Top 5 Non Scary Ghost Movies

Scary movies and horror film in general is not a kid’s thing to watch. In fact, most parents will be thrown into the fire if they let their children watch random horror fare that involves murder or even sex. It’s not something that you want to be involved with, as a parent. But that’s not to say that there aren’t ghost and other types of scary movies that are worth checking out. Sometimes people ask me what can their kids watch without fearing trauma, so here we go, here are top 5 non scary horror and ghost movies that you can watch with your kids and not feel bad about.

5. Topper

A comedy that involves ghosts and a happy couple that happen to be dead, trying to bring terror to a family that has moved to the suburbs into their former home. They are all about helping out a former friend they knew. Topper is a classic 1930’s film that doesn’t have anything scary about it and stars Cary Grant. I guess it kind of is scary to think how Hollywood has changed in nearly a century, as this film goes for boredom.

4. Ghost Busters

Here we go, Ghost Busters, a rocking comedy that involves all you want from ghosts and beyond. You get a “who’s who” list of comedic actors from the early 1980’s! A group of exterminators fight to get through some of the cheesiest effects in ghost film making up that point. They made a sequel, but this is a classic.

3. Beetlejuice

The ghost with the most is seen here in this late 80’s classic. Tim Burton directs an interesting cast where a ghost is called upon to scare people out of a home, but when he becomes too much to handle, they have to figure out how they are going to stop him from terrorizing. Michael Keaton does a great job bringing this ghost to life, and it’s one of the better uses of ghosts, dead people, and comedy.

2. Frighteners

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, here is Michael J. Fox stars in this attempt at scaring people. This is an easy to watch film where comedic horror meets some interesting supernatural moments. This is not a scary movie, although they try to make it into one. Peter Jackson directs, but it’s a far cry from the stuff he was working on in the 80’s with “Bad Taste’ and more.

1. Riding The Bullet

Riding the Bullet is an interesting piece from 2004, as it was one of the worst adaptations of Stephen King’s work. This movie didn’t earn much, was boring, but felt like an episode of “Are You Afraid of the Dark” or “ Goosebumps”, both of which are meant for kids. While this film was in limited release, I managed to watch it and fall asleep. This is a tame ghost movie that involves horror elements and beyond.

With the above 5 films, you can get your kids a “horror” or “ghost” movie without worrying that they are going to be traumatized by zombie or other genres. This list is of course just a quick one and is not at all the ultimate source for horror cinema.

REWIND: Virginia Creepers Review

I was supposed to review a new film, but got caught up with Breaking Bad Season 4. So instead, here is a rewind.



I was given a copy of this cool documentary, that is quite fascinating. Virginia Creepers is a documentary about late night television that was a major part of many a child hood. Much like Elvira and others, there were a bevy of horror movie hosts that would beckon people to tune in and watch cool film. I love it.

I grew up with horror hosts, and these horror hosts would introduce b-movies, horror movies and so much more. I always wondered who would come up with these things, and why it is that the format worked.

This documentary focuses on the Virginia television side of things and not necessarily the rest of the country, but it's poignant. Between commercials and movies came a cool batch of skits and comedy angles.

I'm not too used to reviewing documentaries, simply because I focus more on horror film and the likes, so You'll have to excuse my review for not being incredible, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't check out this amazing piece of history.

For those of us that grew up with horror movie hosts at Midnight or later, tihs is a rare gem. I didn't see the characters they showcased in this documentary, but rather I grew up in Los Angeles where we had a different kind of host.

I miss it.

Television is not the same, and for whatever reasons no one has revived this long standing tradition of cool horror characters. You owe it to yourself to visit this film and documentary and look at how awesome it was to be a horror movie fan yesteryear.

Here's a mini-doc, and some clips from the documentary.





For those that are not familiar with the horror host shows, consider the movie Fright Night, as they have a portrayal of that. Also, see the Simpsons episode where BOOBARELLA is on. Similar stuff.

