ESCAPE 2000

If you think you've seen all the "escape from prison camp" flicks, you ain't seen shit until you've experienced Escape 2000.  This is cheesefest all the way, but the uncut version contains plenty of nudity and some good gory moments.  Plus the crazy synthesizer music is waaaaaay cool. 

Imagine a prison labor camp where four rich people want to enjoy a "turkey shoot."  The prey?  A selection of the finest, strongest inmates.  Throw in a goofy freak monster, loads of machine gun fire, exploding arrows, machete play, and ONE OF THE BEST GUY SHOT BY GUNFIRE UNTIL HE EXPLODES scenes I've ever seen. 

Good for all the wrong reasons, and the guiltiest of pleasures, do yourself a favor and check out Escape 2000 (Turkey Shoot). 

The Day movie review

 

 

The Day is the kind of movie that puts its cards right on the table.  Yeah, it's a mix of other post-apocalyptic movies that have been made before, namely The Road, but so what? 

 

I really enjoyed the way The Day begins.  It gets right to it.  A set of people trying to survive with little hope of finding food or safety spot an empty house, settle down, and they realize the house is a trap.  Then the band of cannibals show up, our survivors fight back, and the bodies start to fall.  Action, you got it.  Fast moving.  You betcha.  But...

 

Going beyond the surface, The Day is almost too streamlined.  You don't get enough background on the band of cannibals.  You barely see their camp for God's sake.  And come to think about it, you don't see any flesh eating either, so what the hell?  You don't get much background on the main characters either, so by the time it's over, you're not really left with much to chew on (pun intended). 

 

The whole affair is a bit thin.  Just one night of survival, let's see who lives and who dies.  That's really the movie in a nutshell. The Day does have its moments, especially in the second act, but it doesn't seem like a complete thought, or the thought is way too short to mean anything.  And the bloodshed is mostly CGI.  Blech! 

 

Rent it, but don't expect to be talking about the movie the next day to anybody. I have to add, Ashley Bell, the girl who's also in The Last Exorcism, does an excellent job in the film. She easily gives the best performance of the whole damn movie.  I hope to see her in more genre flicks. 

 

So okay, it's got action, it's fun for one viewing, but it sure could've easily been a lot better.  Also, a certain actor dies really early on that might disappoint a lot of people.  You can guess who that might be. 

 

Movie Grade: C+

 

Excision movie review

Excision is a movie interesting by its cameos/stars alone.  John Waters.  Malcom McDowell.  Ray Wise.  That's three cult figures already.  Then two characters that are in the movie more, Traci Lords and Roger Bart.  Wow.  Power packed, right?

That said, Excision is sort of like the movie Juno, if Juno was a total sociopath.  Our main character, Pauline, a young teenage girl curious about sex, life, death, and the usual teen hormonal bullshit, suffers from not being liked by her peers.  Add to that, Pauline isn't understood by her overbearing mother at all.  Pauline isn't the prettiest thing, and her social skills are lacking, but her diabolically dry wit is funny during most of the movie.  She's sweet, in a deranged, sad kind of way.  You feel sorry for her, until things go awry. 

The bigger conflict of the movie, Pauline struggles with the fact her younger sister is suffering through cystic fibrosis.  She's also having demented visions of hyper sexual surgery, featuring fetuses, cut up people, and other fucked up shit, in result of her strange anti-social anxiety.  What is this culminating to, you're thinking?

No spoilers, you can see a mile away what our main character has in store for the movie's finale.  It's sad, sick, depraved, but also poignant, socially satirical, and filled with dark humor.  I'm still a bit on the fence about it's overall enjoyability, but I'd say if you're in the mood for something different, slower moving, and more character and dialogue based rather than visual (though the freak out visions during the movie are pretty effective), you'll find something to appreciate here.  Probably a one-time view, though. 

Grade B-
Traci Lords: A+

The Collection Theatrical Movie Review

I was a mild fan of The Collector when it came out.  It wasn't original, but the execution and grisly deaths made it a fun enough ride.  Who would've thought a wide-release sequel would've ever happened, but it did!

The Collection, straight up, is a fucking blast.  Our collector is at it again.  The character who survived the first movie leads a group of what you'd call mercenaries, or bad asses, to the collector's hideout to save a rich guy's daughter from imminent slaughter. 

