The Blackface Killer

aka The Minstrel Killer

Director - Michael Fredianelli (The Scarlet Worm)
Starring - Michael Fredianelli (I Die Alone), Anthony Spears (Xenobites), Eric Anderson (Killer Priest)
Release Date - 2009
Genre - Horror/Exploitation
Tagline - "He's mad...he's mean...he's a torture machine"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Recently I have noticed a lot of people shit talking the current waive of exploitation flicks being released by major motion picture companies and indie directors a like.  Personally, I find these films extremely entertaining and different than the normal horror flick.  I also really like the way they can add the grainy picture quality to the film in post-production. That is also a good way to cover the poor picture quality of the film.  Anyway, I personally love this new surge of exploitation film and will jump on any exploitation inspired flick I can find.  That brings me to the flick The Blackface Killer that had the working title of The Minstrel Killer.  I recently became friends on Facebook with one of the biggest indie horror fans I have met to date.  He posted a mini-review on Facebook of the flick and I had to see it.  I reached out to the Facebook page for the film and they were nice enough to send me a screener.  Thank you so much for taking the time to send me one!
     It is 1978 and the film follows two cops, Tex (Fredianelli), and his black partner Tyrell (Spears) as they team up with the sheriff of a small town to solve a series of female murders.  Three females have been murdered by a man wearing black face paint, Blackface, who is killing people with various torture methods that was used on slaves.  Through great police work Tex discovers that the females were all siblings and came from a family that once owned the biggest plantation in Texas that just happened to own the most slaves.  As Tex and Tyrell rush to save the surviving sister, they encounter a clan of cannibals that almost cuts their investigation short.  Through the entire ordeal the two learn to work together and put aside their difference (skin color included) to put a stop to the murdering menace.
      What people fail to realize about exploitation films is that they often transcend genres and sub-genres. Exploitation films exploit the popular styles and cliches of the times and that often led to the film jumping genre to genre.  Exploitation films were known to be low budget and filthy...both of the things I love.  Director Michael Fredianelli knows what it takes to make a true exploitation film and applied that knowledge to The Blackface Killer making one hell of a film.  The film is more horror than anything but it also has some not-so subtle hints of action and crime drama to round it out.  This film could have easily been shown in one of the many grindhouses in the 70s.  The acting in this one is not the best but I honestly think that was intentional to get that low-budget feel.  That being said, I think the film would have not worked out so well if the cast actually tried harder.  I love when characters are so over the top.  It creates one hell of a viewing experience.  The story is your typical slasher that does not feel like your typical slasher.  I personally love slashers, as many of you know, but I also love exploitation flicks so I really enjoyed the two colliding to create on filthy sex session.  The film feels different while retaining the elements of both slashers and exploitation films.  I also liked the fact that the film took place in 1978.  The film felt authentic which is something you rarely see in an indie flick.  Finally, those looking for great special effects will not find them here.  However, this film does have some great on screen kills with just enough special effects to make it work.  The film does not have the kills you would see in a Friday the 13th flick but they are still good enough to entertain the fuck out of ya.  Overall, this film is a gritty flick that will leave you blood-soaked and paint smeared.  I highly recommend this one!

Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)

Hellraiser:  Revelations
directed by:  Víctor Garcia
starring:  Nick Eversman, Jay Gillespie, Stephan Smith Collins, Tracey Fairaway, Daniel Buran, Sebastien Roberts
Format:  Netflix Streaming

   So I wanted to just bash the crap out of this movie.   Not because it didn't have our favorite actor Doug Bradley playing Pinhead but because it's just fun for me to poke fun at all the new Hellraiser films for a variety of reasons.  I mean one and two are basically for me one film in the sense that you can watch both in a sitting and it looks like they were shot at the same time by the same exact people.  Then 3 comes out of nowhere re-creating the rules, etc. for a fun little cheesefest that I do enjoy but not because it's even an acceptable sequel to the originals.  Bloodline I very much enjoyed and I liked Inferno but neither were even close to 1 and 2.  Bloodline for me is great because of the story by itself as a stand alone film and same with Inferno except that Inferno as I remember it strayed away from the original story a bit too much to be called a good sequel.  Food for thought maybe I should rewatch that.  The others I despised greatly.  Truthfully I despise 3 as well but it's so bad I enjoy it, "That's a wrap!"  A line I will never forget since I almost pee my pants every time I watch it.  Plus Paula Marshall as Terri is hot as hell.

