Lucifer's Angels

Director - Ricky McDonald
Starring - Aris Bayizian, Vahan Bayizian, and Michael Allocco
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Not all angels are from heaven"
Format - Streaming (online screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     One thing I have learned over the last year and a half writing for Horror Society is that I will never know what film someone will request for me to review next. For the most part these films suck ass but sometimes I do find a decent peanut in the turd.  Recently, director Ricky McDonald emailed me about reviewing his film Lucifer's Angels.  I knew nothing of the film so I did a little googling and found the film's Facebook page.  The poster made the film feel bland extremely generic which made me not want to really watch it.  However, I have a rule of watching every film sent to me for review so I sat down and turned it on!
     The film follows a group of men in their mid-to-late twenties as they travel out into the woods for a little camping action. Coincidentally, a young couple is visiting the woods to do a little paranormal investigation due to a string of murders and disappearances.  Over the course of the night the group of young men encounter a woodsman and his son who warned them that the woods are not safe.  The group shrugs it off as if the two are crazy and drink it up.  The next morning they notice that one of their friends is missing and they soon cross paths with the young paranormal investigator who is now bloody and his girlfriend was murdered the night before.  The group then starts to believe what the two had told them the night before about three murderous men that was locked away in the nearby asylum and was murdered by the warden.  It is now up to everyone to fight for their lives to make it out of the woods.

     I stated earlier that before I say the film I just assumed it would suck ass.  Lots and lots of ass.  However, after the first few minutes I quickly realized that Lucifer's Angels was a true indie horror hit.  The film had style, story, brutal kills, and enough haunting atmosphere to rival the bigger budgeted flicks.  The acting in this one is hit or miss.  Sadly, the casting was not consistent.  The cast was great with the exception of a few men in the group going out to drink and this goes double for the testosterone filled driver.  He tries way too hard to show his dominance and it almost ruins the scene.  If he would have just kept his cool or tried to fit in with the others he possibly could have pulled it off but having his character try to be the hard ass or artificial "Guido" ruined most of the scenes.  The story for this one is fun and took one told a few times before and put a new spin on it.  The film honestly felt like a slasher tribute to Route 666 starring Lou Diamond Philips.  This was fun and has the capacity and longevity to become an indie franchise.  Finally, the film has some pretty impressive kills and special effects.  The kills are great but they are ones we have seen before so don't expect to see something new and revolutionary.  Overall, Lucifer's Angels is a great supernatural slasher that hits hard and doesn't let up.  Check it out because you will not be disappointed.

Scavenger Killers

SCAVENGER KILLERS

Writer:Ken Del Vecchio, Rachael Robbins

Director:Dylan Bank

Starring:Robert Bogue, Rachael Robbins, Dustin Diamond, Eric Roberts

Availability: DVD available at most retailers through Midnight Releasing

Rating:

    Well, my lovers of absurd cinema, have I got a treat for you!  Dylan Bank's Scavenger Killers is a gloriously insane ride that throws subtlety out the window, and instead wears its b-movie heart on its sleeve.  When I first read about this movie, I was unsure how it would sit with me.  In the wrong hands, material this ridiculous could end up on the wrong side of camp.  Instead, Bank, along with writers Ken Del Vecchio and Rachael Robbins, crafts a batshit dark comedy that had my jaw on the floor on more than one occasion.  The internet age has made it impossible to predict what will become the next cult classic, but in a perfect world, this movie would be on its way to being one.

    Robert Bogue gives a show-stopping performance as Judge Taylor Limone.  Along with his defense attorney lover Clara (co-writer Rachael Robbins, also quite good), the two set out on a maniacal killing spree.  On their trail are two very offbeat FBI agents.  One is a mute who gets off on belittling everyone he encounters.  The other is a psychic with Tourette's Syndrome.  These colorfully eccentric characters are part of what makes this film work.  Unfortunately, the victims in the movie aren't as interesting, but they have such a small amount of screen time, you won't really give a shit.

