I'm pleased to announce that we have a new reviewer to CRITICAL CONDITION. His name is Mario Dominick and he wrote all the reviews that you will read below. He emailed asking me to review the following films. I told him that I try to stay away from these films since most of them are shot on video (SOV) and I usually avoid these type of films since they give me headaches or a longing to put a bullet in my brain. I emailed him back and asked if he would like to review the films and put a much-needed new perspective on them since I would probably trash the flicks (at least the ones I have viewed). Surprise of surprises if he didn't take me up on the offer. What you will read below are his takes on the films. Welcome Mario!  (All reviews written by Mario will have an "MD" after the review.)

AND THEN THEY WERE DEAD (2004)/GUILTY PLEASURES (1997) - Cinema Image Productions brings us a double feature of two fun low budgeters featuring murder, mayhem, madness, blood, sex, and more. AND THEN THEY WERE DEAD is the story of seven strangers who get invited to a dinner party. The characters are your traditional "Clue" types (businessman, butler, maid, horny guy, bitchy wife). An unseen assailant begins picking off the sleazy characters one by one quickly turning this into a slasher/whodunit/mystery. Ray Schwetz directs and Joe Zaso, Tina Krause, Darian Caine (who gets murdered while naked in the shower), and Schwetz himself all star. Marcus Koch handled the make-up effects. GUILTY PLEASURES brings us a macabre pair of stories, one directed by Joseph F. Parda and the other directed by Joe Zaso. Two women living in an apartment building are both facing dilemmas that lead to unspeakable horrors. In "Nocturnal Emissions," Silvia Resino (Alexandra Paulhiac) breaks up with her boyfriend. Around the same time, a psycho targeting nude models kills one of her friends. She then begins to receive threatening phone calls, her ex-boyfriend immediately becomes a suspect and a detective (played by Zaso) tries to get her to help him out. Naively thinking the detective is somebody she can trust and will do what's best for her, it leads to a conclusion that makes her sorry she ever got involved with him. "Method to the Madness" tells the story of Rosemarie Curtis (Sasha Graham), a pretty young actress in New York City trying to get work. Looking for help with "method acting," she finds an acting coach who she believes will be helpful. Problem is, her friend Monica fears a horrible secret from the past that Rosemarie can't seem to suppress any longer will reveal itself. This makes for a horrifying ordeal involving death and more as it eventually causes Rosemarie's downfall. AND THEN THEY WERE DEAD and GUILTY PLEASURES are both enjoyable B-movie horrors that deliver in gore and nudity and are entertaining in cheesy kind of way. AND THEN, in my opinion, is the better movie of the two, obviously since it was made much later than PLEASURES and it has the better quality and effects. Fans of Joe Zaso, Tina Krause, Darian Caine, and Sasha Graham should definitely add this DVD to their collection. The special features on the AND THEN side of the disc include a commentary with Ray Schwetz and Joe Zaso, a behind-the-scenes documentary, photo gallery, and trailer and the PLEASURES side includes a commentary with Zaso, photo gallery, and trailer. A Cinema Image Productions DVD Release. Unrated - MD

AT DAWN THEY SLEEP (2000) - My first experience with Morbid Vision Films. AT DAWN THEY SLEEP tells the story of two drug lords named Stephen and Ian (Brian Paulin and Rich George) who run into some trouble with one of their rivals and find themselves in the middle of an all-out gang war involving drugs, guns and violence. The two go out looking for adventure one night and bring home a couple of girls who seem normal at first. After sleeping with them, the two wake up in the morning to find the girls gone and they both feel nauseated and can't figure out what happened to them. It so turns out that the girls were angels from the other side and they infected them with a virus that turns them into vampires with a thirst for blood by biting them on the neck. Stephen and Ian both become immortal, join a gang of vampires and are directed to kill and drink the blood of the living so the angels can reclaim the world that they believe belonged to them. Eventually a demon from hell intervenes to stop the angels from having everything all to themselves which results in an action-packed showdown with a supernatural battle between good and evil. AT DAWN THEY SLEEP is a very enjoyable video gore effort. Brian Paulin directed, wrote, stars, co-produced, composed, photographed, edited, did makeup effects and basically handled the whole project single-handedly. The film is loaded with everything you could ask for: gun battles, car crashing, violence, naked females, profanity, cheesy monster outfits and devil makeup, and outrageous and over-the-top gore scenes including beheadings, disembowelments, dismemberments, throats ripped out, brains blown out with guns, heads split with axes, flesh ripping, melting bodies and knives through skulls. In other words, perfect for a Friday night when you have a six pack and get together with your buddies. The Video Outlaw DVD contains many extras such as director's commentary, behind-the-scenes documentary, outtakes, still galleries, a 12-minute short film called DAMNATION and trailers for other Video Outlaw releases. Other movies by Paulin and Morbid Vision include DEAD GIRL ON FILM (2001), MUMMY RAIDER (2002) and BONE SICKNESS (2004). A Video Outlaw DVD Release. Unrated - MD

THE ATROCITY CIRCLE (2005) - Ohio's Andrew Copp, creator of THE MUTILATION MAN (1998) and BLACK SUN (2003), brings us this brutal revenge story involving a young man named Brandon (Chris Workman) who's plagued by memories of old high school friends raping a young girl who he had a crush on in a basement while they were getting drunk and playing drinking games. Now married and studying to become a doctor, Brandon does his best to let go of the horrible memories, but they keep getting worse and worse. Eventually Brandon takes it upon himself to track down the now grown-up high school kids who had raped the girl near and dear to him and drove her to suicide and proceeds to bump them off in a variety of extremely brutal and gory ways. Andrew Copp has done a splendid job creating a disturbing and nihilistic film with THE ATROCITY CIRCLE. The acting (especially from Workman) is very good for the most part, the guys playing the rapists do a fine job making the characters come as the sleaziest scum on the planet, and the film doesn't shy away from the red stuff at all as people are tortured, slashed, stabbed in the head, castrated, dismembered, gutted, have their rectums carved out, etc. If you enjoyed AUGUST UNDERGROUND (2001) and MURDER-SET-PIECES (2004), this one should be up your alley. The Apparition Films DVD contains a director's commentary, an outtake and bloopers reel, the original trailer, and trailers for THE MUTILATION MAN and BLACK SUN. With Michelle McLaughlin, Greg Nichols, Thomas Nealeigh, Joe Mackenzie, and Geoff Burkman. Copp and Matt Brassfield appear as rapists. An Apparition Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

ATTACK OF THE KILLER REFRIGERATOR (1990) - Here's a video that's a true oddity. It's two short films on one tape along with a documentary. First up we have ATTACK OF THE KILLER REFRIGERATOR, a 15 minute short about a group of college kids who get drunk at a party and decide to defrost a refrigerator. The fridge doesn't take too kindly to this and it comes to life and starts killing and eating the kids. One character loses their arm in the door and another is impaled on the handle. The only way to stop this rampaging machine: pull the plug. Next we have THE HOOK OF WOODLAND HEIGHTS, a 40 minute short concerning an escaped psycho who lost one of his hands. He finds his way into the woods near Woodland Heights, gets a hold of a barbeque fork, sticks it on his stump and goes on a gory rampage. Finally, we have a "making of" documentary that takes us behind the scenes of WOODLAND HEIGHTS. It also has interviews with the cast and crew, promotional footage, and footage from the movie's screening at a local theater. This video is definitely fun to watch. Both short films from Michael Savino and Mark Veau are humorous, gory, and cheesy as hell. The documentary is very interesting too. If you happen to stumble upon a copy, check it out. A Donna Michelle Productions Release. Not Rated - MD

AUGUST UNDERGROUND (2001) – Looking for something different in the world of low budget filmmaking? Well, look no further than the films of Pittsburgh’s Fred Vogel and Toe Tag Pictures. This home video classic follows two sick and deranged psychopaths and their adventures torturing and killing people in Southwestern Pennsylvania while one of them films it all with a camcorder. The movie was shot to look like a home movie intentionally. Vogel wanted to portray the world what the world looks like through the eyes of a serial killer. He wanted to give it the look of a snuff film. The film is definitely not for all tastes. It’s loaded with extremely graphic sex, rape, torture, gore and full frontally nude women strapped to chairs covered in blood with contusions on their faces and sitting in a pile of their own feces. We are treated to a scene where the killers go into a convenient store, stab the clerk and force a couple of customers to sniff each other’s assholes. People have their heads hammered in with waffle-nosed claw hammers and we get plenty of graphic scenes with every bodily fluid imaginable. If you want blood, shit, piss, vomit and cum, this certainly delivers it all. It’s an incredibly disturbing and offensive movie that I found myself enjoying. AUGUST UNDERGROUND has gained some cult status since it first hit the independent film scene in 2001 and has spawned two sequels, AUGUST UNDERGROUND’S MORDUM (2003) and AUGUST UNDERGROUND’S PENANCE (2007). Vogel also directed REDSIN TOWER (2006) and handled gore effects for Nick Palumbo’s MURDER-SET-PIECES (2004). Vogel stars along with Allen Peters, Aaron LaBonte, Ben LaBonte, AnneMarie Reveruzzi, Alexa Iris, Victoria Jones, Dan Friedman, Stephen Vogel and Casey Eganey. The Toe Tag Pictures 2-disc DVD has lots of extras including two audio commentaries, a 67-minute documentary called “Hammer to the Head: A Closer Look at A.U.,” a 102-minute “Outsider’s Perspective” called “August Underground: Too Real for Comfort,” still gallery and more. A Toe Tag Pictures DVD Release. Unrated - MD

AUGUST UNDERGROUND’S MORDUM (2003) – More gore, rape and torture from Fred Vogel’s Toe Tag Pictures of the Pittsburgh underground. This sequel follows Vogel again as our main psychopath and a sicko girl who likes to have sex with her brother. Her brother acting as their cameraman follows them on their murder, rape and torture rampage across Pittsburgh. People have their heads bashed in with hammers, throats are slit, our main psycho killers scream and swear at each other a lot throughout most of the film, and in one scene they torture a couple of girls by sticking their fingers down their throats and vomiting on them. This sequel has a little bit more gore than the first one and has the same sickening rape and torture scenes with graphic shots of every bodily fluid imaginable. You don’t know what pornographic and disturbing is until you watch this. Vogel co-directed and co-wrote with Jerami Cruise, Killjoy, Mike Schneider and Christie Whiles who all have acting roles. The Toe Tag DVD contains the Necrophagia Rue Morgue Disciple music video, deleted scenes, trailers and a still gallery. A Toe Tag Pictures DVD Release. Unrated - MD

AUGUST UNDERGROUND’S PENANCE (2007) – The conclusion to the AUGUST UNDERGROUND trilogy once again follows the psychopathic couple from the last film and their adventures with a camcorder as they murder and torture people in Pittsburgh. This is probably the sickest of the series. We get the usual graphic rape, skulls hammered in, slit throats, some disembowelments and dismemberments, masturbation scenes, vomit, girls strapped naked to chairs and having semen smeared on their breasts, our two psychos screaming and swearing at each other, and a family murdered on Christmas. You got to give to Fred Vogel and Toe Tag for making the most outrageous, vile and offensive movies to come out of Pittsburgh. Their true horror fans that know how to keep fans entertained. The Toe Tag DVD of PENANCE contains an audio commentary with the Toe Tag crew, a documentary called “Disemboweled: Behind the Bile,” extended and deleted scenes, a still gallery slide show, trailers and a couple music videos. Vogel directed and co-wrote with Christie Whiles. They both star together. With Shelby Vogel, Jerami Cruise, Anthony Matthews, Renee Bell, Sara McGill, and Mikol Bell. A Toe Tag Pictures DVD Release. Unrated - MD

BACK FROM HELL (1993) - Black priest Father Aaron (Shawn Scarbrough) goes to visit his friend Jack (Larry DuBois) who sold his soul to the Devil in hopes of finding fame and fortune in Hollywood. Instead Jack finds himself cursed. Anybody who looks into his eyes becomes possessed into wanting to kill him and he somehow conjures up the spirit of Satan. Aaron tries to help save Jack's soul and the two try to stop the Kingdom of Hell from reigning over the world. In the process they have to go up against a possessed cop, zombies, and hooded satanic cult members with axes.  This low budget 16mm effort from director Matt Jaissle is actually better than one might expect. Jaissle keeps up the pace throughout and the movie is never boring. There are some very funny parts (like when a hand comes out of a book and grabs the priest by his nuts) and some extreme gore too. We get an arm stabbed with forks, limbs hacked off, throat slitting, eyes popped out, spilled intestines, bodies cut to pieces, etc. The film is definitely worth checking out. Jaissle and company later made LEGION OF THE NIGHT (1995) and THE NECRO FILES (1997). An HV Films Release. Not Rated - MD

BEAUTY QUEEN BUTCHER (1991) - Deep from the bowels of early '90s shot-on-video mayhem and from the vault of Camp Motion Pictures comes this never-before-released-in-any-format-until-now SOV cheese fest that makes one wonder why a company like Cinema Home Video never picked it up for release back in the day. Phyllis Loden is an overweight, unattractive nerdy high school girl looking to become beautiful like the other girls and win a beauty pageant. Constantly picked on, ridiculed, and teased by a group of snobbish beauty pageant queens, Phyllis desperately looks for a way to change her looks, enter the contest and become the next beauty queen extraordinaire. When one of the nasty beauty pageant bitches decides to get even with Phyllis by doing away with her cat after it caused her to have an allergic reaction, Phyllis decides enough is enough and proceeds to slaughter her pageant tormentors one by one. While BEAUTY QUEEN BUTCHER is a welcome release from Camp and it's nice they came across a lost SOV slasher from 1991, by no means is it a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. One of its biggest problems is that it's too long and could've used better editing. They're really isn't a whole lot of gore on hand either, but one of the few bloody deaths where a girl is stabbed with her beauty pageant crown is kind of amusing. If you're a really big SOV/backyard horror enthusiast, this may be of some interest to you. Just don't expect anything truly memorable or a gorefest that's worth getting up in arms about. This appears to be the only movie director Jill Zurborg ever made. The Camp DVD contains a behind-the-scenes documentary and trailers for other Camp releases. A Camp Motion Pictures DVD Release. Unrated - MD

BEFORE I DIE (2003) – From Phil Herman and Falcon Video comes the perfect companion piece to HORRORTALES.666 (2003). This time we are presented with three short stories from Joel D. Wynkoop, Sharkey Video and Falcon. The wraparound segment stars Herman as a writer who’s suffering from writer’s block and is basically beating his head against the wall to come up with some new ideas. He comes up with the following three stories. “Time for Dessert” from Wynkoop Productions stars M. Catherine Holseybrook as a lady with an appetite for men. It so appears that something very sinister lies behind her seductive ways. The men she seduces and takes to a hotel all end up disappearing. An average, bored and horny bachelor looking for adventure hopes he can get lucky and get into bed with Ms. Holseybrook. Unfortunately for him, her dark secret shows itself and he finds himself wishing he would have took his business elsewhere. “Last Resort” from Sharkey Video stars Dawn Murphy and David Lee as a couple who go to an old resort in the middle of nowhere for a honeymoon. It appears they haven’t seen THE SHINING (1980) enough to know to stay away from resorts that have a bad history and have been abandoned for good reason. The spirits or whatever it is that inhabit the place send them messages that they want them out. After getting out of there, Lee learns something about the resort’s past that may change his life forever. “Someone Is Sleeping In My Bed” from Herman and Falcon starts off with a couple mischievous trick-or-treaters being bumped off by a masked psychopath. We are then introduced to a woman played by the lovely Nancy Feliciano who is stalked by the psycho in her home. The ending to this story (which I won’t give away) comes as a surprise that somehow ties it to the wraparound and kind of reprises the first segment of HORRORTALES.666. You’ll have to see it for yourself. BEFORE I DIE is another nice collection of short films from three of the hottest independent producers on the underground scene. While it doesn’t seem to rely as much on the T&A as others of its ilk, it does have enough steamy moments to keep the perverts entertained. As for graphic violence and bloodletting, gorehounds may find it kind of dry. But it’s still something bad movie fans and connoisseurs of zero budget horror should eat up nonetheless. For fans of Nancy Feliciano and Dawn Murphy, this is definitely the perfect treat for you. Written and directed by Dave Castiglione, Dawn Murphy, Phil Herman and Joel D. Wynkoop. Wynkoop has a part as one of Holseybrook’s victims in the first segment. With Gusto Perez, Kevin Bangos, Chris Hurban, and Brock Richards. A Falcon Video Release. Available on DVD as a part of the Pendulum Pictures DECREPIT PIT OF NIGHTMARES 50-Movie Set from Brain Damage Films. Unrated -MD

BITS AND PIECES (1985) - A psychopath named Arthur (S.E. Zygmont) is stalking women and slaughtering them with various tools. It turns out that his mother abused him when he was a child and now he hates women. That's usually the case with these movies. A police lieutenant (Brian Burt) tries to stop him while developing a relationship with one of the victim's friends (Susanna Smith). There's not that much to recommend about this one, though it is a very corny movie and has some occasional funny moments (like when Arthur bumps into a guy and the guy says, "Watch where you're going apple ass!"). There is some nudity and a fair amount of bloodshed but not a whole lot of graphic gore. This is director Leland Thomas's only movie. The cinematography is by Thomas Callaway who went on to photograph many genre movies including ones by Charles Band and David DeCoteau. If you like MANIAC (1980) or THE LOVE BUTCHER (1975) you may find some enjoyment in this. With Sheila Lussier, Tally Chanel, Elaine Bartolone, and Sandy Brooke. A Trans World Entertainment Release. Not Rated - MD

BLACK DEVIL DOLL FROM HELL (1984) - This early shot on video effort is definitely one of the weirdest films I've ever seen for sure. Directed by Chester Novell Turner on a budget of about 32 cents. It stars Shirley L. Jones as a religious black woman who goes into a magic shop and buys a strange black voodoo doll puppet. It seems that the doll somehow always finds its way back to store the day after somebody buys it. She starts hallucinating about the doll having sexual encounters with her. Eventually the doll comes to life, knocks her unconscious, ties her to a bed, and begins to sexually molest her. She then begins to enjoy it and the doll says things like "I'm going to pop your cherry bitch!" and "Beg for it bitch!" The next day the doll mysteriously disappears. Jones then tries relationships with other men, but they can't seem to fulfill her desires like the doll did. She then goes back to the store to buy it again but soon finds out the doll has something evil in mind. Mere words cannot describe this movie. I'd say it's in a class of its own. There's lots of nudity and obscene language and the movie is guaranteed to offend. The acting is pretty bad and the photography is washed out and has the look of a poorly shot porn movie. The Casio keyboard music score, however, is very good. I really liked the rock song that plays over the opening and end credits. I'd have a hard time recommending this to anybody who doesn't watch anything beyond the mainstream movies, but if you're adventurous, a bad movie fan and a shot on video enthusiast, this should be right up your alley. Mr. Turner also wrote and produced. He composed the score too. He later made a movie called TALES FROM THE QUADEAD ZONE (1987), another shot on video feature. A Hollywood Home Theatre Release. Unrated - MD

BLOOD FOR THE MUSE (2001) - Terry M. West brings us one of his best efforts with this black and white film noire-esque gore film about a video store clerk named Josh (Josh Robinson) and his obsession with the "Muse of Tragedy," a mythic figure and apparent goddess long believed to appear when tragedies strike. He decides to keep this goddess alive by going out and finding call girls and brutally hacking them to death. He meets up with college student Sara (Tina Krause) whom he falls in love with. His mission to keep killing to keep the Muse alive soon interferes with his ability to form a romantic relationship with Sara leaving him torn between which is more important, the Muse or Sara? BLOOD FOR THE MUSE is a beautifully shot, disturbing feature with plenty of graphic murders, nudity and sex. With a cast featuring Tina Krause, Pamela Sutch, Ruby LaRocca, Deana Enoches, and adult film actress Tammy Parks, some stylish scenery, and a beautiful music score, there's certainly much to enjoy. Terry M. West wrote, directed, executive produced, edited and makes an appearance in the film himself. Currently available on DVD as a bonus feature on the Shock-O-Rama release of SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR LUST (2002), BLOOD FOR THE MUSE is soon to be available on DVD as an "Omega Edition" from West's Pleasant Storm Entertainment label. A Dark Muse Films VHS Release. Unrated - MD

BLOOD LAKE (1987) - Best known as one of the shittiest of the '80s SOV slashers, BLOOD LAKE features a group of teens who travel out to a lakeside house for a summer vacation and are soon being picked off one by one by a fat, country bumpkin-looking knife-wielding psychopath. It features hilarious overacting, some really crappy gore effects, a shot of a spider crawling on a ceiling (thrown in for no apparent reason), and an ending that makes no sense whatsoever. As bad as it is, it's still very entertaining in a weird sort of way. It's an absolute must-see for all bad movie fanatics. Directed by Tim Boggs from a script by producer Doug Barry who also stars. With Angela Darter, Mike Kaufman, Andrea Adams, Travis Krasser, Christie Willoughby, and Tiny Frazier. A United Entertainment VHS Release. Not yet available on legitimate DVD. Not Rated - MD

THE BLOOD SHED (2007) - Indie genius Alan Rowe Kelly brings us this tale about an inbred New Jersey backwoods cannibalistic redneck family named the Bullions. Papa Elvis Bullion (Terry M. West) looks after his kids led by Beefteena (played by Kelly) along with Butternut (Joshua Nelson) and Hubcap (Mike Lane) and their friend Sno Cakes (Susan Adriensen) as they capture and kill folks who become a nuisance to them. Among those unfortunate are an obnoxious kid who gets pulled in half, the local police officer who has his nuts squashed with pliers, and people from a fashion photo studio who end up as guests at the most hellish dinner party ever filmed. Watch as the wacky Bullion family argues and bickers, spies on their neighbors, and strike at their enemies in gruesome fashion. THE BLOOD SHED is a movie well worthy of cult status and the current following it has in the underground horror scene. Alan Rowe Kelly in drag makes Beefteena Bullion one of the most twisted horror characters ever conceived. I look forward to Kelly's upcoming anthology GALLERY OF FEAR (2009). Be sure to check out his first feature I'LL BURY YOU TOMORROW (2002) as well. Extras on the Heretic Films DVD of THE BLOOD SHED include a commentary with Kelly, a behind-the-scenes montage, trailer, and cast bios. With Jerry Murdock, Zoe Daelman Chlanda, Katherine O'Sullivan, and Michael Gingold. A Heretic Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

THE BLOODY VIDEO HORROR THAT MADE ME PUKE ON MY AUNT GERTRUDE (1989) - Micro budget horror guru Zachary Winston Snygg started off his career with this incredibly cheesy, low quality, backyard camcorder affair with a 12-word title concerning a gangster who shoots himself a snuff film for a racketeering enterprise, but to his dismay, accidentally returns the video camera he rented to the video store with the tape of the murder still in it. Murder, mayhem, deceit, and double crosses ensue as he tries to retrieve his tape. Shot with very little money and it certainly shows. There are lots of laughable gore effects on display, overacting, corny humor, credits printed on typewriter paper, and more. If really cheesy home movies are your cup of tea, you can't go wrong with this. A Video Outlaw Release. Unrated - MD

BONE SICKNESS (2004) – This shot on video gore classic from Brian Paulin and Morbid Vision Films tells the story of a guy with a degenerative bone diseases who’s being cared for by his wife who’s desperately trying to find a cure. She enlists the help of his friend who thinks he has a cure. Having a lot of experience in the medical field, this friend robs the graves of a cemetery taking bones and other parts. He grinds up the body parts to form a medication that can cure the bone disease. Only problem is, the dead buried in the cemetery don’t take to kindly to being robbed by grave robbers and they come back as flesh hungry zombies that cause chaos on a level unseen since Peter Jackson’s DEAD ALIVE (a.k.a. BRAINDEAD – 1992). Brian Paulin has created an indie horror masterpiece with BONE SICKNESS. It could quite possibly be the goriest American-made independent zombie movie in over a century! We get people barfing and shitting worms and maggots, beheadings, dismemberments, exploding heads, guts pulled out through asses, spinal cords ripped out, people sawed in half, heads squashed with tombstones, heads ripped in half, brain spilling, innards spilling, intestine and throat munching, people melting and exploding, brains squashed out of heads, etc. To sum up BONE SICKNESS in a word: Outfuckingstanding! I’ve become a loyal Morbid Vision fan after seeing this one. I can’t wait to see their new movie FETUS (2007). The Unearthed Films DVD contains some cool extras including audio commentary, behind-the-scenes footage, outtakes, bloopers, an interview with Paulin, still gallery and more. Paulin wrote, produced, directed, edited, composed, acts, and handled the make-up effects. With Darya Zabinski, Ruby LaRocca, Rich George, Kevin Barbare, and Ernest Hutcherson. An Unearthed Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

THE BRIDE OF FRANK (1996) – Very low quality and totally whacked out horror comedy borrowing elements from John Waters and Troma movies. A wrinkled old bum named Frank is hired to work in a New Jersey warehouse. Frank is hard to understand at times and we are provided with subtitles on occasion. His co-workers give him everything he wants. They take him to a strip club one night and he decides he wants a woman. His friends promise to get him one. He says he wants “tits” which turns out to be the only thing he’s interested in. The movie consists of Frank calling phone sex lines and getting his friends to send him hookers until he finds the perfect woman. When people get on Frank’s bad side, he threatens them with “I’ll bite your dick off!” or “I’ll cut off your head and shit down your throat!” or “I’ll rip out your eye and skull fuck you to death!” Frank keeps all his promises as he bites off a drug dealer’s dick, knocks a nerd’s head off and shits down his neck, rips a cross dresser’s face off, shoves a knife up underneath a fat girl’s chin and through her mouth, smacks an 8-year-old girl on the head with a pipe and runs over her head with a trailer truck, and yanks out a whore’s eye and screws her brains out through the eye socket. The movie goes out of its way to offend everybody. It’s loaded with gratuitous sex, T&A, vulgarity, fart and booger jokes, and cheap gore. The only other thing director Steve Ballot (using the name Escalp Don Blade) has done to date is a small part in Howard Stern’s PRIVATE PARTS (1997). THE BRIDE OF FRANK appears to have been shot on Super 8. It never had an official distributor for a good many years. The only way you could obtain a copy of the film was through bootlegging outlets. Sub Rosa Studios recently released it on DVD. This is the first time it’s ever been officially available in the US. The DVD contains many extras including audio commentary, deleted scenes, alternate ending, promotional materials, trailers, hidden bonuses and more. With Morgan Tara, Frank Meyer, Johnny Horizon, Victor Delvalle, Bruce Frankel, Jim Moresca, Rena Ballot, Arnell Dowret, Steve Ballot, Eric Kaplan, Eddie Regan, Sal Mogavero, Bernard Briley, and Sergio Lopez. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

BRIDE OF KILLER NERD (1992) - Toby Radloff returns as Harold Kunkle in this sequel to the slasher comedy KILLER NERD (1991). Kunkle is having problems with seeing the ghosts of the people who he murdered in the first film. He gets depressed and slowly becomes suicidal. He then meets up with a teenage girl nerd named Thelma Crump (Heidi Lohr). Thelma is being harassed in high school by her classmates and wants to be with somebody who likes her for what she is. She then begins a relationship with Harold. Thelma's classmates who picked on her tell her they want to make it up to her by inviting her to a party. They invite Harold as well. After the two find out that they were invited to the party to be humiliated in front of the whole senior class, they get their revenge by slaughtering all the kids. Thelma castrates a guy with her teeth and Harold breaks his neck. Before stabbing a girl in car, Thelma says, "I'm going to slice you up and then I'm going to pee on you!" A girl is stabbed in the shower. One guy is impaled on a stick and another has his throat gorily slashed. Before proceeding to kill another girl, Thelma remarks, "You have nice breasts. I'm going to lop them off and stuff them in my bra. Then I'll have big titties too!" I think I enjoy this sequel even more than the original. This one has even more humorous dialogue and it has a better story. I can't wait for the day when Wayne Alan Harold and Mark Steven Bosko make SON OF KILLER NERD! A Riot Pictures Video Release. Available on DVD from Troma as a double feature with the first KILLER NERD. Not Rated - MD

BURGLAR FROM HELL (1993) – Thief Frank the Tank (Bryant Sohl) breaks into an apartment complex, beats up an old lady, and proceeds to take money she’s hiding in a pillow. After finding the money and proceeding to make off with the goods, the old lady gets a shotgun, blows him away and buries him in the backyard. A couple friends get together with some black dudes to spend the night at a friend’s apartment. One black girl staying with them is into witchcraft. She gets them all together to hold a séance and she accidentally ends up resurrecting Frank the Tank. He rises from his grave as a zombie that goes through several different stages of rot (with gooey disintegrating flesh make-up) and proceeds to have his revenge and kill anybody who gets in his way. Gory mayhem ensues. BURGLAR FROM HELL is a fun shot-on-video gore comedy from Phil Herman who would go on to do the JACKER movies and the MIDNIGHT trilogy. The film has a fine B-movie cast including Barry Gaines, Ben Stanski, Nancy Feliciano, and Debbie D (who goes topless in a few scenes). Frank the Tank rips a guy’s throat out with his bare hands in the beginning before he becomes a zombie. A guy has his arm ripped off and is beaten to death with it. One guy has his head punched clean off. Before doing away with Debbie D, Frank’s penis rots off and he says, “Oh, my peepee! Guess I don’t have any use for you anymore.” The sickest scene in the movie is a part where a guy is on the toilet with diarrhea and Frank comes in with a shovel, sticks it in the guy’s stomach and cuts his bowels open and drains and eats the digested food out of him while it’s going through his system as he takes a shit. I got a really putrid acid vomit taste in my mouth during this part. Another sick part is when a guy gets boiled alive by scalding hot water in shower stall. If you’re in the mood for something that’s cheap, gross, sleazy and gory, this is the perfect movie to pop in the machine on a boring and rainy afternoon. A Falcon Video Release. Unrated –MD

