The Smurfs A Christmas Carol

 

TITLE-The Smurfs A Christmas Carol

SOURCE-Sony DVD

I've seen the classic Hanna Barbara Smurfs Xmas special many times. Which means when I found the above pictured dvd for a quarter I took a chance.

Running barely 22 minutes with no extras this DVD starts off with the new 3d animated style of the Smurfs. Before not long after that going to a recreation of the old 2d style. A few scenes try to combined the 2d characters with 3d backgrounds and it looks cheap.

Story is of course Dicken's A Christmas Carol. With Grouchy Smurf in the place of Scrooge. Smurfette is the Ghost of Xmas past. Showing us why Grouchy hates Xmas. Seems Grouchy wants a hang glider for Xmas but gets what every Smurf gets. A new hat...

Brainy is Ghost of Xmas present,in the most borning section of this already short cartoon.

Then we get Hefty Smurf as the Ghost of Xmas Future. Seems in the future to cheer up Grouchy the entire village goes off into the woods get something,sorry that part slipped my mind this isnt a grreat cartoon. They get captured by Gargamel.

We learn that all year Papa Smurf works on the hats. Making each one have a unique thing that connects it to the Smurf it is made for.

After his trips to the  past,present and future of course Grouchy now wants his hat. And guess what it doubles as a hang glider. Smurfs sing and this crapfest is over.

I know most specials like this are cheaply made cash grabs. This one is very much that. Looked and when this came out it was 10 bucks. 10 bucks for less than 30 minutes of cartoon. Hell why not put some of the old classic episodes on there. It's a freaking dvd you can fit up to 4 hours of video on it easy. Nope put one cheap looking new cartoon on it. Kids won't notice.

the Smurfs A Christmas Carol gets a D+ 

Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas

 

TITLE-Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas

SOURCE-DVD

As a kid where I grew up there was no cable. So all those HBO classic most kids of my generation grew up seeing often I either never saw or rarely saw. Emmett Otter is one of those specials that I got lucky and saw often.

The tiny rural school I went to for my first 5 years of schooling would do a big Xmas party the last day before Xmas break started. While the teachers and parents were getting the rooms ready all us kids would be hauled into the school library and shown Emmett Otter, taped off HBO by the school librarian. I looked forward to seeing it each year. Then I went on to Jr High and forgot about it.

So finding the dvd cheap earlier this year I was excited. Put it on one morning while eating breakfast and I can see why this is a beloved Xmas special for Generation X kids.

Emmett Otter and his mother are poor. But happy. She does laundry to make money. Emmett uses his dead father's toolbox to do small repairs and jobs.

Emmett and his friends form a jug band. Emmett needs a washtub to make a washtub bass out of . But the only one he has access too is his mothers and he doesn't want to put a hole in it. But Emmett knows his band could win the big contest and winning it will get him the money his mom and him so badly need.

Emmett's mother on the other hand needs money to make a new dress, she also is entering the contest. Hoping to win enough money to buy Emmett a guitar. To get the money to buy dress making materials she has to sell the tools.

And our big bads are the River Bottom band. A group of ruffians that are also in the contest. 

Loaded with songs this is one of my favorite Henson Workshop product. The work that went into making Emmett Otter and his world seem real is mind blowing. Besides the part where Emmett and his Mother are dancing on ice ,the rest of the puppet work looks so good you forget they are puppets.

Now Emmett and his band lose the contest, his mother loses and River Bottom Band wins. Still someone sees Emmett's band and his mother and they get offered a job playing at a local joint on the weekends.

I haven't seen this aired on TV in decades. Looking around it is currently on Amazon Prime video. And you can rent it off Youtube. But dig further and you can find a VHS rip on Youtube for free. If you haven't seen this go watch it. Yea the plot is one we have seen 100 times. It is the work that went into this special and the music that makes it stand out.

Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas gets a B+

The Best of Benny Hill DVD

 

TITLE-The Best of Benny Hill

SOURCE-Anchor Bay  DVD

Yep that is my amazing dog Maggot Ass the Wonder Mutt in the above picture. Lots of the time in  the early morning or late night she will chill and watch dvds with me.

First off I totally forgot that Anchor Bay released stuff like this. For most they are known for their many Horror DVD releases. Lots of classics got amazing releases from  Anchor Bay.

Now Benny Hill,seems for us in the USA it was very much a late 70s thru early 80s thing. Airing in syndication,usually Fri/Sat/Sunday nights after the 10pm news.

I can't remember what channel I saw it on as a kid. Just know I got to stay up late Sundays. At 1030pm was Benny Hill for 30 minutes then 11pm was Battlestar Galactica reruns. Being a kid when Star Wars started BSG was the show I had to see. Even when it was just reruns I had seen before.

Also being a kid under 10 most of the humor in Benny Hill flew over my head. I had no clue the various UK cultural references he was making were. And all the sex humor I didn't get. To me it was a color verison of 3 Stooges. So I loved it. Looked forward to it and Battlestar. Getting to stay up see them made up for having to be up at 6am to get ready for 7am mass.

No clue if this DVD is 3 full episodes,it runs 1 hour and 26 minutes. Or if it is just almost 90 minutes worth of skits. 

When I found this DVD it took me months to get it watched. Then early one morning I got a drink,grabbed Maggot Ass and watched it while the house was quiet. For that almost 90 minutes I was a kid again. But this time getting more of the jokes than I did 40 years ago.

Sure lots of the humor wouldn't fly in today's culture. But it is like that with so much stuff. LOok at early X-men comics,you got Prof X lusting after 16 year old Jean Grey. 

If you remember this show I would say track down one of the dvds cheap and give it a rewatch. It made me laugh more than expected.

The Best of Benny Hill gets a C+

Back to the Gulf Coast or How a horror fan from the country got me back to my old stomping grounds

 Not a review this time folks. And if you don't give a crap about pro wrestling this is one to skip.

A bit over a year and a half ago instead of spending most weekends watching movies and just hanging out I got back into hitting up indie wrestling shows. 

From 2012 until 2017 At least 1 weekend a month if not 2 I would be at a indie wrestling show. Filming and hanging out.

Then I cut back. Various reasons for this. Couple of feds folded. My main ride changed their routine and I was back to just hitting my local indie.

Then 2023 in Feb I learned that a indie wrestler lived not that far from me. Matter of fact we both live right off a major highway. And he has to pass 5 minutes from my home most of his trips to shows. 

He is a huge horror and video game guy. And at shows for a few years we would bullshit those subjects. Plus learned he is one of the few people I know that owns an Evercade we got into the habit of talking Evercade stuff often.

And he hated traveling alone. So learning I lived on his route and was free often I started riding with Nightmare Jeremiah to shows.

Bringing my cameras and tote. Filming the matches selling stuff and just having fun. Went from hitting 6 or so shows a year to hitting 3 or 4 a month.

Now since my paternal grandfather died almost 10 years ago I stopped going to the Gulf Coast. But with Nightmare being booked usually 2 or 3 times a month on  the coast I was heading down that way again.

Here's what a normal Saturday that there is a show is like now.

Try to stay up late Friday so I can sleep in Saturday. Most shows are over at 10pm. By the time we pack up and thank everyone it is close to 11pm before we get on the road. And depending on where on the coast I am it is 2 1/2 to 3 hours before I get home. And rule #1 of wrestling road trips is whoever is in the front passenger seat does not sleep. Their job is to make sure the driver stays awake.

