Scary Film Review: June 2010

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

End of the Month Deathtoll June 2010 Edition

Monday, June 28, 2010

End of the Month Mailbag June 2010 Edition

The weekend had me watching the World Cup and nearly ripping my clothes in agony as my teams were trounced in the World Cup round of 16. I'm inclined to believe that the World Cup is fixed and/or rigged or something as there is no reason why these things should happen.

But alongside the agony of defeat is the agony of time wasted and not enough horror movies viewed for a Monday morning update, but that's ok, it's the end of the month and I get to dive into the mail bag.

Anonymous left a comment on my post "The Changeling Review":

It's rated R because it's fucking terrifying.

The movie was terrifying for the times, but it's actually not as harsh in today's standards. Sure there are creepy moments, but the slow burn takes a while to live up to the hype and the gore is not really all that good.

Joe has left this comment in regards to my review "Run Bitch Run Review":

Sounds crazy! Thanks for the review...

First and foremost, thank you for your comment. Yes, the movie is crazy and you're welcome for the review. Unfortunately, I had to delete your comment from my interior pages because it looked like Spam. Sorry Joe, you can't just go into business for yourself in the comments and try to squeeze some page rank juice.

That's it for the comments from the latter stages of this month.

There are a few things that you can do to help keep this site going, and eventually help me get a real dot com with a stronger blogging platform.

You can check out Amazon.com for online dvd's and more. Click here, bookmark it and use it. It won't cost you extra, and I'll get a fraction of a cent on each thing you buy. The money goes directly towards getting a domain name and hosting as well as more dvd's for review.

The second thing you can do is check out the Horror merchandise found at this link here. Officially licensed shirts from your favorite horror movies has to entice.

Lastly, send me your recommendations and comments and I'll answer them on the site and of course, watch and review whatever you request.

Friday, June 25, 2010

REWIND: Drive Thru Review

I fell asleep watching some movie about losing stuff in fires or something, and when I woke up it was too late to review a horror movie. So instead of trying to shoe horn a new review here, I decided to once again rely on my trusty friend, the REWIND post. These posts are just throwbacks with additional comments and the original reviews for films you may have missed.

Drive Thru is one of those films that went straight to dvd, but it has higher production value than most other films in the genre. Morgan Spurlock's cameo was definitely a great addition to the overall film, and that's really all I remember. That and the fact that the gore levels in this film are way better than most horror films.

Drive Thru is a straight to dvd horror comedy, which features more laughs than horror. The overall tone is dark, but the gore is immense, and the comedy is so-so, but it’s worth at least one viewing.

The story surrounds a villain named Archie, who for the rest of this interview is known as Horny the clown. When he was young the local kids would play tricks on him, and one day he invited everyone to his birthday party, but instead of having everything go right, the kids burn the burger joint down and Archie is presumed dead inside.

That’s the spoiler kids…Horny goes from kid to kid killing all the children of the kids that caused the fire.

Here’s a trailer for the film Drive Thru:

The movie is straight to dvd, so the quality isn’t exactly very high at all. It’s above television quality, and I presume it was filmed in HD. The main character “Mackenzie” is hot, or at least she was when I saw it, and maybe I’m just fond of “punk/emo” chicks in horror movies, or maybe I’m just weird, but I thought she looked good. Whatever the case is, the movie progresses through lots of slayings fast, and it doesn’t really get going until the third act when everything starts to unravel.

The comedic value and tone to this film is almost immediate. The start of this film has some wannabe gangsters ordering food from Hella Burger only to meet their demise with Horny the clown. This clown isn’t all that scary, he’s a punk rock version of what you would imagine a killer clown would be like. He moves fast and kills with a cleaver, and is often found spewing horrible one liners. I’d give you an example, but I’d rather not.

There is an attempt at a love scene, but I’m assuming the girl involved was either too young or the director couldn’t get her to commit, because the camera pans away, the screen fades out and we never see any of the action. For a rated R film, this makes no sense, especially since they tease that through the whole first and second act of the film.

