Cam-Girl

aka Web-Cam

Director - Curt Wiser (Clowning Around)

Starring - Erin Cline (Joe Vampire), Joe Coffey (Undead Apocalypse), and Dominiqua Alexis (Tales from the Grave, Volume 2: Happy Holidays)

Release Date - 2012

Genre - Horror/Thriller

Tagline - "One phone call will turn this stripper into one bad mother" 

Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Several months back I was able to check out the flick Sanctuary: Quite a Conundrum.  The film starred the lovely Erin Cline who was also in another film that I thoroughly enjoyed, Joe Vampire which starred Mike Christopher who was the hare krishna zombie in Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead.   Erin is as talented as she is sexy and when I was working on my review for Sanctuary I saw that in 2012 Erin was in a horor thriller titled Cam-Girl.  This was a film I had to see so I reached out to film's Facebook page about checking the film out.  They were kind enough to send an online screener link my way to check out.  Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to check this one out!

     The film follows Gessica (Cline) who makes a living stripping on web-cam.  She is a single mother but seems to find herself toying with men and being a tease.  There has been a string of murders recently where the victims were working girls and their throats were slit open.  One day while in the middle of a show a random guy shows up in her chat room and harasses her. She soon learns that her mother has been getting harassing calls as well from a man asking questions about her and her secret career.   A few days later, after a show, she receives a strange phone call and when she tries to hang up with him he fires a shot through the window to prove his point.  He then begins a moral campaign to have her make right all the men she teased and used over the years to get her way before she realizes that the killer is someone close to home.

     I knew very little about Cam-Girl when I requested to review it other than it was formerly known as Web-Cam.  Now I will admit, I went full guy mode when I requested to check this one out.  I mean, come on.  Who doesn't get a little excited thinking about the lovely Erin Cline in the role of a cam model?  Once I was able to actually check the film out I was very surprised by what I saw.  The acting in this one is great.  The few films I have seen Erin Cline in she was phenomenal.  She is an amazing actress that I hope to see more in the future.  Her role is fairly simple but she does dominate the film with most of the flick revolving around her talking on the phone.  The remainder of the film does have a few cast members but their screen time is minuscule.  However, each actor and actress makes the most of their time and deliver some great performances.  The story for this one was rather surprising.  I was expecting more of a sleazy horror film and what I got was a Scream inspired thriller set in the backdrop of modern technology.  This was fun but the film did move slowly due to this and most of the film was, in fact, a one woman show.  The film really needed something during the middle portion of the film that helped the film along and to give the viewer a little action to keep them awake.  Finally, the film does have a few on screen kills but they are nothing that special nor are they noteworthy.  They are bloody but the excitement of the kill is just not there.  With that being said, the practical effects are minimal but they do work very well to pull the gag off.  Overall, Cam-Girl is a thriller that relies heavily on atmosphere and not action.  The film is fun but if you are expecting a blood bath then you will not be happy with this slow burning thriller.  Check it out, it is well worth a watch.

I Survived A Zombie Holocaust

Director - Guy Pigden (Older)
Starring - Harley Neville (Ghost TV), Jocelyn Christian (Event 16), and Ben Baker (Xena: Warrior Princess)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "Shoot. Cut. Stay alive"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I was in middle school and high school I had started to leave behind my tastes for vampire flicks and found myself fascinated with zombie comedies.  I loved to watch My Boyfriend's Back, Dead & Breakfast, Dead Next Door, Dead Alive, and the Goosebumps episode Welcome to Dead House.  This is a phase that I never actually grew out of and still find myself checking these out today even with the huge influx of zombie flicks popping up every where due to The Walking Dead.  Several months ago I found I Survived a Zombie Holocaust on Facebook and was very impressed with the poster artwork and trailer for the film.  I reached out to them and they were kind enough to send me a review link.  Sadly, I completely forgot to check my messages after that and their reply went unnoticed until now.  Thanks guys for letting me check this one out and I am sorry I missed your reply.  

     The film follows production gopher Wesley (Neville) who arrives on the set of a zombie flick where he meets a barrage of characters including a closeted action star, a diva known the world over for nice hooters, a former athlete, and an aspiring actress stuck at the craft's table.  Wesley is trying hard to impress everyone on set but fails to do so over and over again after several incidents and a random boner during a sex scene which resulted in him being shunned and outcast from the cast and crew.  However, things turn bloody when Wesley discovers that the zombies are more than cast members in make-up and are actual zombies turned from consuming tainted water.  Now Wesley and the crew must work together to survive the night and not turn into one of the living dead.