The Collection throws mass slaughter, killer traps, fun gore, and mile-a-minute action.  Horror fans will revel in the way it delivers mindless thrills.  Those who aren't big horror fans and don't enjoy squeamish stuff will shy away, but it's all done in the mode of fun. 

I highly recommend you see this in the theatres.  It doesn't seem like the box office take is that high, and I guess I'm not completely surprised.  Plus, the mainstream critics have given this one the thumb's down.  Well horror fans, I'm here to say they're FUCKING WRONG.  If you like slasher movies, gore movies, or a thrill ride, this one delivers.  It's not Oscar worthy or anything, but it delivers. 

Grade: A-
Mainstream Critics: "F" for Fuck You

Silent Night Review

Considering the long string of upcoming horror remakes, Silent Night seems to come out of nowhere.  The original caused a lot of controversy, considering it was simply a movie about a man dressed as Santa Clause going around and wasting people.  There were a lot of mad mothers writing angry letters when this movie came out.  There's nothing like a movie that causes some public outcry. 

Of course, we live in different times now.  People won't be writing angry letters to anyone because of Silent Night.  Despite this fact, Silent Night, for the most part, is a breath of fresh air.   An angry person in a Santa suit is going around slaughtering naughty people.  A nice collection of fairly gruesome killings, some nudity, and a fun script with fun characters (though a lot of it's been there done that, it's still done with an attitude of fun), make this remake a pretty solid entry. 

The only real snaffu in the plot is the weak description of the killer Santa's motives.  Sure, we understand why, but it's glossed over.  This could've been expanded, easily.  The original also failed to really go into the motives, besides this kid is crazy from a past experience from his childhood.  Maybe I thought the re-make might go for broke in this department, considering the source material. 

But hey, it's still a pretty fun movie to watch, though it's kinda throwaway.  Fun merriment, death, some boobs, and interesting characters make this a recommendation to horror fans, and even outsiders. 

Grade: B

Devil Hunter DVD Review

 

Jess Franco is probably one of the weaker directors in the foreign sleaze/horror trade.  I guess you could call him bottom of the barrel in many ways, though Bloody Moon isn't a bad slasher movie.  But Devil Hunter, oh man, is it bad.  I'll admit ten percent of this movie is entertaining.  That's not very much.  And not nearly enough to even qualify for the so bad it's good moniker.

 

Devil Hunter is really a product of the cannibal/jungle cycle due to the success of Cannibal Holocaust.  So Franco hops on the bandwagon and makes a movie about one (yes, one!) buggy eyed cannibal who eats people.  Add a goofy subplot about a movie star who is kidnapped, put in the jungle with a band of bad guys, and send a bad ass (Al Cliver) to retrieve them from the cannibal island, all the while avoiding this single cannibal guy.  Sounds cool on paper.  You get nudity, and two scenes of poorly done gore, and that's really about it.  The rest is bo-ring. 

 

The film is full of inept direction, namely scenes that last far long than they need to be just to drag out the running time.  People walking from place to place, shots of stock footage jungle, and the times it could get juicy, the movie shies away big time.  Poorly shot, a plot that could've been very entertaining, are all shot to shit. 

 

Final grade, D-

My Favorite Cannibal Movies

This list doesn't include zombie films.  I'm sticking with jungle or Amazon settings for this cannibal movie list.  A lot of these are banned films that hit the Video Nasty list. 

 

 

 

It's not as good as Cannibal Holocaust, but it has similar aspirations in the quality department (depending on your definition of quality). 

 

 

 

Eaten Alive is pure b-movie chuckles. Remove the horror and add laughs.

 

 

 

 

 

Amazonia works more as a rape revenge flick and Amazon love story than a true horror film.  Kept my interest. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Massacre in Dinosaur Valley doesn't quite follow the cannibal concept to its fullest, yet it's a fun cheesy adventure movie featuring the fakest plane crash scene ever.  Must be seen to be believed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cannibal Holocaust is easily one of the best cannibal films in this category.  Horrific and as realistic they get.  This movie stays with you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just started watching this film.  So far, it's cheesy and pure exploitation that rides hard the heels of Cannibal Holocaust. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mountain of the Cannibal God is probably the weakest on this list.  It does have its moments of gore and cannibal terror.  And Ursula, oh Ursula...

