The Manson Family (2004) 8/10

The Manson Family took cult director Jim Van Bebber 15 years to complete! Given its kaleidoscopic acid trip feel, i can understand why.

The Manson Family is, of course, about the Manson Family murders but focuses on the Family instead of Manson himself. The Family committed the actual murders so it makes sense to finally see a movie that delves into the mental state of its members.

The film is highly mediated using faked news footage, interviews, narrative drama, montage, as well as a subplot involving a local news anchor and some Manson obsessed freaks hellbent on killing him. The film footage has almost all been altered in some way, whether its with scratches and lines or extreme coloring, flash frames etc, the film feels very old. Its almost as if this was real lost footage found in someones attic, inter cut with "real" interviews with the Family members now recalling their time in the commune. The film works as a documentary, historical document, and narrative all at once. Its a big mish mash of interviews, narrative drama and some seemingly random footage. Put all this together and what you get is a powerful film, shot on a shoestring budget, that is challenging but accessible. The film is engrossing and visually stunning throughout. Sure there's some cheesy stuff here, but by and large the film is believable and engaging. Given the amount of time it took the director to shoot, edit, and finally distribute the film, its amazing it turned out as well as it did. This is truly a hidden gem that deserves a much larger audience.

The film has been charged with being revisionist and untrue but nowhere in the film does it purport that the film is based on hard fact. The film must be taken with a grain of salt and not to be believed explicitly and rather be seen as what the director thinks happened during that time.

The Manson Family blends several genres fluidly and challenges the audience to get inside the drug fueled brains of a group of people convicted of some of the most infamous murders in American history. This is the movie Rob Zombie has been trying to make for years on much higher budgets. The film is filled with nudity and violence and is by no means a pleasant experience, but it shouldn't be. These were dangerous people and the film reflects that danger. Check it out if you're in the mood for something that will more then likely offend and challenge you. Recommended.

Gore - mild

Nudity - Very High

Overall - 8/10

Them (2007) 7/10

Them is another French fright flick to come out recently and has gotten considerable buzz to boot. The directors went on to direct the maligned remake of The Eye and hopefully will fulfill their potential with their next picture. That being said, once again, this french import among others, was blown up to be much better then it actually is.

Them is about a young couple living in an old mansion out in Romania. One night they are attacked by unseen assailants and are terrorized all night long. I don't want to give away too much so I'll just leave it at that.

Perhaps I had too high of expectations when I popped this one into the ole dvd player but I'm left feeling let down. Sure its creepy. Sure its very simplistic and realistic. The reality of Funny Games comes to mind but really its not the best thing since sliced bread. We get to spend time getting to know the characters but because we don't see the attack coming and don't know who it is or why they're doing it, i personally didn't feel too freaked out. It was trying very hard to be believable and realistic, especially since the film is based on a true story, but i felt that the lack of information made the film feel thin and too action driven. It was emotionally based and has no real twists or character development. All it is is a night of terror. That's it.

I know many people love this film because of its simplicity and pure terror. The film has trimmed all the fat. The film really is nothing but horror. Personally I felt it made the film feel thin overall. Curves look good on a woman, and well rounded films are usually more satisfying. Keep some fat, its good for ya!

Gore - mild

Nudity - none

Overall - 7/10

Frontier(s) (2007) 7/10

Frontier(s) is another French new wave gore flick and has been promoted as being the goriest. In fact it had a very limited theatrical run here in the U.S. and was rated NC-17 due solely to the gore content. The problem? Its not actually all that gory, or original for that matter.

Frontier(s) is about a group of bank robbers on the run after a recent score that finds themselves at an isolated inn out in the country. The trouble is the inn is run by a family of Nazi cannibals. Yup, Nazi Cannibals. Sounds like a plot straight from the 70's right?

As is becoming common in the land of mimes, the main character and hero of the film is a woman. Here in America heroines are usually played by completely irritating foul mouthed teenaged whiners. Not here. The heroine of this flick is actually believable, watchable, and entertaining. The family is picked off one by one by various members of the family, including a giant butcher. The whole film is one big Texas Chainsaw Massacre ripoff but the director makes no bones about it. In interviews he's owned up to the "homage" and admits lifting several elements from other more well known films. This lack of originality made me a bit less interested as the plot wears on. Personally I'm not a fan of remakes, homages, nostalgia, or blatant rip-offs. If i want to watch a 70s flick, I'll watch one. Having said that the film is beautifully shot on 35mm and has a fast paced plot, some good kill scenes, well cast foes, and a pretty good script. The gore content is certainly there but I felt let down after hearing about its rating. Sure its pretty damn grisly, but by no means is it the goriest french import we've seen so far.

