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Killer Piñata (2015)

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‘Filled with sweet revenge’

Killer Piñata is a 2015 American comedy horror film about a possessed piñata. It was directed by Stephen Tramontana from a screenplay co-written with Megan MacManus.

The film will be released on Blu-ray, DVD, and VHS on January 18 via LC Films. Special features include:

  • Audio commentary
  • Deleted/extended scenes
  • Bloopers

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screen-shot-2016-12-16-at-14-25-14Meanwhile, the film is already available online via Amazon.com

Main cast:

Lindsay Ashcroft, Nate Bryan, Billy Chengary, Sheila Edmiston, Elvis Garcia, Daniel Hawkes, Eliza-Jane Morris, Davinia Palmer, Steven James Price, Joette Waters, Nick Weeks.

Plot:

A possessed piñata, seeking to avenge the savagery that humanity has inflicted on his kind, picks off a group of friends, one by one, in an unending night of terror…

Reviews:

“The laughs are few, the smiles are more frequent, the occasional wit is apparent, and the run-time is long enough to show the weaknesses of the filmmakers; it should have been cut down by an hour or so, removing the excesses and leaving a tighter, funnier, and more satisfying half-hour to forty-five minute short…” Ben Spurling, HorrorNews.net

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” …the whole enterprise is so unassuming and good-humoured that it’s easy to forgive its many failings, even though it does commit a few of what I would consider cardinal sins of no-budget schlock horror: for one thing, it outstays its welcome just a little at a full 90 minutes in length…” Ben Bussey, Brutal As Hell

IMDb | Facebook | Official site



Elves (1989)

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‘They’re not working for Santa… anymore’

Elves is a 1989 American horror film directed by Jeffrey Mandel from a screenplay co-written with Mike Griffin and Bruce A. Taylor. It was produced by Mark Paglia (Alien Seed).

It stars Dan Haggerty (Axe Giant; The Chilling), Deanna Lund, Ken Carpenter, Julie Austin, Borah Silver.

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Opening plot:

When teenager Kristen (Julie Austin) accidentally cuts her hand during an “Anti-Christmas” pagan ritual with her friends in the woods, her spilled blood awakens an ancient demonic Christmas elf.

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The elf is the central figure in a modern-day Neo-Nazi plot to finally bring about the master race that Hitler had always dreamed of conquering the world with. Rather than a race of pure-blood Aryans, it is revealed that Hitler instead dreamed of a race of half-human/half-elf hybrids.

Kristen is also a figure in this plot as she is the last remaining pure-blooded Aryan virgin in the world, her grandfather being a former Nazi who was once involved in the plot (but is now reformed); he is also her father, as inbreeding was somehow considered crucial to maintaining a pure Aryan bloodline.

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Meanwhile, Mike McGavin (Dan Haggerty) is an ex-cop who lost his badge when he lost control of his alcoholism. Jobless, penniless, and recently served a notice of eviction from his ramshackle trailer home, winds up becoming the store Santa after the previous Santa is murdered by the elf…

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Reviews:

“Sure, the plot’s ludicrous, the script is unbelievable, the elf could look better and gets overshadowed by other villains in its own film, and the acting runs from over-the-top to not-trying-at-all while hitting every point in between. But, in a movie like Elves, those serious weaknesses are also charms.”James Lasome, Horrorfreak News

“It might seem that because the film is so bad it’s funny, it would be worth a watch. It’s not – the plot ambles along so slowly, so pointlessly, that Elves is only recommended for those hardcore viewers who completely love bad movies for whatever reason.” Ryne Barber, HorrorNews.net

“Regardless, if you find yourself entertained by the worst of the worst, then I cannot encourage you enough to seek out an evening spent with Elves. Because, quite honestly, nothing says Christmas like incest, Nazis and a heavy dose of the Turkish blend.” Chuck Norris Ate My Baby

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“It’s a Christmas movie, so we must have Christmas Witches, Nazi Scientists, Rubber Elf Puppets, and an evil plot to create a master race of elves -vs- The Valley Girls and Grizzly Adams. You just can’t make stuff like this up. Unlike other stinkers like The Beast of Yucca Flats, this movie did not even have the common courtesy of being brief…” Ruthless Reviews

“The continuity, acting abilities, logic, and gore effects are infamously terrible. However, there is no better Christmas Horror movie for 2016 than this, due in large part to the thematic subtexts running rampant all over this trash pile of cinematic adventure.” BJ Colangelo, Blumhouse.com

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“…Elves is the perfect example of a so-bad-it’s-good film, because… even though it’s badly written and directed, poorly paced, packed with terrible acting and totally deserves a 4/10 rating, there’s so much wacky shit going on, you just have to love it, especially because of the absolutely outrageous plot.” Maynard’s Horror Movie Diary

” …hear about how Noah’s Ark had elves; hear about how “girls” are the “master race”; see Grizzly Adams smoke non-stop… even while brushing his teeth (!!!); experience the acid trip that happens when you kill an elf and much, much more! Recommended for lovers of shitty movies.” Happyotter

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Choice dialogue:

Rubinkraur: “When there is no more room in Hell, the elves will walk the Earth!”

Mike McGavin: “What are you? A goddamn Nazi or something? Is that elf yours?”

Mike McGavin: “You demented, perverted son-of-a-bitch, you make me sick!”

Cast and characters:

  • Dan Haggerty as Mike McGavin
  • Julie Austin as Kristen
  • Deanna Lund as Kristen’s mother
  • Borah Silver as Kristen’s grandfather
  • Dean Valley as Stan
  • Mansell Rivers-Bland as Rubinkraur
  • Christopher Graham as Willy
  • Laura Lichstein as Brooke
  • Stacey Dye as Amy
  • Emilio Shane as Doug
  • Gregory Fletcher as Lee
  • Lyle Carter as Steven
  • Monica Kelly as Cassie
  • Jen Craze as Jessalyn
  • Kyle Tapp as Ross
  • Gary Zame as Jed
  • Courtney Heather Simpson as Katie
  • Kenny Clarks as Sam
  • Winter Monk as Kurt
  • Jeff Austin as Emil
  • Allen Lee as Dr. Fitzgerald
  • Paul Rohrer as Prof. O’Conner
  • Ken Carpenter as Shaver
  • Michael Tatlock as Hugh Reed
  • Michael Herst as Sgt. DeSoto
  • Chris Hamner as Kevin
  • D.L. Walker as Dave
  • James Albert as Mark

Filming locations:

Colorado Springs in Colorado, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb


Army of Darkness (1992)

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‘Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.’

Army of Darkness – aka Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness  is a 1992 American comedy horror film directed by Sam Raimi from a screenplay co-written with Ivan Raimi. It was co-produced by Robert Tapert and Bruce Campbell. It stars the latter and Embeth Davidtz. Principal filming took place in California during 1991.

It is the third entry in the Evil Dead franchise, following The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987). In it, Ash Williams (Campbell) is trapped in the Middle Ages and battles the undead in his quest to return to the present.

The makeup and creature effects for the film were handled by two different companies: Tony Gardner and his company Alterian, Inc. were responsible for the Ash & Sheila Makeup Effects, while Kurtzman, Nicotero & Berger EFX Group was credited for the remaining Special Makeup Effects characters.

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Danny Elfman, who composed the score for Darkman, wrote the “March of the Dead” theme for Army of Darkness. Joseph LoDuca, who composed the music for The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II, scored the remainder of the film.

Army of Darkness premiered on October 9, 1992 at the Sitges Film Festival, and was released in the United States on February 19, 1993. It grossed $21.5 million against a $11 million budget.

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Buy: Amazon.co.uk

The S-Mart ending was shot for the American release; Universal Pictures wanted to end the film on a high note for the character of Ash. The original ending, preferred by Raimi and Campbell themselves, is one in which Ash is shown being placed in a cave and given a potion which will put him to sleep for centuries. Echoing his experience in botching the recovery of the Necronomicon, Ash mishandles the specific instructions for the potion, accidentally taking an extra dose. Ash awakes and arises from his cave to find himself in a post-apocalyptic future, in which the city of London is in ruins. The original ending has subsequently been restored to the director’s cut of some releases.

Over the years, there were numerous rumours of an Army of Darkness 2 film being in development but Ash finally returned in the wonderful 2015 TV series Ash vs Evil Dead, with no mention of his medieval adventures in the first series due to copyright reasons.

Opening plot:

Being transported to the Middle Ages, Ash Williams is captured by Lord Arthur’s men, who suspect him an agent for Duke Henry, with whom Arthur is at war. He is enslaved along with the captured Henry, his gun and chainsaw confiscated, and is taken to a castle.

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Ash is thrown in a pit where he kills a Deadite and regains his weapons from Arthur’s Wise Man. After demanding Henry and his men be set free, as he knew it was a witch hunt, and killing a Deadite publicly, Ash is celebrated as a hero. He grows attracted to Sheila, the sister of one of Arthur’s fallen knights.

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According to the Wise Man, the only way Ash can return to his time is through the magical Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. Ash then starts his search for the Necronomicon. As he enters a haunted forest, an unseen force pursues Ash into a windmill, crashing into a mirror. Small reflections of Ash in the mirror shards come to life, with one becoming a life-sized clone, after which Ash kills and buries it.

