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Il mostro dell'opera (1964)
A really solid Gothic vampire feature
Troubled by strange dreams, a woman joins her traveling ballerina tripe as they make a stop at a Count's castle in the area for a show, but as they carry on with rehearsing for their big show find their charge to be a vampire looking to turn the group into similar creatures and must race to stop him.
Overall, this was a massively enjoyable Gothic horror effort. One of the biggest factors found here is the generally strong setup that generates the kind of old-school Gothic horror stylings that are part of the genre's history. Starting with the initial scenes of the troupe coming together to help their friend who is going through a series of bizarre dreams about a caped figure going around killing people, their whole backstage interactions that et to show off their friend dynamics, and the various personalities within the rest of the troupe that set up the kind of fine starting point that works quite nicely here. Not only odes that provide a great grounding for the multitude of storylines and subplots going on within the rest of the film once they arrive at the castle for the exhibition including the overt lesbianism for some fun moments but also how their professional jealousy overcomes their personal friendship as they spend the time goofing around while investigating the backstage parts of the castle. Once this moves into the series of interactions within the castle involving the group being whittled down while waiting for their final performance, this one starts getting really fun. As the main group continues rehearsing their performance on the stage inside the castle, the ability to continually splinter off and disappear allows for some fun moments with the group trusting the count's assistant while exploring that brings them into his capture or the inability to realize the count is watching them provide some great times before getting to the wild finale in the castle's basement. With this offering up plenty of solid Gothic-based action in the standout performance by the troupe featuring all sorts of great interactions and setpieces, the different confrontations with the vampire down in the chamber where the female vampires are chained up waiting for him, and the big action set piece to finally rid themselves of the threat bring this one to a thrilling, exciting finish. Utilizing the castle setting for its best aspects and having plenty of fun with the women running around in their nightgowns, this has a lot to like about it. There are some issues here that hold this one down. The main issue with the film is the outright slack pacing that slows this to a crawl at a point when it should be picking up speed. The series of background interactions that take place with the girls, bouncing around in flirtatious pranks, exploring the secret passageways of the castle, or going through the rehearsal part of their play serves this one nicely as a way to get to know the girls but also extends way too long for what it's trying to do. It leaves the vampire revelation until much later than it really should offering up the kind of sluggish start that saps a lot of the intrigue and thrills of this one more than it really should, especially with a lot of the action here being quite repetitive and involving the couples getting together or the inquisitive nature taking them out on tours. It doesn't hold this back much, especially compared to the flimsy pretext for the performance in the first place, but it's the main factor with this one.
Today's Rating/PG: Violence.
La vergine di Norimberga (1963)
Could've been in the Corman/Price/Poe series
Living in a giant castle, a woman is warned by her husband about the castle's past which was home to a ruthless, bloodthirsty warlord that soon enthralls her with his legend, but when she begins to see a strange figure around the castle grounds discovers the truth and tries to stop it.
This here is one of the best examples of the genre. One of the better elements found here is the strong setup involving the eventual mystery surrounding the actual goings-on at the castle. Starting everything off with the strange incident in the castle basement that brings about the discovery of the chamber and what happened there in the past which spurns her interest in what's going on here, giving everything the kind of worthwhile starting place that allows the film to wallow in the Gothic atmosphere. The story about the torturer who used to live in the castle and his connection to the fabled statue that started everything for her gives this one a great bit of leeway as the interactions with the deformed servant that lives there bring that along even further to give the story some credence. The sketchiness of his actions the more this goes on, making the husband question whether everything happening is all in her head or actually coming to life, causes quite a lot to like here as the series of revelations made about the connection to World War II finishes everything immensely well. Another of the main things this gets right is the incredible suspense on display. The opening is a fantastic example with the flowing gown-clad woman following the agonized cries coming from somewhere within the castle and leading her to discover blood flowing into the collection bowl beneath the Virgin of Nuremberg, a fabled iron maiden torture chamber that is now a museum. Opening the spiked door, she is horrified to see the body of a freshly dead woman inside, the corpse's eyes have been gouged out leaving ragged, bloody sockets. It's a fantastic scene, with the endless wandering through an enormous house during a raging thunderstorm, using only a candle for light until they stumble upon a rather shocking and horrific scene. This is really eerie, from the glimpses shown strewn around the house of various torture devices, some with the skeleton remains of victims still there all the way to the creepy and intense reaction to the eyeless corpse hidden in the statue. That goes hand-in-hand with the great sets in here, as every corner and crevice is filled with inky black shadows, pierced only by the glow of a flickering torch or flash of lightning. Thus the look of the film never approaches the surreal, instead remaining much more grounded in realism. That leads into the other great factor here as this one handily avoids the pitfalls of others out there in the genre and makes marvelous use of the huge, sprawling castle set. Even the outside scenes have a nice feeling to them as the spacious castle grounds mix well with the giant castle looming in the background. The later scenes in the crypt look great, and a very tense stalking scene in the darkness is masterfully played out due to the setting. The film also has a couple of really great shock gore scenes that are a lot more graphic than most others of the time, from the discovery of a victim stuck in a cage where a rat has gnawed away at her face, the initial discovery of the first victim and finally the killer himself unmasked, his face nothing more than a skull covered with the faintest suggestion of skin. These images are really quite out there for the time and make for some great moments. The sequences at the end with the torturer are just as good, being a little creepy with some graphic brutality stakes placed into the film to give it a little extra punch to what's going on. These are what really make the film enjoyable as the only real issue here is where the middle section investigating everything is paced enough to matter.
Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence.
Bloody Trip: The Equinox Killer (2024)
A solid if unremarkable middle-of-the-road genre effort
Heading out for a trip, a group of friends decide to rent a house in the countryside for a bachelorette party while several others look into finishing a movie of theirs, but when they realize the house is being used by a deadly cult preparing them for a special upcoming celestial sacrifice.
This was a decent enough genre effort overall. Among its best aspects is the generally fun setup that works fine enough to provide the kind of worthwhile setup before being turned on its head. Featuring the group going out for a relaxing weekend and wanting to find a way of having a fun time before a special bachelorette party splits them up serves it nicely enough, providing enough of a reason to get them out into the middle of nowhere as well as what's going to happen in the house. As there are some fun times here exposing who the group is and what brought them together in the first place as it all showcases their relationships and personalities quite nicely with the ability to bring together a nice friend group into a chilling situation and then gradually becomes far more immersive over the night as things start making sense. This setup brings about the kind of solid later scenes throughout here as the build-up to the whole thing is immensely fun. The whole thing about the figure observing the group from the distance as they explore the house and begin enjoying their time there makes for a solid bit of suspense to get things going, and the whole idea of being subjected to the strange invaders that start toying with what's going on around the house forcing them into a slew of defensive tactics to remain safe. These are fun enough until getting to the fantastic sequence involving the action home invasion as the masked assailants start dishing out brutal action and plenty of solid chasing around the outside of the house before setting up the brutal finale where the ritual the cult's been preparing for comes about. These all give this a great bit of action to leave a lot to like while there are a few issues that bring this one down. The biggest factor here is the general lack of urgency on the expense of the characters during what's going on. When they become aware that someone is actually on the property with them and that they are being hunted down, the scenes are handled with a genuine lack of urgency for their safety that it feels draining how they don't recognize what's going on. The inability to tell that they're in the crosshairs of danger even if not aware of the extent fully makes them immensely difficult to care about, similar to the later scenes involving them trying to make sense of the cult's actions when they're corned. Everything is somewhat spelled out about how the cult's preparations are about to go down, the fact that they just stand around waiting for something to happen or limply run away without taking it seriously, ruining this one significantly. Coupled with some budget limitations, these all hold it down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
You Shouldn't Have Let Me In (2024)
A solid and enjoyable genre effort with a few small issues
Arriving in Italy for a Bachelorette Party, a group of girlfriends rent out a manor house in the city for their celebrations which soon revolves around bringing the club owner who rents out the house back to party with them but when they discover his vampiric nature must try to stop his deadly plans.