This documentary is really cool. Despite the name and regional focus, it has a broad stroke and exploration of television and why the format has passed away in a sense. HBO tried to do Tales From the Crypt with a host, but it's nothing like the old days, that's for sure.

I loved this documentary, and it was a nice change of pace from watching the traditional horror movie that I see here.

Get more info on Virginia Creepers by visiting the official website. You owe it to yourself to watch, and learn. this is a good one, and I'm not just saying that.

Second Look: Sleepaway Camp 3 Review

I reviewed Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland way back on June 29, 2009 here. However, since I've had extra time on my hands lately (the last 15 months of no job) I decided to look at the third sequel in the Sleepaway Camp series.

When I was a kid I used to rent horror moves from the Korean owned rental store and out of all the neighborhood kids, I was the only one that they trusted to rent horror movies. This one I always wanted to rent for the raunchy poster that they had up on the wall. It's of a large breasted female holding a knife. I especially loved this film's poster more than the others just because of how sexualized it was. While I did appreciate the other two, especially the second one because it looked like a porno film cover, this one I enjoyed far more. That's not to say that the movie was far better, but it definitely was engraved in my memory a lot better.

Sleepaway Camp 3 came out in 1989 and was amidst a great deal of slasher films coming out at the time. The film was edited upon release due to the fact that the MPAA wouldn't give it an R rating, but the semi-full version is available on dvd. I'm not sure if the Sleepaway Camp 3 VHS tape has the full edition, but it should be interesting to see if it is.

The film starts up with some random girl trying to get to summer camp but is completely taken out by a rogue garbage truck being driven by none other than Angela Baker! I was cheering for it like a 9 year old marking out for John Cena. The camp this year is completely run down and is thrown together in order to help urban teenagers coexist with upper class kids.

The camp is hilarious, Camp Horizons as it is called is nothing more than a repurposed older camp with none of the original bells and whistles that Camp Rolling Hills had. For those not familiar with that camp, it's where Angela knocked out a ton of campers in the first and second film.

The death count rises on this film, and it really is light on the plot. Sure there are a few connections to the previous movies, but it's not exactly an Oscar contender either, and we shouldn't expect it to be. The kills are similar to all the ones we already saw, and they vary from slightly gorey to full blown gore, but never really as good as the previous movies. As you can expect this film goes into full throttle towards the end with Angela attacking all the survivors and trying to get away with yet another camp slaughter but it just isn't going well.

The closing of this film is awesome, with Angela being in an ambulance and takes care of business. The ambulance scene, despite the close quarters, is quite good and well lit, far better than 90% of this film, in terms of contrast and style. The film ends with what we supposed is a dead character, but is she?

Watching it again definitely made me appreciate certain nuances of the previous film, not necessarily this one. While I absolutely love the movie poster, I don't love the movie at all. In fact, this is the weakest of the series and really only makes me want to watch the second film. The second film is so much better and really could finish off the series completely. I wouldn't mind a new updated version if it was done right. Yes, I know they made a straight to dvd one with the original director, but it's not nearly as good as the second film entry. In fact, the updated one is just a remake of the original in a lot of ways with most if not all of the original cast.

I loved the original for its make up and weird gore effects. I love the second one for being more of a slasher film. The third one, well...the third one has the coolest poster, and that's that. I recommend buying the Sleepaway Camp Box Set with all three films, as I did, but not necessarily just one of the films. Oh and if you love vhs, pick up Sleepaway Camp 3 on VHS and see it in all the original glory.


Buy Sleepaway Camp 3 Here

REWIND: The Complete Silent Night Deadly Night

I was fully ready to review a new film today, but unfortunately I had something come up. I wish it were a job, but instead it was just busy work at home, you know, washing dishes etc etc. So enjoy this piece of crap rewind, while I write up a review for Wednesday...ugh...life sucks when you have no job during the holidays...seriously.



