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+