This was a pretty fun and generally solid genre outing. Among the better qualities here is the impressive work featured here that brings about a rather fun storyline. Managing to mix a slew of general cliches into workable storyline beats, starting with the bachelorette party arriving at the remote castle-like manor house in a foreign country, the interpersonal relationships between everyone who all have their backstory with the group to deal with, and the gradual reveal of the mysterious owner's past that becomes incredibly more obvious the more it continues features a strong enough starting point here. The later points brought up here involving the discovery of his plan the more they remain at the house, from the mythical portrait that looks exactly like her to the arrival of the hunter going through the sacred artifacts trying to uncover the truth about the host and his minions, serves to further this overall setup quite nicely. That makes the film incredibly fun when dealing with the vampiric action featured here. As there's a solid build-up to that point in the first half where his attempts at worming into their party to allow his presence and try to win her over, the work here featuring the group hanging around the manor or heading out to the party that brings them in contact with the main vampire and his cronies makes for an intriguing setup which brings this into the fun final half where the vampiric activity takes place. With the creatures taking over the house and using their powers to run wild over the friends who are twisted and manipulated into falling victim to the creatures in several fun setpieces that utilize the folklore powers well. Including the amount of fine confrontations to try to stop them which brings some decent gore throughout this part of the film and some well-handled sensuality with the seduction attempts, these provide quite a lot to like here. The film does have some issues here holding this down. The main drawback here is the series of obvious cliches utilized to try to tell this story but doesn't do much to differentiate it from the pack by using them. The starting point of the mysterious woman arriving there trying to look for her missing daughter which never gets resolved, the group being unconcerned with their missing friend who's never shown up, the painting featuring the one girl who's a dead ringer for the friend, and the revelation about the hunter following them has all manner of familiar beats that crop up in so many other similar films makes it all feel quite familiar. The other problem here is a slightly confusing issue during the main party where the vampires start to take over and use doppelgangers of the group which is never explained if it's a visual hallucination, manipulating the whole scenario, or a shapeshifting ability. It can make it hard to tell what's happening since any of those factors being the culprit changes around the scenario drastically. Beyond these factors, it's what drags this one down just slightly.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Brief Nudity.
Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (1971)
A highly enjoyable and intelligent giallo
Suffering from strange nightmares, a woman visits a psychiatrist for help with her condition which is soon overshadowed by her infatuation with a strange free-spirited neighbor that is soon found dead, bringing her into a deadly mystery to uncover what she saw before a killer strikes.
This one ended up being quite a fun erotic giallo. One of the strongest elements present here is the incredibly overt and enjoyable amount of sexuality that's present throughout here. Delving into the psychological realms as frequently as this does in the attempt to explain and understand the recurring dreams which are always sexual in nature, whether it be in the middle of an orgy or other sexual dalliances with the suspicious neighbor allows for innumerous numbers for erotic softcore groping. Given the near-constant use of these scenes and other hedonistic sequences with an alarming frequency here, this contrast with her own stunted psychological issues and repression offers a great turn that makes the film rely on exploring these issues further. It also doesn't help that there are capable performers regularly showcasing these attributes. However, the psychological factors explored here are rather engaging, enhancing the central mystery. Since we're all deeply aware of her repressed condition as the meetings go into extraordinary detail hammering home the nightmares and dreams as the attraction to and destruction of vice and degradation, the idea that the wild, unhinged nature her neighbor represents compared to her is a big part of the film. Although there's a determined push towards the rejection of the lifestyle she leads by keeping the details of the crime hidden which amounts to a distressing feeling of abandoning the free-spirited lifestyle through violent means if possible, there's a lot to like about how this all ends up psychologically toying with her psyche in such a way that the burgeoning snap from sanity feels incredibly realistic and genuine. While these factors are quite fun, there's a lot to enjoy with the traditional giallo elements. The central investigation is well-handled here and is easily one of the finest in the scenes as everything not only comes to the forefront but is all rationally thought out. There are several cutaways back to the detectives on the case piecing together the clues and evidence from that night in an attempt to name and clear various suspects which are rather enjoyable since the means through which it gets solved come off nicely leading into the full reveal at the end. Likewise, the dynamic visuals and arresting concept at play, whether the impressive psychedelic dream sequences or the pounding suspense of a frantic escape attempt in an abandoned church trying to lose a crazed killer, keep this one fascinating and compelling throughout which keeps this one up over its flaws. There are some minor issues to be had here. The biggest of these factors is the film's psychological torment route that keeps the action to a minimum for fans of the higher body-count features. This one spends a lot of its running time engaging in trying to clear the story involving the mysterious dreams and how they connect her to the crime which causes a massive drop-off in terms of deaths or other activity. That causes the film to become quite talkative for some despite how well the story comes together since the journey here isn't geared towards revealing what's happened rather than bumping off tons of individuals to hide it. Even with a low-key finale that feels like an epilogue tacked on afterthought instead of generating a rousing close or finish that can feel like a slight letdown, these few issues aren't nearly enough to hold this down much.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, sexual content, Language, drug use, and violence-against-animals.
Bakterion (1982)
A slightly underwhelming but still really fun genre effort
After an accident in their facility, the staff of a government testing facility learns it was caused by a scientist's exposure to a deadly virus that has mutated into a deformed monstrosity that has escaped and begins terrorizing the city forcing them to call in the military to handle the situation.
Overall, this was a pretty fun monster-on-the-loose style genre effort. One of the better elements present here is the somewhat enjoyable setup that keeps this going along rather nicely. As this one starts immediately on the lab accident and the resulting aftermath that follows in terms of not just the internal investigation that reveals the actual escape and situation being presented so we know what's going on before the film starts with the police investigation into the disappearance and strange murders taking place, there's a frantic energy here. The use of the military intervention due to the presence of the viral outbreak and the potential for containing more of the area around him comes about logically with both sides coming together early on to provide a fun and fast starting point. As a result, there's a lot of fun to be had here with the work involving the creature rampaging through the community. The first scenes here where he attacks the date in their parked car or the housewife at home offer fine stalking scenes where the creature's point-of-view for the sequence not only keeps the identity a secret but also has the suspense of the concept. That provides the kind of starting point for bigger, more high-energy setups in the attack on the movie theater, chasing the stragglers from the church service, or the attack at the house that favors the idea of using the ferocity and intensity in his arsenal for some enjoyable outcomes. Since it all leads into the tense and suspenseful finale where they trap him in the underground sewers and try to put their plan into motion, it all comes together with solid and cheesy gore for a lot to like. There are some big issues here that hold it down. The majority of the flaws here are spent on the inherently sloppy and underwhelming military intervention into the story that brings about several big problems. This whole section is clunky and awkward with the cliched panic button-hitting-while-shutting-out-civilians angle that runs throughout the first half as the need to stop the viral spread which has some undermining qualities while also making no connection to quarantine being in effect which would've brought so many eyes to the area it renders the whole thing questionable. As well, this also highlights some rather dragging pacing as the constant conferences to get everything cleared up so all of this has plenty of issues with purpose and pacing. These factors are what end up holding this down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, and Language.