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When he arrives at the Necronomicons location, he finds three books instead of one and determines which is the actual book. Attempting to say the phrase that will allow him to remove the book safely – “Klaatu barada nikto”, he forgets and tries to unsuccessfully mumble and cough “nikto”. He then grabs it and rushes back, while the dead and his evil copy resurrect, uniting into the Army of Darkness…

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Buy: Amazon.co.uk

On October 27, 2015 Shout Factory! released a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray with the following special features:

Disc One (Theatrical Version – 81 min.) – 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1), DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0
-Medieval Times: The Making Of “Army Of Darkness” Featuring Interviews With Star & Co-Producer Bruce Campbell, Actors Marcus Gilbert, Ted Raimi, Timothy Quill, Richard Grove, Bill Moseley, Patricia Tallman And Angela Featherstone, Director Of Photography Bill Pope, Editor Bob Murawski, Production Designer Anthony Tremblay, Composer Joseph Lo Duca, Costume Designer Ida Gearon, Special Make-Up Effects Artists Howard Berger, Tony Gardner, Robert Kurtzman, And Greg Nicotero, Performer And Effects Artist William Bryan, Mechanical Effects Artist Gary Jones, First Assistant Director John Cameron, Visual Effects Supervisor William Mesa, and Stunt Coordinator Christopher Doyle (96 min.)
-Original Ending
-Original Opening with Optional Commentary By Sam Raimi And Bruce Campbell
-Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary By Sam Raimi And Bruce Campbell
-Theatrical Trailer
-TV Spots
-Home Video Promo

Disc Two (Director’s Cut – 96 min.) – 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1), DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0
-Audio Commentary with Director Sam Raimi, Actor Bruce Campbell, and Co-Writer Ivan Raimi
-Additional Behind-The-Scenes Footage From KNB Effects (55 min.)
-Vintage “Creating The Deadites” Featurette (21 min.)
-Vintage “Making Of” Featurette
-Extended Interview Clips With Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Robert Tapert

Disc Three (International Cut – 88 min.) – 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1), DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0
-4K Scan Of The International Inter-positive
-Television Version With Additional Footage (90 min., Standard Definition (1.33:1), DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0)
-Theatrical Trailer
-Still Galleries With Rare Behind-The-Scenes Photos From Production Designer Anthony Tremblay, Visual Effects Supervisor William Mesa And Special Make-Up Effects Artists Tony Gardner, and KNB EFX, Inc. (Over 200 Stills)
-Still Gallery Of Props And Rare Photos From The Collection Of Super Fan Dennis Carter Jr.
-Storyboards For Deleted Or Alternate Scenes
-Vintage “The Men Behind The Army” Featurette (19 min.)

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Buy: Amazon.com

Reviews:

The setting is Frank Frazetta by way of Monty Python, the action strictly Three Stooges Meet Jason and the Argonauts (lots of eye-boinking). Like Brian De Palma, Raimi borrows from a lot of sources but mooshes the stolen elements into an inspired style all his own … Raimi doesn’t have a thing on his mind except to give you a raucous good time, and he does.” Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

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“With its glorious effects — not to mention a robust Bernard Herrmann-esque score by Joseph LoDuca — this film is first and foremost a tribute to Ray Harryhausen, though Raimi also finds room for shout-outs to William Shakespeare, The Day the Earth Stood Still and especially The Three Stooges.” Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing

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Buy: Amazon.com

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” …unlike Raimi’s other Evil Dead flicks, the effect of all this cinematic wizardry has no unnerving cumulative effect … Without the visceral impact and maniacal energy of its predecessors, Army of Darkness fails as anything but a tongue-in-cheek kids’ adventure show.” Steve Newton, Ear of Newt

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” …as this is mainly a comedy, its accomplishments there must also be mentioned. Aside from the numerous one-liners that are still often quoted to this day, just about as much of the comedy is physical as well. Great examples include a long portion of the film’s second act in which Ash is questing for The Necronomicon. It basically becomes a one-man show… Jeff Beck, The Blu Spot

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“…the film spends its latter portion staging a prolonged battle between militias of men and skeletons that’s short on inspiration and urgency, and thus serves only to highlight Raimi’s clever (for the early ‘90s, at least) melding of live-action and stop-motion effects. By opting for gonzo mania over any element of unnerving otherworldly terror, the film proves just a throwaway goof, and ultimately one with an inflated sense of its own funniness.” Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

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Buy: Amazon.co.uk

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The film spawned a comic book seriesArmy of Darkness comics are based on the film of the same name published originally by Dark Horse Comics, and later by Dynamite Entertainment who initially published them through Devil’s Due Publishing. The stories follow the adventures of the Evil Dead series, Ash Williams, and has included a number of crossovers with a wide variety of characters such as, Marvel Zombies, Darkman, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Dracula, Xena, Danger Girl, Re-Animator and even Barack Obama.

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Cast and characters:

  • Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams/Evil Ash
  • Embeth Davidtz as Sheila
  • Marcus Gilbert as Lord Arthur
  • Ian Abercrombie as Wise man
  • Richard Grove as Duke Henry the Red
  • Timothy Patrick Quill as Blacksmith
  • Michael Earl Reid as Gold Tooth
  • Bridget Fonda as Linda
  • Patricia Tallman as Possessed witch
  • Ted Raimi as Cowardly warrior/Second supportive villager/Anthony, the S-Mart clerk
  • Angela Featherstone as S-Mart store girl
  • Noah Gillispie as Pit Monster

Filming locations:

Bronson Canyon, Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, and near Acton, on the edge of the Mojave Desert, California

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Wrong Side of the Art!

 


Curtain aka The Gateway (2015)

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‘The portal to Hell has been opened.’

Curtain – also known as The Gateway – is a 2015 American horror film directed by Jaron Henrie-McCrea from a screenplay co-written with Carys Edwards. The film stars Danni Smith and Tim Lueke as two activists that investigate a series of disappearing shower curtains in Smith’s apartment.

The Jash Pictures production had its world premiere in London on 31 August 2015 at the Film4 FrightFest.

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Opening plot:

screen-shot-2016-12-20-at-14-02-53Danni has recently left her job as a hospice nurse in order to become an activist for Whale Savers, a conservation group. She also moves into a recently vacated apartment in order to get a new start on life.

However, soon after she gets settled she discovers that her shower curtains have been disappearing. Danni decides to try to record her bathroom overnight in order to discover what is going on, only to find that her shower curtains are disappearing into a strange portal in her shower wall.

She brings this up with one of her fellow activists, Tim, who eagerly suggests that she put her contact information on a curtain. This way, if someone finds the curtain the person can call Danni and they can discover the portal’s destination.

They are contacted by Willy, a drifter that tells them that her curtain appeared in a wooded creek near Poughkeepsie, New York. He volunteers to take them to the area he discovered the curtain, but shortly after arriving he begins huffing paint, bringing out a hostile alter ego named Frankie and attacking the two activists. They manage to escape the area, but as soon as they arrive back to Danni’s apartment they are confronted by the Pale Man…

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Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

Curtain really is a great little treat of a film. It’s an unforgettable rollercoaster journey that has its own unique identity, but also manages to pay homage to ‘80s schlock. Without being too silly, it grounds its story in reality and uses the bizarre world behind the curtain as a metaphor for much more real, social problems.” Jessy Williams, Scream magazine

” …endlessly inventive and ambitious, blending the lo-fi creature effects (and 80s sensibilities) of Basket Case with the high-concept oddity of Being John Malkovich. Charming and weird enough to get away with its rough edges, it can along the way seem a bit meandering, especially in its focus on Tim’s Save the Whales fixation, but in the end every (narrative) hook on this Curtain fits neatly into place.” Anton Bitel, Sight & Sound

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Curtain isn’t a bad film, despite its oddness. Danni and Tim are great protagonists, and the humour works to add levity to the strangeness … despite its best efforts, doesn’t have the same staying power as more traditional (and some non-traditional) horror films, demanding the viewer’s full attention in order to tell its story.” Pat Torfe, Bloody Disgusting

“We’re not in full-on comedy horror territory, but it certainly skews more in that direction than it does elsewhere (although its Hellraiser type cult is particularly creepy). Well, it is a film about disappearing shower curtains, after all. With a title and concept like that, Curtain was always going to be one of the year’s most original horror films. Thankfully, it also turns out to be one of the best.” Joel Harley, Starburst magazine

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There are also lots of introductions for seemingly minor or useless details, which end up coming back into play. As with any film, that’s always a tough thing to pull off … Curtain is clever, well-performed and touts some very cool monster make-up.” Michael Klug, Horrorfreak News

“Some might describe Curtain as quirky or eccentric. You’ll be able to appreciate that this was in fact what they were going for. This certainly wasn’t a lazy attempt at film making by director Jaron Henrie-McCrea, but it was not a successful one. Either avoid entirely or commit to losing 74 minutes of your life just for the super-odd ending alone.” Sadé Green, Flickering Myth

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Cast and characters:

  • Danni Smith as Danni
  • Tim Lueke as Tim
  • Martin Monahan as The Pale Man
  • Rick Zahn as Uncle Gus
  • Chuck McMahon as Bert
  • Preston Lawrence as Preston the Super
  • Gregory Konow as Willy

Filming locations:

New York City, New York, USA
West Milford and Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb | Facebook | Twitter


Caesar and Otto’s Paranormal Halloween (2015)

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‘Terror is relative’

Caesar and Otto’s Paranormal Halloween is a 2015 American comedy horror film written and directed by Dave Campfield. It is the sixth film in the Caesar and Otto series.

The film references The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, Paranormal ActivitySinister, Insidious, The Conjuring and many more.

Main cast:

Dave Campfield, Paul Chomicki, Ken MacFarlane, Deron Miller, Scott Aguilar, Avi K. Garg, Samantha Barrios, Josephine Iannece, JamieLee Ackerman. Scream queens such as Felissa Rose, Brinke StevensTiffany Shepis, Monique Dupree, and Debbie Rochon have cameo roles.

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Plot:

Half-brothers Caesar and Otto live out some of horror’s most terrifying scenes when they agree to house-sit a home filled with ghostly visions, levitating objects and possessions…

Reviews:

“While Paranormal Halloween is yet another funny and clever look at the wacky brothers that happen to walk into a horrific situation time and time again, Campfield also provides a biting satire on Hollywood, and the ongoing struggle of the horror filmmaker to keep up with trends and gain some success out of an ever fickle audience.” Felix Vasquez, Cinema Crazed

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“Goofball parody humour isn’t everyone’s thing, but at the very least there’s some heart and thought behind much of the gags. I did have a problem with the use of unnecessary characters and scenes, all of which could’ve easily been left on the cutting-room floor, as they interrupted the pacing.” Pat Torfe, Bloody Disgusting

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” …this isn’t some lame sub-Scary Movie comedy that thinks just referencing something makes it a joke. Dave crafts funny gags out of this intertextuality and self-referentiality, weaving it into the character-based farce that is the brothers’ lives.” MJ Simpson, Cult films and the people who make them

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Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

  • Dave Campfield as Caesar Denovio
  • Paul Chomicki as Otto Denovio
  • Scott Aguilar as Fred Denovio
  • Deron Miller as Father Jason Steiger
  • JamieLee Ackerman as Kyla
  • Beverly Randolph as Shari Hartlin
  • Brinke Stevens as Sashi
  • Josephine Iannece as Gilda
  • Ken Macfarlane as Jerry
  • Samantha Barrios as Roberta
  • Felissa Rose as Lakota
  • Tiffany Shepis as Jamie tremain
  • Andre Gower as Sam Wellner
  • Vernon Wells as Guy Hunsinger
  • Sean Whalen as Monsignor Winston

Filming locations:

13780 Rayen Street – Arleta, California, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb


Matinee (1993)

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Matinee is a 1993 comedy film directed by Joe Dante (Burying the ExTrapped Ashes; Gremlins; The Howling; Piranha) from a screenplay by Jerico Stone (My Stepmother Is an Alien) and Charlie Haas (Gremlins 2: The New Batch; Martians Go Home), the latter also portraying a schoolteacher.

