This Week In Horror DVD's

I know, I know, it's Thursday afternoon and I'm just talking about the horror out on DVD now. It's been a busy week and I'm doing my best... I'll try to get things back to normal next week. However, there may have to be a "new normal", as there's been a few changes in my life that are going to effect how I allot my time. All good, so no worries... Anyhow, let's look at the notable new releases this week.

I'm both a fan of Jake West and Danny Dyer. If you don't know who they are, you NEED to check out Jake West's "Evil Aliens". It's simply awesome. Do yourself a favor, if you haven't heard of it, get it immediately. Don't hesitate, just pick it up. It's the best thing since Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive". As for Danny Dyer, he may not be for everyone, but I think he's hilarious. Check him out in "Severance", "Pimp" or the British rip-off of "The Longest Yard", with the cast from "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", called "Mean Machine". In any case, the two of them got together for "Doghouse". If the above didn't convince you to check it out, maybe the premise of the film will... a group of men travel to a remote village to help one of their friends get over his divorce. Once there, they discover that the town is inhabited by ravenous women that have been infected with a toxin that turns them into man-hating cannibals.

If you saw the title "S&Man", how would you pronounce it? I just assumed it had to do with sex and it would be pronounced "Ess and Emm Man". Well, it's not. It's pronounced "Sandman". Yeah, look at it again. It makes sense. It's a documentary that came out a few years ago and it's about the underground subculture of horror films... but not your regular horror films. It deals with the voyeuristic nature of faux snuff films and the desensitizing of modern society. I haven't seen it, but my bet is it's heavy handed.

"Coffin Rock" is an Australian film that came out around a year ago in the land down under. IFC films picked it up and had an on-demand release in January, then another on-demand release in February. Now, it's out on DVD. It's in the vein of "Fatal Attraction" and "Cape Fear" as it's about a kid that sleeps with a married woman, who subsequently gets pregnant, and he turns from obsessive to psychotic.

"My Super Psycho Sweet 16" is the film that was produced by MTV and is based on the MTV show, "My Super Sweet Sixteen". The film aired on MTV, but was apparently cut down... and this DVD version is unrated, so it contains a bit more gore. What's funny about this film is that horror fans don't dig it that much. However, MTV audiences loved it. It was the #1 film in its time period and delivered the network's strongest ratings in that time period in over a year and a half. It was so popular that it spawned a sequel... which comes out a week from now on October 22nd.

"Brain Dead" is directed by Kevin S Tenney, who's done some classic films. He's directed "Witchboard", "Night of the Demons", "The Cellar" and various others... I don't know much about this film, but I'll take straight from the DVD cover. "An alien parasite hungry for human hosts... The infected rising from the dead, ravenous for brains... A group of desperate misfits battling for survival... someone has a really bad travel agent!"

Lastly, I really want to know more about "Meet Me Out in the Sticks". The cover art is really creepy and all it says is that the actors, director, writer and producer is someone named Creep Creepersin. It comes from Creepsville Entertainment and it's only 3 minutes long... when you order it, it's manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Obviously, I'm not going to pay the $10.99 for a 3 minute film, but does anyone know more about it?

The Weekend Box Office and a Good Week for Horror on DVD

To be honest, I'm not terribly intrigued by anything that went on at the box office over the weekend. Not only was there nothing related to horror out, there were no real stories emerging. I think we all knew that "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" would win the weekend... the original is a classic and the return of Gordon Gekko couldn't be more timely. The financial crisis was basically a long marketing campaign for the original, as I can't count how many times I heard the line, "Greed is Good" over the last 2 years. That and I really like the idea of reviving the character, after he gets out of jail, to alert the financial community of a global economic disaster. Not sure how I feel about Shia LaBeouf, but it's not this film... it's LaBeouf in general. Other than that, "Legend of the Guardians" was a bit of a let down and "The Virginity Hit" had one of the worst opening of all time... fourth lowest grossing for a nationwide release on record. As for the week in horror on DVD, it's pretty good. As usual, you can check out the trailers on our Youtube Page and you can click on the title to be taken to their Amazon Page, where you can read more and/or buy them.