Un angelo per Satana (1966)
One of the finest Gothic horror efforts
Arriving in a remote village, a restorer finds the area under extreme superstitious beliefs that begin affecting their way of life as well as the means of his stay, and when it's revealed the cause of everything might be the strange statue unearthed just before he arrived sets out to stop it.
This was a fairly fun and enjoyable Gothic horror outing. Among the better elements here is the fantastic way this sets up life in the village for everyone that comes unglued when he arrives under the influence of the curse. With his arrival punctuated by the setup of the fishermen recovering the strange statue and what it means to the rest of the village, the impending return of a family member who was off at school studying, and the suspected influence that comes together with these elements all make for a solid start to this one. The concurrent build-up about the history involving the statue and what he tries to accomplish with restoring the damaged object comes about with the two establishing a sort of relationship together based on him needing her to model for the restored statue that brings them together. That allows for some rather enjoyable moments as we see the influence overtaking her and setting off on a more fervent genre route. With it all starting in the restoration room when the vision of the witch returns to offer up a series of threatening messages that sets the ensuing chaos into motion, it generates the kind of exceptional starting point that feels in tune with the setting. As it slowly becomes apparent that a curse is enacted that's not just against the villagers but also generates a possession angle with the idea of the witch possessing the daughter with how she reacts to others around her with openly vicious flirtations that grow violent at the drop of a hat when it becomes time to start tormenting the locals. These include a series of encounters where she preys on their vulnerabilities and sensibilities while still offering up the kind of solid groundwork that comes about from the implications of the curse affecting her to act that way. It all comes to a fine head in the finale where the whole thing starts to become far more obvious about what's going on. As the possession takes hold and starts to affect relationships not just with the servant who gets seduced under her watch that impacts the boyfriend but also the way she starts in on the art restorer staying there while also taking care of the other women in the village through the other servant under her spell. It's all brought to a head with a fantastic finale full of great melodramatic Gothic action and reveals that feature some striking visuals and ideas about what's going on not just in the house but the village as well with everything given quite a fantastic space to breathe which brings about a lot to like. It does have a minor drawback in how the whole reveal comes about, with this one bringing up a villain out of nowhere to save face, and makes little sense as to what's gone on before trying to make the reveal come together. This is the main issue here as this is a great time overall.
Today's Rating/PG: Violence.
La cripta e l'incubo (1964)
A generally fun Gothic horror effort
Arriving at a friend's castle, a man discovers he's been called out by a friend to look after his daughter with the belief that she's becoming influenced by a witch returning from the dead to carry out a devastating curse, and as he continues his work finds the deadly secret at the center of everything.
This was a fairly impressive and enjoyable Gothic horror outing. Among the better features within this one is the massively enjoyable setup that allows this one to wrap itself up in the confines of the Gothic horror trappings rather effectively. Going with the all-too-familiar route of a stranger arriving at a remote castle in the countryside to deal with the instructions from a friend who urges him to look into a strange series of experiences with his daughter, the eventual uncovering of a centuries-long curse by an ancestor claimed to be a witch and burned alive for it starts to get the story going rather solidly. With a flashback to the whole proceedings giving this a proper context while also getting to see the sneaking around going on in the background of the castle that paints the guilty party as the actual perpetrators of the whole thing, there's a lot to like here in getting the film going with a proper starting point for the later madness to follow. That sets up the kind of interactions here that bring about the kind of stellar dynamics and interpersonal rivalries that make for great Gothic horror standouts. As we're already aware of the helper trying to help the curse come to fruition against the Count's back and the discovery into the family history starting up, there's a strong series of work here featuring the family trying not to get in each other's faces over mistakes or misunderstandings while the evil duo plot their revenge in the meantime. With this part bringing along fantastic Gothic imagery in the curse scenes where the nightgown-clad figure roams the billowing hallways of the castle or travels along hidden passageways through candle-lit rooms, it completes the picture incredibly well at capturing an authentically mysterious and chilling atmosphere to help make the possession scenes feel more impactful. The second half here takes this fine setup and brings about more of a solid retelling of the novel as the incorporation of vampiric elements into the Gothic horror setup brings about plenty of fun. Realizing that there's a potential discovery to the curse with the proof of the fabled painting that will hopefully put an end to everything by explaining the incidents and accidents around the castle and surrounding areas that are also affected by everything taking place which starts up some duplicitous means to get everything in motion leading to a strong and somewhat shocking climax that has a lot to like with it's more fervent action and sparkling Gothic atmosphere involving descending into underground crypts, dramatic reveals, and a fun outcome. This is the only issue here where it's a bit too long to get spelled out and get going with the main part of the storyline, which doesn't do much overall but stands out as the lone drawback.
Today's Rating/PG: Violence.
Il paese del sesso selvaggio (1972)
A fine starting point for the Jungle-Cannibal style
While on vacation in Thailand, a photographer is accidentally swept up into a primitive tribe of jungle-dwellers who take him hostage and plan to kill him, but after being saved by their leader's daughter is forced into the customs and way of life with the tribe and their brutal society.
On the whole, this is a solid if problematic start of the genre. One of the film's bright spots is the means through which it demonstrates a rather intriguing lifestyle for the main character rather than an overabundance of exploitation tropes. Rather than focus on torture and cruelty for the sake of sensationalism, this one presents itself more as a retelling of life in the village that he has to follow to not get killed following his meeting with the villagers' daughter who takes a liking to him to save him from being killed. This starts the film on a nice note as the means of being inducted into their society and winning them over that comes about rather nicely overall. With this in place, the film's worth is centered around these customs and experiences while inside the tribe as he has to deal with their way of living to not be killed. Since the daughter is so enamored with him that she orders him not to be killed but must still be put through the paces as a member of the tribe, there's a fine sense throughout here of the harsh conditions he goes through with their fishing system, ritualistic ceremonies, and punishment ordeals that must be played out where he finds himself systematically going through prodding with arrows, beaten with sticks, and exposed to the elements by being left tied to a stand left out in the blazing sun. While all of this is quite fun and enjoyable, it also highlights the one main issue that some might find fault with as there's not much in the way of genuine exploitation. As the film focuses more on the idea of him trying to become acclimated to their tribal customs and way of life, this ends up making the film play out like an adventure drama about this bizarre tribe in the middle of the jungle rather than a group of people encountering savage flesh-eating cannibals. This decided lack of focus on the sensual material normally featured in the genre is a product of its time by being the first but can make the film feel like it's plodding along without much of anything happening. Even with this, though, there's still a big feature to overcome that would work itself into the genre to come with the scenes of useless and inhumane animal cruelty featured. Downplayed considerably compared to what would come later on, the scenes of a monkey being strapped down and scalped or capturing a wild pig to then later dismember and devour it are immensely unsatisfying to witness as while the pig is at least off-screen with the remains paraded about after the fact the other scene is shown in full-detail which is incredibly hard to stomach. It would be understandable not to follow through with it just for this, but these factors bring this down altogether.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, violence-against-animals, Rape, and Language.