The killings range from straight up slash and hack deaths to deep fryer kills, and even a few explosions. Overall, the body count is massive for such a corny film. The final turn of events and explanation onto what is going on is stupid. I hated the way the film treated me like a complete idiot, but at the same time tried to act serious. Morgan Spurlock even shows up as the Hella Burger manager at one point! The producers were NOT serious when making this horror comedy, and it’s hard to take it seriously when the makers weren’t serious at all.

Why Drive Thru is Scary: The scary parts of this film have nothing to do with the plot and are directly linked with the harsh themes found in this film. The revenge is over the top, and I’m not sure if revenge killing has ever happened in real life, but it makes you think about the whole notion of “you reap what you sew” and in this case that’s what happened. The mean kids grew up and had children of their own, only to have them snuffed out by someone from their past. Sometimes we move on, and we don’t realize that we hurt someone in our past, and just like those crazy killers out there with “hit lists”, revenge is never a good thing. I guess the scary notion is that anyone would harbor such hate for so long that they would seek out this sort of devastation as a result. Drive Thru is comedy before horror, but to a lot of people the gore levels in this film will be enough to induce vomiting or nightmares, because after all, it’s still a horror film.

Comedy or not, the film must have made some money because a sequel is planned to hit dvd stores and it will most likely follow along the ending of this film, which you can guess at this point. The saving grace of this film relies heavily on the cuteness of the lead actress (Leighton Meester of Gossip Girl Fame), and the Morgan Spurlock cameo. Otherwise, I would only recommend viewing this film if you’re a diehard horror fan like myself, and just must see everything. If you’re more of a discerning movie fan, you’re going to hate the lack of support from the actors, writers, and director on this film. They basically phone it all in. However, if you are a fan of horror and terror in a Fast Food setting, let me recommend an awesome book collection of horror stories all based around Fast Food: Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths, which is a great book that I got to read a few months back and recommend it highly today.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Run Bitch Run Review

I reviewed “They Call Her One Eye” in the early stages of this blog, and I haven't really seen a lot of comparable films, even though there have been some obvious rip offs, and in some cases some interesting throwbacks, but nothing that I really remembered. However, I managed to watch this 2009 independent film that reminded me of the exploitation era of film making and while it wasn't the greatest one in the genre, it's by far better than most independent films that I've seen in recent months.

Run Bitch Run is a classic revenge, exploitation film. It is a story about two young women that happen to be Bible sellers, door to door, and they end up going to the wrong house. They get captured and raped, and one of them is shot immediately. The other is raped in the woods and left for dead.

The beginning of the film is slow and has a lot of nudity and sexual situations that will cause most to turn off the film. However, if you allow yourself to enjoy the process you'll get a good piece of greatness in the latter stages of the film.

The second part of the movie is all about revenge, and our hero dawns a nurses outfit, gets an old car and goes after her killers with some reckless abandon and great overall weaponry. She utilizes machete's, guns, and much more to slay her abductors and then in a shocking finale, finishes herself off.

Is Run Bitch Run A Scary Film?: No.

This film is not scary. The short review here is really all I can really offer to a very thinly plotted film. The majority of the movie is about the sex and revenge. There is little to no acting ability shown, although our main character does have a great pair of assets, and I don't just mean her breasts.

I like the way the film is paced, although it's slow, and I like the sequences and editing. You don't get a lot of gore in this film, nor do you get pornographic levels of insertion and cum shots that you got with “They Call Her One Eye”.

The film grain, the title sequences, the music, and the shot for shot points that resemble other exploitation films are evident, and were interesting to see. Run Bitch Run is entertaining, although brutal and very overtly sexual at times. I didn't mind the film's thin plot, fast deaths and slow build, and wouldn't recommend it to casual horror movie fans. However, if you like the 70's and 80's exploitation cinema and grind house era, you'll appreciate the nod to the classics in this film.

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Pet Review

**Note*** The artwork above is all I could find of the film, if you click it you won't purchase anything, I didn't feel like photoshopping the words out...sorry.

