31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 15 The Substance

 

TITLE-The Substance

SOURCE-MUBI Blu Ray

Kept hearing about this movie for what felt like the last half of 2024. Saw the Blu ray and grabbed it. Then it sat in the unwatched pile for months. Only to be watched 3 times in less than a week recently.

Demi Moore is an aging actress. Who is now the host of a morning workout show. She gets let go cause of her age and find out about a black market drug that might help her regain that youth she needs to succeed in Hollywood.

Take the great body horror of the early Cronenberg films and add in a  much higher budget and a big name cast and you got The Substance. 

Demi finds out about a substance that will cause her to create a younger copy. Who feeds off Demi's older body for a week. Then Demi takes over for a week. 

The film has so many damn levels it is working on. You got your basic Young vs Old. Each viewing it feels like I find another level or something I didn't notice.

The FX work is amazing. The withered old crone hag monster thing Demi becomes near the end is pure nightmare fuel. The cinematography has your eye always drawn to what the director wanted to to focus on. Even the sound and music is well chosen.

One thing I thought would be an issue was the length. The film is a bit over 2 hours 20 minutes. So I expected it to drag some. Nope. Wasn't until about 15 minutes from the ending that I was thinking damn how much longer this got.

Worth seeing and if this blu ray had more extras I would say worth owning. The Substance gets a A-.

31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 14 Exit 14

TITLE-Exit 14

SOURCE-CineDigm DVD

When out thrifting any horror dvd I havent seen and dont own that is 25 cents or less I will normally grab. Got a tote full of this stuff. And I try to once  a week grab one or two films out of that tote and attempt to watch them.

Generation X knows that Friday nights you had it on whatever channel Dukes of Hazzard was on. And John Schneider was the co lead on that show. Now he works with CineDigm making piles of Christian films down in South Louisiana. Exit 14 is one of the few horror films this group  has made.

On spring break a group of College kids stops at a store. A store right off the supposedly supernatural Exit 14. This store is ran by Tom Sizemore,which makes me think it is either a front for a coke ring or Tom really was running the store when the production company stopped in to piss and grab some snacks.

Their SUV dies,they get picked up by a tow truck and the driver,Tom again,offers for them to stay at his home that night. The college kids get told about a woman that died. Then  they get drunk and summon her spirit. Which of course causes stuff to go all spooky.

Also known as Devil's Doors and  being released in 2016 this is below the level of those Tubi Original horror films. Imagine a modern Full Moon movie. Now take out the nudity and gore and humor. And slash the budget in half. 

Avoid this turd. Now time to go put it in a box to mail to CodyLL.

Exit 14 gets a F.

 

31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 13 Clowntown

 

TITLE-Clowntown

SOURCE-ITN DVD

Yep another DTV film from ITN (The International Turd Network). This time it isn't a UK or Spanish film, nope this was made in the US.

A few friends are on their way to a concert. Get stuck in what appears to be an abandoned town. Then learn roaming bands of clowns took over the town. This film was made 10 years ago when there was all those "creepy" clown sightings. 

The acting is what you expect from a low budget DTV horror. FX work ain't bad. The clowns look creepy. Like legit creepy. 

What sucks is now so much crap is coming out that decent stuff like this gets lost in the sea of shit. Yea Clowntown ain't amazing. But it is better than most of the horror crap filling up streaming services like Peacock,Tubi,Fawesome,PlutoTV,etc.

Most years for 31 days of horror I try to work my way through my huge stack of unwatched dvds/blu rays/4ks. This had been sitting in that stack for at least a year. Having been found for a buck or less. 

It is one that you find it streaming give it a watch. One of the better ITN films and I was surprised.

Clowntown gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 12 Two Headed Shark Attack

 

TITLE-2 Headed Shark Attack

SOURCE-Blu Ray

I kind of miss how 10 years ago you knew most Saturdays on SYFY channel you got a new movie. Mostly CGI filled creature features. But they would be fun watches with a room full of folks.

Somehow back then 2 Headed Shark Attack missed my attention. Even after seeing on the sadly short lived show Monster Man how the shark was made I still didn't bother watching it.

Skip ahead to late last year. Was on  my way to see someone, stop at one of the many Dollar Generals in the deep south to grab a drink. And like always dug through their selection of dvds and blu rays. Found the above pictured double feature for 2 bucks new sealed. Thinking it might be a bit before I watched it. Here almost a year later I am watching it.

Now most of these SYFY originals would get a name or two for the cast. This time we got 3, Charlie O Connel,Jerry's brother, Carmen Elektra and Brooke Hogan... Yea the Hulkster's daughter who tried to be a singer then in wrestling then in films. Failing at all three.

