El pobrecito Draculín (“The Poor Draculin”) is a 1977 Spanish comedy horror film written and directed by Juan Fortuny (Palmer ha muerto; Orloff and the Invisible Man; Crimson).

It stars Joe Rígoli, Josele Román, Víctor Israel (Graveyard of Horror; El jovencito Drácula; Hell of the Living Dead), Conrado Tortosa ‘Pipper’, Ricardo Palmerola, Joan Borràs, Fernando Rubio, Lita Claver, Carlos Otero. Known as Draculín in Germany, the film does not appear to have received an English language release.

Plot teaser:

The son of Count Dracula wakes seventy years after having been buried with his father during the First World War…

IMDb

Smothered is a 2014 horror film written and directed by actor John Schneider (best known as Bo Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard). The movie stars Kane Hodder (Jason Vorhees in four Friday the 13th films and Victor Crowley in the Hatchet films), Bill Moseley (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2; House of 1000 Corpses; The Devil’s Rejects), R. A. Mihailoff (Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III), Malcolm Danare (Christine; https://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=Pi-aU5vRMIPY8geOy4HYDQ&gws_rd=ssl#q=smothered+film+2014&start=10Popcorn; Godzilla), and Don Shanks (Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers) as several horror icons that find themselves the focus of a murderous hunt.

Plot teaser:

After a convention appearance gig turns out to be wildly unsuccessful and unpleasant, a group of cult horror icons find themselves reluctantly persuaded to haunt a trailer park. Lured by the promise of $1,000 a piece for what should be relatively easy work, the group arrives at the park but soon discovers that there is more to the job than they had initially been led to believe and that their own lives are at risk…

Reviews:

“This is a horror-comedy with some bite. Each of the icons gets a chance to play on their public persona as well as other horror icons and we see some pretty inventive mass-ups. One thing that is great is that though the convention scenes and plight of the individual characters is funny, there is a lot of truth in it as well. Hodder has a chance to play the romantic lead, of sorts, while Moseley is the optimist of the group. Shanks is the bully and Milhailoff is the big lug afraid of his own shadow. Malcom Danare is probably the most relatable of the bunch and his scenes with Shanks are some of the best.” Christopher Jimenez, Shock Till You Drop

“With a well-placed cast and entertaining script, Smothered was able to hide some of its shortcomings. There are a number of effects used, and they are hit and miss at best. A little more attention to the details on the make-up and gory F/X would have gone a long way toward polishing this film. Also, some of the acting is a little stiff in points, but it’s nothing that really bogs things down at all. In fact it’s a little reminiscent of the 80′s horror films thatSmothered is indeed at least partially a tribute to.” Dread Central

“The film is well paced, with the mood changing repeatedly….from slapstick silly to downright scary….without missing a beat. Schneider has clearly spent some time behind the camera (from the final episode of “Dukes of Hazzard” to “Smallville” to made for television films) and that experience and confidence, especially in a genre’ that’s fairly foreign to him, allows him a free eye (and hand) in his story telling.” Media Mikes

Wikipedia | IMDb | Official site | Facebook

The Live Ghost is a 1934 film starring comedy team Laurel and Hardy.

One of numerous shorts shot in the 1920s and 30s featuring the comic duo, The Live Ghost is a 20 minute film directed by Charles Rogers and produced by Hal Roach. It opens with a rough sea captain trying and failing to find a crew for his supposedly haunted ship. Desperate, he enlists the assistant of fish shop employees Stan and Ollie to help him shanghai a crew. Stan goes into a bar and provokes a sailor into chasing him outside, where Ollie bangs him on the head, knocking him out – the captain then takes the unconscious man to his ship. This trick is repeated several times until things inevitably go wrong when Stan and Ollie change roles – the captain is hit over the head and in revenge, he knocks the pair of them out and they find themselves joining the rest of the reluctant crew. Any talk of a ‘ghost ship’ is stifled by the captain’s threat to twist around the heads of anyone who dares mention the word ‘ghost’.

Naturally, the shanghaied sailors are none too happy, but as long as they are on the ship, Stan and Ollie have the captain’s protection. Whenever the ship pulls into port, the pair refuse to leave, knowing what will happen to hem if they do. In one port, the captain asks them to keep an eye on a drunken shipmate. Things rapidly get out of control, and the pair think they have killed the drunken man, tossing the ‘body’ overboard. He wakes up, swims to the shore and  and falls into a trough of whitewash. When the white figure returns to the ship, Stan and Ollie believe him to be a ghost, and panic. Just then, the captain returns, and when they tell him they’ve seen a ghost, he makes good on his threat.

Not one of the classic Laurel and Hardy shorts, The Live Ghost is nevertheless entertaining stuff, with plenty of absurdity and slapstick comedy. it is one of a handful of ‘horror’ themed Laurel and Hardy shorts that also include Oliver the Eighth, The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case and A-Haunting We Will Go.

DF

Goal of the Dead is a 2014 French comedy horror film directed by Thierry Poiraud and Benjamin Rocher. It stars Alban Lenoir, Charlie Bruneau, Tiphaine Daviot, Ahmed Sylla, Bruno Salomone, Patrick Ligardes, Xavier Laurent, Sebastien Vandenberghe.

