Dream Stalker and Death By Love

                                                                 by Mrparka

                Two obscure SOV films debut on DVD thanks to the folks at InterVision. First on the slate from this demented duo is the bizarre dream slasher, "Dream Stalker". The latter half of the pair is the Texas oddball sleaze fest "Death By Love"; both of these flicks are too weird to pass up and need to be seen to be believed. They are presented in widescreen with optional subtitles, due to spots of poor sound.

                “Dream Stalker” is a story of lost love and awoken powers.  When Ricky Dies (his last name is really dies) dies during a dirt bike race, his telekinetic girlfriend’s powers become uncontrollable during her sleep.  This set of absurd circumstances lead to a melted, wisecracking, dirt biking dream demon entering the real world with jealously and revenge on his mind. Ricky travels into this world through a music box that plays eerie music whenever he crosses over.

                “Dream Stalker” has all the makings to create a midnight movie classic; awkward dialogue, over the top performances, cheesy deaths, one-liners from hell, and a slew of characters that seem to be aliens. On the less than stellar side, “Dream Stalker” is poorly edited. This is most likely due to sound problems as we learn in the special features. These edits ruin what would be some cool gore gags and even end up cutting out exposition.  Sound issues aren’t the films only problem, the tone in the film never quite feels right. At times, Ricky comes across like a protective, vengeful boyfriend while other times, becomes a full on rapist; all done in the style of a rejected Freddy Kruger. Unfortunately, Ricky isn’t the only rapist in the film. A group of troubled teens are camping nearby and a pair of rapists is among them. The whole group of teens is rather disgusting and or weirdos with a mean-spirited attitude for seemingly little to no reason. With all the nonsense, “Dream Stalker” still ends up having a memorable scene or two, mostly due to the ridiculous performance of Mark Dias as Ricky and some solid effects; the forced, gratuitous nudity doesn’t hurt either.

                “Death By Love” is our second feature and surprisingly even more odd than our first. “Death By Love” follows the story of a wealthy sculptor and ladies’ man that is being stalked by a supposed Satanist who believes our sculptor is, in fact, Satan. When our sculptor's girlfriend ends up dead, a pair of cops figure it must be the stalking Satanist. Soon, the roles are reversed and it’s up to the cops to figure it all out before it’s too late.  If that doesn't sound wild enough for you, toss in some regional Texan flair and a midway twist so bonkers, it works.

                Death by Love’s twist is the highlight. Its cheesy and sleazy nature help, but the twist is truly the mind-boggling saving grace. The film is a part of its time. The whole satanic element to the film comes across as rather silly, clearly being inspired by the satanic panic that was still in a fairly strong stride at the time of its creation. This element adds a layer of ridiculousness that plays into the film's charm. The film’s director also happens to be our ladies’ man; a bulky, balding, middle-aged man. This doesn’t seem to stop him from having numerous sex scenes with various attractive women. The whole ordeal comes across as sleazy yet the actors seem to be enjoying themselves throughout the film. The dialogue in the film is awkward, but charming and while pretty far from Hollywood, I couldn’t help but smile when one of the cops referred to McDonalds as “Mickey D’s”. The film has its fair share of nudity and even features an older woman as somewhat of a love interest, a tad refreshing.

                The DVD special features include a few interviews for both films. Mark Dias (Ricky) comes across as somewhat embarrassed, but very good natured about “Dream Stalker” and seems to be a genuinely likable person while telling several anecdotes about the movie. The producer, Tom Naygrow, also gives a very candid interview and is honest and upfront without going off subject. The interviews on “Death By Love” are that of the actress Yvonne Aric who recalls having fond memories of her only role and that of one of the cops, Brad Bishop, who reminisces about an injury he had while making the movie and some of his costars. Also featured is an interview with the director of “Death By Love” Alan Grant. All the interviews give you an insight on making an independent SOV movie from the 90’s while keeping your interest.

http://www.cavd.com/product.php?productid=2777
Plot Summary:
“It fits right in with THINGS and SLEDGEHAMMER”, raves Outpost-Zeta.com. “DREAM STALKER is something special!” When a Sacramento supermodel is haunted by the super-mulleted corpse of her dead motocross-racer boyfriend, it will unleash an erratically ambitious nightmare of cheap lighting, bad sound, bizarre plotting, gratuitous nudity and grisly effects that Bleeding Skull says is “guaranteed to make you feel like you're trapped in a lo-fi psychedelic abyss of fun!”
Special Features:

- Death By Love Feature
- Remembering Ricky: With Actor Mark Dias
- Dirt Bike Dreams: With Executive Producer Tom Naygrow
- Alan Grant Remembers Death By Love Via Video Skype
- Yvonne Aric And Brad Bishop Remember Death By Love Via Video Skype

The Violent Shit Collection: 5 Film Set

                                                                    By MrParka

                Synapse puts together a big box of shit for its fans, “The Violent Shit Collection: Five Film Collector’s Shitition”! This set includes the infamous German SOV splatter film series “Violent Shit”, “Violent Shit 2: Mother Hold My Hand”, “Violent Shit 3: Infantry of Doom”, and “Violent Shit 4.0: Karl the Butcher Vs Axe” also included is another splatter film from the director, “Zombie 90: Extreme Pestilence.” The director Andreas Schnaas has become one of the biggest names in the German Splatter world and for good reason, what he lacks in storytelling and finesse he makes up for in effects and bloodshed.

                 The first film of the series was released in 1989 eloquently entitled “Violent Shit” it starts off simple enough; a mental patient with a sordid childhood escapes and makes his way into the wilderness disemboweling and mutilating anyone he comes in contact with. Our killer seems to have an insatiable bloodlust and, in between the dozens of murders, has encounters with Satan, Jesus, and even manages to give birth via Immaculate Conception.  The dialogue is silly and painfully wretched; so much it becomes apparent that Andreas Schnaas is in on the joke.  The characters are worthless and are only there to die and even in its short running time it manages to stop for long periods of time just to introduce these random characters who will die minutes later. The film itself doesn’t look good, being that it was shot on video and poorly at that, but at least the aesthetic manages to help the films strong point… you guessed it, the gore. The effects are very cheap but abundant and at times clever.  It makes it hard to not acknowledge them.  All the staples of nasty splatter films are included such as genital mutilation, hacking, slashing, and disemboweling. So make sure you shut your brain off for this entry.

                “Violent Shit 2: Mother Hold My Hand” follows the story of Karl the Butcher’s son who, with the help of his mother, begins his spree of murder and mayhem. “Violent Shit 2” manages to improve on everything from the first film; the set pieces, body count, and the gore is bigger and better.  A healthy amount of action is also incorporated into the story, keeping the pace a little bit more tolerable. “Violent Shit 2” has elements of crime and strange karate fight scenes which sets the tone for the whole film. A boring journalism angle ends up trying to tie the film together, but is mostly used for info dumps and padding; these scenes are the weakest of the film. When V2 gets its stride going, Karl Jr. seems to stumble from massacre to massacre, spouting off one-liners as he hooks testicles and ravages innocent morons, all done to the pleasure of his incestuous mother. V2 soon gets to an insane pace where our masked madman enters a construction site and happily kills a group of men who can’t seem to get out of the mud fast enough. The film comes to a violent end in a porn theater where squibs and splatter fill the screen in crummy detail.

                “Violent Shit 3: Infantry of Doom” starts out with an unlucky trio of vacationers who end up washing ashore on an island that is ruled by Karl the Butcher and his ruthless army of goons and zombies. Quickly, one of our vacationers is dispatched, leaving our survivors to team up with an exiled soldier; the trio is then hunted mercilessly by the aforementioned forces. “Violent Shit 3: Infantry of Doom” is an insane romp mixing kung fu, zombies, and war films into one demented, gory, cheesy, ride that leaves you wanting to applaud and scratch your head at the same time.  The fight scenes are a blast with some inventive kills including a decapitated head with a blade sticking out of it spinning into someone’s back. When the grotesque Fulci like zombies appear a Fabio Frizzi type song sneaks into the soundtrack setting the stage for another bloodbath. By the end of the movie any gore fan will be satisfied, making the 3rd of the series the biggest and very best.

                “Violent Shit 4.0: Karl the Butcher VS Axe” is set in the post-apocalyptic world where the sectors are divided between the gangs. Karl the Butcher is released from hell to kill a new threat, Axe. Soon enough the duo team up and decide to kill everyone else. We are given tons of exposition and the introductions of over the top characters, most of which don’t do much but die. Although Andreas is still having fun making the film, it doesn’t translate to the audience like parts 2 and 3 did so well. The first of the series to be spoken in English, it makes the lousy performances cringe worthy. It becomes embarrassing for the audience to watch and, unlike the shoddy yet funny introductions of cannon fodder in the previous films, these characters seem like they are bad Tarantino rip offs without any acting chops. A little blame can be put on the fact that the performers are not speaking their native tongue. The end of the film sports an all-out war with everyone who is still standing and, although it has moments of great gore and silliness, it also features poorly done digital effects. All and all it’s a shame to see the series go out on a low note after the steady climb it had. This title is the only one with special features, included are a teaser, trailer, premier footage (concert), and some behind the scenes.