I guess the biggest thing(s) coming out this week are the Fangoria FrightFest films. Fangoria FrightFest is where Fangoria partnered with Blockbuster and Lightning Entertainment to begin a "unique, multi-tiered summer film distribution program". It consists of eight new films; "Pig Hunt", "Fragile", "Grimm Love", "Dark House", "Hunger", "Road Kill", "The Haunting" and "The Tomb". Now, I'm not sure what they mean by multi-tiered and they really couldn't have picked a worse partner than Blockbuster, but... here they are, in any case. Available on Amazon. I never saw these promoted much before this, they weren't in the theaters and I don't recall them having any online presence, so... what the hell are they talking about when they say multi-tiered film distribution? Maybe it was limited releases and, possibly, they were premiered on cable somewhere, I don't know. Really, I have no idea if any of these are any good. For more info, click on each individual title.

When I first heard of the idea behind "Frozen", I wasn't sure it would work. Three skiers get stranded on a chair lift? Could that really hold a whole movie? It's definitely out of the box for Adam Green, who did "Hatchet", "Spiral" and "Hatchet II". Then again, I remember an interview he did after "Hatchet", where he said he wanted to stick with horror, but didn't want to get pigeon-holed as a slasher director. In any case, this isn't a slasher film and this sub-genre seems to be in right now. What would you call it? Isolation horror? "Buried" has a lot of hype and this seems to be in the same vein. What I like about it is that it's tailor made for indie horror filmmakers. Very few actors, very few locations... easy to do.

I'm very intrigued by "Suck"... it's a rock-horror about a loser band that turns into vampires and then takes the world by storm. It's got a decent budget, looks great and has a wicked cast, including Dave Foley, Iggy Pop, Moby, Alice Cooper and Malcolm McDowell. Chances are it's not going to have a lot of gore or anything, but it could have great camp/cult qualities.

Now, "Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film" could be a pretty cool documentary. I love horror docs and I don't think I've seen one that concentrates just on American horror. Lance Henriksen hosts and takes you through a history of American horror, from the earliest monster movies to modern-day slashers.

On paper, "Death Kappa" should be everything I'm looking for. It's from the producers of "Machine Girl" and "Tokyo Gore Police", two of my favorite recent Asian horror flicks, and, if you're a regular reader, you should know that I think monster movies are coming back and this is, without question, a monster movie. Having said that, it's a campy, "dudes in rubber monster suits" monster movie, but there's nothing wrong with that. There was actually a bunch of coverage on it in the latest Fangoria, I think. In any case, I'm going to be checking it out.

I can't find much about "Wake the Witch" because, believe it or not, there's various films called the same thing... or something similar. Anyhow, it's apparently inspired by J-horror and is a psychological horror/suspense. Cover art is awesome, wish I knew more about it.

"Late Fee" came out last year, but it's getting a DVD/Blu-ray release this week. It's sort of a low-budget "Tales From The Crypt", as it's an anthology of sorts... only two films, though, with a third story holding the other two together. The main story revolves around how the couple has to return the two films by midnight, as they don't want to know what the late fee's are... I like the idea and I'm always a fan anthologies.

The Weekend Box Office and The Week in Horror on DVD

Over the weekend, "Inception" became the fourth movie of the year to go three straight weeks at number one. The other three? "Avatar", "Alice in Wonderland" and "Shrek Forever After". Also, "Inception" has now become the seventh highest-grossing film of 2010... So, batten down the hatches, folks. We've got a hit on our hands here. Now, if you haven't seen it, I do recommend it. It's a mind-fuck movie and it's got lots of twists and turns and great effects, but most importantly, it's Christopher Nolan and he's proving that he's a top-tier filmmaker. Also, I love that he came from pure indie roots. His first film, "Following", which came out in 1998, took over a year to shoot because the whole cast and crew had other full-time jobs and they only shot on Saturdays. Sound familiar? His next film after "Following" was "Momento" ...and if you don't know that film, I'm not sure what to say, but go get it... and now. As for the rest of the box office, "Dinner for Schmucks" was a new release and it did well for a comedy, coming in second. "Salt" was third, "Despicable Me" was fourth and both weren't new releases. "Charlie St. Cloud" came in fifth and "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" came in sixth, both were new releases and would be considered disappointments... I assume. As for the week in horror on DVD, it's not bad. So, let's get to it. You can check out all the trailers on our Youtube Channel and you can click on the titles to be taken to the films page on Amazon, where you can read more and/or buy it.

