Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 10th, 2011
"Welcome, Little Piggies, to The Task."
The reality show craze shows no sign of letting up. To some of us that's a horrible enough thought. But, to director Alex Orwell and writer Kenny Yakkel, it's the spark of inspiration for a rather entertaining new horror film from the folks at Lionsgate and After Dark Films. The film gives new meaning to the term survivor and offers us a glance at reality show people getting their just desserts. And this dessert comes with a lot of red syrup.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 10th, 2011
"You are now under quarantine."
The whole thing started with the Spanish film [REC]. In that film an apartment building in Spain was ground zero for a terrifying plague. The building was quickly isolated, and anyone trying to leave was gunned down mercilessly. It was one of those amateur-video kind of films that was told completely from the point of view of the people inside the building through camcorder footage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 8th, 2011
"We are looking at an unexplained phenomenon. It appears to be a partially preserved severed head, maybe of a deformed person or a wild animal. Perhaps the metal base contained some sort of preservative presently unknown to us."
Or maybe it's the severed head of the titular Banshee from this SyFy original film Scream Of The Banshee. And, oh what a scream it is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 4th, 2011
Having accidentally caused the death of her mother, Helen (Jenny Neumann) develops an unhealthy fixation with broken glass. Now an adult and an aspiring actress, she auditions for a role in an absurdist play. She gets the part, and also the attention of her handsome co-star. But then someone starts killing off the cast and crew of the play. Is it Helen?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2011
"As people flocked together for safety, the plague marched through their locked gates and they became death traps. When Washington fell it was over for America as we knew her. As government blew away, our great leaders ran for it, and hope was abandoned."
It's a grim and dark reality that Stake Land sets for us from the beginning.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2011
"One morning in 1940, the entire population of Friah, NH walked north up an unmarked trail into the wilderness. Some were later found frozen to death. Others were mysteriously slaughtered. Most, however, were never found."
It's legends like these that usually mean we're about to embark on another Blair Witch journey into the woods in search of some deep dark secret. It means it's time to brace yourself
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 1st, 2011
Three children are born at the moment of a total solar eclipse. On the even of their tenth birthday party, we discover that these kids, for astrological reasons, are complete sociopaths, and are having a merry time offing anyone in the community who even vaguely annoys them. The only ones who even gradually suspect that something is going on are high school senior Joyce (Lori Lethen) and her little brother Timmy (K. C. Martel). They soon become the target of the psycho kids’ wrath.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 30th, 2011
Ann Gentry (Anjanette Comer) is a social worker with a new case, one that she specifically sought. She has been assigned to the Wadsworth family. It consists of a terrifying matriarch (Ruth Roman), sexpot daughters Germaine (Marianna Hill) and Alba (Suzanne Zenor), and Baby (David Mooney, credited as David Manzy), a grown man with, apparently, the mental development of an infant. But Ann suspects Baby is capable of more, and that there is something fundamentally wrong going on at the Wadsworth residence. The Wadsworths, meanwhile, do not take kindly to Ann’s prying, and will stop at nothing to preserve their way of life.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on July 29th, 2011
In 2007, writer-directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza created [REC], a truly frightening horror film. Considering their subject matter is so familiar to audiences it proved a major challenge not to fall into clichés. Somehow, against all odds, [REC] remained fresh by blending the elements so well… nasty contagion and fast zombies ala 28 Days Later captured in documentary-syle videography made famous by The Blair Witch Project. Add likable lead characters, natural dialog, horrific gore and scream-at-the-screen suspense; sprinkle in clues of a disturbing spiritual origin to the mysterious virus and you end up with one of the scariest and most effective additions to both the zombie and “found footage” horror sub-genres.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 28th, 2011
The third BloodRayne film (and second with Nastassia Malthe in the title role) sees the titular dhampir slicing up Nazis, and so the chronology of the third film rejoins that of the first game. During a raid on a death camp train, Rayne accidentally infects a Commandant Michael Paré. Becoming a dhampir himself (a human/vampire hybrid), he and Mengele-figure Clint Howard (because who else are you going to cast as a Nazi scientist other than Clint Howard?) plan to use Rayne’s blood to grant Hitler immortality.
![[Rec] 2 dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/rec-2-large.jpg)
