31 Days of Horror Day 19 Decoys

Title-Decoys
Source-Sony Double Feature DVD

Back in 2008 or 2009 I was trying to find something to watch. Saw that SciFi Channel was airing something called Decoys. It looked like a Invasion of the Body Snatchers style sci fi horror hybrid so I turned it on.

After a few minutes I realized that the movie was gonna be heavily cut on Sci Fi. Cause I kept seeing lots of jarring cuts happening. Then the gorgeous Kim Poirier came on the screen.

I knew I had seen her in something before this but had no clue. Once the movie was over I went and looked up Ms Poirier up on IMDB. Turns out she played the semi slutty blonde in the Dawn of the Dead remake. And Decoys was her second movie,with American Psycho II being her first and Dawn of the Dead remake being her third.

After finishing the movie I saw that the sequel was airing next.But I now wanted to see both of them uncut. Checked Netflix and they didn't have either film for disc rental. The one video store we had left in town didn't have them for rent. And when I would search for them on Dish Network they only seemed to air on channels that would edit them. So I gave up on seeing the movie uncut.

Skip ahead to this past summer. A friend had realized she never watched any of the hundred or so DVDs she owned. She told me to come over and see if she had anything I wanted. I started digging and saw the DVD that had both Decoys films. And after almost a decade I finally got to see Decoys uncut.

The film's plot is pretty simple. A bunch of dopey guys learn that there is an alien invasion. These aliens look human but got piles of tentacles on the inside. Plus they seem to get sexually aroused by cold. And besides the language the only part cut out of the Sci Fi Channel airings was a short scene,that gets repeated a few times through out the film,were Kim Poirier and the other lady get naked. While it was nice to see Ms Poirier naked it didn't make the movie any better. We get a plot that has been done 100s of times before this. The acting is OK at best. Looking at the cast looks like most of them are Canadian TV actors. The FX work,which is mostly CGI,is ok. It is at the level you expect from a DTV early 2000s film.

Decoys gets a D+.

31 Days of Horror Day 18 Satan's Storybook

Title-Satan's Storybook
Source-TubiTV app

While I love modern tech in someways I hate it. Like how I waited until 2004 to finally get a cellphone. And even now 14 years later I still got a fliphone.. Not a smartphone. Hell for years I didn't want a tablet computer. I had a desktop and a laptop and was happy. Then I got a good tablet for cheap and discovered how useful it can be. Kinda nice to have a device that fits in my pocket that is loaded up with piles of books,comics,movies,cartoons and TV shows. Plus cause of it I have discovered all kinds of free streaming services.

Sure every one knows about Netflix and Hulu. But how many of y'all know of TubiTV? It is a free streaming service. Were you get uncut movies and TV shows. The only drawback is about every 30 minutes you will get 2 or 3 thirty second long ads. So not a bad trade off. TubiTV has piles of stuff. And on evenings when it isn't hot I will go sit on  my back porch and find  something to watch on TubiTV.

It was months back I had the house to myself and didn't feel like sitting inside watching whatever crap airs on TV. So I filled up a big glass of iced tea,grabbed my tablet and my dog and I went to sit on the back porch. I was scrolling thru the recently added movies section on TubiTV when I saw Satan's Storybook. I did a double take cause I was sure I had seen the cover before and was sure the blonde on it was a 80s era Ginger Lynn aka Ginger Lynn Allen. I knew the cover and film title sounded familiar but didn't know why. I started up the film and saw that it is a very low budget DTV horror from 1989.

It was about halfway thru the film,during one of the ad breaks,that I realized why I knew the cover. For at least a year maybe more,in Fangoria there would be a quarter page ad advertising this movie. The ad played up the fact that it had the first non-porno role for Ginger Lynn Allen. Who IIRC was dating Charlie Sheen at the time. And the company selling the VHS wanted 29.95 plus shipping for it. Now for years I had seen the ad and wanted to see the movie. But figured I would never get a chance.

I looked online and the movie has so far only gotten a VHS release. Kinda surprised Code Red,Slasher Video or Massacre Video or hell Bleeding Skull hasn't released this on DVD or Blu Ray yet. VHS copies go for stupid prices. I am guessing not that many people bought a copy back in the day.And I never saw it for rent in any video store.

The story is fairly simple. Ginger plays some kind of Angelic ninja. The first scene is Ms Allen dressed up as a white ninja fighting off a bunch of black ninjas. While trying to save a gothic looking lady. We find out the goth lady is Satan's bride. And Ginger is there to stop the wedding so she can prevent the birth of the AntiChrist.

