Saturday 31 August 2013

Blu-ray review: Bloody Cuts

 


Experience an office stalking, a deranged knife-wielding Clown, a Succubus lurking after a one night stand and fear for a young woman in a personal apocalypse. Heed dire warnings as to why young girls shouldn´t suck their thumbs, enjoy a blood drenched camping trip to Dodman´s Lake, seek the answers to a murderer´s killing spree and try not to move or else a Demon will tear you apart... The Bloody Cuts anthology is created by a team of independent British film-makers, the short movies are written and directed by Ben Franklin, Joel Morgan, Neill Gorton, Ben Tillett, Jake Cuddihy, Jonny Franklin, David Scullion, Anthony Melton and Ben Kent. I won´t go into any details on the short movies (trying to avoid spoilers) besides naming the titles; LOCK UP, STITCHES, PREY, MOTHER DIED, SUCKABLOOD, DEAD MAN´S LAKE, DEATH SCENES and DON´T MOVE. The acting is good if not solid throughout all the short movies, they are all professionally shot and edited and they look great. The soundtrack is good! The production values are very high! The short movies are creepy and often offer twists, I was very pleasantly surprised several times while watching Bloody Cuts. There are some gore in this, nice looking gore (brief computer rendered but mostly practical fx) and there are some really good creature fx design in this. There is no T & A in this.
You can order your copy from http://www.bloodycuts.co.uk/ .
This review is based upon the Blu-ray released by Bloody Cuts Films.
Rating: 7 out of 7. The Bloody Cuts anthology is frickin fantastic stuff!! It´s pure gold for horror fans worldwide and the crew behind these short movies are the future of British horror (there´s no doubt about it). Bloody Cuts gets my highest recommendations! This is a MUST BUY!

/JL









DVD review: Slices of Life (2010)


Mira (Kaylee Williams) awakens in front of a seedy roadside motel with amnesia. She searches for clues to her identity in the pages of three bound sketchbooks, in which each book represents a different aspect of everyday life, maybe her life. WORK LIFE aka W.O.R.M. (which is the title on the DVD disc); A lowly clerk at a nano technology firm unleashes a deadly virus at the office headquarters, giving new meaning to the term corporate zombie. HOME LIFE aka AMBER ALERT (which is the title on the DVD disc); As local girls begin to disappear, a young pregnant woman is haunted by visions of evil demonic children hell bent on stealing her unborn fetus. SEX LIFE aka PINK SNAPPER (which is the title on the DVD disc); A young brother and sister on the run from a sexually abusive home life, take refuge in a countryside Victorian manor- only to discover the monsters hidden in this house have been looking Slices of Life is written by Alan Rowe Kelly, Eric Richter and Anthony G. Sumner who also is the director. W.O.R.M. offers some uneven acting, the camerawork and editing is good. I like the plot and love the Cronenbergesque elements. It´s is never scary but it is entertaining. AMBER ALERT is darker, it has many good ideas and some nice imagery but some of it is hampered by the computer rendered fx. The soundtrack is good. The acting is pretty good, the camerawork and editing is good and it has a couple of nice moments. PINK SNAPPER is nicely shot and edited, the acting is better than in the previous short movies, the plot is very cool, it´s creepier, sexier and gorier... actually much gorier. The sounstrack is good. The wrap-around short movie is called SKETCHER, it stars Kaylee Williams who does a good job as Mira, the plot is cool and features some decent gore. It´s nicely shot and edited. Slices of Life is gory, there is both computer rendered and practical gore. In my opinion the gory high lights appear in PINK SNAPPER. The demonic children (there are also adults) in AMBER ALERT are for the most part created by computer rendered fx which looks pretty decent but I would have prefered practical make-up. There´s also zombies make-up fx and some creature fx which looks good, especially the creature.  There is some brief T and A, Deneen Melody provides some topless nudity. There is a rape scene and a very bloody sex scene but I won´t go into details due to spoilers.
This review is based upon the region 1 DVD release from Midnight releasing. The reason that I haven chosen to use "also known as" is that there is some confusion about the titles, one title is listed on IMDB, another on the DVD cover and at the start of the short movies but then they use the title listed on IMDB during the end credits. I found it all a bit confusing.
Rating: 5½ out of 7.  In my opinion PINK SNAPPER is the best of the of the three short movies, AMBER ALERT is pretty good,W.O.R.M. is also pretty good and has some really cool Cronenbergesque imagery and ideas which are really cool. If you´re in the mood for a horror anthology you should check out Slices of Life, even if it is a bit uneven it features good entertaiment value for your money, I was never bored while watching it and this is yet another example that good things come in small packages!

