My Review Of “Silent Night”

Steven C. Miller’s “Silent Night” is a retelling of the 1984 cult classic “Silent Night, Deadly Night” movie about a killer in a Santa suit who exacts revenge on a community for past transgressions. In this modern telling of the “killer Claus” story even the origin is a revision. The film stars Malcolm McDowell, Jaime King, Donal Logue, Lisa Marie, Brendan Fehr, Ellen Wong and takes place on Christmas Eve in a small Midwestern town with dark past.

“Silent Night” is an instant classic for fans of the Holiday horror genre and can stand alone from the original film in which it takes inspiration from. This isn’t a direct remake, in fact in only minimally gives subtle hints to the original movie while creating a completely independent film that is just as dark and sinister. It is also very entertaining, filled with an atmospheric despair and solemnity on what should be a lighthearted, joyful night. The story is filled with tragic characters on a clear path to self-destruction which adds to the fact that horrors are unfolding in this small town that go far beyond your basic killer on the loose. After all Santa slays the naughty and there is no better place to find naughty souls than a town filled with despair. There are times when the action seems a bit rushed when it comes to scenes with the actual killer at work that is probably intentional because it also creates an element of unease and question surrounding the goings-on within the town.

“Silent Night” creates a dark and intense story that doesn’t rely on black comedy to beg for acceptance from the audience. Instead of taking a tongue-in-cheek approach Miller has brought forth a very somber thriller that is suspenseful and serious. Something a lot of horror films shy from when it comes to slashers. The closest the film comes to comic relief is in Malcolm McDowell’s character who maintains a sterile, focused, Chuck Norris styled attitude about policing his town. The character is closer to the one he played in Rob Zombie’s “Halloween”. The blood and gore in this film isn’t over-the-top  but Miller never shies away from the graphic kills or gory matter either. Everything about “Silent Night” is balanced and toned in a way that allows the story to draw you into the nightmare that plays out. There are a few scary moments where the element of surprise caught me off guard. I jumped back in my seat during a few scenes. This is a great slasher film that should not be considered a remake and should be an instant classic with the majority of horror fans. 

Psychotic Saturdays! Six Psycho Slasher Flicks To Check Out!

This weeks Psychotic Saturdays! film list are six slasher flicks that are worth checking out. They feature variations of the slasher genre from the killer clown to serial killer on the prowl to the crazed psycho forever seeking revenge. I try to pick film suggestions that are not as well known or may not be as great as the bigger budget movies in an effort that you may look to more Indie material for inspiration in that ever spiraling fall into insanity-at least for Saturday and the pleasure of a day filled with movies that feature bad acting (subjective) cheesy effects(also subjective) and gory deaths (imperative).

1. Zipperface (1992)

In this thriller, a deranged killer is decapitating the local Palm City prostitutes, and it is up to Detective Lisa Ryder (Donna Adams) to track him down. However, when the hunter becomes the hunted, Lisa must struggle to stay alive. Directed by Mansour Pourmand and starring Dona Adams, Bruce Brown, David Clover, John Dagnen and Rikki Brando.







2. Freeway Killer (2010)

“Freeway Killer” is the true story of William Bonin also known as the Freeway Killer who committed the rape, torture and murder of a minimum of 21 boys and young men in a series of killings spanning between 1979 and 1980 in southern California. Directed by John Murlowski and starring Scott Anthony Leet, Cole Williams, Dusty Sorg and Michael Rooker.







3. Nutbag (2000)

Directed by Nick Palumbo and starring Mark Hail, Renee Slone, Jenesses Kenney and Sally Graham. A true-life story of a man who murders without provocation. The lonely, depraved killer stalks the neon city we call Las Vegas. Killing young women at random, there seems to be no end to his madness.








4. Spiker (2007)

A vicious killer who slays his victims with railroad spikes, Adam escapes an asylum and returns to a town he terrorized once before. With his nasty weapons, Adam starts laying waste to innocent teens who are unfortunate enough to cross his path. Directed by Frank Zagarino who also stars in the film as the killer and starring David Shark Fralick, Lou Martini Jr., Matthew Jared and Giselle Rodriguez.






