My Review Of “Treasure Chest Of Horrors III”

Psykik Junky Pictures horror anthology has returned with another low-budget thrills collection of chilling tales. “Treasure Chest Of Horrors III” has brought together some pretty interesting talent in the Indie community for these short films. Directors Robert Beihn, The Cousin Bros, James J. Coker, Shawn C. Phillips, Brendan Mitchell, Shane Ryan and Doug Waugh offer up some devilishly wicked stories. The anthology is framed in a wraparound that features two siblings, a brother and a sister, discovering the chest belonging to old uncle Chuck. Now for my thoughts on “Treasure Chest Of Horrors III” .

The wraparound-“"Uncle Chuck's Horror Tapes", at times, was more irritating than entertaining to watch. Mostly because of the almost incoherent babbling of the brother, which bordered on idiocy. I just wanted him to form a humorous, and understandable set-up, with a smart punch line, or shut the fuck up and put in the damn tape! That being said, this seg was well shot and worked better than the TCH2 wraparound. The last act of the wraparound was cool, and very fun to watch-even though it was pretty predictable.  Now for the first tale of terror in this trove of horrors, “So We Killed Our Parents”, a pretty wild ride through some delusional, psychorama vengeance. It was fun, creative and dark. Maybe the format or artist style of the cinematography could seem a bit distracting, for the depth of just how sinister the story was, but really I am thankful. I wasn’t wanting to get that intense right out of the gate with this anthology edition. It was filmed in a series of almost psycho –surrealism, madhouse catenations that pulled from the story’s edgy content. It could almost seem at moments to glorify the nature of the acts, but luckily the director managed to keep the tone subdued just enough that the short was not too egregious. Second up in the anthology was “I Dare You” . This short was not all that great, although kudos for Shawn and Brendan for using the story to put focus on themselves in such an exposing way. Dealing with the overweight topic, and addressing insults that apparently come up at times online from some hurtful people, they manage to take the topic and make a fun little joint. It allows them to take control of the issue, and shows how cool the guys really are. It just seemed a bit too Youtube-y for me.

In the third short “Knockers” a young guy deals with door-to-door holy nuts. This one is really low rent in quality, but the way it plays out is fun and pretty humorous. It isn't the best quality but the whole VHS styling of it made me like it a lot. Now “Fatal Fantasy” was hilarious and twisted. The short had a woman trying to spice up a relationship, but man- it comes about in some pretty twisted ways. It was fresh and very entertaining. Still on the really low budget side, with no real stylistic components that stand out, but it was fun. After that twisted flick something quite amazing happens-a truly dark and chilling short comes in to play here-“Sane-The Story Of The Boredom Killings”. This short film was so captivating that I instantly catapulted by affection for “Treasure Chest Of Horrors III” into likable superdom status. It is a found footage/video diary nightmare that brings home some pretty chilling issues, much like the films of the 90’s Gen-X, psycho-slacker era of Indie films. That whole real world nightmare realm, filled with the dark realities that surround suburbia, and youth-gone-loco aspect of society. It was both horrific and fascinating. There were moments that it felt like watching real crimes unfold, and it managed to create a little more-"fear of the children"-in my very adult ass. An awesome short film indeed.

Thank goodness for “Fatal Error” after “Sane…” because I needed a little humor to bring me back up. This short film plays on the homage/spoof mentality of the whole SYFY obsession with bad CGI alien/ monster/creature features. It wasn’t outstanding but with the humor and very ridiculous nature of the story it seemed to provide a very acceptable quality of entertainment. All in all I have to say that “Treasure Chest Of Horrors” shows a great improvement from the first two editions. The title/end credits were great and the soundtrack creepy. The shorts offered more entertainment and twisted fun than disappointment. This is really a pretty good low budget anthology with some very excellent material and talent displayed.

Release Date For “An American Ghost Story”

“An American Ghost Story” finally has it’s release date set. The Derek Cole directed paranormal film hits DVD shelves August 20th. Read the press release below for full details.

Press Release:

Breaking Glass Pictures and Vicious Circle Films are excited to announce the August 20th DVD release of An American Ghost Story, the critically acclaimed horror film from director Derek Cole. Written by star Stephen Twardokus, An American Ghost Story was hailed as “very well-crafted” by Fangoria Magazine and a “favorite of the year” by Horror News.