/JL

Monday 26 August 2013

Review: Rough Cut (2013)


First I´d like to thank Chris Leto for contacting me and providing me with a screener.
An Independent film director on the edge loses his funding and his marriage. In order to fulfill his destiny with no budget, he must set the scenes and abduct his cast. Film director or homicidal maniac? Castings open and he is the man to get you into the final cut! Rough Cut is written by Jeremy Westrate and directed by Chris Leto. Good acting from most of the cast and  epecially from Mike Duffau. The camerawork and editing is for the most part good but during some of the kills I´d prefered other angles, now most of the action happen off camera. The soundtrack is nice. The pacing is pretty good but the running time exceeds two hours and in my opinion some of the scenes lasts too long. It´s pretty nasty flick as there´s an abundance of sadism, torture, degradation, forced cannibalism and necrophilia.  There is some gore but let me tell you Rough Cut could have been a real gorefeast, now there are both off and on screen kills/torture but mostly it isn´t too graphic as most things are kept off camera. One can only imagine what an accomplished makeup fx artist such as, just as an example, Marcus Koch could have done witch a script like this as there is plenty of opportunities to push the boundries of "good taste". There´s topless nudity from three actresses in this including Heather Orta who provides some gratuitous topless nudity.
This review is based upon a online screener provided by Chris Leto.
Rating: 5½ out of 7. Rough Cut is a unexpectedly dark, grim and mean-spirited little flick. It has a couple flaws but this is pretty nice serial killer flick that pulls no punches as it is remorseless and nasty in its tone. There are definitely some great and memorable scenes, right now I wish I could mention some of them but as I have a policy of trying to keep my reviews free from spoilers I won´t divulge anything. If you´re a fan of serial killer flick and dark and nasty horror then Rough Cut is for you!

/JL

Saturday 24 August 2013

Review: Sledge (2013)


First I´d like to thank Kristian Hanson for providing me with a screener.
Opening with Assly’s True American Horror television program, the action kicks off instantly with skull crushing deaths from the killer, Adam Lynch. Adam is unique and believes he is in a movie and video game that he has created inside of his head! With each kill, he adds to his collection, which happens to be the faces of his victims. As a new group of people show up to the secluded rental campground, Adam meticulously watches them all to see if any is worth sparing their life. With Alex (Dustin Bowman) as the funny guy, Sarah (Stephanie Tupper) the girl Alex wants to be with, Nash (Russ Matoes) the pansy boyfriend who takes the insults Alex dishes at him, Shawn (Travis Hanson) the dimwitted friend and Michelle (Desiree Holmes) the girlfriend of Shawn, they begin their camping trip with fun, booze and sex. Sledge is written and directed by Kristian Hanson and co-directed by John B Sovie II. The acting is good, there are some intentionally bad acting but it doesn´t dampen the flick as it is played for laughs, I really like the chemistry between the  main characters, the dialogue is great and very funny. This is not a straight horror flick and it´s important to remember that, although there is horror, there are a decent bodycount and some effective kill scenes (caught me by surprise once or twice) this is in equal parts a comedy. It´s nicely shot and edited, the pacing and soundtrack is good. There´s some gore, practical fx and some of the kills are really cool. There´s no T and A in this.
This review is based upon a passwordprotected online screener.
Rating: 6 out of 7. Sledge proved to be both entertaining and enjoyable. It´s a succesful blend of slasher and comedy and that´s not easy to pull off. There are several nice moments in it but the thing that struck me the most was the acting and the chemistry between Dustin Bowman, Stephanie Tupper, Russ Matoes, Travis Hanson and Desiree Holmes. I laughed out loud a several times while watching Sledge. If you are in the mood for a horror/comedy you can´t go wrong with Sledge so check it out!