In the end Frontier(s) lacks an original voice, and because of that it will probably be forgotten amidst more popular, and often better films. It's worth checking out as it does fit in nicely with Hostel, High Tension, and many other contemporary shock fests, it just doesn't stick out in the crowd very much.

Gore - medium/high

Nudity - mild

Overall - 7/10

Antropophagus 2 (1982) 5/10

Anthropophagous 2, also known as Absurd and Rosso Sangre is one of the 74 video nasties banned in England. Being part of that list is probably the only thing that has saved this mediocre offering from absolute obscurity.

Directed by the infamous Joe D'Amato, Anthropophagous 2 is about a "monster" man, played by George Eastman, that can revive his own dead cells. This of course makes him very hard to kill and so he goes on a murderous rampage. An old priest is the only one that knows his single weakness, and the only one that can stop his slayings.

Gotta love the no budget Joe D'Amato "aesthetic." The "monster" looks like any normal man and sports only a beard and dark clothing. Spooky huh? The film is an in-title-only sequel as it has nothing to do with Anthropophagous. The film is pretty slow moving and surprisingly has no nudity or sex. This is certainly rare since Joe D'Amato supported himself by making porn when he wasn't making super cheesy exploitation flicks. There is some gore, but not all that much, though when its there, its pretty damn great.

Anthropophagous 2 is for video nasty and Joe D'Amato completists only since this one doesn't have enough to offer to legitimize the search it takes to find this obscure flick.

Gore - mild/medium

Nudity - none

Overall - 5/10

Slime City (1989) 6/10

Slime City should have been a troma movie. It wasn't, but it could have been.

Slime City is about a young man named Alex that moves into an old apartment building filled with creepy tenants. His neighbors include a slutty goth chick and a guy who looks like an extra in a Smiths video. After being fed anonymous green slime by a friendly neighbor, Alex hungers. Hungers for murder most foul! If he doesn't kill, he starts to turn into slime, can he break the addiction before it takes over him?

What we have here is a super low budget straight to video troma-esque flick, complete with crappy quality film stock, terrible acting, and cheesy effects. Every now and then I'm in the mood for a troma flick and this one fed that appetite perfectly. I loved the goopy messy makeup effects when Alex starts to come apart especially. This is a great metaphor for drug abuse taking over your life and making the addict do crazy things for the drug. The film was made during the Reagan era push in the war on drugs and the influence is felt here. Beyond that the slutty goth chick is a riot with her giant 80's hair and low rent Elvira clothes. There's a silly subplot about demonic possession that rounds out the film nicely.

I can't recommend this as a "good" film, but it's certainly fun and filled with that great DIY attitude.

Gore - mild/medium

Nudity - none

Overall - 6/10

Malefique (2002) 6/10

Malefique is yet another in a slew of French fright films to come out in recent years. Due to the success of films like High Tension, Inside, and Them, Malefique finally sees American distribution.

Malefique is about a group of prisoners stuck in a French prison. They find a book of spells hidden inside the cell that was once owned by a previous prisoner practicing the dark arts. The current start combing through the book hoping to find a spell that will release them, but what they find is...TERROR!

So this is a pretty inventive flick that takes place almost solely inside one prision cell. The fact that the film is engaging and interesting throughout is a testament to the director's ability alone. The characters are fairly well drawn out and have pretty distinct personalities. Since the film does take place in one location the bulk of the film is driven by dialogue, which is ok but eventually loses its punch. Is it gory? Sure, at certain points but the film isn't really a gore flick like it's being promoted as. Although the film is already six years old, it doesn't seem dated which can be attributed to the single location as well as a subtle color scheme. All in all the film just feels kinda dull. Sure, its watchable and I wanted to finish it, but by the end I just didn't really care so much. I feel that the film's single room location was stretched just a bit too thin and could have benefited with maybe a little bit more action and less dialogue.

Malifique isn't a bad movie, but it isn't great either. If the synopsis sounds interesting and if you really like the french new wave of horror, check it out. If you're new to the scene look elsewhere first.