    Aside from a delightfully warped sense of humor, the other thing Scavenger Killers has in its favor are the kills.  This is a movie that's not afraid to get nasty, and each kill is refreshingly unique.  Now, the movie's not a wall to wall gorefest, but your appetite for bloodshed will definitely be satisfied.  It's also an incredibly sexy movie.  The sexual chemistry between Bogue and Robbins is through the roof, and there are some nice moments of T&A, even if it's mostly in scenes that are supposed to be pretty fucking far from being arousing.  You've also got some colorful cameos from the likes of Eric Roberts (always a b-movie delight), Robert Loggia, and Dustin Diamond.  Bank is a pretty workmanlike director, which is sort of disappointing.  I would have liked the film to have a bit more style, but he still does a solid job with the material.

    I'm not going to pretend like this is a movie that doesn't have some flaws.  One of the biggest problems is length.  I think the movie could have been trimmed by a good ten to twenty minutes.  It's certainly never a boring movie, but there are moments that hurt the pacing of the movie.  It's also definitely not a movie for everybody.  There's not a moment in this movie that doesn't strain for credibility.  It's a movie that exists solely to relish in its excesses.  It's over the top, gloriously insane, and if you take a film like this seriously, you need to have your head examined.  

    People are calling this a modern day Bonnie and Clyde.  Um, no.  Not even close.  Bonnie and Clyde may have been cold and calculated, but they were also madly in love, and there was an undeniable passion there.  The characters here don't have that passion.  These people are just evil people getting off on the killing of other evil people.  There are no deeper ideas here.  Bank and Del Vecchio have a follow-up, Captured Hearts, that sounds even more insane.  Needless to say, I am super stoked for that one.

    Until next time, my fellow freaks and weirdos...

Aleister Crowley: Legend of the Beast

Director - Dom Lenoir (Bring Me Home)

Starring - John Symes (House of sin), Henry Amphlett (Nightscape: Dark Reign of Thanatos), and Elle Black

Release Date - 2013

Genre - Drama

Tagline - "In a time of ignorance one man defied convention"

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Not many people have made a name for themselves in the world of the occult as the English born Aleister Crowley did. This spiritual and black arts practitioner has been the subject of countless books, folk songs, documentaries, films, and even an inspiration behind Ozzy's Mr. Crowley that would later be covered by the death metal band Cradle of Filth.  With all this stuff in his name many of his real life exploitations have now been exaggerated leaving the man more a mythological legend instead of a real historic figure.  Recently, Reality Entertainment sent me the bio-pic Aleister Crowley: Legend of the Beast.  The film interested me because I was curious to see how this film would handle this man's dark past.  Would it include the myths or would it include historical aspects of his life?  I had to watch to find out.

     The film opens with an elderly Aleister Crowley lying on his death bed. He then starts recounting his life to a woman who he is sharing his final moments with.  We then jump back to his youth.  Aleister was raised to be a Christian but abandoned that ideology to become more of a philosophical thinker.  He dabbles in the dark arts, magic, and the occult as a way to reach his own form of enlightenment.  He pushed his body, physically and mentally, to the limits.  The man was brilliant but due to his unconventional practices and ideology was considered evil and satanic which ruffled the feathers of many in his lifetime.

     What astounds me is how ignorance has played into turning Aleister Crowley into a myth instead of a historical figure.  Instead of being known as a educated man who was a free thinker that went against the norm he goes down as a Satanist with the likes of Anston Lavey and his retarded offspring.  This is due to how close-minded the masses are now and how they were then.  That is why this bio-pic is so brilliant and powerful.  It sheds light on one of the most misunderstood figures in history.  The acting in this one is hit or miss.  The young Aleister is amazing in his role and really gives it his all.  Sadly, the elderly Aleister and female companion make the film awkward to watch and hard to follow. A more well rounded cast would have helped this production tremendously.  The story is great.  The film gives the viewer some major insight into the real life experiences of Aleister Crowley instead of turning rumors into fact and running with it.  This film really will open your eyes when it comes to this historical figure.  Sadly, some of the scenes run for just way too long.  Some major editing and cutting of the run time would help make this film perfect.  Finally, due to this being a period piece and a drama we don't really get any special effects or kills.  Instead, we get a well thought out drama that sheds some light on one of the most historically confused figures of all time.  Overall, Aleister Crowley: Legend of the Beast is an eye opening movie experience that is very educational.  Though this film does take away the badass qualities that many came to associate with Aleister it does set the record straight.  Check it out because it is worth a watch!