Official synopsis:

First half:

For the Olympique de Paris soccer team, this away match scheduled against Caplongue was merely supposed to be one last chore before the end of the professional season. Yet no one could ever have imagined that an unknown rabies-like infection was going to spread like wildfire, turning this small town’s inhabitants into ultra-violent and highly contagious creatures. For Samuel, the former golden boy who is nearing retirement, Idriss, the arrogant wunderkind, Coubert, the team’s depressed coach and Solène, the young ambitious journalist, this will turn into the most important confrontation of their lives.

Second half:

While the rabid supporters prowl about Caplongue, which is in a state of ruin, another nightmare begins for Sam. Barricaded in the police station with other survivors, he has to face the young Cléo, his grumpy father, and Solène, who hasn’t forgotten him this time. Meanwhile, Idriss and Marco, hidden in the stadium and looking for a way to escape, are also settling a few scores along the way…

Reviews:

” … this energetic and well-made genre bender is divided, like a game, into two halves … Originally released in France as separate movies, they’ve now been combined into a single feature that suffers under the weight of all the material, especially for such a throwaway concept. But Goal of the Dead is also a more intelligently realized venture than many a broad Gallic comedy or action flick, and as such deserves some recognition abroad…” Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

IMDb | Facebook

‘One crazy night of debauchery and damnation!’

Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned is a 2008 American comedy horror film written, directed and produced by Brian Lindsay Thomson. It stars Joseph Riker, Trina Analee, Gregg Aaron Greenberg, Joe Testa, Rebecca Hodges, Sean Parker, Gelu Dan Rusu, Zoe Hunter (Witchcraft 13: Blood of the Chosen; There’s a Maniac in My House!!!), Afro-American Scream Queen Monique Dupree (Zombthology; Bikini Bloodbath Christmas; Sheriff Tom Vs. The Zombies), Kaitlyn Gutkes and Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman. It was shot for a budget of approximately $10,000 on Long Island, New York.

Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman as “Hot babe”

Official synopsis:

Sammy’s got access to a genuine bungalow in the Hamptons! He decides to throw the ultimate bachelor party for his best friend, Chuck. The only stipulation is that he must invite the house’s caretaker, the prude yet sexually ambiguous Gordon, to the festivities. A trio of gorgeous strippers arrives to give Chuck a taste of the lascivious delights he will soon forego. But just who will taste who and what will happen when Chuck’s fiancé arrives at the doorstep of the damned? The Bungalow may have been free but that doesn’t mean Sammy is getting it for nothing!

Reviews:

“Writer/director/overworked multi-tasker Brian Thomson may well believe, as he sardonically notes in the end credits, that “gaps in continuity constitute the unconscious poetry of the cinema” – but sometimes there’s just no substitute for a well written script with good dialogue, that’s well acted, well directed and well shot. The likeability of Greenberg and the spankability of Dupree apart, Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned has pretty much none of those things going for it. Cheap and it may be cheerful it may be, but that will only get you so far.” Brutal as Hell

” … a horror comedy mash-up that really delivers the goods.” Icons of Fright

“The acting is poor, but Greenberg does his best. The camerawork is perfunctory, often settling for the most obvious shots, but there are some nice stylistic touches (Fish’s introduction, especially). Most of the film relies on natural lighting, with the night-time interiors looking yellow and sickly, and the night-time exteriors (shot day-for-night, by the looks of it) are too dark to really see anything at all.” Mark West,  Zone-SF.com

“It’s the horror element that I think misses the mark most of all, because really, when your protagonist is a dude in a club shirt with flaming skulls on it who wears a Fred Durstian backwards red cap even when he’s in a hot tub, there’s not really much reason to not want to see him get brutally murdered.” Chris Sims, Heavy.com

“This is far from a decent low budget vampire spoof movie yet it benefits from Greenberg’s somewhat stoic lead and a few smart one-liners amidst some painfully homophobic dialogue. Where it fails is the inferior lighting and poor effects. But compared to the likes of Bikini Bloodbath Christmas – which also features Monique Dupree and Lloyd Kaufman – this is a trashy masterpiece.” Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

Buy on Amazon.com Instant | DVD from Amazon.co.uk

Choice dialogue:

“I know one thing for sure, this dump smells of pussy, we gotta get cleaned up.”

“He’s a vampire! I’m engaged to a vampire?”

IMDb | Facebook

‘A killer comedy with big… eyes.’

Killer Rack is an upcoming American comedy horror film to be directed by Gregory Lamberson (Slime City; Slime City Massacre, Dry Bones) from a screenplay by actor Paul McGinnis, producing it along with special effects designer Rod Durick. It will star Scream Queen Debbie Rochon, Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Roy Frumkes

The project is currently seeking funding via online site IndieGoGo – at the time of writing their target has nearly been reached.

Official synopsis:

A feature length screwball horror comedy about a woman whose new breast implants turn out to be Lovecraftian monsters hell bent on world domination!  It’s an outrageous concept which is funny as hell; it’s also actually endearing. The heroine is a survivor in a sexist culture that objectifies women. Our story is ultimately a comedy about female empowerment, and a warning against changing your physical appearance to please others.

Poor Betty is unhappy with her love life, her work life, and her life-life, and blames her problems on her small breasts. Determined to change her life for the better, she consults with a breast enhancement surgeon, Dr. Thulu, who harbors a diabolical plan to take over the world.