Infection: Ultimate Hospital Horror!

Evil is contagious, indeed!   There's nothing better than good, effective, stylistic foreign horror.  When Japanese horror gets it right, it's damn good stuff, which is the case with Infection.  The story mostly revolves around a hospital that's about to be closed down.  The staff here is bare bones.  And there are barely enough medical supplies to handle the patients they do have.  Worse yet, an ambulance dumps off a strange patient.  Once this patient stays, bad things start to happen, especially when said patient dies because of unintentional malfeasance.  The intended cover up sparks the beginning of the horror.  The medical staff start facing their own personal demons, ghosts, and a strange case of green fluids.  Great creep out film with a penchant for the morbid and unsettling.  Sure, it's a tad heavy handed about the treatment of patients and the need to care for life, and the twist at the end isn't the greatest, but overall, this one's an effective slice of creepiness.  It's a mix of quiet horror and Japanese intensity.  Imagine The Grudge meets green slime meets fucked up psychology.

If you've missed this one, what are you waiting for? 

Shout! Factory DVD Shout Out!!!

 I'm new to Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse.  I thought I was going into a sort of slasher film that happens at a carnival.  That's not exactly right.  What I got was something way better.  So slasher fans, you might need to change your expectations with this one.  The Funhouse focuses more on mood, eeriness, and a certain seediness that comes with the traveling carnival experience.  A group of friends visit the local carnival and basically witness a murder.  Once the surprise is unleashed mid-movie, it only spirals out of control from there to a pretty suspenseful climax.  Very good stuff here, worth a re-visit for the people who dub this film only "average."

Shout! Factory has also done a major service with the updated film transfer.  The great image quality really elevates the film because the movie's effectiveness really depends on the dark and creepy looking sideshow props.  The dark scenes aren't dark to the point you can't see what's going on.  Shout! Factory keeps rolling out forgotten gems and classics, The Funhouse being no exception. 



Another recent release from Shout! Factory is Halloween 2.  I didn't think much of this sequel when I first watched it many years ago, but like The Funhouse, the updated transfer really allows colors to pop and the dark mood and atmosphere to really come through.  My main criticism of the movie itself is how Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence seem to have limited screen time, so there's not really a strong main character, only lots of small character threads.  The creepiness of being stalked at a hospital is effective.  The bloody moments, what few there are, come off much better with the new transfer--it's all about the little things.  There's also a funny mistaken identity death, where a poor trick-r-treater wearing a Michael Myers mask gets hit by a car and burned.  Certainly better than the later sequels, though only okay judged on its own merits, this one's a worthy addition to any fan's collection just because of the juiced up re-release.




 Yes, the movie isn't about Michael Myers.  So what?  There's plenty of sequels with him in it, so come on, give this one a chance already!  Halloween III really is a underrated flick that deserves more love (and it gets the love; this release is hands down the best image quality and filled with the most extras).  Halloween mask makers are the bad guys wanting to do bad things to our children.  An advertising campaign, a catchy song, a commercial contest on Halloween night, what child can resist?  What I like about this movie is its playful approach to horror.  It's both creepy and at times funny.  The use of mechanical machines and Halloween lore really impressed me.  What really hinders this film is the ten to fifteen minute lull between the second and final act where we seem to lose touch with our two main protagonists.  Once we get them back, the ending's actually more effective than I remember it.  Cult classic indeed.  I'll put it out there, this movie is better than Halloween 2.  The spirit of horror really comes off in funny and scary moments in Season of the Witch.  Love it! 



 I'm digging Shout! Factory's treatment of it's horror releases.  Next year's almost looking very promising.  I hear they're putting out The Video Dead!  Finally!

DEATH DEPOT e-book out on Amazon!