The film is an ensemble piece about a William Castle (13 Ghosts; The Tingler; Mr. Sardonicus)-type independent filmmaker, with the home front in the Cuban Missile Crisis as a backdrop.

Joe Dante has said that the financing of the movie was difficult:

Matinee got made through a fluke. The company that was paying for us went out of business and didn’t have any money. Universal, which was the distributor, had put in a little money, and we went to them and begged them to buy into the whole movie, and to their everlasting sorrow they went ahead and did it. [Laughs.]” (the film took $9,532,895 at the box office in the United States)

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Main cast:

John Goodman (Kong: SkullIsland; 10 Cloverfield Lane; Arachnophobia), Cathy Moriarty (CasperWhite of the Eye), Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Lisa Jakub, Robert Picardo and Kellie Martin. Genre regulars Dick Miller and Kevin McCarthy have cameo roles.

A then-unknown Naomi Watts (Shut In; King Kong; The Ring) has a small role as a character in film within the film, The Shook-Up Shopping Cart.

Opening plot:

In Key West, Florida in October 1962, boys Gene Loomis (Fenton) and his brother Dennis (Lee) live on a military base (N.A.S. Key West); their father is away on a nearby submarine.

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After hearing the announcement of an exclusive engagement of Lawrence Woolsey’s (Goodman) new sensational sci-fi horror film Mant! (“Half man! Half ant!” “in Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama!”), including Woolsey’s appearance in-person, they arrive home to President Kennedy’s television interruption, stating the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.

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Woolsey concludes that this atmosphere of fear and paranoia is the perfect environment in which to open his atomic-radiation-themed film…

In the UK, the film was released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video on 12th September 2016

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Buy: Amazon.com

  • High definition digital transfer supplied by NBC Universal
  • Lossless stereo audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Paranoia in Ant Vision, a discussion with director Joe Dante about the making of the film
  • Mant!, the full length version of the film-within-a-film
  • Discussion with Joe Dante on the effects of Mant!
  • Vintage making of featurette
  • Rare on-set footage, sourced from Joe Dante’s personal collection
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys

Reviews:

“Joe Dante has always been a clever, witty and subversive film-maker, and Matinee is one of the best of his films to display these talents. His love for the cinema of the period means that Mant!, our film-within-a-film is spot-on for a 1950s monster movie…” John Llewellyn Probert, House of Mortal Cinema

“There are a lot of big laughs in Matinee, and not many moments when I didn’t have a wide smile on my face” Roger Ebert

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“The scenes from “Mant”, shot in black and white, that Dante and Haas have cooked up are some of the best movie satires on film. It’s not easy to parody a genre that’s already close to self-parody but the filmmakers triumph again and again. Actors such as Kevin McCarthy turn up in cameos for that all important deja-vu effect, and the special-effects are imperially tacky.” Peter Rainer, Los Angeles Times

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Matinee, which devotes a lot of energy to the minor artifacts of American pop culture circa 1962, is funny and ingenious up to a point. Eventually, it becomes much too cluttered, with an oversupply of minor characters and a labored bomb-and-horror-film parallel that necessitates bringing down the movie house…” Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“The charm of Matinee, a witty and affectionate homage to the sci-fi trash of yesteryear, is that director Joe Dante (Gremlins) appreciates both the tackiness and the awe.” Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

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“At the same time that Dante has a field day brutally satirizing our desire to scare ourselves and others, he also re-creates early-60s clichés with a relish and a feeling for detail that come very close to love.” Jonathan Rosenbaum

 

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“Dante’s movie is a romp, no doubt, but its nostalgia is a heartier variety than what we usually get, and it leaves us with an undercurrent of uneasiness that is unusual for a genre most often content enough to look back through amber. Woolsey’s words resonate for every youngster who has searched for reasons to explain their attraction to the scary side of cinema and memories of the places where those images were first encountered, but in Matinee there’s another terror with which to contend, one not so easily held at bay.” Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule

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Interview:

Director Joe Dante interviewed by Glenn Erickson for DVD Savant

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Buy Ghouls, Gimmicks and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953 – 1968
 Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Music:

The original score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith (Poltergeist; AlienThe Omen).

Several cues from previous films were also used, arranged and conducted by Dick Jacobs, including music from Son of Dracula (1943); It Came from Outer Space (1953); Tarantula (1955); The Deadly Mantis (1957); This Island Earth (1955), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954); Revenge of the Creature (1955); The Creature Walks Among Us (1956).

Cast and characters:

  • John Goodman as Lawrence Woolsey
  • Cathy Moriarty as Ruth Corday / Carolescreen-shot-2016-12-28-at-14-47-04
  • Simon Fenton as Gene Loomis
  • Omri Katz as Stan
  • Lisa Jakub as Sandra
  • Kellie Martin as Sherry
  • Jesse Lee as Dennis Loomis
  • Lucinda Jenney as Anne Loomis
  • James Villemaire as Harvey Starkweather
  • Robert Picardo as Howard, the Theater Manager
  • Jesse White as Mr. Spector
  • Dick Miller as Herb Denning
  • John Sayles (writer of Alligator; The HowlingPiranha) as Bob
  • David Clennon as Jack
  • Lucy Butler as Rhonda
  • Belinda Balaski as Stan’s Mom
  • Naomi Watts as Shopping Cart Starlet

Wikipedia | IMDb


Coffin-shaped horror clocks – merchandise

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Coffin-shaped horror wall clocks are currently being sold by Spanish company Villaoscura. Most are horror movie-themed but a few have creepy images from horror fiction, such as Cthulhu, or legends. The clocks are described on their Etsy page as follows:

“Wall clock made of wood table about 3 mm thick, cut coffin shaped. The drawing is a digital image varnished. Approximate measurements are 29.5 cm (12 inches) high and 19.5 cm (7.7 inches approx) wide. Handmade item. Ships worldwide from Spain. $26.59”

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1 – Audrey 2 – Little Shop of Horrors
2 – Carrie White – Carrie
3 – Chatterer – Hellraiser

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4 – Chucky – Child’s play
5 – Pinhead – Hellraiser
6 – The creature – Creature from the Black Lagoon
7 – Critter – Critters
8 – Damien Thorn – The Omen

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9 – Count Dracula – Dracula
10 – Sadako/Samara – The Ring (Ringu)

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11 – Monster of Frankenstein – Frankenstein

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12 – Freddy Krueger – A nightmare on Elm Street
13 – Ghostface – Scream
14 – Herbert West and Carl Hill – Re-Animator
15 – Sam – Trick’r Treat

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16 – Jason Voorhees – Friday the 13th
17 – Toshio and Kayako Saeki – The Grudge (Ju-on)
18 – The Bride – Bride of Frankenstein
19 – Grady Twins – The Shining
20 – Captain Spaulding – House of 1000 corpses – Devils Rejects
21 – Leatherface – Chainsaw massacre
22 – Michael Myers – Halloween
23 – Count Orlok – Nosferatu

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24 – Pennywise – It

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25 – Jigsaw doll – Saw
26 – Vincent Smith – Horror Motel
27 – Regan MacNeil – The Exorcist

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28 – Xenomorph – Alien

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29 – Tarman – The return of the living dead

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30 – Kurt Barlow – Salem’s Lot
31 – Werewolf – The Wolfman

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The clocks are also available in desk size.

Source: Daily Dead


Easter Sunday (2014)

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‘This year everyone will be eggsecuted!’

Easter Sunday is a 2014 American horror film written and directed by Jeremy Todd Morehead and produced by Jason Delgado. It stars Robert Z’Dar (Maniac Cop; Syngenor; Evil Altar) and Ari Lehman (Rock Paper Dead; The Barn; Friday the 13th).

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It’s been twenty-four years since the serial killer Douglas Fisher was executed on Easter night. This year, a group partying teenagers not only raise some hell, but literally raise the dead…

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The film is released on DVD by Music Video, Inc on March 14, 2017. Pre-order from Amazon.com

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IMDb

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Ghastlies (2016)

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Ghastlies is a 2016 American comedy horror film directed by Brett Kelly (My Fair Zombie; Homicycle; Jurassic Shark) from a screenplay by Chris Bavota (shorts: Never Tear Us Apart; Attack of the Brainsucker; After Ate).

The film stars Kim Valentine (Monster Pool: Chapter Two), Kendra Summerfield (Raiders of the Lost Shark), Jessica Huether, and Julie Racine.

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Four sorority sisters accidentally unleash a trio of ghastly ghouls from an underground bunker during a weekend getaway in the country…

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Main cast:

Kim Valentine, Kendra Summerfield, Jessica Huether, Julie Racine, Eric Deniverville, Joel Elliot, Kyle Martellacci, John Migliore (The Drownsman; Bite; Poltergeist Encounters; et al), Janet Hetherington, Peter Whittaker, Jurgen Vollrath, Kyle Martellacci.

IMDb | Facebook


Demonic Toys 2 (2010)

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‘Playtime is over’

Demonic Toys 2 – aka Demonic Toys 2: Personal Demons – is a 2010 American slasher horror film written and directed by former actor William Butler (writer of Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis and Rave to the Grave; Gingerdead Man and sequels) and produced by Charles Band.

Dr. Lorca (Michael Citrini, from Hideous!) is continuing to collect strange oddities, along with the help of Caitlin (Alli Kinzel) and her boyfriend David (Lane Compton).

