31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 12 It's Alive

 

TITLE-It's Alive

SOURCE-DVD

Somehow as a kid  in the early  80s I ended up with a vhs tape with the first of this trilogy of films on it.  Watched it over and over as a kid. Then  kind of just forgot about it until last year when I found the trilogy on  DVD for cheap.

A expecting father enters the  delivery room to see everyone dead and a trail of blood. His new born  son is a mutant baby that kills. And the rest of the film is this father trying to find his son and protect him.

Great concept,playing off the various "these drugs if taken when pregnant will mess up your baby" scares of the 60s/70s,and Larry Cohen does a good job. Just wow this movie is slow as fuck. We don't see the mutant baby clearly until almost the end. Which makes the film feel a bit like  a 50s drive in  monster movie. When we do it looks a bit like a Cabbage Patch kid put into a microwave.

As a kid this was one of my favorite films. One I know I saw at least once a week. Rewatching it  now it isn't as good as I remembered. Which kind  off sucks. The film isn't bad. Just my brain had built it up as this gore  soaked forgotten 70s classic. Which it isn't.

It's Alive gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 11 Bambi the Reckoning

 

TITLE-Bambi the Reckoning

SOURCE-ITN/Scream  Factory DVD

Few years back when I watched the first entry in the Twisted Childhood Universe films I made a joke about "I want a killer Bambi  movie". Not knowing just 3 years later I  would get it.

Not  long after  the Bambi  movie  we all know Bambi meets a doe.Then  have an offspring that dies and Bambi gets exposed to toxic waste and  mutates into a giant killer deer.

And we also got a family gathering at their mothers home,a mother  who is suffering from dementia,and  guess what that home is in the woods Bambi lives  in.

Now  years back  I bought a few films from ITN,who I dubbed International Turd Network. Mostly cause almost all their films were made overseas and they all sucked. This was the exception.

Instead of folks in  obvious rubber masks this film has decent CGI FX for Bambi. The actors/actresses feel more like the crew  tracked down people  that do acting  for a living and not  "Hey didn't your cousin  once star in  the little theater production  of Driving  Ms Daisy?" 

So  far the other 3 Twisted Childhood  films work  mostly cause it is seeing  a person from your younger years now out there  killing people. This one works because it has a decent script. You could take  away the connection to the Disney animated film  and  it would  still work.

Bambi The  Reckoning gets  a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 10 Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare

 

TITLE-Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare

SOURCE-Scream Factory DVD

Now I saw and enjoyed both Winnie the Pooh horror films. So when I saw the same universe Peter Pan horror movie I grabbed it. And like with most DVDs/Blu Rays I buy it sat on  the to be  watched stack for months.

Peter Pan  is a sick man. He kidnaps kids and "sends them to Neverland" by killing them. After forgetting to go pick up her brother after school,Wendy learns Peter Pan kidnapped her brother and is trying to get hi back,

I like how the writer took the basic Peter Pan  story and twisted it. Reminds me of how at one time the comic book Fables the big bad guy was planned to be Peter Pan,that got stoppedd cause at least during that time frame Peter Pan wasn't public domain in the UK.

And quickly I wanna speak on  all these "horror" fans I see complaining about "All these films taking childhood things and making them  edgy and evil" Ok yea I get that but just don't watch the films then. Nope they will go watch it knowing they will hate it. And I do not get that at all. I got more free time than most and I don't have the time to watch something I know I won't enjoy.

Overall this ain't a bad film. The acting isn't bad. The FX work is well done. I would say it is a step above Winne the Pooh Blood and Honey part 1 and almost as good as it's sequel.

Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 09 The Devil's Dolls aka Worry Dolls

 

TITLE-The Devil's Dolls aka Worry Dolls
SOURCE-IFC Midnight/Scream Factory DVD

Made a bit over a decade ago,and shot in Natchez,Canton and Jackson MS,this is the second  feature fro the director.

A serial killer's worry dolls end up in the hands of a crafty young girl. Who uses their parts to make charm bracelets. Which are sold at her mothers junk store. Seems these dolls are possessed by the evil spirit of the serial Killer

Each person that buys one of these charms gets possessed and starts killing. Like when one guy attacks a corner store owner with scissors. Once the leads figure out what is up they start trying to find everyone who bought one of the charms.

Decent acting some good gore and helps it is shot in  locations I know somewhat. Like one scene I knew they filmed in Jackson cause I saw a place I have been often.

The film is a mixture of serial killer+possession horror. It works. But also this is a movie that if I hadn't found it for a buck I wouldn't have bought it. The kind of film you are wanting something to watch so scroll through TUBI ffor an hour and decide on this.

