Category Archives: Trailers

Genre trailers for upcoming and current films!

Chained (2012, Blu-ray Review)

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Director: Jennifer Lynch

Cast: Vincent D’Onofrio, Eamon Farren, Gina Philips, Conor Leslie, Evan Bird, Jake Webber, Julia Ormond

Anchor Bay / Region A (1) / Rated R / 2.40:1 widescreen / Dolby TruHD 7.1 (Blu-ray), Dolby Digital 5.1 (DVD) / Spanish subtitles / 94 minutes / BUY FROM AMAZON

Disk Extras: Audio commentary with Jennifer Lynch and Vincent D’Onofrio / Alternate murder scene / Restricted trailer

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Brooklyn born actor Vincent D’Onofrio is well-known for mainstream roles like TVs Detective Goren from the smash hit Law & Order: Criminal Intent but 14 years earlier he was one of the many reasons that Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket was so haunting in the role of Private Leonard Lawrence aka “Private Pyle”. D’Onofrio’s slow, deliberate pace and hulking size brought a menace to the role that bordered on, but never crossed, the cheese line. In the scene following his “blanket party”, Pyle was transformed from a timid, seemingly mentally challenged man-boy to a killing machine ready to unleash Hell on his torturers and ultimately on himself. In that coldly blue-shaded bathroom, D’Onofrio’s character seethed with psychosis and dared anyone to step in front of his lethal rifle of vengeance. Since that time I have wondered how he would do in the role of a realistic human monster (not the metaphysical silliness of 2000′s The Cell where he played “Carl”).

Writer/director Jennifer Lynch is best known for writing the Twin Peaks novel “The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer” and being the youngest female writer/director in Hollywood when she attracted controversy with her sadistic and dark 1993 film Boxing Helena. And yes, she is the daughter of legendary director David Lynch but let’s not get caught up in the nepotism discussion as Ms. Lynch is perfectly capable of standing on her own merits. She obviously picked up the dark side of her father’s talent and it really comes out visually in her new bleak thriller Chained starring D’Onofrio as “Bob”, a serial killer who kidnaps, rapes and murders young women. One of the women he grabs has her 9-year-old son (who will later be named “Rabbit”) with her who Bob decides not to kill but to make his servant to clean up after the assaults and dispose of the bodies while only eating the table scraps from the killer’s table. After around 8-9 years of this (we aren’t given specifics, only a jump to Rabbit being an older teenager) Bob decides to teach his “son” his craft and give him the “freedom” that entails.

The title Chained seems a little needlessly sensational for a movie that isn’t really centered around Rabbit being literally chained up, but I suppose it could also be attributed to the metaphorical chains that he has with his captor. Jennifer Lynch’s skill behind the camera is evident in the grim atmosphere she creates along with cinematographer Shane Daly who also shot Eli Roth’s first two Hostel movies, which should give you a little insight on how this movie looks. It is primarily set in a dark, dank farmhouse out in the middle of Nowhereville, U.S.A. which really gives you the feeling of being boxed in (no “Helena” pun intended) and trapped with this abusive, menacing father-figure. D’Onofrio channels the spirit of Private Pyle for the character of “Bob” who is the same hulking, slovenly psychopath with a slight speech impediment and does so like it was an old, filthy glove. Relative newcomer Eamon Farren plays the teen version of “Rabbit” who is a gaunt, physically weak character but with the feeling of imminent death simmering just below the frightened little boy surface. Both actors play off of each other brilliantly with D’Onofrio’s bulk in stark contrast to Farren’s frailty.

Where the movie is a little weak comes in the ubiquitously “Hollywood” twist that can be seen coming like a badly written freight train and the left-field “surprise” ending that just made me feel cheated. There is also a psychological element to the plot that I, not being a trained mental health professional, didn’t think was quite valid. Rabbit has been subjected to numerous years (presumably over half of his now teenage life) of witnessing the rape, torture and murder of young females along with the abuse he himself has taken from Bob, yet he still has some moral code that he is willing to enrage his “father” over and absorb a severe beating or worse. It would seem, in my amateur psychologist standpoint, that Rabbit would at least not be sickened by the thought of murder and sexual assault after years of his brain having to compensate for the  horrendous subjection to the lifestyle. At the most it would seem a viable reason for him to be curious to what it would be like to be the one in control of the fate of another person’s life. I think it may be just another symptom of Hollywood’s influence, imposing the “hero” syndrome into an otherwise gloomy and artistic endeavor.

Smash Cut (2009, DVD Review)

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Director Lee Gordon Demarbre

Cast: David Hess, Jesse Buck, Sasha Grey, Michael Berryman, Ray Sager, and Herschell Gordon Lewis

Shriek Show / Region 1 / Not Rated / 1.78:1 widescreen / ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 & Dolby Digital Stereo / 86 minutes

Disc Features: Commentary with Director Lee Gordon Demarbre / Sasha Grey’s Video Diaries / Behind-the-Scenes Featurette / Deleted & Alternate Scenes / Gag Reel / Production Stills / Promotional Trailer and More!

