31 days of Horror 2012 day 17

Porkchop
2010
Independent Entertainment DVD

This film is a fun low budget throwback to the 80s teens in the woods slashers. 3 guys and 3 ladies plus a robot go camping out in the deep woods. And one by one are killed by a crazy redneck wearing a huge pig mask.

What made the film stand out to me is how creative the kills are. One lady gets a weed eater shoved into her taint and blood sprays all over the place. Plus the film has the right blend of comedy and horror that a slasher like this needs to stand out. One of the funniest scenes is when the nerd of the group keeps trying to score with the token slut. But he fails and she ends up getting fucked by the robot.

The end of the film leaves it wide open for a sequel. Which I have heard is coming out soon. After doing some research it seems this was made on a $3000 budget. And there are scenes where the low budget shows,it is still worth at least a rental. Porkchop gets a C+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 16

Orphan
2009
Warner Brothers DVD

A young couple adopt a 9 year old Russian girl. Hoping this will help them cope with the stillborn child they just had. At first everything seems ok. But slowly we realize that Esther,the orphan,isn't all that she seems. She always dresses in old period clothing. She also seems to know more about sex than a kid her age should. The mother does some detective work and discovers Esther comes from a nut house in Estonia.

It is revealed that Esther is actually Leena Klammer a 33 year old woman that suffers from hypopituitarism, a condition that stunted her physical growth. She has spent most of her life posing as a young child.

I got lucky and didn't have the big reveal of this film spoiled for me before I saw it. The actress playing Esther is great. And all the FX work is well done. The dvd has very few extra features. The main one is a alternative ending. But I found this cheap,want to say I paid $5. Orphan gets a B-.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 11

Essential Marvel Horror volume 1
 2006
Various artists and writers

This is a collection of pretty much all of the solo appearances of Daimon Hellstorm AKA the Son of Satan and his sister Satanna. It starts off reprinting Hellstorm's appearances in the first two issues of the 70s Ghost Rider comic. Then his 13 issue run in Marvel Spotlight.All 8 issues of the Son of Satan solo series. Plus his appearances in Marvel Two in One and Marvel Team Up. For Satanna we get her appearances in Vampire Tales 2 and 3,Haunt of Horror 2,4, and 5,Marvel Premiere 27 and Marvel Preview 7.

I actually can remember reading some of the Son of Satan issues of Marvel Spotlight when I was little. Which is strange when I consider how religious my mom was at the time. I have always liked the Daimon Hellstorm character. Him being the son of Satan,but also being a exorcist and even becoming a monk at one time is a nice parallel. Now some of these comics reprinted here are kind of cheesy,but even then they are still a fun read. The artwork is never anything amazing but it also doesn't flat out suck. So if you have an interest in Hellstorm this is the trade to pick up cause outside of his time in the Defenders this reprints pretty much every comic he was in.

Now before reading this all I knew about Satanna was what I had read about her in the Marvel handbook. The stories reprinted in here all have gorgeous artwork. And some of them are text only stories. It seems she mainly appeared in the various Marvel B/W magazines. Which makes sense cause those magazines didn't fall under the Comic code. So the writers and artist could do stuff in these stories that wasn't allowed in normal comics at the time.

Now this trade has a cover price of about 17 bucks. But it is easy to find it for much less than that. I got my copy from Instocktrades.com for a little under 10 bucks. And it is worth more than that. Essential Marvel Horror volume 1 gets a B.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 10

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein:Prodigal Son
2008
Dabel Brothers Publishing

Now I have never been a huge fan of Mr Koontz's novels. I have read about 6 of them and enjoyed 2 of the six. But earlier this year I was at my local Dollar Tree and looking through their selection of books. And I found this hardcover graphic novel. So I figured for a buck I would take a chance. I took a look inside the dust jacket and saw the original price was $22.95. Which is way too much for such a thin book.

Set in New Orleans this is the story of Victor Frankenstein ,now known as Victor Helios. And his first creation Deucalion is searching for him. It seems Victor is creating more creatures,but isn't using dead bodies anymore. His new creations are more biological androids. Deucalion teams up with some homicide cops. While I did enjoy this graphic novel,the story is just barely getting going when the book is over.

