"B-Movie Reels" on e-book!

  "B-Movie Reels" is now available for pre-order on e-book.  Official release date is February 7th.  You can get it from Samhain's website or on amazon, or Barnes and Noble.  Check out the horror madness of b-movie villains coming to life in a small town.  Blood, boobs, and butchery!

Syngenor Movie Review

This movie screams Syfy channel movie if Syfy channel existed in 1990.  The main difference between the crappy CGI made-for-cable movies and "Syngenor" is nostalgia.  It screams early 90's trying to come to terms with the end of the 1980's.  This movie is full of fake rubber suited monsters, but damn it, they're physical costumes.  People had to put effort into making these special effects.  Think "A-Pix" flicks like "Ice Cream Man" and "Jack Frost" (the killer snowman movie) or even "Chud 2: Bud the Chud."  These were the good old days where middle of the road movies that were direct to video were actually half-way interesting, despite their production downfalls.  Overall, with this movie, you get a potent mix of cheesy acting, poor effects, and the funniest swat team to ever grace celluloid.

Okay, the last 30 minutes of this flick is what really counts.  There's a ton of meandering with a company ran by David Gale of "Re-animator" fame in the first hour that gets pretty droll.  It goes on and on about how "Syngenor" was designed to fight battles for the United States, the monster being a super solider that can quickly reproduce.  Blah, blah, blah, but once you get the funny swat team battle under your belt, the rest is pretty awesome for a cheapie flick.  I even felt shades of "Frankenhooker" and "Re-animator" at the very end when the Syngenor mutates and changes yet again.  The last half hour is where it's at, so you might be tempted to skip the first hour if you view the movie again. 

So sure, the movie is "average," but I give "Syngenor" more credit for its fun last half-hour.  Skip the first hour, and you've got a descent slice of entertainment.  I give this one a low "B." 

"Cider Mill Vampires" E-Book FREE for Amazon Prime Members!

  That's right, my e-book "Cider Mill Vampires" is free for Amazon Prime Members.  Please go to the link below to get yours free! 

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

"Ashes In Her Eyes: Uncut" will be released early 2012.  Here's the cover for it.  Prepare yourself for horror, carnage, and learning about the place where cremated remains go in the afterlife.  I promise you horror upon horror, readers, so keep your eyes glued, because this will be out before you know it. 

DVD-R MANIA!!!

Lately, I've noticed an influx of horror movies being re-released "on demand" by MGM and Warner Bros.  A lot of people lambast the companies for not putting out a full-out release with extensive extras, but to a degree, I'm happy to see these companies trying to find a way of releasing older horror movies that are obscure or not guaranteed to sell tons of copies. 
So why be happy to receive a DVD-R?  Well, I'm not dissing those who want to hold out for a full-out release, but then again, concerning some of these movies, will they ever receive a full-out release?  Now I'm refering only to MGM and Warner Bros., not other companies.  MGM and WB seem to be doing okay, as far as the horror movies they're releasing goes. 

So again, why be happy for a DVD-R?  First of all, the two companies have put out decent tranfers of these films.  And a few of them are un-cut or on DVD for the first time.  Have you seen "Razorback"?   What a transfer!  This movie is a beautiful work of art, and the DVD-R captures it in all its glory.  This movie is a forgotten gem, and it's a superior film. 


"Sugar Hill" is another example of a wonderful film transfer.  It's a fun old school zombie movie that's hokey as hell but also a delight to watch.  There's a lot of great DVD companies releasing films these days, including Severin, Mondo Macabro, Dark Sky Films, Blue Underground, just to name a few, but some of these obscure titles like the above, a fan wonders if there's any other way for a company to make money on releasing these films other than by on the "on-demand" model.  So I say go for it.  Sure, these movies deserve good extras and better packaging, but as far as the movie themselves go, MGM and Warner Bros. aren't doing a terrible job. 

Why I need to write about this, who knows, but I love horror movies, and there you go.  I want to see every old horror title find its way into my DVD player at some point in my life.  So hurry up movie companies.  Keep 'em coming!

Hellraiser: Revelations SUCKS

This is not "Pinhead." 


This is the real "Pinhead" with his fellow Cenobites.  And the picture below, that's a sorry looking Cenobite.  The lesson, the movie "Hellraiser: Revelations" sucks. 

"DON'T OPEN UNTIL CHRISTMAS" MONDO MACABRO DVD REVIEW

It's Christmas again.  Should we see the "Advenutres of Tin Tin" or "Don't Open Until Christmas?" Well, you know my answer to that question.

Mondo Macarbo has finally given this obscure 80's slasher film a solid release with its better tranfer (this isn't pristine, but I think the film negative itself was probably on the crummy side to begin with) and uncut presentation.  I love this DVD company because they'll find just about any obscure movie and give it the good treatment.  "Lady Terminator" is probably one of my favorites they've put out.  Great film.
But anyway, "Don't Open Until Christmas" is a very disjointed movie in regards to plot and character continuity.  Sometimes it's funny because of this, sometimes it's head scratching.  For example, a woman sees her father (who is dressed as Santa at the time) stabbed through the head with a long spear.  A day or so later, the boyfriend of this grieving woman tries to get her to pose in a nude photo shoot.  How sensitive, right?  I think  another issue is there are too many characters and the movie fails to really hone in on any of them.  You've got random santa killings (the killer is targeting people dressed as santa as Christmas is closing in), a reporter, a boyfriend and girlfriend, and a set of detectives, including the incomporable Edmund Purdom, who isn't in this movie enough.  He's the best actor of the film, easily.  You should check out "Pieces" and "Horrible," both with Mr. Purdom.   "Pieces" is on my top five favorite slasher films list ever.  EVER. 
So does it sound like I'm dogging on this holiday movie.  Well, I'm not.  Despite some stretches of being boring, I actually liked this film.  On the DVD box it boasts 14 kills, but most of these are tame, being off-screen, though there are three or four inspired kills, so that makes me happy enough.  The last kill, for some reason, at the very climax of the movie when the killers motives are explained, I really enjoyed.  The movie ends on a strong note when you find out what's in the box that shouldn't be opened until Christmas. 
Final verdict, I give the movie a "B" and the release gets a "B+."  Now don't me wrong, this movie isn't up there with "My Bloody Valentine" or "The Burning."  Keep in mind, I'm scraping the barrel of old 80's slasher movies.  I'd say this is one of the better scraping of the barrel in the pack.  It's not great, but it's not a complete waste of time.  "Like" not "Love."  But I'm proud to have it in my collection.