/JL





Friday 23 August 2013

Review: HazMat (2013)


First I´d like to thank Lou Simon for providing me with a screener.
The television crew of the "Scary Antics" hidden camera show habitually sets up innocent chumps for scary practical jokes on national television. For a special behind-the-scenes episode, a group of friends wants to set up Jacob (Norbert Velez), a disturbed young man who is having problems adjusting after his father's death at a chemical factory. Jacob is convinced that the factory is haunted, and now Scary Antics is going to proof him right. Friends and crew are having a good laugh at Jacob's expense when something goes horribly wrong. The tables are turned and now they're the ones that are running for their lives. Trapped inside the boarded-up building with an ax- wielding maniac, this is definitely no laughing matter. HazMat  is produced, written and directed by Lou Simon. The acting is solid. It´s professionally shot and edited and the film makers knows how to utilize the dark rooms and corridors to gain maximum effect and it looks very good! The setting is nice. The soundtrack is fantastic and I love it! The pacing is very good. The look of the killer is great, he looks powerful, menacing and scary. This being a slasher it is violent and there is gore, both practical and computer rendered. There´s no T and A in this.
This review is based upon a online screener provided by Lou Simon.
Rating: 7 out of 7. Once in awhile a flick pops up out of the blue and knocks you off your feet, I didn´t know much about HazMat and it blew me away. It is one of the best slashers I´ve seen in a long time, well made, entertaining and highly enjoyable. HazMat is now on my "must buy when it get its release on DVD" list and it should be on yours also. This is a must for fans of the slasher genre but it is also worthwhile to check out even if you are just a fan of the horror genre generally. HazMAt gets my highest recommendations!!

/JL

 



Wednesday 21 August 2013

DVD review: The Legend of the Psychotic Forest Ranger (2011)

 

Full of plot holes & cheesy dialogue, The Legend of the Psychotic Forest Ranger is a B horror movie straight out of the 80s. After taking a wrong turn down an abandoned road, the Jock, the Joker, the Blond Bimbo & the Paranoid Brunette run out of gas and find themselves stranded in the middle of the woods. What a total drag. What was that noise? Why is everyone vanishing? Is it all one of Bradley's dumb practical jokes, or could The Legend be true? Your compass can't help you in these woods. The Legend of the Psychotic Forest Ranger is written and directed by Brad Mills. The acting is, as evident by the synopsis, very much tongue in cheek. The camerawork and editing is good. The soundtrack is good. The pacing is good and the flick never gets boring during its running time. It is never laugh out loud funny but I chuckled a couple of times. It´s evident that it is made by fans for fans. There is some gore in it, the limited amount of on screen violence made me think of the slasher movies being routinely cut by the MPAA in the 1980s leaving much of the violence taking place off screen. The gory high light (practical fx) is the aftermath after a character has been chopped in two. There´s no T and A in this.
This is based upon the region all (Region 0) DVD release from Black Fawn Distribution.
Rating: 4½ out of 7. This is a pretty decent comic take on the slasher genre but you´ll probably need to be a fan of genre to truly appreciate it. Check it out if you´re a slasher fan and in the mood for horror comedy.

/JL

DVD review: Lost Faith (1992)


Steve Nekoda (Joel D. Wynkoop) is a good guy having a bad day. And it just got worse: His beautiful model wife has been kidnapped and she is going to be sold into the lucrative white slavery market by an evil karate master! Now, it will take more than heroic courage and martial arts training for Nekoda to fight back. before he can crush the white slavery ring and rescue his wife, he must first reach deep down inside himself to find what burns in his soul to regain his Lost Faith...and kick ass! Lost Faith is produced, written and directed by Joel D. Wynkoop who also stars. The acting is at times hilarious if not borderline atrocious but most of it most probably intentional as this is a comedy (at least in parts). The camerawork and editing is decent. The pacing is good. Lost Faith is a mix of action, comedy and a lot unintentional comedy and if you´re not prepared for that you´ll probably be in for a really painful cinematic experience. The soundtrack, which is bad, reminds me of the old video games of the 1980s. The action and fight choreography is bad and are actually quite crappy. There is no gore in this, sure there is a set piece that could have been gory, bashing in a head with a rock, but now it take place off screen. There is no T & A in this.
This review is based upon the region all (Region 0) DVD release from Cult Movie Mania.
Rating: 1 out of 7. It´s quite difficult to place a fair grading considering that this is so bad but yet pretty entertaining. Despite its multiple flaws Lost Faith is a movie that you can watch for the fun of of it and get a good laugh.