My latest novel Death Depot is now available on Amazon Kindle.  Imagine graverobbers from hell raiding our cemeteries and homes.  This one's a bit more suspense-building, slow and creepy type of book, though there are blasts of violence here and there.  If anybody out there enjoyed Inside the Perimeter: Scavengers of the Dead, you might really enjoy this one.  Check it out, or point a horror fan in this direction.  Any help selling this thing is always heartily appreciated.  Take care and keep reading!


http://www.amazon.com/Death-Depot-ebook/dp/B009S2P73Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1350520014&sr=1-1&keywords=death+depot#_

Gearing Up For The Next Project

I'm getting closer to the next project, which is writing an anthology of horror fiction.  I've written short stories before, but this is new.  I haven't belted out as many stories as possible within a two month period.  I'll be banging my head against the wall until I bleed to come up with ideas.  Maybe this'll add up to something good, or it'll suck, but hey, a writer's got to get out of his comfort zone. 

So to gear up for this challenge, I've been watching some horror movie anthologies.  Here's some goodies:

First up is From A Whisper to a Scream.  This is a lower budget horror anthology, but with lots of creative ideas.  Sure, the Vincent Price wraparound story is predictable, but that guy could read a fucking cereal box, and it's sound creepy.  My favorite story of the lot is the glass eater who faces dire consequences from a voodoo lady who controls his life.  The rest of the stories are grim, gruesome, and just plain dirty feeling. Worth a watch.

 

 

 

Another anthology I have a lot of appreciation for is Chillers.  It's very low budget, but again, it has a stock of plentiful creative ideas.  My favorite is the story of the man who can hold his hand above a picture in the obitiuary section of a newspaper and bring the dead person back to life.  Dire consequences occur when he brings back an executed serial killer back from hell.  Awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

Trick 'R. Treat's another winner, though it's not completely perfect.  I enjoy the wraparound stories revolving around the short stories.  It's almost a fluid story in itself.  It's too bad this one had a botched release. 

 

 

 

 

  Tales from the Hood may have a jilted view of black culture, but the horror tales themselves prove visually arresting and impishly poignant.  My favorite of the lot is the story involving a kid who has an interesting way of dealing with his abusive father.  David Alan Grier does his best to bring a ridiculous scene some justice.  Must see for horror fanatics.  Largely underrated. 

 

 

  This Japanese/Korean anthology shows the wild and fucked up nature of foreign cinema.  I eat it up like candy.  My favorite of the lot is "The Box," though the visuals draw me in more than the story.  "Dumplings" makes you look at fetus eating in a different light.  Yep, it's that kind of anthology.  Love it.

 

 

George Romero might be known for Night of the Living, and his other zombie flicks, but he did a fine job of adapting Stephen King's stories to celluloid.  Brooding atmosphere fill this anthology.  My favorite, though every story is compelling, is the one involving Leslie Neilson and what he does to his two victims at the beach.  Chilling.  Great movie anthology.

 

 

 

I'm sure there's more anthologies out there.  Speak up.  Tell me what I'm missing. What other movie anthologies are awesome?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free e-books until this Sunday! CIDER MILL VAMPIRES/THIS TOWN EATS EVERYTHING!

Cider Mill Vampires and This Town Eats Everything will be free now until Sunday!  Go to Amazon and check it out. 

And while you're on Amazon, feel free to "Like" these books, write a review, or spread the word.  Every little bit helps.  And if you're wanting to lay down some cash for some books, feel free to check these out on amazon as well...

Thanks for the support and keep reading books, even if they're not mine.  All the best!

 

-Alan Spencer

.99 Cent Horror Days Are Here! This Town Eats Everything and Cider Mill Vampires

   So I'm not a bigtime author, and I'm sure making these two novels extra cheap on Amazon won't bring in a tidal wave of sales, but for the sake of Halloween and getting in the spirit of horror, I wanted to do something to celebrate.  Why does an author ultimately write?  So people will read their stuff--at least that's how I feel.

 

For a limited time, I'm making Cider Mill Vampires and This Town Eats Everything .99 cents.  And keep in mind the two books are in a series, but they're stand alone, so if one interests you more than the other, you won't be lost reading one over the other.  In any situation, keep buying books!  Happy Horror Days are Here!

 

http://www.amazon.com/Cider-Mill-Vampires-ebook/dp/B0059MQAOY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314366982&sr=1-1

 

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Anthony-Paranormal-Series-ebook/dp/B0097VL0PM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1347196596&sr=1-1&keywords=This+town+eats+everything

 

 

 

This Town Eats Everything is on e-book!!!

