2015 Reading Challenge Book 035 Horror Films

TITLE-Horror Films
AUTHOR-Rhoda Nottridge
FORMAT-Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
COST-10 cents

Back when I started school at Orange Lake Elementary,RIP,my second day there I finished my school work really fast. So my teacher gave me a pass to goto the library and get some books.I found 5 books about horror movies. They had orange covers and were published by Crestwood House. During my 6 years at the school I must have checked out each of these books 10 times. I had forgotten about this great series of non-fiction horror books for kids. Then at a horror movie forum someone mentioned them. So since then anytime I am book hunting I look for copies. And until earlier in February this year I had never found one. I had thought the series ended in the 80s. But the copyright date on the one I found was 92.

It was the cover that caught my attention. I like how Freddy looks a bit sad on it. When I picked it up and saw it was from Crestwood House I knew I had to own it. This book is only 32 pages. Which isn't a big deal. Each chapter is 2 or 3 pages long. And each one sticks to a genre of horror. Like say Vampires,Werewolves,Frankenstein's Monster or zombies.Each chapter also has lots of great full color pictures.

What did surprise me is on the second page of the book they have a very gory picture from the original Hellraiser. With Kirsty facing off against her uncle. Who has no skin on his body. Kind of a bit graphic for a kids book. The Crestwood House books I read in school only covered up to the early 70s. Which is before the trend towards more explicit gore started. Of all the 80s films the Nightmare on Elm Street series is the only one to get an entire chapter about it. This might be why Freddy is on the cover.

After the final chapter,which is titled Is horror dead?,proving to me that horror fans have been saying the genre is dead since before I was born.We get a glossary.Then a list of books that have a similar theme.Then a short 2 page index.

I understand I am not the target audience for this book. And I did enjoy reading it. The main reasons I bought the book and have kept it are.

1.The cover,I love the color tone of the cover. And as I mentioned how Freddy looks a bit sad.
2.Since I was 6 I have wanted to own one of the Crestwood House horror books.
3.Seeing a kid's book full of pretty gory pictures is something you don't see often. And a fairly well respected company putting out a book like this marketed to kids appeals to me.

Horror Films by Rhoda Nottridge gets a 2.50 outta 5.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 12

Echo Bridge Entertainment gets shit on a bunch by online horror fans. They are well know for their packs of 8 films spread out onto two DVDs. Usually these packs can be found for $5. I keep hearing how the picture quality is shit. Well I have a pretty good TV and my cousin has an amazing huge LCD TV. I have watched lots of these Echo Bridge packs on both TVs and the picture looks pretty good. Plus you are usually getting 8 movies for $5. Which means you are paying around 63 cents per film. So I figured I would do some quick reviews of all the horror related Echo Bridge sets I have.

 The Midnight Horror Collection Volume 01
Pretty sure this is the first one I got. I had heard it was out and in the Walmart $5 bin. I wanted it so I could finally have a non-DVD-r copy of Meridian. But I looked for weeks and never could find it. Finally ordered it off Dvdempire paying $8. Then later that day went to Walmart and I saw a copy sitting on top the bin. So I grabbed that copy. Then canceled my order when I got home. The films on this one are.
The Legend of Sorrow Creek-Still haven't watched this one,but it is a 2007 DTV film.
Prom Night-This is a 1980 slasher with Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielson. Not a fan of the film.
Below-2002 WWII horror film produced by Darren Aronofsky. Haven't watched it yet.
I am Omega-A 2007 mockbuster of "I am Legend" from the Asylum. Fun time waster.
Charles Band's Evil Bong-Full Moon studios film from 2006. Funny but nothing amazing.
Meridian-Review of this is here. Meridian review from last years 31 days of horror.
Demonic Toys-1992 film from Full Moon Studios. Really funny and well done.
Decadent Evil-2005 Full Moon Studios vampire film. Not horrible,but I doubt I watch it again.