                The final film in the set is Andreas Schnaas second film “Zombie 90’: Extreme Pestilence” in its comedic dubbed version.  The story in “Zombie 90” is pretty thin; it follows a pair of scientists who attempt to stop a zombie outbreak. The gore in this one seems a step down from the previous aforementioned Violent Shit and the dubbing is so over the top and stupid that a second grader would have trouble at finding the humor in it. All and all it is amateur film making with a couple inspired gore moments that can’t justify watching it, even with its short runtime. Worth mentioning is an ending ripped directly from Fulci's “Zombie” as the living dead wander across a bridge. To accompany this shot is some narration, a bastardization of the iconic “Dawn of the Dead” quote. In “Zombie 90” it reads. “When the sun goes down and the dead walk, there will be no tomorrow.”

                Surprisingly all the films are presented in widescreen which might be jarring for fans of some of the early films as they are not present in their OAR.  Anyone that does manage to stumble onto this set that isn’t aware of SOV will most likely junk it, but those hardcore gore and SOV fans will find it well worth checking out. Violent Shit 2 and 3 are well worth the price of admission alone.

Information and Video Review Below

https://www.amazon.com/Violent-Shit-Collection-Andreas-Schnaas/dp/B06VT1XR2T/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491334588&sr=8-1&keywords=violent+shit

http://www.cavd.com/product.php?productid=2774

https://www.amazon.com/Violent-Shit-Collection-Andreas-Schnaas/dp/B06VT1XR2T/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491165131&sr=8-1&keywords=violent+shit

Plot Summary:
In 1980s Germany, horror film censorship was a huge problem. The government rarely let classic horror films pass without severe cuts when they were released on home video. To combat this unfortunate situation many German horror fans scraped together a few bucks, rented video cameras & created their own ultra-violent, gory, splatter films. Arguably the most famous of these micro-budget German gorefests are the VIOLENT SHIT films from director Andreas Schnaas. Shot on standard definition video cameras, these films are a sight to behold. Although they are amateurishly made, choppily edited & loaded with ridiculous low-budget gore, these films have an undeniably offensive charm that has kept horror fans entertained for over 25 years!

Synapse is proud to present the original VIOLENT SHIT trilogy, along with 2010’s VIOLENT SHIT 4.0: KARL THE BUTCHER VS. AXE on DVD for the first time in North America, now completely remastered by the original owners. Includes the crazy English language dub version of ZOMBIE ’90: EXTREME PESTILENCE on a Bonus DVD with liner notes & additional VIOLENT SHIT 4.0 Bonus Features.

Special Features:

- The first three VIOLENT SHIT films, remastered by the original owners, plus VIOLENT SHIT 4.0: KARL THE BUTCHER VS. AXE
- Liner notes from Ted Geoghegan (Screenwriter of NIKOS THE IMPALER, & Writer/Director of WE ARE STILL HERE)
- Special BONUS DVD, including the English dub version of ZOMBIE ’90: EXTREME PESTILENCE & VIOLENT SHIT 4.0: KARL THE BUTCHER VS. AXE
- Trailers

VIOLENT SHIT
The legend of K. the Butcher Shitter is born in this German DIY video roughie, shot on the low-fi Video-8 format. A demented killer escapes the police & leaves a trail of blood & gore in his wake. Newly re-mastered by the film’s original producer.
Anamorphic (1.78:1) Widescreen - Dolby Digital German 2.0 Stereo - Subtitles: English (Optional) 73 Mins.

VIOLENT SHIT II: MOTHER HOLD MY HAND
Set twenty years after the original film, Karl the Butcher Jr. continues his late father’s legacy. After receiving a machete as a birthday gift from his mother, Karl Jr. turns into a maniacal killer slashing, chopping, shooting & disemboweling his way through the German countryside. Newly re-mastered by the film’s original producer. Anamorphic (2.35:1) Widescreen - Dolby Digital German 2.0 Stereo - Subtitles: English (Optional) 74 Mins.

VIOLENT SHIT III: INFANTRY OF DOOM (aka ZOMBIE DOOM)
A group of friends get lost at sea & land on a remote island, but they are not alone! Captured by Karl the Butcher Jr. & his father, these men are subjected to a sadistic version of The Most Dangerous Game brought on by the Butcher Shitters and their army of metal-masked killers! Newly re-mastered by the film’s original producer.
Anamorphic (2.35:1) Widescreen - Dolby Digital German 2.0 Stereo - Subtitles: English (Optional) - 79 Mins.

