Penny Dreadful's Shilling Shockers: Season Two (DVD)

Penny Dreadful is a hot hunk of woman, and in a world where Elvira, Zacharly, Joe Bob Briggs, Dr. Demento and many other folks helped to ease the pain of horrible movies, Penny Dreadful and her friends could be the carrier of the torch. In the genre of horror, the females mostly always rule. Men still love Elvira, Vampira, Debbie Rochon, and the rest of the legendary brood, and Penny Dreadful carries this legacy with a New England series that excels at showing truly awful films.

Penny Dreadful’s smexxiness otherwise cushions the blow of the garbage like “The Beast of Yucca Flats,” and it’s a suggested little horror series where you can find it on Public Access. “Shilling Shockers” is obviously a series that derives from the formula of “Horrible Horror” and “Mystery Science Theater,” in which our hostess, Penny Dreadful, has some fun with props, entertains us with some funny commentary, and introduces a bad film.

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An Interview with Actress Sarah Hall

sarahhall-fullThree words come to mind when I think of Sarah Hall: Yow, Yum, and Wow. Now, you endure my girl crazy antics day in and day out, but Sarah Hall isn’t all looks. It’s not a secret the folks at Asylum and I aren’t on the best of terms, and “The Hitchhiker” is one of the primary films from the video label that has managed to draw the line in the sand (long story), but one of the only highlights of the film is the performance, and arguably, the debut of Sarah Hall to B movie fans. Hall is one of the many rotating cast of actors in the Asylum fold that appears in almost every film title.

Hall has the potential to break out from the horror genre, and can kick the film world up its ass. As a person she’s friendly, and outgoing, and knows how to humor folks, and on-screen she’s unique, charismatic, and manages to steal the show quite often. For proof, turn to “The Hitchhiker,” which almost becomes a display for Hall’s rather alarming sex appeal, and she continues her Asylum affairs with the upcoming–ahem–mock buster “Transmorphers.”

We grabbed a hold of Hall and interviewed her, and yes, even flirted a bit, but Hall was kind enough not to put out a restraining order and obliged. Here’s the hap with Hall.

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Dead@17 (2007)

D17posterABased on the comic book by Josh Howard, Mark Steensland’s adaptation of “Dead@17” is a great short that really registered, even if I’ve never read the comic before. I know, it’s a shocker considering I try to grab every horror comic out there, but “Dead@17” is a series I’ve heard about in passing, but never actively sought it out. And thanks to Steensland, that’s all about to change. Steensland depicts a rather interesting world on film, with a short that signals the start of something much bigger afoot.

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Dead Silence: Unrated (2007) (DVD)

Thanks to the advent of “The Twilight Zone,” R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps,” and many other horrific entities, ventriloquist dummies have managed to become a pretty valid specter of fright all of my life. And thankfully, here comes James Wan to further perpetuate the fear of the ventriloquism in all its delights. “Dead Silence” is a film that wasn’t really an easy sell from the first minute. Surely, it starts off eerily enough, but it doesn’t really pick up until the second half. But what it accomplishes are genuine plot twists that only the boys from “Saw” can truly utilize, and man, are there ever plot twists abound, including one that’s a bit over the top, but truly creepy.

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Three…Extremes (Saam gaang yi) (2004)

three-extremesI can’t tell you how long it’s been since we’ve had a great anthology horror film. It’s been a while, because I really can’t remember the last great anthology film we were given in theaters or home video, but “Three… Extremes” is a surefire breath of fresh air for the horror genre, and one that thankfully did not go unappreciated. I’ve waited a long time to finally see this film, and apparently the wait was utterly worth it, in the end. Take three excellent Asian directors, and let them go hog wild on-screen with rarely a step back into discretion. Fuck “Masters of Horror,” these three directors take you to school. In these three incredibly directed tales, we’re taken through the ringer of the three extremes of humanity.

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Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

What helps “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” pave the way as a genuine horror film, is that it’s more content with examining the pure madness of the human mind than it does splashing blood on the walls. Which is not to say there isn’t blood, but the madness of the entire premise is perfectly exemplified thanks to the often desolate set pieces before us. The farm house in which our characters reside, the small town down the road, and even the lake, are all spots that are perfectly maddening and morbid to the story.

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Creepshow III (2006)

Just so you know, Stephen King and George Romero had as much to do with this as Romero did with “Day of the Dead: Contagium.” Just so you know, “Creepshow III” is about as much of a sequel to the series, as “Debbie Does Dallas” is a documentary on sports. Taurus Entertainment had the pure balls to attempt to tie this in with the original “Creepshow” series, and failed, big time. And guess what? A “Creepshow 4” is on the way. Yes, sir. Taurus, the maker of pure dog vomit, has now continued the crappy sequels department, and their reign of terror isn’t ending any time soon. “Creepshow III” is one of their plans of attack on the genre, and “Creepshow III” is a pure travesty on the senses. It’s so bad it inflicts actual physical pain on its viewer. It’s so bad it makes Uwe Boll look like a brilliant director. It’s bad, would be the general bullet point of this review.

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