The Screaming

Director - Jeff Leroy (Rat Scratch Fever, Dracula in a Women's Prison)

Starring - Vinnie Bilancio (Killjoy Goes to Hell, Giantess Attack vs Mecha Fembot), Wendi Winburn (Killer Cop, Satan's Menagerie), and Elizabeth Barris (Brimstone, Dead Air)

Release Date - 2000

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Come on in for a free evaluation.  We're dying to meet you!"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Visual Vengeance, much like their sister label Wild Eye Releasing, is one of my favorite distribution companies.  They don't fight over rights to movies that get re-released on every format.  Movies like Evil Dead, Dawn of the Dead, American Psycho, and the like always find themselves getting re-released on whatever new format that hits the streets.  I'm ashamed to admit how many times I've bought Evil Dead II over the years.  Anyway, Visual Vengeance is a label that has been bringing forgotten and barely seen S.O.V. horror to blu for genre fans.  Honestly, they've released some seriously enjoyable films over the years.  Hell, their releases are one of the few that actually gets me excited to review a movie.  A few weeks back I was sent the 2000 horror film The Screaming to review.  The movie was directed by Jeff Leroy who I was very familiar with.  I had no seen then one yet and couldn't wait to dig into it.  Like always, I want to thank Visual Vengeance and MVD for sending this one over.

     The film follows a struggling college student who can't seem to find an answer to his money problems until he meets hot ass Crystal (Winburn).  She introduces him to Crystalnetics which he soon learns in a cult centered around her.  It seems like his prayers are temporarily answered when he joins but before long a strange German starts warning him that this cult could be dangerous.  He doesn't listen and soon learns firsthand that something sinister is going on.

     I was familiar with director Jeff Leroy prior to watching this after buying his movie Rat Scratch Fever many years ago when it was released.  I fucking loved it and decided I would review it.  This would be one of my first ever written reviews.  Since then I had watched a few of his other films but they never touched the absurdity of Rat Scratch Fever.  The Screaming, also doesn't hold a candle to it, is still an entertaining watch and was interesting to see how much he had grown as a filmmaker in the 11 years between the two films.  The acting in this one is far from perfect but it doesn't take away from the film.  The cast would go on to appear in several more films but around this time most of them were lacking experience.  The dialogue is a bit flat at times and awkward at times but it fits the film for what it is.  The story for this one really pulled me in.  I have a soft spot for horror films centered around cults and the occult.  While I would have loved it to be a bit more cult centered, it was still enjoyable as it was.  We have a few issues with pacing but the overall story was fairly enjoyable.  Finally, the film uses a lot of practical effects that look great for what it was.  We get some fun make-up effects and props that adds a lot to the look of the film.  Honestly, the film wouldn't be as fun as it is if it wasn't for them.  Overall, The Screaming is one of the more entertaining films in the Visual Vengeance catalogue.  It's not perfect but it's a lot of fun especially if you dig fun effects and campy acting.  Don't skip this release.  

Fungicide

Director - Dave Wascavage (Suburban Sasquatch, Adventures of a Haunted House)

Starring - Wes Miller (Suburban Sasquatch), David Weldon (Zombie by Design, Tartarus), and Mary Wascavage (Adventures of a Haunted House, Zombies by Design)

Release Date - 2002

Genre - Horror/Comedy

Tagline - "You don't pick them, they pick you"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Many years ago I bought a 50 movie set of indie, no budget flicks.  Hell, I bought several of these sets because those are the kind of movies that I seriously love.  I couldn't tell you which set it was in but one of them had the 2002 horror comedy Fungicide from Suburban Sasquatch director Dave Wascavage.  I was still in college when I snagged this set and the first time I watched it I was absolutely hammered on confiscated alcohol that I had taken from my residents when I was an RA.  I remembered some kung-fu mushrooms and horrible visual effects but that was about it.  A few weeks back my friends over at Visual Vengeance sent me a copy of the film on blu for review.  Honestly, I was really excited to revisit it because it had been damn near 20 years since my original viewing.  This gave me the perfect excuse to check it out.  Once again I would like to thank Visual Vengeance for sending this one over for review!

      The film follows a wanna be scientist that works in his parent's basement.  His mother thinks he is working too hard and forces him to take a vacation.  In pure bad movie fashion, he takes a test tube full of his experiment fluid where he accidentally spills it in the grass turning the vegetation around his vacation home into mushroom monsters.  

     I'm a fan of the no budget masterpiece Suburban Sasquatch and I know that I had watched Fungicide in the past which made me really excited to check out this blu release.  Sadly, I didn't care for this one.  It has a lot of the elements that made Suburban Sasquatch so much fun but it wasn't able to duplicate the results.  The acting in this one is fun for the kind of film it is.  The cast consists of those with no on screen experience and some with very little experience.  The characters are all over the place ranging from high energy comical characters to more serious characters that feel out of place.  Those that watch enough no budget horror will know exactly what I mean.  The story for this one is a fun mash up of the science run amok, straight to video action of the mid-90s, and little creature features.  I really dig what they were trying to achieve but the film just doesn't have the humor that made Suburban Sasquatch so much fun.  Most of the scenes are dull with the exception of the bonkers fight scenes and random deaths.  Honestly, I wish more time was spent on just one aspect of the story instead of having everything as spread out as it was.  It would have helped with the pacing tremendously.  Finally, the film has some of the worst visual effects I have witnessed and some of the most creative no-budget practical effects I have ever seen.  The film really did use everything they had at their disposal which resulted in some unintentionally funny moments and no so memorable deaths.  A mushroom creature fighting people could have been so much more fun that what it was.  Overall, Fungicide is a movie that I thought I would be fully behind but found myself seriously struggling to finish it.  I hate writing a negative review for a movie I was sent but I'm just being honest.  I could recommend several other Visual Vengeance films over this title.