Charlie is the Captain of a semester at sea ship. Brooke is one of the students. One who as a kid got terrorized by a shark so is afraid of water. Carmen is pretty much here in the film as eye candy.

Their ship gets damaged and taking on water. But off in the distance is an atoll. So they load up in two skiffs and head to the atoll. Which is where we learn there is a shark with two heads that patrols the water off the atoll.

Mostly the shark is CGI and looks ok. There is a few scenes with a puppet shark that looks good. It was these scenes I saw on Monster Man.

Not that much gore really. Very little nudity and foul language. Really not much had to be cut to air this on SYFY. 

One thing that caught my eye is Fred Olen Ray's son Christopher directed this. Nice to see he is following in his dad's footsteps. Maybe we will get Evil Toons 2 soon.

The blu ray is bare bones. Got the movie and that is it. But it looks good sounds good. And for 2 bucks for 2 films I feel like I got my money's worth.

2 Headed Shark Attack gets a C-

Nancy Wins at Friendship TPB

 

TITLE-Nancy Wins at Friendship

SOURCE-Andrews McMeel Publishing TPB

Now I have heard of the classic comic strip Nancy. Even read it here and there. Then earlier this year found the above pictured collection cheap at a junkstore. Grabbed it and like most comix it sat in the need to read stack. 

Then recently I started reading it to kill time,got all into it and finished it in one sitting. 172 strips total. Covering a good chuck of the year 2020. So we got Nancy and Sluggo going to school online. And lots of stuff about the school robotics club.

Plain simple art that I am sure makes this a fairly easy strip to produce,with a story that is deeper than it appears. Lots of call backs ot earlier stuff. Lots of surreal elements.

Now I doubt I would pay cover price for another collection of Nancy strips,but for the 3 to 5 bucks I dropped on this one I am very happy.

Nancy Wins at Friendship gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 11 Fun Size

 

TITLE-Fun Size

SOURCE-Paramount Blu Ray

Last year in October it was laundry day and I wanted something to watch while doing laundry. Checked and TUBI thought I would enjoy Fun Size. Looked it up "Ok Nickelodeon movie that is rated pg13." Bit over 90 minutes later and I was looking to see if this had a home media release.

It is Halloween night our lead Wren,played by Victoria Justice, is ready to go out for Halloween. Having been talked into going to a big party by her best friend,who is played by Jane Levy. Then right after making her Dorthey costume from Wizard of Oz Wren learns her mother is going out to a party that night and Wren has to take her lil brother trick or treating.

Now the brother hasn't talked since their father has died. And the kid is a bit odd. Going out with the kid in a Spiderman costume,Wren and Jane,who is dressed as slutty catgirl ,are having fun. Until the brother gets lost. So the rest of the film is these 2 ,teaming up with two guys they goto school with,trying to find the missing little brother.  

Sounds like a simple plot. One you could see in many films aimed at kids and young teens. What made this one stand out is it being PG 13. Early on Wren mistakes another kid in a Spidey outfit for her brother, the kid refuses to go with her and pulls down his mask. Calls Wren a bitch and runs off. Then you got her friend who is just uber horny. Or the scene where a metal giant rooster falls on a car and proceeds to hump the car.

Ya while Nick was known as the kids network that pushed the envelope some, think You cant do that on TV or Ren and Stimpy,this goes way past those. It kind of feels like a 80s teen comedy that got cut enough to get a pg 13.

Seems this bombed badly. The reviews I have found online for it are mostly parent complaining cause their kid heard some cussing. It's a PG 13 movie folks. I enjoyed it. And am gonna add it to the normal October rotation.

Fun Size gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 10 Satan's Cheerleaders

 

TITLE-Satan's Cheerleaders

SOURCE-VCI Blu ray

Now this is one I have heard about for years. But always skipped buying it. Then "The Movie Castle" on youtube covered it, go check them out give them a sub, and I had some extra cash so ordered the VCI Blu ray.

Ahh the 70s where the demand for stuff to fill the drive ins meant we got cheap low budget big dumb fun films like this. The smallest cheerleader squad I have seen, really they got 4 members, is on the beach. The football team shows up. One of the cheerleaders goes off with a jock. And the cheerleading coach and football coach argue.

Seems the head janitor of the high school is as Satanist. Which means we get a creepy scene, the one that gave this film an R rating, with the janitor rubbing his pentagram while watching the cheerleaders changing clothing in the locker room.

Stuff happens and we end up with the cheerleaders in a rural area vs Satanists. One of whom is Lily Munster. Then a twist ending that is just odd.

Like I said big dumb fun. None of the cast besides the 3 we know from other films are good. Really no blood,no gore, very little foul language. If not for the scene of the janitor polishing his pendent while seeing tits this would get a PG.

