Night of the Demon Code Red DVD Review

Having viewed "Mardis Gras Massacre" from Code Red's line of "Maria's "B' Movie Mayhem flicks and being seriously dissapointed in quality and content, I forced myself to have an open mind with "Night of the Demon."  From the hype of being a "Video Nasty" and often regarded as ultra gory, including an infamous penis ripping scene, I still had some reasons to be excited about viewing the film. So I'll get this out of the way, the tranfer isn't restored, as per the disclaimer at the beginning credits.  On the DVD disk itself it says "UNCUT..." as if Code Red isn't sure what version they really do have.  Maria as host again is underwhelming.  You get about two minutes of her trying to be cute, but she doesn't have any real movie knowledge of "Night of the Demon" or shows any honest interest in these kinds of films.  She's a body for hire.  Where's Elvira when you need her?  So back to the film itself.  A professor leads a group of college students to the woods to investigate random disapperences of people in the woods and the suspicion of Bigfoot being the culprit.  You get a lot of meandering around the woods, talking to towns folk, and flashbacks of Bigfoot killing random people.  The group even runs into an attempted rape during a sacrifice to their Bigfoot God.  All of this is done by poor acting, some of it funny, most of it headache inducing.  Okay, so let's cut the shit.  Is the gore good?  Are their lots of boobies?  Does Bigfoot kick some serious ass?  Yes and no.  The gore isn't done with a whole lot of flair, though Bigfoot throwing a guy in a sleeping bag in a heap of sharp sticks was pretty funny.  The rest is pretty amateurish; even the penis-ripping scene fails to live up to the hype.  It's backyard DIY gore, so don't expect Tom Savini caliber effects, or even effects from a Hinzman film.  So is this film so bad it's good?  It'd say fifteen minutes of this film is worth watching, the rest is terribly boring.  It's an overhyped video nasty movie, at best.  It's more enjoyable than "Mardis Gras Massacre" by a severed penis, but it's no "Troll 2."  Am I pissed I purchased the movie?  Not at all.  It's a great addition to the collection for the rabid horror movie collecter, but if you're a casual fan of B-movies, then stay away; paying for this would piss you off. 

DVD release quality: C

Enjoyability for the true b-movie fan: C+

Enjoyability for the rest of the world: D-

"Mardis Gras Massacre" DVD REVIEW

Okay, I'm going to start doing movie reviews on my blog, and I'll start with a really weird obscure film.  I just bought the Code Red DVD release of "Mardis Gras Massacre."  The film has the hype of being a "Video Nasty," one of the films banned in the UK for its extreme violence and nudity.  Meh.  The movie is underwhelming, really, once you actually see it.
A lot of people have said this is a take on "Blood Feast" by Hershell Gordon Lewis.  Sorry, but "Mardis Gras Massacre" falls extremely short of that comparison.  I love Hershell's film, despite its shortcomings, but this piece of crap takes the cake!  The film takes forever for a kill to actually happen, and when it does, it's just a close-up of a fake body cast being sliced open and the killer digs around and pulls out an enormous heart that's probably a real pig heart.  It's the same killing scene over and over again with a different prostitute.  Self-righteous man kills "evil women" (who are prostitutes, as I mentioned) over an alter to sacrifice to the gods, and it happens over and over again.  There's no real attempt at spicing it up or doing cool camera angles.  The side story with the detective is boring and tedious.  No hammy fun at all.  Cheap can be fun, but man, cheap isn't fun in this case.  It's depressing.  I can only imagine what the people did to pass the time in the theatres during this film (if it ever made it to any theatres). 
Okay, so I've sat through a lot of crap in my time.  I really have suffered in the process of being a horror fan.  And maybe I'm asking for it taking risks with movies like this.  But this movie was BORING.  It's inept in every way possible.  I love movies like "Microwave Massacre" and "Shatter Dead" and other low budget fare, and it doesn't bother me if certain aspects of the production are lacking, but in the case of "Mardis Gras Massacre," the movie is just shit.  It's not so bad it's good.  It's bad.
In the end, I add it to my growing collection of movies with trepidation.  It'll probably end up next to an equally crappy movie called "Boarding House," which, what do you know, is another "Video Nasty."  Go figure. 

Grade: F
DVD release: C
Extras: C (Didn't exactly care for the Maria Kanellis host spot, but maybe on the next DVD release, she'll do better. And the interview with William Metzo wasn't the best either. I guess it's hard to care about a movie that sucks so bad.)
Final Words: BIG let down. 

Ashes In Her Eyes: UNCUT in the works.

I released "Ashes in Her Eyes" uncut at the beginning of 2011 with Panic Press.  Due to unfortunate circumstances, the publisher has disbanded, but the book will live on!  I'm re-editing, adding new scenes, and I'm in the works to release "Ashes in Her Eyes: UNCUT" as soon as I can. 

Those of you who've read the novel, please leave any comments, good or bad.  I love what you people think. 

Be ready for my next novel coming out in early 2012, published by Samhain Publishing.  "B-Movie Reels" will be a testament to why horror movies/b-grade movies kick ass.  Lots of fun, lots of action, lots of cheese--so save your pennies.  Thanks to everyone who's stayed with me this long, and thanks to those who might give this book a chance.  Take care and keep buying books!