CAMP BLOOD (1999) - Here we go. Another videotaped slasher-trash flick. This one seems to be somewhat of a cult favorite amongst fans of these types of movies (myself included). Four college kids get together for the weekend and go on a trip to Camp Blackwoods. They run into a tough-talking woman named Harris who turns out to be their guide. After getting their campsite set up in the woods, Harris tells them a story around the campfire about a guy who killed his wife and her lover after finding them in bed together. A legend that the clown mask-wearing killer still roams the woods won't seem to go away. Soon enough, they wake up the next morning to find the body of what appears to be Harris burnt to a crisp on the campfire wood. One of them suspects that it's the clown killer so they decide to get their asses out of the woods. Soon they have a run-in with the clown boy with a machete. One girl sprains her ankle trying to get away. One guy tries to be a hero and take on the killer himself. And one guy accidentally kills his wounded girlfriend thinking she's the killer. After they've all been bumped off, it's down to the heroine to have the final showdown with clown boy. While it's certainly nothing new (and the killer's identity becomes very obvious almost less than halfway through), the film does have its moments. There are some decent gore scenes as well and a little nudity and sex at the beginning. You can tell FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) is what really inspired the people who made this. The ending kind of reminds you of the ending of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974). Writer-Director Brad Sykes made CAMP BLOOD 2 (2000) after this. His other films include EVIL SISTER 2 (2001), DEATH FACTORY (2002), LORD OF THE VAMPIRES (2002) and GOTH (2003). David Sterling produced and Jeff Leroy edited and handled the videography. With Jennifer Ritchkoff, Michael Taylor, Tim Young, Betheny Zolt, Courtney Taylor, Joseph Haggerty, Meredith O'Brien, Vinnie Bilancio, Ron Ford and Tim Sullivan. A Burning Moon Home Video Release. Not Rated - MD

CAMP BLOOD 2 (2000) - If you couldn't get enough of a machete-wielding psycho clown killer chopping up youngsters in the woods, the great Brad Sykes brings to you CAMP BLOOD 2! Tricia (Jennifer Ritchkoff), the survivor from the first movie returns. After being locked away in a mental institution after going crazy from the horrible bloodbath in the woods and being thought by many to have been the killer, Tricia is approached by a sleazy filmmaker who wants to make a BLAIR WITCH (1999)-style movie about her experience. She agrees to be a technical advisor on the film crew. Once the crew gets set up in the woods and starts filming, one of them disappears and doesn't come back. They start to wonder what's going on. Soon it turns out that another clown-masked killer is on the loose and the crew starts getting picked off one by one in various gory ways. This one's just about on the same level as the first one. Lots of blood, a little T&A, some cheesy dialogue and you know who the killer is before the show is half over. If you're planning an evening of getting drunk with your friends and you need something to laugh at watch CAMP BLOOD 1, 2 & 3 (WITHIN THE WOODS [1999 - 2005]) back to back. You might have fun. David Sterling produced (again) and Jeff Leroy was the editor and photographer. With Courtney Burr, Brannon Gould, Natascha Corrigan, Ken X, Tim Sullivan, Lisa Marie Bolick, Garrett Clancy, Missy Rae Hansen and Mark Overholt. A Spectrum Films Release. Not Rated - MD

CANNIBAL CAMPOUT (1988) - I must say, I'm a much bigger shot on video enthusiast than most people are. I think this videotaped gore fest from Jon McBride could quite possibly be my all-time favorite shot on video movie. It would make a good double bill with Pericles Lewnes' REDNECK ZOMBIES (1987). CANNIBAL CAMPOUT concerns a group of college friends who go on an outing for the weekend in the backwoods of New Jersey. It appears as though a trio of demented redneck cannibal killers are stalking the woods and brutally slaughtering and eating campers. The film has funny dialogue, amusingly cheesy moments, and lots of extreme gore. There's a machete through the brain, machete to the throat, axe in the head, dismemberment, disembowelment, gut munching, etc. The opening murder of a girl jogging alongside a road seemingly comes out of nowhere and is very shocking. The fetus scene near the end is really sick ("A womb with a view."). I noticed that all the characters seem to share the same first name with the actors playing the parts. McBride stars along with Amy Chludzinski, Christopher Granger, Richard Marcus, Gene Robbins, Carrie Lindell, and Joseph Salheb. McBride made WOODCHIPPER MASSACRE (1988) after this and is now making movies with the Polonia brothers. A Donna Michelle Productions Release. Unrated - MD  NOTE: I finally relented and bought a copy of this film off of Mario. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Even though the acting is strictly one-note (except for the cannibal who wants to fuck the girls before he eats them!), the effects are above-par for a SOV feature, the retarded cannibal wears a flight suit complete with helmet and oxygen mask and there are several moments of real suspense. Jon McBride (who co-directed and co-produced this feature with one-shot wonder Tom Fisher and wrote it under the pseudonym "John Rayl") went completely downhill after this one as all his other films will bear me out (even though Mario may disagree with me). This is actually a good SOV film, especially if you are under the influence of a controlled substance and with a bunch of friends. - Editor.  Available on DVD in early 2007 from Camp Motion Pictures.

CHAINSAW SALLY (2004) - Filmmaker Jimmy O Burril along with Redfield Arts bring us a new take on the often used TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)-style formula in the horror genre with this bloody and humorous grade B low budgeter. Sally (April Monique Burrill, wife of director Jimmy O) is a librarian with a dark past and a murderous side that takes over at night. She along with her transvestite brother Ruby (Alec Joseph) both witnessed their parents (their father played by the original "Leatherface" Gunnar Hansen in the flashbacks) murdered by three intruders in their home before saving each other by killing the intruders in self-defense when they were youngsters. Sally targets her enemies with the help of Ruby by doing away them in a variety of gruesome ways, the chainsaw being the device used most frequently. Businessman Steve Kellerman (Mark Redfield) who becomes friends with Sally is interested buying the land where Sally and Ruby used to live as youngsters and where they witnessed the murder of their parents. When Steve and the landlord get on Sally's bad side, she soon unleashes her fury on them, making them experience a horror that they won't soon forget. CHAINSAW SALLY is a very fun picture that delivers in gore and campy humor with a touch of old fashioned "trailer trash" horror. Burrill does a fine job in the lead role and her husband Jimmy is a talented director who really knows the horror genre and manages to be very creative. There are some really nasty death scenes including multiple chainsaw slayings and dismemberments, a bloody castration, and a sick torture scene with a girl having acid dumped down her throat causing her guts to spill out her ass and into a bucket. The "Godfather of Gore" Herschell Gordon Lewis even makes a cameo appearance himself. It's a very twisted film that delivers. I look forward to seeing the sequel that is in the works right now as we speak. Shock-O-Rama's DVD of SALLY contains a good amount of extras including a commentary with Jimmy and April, a behind-the-scenes featurette entitled "Saw Dust: The Making of Chainsaw Sally," a music video, Gunnar Hansen and H.G. Lewis interviews, an artwork gallery, trailer, and trailers for other Shock-O-Rama releases. With David R. Calhoun, Kristen Hudson, Aaron Martinek, Brad Smoley, and Suzi Lorraine. A Shock-O-Rama Cinema DVD Release. Rated R - MD  NOTE: Believe it or not, this film spawned an internet-based show presented by Hershell Gordon Lewis and starring April Monique Burrill as Chainsaw Sally. It lasted for two seasons, from 2009 to 2011. - Editor

CITY IN PANIC (1987) - This Canadian slasher concerns a radio talk show host and detectives who try to track down a psycho in a black suit and hat who's slicing up people with AIDS (both homosexual and heterosexual) in a big city. The killer gets to be known as "M" because he carves the letter M onto the bodies of all his victims. Most people I've talked to hate this movie, but I'm one of the few who actually liked it. I thought the idea of a killer targeting people with AIDS was something a little different for the slasher genre. The killings are very graphic and gory and include some splashy slashings and stabbings, a PSYCHO (1960) shower scene at the beginning, a male stripper being repeatedly mowed down by a van in an alley, and a scene where a security guard sticks his wang through a hole in a bathroom stall and the killer hacks it off sending blood spraying everywhere. The film is definitely not for those with weak stomachs. With David Adamson, Leeann Westegard, and Ed Chester. Directed by Robert Bouvier. A Trans World Entertainment Release. Available from Brain Damage Films under the title 13. Not Rated - MD

CRADLE OF FEAR (2001) - A British shot-on-video horror anthology from UK underground goremeister Alex Chandon (BAD KARMA - 1991, DRILLBIT - 1992, PERVIRELLA - 1997, NIGHT PASTOR - 1998, and INBRED - 2011) that is an extreme, in-your-face gore-filled thrill-ride starring Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth as "The Man." The Man is a super nasty revenge spirit called upon by an incarcerated serial killer to seek brutal vengeance on the people who brought about his imprisonment. The Man is the link connecting four gruesome stories, the first one concerning a woman who has a date with what turns out to be a demon from hell. The next day she suffers hallucinations leading up to a bloody conclusion involving the birthing of the demon's grotesque offspring. The second concerns two lesbian thieves who break into an old man's apartment and end up killing him in the process of the robbery. Their plan to make off with his loot then backfires in a rather messy way. The third concerns an amputee who, after losing his leg in an accident, thinks he's discovered a miracle by finding a way for a doctor to give him a new leg, only this gift turns out to be the ultimate curse. The fourth concerns a businessman who becomes obsessed with a vile porn/sadism/torture website. He can't stop viewing the site and using its "create your snuff film" feature. The site ends up costing him his job and his home as his situation soon turns into a horrific nightmare made reality in which he cannot escape. CRADLE OF FEAR is a terrific low budget gorefest from Alex Chandon who you can tell through and through is a dedicated splatter fan. British scream queen Eileen Daly stars as Natalie. There's plentiful nudity and gore effects that rival that of Olaf Ittenbach's work, including dismemberments, disembowelments, heads ripped apart, creatures erupting from stomachs, and much more. If gushing blood sprays, demons, and sick creature effects are what you're looking for, look no further than CRADLE OF FEAR. The DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette, stills gallery and trailers. An Image Entertainment DVD Release. Unrated - MD

CRINOLINE HEAD (1995) - A group of obnoxious teenagers go out to a cabin in the woods for a vacation. One tells a story about a kid who cannibalized his mother at the place years ago when the food supply ran out. The kid ended up in an institution and kept a crinoline skirt that his mother was making for a baby doll. You know where this all leads to, right? We end up with a psycho wearing a crinoline skirt on his head stalking and killing the dumb kids one by one. As far as low budget slasher comedies go, this one isn't too bad. While there isn't any nudity and not a whole lot of gore, the film is still pretty entertaining for what it is. There's a funny death by celery scene and a scene where a girl is drowned in a toilet and her corpse is later seen with feces smeared on the face. There are some pretty good bands on the soundtrack and the VHS contains a music video after the movie. Director Tommy Faircloth made GENERATION AX (1998) after this. With Brian Kelly, Tommy Faircloth, Tracy Powlas, Cathy Slaminko, and Liz Taheri. A Scorpio International Ltd. Release. Not Rated - MD

CUTTING MOMENTS (1997) - Perhaps the most professionally done film I've ever reviewed for this section of this website. Douglas Buck is a filmmaker from Canada who's become well-known for his 2006 remake of Brian DePalma's SISTERS (Buck's version stars Chloe Sevigny and Stephen Rea) and his contributing a segment to the recent horror anthology THE THEATRE BIZARRE (2011) (one that also features segments by Tom Savini, Buddy Giovinazzo (COMBAT SHOCK - 1986), Richard Stanley (HARDWARE - 1990), Karim Hussain (SUBCONSCIOUS CRUELTY - 2000), David Gregory (PLAGUE TOWN - 2008), and Jeremy Kasten (THE WIZARD OF GORE - 2007)). He is also known for his intense and dramatic anthology feature FAMILY PORTRAITS: A TRILOGY OF AMERICA (2003) which features CUTTING MOMENTS along with his other shorts HOME (1998) and PROLOGUE (2003). Here we will take a look at what I feel is the best of the FAMILY PORTRAITS trilogy. CUTTING MOMENTS starts off with a young boy playing with Power Rangers dolls in his front yard while his father is focused on trimming the bushes with hedge clippers. Both very quiet characters, the father comes up to the boy and is immediately disturbed by the position in which he sees the toys laying on the ground and proceeds to pick them up. Later on, the boy, father and mother are all shown eating dinner. The mother asks the boy how school was. The kid doesn't seem interested in talking at all and is anxious to leave the table. Something appears to be very wrong with this seemingly normal family. The mother is having the worst possible suspicions about the father and son's relationship. She seems to want her husband to notice her more. One day, she dresses up in a pretty red dress with lipstick and make-up to get him to take an interest in her, but he continues to watch sports on TV. This seems to trigger a psychotic episode in the mother as she goes into her bathroom and wipes off her lipstick. What then proceeds is one of the most graphic scenes of self-mutilation ever committed to celluloid. She mutilates her lips with a wiry bathroom brush and slices off what's left of her lips with a pair of scissors. After this horrific act of self-inflicted torture, she then finally gets the attention of her husband, leading to a gory murder-suicide during sex between the couple as the husband does away with what's left of their sexual organs with the help of his own hedge clippers. The son is thus left an orphan in the end. CUTTING MOMENTS has been called one of the most disturbing movies ever and it's one that certainly lives up to its hype. Shot on 16mm by Douglas Buck, the film quickly became a favorite of many film festivals and Buck as a director has received praise from many of extreme cinema's most prominent figures such as Abel Ferrara (THE DRILLER KILLER - 1979, MS. 45 - 1981) and Gaspar Noe (I STAND ALONE - 1998, IRREVERSIBLE - 2003). CUTTING MOMENTS is often seen played alongside other disturbing horror shorts like Nacho Cerda's AFTERMATH (1994) and Mitch Davis's DIVIDED INTO ZERO (1999). First released on VHS by Alternative Cinema on their Shock-O-Rama line as part of a short films compilation (also called CUTTING MOMENTS), the film then got its best treatment when released on DVD by Home Vision Entertainment as part of the FAMILY PORTRAITS anthology. When you watch the shorts on the DVD in the order in which Buck filmed them, each short actually gets progressively less horrific with HOME being a similar disturbing drama, but not being anywhere near as graphic and when you finally get to PROLOGUE it's mostly a straight-up drama and not horror at all. Whichever you like best, you can definitely agree Buck is an underrated director and talent to be reckoned with. Tom Savini consulted on some of the effects on CUTTING MOMENTS. The Image/Home Vision 2-disc DVD of FAMILY PORTRAITS contains the three separate shorts with director's commentary on the first disc and the three shorts cut together as a feature anthology film on the second disc with extras including behind-the-scenes footage, still galleries, trailers, another early short film from Buck, and more. FAMILY PORTRAITS is a Home Vision/Image Entertainment DVD Release. Unrated - MD

DARK CRAVING (1993) - John A. Russo, writer of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and director of MIDNIGHT (1980), brings us this low budget Pittsburgh-shot adaptation of his novel "The Awakening." The film opens with Benjamin Latham (Kevin Kindlin), an 18th century physician being hanged after being accused of being a vampire. He is resurrected in modern day Pittsburgh and comes out of his grave in a construction field naked. After finding some clothes and finding his way into society, he meets up with a priest and confesses that he was hanged as a vampire back in 1776 but in order for him to stay alive in the present time, he must kill and drink blood. A rash of killings ensue all over town in which victims are found with poisonous saliva in their bloodstreams. Lt. Vargo (Tom Savini), whose daughter was murdered years before, is trying to solve the murders. Latham meets up with a female zoo curator (played by Moon Unit Zappa) and falls in love with her. Meanwhile, a series of copycat killings occur where victims have their blood drained from their bodies. It appears the culprit behind these murders is somebody who wants to be immortal like Benjamin. This leads to a climactic battle between vampire and human monster. DARK CRAVING (originally released on VHS by Tempe Video as HEARTSTOPPER) is, for the most part, a half-decent film. Tom Savini gives a fine performance as the police lieutenant. The film, however, has a tendency to drag in some places. In fact there were moments when I felt like I was drifting off to sleep. On the other hand, there are some decent make-ups and blood effects by Savini, Jerry Gergely and Greg Funk, and the locations in Pittsburgh that were used seem to work very well. I haven't read Russo's original novel that this is based on, so I really couldn't do a comparison, but overall the film is a fairly enjoyable low budgeter. Michael J. Pollard is featured in a cameo as "Dr. Lubbock." The original Tempe VHS under the title HEARTSTOPPER features the B's Nest Video Magazine after the movie featuring interviews with Russo and Savini, a horror merch promo spot with Jeannie Jeffries Brown, and Tempe trailers including a trailer for Bill Hinzman's THE MAJORETTES (1986). The Shriek Show DVD contains a making-of featurette, interviews with Russo and make-up effects artist Jerry Gergely, the original soundtrack, photo gallery, and the original trailer. A Shriek Show DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

DARKEST SOUL (1994) - Two young punks Tommy and Mark (Al Darago and Jeff Witte), constantly getting fired from jobs at fast food places and grocery stores, are hired to dig graves at a cemetery. The two are satisfied with the job but they want more money. They decide to start stealing jewelry off the corpses so they can sell them to get money. Mark starts shooting up on drugs and his addiction leads to unfortunate results for both him and Tommy. Though labeled as a horror movie, I'd have a hard time calling this zero budget video quickie "horror." It's more of a drama focusing on two characters and how shitty their lives are. The only real horror scenes come at the end. The film is too boring and depressing to be of much interest. If you like movies put out by Sub Rosa, then this might be an okay way to kill 65 minutes, but there are better Sub Rosa flicks like SAVAGE HARVEST (1994), GUT-PILE (1997), and MEAT MARKET (2000). Director Doug Ulrich wrote and produced with Al Darago. Ulrich and Darago made SCREEN KILL (1997) after this. A Salt City Home Video Release. Unrated - MD

DARKNESS (1993) - Here's a vampire movie that's certainly not your average vampire story. In the beginning a young man witnesses a bloody massacre in a convenient store at the hand of a vampire. He finds himself on the run as the community is besieged by bloodsuckers and has to fight to survive. He arms himself with various weapons and tries to fight the lead vampire Livens with other survivors. This low budget Super 8 gore fest from Leif Jonker is probably one of the best Super 8 movies I've seen. It's almost on par with J.R. Bookwalter's THE DEAD NEXT DOOR (1988). The film is very dark most of the time but I think that adds more to the atmosphere. It's definitely one of the goriest movies I've ever seen. The vampires in this one are more like zombies almost. We get throat rippings with jugular fountains, blood spraying everywhere, and an amazingly bloody finale where all the vampires begin to melt and explode in the sunlight. It's an absolute nonstop chunk blower. Highly recommended. With Gary Miller (who also did the effects), Michael Gisick, Randall Aviks, Cena Donham, and Steve Brown. A Film Threat Video Release. Unrated - MD  NOTE: Also available as a 2 disc DVD from Barrel Entertainment. - Editor

DEADBEAT AT DAWN (1988) - Jim VanBebber's low budget masterpiece is easily one of the all time greatest independent films and one of the most brutal movies ever made. VanBebber stars as Goose, a gang member in Dayton, Ohio who's forced to quit the gang by his girlfriend. His fellow gang members don't take too kindly to this. Danny and the Ravens, a gang leader and gang Goose's gang has been going up against, send a couple of their toadies out to kill Goose's girlfriend. After finding his girl's bloody, brutally bludgeoned and eviscerated corpse in his apartment, this completely pushes him over the edge. We watch as he goes out trying to get money from his low life, junkie father and goes to bars and gets drunk. At one point Goose contemplates suicide, only to be found and picked up by one of his fellow gang members who were a little peeved at him for leaving the gang. It turns out they have teamed up with Danny and the Ravens and they try to use Goose to help them with an armored car robbery. After agreeing to go along with this, Goose still hasn't forgotten about what they did to his girl and plots his brutal revenge against them. What follows is one of the bloodiest gang wars ever committed to celluloid filled with shoot-outs, people run over with cars, broken necks, heads split open, throat slittings, stabbings, fingers bitten off, decapitations, kung fu, and more. One of the most extreme and disturbing underground movies ever made, DEADBEAT AT DAWN is a powerful and incredibly brutal experience that will leave you feeling like you were hit below the belt multiple times for days afterward. Beautifully shot on 16mm with some excellent stunt work and very realistic effects (handled by VanBebber himself), DEADBEAT has often been compared with Buddy Giovinazzo's COMBAT SHOCK (1986), and has a very grindhouse vibe to it similar with other movies like BASKET CASE (1982) and STREET TRASH (1987). All I can say is you haven't lived until you've seen DEADBEAT or VanBebber's other classic THE MANSON FAMILY (2003) for that matter. If you want to see brutality done right, you can't go wrong with VanBebber. The now out-of-print Synapse Films DVD contains an audio commentary with VanBebber and producer Mike King, outtakes, VanBebber's vicious and disturbing short film MY SWEET SATAN (1993) (originally released on VHS by Film Threat Video) with optional commentary by VanBebber and the cast and crew, a promotional short for a never produced slasher film called CHUNK BLOWER VanBebber had planned to make (also with optional commentary by Jim), and a director filmography. Now available on DVD from Dark Sky Films as a 2-Disc Special Edition with new extras either separately or as a part of the "Visions of Hell: The Films of Jim VanBebber" box set which also contains THE MANSON FAMILY. A Synapse Films DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

DEAD CLOWNS (2003) - Steve Sessions and B-Horror.com/This Is Not A Dream Productions bring us this killer clown story about a southern Gulf Coast town that finds itself beset by a horde of zombie clowns. They were clowns that died years ago in a train accident in which the train crashed to the bottom of the sea near the coast while they were doing a circus tour. As the result of a massive storm that hits the coast, the waterlogged corpses of the clowns come back as zombie killers that kind of look like Fulci zombies and they use a variety of weapons to do away with their victims in various gruesome manners. Steve Sessions (whose other efforts include CREMAINS (2001), HELLBOUND: BOOK OF THE DEAD (2003), MALEFIC (2003), SOUTHERN GOTHIC (2005), TORMENT (2008), and AT THE HOUSE OF MADNESS (2008) manages to make DEAD CLOWNS a gory, suspenseful thrill ride with an excellent B-movie cast including Jeff Dylan Graham, Debbie Rochon, Eric Spudic, Brinke Stevens, Lucien Eisenach, Kimberly Lynn Cole, and Robyn Griggs. The characters are all very interesting (especially Spudic as a wheelchair-bound man fighting off the zombie clowns) and the make-up effects aren't half-bad either. Overall, DEAD CLOWNS is a decent micro budget effort worth popping in the DVD player on a rainy evening. The Lions Gate DVD doesn't contain any significant extras except for a trailer and trailers for other releases. A Lions Gate Films DVD Release. Rated R - MD

DEAD GIRLS (1990) - This slasher tells the story of the "Dead Girls" rock band. The lyrics in their songs say that life is a "bummer" and it's not worth living. A group of teenagers listen to the lyrics and commit group suicide by slitting their wrists. The lead singer's young sister who led the kids in the group suicide survives and ends up paralyzed. She goes on a retreat with her sister and her band to a cabin in the mountains. Soon a masked psycho begins picking everyone off one by one. The killer uses weapons according to lyrics in the songs. Overall, this movie isn't the greatest, but you could do far worse. There is some decent gore and deaths and there are so many damn twists near the end, it almost gives you a headache. The people who made this one gave us other low budgeters like FATAL IMAGES (1988), HELL SPA (1992), THINGS (1993), THINGS 2 (1998), and HAUNTED (1998). You can visit them on the web at: http://www.unknownproductions.com/ Directed by Dennis Devine and written by Steve Jarvis. With Diana Karanikas, Angela Eads, Kay Schaber, David Chatfield, Jeff Herbick, Brian Burr Chin, Marshall Martin, and Carol Albright. A Raedon Home Video Release. Unrated - MD  NOTE: For a truly mind-numbing experience, try watching Devine's CURSE OF PIRATE DEATH (2006). It's so bad, it could probably cure cancer! - Editor

DEADLANDS: THE RISING (2006) – Low budget apocalyptic zombie movie starts off with America being besieged by a string of biological weapon attacks. People are directed by federal and local authorities to head off to secure areas being maintained by the military in the evacuation procedures. But it turns out that the weapons used in the attacks were harboring some unknown element that brings the dead back to life. And they appear to be hungry for human flesh. A small Midwestern town is overrun by zombies and gory mayhem ensues. The heroes of the story Gary and Brian along with Brian’s wife Michelle and their son fight for their lives. In going up against the flesh-craving ghouls, they hope to escape to a safe place somewhere and find out if there are any other survivors like them. DEADLANDS: THE RISING is a pretty decent first effort from Gary Ugarek who directs, writes, produces, edits, composes and stars as Gary. The film has its moments of gore (ripped out organs, brain eating, flesh and gut munching, spinal cord ripped out, etc.) and the filmmakers made good use of everything they had knowing they didn’t have much money. It will be interesting to see what Ugarek can do if given a bigger budget. The Tempe/Splatter Rampage DVD contains a director’s commentary, cast commentary, an interview with Ugarek, an interview with producer Brian Wright (who stars as Brian), the original teaser trailer, a 10-minute short film called I AM ZOMBIE MAN with an introduction by director Nick Thompson, and trailers for other Splatter Rampage releases. With Dave Cooperman, Michelle Wright, and Connor Brandt. A Tempe DVD Release. Not Rated -MD  NOTE: Followed by DEADLANDS 2: TRAPPED (2009; directed by Gary Ugarek) and a third part to make it's debut in the Spring of 2012. - Editor

DEADWOOD PARK (2007) - From Eric Stanze and Wicked Pixel Cinema comes what is arguably their best, most accomplished film to date. It tells the story of the town of Eidolon Crossing, a town that was once prosperous and the home to Dogwood Park, a successful amusement park that children would go to all the time. But all this changed once kids started disappearing and turning up brutally murdered. Bodies were found in an old mine shaft. This led to the park's closure and the eventual collapse of Eidolon Crossing's economy and it's reputation as a peaceful place. Jake Richardson's (William Clifton) brother disappeared in the town back in 1979. Being obsessed with finding out who was behind his brother's disappearance and finally getting to the bottom of whoever or whatever was responsible for all the other bizarre occurrences and deaths from over the years, Jake goes back to the town to investigate in hopes of getting the truth once and for all. But getting the truth turns out to be an uphill battle and a nightmare as well. Jake is haunted by the spirits of the dead children and hears voices and sees other apparitions. Jake is driven to desperation to find out what it all means and what he finds in the end turns out to be something much bigger than he bargained for. DEADWOOD PARK is a beautiful, eerie, suspenseful, and atmospheric film. It is without a doubt Wicked Pixel's greatest accomplishment thus far. The movie doesn't rely on blood and guts to be scary (although it does get kind of gory near the end), the choice of location and scenery is excellent, and William Clifton gives a fine performance in the lead role. It goes to show how far Eric Stanze and Wicked Pixel have come over the years. This is absolutely their most professional-looking film to date. The Cinema Epoch DVD of DEADWOOD contains an audio commentary with Stanze, outtakes, and a music video of "Zombie '79" by Crypt 33. With Lindsey Luscri, Bryan Lane, Jason Allen Wolfe, Ramona Midgett, Dick Mintzlaff, Joseph R. Engel, Daniel Byrington, Benjamin Gaa, Matthew S. Sinopole, Paul Wendell, Jessica Boston, Jason Christ, Julie Farrar, and Emily Haack. A Cinema Epoch DVD Release. Unrated - MD

DEATH METAL ZOMBIES (1995) - A metal head named Brad Masters who stutters a lot wins a radio station contest and receives the demo tape of a new album from a heavy metal band called Living Corpse. Brad and his friends listen to it not knowing that it contains a track that turns its listeners into zombies. They become flesh hungry ghouls and the evil spirit of the band's lead singer tells them to go out and kill. The town gets overrun by zombies and Brad's girlfriend and another one of his friends must find a way to play the tape backwards to stop them and destroy Living Corpse's reign of terror. This shot on video horror comedy (also known as DEAD ROCK ZOMBIES) is definitely one of the cheapest-looking micro budget crap fests I've ever seen. It falls into the "so bad it's funny" category for sure. This one is about on the same level as the stuff from W.A.V.E. Productions. The acting is so bad you'd swear these people went to some kind of school to learn how to act that way. We get lots of cheap gore effects, incredibly dumb characters, a Richard Nixon-masked killer inspired by HORROR HOUSE ON HIGHWAY 5 (1985) who has nothing to do with the plot, a Kurt Cobain look-alike, a rapper who sits on a knife, references to other big metal bands (including Metallica), and laugh out loud dialogue. The end credits say the film is dedicated to Kurt Cobain since it was made shortly after his death. The music in this one is by Relapse Records. Some of the bands on the soundtrack are Pungent Stench, Dead World, Dismember, Brutality, Exit 13, etc. DEATH METAL ZOMBIES is a prime example of what you get when you give gore movie and metal fans a couple hundred bucks, lots of fake blood, a blank cassette and a camcorder (a very cheap one too, since the movie is so dark most of the time). Director Todd Jason Cook did other shot on video horrors like EVIL NIGHT (1992), DEMON DOLLS (1993), THE DUMMY (a.k.a. BLOODY ANNIVERSARY -  1994), and FRIGHTMARES (1997). His Texas-based company named Cemetery Cinema (a poor man's Sinister Cinema) went out of business in 1998. Cook has not directed anything else since. Not really surprising when you think about it. The company distributed early movies by Chris Seaver and Low Budget Pictures. With Lisa Cook, Bill DeWild, Todd Cook, C. Jo Vela, Mike Gebbie, Thomas Banta, Terry Aden, Wes Dodson, Jan Mundorf, Sabrina Cook, Milly Leonard, and Jerry McGhee. A Cemetery Cinema Release. Also available on DVD as a "10th Anniversary Edition" from Horrorscope Films.  Unrated - MD  NOTE: Todd Jason Cook (a musician by trade) returned to the director's chair in 2010 with the film ZOMBIEFIED. - Editor