     Anyway my rating of  2 and half stars is actually a good thing since I was expecting to give it a DUD rating.  Plus I didn't really like it I just didn't hate it.   I suppose maybe when you go into wanting to hate something sometimes you just get disappointed and liking it at least enough to watch again.  Will I watch this again?  Yeah I can see watching it again I did enjoy the characters and story enough for that.  I mean the actors whom I don't even care to name who played the parents were pretty lousy with the possible exception of Sebastian Roberts who plays Nico's father.  He was believable but as for the other three parents of our main characters nothing any of them did or said did I find

entertaining.  I don't mind so-so acting at all but for some reason I can't explain these people just about ruined the movie for me.  For example I hated every speaking part by Dr. Ross Craven I really wanted to reach into the screen and pull his face off. 

     Now let's go to Pinhead himself Stephan Collins.  Yeah as I said before I don't need Doug Bradley in the role he's done his dues with Pinhead and frankly I wish he wasn't in any of them past 2 but that's just me.  However that all being said this Collins guy did not hit the mark at all, not in lines which aren't his fault, or in mannerisms and voice which is his fault.  Not to mention the worst Pinhead make up ever done.  And the worst Chatterer make-up I laughed when I saw the Chatterer he looks like he has a giant new born baby head.  What are you thinking as a special effects designer making a cenobite so obviously inferior to the original make-up design which was done in the 80's.  The newly created cenobite however was brutal and awesome compared to his counterparts.  I did love the scene with Pinhead ramming spikes into his head.

     I did like the storyline of the movie.  Two boys run off from rich mommy and daddy because one Nico played by Jay Gillespie is just plain bored with the thrill of life and so off he goes to Tijuana to lose himself as it were.  Steven played by Nick Eversman parties right along aide of his friend all night long until the two get into a squabble over a hooker.  Worse comes to worse and the hooker ends up dead leaving the two boys in fear of being thrown in a Mexican jail for the rest of their lives.  Nico claims the girl fell and hit her head but there's just something fishing about the whole thing which they never did explain but really didn't need to I suppose.  After the two go to a bar to think it through they come upon a vagrant played by Daniel Buran who did the part almost perfectly.  This was another thing I really liked about this movie it at least tried to follow suite with the original story.  Vagrant appearing and delivering the box, reappearing mysteriously, when you open the box the cenobites come for you and whomevers in the room not just randomly attacking anyone on the street like in 3.  There were a lot of things like this which were completely tossed out the window and sure I like a good original twist on things but I don't know it's hard to explain other than to say Clive Barker's films and books have a certain mythological suite to follow and altering something is one thing but basically pretending the first films don't exist to me is a no-no.  It's like the other sequels except Bloodline just stole the Pinhead character and made their own movie.  Not in this one.  At least for me anyway everyone else seems to hate it.

     To close I finish the plot line which is that the parents went looking for the boys after a long disappearance finding only Steven's bag with various things in it including the puzzle box and their video camera.  The camera showed the boys deaths along with the murder evidence of the hooker in the bathroom or at least what looked like a murder.  Steven's sister Emma who was dating Nico gets upset with her dead boyfriend for cheating on her in the video opens the box and mayhem ensues.  I really couldn't cheer for the parents at all here I really couldn't stand any of them but as I said Sebastian Roberts who played Nico's father outshines the rest of them by far which isn't saying much.  There is something else they did in the first Hellraiser that they did in this film but I'm not spoiling it for anyone here so my recommendation is if you have some time to waste it's worth a watch.  Will you watch it again?  My money is on no but it definitely worth seeing because it's the best representation of the first two films as far as I'm concerned story-wise.  

