has been taken. He attacks and kills her. At her funeral he figures out that maybe if he kills the man that turned him into a werewolf is killed he might lose the curse of the werewolf. Georgie goes to the house where the mysterious man performed the surgeries and waits for him to show back up.They both fight and Georgie manages to kill the man. But as the fight is going on the demons show back up and inform us that after the fight Georgie will have to face the penalty they mentioned earlier. It seems the penalty is that Georgie's face has changed back to it's dog like appearance.The old house burns down and the story ends with some people finding Georgie's body in the ruins of the old house. Pretty good story with some very well done artwork.

We get another one page "based on a true story" story that again isn't worth reading. Then the third story "Satan And The Devil-Bull" starts which has artwork by Lou Cameron and Rocco Mastroserio.Set in Central America,this is a  story about a bullfighter. It seems this small town is right at the foot of a volcano. And they have a ceremony ,where a stuffed "devil-bull" is hung in the town square and it is stabbed many time with swords and knives. This supposedly keeps the volcano from erupting. There is a jealous bullfighter in the town. He receives a visit from the devil and is told that on the next day he will become the master bullfighter of the town. He tells the devil this won't happen cause of a better bullfighter in the town. But the devil informs him if he goes and removes a special sword from the stuffed "devil-bull" he will win the bullfighter event. The devil tell him that after he removes the sword he must take it to a certain cave. Then the devil disappears. Miguel ,the bullfighter,goes and removes the sword and takes it to the cave. But once he is in there lightning comes in and hits some stones that look like demons. These stones come alive and tell Miguel he must take the sword and throw it into the lava of the volcano. When he does this he sees the devil. He tells him by destroying the sword the Devil is now free from his imprisonment. Miguel passes out and when he wakes up he is back in his hotel room.The villagers see that the sword has been removed and believe this means they are all doomed to death.At the arena,Miguel watches as a bull kills the rival bullfighter. Satan appears to Miguel and tells him he has given him some of his powers. Miguel uses this to kill the bull and become the villages new master bullfighter. All the women of village start flirting with Miguel. Miguel knows that this is cause of his new satanic powers. And he starts making plans to use his powers to get rich. But Satan appears and warns him to not use the powers he has. Miguel of course doesn't listen.Satan uses a car to kill Miguel. But at Miguel's funeral he rises up from his casket. Satan tells him he is now cursed to be one of the devil's minions He is told the only way to get out of this is to get all the villages to surrender their souls to Satan. At this same moment the volcano erupts and lava is headed to the village.The villagers start to run away but Miguel stops them. He tells them to only way to save the village and their lives is to sell their souls to the Devil. They don't believe him. So to prove he now has powers he walks out into the lava. Then all of the sudden the sword from earlier appears and stabs Miguel throw his heart. He dies and now that the sword is back in the village Satan is again imprisoned in the volcano. This was a fun story but the ending gets a bit wonky. But artwork is really well done and helps make up for some of the wonky parts of the story.

Up next is a two page text only story. Followed by the final story. Titled "The Druid Dirge" it has artwork by Bill Molno.Set in England at Stonehenge. This story while it has beautiful artwork is pretty badly written.It is about a guy who has a song that causes Druids to reappear. And the Druids start sacrificing people at Stonehenge. Sadly like I said the story is pretty much crap. But it does have the best artwork in this issue.

Since this comic is in the public domain it can legally be downloaded. I found my copy at Digital comic museum .  Which is a great site filled with lots of scans of public domain comics. Web of Mystery #11 gets a C+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 04

Bloodlust Zombies
2011
bootleg dvd

First heard about this film about a year ago. And figured OK it is a low budget zombie movie starring a well known porn star how good could it be. Well about a week ago I finally got a copy and watched it.

We are in some government complex. And an accident happens that causes the building to be locked down. No one can come in or go out. And no cellphone or normal phone will work. Alexis plays this lady that is fucking the old man that owns the complex. While the film is barely over an hour,it feels like it is three hours long. Weirdly the best acting in the film comes from Alexis. Most of the gore FX is CGI and not even good CGI. Kind of glad I didn't buy this cause I am sure the 10 bucks it cost for the DVD is more than they spent on the script and FX work. Bloodlust Zombies gets a D-.