This blu ray is fairly loaded. Get two commentaries. 2 copies of the film, one is the original scan before they cleaned it up and another that is cleaned up. And you get it on Blu ray and DVD.

Satan's Cheerleaders would be perfect as the second or third film on a double or triple feature at a drive in in the rural south.

Satan's Cheerleaders gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 09 Frankenstein's Daughter

 TITLE-Frankenstein's Daughter

SOURCE-The Film Detective Blu ray

Over a decade ago I discovered a horror podcast and through their forum met a pile of fellow horror fans. Piles of them I am still in touch with, even now when that forum is long gone and none of us have bothered with the podcast in a long time. One of those folks is CodyLL. We talked a bit on the forum and I realized we had a pile in common. So at least 3 times a month we will chat on the phone for a few hours. And when Cody is clearing out his movie collection he will hook me up with stuff from it. That is how I got today's film.

I was 5 when I discovered that one of the channels we got on the tv had a guy showing horror films each Saturday night. And I was allowed to stay up and watch it. Sgt Graves was the host's stage name. He was a dead soldier from the Civil War. And his tag line ,which he said before each ad break, was "Don't touch that dial or I WILL HAVE TO BITE YA!" We got 2 movies each Saturday and I would have the VCR set to record both. There was no way I could make it through both films. The first one started at 1030pm and was over at 1230am. It was rare I made it through the first film all the way. Normally I would see half fall asleep. Then the next morning after we got back from Sunday Mass I would watch my tape and see both films.

That is how I first saw Frankenstein's Daughter. A low budget indie horror film that came out in 1958. And is either public domain or assumed to be. And ever year I knew I would see Frankenstein's Daughter at least once that year on Sgt Graves.  I loved it. 

Which means months back when Cody mentioned he had a copy and was getting rid of it I of course said I wanted it. 

Few nights after I got the Blu ray in I couldn't sleep. Put the film on and wow forgot how much fun I had as a kid watching this. Watched it twice that night. First time with the great Tom Weaver commentary. A commentary that one of the first lines was "I saw this as a kid which is the perfect age to see it" and yes Mr Weaver you are right.

Set in modern day California Dr Oliver Frank is wanting to do experiments like his grandpa did. Dr Frank is a failure with women, so he normally experiments on them. 

The lady to me looks more like a werewolf than a Frankenstein's monster. Either that or she looks like she was prom queen at Sontag High School 1956.

See that looks more like a Frankenstein's monster. And the makeup on the creature is great but has one flaw. The creature is a female. But it is obvious the monster is a male.

This is a good example of a film I looked forward to seeing as a kid and I enjoy it now cause of the old memories. I put this Blu ray on and I can see and hear SGT Graves. I get flashbacks to the Hoffman Furniture ads. 

Frankenstein's Daughter gets a C-

31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 08 Fright Night II

 

TITLE-Fright Night 2 New Blood

SOURCE-Unrated FOX Blu Ray

I had skipped this thinking it was  a sequel to the remake. And really felt like Fright Night didn't need a remake. Then was at a Dollar General, found this sealed for 4 bucks. Figured worst case keep the digital copy and sell the dvd and blu ray and make my 4 bucks back.

So instead of a sequel to the remake we get another remake of the original. Yea stuff is changed. It is updated for modern day. And now the lead vampire is a female. But this is Fright Night just slightly changed.

The biggest changes is the abundant nudity and blood/gore. Like piles of nudity and gore. Got a blood bath scene that is loaded with both.

The stand outs are the lead vampire, never seen this actress in anything else. But she commands your attention when she is on screen. And the new Evil Ed. Who looks like the old one just fatter.

Worth seeing but keep in mind this is a remake.

Fright Night II New Blood gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 07 In a Violent Nature

 

TITLE-In a Violent Nature

SOURCE-DVD

Every year there is a few horror films that play the festivals and usually hit home video in October. This film along with Late Night with the Devil was the two this year that got my attention. And thankfully they appeared on SHUDDER fast. I watched both and loved them. So bought them on home video.

Shot as if a cameraman is almost always following our Killer In a Violent Nature is a neat spin on the well worn Slasher sub genre. 

A group of young adults are in the woods. One of them picks up a necklace and this causes our killer to come back and start trying to find this necklace. Plus killing anyone in his way IN A VIOLENT NATURE!

Amazing kills like really amazing kills. That didn't feel the need to go into extreme gore territories like some films did,Terrifier 3. Decent acting from the cast. Plus a gimmick that works and isn't something that has been done a pile.

If you have already seen all the classic and modern slashers In a Violent Nature is one to track down. 

In a Violent Nature gets a B+