First, there was Cider Mill Vampires, and now Caleb Anthony finds himself against another impossible evil.  This Town Eats Everything's got gore, mystery, male frustration, energy drinks, and things eating people that shouldn't be eating people.  So please go to amazon and check out my new e-book.  Help me keep the series alive! 

Happy reading!

-Alan Spencer

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Anthony-Paranormal-Series-ebook/dp/B0097VL0PM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1347197210&sr=1-1&keywords=This+town+eats+everything

This Town Eats Everything

 

This is a lower resolution pic for This Town Eats Everything, the stand alone follow up to Cider Mill Vampires.  Expect the e-book out sometime next week!

THIS TOWN EATS EVERYTHING

I just wanted to post an early sketch for the next cover of my upcoming novel THIS TOWN EATS EVERYTHING. The art is by Matt Truiano, who also did the cover for my other books CIDER MILL VAMPIRES and THE BODY CARTEL.  As an author, I'm very lucky to have such an awesome artist creating these covers.  It only adds to the fun of the whole process.  Keep your eyes peeled for this book, and please check out ones already released! 

 

 

The Boogens DVD Review

Every horror fan loves a ressurrected movie from the obscure ether.  The very thought of re-living the by-gone days gets us drooling, so does The Boogens invoke nostalgia, or does it induce I want my money back? 

I don't want my money back.  Paramount/Olive Films/Amazon have my money, and they can keep it, because this film was a lot of fun.  Number one, the characters are likeable and funny.  Two, it's old school monster horror.  Three, the transfer is superb. 

Sure, the monsters don't get much screen time, but there is solid atmopshere, some gore, some nudity, and a lot of fun.  It's not a high body count film, and the monster bits don't add up to more than five minutes, but overall, it's a fun ride if you're not throwing too many expectations on it.  Creature Feature fun before CGI stole movie making creativity. 

The plot's pretty simple.  Old cave gets blown up to mine, old monsters get out, and it's up to a few locals to stop them. It sounds tired, but the characters and old school effects inspire me to give it the Alan Spencer two thumbs up. 

If you're dying for another gem, it might not be here, but for basic monster movie fans, it'll sate you. 

B-Movie Attack is out on e-book, fright fans!

  Today's the day!  B-Movie Attack's out on e-book.  Here's book number two from Samhain Publishing.  The tits!  The blood!  The hookers!  The dismemberment!  The unholy terror sicked on Chicago!  This is all in B-Movie Attack, and so much more.  If you're a fan of horror, laughs, blood, terror, or anything else I can fit in my horror blender, please give it a shot.  B-Movie Attack's available on Amazon and Samhain Publishing's website.

And don't forget about part one, B-Movie Reels!  Learn how it all started!

And keep your eyes peeled for my next book from Samhain Publishing coming in 2013 called Psycho Therapy. 

Until we meet again, staunch those bleeding wounds, get off the slab at the morgue, and live another day for horror!

-Alan Spencer

Monster Brawl DVD Review

Monsters fighting each other!  Lance Henrickson narrating (and saying Mortal Combat phrases after good punches and monster moves like "Fantastic")!  Dave Foley as a commentator!  No way this can be bad.  Uh uh.  Nope.  Not a chance!  Throw in battles like Cyclops vs. Witch Bitch.  Lady Vampire vs. The Mummy.  Werewolf vs. Swamp Gut.  Zombie Man vs. Frankenstein.  The promise of cinematic gold.

Welp, it's bad.  Real bad.

Still not convinced? 

Imagine short introductions to the monsters, then they meet up at a cemetery, walk onto a ring, and do battle as two commentators give us annoying, not funny commentary.  This happens over and over again ad nauseum.  No real connecting story, or conflict.  The movie lacks a pulse, thus making it flat.  Plus, the monster make-up effects leave something to be desired big time. 

Okay, the idea is fun as shit.  But to bring monsters together in a ring, it's very difficult to write a movie around that concept alone.  Hell, they went through various scripts and treatments of Freddy vs. Jason before they came up with something worth filming. 

That said, there is ambition here.  You get the heart of a moviemaker who wants to entertain, there just isn't enough of a story, or any real rise and fall of conflict or events, to keep the viewer interested.  No main characters.  No tension.  Just introductions to monsters, then they fight in a ring.  Bo-ring. 