So wake up around 10 or 11am. Make sure camera are charged. Make sure camera gear is packed. Check the fanny pack make sure I got plenty of money to make change with. Thanks to cashapp,Venmo and Paypal if people got cash on them it is a few twenties. Most of the stuff on  my table is 5 or 10 bucks.

After I am sure all is packed. And the tote is checked to make sure all the merch is priced time for breakfast. Need something  filling cause lunch will be snacks grabbed at the gas station.

By 12pm got the tote,camera bag and a 12 pack of Mountain Dew Zero Sugar sitting on  my car port. 

Now got 3 hours to kill. Nightmare can't leave his home until 2pm or a bit after. So will be 3pm before he gets to my place.

Usually Saturdays while killing the 3 hours I try to catch up on Impact and ROH weekly tv shows. IF they aren't finished before I leave I will finish watching them on my phone while riding to the coast.

2pm or 215pm get the messge Nightmare is heading out. Depending on  who all is going I know it will take him 40 minutes to an hour to get to my home.

Once he pulls up,load my stuff in the car and on the road. Once we make a fast stop at the former 84 Chevron,now the 76 station on HWY 84,grab gas and snacks it is normally at least 2 hours 30 minutes of just 2 or 3 guys in a car talking. 

Whatever horror movies we have seen recently gets discussed. Whatever the newest video games are is discussed. Then since Nightmare is a fan of the DC and Marvel TV shows and Movies but hasnt read the comics that much I end up filling in gaps in  his comic book lore.

Now we aren't always headed to the MS gulf coast. But that is where 3 of the locations are.

Speaking of the locations each has it's own unique look and feel.

SWO runs a storm shelter in Poplarville MS. Huge concrete building on the fairgrounds. Been to one of their events and was expecting at most 20 fans. They had 200 and we both did great at our tables. I had gotten in a month before this a pile of Hallmark WWE ornaments. Got like 40 for 20 bucks and was selling them 3 bucks each or 2 for 5. 

Battlezone runs normally Braxton Mississippi. For a bit their main venue was the building where the fire department stored their trucks. No power no water. So they got a generator to run some lights and fans. Got two portapotties out front for the bathroom or "Take a walk down the trail into the woods and watch out for snakes PIMP" I took option 2. And during the main event horseflies attacked the crowd.

The coast venues oh man.

AWA Pro ran Pascagoula MS and Ocean Springs MS. In Pascagoula they ran the VFW Hall ,which is right by the hospital.Small place but has good food that is priced fairly. And cause of the location we have to drive through a part of where I grew up to get there.

There Ocean Springs  main venue is this great civic center. On Highway 90. Decent food. This place has a nice balcony that I will go up and film from sometimes. 

The other main fed on the coast I hit up is The Gulf Coast Wrestling. They always run the same place in Bay St Louis. An old country and western bar that closed years ago. Now it is the GCW Clubhouse. It's dark inside and the  crowd gets rowdy. And it reminds me of going to shows at bars when I was a kid and dad would take me.

After the show ends at 930 or 10pm time to start packing up.

Then normally 2 trips to the car to carry everything  out. Go around thanking everyone. Then back in  the car.

Normally the talk is about the show and matches. A quick stop at the Loves Truck Stop south of McComb MS to get gas and snacks and walk a bit. About 30 minutes later I am home. Unload my stuff and if I'm tired I go crash out. Normally I'm wide awake and I start uploading my footage.


EDIT-This was written back in September 2024. I touched it up some and had I planned to appear near the end of November,and was gonna load it up with pics from some AWA PRO and TGCW shows from that month. 

Then 2nd week of November AWA PRO canceled that weekends show in Ocean Springs and folded. As of right now it appears they are dead.

Son In Law DVD

 

TITLE-Son In Law 

SOURCE-DVD

There isn't many Thanksgiving movies. Everyone remembers and mentions Planes,Trains and Automobiles. Son in Law is forgotten. And while I do love PTA, Son in Law is the one I watch every year for Thanksgiving.

Bekah is a girl from farm country,she goes off to college and is scared. BUt then meets the Dorm RA ,known as Crawl,and he helps her get out of her shell. So when she learns Crawl is gonna spend Thanksgiving Break alone at the dorms she brings him home with her. And tells everyone he is her boyfriend.

Yep a outsider goes to rural USA film. What makes this one work so well is the cast. Pauly Shore is at his best in this movie. Managing to be his normal Weasel character but not be annoying. Carla Gugino is great as Bekah. Other stand outs are The Great Hambino from Sandlot as Bekah's little brother.

Of course at first Bekah's family hates Crawl. Then he grows on them and becomes a part of the family. Seemed like for years this aired on TBS every year near Thanksgiving. But now it is forgotten.

2 scenes really stand out for me. One has Crawl operating a giant combine in the field. He sees it has a cassette deck and tosses in the John Denver cassette. Which means we get Pauly Shore singing Thank God I'm A Country Boy. The other is when Crawl goes to a square dance and takes over as the caller.

Pretty much if you hate Pauly Shore this is the one of his films you might enjoy. If you love Pauly this is his best.

Son In Law gets a B+

Death Brings Roses Blu Ray

TITLE-Death Brings Roses

SOURCE-Severin Jack Weis Double Feature Blu Ray

Jack Weis has went from being a director I hadn't heard of,to now being one I want to see everything he did.

First I saw the great Mardi Gras Massacre. Then I got in this double feature Blu Ray.

Death Brings Roses isn't a horror film. It is a drama. Set in mid 70s New Orleans,Chuck is the money man for a local "talent Agent". Chuck goes to all the clubs,bars and pubs in the infamous French Quarter and collects their "dues".

He makes good money doing this. Has a woman he would love to date. But she isn't happy with his job. Also we find out him and his best friend are on the run. Seems some pool hall fight went wrong and they accidentally killed someone in Memphis. Now they are hiding in the Big Easy.

Chuck gets sent to one strip club. The owner is weeks behind on dues. And all the strippers are refusing to sign the new contract. 

Chuck goes into the dressing room and in a scene that is badly acted but at the same time sleazy and real,Chuck slaps and beats down and harrasses the dancers until they sign the new contract.

The boss is so happy with this and all the work Chuck has put in he makes him his full partner. Yep 50/50. Which means Chuck needs to find his replacement. And he hires his buddy of course.

Then the boss is killed,shot,right outside the offices one morning. Chuck is now in charge,is seeing the girl that he wanted to. Then starts learning his old boss was mobbed up. 

The Higher ups like Chuck,make him an offer. He can retired from the business now with enough money to move away and live a quiet life. Or he can stay and really see how far the boss man's tendrils went.

Sleazy and cheap and you can feel the Louisiana humidity coming off the screen. Death Brings Roses was a movie I wasn't looking forward to. The description sounds like piles of other films I have seen.

A combination of just the era it was made and the locations helped make this much more than it should be for me. I spent my second viewing pausing it anytime they were outside and in the city. Looking at what streets it was and seeing places I knew. But from 75 or so. Which means the names are different.

The insides of the various clubs and bars looks like I remember places like that looking in the late 90s. Which would be the last time I was going out drinking in the French Quarter.