Gore - mild/medium

Nudity - none

Overall - 6/10

Nail Gun Massacre (1985) 5/10

Nail Gun Massacre. Great name for a horror flick right? I mean, how could a movie about a nail gun toting serial killer be bad huh? The directors should be celebrated here, they did the impossible. Made said movie a pile of crap.

Nail Gun Massacre is a low budget cheapie shot in Texas. A young woman is brutally raped by a gang of good ol' boys and soon after the gang begins to turn up dead, riddled with nails. The killer is decked out in a motorcycle helmet and leather body suit so the identity of the killer is unknown. Is it the woman, or someone else seeking revenge on her behalf?

The problem with the film is that when the killer strikes, we don't see the nails entering the body. I know that sounds grotesque but when a gun is fired, i expect to see the wound occur just like in any conventional Hollywood shoot em up. I mean, how hard would it have been to shoot a dummy with a nail gun? Or maybe stick the nails in the victims, pull the nails out with a string, and then edit it in reverse? Seems pretty simple. And this simple oversight takes away most of the punch the film could have had. Of course the plot is weak and the acting is terrible, but that's to be expected. There's a high body count but none of the kills are satisfying.

This movie could have been great. It wasn't. I guess that's why its a lesser known flick. It had tons of campy potential, but its all spoiled by not giving us what we signed up for, gore.

Gore - mild

Nudity - some

Overall - 5/10

Humanoids From The Deep (1980) 7/10

Humaniods From The Deep is a cheap creature feature about fish-men that have come to shore to kill, and to mate....with humans....yeah....fish monster sex.

Of course Humanoids From The Deep comes from the Roger Corman vaults. Who else could have produced such a silly movie? Anyway, Humanoids works on the same principle as Jaws. Don't show the monster till the end cuz he's kinda crappy looking. The Humaniod is super cheesy, making the creature from the Black Lagoon look like a masterpiece. When a cannery comes to a small sleepy fishing town to boost the local economy, ecologists as well as native Americans take exception to the new development. Cue the humanoids to start tearing shit up to bring the town together in this anti-development and anti-corporate film.

Humanoids does indeed show creatures "mating" with human women. Its a very awkward affair that looks hilarious until you realize the women are being raped. Yeah...its kinda hard to swallow. At the end of the film the humanoids attack a local fair en masse and the gore ensues. We don't really see much until this point but the plot is still fairly action packed and interesting.

In the end this one's pretty hokey but perfect for viewing with friends with a good sense of humor.

Gore - medium

Nudity -medium

Overall - 7/10

The Prolwer (1981) 8/10

The Prowler is yet another stalk-n-slash flick from the early 80's. It was released around the same time as The Burning, Friday The 13th, and Maniac, all of which, including The Prowler, have make-up effects by none other then Tom Savini. Why is the Prowler so unknown? I have no idea cuz this movie KILLS!

The Prowler is about a WWII vet that goes on a rampage with a machete and pitchfork. Awesome. Simple and easy.

The Prowler is filled with crazy kills and buckets of gore! We're talking throat slashing, pitchfork impaling, head exploding and more! Best of all, all the penetration shots are intact so the gore is that much more real and graphic. Awesome. The killer looks totally awesome too. He wears a WWII uniform with a crazy helmet and gas mask. Awesome as well. The kill count is pretty high here and totally satisfying. There's decent acting and the pacing is perfect.

What we have here is the perfect 80's gory slasher flick. It's not the most original film in the world but it makes up for it with great gore, crazy kills, and a fast pace. Yet another testament to the greatness of Tom Savini. This one oughta be up there with the Burning and Friday. Did I mention it was awesome?

Gore - medium/high

Nudity - some

Overall - 8/10

Mark Of Cain (2007) 8/10

I love prison tattoos. Well let me rephrase that, I love the significance behind prison tattoos. Today many ink crazy humans decide to get whatever they want because it looks "cool," instead of actually doing research as to what that tattoo actually means. The Mark of Cain sets out to discover what some Russian prison tattoos actually mean.

The Mark of Cain is shot on a handheld consumer camcorder so the quality of the image is a bit lacking but the quality of the information and the access the director gets is astounding. Something tells me it's not too easy to get into a Russian prison with a video camera hoping to interview convicted felons. The world Balls comes to mind, especially when a few convicts recount their crimes, in particular, a man that decapitated three men for robbing his mother's grave.