Betty has the surgery, and her life does indeed improve: she takes the upper hand in her romantic and work relationships, and learns what it’s like to be empowered.  But there are strange side effects: at night, while she’s asleep, the boobs take control of her body and guide her through the city streets, searching for men to seduce…and devour.

Betty becomes suspicious one morning when she awakens wearing a blood soaked shirt. The only person she can turn to for help is Tim, a co-worker who has admired her from afar for a long time…but will she seek Tim’s help in time to save the entire world from her new puppies?

Killer Rack on Facebook

Milfs vs. Zombies is a forthcoming American comedy horror gore film to be directed by Brad Twigg (Ghoulish Tales) from a screenplay by Daniel Schein for production company Fuzzy Monkey Films. It stars Brandy Peeples, Chris O’Brocki, Jeremy Ambler, Missy Dawn, Andrea_Marie, Juan Eloy Carrera, Patrick Opitz, Rosanna Nelson, Matthew L. Furman.

At the time of writing, the project is seeking funding via IndieGoGo

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Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Hype is a 1980 American comedy horror film written (with “apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson”) and directed by Charles B. Griffith (Up from the Depths) for Cannon. It stars Oliver Reed (Paranoiac; The Damned; The Brood), Sunny Johnson, Mel Welles (director of Lady Frankenstein), Jackie Coogan (Mesa of Lost Women), Dick Miller, Lucretia Love. Griffith wrote a number of early scripts for Roger Corman such as Little Shop of Horrors and Creature from the Haunted Sea.

The film is a reversal of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story, about a malformed doctor who drinks a potion and becomes a handsome – and violent – ladies man. Steve Neill  provided the monster makeup for Dr. Heckyl.

Griffith says he had only three weeks to write and prepare the film, four weeks to shoot and two weeks to edit. He was paid $25,000 to write and $25,000 to direct. Griffith originally wanted Dick Van Dyke to play the lead but he was touring in a play so Golan hired Oliver Reed. Griffith said, “I had to redo the entire picture in my head when he was cast, because it was a zany slapstick comedy and I got Oliver Reed – with that face and that voice! So I made it more lyrical.”

Sunny Johnson was cast the day before shooting started; she died a few years later of a brain haemorrhage. The script was 200 pages, and Griffith admits he never had time to cut it down properly. He also said he “fought with the producers over blood and gore versus comedy, and lost as usual.”

According to Griffith: “Heckyl and Hype could have been a very good picture. Dr. Heckyl is a monster podiatrist. He is very humble and meek and helpful and nice to everybody. His attitude is that good-looking guys can get away with murder. Oliver was great as Heckyl. Wonderful. He played the part with a kind of New York accent and everything, but when he was Hype, he didn’t know how to do it… Reed played Hype as Oliver Reed, slow and ponderous. He didn’t understand my interpretation, so the picture jars, and half the people get up and walk out.”

Reviews:

“This film is really sloppily made. There is next to no thought put into the framing of the shots and much of the film takes place at night, so we struggle to even see any of the action at all. The sound is also really poorly done, sounding similar to the effect you would get with the build-in mic on your Grandpa’s old home movie camera. Reed’s mumblings as Heckyl are almost inaudible at times. At least Dick Miller and Jackie Coogan make brief appearances, but that’s not enough to salvage things.” Forgotten Films

Buy Evil Spirits: The Life of Oliver Reed from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Wikipedia | IMDb

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Cassandra Peterson (born September 17, 1951) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. She gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ wearing a black, gothic, revealing, cleavage-enhancing gown as host of Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation.

Born in Kansas, Peterson grew up near Randolph, until her family then moved to Colorado. According to a 2011 interview, Peterson states that as a child, while other girls were occupied with Barbie dolls, she was more fascinated by horror-themed toys.

In the late spring of 1981, six years after the death of Larry Vincent, who starred as host Sinister Seymour of a local Los Angeles weekend horror show called Fright Night, show producers began to bring the show back. They asked 1950s horror hostess Maila Nurmi to revive The Vampira Show. Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but eventually quit when the producers would not hire Lola Falana to play Vampira. The station sent out a casting call, and Peterson auditioned and won the role. She and her best friend, Robert Redding, came up with the sexy punk/vampire look after producers rejected her original idea to look like Sharon Tate in The Fearless Vampire Killers.

Peterson’s Elvira character rapidly gained notoriety with her tight-fitting, low-cut, cleavage-displaying black gown. Adopting the flippant tone of a California “Valley girl“, she brought a satirical, sarcastic edge to her commentary. She revelled in dropping risqué double entendres and making frequent jokes about her cleavage.

The Elvira character soon evolved from an obscure cult figure to a lucrative brand. She was associated with many products through the 1980s and 1990s including Halloween costumes, comic books, action figures, trading cards, pinball machines, Halloween decor, model kits, calendars, perfume and dolls. She has appeared on the cover of Femme Fatales magazine five times.

Her popularity reached its zenith with the release of the feature film Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, co-written by Peterson and released in 1988.