After this we switch to Satan in a throne. He is mad that his woman has been kidnapped. So to cheer him up Hell's jester shows up to tell Satan a few stories. Yep this is a horror anthology.

That is Satan. A guy in a goat mask with furry pants. Whoever made the movie must have gotten some fog machines cheap. Cause everytime we see Satan there is piles of fog.

The first story is "Demon of Death". About a 80s era serial killer. He dresses like your typical late 80s metalhead. And picks names at random out of the phone book. Then goes and kills the person he picked.Then at random he picks a girl who has ESP and her mother is a witch. Our killer gets gunned down but doesn't die. So is put on death row. And we get a trite as fuck twist ending.

The second story is about a drunk ass clown. Who kills himself. After what feels like an hour of boring dialogue we find out the clown is in hell. Yeah this story sucks.

Ginger is wandering around the woods with Satan's bride with her. They get surrounded by a bunch of people in whatever slightly Satanic looking stuff Party City had marked at 70% off the day after Halloween. During this battle Ginger just disappears. And we find out that Satan's bride now doesn't want to have a kid. Cut back to Ginger bathed in red light and surrounded by fog. And she implies that we will get a sequel.

It was more than likely 89 or 90 when I first saw the ad for this movie in Fangoria. And so it has been right at 30 years that I have been wanting to see it. So while it was kick ass I finally got to see a film I had never seen and thought I would never get to see,plus I saw it for free. The movie sucks ass. The only good parts are well Ginger looks great,the goat mask Satan wears is well done and the one evil clown in the second story is actually  a bit scary. Besides that the movie was a waste of 90 or so minutes.

Now if you want to see this pile of shit,and why would you,well I haven't checked to see if it is still on TubiTV. TubiTV has a habit of cycling out stuff at random. You can find the full movie on Youtube.  That way you can watch this minor piece of DTV horror history for free.

Satan's Storybook gets a F.

Going to Pieces DVD Showcase

Free Horror Movies on Vudu

Godzilla VHS&DVD collection

31 Days of Horror Day 16 Killer's Delight

Title-Killer's Delight

Source-Code Red DVD

Before finding this DVD I had never even heard of the movie. Made in 1978 this is one of the many proto-slashers that came out before Friday the 13th took the subgenre and exploded it into mainstream.

As I mentioned in my review of Blood Feast II,this was the other DVD I found while waiting in line. I saw the cover. Saw it was from Code Red and took a chance on it. It was cheap and I know that most Code Red stuff that goes out of print jumps up in price pretty quick. So figured I would get home check it's value sealed. Then if it wasn't worth a bunch open it up and give it a watch. Well turns out this is one of the early releases from Code Red and I guess there is enough supply to satisfy the demand for the DVD. Cause used copies are selling for about what I paid for it new. And sealed copies are at the most 10 bucks. Yep that means I am gonna open and watch it.

Set in San Francisco in the late 70s this movie was inspired by the unsolved Zodiac Killer murders and the then unsolved Ted Bundy murders.  Seems like this movie didn't do much in theaters. Then was forgot about until it got retitled The Dark Ride during it's VHS release. Then got retitled again as The Sports Killer when it got released in syndication for TV airings.

Now Killer's Delight is less like the serial killer movies we have gotten in the last 30 years and is more like a 70s cop drama. The focus is on the two cops trying to solve the murders. And the killer is kept a bit mysterious for a good chunk of the film.

The cast is almost all people I don't know. Outside of 2. First up is Martin Speer.

 Now while most horror fans won't know his name,they will remember him as Dee Wallace's husband in the original Hills have Eyes. And in this movie he is good. The other known actor/actress is Susan Sullivan.

 I know she has been around for decades. I best know her as Kitty on Dharma and Greg. 

The DVD has a decent amount of extras. We get some trailers. But the best extra is the commentary. With the director and a moderator. It is pretty informative and entertaining. 

I wish Code Red had used a different cover. There is plenty of nice movie posters for this movie. Ones that don't make the movie look like a super sleazy piece of 70s exploitation. Which this film really isn't. Hell there isn't much in this movie that would have to be cut for it to air on TV today. And really it feels a lot like a 70s TV show version of an episode of Law and Order SVU than a late 70s slashers.

While I am glad I found and got to see this movie,mostly cause I love finding slashers or proto-slashers I have never seen,it isn't one I see myself watching often. Since I bought it I have watched it 4 times. 3 of the 4 times I watched it with the commentary. 