Yea this is nothing special of a film. Still it caught my attention and kept it the entire under 80 minute running time.

Death Brings Roses gets a C+.

Stub Teaches Droop Golf DVD

 

TITLE-Stub teaches Droop Golf 
SOURCE-DVD

The various places I buy used dvds from now have started making  bundles to get rid of overstock. Instead of 50 cents or a buck a dvd you will get 6 dvds for 2 bucks. Good way for them to clear out overstock. Still lots of times I will buy a bundle of 6  just for 2 of the dvds in the bundle.

Stubs Teaches Droop Golf is one I got in a bundle. I saw that cover and figured one night when I am up late uploading footage I will give it a watch.

The Baldknobbers are a Branson  Missouri based "comedy" team. "Comedy" cause only one joke/skit/gag in  this dvd made me chuckle.

It is typical lowest common denominator humor. The kind of jokes a Grandpa tells his grandkids. 

That one bit that made me chuckle?  Droop and Stub are on a golf course. A ball gets hit into the woods. So Droop runs in  after it. Comes running  out fast yelling TIGER WOODS TIGER WOODS! So Stubs runs into the trees expecting to meet Tiger Woods. Nooe Stub runs  into the woods and we get stock footage of a tiger growling.

So yea this dvd wasn't aimed at me at all. Fine. Being  curious I checked the Baldknobbers website is still going. A bit of digging  revealed this DVD sold for 30 bucks with shipping when it came out. For something that was around 45 minutes??!?!?!? So not only is it not funny but they charged way too much.

Stub Teaches Droop Golf gets a F+

Scooby Doo & Batman The Brave and the Bold DVD

 

TITLE-Scooby Doo & Batman The Brave and the Bold
SOURCE-WB DVD

Back when Brave and the Bold was airing I worked the night it aired. Would record it and when I got home  at 8am the next morning sit and watch it before going to bed. Fun show that combined the silliness of the Batman66 tv show with a great selection guest stars. Can't hate a show that produced at least 4 Plastic Man Figures.

In 2018 I saw this got released. Normally with these Scooby Doo movies I wait a year and find a used copy for a few bucks. This one I paid the full retail price.

Mystery Inc is trying to solve a mystery about a ghostly puppetmaster. When they do and learn the puppet master is Martian Manhunter and the puppet is Detective Chimp we learn this was a test. To see if Mystery Inc is good enough to join this mystery solving team Batman has formed. And what a team,the Question,Plastic Man,Black Canery,Aquaman and the previously mentioned Detective Chimp and Johnn Jozz.

Batman has 1 unsolved mystery from early in his career. And this film is about how him and the Scooby Gang solve this mystery.

Loaded with cameos and references that the comic fans and older Scooby fan will love. My favorite is the gang being told to goto the "Corner of Spears and Ruby." 

Now I haven't watched this since I got it 6 years ago. And until 10 minutes from the ending I had forgotten who the big bad was. The Crimson Cowl,who I nicknamed Red Booger,is a interesting attempt at creating a new Batman Rogue. At least I think he is new.

Good animation,good voice acting and with this being a tiny bit over 70s minutes a good length. Extras are the 2 episodes of the New Scooby Doo Movies show with Batman and Robin.

Scooby Doo & Batman The Brave & The Bold gets a B+

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 31 Crypt of Dark Secrets

 

TITLE-Crypt of Dark Secrets

SOURCE-Severin Blu Ray

Jack Weis is a filmmaker I had never heard of until the last 10 years. Saw Mardi Gras Massacre and wanted to see more from this NOLA based director. Then back during late Spring,Severin had their big sale. This double feature was cheap and the day my order finally arrived I opened this up and watched both movies.

Set in New Orleans and the swamps and bayous that are right outside the city Crypt of Dark Secrets has a generic as fuck title. Makes me think of some pre-code EC Comics ripoff from Avon or Standard.

A Nam vet is living on the island out in the bayou. The island rumored to be haunted. People claim to have seen a snake that can change into a naked woman,named Dambella,in this area of the swamp.

The cops come out to see the vet and warned him about keeping his money there at his home. Talking him into visiting a bank in the city.

While at the bank,and the bank worker unsuccessfully talking our vet into getting  a bank account,a sleazy local overhears that this vet is just cashing his military checks and leaving it under his bed.

This local plots with his best buddy and his wife to go rob the vet. So out into the swamps they go. Sneaking onto the island and waiting on the vet to return.

When he does they knock him into the swamp and it appears he has died. They make off with the money,and we see a snake coming up. It turns into a naked lady and starts to dance above the dead vet. 

Snake Lady is magical and by shaking and rubbing her naked body on recently deceased people she can bring them back to life.

Our robbers start seeing blood appearing on the money they stole. And being idiots go turn themselves into the cops.

Which leads to the cops and the robbers returning to the island. Now with the Vet back alive and Snake Lady made cause he was killed.

Wow this was obviously made cause Weis found a really attractive "exotic" looking woman who was willing to dance and dry hump people while naked.

Running under 80 minutes if you cut out the long dance parts this would be under an hour. Not complaining about naked hot lady dancing. Just explaining how little there is to this film.

The plot feels like it was rejected by the Scooby Doo writers for being too basic. Thankfully the locations make up for that. It was great seeing the swamps by NOLA. And then mid 70s New Orleans. Not sure when I made my first visit to the city of southern sin. Guessing it was late 70s. So much of what I saw of the city in this film looked the same last time I visited.

The acting....well it goes from ok to wow I guess no one else was available. At least our three robbers appear to be from the area so you do not have horrible fake CAJUN accents.

The FX is low budget. But works for this film. I am sure this was made to be the second or third film on a double or triple feature at some southern drive in.

Crypt of Dark Secrets gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 30 I'm Dangerous Tonight

 

TITLE-I'm Dangerous Tonight

SOURCE-Kino Lober Blu ray

I love Tobe Hooper. Yea he is the Reggie Jackson of Horror,in that Tobe usually either hit a home run or struck out. This is the rare non-home run from Tobe that is worth seeing.

Released in 1990 on USA Network. We got Madchen Amick as the lead. A young college student who helps take care of an elderly relative. Anthony Perkins is one of her professors.

After getting some red cloth in a trunk at a sale,which turns out the cloth is evil. Madchen  makes a dress out of it. A dress that makes whoever wears it incrediblely attractive to the opposite sex and violent.

Being made for Cable this is bloodier than I expected. And the acting is fine. Besides the two names I've mentioned you got Dee Wallance in a great part as a crazy lady that gets the red dresss. And in a rare appearance with hair R. Lee Ermy.

Yea sure if you are not a huge Hooper fan this is one to just find streaming. The film is decent but nothing amazing. Thankfully Kino Lober loaded this blu ray down  with extras.

2 commentaries. Piles of featurettes. And for a made for Cable movie it looks and sounds great.

I'm Dangerous Tonight gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 29 Scre4m

 

TITLE-Scre4m

SOURCE-Anchor Bay DVD

The first Scream hit at an odd point my life. Coming out right before Xmas in 1996 and it wasn't until late January 1997 that we went to a theater to see it.

Was the old Silver Screen theater over in Biloxi. Loved the movie and as soon as it hit VHS I rented it and made a copy.

Not long after seeing Scream major changes happened in my life. I packed up most of my stuff and moved two states to the west.