     I love when horror and comedy collides in the zombie apocalypse.  Romero and so many others made some of the most entertaining zombie films and they were damn near perfect because they were serious in nature.  Too many films try to capture that sense of foreboding and dread only to fail.  With comedies, they never take themselves too seriously, and have fun with the idea of the dead coming back to life.  These films are generally fun in nature but offer nothing new to the sub-genre.  I Survived A Zombie Holocaust is another great horror comedy set in the backdrop of a zombie outbreak that offers some laughs and gore.  The acting in this one is great considering how cliched each character is.   The film revolves around a group of stereotypical characters that you find in every horror scenario and the cast does a perfect job portraying those.  We have the iconic bad ass male lead that protects the group, we have the nerdy but smart type, we have the beautiful and useless type, as well as, the smart and pretty type but others see her as ugly.  The cast is able to channel those stereotypes and cliches and turn them into a fun experience.   The story for this one is , sadly, one we have seen before time and time again but it does take place on a movie set that does make it a little different than the other zombie comedies.  The film also has tons of laughs and unexpected humor which is what is necessary to make a film entertaining when you lack originality.  Finally, the film has several on screen kills.  The kills are nothing that stick out but they are gory and fun as hell.  The film has some great practical effects as well that make these kills amazing.  Overall, I Survived A Zombie Holocaust is a zombie comedy that has more laughs as it does gore scenes.  If you like your zombie films funny then I recommend checking this one out!

The Green Inferno

Director - Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel)
Starring - Lorenza Izzo (Aftershock, Holidays), Ariel Levy (The Stranger, Blood Sugar Baby), and Aaron Burns (Knock Knock, Best Worst Friends)
Release Date - 2013 (2015)
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "Justice will be served" and "Fear will eat you alive"
Format - Theatrical

Rating (out of 5):

     When I was in high school the 2002 Eli Roth film Cabin Fever was released.  I was very interested in the flick but most of my horror friends immediately shunned the film without knowing anything about the movie itself or the director.  When the film was finally released on DVD and VHS we hit the video store up and rented a copy.  My friends bitched and moaned all the way home and when we tossed it in they shut the fuck up and enjoyed themselves.  A few years later when he was releasing Hostel they all bitched and moaned the same damn way but when they finally saw the film they went on about how fucking awesome it was.  Jump to now and the horror community is at arms with the release of Roth's new film The Green Inferno.  People instantly started shit talking the film calling it a ripoff of Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox.  Unlike most horror fans, I don't condemn a film without seeing it.  A few nights ago I was able to check the movie out at a theater about 30 minutes away and I'm glad I checked it out because this is my favorite Roth film to date.  

     The film follows a young college girl who takes interest in an activist group at her college and attempts to join.  When she does an opportunity presents itself and the group is sent to the jungles of Peru to stop a corporation from bulldozing and killing the indigenous people that call the jungle their home.  The group plans on using satellites to stream videos of themselves protesting to bring global awareness to the problem and stop the hired mercenaries from killing them.  Their plan works and the corporation withdraws their hired guns.  The police arrest them and put them back on a plan bound for America when they encounter engine trouble and crash.  The natives soon find them and take them back to their village where they kill them one by one and eat them.