/JL

Sunday 18 August 2013

Review: The Devil Knows His Own (2013)

 

First i´d like to thank Jason Hawkins for providing me with a screener.
When Jessica (Dara Davey) and Ethan Ray (Patrick D. Green) receive news their Grandmother has passed, they believe the nightmares of their childhoods will finally be laid to rest. Returning home for the first time in over 25 years, the siblings reunite only to discover a mystery surrounds the house they are inheriting. Within the walls of their family estate, the dead to do not rest easy, and the horrors of their childhood are nothing compared to the terror that awaits them. The Devil Knows His Own is written and directed by Jason Hawkins. The acting is solid, you actually care about the characters, they are interesting and they aren´t just meat for the beast. The camerawork and editing is professional and it´s a very good looking movie with some striking visuals. There is a creepy atmosphere and there are some truly atmospheric/scary scenes. Most of the soundtrack is very good. There is brief gore, I won´t go into detail as that would mean that I´d spoil the fun for other viewers but it´s practical fx and looks pretty good although it could have been messier and nastier but it is definitely ok. The are some nice make up fx design, yet again, won´t go into details due to spoilers. There is gratuitous T & A (some seriously nice T & A in my opinion) in the beginning of the movie, there is male nudity including brief genitalia (blink and you´ll miss it) and some really sexy girl on girl action.
This review is based upon a online screener (intended for Festivals) provided by the director.
Rating: 7 out of 7. I liked it, no actually I loved The Devil Knows His Own. It´s very well made and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout its running time. I hope that many more will get the opportunity to watch The Devil Knows His Own when showing on the festival circuit.  The Devil Knows His Own gets my highest recommendations, make sure to check it out when it is being shown at a festival near you!


/JL

 

Saturday 17 August 2013

Review: House Guest (2013)


First I´d like to thank Brian Jalbert for contacting me and providing me with a screener.
A vicious murderer is on the loose and the entire city is on edge. It's the perfect evening for Rob Murphy (Alex Vincent) and Jen Murphy (Maylin Morera) to lock the doors and have a night at home with some friends. But what happens if one of the guests you've invited, is in fact the brutal killer that the city is fearing? House Guest is written by Alex Vincent and is directed by Jake Jalbert. The acting is good and there´s pretty good chemistry between the characters. The film makers make good use of the setting which for the most part is limited to the interiors of a house. It´s nicely shot and edited, it´s a good looking movie. The soundtrack is very nice and effective! The pacing is good, actually the pacing is too good as in my opinion it could have had a little bit longer running time. The film makers create a nice suspenseful atmosphere. There are several violent scenes in House Guest but there is only brief gore, the high light being when a throat gets slashed. There is topless nudity in this early on, within the first two minutes, courtesy of Krystal Pixie Adams who is simply credited as playing the Blond Girl.
This review is based upon an online screener provided by Brian Jalbert.
Rating: 5½ out of 7 . House Guest is a nice little (the running time is just 71 minutes) thriller. It´s well made, pretty suspenseful and entertaining. Check it out!