When less than a year later Scream 2 hit theaters I went Xmas day to see it and well it was just ok. By the release of Scream 3 I waited for home video to see it and hated the film.

Which is why when Scre4m ,the clever name they came up for this un needed sequel,hit theaters I knew I would just rent it in a year from Netflix. Then rented it watched it. Thought this is a pile of crap. 

Wasn't until last year or the year before when I watched Scream 6 that I realized I remembered nothing about part 4. Not even who the killer/killers are.

Found part 4 cheap,you can see the Dollar price written in  sharpie on the walmart sticker. And now have seen it twice off that dvd.

Set years after the last film,we met the next generation of high school teens in the main town of this series. Ghostface starts killing them and after many red herrings,and some actually nicely done kills,we get our reveal of who the killers are.

The good stuff,well the kills are damn good. The cast that comes back from the previous 3 films do fairly well in this 4th film. Really that is about it for good in this turd sandwich.

The bad stuff.....First off the killers' have the dumbest motive. The female killer wants to be famous. The male is just a simp. The cast that wasn't  in the previous films is either ok at best to WHY THE HELL WERE THEY HIRED Bad. The story is too complex for it's own good. 

My next two gripes might just be a bad transfer on the DVD release. There are scenes where the film grain can be seen. And it looks like it should. Then other scenes where it appears so much DNR has been applied that people like Alison Brie look less like herself and more like a cheap wax dummy. And there is this urine yellow hue to the entire film.

Sadly this was the final movie directed by Wes Craven. This might be his worse film. If not it is just barely better than The Hills have Eyes 2.

Maybe the blu ray isn't DNRed to hell and back and isn't piss yellow all the time. If so that would raise this film up a tiny bit but not enough to make it worth it for me.

Scre4m gets a D+

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 28 Filmation's Ghostbusters

 

TITLE-Filmation's Ghostbusters

SOURCE-BCI DVD

Back in the 70s US based company Filmation created a short lived live action kids show about 2 humans and a gorilla fighting ghosts. Titled Ghostbusters. This was forgotten about not long after airing.

When the 80s Ghostbusters movie happened they licensed the name from Filmation. Filmation assumed if the film was a hit they would get the first shot at the Ghostbusters cartoon. Nope,Columbia went with a different animation studio. So 5 days before The Real Ghostbusters cartoon started Filmations syndicated Ghostbusters cartoon hit the airwaves. 

Lasting 65 episodes this one season show was almost forgotten. Having been rarely reran and only having a few episodes get official VHS releases.

Then Brentwood,rebranded as BCI,in the early 2000s got that deal with Filmation. And pretty much everything they could release that Filmation made they did.

Pictured above is a single disc that is 1 hour 29 minutes worth of episodes from that single season. I found it earlier this year at a junkstore. Paid a buck.

The show is a sequel to the 70s live action show. The kids off our two leads are joined by Tracy the Gorilla. And a female reporter. Plus sometimes Futura,a female Ghostbuster from the Future.

The  got a main villain,Prime Evil. And the show has a much more comedic feel than The Real Ghostbusters cartoon.

 Before watching this disc I had seen maybe 4 or 5 of the episodes of the years. After watching the 4 or 5 episodes on this disc I now am looking for a cheap copy of the ffull run.

While the writing is generally better on The Real Ghostbusters I do like how the Filmation Ghostbusters just goes really odd. They time travel. Jump dimensions and are not as reality grounded as The Real Ghostbusters.

Filmation's Ghostbusters gets a C+.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 27 The Gate

 

TITLE-The Gate

SOURCE-Vestron Video Blu Ray Steelbook

When I put this in to watch it after gettiing this release I was surprised cause I had seen this movie often back in the late 80s but remembered so little of it.

Back in the days before streaming and having 300 channels whenever I got a movie on VHS I kept it and watched it over and over. Had to be 88 and an Aunt had recorded a pile of movies off HBO for me. The Gate was one of them.

Our lead and his sister are preparing for their parents to be gone for a bit. The sister being in her mid teens is left in charge. 

A storm hits ripping down a tree in their backyard. The boy and his best friend ,a nerdy as hell metal head kid,end up bleeding into the hole and opening up this gate to Hell.

Crazy stuff starts happening. The family dog dies and the metal kid realizes his favorite metal album is some how coonnected to this hole/gate.

Ok this is one where if I hadn't seen it back when I was 13 or so I doubt I would givve a fuck about it now. It really is a 80s horror film that is aimed at the pre-teen/young teen audience. 

The FX work is the highlight. With the stop motion mini demons looking amazing. Then the big demon at the end is another stunning piece of practical FX work.

Being a Vestron Video release this is loaded with piles of extras. 2 commentaries an isolated score andd then interviews with so many people that worked on this film.

Glad I didn't drop the 30 or so this cost with it's first Blu release. And really 20 bucks for this steelbook feels a bit high to me.

The Gate gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 26 Doll Face

 

TITLE-Doll Face

SOURCE-Echo Bridge Blu Ray/DVD Combo Pack

Over the close to 20 years I have lived in rural SW Mississippi I have gotten to know all the local cult and horror movie fans. Not that many of us locally so we all kind of know each other. There is one who I have had on the Asshat Podcast Youtube channel a few times. And a few years ago he did a review of this Doll Face movie. And thankfully I forgot his review.

Needed something to watch tonight and saw this blu ray/dvd sitting on the shelf. Upside down ,which is my shorthand for something I haven't watched. Knowing it was borrowed I put it on expecting who knows what.

Maralade is a young lady who just inherited a nice apartment from her Aunt who has passed. Only rules are she must keep the dolls the aunt collected from all over the world. And NEVER LOOK THE DOLLS IN THE EYES!

And for the next hour and 17 minutes you get just oddness. The lead lady never moves her mouth and at first I thought we were just hearing her thoughts. But the others in the film appear to hear them to. So I guess she was talking but her mouth didnt move?

Lots of scenes of her going to bed each night with a different doll. Or the odd Doll repairman that is also homeless and covered with tattoos. And the constant references to hangings and suicide by hanging.

Then about 15 minutes till the end the twist hits. A glorious Twilight Zone like twist. And if the film ended about 5 minutes earlier it would be a bit long but decent horror/cult film. Nope it goes on and stuff starts happening that makes even less sense than most of what happened before. 

So what is this twist? I imagine knowing the twist would really change the first viewing of Doll Face,which of not that long ago was streaming free on TUBi and FANDANGO AT HOME AKA VUDU.

SPOILERS 

The twist is Maralade is a doll. A human sized doll. That is why her mouth never moved!!!

END OF SPOILERS

Not worth buying,buddy that got it paid a buck at a pawn shop. But worth seeing at least once.

Doll Face gets a C-

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 25 B.T.K.

 

TITLE-B.T.K.

SOURCE-Lionsgate DVD

Heard a bit about this back when it hit home video 15 or so years ago. But thought that Kane Hodder was the wrong person to play the BTK Killer. As  often mentionedd on here I will go buy used dvds in huge lots at pawn shops and thrifts. Getting discount. This was a film I grabbed to hit that number that makes those dvds 50 cents each instead of a buck each. And like normal with stuff I buy in bulk it sat and sat and sat.

Dennis is a pillar of the community. Loved by all. Or so he thinks. But he is actually a killer that has been doing his evil deeds for years. Daring the cops to stop him.