So outta 8 films there is 3 I know I will watch more than once,2 I haven't seen yet,and 3 I might watch again. Not a bad deal for $5

The Midnight Horror Collection Volume 04
Got this one along with volume 5 earlier this month for $5 total. So that is 16 films for $5. So 32 cents a film.
Now since I have just gotten both of these I haven't seen many of the films on them.
The Last Vampire on Earth-2009 DTV low budget Twilight rip off. Reviews on it are pretty bad.
Night Shadow-1989 werewolf film,the description on the back of the case sounds like "The Howling".
Kraken:Tentacles of the deep-2006 made for Sci Fi channel giant monster on the loose film.
Bloodlock-2008 DTV film about a house with a secret.
Blood Red Moon-2009 DTV Twilight rip off. Really bad. Skip this one.
Howling IV:The Original Nightmare-Fun but slow werewolf film.Adapts the first Howling novel.
Raging Sharks-2005 made for Sci fi creature feature with Corin Nemec and Vanessa Angel.
Vampegeddon-2010 DTV horrible vampire film. Will be reviewed later this month.
Well out of the 4 films I have seen off that pack. Only Howling 4 is worth seeing.

The Midnight Horror Collection volume 05
This is the other one I got with volume 4 for $5 total.
Live Animals-2008 torture porn,really bad skip this one.
Salvage-2006 Australian film,interesting premise that is dragged down by not so good acting.
Memory-2006 psychological thriller with Dennis Hopper and Billy Zane. Looks decent. Will watch it soon.
Wages of Sin-2006 film about an evil preacher. Tried watching this a few times and never make it far.
Roman-2006 psychological thriller. Directed by Angela Bettis. Worth paying $5 just for this film.
Mortuary-2005 film from Tobe Hooper. Not  one of his better films. But worth at least one viewing.
Skeleton Man-Really well done 2004 film. With Michael Rooker and Casper Van Dien. Worth a watch.
Bloody Mary-2006 DTV horror,some OK FX work and the acting isn't horrible.
So 3 bad films,4 great to OK ones,and one I want to watch but haven't seen yet. Worth grabbing for the 4 good ones.

The Midnight Horror Collection Bloody Slashers
This is the one from the Midnight Horror Collection that people look for. Cause it is the only region 1 DVD release of the 80s slasher Curtains.Again this cost $5 so each film was $1.25.
Hoboken Hollow-Dennis Hopper stars in this film. Still haven't watched it.
Secret of the Clown-Watched this one and it is just OK. Worth at least one viewing.
Room 33-Another I haven't seen.
Curtains-Heard about this film for years but could never track down a VHS of it. Well this DVD version looks like they ripped it from an ex-rental VHS. Fun slasher that makes this set worth tracking down.
Curtains is worth the $5. But I wish a better looking and sounding version comes out one day.

The Midnight Horror Collection Blood Predators
As always cost $5 so $1.25 a film.
The Vampire Conspiracy-A weird mix of Vampires and torture porn. Average film at best.
Fist of the Vampire-ECW's Blue Meanie and Darrian Cane star in this bad DTV Vampire flick.
Curse of the Wolf-ECw's Blue Meanie,Leaping Lanny Poffo and Darrian Cane in another bad DTV film.
Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned-No way the film can live up to that title.
Outta the 3 I have watched only one is worth seeing. Total dud of a pack.

The Midnight Horror Collection Charles Band Presents Puppet Master Volume 01
This time we get the first 3 Puppet Master films from Full Moon Studios. So 3 films for $5 equals $1.67 a movie. We get the first two films on one side of the DVD and the third film gets the other side all to it's lonesome.
Puppet Master-The original film that started one of the longer running franchises in horror history. Really fun film. With some well done puppet FX work.
Puppet Master 2-Nice sequel that is almost better than the original.
Puppet Master 3:Toulon's Revenge-A prequel this is my favorite of the series. Set in WWII Germany this one tells us the origin of the puppets.
Now I am a fan of this franchise so this set is totally worth the $5 for me.

 The Midnight Horror Collection Charles Band Presents Puppet Master Volume 02
This one has Part 4 on one side of the DVD. With 5 and 6 sharing the reverse side. Again $5 for the set so $1.67 a film.
Puppet Master 4-In this entry we get a new puppet Decapitron. And sadly the puppet FX aren't as good as the previous 3. But still worth watching.
Puppet Master 5-Pretty much part 2 of the 4th film. Fun time waster but not one of the better entries in the series.
Curse of the Puppet Master-The puppets have a new master. Who is a deep woods scientist. The puppets get revenge on their new master and at the end we get a new puppet added to the gang.
While these 3 films aren't nearly as good as the first three at this cheap price this set is worth picking up.