5. Urban Massacre (2002)

Directed by Dale Resteghini and starring LaLa Anthony, Capone, Baby Sham, Cita, D-Don and Dia. The hottest underground Hip Hop group, Tha Supanatchralz, Ivory, Krumbsnatcha, Remedy, Dia, Baby Sham have a killer in their midst. Bodies are dropping all around them and nobody knows why. When Tha Supanatchralz uncover the crazed slasher is a clown, they must hunt him down.







6. Lover’s Lane (2000)

A killer returns thirteen years later to go after the children left behind from his earlier rampage. Directed by John Stewart Ward and starring Diedre Kilgore, Carter Roy, Brian Allemand, Jori Wanquist, Matt Riedy, Richard Sanders and Riley Smith.

My Review Of “Storage 24”

“Storage 24” is a British sci-fi/horror flick that sees several urban lives converge in personal conflict and true terror from out of this world. The film is directed by Johannes Roberts who manages to create a creature feature that is intense and filled with non-stop adrenaline pumping action. The film stars Noel Clark, Colin O’Donoghue, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Laura Haddock and Jamie Thomas King who play young Londoners who deal with relationship complications while meeting at a local storage yard as one couple deals with a break-up as their best friends give support. During the moment of personal growth experience a very dark and volatile new issue arises as a mysterious object crashes from the sky above and an alien creature escapes from it’s container. They soon find themselves fighting against this monstrous entity as they try to escape the storage facility that has become their death trap.

“Storage 24” is a classic sci-fi nightmare scenario in that unsuspecting people soon find they are easy prey for a creature far more terrifying than the struggles of urban life. The film starts with a casual approach that allows only a small emotional window to become emotionally connected to these characters before the action kicks in. It is enough though to actually realize just the intense dynamic of the group of friends that are trapped in the facility after the crash shuts down the security system locking them in the storage units. The characters are slightly stereotypical and there is nothing new or experimental with how they are scripted but in this film there really doesn’t need to be and the actors portray the characters well enough to draw you into their plight. There is friction within them on personal levels which and to the intense drama of the story and the alien effects are above standard as well as the other effects used in this film. The action and atmosphere is standard Brit fashion in that the intensity brings casually then builds into a high speed thrill ride with only dark eerie moments to gather your breath before even bigger moments of intensity explode on screen. The film doesn’t add anything new to the creature feature equation that such films offer horror fans but it does show how well the system can be if executed properly. This is one of the better sci-fi/horror films that I have seen since “Alien Raiders”. It doesn’t try to explain the origin or over complicate the story by adding layers of subplots to the point the film becomes diluted with unnecessary dialogue. The film just exists as a really clean and thrilling story of survival from a truly vicious creature. I really enjoyed this film. It was worth the instant rental price and can’t wait to add the DVD to my shelf in January 2013!

Check Out Stacy Keach Clip From “Ooga Booga!”

Check out this clip of Stacy Keach as Sgt. Stedenko enjoying is personal spoils from the War On Drugs!
Revenge is served on a spear when dirty cops brutally murder DEVIN, an innocent African-American med student. Devin’s soul is magically transferred into the body of an action figure named OOGA BOOGA. Armed only with his tribal weapon and the help of his old girlfriend, DONNA, Ooga Booga takes to the streets and trailer parks to find the men who stole his bright future away from him. The bodies begin to pile up as Ooga Booga slices and dices his way through crooked cops, meth heads and demented city officials in order to clear his name. Racists beware! You won’t even have enough time to scream, “Ooga Booga!”

Check Out The Trailer For “Apex-Predator”

Creature feature “Apex-Predator” has just completed production. The film takes on the legend of Sasquatch whose popularity has exploded in the last couple of years. On the net, in the news as well as in cheesy but fun low budget and bigger budgeted horror films alike. This one comes from Tomcat Films and is directed by David Prior. It stars David Campbell, Leilani Sarelle, Sherri Rose,Tara Sanford Kleinpeter, Reb Brown, Ted Prior, Alissa Koenig and Frank Stallone.