Written by Chuck Dixon,art by Brett Booth,colors by Color Dojo,Andrew Dalhouse and Mohan and lettering by Bill Tortolini. This book is worth what I paid but if I had paid more than $5  I would have been pissed. While the artwork is great,always been a fan of Brett Booth, the coloring looks muddy. I am amazed that the cover price is so high. I doubt there is more than 150 pages in this book. I get a feeling that this didn't sell well that is why it ended up in Dollar Tree. Dean Koontz's Frankenstein:Prodigal Son gets a C-. And that is only cause of the good artwork.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 15

Hellraiser Revelations
2010
Dimension Extreme DVD

Before this film came out horror fans were already hating it. Partially cause Doug Bradley was replaced as Pinhead. Plus word had gotten out that this film was only made so Dimension could keep the rights to make more Hellraiser films. So I skipped getting it for 2 years. Then I found a used copy for $3 and took a chance.

Two friends run away to Mexico where they spend many days getting fucked up. They both disappear and a year later their parents are gathered together in one of their homes.One of the guy's younger sister finds the puzzle box.She is fucking around with it and it causes her brother to appear out of nowhere.After a bunch of boring bullshit the Cenobites show up. Really there isn't much to say about this film. The new Pinhead looks like shit. The acting is bad. At least the FX work is ok. It is barely worth the $3 I paid. And mainly that is cause I am a huge fan of the Hellraiser franchise. Hellraiser Revelations gets a D+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 14

Chillerama
2011
Image Entertainment DVD

Four horror directors came together and created a anthology film. Set at a drive in theater,that is having a marathon of rare films,during it's last night in operation. Richard Riehle is the owner of the drive in and gives a fun performance.

The first "film" shown is by Adam Rifkin. Titled "Wadzilla" it is a throwback to 60s era giant monster run amok films. Adam plays the lead who gets an experimental drug to raise his sperm count. Which causes him to produce this giant sperm AKA Wadzilla.This is a fun and silly way to begin the anthology.

Up next is Tim Sullivan's "I was a Teenage Werebear". This is a spoof of the AIP beach films plus "I was a Teenage Werewolf". This segment seems to divide people. Either you love it or you hate it. It is a musical about a teenage guy who gets bit by a werebear and starts killing people. The musical numbers are a good blend of serious and silly.

The third segment is directed by Adam Green. "Diary of Anne Frankenstein" is a nice parody of the old silent films. Joel David Moore is good as Hitler and Kane Hodder as Meshugannah. Meshugannah is a Jewish Frankenstein's monster. And Kane plays up the comedy of the character. Overall this is the best segment of the film.

Last we have "Zom-B-Movie". Directed by Joe Lynch,this segment happens at the drive in. When some zombie goop gets into the popcorn. While not horrible it could have been better if given more time to develop.

Chillerama is one of the better anthology films to come out in years. The dvd has a fun commentary Some deleted scenes and director interviews. Chillerama gets a B.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 09

It tolls for Thee
2009
Lawdog Comics

I discovered this comic thanks to Instocktrades.com. I was making a order from them and needed a few more items to reach the $50 that would get me free shipping. So I looked at the clearance section. Saw this comic was only $2. So being a horror fan and enjoying zombie comics I took a chance. The book is in the wide screen/sideways style that it seems most comic strip collections are printed now. The finished art is by Manuel Martin Penichio. Jason Millet does the colors. J.Matthew Crawley does the lettering. And the story/art/design is credited to James Heffron.

Set in 1208 AD this is a fun story about a farmer's daughter,a Templar Knight,an eastern ambassador,a nun and an executioner are the motley crew that has to save a village from a horde of zombies. Now the story is good ,but the artwork is the stand out of this comic. The artwork has a dark look to it that fits the story really well. And the detail all all the gore and violence is really well done. I like how the story ends where there could be another volume of this story. But it seems Lawdog comics is out of business so I doubt we will see another volume. That is why it is good the ending also is good enough to stand on it's own. After the end of the story we get 24 pages of sketches and background info on the characters.I always like seeing stuff like this in trades. It is nice to get to see behind the scenes stuff like this. It tolls for Thee gets a B+.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 13

Dario Argento An eye for Horror
2000
Image Entertainment DVD

I have been an Argento fan for close to 20 years now. I found out about him and his films thanks to Chas Balun's Deep Red magazine. Over the years I have tracked down and seen most of his films.