"Hoboken Hollow", written and directed by Glen Stephens, has a great cast, including Jason Connery, C. Thomas Howell, Michael Madsen, Robert Carradine and the late Dennis Hopper. I can only assume that Hopper's passing has something to do with this release, as it originally came out in 2005 and it didn't really do much then. It's sort of a hillbilly horror with some roots in reality. It's about a ranch that picks up workers, usually vagrants and poor folks, and then, well, tortures the crap out of them. Apparently this stuff happened, at least there's lots of urban legends about it. So, that tends to make it just that much more creepy... also, price is right on this DVD, they're selling it for $6.99.

I like the concept behind "Open House" and I think there's a lot of room for other filmmakers to explore this little sub-genre. I'll explain... horror is about fears, right? Taking things that people are scared of in real life and then throwing it in their faces. Well, there's something scary about buying and selling a home. In fact, there's LOTS of scary things about it. From having strangers and random people coming through your house when you try to sell it all the way to not knowing what kind of house you're buying or what kind of neighborhood you're moving in to? Get it? Really, it's scary stuff and there's a lot to work with in this whole concept. Anyhow, "Open House" deals with a couple that's trying to sell their house, but finds out that one of the potential buyers never left the open house.

Robert Beaucage's "Spike" looks a little odd and may not be my cup of tea, but... it could be yours. It did win an award at Shriekfest 2009 - best fantasy feature film, so I may be the odd man out. Actually, I haven't seen it, so I may be jumping to conclusions, but anyhow... The film draws heavily on Grimm's fairytales and, in fact, calls itself a Gothic fairytale. From what I can tell, a group of people head into the woods where they encounter a beast... but the beast leaves a poem behind for one of the girls. That's right, we're talking a gothic "Beauty and The Beast" horror here. Anyhow, it could be interesting. In fact, I'm actually turning myself around here, maybe I'll check it out.

"Secrets of the Clown", from Ryan Badalamenti, is also a bit of a rerelease... I only say that because I remember it from a while ago and it came out in 2007. It won best feature film at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival and it preys on everyones favorite fear, the fear of clowns. Price is right on this DVD, as well... again, $6.99.

I have to comment on the Asylum double-pack, Blu-ray release of, "Haunting of Winchester House / I Am Omega", because I love Asylum releases. "I Am Omega" takes the "Omega Man" idea, where the main character is the last human on earth, and gives it a bit of an action spin. It came out right around the time that "I Am Legend" came out... Martial Artist Mark Dacascos takes on the zombies and does some serious ass kicking. "Haunting of Winchester House" was brought out after the slew of haunted house films came out, notably "The Haunting in Connecticut", which I'm assuming this was based on.

The Titans Clash in More Ways Than One and The Week in Horror

Well, they told us that the Titans would clash this weekend and they did... in more ways than one. "Clash of the Titans" absolutely dominated the weekend with an estimated take of $61.4Million, which shatters the previous Easter opening weekend record, held by, of all films, "Scary Movie 4". The other story of clashing titans is about how three monster films battled it out to get on those coveted 3D screens. According to Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros, "the more 3D screens you have, the better off you are" and "Clash" managed to get on 1,810 of them, which was fewer than "How to Train Your Dragon", but that's because "Dragon" already had exhibitors locked in and they couldn't switch over. "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland" were both on far more screens because they were the only games in town at the time. So, why is this a big fight? Well, let's do some math... 3D screens accounted for 52% of the gross, yet only 1,810 of the 6,700 screens were 3D. I'll spare you the math on this, but that means that the 3D premium added around $10Million to the bottom line. Do you think numbers like that will influence the studios? Damn straight, but the problem now turns to convincing the exhibitors to convert their 2D screens into digital 3D screens and THAT, my friends, requires a lot of money. Money that neither side thinks they should pay for. It's definitely an interesting time for the big boys and it should be fun to watch it all play out... Anyhow, let's check in on us little guys and take a look at the horror that's coming out on DVD this week. As usual, you can see all the trailers on our Youtube Page by clicking HERE or you can click on the title and be taken to it's page on Amazon.