/JL





Review: Foresight Killer Instinct (2013)

 

First I´d like to thank Duncan Cunningham for contacting me and providing me with a link to his movie.
Brought up in a criminally corrupt town local psychic Glen Parsons (Martin Cunningham ) is no stranger to crime but when his beautiful wife is brutally murdered and he is left seriously wounded something snaps. Detective Lance Steel  (Michael Edward Williams)is a corrupt cop whom uses the badge to exploit the innocent and corrupt. He soon crosses paths with Glen and finds himself battling the xenophobic young man's furore. As more and more bodies show up bearing Glen's mark a relentless criminal investigation is unleashed, entangling Steel and everyone around him. The gift of foresight was once a tool Glen used to help the desperate but now with a haywire brain the line between good and evil, sanity and insanity blur in a crescendo of blood-splattered violence. Foresight Killer Instinct is written by Aaron Cassidy and Duncan Cunningham who also is the director. The acting is pretty shoddy but the cast more or less makes up for it with their enthusiasm, the concept is really cool. The camerawork and editing is decent. The pacing is good and the soundtrack is pretty nice. The action sequences, and there are quite a few of those, are decent, there are shoot outs, fight scenes and knifefighting. It´s violent, very violent in some parts and there is gore, one of the highlights is when the main character performs surgery on himself but this scene and many others are way too dark to make out details. In some scenes, such as the self surgery, there is practical fx but in some it is computer rendered blood. There is no T and A in this.
This review is based upon an online source uploaded by the film makers.
Rating: 2½ out of 7. The shoddy acting could have sunk this into the abyss but the enthusiasm, soundtrack, pacing, action and a bit of gore compensates a lot. It would be interesting to see what Duncan Cunningham could do if he had a bit more money at his disposal.  

/JL

Friday 16 August 2013

Review: Coyote (2013)

 


First I´d like to thank Trevor Juenger for contacting me and asking if I´d be interested in reviewing his movie.
An insomniac writer's (Bill Oberst Jr.) sleep-deprived hallucinations distort reality as paranoia drives him to extreme violence. Coyote is written and directed by Trevor Juenger. The acting is very good, yet again Bill Oberst Jr. proves that he´s a force to be reckon with. In my opinion he is one of the most talented and gifted actors in the indie horror genre. Coyote is professionally shot and edited and it is a visually very appealing flick as we follow the main character slow descent into madness, we witness his surrealistic visions where the border between reality and hallucinations becomes blurred. I love the soundtrack which is great! The pacing is very good and the film makers create a unsettling and creepy feeling where it is increasingly difficult to tell what is real and what is delusions. It gets violent and there are some nice gore in this, it´s practical fx and there are also some creature fx (also practical). There is T and A, a sex scene and there is male nudity including brief full frontal.
This review is based upon a screener provided by Trevor Juenger.
Rating: 7 out of 7. I loved Coyote! It´s an amazing flick, it´s well made, well played and a truly horrific ride into ever greater insanity.  Bill Oberst Jr. confirms again how talented he is and I want to see more of Trevor Juenger´s work. Coyote gets my highest recommendations! Make sure to check it out!

/JL

Review: To Jennifer (2013)


First I´d like to thank James Cullen Bressack for contacting me and providing me with a screener.
Joey (Chuck Pappas) suspects his girlfriend of two years, Jennifer (Jessica Cameron), is cheating on him. He is so convinced that he enlists the help of his cousin Steven (James Cullen Bressack) to create a Video Diary of his attempt to catch her in the act as well as to document the heartbreak she is putting him through. In an attempt to make her feel guilty, he intends to give this tape to her. To Jennifer is written by Chuck Pappas and James Cullen Bressack who also is the director. The acting is good and in some parts very good (Chuck Pappas) as some scenes feels natural and even unscripted. There´s lots of shaky cam, worthy of note is that To Jennifer is entirely shot on IPHONE 5. The pacing is slow, there´s a long build up as Joey and Steven are on their way to Jennifer. Some viewers might be a bit put off by the very slow pace and I honestly had a bit of a problem with it but it it serves as a build up towards the climax and slowly we start to realise that all is not well with Joey (won´t tell you more than that). There´s very brief gore, practical fx. There is no T and A in this.
This review is based upon a passwordprotected online screener provided by James Cullen Bressack.
Rating: 4 out of 7. This is the third feature film by James Cullen Bressack, the writer and director of the film Hate Crime, and he has quickly established himself as one of my favorite new directors on the indie horror front. This is different from his earlier efforts in that it´s more drama with influences of thriller than horror. We get none of graphic violence of My Pure Joy (2011) or the relentless viciousness of Hate Crime (2013) and although I like and appreciate that he tries taking another route the problem with To Jennifer is there isn´t much happening until the last twenty minutes or so. That said To Jennifer isn´t a bad movie, just muster a little patience and take the time to check it out.