Buy Elvira, Mistress of the Dark on DVD from Amazon.co.uk

In 1985, Elvira began hosting a home video series called ThrillerVideo for U.S.A. Home Video and later International Video Entertainment (I.V.E.). Many of these films were hand-selected by Peterson. Choosing to stay away from the more explicit cannibal, slasher and zombie films of the time, these were generally tamer films such as The Monster Club and Dan Curtis television films, as well as many episodes of the Hammer House of Horror television series. She refused to host Make Them Die Slowly, Seven Doors of Death, and Buried Alive, so the videos were released on the LIVE Home Video label without Elvira’s appearance as hostess.

The success of the ThrillerVideo series led to a second video set, Elvira’s Midnight Madness through Rhino Home Video. In 2004 a DVD horror-film collection called Elvira’s Box of Horrors was released, marking Elvira’s return to horror-movie hosting after a ten-year absence. In September 2010, Elvira’s Movie Macabre returned to television syndication in the U.S., this time with public-domain films.

Elvira appeared in comic books from DC Comics, Eclipse Comics and Claypool Comics. DC published a short-lived series in the mid-80s titled Elvira’s House of Mystery.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of Elvira-themed computer games were produced: Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus and Elvira: The Arcade Game.

Two Elvira-themed pinball machines were produced by Bally/Midway: Elvira and the Party Monsters (1989) and Scared Stiff (1996).

In the early 1990s, Peterson began a series of successful Elvira calendars featuring characteristically provocative and campy poses in various macabre settings.

After several years of unsuccessful attempts to make a sequel to Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Cassandra and her manager and then-husband Mark Pierson decided to take matters into their own hands and finance a second movie themselves. In November 2000, Cassandra wrote and co-produced Elvira’s Haunted Hills.

Buy Elvira’s Haunted Hills on DVD from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The film was shot on location in Romania for just under one million dollars. With little budget left for promotion, Cassandra and Mark screened the film at AIDS charity fund raisers across America. For the many people in attendance, this was the first opportunity to see the woman behind the Elvira character.

In 2012 Peterson became an investor in Comikaze Entertainment Inc., which hosts Comikaze Expo, one of the largest pop culture conventions in the United States. She and fellow investor, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, were guests of honor at the inaugural Comikaze Expo in 2011. Comikaze CEO Regina Carpinelli refers to Peterson as the “Mistress of the Board”.

Buy Elvira’s Movie Macabre 12-film DVD set from Amazon.com

Buy Amok Time Elvira 7 inch action figure from Amazon.com

Buy Elvira’s Movie Macabre: Bloody Madness on DVD from Amazon.com

Buy Elvira’s Move Macabre: Giant Monsters on DVD from Amazon.com

Wikipedia | Elvira’s Movie Macabre episode guide

‘Terror gets domesticated’

Housebound is a 2013 New Zealand comedy horror film that was written and directed by Gerard Johnstone, and his feature film directorial debut. It stars Rima Te Wiata, Morgana O’Reilly, Glen-Paul Waru and Cameron Rhodes.

The film made its international debut on March 10, 2014 at South by Southwest. In April 2014, Housebound won the audience award at the Dead by Dawn festival in Edinburgh. It also won the H. R. Giger Award « Narcisse » for Best Feature Film at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in July 2014

Johnstone was first inspired to create a horror film after watching Ghosthunters on television and received additional inspiration from classic films such as The Changeling and The Legend of Hell House. Whilst writing the script Johnstone wanted the character of Kylie to be “someone that wouldn’t scare easily. That way, when she does finally fall victim to fear, it’s much more palpable.”

Plot teaser:

Kylie Bucknell is forced to return to the house she grew up in when the court places her on home detention. Her punishment is made all the more unbearable by the fact she has to live there with her mother Miriam – a well-intentioned blabbermouth who’s convinced that the house is haunted. Kylie dismisses Miriam’s superstitions as nothing more than a distraction from a life occupied by boiled vegetables and small-town gossip. However, when she too becomes privy to unsettling whispers & strange bumps in the night, she begins to wonder whether she’s inherited her overactive imagination, or if the house is in fact possessed by a hostile spirit who’s less than happy about the new living arrangement…

Reviews

” … sometimes at the festival you walk into a room knowing nothing, sit down, and get your skull punched in by a movie that is calibrated perfectly, that knows exactly what it wants to do, and that seems almost unnaturally confident considering it was made by a first-time feature director”. Hitfix 

“Johnstone maintains a good sense of mystery and, in addition to being able to deliver the laughs, he’s got a firm grasp on what makes a scare gag effective. They evolve as the film progresses, culminating in a fiercely fun and unrelenting finale. And underneath it all, layered beneath the humor and bloodshed, Housebound is a nice meditation on rediscovering family regardless of how quirky or unexpected it can be.” Ryan Turek, Shock Till You Drop

“… neatly carries some universal ideas about throwing away childish indignation and rebellion, and getting to know your parents as people with pasts and personal lives, not just nagging overseers.” Fangoria

“The leading ladies steal the show, both separately and as a duo, and there’s some great support from Glen-Paul Waru as a security guard who helps Kylie search for clues — but a special mention goes to everyone in the sound and music departments on Housebound. Not only is Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper’s score both evocative of horror classics and wonderfully energetic in its own right, but Mr. Johnstone and his aural technicians have taken special care in this department.” Scott Weinberg, FEARnet

Wikipedia | IMDb

Posted by WH

Zombie TV is a 2013 Japanese action/horror/comedy film co-written and co-directed by Maelie Makuno, Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police; Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl; Helldriver) and Naoya Tashiro (splatter shorts: Naked Sister; Hell of the College Girls; Cannibal Maid and Killer Nurse).

