The Walking Dead Season 7

Creator - Frank Darabont
Starring - Andrew Lincoln (Canterbury Tales, Drop the Dead Monkey), Chandler Riggs (Jesus H. Zombie, Mercy), and Norman Reedus (Masters of Horror, Blade II)
Release Date - 2016
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Rise up"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The Walking Dead is a comic series that I started reading when I was in high school.  Issue number two just hit the store shelves and a substitute teacher picked it up along with a handful of other comics to give to me.  He was a younger teacher that grew up on 90s Misfits and older horror movies.  When he found out I was a horror fiend he wanted to show me some things that was hard to find in the area I grew up which is known for being the poorest county in the country.  I was hooked on the comic and after six years or so it was announced that the horror drama would be adapted into a television series.  Talking about shitting your pants.  I was so excited and when it aired I invited over some friends and we watched the first episode in my dorm room.  I was hooked.  I never missed an episode for the first 4 seasons but somewhere around the end of season 4 and the beginning of season 5 they lost me.  The show just didn't have what it started with.  I would find myself falling asleep during episodes.  After the season six mid-season finale I decided to quit watching.  I knew Negan was coming, and was one of my favorite characters in the comics, but the show just couldn't hold my attention anymore.  Not long ago I was asked to review season seven.  I was hesitant at first but decided to give the show another chance.   

     Season seven picks up with the cliffhanger from season six where Negan kills one of the gang.  Due to an outburst he takes a second victim before making his demands.  He requires tribute weekly consisting of food, weapons, and anything good they find while scavenging.  Rick tries to follow Negan's demands but his team refuses to bow down resulting in him reaching out to other settlements to band together to take on Negan and his Saviors.

     The Walking Dead started out as an amazing show.  It ha characters you could get behind, gore, and the zombies kept coming.  Sadly, the series became stale near the end of season four and the writing became lazy.  I'm not bitching because they didn't stay true to the comics but I am bitching that they take a story arc that should only last 15 to 20 minutes and stretch it out until a little under an hour.  The acting in this one is still great.  I've always enjoyed seeing Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes.  He is a strong lead and makes his character appear bigger than life.  He was the right choice for the role.  I also liked Norman Reedus as Daryl.  I first noticed him in Blade II, Pandorum, and Boondock Saints so it was cool seeing him take on the undead.  My favorite performance came from The Comedian himself, Jeffery Dean Morgan as Negan.  He fucking killed it.  The show still moves at a snails pace and difficult to watch at times but every scene with Negan was gold.  The story arc for this one was solid but shouldn't have lasted for an entire season.  The "All Out War" angle is an awesome story arc but should have only been a few episodes at the most.  Making it stretch the entire season was painful especially when several episodes were based on secondary characters and their misadventures.  This season needed trimmed down...a lot.  Finally, it wouldn't be The Walking Dead without amazing practical effects and gore.  The show prides itself on their amazing practical effects and this season does not disappoint.  The gore is great and some of the kills were phenomenal.  The show is worth watching for the gore alone if you can stay away.  Overall, The Walking Dead Season 7 has a great cast and gore that can't be beat but the writing needs reeled in.  The episodes need shortened or the writing needs to be completely overhauled by this point.  

Night of the Werewolf

Director - Paul Naschy (Panic Beats, The Night of the Executioner)
Starring - Paul Naschy, Julia Saly (Night of the Seagulls, The Possessed), Silvia Aguilar (Rings of Fear, Human Beasts)
Release Date - 1981
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "It used to be only a myth"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     It looks like my Paul Naschy marathon is finally coming to an end.  After watching Horror Rises from the Tomb, Vengeance of the Zombies, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, and Human Beasts it was time to finish the box set and to move on.  The last film in the set is one that I had heard about for some time.  The film, Night of the Werewolf had previously been released on blu for a short period of time but is now ridiculously priced online.  With the exception of Horror Rises of the Tomb, this was the film I was excited to see.  If people were willing to sink that much money into one blu I couldn't wait to see it.
     The film begins with Waldemar Daninsky (Naschy) and his lover Elizabeth Bathory (Saly) are executed for murder and other heinous crimes (in similar fashion to Naschy's character in Horror Rises from the Tomb). We fast forward to present day (1981) and three beautiful women are exploring the country side when they come across some thieves on the road and seek refuge in a nearby home which just happens to be owned by Waldemar Daninsky who was recently resurrected when a silver cross was removed from around his neck by grave robbers.  The girls are secretly looking for the grave of Bathory in hopes of resurrecting her but Daninsky tries to stop them.  When his is unable to prevent this from happening she rises from the dead resulting in a supernatural main event.

