Loading ...Well look out people because it is being shipped off to the publishers. It will be several weeks before its released but finally with the help of Roger Beckett who played the angry viking in ‘GoreGoyles’ it is off and on its way. Anybody that will be at Cinema Wasteland April 1st will be able to see a copy of the book! Hope to see you there!
GROSS MOVIE REVIEWS #55
BY TIM GROSS
Candyman (DVD) – A beautiful bloody movie about a journalist who is looking into a murderer but finds more than she is actually looking for when she comes across the ‘Candyman’ myth. Clive Barker was able to put the scare back into scary movies again with Tony Todd playing the soft spoken man with a hook as a hand and bees that cover him and would come to see you when you said his name five times. Possibly one of the best horror films in the last 25 years. I give it 4 stars.
Minotaur (Sci-fi Channel/DVD) – Tony Todd plays an evil king who sacrifices teenagers from another island to a half horse/half human god that lives in a cavern below him. Tony Todd is awesome and is on the fast track of becoming another Lance Henriksen and Rutger Hauer. I give it 2 ½ stars.
Secret Window (DVD) – Johnny Depp plays a writer who has put himself in seclusion to write his next book and to get away from his wife or soon to be ex-wife. One day he hears a knock at the door and a country man explains to Johnny Depp that he has stolen his story. When Johnny Depp’s dog dies, his ex-wife’s house blows up, and strange things begin to happen he begins to question whether it’s his ex-wife’s boyfriend or its something else. The last 30 minutes takes some great twists and turns and has an ending that is just a classic. I give it 3 ½ stars.
Run Angel Run (DVD) – Joe Bob Briggs takes is into a movie first and last. A biker love story! William Smith best known as the guy who fights Clint Eastwood in “Any Which Way You Can� is a biker who sells out his motorcycle gang for $10,000 and is on the run with his girl. A bad movie that Joe Bob Briggs makes worth the watch with his awesome commentary of the movie. I give it 2 stars.
Heartbreak Ridge (DVD) – All you need to know it is Clint F’N Eastwood as a marine who whips a band of misfits into real marines for real combat. I give it 3 ½ stars.
The Mummy (DVD) – Universal Studios a few years ago went the ‘Indiana Jones’ route with this remake proving that they could make Brendan Frasier successful actor. Although it is not near the best remake there is it was at least not the worst and was at least entertaining. Depending on what DVD edition you get it has a shitload of extras or double the shitload of extras. If you are able to put aside your bitterness for remakes as I did for two hours it is actually a very good movie to kill time. I give it 2 ½ stars.
Shallow Ground (DVD) – One of the most talked about movies that hit DVD in 2005 as it is a strange tale about a town closing up as a dam has been built and there is nothing left for the population of the town to do except move out. Except one thing, forces beyond anyone’s understanding will not let anyone leave as a strange man shows up covered in blood and doesn’t talk at the local police station and even stranger things start happening as they find out the strange man has fingerprints from everyone who has died in the woods. An awesomely weird ghost story, I give it 3 stars.
Squirm (DVD) – A mid-70’s flick that was just recently released on DVD that is about man-eating worms that attack a house on a rainy night. I give it 2 ½ stars.
The Abominable Snowman (DVD) – A classic film starring Peter Cushing who is part of a team who are climbing the Himalayas in order to capture “Yetis�. A great 50’s movie, I give it 3 stars.
Lost Voyage (DVD) – Lance Henriksen and Judd Nelson star in this movie about a news woman and a salvage team that board a ship in the Bermuda Triangle that disappeared over twenty years ago. If you enjoy movies about the Bermuda Triangle this movie should be no different as it claims that the triangle could be a doorway to hell! I give it 3 stars.
Mortuary (DVD) – Tobe Hooper makes this lackluster horror movie about a family who buys an old mortuary and is unaware of its legend. Well, once it opens up again, people begin to disappear and dead bodies get up and walk again because of a strange fungus that seeps into their mouths and wounds. The movie pretty much comes off as a real bad ‘Tales from the Crypt’ episode. You’ve seen it before and don’t understand why you are watching it again. I give it 2 stars just because you get to see some redhead’s hooters in it!
Lethal Weapon (DVD) – Danny Glover stars as a cop on the verge on retirement and he gets a new partner, Mel Gibson who is completely psycho because his wife died. Together they are possibly the best buddy cop movie ever made! And ladies you get to see Mel Gibson naked even longer in the Special Edition as it has over seven minutes of deleted footage restored to the movie. I give it 4 stars.
Remember folks if you’re renting from Blockbuster you’re not renting from the best! Support your local independent video store! It will keep horror alive………
Any Comments: e-mail me at – LAN_EMAIL_SUBS or go to www.myspace.com/slaherfilmfan, plus don’t forget to check out the new website horror movie fans www.bastardsofhorror.com.