The Devil's Dolls gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 08 Good Boy

TITLE-Good Boy

SOURCE-Shudder Blu ray

Heard about this movie last year and planned on watching it and just kind of forgot to. Earlier this year saw the blu ray was wanting something  to watch early in the morning with my dog,Maggot Ass the Wonder Mutt,and put it on. But kept being distracted and really only half watched the film.Now having seen it fully,I see why it got loads of praise.

A man with a chronic lung illness moves into his grandfather's house way out in the woods. It is just him and his dog Indy. The man's sister is sure the house is haunted and that is what killed the grandfather. And Indy keeps seeing stuff that is spooky. 

I was really surprised by this film. Went in not expecting that much,had heard early on the dog playing Indy was new to acting. And owning a stubborn dog I was figuring this would not work. Nope Indy is amazing. The sequence near the 3/4th mark with Indy figuring out how to escape being chained to his dog house was so well shot. 

The various spirits and supernatural entities in the film got a spooky look to them. Which helps makes the film have this creepy vibe. 

What can I say I'm a sucker for a film where the dog is the hero.  And watching Indy try his best to save his owner got me right in the heart.

For extras we get a Making of and a BTS featurette. Plus a decent commentary with the director and the producer.

Now for me this was worth buying,and I keep a sub going to Shudder. Give this a watch to see one of the more unique modern horror films.

Good Boy gets a B+

 

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 07 Phantom Brother

 

TITLE-Phantom Brother

SOURCE-Terror Vision  Blu Ray

The 80s the decade that produced piles of slashers. And cause of the lowered cost of consumer grade video cameras started the Shot on Video Horror sub genre. Phantom Brother is a mash up of horror+comedy plus shot on video+slasher. And for a low budget shot on Betamax,yep on one of the commentaries we learn this wasn't shot on VHS but the superior tape format,this isn't bad. It is actually funny and the lack of a budget doesn't hurt it that much.

The only survivor of an accident that killed the rest of his family,a young man gets raised by the crazy Hickman family. Now grown this young man has to clean up the mess left when  the ghosts of his dead family kill anyone that enters their old abandoned home.

Phantom Brother is just various reasons for people to enter this home and then be killed by the Black/White mask wearing Phantom Brother. We start off with two couples going there to make out. After getting the required for the era topless nudity Phantom Brother shows up with a sharp weapon and kills. Or how when a group shows up to film a sleazy horror film in the home. What surprised me is the ending twist wasn't what I figured it would be.

Loaded with a pile of commentaries this release from  Terror Vision is loaded. Having listened to 2 of the commentaries so far I gotta say they are fun to hear. 

Phantom Brother got a now rare VHS release. That on the extras is mentioned to sell for over 200 bucks. For a long time a crappy upscale rip of the VHS was on Youtube. This blu ray looks decent,considering it was filmed on Betamax tape. The sound has a tiny bit of hiss,but I was expecting that.

If you want a horror/comedy that has way more ambition than budget this is worth tracking down.

Phantom Brother gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 06 Copperhead The Snake Movie

 

TITLE-Copperhead the Snake Movie

SOURCE-Terror Vision Blu Ray

Last year I think it was in November Terror Vision had a deal,3 random blu rays shipped for a total of I think it was 30 bucks. Got 2 of these packs planning on watching them for this years 31 years of Horror. Copperhead is up first.

Made in the first half of the 80s,I keep seeing conflicting dates mostly 83 and 84,this is a low budget snake horror film. Way out in the woods of Missouri a wildlife painter lives with his family. And a kind of scummy family moves into a nearby abandoned church. A church that is packed with mice and copperheads.

Seems this family is on the run  cause of some gold they stole from Peru. The dad is a gun nut,with not long after he first meets the painter and his family,the dad is whipping out a pistol and shooting a glass jar with a snake in it. Then shoots the snake a few times. Oh yeah real snakes were killed in the making of this film. Forgot the opening scene is a copperhead eating a rat. The Blu ray claims to have a cruelty free version,I haven't watched that version.

We get lots of thick southern accents from folks that I bet might have done a few community theater plays or local commericals. Lots of guns shooting stuff. The family in the  church feels like the relatives of Ethal and her son from Friday the 13th part 5.

The ending connects us back to Peru and  we get to see the snakes get their revenge on the scummy family,and it was better done  than I expected.

Being a Terror Vision release this is LOADED with extras. You get a few commentaries,interviews with the family that made the film. A film made by the son of the director called Motorhome From Hell. A commentary on that extra film. 

Go in knowing this a cheap regional horror. Made by most a crew of locals. Kind of surprised I had never heard of this until getting it. On one  of the commentaries the director  claims copies of the VHS release was in videos stores all over the States. I never saw it and was in plenty of stores back  in the 80s.