It stars Maki Mizui, Takashi Nishina, Tomoya Maeno, Miyuki Torii, Jiji Bû, Hidetoshi Ezawa, Luchino Fujisaki, Yasu Genki.

Press release:

A Monty Python-esque collection of shorts, animation, sketch comedy, instructional videos and more, Zombie TV showcases the natural evolution of zombies in the 21st century, no longer a frightening menace, but rather an annoying neighbour you realise you simply have to put up with.

Zombie TV answers such natural questions as: in a world full of the undead, wouldn’t some of the surviving humans want to join the majority and become zombies themselves? Would becoming a zombie solve the emotional and relationship problems we all have as living, breathing human beings?

Do zombies have their own idols? Would zombies worship a zombie god? Who would win in a fight: a cannibal, or a zombie? How did zombies evolve from walkers into runners? And the most burning question of all: how do zombies have sex?

Buy Helldriver on Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

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‘Sex, drugs and the walking dead’

The Coed and the Zombie Stoner is a 2014 American made-for-TV comedy horror film directed by Glenn R. Miller (The Bell Witch Haunting) from a screenplay by Scotty Mullen for The Asylum (producers of Sharknado; Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark; Zombie Night and many others). It stars Catherine Annette, Grant O’Connell, Jamie Noel, Aaron Caleb, Dora Pereli, Lena Young, Ben Whalen, Josh Lee Aikin, Andrew Clements, Louis Dezseran, Diane Chambers, Mindy Robinson (The Haunting of Whaley House; V/H/S/2; Bloodsucka Jones), Haley Beedle. The film is obviously inspired by Warm Bodies.

Plot teaser:

When a nerdy sorority girl falls in love with a zombie, it’s only a matter of time before a zombie apocalypse is unleashed on campus. The sorority girl discovers that weed is the cure–now she must smoke out the entire school before it’s too late…

Reviews:

” …it’s meant to be a dopey stoner comedy, but you can still do that with a level of sophistication and intelligence that engenders praise and repeated viewing; none of that is in evidence here. It doesn’t even venture that much into tastelessness; I can dig gross out comedy as well as the next guy, but this was just lame! Even if it was an excuse for nudity and blood, both are pretty much fake here…” Scott Shoyer, Anything Horror

“The Coed and the Zombie Stoner is ostensibly a stoner rom-com, and Mullen has crafted a very believable romance, with a lot of cute touches that make it work. His idea of stoners may rely on cliches a bit, but he does give them some great hero moments though, so I think it balances out. In addition, the zombies are fast and still retain a lot of their personality, which is cause of some hilarious antics. They are still effectively scary when need be, and the detailed make-up is good.” Bobby Lepire, The B-Movie Shelf

“The script was written by first-timer Scotty Mullen, and his lack of experience showed, big time. His basic idea appeared to be sound enough, but it lacked in so many ways I’m surprised it was greenlit without being rewritten several times. Perhaps everyone got excited at the thought of making a poor mans’ version of Warm Bodies?! It felt like a rough draft rather than a finished script. The entire film relied on shitty gags with screaming naked girls running around…” Nav Qateel, Influx Magazine

IMDb

Tusk is an upcoming horror comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith, based on a story from SModcast. It stars Michael Parks, Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and Johnny Depp. The film is scheduled to be released on September 19, 2014, by A24 Films.

The idea for the movie came during the recording of SModcast 259 The Walrus and The Carpenter. In the episode, Smith with his longtime friend and producer Scott Mosier discussed an article featuring a Gumtree ad where a homeowner was offering a living situation free of charge, if the lodger agrees to dress as a walrus. The discussion went on from there, resulting in almost an hour of the episode being spent on reconstructing and telling a hypothetical story based on the ad. Smith then told his Twitter followers to tweet “#WalrusYes” if they wanted to see their hypothetical turned into a film, or “#WalrusNo” if they didn’t. A vast majority of Smith’s following agreed that the film should be made. The post on Gumtree was in fact a prank post by noted Brighton poet and prankster Chris Parkinson, a fan of Smith who then hoped he would get in touch with him so he could be involved in the film. Kevin Smith eventually hired Parkinson as an associate producer.

Plot teaser:

When podcaster Wallace Bryton goes missing in the backwoods of Manitoba while interviewing a mysterious seafarer named Mr. Howe, his best friend and girlfriend team with an ex-cop to look for him…

Wikipedia | IMDb | Official website | Facebook | Twitter

Posted by WH

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Nocturna (usually referred to by its promotional title Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula) is a 1978 American comedy horror film conceived by star Nai Bonet and written and directed by Harry Hurwitz, who was credited as “Harry Tampa.” This was the fourth and final time veteran horror star John Carradine played Count Dracula; he had also played him in House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula and Billy the Kid vs. Dracula.

It premiered in France at the Paris Festival of Fantastic Films on March 1, 1979 to coincide with its U.S. release. Brother Theodore also stars, and Mac Ahlberg was the cinematographer. The movie is copyrighted 1978 in the opening and ending credits as it was filmed in October and November 1978. Nai Bonet appeared in a semi-nude pictorial in the April 1979 issue of Gallery magazine to promote the film.