Killer's Delight gets a C.

31 Days of Horror Day 15 Zany Zombies Double Feature DVD

Title-King of the Zombies and Revolt of the Zombies
Source-Pop Flix DVD

Over a decade ago Dollar Tree got flooded with piles of public domain double feature horror DVDs. All of them from Pop Flix. And all of them had great cover images. The same image that is on the topside of the DVD.Each of these DVDs had a theme. With this one of course being zombie themed.

We get 2 films. Both of which are in the public domain and both of which are from the late 30s/early 40s. Now before watching this DVD I had heard of King of the Zombies. But had never seen it. Also I had never even heard of Revolt of the Zombies.

From 1936 Revolt is a almost sequel to White Zombie. With this movie being pre-68 these zombies are the voodoo dead mindless type. Not the brain and flesh eating type. Straight up this movie fucking sucks. It is 65 minutes and took me 4 times watching it to finish it. Even though it is barely over an hour it feels 4 times longer. The acting is kinda middle of the road. The FX work is crap. And if it wasn't in the public domain I bet this would be a forgotten film.

The only neat thing about the movie is Bela Lugosi's eyes from White Zombie are used for every zombifying effect in this movie. From what I can find online this started off as an official sequel to White Zombie. Then lawsuits stopped that. So a tiny bit of the script was changed and we got this turd of a film.

Then we get our other feature,King of the Zombies. 2 guys and Mantan Moreland are flying a tiny airplane when they hear an odd radio signal. Running low on fuel they crash on an island between Cuba and Puerto Rico.

They get rescued and are told there is no radio on the island. But ships pass by often so they should be recused fairly soon. But Mantan knows something is up. And thanks to a helpful maid Mantan finds out the island is full of zombies.

Seems Dr Sangre is a secret agent and trying to get some vital info out of US military officer,who's plane crashed on the island before our trio's did. And he has a plan to use his army of zombies to take over the world.

The movie is 67 minutes and flies by. The cast is decent,with Mantan Moreland being the standout. The FX work is decent. And the film is a nice mixture of horror,comedy and spy drama.

Speaking of Mantan,he steals the movie. Before this I knew his name. But all I knew was he was an actor back in the 30s and 40s and he was stuck playing parts below his skills cause of how at the time non-white actors were treated in Hollywood. He is great in this. Being  able to convey all kinds of emotions with out talking. Just with a facial expressions he shows his fear. In a way Mantan reminds me a bit of Buster Keaton. Another comedic actor that was able to make me laugh without saying a word.

King of the Zombies is worth seeing. With it being Public Domain there is piles of VHS/DVD releases. Plus you can find it on Youtube or even the Internet Archive. Hell it is worth tracking down this DVD release cause of King of the Zombies plus the great art on the cover and the DVD.

Revolt of the Zombies was just flat out bad and boring. And not just cause of it being a film made 4 decades before I was born. But then King of the Zombies is a damn fun film. It flies by. Makes ya laugh and is one you could show to kids. King of the Zombies is so good it almost makes up for how bad Revolt of the Zombies is.

Zany Zombies gets a C.

31 Days of Horror Day 14 Blood Feast II

Title-Blood Feast II
Source-Shriek Show DVD

Yep the final film the late HG Lewis made.Sadly in 2016 HG Lewis died.

 I have been slowly over the past 20 years been trying to see all of HG Lewis's films. Even the pre-gore stuff. Somehow for years Blood Feast II eluded me. Every time I would think to order it it was out of stock. I never saw it in any store. And back in 2002 when this hit DVD I was in Best Buy and Circuit City at least once a week.

Then back right about the time it was going from spring to summer I found a copy. In an odd place. There is a bodega near a good friend's apartment. The kind of store that if they know you will sell you beer on Sundays,a major no no in MS. Well I had stopped there to grab a drink for my drive home. The line was long. While waiting in the line I started digging thru their cardboard bin of  DVDs. I am guessing the DVDs come from a place that deals in overstock media. Cause you never know what you will find. And sometimes there is even Wii games mixed into the DVDs. So while waiting in this long line I found for cheap Blood Feast II and another DVD that is OOP.

Blood Feast II was made 40 years after the original Blood Feast. And it was HG Lewis's first movie since 1972's The Gore Gore Girls. Even though Lewis had done interviews and appeared at conventions I just assumed he was done making movies. Then in 2000 I started hearing rumors online that Lewis was gonna make another movie. And word was it was a sequel to one of the infamous Gore Trilogy.