DEMON DOLLS (1993) - Weird-ass, confusing, forgotten shot-on-video gore shocker from Todd Cook and Cemetery Cinema (of DEATH METAL ZOMBIES [1995] fame) tells the story of a couple of bozos named Scott and Nick who try to bring Scott's girlfriend Stacey's favorite doll to life by practicing weird rituals. After that fails, the two give up, and later the doll suddenly comes to life all by itself. As it turns out, the doll is possessed by the devil (surprise, surprise) and it has the power to imitate anyone it sees or comes into contact with. It orders Scott to kill his friends and after Scott refuses to comply, it imitates Scott and starts killing them all. The doll soon possesses Scott and Stacey and has them go against each other in a supernatural battle of "evil vs. evil." Are you able to follow any of this? If not, that doesn't surprise me. Ultra-cheesy BLACK DEVIL DOLL FROM HELL (1984) rip-off is not really something worth going out of your way for, but if you're somebody like me who must have everything at all costs, go ahead and see for yourself if it's worth the effort. After all, it's my job to review these things because I have to. Cook writes and directs and stars as Scott. With Lisa Cook, Rik Deskin, Joey Scarborough, Penny Spellman, and Scott Spellman. A Cemetery Cinema Release. Unrated - MD

DEMON QUEEN (1986) - A cannibalistic vampire succubus named Lucinda (Mary Fanaro) is picking up men in bars, taking them back to hotel rooms, and tearing out and eating their hearts and throats after sex. A junkie named Jesse (Dennis Stewart) runs into some trouble with a couple fellow drug dealers. Lucinda saves him from getting his ass kicked by chowing down on the one's throat and scaring the other away. Jesse takes her back to his place because she has nowhere else to go. His girlfriend doesn't take too kindly to this. He soon learns that Lucinda is a demon queen who feeds on flesh to survive. Some of her victims come back as zombies. This is the first of camcorder guru Donald Farmer's shot on video gore fests. He of course brought us other "classics" like CANNIBAL HOOKERS (1987), SCREAM DREAM (1989), and AN EROTIC VAMPIRE IN PARIS (2002). You pretty much know what to expect with this one: lots of blood, boobs, and low production values. It has bad acting and weak photography, but the gore is very graphic and includes throat rippings, throat munching, a face ripped off, frothy zombie drool, and a nauseating heart ripping with lots of spurting blood. The make-up effects (handled by an unsung Rick Gonzales who also worked with Tom Savini on DAY OF THE DEAD [1985]) are surprisingly half decent. If you love watching really amateurish video features, this could be your cup of tea. All others should stay clear. With Cliff Dance, Patti Valliere, David Blood, and Rick Foster. A Mogul Video Release. A DEMON QUEEN DVD available from http://www.b-movie.com/. Not Rated - MD

DISCONNECTED (1983) - Police try to track down a serial killer who's murdering and mutilating women in Waterbury, Connecticut. Barbara Ann (Frances Raines) is upset with her twin sister Alicia for sleeping with her boyfriend. Meanwhile Barbara Ann is getting weird phone calls with awful loud noises and vibrations coming from the receiver. She soon meets up with Franklin (Mark Walker) and begins a relationship with him. Franklin is a kind but strange young man. Soon it turns out that he is a psychopath who picks up women, takes them back to his place, and brutally stabs them to death after sex. After Franklin is gunned down by the police, they think the nightmare is over but it isn't. More women turn up dead and Barbara Ann keeps getting the strange phone calls slowly driving her to madness. It all has something to with a creepy old man she met at the beginning who asked to use her phone. This film is the directing debut of Gorman Bechard who gave us PSYCHOS IN LOVE (1986) and CEMETERY HIGH (1988). While those films are clearly horror comedies, DISCONNECTED is a more serious film. I found it to be very disturbing. The scene where Raines has a dream about hanging up a blood splattered painting and the scene at the end where she destroys the telephone and hears strange voices and noises in her apartment is very unsettling. The film isn't horribly gory, though it does have a few bloody scenes. It's scary for the most part in a Hitchcock kind of way. There are some Hitchcock references in it as well. It's kind of hard to find but worth checking out if you get the chance. With Carl Koch and Carmine Capobianco. An Active Home Video Release. Not Rated - MD

DUCK! THE CARBINE HIGH MASSACRE (1999) - One of the most controversial indie flicks of all time, William Hellfire and Joey Smack's take on teen angst and school violence is a violent, gory, and over-the-top excursion into dangerous waters that landed the two of them in jail at the time. Let free once it was determined no crime was committed, their movie has gained a cult following as a feature with a political message about how the media has a tendency to exploit violence and death in today's society rather than the movie just being an exploitation of the Columbine tragedy itself which some had accused it of being. Hellfire and Smack both star in the roles of two outcast high school kids whose characters are based on Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold. The characters put up with teasing and bullying at school and one day decide they have no faith that anyone can help them with their problems and the two go on a shooting rampage at their high school before taking their own lives. The story is actually not too farfetched in describing the kind of atmosphere the Columbine kids were most likely exposed to. The environment the kids are in is filled with sex, drugs, rock music, religious fanatics, jocks, and peer pressure. Hellfire and Smack did a fine job of portraying the reality of these situations that occur everyday in schools across the country. While the movie has a tendency to be a little over-the-top at times, for the most part the social commentary on how people are so quick to judge something as being exploitive while at the same time exploiting awful events themselves on an almost daily basis is very evident throughout and the overall message is very effective. Hellfire and Smack co-directed and co-produced as well as co-wrote with Pete Jacelone. The cast features Misty Mundae, Lilly Tiger, Kendall 'Shorty' Ward, Liz Bathory, Mike Raso, Zachary Winston Snygg, and Bob Gonzo. The Shriek Show DVD of DUCK contains deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes Court TV footage, "Today is the Day" concert footage, interview with Hellfire, photo gallery, and trailers. A Shriek Show DVD Release. Unrated - MD

THE EDISON DEATH MACHINE (2006) - George Bonilla and ZP International bring us one of their most original efforts with this story about art gallery thieves who come across a long-thought lost machine of Thomas Edison's that, when it has its power turned on, can communicate with the dead. When this group sees what power the machine holds, they use it to help them resurrect dead historical figures to obtain their treasures that were buried with them. Once another crime syndicate becomes privy to what's going on, a battle ensues over the machine and soon everyone will learn that obtaining such power will come with a price that's more than they bargained for. While ZOMBIE PLANET (2004) and REDWOOD JUSTIN (2006) are moderately entertaining horror-action films that combine fantasy and adventure with the zombie and vampire subgenres, THE EDISON DEATH MACHINE takes on a totally different concept and the result is a more creative and better-crafted film. While the effects and stunt work are just as good as the other films and the movie contains the same Full Moon-style atmosphere common with other Bonilla and ZP films, the more interesting story and concept is what elevates this one above the others. The result is an entertaining B-grade horror flick and despite the limited resources and low budget ZP was working with, the intriguing story and characters help things along the way. With Stacey T. Gillespie, Ashley Arkels, Billy W. Blackwell, Cherokee Hall, and Frank Santoroski. The ZP International DVD of THE EDISON DEATH MACHINE contains a commentary with Bonilla, bloopers, trailers, and animated menus. A ZP International DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

EVIL AWAKENING (2004) - X Posse Productions brings us the story of the "Cochwoods Monster" (pronounced cock woods). Legend has it that people who masturbate in the Cochwoods forest threaten to conjure up the monster who will go on a crazed killing spree. We start the story out with Geno and his low life, foul-mouthed fat slob friend named Sam who lives with his father. Sam drives around cursing and spewing all sorts of obscenities like there's no tomorrow ("Ah, you cocksucker! You motherfucker!", "You stupid, motherfucking, cunt sucking faggot!", and "You monkey tit! Monkey tit! Monkey tit!"), runs over an old man standing in the middle of the road and pees on him. It so turns out that somebody went and cranked one off out in Cochwoods and the evil Cochwoods Monster (basically a man in standard black slasher clothing with a monster mask) springs up and goes on gory rampage turning the countryside upside down. It's up to Geno and the local cops to find a way to trap the monster and kill it. Despite being zero budget and shot with a camcorder with incredibly cheesy acting, stunts and effects, EVIL AWAKENING manages to be a very fun time with lots of humor. Director Geno McGahee definitely has his heart in the right place as the campy feeling the movie starts off with keeps up for the duration and there's plenty of gore and funny one-liners to keep you entertained. This alone makes it easy to forgive some of the shortcomings with the technical factors. It will be interesting to see what Geno and X Posse can do when they have more money. The DVD contains a commentary with the crew, the original 1996 EVIL AWAKENING short film, a music video, trailer, and a promo teaser for Geno and X Posse's new movie RISE OF THE SCARECROWS (2008). An X Posse Productions DVD Release. Unrated - MD

EVIL NIGHT (1992) – College nerd Jimmy Fisher (Spencer Trask) is having a rough time. He’s constantly being picked on by the other students and he’s looking for a break. After a girl who he likes decides to play a cruel joke on him with the help of some other frat boys, Jimmy decides enough is enough. Being a science genius, he creates a potion that gives powers to levitate objects with his mind, he dons a clown outfit and pursues to bump off all his tormentors at a student’s house party in various gory and innovative ways. We get fingers through eyes, car sun roof decapitations, dismemberments, beer bottles down the throat, heads blown off with exploding cigarettes, lawn sprinkler impalements, spiked frat paddles in the back, heads crushed with boots, and a finale where the lead female screamer uses Jimmy’s potion to bring all the dead bodies back to life as zombies. The first shot on video effort from Todd Jason Cook and Cemetery Cinema of Texas is a not a bad little timewaster if you need to kill 90 minutes. Cook would of course go on to do the supernatural doll flick DEMON DOLLS (1993), the anthology movie HORRORSCOPE (1994), the zombie comedy classic DEATH METAL ZOMBIES (1995), and the killer ventriloquist dummy flick THE DUMMY (1994). With Holly Aeck, Mark Chavez, Rik Deskin, Todd Cook, Alan Finney, Scott Spellman, Penny Weiss, Cynthia Wilson, Lisa Forbes and Lisa Cook. A Cemetery Cinema Release. Unrated - MD

FEAR OF THE DARK (2001) – The year is 1981 and a crazed psychopath is running rampant in a small town slaughtering families and unsuspecting town folk with an axe, machete and sickle. After murdering the parents of young girl by the name of Alice Walker, he disappears for 20 years. Now Alice is grown up (played by Rosemary Gore) and keeps seeing the maniac in her nightmares. Her friend tells her she’s driving herself crazy and she needs to let go of the past. Soon enough, Alice sees the murder of a family in one of her dreams, and the next morning it’s reported that a family was brutally hacked to death. A string of more gory killings ensue that Alice can see in her sleep. She believes she’s psychically linked to the killer. She decides to go out and find him herself and stop him even if she dies trying. Though the film’s twist ending can be seen coming from a mile away, it’s a very enjoyable video gore effort from Glen Baisley. The killings are very nasty and splattery (including a very nauseating disemboweling scene). The effects by Anthony Eikner and Brian Spears aren’t too bad. Rosemary Gore does a good job in the lead role. Baisley’s other horror efforts include THE TENEMENT (2003) and SINS OF THE FATHER (2004). You can visit the production company on the web at http://www.lightanddark.net/. The Brain Damage Films DVD has numerous extras including cast and crew commentary, behind the scenes bloopers, deleted scenes, alternate footage, alternate ending, extended scenes and more. With Vanessa Edwards, Mike Lane and Herb Smithline. Fangoria’s Michael Gingold has a small part as a coroner. A Brain Damage Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

A FEAST OF FLESH (2006) - The most recent feature from Happy Cloud Pictures (originally known as ABATTOIR) to see release starts off with a young woman being rescued from an attacker in alley by a dark figure who informs her of a "safe place" where she can go. The "safe place" turns out to be the Bathory House. A few friends decide to get together and go up to the Bathory House for a night of fun and sex with some hookers. Only problem is this motley crew doesn't quite know what they're getting themselves into. It so turns out that the girls of the Bathory House are vampires with a thirst for human blood. The night of fun and sex ends in a bloodbath. One guy decides to go search the brothel for his girlfriend who ran off to become a prostitute. He then ends up blowing the lid off the pressure cooker by breaking an old treaty between the vampire whores and a group of Irish mercenaries. The lead mercenary Sheridan (Mike Watt) gets together with his buddies to fight the bloodsuckers and rescue the one dude's missing girlfriend. It's an all-out monster killing fest in the vein of THE RESURRECTION GAME (2001), but with vampires instead of zombies. You get your blood, gore, sex and action. Fun for the whole family! Watt wrote and directed and Amy Lynn Best produced and plays the part of Elizabeth, the lead vampire. The Bloody Earth Films DVD of A FEAST OF FLESH contains an audio commentary with Watt and Best, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a gag reel, a short film directed by Josh Smith entitled A FEAST OF SOULS, and trailers for other Camp Motion Pictures and Bloody Earth releases. With Stacey Bartlebaugh-Gmys, Aaron Bernard, Sofiya Smirnova, Steve Foland, Alyssa Herron, Bill Homan, Jeff Waltrowski, Zoe Hunter and with special appearances by Debbie Rochon, CHAINSAW SALLY star April Monique Burril and director Jimmy O Burril. SPLATTER MOVIE: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT (2007) was the next feature for Happy Cloud. Visit them online at http://www.happycloudpictures.net/. A Bloody Earth Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

THE FERAL MAN (2002) – Danny James is a guy who’s going through a rough time. He has to put up with a crappy job, his love life is going down the drain and he has to deal with the death of his father. Late one night, Danny is attacked by an unseen force (an animal?). Not being able to remember what exactly happened, he decides to put it behind him. Then all of a sudden Danny starts to change and his friends and family take notice. He loses his job and then things really begin to take a nosedive. A string of murders begins to plague the town with bodies turning up mutilated. Danny notices himself beginning to transform. It turns out that whatever it was that he ran into that one night has caused him to turn into a manbeast with a taste for human blood. THE FERAL MAN is not a bad little low budget horror/gore quickie from Brett Kelly who also gave us THE BONESETTER (2003) and THE BONESETTER RETURNS (2005). Kelly writes, produces, directs and stars as Danny. The Tempe/Splatter Rampage DVD is loaded with extras including audio commentary with Kelly, cast and crew interviews, an interview with Kelly, an outtakes reel, a short film called GOOD DOG, DEAD DOG (2004) with optional commentary by Kelly, previews for FINAL CURTAIN (2005) and SPACEMEN, GO-GO GIRLS AND THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS (2004) and trailers for other Splatter Rampage releases. Visit Kelly online at http://www.brettkelly.net/. With Mary MacPherson, Mark Courneyea, Steve Patterson, Eric Schmidt and Corey Stevenson. A Tempe DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

FILTHY MCNASTIER: MAXIMUM DOUSCHE (2005) & FILTHY MCNASTIEST: APOCALYPSE FUCK! (2005) – You’ve got to give it to Chris Seaver and Low Budget Pictures. When it comes to the bad, the offensive, the funny, the gory, the outrageous, the over-the-top and the risqué in the world of low budget filmmaking, nobody beats them. The Tempe/Splatter Rampage Double Feature DVD of FILTHY MCNASTIER and FILTHY MCNASTIEST proves just that. The two sequels to the LBP classic FILTHY MCNASTY provide the perfect entertainment for male and female viewers. In MCNASTIER, a young girl is tired of having small boobs and wants giant knockers so the guys will like her. Phil the Demon is back to grant her this wish. But as always, you have to be careful what you wish for. We are introduced to a vampire by the name of Razor McBleed who’s a Journey fan and things soon start to go downhill. In MCNASTIEST, a young man is tired of his small penis and wants a humongous shlong so he can declare himself a real sex machine. His huge-breasted bitch girlfriend (played by adult film star Cherry Brady) breaks up with him because of this. He enlists the help of his witch friend so she can summon the Sex Demon to give him what he wants. This fails at first and later the Sex Demon appears (I believe it’s the sister of Phil the Demon). The female demon makes the witch girl magically grow a dick so they can fuck. Then the demon magically grows a dick and kills the witch girl by pulling her guts out through her asshole while she’s screwing her up the ass. Our lonely guy with the small dick wakes up to the find that the demon has granted his wish and he has an enormous 4-foot shlong. But as expected, this miracle soon turns out to be a curse. The parties in both movies end in gore-soaked bloodbaths with vampires and zombies. The films are loaded with sick and offensive material in the vein of Troma, naked girls, dicks getting chopped off, dismemberment, toilet humor, and more outrageous stuff that I can’t remember at the moment. MCNASTIEST contains appearances by Andy Copp, Henrique Couto, John Karyus, and Troma’s Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. Watch this double feature on a night when you’re in the mood for a good up-all-night vomit-semen-blood-feces-spunk-dookie fest. The Splatter Rampage DVD contains commentaries on both films by Seaver and the LBP gang, director’s introduction, a special Teen Ape Love Doll commercial, and trailers for Splatter Rampage DVD releases. A Tempe DVD Release. Unrated - MD

5 DARK SOULS (1996) – The second shot-on-video feature from Jason Paul Collum concerns a group of high school buddies who get together and decide to take some unsuspecting students out in the woods to shoot a movie in the wintertime. Unfortunately for the teens going along with this, what they don’t know is they’re being tricked into acting in a snuff film. After a couple kids are killed off, the surviving teen girl (Tina Ona Paukstelis from THE UNEARTHING - 1994) and boy (Matthew Winkler) run off into the woods and fight for their lives. They find their way to a guy’s house and ask to use his phone. But the killers end up finding their way the house and the man and his wife both meet gruesome demises. The two then find another house and ask the homeowner (Karen Dilloo) to call for help. Unfortunately it turns out that she is a part of the murderous gang’s snuff filmmaking conspiracy. The two find themselves cornered with the leading psycho, and his thugs are preparing them for the final cut of their film. More attempts to escape are made and from then on out the two teens fight to defeat the psychopaths. For an early SOV effort from the director who would go on to bring us the more professional OCTOBER MOON (2005), 5 DARK SOULS isn’t that bad. Granted, it’s nothing that you’d want to brag about, but if you’d like to take a look at a filmmaker’s work as it progresses with time, effort and money, it’s a pretty decent example to follow. Financed by Michael D. Moore and MDM Productions. The film contains a scene where the kids rent the Moore Video release of DERANGED (1974). R.M. Hoopes, Alucarda and Dika Newlin did the soundtrack. Brinke Stevens is thanked in the end credits. The tape contains trailers for other Moore releases, information on the releases of Collum’s MARK OF THE DEVIL 666: THE MORALIST (1995) and Tim Ritter’s CREEP (1995), an interview with Collum and a few of the cast members, behind-the-scenes footage and bloopers. Collum did 5 DARK SOULS PART 2: ROOTS OF EVIL (1998) next. Collum’s 5 DARK SOULS PART 3: RETRIBUTION (2003) has yet to see release. Tempe is supposed to release a 5 DARK SOULS trilogy 3-disc special edition DVD sometime in late 2007-early 2008. With Sy Stevens, Tracy Pope-Stevens, William Krekling, Mick Wynhoff, Darcey Vanderhoef, Javier Rivera, Brian Hansen, and Cathy Sagal. A Moore Video Release. Not Rated –MD

5 DARK SOULS PART 2: ROOTS OF EVIL (1998) – Jason Paul Collum’s sequel to his 1996 cult hit about snuff filmmaking psychotic kids concerns the story of a female professor named Olivia Clark (Julie King) who’s interested in researching the story of the killings that rocked a small Wisconsin town four years ago. She proceeds to interview several friends and family members of all the victims and killers. But everybody who she interviews soon turns up dead. It is learned that one of the maniacs named Piper got away and another one named Nancy ended up in a mental institution. Somebody who closely resembles Eddie, another one of the psychos who got killed four years ago, is seen wandering around a college campus. It’s suspected that this person may be a twin brother of Eddie. As the bodies pile up, Olivia begins to feel wave of terror closing in on her. While this sequel is every bit as interesting and enjoyable as the first film, it’s main problem is that it’s way too long (two and a half hours). It seems like it could’ve used more trimming to tighten the pace and there’s some boring bits that we could’ve done without. It’s not horrible, but had it been 50 minutes shorter, it would’ve cut back on viewers dozing off. With Tina Ona Paukstelis, Matthew Winkler, Karen Dilloo, Christopher D. Harder, Sy Stevens, Darcey Vanderhoef, William Krekling, Tracy Pope-Stevens, Brian Hansen, Dennis Smart, Tami Klamm, Kip Keckler, and Dillon Mapel. A Moore Video Release. Not Rated –MD

5 DEAD ON THE CRIMSON CANVAS (1996) - After artist Richard Streeb (Mony Damevsky), whose artwork has a macabre theme of death and dismemberment, is murdered and disappears, his brother Bill (Joe Zaso) sets out to find him. The police investigate while Bill is searching for answers as to what happened on his own and trying to provide comfort to Richard's wife Gloria (Liz Haverty). Things become more and more bizarre as the mystery unravels. Bloody deaths, sex, and sleaze are all thrown into the mix. 5 DEAD ON THE CRIMSON CANVAS is a pretty decent tribute to the giallos of Argento and Bava with some nice Hitchcock touches along the way. Shot on Super 8 for very little money by director Joseph F. Parda, the settings in the film have a rather gothic quality and there are some okay gore effects as well as some T&A and sex for good measure. The twist ending takes a really neat turn and the overall tribute to classic giallos pays off quite nicely. The Cinema Image DVD contains an audio commentary with director Parda and Joe Zaso, audition footage, a stills gallery, slide show, and trailers for other Cinema Image releases. The DVD also contains an insert with a review of the film by Paul J. Brown that was published in an issue of Is It Uncut? Magazine. A Cinema Image Productions DVD Release. Unrated - MD

FLESH FOR THE BEAST (2003) - An occultist by the name of Alfred Fischer found himself an amulet that possesses unusual powers a century ago. Now in the present, a group of parapsychologists make a trip out to a mansion believed to be haunted to investigate and are confronted by three demons in the form of beautiful women. It appears that Fischer conjured up the demons with the amulet before his death. The group of investigators find themselves trapped in a hellhole as the demons pick them in off in extremely gory ways and zombies of past victims return to wreak havoc. Embarrassed as I am to say this, I must admit I actually liked this one. I don't think it's nearly as bad as what some have said. Granted, it's not without its flaws, but I've seen much worse. Terry M. West wrote and directed this one for Carl Morano and Fever Dreams Productions. It's not the best thing West has done, but it's very professional looking for the most part, there's a good bit of nudity to be found, and the gore and make-up effects by Brian Spears and Pete Gerner are actually pretty good. Legendary British scream queen Caroline Munro is featured in a cameo and the cast also features fine B-movie gals like Ruby LaRocca, Barbara Joyce, and Jane Scarlett. That alone makes it worth watching. Buckethead did the soundtrack. The Shriek Show DVD contains a behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews with Caroline Munro and actor Aldo Sanbrell, a teaser trailer, photo gallery, and trailers for other Shriek Show releases. With Caroline Hoermann, Clark Beasley Jr., Aaron Clayton, Jim Coop, David Runco, Victor Flynn, Sergio Jones, Mike Sinterniklaas, and Kevin G. Shinnick. A Shriek Show DVD Release. Available in R and Unrated versions. - MD

FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY NIGHTMARE (2006) - Filmmaker John R. Hand brings us this bizarre and intriguing take on the Frankenstein story, shot on Super 8 and written, directed, produced, edited by and starring Hand. Hand is Dr. Victor Karlstein who runs a medical facility. After his girlfriend dies due to a condition at the clinic, Karlstein manages to reanimate her, but she needs the fresh body parts of women in order to survive. Acts of murder and butchery ensue as Karlstein searches for body parts needed to give the love of his life a new body. FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY NIGHTMARE is a decent, ambitious effort with a very artsy feel to it. While definitely not the best I've seen, there is much worse. Some viewers may find it confusing and may need multiple viewings to understand it better. Those with an open mind who are able to follow it closely will be able to appreciate Hand's effort and his handling of the picture on such a shoestring budget. That along makes the DVD worth a purchase. You also have to love the name of one of the characters, "Andrew Milligan." Nice homage I must add. The Unearthed Films DVD contains a director's commentary, a making-of featurette, photo gallery, and trailers for other releases. An Unearthed Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

GEEK MAGGOT BINGO (1983) - Nick Zedd films are an acquired taste. Of the films of his that I've seen so far, I'd say GEEK MAGGOT BINGO (a.k.a. THE FREAK FROM SUCKWEASEL MOUNTAIN) is my favorite. This low budget 16mm horror spoof became popular at midnight showings and has gained some cult status. It spoofs old Universal monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein, uses props and sets that look like they came from high school plays, and it delivers in cheesy gore, sex, and offensive humor. Donna Death stars as the vampire Scumbalina, Robert Andrews is Dr. Frankenberry, Brenda Bergman is Buffy, Richard Hell from the punk band The Voidoids is the Rawhide Kid, Bruno Zeus is the hunchback Geeko, Gumby Spangler is Flavian, and Jim Giacama is Dean Quagmire. The Formaldehyde Man created by Frankenberry is a two-headed monster that wreaks havoc near the end. Some of the makeup and gore effects by Tyler Smith, Ed French and Tom Lauten are half decent. Horror host John Zacherley does an introduction to the movie and he tells us to strap Dixie cups to our noses. Fangoria's Bob Martin has a cameo as "Uncle Bob" himself trying to sell magazines to the Formaldehyde monster. He gets his head ripped off and the head keeps talking. I thought that was one of the funniest scenes in the movie. The DVD from Eclectic DVD Distribution contains an interview with the cast and the Zedd short films ELF PANTIES, LORD OF THE COCK RINGS, and THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA. Be sure to check out Zedd's first feature THEY EAT SCUM (1979), a Super-8 punk rock splatter comedy that probably laid the groundwork for Peter Jackson's BAD TASTE (1987) and MEET THE FEEBLES (1989). A Penetration Video Release. Not Rated - MD

GHOUL SCHOOL (1990) - A high school's water supply gets poisoned by an unusual chemical. The chemical causes students and members of the school's swim team to turn into flesh eating zombies that wreak havoc in the school. It's up to two horror fan nerds and a rock band to stop the hungry ghouls. In all honesty, I thought this was a funny, tongue-in-cheek Troma-inspired horror comedy. There's lots of good lines in this one like "I think they're putting too much chlorine in the pool," and "We're trying to save you, not fuck you." I thought it was hilarious how every time somebody asks what's going on, the kids say, "It's the swim team!" There's also a scene where the kids watch ROBOT NINJA (1989) on TV. The film has plenty of graphic gore including dismemberments, guts pulled out, a beheading, throat ripping, a head ripped open, zombies spewing green stuff, etc. We get appearances by Joe Franklin and Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling as themselves. The one scene with Martling telling a bunch of corny jokes to Franklin is a total laugh riot. If you like I WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE (1987) you'll probably enjoy this one. Written-produced-directed by Timothy O'Rawe. With William Friedman, Scott Gordon, Paul Venier, Nancy Sirianni, Ed Burrows, and John Paul Fedele. A Tempe Video Release. Also available on a special "Splatter University Edition" DVD from Camp Motion Pictures. Unrated - MD NOTE: I knew director Tim O'Rawe when he worked at a local Blockbuster Video in Totowa, NJ (this was about the mid-80's). He kept telling me that he was going to direct a  horror film in the near future. It's all he would ever talk about. It looks like he did it. This movie was lensed in Wayne, NJ using local landmarks like the high school and various businesses. This film has been floating around for years (and usually gets awful write-ups) and has now been released on DVD!!! Unfortunately, O'Rawe has never directed anything else except the unfinished THE BASEMENT (1989), which Camp Motion Pictures picked-up, re-edited and dubbed-in dialogue (since the Super 8 production was filmed without sound) and released it as part of a kick-ass VHS/DVD box set. - Editor

THE GOD MEMOIRS (2007) - Bringing a new kind of twist to the traditional serial killer story, Brian Hirschbine and Abortion Bin Productions bring us the story of a character known as "The Man" (played by Brandon Hursell). The man has tried to find answers to life's many questions for years. Trying to understand God and why some things in the world occur the way they do, he does monologues where he talks about God and people's beliefs. In a flashback, where are shown the man as a child and how he was stabbed, almost to death, by his father right after his father gorily beat his mother to death with a frying pan. His father then blew his brains out. In order to find these answers to life's many questions, he resorts to killing as a way to find the human condition. He uses dismembered body parts, organs, and flesh from his victims to put together what he believes is God's creature. THE GOD MEMOIRS is one of the most unusual films I've ever seen to say the least. It has some beautiful imagery and it makes you become sympathetic towards the killer in a way most movies never do. The scenes of him talking grab your attention and hold you throughout. While it's not an all-out gorefest, there is some gore and torture to be found, and some very disturbing scenes as well. It's a film that's very hard to describe. Just the fact that it's hard to describe is what makes it so unique. It's clearly a thinking man's serial killer film that makes you see how the killer views the world and how he's clearly thought of himself as a failure all his life. In some ways, it can show how cruel the world itself can be too. Once again, it's very unusual to find a gore film that does what this one does. For all these factors, Brian Hirschbine must be commended for making the film such an intriguing experience. Hirschbine went on to do SYNCHRONICITY (2008) and BLACK ICE (2008) next. The Sub Rosa DVD contains an interview with Hirschbine and star Brandon Hursell, some deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and preview trailers. Visit Abortion Bin online at www.freewebs.com/abortionbin. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Unrated - MD

