Part III Bad Press

As we all know the Friday the 13th films really did not get the positive support by the press as Halloween had received. Then there was the fact that Part III really pissed off a lot of the media reviewers for its redundancy and flat atmosphere due to director Steve Miner having to direct around a 3-D Director of Photography and a 3-D cinematographer. I do love this film and really think the press took this film way too seriously. I think their reviews and commentary are null and void.

Review of Mark Nelson in 'I Am My Own Wife' (2005)

Mark Nelson in I Am My Own Wife
from: Cleveland.com

And in the middle of all: a quiet, perfectly timed and completely assured performance by heroic actor Mark Nelson, who all by his lonesome not only brings vivid life to von Mahlsdorf but to a dozen other principal characters as well. [...]

Fan Film Review: Friday the 13th: Extraction

Friday the 13th: Extraction is a neat little fan film released in (what I can tell) 2012 directed by Samuel Farmer of Chance In Hell Productions . The plot centers around a private military defense company who sends a party to Crystal Lake to capture Jason Voorhees in what they believe is to finally put a stop to the killing.

Mahakaal: Freddy's Indian Invasion!

Here's a movie called Mahakaal (The Monster) from India. This caught my eye because it is essentially an A Nightmare On Elm Street ripoff- hell it's a down right plagiarism. I think it's hilarious to tell you the truth.

Here's a review from DVD Beaver on this film.

Screaming Like Banshees! Night Of The Creeps Bluray

I finally received my copy of Night Of The Creeps on Bluray, and man I really gotta say it's more than I ever anticipated. For anyone who grew up in the 1980's and early 1990's you probably agree with me that this movie is a staple of cable TV and a total 1980's creation. I remember watching this on VHS-- and many years later after DVD had already been a handful of years in production-- and hoping to get it on DVD and never being able to find it. Years later, the same-- never a DVD except a Laserdisc transfer on DVDr and really that never pleased me.

So, Ain't It Cool reviewed ANOES...

The review seems to be a bit on the fence and leaning more to the "it's alright for a remake" side of things. I will still maintain the same stance as I have taken from day one and that's the fact that I will go and see this and will keep an open mind. I am a huge fan of ANOES 1-3 and feel that those films are masterpieces compared to the rest of the Nightmare films which quickly plummet into Turdville with each sequel.

Horror movie review Thursday: Final Stab (2001)

"Angela's sister wants to make a revenge game up on her, inviting to mystery farm her old friends, to participate into a game with fake blood and knifes - but Angela and her disturbed boyfriend Charlie were not supposed to know about the fake part. But what starts as a little friendly game, get dark and bloody with real deaths - and sure, real blood and knifes."

The plot, in my opinion, was already done, but pretty unique. The plot alone kept me tuned in the entire movie-- it's an easy catch because we all want to know who did it! I am a sucker for movies like this good and bad, so it's really easy to be biased. It was released in Europe as Final Scream, so yeah-- name recognition before good content.

Fan film Friday: Mother's Day

Way back in the day (about 2 years ago) reviews for this film flooded the Friday The 13th and fan film world alike. I can't lie- I was one of the dorks anxiously awaiting this film from day one being a huge fan of Eric Morse's four tie in books.

This film, I have to say is film is one of the most professionally made Friday The 13th fan films (with Legends, The Storm, Revenge, etc) and one of the very few full length fan film ventures out there. That's not where the greatness ends- this film may have a feel of a Sub Rosa Studios slasher film, but the shots, acting and directing are all superb.

Horror movie review Thursday: Living Dead Girl (1982)

Catherine Valmont -played by the beautiful Fransoise Blanchard- is brought back to life via a chemical spillage. She develops a strange and unrelenting craving for blood and returns to her childhood home where she meets up with her (pun intended) blood sister -played by Maria Pierro. Catherine Valmont then uses her friend as bait to lure unsuspecting victims to feast on their blood.

Horror movie review Thursday: Hard To Die (1990)

While doing the inventory for a lingerie outlet in a high rise office building, five attractive women are terrorized by a series of bizarre killings. They suspect that the strange janitor, who witnessed another series of killings years back, is at the bottom of the whole thing. Little do they know the real horror that they face in the end.

Wow, where do you start with a movie like this? This movie had everything that the Slumber Party/Sorority House Massacre series had, and then some. Gratuitous shower scenes, scantily-clad big-breasted women, really cheesy and cheap deaths, Orville Ketchum and dumb cops. Gail Harris, who also was the leading girl in Sorority House Massacre II comes back, not to reprise her role, but to play a different character. She is hotter than ever, and really carried the movie as much as a b-movie star can. The movie would have been utter shit w/o Orville Ketchum, the girls and the tie in to SHM 2.

FirstJason CD.

I saw that Dread-Central did a review on this, and since I have given it about 4 or 5 listens in the past week I thought I'd do the same. Anyways, a friend of mine sent me this a week or so ago saying that I would dig it. He digitized it (for my iPod) and gave it a listen one night when I was jogging at 12am (I really do that) and I have to say that I was a bit impressed. All belittling aside- I am a strong critic when it comes to music- I thought musically it was a pretty strong album. The rhythms and beat are very catchy and easy to get into, but there's still something to this album that makes it a bit... cheesy.

The CD that I was given has 8 tracks (not sure if it as a sampler, or what) some good, some bad, some cheesy. The intro track 'Jason Is Watching' was one of the tracks with a very catchy beat, but very cheesy and slightly dumb lyrics.

