Butcher Boys (2013)

butcherboys“Butcher Boys” is one half “Judgment Night” and one half of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” but in an urban setting. With a rash of disappearances occurring all over the city, two groups of people find themselves lost in the ghettos of an urban neighborhood. After a prank goes awry, two young men get beaten and killed by three psychotic armed thugs. The group that inflicted the prank realize too late that they’ve come across a lethal and dangerous group of kidnappers, many of whom are taking tourists and locals hostage for nefarious purposes.

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The Moleman of Belmont Avenue (2013)

molemanI can appreciate what the director of “The Moleman…” is going for, but with his indie horror comedy, it often felt like a misfire in every sense. The DVD cover is quick to compare this to “Shaun of the Dead,” but while they were losers, they were at least likable. It’s really tough to empathize or root for two main characters who lure an old man to dinner to have him be eaten by the mole man, or are so stupid they leave a box of kittens in the trunk of their car and accidentally suffocate them all. I should be rooting for them, the script says, but in reality I just found them to be complete morons.

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Horny Diver: Tight Shellfish (Zetsurin ama: Shimari-gai) (1985) (DVD)

HDTSAs with most Nikkatsu Roman Porno, if you’re in it for the hardcore sex, you’re likely going to be disappointed. These films are mainly for the sake of kitsch value and their rarity. “Horny Diver” is one of the many in the later Nikkatsu titles that exercises blurring with the more graphic parts of certain sex scenes.

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Nurse Diary: Wicked Finger (Kangofu nikki: Itazura na yubi) (1979) (DVD)

nursediaryAt barely seventy minutes long, the newest Nikkatsu Erotic Films release “Nurse Diary: Wicked Finger” is less Asian erotica and more Asian melodrama. Young gorgeous Ryoko (Etsuko Hara) is having an affair with her boss at the bospital. He is next in line to become the chief of medicine, and in an effort to escape the nurses dorm she inhabits, she moves in to her own apartment.

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Little Red (2012)

littleredThe tale of Little Red Riding Hood was always fraught with undertones that would be dissected and re-worked for decades. Director Tate Bunker takes the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and re-works it in to a wonderful and occasionally eerie coming of age road trip dramedy that works on many levels. It’s simple, but often times incredibly clever, realizing the symbolism of the story and integrating that in to the modern setting.

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Bayo (2012)

bayo

One of the main things director Mark Brown’s music documentary has going against it is that it’s a very niche film. Even fans most open to music will find watching this documentary very polarizing in that it chronicles a world that seems very exclusive to only a select few that understand the music form. “Bayo” is set on a young reggae artist that director Mark Brown finds oddly fascinating, and true to the documentary, Bayo is the center of many people’s fascinations, and is something of a celebrity within the music circuit he’s entrenched in. While I really have nothing against this musical form, “Bayo” doesn’t do much to appeal to a broader audience curious to the music’s appeal.

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Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)

jasonlivesOddly enough out of the entire series in “Friday the 13th,” Part Six entitled “Jason Lives” is easily my favorite. It’s flawed, the production quality kind of sucks, and there are plot holes, but damn it, it’s fun! You have to love how the deputy drops a bunch of cartons of food without food in them. And Jason being re-animated like Frankenstein is on par with Freddy Krueger being re-animated by the urine of a stray dog. It’s just fun and creepy Jason Voorhees doing what he does best. And he even slays a credit card handling yuppy, to boot. Take that, mid-eighties America!

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