GORNO: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (2004) - This micro budget effort from filmmakers Oliver Assiran and Les Norris is something much different from the typical film you see Brain Damage Films release. To be sum it up, it's a drama with a grim, daunting view of the youth of today living in the most undesirable environments. It actually plays out like a cheaper, amped up version of Harmony Korine's GUMMO (1997), which many reviewers have compared it to (even the titles are similar: "Gummo" - "Gorno"), and focuses on subjects like school shootings, sex, murder, drug use, etc. making other such movies like Gus Van Sant's ELEPHANT (2003), Ben Coccio's ZERO DAY (2003), and Larry Clark's KEN PARK (2003) come to mind. Lucas Corcoran stars as Kelly Brady, a juvenile delinquent who, in his opening narration, says, "Fuck life." Kelly's sister was raped and murdered a year before. He goes around on his bike selling drugs to various undesirables in his neighborhood and causing all kinds of mischief. Meanwhile, two documentary filmmakers who go by the names "Chuck Norris" and "Ollie North" (played by Les Norris and Oliver Assiran themselves) are making their rounds in town interviewing people about the Brady murder. A Satanist is among the people they interview. The film is filled with many bizarre subplots and situations involving weird and seemingly unsympathetic characters that come into play. We get a butcher that accidentally cuts off his fingers, a serial killer being hunted by a couple detectives, a crazy kid who drinks blood because he believes he's actually a vampire, etc. GORNO is quite a mixed bag of a do-it-yourself art house effort.  Does it work as a movie? To be honest, it kind of works in the same way that John Waters' early films work: crazy, vile, and offbeat. It's a good example of rough renegade filmmaking at its best with a pseudo-documentary style that may appeal to some fans of things like Giuseppe Andrews' dark comedies and certain films from the Cinema of Transgression movement. It gives the same effect as watching any of those. Therefore, it's not for everyone's tastes for sure and some may find it offensive. Nevertheless, it's a shoestring budget effort from a couple ambitious filmmakers who set out to achieve what looks like a genuine piece of social commentary. Whether or not it succeeds in the message trying to be conveyed is debatable, but in the end, it's definitely a piece of art filmmaking that fans of the avant-garde should view at least once. GORNO is available on DVD from Brain Damage Films. Unrated - MD (Also available on Pendulum Pictures' TOMB OF TERRORS 50-Film DVD Compilation - Editor)

GRANNY (1999) – This short (58 minute) slasher made for peanuts is actually better than you’d think. It’s much more interesting than most of the Hollywood slashers that come out today and it’s more entertaining than most of the SOV slashers of recent years. A group of friends gather together. One of them scares the others with horror stories. Soon a killer in an old hag mask shows up and starts slaughtering them all. While it sounds like your average slasher fare, the film is actually suspenseful in some parts and the ending has lots of twists (which I won’t go into of course, because I try not to insert too many spoilers into my reviews). It also earns points for being shot on film instead of video. The killings are very gory and include a splattery axe-in-the-head death, many bloody knife stabbings and eyes poked out. A baggy-over-the-head suffocation is thrown in for good measure. If you find it for sale on VHS or DVD anywhere for $6.00, go ahead and grab it. Directed by Boris Pavlovsky (who also co-wrote and co-produced). With Sava Popovic, Katie Dugan, Tomi, T.J. Bigbee, John Stoops, Annemieke Van Der Meer, Rebecca O’Marrah, Nathalie Ohnena, David Coleman, and Ivan Veres. A Dead Alive Productions Release. Also Available on DVD from Brain Damage Films. Not Rated - MD

THE HACKERS (1988) - Yet another unearthed shot-on-video gem from the golden era of SOV cinema, THE HACKERS is a gorefest from a Michigan company called Camelot Studios who are still around today. Pa Hacker and his idiot sons are the typical backwoods type psychopaths who prowl the roads of rural Michigan looking for easy prey, including hitchhikers, joggers, etc. A guy gets his thumb sliced off before the opening credits roll. From that alone, you know what kind of movie you're getting. The Hacker family disguise themselves as housing contractors and they terrorize the main heroine at an estate she's staying at. There's a beheading, a scalping, one of the killers accidentally slices his finger off with a circular saw, etc. THE HACKERS does not disappoint as it slings the grue and gore in an H.G. Lewis style. This one was distributed by the director John J. Duncan and Camelot Studios themselves on VHS in 1988. It mainly got circulated in Midwestern video stores at the time and Camelot supposedly got 3000 units into distribution. THE HACKERS is cheesy, gory, and enjoyable in the same way that films like CANNIBAL CAMPOUT (1988) and 555 (1988) are. Camelot released other features before this, including a family-friendly film called BLACK RIVER MONSTER (1986). They can be visited online at http://www.camelotstudios.net/ where they sell THE HACKERS and their other films on DVD. If you're a diehard VHS collector and can find the tape for a decent enough price, I strongly recommend picking it up. And remember, "A twisted mind is a terrible thing to waste!" A Camelot Studios VHS Release. Not Rated - MD

HELLROLLER (1992) - This super cheap SOV crap fest presents us with a story about a mentally unstable wheelchair-bound guy named Eugene who goes on a killing spree in Los Angeles. It appears his mother who worked as a prostitute was raped and killed by Siamese twin homeless guys. I think that pretty much sums up the story (what exists of it anyway). This one definitely has home movie written all over it. There's lots of bad acting, effects, sound and camera work and some really corny humor. Basically, HELLROLLER is one of those movies you pop in the VCR when you need a good bad movie to make fun of. You may find it kind of amusing in a weird way. There is some nudity to be found and there's a good B-movie cast including Michelle Bauer, Tammara Souza, Elizabeth Kaitan, Ruth Collins, Johnny Legend, and Eric Caidin. Those are about the two best factors the movie has going for it. Director Gary J. Levinson (who also acts) has only made one other movie to date (BEAST - 2005). One can only wonder what that one is like. A Dark Side Home Video Release. Not Rated - MD

THE HOOD HAS EYEZ (2007) - Catholic schoolgirl Kimmy meets up with her fellow schoolgirls at a Los Angeles playground and the group decides to skip school and have a ditch party. Heading up to the LA hills, the group has a nasty run-in with a group of gangsters who are out looking for trouble. The trouble this gang causes for the girls involves brutal, vicious rape, assault, and torture of the worst kind. Driven insane by the horrific degradation, sexual molestation and mutilation of her friends, Kimmy seeks revenge on the gangsters in the most excessively brutal and outrageously gruesome ways imaginable. THE HOOD HAS EYEZ is a zero budget, gory, genital mutilation-filled sleaze fest featuring broken beer bottles thrust into vaginas, filthy Sanchez, fetuses ripped out from between legs with coat hangers, gangsters sucking soiled tampons, golden showers, balls clipped off with garden tools, nails hammered into penises, hacked off limbs, beheadings, and more. It's a must see for fans of the extreme underground. Director Terrence Williams' other efforts include TRANSIT (2005), THE RIVER: LEGEND OF LA LLORONA (2006), REVENGE OF LA LLORONA (2007), CURSE OF LA LLORONA (2007), and the upcoming HORNO (2009). The self-released Cinema Threat Productions DVD of HOOD contains a behind-the-scenes featurette, bloopers, trailer, and a still gallery. A Cinema Threat Productions DVD Release. Unrated - MD

HORRORTALES.666 (2003) – This shot-on-video horror anthology is a B-movie follower’s wet dream. We are presented with five stories and a wraparound segment. The wraparound segment stars Joel D. Wynkoop as a burglar who breaks into a writer’s home. He comes across a computer with a set of short stories called “HorrorTales.666.” He starts reading the stories and can’t stop. The first story “Woman in Shadows” comes from Phil Herman and Falcon Video and stars Herman as a man going through a dilemma with his girlfriend (Kimberly Lynn Cole). He keeps seeing images of a woman in his apartment. She keeps appearing and disappearing. He’s apparently suffering from blackouts and believes this woman he’s seeing may be somebody who knew and can’t remember who she is. The second story “Luck of the Irish” comes from Dusty Fleischman and Morbid Productions and is about a reporter on the trail of serial killer. For some reason he has very accurate hunches as to where the killer is going to strike next. The third story “The Dead Forest” comes from Ryan Cavalline and 4th Floor Pictures and is about a guy (Adam Berasi) who kills his baby because it wouldn’t stop crying. He puts the baby in a trash bag and buries it in the woods. The guy is stricken with guilt and becomes suicidal. He starts hearing voices in his head. Ghosts or spirits of some kind in the woods start playing tricks on him and slowly drive him to insanity. The fourth story “Payback is Hell” comes from Gary Whitson and W.A.V.E. Productions and basically doesn’t have any real story at all. It starts out with Pamela Sutch taking a shower and then changing into a tight nurse’s outfit and high heels and goes to put on a show for a photographer. The photographer strangles her to death, end of story. The fifth story “Stop It, You’re Killing Me” comes from Michael Hoffman Jr. and Wet Floor Productions and stars Bill Cassinelli as an easygoing man named Jerry with a friend named Brad who’s kind of a thorn in his side. Jerry meets a woman at a bar and the two of them hit it off from there. What seems to be going perfectly is soon derailed as Jerry finds that Brad betrayed him by taking his girl and it pushes him over the edge. Overall, HORRORTALES.666 is a nice collection of short films from some of the leading filmmakers on the indie scene. The first segment holds your attention throughout. The second segment is interesting enough even though it’s something that’s been done many times before. The third segment is done in an eerie Edgar Allen Poe-type style. The fourth one there was really no need for at all, but just to see Pamela Sutch naked and getting killed. The fifth one is easily the most accomplished story and has a twist in the end that makes you go “Ha! Ha!” like Nelson on THE SIMPSONS. The movie is only 60 minutes long, so if you have an hour to kill and you want to see quick examples of the work from Falcon, Morbid, 4th Floor, W.A.V.E., and Wet Floor, this is the way to go. With Nancy Feliciano, Julie Strain (as a publisher in the wraparound), and Davie Keye. A Falcon Video Release. Unrated -MD

THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED (2000) – Mark and John Polonia (SPLATTER FARM – 1987, FEEDERS – 1996, BAD MAGIC – 1997, TERROR HOUSE – 1998) get behind a 16mm camera for the first time to give us what is arguably their best film ever. The story follows a horror novelist by the name of Marty Beck (Bob Dennis) who rents a creepy old house in rural Pennsylvania so he can have a place to stay while he finishes his latest book and get some inspiration. After moving into the house, Marty starts to experience some weird disturbances and is plagued by nightmares and gruesome images in his head. He soon learns that ghosts of people who lived at the house in the past haunt the place. Soon the ghosts, apparitions, and nightmarish images of ghastly slayings and mutilated bodies begin to drive him to insanity. It becomes apparent that the ghosts will not go away without a fight. Marty is eventually faced with a grim decision that comes with him being forced to choose between his life or facing continuous hell on earth. THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED is without a doubt the Polonia Brothers’ most polished film to date. While the film has enough skin and bloodshed to satisfy the gore and sleaze fanatics, the story and characters are ultimately what make the film work and hold your attention throughout. It shows what the Polonia’s are actually capable of. I know when most people think of them and their movies, they immediately think of words like cheap, cheesy, shot-on-video, etc. Not in this case. It’s nice to see what some people are capable when given the opportunity. As they say, it’s always good not to judge a book by its cover. Tyler Smith (GEEK MAGGOT BINGO – 1983, SCARED STIFF – 1986) handled the effects. Mark and John later did THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED 2: HELLGATE (2001) with Jon McBride. The Sub Rosa DVD of THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED has many cool extras including a commentary with the Polonia Brothers, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, location tours, bloopers, outtakes, trailers, etc. With Stevan Anselmi, Robert Thomas, Courtney Marie, Anthony Thomas, John Polonia, and Gabrielle. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED 2: HELLGATE (2001) – Mark and John Polonia team up with Jon McBride to bring us this shot-on-video sequel to THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED (2001). Parapsychologist Dr. Pollenfax (Jon McBride) and two of his students (Brice Kennedy and Jeff Dylan Graham) head out to the creepy old house on Wingate Road to study the place months after the mysterious disappearance of horror novelist Marty Beck. Soon their stay at the place turns into a supernatural nightmare as they have ugly run-ins with demons and ghosts and various gruesome goings-on ensue. Pollenfax occasionally has run-ins with the apparition of a beautiful woman in the shower. The trio has to battle with the forces-that-be if they want to get out of the house in one piece. While this sequel isn’t as good or as interesting as the first movie, it isn’t bad at all. There are some pretty decent effects and cool creatures, which are the creations of Brett Piper. While I think it was the story and characters that really stood out in the first movie, the sequel is made worthy by the special effects, lightning and creative visuals. Bob Dennis is seen in flashbacks as Marty Beck. McBride and the Polonia Brothers teamed up again to do DWELLER (2002) and many other video features that have picked up by Brimstone Productions, Sub Rosa Studios and Pop Cinema. The Sub Rosa DVD is loaded with all sorts of goodies including audio commentary, 3 behind-the-scenes featurettes, bloopers, still gallery, web links, trailers, etc. With Leslie Culton, Richard Feil, and Todd Carpenter. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

ICE FROM THE SUN (1999) - One of the weirdest, most bizarre, atmospheric, hypnotic, and beautiful independent films of all time, Eric Stanze's ICE FROM THE SUN is a film that's guaranteed to please fans of the macabre and much more. Focusing on The Presence, a figure that exists between Heaven and Hell and an enemy of both, a young girl is chosen as the mortal who must go after The Presence and kill him. A psychedelic ride through the world of The Presence follows featuring tormented souls, gore and bloodshed, torture, and other horrors all from a seemingly parallel universe. A group of friends who tap into the world of The Presence all end up meeting their final judgments and it's not a pretty sight. It's up to our young female mortal to defeat him once and for all. Shot on Super 8 by Stanze and featuring truly outlandish images and gory set pieces, ICE FROM THE SUN is easily one of the best examples of artsy filmmaking on a shoestring budget. From the weird sound effects to the brilliant music score to the well-done make-up effects, ICE FROM THE SUN is proof that there are filmmakers out there who can succeed in making something that totally knocks the socks off viewers with little money. Disturbing and euphoric, the film is indeed one of Stanze and Wicked Pixel Cinema's best works. The Sub Rosa DVD contains two audio commentaries with the director and crew, a behind-the-scenes still gallery, and two trailers. With Ramona Midgett, Angela Zimmerly, Todd Tevlin, Jason Christ, Tommy Biondo, Jo Palermo, and D.J. Vivona. Visit Wicked Pixel online at http://www.wickedpixel.com/. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Unrated - MD

I'LL BURY YOU TOMORROW (2002) - Alan Rowe Kelly's first feature film is this clever, tongue-in-cheek, and gory micro budget effort involving lust, necrophilia, murder, and grave robbing in Port Oram, New Jersey as Dolores Finley (Zoe Daelman Chlanda) shows up in town to get a job as an embalmer at the local Beech Funeral Home run by Mr. and Mrs. Beech (Bill Corry and Katherine O'Sullivan). Handyman Jake (Jerry Murdock) and female corpse makeup artist Corey (played by Kelly in drag) are involved in a secret corpse stealing business and are worried about Finley jeopardizing their operation. Finley appears to be hiding a dark secret as she seemingly becomes attached to the corpse of Eddie, a kid killed in a car accident (actually murdered by Jake). Eddie was the brother of the local sheriff's girlfriend. Mrs. Beech believes that Finley is her long dead daughter returned to her. The sheriff and other folks become suspicious of the actions going on at the Beech place. Soon enough, murder and mayhem ensues as Jake teams up with Finley to help her with her needs and conflicts arise. I'LL BURY YOU TOMORROW is an entertaining, blood-soaked low budgeter with plenty of guts and dismemberment and some nudity as well. The only problem is that it runs a little too long. That aside, the performance from Chlanda as the lead is great and all the proper horror elements are in place and should be enough to satisfy. You can visit Alan Rowe Kelly on the net at http://www.alanrowekelly.net/. The Heretic Films DVD contains several deleted scenes as extras as well as bloopers, a photo gallery, and trailers. A Heretic Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

IMMORTAL (1995) – This is a low budgeter that tries to take a somewhat different approach to the usual vampire story. The film tells the story of Dex Drags (Andrew Taylor), a young college age guitarist who performs with his band at nightclubs. Dex has a very dark secret. He seems to be addicted to blood. If I can remember correctly, it has something to do with an ancient vampire curse. (Please forgive me for the foggy memory it’s been a while since I watched it.) He does his best to keep a lid on the secret. This causes difficulties for him with regards to his relationship with his girlfriend and his relations with other friends and band members. The rest of film follows the painful consequences of his blood drinking problem and what he must do in order to solve his dilemmas. While it’s nothing too special, IMMORTAL is really not a bad picture. In my opinion, the film deserves some points for originality. Some parts of the film are very eerie, there is a little bit of gore and the soundtrack is very good. The acting, however, isn’t that great and the movie is kind of boring in some places and the sets are sometimes poorly lit. That’s what it really suffers from, unfortunately. The film has a fabulous tagline: “Dex, Blood, and Rock-N-Roll!” I really liked that. Written, produced, directed and edited by Walt Bost and Steven D. White. With Meredith Leigh Sause, Mike Shaw, Steve Williard, Randy Jones and George Taylor. A Spectrum Films Release. Also available on DVD from Brain Damage Films as a “director’s cut.” Not Rated - MD

IT CAME (1993) - An extraterrestrial sound wave is picked up by a satellite and finds its way into a laboratory where it kills a scientist and melts a telephone into his head. The frequency is then transmitted into the phone lines and ends up in the computer system of an adult movie company called Throbbing Video. The deadly sound wave finds its way into the body of an electrician and he turns into a crazed psycho and the wave travels from person to person in the building turning whoever crosses paths with it into a homicidal maniac. Only an alcoholic doctor named Vibrum Moroflex knows how to stop it. IT CAME is a silly and campy low budgeter that turns out to be a really good time. The movie opens with Dr. Moroflex giving drinking game instructions for watching the movie. The rules are #1: When Moroflex takes a sip you must take a drink from a mutually agreed beverage. #2: Speed counts. The last player to take a sip at any round must take a penalty sip. #3: Anybody who can understand or remember the plot at the end of the game will be declared the winner. For viewer participation, disclaimer #1: Alcohol is required. And finally, disclaimer #2: The makers of the movie do not acknowledge or accept responsibility for any consequences you may suffer from playing the game. There are some very funny scenes and some really gory parts as well (including an ultra-splattery power drill killing). One of the funniest characters is the boss who says fuck every two seconds. He ends up having his hand pinned to his eyeball. The one guy who goes nuts from the sound waves and starts imitating Jack Nicholson in THE SHINING (1980) is quite a riot too. After he kills someone with a drill, he cleans it off in the bathroom and after killing another person with it, he says, "Oh shit! I just cleaned this mother fucker!" We are shown the actors practicing their lines during the end credits and we get some crazy credits like "Asst. Production Manager: NO ONE WOULD WORK FOR FREE," "Stuntman: NONE," and "Leading Homerun Hitter Of All Time: HANK AARON." This is probably hard to find, but it's worth checking out if you come across a copy. With Jessica Cushman, Rob Springer, John O'Neil, Alex Emanuel, Joseph Tudisco, John Brosseau, Daniel Kearns, Joseph Bacino, Gail Lelyveld, Nancy Aguilar, and Howard Arneson. Directed by Bret Stern. A Primal Screen Pictures Entertainment Release. Unrated - MD

JACKER (1993) – This shot-on-video slasher from Phil Herman’s Falcon Video stars Herman as Mike Rivers, a dude who loses his cool and kills his girlfriend (Nancy Feliciano) and makes it look like suicide. He then goes a rampage across the city carjacking various motorists and killing them. A group of detectives try to track the psycho down before more blood is shed. After the sister of Detective Jackson (Patrice Jackson) is bumped off by the psychotic carjacker, it pushes him over the edge and he decides to take matters into his own hands and find the maniac himself. This leads to a brutal climax involving a fight to the death between the detective and the psycho jacker. If it sounds cheesy, you’d be correct. It’s amazing how dumb the police in this one are as most of the evidence pointing in the killer’s direction is right in front of their faces and they blow every opportunity they get. Herman and Jackson get into a fistfight in a couple scenes where police are investigating the scene of a crime and neither of them is brought up on assault charges. The close up of a burning toy car in one scene where a car is supposed to blow up is enough to have any average viewer rolling on the floor in complete side-splitting laughter. That being said, it’s movies like these that in the end turn out enjoyable because of how corny they are. Especially with one like this where it’s clear the filmmakers had hardly any money at all. Not everybody appreciates this stuff as much as some do, which is understandable. If you go in expecting CITIZEN KANE (1941) you’ll be beyond disappointed. If you know you’re in for something that’s shot with a camcorder with little money and if you don’t take it too seriously, you may have a fun time. JACKER 2: DESCENT TO HELL (1996) followed. Herman wrote the screenplay and Ben Stanski directs. With Barry Gaines, Ben Stanski, Matt O’Connor, and Debbie D. A Falcon Video Release. Unrated –MD

JACKER 2: DESCENT TO HELL (1996) – Mike Rivers (Phil Herman), the psychotic carjacker, seems to have somehow survived after being thrown over a cliff by Detective Jackson (Patrice Jackson) at the end of the original JACKER (1993). Mike finds his way back to his old life and is haunted by the ghost of his dead girlfriend (Nancy Feliciano). He continues his bloody carjacking/murder spree leaving a trail of shot, stabbed, beaten and mauled bodies all over town. He is especially hungry for revenge on the police force that almost had him killed. Rivers sets up a scenario in which Jackson can get blamed for the murders and this goes totally haywire and Jackson and another cop end up shot dead by one of their fellow officers who now has the blame placed on him. Jackson’s friend James (Barry Gaines) who was injured in a car explosion in the first movie gets out of the hospital and tries to assist authorities in tracking down Rivers. For a while it appears that Jackson is still alive as he calls James and says he’ll pick him up at the hospital. Only it turns out that Rivers has taken Jackson’s skin and dressed himself up in it and James finds himself in for a nasty surprised when he’s picked up. James manages to get away and finds himself on the run. Things take even more bizarre turns as James has nightmares in which he’s apparently in hell with Rivers. Rivers goes after more innocent victims. It seems that he’s a superhuman force that can’t be stopped as he gets shot and cut up multiple times and keeps coming back. This all culminates in a twisted conclusion that really leaves you guessing. JACKER 2 is suspenseful, bloody, sexy, filled with action, and really messes with your head at times. The ending definitely leaves an opening for JACKER 3 (you really need to make this Phil). Herman wrote the screenplay again and Barry Gaines takes up the directing job this time. With Ben Stanski, Matt O’Connor, Dyan Kane, John Korcz, Joel D. Wynkoop, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Katrina Elias, and Bryant Sohl. A Falcon Video Release. Unrated –MD

KILLER NERD (1991) - Nerd Harold Kunkle (Toby Radloff) is having problems. He's constantly getting harassed and teased and he wants to find some way to get girls to like him. His mother isn't much help. She keeps telling him to "accentuate the positive." He enlists the help of a videotape that teaches him how to dress and act cool. He goes out, gets a spiked haircut and goes to a nightclub. He picks up a couple of girls who take him back to their hangout place where he meets up with their two boyfriends who picked on him earlier. After they beat him up, he decides he's had enough. He then proceeds to bump off all his tormentors in extreme gore fashion. An office worker who made fun of him is decapitated. A girl who he liked but didn't take him seriously has her face melted off with acid. Kunkle punches his mom in the face, straps her to a chair, dumps drain opener down her throat and buries a meat cleaver in her head. One girl has her belly slashed open with a knife. The two thugs who beat up Kunkle find themselves tied to chairs with dynamite sticks strapped to their heads. Kunkle sets off the fuses and their heads explode repainting the room with blood and cranial innards ("Blood red with brains! Blood red with brains!") This is a hilarious shot on video gore comedy from Wayne Alan Harold of Kent, Ohio. Toby Radloff who plays Harold Kunkle is actually a nerd in real life. His favorite movie is REVENGE OF THE NERDS (1984) and he worked as a comic strip writer for Harvey Pekar in Ohio. He also appeared in a few MTV spots. Harold and co-director Mark Steven Bosko made BRIDE OF KILLER NERD (1992) after this. The sequel is even better. With Lori Scarlett, Tony Zanoni, Heidi Lohr, and Richard Zaynor. A Hollywood Home Entertainment Release. Available on DVD from Troma as a double feature with BRIDE. Not Rated - MD

KILLERS BY NATURE (2005) – Two friends (Eric Spudic and Jason Contini) get together and reminisce about their days in high school. One of them brings up the kids who used to pick on them and give them a hard time. One gets the idea of getting even with all their high school enemies by playing cruel jokes on them. They proceed to go find one of their old school tormentors and give him a good scare. The prank soon goes haywire when one of them accidentally shoots the kid in the neck with a crossbow. Faced with a dead kid, they decide to get rid of the body and hope nobody will ever find who did it. When one of their old enemies comes across them while they’re trying to hide the corpse and throws eggs at them, they chase him down on his bike into the woods and this bully meets a gruesome end. The two decide they have a thirst for killing. This duo then proceeds to slaughter the rest of their high school enemies in various gory ways. The bodies pile up all over town and soon no one is safe. The directorial debut of B-movie buff Eric Spudic isn’t too bad. It got a few laughs out of me in some parts. I think its main problem is that it’s kind of unrealistic in how the two friends are able to kill in virtually broad daylight with nobody seeing them and be able to carry out their killing spree for so long with nobody connecting any dots or getting suspicious. Spudic writes, produces, directs and stars as Jeffrey. Ron Bonk and Eric Stanze were the executive producers. Jeremy Wallace (THE CHRISTMAS SEASON MASSACRE – 2001, THE UNDERTOW – 2003) was a production associate. Steve Sessions (CREMAINS – 2001, HELLBOUND: BOOK OF THE DEAD – 2003, MALEFIC – 2003) composed additional music. Spudic has written BUTCHERED (2003), CREEPIES (2004), AQUANOIDS (2003), EVIL UNLEASHED: THE MUMMY (2003), BLOODY TEASE (2004), and DEADLY CULTURE (2007) and has also acted in PSYCHO SANTA (2003), DEAD CLOWNS (2003), ZOMBIEGEDDON (2003), MINDS OF TERROR (2003), SAVAGE HARVEST 2: OCTOBER BLOOD (2006) and HALLOWEEN NIGHT (2006). You can visit Eric online at http://www.ericspudic.com/. The extras on the Sub Rosa DVD of KILLERS BY NATURE include director’s commentary, a couple bonus videos, still gallery, “Killers by Nature” drinking game, and trailers. With William Clifton, Nick Hearne, Rory Stumpf, Linda Webb, and Matthew Doty. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Unrated - MD  NOTE: Eric Spudic is one of the nicest guys in the business and he should be getting a lot more attention than he is. At least that's what I think. His script for CREEPIES always makes me laugh out loud. - Editor

THE LAST SLUMBER PARTY (1987) - A mental patient escapes from a hospital in a surgeon's outfit with a scalpel, slashes up a couple of doctors, and heads off to crash a slumber party where some high school girls are fooling around. The girls' boyfriends show up to join the party and soon the kids are being picked off one by one by the escaped psychopath. Better known as one of the worst of the '80s backyard slasher efforts, this one features laughable gore effects, awful acting, a subplot about an accomplice killer that comes into play briefly then peters out after he gets bumped off, dream sequences within dream sequences, changes in the film stock from 16mm to Super 8, etc. In other words, if you want to host your own version of MST3K on a Friday evening, this one is a perfect candidate. Directed by Stephen Tyler and starring Jan Jensen, Nancy Meyer, Joann Whitley, Danny David, Lance Descourez, Paul Amend, David Whitley, and Rick Polizi. Available on DVD from VCI Home Video as a double feature with TERROR AT TENKILLER (1986). A United Home Video VHS Release. Not Rated - MD

LAS VEGAS BLOODBATH (1989) - A businessman named Sam Butler (Ari Levin) comes home and finds his wife in bed with another man. He shoots the both of them. He then cuts off his wife's head, carries it around with him and talks to it. Butler goes on a gory killing spree in Las Vegas, bumping off anyone who reminds him of his wife. He goes after the girls from B.L.O.W. (Beautiful Ladies of Oil Wrestling), holds them hostage and proceeds to slaughter them all one at a time. This ultra low budget shot on video feature from Vegas is definitely one of the most downright sadistic and repulsive movies I've ever seen. Yet it's so damn amusing and over-the-top it's almost comical giving it some sort of weird charm one can't put their finger on. There's lots of incredibly gory and nasty killings in this one. Levin ties a prostitute's leg up to his car, drive away, and rips her leg off. He goes into a bar when nobody is around and pulls out his wife's head and says to the bartender, "Get me a beer! And get this bitch one too!" before blowing him away. A gardener has his head flattened with a shovel. One girl is drilled to death and another has a hammer claw stuck up underneath her rib cage. An arm is pulled off. A Jehovah's Witness has his neck slammed in a door so hard that it snaps his head off! A driver who gives Levin the middle finger has his finger blown off with a gun and he says, "Let's see you pick your nose with that!" And the most sickening scene of all is when he cuts open a pregnant woman, rips out the baby and splatters it against the wall. Directed by David Schwartz. David Dalton who handled the gore effects also plays the Jehovah's Witness and he works on haunted house shows in Las Vegas. A Burning Moon Home Video Release. Not Rated - MD

LETHAL FORCE (2001) - Filmmaker Alvin Ecarma of Divergent Thinking Productions brings us this fun, fast paced, and gory spoof of actions films cited as doing for the action genre what Wes Craven's SCREAM (1996) did for horror movies. The son of a gangster named Jack (Frank Prather) is kidnapped. Jack is forced to go against his badass tough guy partner Savitch (Cash Flagg Jr.) in order to save his son from being killed as part of a deal he made with hit man Mal Locke (Andrew Hewitt). Chaos ensues with many kung fu battles, bloody shootouts, torture, masked villains, and more. LETHAL FORCE is a movie that offers plenty of action for fans of the movies of John Woo, Sergio Leone, and Quentin Tarantino as well as lots of gushing gore and splatter in the Troma tradition. With it, Alvin Ecarma offers something for everybody to enjoy. The Unearthed Films DVD of LETHAL FORCE includes many extras such as a director's commentary, some short films from Ecarma, photo and art galleries, and trailers. Visit Divergent Thinking on the web at http://www.divergentthinking.net/. An Unearthed Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