Based on the real Bind Torture Kill Serial Killer this is a fictionalized examination of Dennis Radley. With a cast of people I have seen in nothing else. Besides Kane Hodder as the lead.

Kane is best known for his stint as Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th franchise. Plus being a stunt man. But until this I had never seen him show as much range as he does in BTK.

There was a pile of cheaply made DTV serial killer movies coming out in the early 2000s. I just assumed this one of those. A badly cheaply made cash grab. Nope this had a budget and it shows. Locations,set design and even the costumes are not cheap.

Then there is the brutal kills. Lots of well done practical FX work. And some of them so brutal I am surpised this got an R rating.

Worth seeing ,even if just to see Kane Hodder show some acting range. 

BTK gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 24 Deathbed

 

TITLE-DeathBed

SOURCE-Full Moon/Shadow DVD

With used dvds 50 cents to a buck on average in my area I will grab stuff often to watch once and then give away. Saw this dvd on the shelf at a local junkstore. Was the booth with dollar dvds buy 10 get 2 more free. Deathbed and also Stuart Gordon's Castle Freak on a DVD for free sure.

And then it sat on the shelf for months. October is when the season finally start changing to fall in my area and seasons changing always mess with my sleep pattern. Leading to lots of nights in October where I am up all night. And ever since I was young I love to stay up late,just me in the living room watching a movie and reading a comic book.That is why yall might notice most of these reviews are hitting before 6am.

So Deathbed? What a pile of crap. Made during that short time when Full Moon was know as Shadow,not really sure why the name change,this feels like a really low budget attempt to get some of the attention all the Softcore/Horror combo films were getting. Stuff like the many Witchcraft films. 

A couple ends up with a bed that back in the 1920s a murder happened on. This caused this couple to go nutty. And Nothing about this boring ass movie could keep my attention. 

The FX is crap,the acting is crap. The plot is barely enough to fill 20 minute much less a full length film.

Only reason to buy this DVD is if you don't already have Castle Freak. Oh and to listen to the commentary on this movie. It has the director and Stuart Gordon and it feels more like those two chatting at a panel at a con than a commentary.

Fuck Deathbed!

Deathbed gets a D-.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 23 Black X-Mas Unrated (2006)

 

TITLE-Black X-mas(2006) UNRATED

SOURCE-Blockbuster Exclusive DVD

So I keep seeing more and more vids,articles,whatever about people starting to just now realize how cheap  used dvds have been  for years.

Look up at the top,the Classic Deathwatch 2000 trading card included as a odd nerdy watermark proving this is mine,cause who the fuck else keeps Deathwatch 2000 trading cards around?Well besides me. I use them as bookmarks. 

Back to used DVDs maybe 4 months after the nearest local Blockbuster closed I found this Blockbuster Exclusive DVD for a buck at some thrift.Then it got thrown on the shelf. Mostly cause I had heard it was not good and keep in  mind this was before the newest Black Christmas remake,from I think 2016.

Unrated screams that cover and i think that means there is 4 or so more minutes of gore. I had gotten some  Blockbuster Exclusive DVD's before and they were barebones. No extras. This has 3 alternative endings. And a 30ish minute Featurette. And bonus so far I have never found a Blockbuster ECO case. Don't think they exist. Nice heavy case on this.

The film? A remake/reboot of a proto-slasher that isn't as well known as it should be. This time with the help of the original's director,Bob Clark,we get a bit more added to the story of Billy.

Born with  bad jaundice and shuned by his family. Billy gets sent to a asylum,like what is kind of hinted at in the orignal. Escapes and starts killing the college girls that now live in the sorority house where billy grew up.

Andrea Martin from the original is back as the house mother of the sorority. The Sisters of the sorority are a mixture of actresses from that era that were either on weekly tv or just got through with a long run on a weekly tv show. 

The gore,oh man the gore and kills. Just way past the level I expected.This was a wide release film packed with like some girl from Party of Five and another girl from Buffy. And yea I got the unrated version. There is this odd Billy's Xmas decorations scene that feels like for that one scene Edward Lee was allowed to work with the FX crew.

This being a slasher you got red herrings ,this ones should stick to whatever mynetworktv show he was on. The final girl I kept thinking I knew from another horror remake. Yep Elm  Street remake. Looked her up she was on that CW Arrow show. What is it with this movie and teen dramas?

Anyways ignore the asshats that shit all over this. It is worth seeing. Yes I know there is no US Blu Ray. No idea what the normal dvd of this has as extras. This Blockbuster Exclusive has a pile.

Black X-Mass (2006) gets a C

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 22 The Card Player

 

TITLE-The Card Player

SOURCE-Scorpion Releasing Blu Ray

Yea I know latter era Argento. And this is one most don't like. Having seen and enjoyed some of the lesser liked Argento movies,Phantom of the Opera is one,I took a chance when this OOP release was on sale at Kino.

A killer is challenging the police to games of poker over the internet. If the killer wins a women ,who is on webcam gets multilated. 

Once a British tourist gets put into this deadly game of chance two top detectives get put on the case. And we get a modern era Giallo.

Ok yea this feels like a sleazier episode of one of the many detective shows on the air. Call this CSI Giallo or as I have seen a few do CSI Rome. 

It is the sleaze and sometimes well done kills that make this stand out. Yea we aren't getting peak Dario Argento. Even average Argento is so much better than most of the horror crap clogging up shelves when this came out in the early 2000s.

Now yea the lower budget hinders the CGI FX. With the scene near the end with the train cutting off someone's head,And then the head rolling,looks cheap andd takes what should be a nice kill to end the film and make it not have the impact it should have.While not top 5 Argento this is for me Top 10 Argento. 

The blu ray has a decent commentary. And a few other extras nothing of which stood out much. The transfer looks nice. 

The Card Player gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 21 Blade

 

TITLE-Blade

SOURCE-New Line Blu Ray

I was sure I had covered this years ago. Checked the master list,either I never covered it or somehow I did and it ain't on the master list.

Ok so for all the attention Rami's Spider-Man or Singer's X-men films get as starting the modern MCU,even  if not fully connected to the proper MCU,Blade came earlier and started it.

1998 I am at the comic shop and hear from the owner that Blade is coming out. And it is Wesley Snipes playing Blade. Ok hell yea let me know what night it starts we will all go.

Was there opening night and loved it. Nice blending of horror and superhero genres. A modernized Blade,at this time I hadn't read much of the Midnight Sons era of Blade. Fairly gory it was a fun film. One I meant to buy. Then just didn't. Until I stumbled upon this Blu ray at a pawn or thrift a few years back.

Wesley Snipes is Blade a rare vampire that can withstand sunlight. He hunts down the other vampires. And is helped out by Kris Kristofferson,as Whistler. Deacon Frost,who IIRC was a minor villain in the old Tomb  of Dracula comic,is the lead vampire villain. 

The movie moves extremely fast for a 2 hour film. Part of that is just the pacing of the film,with a few pots where it slows down for the audience to rest a bit. And thankfully this isn't as quickcut shaky camera for action scenes. That horrible crap would infect movies a year or so later.

The FX is decently done for what I am guessing was a fairly low budget film for New Line of that era. There was no really horrible CGI that stood out.