Copperhead The Snake Movie gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 05 Tremors 5 Bloodlines

 

TITLE-Tremors 5 Bloodlines

SOURCE-Universal Blu Ray

Still kind of amazed that Tremors has had 6 sequels,yes there is 2 more after this one,and a tv show. Yea that first film was a blast. Great cast,good fx work. 

Part 4 was a prequel set a long time ago.  So years later when part 5 Bloodlines was made they went back to the standard story. Burt Gummer goes where the Graboids are and fights them. 

This time it is South Africa and he gets stuck with Jamie Kennedy as his side kick. Being a new Tremors film they give us a never variant of the Graboids. We already got the biped Shriekers and the flying Assblasters. This film adds a new type that  looks like a snack with a graboid head.

I wasn't expecting much going into this. It premiered on SYFY channel. And after how just average part 4 I figured this would be cheap cash grab  attempt to revive a franchise that might should have stayed dead.

I was WRONG! Not really a fan of Jamie Kennedy,he was decent in the first Scream film but since then he annoys me more than makes me laugh. His chemistry with Michael Gross shines. The rest of the cast was made up of folks I haven't seen  before. Betting since this appears to have been filmed on location it was South African based actors/actress.

Two scenes stand out. Burt and Travis(Jamie Kennedy) are out in the brush. Huge herd of cows around them. And a massive Graboid is near. To distract it long enough to get to safety they try to get the herd to stampede. Nicely shot and paced action scene that worked. The other was near the end when using a trick a kid showed Jamie early on  they draw out the big Graboid. And while that is happening you have a stunt man "Jamie Kennedy" on a dirt bike grinding  up the snake graboids with it's tires.

Think about it ,this is the 5th film in the franchise,and there has already been a one season long TV show,you know going in if you are a fan of Burt and the Graboids. I am and really enjoyed this one.

Tremors 5 Bloodlines gets a B.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 04 The Legend of Boggy Creek

TITLE-The Legend of Boggy Creek
SOURCE-Sterling Entertainment DVD

Pretty sure I saw this at least once as a kid on late night TV in the early 80s. And over the decades had some many people just a bit older than me talk about how scary it is. When I found the DVD in a junkstore for a buck I took a chance.

The film is a weird blending of documentary and horror. Seems the  cast  is made up of lots of people from the town it is set in. Foulke Arkansas. Which means some of the cast is horrible and some are ok. The little you see of the creature ain't bad. But you see so little of it. And the movie is just so SLOW. I don't mind a slower film. This one is almost dreadfully slow. Add in the DVD I got is a obvious VHS rip. 4:3 smeary as hell picture. Sound that is mono. Plus it appears it ain't a brand new vhs nah they went to Movie Hutt and got the copy that had been rented 100 times. Then found a 2 head vcr to rip it with.

The story...swamp  monster is attacking people in a small rural town in the south. That is it.

Yes I know it is one of the earliest Bigfoot movies. And it appears for a generation that was kids when this came out it is SCARY AS FUCK. I had just woke up maybe an hour before viewing it this time and was so bored 45 minutes in I almost dozed off.

I have been told a nice looking Blu Ray is available. Plan is get that and give this a rewatch. See if better picture and sound can help save this movie in my eyes.

Legend of Boggy Creek gets a D-

31 days of Horror 2026 Day 03 Sinners

 

TITLE-Sinners

SOURCE-4K UHD

I heard about this movie when I was being made. The film being set in North Mississippi I was semi interested. Heard it was a horror film and really wanted to see it. Grabbed the 4k and planned on watching it soon. Late one night started it and was loving it and halfway through I was so tired I couldn't stay awake. Stopped the film went to bed. 

Today get up wanted something to watch. Saw the 4k was still sitting in a stack by the player in the living room and started it up. Bit over 2 hours later I was done and  saw why the film was getting so much praise.

Based in Clarksdale MS,a tiny town up in the Delta region of the state,we got a set of twins,Smoke and Stack,who have come back from working for the mob in Chicago. Their plan is open up a juke joint in this old mill. The man they are renting the mill from acts a bit odd. First half of the movie is mostly the twins gathering people to work at the juke joint and usicians and singers to perform there.

Then  almost right at the halfway point we get a twist. Seems vampires are real and one is in the town. And this drama becomes a horror film. With a juke joint full of folks while the vampires  outside keep adding more members and trying to get into the building.

And even after the vampire issue is taken care of we get another twist. Seems the guy who owns the mill is part of the Klan. And he had planned on coming with his group of inbred moronic crackers and burning the juke joint down. 

Gorgeously shot,with some great musicial numbers. And the cast is packed with folks that while you will not know their names you will know their faces. 

Sinners gets a A-.