I pride myself on watching all things horror, exploitation, and sci-fi, and I might be the only person that saw this piece of crap film. The Pet is a psuedo-horror, exploitation film that deals with a subject matter that I'm not too familiar with.

The story revolves around a woman in financial need that is seduced by a rich man, only to become his slave. It's a gradual progression, but eventually she becomes lost in the emotion and involvement of being a pet.

Now, this is not some sort of "sexual" pet thing, although there is some involved. The majority of the film is about the whole idea of being a pet for someone, and being in a cage, and being an animal. The rich guy then parades his new pet around and there apparently is an underground of people that keep women as pets.

The film at times seems to be warning the audience of what really happens in the world of "willing slaves", and even points towards the fact that there are websites that people can purchase "human cages" and other things to help them move forward.

This is one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. While some idiot said it was horror and scary, it really is only a poor attempt at being weird. I do not recommend this film unless you're absolutely curious about seeing a woman paraded around as a pet. Literally, a pet!

I can now say that I've seen it all.

Friday, June 18, 2010

REWIND: Feast Review

As you know, I watch everything, and when I mean everything, I mean it. I don't know how I ended up watching this film, but it turned out to be one step short of an adult feature. It even starred adult actors and actresses, which made me look them up and see what they were all about. This movie is one I wish I could forget, but I'm reminded of it every time I think of the other movie entitled "FEAST" which is far better at times than this one, although, not by much.

"Feast (1992) Box Cover Art"

Everyone has probably heard of the horror movie Feast that came out in the last few years, but this movie isn’t anything like that one. This film called “Feast” is like an R rated porno film. The movie is suppose to be horror, but it stars a porn star named Sharon Mitchell and has a cameo from none other than Ron Jeremy! There are also cameo’s from other porno actors and/or directors of porno films, and there seems to be an underlining sexual current in this film.

Two friends are seducing women into auditioning for parts in a movie, only to get killed and eaten! That’s right, this is a cannibal movie! These two guys are polar opposites, except that they love eating young women. Meanwhile, one man is getting psychiatric help and the doctor begins to fall in love with her patient, and begins to want to experiment with him and his sick storytelling.

The movie is straight to vhs, it is shot in the same manner as any good straight to vhs film. However, the film quality is higher than anything I’ve seen straight to DVD recently, but then again, there are most likely a lot of people in the porn world with access to full fledged cameras, equipment, editing, and the likes. The make up effects are horrible, and the dead bodies look completely fake. The characters spew lines as if they are serious, and this movie really isn’t all that fun to watch at all.

As the story develops, a rogue cop starts to piece together a cannibalism trail and now the Psychiatrist is in the middle! This is about the most tense the movie got, but really this one is just bad. I’m not sure if there is an x-rated version of this film where hardcore sex is involved, or whether this was just an oversight by Netflix or if this seriously is an attempt at a horror film. It has horror elements, but overall, this movie is just weird. I swear this film looks and plays out like a big budget 70’s or 80’s porno film, just without the hardcore sex involved.

I do NOT under any circumstances recommend watching Feast, the 1992 edition, and you probably won’t even see this one in stores, since it’s one of those obscure horror films that just didn’t pan out. Had I been working at a video store again, I’d have been completely upset over this piece of trash film.

One saving grace though, the film quality is really good. I’m glad that at least the cinematography takes itself seriously.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Dead Clowns Review

I've seen a lot of bad movies in my day, but I didn't expect this one to be another one of the trash pile. Dead Clowns had some great reviews, on the box cover, and the artwork made it seem like it was a legitimately scary film. I'm not sure sure how I missed this one, because it looked promising, until I got it home and actually watched the train wreck unfold.

Dead Clowns has an interesting premise, a storm sets off events that unleash the fury of clowns that passed away during a carnival train crash years ago. Now they are coming out of the waters and they want to eat the flesh of humans. Zombie Clowns? I can dig that.

The gore effects are interesting, although the camera is frantic, blurred, or blacked out. There's a constant crunching sound as the clowns eat through the flesh, and it makes no sense to me as to why.