Subspecies (1991)

Subspecies (1991)

Directed by:  Ted Nicolaou

Starring:  Anders Hove, Angus Scrimm, Irina Movila, Laura Mae Tate, Michelle McBride, Ivan J. Rado, Michael Watson

Format:  Private Collection NTSC Region 1

(out of 5)

           

The Subspecies trilogy is by far one of my all time favorite vampire stories in all of cinema. 

Yes there is a fourth but really I'd just rather not mention it.  Radu is so disrespected in

that film I pretend it doesn't exist mostly.  Anywho back to Subspecies and it's greatness. 

I gave the movie 3 out of 5 Bloody Handprints simply because it is not possible for me to

give the movie any more than that given some of the terrible fx used computer wise, even

for the time they were just garbage.  I've said it a thousand times I don't hate cgi, in fact I

love it when it's used right, but in this movie it was just bad and a bad cgi effect is far worse

than any rubber doll any day of the week.

            We start with a family of vampires living in Romania and obsessed with an ancient
artifact known as the Bloodstone that not only drips blood for them to drink but gives
them power.  Angus Scrimm plays a cameo role as the father of Radu and Stephan two
very different vampires.  Radu is evil and ugly sporting the longest finger claws since
the silent era's Nosferatu film by F.W. Murnau while Stephan is a calm and collected
handsome good guy type straight out of Interview With A Vampire.  Radu kills his
father for the birth rite of te Blood Stone and assumes control of the castle while S
tephan is pre-occupied with a beautiful young woman named Michelle (Laura Tate)
whom has just arrived in Romania to do research with two of her friends. 

           

Radu of course begins to fall for the same young woman and the fight over her hand
or in this case her blood continues on throughout the film.  The typical vampire love
story is cliche' to be sure but it never bothered me in this series.  It sure wasn't anything
like any sparkling vampire movie I've ever seen.  Overdone and bad acting in these
movies seems to be a bit of the norm for Full Moon as it is this way with the grand majority
of their films but for me that's part of their charm.  Some of them obviously go too far a
nd I cannot stand them like any of the Puppetmasters beyond 3 but Subspecies never really
got that way.  I didn't like the way the story went in 4 but it still pretty much followed the
flow of the first three films.

Radu played by Anders Hove is the reason I love them.  One of the coolest and most evil
vampires ever created.  His constant slobber of blood, the elongated fingers, his whole look
is just what I see in my head when I think of a vampire.  Plus the raspy way in which he
speaks is great, now some of his speaking goes a bit overboard with the hisses and
extra moans but again part of the charm.  The fact that these films were actually shot in
Romania is another plus...shooting in the actual location of your film's background is better
every time.  Oh and for the booby men out there yeah you get some scantily clad ladies with
some breasts hanging out.  For me I stopped getting oogley many many years ago, not that it
isn't a nice bonus but that's all. 

Apart from some really bad cgi and overacting I can't say too many bad things about
Subspecies.  For it's time and for being a Full Moon movie it's pretty darn good. 
Highly recommended for any fan of vampires or Full Moon movies.  Part 2 only gets better.  