"Blood Ties" is (or was) a Canadian TV show based on the "Blood Books" by Tanya Huff. It premiered in 2007 and the series revolves around Christina Cox, a former cop, turned detective. She teams up with a 480 year old vampire and their mutual attraction is complicated by her relationship with her former partner, who happens to be her lover. It was a critically acclaimed series, there's a big cult following behind it and the Canadian production company wants to bring the show back, but they're having trouble raising the financing... and now it's been dead for a couple years. My guess, it's done. However, you can now get "Blood Ties: The Complete Season One" on DVD and Blu-Ray.

"Taxidermia" came out in 2006 and it's a Hungarian film by Gyorgy Palfi - and I'm missing more than a few accents and squiggly lines over letters in his name there. It's a surreal film that revolves around dark comedy and horror and, most notably... body horror. The film comes highly recommended and apparently it's one of those films that just has to be seen to be believed. So, trying to explain it probably wouldn't do it any justice. Check out the trailer and if it seems like it's your kind of thing, it probably is.

"Sensored" comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray this week and it stars the sci-fi legend, Robert Picardo... of "Star Trek" and "Stargate" fame. "Sensored" did the festival circuit and had a lot of buzz. Of note, the film was shot entirely on the 'Red One' ultra-high definition digital camera. I'm not sure if it was the first film to do that, but it was definitely one of the first indie horror films to do that. The film revolves around Picardo, who plays a children's book author that's tainted by his own childhood evils - murderous fixation, delusions and terrifying rampages ensue.

"Autumn" is a low-budget indie zombie film that's based on a book series of the same name, by David Moody. The book was published freely on-line, back in 2005, and spawned an entire series. Reviews of the film are somewhat mixed, but the trailer looks great and fans of the book series are very happy with the film.

"Tony", the first feature from Gerard Johnson, looks awfully creepy. It's a gritty depiction of a solitary serial killer that attempts to socialize with the outside world, but all his would-be acquaintances end up meeting their demise. Reviews are great and it looks like a twisted and entertaining film. It's definitely topping my list of films to check out this week.

"Blood Red Moon" is a micro-budget film from Scott Patrick and he seems to draw heavily on "Twilight"... and I say that with a grain of salt - check out the trailer. Megan's new in town and she falls in love with a vampire, Victor. There's a rash of murders in town, Victor is suspected and Megan's the only one who believes that he's not responsible.

"Blood Forest" is another micro-budget film, this one from Bill Barton. It's about the last remaining "Brave" of the Arkansas Cave Tribe and Bigfoot. Yeah, you read that right. The "Brave" think of old Bigfoot as a protector and the residents think that Bigfoot is killing people and, now, a drunk reporter from the UK is in town to get the scoop. That's what I get from the trailer and what I could find online, anyhow...

I couldn't find the trailer for "Malpractice" or much else, for that matter, but I love the premise... college students go to their internship at a mental hospital, only to discover that the inmates have escaped and have been running the asylum. Lots of potential with that idea, I hope they do it right.