A.A.A. Massaggiatrice bella presenza offresi... (1972)
A generally fun and likable middle-tier giallo effort
Determined to move out of her suffocating family, a young woman agrees to follow her friends' advice to put an ad for a prostitution service, but when a series of murders strikes her clients forces her to decide whether to continue the lucrative business or follow her family's sentiments.
There's more to like than expected with this Giallo offering. Among the better aspects on display here is the surprisingly fun and enjoyable setup that provides the film with an intriguing central premise. Though the idea of a woman willingly entering the world of escorting and prostitution on her own accord to get away from domineering, conservative parents is a bit far-fetched, that this generates a strong-minded and resourceful woman with her own set of goals and desires that won't be pushed or bossed around is commendable. Always being able to stand up for herself and her self-worth against the browbeating of her conspirator makes for an interesting and enjoyable figure to be around while the central premise is played out. As well, there are also some likable qualities with the rather interesting attack scenes throughout here. Since the film plays with the idea of the killer striking her clients just after he meets with them rather early on, there's some fun early setups involving the cloaked killer suddenly appearing out of nowhere to strike and slit the victims' throats. A brief yet still suspenseful cat-and-mouse stalking scene in a darkened apartment and a secondary chase by the police to catch the killer offer up somewhat enjoyable scenes here with the few action scenes coming into play that give the film some solid bits of excitement. Combined with the fun nudity in the various couplings, these are enough to like here that holds this one up. This one does have some issues that bring this one down. The main drawback here is the film's detrimental investigation sequences which are highly underwhelming and problematic. There's so little to how the investigation that's conducted here would logically point out the killer through the methods employed here as they're barely functioning police work and there's so few of these scenes to begin with that this part of the film feels lacking. As well, the lack of suitable red herrings means that the killer is quite obvious and early to guess as well as being so simple to guess the motive based on these factors that a lot of the film feels like heading towards an inevitable outcome that takes a lot of fun out of this one. These factors do hold this one back the most.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, sex scenes, and Language.
Devil's Knight (2024)
A quite fun period-set creature feature
In the middle of a massive war, the King of a small kingdom sends out for a group of professional monster hunters to help deal with a slew of monstrous creatures living in the woods that have been trouble for other hunters over the years and set out to finally kill the fabled creatures.
Overall, there's a lot to like with this one. One of the better aspects featured here is the strong and impressive setup that allows for a lot of solid period-set action. The main setup of the war throughout the kingdom involving a slew of creatures attacking their soldiers and holding the King under such duress that he sends for a group of monster hunters to stop the creatures leading to them working their way through the kingdom to finally take it out gives this a strong overall starting point. While we get tons of excessive characters and brief appearances along the way, the fact that there's a lot of great work here in getting the different relationships established not just within the Kingdom with the Royal Guard and the rest of the guards but also the monster hunters gives them some personality for later on. That provides the film with plenty of exciting battle scenes featuring the different groups battling the monsters or other threats in the area. Initially introduced fighting a horde of rebellious hooligans in a local bar and handling everything cleanly, their struggles against the different creatures in their struggle to get to the final creature terrorizing the local woods. This has some great action and bloodshed in the confrontations ranging from numerous sword battles against the creatures slicing them to pieces which offers up the gruesome make-up work on the various kills and the creature costumes used here with the different creatures shown to be distinct and memorable enough to be quite likable. These are all that work nicely here although there are some factors here that bring this one down. Among its biggest issues is the series of random, useless characters brought on board simply because the origin status requires a series of cannon fodder characters to be slaughtered. This has way too many people here that serve no purpose being either background characters in random scenes or just getting served up to the creatures to be slaughtered which leaves everything so cluttered that it takes a while to figure out what's going on. Taking so many one-shot figures or recurring characters that we're trying to keep track of in regards to what their purpose is in the kingdom as the simplistic main story here would have provided this with a lot to like only for the cluttered first half to make it a bit more troubling having these extra moments that aren't necessary here. The other factor with this one is the last act that manages to add in more than necessary here to be quite a confusing addition to the storyline. Slaying the main monster far too early than necessary and returning for a feast in celebration, it includes a rather bizarre storyline about the group getting taken prisoner after a duel and then forced to defend the castle from a secret monster held captive by a traitorous member of the cabinet that has a lot to like but it's tacked onto the film as if from a different movie entirely by just inventing problems for them to deal with for no reason. Combined with the somewhat obvious low-budget limitations present at times, these really hold it down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.
Eldritch USA (2023)
An incredibly fun comedic zombie apocalypse effort
Trying to improve his lot in life, a down-on-his-luck guy and perfectionist brother working at a news station who cover the story of a cult able to bring people back from the dead, and after an accident requires their help to bring him back which soon turns into an unforeseen apocalyptic scenario.
This was a fairly fun if somewhat problematic genre musical. One of the better features of this one comes from the fine setup that allows for a great context of the relationships involved so everything comes across with the proper context. Going in-depth on their relationship with the brother, getting everything handed to him without even trying, being respected and loved at work, and taking everything he wants including what is his more reserved and quiet brother also includes times where it seems to happen just for the sheer thrill of taking something his brother wants. This allows for a great starting point depicting how their lives are played out gives the accidental death and need for resurrection to give him back his shot at a normal life which is enhanced quite nicely with the hilarious songs that come in offering more of a clue into their psyche explaining what's going on. That offers the perfect counterpoint for the interactions that take place once the resurrection occurs and their relationship starts to change. With everything here coming across nicely with the central accident and the ensuing resurrection ceremony taking place in the middle of nowhere to make sure it goes off rather nicely, there's a strong start for the series of interactions that take place here introducing him back into humanity following the process with the station workers, the family members, or those who are in his immediate vicinity that delivers some hilarious confrontations trying to keep the zombie side from getting more prominent in his personality. It all leads into a strong finale offering the full extent of their plans in fine form. Realizing that their undead nature makes for a strong conflict with the more civilized means the rest of the world is trying to impose on them, the two set out to right the wrongs offered against them by the resurrection attempt that sets them off on a different path holding the cult hostage and bringing the friend group back together to stop them. This more mystical-based finale with the spell-casting, occult rituals, and use of cursed objects brings about some intriguing action. However, it does depart from traditional zombie fare that's somewhat expected here. It's more of an expectation issue than anything. Still, beyond that, it's really the main issue here beyond the tolerance for the musical bits interjected here that helps to bring about the comedic tone as well.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.
Adam Chaplin (2011)
An immensely fun gorefest but not much else
Sending off on a criminal spree, a man armed with super-human abilities from a deal with a demonic figure goes in search of the criminal boss that was responsible for the death of his wife years earlier leaving a trail of carnage in his wake that brings the two together for the final showdown.