‘RAISING THE STAKES’ REVIEW
A clever vampire/comedy movie that stars Josh Lively and Zane Crosby as two misunderstood teenagers and their misadventures of trying to be vampires. Problem is they are not vampires. Each night these two teenagers put on make-up and fake teeth and go out into the night to attack people as they believe they are vampires. They have watched every vampire movie from “Universal’s Dracula� to “Interview with a Vampire� and feel it would be cool to be vampires. They constantly have problems when they attack because mostly they get beat up or made fun of as their attack is stopped everytime by mace, somebody’s fist, or even a good bodyslam. But one night they run into one strange man who claims he can make their dreams come true by turning them into vampires by a secret potion he owns. Of course they drink it and soon become vampires and soon find it hard to adjust to the vampire life as they must feed or they will die in four days. The movie goes for more laughter than blood in this misadventure of teenage vampires. Justin Channell who wrote and directed the film keeps the pace from slowing down in this 73 minute feature with Josh and Zane’s quick wit and often useless information about vampire movies. It is a blend of ‘Idle Hands’ humor with vampires. The only bad thing I can say about the film is that the shaky-cam that presents itself throughout the film gets slightly annoying and does take away a little something from otherwise a fun and entertaining film. The DVD doesn’t stop there though as it also has extras busting out of its seams. Extras include: Commentary with Justin Channell and cast, deleted scenes includes the proclaimed rarely seen alternate ending, a ass load of outtakes, a short film called ‘Killing Gregory’, footage of screenings of ‘Raising the Stakes’, music from Cryptorchild and Chipmunk and Jon Bolden, plus the trailer. So the filmmaker made sure you get more for your buck in this cool ultra-low budget vampire/comedy and I give it 3 stars.
After its second weekend last week of falling to number 5 it is up to $23.8 million gross. It better hope for a good weekend this weekend if its going to get over $30 million? Is it possible people have grown a brain and are tired of the remakes?
Stay Tuned…
PASSION IS WHAT IT TAKES…
When I was sitting in on the panel for independent journalists at Pittsburgh’s GenghisCon last November the topic of “what was needed by a filmmaker to make a low budget film good� came up. There was about twenty people in the room listening and the six journalists including myself. The strange thing was Art from “Ultra Violent� magazine (who is an awesome film fanatic and writer) rang in with his opinion, then Mike Watt of ‘Happy Cloud Pictures’, then of course I opened my big ass mouth and some how I took over the whole panel with what I said. It was strange and funny at the same time. Why? For the first time people took what I had to say serious. Hard to believe, I know. But what I said had nothing to do with budget, filmmaking experience, or schooling. I just talked about if you have passion that is all you need to make a great low budget film.
When I started on this subject I had all eyes looking at me and even a few jaws dropped when I decided to start ranting about having passion. I brought into question 75% of the filmmakers at conventions like GenghisCon of what made their film or what drove them to make that film. Because I don’t know if everyone has noticed yet or not and you would be surprised but digital video movies are here and here to stay. Problem is in my opinion; most low budget films made on digital video are pure shit at times! It isn’t because of lack of talent or lack of budget it is because there is no passion behind most of these films. Now, I really went head first into watching these films about four years ago after I was an extra in some low budget films. A lot of times I would sit there and laugh at most of them and rarely found anything watchable. Why? There was no substance, no passion behind what was showing up on the DVD! I’ve watched some crap in my time that was filmed on digital video but what I started to notice especially of late is that even though it was a bad film the passion of the filmmaker stood out. I understood he or she was putting all their effort into the film. Which I’ll take that anyday over a higher end digital video DVD from a filmmaker who is just trying to copy Quentin Taratino! Passion shows through the film if it is there. I’ll bash any filmmaker as it is very evident in my reviews but always give them credit if they have passion for making their film. Because let’s face it these days folks, anybody can go out and buy DV camera and consider themselves filmmakers let alone horror movie filmmakers.
Personally, I would take a movie that is shot on film over digital video anyday just because film has that certain feel and something about it that I love. Now, I’m not saying that digital video is no good. But if the filmmaker is willing to put effort into their project good or bad, their passion for that project will show through on DV. It is easy for any person outside the horror genre to be critical of DV because they automatically think its going to be shitty without looking twice. Plus what does not make this easy is there is lots of so called filmmakers who use DV just to shoot shitty horror films and make a quick buck. If the filmmaker is willing to put passion into their project all their effort no matter how big or small the budget is, people won’t notice its on DV or film, they will just notice somebody was just trying to make a dam good film and not a fast buck. Digital video will always be abused but as long as there is filmmakers out there with passion that is all it will take to get noticed and you will be found over the people who don’t have it.
Our “Halloween” Kick Off Party just got a little bigger!
Actress Nancy Loomis (Annie Brackett) and actor Charles Cyphers (Sheriff Leigh Brackett) have been added as special guests for our very special “Halloween” cast reunion in October!
Sean Clark from Horror’s Hallowed Ground will also be joining us for a screening of his new documentary about the classic film.
A panel discussion with the cast will follow!
This is going to be an amazing event! Hope you can be there!