I had spent a pretty penny in November on ebay trying to get good quality versions of Silent Night Deadly Night 3, 4, and 5. Then two weeks later, guess what happened? The studios decided to release a box set to complete the 5 set of films onto dvd. That's right, you can not get the whole set on dvd, and that really ticked me off.

However, instead of sitting around and moping, I decided to go ahead with my reviews as scheduled. But before I get into the world of Silent Night Deadly Night sequels, you might want to check out my previous commentaries on the film set. Silent Night Deadly Night on dvd and part 2, as well as a second look at the iconic series.

Silent Night Deadly Night Review
Silent Night Deadly Night 2 Review
A Real Santa Claus Killer
Second Look: Silent Night Deadly Night

Stay tuned for the next three pieces of the film series, reviewed the way they should've been seen; on vhs! That's right, on vhs, so you're in for a treat...well I'm in for a treat. You'll just be bored to death, as is the norm on this site.

Don't forget to check out Silent Night Deadly Night 3-5 on dvd now in a box set.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

The Black Guy Dies Last

We're going to call this post a "remix" because while it's 40% old stuff, it's 60% new, and I'm talking about crap. After yesterdays pleasant holiday, I'm back in action with a runny nose and a mug of coffee. Too bad no one is awake to chatter with, but if you ever want to shoot the you know what, send me an email with your aim name and we can banter.

The one thing in horror film lists that I see often is about race. Mainly, about African American actors dying first. This is cemented in a lot of films, and then once again spoken about in the Scream trilogy. I have been looking for cases where the Black Guy doesn't get pwned within the first kill, and I have found some glowing examples. However, aside from BUSTA RHYMES in Halloween, I found that this film runs straight to the top of my list for proving that the Black Guy doesn't die last, he actually saves the day. I guess we can cite Romero's work, but since I'm a child of the 80's, this one takes the hat.

Night of The Demons cost me $29.99 when I got it. In fact, my fiancee bought it for me in Alaska, because it just happened to be on sale. It was one of those rare finds at the time, and now it's readily available, and there's even a sequel and a remake. The great thing about this film is the ending, in which our hero and 1 girl make it out alive, although they don't get out without a few scratches and a head full of nightmares, they make it.

Race relations in horror film isn't really the point of many films, but it's interesting to note that a wide variety of people will say, jokingly at times, that the black guy gets it first. However, it's not the case here, and it's the white people and a hot asian chick that bites the big one.

Yes, I know this post can offend some, but come on, it's horror and in horror, nothing is politically correct. So without further adieu or whatever, here's a rewind, remix, of Night of the Demons Review!



Alright, here is a classic for me, but not very well known for everyone. The movie is called Night of the Demons!

The movie revolves around a group of high school kids that are invited to a Halloween party at a haunted house. The house is a local mortuary, that has been abandoned for years. The kids are the usual gang of idiots, the class clown, the tough guy, the token black guy, the preppy kid, the preppy, the goth chick and the virgin who will have to fight off the demons! The main villain, Angela, decides to bring on a séance and unleashes hell onto the kids, and each dies a horrible death!

**Note: I went to a real seance once, and it was boring as hell. I hate how movies sometimes sensationalize these things, but hey, it's a movie, and real life isn't always as fun.

The movie was scary for me when I first saw it, when I was six years old! I didn’t really understand it when I was a kid, or what the gratuitous nude and sex scenes were all about, but then I bought the movie on dvd, and things all made sense.

The movie breaks a few taboos in it’s 90 minute course of horror goodness.



The first being that there is a death/sex scene in a coffin, which is not a good taboo to break, and reprehensible for me since one of my first jobs was selling caskets; a dead end job trust me. (That was a horrible pun)

The second thing being the black guy wins. No, no, I’m not a racist, and I know that you’re probably going to think that I’m going to be stretching a hard stance, but consider the fact that the ongoing stereotype is that the minorities get it first. Not this time around, we actually see a Michael Jackson costumed guy and an Alice and Wonderland girl barely make it through this one. Of course, I just spoiled the ending for you, but come on, I couldn’t resist.