Sharks,Piranhas&Monsters 6 movie pack
Another $5 pack. So 6 films means each one cost 84 cents. 4 of these were made for Sci Fi channel films. While the other 2 are low budget films from the 50s and 70s.
Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus-Asylum made cheese starring Debbie Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas. Really funny in it's so bad it's good way.
30,000 Leagues under the seas-Captain Nemo and friends have some adventures under the seas. Skip it.
Attack of the Giant Leeches-AIP 1959 low budget film. The giant leeches look like people walking around in sleeping bags. Fun but nothing special.
Beneath Loch Ness-Miramax made for Sci Fi channel film. OK watch if you are bored and have nothing else to watch.
Mega Piranha-Made for Sci Fi Channel film with Tiffany,the 80s pop singer. Really bad and really fun.
Piranha-1972 jungle thriller. Skip this garbage the print they use looks really bad.
Besides Mega Shark and Mega Piranha this set is a total let down.

Full Moon Triple Feature
 This set has 3 semi related Full Moon studio films. Again it cost $5,so that works out to $1.67 a film.
Demonic Toys-Fun fast paced film about killer toys. With Tracy Scoggins.
Dollman-Fun Sci fi film with Tim Thomerson. There is some well done forced perspective shots in this.
Dollman VS Demonic Toys-This has people from Dollman,Demonic Toys and Bad Channels. But too bad the film is boring. It is barely over an hour but fells much longer.
Well like Meatloaf said 2 outta 3 ain't bad. Worth grabbing for Demonic Toys and Dollman.

Full Moon Triple Feature
This collects the first 3 of the Subspecies franchise. I know there is a part 4 and another film that is a spin off. I saw the first 2 years ago on Showtime late at night.
Subspecies-Not bad early 90s low budget vampire movie. Good atmosphere.
Bloodstone:Subspecies II-Quickly made follow up,that isn't as good as the original but worth a watch.
Bloodlust:Subspecies III-Horrible film,don't both watching it.
Another pack that was $5 so each film is $1.67. The first 2 are worth that price. But part 3 isn't even worth a buck.

The Prophecy Collection Miramax Classics
This collects all 5 of the Prophecy franchise.Prophecy 1 and 2 share the same side of a DVD. With part 3 getting the other side. The parts 4 and 5 share the same side of a DVD.Now unlike every other Echo Bridge set I have bought,this one cost $7.50. So 5 films at that cost equals out to$1.50 a film.
The Prophecy-Saw this during it's short theatrical run. Had read about it for months in Fangoria when it was known as "God's Army". Walken gives a great performance. So does Eric Stoltz and Virgina Madison.
The Prophecy II-Walken returns and this film also has Jennifer Beals and the late Britney Murphy. Fun film that is almost as good as the original.It also has a small part for Glenn Danzig.
The Prophecy III:The Ascent-Walken is back for a third time. I know I have seen this before,but remember nothing about it.
The Prophecy:Uprising-No Walken this time. But we do get Doug "Pinhead" Bradley and the always lovely Kari Wuhrer. What I remember of the film is decent.
The Prophecy:Forsaken-Kari Wuhrer is back. And we also get Jason Scott Lee and Tony "Candyman Todd. Haven't seen this one so far. But all the reviews claim it is really bad.
This set is worth the price for the first 2 films at least.

The Children of the Corn Collection Miramax Classics
Collecting Children of the Corn 2,3,4,5,6 and 7. This set was the first time part 2 came out on DVD in region 1. I found it in the Walmart $5. The DVD case is orange and that caught me attention. Now before buying this I had seen parts 2,3,4,5 but had not seen 6 or 7. So 6 films for $5 works out to 84 cents a film.
Children of the Corn II:The Final Sacrifice-I remember enjoying this when I saw it years ago on VHS. But watching it now it fucking sucks. The FX work is pretty shoddy and really there isn't that much of a connection to the first film. I do wish they had explored the corn mold causing craziness angle more.
Children of the Corn III:Urban Harvest-A inner city couple adopts two brothers from that wacky corn cult. So we get killer corn in the city. Good FX work and a inventive plot.
Children of the Corn IV:The Gathering-Children of the Corn IV review from 2010 .
Children of the Corn V:Fields of Terror-6 college kids take a wrong turn and run into those wacky corn cult kids. Strange cast in this one you got Alexis Arquette,Ahmet Zappa,Eva Mendez,Fred Williamson and David Carradine.Better than part 2 but not as good as 3 or 4.
Children of the Corn 666:Isaac's Return-Children of the Corn 666 2011 review
Children of the Corn VII:Revelation-Still haven't watched this one.
So we get 4 good films.One I haven't seen and one stinker. But this is easy to find for $5 so worth getting.