Blade gets a B+

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 20 Last Voyage of the Demeter

 

TITLE-The Last Voyage of the Demeter

SOURCE-Universal Blu ray

For the past 7 or so years I rarely see ads on TV. Most of what I watch is either off dvd/blu ray or streaming. And with streaming when an ad break starts I usually have a book or comic nearby and I read during the ad break. Which is why in the summer of 2023 I had no clue about this movie until a friend was asking if I was going to go see it. After she told me the basic idea behind the film I knew I had to see it. 

Pretty much now I rarely goto a theater to see anything. Not really the price of a ticket keeping me at home it is more lack of a good theater near me. And how now people can't sit through the movie without having to use their phone. Not sure how people dont realize that the bright screen of their phone is just as distracting as talking on it. I just chalk it up to the general public are assholes and morons.

This movie is a neat idea. Taking one chapter from the Bram Stoker classic Dracula,the chapter about Dracula's trip by sea to London,and making an entire film about it.Fleshing out what needed to be fleshed out.

A young doctor barely manages to get passage on the Demeter. After finding a young woman who is almost dead in a crate he realizes something ain't right. 

Then the animals on board the ship start dying and disappearing.  Yep we got a vampire on the ship and where do  you run when out at sea and there is a vampire on the ship?

Well shot and with a great score,this is a throwback to the horror made 60 years ago. A slow build. Where the sense of dread is huge. And when a horrific act happens you are a bit relived to have the tense broke for a short bit.

Not really sure who this movie was aimed at. The friend that mentioned it to me is a huge old horror fan. But she is also a bit older than the average person going to the theater to see a movie. From what I can find The Last Voyage of the Demeter bombed. Not even making half of what it cost to make. 

This Blu ray has a few extras. Including some deleted scenes and an alternate opening. I can see why they used the opening in the film and why the scenes got cut. Then we get a commentary from the director and the producer.

What I wanted was an extra talking about how this movie has been trying to be made since the mid 90s. AFter the writer got inspired by Coppla's Bram Stoker's Dracula which came out in 1992.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 19 The Dentist

 

TITLE-The Dentist

SOURCE-Vestron Video  Blu Ray

When I hear people saying that the 90s was dead for horror or the more common variant of that now "Horror was dead in the 90s until Scream." I know whoever is saying that either wasn't around back then or is someone that only watched what hit wide release in theaters back then.

Today's movie is a perfect example of how wrong  the whole horror was dead in the 90s is.

Premiering in late October 1996 on HBO  The Dentist is another great film from Brian Yuzna. I was lucky the night this aired I happened to be over at the home of my almost in-laws. And my lady's mother loved horror.

Corbin Bernsen is the titular Dentist. Racked with OCD and losing his mind  he finds  out his wife is cheating on him  with the pool cleaner. This drives Corbin  off the deep end and he starts killing people for various reasons.

Being a Yuzna film you know we are gonna get some gore and the FX work from Anthony C. Ferrante and J.M. Logan are great. Almost all practical FX work. 

Add in that most people have a fear of going to the dentist and you get a film that works on  a few levels. 

This Vestron Video Blu ray is packed with extras. Got a great commentary from the director and Makeup Effects supervisor. Which is loaded with info. A really fun  interview with Corbin Bernsen and one  with the co writer Denniss Paoli.

One interesting thing pointed out in the commentary,and one my now ex pointed out while we were watching this almost 30 years ago,is the film  kind of plays with is this actually happening or is all the kills in  Bernsen's head? Kind of like the film  American Psycho years before that movie was made,and yes I know the novel AP is based on came out before The Dentist. Also like the American Psycho movie,the sequel to the Dentist lets us know that it wasn't all in the lead's head.

For a fairly cheap price you get both Dentist movies. Both loaded with extras and both looking better than I have seen them look before.

The Dentist gets a B-

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 18 House of the Dead 2

 

TITLE-House of the Dead 2

SOURCE-Lionsgate DVD

When it came out in the early 2000s I heard how bad House of the Dead(the movie) was and avoided it. A few years later while looking at a site loaded with rips of screener dvds I saw House of the Dead 2 was out. Grabbed that rip burnt  it to a disc and either never watched it or saw it and don't remember watching it.

Skip ahead to one  weekend earlier this year. Was at my secret junkstore,where dvds/blu rays are 50 cents. Saw HotD2 and took a chance.

Now pretty sure I have played the second House of the Dead video game,and this movie appears to not folow the plot of that game.

Sid Haig has one of the surviving Hyper Sapians,AKA Zombie,from the first film. And this causes an outbreak of zombies on a college campus up near Seattle.

Which means a Special Forces team is sent in to contain the zombies and prevent it from  getting worse.Standard zombie movie tropes of course. 

Thankfully the cast and a few minor things make this stand out a bit from the glut of DTV zombie movies that came out in the mid 2000s.

One change,and one I liked,was it isn't just getting bit by a zombie that will change you into one. If a mosquito bites a zombie the people they bite afterwards will become infected. Neat idea I haven't seen before in movies. Wish they did a bit more with this.

Then this cast. It is packed with people I know from various tv shows. People like Victoria Pratt Who I knew from Mutant X. And Nadine Velazquez who most will know as Katalina on My Name is Earl. 

So while the budget ain't high, the combo of new ideas and a cast that is use to working with a smaller budget helps boost this movie over similar zombie films from the same era.

Sure this isn't nothing mindblowing.And it aint one I would say you should buy,unless you find it cheap like I did. For a DTV sequel to a film considered one of the worst horror films of the past 40 years this ain't bad.

House of the Dead II gets a C-.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 17 Snakes on a Plane

 

TITLE-Snakes on a Plane

SOURCE-New Line DVD

Since I was a kid I loved creature features. Stuff like The Swarm or Tarantulas Deadly Cargo I would watch on WPMI and love. So when I heard about Snakes on  a Plane I was interested. 

When the film hit theaters it was a time where most movies I would just wait till they hit home video. Then rent the DVD through Netflix. By the  time it hit Netflix I was busy and just never rented it.

Over the almost 20 years since it came out I have had many chances to see Snakes on a Plane on TV. Rather not watch the film edited to shreds and packed with ads. Then earlier this year while at my new secret junkstore I found the DVD pictured at the top. And it was 50 cents.

Sam Jackson is escorting a witness to a trial. The bad guys don't want the witness to testify. So they load the plane up with piles of exotic deadly snakes.

Decent cast,with more than a few people that are known character actors/actress. And the script aint bad for a creature feature. Really the  only thing that shows this was a lower budget movie is the FX. Some of the CGI snakes look good,almost real.Then others look like crap you would see in a Sub  Rosa Studio release. And in a film  like this bad FX can really hurt it.

I did enjoy the movie. Just that this feels more like a movie that would work better seeing it in a packed theater. Instead of sitting here just me and the dog,Maggot Ass the wonder mutt.

Snakes on a Plane gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 16 Warlock

TITLE-Warlock

SOURCE-Vestron Video Blu Ray

I have always enjoyed exploring these lesser known horror franchises. So when I found the Warlock Trilogy Blu Ray set cheap I had to get it. 

Made in 89 but not released in the USA until a few years later,this ended up being a minor hit thanks to home video and it's airings on the various cable movie channels.

Julian Sands is the titular Warlock. And to escape a witchhunter he flees 300 years into the present day. Followed quickly by the witch  hunter.