Plot teaser:

The Count’s statuesque granddaughter Nocturna runs away to the New York disco scene with what she calls ‘my boyfriend’, a friendly blond hulk who had been doing a gig in Transylvania. However, New York does have its problems, Nocturna soon learns. The quality of the blood supply is being compromised by drugs, pollution, high-sugar diets, and preservatives so that the local vampires have formed a club, the BSA (Blood Suckers of America), in order to discuss possible solutions, such as the use of syringes instead of fangs and the opening of a blood bank that solicits donors from the public….

“Nocturna is Bad Movie Jackpot for undiscriminating fans of 70’s cheese. If the gaudy fashions, dated music (the soundtrack features original cuts by Gloria Gaynor and Vicky Sue Robinson), and rampant disco dancing aren’t you’re thing; there’s still plenty here for you to enjoy. There’s a great scene where Nocturna takes a bath and does a spoken word rap about love over the soundtrack a la Margot Kidder in Superman. It has to be seen to be believed. And wait until you get a load of the scenes where the vampires turn into bats. All of the transformations are done via animation that looks like leftovers from an episode of Schoolhouse Rock. It’s too hilarious for words.” The Video Vacuum

“This movie is supposed to be a comedy, but it’s not funny. Worse, the whole thing is directed in plodding fashion with a great deal of outright clumsiness, particularly in the action of the final 20 minutes (during which Nocturna’s overpowering of Theodore isn’t even shown). Writer/director “Harry Tampa” (actually Harry Hurwitz) evidently structured the proceedings around the eminently forgettable disco tunes that litter the soundtrack, devoting a large amount of screen time to energy-free dance sequences. Not even a gratuitous nude bathing scene that occurs early on and a lengthy T&A packed whorehouse sequence do much to liven things up.” Fright.com

“There are a few ideas which wouldn’t disgrace a Mel Brooks movie: Dracula (Carradine) wearing dentures, a lady vamp sleeping in curlers and coffin, and her exasperated complaints about the quality of urban blood through ‘pollution, drugs and preservatives’. It’s all terrible, but there’s no indication that it’s meant to be anything else. Only see it when you feel very, very silly.” Time Out

Buy Nocturna vinyl soundtrack from Amazon.com

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US one sheet

Mother’s Day is a 1980 American horror-thriller film, directed, co-written and produced by Charles Kaufman, brother of Troma Entertainment co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, who served as an associate producer for the film. It stars Nancy Hendrickson, Deborah Luce, Tiana Pierce, Holdem McGuire, Billy Ray McQuade and US TV star Rose Ross.

Plot Teaser

Abbey, Jackie , and Trina, who reunite every year to take a camping trip. Once while setting their vacation up in the woods, they find their trip turns into their worst nightmare when they are captured by a group of two partially insane punk/”hillbilly” hybrids: Ike  and Addley. The punks lead a comfortable life, living along with their mentally abnormal mother in an occult hovel situated amidst the wood. All through the movie, their mother goads her sons into acts of rape, violence, and murder. Eventually one of the women is severely brutalized by Ike and Addley, and the remaining two escape before the first dies from her sustained injuries. They soon regroup, arm themselves, and set out for bloody revenge against Ike, Addley, and Mother. After the girls take their revenge at the end of the film, as they are about to leave the woods they are attacked by the mother’s deformed sister, Queenie…

The United Kingdom’s film rating board (BBFC) rejected the film in 1980, banning it from distribution. The film was shown several times on the Horror Channel between 2006–08, with no cuts and is finally released on blu-ray uncut in 2014 by 88 Films.

In Australia, the film was originally passed uncut with an R 18+ in 1983 by the Australian censors but was later banned when reviewed in 1985. Fourteen minutes of the film were cut in Germany in order to keep the film from an X-rating.

A remake came in 2010,

Buy the blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk  and Amazon.com

Reviews

“Beautifully skuzzy and brazenly bizarre, Charles Kaufman’s original version of Mother’s Day is a deft mix of pitch black comedy and fairly effective and disturbing horror. The performances are wonderfully over the top and the locations amazingly filthy, giving this one a look and feel all its own.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

“Make no mistake...Mother’s Day is not for everyone. It’s a demented and revolting exercise in sadism that makes you feel very uncomfortable, yet it’s done with such brains and heart that it stands tall above its many comparable knock-off’s. It’s tight, fast-paced, and very well done for its type. You become very concerned for the three heroines of the story, and for me this alone makes it a winner. These are characters with short but potent personal histories, and you CARE what happens to them.” DVD Drive-In

“While watching Mother’s Day, not only was I shocked that people have made a big deal about, but by the fact that anyone remembers it at all. Again, it’s similar to I Spit on Your Grave, but while that film was unflinching and sadistic in its depiction of rape and violence, Mother’s Day comes off as simply being cartoonish and weird. Yes, it’s unusual that Mother goads the boys into their strange shows for her entertainment, but the scenes are so weird that they become ludicrous. They are simply too odd to be disturbing.” DVD Sleuth

Wikipedia | IMDb

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The Editor is an upcoming comedy horror film from Canada’s Astron-6 (Father’s Day) collective. It stars Udo Kier, Laurence R. Harvey and Tristan Risk.