     Night of the Werewolf is an installment in what I believe is a 13 film series.  Sadly, this is the only film from that series I have seen.  The film has a very interesting premise and a story that seems to have it all but the pacing and build up is all wrong.  The film could have used some heavy editing in my humble opinion.  The acting in this one is great.  Before I comment on Naschy I have to talk about how beautiful and sexy the women in this film are.  Naschy films never shied away from beautiful women but this one is absolutely breathtaking.  They are just as talented on screen as they are beautiful.  Naschy, like always, delivers one hell of a performance.  I can see why his character had the longevity that it had.  You can tell he was passionate about his role and gave it his everything.  He did a great job which really makes me want to dig up the other films.  The story for this one is a fun werewolf vs vampire type story that may not be original but it still has some entertaining qualities.  The film is a love letter to classic Hammer horror and a trend started way back in the Universal horror days of pitting one beast against another.  Sadly, the story can't build a steady momentum resulting in some very drawn out scenes that will try your patience.  It was a story that looked good on paper but had some issues during filming.  Finally, the film has some great practical effects.  I loved the look of the werewolf and enjoyed how they put it together.  The film has on screen kills but they are easily forgettable with minimum practical effects.  Overall, Night of the Werewolf was a great looking film and one I would recommend to any horror fan looking for some werewolf action but it is not the best Naschy film in the set.  That title belongs to Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll.



Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll

Director - Carlos Aured (Curse of the Devil, The Mummy's Revenge)
Starring - Paul Naschy (A Werewolf in the Amazon, Mystery on Monster Island), Diana Lorys (Fangs of the Living Dead, The Devil's Man), and Eduardo Calvo (The Mummy's Revenge, Devil's Possessed)
Release Date - 1974
Genre - Horror
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

(Rating out of 5):

     Are you sick of me talking about Paul Naschy yet?  Good, cause I'm just now at the half way mark in the Paul Naschy Collection recently released by Scream Factory.  I decided to go ahead and check out the collection after I reviewed the Mondo Macabro release of Inquisition which also starred Naschy.  So far in this set I've watched the awesome Horror Rises from the Tomb.  This is the first Naschy film I saw way back when.  The second film in the set was Vengeance of the Zombies.  The movie was solid but left a lot to be desired.  As I move on to the third film in the set, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, I can think how awesome that title is and how it could easily be the title of an early 70s giallo.

     The film follows Gilles (Naschy) who is an ex-convict trying to get his life together and put his past behind him which is difficult considering he has horrible nightmares where he kills beautiful women.  He gets a job as a caretaker for a family consisting of three sisters who are complete opposites.  When he thinks he has a grasp on his life someone is going around killing blonde haired women and cutting out their eyes.  Will Gilles past come back to bite him in the ass or is someone else killing for a diabolical reason?
     Vengeance of the Zombies was a solid flick but I had some issues with it and that made me just a little skeptical about how Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll would play out.  I was lucky and the film is actually a Spanish giallo which I didn't know they even existed before this.  The acting in this one is pretty solid.  Naschy once again delivers an amazing performance and this time we see a softer side.  We do see him turn violent which is to be expected but we rarely see Naschy in an emotional role.  Sadly, no one else stands out in the film which is good.  A slower story relies on genuine characters which is what we get.   The story for this one is predictable but it still delivers on an entertaining plot.  The film moves at a very slow pace at first but builds with tension and suspense.  The story does a great job at building suspense and creating atmosphere just like the classic Italian giallo.  Sadly, once the film starts you know exactly how it is going to end.  Finally, the film does show a few on screen kills that are easily forgettable.  The kills are what we have seen in so many other films. including previously reviewed Naschy films, that offer up minimal effects.  An amazing film falters at the deaths.  Overall, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll definitely surprised me.  I was not expecting a well put together giallo starring Naschy.  The kills could have been more but the overall film still delivers.  Check it out.