/JL

Thursday 15 August 2013

DVD review: President's Day (2010)


This year's student council elections are a matter of life and death. It's campaign season and the students of Lincoln High are buzzing about who's going to be class president. But when a psycho dressed as Abraham Lincoln is hacking up students the candidates must run for their lives. One-by-one the mighty Lincoln Lambs are being slaughtered by the merciless maniac in the stovepipe hat. Everyone is dying for a vote. President's Day is written by Jimmy George and Chris LaMartina who also is the director. The acting ranges from pretty good, I really liked Paul Fahrenkopf as detective Kurtz, to pretty bad but I think some of the acting is somewhat intentionally campy as this is after all labeled as a comedy horror. The camerawork and editing is good. The pacing is nice, it´s entertaining and quite funny at times but never really scary. There are a couple of gory kills, obviously the makers of President's Day ain´t afraid too show some carnage, there are some creative kills and I think it is all practical fx. There topless nudity from two actresses, the first scene featuring nudity appears within the first minute of the movie and later on Jesse Layne as Ms. Heath (according to google she´s a professional model specializing in lingerie, implied nudity, bikini, and glamour photos) shows of her breasts.
This review is based upon the region 1 DVD release from SPY Video.
Rating: 6 out of 7. President's Day is a fun and entertaining slasher which delivers what you expect from that genre (nudity, gore and a good body count). Check it out if you´re a fan of the slasher genre!

/JL

DVD review: The Hospital (2013)


First I´d like to thank Jim O'Rear for sending me a DVD of The Hospital.
Old St. Leopold's Hospital has many urban legends surrounding it, but the residents of Bridgeport all agree on one thing: tortured souls roam its abandoned halls. The mystery proves too much for a pretty young student who decides to investigate for her senior class project. Unfortunately, she does not find ghosts. She, instead, finds Stanley (Daniel Emery Taylor)... serial rapist, murderer, and psychopath. As the young girl becomes Stanley's new pet, a team of young investigators descend on the hospital to "hunt some ghosts." Stanley sees nothing but fun and games in his future. But, what Stanley does not know is that the hospital truly is haunted and the restless spirits there are not happy with what he has been doing. The Hospital is written by Jim O'Rear and Daniel Emery Taylor. It is directed by Tommy Golden and Daniel Emery Taylor. The acting is decent, the camerawork and editing is good. The soundtrack is pretty good even though I didn´t like the title song (hey I´m old fashioned, hip hop music and horror don´t work for me). The pacing is good. The concept is cool and in some parts it is very familiar but that is not a problem for me. The use of a defunct hospital is a cool setting. There´s a few twists which is a nice touch. There are a couple of gory kills but some kills also take place off screen or are more or less bloodless. The effects are a mix of computer rendered and practical fx. Let´s just say that this could have been very gory and very nasty if the film makers would have chosen that path (I guess they didn´t due to the limited budget) but make no misstake about it, this is pretty nasty and extreme as there is degradation, torture and multiple scenes of rape (including male rape by a huge dildo) and even necrophilia on screen. There is gratuitous T and A including full frontal nudity and sex.
This review is based upon the Region 0 (region all) DVD release from Deviant Pictures.
Rating: 5½ out of 7. Not bad, a bit uneven but not bad at all. I must admit that it took awhile before I started to enjoy the flick but after the first twist it improved and got better (keep in mind that I didn´t know much about the plot when I started watching). The Hospital is more disturbing than scary due to the multiple scenes of sexualised violence and rape. If you´re a fan of  rape/revenge, tortureporn (hate that name) and supernatural (remember there are ghosts in it also) genres you might wanna check out The Hospital


/JL

Wednesday 14 August 2013

DVD review: Snake Club: Revenge of the Snake Woman (2013)