LIVE FEED (2006) - In an effort to cash in on the success of HOSTEL (2005), this low budget effort from Canada brings us a story about some friends on vacation in a city in China, or so it appears. It's never really explained whether they're just in a Chinatown in the states or in another country. After upsetting a local Chinese gangster at a strip joint, the group finds themselves crashing for the night at a local porno theater and getting rooms for an evening of wild sex. Unfortunately for them, they soon end up wishing they stayed somewhere else as it turns out the gangster whose bad side they got on is a psychotic cannibal who gets his minions to trap, torture and kill people with the help of a masked butcher and a demented chef while they videotape the acts of sadism and mutilation so the boss can get his jollies while munching on human organs and body parts. What follows is an orgy of outrageously sick and gory killings and torture ranging from inventive torture devices, to decapitations, to disembowelments, to dismemberments, to a girl being tortured by having a plastic tube rammed down her throat so a snake can slither down and crawl out her stomach after being gutted, to genital violence, to a sick scene involving a severed penis, and much more. LIVE FEED is a very entertaining and over-the-top splatter fest with enough gushing gore and graphic sex and nudity to satisfy genre fans. Director Ryan Nicholson's effects company Flesh & Fantasy, Inc. did a fine job with the prosthetics and blood effects and the lead female actress did a fine job I must say. Nicholson's other directing efforts include the brutal rape/revenge quickie TORCHED (2004) and the recent outrageous and super gory '80s slasher throwback GUTTERBALLS (2008). I certainly look forward to seeing more from Ryan and Plotdigger Films. The MTI Home Video DVD of LIVE FEED contains an audio commentary with Nicholson and a couple of the actors, a behind-the-scenes featurette entitled "Behind-the-Blood: The Making of Live Feed," deleted and alternate scenes, the full fake porno created for the movie called "Womb Service," a promotional spot for the Richmond Night Market in Canada where part of the movie was filmed, and trailers. Visit Plotdigger online at http://www.plotdigger.com/ With Kevan Ohtsji, Taayla Markel, Stephen Chang, Colin Foo, Greg Chan, Rob Scattergood, Lee Tichon, Caroline Chonjnacki, Ashley Schappert, Mike Bennett, and Ted Friend. An MTI Home Video DVD Release. Available in R and Unrated versions. - MD

LUNCH MEAT (1987) - A group of teenagers go on a vacation to the San Bernardino Mountains in California. That's where they run into a family of crazed cannibal hillbillies who chop people up with various gardening tools and sell human meat to a local hamburger joint. The survivors try to get away while being pursued by the psychotic rednecks in the mountains. This low budget slasher shot on Super 8mm is actually better than what I was expecting the first time I saw it. Granted, it's not the best movie I've ever seen, but there are worse. Kim McKamy does a good job as the heroine. The movie has a fair amount of gore, but it's not quite as bloody as other movies of its ilk. It bears somewhat of a passing resemblance to CANNIBAL CAMPOUT (1988). That was the movie I first thought of when watching it. Directed by Kirk Alex. With Chuck Ellis, Elroy Wiese, Joe Ricciardella, Robert Oland, Mitch Rogers, Rick Lorentz, and Bob Joseph. A Tapeworm Video Release. Not Rated - MD

MACHINES OF LOVE AND HATE (2003) - From director Joseph Parda and Cinema Image Productions comes this Lynch-esque low budget feature starring David Runco as a drifter with a troubled past who finds himself faced with a series of bizarre occurrences. After being nearly run down by a young girl (Tina Krause), she takes him back to her house to help him out and introduce him to her parents (Eileen Daly from RAZOR BLADE SMILE [1998] and SACRED FLESH [2000] and Roland Johnson). He finds himself slowly becoming attached to the family while at the same being plagued with nightmarish flashbacks, ghastly visions of violence and death, and visions of what may lie ahead for him and the family. A scene of the mother sharpening a knife in the kitchen before breakfast brings us a slew of potential horrific scenarios that apparently happen in the drifter's mind. It all culminates in an artsy mindfuck filled to the brim with sex, gore, revelations, and more. MACHINES OF LOVE AND HATE is a movie that's hard to describe. There are plenty of weird scenes on hand that are guaranteed to mess with your head as well as some nudity from Krause and Daly. The Lynchian style Parda gave the film may be a touch some will find themselves enjoying while others may find it a bit much at times. The blood, sex and nudity are enough to satisfy horror fans that view that as requirements. If you're looking for something different and somewhat outlandish, this may make for an adequate viewing. The Cinema Image DVD contains Joseph Parda's black and white short SZAMOTA'S MISTRESS starring Joe Zaso and Tina Krause as an extra along with trailers for other Cinema Image releases, stills gallery, and an Eileen Daly biography. A Cinema Image Productions DVD Release. Unrated - MD

MAMA'S HOME (1988) - A woman who was sentenced to jail after being blamed for letting her baby die in a burning house decides to get revenge on her dimwitted junkie ex-husband and his family since he was really responsible for catching the house on fire. She goes along with her two brothers (one psychotic and the other mentally challenged) and they hold her ex-husband's family captive while he's away at work. They show his new wife a video of a home movie that clearly shows it was him who caused the fire. After drowning the dog in an aquarium and stabbing the babysitter, the wife decides to go up against the psychos and fight back to save her baby. This is another shot on video flick from Gary P. Cohen who gave us the classics VIDEO VIOLENCE...WHEN RENTING IS NOT ENOUGH! (1986) and VIDEO VIOLENCE PART 2...THE EXPLOITATION! (1987). MAMA'S HOME (a.k.a. CAPTIVES) is a slightly more serious movie than the VIDEO VIOLENCE movies. Some of the acting is pretty good and the movie doesn't rely as much on gore as VIDEO VIOLENCE 1 & 2 did. It appears as though something went haywire with the masters at Majestic Home Video because the audio goes out of sync about at around the 50-minute mark and stays that way the rest of the movie. It certainly isn't a problem with the tape I have. All the copies are like that. If you like VIDEO VIOLENCE 1 & 2 you'll probably enjoy this one as well. With Jackie Neill, Lisa Cohen, Linda Herman, Art Neill, Gary P. Cohen, and Zachary Cohen. A Majestic Home Video Release. Unrated - MD NOTE: It seems director Gary Cohen disowns this version of his film since the distributors took it away from him and cut it themselves, shuffling scenes around, deleting other scenes and renaming it MAMA'S HOME (a title he truly despises). Cohen hopes to get the rights back to this film and release it in his own "Director's Cut" of CAPTIVES the way it was meant to be seen. It looks like it will happen in the near future. (It's on the wonderful THE BASEMENT VHS & DVD Box Set [along with VIDEO VIOLENCE 1 & 2 and CANNIBAL CAMPOUT] from Camp Motion Pictures.) A special thanks to Joe of the website BLEEDING SKULL for some of this info. - Editor

MARAUDERS (1986) - One of the absolute best 1980s shot-on-video efforts, this no budget Australian wonder from Mark Savage is a nasty grindhouse-style feature that sadly never saw release in the states until Subversive Cinema picked it up and released it on DVD as part of a box set called "Savage Sinema from Down Under" which includes Savage's other works SENSITIVE NEW-AGE KILLER (2000) and DEFENCELESS: A BLOOD SYMPHONY (2004). Already having been compared to brutal and disturbing cinema like LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) and THE BOYS NEXT DOOR (1985), MARAUDERS is an intense and gruesome portrayal of two vicious sociopaths named J.D. and Emilio who violently leave their troubled lives at home behind and head out on a rampage of killing and rape only to have one of them be hit by a car and his leg injured. They head out to chase down the culprit named David to get revenge on him and kill anyone who gets in their way.  David is out looking for his girlfriend as he wants to take her to a cabin in the forest making her think she'll be safe but it turns out he has sleazy plans of his own and is not much better than the murderous scum tracking him down. Meanwhile, a gang of vigilantes head out into the woods seeking to track down J.D. and Emilio to get revenge on them for the carnage and chaos they've left behind. MARAUDERS is vicious, disturbing, bloody, and brutal and is a film worthy of more attention from today's SOV enthusiasts. Mark Savage is a very underrated filmmaker. He created a beautiful artsy splatter film with DEFENCELESS, a film without dialogue that plays out much like a non-speaking theatrical play with symphony music, hence the subtitle "A Blood Symphony." The Savage Sinema set is sadly out of print now due to Subversive going under, but if you can find any films in the set available separate and used for a good price, they're well worth picking up. Subversive's 2-disc edition DVD of MARAUDERS contains an audio commentary, a making-of documentary, a disturbing short film from Savage called STAINED (2006), several additional Savage short films, trailers, and much more. MARAUDERS stars Zero Montana, Colin Savage (Mark's brother), Megan Spencer, and Paul Harrington. If you want a good example of true Australian outlaw filmmaking, look no further than the works of Mark Savage. Try to hunt down the Savage Sinema set if you can. A Subversive Cinema DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

MARK OF THE DEVIL 666: THE MORALIST (1995) – Jason Paul Collum’s first effort is an unofficial sixth installment of the MARK OF THE DEVIL series (I only know of two other MARK OF THE DEVIL films. The original, made in 1970 and the official sequel, made in 1973. - Editor). Shot on video and with little money, the story concerns a serial killer who’s slaying people that are considered to be the “cause of society’s problems” in ritualistic fashions. This includes gays, prostitutes and minorities. All the victims have a “666” carved behind their ears. A female reporter teams up with a detective investigating the case. The reporter notices the killer seems to follow scenarios from certain horror movies when committing his gruesome acts of butchery. Clips from DERANGED (1974) are seen on TV. There are lots of shots of the horror section inside a mom and pop video store. While MARK OF THE DEVIL 666 certainly isn’t Collum’s best film, it’s still fairly entertaining for what it is. Most would probably trash it as an SOV piece of crap, which is understandable. It’s one of those movies you’d have to watch when you had the right mindset with your expectations lowered and you were interested to see horror fans take a stab at making their own project with hardly any money. Michael D. Moore and MDM Productions financed this along with Collum’s 5 DARK SOULS (1996) and 5 DARK SOULS 2: ROOTS OF EVIL (1998). Tim Ritter co-produced. Alucarda did the music. The tape contains an interview with Collum after the feature. With Karen Dilloo, Mick Wynhoff, Tami Klamm, Lee Worrell, Jeannine Campeau, Sy Stephens, Darcey Vanderhoef, Elizabeth Brouliette, Dillon Mapel, and Collum as a victim. A Moore Video Release. Not Rated – MD

MIDNIGHT 2: SEX, DEATH & VIDEOTAPE (1993) - John A. Russo's shot-on-video sequel to his cult classic MIDNIGHT (1980) follows the adventures of the now grown-up surviving devil cult family member Abraham Barnes (played by Matthew Jason Walsh) from the original film. Abraham continues the murderous ways of his family by picking up girls in Pittsburgh, having sex with them and brutally murdering them in front of his home video camera, hence the "Sex, Death & Videotape" of the title. Fans of Russo's original may be disappointed in the fact that this is shot on tape and that it takes place in a completely different environment than the original. I kind of enjoyed it, however. Those with a soft spot for SOV flicks will most likely find something to enjoy and diehard Russo fans will want to seek it out nonetheless. Clips from the original are featured as flashbacks. Originally released on VHS by Tempe Video. The Sub Rosa DVD contains interviews with Russo and Matthew Jason Walsh, Sub Rosa trailers, and other extras. With Lori Scarlett, Jeannie Jeffries, David Wagner, Tina Bookwalter, Bob Michelucci, Vince Rossetti, David Lange, and Bill Morrison. J.R. Bookwalter produced. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Unrated - MD

MIDNIGHT SKATER (2002) - This shot on video effort from Ohio tells the story about a group of college kids who are trying to identify a mysterious skateboarder who's been prowling the campus at midnight and spray painting graffiti. They're also trying to find out why some female students have disappeared. A psychopath named Richard Norton is chopping up college girls in his dorm and the campus's drug dealers have been selling an unusual drug that causes its users to slowly rot and turn into flesh eating zombies. For such a cheap production, MIDNIGHT SKATER is highly enjoyable! It has to be one of the best shot on video flicks in recent years. I really liked how it combines both slasher and zombie movie elements. While the acting is really cheesy for the most part, the film is outrageously gory with some really over the top splatter effects. You can tell the filmmakers really knew what they were going for and had a fun time making it. It definitely wasn't meant to be taken seriously. That's for sure. The Splatter Rampage DVD has some nice extras including a commentary by the cast and crew, deleted scenes, a short film called THE STRANGER, and trailers for MIDNIGHT SKATER and other Splatter Rampage releases. You can visit the filmmakers online at http://www.compoundpictures.com/. DEMON SUMMER (2003) is another video feature they did and it's also available on DVD from Tempe's Splatter Rampage. Directed by Lucas Campbell who co-wrote with Andrew Campbell and Stacy Silvers. With Cory Maidens, Mike Neeson, Nick Jackson, Ashley Holeman, Luke Campbell, Jen Meissner, and Roza Haidet. A Tempe DVD Release. Unrated - MD

MINDS OF TERROR (2003) – A college girl travels out to the abandoned Stone Ridge mental hospital with her brother and friend so she can write a story on how the place is supposedly haunted. Their car breaks down along the way and they end up having to walk the rest of the way. Upon arrival, they run into Jeffrey Vandoren who was once a member of the hospital staff. Jeffrey lives in seclusion at the place. He tells them stories about the cases involving various mental patients who have been residents of the institution and their psychotic tendencies that put them away. Only it appears Jeffrey has more skeletons in his closet than what he’s telling them. The kids run into ghosts of past mental patients and see bloody images of a massacre of the hospital staff by the patients that was a rebellion lead by a fellow inmate. The trip to write a story on ghosts quickly turns into a nightmare as the skeletons in Jeffrey’s closet begin to reveal themselves. MINDS OF TERROR is a pretty decent homemade horror effort that should please those who enjoyed STRAWBERRY ESTATES (2001). The film has numerous surprises, a fair amount of splatter, and some B-movie regular cameos including Conrad Brooks, Joe Estevez, Robyn Griggs and Eric Spudic. Written, produced and directed by Mark Adams and executive produced by Wild Range Productions. With Randy Allen (as Jeffrey), Nicole Crawford, Patrick McCaffery, Matthew Mazouch, Chris Watson and Len Kabasinski. Review based on a screener DVD from Adamstar Pictures (http://www.adamstarpictures.com/). The DVD contains behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with the cast and bloopers. This disc has been authored by Zombie House Productions (http://www.zombie-house.com/). Not Rated - MD

MR. ICE CREAM MAN (1995) - As we dig deeper into the realm of low rent shot on video schlock, we find MR. ICE CREAM MAN. A young boy and his friends grow leery of a mysterious ice cream man who's been hanging around their neighborhood. A detective who has been teaching kids at the local elementary school about the "buddy system" is investigating the mysterious disappearances of some youngsters. The disappearances are of course tied to the weird guy with the ice cream truck. As it turns out the ice cream man is a psycho who's out to "ice" them all. Low-grade slasher quickie might be okay for those who like homemade horror and are looking for a way to kill 65 minutes. Others looking for something really polished should probably look elsewhere. There's some really cheap gore, a tad of nudity, and a downright confusing ending. I'd appreciate it if anybody can explain that ending to me. This one came out around the same time as the Clint Howard horror comedy ICE CREAM MAN (1995). Some people have confused the two movies in the past. There was article about this in Fangoria magazine back at that time. MR. ICE CREAM MAN was supposedly made before they even knew about the Clint Howard flick. Director Mack Hail plays the part of the ice cream man. He co-wrote with Jim Mills who plays the detective. Hail also starred in NUTBAG (2000) and CARNAGE ROAD (a.k.a. CARNAGE: THE LEGEND OF QUILTFACE - 2000). Hail's other directing efforts are CREEP (1998) and TRANSAMERICAN KILLER (a.k.a. SWITCH KILLER - 2004). The production company's website is http://www.gotfilms.com/. With Henry Weckesser and Cindy Reed. A Dead Alive Productions Release. Not Rated - MD

MONSTROSITY (2007) - George Bonilla and ZP International bring us what is quite possibly their best picture yet with this fun slasher tale involving a mutant that escapes from a circus freak show and goes on a killing spree. Years later, a group of kids out looking to party find an abandoned factory where a couple people were believed to have been gorily hacked up by the mutant and, being typical dumb horror movie partygoers, throw a party in this place. They have a run-in with the factory's caretaker who stumbles across a buried treasure that includes Nazi gold. Soon something bumps one of the kids off. Might the escaped sideshow attraction have something to do with this? The caretaker and kids battle the monster, which at one point goes after them with a nail gun in a scene that may be a little tribute to 1985's THE NAIL GUN MASSACRE. A scene with a woman's talking severed head on a table seems to pay tribute to THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE (1962). MONSTROSITY has a good old-fashioned '80s horror vibe and cool make-up effects. ZP regulars Billy W. Blackwell and Stacey T. Gillespie star again and this time, the crew brought in John Dugan from the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) who plays a sheriff in this one. The cool monster and deaths, slasher movie atmosphere, and '80s David DeCoteau-style B-movie touches help make this ZP's most enjoyable effort thus far. The ZP International DVD of MONSTROSITY contains a commentary with Bonilla, bloopers and outtakes, a bonus cartoon, trailers, and animated menus. A ZP International DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

MONSTURD (2003) - Have you ever watched a movie that made you laugh so hard you shit yourself? Here's one that's guaranteed to do just that. Serial killer Jack Schmitt (very clever name) escapes from jail. The police and FBI go after him and corner him in a sewer. After being gunned downed by the cops, chemicals in the sewer that were dumped by a company called Dutech merge with his body. The combination of chemicals, sewage and other wastes transform him into a giant turd monster that goes on a rampage. He comes up through peoples' toilets and eats them while they're doing number 2. One guy plunging his clogged toilet gets sprayed with diarrhea water before the Monsturd sucks him down the toilet. A little kid's dad is eaten. Two idiot cops (including one who plays around with a sock puppet making it do crazy stuff and having everybody look at him like he's nuts) drive around town with a bullhorn telling people not to use their toilets. They say, "If it's really an emergency, do what they did in the old days. Just crap in a bucket and throw it out the window. Or better yet, just crap your pants. It's not that bad." Then he says, "Come on everybody. Let's do the crap your pants dance!" and he sings, "The crap your pants dance&ldots;. The crap your pants dance&ldots;. Let's all do the crap your pants dance." The heroes of the story find out that Maalox is what will kill the Schmitt monster, so they dress up in radiation suits, strap diapers to their heads and start shooting it with Super Soaker water guns filled with Maalox. I have never laughed so hard at anything in my entire life. This shot on video horror comedy from Rick Popko and Dan West of 4321 Films (whose next film will be RETARDEAD) has got to be one of the funniest low budget movies I've ever seen. And I've seen pretty funny ones in my life, but this one is super funny. Better yet, it's "laugh till you crap yourself" funny. There were so many moments when I had to rewind I almost wore the tape out. I'm not kidding. I thought I was going to vomit up a lung from laughing and rolling around the floor so much. Popko and West are my heroes. These guys don't miss an opportunity with this one. They know how to make a cheesy movie. I wasn't surprised when they threw in a reference to SOUTH PARK with a kid watching an offensive cartoon on TV with a talking turd named Mr. Spanky. There's even a character whose name is Johnny Waters. Fans of SOV cinema haven't lived until they've seen this one. It's an instant classic. A "crap fest" that's worth getting for a night of laughter and gags. With Paul Weiner, Beth West, Dan Burr, Brad Dosland, West and Popko as Deputy Dan and Deputy Rick and Mark Pirro (DEATHROW GAMESHOW - 1987) as a police sketch artist. A Dead Alive Productions Release. Available from Elite Entertainment in a special edition DVD with audio commentary, behind the scenes footage and other extras. Not Rated - MD

MULVA: ZOMBIE ASS KICKER! (2001) & FILTHY MCNASTY (2002) - It's time I welcome you to the world of Low Budget Pictures. If you love outrageous, over the top, hilarious splatter comedies in the style of Troma, then the films of LBP and Chris Seaver should definitely be up your alley. I took the time to take a look at the Tempe/Splatter Rampage DVD double feature of Chris's MULVA: ZOMBIE ASS KICKER! and FILTHY MCNASTY. MULVA is the story of weird and nerdy 23-year-old girl named Mulva who has an obsession with chocolate syrup. When she goes to Tromaville to get candy on Halloween night, she ends up having to fight for her life as the town gets overrun by flesh eating zombies. LBP characters Mr. Bonejack and Teen Ape come to the rescue and they fight the flesh eaters together. MULVA has all you could want in a cheap, shot on video splatter quickie: extreme gore, loads of toilet humor, and references to other horror classics, GHOSTBUSTERS (1984), and Peter Jackson and Troma films. They even throw in a tribute to "Mr. Roboto" by Styx. We also get cameo appearances by Debbie Rochon and Trent Haaga and an appearance by Lloyd Kaufman himself at the end along with Toxie, Sgt. Kabukiman, and other Tromettes. FILTHY MCNASTY is the story of a couple of unpopular girls named Julie and Liz (played by Debbie Rochon and Miss Kitty) who get turned into irresistible, hot babes by a demon named Phil. Julie and Liz show up at a guy named Max's party. Teen Ape ends up crashing the party too. Everybody thinks it will be a fun night of sex and booze, but soon the party turns into a living hell on earth as Phil the demon tries to kill them all. While I think FILTHY is the lesser of the two, it's still a highly enjoyable horror comedy with everything you could expect from an LBP flick: offensive humor, in-joke references, gore, sex, nudity, a guy masturbating with feces, a girl's head impaled on a demon penis, and good ole celebrity attacks in the vein of SOUTH PARK (this time they skewer Adrian Zmed and Mario Van Peebles). The films of LBP and Chris Seaver are the types of movies more people need to see. Everybody who loves sick and outrageous horror/gore comedies should give them a try. The Splatter Rampage DVD of MULVA and FILTHY contains introductions to both movies and some entertaining and informative audio commentaries that I could listen to over and over again. You can visit Chris and the gang online at http://www.lowbudgetpictures.com/. A Tempe DVD Release. Unrated - MD

MUTILATIONS (1986) - A college professor takes his students on a field trip to see UFO sightings in rural Oklahoma. The area is being plagued by mysterious cattle mutilations. Along the way, they run into a half-dead cow with its flesh ripped off, a flying saucer, and a farmhouse with an old hermit named Oliver Matson. They find themselves having to fight for their lives as they get attacked by stop-motion animated alien monsters inspired by Ray Harryhausen. This cheesy, local sci-fi/horror effort shot in Oklahoma by writer-producer-director Larry Thomas (who as far as I know has not done anything else that has been released) is an okay timewaster for those who enjoy cheap '80s direct-to-video schlock. One of the good things about it is that it appears to have been shot on actual film instead of video (it was probably shot in 16mm and then transferred to tape). I'm guessing the budget was about $10,000. The make-up and splatter effects (handled by much of the same effects team that worked on BLOOD CULT (1985), REVENGE (1986), and THE RIPPER (1986)) are pretty decent. The stop-motion creatures and claymation effects aren't too shabby, but they can't hold a candle to Harryhausen. If you happen to find this in a bargain bin at a mom and pop video store somewhere and it's really cheap, go ahead and grab it. With Al Baker, Katherine Hutson, Bill Buckner, Harvey Shell, John Bliss, Shelly Creel, Matthew Hixenbaugh, William Jerrick, Pam Michaels, Jackie Shook, and Richard Taylor. A Baron Video Release. Not Rated - MD

THE NECRO FILES (1997) - A couple of cops track down and kill a psychopathic rapist who kills and eats the guts of his victims. A group of dimwitted Satanists practice a ritual over the dead serial killer-rapist's grave and sacrifice a baby. They end up bringing the maniac back to life as a flesh eating cannibal zombie with a foot long weiner. A Satanist who pisses on his grave has his dick ripped off and another one has the dick shoved through his head (!). Another Satanist has his guts ripped out. The zombie rapist goes a gory rampage screwing women with his giant shlong and disemboweling them and ripping them to pieces. The sacrificed baby comes back to life as a flying demon baby from hell. The two cops who killed the psycho follow the trail of chaos until they have to confront the zombie pervert themselves. Hilarious and over-the-top shot on video gross-out gore comedy from Matt Jaissle of BACK FROM HELL fame has enough blood, guts, dismemberment, vomit, nudity, sex, and toilet humor to satisfy fans of homemade splatter films, porno horror, offensive comedy and backyard exploitation trash cinema. This is the type of movie that more of the 18-21 year old crowd needs to see. They need a change from the usual Hollywood garbage. If you're planning an evening of getting drunk with your friends and there's nothing else at the video store, get this. Todd Tjersland wrote and executive produced. Tjersland followed this up with NECRO FILES 2: LUST NEVER DIES (2003). You can visit Todd online at http://www.toddtjersland.blogspot.com/. With Isaac Cooper, Steve Sheppard, Gary Browning, Todd Tjersland, Theresa Betsul, Jenn O'Cide, Dru Berrymore, Anne R. Key, Jason McGee, and Christian Curmudgeon. An Astaroth Entertainment Release. Unrated - MD

NEKRO (1998) - Focusing on the topic of necrophilia in a most disturbing manner similar to that of Jorg Buttgereit's NEKROMANTIK (1987) and Nacho Cerda's AFTERMATH (1994), NEKRO is an ambitious and pretty damn disgusting 16-minute short film from Vince Roth (a.k.a. David Becker) and Mick Nards (a.k.a. Joe Bosco). Originally a production of their old company In Hell Productions, NEKRO takes place in a quiet neighborhood. A crummy-looking old van pulls into a house's driveway. A dark-clothed, hooded man steps out dragging into the house an unconscious woman. Once we enter a white bedroom, the viewer is subjected to one of the most depraved, bloody freak shows ever committed to celluloid (or video, can't tell what format this was shot on) and when you're done watching it, all I can say is you'll feel like you're going to hell for sure! Graphic sex, rape, gore, and necrophilia all with a psychotic satanic atmosphere to it crammed into a grimy little 16 minutes. That's the best way to sum it up. Roth and Nards were obviously looking to sicken and offend as many as possible, and it's safe to say they succeeded. Roth and Nards' other two shorts DON'T GO IN THE FUCKING WOODS (????) and SIX-PACK THAT BITCH (????) were, as far as I know, never released. They released NEKRO as a handmade VHS limited to 50 copies (!) back in the late '90s. Good luck tracking that down! You can find DVD-Rs of the film easily on the net (which is the way I saw it). Bootleg company Twisted Anger offers it as a bonus feature on one of their custom DVD-Rs of a Japanese gore film (the name of which escapes me at the moment). Until it gets an official release, that's your best bet of seeing it. Roth and Nards and now going by their Becker and Bosco names today and have made two new movies that star cult filmmaker Jim VanBebber, one a short called MIRK RIDERS (2010) directed by Becker and the other a feature called THE BOTTLE, THE CHAIN AND THE DAMAGE DONE (2011) directed by Bosco. Both of these should be seeing release very soon. NEKRO is Unrated for obvious reasons. - MD

NIKOS THE IMPALER (2003) - German filmmaker Andreas Schnaas, well known for his extreme gore flicks like the VIOLENT SHIT movies and ZOMBIE 90 (1990), brings us one of his wackiest movies yet with NIKOS THE IMPALER, the fourth entry in the VIOLENT SHIT series. From a script by Ted Geoghegan, NIKOS features a Romanian barbarian named Nikos being resurrected at a New York City art gallery during an art show. Armed with a sword, Nikos proceeds to chop everyone to pieces in the art museum while college students led by a professor (Joe Zaso) fight to survive and find a way out. The professor and only remaining survivor (Felissa Rose) manage to get out while Nikos proceeds to wreak havoc across NYC. NIKOS is filled with beheadings, dismemberments, crushed heads, ripped off faces, people sliced in half, throat slittings, entire fronts of heads sliced off, ripped off breasts, disembowelments, as well as some nudity, ninjas, Hitler magically coming out of a ZOMBIE DOOM (1999) video box in a video store (Eva Braun even shows up), references to Troma movies, and so much more. One of the best things the movie has going for it is its amazing cast featuring names like Joe Zaso, Felissa Rose, Andreas Schnaas (as Nikos), Hugh Daly, Mike Marino, Brian Michael Finn, Danny Lopes, Jasi Cotton Lanier, Ray Schwetz, Darian Caine, Debbie Rochon, Lloyd Kaufman, Tina Krause, Jamie Greco, etc. The incredibly over-the-top gore effects by Marcus Koch are plentiful and pretty awesome. The great B-movie cast, gore, T&A, humor, and in-joke references all add up to make NIKOS an entertaining splatter comedy that delivers the goods. The Cinema Image limited edition DVD is loaded with extras including commentary, featurettes, interviews, deleted and extended scenes, short films, soundtrack snippets, trailers, and more. If you can find it (it was a limited edition so it may be hard to find now), be sure to snatch it up. A Cinema Image Productions DVD Release. Unrated - MD

