Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)

Rh2oN5DSpider: It’s too bad we had to kill her. I really liked the outfit she had on.

Full Moon’s 1988 cult film is something of a hideous movie that will make many cringe, roll their eyes, and have fun just the same. Admittedly “Sorority Babes” has something of a nostalgic value as I can still fondly remember watching it on late night cable in the nineties trying to figure out what in god’s name this movie was. Finally being able to grab a copy, I now know why “Sorority Babes” isn’t going in to the film registry any time soon. Obviously, it’s not a good film, but it surely is a film that’s so bad it’s really damn good.

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Curiosity (2009)

EmWhile initially I feared the ending would be a fake out or a “Gotcha!” I was very pleased to find that Toby Spanton’s horror thriller short is really just a straight forward horror film with a take on the “Curiosity killed the cat” adage that means more than anything to two young folks living in a flat. Golden Globe winning actress Emily Blunt stars with Tom Riley as a young couple catching up with their elderly neighbor gossiping about the rash of disappearances around the neighborhood and she insists they must meet her nephew.

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Best Worst Movie (2009)

best-worst-movie-originalThere is a certain undertone of sadness present in “Best Worst Movie,” as its mainly a testament to the dangers of filmmaking and the potential for either making a masterpiece or what is considered the worst movie of all time. “Best Worst Movie” is a charming and enthusiastic portrait of the lives of an array of actors, all of whom took part in the 1990 abomination entitled “Troll 2.” What we learn is that these people have been affected by it and its cult status whether they know it or not and we follow star Michael Stephens around as he re-connects with his co-stars and attempts to comprehend why this film has suddenly caught on. Perhaps it was ahead of its time, perhaps cynical horror fans just need some absurdity and innocence and are just bonded with its sense of innocence and incoherency. Regardless Stephens, who refused to touch the movie again after starring as protagonist Joshua, grabs the legacy of this film and discovers an underground of followers who treat “Troll 2” as an almost religious experience.

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Troll 2 (1990)

“Don’t let them eat, Joshua. For the love of God don’t let them eat.”

Making a really bad horror movie and linking it to a respectable movie for the hopes of financial returns and name recognition is not a new thing. Video companies have been doing it for decades, it’s a common practice in the direct to DVD market. Not to mention the cult classic “Zombie” alludes to being a sequel to “Dawn of the Dead,” even though it really isn’t. But somewhere down the line to avoid being thrown in to obscurity as it rightfully should have been, “Troll 2” is not a sequel at all, it is instead a really god awful movie about Goblins and… really bad acting. There isn’t a single decent performance in the entire film and it’s all so laughably embarrassing that it’s almost impossible to deem this as so bad it’s good.

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28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album (CD)

While Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later” from 2002 is without a doubt one of my favorite horror films of all time, one of my favorite movies of the first decade, and my favorite film from Boyle, more so I love the soundtrack that comes along with the film. The soundtrack is such an obsession of mine I have managed to sit through the entire film until the credits end to hear the music, and can fondly recall listening to the soundtrack in the waiting room of the theater before the press screening of “28 Weeks Later.” I mean they were giving critics cupcakes, water, and a bad ass press book with newspaper clippings from the sequel and the entire time all I could think was “Cool! The music from the first movie is playing overhead!”

What many directors and studios fail to realize these days is that every element is very important for a horror movie, especially the music. The frantic punk rock complimented “Demons,” Dario Argento and the Goblins perfectly complimented “Dawn of the Dead,” and surely enough the compilation of chamber music, electronica, and choir music from the amazing John Murphy brilliantly compliments an already excellent piece of genre filmmaking. While the movie would possibly have been just as much a masterpiece if there were UK pop tunes playing the whole time, Boyle and Murphy turn the soundtrack in to a character, and the soundtrack is quite superb all on its own if you’re the kind of movie fan who enjoys soundtracks.

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It's Not All Fucked: A "28 Days Later" Tribute

Frank lives by hope even if his daughter Hannah has no hope thanks to the death of her mother, and his is infectious as he spreads this radio frequency offering salvation to survivors to his new friends begging them to believe in this new world, and they have no choice but to seek it out or remain in this city where hope has all but deteriorated in a sea of dead bodies, and massive skyscrapers that now look like tombstones for the dead. Frank’s entrance in to the fold is true heroism and one that is based around his hope for life in a world void of it and hoping to gain their trust allowing for caretakers in the event of his demise. For a man whose seen nothing but chaos, he is shockingly high spirited and provides his new guests with smiles, pats on the backs and giggles because it’s about all he can do to keep up the morale of his daughter who has seen the world die before her eyes. He even keeps their gold fish alive in the wake of their clear lack of any water, in spite of his best efforts to grab some on the knowledge of a television show he’d seen one night. Jim and Selena can’t help but be charmed by his determination and unflinching grasp for some new world out there beyond their reaches, and they go for it with an old taxi Frank claimed in the midst of the carnage.

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It's Not All Fucked: A "28 Days Later" Tribute

Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later” came along at a very tough time in my life. Like most movies that are around during difficult periods in your life, they tend to have a very important impact and influence on your mood and overall outlook on your fate. Around the time “28 Days Later” was released, I was about to go in to open heart surgery. And while my survival rate was very high we were all considerably on edge. I remember that year my dad took us to see “Terminator 3” in theaters to cheer us up, and on the way home we bought the bootleg VHS for “28 Days Later” which didn’t work. Days later I was able to obtain another copy with crisp quality and indulged in one final incredible horror movie before I went under the knife and endured an excruciating week in recovery that involved sleepless nights, aches, and a hospital ward waiting to see if I’d slip in to an infection or heart failure at any minute.

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