     I find it funny how people can condemn a film before seeing it.  I have noticed that a lot of so called horror fans will bash any film released regardless of who is behind the film and then bitch how the horror genre is lacking originality.  That same mother fucker will then go to theaters and watch remake after remake instead of checking out other films.  Roth is a filmmaker that often draws a lot of hate by people who had never seen his films and are only going by what main stream critics say about his work.  Most critics are everyday movie goers that have no dedication to a specific genre so when they review a horror flick they may not like the things these filmmakers are trying to do to appeal to dedicated horror fans.  People started bashing this film years before it was released for no reason just because a few highly paid critics didn't like it.  Most of these critics didn't catch the satire in the film because they are the ones who are being made fun of.  We then get others who bash it because they think it is a rip off or remake of Cannibal Holocaust.  Sure, the film attempts to capture the charm of the Italian cannibal flicks but it is no CH clone.  The acting in this one is a little inconsistent.  All characters are cliched with horrible dialogue which results in the cast not having a good foothold on which direction to take their characters.  This results in several scenes feeling awkward to watch where the cast's interactions just don't feel natural.  Once the film progresses it does improve and once the shit hits the fan the character's background story is no longer needed.  The cast is able to deliver convincing performances at this point once their live's are in danger.  The story for this one has a lot going on so this will take some time to dissect.  I really like the story which is saying something for me considering that I am not a true fan of the Italian cannibal exploitation films.  Most of these films bore the shit out of me with their lack of story and flat characters. Most of you will shit and moan that this film is nowhere near on the same level as the Italian cannibal movies of the 70s and 80s and you are right.  The Green Inferno is, after all, a theatrical release and was intended to be a popcorn flick that anyone can enjoy regardless if they are horror fans or not.  This is not a remake of a classic horror film but it is a throwback in a sense that Roth is taking horror fans back to that time when these films were a little more common compared to now where we have an abundance of remakes and found footage flicks with falling lamps.  With that being said, The Green Inferno does offer up a decent story that is fun but does have some flaws.  First is the humor.  I love a good laugh with my horror movies but the humor in this one is very out of place and takes the viewer out of the mindset that they are going to see a fucked up film.  This ruins the effects of several of the kills and destroys the film's atmosphere.  My other problem is the dialogue.  I understand he wants the characters to be cliched and have that college frat boy type manner but watching this for the first half of the movie really tried my patience.  This has been a problem of Roth's for some time now.  My third, and final problem with the story is the fucking ending.  To avoid spoilers I will not go any further but I do recommend leaving the theater the second you see credits because the post credit scene is one of the dumbest endings in horror history.  Finally, the film has several on screen kills that are brutal and bloody.  These kills are mostly savage in nature that I was not expecting and we get several amazing kills back to back before the film hits a bit of a dry spot.  The practical effects are fucking on point but some are ruined with some of the worst CGI I have seen in a theatrical release.  Overall, The Green Inferno is a fun theatrical experience for those of you that are open enough to check it out.  It has some great gore and characters you really wish would die. Take a few friends and check it out or you can just be a dickhead and comment below about how it sucks and how I don't know real horror even though you have not seen the film.  This is one theatrical release that I recommend!

Bite School

Director - James Balsamo (Catch of the Day, Cool as Hell)
Starring - James Balsamo, Paul Fears (Celebrity Ghost Stories, Socks), and Mandy Cat Kitana
Release Date - 2015
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "An education you can really sink your teeth into!"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Lately I have been lucky enough to check out a few slightly original vampire flicks beginning with Big Biting Pig's The Caretakers which was a fairly fun film that was a vast improvement over their other film Lucid.  I followed that review up with another vampire flick titled Mostly Dead.  This was the filmmaker's first film and was a bit tough to watch but I was very grateful he allowed me the chance to check it out.  The last few months I have been sharing a lot of news on Balsamo's newest film Bite School.  Balsamo has a decent sized fan base due to his blend of perversion, humor, and horror.  I knew Bite School would be no different so I reached out to Balsamo and when the film was finally available to check out he sent it my way.  Thank you James for being a friend to me and Horror Society.
     The film follows millionaire playboy Tony (Balsamo) who lives a life of partying, drugs, and bitches.  He has made a name for himself in the tabloid magazines and entertainment news outlets and is known the world over for his party boy actions.  This has disgusted his grandfather (Herschell Gordon Lewis) who cuts him off from his fortune.  This devastates Tony and he is forced to live on the streets until he meets a young man who is in trouble with a lesbian gang.  He takes Tony in to help him get his life together and they both enroll in night classes to get their G.E.D.  Tony finds a young girl in his class that he takes a liking to and soon learns that she is a creature of the night.  They try to make their relationship work but her father, lord of the vampires, wants her to take over the dark underworld and sends his vampire horde to the school to get her back and kill Tony.
     Vampire films have always been one of my favorite horror sub-genres but recent years has seen an influx of crappy films released after the \dramatic vampire series Twilight and the romantic film adaptations of Anne Rice's work.  I can take my vampires with some humor or completely serious but I can't stand the romantic love triangles that these modern vampire flicks find themselves in.  Bite School is a return of the vampire films to horror comedies like Once Bitten and My Best Friend is a Vampire.  The film had some funny moments but was a little rough.  The acting in this one is great with Balsamo leading the film.  I have watched every flick he has directed/starred in and several other films he made appearances in and I have to say he has grown substantially. His roles have always been fun but this one easily takes the cake for being the funniest.  The remainder of the cast does a great job at keeping the story alive but there is way too many cameos resulting in a rough watch.  Balsamo is known for having dozens of cameos from metal legends and horror icons but this film has way too many.  The story for this one is fun and reminds me a lot of an 80s teen sex comedy except the teens are in their late twenties and early thirties.  I really enjoyed that aspect because vampire films rarely follow this story anymore.  The film has a lot of laughs and a lot of what the fuck moments but suffers horribly from too many cameos.  These slow the story down drastically resulting is some very dry scenes that really have nothing to do with the story.  Some are rather funny but most of them just feel out of place.  Finally, the film does have a few kills with most being the typical vampire bites on the neck but we do get some rather gory kills that more than make up for these lackluster deaths.  We get some decapitations, a face melting, and several more that make this vampire flick a must watch.  The practical effects are hit or miss and most could have been corrected with proper camerawork and editing.  Overall, Bite School is a film that has more laughs than it does bite and that's just the way I like em.  The film is funny and bloody but has several slow scenes that make the film uneven.  I definitely recommend checking this one out.