Plot Teaser

Once revered as the greatest editor of all time, an editing accident reduced him to a ridiculed amputee.  When his co-workers are murdered one after another, the editor is the prime suspect!
Has he lost control of his psycho-sexual subconscious like a modern day Dr. Jekyll or Wolfman?  Not even he knows for sure!

Astron-6 co-founders Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy and Conor Sweeney will attend the Celluloid Screams festival in Sheffield this year as special guests and present The Editor as opening film. There will also be a retrospective screening of Astron-6 short films, both of which will be followed by Q&As.

IMDb

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‘Lock up your fathers’

Father’s Day is a 2011 American-Canadian action-horror comedy film directed by Adam Brooks, Jeremy Gillespie, Matthew Kennedy, Steven Kostanski, and Conor Sweeney, aka the Astron-6 collective (The Editor). Along with several of the directors it stars Amy Groenig and Mackenzie Murdock. Originally made as a short horror film, the feature length version had its world premiere on October 21, 2011 at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, where it received multiple awards.

Plot teaser:

Ahab, a man obsessed with exacting a brutal, violent revenge on the man who murdered his dad, joins John, an eager priest, and Twink, a hot-headed street hustler, on an epic quest to find and defeat this mythical monster known as Chris Fuchman AKA The Father’s Day Killer…

While passed uncut in the United Kingdom by the British Board of Film Classification, Father’s Day was banned in its uncut form and in a censored form in Australia by the Australian Classification Board before a second censored version was eventually passed with an R18+ rating.

Despite being produced and distributed by Troma Entertainment, it bears no relation to Mother’s Day or its 2010 remake.

 Buy Father’s Day on DVD from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

 Reviews:

“As crass as it is crazy, Father’s Day certainly isn’t a film for all tastes but it is one that shows some seriously impressive creativity and ambition. More than just a throwback to seventies drive-in pictures it’s a trip to the lunatic fringe and a ridiculously entertaining one at that.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

“Father’s Day is exquisitely grotesque creation that is occasionally too bonkers for its own good, however Astron-6 and Troma have still created a better grindhouse homage than Rodriguez or Tarantino ever could. It’s gleefully gory and sickening, whilst at the same time adept at taking the piss out of the genre it so clearly loves.” Digital Retribution

“Father’s Day will not be for everyone. Those who are easily grossed out or offended (hell, even those of hardened sensibilities will find themselves cringing) will most likely avoid it. For me though, this is one of the best exploitation tributes I’ve ever seen, and is a must for fans of Troma or warped comedy in general.” Talk of Horrors

Wikipedia | IMDb

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Mourning Grave (Hangul: 소녀괴담; RR: Sonyeogoedam; literally. “Girl Ghost Story”) is a 2014 South Korean comedy horror film directed by Oh In-chun. It stars Kang Ha-neul and Kim So-eun. It was released domestically on July 3, 2014.

Plot teaser:

Though it is the place where his unwanted ability to see ghosts all began, teenager In-su returns to his hometown in order to face his demons. He had tried to stay away, but his ability, which led vengeful ghosts to seek him out, drew too much attention around him and forced him back to his childhood town. He goes to his uncle Seon-il for advice, who also inherited the same supernatural abilities from his great grandfather, but he is of no help. Beyond his ghostly visions, In-su’s life is also made hell at his new high school, where a gang of bullies cruelly pick on the weaker children. All that In-su has in his life is a mysterious ghost girl who lurks around him.

One day, the bullies at the school begin to be attacked one by one by a girl in a gruesome mask. In-su is able to sense the powerful presence of a ghost’s grudge and discovers a link to a girl who was bullied at school and took her own life as a result. Looking to come to terms with his supernatural affliction and to get to the bottom of the murder mystery, In-su dives into the case…

Reviews:

“Mourning Grave is a smooth ride from start to finish, boasting a smatter of good laughs though failing to offer any real scares. The bar is admittedly low but Oh delivers one of the most satisfying recent entries into the K-horror pantheon. However, he is also the latest filmmaker to shy away from doing something original with the genre, and his film exudes a sense of caution. Given the prowess he’s demonstrated in his short films, Oh appears to be holding back, careful to deliver something studio friendly on his first big outing. Mourning Grave may harbor modest ambitions but given the current state of K-horrors, it’s refreshing to see one that meets expectations.” Pierce Conran, Twitch

“With Mourning Grave, director Oh In-chun uses his experience of blending horror and humour (as seen in his 2012 short Metamorphoses) and extends it to also include romance and melodrama; thereby ensuring that this horror/comedy/romance fulfils the almost requisite Korean cinema merging of love, loss and laughter elements in a single narrative. Feeling utterly classic from the first frame to the last, Mourning Grave is frankly one of the best Korean horror films of the past few years.” Paul Quinn, Hangul Celluloid

“The film fulfils every criteria needed for a summer blockbuster in Asia with its, love story, Asian style ghosts and humor but it’s these exact traits where the film falters with its inability to break out of the mold making it some what predictable yet still a fun ride. Just enough laughs and jumps to keep you interested but lacks the chills to make it a real ‘spine tingler’.” Word from the R.O.K.

Wikipedia | IMDb | KMDb

‘Blood madness… out of the fog… into your heart!’