Though roughly shot and edited, The Mark Of Cain is a unique view into the horrible world of a Russian Prison. It details the cultural change within the prison as well as the criminal treatment of the convicts. We also get great detail on what each tattoo means and its significance within the greater prison community. Recommended

Overall - 8/10

The Blob (1988) 7/10

Why did I never see the Blob as a kid? How did this awesome late 80's special effects grue filled film slip through my fingers?

This late 80's remake pins the Blob's origin not from outerspace, but from our very own US of A. Yes the US has created this super being to destroy those pesky Russians, only its growing much faster then they had anticipated, devouring humans left and right in a small sleepy town. Its up to the goody goody girl and the rebel guy to put a stop to the blob's rampage.

The special effects in this film are great! Sure some of it is pretty cheesy blue screen action, but mostly you'll find wonderful blood filled practical effects that tickle this reviewer's gore bone. The film is fast paced and action packed. Great film for fans of 80's horror silliness. Awesome.

Gore - medium

Nudity - none

Overall - 7/10

The Boarding House (1982) 4/10

The Boarding House is a cheesy shot on video early 80's slasher that is so bad its....bad.

The Boarding House is about a guy who inherits a sweet pad in Los Angeles and decides to put an ad in the paper looking for "hot chicks," to come live in the house. I'm not joking. After filling the house with said hot chicks a mysterious ghost type being possesses the girls one by one forcing them to kill. Oh and the cool guy with the sweet pad? Though meditation he can move things with his mind, yes, he does use the force. And through most of the film he's hanging out with nothing on but a banana hammock. yuck.

So what we have is a ludicrous plot, terrible acting, way too much man-kini (any man-kini is too much right?), and hot chicks that are usually wearing bikinis or lingerie, but very little nudity, and very little gore. Not much to satisfy this critic. Watch it if you really like 80s cheese for the sake of 80s cheese but don't expect much.

Gore - mild

Nudity - mild

Overall - 4/10

The Living and the Dead (2007) 7/10

Even though the title may suggest it, The Living and the Dead has absolutely nothing to do with zombies, but it is a commentary on the sick and dying.

The Living and The Dead is about Jame, a mentally handicapped man living at home with his professor father and ill mother. When his father must go on a business trip James decides to lock out the normal caregiver and be his mother's nurse. Things go from bad to worse when James fails at even the simplest task and finds himself alone and over his head.

The film starts off playing on our fears of being completely incapacitated by illness and being taken care of by someone who is not qualified to do it. Because of James' mental handicap we know he can't fulfill the nursing duties and we also cannot be angry at him since he rally doesn't know any better. This puts us directly into the shoes of the victim, and that dear reader, is a place i wouldn't want to be. After playing this note for about a third of the film, the fear changes gears. As James begins to crack up due to stress we are placed directly into his shoes. The director achieves this shift seamlessly so that by the time you realize the perception change you're already in the heart of the terror. Very slick. James begins to hallucinate from not taking his medications and we no longer truly know what is real and what is not, and neither does he. This highly limited narrative style does wonders for this unique film.

The Living and the Dead is a brutally depressing and difficult film that asks many questions of us. Through unconventional story telling techniques and perceptions we delve into territories rarely explored by horror films. Though this film is very unconventional in its structure it is indeed a horror film, because the only emotions found are fear, confusion and loss. Great flick if you're looking to be challenged a bit.

Gore - mild

Nudity - none

Overall - 7/10

Fangoria: Blood Drive (2004) 5/10

Fangoria's film releases are pretty hit and miss. Dead Meat was awesome, Skinned Alive was total garbage. This first collection of short films is also a mixed bag.

This collection of short films includes a typical slasher flick with an atypical ending, a funny film about a man's severed finger, a zombie musical, as well as more arty fare.

The level of quality and consistency goes from pretty damn pro all the way down to no-budget backyard film. All in all thought there's nothing truly great here. All were decent but none were truly frightening or groundbreaking. Short films have the unique ability to really be experimental or focus on very specific material that wouldn't be possible with a feature. None of the films here really exhibit that.

Nothing great, but nothing terrible found on this disc. Mediocrity abounds.

Gore - medium
Nudity - none
Overall - 5/10