If the Warlock can complete his mission in the modern day Satan will be able to take control of Earth. Our witch hunter gets teamed up with a waitress,played by Lori Singer. 

This waitress gets cursed by the Warlock. And for every day that passes she ages 20 years. Which gives us a time limit. Can Lori and the witch hunter find and stop the Warlock before Lori dies from old age?

Sure this isn't some big budget horror like what studios like Paramount were putting out. Even with the lower budget the movie looks good. 

The  blu ray is loaded with extras. From interviews and BTS stuff made back when the film was current to modern day stuff like a great commentary.

Warlock gets a B-.

 

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 15 Camp Blood 8 Revelations

 

TITLE-Camp Blood 8 Revelations

SOURCE-Tubi

I have known of the low budget slasher series Camp Blood for close to 20 years now. Never watched any of them. Mostly cause I never see the DVDs for sale in any store.

Was scrolling through TUBI,the modern day mom & Pop Video store,and had a friend messge me "Go to TUBI watch Camp Blood 8". Knowing her taste in horror is similar to mine I put on the movie.

2 hours later,stopped 2 times to get a snack and go piss,I had finally seen a Camp Blood movie. Did some research and found out that there is more than 8,some were not numbered. And almost all of them are on Tubi.

Camp Blood is rural area filled with woods. Once years ago a man in clown make up roamed the woods killing whoever was in them. But he is gone,replaced by his son who just wears a  clown mask and the son's insanee mother.

A bus bringing a Girls Beach Volleyball team to Salt Lake City breaks down. And we got our ladies wandering the woods.

2 of them find what looks to be an abandoned warehouse. Another gets captured and tied to an ottoman in Clownmask's living room. Where she is forced to make up son's about the mother's tits and ass. And another two run into Coolduder,YT personality,who lives in a cabin and is a survivalist.

 Maybe 10 minutes into the movie we find out that Clownmask has a sister that wwas abandoned in the woods. At first I was thinking the asian lady that is in the warehouse was this sister all grown up. Nope turns out it is the volleyball girl in Coolduder's cabin. 

But right when it looks like the sister is gonna do a heel turn Clownmask shows up and kills her.

The kills are bloody but cheap. The acting is either ok or horrid. Even with all these flaws I had a blast watching this. 

Plus even without seeing the previous films I didn't have trouble keeping up with this one. Seems there is a bit of Camp Blood lore in this franchise. Thankfully the scenes with the mother and the girl tied to the ottoman answered the few questions I had.

Camp Blood 8 gets a C-.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 14 Archnoquake

 

TITLE-ArchnoQuake
SOURCE-TUBI

Sometimes you want a dumb creature feature. Today was that day.

Set down in New Orleans a fracking accident releases giant albino firebreathing spiders. 

And we follow around 2 groups trying to survive this invasion of creepy crawlers.

One group you got Bug Hall,the guy who was Alfalfa in the Little Rascals movie,along with Tracy "Growing Pains" Gold and a few others. Bug drives a tour bus through the city.

The other group is a girls' sports team. On a bus driven by Ed Furlong looking like he hasn't slept in 4 years.

Now this was made for Sci Fi Channel. So you know that means the spiders are CGI. But this isn't the normal SCIFI original horrid CGI. This is a slight step above that. Hell the script and the acting is a slight step above the normal made for SCI FI Creature feature.

What surprised me the most is there is a handful of stunts were someone is set on fire. And these aren't done with CGI. Nope appears they just lit someone on fire.

Not a bad way to pass almost 2 hours. And being free on TUBI helps.

ArchnoQuake gets a C-.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 13 American Gothic

 

TITLE-American Gothic

SOURCE-Amazon Prime Video

Not sure why but this movie was one I just never saw until earlier this year. Yea I saw the reviews of it in Fangoria. Thought it sounded worth seeing. Then never rented it.

A pile of people are flying out to vacation on a small plane. Hoping this vacation will help their friend who just lost her baby. Have trouble and make an emergency landing. Thankfully a small island is near by.

After camping for the night,the friends discover an old home on the island. And not long after exploring parts of it run into the owners. An older couple,with the wife played by Yvonne DeCarlo. 

Then we start meeting this couples kids. Who are all at least mid 30s. But still act like pre teens or younger. 

More and more odd things start happening and the friends notice this.

The next day,I think it was the next day. One of the guys sees the 2 kids playing on a giant swing over a huge cliff. He gets talked into getting into the swing. And the male child climbs up and cuts the ropes holding the swing. Which results in a bloody death below on the rocks.

With this first kill the movie gets going and just keeps ramping up the gore and oddness. Like when we find out the babydoll the daughter carries is a mummified infant corpse.

Pretty sure this hasn't gotten a Blu ray release. Think the DVD is OOP. So this copy streaming on Amazom Prime Video is the easiest way to see this forgotten sleazy horror film.

American Gothic gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 12 The Blackening

 

TITLE-The Blackening

SOURCE-Lionsgate DVD

Horror/Comedy is a odd thing. Done right they are amazing like say Dead/Alive or Evil Dead 2. But done wrong and you get Scary Movie 1 and up. 

Been seeing this DVD at a local store for a bit. Wasn't gonna drop 20 bucks on it. When it hit 5 bucks grabbed it.

8 old friends gather at a house on in a rural area to celebrate Juneteenth. Once they find a racist board game the horror starts. They are forced to play the game or die. And who is the masked person armed with a cross bow that is all over the property and house? 

Unlike Scary Movie that just throws out 100 jokes and references every 5 minutes knowing enough will hit that the general audience will laugh,THe Blackening goes more subtitle. Like just small things that made me laugh but I am wondering how many people got.

For example the many card games of Spades. Which becomes a major plot point near the end. 

Or how in this film the cast isn't constantly nodding at the audience. I hate that shit. And this film thankfully doesn't do it.

Sure the killer and the twist isn't hard to figure out. I had a feeling who the mastermind was once they appeared early in the film. FX work was decent. And the acting was way better than I expected.

Seems this was a big enough hit a sequel is being made. And I will watch it if that happens.

The Blackening gets a B+

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 11 Mardi Gras Massacre

 

TITLE-Mardi Gras Massacre

SOURCE-Code Red DVD

Feels like I have see this on video store shelves my entire life. I got a clear memory of seeing it at Video Showboat in Pascagoula,almost renting but instead grabbing something else. 

Never really bother reading reviews of this. Just figured it was another crappy 70s film like say Drive In Massacre. I was wrong. So very wrong.

Set in and filmed in New Orleans,a late 70s era NOLA,this is an odd twist on Blood Fest. Guy is killing hookers to bring back an Aztec God.

We get primative gore FX,that  I bet were a bit shocking when this was made. Piles of sleaze. And just a grimy feel to the entire film.

Then there is that soundtrack. Feels like half of it is from some greasy mid 70s porno. And the other half feels like AM radio filler.

This is one I bought a long ass time ago and it just sat on the shelf. Thinking I found it cheap at a bodega. For a bit I was finding piles of Code Red and Synapse DVDs sold at the various corner stores and bodegas. 

Looked and it appears this  is streaming on TUBI currently. And is worth seeing. 