The Weekend Box Office and The Week In Horror on DVD

So, the weekend at the box office went, sort of, as I predicted. "How to Train Your Dragon" toppled "Alice in Wonderland" and "Hot Tub Time Machine" came in third. The interesting story out of this weekend revolves around 3D films. Currently, there's three 3D films in the theaters: "How to Train Your Dragon", "Alice in Wonderland" and, of course, "Avatar". Now, a little backstory - modern 3D films use polarized 3D, which is different than, say... the 3D used in "Friday the 13th Part 3-D", which used the red/blue glasses. Polarized 3D requires digital projection that uses either two digital projectors fitted with polarizing filters OR a single digital projector used in conjunction with an adaptor in the front. IMAX, I believe, uses a slightly different and far more expensive method, but it's still based in polarized 3D. (If you're a tech guy and know this better, please elaborate) So, the interesting thing is that there's not enough screens to play all the 3D films now. So, with "Alice" being so successful and "Dragon" just opening, guess what happened to "Avatar"? Biggest drop yet, but the real reason is because it was booted off most of its 3D screens. Long and short is, it looks like 3D has hit the tipping point in a big, big way and, if that's the case, the theaters are going to need to do some serious upgrading. Now, here's where it gets interesting for us... the switch to 3D capable screens means that the theaters are going to go all digital.... which means that getting alternative content (ie. sports, indie and micro-budget film) on to the big screen will be a whole lot easier - no cost for prints, virtually zero distribution costs, blah, blah... unless, of course, there's four 3D films competing for all the spots in the megaplex. Oh, did I mention that "Clash of the Titans" opens this Friday and it's also in 3D? It's an interesting time to be in theatrical releases, for sure. Anyhow, let's get back down to earth and look at the horror that's coming out on DVD this week. As usual, head over to our Youtube Page by clicking HERE and you can see all the trailers. Otherwise, you can click on the title and be taken to the films Amazon page, where you can read more and/or buy the film.

"I Sell the Dead" is the feature film debut from Irish director, Glenn McQuaid, and it finally comes out on DVD this week. It's a great film and it had a great run at the festivals. It was picked up by IFC for domestic distribution; Anchor Bay for Canada, the UK and Australia; and Screen Media for foreign. Not only that, it was popular enough to have spawned a comic book adaptation - always a sign of acceptance in the horror world. The film stars Dominic Monaghan, Larry Fessenden, Ron Perlman and The Tall Man himself, Angus Scrimm. A month or so ago, we talked with Jeremiah Kipp, the writer/director of the short film "Contact" and he happened to be the AD on "I Sell the Dead". We talked a bit about "I Sell the Dead" in the interview and if you'd like to go back and check that out, here's the LINK.

"Smash Cut" is a Canadian indie horror from Lee Demarbre and it's produced by Robert Menzies. The film is about an "Ed Wood" sort of director who starts killing people and using their blood and guts in his films for realism. It screened at Fantasia Fest and the London FrightFest, before getting a limited theatrical run in Canada. The cast is unreal, including David Hess from "The Last House on the Left", Michael Berryman from "The Hills Have Eyes", Ray Sager from "The Wizard of Gore" and porn star, Sasha Grey, in her second non-porno role. Not only that, the Godfather of the splatter film, Herschell Gordon Lewis, is in the opening credits, advising the audience to "watch if they must". There's a lot of good things going on here and I may have to check it out.

I can't find the trailer for "Bigfoot", but I'm assuming that's because too many videos pop up on Youtube when you type in "Bigfoot". In any case, this film was actually completed back in 2005 and has been trapped in indie film purgatory due to a snafu with another distribution company. Now, it's finally getting the release it deserves from Troma, who just recently picked it up. It's a low-budget indie, but reviews are fairly good and it looks like it's worth checking out.

"Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge" is a Japanese film, based on a novel of the same name by Tatsuhiko Takimoto. There's also a manga adaptation - a sign of acceptance in the Japanese horror world. The trailer that I found has no subtitles and I know nothing of the book, so I'm not really sure what it's about. Judging from the trailer, there's a love story, some motorcycle riding and a chainsaw wielding psychopath from space.

"Girly", AKA "Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny, and Girly" is a cult horror-comedy classic that came out of the UK from British horror veteran Freddie Francis in 1969. It's been called one of the greatest lost films of British horror cinema and received great reviews at the time, although it was marketed poorly and was forgotten very quickly. The distributor gave up on the film and it all but vanished, except for an even more limited release on VHS in the early 80's. Then, during a Freddie Francis film festival in 2004, the organizers struggled to find even a VHS copy and the film was thought to have been completely lost... when copies began to surface on the web, people started talking about it, it gained some cult status and, low and behold, it's now out on DVD ready to be rediscovered.