A small town is being terrorized by a killer Bigfoot. One that is blood thirsty, vicious and kills without warning and without discrimination. A scientist by the name of Sarah Evans shows up to help the town’s sheriff and his deputy girlfriend Roberta hunt this thing down and put an end to the killings. At the same time, Hunter Crawford is a thug-like character who along with his two henchmen, is hunting the creature himself, for his own personal gain and he does not care who he has to go through to accomplish this. Enter Charlie Parker a tough east coast type who is on a survivalist camping trip, led by the seasoned survivalist Sharon Farmer at the behest of his young trophy wife and whom, by no fault of his own, winds up being used as bait for the creature, by Hunter. But there is more at work here than meets the eye. A sinister plot is afoot and at its center is the vengeful Mister Testi. And in the end this plot takes a twist that no one will expect.

My Review Of “Trashology”

Brian Dorton’s “Trashology” is a love letter to John Waters and one hell-a fun movie! The film is comprised of three distinct stories of crazed madness and melodrama befitting a telenovela produced in Hell’s asylum. It has a wrap around story that works harder than an Asian on a stripper pole. Yes that hard and crudely. This ain’t no Lifetime movie bitches so if low brow humor at society and humanity’s expense offends you then fuck you. This movie is hilarious as hell and brilliantly sick with humor. From Ouija boards to bowel releases and beyond I don’t think there is anything left out of this wonderfully crafted train wreck of lives. The first story is entitled “The Vat” which features friendships only the Satan’s geriatric grandmother could relate to or anyone with a parent over the age of 50. The characters are over the top and draw from a creative point somewhere between Golden Girls on crack and Golden Girls on acid, I want to tune in next week to see what psychotic mayhem these woman get into next! Following the crazed social turrets outburst that is “The Vat” comes the twisted little tale called “Big Debbie” which features the one fetish that I just can’t wrap my little gay brain around known as ‘squashing’. As I have been told over and over, it is a thing! Yet that is just the start of this sick little puppy because poor Debbie goes through some shit and thankfully comes through only slightly more damaged-in this film that last statement should be followed by ‘if a person can be more damaged than this poor woman to begin with’. Don’t get me wrong everything in this segment is dark, funny, and one hell of a ride through Psychoville that I will take over and over again any day. Following “Big Debbie” is a tale that would make Mickey and Mallory shit their denim jeans called “Inglorious Bitches” about two friends who decide to take their love of killing people and turn it into cause for killing people by going after sex offenders. As if we all haven’t thought of taking a ball bat covered with spikes and ramming it up some sicko’s ass until he is D-E-D dead! Well anyway the characters in this segment are so twisted and wonderful. Actually there isn’t one badly written or poorly acted character in this little mental outburst of filthy thoughts and filthy jokes.

The story for “Trashology” is genuinely well written and fucking brilliantly executed which is more than the Texas Justice system can say. It is wicked sick how all the characters relate to each other in all three stories that show a true and honest passion for this genre from Brian Dorton that gives the film a slight seriousness which rocks because to make so many characters intertwine in a anthology either takes one hell of a vision or a true psychotic with some yarn and a white wall. (The walls are almost always white! well white-ish) Anyway “Trashology” is so much more than a love letter to John Waters it is hope – hope for a subgenre that almost never gets respect or appreciation yet makes some of the best written and most hilarious cult films evah! It is also a film that is epically brilliant and hilarious. I MEAN THIS FILM IS SICK! I think I will need an exorcism and enema just to get regular again. Okay I am lying! Those things are for funsies I was never regular to begin with and thank the gods of the shitty bowels of cinema neither is “Trashology”. Now I am off to Walmart to pick out each of these characters and isle stalk them for my never ending continuation of this twisted flick!

Check Out The Official Trailer For “Mama”

The dark nature fantastical nature that is Guillermo Del Toro is never ending and now it has spawned a new generation of story weavers. Check out Andy Muschietti’s nightmare lullaby “Mama”. The trailer has manifested and it is delightfully macabre. Expected to release January 18th 2013 the film stars Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse.