The Hellraiser Collection Miramax Classics
Before this set came out it was hard to get Hellraiser III on DVD. It had been released years ago and had gone out of print. Another $5 bin find. So once again it is 84 cents per movie. Containing Hellraiser 3,4,5,6,7 and 8. I am a huge Hellraiser fan so grabbed this as soon as I saw it. Even though I already owned 3,5,6 and 8 on DVD.
Hellraiser III:Hell on Earth-This film gets unfairly shit on. Sure it isn't as good as the original. But I enjoy it much more than the over praised piece of shit that is Hellraiser II Hellbound.
Hellraiser IV:Bloodline-The last of the series to get a theatrical release it was held up for a long time after filming was finished. With another director coming in and re filming lots of scenes. Horrible film that totally shits on the story set up in the Hellbound Heart novella that spawned this franchise.
Hellraiser V:Inferno-Another one that seems to get shit on by fans. "Pinhead is barely in it!" is why most say they don't like it. Well he gets almost as much screen time in this as he did in the original. Fucking amazing film and my second favorite in the series. It is like a dark,sexy and twisted Twilight Zone episode.
Hellraiser VI:Hellseeker-Hellraiser 6 2010 review
Hellraiser VII:Deader-This one started off as a non-Hellraiser film. Then Dimension films bought the script and had some small parts with the Cenobites added to make it a Hellraiser film. Not that good. But not horrible.
Hellraiser VII:Hellworld-Another entry that didn't start out as a Hellraiser film. But was changed into one when Dimension films bought the script.Slightly better than part 7 but not by much.
This is worth grabbing for parts 3,5 and 6.

Well lets see 13 DVD sets reviewed. 30 good films out of a total of 67 films. Total cost for 67 films is $62.50. So less that a buck a movie. So really these Echo Bridge packs are a decent value.

Hellraiser Hellseeker

I have been a huge fan of the Hellraiser series of films since the first one came out oh so many years ago. But had never bothered seeing any of them that came out after part 5 AKA Hellraiser Inferno. Well a few weeks back at Coast Con a very nice female recommended to me Hellraiser Hellseeker which is the 6Th film in the series. The film starts of with Dean Winters and Ashley Laurence ,who are a married couple taking a drive in their car. While getting a kiss from his beautiful wife Dean swerves into the other lane and has to swerve back quickly to stop from being hit by oncoming traffic. This causes him to lose control of the car and it goes off a bridge into a lake. Dean manages to get out of the car,but sadly his wife doesn't and He sees her die. We then see him at the hospital. While there a cop shows up and starts asking a bunch of questions. It seems when the car was removed from the lake the cops couldn't find Ashley's body. Dean ends up as the prime suspect,and the cops seem to think he has killed his wife. He keeps having flashbacks,and very weird hallucinations. And also is suffering from massive headaches. The further we get into the movie the more it seems that reality is being replaced by what to me seems to be a very Lovecraftian world. The lead cenobite Pinhead shows up at various times during the movie giving Dean cryptic clues as to what is going on. And as I predicted everything is finally explained in the final 10 minutes. The various practical and CGI special effects in the film are very well done for a film that I am sure didn't have a huge budget. And it was nice to see Ashley Laurence back playing Kirsty. Dean Winters is an actor that before this I had only seen on Rescue Me,and had enjoyed his performances on that show. Before this film I had a theory about the various Hellraiser films. IMHO the odd numbered films were good to great and the even numbered ones were below average to pure shit. This one disproved that theory. I find Hellraiser Hellseeker to be the third best film in the series. And plan on buying it sometime soon. Hellraiser Hellseeker gets a B.