The Weekend Box Office, "Wolfman" and the week in horror DVD's

A Superbowl-sized hangover that could make the biggest lush in New Orleans cringe kept me from writing my post yesterday, so here we are today... and I feel much better, thanks for asking. So, what happened at the box office? Well, not much... except for the fact that a rom-com dethroned Avatar's reign. I guess the theaters were filled with people that weren't watching the Superbowl? So, "Dear John" takes the top spot and, really, it's not a huge shocker, if you think about it. I mean, this was the eighth weekend of release for "Avatar", it wasn't going to sit at the top spot forever and it's not like it did bad... it came in second. Speaking of bad, "From Paris With Love" underwhelmed and could mark the end for Travolta. Then again, it's been a slippery slope for him, the end could've been a while ago. When was the last time he made a film that mattered? Other than that, the only thing of note is that "Sherlock Homes" broke $200Million Domestic over the weekend. It's really a good film and it hasn't gotten much press about it, due to "Avatar". Anyhow, "Wolfman" comes out this Friday and I'm interested to see how it does, for a few reasons. I'm guessing that they won't mess with the story too much... I mean, it's a remake of the 1941 classic and I've heard they're really sticking with that plot. It's got a great cast, Del Toro is perfect. However, how will audiences react? Vampires are sexy. Well, Hollywood's made them sexy these days. Taylor Lautner's depiction of Jacob Black in "Twilight", specifically in "Twilight: New Moon", has made werewolves kinda sexy, too. Now, that sex appeal is what attracts the female audience, as well as a younger audience. So, can Del Toro add a bit of sex appeal or are we going straight for the horror crowd? The film IS rated R for bloody horror violence and gore... so, it looks like they're going for the straight horror crowd and, if that's the case, will it deliver? So, let's get to the week in horror DVD releases. As usual, you can see all the trailers by clicking HERE to go to our Youtube Page and you can click on the films title and be taken to its Amazon page, where you can read more and/or buy it.

If you think there's no original ideas left or if you're wondering what a festival film looks like, look no further than Travis Betz's "Lo". It's about a guy named Justin and how his life changes forever when April, a bizarre and curiously naive woman, is mysteriously kidnapped by demons. Facing singing demons, talking hands, dancing bartenders and human sized rats, Justin's love is put to the ultimate test. I read about this film a while ago and have been anxious to check it out, I'll definitely report back. I love the originality and concept.

"9 Lives of Mara" is another festival film. It won at "Fright Night" and the "HP Lovecraft Film Festival" and it was an official selection at various others. It's about an amorous intruder, a witch, that's hellbent on becoming a young twelve year old's stepmother... which leads that twelve year old an inextricable path towards insanity and murder. Once again, I haven't seen it, but it did really well at the festivals and director Balaji K. Kumar got a lot of praise for his work. If you're gunning for the festivals, this and "Lo" should be on your 'must watch' list this week.

I'm not going to lie, I read about Flavor Flav's "Nite Tales", from Deon Taylor, but I didn't check it out. It was my understanding that it was a "Tales From The Crypt" type deal, hosted by Flavor Flav. Anyhow, Flavor Flav's "Nite Tales" is presenting "Dead Tone", which could be a bad omen... Once again, Taylor was a co-director here, so I guess they're just extending the Flavor Flav horror brand? I don't know, it seems like a bit of a stretch. If you can fill me in, please leave a post in the comments. The film is about prank calls gone bad and it's supposedly based on true stories.

After reading the title "Butchered" and checking out the premise, I thought to myself, "well, this is a bit tired, come on guys..." Typical slasher title and a typical slasher plot - a group of teens charter a boat to an isolated island where there's a convicted serial killer on the loose. HOWEVER, I watched the trailer and completely changed my mind and now I'm going to have to check this out. It looks really well done and quite gruesome. I just wish they reconsidered the title... maybe there's some plot twists in there, too. I'll report back on this one, as well.

For the horror history buffs, check out "Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival", which is a 3 disc collection that includes over 7 hours of grindhouse audio and video footage. It's a collection of hundreds of previews, tv commercials and radio spots for the sleaziest, sexiest and most off-the-wall films ever made.

I can't say I know much about the Spanish TV show, "Gabriel", but it's supposedly a poignant love story of reincarnation, revenge, and redemption set against today's neo-Gothic underworld of vampirism and the occult. It was the winner of six Suncoast Emmy Awards and it's a 4 DVD set of the complete first season.