The Green Inferno

Well after years of waiting the Green Inferno is finally on its way out, and the other night i was able to view it at the Bruce Campbell Groovy Film Fest, with an introduction by Eli Roth. Super cool guy, and a great flick. It exceeded my expectations for sure, the characters are likable for the most part, sure they are heavy handed social justice warriors but they are presented in a way where you support them, even if their decisions are stupid at times, Upon being caught by the tribe in Peru the group is offed one by one in gloriously bloody glory, the cheers came loud & often with the deaths, sure they were likable but the film is about the gore, after all it wants to be Cannibal Holocaust, and with all the deaths the film knows how to add in dark humor, but it doesn't halt the impact of the gore & violence we see on the screen. For those of you that think this film pales in comparison to CH, well  yeah, obviously Eli wasn't going to kill animals on film for art, this is 2015, but for a 2015 film, a film that will play in theatres, it pushes the envelope greatly. Thank you Eli Roth for making a film that few could make! You got arguably the best acting out of all your films, possibly the best f/x out of your films, and the best looking film you have made.

Sun Choke

Sun Choke is a well shot film that messes with the nerves for how creepy & fucked up humans can be, it reminds me a bit of May, only not nearly as fucked up. Sarah Hagan from Freaks & Geeks stars as a mentally troubled girl watched over by a mentally abusive Barbara Crampton and is obsessed with Sara Lane. She follows her, breaks into her house, uses her shower, wears her clothes and fucks her boyfriend. She begins to kill & kidnap, and is just all around a crazy bitch. I thought it was good but nothing i would say is must see.

Turbo Kid

Kick Ass meets Mad Max, that is what this film is, and that is a good thing. that is a great thing. THe film is about the Turbo Kid, a huge fan of  comics, but only it is during the apocalypse and he has to hunt to find his comics, he also must hunt to find other  useful goods that he can trade for water & other essentials. He lives on his own after the murders of his parents when he was a kid. With the help of a arm wrestler & a robot he must take down a brute ruler that overseas the wasteland. This has cult film written all over it, the weapons they use, the modes of transportation, the humor, the violence, the blood, the quirkiness, this is an awesome flick.

Bunny the Killer Thing

Take one part Human Centipede, take a 80's sex comedy, put it in a blender with a slasher film and you have Bunny the Killer Thing. This film from Finland is about a man that is kidnapped, and injected with bunny dna, he then goes on a rampage raping anything he passes, why does he rape? I have no clue, though the place does let others come to cum inside other creatures, however this dude was never assaulted but oh well, he & his long dong go on a raping & killing spree at a cabin with some party goers. There is not much for plot but this is a fun flick to watch with your buddies high or drunk,

Body

Body is a new classic christmas horror film, it begins on Christmas Eve's Eve at Mel's(Lauren Molina) house, she is with her two best friends, Holly & Cali(Helen Rogers & Alexandra Turshen) smoking pot, playing games and eating snacks when Cali tells them they should party at her uncles house since he is out of town, now the house may or may not be someone elses house and upon being caught in a place they don't belong, the girls make a huge mistake. Said mistake leads to some real questions, do we cover this up, tell the truth, lie, and shit snowballs from there. The three beauties do a great job acting as does Larry Fessenden as per usual, the tension is great but it also has dashes of humor, humor that actually works. This is a great film, i hope people discover it and love it as much as i did.

Some Kind of Hate

Some Kind Of Hate is billed as a slasher film, and it is, however the film is a slasher that tries too hard to be mean spirited, and by that i don't mean things characters do to each other, all slashers have pricks, but this just does not seem to know how to have fun. It is a well made film and has quite a cool concept, a bullied girl that died at a camp for troubled kids(see Friday the 13th part 5) comes back and takes her vengeance on those bullying a new kid at camp. The way she does so is by cutting herself, every cut on her becomes a cut on her victim. It is a good film but i want my slashers to be films you can watch and clap for the deaths, this film had good deaths but the film is so darkly toned(the bullied emo girl that used to be a cheerleader, the bullied goth metal head) that it almost feels forced.