I was hoping for a sequel to 2000 Maniacs,which we kinda got years later in the 2001 Maniacs remake/sequel. But instead we got a sequel to Blood Feast. Lewis's first and most famous film. And this isn't even the first time a sequel to that film was attempted. Back in the 80s the movie Blood Diner,a great cult classic horror/comedy,started off as a sequel to Blood Feast. And when you watch it you can tell it is suppose to be a sequel to Blood Feast.

The grandson of Fuad Ramses ,Fuad Ramses the third, returns to Miami.And reopens his grandfather's catering business.He is quickly hired to cater a sheriff's wedding. A Sheriff that knows what Fuad's grandfather did years ago. And is suspicious.

While cleaning up the store to reopen it,Fuad finds the statue of Ishtar that his grandfather had. Ishtar's spirit possesses Fuad. And sets him on the task to complete the blood feast ritual that his grandfather couldn't.

The acting isn't that great.But then the acting in the original Blood Feast wasn't good. The gore is actually pretty well done. And damn gory. About 8 minutes was cut from the film to get an R rated cut. Thankfully the DVD I found is the uncut version. What is odd is that even though it is modern day,lots of the people in the film dress like the cast in the original film from 40 years ago.

I was surprised that there is almost no extras on this DVD. I figured Lewis would do a commentary,since he has done them on most of his films that Something Weird  Video has released. It would have been neat to hear his thoughts on making a film after so many years in retirement.

The film is enjoyable. But only if you like low budget gore films. The acting is a set above porn levels. The gore is better than I expected.

Blood Feast II gets a C.

31 Days of Horror Day 13 Ghosts,Goblins and Ghouls

Title-Ghosts,Goblins&Ghouls
Source-Classics Media DVD

I am always looking for collections of older tv shows,movies and cartoons. Most months I have a circuit of thrift stores,Dollar stores and junk stores I hit looking for this type of media. Back in the spring I had stopped at the local Dollar General to grab a drink and some milk. Saw they had restocked the DVD section and started digging.

I saw the cover,which  is pictured above,and saw the 5 buck price and took a chance. I didn't look that close and didn't notice that besides Felix the Cat,Casper the Friendly Ghost and The Groovie Goolies this also has Ghostbusters and Mr Magoo.

Gonna break this down into segments based on the order on the DVD.

Casper,this seems to be a collection of the theatrically released and made for TV Casper shorts. We get two 22 minute long episodes. I have never cared for the old Harveytoon theatrically released Casper stuff,just a bit too bland for me. Before this I had never seen much of the made for TV Casper shorts. And honestly had only enjoyed the Casper cartoon that was based on the live action movie. The made for cartoon episodes in this collection aren't bad. Not only do we get Casper. But we also get Wendy the good lil witch and the Ghostly Trio. Sadly nothing scary or really spooky in the almost hours worth of Casper stuff on the disc.

Felix the Cat and friends is up next. While some of the old made for theaters Felix cartoons are pretty good,these are crap. I think this is that 80s era Felix cartoon But I am really not sure. Felix is one of those characters that has never worked for me. Outside of the NES game there hasn't been much Felix stuff I have enjoyed. And the two barely over 20 minute episodes on this disc don't do much to change my opinion on Felix.

Up third of Ghostbusters...the Filmation Ghostbusters. Yep this ain't the Real Ghostbusters. See back in the 70s there was a short lived live action show titled Ghostbusters. With Larry Storch in the lead. When the Ghostbusters film was made the studio worked out a deal to use the name. Then after it was a hit,Filmation started work on a Ghostbusters cartoon. So the cartoon based on the film added the word Real to it's title. Now the Filmation Ghostbusters was syndicated. I  never saw it back then. Had seen the toys a few times. And a few clips from the show online. But this was the first time I saw a full episode. This Ghostbusters has 3 members. Two adult males and a giant gorilla.For being from 80s era Filmation the animation is pretty decent. We get 2 full episodes on this set. And it seems the story continues from each episode to the next. The first episode we get starts in the middle of a story,but it wasn't hard to get caught up. I enjoyed this enough that I am now looking for the rest of Filmations Ghostbusters.

4th up is the Groovie Goolies. This is another I had seen clips from and knew the theme song. But have never seen a full episode.We get 2 full episodes and well.... it is cheesy as fuck. Drac,Freaky Franky and Weirdo Wolfy live in a castle and are a band. The show is just a bunch of lame jokes. And even lamer songs. The animation is decent for 70s era Filmation.

 And I do wonder if Archie maybe owns partial rights to the Groovie Goolies,since they started off on the Filmation Sabrina the teenage witch cartoon.

And finally we get 2 Mr Magoo shorts. No clue if these were made for theaters or TV..They follow the standard Magoo plot. He can't see for shit and gets into wacky situations cause of this. The two shorts are decent.

Ghosts,Goblins and Ghouls is a real mixed bag. The Casper stuff is very hit or miss. I did enjoy seeing Wendy the good lil Witch in a few. The Felix cartoons were bad. Ghostbusters was pretty good. Groovie Goolies,well it was nicely animated but that is all. And the Magoo shorts were ok. For me it is just barely worth the 5 bucks it cost me.

Ghosts,Goblins and Ghouls gets a C-.

31 Days of Horror Day 12 Bad Taste

Title-Bad Taste
Source-Count Gore Devol's airing on Vimeo

Ahhhh Bad Taste,the first film and first movie I saw from a guy who is one of my favorite director,Mr Peter Jackson. I had heard about the movie thanks to Fangoria and a few horror zines I read. I was on my way home from school on a Friday. Had just spent most of Chemisty II class reading an article in Fangoria about Peter Jackson's newest film Dead/Alive AKA Braindead. A buddy had told me that this one video store had just gotten in a bunch of horror films. So I stopped by to see if there was anything worth renting. This store ,that I later found out got shut down cause it was renting bootlegs,never had more than one copy of any film. But they had a huge horror,sci fi and porn selection. Seriously I could find pretty much any horror film that was on VHS at this store. I went in and headed straight for the horror section. Saw the above image and grabbed it cause I knew it was a film I had been reading about for years now.

I got home. Put the tape into my VCR and right at 90s minutes I sat there with my jaw on the floor. I had seen gore movies before this. But none of them had as much comedy. Or were made on such a low budget. Then right at the very end the tape stopped and started rewinding. This is when I started to suspect the video store was renting out bootlegs. Almost none of the tapes you rented from them had the FBI warning or a bunch of trailers before the film started. A friend swears he rented some Euro softcore film from the same store and saw the Cinemax After Dark logo pop up a few times. So I was a bit mad that I didn't see the entire film. But really going back now I see that all I missed was the credits.

The plot is fairly simple. Aliens have come to Earth.They want humans to serve as the food in their intergalactic fast food places. And Peter Jackson and some friends are the Earth's only defense.

Mr Jackson shot this film over a long period of time. With himself and various friends playing all the roles. And sometimes not being able to shoot footage cause they were out of money. It was mostly made on the weekends.

What sucks is AFAIK it hasn't gotten a Blu Ray release in the USA. The legit DVD release doesn't look that great and is OOP. I figured once Jackson hit it big with the Lord of the Rings films,fuck I hate those movies,that all his previous stuff would get re-released on DVD. But that doesn't seemed to have happened.

Notice how I said legit DVD release. Somehow a few companies seem to think Bad Taste,which was released in 1987,is in the public domain. So it has shown up on a handful of those multiple horror movie sets. You know like 50 Chilling Classics on 10 DVDs for only 20 bucks. The versions of Bad Taste found on those sets looks worst than the bootleg VHS I rented back in 90 or 91.

What is even odder is early this year Count Gore DeVol aired Bad Taste on his Vimeo show. Count Gore is a horror host that used to be on TV in the DC area. And in the early 2000s switched over to being online. Every week or so you get a new film from him. And it is free to watch. I am guessing whoever picks the movies for his show saw Bad Taste on those PD horror sets and just assumed the film is PD. The print Count Gore used looks decent. It looks as good if not better than the officially released DVD. And hell it is free. Added bonus if you have the Vimeo app you can download videos off Vimeo to watch offline. Whenever I am making a road trip I always load up a few Count Gore episodes on  my Tablet to watch while in the van going to what ever tiny town we are heading to.

I love this movie. But then I love all of Jackson's pre-LOTR stuff. Sadly it looks like the days of him making amazing horror/comedies is over. I thought after the huge success of LOTR Jackson would use that to get a big budget and make the best horror/comedy ever. But nope we got a decent but un-needed remake of King Kong. Then the horrible Hobbit trilogy.

Since the DVD is OOP and selling for too much if you want to see this goto Vimeo and watch Count Gore's airing of it.

Bad Taste gets a B+.