Guillermo del Toro presents Mama, a supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their parents were killed. When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night. Five years ago, sisters Victoria and Lilly vanished from their suburban neighborhood without a trace. Since then, their Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica Chastain), have been madly searching for them. But when, incredibly, the kids are found alive in a decrepitcabin, the couple wonders if the girls are the only guests they have welcomed into their home. As Annabel tries to introduce the children to a normal life, she grows convinced of an evil presence in their house. Are the sisters experiencing traumatic stress, or is a ghost coming to visit them? How did the broken girls survive those years all alone? As she answers these disturbing questions, the new mother will find that the whispers she hears at bedtime are coming from the lips of a deadly presence.

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Satanic Sundays! Six Films From The Beginning Of Occult Films

These six films that celebrate the Satanic are truly sinful. They are films from the early days of cinema that play with superstitions and occult beliefs. These are some of the lesser celebrated Satanic folly that laid the foundation for or love of the celluloid dark side.
1. Haxan (1922)

I have to say that even though this film is sort of offense and inflammatory by 21st century standard the beliefs and myths were held seriously that the witches in “Haxan” was the true view of sorcery.
A historical view of witchcraft in seven parts and a variety of styles. First, there is a slide-show alternating inter-titles with drawings and paintings to illustrate the behavior of pagan cultures in the Middle Ages regarding their vision of demons and witches. Then there is a dramatization of the situation of the witches in the Middle Ages, witchcraft and witch-hunts.


2. The Black Castle (1952)

A British gentleman investigates the disappearance of two friends at the Austrian estate of the sinister Count von Bruno (McNally). Von Bruno secretly seeks revenge against the leaders of a British force that set the natives against him in colonial Africa: Burton's missing friends are among his victims, and Burton is now also in the trap. Burton plans to escape with von Bruno's abused Countess, but the Count's henchmen bar the way. Directed by Nathan Juran and starring Richard Greene, Boris Karloff and Stephen McNally.




3. Cult Of The Cobra (1955)

While stationed in Asia, six American G.I.'s witness the secret ritual of Lamians (worshipers of women who can change into serpents). When discovered by the cult, the High Lamian Priest vows that "the Cobra Goddess will avenge herself". Once back in the United States, a mysterious woman enters into their lives and accidents begin to happen. The shadow of a cobra is seen just before each death. Directed by Francis D. Lyon and starring Faith Domergue, Richard Long and Marshall Thompson.




4. The 7th Victim (1943)

When her older sister Jacqueline disappears, Mary Gibson is forced to leave her private school and decides to travel to New York City to look for her. A bit naive and out of her depth, she is not quite sure how to go about finding her. Eventually she meets Gregory Ward, her sister's husband and a mysterious psychiatrist, Dr. Louis Judd who claims to know of Jacqueline's whereabouts. What she doesn't realize is that her sister became involved with devil worshipers who now want to eliminate her for having revealed their existence. Directed by Mark Robson and starring Kim Hunter, Tom Conway and Jean Brooks.



5. The Unknown Terror (1957)

The mysterious disappearance of Jim Wheatley (Charles Gray), while exploring a cave near a Mexican village, brings his sister, Gina (Mala Powers), and her husband, Dan Matthews (John Howard), to the territory to search for him. Embittered, crippled Pete Morgan (Paul Richards), insists on going along and reminds Dan that his condition is Dan's fault since it happened in an accident in which Pete saved Dan's life. Plus, Gina was Pete's sweetheart before the accident. Did we mention embittered? The party hears about an old Indian legend concerning the Cave of the Dead where human sacrifices were made to the Gods. Dr. Ramsey (Gerald Milton), married to a native girl, Concha (May Wynn), claims no knowledge of the cave, but he is here because the climate is ideal for rapid fungus growth for his work on cultivating fungus for antibiotics. Directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring John Howard, Mala Powers and Paul Richards.

6. Zombies Of Mora Tau (1957)

Zombiefied sailors guard the treasure of a ship they went down with 60 years earlier. A group of sailors scoff at the legend, and decide to retrieve the diamonds from the ocean floor only to discover the hard way that there is some truth to legends. Directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Gregg Palmer, Allison Hayes and Autumn Russell.