They continue their search at a mysterious castle in Italy, where there have been rumours of a mysterious, ancient puppet alive and walking around…

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Reviews:

“The story descends into incoherence and all the greedy cheats and murderers end up dead. Full Moon films rarely bother too much with coherence but by Full Moon standards this film was a bit bland. It still has that camp, cheesy over the top sense of fun but this just seemed a little less amusing.” Nameless Horror

“The few scenes of the full-bodied toys on the move are done with digital effects and most of what little gore there is was achieved using cheap CGI […] While I find myself neither enjoying nor hating the return of the Demonic Toys, it was the film’s irritating, repetitive score that soured me more than anything else.” Foywonder, Dread Central

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“The original is one of the better Full Moon killer toy movies (possibly even my favorite, by default), but this is just like most of their recent offerings: lazy and dull, without any inventiveness or charm. I don’t know why it took them so long to make a true sequel after two or three spinoffs, but it certainly wasn’t worth the wait.” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

“I can life with the purple cloud, I can live with the one dimensional characters, but I have trouble dealing with CGI gore that looks like a cartoon or a low budget Pixar. There could be cool gore here if they had went the natural route. We have a cool decapitation that gets messed up due to CGI.” Horrorphilia

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Interview:

Director William Butler talks to Rob G. for ComingSoon.net

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Elizabeth Bell

Cast and characters:

  • Alli Kinzel as Caitlin
  • Lane Compton as David
  • Selene Luna as Lilith
  • Michael Citriniti as Dr. Lorca
  • Elizabeth Bell as Lauraline
  • Billy Marquart as Eric
  • Leslie Jordan as Mr. Butterfield
  • Gage Hubbard as Personal Demon
  • Jane Wiedlin as Baby Whoopsie

Choice dialogue:

Mr. Butterfield: “It seems very nefarious to me. I will not be toyed with!”

Wikipedia | IMDb


B-Movie Baggage: Filmmaker versus Distributor in a Fight for Survival – article by Bret McCormick

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I suppose it’s best to start out explaining to readers how I came to be writing this piece for Horrorpedia. In case you don’t know, I’m a former schlockmeister. It could be that there’s no such thing as a former schlockmeister. Perhaps, it’s like alcoholism. In which case, ‘Hi, I’m Bret. I’m a recovering schlockmeister. Schlockless for twenty years now’.

At my last birthday party, on October 1, 2016, my partner Patrice and I had folks over for a barbecue. On the guest list were Glen Coburn and E.R. Bills. I’d just finished co-editing an anthology of horror tales with E.R. called Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers (Eakin Press.)

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Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Glen’s an old friend from the mid-80s, when we both directed super cheap movies in Dallas, Texas. (Glen’s famous for Bloodsuckers from Outer Space.) As the guys drank beer, E.R. quizzed us about our filmmaking days. He insisted that the stories we were telling should become a book. He’s a more accomplished author than myself, so I take his opinions somewhat seriously.

Before I knew it, I’d committed to the project which I’m calling (at least for now) Texas Schlock: B-Movie Sci-Fi and Horror from the Lone Star State. The book’s getting some nice encouragement on a variety of behind-the- scenes fronts. So, I am moving forward with confidence.

The second week of January 2017, I was working on a chapter about my old friend, Tom Moore, director of Mark of the Witch (1970.) Though I knew Tom back in the early 90s, I had never seen his directorial debut film. I bought a DVD on Amazon and began reading what others had written about the film on the internet. I stumbled onto Horrorpedia.com. While I was there I searched for my 1986 film, The Abomination.

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I took a liking to the site. So, this is where young people go to learn about specific horror films? I mused. In my day, we had Michael J. Weldon’s Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film and whatever fanzines were up and running at the moment. Coverage of horror films in any sort of serious way that would be helpful to a researching writer, was largely neglected.

Well, I reasoned, I’m writing a book about the cheesy little horror and sci-fi pics from my region. If I want readers to know my book even exists, I’d best start making contact with sites that attract the same readership. I reached out to the owner of Horrorpedia, Adrian, and offered to write entries about my films.

Fortunately, he responded promptly. No, he didn’t want me writing reviews of my own films. Hmmm. I wonder why. He did, however, ask me to do a piece on the trials of the indie filmmaker in the early days of home video, specifically as regards my experiences with distributors. Piece of cake. That’s something I know a great deal about.

I graduated from Brooks Institute in 1980 and moved from California back to Texas because I wanted a family, but did not want to raise kids in L.A. It took me a few years to arrange funding for my first feature, Tabloid! We were so happy about making a movie! Hey, check us out! We’re filmmakers! We didn’t look into distribution as carefully as we should’ve. Instead, we thought we’d make the film and worry about that distribution thing later. Which is exactly the sort of thinking that keeps shyster distributors in business.

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There have always been crooks in every facet of the film industry, but always more in the distribution racket. Why? Because, if you can get a desperate filmmaker to sign up, you milk their program for whatever it’s worth. Sometimes that’s a little, sometimes it’s a lot. Whatever it is, chances are you will pocket all of it. It’s just too easy to operate with a lack of transparency.

Those guys have no incentive to be honest with you. By the time you’ve figured out they’re crooked, they’ve signed two more eager young film makers. Ripping off the indie film maker has always been the rule, not the exception. When I hear stories about honest distributors actually paying film makers I always wonder, what’s the missing piece of information? Does the filmmaker have an uncle in the mob? Does the filmmaker have leverage of some sort over the distributor?

The home video boom changed the way the world accesses and watches movies. Ardent film fans watched one or two a week back before home video. Once VHS found its way into people’s homes, the serious film addict could watch ten movies in a weekend. Probably, in the first year or so of the boom, distributors were more likely to pay film makers. So, much money was being made, why not? As market saturation began to set in, it was every man for himself.

I started out wanting to make horror films. None of the distributors we communicated with in the mid-80s wanted horror films. Why? Because cheesy distributors are a bit like short men. They suffer from an inferiority complex. These distributors do not (with rare exceptions) want to be thought of as the cheap movie guys. In the world of disrespected cinema, only one category is lower than horror and that’s adult movies. Most of the distributors who would even return our calls wanted a mediocre action film over a competent, original (but cheap) horror film.

Our first film, Tabloid! was intended to be an off-beat, cult sort of picture. Maybe midnight movie fare. But, we didn’t have the balls to really produce the sort of outrageous film that would’ve raised eyebrows, ala’ John Waters. It was an anthology piece with three stories told by three different writer/directors. My piece was a quirky bit called ‘Barbecue of the Dead’ in which some corpses return from the grave for one final cook out. So, the overall film couldn’t be horror? My piece damn well was going to be!

We talked to everyone in Los Angeles. We started at the top and worked our way down. Ultimately, nobody wanted the film. We eventually signed with an outfit calling themselves Pacific Video. This was basically a couple of salesmen in a converted house, who’d worked for bigger, successful video labels and thought they could strike it rich on their own. They took Tabloid! (no money up front) and promptly stopped returning our calls.

In a bold move, my partner went to their duplication facility in LA, pretending to be a courier working for Pacific and stole our master back. We wasted months on a deal that did not net us a penny. On the positive side, we licensed the Japanese video rights to JVC for $10,000 and appeared in their catalog right next to a big-budget Star Trek picture. Woohoo! Tabloid! had cost us $112,000.00 to produce. We’d recouped ten grand.

A lot of distributors told us they were making good bread with cheap horror pictures, like re-releases of old Herschell Gordon Lewis titles. What they didn’t tell us was that they were making money because they weren’t splitting receipts with any filmmakers. Based on the best intel we had after hawking Tabloid! unsuccessfully for over a year, we raised money to do two ultra -cheap features; The Abomination and Ozone: The Attack of the Redneck Mutants. Based on the quality of the VHS dubs of old horror films that were selling well, we reasoned there was no reason not to shoot on Super 8mm film stock. The look was right for the genre and hopefully it was cheap enough to guarantee us a profit.

the-abomination-08For The Abomination there was no real script as such, just a twenty page sheaf of notes with suggested dialog. I was taking the challenge seriously on a few levels … first I wanted it to be a business venture; there was no chance in hell it was going to win any awards, so I saw no sense in composing a real screenplay. I was trying to follow the lead of guys like H.G. Lewis.

Second, I was intent on shooting on schedule, on budget. I did. Whatever we had in the can after ten days shooting was going to be the film. Period. That’s why the film plays the way it does and has the relentless narration. No doubt I unconsciously pulled those ploys from Larry Buchanan’s It’s Alive!

The only reason I was able to have the career I did (such as it was, based in Fort Worth, Texas) was that I became known as the young guy who delivered, who finished what he started. Dozens of films start each year and never see the light of day. Its easy to conjure stories on why you were unable to pull it off. For me, rule #1 was finish the picture. That being said, when you try to do a feature for less money than they were spending on local, 30 second  car commercials at the time, you WILL inevitably make compromises.

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The Abomination was shot in ten days for $10,000. Ozone was shot in twenty-three days for slightly more. It was at this point I realised my partner would continue to take advantage of every situation. On both Tabloid! and the horror double feature, he used every excuse to go over budget and blow the schedule out of the water. I took pride in shooting my films on schedule, under budget. I decided thence forward, I did not need a partner.

With the finished films under our arms, we returned to L.A. The same people who’d told us to give them gory H.G. Lewis-style horror, now grimaced and said the films were too bloody. Things dragged on for several months and finally I split with my partner. I had raised all the money for all three features we’d produced, but to facilitate a clean split, I took all rights to Tabloid! and gave him all rights to the horror pictures.

highway-to-hell-1990Things were looking pretty dismal, but I was determined not to give up. I contacted Tom Moore at Reel Movies International and asked him point blank; “How much money will you guarantee to pay, on delivery, for a feature film if you approve the script and choose the name talent?” We finally settled on $20,000 to be paid on a film called Highway to Hell, written by Gary Kennemer (son of Russ Marker, director of The Yesterday Machine) and starring Richard Harrison.

Harrison had been a big name in Italian cinema in the 60s. Originally, Gary was going to direct the film. In the middle of filming, his wife left him. He was a wreck. One of the toughest decisions I ever made as a producer, was letting Gary go. He was too emotionally injured to work and I had no way of knowing when he’d be better. I still had a deadline to make, so I cut him loose and took over the rest of the picture myself. I will say this; it probably would’ve been a better picture overall had Gary been able to complete it.

Once we agreed on those terms, I set about shooting on weekends to produce the film for no more than $10,000. I went over budget. It cost $12,000. Still, when I handed the film over I received a check for $20,000 and pocketed an immediate profit of $8,000. Not big business, but a step in the right direction.