**Note2: See, even when I first wrote the review, I knew that it was odd to see the black guy winning, and being the hero. I'm not that dense.



The movie has a lot of sexual tension, and coarse joking. There’s even a scene where a woman puts a lipstick tube through her nipple, which is something you don’t really see everyday in normal Rated R horror films.

This movie is going to find fans quick, and those that have already seen it either love it or hate it. I am in the category of loving it. I think there’s a good mixture of cheese and gore, and the sexuality is turned up because the director and writers knew what the audience wanted out of this. When I saw this in the horror section as a kid, I thought that this film was a porno, but it turned out to be an awesome little goregasm of a film. (Gore and Orgasm forms the word goregasm, which mixes sex and horror/gore, my new vocabulary word of the day) I recommend this film, as it is full of cliché horror moments, a couple of taboos, and some scary “witching”. It really draws some lines between a slasher film, a zombie flick and a supernatural haunting. It really doesn't define any genre's, that's for sure.

This film spawned some sequels, but none of them as good as the original 1988 release Night of the Demons, now available on dvd.

Before the remake comes through, make sure you check this one out. The Remake of Night of the Demons, is not going to trump this one...or is it?

Note3: I'll have to review the new one, I was sent a screener and I forgot to review it. So I'll watch it over the weekend and post the review on Monday, or Wednesday, depending on how full my stupid schedule is. Granted, I don't have a job or prospects for one, so I have a lot of time on my hands.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

The Complete Silent Night Deadly Night

I had spent a pretty penny in November on ebay trying to get good quality versions of Silent Night Deadly Night 3, 4, and 5. Then two weeks later, guess what happened? The studios decided to release a box set to complete the 5 set of films onto dvd. That's right, you can not get the whole set on dvd, and that really ticked me off.

However, instead of sitting around and moping, I decided to go ahead with my reviews as scheduled. But before I get into the world of Silent Night Deadly Night sequels, you might want to check out my previous commentaries on the film set. Silent Night Deadly Night on dvd and part 2, as well as a second look at the iconic series.

Silent Night Deadly Night Review
Silent Night Deadly Night 2 Review
A Real Santa Claus Killer
Second Look: Silent Night Deadly Night

Stay tuned for the next three pieces of the film series, reviewed the way they should've been seen; on vhs! That's right, on vhs, so you're in for a treat...well I'm in for a treat. You'll just be bored to death, as is the norm on this site.

Don't forget to check out Silent Night Deadly Night 3-5 on dvd now in a box set.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Holiday of Horrors 2009

This December 2009, Scary Film blog will push forward through a new list of holiday horror movies. Anything Christmas, Thanksgiving or related will be featured this month on this blog.

If you remember last year on this site, I tried to make sure to do the same thing, but had a harder time than ever. This year, I had time to prepare and even went on ebay to purchase several specific out of print vhs tapes to review for the site. If you follow along this month You’ll see all new reviews on holiday horror films.

Last year’s list was interesting, and here are the links from 2008 Holiday of horrors on scary film blog:

Silent Night Deadly Night Review
Silent Night Deadly Night 2 Review
The Search for Christmas Horror
Christmas Evil Review
Holiday Horror News
Silent Night Bloody Night Review
Santa's Slay Review
Jack Frost Review
Chopping Mall Review
A Real Santa Claus Killer

If you have suggestions, or want me to review a certain film, please let me know via a comment and I'll try to squeeze you in. We will begin the holiday of horrors 2009 December 2, 2009!

If anyone of you readers out there wants to review holiday horror movies let me know via a comment or email sirjorge AT gmail dot com with a link and I'll link you. If you want to be a guest blogger, let me know and I'll give you a slot in the order. If not, then that's all good, enjoy what is to come!