I couldn't resist renting this movie.  Such promise.  Interesting premise.  The writers just didn't take it anywhere.  Unfortunately a big let down.  Avoid, especially if you've got a ton of movies in your to-watch list. 

The Disco Exorcist DVD Review

This movie's got a bit of hype attached to it.  You've got to have it to sell it, so what's the low down dirty goods about The Disco Exorcist?

Gun to the head opinion: Slightly Disappointed. 

Relaxed Super Horror Fan Opinion:  Good, but not great

I'm all about independent cinema.  Take independent cinema trying to recreate the grindhouse, exploitation era, and you've got my interest.  The trouble is the movie doesn't quite pick a side between comedy and horror.  It jumps from one to the other without enough sense of continuity.  If I'd take individual ten to fifteen minute chunks of the movie at a time instead of the big picture, I'd have high accolades to give The Disco Exorcist.  But if I'm being critical...

The beginning takes fifteen minutes of disco dancing and strangeness to really get moving.  A disco swinger guy beds a woman, then leaves her for a popular porn actress.  The scorned woman brings on the voodoo, and you get possessed porn actresses, and strange moments of horror.  That in itself is badass, but you get many attempts at sexual humor gone bad-Troma, and it sullies the experience.   

There are genuine moments of funniness and horror, but it's an odd melding.  Maybe I'm upset because the look of it was old grindhouse horror.  You could've had old school exorcism awesome-ness if it weren't for the humor.  Plus, the jokes, the puns all come forced and trying way too hard.  The budget shows at times, and that's okay, but when the story has trouble coming together, the viewer tends the get critical. 

But there's a lot of good here.  Nudity.  Nudity.  Nudity.  There's also some great moments of gore as well, it's just, well, this fan wanted more horror and less stupid sexual humor.  I can get that just about anywhere, but solid old school vintage horror grindhouse throwbacks are few and far between.  It's worth checking out if you're used to lower budget films. Rental quality, not so much owning quality, I'm afraid.  Fun, and I really wanted to love it, but I wasn't one hundred percent won over.  Seasoned fans should give it a whirl for sure.  Many people might disagree with my review, so check it out for yourself if you're still curious. 

Dear God No DVD Review

 There's a magical power in horror and exploitation movie posters.  They can put a casual moviegoer into a rabid state.  Fans of this kind of cinema wait and pray for movies like this to be released--just by looking at the poster alone.

Dear God No is another example of the present looking back at the past.  Re-makes and re-imaginings are being released right and left, so it's not a surprise low budget filmmakers want to touch again on grindhouse/exploitation films as well.  Why the hell not?

Dear God No is about exactly what the blurb on the back of the DVD states.  A rude, crude group of bikers rape and pillage in vulgar fashion until they pick the wrong house to crash.  THEN THEY COME UPON BIGFOOT!  Whaaaaaaaaaat?  To avoid spoilers, this low budget movie delivers on gore, nastiness, nudity, and that special brand of tastelessness that fans of this type of cinema love.

That said, it's not quite the cult classic others seem to deem it.  It's good, but it's not a cinematic victory by any means.  Maybe it's the hype, or maybe it's how bigfoot has little screentime that left me a tiny bit disappointed.  If you're looking for a stylish homage film, this isn't the best example, but if you're looking for a simple good time, it's here all right.  Recommended, but don't read into the hype too much.

Sledgehammer DVD Review

For the average horror fan, 80's shot-on-video will mean absolute poison.  If you like easy viewing, these kind of obscure titles are out of the question.  For everyone else...still a hesitant maybe.

Yes, Sledgehammer is basically like watching a family video.  It's shot in one location, in a single apartment, with the occassional outside shot of a red house.  You get a bunch of adults partying it up like normal people do.  Ridiculous food fights, drinking and yucking it up (even pouring booze on each other and acting like Neanderthal people).  You get silly side drama, like a hot chick who can't get to second base with a guy she's been dating for months (ladies, we've all been there; the guys just won't put out!).  Another couple where a guy won't commit to marriage.  Relationship drama, that's the last thing you'd expect from Sledgehammer, but there it is. 




