Podcast Episode 15

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We are in the holiday spirit with episode 15 and nothing helps keep a movie lover cheerful better than a trio of holiday films! We are diving into the bottom of the Christmas clearance bin with three choice holiday classics starting with a true masterclass in holiday film making, 1984's Don't Open Till Christmas. We then learn the connection between Nazi's, Santa's helpers and virgins in the 1989 low budget Elves. We cap it all off by snorting some super coke and opening up the beautiful gift that is 2002's One Hell of a Christmas. We also talk our top 5 holiday films. So crack open the egg nog, light up the fire, sit back & Enjoy!

Hudson Horror 8

The Hudson Horror Show is a bi-annual horror film festival held in a small theater located in the back lot of a shopping center in Poughkeepsie New York. Right next door is a large indoor mall with what appears to be a large modern cineplex. This theater, however, is older. The floors are sticky. The seats are broken in. There aren't cup holders built into your armrest and the seating isn't stadium style. It's the perfect venue for an event like this. Something about this theater just feels right. It's like a time capsule from the heyday of theaters when 35mm was the only format and you didn't have to go broke going to the movies. I have been to every Hudson Horror show since it's inception, giving me the opportunity to see the likes of Rolling Thunder, The Return of the Living Dead, Phantasm 1 & 2, Cannibal Holocaust & Ferox, Silent Night Deadly Night, Evil Dead 1 & 2 & Army of Darkness, Demons, TCM 1 & 2, a shitload of Fulci films and many more, all in 35mm.

The show always begins the same. Show creator Chris Alo stands in front of the packed theater to thank sponsors and supporters and to spout out the rules. While some rules have been added as shows have gone along, to my knowledge none have been removed. These rules are key to the enjoyment of the festival. Without them there would surely be some asshole who would ruin the experience for everyone else. A few key rules are:

No talking at the screen. It is made crystal clear that we are not watching MST3K. We are there to watch the movies and not hear some asshole spout out jokes at the screen that aren't funny. Repeating dialogue from the film back at the screen with an inflection in your voice is not a joke. It's annoying and everyone will hate you. Example: In Silent Night Deadly Night someone was making "jokes" prompting one moviegoer to simply shout "shut the fuck up". He did.

No infants or toddlers. It may be hard to believe but some model parent actually brought their toddler to the Cannibal Holocaust screening. I have pretty liberal views when it comes to kids and horror films but this is Cannibal Holocaust we're talking about and it's a 12 hour festival. Most adults can barely handle it. Luckily they were booted before that particular movie started. I don't believe this rule was on the original list but had to be added because common sense doesn't always prevail.

Podcast Episode 12

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It's all about monsters in episode 12 and we cover a wide variety beginning with a tour of the English countryside in Clive Barker's "Rawhead Rex" from 1986. We then tear into John Carl Buechler's "Cellar Dweller" from 1988 and finish up with a stomping from 2001's Godzilla, Mothra and King Gidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack! Who will come out victorious??? We also list our top 5 all time monster fights. Enjoy!

Curse of Chucky Review

Podcast Episode 11

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For this 11th episode of Midnight Triple Feature we start with a trip deep into the Green Inferno and a lengthy discussion on the infamous Cannibal Holocaust from 1980. We then move onto the mean gang infested streets of Los Angeles with 1984's exploitation cult classic Savage Streets. Finally we finish up with some lighter fare with 1986's science fiction horror comedy Terrorvision. Enjoy!

Podcast - Episode 10

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In episode 10 Mike & Adam defend the 80's sports montage with 1985's Teen Wolf, Connor has no idea who the Seaver kids are with 1990's The Willies and Adam is jealous of Australian's with 2007's Black Water. In addition we talk/complain about upcoming Halloween television viewing, talk some more about Robocop and more! Enjoy!

I Spit on Your Grave 2 - Review

From its initial announcement I was vocally unenthusiastic of I Spit on Your Grave 2. I Spit on Your Grave was a film that I felt didn't require a remake let alone a sequel to the remake. After watching the movie I can say with confidence that I was correct in my initial reaction. This movie is trash. Not trashy like John Waters because that would be a good thing. It's just trash. Garbage.

The plot follows a young woman named Katie who moves to New York City from the mid-west with big dreams of becoming a model. Of course she struggles right out of the gate and is told that she has a lot of potential but her portfolio needs work. Out of desperation she contacts a photographer who offers free professional photos to models. The trade-off being that they are able to use the photos in their personal portfolio and make money off of them. She heads on over to this guys studio and there are three thick accented Bulgarian brothers who are all kinds of shady. She opts out of the photo shoot once things get weird but unfortunately she has garnered the attention of Georgy who apparently has a penchant for serial rape. Predictably he stalks her, eventually breaks into her home, murders her friend and brutally assaults her. Georgy calls his brother who decides they have to clean up the mess. This entails drugging Katie, shipping her to Bulgaria, finding a John who will pay a wad of cash to do what he wants to her, murdering her and disposing of her body. That's in a nutshell but there is a ton of sexual violence that happens in that span of time from an additional rape to cow prodding. It's brutal, graphic and difficult to watch. As we expect she survives and exacts revenge upon her abusers.

Saturday Morning Massacre - Review

Saturday Morning Massacre has a simple premise. Scooby-Doo meets R-Rated horror film. It's an interesting concept that will probably resonate with any of us adults who grew up watching Scooby-Doo on Saturday Mornings. If you happened to be one of those early watchers you will recognize the plot. A group of four college age paranormal investigators go to a spooky old mansion with their dog and VW bus in tow with the goal of debunking a supposed haunting. Following some accidental drug consumption the line between reality and hallucination are blurred until events finally spiral into the promised massacre.

Our four main characters are Nancy, Gwen, Chad, Floyd and their dog Hamlet. These are of course fill-in's for Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy and Scooby. The casting works relatively well here. The "Velma" and "Shaggy" characters have the right mix of believable character and cartoon based caricature. They manage to emulate the characters we expect them to be based on the influence without going over the top into cartoon land. The "Fred" and "Daphne" fill-in's are a bit more underwhelming. They don't come close enough to fitting the bill of what we expect and come off as more generic than anything. There is, however, a pretty gratuitous sex scene between these two characters for anyone that ever wanted to see Fred and Daphne get it on. Basically the casting of the lead's if 50-50. It's probably better that some characters feel more generic than caricature as it probably would have put the film too over the top. There's a good amount of comedy in here but it comes from the situation's and dialogue rather than the characters themselves.

Podcast Episode 8

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We put Connor in charge of episode 8 and he decided to cover one of his favorite horror sub-genres, the horror comedy, and he has chosen three of his favorites for us to cover. First we attempt to understand the allure of Grace Jones in 1986's Vamp, then we take a trip into the country with Tucker and Dale vs Evil and finish up discussing the definition of "so bad it's good" with 1988's Killer Klown's from Outer Space. In addition we each go over our top 5 favorite horror comedies. This podcast will contain spoilers. Enjoy!

You're Next - Review

The home invasion sub-genre consists of some of the most unnerving films in horror. The idea of masked individuals invading your home to attack you and your family is both plausible and terrifying. The monsters aren’t supernatural. They are human. They aren’t in a place that feels foreign. They are hiding under your bed and coming through your window. Home is primarily a universal symbol of a safe place where a person can rest and escape the dangers of the outside world. A successfully made home invasion film can turn that sense of security upside down. It can make you double check the locks on your windows and leave the closet door open. It can take the safety out of suburbia. You're Next is not the first film to utilize this concept (Funny Games, The Strangers and Halloween immediately come to mind), but it employs it well while successfully mixing in dark comedic elements creating a surprisingly original experience in an arguably tired sub-genre.

Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett have pulled off another great collaboration balancing horror and comedy well with plenty of twists and turns throughout. The story is centered on the Davison family who are celebrating the 30th wedding anniversary of parents Aubrey and Paul in a secluded country mansion. The festivities take a deadly turn when lunatics donning animal masks begin picking them off one by one in gruesome ways. Although You’re Next has not been marketed as a horror comedy it easily falls into the sub-genre. Audience members around me were laughing as much as they were jumping in fright. A lot of the comedy comes from the bickering going on between the siblings. Joe Swanberg (Drake Davison) really shines as the stuck up brother who takes every chance he can to demean his siblings. Director Ti West also has a brief but memorable role as documentary film maker Tariq whose film was screened at the 2008 Chicago Underground Film Festival and prides himself on creating “art”. It’s an amusing skewering of the pretentious art-house filmmaker and his fans should get a kick out of the role.

Podcast Episode 7

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In Episode 7 Connor wants William Devane to cry in 1977's Rolling Thunder, Mike doesn't believe Juno is that tough in 2005's The Descent and Adam doesn't understand how New Eden works in 2010's Stakeland. We also discuss Romero's aspirations for a new zombie project, the proposed cuts for the US distribution of Snowpierecer and much much more. This podcast will contain spoilers! Enjoy!

Grabbers - Review

Too many movies in the horror genre devolve into lesser clones of those that came before using tired premises and overused villains. That’s why it’s refreshing to see a movie with an original concept executed in a fun and entertaining way. That movie is Grabbers, an Irish monster flick about bloodsucking alien squid that land off the coast of Erin Island and descend upon the small fishing village. In their way are Garda (Irish police) O' Shea; an alcoholic, Garda Nolan; a busy body on temporary assignment to the island, Dr. Adam Smith; a geeky British scientist and Paddy Barrett; a drunken fisherman.

The grabbers are a mix of CGI and practical effects but mostly CGI. They look pretty good though and it never takes you out of the film. They feed on their victims through a pointed tongue which shoots out like a frog grabbing their victims (hence the name) draining their blood. A grabber only needs two things to survive, water and blood, meaning the only time they can attack the island is when it’s raining and there happens to be a storm heading right toward Eden Island. Another of the grabbers’ weaknesses is none other than booze which basically means the Irish are the grabbers’ kryptonite. Once this is discovered it sets up the second half of the movie as O'Shea and Nolan struggle to keep everyone in town nice and hammered.

Podcast Episode 6

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Episode 6 is a long one as we run through the slasher formula checklist with 1981's Hell Night, try to figure out the confusion that is Megan in 2002's Dog Soldiers and discuss how kids today are too soft with 1987's The Monster Squad. We also give our thoughts on The Conjuring, Curse of Chucky, a Friday the 13th sequel, another Day of the Dead remake and much much more! Enjoy!

The Conjuring - Review

About 20 or so years ago at the ripe age of 10 my mother took me to see a presentation by Ed and Lorraine Warren, the famous supernatural investigative husband and wife team. They spent about an hour and a half showing us slides of ghost photos, possessed items and playing audio tapes of demons speaking through their possessed hosts. Hearing those voices and seeing the images of a purportedly possessed children's doll was enough to actually frighten that horror film obsessed 10 year old. So as The Conjuring unspooled in front of me on the screen it wasn't long before I was experiencing some major deja-vu.

The Conjuring concerns a family consisting of Carolyn, Roger and their 5 daughters. They purchase an old rundown home only to discover that it is inhabited by a malevolent force. As this force becomes more violent they seek help in the form of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Ed is a renowned demonologist and Lorraine a clairvoyant and they work to rid not only the home but the family members themselves of this entity before it literally tears their family apart.

The Conjuring is an amalgamation of several tropes and plot lines we have seen before. Wan calls on films like The Amityville Horror (also a Warren case), Poltergeist, The Entity, The Exorcist and even his own Insidious for inspiration. Actually, I think there may be a little bit of Evil Dead imagery in here as well. All of these sources could have been a major downfall for the film if it hadn't been well executed. However, rather than feel like a cut and paste money grab experience, all of these elements come together seamlessly into one giant melting pot of a film that works surprisingly well from start to finish.

Under the Bed - Review

Under the Bed is the new film from Steven Miller director of the recent Silent Night remake and Automaton Transfusion. Described as a "suburban nightmare" the story centers around two brothers who are being tormented by a creature living under their bed. With no one around to believe them they are forced to take matters into their own hands and face the creature before it can devour them.

I was pretty excited to check out Under the Bed as it looked to be a throwback to some of my favorite films from the 80's like Monster Squad or The Lost Boys. Unfortunately, it doesn't come close to reaching the heights of it's influences. While those films are immensely re-watchable due to their great pacing, inventive story telling and likable characters Under the Bed is lacking in almost all of these areas. The pacing is off as the story seems to retread the same territory several times without much happening to push it forward. The beginning and end move at a pretty brisk pace with some decent character development at the front of the film and some good action and special effects at the end but the middle of the film feels lost and bogged down. Once it has been established that something is living under the bed and we learn the truth behind the older brothers past there isn't much more to do.

Podcast Episode 4

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To celebrate the official beginning of summer we have changed things up a bit this week and are covering one of our most beloved sub-genre's of horror, the summer camp slasher film. We discuss 1981's low budget Madman, 1982's fan favorite The Burning and 1983's uncomfortable shocker Sleepaway Camp. In addition we list our most anticipated films for the summer of 2013. Enjoy!

V/H/S 2 - Review

Horror anthologies have always been a favorite of mine ever since I watched Creepshow and more recently Trick R Treat. I also love found footage films, D]despite many people’s tendency to shit on them, and think there's a lot more new and creative things that can be done with this genre. In no film is this more evident than in V/H/S 2.

V/H/S 2 is comprised of five segments, unlike six in the original, one of those being the wrap-around story. This, however, is a welcome change as it allows the directors plenty of time to flesh out their stories, one of which runs 40 minutes and is definitely worth the extra time. If there’s one part of the first V/H/S that I thought was most lacking it was the wrap-around story. It followed a group of troublemakers as they recorded themselves causing mayhem and ended at a creepy house where they have to find a V/H/S tape. Of course they slowly begin to disappear as the viewer is treated to each new story. It wasn't terrible but you didn't care about the characters at all because they were assholes and it felt like it was thrown in simply to provide a reason for all of these films to exist together. This time around, we follow a sleazy private detective and his partner on their search for a missing student when they come across.... you guessed it, a pile of VHS tapes that they can’t help but watch. I found this wrap-around story to be much creepier than the original film as the tapes actually affect them in strange ways and we can see someone else in the background watching them. In the original V/H/S we’re not given many hints to the origin of the tapes but in V/H/S 2 we are given a few more clues, though they still remain vague. The ending was a big step up from the first as well and turned out to be a bit of a surprise.

Podcast Episode 3

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The ABC's of Death - Review

The concept behind ABC's of Death is an inspired one. Take 26 genre directors, give them each a letter and a budget of $5000, and have them direct a short based on their given letter. The directors are given 100% freedom to write and direct as they see fit with no intervention from the production studio. It's like a visual take on the saying "when the cat is away the mice will play". The only problem is some of the mice just aren't as good at playing the game as others and can make the better players look bad. That's kind of what happens with ABC's of Death. There are a few moments of true entertainment and enjoyment but they are often overshadowed by their less entertaining and enjoyable counterparts. That's not to say these aren't all talented directors because they are, it just didn't work out for them in this format. The other issue is there is no real editing here. The letters are presented in order so we get no real sense of flow beside the fact that the letters follow each other. What follows is a rundown of each letter. The only way I could think to rate a movie like this is to rate each segment and average them together for an overall rating.

Podcast Episode 2

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In this episode of Midnight Triple Feature we discuss the 1988 horror film The Rejuvenator, the 1995 killer scarecrow opus Night of the Scarecrow and Herschell Gordon Lewis' follow-up to his 1963 cult classic 2002's Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat. In addition we discuss Arnold Schwarzenegger's relation to the Toxic Avenger reboot, John Carpenter's interest in a live action Dead Space adaptation, upcoming releases and more!