Yet another short film seeking funding for a feature, “Night of the Punks” is a call back to the days of splatter punk horror films like “Night of the Demons” and “Return of the Living Dead” where a hapless bunch of rockers find themselves victims of something truly horrific. “Night of the Punks” has a really unstoppable energy and charm to it that can really translate wonderfully in to a feature length film. With a solid story and more characters, the nineteen minute short now Streaming Online could become one hell of a great throwback to a sub-sub genre of horror that is long gone.
Red Hood Traps the Wolf in His Own Game.
“Why don’t you just kill me?”
“Is that what you think I want?”
Though described as a “thriller,” this is a horror movie in the purest sense, and an emotionally draining one at that. A man engages in a horrible crime, thinks he’s gotten away with it and discovers he’s being outwitted, outsmarted, and tortured by a vindictive little bitch about half his size.
The irony being that the character Jeff is a good looking man with the ability to pick up any woman he wants and he chooses young children, and yet he’s not above spouting the same crap excuses we hear from all pedophiles, too.
Slade’s film is indeed a horror movie. And then I had to see “Hostel Part II” to review, and it was pretty much the same experience as the first time.
Soulkeeper (2001)
It’s almost disturbing how much of a dead ringer Rodney Rowland is for David Keith at times during “Soulkeeper.” For a short time I used to think Rowland was Keith. That odd footnote aside, “Soulkeeper” is one of the more entertaining and underrated fantasy horror films I’ve ever seen, and it’s a shame it doesn’t garner a lot of attention or credit. It barely gets any focus by anyone, and that’s a shame. Frankly “Soulkeeper” is a strong and often entertaining fantasy horror film that creates a likable duo of inept heroes both of whom find themselves in a situation beyond their control for the fate of the world. Sadly, “Soulkeeper” hasn’t kept its age well and that’s due to the plot being pretty damn incoherent at times.
Puppet Master X: Axis Rising (2012)
For once, a new “Puppet Master” movie has a plot all on its own and offers little to no clips from the previous films as filler. I was certain there’d be a segue in to a clip show, but thankfully “Axis Rising” presents something of a plot and events. As well as mythos evolution. Taking place directly after “Axis of Evil,” the villainous Ozu is caught by the Nazis and killed once her puppets are discovered in her bag. Poor Tunneler is caught by the Nazis after he murders one of the officers, and hoping to figure out Toulon’s formula, they bring him to master scientist Freuhoffer, who hopes to use the formula for his own benefit. Evil Nazi officer Moebius plans to turn rebels in to his own army of puppet soldiers, but is finding little success with gory results. With Tunneler dissected and the scientist learning the secrets, the Nazi’s just may be able to form their own army of deadly puppets.
H.P. Lovecraft's The Evil Clergyman (2012)
In 1988, Empire Pictures sought to create an anthology of films that would act as sequels to their big hits. There was a planned “Trancers 1.5,” a sequel to “The Dungeonmaster,” and the HP Lovecraft short film “The Evil Clergyman.” Re-uniting the legendary Jeffery Combs, and the gorgeous Barbara Crampton, the film was never released, and for many years it was thought to have been lost. After being discovered on a low quality VHS, the print of “The Evil Clergyman” was restored as best as possible by Full Moon and given a new opening title and brand new music to accompany a fairly twisted story.
Roseanne: Tricks & Treats (DVD)
The Halloween episodes of “Roseanne” are probably some of the best moments on the series and very much a part of the tradition of ABC sitcoms to embrace Halloween as a fun and festive holiday. In the nineties, many ABC shows had Halloween specials. “Full House” had a few, “Family Matters” had some, and of course, “Home Improvement” often rivaled “Roseanne” in the Halloween department with their own hilarious specials celebrating the Halloween holiday. “Roseanne” however had a more home grown atmosphere toward their Halloween episodes, and most of them are absolutely entertaining. Much like the entire series, as the Halloween episodes go on, they utterly diminish in quality, but they’re still a wonderful tradition of the series.
25 Underrated Horror Films (And The Exorcist) [Paperback]
Take it from someone who has spent many hours in his early days on the internet perusing and haunting message boards, chat rooms, and movie websites: the definition of underrated and overrated is a hot topic and can cause hours of hot debating, analytical discussion, and very high tempers. Often times it results in insults and name calling and nothing is ever resolved. To a movie buff what’s underrated and overrated is often akin to discussing politics and religion. You just don’t broach the subject.
And if someone does, no one will admit they’re right or wrong, and no one is willing to bend to the other’s thoughts and arguments. No matter how valid their arguments may be about the movie in discussion. And in the end everyone decides they’d rather be apart than risk getting in to a slap fight. Insisting a film like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is overrated often translates to “I touch myself while looking at pictures of your daughter” to some fans. They just gaze in disgust and prepare to chase you with a shotgun.
With author Paul Cornelius’ “25 Underrated Horror Films,” he’s walking a fine line between amusement and controversy.