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Smash Cut poses a serious challenge for a super horror fan like myself to review. It’s an obvious homage to the old Hershell Gordon Lewis movies like Blood Feast and The Gore Gore Girls. HGL has popped up more and more these days with new films by the schlock master himself and disappointing re-makes like 2001 Maniacs (Tim Sullivan) and Wizard of Gore (Jeremy Kasten). So when a new attempt comes along to re-live HGL’s work, it’s too bad this attempt falls short as well. Smash Cut doesn’t completely flat-line, nor does it go for the jugular. Here’s why…

The late David Hess (The Last House on the Left, Hitch-hike) is really the main reason to watch this film. He’s playing a low-budget horror movie director with motivation problems. When he gets into a car accident and his girlfriend is killed, he uses her corpse as a prop in his horror film. Motivation problem solved. This spirals into more killing, more prop making, and David Hess acting his heart out to bring life into a mediocre movie. Sure, there’s a few gory scenes here and there to keep things moving, and a shit-ton of nods to HGL, some of those coming off as painfully forced, but the real problem is the overall wasted potential of the movie.

On paper, a movie with David Hess, Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes, The Devil’s Rejects), and porn-star/actress Sasha Grey (Deep Throat This 44) should’ve been a slam dunk. The problem, the script tries to be funny without succeeding. For example, David Hess doing yoga? Come on, seriously? The old HGL movies weren’t trying to be funny, they were just so bad they were good. Smash Cut doesn’t capture this mood. The homage works in some instances and fails in others. Instead of giving us a helping heaping of the gory goods like HGL did, we mostly get monologues from David Hess and boring sleuthing scenes with reporter Sasha Gray (who keeps her clothes on throughout the duration) to fill in the feature time. HGL fans should rent this, because there are redeeming moments throughout the movie, don’t get me wrong, but it’s only enough to make it worth one viewing.

The behind-the-scenes featurette, gag reel, and Sasha Grey’s video diary each give the viewer a good perspective on how fun it was for the cast to make Smash Cut. Throw in the director’s commentary, and Shriek Show does a fine job giving this movie a solid DVD release. The audio is my only complaint, because at times it’s hard to hear the dialogue. The colors and visuals are of good quality for a lower budget movie. Final word, Smash Cut certainly isn’t a pile of shit. It reaches half of it’s goals. It’s better than those dreadful re-makes, so let that speak for itself. But for a huge fan of HGL, like myself, my expectations are always high. Rest in peace, David Hess.

A Cat in the Brain (1990, DVD Review)

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aka Nightmare Concert
aka Un gatto nel cervello

Director: Lucio Fulci

Cast: Lucio Fulci, Robert Egon, Brett Halsey, Paul Muller, Maurice Poli,

Grindhouse Releasing / All Regions / Unrated  / 1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen / ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo, ITALIAN: Dolby Digital Stereo / 93 minutes

Disc Extras: New High Definition Anamorphic Digital Restoration of the Uncensored Director’s Cut / Interview with Lucio Fulci and star Brett Halsey / Lucio Fulci’s Heroic Appearance at the 1996 NYC Fangoria Weekend of Horrors / Original Italian Theatrical Trailer / Gallery of Stills and Poster Art / Liner Notes by Antonella Fulci, Horror Novelist David J. Schow and Eli Roth

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Lucio Fulci is a legend of horror filmmaking. I’ll say that as fact. He’s best known for his classics like Zombie 2, City of the Living Dead, House by the Cemetery, and The Beyond. Considering how great these movies are, it’s a real shame the last part of Fulci’s career was a very inconsistent mess. If you’ve seen some of these films, like Touch of Death, Aenigma, Zombie 3, or Sodoma’s Ghost, you get a clear idea of the dip in quality. That’s not to say there weren’t shining moments of gory and macabre madness here and there. For someone who hasn’t seen this later batch of Fulci films, Cat in the Brain is the great place to start.

Lucio Fulci, playing himself, has been having trouble shooting his horror films lately. He’s so stressed and over-tired, he’s seeing random gross things, or people getting killed –most of which are from actual scenes from his old movies. So troubled by these visions, he goes to a local psychiatrist for help. This psychiatrist turns out to be a serial killer with a pallet for slicing and dicing his victims. So the doctor puts Fulci under a psychosis, and the poor horror director thinks he’s the one committing the doctor’s murders. This isn’t high art like you’d experience from an early Fulci giallo, but instead, it’s straight up cheese.

I don’t see any damn cat.