VIOLENT SHIT 4.0: KARL THE BUTCHER VS. AXE
The year is 2023, & the world has become a desolate wasteland with gangs taking over the streets. Karl the Butcher Jr. returns from the bowels of Hell, on a mission to kill a new mass murderer named Axe. Original English Language Version.
Anamorphic (1.78:1) Widescreen - Dolby Digital English 2.0 Stereo – 78 Mins.

BONUS FEATURE: ZOMBIE ’90: EXTREME PESTILENCE
Shot for a reported $2000 between the filming of VIOLENT SHIT 1 & 2, ZOMBIE ’90: EXTREME PESTILENCE follows two bumbling doctors as they investigate a zombie outbreak. After a military plane crash releases strange chemicals into the German countryside, the dead rise to attack the living! Can they be stopped? Transferred from an original PAL 1” master given to us by Cinematographer Steve Aquilina.
Full-Frame (1.33:1) - Dolby Digital English 2.0 Stereo – 76 Mins.

Willow Creek (2013)

(4 out of 5)

Willow Creek (2013)
directed by:  Bobcat Goldthwait
starring:  Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson, Laura Montagna, Bucky Sinister, Peter Jason
tagline:  Believe the Legend...Fear the Truth
format:  NTSC:  Region 1 Personal Collection

     Wow what a terrifying flick.  Definite initial response to this one.  If you do not like pov/sov found footage films please don't take this opportunity to tell everyone and just move on to the next movie.  I personally find the majority of these flicks very real and more real than any straight-forward shot film.  I had no idea this film even existed until a friend posted up his positive thoughts on social media.  So I immediately went out and bought it since I love both bigfoot films and found footage.  I was not disappointed. 

     The story follows Jim (Bryce Johnson) on his quest to find bigfoot with his girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore).  They travel to a remote California territory where a previous expedition in 1967 came in contact with a bigfoot called Willow Creek.  The townspeople are not amused by Jim and Kelly and their documentary filmmaking and it soon becomes apparent they are not welcome.  The word, "Leaf" is written on their car window of course misspelled meaning, "leave" but this only taunts Jim to further continue with his project.  Jim is a full believer of the bigfoot legend and Kelly is not.  Kelly is doing this whole thing for her boyfriend and the two go back and forth on this subject as the movie progresses.  All the dialogue had a very natural feel to it and for me at least never got boring or redundant.  They meet with a few not so angry townsfolk and discover the directions to make it to the exact

camping location of the previous expedition.  Upon arrival they are again met with contention from one of the locals as a man tries aggressively to dissuade them from driving further down the road, even throwing rocks.  Lucky for Jim he knows a second route and soon enough he and Kelly are deep in the woods on the trail to the campsite.  I will not spoil the film which much more description but this one really had a lot of the tension factor and I loved it.  The eerie sounds at night, the pov shooting, the tremendous acting of
both main actors most especially Alexie Gilmore who really came through with the sense of terror.  I rewound and watched the end I was really freaked out with the last couple minutes.   Kudos to Bobcat Goldthwait!  I had no idea such a film existed and it hit this horror fan right where it counts.  

Hunters (2015)

Hunters (2015)

d:  Adam Ahlbrandt

s:  Linnea Quigley, J.D. Brown, Dave Parker, Ellie Church, Haley Jay Madison, Adam Ahlbrandt, Kacie Marie, Victor Bonacore, Tina Krause, Anthony Curry, Jason Vail, Shaun Paul Costello, Jadie Marie Goodpasture, Genoveva Rossi, Loretta Vendetta, Cotton Robbins, Jess Rajs, Rebecca Jeffers, Gordon Price, Joe Hiatt, Mel Heflin, Joe Gariffo 

(out of 5)

Waited a long time to see this film.  Adam Ahlbrandt is one of my favorite indie filmmakers and while he does have some glaring problems with his character writing and acting ability I love his shooting style, his fx, and his overall idea of what he's going for in each one of his films and I have them all.  Even Sight which is an excellent film Adam himself is not a giant fan of although I'm not sure at all why. 

