Podcast Episode 52 - Terror Firmer and Poultrygeist

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In episode 52 we take a look at two films from one of the most notorious independent producers of all time, Troma. First up is Terror Firmer, a mega meta look at the Troma film making process with a whole lotta slasher goodness thrown in. We follow up with Troma's take on the dangers of fast food, Poultrygeist. As usual we also talk what we've been watching, a few news items and take a look at a fan favorite from last year, Turbo Kid. Enjoy!

Podcast Episode 44

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In episode 44 we return to one of our favorite sub-genres, the slasher film, with three campus set slasher films. First up is Final Exam, a film that takes its leisurely time to get to the good stuff while instead focusing on copious amounts of frat bro bonding and one of the greatest characters to ever be named after a vegetable. Second is The Dorm that Dripped Blood. A grisly little low budget production which was heavily edited on its initial release and was even one of the notorious video nasties. Rounding out the show is Girls Nite Out which is possibly the only movie to feature a killer dressed in a bear suit slashing up college kids with steak knife claws all set to a soundtrack made up of songs from The Lovin' Spoonful. We also talk what we've been watching, revisiting 80's comedies, whats going on in the news and more! Enjoy!

The Redwood Massacre - Review

Redwood Massacre is a new slasher film from director David Ryan Keith. The story concerns a group of 20 somethings who venture out into the woods in search of a house and instead run into a legendary murderous farmer out to kill anyone who enters his woods.

When I review slasher films I typically compare them to a checklist of items to determine how they fit into the genre as well as give it a fresh spin (for better or worse). The criteria I use for these reviews is pretty simple. Who are the characters and how much do I like them. Who is the killer and how effective is their look. How effective and original are the kills and effects and lastly how original is the story itself in comparison to everything that has come before.

First the characters. The story is centered primarily around a group of 4 friends on a camping excursion. There is the obvious final girl as well as two other females and one male character. Unfortunately the three outlying characters are defined almost singularly by the fact that they exist in a love triangle. The two girls hate each other and as a viewer we have to deal with this through the entire movie. All I wanted was for them to die. It’s in this that modern slasher movies regularly fail. Rather than create characters I can root for they give me people that I want to see murdered as early as possible so that I don’t have to be around them anymore. I should never be rooting for the killer in these movies.

Second is the killer. It’s in this area that I think the movie really shines. I love the look of the farmer. He’s decked out in a scarecrow mask and plaid and he looks legitimately menacing. Overall I really dug the design of this guy and it's definitely the strongest aspect of the film.

Third are the kills and effects. The film does feature some good practical effects and the kills themselves are pretty gruesome but personally like my slasher movies to feature more suspense. This one falls more into “Hostel” territory with the killer opting to tie down and torture many vicitm's only stalking them when absolutely necessary. Considering the location has quite a bit of potential its too bad they didn’t decide to use it a bit more to their advantage throughout. It's worth mentioning that the final girl chase is actually pretty well done.

Finally there’s the story. Redwood Massacre works fine as a standard slasher movie in that it follows the formula. It actually comes off as a pretty blatant rip off of Madman. The back story here is that the farmer goes crazy and murders his family and now spends his days stalking campers in the woods. If you haven’t seen Madman go check it out and you’ll see the similarities.

Overall Redwood Massacre is a middle of the road example of a modern slasher film that too often falls into the trappings of the current trends of the genre rather than relying on the tropes that made the genre great to to start. I don't think you'll be disappointed when you watch it but I don't foresee this as being overly re-watchable.

Score: 2/5

Stage Fright (2014) Review

I love slasher movies. Musicals, not so much. It's not that I hate all musicals. In fact, there are a handful of horror musicals that I really enjoy. Little Shop of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Cannibal the Musical and more recently Repo the Genetic Opera all managed to successfully merge horror or science fiction with full fledged musical numbers. So, while I was hesitant approaching Stage Fright I've seen horror musicals work so I kept my mind open.

The film opens as most slasher movies do with a murder and it's surprisingly graphic. A knife is put into the back of a character's head and is then violently stabbed multiple times. It sets off a tone that I wasn't expecting from a horror musical which is dark and graphically violent. The tone changes pretty quickly though as we flash forward several years to a musical theater camp and our first musical number featuring all of the kids in the camp. We also see that Meat Loaf is the camp leader who is given plenty of time to show off his own vocal talents. It's bright, cheery and funny and is in stark contrast to the opening scene. Throughout the movie there are major tone shifts like this and it is actually kind of an issue. The slasher element is brutal with kills that are ultraviolent in nature. This is juxtaposed with a summer camp comedy film that borders on parody. There's no point where the two really seem to mesh well together so it feels like two different movies trying to come together. It's a similar issue that I find with "The Burning". That films feels like an 80's summer camp comedy with a slasher film thrown in to bookend it. This feels like a summer camp parody with a slasher movie shoehorned in. There needs to be some compromise in style on both ends so that the film feels cohesive.