Synapse

The other day at the Bruce Campbell Groovy Film Fest i saw a screening of Synapse. Now this is a film i was not too familiar with but the plot was your basic man on the run from a corrupt company for having info. It reminded me alot of a cheap Looper, only instead of JGL trying to kill his future self, it is about a man that got his memories swapped inside to mind of a Synapse Agent(cop). The action is choppy, the plot is uneven and the acting can be wooden at times but i still had a fun time with this flick.

Checkout HOllywood Video

So alot of Hollywood Video's are closing their doors, and those that are, have dvd's as low as 1.99 or 5 for $8. I picked up a few myself

Brutal Massacre: Only seen bis, but watched it, found it hillarious. If you love filmmaking & horror, you'll love it.

Toxic Avenger 4: I have them on recorded vhs, only have the first on dvd, now i just need 2 & 3.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance: I love Park Chan Wook, i LOVE Oldboy, i've seen this before & it's great, just need lady Vengeance for my trilogy.

Jack Brooks Monster Slayer: Alot were disapointed, i had a blast, fun practical effects.

Free Enterprise: It's like Clerks meets Swingers, says so on the box. I've had my vhs for almost 10 years, highly enjoyable flick about Trek fans who make horror films.

The Abominable Mr. Phibes: The Tingler: The Fall of the House of Usher: Three great Vincent Price films!

Vulgur: Been trying to find a copy of this for a long time!

Mustang Sally's Horror House: Never seen it but my uncle dug it!

Stranger Than Paradise: One of Jim Jarmusch's best films.

One by my house only has a few days left, so i expect them to get cheaper!

Wes Craven's Return to horror, Kevin Smith' s first!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/44377 Red State
I love Kevin SMith, he's one of the reasons i got into film making, i saw Clerks & thought, if he can make a film with this kind of dialogue why can't I? THen i heard of Red State, and was highly intrigued but thought it wouldn't get made after he went studio again with Cop Out, but alas it'll be made!

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/19576 25/8
Interesting Concept, plus it beats doing another Scream...oh wait.

Dawning

Hollywood litters our theatres with shit, pure shit, sure some hollywood films are good, some are even great, but the shit still stinks. Just look at stuff like Twilight & Transformers 2, both made tons of cash, while films like Observe & Report and Adventureland don't, but not all films are made for the masses, so i'm not here to complain about films not making money, i'm here to say films like Trick R Treat should've gone to theatres, instead of straight to video. Today i watched a film i thought was great, a film i was sent as a screener, Dawning, and it is worth checking out.

The story begins with siblings Aurora(Najara Townsend) & Chris(Jonas Goslow) going to their dad's cabin, their dad Richard(David CoraL) is married to a new woman Laura(christine Kellog Darrin), whom the "kids" aren't too fond of. On the way there Chris sees something run past his car, but is unsure of what it is, once they arrive, they notice their dog Brandi is outside do to fleas, Aurora doesn't care for this as she deeply loves the dog. While roasting marshmallows she tries to find Brandi, only to her laying down bleeding. In a sad scene Richard & Chris must put Brandi out of her misery, soon after a man(Danny Salemen) arrives holding the family hostage. He has blood on him but not his own, and claims something is outside that will kill them all. Eventually he gets tied up, and Richard ventures outside, he hears a noise & investigates. His family begins to panic when he doesn't return so Laura goes in search for him. Chris gets weary when she doesn't return either but he find both of them, Laura laying dead, Richard with a gun in his hand, said gun is soon pointed at Chris but seconds later he is in the cabin with a shotgun which he uses to kill the man & then points it at his sister, he lets her go but he comes with. The two are involved in an accident to which Chris demands Aurora runs, she does just that but the road leads back to the cabin, the film closes with Aurora being the last survivor.