OCTOBER MOON (2005) – Life seems to be going well for Elliot (Jerod Howard), a young heterosexual man who lives with his mother (Judith O’Dea from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD – 1968) and is about to be married to his girlfriend (Tina Ona Paukstelis). Elliot becomes the new secretary for 30-year-old homosexual businessman Corin Buckman (Sean Michael Lambrecht). After Elliot and Corin go out to eat with their boss Nancy (the always lovely Brinke Stevens), Corin starts to suspect that Elliot may have some homosexual tendencies. Elliot suddenly begins to realize he likes Corin more than a friend. The only problem is that Corin is insistent on staying with his 23-year-old boyfriend Jake (Jeff Dylan Graham). Soon Elliot can’t leave Corin alone. His co-workers begin to take notice. He eventually admits that he’s gay. Corin keeps telling him that he’s staying with Jake and he needs to accept it. Elliot finds himself completely obsessed with Corin. It tears his relationship with his girlfriend apart and his mother throws him out of the house. Now Elliot has become psychotic and is growing increasingly violent. He’s willing to resort to any extreme measures he needs in order to be with Corin. OCTOBER MOON is definitely one of the most original movies I’ve ever seen. It’s most certainly one of the better gay-themed horror movies out there. Low budget filmmaker Jason Paul Collum has created a picture that really holds the viewer’s attention throughout and keeps you on the edge of your seat towards the end. The performances from Jerod Howard and Sean Michael Lambrecht are very good too I must add. Collum’s other movies include MARK OF THE DEVIL 666: THE MORALIST (1995), 5 DARK SOULS (1996), 5 DARK SOULS PART 2: ROOTS OF EVIL (1998), JULIA WEPT (2000) and the documentary SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT (2003). NOVEMBER SON: OCTOBER MOON 2 (2008) is now in post-production. The Tempe DVD of OCTOBER MOON has some good extras including cast and crew commentary, a very entertaining 8-minute featurette where Collum discusses the film’s production, a production still gallery, web links to websites of cast and crew members and trailers for SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT as well as OCTOBER MOON. A Tempe DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

OZONE! ATTACK OF THE REDNECK MUTANTS (1986) - A chemical plant causes a hole to open in the ozone layer over a small town in Texas. This causes the town's redneck inhabitants to turn into the slimy, drooling, flesh hungry mutant zombies that the title suggests. This incredibly obscure Super 8 horror comedy from Bret McCormick (aka Max Raven) and Matt Devlen who gave us THE ABOMINATION (1986) is a blast! It's got blood, gore, guts, slime, vomit, watermelon smashing, chicken chasing, crotch grabbing, and hilarious dialogue. An old lady named Mother Video comes on occasionally and tells you to stop the movie before it gets any worse. The Troma fans will definitely get a kick out of this one. With Scott Davis, Blue Thompson, Brad McCormick, Janice Williams, Rhonda Rooney, and Barbara Dow. A Muther Video Release. Not Rated - MD

PIG (1999) - This 8mm black and white art house short is probably well-known for its being a creation of the late Rozz Williams, the original lead man of the band Christian Death. Rozz committed suicide in 1998 after filming the movie. He made it on a shoestring budget with Nico B, the man behind one of the best horror, cult, exploitation, and art house DVD labels today, Cult Epics. PIG is very much an expressionist short that follows in the footsteps of such bizarre and surreal art film classics like Bunuel's UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1929), Lynch's ERASERHEAD (1977), and E. Elias Merhige's BEGOTTEN (1990). The story concerns a pig-masked serial killer who takes his victim out into the desert and practices bizarre torture rituals on him. The killer references a book called "Why God Permits Evil." There's some graphic nudity and some cringe-inducing gore during a scene in which the killer carves the word "PIG" onto the chest of the victim and pierces his nipples threading string through them which he uses to tie around the penis. Rozz Williams stars as the killer and James Hollan plays the victim. PIG is a disturbing but beautiful 23-minute artistic piece that perfectly captures moods with its desert location, 8mm film, and gritty setting. Williams was definitely an interesting and talented individual. I don't know what else he may have gone on to do in the way of film if he were still with us, but he was definitely somebody into the more dark side of art and you can see it in PIG for sure. The now out-of-print Cult Epics DVD of PIG (limited to 1334 copies [and then they pressed 666 more discs, for a total of 2000 - Editor]) includes a booklet modeled after the "Why God Permits Evil" book in the film and extras include a commentary with Nico B, audio excerpts of Williams' final interview, behind-the-scenes stills, outtakes, photo gallery, original Super 8 test footage, a Williams tribute video by Nico B, and biographies. PIG is currently available on an art house shorts compilation from Cult Epics entitled CINEMA OF DEATH and is also available as part of a 2-disc Blu-Ray/DVD combo from Cult Epics containing Nico B's follow-up film 1334 (2011). A Cult Epics DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

REANIMATOR ACADEMY (1992) – This shot on video horror comedy from Fort Worth, Texas is an attempt at spoofing the RE-ANIMATOR movies. After the beginning when a hooker ends up dead after she has a nasty run-in with a gangster who she was hiding money from and his dimwitted sidekick, we are introduced to a sorority house in Fort Worth where a frat brother’s Jeffrey Combs-like mad scientist friend named Edgar Allan Lovecraft (Ha ha ha. Very funny.) shows up with the head of a dead comedian he got from the morgue. He shows off his “re-animator serum” and uses it to bring the head back to life. The head comes back, tells a lot of bad jokes, and Edgar sees fame and fortune. After Edgar’s buddy’s girlfriend dies from falling and hitting her head on a concrete step, he uses the serum to bring her back and she experiences the side effect called “Shrew Syndrome.” Edgar says it only happens with women and finds a cure for her. Later on the gangsters from the beginning read about Edgar’s discoveries in the local newspaper and decide to enlist his help so they can bring their dead hooker back to life. Edgar manages to bring her back to life and as expected, she has the “Shrew Syndrome.” Only problem is, she’s a lot harder to reason with than the college girl who was brought back, Edgar and the gangsters can’t control her, and she goes on rampage across the campus punching the heads off of unsuspecting college boys. Edgar and the gang follow the trail of decapitated heads until it brings them to the zombie bitch and leads to the final confrontation. I’m sad to say it, but this movie could’ve been so much more. It had the potential to be a really funny low budget movie, but the jokes were so lame, it started to get really annoying after a while. They’re virtually no gore at all. We just get some comical scenes of heads being punched off and flying through the air but they’re not bloody at all. Overall, it would’ve been better had they not did the same stupid jokes over and over. I’m glad to have a copy of the film, but I doubt I’ll ever watch it again. Director Judith Priest (who co-wrote with Benton Jennings) has not done anything else to date. The end credits promise a sequel called HEAD WEST that, as far as I know, never panned out. I have to say I’m not surprised. With Steve Westerheit, Tricia Anderson, Connie Speer, Richard Perrin, Benton Jennings, Julian Scott, Sarah Paxton, Tom Fegan and J. Scott Guy. A Cinema Home Video Release. Not Rated - MD  NOTE: Why is it so hard to find artwork of a decent size of this title? - Editor

RECONCILED THROUGH THE CHRIST (2004) – Florida’s low budget moviemaking guru Tim Ritter’s most recent film is something that’s a definite change of pace for him. Most familiar with Tim and his work usually think of the low budget gore and splatter cult hits TRUTH OR DARE? - A CRITICAL MADNESS (1986), KILLING SPREE (1987), CREEP (1995), and the TRUTH OR DARE sequels WICKED GAMES (1994) and SCREAMING FOR SANITY: TRUTH OR DARE 3 (1998). (And Ritter's DEADLY DARES: TRUTH OR DARE IV [2011] - Editor) With RECONCILED, Tim breaks away from all the gore and insanity of those movies and delivers a story that makes people think about religion in today’s society and it’s influence on politics and how we think of ourselves and the effect religion has on us. Corrupt businessman Franklin McDowell (Ron A. Blair) is going through a stressful time in his life. His wife is cheating on him and it’s becoming evident that their marriage cannot go on. He decides he’s not going to let her get away with doing this to him and packs up a gun and heads out with the intention of killing her. Along the way he picks up a hitchhiker. Shortly afterward he pulls off the road and attacks her. She gets out and runs into the woods and he chases her down with a knife. When he catches up to her and attempts to kill her he is confronted by a strange preacher dude. The preacher convinces Franklin to let the hitchhiker go and he hitches a ride with him. Along the way, the preacher starts talking about things that strangely begin to reach into Franklin’s inner character and feelings and emotions that he’s afraid to admit to. Franklin keeps denying everything the preacher says of him. After shooting him in the head, Franklin puts his body in a trash bag and takes it out to the woods to bury it. But the preacher comes back and Franklin beats him to death a shovel. He buries him and drives away hoping he’s dead, but not so. The preacher keeps coming back again and again. Franklin can run over him with his car, shoot him, stab him, burn him up, but he just can’t kill him. It’s apparent that he’s dealing with supernatural forces. He sees a lake turn into blood and a fire-breathing dragon destroy a church. Can the forces convince Franklin to admit to his mistakes and see himself for who he is before he can kill his wife? RECONCILED is definitely one of the most original religious-themed horror movies I’ve ever seen. The film turns out to be very effective and it delivers a very powerful message about the influence of religion on society and the way we view ourselves as human beings and innermost feelings we keep locked up inside. This is a movie that horror fans should see at least once for something different and something that seeks to deliver a strong moral message. Fans of Tim Ritter’s other movies should find it interesting too despite it’s lack of the over-the-top gore that’s prevalent in all his other movies. The Sub Rosa DVD contains a commentary with Tim, behind-the-scenes footage, making of special effects footage, and trailer. With Larry Joe Treadway, Andrew Willett, Lori L. Holley, Kathleen Ritter, and Jay Ingle. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Not Rated -MD

RED MIDNIGHT (2005) - US/Italian co-production from Cinema Image Productions is an anthology film presenting us with three tales told by a psychic at the Red Midnight theatre who a reporter by the name of Karen Marks goes to see as part of an assignment. The first story "Anathema" (directed by Ray Schwetz) tells us of a man who moves into a new home after the death of his wife and son. Soon enough, bizarre occurrences take place in the house, and a ghost (played by Jasi Cotton Lanier) makes contact with him. The second story "The Creation of Dr. Grecoz" (directed by Brian Michael Finn) tells us of an eye surgeon who creates a new set of eyes for his son who was scarred and lost his vision in a fire. Thinking it's a miracle that he's finally able to see again, the son soon comes to realize that his father really wasn't looking out for the good of him but rather looking to exploit his loss of vision as an opportunity to create a perfect child, so to speak, as a way to fulfill a long kept fantasy of his. The third story "Pilgrimage" (directed by Giovanni Piangiani) is a giallo-style short thriller about an FBI agent (played by Joe Zaso who also produced the anthology) who travels to Rome to investigate the bizarre, ritualistic murder of his partner. He comes across a Satanist who practices human sacrifices and a battle of good vs. evil between the agent and Satanist wages on. RED MIDNIGHT is an entertaining, low budget horror anthology that offers an array of homages to many contemporary horror films, Asian flicks, and older giallos from the 1970s. The set pieces are all very effective and the wraparound segment with a psychic telling the stories to an audience was quite an original touch I must add. Worth seeking out if anthologies are your cup of tea. The Cinema Image DVD features commentaries by Schwetz, Finn, Piangiani, and Zaso as well as behind-the-scenes footage, still galleries, and trailers for other Cinema Image releases. With Roger Woo, Stephanie Roy, Giada Vadala, Shawn-Caulin Young, Christine Bonfanti, Patrick J. Egan, Maurizio Rapotec, Hugh Daly, and Lindley Lee. A Cinema Image Productions DVD Release. Unrated - MD

THE REDSIN TOWER (2006) - Fred Vogel and Toe Tag Pictures, creators of the notorious fake snuff/torture porn AUGUST UNDERGROUND series, bring us their first "actual film" with this gory, disturbing, and intense low budget effort mixing slasher movie and supernatural horror elements. Kim (Bethany Newell) breaks up with her boyfriend Mitch (Perry Tiberio). Having doubts as to whether or not she did the right thing, her goth chick friend Becky (Jessica Kennedy) tries to cheer her up and takes her out to party with some other kids for a night of music, booze, and sex. Mitch isn't handling the break up very well. He calls Kim up over and over trying to get her to talk to him but she won't answer. He gets more and more frustrated and desperate as the minutes go by. Becky, who always thought Mitch is a loser, takes Kim out for a night on the town and tells her to forget about him. They meet up with some friends at a party. Mitch heads out on his bike to find Kim and tell her he still loves her. He breaks up the party by calling the police and telling them there's a party going on with underage drinking and loud music causing a disturbance. This forces Kim, Becky and the gang to go party some place else in town. They decide to move the party up to the infamous "Redsin Tower," an ancient building where an occultist by the name of Matteo Redsin practiced vicious human sacrifices. The tower is believed by some townsfolk to still be haunted by Redsin's spirit. Laughing those stories off, the gang ends up partying in the tower, breaking out the music and booze and getting ready for a night of fun and games and sex. Soon things start to get weird as the kids one by one have encounters with the supernatural. Mitch finds his way up to the tower and proceeds to brutally hack up the partygoers in order to find Kim. A gore-drenched bloodbath ensues involving demonic possession, maggot and worm puking, axe murders, a weird bird-like creature, gut spilling, encounters with otherworldly forces, and more. REDSIN is definitely Toe Tag's best movie to date. The cinematography, acting, and effects are all splendid and the movie takes several unexpected turns and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. The picture looks excellent for a film that was shot on digital video, as any first time viewer would swear it was 35mm. Overall, REDSIN is an excellent effort from Toe Tag and it definitely shows what they're capable of and how they've come along very well in such a short time after kicking things off with the AUGUST UNDERGROUND movies. I look forward to seeing what their next film will be like. Toe Tag's DVD of REDSIN presents the movie in 16x9 widescreen and in 5.1 Surround and has a nice little selection of extras including a commentary with Fred Vogel and the Toe Tag gang, an introduction by Toe Tag, a behind-the-scenes make-up effects featurette entitled "Butchering Becky" with commentary by effects creator Jerami Cruise where he describes how the scene where the goth chick Becky is hacked up was pulled off, a behind-the-scenes photo gallery, and two trailers. Show Toe Tag your support and visit them online at http://www.toetagpictures.com/ and get your copies of REDSIN and the AU trilogy. A Toe Tag Pictures DVD Release. Unrated - MD  NOTE: Director Fred Vogel's next film was SELLA TURCICA (2010), a film that takes him in a much different direction, except for the gore-filled finale. - Editor

THE RED SKULLS (2005) - Andrew and Lucas Campbell bring us what is quite possibly their best film yet with this gang story about a gang leader named Uri who decides to quit his gang "The Red Skulls" after one of his friends was murdered by members of another gang known as "The Rats." Fellow Red Skull Lester doesn't take too kindly to Uri's walking out on them and ascends to the thrown as the new leader of the gang. Lester rules the gang with an iron fist and plans to lure Uri into a trap with the other Red Skulls to get back at him. Lester's plan is soon sabotaged after female gang member Ruby poisons the ale they're drinking at their house party. Unfortunately for her, she didn't realize this poison is a substance that turns people into flesh eating zombies. It's THE WARRIORS (1979) meets NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) as the Red Skulls ooze and spew blood and turn into cannibalistic zombie gang members from hell. It's gore galore as limbs are torn, necks are chomped, guts are spilled, and the gang members who didn't drink the ale are left fighting for their lives. Lester is still determined to get Uri. "The Rats" are still out to get the Skulls. A bloody, chaotic battle between gangs, rival gang members, and the undead is what we get. THE RED SKULLS is a gory, original, campy, and entertaining effort from the Campbell Brothers with some decent make-up effects (by Ricky Lee Leonard and others), some good one-liners, and some good music as well. The Campbell's went on to do CORDOBA NIGHTS (2007) and POISON SWEETHEARTS (2008) after this. The Tempe/Splatter Rampage DVD of THE RED SKULLS contains a commentary with the cast and crew, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a featurette on the film's make-up effects, an outtake reel, a music video, preview trailer for CORDOBA NIGHTS, and trailers for other Splatter Rampage releases. With Lucas Campbell, Ashleigh Holeman, Ryan Maille, Laura Robbins, Jen Meissner, Andrew Mercer, Knayte Lander, John "Ed" Bishop, James L. Edwards, and Chuck Cieslik. A Tempe DVD Release. Unrated - MD

RED SPIRIT LAKE (1993) - Here's a movie that gave me a headache the first time I watched it. It took me two viewings before I could fully understand what it was all about. I think it's better if you have a beer while watching it. It starts off with a group of thugs led by a sleazebag named Diego torturing a woman because they want her to sell them Red Spirit Lake. She refuses and they end up killing her. We are then introduced to Marilyn (Annabel Lee) who goes up to her Aunt Abigail's house at the lake to take care of the place in the wintertime after her aunt dies. Marilyn's great grandmother was supposedly a witch and there was a history of witchcraft in her family. It appears as though the spirits of witches haunt Red Spirit Lake. Marilyn has weird dreams and sees witches or the ghosts of witches wandering around. Caretaker brothers Matthias and Thomas tell Marilyn about how they met up with angels and they help "lock away the demons." Matthias and Thomas were apparently abducted by aliens and operated on. They claim it was angels. Thomas ended up with a scar on his forehead in the shape of an X that oozes green stuff on occasion. Matthias masturbates (in graphic detail) to Marilyn doing aerobics. Diego still wants to get the lake and the house. He sends out two hired killers to ice Marilyn. Thomas tries to fight one of them off but ends up getting killed with a sledgehammer. Matthias shoots one and the other runs off. Diego himself later shows up and drugs and rapes Marilyn. Then one of the witches appears, bites his tongue out and makes him cut his penis off. Marilyn's friends Shirley, Bob and Frank who she invited earlier show up. Bob enjoys going into a hot sauna, chanting "om," then running out naked in the freezing cold and snow, and running back in. The ghost of a witch shows up to give him a blowjob and ends up "disturbing his subtle energy fields." He burns his hand on the sauna door and the witches burn him to a crisp. Two of Diego's hired killers, Wesley and Gabriel, show up. Gabriel ties up Shirley, undresses her, burns her breast with a cigarette, then rapes her and slits her throat. Wesley and Gabriel go after Marilyn and Frank. They both struggle. Frank ends up having his brains blown out with a gun. The witches resurrect Shirley and she throws Gabriel down on the kitchen table and fists him up the ass. He hacks up blood and dies. The witches then lure Wesley out into the snow. They dance around and Wesley undresses. He then ends up freezing to death. In the end Marilyn is gunned down out in the field by Matthias. He ends up with a scar on his forehead and says, "Angel's coming soon." This shot on video movie from director Charles Pinion is hard to describe. It is absolutely one of the weirdest, most offensive, vile, sickening and disturbing movies I've ever seen. There were parts in it that I couldn't bear to watch and I've seen some pretty horrendous things in movies before. There's lots of extremely explicit male and female nudity and graphic sex making it practically equivalent to soft-core porn. The film has some pretty bloody scenes as well. While there is not quite as much graphic gore as I was expecting, the violence has some sort of mean streak to it, making it very unsettling in some places. I actually felt like vomiting when I watched it the first time (the graphic castration scene mentioned earlier is a prime example). It wasn't quite as shocking the second time around. Director Pinion plays the part of Matthias. With Holly Adams, Rick Hall, Bob Log, Jurgen Straub, Richard Kern, Mark Adomaitis, Julie Marlow, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, and Kembra Pfahler. Pinion made WE AWAIT (1996) after this. I'd really like to see his first movie TWISTED ISSUES (1988). A Something Weird Video Release. Not Rated. Charles Pinion now has a website: http://www.charlespinion.com/. He's selling limited edition signed DVDs of TWISTED ISSUES, RED SPIRIT LAKE and WE AWAIT.  - MD

REDWOOD JUSTIN: VAMPIRE HUNTER-DANCE WITH A VAMPIRE (2006) - George Bonilla and ZP International's stab at the vampire subgenre of horror pits Redwood Justin (Stacey T. Gillespie) against a group of vampires who kidnapped his sister years ago. Redwood teams up with Bolt Upright, a wannabe superhero and sidekicks Doc Q and Glenda to battle the vampires and their 200-year-old clan leader. Disco music and dancing, kung fu, bloody vampire battling, and more proceed as Redwood fights to save his sister. REDWOOD JUSTIN: VAMPIRE HUNTER, for what it is, is a pretty enjoyable micro budget vampire film with some decent visual effects, good make-ups, and some moments of campy humor. Like with ZOMBIE PLANET, this one has the same Charles Band/Full Moon vibe and Redwood is a character somewhat cut from the same cloth as Kane in ZOMBIE PLANET. Bonilla and ZP would go on to improve upon this with THE EDISON DEATH MACHINE (2006) and MONSTROSITY (2007). With Matthew Perry, Amy Wills, Bob Singleton, Billy W. Blackwell, and Frank Farhat. The ZP International DVD of REDWOOD JUSTIN: VAMPIRE HUNTER contains an audio commentary with Bonilla, trailers, previews for other ZP movies, and animated menus. A ZP International DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

THE RESURRECTION GAME (1998/2001) - Somewhere in the future, something called the "Infestation" is causing flesh-eating zombies to run rampant and turn into an everyday life problem. It's up to a former police detective, a scientist, and a couple of zombie exterminators to uncover a corporate conspiracy that is behind the flesh eaters and the "Infestation." It's a bloody fun ride as the four battle zombies and get to the bottom of the conspiracy. This low budget, 16mm horror comedy from my friends Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best at Happy Cloud Pictures is quite a good time for those looking for a zombie movie with gore and laughs. It has a good '80s horror feel to it. It's also a must for people who enjoy movies like THE DEAD NEXT DOOR (1988) and DARKNESS (1993). THE RESURRECTION GAME (originally known as NECROMANIAC) was shot in Pittsburgh and stars Ray Yeo, Kristin Pfiefer, Francis Veltri, Bill Homan, Jasi Cotton Lanier, Debbie Rochon, and Charlie Fleming. Mike wrote, produced and directed and plays the part of Adam. Amy co-produced and stars as Sister Bliss. Paul McCollough composed the music score. My review of the film is based on a working version, so the picture quality wasn't the best, and the sound and credits aren't complete. Other Happy Cloud titles include WEREGRRL (2002), SEVERE INJURIES (2003), and SPICY SISTERS SLUMBER PARTY (2004). Unrated - MD

RETURN IN RED (2007) - Director Tyler Tharpe (FREAK - 1997) brings us this tense, suspenseful, and terrifying film about an odd van that shows up in a rural Indiana town and causes a disturbance. The van stops near farmhouses at night and the doors open up revealing some kind of satellite dish inside that gives off a weird humming sound frequency that causes people to go crazy. A young man tries to find out who's behind it, but ends up disappearing after he pokes his nose where it doesn't belong. The van shows up at a factory one night and the sound frequency starts up. A young female office worker inside unaware of what's going on goes out into the work area to find a bloody mess as the workers are all killing each other and committing suicide in gory ways. RETURN IN RED is an excellent 16mm effort with some very suspenseful moments, some fairly decent acting from one child actor, and an ending that leaves the story open to the viewer's interpretation. Who could be doing this odd sound frequency experiment? Could it be the government? Your guess is as good as anybody's. There are some decent make-up effects (by Michael Todd Schneider of Maggot Films, who also appears as a victim) as well. The Image DVD contains a behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted scenes, an audition reel, trailer, a stills gallery, and some DVD-ROM extras. With Linda McCormick, Betty Niccum, Michael G. Young, David Tess, Mary Atkins, Kate Black, and Eric Boring. An Image Entertainment DVD Release. Unrated - MD

ROT (1999) - Make-up effects guru and Florida-based filmmaker Marcus Koch (100 TEARS - 2007; FELL - 2010) brings us this cautionary tale involving young punk couple Muzzy and Sarah (Billy Scam and Tiffany Stinky). Sarah is a necrophiliac and she contracts a flesh eating disease after having sex with a cadaver. She then spreads it to Muzzy through sexual intercourse and the two of them slowly begin to "rot" alive. The two of them are soon on the verge of spreading a nationwide pandemic that threatens to disintegrate anybody who comes into contact with it. The whacko Dr. Olsen (Joel D. Wynkoop) who's responsible for the disease is believed by Sarah to have a cure for it. Government agents soon get involved and gooey, gory chaos ensues. ROT manages to be a pretty enjoyable early effort from a filmmaker who would later go on to do effects work for ALIEN AGENDA: ENDANGERED SPECIES (1998), CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER IV (2000), NIKOS THE IMPALER (2003), AND THEN THEY WERE DEAD (2004), GHOST LAKE (2004), CLOSET SPACE (2008), and SWEATSHOP (2008). Wynkoop's insanely over-the-top performance as Dr. Olsen is one of the best things the movie has going for it. Some of the make-up effects aren't too bad considering the budget and the movie has some very funny moments as well. It's definitely worth popping in the VCR on a boring afternoon. The VHS contains a behind-the-scenes segment after the movie. A Video Outlaw Release. Unrated - MD

SAVAGE HARVEST (1994) – A group of friends get together to help Karen (Ramona Midgett) clean up her uncle’s old house in the woods. One of them tells a story of black magic rituals practiced in the area and supposed demonic possessions and stones that cause anybody who comes into physical contact with them to become demonically possessed. Soon enough, this unfortunate group finds out that these stories are true as they come across demon stones that turn people into homicidal, bloodthirsty monsters, people begin to disappear and the little adventure into the woods becomes a supernatural bloodbath of horror. SAVAGE HARVEST is a great SOV effort from Eric Stanze who would go on to give us ICE FROM THE SUN (1999), THE SEVERED HEAD NETWORK (2000), SCRAPBOOK (2000), I SPIT ON YOUR CORPSE, I PISS ON YOUR GRAVE (2001) and CHINA WHITE SERPENTINE (2003). You can tell THE EVIL DEAD (1983) was Stanze’s biggest influence with SAVAGE HARVEST. The film is loaded with over-the-top and outrageous gore and splatter. Dismemberments? Check. Disembowelments? Check. Slime, guck and bile? Check. Make sure you don’t eat before watching. Visit http://www.wickedpixel.com/ for all the info you need on Stanze and Wicked Pixel Productions. The Sub Rosa SAVAGE HARVEST DVD contains two audio commentaries, a behind-the-scenes documentary, stills gallery, preview trailers and a music video. With Lisa Morrison, William Clifton, David Berliner, D.J. Vivona, Rebecca Kennebeck, Rick Fischer, Pat Coffey, Tommy Biondo and Jerry Bates. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Elite Entertainment is supposed to release SAVAGE HARVEST 2: OCTOBER BLOOD (2006) on DVD this summer. Unrated -MD

SAVAGE HARVEST 2: OCTOBER BLOOD (2006) - This sequel to Eric Stanze's gore-drenched 1994 classic introduces us to a low budget horror filmmaker named Tyge Murdock (Benjamin Gaa) who has a run-in with a string of unfortunate events. An actor was killed in a set accident on one of his films. Trying to put the tragedy behind him, he goes back to his old hometown to collect himself in hopes of putting his life back on track. After returning home, he meets up with an old high school friend named Ashley Lomack (Emily Haack). It turns out Ashley is the sister of Mikki Lomack (Lisa Morrison) who survived the original night in hell in the first movie. Mikki committed suicide a few years after. Tyge's friend Deke (David Propst) is taking care of a drifter named Zack (Eric Stanze). It appears Zack knows a good bit about the original bloodbath from ten years earlier and the cursed stones that turn people into flesh eating demons upon contact. The stones re-emerge and eventually it leads to another night of hell on earth as one unfortunate soul becomes possessed and the curse spreads from one person to another via a sharp, oozing demon tongue. A blood-gushing, innards splattered orgy of gory mayhem ensues involving chainsaw dismemberments, a spike through one's eye, impalements, a crotch chewed out with a chainsaw, crowbars through heads, heads twisted off, legs pulled off, hearts ripped out, pickaxe in the mouth, etc. SAVAGE HARVEST 2 is definitely one of the best sequels anybody could pull off. Director Jason Christ is a man of talent and perspective. The gore is great, the performances from Gaa, Haack, and Stanze are pretty decent, and there are some moments of tension and suspense throughout. Elite Entertainment's 2-disc special edition DVD of SAVAGE HARVEST 2 is loaded with goodies including three audio commentaries (including Jason Christ and cast and crew members), an hour-long behind-the-scenes documentary entitled "Harvest Season: The Making of Savage Harvest 2: October Blood," deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by Jason Christ, an outtakes reel, stills gallery, three of Jason Christ's short films, and trailers for every movie in the Wicked Pixel Cinema catalog. If you're a low budget horror fan, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up as soon as you get the chance. With Jonathan Baker, Julie Farrar, Anna Knobeloch, and Eric Spudic. An Elite Entertainment DVD Release. Unrated - MD

SCHIZOPHRENIAC: THE WHORE MANGLER (1997)/NECROMANIAC: SCHIZOPHRENIAC 2 (2000) - Ron Atkins and Cut Throat Video team up with Brain Damage Films to bring us a double feature of two of the "most vile pieces of filth ever made." SCHIZOPHRENIAC tells the story of Harry Russo (John Giancaspro) a filmmaker and drug addict who's losing his grip on sanity. Harry decides to rid the world of whores and goes on killing rampage targeting Las Vegas prostitutes. Harry carries his puppet "Rubberneck" around with him, dresses up in women's clothing, plays with lipstick, dances around naked, rants to himself, says fuck a lot and spews other obscenities as well as lots of ethnic slurs, bashes a hooker's head to bits with a baseball bat, cuts a drunk's dick off, stabs, slashes and shoots three people in an adult movie theater, and in the end finds himself on the run and unable to tell what's reality and what's a dream in a very confusing ending. NECROMANIAC continues Harry's adventures killing, torturing and having anal sex with the dead bodies of his victims. Harry carries "Rubberneck" around again, has a run in with Jesus, plays obscene pranks at the drive-thrus of fast food joints, rants in public, strangles an old lady, swears a lot, holds a couple prostitutes hostage, and this time is being hunted down by Vegas police (including an foul mouthed, racist asshole detective played by Nick Palumbo) and the brother of one of his victims in the first movie. The ending paves the way for a third movie that Atkins has in the works right now as we speak. SCHIZOPHRENIAC and NECROMANIAC are both incredibly offensive, brutal, gory, and showcase the adventures of a psychopath who has it in for prostitutes, gays and minorities with absolutely no regard for decency or morals whatsoever. It's clear Ron Atkins really knew what he was going for with making these two and Giancaspro's incredibly over-the-top acting is something to see indeed. There's times when you feel like laughing but it would be for all the wrong reasons. These two cult classics are what I'd call the definition of "sick." Politically incorrect doesn't even describe them. They're indeed a love it or hate it affair. Where do I stand? I really can't say for certain. Atkins has certainly improved as a filmmaker with each movie. SCHIZO and NECRO seem to be an homage to serial killer flicks like MANIAC (1980) and HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986). While they're nowhere near as well made or as effective as those two, they both stand as two examples of low budget filmmaking from a director who's very inspired and not willing to be deterred by any constraints on "how far a movie can go." Watch them and decide for yourself. The Brain Damage Double Feature DVD of SCHIZO and NECRO contains trailers and a Harry Russo music video entitled "Die Cunt." The two movies are also available on DVD separately from Atkins' Cut Throat Video as collector's editions with more extras. Be sure to check out Atkins' other movies DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL (1998), EAT THE RICH: THE CANNIBAL MURDERS (2000), GRIP (2002), and THE SINS OF GOVERNMENT (2003/2004). A Brain Damage Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

SCRAPBOOK (2000) - Eric Stanze and Wicked Pixel Cinema bring us this disturbing tale about a serial killer named Leonard (Tommy Biondo) and how he documents his life in a scrapbook. Leonard takes Clara (Emily Haack) hostage. He rapes, beats and tortures her and forces her to write down how she feels about her ordeal in his scrapbook as he has done with his other victims. Trying to figure out a way to escape, Clara makes several attempts which fail which lead to some very brutal and hard-to-watch scenes. Clara then uses Leonard's scrapbook to communicate with him and trick him into thinking she's no longer going to resist his perverse games leading Leonard to a nasty surprise in the end. Filled with torture, graphic sex, nudity, and gore, SCRAPBOOK is a very disturbing and brutal picture that documents the sheer insanity of a psychopath. Some very unpleasant scenes throughout the film include Clara having sour milk dumped on her and being duct-taped inside a garbage can, a part where she has a few of her toes hacked off with an axe in a barn, and Leonard tying her up in the shower videotaping her naked while he holds a razorblade to her face. The end scene, which involves the bottoms of feet being cut open with a steak knife, actually made me flinch. There's also nasty scene of rectum violence involving a whisky bottle. SCRAPBOOK is definitely one of Stanze and Wicked Pixel's best movies and also one of their most disturbing as well. The Sub Rosa DVD contains an audio commentary with Eric Stanze, Jeremy Wallace and Emily Haack, a behind-the-scenes featurette, preview trailers, still gallery, etc. With Todd Tevlin, Elizabeth Hammock, Sam Maiden Jr., and Angelia Sanderson. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Unrated - MD

SCREEN KILL (1997) - A horror movie fan named Doug meets up with an old high school friend named Ralis who sings in a nightclub band that does theatrics and special effects. Doug and Ralis decide to make a slasher movie together. When they film a scene of girl being killed, Ralis goes too far and really kills her by cutting her throat. Doug is shocked and scared at first, but decides to go along with it anyway and they get rid of the body. They decide to start picking people up off the streets and tell them they're going to be in a horror movie. Little do these people know that they're being tricked into starring in a snuff film. A guy's dick is sliced off and he has it shoved down his throat, a girl has her face smashed with an iron, a homeless person is drilled in the eye, another girl is cut in half with a chainsaw, and one guy is half-decapitated with a machete. One of Ralis's band members is hung upside down by a tree branch and he has his head blown off with dynamite. Soon Doug's girlfriend notices he's acting strange and she eventually becomes aware of what he and Ralis are doing. She, of course, ends up really sorry in the end. As far as dime budget shot on video gore flicks go, this one certainly isn't the worst of the bunch, but it's not very good either. The acting is pretty weak and the photography is rather poor. There are some good gore scenes however. If homemade horror is your cup of tea, I say go for it. With Al Darago, Mark Williams, Ann Jagerman, Debbie Jackson, and Bobby Raber. Directed by Doug Ulrich. A Brimstone Productions Release. Also available from Video Outlaw under the title SNUFF KILL. Unrated - MD

SERIAL KILLER (2002) – Ryan Cavalline and 4th Floor Pictures bring us a picture that’s a disturbing look at the life of serial killers. Horror writer Michael (Adam Berasi) decides to write a book about convicted killers and what motivates them to kill. For the project, he interviews several convicts in prisons and institutions and asks them what killing was like for them. The book he’s writing turns out to be very realistic. In fact, it’s so real that the killings described turn out to be the same as brutal murders of women that are occurring as he writes the book. The alleged killer is shown at his house ranting to himself, collecting cut outs from porn magazines, and playing with lipstick. Michael receives tapes of the butchered women before their deaths tied up naked to chairs by the killer and saying, “By the time you see this I will be dead” and giving their last words. What exactly is going on? Who’s really committing the murders? Is somebody deliberately trying to mess with Michael’s head? See the movie and find out for yourself. SERIAL KILLER is a pretty good indie splatter effort. Ryan Cavalline wrote, produced, directed and edited and does a pretty decent job. You could tell he was going for something serious and disturbing in the vein of HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986). Some of the acting is surprisingly good and the effects aren’t too bad considering the budget. The film is definitely not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. That’s how much you need to know before popping it into the DVD player. The Brain Damage Films DVD contains an audio commentary with Cavalline, a behind-the-scenes featurette, trailers for other Brain Damage releases, and trailers for other movies by 4th Floor Pictures. Other movies by Cavalline and 4th Floor include DEMON SLAUGHTER (2003), DAY OF THE AX (2004), DEAD BODY MAN (2004), DEAD BODY MAN 2: SEPARATION ANXIETY (2005), HOUSE OF CARNAGE (2006), and the upcoming ASPIRING PSYCHOPATH (2007). With Pamela Sutch, Vic Badger, Desiree, Eddie Benevich, Rebecca Anderson and with special appearances by Ron Ford, Joel D. Wynkoop, Ron Bonk and Phil Herman as serial killers being interviewed. A Brain Damage Films DVD Release. Unrated - MD

SEVERE INJURIES (2003) - Slasher fans, it's time to meet Melvin Hubble. Melvin has made many unsuccessful attempts to kill. His father shows him his family photo album and tells him that all their family members have been insane and have had the spirit of killing in them since birth, but they've all been so incompetent they couldn't kill a cockroach. Melvin's dad asks him to hand him a fork to stick in the toaster to fix it and dad gets electrocuted and the last thing he tells Mel before he dies is to go out and kill. He adds that it must be a sorority house filled with girls running around in lingerie. Mel listens to what his father says, goes out in his welder's mask and with his machete handy and tries to kill a few times but is unsuccessful once again. He comes across the Ro-Ro-Ro Sorority House. A bunch of college girls and guys throw a party at Ro-Ro-Ro one night. He attempts to kill a girl in the shower but chickens out. Later a girl goes into the bathroom to fix her hair. Mel shows up behind her while she's looking in the mirror. He jumps up and down and waves but this girl is so stupid she can't see that anybody's standing behind her. She suddenly turns around and gets a machete in her stomach. Mel has had his first kill. He then proceeds to slaughter the rest of the partygoers in various gory ways (assorted stabbings, machete through the brain, dismemberment, chainsaw disembowelment, beer can in the eye, tree branch through the head, etc.). Only one problem, one of the guests at the party who gets hooked up with the nerdy girl of the sorority turns out to be psychotic as well. When the two catch up with each other at what they were intending to be a double murder, they get upset with each other and decide it's war. It's a laugh-out loud splatter fest from there on out. SEVERE INJURIES is perhaps my favorite film from Happy Cloud Pictures. Amy Lynn Best directs and stars as the nerdy sorority girl Lauren. She co-produced with Mike Watt (who wrote) and Ron Bonk. The film has a great B-movie cast: Charlie Fleming (who's hilarious as Melvin), Robyn Griggs, Lilith Stabs, Bill Homan, Jasi Cotton Lanier, Debbie Rochon, Ryli Morgan, Mark Baranowski and special appearances by Lloyd Kaufman and Brinke Stevens. The Sub Rosa DVD has many extras including two audio commentaries, one with Amy Lynn Best, Mike Watt, Robyn Griggs and Kevin Kline and the other with Amy, Charlie Fleming, Tim Gross and Jim Steinhoff, outtakes and bloopers, trailers, WEREGRRL (2002) as a bonus feature and WEREGRRL outtakes and interviews. A Sub Rosa Studios DVD Release. Unrated - MD

SHADOW: DEAD RIOT (2006) - Carl Morano and Fever Dreams Productions bring us a crazy genre-blending shot-on-digital effort that combines elements of zombie movies, women-in-prison films, and Asian martial arts flicks all in the style of good old 1970's grindhouse cinema. Solitaire (Carla Greene), a tough young black girl is sent to a maximum-security prison that is now a prison for women. The facility was once the scene of the execution of a serial killer, who made a deal with the devil, known as Shadow (genre star Tony Todd) years ago. The supernatural activity Shadow was involved in had an effect on the other prisoners causing them to riot and be gunned down by guards who took their bodies buried them beneath the lawn of the prison. Shadow comes back from the grave with a vengeance and unleashes the dead prisoners from underneath the prison yard lawn as a horde of flesh eating zombies. This all happens after a prisoner who cuts her foot trying to escape bleeds on the ground and down into the soil. A tremendous amount of hell breaks loose with some serious kung fu and ass-kicking scenes, zombies wreaking havoc in the prison, a girl who gives birth to a mutant zombie baby, gore, guts, exploding heads, and more. Solitaire proves herself to be very tough as she fights off the mean girls of the prison, zombies, and Shadow in the end. SHADOW: DEAD RIOT is one wild ride for exploitation fans. It has everything fans could ask for: Copious amounts of gore, nudity, sleaze, lesbians, zombies, kung fu, references to other B-movies and horror classics, etc. The cast also features Misty Mundae and Ruby LaRocca as well as little cameo appearances by Bill Hinzman ("Graveyard Zombie") as "Romero the Zombie" and Captain Haggerty ("Fat Zombie Aboard Boat") as "Lucio the Zombie." Barbara Joyce and Debbie D are also featured as prison inmate extras. Directed by Derek Wan from a screenplay by Fangoria's Michael Gingold. Allan Cooke, Brian Spears and Pete Gerner handled the make-up effects. The Shriek Show 2-disc Unrated DVD contains a cast and crew commentary, isolated music score, a behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted scenes, an artwork gallery, music video, and more. A Shriek Show DVD release. Available in R and Unrated versions. - MD

THE SHIVERS (1998) - Todd Sheets brings us this tale filled with grue and gore about the infamous Dread Mansion. Dread Mansion is a place with an awful past that no one in their right mind would ever think about buying or even embrace the idea of throwing a party in it. But, sure enough, some dimwit buys the place and plans a Halloween party. One of his friends tells the partygoers a story about the supernatural happenings believed to have taken place in the old mansion years ago and the man who once lived there who murdered his family. Throwing caution to the wind, the gang enters the place thinking those stories about it being haunted are just hogwash. Soon enough, the supernatural forces lurking within begin doing away with the characters in gruesome fashion. A girl is strapped to a table, gutted and then is fed her intestines through a milk jug and funnel, a weird fungus comes out of a bathtub unleashing a flesh eating goo that melts a dude into a puddle of slime, a guy is tortured by having his teeth yanked out, a zombie is stabbed in the eye with an umbrella, a demon gets a machete through its brain, and a really messy chainsaw dismemberment with gushing blood and innards are just a few of the gory goodies that splatter the screen in this Sheets outing. It's a must for gorehounds and SOV horror enthusiasts everywhere. With Rico Love, Antwoine Steele, Nick Stodden, Jenni Geigel, Ruth Adams, Jolene Durrill, Abe Dyer, Lyla Johnson, Byron Nichodemus, Rod Will, Becky Stodden, Brenna O'Brien, Pat Stodden, Rachel Wintermeyer, and Jerry Norris. A Shock-O-Rama Cinema Release. Unrated - MD

SHRECK (1990) - Horror movie fan Roger Drake lives in a house where a Nazi fugitive named Max Shreck once lived. Roger and his friends decide to form a club called "The Dogs of Gore" and hold a séance for Shreck on the anniversary of his death. They practice a ritual to resurrect him and this goes horribly awry (as usual) and they end up bringing him back to life and find themselves fighting for their lives as they get trapped back in the time when he lived in the house and was torturing and slaughtering people in the most vile, sickening ways imaginable. This no budget shot on video gore fest from Don Adams and Harry James Picardi is better than what I was expecting. There are some really nasty scenes of dismemberment, disembowelment, torture, and mutilation. I seem to remember reading a review where somebody said it ranks up with SPLATTER FARM (1987) as the most offensive shot on video horror flick from the US, but it's definitely nowhere near as offensive as that one. Obviously this person didn't see RED SPIRIT LAKE (1993). I think it's safe to say that that's the most offensive one of all. The VHS contains a short behind the scenes segment after the movie. The filmmakers really seemed to have fun time shooting it and seemed very enthusiastic about the experience overall. With William Lantry, T.K. Malone, Anthony Vandeuren, Sharon Wozniak, Dan Popple, and Big Joe Mueller. A Video Outlaw Release. Unrated - MD NOTE: The error-filled (but essential) site IMDB lists this film as being photographed by the notorious Jim Wynorski using the pseudonym "Arch Stanton". According to our friend Greg Conley at YourVideoStoreShelf, Wynorski sent him an email that stated: " I never came near this picture.  I used the Arch Stanton alias one time on SCREAM QUEEN HOT TUB PARTY.  But that was it." Of course "Arch Stanton" was the name used on the grave marker in the cemetery that Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach were searching for in THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966). A shortened version of SHRECK (along with a "Making Of" segment) can be found on the Tempe Video DVD of VENGEANCE OF THE DEAD (2001), also directed by Don Adams and Harry James Picardi. If anyone has a decent-sized scan of the SHRECK  VHS cover (It's impossible to find), please email it to me. I'll be sure to give you credit and some movie-related goodies. - Editor

SKIN CRAWL (2007) - Debbie Rochon stars as a woman who's the descendant of a 17th century witch (also played by Rochon in the opening flashback) who was murdered after she and her two sisters were hunted down by villagers. Her sisters put a curse on the future generations of the family enabling supernatural forces to get revenge on those who do wrong to any descendants. Rochon's husband (Kevin G. Shinnick) is cheating on her with another woman (Julian Wells). The husband and mistress get together and plot to have her killed so they can make off with her money only to have her come back to life as a zombie hungry for revenge and the husband, mistress and gangsters involved in having her killed end up sorry they ever messed with her and her family's curse. SKIN CRAWL is a great B-movie from first time director Justin Wingenfeld. The film contains gore and guts, worms, nudity, etc. and Rochon and Wells are perfect in their roles. The make-up effects (by Brett Piper and Michael R. Thomas) are pretty decent and the movie kind of has a '70s vibe to it combining elements of the supernatural and revenge movies of that era. Shock-O-Rama's DVD of SKIN CRAWL contains a commentary with Wingenfeld and producer Michael Raso, a behind-the-scenes featurette entitled "Under Your Skin&ldots;The Skin Crawl" containing interviews with Rochon and Wingenfeld, and a Shock-O-Rama trailer vault. With Armand Anthony Mazza, John Paul Fedele, Rodney Gray, Heidi Sjurssen, Ruby LaRocca, Misty Mundae, Barbara Joyce, Terry M. West, and Michael R. Thomas. A Shock-O-Rama Cinema DVD Release. Rated R - MD  NOTE: Also available as part of Shock-O-Rama Cinema's SUBURBAN PSYCHO 4-FILM HORROR COLLECTION. - Editor

SKINNED DEEP (2004) – Make-up effects artist Gabe Bartalos makes his directorial debut with this low budget 16mm splatter comedy. The film blends elements of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974), MOTEL HELL (1980), BLOOD SALVAGE (1990) and all of Frank Henenlotter’s movies. This tells the story of an insane family living at a lodge out in the desert with an old mother who sticks a hose in the back of her neck to get nutrients from dead fetuses cased in glass, a deformed son with a huge brain sticking out of his head like a MARS ATTACKS (1996) alien, a midget who uses dish plates like throwing stars (played by the one and only Warwick Davis of LEPRECHAUN [1992] fame), and a mutant dude with big sharp mechanical metal jaws and a wicked looking martial arts-type blade as a weapon of choice. This crazed bunch sets traps to run vacationers off the road and tow them back to their place for help. One vacationing family ends up being victim of one of their traps. Little does this family know that these people are cannibalistic psychopaths. The mom has her throat slit, the dad is sliced open like a fish, the young son is split in half down the middle, and the big-brained son convinces his family not to kill the teenage daughter. They hold the poor young girl hostage. Brain-head really likes her. She tries to convince him to let her go. In the meantime, anybody who comes into contact with the psychotic family doesn’t make it home alive. Some old dudes show up (one of them is played by the legendary Forrest Ackerman). One of them has their hand blown off with a small silver peace sign that’s actually a bomb. A couple others have the explosive devices attached to their heads and the device is set off and their heads explode. One old guy decides to get tough and go up against the midget. This old dude mashes Warwick Davis’s face into a bloody pulp and rips his head off with his bare hands, tosses it through the air and it lands on a couple’s windshield while they’re driving. There’s also a ROAD WARRIOR (1982)-style chase scene where the family tortures the teenage girl by strapping her to the front of their truck and driving her down the desert highway. They come across a bunch of guys in a pick-up truck. Our metal-jawed freak jumps onto the truck and starts slicing everybody up. After running the truck off the road, they kill the remaining survivor named Petey (played by New York actor Peter Iasillo Jr. who was a zombie extra in DAY OF THE DEAD (1985) and has also acted in IGOR AND THE LUNATICS (1985), SPOOKIES (1985) and STREET TRASH (1987) by dumping sand down his throat. The finale in the film where the teenage girl tries to escape is very gooey and icky when she rips a piece of Brain-head’s brain off and his head falls apart and oozes green guck and kindergarten ABC letter blocks come out of it and form “I love you.” The mother gets her hose pulled and melts into a pool of slime. Metal Jaws gets pulverized into pieces by a motorcycle. SKINNED DEEP is a movie that’s in a class of its own. Gabe Bartalos basically took elements from every Henenlotter movie and threw them in blender. No surprise, since he handled the effects for Frank’s BRAIN DAMAGE (1988), FRANKENHOOKER (1990), BASKET CASE 2 (1990) and BASKET CASE 3: THE PROGENY (1992). One scene where the big-brained freak is imagining himself running naked down the street in New York City definitely reminds one of the dream sequence in BASKET CASE (1982). Brain-head himself even looks like something out of one of the BASKET CASE sequels. Gabe was even nice enough to cast Davis as the midget since he handled Warwick’s make-up in the LEPRECHAUN movies. Gabe’s Atlantic West Effects handled the make-up effects and Al Magliochetti did the visual effects. Overall, SKINNED DEEP is a very entertaining gore effort from a first time director. My only gripe about the film: If you have to watch the end credits, turn the volume off. You hear the film’s heroine screaming as they role. It’s very annoying. Frank Henenlotter, Arnold Gargiulo, and all of Gabe’s other friends are thanked in the end credits. You can visit Atlantic West Effects online at http://www.atlanticwesteffects.com/. The Fangoria’s Gorezone DVD of SKINNED DEEP contains a director’s commentary, a cool behind-the-scenes featurette and preview trailers. With Karoline Brandt, Eric Bennett, Linda Weinrib, Lee Koceila, Liz Little, Jay Dugre, Alan Tuskes, Clayton Martinez, John Deall, Bill Butts, Les Pollack, Joel Harlow, Aaron Sims, and Kurt Carley. A Hart Sharp Video DVD Release. Rated R - MD

SLAUGHTER DISC (2005) - David Quitmeyer and Steel Web Studios bring us this rare mix of porn and horror as we are introduced to Mike (Robert Williams), a lazy low life who sits around doing nothing but jacking off to porn videos. His girlfriend walks out on him and he eventually loses his job. He becomes obsessed with adult film star Andromeda Strange (Caroline Pierce) and orders one of her DVDs through her website. Andromeda is supposed to be one of the nastiest S&M fetish porn girls on the scene. Mike receives her DVD in the mail. The DVD is a bizarre, transparent disc. He puts the disc in and settles in with his hand lotion and proceeds to watch as Andromeda engages in sick, sadistic sexual acts involving blood and straight razors. Andromeda kills herself at the end by slitting her throat. The next day, Mike puts the DVD in again, and Andromeda is back (apparently a zombie) and begins pleasuring lucky guys in bed before torturing and killing them in very graphic ways. Necrophilia, close up penetration and oral sex, graphic slashings with razors, a head gorily mashed to bits with a hammer, and other depraved acts ensue. Once Mike realizes that Andromeda is really killing the people in the video and sees her kill one of his friends, he proceeds to tell authorities that a sick nymphomaniac is killing people on camera and he's somehow able to see it all through the DVD, but to no avail. Getting rid of the disc and getting Andromeda out of his life turns out to be harder than he thought as the zombie nymph from hell proceeds to destroy him. SLAUGHTER DISC is an original micro budget torture porn flick with enough graphic gore, torture, and sex to keep fans of "gore porn" satisfied. There were some really nasty moments in it that made me cringe, I must say. I look forward to seeing more from Quitmeyer and Steel Web. The Steel Web DVD of SLAUGHTER DISC contains a behind-the-scenes featurette, outtakes, photo gallery, production notes entitled "The Curse of Slaughter Disc," trailer, and a few hidden Easter eggs. A Steel Web Studios DVD Release. Unrated - MD

SLAUGHTERED VOMIT DOLLS (2006) - Here it is, the first ever movie to start a whole new genre of film called "Vomit Gore." Filmmaker Lucifer Valentine, a current Canadian resident who was originally born and raised in South Africa, graphically throws his depraved visions in our faces with this disgusting, but yet oddly fascinating film. Reviled by some and loved by others, I had often wondered which category I would fall into after viewing it for the first time, and to be honest, I'd say my overall view of it is neutral. It's a film that's definitely unwatchable at times, but at the same time its story is rather compelling and tragic. What's most disturbing is the fact that much of it is based on things Lucifer Valentine had experienced in his life. Raised by Satanist parents and also a Satanist himself, he spent a good chunk of his life exploring the hardcore underground porn scene and became acquainted with many actresses on this scene and has had much interest in the XXX films of Max Hardcore who did a lot of vomit fetish porn. A real-life vomit fetishist, or emitophile as it's called, Lucifer Valentine's SLAUGHTERED VOMIT DOLLS stars Ameara LaVey, once his real-life girlfriend, as a bulimic wannabe dancer with a troubled past who resorts to becoming a porn actress, a stripper and prostitute because she has no money and nowhere else to go. LaVey's character in the film is actually based on herself in real life and some snippets of home movies Lucifer made with her while they were living together are edited into the film throughout. We are treated to seemingly random moments where the so-called "Vomit Gore" genre the film belongs to makes good use of the term with incredibly sickening scenes of people puking on each other, torture involving a girl's eyes plucked out and the eyeballs are then vomited on, a guitarist hacking someone's arm off and sticking the fingers down his throat to make himself puke while on stage, and cannibalism in which a guy saws the top of someone's head off, scoops out the brains and eats them and then pukes the liquefied brains back into the open skull. He then proceeds to drink the regurgitated remains and recycle them repeatedly by puking them back up again, drinking them, puking them back up again, over and over and over. In the end, the viewer is really left perplexed as to what they just viewed and not really sure how to categorize it. The film is gross, offensive, and disturbing, yet, it seems to work best as an experimental feature. Those looking for something with an experimental feel may want to give it a look at least once, but those looking for traditional horror should best steer clear. In my view, that's what best sums it up. Often compared with movies like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980), NEKROMANTIK (1987), the GUINEA PIG series, AUGUST UNDERGROUND (2001), and MURDER-SET-PIECES (2004), but in my opinion, the only comparison to those films lies with the many controversial gore, violence and sex elements featured throughout. Other than that, SLAUGHTERED VOMIT DOLLS is its own entity. Lucifer Valentine followed this up with REGOREGITATED SACRIFICE (2008) and the third entry in the trilogy is coming out later this year (That would be titled SLOW TORTURE PUKE CHAMBER [2009] - Editor). The Unearthed Films DVD release of SVD contains a director's commentary, a commentary with star Ameara LaVey, a making-of featurette, photo gallery, production notes, footage from Valentine and LaVey's home movies, trailers and more. An Unearthed Films DVD Release (RS is also now available from Unearthed as well). Unrated - MD  NOTE: This is why I let Mario review these films. I think he is going extremely easy on this film in his review. I have also seen this and REGOREGITATED SACRIFICE and all I can say about them is that they are a few steps below porn films in my mind (it doesn't surprise me that Max Hardcore, who is currently serving time in federal prison on obscenity convictions, is an influence) and seem to callously cross the line from fantasy to reality, catering to those kind of people without any real moral center (And I'm not talking about Satanists. Some of my best friends are Satanists, Wiccans, Athiests and Agnostics. I'm talking about the hardcore fetishists, the kind of people that have no problem "crossing the line" to get a thrill.). Anyone who enjoys watching people puking and re-puking fluids and chunks of matter need to have their heads examined, in my opinion. I find these films morally reprehensible, but hey, that's just me. There are people out there who also enjoy watching other people squash objects under their feet. To each their own. I'm also very surprised  to learn that Unearthed Films is involved in all this. - Editor   

SLIME CITY (1989) - A young art student named Alex (Robert C. Sabin) moves into an apartment building in New York City. His weird neighbors who are into the occult give him green wine and Himalayan yogurt. This causes him to melt and ooze and he transforms into a gooey, blood crazed, homicidal slime monster. It appears as though the neighbors are doing this to him in order to reincarnate the soul of a dead alchemist named Zachary in his body. Alex's girlfriend takes notice of his strange behavior and in the end she has to fight for her life and go up against him in order to destroy Zachary's evil spirit. This is a very campy and enjoyable low budget splatter effort. Shot on 16mm on a budget of about $50,000. The film has some really good gore scenes including some smashed heads, a gang member's hand eaten by Alex's stomach and an incredibly slimy and over the top finale where Alex's girlfriend hacks him to pieces in the apartment. After she slices his stomach open with a knife, his intestines fall out and he just picks them up and stuffs them back in. After she chops his head off, his body still walks around and the head gives orders. The craziest scene would have to be the head splitting open and the brain crawling out. Scott Coulter did a hell of a job with the make-up effects. Director Gregory Lamberson had worked as the production manager on I WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE (1987) and he was also an assistant director on PLUTONIUM BABY (1987) and Frank Henenlotter's excellent BRAIN DAMAGE (1988). After SLIME CITY, he directed a vampire flick called NEW YORK VAMPIRE (a.k.a. UNDYING LOVE - 1991) and a shot on video psycho thriller called NAKED FEAR (1999). Lamberson is now writing horror novels and he has a website where you can contact him: http://www.slimeguy.com/ The steadicam work in SLIME is by Jim Muro (director of STREET TRASH [1987]). Jim has of course gone on to be one of the busiest steadicam photographers in Hollywood. With Mary Huner, T.J. Merrick, Dennis Embry, Dick Biel, Jane Doniger Reibel, Bunny Levine, and Marilyn Oran. A Camp Video Release. Available from Shock-O-Rama Cinema in a DVD collector's edition with director's commentary, a "making of" featurette, trailer, trailers for other Shock-O-Rama releases, NAKED FEAR as a bonus feature, and a collectible booklet with director's liner notes. Not Rated - MD  NOTE: In 2010, director Gregory Lamberson directed a sequel, SLIME CITY MASSACRE, starring Debbie Rochon (who is quickly becoming a great actress). - Editor

SOUL OF THE DEMON (1991) - A couple kids skipping school ride their bikes out to a lake and discover a small gargoyle-looking statue figure sticking out of the ground. An old man warns them about the powers it possesses. They go to a library and read a book on passages similar to the "Book of the Dead." The one kid gets together with his older teenage brother and his friend and they throw a party with their other friends from school to hold a séance. Then all hell breaks loose as the young kid becomes possessed and the boys and girls start to die off in extremely gory ways. Heads are exploded, people are dismembered, people are cut in half, and heads are cut in half. SOUL OF THE DEMON is actually a pretty decent SOV effort with some pretty good effects. It's an obvious homage to THE EVIL DEAD (1982) that director Charles Lang manages to pull off very well. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Charles has directed anything else. With Sky Daniel, Garry Godfrey, Harold Allen, John Bonito, Kirk King, Sophocles Frangakis, Jonathan Sudbury, Crystal Ortega, Bonnie Henchal, Traci Lera-Michelin, and Liz McKeown. A Dead Alive Productions VHS Release. Available on DVD from Brain Damage Films as a part of the Pendulum Pictures "Hardcore Horrors" 6-movie set and the "Tomb of Terrors" 50-movie set. Not Rated - MD

SPINE (1986) - Obscure shot on video slasher dreck tells the story of a psycho who's stalking and killing nurses for no apparent reason. The killer writes the name Linda in blood after each killing in which he ties them up and stabs them to death. Some inept detectives try to stop him. Eventually the maniac finds his way into the house of one of the nurses and he terrorizes her and her friend for the rest of the movie. Definitely not one of the better shot on video flicks out there. The film has some poorly done gore, no real gratuitous nudity, and some cheesy sound effects. But it's all kind of amusing to some extent. If you enjoy home video splatter/trash pics like BOARDINGHOUSE (1982), SLEDGEHAMMER (1983), BLOOD CULT (1985), and 555 (1988) this may be of some interest to you. With R. Eric Huxley, Janus Blythe, Lise Romanoff, Antoine Herzog, Abby Sved, Marie Dowling, and James Simonds. Written-produced-directed by Justin Simonds and John Howard. A 4-Play Video Release. There is also a bootleg Canadian DVD floating around on eBay. Not Rated - MD

SPLATTER FARM (1987) - Oh my god! One does not know where to start when it comes to describing this extremely rare shot on video masterpiece. It's absolutely horrible. It's got bad acting and editing and the production values are lower than a grade school play. But the movie is so laughably and disgustingly bad, you don't know whether to laugh or puke your guts out. That's what makes it so fun to watch. Twin brothers Joseph and Alan (Mark and John Polonia) go out to visit their aunt who lives on a farm. What they don't know is that their aunt's handyman named Jeremy (Todd Rimatti) is a psychopathic, sadomasochistic necrophiliac who likes to hack people up with farm and gardening tools and have sexual relations with the dismembered body parts. In this movie you will see the following: Jeremy using a severed arm and a decapitated head to pleasure himself, one of the twins being drugged by his aunt so she can have sex with him, a dream sequence where one of the twins craps up a big butcher knife on the toilet and pulls his colon out through his mouth, a male rape scene with fisting and pissing, frontal male nudity, a cat eating vomit, little kids chocking on lye-laced cocktails, etc. Yep, this is a movie that really takes pleasure in grossing us out to the max. You can tell the movie had no effects budget. There's lots of really cheap but extreme gore. The screeching, high-pitched harpsichord and keyboard music score is enough to make you want to take the gun to your head. You'd be pretty hard pressed to find an actress worse than the one playing the aunt. This is the type of movie you need to watch with a bunch of friends when you're really drunk. The Polonia's went on to do several other shot on video features (including a few with Jon McBride). Directed by P. Alan and produced by J.K. Farlew. With Marion Costly, Jeff Seddon, and Bernice Tombs. A Donna Michelle Productions Release There is now a SPLATTER FARM: 20th Anniversary Edition DVD available exclusively from www.regalstudios.com . Also coming to DVD in August 2007 from Camp Motion Pictures. Not Rated - MD

TALES FROM THE QUADEAD ZONE (1987) - All I have to say is wow! More shot on video cheesiness from BLACK DEVIL DOLL FROM HELL director Chester N. Turner. In some ways, this one is a little bit better than that movie. The wraparound story of this anthology movie stars Shirley Latanya Jones from BLACK DEVIL DOLL as a mother whose son died years ago. The spirit of her son apparently lives inside a coffee cup (don't ask me where they got this idea) and the cup floats around while she talks to it and reads it stories. She finds a book called "Tales From the Quadead Zone" and reads two stories. The first story is called "Food For?" and is about a poor redneck family living out in the boonies who have a very limited food supply. They argue and yell at each other a lot. One of the sons eventually decides that death is the only way out of misery for them and he grabs a shotgun and starts killing them all. The second story is called "The Brothers" and is about two black brothers named Ted and Fred who have always been enemies. Fred dies from a heart attack and Ted decides to steal Fred's body from the funeral home for some weird deed for personal reasons and ends up conjuring up a demonic zombie clown killer with disastrous consequences. The wraparound finishes off with Jones's husband coming home. After he finds out that she's been talking to the cup, he beats her and tries to kill her. The two of them struggle and she grabs a knife and stabs him repeatedly in the stomach. While he's laying on the kitchen floor bleeding to death, he manages to get to the telephone and call the cops. When the cops show up and find the husband dead they tell Jones that they're taking her in. She tells the cops she needs a minute before she leaves and goes into the bathroom and cuts her own throat with a razor. The ghost of the dead mother and son still inhabit the house in the end. This ultra-obscure no budgeter isn't quite as weird as BLACK DEVIL DOLL, but it is a very original movie in itself and all the stories are very creative. Unlike Turner's previous film, this one actually has some gore and bloody death scenes and it doesn't have an all-black cast. Good luck finding it. You may be able to find some DVD-R's floating around that are really cheap, but the last original VHS that I saw on eBay went for over $70! Luckily I was able to get mine from Cinema Wasteland for only $20. It was the last copy they had. Aren't I lucky? With John W. Jones, Jamar E. Bankhead, Patrick D. Tanguy, Richard Tanguy, Dan Kugler, W.J. Rider, Doug Daverport, Johnnie Tanguy, Chris Calloway, Kim Nichols, Tammy Nichols, Jeff Miza, Ronda Rider, Keefe L. Turner, Larry Jones, Lawrence R. Jones, William Jones, and Tommy L. Miller. A BC Video Release. Unrated - MD NOTE: And at 61 minutes long, it doesn't overstay it's welcome! - Editor

TALES TILL THE END (1996) – Another shot-on-video anthology from Phil Herman and Falcon Video. Three friends Parker (played by Phil Herman), Damien and John get together and soon find out that the US is under a state of emergency as an experimental chemical has caused a poisonous outbreak that has wiped out all of Europe and is headed to the US. The poison turns its victims into flesh hungry cannibals. It’s become evident that the end of civilization may be near. The three drive around till they find an area where they’ll be safe. They find their way to an underground hideout and bring all their belongings from their car. While hiding from the deadly outbreak, the three of them decide to tell stories about incidents that had recently happened to them. Damien tells the story about the knife of a homicidal maniac that he found. It turns out the knife is beholden to some supernatural force and it causes Damien to go ballistic and start killing his friends until one of them tries to get the knife out of his hands to break the curse. Parker tells the story about his experiencing filming a low budget horror movie that turns out to be BURGLAR FROM HELL (1993) and his quest to get a distributor. He talks with several actors including Joel D. Wynkoop. Joel tells him about all the movies he’s done including TRUTH OR DARE (1986), KILLING SPREE (1987), and WICKED GAMES (1994). The distributor who Parker finds tells him he likes the story and is willing to distribute the movie. But when he takes the movie to him and tells him it’s shot on video, the distributor tells him there’s nothing he can do with it and he wants something shot on film and calls Parker a “piss clam.” After taking this rejection, Parker gets mad and takes the BURGLAR FROM HELL tape, stabs it with a knife and then stabs the distributor in the chest with the knife and the guy dies with a BURGLAR FROM HELL VHS pinned to his chest. John tells the third and final story about a disingenuous housewife Jessie (Debbie D) and how she cheats on her husband with every man in the neighborhood. Her husband Jim is well aware of the affairs she’s having but doesn’t want to come out and admit it for fear of putting her through too much pain. In the story, John is somebody who has a crush on Jessie, but she keeps rejecting him. After Jessie and Jim finally come face to face about the fact of her affairs, he straps her to a chair and proceeds to cut her fingers off one by one for every time the phone rings and nobody answers. After losing two fingers, John comes in and beats Jim to death and hopes he’ll be able to sweep Jessie off her feet for saving her life. Unfortunately she continues to reject him and brush him off as a loser. He then proceeds to finish the job her husband started by cutting off her fingers for every time the phone rings and their isn’t an answer. She eventually bleeds to death. After Parker, Damien and John are all done telling stories, Damien and John become flesh-eating cannibals and Parker finds he’s immune to the toxic chemical. He’s then left to fend for himself. TALES TILL THE END is nowhere near as entertaining as HORRORTALES.666 nor does it have the charm of BURGLAR FROM HELL, but it’s still worth a look if you like really cheap movies with the sole point of displaying lots of T&A and mindless bloodshed. With Barry Gaines, Ben Stanski, Joe Scalici, and Dyan Kane. A Falcon Video Release. Unrated - MD

THINGS (1989) - College buddies Don and Fred go to visit their friend Doug at his cabin in the woods. Doug's wife is pregnant and it turns out that a doctor conducting weird medical experiments somehow impregnated her with bug parasites. She dies after giving birth to jumbo-sized killer bug creatures and they cause trouble for Don, Fred and Doug in the cabin during a blackout. Fred mysteriously disappears and Don and Doug try to find him while fighting off the giant bugs. This ultra low budget Super 8 vomit fest from Toronto is definitely one of the worst atrocities ever committed to film. Yet it's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen too! Porn star Amber Lynn plays a TV news reporter who reads her lines off of cue cards. This is her first non-adult movie. They throw in references to George Romero and Traci Lords. There's also a scene where the guys make fun of a cheap horror movie playing on TV. We get lots of extreme (but amateurish) gore effects, slime, puking, paper mache bug puppets, and outrageous dialogue. My favorite lines are "Does a toilet flush in a blackout?" "Oh my god! I hammered your head in! Are you alright?" and "Little fuckers! Come back with my eyeball!" Get this one if you need a good laugh. Barry J. Gillis co-wrote and co-produced with director Andrew Jordan. He also plays the part of Don. Nick Zedd is thanked in the end credits. With Doug Bunston, Bruce Roach, and Jan W. Pachul. An InterAmerican Entertainment Release. It is now available on special anniversary edition DVD from http://www.things1989.com/. Not Rated - MD NOTE: Available on legitimate DVD from InterVision Picture Corp., an offshoot label of Severin Films. - Editor

THINGS (1993) – The wraparound story of this SOV horror anthology from Sterling Entertainment starts off with a businessman who cheats on his wife leaving a motel room after sex with a prostitute. His wife, who’s very upset about his affair, sneaks into the motel room, threatens the hooker with a gun and ties her up to a chair. She then proceeds to tell her two stories. The first story, “The Box,” concerns a group of hookers who travel out to a small town in the desert to move into an old theater. They bought the theater thinking it would make a good whorehouse. The mayor of the town is a very creepy dude. He doesn’t seem to take too kindly to whores hanging out in his town. He then unleashes a slimy slug-like monster with a nasty set of teeth that lives in a box on the group of hookers. The “thing” burrows into people’s stomachs and eats their guts. The second story, “Thing in a Jar,” concerns a woman (Courtney Lercara from Tim Ritter’s KILLING SPREE [1987]) who keeps having nightmares about her husband killing her and dismembering her. She has a dream where he cuts her eyes out, one where he throws her against a door and she gets her teeth knocked out and another where he snaps her hand off. She tells her best female friend about the dreams. Her friend warns her that her dreams might be trying to tell her something and she should leave her husband now before the nightmares become real. Little does she know that her friend and husband already have a plan to kill her and bury her body, move out of town and take her money. After being stabbed by her husband, she comes back and attacks her husband and her friend while they’re making love (they thought she was already dead). She then ends up with her eyes cut out, her hands chopped off and her teeth pulled out. They bury the body in the front yard and put her clown jar where she was keeping money on top of the soil with the eyes, hands and teeth inside and dump acid in it to destroy the evidence. Over night, the acid somehow causes the dismembered body parts to morph together into a bloody, gooey, slimy intestine monster with hands, eyes and teeth. It bites the husband’s hand off. The girlfriend then finds his mutilated body in bed with the eyes ripped out. The intestine monster then proceeds to strangle her to death. When the forensics find the dead bodies, the hands and eyes of the husband and girlfriend turn up in the clown jar while the wife’s body parts are mysteriously reattached. End of story. THINGS is a very weird, twisted, original and gory anthology film. Definitely one of the better homegrown horrors out there. The make-up effects and creatures (by Mike Tristano) are very well done. Dennis Devine (FATAL IMAGES – 1988, DEAD GIRLS – 1990, HAUNTED – 1998, etc.) directs the first story and the wraparound while Jay Woelfel (BEYOND DREAM’S DOOR – 1989, UNSEEN EVIL – 1999, DEMONICUS – 2001, etc.) directs the second story. These two cult favorites put all their low budget moviemaking talents to good use with both stories. THINGS even managed to spawn two sequels, THINGS 2 (1998 directed by Dennis Devine and Mike Bowler) and DEAD TIME TALES (1998 directed by Ron Ford). With Kelly-Jean Dammeyer, Neil Delama, Bob Frey, Judith Montgomery, Kathleen O’Donnel, Scot Pierce, Trey Garris, Deborah Stevens, Kinder Hunt, Jesse Hernandez and Jeff Burr (as a coroner). A Burning Moon Home Video Release. Not Rated - MD

TWISTED ISSUES (1988) – Charles Pinion’s first foray into the home video splatter scene is this weird, funny, gory, and sick zero budget shot-on-video effort concerning a young skateboarding kid who gets killed by a gang of drug addict punks after they give him a hard time and he retaliates. After running him over with their car, a Frankenstein wannabe doctor and his female assistant find his body in the parking lot and take him back to their lab where they manage to re-animate him. He wakes up with a bandaged face and skin from his face grafted to his legs. He goes ballistic and kills the doctor with a steak through the heart and demands his assistant give him his skateboard back. The skateboard has the wheels broken off of it and he takes a power drill, drills a hole through his foot and nails the skateboard to it. He then proceeds to do away with the gang of druggies and their friends in ultra-gory ways. While this is all going on we are shown a young man named Charles (played by director Charles Pinion himself) and his girlfriend watching all the events involving the skateboarder and his friend on television and the two of them fight and kill each other but keep coming back to life. Throughout the movie we are shown television clips of the Pope, Ronald Reagan, politicians, evangelists, NASA footage, old Nazi/Hitler film footage, the famous ‘80s “brain on drugs” anti-drug ad, punk rock music videos and various punk bands are featured on the soundtrack throughout. Like Pinion’s later films RED SPIRIT LAKE (1993) and WE AWAIT (1996), TWISTED ISSUES is a film that’s very hard to describe and it seems to be in a league of its own. I’d say Pinion’s work is most comparable with that of Jim VanBebber and the works of Nick Zedd, Richard Kern, Lydia Lunch and everybody else in the Cinema of Transgression scene. TWISTED ISSUES has gained some minor cult status ever since being self-distributed by Charles on VHS back in 1988 and it’s been covered in Film Threat, Shock Cinema, Ecco and Gorefest magazine. Charles co-wrote with Steve Antczak who also stars. With Paul Soto, Lisa Soto, Hawk, Debra Althea Lausanne Phillips aka English, Rachel Guinan, David Peck, Jorge Cervera, Sam Gough, Michelle Gould, David Hecht, K.P. Pete Brightman, Vic Wilkinson, Chuck Speta, Pam Gauthier, Paige Kelly, Jennifer Canal, Karin Roach, Ross Jones, Walt Pressley, Coop Bill Perry, Clif Nelson, Robert Marvin, Tom Nordlie, and Robyn Goodkind. This limited edition (313 copies) signed DVD-R edition of TWISTED ISSUES available directly from Charles himself contains a slide show of Charles’ old “Twisted Tissues-Funnies Two” comic strip from back in the late ‘80s and trailers for TWISTED, RED SPIRIT LAKE and WE AWAIT. RED SPIRIT LAKE and WE AWAIT are also both available from Charles in limited edition signed DVD-Rs. Go to http://www.charlespinion.com/ for order info. An Inferential Pictures DVD Release. Not Rated - MD

VIDEO VIOLENCE PART 2: THE EXPLOITATION! (1987) - New Jersey's Gary P. Cohen returns with a sequel to the shot on video classic VIDEO VIOLENCE... WHEN RENTING IS NOT ENOUGH! (1986). Snuff film-making bad guys Howard and Eli (UKE and Bart Sumner) from the first movie are back and this time they have their own pirated cable TV show in which they review snuff films that people send in. It's an all-out gore and splatter fest with a commercial for a toy critter named Wilbur that eats the throats out of little boys, a small town sheriff and his wife putting a criminal in an electric chair in their basement and making his head explode with high voltage, college girls throwing a party with a pizza man and then cutting him up into little pieces, a girl being killed at a video store by having her head "shrink-wrapped," and advertisements for "Best of the Howard and Eli Show" videos. Howard and Eli torture a guest B-movie actress on their show by strapping her to a chair, cutting her wrist open and pulling the nerves to make her hand give the middle finger, and cutting off her thumbs. The film's composer Gordon Ovsiew plays Howard and Eli's keyboardist Gordo. We get many references to other genre classics, jokes, toilet humor, nudity, and a promise at the end for a VIDEO VIOLENCE 3. The Camp Video VHS is "Approved by Bob Dobbs" and the film is "Too Violent to Rate." The tape has previews for other Camp releases at the beginning like EVIL SPAWN (1987), HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS (1988), and DEATH ROW DINER (1988). Shock-O-Rama Cinema will be releasing a Special Edition Double Feature DVD of VIDEO VIOLENCE 1 & 2 later this year. I hope the DVD has CAPTIVES (a.k.a. MAMA'S HOME - 1988) as a bonus feature and director's commentary on all three films. A friend told me Gary is going to wait and see how well the DVD sells. If it sells really well, he's going to go ahead and make VV3. With Elizabeth Lee Miller, Art Neill, Jackie Neill, Lisa Cohen, David Christopher, and Ray Clark. A Camp Video Release. Both Part 1 & 2 are now available on DVD from Camp Motion Pictures (and also on the excellent THE BASEMENT VHS/DVD box set - Editor). Not Rated - MD

WE AWAIT (1996) - This is another shot on video feature from Charles Pinion who gave us RED SPIRIT LAKE (1993). This one is even more weird and confusing than that movie. This movie is like a crazy acid trip. That's what best describes it. WE AWAIT is the story of a man named R.K. Tipple who meets up with a weird Goth family who are apparently cannibals. Their pet dog is actually man who chose to become a dog. They do experiments with drugs and the uncle comes up with a green concoction that they refer to as nectar. They give this "nectar" to Tipple and tell him that it "strengthens the blood." Tipple eventually becomes one of them, a cannibal. There's also a weird scene near the end where the family goes on a "spirit drive." It's them in a car tripping out and seeing psychedelic images and a giant Jesus. This movie has to be seen to be believed. Like RED SPIRIT LAKE, this one gave me a headache when I watched it the first time and it took me a second viewing to fully understand it. It's got weird and disturbing imagery, S&M, gore, TV footage of evangelists and preachers, etc. Pinion plays Barren and Annabel Lee from his previous film plays Xena. With Tommy Angel, Connel Little, Alyssa Wendt, Peter Weiss, Dana Smith, Winston Smith, Andrew Powers, Becky Wilson, David A. Clark, and Steve Dipace. Also included on the Something Weird VHS is an early short film of Pinion's called MADBALL. A Something Weird Video Release. Not Rated. Charles Pinion now has a website: http://www.charlespinion.com/. He's selling limited edition signed DVDs of TWISTED ISSUES, RED SPIRIT LAKE and WE AWAIT. - MD

WOODCHIPPER MASSACRE (1988) - John, Denise, and Tommy have to stay home for the weekend with their annoying Aunt Tess while their father goes away on a business trip. When Aunt Tess tries to take away little Tommy's Rambo survival knife, he accidentally ends up stabbing her and killing her with it. The three decide to get rid of her by cutting up the body, freezing the parts, and throwing them in the family woodchipper. They decide to tell dad that she had to leave early. Tess's convict son Kim is out looking for money so he can pay his debt to the mob. When he shows up at the house trying to get money from the kids, he finds it's not that easy. This is the second shot on video feature from Jon McBride after CANNIBAL CAMPOUT (1988). While that one was a lot gorier, WOODCHIPPER MASSACRE is funnier. It's fun watching the kids try to figure out what to do to hide the fact that they killed their aunt and clean up the mess before their father gets home. It's absolutely hilarious! You have to see it. McBride stars (again) as John. With Denice Edeal, Tom Casiello, Patricia McBride, Kim Bailey, and Perren Page. A Donna Michelle Productions Release. Not Rated - MD. Available on DVD in early 2007 from Camp Motion Pictures.

ZOMBIE BLOODBATH (1993) - Todd Sheets movies are the kind that you watch with friends on rainy evenings when you don't have much to do. They're cheap, shot on video, gory, mix elements of older B-movies and drive-in flicks, and always have the proper dash of humor. While the ZOMBIE BLOODBATH trilogy definitely isn't the best of his work, the movies are a decent example for young filmmakers out there trying to get an idea of how things work in the low budget and home video movie market. ZOMBIE BLOODBATH opens with a nuclear power plant melting down. Zombies show up and eat people and people melt into puddles of goo. Some town folk find themselves running afoul of the rampaging zombies. It appears the nuclear power plant was built over an Indian burial ground. The one thing about Todd's movies is that they don't make much sense and all the matters is all the fake blood, piles of organs, and gut munching that is so much fun to watch. That's really the whole point. With Chris Harris, Auggi Alvarez, Frank Dunlay, Jerry Angell, Cathy Metz, Cheryl Metz, T.G. Watkins, and Tonia Monahan. Todd followed this one up with ZOMBIE BLOODBATH 2: RAGE OF THE UNDEAD (1995) and ZOMBIE BLOODBATH 3: ZOMBIE ARMAGEDDON (2000). His other films include DEAD THINGS (1986), ZOMBIE RAMPAGE (1989), BIMBOS B.C. (1990), PREHISTORIC BIMBOS IN ARMAGEDDON CITY (1991), DOMINION (1992), GOBLIN (1993), BLOODTHIRSTY CANNIBAL DEMONS (1993), VAMPIRE HOLOCAUST (1997), THE SHIVERS (1998), WHISPERS IN THE GLOOM (1998), FEAR OF THE DARK (2000) and CATACOMBS (2000). I think his best film so far is VIOLENT NEW BREED (1996). Visit him on the web at Extreme Entertainment. He loves to hear from his fans and loves to talk about horror movies with anyone. An Englewood Entertainment Release. The ZOMBIE BLOODBATH TRILOGY is also available in a 2 disc DVD edition from Camp Motion Pictures. Unrated - MD

ZOMBIE BLOODBATH 2: RAGE OF THE UNDEAD (1995) – Todd Sheets’ sequel to his 1993 SOV zombie fest is definitely a step up from the last one. We start off with some guys robbing a farmer and his wife at their farmhouse. They torture the wife and demand that the farmer give them his goods. Demons and zombies show up. One guy is eaten and another is crucified, has a scarecrow hood sewn to his face and is turned into a scarecrow. Years later a group of friends go out into the countryside on a vacation and their van breaks down. Three convicts escape from a nearby prison. A couple thieves hold up the local deli in town. The group of friends finds their way to a farmhouse where the three convicts are holding some young girls hostage after killing their mother and father. The scarecrow comes to life after being disturbed and raises the dead from their graves. All chaos ensues as zombies surround the farmhouse and everybody tries to escape. The ones that manage to get out alive find their way into town and meet up with the two thugs terrorizing everyone at the local deli. It’s a nonstop chunk blowing gore and guts fest from there on out. Todd Sheets piles on the gallons of stage blood and buckets of innards from the slaughterhouse once again. Zombies pop a guys eyeballs out of his head and pull his brains out through his eye sockets, a guy is tortured by having broken glass in a white paper bag dumped down his throat, a girl has a gun set off between her legs blowing a hole in her nether regions, one girl is forced to jump up and down barefoot on broken glass, a guy has a knife shoved up under his chin and the blade bursts out through his tongue inside his mouth (you get to see it in a POV shot from inside the mouth), zombies munch on flesh, tongues are bit out, stomachs, intestines and liver are ripped out, a zombie has a crowbar shoved through its mouth and out the back of its head, a guy is stabbed in the gut, and the heroine of the movie finds flesh eating bacteria in an abandoned truck and dumps it on the zombies causing some incredibly icky meltdown scenes with zombies melting into bloody messes and their heads exploding. If gore is what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. With Dave Miller, Kathleen McSweeney, Gena Fischer, Nick Stodden, Jody Rovick, Becky Stodden, Rebecca Rose, Lisa Metz, Byron Nichodemus, Rod Will, Mark Glover, Harry Rose, Jennifer Geigle, P.J. Parker, Jerry Angell, Matthew Jason Walsh, Steve Wilcox, Jeff Sisson, Dwen Doggett, Pat Stodden and Paul Van Dan Elzen. An Englewood Entertainment Release. Unrated - MD

ZOMBIE BLOODBATH 3: ZOMBIE ARMAGEDDON (2000) – More gore, guts and zombie action from the great Todd Sheets. In ZB3 we start out hundreds of years into the future where soldiers are taking control of government-made flesh eating zombies in a cave. The zombies are rounded up and put in a large capsule and loaded onto a shuttle where they are launched into space and end up in a black hole. The zombies somehow get sent back through time and end up in a cave underneath a high school. It’s an ordinary school day where some students are doing detention time ala THE BREAKFAST CLUB (1985), a couple nerds are setting up their own radio broadcast in the basement, and an actor is teaching martial arts in the school gym. The nerds of the story uncover the shuttle from the future underneath the school. They run into some zombies and eventually all hell breaks loose. The students in detention, the actor and sidekick, and the nerds find themselves fighting for their lives as the flesh hungry zombies overrun the school. From there on out, it’s gore galore with spilled intestines, organ eating, flesh ripping, dismemberments, etc. A zombie chows down on a severed arm, the school principal is munched on and later comes back as a zombie himself, one of the nerds stabs a zombie in the eye repeatedly with an electric carving knife and then saws its head off, necks are chomped, a character gouges a zombie’s eye out with his thumb, the kids do battle with a cyborg zombie in the cave, and we gets lots of funny lines like “Next thing I know, I’m in fucking THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985),” to which somebody replies, “Good movie.” Another good one is, “And then all of a sudden a bunch of extras from DAWN OF THE fucking DEAD  (1978) show up.” With ZB3, Sheets throws in lots of comedy, kung fu, carnage and creative kills. Buy the ZB trilogy 2-disc DVD from Camp Motion Pictures, make some popcorn, and get together with some friends for a night of chills, spills, gore, laughs and cheesiness. With Abe Dyer, Curtis Spencer, Blake Washer, Jolene Durrill, Jen Davis, Ruth Gordon (no, not that Ruth Gordon), Phil Wymore, Jenni Geigel, Rico Love, Antwoine Steele, Byron Nichodemus, Jeff Dylan Graham, John Bain, Will Crews, and Ari Bavel. An Evil Arab Video Release. Unrated - MD

ZOMBIE PLANET (2004) - From Kentucky filmmaker George Bonilla and his company ZP International comes this outlandish and fun horror and sci-fi fantasy adventure hybrid about a drifter named Kane (Frank Farhat) and life in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world that has been overrun by the living dead. As the result of a special enzyme-related diet, people have been driven to consume lots of read meat until a point where they've become cannibalistic, flesh eating zombies. The government remedies the problem by splitting people into groups including protected "safe zones" for the wealthy in big cities of the US and a group of "dregs" and zombies everywhere else where folks driven into poverty as a result of the famine and carnage resulting from the special diet and these folks fend for themselves against the living dead. Kane becomes acquainted with a group of these "dregs" and soon meets up with a super villain named Adam and his group called the "Upper Class." A battle between Adam's sinister group and Kane ensues. Kung fu, battles with zombies, MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDER DOME (1985)-inspired fight sequences, gore and guts, and more abound in this zombie/action adventure with a Full Moon vibe. Bonilla and company followed this one up with ZOMBIE PLANET 2: ADAM'S REVENGE (2005). The out-of-print Tempe DVD release of ZOMBIE PLANET contains an audio commentary with Bonilla, a second commentary with actor and cinematographer Billy W. Blackwell and cinematographers Roy Mason White, Barry Stout and Todd Burrows, a promo teaser for ZOMBIE PLANET 2, and Tempe trailers. ZOMBIE PLANET 1 & 2 are now both available from ZP International themselves as a combined movie entitled ZOMBIE PLANET: THE KANE CHRONICLES. The first film is also now available from ZP separately as well. Other Bonilla and ZP titles include REDWOOD JUSTIN: VAMPIRE HUNTER-DANCE WITH A VAMPIRE (2006), THE EDISON DEATH MACHINE (2006), MONSTROSITY (2007), HELL-EPHONE (2008), and SANTA CLAUS VS. THE ZOMBIES (2010). A Tempe DVD Release. Not Rated - MD  NOTE: The entire three films are available from R Squared Films Inc. as THE ZOMBIE PLANET TRILOGY. - Editor

ZOMBIE RAMPAGE (1989) – For those looking for something gory, extremely low budget, cheesy, and shot with a camcorder, you just can’t go wrong with the films of Todd Sheets. ZOMBIE RAMPAGE is a fairly enjoyable early gore romp of Todd’s. I’ll just say this, don’t watch it expecting good acting or for story. Watch it for all the flesh eating and gut spilling action. Since it’s been a while since I last watched this one, I’ll try to summarize it the best I can. It starts out with a gang fight scene at the beginning with a fast-paced punk rock version of “Spirit In The Sky” playing on the soundtrack. A guy who was just heading to a train station minding his own business to go to a reunion and meet up with some friends ends up in the middle of nightmarish chaos with zombies, gangs and homicidal maniacs running rampant. We are then treated to many scenes of characters running away from zombies, zombies chowing down on human innards and other organs and body parts, karo syrup goop and blood dumped all over the actors, zombie ass kicking, gang action, etc. One girl is stabbed through the side of her face with a knife. In one scene the zombies eat a baby out of a stroller. The film has a really kick ass soundtrack. Todd is a guy who really knows how to score a movie. Like I said, don’t watch it for plot or acting, watch it for all the zombie action, crazy editing, cheesy effects, and soundtrack. The “Director’s Cut” VHS contains a “making of” segment after the feature with behind-the-scenes footage, outtakes, an interview with Todd, and the original trailer. A Cinema Home Video Release. Not Rated - MD

ZOMBIE TOXIN (1998) - I must say, this videotaped British whack-job gross-out horror comedy blending elements of Monty Python, Peter Jackson, George Romero and Andreas Schnaas is definitely one of the stupidest and most outrageous pieces of zero budget backyard slime on the home video market. The plot (if you can even call it that) concerns two guys who get turned into zombies after coming into contact with a dead horse. They end up contaminating a yeast field. Some weird Nazi-wannabes get a hold of the yeast and decide to put it in bottles so they can distribute it around the world and infect people. This leads to some unfortunate results for them. End of story. You get some extremely cheap gore, torture, zombies vomiting and defecating on each other in graphic detail, bottles getting up by themselves and attacking people, and a guy who gets all his limbs hacked off and is carried away at the end by a Mary Poppins on crack (I'm not kidding). I swear, this movie was probably some experiment to see how much toilet humor and sick, idiotic, outrageous, over-the-top and ridiculously exaggerated graphic scenes could be crammed into 75 minutes. It's one of those things that must be seen to be believed. I don't know how else to describe it. In any event, you'll definitely laugh until you puke. Directed by and starring Thomas J. Moose. With Adrian Ottiwell, Lee Simpson, and Robert Taylor. A Shock-O-Rama Cinema Release. Not Rated - MD