This sadly is a very short,under an hour,documentary about Dario.While it is well done,parts of it feel rushed. With how many films Dario had done by 2000 this documentary should have been at least 2 hours long. Now I want to say I heard that Dario can speak English. But anytime in this documentary he is interviewed he is speaking Italian. Really the best parts are the segments with his daughter. Asia Argento offers some nice insights into her father's mind. And without these parts the documentary wouldn't be worth watching. Dario Argento An Eye for Horror gets a D-.

31 days of horror 2012 day 12

Screaming in High Heels the rise and fall of the Scream Queens era
Unreleased
2012


Managed to see this short but fun documentary today. It is all about how 3 b-movie actresses created a phenomena that spread all over. Brinke Stevens,Michelle Bauer and Linnea Quigley all started out doing low budget b-movies. And managed to build a great career out of this. Now the director does go into the past of all three women. And that part was interesting. But there is stuff they left out. Like Michelle did a few porn films under the name Pia Snow. This is not mentioned. Which is strange cause she talks about posing for Penthouse.

What I enjoyed the most is finding out about the early lives of all three women. Now before watching this I knew that Brinke was a marine biologist and was at one time married to Dave Stevens of Rockateer fame. But I knew next to nothing about Linnea and Michelle.

Overall this was a decent documentary. I just wish it had been longer. Screaming in High Heels gets a B-

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 08

The Walking Dead Season 2
2011
Anchor Bay Blu Ray

I watched Walking Dead season 2 last year as it was airing and found the pacing to be really bad. Too much time was spent on the farm and the couple of months break after the first 6 episodes didn't help. But the final 2 episodes of the season were really good. So I knew I would be buying the season set when it came out.

We start off not too long after the end of season 1. The group runs into a major traffic jam on a highway. And before they can figure out what to do a herd of zombies attacks. Everyone manages to stay safe. But Sophia and Rick end up in the woods. They get separated. So the group starts looking for her. While out looking for her Carl is accidentally shot and this leads our group to a farm owned by Hershall.

Now I have read up to around issue 74 in the comic,so I thought I knew what was gonna happen this season. But so much was changed from the comic. In the comic the "Farm" storyline doesn't last very long. Which is good cause so far it is the weakest storyline in the comic.

Well the first half of the season is mainly the group on the farm. Trying to find Sophia and dealing with Carl getting shot. Shane and the guy who accidentally shot Carl head off to a FEMA station to get the needed medical gear and supplies. And they get ambushed by zombies. They are on their way out of the station and Shane has hurt his leg. And between the two of them they have maybe 10 bullets left. So Shane ends up shooting the other guy in the leg. So that the zombies will be busy eating him while Shane gets away. I can totally understand Shane's logic in this situation. He understands the world has changed. If he hadn't shot the guy in the left,him the guy and Carl would have all died. But by basically killing the guy,Shane and Carl will live. But this causes a noticeable change in Shane.

Back at the farm Glenn ends up hooking up with Hershall's daughter and through this learns that instead of killing the "walkers" Hershall and his group round them up and are keeping them in his barn. Once this knowledge gets out it causes all kinds of problems. Finally Shane goes to the barn and opens up the door. And the first "walker" to come out is Sophia. Rick shots and kills her and that is how the first half of the season ends.

The second half picks up the pace and we get a nice tense scene set in a bar in the nearby town. The tension between Rick and Shane keeps getting stronger and stronger. And finally in the next to last episode Shane tries to kill Rick. But Rick gets the jump on him. In the final episode the herd from the highway makes it's way to the farm and the group manages to escape. Later that night Rick reveals that the scientist at the CDC told him that everyone is already infected with the virus. So no matter how you die you will come back as a "walker". And the episode ends with the camera pulling back from the group huddled around a campfire and off in the distance we see a high security prison.

Watching this for a second time,and watching all the episodes in 2 days really helps the pace of the show. I still say they didn't need to spend so much time on the farm. But at least we got two great episodes at the end of the season.

The discs all look and sound great. Plus the final disc is loaded down with all kinds of extras. There is a few commentaries and all of them are worth a listen. There is also all the webisodes. Sadly the webisodes aren't worth a shit. The Walking Dead Season 2 set gets a C+.