What kills them? Well if you listen to the music score & look the the shots, it's very much inspired by The Evil Dead, so it's possible the woods themselves, they're alive Ashley(sorry had to), but it builds up great paranoia with characters hearing others when no one is even talking, phones going haywire, and usage of great sound mixing. The acting isn't that bad, everyone does a decent job, the story is simple yet effective, but i loved the direction, i really want to see more from Gregg Holtgrew, as he seems to study the films he obviously was inspired by, plus anyone who will throw in a Into The Wild reference is cool in my book! There might be some shit in theatres but take a look at Dawning, and you'll know greatness doesn't always go to theatres. Was my first screener review and i am very pleased, wasn't sure what to expect, but was blown away by this little gem! Seek this gem out, cause that what it is a gem, and better than alot of shit in theatres!

Oscars

With the exception of Twilight, it was an awesome video. Oh btw Taylor, or whoever wrote your speech, Silence of the Lambs on in 1992, so Exorcist wasn't the last.

Was also a great video for John Hughes, an honor to Roger Coreman, pus the hurt Locker kicked ass! So did Jeff Bridges!

Shutter Island

Saw Shutter Island the other Day, what a film. I'm about to start doing horror reviews here so i decided to do Shutter first, it may not be HORROR horror but it fall into psychological horror perhaps but only by default. Film has breathtakingly beautiful wide shots.Starts Leonardo DiCaprio, playing Teddy Daniels, off in familiar territory, a boat in the ocean! He suffering from sea sickness and has a new partner Chuck played by Mark Ruffalo. Once they arrive at the island they must give away their guns, all the guards are armed, looking like the Others from Lost circa season 2 & 3. We see guards with night sticks hitting through grass tryign to find an escaped prisoner...erm i mean patient, aswell as an electrified fence. It gives an eerie vibe with happy & creepy patients doing yard work but Teddy soon begins to think something is up.

While investigating the room of the missing patient Rachael Solondo, however the bars weren't broke and the door wasn't open, plus she left both pairs of shoes in her locker. Teddy finds a slip of paper assuming there is a 67 patient, however his intention is to get revenge or atleast speak to the killer of his wife, Andrew Laeddis. He begins to interview patients about both Rachael and Andrew, his theory thickens when one patient writes on a note for him to run. He & Chuck go to meet up with Dr. Cawley & Dr. Naehring, played by Ben Kingsley & Max Van Skydow. They refuse paper work so Teddy begins to think to Dr.'s have a plot of their own. Teddy has migraines so he's been taking pills Cawley's been giving him, aswell as cigarettes from prison. Racheal is found and Teddy wants to leave but a storm is coming, a very violent storm.

Teddy & Chuck wander off to find the truth, they tell each other theories they each have including an old acquaintance of Teddy's George Noyce played by Jackie Earle Haley, telling him of his own time spent on the island and experiments done to patients. Teddy & Chuck are found by the guards who bring them back only for the storm to hit bad. The next morning the electricity is down so they venture off into ward C, the place for the most violent offenders. Teddy is attacked by an inmate and then finds George locked right back up, George is accusing him of being there, and tells him where to find Andrew, the lighthouse. Teddy & Chuck are on their way to the lighthouse when a small argument ensues, Chuck stays behind as Teddy attempts to get into the lighthouse. Damn near impossible he goes back only to see Chucks body at the bottom of some rocks but once he gets down there, Chuck is no longer there. He spies a light in a hole and find the real Rachael, a former Dr who was locked up for questioning the ethics of the experiments. She tells Teddy to not take any pills, eat any food or smoke any cigarettes that are not his own. She also describes the lobotomies conducted in the lighthouse. The two separate in the morning and Teddy is picked u by the Warden played by Ted Levine, he drops him off at the main building where Teddy asks Cawley where his partner is, "You Came Alone". Teddy attempts to escape but visions of his dead wife keep telling him to find Andrew and finish the job, so he finally males it to the lighthouse where there are no patients just Cawley doing paperwork. Teddy has him at gunpoint and tells him of all the secrets & the real Rachael, to which Cawley tells him are just figments of his imagination, Chuck then walks in and tells him he's his shrink, and how Andrew & Rachael are made up characters, only Andrew is Leo's real name and Teddy is his fake. He fires a gun that doesn't work and is shown a picture of his wife & kids, it turns out his wife Delores, Michelle Williams, drowned their 3 kids then was shot by Andrew/Teddy. He comes to a realization that this truly happened and accepts he went nuts.