This is an immensely tough one to get a handle on. On the surface, the main point of this one is the unrelenting and over-the-top gore which makes this rank in the upper echelon of such content in the entire genre. The series of bashings, beatings, dismemberments, slicing, decapitations, and overall bloody mess of a body left behind is somewhat fun to see play out but does take some rather underwhelming factors about how unnatural and unrealistic a lot of this is where the brutality on display moves the film along is the main and only selling point featured here. This approach might be quite appealing for most out there as the nonstop nature is a major contributing factor even though that does become one of the big problems associated with the film. The lack of a storyline here is a huge factor to overcome, basically amounting to the flimsiest of excuses to include a series of brutal and graphic violence for very little reason so the carnage just becomes a mindless blur of flowing blood, splattered bodies, and demonic incantations. It does get saved somewhat by the series of impressive visual tricks that show far more technical trickery than expected as the slow-motion strikes, hyper-speed brawls, and avant-garde lighting all make it look really impressive, but there's still way too much repetition going on to completely overcome this.
Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Extreme Graphic Language, and Nudity.
La casa della paura (1974)
Enjoyable enough as it is but still quite problematic
Recently released from prison, a troubled woman forced to make ends meet takes a job at an apartment building where she learns the truth about the previous tenant who ran afoul of a strange satanic cult and now believes that she's being targeted next forcing her to find a way to stop them.
This one had its moments but was still decent enough overall. One of the few engaging elements present here is the fact that this one goes for a rather fine mystery as to what's the culprit behind the disappearances. After being provided with the fine opening scene, the resulting sense of mystery bandied about due to the rather overt case about the disappearances building up around her and the strange visions of the masked killer tormenting her that spurns on the true investigation. Since this runs alongside the scenes of the devious doctors running through their plans with each other in the secret basement, this adds quite a lot to the overall story attempted here as there's some fine work to be had at this point in the story. Likewise, the inclusion of the red-masked killer working for the group helps to give this one some solid horror elements that are played up together into a decent whole here, making for a decent enough story here which really ramps up in intensity in the later half here. The second half brings about a bit more action as the early setup provides some great impact. As we get to see the cult's intentions finally coming together as the exploits of the cult manage to bring about an investigation into the strange dreams she has that tie everything together, it all leads to the revelations that are shown here leading through the series of interactions with the group. As the flashback gives us a chance to see the torture inflicted by the red-masked psycho which features some great whipping and torturous devices being utilized that also gets some solid nudity included here as well. The fun finale has some more action involved with the addition of a car chase throughout the countryside and a final trip to the cult's hideout for a grisly Satanic ceremony that wraps this up rather nicely. Alongside the typically-impressive nudity usually featured here, these here manage to hold it up somewhat. Although it does have some flaws to hold it back. The main factor to be had against the film is the generally underwhelming and bland pacing that manages to focus more on the origins of the cult's obsession with her than anything else. Going more for a slow-burn approach that gets pretty in-depth on how they treat their own, who they target, and how her activities around the apartment leave her in their crosshairs ends up causing the film to be far more dull than expected with very little happening for long periods. The series of clues that focus on her looking into the former tenants with her friend manages to last quite a while here involving the duo going around talking to others trying to find out the truth about what happened at such a glacial pace that there's so little actual genre material going on for a large part of the running time. There's also the immensely stupid and confusing storyline with very little going on that makes any sense. There's so little explained here about the cult, how they plan to operate, sacrificing others, or how everything is supposed to be a secret when everything they do is so blatantly obvious that there's not much chance of them trying to get away with their plans. Even how they expect clues to disappear when left out in the open as a big mystery about the disappearing bloodstain left in the apartment is a big giveaway here as that investigation ties into the killer's reveal later on as that never goes anywhere so everything is just difficult to figure out on top of not having a lot of action to help it out. With a weak look and production style, there are a lot of issues with this one bringing it down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, and Language.
I vizi morbosi di una governante (1977)
A likable enough if somewhat problematic Gothic-tinged giallo
Gathered together at a remote castle, a woman brings her friends together to visit her grandfather's estate and try to catch up and indulge in some lighthearted sexual fun, but when they realize that a deviant killer is loose in the castle killing the one by one must find a way to stop him.
This was a decidedly average if still enjoyable enough giallo. Among the better features here is a strong and generally likable setup that manages to mix together some decent erotic ventures alongside the general degradation of the group. Getting together at the castle to have some fun provides enough of a chance to see the friends engaging in all manner of perverse games and overall degenerate behavior as the group splits off at the slightest hint for all manner of intimate couplings that include staged erotic displays for a charades game or indulging in object enhancement during their sexual liaisons with each other. This goes nicely alongside the fine work to keep them isolated at the lavish Gothic castle where everything takes place. This makes for a great juxtaposition involving sleazy imagery and a general sense of degeneration while inside the isolated mansion featuring the usual assortment of Gothic trappings. When this one turns into more overt slashing sequences with the genre conventions employed, it becomes a somewhat more enjoyable effort. The inspector investigating everything is a big part of that with some impressive attributes here looking into the series of bizarre deaths being committed, being smart enough to piece some clues together, and generally seeing through the indifferent atmosphere of the guests. These actual scenes featuring a shadowy figure emerging out of the darkness and striking a gruesome blow to kill the intended victim and then proceed to pluck out their eye post-mortem make for some grisly imagery at times and plenty of intriguing scenes showing the killer spying before striking and leading to a decent enough final hal where the killer starts taking them out in more involved actions. Overall, these provide this with enough to make for a likable genre effort although there are some big issues with this one holding it back. Among the main detriments featured here is an absolutely glacial pace that focuses far more of the running time on these sexual shenanigans rather than dealing with the slashing aspects of the genre. As the first half introduces us to the group and shows them hopping into bed with everyone at the drop of a hat and then indulging in extended sex scenes with plenty of fondling and other such activities, there's an extended piece of time doing anything but knocking the cast off which leaves this feeling immensely slow-going and sluggish to get going with a lot of the action taking place in the finale because of this. The other issue here is the film's generally cheap and flimsy look, from the castle setting and presentation to the gore effects and its overall presentation which shows off every inch of this one's middle-of-the-road status that keep this from reaching the upper parts of the genre.
Rated Unrated/R: Full Nudity, Graphic Violence, Language, and sex scenes.
Haunt Season (2024)
A fine enough seasonal slasher effort
Joining a special haunt attraction, a woman becomes part of their nightly celebrations as they open for the Halloween season performances, and as she tries to make friends with the group finds their mysterious disappearances are the result of a strange killer knocking them off one by one.