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

REWIND They Call Her One Eye Review

I lost my job yesterday. So I didn't watch a movie to review. So today we are doing a nice little rewind post from a review you may have missed. I'm dealing with a lot of bills right now, so we'll see how the future of this site will develop.



I know it's kind of weird to say that I'm getting into Grindhouse/Exploitation cinema, so I won't really put it into that type of language. I have kind of rekindled my fascination with the genre however.



When I was a kid growing up, I would see these weird movies in the "Cult" section, they were what is now referred to as "Exploitation" films. Here's one such example, one that I have recently seen on a dvd full of exploitation trailers. The film is called "They Call Her One Eye" and it's seems surreal. Here is a trailer for the film:





The movie, from what I've read online, had influence in the one eyed character for Kill Bill. Whatever the case is, this film is awesome...although a little odd at times, and very graphically violence and sexual...but if you're fan of the Grindhouse cinema of yesteryear, then you're going to love it.

I know I did.

You can pick up They Call Her One Eye on dvd, or search online for the original, unedited, limited edition version of this film...though obscure, it's well worth it.

From the Mail Bag February Edition

Once again, it is time to look back at all the comments and feedback from your comments and give you a little answer and thank you. This time around I went far back to the most commented posts and dug up some of your comments to answer and reflect on. So let's go to the mailbag for the latest and greatest of your comments to my random reviews.

mediasaurusrex said in regards to my Death Proof Review:

WHat do you think of the inverted Quentin Tarantino time theory? That the segment at the end was actually the beginning of Kurt Russell's "driving into women" rampage? In the end of the movie, he is drinking hard for one. At the beginning, he isn't. Some guy was telling me that if you watch it several times, you see all sorts of arguments that can be held in that direction.

I agree with you though....Russell is a BADASS. I just watched THE THING the other day. BADASS....

Nope. I didn't even think about that. I guess it could be argued that there is some time lapse and inverted time, however I didn't get it from a couple of viewings. I'll definitely go back and revisit the film and see if I can spot Tarantino's time invert, but I can't really see or note it from my previous viewing. Granted, I haven't seen it in a while, so maybe I should watch it again. Yes, The Thing is rad and you're right Kurt Russell's badass! He needs another "Breakdown" or something, so that we can see him return to glory.

Fox said in regards to my Tokyo Gore Police Review:

I had a fun time with this movie. Usually I'm sensitive to films that get sadistic, but, as you said, things get so over the top that it becomes slapsticky to me. Plus, what a great metaphor when the woman's inner sweet spot turns into the jaws of an alligator!

Loved Machine Girl too. I was lucky enough to see TGP with the director in attendance, and someone from the audience asked how many gallons of blood they used for the film. He gave a number in the thousands. He also told us his reciper for fake blood. A twisted guy, but very sweet

Oh yeah, Machine Girl was rad. The whole idea behind the Tokyo shock cinema is right up my alley. I miss the "grindhouse" days, even though I never called those movie theaters that. I just assumed that my dad was cheap and wanted to watch 2 movies for the price of one. I just remember the nachos being way better. The alligator jaw metaphor is definitely a great one, but was probably missed by most viewers of this film. Dang, you saw it with the director in attendance? Now that's rad, I wish I had that sort of viewing experience with any film, but alas...I'm locked in a cubicle as I type this out and no one invites me anywhere...booohooo...but as Samir from Office Space said..."It'd be great to have that kind of job security", meaning that I'll probably be stuck in this cubicle till I'm 50. Recession or not...there's always going to be a need for the tech idiot at a small company...man this is the worse response to a comment ever. I'm sorry.

Soiled Sinema said in regards to my Cache Review:

This has been on my shelf for 3 years and I still haven't watched it.