The next day Chuck walks up and gives Andrew a cigarette, only yet again it's Teddy talking of a conspiracy on the island, it ends with Teddy being walk presumably to the lighthouse. So were there experiments really going on? I think yes, but i haven't read the book to get more info. The score is amazing & the acting is solid, it should also put Rob Zombie to shame since the guiding spirit of a wife completely kicks his guiding spirit of a moms ass. The film also has several WW2 flashbacks of Teddy/Andrew and other soldiers slaughtering nazis. So far it's my favorite film of the year, it's also the best, one of Scorsese's best films and one of my favorites of his aswell.

Evil Dead The Musical

I remember a few years ago, i was online reading movie news as usual, when i saw a post on a musical adaptation of The Evil Dead! As being a huge Evil Dead fan aswell as a fan of musicals(RHPS ftw!) i was geeked up. I always planned on seeing it someday on the coast or what have you, but about a month ago i noticed something on the bulletin board at work. Evil Dead the Musical, one town over, a community college production. Ran for 6 days, i finally got around to seeing it on one of the last presentations, and indeed it was worth it.

Got to campus about 45 minutes before showtime, but it was SOLD OUT, i needed two tickets, we were told if we waited, we could get some from people who may have reserved seats but didn't show, or if they miscounted the seats. Luckily a few fools passed on the chance to see a very fun horror musical. We were seated in the front row, square center, a nice fog machine was going setting ambience along with a red light that would make hookers proud. The show started and as expected with a college production, the props & sets were cheap, but in had a certain unique charm(plus some muscle). Some props included a fisher price radio as the tape recorder, an orange & purple shotgun, and some far out wigs made out of what appeared to be construction paper.

Ash was black and Cheryl was white so they kept reffering to themselves as half siblings, they along with the other actors all did a pretty good job. Ash was cocky in his monolouge moments of reflection, Cheryl was fantastic all night with her puns, Scott was so over the top awesome, Shelly who is a dimbo in the musical version was a very fun change. Linda was rather shy it felt but still good, and the actors who played Annie, Ed & Good Ol' Reliable Jake was awesome, especialy Jake, who ran with the role, and was possibly the best part.

Changes were made from the film a tad bit, BObbie Jo was taken out, as explained by Jake, having already heard about the girl being attacked by trees earlier(Cheryl) that Bobbie would be redundant! Great lil inside jokes were thrown in about Raimi and Spider Man, and Bruce Campbell just to name a few. Do the Necronomiconwas probably the best musical number, which featured an actual dance routine and even mentions the TIME WARP! Army of Darkness was only shown with the end S Mart scene and a brief refference to medieval times.

Now what about the blood? Well as many know, the musical is a splatter fest and the first few rows usualy get hit, well, this one used silly string, and being in the front row, and dead center, my uncle & i recieved silly string facials, which we bagged up as a memento!

All in all it was a great time & for $5 a ticket, how can you go wrong? If they ever do it again, i'll definetly go, and i'd love to see other cities perform it, and the chance to be covered in blood! You can watch a few productions on youtube, and they are great. In closing, as being one who is against remakes, i hate the idea of an Evil Dead remake, but if they did Evil Dead the Musical for the big screen, i'd be all for it, wouldn't really be a remake imo, just a musical homage. Now Gimme Some Sugar Baby!!!