It's official!  "Cider Mill Vampires" has been released by Blood Red Press.  Buy it for 2.99 on amazon.com.  This is my fifth novel, and I'm especially proud of this one.  You've got monstrous/sexy vampires and a tabloid reporter chasing them with the help of yokels from Kansas.  I hope this finds an audience--if not now, at least sometime in my lifetime.  And don't forget, "Zombies and Power Tools" is out there and dying to be read.  Imagine a gory zombie mystery (emphasize the gore; it comes at you by the truck load).  The first ten people who enquire about "Cider Mill Vampires" will get a free e-copy!  Take care everyone and do the world a favor and keep buying books.  Period.

Retrospective: Four Novels Later

Hello everyone.  I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my "writing career" as it is since I've just put out my fourth book, "Zombies and Power Tools."  Most people would ask me how are the books selling?  And I'd say a few here and there, but I haven't caught on.  And that's to be expected, considering there's so many authors out there.  Anybody can publish themselves, even without money or talent.  You, the reader, could go to amazon digital services and create yourself a nifty e-book in no time.  I've considered self-publishing myself, but I stop myself and say it's nice to have friends at your back, even on the small press level, so I'm not quite ready to go independent.  So sure, I haven't received tons of money and attention over adoring fans over my books, but this is what I have earned...

Fall of 2009, I put out my first novel "The Body Cartel" (Damnation Books). From my dealings with DB, I had great writing direction from a fellow author named Tim Marquitz.  I learned so much from this man with his pointers, and since then,  things seemed to have picked up after that.  I have appreciations for Damnation Books simply because they were taking the time and effort to put out my first novel, and they didn't restrain the graphic or sexual content of my book.  It's easily NC-17 content.  They gave me my start.  Enough said.

In Spring of 2010 I put out "Inside the Perimeter: Scavengers of the Dead" through Living Dead Press, which is to this day my best-seller, so to speak.  I've been fortune to have dealings with LDP because I've had short fiction in fifteen of their horror anthologies, and the people running the show have told me stories of their experiences in writing, and I've also gained knowledge of what I was still doing wrong in my writing and making adjustments from there.  I also have constant contact with LDP, and it's what keeps me going in my term of being an obscure writer.  Having a friend in the business, allies who are in the same boat as you, is VITAL.  We're not all Stephen King, but to hell with it, we're writers and we're going to write. 

In late/early 2011, a new publisher called "Panic Press" came onto the scene.  I got hooked up with "Panic Press" through their e-zine "House of Horror."  I'd have a few stories published through them and they reviewed two of my novels.  Being associated with them, I was able to pitch "Ashes in Her Eyes," my third book, and get it accepted.  I'm very proud of this one because I've shopped this around for many years.  I had a few publishers interested, but because of its seedy nature and graphic content, it got shoved aside.  It's not "Twilight," sorry.  "Ashes" is a mix of thriller/horror/intensity, and it's got a pulpy flavor to it.  I hope the novel finds its audience.  I also enjoyed my experience at "Panic Press" because it's a true labor of love.  They're writers publishing writers.  It's a good place for a writer to be.  Again, if I did it independently, I would've missed out on a lot of good experiences. 

And recently, I put out "Zombies and Power Tools" from Living Dead Press.  I think if anybody wanted to read something by me to see if they'd enjoy my flavor of writing, it'd be this book.  This is MORE than a zombie novel.  It's got blackmail, secrets hidden between friends, zombies who are proactive during the whole book, and the zombies are mysterious.  They're not dumb vessels.  They have motives, ideas, and ambitions.  And they use power tools to kill people--and the use of power tools has a reason that's intricate to the plot; I'm being serious.  Check it out if you don't believe me.  And once again with LDP, the publishing process is straight forward and streamlined.  It's also one of the few places I've actually talked over the phone with the people working there.  I like LDP too because they put ads in Fangoria, which costs a lot of money, but it shows how serious they are about marketing and getting the word out. 

So there it is, folks.  My "writing career" so far.  Sure, I'm not rich.  I'm obscure, but compared to before Fall of 2009, I'm in a better place.  If it takes twenty novels to finally be noticed, then so be it.  But my real movitation day-to-day is the interactions I've had with Damnation Books, Living Dead Press, and Panic Press.  Actually working on a project and seeing it to the end.  Getting experience.  I think that's payment as well, because no college could give that to me.  I think all new writers should be focused on getting experience more than the money payout, because more than likely, it won't be there. 

Thank you to everyone who'd read my books, thrown kinds words my way, reviewed me on amazon, and thanks especially to my wife, who's had to read my early drafts of stories and has stepped up to the plate with encouragement when things work out and dusts me off when things go to shit. 

Four novels!  Here's to four more!

New Novel: ZOMBIES AND POWER TOOLS

Here it is, "Zombies and Power Tools" in all its glory.  But what is that you're thinking, dear readers?  'Ugh, another zombie novel. Why?'  Well wait, here's why you should give this one a shot over the slew of others that are coming out every other day.

1.  Zombies use power tools on people to kill them.

2.  This is not a post-apocalypse novel.  This is set in present day. 

3.  These zombies have motives.  They don't talk, though they write messages in blood.

4.  What allows the dead to come back to life in this book hasn't been done before.  It's not a virus or a plague or voodoo.  The reason the dead are alive is gruesome, shocking, and above all else, integral to the plot.

5.  This book has a conclusion.  No open-ended last chapters.  The conflict is resolved, wrapped up in a bloody package.

6.  And did I mention zombies use power tools to kill their victims?

You can buy this novel on amazon.com, or check it out at livingdeadpress.com

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