Like with a majority of zombie movies, these clowns are slow and yet no one can seem to get away from them. The death toll rises, the boredom matches it, and the story just has tons of holes in it.

Oh and if the lackluster, slow moving clown zombies aren't bad enough for you, this film is shot with a handy cam and HD adapter, and is poorly acted, constructed and told. The “real” storm footage spliced into make it seem like the area is in fact getting stormed upon is terrible, and only leads me to hate Lionsgate.

Then I was reminded of a story. I knew a director of horror films and he said that Lionsgate at one point, and most likely still, buys independently produced horror film at around 50K a pop, repackages them and then re-releases them on dvd. That's what happened here, some independent got some cash to get the Liongsate release and BOOOM they are getting gigs....right?

This film isn't worth analyzing further, and really isn't worth much time. Sure, it has some gore, sure it has zombie clowns, but despite the idea being solid, the film is boring, slow paced, and really reaching towards the bottom of the barrel of what can be justified as entertainment. Whoever positively reviewed this film for the quotes on the box, should be shot, because this one is a terrible film.

Monday, June 14, 2010

From The Mailbag Mid June 2010 Edition

We are at the mid-month point of June, which has been quite good for me. I've been watching the World Cup, and horror movies, trying to stay positive about life, since I have no job still.

So far not a lot has happened in the way of comments, but there was one person that was definitely up for a comment or two.

jervaise brooke hamster said in regards to my "Cherry Falls Review":

I still cant accept that shes gone, she was such a sexy bird.

Yeah man, and now her husband is dead too. Drugs are crazy man, I don't do em, but then again I'm not rich nor do I know where to find any. I still think she was hotter before she dyed her hair...or stopped dyeing it...what do I know?

jervaise brooke hamster said in regards to my "Splice Review":

I want to bugger Sarah Polley.

You and me both, you and me both.

Well that's it for now, I'll have a new review for Wednesday, a rewind post for Friday and more horror action for the second half of this month. In the meantime, please patronize my sponsors, cause I am seriously broke.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror Review

What's this? Another anthology type dvd? Yep, I'm back again watching another “Twilight Zone” type film, and unlike “Terror Tract” this one isn't nearly as enjoyable. Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror has a few things going for it, but it's not the stories, it’s he gore. We'll get to that in a moment. Hood of Horror was a straight to dvd movie, and it wasn't the first time the MC ventured into horror movies. Unfortunately for me and my coworkers (well, I don't work there anymore) at the Video Store, we saw the train wreck known as “Bones”. Snoop Dogg also did an interesting thriller of sorts named, “The Tenants” where he played a spooky basement dweller who stalks a “white” writer. If you see the film, you'll figure out the racial tension of the film is solely in regards to race.

The first thing you're going to find out about the film is that it's low budget, but that's probably something you've already guessed, considering the worst photoshop job in the history of straight to dvd movies. Ok, it's not the worst, but it's pretty bad, and makes me wish I had a job doing graphics again, but alas, I'm stuck here wishing I had cable to watch the World Cup. The movie starts up like the classic “Tales From the Crypt” with Snoop Dogg as your host, talking about some cautionary tales from the hood.

The first story is about a graffiti artist that wants to be great so she conjures up some evil spirits in hopes for getting better, and it starts to happen. However, when things go awry for the girl, she falls and BOOOM, gore effects come shining through. They are a mix of CG and real latex looking effects, which is interesting to say the least.

The second story is somewhat forgettable, so much so that I don't remember it.

The third story is ok at best, and features a rap group trying to get a record deal. It seemed like the writers started to get bored and frustrated so they stopped trying. Well, it's not like they were trying to hard to begin with, but it's interesting to note that Jason Alexander shows up! That's right, George Costanza himself is in this film, which says a whole lot about his career after Seinfeld.

The best part of this film is the gore. The gore effects are awesome, and I liked to see that this one went for the gusto in regards to blood effects. Outside of the gore and violence in this film, there is no reason to watch this film.

Is Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror a Scary Film? : No.