To the horror!  The first half is funny at first, then it gets old.  Once we get to the horror, this obscure entry in the slasher genre gets interesting.  I don't want to give away too many of the juicy details, but the flavor of this is supernatuaral slasher with synthesizer scores and blurry white walls that add creepiness to the film (though I'm not sure how much of this was accidental). 

I don't know, there's something here that really took me by surprise.  The last thirty minutes does manage to get creepy (though repetitive) as our masked killer goes about dispatching people, though I wish the sledgehammer was used more as opposed to the kitchen knive deaths that dominate the kills.  I've watched shot-on-video before, and this has a leg up over the rest, but that's not to say this movie's going to win over the general public, or even fans. 

Give it a shot if you're feeling daring.  It does do a few things right, though the viewer has to get over the low, low budget limitations and the sheer strangeness of watching what feels like a family video movie.  Limited recommendation for those out there who've seen it all and need another fix at any cost. 

Kris is in da' house!

I'm very luck to have horror author Kristopher Rufty on my blog tonight.  He's volunteered to answer a very tough question for any red-blooded horror fan.  Keep in mind, this is the guy who's published the books Angel Board, Pillowface, and his upcoming book The Lurkers.  He's written some intense fiction, so I'm very interested in his answer.


So take it away, Kris...

Alan Spencer had the idea that since Samhain Publishing will be releasing our newest books this month that we swap blogs and talk about a movie that legitimately scared us. This was a wonderful idea, yet also the most terrifying idea I’d ever heard. In fact, I could probably fill several pages about why picking something that scared me is just as frightening, but I digress, I will not bore any of Alan’s readers with those arguments.

 

 

 

 

I grew up watching horror movies, literally grew up watching them on the weekends as kid and then throughout the week until one day when I began consuming them on a daily basis. I saw Friday the 13^th (original) for the first time when I was five years old on Commander USA on the USA network. I drew pictures in crayon of young Jason Voorhees leaping out of the water and pulling poor Alice into the murky depths of Crystal Lake. My Mom, always the supporter, hung those same drawings on the fridge proudly, for everyone to see. Family members who came to visit had mixed reactions about what little Krist was getting in to.

I guess those could be considered my first dips into the world of horror, and my first critics.

But did Friday the 13^th scare me? Kind of, but I was more amazed than frightened. I became obsessed with Jason Voorhees and watched as many slasher movies as I could. Masked and unmasked madmen (and Madman Marz) brutalizing people desensitized me to extreme scenes of violence in horror movies, so it was hard to “scare” me.

So, what did it, huh? What was the movie that scared me?

Actually, it wasn’t a movie at all. It was a movie trailer.

 

 

 

 

 

And that movie was Child’s Play.

I remember watching Halloween III: Season of the Witch on television. It broke for commercial, and this trailer began rolling of this little boy trying to convince an older man that Chucky was real. Of course the man didn’t believe the kid, and was, in return, trying to convince the kid he was imagining it. Then we get a flurry of images of people being stalked and slashed. The clip that did it for me though, was the low tracking shot behind Chucky—when he’s walking up the hall, the voodoo knife just in the corner of the frame. I’m not sure why but the stiff movements of Chucky’s arm, and the twisting lines on the knife’s blade scared the hell out of me. I tried not to show it to my parents, because if they were to know the movies were scaring me, they wouldn’t let me watch them. The only reason I was allowed to view them was because I watched them for what they were: Make-believe.

But that autumn night, it was me waking up from a nightmare, slicked in gelid sweat. I had to use the bathroom and was so terrified of Chucky’s knife bursting through the A/C vent while I was peeing that I almost cried.

Something coming through A/C vents stayed with me all my life because of that. I finally used it in The Lurkers. It’s a short moment where Haunchies are coming from the floors, but to me it has an extreme impact.

 

 

 

 

 

When I finally saw the movie Child’s Play I thought it was wonderful, a good time, and I knew that Chucky was going to stick around. Did the movie scare me? Nope. Not like that trailer had. But, I still consider that shot of Chucky woodenly stalking through the hall to be one of the best shots in cinema. Since the movie was directed by Tom Holland, who also directed my favorite movie of all time, Fright Night, memorable shots like that wasn't surprising.

 

 

Thanks Kris!  And don't forget to swing by Amazon, Barnes&Noble, or Samhain Publishing's website to check out his novels.  They're horror fan approved!