Alien Encounters at Loch Ness

Director - Philip Gardiner (Exorcist Chronicles)
Starring - Paul Hughes (Ghost and Demon Children of the Damned), Michael Pennyworth, and Elizabeth Kraft
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Sci-Fi
Tagline - 'A mind blowing revelation for all mankind'
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     Cryptozoology is something that I have a slight passion about.  When I was in high school I met a few guys that would help make those awkward teenage years very memorable. Several of my friends at this time were very interested in the pseudoscience and I eventually caught on and caught an interest in it as well.  After high school I waited a few years before going to college but once I was there I fully submerged myself into various cryptids.  One of the more popular of the cryptids, Nessie of Loch Ness, was the subject to a few books and articles that I read during this short period of my life.  Recently, Reality Films sent me a screener for the documentary Alien Encounters at Loch Ness.  This obviously intrigued me and I watched it as soon as I could.
     This documentary follows the real-life encounters of Nessie in Loch Ness.  These individuals recount their experiences and provide poor quality photos of their experience. After several believers talk about their experiences at Loch Ness the documentary then switches it up and goes down a more unconventional path and "scientists" speculate that UFOs are protecting Nessie and that is why she has went so long without being detected. 
     People often look at me with confusion when I tell them I don't really believe in the paranormal and extraterrestrial but I have an interest in cryptids.  I don't really believe in cryptids I just find the lore to be very fascinating. However, this documentary took all the fascination out of a topic I truly adore.  The information provided in this one starts out on the right foot but fails at the end.  We begin our film with documented encounters starting all the way back to the 7th century.  To me, this is truly fascinating and the pieces were put in perfectly.  However, that smooth storyline is destroyed with the speculation of aliens helping the sea-creature.  The documentary is also beautifully put together with some amazing artwork stung out between each scene.  If the film would have followed the flow from beginning to end and used this amazing artwork throughout it would have been a hit.  Overall, Alien Encounters at Loch Ness is a far fetched documentary about a far fetched idea.  A great premise was washed away for a crazy idea.  I don't recommend this one.

Rigor Mortis

Director - Juno Mak (Dream House)
Starring - Anthony Chan (Mr. Vampire), Siu-Ho Chin (Vampire Warriors), Kara Hui (Blood Stained Shoes)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Last summer I made a promise to my readers that I would try to step out of my comfort zone and review more international films.  I watched several Asian films and wanted to continue that route but requests have taken over all my spare time.  However, that was until I finally got placed on Sony and Well Go USA's mailing list.  Soon after being placed on that mailing list I received a copy of the Asian vampire flick Rigor Mortis.  The trailer and poster artwork for the film looked fucking amazing and I couldn't wait to see it but I had to take care of some personal matters before I could review it and that is why I would like to apologize to Well Go USA for having this up so late.
     The film follows a former action star as he moves into an apartment complex after losing custody of his son to his son's mother. The apartment he moves into is one with a dark history.  At one time two beautiful young women were raped and before they were killed they killed the one responsible for raping them.  Now their spirits haunt the apartment waiting for any opportunity they can to attack.  They soon get their chance when the young man tries to kill himself before he is saved by a fry cook who just happens to be a martial arts master.  He fights off the spirits and takes the young man in under his wing.  However, there is still evil in the building.  A seamstress loses her husband and turns to the black arts to bring him back. This puts the two in danger, as well as, the entire apartment building.  It is now up to them to use their martial arts skills to save their lives and the lives of everyone around them.
     Last year and early this year I reviewed Gothic and Lolita Psycho, Helldriver, Gantz, and Mutant Girl Squad.   What I really liked about these films was the fact that they were completely absurd and off the wall.  The blood was flowing, the special effects were crazy, and the kills were completely shocking.  However, the first few moments I saw of Rigor Mortis I immediately knew that this film would be nothing like the ones I was lucky enough to review before.  This film was nothing like the others.  It skipped on the humor and off the wall kills for a more realistic (as real as you can get with vampires) approach. The film also used an Asian mytho that I am not familiar with at all.  The myth, the jumping vampire, is one that apparently does not have a very good track record in cinema.  However, with all that being said, this movie was very impressive.  The acting in this one is solid but that is also hard to judge do to the film being dubbed.  This is one of the few instances where I wished I had studied another language.  The story for this one is fun and blends two different horror elements into one.  It was also nice to see some martial arts in an Asian horror film.  Many of the others I have reviewed actually did not have any in the film and that was a little disappointing.  Finally, the film has phenomenal special and visual effects.  The practical looks great and rivals any vampire film from the 80s while the visual effects look great and definitely does not take away from the overall film.  Overall, Rogor Mortis is a great supernatural martial arts film that blends smooth fighting scenes with a great story.  If you like the martial arts films of the 70s and Asian horror then this film is for you.  Check it out!