An emphatic no at that. This dvd sucks, and is not worth a lot of repeated viewings. When Billy Dee Williams and Jason Alexander are your major draws, you know you have a problem. Aside from the gore effects, there's nothing really worth watching here. You have to really be a fan of Snoop Dogg, but then again, if you're that big of a fan, do you really want to see Snoop trying too hard? I mean, he was once in a porno movie, no not as a performer but as a host of sorts.

Hood of Horror has several stories, none of which are that good. I'd much rather watch Leprechaun in The Hood or even Frankenhood again. This one is meant for the bargain bin, to say the least...it's terrible.

Maybe the best part of this movie is the soundtrack, which of course features Snoop Dogg. If you can't find the movie, check out the Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror Official Motion Picture soundtrack, or don't, I don't care.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Terror Tract Review

This film was part of a double feature that I couldn't watch in one sitting, and it was well worth it. Terror Tract is an interesting film that is much like a lot of other anthology films, for lack of a better term. You see, Terror Tract is a movie about 4 different stories in one, and is like a long form “Tales From The Crypt”. You don't know this when the film stars as it features an interesting starting point.

John Ritter plays a real estate agent that is showing off houses, and upon arriving to the first house tells a little story. This is a sign of things to come, had I read the back of the box and knew what I was in for, but instead I just went along with the story.

The first story is about an affair that goes awry when an angry husband catches his cheating wife with a younger man. There's a murder suicide plot involved and the situation goes awry fast. It features some above average acting, but the lack of nudity and lackluster sex scene really makes you wish for something a little more serious. The end of the story is the classic “Tales From The Crypt” style ending where no one really wins. This of course ends up going back to our main storyline, with Ritter telling potential customers about the house, and since they are freaked out that there was a murder-suicide, they want to see another house.

The second story hinges on the second house and of course, just like the first, a story is told about the history of the house. The second story is another good one and really reminds me of the George Romero Classic, Monkey Shines. The second story actually stars Bryan Cranston, you know the dad from Malcolm in the Middle, and he makes the story worth while. The story follows a little girl that finds a monkey, and when the family learn to love this little guy, he starts to show signs of aggression towards the father, things go awry fast. This part ended like you'd expect, a dead family member and a dead monkey. Oh and it was cool to see Buff Bagwell of WCW fame in the film. That dude was on the roids, I knew it!

It's interesting to note that the film has the ongoing story of Ritter's character is involved in the ongoing story, and will come into play after the third story is finished.

The third story involves a teenager talking to a psychiatrist about some premonitions that he's been having that are eerily similar to murders that have been happening in the area. When things get really weird, the psychiatrist starts running, despite the teenagers premonition that she's next. In a case of mistaken identity the story ends up with quite the plot twist, and cool death sequence for the poor doctor.

When the story concludes, and Ritter gets a phone call about having to sell something by the deadline, things from the original story starts to become clearly visible and it's an interesting thing to note. The couple doesn't want to buy and Ritter goes nuts because he's in a huge bind and kills one of the potential clients! This gore filled ending ties the whole movie together, and it's quite interesting compared to other films of this genre.

Is Terror Tract A Scary Film?: Yes and No.

There are parts to this film that are actually quite scary. The third story is quite good indeed. The idea of a premonition that leads to trying to help someone escape a murder is nothing new in real life. In fact, I remember reading about a guy that actually had some serious premonitions and they came to fruition. The way the story unfolds, in a short amount of time, is better than most plot points of modern horror film. I enjoyed that aspect of it, and to think that there have been people that had lucid encounters with the unreal, only to have them come to pass, is quite scary.

The weird monkey story is nothing new, but it is also kind of scary. Well, scary to Indians. You see, I heard a news story a year or so ago where a city in India was over run with monkeys. The mayor wanted to fight them so they employed a BIGGER MONKEY and in the end, I believe the mayor got thrown out of a balcony and died. True story! So I guess that can be somewhat scary.

The first story wasn't all that scary, but with so many idiots cheating on their wives, it could be scary for people like Tiger Woods. (I had to do it folks, terrible one liners, late jokes, and what not, I couldn't resist).