Human Beasts

Director - Paul Naschy (The Night of the Executioner, The Beast and the Magic Sword)
Starring - Paul Naschy, Eiko Nagashima (Battle Anthem, Moon Angel), and Lautaro Murua (The Plague, Poor Butterfly)
Release Date - 1980
Genre - Horror/Crime
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Horror Rises from the Tomb and Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll stand out as my favorite Naschy films so far but I still have two more films in this box set.  The titles alone are enough for me to know that I am really going to enjoy myself.  The next film in the set is the 1980 Paul Naschy directed horror crime film Human Beasts which is more commonly known as The Beasts' Carnival.  This was another new watch for me but if it was anything like HRftT or BEofBD then I knew I would enjoy myself.  I once again want to thank Scream Factory for sending this one over for review.  I really appreciate it.

      The film follows hit man Bruno (Naschy) who takes on a contract to steal a package from a heavily guarded man.  He is able to do so but once he realizes it is full of diamonds he turns on his employers and flees through the woods but not before sustaining some gunshot wounds.  He is able to fight off his attackers enough to flee before passing out.  He is found by a doctor who lives nearby and takes him home where he, and his two daughters, nurse him back to health.  The daughters both find him attractive which causes a ripple between them.  When he finally wakes he divides his attention between the two lovely women before he is forced to protect himself from those seeking the diamonds.

     This film is a hard one to swallow as a horror movie.  It has some horror elements and a couple cool "what the fuck" moments but the movie is more like a gritty crime thriller.  With that being said, this may be my favorite Naschy film to date and reason enough to own this set.  It wasn't flashy, gory, or did anything new but it do everything right!  The acting in this one is damn near perfect.  Naschy takes on just one but damn does her do it flawlessly.  The film starts out with him portraying a hard ass gunslinger who kills on a whim and is after the bottom dollar.  We then see him succumb to his wounds and we see his character in a different light.  He does a great job.  His supporting cast is just as fantastic.  We get some beautiful women that are extremely talented on screen and several characters that stand out.  More than any other Naschy film that I have seen.  The story for this one is more crime thriller than horror but there is several moments throughout where you know its a Naschy movie.  The film begins with some solid action and a little espionage before we move into a game of cat and mouse and end with a fight for survival.  The film does randomly toss in elements of horror here and there but they definitely take the back seat to the hit man's story.  The film does experience some slow periods before moving on to more story oriented scenes.  Finally, this film is bloody and offers up a few memorable deaths but the practical effects fall apart due to the type of kills these are.  I won't go into further detail on that because they are very entertaining and some will even catch you off guard.  The kills are really fun but it is because of these kills and how they are films is why the effects are limited.  Overall, Human Beasts is a fantastic Naschy film.  Horror fans may not be completely sold on it but fans of exploitation and gritty cinema will appreciate it.  Check it out.



Jackals

Director - Kevin Greutert (Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, Saw VI)
Starring - Chelsea Ricketts (True Blood, Scream Queens), Johnathon Schaech (Legends of Tomorrow, Sleepy Hollow), and Nick Roux (Tomato Red, Jennifer Falls)
Release Date - 2017
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Family first"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (screener)

Rating (out of 5):

      This year has had some ups and downs.  When it comes to the downs we have lost so many influential and inspiring people.  My hero and the reason I love horror, George A. Romero, passed this year.  I never had the opportunity to meet him but I still have fond memories of watching his movies growing up and how it shaped my tastes in horror.  His contribution to horror can never be denied and I have yet to meet a horror fan that was not a fan of his.  With that being said, the year has had a few ups.  One being the amount of great horror movies being pumped out.  I can remember reviewing so many bad movies last year but it seems like this year the quality was turned up to 11.  A few weeks back Scream Factory released a press release for the Kevin Greutert home invasion flick Jackals.  Most of you may remember Greutert and his contributions to the Saw franchise.  It looked fun so I requested a copy.  They were kind enough to send one my way.  Thanks guys!

     The film takes place in 1983 with the Powell family; Kathy (Deborah Kara Unger), Andrew (Schaech), Campbell (Nick Roux), and Samantha (Ricketts).  Kathy and Andrew's son Justin (Ben Sullivan) joined a cult and turned his back on his family including his girlfriend Samantha and their baby girl.  They hire a former marine with experience working in cults to kidnap Justin and to deprogram him.  What they don't expect is the cult to find them at their secluded cabin in the woods with no escape.  Now they have to fight for their lives before they suffer a fate worse than death at the hands of the Jackals.