The killer is a kabuki masked psychopath who screams like the lead singer in a metal band whenever killing someone. The costume works and the killer certainly comes off as menacing given how violently they take out their targets. The practical effects are also very good. One scene in particular features a victim having a lightbulb with the lamp still attached shoved into his mouth and is then viciously thrown away like a ragdoll. It's effectively gruesome as are most of the on-screen kills throughout the movie and is in line with some of the nastier giallo or 80's slasher films.

In the final act the movie does come together better as the students perform their end of camp production while the killer runs around behind the scenes picking many of them off. As usual the killer and their motives are revealed (thought it's not too difficult to figure out who it is) and it all plays out in typical slasher movie fashion. While I wasn't blown away by Stage Fright I can recommend checking it out. It's not something I see myself revisiting any time soon but for a one time watch it's got some great kills, solid performances, catchy musical numbers, and some genuinely funny comedic moments involving all kinds of genre tropes. It's on Netflix for the moment so check it out!

Score: 3/5

Read About Stage Fright on IMDB
Purchase or Rent "Stage Fright" on Amazon

Joy Ride 3: Roadkill - Review

Joy Ride 3 sees Rusty Nail return with his trusty tractor trailer to run down a new set of victims. This time his sights are set on a group of young street racers on their way to Canada to take part in a competition known as the Road Rally 1000.

The original Joy Ride is a movie that surprised the hell out of me when I first saw it. Filled with suspense, likable characters, good acting, a simple premise and a frightening antagonist it was easy to be sucked into the story and come out at the end satisfied. That’s why it’s so disappointing to see this become nothing more than a modern slasher franchise that utilizes characters we can only barely like, features kills that feel like rejects from a Saw movie and seems to be positioning Rusty as a wise-cracking slasher in the vein of Freddy Krueger rather than an ominous presence hidden behind the wheel of his truck.

The film opens with two meth heads in a motel room, high as kites and having sex. They run out of meth so they come up with the bright idea of calling a trucker on the CB radio and robbing him of cash and drugs. Of course they call up Rusty Nail who proceeds to tie them to the front of his truck and tell them that if they can hold on for one mile he will let them go. You can see why I make the Saw reference as most of the kills are setup in a way to torture the victim and draw out their death. So right from the opening scene we have two characters being killed by Rusty who fully deserve what they get. Seeing them be run over by his big rig is satisfying rather than terrifying. I will say that Ken Kirzinger chews up his role as Rusty Nail and is a good fit for the role but setting up the audience to root for him is a mis-step.

After this opening we are introduced to our main cast of characters. They include two incredibly annoying women and a bunch of completely underdeveloped male characters. We are simply supposed to define them by the fact that they race cars. The only character I found myself even remotely liking was Austin and that was because he makes a Large Marge reference which I can totally appreciate. It’s the only scene in the movie where I found myself smiling.

As you can imagine the remaining run-time is filled with the racers running afoul of Rusty and he kills them off in various creative ways while they continually make horrible baffling decisions. He ties onecharacter to the top of his truck and drives full speed under a bridge. He places one characters head between a lift and the bottom of his truck slowly crushing it. He sets up an elaborate contraption where one characters head is slowly wrapped with a chain and impaled. There are a few others as well but most involve some sort of elaborate setup. Again, this is why I make the Saw comparison. He puts in so much work to kill these people when all he has to do is run them over with his truck.

I don’t have much more to say about the movie. It’s from the director of Wrong Turn 3, 4 & 5 which I have yet to see but haven't heard many good things. Hopefully the Joy Ride franchise calls it quits at 3 and we aren’t exposed to any additional sequels though I doubt it. Overall it’s a formulaic run of the mill slasher movie with unlikable bland characters and an unoriginal uninspired story that left me bored. There are some good gore effects, decent car chases, and the acting’s not half-bad but that’s hardly enough to save this movie.

Score: 1.5/5

Read About Joy Ride 3:Roadkill on IMDB
Purchase or Rent Joy Ride 3: Roadkill on Amazon

Stitches - Review

Stitches is a Comedy/Horror movie about a clumsy unfunny clown name Richard "Stitches" Grindle (Played by Ross Noble). Stitches is hired for Tom's (Played by Tommy Knight) birthday party but when he isn’t as funny as the kids want they play a prank on him causing his death. Six years later Stitches comes back from the dead to seek revenge on the kids that accidentally killed him. Stitches is written and Directed by Conor McMahon who previously directed a few short films and also wrote and directed "Dead Meat", which was featured as part of Fangoria's Gorezone label. David O'brien was a co-writer for the film who is known for “Shrooms” from 2007 and a few other films. Stitches is played by Ross Noble who is an English actor with a long list of credits including self-titled videos, shorts, and documentaries.

The film starts right off with Stitches banging some girl in a trailer, so be careful with kids in the room it's the first thing you see. This is the only real raunchy seen, other than this we get one nip slip, but it is about high school kids so...