Natal

Director - Corey Norman (The Hanover House)
Starring - Jessica Fratus, Chara Victoria Gannett (Dark Minds), Erik Moody (The Hanover House), and Adam Sawyer (The Hanover House)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (Out of 5):

   
     Being a horror reviewer is one of the most rewarding jobs (or hobbies in my case) that a horror fan can have.  Writing for Horror Society has granted me so many perks but the one I look forward to is reviewing movies before they are released to the public.  A lot of directors reach out to me to review their films as a type of "test" run before releasing it to the rabid horror fans.  Directors also send them out as a type of advertising.  Either way I really enjoy seeing these films before anyone else.  Kinda makes me feel important.  Anyway, indie director Corey Norman reached out to me to review his short Natal.  It was a new one to me so I jumped on it and for that I thank you Corey for taking the time to send it to me!
     The film follows Carissa (Fratus) as she travels with her friends to her family's cabin for a weekend getaway.  Recently, Carissa tried to kill herself and her friends brought her out as a way to take her mind off of things. However, this weekend getaway is far from peaceful.  At night she hears scratching in the ceiling that no one else seems to hear.  To make matters worse, her best friend keeps flirting with her boyfriend.  She starts to question her sanity when she continues to hear the scratching but if she is spiraling into insanity is her friends safe...from her?
     I mentioned earlier that I love being able to review films before they are released.  It is so rewarding to know that someone actually gives a damn about what you have to say.  However, not all of these films I am asked to review are worth a damn.  That is not the case with this one.  This movie knocked me for a loop.  The film started out as a typical cabin in the woods style film but moved at a snail's pace.  The film was not boring by no means but it was just very slow burning.  That is the beauty of short films.  Short films are able to start out slow and then blow your mind with the ending and that is exactly what Norman did with this one here.  The acting is solid all the way through.  The entire cast fit their roles perfectly and made them believable.  I also want to acknowledge Jessica Fratus and her role in the film.  She is amazing in her role and her acting skills is only matched by her beauty.  The story is your typical cabin in the woods story like I mentioned before but this one is not that straight forward.  The film flows more like a psychological thriller that doesn't try to mind fuck...and I like that.  Finally, those looking for on screen kills will not find them here but if you want some great special effects and a lot of gore then please look no further.  The films uses off camera deaths but the film is still good and bloody.  Overall, this film is short, sweet, and bloody as hell.  The film starts out slow but still packs one hell of a punch.  I highly recommend it!

Jacob

Director - Larry Wade Carrell (She Rises)
Starring - Grace Powell (Hidden in the Woods), Dylan Horne, and Larry Wade Carrell (In Fear of)
Release Date - 2011
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Where innocence ends, vengeance begins"
Format - Streaming (Netflix)

Rating (out of 5):

     Sometimes I find a random movie I have never heard of before.  Sometimes I find these flicks by searching around on Netflix and other times I find them walking down the DVD isle in a random store.  Sometimes these films just happen to be amazing and it makes me think.  I immediately start to wonder how horror fans can constantly bash shitty films instead of spread the word of films that kick ass?  People are always shit talking remakes, the Twilight Saga (rightfully so), and most theatrical released films.  Wouldn't it be more beneficial for the movie industry as a whole if everyone talked about the good instead of the bad.  That brings me to the 2011 flick Jacob.  When I first heard of the film I assumed it was some drama flick about a religious man.  I never saw any artwork for it so I just ignored it.  To make matters worse, my horror fan friends never mentioned this movie so I just ignored it.  That was until I saw it on Netflix.  The poster drew me in and I had to give it a chance.

     The film centers around the rowdy drunk, Otis (Carrell), who shacks up with a local widow.  Her husband passed away while repairing a house with a violent past.  The locals shunned her at this point and Otis was the only person to show her and her two children any attention.  Her children was actually the problem.  She has a young daughter named Sissy (Powell) and a son in his mid-twentys with a severe mental disability, Jacob (Horne), that only listens to his little sister.  He is very protective of her and his mother.  That causes friction between him and his new step-father who becomes abusive when he drinks...which is all the time.  Things take a dark turn when Otis accidentally kills Sissy over a broken trophy.  Jacob finds his sister's body and goes on a bloody rampage killing Otis and several townspeople before he is stopped.
     If people would stop spreading shit everywhere and actually praise films that are worth it then I would have known that this film was worth watching.  That also goes to say that you will never know what you are missing unless if try it out yourself.  I went into this one with low expectations and left with a film that I will soon order to add to my shelf.  When I finished this film I told everyone I could to give it a try because I absolutely loved it.  The acting in this film was top notch by the entire cast.  Everyone put their (bloody) heart and soul into their characters and that was evident in the final product.  I also want to take a second to talk about director Larry Wade Carrell's duel role in the film.  Not only did he direct the flick but he started in two roles as the brothers Otis and Billy. Carrell has a career ahead of him in front and behind the camera.  The story is a new take on an old story.  The mentally unstable adult killing those that have done them wrong has been seen played out in numerous films.  To be honest, I find this kind of story the most disturbing out off all the horror flicks I have seen.  It is real and can easily happen.  I also really enjoyed the fact that this film is a period piece.  The film takes place in the 70s or 80s, for the most part, and they did a spectacular job making the film as if it really did.  The costumes look great, the sets look great, and the characters fit the part.  An eye for detail goes a long way on a film like this.  Finally, those looking for amazing on screen kills will not find it here.   The film uses buckets of blood and the storyline to churn the viewer's stomach instead of tons of gore.  The film work out perfectly without all the gore.  Overall, this is one truly disturbing flick that is beautifully crafted and well done.  This film deserves a spot in your collection and I highly recommend it!

Creature (2011)

 

Creature (2011)

 

directed by:  Fred Andrews

starring:  Mehcad Brooks, Serinda Swan, Dillon Casey, Lauren Schneider, Aaron Hill, Amanda Fuller, Wayne Pére, David Jensen, Sid Haig

Tagline:  It Feeds On You

Format:  Netflix Streaming

(out of 5)

 

 

 

 

 What great potential this film had.  Good story-line with a mythological back swamp creature, decent acting all around, Sid Haig, and fx that did the job for the most part...and then the end happens.  Yes I'm sorry to say that for me this is an end ruins all type of film.  The end of a movie is a very big deal, mess it up and you've messed up basically the whole film in most cases for me.  The first Nightmare On Elm Street is a prime example in my opinion.  Great film until the very end happens which is why when you set the complete set of Nightmare movies down in front of me I will always pick Part 2:  Freddy's Revenge over one anyday...or any of the other sequels for that matter.  Anyway these kinds of jackass mistakes have a lot of impact on whether or not I'm going to rewatch a movie and while some people out there don't rewatch a lot of films, I do.
     On to what I liked.  Within ten minutes you get a woman undressing and taking a swim in the murky swamp water.  Cue the argument of people doing stupid things in movies.  You know because people never do anything stupid in reality?  And I must say for a booby scene it was very well shot, granted it was an irrelevant booby scene but well shot just the same.  Especially the shots from above the girl as she swam in the water.  Of course the young girl is eaten by what you think is a gator but then again the movie is called, "Creature" isn't it?  I think every beautiful woman in this movie gets naked.  For me throwing sex and nudity around isn't the enormous playground of delight a lot of horror fans seem to see them as but for this type of movie it certainly fit very well.  While there may have been gratuitous amounts of nudity the sex scenes were rather short-lived which is good for me because I find that almost no filmmaker shoots them right.  Sorry it just bores the shit out of me if I want a porno I'll rent one.

   The acting in this creature feature was alright or decent at best but I wasn't really looking for Oscar performances anyway.  They all did their jobs very well and especially Mehcad Brooks, Aaron Hills, and Amanda Fuller.  Brooks seemed to be showcasing his muscles all through the film but you gotta have something for the ladies to look at too.  Amanda Fuller was by far the best actress in this movie which I'm sorry to say really wasn't saying much.  I mean no one was bad here but not good either.  Sid Haig is top notch from a novelty point of view I mean people seem to worship this guy who yes was in the classic Spider Baby as well as being everyone's favorite clown from House of 1000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects but come on gimme ten more titles before I'm going to call him a "Horror Legend".  Still he was hilarious in this as usual with his rough around the edges way of taking control of his scenes.