Terror Tract is actually better than I thought. It was nice to see John Ritter in a horror role, and it was cool to see Bryan Cranston out acting a monkey. I recommend checking out Terror Tract for sure, and definitely would look into picking up the double feature dvd that it comes on. It is paired with Cherry Falls, and worth watching. I never felt like it was a straight to dvd movie, nor that it was terrible, and enjoyed it a lot more than most of the films that I have to review for this site. It can be scary, but most often, it's just interesting and entertaining, even if the gore is limited and there is no quality nudity.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Splice Review

I was able to check out Splice this weekend, as it was just released in my city and wanted a fresh horror film to review. This science fiction film was interesting to say the least, but the complexities mired the experience with a lackluster climax, and a predictable final twist and turn.

The movie seems simple enough, it’s about a couple of DNA scientists that are looking to cure diseases by splicing animal genes and trying to see if they can produce cures for cancer and much more. When the two figure out how to clone animals, the people in charge try to put a stop to their experiments, but they move forward instead and create a human and animal clone, which turns out to be quite the shocker.

First and foremost I liked the actors. I liked Sarah Polley, I think she’s cute, and was hoping for a little nudity from her; it didn’t happen. Adrien Brody did quite well in this one as he usually does, and really throws something to the ladies in the audience by having a full-blown sex scene with the new “spliced” creature. It is seriously one of the unsexiest scenes I’ve seen in horror film in a long time.

The cinematographer, Tetsuo Nagata, really puts some great views in this film. The camera angles are quite good at times, but then turn lazy towards the end of the film. Visually this film uses a lot of special effects, but they don’t look completely fabricated, there’s still a sense of belief throughout the film. The technology is used quite well, even if the budget wasn’t as extreme as other science fiction films out there.

The plot thickens towards the late stages of this film, and you really have to commit to the film. It takes a long time to develop the characters, their motives, and the foreshadowing. When the cards are turned over and you get to the third and fourth act you start to see just how predictable this film is. It’s almost as though the writers ran out of ideas and just threw in a rape scene, and murderous rampage, before they have to kill their own creation.

It’s a “sexy” set up towards the Frankenstein vein, but not nearly s effective.

I don’t necessarily recommend Splice, but it had a few good points of interest. It’s a formulaic, predictable movie. I don’t know why it was reviewed so well by critics, as it wasn’t worth the asking price. Despite good acting, some nudity, and cool camera angles at time, this film is just another piece of science fiction horror that you might have seen done better.

Oh well.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Cherry Falls Review

Sometimes I get surprised by film that I haven’t seen, especially when I’m at the local video store; that’s where I found this semi-gem, if that’s possible to find. Cherry Falls was coupled with another film, but I haven’t watched the other one, so I’ll review this one first, and the other one, later.

Cherry Falls never hit movie theaters, but it looks like it should. It came out around the time when Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and other films were getting my idiot friends all riled up. The first thing I noticed about this film is how cute Brittany Murphy was when she was younger, and not blonde. The film also stars some other idiots, like Jay Mohr and others, but no one is going to remember the others…at least I didn’t.

The movie’s plot revolves around a mysterious killer that is targeting teenage couples having sex. Once again, the horror clichés abound in this film. A murderer killing teenagers, and especially virgins? Surely that isn’t something that we see all the time is it? When the killer starts to target Jody Marken (Brittany Murphy) the film starts to duck and move towards what seems like an inevitable conclusion, that the killer is who you least expect, or who you do expect. I actually was fooled for a moment, then when the killer was finally revealed, I realized that this thing was just another horror film.

Despite the fact that the Sheriff suggested the teenagers all have sex, and therefore set off a “sex party” where all the teens would do it on one night, there was no nudity. At least not any that I’d write on this blog, as it was lame. I’m just stating, that the film gives you the old bait and switch.

The effects and gore are real yet again. This was before the CG era of blood effects, so there are legit blood and gore effects that are right on par with a lot of other milder horror films. This film does in fact have a body count, but the slashings are quickly edited, cameras are exchanged, which makes me think that this film was made for tv, and not necessarily for large-scale release. Despite a budget of 14 million dollars, this film has some faults, all targeted about the stupid plot twists, and lack of gore. Wait, is that even possible?