       I'm not much on home invasion flicks.  Most of the stories feel like they try to be sophisticated torture porns where most of the time the family find themselves tied to a chair and tortured.  Very little story to work with.  Jackals wasn't that at all. It added a few elements that I wish I would see more in horror films.  The acting in this one is decent but no one was winning any awards.  It was cool to see Stephen Dorff in a small role.  He did a great job and did not oversell it.  Sadly, he didn't last long and we were left with a bit of a lackluster cast.  The cast was way over-dramatic at times they didn't need to be which ruined any tension or atmosphere the film was building.  Listening to women scream during a point in the film where nothing is happening only turns the viewer off to the suspense.  The story for this one is great and I loved how the cult was incorporated into it.  The 80s was a unique time.  Religious organizations were still trying to convince the masses that metal and horror movies were the work of the devil and in doing so they created a panic among suburban moms that a cult will kill their family.  It was easy to pitch to stay at home moms with no time on their hands and had seen documentaries and the Manson Family murders.  I like how the story worked that into the time period.  I also liked how it wasn't just another torture porn guised as a home invasion flick.  We do have some of the elements of the home invasion sub-genre but the film was more centered around character development and the cult.  My biggest and only real complaint about the story is the ending.  The ending we got was cheap and could have been so much more.  Finally, the film has several on screen kills that deliver the red stuff and practical effects but they are not that memorable.  The effects are bare minimum and not that impressive.   The kills are violent but they don't offer up any originality or gore that one would expect from a film like this.  Overall, Jackals was not the film I was expecting but I'm damn glad it was the one I got.  I wish more horror films adopted the cult angle because I feel there is a lot of potential there.  The film isn't something that will change the genre but it still entertains.  Check it out.

Vengeance of the Zombies

Director - Leon Klimovsky (The Vampire Night Orgy, Night of the Walking Dead)
Starring - Paul Naschy (Mortal Sin, Night of the Howling Beast), Romy (The Killer with a Thousand Eyes, Aoom), and Mirta Miller (Count Dracula's Great Love, Sinners Go to Hell)
Release Date - 1973
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "A modern day gothic tale of horror and fear"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

 Rating (out of 5):

     My Paul Naschy movie spree continues.  After watching the period piece Inquisition and shocker Horror Rises from the Tomb I kept my movie marathon going by checking out the second film in the Paul Naschy set which is the 1973 film Vengeance of the Zombies.  My experience with Naschy is very minimal so I was excited to see how this one would play out especially after seeing it was a film about zombies.  I had high hopes for it and hoped that it would be like some of my favorite Spanish zombie flicks like Horror Rises from the Tomb and Let the Sleeping Corpses Lie.  I once again want to thank Scream Factory for sending this one my way!

     The film follows an Indian mystic who is very popular among the spiritual crowd.  A friend of his (or lover?), Elvire (Romy), starts having vivid visions and dreams about a the devil and a masked man killing women around her.  When she awakes from her vision she learns that someone is actually killing women.  What she doesn't know is that the mystic is turning those deceased women into zombies to do his evil bidding.

     I've really liked what I've seen from Paul Naschy so far but this one is the bottom of the list for sure.  Vengeance of the Zombies has a story that is a little difficult to follow at times and several areas needed to worked upon.  With all that being said, the film was still entertaining.  The acting in this one is solid.  We yet again see Naschy performing several roles and all of which are great.  He once again gives the viewer another unforgettable character in Satan.  Sadly, this character was not in the film that long.  We also see a strong lead in Romy who really sold the film which is odd to say about a movie starring Paul Naschy.  The supporting cast is decent but they needed a little more direction.  The story for this one is a little difficult to follow at times.  In Horror Rises from the Tomb we see several horror elements added to a single story making for a unique film.  Vengeance of the Zombies tries to do that but doesn't keep in linear.  The giallo like murder mystery and killings are great if the film would have kept that story.  However, the voodoo like powers by the mystic and the voodoo style zombies add another element that just doesn't really flow with the film.  The two stories just don't work very well together and would have been amazing if two different films were made from them.  Finally, the film has several kills that look like your typical giallo kill.  The effects are not that impressive and neither is the kills.  The film really missed an opportunity in that department.  Overall, Vengeance of the Zombies is not the best Naschy film I have seen but it is still entertaining.  The story is a little difficult to follow but it is still a solid film.  Check it out.