31 Days of Horror 2023 Day 28 Alison's Birthday

 

TITLE-Alison's Birthday

SOURCE-Shudder streaming service

One thing I have noticed is usually within a month of being released lots of cult/horror boutique label releases hit Shudder. Which makes it more than worth the low price for a year. What I pay for a year of Shudder is what two purchases would cost from a Boutique.

When Severin released their "folk horror" big boxed set I wanted to see a few of the films in the set and the documentary. But not wanting to drop 200 bucks I waited. Tried watching the documentary on Shudder and still haven't made it all the way through it. 

Earlier this year had someone tell me this early 80s Austrailian made horror was worth a watch. Alison's Birthday is almost a forgotten film. I had heard of it but never seen it until earlier this year. And out of the cast only person I knew was the  lead. Who IIRC was Mad Max's lady in the first film.

So needing a film to watch today put this on for my second viewing. Starts off with 3 teenage girls attempting to contact a spirt. One girl gets possessed and warns Alison to leave this place and make sure to never be  here on your 19th birthday. They crazy shit happens,wind blowing a shelf falls on the possessed girl. And Alison ends up leaving her home and moving away.

Skip ahead a few years Alison is almost 19. And she gets a call from her aunt and uncle.They want her to come stay a bit and celebrate her up coming birthday. And off Alison and her boyfriend head to the Aunt and Uncle's. Riding in what appears to be a street legal dune buggy. 

Once at the home Alison is reminded of just how odd stuff is. Like one area of the property she is reminded to avoid "cause there is snakes". And her aunt's ancient grandmother who rarely leaves her room.

This is a real slow burn of a film. While only being 1 hour and 30 odd minutes it feels longer. This isn't a flaw. But to people not use to how cinema had a slower pace a few decades ago I can see it being an issue.

We finally find out the Aunt and Uncle are druids. And they are planning on holding some kind of ritual when Alison turns 19. The boyfriend tries to prevent this from happening. But he fails. At the end the ritual causes Alison's mind to go into the ancient grandmother's body. And vice versa. And we end on alison in the old elderly body screaming.

Worth watching if you want a slow but decent religious horror. No real gore or much violence. Some nice camera angles and shots. 

Alison's Birthday gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2022 Day 29 Mass Hysteria

 

TITLE-Mass Hysteria

SOURCE-Shudder Streaming

Been close to 4 years now I have had Shudder. Sometimes I got months without watching anything on it. Then I will watch nothing but stuff off it for weeks. 

I was looking for something short,knowing I was busy today. Saw this was 66 minutes and that is perfect. Sure that is not really even feature length,I've always been told a film has to hit 70 minutes to be feature length. So yea I get it if some claim this isn't a feature film. But I have covered shit of similar length like episodes of Masters of Horror.

And that is what this feels like. What if Masters of Horror stayed on the air and this is season 9. I loved Masters of Horror and damn it Mass Hysteria is a fucking fun and well made film. That cause of it's odd length I bet is forgotten soon.

Paige is a actress who just booked her first role in a major production in NYC. Currently she is doing the Halloween season in Salem Mass as part of the witch trial re-enactments.

It's her last night. She does what she has done for years now each night and accuses someone in the crowd of being a witch. Then curses them. But this time the frat jock douchebag she picks fucking dies. 

Causing all these drunk college kids to believe Paige is a real witch and the rrest of the film is her and the rest of the acting group on the run from these morons.

Sure you see a few things through out the film that hint that there might be more to the people trying to kill Paige,a rash on a few hands. But a major twist at the end causes that to be handwaved away.

This being 66 minutes I doubt you see it much on cable. Not much woould have to be cut to make it playable on cable. I see this just kind of being forgotten,if it is even known now. 

Mass Hysteria gets  A-

31 Days of Horror Day 17 The Ranger

TITLE-The Ranger
SOURCE-Shudder Streaming Service

Earlier this year on the great Rock Shock Pop forum I had a fellow movie nut tell me I had to see The Ranger. I added it to my watchlist on VRV and figure "OK I will watch it in  a month or so." A month turned into 2 months and all of the sudden it is way later and I am looking for something new to watch. Remembered The Ranger and started it up.

2 couples are at a punk rock show in a big city. The boyfriend of one of the couples has gotten a huge amount of some new drug. Their plans are sell this drug and use the money to move to a better place. But during the middle of the show the cops stage a raid.

The girlfriend of the guy with the drugs gets cornered in a deadend alley by the cops. Thankfully her boyfriend shows up in time to stab the cop to death. The 2 couples steal a girl's van and head off into the woods. Seems the girlfriend grew up in the woods and still has a cabin out in the middle of nowhere.

On their trip to the cabin they find out the girl that owns the van was asleep in the back. By the time they get to the cabin we now know all the 5 leads fairly well. You got the guy with the drugs and his girlfriend. A gay couple and the other girl.

Seems besides the girlfriend none of the others have been outside the big city ever. So they have no clue how to behave and all when out in the country. After the others did a bunch of stupid shit the girlfriend  has had enough and blows up.

And this is when the shit hits the fan. The girl who's van was stolen gets shot. The kids run off to the van to find it missing. So they split up into two groups.

This is when the crazy park ranger attacks. Seems he is connected to the girlfriend's past. But that connection is kept a secret until near the end of the film.

Yep it's another teens out in the woods being stalked slasher. But this is an oddity. Set in the 80s,but made in the last year or so. It manages to avoid lots of the tropes that 80s slashers had.

The 6 leads are all pretty decent. The FX work is really good. Some of it looks to be CGI,but most of it appears to be practical effects. I was surprised at how well this film was made. Went in expecting a low budget film barely above the level of a SYFY original.

The Ranger gets a B.

31 Days of Horror Day 08 Brain Damage

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31 Days of Horror Day 07 Puppet Master The Littlest Reich

TITLE-Puppet Master The Littlest Reich
SOURCE-Shudder streaming service

This came out in 2018 and is the 12 official film in the Puppet Master franchise. Yea Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys doesn't count as an official film. I had heard this was a damn good film but never saw the dvd for sale. Then months ago got Shudder,which is AMC's horror streaming service,and saw Shudder had the movie.

Thomas Lennon is a comic book artist that works in a comic shop. Him,his girlfriend and his boss from the comic shop goto a convention near the hotel from the first Puppet Master film. The convention is based around Andre Toulan.

Most of the people that come to the convention bring with them puppets. Lots of which were stolen from Toulan. And fairly quickly the puppets come to life and start killing people.

And wow this is the bloodiest film in the franchise. Get to see Torch burn a Jewish couple alive. And see the flesh slowly liquefying. Then get to see Blade cut a guy's achilles tendon and wow is it bloody.

A neat thing is Barbara Crampton is in the film. As an Ex-cop. Which comes in handy cause the last 30 minutes of the film has all the cast trapped in a hotel with only a few guns.

This entry in the series really feels like the original. But with a bigger budget. The puppet effects look really good. The gore is well done. And the cast is a nice mixture of people you know and unknowns.

The best part is so many new puppets get introduced. Like the Lil Hitler puppet that possesses a guy. Or this puppet that is half puppet half flying drone.

Anyways if you enjoy the Puppet Master films and want something closer to the good entires this is worth tracking down.

Puppet Master the Littlest Reich gets a B+.