About this time, I began reading about Fred Olen Ray in some of the magazines. I watched some of his films and thought to myself, ‘Hey, this guy seems to be a kindred soul. He’s doing the sorts of things I want to do.” So, I contacted him. I wanted to do a horror film naturally. Fred had other ideas. He agreed to give me $18,000 to make a movie with Dan Haggerty. He wanted to call it Macon County War.

one-man-war-dan-haggertyFred spent additional money on the movie after we delivered, but his money would’ve probably been better spent if he’d given us more money for a decent sound mix and other post production items in the first place. I don’t know what he spent “fixing” the sound mix or what he paid Haggerty for three days’ work, but we did the rest for $18,000.

After delivering Macon County War (which eventually became One Man War), I continued to pester him to give me money for a horror film. For a brief time, we talked about building a movie around a clip of stock footage he had, showing John Carradine reading from a big spooky book. He was very protective of that clip! He’d only let me see it via a timecoded VHS dub with no audio! That was it, literally like a minute of footage! He wanted me to build a script around that, but it never came to be.

I had, and still have, a lot of respect for Fred. He was a sharp, hard-working guy who managed to survive in a very tough business. We had a falling out eventually, but now I feel that was more about the pressures we were both under. I had a wife and three kids to support, he had at least one child that I know about. We were both trying to make it in a world of sharks. I’m sure he had as many setbacks as I did, perhaps many more.

There’s a lot of ambivalence when you’re working on the very low end of feature film making. You’ve seen the schlock that came before and you’re not worried about matching it. You’d like to do better, but if no one’s giving you that opportunity, then at the very least you’re going to pocket what you can from the production budget. So, you make compromises. Fred was known, on those early pictures, for making a lot of cavalier compromises. So much so, that others thought he was deliberately trying to make a name for himself as a “bad” director, like Ed Wood, maybe.

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When I worked with Gunnar Hansen on Repligator, he talked about this with me. He’d worked with Fred on Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. He’d seen some of the choices Fred had made and assumed he was building that bad film brand for himself. One day he greeted Fred with, “Morning. How’s Hollywood’s worst director today?” He meant it as a joke. A joke that he thought Fred himself would appreciate. But, it hurt the guy’s feelings. And I think I understand the whole thing very well, because his story is pretty much my story.

In ensuing years when I’d read Facebook posts in which it was made clear that Fred had been disowned by his father, that he cared very much for his own son… these things gave me a clearer picture of the man. He’s a regular guy. He’s a damn good schlockmeister. I’m glad to have worked with him.

Fred called his company A.I.P. I think it stood for American Independent Pictures. Like a lot of others, he was trading on the fame and mystique of Sam Arkoff’s old company, where Roger Corman had cut his teeth. Another guy, doing exactly the same thing, was David Winters. Once a famous choreographer, he’d moved on to producing dozens of cheapie action films and basically stealing dozens more from filmmakers who couldn’t get distribution on already-completed pictures.

armed-for-action-joe-estevez-1992David’s Action International Pictures was my next stop on my tour of the ‘new poverty row.’ I made a deal to do Armed for Action starring Joe Estevez for $30,000. We shot the movie in seven days in Poolville, Texas. I was blessed to have Randy Moore offer his services in special effects. He basically gave me a bunch of fire power I couldn’t afford to pay for. The film is an obvious cheapie, but for thirty grand and a seven-day schedule, it kicks ass. The acting’s mostly lame, but the explosions and gunfire sold the thing. I followed that up with Blood on the Badge for $40,000, again starring Joe Estevez.

David said he was going to give me a contract to do four films a year, each with a budget of $40,000. What I didn’t know was that his company was in serious trouble. Out of the blue, he asked me to come to Mobile, Alabama as producer on a fairly big ($850,000) film called Mardi Gras for the Devil, starring Robert Davi and Michael Ironside. The whole deal was bogus.

The original producer had quit because Winters wasn’t sending money when they needed it. The agents and talent were getting pissed. I was brought in to be a sort of fall guy, someone they could blame when Winters finally caught up on payments. Once I saw what was happening I just coasted. I collected my pay of $2,000 a week and made the best of it. Thblood-on-the-badge-1992ere were some really miserable people working on that crew.

An exception was the Key Grip, a guy who did a pretty good impression of Bill Murray, Thomas Fenton. Tom quizzed me about making super cheap pictures and ended up asking me to produce a movie called Striking Point. Tom directed and Chris Mitchum starred as the heavy. The budget was supposed to be $50K.

Tom showed up in Dallas with $35K. He’d been raised in a privileged family. His dad was a higher up in the Kodak company. Basically, he was a spoiled brat. He wanted the world to revolve around him. That was the only film Tom Fenton ever directed, though I understand he works for one of the studios in Hollywood these days.

When the movie Trolls 2 was being posted at Allied + WBS in Dallas, I became friends with the film’s editor, Vanio Amici. Vanio asked me if I’d like to produce a film for Fred Williamson. The next thing I knew Fred called me and came to Dallas to shoot a cheesy action flick called Steele’s Law with a crew I assembled for him. He came back again and did one called Three Days to a Kill. This one co-starred Chuck Connors, Henry Silva and Bo Svenson. By that time, he’d worn out his welcome and as far as I know he never came back to Dallas. That seemed to be his M.O. In any case, I was on to other things.

the-digital-prophet-jeffrey-combsThe guy who shot Tom’s movie Striking Point was an exceptionally talented kid named Tony Brownrigg, son of S.F. “Brownie” Brownrigg who directed Don’t Look in the Basement. Tony and a couple of friends had a company called Open Door Productions in Deep Ellum. They’d made one super cheap feature called Liar and were eager to do more. After they saw how things went on Striking Point, they asked me to produce a movie for them. I gave them a title: Cyberstalker. They wrote a pretty decent screenplay. We shot the picture with Jeffrey Combs of Re-Animator fame. It was eventually retitled The Digital Prophet.

Along the way, I was approached by others. A local martial arts enthusiast who wanted to be the next Steven Seagal, brought me a project called Takedown. Richard Lynch played the bad guy. He did a great job as always.

A used computer salesman named David Stephens approached me about production. He had a huge warehouse facility and wanted to utilize part of it as sound stages. He also had an editing suite. My first project with David was an exploitation documentary called Children of Dracula: Real Interviews with Real Vampires.

Next, we did Time Tracers and Biotech Warrior, followed by the infamous Repligator. Stephens children-of-dracula-real-interviews-with-real-vampireswas an ex-military intelligence officer and something of a neo-Nazi. He wanted to do a racist picture called Lebensborn. When I did not rush out and raise money for that, we had a falling out and he did his best to tie the films up indefinitely in legal limbo. He ended up shooting the film, but I never heard of it receiving any distribution. David was the sort of guy who’d say things like, “The only way to salvage the black race is to infuse them with white blood. They’d be unemployable if it wasn’t for McDonalds.” He was a creep.

As David and I were going separate directions, I noticed I’d done four pictures so far that year (1995.) Somewhere I’d read that Roger Corman did five films in a single year. I wanted to do one more film to top off my year. I contacted Corman and told him I was trying to squeeze out one more film for the year, because I was trying to match his record. He responded by sending me a script called Street. The original had been produced in L.A. a few years earlier and starred Christina Applegate of Married with Children fame.

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We modified the script for Fort Worth locations and shot Rumble in the Streets. This was a virtually identical situation to what Larry Buchanan had found himself in with A.I.P. back in the 60s. History repeats itself! Roger spent a day with us during production. It was a very positive experience all the way around. I think it’s my best picture, especially the never seen ‘director’s cut.’

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Roger was happy with the picture and paid me on time! Life was good! We’d done Rumble for $125,000. Roger told me he was going to give me a bigger budget, but he wanted me to shoot on 35mm this time. He offered me $150,000 to do The Protector, starring Lee Majors and Ed Marinaro. Big budget increase! Barely enough to cover the increased film expenses. But, then that’s the sort of thing Roger’s known for, eh? I was just glad to be finally working with one of my schlockmeister idols.

Between the completion of Rumble and the beginning of Protector I was expecting a reasonably good payout from Tom Moore at RMI. He’d made guarantees on several pictures I’d given him to distribute. The guarantees came due in May of 1996. In April of 1996 he filed bankruptcy, but only after building himself a very expensive home in an exclusive part of Dallas with the money that should’ve been paid to myself and other filmmakers.

It’s easy to attack the crooked distributor, and Tom Moore was certainly one of those, but I have to shoulder some of the responsibility as well. More than a year before all this went down, I had lunch with him one day. During the course of the conversation, he expressed admiration for certain family filmmakers – who shall remain nameless here – for apparently filing bankruptcy whenever they were on the verge of having to pay someone. I was forewarned that he was interested in using such underhanded methods to line his own pockets.

After busting my ass to complete five pictures in a year and having most of my money stolen, leaving me with no legal recourse, I decided it was time to bail from the movie business. My personal life was a mess at the same time and for the next couple of years everything I’d worked toward, just fell apart.

That was twenty years ago. For the longest time, I didn’t even want to talk about film. Now, I don’t think of it all as a tragedy. I think of it as an interesting part of my life. I’m glad I knew and worked with so many talented people. I see clearly that most of the indie film makers I knew ended up disappointed, just as I did. And it’s a common story. Virtually all the low-budget guys who put projects together in the 80s and early 90s got ripped off. Probably, that is still true.

I think the ones who make it are the ones who take control of as many aspects of the process as possible. I think the answer is transparency. I admire the “open source” IT gurus in the world and I think we could all take a cue from them. One of the things working against us in those days was that we were all afraid to speak out against the crooks, openly expose them. In that manner, we were complicit in our own failure. Transparency would’ve helped everyone… except the crooks.

There are more venues for creative output than ever before. The internet has rewritten media history. Whether you’re an author, musician or film maker, there are more ways to get your work to an audience than ever before. The problem is still transparency. If you want to succeed, you need to know what’s happening with your work every step of the way.

With the technology as it exists today, transparency on a moment to moment basis is completely possible. There’s really no excuse why transparent processes haven’t been implemented. All the online methods of sales, like Amazon, promise the ability to make your creations available to virtually the entire world. But everything still goes through their proprietary system.