Her Name Was Torment (2014)

(out of 5)

Her Name Was Torment (2014)
directed by:  Dustin Mills
starring:  Brandon Salkil, Allison Egan, Jackie McKown, Dustin Mills
Format: NTSC Region 1  Personal Collection:  Limited Edition 3 of 40

Everyone flipped out about this movie in terms of nastiness.  I'm sorry as an avid watcher of sickness I don't see it.  Was the film for everyone?  No way.  No matter what the ridiculous hipster "I only watch and report on extreme cinema" people say this stuff is not for everyone and should never be.  I'm simply saying the movie didn't hit the extreme sensor I was assuming it would, I had the same problem with Hostel.   That being said by no means am I taking down the caliber of great cinematography that this film is.  From beginning to end I really enjoyed the visual effects of the film.  I'd try and speculate how they were all done but when you know how Dustin Mills operates you know that he is very deceptive in his techniques.  What you think is one type of obvious effect turns out to be another.  Dustin for me is a goldmine of cinematic creativity and every movie he makes proves this over and over.  Her Name Was Torment is not my favorite of his but I have a couple of issues with it and overall the movie was yet another great addition to his film list. 

            First just to get them out of the way my issues were only two.  The finger nail effects were sub-par for Mr. Mills who to me is a master of special effects visual and otherwise.  Mostly I enjoy seeing his non-traditional take on practical effects but this was not the case with this one scene.  The bloody finger stubs were on point but the nails themselves just didn't seem to go with the flow of fx.  Now to get to my second tiny issue with the movie I did not find some of the acting up to par here from Brandon Salkil.  I really hate writing that because I love Brandon in everything else he's been in most especially the Ballad of Skinless Pete where his range truly shined.  This one however he fell short in a couples of small scenes.  The agony of the torture he was enduring especially during the removal of teeth I would think would have prevoked more of a reaction than he was producing in that scene in particular.  But again Brandon is a top notch actor in the "sub-genre" of independent film and no one gets it right every time, frankly it was only a couple of scenes the rest his suffering was quite genuine.   Overall he's still one of the best actors in all of independent cinema.   

           

Back to the awe of surreal chaotic madness that was this film.  "It's his will and his will is divine and perfect..." this line echoes at the beginning and towards the end of the film just keep going through my head.  The writing done for the story and dialogue are very well done and had me drawn in from the beginning I love a good serial killer yarn and for me that's what it was.  We are brought into an asylum of some sort interviewing a young lady who has supposed to have killed and tortured 27 people 24 of which cannot be identified.  You discover rather quickly why these others can't be identified.  The mask, the grainy look of the color shooting, the black and white shooting, this whole film for me was an art piece.  Maybe that's why I don't see it in the category of just a sick movie mostly for the hipster extreme cinema people.  Dustin makes his movies with such an artistic diversity it's hard sometimes to put into words everything I feel when watching his movies.  I mean I've watched this 3 times and I've got something different every time so far. 

     "A ghost killing ghosts..." another line continuing to echo in my head after watching it.  The writing again for this one was just plain spectacular.  This is what I want when I watch what is considered, "extreme cinema".  I've seen everything from real life garbage cinema, German and Asian splatter, wasteful trash like the Vomit Dolls etc, etc.  Nothing for me in the genre of extreme films is better when it's well rounded enough to be well written, acted, and shot.  This is a prime example of what in my opinion extreme cinema should be all about.  But people say Human Centipede 2 was just sick to be sick and I couldn't disagree more so what can you do.
     In the end all that needs said is that if you're a fan of Salkil, Mills, extreme cinema, or great independent filmmaking you should really get your hands on a copy of this.  There's a lot more to this film but as always I don't like spoiling everything.  Thanks again Dustin Mills for your constant hard work in all that you do.