In the middle of having sex Stitches remembers he has a birthday party to do so he just stops, pulls up his pants and heads off smelling like liqueur and sex to little Tom's birthday party. Stitches arrives at the party while the kids are in the driveway playing and drives straight for them as they jump out of the way. Tom's mother's tell him he’s late, he call's her ugly and proceeds on into the house. Just the clown you want at your kid’s party right?!

Stitches is not a good clown. He can’t do tricks or even make balloon animal's so the kids decide to throw things at him and tie his shoes together. This is where everything goes wrong for Stitches. Stitches death scene is really funny and contains some great effects. All of the effects in this film are actually done well. Many are filmed on a black background but the cut's from the film to effects are smooth and worked well and while the effects are definitely not realistic but are still fun to watch.

We then learn that all clowns have an egg with a painted face and that holds the clown soul and that all of these eggs are stored away in a special clown tomb. Not sure if this a real thing or not but let's just roll with it. We also learn that if a clown dies in mid-act then he or she can never rest until the joke is finished.

We now jump ahead six years where all of the kids are in high school. They did a surprisingly good job of matching the younger kids to their high school aged selves. Tom starts having visions of Stitches the clown including one with Stitches ripping his friend’s dick off. While the scene will definitely make the men in the audience squirm it manages to be both gory and funny.

Tom's friends are trying to convince him to throw a party but he is reluctant. Finally Vinny, his childhood friend, convinces him but he only invites his closes friends. Unfortunately for Tom there’s a social media site called "My Face" where someone posts an invite to the party. One girl’s MyFace invite reads "You invited everyone to come on My Face" which is just one example of the low brow humor which fills up the movies run-time.

The party is where the bulk of the action happens. It’s a huge typical high school party with a lot of beer and weed. I don’t want to spoil anything but the best scenes happen here.

The acting is really good with each character possessing a distinct personality and the progression from childhood to teenager allows us to see how none of them really change. I mentioned earlier how well the special effects work and I would like to touch on a few specific scenes. There is a decapitation scene where a character’s head is kicked off and their lips are still twitching as it fly's through air. There is an eyeball that is popped out directly towards the camera. Someone has their head blown up with a balloon pump which you have to see to really understand but it’s pretty funny. There is even a chase scene with two kids on mountain bikes and Stitches on a tricycle.

Overall Stitches just a fun movie. If you’re looking for a feel-good movie or romantic comedy this is not for you. If you’re up for a good laugh and plenty of blood and gore then this is for you. Or maybe you just need to receive a life lesson to never fuck with a clown (or did “IT” already do that)? I would definitely recommend you check this out. The re-watch value is high and I fully enjoyed it for what it was. Unless you’re scared of clowns, then you should probably stay away!

I give this a B-

Read About "Stitches" on IMDB
Rent or Purchase "Stitches" on Amazon

Podcast Episode 21

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In Episode 21 we review a couple of recently released independent horror films. We start with 2013's 70's throwback "Here Comes the Devil" followed by the low budget slasher comedy "Bloody Bloody Bible Camp". Before our regular reviews we take some time to air our concerns with Michael Bay's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the recently announced Phantasm Ravager. We also talk Pat Robertson's comments on the danger of horror films and why he's an idiot.

You can find Bloody Bloody Bible Camp at bloodybloodybiblecamp.com  and Here Comes the Devil at magnetreleasing.com

The Expelled - Review

Podcast Episode 17

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Episode 17 has us in three decades starting with the 1977 Rick Baker effects showcase "The Incredible Melting Man". We then spend the night with the low budget cheesefest that is 1983's "Mountaintop Motel Massacre" and finish up with a satire on modern reality television, 2001's "Slashers". We also discuss what we've been watching, the leak of Tarantino's new script, and much much more. Enjoy!

Maniac (2012) - Review

I am not one to regularly cry foul whenever a remake or reboot of a popular horror film or franchise is announced because while a high percentage of them are merely tolerable at best, every once in a while we get a remake like Maniac. A perfect example of how a director can update a film with style and creativity while still maintaining the essence of its source material.

In terms of story, Maniac is true to its source. We follow serial killer Frank as he stalks the streets hunting women in order to scalp them to take home and add to his growing collection. He attaches their scalps to mannequins using them as vessels through which his victims can once again live and inhabit his lonely world. While the story remains largely intact the differences come in terms of overall execution and casting. I believe it is in these areas that the film will ultimately fail or succeed for most.

When I first read the reports of how Maniac would be updated shooting primarily from the point of view of Frank I was skeptical. It sounded like a gimmick. Surprisingly to me it worked well most of the time. It’s extraordinarily un-nerving to be in the shoes of Frank as he commits his acts of violence. It puts the viewer in a position where we are forced to sympathize with the victims while actively taking part in their demise. We aren’t flies on the wall anymore. It is particularly uncomfortable to be at the wheel as Frank drives through the city watching women, stalking them. It gives a sense of how easy it is to blend in and how unaware we really are as to who could be watching.