Is Cherry Falls a Scary Film? : No.

Once again, teenage horror movies lose me. I’m about a decade removed from these types of horror films, and after all these years I still don’t fully grasp their appeal. I think that the outcome convolutes the film quite a bit, and I don’t like the way that the killer gets his end.

I always seem to have a problem with the logic in some of these films. Consider that the killer was doing quite well up to the final stages, where instead of being smart, cunning, and calculated he gets desperate and in his altered state of mind gets killed by the “dumb” teenager. Yes, this is cliché, and for ¾ of the film you have to assume the killer isn’t as dumb as his demise, but nope, he is dumb.

Cherry Falls suffers from a lot of different plot points, mostly derived from lackluster logical page turns. However, that doesn’t mean that this film is all bad. There are some great moments in the film, and some creative slashings, and clever lines. In fact, the sequences leading up to the reveal of the killer are done in a fashion that I haven’t seen done in a long time. The lines delivered are both sarcastic, and true, and when the tense moments build, this thing takes off into a frenetic pace.

I recommend Cherry Falls for those that love teenage horror films, and are tired of the obvious choices. This film fits quite well with other teen screamers, and while it’s not going to make a lot of top 10 lists, it will match up with a lot of other, more prominent movies in the genre.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Manhater Review

I’m always down to see new film, and I’m always interested in seeing low budget and no-budget horror films. So when I was told about Manhater, I was excited to check it out. I’m always happy to see that there are people outside of the big Hollywood studios, creating horror film for the love of it, or so it seems. This film written and produced by Phil Calderone, doesn’t look amazing at first glance, but if you stick it out, you see some cool effects, despite lack of budget and lack of major film studio, and major actors.

The plot of Manhater is simple, an abused woman gets the ultimate revenge, although she’s not sure how it’s being done. She visits a fortune teller, who acts more like a witch, and gives her a potion that brings forth a beast that is controlled by her feelings, and her past lovers get brutally scratched, clawed, and killed to death.

The movie looks like a made for television movie, well, a Mexican made for tv movie. The first thing you’ll notice is the way it is filmed, it has a very “tv” drama feel, and some casual fans will find that distracting, but if you can get past the lack of visualization, you’ll be able to peel back the layers to something more. The editing is good, even if the sound suffers from time to time. So while it might not be a big budget affair, the movie feels like a “movie” and not another wasted straight to dvd affair, like other films I’ve reviewed for this site.

The kills are all pretty standard, clawing, scratching, not too unlike a werewolf movie, except that there are some nice gore effects and no transformation sequences like the latter. The gore effects are great, simply because it’s not CG it’s real gore effects, real looking blood, and guts. That’s a plus indeed for me, because as of late, a lot of the higher budget films have fake blood that’s not only fake, it’s computer generated.

Manhater has a good amount of nudity, and can never be shown on television, unless it was edited extremely well. I liked the gratuitous nudity, even if it was some of the most “unsexy” nude sequences I’ve seen in a while.

Is Manhater a Scary Film?: No.

I didn’t find the film scary. Sure I’m all up for demon possession, ghosts, boobs, sex and violence, but this film lacks a certain hard to define “it” factor. It’s not the low budget, and it’s not the story as a whole, it just seems lacking, and it’s hard to tell where.

The film drops the ball in the third act, with twists and turns that just seem forced. While I appreciate the “swerve” I don’t know if I liked it enough to gloss over it. The ending was interesting, and it left it open to a sequel, but it just didn’t feel complete when it was all said and done.

This independent film gets a good nod from me, simply because it’s different. You’re not going to find this film too predictable, and horror fans will appreciate the thought that went into the film. The editing is good, and the gore is far better than many recent scyfy and straight to dvd films I’ve seen. While I don’t think the film is that great, I think it’s worth a once over, and is definitely better than the box cover leads you to believe.

Here is a trailer for the independent film Manhater:

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

End of the Month Deathtoll May 2010 Edition