     Also loved the story.  We have a mythological figure known as Grimley Boutine and/or Lockjaw who terrorizes a backwoods swamp community of hicks who feed the beast young women it seems and anyone else who gets in the way of obtaining that young woman.  There's a couple of plot twists thrown around and surprises I won't spoil in this review but I really enjoyed the story of the man named Grimley who lived in the swamps and was set to marry his sister since she was the only girl anywhere around, only to have her be killed by a phantom white gator.  Then he chases the gator into it's lair fights it, kills it, and begins eating the half eaten dead bodies of the gator's prey after shock sets in.  Some time goes by and Grimley mutates into Lockjaw the half human-half alligator and so begins the history of our little movie. 
     Then after all that the end happens.  One of these endings that makes no sense what-so-ever.  SPOILER ALERT:  Lockjaw is beating the life out of Niles(Brooks) who is chocking up blood, etc. when all of a sudden Niles gets a burst of unforeseen strength and energy and starts beating the creature twice his size.  He then bites it's face and throws it down a big muddy hole as if sending him to hell.  Where does it explain anywhere where this hidden strength came from?  No where.  Just throw a curveball into a film that was pretty straight-forward and needed no strange zing.   And then of course the creature comes back and drags both Niles and his girlfriend who ended up being the chosen female for the creature back down into the mud.  But wait no that's not it!  And that's all I'm saying.  Stupid idea which killed the movie for me and if I ever do watch it again it will be by accident.


Night of the Naked Dead

Director - Junius Podrug
Starring - Emma Gruttadauria (Dead Souls), Joshua Koopman (R.I.P.D.), and Alexandra Creteau (Dead Giveaway: The Motion Picture)
Release Date - 2012
Genre - Horror/Thriller
Tagline - "Sometimes the dead have unfinished business"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Out of all the movies I have seen in my short life I can easily say the most influential film I have ever laid my eyes on is the 1968 George A. Romero classic Night of the Living Dead.   I can easily say this is my favorite horror film and a movie I often watch at least once a month.  This movie changed the way we see the undead and shaped the modern zombie.  This movie completely changed a sub-genre of horror.  A movie with that much impact is bound to become copied and/or parodied over time and it has.  I have seen multiple NotlD parody flicks like Night of the Living Jews and the short Night of the Living Bread that just so happens to be the name of a Bump in the Night episode.  Even though I have seen so many films inspired or parodying this classic I still love it way more than the rest of them.  The film really does hold up well after all these years and it continues to inspire.  That brings me to my next film from those fine folks over at Brain Damage and Midnight Releasing.  With the list of screeners I was sent to review one stuck out.  That film, Night of the Naked Dead,  stuck out the most to me for obvious reasons.  However, it was for that very reason  that I was hesitant to review it.  So I watched a few others on the list before gaining enough courage to actually watch it.
     The film follows a romance novel author who recently acquired a bed and breakfast.  She hired a sketchy handyman that she does not trust and forces him to sleep outside.  However, on this night a crazy storm has hit causing the sky to change color.  That night an attractive female wonders into the b & b completely nude.  The author takes her in and clothes her but things go from weird to deadly.  Soon, a police officer arrives covered in blood.  The handyman finds a way into the home just in time to discover that the nude woman and cop are actually ghosts who were able to walk the Earth again due to the storm.  It is also revealed that the guy wearing the police uniform is not actually a cop but a serial killer pretending to be one.  He owned the b & b back in the 50s and would pick up hitchhikers to take back to his home to kill.  He picked up the nude ghost in the 50s and took her back to his home and killed her as she was hitchhiking to Hollywood.  The two then has to fight for their lives against the murdering spirit until the storm breaks.

     One would assume that I would hold high expectations for films that borrow their names from the original NotLD because I hold that film in such high regards.  However, I do not and, in fact, I actually go into them with the mindset I will be disappointed.  Very few films have surprised me.  Night of the Living Jews, Tom Savini's Night of the Living Dead, and Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead are all three films that perfectly pay tribute or parody the film while entertaining the viewer.  Sadly, Night of the Naked Dead did not do that.  In fact, the film borrows the title, for the most part, from the original NotLD when the film does not depict real zombies like one would assume.  The film does give us the "dead" in one sense but not the way the title and the poster implies.  The acting in this one is surprisingly well done.  The entire cast does a great job and that brings their characters to life.  The story is something I have seen a few times before especially those films that revolve around Halloween.  There is several ghost stories that revolve around Halloween where spirits are able to roam the Earth during that night only just like this film.  The story actually had potential to be one spooky and atmospheric ghost story but fell short when it tried to be a moody drama.  Finally, those looking for amazing special effects and great on screen kills will be very disappointed.  This film has neither with the exception of some blood smeared on someone's clothes.  Overall, this is a failed attempt to cash in on the success of a classic film by cleverly rewording the title.  The film fails as a movie and to be entertaining.  I do not recommend this one.