Holly

Director - Jason Toth
Release Date - 2015
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Show us on the doll how they killer you"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Snuff films has always mesmerized hardcore horror fans for years.  The thought of actually see a real murder or a death from automobile accident and so forth has been a wet dream for many horror fans with a sick taste for blood.  This has been the subject for several documentaries and films over the years with several filmmakers, mostly in the indie horror scene, trying to recreate what it would look like to see a snuff film.  The most popular of these films is Fred Vogel's August Underground trilogy.  A few days back I saw several horror fans posting pictures of their newest DVD additions and many had the film Holly on DVD.  I was unfamiliar with this film and tried to track it out down.  I was able to find director Jason Toth on Facebook and he was kind enough to send a review copy of the film my way.  Thanks Jason for allowing me a chance to see your short!

     The film follows a young woman who is trying to pick up another girl for a little tongue and coot action when she is kidnapped and brought to her basement.  The other girl has a dedicated girlfriend and is finally sick of her hitting on her so they plan on torturing her for being persistent.  They invite over their male friend to record the entire ordeal.  The start out by verbally assaulting the young woman by taunting her and calling her names.  They then result to physically torturing her while making it a game.  Soon, they realize they went way too far and are forced to kill her and dispose of her body before they are arrested for kidnapping and torturing her.
     A few weeks back I reviewed the now infamous indie horror flick American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Guts and Gore.  The film was an attempt at creating the snuff vibe which they achieved by using various types of cameras.  The film dialed up the gore and delivered a visually disturbing film but it was way too fucking long and I found myself wanting to turn it off.  A movie should never bore the viewer.  Holly was a film I was afraid would bore me as well in a similar manner as AGP but I was very wrong.  The film knew the story was simple and did not drag it out any longer than it had to.  Also, the film is able to capture that shot on video vibe that makes it feel even more like an authentic snuff film.  I had a hard time telling if it was real video or not.  The acting in this one is not that great.  The film is a little one sided with just one actress visible at one time.  She tries her hardest to be convincing but I never got the feeling that she was in jeopardy.  She does a lot of fake crying and not a lot of acting.  This is not her fault because it is hard to try and be convincing when a film is shot as if it is trying to capture that sniff vibe.  The remainder of the cast is only there in voice.  There lines are so absurd that it makes me believe that no actual script was involved.  The dialogue really has no direction and does nothing to further the story along.  Listening to them randomly curse with nothing being said about the plot was actually a bit of a buzzkill.  It almost felt like a bunch of teen girls giggling in a mall.  The story for this one is simple as fuck and effective as hell if you mute the movie.  The film itself flows fairly well and is easy to watch.  The story is simple and the filmmaker does very little to change it.  A lot of these directors that try to make snuff like flicks try to throw something different into the mix which ruins the movie completely.  Toth is not one of those idiots and leaves the story alone.  I really enjoyed the simplicity of this and it worked very well with the grainy video look.  Finally, we only given one kill and that is nothing spectacular.  The kill offers up nothing new nor is it that bloody and gory which is what you would expect from a snuff inspired film.  The effects are minimal in this one as well which is a minor problem but a problem none-the-less.  Overall, Holly is a short snuff inspired film that was actually fun to watch (with the film on mute!).  It offers up nothing new but it does entertain and that is all we can ask for from a movie.  Check this indie flick out!