Into The Pit: The Shocking Story Of DeadPit.com workprint review.

I was not one of the lucky individuals to see this screened at the Fright Night Film Fest, so getting the workprint on DVD was the second best option. I figured I should grab this while it's available because there is no set date for the official DVD release and quite frankly I am not a fan of waiting for a DVD to come out only to be pushed back a few times.

Crappy horror movie review Thursday: The Undertow (2003)

The Undertow (2003)

Six friends enter the strange town of Old Mines for a weekend float trip. They quickly realize that the town is not friendly to strangers, and they are pressured to leave by the police. When the friends decide to continue their float trip anyway, terrifying secrets of the town surface. The town's mayor has an evil secret-- a 7' deformed son born out of incest, and kept under lock and key. Simply known as "The Boy", he is used as a weapon against unwanted visitors to the city, killing them off when needed. When "The Boy" turns on his father, and the town's people for the years of torment, he does what he knows best and heads for the woods to kill the interlopers.

(Not So) Crappy horror movie reviews Thursday: The Red Skulls (2005)

The Red Skulls

After a gang fight gone bad, Red Skulls gang leader Uri sees his best friend slain by the rival gang. After Uri comes to his senses and decides to leave the gang and the city, newly appointed gang leader Lester doesn't plan on letting Uri leave so easy. The gang turns on Uri, and sets up a gang meeting with plans on taking down Uri before he can leave. When Uri decides to break into the gang house to rescue his brother, all hell breaks loose. He soon finds out that his former friends are no longer as they once were, they are now flesh-eating zombies more intent on eating each other, than getting rid of the rival gang-- "The Rats".

Crappy horror movie review Thursday: The Forest (1983)

Two campers Sharon and Teddy are terrorized in the deep dark woods of the California wilderness by a cannibalistic knife-wielding madman. Teddy is killed but Sharon manages to escape. That same night their boyfriends, Steve and Charlie, take refuge in an old cave to protect themselves from the storm. There they meet the killer an old man wearing a beat up old baseball cap named John. He tells them the story of how he walked in on his unfaithful wife and her lover. He killed them both, and gathered his two children and ran off into the forest. Unfortunately, his kids got sick and they committed suicide. Since then, he has developed a taste for human flesh and will kill anybody who trespasses on his territory. The next morning, Charlie is drowned and prepared for the killer's breakfast. He then goes looking for Sharon, who has, unbeknown to him, teamed up with the ghosts of his two dead children. The maniac chases Sharon but just as he's about to kill her his ghost kids save her. He runs off into the wilderness to find the wounded Steve, who has broken his leg. Can Sharon save her boyfriend in time?

The Storm fan film review!

Generally these short fan films offer up a certain formula; introduce Jason, introduce victims, kill them. It's pretty rare that we have character development or even a viable plot other than putting the victims in situations where they can die fast and with the least amount of special effects.

The Storm is a simple film, however it is a well-done simple film. The plot introduces two females enjoying a midday swim. One of the girls notices that her friend just upped and left and heads back home in frustration where she is then joined by her sister and an annoying guy-friend as well as her stern cop father. Her father leaves her alone and when a thunderstorm hits the lights go out and Jason strikes killing them all- some in very familiar fashion- one by one.

The great thing about this fan film is that it was forced to follow that formula by default-- being a short, but don't let that deter you. The Storm did a lot of things that other short fan films did not, or simply could not. First off, the thing that sticks out the most is the beautiful HD cinematography. Right off the bat you know that this film was made by professionals and not just fans with a DV camera. Steady shots, close ups with an actual depth of field that we generally get with 35mm cameras. All of that aside, this movie had me constantly saying 'whoa'! The director Joe Patnaud really rolled the dice with this short film and we see that within the first minute we see a flash of T&A.

Check out The Hussy Of Horror!

Someone sent me this YouTube channel and thought it was appropriate to plug here since she will be doing a series of Friday The 13th related reviews. Check her out and don't forget to sub her!

Crappy horror movie reviews Thursday: Camp Utopia (2005)

Camp Utopia

In 1969, in a small hippie commune in Northern California, Timothy Bach — a self-proclaimed guru — maintained a hypnotic hold on his followers. On June 23, something went terribly wrong in the free love and peace commune. In an apparent drug-induced frenzy, Bach began slaughtering his followers. He then disappeared into the night, never to be heard from again. More than thirty years later, five teenagers return to the site of “Camp Utopia.” And now, what happened back then...is happening again. Has the evil cult leader returned? Or is it something far worse?

Crappy horror movie reviews Thursday: Skinned Alive (1989)

This movie is pretty much about a traveling family-- who kills people for their skin-- break down in a hick town end up rooming with the local mechanic Tom Miles until their truck is fixed. During their stay they end up killing anyone who they can get their hands on, delivery boy, hitchhikers, neighbors and then moves on to Tom and his wife. When the nosy alcoholic neighbor Paul Hickox gets a whiff of what is going on he tries to play hero and save the family from the murderous rampage-- sounds good doesn't it?

I thought the movie was funny, but it also had some nice low-budget blood and some sweet kills. The story was pretty good, and done in the vein of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The special make-up effects weren't at all great, but they were pretty good. They were almost convincing, and that is all I ask for. The movie had a Raimi feel to it, and it even starred Scott Spiegel.

Happy Memorial Day.

Memorial Day

Here's a review of probably the worse plagiarisms of Friday The 13th (aside from Camp Daze, maybe) I have ever seen. Regardless, it's a solid shot on DV effort and I like to suggest this movie.