Deathstalker (Steven Kostanski, 2025) Review

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“I've already eaten all of my good boots.” A cheap-as-chips sword and sorcery franchise that has been dormant since its fourth entry in 1991 has now been resurrected decades later by the director of Psycho Goreman and the rock and roll legend Slash in the form of a movie that begs the question: how many ways are there to destroy a human head?...

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In A Violent Nature (Chris Nash, 2024) Review

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“Animals don't get too hung-up on reason.” Taking the typical story of a slasher movie and inverting the POV to instead focus on the monstrous killer, debut feature writer/director Chris Nash sets out with a bold hook, but can it be sustained over 90 minutes?...

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Claycat's DOOM...

Do you like Doom? Do you like Lee Hardcastle's gleefully gory style of claymation? Then sink your chompers into this like cracker!

The Green Inferno: a quick review...

What's it about?
Hashtag protesters, e-petition fans, virtue signallers, self-righteous imperialists of opinion, and slacktivists alike - prepare to be offended, and then eaten! A group of student activists rush off to Peru in order to stop the bulldozing of a section of the Amazon rain forest, but when their plane crash lands they find themselves held captive by the native tribe they were attempting to help...
Who would I recognise in it?
Lorenzo Izzo, Daryl Sabara, Richard Burgi, Ignacia Allamand.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Delayed after the original distributor suffered financial woes, Eli Roth's return to feature films - a love letter to Ruggero Deodato's "Cannibal Holocaust" (Roth's favourite flick) - had a lot of expectation chasing it. Journeying deeper into the rain forest than any other filmmakers thus far, TGI has a sense of adventure that is impressive, no doubt inspired by Roth's admiration for all those Italian directors who braved the wilds of the jungle to conjure up increasingly twisted cannibal movies in the 1970s and 80s.

Taking aim at the social media driven culture of 'hashtag protesting' and general 'slacktivism' (publicly showing how much you care about any trending socio-political issue, while investing the least amount of time, energy, or even consideration into the cause), Roth's film certainly doesn't lack bite...

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Turbo Kid: Mini Review...

What's it about?
An apocalypse, ravaged by acid rain and pollution, has obliterated much of the human race, with those still left alive reduced to scavenging and bloodthirsty combat. The year is 1997. The Kid (Munro Chambers), a lone teenager scrabbling through the rubble for the plastic relics of the 1980s, and all-round comic book obsessive, one day stumbles into Apple (Laurence Leboeuf), a curiously manic pink-haired waif whose previous best friend is a festering corpse. As he teaches her about the rules of the wasteland - which is ruled over by the monocular Zeus - he finds the mysterious remains of his hero: Turbo Man - arm blaster included - and takes on the mantle of 'Turbo Kid'...

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Silent Night (Steven C. Miller, 2012) DVD Review

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Based on the 1984 slasher film Silent Night Deadly Night, which inspired controversy and parental panic across the United States upon its release, this 2012 remake takes the basic premise – a vengeful killer in a Santa suit slaughtering their way through a small town – and runs with it in a sufficiently different and more detailed direction.

 

Click “READ MORE” below for the full review and many more screenshots...

Evil Dead (2013) – an all-out stream of fan thoughts...

As a huge fan of the original 1981 movie – it is one of my most cherished formative cinematic experiences – I was frustrated to hear that it was going to receive the remake treatment. However, the news that the original producers – Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Bruce Campbell – were going to be involved softened the punch. If the progenitors were offering hands-on guidance, then perhaps this remake could steer clear of offensive trash like the 2010 remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street, and aim for worthwhile and respectful endeavours like the 2010 remake of The Crazies.

Well, I've finally been able to check it out (on Blu-Ray) and here's the essential meat of my view – I like it, but I don't love it. Mercifully it avoids the ANOES2010-like level of abusive suckage, but there are a few too many awkward quirks and overly-slick problems for it to match my respect (perhaps, even, love) for the likes of The Hills Have Eyes 2006, or Maniac2013 (admittedly, the 'worthy remakes' club is a rather exclusive one).

