Let’s face it: “Meridian” is only a Full Moon classic because it has the insanely sexy Sherilyn Fenn being all nude and scantily clad and whatnot. Co-star Charlie Spradling even has her change to unclothe as we’re given full view of her breasts during a surreal scene involving a party with a bunch of supernatural gypsies. “Meridian” watches like a really sluggish two dollar romance novel from a super market, where the author tried really hard to appeal to the horror audience, but failed big time. “Meridian” has a ton of beast on woman sex scenes, all of which are slow motion, to boot. One scene in particular bears a shocking similarity to the one in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” where Dracula rapes Mina’s sister Lucy.
Category Archives: Halloween Horror Month
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again (2016)
TV is dying and the only way a lot of the networks are being able to stay relevant is by hosting a ton of live remakes of classic movies and musicals. Many of them even live. After the huge successes of productions like live “Grease” and “The Sound of Music,” FOX boldly takes on a remake of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The latter of which is a production that’s above and beyond a cultural landmark more than a movie musical. Unlike most remakes, I didn’t have a problem with “Rocky Horror” being remade for television this year. Fans have been offering up their own interpretations since the original film became a midnight movie classic, and the movie has managed to transcend the cinematic medium and become something of a statement. I think of this remake from FOX as more of a cover song of a great original tune, and it’s hard to not enjoy this as a sweet companion piece.
Billy Club (2013)
Drew Rosas and Nick Sommer’s slasher movie is a mixture of “Slaughter High” and “Scream,” where the pressure of sports amounts to a triple murder one summer that scarred a group of friends forever. Said friends were all members of a team once, and now a killer dressed as an umpire is roaming the streets murdering various individuals. The pair of directors is able to keep the killer Billy an intriguing villain as the individual roams the darkness and spends a great amount of time craftily trapping his victims. His weapon is the icing on the cake as it’s a bat covered in rusty nails, and a small slot where a large knife can slide out. This allows for some interesting kills and follows through with the baseball gimmick.
31 (2016)
It’s amazing how a man like Rob Zombie who fancies himself a hardcore horror fan has done little to evolve since his first film “House of 1,000 Corpses.” Every film he’s made since that initial movie has repeated the same beats over and over, just re-arranged in various ways to look new and original. He fills the screen with genre veterans again. He inexplicably sets his movie in a mid-seventies gritty trailer park landscape. The opening of his film is directed by a goofy music video, padding the run time, and he even includes something of a montage with our characters, set to classic rock music as we saw in the finale of “The Devil’s Rejects.” Worst of all, he writes some of the clunkiest dialogue I’ve ever heard, and he is still dead set on placing wife Sheri Moon Zombie front and center.
Supernatural Horrors Shorts Block Part 2 [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016]
Madre de Dios (Canada) (2015)
During a cult-like ceremony, two Brujos use a scared and hurt woman as a vessel to birth the Anti-Christ. Written by Luke Bramley, Shane McKenzie, and Gigi Saul Guerrero, based on a story by the latter, and directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero, Madre de Dios is a quick glance into a deranged couple’s cult and how far they will go to bring forth the one they praise. The cast of three composed of Luis Javier and Gabriela Zimmerman as the couple and Tristan Risk as their victim, their Santa Muerte, give interesting performances.
Head Trip: Alternative Shorts [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016]
Shorty (USA) (2016)
A being that is definitely not human wants to be one but needs to kill humans to feed on them in a manner that is different than the usual in horror movies. As she longs to belong, she meets a man who may be more than sustenance. Writer/director Anna Zlokovic creates a lead character whose origins are unclear but who the audience can care about. The film explores visions/dreams the lead has as well as her life as she tries to survive, something relatable whether she is human or not. This is shot in a manner where some of the scenes have overlaid images on top of basic scenes happening which gives the film a rather striking look.
The Granny (1995)
“The Granny” is the definition of late night cable movie fodder. I saw it twenty years ago very late at night on cable television here in America, and it kind of burned itself in to my brain ever since. Granted, it’s not a masterpiece of horror comedy; in fact it’s so furiously stupid and ridiculous, it’s a film that’ll inspire more eye rolls than laughter. It’s at least worthy of one viewing for folks that enjoy pain with their cinema, though, and years later it’s about as silly as I remember. Star Stella Stevens chews the scenery, adjoining buildings and most of the wildlife up with her role as Granny, a bitter and angry old woman who lives in immense wealth. Unfortunately she was cursed with a vile and greedy family, all of whom are obsessed with counting the days until she finally dies leaving her fortune to them.