Dust it off, watch it. I know it's a little slow, but I swear the tension builds and builds to a powder keg like explosion...that never happens. Seriously, dust it off, if you have it just watch it. I know there are films that I have that I haven't watched, so I want hassle you too much, but come on, consider it.

ria said in regards to my American Psycho 2 Review:

I can't imagine any of the Psycho sequels holding a candle to the original, but thanks for the suggestion.

There are a lot of needless sequels in horror movie history, but nothing as bad as these terrible films that most likely got a theatrical release backing them. Hollywood has a lot of missteps, and these films are examples of such. However, without dvd, without readily available vhs, these films found a major audience with horror movie fans that couldn't get to see these films on tape anytime soon. Good thing things have changed, huh? Oh and the Original Psycho isn't all that great now, the pacing is tough.

Brian said in regards to my 976 Evil Review:

After taking most of the credit for the character, I'm surprised he hasn't legally changed his name to Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund. But the movie looks pretty good. I'll probably order it up from Amazon ($5 used).

Yeah, you're right, he should just change his name. I hope he hasn't squandered all the money he has made throughout his career with that character. He might as well start doing college tours and showing up at frat parties. This movie was ok.

*DONE*

And that concludes this edition of "From the Mail box". I am trying to do this more often, but get backed up with other sites and work and all sorts of other excuses that you can probably come up with yourself. Thanks for all the support and those that comment. I didn't get to every comment made on the site, but I try to comment back whenever I get one. It takes time though, but please keep them coming.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Second Look: Silent Night Deadly Night

We previously took a second look at the movie “The Believers”, this time we are going to take a second look at the movie Silent Night Deadly Night as a part of our on going December 08 theme of “Holiday Horror”. So without further ado, here is a second look at Silent Night Deadly Night.



Silent Night Deadly Night has a simple story, it is the story of a young boy who is so traumatized by Santa Claus that it triggers him to kill and keep killing anyone that is naughty. The film starts off with a serious bang, we are exposed to a rape and double homicide. But let me rewind a little more. Initially the movie starts off with a visit to granpa, a family goes to see grandpa, and he is completely still and doesn’t talk. However, when the parents leave our main character Billy alone, grandpa wakes up and warns him that Santa Claus punishes the naughty. This scene is quite the disturbing one, and formulates an excellent example of how creepy old people can be.

The film quality is not that great. If you saw the original vhs transfer, as I did when I was a kid, this movie is really dark and grainy. The scenes are terribly edited, terribly shot, and considerably low budget. The budget was estimated at 750,000 and that is not a whole lot of money for a theatrical film, even if the year was 1984. The movie was a huge hit at video stores, and the rentals made this film a cult classic. I remember the oversized box with the awesome cover art was something really cool and made me want to rent it, and my dad being the cool guy that he was let me rent it! The initial transfer of this film is just terrible, and if you have seen the dvd you don’t know what I mean.

The dvd release updated the transfer and really made a great quality update. The movie was remastered digitally and brightened with great results. However, the dvd makers decided to leave some of the original footage unmastered and vhs quality, and you can really see a difference, it’s probably the biggest difference in film quality that I’ve ever seen from a remaster.



Why Silent Night Deadly Night is scary:

Here we go, this is what you’ve been waiting for right? This film scares the crap out of a lot people, and upon its release it was banned out right. Just like many other horror films from this era, we get a minor hitch hiker warning with a man dressed as Santa Claus on the side of the road waving down our main characters. The movie shows a graphic rape and double homicide towards the beginning of the film. The rape isn’t as harsh as “Irreversible” or “Mysterious Skin” but it’s a tough one to watch considering the 1984 release date. However, the killer, dressed as Santa Claus slices a throat and kills Billy’s dad. Billy and his little brother escape harm, but this Santa Claus has really done some damage. This is really scary, and a main reason why you should never pick up a hitchhiker or even stop on the side of the road to pick anyone up that looks suspicious. I’m sorry, this is just scary and somewhat realistic in its portrayal. The meaning well family stops to help a stranded Santa Claus only to get ruthlessly killed and right in front of their kids.
The true villain hasn’t even manifested itself yet, it’s really Billy but first he must go through some better times. With his parents dead, he and his brother are placed in an orphanage where he has some problems every christmas with the idea of Santa Claus. A hilarious scene happens when he draws a picture of Santa and his sleigh completely bloodied and battered. Another great scene is a little out of place but features Billy peaking through a key hole at a couple having sex. Mother Superior (the head nun) finds him looking, orders him to his room and then whips the living hell out of the young couple! Great sequence, and then after all that, Billy gets whipped mercilessly for being naught! Holy crap, if this were going down today in full public knowledge, this orphanage would be shut down, because parents in the U.S and abroad are no longer in charge half of the time of the discipline of their children at all. My parents spanked me with a leather belt when I did something wrong, so I did my best not to screw up, and it worked! I’m not condoning abuse, I’m just making light of the fact that today, parents are push overs.

The second scary part of this film deals with the psychology of repressed memories. Billy grows up to be a model citizen, and he gets a job at a toy store and he’s really good at what he does. There is a great musical montage to explain all this, and he really does excel in this new found job. He even starts to like one of the women working at the toy store and things start to look good for our hero. However, when Santa Claus is absent, and Billy has to be him for the day, his repressed childhood horror sparks a notion in his head and he completely goes crazy. He then goes on a killing spree, first killing his coworkers and then rampaging through the town all night killing anyone that he deems naughty. This of course leads us to question morality, as the story has only people that are doing bad things getting killed and not just your random presumed innocent person. The death sequences are gorey, and are straight forward, not a lot of fighting takes place, the villain here (Billy) is ruthless and robotic.

Lastly, the worst part of this film is the fact that it spits in the face of law enforcement and religion with one easy swoop of events. Mother superior doesn’t fear Billy, and the police don’t really believe that Billy is the killer. However, things really get bad when Billy shows up at the orphanage and….well….I’m not going to give you the ending, but it goes down!



Silent Night Deadly Night is a scary film, but it also is offensive in a lot of ways. It really is a character study, behind all the glorified sequences of death. The movie really throws the christmas tale upside down and makes you wonder about the Santa Claus mythos, especially considering that in every mall across America some hack is playing the beloved character. This movie really pisses on the whole notion of Christmas and an immaculate Santa Claus by shoving murder and mayhem down your throat, and you know what? It’s one of the better examples of exploitation and horror that came out of the 1980’s, and rightfully so. Silent Night Deadly Night spawned 4 sequels, but none of them came even close to topping the pace, and/or story that this film set up. It’s not going to win awards, but there’s a lot of creepiness to this film, and if you allow yourself to enjoy it a little before just pawning it off as another slasher, you will find that this movie was way ahead of its time, and it’s a shame that no one really saw it in theaters, since it got banned outright. But now we get a good remastered version, and a directors cut to satiate the holiday killing spree. Check out my original review of Silent Night Deadly Night here, and keep coming back for more Holiday Mayhem all this month.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.

Second Look: Believers Review

Today I introduce to you a new on going series of writings that I will add to the site periodically. I am titling these "Second Look" and I will take another look at previously reviewed films. The second time around I will focus not on the story and dvd as a whole but more over the tones and scary notions that I think of while watching the film or thinking about the film. These won't be as frequent as reviews, but it is an important thing for this site, as I dwell on a lot of films even after reviewing them.

Disclaimer: This second look does not mean to shove religion down anyone's throat, but rather it is a wake up call of sorts for those of you that may not question a lot of things. I'm a christian, and even in my faith I question a lot of things and don't like to just be fed dogma.

I reviewed Believers before, but today I decided to take a second look.

Believers is a straight to dvd movie that was directed by Daniel Myrick who directed “The Blair Witch Project”. The story is simple and straight forward, as it follows two paramedics and how they uncover an ends time cult.