     This movie is set starting in 1961 where a couple is murdered and their baby taken away.  The years shoot on by to I believe 1987 and then again in 1992 throughout the movie showcasing the bloody ravings of James and his brother who video record their nasty deeds on camera.  Didn't take me long to figure out James was the baby from the beginning and his brother (who shall remain nameless in this review) obviously was most likely also a kidnapped child.  The movie really reminded me of the old school 70s and 80s video nasty's most especially Mother's Day and Last House On the Left.  The movie is very well edited going back and forth between the marauding brothers and a group of main characters out looking to shoot a movie in an old abandoned building out in the middle of no where.  The sounds in this movie also went right along with whole 70s and 80s feel and the special effects could not really have been much better.  The blood was real looking, the gore was off the hook, really enjoyed the death of James's brother especially.  The one blunder of the fx and in my opinion it was a bit of a big one, was a particularly nasty scene where the character played by Ellie Church is forced to eat her own lover's severed penis (yes you read that right).  In this scene an extra large dildo head was used and not anatomically correct at all, and for me anyway ruined the hardness of the scene.  Also the penis would have been flaccid not erect.  Ellie shined though for what she had to work with in this movie.  She is a tremendously talented actress I would have liked to have seen with more lines.  Haley Jay Madison played Lucy and she was another actress I really felt got jipped in the end as far as her role in the film.  Would like to have seen her do a lot more.  Dave Parker another favorite of mine played yet another helpless victim of the family of murderers who is forced to remain naked and video record a lot of what the two brothers deal out to whatever victim falls in their path.  And there were many. 
     The film goes from beginning to end with non-stop torture and murder. It really does not end well.  At least for me.  I like a movie to have a climax and while the end isn't terrible and does not ruin the rest of the movie for me like say Nightmare On Elm Street, it just kind of doesn't happen.  It will definitely make the gorehounds and boner boys happy with all the blood and boobies while at the same time making the fans of 70s/80s horror very happy.  I am a giant fan of gore movies and 70s/80s movies so this hit me in the right spots overall for that.  The boner boy stuff I can always take or leave, at least in this film it's all called for and part of what's going on in the movie instead of just added for bonus to put grins on certain viewer's faces.   That crap usually for me just makes the movie look unprofessional but it worked well here. 
     The two stars who shined the highest in this to me were J.D. Brown and Linnea Quigley.  I highly recommend watching the Raw Snuff Video extra on the DVD it really explains a little bit more on her character and that of her daughter in the movie.  Linnea is a favorite of mine so all these scenes were essential watching and I'm glad they were included in the extras.  J.D. really came out in this one as a mean and terrible man and I think he did the best he's ever done.  I watched some of his "Walk Down Memory Lane" interview also included in the extras.  He seemed to be acting during the interview, maybe that's how he always acts I really don't know but either way the interview is worth watching I only got about 20 minutes in and he answered several great questions on what it's like shooting a "mean film" like this and how he separates his characters on screen in Adam's movies with himself as a viewer.  Very interesting stuff.

     This movie really started off so well and I did like most of the film but per usual with Adam's movies there are always these overacted emo/punk characters who in this viewer's opinion just ruin the tone of the movie every time they speak or come in shot.  The Krill character while he did have an awesome final scene his scenes previous to that most especially his revenge scene in the field could have been completely cut out and the movie would have been better for it.  I do not blame the actor here I actually think he did a good job playing the character but the writing of the character took away from everything going on.  Tone for a film like this is everything and the whacky antics of Krill took me out of the movie it was like the humor in Green Inferno just unnecessary and ill placed.  Then there's a scene at the end involving Adam Ahlbrandt himself who I'm sorry is a terrible actor, both voice and actions wise and he needs to stay behind the camera.  This particular scene involving a giant black rubber dildo was just not on par with the tone of the film and definitely took a lot away from the end.  There's a death scene involving this horrid sex toy and that was excellent.  A little overly large for what was happening to the victim but the tone was the same unlike the first scene mentioned with Adam. 
     So yes I have to go with three out of five bloody handprints on this one.  It could have been 4 or even five very easily.  But it had no climax, no real ending, a couple poorly written characters and one scene in particular where the actor who has his leg shot off forgets to scream.  All indie writers and directors reading this...stop letting actors get away with not suffering and screaming on camera it's a giant no-no.  Especially if you're going for realism of any kind.  In the indie movie The Woods Within a young man gets an arrow in the leg and just gets up and runs, in this a leg gets shot off almost completely and nope not one scream.  Not to mention severing a penis creates death from lack of blood a lot faster than is portrayed in this film.  There is a deleted scene that continues the life of the victim with the severed penis and I'm glad it was deleted.    

Gorgasm

http://srscinema.com/srsstore/
Tara, a psychotic call girl, has a strange obsession with giving men the ultimate climax. Chase is a detective out to stop her killing spree. 

Escape From the Insane Asylum