This was a massively enjoyable and likable effort with a lot to like about it. One of the better elements with this one is the overall setup offering a far more involved behind-the-scenes look at the operations and series of interactions within the haunt. With the new girl immediately going through the orientation process and is taken behind the scenes of the operation which includes the group getting ready for the day's work including make-up and props which gives us a chance to see the group's interactions and banter in addition to seeing how they operate on a typical night, this offers up the kind of camaraderie that develops between them that helps to make the later encounters feel far more worthwhile and chilling. As this also includes the series of mysterious disappearances to some of the regulus backstage which the audience is aware of as being done by the killer but not to the characters, the clues mounting up afterward makes for a fun time here. When it comes to some high-quality stalking scenes, there's a lot to like here as well. With a cold open showing the reason for the new recruit with the killer taking out the worker backstage, it sets off on a series of solid genre stylings with other fine ambush-style confrontations including the one worker outside their workplace or taking out the Escape Room owner inside one of the exhibits. This leads nicely into a solid series of genuine chasing scenes with the standout victim being chased through an arcade and surrounding parts of the facility. It all leads into the wild and over-the-top finale where the killer goes crazy and offers up a slew of wild slashing scenes against anyone and everyone unaware of what's going on until the guests become aware that there's nothing fake about the situation and have to flee causing this to be a pretty wild and chaotic series of events involving great gore and brutal kills. These offer up a lot to like overall although there are a few drawbacks here that bring it down. The main issue here is a bizarre and problematic killer that has some real problems, from the idea of picking the scrawniest member of the group and trying to suggest they're responsible for the whole thing based on how random the whole thing feels. With very little information about who it is that would logically lead us to believe they're the killer or even what their motivation is with the whole thing being glossed over other than a massively underwhelming notion about performing a ritual of some kind that's so rushed through it's nearly impossible to care about the impact much less how it's all a non-reveal anyway, this all comes off as a massively underwhelming being the main point of this one. Combined with the general low-budget approach that might be somewhat problematic, these are enough to lower this one somewhat.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
The Town Without Halloween (2024)
An immensely effective kid-friendly genre effort
Living in a small town, a group of friends goes through a series of trials and tribulations before Halloween that is soon revealed to be a ploy by dark forces conspiring to ruin the holiday season forever and set out to figure out the clues about what's going on to save the town from the dangerous figures.
On the whole, this was a massively enjoyable and likable genre effort. One of the better elements present with this one is the incredibly fun setup that provides a great chance for a lot of fun to be had throughout here. Offering a great idea involving the kids trying to go about their normal lives preparing for the holiday and being thrust into a strange mystery involving mysterious creatures appearing in the town, a strange legend about the town's history celebrating the holiday through a bizarre ritual, and the strange plot to now keep the town from celebrating, this is a generally solid start to the story. As we soon get to see that the adults are being taken over and brought under the ploy of the Mayor who's in the pocket of a dark figure leading the charge to cancel the holiday, it's got a fantastic base to launch into the group's mission to look into what's going on. As this goes along and the friends come together to look into the series of clues about the strange situation, this one moves into a nice mixture of clue-solving and encounters with the diminutive creatures that are shown under the control of the leader. These scenes manage to bring about some fun scenes where the town goes crazy while under the influence of the slime distributed by the leader or the adventure scenario presented to get the kids around town battling the different creatures out to stop them and make sure everything is fulfilled. With a fantastic family-friendly approach that makes everything suitable for just about any age to enjoy things and plenty of practical effects that help to add a fantastic holiday aesthetic this all creates a fantastic genre effort of the style. There's not a whole lot to hold this one down as it does have a minor issue. The main factor present here is the family-friendly approach doesn't allow this one to take the kind of chances it wants to do and keeps it tame when it could've gone much further with a harsher rating. With the kids never going to be in trouble based on their ages and the setup that keeps them front and center as the primary driving factors of the storyline, there's never going to be the kind of genuine thrills or fear to be gathered by the creatures or the mysterious figure at the center of everything that makes them almost bulletproof and lowers the thrills to be gathered from them. As the meltdowns never get graphic and all confrontations take place off-screen, these are potentially bound to disappoint if you're expecting anything harsher which is the main fallback.
Rated Unrated/PG: Violence, Language, and adult references.
Trophy Heads (2014)
An immensely fun and cheesy genre effort
Living with his psychotic mother, a deranged movie fan decides to start leaving a different legacy than he has and kidnaps the scream queens he loved in his youth to recreate his favorite scenes with them against their will only to kill them at the end, forcing them to find a way to stop his plans.
Overall, this was a fairly fun genre effort. One of the stronger efforts with this is the generally impressive psychological character study here that gets this one involved in a chilling enough setup. Getting to know the main lead and the relationship dynamic he has with his mom gives everything its main focus, whether it be the deranged mindset that allowed the hunting and gathering to go on or the highly deranged obsession with the films that fostered his desire to take the movies literally. Seeing how the loser lifestyle has left him living like a pathetic antisocial virgin stuck in his mother's basement watching everything over and over again until he formulates this particular plan is a fine way to delve into his particular psyche to concoct and pull off the type of plot featured here. As they continue with the capture and recreations of the various films from their career, the taunting and tormenting the disembodied voices pull off with their quips and comebacks to how it's all taking place complete the picture incredibly well. This sets up the film's main focus where it focuses on a rather loose interpretation of famous sequences involving the main characters and their past movie careers. Featuring cheesy and somewhat silly abduction scenes that are silly enough for what they are, the main series of encounters that take place here involve the fateful recreations as best they can which allows for a solid series of scenes here. Starting with the initial sequence with the alien abduction, the chase through the woods, or the flashlight-driven search through the compound, the sequences in place here are quite intriguing with how they manage to bring about the idea of the whole thing being done as a cheap imitation of the original sequence if not being an outright recreation. That makes the brutality displayed during these segments quite nice as everything is changed around into a new outcome as the action takes place throughout here as the comedy of the situation helps to add another fine layer over everything, making for a really fun time here. There are a few minor drawbacks to be had with this one that hold it back. One of the main flaws here is the film's odd structure of how the various women get introduced into the storyline which comes off rather bizarrely. With the idea of the girls getting kidnapped at random and forced to stay chained in the basement until it's their time, interrupting everything to then go kidnap someone else and keep them locked up before going back to someone they had kidnapped before, there's a decidedly unconventional structure here that comes about with not having them together the whole time. Abducting the girls and forcing them to go through everything knowing what's going on from the very start is a much better use of time here instead of having to repeat the idea every time someone else comes into the equation. As well as some rather obvious low-budget limitations that are in place here, these are what bring the film down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.
Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout (1990)
A truly fun and cheesy feature
After taking a quick shower, the actress presents us with the challenges of her profession and what it means to stay in top shape for the occasion, eventually finding her activities interrupted by a horde of zombies and a masked killer targeting her friends that threaten to put an end to her fitness quest.
This is an incredibly fun and enjoyable cheesy genre outing. The initial setup here of her doing the routine of what made her famous in the genre before starting the main gist of the film itself by going through the clips from her films that show the purpose for everything to take place and then turning into her dance routine of stretching and cheeseball come-ons makes this start quite fun. The knowing winks and nods about what's going on, even down to the attire or the way the camera keeps moving in for better shots of certain parts of her anatomy, help to complete a solid sleazy atmosphere even with a hint of class to the project knowingly making these sorts of remarks that help to bring about a knowing tongue-in-cheek approach to everything. The second half involving the arrival of the zombies and her encounters there continue the same spirit of things as we get to see the requisite lighthearted chasing and running around before getting to the outright enjoyable exercise routine. This gets the absurd visual of her leading them through a full-scale regiment that includes enough nods to genre convention and hysterically funny concepts for how she's able to deal with them that it manages to keep the same sense of style and approach that the first half carried. The slumber party section is a chance to go for a slasher route that comes off rather well with the returning montage of clips and exercising before leading into some decent chasing for a change of pace and some gore, leaving everything fun enough and cheesy to be quite enjoyable.