Valley of the Zombies is a 1946 American horror film directed by Philip Ford for Republic Pictures from a screenplay by Dorrell McGowan and Stuart E. McGowan. It stars Robert Livingston, Lorna Gray (The Man They Could Not Hang), Ian Keith (The Phantom of Paris; Fog Island), Thomas E. Jackson, Charles Trowbridge (The Mummy’s Hand), Earle Hodgins, LeRoy Mason, William Haade, Wilton Graff, Charles Cane.

The film makes reference to a zombie cocktail drink.

Plot teaser:

A shadowy figure climbs up and across a roof top toward the office of Dr. Rufus Maynard (Charles Trowbridge). Inside, Maynard informs his partner, Dr. Terry Evans (Robert Livingston), and Terry’s girl friend, nurse Susan Drake (Lorna Gray), that blood has again been stolen from the laboratory. Once Terry and Susan leave, Maynard is abruptly confronted by the top-hatted figure. The threatening man identifies himself as Ormand Murks (Ian Keith) and reminds Maynard that five years previously, the doctor had placed him in a mental institute. Two years later, Murks was brought to Maynard for treatment, but he apparently died on the operating table of no apparent cause…

Reviews:

” …it’s a spooky house movie, and a vampire movie, and a voodoo movie, and a mad science movie, all in just under an hour! With all those elements crammed so tightly together, I can almost forgive Valley of the Zombiesfor its conspicuous lack of both valleys and zombies. It’s even sort of a murder mystery …The latter probably made Valley of the Zombies look distinctly retro even in 1946; in any case, its reliance on early-30’s styles of presentation is plainly apparent from the vantage point of the 21st century. Today, what’s most interesting about this movie is probably its sense of humor on one hand, and Ian Keith’s portrayal of Ormand Murks on the other.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

” …this is yet another one of those post-war 40s efforts where noir was swallowing horror a bit. You can feel that genre’s influence more than any other, with Murks’s undead status being the only thing that even pushes it into horror territory. Hailing from Republic Pictures (basically a conglomerate of other Poverty Row studios), it’s no surprise that it feels like a quick attempt to cash in on the early zombie craze (which was already on its last legs at this point) and film noir.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

“Wearily predictable, the script seems to have exhausted its supply of wit in finding the name Ormand Murks for its mad undertaker.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Choice dialogue:

“You’re more stubborn than my wife!”

“Dying is getting to be a habit round here.”

“You might need help. And I’m good at screaming.”

IMDb

Evil Feed is a 2013 Canadian action horror comedy film directed by actor/stuntman Kimani Ray Smith from a screenplay co-written with Aaron Au and Jana Mitsoula, based on a story by Ryan Nicholson. It stars Laci J Mailey, Terry Chen, Alain Chanoine, Alyson Bath, Derek Gilroy, Bishop Brigante, Curtis Lum, Sebastian Gacki, David Milchard, Carrie Genzel, Johnson Phan.

Plot teaser:

Steven spent his entire life being the good son, dedicated all his time to the family business, The Long Pig Restaurant, known in the underground world for cannibalistic cuisine. When Steven hears that his father would rather sell the business to a stranger than pass it down to his own son, Steven has no choice but to chop off his head. With his father’s head safely displayed in a cabinet, Steven and his nymphomaniac girlfriend have big plans for The Long Pig. They capture elite MMA fighters and force them to battle in the restaurant’s new “Pit of Gore” where blood thirsty customers get to watch their meals being tenderized. Steven calls this, “Tendertainment!”

Meanwhile, Jenna returns to her father’s karate dojo and discovers him missing. Calling on the help of his students, they set out to find their Sensei, kicking ass and taking names. Their quest takes a turn for the worst when Jenna is kidnapped by the Triads. She awakes in a holding cell at The Long Pig Restaurant only to discover what Steven serves for dinner…

Reviews:

“This film could easily be the by-product of a focus group of stoned teenaged male horror fans, such is its pungent mixture of martial arts, gleefully over-the-top gore and titillation. To once again labour the food comparison, this is the perfect Friday night takeaway movie. Undemanding, a touch predictable, but entertainingly so. All in all there’s not much not to like about Evil Feed if you have a craving for something more substantial to accompany that post-pub kebab.” Matt Harries, Brutal as Hell

“It’s not an idea without potential – though perhaps not as a comedy, and certainly not the sort of comedy where the height of wit is in naming a character Phat Phuk. In any case, whatever hope you may have had from reading a synopsis is abandoned in the first five minutes, when we’re already getting bogged down in terrible dialogue, racial stereotyping, desperately ‘cool’ set ups (this is the sort of film that introduces characters in slow-mo, as if that wasn’t an idea done to death) and poor visual set ups – however much this cost to make, not a lot went on lighting.

As it goes on, we jump from the restaurant to the antics of the martial artists, while the viewer tries to decide if everyone involved is supposed to be a complete loathsome dick or if that is just a problem with the writing – the latter I assume, but you never know. There’s gore a-plenty, all delivered excessively but without having any impact, and sex scenes that are too clumsily handled to be at all sexy.” David Flint, Strange Things Are Happening

“The action is good, but there could have been more of it. The filmmakers had great martial arts talent, but seemed more interested in gore than great action. It would also have been nice if there was a single female character who wasn’t either entirely helpless or naked most of the time.” Trista Devries, Toronto Film Scene

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