Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 2nd, 2011
A pirate radio station offers to grant wishes to listeners on full moon nights, but all of said wishes come with grave consequences as it seems that there have been monthly murder/suicides occurring since the radio station's inception. Without knowing what sort of evil she might release, a teenage girl, who is grounded by her parents, makes a wish with the “Oracle” of the station and soon her friends are falling victim to evil possession.
Like a million horror films before it, we start of the film by being introduced to a band of sexy teenagers (played by actors most likely in their twenties) who pal around and generally act like annoying idiots (for lack of a more graceful label) to the point where I could care less if they fall victim to a maniac or curse of any sort....but we'll get to that later on. The story goes, one of the sexy teens is grounded by her parents and cannot attend a party where she was planning to meet up with her crush; which in the teenage world, seems to be the equivalent of having your limbs sawed off. In her angst she calls a mystical pirate radio station and makes a wish that starts off a set of tragic events involving all of her friends and family. Apparently, only a young girl's crush triangle and petty feud with her parents were at stake, which meant that the audience has nothing worthwhile invested in these characters when some of them start to die.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 16th, 2011
Over-the-top movies can be enjoyable vehicles to invest ninety minutes into. Movies like Planet Terror where somewhere behind the blood splatter and the lovely Rose McGowan who had a machine gun leg was an actual enjoyable story. But these movies do not just exist in America. Abroad, over in Japan, this type of film has been taken up to the Nth degree by the company Sushi Typhoon. This review covers their newest flic, Helldriver. Let’s see what we got.
A guy (played by Yukihide Benny) drives up in a bicycle wearing some black latex and goggles. No, this movie is not starting off strangely at all. He scales the wall in front of him using a grappling hook. He gets to the top and sits down to overlook the earth below. Out of his satchel, he produces a grizzled human head and throws it to the ground below him. Slowly but surely, a few zombies come out of the woodwork to enjoy a meal.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on November 7th, 2011
“The mind is like a labyrinth in which anyone can get lost.”
The debut film from Mexican director Fernando Barredo Luna, Atrocious is yet another entry into the “found footage” genre. This is a niche where you either enjoy the handheld bouncy ride or you don’t (or if you have motion sickness, you can’t). I, for one, quite like this style of horror. With video cameras in our phones, tablets, computers, cars, and appliances as well as security cameras recording our every move 24 hours a day; the media sources for these stories are endless. The “found footage” genre really captures the YouTube viral zeitgeist. If done right, these films can easily suspend your disbelief, tricking your brain into believing what it is seeing is real and the horror we witness feels more real and immediate.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 3rd, 2011
"We have 182 patients. Most are horribly deformed, due to inbreeding and birth defects."
If you’re a horror fan at all, then you have more than a passing familiarity with three of those patients. Back in 2003 we were introduced to Three-Finger, Saw-Tooth and One-Eye in the sleeper horror film Wrong Turn starring Buffy and Angel favorite actress Eliza Dushku in her first staring role, capitalizing on her television fame. She was good in the movie, but our three deformed cannibals were something that we just haven't been able to forget. Of course, with four movies now, we get the occasional reminder. The trio have been played by different actors over this 4-movie span, but it's the incredible makeup that has remained consistent enough for us to recognize our favorite family of cannibals.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on October 31st, 2011
“In a blaze of blood, bones, and body parts, the vivacious young girl was instantly reduced to a tossed human salad... a salad that police are still trying to gather up... a salad that was once named Elizabeth.”
Ah, there is nothing that can bring an exploitation movie alive like the unhinged imagination of Frank Henenlotter. Frankenhooker is another love letter to the seedy side of a New York City from a long-gone era. It is a cult film extraordinaire.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 30th, 2011
The Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) has made a tidy living preaching the Gospel and working his specialty: exorcisms. But he has lost his faith and, along with it, his willingness to fleece the gullible. He does, however, acknowledge that an exorcism can prove psychologically beneficial if the recipient believes in the ceremony. All that said, Marcus wants out of the business, but he takes on One Last Case, and a film crew tags along with him to the backwoods (where else?), where the devout Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum) is convinced that his daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) is possessed. Marcus slips into his routine, but soon discovers that there is is much more afoot here than he could have imagined.
The first half or so of The Last Exorcism is not without interest. It does, in some ways, handle the faith-vs-reason question more interestingly than The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and it does a credible job of gradually building suspense. But as we approach the climax, the cracks in the found-footage conceit begin to show, and the resolution blasts straight past “frightening” and into “ridiculous” and makes nonsense of the entire mockumentary premise. Maybe it’s time to retire what is rapidly becoming a tiresome cliché. In the end, then, the film is a misfire, but kudos to Ashley Bell for her disturbing physical performance – she does all the back-breaking double-jointed shenanigans without the benefit of special effects.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on October 29th, 2011
“Do you want to paaarrrty!”
If one loves zombies, one loves The Return of the Living Dead. This wonderful, unofficial sequel to Night of the Living Dead seamlessly combined horror and comedy in a way that has rarely been achieved. I would say the only other movie which did that as well was An American Werewolf in London. I had often heard stories in interviews about the insane experience making this movie was, but never knew the whole story. Or should I say stories?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2011
"The punishment's gotta fit the crime."
Believe all of the hype and controversy. In the language of the day The Exterminator was one bad mother. And when I say one bad mother, we're not talking Casey Anthony. The Exterminator came at the tail end of the era of grindhouse, exploitation, and revenge films. So, how do you close out a memorable era like that? You do a movie with all three. You put the violence and the grit out there for all to see, and you don't make any apologies about any of it. That's exactly the attitude that writer/director James Glickenhaus plays it, and the result is... well... one bad mother.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on October 26th, 2011
“People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.”
OK, let me get this out of the way. The Crow was a vehicle for Brandon Lee, son of martial arts legend and movie star Bruce Lee. The elder Lee trained Brandon in martial arts from the day he could take his first steps. When Brandon was only eight years old, his father tragically died just before finishing production on Enter the Dragon, a movie which would go on to become an international blockbuster making Bruce Lee the greatest icon of martial arts cinema. Brandon followed in his father’s footsteps studying martial arts and drama.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 25th, 2011
By Natasha Samreny
“Now don't get me wrong, you'll see very many impressive things on this tour. But there are no aliens to be found in Area 51.”
![Helldriver [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/helldriver-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (Unrated) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/wrong-turn-4-bloody-beginnings-un-large.jpg)
![The Crow [Blu-ray + Digital Copy] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-crow-blu-ray-digital-copy-large.jpg)