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Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

I’m a writer. With the print-on-demand technology, there’s no reason why every sale of my book couldn’t be available to me as data twenty-four seven. So, why is it publishers still report only twice a year and have a ninety-day window, on top of that, in which to provide you with figures and pay you? Only one reason. Because it works in their favour.

I’d encourage young artists, of every sort, to develop ways to seize greater control over sales and distribution of the work they’ve created. Moaning about the potentially corrupt middlemen gets us nowhere. It never has. But, we’ve never been in a better position to shepherd our creations all the way down the path. Technology has provided us with a unique opportunity. Take advantage of it.

Bret McCormick, Horrorpedia © 2017

The views expressed in this article are those of the author only and may not represent the opinions of this website or its owner.

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Garden Party Massacre (2017)

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‘Some people are the death of the party’

Garden Party Massacre is a 2017 comedy horror film written, co-produced, directed by and starring Gregory Blair (Deadly Revisions).

A gathering of friends goes seriously awry when an uninvited guest appears. With a pick-axe. And an attitude…

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Gregory Blair commented: “I love films that successfully walk that line between horror and comedy, whether it’s witty and referential like Scream or giddy low camp like Army of Darkness.”

The film is currently in post-production via Pix/See Productions.

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Main cast:

Andy Gates (My Haunted House; Haunting of Cellblock 11Zombies in the Basement), Nichole Bagby, David Leeper, Douglas Green, LeJon, Lise Hart, Art Roberts, Gregory Blair, Tiffani Fest, Marv Blauvelt, Dawna Lee Heising, Matt Weinglass,  Audrey Mitchell, Carrie Jones, Sam Ghazi, David Biber, C.J. Gilmore, Raymond Vinsik Williams, Susan Land, and Olivia Land.

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Psychos in Love (1987)

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‘Love hurts…’

Psychos in Love is a 1987 American black comedy horror film produced, edited, photographed and directed by Gorman Bechard (Galactic Gigolo; Cemetery High; Disconnected) from a screenplay co-written with Carmine Capobianco. The latter provided the Casio CZ synth score and also co-stars.

The $75,000 movie was filmed on 16mm. Some scenes were improvised and the fourth wall is broken.

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Joe (Carmine Capobianco), a bartender in a strip joint, and Kate (Debi Thibeault), a manicurist, meet after trying to find a significant other for a long time. They share a hatred for grapes and are both murderers.

Before meeting Kate, Joe murdered many women after bringing them to his home. A cannibal plumber, Herman (Frank Stewart), blackmails the serial killers…

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Main cast:

Carmine Capobianco (Model HungerThe Sins of DraculaI Spill Your Guts), Debi Thibeault (Cemetery High), Cecelia Wilde (Pledge Night), Robert Suttile, Lum Chang Pang, Danny Noyes, Herb Klinger, Wally Gribauskas, Peach Gribauskas, LeeAnne Baker (Mutant Hunt; BreedersNecropolis), Michael Citriniti, Angela Nicholas (The Domicile), Eric Lutes (Legend of the Mummy; Legion of Fire: Killer Ants!), Ed Powers.

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Reviews:

“Although at times the pacing is sluggish and only about half the jokes are funny, it does have a zany originality […] While certainly not for the squeamish, Psychos in Love does have a certain grotesque charm and may achieve a minor sort of cult status among fans of the bizarre.” TV Guide

“This critic didn’t like this movie when he first saw it back in the late ’80s, and nothing has changed since then. He didn’t find it funny, inventive, or scary.” Bill Gibron, DVD Talk

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“There’s really not much of a plot to Psychos in Love but there is a lot to enjoy. The film’s humor hits most of its marks, never taking itself too seriously, however several running gags, such as the grape monologue, quickly wear out their welcome. The lead actor’s self awareness, that they are characters in a low budget slasher picture, also tends to cause more confusion than it does laughter.” Jason McElreath, DVD Drive-In

” …on top of being funny, gory, and, of course, sexy, it’s got a sweet and tender side. I don’t know why I’m acting all surprised; after all, the word “love” is in the freaking title. It’s just that I was genuinely moved by the film’s love story…” House of Self Indulgence

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“It’s a black comedy, obviously, that owes more than a little debt to Paul Bartel’s 1982 Eating Raoul, minus that film’s smugness. But hands down the reason it works is due to the natural chemistry of stars Carmine Capobianco and Debi Thibeault.” Mike Watt, Fervid Filmmaking: 66 Cult Pictures of Vision, Verve and No Self-Restraint

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” …does a great job of successfully combining elements of horror and comedy perfectly. A lot of horror comedies have trouble pulling this off but that wasn’t the case with Psychos in Love. The humor is actually very funny (I loved the rants that Joe and Kate both have about their hatred of grapes, the excellent musical montage, and  thought the scene at the video store was nothing short of priceless)…” Todd Martin, HorrorNews.net

“This is a really clever, funny, quick-paced, well acted indie flick that never takes itself seriously and knows exactly what kind of movie it is.” Anything Horror

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Psychos in Love is exceptionally well-made for an amateur feature too. The editing is excellent, with the pace moving quickly through the film’s many murder segments. The first clue that it’s more than just your average horror film are the very funny interview segments in black & white that seem quite prophetic in the current reality TV obsessed culture.” Silver Emulsion Film Reviews

“Chintzy synth music, a topless new wave chick, non sequitur monologues to the camera, even a theme song… if you’re in the right frame of mind, it doesn’t get better than this.” Nathaniel Thompson, DVD Delirium Volume 4

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Choice dialogue:

“Grapes? Grapes? I hate grapes. I loath grapes, all kinds of grapes. I hate purple grapes, I hate green grapes, I hate grapes with seeds, I hate grapes without seeds, I hate them peeled and non peeled; I hate them in bunches, one at a time, or in small groups of twos and threes. I f*cking hate grapes!!”

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Release:

The film was released on VHS in 1987, distributed by Wizard Video. It was released on DVD by Shriek Show, a division of Media Blasters, in 2009. The special features include commentaries, a behind the scenes look at the film’s production, multiple beginning credits, longer scenes, the film’s trailer, a picture gallery, and parts of the 2003 stage production.

Filming locations:

Goshen, Hartford, Naugatuck, Waterbury and Watertown, Connecticut, USA

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Wikipedia | IMDb | Official site |

Image thanks: HorrorNews.net | Silver Emulsion Film Reviews


The Munsters Today – TV series

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THE MUNSTERS TODAY, (clockwise from top left): Howard Morton, Hilary Van Dyke, John Schuck, Lee Meriwether, Jason Marsden, (1989), 1987-91. © MCA TV

The Munsters Today is an American TV comedy series that aired in syndication from October 8, 1988 to May 25, 1991. It was a sequel to the original 1960s sitcom The Munsters.

The colour revival starred John Schuck (as Herman), Lee Meriwether (Lily), Howard Morton (Grandpa), Hilary Van Dyke (Marilyn) and Jason Marsden (Eddie), and broadcast 72 episodes from October 8, 1988, to May 25, 1991, giving it more first-run episodes than the original series.

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The pilot explained the 22-year gap following the original series by showing the family as they were in 1966 when an accident took place; the family then proceeds to wake up in 1988.

The series lasted three seasons on syndicated television, and proved popular with international audiences. It was created following a failed attempt to revive the show with most of the original cast (Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis and Yvonne De Carlo) in the 1981 NBC telefilm The Munsters’ Revenge. Gwynne turned down the chance to reprise his role as Herman, while Lewis was apparently unhappy at not being asked to return as Grandpa.

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Season One (1988–89)

  • “Still the Munsters After All These Years” (Pilot) – Grandpa creates a “Sleeping Machine” which makes the user fall asleep for a selected amount of time. While the victim is asleep, his/her age does not change. The machine was tested on the entire family. When Grandpa sets the dial for 30 minutes and shuts the door, a flash of light and a falling beam change the dial to “Forever.” Twenty-two years later, a developer named Mr. Preston (Dave Madden) and his assistant want to buy the Munsters’ home and turn it into a parking lot. Mr. Preston and his assistant are exploring the house. Mr. Preston forces his employee to search Grandpa’s lab; after getting tangled in spider webs he knocks the dial to “off.” The Munster family awakens to the world of 1988. They all struggle to find their way in the strange new era.
  • “Vampire Pie”- Herman decides to enter a baking contest, using an old family recipe. Too bad there was an ingredient Grandpa forgot…
  • “A Little Russian Dressing”
  • “Flyweight Champion of the World”- After being bullied, Grandpa mixes Eddie a strong-man formula, that inflates Eddie’s ego as well as his muscles
  • “Magna Cum Munsters”- After feeling useless for not being asked questions in his home, Herman takes night school, which leads him to the fourth grade: in Eddie’s class
  • “Designing Munsters”
  • “Farewell, Grandpa” – Grandpa is in big trouble when the family finds out he forgot to get a green-card when he came to the country. After Herman breaks him out, only an invisibility potion can save them
  • “Corporate Munsters” – Stock that Herman bought many years ago has accumulated so much that he holds a position in the business. However, he debates keeping the job when it conflicts with Eddie and the Father/Son day
  • “Herman The Astronaut”
  • “Rock Fever”
  • “Professor Grandpa”
  • “Say Ahh”
  • “A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Cereal”- After saving a kid, Herman becomes a hero. When a cereal company offers him a deal, he accepts. But once he finds out the cereal is a flop, will he keep on endorsing it?
  • “Computer Mating”- Grandpa gets a new girlfriend after feeling lonely. But after finding out his girlfriend has buried a large amount of husbands, Herman and Lily fear for Grandpa’s life
  • “McMunsters”
  • “One Flu Over The Munster’s Nest”
  • “Green Eyed Munsters”- Herman gets jealous when Lily’s teacher takes up too much of her time. Will he win her back?
  • “The Not So Great Escape”
  • “Two Left Feet”
  • “Lights, Camera, Munsters” – Marilyn gets to make a movie for a project, while the family debates what type of film she should do. Meanwhile, Eddie is doing poor in school, causing panic for the teacher when a parent teacher conference is in order
  • “Neighborly Munsters” – With new neighbors next door, everyone tries to make a good impression, while the wife tries to do everything to get a fancy pool in her yard (which would dig into the Munster’s) except talk with them
  • “Munster Hoopster” – Eddie wants to take up basketball, so that Herman can brag about him. Only one problem: he can’t sink a shot!
  • “Don’t Cry Wolfman” – When two burglars hide the fortune in the Munster house, they were asleep. Now that they are awake, they devise a plan: one would pretend to be one of them. Unfortunately, he comes into the Munster’s ways, and even saves them. In the end, the ‘wolfman’ burglar, and the Munsters all vote to return the money
  • “The Howling”
  • “Eau De Munster” When the town wants to demolish Munster Moore for a museum, Herman tries to put a stop to it. Only one problem: Grandpa accidentally got him with a love potion, which take effect on the woman running the idea