Rated Unrated/R: Nudity, Language, and Violence.
Witchtrap (1989)
A fun enough if problematic genre effort
Tasked with looking at a special house, a team of professional parapsychologists looks into a reported haunted house to get it ready to sell by its owner, but when they realize that the ghost of the previous owner still haunts the building looking to resurrect himself, they must try to stop him.
This was a fairly enjoyable and intriguing genre effort. Among its better elements here comes from the solid enough setup that offers a chance for some really enjoyable elements to emerge. The main backstory that brings everyone to the house involving the series of investigative gatherings that take place on the property's history, how the team gets gathered, and what's supposed to happen with their arrival as the whole thing gets spelled out involving the group's mission to the location. As this turns into the series of reveals and general setup that gets included as they start using their equipment to begin the experiments looking into what's going on, the main setup here comes together rather nicely to help paint the picture about what's going on and give the film a strong start to things. That lets the film get a solid series of supernatural antics here to showcase what's going on inside the house. Featuring a great series of attacks here centered on the idea of the spirit coming to the individual in standalone sequences and manipulating the environment to take the victim out, this one gets some fun scenes here including the initial outburst while trying to carry out a seance, a fun attack on a showering victim, a victim offed inside a closed bedroom, and a series of scenes where the group confront others either under the possession of the figure or doing something that feels as though it's leaning that way. It adds a bit of intrigue as to what's going on with the varying formats and tactics being utilized as it tends to make the psychic's freakouts mean that much more when it triggers something as its unknown nature of what'll happen next keeps this chilling, also leading to some fun deaths along the way as well which help to hold this one up. There are some factors to this one that bring it down. The biggest issue here is the inclusion of a bizarre character who serves the film very little purpose and doesn't have much to add to this one overall. Featuring the handyman as a sketchy character who seemingly knows what's going on is a fine touch in that regard and ticks a box that seemingly should be featured, yet the whole thing involving his seeming crazy antics and invincibility is here for no reason so that it can eat up some time trying to force the group to deal with him instead of the warlock's ghost. If it would've been tied into the owner coming back into the fold and manipulating him, that would've been far more worthwhile but including it as is just comes off as weird, and with the film's general sense of cheesiness in the effects and presentation are what end up lowering this one overall.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.
Despiser (2003)
A highly effective shot-on-video effort
After nearly dying in a car accident, a down-on-his-luck artist is drawn into a Purgatory world where he and several other lost souls like him are brought together into a fight against a desperate fight against an oppressive ruling figure looking to overtake the world and does what he can to help them succeed.
This was a massively enjoyable and fun entry with a lot to like about it. Among the better features of this one is the seemingly elaborate and complex story that manages to bring about some rather intriguing work throughout here. With the initial setup involving the trip into the other world and coming across the group who are fighting to regain control of the dimension from an overlord ruler and his scores of minions scattered throughout the dimension looking to help him carry out his plans. This introduces us to the group fighting to stop him against the cruel overlord and provides enough of a backstory about the situation that there's a solid attempt at building up this section of the universe and who each of the opposing groups is so that it's got everything set up from the start for a solid fantasy-style quest for a starting point. In turn, that allows the film quite a lot of intriguing action involving the journey to carry out the mission. Full of car chases, shootouts, close-quarter gunfights, and all manner of confrontations here within the universe presented here, it keeps this one moving smoothly from one battle scene to the next in an attempt to tell this kind of epic story between good and evil. It helps the cheesiness level of what's going on that everything looks distinctly cheesy due to the level of CGI-generated settings and sequences that give a great impression of the kind of alternate universe they're operating in. Given the high-scale concepts at play, especially leading into the full-scale assault for the finale where they finally charge into the lair of the warlord which not only brings that kind of cheesy setpieces but also some emotionally-charged sequences. These give the film quite a lot to like overall. There isn't much here to hold this one back. Its biggest issue is the simplistic nature of the scope and scale here being so ambitious that it has to resort to such obvious means of enhancement to tell this story. It's quite obvious that this was a low-budget effort and many tricks are used to help this out but any time anything with any sort of proper scale is needed the whole thing is accomplished with some of the cheesiest-looking CGI imaginable which looks somewhat ludicrous due to the sheer quantity of these scenes featured. It's all fun enough for what's going on but is so cheesy and silly it's hard to overlook it as being a genuine flaw against it rather than just ending up being a factor to deal with.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.
V/H/S/Beyond (2024)
An immensely solid and enjoyable entry in the series
Receiving a strange videotape, a documentarian sets out to look into a pair of strange videotapes recovered from a strange individual that purports to show proof of alien life in the universe including a series of home videos showing various such encounters.
The Good Stor(ies): Stork-Going on a ride-along, a young officer joining a team raiding a suspected safehouse instead finds the area overrun by ravenous zombies created through a bizarre ritual, and as they make their way through the situation come face to face with a terrifying threat. Overall, this was a fairly solid and likable start to things. Getting a quick early build to the group arriving at the house and what they're looking for, the series of subsequent interactions involving the team encountering the zombified residents in close-quarter confrontations makes for some thrilling moments. The brutal sequences, graphic wounds, high-quality make-up work, and frantic action leads to a lot to like as they make their way through the various scenarios here including a strong series of revelations made throughout that keep this one going along rather well. It might be a bit light on explanations for how things operate as the nature of what's happening is expectedly frantic and feverish without the chance to do anything about it, but there's still plenty to enjoy with this segment.
Dream Girl-Desperate to make it in the film business, a pair of paparazzi for the Bollywood studio system try to get a better handle on their career prospectives by getting candid photos of a rising starlet but are not prepared for the strange truth they discover doing so. This was a fairly solid segment that does have some decent enough aspects. The overall starting point here with the desire to delve into the film career and sneaking onto the film set gives this a great point to launch into the gruesome reveal of what's going on with the star which is a great sequence overall. The rampage that results is also immensely fun with a great series of gore gags and a chilling atmosphere, but it also highlights how little sense it has overall with the scale and scope of what's going on being far too big for it to be ignored by authorities, how the whole thing was supposed to play out in the first place, or how the tapes survived to be recovered which is a hard factor to overcome here.
Live and Let Dive-Going out on a skydiving expedition, a group of friends looking to use the experience to enjoy their favorite pastime, but when they get into a midair accident with a UFO are soon plummeted back to Earth where they encounter the hostile alien again. This was a fun if rather an underwhelming segment. The main setup here is incredibly solid and manages to get this off to a strong start with the introduction of the group and their eventual encounter with the UFO which is immensely chilling. The crash and eventual series of descents back to the ground where they meet up with each other only to meet the alien species featuring a slew of impressive chases through an orange grove offering a solid series of gory deaths to make it enjoyable. The design of the alien is cool-looking at first until you realize the beast isn't very functional with how oddly it comes together, and the CGI is a bit distracting overall much like the idea of how the tape survived which is a recurring theme in the series.