Here’s a trailer for the movie Believers:


The film isn’t very well made, and it was released through Raw Feed, who also did “Rest Stop”, “Sublime”, “Otis” and “Rest Stop 2”. This is the epitome of straight to dvd fair, but the horror found here is two fold and I wanted to take a second look to talk about it.

First and foremost the fear of cults is real. I’m not too scared now, but when I lived in Los Angeles, I would get visited by Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and other people trying to convince me of their religious beliefs. Now, I’m not overtly just shoving these religions down throats, and I’m not openly going to debate the religious connotations involved with all these religions, but the fact that people believe these people in droves is scary. The more you dive into these religions via books like “Kingdom of the Cults” or “Cults in Our Midst” you start to see how coerced people are that are joining these cults. This film depicts the end result, rather then the recruiting process.

Cults are nothing too new in our society. I recently saw “Witness to Jonestown” and was in near tears at points when survivors talked about the final hours of Jonestown, alongside footage of the final hours, and how gripping the whole scenario played out. If you’re not familiar with Jonestown, here’s the very condensed version: Jim Jones was a preacher that came along and convinced thousands of people that they were called to help the poor, take in widows, help others and love God. With that he started a church and gained major influence on people and politics. He then convinced his group to move to the jungles of South America and build a utopian community. All was going seemingly well until family members started to get concerned and a news crew alongside a senator flew to Jonestown and discovered some very awful things overall. What happened next was the biggest mass suicide of religious proportions in recent history. Few survived and roughly 1,000 people died. It was sad.

The idea of a diehard doomsday cult scares me and scares a lot of people. What saddens me is the fact that people jump into these things and they are sincere! They are not brain washed initially, they start with good intentions, and somehow it just snowballs. Heaven’s Gate Cult is another example that is quite scary and each of those followers died via suicide, convinced that they are going to get onto a comet. Cults are nothing new, and I recommend everyone read a little about them and not be deceived by anything out right. Do your homework! Don’t be droids, please.



The second scary issue that has been on my mind recently is the “What If?” factor that is involved with this film. The ending is not the traditional ending, as the cult was right! Sorry for spoiling it for you guys, but come on, you saw that coming if you read my review of Believers previously. The Cult warns of a coming end of the world, and as one of the paramedics closes the door we see the beginning of the comets hitting earth and the end of life as we know it. Being a Christian, I personally have heard so many debates over the book of Revelations and the “end of days”, that I have a hard time believing any new analysis of the book. I personally am putting my trust in God and not going to blindly follow any end days ideology. However, the Bible is not the only thing that talks about the end times. The Y2K scare was huge, and some were calling for the end of days, and we had nothing. But there was enough hysteria that I personally knew people that were stock piling water and supplies because things were going south fast. Books were published and I wasn’t fooled. Some thing that 2012 is going to bring the end thanks to the Mayan Calendar and most likely won’t inspire the end. Myself being alive for whatever the end of the world is, scares me a great deal. I don’t dwell on it, but it is one of the only things in life that can make me sick to my stomach.

Believers is NOT a great film. However, taking a second look, it has enough of a push into cult behavior to trigger some messed up dreams. The what if factor, combined with the real life cults that abound, create a moody little piece of cinema, and so I recommend checking Believers at least once, and see if that closing of the door towards the end doesn’t freak you out a little bit.



As a Bonus, to lighten the mood, cults are not an old topic. They were the subject of a hilarious romp on the Simpsons! Marge ends up escaping from the clutches of “The Leader” and it was a hilarious episode from Season 9. Cults in the mainstream are also not new, as we heard of a polygamy case recently. Also do you recall Waco Texas? There was a big cult there too. Point is, we are fragile people sometimes, and this film might not be overtly about cults at large, but it made my brain think a little more than usual, and you know what? That’s why horror is important.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.