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Season Two (1989–90)

  • “Three Hundred Something”
  • “No Place Like Home”
  • “Raging Hormones”
  • “Murder in Munster Land”
  • “Trail”
  • “It’s A Wonderful Afterlife”
  • “The Eyes Have It”
  • “It’s a Sad, Sad World”
  • “Melting Pot”
  • “Once in a Blue Moon”
  • “Drac The Ripper”
  • “Gateman and Son”
  • “Reunion”
  • “Pants on Fire”
  • “Munstergeist”
  • “Never Say Die”
  • “It’s a Baby”
  • “Tell’em Herman Sent You”
  • “Thicker Than Water”
  • “Misadventures in Time”
  • “Will The Real Herman Munster Please Stand Up?”
  • “Deadlock”
  • “Take This Job and Shovel It”
  • “That’s Gratitude”

 

Season Three (1990–91)

  • “The Silver Bullet”
  • “The Reel Munsters”
  • “Wishing You Were Here”
  • “Three Munsters and a Baby”
  • “It’s My Party and I’ll Die If I Want To”
  • “Makin’ Waves”
  • “Just Another Pretty Face” (remake of an original episode from the 1960s series)
  • “Kiss, Kiss”
  • “Mind Reader”
  • “No More Mr. Nice Guy”
  • “A House Divided”
  • “A Matter of Trust”
  • “Large”
  • “Genie from Hell”
  • “Lotsa Luck”
  • “If I Only Knew Now”
  • “Beating of Your Heart”
  • “Parenthood vs. Childhood”
  • “Das Trunk”
  • “A Camping We Will Go”
  • “Breaking the Chain”
  • “Diary of a Mad Munster Wife”
  • “The Bet”
  • “Family Night”

Wikipedia | IMDb | Related: The Munsters: TV series, movies, spin-offs and merchandise – article by David Flint


Sugar Skull Girls (2016)

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Sugar Skull Girls is a 2016 American comedy fantasy horror film written and directed by Christian Grillo (Apocalypse Kiss; Deer Crossing; Roxsy Tyler’s House of Horrors). It stars Leslie Easterbrook, Michael Berryman (Self Storage; The Devil’s Rejects; The Hills Have Eyes), Addy Miller and John Amplas (Creepshow; Midnight; Martin).

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Three demonic sisters who resemble neo-goth voodoo dolls are accidentally conjured from the other side during a failed attempt to raise a little girl from the dead. The Sugar Skull Girls will stop at nothing to escape the clutches of The Pale Witch, the ruler of The Shadow World…

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The film is released on Blu-ray and DVD by SGL Entertainment on February 14, 2017.

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Buy: Amazon.com

Main cast:

Leslie Easterbrook, Michael Berryman, Addy Miller, John Amplas, Carmela Hayslett, Christian Grillo, Rebecca Stern, Bryan DeSanto, Randy Memoli, Isabella Sobejano, David B. Stewart III, James F. Murray Jr., Scott Strasbaugh, Anika Buchanan, Cece Hagen.

IMDb | Official site | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter



Sharknado 5… Earth 0 (2017)

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Sharknado 5… Earth 0 is a 2017 American comedy horror film directed by Anthony C. Ferrante (the previous Sharknado movies; Headless Horseman; Boo) from a screenplay by Scotty Mullen (Zoombies; The Coed and the Zombie Stoner).

The film stars Tara Reid (Sharknado films; Charlie’s Farm; Vipers), Ian Ziering (Sharknado films; Tyrannosaurus Azteca; Godzilla: The Series) and Anthony Rogers (Darkness is Coming; Scream: The TV series).

With much of North America lying in ruins, the rest of the world braces for the inevitable: a global sharknado. From London to Asia, South Africa to Mexico, Fin and his family must put a stop to the sharknados once and for all…

The Asylum film is currently in pre-production.

IMDb


Mansion of Blood (2015)

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Mansion of Blood is 2015 American comedy horror film written and directed by Mike Donahue. It stars Gary Busey (Sharknado: The 4th Awakens; Gingerdead Man and sequels; Silver Bullet), Robert Picardo (Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus; 976-EVIL; Munchies), Ray Quiroga and Tom Tangen.

Millionaire Mason Murphy renovates the haunted Mayhew mansion. He moves his family to the estate with his creepy servant Zacharia (Gary Busey). He plans a tremendous lunar eclipse viewing party to celebrate his return to his hometown of River Ridge Iowa.

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At the party, a witch casts a spell to summon the spirit of her dead boyfriend. The magic runs out of control under the eclipse and a series of deadly accidents lead to revenge killings and then all the monsters come out as the party guests are murdered one by one…

Main cast:

Gary Busey, Robert Picardo, Ray Quiroga, Tom Tangen, Tyrone Power Jr., Eddy Salazar, Lorraine Ziff, Mindy Robinson, Jennifer Tapiero, Jaira Valenti, Sarah Alami, Chris Allaire, Carla Laemmle, Sam Stone, Alexandra Cramer.

Reviews:

Mansion of Blood is enormously entertaining, and yet it’s pretty terrible in every regard. Its main problem is that it’s so incredibly busy, and writer-director Mike Donahue has no idea how to pin everything together. We get a cavalcade of characters, a whole host of little situations created at the party during the film’s first half (affairs, double-crosses etc), and – as events progress – murders galore as every horror trope in the book is pulled out of the bag.” Stuart Willis, Sex Gore Mutants

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“As we stared wide-eyed at the screen, it crossed my mind that this was all some sort of colossal joke. But no, it was meant to be an effective horror/comedy/murder mystery. It wasn’t scary, there were perhaps two genuine guffaws and the early scenes of characters trying to find clues to specific treasures – were like the rest of the film – a frantic mess of randomness.” Michael Klug, Horrorfreak News

Mansion of Blood is a really bad film. To say it is poorly made is an affront to other poorly made films. At 98 minutes it is excruciatingly long. It needed to be trimmed by at least 20 minutes. This would not have been hard to do as there was so little cohesion between the various storylines.” Andrew Swope, Rock! Shock! Pop!

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covers almost every facet of horror movies, almost every era, almost every sub-genre, almost anything & everything imaginable with one hell of a cast to boot. All of this could’ve made for a horror movie of epic proportions, BUT (and isn’t there always a but?), none of this is done in any way that’s logical, cohesive, well written or even well produced. In fact, Mansion of Blood achieves epic status, but it’s an epic train wreck.” Brandon C. Sites

IMDb | Image credits: Body Count Rising

 


Blood Diner (1987)

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‘First they greet you, then they eat you.’

Blood Diner is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Jackie Kong (The Being) from a screenplay by actor-composer Michael Sonye (Star Slammer; Frozen Scream). Rick Burks and Carl Crew starred in this homage to Blood Feast (1963)

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The film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by Lightning Pictures in July 1987. It was released on VHS the same year by Vestron Video.

Most recently, the film was released on Blu-ray on September 27, 2016, as part of Lionsgate’s new Vestron Video Collector’s Series (which also includes Chopping Mall). The high-definition restoration was supervised by director Jackie Kong and cinematographer Jürg V. Walther.

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  • Audio commentary with director Jackie Kong
  • The Cook, The Uncle, and The Detective featurette
  • Open for Business featurette
  • Scoring for Sheetar featurette
  • You Are What They Eat featurette
  • Archival interview with project consultant Eric Caidin
  • Theatrical trailer
  • TV spots
  • Still gallery

Plot:

Two brothers, Michael Tutman (Rick Burks) and George Tutman (Carl Crew) are brainwashed by their serial killer uncle Anwar Namtut (Drew Godderis) into completing his task of resurrecting the ancient Lumerian goddess Sheetar (Tanya Papanicolas). Their mission is given to them once they resurrect him from his grave. Anwar Namtut is from then on a brain in a mason jar that commands the brothers.

In order to complete their mission, the brothers must collect different body parts from many immoral women, stitch them together, and then call forth the goddess at a “blood buffet” with a virgin to sacrifice ready for her to eat. The brothers choose women for their “blood buffet” from those that enter into their wildly popular vegetarian restaurant. Meanwhile, two mismatched detectives (LaNette LaFrance and Roger Dauer) work together to try to track them down before more carnage can ensue…

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Reviews:

“While Blood Diner is a low-budget film, it’s artful and a far cry from the bottom of the barrel work of H.G. Lewis. It is decently shot, and while some effects, like Uncle Anwar (in brain form), are cheesy, the gore and makeup is quite good and actually seems to improve in quality (except when trying to be bad) as the films builds to its insane climax.” Duane Hicks, UK Horror Scene

Blood Diner is played for laughs, and has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek the whole way through. It’s ridiculously dumb and hilarious, and I can’t help but love it.” Nick Durham, Death & Giggles

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“The horror element has to have some punch, and even though Kong throws around copious amount of blood and vomit and numerous body parts (so much so that it had to be released unrated), it never comes off as grotesque, just icky. The comedy, then, has little to work against, so it ends up feeling hysterical and anxious, as if no one has any idea what is going on.” James Kendrick, QNetwork.com

Blood Diner is a truly fun fun film. It’s heart is firmly in the right place, usually discarded just to the left of the severed rib cage of some half naked corpse. The black humor works, the silliness is enjoyable and the gore is plentiful and satisfying.” Luke, Horror.Land

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“It is funny, full of some excellent death scenes, and is just a lot of fun to watch in general. If you are in the mood for something a little different that gives a ton of nods to Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast in a number of wacky and over the top ways then you need to check this movie out as soon as you can.” Todd Martin, HorrorNews.net