Mardi Gras Massacre gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 10 The Exorcists

 

TITLE-The Exorcists

SOURCE-The Asylum DVD

Yep the Asylum saw an Exorcist prequel was coming out in 2023 and got this mockbuster shot in 6 days. And like most Asylum mockbusters they got a few names in the cast.

Up first is Doug Bradley as the lead priest. From Pinhead the Hell  Priest to a Catholic Priest doing an Exorcisim what a career LOL.

Then you got Denise Duff as the head nun. She was a big B Horror star what 20 years ago?

The plot is your standard young girl is possessed by a demon and the Catholic Church is brought in to fight this.

Unlike most Exorcist films this mockbuster has more than one person being possessed. Which leads to some decent FX work. Sure it isn't the quality of stuff you see on a big budget film but it also isn't the horrid cheap CGI stuff you see in most films made this quick.

Overall besides a issue near the ending the film isn't bad. I enjoyed it more than the Exorcist Prequel from last year. But that one issue,which I didn't catch on first viewing,now makes me not want to bother watching this again. Doesn't totally ruin the  film but hurts it somewhat.

The Exorcists gets a D+.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 09 Die Die Delta Pi

 

TITLE-Die Die Delta PI

SOURCE-TUBI Streaming App

Another day another modern low budget horror movie off TUBI.

No one in the cast you ever heard of. Set in whatever locations the producer could get free or cheap. And starring whoever can be convinced to be in the film.

Back in the 80s,or the way people that never lived through the 80s like to think the 80s was,the Delta Pi sorority is about to add some new members.  

Out by the bonfire where the Delta Pi are about to burn their house mother in effigy an accident happens and the nerdy girl gets badly burnt.

Skip ahead to modern era and the Delta Pi sorority is back and got a pile of pledges wantiing to join. Someone is killing  them and are they connected to what happened in the 80s? Of course.

Barely over an hour,padded as hell and full of some horrible acting,dialogue and even camera angles.

Fuck this was bad. Not even worth seeing for free on TUBI.

Die Die Delta Pi gets a F.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 08 Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl A Rama II

 

TITLE-Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl A Rama 2

SOURCE-TUBI Streaming App

Once I started this up and saw it was barely over an hour I knew it would more than likely suck. I was right.

The Sorority from the original film has fallen on hard times. They only got 2 members and 2 girls wanting to join. The house mother,Kellie Maroney,tells the girls about what happened in the first film.

Like in the first film there is a few goofball boys that are peeping on the girls trying to join. But it being what almost 40 years later instead of looking in a window they have just set up a mini camera in the bathroom facing the shower.

1 hour and 1 minutes including the long credits and it takes almost 30 minutes before we get to the bowling alley. Which I am pretty sure is the same one from the original,which was also in one of the Evil Bong movies.

Trophy gets broken of course. Out comes the Imp,who is creativly shot so you aren't suppose to notice he is very limited in his movements. But also we get the return of Brinke Stevens and Michelle Bauer as spirits of their characters from the first film.

The Imp grants wishs that backfire and once we hit the 50 minute mark the film is wrapping up.

Wow this was bad. I know modern Full Moon is usually short films that are barely over an hour and feel more like half a film. This felt like they had a 20 minute film they added whatevver it took to make it an hour.

Avoid this turd.

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama 2 gets a F+.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 07 Mississippi River Sharks

 

TITLE-Mississippi River Sharks

SOURCE-TUBI Streaming App

Been a bit since I watched a shark film for 31 Days of Horror. And yea back to TUBI. It comes in handy. Say I am stuck in the pharmacy line for 40 minutes,scroll TUBI on my phone put on some janky movie and keeps me from wanting to attach tasers and chainsaws to my shopping cart.

And today was a 3 long line day. Pharmacy was 35 minutes. First grocery store line was another 30 and the final one was 38 minutes. So I scrolled Tubi found Mississippi River Sharks and started it. Chose it cause hell wanted to see what non-MS location they filmed in to be a "rural Mississippi quiet town". And saw that Jason London was in the film PLAYING HIMSELF!!!

So this was made to premiere on SYFY Channel. Which means the gore is low. So was the budget. Unlike piles of these shit out sharkpolitation movies this one got 2 semi names.

I already mentioned Jason and more on him in  a bit. The other name  and when I saw her name in the credits I wasn't sure why I knew it. Cassie Steele,looked her up and she is best known for that 2000s Degrassi show,plays our lead. She is home from college and wants to help her dad keep the family business running. It shows she has been acting for a bit cause unlike most of the rest of the cast Cassie feels like she ISN'T trying her best to remember her lines.

And now Jason London. In this film he plays a slightly fictionlized version of himself. He is a former big star that is now known for being the lead in Shark Bite 1,2,4,5,6. Yes I left out 3 he isn't in it,which is a running joke through out the film.

It was 15 minutes maybe 20 into the film when I realized yes they actually shot this in Mississippi. Not only that but I know where it was shot. Saw HWY 90 and knew they were in Ocean Springs.  Surprised more stufff isn't filmed down there. Great looking locations and I am betting it is cheap to film down that way. I have heard the state of MS isn't one that gives film/tv productions big tax breaks. Which is why lots of stuff set in MS is filmed in Louisiana.And if you know both states it is easy to tell when they are trying to pass LA off as MS.

Sharks are heading up the MS river. Right a when a small town is having it's annual big fishing rodeo. Cassie and 2 old friends of her's gotta save everyone. Along with Jason London,who shows he has decent comedic skills in this role,this group must keep people from being killed by cheap CGI sharks. And opposing them is the town Mayor. A ten gallon hat on a 20 gallon dumb ass.

Yep it is Jaws but with more sharks and less budget.I was more entertained trying to figure out where various outdoor scenes were filmed than by the movie. 

Mississippi River Sharks gets a D+

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 06 Maid Droid

 

TITLE-Maid Droid

SOURCE-TUBI streaming App

Yep Tubi,the place that got The Asylum to jump ship from Syfy Channel. The place where odds are pretty good any given movie you half remember from seeing at 2am when you were drunk is on it or will be in a few weeks.

Was on TUBI looking for something to watch, Saw the above poster and the 2023 release date and after a quick look at IMDB,where I confirmed no one in this did much else,I started the movie.

The lead has been single for a bit. His previous fianace left him for another man. So he now rarely leaves his home. He works from home. A friend of his tells him about this service for android maids. Yea Rosie from Jetsons but HOT. And this is set in the modern time. 

The friend hints the company behind this service is a bit shady. And everytime the lead asks about the cost he just gets told "you can afford it"

He gets sent the lady on the poster,Mako. And fairly quickly he is going from booking her for 4 hours every few days to 8 hours every day to wanting her to stay. This requires a charging station be added to his closet. Seems Mako can only operate for 8 hours,then takes 8 hours to charge.

The first night when he goes to bed he puts Mako to sleep mode and on charge. And she starts to have nightmare about a previous client. Who tortured her. Cause why not she aint a human she is a robot. 

Yep this droid is gonna start trying to kill our lead.  What sets her off ,besides the nightly dreams of torture,is when the ex fianace gets back in touch. 

Oddly this was way better than I expected. The poster and trailer made it appear to be more like a "Vista Street" era Witchcraft film. Sure it has nudity and sex scenes.  They are all short and the acting is actually decent.

The gore was better than I expected. With the kills near the end being way harsher than you normally see in a low budget film of this sub genre.

Maid Droid gets a C.