Rather than a straight review, I'm going to dive into the film from an obsessed fan's perspective, picking through the movie – my loves, my likes, and my hates – piece-by-piece – and go for some horror nerd analysis.

Click “READ MORE” below for a blow-by-blow, slice-by-gouge, hack-by-slash run-down of Evil Dead 2013...

"Zhombeez!" (2000)...

I dug this out of my vaults today and uploaded it to YouTube.



Many years ago now - during the summer of 2000 - I made a simple stop-motion experiment with zombies that I crafted out of clay. Inspired by George A. Romero's "Day of the Dead", I also created an army figure styled somewhat after Captain Rhodes and did my own - rather basic (it was my first, and pretty much only, attempt at stop motion animation) - re-enactment of the infamous scene from Romero's landmark horror flick.


Click "READ MORE" below for more information about "Zhombeez!"...

Final Destination 5: Single Bill Mini Musings...

What's it about?
Fourth sequel in the long-running horror franchise where death uses devilishly inventive ways of picking off those who escape his deadly grasp. A bus load of young business folk are off on a team building weekend, but when one of their number forsees a disastrous bridge collapse, he and a handful of his colleagues escape their grisly fate ... for now.
Who would I recognise in it?
Emma Bell, Tony Todd, David Koechner, P.J. Byrne, Courtney B. Vance

Click "READ MORE" below to see if it's any good...

Hershel vs Puberty, and Maggie Loves Gore - The Walking Dead 3x01 Memes...

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The new season of the superb zombie drama show The Walking Dead is underway - so it's about time we had some brand new memes to go along with it.

First up - Hershel vs. Puberty.

Click "READ MORE" below for Maggie loving some gore...

"Nightmare Factory" - the KNB Effects Documentary...

I was watching the round-up of Fright Fest the 13th (a UK horror film festival that reached its thirteenth anniversary this year) on The Horror Channel, and amidst the films glimpsed at was a documentary about the talented folks over at KNB Effects - the go-to-guys for practical make-up effects, whose fingerprints are all over all of the best gore and creature effects of the last twenty years - titled Nightmare Factory (written & directed by Donna Davies) From their humble beginnings on Evil Dead II, the documentary covers what brought these guys together to bring frightful sights to the silver screen, and for any horror nerd (such as myself), this will surely be a must-watch when it is released.

In the meantime, have a glimpse at some clips - I for one am chomping at the bit to get my mits on this documentary. A visit to KNB Effects would be my personal equivalent of Charlie going to the Chocolate Factory.

Nightmare Factory trailer from Ruby Tree Films on Vimeo.

Click "READ MORE" below to view a few clips from the documentary...

YouTube Finds: "Blood & Guts with Scott Ian"...

A new show to the Nerdist Channel all about gore and special make-up effects, and the first port of call is of course the legend that is Gregg Nicotero!

In this series premiere episode, join host Scott Ian (Anthrax) as he spends a day with Legendary FX Artist Greg Nicotero in his KNB EFX's studio. See Nicotero's vast prop collection from throughout his career and also experience an awe inspiring bit of Blood and Guts.

 As a big horror fan, and a keen follower of KNB's work, this was a real joy to watch. Just nerding out over the various props and replicas was satisfying enough, but then they 'kill' three zombies to finish the video off, haha!

Well worth a read (claymation article)...

I came across this article on www.fastcocreate.com - it's a piece about claymation animator Lee Hardcastle (one of my "Stuff I Dig" links down there on the right of this blog), and it's well worth reading.

Hardcastle is the demented genius behind the likes of Pingu's The Thing, Claycat's The Raid, and Chainsaw Babe 3D. If you're not familiar with his fantastically graphic claymations (he's currently animating a version of Evil Dead II, which I'm eagerly awaiting), then head over to his website or YouTube and get watching!

He's also made a bunch of excellent 60 second shorts based on real movies - below are my favourite two of these: