31 days of Horror 2012 day 05

Chopping Mall
1986
Horror Collection 8 Movie pack Lionsgate DVD

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

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

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

31 days of Horror 2012 day 03

Ghoulies III Ghoulies go to College
1991
Horror Collection 8 movie pack Lionsgate DVD

I can remember being about 12 years old and going to Showboat Video in Pascagoula MS,I would always head straight to the horror section and pick out a few movies. Most of the time my choices would be based on the box cover artwork. Well I saw this one cover that had some little demon looking thing popping out of a toilet. And knew I had to see this movie. That movie was the original Ghoulies. And even at that young age I was majorly disappointed in the film. So I never bothered watching any of the later films in the series. Then back in 2009 I started listening to a the Deadpit Radio horror podcast. And one of the their segments was them calling random video stores and asking if they had various horror movies. One of the films they always asked for was "Ghoulies III Ghoulies go to College". The title of the film always made me chuckle,and I decided if I ever got a chance to rent it I would. Well earlier this year 2 horror multipack dvd sets from Lionsgate came out and started a minor sensation online. It seems that no one knew they were coming out,and for a long period of time you could only find them in the Walmart $5 dump bin. One of them had 8 movies and out of the 8 there was 5 I didn't already own and I wanted to see. So for about a month I was going to all the Walmarts in my area looking for these DVDs. Finally late one night I found 2 copies of each set. Bought all of them. Thinking I would keep one copy of each and sell the others for a small profit. A few months later I had went down to Biloxi to visit my family. And as usual I stayed with my cousin. I had brought along the 8 film set with Ghoulies III and was looking for a horror film I could watch with my cousin's two sons. Figuring that Ghoulies III wouldn't be too scary I sat down and watched it for the first time with my two lil cousins.

Directed by John Carl Buechler,who had done the FX work on the first Ghoulies film, Ghoulies III came out in 1991 and went straight to VHS. By this third entry in the series the film is more of a comedy with some gore than a horror film. A Ghoulies comic book is found on a college campus and is used to unleash 3 Ghoulies. Also whoever has the comic has control over the Ghoulies. This is the first time,and I think only time,that any of the Ghoulies talks. And they are always making pretty corny jokes. What stood out to me was how many people in the cast I knew from other films. You get appearances from people like,former Playboy Playmate Hope Marie Carlton,a very young Eva La Rue,Jason Scott Lee as a nerdy college kid,Matthew Lillard as another nerdy college kid,and finally Kevin McCarthy as a college Prof who has the comic book and therefore control over the Ghoulies. Now the story isn't something that will win awards. But it is so much better than the first film. And is pretty funny in a few parts. Since the DVD set this is on has 8 films and only cost me $5,that means I paid about 63 cents for the movie. It is worth way more than that. Ghoulies III Ghoulies go to college gets a C+.

31 days of horror 2012 day 01

Dying Breed
2009
After Dark Horrorfest III collection Lionsgate dvd


Earlier this year I found a dvd in the infamous Walmart $5 bin. It had all of the After Dark Horrorfest III films. I figured since it was 8 films for $5 I would take a chance. Dying Breed was the first one on the set I watched.

Set in Tasmania,a group of young adults are in search for the mythical Tasmanian Tiger . They go way out in the wilderness. And find more than they were looking for. Turns out the small town they are in has a secret. Most of the townsfolk are cannibals descended from Alexander Pearce. And this town is looking for fresh breeding stock.

Now before getting this set I had no seen or heard much about any of the films from what was the third After Dark Horrorfest. I had seen and enjoyed some of the films from the first two,and since this set was so cheap I figured if even one of the films was good I was getting a decent deal. Out of the entire cast the only person I knew was Melanie Vallejo. Who I knew as Maddison Rocca in Power Rangers Mystic Force. I had always thought she was very cute. So seeing she was in the film made me pay more attention than I normally would have. What we get from Dying Breed is your typical backwoods horror film. With young adults from the city being attacked by the brutal rural folk. There is plenty of well done practical FX work. And  pretty well done ending. Usually with films like this about 30 minutes into the film I can predict the ending. But that didn't happen this time. If you find the After Dark Horrorfest III collection DVD for $5 or cheaper pick it up. It is worth that much just for Dying Breed. Dying Breed gets a B.

31 days of horror Year 2 day 3

Pet Sematary Special Collectors Edition-Paramount DVD

Found this for $5 the other days and realized that I not only didn't own it but haven't seen it in almost 20 years. Sat down and watched it earlier today,and besides the horrid acting from Denise Crosby,the film holds up pretty well. Mom,Dad and two kids move to a new house somewheres in the backwoods of Maine. Just after they get settled in they meet the next door neighbor,Fred Gwynne, and he shows them the local pet sematary. Well after a few days the Mom and both kids go to visit her parents,and while they are gone the family's pet cat gets run over by one of the many 18 wheelers that speed down the road at all times of the day. Fred tells the husband about a special cemetery that were if you bury something it will come back to life. So Fred and the dad go bury the cat there. But when the cat comes back it has changed. Even the daughter notices this when she gets back. Time passes and one day while the whole family is having a picnic,Gage the little 2 year old son ends up running out into the street and getting hit by a speeding truck. So of course the Dad goes and digs up his dead body and reburies it in the "special" cemetery. Gage comes back but now he is pure evil. The special effects are great practical effects. The story is good,and the acting besides Ms Crosby is very good. Pet Sematary gets a A.

31 Days of horror Day 17

Drag me to hell

Source-Universal DVD

Finally Sam Rami has come back to horror/comedy. Alison Lohman is a bank loan officer. She is wanting to get the position of assiant manager. An old gypsy lady comes in and asks for a third extension on her mortgage. She is denied and puts a curse on Alison. Turns out in 3 days this goat like spirit will come and take Alison to hell. She spends the rest of the movie trying to stop this from happening. At first when I finished watching it I was amazed at what they got away with in a PG-13 movie,but then I looked closer at the DVD and realized I had watched the unrated cut. Like most of Rami's horror films this one is filled with lots of jump scares,low angle cameras,and plenty of comedy. The special effects ,extra for 1 scene,were really well done for being mostly CGI. The cast was great,especially Alison's boyfriend played by Justin Long. And this was the first horror film in a long while that had an ending that really surprised me. I will have to give this a strong A.

31 Days of horror Day 9

Stephen King's Desperation

Source-Lionsgate DVD release

Desperation while not one of King's better novels was still a enjoyable read. This is a Made for TV adaptation of that novel. It starts with a couple who are driving a car across country. The lady of the couple mentions that the car and most of the stuff in it are her sisters. They get pulled over in the desert by a cop,Ron Perlman. He ask to search the car and they agree to the search. While looking in the trunk he discovers a bag of weed. So he arrest both of them and puts them in the back of his patrol car. While on the ride to the nearest town,the cop starts saying strange words and making very strange sounds. Then he coughs and blood sprays outta his mouth and hits the windshield. Once they get to the town,the couple notices that there is no one in the town. The cop pulls up to the jail and takes them inside. Inside they meet a family of 3,mom dad and son. After some quick thinking they manage to get outta the jail and are slowly making their way outta town when they start to realize that all is not as it seems. I was actually surprised at how much gore was in this since it was Made for TV,IIRC it aired on ABC. Overall the acting is good,and it follows the novel pretty closely until the very end. Then there is some changes from the novel,but they seem to mainly be because of budget reasons. Overall it is a solid B+.