The Bad Stor(ies): Fur Babies-Trying to look into a suspected animal rights abuser, a pair of activists try to sneak into her service only to get captured and held captive by the crazed owner who insists on turning them into the next subjects for her experimental treatment procedure. This was a solid enough if overall troublesome segment. In terms of structure and setup, this one works incredibly well with the team investigating the rumors about what's going on at the daycare center as the whole reveal comes off quite nicely. The resulting experiments they take part in and what they eventually turn into come off the best with the demented glee at the process taking place as well as the series of graphic confrontations leave this one with a lot to like over its negatives. It feels the most out of place here with there not being much in the way of sci-fi or even alien content present so its purpose is a genuine mystery not belonging with the rest of the material featured here. Likewise, how this has gone on for as long as it has without proper investigation into the missing persons is a bit strange, leaving it with some big flaws overall.
Stowaway-Wanting to look into a series of strange encounters, a woman sets out to look into the series of reports concerning alien lights in the sky, and after catching one during the trip tries to investigate things only to get caught up in a bizarre otherworldly travel. This was a decent enough if somewhat flawed story to end things on. The main setup involving the mysterious lights and how they're going about operating in the area that she sets out to look into is pretty solid, much like that concurrent series of investigations while on the ship as the eeriness of being in the environment and how she tries to stay alive while the eventual reveals that take place on the ship is a lot of fun as it takes a drastically darker turn. However, more than any of the other segments, the inability to explain things is a bit underwhelming as it's left to inference more than anything that's going on, and is also the most outright egregious about how the footage is eventually supposed to be recovered to be included on the tape so it does have some issues.
Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
Director's Cut (2024)
A generally flawed if somewhat watchable genre effort
Desperate to regain their image, a young rock band looking to overcome a personal tragedy in their history decides to shoot a controversial music video to help raise awareness for their comeback, but the longer they stay there the more his unhinged tactics make them question his true motives.
This was a decent enough genre effort. Among the better features here is the strong and overall enjoyable setup that allows for this one to stay on a solid enough note. The initial history of the band's backstory involving the personal tragedy, the different idiosyncrasies about how they perform and write music, and the struggle with trying to get the band back on track after a series of setbacks offers a fine enough motivation for taking the offer to shoot the video. This gets them out to the house which is a moody, atmospheric piece that is the perfect type of setting for something like this to happen based on these initial early beats all set out by the strong starting point. Even once they're there, the atmosphere and strangeness of what's going on make for some intriguing ideas as for how things play out here with the way the shoot goes on. However, once the starting point has been established, almost nothing of any interest happens for long stretches of the film. Featuring no shortage of scenes involving the group going through the motions of deciding what they're doing, how they're interacting when they arrive at the house, or the series of personal inflections coming to pass while they prepare for the shoot to the point that it's just bland and dull waiting for things to happen. When it does start happening, the idea of what's going on with taking out the band one by one under the pretense of shooting the scenes for the video but turning into gruesome torture sequences that showcase more stupidity than anything in letting everything get to the point it odes before they catch onto the plan since it's so obvious there's no real surprise at all. It does undermine this just enough to hold this don overall.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and drug use.
Unnatural (2024)
A somewhat underwhelming if still watchable genre effort
Living on a remote ranch, several children are the only survivors and are saved by their grandfather who turns out to be a monster hunter sent to stop the vampire controlling a small town nearby which puts them in the middle of a feud for power over control of the town forcing them to intervene.
This was a rather troubling and problematic genre effort. Among its brighter spots is the central setup that allows for a greater use of its period setting than expected. The idea of the Old West being aware of the supernatural creatures of the night and how to deal with them while also managing to include enough reasoning for what's going on as not only is there the initial hunter going around taking his grandchildren with him but there's also the team of hunters looking through the town for the other creatures said to be in the area. The bits of folklore here involve how everyone knows of the creatures, even having a deal in place to protect them from the creatures, and the way it plays out offers up a thrilling Western vibe about a town being taken over by a ruthless gang holding terror over everyone and a ruthless gunslinger determined to stop him. This all comes together here to make for a solid enough time. There are some big issues with this one. The main drawback present here is the highly underwhelming pace that takes place where everything is far more drawn-out than it really should be. The idea of what's going on in the town is solid enough and has a premise worth getting invested in, but it takes way too long with plenty of unnecessary moments or storylines that manage to make it far longer than it should be. Taking the kids along for the ride provides some humorous interactions but also stretches out the running time significantly, as well as the scenes of him meeting up with the others in the town who keep trying to steer him away but just grow repetitive without anything that warrants him leaving with how cryptically everything comes off, leaving this to feel like the same thing over and over again. This holds up the action to the point of barely getting any of it until the ending with the pacing as it is. The other flaw here is the entirety of the deal with the vampire sheriff that the town agrees to and seems to be the whole purpose of the film. The concept makes no sense with only one individual fighting off the town as their law-enforcer to continually stay in there under his rule for as long as they do, making them come off as completely illogical. The dynamic makes little sense in how it came together and just reeks of being included simply for the sake of having the villain do something since there's nothing else going on that warrants him being there as there's nothing else he does worthwhile throughout here. Combined with the general lack of blood or gore for the kills presented here, these hold this one down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.
Evil Laugh (1986)
Would've been fine with an imposing villain
Driving up to the mountains, medical students arrive at a remote house to help clean it up for a friend and try to work past how weird the situation is, but when they realize there may be something else going on stumble across a maniacal killer righting wrongs for a past incident in the house.
As a cheesy 80s slasher, this one isn't that bad. The fact that this one decides to have fun with its killer stalking them is a big one. The fact that there's a real slow burn to allowing the victims a lot of credibility in not knowing if they are being stalked or not moves this one along getting to know the group having fun over their time together. From the kitchen gags to the car disappearing to the passers-by who give off information about the whereabouts of the missing individual and much more, this one does the mystery angle right. Each of the potential clues that could be leading to the situation is credibly and realistically debunked here as it winds through the group dealing with the potential for each of the group to be it that does have an issue but leaves a strong mark overall. That allows for some nice suspense as the characters are in knowable danger and they don't leave the area, leading to several confrontations in the basement and throughout the house that works. The initial encounter with the deliverymen who show up with the real estate agent and get knocked off starts this one nicely, while a kinky scene later on where one of the couples engages in a little of S&M while in their room and the constant interruptions along with the forced participation from one of them makes it quite memorable. The chase through the house at the end is pretty fun, using the surroundings to help put together something fun, which all provide some decent enough kills. These are the film's good points as there isn't a whole lot wrong with this one. Among its big problems come from its cheesy killer where there are a lot of issues about it. The mask is quite ludicrous, especially with the blue used around the eyes on a black mask allowing to see the killer's eyes doesn't exactly inspire a lot of fear. Even the motive doesn't make a whole lot of sense which comes across as something that never really needed retribution to begin with and leaves one with the confusing question of why involve a killer in the shenanigans when there was no need to do so. The easy ability to get the killer's identity is yet another mark, as it isn't exactly hard to figure out and can be told quite easily from the on-screen clues and the fact that they're the only person left who hasn't met up with the killer. Along with these, the fact that it takes quite a while to get going as the group partying and taking care of their urges while staying at the house can be taxing if it doesn't come off as fun. Otherwise, these are the film's bad points.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, and a mild sex scene.