The movie’s not perfect. Fulci walks from scene to scene witnessing the juicier moments of his lower grade movies. It pans to the old movie scene, then back to Fulci in a different frame cringing, then back to the movie scene, then back to Fulci again with another expression on his face. The camera trick doesn’t fool anybody. And the plot between the crazy psychiatrist and Fulci could’ve been expanded, but it’s secondary to the main star, that being the gooey stuff. Despite the plot and execution flaws, Cat in the Brain delivers enough grizzly deaths to fill ten slop troughs. And don’t forget the generous addition of breasts and female flesh to get the blood pumping. True Fulci fans, and even the fair weather fans, will want to give this Italian horror flick a chance.

Grindhouse Releasing unleashed a true Deluxe Edition of Cat in the Brain. The bevy of extras alone is worth the purchase, especially for Lucio Fulci’s appearance at Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors in New York City. The transfer and audio have been vastly improved over previous editions, though the way the film was made, it doesn’t allow for superior restoration. The liner notes are informative and cool, giving the entire DVD package a true deluxe status. Fulci lives on in style thanks to Grindhouse Releasing.

Mother’s Day (1980, Blu-ray Review)

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Director: Charles Kaufman

Cast: Rose Ross, Billy Ray McQuade, Holden McGuire, Nancy Hendrickson, Deborah Luce, Tiana Pierce

Troma and Anchor Bay / Region A / Unrated / 1.78:1 widescreen / Dolby TrueHD 5.1 / Spanish subtitles / 90 minutes / BUY FROM TLACULT

Disk Extras: Audio Commentary / Behind the Scenes / Trailer / Eli Roth on “Mother’s Day” / Interview with Darren Lynn Bousman and Charles Kaufman

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I think I may have found a new movie to put on my Top 10 Favorite Horror Movies list. That list technically only exists in my noggin and it is ever-changing and evolving with only #1 staying the same; Tobe Hooper’s 1974 venerable classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are many reasons I love that movie ranging from the nostalgic (it was the first horror movie I ever remember seeing) to the visceral (it terrifies me to this day). A clearly demented, backwoods, homicidal family full of interesting characters who you somehow end up rooting for while at the same time recoiling from their horror. That particular description is what hooked me while watching Charles Kaufman’s (yes, Lloyd’s brother) sleazy slasher, Mother’s Day. The overbearing, perverted “Mother”, hulking brute “Ike” and the rape-happy “Addley” — those are the lovable “bad guys” lurking in the Deep Barons.

Three ex-college roommates are getting together for their annual getaway and decide to go camping in the wilderness. That forest is home to a demented mother and her two psychotic sons who literally do anything she tells them. While the girls are sleeping in their bags around the campfire, Ike and Iddley cinch them up and carry them deeper into the woods to their decrepit old house. They quickly tie them up in an upstairs room (apparently a home gym?) and Mother decides to take one down to the front yard for a little Rape Theater where they enact scenes ultimately ending in the girl getting assaulted. The next morning the other two girls escape after rescuing their near-death friend and at the same time Mother is seemingly attacked by her feral sister “Queenie”, but is she real or is Mother jealous of the young girls and looking for attention? When their friend dies in the woods, the other two come back looking for bloody revenge.

Mother is such a boob.

Charles Kaufman, who is now retired from filmmaking and owns and operates a bakery in California, made one of the most entertaining, sleazy, gory and offensive horror movies I have ever seen. How I have never seen this movie before makes me question what I know about horror and exploitation films. Mother’s Day is over-the-top and sleazy in every way. Nudity, gore, sleaze and loads of campy, dark humor. If The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) was less terrifying but more bloody, campy and vulgar, it would be a very similar movie. The setting, characters and overall entertainment value begs comparison with the Hooper film. There is one scene that stand out to me as completely original; Mother has Ike and Addley work out and train to become better psycho killers. Stabbing and punching stuffed potato sacks, chopping up baby dolls, calisthenics, destroying melons made to look like heads. It’s just so fucking strange and creative to think that this family makes it a priority to be the best homicidal clan they can be.

The new Troma and Anchor Bay Blu-ray release is pretty impressive, mostly due to how the HD transfer looks. I’ve not seen previous VHS and DVD versions but this one looks incredibly sharp and vivid to be a 30-year-old movie that was made on a small budget. They didn’t scrub out all of the details and you can even see small amounts of film debris left in throughout to keep its integrity. Even though the packaging says that it’s Dolby 5.1 TrueHD sound, I couldn’t tell it from a mono soundtrack, but that’s not taking anything away from it. It still sounded clear and the levels were very good. Aside from the audio commentary, there are three other extras, one of which was very interesting for a geek like me. The behind the scenes supplement is actually a 10 minute series of 8mm special effects and actress screen tests and I always find that kind of thing interesting. There is also an 8 minute Comic Con conversation with Charles and Darren Lynn Bousman where Bousman talks about his Mother’s Day remake, and a 13 minute featurette with Eli Roth rambling about how he is obsessed with the film, ad nauseam.