Ancient legend tells of Lamia, the beautiful queen and adulteress whose lover was put to death. After being transformed into a snake, she murders and enslaves the innocent until the gods turn her to into a stone statue. When a thief steals the statue of Lamia, all hell starts to break loose in an L.A. strip club when the blood from his gunshot wound transforms the statue into a serpent, who in turn bites the star performer. One by one, the other dancers are turned into her slaves as the customers become blood sacrifices for a midnight ritual that will allow her to roam the Earth forever! Snake Club: Revenge of the Snake Woman is written by Kenny White and is directed by David Palmieri. The acting isn´t very good, the camerawork and editing is good. The pacing is decent, even if the running time is just 82 minutes there are some scenes that are just meant to extend the flicks duration. I know that the soundtrack is intended to be modern dance music (almost the entire movie takes place at the strip club) but it isn´t very good. There is gratuitous topless nudity in this, especially courtesy of Veronica Ricci (she´s either in her underwear or topless throughout the whole movie) but also from several of the other actresses including brief topless nudity from Vanessa Sheri who also is responsible for costume and wardrobe (a lot of really skimpy outfits in this movie). There are lots and lots of exotic dancing from Veronica Ricci and her fellow female cast members although it feels pretty uninspired and ain´t especially good or sexy. Many of these scenes feels like attempts to padd out the running time. There is some gore and almost all of it is practical fx. The most potentially graphic stuff is kept off screen, for instance a male character gets his dick ripped off (which prompts the following oneliner; "I like it when a man spray over my face"), even if there are some graphic bite marks and a disemboweling scene. There´s creature makeup fx as the Snake woman is revealed in its true form towards the end and it looks good.
Snake Club: Revenge of the Snake Woman is also known as Arise of The Snake Woman and will be released will be released on September 24, 2013 on DVD (region all) by TomCat Releasing (Tempe Video)
This review is based upon the german region 2 DVD release from Edel Germany GmbH, it´s uncut and english audio is available.
Rating: 5½ out of 7. Snake Club: Revenge of the Snake Woman is trashy but it´s well aware of it, it does not pretend to be something it is not and instead keeps pouring on the scenes featuring semi-nude or topless women, it sports an attractive cast of female actresses and there are some gore. I probably enjoyed this much more than I should have.. LoL

/JL

Review: Post Mortem, America 2021 (2013)


First I´d like to thank actress Michelle Shields for contacting me and providing me with a screener.
The year is 2021. The Apocalypse has begun and the damned are returning for vengeance. Lucille (Linnea Quigley) spent five years in hell awaiting the chance to kill those who betrayed her. Her murderer is a brutal crime boss whose thugs terrorize the wasteland now. With Lucille back from the dead, will any of them live long enough to see the end of days?  Post Mortem, America 2021 is produced, edited, written and directed by Cameron Scott. The acting ranges from bad to decent, I´ve never been a big fan of Linnea Quigley even if I like some of her work (especially Savage Streets) and I´m pretty sure that her fans will appreciate her performance in this flick more than I did. I´m a self confessed fan of Michelle Shields, who plays Suze, but in my opinion she doesn´t have enough screentime. She´s one of the best performers in this and I do like the fact that she´s plays a ruthless killer which is quite a contrast compared to her role in Frankenstein: Day of the Beast (2011). The camerawork and editing is decent, the artistic choice by the filmmakers to release the flick in black and white is a nice touch. The pacing is pretty good and the filmmaker deliever what they have stated on the official website, we get a blend of genres such as zombie, science-fiction and western with some touches of comedy. I think I see influences from Quentin Tarantino movies, Alex Proyas The Crow 81994) but also from RyĆ»hei Kitamura´s Versus (2000). The soundtrack is very good. There´s no T & A in this. There is some gore, people being eaten but most of the gore/squibs are computer rendered. The gory high light is a powerdrill to the head, which actually looks really cool. Some carnage happen off screen and there is one scene where a baby is stuffed into a microwave and is killed by it which could have been truly nasty but now you don´t see anything.
This review is based upon an online screener provided by Michelle Shields.
Rating: 1½ out of 7. Sadly Post Mortem, America 2021 doesn´t live up to its full potential, there are some nice moments in it and there are definitely some very cool ideas. If you´re a fan of Linnea Quigley or Michelle Shields you should check this flick out.

/JL