Paul Anderson (Twardokus) and his girlfriend Stella (Liesel Kopp) move into a house that is well known for being haunted. Paul, a struggling writer plans to write his first novel about his experiences with the paranormal. What starts out as a fun and exciting adventure, soon takes a very dangerous turn. They quickly realize some things are better left alone.

An American Ghost Story was a favorite on the festival circuit, playing the Living Dead Festival and Shriekfest Film Festival. At the Buffalo Screams Festival, the film took home the award for Best Editing, while Stephen Twardokus won Best Screenplay. Cole was nominated for Best Director and Best Cinematography.

The DVD release (SRP $24.99) will include deleted scenes and a commentary with director Derek Cole and actors/producers Stephen Twardokus and Jon Gale.
 

New Italian Grindhouse In “Connections”

“Connections” is a double feature from Indie filmmakers Paolo Del Fiol and Daniele Misischia. The film consists of two rhapsodies ‘Hobo’ and ‘Kokeshi’. The project is currently in post-production but the official trailer has been released. This one should be out sometime in October.

‘Hobo’ follows Albanian illegal immigrants surviving by participating in the underground wrestling matches amidst the criminal element. ‘Kokeshi’ is a more Japanese standard tale of horror and torture in the tradition of harder, more edgier grindhouse.

Theatrical Trailer Released For “Jug Face”

The official theatrical trailer for neo-primitive horror flick “Jug Face” has been released. The very folkish tale comes from Director Chad Crawford Kindle and stars Lauren Ashley Carter, Sean Bridgers, Sean Young, Larry Fessenden and Daniel Manche. “Jug Face” is due out August 9th with a simultaneous VOD released. Prior to that it will have a small VOD pre-release option on July 8th in U.S.

Jug Face tells the story of a pregnant teen trying to escape a backwoods community when she discovers that she may be sacrificed to a creature in a pit. The entity in the pit requires a life for keeping the community safe. The face of the person to be sacrificed is crafted onto a ceramic jug. When ignored, the entity unleashes an evil onto the community. Now no one is safe as tragedy befalls each member one by one and they soon realize that the pit wants what it wants.

Trailer Released For Paranormal Horror “Fason Nou”

The official trailer has been released for Sean McCarthy and Romane Simon’s “Fason Nou/Our Way”. The film is due out October 31st 2013 and stars Isaac Singleton Jr., Romane Simon,Liz Fuller, Lucy Golden, Mindy Robinson, Vanessa Ross, Shelley Starrett, Rich Rossi,Tony C. Blondell, J Kristopher, Nafisa Ford. The film’s story offers a nice little twist to the haunting paradigm and should offer up a nice bit of consequentialism to tale while giving some entertaining frights.
 
Everyone is driven to madness as two families on a weekend retreat are haunted by ghosts who have their own terrifying agenda. A weekend retreat between an interracial couple and their in-laws takes a dark turn when they discover that their house is haunted by the ghosts of an interracial couple from from the 1950's who has no patience for intolerance.

A Third Trailer For “The Conjuring” Goes Online

“The Conjuring” has released a third trailer in anticipation of the film’s July 19th release. The story is based on the Warrens and the very first case to garner them attention in the paranormal world during the 1970’s. Ed and Lorraine Warren were called upon to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in a secluded farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful demonic entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives. “The Conjuring” is a narrative of the events surrounding the Warrens attempt to help the Perron Family.

Trailer Manifests For “The Bake Street Hauntings”

2 million dollars to spend a 7 day stretch in some house?! Well either the rich dude wants to make your dreams come true or your gonna die! This is a horror movie so guess what – your dreams aren’t coming true! Looking at this trailer for “The Bake Street Hauntings” though would suggest that maybe the fan of killer ghost flicks will have a cool little nightmare to enjoy! The found footage film “The Bake Street Hauntings” is already available on VOD over at Amazon and the premise is just as simple and sinister as you would think. A young couple is offered 2 mil to chill in a house for one week.

Directed by Michael Rocco and starring Michael Rocco, Loren Carstens, Elizabeth Burgalassi, Jerry Horror, Matthew Hartmann and Kathy Rocco. A young couple accepts an offer of $2 million to stay in a house for a week. This is the footage. The VOD is here!