“From the cruel hilarity to the eroticized misogyny to the Hitler tributes, Blood Diner is bitterly nihilistic, even for a black comedy. It’s enough to make one wonder what exactly was in Jackie Kong’s head when she made this, the swan song of her short and otherwise undistinguished career. It seems the work of an incompetent psychotic with a movie camera and an agenda against the world. The result is fascinating, for reasons the director never intended, and disturbing…” G. Smalley, 366 Weird Movies

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Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“It’s totally broad, bizarre and, to be frank, not necessarily “good” by any objective standard. But who cares? There’s an incredible sense of personal vision here, right down to the Soup Nazi caricature Police Sergeant, who is constantly hollering at his detectives that the “cannibal angle” they’re taking to try and solve the kidnappings is all wrong. In reality, Blood Diner is special because it isn’t for everyone.” Jacob Knight, Birth. Movies. Death

“Tasteless sleazeball low-budgeter redeemed by its satirical humor directed at the artificialities of horror films.” John Stanley, Creature Feature

Cast and characters:

  • Rick Burks as Michael Tutman
  • Carl Crew as George Tutman
  • LaNette LaFrance as Sheba Jackson
  • Roger Dauer as Mark Shepard
  • Lisa Guggenheim as Connie Stanton
  • Max Morris as Chief Miller
  • Roxanne Cybelle as Little Michael
  • Sir Rodenheaver as Little George
  • Drew Godderis as Anwar Namtut
  • Tanya Papanicolas as Sheetar/Bitsy
  • Michael Barton as Vitamin
  • John Barton Shields as Little Jimmy Hitler
  • Effie Bilbrey as Peggy
  • Karen Hazelwood as Babs
  • Bob Loya as Stan Saldin
  • Alisa Alvarez-Wood as Aerobic Girl
  • Al Davis as Blonde Dancer
  • Gene Wells as Doctor, Zombie, Wrestling Fan, EMT

Wikipedia | IMDb


Brain Damage (1987)

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‘It’s a headache from Hell!’

Brain Damage is a 1987 [released 1988] American comedy horror film written and directed by Frank Henenlotter (Bad BiologyFrankenhooker; Basket Case and sequels). It stars Rick Hearst (The Vampire Diaries; Warlock III), Gordon MacDonald and Jennifer Lowry. TV horror host John Zacherley provided the voice of creature “Elmer/Aylmer”.

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Street Trash (1987) director Jim Muro handled the camera and the synth score was provided by Clutch Reiser and Gus Russo. Gabe Bartalos (Leprechaun; Skinned Deep; Spookies) provided the special makeup effects.

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Buy: Amazon.co.uk

On 8 May 2017, Arrow Video release the film on Blu-ray + DVD with the following features:

  • Digital transfer from original film elements
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
  • Original Mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by writer-director Frank Henenlotter
  • Brand new interviews with cast and crew
  • Q&A with Henenlotter recorded at the 2016 Offscreen Film Festival
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
  • Limited edition O-card with exclusive artwork
  • Collector’s Booklet with new writing on the film
  • Plus more to be announced!!!

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Opening plot:

A young man, Brian, begins an unwilling symbiotic relationship with a malevolent leech-like brain-eating parasite named “Elmer/Aylmer” that secretes a highly addictive, hallucinogenic blue fluid into Brian’s brain.

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In return for a steady supply of the fluid, Brian must seek out human victims for Elmer/Aylmer, so that he can devour their brains.

 

All the while, though, as Brian adopts a heavily secluded life in his indulgence of Elmer/Aylmer’s fluids, it begins to draw a rift in his relationship with his girlfriend Barbara and his brother…

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Reviews:

” …Brain Damage is a disgusting, yet wonderfully deranged affair that will have you laughing and gagging at the same time. Blessed with a haunting synthesizer score by Clutch Reiser and Gus Russo, […] and fantastic special effects (I loved the throbbing meatballs that looked like brains), the film beautifully mixes moments of playful absurdity with ones of absolute revulsion.” House of Self Indulgence

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“Now, don’t get the wrong idea – this isn’t some classy horror film. It’s still very much like his others: unknown actors, grimy New York locales, disgusting and phallic FX, kitchen-sink storytelling, etc. But it actually tells a real story (one that’s paced nicely to boot), instead of feeling like a loosely connected series of gags. Hell, there’s even a strong metaphorical slant to it…” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

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“…Brain Damage knowingly winks at other genre titles like Altered States and even includes a very funny in-joke for Basket Case fans (look closely on the subway). While the basic narrative thread of the film will be familiar for anyone well-versed in other “horror as drug parable” titles like The Hunger, the real joy lies in Henenlotter’s curious little detours along the way.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

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“The parasite often looks and acts like a penis and even gets confusingly pulled into sexual activity. Brian appears to enjoy his drug like an orgasm, while his neck is being penetrated from behind (ahem). There’s more male nudity than female (usually Hennenlotter balances the two) and while there are no explicitly gay characters, there are several possibles, and even a fantasy threesome.” Black Hole

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“Some of the set-pieces that Frank Henenlotter manages are sensational, none more so than the sequence (censored from US prints) where Vicki Darnell kneels down to perform fellatio on Rick Herbst in an alleyway, only to have Aylmer burst out of his fly and pierce her throat to devour her brains – and then disappearing back into Herbst’s fly leaving chunks of meat all over his zipper.” Richard Scheib, Moria

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“The filmmakers juggle so many balls in the air that it’s a wonder any remain aloft. The story is about addiction, promiscuity, power and commerce. It’s a veritable crazy quilt of ideas that manages to engage our attention while our heads continue to dart away from the shocking images on screen.” Leonard Klady, Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1988

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“Like Basket Case (1981), to which there is a neat reference, this gives its monster a distinct personality but doesn’t come up with enough connective tissue to go around gory set pieces.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

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Interview:

Frank Henenlotter talks to Tris Thompson for Fangoria

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Cast and characters:

  • Rick Hearst as Brian
  • John Zacherle as voice of Aylmer
  • Jennifer Lowry as Barbara
  • Theo Barnes as Morris
  • Lucille Saint Peter as Martha

Filming locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Black Hole | House of Self Indulgence

Related: Shivers aka They Came from Within

 


The Brainiac (1961)

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brainiac

The Brainiac – original title: El barón del terror  is a 1961 (released 1962) Mexican horror film directed by Chano Urueta (The WitchThe Living Head; Blue Demon vs. the Satanic Power) from a screenplay by Federico Curiel, Adolfo López Portillo and Antonio Orellana.

The film stars producer Abel Salazar and Germán Robles as well as future directors René Cardona and Federico Curiel.

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Plot:

1661, Mexico City: Baron Vitelius of Estara is condemned by the Inquisition and sentenced to be burned at the stake. As this sentence is carried out, the Baron promises that he will return with the next passage of a comet, and slay the descendants of his accusers.

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In 1961, the promised comet does indeed return, carrying with it Baron Vitelius, who takes advantage of his considerable abilities as a sorcerer to carry out his threat: he is able to change at will into the hairy monster of the title in order to suck out the brains of his victims with a long forked tongue; furthermore, he has strong hypnotic capabilities and is able to render his enemies motionless or force them to act against their wills.

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Reviews:

“With a profound title that’s not easily forgotten, soundstage-bound sets, awkwardly hilarious dubbing, and an outrageous monster (with a head that pulsates!) that’s just as memorable as anything Paul Blaisdell created for AIP in the 1950s, The Brainiac is one of the most popular of the Mexican monster romps (if not the most popular).” DVD Drive-In

“Alternately unnerving and hysterical, The Brainiac is a genuinely surreal experience, just as one might expect from director Chano Ureta (who also helmed the equally worthwhile The Witch’s Mirror). Nowhere even close to a “good” film, The Brainiac is an acquired taste but well worth the effort.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

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“Words cannot describe, nor cause one to fully  appreciate the gleeful insanity on display here. It’s because of movies like this that the word ‘cult’ was coined. You’ll see the craziest cinematic monster ever created and some priceless performances amidst  scenes of brain slurping and cops with flame throwers.” Cool Ass Cinema

brainiac dvd

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“Chances are the monster suit will steal the show to such an extent that you won’t even notice all the other stuff that’s f*cked up about the film at first, and that’s entirely understandable. Not only is this a creature costume that no sane man would ever devise, the filmmakers have such tremendous misplaced pride in it that they brazenly defy the conventional wisdom about keeping it mostly offscreen until the last couple of reels.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“Without question, The Brainiac epitomises virtually everything that a bad-film connoisseur would want: ineffective special effects, glaring technical errors, histrionic acting, and obvious budget limitations, all of which are augmented (or compounded) by Murray’s brand of unnatural and often unintentionally-hilarious dubbed dialogue.” Doyle Green, Mexploitation Cinema

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“The perverse script is filmed rather primitively, but the mischievous enthusiasm with which the scenarist concocted the outrageous tale does communicate itself.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“Like other classic Mexican sci-fi horror films (Ship of Monsters most notably) Brainiac is alternately confusing, disturbing, and hilarious. It’s certainly never boring. For me it was akin to Robot Monster in how it feels eerily serious even at its most ridiculous.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

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Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

Cast and characters:

  • Abel Salazar as Baron Vitelious
  • Ruben Rojo as Rolando Miranda/Marcos Miranda
  • Ariadne Welter as Victoria Contreras
  • Luis Aragon as Prof. Milan
  • David Silva as The Detective-Inspector
  • German Robles as Indelacio Pantoya/Sebastian de Pantoja
  • Mauricio Garces
  • Federico Curiel
  • Victor Velazquez
  • Rosa Maria Gallardo
  • Ofelia Guilmain
  • Susana Cora
  • Roxana Bellini
  • Magda Urviza

Release:

In 1963, the film was distributed in the United States by Clasa-Mohme Inc. in its original, Spanish-language-only form, for exhibition in Spanish-speaking American communities’ cinemas.

In 1964, Florida-based entrepreneur K. Gordon Murray acquired rights to dub the film into American English and distribute it in the United States via his Trans-International Films Inc. firm. This version played largely in smaller, Southern towns and at drive-ins, but got wider American exposure on television in the early 1980s, via the USA Cable Network to which Murray syndicated his library of dubbed Mexican horror, sci-fi and fantasy films as a package deal.

richard sala brainiac tribute artwork

Artwork courtesy of Richard Sala. Visit his Tumblr blog

Wikipedia | IMDb | Amazon.com


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